Profuse apologies for the late blog.
I forgot that it was my turn to do the Guardian blog today, so I apologise for the late blog. Thankfully, the puzzle was a typical Monday one, so I was able to solve it realtively quickly and parsing was straightforward. This in no way lessens the quality of the puzzle, as it takes an extremely adept setter to make a puzzle of this sort interesting and Vulcan has certianly done that.
Edit – my original blog missed TAU (now added) and clue numbers. Sorry about the lack of clue numbers, but fixing that would take more time than I have available.
Thanks, Vulcan and once again, sorry!
| ACROSS | ||
| MINCEPIE |
Eye-rhyme for Christmas favourite (5,3)
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| In Cockney rhyming slang, MINCE PIE (“Christmas favourite”) is EYE | ||
| AUBADE |
Dear poet, let us hear a song at sunrise (6)
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| Homophone (at least for non-rhotics) [let us hear] of OH BARD (“dear poet”) | ||
| MYOPIC |
Having trouble seeing the old photo of me (6)
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| MY O (old) PIC would be ” the old photo of me” | ||
| MARMOSET |
Little monkey’s limb held by medic to repair break (8)
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| ARM (“limb”) held by MO (“medic”al officer) + SET (“to repair break”) | ||
| NEVERLAND |
Keep on flying to fantasy island (9)
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| If you “keep on flying” you would NEVER LAND | ||
| IDLED |
I had taken first place and relaxed (5)
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| I’D (“I had”) + LED (“taken first place”) | ||
| TODATE |
Why use Tinder, thus far? (2,4)
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| One would use Tinder TO DATE | ||
| SOVIET |
Russian once partly also Vietnamese (6)
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| Hidden in [partly] “alSO VIETnamese” | ||
| TURNON |
Suddenly attack someone physically attractive (4,2)
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| Double definition, the first a verb, and the second (probably hyphenated) a noun for someone “physically attractive” | ||
| GENEVA |
City’s grand boulevard makes a turn, not hairpin (6)
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| G (grand) + <=AVEN(u)E (“boulevard” makes a turn, without U [not hairpin]) | ||
| PATCH |
Gently stroke child dressing (5)
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| PAT (“gently stroke”) + Ch. (child) | ||
| THINKTANK |
Policy group’s tip for fitting out aquarium? (5,4)
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| If fitting out an aquarium you would need to THINK about TANKs | ||
| LEVELSUP |
Brings the higher floors to the standard of the others (6,2)
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| Cryptic definition | ||
| DEARTH |
Want day at ground (6)
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| D (day) at EARTH (“ground”) | ||
| STAPLE |
Breaking plates for bread, say (6)
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| *(plates) [anag:breaking] | ||
| LAYINGUP |
Plain guy struggles building a store (6,2)
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| *(plain guy) [anag:struggles] | ||
| DOWN | ||
| IVY |
A clinging girl? (3)
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| Cryptic definition | ||
| COPSE |
Manage to surround small thicket (5)
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| COPE (“manage”) to surround S (small) | ||
| PECULATION |
Aunt is involved with police for pilfering (10)
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| *(aunt police) [anag:involved] | ||
| ERMINE |
Fur regularly dear, a source of wealth (6)
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| [regularly] (d)E(a)R + MINE (“a source of wealth”) | ||
| ACRE |
Area of land a gang reduced (4)
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| A + CRE(w) (“gang”, reduced) | ||
| BROADSIDE |
Strong attack by general on team (9)
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| BROAD (“general”) on SIDE (“team”) | ||
| DIESEL TRAIN |
Residential development getting public transport (6,5)
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| *(residential) [anag:development] | ||
| ESTATE AGENT |
One encouraging others to take your property (6,5)
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| Cryptic definition | ||
| HOME AND DRY |
Adored hymn translated as ‘Back before the storm’ (4,3,3)
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| *(adored hymn) [anag: translated] | ||
| DIRT CHEAP |
Scandal vile, and not worth much (4,5)
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| DIRT (“scandal”) + CHEAP (“vile”) | ||
| CHAPEL |
Bloke attends extremely evangelical place of worship (6)
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| CHAP attends [extremely] E(vangelica)L | ||
| TWAIN |
Mark as adult visiting his very closest relative (5)
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| A (adult) visiting TWIN (“very close relative”) | ||
| ISLE |
An inch? I’ll say! (4)
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| Homophone [say] of I’LL | ||
| TAU |
Foreign character sitting in restaurant (3)
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| Hidden [sitting] in “resTAUrant” |
Number 1 at last .
