Slormgorm steps up tot he plate this morning.
It took me a whole to get into this puzzle, but the long answers crossing in the middle gave me enough letters to start completing the rest of it, finishing with TALL BLACKS and GOAN, teo excellent clues for unusual crossword entries. There was a bit of over-reliance on the use of terms like "heads of" etc to indicate certain letters in my humble opinion, but otherwise, a fun solve.
Thanks Slormgorm.
| ACROSS | ||
| TREE |
Headers from tall Russians entering England’s box? (4)
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[headers from] T(all) R(ussians) E(ntering) E(ngland's) |
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| TRAVELLERS |
Somehow tell ravers could be people going places (10)
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*(tell ravers) [anag:could be] |
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| ENCORE |
Nurse firm with heads of recompense enquiry: “I want more!” (6)
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EN (enrolled "nurse") + Co. (company, so "firm") with [heads of] R(ecompense) E(nquiry) |
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| ANTIGUAN |
Islander in a tug at sea heading to attack navy (8)
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*(in a tug) [anag:at sea] + [heading to] A(ttack) + N(avy) |
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| DISPATCH |
Post in trench outside of town in Belgium (8)
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DITCH ("trench") outside of SPA ("town in Belgium") |
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| CANAPE |
Is it possible that primate will give you a little bite? (6)
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CAN ("is it possible that") + APE ("primate") |
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| IRRESPONSIBLE |
Sensible prior following Reformation becomes careless (13)
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*(sensible prior) [anag:following Reformation] |
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| SNIPER |
Reservation about downing dram and a shooter (6)
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<=Res. (reservation, about) downing NIP ("dram") |
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| I DARE SAY |
It’s likely independent state will accept challenge (1,4,3)
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I (independent) + SAY ("state") willl accept DARE ("challenge") |
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| IGNORANT |
In the dark, fail to notice short social worker (8)
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IGNOR(e) ("fail to notice", short) + ANT ("socail worker") |
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| TAKE TO |
Start enjoying second attempt at a scene for broadcast (4,2)
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Homophone/pun/aural wordplay [for broadcast] of TAKE TWO ("second attempt at a scene") |
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| TALL BLACKS |
Time everyone meets Jets or a basketball team (4,6)
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T (time) meets ALL ("everyone") meets BLACKS ("jets") The Tall Blacks are New Zealand's national basketball team (cf All Blacks) |
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| UPON |
At the time of winning Oscar, primarily nervous (4)
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UP ("winning") + O (Oscar, in the NATO phonetic alphabet) + [primarily] N(ervous) |
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| DOWN | ||
| TRANSITION |
Change of trains into Barking (10)
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*(trains into) [anag:barking] |
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| BELOW PAR |
Not feeling great, but doing well, of course! (5,3)
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On a golf "course", "doing well" would be coring BELOW PAR. |
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| AT REST |
A quiz about foremost of royals is uninspiring (2,4)
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A TEST ("quiz") about [foremost of] R(oyals) |
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| VERTICES |
Green diamonds on small crowns (8)
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VERT ("green") + ICE ("diamond") + S |
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| FLAGON |
Get tired of navigating at front in vessel (6)
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FLAG ("get tired") + O(f) N(avigation) [at front] |
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| ORCA |
Toothy swimmer content in Windsor, Canada (4)
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Hidden in [content in] "windsOR CAnada" |
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| ANACHRONISTIC |
A chart icon is about to cover number in Out of Time (13)
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*(a chart icon is) [anag:about] to cover N (number) |
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| PRECAUTION |
Messed up an erotic prophylactic measure (10)
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*(up an erotic) [anag:messed] |
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| SORTABLE |
Some graphs or tables with capacity for filtering? (8)
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Hidden in [some] "graphS OR TABLEs" |
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| BREAK OUT |
Holiday abroad in Spring (5,3)
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BREAK ("holiday") + OUT ("abroad") |
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| PEOPLE |
Drug-smuggling European holding power in US? (6)
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POLE ("European") smuggling E (ecstasy, so "drug") holding P (power) The US in the clue is actually "us". |
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| ATTEST |
Bear witness to a trial in hearing (6)
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Homophone/pun/aural wordplay [in hearing] of A TEST ("a trial") |
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| GOAN |
Band (not Wings) supporting Journey and Foreigner (4)
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(b)AN(d) (not (its) wings) supporting GO ("journey") |
I found the puzzle to be pretty easy, but not knowing about the New Zealand basketball team I was somewhat taken aback by the answer to 25a. Even so, a fill like this would never fly in the states because of the alternate interpretation. Thanks Loonapick!
