Wire provides our Wednesday challenge this week.
A few somewhat obscure entries, including 10d which I had to guess-and-check (though the wordplay was helpfully clear) and 21a which is probably not a very useful word except for filling an awkward slot in a crossword grid. Lots to enjoy though; I liked the misdirection of Boris in 26a, the pun in 7d, the neat anagram in 13d, and the slightly dubious mathematics in 19d (perhaps Wire has been taking lessons from the Guardian setter Qaos, who’s known for this sort of clue). Thanks Wire for the fun.
Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | SATIRE |
Mockery made of exposed Tsar with flag (6)
|
| [t]SA[r] (exposed = outer letters stripped off) + TIRE (flag, as a verb = become tired). | ||
| 4 | PSALMS |
I nearly forgot alternate parts of early Mass hymns (6)
|
| PS ((I nearly forgot: postscript = a note added to the end of a letter, perhaps because it was forgotten until after signing off) + alternate letters from [e]A[r]L[y] M[a]S[s]. | ||
| 8 | RED TAPE |
Simply quitting band recording needless routine (3,4)
|
| [simply] RED (soul/pop band, with “simply” dropped from their name) + TAPE (a recording on magnetic tape).
Red tape = paperwork or processes seen as unnecessarily complicated. |
||
| 9 | BONFIRE |
Guy may be put atop this tree in Book One (7)
|
| FIR (a tree) inserted into B (abbreviation for book) + ONE.
Guy = an effigy of Guy Fawkes (or more recently other unpopular characters) burned on a 5 November bonfire. |
||
| 11 | NEGLIGIBLE |
Tiny egg blini cooked by the Parisian (10)
|
| Anagram (cooked) of EGG BLINI, then LE (a form of “the” in French, so a Parisian “the”). | ||
| 12 | IOWA |
Brand-new CIA finally following satellite state (4)
|
| Final letters of [brand-ne]W [ci]A following IO (Io = a moon of Jupiter = satellite). To me it seems slightly odd to take just the last letter of a two-word hyphenated phrase (if we were taking first letters we might well take one from each word), and I can’t see why “new” wouldn’t have been enough by itself. | ||
| 13 | BURKA |
Supporter integrating with UK garment (5)
|
| The letters of BRA (a supporter for the bust) alternating (integrating) with UK. | ||
| 14 | SEDITION |
Rabble-rousing society linked to publication (8)
|
| S (abbreviation for society) + EDITION (publication). | ||
| 16 | FACTOTUM |
Servant sick of cat: dog briefly brought back (8)
|
| Anagram (sick?) of OF CAT, then MUT[t] (slang for a dog) without the last letter (briefly) and reversed (brought back).
Factotum = a servant employed to do various different tasks as required. (From the Latin for “do it all”). |
||
| 18 | TROTS |
6’s runs that are more like jogs (5)
|
| Reference to 6d LEFTIST: Trot = short for Trotskyist = left-winger.
Trot = a pace somewhere between walking and running. |
||
| 20 | NERO |
Bad fiddler embedded in revolutionary Florence (4)
|
| Hidden answer (embedded in . . .) [fl]OREN[ce] reversed (revolutionary).
The Roman emperor Nero, who doesn’t seem to have been a very nice man. Legend says he played the fiddle while watching the Great Fire of Rome and not doing much about it; more likely he played the lyre. |
||
| 21 | PREACHIEST |
Father assuming everyone is most self-righteous (10)
|
| PRIEST (given the title “Father” in some churches), containing (assuming) EACH (everyone).
A slightly loose definition: I’d think of being “preachy” as telling other people what to do, rather than emphasising one’s own correctness. |
||
| 23 | TEMPLES |
These are carved into 10 parts of head (7)
|
| Double definition. A reference to 10d, Abu Simbel, which features temples carved out of rock; or the outer edge of the forehead. | ||
| 24 | FINICKY |
Wi-Fi dropping 50% by prison yard in particular (7)
|
| [wi-]FI (dropping the first 50%) + NICK (slang for prison) + Y (abbreviation for yard, as a measure of length).
Finicky = particular = fussy or concerned with small details. |
||
| 25 | STRIDE |
March hares essentially overcome by swirling tides (6)
|
| Middle letter (essentially) of [ha]R[es], contained in (overcome by) an anagram (swirling) of TIDES.
March = stride = walk purposefully. |
||
| 26 | TENNIS |
10 ultimately repeated is what Boris excelled at (6)
|
| TEN (10) with the last letter N (ultimately) repeated + IS.
No, not that Boris – it’s Boris Becker, who excelled at tennis in the 80s and 90s. |
||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | SUEDE |
Material had some influence on broadcast (5)
|
| Homophone (broadcast) of SWAYED = had an influence on. | ||
| 2 | TITULAR |
So-called ‘bird’ initially uncle labelled as ‘reptile’ (7)
|
| TIT (a bird) + initial letters of U[ncle] L[abelled] A[s] R[eptile].
Titular = relating to a title, especially the “title character” of a literary work; or an indication that a title (for example as head of an organisation) doesn’t actually involve any significant responsibility. |
||
| 3 | REPUGNANT |
Horrid canine caged by horrid tanner (9)
|
| PUG (a breed of dog = canine) contained in (caged by) an anagram (horrid) of TANNER. | ||
| 5/15 | STORE DETECTIVE |
One who might walk down the aisle in plain clothes (5,9)
|
| Cryptic definition: not the aisle of a church, but the aisle of a large shop (store) which may employ plain-clothes staff to detect and apprehend shoplifters. | ||
| 6 | LEFTIST |
Red amphibian included in tally (7)
|
| EFT (an old word for a newt = amphibian) included in LIST (tally).
