Wednesday wit from one of our most regular and reliable setters.
Lots to enjoy here: some of the clues were quite tricky to parse, but generally raised a smile when I finally worked out what was going on. 23a seems a rather obscure word, but the wordplay was suitably clear. I liked the sneaky definition in 27a (and in the wordplay of 25d), the misleading surface of 6d, and the simple but effective construction of 16d. Thanks Eccles for the fun.
Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | BODICE RIPPER |
Erotic novel in which old queen with a welcoming cleavage liberates Americans (6,6)
|
| BO[a]DICE[a] (old Queen of Britain around AD 60) + PER (a, as in “once per day”), containing (welcoming) RIP (cleavage = separation), leaving out (liberating) two instances of A (abbreviation for American).
Derogatory term for a novel in which the lead characters can’t wait to get each other’s clothes off. |
||
| 9 | LOW-IMPACT |
Left before old weakling gets to do something with little effect (3-6)
|
| L (abbreviation for left) + O (abbreviation for old) + WIMP (weakling) + ACT (to do something). | ||
| 10 | YAHOO |
Lout loves dried grass on the counter (5)
|
| OO (zero = love in tennis scoring, so two of them = loves) + HAY (dried grass), all reversed (on the counter).
Slang for a coarse and uncultured person, from the name of a race of human-like brutes in Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift. |
||
| 11 | NELSON |
Lose pants in northern new town (6)
|
| Anagram (pants) of LOSE, in N (abbreviation for northern) + N (abbreviation for new).
Town in Lancashire, developed as a mill town during the Industrial Revolution. |
||
| 12 | CRITERIA |
Factors in heartless creature having rival regularly ejected (8)
|
| CRI[t]TER (slang variant of “creature”, especially in US) without the middle letter (heart), then [r]I[v]A[l] with alternate letters removed (regularly ejected). | ||
| 13 | YAFFLE |
Unusual leafy surroundings for female woodpecker (6)
|
| Anagram (unusual) of LEAFY, containing (surroundings for . . .) F (abbreviation for female).
Dialect word for a woodpecker; the children’s TV series Bagpuss featured a woodpecker named Professor Yaffle. |
||
| 15 | PASSES ON |
Old-fashioned heir dies (6,2)
|
| PASSÉ (old-fashioned, from the French for “past”) + SON (male heir). | ||
| 18 | MENSWEAR |
Eccles gets surprising answer in section of department store (8)
|
| ME (Eccles, the setter of this crossword) + anagram (surprising) of ANSWER. | ||
| 19 | DIVERT |
Distract Tom Daley, perhaps, with knitted heart (6)
|
| DIVER (perhaps Tom Daley, who’s won many titles in 10-metre platform diving) + middle letter (heart) of [kni]T[ted]. The surface suggests Daley’s hobby of knitting, which he was seen doing while watching other participants in the last Olympics. | ||
| 21 | SCHUBERT |
Composer butchers works (8)
|
| Anagram (works?) of BUTCHERS. The anagram indicator doesn’t seem quite right – you could “work” something to mix it up, but I can’t quite see “work” as an intransitive verb meaning “get mixed up”. However, the surface is too good to resist.
Franz Schubert, early 19th century Austrian composer. |
||
| 23 | AGNATE |
Descendent of male fly found in A&E (6)
|
| GNAT (flying insect) in A + E.
Related through descent from a common male ancestor. There must be someone who needs such a word, but I don’t think I’ve ever had occasion to use it. |
||
| 26 | ODEON |
Poem about concert hall (5)
|
| ODE (poem) + ON (on the subject of = about).
Ancient Greek building for the performance of music and poetry. |
||
| 27 | SMITH WORK |
Smile smugly about Troy, who distributed forgery? (5,4)
|
| SMIRK (smile smugly), around T (abbreviation for troy = the system of weights used for precious metals) + anagram (distributed) of WHO.
