Thank you to Vlad. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1,9. One saved by 11 giving medals? (6,2,8)
DAMSEL IN DISTRESS : Reverse clue: Anagram of(… IN DISTRESS) DAMSEL =(giving) “medals“.
Defn: … down answer(Knight Errant).
5. Name of worker on Gibraltar originally missing (6)
HANDLE : HAND(a worker doing manual labour) + “leg”(in cricket, one half of the field, also called the on side) minus 1st letter of(… originally missing) “Gibraltar“.
9. See 1
10. Cold drink’s rubbish – initially dismayed expression (6)
CRUMBS! : C(abbrev. for “cold”) + RUM(alcoholic drink) plus(…’s /has) 1st letters, respectively, of(… – initially) “bull shit”(rubbish/nonsense).
12. Lane around Kent introduces rule for slow mover (5)
LORIS : LOIS(Lane, the love interest of Superman and his alter ego, Clark Kent) containing(introduces) R(abbrev. for “rule”).
13. Lusty Alan touched butt (4,5)
AUNT SALLY : Anagram of(… touched) LUSTY ALAN.
Defn: …/person or thing set up as an easy target for criticism.
14. Misses following competitors at Gateshead – these should help (5,7)
FIELD GLASSES : LASSES(misses/unmarried girls) placed after(following) [ FIELD(collectively, the competitors in a competition) + 1st letter of(…head) “Gates…” ].
Defn: … the observer to follow the competitors in a competition held in Gateshead.
18. Form again on playing-field – old school head’s gone missing (12)
RECONSTITUTE : REC(a recreation ground/playing field) + O(abbrev. for “old”) + “institute”(an establishment for the furtherance of, say, education, eg. a school) minus its 1st letter(head’s gone missing).
21. One’s close enough, right? I start to become nervous (9)
NEIGHBOUR : Anagram of(… nervous) [ENOUGH + R(abbrev. for “right”) + I + 1st letter of(start to) “become” ].
23. Cleaner in university getting in before rector (5)
PURER : U(abbrev. for “university”) contained in(getting in) [ PRE(before/previous to) + R(abbrev. for “rector”) ].
Defn: … as a comparative.
24. Is resting with Slim, naked – they may be in bed (6)
LILIES : LIES(is resting flat on a surface) placed after(with) “Slim” minus its 1st and last letters(naked).
Defn: …. of earth in the garden.
25. Being on the drink might cause it? (3,2,3)
MAL DE MER : Cryptic defn: The sickness that may be caused by being on a ship at sea/being on the drink.
26. Stop religious type going round bend (6)
DESIST : DEIST(religious type/one who believes in a deity) containing(going round) S(a bend, say, on a road or in a pipe, shaped like the letter S).
27. Left Washington institute without loyalist (8)
STALWART : [ L(abbrev. for “left”) + WA(abbrev. for Washington State, USA) ] contained in(… without) START(to institute/to set the ball rolling).
Defn: One with loyal support for an organisation, and can thus be called a ….
Down
1. Daughters benefit getting outside for walk in the park (6)
DODDLE : D,D(twice the abbrev. for “daughter”) contained in(… getting outside) DOLE(benefit paid by the state to the unemployed).
Defn: A …/something that is very easy to accomplish.
2. Film featuring Bates Motel originally is creepy (not introduction) (6)
MISERY : 1st letter of(… originally) “Motel” + IS + “eery”(or “eerie”/creepy) minus its 1st letter(not introduction).
Defn: Film starring Kathy Bates, American actress.
And the Bates Motel was in another horror movie.
3. Material upsetting – issue about one coming out (9)
EGRESSION : Reversal of(… upsetting, in a down clue) SERGE(a fabric/material used to make clothes) + SON(a male issue/offspring) containing(about) I(Roman numeral for “one”).
4. Fitting in with virile lover, having a time to visit (12)
INSTALLATION : IN plus(with) STALLION(a virile lover/a stud) containing(having … to visit) [A + T(abbrev. for “time” ].
Defn: That which is fitted/attached to or on.
6. Embarrassed to show hanging (5)
ARRAS : Hidden in(… to show) “Embarrassed“.
Defn: A wall … made of rich tapestry fabric, named after the French town of Arras.
