Grecian provides our entertainment today, as he does about once a month.
I thought a few of these were rather tricky: 29a is a rather loose definition, 15d is (I think) a general description rather than a defined phrase, and 19d is a rather obscure word – but the wordplay for all of these made them fairly guessable. I particularly liked the deceptively simple 13a, and laughed at the definition of 7d.
Grecian’s puzzles generally appear on a Tuesday and include a theme. At first I noticed a few female singers (Kylie, Brenda Lee, Little Simz, Lulu) but they turned out to be a distraction. Instead we have a colourful collection of butterflies: Brimstone, Copper, Peacock, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Small Blue, Gatekeeper, Comma, Pieris. “Small Blue” reminds me that I was once told it’s easy to fake it as a butterfly spotter in the UK: many varieties have rather unimaginatively factual names, so if you confidently describe an unknown one as a “common blue” or a “meadow brown” you’ll probably be more or less right.
I wondered whether today might be some specific national day for butterflies (there seems to be one for almost anything else you can think of) – but a quick search suggests that’s either 14 March or the first Saturday in June, depending on who you ask. But the research for this puzzle has been fascinating anyway; thanks Grecian for the fun.
Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 9 | SOCIALIST |
Alcoholic welcoming stiffener from 19A (9)
|
| SOT (drunkard = alcoholic), containing (welcoming) CIALIS (brand name for a drug used to treat erectile dysfunction = stiffener).
Reference to 19 across RED (slang for politically socialist). |
||
| 10 | IDEAL |
Perfect fish alla Livornese starters (5)
|
| IDE (Crosswordland’s favourite fish) + starting letters of A[lla] L[ivornese]. (And yes, fish alla Livornese does seem to be a thing; from the Livorno region of Tuscany, and cooked with tomatoes, garlic and olive oil.) | ||
| 11 | KYLIE |
State of bluegrass lounge singer (5)
|
| KY (abbreviation for Kentucky, known as the Bluegrass State) + LIE (lounge, as a verb = lie down in a relaxed position).
Australian singer Kylie Minogue. |
||
| 12 | BRIMSTONE |
Hellish stuff from Black Sabbath character with lip filler (9)
|
| B (abbreviation for black) + S (abbreviation for Sabbath) + TONE (character = manner), containing (with . . . filler) RIM (lip of a bowl).
Old name for sulphur (or sulfur, as it’s now known internationally to chemists); associated with hell as in “fire and brimstone” because of the unpleasant smell of sulphur dioxide when it burns. |
||
| 13 | COPPERS |
Change the law (7)
|
| Double definition. Small copper coins, which may be returned as change in a cash transaction; or coppers = the law = slang for police officers. | ||
| 14 | PEACOCK |
Spooner’s main blemish is kind of 8 (7)
|
| Spoonerism of KEY (main = important) POCK (blemish, as in pock-marked).
Reference to 8 down BLUE: a shade of turquoise blue resembling a peacock’s feathers. |
||
| 17 | MOP UP |
Finish off second issue for 15 (3,2)
|
| MO (short for moment = second = brief time) + PUP (for example a seal pup, the offspring or “issue” of 15 down ARCTIC SEAL).
Mop up = to deal with the last few bits of a task, after the majority has been done. |
||
| 19 | RED |
Wine on demand at last (3)
|
| RE (on = on the subject of) + last letter of [deman]D.
Short for “red wine”, as in “would you like white or red?”. |
||
| 20 | COMTE |
Cheese cutter oddly securing medal (5)
|
| Odd-numbered letters of C[u]T[t]E[r], containing (securing) OM (Order of Merit = medal awarded by the King).
Comté = French cheese from the Alpine region near the border with Switzerland. |
||
| 21 | ADMIRAL |
Commander of Russian vehicle reversing around space station (7)
|
| LADA (Russian car brand), reversed, around MIR (Soviet-era space station). | ||
| 22/27 | PAINTED LADY |
What 25 did with Madame Butterfly (7,4)
|
| PAINTED (what Salvador Dalí did: reference to 25 down DALI) + LADY (Madame).
A butterfly with orange, black and white markings. |
||
| 24 | BRENDA LEE |
Singer left in Aberdeen ground (6,3)
|
| L (abbreviation for left) in an anagram (ground = broken into small pieces) of ABERDEEN.
