The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/28929.
Anto in cryptic rather than quiptic mode continues to present some deviations from the standard crossword conventions, particularly in the (strictly) non-definitions in 6A and 8D, but in both cases I think they work in their own terms. In all, a very diverting crossword.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | ACT OF GOD |
Finding fag end in fancy cat food is a catastrophe (3,2,3)
|
| … particularly for the cat. Apart from that, very amusing. An envelope (‘finding … in’) of G (‘faG end’) in ACTOFOD, an anagram (‘fancy’ free) of ‘cat food’. | ||
| 6 | TABOOS |
Cheers and jeers are forbidden (6)
|
| A charade of TA (‘cheers’ as thank you) plus BOOS (‘jeers’), with a “definition” which does not follow the usual crossword “rules”, but makes a kind of sense. | ||
| 9 | CONSUL |
Diplomat shows downside with those leading such unhealthy lives (6)
|
| A charade of CON (‘downside’ – the pros and cons) plus SUL (‘those leading Such Unhealthy Lives’) | ||
| 10 | FAIL-SAFE |
Protective mechanism ensures triumph against dangerous opponents (4-4)
|
| I think that the wordplay must be to interpret ‘opponents’ as opposites: a charade of FAIL (opposite of ‘triumph’, verb) plus (‘against’) SAFE (opposite of ‘dangerous’). ‘Ensures’ serves as connective tissue. | ||
| 11 | HORSEWEED |
Plant two drugs (9)
|
| A charade of HORSE (heroin) and WEED (marijuana) – (‘two drugs’). Several plants are called hosceweed. | ||
| 13 | TEPID |
Weak parliament holds president back (5)
|
| A reversal (‘back’) of an envelope (‘holds’) of P (‘president’) in DIET (‘parliament’). | ||
| 15 | EXPORT |
Send out from Dover, for instance (6)
|
| A charade of EX (‘from’) plus PORT (‘Dover, for instance’), with an extended definition. | ||
| 17 | BESIDE |
Broadcast second number on old record next (6)
|
| Sounds like (‘broadcast’) B-SIDE (‘second number on old record’). The most obvious correlation is between BESIDE and “next to”; both BESIDE and ‘next’ can be used as various parts of speech, and there may be usages where they are more nearly equivalent, but off the top of my head I cannot think of one. I did consider “… and beside, the wench is dead”, but a) the quote is “besides”, although either would do, and b) although “next” would fit in and make sense, I am not convinced that it is a near enough synonym. Maybe. | ||
| 18 | TROPHY |
Award for pub in old city (6)
|
| An envelope (‘in’) of PH (public house, ‘pub’) in TROY (‘ols city’). | ||
| 19 | MAN FLU |
Chap’s complaint when hearing what the Wright brothers achieved (3,3)
|
| Sounds like (‘when hearing’) MAN FLEW (‘what the Wright brothers achieved’). For the definition, see Wikipedia. | ||
| 21 | LEVER |
Handle first fruit picker held in both hands (5)
|
| An envelope (‘held in’) of EVE (‘first fruit picker’) in LR (‘both hands’), | ||
| 22 | SPHINCTER |
Rich spent wildly to acquire muscle (9)
|
| An anagram (wildly’) of ‘rich spent’. | ||
| 25 | POPULIST |
Explode elite agenda trying to appeal to everybody (8)
|
| A charade of POP (‘explode’) plus U (‘elite’) plus LIST (‘agenda’). | ||
| 26 | IMPROV |
Better finish off performance that’s not been prepared (6)
|
| A subtraction: IMPROV[e] (‘better’) minus its last letter (‘finish off’). | ||
| 28 | INVENT |
Trendy outlet for make up (6)
|
| A charade of IN (‘trendy’) plus VENT (‘outlet’). | ||
| 29 | NAYSAYER |
One criticising terribly easy yarn (8)
|
| An anagram (‘terribly’) of ‘easy yarn’. | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 2 | COO |
Bill’s regular companion in lovemaking? (3)
|
| A reference to the expression “bill and coo“. A cryptic definition. | ||
| 3 | OASIS |
Present state supporting old refuge (5)
|
| A charade of O (‘old’) plus AS IS (‘present state’). | ||
| 4 | GALSWORTHY |
