Happy Saturday everyone!
A grid from Tyrus for our pleasure today.
There was a lot to like in this, with the expected very twisted clueing that needs mental flexibility to complete. I like the homophone clues as they feel pun-like in their playfulness, and Tyrus is obviously also a fan. The misdirection in 22a was masterful, and helped me overlook the slightly funky spelling of “Nookey”. The use of “FA” in 27 down gave me a LOL moment. Tyrus is a setter who plays with the boundaries of wordplay I think.
I had to rely on online search tools to complete this, and some references were definitely not in my usual ouvre. ENA was referencing Coronation Street character Ena Sharples, and the film reference was an NHO for me. Thankfully Jose Mourinho is in the media so much I knew him despite my general avoidance of football!
Time to deploy this
I have to take issue with the inclusion of COOLIE.
“Unskilled worker” isn’t the only interpretation of this word. This is also a well-known racial slur, which one would have hoped gave pause to both setter and editor for careful consideration of inclusion. It’s not like they were stuck with it: my crossword solver gave nine other words that would have fitted the crossers. I hope this is simple clumsiness, rather than dismissal of the potential for harm, particularly for the expected large numbers of South Asian solvers on a site with global reach.
Such words exist and we should not pretend otherwise. But should that make any word fair game for grids? My opinion is they are best left for academic analysis or historical acknowledgement, a la Huckleberry Finn, rather than a recreational setting like this, that risks normalising their use. We can all aspire to be more enlightened, particularly the vocabulary virtuosi here who’s work we rightly revere.
Thanks for indulging me if you’ve made it this far, and thanks to Tyrus for the grid.
As ever, definitions are underlined.
ACROSS
6. Primate’s rage directed at band (5,3)
GREAT APE
Rage directed [anag. RAGE] at band [TAPE]
8. Looking happy – agreed about keeping money I left (6)
SMILEY
Agreed [YES] about [backwards] keeping [around] money I left [MIL]
10. Car one American can make (6)
AUSTIN
One [A] American [US] can [TIN]
11. Still being here, take car outside (can I get into reverse?) (8)
SURVIVAL
Not totally sure of the parsing of this one. Car [SUV] and can I [LAV I ] get into reverse [backwards = IVAL] but I can’t quite see how to place the R.
12. B1 unconvincing about China according to Macron (7)
THIAMIN
Unconvincing [THIN] about [placed around] China according to Macron [AMI = “friend in French]
Thiamin otherwise known as Vitamin B1
15. Animal in motion panicking – too right (7)
POTOROO
Anagram [panicking] of POO [motion] TOO R [right]
Potoroo is a small marsupial
https://images.app.goo.gl/A5hahZqqGwQQUQa19
17. Go for champs in broadcast (6)
CHOOSE
Homophone: sounds like “chews” = Champs [“in broadcast”]
18. Swing with nurse in front (6)
VENEER
Swing [VEER] with nurse [EN] in
20. Didn’t prevent Bale getting punished in final (7)
ENABLED
Bale getting punished [anag BALE] in [placed inside] final [END]
22. Senior embracing sex without agreement, say? It’s Trump’s forte (7)
SNOOKER
Senior [SR] embracing [around] sex without agreement [NOOKEY]
I have a feeling I might be mis-parsing this but, this seems to use either a shortening of Senior that is odd (SER), or a spelling of Nooky I’ve never seen before. Love the misdirection though!
25. Tire out Pole labouring and abruptly slowing down (8)
RITENUTO
Tire out Pole labouring [anag TIRE OUT + N= North]
27. Ability parking gets worse after crash (6)
POWERS
Parking [P] gets worse after crash [anag WORSE]
29. Unskilled worker an associate of Bill? That’s not true (6)
COOLIE
Associate of Bill [COO] that’s not true [LIE]
A reference to a 1948 film called “Bill and Coo”.
