Bluth makes a welcome appearance today.
We always look forward to solving Bluth’s puzzles and this was no exception – all good clues (although we did think the film reference in 11ac was perhaps a little too vague). He often includes famous names in both clues and answers. We have two in the answers for 1/4ac and 13ac and a ‘not so famous’ Jeb Bush in the clue for 13ac. We wondered whether Bluth might have tried to get ‘Waterloo Sunset’ in at 26/27ac, but maybe not.
Is there a theme? We can’t find one, but perhaps we’re missing something.
An anagram (‘rudely’) of CRACK A JOKE round U (posh)
DAME (woman) round or ‘pierced by’ AG (silver)
CAFF (‘greasy spoon’) in or ‘wrapped by’ SOLD
FILM (‘Up’ for one – as an example) S (small) T A R (first or ‘initial’ letters of Television Acting Role)
An anagram (‘to perform’) of DE NIRO
B (last or ‘final’ letter of Jeb) + HOLLY (bush) after or ‘succeeded by’ alternate or ‘occasional’ letters of fUnDeD bY
A homophone (‘dictator’s’) of TACKED (changed course)
A palindrome (‘both ways’)
IMPROVE (enhance) with the ‘r’ (last or ‘final’ letter of trainer) moving to the end + HIS with the first letter moving to the end or ‘cycling’
MAO (communist leader) round or ’embodying’ D (last letter or ‘end’ of old) E (east) D (Germany)
BOOK (‘Job maybe’ – as in the Bible) with OPEN (available) in front or ‘at the start’
An anagram (‘goes off’) of ALERT in or ‘during’ WOO (court)
Double definition
SITTING (modelling) DUCK (nothing)
ARMED (‘packing’) round (not in – ‘quite the reverse’) L A (first letters or ‘beginnings’ of large audiences)
KaNE (missing ‘a’) LoT (missing the middle letter or ‘after vacation’)
An anagram (‘rubber’) of TREES in or ‘adopted by K L (middle or ‘essential’ letters of hawklike)
A reversal (‘overturned’) of VoTe (alternate or ‘regular’ letters) after an anagram (‘glitches’) of EARLY IT
UP (at university) FRONT (prom – as in promenade at the seaside)
Hidden (‘somewhat’) in politiCAL VEngeance – Galloway being a breed of cow
MAtURE (complete) with NIC (National Insurance Contributions) replacing or ‘covering’ ‘t’ (time)
wHO‘d wIn (missing the the first and last letters or ‘dis-covered’) POLL (vote) O (love) I (island)
ST (saint) O M (first or ‘original’ letters of of medicine) in an anagram (‘new’) of CURE
P (power) + SENT (conveyed) after (‘by’) R E (capital letters or ‘biggest characters’ in Richard E)
PR (pair) oOLONG (variety of tea) missing the first letter or ‘no starter’
ROmanTIC (sentimental) with BOy (lad) missing the last letter or ‘largely’ replacing ‘man’
AM (morning) A (adult) SS (sons)
idEAS (plans) missing or ‘dropping’ ‘id’ (‘papers’) ED (editor – ‘journalist’)
Thanks Bluth and BertandJoyce
Really enjoyed and like Blogger was thinking I had missed a theme.
Very unsure of film star – seems unusually weak to me.
Loved the complexity of some of the clues still gettable but a bit of work required
Ah, so that’s how UP FRONT was supposed to be parsed. Even after I got the answer I still didn’t know how to parse it; equating university to U only created more problems.
I love this crossword, another one that was approachable. The topmost down entries fell surprisingly quickly. It was convenient that I had heard of Jack Kerouac and Buddy Holly before (but the latter specifically being Weezer’s song, not the singer the song was named after).
I still haven’t technically seen in a dictionary the word hoi polloi, but I want to say that I’ve seen it in a previous Indy crossword (but I may be misremembering).
Thanks very much Bluth and B&J!