Slag off deserving author (10)
|
| A charade of GALS, an anagram (‘off’) of ‘slag’; plus WORTHY (‘deserving’), for John GALSWORTHY, the author of The Forsyte Saga. | ||
| 5 | DAFTER |
One sketching plans omits first rule — that’s not so sensible (6)
|
| A subtraction: D[r]AFTER (‘one sketching plans’) minus the first R (‘omits first rule’). | ||
| 6 | TRIO |
Star pilot regularly forms part of this group (4)
|
| Alternate letters (‘regularly’) of ‘sTaR pIlOt’. ‘Part of’ seems to be just along for the ride. | ||
| 7 | BAS RELIEF |
Change fibre seal — it protrudes slightly (3,6)
|
| An anagram (‘change’) of ‘fibre seal’. | ||
| 8 | OFFSIDE RULE |
Bad team standard is hard to explain (7,4)
|
| A charade of OFF (‘bad’) plus SIDE (‘team’) plus RULE (‘standard’), with an attribute for a ‘definition”.Cf 6A. | ||
| 12 | OVER THE MOON |
Glad to be recovered from exposure? (4,3,4)
|
| A charade of OVER (‘to be recovered from’) plus THE MOON (‘exposure’). | ||
| 14 | RELATIVITY |
Variable level holds key when reversing fundamental theory (10)
|
| A reversal (‘when reversing’) of an envelope (‘holds’) of VITAL (‘key’) i Y (mathematical ‘variable’) plus TIER (‘level’). | ||
| 16 | PROSECUTE |
Charge when flower pruned in private borders (9)
|
| An envelope (‘in’) of ROSE (‘flower’ – yes, an actual bloo for once) plus CUT (‘pruned’) in PE (‘PrivatE borders’). | ||
| 20 | SPOT ON |
Right to become affectionate when there’s no time? (4,2)
|
| Remove the T (‘when there’s not time’) from SPOT ON, and you get SPOON (‘become affectionate’). | ||
| 23 | CUPPA |
Drink available when college finished each year (5)
|
| A charade of C (‘college’) plus UP (‘finished’) plus PA (per annum, ‘each year’). | ||
| 24 | KILT |
Gear placed around loch that covers a lot of Scotland (4)
|
| An envelope (‘placed around’) of L (‘loch’) in KIT (‘gear’), with a definition more amusing than accurate. | ||
| 27 | OWE |
Have an obligation to participate in rising casework (3)
|
| A hidden (‘to participate in’) reversed (‘rising’ in a down light) answer in ‘casEWOrk’. |
Thank you Peter O and for 10A which I couldn’t parse.
Yes, I did a double-take at TABOOS and OFFSIDE RULE, but I kinda like Anto’s bending of the rules. Although the KILT definition was a bit out there. The clue for BESIDE I thought needed a ”to” next to next.
RELATIVITY was a lot simpler than my first guess, thinking that ”fundamental theory” clued Y (last letter of theory).
ACT OF GOD was very funny. Do they still have those clauses in insurance policies, I wondered. Looked it up. They sure do. Surprised they’re still there in an increasingly secular society.
Enjoyed this.
FAIL-SAFE is now my favourite, thanks to Peter O, although I wonder if the ‘against’ goes with ‘triumph’?
My failed attempts included chess notation, or some football teams (neither of which I know much about).
I liked this, except for BESIDE. I hope it’s not sour grapes because it took me so long to figure this one out (_E_I_E is not very helpful), but rather just an echoing of PeterO’s reservations.
Re: ACT OF GOD. It never occurred to me before, but it’s only used for bad situations, as in the clue, yet the phrase itself is inherently neutral, isn’t it? Curious.
I had no problem with the non-definition definitions. Paul does this kind of thing too.
Thanks Anto, your crosswords never fail to entertain me. I liked many clues including ACT OF GOD (great surface), TEPID, TROPHY, LEVER, SPHINCTER (great surface), POPULIST, INVENT, and SPOT ON. I ran out of steam and revealed BESIDE and IMPROV. Thanks PeterO for parsing especially FAIL-SAFE and RELATIVITY, neither of which made sense to me.
I went into full “UK mode” (a useful thing to do in general with these puzzles) and spelled 22a SPHINCTRE – until I didn’t. I won’t even talk about DRAUGHT!
