There was a good deal of fun to be had in this, with lots of inventive clues and a few political references as well as a nice bunch of connected clues.
I had one or two quibbles which I’ve noted in the blog. My favourite clue was 18A and its brilliantly hidden definition.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | MUGSHOT |
Criminal captured with this fool gunned down? (7)
|
| Mug(=fool) + shot(=possibly gunned down). The captured here is in the sense of an image being captured. | ||
| 5 | SIDECAR |
Run underworld god around in passenger vehicle (7)
|
| (Race(=run) + Dis(=underworld god in Roman mythology))< | ||
| 9/12 | IN THE WIND |
Up as 26 20 can be when 16’s 4 or 23 and 15? (2,3,4)
|
| Triple def. The first def refers to the expression “three sheets in the wind”, which is a nautically derived term for drunk. Elephant’s trunk is rhyming slang and “tired and emotional” is a euphemism. | ||
| 10 | UPRISINGS |
Trumpian troubles applying leverage in America? (9)
|
| Prising(=applying leverage) in US. I’m not entirely sure to what the Trumpian troubles refers – possibly the Capitol riots which occurred after he refused to accept the result of the first re-election attempt. | ||
| 11 | IN BRACKETS |
Not bad, Berkoff cast in plays (like this) (2,8)
|
| (Berk[off] cast in)* | ||
| 12 |
See 9
|
|
| 14 | CLERGYWOMAN |
EGLW acronym changed for minister (11)
|
| (EGLW acronym)*. I’m not sure if EGLW is meant as a real thing or not. The only thing I’ve been able to match it to is the airport code for the London Heliport. | ||
| 18 | LOLLIPOP MAN |
He takes issue over way parents situated in lounge at home (8,3)
|
| (Pop + ma(=parents)) in (loll(=lounge) + in(=at home)) | ||
| 21 | PIPE |
Maybe flageolet‘s one joining piano in exercises (4)
|
| (I + P{iano}) in PE(=physical exercise). A flageolet is a woodwind instrument. | ||
| 22 | PICTOGRAPH |
Chinese character went for a German count, did you say? (10)
|
| Hom of “picked a graf”, graf being a German rank of nobility usually considered to be equivalent to a count. Pictograph seems to be a general term for picture or symbol which conveys a meaning, so I’m not sure whether it could be considered specifically Chinese. | ||
| 25 | AFRIKANER |
Freak rain in storm finds Dutch descendant (9)
|
| (Freak rain)* | ||
| 26 | THREE |
Trinity right inside you? (5)
|
| R{ight} in thee(=you) | ||
| 27 | TOPSAIL |
See back trouble’s something looming 9 12? (7)
|
| Spot<(=see) + ail(=trouble) | ||
| 28 | DARKENS |
Old coffer in studies becomes mysterious (7)
|
| Ark(=old coffer) in dens(=studies) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | MAISIE |
Jamesian heroine, excellent Italian, absolutely stops me (6)
|
| ((AI(=excellent) + si(=Italian for “yes”=absolutely)) in(=stops) me. The def refers to the novel “What Maisie Knew” by Henry James. | ||
| 2 | GATSBY |
Friend of Dorothy outside bank’s enigmatic millionaire (6)
|
| Gay around TSB(=well-known bank). This was a new one on me but apparently “Friend of Dorothy” is a coded term for a gay man. | ||
| 3 | HIERARCHIC |
Time in greeting Roman Catholic this Roman ranked (10)
|
| Era in (hi(=greeting) + R{oman} C{atholic}) + hic(=latin for this). I’m not entirely sure about “hic” for this. I’ve never studied Latin but, according to the dictionaries I’ve consulted, hic is “here” and hoc is “this” but maybe there are some contexts where they overlap. | ||
| 4 | TRUNK |
Body in the boot (5)
|
| DD | ||
| 5 | STRATAGEM |
Device is Fender guitar, a fine example (9)
|
| Strat(=shortened version of Fender Stratocaster) + a gem(=fine example) | ||
| 6 | DESK |
Some provide sketches for Davenport? (4)
|
| Hidden in provide sketches. A Davenport is a sort of writing desk with a hinged lid. | ||
| 7 | CONFIRMS |
Ratifies business superior to interpolar one? (8)
|
| Co{mpany} on top of (firm in NS(=between North and South, so interpolar)) | ||
| 8 | RESIDENT |
Biden rendered powerless finds house physician? (8)
|
| [P]resident | ||
| 13 | TWI NIGHTER |
Achieve victory in more evenly contested baseball event (3-7)
|
| Win(=achieve victory) in tighter(=more evenly contested). I’m not much of a baseball fan, so this was lost on me, but it’s a short version of a twi-night doubleheader. | ||
| 15 | EMOTIONAL |
Book about Scottish island on loch shows feeling (9)
|
| Tome< + Iona(=Scottish island of the Inner Hebrides) + l{och} | ||
| 16 | ELEPHANT |
Footballer recalled — hard worker I’ll always remember (8)
|
| Pele<(=footballer) + h{ard} + ant(=worker ant). The def refers to the notion that elephants never forget. | ||
| 17 | CLAPTRAP |
Conservative to drink gin that’s rubbish (8)
|
| C{onservative} + lap(=drink) + trap(=gin) | ||
| 19 | BARRIE |
Scottish writer‘s block unending (6)
|
| Barrie[r]. JM Barrie is most famous for writing Peter Pan. | ||
| 20 | SHEETS |
Second version of these lines (6)
|
| S{econd} + these*. Sheet can be used as a nautical term for a rope or chain. | ||
| 23 | TIRED |
Familiar beat (5)
|
| DD. I think familiar is used in the sense of a “familiar story” i.e. a not very new, tired story. Beat is in the sense of “I’m beat”. | ||
| 24 | SKUA |
Bird or birds sent north (4)
|
| Auks< |
Thanks Tees and NealH
DNF as the version of the expression I know is THREE SHEETS TO THE WIND, which rendered 1D impossible.