An example:
7. Protest with roughly fifty in total (8)
DEMOLISH : DEMO(short for “demonstration”/a protest in the form of a public meeting or march) plus(with) L(Roman numeral for “fifty”) –ISH(suffix denoting something has, somewhat/roughly, a particular quality, as in “smallish”).
Defn: To …/damage something beyond repair, usually a vehicle.
8. He writes about state (it is in German) (8)
ESSAYIST : SAY(to state/to proclaim) contained in(about …) [ES IST](German for “it is”).
11. Champion: ‘Good to crack original thinker’s crosswords’ (6,6)
KNIGHT ERRANT : G(abbrev. for “good”) contained in(to crack) anagram of(original) THINKER plus(…’s/has) RANT(words spoken or shouted when one is cross/angry).
15. Obsessive about this odd school on the other side of the world (9)
ANTIPODAL : ANAL(or “anal-retentive”/excessively fussy/obsessive) containing(about) [ 1st and 3rd letters of(… odd) “this” + POD(collective noun for a small herd of marine animals/a school) ].
16. Argued with Republican that’s bent (8)
WRANGLED : W(abbrev. for “with”) + R(abbrev. for a member of the Republican Party) + ANGLED(incorporating an angle/is bent, as, say, an angle iron is).
17. Desperately wants to protect suffering hero (8)
ACHILLES : ACHES(desperately wants/yearns for) containing(to protect) ILL(suffering from sickness or, well, illness).
Defn: In Greek mythology, … of the Trojan War.
19. Occupied region – wrong one (6)
CRIMEA : CRIME(a wrong/an offence) + A(an article for “one” in quantity).
Defn: …, specifically the peninsula in Eastern Europe occupied by Russian forces in 2014.
20. Say, Liam Fox and party colleague raised problem in the House (3,3)
DRY ROT : DR(abbrev. for “doctor”, an example of which/say, is Liam Fox who was a GP before being elected as a Conservative Party MP) plus(and) reversal of(… raised, in a down clue) TORY(a member of the Conservative Party, and hence a party colleague of Fox).
Defn: Fungal timber decay in a house.
22. Horrible blokes but women like going out with them (5)
HEELS : Double defn.
Thanks scchua, certainly needed your blog for several: STALWART, NEIGHBOUR and ANTIPODAL, which was my first one in, and the only one, in the first run through.
Five hours later most of the rest went in fairly easily for a Vlad.
Thanks, Vlad, too
Excellent puzzle as always from Vlad. Didn’t quite finish and had to come here to understand the wordplay for a couple of others. Superb cluing. Thanks to V and S
Realise now I didn’t complete the parsing of 5. HANDLE, so thanks for that scchua. And thanks for the pictures as well. I thought this was quite a tough end to the week, with only LORIS and MAL DE MER in on the first pass through the across clues. Took me a while to get KNIGHT ERRANT, but after that it was a steady solve, Liked 13, AUNT SALLY and 27 STALWART once I saw the parsing. ARRAS is familiar thanks to the scene in Hamlet, of course. A tough but fair challenge today, so thanks to Vlad and scchua.
Thank Vlad and scchua
A lot of “guess the answer, then parse” (or not, in the case of STALWART). Favourites were two that weren’t, LILIES and WRANGLED.
Tough but fair and enjoyable.
Favourites: LORIS, DEMOLISH, damsel in distress, MISERY (loi).
New for me: AUNT SALLY = thing set up as an easy target for criticism.
I did not parse the LE bit of 5ac (ah, very clever!), 26ac, 15d apart from POD=school.
Thanks, both.
He was spying, but i’ve always felt a bit sorry for the bloke behind the arras.
Looked up Gateshead race and it said half-marathon .. I guess that’d do.
Chewy one from the V today, just a handful first run then a slow weave. Lois hanging round Kent was fun, L-ish was very cute ( and new … archivists?). Enjoyed, thanks both.
This was a tough cookie, but enough clues here that we could solve to make it enjoyable. Particular fan of MISERY, and the Bates Motel…
This was Vlad on sparkling form! Lots of ticks but DAMSEL IN DISTRESS, LORIS, NEIGHBOUR, DEMOLISH and ACHILLES were especially good.
Thanks Vlad and scchua
Vlad on the very top of his form – I loved it.
Numerous clever disguises (eg Kent in 12ac, anagram in 21 – took a while to recognise), definition in 18ac, 4dn, 7dn, 8dn, ) and constant misdirection. Witty surfaces throughout – can’t possibly list them all. I particularly liked the link between 1/9 and 11dn (which I think was my top favourite).
