I find Knut’s puzzles entertaining and was pleased to see I was blogging one today.
There’s a lot going on in the wordplay for many of today’s clues which is the way I like it. There were also some very good surfaces.
There were a couple of clues where I wasn’t sure exactly what to underline as the definition as both had a word or words that could apply to both the definition and the entry. We had ‘[weak defence] hardly!’ or just ‘hardly’ in the clue for PUNCHY and we had ‘[South] African’ or ‘African’ in the clue for STEENBOK.
I reckon the answer 23 down could be SWOT UP or SWAT UP. The A or O is unchecked by a crossing entry. (Chambers and Collins both indicate that SWOT and SWAT are interchangeable. The Oxford Dictionary of English does not link the two words and it is the only dictionary I have that lists SWOT UP [but not SWAT UP]) so I guess the required answer is SWOT UP.
There is a theme running through the entries, relating to winter sports or winter activities in general. I have put SKELETON and BOB together which could form a group with SLEDGE, TOBOGGAN and SLEIGH. I have also linked SKI RUN, DOWNHILL and SLALOM together. Going off at a slight tangent we also have ALPINIST, BLADES (skating) and WHITE as words that could apply to winter activities. I wondered whether TOP-LEVEL might be a term for a starting point for ski-jumps where the jumper can set off from different heights depending on the conditions and talents of the skier, but I can’t find it listed as technical term on a ski-jumping website.
The detailed table below goes into a fair bit of detail explaining the relevance of some of the surfaces to the entries.
| No | Detail |
| Across | |
| 1/9 | Nuns left fringe group from America (6,6)
SISTER [SLEDGE] (SISTER SLEDGE was an American musical vocal group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formed in 1971, the group consisted of sisters Debbie, Joni, Kim, and Kathy SLEDGE) SISTERS (nuns) + L (left) + EDGE (fringe) SISTER S L EDGE |
| 4 | Framework left in 17 not for turning (8)
SKELETON (framework) L (left) contained in (in) SEKE (the entry at 17 across is EKES OUT which can be read as a clue for SKEE – anagram of (OUT) EKES) + NOT reversed (for turning) SKE (L) E TON< |
| 9 |
See 1 [SISTER] SLEDGE |
| 10 | Hill runner from Togo bang out of order (8)
TOBOGGAN (long narrow flat sledge that curves up at the front which can be used for going down hills on snow and ice; hill runner) Anagram of (out of order) TOGO BANG TOBOGGAN* |
| 11 | Switzerland with weak defence? Hardly! (6)
PUNCHY (opposite of a weak defence; weak defence hardly!) – I have taken the definition to be the last three words of the clue with two of them doing double duty in the wordplay. Other solvers may feel that the definition is simply ‘hardly!’ CH (Confederatio Helvetica; International Vehicle Registration for Switzerland) contained in (with … defence) PUNY (weak) PUN (CH) Y |
| 12 | Author Saul dumping wife; acquiring old road house of ill-repute (8)
BORDELLO (brothel; house of ill-repute) BELLOW (reference Saul BELLOW [1915 – 2005], American author) excluding (dumping) W (wife – Bellow was divorced 4 times) containing (acquiring) (O [old] + RD [road]) B (O RD) ELLO |
| 13 | Bearers every now and again lose their bearings (3)
ERR (wander; lose their bearings) ERR (letters 2, 4 and 6 [every now and again) of BEARERS ERR |
| 14 | Universal search programs catching American naval vessels (1-5)
U-BOATS (German submarines; naval vessels) U (universal) + (BOTS [autonomous search programs that trawl the internet looking for information] containing (catching) A [American]) U BO (A) TS |
| 17 | Carefully gets by Speke – so utterly captivating (4,3)
EKES OUT (manages with difficulty; carefully gets by) EKES OUT (hidden word in [captivating] SPEKE SO UTTERLY) EKES OUT |
| 21 | Note old archdeacon, leader of Anglican prayers (6)
NOVENA (devotion of prayers or services on nine successive days, to obtain a particular request, through the intercession of the Virgin or some saint) N (note) + O (old) + VEN (VENerable; honorific prefix to the name of an archdeacon) + A (first letter of [leader of] Anglican) N O VEN A |
| 25 | Curtsy old, much-loved King welcomes (3)
BOB (curtsy) BB (reference B.B. King [1925 – 2015], American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer) containing (welcomes) O (old) B (O) B |
| 26 | Spooner’s dog unwell, sloping off (8)
DOWNHILL (sloping away; sloping off) Reverend Spooner might have pronounced DOWNHILL as HOUND [dog] ILL [unwell] DOWNHILL |
| 27 | Santa’s known for his timeless cunning (6)
SLEIGH (Santa Claus is known for having a SLEIGH full of presents) SLEIGHT (cunning) excluding (less] T (time) SLEIGH |
| 28 | Forget for now temperature in coastal area (3,5)