Have a faint bell of next without the to, somewhere in literature, absy no idea where.
“Next” was the superlative of “nigh” (nigh, near, next) in old English and I have seen it used in phrases like “the tree next the brook” without the preposition. Perhaps someone can think of an actual quotation.
Thanks to Anto and PeterO.
Actually looked up the offside rule yesterday [while watching our boys go 1-0 up v the Danes, yay. The Argies next, gulp..]. Yep, Anto is enjoyable. Sure I’ve seen that B-side trick B4, but still stared dumbly at the crossers, and fail-safe was a lazy biff. Man flu was vaguely familiar (its converse, stoic denial, more so). All good, ta both.
There were several on the right hand side that I thought could only be one thing but I was quite unable to parse, such as TEPID. (Unaware of DIET/PARLIAMENT connection.) Turned out they were what I thought they were, and coming here hasn’t entirely stopped me scratching my head. Hadn’t heard of SPHINCTER. Tried for too long trying to work out why 23d was COCOA. IMPROV is a rather odd contraction, isn’t it? I had JOINTWEED for 11a, which held me up a bit. Still don’t get FAIL-SAFE. Hadn’t heard of MAN FLU. Favourite was TABOOS.
I think FAIL-SAFE is really convoluted. On the other hand, for BESIDE/NEXT, I thought there was a Scottish usage ‘beside the house’ or ‘next the house’.
Thanks Anto and PeterO
We thought of FAIL-SAFE from the definition very early, but had no hope of getting that parsing, and only put it in when all the crossers were there. Similarly, HORSEWEED waited for the crossers – there are so many slang words for various drugs. For SPHINCTER, we listed all the three consonant clusters (not having SPOT ON yet) to go before the I… except the SPH one – d’oh! ACT OF GOD and TABOOS (properly spelt ‘tabu’ in the Pacific, from whence it came) were good. IMPROV is a well known word in the theatrical world, especially Theater Sports. Thanks, Anto and PeterO.
Meant to say there seemed to be an inordinate number of vowel crossers – the _E_I_E that DrWO @3 instances being the nastiest.
I too didn’t see the parsing of FAIL-SAFE, so thanks PeterO. No problem with the definition of BESIDE, though I agree that next would normally have a preposition where BESIDE would not, but for me it’s not a homophone of B-SIDE, so it took me ages to see it.
GDU @9. Watch out for diet / parliament. It’s often used. Same comments as others re fail-safe.
I don’t really have a problem with – indeed in many cases don’t consciously notice – the ‘deviations’ from standard grammar/syntax used by some setters in their links between wordplay and definitions. The crossword is a creative tussle between setter and solver, not a mathematical equation. I tend to silently respond to such quibbles with “But you got it, yeah?“… I mean I do hope that such grammatical oddities don’t actually prevent solvers arriving at the answers, but to me they generally come across as post-solving nitpickery. Minor rant over 🙂
I enjoyed this, though made heavy weather of the SE, taking a ridiculously long time to see CUPPA and IMPROV, but once solved they were blindingly obvious. Favourites: OVER THE MOON, TABOOS and COO (once the penny dropped).
Thanks to the O brothers Ant and Peter
Wells-next-the-Sea? But I agree with Tomsdad @13 that B-SIDE doesn’t sound like BESIDE – I don’t think it would even work as a ‘pun’, as the intonation is so different that many in the audience wouldn’t get the joke.
Apart from that, lots to enjoy. My thought when I read Peter’s preamble was that Anto is never in quiptic mode – although he is frequently in the quiptic slot. Today’s actually went in quicker for me than most of Anto’s, irrespective of slot, apart from not being able to parse FAIL-SAFE. I see I wasn’t alone! Re-interpreting opponents as opposites is a stretch and a half.
Otoh no probs with TABOOS and the OFFSIDE RULE. If you asked someone for a ‘definition’ of Anto, I think “sets quirky but fun crosswords” would do the job.
So thanks to him and our blogger – PeterO, the bloo on your hosceweed has lost a petal (not that I’m immube to hypos).
[Where art thou, Rob T? Oh, I think I remember where thou art. Nice one 🙂 ]
Essexboy @16 beat me to Wells-next-the-Sea but as I looked it up to find the link, I’m posting it anyway.
