Brummie is the Guardian's Tuesday inquisitor.
This was an accessible Brummie puzzle. The setter sometimes has a theme in his crosswords, but I couldn't find one today. All in all, pretty straightforward, although it did require a little easy general knowledge (SWAN, NEW FOREST etc). A couple of the definitions were a bit loose if I'm being picky – I'm thinking of the clues for INCISOR and ZEPPELIN.
Thanks, Brummie.
| ACROSS | ||
| 8 | WELL-TO-DO |
Rolling in it as the result of my agitation (4-2-2)
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WELL! ("my!") + TO-DO ("agitation") |
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| 9 | WATCH |
Police team taking top off chain guard (5)
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(S)WAT ("police team", taking top off) + ch. (chain) |
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| 10 | SPOT |
Mark wastes comeback (4)
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<=TOPS ("wastes" as in kills, comeback) |
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| 11 | FINANCIERS |
Provided inverted crannies designed for gnomes? (10)
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<=IF ("provided", inverted) + *(crannies) [anag:designed] |
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| 12 | PLAGUE |
Place associated with fever epidemic (6)
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Pl. (place) associated with AGUE ("fever") |
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| 14 | RESETTLE |
Alight one more time on bench (8)
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RE ("on") + SETTLE ("bench") |
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| 16 | INCISOR |
Mouthy thing elected Conservative — is nothing right? (7)
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IN ("elected") + C (Conservative) + IS + O (nothing) + R (right) |
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| 18 | LA PALMA |
One tree in the French island (2,5)
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A ("one") + PALM (tree) in LA ("the" in "French") |
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| 21 | AFFECTED |
Fancy decaff tea — not one that’s pretentious (8)
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*(decaff te) [anag:fancy] where TE is TE(a), but not A (one) |
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| 23 | CHERRY |
Fruit makes pop star extremely randy (6)
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CHER ("pop star") + [extremely] R(and)Y |
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| 24 | BREAK POINT |
Intermission. It’s not good for a server (5,5)
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Double definition, the second referring to the point in tennis or badminton where the server is under pressure to win the point or they will lose the game. |
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| 26 | POOL |
Mere game? (4)
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Double definition |
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| 27 | SHEEP |
Odious ultimately servile character, one lacking initiative (5)
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(odiou)S [ultimately] + (Uriah) HEEP ("servile character" in Charles Dickens' David Copperfield) |
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| 28 | ENLISTED |
Tip when carrying table: middle of leg is joined (8)
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END ("tip") when carrying LIST ("table") + [middle of] (l)E(g) |
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| DOWN | ||
| 1 | ZEPPELIN |
The one that ended in disaster was the first to leave the band (8)
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LED ("was the first") to leave (Led) ZEPPELIN ("the (rock) band") |
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| 2 | BLOT |
Spoil line inserted in software program (4)
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L (line) inserted in BOT ("software program") |
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| 3 | COFFEE |
Commodity box not popular with central Greece (6)
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COFF(in) ("box", not IN ("popular")) with [central] (gr)EE(ce) |
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| 4 | COUNTRY |
Land matter disheartened revolutionary (7)
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COUNT ("matter") + [disheartened] R(evolutionar)Y |
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| 5 | SWAN |
Small pasty-faced bulb developer (4)
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S (small) + WAN ("pasty-faced") Refers to Joseph Swan (1828-1914), the English inventor credited with developing the incandescent light bulb. |
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| 6 | STRIPTEASE |
It provocatively reveals band drinks last of moonshine (10)
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STRIP ("band") + TEAS ("drinks) + [last of] (moonshin)E |
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| 7 | CHORAL |
Type of music sung in French or Albanian (6)
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Hidden [in] "FrenCH OR ALbanian" |
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| 13 | GRIPE WATER |
It brings relief to a minor reptile that’s swallowed abandoned wiper (5,5)
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GATER ("reptile") that's swallowed *(wiper) [anag:abandoned] |
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| 15 | SEA |
Large liquid expanse of hydrogen discharged from small African tree (3)
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H (hydrogen) discharged from S(h)EA ("small African tree") |
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| 17 |
See 26
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| 19 | MAROONED |
Presented a rear view across a river that’s cut off (8)
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MOONED ("presented a rear view") across A + R (river) |
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| 20 | ADMIRER |
Fan of Slough confined by a physician! (7)
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MIRE ("slough") confined by A Dr. (doctor, so "physician") |
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| 22 | FOREST |
New one, perhaps, needs backing of the others (6)
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[backing] <=OF + REST ("others") |
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| 23 | CUTTLE |
Don’t start deliberately to sink a marine creature! (6)
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[don't start] (s)CUTTLE ("deliberately sink") |
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| 25 | POPE |
Police finally after father who released a bull (4)
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(polic)E [finally] after POP ("father") |
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| 26, 17 | PASS OUT |
Action on the pitch made public swoon (4,3)
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PASS ("action on the pitch") + OUT ("made public") |
Enjoyed that. NHO the inventor, but clearly clued. Needed the blog for a few parsings, e.g. Zeppelin. Thanks Brummie and loonapick
I have learnt today about a new Swan (and I always thought Edison brought us the lightbulb?), that gnomes are financiers, an African tree, and gripe water. Mind you, I fully expect to forget them all within a few days. “New one” as a definition for FOREST was a bit of a stretch, and it took me a while to get the British connection. I got stuck with COFFEE thinking “not popular” gave “off”. Settle/bench? The SE quarter was the stickiest, not helped by my putting ENROLLED for 28a.
