Mog, a compiler whose work I have little experience of as either solver or blogger, has provided today’s puzzle for our entertainment. It will doubtless take me a while to get used to this setter’s style.
I found this to be towards the harder end of the Indy spectrum of difficulty, and I needed to chip away at it for a good long while. In the end, I needed to search Chambers to find 4 and 5, although I kicked myself regarding the latter.
I am not totally sure of my parsing at 20 (“off”) or 21A (“recounted”), so I would be grateful for input from other solvers – many thanks, blog now updated! The entries at 4, 6 and 10A were all new to me. My favourite clues today were 2, for smoothness of surface; 16, for the misdirection around Ascot=racecourse; and 18, for sheer ingenuity.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01 | SHABBY | Mean mum, all midriff muscle?
SH (=mum, i.e. silence) + ABBY (=all midriff muscle, i.e. from abs, cryptically) |
| 04 | FOR SHAME | Reprimand impostor putting on front
SHAM (=impostor) in FORE (=front); “for shame!” is an interjection, intended to reprimand someone |
| 09 | ARENA | Site for watching matches live not available
ARE (=live, exist) + N/A (=not available) |
| 10 | TRILOBITE | I hurl tucking into stale old arthropod
[I + LOB (=hurl, throw)] in TRITE (=stale, hackneyed); a trilobite is a fossil arthropod from the Palaeozoic period |
| 11 | HEAD START | Chef barely notices dessert going early?
<c>HE<f> (“barely” means first and last letters are dropped) + ADS (=notices, adverts) + TART (=dessert); having a head start could involve going (somewhere) early! |
| 12 | DANTE | Moderate tempo put out an Italian composer
<an>DANTE (=moderate tempo); “an put out” means letters “an” are dropped; Dante was a medieval Italian poet, hence a “composer” of verse |
| 13 | INCANDESCENT | Flaming hot tinned dip?
IN CAN (=tinned) + DESCENT (=dip, drop) |
| 17 | STONE MASSAGE | Learned about body firmness at group spa treatment
[TONE (=body firmness) + MASS (=group, crowd)] in SAGE (=learned, wise) |
| 20 | ADIEU | Gold-plated tumbler must be off in Versailles
DIE (=tumbler, used in board game) in AU (=gold, i.e. chemical symbol); “adieu” is farewell in French, hence “(I) must be off (=(I) have to go) in Versailles”! |
| 21 | FRIAR TUCK | Monk recounted day, maybe painting fowl, shaving head
FRI (=day, i.e. Friday) + ART (=maybe painting) + <d>UCK (=fowl; “shaving head” means first letter is drop); Friar Tuck was a monk in the tales (hence “recounted”) of Robin Hood |
| 22 | STAGE NAME | New agent, same Snoop Dogg?
*(AGENT SAME); “new” is anagram indicator; Snoop Dogg is the stage name of US rapper Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. |
| 23 | ELITE | Cream brilliant in cheese’s centre
LIT (=brilliant, bright) in <ch>EE<se> (“centre” means middle two letters only are used) |
| 24 | SPECTATE | Watch ham going unfinished at gallery’s opening?
SPEC<k> (=ham; “going unfinished” means last letter is dropped) + TATE (=gallery) |
| 25 | OYSTER | Clump of toys terrify one in bed
Hidden (“clump of”) in “tOYS TERrify”; oysters are harvested from oyster-beds |
| Down | ||
| 01 | SHASHLIK | Primarily seal meat dish, almost like kebab
S<eal> (“primarily” is first letter only) + HASH (=meat dish, as in corned beef hash) + LIK<e> (“almost” means last letter is dropped) |
| 02 | ABEYANCE | Foul can be a half-year suspension
*(CAN BE A + YE<ar>); “half” means 2 of 4 letters are used in anagram, indicated by “foul”; cf. to be in abeyance, in suspense |
| 03 | BRASS INSTRUMENT | Undergarment’s wrong on guys in parade – a bugler must play through it!
