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My third Eccles blog in a month: I’m not complaining, but some of my colleagues might feel they’re missing out.
Midweek fun as always from this setter. 1a wasn’t a familiar phrase to me, but the wordplay was clear enough. I enjoyed the logic of 9a, the vivid surface of 27a, and the rather improbable downgrading of a cruise ship in 18d. Thanks Eccles as always.
Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | STANDARD CANDLE |
Unit no longer used flag with name when temperature dropped (8,6)
|
| STANDARD (a flag) + [h]ANDLE (slang for name, especially a pseudonym), with H replaced by C (hot to cold = temperature dropped).
An old name for the candela, a unit of luminous intensity. (Or an astronomical object of known brightness, used as a standard to estimate the distance to similar objects, but I’m not sure that really meets the definition “unit”.) |
||
| 8 | LUGES |
Drags around European, and goes downhill quickly (5)
|
| LUGS (drags = pulls a heavy object along the ground) around E (abbreviation for European).
Luge, as a verb = to take part in a winter sport that is one of many variations of sledging, specifically going down a track feet-first lying on your back. |
||
| 9 | STEADY ON |
Don’t be so foolish as to deny being foolish (6,2)
|
| Anagram (being foolish) of AS TO DENY.
Steady on! = a warning to stop and think before doing something unwise. |
||
| 11 | IN SHORT |
Briefly explains horticultural shows (2,5)
|
| Hidden answer (. . . shows) in [expla]INS HORT[icultural]. | ||
| 12 | TORNADO |
Before a party, rent Twister (7)
|
| TORN (rent = ripped apart) before A + DO (slang for a party, as in “a posh do”).
Twister = North American slang for a tornado. |
||
| 13 | RIDGE |
Strip card game not starting (5)
|
| [b]RIDGE (card game) without the first letter (not starting).
A long narrow raised strip. |
||
| 15 | ECSTASISE |
Cause to be joyous, as European Community stagnation ending in June (9)
|
| EC (abbreviation for European Community) + STASIS (unchanging state = stagnation) + end letter of [jun]E.
The dictionaries confirm that this is a word. I don’t think I’ve ever come across it before, and if I ever need to express the concept I hope I’ll be able to find a less ugly word for it. |
||
| 17 | READY MEAL |
Leader may fancy fast food? (5,4)
|
| Anagram (fancy) of LEADER MAY.
Prepared food that needs no cooking or only brief heating. |
||
| 20 | ADEPT |
American branch of organisation is proficient (5)
|
| A (abbreviation for American) + DEPT (abbreviation for department = branch of an organisation). | ||
| 21 | BY HEART |
Bitterly discontented, try to get bit of TLC off Pat (2,5)
|
| B[itterl]Y (dis-contented = inner letters removed) + HEAR (try = judge a case in court) + first letter (a bit) of T[lc]. The idea of a bit = first letter is common enough, though it’s unusual to see it applied to an abbreviation rather than a real word.
Off pat = by heart = from memory rather than referring to a script or notes. |
||
| 23 | ANGULAR |
Essentially, many argued old fart is lacking grace (7)
|
| Middle letter or letters (essentially) of [m]AN[y] [ar]GU[ed] [o]L[d] [f]AR[t].
Angular = awkward = lacking grace. |
||
| 25 | RING PULL |
Call Yank to get can opener (4,4)
|
| RING (call on the telephone) + PULL (yank = tug). | ||
| 26 | SHACK |
Second journalist found in hut (5)
|
| S (abbreviation for second) + HACK (slang for a journalist).
A temporary or informal building. |
||
| 27 | CHELSEA TRACTOR |
Dodgy character stole big car (7,7)
|
| Anagram (dodgy) of CHARACTER STOLE.
Disparaging term for a large vehicle designed for off-road use, but kept and driven in urban areas. |
||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | SOLDIER CRABS |
Beach-dwellers bail Red Cross out (7,5)
|
| Anagram (out) of BAIL RED CROSS.
Common name for various species of crab. |
||
| 2 | ARGUS |
Scotsman’s right to replace new guardian (5)
|
| A[n]GUS (Scottish man’s name), with the N (abbreviation for new) replaced by R (abbreviation for right).
A guardian: from a giant in Greek mythology who had a hundred eyes and was ordered to watch over Io. |
||
| 3 | DISCOVERY |
Extremely supportive of dance breakthrough? (9)
|
| VERY (extremely), after (below, in a down clue = supportive of) DISCO (short for discotheque = dance). | ||
| 4 | ROSETTE |
Went up, primarily, to trial election affiliation indicator (7)
|
| ROSE (went up), then the first letters (primarily) of T[o] T[rial] E[lection].
