Bluth has set today’s cruciverbal challenge, on a more unusual grid that accommodates a wide variety of word lengths.
The fact that the solutions to the perimeter clues are divided between two grid entries adds an additional layer of interest to the puzzle, with some of those entries able to recombine to form other expressions, e.g. fool’s gold, gold leaf, etc.
My personal favourites today were 2 and 13A, for their exquisitely smooth surfaces; 30/8, for its rather naughty surface reading; and above all 24, for the reference to Alexandra Palace in a clue to the Royal Albert Hall!
I look forward to seeing what teasers Bluth has up his sleeve for us in 2024.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01/22 | FOOL’S ERRAND | Futile endeavour roughing up floor with sander
*(FLOOR + SANDER); “roughing up” is anagram indicator |
| 04/29 | GOLD MINE | Good old Bluth’s highly profitable venture?
G (=good) + OLD + MINE (=Bluth’s, i.e. our compiler’s) |
| 06/23 | LEAF BLOWER | Tool for moving garden waste from meadow – e.g. rose bush’s first cutting
LEA (=meadow) + [B<ush> (“first” means first letter only) in FLOWER (=e.g. rose)] |
| 10 | EXTOLLING | Former partner ringing – praising …
EX (=former partner) + TOLLING (=ringing, of bell) |
| 11 | MAFIA | … crime syndicate backing plan framing group of footballers
FA (=group of footballer, i.e. Football Association) in AIM (=plan, intention); “backing” indicates reversal |
| 12 | ZAPATA MOUSTACHE | Finish off a bespoke costume with a hat and facial hair?
ZAP (=finish off, destroy) + A + *(COSTUME + A HAT); “bespoke” is anagram indicator; the zapata moustache is a kind of flowing moustache drooping down on each side of the mouth, popularised by the Mexican revolutionary Emilio Zapata |
| 13 | ISOBAR | I weep with soldiers returning to front line
I + SOB (=weep) + AR (RA=soldiers, i.e. Royal Artillery; “returning” indicates reversal); cryptically, the “front line” of the definition is the line of a weather front on a map! |
| 15 | LATEST | News from pilates teacher
Hidden (“from”) in “piLATES Teacher” |
| 17 | PAY-OFF | Beano cancelled after putting out extremely racist punchline
PA<rt>Y (=beano, knees-up; “putting out extremely (=first and last letters) racist” means letters “r” and “t” are dropped) + OFF (=cancelled); the pay-off is the dénouement of a story, hence punchline |
| 20 | SOREST | Most painful – well, put your feet up
SO (=well, then) + REST (=put your feet up) |
| 24 | ROYAL ALBERT HALL | Somehow Ally Pally discovered other bar for venue
*(ALLY +<p>ALL<y> + OTHER BAR); “dis-covered” means first and last letters are dropped from anagram, indicated by “somehow” |
| 26 | AGING | Surviving crew no longer appearing to be getting on
<man>AGING (=surviving, getting by); “crew (=man, as verb) no longer appearing” means letters “man” are dropped |
| 27 | INTERVIEW | Milan side struggle with audience?
INTER (=Milan side, i.e. football team) + VIE (=struggle, contend) + W (=with); an audience with e.g. the Pope or the King is a kind of interview |
| 28/1D | DEEP-FREEZE | Means to preserve obscure terms from the jazz age – oddly forget splitting
DEEP (=obscure, of meaning) + F<o>R<g>E<t> (“oddly” means odd letters only are used) + <th>E <jaz>Z <ag>E (“terms from” means last letters only) |
| 30/08 | SOLAR FLARES | Things that burst out of star’s trousers after length breaks fly
L (=length) in SOAR (=fly, as verb) + FLARES (=trousers); the “star” of the definition is the sun! |
| Down | ||
| 02 | OCTOPUS | Mollusc soup cooked by our chef today for starters
O<ur> C<hef> T<oday> (“for starters” means first letters only) + *(SOUP); “cooked” is anagram indicator |
| 03 | SPLAT | Sounds like a hit from Bugsy Malone
Cryptic definition: splat is the sound made by something wet striking a surface, as with the splurge guns in the Bugsy Malone gangster movie |
| 04 | GLIMMER | Putting gift outside large door – finally giving hint
[L (=large, in sizes) in GIMME (=gift, i.e. an easy kick or shot in sport)] + <doo>R (“finally” means last letter only); a glimmer of hope or of light is a hint of it |
| 05 | LEG-PULL | Set up arrest as practical joke
LEG (GEL=set, congeal; “up” indicates vertical reversal) + PULL (=arrest, nab, colloquially) |
| 07 | EFFECTS | Property in Spain changes when roof comes off
E (=Spain, in IVR) + <a>FFECTS (=changes, impacts, as verb; “when roof comes off” means first letter is dropped); one’s personal effects are one’s property |
| 09 | IMITATOR | Parodist – to some extent, aim it at original
Hidden (“to some extent”) in “aIM IT AT ORiginal” |
| 13 | IMP | Wife leaving weakling for trouble-maker
<w>IMP (=weakling, weed); “wife (=W) leaving” means letter “w” is dropped |
| 14 | BOOTLEGS | Runs Merseyside town golf shop originally
