February is not far off its end. Spring is not far away. Birds are singing outside. What’s that weird sound I hear nearby? A kind of whooshing, scuttering. Where is it coming from? It sounds like its coming from over there – but when I go there it sounds like its coming from somewhere else. It’s coming from the walls! There’s a basilisk in the house !!
No, it’s alright.
It’s only a Serpent puzzle going round in my head.
As expected from this solver it is quite a tussle.
I did get a few quite quickly: 9, a hidden, and 12, a straight anagram.
There are far fewer anagrams than most puzzles and most are partial or otherwise have a quirk that makes you turn another device, e.g. 18 down.
Also, several homophone clues, a form I find particularly hard especially in a well crafted clue like 25
For top wordplay I pick the final clue I solve 11: I have never seen “sleeping” being used like that before.
And being a Serpent puzzle of course there is a Nina.
When I first glanced at the puzzle I thought the top and bottom unches might be used for a message, then forgot about that when straining my brain to solve the clues. So it was only after finishing the puzzle I looked again and saw:
NICK CAVE at the top, and BAD SEEDS, his band, at the bottom <Wiki>
I don’t know much about this band beyond their name so I don’t know if there is some kind of anniversary, or if there are any other references in the clues and answers. Anyone who knows more please tell. I do think that spotting that Nina before finishing some of the down clues would certainly help solving. As it happens I had more trouble with some of the across clues. Anyway I’m off for a little lie-down.
| Across | ||
|---|---|---|
| 9 | IGNORANCE | Part of sovereign or ancestral state displaying little enlightenment (9) Hidden in sovereIGN OR ANCEstral. First one in. |
| 10 | BEAUX | Heard what’s used to fiddle objects of desire (5) Homophone “Bow” HInd: heard |
| 11 | BORED | Sleeping men apparently showing little interest (5) OR (men, Other Rank) inside BED (sleeping). Great wordplay. Last one in. |
| 12 | GRIEVANCE | Vice and anger could become a source of resentment (9) (VICE ANGER)* AInd: could become. |
| 13 | ENCHANT | Spell “preference” without a ‘p’ (7) [p]ENCHANT (preference) the fact that the required synonym also begins with P gives you a double-take of doubt |
| 15 | AMBIENT | Compass taking in two points of the surrounding area (7) EN (two points) in AMBIT (compass) |
| 17 | BIRTHDAY PARTY | Section in novel by Hardy: it’s a celebration of life (8,5) PART inside (BY HARDY IT)* AInd: novel. Wonderful conjunction of anagram indicator and fodder |
| 19 | SINUOUS | Windy hollow around middle of ground (7) [gr]OU[nd] in SINUS (hollow) |
| 20 | ADDRESS | Where one might deliver speech (7) Double Definition. Deliver as in delivering post |
| 22 | PLATITUDE | Quietly play hackneyed phrase? (9) P (quietly) LATITUDE (play) |
| 24 | RECUR | Part of core curriculum to come up time and again (5) Hidden in coRE CURriculum |
| 25 | RAISE | Upgrade level in auditorium (5) Homophone “raze” for level, as in flatten & destroy, HInd: in auditorium. Penultimate clue answered, and later understood. Initially I thought a “raise” might be a part of an auditorium – like stage, apron, circle, stalls etc. |
| 26 | BOUNDLESS | Order to restrict jumping with no restraint (9) “BOUND LESS!” as an order, maybe to Zebedee |
| Down | ||
| 1 | NIBBLE | Writer wasted, but not with form of consumption (6) NIB (writer) BLE[w] (wasted, remove W[ith]). A very minimal form of consumption |
| 2 | INFRACTION | Breach of law during French court case (10) IN (during) FR[ench] ACTION (court case) |
| 3 | CRUD | Vintage director’s filthy material (4) CRU (vintage) D[irector] |
| 4 | KNIGHT | Man nearly detained in Kuwait on vacation (6) NIGH (nearly) in K[uwai]T. Man on a chessboard |
| 5 | CELIBACY | State prohibiting act of Congress? (8) Cryptic single Def. (or &Lit if you like?) which misleads to make you think of some Southern US State |
| 6 | ABOVE-BOARD | Straight and too respectable for gaming area (5-5) ABOVE (too respectable) BOARD (gaming area) |
| 7 | VAIN | Taking two lots of vaccines periodically would be futile (4) VAccINes take two pairs of letters, regularly |
| 8 | EXCEPT | Save record held by court introduced by former partner (6) EX (former partner) EP (record) in C[our]T |
| 14 | AUTHORISED | Entitled lives getting written about (10) IS (lives) in AUTHORED (written) |
| 16 | ENTRENCHED | Inflexible military cuts almost destroy Guards (10) TRENCHE[s] (military cuts, almost) inside (guards, guarded by) END (destroy) |
| 18 | DISTURBS | All but the beginning of absurdist broadcast is upsetting (8) ([a]BSURDIST)* AInd: broadcast. Even with the clear instruction to ignore the leading “A” it was very difficult to think of an anagram without trying to include it |
| 19 | SUPERB | Newspaper employee receives a fine (6) PER (a) inside SUB (newspaper employee, sub-editor) |
| 20 | AVENUE | What provides introduction to aristocratic place? (6) A[ristocratic] VENUE (place) (edit) and whole clue is &Lit |
| 21 | STRESS | Force opening of safety lock (6) S[afety] TRESS (lock, hair) |
| 23 | ARIA | American tune recalled part of opera? (4) A[merican] AIR< (tune, recalled) |
| 24 | RODE | What one did in cowboy competition mainly (4) RODE[o] (cowboy competition, mainly) &Lit |
I always love this setter’s work in The Telegraph where there’s usually something going on in the grid, and I see it’s the same here with a fabulous Nina. Thought the puzzle was “superb” (couldn’t resist it)
ENCHANT made me laugh, I thought the fodder in BIRTHDAY PARTY a great spot, liked PLATITUDE and AVENUE (though clocked that immediately), and the clever NIBBLE but my favourite was probably CELIBACY though BORED ran it close.
