Apologies to early commenters especially those who helped me with BEAM (KVa and Peter Owen) and POWERS (NeilW) as I have now updated the blog in a better format and I have been unable to transfer over your comments.
Because I couldn’t get my usual blogging tool to work first thing this morning, I was thankful that this was one of my fastest ever solves of a Guardian, except for some Monday write-ins. I have now regained access to the tool, so have resubmitted this blog in a more readable format.
The speed that I completed the puzzle doesn’t mean that it was a poor crossword, but the theme was instantly obvious even to a teetotaller like me, so that helped me to get things like IRISHMEN and PEATIEST without having to think too hard. I did struggle with a couple of parsings for BEAM and POWERS, but early commenters put me right and I have reflected their comments in the blog.
| ACROSS | ||
| 7 | BOURBONS |
Biscuits for European royalty (8)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 9 | COOPER |
Manager securing old craftsman needed by distillery (6)
|
| COPER (one who copes, so “manager”) securing O (old) | ||
| 10 | BEAM |
Summer smile (4)
|
| Double definition, the first referring to a summer beam, a large horizontal lintel. | ||
| 11 | EXISTENCES |
Exits scene that’s transformed lives (10)
|
| *(exits scenes) [anag:that’s transformed] | ||
| 12 | HUDSON |
Rabid hounds that can be seen running through New York (6)
|
| *(hounds) [anag:rabid] | ||
| 14 | IRISHMEN |
Islanders whose whisky has added character (8)
|
| Irish whisky is spelt “whiskey” so with an “added character” | ||
| 15 | HOOTCH |
Mountain dew bringing expression of disapproval by church (6)
|
| HOOT (“expression of disapproval”) by Ch. (church) | ||
| 17 | CHIN UP |
Mixed drink including last of Irish at home that’s said to raise spirits (4,2)
|
| CUP (“mixed drink”) including [last of] (Iris)H + IN (“at home”) | ||
| 20 | ORATORIO |
Two people speaking, nothing more, for large-scale musical work (8)
|
| ORATOR + I (“two people speaking”) with O (nothing) more | ||
| 22 | MORTAL |
Rum or malt not lasting forever (6)
|
| *(or malt) [anag:rum] | ||
| 23 | DISTILLERS |
Criticise bars used by sailors or alcohol suppliers (10)
|
| DIS (“criticise”) + TILLERS (“bars used by sailors”) | ||
| 24 | SWIG |
Americans serving whiskey inside returned for large draught (4)
|
| <=GIs (“Americans serving”, returned) with W (whiskey in the NATO phonetic alphabet) inside | ||
| 25 | CAIRNS |
Stone monuments for dogs (6)
|
| Double definition, the second referring to cairn terriers. | ||
| 26 | SLAPDASH |
Lackadaisical friends knocked back a little drink (8)
|
| <=PALS (“friends”, knocked back) + DASH (“a little drink”) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | ROSE BUSH |
Flowering plant grew on uncultivated area (4,4)
|
| ROSE (“grew”) on BUSH (“uncultivated area”) | ||
| 2 | DRAM |
Play ultimately lacking a little bit of spirit (4)
|
| DRAM(a) (“play”, lacking A) | ||
| 3 | POTEEN |
What’s still produced illegally in Ireland? (6)
|
| Cryptic definition, as poteen is illicitly distilled Irish whiskey. | ||
| 4 | SCOTTISH |
Such people prefer it to Scotch for themselves (8)
|
| Speaking as a Scot, I agree that I prefer to be called SCOTTISH rather than Scotch. | ||
| 5 | MOONSHINER |
Doctor seen by soldier about damaged eye who operates illicitly? (10)
|
| MO (Medical Officer, so “doctor seen by soldier”) + ON (“about”) + SHINER (“damaged eye”) | ||
| 6 | RED-EYE |
Cheap liquor that’s taken by fly-by-nights? (3-3)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 8 | SPIRIT |
Falls over after swallowing one strong drink (6)
|
| <=TRIPS (“falls”, over) swallowing I (one) | ||
| 13 | SHORT STORY |
Drams taken with party person? That’s less than novel (5,5)
|
| SHORTS (“drams”) taken with TORY (“party person”) | ||
| 16 | CARELESS |
Impetuous extremes of love seen in amorous action (8)
|
| [extremes of] L(ov)E seen in CARESS (“amorous action”) | ||
| 18 | PEATIEST |
Exercise covering a sample around island — most like Scotch? (8)
