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Jack’s clues often involve a bit of lateral thinking, and there are few toughies sprinkled in here, so that I had a hard time getting some traction on this puzzle.
A Jack grid usually includes some bonus feature, and the fact that the solutions include the word THEME seems like a red flag. If there is a nina or some overarching concept here, it is eluding me, though.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | GET-TOGETHER |
Irritate good number in party (3-8)
|
| GET TO (irritate) + G (good) + ETHER (number) | ||
| 9 | ENABLED |
Gave opportunities to skilled objective nurses (7)
|
| END (objective) around (nurses) ABLE (skilled) | ||
| 10 | INSIPID |
Popular drink I had is flavourless (7)
|
| IN (popular) + SIP (drink) + I’D (I had) | ||
| 11 | ABHORRENT |
Revolting crime cases assigned to officer repulse novelist (9)
|
| ABH (crime, i.e., actual bodily harm) + outside letters of (cases assigned to) O[FFICE]R + R[EPULS]E + N[OVELIS]T | ||
| 12 | THEME |
Subject of interest finally released by police (5)
|
| THE ME[T] (police) minus last letter (finally released). See Woody@38 for a plausible (probably better) parsing. | ||
| 13 | DOCK |
Reduce the length of court’s enclosure (4)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 14 | INTERNMENT |
Trainee satisfied about new prisoner’s condition (10)
|
| INTERN (trainee) + {MET (satisfied) around (about) N (new)} | ||
| 16 | SEERSUCKER |
Material witness who’s easily taken in (10)
|
| SEER (witness) + SUCKER (who’s easily taken in) | ||
| 19 | STAB |
Attempt to make point stick (4)
|
| I think this is simply: Double definition. I initially thought this might also be S ([compass] point) + TAB (stick), but I cannot make any sense of “tab” = “stick.” Update: See various plausible suggestions in the comments. |
||
| 21 | CHINA |
Friend from London joins church in America (5)
|
| CH (church) + IN + A (America), referring to Cockney rhyming slang | ||
| 22 | ENCOUNTER |
Opposing leaders of enemy nations first meeting (9)
|
| First letters of (leaders of) E[NEMY] + N[ATIONS] + COUNTER (opposing), with “first” indicating the order of the wordplay | ||
| 24 | RUN RIOT |
Destroy corruption after one’s moved to act without restraint (3,4)
|
| RUIN (destroy) + ROT (corruption) with the I repositioned (after one’s moved) | ||
| 25 | UNIFORM |
Constant habit? (7)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 26 | REMORSELESS |
Cruel engineers in need of inspector? (11)
|
| RE (engineers) + MORSE-LESS (in need of inspector), referring to the Colin Dexter protagonist | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | GRAPHIC DESIGNER |
Studio artist clearly explained symbol in browser (7,8)
|
| GRAPHIC (clearly explained) + {SIGN (symbol) inside (in) DEER (browser)} | ||
| 2 | TILER |
Half-hearted course director who does high-level work? (5)
|
| TIL[L]ER (course director) minus one central L (half-hearted), in this sense I assume referring to roofing tiles | ||
| 3 | OLD BEAN |
Former head is dear chap (3,4)
|
| OLD (former) + BEAN (head) | ||
| 4 | EPISTLE |
Message from exhausted servant in English stately home (7)
|
| Outside letters of (exhausted) S[ERVAN]T inside (in) {E (English) + PILE (stately home)} | ||
| 5 | HESITANT |
Dubious relations restrained by man’s social worker (8)
|
| IT ([sexual] relations) inside (restrained by) {HE’S (man’s) + ANT (social worker)} | ||
| 6 | REPRESENTATIONS |
Petitions European parliament initially to object to food banks (15)
|
| {First letters of (initially) E[UROPEAN] + P[ARLIAMENT] + RESENT (to object to)} inside (banks) RATIONS (food) | ||
| 7 | REWARD |
Pay compensation for person who pulls round (6)
|
| DRAWER (person who pulls) inverted (round) | ||
| 8 | ADVERT |
Bill is right taking Dawn’s name (6)
|
| ADVE[N]T (dawn) with R (right) substituted for (taking) N (name), with a capitalization misdirection | ||
| 15 | ESCAPISM |
Retreat from reality somehow beginning to create impasse (8)
|
