Yippee, it’s Eccles in the mid-week slot this week.
As expected, a fun puzzle with great surfaces and some smiles along the way. What we did not expect from Eccles is the rather risqué cluing at 3d and 18d – the latter certainly raised a smile though! We wondered at one point whether we were solving a Hoskins’ puzzle.
We liked the originality of the clue for 14ac, but were not so convinced by the clue for 19d.
An anagram (‘improper’) of HE FELT RAG TRADE
An anagram (‘somehow’) of EARN + M (millions)
S (soprano) INHALES (inspires) E (European)
TAD (little) POLE (European)
ST (street) UNiTED (one) with the ‘I’ missing or ‘escaping’
SIDE (edge) round or ‘edging’ L (first letter or ‘edge’ of ledge)
An anagram (‘doctor’) of HELPS CURE
An anagram (‘buffalo’ – apparently it can mean ‘bewilder’) of TO LEOPARD
Y (yard) A (are) N (new) K (Kelvin) + S (first letter or ‘beginning’ to say)
CO (company) SPLAY (expand)
JEST (kid) ‘inspired by’ MAY (former PM)
A reversal (‘revolutionary’) of ODD (weird) round or ‘claiming’ ERRING (making mistakes)
Hidden in proviDE A THeory
RIB (bone) + an anagram (‘decomposing’) of INCLUDES and E O and O (first or ‘principal’ letters of evidence of osteitis). We worked out the first few letters but then needed to use a word-search in Chambers but it wasn’t there. In the end we guessed what was going on and checked on Google.
A reversal (‘upset’) of ON (working) DUD (fake) N (first or ‘primary’ letter of news) ALL (everybody)
RUMP (rear) O (hole) – another one which wasn’t in Chambers and needed checking using Google.
An anagram (‘out’) of DAYS round or ‘drinking’ PEPSI (cola)
tHANKS (‘it’s appreciated’) missing the ‘t’ (time)
An anagram (‘irritated’) of GUARD + ALLY (colleague)
ERE (before) CT (court)
An anagram (‘rocking’) of ALTERED
A homophone (‘picked up’) of BIRTHS (deliveries)
U (Unionist) in EXPLoSION (outburst) with the ‘o’ (over) missing or ‘cut’
P (pressure) REIMs (French city) missing the last letter or ‘most of’ POSE (submit, as in posing a question)
HANDS (gives) T (first letter or ‘head’ of toolshed) AND (with)
If you were to remove some cider (alcoholic drink) it might fancifully be described as to DE-CIDER
THE after or ‘supporting’ (in a down clue) S C Y (last or ‘ultimate’ letters in workers’ basic pay)
ShRUB (small woody plant) with ‘h’ (hot) replaced by C (cold) – ‘temperature drops’
A reversal (‘from the south’) of GOY (gentile) + IC (in charge)
AS (when) after or ‘following’ JUDd (Judd Trump, snooker player) missing the last letter or ‘nearly’
Found this a bit too difficult but all seems fair in retrospect. Mind you, including 3 words not in Chambers seems a bit OTT (ribonucleoside, rumpo and preimpose).
Although I did enjoy this, I didn’t think it was one of Eccles best but he does set the bar at a very high level.
I found the SW corner very difficult and it took roughly the same time as the other three quarters put together. 22a was a new word for me, and I couldn’t parse 15d. However, having done biochemistry at university helped with 29a.
The specific meaning of buffalo in 19a is an American term!
Many thanks to Eccles and to B&J.
tbh RD I’d agree with you, I nearly scrapped it due to having a few to many meh clues, but there were just enough that I liked to keep it. (and I thought most of the uninspiring clues were in the middle as if that made a difference!)
We enjoyed it very much, especially 14ac (SIDLE)and the hilarious DECIDER. Never heard of COSPLAY though
Thanks Eccles and b&j
Not sure if I should admit to knowing of COSPLAY! I did struggle to complete this one: the long word at the bottom was totally unknown; I didn’t see the construction of PREIMPOSE until too late and I was looking to lower a T in SHRUB rather than change H>C. Cunning trick, that last one, which I kicked myself for not seeing.