|
| PE (physical “exercise”) covering A TEST (“a sample”) around I (island) | ||
| 19 | POWERS |
Gives energy to people minimally in debt? (6)
|
| “People minimally in debt” may only owe 1p, in which case they would be P(penny) OWERS | ||
| 21 | RAIL AT |
Fulminate against a time for closing bar initially (4,2)
|
| A + T (time) closing (the clue) with RAIL (“bar”) initially | ||
| 22 | MISLAY |
Be unable to find mass-producer of usquebaugh (6)
|
| M (mass) + ISLAY (a Scottish island which is a “producer of usquebaugh”) | ||
| 24 | SODA |
A party’s set up — it goes well with whisky (4)
|
| <=A DO’S (“a party’s”, set up) |
A fairly easy but tasty Brendan, the theme which I picked up early from the NW corner, BOURBONS, DRAM, BEAM, POTEEN and (ROSE) BUSH (the latter being my favourite Irish whiskey). The list of references are extensive and on the whole, obvious, but maybe the more obscure are CHIN UP, a gin cocktail, MORTAL, slang for very drunk, and CAIRN(S), a SCOTTISH DISTILLERY. Couldn’t fully parse the soldier bit of MOONSHINER. Slightly marred by DRAM also used in 13d, but overall another outstanding puzzle from the Irishman.
Ta Brendan & loonapick.
There were a few UK-specific things that slowed me up slightly (Bourbon biscuits aren’t a thing in Australia AFAIK), but yeah, obvious theme and easy solve.
Thanks Brendan & loonapick.
Thanks Brendan and loonapick
A theme that I saw! I didn’t know the first definition for BEAM. Favourite MISLAY (we’re going to Islay later this month).
I disagree with 24d – the only think to add to whisky is more whisky!
Enjoyed this though I do not imbibe these days.A little surprised that Brendan didn’t reference ‘Jim Beam’ at 10a rather than the somewhat obscure ‘summer beam’, which was unknown to me.
Confirming that there are few things less interesting than a whisk(e)y bore.
Probably the easiest Brendan I have encountered. Loved the theme, being a whisky drinker. Been on many a RED EYE flight, but have never sampled the drink ! MISLAY and COOPER were my faves. Liked the way SHORT STORY was a succinct, punnish label to the whole theme. I have never seen HOOTCH spelled that way. though.
Thanks Brendan and loonapick.
Some good comments were lost.
NeilW for the Penny OWERS? KVa for “still-produced” POTEEN?
Blatant advertising of Jim BEAM BOURBON Whiskey and POWERS Irish Whiskey. My dad preferred Jameson.
…BOURBON biscuits unknown in Australia.
Shame about DRAMs in 13d.
Summer BEAM in a building – KVa?
George@4 – yes re Jim Beam, and Powers is a famous Irish whiskey. Enjoyed the crossword almost as much as I enjoy whisky in all its forms (a lot). Thanks Brendan. Sorry about your blog problems, loonapick, it’d be good to see the missing comments if that can be done idc.
Please claim your comments.
I have comments in my e-mail inbox – will pick the highlights out.
—don’t forget the typo of SOTTISH! 🙂
From NeilW:
POWERS: they are penny owers.
From KVa:
Thanks, Brendan and loonapick!
Liked POTEEN, MOONSHINER, POWERS and RAIL AT.
BEAM
A Summer Beam: ‘a major and usually massive horizontal timber which spans the girts or plate’.
Could this be one def and ‘smile’ being the other?
POTEEN
Is it indicating ‘still-produced’?
From Peter Owen:
10 across is a double definition. A summer is a type of lintel or beam.
From PostMark:
It’s never too early for a dram in this house so I was happy to encounter this theme in all its variety along with my morning cuppa. Perhaps I should have laced it with a splash of the hard stuff. The puzzle itself was not hard stuff but, with such an overarching theme, it was always going to give us plenty of hints. Typically fun and clever Brendan cluing with faves including COOPER, IRISHMAN, MORTAL, SLAPDASH, PEATIEST and, COTD, MISLAY.
KVa @4: it looks like a genuine query about SCOTTISH? Scots tend, quite rightly, to become upset when referred to as Scotch which is the drink, not the race. So nothing to do with vermouth.
From Crispy:
Enjoyed this. Shame about DRAM appearing in a clue, though.