30. Tea with a touch of nutmeg added in is extremely fresh (5,3)
BRAND NEW
Tea [BREW] with [AND] a touch of nutmeg [N] added in [placed inside]
DOWN
1. Point creature’s head out (4)
EAST
Creature’s head out [BEAST]
2. Old lady eating one’s bread (4)
NAAN
Old lady [NAN] eating [around] one’s [A]
3. Guy drinks noisily (5)
TEASE
Homophone: drinks = “Teas”
4. Government official gets a rise (slightly less than fifty percent) (4)
TSAR
GETS A RISE with more than half the letters removed
5. Excellent knockout I’d welcomed in self defence (6)
AIKIDO
Excellent [A1] knockout [KO] I’d welcomed in [ID placed inside]
7. Soldiers knocked over – that’s horrible part of course (5)
ROUGH
Soldiers [OR] knocked over [backwards] – that’s horrible [UGH]
9. Cause to love early Corrie legend (special one)? Not half! (7)
ENAMOUR
Early Corrie legend [ENA] (special one)? Not half [MOURINHO]
My online sources helpfully pointed me in the direction of football manager Jose Mourinho
13. Hard for regulars to make trouble (3)
ADO
Even numbered letters [regulars] in HARD FOR
14. Child is a girl (5)
ISSUE
Is [IS] a girl [SUE]
16. Green upset with article for Indian? Could be (5)
OCEAN
Green [ECO] upset [backwards] with article [AN]
17. Time con spent in Latin America’s not very much (7)
CENTIMO
Anag [“spent”] of TIME CON
Smallest denomination of several countries in Latin America
19. I returned dirty look Liberal ignored (3)
EGO
Returned [backwards] dirty look [OGLE] liberal ignored [remove L]
21. Hammer old car (6)
BEETLE
Double definition. VW Beetle and a mallet with a long handle
23. Sinister country Spain on reflection (5)
EERIE
Country [EIRE] Spain [E] on reflection [backwards]
24. Don’t believe what was said before but uncertain (5)
DOUBT
What was said [DO] before but uncertain [anag BUT]
26. Exploits non-British carriers (4)
USES
Buses
27. Private Eye has nothing about singer (4)
PIAF
Private Eye [PI = Private Investigator] has nothing about [AF = FA backwards]
Just in case it wasn’t clear, in this clue FA stands for F**k All!
28. Over in Florida was this often dried up? (4)
WADI
Backwards [over in] hidden word: Florida was
SNOOKER (my take)
SR around NOOKy less y (yes/agreement)
ENAMOUR
special one=paraMOUR (not half)
SURVIVAL
take=R
OCEAN
Def: Indian? could be (I think it is inadvertently omitted)
SURVIVAL: R (take, “recipe”; medical abbreviation) in SUV (car outside) followed by LAVI reversed
I don’t think I’ve ever finished a grid with so many unparsed. I didn’t see SURVIVAL before coming here, and didn’t know Ena Sharples, Bill and Coo, or Mourinho’s nickname. Thanks Leedsclimber for the blog and Tyrus for a tough puzzle.
I completely agree with your comments on the inclusion of coolie as an answer.
SNOOKER
Apologies to leedsclimber. Your observations are correct. NOOKEY or SER?
We may be missing something.
SNOOKER
NOOKiE is another spelling I see.
Aye, say=I, NOOKiE without I=NOOKE. This looks plausible?
Haven’t seen the R for ‘take’ in quite a while but didn’t cause any issue. I went for NOOKIE without I (homophone (say) of “aye” for agreement).
I see you just beat me KVa. Great minds think alike …
Hovis@6
🙂
ENAMOUR
Looks like the setter had MOURinho (not paraMOUR) in mind as Leedsclimber says.
I went for ‘paraMOUR’ without knowing this nickname of Jose MOURinho.
SNOOKER
I hadn’t parsed it properly as I had overlooked the E. Only after reading the blog
the second time, I realised my error.
Great puzzle. Couldn’t parse the DO in DOUBT and I still don’t get it. Had paramour rather than Jose but that’s clear now. Also had ‘i’ for aye in SNOOKER which I liked. Lots to like including PIAF but I have AUSTIN and SURVIVAL (LOI) as tops both the car and the ‘r’ for take indicating a setter of experience and years? Austin Powers? Thanks for the blog LC and thanks Tyrus.
No one’s mentioned the Nina, so I will. A very enjoyable tussle, thanks, Tyrus and Leedsclimber
Sofamore @8: The DO in DOUBT is ‘do’ = ditto = what was said before.
I parsed SNOOKER with NOOK(i)E losing the homophone ‘I’. However, I did not recognise the def: I NEVER remember the snooker player.
I found this typically tough but did manage to work my way through everything bar POTOROO and THIAMIN which I was nowhere near parsing. Leedsclimber, I think the parse for the former is In (container) motion = POO panicking (anagram) TOO R – PO TORO O. Otherwise it would be an indirect anagram which I don’t think Vlad would do.
My only raised eyebrow was ‘make’ in AUSTIN which felt as if it should be ‘makes’. CHOOSE, BRAND NEW and CENTIMO were my favourites.
Thanks Tyrus and Leedsclimber
Thanks PM@10.
And Tyrus is Vlad. I see.
I liked the Nina, which was helpful towards the end, but can anyone explain its second half?
Tyrus is still producing genuine challenges in this format, which is much appreciated now so many top-level setters have gone. One tricky anagrind that I thought might be a step too far was “spent” (17d).
