Bluth has provided today’s puzzle, on a grid that accommodates four 15-letter entries around its perimeter.
I found this puzzle to be highly entertaining and towards the upper end of the Indy spectrum in terms of difficulty. I think that I have solved and parsed everything correctly, but I would appreciate confirmation of my parsing of 5.
My clues-of-the-day are almost too many to mention, but here I go: 1A, for the clever use of “Whitehall diplomats” in the wordplay; 2, for the misdirection around “Hamlet”; 14, 20 and 23, both for smoothness of surface; 19A, for making me laugh out loud; and 21, for sheer ingenuity.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01 | JACK-OF-ALL-TRADES | One can do anything as Whitehall diplomats essentially decline deals
JACK (=Whitehall, i.e. the UK actor!!) + <dipl>O<mats> (“essentially” means middle letter only) + FALL (=decline, deteriorate) + TRADES (=deals (in)) |
| 09 | HIGH-CLASS | Superior type of school lesson
HIGH (=type of school) + CLASS (=lesson) |
| 10 | TUTTI | Everyone tour operator’s welcoming on the wagon
TT (=on the wagon, teetotal) in TUI (=tour operator); tutti is a musical instruction for all to play, hence “everyone” |
| 11 | NURTURE | Regularly on guard – true soldiers follow training
<o>N <g>U<a>R<d> T<r>U<e> (“regularly” means alternate letters only) + RE (=soldiers, i.e. Royal Engineers); as a noun is upbringing, rearing, hence “training” |
| 12 | OCULIST | Doctor discovered locum left first
<l>OCU<m> (“dis-covered” means first and last letters are dropped) + L (=left) + 1ST (=first) |
| 13 | ON THE TROT | Cast not hotter in Succession
*(NOT HOTTER); “cast”, thrown is anagram indicator |
| 16 | SWEDE | European married in middle of Montserrat
WED (=married) in <mont>SE<rrat> (“middle of” means middle two letters only are used) |
| 17 | TRACT | Plot as group of drivers entering racing event
RAC (=group of drivers, i.e. Royal Automobile Club) in TT (=racing event, i.e. Tourist Trophy, on the Isle of Man); a tract is a stretch of land, a plot |
| 19 | INCUBATOR | Rod detailed breaking in to expose himself to mother hen recently?
BATO<n> (=rod, for a conductor; “de-tailed” means last letter is dropped) in INCUR (=to expose himself to, e.g. expense) |
| 22 | EN SUITE | Caught sickly nurse opening bathroom
EN (=nurse, i.e. Enrolled Nurse) + homophone (”caught”) of “sweet (=sickly)” |
| 23 | ABSOLVE | Free muscle work out
AB (=muscle, i.e. abdominal muscle) + SOLVE (=work out); to absolve is to free, e.g. of responsibility or guilt |
| 25 | PHOTO | For example blow up pub – maybe saloon bar walls
PH (=pub, i.e. public house) + <m>OTO<r> (=maybe saloon; “bar (=except for) walls” means first and last letters are dropped) |
| 26 | IMPRESSED | … struck – this writer’s crushed
I’M (=this writer’s, i.e. Bluth’s) + PRESSED (=crushed, squashed) |
| 27 | TOM, DICK AND HARRY | Styles daughter to wear shabby mink coat with diamonds before anyone
{D (=daughter) in [*(MINK COAT) + D (=diamonds, in cards)]} + HARRY (=Styles, i.e. UK musician) |
| Down | ||
| 01 | JOHNNY-ON-THE-SPOT | Rubber ring not punctured by actor – one’s always ready and available
JOHNNY (=rubber, condom) + O (=ring, pictorially) + [THESP (=actor, i.e. thespian) in NOT] |
| 02 | CIGAR | Agents inspiring good actor’s last portrayal of Hamlet?