The work of a blacksmith = forging metal. |
||
| 28 | INTEREST-FREE |
Boring sort of loan? (8-4)
|
| Double definition. Not causing any interest (excitement) = boring; or a financial loan that doesn’t require repayments above the original sum loaned. The first definition reminds me of my days as an engineering student, finding that “boring machines” (to make holes) could in fact be quite interesting. | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | BALONEY |
Cobblers lacking companions to stop by (7)
|
| ALONE (lacking companions), inserted into (stopping) BY.
Slang terms for nonsense. One is American, but seems to be derived somehow from “Bologna” Italian sausage; the other is Cockney rhyming slang, from “cobblers’ awls” = balls. |
||
| 2 | DOWEL |
Perform strongly, mostly, making peg (5)
|
| DO WEL[l] (perform strongly) without the last letter (mostly).
A peg used to make joints in wood. |
||
| 3 | COMMON LAW |
Perhaps Wimbledon grassy patch cut based on usage (6,3)
|
| COMMON (area of public land, such as Wimbledon Common in south London) + LAW[n] (grassy patch) without the last letter (cut).
Law based on judges’ decisions and accepted usage, rather than on formal written statutes; or as in “common law marriage” = something that is accepted by custom but has no legal basis. |
||
| 4 | REAR |
Bring up this when last? (4)
|
| Double definition plus clue-as-definition, so a triple – though the second and third use the same meaning. Bring up = rear = to nurture children; or rear, as in the “rear carriage” of a train = last = at the back. The whole clue is also a single definition, from “bring up the rear” = to be last in a race or sequence. | ||
| 5 | PETER PAN |
Safe to sleep around to obtain eternal youth? (5,3)
|
| PETER (an old word for a safe, rarely used except in Crosswordland), then NAP (sleep) reversed (around).
Character created by the novelist and playwright J M Barrie: a boy who never grows up. |
||
| 6 | EGYPT |
Alsatian and bears trouble country (5)
|
| ET (French word for “and”, so “Alsatian and” in the Alsace region of France), containing (. . . bears) GYP (slang for trouble, as in “my bad knee is giving me gyp today”). No animals were harmed, or indeed involved, in the solution to this clue. | ||
| 7 | PHARISEE |
Hypocrite playing harp is extremely effeminate (8)
|
| Anagram (playing) of HARP IS, then the end letters (extremes) of E[ffeminat]E.
Traditional Jewish religious teachers; in the Gospels, Jesus often criticised them for hypocrisy. |
||
| 8 | DOMAIN |
Major supports party line (6)
|
| MAIN (major = important), after (below, in a down clue = supporting) DO (slang for a party). The surface presumably refers to former Conservative Prime Minister John Major.
Perhaps as in “my line of work” = domain = what someone is responsible for. |
||
| 14 | FAN WHEEL |
A hen flew around current producer (3,5)
|
| Anagram (around) of A HEN FLEW.
The central rotating component in a fan (ventilation device) producing currents of air. |
||
| 16 | SLINGSHOT |
Gets rid of stolen catapult (9)
|
| SLINGS (as a verb = throws away = gets rid of) + HOT (slang for stolen). | ||
| 17 | FAIR ISLE |
Maybe Brownies left after dropping ecstasy in part of Shetland (4,4)
|
| FAIRIES (small creatures in folklore, of which Brownies are an example) + L (abbreviation for left), with the E (abbreviation for the drug Ecstasy) moved to the end (dropped, in a down clue).
The southernmost island in the Shetland archipelago of Scotland, known for traditional patterned knitwear. |
||
| 18 | MOSCOW |
Capital is lower after a couple of seconds (6)
|
| COW (lower, as a noun = an animal that makes a lowing or mooing sound), after MO (short for moment = second) + S (abbreviation for second).