There were some very clever clues here that brought big smiles bordering on chuckles — such as WELL-TO-DO, ZEPPELIN, MAROONED, POPE.
Thanks Brummie & Loonapick.
Thanks, Brummie and loonapick!
FOREST
Does ‘new one perhaps’ refer to the NEW FOREST in Southern England?
Ha! I came here this morning, primarily to understand the parsing for 19d which had entirely escaped me. ‘Presenting a rear view’ was clearly MIRRORED which fitted with all the crossers and was a neat cryptic def … Doh!
nho SWAN, the inventor, so was pleased to find that checked out on Google. I think the full stop in BREAK POINT is serving a purpose: is it not indicating the POINT? GATER spelled that way was a new one on me.
Thanks Brummie and loonapick
I srruggled a little but quite a lot of easier clues provided helpful crossers. It took me a little while to see the definition of FOREST, but I laughed when I did. I dyd not share loonapick’s quibbles and enjoyed this a lot.
Thanks loonapick and Brummie
Britannica:
SETTLE, long wooden BENCH with backrest and arms, designed to seat several people. Originating in Europe in the 10th century, it was apparently derived from the chest, a resemblance often retained, with additional elements based on the monastic choir stall.
KVa @ 3, that’s what I eventually assumed.
Dnk about the bright Mr Swan (as against Ben Franklin, inter alia). Nice puzzle, thanks Brummie and loonapick.
Three of you managed to post while I was typing. Yes Kva @3 it’s the NEW FOREST>
GDU ; a settle is a wooden bench with sides and a back and a lidded seat that you can store things in.
Crossed again.
So I’ll add “settle” to the things I’ve learnt today. 😉
Theme is black
Nice spot about the fullstop in BREAK POINT PostMark @4
Had to come here for the parsing of ENLISTED. I just couldn’t get out of the train of thought that “tip”was LIST. Also misdirected by not popular=OFF like GDU @2 until the penny dropped.
A good challenge today.
I see from the comments that I haven’t been comprehensive enough in my explanation of answers/definitions. I struggle with getting this balance right as I don’t want to come over as patronising. I assume that the average Guardian or FT solver will have good levels of general knowledge, but don’t always remember to take non-UK solvers into consideration. I will try to do better in future.
Thanks loonapick for COFFEE. I thought I had parsed OFF EE and needed the C for box. No idea.
Also needed your help with the parsing of STOP – TOPS. I confidently bunged in ECHO for 10 as my FOI, and thought to ask the question, does Brummie do indirect anagrams? But thought better of it. Mark (OCHE, on floor for darts) wastes comeback?
Attempts at finding a theme led me to the possibility of refugee resettlement from the war against Ukraine, SWANSEA, LA PALMA, RESETTLE. I couldn’t go any further with that, but surely 5 and 15 Swan and Sea are significant somehow, and possibly the central column COUNTRY ADMIRER?
Bridgeyboy @ 12 – well done! I completely missed that!
So it is Bridgeyboy @13 I see the Donkey Lashers get a mention at 26 across.
Well spotted Bridgey boy.
Bridgeboy@12. Black plague, Blackpool, Black watch, Black spot, Black sheep, Black cherry, Black forest …….. ??
I’m old enough to remember the Gnomes of Zurich, but didn’t think that financiers in general were still gnomes these days.
Same trouble as Geoff Down Under with COFFEE: not popular = out? no, off? So why does C=box? or is toffee a commodity? Thanks for sorting that out.
I liked the break point in the clue for BREAK POINT, the mere game and GRIPE WATER.