Thanks Vulcan and loonapick
Shame he didn’t use “bowler” instead of “general” for BROAD.
OH BARD must be one of the worst non-rhotics ever!
A nice monday morning stroll – thanks Vulcan and Loonapick
BTW – I don’t know if it is my display but I can see only the clue for last down clue; no answer nor explanation. Thnx
Thanks for the blog, I thought this was really good and perfect for the Monday tradition. DIESEL TRAIN is a great anagram , TWAIN is very neat , PECULATION manages to avoid the (S)peculation trick. AUBADE turns up quite often , albedo would have been a nice alternative.
matthew newell@3
TAU seems to have been missed out by the blogger.
Loved THINK TANK, LEVELS UP (a multi-layer clue) and ESTATE AGENT.
Thanks both.
Please don’t apologise, loonapick. Your life must be so busy with a young family, work and blogging. You are very much appreciated for what you manage to fit in.
I enjoyed 15a TO DATE, the anagram at 8d DIESEL TRAIN, 12d ESTATE AGENT, and 23d TWAIN.
Thanks to Vulcan and loonapick.
[Sorry, I crossed against other posts containing some similarities.]
I thought the clue for GENEVA was clever, and I dutifully followed the misdirection to think of famous boulevards until the penny dropped. I agree with loonapick that though this was Monday level (though perhaps a tad harder than the prize, which I have to say I thought was disappointing), there were some well-spotted anagrams (DIESEL TRAIN and HOME AND DRY) and elegant clues. Thanks to Vulcan and loonapick.
Thought this very much a mixed bag. ESTATE AGENT hardly cryptic, though the little monkey MARMOSET well put together. Mark TWAIN nicely disguised. PATCH was the last to be put into place…
Failed to parse GENEVA, not sure why cheap=vile, and had to squint a bit to make AUBADE sound like O Bard. But the DIESEL TRAIN was a good anagram and THINK TANK and NEVERLAND were fun.
Now added TAU, but don’t have time to add the missing clue numbers.
JinA@6. I do have a full-time job, but thankfully, no longer a young family. My son is 28, and getting married this year, which is unwanted evidence of my own advancing years (was 60 a couple of weeks ago!)
Never knew an inch was an isle — apparently it’s British? Couldn’t parse ACRE — “crew” wouldn’t come to mind. The homophone in AUBADE didn’t work for me, as I’d never heard of the word, let alone how to pronounce it. PECULATION was another word I’d never heard of. Nor the rhyming slang MINCE PIE.
Mrs ginf, very much one for the full-on Christmas, was partial to a mince pie.
Peculate is one of those less common words for common things, along with osculate, expectorate and micturate (in no particular order 🙂 ). Nice Monday puzzle, thx V and loona (late?! ditto JinA @6, don’t sweat the small stuff!).
Monday Monday!
Thanks Vulcan and loonapick
Geoff@12 – inch=isle is mainly Scottish according to my dictionary – Middle English: from Scottish Gaelic innis.
I did not understand the ‘eye-rhyme’ bit of 1ac and was not completely sure how to parse 11ac NEVERLAND.
Thanks, both.
gladys@10 – maybe cheap=vile as in a cheap/vile trick? Synonym of despicable?
Interestingly, only a few kilometres from here is Inch Island.
There must have been a long meeting to come up with that name!
Admin@16
🙂
ISLE
Inch (GDU@12)
Chambers and Collins both say inch is a small island (Scottish & Irish).
And Ken has given a link above to Inch Island (Republic of Ireland).
Inch was in a Paul puzzle in Feb this year.
And it is a frequent visitor to crosswordostan.
Well done Roz @1. I had my entry ready at 12.35 am but hey-ho 😉 This all fell into place nicely, with PECULATION the only new word. My favourites were MARMOSET, NEVERLAND, GENEVA and the excellent DIESEL TRAIN.
I see the Quiptic has now moved to Sundays.
Ta Vulcan & loonapick.