Thanks Brendan and Loonapick
FrankieG @ 13
I saw that comment but couldn’t find the offending word in my blog?
A much easier than usual offering from Brendan with a theme so crashingly obvious that even I, an inveterate theme-misser, spotted it very early on. Almost certainly a sign of my misspent youth. (And young adulthood, and middle age, and…)
Thanks to Brendan and loonapick.
Very enjoyable, thanks, Brendan and Loonapick. I shall forever from now on pronounce mislay as “my-lah”. Brilliant.
Very apt as a friend arrived last night with a bottle of Ardbeg for my birthday so certain things were definitely on my mind! I found this a strange old mix with some rather forced (beam, for example) but so many strokes of misleading genius I would forgive anything. “bars used by sailors” could’ve been so many things but what a neat way to give us “tillers”. Ditto the “added character” (so disappointing until I remembered the whisky/whiskey distinction at which point it flipped to brilliant) and the “still-produced”.
Brendan seems full of good craic today!
ORATOR is a person speaking, but I can’t see how ‘I’ is another one.
Help please.
I am going out = The person speaking is going out.
It didn’t matter to me that this was on the easier side for a Brendan creation. Last one in was BEAM, and glad to see that it wasn’t just me who found this relied on quite an obscure meaning. That spelling of HOOTCH held me up for a while, but overall very much enjoyed the tippling. Almost as much as our Cambridge Beer Festival, reinstated after three fallow thirsty (Covid affected) years the other week…
I know zilch about whisky so didn’t find this so easy. Never heard of RED-EYE for ‘Cheap liquor’, the ‘Summer’ sense of BEAM and missed the parsing of ORATORIO.
Last in was MISLAY; ‘usquebaugh’ wins my prize as the most unlikely looking (goodness knows what it sounds like!) word I’ve come across in years.
Thanks to Brendan and loonapick
NNI – I being the first person subject pronoun is the person speaking in sentences such as “I am a camera”
WordPlodder – it’s the word from which the anglicised whisky is derived
I enjoyed having a few wee drams (figuratively) with Brendan today. His puzzles are always a joy to solve. Thanks to Brendan. I have appreciated the blog explanations too, loonapick, and the informative comments to date which helped me with a few unfamiliar things contained within the grid. Top favourite was 23a DISTILLERS for the same reason as Jack of Few Trades@18, despite “distillery” having already figured in the COOPER clue at 9a
Great fun – are all the commentors men?
Thank you Brendan and loonapick.
It’s roughly pronounced as Usk-wi-baw, although the b is very soft, almost a “v”sound
WP@22 and Wb@24 , I was fascinated by ‘usquebaugh’ and wondered how on earth you say that. Came up with an approximation of the pronunciation as usk-wi-baw.
Collins online: C16: from Irish Gaelic uisce beathadh or Scottish Gaelic uisge beatha water of life
As Loonapick said @27.
Didn’t know BOURBONS as biscuits. With a couple of crossers I came up with ROMANOVS (which I also didn’t know as bikkies.) Romanov’s a vodka but a wee DRAM put an end to that idea.
I liked the central column SPIRIT POWERS. Surely that was intentional? But it’s also associated with my name and our Waterford ancestry.
Thanks, loonapick and paddymelon!
It is amazing how much variety is packed in our languages.
How my Scottish Scotch-loving husband would have loved this! – especially the reference to one of his favourites at 22dn (although, when asked which was his favourite, he would usually reply, ‘The one I’m drinking now’). I’m no expert – I never drink the stuff – but I know he preferred the 18dn. Like muffin @3, he would vehemently disagree with 24dn!
My favourites today were HUDSON, IRISHMEN, ORATORIO, POTEEN, SCOTTISH, SPIRIT and SHORT STORY – great surfaces throughout.
Many thanks to Brendan for the fun and to loonapick for the blog.
SPIRIT POWERS! Oh! Yea!
FrankieG@13. I saw your ”typo” SOTTISH in the original thread and laughed out loud.
And who said, “It is all sotted out”? Another funny thematic typo.
Thanks Widdersbel @24 and paddymelon @28; definitely something I’ve learnt today and v. interesting. Look forward to it as answer some day.
KVa from your post on the original thread and loonapick@14. That’s how I read it. ”still produced” is cryptically ”still-produced”.
Not much to add, but I had to reveal BEAM. Poteen has been available legally under several brand names for years now, though purists say it’s not the real thing (I wouldn’t know).