Bridgeyboy @ 12, well done!
The financiers are the gnomes of Zurich, if anyone’s still wondering. Not an expression I’ve heard for a while
Black Country, Black Sea, black swan…
Chapeaux to PostMark re the full stop, and Bridgeyboy for spotting the theme.
Rather too many loose defs for my taste, but nothing to get too excited about.
Many thanks both.
Blackout, Black Pope (head of the Jesuits), black coffee…
Nice one Bridgeyboy and PostMark. Generally a straightforward solve with some smiles along the way, especially GRIPE WATER.
Ta Brummie & loonapick.
I parsed BREAK POINT as Postmark, making it one of today’s favourites……. forgot to check for a theme but not sure I’d have seen it. Thanks both and all
CUTTLE as opposed to cuttlefish was a new one on me, but not too hard to spot.
I was pleasantly amused by the definition for INCISOR, rather less so in the case of ZEPPELIN, though once I had the crossers it all made sense. And the surface for INCISOR was a delight.
I completely missed the cleverness of the clue for BREAK POINT; thank you PostMark@4.
I believe that Joseph Swan and Thomas Edison came up with the idea of the incandescent light bulb more or less at the same time and, rather than putting large amounts of money into the hands of the lawyers, agreed to share the credit.
Thanks to Brummie and loonapick. The day can only go downhill from here…
I rather liked the quirky definitions with ticks for FINANCIERS, INCISOR & POPE. Raised an eyebrow at GATER which isn’t spelled that way – even in Chambers
Black mark for not spotting the theme
Cheers B&L
For those that haven’t seen it yet:
Box = COFFIN
Popular = IN
So, BOX, not popular, is COFFIN without the IN.
19 down made me laugh, but that probably says more about me than 19 down.
Any pub named the “Black Swan” was always known as the “Mucky Duck” by my parents.
Biffed ‘spit’ at 10a as I didn’t think of ‘top’ as ‘wasted’: criminal slang is mot my strong suit.
Also a bit of an aqua theme with WELL (TO DO), POOL, SEA, SWAN, (GRIPE) WATER, MAROONED and CUTTLE…
Tough puzzle.
New for me: GRIPE WATER; Joseph SWAN developer of light bulb.
Liked INCISOR, COFFEE.
Thanks, both.
Good puzzle but Zeppelin defeated me ?
So the theme is the World Snooker Championship: sPOT, BREAK, POOL, and of course to get 147 you need to pot BLACK seven times: WATCH, SPOT, PLAGUE, CHERRY, SHEEP, FOREST, COUNTRY. And I probably missed a red somewhere….
Thanks Brummie for its creation and loonapick for a good blog. No harm in not spelling everything out!
Congrats Bridgeboy @12 for spotting the theme.
Thanks to Bridgeyboy@12. I looked at the completed puzzle for ages and didn’t spot the theme. I also was surprised by the spelling of GATER. However, Collins lists it as a variant.
Great fun puzzle – Brummie has his quirks but I do enjoy his style. “Mouthy thing” made me smile rather than wince.
Thanks, Brummie and Loonapick. Thanks also to Bridgeyboy @12 for highlighting the theme, which I missed (as per), and to PM @4 for spotting the clever use of the full stop, which resolves my query with that clue!
Loonapick @14 – I think the level of detail in your blogs is just fine – main priority is explaining how all the clues work. You can’t be expected to know what solvers do and don’t know and if you had to explain all the general knowledge references in a Brummie puzzle, you wouldn’t get the blog out before teatime. People can always ask questions in the comments or take themselves off to Wikipedia.
I made rather heavy weather of this – I blame it on the unfriendly grid – but I got there in the end and enjoyed the struggle.
Good clues. Several vague definitions, as already mentioned, but the wordplay was tight enough to overcome this. I liked WELL-TO-DO (for the ‘my’), MAROONED and GRIPE WATER. PASS OUT took me a while as at first I couldn’t break the clue into the right parts for the wordplay.
I missed the significance of the full stop in the clue for BREAK POINT (thanks PostMark) and naturally failed to spot a theme (bravo Bridgeyboy – was there ever a black POPE? 🙂 ).
Thanks to S&B
We had RARA AVIS in a puzzle not so long ago – an expression from a line by the Roman satirist Juvenal: Rara avis in terris nigroque simillima cygno (a rare bird in the lands, and very like a black SWAN).
Puzzled by parsing of 9ac
Fine with (S)WAT, but in what context is
‘CH’ a recognised abbreviation for ‘CHAIN’?
