A relatively quick solve overall, with a mix of difficulties in the clues. Favourites were 18ac, 28ac, 4dn, 8dn, and 19dn. Thanks to Philistine
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | SCANDAL |
Charlie’s into footwear that’s a disgrace (7)
|
| C (Charlie, NATO alphabet), in SANDAL=”footwear” | ||
| 5 | HANDSAW |
Worker was returning tool (7)
|
| HAND=”Worker” + WAS (from surface) reversed/”returning” | ||
| 9 | WHIFF |
This perhaps starts with hyacinths in full flower (5)
|
| starting letters from W-[ith] H-[yacinths] I-[n] F-[ull] F-[lower] | ||
| 10 | AVAILABLE |
Westward island volcanic eruption in which one’s ready (9)
|
| reversal/”Westward” of ELBA=”island” + LAVA=”volcanic eruption”; with I=”one” inside | ||
| 11 | GO COMMANDO |
Discard pants in order to get into mucky stuff (2,8)
|
| definition: to ‘go commando’ means to not wear underwear
COMMAND=”order” inside GOO=”mucky stuff” |
||
| 12 | BRIE |
Not quite short of cheese (4)
|
| not quite all of: BRIE-[f]=”short” | ||
| 14 | TESSELLATED |
Mosaic sale settled after a fashion (11)
|
| anagram/”after a fashion” of (sale settled)* | ||
| 18 | MONARCHISTS |
First of rebels replaced by second royal supporters (11)
|
| [a]-NARCHISTS=”rebels” with the “First” letter replaced with MO=moment=short amount of time=a “second” | ||
| 21 | CREW |
Showed off team (4)
|
| double definition: as a verb, ‘crew’ can be past tense of ‘crow’ meaning to boast or show off; or as a noun meaning a team | ||
| 22 | MOSQUITOES |
Prophet tours capital to find bloodsuckers (10)
|
| MOSES=Biblical “Prophet” around QUITO=”capital” of Ecuador | ||
| 25 | ANDROMEDA |
Stars as a central character in Greek mythology (9)
|
| double definition: a constellation of stars [wiki]; and a character in Greek mythology [wiki], though I’m not confident on the significance of “central” here | ||
| 26 | INKLE |
Linen from Calvin Klein (5)
|
| definition: a type of woven linen
hidden in [Calv]-IN KLE-[in] |
||
| 27 | ENGROSS |
Immerse Señor Gonzales – outwardly distraught (7)
|
| anagram/”distraught” of (Señor Gs)*, with Gs the outer letters of G-[onzale]-s | ||
| 28 | SEDATED |
Calmed by medication, James Joyce finally went out (7)
|
| final letters of [Jame]-S [Joyc]-E, plus DATED=”went out” | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | SEWAGE |
Secretive envelope with payment for the output of Thames Water? (6)
|
| the outer letters (envelope) of S-[ecretiv]-E, plus WAGE=”payment” | ||
| 2 | APIECE |
Each one welcomed to a pizza pie celebration (6)
|
| hidden in [pizz]-A PIE CE-[lebration] | ||
| 3 | DEFAMATORY |
Fed up with sexual vilifying (10)
|
| FED (from surface) reversed/”up”; plus AMATORY=”sexual” | ||
| 4 | LLAMA |
In the morning, everyone turned into a beast (5)
|
| AM=”In the morning” + ALL=”everyone”; all reversed/”turned” | ||
| 5 | HEADDRESS |
Speak to the man first to get a turban? (9)
|
| ADDRESS=”Speak to”, with HE=”the man” going “first” | ||
| 6 | NILE |
Love Bruce’s finale in The River (4)
|
| (for the surface reading, The River is a song by Bruce Springsteen)
NIL=zero=”Love” (in tennis scores) + final letter of [Bruc]-E |
||
| 7 | SYBARITE |
Pleasure seeker’s location? Say why boozer must be in there! (8)
|
| SITE=”location”, around: Y=sounds like (“Say”) “why” plus BAR=”boozer” | ||
| 8 | WEEKENDS |
Little knowledge extremely dangerous when most don’t work (8)
|
| WEE=”Little” + KEN=”knowledge” + extreme/outer letters from D-[angerou]-S | ||
| 13 | CLASSIFIED |
Secret files and a disc to be formatted (10)
|
| anagram/”to be formatted” of (files a disc)* | ||
| 15 | SCHOONERS |
