Slormgorm makes an appearance in today’s FT.
I’m afraid I have to admit defeat on 6dn. I don;t even know if KNOT is the right answer as it could be UNIT (“one perhaps”), so I will leave it to my betters to set me right. The rest of the puzzle was very good, with my favourites being CASTRATO, COALFIELDS for its misdirection and the &lit. ALLIES for its simplicity.
Thanks Slormgorm.
| ACROSS | ||
| 7 | BEEP |
What prompts one to talk when no-one’s about? (4)
|
| Mildly cryptic definition, referring to the beep on an answering machine. | ||
| 8 | ENDEARMENT |
Awfully tender men around area might provide it (10)
|
| *(tender men) [anag:awfully] around A (rea) and semi &lit. | ||
| 10 | NUDIST |
One missing gear finds first passing turning horse (6)
|
| Ist (first) passing [turning] <=DUN (a greyish-brown “horse”) | ||
| 11 | ENTIRETY |
Sum being cracked by heads of Roedean and Eton (8)
|
| ENTITY (“being”) cracked by [heads of] R(oedean) and E(ton) | ||
| 12 | FLUTTERS |
Female associated with wild turtles and bats (8)
|
| F (female) associated with *(turtles) [anag:wild] | ||
| 13 | ALLIES |
Everybody one’s embracing close to armistice? (6)
|
| ALL (“everybody”) + I’S (one’s) embracing [close to] (armistic)E and &lit. | ||
| 15 | CARBON DIOXIDE |
Messing about with diode, Brian Cox has a gas (6,7)
|
| *(diode brian cox) [anag:messing about with] | ||
| 18 | UNSHUT |
Open slats primarily found on a French shack (6)
|
| S(lats) [primarily] found on UN (“a” in “French”) + HUT (“shack”) | ||
| 20 | ON A PLATE |
How food can be served in an easily accessible way (2,1,5)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 22 | DISRAELI |
Old politician (D) meeting with Middle-easterner (8)
|
| D meeting with ISRAELI (“Middle-easterner”) | ||
| 24 | TUNDRA |
Plain selection of flipping hard nuts (6)
|
| Hidden backwards in [selection of… flipping] “hARD NUTs” | ||
| 25 | COALFIELDS |
Pants (if so called) in which the seams are picked? (10)
|
| *(if so called) [anag:pants] | ||
| 26 | EATS |
Has EU’s answer totally screwed leaders? (4)
|
| E(U’s) A(nswer) T(otally) S(crewed) [leaders] | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | REPUBLICAN |
Trump? Concerning type who should be behind bars! (10)
|
| RE (“concerning”) + PUBLICAN (“one who should be behind bars”) | ||
| 2 | SPRINTER |
Small piece of office equipment one runs briefly (8)
|
| S (small) + PRINTER (“piece of office equipment”) | ||
| 3 | GENTLE |
Mild-mannered chap heading for Lois Lane at last (6)
|
| GENT (“chap”) + [heading for] L(ois) + (Lan)E [at last] | ||
| 4 | CASTRATO |
Soprano who’s not appeared with The Stones since childhood? (8)
|
| Cryptic definition, the “stones’ in the clue referring to the castrato’s missing testicles. | ||
| 5 | AMORAL |
A bit of mumbling on spoken exam is unconscionable (6)
|
| A + [bit of] M(umbling) on ORAL (“spoken exam”) | ||
| 6 | KNOT |
One perhaps seen well tied up on a pirate ship? (4)
|
| Can’t parse this one – sorry! | ||
| 9 | DRESSED TO KILL |
Dolled up to get attention in a ninja outfit? (7,2,4)
|
| Double definition, the second mildly cryptic. | ||
| 14 | ELECTORATE |
Group of people who might cross a politician? (10)
|
| Cryptic definition, referring to putting a cross against one’s preferred candidate in a voting booth. | ||
| 16 | ON THE AIR |
Live near hot springs? I must jump in! (2,3,3)
|
| I must jump into *(near hot) [anag:springs] | ||
| 17 | ISLANDER |
One could say Robinson Crusoe’s darn lies in novel form (8)
|
| *(darn lies) [anag:in novel form] | ||
| 19 | HARDLY |
Durable trousers unravel in the end? Not at all! (6)
|
| HARDY (“durable”) trousers (unrave)L [in the end] | ||
| 21 | ATTEST |
A strain picked up could make you swear (6)
|
| Homophone [picked up] of A TEST (“a strain”) | ||
| 23 | IDOL |
I party with large bloke like Buddha (4)
|
| I + DO (“party”) with L (large) |
Thanks, Slormgorm and loonapick!
A nice puzzle and an excellent blog (as usual).
KNOT (is the correct answer)
Could it be referring to one of these below?
The thief knot resembles the reef knot (square knot) except that the free, or bitter ends are on opposite sides. It is said that sailors would secure their belongings in a ditty bag using the thief knot, often with the ends hidden.
There is also a ‘pirate KNOT rope’, which is used in a ship.
Unshut? What a peculiar word. I’ve been happy to live my life with “open”.
