A plain 12 x 12 puzzle for this month’s competition.
I found this relatively straightforward, although as usual there were several obscure words that I had to verify in Chambers, from which I take the definitions that appear below. Now to see if I can repeat last month’s success, when my clue to GASTROSOPHER didn’t get lost in the post and attracted an HC mark from Azed.
Update – this is the postbox where I posted this month’s entry last Thursday. It hasn’t been emptied since, despite repeated appeals to Royal Mail.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | BURSCH |
German student returned to grind attending school (6)
|
| RUB (rev), SCH. Apparently it specifically means a student in a German university. | ||
| 6 | SAPEGO |
Former skin disease like this envelops a leg (6)
|
| A PEG in SO. It’s a Shakespearean spelling of serpigo (which means a spreading or creeping skin disease, such as ringworm). | ||
| 11 | ASANA |
Exercise position, one of healing abandoned by Tory (5)
|
| A SANA(tory). | ||
| 12 | RIGOR |
King with prince exhibiting austerity? (5)
|
| R(ex), IGOR. Prince Igor is best known as the title figure of the opera by Borodin. Although this spelling is used in British English, it is mainly confined to medical or botanical usages. “Rigour” is the more usual spelling when austerity is meant. | ||
| 13 | EMUNCTION |
Continue spreading round mass, clearing waste rarely (9)
|
| M in *CONTINUE. | ||
| 14 | TENE |
Grief forgotten in chasteness (4)
|
| Hidden in “chasteness”. “Forgotten” indicates that it is an archaism. | ||
| 16 | LASSIE |
Non-speaking film star portrayed as twit in press (6)
|
| ASS in LIE. But she did bark, I think! | ||
| 17 | LOITER |
Varying role involving activity of computers, idle (6)
|
| IT in *ROLE. | ||
| 18 | EXTRASENSORY |
Psychic unusually muddled yes/nos, right? (12)
|
| EXTRA (unusually) *(YES NOS R). | ||
| 19 | PROCATHEDRAL |
A lord combining with chapter ‘promoted’ church (12)
|
| *(A LORD CHAPTER). It denotes a church temporarily used as a cathedral. | ||
| 23 | RANINE |
Artist muses, what one might call a bit down in the mouth (6)
|
| RA (artist) NINE (muses). It’s defined as “of the underside of the tongue”.
|
||
| 25 | ANCILE |
Ultimate in protection caeli dispatched ? for Rome? (6)
|
| *((protectio)N CAELI). In ancient Rome, the shield believed to have fallen from heaven and on whose safety the prosperity of Rome depended. As the last two words form no part of the wordplay, I think that this can be classified as a semi & lit clue. | ||
| 28 | WEEP |
Pipe spelt with little p (4)
|
| A charade of WEE (little) P. As “pipe” can be defined as both “peep” and “weep”, care was required. | ||
| 29 | COMPRADOR |
Foreign agent in committee with gallery confronting king (9)
|
| COM(mittee), PRADO (art gallery in Madrid), R(ex). | ||
| 30 | IONIA |
E. European region, region I adopt in part (5)
|
| Hidden in “region I adopt”. | ||
| 31 | BUTEO |
Large predator accounting for duck on Scottish island (5)
|
| BUTE (Scottish island) O. | ||
| 32 | STEELD |
Engraving maybe daughter posted in Scotland (6)
|
| STEEL (engraving) D(aughter). This is the past participle of the verb “to stell”, which can mean to fix or post in Scotland. | ||
| 33 | DECERN |
Judge taking amusement after retiring in private room (6)
|
| REC (rev) inside DEN. Judge here is a verb. | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | BASTLE |
Tables converted in home protecting e.g. northerner (6)
|
| *TABLES. It’s a fortified house. | ||
| 2 | USNEA |
Tree moss from New England in its native environment (5)
|
| NE in USA. | ||
| 3 | RAIN-STONE |
Magician’s instrument ? art’s in waving one (9)
|
| *(ARTS IN ONE). | ||
| 4 | CAMBIA |
Root layers, twisted, old, with endless imbalance (6)
|
| CAM (an alternative spelling of “kam”, which means awry or twisted: a Shakespearean term), BIA(s). | ||
| 5 | HOUSE-STEWARD |
Grand family manager employs ten mostly in grand family historically (12)
|
| USES TE(n) inside HOWARD (historically one of the leading aristocratic families of England). | ||
| 6 | SINGLE-HANDED |
By oneself (12)
|
| The competition word. | ||
| 7 | ARCHON |
Chief magistrate with a bow receiving Henry, note (6)
|
| H(enry) in ARCO (with the bow, musically speaking), N. | ||
| 8 | PITH |
Substance, hard, found at bottom of mine (4)
|
| A simple charade of PIT H(ard). | ||
| 9 | GOOSE |
Silly sentimentality’s ultimate in piffle (5)
|
| GOO (sentimentality)’S (piffl)E. “Silly” here is a noun, meaning a silly person. | ||
