Rodriguez provides today’s challenge.
… and quite a challenge it was! A first reading the clues showed that there is a theme, with 3d the key word. Rodriguez has managed to get no less than eleven 3s into the grid – quite an achievement, although it has meant the inclusion of a few unusual words and some General Knowledge. This did not spoil the enjoyment though and we have learnt a few things we didn’t know before tackling the puzzle! We’re still not sure about the parsing of 27ac – any thoughts out there?
WARE (‘where great bed is’) after UNA (feminine one in Spanish). We had to google The Great Bed of Ware – we’d never heard of it!
A reversal (‘to the left’) of SEE (spot) in an anagram (‘ground’) of FAIR
TULL (Jethro Tull – ‘agricultural reformer’) E (electronic)
E (first letter or ‘head’ of entertainment) + N N (‘news’) round LIGHT (soft) E (drug)
IV (4 in Roman numerals – ‘classical quartet’) in or ‘covered by’ TRIAL (hearing)
TA (cheers) in O + CL (150 in Roman numerals)
Double definition
Protesters taking part in a sit-in will have SAT IN
FUSED (joined) round or ‘banking’ a reversal (‘from the east’) of CO (company – ‘firm’)
A reversal (‘brought over’) of LAV (‘ladies, say’) + JEAN (material – 3d). We had not remembered Jean Valjean from ‘Les Miserables’, but a google search reminded us.
BRA (underwear) IN CELL (‘monastically accommodated’)
A homophone (‘for the audience’) of SWAYED (‘did rock and roll’)
TOP (best) + a reversal (‘returns’) of A1 (capital) ‘invested’ in US (compilers)
We’re not 100% sure about the parsing here – we think it must be: E V A (first letters or ‘leaders’ of excruciating Vogons Arthur) + DING, but we can’t find ‘ding’ as a synonym for ‘dent’
US (American) TWILL (material – 3d) I in JAM (stuff)
FALL (‘three months in NY’ – autumn to us Brits) FLAT (digs)
MA (first two letters in Madrid) + an anagram (‘when playing’) of TIRE + bAlL (alternate or ‘regular’ letters)
TED (‘kind of talk’) E (European) UM (‘I’m not sure’)
I (current) after SERGE (material – 3d)
SOT (drunk) in a reversal (‘knocked over’) of ST (street) + I (one) – a new word for us
Bert had to check this one when writing up the blog – LAWN is apparently a sort of fine linen or cambric, as well as a green grassy area – it was Joyce who had solved the clue initially.
FELT (material – 3d) + a reversal (‘rolling’) of PIT (stone)
WOOL (material – 3d) F (female)
LINE (‘what poet produces’) N (new)
DR (doctor – ‘medic’) after RE (touching) + ESS (suffix for the female of a species or occupation etc)
S (son) dALESMAN (a resident of the Yorkshire Dales for example) missing the first letter or ‘losing head’
An anagram (‘cryptic’) of HINT round E (European) REM (rock band). Bert had only heard of this extraordinary electronic instrument because the daughter of one of his walking group colleagues plays the theremin professionally. If you haven’t come across the instrument before, watch this
C (circa – ‘roughly’) RAYON (material – 3d)
A reversal (‘turned up’) of NUS (National Union of Students) + LIT (sozzled)
BLUE (pornographic) VELVET (material – 3d)
Hidden (‘innate’) in well-brED GEntleman
dictionary.cambridge.org
ding-
to damage the surface of something slightly by hitting it.
I have come across the phrase ‘ding and dent’ being used
by some car mechanics.
EVADING: I feel your parsing is absolutely all right.
Enjoyed the puzzle and the blog.
Thanks, Rodriguez and B&J!
Found this online:
Generally a “ding” is damage limited to about 1/2 inch in diameter, that does not damage the paint or leave an exposed area that can rust. Shopping carts, carelessly opened doors or rocks are the usual causes.
Larger, more extensively damaged areas that require metal work, repainting, or even panel replacement are usually described as ” Dents”. The difference between a Ding and a Dent is based on the size and type of damage as well as the effort and expense needed to make the repair.
I agree with your parsing of 27A. In my part of the world (Australia) dent and ding are synonyms.
I think you are spot on about 27a. A ding is a dent. The theme was easy to spot and helpful in a tricky puzzle. A1. Hard to select a top clue. I liked BRAIN CELL. Thanks.
Very nice. If I had to find a quibble, it would be that the Great Bed of Ware is on the V&A, not Ware. Perhaps is should be was.