Especially liked 11a, with the film name hiding its capital UP FRONT, and the surface looking like it’s about a bit part actor, rather than a FILM STAR.
Thanks B & B&J
11a seems to be dividing solvers. I agree with FrankieG, although I wouldn’t say I ‘especially’ liked it, just one of many great clues.
In 3d, I feel that ‘somehow’ should be part of the definition not just a poor link word.
Bluth has a very definite style and I know to expect plenty of indicators for single letters to be cunningly shoehorned into anagrams and containers. A style that makes for some fun surfaces and plenty of references to people/places etc. It took me a while to tune in to it but then everything satisfactorily resolved. Though I did struggle with LOI PRESENT – and I am not wildly enamoured of ‘biggest characters in Richard E’ = RE. There is only one character in E so ‘biggest’ doesn’t really work. It’s like encountering an acrostic with A or I as one of the words. And I’m not 100% sure about ‘seeking’ as a link word between WP and def in TACT
SCAFFOLD, IMPOVERISH, WATERLOO, SITTING DUCK, KESTREL, CALVE, CUSTOMER and PROLONG were my faves today.
Thanks Bluth and B&J
I got 11A only because ‘Up’ is one of my favourite films, but probably unknown to most solvers. Couldn’t see 22A and put unparsed ‘came to’ in desperation. Very nice, so thanks Bluth and B&J.
Liked SCAFFOLD, FILM STAR, SITTING DUCK, CALVE and MANICURE.
Thanks Bluth and B&J!
Thanks Bertandjoyce and thanks all.
I agree that ‘Up for one’ is tricky to spot, but therein lies what I like about it. And I’m not sure I agree with Tatrasman’s view that it would be “unknown to most solvers”. It not only won the Oscar for Best Animation but had the extremely rare honour of being nominated for the Best Motion Picture category full stop.
Postmark @5 – I think you’ve taken the instruction, “find the biggest characters in the collection of characters Richard E” and unnecessarily converted it into the instruction, “find the biggest character in the name Richard and also in the name E” and then decided that the second part doesn’t sit right with you. I agree that the second wouldn’t sit right with me either, but then it wasn’t the instruction given!
Bluth @8: thanks for popping in. Always nice to see the compiler. I can see now how you wanted me to read the instruction. Quibble withdrawn.
I would pick out SCAFFOLD, CUSTOMER and PROLONG, but I liked it all. Thanks.
Being short of time today I decided to do just one of the ‘GIFT’ crosswords and I’m quite pleased I chose Bluth. I thought this was great with my top picks being DAMAGE, IRONED, MADE DO, SITTING DUCK, and HOI POILLOI. I bunged in ‘lead star’ for 11a but MANICURE snuffed that idea and helped me to correct mistake. (I knew the film which helped.) Thanks B & J for the blog.
Sorry Bluth, “Up” is unknown to me and certainly not one of the first 100 film titles I would think of. But enjoyed the rest.
Eric’s – you should watch it, it’s great. I would never expect anything to be known to _everyone_ but it’s certainly not obscure. It’s a critically acclaimed film from a major studio that was a box office smash!
Thanks for checking in, Bluth, and thanks for a great puzzle.
I’ve seen Up=film a few times now, looks a bit irresistible for clue construction, and is one to file away with ali, cher, pele, ely and the rest.
Thanks to Bertandjoyce too.
Up was the film about the house lifted by balloons, right? Never seen it but it was much talked about when it came out.
Funny, I was just thinking the other day that we hadn’t seen a Bluth puzzle for a while, and one turns up.
Too late now, but did this last night in, for me, quick time and thoroughly enjoyed it.
LOI was 16dn, couldn’t see past the saint in patron saint, there were two or three like that where the wording threw me for a little while.
I liked calved with the use of politics and Galloway to throw us off.
Another vote for Up being a terrific film. I’m not generally a fan of animation, but this was really moving and funny.
Thanks to B&J and Bluth, I always enjoy your puzzles.