Capital city of Russia. |
||
| 20 | TREKKIE |
Fan of TV show from 2001 hiding in box? (7)
|
| K (abbreviation for kilo = 1000, used in scientific units and in quoting large sums of money) twice (so 2000) + I (Roman numeral for 1); all hiding in TREE (of which a box tree is an example; Eccles has helpfully included the question mark to indicate a definition by example).
Slang for a fan of the TV show Star Trek. The answer was easy enough to guess from the crossers, but it took me ages to see the parsing. |
||
| 22 | BENIN |
Country is gracious when government is thrown out (5)
|
| BENI[g]N (gracious, as in a benign smile), discarding the G (abbreviation for government).
Country in West Africa. |
||
| 24 | AMOUR |
Love affair of leading couple ignored by public demand (5)
|
| [cl]AMOUR (public demand), ignoring the leading couple of letters.
French-derived word for a love affair, especially a secret one. |
||
| 25 | BIDE |
Wait behind cleaner, short of time (4)
|
| BIDE[t] (bathroom fitting for washing one’s bottom = a cleaner for the behind), without the T (abbreviation for time).
Old word for “wait” or “stay”, as in “bide your time” = wait for a good opportunity. |
Excellent fun as always from Eccles with a lot of invention and some challenging parsings.
1a made a great and start and 25d an even better finish.
It pains me to mention it again but G = government doesn’t appear in Collins, and in Chambers it is specifically American and, even then, only as part of the expression G-man.
27a is clever but is the answer a valid phrase?
Many thanks to Eccles and to Quirister.
Top faves: BODICE RIPPER, REAR and TREKKIE (excellent surface).
Thanks Eccles and Quirister!
Rabbit Dave@1
SMITH WORK is in the OED.
KVa @2. Thanks. It’s neither in Chambers nor in Collins. How many dictionaries do us solvers need to check?!
Thanks both.
Rabbit Dave@1: HMG = His Majesty’s Government.
20d TREKKIE vs. Trekker – In Star Trek: 25th Anniversary Special (1991), Leonard Nimoy – Spock himself – ‘attempted to settle the issue by stating that “Trekker” is the preferred term.’ I’m a TREKKER, (and a fan of 2001(1968)), but I especially liked the clue.
Thanks E&Q
Rabbit Dave@3
SMITH WORK
I find SMITHWORK (one word) in a couple of online dictionaries. I refer to many.
How many dictionaries are we expected to refer to? Difficult to answer. Each to their own!
Quite often we find some interesting info outside dictionaries on some related websites.
So…
BENIN
G=Government?
We use GOI as an abbreviation for Government Of India. GO is a government order (universally, I believe).
I come across the expression G2G to mean government to government in newspapers and mags.
Does someone say, “This G isn’t performing well”? Not sure.
Great stuff from Eccles.
Quirister, in 26a you’ve written RE instead of ON.
Your comment on 28 reminds me of a work colleague showing me an entry in Yellow Pages (remember them) which read
BORING see Civil Engineering
which made me laugh.
With reference to Roger @2 and KVa @6, I have always been told that the “rule” (editorial guidance?) is that setters shouldn’t use a single letter abbreviation which is only ever used as part of a multi-letter abbreviation. For example, you wouldn’t use H to clue “his” as in HMRC.
And yes, KVa, this G’s performance is awful, but I’d call them something other than G.
G is here to stay, I guess (I mean the abbreviation in Crosswordostan; no comments on the Rishidom!)
oed.com says SMITH WORK is ‘Now chiefly historical.’ The citations, going from 1583 to 2008, have it as one word, two words, or hyphened. Here’s a couple:
‘1720 For smith worke, [£]0 3 2.’ ie £0 3s 2d ‘in Journal Derbyshire Archæol. Society (1905) vol. 27 215′ — and 250 years later…
‘1970 Smithwork to hull & spars £3 19s 6d. E. J. Marsh, Inshore Craft Great Britain vol. I. v. 156′ — …That’s inflation for you.
