A very enjoyable puzzle from Monk this morning.
Plenty of fun and some very witty clues. There are a couple of clues that I may have not fully understood, so do contribute your interpretations in the comments. Many thanks to Monk.
MOOR< (heath, <backtracking) on MUSH (rubbish) before S
“YAWS” (tropical disease, “pick up”)
[man]GR[ove] (core of) + APPLE (fruit)
HAD (owned) and (RAN (managed), I (island) breaks)
IT (screwing) with COP (PC)
(WATER)* (*sports) around ELBA< (island, <western)
Edited – I had made an error previously…
W[illiam] O[f] O[range] (leading characters)
(BETRAYAL SHE)* (*concocted)
READ (book, perhaps) + (TWO)* (*starting) in YEAR (several months)
O (nothing) aboard H[eav]Y (extremely)
PELE< (football legend, <backing) + HANTS (county)
I assume ‘top performers’ refers to the mind/top and their great ability to remember. Elephants are the biggest/greatest mammals.
22. Punishment once held back in justifiable urgency (5)
[justifib]LE URG[ency]< (held <back in)
TWIG (observe) + LOO (where to go)
Cryptic definition
EARL-IER
Double definition
[as]ININE (stupid, missing AS) crossing TEST (river)
GAM< (leg, <over) + IC (I see)
SHAM (bogus) + POO (waste)
(PAY BUTLER)* (*for working)
HE (male) in OVERT (public) + MOON (display behind)
From the nursery rhyme ‘Hey Diddle Diddle’
5. Note pulled-up short stockings (3)
HOS[e] (stockings, short, <pulled up)
(DO (party) hosted by ELY (diocese))< (<up in)
UNI (college) + TAR[r]Y (lounge, R (rector) banned from)
SINCE (past) joining RELY (bank)
(IS BETTER with WET)* (*ground)
(ROWERS ETC)* (*developed)
Worcester is a porcelain brand named for the English city it originates from
(DRAGS ARSE)* (*about)
(AINT MY)* (*bent) when covering E (base)
E in mathematics (‘Euler’s number’) is the base of natural logarithms
(IN + I (International) + DUO (couple) + H[urry] (beginning to))< (<up)
HALL (passage) contains A (answer)
L + R (both hands, Left + Right) holding A + G[lob]E (hollow)
O (Oscar, from the NATO alphabet) + BI (AC/DC)
Fetish in the sense of a charm/talisman, of which one example is an obi
Well, let’s just say it was an educational experience. Never heard of TWIGLOO, HOY, GAM, yaws, GRUEL, OBI. Never seen YODLE spelt thus (but yes, my dictionary acknowledges it as an alternative). And didn’t know this meaning of BITTERSWEET.
Couldn’t parse INTESTINE, OBI, COP IT, ELEPHANTS or ROYAL, but I haven’t read the above blog yet, and am anticipating a “D’oh!” or two.
What is “starting” doing in the clue for 17a?
I thought that “display behind” for “moon” was a bit — what’s the word I’m after? — cheeky? It brought a smile.
Synonyms that I wasn’t entirely comfortable with (but no doubt the mighty Chambers will sanction) were twig/observe and tarry/lounge.
Oh and is Ely the only diocese in the UK? It seems to feature a lot in Crossword Land!
In 12a I think “western” is a reversal indicator.
Didn’t know Hants is a county.
In 17a I took “perhaps” as the anagrind for “two”.
Why is BI AC/DC?
TABLEWARE – WATER* (sports as anagrind?) around ELBA< (western). Blog uses W twice.
ELEPHANTS – I took ‘top’ as reference to a circus.
ROYAL – Should mention ‘Royal’ can come before: standard, navy, marines, we and commission.
Elephants perform in circuses, the tent being the Big Top.
Thanks to both commenters – I see my error with ‘western’. I’ll amend the blog and come back to the other comments as well!
GDU @4. ‘Bi’ and ‘AC/DC’ both refer to bisexuals.
Thank you, Hovis. So much to learn …
Parsed all three (TABLEWARE, ELEPHANTS and ROYAL) as Hovis@5.
ROYAL
Def1: sail (a small sail)
Def2: ahead of, on occasion….commission
GDU@1
READY-TO-WEAR
Start in the sense of ‘spring/jump suddenly’. I agree with the parsing in the blog.
ROYAL
Royal We: Is this expression still in vogue among the royals in the UK?