Muffin@2: Or…. General on team, England 84 to 89 or 07 to 23.
Very nice, especially the ‘residential development’ and the ‘little monkey’.
Thanks Vulcan and loonapick.
michelle@15 – I think vile originally meant ‘of little value’
Admin@16 – I wonder who foot the bill
That was a lovely Monday puzzle and a nice start to the week. I really liked the dad-jokiness of NEVERLAND and THINK TANK, along with the cleverly clued GENEVA and DIESEL TRAIN.
Inch is also the Anglicised version of the Irish “inis” for “island”. As a result, we have many place names that are simply “Inch” or include it such as “Inchicore” and “Inchydoney”. The “Ennis-” in “Enniskillen” comes from this too.
I’m now going to do the Quiptic because I fear change! (BTW: KVa@17 – I love “crosswordostan”…I’m stealing that one 😊 )
Thanks Vulcan and loonapick
There’s also Inch Island – “island island”, redundant like PIN number.
No redundancy in !rish: its name is An Inis, pronounced Inish, like Sean Connery, meaning ‘the island’.
It’s in Lough Swilly, a sea inlet, not even a lake, in County Donegal on the northern coast of Ireland.
Other Inishes are available: The Aran Islands (plural, an archipelago, where the jumpers come from) – Inishmore, Inishmaan, and Inisheer.
Not forgetting Inisherin, The Banshees of(2022) – “What is he – 12?!” [Edit – I see Admin@19 has got in before me]
Thanks V&L
KenMac@16 you should not mix S.I. units with Imperial .
[ AlanC@18 , that is why I never usually get a chance with the Guardian , just got lucky today. I hope you have recovered from the trauma of 14Ac on Saturday }
Roz @23: 🤣
Very much a normal Monday with only AUBADE holding out for a while as I wasn’t seeing the dear poet>Oh Bard, never mind the homophone. As others have said, residential/DIESEL TRAIN is a fine anagram and GENEVA was cutely done.
Thanks Vulcan and loonapick
KVa@17 et al, yes, I recall learning about Inch island in a recent puzzle, but was not aware of it as a common noun. But I am now.
Commiserations, loonapick – and well done, under the circumstances!
I had ticks for1ac MINCE PIE, 6dn AUBADE (ginf @13 – this is another of those words: we’re quite used to seeing / hearing ‘serenade’, a song appropriate for the evening), 19ac GENEVA, 4dn PECULATION, 8dn DIESEL TRAIN and 23dn TWAIN.
In 22ac, I read the definition as ‘policy group’s tip’, the tip being ‘Think ‘tank”.
Thanks to setter and blogger.
[ Roz @23: the game was 21d on the 25 ac, 10ac with a lot of 23ac ing but at least we’re not on the 11 ac (yet)! }
Eileen@26
THINK TANK
I go with the blog.
In the wordplay/cryptic part, THINK TANK can work as it is without elaborating as ‘THINK about TANK’.
Tips for fitting out an aquarium could be THINK TANK, THINK water, THINK fish, THINK ‘etc’ (in the sense
of consider or pay attention to).
(Sometimes don’t we give a clue/tip to someone in the ‘THINK X, Y, Z’ format?).
FrankieG@22 thanks for the explanation of Inch! I’ve wondered but never bothered to find out. For me, the island was first discovered in The Cryptics (a chain of oddly-shaped islands not far from the Caisses, upper and lower).
I see the names of many music bands in the grid. Is this probably true for all grids? 🙂
Every body else’s picks are the same as mine. I don’t remember ever saying AUBADE but I think it’s a long A. Muffin go and find a mule (Very little offence meant). Like Tomsdad, I thought this harder than the Prize, which I thought should have been a Quiptic. Proper Monday fare.
Thankyou both.
Many thanks loonapick for all that you do on here. And I can take this opportunity to thank all our wonderful bloggers. Not forgetting Vulcan for today’s very enjoyable puzzle, with DIESEL TRAIN an especially satisfying anagram, even if it doesn’t have to be public transport, and NEVERLAND and TODATE for the giggles.
One of Vulcan’s best, I thought. Other Gaelic “inches” include Ynys Mon, Anglesey)and The Lake Isle of Innisfree (almost an Aubade, as it starts ” I will arise now”)
Aubade known from the Philip Larkin poem – was there the hint of a reference there?
