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A breezy challenge from LEONIDAS.
FF: 8 DD: 7
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | BASE METAL |
Male beast struggling in lead? (4,5)
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[ MALE BEAST ]* |
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| 6 | COSEC |
Alternately choose each function (5)
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alternate letters of "..ChOoSe EaCh.."1 |
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| 9 | ALERT |
Consort dropping book on one’s toes (5)
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ALbERT ( consort, without B – book ) |
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| 10 | REQUISITE |
Needed on location around Queen Island (9)
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RE ( on ) QU ( queen ) I ( island ) SITE ( location ) |
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| 11 | TIEBREAKER |
Wave on heads of teams in exciting decider (10)
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TIE ( "..Teams In Exciting..", first letters of ) BREAKER ( wave ) |
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| 12 | KEEP |
Returned butcher’s stock (4)
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reverse of PEEK ( butcher's , cockney rhyming slang as i found out ) |
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| 14 | APOLOGY |
Excuse silver-plated car by yard (7)
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[ AG ( silver ) around POLO ( car ) ] Y ( yard ) |
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| 15 | RAREBIT |
River carrying artist back for light meal (7)
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TIBER ( river ) containing RA ( artist ), all reversed |
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| 17 | AVERTED |
Headed off promise to meet Edward casually (7)
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AVER ( promise ) TED ( edward, casually ) |
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| 19 | MAHATMA |
Sage’s covering pressed by baby’s mother (7)
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HAT ( covering ) contained in MAMA ( baby's mother ) |
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| 20 | APSE |
Announced programs in recess (4)
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sounds like APPS ( programs ) |
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| 22 | MUTTONHEAD |
Idiot dog working alongside nut (10)
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MUTT ( dog ) ON ( working ) HEAD ( nut ) |
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| 25 | CRUCIBLES |
Harsh tests of Rice Club’s cooking (9)
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[ RICE CLUBS ]* |
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| 26 | ISSUE |
Children exposed groups of cells (5)
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tISSUEs ( groups of cells, exposed i.e. without end letters ) |
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| 27 | ETHOS |
Old letters capturing Oscar’s spirit (5)
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ETHS ( old letters ) containing O ( oscar ) |
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| 28 | THEME PARK |
Funfair’s ‘2×2’ craft with politician aboard (5,4)
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THE ARK ( 2×2 craft, noah ) containing MEP ( politician ) |
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| DOWN | ||
| 1 | BOAST |
Snake eviscerated scraggiest crow (5)
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BOA ( snake ) ST ( ScraggiesT, eviscerated i.e. without inner characters ) |
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| 2 | STEVEDORE |
Jobs maybe suffice ultimately for wee docker (9)
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STEVE ( jobs, maybe ) DO ( suffice ) RE ( "..foR weE..", ultimately ) |
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| 3 | MOTORMOUTH |
Master heated rum: too hot! He should give it a rest (10)
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M ( master ) [ RUM TOO HOT ]* |
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| 4 | TERNARY |
Visibly upset about sailors in threes (7)
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TEARY ( visibly upset ) around RN ( sailors ) |
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| 5 | LIQUEUR |
Left one brief line: run to get drink (7)
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L ( left ) I ( one ) QUEUe ( line, brief ) R ( run ) |
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| 6 | CAIN |
Picked up birch for shepherd’s brother (4)
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sounds like CANE ( birch ) |
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| 7 | SEIZE |
Grab Madame’s 4 and 12 (5)
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double def; latter referring to french for 16 ( 4 and 12 ) |
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| 8 | CLEOPATRA |
Pale actor played one mortally bitten (9)
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[ PALE ACTOR ]* |
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| 13 | PREHENSILE |
Able to grasp middle of free layers in heap (10)
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[ RE ( fREe, middle of ) HENS ( layers ) ] in PILE ( heap ) |
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| 14 | AVALANCHE |
Significant slip from satnav Alan checked (9)
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hidden in "..satnAV ALAN CHEcked.." |
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| 16 | BATTERSEA |
Coats bits of eel at Thames location (9)
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BATTERS ( coast ) EA ( "..Eel At..", first letters of ) |
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| 18 | DOUBLET |
Suspicion surrounds the Parisian garment (7)
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DOUBT ( suspicion ) around LE ( the, french ) |
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| 19 | MATISSE |
Some retired females sit amorously for artist (7)
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hidden, reversed in "..femalES SIT AMorously.." |
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| 21 | SHUSH |
Order given to 3’s husband loading most of rice cakes (5)
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H ( husband ) in SUSHi ( rice cakes, most of ) ; 3d is motormouth |
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| 23 | DRECK |
Rubbish diamonds wife nabbed from worn-out ship (5)
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D ( diamonds ) wRECK ( worn-out ship, without W – wife ) |
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| 24 | NIPS |
Pinches half of vegetables (4)
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parsNIPS ( vegetables, half of ) |
I know about MP, but why is MEP a politician? Google gives me mechanical, engineering and plumbing. Might that extra E be for English?
The French eluded me in SEIZE. And I’d not heard of eths. Everything else fell into place. I even knew of the Thames location (although didn’t know it was on the Thames).
Thanks Leonidas & Turbolegs.
Hi GDU,
Member of European Parliament.
Regards,
TL
Leonidas caps another fine week of puzzles with this pearler.
My top pick was KEEP for the succinct surface and clever wordplay.
CLEOPATRA, SEIZE, MOTORMOUTH and PREHENSILE were also very good.
Needed the blog to understand the workings of ETHOS, like Geoff. TL beat me to it re MEP.
Thanks to Leonidas for the entertainment and Turbolegs.
Thanks Leonidas & Turbolegs.
