The puzzle is available to download or solve online here.
Hi all. It’s always great to have a Bluth production: a perfect way to kick off the weekend.
I had to GET HELP (18d) with the wordplay of ELEGIES (19a), so fell short of perfection, but that didn’t dent my enjoyment. I can always tell myself I would have got there eventually and nobody can prove that I wouldn’t have!
It’s quite an achievement having four 15-letter entries around the edge and generous letter-checking while keeping the puzzle free from painted-into-a-corner entries. My pick of the clues is 1a, CHAPTER AND VERSE. Thanks Bluth!
Definitions are underlined in the clues below. In the explanations, most quoted indicators are in italics, specified [deletions] are in square brackets, and I’ve capitalised and emboldened letters which appear in the ANSWER. For clarity, I omit most link words and some juxtaposition indicators.
Across
1a CV giving complete references (7,3,5)
CHAPTER AND VERSE
C V gives, being abbreviations of, respectively CHAPTER AND VERSE
9a Audacity of Spurs’ wingers going after two cups (5)
BRASS
SpurS’ outer letters (wingers) going after BRA (two cups)
10a Mock short Disney film’s boring plot – Dumbo’s debut (9)
SIMULATED
Without the last letter (short) MULAn (Disney film)’s inside (boring) SITE (plot) + Dumbo’s first letter (debut)
11a Clear everyone is following introduction to board game (7)
NETBALL
NET (clear) + ALL (everyone) is following the first letter of (introduction to) Board
12a Lawman is going back over the woman’s fines (7)
SHERIFF
IS reversed (going back) around (over) HER (the woman’s) + F F (fines; abbreviation for fine twice)
13a End it with European six-footer (7)
TERMITE
TERM (end) + IT + E (European)
14a Relative intervenes when one becomes old (7)
STEPSON
STEPS [i]N (intervenes) when I (one) becomes O (old)
16a It’s my round – getting shot of whisky, finally inspiring … (7)
IMBUING
I’M BU[y]ING (it’s my round) removing (getting shot of) the last letter of (… finally) whiskY
19a … sad songs recalling date army charged on shed (7)
ELEGIES
Reversing (recalling) SEE (date) with LEGI[on] (army) inside (charged) and ON removed (shed)
21a Not so foul proposition – not so wrong (7)
ILLICIT
Without (not) SO, [so]IL (foul) + [so]LICIT (proposition) without (not) SO
23a On reflection it’s part of the Kop’s ebullient custom (7)
BESPOKE
Reversed (on reflection) the answer is part of thE KOP’S EBullient
24a Dry debate about toy (5,4)
TEDDY BEAR
An anagram of (… about) DRY DEBATE
25a Sound like a hack’s nearly swallowing pill (5)
NEIGH
NIGH (nearly) taking in (swallowing) E (pill)
26a One whose chair was set up by the throne (6,9)
REGIUS PROFESSOR
A cryptic definition.
I was certainly thinking first of a literal, rather than professorial chair, mainly because I thought the throne might turn out to be somewhere to “go”. This is what too many crosswords does to the brain!
Down
1d Cleverly, say, incriminate best shot (7,8)
CABINET MINISTER
An anagram of (… shot) INCRIMINATE BEST. James, currently Secretary of State for the Home Department. The cabinet is listed (with pictures – warning!) here
2d Men fitting plug reordered electrical component (7)
ADAPTOR
OR (men), APT (fitting) and AD (plug), with these components reordered
3d Shaking a coin tin close to bus conductor (9)
TOSCANINI
An anagram of (shaking) A COIN TIN with the last letter of (close to) buS
4d Decide to do this a second time (7)
RESOLVE
RE–SOLVE (to do this a second time).
When I re-solve a puzzle I’m usually shocked by how bad I am the second time around!
5d Heard about any trouble involving India’s eternal foe (7)
NEMESIS
Sound-alike of (heard about) any: NE + MESS (trouble) including (involving) I (India)
6d Price of kitbag is completely eclipsed by uniform (5)
VALUE
VAL[is]E (kitbag) with IS replaced by (completely eclipsed by) U (uniform).
Took me while to think of the right bag
7d Sells disheartened rescue dogs (7)
RETAILS
Without inner letters (disheartened) RescuE + TAILS (dogs)
8d Note softened her up – reaching breaking point (3,2,4,6)
END OF ONE’S TETHER
NOTE SOFTENED HER anagrammed (up)
15d From that day on Church follows English translation with nothing missing (4,5)
EVER SINCE
CE (Church) follows E (English) and VERSI[o]N (translation) with O (nothing) missing
17d Slow cycling through swamp for one of obstinate courage (7)
BULLDOG
DULL (slow) with the letters cycling inside (through) BOG (swamp)
18d Perhaps dial 999 and put empty gesture on the record (3,4)
GET HELP
Here we put GesturE without the middle letters (empty …) on THE + LP (record).