Never heard it pronounced, so the homophone was a total guess: referencing Eileen@26, why does it not rhyme with serenade?
Thanks to Vulcan and loonapick.
Oh yes of course, Eileen @26, aube, alba vs soir, sera, I hadn’t thought ….
For a time Radio 3 had a morning music programme called Aubade. They pronounced a very long second syllable, so it was something like “o bahd”.
Bro-in-law and I once swam at Inch Beach (west coast of Ireland, somewhere near Dingle).
I am not particularly creative so when i thought up the phrase ‘you have peculate to accumulate’ I was inordinately pleased.
AUBADE defeated me. New word for me. Wasn’t overly keen on the homophone but happy to shrug and move on.
Thanks both.
Irishman@34: It is an extraordinary poem. Larkin’s fear of death….A fun puzzle. Thanks to both.
[ AlanC@27 , very impressive and imaginative as usual but you missed out 8,20.
My students are excused being young and foolish , but you should know better]
Roz @23
Trouble with some people. You give ‘em an Inch and they take a kilometre
🤪
Never having heard the word said aloud, I had always assumed AUBADE was pronounced with a long A in the second syllable (such that “his aubade made the grade” would rhyme). But this puzzle taught me otherwise, and the dictionary confirms. One learns something new every day. Also, I wonder how many other words I’ve only seen but not heard I’m mispronouncing in my head.
Irishman@34 AUBADE was in the Larkin themed puzzle by Chandler, August 2022.
KenMac@41, remember the Mars Climate Orbiter , you probably don’t.
mrpenney @ 42 There’s a wise old saying “Never criticise someone for mispronouncing a word, it means they’ve learned it by reading”.
[Roz @44
I’m surprised that the Americans included metric units in the mix-up. I thought they were very much opposed to them.]
25 ac Brings the higher floors to the standard of the others.
Surely that’s levelling down?
Simon S @45 – that was what, long ago, one of my colleagues remarked when several of us said we’d always thought ‘misled’ was pronounced ‘mizzled’.
KVa @28 – a careless comment of mine, as I was rushing out immediately after posting. The definition is, of course, THINK TANK and ‘tip’ is part of the wordplay. I meant the same as you were saying in the second part of your comment.
Admin @16 – same committee that came up with River Avon?
[Muffin@46 , NASA has “used” metric for a long time, even the Apollo computers calculated in metric. Imperial was used for displays and the US public. For the Mars probe Lockheed was to blame. ]
Nakamova@29 🙂 I love it.
I’m a rhotic speaker so for me 6a AUBADE is not a homophone, but it is a very good and amusing bit of aural wordplay. Loonapick called it a homophone, but Vulcan didn’t. If you must put words in his mouth, why not ‘pun’ or ‘aural wordplay’?
Thanks Vulcan and loonapick for the fun and the blog.
Getting to be a habit, not completing Vulcan’s Monday puzzle. I just can’t get on with them. The Guardian has been very disappointing recently.
SimonS @45: 🙂
[Muffin @46: it’s all a matter of context. Science and medicine here use metric, just like everywhere else, so medicine is dosed in milligrams and milliliters. Wine and soda are sold by the liter (or 750 ml for wine); milk is sold by the quart or gallon. Most other products are labeled in both metric and Imperial (to facilitate sale in Canada and/or Mexico), but are thought of in the latter. Kilometers are familiar to anyone who runs or cycles, since all races except the marathon are denominated in them; and of course everyone speaks of calories without even internalizing that that’s metric! So it’s a weird mishmash.]
So was Saturday’s Prize the easiest ever, or am I getting better? Today’s was delightfully, even flatteringly easy too. Which is better? – a write-in that makes you feel smugly intelligent because it was so effortless, or an all-day wrestle that leaves you battered but strangely triumphant?
[Thanks MrP @53]
Eileen @ 48 – yes, I probably first heard it a good forty years ago.
I thought the same as Jeceris@47 re LEVELS UP. Can anyone explain why the clue would not lead to “levels down”? The verb ‘brings’ is applied to the higher floors, is it not?