I like Anto’s quirkiness, but I don’t find him easy. He definitely fits better in the Cryptic slot. I really liked LEVER, which hasn’t been mentioned above.
Thank you to PeterO and Anto.
essexboy@16. I’m puzzled by your comment about BESIDE/B-SIDE. Isn’t that just the usual thing about stressed syllables and homophones? What am I not getting? Or am I just becoming less of a ‘homophone purist’?
Dr. WhatsOn @3, Paul: does he? Can you find an example?
Griezmann’s disallowed goal against Tunisia last night makes 8d possibly the fastest (albeit accidental) uptake of a real-life event in any crossword ever. Essentially, a Tunisia defender won the match by messing up a header. Full explanation here
pdm @18, I’d never suspect you of going over to the dark (B) side. But BESIDE is /bə’saɪd/ or /bɪ’saɪd/ ; B-SIDE is /’bi:saɪd/. I remember a tutor illustrating the crucial impact that intonation has on meaning by telling us “I love a fricker!”. Opinions as to what she loved varied wildly, but no one guessed that what she really meant was “I love Africa”.
eb@21. Yeah, but with an implied caesura, lift-and-separate, as happens in cryptics?
eb :- ) isn’t the fricker/frica thing a good example of what these puns are about?
pdm @22, ah, OK, if you can lift-and-separate, so:
second = B (as in plan B)
‘Broadcast’ it so it sounds like the verb ‘BE’.
Then add SIDE ( = ‘number on old record’)
Kinda works, still not overly keen as the homophone is ‘latent’, it gets you to ‘BE’ but it’s no longer operative at a whole-solution level.
Thank you essexboy@16 and Shanne@17. That place name has been tickling my cortex but wouldn’t surface.
essexboy @21 and paddymelon @23… “I love a fricker!” reminds me of Leo Schofield’s quote on the cover of Strine by Professor Afferbeck Lauder which was ….. “Wad African Genius”….. I hope I don’t start off grantinfreo.
Wasn’t very impressed with KILT or BESIDE. Not quite sure about IMPROV, either. Didn’t really enjoy the solve that much, whether one should award COOs or the BOOS this morning…
Loved this for the first three quarters of doing it, then ran up against FAIL-SAFE, RELATIVITY, BESIDE … and my enthusiasm faltered. Why are b-sides restricted to old records? Do the new ones not have b-sides?
I’m never a homophone fan, but didn’t flinch at BESIDES …
For interest, there’s this which doesn’t prove anything
Snotterwurriemate
Got off to a flier on first pass but then hit a brick wall. Left it for an hour to concentrate on England’s great start in the test match. On returning everything slotted into place nicely, although BAS RELIEF took far too long to click.
ACT OF GOD favourite today.
Thanks both.
First thought on glancing at 1 down – ‘Bill’s regular companion’ … BEN! Then I saw ‘in lovemaking’ … well ok, maybe not. But maybe?! There’s a lot we weren’t told.
Tim C @26. 🙂 Lauder’s alias was Al Terego.
I often complain about non-rhotic homophones because they only work in some regions, but BESIDE doesn’t bother me despite the change in stress.
gif@30 and Tim C@26. From memory, you are both ex Brits. You’ve got the dingo lingo.
Thank you PeterO – I should have parsed RELATIVITY but was too lazy to take it properly to bits. FAIL-SAFE can’t really be like that, can it? Seems quite tenuous: as Anto is very clever, there may be something no-one has seen yet. Re next the Sea place-names: beware, O visitors from steeply-shelving coastlines, Mediterranean buffs and those who, like Mrs K, come from land-locked countries. ‘Next the Sea’ in Norfolk means you might see a bit of water if you’re lucky. If you do come to this beautiful part of the world, invest in the book of tide times.
Much to enjoy here, and no problem with the Anto-ish definitions.
Held up by entering jointWEED instead of HORSEWEED. “Joint” having drug connotations, too.
Chuckled at OVER THE MOON & MAN FLU.
Many thanks for the parsing of FAIL-SAFE, bung and shrug, for me.
Komoronik @36: I imagine you’re referring to Wells-next-the-Sea, which is a lovely little spot.