SIDLE is also cunning and I can see why Eccles was tempted by that surface – if surface is the right word! I did smile at DE-CIDER and SEPULCHRE, MAJESTY, GRADUALLY and the coffee-spluttering HANDSTAND were my other big ticks.
Thanks Eccles and B&J
BERTHS, HANDSTAND and SHRUB tops for me. Fun puzzle. Needed a word finder for the seaside resort and the biochemical thing. 14 letter word ending in side. Thanks.
That was fun, but I could have done with some more help in the SW. I slowly pieced it together, albeit with reservations about PREIMPOSE as a word, and a suspicion SCRUB might warrant a question mark. But RIBONUCLEOSIDE was never going to fall for me – I even drew a blank on the first crossword filler I checked, which convinced me to admit defeat.
I liked COSPLAY, SINHALESE, DYSPEPSIA, HANDSTAND and DECIDER. I also liked DOORPLATE, but was distracted by thinking through the famous sentence “Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo” for assistance in decoding it. I still don’t know what I think about SIDLE, but it was certainly memorable! Thanks Eccles and B&J.
Eccles @3 – I think you’re being a tad harsh on yourself! I enjoyed it and I’m glad you didn’t scrap it. Thanks for the puzzle, and thanks, B&J, for the blog.
The Rumpo Kid is Sid James’s character in Carry On Cowboy, of course. It’s definitely a Carry On-era kind of word – feels a bit dated now. Surprised it’s not in Chambers but it is in Collins and OED.
I liked this a lot – especially the two risqué ones – didn’t think it was “meh” at all. Remembering https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rambling_Syd_Rumpo and
Danny Kaye singing Outfox The Fox – ‘Those who try to tangle with my DERRING-DO | Wind up at the angle that herring do | (They hold their head like every dead herring do)’
[t]HANKS E & B&J
Great definition for SEPULCHRE, which took a moment to see even once I had unravelled the anagram. I liked DECIDER, too, but failed with biochemistry.
Almost defeated by the buffalo, gentile & biochemical but checkers, guesswork and Mr G came to my assistance. I had a feeling that RD would know about 29a and so it proved! Not my favourite puzzle from this setter but very satisfying to achieve a full grid.
Favourites came from the easy ones – TADPOLE, HANKS & SCRUB – with a mention for the town across the Strait, LLANDUDNO.
Thanks to Eccles and to B&J for their hard work.
Thanks both. My dictionary also excludes ENARM so lots of new words which I was unable to confirm. RIBONUCLEOSIDE proved a clue-too-far for me, as my science knowledge is poor, so just hit reveal. Felt SIDLE could also have been slide. RUMPO was a ‘surely not’ moment for a number of reasons
ENARM is an ugly word, isn’t it? Means the same as ‘arm’ so what’s the point? Otherwise a fun journey of discovery – with help of course.
Thanks both
23 Scrub: Wonderful clue
29 I encountered this word with the s replaced by t.
Prof Andrew Nottingham Uni 1971 who gave a fascinating course on Medical Physics
Classic Eccles: thanks to him and B+J
Great to learn what dictionaries give the answers.
I was also immediately reminded of Hoskins with a couple of clues!
Sidle was great, as was Cosplay; smiled when I worked out the latter. Took me ages to work out doorplate, very clever anagrind and thought sepulchre was a good anagram.
Only got Yogic once 29ac was worked which also helped with shrub and preimpose which was LOI.
Thanks B&J and Eccles.
Buffalo confused the hell out of me n slowed progress considerably. Top n bottom 14 letter clues were extremely useful also… but no speed records. I also had to check it wasn’t Hoskins but that just added amusement.
I was very happy to finish.
Thanks Eccles n Bertandjoyce..
Way behind the wave, but if anybody’s still reading: when I figured what 19a had to be I went investigating ‘BUFFALO’, and found this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_buffalo_Buffalo_buffalo_buffalo_buffalo_Buffalo_buffalo !