Thanks to GUY for a great first puzzle to blog this year.
A very enjoyable puzzle. Tricky, but very doable and a good and witty range of clues. Many thanks to GUY!
[And Happy New Year to all].
G (good) + USHER (attendant)
(PLUTOCR[at]S)* (*in difficulty, AT vanishing)
[s]UGA[r]’s inside; NOT outside
PANTHE[r] (black cat, mostly) + ON (subject to)
AME (soul, French) + AIL< (trouble, <returning)
Referring to Amelia Earhart
(A REP’S)* (*upset) + ATE (scoffed)
Double definition
MAN (chap) + NER[d] (irritating fool, dismissing last point)
RE (about) + DRESS (don)
ETC (and the rest) + HE’D (His Eminence had)
ST[a]Y (guy, drops A)
E (English) + (CIA (US spies) in MATE (equal, as in peer))
(CINEMA)* (*new)
As I interpret it, we have two straight definitions: certainly not ruddy; short of spirit. ‘In US’ tells us to use American spelling.
SPECI[al] MEN (elite squad, A + L (pound) abandoned)
LAME (unconvincing) + NT (collection of books, New Testament)
(ONE RATES)* (*happily)
(ONE’S)* (*screwed) in CR (credit)
GEN (info) on DAME (woman) embracing R (Romeo, NATO alphabet)
‘Cop in Rouen’ = French policeman
(SURE NEAT)* (*could be, if repackaged)
AXE< (chopper, <whirling) + MINER (digger)
CLARE (county, in Ireland) + [gu]T[sy] (central to)
LET (suffer) + HAL (little Henry)
(WEALTH)* (*unbridled)
‘Sweeney Todd’ is Cockney rhyming slang for the UK flying squad
R (right) + ANGER (huff)
Double definition
X (cross) in support of RE (sappers, Royals Engineers)
[r]USE (trick, with no R (hint of roguery))
ONE (individual) in STAGE (theatre)
C (cold) + HAM (actor) on PER (a) + [hi]S (last drop of)
CATO (orator) interrupting RUDE< (discourteous, <rising)
TASER (what could stun you) about E (eastern)
Double definition
‘Taters’ is Cockney rhyming slang for cold
IS + I (one) + ON (playing) under V (Victor, NATO alphabet)
ST (saint) covering TREE (e.g. elder)
Please explain why TATERS is cold. Collins was no help. And I don’t understand why “eg Sweeney Todd” is the law.
Just saw your reference to rhyming slang, Oriel. Oh dear. But what does it rhyme with?
Found it! Taters in the mould? What on earth does that mean?
Oh dear, Sweeney Todd is rhyming slang, too. (Only just noticed.) I should read the blog more thoroughly in the first place. 🙁
I’m somewhat confused as to who the setter actually is. Solving online, I am told that the puzzle is by Jason and yet Oriel is firmly stating Guy and, indeed, Guy does appear in one of the clues.
TATERS is a nho Cockneyism and I have to confess neither definition of NET is one that I would use – to the extent that with -ET, I still had to reveal at the very end, wondering whether LET as hindrance/difficulty or SET as possibly conclusive might have been the answer. NOUGAT, EXAMINER and STREET were my podium – though I feel EXAMINER needs a QM at the end for the surface.
Thanks setter and Oriel
Thanks Guy or Jason and Oriel
Like PostMark I was surprised that the app showed a different setter from the pdf: perhaps someone will explain.
There is one screeching error in the puzzle. The wine is SAUTERNES (sic) and takes its name from the eponymous region in France. SAUTERNE does not exist.
SAUTERNE is in Chambers Simon.
Simon @6. No. The wine is SAUTERNE (sometimes sauternes) but the region is Sauternes.
You will never see SAUTERNE on a bottle or in a wine list. I’ve been to Sauternes, and have bought a fair amount over the years: the wine has the final S.
Simon @6: I felt the same as you wrt SAUTERNE but I see it is, indeed, in Chambers thus spelled. I have only ever encountered the wine spelled with two S’s, that’s how it appears in Internet searches – and I actually have to hand the latest Wine Society List which has all the Sauternes spelled with two S’s.
Thanks for the blog, a lot of neat clues here. SCULPTOR and NOUGAT are cleverly done.
The Sweeney famous from the 70s TV series, Dennis Waterman probably said TATERS at some point in this or in Minder.
NET=difficulty is way down a long list in Chambers but a NET result is conclusive.
Simon. You’re right. Although an internet search reveals several instances of “Sauterne wine”, the bottles all seem to have “Sauternes”. As others have said, it is in Chambers which, I guess, lets the setter off the hook but, maybe, Chambers is wrong.
Thanks Guy (except for 13ac) and Oriel
13ac: I had SET here. I had to go to SOED 2007 to get “a check; a standstill; a serious setback”. These are all marked “More emphatically dead set“, but I think that means that set on its own still carries the meaning(s) given.
2dn: Collins 2023 has Sauternes as the head word, but under it “sauterne a sweet to semi-dry Californian white wine blended from several kinds of grapes”.
I stick to my general view that fairness to setters means that they should not be expected to overrule the standard dictionaries.
PB @ 14 I’ve checked the wikipedia page on Sauternes. Spelt thus it is solely the French sweet wine from that area; spelt without the final S it is a generic term for an American dessert wine which is made from a blend of grapes probably wider than permitted for the French version.