As Simon, only ever heard of ‘three sheets to the wind’, so had the same issue with 1d for a while. Never heard of Maisie but not hard to guess. TWI-NIGHTER seems very obscure but what do I know about baseball. No idea why Tees felt the need to put ‘Trumpian’ in 10a. Feel it is a better clue without. No issue with ‘hic’ for ‘this’ (or ‘here’). Apart from minor gripes, a good crossword overall.
I don’t think you meant to say “dazed and confused” in the blog for 9/12. Were you listening to Led Zeppelin?
IN and TO the wind are both listed in Collins and Chambers for that expression, and I needed in the wind to be a stand-alone entry for obvious reasons. I wouldn’t dream of excluding to-the-winders as I’m not a cancel-culture type, preferring woke, but for today’s work-out, I’m acknowledging in-the-winders only. Sorry.
I should just say that I haven’t forgotten when-I’m-cleanin’-winders either.
Thanks, Tees, for dropping in to explain. I’m afraid I’m another to-the-winder. I was hoping for some light to be shed on EGLW too. nho TWI NIGHTER but it is what the parse led me to. Likewise unaware of the ‘friend of Dorothy’ phrase which seems a bit of a mouthful compared to the short alternative though I am aware she is a gay icon.
I was very taken with the surface for SIDECAR, the def for LOLLIPOP MAN and the rather dark surface that is TRUNK.
Thanks Tees and NealH
GATSBY was a great clue for those of us familiar with the expression. [Tees What about the sidewinders?]
It had to be IN THE WIND because of the wording of 27a, which doesn’t make sense with TO THE WIND. Very enjoyable puzzle all round.
Thanks Tees and NealH.
I’m a to-the-winder, too.
For 13d I entered TWO NIGHTER assuming that there was a missing ‘D’ on the end of ‘achieve’ in the clue (TWI-NIGHTER just seemed so unlikely that I didn’t even bother to check with Mr. Google) . There’s a lesson for me.
sourdough @8. – me too!
Apart from that all good but had to check here for the GAY in 2D. Susbequently looked up “Friend of Dorothy” in Wikipedia which gives its derivation.
Spotted LOLLIPOP quickly but the brackets took longer.
Thanks Tees/NealH
As our local gay American, allow me to elucidate.
1. Judy Garland was a gay icon for various reasons (like so many other chanteuses before and after her), and “friend of Dorothy” (cf. Somewhere Over the Rainbow) refers to her. Note that the Stonewall riot occurred after a police raid on a gathering at a gay bar to celebrate/commiserate after Garland’s death. (This was before I was born, btw).
2. If a baseball game is rained out, it must be made up later in the schedule. Sometimes the away team isn’t coming back to town again, so they’ll play two games in one day (the makeup game in the afternoon, immediately followed by the regularly scheduled one at night). This is a twi-night double-header (portmanteau of twilight and night).
mrpenny@10 Thanks for the elucidation of twi-nighter. It’s unlikely to come up again one thinks but you never know. We’ll all be prepared if it does. I’d heard of ‘Friend of Dorothy’ so my first thought was it was going to be either Toto or gay.
EGLW is the heliport acronym folks. They were four letters left over, so I googled it to see if there was anything, and hey presto, an acronym to go with the acronym fodder. Happy days.
Side-winders are okay too, by me.
Didn’t get on with this one at all.
I am a baseball fan, although living in the UK, I don’t get to many games, and I’ve never heard of a TWI NIGHTER.
“Friend of Dorothy” is actually a line from The Wizard of Oz. I’ve never known if the term comes form the film or the film used an existing phrase. Either way, I’ve never read The Great Gatsby and the description enigmatic millionaire meant nothing to me.
This seems to be the main complaint about many a crossword these days, i.e. that GK of any sort has no place. I guess it harks back to the time when, in the extreme case, we were expected to know our literature to the extent that we could complete a quote clue in order to fill the grid, or when we might have been expected to have read some of the most famous books in the world, like The Great Gatsby. Or know Latin or Greek, or French, in current usage in English.
Sad isn’t it that we compilers should be required to dumb things down to the level of the dumbest dumbasses on the planet.
I’m a latecomer to this forum, having only completed the puzzle today.
Very, very tough.
( I don’t resort to cheat buttons, google, or those online clue solvers.)
I suppose my view is that General Knowledge has a part to play, but this game is primarily about solvable cryptic wordplays and definitions. These days.
Obscure Knowledge is not so OK, for me, and if that puts me in the dumbass club, I’ll gladly wear the club tie.
Oh…and I find the posters to Fifteensquared to be a very learned and polite bunch, myself excluded.