US singer, who started as a child star in the 50s and is probably best known for her recording of Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree. |
||
| 26 | SMALL |
Little Simz regularly ahead of everybody (5)
|
| Alternate letters (regularly) of S[i]M[z], then ALL (everybody). (For the surface, Little Simz is a British rapper and singer.) | ||
| 28 | SCULL |
Alien investigator not unknown to row (5)
|
| SCULL[y] (Mulder’s partner in the TV series The X-Files = alien investigator), without the Y (mathematical symbol for an unknown quantity).
Row, as a verb = scull = propel a boat using oars. |
||
| 29 | SPIRALLED |
Upset around Gunners increased (9)
|
| SPILLED (upset = knocked over) around RA (abbreviation for the Royal Artillery regiment, known as the Gunners).
Spiral, as a verb = used colloquially to mean increase, especially in a bad way, as in “crime rates have spiralled”. |
||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | USYK |
Boxer initially upset over Sky broadcast (4)
|
| Initial letter of U[pset] before (over, reading downwards in a down clue) an anagram (broadcast = scattered) of SKY.
The Ukrainian professional boxer Oleksandr Usyk. |
||
| 2 | SCHLEP |
Slog from left-handed opener breaking school record (6)
|
| Opening letter of L[eft-handed], inserted into (breaking) SCH (abbreviation for school) + EP (extended-play musical record).
Yiddish word for a difficult or tedious journey = slog. |
||
| 3 | GATEKEEPER |
Porter has people paying to see Jack Russell? (10)
|
| GATE (the number of people paying to enter a sports stadium for an event) + KEEPER (short for wicketkeeper, in cricket, for example Jack Russell who played for Gloucestershire and England in the 80s and 90s). | ||
| 4 | AIRBUS |
Voice coach in high-flying company (6)
|
| AIR (as a verb = voice = to express one’s opinion) + BUS (coach = large motor vehicle carrying passengers).
European aircraft manufacturer. |
||
| 5 | STRIPPED |
Son had hallucinations laid bare (8)
|
| S (abbreviation for son) + TRIPPED (experienced hallucinations as a result of taking illicit drugs). | ||
| 6 | KISS |
X is embraced by King Charles finally (4)
|
| IS contained in (embraced by) K (abbreviation for king, in chess or playing cards) + final letter of [charle]S.
Symbol representing a kiss, especially at the end of letters or electronic messages. |
||
| 7 | JEROBOAM |
Rambo and Joe Exotic showing a lot of bottle (8)
|
| Anagram (exotic) of RAMBO + JOE.
Name for a very large wine bottle. |
||
| 8 | BLUE |
Sad Scottish singer half-cut in empty brasserie (4)
|
| LU[lu] (Scottish singer, who started her career in the 1960s and hasn’t stopped yet), with half of her name cut, in B[rasseri]E (empty = inner letters removed). | ||
| 13 | COMMA |
Mark married in unconscious state (5)
|
| M (abbreviation for married) in COMA (a state of unconsciousness).
Punctuation mark. |
||
| 15 | ARCTIC SEAL |
Swimmer in freezing lake swallows a lot of water (6,4)
|
| ARCTIC (freezing = slang for very cold, though both terms are often used for complaining about temperatures that aren’t anywhere near sub-zero) + L (abbreviation for lake), containing (swallowing) SEA (a lot of water).
As far as I can discover from the usual sources, “Arctic seal” seems to be a general term for various species of seals that live in the arctic (including harp seals), rather than one particular species. But I may be wrong. |
||
| 16 | KNEAD |
Harry Kane on top of Germany’s press (5)
|
| Anagram (harry, as a verb = harass) of KANE, before (on top of, reading downwards in a down clue) D (abbreviation for Deutschland = Germany). This footballer’s name has been a gift to crossword setters. | ||
| 18 | PIMPED UP |
Solicitor on ecstasy before party added bells and whistles (6,2)
|
| PIMP (solicitor = one who solicits customers for a prostitute) + E (abbreviation for the drug ecstasy) + DUP (Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland).
Pimped up, as a verb = added bells and whistles = modified [something] to make it more exciting. |
||
| 19 | RULELESS |
Russell Crowe ultimately drunk and unregulated (8)
|
| Anagram (drunk) of RUSSELL + last letter (ultimately) of [crow]E. | ||
| 22 | PIERIS |
Cabbage white is under ripe bananas (6)
|
| IS after (under, reading downwards in a down clue) an anagram (bananas = crazy) of RIPE.