GDU@3
HANTS is short for Hampshire (you might have checked it already. Just in case…)
KVa @ 13, I see. Weird.
🙂
Cheeky, as GDU says, and not just 4d. I liked COP IT, ‘leg-over’ (1d) and particularly AS REGARDS for the traditional usage of ‘concerning’ (the more contemporary meaning being troubling, to my ear, anyway).
Admired the corner constructions too. I did have to rejig my LOI -TABLEWARE – when it was clear the more familiar YODEL wouldn’t fit. All very fair though.
Thanks to Monk and Oriel.
Geoff Down Under@3 – other short counties you might see:
Beds, Berks, Bucks, Cambs, Glos, HANTS, Leics, Lincs, NortHANTS, Notts, Oxon, Salop, Staffs, Warks, Wilts, & Worcs for WORCESTERshire
YOURS SINCERELY
ROYAL WORCESTER
LARGE INTESTINE…
Has anyone noticed the ninas?
Psilocybin
Frankie. You mised MAGIC MUSHROOMS. Diane @16 clearly referenced these.
Thank you, FrankieG @ 17. I’ll make a list and file it with my list of British rivers. 😉
Hovis – see @22
FrankieG. Had to look that one up. I’ve led a more sheltered life than you perhaps.
Sorry Diane@16
Your comment wasn’t there when I posted @17. My post included WORCESTER, which prompted me to notice and immediately post the Ninas.
Goodness me, how quickly this thread is … mushrooming!
🙂
26a – EARLIER – Facetiously more noble in days of yore (7)
I don’t get a pdm from these whimsical clues where you have to invent a word EARLY – “like an earl” and its comparative – “more like an earl”.
I didn’t like it yesterday when Hoskins clued it in much the same way.
Thanks for the blog and the extras from everyone , I totally missed the corners, I really enjoyed this.
Peak MAGIC MUSHROOM season now , traditionally Liiberty Cap , small and hard to find , they seem to like sheep fields on the moors. Avoid the Fly Agaric , quite dangerous.
Psylocybin?
Silly not to.
Long time ago.
19A Hoy and 24A Twigloo were new to me.
Re 11A: Hasn’t “It” for having sex been in several crosswords this week? I seem to remember that Geoff Down Under didn’t know it a few days ago. Maybe that’s why Australia’s population is falling!
I enjoyed solving the crossword and I spotted the links
Many thanks to Monk and Oriel
I am with GDU@1 on this – I have a list of 14 words that are new to me or are used in a way I have never seen before.
A couple of smiles with LARGE and OVER THE MOON. I did manage to finish, and I parsed all but three clues, but I am afraid I did not enjoy it much. In particular, I started to resent the growing list of unknown words and terms. When someone as skilled and experienced as Oriel cannot parse everything, you have to wonder what the point is.
And, as always, I completely missed the corner constructions – kudos to Monk for that.
Thanks Oriel and Monk
Although there were some new and obscure new words, I found it a most enjoyable puzzle . Glad to learn psilocybin , probably not much use to me but who knows?
Thanks to setter and blogger and to everyone who made interesting comments.
It’s always a good day when I can nearly complete a Monk crossword — I missed ELEPHANTS and INTESTINE but I was able to manage the rest. Sure, there were unusual words but it wouldn’t be Monk otherwise. I found those quite fair because they were clued so well. My overall favourites were EARLIER, SINCERELY, and HOUDINI. Good spot, Diane @16 on the corner constructions — I should have known to look for an “extra” in a Monk crossword. Thanks Monk, and Oriel for the blog.
I have only done a few Monks, and looking through old blogs I did not really enjoy any of them. I am very happy for those who like this sort of challenge, but he is just not my sort of setter, it seems.
I think I will avoid his puzzles for a while. It will save you all from reading my bellyaching.
Martyn@38
I quite understand your position but I do not mind your bellyaching. Why not stick with the Monk and you might get more on his wavelength? Unusual words might be frustrating but one does learn something.
[Martyn #38: Monk used to be on my “don’t attempt” list but as I improved over the years he’s become one of my favourite setters.]
What crypticsue @34 said. I’m a definite fan of Monk. Enjoyed this a lot.
Thanks Tony@40 and SM@39 for your encouragement. Your advice is noted and greatly appreciated
I normally leave Monk’s crosswords alone as they always annoy me intensely. I thought I’d give this one a try though as I missed it yesterday and completed today’s Gozo quite quickly.
I was soon feeling intensely annoyed.