Many thanks to Serpent and BM.
Though the expected answers were clear enough, cru is not at all the same as vintage (one says where, the other when), nor is CELIBACY the absence of congress (that is chastity or abstinence).
Not too venomous. Favourite is AUTHORISED. Runner up NIBBLE. The anagrams were good fun and I liked the used of latitude for play and penchant for preference in those two clues. Thanks Serpent and BM.
Spotting the Nina, after the NE corner had been slow to yield, helped me with NIBBLE for which I had been sure the def. had to be ‘Writer’. Lots to like including the semi-&lits RODEO and AVENUE and my favourite, the ‘Sleeping men’ trick for BORED.
Thanks to Serpent and beermagnet
I always feel rather pleased with myself if I finish a Serpent. NIBBLE held out til last – I was fixated on the TB version of consumption and failed to spot the writer’s NIB for ages. ENTRENCHED was the last but one and the pdm with ‘military cuts almost’ was delightful. BORED, BIRTHDAY PARTY, DISTURBS and RODE were my other favourites. Along with CELIBACY: Ian SW3 @2 – I’m not sure I agree with your point there. Chambers defines the word as ‘Abstention from sexual relations’ (and also defines chastity as celibacy!) but I feel it has the added sense of a rule or requirement which chastity does not. Abstinence is too broad, surely?
Thanks Serpent and beermagnet
Nick Cave’s old band was the BIRTHDAY PARTY.
Postmark @5, celibacy is just the state of being unmarried. It only acquires the element of a rule if that state is required by an authority (the Church, say) or a vow, but the same is true of chastity. If Chambers says otherwise, then Chambers is wrong. That’s why I don’t waste money on modern dictionaries.
Ian SW3 @7 – being a simple soul, I have to rely on dictionaries and a cursory glance at the internet shows Collins, Oxford and Cambridge all agreeing with Chambers that celibacy is the absence of sexual relations, with or without reference to marriage. Which source are you using?
Absolutely spot on. So neat. Nick at the top, Seeds at the bottom and Birthday party in the middle
Great tribute to one of Australis’a finest exports.
The second appearance here of Nick Cave as a ghost theme (not a ghosteen) following Hoskins celebration of Stagger Lee last April.
Many thanks to Serpent and beermagnet for the excellent crossword and blog.
Another 19d crossword. I spotted the Nina but don’t know a lot about the theme. Too many favourites to pick just one or two
Many thanks to Serpent and beermagnet
Cracking puzzle. About 3/4 went in quite quickly but the last 1/4 was a real slog. But well worth persevering with. Thanks, Serpent & beermagnet.
Completely oblivious to the Nina, but as Quizzy_Bob says, the Birthday Party was Nick Cave’s band before the Bad Seeds – and some would say better than the Bad Seeds. I don’t know the specific date, but the Bad Seeds formed in 1983, so it’s their 40th anniversary this year.
Ian SW3 – Surely being celibate is a de facto abstinent state unless you countenance sex outside marriage? How shocking!
Stephen L I know Serpent in the Indy and Basilisk in the FT as well as his One Across persona but what nom de plume does he use in the telegraph please?
gsolphotog @13, he uses the Serpent.
It’s always a joy solving a crossword by Serpent. Seeing the nina helped with several clues — I know Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds but I was unaware of the BIRTHDAY PARTY connection. I had many favourites including PLATITUDE, RAISE, NIBBLE, CRUD, ENTRENCHED, and AVENUE. Thanks beermagnet for the blog.
Just reading through the revue as I didn’t have time this morning but I think that AVENUE is an “all in one” (hence me highlighting it as a favourite) as Chambers (and Collins) has it as the principal approach to a large country house.
My dictionary defines celibacy as “The state of being married; specif., the law which forbids the clergy in the Western Church to live in a married state.” No mention of the other thing. That is the meaning of its Latin root and its cognates in other languages. I suspect people began using it as a jocose substitute for chasity, in much the same way they used the grammatical term gender as a jocose substitute for biological sex, and over time those who didn’t know better failed to get the joke.
Yes and my Oxford (1963 edition) agrees with Ian SW3 – however Serpent has added the question mark ‘act of Congress ?’ – perhaps the ? is to acknowledge the controversial inaccuracy ?
This celibacy thing intrigued me many years ago when I read the dictionary definition as “being unmarried”. None of the people I knew used it that way and it was only in the nineties, I think, did the abstaining from sex get into Chambers. I also read in Orwell’s 1984 that Winston Smith had a celibate marriage, so the abstaining from sex meaning has bee around for a long time. Words change meanings over time.
Many thanks to beermagnet for the excellent blog and to everyone who has taken the time to comment.
Stephen L at #16: You are right 20d is another &Lit I have fixed the blog.
Sorry I missed “The Birthday Party” as part of the Nina – even after reading that Wiki page!
Not sorry I wasn’t around yesterday afternoon to join in the celibacy “debate”
Thanks again to Serpent