A very clever construction from Brendan as always. Thanks to other commenters for pointing out some theme connections that I’d missed. On checking I see there’s also a HUDSON whiskey which I hadn’t previously heard of. As far as I can see now, only EXISTENCES, ORATORIO and CARELESS are non-theme-related, but am I missing anything in any of those?
I seem to remember we had a discussion on here about MORTAL meaning very drunk not long ago, but I can’t think which puzzle it was on.
Many thanks Brendan and loonapick.
re 24 down. Many renowned experts recommend adding a dash of water to a single malt. I forget why.
Crispy @40
Yes – I once went to a whisky tasting where the glasses had two lines on the side; one to show the level for the whisky, the second (not far above the first!) to show the level of water to add.
Fun, clever, entertaining and not too difficult – perfect! Thanks to all
Quite tough for me to get started on this but I ended up enjoying it. Theme is not one that I know much about although I did stay in Glenlivet for two weeks on a holiday many years ago. Not being a whisky drinker, I can’t comment on their product.
Failed to solve 3d POTEEN – never heard of it and I fail to see how it could be solved if you don’t know this bit of GK. Ditto maybe 14ac but even I have heard of irish whisky!
New for me: ISLAY island and usquebaugh (for 22d); mountain dew = HOOTCH; cairn terrier (for 25ac); RED EYE = cheap whisky (US).
I did not parse 20ac and 5d apart from MO = doctor and SHINER = damaged eye, or 19d apart from OWERS = people in debt.
Also 10ac – I did not know why BEAM = summer.
Thanks, both.
How do you know good POTEEN? If you wake up blind it was bad.
Thanks both
I assume BUSH references the common name for Bushmills, the oldest licenced whiskey distillery in the world.
Fun puzzle. Thanks to both.
I didn’t find this as easy as some commenters, lacking the GK for usquebaugh, beam, mountain dew and red-eye.
I liked the COOPER with the manager, CHIN UP for the definition, and SPIRIT for the surface.
Thanks Brendan and loonapick.
Bourbon biscuits not hugely popular in Oz but they certainly exist – type the term into Google together with the name of your preferred supermarket chain.
Thanks Brendan and loonapick
Crispy @ 40 it reduces the surface tension and thereby releases the aromatics.
[I’ve always said that whiskey without a drop of water isn’t really water at all.]
NNI @ 19
Orator plus I = two people speaking.
Held up by putting rock rose at 1d.
Thanks to Brendan for this cleverly themed puzzle. Similar to many comments above we were able to romp through it in record time. I suspect this shows that our previous annual visits to highland whisky distilleries and Ireland gave us more to remember than the drink.
Thx also to loonapick for the blog and help in parsing a few.
Favourites:
MORTAL, SPIRIT, MISLAY and POTEEN [I remember it well from holidays on a farm in County Clare. A drop of the hard stuff on a cold morning would set me up for a fine day].
What with PONGLING yesterday and USQUEBAUGH day, my little book of words to toss into the conversation has expanded in the last two days.
Thanks for the challenge, Brendan. I enjoyed the theme even if it isn’t my tipple of choice. I agree with the earlier mentioned likes, but my COD has to be DISTILLER. So smooth.
And special thanks to Loonapick for getting the blog sorted out eventually. I appreciate your help, especially for ROSE BUSH which I got stuck on, I’m embarrassed to say. Thanks too, to NeilW for the P OWERS. I couldn’t work out exactly how the P fitted.
When my dad introduced me to the delights of a single malt, he always claimed that a tiny drop of water was “the dew on the rose”.
Until recently I always thought water with whisky/whiskey was for wimps. Until a very knowledgeable man who ran a local cocktail bar gave me a tasting tutorial on the subject and changed my ways…
Well, that was fun, even if I’ve never heard of a summer beam and needed all the crossers to tell me that 4d wasn’t SCOTSMEN. And I don’t even like the stuff. My family’s patent cold cure was a cup of hot sweet tea with a spoonful of whisky in it, so for me it’s just indelibly associated with being ill.
Aren’t yesterday’s Quiptic & today’s puzzle the wrong way round? I liked this a lot but the theme gave a lot away. I see why Roz doesn’t like themes. Not that I’m complaining, I need all the help I can get.
