It is Friday today and it falls to Phi once again to complete this latest cycle of mid-week puzzles. I apologise for the late posting, the product of a hectic pre-Christmas schedule at work.
I found this to be a medium-difficulty Indy puzzle, and I think that I have arrived at a complete set of correctly parsed solutions.
I haven’t spotted any particular theme today, but nothing new there!
My favourite clues today were 9, 17, 18 and 27, all for surface reading. Incidentally, I feel wiser today after learning what I have about bananas at 13!
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01 | BULLDOZED | Went off after nonsense pushed through
BULL (=nonsense) + DOZED (=went off) |
| 06 | CATS | Musical performers half taken aback
CAST (=performers); “half taken aback” means here that two of four letters are reversed; the reference is to the 1981 musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber |
| 10 | ENTER UPON | Begin or open with clue that’s arranged? That’s about right
R (=right) in *(OPEN + TUNE); “that’s arranged” is anagram indicator |
| 11 | EJECT | Put out Liberal, replaced by Judge in vote
E<l>ECT (=vote); “liberal (=L) replaced by Judge (=J)” means that letter “l” is replaced by letter “j” |
| 12 | WHISTLE | Pipe a short time blocked by stone
ST (=stone) in WHILE (=a short time) |
| 13 | BERRIES | What a bananas? Mistake I discovered among most of the cleverest
[ERR (=mistake, as verb) + I] in BES<t> (=the cleverest; “most of” means last letter is dropped) |
| 14 | RARA AVIS | Artists with a mental image, not half an uncommon thing
RA (=artist, i.e. Royal Academician) + RA (=artist) + A + VIS<ion> (=image; “not half” means three of six letters are dropped) |
| 16/26 | GREASY SPOON | Pro nosegays being distributed in grubby café
*(PRO NOSEGAYS); “being distributed” is anagram indicator |
| 19 | ROTHKO | US author finally put down US painter
ROTH (US author, i.e. Philip Roth) + KO (=finally put down, i.e. a knockout in boxing); the reference is to US-Latvian artist Mark Rothko (1903-70) |
| 20 | PILCHARD | Fish recalled small piece difficult to chew
PILC (CLIP=small piece, e.g. of film; “recalled” indicates reversal) + HARD (=difficult to chew) |
| 23 | CHIMERA | Fancy that guy with time after start of canoodling
C<anoodling> (“start of” means first letter only) + HIM (=that guy) + ERA (=time, period); a chimera is any wild or idle fancy |
| 25 | SCISSOR | Cut? Is second in tally after cut
[IS + S (=second)] in SCOR<e> (=tally; “after cut” means last letter is dropped) |
| 27 | RIVER | Club heading off location of rowing meet?
<d>RIVER (=club, in golf; “heading off”) |
| 28 | GLUTINOUS | Excessive amount, I sense, is adhesive
GLUT (=excessive amount) + I + NOUS (=(common) sense) |
| 29 | SOLO | That far into the bass is more than enough for virtuoso passage
SO LO<w> (=that far into the bass); “is more than enough” means last letter is dropped |
| 30 | RAIN DANCE | Steps taken after lengthy drought?
Cryptic definition: the “steps” of the clue are dance steps! |
| Down | ||
| 01 | BOER WAR | Poet’s finished whiskey during pub conflict
[O’ER (=poet’s finished, i.e. poetic form of over) + W (=whiskey, in radio telecommunications)] in BAR (=pub) |
| 02 | LATHI | Weapon from overseas used in brawl at Higbury
Hidden (“used in”) in “brawL AT HIghbury; a lathi is a long, heavy stick, used as a weapon in India |
| 03 | DIRT TRACK | Gossip linked to dog race venue
DIRT (=gossip, as in to dish the dirt) + TRACK (=(to) dog, trace) |
| 04 | ZEPPELIN | Rock band ditching light air transport
<led> ZEPPELIN (=rock band); “ditching light (=L.E.D, i.e. light-emitting diode)” means letters “led” are dropped |
| 05 | DANUBE | Call time finally about a Northern river
[A + N (=Northern)] in [DUB (=(to) call, term) + <tim>E (“finally” means last letter only)] |
| 07 | AMERICANA | Article on spread of Cinerama material to the US?