Boats that deliver beer or sherry (9)
|
| double definition: a type of boat; or a type of glass e.g. for serving beer or sherry | ||
| 16 | EMACIATE |
I came up and had a meal to bring about weight loss (8)
|
| I CAME (from surface) reversed/”up”, plus ATE=’had a meal” | ||
| 17 | UNDERDOG |
Potential loser may be grounded (8)
|
| anagram/”may be” of (grounded)* | ||
| 19 | ROCKET |
Leaves item of jewellery to change hands (6)
|
| definition as in salad leaves
[L]-OCKET=”item of jewellery”, to “change hands” from L (left) to R (right) |
||
| 20 | ASCEND |
Rise of exotic dances (6)
|
| anagram/”exotic” of (dances)* | ||
| 23 | QUAYS |
Reported partners of locks and docks (5)
|
| Sounds like (“Reported”) ‘keys’=”partners of locks” | ||
| 24 | LOGO |
Record, second from Jo Brand (4)
|
| definition: a LOGO may be associated with a company’s brand
LOG=”Record” + second letter from [J]-O |
thank M and P! a welcome pretty straightforward challenge after the rather opaque Times today
After staying up election watching and a very tough Phi in Grunniad this puzzle was a welcome breeze. Some very neat anagrams that seemed to fit clue perfectly.
Thanks Philistine and Manehi
Thanks Philistine and manehi
Either Philistine got one of his housemen to write this, or he is auditioning for the Quiptic slot! The only difficult word – INKLE – was an obvious hidden. Not a bad puzzle, but it didn’t take long enough.
I thought this was about the right level for those of us short of sleep (but generally happy). I liked MOSQUITOES, SYBARITE and QUAYS. Thanks Philistine and manehi.
Another who did this watching election results rolling in.
I love Philistine’s surfaces, and he managed to find a fabric I haven’t handled or sewn with to leave until the crossers confirmed my INKLing that it had to be that.
Thank you to manehi and Philistine.
A nice, steady solve, slightly held up by putting in HACK as the worker at 5across. Failed to parse MONARCHISTS (probably didn’t try hard enough) and I too await enlightenment on the rôle of “central” in 25ac. I knew about INKLE looms, but didn’t know that it was also a type of cloth – always good to learn something new. Thanks to Philistine and manehi.
Is it me, or is the sun shining a little brighter this morning? Thanks to Phillistine for one of his more gentle efforts and manehi for the excellent blog.
There are several constellations (Perseus, Cepheus, Cassiopeia, Cetus, Pegasus, Pisces) associated with the Andromeda myth, so she would form the central character of these?
Thanks Phillistine and manehi
I might feel a little lacking if I were to be served beer in a schooner, though it’s quite a large amount of sherry.
Good spot Dave @8
Muffin @9 – think a schooner is a third of a pint in Australia
Enjoyed this, as ever with a Philistine challenge. Though sadly a DNF as I had Hacksaw instead of HANDSAW, wrongly thinking that the Hack component could refer to the workhorse some racing trainers sit upon to supervise their strings on the gallops. Thus the NILE was out of reach.
However, thought MOSQUITOES, TESSELLATED, HEADDRESS and MONARCHISTS all equally excellent. LOGO took a while for a tiddler, and INKLE an unknown but of course eminently gettable…
The one-L lama, he’s a priest
The two-LL llama, he’s a beast.
And I will bet a silk pyjama
There isn’t any three-LLL lllama.
(Ogden Nash)
Short and sweet today, though INKLE was new and I couldn’t find LOGO. I thought there should be more to ANDROMEDA – perhaps it’s what Dave Ellison @8 says. I liked the neat surface of NILE, and as someone who lives in Thames Water’s area, 1d is all too true, alas.