I liked POTEEN for the surface and MOONSHINE for the damaged eye. There is apparently a rye whiskey called RED-EYE ” using only the finest ingredients “. I don’t think this is what John Wayne’s characters drank.
I tried to post before, but the site disappeared, anybody else ever experience difficulties like that?
Alphalpha@44 If you wake up, that’s a bonus. If you wake up and can still see, That’s good POTEEN. If you wake up and don’t have a hangover, you were drinking somrthing else, r??? gao maybe
Thanks for the blog, I liked the MO ON bit in MOONSHINER , multiple deception with the fake soldier and “about” not meaning reversed or around . TILLERS in 23Ac is very neatly done.
A summer BEAM often seen in stables going right the way across all the stalls. someone told me the word was to do with horses but cannot see how. PDM or MrEssexboy ??
AlanC at Number 1 , does it count ? I see there have been problems with the blog, do we need a Stewards Enquiry ?
Thanks to KVa and Peter Owen for the complete parsing of BEAM. Other than that this was an extremely rare romp for me, and very pleasurable.
Thanks Brendan for a crossword that slipped down as easily as an Islay single malt. I had the pleasure of visiting Islay several years ago and taking a multi-day tour of its distilleries so the theme was quite familiar. My top picks were HUDSON, DISTILLERS, SWIG, CAIRNS, DRAM, SHORT STORY, and PEATIEST of course. I needed a word finder for POTEEN and couldn’t fully parse BEAM, COOPER, or POWERS. Thanks loonapick for the blog.
24 down is clearly an error.
A drop of water is acceptable, but soda? What’s next? Whisky and coke?
Thanks both,
I much enjoyed this. As well as ‘dram’, ‘spirit’ also features in an answer and a clue.
In 18, not all scotches are peaty, although the ones I like best are.
[grahamsw @61: Yes, a drop of water is acceptable and tastings at distilleries have droppers that give you precisely one drop. And as disgusting as it sounds many Americans drink bourbon and coke.]
[gramshaw@66: Back in their heyday the Beatles’ preferred tipple was Scotch and Coca Cola. Very sophisticated.]
@61..
grahamsw@61 I mean
I’m with Eileen’s late husband @32, including shuddering at the thought of 24d SODA. Islay peat, with a drop of water, is the nearest thing to heaven on this earth. The only thing missing is a clue for LAGAVULIN. Clue of the Day for me is 22d MISLAY. (Widdersbel@17, I too will add “my-lah” to “my-zled” in my vocabulary.)
This puzzle is accessible enough for me to make copies for the non-cruciverbal members of my whisky club.
Thanks, Brendan for the typically brilliant fun, and loonapick for the excellent blog.
[Roz @58: no one remembers how the game was won, only the result :-; ]
…Now for a little snifter of Black Bush with not even a smidgeon of any other liquid.
smidgen
All these purists. I see nothing wrong with whiskey as an ingredient in a cocktail–I like me a good Old-Fashioned or Manhattan myself, and whiskey does pair well with soda. I’ve also been known to put ginger ale or cola with it. It all depends on the whiskey, of course; finer whiskey should be drunk straight or with a small amount of water (as has been said), but Jack and Coke is a classic.
Completely beyond me, as every Brendan crossword is.
Thanks both.
[ Okay AlanC I will give you this one , it is 23-12 . I see that you take after KPR , Sprog3 said they do not have a team coach , they have a getaway car ]
[Roz @73: I know where Sprog3 lives, not in SB for nothing:-) ]
[cellomaniac @67: If you haven’t done so already visit Islay and treat yourself to the Lagavulin Warehouse experience. The legendary Ian McArthur will draw generous samples from multiple barrels for your tasting. It’s incredible.]
Funny how tastes differ, I have always thought whiskey tastes like petrol.
HiYD
There is a drink that tastes like petrol – it’s Riesling!
Agreed Muffin.
I recall RED-EYE ordered in cowboy saloons on television but what if the fly by night definition?
Thanks both
tim @79
It’s a slang expression for a very early morning flight – supposedly what people who have to take it look like.
One of the best gins in the world also comes from Islay, so I can’t explain how long it took me to twig 22D. And, by the way…
[ When I finally managed to pick up a bottle of (legally produced) poteen a few years ago in a duty-free, I invited an Irish friend around to help in the tasting. He told me a story about having seen an interview on Irish TV with an (illegal, so authentic) poteen distiller who was asked “Can’t it make you blind? And haven’t people died from drinking your produce?”