I finished with a sigh of satisfaction and a big smile on my face.
Many thanks, Vlad and scchua.
Too tough for me and gave up halfway through. I did laugh at Lusty Alan though. Looks easier now I’ve read the blog but can’t win ‘em all.
Ta Vlad & scchua.
Thank you to Vlad for a tricky but very satisfying crossword with lovely surfaces, and to scchua for a thoroughly informative blog. Didn’t know Aunt Sally. Favourite clue was for NEIGHBOUR – wonderfully deceptive!
Top marks for FIELD GLASSES, DESIST, and ANTIPODAL
I definitely didn’t find this a DODDLE
Browsing through Alan Bates films has at least provided some ideas for what to watch when the rugby isn’t on 🙂
Cheers V&S
As tough but fair as we expect from Vlad, and keeping the interest to the very end. Many brilliant bits of cluing, but favourites included LORIS (superb surface misdirecting us to think of the Benefits of Brexit on the M20), NEIGHBOUR (incredibly ingenious anagram), STALWART (such an economical, and such an accurate, construction), MISERY (hadn’t heard of the film but the wordplay was clear; and a brilliant misdirection), KNIGHT ERRANT, DRY ROT (for all sorts of reasons, none of them complimentary to the less than fantastic Dr Fox).
Didn’t get the parsing of HANDLE, and after reading scchua’s characteristically clear and detailed blog I am kicking myself.
Thanks, both. The day can only go downhill from here.
Thanks to Vlad and to S – especially for parsing of handle which I just couldn’t see.
I also failed to parse LE in HANDLE, though I feel like I should have done now I’ve read the blog and seen how it’s done. Fun puzzle to solve, almost too tricky in places, but self-congratulations as the pennies dropped.
Thanks Vlad and Scchua for an enjoyable morning diversion.
Echo all the praise above: witty, and beautifully constructed surfaces; ‘hard but fair’.
Our favourites have mostly been mentioned, but I would add HEELS which I thought was just brilliant.
Many thanks V and s.
As I was battling my way through this Vlad toughie and came across “touched” as yet another anagram indicator at 13ac, I just wondered for a moment whether anyone has ever made a compilation of all these varied indicators in the history of the Cryptic Crossword. Maybe for nerds only, certainly not I…
[ronald @17
Here is a useful list. It’s incomplete, though – it doesn’t include “touched”!]
Tricky but very satisfying puzzle from the Impaler with lots of clever misdirections, disguised definitions and amusing surfaces.
I always like a reverse clue and DAMSELS IN DISTRESS is a good one – the link with KNIGHT ERRANT is pleasing. Too many other goodies to list.
I’m another who failed to get a handle on HANDLE – double cricket and a truncation was beyond me, I’m afraid.
Thanks to S&B
Took me a while, with nothing on the first read through, then.gradually completed apart from LORIS but scchua had not posted by the time I finished so I’ve been off doing chores etc until now. Thanks, now I’ve seem the answer it is a really good clue, like all of the others! Thanks Vlad and scchua
Well, it is Friday and it is Vlad, so you know what to expect – tough but enjoyable, a masochistic delight.
Lots of superb cluing. I have a long list of ones that I liked for their wordplay: STALWART, LORIS, DRY ROT, KNIGHT ERRANT, INSTALLATION and DEMOLISH. I also particularly enjoyed NEIGHBOURS for the unexpected anagram, DAMSEL IN DISTRESS as a good reverse clue, MISERY for the definition, and HEELS for the surface.
Ronald @17; there is a list of anagram indicators in the Chambers Crossword Dictionary (although touched doesn’t appear). There is another list here, but again touched does not appear. Touched, however, can be disturbed or mad, so would seem to be perfectly acceptable.
Thanks Vlad for the challenge and scchua for the great pictorial blog.
I can only agree with those who thought this on the tough side. I completed all but around six, but then threw in the towel as I was over my allotted time. Even then, I wasn’t completely sure of some of the parsings. Thanks to sschua for the excellent blog and the illustrations (I managed to get all those answers at least). I liked MISERY (as with Bodycheetah@12, I also went through the list of Alan Bates films before the penny dropped), AUNT SALLY, and FIELD GLASSES. Thanks also to Vlad for the mental workout.