Thanks
Well done to Bridgeboy@12 and Peregrino@37 for combining to find the full extent of the very topical theme. It is 15 blacks for a 147 but I can only find 13, which is frustrating.
Shirl@32: Perhaps the most famous Black Swan is opposite the theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon and known throughout the town and the theatrical world as the Dirty Duck.
Thanks Brummie & loonapick
Yogdaws @ 43 ch = chain is the old imperial linear measure of 22 yards, the length of a cricket pitch.
Well done Bridgeyboy @12 for spotting the theme.
Joseph SWAN provided the electric lighting for the beautiful National Trust property Cragside in Northumberland – well worth a visit.
Loonapick @14: I think it’s helpful if you do (briefly) spell out how the GK references work; for example that the definition in ZEPPELIN is a reference to the Hindenburg disaster of 1937 – would everyone have got that?
Many thanks both.
Gervase @41…. Yes there is a black pope. See my comment @25 and here
Thanks Brummie and loonapick
If Collins lists GATER as “variant”, it actually means “mistake”. Itn is, of course, short for “alligatOr”.
Yes, well done to Bridgeyboy @12 and Peregrino @37 for spotting and enlarging upon the theme which completely escaped me. I was just happy to finish my first puzzle of the day without any mistakes and wasn’t too fussed I missed the theme or the ‘bulb developer’. Among others I liked the ‘New one, perhaps’ def for FOREST.
Thanks to loonapick and Brummie
Thanks to Google I’ve discovered a tribute band called Black Zeppelin and a place in Antarctica called Black Pass, so Brummie (and Mark Selby) seem to have their 15 blacks.
Thank you Brummie and loonapick – and Bridgeboy @12!
Does black out / pass out qualify?
cookie@51, see my comment @25
loonapick@14. I understand and commend you for not wanting to come over as patronising, but whether or not it’s UKGK, for the audience of a newer solver, or one of us who just didn’t get that clue, I think the more detail the better.
Tim C @52, yes, I saw your comment @25, but thought it referred to ‘blackout’ in the sense of war time, commodities, etc, apologies.
Don’t you need to pot a black 16 times for a 147 ? One after each red and one as the very final ball. There’s quite a few more blacks with ‘internals’ and ‘fragments’ : Black list, black tea, black palm and even ‘black as’ but that last one is stretching it somewhat ! Selby’s 147 was great – first one in a world final. My Chambers (2003) has ch as an abbreviation for linear unit chain.
Ta Brummie and loonapick.
Ah I see. Blackout and Black Out. Works both ways really doesn’t it cookie. 🙂
Tim C @47: Sorry! I missed your previous comment 🙁
Pleasant for the most part, but found myself fiddling about finally in the NW corner over SPOT and and BLOT, unsure about either of them. And with 3 crossers in place for 3d couldn’t decide whether Toffee or COFFEE was required, hadn’t realised that the box was a truncated coffin. Thought FINANCIERS was particularly clever.
It all looks black-and-white to me; thanks to Bridgeyboy @12 for pointing out the theme.
I liked ZEPPELIN for the ‘was the first to leave’ and BREAK POINT (thanks to PM @4) for the point.
Thanks Brummie and loonapick.
In “today I learned” territory: So apparently a commercially viable lightbulb was invented independently and simultaneously by Edison in the US and Swan in the UK. Both filed for patents simultaneously as well. Since that got in each other’s way, they had to merge operations for a while.
Incidentally, neither of them invented the lightbulb. The concept had been around for decades. (And (things I already knew): in Edison’s case, what “he” did wasn’t even mostly him–he had a small army of engineers working for him by that point. What he really invented was the modern research & development lab.)
My last one in was GRIPE WATER, which I also hadn’t heard of. I kept wondering what to do with the O in GATOR. It eventually had to be GRIPE WATOR, but that’s clearly not a thing.
Gator, not Gater. There isn’t an alternative spelling.
I dont think Brummie was quite the Inquisitor here but he did seem a bit trickier than usual.
And none the worse for it
Favourite was MAROONED
Thanks all;
Me @8, I meant the incandescent Edison re the light bulb, but it seems Ben Franklin was in fact in there too, among the ‘alia’. A bit like the AC/DC, Edison v Tesla war. Hey ho.
mrpenney@60 : the joint company Ediswan was well-known here till 1964
Very quick solve for me today, much quicker than yesterday’s Carpathian. Like E. Foster @61 I thought GATER for GATOR was a bit of a liberty.
Thanks to Brummie and loonapick.