[G (=good) in CIA (=agents, in US)] + <acto>R (“last” means last letter only); the reference is to the Hamlet brand of cigars! |
| 03 | OCCLUDE | Block entrance to conservatory during Cluedo unfortunately
C<onservatory> (“entrance to” means first letter only) in *(CLUEDO); “unfortunately” is anagram indicator; to occlude e.g. a passage or cavity is to stop, cover, block it |
| 04 | AMATEUR | Enthusiast heard you are supporting America over China
A (=America) + MATE (=China, in Cockney rhyming slang) + U R (=you are; “heard” is homophone indicator) |
| 05 | LASH OUT | Round Table occasionally upset over attack
LA (<t>A<b>L<e>; “occasionally” means alternate letters only; “upset” indicates vertical reversal) + SHOUT (=attack, i.e. shout at); to round on someone is to lash out at them |
| 06 | RAT RUNS | Star turns hosting series revealing roads less travelled
RUN (=series, e.g. of TV programmes) in RATS (STAR; “turns” indicates reversal); rat runs are minor roads used by traffic to avoid congestion on major roads |
| 07 | DETRIMENT | Damage section of bidet rim entirely
Hidden (“section”) of “biDET RIM ENTirely” |
| 08 | SAINT GEORGE’S DAY | Stupidly, a Tory disengages when England celebrates
*(A TORY DISENGAGES); “stupidly” is anagram indicator |
| 14 | TRANSFORM | Commute worked with Sierra and Model T initially
T + RAN (=worked, operated) + S (=Sierra, in NATO alphabet) + FORM (=model, shape); to commute e.g. a sentence is to transform, change it into something else |
| 15 | OWN | Mount Snowdon – oddly abandoned and private
<s>N<o>W<d>O<n>; “oddly abandoned” means all odd letters are dropped; “mount”, raise indicates vertical reversal |
| 18 | TRIPOLI | Capital Radio still ultimately trailing tour and single
[TRIP (=tour) + <radi>O <stil>L (“ultimately” means last letters only)] + I (=single) |
| 19 | ICEPICK | Hand tool to cool detective on crook’s case
ICE (=to cool, i.e. with ice) + PI (=detective, i.e. Private Investigator) + C<roo>K (“case” means first and last letters only) |
| 20 | CRAMPON | Wheeling pram with fleece covering – it helps with grip
*(PRAM) in CON (=fleece, swindle); “wheeling” is anagram indicator |
| 21 | BESEECH | Impolite issue making student see appeal
BELCH (=impolite issue, eructation, burp); “making student (=L) see” means letter “l” is replaced by “see” |
| 24 | LOSER | Failure of finisher missing header
<c>LOSER (=finisher); “missing header” means first letter is dropped; a person who is a failure could be described as a loser |
Another very enjoyable puzzle from Bluth today, three-quarters of which I found relatively straightforward but with the SE corner proving particularly hard.
Full marks to the setter for describing the RAC as “group of drivers” rather than the more often seen but inaccurate “drivers” for this and the AA.
I initially entered TRANSPOSE for 14a which seemed to fit the definition and wordplay but not the checkers. I’ve never heard of the 1d phrase but it was fairly clued. I couldn’t parse 19a.
I am not entirely convinced by 27a. For me, “anyone” is either “every T, D and H” or “any T, D or H” but never simply “T, D and H”.
Many thanks to Bluth for the fun and to RR.
LASH OUT
I parsed it as follows:
round=SHOUT (a round of drinks) over LA
Def:(to) attack
Thanks Bluth and RR!
Great fun puzzle! Lovely blog!
Loved SWEDE, J O T SPOT and BESEECH
I think LASH OUT is shout for round, as in “It’s my shout” together with the occasional table upset, all meaning to attack. I see KVa beat me to it. Great puzzle.
I had a different parsing for LASH OUT. I had SHOUT = “round”, as in ‘it’s your shout/round’ with LA above (‘over’) it with “attack” as the definition. I see others have posted the same whilst I was typing.
CRAMPON
A very minor point
The ‘wheeling’ in the clue indicates ‘cycling’.
Agree with lash out parsing in comments. I like the long clues around the edge – but sometimes the lettering pattern allows for easy solving (then back parsing).
A great fun crossword. But over too soon as 4 x 15 letter answers went in without a lot of thought or effort
Thanks Bluth and RatkojaRiku
Agree with KVA@2 (et al@2,3,4,6) on SHOUT.
And with KVA@5 on the nuance of CRAMPON – It’s about time we had an alternative “cycling” indicator; “wheeling” is nice.
[If only there were an alternative for “prime locations”].
Thanks B&RR
Thanks Bluth for an excellent crossword. I solved all of it except for the parsing of OWN. (I’ll have to remember ‘mount’ as a reversal indicator in a down clue.) I was greatly helped by 1a and 1d being write in’s for me. My top picks were JACK-OF-ALL-TRADES, EN SUITE, AMATEUR, and BESEECH. Thanks RR for the blog.
FrankieG @7, disagree about alternatives to cycling. Wheeling and cycling may be synonymous in some ways but cycling refers to repetition of an operation that returns the subject to its original state, and is used specifically as a mathematical operator in the same way it is generally used in crossword clues. Wheeling doesn’t necessarily share that sense. Compilers replacing well-tested indicators with derived ones might suit jaded solvers but makes clues less comprehensible.
Student for L is a good example. Who ever called a learner driver a student, and would understand it without first being told?
Another excellent puzzle from Bluth with the trademark long entries that I find entertaining. Couldn’t parse a couple so thanks very much to RR. Liked PHOTO and LASH OUT after the parsing was explained by bloggers. Thanks Bluth. Interesting comment from James@9
Enjoyed this, but not terribly chuffed about being expected to know about a couple of celebs. Hadn’t heard of 1d and had to google the phrase once I had enough crossers – quite a nice term actually. I like the construction of 8d SAINT GEORGES DAY – pity the editor didn’t schedule this puzzle for then?
19d had me looking for words ending in …DICK!! 🙂
Thank you B & R
p.s. I loved 23 🙂
Thanks RatkojaRiku and thanks all.
The early comments all correctly explained the intended parsing.
Cheers!