You can have a single canapé but I’ve always thought it strange you can’t have a single crudité, only crudités plural.
Jay @1, I’m always amused that here in Aus there is a push to use the term “Americano” to refer to a long black coffee (as opposed to an espresso). I’m resisting the cultural push.
Pretty enjoyable and mostly easy but … having confidently written in “under par” for 2D, it took me a few more minutes to find the correct answer.
Re 25A: I have heard of the “All Blacks” (they’re from across the Tasman from me) but not the solution. I am not really into sports. Jay, it’s just a colour; it’s not meant to be offensive. I really like every American that I have met, regardless of colour.
Thanks, loonapick, but did you notice that your blog is missing the clue numbers?
For me, an object lesson in good compiling, and one of the best puzzles I’ve tackled this month.
A range of difficulty levels across the solutions, from “shoe-ins” to “slow-burners”.
No grandstanding from the setter, so no need for the NHO keys.
I didn’t whizz through it, but it didn’t take half-a-lifetime, either.
I loved “uninspiring” , equating to “passed on”.
( I recently used this word to describe a puzzle in a posting; gosh, I hope it wasn’t Slormgorm!)
I liked the double-bluff of two anagram indicators in 1 (down).
One petty quibble, in 8(across), TALLRAVERS = TRAVELLERS is not the best anagram disguise I’ve seen.
Good job, Slormgorm + loonapick
Very enjoyable as usual from this setter. E.N. Boll&@5 It’s the Blacks who are tall, not the ravers, but I can see what you mean. GOAN was my favourite today.
Petert@6 my bad, and many thanks for spotting it.
Deserved to shoot myself in foot, mis-anagramming an anagram. Not for the first time!
Very nicely done by Slormgorm, today. He certainly has stepped up. A smooth and witty puzzle with, as EN Boll observes, a good range of difficulty. Some great spots in the anagrams – IRRESPONSIBLE’s ‘sensible prior’ and PRECAUTION’s ‘up an erotic’ in particular. I also enjoyed CANAPE, SNIPER, FLAGON, BREAK OUT and TALL BLACKS (would that really cause outrage in the US? What a shame. How do the actual All Blacks fare in that respect?) My only slight quibble would be the repetition of A TEST in A TEST/AT REST.
Thanks Slormgorm and loonapick
Thanks Slormgorm. I enjoyed this quite a bit with my top picks being ANTIGUAN, AT REST, ANACHRONISTIC, PRECAUTION, and my favourite, CANAPE. I, too, was a bit taken aback by TALL BLACKS, not knowing the NZ team — I agree with Jay @1 — papers such as the NY Times would never use an answer like that just to avoid the blowback. And I agree with PostMark — what a shame. Thanks loonapick for the blog.
I add to the general praise for the many smooth & witty clues, as well as the variety of both clues and difficulty. My first pass yielded over half the answers, then every subsequent pass yielded less and less as the clues became more difficult. I wondered at one point whether I was going to finish.
With lots of nice clues it can be difficult to name favourites. I love a good anagram, so I point to the great anagrams in the long clues as my favourites
A GOAN is not a foreigner to anyone doing the puzzle in India, where I am sure the FT has many readers. Or have I been tricked and is the word GOAN actually connected to the band?
One other quick GK question – is an EN nurse the same as an RN nurse? Or do they have different roles in the UK medical world?
Thanks Slormgorm and loonapick
Martyn,
From Uncle Google FYI –
ENs hold a Diploma of Nursing and work under the supervision of RNs, performing basic care tasks. RNs require a Bachelor of Nursing, and are qualified and skilled to perform a wider range of nursing duties, including advanced patient assessments and management.