Further to Robi’s comment @21, when I was at school, a stupid remark might be met with a derisory, ‘Are you touched?’
Collins has ‘showing slight insanity’ and Chambers ‘slightly unsound mentally’.
Thanks scchua, especially for the elucidation of HANDLE: a delightfully tough but gettable solve apart from that cricket reference. A shame that the game is still so prevalent in crosswordland. Such is my indifference to it that I can’t bring myself to learn obscurities such as leg=on etc. If that means depriving myself of some useful skills, so be it.
Muffin @ 18. Since starting trying to solve cryptic crosswords 2 years ago I have tried to list anagram indicators. After following Muffin’s link I think it’s time to give up on that and together with today’s almost total failure (I got 20dn) to give up altogether!
Thank you Vlad. Great crossword. In fact, what Eileen said @9. Tough enough to need two brains, so finished jointly today with other half. Great fun. Still needed to come here for parsing of NEIGHBOUR, MISERY, STALWART and a few others. So thanks too to scchua.
Enjoyed it although never knew of eery?
I finished this bright and early and have been out to a meeting before this appeared, but yes, challenging and count me amomg those who didn’t parse the LE of HANDLE. Loved DODDLE (which I wrote in as I started the down clues after only 3 across clues, and thougjt I might solve this) and DAMSEL IN DISTRESS.
Thank you to scchua and Vlad.
Splendid stuff! “Chewy” & “tough” indeed – Especially:
12a – LORIS – where we had to execute a double reverse lift-and-separate, adding Lois & Clark to “Lane” & “Kent”.
& 2d – MISERY with it’s “lift-and-separate” of “Bates Motel” and a single reverse, adding Kathy to “Bates”, while remembering 2 good films
[The https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psycho_(franchise) contains 3 sequels Psycho II,III, & IV, a 1998 remake and a Bates Motel TV pilot & 5 seasons.]
Thanks V&s
My excellent run this week comes to an end, alas. Never heard of MAL DE MER, so stuck with my original EAU, vaguely wondering if it was some sort of briny aroma.
LORIS was the standout, but lots to admire.
Thanks scchua and Vlad.
Too hard for me. Only filled in nine and had three right that I didn’t fill in because I couldn’t parse them.
I think meta anagrams (giving medals) are a bit too clever clever but then I didn’t get 11 because I assumed it was sport GK.
Anyway, thanks both.
I just couldn’t get started on this last night except for a couple. They went in ok today though I missed the definition of total = DEMOLISH. Seemed to be several references to sex or am I overthinking: lust virile etc
Thanks both
Looks like my experience mirrored that of some others here with a worryingly sparse gridfill after the first pass through but, with crossers, are far more successful and very enjoyable second run through. I was beaten by CRUMBS in the end – simply did not connect it either the def with ‘dismayed expression’ or ‘rubbish’ with BS.
Like Eileen, I was very much taken by the interlinked KNIGHT ERRANT and DAMSEL IN DISTRESS and I’d add INSTALLATION, ANTIPODAL, ACHILLES and HEEL to complete my list of faves.
Thanks Vlad and scchua
Nothing to add except for more praise. Brilliant.
Excellent puzzle, great definitions and great misdirection!
23q PURER I don’t think I like PRE as a standalone word.
Here’s one woman who doesn’t like going out or anywhere in heels, especially the spike ones in the photo. An example (one of many) of a way women are supposed to look light and dainty that actually requires discomfort and effort. (An extreme example being ballet dancing on point.)
Tomsdad@3 The only two I got on first pass last night were down ones, DODDLE and ARRAS. Then I got some more, but there were still fourteen I didn’t get till this morning.
Are there things to watch with field glasses at Gateshead?
I liked fifty-ish.
NeilH@13 What does the LORIS clue have to do with Brexit or the M20?
When will I learn that leg = on? I thought I had, but …
Thanks to Vlad and scchua (great pictures!)
Surprisingly few comments for this time of day. Clearly a positive response from those who got through the puzzle. I loved about 80% of it, especially the superb surfaces. Defeated by the need to think of ‘eery’ (as opposed to eerie) as a synonym for creepy, ‘leg’ as a synonym for on (although I have seen it before, so no excuse), ‘r’ as an abbreviation for rule and for rector (my bugbear passim). Delighted by almost everything else. Thanks Vlad for the challenge, and scchua for the brilliantly clear explanations.