| Anagram of (somehow) {first letter of (beginning to) C[REATE] + IMPASSE} | ||
| 16 | SECURE |
Rescue suspect in custody? (6)
|
| Anagram of (suspect) RESCUE | ||
| 17 | CHEATER |
Consumer champion introduces con artist (7)
|
| CH. (champion) + EATER (consumer), with “introduces” indicating the order of the wordplay | ||
| 18 | EXCLUDE |
Leave out Times Crossword’s first boring puzzle (7)
|
| {X (times) + first [letter of] C[ROSSWORD]} inside (boring) ELUDE (puzzle) | ||
| 20 | BIREME |
Purchase some paper reportedly for ancient craft (6)
|
| Homophones of (reportedly) BUY (purchase) + REAM (some paper) | ||
| 23 | UNITE |
Join train on return journey, avoiding terminals (5)
|
| [R]ETINU[E] (train) reversed (on return journey) minus outside letters (avoiding terminals) |
I had a similar experience to Cineraria and needed a couple of visits to finish this. I am often not on this setter’s wavelength, and unfortunately that was the case with this puzzle. Not being on the setter’s wavelength also means I do not see or appreciate the humour that is undoubtedly there. It felt a bit of a slog at times.
My favourites were RUN RIOT, REWARD, EPISTLE and DOCK
I also wondered about STAB. Similar to Cineraria, I decided it must be a DD. I needed our esteemed blogger’s help to understand ADVERT – many thanks.
A couple of days ago, I wished Basilisk best wishes for his new job and I wish Jack the same again.
Thanks Basilisk and Cineraria
Thanks Cineraria. A pleasant interlude with, as you say, some sterner challenges. I toyed with ‘run wild’ for 24a but found it hard to explain and it took me some time to understand HESITANT, having convinced myself that ‘man’s’ had to be ‘his’. I also thought STAB had to be s+tab thinking that a tab might be something that sticks. Can’t really see the double definition.
I thought STAB might be a triple definition, with the middle one – “to make point” – being a fencing term. I’m often wrong on these things.
Thanks to Cineraria and best wishes to Jack in the land of the anonymous setters.
I wondered if INTERNMENT was the THEME, with ‘prisoner’ matching up with UNIFORM, on the RUN, RIOT, SECURE, REWARD, in the DOCK, ESCAPism…? Anyway, theme or not, a lovely challenge then dribbled over into Sunday, just how I enjoy the Prize, thank you Jack and Cineraria
tab = stick = cigarette?
I can’t recall encountering Jack before but I liked this; especially ABHORRENT and RUN RIOT. Like Martyn I failed to parse ADVERT so thanks to both Cineraria and Jack
I enjoyed this and was disappointed to learn that Jack won’t be able to set any more puzzles for the Guardian.
[It’s a small world. I also geocache and one of the other regular London cachers has been saying forever he’ll have to get his crosswording friend to solve one of my puzzle caches. At a meet on Sunday he said his friend has this new job with the Times …]
Thank you to Jack for an entertaining puzzle and Cineraria for the blog.
Are people overthinking STAB? If you stab someone you stick a point in them?
Thanks Jack and Cineraria for parsing ABHORRENT – just couldn’t help but think there was some novelist I hadn’t heard of!
After the last Jack Prize puzzle I said that I had trouble getting onto Jack’s wavelength, but I looked forward to his next challenge. Staring at a half-completed puzzle after a couple of days I had that same feeling about wavelength mismatch, but was wondering how I still felt about that next challenge now it was here. But I remembered that it would all be hard but fair, and persevered, and kept getting that feeling of ‘how could that clue have taken me so long? It’s really obvious now I know the answer’ that indicates a good cryptic clue. And I got there, which was very satisfying. My last in was SEERSUCKER, a word that was new to me, but the penultimate was CHEATER, which surely was really straightforward! Only having two anagrams (SECURE, ESCAPISM) didn’t help get into the puzzle, and I only solved them towards the end. It seems to have been that sort of puzzle.