Red = leftist = one with left-wing political views. |
||
| 7 | SCREWTOPS |
Bottles from jackets of Wandsworth guards? (9)
|
| SCREW = slang for a prison guard, for example at Wandsworth prison in SW London. TOPS = garments for the upper body, for example jackets. | ||
| 10 | ABU SIMBEL |
Maltreatment involving one doctor on large historic site (3,6)
|
| ABUSE (maltreatment), including I (one in Roman numerals) + MB (abbreviation for a doctor’s medical degree), before (above, in a down clue = on) L (large).
This historic site; new to me, but guessable from the crossers and wordplay after I’d picked the most likely option for “doctor” (which could be MB, MD, MO or DR). |
||
| 13 | BLAMELESS |
New balls seem squeaky clean (9)
|
| Anagram (new) of BALLS SEEM.
Squeaky clean = slang for completely innocent, or at least appearing to be innocent. |
||
| 15 |
See 5
|
|
| 17 | TROOPER |
Written-up account covers back of gung-ho soldier (7)
|
| REPORT (account), reversed (written up = upwards in a down clue), containing the last letter (back) of [gung-h]O. As in 12a, it seems slightly odd to take the last letter of a two-word phrase. | ||
| 19 | OPINION |
Estimation primarily of (22/7n + 10n) (7)
|
| First letter (primarily) from O[f], then PI (pi = mathematical constant which can be approximated as 22/7) + N + IO (10) + N.
As in “in my estimation” = in my opinion. |
||
| 21 | PLEAD |
Principal gives support to parking appeal (5)
|
| LEAD (principal), after (below, in a down clue = giving support to) P (sign indicating a parking area). | ||
| 22 | SIKHS |
Adherents raised quiet offspring lacking depth (5)
|
| SH (sh! = quiet! = a command to stop making noise) + KI[d]S (offspring) without the D (depth), all reversed (raised = upwards in a down clue). |
Thanks Wire and Quirister
I think there’s a secondary scatological reference in 18: if you have, shall we say, a disordered stomach you can have the runs / trots.
Enjoyable, with most requiring a bit of thought. I suppose that trick of having only the last letter of a hyphenated word, as seen here in IOWA and TROOPER, is meant to make the point that a hyphenated word is regarded as a single word, not two separate component words as you might think . Anyway, it’s fooled me a few times. I was fooled today though by 22/7 = PI and was reassured to see this was only an approximation. I agree about PREACHIEST, which isn’t a word I plan to use soon, but this was more than made up for by STORE DETECTIVE and SCREWTOPS. Yes, Simon S @1, some may think TROTS is a triple def, but honestly, the thought never even crossed my mind.
I remember ABU SIMBEL from when it was relocated to higher ground to stop it being flooded by Lake Nasser in the late 60’s; quite an achievement.
Thanks to Wire and Quirister
I seem to remember an episode in Yes (Prime)Minister where the daughter said she’s been with the Trots and Jim says “have you seen anyone about it?”
At 12A my first thought was that the Isle of Wight was being referenced as a satellite state, but quickly dismissed. Excellent stuff, so thanks Wire and Quirister.
Another very enjoyable puzzle from Wire.
I had ticks for PSALMS, RED TAPE, NEGLIGIBLE, NERO (all for the surfaces), STRIDE (for the March hares), TENNIS (great misdirection), , REPUGNANT (for the construction) and ABU SIMBEL – I had the same recollection as WordPlodder.
Many thanks to Wire and Quirister.
I wouldn’t have said ABU SIMBEL is obscure, but then I’ve visited many archaeological sites throughout the world.
Super puzzle from Wire.
NNI @6: maybe it’s just my ignorance, then – I hadn’t heard of it.
I am ashamed to say I put ROLF in for NERO and thought it a bit close to the bone.
@Petert two of ’em in one city, what are the chances, eh?
18a no scat reference intended, not consciously anyhow. Abu Simbel was a location in The Spy Who Loved Me (cat and mouse with Jaws, I seem to recall). Thanks all for contributions and to Quirister for the blog.
At an hour and a quarter on and off this was quicker than average for me. Must have been on Wire’s wavelength today. Pleased to have finished it. Favourites have all been pointed out already. I like that you can learn as you enjoy the challenge. A couple of new bits of knowledge that I can struggle to remember next time they appear. EFT & ABU SIMBLE.
Thanks to Wire for the fun and Quirister for filling in the blanks in parsing.
Excellent from start to finish, really appreciated the setter’s art in this one.
Podium sitters are RED TAPE and TENNIS, with top spot going to FINICKY (great word, great clue)
Thanks Wire and Quirister
A fairly gentle offering from Wire today, although a little tricky in places. ABU SIMBEL, though, was something of a write-in and we remember the relocation operation. Apparently the pieces were put together again using a commercial grade of a well-known adhesive, prompting the adhesive maqnufacturer to run an advertisement showing two of the statues with one supposedly saying to the other “We’d be sunk without ___________!”
In using the first or last letters of words in a clue the convention is that a hyphenated pair is treated as one word; we don’t know the logic behind this – it’s just one of those things, like having to decide for oneself if ‘initially’ or ‘finally’ refers to one word or more, or to what precedes or follows it.
Most enjoyable. Our favourite was OPINION.
Thanks, Wire and Quirister.
All good fun – we like OPINION in particular.
Pleased to meet Wire at York recently. It’s good to be able to put a face to the name. Looking forward to your next puzzle too.
Thanks to Quirister as well.