Very chewy and enjoyable. Lots of groans of recognition when the penny finally dropped, like with LOIS for “Lane round Kent” (one where I reverse-engineered the parsing). A little bit cranky about “EERY”–would “too too” have worked instead of “creepy”?–but that’s perhaps because I read through Alan Bates’s entire IMDB entry looking for one that fit. Also unsure about using “with” for “after” in 24ac, though it’s nice to see a flower everyone’s heard of!
More groans (complimentary) for the reverse definition in 1/9 and L-ISH in 7.
I wondered if there might be something going on with W-Heels–you go out with your car, or wheels–but I guess the straightforward definition is better. Not all (or only) women though!
Valentine@35ish: The M20 runs through Kent to Dover and is crowded wit LORrIeS queuing for the ferry /channel tunnel after our brexit disaster. Ithink that’s what Neil was referring to.
I had nothing to add so did not comment, but as i am here, my thanks to Vlad and sschua.
Thanks scchua, I was stumped by leg=ON again, just when I thought it was firmly cemented in the noggin, and didn’t fathom the reverse anagram (very helpful crossers thank goodness). I didn’t think “initially” was needed in CRUMBS so it confused me quite a lot, and maybe those who do can confirm whether one goes out with or in HEELS? Got lucky spotting and guessing ARRAS, but needed several refreshing cuppas to finish this one off, really enjoyed LORIS especially, thanks Vlad.
Wow. Finished this with an enormous sense of satisfaction, then dread as I came here expecting the usual ‘this was straightforward’ comments from others. Glad to see others found it as tough as I did, and as enjoyable too. One day I will spot a reverse anagram, I’m sure, but that day still hasn’t arrived. Thanks to both.
PS tim the toffee@32 I think you can total/demolish a car in a bad crash, in case you are still pondering that one (ie cause it to be a total loss for insurance purposes). Tyro@25 i hope you stick with it, this was a beast alright!
Got a bit stuck with 25ac putting in ALL AT SEA to start with but, eventually, with the aid of crossers, saw the error of my ways. Great crossword with lots of amusing sidetracks – Kent, Bates, etc.
Many thanks to Vlad and scchua
This was rough, and like others I did enjoy it once it all worked out. I’m working from home today, so fortunately I had extra time (that I would ordinarily have spent dressing for work and commuting).
This time my problem with ON=LEG I think was that ON was just sort of slipped in there, in the way that usually means that they want you to put some particle on/after another one. And then I’m left wondering whether GLE or some such is an abbreviation for Gibraltar.
I was quite pleased that I was not required to know anything about Gateshead. However, knowing something about Liam Fox would have helped parse that one (which I didn’t).
A resounding Hear Hear to Valentine’s remarks re HEELS: “some women” in the clue wouldn’t have spoilt it (except for the ultra-minimalists, always on the prowl for “superfluous” words). Fun clue though.
Hard going, this. Quite a few solved but not fully parsed (NEIGHBOUR, MISERY, KNIGHT ERRANT and inevitably HANDLE). Some very fiddly mechanical parsing alongside (and sometimes in) the clues needing a bit more lateral thinking. LORIS and DAMSEL IN DISTRESS were favourites.
I did wonder at first whether “cleaner in university” might have been the Oxford “scout”, but that turned out to be one of today’s many red herrings.
Lovely crossword – as usual walking away and returning to it a couple of times produced a steady solve. First Impaler I think I’ve ever finished!
Superb puzzle.
Many thanks to Vlad & scchua
Superb puzzle. Vlad firmly at the top of my current favourite setters list.
Thanks, V and scchua. Great picture blog, as always.
Hard but fair. Needed the excellent blog for the parsing of HANDLE. Favourites were ESSAYIST, HEELS and the terrific DAMSEL IN DISTRESS.
Thanks for the blog, best Guardian puzzle for a while and lasted the perfect time. Only weak clue was HEELS and that was right at the end. I could praise nearly every clue, will just pick out CRUMBS which was deceptive in numerous ways.
Mmmmmm not sure about this. Obviously more demanding than most and ingenious at times. But I am not sure that as a Guardian reader, with a social conscience and a life to lead, I really want to devote so long to solving a crossword. Normally great delight is to be had over breakfast and coffee but today a sigh and an aim at the bin after four entries. As for ‘ five hours’ to spare ……….