Rather like Adrian@4, I thought there was a general flavour of crime and punishment – police references, including Morse, ‘ABH’, DOCK, REWARD, INTERNMENT, STAB, UNIFORM, RUN RIOT, CHEATER, SECURE – but I wasn’t sure if that added up to a theme or not. For me, STAB was just a cryptic definition. I mis-parsed ADVERT as ‘avert’ around ‘D’ for Dawn, but wasn’t happy with it – thanks for putting me right, Cineraria. Thanks to Jack, who I found myself warming to, and it’s a pity if there isn’t going to be another of these.
I enjoyed this although it took a while and there were a few I didn’t parse.
Favourites included: BIREME, CHINA, REMORSELESS, OLD BEAN, EPISTLE
Thanks Jack and Cineraria
Well I got there in the end, but not without much resorting to the tools of our trade (cheats). I found it seriously hard, and I am sorry I haven’t enjoyed any of Jack’s contributions.
I thought there were some iffy parings, perhaps just about justified with a bit of a stretch. For example, 25ac uniform = constant; elsewhere, reward = compensation; elude = puzzle?
As everyone else, I had reservations about STAB.
Thanks Jack and Cineraria
Very tough but quite enjoyable. I solved the NW corner last.
Favourites: REMORSELESS; OLD BEAN (loi).
I could not parse:
24ac
1d apart from SIGN = symbol
8d apart from def ADVERT = bill
In London argot, if you STAB someone, you stick them, so I read STAB as a triple definition like Judge@3. Checking, the OED and Chambers define stick as stab, in the OED with a long provenance (back to Beowulf). The one I’m not sure about is the middle one.
Had several goes at this but never did manage to parse ADVERT. Loved the cruel engineers.
Excellent farewell puzzle from Jack. I found it challenging but managed to get there, except for the parsings of ADVERT and TILER.
Favourites – REMORSELESS, ABHORRENT, EPISTLE, RUN RIOT.
Thank you to Jack and Cineraria.
I’ve always enjoyed Jack’s puzzles, finding them rather less scary than his Serpent and Basilisk ones, which I don’t always get round to doing (but I will be having a go later at today’s Serpent, since, for the happiest of reasons, it will presumably be the last one.)
To repeat a sentence which I’ve used more than once before, when blogging Jack’s puzzles, “A fairly tricky but enjoyable and rewarding challenge, meticulously clued, with excellent surfaces” – what more could you want?
I had about a dozen ticks, which I did try – and failed – to whittle down: I’ll just mention the wry grin at 18dn.
Many thanks to setter and blogger (and all the very best in the new post, Jason – we’ll miss your puzzles!).
What a swan song clue with REMORSELESS, along with GRAPHIC DESIGNER – brilliant. Had exactly the same thought as Adrian and KeithS about crime and punishment, it was my profession after all. I would also include REPRESENTATIONS made on behalf of clients in court. Thought that this was reasonably straightforward for this setter, who has been very tricky in the past. Yes, I also had a wry grin, Eileen, v droll.
Ta Cineraria & good luck Jack in pastures new.
Jack will, of course, be missed as he always sets enjoyable puzzles.
I had a missing R in SEERSUCKER because I thought that witness was SEE. I liked the crime ‘cases’ in ABHORRENT, the opposing leaders in ENCOUNTER, the food banks in REPRESENTATIONS, and the boring Times crossword puzzle.
Thanks Jack and Cineraria.
This week has felt rather like saying goodbye to an old friend with all three of Jason’s monickers appearing for the last time (Eileen, the Serpent is very enjoyable). But, as has been said by others, it is for the most admirable of reasons. Good luck in the new role.
Splendid puzzle last Saturday. Smooth, challenging but doable. INTERNMENT, ENCOUNTER, REMORSELESS, GRAPHIC DESIGNER, ADVERT and SECURE were my faves.
Thanks Jack and Cineraria
Thanks, PostMark – I’ve just finished it. Recommended.
Is Jack already concerned about the restrictive nature of his Times contract? Does he feel confined with those boring Times crosswords? Will he be a SEER or a SUCKER? In any case we will miss his wit and invention.