DD7 & and FF8: Sure. Yea.
MOTORMOUTH
Def: He should give it a rest
(give it a rest: stop talking)
Peter@5 as in the blog ETH is an old letter , for TH , a bit like theta .
Thanks for the blog , really neat set of clever clues,
Geoff@ 1 , BATTERSEA famous for the power station, on the cover of Animals by Pink Floyd .
At the heart of the city, built on the Thames for access to water and for coal barges.
Agree with KVa@4 that MOTORMOUTH needs a long definition.
Ah, that puts things in perspective, Roz. Animals is one of about eight Floyd albums in my LP & CD collection. I was just listening to The Final Cut today.
And thanks Turbolegs for clearing up MEP.
[ Geoff@8 – the Art Deco interior is even more impressive than the building , Giles Gilbert Scott, also designed the Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool and my old college LMH . And the red telephone box . ]
Hugely enjoyable with plenty of verbs masquerading as nouns and misleading definitions; just right for a Friday. I’m another who agrees MOTORMOUTH is defined by the longer string. I agree with Diane’s picks – though I might raise SEIZE to equal COTD; I had a big grin on my face solving that.
If anyone is in need of more ETHs than have been served up in puzzle and comments, I would point you at The Fast Show’s Chanel 9 news programme.
Thanks Leonidas and Turbolegs
Further to Roz@9 Battersea Power Station has been converted into shops, restaurants, a leisure centre etc. It is worth visiting although the interior is not as Scott left it.
Fun puzzle and excellent blog. Thanks to both
Lots of fun here, as has been said. I smiled particularly at 9ac ALERT, 19ac MATISSE (cleverly hidden), 28ac THEME PARK and 1dn CROW.
I also had ticks for CRUCIBLES, the (again) cleverly hidden AVALANCHE and CAIN – all for the definitions – and a lot more, too many to mention. (Lovely surfaces throughout, of course.)
Peter @5 – re APOLOGY: it has a secondary meaning. Collins gives ‘a poor substitute or offering’ and, for ‘excuse,’ ‘an inferior example of something specific’.
Turbolegs – tiny quibble: in 1ac, the question mark should be underlined, as being a definition by example.
Many thanks to Leonidas for a pearler of a puzzle (I liked that, Diane!) and to Turbolegs for a great blog.
Marvellous!
Thoroughly enjoyed and exactly the right mix of ease and complexity to keep the brain cells working while maintaining enthusiasm.
Never heard of Eth
Thank you, particularly for explaining Battersea, the parsing of which flummoxed me
Last four in (L4i): short ones in the corners – ETHOS, SHUSH, KEEP, SEIZE – liked them all.
RAREBIT can be pronounced (some people insist on it) RABBIT…
…For more CRS, ‘ave a “butcher’s” at this… from TOTP in 1980.
‘… You’ve got a lot without a doubt | But I’m thinking ’bout blowing you out | ‘Cause you won’t stop talking | Why don’t you give it a rest?
You’ve got more rabbit than Sainsbury’s | It’s time you got it off your chest
… Now you was just the kind of girl to break my heart in two | I knew right off when I first clapped my eyes on you
But how was I to know you’d bend my ear ‘oles too with your incessant talking? | You’re becoming a pest
… Now I don’t mind having a chat | But you have to keep giving it that …Yap … Rabbit … Bunny … Jabber’
Charles Hodges & David Peacock first got together in ’74 – a golden anniversary.
The legendary Bagpuss was 50 on Monday , I have been waiting all week for a themed puzzle.
Agree with Diane@3’s favourites. I also liked the hidden clues today.
I could not work out the parsing of THEME PARK or SIEZE, so thanks for the explanation. Like Peter@5, I wondered whether apology = excuse but found a rough equivalent in OED that convinced me.
Thanks Leonidas and Turbolegs
My first comment for a couple of months as I do my puzzles on paper and have been in hospital witout access to a printer. Anyway a satisfying solve; I particularly liked SEIZE and BATTERSEA, although DRECK was new to me but confirmed in Chambers.
Thanks, Leonidas and Turbolegs
I managed to misread 3 as 8 for SHUSH, which led to an agreeable 10 minutes trying to make a link between a half-remembered Darius’ capital and Cleopatra.
Thanks Leonidas for a nice set of clues including the well-hidden AVALANCHE and MATISSE as well as BASE METAL, REQUISITE, RAREBIT, and MUTTONHEAD. I missed BATTERSEA and couldn’t parse SEIZE so thanks Turbolegs for the blog.
[Peter @13: If you have internet access you have Collins free of charge.]
Roz@17 I assumed Bagpuss is a crossword setter with a long history. But then I looked at google……
Welcome back, Allan C.
Here’s hoping regular access again to the puzzles will aid your convalescence.
FrankieG@16, your Chas & Dave reference, with 3d MOTORMOUTH, gave me my ear worm for today – Mose Allison’s great song “Your Mind Is On Vacation But Your Mouth Is Working Overtime”.
I was pleased with the jorum I came up with for 7d – SHIVE, 4 (IV) within madame (SHE), meaning to keep (12a) – but for some reason none of my dictionaries had it. Clearly a failing on their part. (In hindsight, it was an excellent clue for SEIZE.)
Favourites were the aforementioned MOTORMOUTH and the deceptive surface of 9a ALBERT.
Thanks L & T for the fun.
PM@10 – 😉 – Nice one! – sminki pinki.
Cellomaniac@24 – Can’t recall ever hearing anything by Mose Allison – but this is “great”, as you say. Shame it’s only 49 years old, though. I must hear more.
19d MATISSE – I’m wondering how exactly do “females sit aMorously”?
Thanks L&T