But thanks to you both for providing interest and enlightenment.
Have now read other comments. Obviously much appreciated puzzle for a good number but also some early throwing in of the towel. Obviously the Guardian solvers welcome variety even if just occasionally boundaries can’t be reached.
Tomorrow I shall have another think about the Rosetta Stone.
Yes, well… I thought I had them all done and dusted except for half the parsing of handLE. Then I thought “Gibraltar’s an isLE” so scrub the first two letters, and bingo! (BTW I gve up both geography and cricket when I was 13.)
Post Mark @33: absolutely agree that HEELS next to ACHILLES was a delight, all the more so for being an understated one
gladys@44 – on the other hand I’d tried tp do something with “gyp”
Had to return to this late in the day, and managed to complete, though with absolutely no idea of the parsing of LORIS, STALWART, MISERY, WRANGLED and DRY ROT. Too many. So many thanks Scchua for the explanations…
Ronald @17: I side with Robi @21 and Eileen @23 in being untroubled by “touched” as an anagram indicator. My eyebrows were raised by “original”. I suppose it means “this is the way the letters were originally laid out before they were all jumbled up” but I am not really convinced. Does anyone else, at this late hour, have a less convoluted explanation?
Andrew @56
Original as in innovative?
Original or originally appears thre times, at my count!
Andrew @56
Collins – ‘original: fresh and unusual; novel’ – one of the reasons why this was my top favourite clue.
Muffin @57 & Eileen @58: thnx. Have a great weekend
It’s only recently that I’ve attempted to solve Vlad crosswords and I was quite pleased to get all of this except ARRAS and STALWART. I did guess quite a bit and there were pieces I couldn’t parse but overall I found this worthwhile. Lots of good clues, sly misdirection, and readable surfaces — what’s not to like? My top picks were LORIS, DESIST, DEMOLISH, KNIGHT ERRANT, CRIMEA, and HEELS. Thanks to both.
Andrew @59 – you too! 😉
Tony @60 – your first few words surprise me. Vlad is certainly one to stick with!
Well, Mr Paddington Bear and I spent a long time head scratching, but staggered to the finish line eventually with a few only partially parsed. So thank you, sacchua for clearing up the difficult ones. Vlad certainly lives up to his namesake, the Impaler.
I felt quite impaled for a while, but was rescued by knowledge of French and German which started the ball rolling. Like a bunch of others, didn’t parse HANDLE.
PererM@54 I tried bedder too.
Altogether, some of the best misdirections I’ve seen in weeks.
Dr.Whatson @63
‘Altogether, some of the best misdirections I’ve seen in weeks’
Seconded!
Very tough this one. Couldn’t parse the last bit of MISERY: I guessed that the Bates in question wasn’t “Norman”, but I looked up Alan (The Go-Between, Women in Love, etc.) before Kathy of that ilk – so not surprising it was my LOI. “Eery” indeed!? Never seen that spelling.
As to DEMOLISH = ‘total’ (as in ‘totally wreck’) – isn’t that mainly American usage? But I liked the wordplay once I sussed it.
Also failed to parse HANDLE – though the write-in was obvious.
But I loved the long ones DAMSEL IN DISTRESS clearly rescued by Sir KNIGHT ERRANT (would that be Lancelot – or Galahad?). And NEIGHBOUR also gets a tick for the misdirection and surface.
Altogether a very VLAD-ish puzzle. Thanks to him and scchua.
Eileen @61: Vlad was impenetrable for me for the longest time so I would skip his crosswords to avoid the frustration. (I did that with Monk for quite awhile and now he’s one of my favourite setters.) I recently attempted a crossword by Tyrus in the Indy and I loved it so I thought I’d give today’s puzzle a go. I may be a new convert!
Many thanks to scchua for his illustrated blog and to others who commented.
I’m in awe of the bloggers who can parse every single clue. Thank you.
Enjoyed crossword. Didn’t like sexism of 22d and photos to illustrate 22d and 14a
Only reveal for me was the M and L of Mal (de Mer) , because I was looking for the drink and not the effect.
Very few clues were clear, even when I checked and saw my guesses were correct, so I echo the praise for schuaa for his excellent blog.
ON and NAKED for Leg and LI from Slim were an education – thanks Schuaa.