I was distracted for a while by thinking the record was Help! Rather than one of the crosswordland staples. Possibly influences by a Beatles-related clue in another recent puzzle by the same author
19d Saloon maybe seen on drive after erratic motorist initially gets ban (7)
EMBARGO
BAR (saloon maybe) seen on GO (drive) all after the first letters of (… initially) Erratic Motorist
20d Press stories left out examples of subtle humour (7)
IRONIES
IRON (press) + [l]IES (stories) with L (eft) out
22d Turned up to support shy South American native (5)
COYPU
Reversed (turned) UP going underneath (to support) COY (shy)
I got the four long clues pretty straightforwardly which made the whole thing much simpler. I was just on same wavelength as Bluth.
Thanks Setter and Blogger
Chapter and Verse was definitely my favourite
This was good fun and not too tricky by this setter’s standards although I failed to parse ELEGIES. I also couldn’t find any confirmation that C = Chapter except in Collins American list.
Is “completely” serving any purpose in 6d?
I had a lot of ticks with IMBUING, ILLICIT and GET HELP my top picks.
Many thanks to Bluth and to Kitty.
Managed without any help :; Great crossword with quite a bit of head-scratching to finally parse them all.
Rabbit Dave @2. I think ‘completely’ is there because a ‘partial eclipse’ wouldn’t do the job. Perhaps not entirely necessary but justified nevertheless.
Did I type the wink emoticon incorrectly @3 or has this stopped working now?
Thanks Bluth and Kitty! Lovely puzzle. Superb blog!
Top faves: STEPSON, ILLICIT, NEMESIS and VALUE.
RD@2: Chambers has C for chapter: Caput (Latin), chapter (pl cc)
I’m another who was on the wavelength today. Almost everything went in on the first pass through the clues with only the SW proving recalcitrant. ILLICIT never parsed so many thanks to Kitty for explaining that one. And REGIUS PROFESSOR, whilst a term I recognise, is not one that came readily to mind. Too many super clues to highlight faves on this occasion.
Thanks Bluth and Kitty
Unlike Hovis @3 I needed a fair amount of help from a word list. Valise = kitbag seems a bit of a stretch, though just about acceptable. And Hovis @4, although right-clicking the mouse brings up an emoji option, it doesn’t work! Maybe because its overuse could become boring.
A friend has pointed out to me that C = Chapter does appear in Chambers but not where it might be expected alphabetically. I looked for it between the words starting CE and CI. It is actually in the list in the middle of words starting CA as it is derived from the Latin caput!
Sorry, forgot to thank Bluth and Kitty.
Hovis@4 “;)” with spaces either side: 😉 – you seem to have typed “:;”
Testing;) ;(Testing
Testing 😉 😉 Testing – that’s with the spaces either side
FrankieG. So I did. Must be going senile not to spot that 😉 A winking mouth instead of eyes, as it were.
PM, thanks for your comment @6 which I hadn’t seen until after I had posted mine @8. I’m a bit surprised that Chambers have listed it in that way. Wouldn’t Chapter (Latin: caput) be more logical?
I’ll try to remember to check more closely next time …
@10 tilt – “;(” would never have worked because you can’t combine a wink with the other options, they all need colons, not semi-colons 🙂 😀 😉 🙁 😕 😮 😯 😡 😐
foi 1d CABINET MINISTER – that’s some rogues’ gallery in your link, Kitty – “Jimmy Dimly” – MP for Braintree – “disproof of nominative determinism”.
By contrast my loi in yesterday’s Fed was BODICE-RIPPERS, the long one in the first column.
18d GET HELP – You could parse this with the record Help!, but only if you’re from Yorkshire – T’HELP [Celebrating a diamond anniversary… (…next year)]
Thanks both. I ended up one letter short of a picnic, having guessed at ‘regium’ instead of REGIUS PROFESSOR, as it was an unknown and the clue wasn’t providing guidance in absence of the GK, though I knew the general intention, and Latin quite frankly is all Greek to me.
If anyone is interested in the emoticons that can be used on this site, see here
I agree that C for chapter is a tad tricky, and requires a trawl through Chambers really, but the C(+)V device, given the definition, is very neat.
A nice puzzle by Bluth.
Thanks Bluth. This went in faster than usual for a Bluth crossword but I definitely needed Kitty to set things straight. I missed 26a, bunging in ‘regnum’ instead of REGIUS, I had no idea who Cleverly is, and I couldn’t parse VALUE or ELEGIES. My top picks were BRASS, TERMITE, ILLICIT (I liked the intricate wordplay), RESOLVE, and EVER SINCE. Thanks Kitty for the blog with, of course, the feline photo.
[Kitty says, “Setter, that hurt!” (4)]
Thanks Kitty, and thanks all.
I’m surprised to see people suggesting that C = Chapter is unusual as I’ve used it before without any such reaction and I feel like it comes up in crosswords semi-regularly.
Here are a few examples of it being used, including in the Quiptic – without any eyebrows being raised… the difference, I suspect, is the direction of travel. It’s easier for our brains to see the word ‘chapter’ in a clue and think it might be C than it is to see C in a clue and think it might be Chapter.
I thoroughly enjoyed the puzzle. Lots of ticks.
I didn’t regard C for Chapter as especially tricky or unfair.