A SCHOONER is quite a large beer in those parts of Australia that use that name (used to be only NSW and Queensland, I think – 15 fluid ounces, or 3/4 of a pint) – but that usage is spreading. I even hear it in Tassie at times now. Never seen sherry in one, though!
Pleasant crossie and relatively gentle by my standards. Not sure about anarchist = rebel, though. Believing that society would be better run through mutual aid rather than governments doesn’t imply rebellion. Thanks, Philistine and manehi.
Following from Mike@11 and TT@14, in the UK I think of a schooner glass for beer as holding half a pint – perhaps muffin@9 never drinks less than a pint at a time?
Generally I agree that this was a quick solve with INKLE the only unknown. Quite a few answers have double letters (CLASSIFIED, WEEKEND, etc) and they were all among the first ones I solved, so I wondered if it was some sort of theme, and thought briefly that 18a might be ‘buttresses’ (supporters) which matched the enumeration and the crossers I had – this was the only hold-up.
Thanks Philistine and manehi.
Surprisingly approachable for a Friday Philistine. I was briefly held up by GO COMMANDO, interpreting the ‘pants’ as an anagrind for ‘discard’ but crossers sorted that out. And I did similar with TESSELLATED which looked like an anagram of ‘mosaic’, ‘sale’ and ‘a’. That said, I was assisted by the slightly chestnutty SCANDAL, BRIE, CREW, UNDERDOG and LLAMA. DEFAMATORY and CLASSIFIED my faves today.
Thanks Philistine and manehi
[I fondly remember a schooner of sherry in our local Berni Inn – it wasn’t that large!]
Gentle distraction during the pontificating of has beens on ITV last night. Apart from the WHIFF of a SCANDAL, SEWAGE and BRIE, I couldn’t see a theme.
Ta Philistine & manehi.
Thought the same about that schooner of sherry, muffin @9.
It must be different over there, because if I walked into a pub here and asked for a schooner of sherry, at the very least I’d get some strange looks.
And I’d forgotten that pants are undies in the UK..
INKLE, SYBARITE & “amatory” were new to me.
Lots of clever clues, most enjoyable, thanks Philistine & Manehi.
Thanks Philistine & manehi for the red-letter day entertainment.
I liked the morning beast, the ‘secret files’, and neat anagram for ‘potential loser’.
Just thought I’d add that Chambers definition 3 of ‘schooner’ is a large beer glass (esp N America and Australia) and definition 4 is a large sherry glass.
Like some others, I solved this soon after midnight, to while away the time. (I didn’t stay up long enough to hear the shock result in my constituency.)
Just the right level of difficulty in the circumstances, with about my usual quota of ticks for this setter. I was interested to see GO COMMANDO, as I remembered meeting the expression for the first time in a crossword I was blogging. Looking it up, I found that it was in Philistine’s very first puzzle (25, 332, May 2011), clued as ‘Try soldier and avoid bloomers’. (The puzzle also contained a clue that’s in my classic clues book: ‘End of term party (6)’).
Top of my list today is 8dn WEEKENDS, with its clever nod to Pope’s usually misquoted ‘a little learning is a dangerous thing’.
Many thanks to Philistine and manehi.
A schooner of sherry is a small glass. In Aus you would just say a glass of sherry. But you can always overdo it on the sherry. A Schooner of beer in NSW at least is 15 ounces or three quarters of a pint (20 fluid ounces). In NSW a middy is 10 ounces or half a pint. Different states have different terminology and measures.
What is your constituency Eileen?
Tim C – Leicester South.
Eileen@23 ‘End of term party’ – classic and contemporary!
wynsum – indeed!
[For more on (present day) beer glass sizes in Australia, see here. When I were a lad, pints weren’t known in Oz, and the size most drank in Tassie was an ‘eight’.]
It’s just as well I like being fooled as some of the simpler clue types were the ones I missed at first (“whiff”, “apiece” which was my LOI) and I thought there was much elegant cluing here to hide simple solutions. “mosquitos” was a neat spot and I love when the wordplay breaks a word up in ways that destroy any link to the original etymology but maintains a coherent surface like this.