Scientific name for a genus of butterflies known as “whites”, including the “cabbage white” whose larvae annoy gardeners by eating the leaves of cabbage and related crops. |
||
| 23 | TRAILS |
Dogs scoff in revolutionary way (6)
|
| RAIL (scoff = to complain mockingly), contained in ST (abbreviation for street = way) reversed (revolutionary). I’d only come across “rail” as meaning to complain angrily, but Chambers also has the sense of mocking.
Dog, as a verb = trail = follow. |
||
| 24 | BUSH |
Brief Encounter is 19D for president (4)
|
| B[r]USH (a brief encounter, as in a brush with fame or with danger), without the R (abbreviation for rule: reference to 19 down RULELESS).
Either George H W Bush or George W Bush: father and son presidents of the US. |
||
| 25 | DALI |
Artist brought up in Philadelphia (4)
|
| Hidden answer, reversed (brought up in . . . with “up” indicating reversal in a down clue) in [ph]ILAD[elphia].
Spanish surrealist artist Salvador Dalí. |
||
| 27 |
See 22 Across
|
|
A lovely puzzle with a colourful theme. A great and neat blog.
Thanks Grecian and Quirister.
Liked many clues. Mentioning a few: PAINTED LADY, GATEKEEPER and BUSH.
Agree. Quite tricky esp the ‘cabbage white’ for me, but the wordplay is fair. I liked BUSH for the interplay between clues and for ‘brush’ as the ‘brief encounter’, and my outright tops is COPPERS. Great clue. Thanks Qurister and Grecian.
The theme didn’t help as such but at least I recognised a few! 13ac was as blogger said.. doh! The only boxer I acknowledge is Ali, maybe time to widen the net. Apart from obscure sportsmen (3dn I feel), all fun n games… altho there was a moment of anxiety putting VAMPED instead of PIMPED..
thanks Grecian n Quirister
A great puzzle. PAINTED LADY, BUSH, GATEKEEPER all make the podium for me. I tried searching for a connection between the singers and the butterflies. Apparently another Brenda Lee has designed a Lesbian Pride butterfly emblem. Thanks, both.
Thanks both. When checking my answer for ARCTIC SEAL my dictionary app gives the definition of a fake rabbit skin intended to resemble sealskin, in which case less likely to swim or produce pups. My performance was mixed on GK, remembering USYK eventually but thankfully being unfamiliar with the stiffener in SOCIALIST which was last in partly as I laboured for something meaning ‘from red’ initially
I remember Brenda Lee from the Golden Earring song Radar Love which contains the lyrics
The radio’s playin’ some forgotten song
Brenda Lee’s “Coming on Strong”
Guessed SOCIALIST quite early on but needed google’s help on “Cialis”. Had to guess the Boxer and only know “Pieris” as the plant. I have a couple of Forest Flames in my garden.
Hovis@6 Me too for the Piersi in the garden. It made me think that butterfly bush would make a mean but possible clue for PIERIS.
BLULUE’s debut single Shout was a hit in 1964 – a 60th (Diamond) anniversary.
Knew SOCIALIST from the myriad emails I’ve received over the years, “cleverly” disguised as, say, C1@L15 to avoid the spam filters.
Thanks G&Q
Lovely crossword. Entertaining and educational!
Like Hovis, only knew PIERIS as a plant.
Had to check here for parsing of SOCIALIST but otherwise all good.
The sun is shining for what seems like the first time in months and the peacocks are fluttering by, so nicely timed!
Thanks Grecian and Quirister
Undrell @3 I confidently put in an unchecked at the time TARTED UP at 18d. It works for me, and held me up considerably on both the incorrect crossers. Is a pimp actually a solicitor? Don’t they just “manage” the solicitors?
I did enjoy this very much though. An early solve in the grid for my fave of the day which was SCHLEP.
Thanks to Grecian and to Quirister.
Many thanks to Quirister, for the usual high-quality blog and the lovely coloured grid. Thank you to everyone else for the nice comments. I’m very happy that you all seemed to enjoy it. Butterfly BUSH, butterfly STRIP(ped) and butterfly KISS were also thematic entries and KYLIE recorded a song called Butterfly. Hope to see you here again soon. G 🦋
Enjoyed greatly, even if I’d never heard of UKSY or USKY or USYK or whoever it was.
Made a fool of myself with the spoonerism having decided main = sea not key so couldn’t parse PEACOCK. Ah well
Thanks both