Knut has compiled today’s puzzle, on what is theme day.
This grid accommodates a large number of entries, with a greater than usual sprinkling of shorter entries. As for today’s theme, the gateway clue is at 6A, where the answer can precede or follow many of the other entries, at 1A, 9, 13, 14, 18, 21, 24, 25A, 32, 33 … Knut has done a good job of cramming so much thematic material into the grid.
My favourite clues today were 1A and 6A, both for smoothness of surface; 3, for originality; and 33, for the misdirection around “Parliament” and “York”. The academic at 8 and the financial term at 19 were both unfamiliar to me.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01 | HOLE | Shoo flies away regularly in dungeon
<s>H<o>O <f>L<i>E<s> (“away regularly” means alternate letters are dropped); a hole can be a place of solitary confinement, hence “dungeon” |
| 03 | E-FIT | Image made by copper, spun titanium and iron
TI (=titanium, i.e. chemical symbol) + FE (=iron, i.e. chemical symbol); “spun” indicates reversal; the “copper” of the definition is a police officer! |
| 06 | PUNCH | Spare tyre short of a blow
P<a>UNCH (=spare type, i.e. belly); “short of a” means letter “a” is dropped |
| 10 | MINOR PART | Cameo suitable for child actor?
Cryptic definition: a child is a minor, hence a “minor” part would be suitable for a child actor! |
| 11 | NUTTY | Mad Dog losing his head, in a state?
<m>UTT (=dog; “losing his head” means that the first letter is dropped) in NY (=state, i.e. New York) |
| 12 | DONNISH | Scholarly boozer back in the money!
NNI (INN=boozer, pub; “back” indicates reversal) in DOSH (=money, cash) |
| 13 | SUFFOLK | Have the hump when touring rotten, backward county
FFO (OFF=rotten; “backward” indicates reversal) in SULK (=have the hump, mope) |
| 14 | CARD | Joker or Jack?
Jokers and jacks both appear in a pack of cards; a joker is also a card, i.e. a humorous person |
| 16 | SUCKER | Mug delivering relief?
Homophone (“delivering”) of “succour (=relief, aid)” |
| 18 | BAG | Airline – the ultimate in losing luggage?
BA (=airline, i.e. British Airways) +<losin>G (“the ultimate of” means last letter only) |
| 21 | RUM | The odd drink?
Cryptic definition: rum is a drink AND also means strange, peculiar |
| 22 | RABBIT | Religious leader beginning to talk the talk!
RABBI (=religious leader) + T<alk> (“beginning to” means first letter only) |
| 23 | EDGE | Cash book’s limitless margin
<l>EDGE<r> (=cash book); “limitless” means first and last letters are dropped |
| 25 | COUNTER | Token // opposition action?
Double definition: a counter is a token in gambling AND opposition action, as in counter-terrorism, counter-narcotics |
| 27 | HARD-WON | Strong Asian currency achieved by effort
HARD (=strong) + WON (=Asian currency, of N or S Korea) |
| 29 | AITCH | Answer long letter
A (=answer, as in Q&A) + ITCH (=long, ache) |
| 30 | PHOENICIA | Arizona city spies vote to leave the old country
PHOENI<x> (=Arizona city) + CIA (=spies, in US); “vote (=X, on ballot paper) to leave” means letter “x” is dropped; Phoenicia was an ancient civilization in the E Mediterranean, primarily in modern-day Lebanon |
| 31 | FADED | Dull American Democrat arrested by G-man
[A (=American) + D (=Democrat)] in FED (=G-man, i.e. Federal agent) |
| 32 | LINE | “Misspeak” about new policy
N (=new, as in NT=New Testament) in LIE (= “misspeak”; i.e. to speak wrongly, lie) |
| 33 | BOWL | British Member of Parliament for York?
B (=British) + OWL (=member of parliament, i.e. collective noun for a group of owls); to york is to (attempt to) bowl someone out with a yorker, in cricket |
| Down | ||
| 01 | HOME DECOR | December over, Mr Simpson set about furnishing for the house
[DEC (=December) + O (=over, in cricket)] in HOMER (=Mr Simpson, in the US animated sitcom The Simpsons) |
| 02 | LINEN | Bedding Soviet hero with stomach upset
LENIN (=Soviet hero); “with stomach upset” means all middle letters are inverted |
| 04 | FLASH BULB | Awfully bashful Pound papped with the help of this?
*(BASHFUL) + LB (=pound, in imperial measures); “awfully” is anagram indicator; to pap is to photograph in the manner of the paparazzi |
| 05 | TOTES | Carries off // totally, as they say nowadays
Double definition: totes means carries, humps AND totes is a colloquial way of saying “totally” |
| 06 | PINAFORE | Deep in a forest, carrying protective clothing
Hidden (“carrying”) in “deeP IN A FOREst” |
| 07 | NOT TOO BAD | Reasonable to boot Nad out?