He replied “Well, if they’re dodgy potatoes, the liquor comes out a bit green, so you know…”
The interviewer continued “I suppose in that case you have to throw the whole batch away?”
“Oh, no. We just bung a bit of bleach in.”
Don’t know if it’s true but it was a good story. ]
[ AlanC @74, I suspect that Special Branch sabotaged the blog today to give you your Number 1 , I did actually do some work for the spooks once , the real spooks, long time ago and only technical, I was not a spook myself . ]
NNI@19 I took it to be a Latinate plural, one orator, two oratori. But it could also be that person 1 is the Orator and person 2 is I.
[Roz @82: now you’re in trouble 🙂 I had the misfortune to do the same over many years. Blaise @81: I still have bottles of Poteen sourced from both the Shankill and Falls Rd in Belfast. Alls fair in love…worst hangover I’ve ever had but worth drinking with a little hot water, unlike Black Bush. Jameson’s comes a close second. ]
[blaise @81: Bruichladdich makes a gin called The Botanist in a still named Ugly Betty. They use 22 botanicals foraged on Islay to give the gin its great flavour. At the Bruichladdich tasting we were encouraged to use the gin as a “palate cleanser” between numerous samples of Scotch.]
Mazzyg @83 – it would be two oratores (third declension).
cellomaniac @67 – I too was looking for LAGAVULIN, among other names that I recognise (and I loved Widdersbel’s comment @13, too).
I remember one Christmas, years ago, my daughter, having read / heard that the only water that should be added to whisky should come from the glen where the whisky was produced, going to great lengths to come up with the perfect combined present for her stepfather. I’ve just done some research re this instruction and discovered this very comprehensive article:
https://scotchwhisky.com/magazine/features/7833/adding-water-to-whisky/
I was tickled by the final conclusion:
‘After all, you can always add water, but you can’t take it away. You can only pour yourself another glass, and start all over again…’
I was going to describe my preference in terms of 2d, 18d and 22d but Eileen@32 has beaten me to it by several hours. However, she maybe did not have the inspiration I had of a 12-year old Glenfiddich.
Looking for some advice here…again.
I haven’t looked at answers.
I have solved 9, 11, 17 across and 3,4,5,6 down but have come a cropper with everything else.
How should you approach 7a? What kind of clue is it?
Steffan @88: 7a is a double definition. If you know one of the two and have a crosser or two you might be able to make an educated guess.
[Roz @58, summer beam was new to me, but I’ll quote you the etymonline entry:
summer (n.2)
“horizontal bearing beam,” late 13c., from Anglo-French sumer, Old French somier “main beam,” originally “pack horse,” from Vulgar Latin *saumarius, from Late Latin sagmarius “pack horse,” from sagma “packsaddle” (see sumpter).
And from wiki:
A bressummer, breastsummer, summer beam (somier, sommier, sommer, somer, cross-somer, summer, summier, summer-tree, or dorman, dormant tree) is a load-bearing beam in a timber-framed building. The word summer derived from sumpter or French sommier, “a pack horse”, meaning “bearing great burden or weight”… The use and definition of these terms vary but generally a bressummer is a jetty sill and a summer is an interior beam supporting ceiling joists.
So It seems there is indeed a horsey connection. A sommier in modern French is a bedstead, which I suppose also has to bear a great burden.]
I join those who have never seen this spelling of HOOCH. join those who have never seen this spelling of HOOCH. Makes me feel less alone to have company.
The Hudson doesn’t flow through New York City, though it flows past it on its western edge, separating the city from New Jersey. It does flow through New York State, though.
Far as I can see, the clue for POTEEN isn’t even a little bit cryptic.
Roz — I googled “summer beam” and found it comes from the French “sommier” meaning a pack horse (one that carries the load).
tim@79, muffin@80 In my experience, a red-eye flight is an all-night one, and your eyes are red because you didn’t get any sleep. You land in the morning and collapse.
?tim@79, muffin@80 In my experience, a red-eye flight is an all-night one, and your eyes are red because you didn’t get any sleep. You land in the morning and collapse.
?Thanks, Brendan and loonapick.
?
Roz@58. I didn’t know the word SUMMER in the sense of a wooden beam, but here’s what Etymology Online has to say about its origins:
summer (n.2)
“horizontal bearing beam,” late 13c., from Anglo-French sumer, Old French somier “main beam,” originally “pack horse,” from Vulgar Latin *saumarius, from Late Latin sagmarius “pack horse,” from sagma “packsaddle” (see sumpter).
also from late 13c.