| 10 | ORNERY |
Stubborn American making tracks after arrangement for Reno (6)
|
| *RENO, RY (railway, or tracks). | ||
| 15 | STORIETTE |
Novella that is distinguished by blue ribbon in shop (9)
|
| IE (that is) TT (Blue Ribbon) in STORE. The Blue Ribbon Army was a teetotal organisation founded in America in 1875. | ||
| 19 | PRECIS |
Abstract pictures, daubed, central couple disposed of (6)
|
| *PIC(tu)RES. | ||
| 20 | ANTRAL |
Turkey stuffing denoting rear end of body cavity (6)
|
| TR (Turkey IVR code) inside ANAL. | ||
| 21 | ENGOBE |
E.g. bone is crushed for potter’s paste (6)
|
| *(EG BONE). | ||
| 22 | LEPTON |
Mite unpacked present in course of Christmas, getting up (6)
|
| P(resen)T (unpacked) inside NOEL (rev). A lepton is the smallest ancient Greek coin, translated as “mite” in the New Testament. | ||
| 24 | AFOOT |
Fragment of ancient poetry’s measure, stirring (5)
|
| Another simple charade: A FOOT. | ||
| 26 | LEGER |
Old swindler regarding set up (5)
|
| RE GEL (set) (rev). | ||
| 27 | SPIE |
No longer observe special rule book (4)
|
| S(pecial) PIE (a book of rules used by the Church). |
Good blog. The only one that I had a question on was WEEP. I see the listing in Chambers, and that seemed the obvious answer, but I am not familiar with a usage in which “to pipe” means “to weep.” I guess the shared sense has something to do with transmitting fluid somehow?
“Pipe” is actually defined as “to weep” in the 10th edition. Last but one definition.
Stefan
Thanks Azed and bridgesong.
3dn: I think this really needs to be *(ARTS IN) plus ONE, given the position of the anagram indicator.
Thanks for the blog,maybe RIGOR could have had a US indication for this austerity meaning. I know the PRADO as a museum for 29AC. It does have an incredible art collection, maybe the Spanish call it a gallery or it is a translation issue. The four long words forming a cross in the middle were very helpful this week.
I’m not sure that RIGOR needs a US indicator Roz @4. Chambers has…
“rigour n …..hardness; rigor; ……; austerity;…”. It’s true that it also has “rigor n … another, chiefly American, spelling of rigour” but chiefly indicates not necessarily exclusive (“more usual” as bridgesong indicates) as the first quotation demonstrates.
On another note, bridgesong, are you willing to share the clue for last month’s GASTROSOPHER which got an HC? Mine, which didn’t get a mention was “Oliver maybe cooking roast, hopes to tuck into Gordon Ramsay starters”
Tim C @5: sadly, I failed to save my competition entry but it involved an anagram of ROAST GOPHERS with a reference to the French gastrosopher Brillat-Saverin.
For my chances of success this month, see the update above.
I agree with Roz@4 about the Prado. A gallery is essentially a place that sells artworks, while a museum curates and displays art (and/or other stuff), simply for the enjoyment and edification of visitors. I thought DECERN (33ac) looked like an archaic word and wondered why it hadn’t been flagged as such, but I see from Chambers it comes from Scots law.
29ac: Chambers 2011 and 2014 both include among the definitions of gallery “a room or building for the exhibition of works of art”.
Great fun as always. Thanks both.
Um, in the gallery discussion, aren’t you all forgetting the Tate? It comes up regularly in crosswords as that.
I agree with PB@3 about 3d.
As far as I know the Prado is called the Prado Museum, I have been many times. The Spanish name may be different but I do not know. The Tate is called the Tate Gallery. The Ashmolean Museum has a great art collection but you would never call it the Ashmoleam gallery.
I should have acknowledged Pelham Barton’s amendment to my parsing of 3dn, but it didn’t seem that crucial. However, now that it’s been mentioned again, I’m happy to accept the correction.
A bit late so probably no-one will read this. Thanks to Azed & bridgesong and welcome all. Sorry about post problems. The box is just opposite my house and the collectors are usually waiting for 4.30 when I cross to post my monthly effort.
I’ve lost my notes on this but think I completed it on the day. I do remember selecting PROCATHEDRAL as my favourite largely for recalling Liverpool’s long-standing version and the competitive nature in this city. “One to spare” as the jingle goes.
[TimC@5, if it is of any interest, my HC clue for this puzzle was “Condition of Vendée Global entry? Force eight, Land’s End, end of mast missing.” (EIGHT LANDS END – masT)*. ]