SET ASIDE (forget for now) T (temperature) contained in (in) SEASIDE (coastal area) SE (T) A SIDE |
| 29 | Fifty-fifty odds at the start still (4,2)
EVEN SO (nevertheless; still) EVENS (fifty-fifty) + O (first letter of [at the start] ODDS) EVEN S O |
| 30 | Mountaineer of the first order getting leg trapped (8)
ALPINIST (mountaineer) A-LIST (descriptive of people of the first order) containing (getting … trapped) PIN (leg) AL (PIN) IST |
| 31 | Backsliding morals having a change of sides in the event (6)
SLALOM (skiing event) MORALS reversed (backsliding) with the R [right] replaced by L [left] [having a change of sides]) to form SLALOM SLALOM< |
| Down | |
| 1 | He had a lifetime of rock and roll! (8)
SISYPHUS (in Greek mythology, SISYPHUS angered the Gods who punished him by forcing him to roll an immense boulder up a hill only for it to roll back down every time it neared the top, repeating this action for eternity.) SISYPHUS – ‘he had a lifetime of rock and roll’ is a cryptic definition of Sisyphus’s life after the Gods punished him. SISYPHUS |
| 2 | Poor Ben Stokes drops a South African (8)
STEENBOK (small [South] African antelope) – the definition could be South African with South doing double duty or just African Anagram of (poor) BEN STOKES excluding (drops) either [a] of the Ss [South) – Ben Stokes is the current England cricket captain and has taken a lot of flak for the recent team performance in Pakistan. STEENBOK* |
| 3 | Protein-rich food for one struggling with weight? (3,5)
EGG WHITE (a protein-rich food) EG (for example; for one) + an anagram of (struggling with) WEIGHT EG G WHITE* |
| 5 | Luxury car transporting Yoko under a kilometre for money (6)
KRONOR (plural of the standard monetary units of Sweden and Iceland) K (kilometre) + (RR [Rolls Royce; luxury car] containing [transporting] ONO [reference Yoko ONO [born 1933], Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist, widow of John Lennon) This being a down entry RONOR is placed under the K K R (ONO) R |
| 6 | Insurer denying cover for expensive wheels daughter fitted (6)
LLOYDS (reference the insurance market LLOYDS of London) D (daughter) contained in (fitted) ALLOYS (reference ALLOY wheels made of a steel alloy, usually of aluminium or magnesium, for improved properties such as reduced weight, better heat conductance and a shiny appearance; expensive wheels) excluding (denying) the first letter (cover) A LLOY (D) S |
| 7 | Mac button to switch between apps? (6)
TOGGLE (short bar acting as a button, passed through a loop for fastening a garment, such as a mac) TOGGLE (to switch between applications on a computing device) double definition TOGGLE |
| 8 | Last of Malaysian rubber Charlie exported – he won’t pay much tax (3-3)
NON-DOM (nondomiciled person in the UK who can currently benefit from tax concessions) N (final letter of [last of] MALAYSIAN) + CONDOM (rubber) excluding (exported) C (cocaine; Charlie) N ONDOM |
| 12 | Berlin regularly turning over loads…quite a big city! (7)
BRISTOL (a fairly large city) BRI (letters 1, 3 and 5 [regularly] of BERLIN) + LOTS (loads of) reversed (turning over) BRI STOL< |
| 15/16 | Film about sport that could use a lift? (3,3)
SKI RUN (people who go down a SKI RUN often get to the top of the RUN by using a ski-tow or ski-lift) SKIN (outer coating; film [thin skin or membrane]) containing (about) RU (Rugby Union; sport) SKI (RU) N |
| 18 | Prime telly featuring pole dancing English student (3-5)
TOP-LEVEL (most important; prime) (TV [television; telly] containing [featuring] an anagram of [dancing] POLE) + E (English) + L (learner; student) T (OPLE*) V E L |
| 19 | Local Iron Age development on lake (8)
REGIONAL (local [to an area]) Anagram of (development) IRON AGE + L (lake) REGIONA* L |
| 20 | Georgian city chamber in which an American goes? (8)
BATHROOM (American word for a lavatory; where an American goes to urinate etc) BATH (a Georgian city in England) + ROOM (a chamber) BATH ROOM |
| 22 | Thrown up, passed out, necking port (6)
ODESSA (port city in Ukraine) ODESSA (reversed [thrown up; down entry] hidden word in [necking] PASSED OUT) ODESSA< |
| 23 | Trade union participating in exchange study (4,2)
SWOT UP or SWAT UP (study) – most likely the version with the O is required. TU (trade union) contained in (participating in) SWOP / SWAP (exchange) SWO (T U) P or SWA (T U) P |
| 24 | Picked stockings – cold November outside (6)
CHOSEN (picked) (C [cold] + N [November is the international radio communication codeword for the letter N]) containing (outside) HOSE (stockings) C (HOSE) N |
| 25 | British boy starts to engrave steel swords (6)
BLADES (swords) B (British) + LAD (boy) + ES (first letters of [starts to] each of ENGRAVES and STEEL) B LAD E S |
Top faves: DOWNHILL, SLEIGH, SISYPHUS, LLOYDS and NON-DOM.