Googling specifically produces quite a few samples of where “NEXT” was written without the preposition “TO” in the “beside sense”, Google hits pointing to the 1880 – 1915 era. But hey ho, surely we can forgive Anto for his clueing here ! Yes the OFFSIDE RULE is constantly freeze framed and replayed in the current football world cup. I wonder how long it will be until someone produces, for streaming, a composite of their considered very best of video refereed decisions ( VAR ). Can’t be very long. People think of everything these days !
Thanks PeterO and Anto.
Like others didn’t parse FAIL-SAFE.
Took a while to get going on this one but there were quite a few aha moments and my favourites have all been mentioned.
Thanks Anto and PeterO
A lovely antidote to Pauls’s dog’s breakfast of a puzzle yesterday
I took the FAIL-SAFE clue as a cryptic def: as in a FAIL-SAFE mechanism used in a situation where you are facing some dangerous opponents will ensure that you don’t fail and therefore you will win/triumph. It ensures triumph against dangerous opponents, in fact.
…. hmmmm, but actually I rather prefer PeterO’s parsing.
I agree with many of those complaints. Another crossword convention completely ignored is that the definition is as found in Chambers Dictionary (or Collins) where: lever is not handle; beside is not next; horseweed is not found at all (nor in the Apple dictionary). I could go on.
I skipped unperturbed over several of Anto’s crossword bloopers that commenters have pointed out above: but I did harrumph at ‘weak’=TEPID. Eh? Tepid is lukewarm, it’s all about heat and temperature — semantically quite different from strength, weakness, force, intensity, power or lack of it.
I am, William (@38), I am: but also Holme, which is further along and less of a honey-pot.
C+S @44 definitions don’t have to be, and frequently aren’t, direct synonyms – e.g. they’re often fungible phrases. Also, both LEVER & BESIDE are in the Chambers thesaurus
Personally I enjoy the lure of a broken rule.
Cheers P&A
pserve_p2 @45, “weak” as at least a metaphorical meaning of “tepid” sounds familiar to me. I’d say it is justified by meaning 2a in Miriam Webster:
1
: moderately warm : LUKEWARM
a tepid bath
2
a
: lacking in passion, force, or zest
tepid poetry
b
: marked by an absence of enthusiasm or conviction
a tepid interest
a tepid response
Very tough, made a slow start. Solved RHS first. Failed to solve 9ac, 2d, 3d.
Liked TROPHY, LEVER, POPULIST.
I could not parse:
10ac FAIL-SAFE — I still do not understand it
8d I parsed it as OFF + SIDE + RULE but still do not understand it
12d
14d apart from rev of VITAL = key
20d
New MAN FLU, OFFSIDE RULE.
Thanks, both.
I was fine with 6A and 8D, perhaps because I am relative newcomer to crosswords and therefore unfamiliar with the “rules”. I was also unaware that a certain dictionary was considered canonical, particularly for clues not otherwise obscure, e.g. horseweed.
10A I got from the crossers but the parsing still eludes me even with the explanation here.
I enjoyed this solve.
I would generally think that BESIDE is next to, but ‘beside’ in Bradford’s and the Chambers Crossword Dictionary both give next. Cos @44, HORSEWEED is in Collins (maybe you haven’t got an up-to-date version?) As bc @47 says, handle is the first in the list in the Chambers Thesaurus for lever; in the Oxford Thesaurus it gives the example of: he pulled the lever which unlocked the bonnet (US hood).
I liked the clue for LEVER because of the first fruit picker and OVER THE MOON for the humorous picture. I didn’t really understand the parsing of FAIL-SAFE, but PeterO’s parsing seems to sort of work, although I just thought it might be a cd.
Thanks Anto and PeterO.
Gdu@9 I too was in pursuit of COCOA for too long.
Hadn’t heard of MAN FLU. Nor HORSEWEED, but it looked like a thing.
TT@11 I’m guessing that the Pacific culture who gave us the word “tabu” didn’t spell it with the Roman alphabet, so “taboo” (which I have seen here and there) is just as legit.
Tomsdad@13 I’d say an even nastier one is 14d _E_A_I_I_Y.
eb@16 The BESIDE/B-SIDE pair seems to me no worse than any number of alleged homonyms where the rhythm is very obviously off. I’ve complained about some and refrained about others, but you’ve got this one covered, so I’ll hang back.