I was lucky enough to see how ADVERT worked straight away, but I failed to parse ABHORRENT (fiendish!), UNITE and TILER – I feel like I’d never have got retinue and tiller if I’d taken all week, but then I had the answers so lacked motivation. Well done to Cineraria for puzzling them out.
ELUDE for ‘puzzle’ is in my Oxford Thesaurus, and Chambers has baffle for elude, which is close enough.
Favourite for me was BIREME, a brilliant pun and a most satisfying clue to solve, as once you’ve got it, it is clearly correct.
Thanks to our ex-setter and our blogger.
19a Could it be tab of gum = stick of gum?
TILER ELUDEd me, so thank you very much Cineraria for explaining. It seems obvious now. I had to solve this over a ETHER of attempts (apologies for the dire pun). I found it helped when I decided the theme was the criminal justice system. I thought EXCLUDE also fell within it.
My favourites were REMORSELESS and RUN RIOT.
Very many thanks for the entertaining challenges Jack. I wish you all the very best for the future and I am sorry you won’t be able to set for the Guardian anymore.
Got the biggies, REPRESENTATIONS and REMORSELESS (nice one), but soon got stuck. Less than half completed in a few visits during the week, and I wasn’t sure about STAB and EXCLUDE. Definitely reached an impasse, so it was a relief to give up and turn to Cineraria’s illuminating post. It all makes reasonable sense now. Hard, but fair. I should have done better.
I got the gist of the various references to Jack and the Times. Did I miss an announcement somewhere?
JohnJB@25. Yes, you appear to have missed this: General Discussion #8.
Well, Jack certainly left on a high note for me.
Can’t think of any dreary clues at all.
Cheers all.
Thx to Jack for an excellent workout we loved every minute of it. Certainly left my head spinning.
Agree with Eileen @16
”meticulously clued with excellent surfaces”.
Thanks also to Cineraria for the blog.
Favourites were:
OLD BEAN, EPISTLE, ADVERT, ABHORRENT, REMORSELESS,
Thanks sheffield hatter @26, I should visit those pages more often.
What the post in General Discussion doesn’t explicitly say is that the editor of the Times crossword is not permitted to set puzzles for any other publications, so we have seen the last of Jack, Basilisk and Serpent for the foreseeable future.
Fun, got most of it last week, then hung it on the kitchen lampshade and forgot about it until this morning.
Enjoyed the Morse clue and others. Thanks, Jack (and farewell) and Cineraria.
Thanks also from me, sheffield hatter @26 and gladys @30. I hadn’t noticed the General Discussion page.
A quality puzzle to celebrate Jack’s contributions to the Guardian now that they must come to an end. I have solved many more Serpent puzzles than those by Jack and will miss those especially in the future. I wish him well in his new post – an important one in crosswordland.
Thanks to Jack for this puzzle and to Cineraria for the blog.
Thanks for the fun Jack. I do enjoy your puzzles although the head often gets a few more scratches when I do them. All the best with your new post.
Thanks for this but a couple of queries:
1a I cannot find a definition of ETHER meaning number. What am I missing?
21a it’s also a hidden word. That’s how I got it so it’s rather clever in that way.
Best wishes to Jack on the dark side…
WH@35: ETHER is an anesthetic, thus a “numb-er,” in Crosswordese.
So Jack is already looking forward to a tedious and unimaginative puzzle crossing his new desk, and refusing to print it. What a great clue at 18d for his final Guardian puzzle.
This crossword featured two clues-of-the-week: 16a SEERSUCKER and 26a REMORSELESS – superb surfaces both.
Thanks Jack for all the fun, and best wishes for happy times ahead.
I parsed 12A as definition = subject, and the t taken away from the met comes from interest finally.
Thank you Jack and Cineraria.
My first and (apparently) only attempt at Jack. Back to Earth with a thud after the optimism of last week’s Prize completion, I literally went almost nowhere with this in a whole week’s worth of looking at it for 10-15 minutes at a time.
Thanks Jack & Cineraria for, if nothing else, alerting me to how far I have to go.
Very enjoyable puzzle with some (to me) novel and interesting parsings. I presume those of us who also tackle the Times puzzles may encounter Jack anonymously in future?