On the other hand, clues like the one for “andromeda”, where the two parts are essentially the same thing (what is the constellation and the galaxy named for if not the Greek character?) strike me as weak if there’s nothing else going on (did I miss something?). Also, why Andromeda and not any other 9 letter constellation, given so many are named after Greek characters?
“schooner” is, unsurprisingly, a different glass size in different parts of the UK and the world, which is why the clue works. A sherry schooner of beer would be (a) small beer but a beer schooner is a different beast.
A fun and not overly-challenging puzzle so thanks to Philistine and to manehi for the parsings.
Thank heavens for an easy crossword this morning – I’m feeling very dopey after going to bed at 4.00; at least my brain sort of works. Thanks, Philistine – I enjoyed this (despite being briefly persuaded that the stars could be Cassandra).
In 2011 Philistine’s 25332 ’12a End of term party (6)’…
…also included GO COMMANDO: ‘26a Try soldier and avoid bloomers (2,8)’
‘
Enjoyable solve, although I DNK INKLE.
There was a good surface for SEDATED, neat wordplay for GO COMMANDO (like PM @16 I assumed pants was an anagrind), the well-hidden APIECE, and the pleasant anagram for CLASSIFIED.
Thanks Philistine and manehi.
A nice puzzle, quick solve for me as for many others but a lot of very clever constructions (editing to add: Jack of Few Trades@30 has nicely expressed what I like here, the wordplay breaking links to the original etymology but providing a clear surface). I too started with HACKSAW but luckily caught myself, and I spent a few moments starting at 23d thinking “locks sounds like lox so that’s lox and bagels but what sounds like bagels?” Had only heard of Inkle as the videogame company and I just realized that that is a pun on its founder Jon Ingold (who I occasionally chatted with as part of the text game community).
Thanks Philistine and manehi!
I particularly like the NW corner with the SEWAGE SCANDAL and attendant WHIFF, together with (almost) DEFAM(e) A TORY. Very nice.
I too have INKLE as a newly-learned, always thought it was a bit vaguer than an INKLING.
I liked the construction for CLASSIFIED too.
Thanks to Philistine and to Manehi for the blog.
(Eileen’s new MP seems like a hardworking well-meaning chap, tho’ I guess we must now all be a little wary of ophthalmological politicians… )
Eileen@26, my local big election moment (binning the lettuce) didn’t come until 7, so I’m glad I didn’t stay up. Finally got yesterday’s multiple choice question right for the first time in the 20+ years I have lived here.
Thanks to Philistine for a gentle Friday, and manehi for the blog.
A gentle yet enjoyable relief after yesterday.
Enjoyed the puzzle, and glad to see many folks were equally mystified over ANDROMEDA.
This was more my speed compared to puzzles earlier in the week, and for that I’m grateful. INKLE was new to me, but clear from the clue.
Americans usually pronounce QUAY differently, so took a while to figure that one out.
Thanks maneji. Pleased you noted that brand and 24d are not the same thing.
Surely schooners were the boats used to deliver sherry and port to the uk from Spain and Portugal in the days before steam and fuel oil. Thanks maneji and Philistine.
Pony, glass, middy, pot, schooner. Some of the old beer sizes here in West Oz. Meanwhile, over there (gap year, 1967), a pint of Watneys was 1/10p. That was in the suburbs. Oxford St it was 2/1.
Thanks for the blog , good puzzle for a sleepy head. MONARCHISTS was very neat,
I think Dave @8 has it right , the ANDROMEDA constellation is surrounded by other mythical figures.
Best viewed in November , in good conditions can see the Andromeda galaxy , the furthest naked eye object.
When I was a young chick, many years ago, sherry was served to respectable ladies before dinner in tiny glasses. Then in the sixties eateries like the Berni Inn started serving schooners of sherry, which were HUGE and not at all respectable. Went well with Chicken-in-a-Basket. Ps I also messed up the river by putting in hacksaw. Decided 6d was calm.