I did find Coolie a bit depressing, although Tyrus had obviously done his best to neutralise it with the objective, technical definition. “Collie” would have fitted without damaging the Nina.
Herb @13: it meant/means nothing to me but a quick Google search reveals a conspiracy theory that the singer is, indeed, an undercover CIA agent!
That was hard. Never yet spotted r for take and I guess I never will!
I agree with our blogger’s comment about 29a.
For 18a V(EN)EER – the definition is “front”.
29a COOLIE – oed.com has ‘1854 Jenny and Jessamy..billing and cooing in an arbour. W. M. Thackeray, Newcomes vol. I. xxx. 295′
Noticing the Nina helped with my L2i – 11a SU(R)V+(I+VAL)< & 15a P((OTO*)+R)OO – only the TOO needs anagramming.
Thanks T&L
COOLIE and WADI
Two Hindi/Urdu words today.
COOLIE came from the name of a tribe KULI who worked as coolies
during the Raj. Tho many people of other tribes and sects became
coolies later, the name stuck.
WADI means valley in Hindi/Urdu.
That was a tough solve, and I was grateful to the Nina for helping me over the line. Still had to guess a little at RITENUTO, although for once my guess was successful.
I did spot AUSTIN POWERS and (George) SMILEY in the grid, who are of course secret agents, but not a clue whether that’s just coincidence or not. Nothing Tay Tay related as far as I could see.
I did wonder about COOLIE, but thankfully it’s so old-fashioned that I wasn’t quite certain of any negative connotations. Having read the blog & comments above I agree it would’ve been much better avoided.
Thanks Tyrus & leedsclimber.
Although I spotted the nina, which helped a little, I didn’t see the AUSTIN POWERS & SMILEY, so thanks for that Amoeba. I doubt it’s a coincidence.
Thanks both. Found this quite tough in places, and spotting the Nina in context with AUSTIN POWERS helped – I will enlighten my daughter on the conspiracy theory as she was at the Taylor Swift concert in Liverpool yesterday. POTOROO was the only one to hold out, until I used a word-search, and I can confidently say I would not have solved it unaided if time were limitless.
Really needed the blog today. Filled in the grid – eventually – but lots of missing parsings. Will now go back and look for Nina. A real challenge that I am glad fell on a weekend to give me time to chew it out
Thanks Tyrus and leedsclimber
Thanks to Leedsclimber for the blog and to others who commented. Apologies for any offence caused by 29ac which was entirely inadvertent.😒
Yes, as some have identified, SNOOKER was Sr round nookie less i (hom of aye).
Never quite understood this conspiracy theory. At least you knew where you were with Marjorie Taylor Greene and the forest fires caused by Jewish space lasers.
BTW, there’s another secret agent in the grid, probably the most famous one of all.
Thanks Tyrus and Leedsclimber
Also, if you concatenate 17 & 18, AUSTIN SEVEN appears in the grid.
And 3 24 reads TEASED OU(b)T.
Hi Simon. The SEVEN bit is right.
Of course
chOO SEVENeer. Hidden in plain sight
Thanks Tyrus and LC
Never mind not being able to parse the answers, this was one of those days where I couldn’t even get most the answers. Not fun for me.
Enjoyed this – got the Nina but not the agents. Also failed on 29A having written in COALIE (a word I’d never heard of, but no surprise there, and thinking COA meant chart of accounts (vaguely associated with a bill, I thought)). I’m actually quite pleased that I didn’t get this clue right. Fantastic puzzle as always from Tyrus and congratulations to Leedsclimber for what must have been a tricky blog.
Late to the game, but my two cents are that bill and coo is a well known phrase without needing any reference to that (unknown) film, and I am unfamiliar with any racial connotation of COOLIE. I had no problem with “unskilled worker.” Your objection seems a bit over sensitive, rather like those who have invented the pleonastic “enslaved persons.”
@iansw3
It was more a desire to encourage an understanding of using words that come from a historical culture of white privilege, colonialism and the ownership of people. In the communities they were used against they still possess the power to hurt. I choose to do better.
I understand, but I feel it’s too easy for some to blame the words instead of the people who use them and the ways they do. Racists and colonialists can and do just find other words to use pejoratively. Often, the fault is not the words but in those who use them.
Ian SW3 – the usual sources (Chambers & Collins) note its usage as offensive. I don’t think anyone today would ever use the term, and rightly so. I agree with you about bill & coo being enough to justify the ‘coo’.
Ian SW3 – the usual sources (Chambers & Collins) note its usage as offensive. I don’t think anyone today would ever use the term, and rightly so. I agree with you about bill & coo being enough to justify the ‘coo’, but don’t think you can sensibly defend the word itself.