A pleasing Tees puzzle for our Monday enjoyment, with a wide range of subject matter as always.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
9 Characters warped in occult eye cell that protects
LEUCOCYTE
(OCCULT EYE)*
10 Home help sent to West Country I may represent
INDIA
A charade of IN and AID reversed. I is INDIA in the phonetic alphabet.
11 Sanskrit rule oddly disregarded is just great
SUTRA
The even letters in iS jUsT gReAt. My Collins has:
sutra (n) in Sanskrit literature an aphoristic rule or book of aphorisms on ritual, grammar, metre, philosophy etc.
I guess most folk are familiar with the word through Kama Sutra – literally ‘the principles/rules of love’.
12 Copper and lead are carried in on back for attendant
CUPBEARER
A charade of CU and PB for the two chemical elements followed by an insertion of ARE in RE reversed. The reversal indicator is ‘back’ and the insertion indicator is ‘carried in’.
13 Put right in pub when alongside news boss
PHRASED
An insertion of R in PH and AS, followed by ED. The insertion indicator is ‘put … in’.
14 Spectral deity visiting E3?
RAINBOW
RA IN BOW is a whimsical way of suggesting that the sun god might be in Bow, the East End of London suggested by the postcode. We need RAINBOW in its adjectival sense.
16 Is heel turned to show bones in foot?
TARSI
A reversal of IS RAT.
18 Some French bloke
DES
A dd. DES, together with du and de la is one of the French words for ‘some’: du pain, de la confiture, des croissants.
19 Press covering last letter from George Best
CREAM
An insertion of E, the final letter of ‘George’ in CRAM. The insertion indicator is ‘covering’.
21 Land ownership seemed suspect with northern resident
DEMESNE
An insertion of N in (SEEMED)* The insertion indicator is ‘with northern resident’ and the anagrind is ‘suspect’. A piece of land attached to a manor or estate. It’s pronounced like ‘domain’ and is ultimately related to dominus, the Latin word for ‘lord’.
22 Best advice given about caressing new tankard
PINT POT
An insertion of N in TOP TIP reversed. The insertion indicator is ‘caressing’.
24 Fishmonger possibly the only supplier?
SOLE AGENT
A whimsical cd cum dd.
26 Menacing playwright leaves piano in Bury
INTER
[P]INTER. Referencing Harold PINTER, who has his own adjective to describe his style, Pinteresque.
Down
1 Shop left for conversion to strip club?
FLESH POT
(SHOP LEFT)* with ‘for conversion’ as the anagrind. FLESH POTS and PINT POTS: sex and drugs in the same Tees crossword. Whatever next?
4 Matched church for love in ecclesiastical council
SYNCED
Tees is inviting you to replace the O in SYNOD with CE.
5 Wrecked ship man has study not completed
HESPERUS
A charade of HE’S for ‘he has’ or ‘man has’ and PERUS[E]. Referencing The Wreck of the Hesperus by Longfellow.
6/27/2/3 From 8 28, 18A, seen drunk with 22A, flattery achieves little
FINE WORDS BUTTER NO PARSNIPS
(BARROW IN FURNESS DES PINT POT)* with ‘drunk’ as the anagrind. A saying dating back to the 17th Century and probably not widely used as Gen Z street slang.
7 Enchanting area within reach across river
ADORABLE
A charade of A and an insertion of R in DOABLE. The insertion indicator is ‘across’.
8/28 Pub dispute getting heated audibly in Cumbrian town
BARROW-IN-FURNESS
A charade of BAR, ROW and aural wordplay (‘audibly’) for IN FURNACE.
15 Vincent’s content with journal being scandalous?
INCENDIARY
A charade of [V]INCEN[T] and DIARY.
17 Those going on walks they go on?
RAMBLERS
A dd.
18 Parliament to quote rises based on consumption
DIETETIC
A charade of DIET and CITE reversed (‘rises’, since it’s a down clue).
20 Rocky height appears in wet for one at wheel
MOTORIST
An insertion of TOR in MOIST. The insertion indicator is ‘appears in’.