BOOTLE (=Merseyside town) + G<olf> S<hop> (“originally” means first letters only); to bootleg is to smuggle, run (alcohol) |
| 16 | TAT | Article in Times is junk
A (=article, in grammar) in T T (=times, i.e. 2 x T=time) |
| 18 | ANY TIME | You’re welcome in new amenity
*(AMENITY); “new” is anagram indicator |
| 19 | FELLINI | Dropped in on independent film director
FELL (=dropped) + IN + I (=independent); the reference is to Italian film director Federico Fellini (1920-93) |
| 20 | SPECTRE | Fear and admire cycling
RE-SPECT (=admire); “cycling” means that the first letter moves to the end of the word, then the second; e.g. the spectre of war is the haunting fear or premonition of war |
| 21 | SPANIEL | Perhaps King Charles’s plausible story about a knight
[A + N (=knight, in chess)] in SPIEL (=plausible story, patter) |
| 25 | TURNS | Goes off // short walks
Double definition: if the milk turns it goes off AND turns are short walks or rides in the car, as in to take a turn in the park or in the car |
[RR – typo 26a AGING “Surviving crew no longer appearing to be getting on“]
Was that a bit easier than we have come to expect from Bluth? I liked the SOLAR FLARES. I was wondering if there was anything else going on with SPLAT, but I think it’s just that Busy Malone is also a rapper. A great puzzle. Thanks.
The usual cruciverbal fun from Bluth, although I did keep forgetting that the corner clues went in different directions. Thanks to him and RR
Although I finished and generally enjoyed this, I have to say I’m not keen on split clues, especially when there are five of them! But thanks anyway Bluth and RatkojaRiku.
Typical Bluth with several parsing tussles to sort out, but it was very enjoyable.
I bunged in the answer 3d having no idea about the relevance of Bugsy Malone. Having read the review, I am none the wiser.
My top picks were MAFIA, ROYAL ALBERT HALL, INTERVIEW and BOOTLEGS.
Thanks to Bluth and to RR.
@1 Typo corrected.
Rabbit Dave @5. For what it’s worth, Bugsy Malone was a musical gangster film with child actors. They had guns that fired whipped cream (hence the splat). The surface suggests a hit song.
Thanks RatkojaRiku and thanks all.
In 4D my intention with ‘putting gift’ was as a definition for GIMME. A putt so easy that your opponent allows you not to take it is a ‘putting gift’.
Happy Christmas
Always a pleasure to hit ‘Puzzle Info’ and find it’s a Bluth.
Thanks both. I’d lost some confidence lately, feeling the puzzles were all getting harder or I was losing touch, and for a while this followed suit. However stuck to my assertion Bluth tends to be fair if challenging and got there. Last two in were ZAPATA MOUSTACHE as an unknown, and SPLAT which seems very niche
Well that was a breeze compared to his Telegraph Toughie today. Very enjoyable indeed.
Thanks to B&R
Thanks Bluth for a well-crafted crossword. I managed to get all the solutions but couldn’t parse a number of them. In DEEP FREEZE I failed to see “terms” as last letters and in 12a I did not see “bespoke” as indicating an anagram. Like RR I loved the surfaces of OCTOPUS and ISOBAR; other favourites included ROYAL ALBERT HALL, GLIMMER, FELLINI, SPECTRE, and SPANIEL. Thanks RR for the blog.
The usual tasty selection box from Bluth with some remarkable ‘how did you think of that?’ clues – BOOTLEGS, OCTOPUS, ZAPATA …, etc., and a pleasurable arrangement of double entries.
Not sure why but I felt the clue for SPLAT was a little weak. I can see it works, and although I understood the surface it didn’t really “pop” for me. I held out for a while before typing in the answer because I wasn’t sure there wasn’t something else going on.
I didn’t know ZAPATA MOUSTACHE so that took a fair bit of weedling out as did EFFECTS for which I tried several parsings without finding a real word before I struck on the correct construction.
Spent a short while trying to convince myself that BAY and junk are synonymous.
Overall a good puzzle with plenty of nice clues. Favourite was probably ROYAL ALBERT HALL for the use of Ally Pally in the fodder.
Thanks to Bluth and RR for the fun and explanations.
Really enjoyed this one. Was absolutely convinced Bugsy Malone was a historical person which forced me to come here for the parse… happy that only seeing the trailer is enough to get the clue, but sad that one had to go to a theater fifty years ago to have seen it, especially in a no-wordplay clue. Still don’t really understand “plausible story,” but really evocative surfaces as expected from a Bluth made this a nice time.
@oxtoby
Here in UK the excellent film version is shown fairly regularly – and, at least when I was at school, was common as the school end of year play/musical ( good songs, not too many demanding parts, and fun for all)