*(TO BOOT NAD); “out” is anagram indicator |
| 08 | HAYEK | Free marketeer getting yes vote in Hong Kong
AYE (=yes votes, as in The ayes have it) in HK (=Hong Kong); the reference is to the Austrian-British academic Friedrich Hayek (1899-1992), staunch advocate of free market economics |
| 09 | FRUIT | Cherries perhaps scared to take on United
U (=united, as in US, UK) in FRIT (=scared, i.e. a dialectal form of frightened) |
| 15 | REMOUNTED | Back in the saddle, doctor put in moulded denture
MO (=doctor, i.e. Medical Officer) in *(DENTURE); “moulded” is anagram indicator |
| 17 | KEITH MOON | He rocked the kimono, amazingly
*(THE KIMONO); “amazingly” is anagram indicator; the reference is to drummer Keith Moon (1946-78), drummer with the British rock group The Who |
| 19 | GREENMAIL | Jealous chap announced takeover stake in company stock
GREEN (=jealous) + homophone (“announced”) of “male (=chap)” |
| 20 | WRETCHED | Very miserable wife gagged
W (=wife) + RETCHED (=gagged, as if to vomit) |
| 24 | DRUNK | Medic, attractive bloke, leaving hospital lit
DR (=medic, i.e. doctor) + <h>UNK (=attractive bloke; “leaving hospital (=H)” means letter “h” is dropped) |
| 25 | CHAFF | Banter with husband in greasy spoon
H (=husband) in CAFF (=greasy spoon); chaff is light banter, badinage |
| 26 | REPEL | Hold off with fencing sword mostly grasped with both hands
EPE<e> (=fencing sword; “mostly” means last letter is dropped) in R L (=both hands, i.e. right and left) |
| 28 | WACKO | Mad King visiting US siege city
K (=king, i.e. card) in WACO (=US siege city, in Texas in 1993) |
A very enjoyable puzzle from Knut today, and easier than usual, with nothing needing clarification. This suggested there was a theme, though I didn’t spot it as running late. Well done RR for doing so. I was briefly led astray by entering MINOR ROLE instead of MINOR PART. Thanks Knut and RatkojaRiku.
Quite a tricky Knut today, I found. I googled to see if there was somebody active in the aid sector named Beaker, but no joy – although MsJV informed me about the Beaker Folk, a Bronze Age people known for their decorated drinking cups but fortunately the correct answer came to me before I went down that wrong turning.
Greenmail is a new one on me – I had to scan Chambers to find it, where it is marked as ‘US’.
4d feels a bit naughty, isn’t it an indirect anagram really?
Brilliant misleading ‘copper’ in 3a! 29a was tricky too.
Last in 22a made me laugh. Reminded me of the dad-joke that begins “A priest, a minister, and a rabbit walk into a blood bank…”
Looked for a theme and did not spot it! Often the case… Cheers Rob and RR.
A hint to the theme: Where’s Judy? – 16a SUCKER & 22a RABBIT are also 6as.
jvector @2. I don’t see why you think 4d might be an indirect anagram. Did you perhaps include “LB” as part of the anagram, which it isn’t?
For a long time I had “UTTER” for 11a. Mad Dog = “nutter” losing his head to give utter = “state” leaving “in a” as link words.
HAYEK & GREENMAIL both new to me as well.
Like Tatrasman, we thought this was slightly easier than we expected.
We also had UTTER for a short time although “in a state” as the definition didn’t really work. We’d never heard of HAYEK or GREENMAIL either and we wondered whether these were part of the theme or had been ‘shoe-horned’ in because of it.
It wasn’t until the end that we spotted PUNCH BOWL and the theme then fell into place.
Thanks to RR and Knut.
Thanks to Knut once again for another enjoyable crossword with a theme I actually spotted quite early on in the solving process
Thanks also to RR
Thanks both. I also confidently entered minor role instead of MINOR PART which was my only slow-down until reaching the intersecting PHOENICIA and GREENMAIL which were both unknowns. The PUNCH theme was a rare spot for me, and there were enough counterparts to hit home like a well aimed….punch I guess.
Hovis@4, you’re quite right. I was blindsided by the first ‘L’ in ‘flashbulb’ so thought that LB was part of the fodder. Totally failed to notice that the ‘pound’ LB was /after/ the anagram! Apologies to Knut!
Great stuff. I was expecting the “opposition action” for COUNTER to start with Con. Thanks, both.
Long time reader, very occasional poster.
Got through this with no real problems but when I read in the blog that Keith Moon died in 1972 I thought ‘that can’t be right’. On checking I see he actually died in 1978.
Very nice treatment of the theme. For once, I remembered to look and actually spotted it! No particular faves today but plenty or appreciation for a nicely-rounded puzzle.
Thanks both
@10 – date now corrected
Very late to this party, so will just echo crypticsue’s and Postmark’s appreciative comments.
Like Hovis and B&J, I didn’t know HAYEK or GREENMAIL.
Many thanks to Knut and RR.
I don’t really follow which setters chime with me, but this all fell in quite nicely. Except 19d (nho) for which I entered an incorrectly parsed GREENPALL (chap – Paul) Unsurprisingly I had a number of the same issues as others – MINOR ROLE, HAYEK (entered parsed but nho), GREENMAIL.
Didn’t spot the theme. Not sure it would have helped even if I had.
Been catching up after missing a number of days for various reasons, so maybe my brain is just in crossword mode more than usual.
Thanks to Knut for the puzzle and RR for the excellent blog as usual.
Only spotted the theme once solved so didn’t help to get any answers. Just remembered GREENMAIL but had never heard of HAYEK. PINAFORE was a good hidden and I liked ‘York?’ as a verb for BOWL.
He’s been a busy boy lately has our Knut; he also set today’s (Tuesday’s) puzzle in The Times.
Thanks to Knut and RR
Nice one,Knut!