Rodroney@28 Newer records (now themselves being superseded by streaming, I think) are CDs, which have all their playing surface on one side.
Thanks to Anto and PeterO.
Re BESIDE, I will happily say that on my bedside table “the alarm clock is next the lamp” – though rustoo@10, yes, there is possibly a Scotticism creeping in there.
As for DIET = “parliament”, I treat this as standard in Crosswordland and if I need a word meaning “Parliament” that has very few letters, it is my go-to.
Pleasant solve, thanks to setter and blogger.
A pleasant jaunt today. Liked CONSUL, OASIS and IMPROV. Failed to parse FAIL SAFE.
I had no problem with the hinted definitions or the next/beside conundrum. I’m flexitarian on both.
Thanks Anto and PeterO (esp for parsing 10a)
Jacob @50 – I’m glad you put “rules” in quote marks as they are but conventions, some with a wider base of support than others.
And a certain dictionary i.e. Chambers is considered canonical by some. Again it’s convention, not fact. There is no cryptic crossword governing body!
Enjoy solving and continue to be fine with clues that you are fine with 🙂
I have never encountered HORSEWEED, though the clue was not difficult. Wikipedia gives five plant genera/species for which this may be a common name (all Asteraceae, strangely). Geoffrey Grigson’s ‘The Englishman’s Herbal’, a compendium of British plants with traditional uses and local names, lists in the index 35 ‘horse’ names for various species, but ‘horseweed ’ is not among them. North American usage perhaps?
Never heard the expression ‘bill and coo’, but 2D could be nothing else. Otherwise a nice puzzle — thanks to setter and blogger.
Slightly surprised how many complaints and ‘did-not-parses’ there are in respect of FAIL-SAFE, which was my first one in and my favourite clue. Still, we’re not all the same, are we? Thank heavens!
No complaints at all from me about BESIDE – as mentioned by others, in my rhotic accent it’s a *much* closer homophone than many others you see (and unlike many others, I’d say works just as well in almost any accent).
And definition-wise, if you think of the town of Wells-next-the-Sea, the ‘next’ there is easily interchangeable and synonymous with ‘beside’.
BigNorm @58 – I’m glad someone mentioned this, as I got and parsed it quickly without any eyebrow-twitching, and so was also surprised at the reaction here! It made me feel briefly clever 🙂
Shy of a few correct parsings so thanks for explaining the whys.
I think the illogical B-side the C-side, B-side the C is recognisable as a bit of a song. I liked the first fruit picker.
essexboy @16
After your comment, how could I correct the typo (sorry, hypo)? I do occasionally get the improbable two-letter typo, and I suspect that it is because I work with an iPad and bluetooth keyboard. Anyway, that’s my story, and I’m sticking with it.
I can forgive Anyo quite a lot of unusual wordplay because he usually makes me smile (MAN FLU, TABOOS, OVER THE MOON, KILT and so on). I’ll take PeterO ‘s word for it that there are lots of plants called HORSEWEED – I’ve never met one, though the clue was obvious enough. Failed to parse FAIL SAFE and having seen the explanation I’m not surprised.
Super crossword, a good antidote to yesterday’s horror.
Thanks both.
Thanks PeterO, I thought like pserve@42 re 10a so good to get a bit better understanding. Pleased with myself for remembering the diet and not entering 14d until I had parsed it, worried that there was some other theory that I had never heard of. Another lively puzzle from Anto, thanks.
I can’t see anything odd about BESIDE.
Thanks to PeterO for the blog and explaining FAIL SAFE and to Anto for the test which was over a l bit quicker than usual for me.
Tim @67: sorry, I’m with Tomsdad @13 and essexboy @16 on this one. I admit that if I’d solved from ‘next’=>BESIDE I’d have been able to work out the homophone and probably said it was just about ok, but the stress on B in b-side and on “side” in BESIDE made this an unsolvable clue for me. Maybe if I’d applied myself a bit harder I’d have got there, but it would still have seemed a little odd.
I quite like Anto’s use of definitions that are against the rules, though.
Thanks to Anto and PeterO.
I’m with Petert@62. “I do like to be beside the seaside, I do like to be beside the sea” rather leads you to the wordplay, does it not?
Thanks Anto and PeterO for the fun and parsing help, especially for 10a FAILSAFE and 14d RELATIVITY.