A coloured badge worn during political campaigning to signify allegiance to a specific party. |
||
| 5 | CREATES |
Forms in English hidden in boxes (7)
|
| E (abbreviation for English) in CRATES (boxes, usually wooden ones). | ||
| 6 | NADIR |
Unpaid, Piers regularly gets to all-time low (5)
|
| Alternate letters (regularly) of [u]N[p]A[i]D [p]I[e]R[s]. | ||
| 7 | LOOKALIKE |
Spitting image of King John at the top, the greatest King on earth (9)
|
| K (abbreviation for king) with LOO (john = slang for toilet) before it (above, in a down clue = at the top), then ALI (Muhammad Ali, boxer known as “The Greatest”) + K (abbreviation for king) + E (abbreviation for earth, in electrical wiring diagrams).
Lookalike = spitting image = someone who looks very like someone else. |
||
| 10 | HONEST BROKER |
Develop way, with less money, to get mediator (6,6)
|
| HONE (develop = refine) + ST (abbreviation for street = way) + BROKER (more broke = more short of money).
A mediator in a dispute, especially between nations. |
||
| 14 | DEATH WISH |
Desire for end with a shed reconsidered (5,4)
|
| Anagram (reconsidered) of WITH A SHED. | ||
| 16 | ANALGESIA |
22 struggling in eastern lands to provide pain relief (9)
|
| Anagram (struggling) of ANGEL (22 down), in ASIA (eastern lands). | ||
| 18 | ENTHUSE |
Inspire P&O to abandon luxury accommodation (7)
|
| [p]ENTH[o]USE (luxury accommodation on the top floor of a building), without P + O.
Inspire = enthuse = to get someone excited about something. |
||
| 19 | LEAFLET |
Perhaps circular field fine to rent out (7)
|
| LEA (field) + F (abbreviation for fine, as opposed to coarse) + LET (to rent out property).
Leaflet = a brief printed document; circular = a printed document distributed to many people at once. |
||
| 22 | ANGEL |
Financial backer of a Northern setter (5)
|
| A + N (abbreviation for Northern) + GEL (something that sets = setter).
An investor, especially one who provides advance funds for a theatre production. |
||
| 24 | LEAPT |
The French likely to get jumped (5)
|
| LE (a form of “the” in French) + APT (likely). |
Thanks Eccles and Quirister.
Top faves: STANDARD CANDLE, DISCOVERY, LOOKALIKE and HONEST BROKER.
Another wonderfully enjoyable puzzle from Eccles, to whom many thanks. Thanks too to Quirister.
With ticks all over my page, picking a favourite is a hard task, but I’ll settle for LOOKALIKE.
Agree about ecstasise, erk! But it’s ok to have the occasional one where you go Really, is that even a word? And the absent synonym for enthuse was a bit cute, but ok. Enjoyed, tx Eccles and Quirister.
27a CHELSEA TRACTOR: The “CHARACTER STOLE” anagram has now come up five times since 2015, with four “dodgy”s (and one “suspect”) as the anagrind.
But Philistine’s was best: “Empty large car? Earth cost appalling! (7,7)”
Another good ‘un from Eccles, albeit a few “curious” surface readings. Some very inventive ideas, and very enjoyable.
STANDARD CANDLE held me up, as I searched in vain for “a letter T to be deleted/moved “.
TORNADO has appeared recently, I think, with a similar wordplay.
Great stuff, thanks Eccles and Quirister ( the extended parsings are always appreciated )
I’m in agreement with our reviewer when it comes to that dreadful word at 15a but otherwise this was another excellent compilation from our setter. As is invariably the way, there was an entry that was unfamiliar to me – the 1a unit in this instance – but at least that was the only one which is somewhat unusual! Favoured clues here were those for STEADY ON & LOOKALIKE.
Thanks to Eccles and to Quirister for the review.
Anyone else try to work ‘poker’ into 13A? Very enjoyable as always, so thanks Eccles and Quirister.
Another enjoyable Eccles. To put out such quality frequently is a quite an achievement:
Liked: CHELSEA TRACTOR, ROSETTE, LOOKALIKE, RING PULL … I could go on.
Thanks Quirister and Eccles
ECSTASISE sounds like a fitness through joy fad. KVa has identified my favourites. Thanks both.
What a great set of clues — thanks Eccles. My only miss was 1a, otherwise this was smooth sailing. My ticks went to READY MEAL, ADEPT, ANGULAR, RING PULL, DISCOVERY, and my COTD, LOOKALIKE. Thanks Quirister for the blog.
This was a really lovely puzzle – LOOKALIKE among many others just brilliant. Thanks Q and E.
I really enjoyed this, and completed it in record time. Faves were ENTHUSE, LOOKALIKE and STANDARD CANDLE, the latter being curious since STANDARD was FOI (almost instantly) and CANDLE was LOI, needing a good few moments to forget about dropping Ts and instead think up “handle”, followed by a good belly laugh.
Thanks both!