Cellomaniac@51. Our blogger described the clue in a way he felt comfortable with and which he expected everyone to understand. “Homophone (at least for non-rhotics) [let us hear]” seems to cover all bases. It’s maybe a little harsh to be accusing him of putting words into the setter’s mouth. 🙂
A well executed and enjoyable crossword, I thought, and ‘not hairpin’ for taking the U out of AVENUE was innovative; no doubt someone can tell me when and where it has been done before.
Thanks to Vulcan and loonapick.
A hairpin bend in seven reconstructed roads (7) .
Vulcan again 19/12/22
AUBADE was nearly my last in, mainly because for a long time I had ‘YARD’ for 6 down, which seemed to fit but eventually I realised it couldn’t be right. I enjoyed the aural play when I eventually got it.
I’m surprised how many people hadn’t come across this word and its pronounciation. I was familiar with it mainly because of a single piece of music I heard on the radio as a student and have loved ever since: The Aubade for 12 Cellos by Jean Francaix. I’ve just listened to it again and I don’t really understand why it should be a morning song!
Thanks to Vulcan – an enjoyable puzzle at a good level for me, and loonapick for the blog.
I liked the puzzle in general but had issues with two clues. I loved NEVERLAND, but not sure AUBADE really works. If you don’t already know the answer it seems like a big stretch to get it from the word play. THINKTANK also doesn’t work for me. A tip for fitting out an aquarium is not Think Aquarium (TANK). It might have been better if the clue was POLICY GROUP’S TIP FOR FINDING A HOME FOR A GUPPY.
That was really great.
Vulcan does the best Quiptics / Mon cryptics. And they are all I’m up to, so I’m very grateful.
Thanks also to Loonapick for explaining a couple of wee things.
Ridiulously easy. Kiwis brainier than poms!
NHO PECULATION, nor AUBADE although I quickly sussed that the homophone must be Oh bard and worked from there.
And apparently I am the only person slightly unconvinced by hairpin bend as a synonym for U turn, the latter for me implying backtracking on ones route, just on the other side of the road; the latter implying a sharp turn such as one might make ascending a mountain, but continuing on the same road.
[Jacob @63
Coincidentally, there was much discussion on the commentary on yesterday’s Paris-Roubaix bike race about whether the newly introduced chicane at the entrance to the forest pave section was a hairpin or a U-turn. The commentators agreed to differ!]
#47, #57, I felt the same, the clue as written leads to Levels Down, surely.
I’m another ‘levels down’ one. The required answer was obvious, but not from the clue.
I’d always known Perth had two Inches (North and South) which are public parks, but ikipedia tells me that they were indeed originally islands in the River Tay. Another day when I go to bed with a further corner of my brain stuffed with a new fact which will never see the light of day again but which I won’t be able to forget.
[ Roz @40: as a 64 yr-old helpless/hopeless football supporter I will never overcome 8.20 }
Jay@60 there are two of us it seems, which is fine providing you don’t start keeping lists. I strongly advise against that, it’s a slippery slope 😂
Another elegantly constructed Monday puzzle from Vulcan, and none the worse for being in the easier side. Excellent stuff.
Nakamova@29, many thanks for the slightly belated reminder of the islands of Upper and Lower Caisse. Of course you do realise that rather dates you – and me of course !
sheffield hatter@57
LEVELS UP
A question mark at the end of the clue might have made it better?
I liked it for the two opposing directions the clue takes.
Brings the higher floors: a whimsical/cryptic def.
The second half I read as “brings to the standard of others’ (That seems to be
a proper def).
Also, the surface reading indicating ‘razes down’ rather than ‘LEVELS UP’
made it even more appealing to me.
Probably, the clue is not to be split and read as one single CD as the blog says.
Convoluted? And something missing? CD after all!
Another lovely puzzle from Vulcan. Thanks for the blog Loonapick and I’m happy to have it 5 hours later. Sorry it was stressful for you. Today’s new word for me was Aubade.
If anyone was watching the University Challenge final last night, there were several examples of answers learned from reading and mispronounced live.
KVa @70, so… you’re suggesting a double cryptic definition, with ‘brings’ doing double duty?! Hmmm. Personally, I find lazy clueing/editing more plausible!
Nakamova@29: if the Cryptics are a chain of inches, does that mean there are 792 islands?