Thanks, Rodriguez and B&J. Superb puzzle, as usual. I always work through the clues in order, across then down, but didn’t have to wait until I got to 3d to work out the theme, thanks to having heard Radcliffe & Maconie talking about Jethro Tull (the band) on the radio the other day, so that was fresh in my mind, which meant 10a came easily and strongly hinted at what 3d would be. I agree with Sofamore – hard to pick a favourite but BRA IN CELL is a strong contender.
I was familiar with ding meaning dent so no trouble there. OED and Collins list it as American usage, but I’ve definitely come across it in the UK.
“Convict in novel” is always going to be Valjean or Magwitch and I admit I considered the latter briefly until I counted the letters.
A splendid themed crossword, the only thing I didn’t know was the African hooligan but he was fairly clued.
I wonder how many comments there will be by the end of the day from people who were 8a of the Great Bed?
Many thanks to Rodriguez and B&J
Like Widdersbel, I got Jethro Tull early on, which gave a good start and, like B&J, I was increasingly impressed at the number of MATERIALs that Rodriguez had managed to include.
I was on the wrong track with EVADING, having taken the initial letters of Excruciating Vogons Arthur Dent and failing to parse ING – I’d never heard of a DING, so thanks for that.
Favourites were 9ac FREESIA, 1/12 JUST WILLIAM (happy memories), 5dn SERGEI, 9dn FELT TIP, 17dn SALESMAN (any mention of the Dales -it’s usually URE – is up for a tick from me), 18dn THEREMIN, which I knew from crosswords ( (extraordinary indeed – Paul clued it as ‘mere hint about unusual instrument’), 20dn CRAYON and 21dn SUNLIT.
Many thanks to Rodriguez for another super puzzle and to B&J for an equally super blog.
Just to add to the ding/dent discussion. I had no trouble equating them but only as verbs (somebody dinged/dented my car). Chambers has similar verbal meanings.
Loved the double duty of F in WOOLF
Flawless puzzle that sparkled all the way
He doesnt seem to have discovered the knack of setting a naff puzzle
Thank Clapton!
Let’s hope he never does!
Thank goodness the theme was fairly obvious from early on, not at all sure that I’d have managed this one otherwise. I did have to check on Rachmaninoff’s first name and consult with Mr G over the African hooligan but redeemed myself to some extent by knowing about the great bed and the convict.
Thanks to Rodriguez for the challenge and to B&J for the review.
Good ‘stuff’ if I may make that pun. Unobtrusive theme too, which is always nicer for me.
Having all those 3s is unobtrusive? I wouldn’t think so, but I do agree that it is a well-crafted puzzle.
The TWILL in JUST WILLIAM and the JEAN in VALJEAN makes thirteen 3s – even more impressive!
Remembered TSOTSI from the 2005 film, and I think it appeared in a Guardian Prize soon after.
Araucaria used it in 2010 & Azed in 2008.
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ding
…has an extensive 4 etymologies including: ‘(colloquial, role-playing games, especially video games) The act of levelling up.’
Now where have I heard that phrase before?
An excellent crossword. Thanks R & B&J
Silky smooth. The very opposite of lame.
Lovely puzzle, start to finish, with a theme that is artfully woven through the grid. JUST WILLIAM and BRAIN CELL my two standouts but I could have ticked virtually anything.
Petert @16: very nicely done!
Thanks Rodriguez and B&J
A nice challenge from Rodriguez, but we managed to get everything. We failed to parse EVADING, though; we got EVAD from initial letters and assumed part of the clue was missing which would explain ING. Favourites were TE DEUM and THEREMIN.
Thanks, Rodriguez and B&J.
Thanks both. Took ages but worth the effort; I googled a tentative le dium as I always forget TED for talks, to arrive at TE DIUM from the suggested corrections, one of which referenced this page! Also cheated to get the material in VALJEAN by looking up characters in Les Mis which isn’t in my sphere of reading or watching
Thanks Rodriguez for today’s best crossword. I missed LAWN and VALJEAN but all else made sense. My top picks were FREESIA, FOCUSED, TE DEUM, and TRIVIAL. Thanks B&J for the blog and to Petert @16 for the laugh.
Tricky crossword. Unfortunately not having an extensive knowledge of all the different types of fabric didn’t help. Also some guesses were correct but I couldn’t parse e.g. ESS ending and also missed the DING. Enjoyable nonetheless. Now I have to wait another three weeks for the next lot of James’s crosswords 🙁
Love Picaroon’s / Rodriguez / Buccaneer’s puzzles and had a busy week, so working backwards to get to complete the Independent versions. I dressmake so have sewn with most of these fabrics (and was sewing a banner for the Big One, going for green using recycled materials).
Ware is very proud of its Great Bed, with notices on all the inns it once resided in, even though it’s now to be found in the V&A, as Ian SW3 mentioned @3.
Thank you Bertandjoyce and Rodriguez.