Enjoyable puzzle. Excellent blog. Thanks Knut and duncan.
Loved Sisyphus. Overall a great crossword – theme didn’t intrude but helped occasionally.
Thanks Knut and Duncan
I also wondered about SWAT/SWOT. For what it’s worth, I went for SWOT and the app marked this as correct.
Great puzzle. Thanks, Knut & Duncan.
The perfect thing to cheer up a dull Tuesday morning
Loved the theme and the ear worm from 1/9 but I think 1d was my favourite
Many thanks to Knut and Duncan
I though this was great, with really nice surfaces. Unusually for me, I spotted the theme and it helped lead me to SLEDGE. It’s a testament to the setter that despite my ignorance of the three people/bands mentioned, I was able to get the answers thanks to the clear and fair clueing.
I’ve never heard of “swat up” in the sense intended; presumably the two-word phrase derives from just “swot” (to study conscientiously, or one who does that) – and I’ve never seen that spelt “swat”.
I failed to parse PUNCHY – and having now seen what’s going on I want to somehow interpret “defence” as “fencing in” or “surrounds”, else I can’t quite make out the cryptic grammar.
The only one which I failed on was BATHROOM! Very nice trick… I was prematurely disheartened by my ignorance of cities in Georgia, no doubt just as Knut intended!
Favourites were SKELETON, ERR, ALPINIST, SLALOM, SUSYPHUS, LLOYDS and that darned BATHROOM.
Thanks both!
I’m short of time this morning, so I’ll resort (again) to ‘exactly what crypticsue said’.
Like Widdersbel @3, I spent some time wondering whether it should be SWOT or SWAT up, and plumped for the latter. Re theme, BOB and SLEIGH should be linked as it’s one word. There’s a Passo della NOVENA in the Alps, between Switzerland and Italy (Nufenenpass in German) – was this intended to be in the theme? Probably not, but there is limited skiing there! Thanks Knut and Duncan.
Great puzzle from Knut; I loved SISYPHUS and then loved the link tying SKELETON to EKES OUT even more. Classic. \Loads of other goodies too. Theme is appropriate as well – I wonder how the weather is in Bavaria. Thanks Knut and thanks Duncan for fine blog,
Forgot to say earlier: for me swotting is studying and swatting is what you do with a fly swat for example
Another echoing crypticsue both @4 and 9. Strangely, I’d swot for an exam but swap an item, as per the old TV show, Swap Shop.
My main pleasure was in the theme. Too many favourites, as always, with this setter.
Thanks to him and Duncan.
Great and approachable crossword. I do have a question: Have there been previous instances like 26 across (downhill)? To me it seems that you have to first 1) separate hound & ill into houn & dill, and only then 2) swap the initial consonants, which felt a bit odd because most if not all Spoonerism clues I have seen involve only the latter manipulation.
In any case, thanks very much Knut and duncan!
The theme is the main reason I get up of a winter’s morning, but suffice to say, altho pleased, when words I recognised appeared, I only really assessed the situation after completion… which was a pleasure all round.. enjoyed all the tricks and games, 27ac and 29ac, n 8d for the simplicity, the Spoonerism worked for me, and 1d, was either u knew it or u didn’t. I did but couldn’t remember how to spell it… so waited for some crossers..
Thanks Knut n duncansheill
Thanks both. I’d seen SISYPHUS only once before so was quite pleased to remember half the name, as there is no other means of solving the clue. I am still not quite sure there’s a definition for SKI RUN but it was clear enough what was intended. I believe there was talk in the past of ODESSA bidding for a future Winter Olympics, but perhaps its inclusion is coincidental.
I spotted the theme earlyish and it certainly helped get some answers more readily than I otherwise would’ve.
Only failed on SISYPHUS. If like me you’ve no interest in mythology, there’s no way of getting the answer even with all checking letters in place. One of those things that one should pick up from GK rather than specific reading or interest I suppose. A clever clue once I’d revealed it and briefly googled.
Spent a while trying to crowbar MUSHROOM in to 20d before realising there was another word which fitted the crossers I had and the penny dropping.
Thanks Knut for a lovely crossword and duncan for a very detailed blog.
Didn’t manage to parse the EKES out for 4a or to think of alloys as expensive wheels. I don’t think I’d ever write swap as swop so not a finish for me.
Worth it for SISYPHUS alone.
Thanks Knut and Duncan.