A (=article, in grammar) + *(CINERAMA); “spread of” is anagram indicator |
| 08 | SATISFY | It’s head of fox that’s brought in for one meet
[TIS (=it’s) + F<ox> (“head of” means first letter only)] in SAY (=for one, for instance); to meet a condition or requirement is to satisfy it |
| 09 | BEER | Alcohol more satisfying when not teetotal
BE<tt>ER (=more satisfying); “when not teetotal (=TT)” means letters “tt” are dropped |
| 15 | RETRIEVAL | Earlier TV broadcast? Accessing archives, perhaps
*(EARLIER TV); “broadcast” is anagram indicator |
| 17 | RECTIFIED | Dodgy credit around source of financing that is put right
[F<inancing> (“source of” means first letter only) + I.E. (=that is)] in *(CREDIT); “dodgy” is anagram indicator |
| 18 | MISSOURI | The writer’s upset about one’s ill-tempered state
[I’S (=one’s) + SOUR (=ill-tempered)] in MI (I’M=the writer’s; “upset” indicates vertical reversal) |
| 19 | RECORDS | Communists seizing my chronicles
COR (=my, as exclamation of surprise) in REDS (=Communists) |
| 21 | DURESSE | Imprisonment wrongly used, keeping most of the others inside
RES<t> (=the others; “most of” means last letter is dropped) in *(USED); “wrongly” is anagram indicator; duress(e) can mean imprisonment as well as constraint, coercion |
| 22 | HANGER | One making alterations ignoring first location for clothes?
<c>HANGER (=one making alterations); “ignoring first” means first letter is dropped |
| 24 | EARL | Each pair of opposing sides produces a nobleman
EA (=each) + R (=right) + L (=left, i.e. pair of opposing sides) |
Excellent as ever from Phi. I didn’t know that spelling of DURESSE but it had to be that. I vaguely remember the berries thing from QI. Thanks both.
Thanks both. Struggled with unknowns being ROTHKO and RARA AVIS and got needlessly carried away having entered DANUBE and BERRIES early that there might be a ‘blue’ theme
Thanks both.
I enjoyed this crossword. By coincidence, I saw the relevant edition of QI last night on BBCi.
Thanks Phi and RR. About half of this went in quite easily, but the other half was a struggle. All good though, very much up to Phi’s usual standard. I’ve heard that fact about bananas before so I’m disappointed in myself that it took me so long to twig what the clue was getting at. Very good indeed! RARA AVIS is new to me, but the clue is fair.
An enjoyable and fairly quick solve, although we had to check the alternative sprlling DURESSE.
Grasping at straws and knowing Phi has a number of CATS, is there a feline theme? We know of PILCHARD from a children’s TV series, and wonder if some of the other entries might be names people have given to their cats. Just a thought.
Favourites were RARA AVIS, GREASY SPOON and CHIMERA.
Thanks, Phi and RR.
Never heard of RARA AVIS & nowhere close to twigging it from the wordplay having missed the pluralisation of artists thereby wrongly assuming the first word had to be rare. Had to confirm the spelling of DURESSE in the BRB & was unaware a banana was a berry. Still pleased to get within 1 of a finish as thought it pretty tricky in places & very enjoyable. Standouts for me – ZEPPELIN, BOER WAR, DIRT TRACK, ROTHKO & BEER.
Thanks to Phi & RR
Another enjoyable puzzle from Phi. I don’t know if other solvers have also checked into the definition of “berries”, but apparently strawberries and raspberries don’t qualify, although bananas and avocados do. What you might find at the supermarket masquerading as a berry might really be a drupe, and pome, or an accessory fruit perhaps.
Thanks to Phi and RR.
Bizarrely, I had totally forgotten about CATS the musical and couldn’t get that. Conversely, ROTHKO was easy because of a piece of music by Morton Feldman called Rothko Chapel (which I think I once saw performed in the presence of the composer).
The American equivalent of the greasy spoon (or do they use the same term?) has its own slang, I discovered. So milk is CAT’S BEER, beans are WHISTLE BERRIES, gravy is the MISSOURI RIVER, and ZEPPELIN in a HANGER (sic, in my source, which I stuck to, because HANGER is a friendlier word) is a hot dog. Amongst all the other 7, ROTHKO was a bonus (wonderfully calming pictures seen in situ – I think Tate Modern has/had a Rothko room).
Phi – thanks for the culinary insights! The Rothko room in Tate Modern was designed according to Rothko’s specification to house the Seagram murals so they could be viewed in the perfect light conditions. I don’t think it’s there any more, unfortunately – it was a personal favourite. I used to work in the building next door and would visit often.