So it would appear that SAUTERNES and SAUTERNE are actually different wines! (The imp in me suggests that in this instance 2D should have an indicator of American usage 😉 )
[As an aside, the classic Sauternes Chateau d’Yqem is epiphany in a glass]
Hovis @12 ‘Cambers may be wrong’.
GASP!
Thanks, all.
Chambers even. Oh, dear.
That wasn’t one crossword. It was four crosswords stuck together (just).
I’m not keen on such unconnected grids as this.
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Sauternes – with a capital “S”
Proper noun – A region of France known for producing dessert wines.
Noun – Sauternes (plural Sauternes) – A wine produced in Sauternes, such as the prestigious Château d’Yquem.
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sauterne – with a lower case “s”
Etymology – An intentional misspelling by American vintners of the name of the famed French wine region Sauternes and the wines they produce.
Noun – sauterne (countable and uncountable, plural sauternes) – (US) A wine imitating those of Sauternes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sweeney ‘…was developed from a one-off TV drama entitled Regan which served as the pilot episode for the series. … a 90-minute television film written by Ian Kennedy Martin for the Thames Television anthology series Armchair Cinema … in 1974.
A golden anniversary.
I parsed MANNER with NERk rather than NERd. I didn’t like NET either.
Nice to see an !rish county in CLARET making a refreshing change from Beds, Berks, Bucks, Staffs, Wilts, &c.
And to spot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cato_the_Younger ‘noted orator’ in EDUCATOR, crossing with grandad
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cato_the_Elder ‘also known as Cato the CENSOR’
Thanks J/G & O
Thanks to the setter (Guy or Jason, or perhaps someone else)
Some nice clues, but a few too many clues relied on obscure words or usages for my liking (including the ever-obscure Cockey slang). For example, I was all ready to show solidarity with Simon S on SAUTERNE, to find that it is an obscure US wine. I think my favourites were covered, but I thought NOUGAT, REDRESS, STY, LAMENT and LETHAL all had nice surfaces
Thanks to the mystery setter and to Oriel for the blog
It did cross my mind that SAUTERNE should have a final S but there wasn’t space for one in the grid so that resolved the conundrum for me and I didn’t dwell on it. That’s one for the AOC police to worry about.
A couple of stylistic quirks make me think this is more likely to be Jason than Guy, but I wouldn’t put money on that – I’m not that good at identifying setters’ idiosyncracies. It was an enjoyable puzzle either way, so thanks to whoever deserves the credit. I had similar favourites to Martyn. Thanks also to Oriel for the blog.
Btw, Sweeny Todd = Flying Squad is unimpeachable but I’m dubious about the claimed rhyming slang origin of TATERS meaning cold. Sounds implausible to me and seems to be yet another one of those factoids that has become established as truth through repetition on the internet.
I’ve still not seen the solution for 17,616 (the one after the xmas jumbo one).
This one being delayed by a week too?
(still not sure why this is a thing anymore given there’s no prizes now)
TATERS for cold was a well-known expression in NW England by the 70s/80s, so doubt it was CRS then.
Timothy@18: I share your distaste for poorly connected grids.
13ac: I should clarify my own comment, coincidentally number 13. While solving, I had a vague thought that SET could equal setback. As always, I only looked in the dictionaries afterwards.
2dn: Thanks particularly to Simon@15 for the information on this one. I went to a local shop this morning, which had a modest collection of wines, and had a reasonably thorough look round them. I did not see any bottles labelled “Sauterne”, but I did not see any labelled “Sauternes” either.
23dn: All the current dictionaries that I routinely check give tater as slang for potato only. However, The Slang Thesaurus by Jonathon Green, dated 1986, gives us “potatoes in the mould (rhy. sl.), taters” as terms related to cold weather. This fits with Simon@27. It should be remembered that by no means all rhyming slang is Cockney in origin.
Thanks Guy. I found this a mixed bag, liking clues such as NOUGAT, AMELIA, STY, and EDUCATOR but failing on clues such as NET, THE LAW, CENSOR, and CHAMPERS. Thanks Oriel for the blog.
So 23 down is cold potato, while 13 across is a bit of a hot potato?
Chambers Slang Dictionary also gives “taters (in the mould)” as a euphemism for cold.
Interesting. Well, Green and Chambers seem like a couple of pretty good sources so maybe it is legit after all.
Should add, I was familiar with taters meaning cold, it was only the origin of the usage I was questioning – I’m always naturally sceptical of any poorly attested claims of rhyming slang as the origin of a term (likewise acronyms), especially when it’s such an odd phrase as “potatoes in the mould”. Do people actually say that? What on earth does it mean?
It means potatoes in the ground rather than being cooked ?? I am very sceptical about the whole thing but I have heard TATERS=cold many times .
4. I chip away at vanishing plutocrats in difficulty (8) SCULPTOR (PLUTOCR[at]S)* (*in difficulty, AT vanishing)
Why add “in difficulty” to the clue
Why not just make the clue “I chip away at vanishing plutocrats”
Please explain and thanks
ricky@35, “in difficulty” is needed as the anagram indicator. “I chip away” is the definition, so its can’t also be the anagram indicator. I hope that helps.