Bit of a stretch here, but in addition to the 16 ‘blacks’ there are (some words doing double duty!): YELLOW Sea, GREEN Forest / Forest GREEN?, BROWN Out, BLUE Watch, and PINK Cuttle(fish). And the rather weak RED Cherry.
Completely missed the theme! Solved this in blissful ignorance. LOI was ZEPPELIN, which was my favourite. The definition works for me.
Thanks Brummie and loonapick (your blogging is 100% fine by me)
Thanks for the blog, totally missed the theme so thanks to everybody for contributions .
SWAN had a neat definition, Swan and Edison both used carbonised filaments; bamboo ,paper ,thread , all used but none were particularly good. They missed the tungsten filament which became the standard for many years.
They made it into “The Hound of the Baskervilles.
“I’ll have a row of electric lamps up here inside of six months , and you won’t know it again with a thousand-candle-power Swan and Edison right here in front of the hall door.”
Page71 ISBN 978-0-141-03432-4
Ch is also an abbreviation for chain in crochet patterns
I knew Mr. Swan. I have to thank Conan Doyal as when Sir Henry Baskerville arrives at a gloomy Baskerville Hall, he declares that he wants a “Swan and Edison” put in the front porch immediately.
The puzzle was tricky and I ran out of steam in the North with about 6 to go.
Thanks both.
What Ark Lark said@67, including the ‘100%’
[Gosh HoofItYouDonkey@70, when you said ‘I knew Mr. Swan’ I momentarily misunderstood and was hoping for some personal reminiscences of the great man (perhaps along the lines of ‘he could light up any room…’)…. Ah well.] [Of course you would have to be over 109 years old so silly me.]
Thanks Brummie, that was fun even though I missed the black connection. As usual there were many ticks including SHEEP, ENLISTED, MAROONED, CUTTLE, and PASS OUT. I never heard of GRIPE WATER or seen gator spelt gater — maybe “reportedly” before “minor reptile” would be more accurate but I think setters are entitled to a bit of “poetic license.” Thanks loonapick for the blog. As a non-UK solver I find your level of detail fine. If I’m still at a loss for GK other commenters seem to enjoy being helpful.
Got there, but the wrong way. I thought of box as COFFER and so couldn’t parse the answer. Similarly for 9ac where ‘Police team’ is already WATCH, but it meant the rest didn’t make sense. Still, bung it in anyway and come where to find out why I was wrong while being accidentally right.
I want 12a to be HOSPITAL but it doesn’t fit.
This, today, is inaccessible for me. Not one single clue!
[Steffen
Did you see the helpful link I posted for you yesterday?]
76. I didn’t but I will look at that. Thank you.
Is this a particularly difficult cryptic?
I would say that this was harder than average.
Am I miles away thinking of HOSPITAL for 12a?
Well, apart from it not being very cryptic, and not fitting….
Until crossers got in the way I had 26a as FISH. After all, fish is both a game and game.
Thanks for the fun Brummie and Loonapick for the blog.
I am intrigued by the snooker connection. 10 A is a sort of fit for the outcome of the World Snooker Final. Mr Selby twice retrieved significant deficits before losing. Wasting a comeback? That must be coincidence!
If there are 16 blacks to fit a 147 break, then what are they?
11 are clear: WATCH, SPOT, CHERRY, POOL, SHEEP, COFFEE, COUNTRY, SWAN, SEA, OUT, FOREST
2 are probable PLAGUE, POPE
LIST, PALM, PASS and ZEPPELIN have been suggested above
To which I would add WELL (bookshop or cricketer) and WATER ( recent film)
So potentially19, if not more
Phil @82 , I would add Blacklist to the definite , both a noun and verb, a term widely used in the 70s and 80s. Building firms would have a blacklist of names of union members and would not employ them . Blackwater also definite , very much in the news due to the water companies.
This puzzle was not only cleverer than me, the theme spotters are even cleverer. I’d never have spotted (ha!) all that despite having spent quite a few hours in front of the snooker over the past fortnight. Got most of it but caved with a few to go.
Surely the theme was Pop Music, not Black. Obviously [Led] Zeppelin, but also [Brian] Pool[e and the Tremeloes], the [Re]Settle[rs], [Neneh] Cherry, Country [Joe and the Fish], Maroon[ed] Five, Forest [Swords], [Blue] Blot, [Black]swan, Cuttle[fish Idol], [The] Pass[ed], [The] Plague[s]. Not to mention Coffee. I make that 13, and I got no assistance from Google, as you can well imagine.