Hovis @7: thanks, blog now fixed. (Crossword bloggers spend so much time equating RE with ON that we often get confused . . .)
I liked SMITH WORK. I suppose there’s a law of crosswords that states a solution must be verifiable from a dictionary, but I just go by whether it sounds plausible. For me it’s an example of the wonders of the English language that we can make a concise two word phrase where some other languages, say German or Spanish, would need an entire sentence.
Thanks to Eccles and to Quirister for the detail in thr blog.
Lovely jubbly crossword. Full of beans and fizz – which would make for an odd breakfast combo. BODICE RIPPER, a delightful start and INTEREST FREE an amusing close. YAFFLE, MENSWEAR, BALONEY, COMMON LAW, PETER PAN, FAIR ISLE and TREKKIE my faves in between.
Thanks Eccles and Quirister
Thanks Eccles and Quirister
RD @ 8 S = SOCIETY is an accepted crossword abbreviation, but I’ve never seen it as a standalone.
This was fun, thanks Eccles. I remembered there was a Professor Yaffle so assumed it was a word, but couldn’t have said where from or what he was.
G for ‘government’ appears in Chambers as a standalone (with the given example G-man. While that is American, the abbreviation itself isn’t flagged as such.
MENSWEAR, TREKKIE, and FAIR ISLE hit the spot for me.
Thanks Eccles & Quirister.
Quite a tough workout I thought but all fell satisfyingly in the end.
Quirister – works does work as a post fodder grind. There is a transitive reflexive sense of the verb meaning to get angry or into an emotional state. The impeccable grammar of that clue and the clever switches in parts of speech made it one of my favourites today.
Thanks Q & E.
Simon Society @14 😉 Whilst I too have never seen S = Society used in practice, it is given as a valid abbreviation in both Chambers and Collins.
Blah@16
SCHUBERT
Agree with your logic for ‘works’ as an anagrind. If someone works the crowd, she excites the crowd.
Thanks both. Very entertaining I thought. BODICE RIPPER took a while and I couldn’t fully parse partially owing to not knowing the spelling of the old queen. YAFFLE I solved owing to Bagpuss, and if that doesn’t condemn my intellect sufficiently, BIDET reminded me both of Crocodile Dundee, and the joke about when in wartime all bathroom furniture was evacuated from Europe….B-Day!
RD @ 17 As Amoeba @ 15 points out, G = Government is given as a valid abbreviation in Chambers.
If you accept S = society as it’s in Chambers and Collins, by your logic you should accept G = government as it also has dictionary support.
Found this quite tough in places, particularly on the parsing front – took ages for the penny to drop regarding EGYPT. Hadn’t previously encountered SMITH WORK as a phrase but the green woodpecker was right up my street – horses for courses as they say!
Stand-out favourite for me was INTEREST FREE and the Tom Daley clue made me smile.
Thanks to Eccles and to Quirister for the review.
SS @ 20. I disagree that Chambers supports this as a British abbreviation. Their entry is inconsistent in that it cross-references it to an American term. So, in a British crossword, this would at least require an American indicator.
But, that said, I don’t want my pedantry to detract from an otherwise excellent crossword.
Good puzzle! Fortunately I wasn’t overly concerned by any single letter abbreviations, but was disturbed to find ‘cleavage’=RIP… fortunately an easy fill in with a few crossers and not trying to make an anagram out of EROTIC and CLEVGE, having cleverly liberated the ‘A’s’… TREKKIE redeemed the situation and unlocked that side. I was very happy to accept the ‘forgery’ pun and felt the ‘?’ made it clear. I was disappointed that I failed to spot the ‘behind cleaner’ hence it was LOI, in my defence I’ve always thought of it as a ‘front cleaner’ in equal parts..
Thanks Eccles n Quirister
Just completed the puzzle over tea and lots to enjoy – not just the food!
BIDET raised a smile but our COTD is the last one across – INTEREST FREE.
Thanks to Eccles and Quirister.