Thanks Philistine for a clever crossword. I made quick work of this but I enjoyed it nonetheless with my favourites being GO COMMANDO, SEDATED, NILE, WEEKENDS (great surface), UNDERDOG, and ROCKET. I had a tiny quibble with ‘of’ as a linking word in BRIE. (Wordplay of definition?) Thanks manehi for the blog.
[Roz @44: Spotting Andromeda with binoculars ranks among my most memorable sky gazing experiences along with seeing Saturn’s rings through an observatory telescope and standing agape under the night sky on the Tibetan plateau.]
[ Tony@46 you can see the Andromeda galaxy unaided but need the right time of year , good conditions and dark-adapted eyes. The Tibetan plateau would be perfect but a bit cold in Autumn. MiddleSprog has a fairly basic telescope but it will show Saturn’s rings and the four main moons of Jupiter . ]
ginf@43 Sorry to be pedantic but in 1967 that would be 1/10d
Oh yes of course,, well corrected DE @48. 22 denari for a pint. Or is that denarii …
Too many ticks to enumerate, which is not uncommon for a Philistine crossword.
I’m happy that everyone here is pleased with the election results. The Guardian crosswords won’t be the same. I wonder how long it will take for cartoonists, satirists and setters to start skewering Labour cabinet ministers?
I entered QUAIS at 23d. Does that make it a DNF for me? (I honestly don’t know.)
Thanks Philistine for the unalloyed pleasure, and manehi for the excellent blog.
Didn’t stay up but long day in office so pleased with a gentle solve as others have already commented. Sybarite new to me; scandal appeared recently I think; sewage very damning. I don’t like crew as past tense of crow but that’s just me. Thanks Philistine and Manehi and Gladys for quoting my favourite poet.
[Thanks to gladys @13 for the Ogden Nash reminder. As I recall, this poem was followed by an note reading something like, “The author’s attention has been drawn to a type of conflagration known as a three-alarmer.”]
The River is also a suite by Duke Ellington.
When I was a student, a schooner race involved teams of four competing to down their pints quickest.
Grantinfreo@43 I don’t know where you were drinking in 1967, but I wish I’d known. It was cheaper than anywhere I could find in the West End.
A lovely Friday puzzle to finish off a week that had some unsolvable convolutions for me. This one was completed and fully parsed. Thank you Philistine and manehi.
I’m enough used to Britishisms to know that what I call arugula is what you call rocket. Took me a while to learn that.
[Sherry story from my family. When my grandfather, born 1881, was young, he was greatly taken by “temperance” preachers and was tempted to take a lifetime total-abstinence pledge. His father wisely persuaded him to take the pledge to abstain only until age 21, and to decide about “lifetime” when he got to that age. Needless to say, by the time he got to 21 he was an undergraduate and felt quite differently about indulging in alcohol. So on his 21st birthday he went out with his pals to celebrate his first drink. “I’m new at this,” he said, “so I’d better start modestly. I’ll just have a pint of sherry.” The story does not include how he got home.]
Thanks to Philistine and manehi for a pleasant solve and blog.
Late to the party today with Election, Tour, and Euros, but managed to fit in this very enjoyable Philistine. Always a pleasure 😊 thanks to Philistine and manehi. Wot a night! Even got our first ever Labour MP on the IOW (now we are allowed two instead of one). A memorable day
Enjoyable puzzle.
Favourite: SYBARITE.
New for me: INKLE = a kind of linen tape.
Thanks, both.
Ted@52 I remember the same postscript.
grantinfreo@43 In London in 1967 I spent a lot of time drinking Guinness (bottles, draught was only just becoming available) because Watneys had some convenient pubs but the bitter was undrinkable.
[ Ted@52 and Pino@58, the postscript was of course an integral part of the poem – the last line as it were. My favourite poet, too; I have six volumes of his work. ]
‘Hiddens’ have always been my weakness, and it was no surprise that APIECE was my last clue to solve. (And that wasn’t the only hidden.)
I always look forward to and enjoy the range and quality of this setter’s clues. And the ‘End of term party’ clue mentioned by Eileen was an exceptional bonus to round off my day.
Thanks to Philistine and manehi.