I had “unit” for 6d, and didn’t know why. As KNOT I don’t think it’s a great clue. Perhaps it’s to do with nautical speeds being measured in knots?
I couldn’t see a definition in 13a, just wordplay, but OK, I guess it’s the whole caboodle.
Why is FLUTTERS bats? (The anagrind is “wild”, isn’t it, not “bats”?
After abandoning Picaróon’s in the Guardian — which I’ve not done before — I found Slormgorm ‘s to be a pleasant experience at Goldilocks level. Thanks, and to Loonapick.
GDU @2
Flutter one’s eyelashes = bat one’s eyelashes. Thanks for pointing out my mistake in the blog – will edit when I get the chance.
13ac – the whole clue is the definition (hence the &lit).
Harder than usual for Slorgorm. I couldn’t parse KNOT either – KVa @1’s explanation sounds plausible – and I failed on the simple BEEP which I just couldn’t work out. UNSHUT as a word for ‘Open’ was a bit odd and it took me a while to see the types of ‘seams’ being referred to at 25a.
I know we’ve had a lot of ‘Trump’ clues over the years, but the surface of this one was very good, especially given recent events. Favourite was CASTRATO – as good as it gets for a cryptic def.
Thanks to Slormgorm and loonapick
COLAFIELDS? – where they grow COCA leaves?
KNOT – to further confuse things there is a Pirate’s Knot , despite the name it is mainly used with horses, hitching reins etc. Maybe the clue is just hinting that a knot would be well tied by a sailor, they are famous for this, but why a pirate ship ? Ship would do.
Thanks for the blog, a good set of clues as usual. COALFIELDS was very neat and pants was suitable for the anagram for once.
BEEP I suspect is a bit out of date now, but too modern for me, we have never had an answer machine.
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tonk#English
Etymology 1 – Origins are unknown, but definitely predate the use of metal flashlights, contrary to the most quoted description of origin.
It is probable that the origin relates to Chinese immigration, as the first law to restrict immigration from a particular country was enacted in 1882 to limit the numbers of Chinese coming to the United States. It is said that many of the illegal immigrants made their way to the US via the Gulf of Tonkin area of what is now Vietnam. It is also possible that the term is related to the Chinese “tong” mob.
Noun – tonk (plural tonks) – (slang, chiefly US) An illegal immigrant of any country.
“…it’s the sound of a flashlight hitting somebody’s head, tonk”. [This “derivation” is incorrect – see Etymology]
“Catch as many tonks as you guys can. Safely. An alien is not worth busting a leg.”
The pissed off Arizona land owner who snipes the tonks with a high powered rifle.
FrankieG@8
KNOT
(a) TONK was seen on a pirate ship. -Is that how you interpret it?
Your bottom-up approach is stemming from the ‘up’ in the clue. Right?
Yes, the def should not include the “up”
FrankieG@10
Your approach seems perfect.
We may have to find a stronger link between TONK and ‘pirate’!
An illegal immigrant vs a pirate.
Thanks, FrankieG – having seen your explanation, I don’t like the clue at all.
Is it really Slormgorm’s FT style to include that sort of obscurity though? I interpreted it as a straight cryptic definition with the pirate ship present to make a diverting surface, pirates being inclined to tie up people whose ships they’ve commandeered.
Excellent puzzle. ALLIES probably my favourite, but then again REPUBLICAN, CASTRATO, COALFIELDS, CARBON DIOXIDE … cont. p.94
Thanks Slormgorm, Loonapick, and all those who have contributed to the discussion of 6dn (KNOT).
4dn (CASTRATO): Wonderfully wicked penny dropping moment. Going into editor mode, my initial thought was that the clue would be even better with “Singer” instead of “Soprano”. However, Chambers 2014 supports the definition used, and I hold firm to the principle that setters should not be expected to overrule Chambers (or Collins or ODE). I can see arguments for either choice of word, and the more important thing is that is such a good clue either way.
I guessed KNOT, but was baffled by the clue, which seems either to hint at some further elusive cryptic meaning. Otherwise, a good puzzle with some challenging clues.
Slormgorm is rather wordy, isn’t he. It took me a while to see through it all.
I had similar comments about BEEP (rather out of date) and KNOT or UNIT – no idea what that is about. I did wonder about “tonk up” as a possibility, but could not make that work to my satisfaction. I half guessed NUDIST, given DUN as a horse is new to me. I half liked the Trump clue, but publicans are actually behind bars, and “should be” seemed out of place when I worked it out. Favourites were DRESSED TO KILL (clever double), CASTRATO (raised a smile), and FLUTTERS (nice surface and clever misdirection).
Thanks Loonapick and Slormgorm
My reaction to 12a was that there was a typo in the clue which should have been “bets” (flutters) instead of “bats”. After reading the blog I concede that both work! FTF as I did not get “beep” and still find it obscure: my answering machine calls it a “tone”. Thanks both.
Martyn@16: I have just phoned my landline from my mobile and listened to the message it gives. I would definitely call the sound it makes when it is the caller’s turn to speak a beep.