And thanks VLAD for a very difficult puzzle after a long lay-off from crosswords for me.
The damsel and the knight went in quickly, but it was a slog after that. Never did manage HANDLE (sorry, no hablo cricket), DODDLE is new to me, CRUMBS was never going to happen. Much of the rest was delightful, though I can’t quite accept the spelling “EERY”. This time, I even remembered to add random U’s where needed to make NEIGHBO(U)R.
Laccaria @65, I too went down an Alan Bates dead end before finally twigging.
Laccaria@65 I think TOTAL is London geezer usage , I have heard it in things like Minder. Used to refer to people being killed or motors being written off.
I am surprised that anyone praised HEELS – women like going out with them – first of all totally wrong in most cases and second a very strange phrase for wearing something.
A lovely puzzle; so glad I saved to savour with my Saturday morning coffee (how could I not, given the setter?) and for nearly half an hour all my worries disappeared! (one doesn’t get that with non-chewies)……
DEMOLISH and STALWART might have been my favourites but there’s a welter of belters!
Though far from Vlad at his toughest, it was just right for me today!
And, as ever, Scchua produces a blog that is hard to resist…
Many thanks both and all
Laccaria@65, Roz at 72 – don’t agree that the use of TOTAL is restricted as you suggest; I’ve heard it used by all types – I have used it myself (though I’m a Londoner – and possibly a geezer, few would describe me as such – I’m an Oxford maths graduate, with a Classical – Greek and Latin while still in short trousers! – education and, through no fault of my own won the Beaufoy elocution prize (four out of five years running – no benefit save my ability to recite word-perfectly, and well, a number of lengthy, and wonderful, speeches from Shakespeare (I recited the “Her father loved me …..” speech from Othello in front of the Lord Mayor of London and other “dignitaries” the day before my 16th birthday!))
I must admit I raised an eyebrow at the HEELS clue too; certainly Mrs Laccaria wouldn’t be seen dead in them (plus the fact that they’d play havoc with her tootsies…). Perhaps this is a bit of macho bravado by a somewhat male-dominated activity (and yes I’m delighted that Arachne has re-surfaced and we all lament the loss of Nutmeg…).
Hugh S is, I believe, on record saying that he intends to recruit more female setters (that’s me stymied should I ever wish to get on the Grauniad!). But if so, he hasn’t shown much sign of it yet. Surely a female setter would never have produced a clue like 22d.
More re TOTAL: I have to confess that I’ve done that to two cars during my lifetime – fortunately without injuries. I would certainly have said “written off” rather than “totalled”. Just shows how use of our language varies, even within one country.
And doing crosswords helps to teach us how much it varies…!
8d – ESSAYIST – Well done, Vlad, for not referring to Charles ‘Elia’ Lamb, whose https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essays_of_Elia (1823) is 200 years old. About time he retired. Julian Barnes made a more than adequate successor in the FT two days ago. Es ist ein Ros’ entsprungen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7y05TrzeHo
https://greensdictofslang.com/entry/dthqy4y – Green’s Dictionary of Slang has: ‘
TOTAL – v. – [i.e. to destroy totally] – (orig. US)
1. to crash a vehicle so badly as to render it beyond repair.’ – with only US & Oz citations – ‘
2. to destroy, kill or maim anything or anyone.’ – US & Oz citations, except one from Scotland…
2003 The (Glasgow) Herald: “no-one ever mentions the word ‘Kill.’ … ‘slotting.’ … ‘ping’ … ‘wasted’, ‘totalled’ or ‘blown away’, but never killed.”
…and one !rish one: 2021 Paul Howard Braywatch: ‘I’m going to find out who totalled Lauren’s cor’. (cor = car)
JonathonG has miscategorised this – it should appear under sense 1 above – but it’s !rish, anyway – so there are no UK citations for totaling a car.
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/total#Verb has: ‘
‘…3 – (transitive, US, slang) – To demolish; to wreck completely. – (from total loss) – “Honey, I’m OK, but I’ve totaled the car.”‘ and cites
‘1972, Frank Zappa (lyrics and music), Billy the Mountain: “He acted real funny | He hocked up a rock and | It totaled my car!”‘
Great research (and any words emanating from Zappa are likely to be poetic! His “the slime oozing out of our TV sets” still sounds good!)
Nervous when a clue meaning “butt” includes an anagram of Alan !