21 Repudiate Pluto, now reviewed
DISOWN
A charade of DIS and (NOW) with ‘reviewed’ as the anagrind.
22 Smoke rings to divert
PUT OFF
An insertion of TO in PUFF. The insertion indicator is ‘rings’.
23 Father Time stops glib talk
PATTER
An insertion of T in PATER. The insertion indicator is ‘stops’.
25 Small monkey’s grabbed in domed recess
APSE
An insertion of S in APE. The insertion indicator is ‘[has] grabbed’.
Many thanks to Tees for the bank holiday entertainment.
A cracking BH puzzle from Tees. I was beaten by two interlinked solutions – HESPERUS which I know vaguely and CUPBEARER which simply did not come to mind. I couldn’t see how the ‘obvious’ Cu and Pb could fit into the space and did not spot the ‘in plain sight’ inclusion of ARE. I don’t mind being beaten by a clever construction like that. Nho the long phrase and was trying to do the anagram in my head but ran out of bandwidth so revealed once I had FINE WORDS …. NO ….
Lots I could tick today: top tops are the aforementioned CUPBEARER, PHRASED, TARSI, FLESH POT, RAMBLERS, MOTORIST and PUT OFF.
Thanks Tees and Pierre
FINE WORDS etc. were a stretch too far for me, so DNF. At least Tees avoided the hackneyed ‘journalist’ at 13A. Thanks Tees and Pierre.
Not only did my Granny often use the expression that starts at 6d, she often used to describe the result of Grandpa carving a turkey as the wreck of the 5d 🙂
Thank you to Tees for the bank holiday diversion and to Pierre for the blog
I first heard the old phrase as a child and thought how strange it sounded, which is why it’s stuck in my memory. I guessed it after getting 9 and 11.
At first I thought 1 was TOP SHELF, thinking “Is there a strip club named after the place in a newsagent where the porno mags are?” before realising that would be (3,5). I just feel dirty now.
I have heard the phrase (no idea where) so it went in relatively early. HESPERUS and LEUCOCYTE had to be carefully constructed, however, as I knew neither.
Thanks Tees & Pierre.
I know FINE WORDS…. etc., but I’ve never associated it with flattery – more a call for action / tangible results rather than empty promises / false optimism.
Fun puzzle and blog; thanks both.
Thanks both. Pretty close to a personal record for time taken to solve a single clue being FINE WORDS etc, with a partial cheat once I had decided on fine words and parsnips, but knew ‘’better’ couldn’t work. Also an unknown was HESPERUS but I guessed well. The Northener in me still has an issue with London postcodes and the not very soundalike Furness and furnace, but neither created a barrier to the eventual solution.
5d one GK step too far for me. I had to search FINE WORDS to get the rest of the antiquated phrase.
[TFO@7. I’m from NW London and the E postcodes mean nothing to me either. We never ventured east of Centre Point. Or south of the river for that matter.]
Thanks Tees and Pierre.
Started with KIND WORDS… which only partially buttered at best… all came clearer once CUPBEARER was in… I’ve always admired Turner’s picture so reading ‘Wrecked ship’ immediately brought it to mind, always helps to know the answer before parsing..
Thanks Tees n Pierre
Thanks Tees. I completed most of this albeit with a bit of reliance on the check button. It was worth the effort just to learn the saying FINE WORDS BUTTER NO PARSNIPS. My top picks included CREAM, SOLE AGENT, INCENDIARY, and PUT OFF. Thanks Pierre for the blog.
Thx all, and thax Pierre. I’m a fan of that expression, simply because it sums up Englishness, or a form of it, for me. I’m sure other countries around the planet have come up with some ludicrous idioms too, but I’d say FWBNP is right up there.
oed.com‘has these ‘variants’ for FWBNP — FINE/fair/those/soft/stony WORDS/talk BN PARSNIPS/fish/cabbage/turnips.
And a Latin equivalent: Spe non saginatur venter – “Hope feeds no belly”
Thanks T&P