And elsewhere I read that these words for pack horse meant: “bearing great burden or weight”.
[Me@92. As eb said @90. I was reading all the posts again in case I missed someone’s explanation overnight before hitting send . : – P ]
This is such a weird club.
Thanks for the explanations guys above.
Ho hum…Just waiting for today’s crossword.
[pdm and Valentine – good to share the burden 🙂
The living’s easier that way.
ttt @94, every club I’m a member of is a bit weird. I wonder why that could be?]
[ Tony@75, my whisky club had a trip overseas to Islay planned, but covid intervened. I’m hoping that we resuscitate the plan – it has been a dream for a long time. I did get to several Highland distilleries while on a curling tour just before covid, but we didn’t have time to get to Islay.
Eileen@86, thanks for that link. My advice for adding water is to add a little bit at a time, tasting as you go, until you have put in too much water – then dilute the water by adding more whisky. ]
…and essexboy@95, thanks for the Ella link. Great stuff.
[cellomaniac @96: By all means visit Islay. Scottishroutes.com offers 4 & 5 day Islay tours and they arrange everything. You stay at the Bowmore House where the host provides 16 year old Lagavulin as your post breakfast drink. Islay’s an amazing island with spectacular beauty and the most hospitable people on the planet.]
Thank you EB , PDM , Valentine @ various. Pack-horse does make a lot of sense and these beams would have been used widely in wooden stables when pack-horses were the main form of transporting goods.
Tim@94, only join clubs that will not have you as a member.
Tony Santucci @85. The Botanist is indeed the gin that I meant. Not only is it made in a still called Ugly Betty, but the water used to infuse the botanicals comes from Dirty Dottie’s spring on the island.
For anyone still here, greetings from Belfast, where I will drink your collective health in the Crown (Liquor Saloon). Whisky I drink only rarely and then it is Bunnahabhain. And thanks for all the enlightenment.
Thanks to Brendan and loonapick.
[Bunnahabhain is my favourite too. 🙂 ]
Valentine@91. Me too about the spelling of HOOCH.
POTEEN. still produced/still-produced not cryptic?
Brian Greer aka Brendan thanks for dropping in@101. (Funny that ‘101’. That’s where I’m at with whisky.)
sh@102 and BG@101. I had to look up the pronunciation of usquebaugh, and now Bunnahabhain!?
I’ve really enjoyed this blog, even if I don’t know the places others have been to, or their favourite tipples.
A stand-out crossword with a lot of fun.
Signed, a POWER from Waterford.
So Brendan@101 prefers whisky to whiskey? That’s a MORTAL sin for IRISHMEN. Say 3 Hail Marys and an Act of Contrition.
Nice and straightforward, enjoyable theme. I’d always thought it was ‘potcheen’ and ‘hooch’, though.
paddymelon, if you see this, do you remember Greer’s bakery in Michael Street?
Fairly easy solve, although I did write Poitin for 3d, as that is what it is called in Ireland. This proved a problem for the 11a anagram and only then did I realise it was the anglicized Poteen.
[Brian @ 101, 108 – I first visited 15² around ten years ago, and it was quite a (pleasant) shock when an ‘actual, real’ setter popped by to comment. Thus – with only the tiniest stretch of logic – your visit is akin to John Lennon unexpectedly turning up at a 1968 Beatles Fan Club meeting.
Of course, I’m not one to be starstruck (I once shook hands with a dog that had, so it is claimed, visited the very same town as that chap from the ‘Go Compare’ TV advert; not at the same time though – that would be ridiculous!)
So what is the lesson to be drawn here? Simply, had you posted late on the first day rather than early on the following then more of your fans may have been uplifted and, more selfishly, an earlier, but identical, colloquy with paddymelon about your namesake dairy, might have been concluded – and not left dangling!!]
A typically engrossing puzzle from Brendan which I enjoyed. I can’t help thinking that those who felt some strong, almost spiritual, affinity with whisk(e)y, enjoyed it even more (though part of me believes that all this blah-blah crapology about the appreciation of niceties is no more than a reminder to others that, though addicted to something quite unpalatable, it isn’t methylated spirits and their behaviour is socially acceptable! This puzzle offers openings for self-justifications, or self-deception, to be aired)
Many thanks, both and all