BRA’S (=undergarment’s) + SIN (=(a) wrong) + [MEN (=guys) in STRUT (=parade, prance, as verb)] |
| 05 | ODIST | Religious works skewered by slam poet
DIS (=slam, slate) in OT (=religious works, i.e. Old Testament) |
| 06 | SWORD-AND-SORCERY | Docs worry a nerd’s out of hand with wizard content
*(DOC’S WORRY A NERD’S); “out of hand” is anagram indicator; Sword and Sorcery (S&S) is a sub-genre of fantasy literature, hence “wizard content” |
| 07 | ALIENS | Right in seeing that sci-fi classic
LIEN (=right to property, in law) in AS (=seeing that, since); the reference is to the 1986 sci-fi film Aliens, directed by James Cameron |
| 08 | ELEVEN | ELP without Palmer still in prime
EL<p> (“without Palmer” means letter “p” is dropped, from name of 1970s British progressive rock group Emerson, Lake and Palmer) + EVEN (=still, yet); eleven is a prime number |
| 10 | TRADE-IN | Exchange New Orleans jazz style with German one
TRAD (=New Orleans jazz style) + EIN (=German one, i.e. a German word for one) |
| 14 | COMPILE | Appear to shake tail and nap as setters do
COM<e> (=appear, turn up; “to shake tail” means last letter is dropped) + PILE (=nap, on cloth); the “setters” of the definition are crossword compilers, not dogs! |
| 15 | NATURIST | One revealing article about holidaymaker killing love
NA (AN=article, in grammar; “about” indicates reversal) + T<o>URIST (=holidaymaker; “killing love (=0, i.e. zero score)” means letter “o” is dropped); a naturist is a nudist, hence “one revealing (their body)”! |
| 16 | NECKWEAR | Ascot perhaps rigged race with new king participating
*(RACE + NEW + K (=king, in cards)); “rigged” is anagram indicator; an ascot is a type of necktie |
| 18 | KANSAS | Alaskans trashing Alabama, blasted state
*(<al>ASKANS); “trashing Alabama (=AL)” means letters “al” are dropped from anagram, indicated by “blasted” |
| 19 | FINALE | Fellows peel off after sign a shark’s come close
FIN (=sign a shark’s come) + <m>ALE<s> (=fellows; “peel off” means first and last letters are dropped); the close of e.g. a stage show is its finale |
| 21 | FEAST | Cardinal supports loud church celebration
F (=loud, i.e. forte, in music) + EAST (=cardinal, i.e. point of compass) |
I think “must be off(!)” is the (French) def in 20A, and “Monk recounted” just means one who has tales told about him, so perhaps i.e. a fictional one? FINALE was my fave for the sign of the shark. LOI 1D by a long way… TIL.
Thx RR & Mog.
Thanks for the blog, RR, and I’d agree this was at the tougher end of the Indy puzzles though it did all eventually fall into place with no reveals or external support so I felt quite chuffed at the end.
I think the def in 20a, ADIEU, is ‘must be off’ with an elided ‘I’ at the beginning with ‘in Versailles’ as the French indicator. I’m not sure why ‘recounted’ was included in 21a, FRIAR TUCK, unless it is making reference to the fact that he was a (presumably) fictional character. TBH, I’d have been perfectly happy without it and would not have quibbled the def.
My biggest ticks went to INCANDESCENT – beautifully tightly done; STAGE NAME – lovely phrasing; OYSTER – fun surface; ODIST – ditto; ELEVEN – just delightful and FEAST which is so simple but which had me casting around for ages to determine what kind of cardinal we were talking about.
Thanks Mog and RR
I like Mog’s style – I rarely look at the Setter’s name (I use the android app which means it doesn’t appear unless looked for) and though quite a few times that I really liked this cluing style.
Agree with Mev re parsing. LOI ODIST which was my least favourite too
Thanks Mog and Ratkojariku.
Even tho the clue was explicit, and ELP’s first album was on our fave list back then, I still didn’t twig, thinking Palmer … Arnold? Talk about dim! But yes, agree with RR and PM, a chewyish workout for my first time with this setter, well over an hour and a couple of letter cheks.. Enjoyed it though, thanks to RR and Mog.
Thanks Mog and RR!
Like SHABBY (for the ABBY bit, handsome one!), INCANDESCENT (bright & delicious stuff), FRIAR TUCK (nice story-telling surface), FRIAR TUCK (oops..I re-counted it), ABEYANCE (6 months for a foul? Luckily, not hanging!) and COMPILE (All put together, a good surface-WP-def set).
[jvector, if ur about, thx for the tips yesterday, they helped. And I’m learning not to touch packpage, <, which I constantly use on the G site to minimise the keyboard. On this site it takes you right back to the intro, ads included, erk!]
Also found this quite difficult and wasn’t too keen on a couple of clues. In 21a, a ‘friar’ is not the same as a ‘monk’ and ‘Friar Tuck’ was an ex-monk. In 7d, many people would class ‘Alien’ as a sci-fi classic but find it hard to believe anyone would say the same of the sequel.
Well Hovis, many people do indeed think the sequel is better than the original, but chacun a son gout or whatever.
Glad to find out I was not the only one who struggled a bit with this. As ever, once you read the blog, you wonder what the problem was.
Thanks for the explanations RR, and to Mog many thanks ( I think).
Thanks RR, and all. It’s always a pleasure to set for you.
Many thanks to Mev @1 and PostMark @2 for the helpful input regarding the outstanding parsings.