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Eccles is back in his usual Wednesday slot this week, which means he’s found me blogging again . . .
A few unfamiliar but guessable words this week, with straightforward enough wordplay to help (once you’ve rememembered the rule that an unfamiliar name probably isn’t seomeone you need to know about in order to solve the clue). I liked the surfaces of 1d and (especially) 14a, and the slightly different take on “regularly discarded” in 6d. Thanks Eccles for the fun.
Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | WARRANT |
Authorisation of combat leading to diatribe (7)
|
| WAR (combat) + RANT (as a noun = diatribe). | ||
| 5 | POLYPOD |
Creature with many feet and abnormal growth on display, at first (7)
|
| POLYP (abnormal growth) + first letters of O[n] D[isplay]. | ||
| 9 | INFER |
Conclude popular official has been recalled (5)
|
| IN (popular = fashionable), then REF (short for referee = sports official) reversed (recalled). | ||
| 10 | TROMBONES |
Instruments found in dead body turned over by doctor (9)
|
| MORT (a dead body, according to Chambers) reversed (turned over), then BONES (slang for a doctor). | ||
| 11 | GAS LIGHTER |
Terrible rage about insignificant smoking aid? (3,7)
|
| Anagram (terrible) of RAGE, around SLIGHT (insignificant). | ||
| 12 | DIDO |
Singer sampled by Eminem achieved nothing (4)
|
| DID (achieved) + O (zero = nothing).
Eminem sampled Dido’s song Thank You as part of his song Stan. |
||
| 14 | PAINSTAKING |
Careful! Pakistan gin is abysmal (11)
|
| Anagram (abysmal) of PAKISTAN GIN. | ||
| 18 | EMERALD ISLE |
Deem rallies inappropriate in Ireland (7,4)
|
| Anagram (inappropriate) of DEEM RALLIES.
Nickname of Ireland, taken from a poem by William Drennan. |
||
| 21 | LAUD |
Praise of Monet, perhaps, unbounded (4)
|
| [c]LAUD[e] (perhaps the painter Claude Monet) without the end letters (unbounded). | ||
| 22 | CANIS MINOR |
John is meeting child stars (5,5)
|
| CAN (john = slang for a toilet) + IS + MINOR (someone too young to be considered an adult = a child).
The smaller of two constellations known as the greater and lesser dogs, associated with the larger constellation of Orion the Hunter. |
||
| 25 | APPEALING |
Naked content by old film studios is attractive (9)
|
| [h]APP[y] (content, as in “I’m happy with that”) + EALING (old film studios: started in 1902 and still going). | ||
| 26 | NOISY |
Nookie, say, occasionally ear-splitting (5)
|
| Alternate letters (occasionally) of N[o]O[k]I[e] S[a]Y. | ||
| 27 | SAY WHEN |
Why sane jockeys stop me pouring drink (3,4)
|
| Anagram (jockeys, as a verb = shuffles around to get a better position) of WHY SANE.
Phrase meaning “tell me when I’ve poured enough drink into your glass”. |
||
| 28 | TRY IT ON |
Satellite takes year to make risky manoeuvre (3,2,2)
|
| TRITON (the largest satellite of Neptune), containing (taking) Y (abbreviation for year).
I think “try it on” generally refers to attempting something dubious (like trying to get something you’re not really entitled to) rather than actually risky, but it’s close enough. Maybe someone can find an example to support our setter’s usage. |
||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | WHINGE |
Complaint from women on dating app (6)
|
| W (abbreviation for women) + HINGE (mobile phone dating app). | ||
| 2 | REFUSE |
Decline is rubbish (6)
|
| Double definition. As a verb = to say you don’t want something that’s being offered to you; or as a noun = discarded waste. | ||
| 3 | AIR DISPLAY |
Time on the radio tackling Duke is making spectacular show (3,7)
|
| AIRPLAY (time on the radio), containing (tackling) D (abbreviation for duke) + IS. For once “on the radio” isn’t a homophone indicator.
A public display involving aircraft in flight. |
||
| 4 | TITCH |
Small person tense with desire (5)
|
| T (abbreviation for tense) + ITCH (an insatiable desire to do something).
Nickname for an unusually short person. |
||
| 5 | PROLEPSIS |
Letter to Sakellaropoulou’s supporting commoner’s figure of speech (9)
|
| PSI’S (belonging to the Greek letter psi, which is a letter known to the outgoing president of Greece Katerina Sakellaropoulou) after (below, in a down clue = supporting) PROLE (short for proletarian, especially in George Orwell’s 1984 = a commoner rather than an aristocrat). No, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you she was President and had to look up the name, but Eccles is following the standard convention that an obviously Greek name in the wordplay probably means we’re looking at a Greek letter.
A figure of rhetorical speech that involves anticipating an objection and countering it before anyone gets the chance to make it. No, I didn’t know that either, but it sounded a convincing enough word to look up . . . |
||
| 6 | LUBE |
Plumber regularly discarded oil (4)
|
| One letter in every three (regularly) discarded from [p]LU[m]BE[r]. Well, there’s no reason why “regularly” should always mean every other letter, is there?
Short for lubricant or lubrication. |
||
| 7 | PENCIL IN |
Tentatively schedule antibiotic I left out (in different places) (6,2)
|
| PEN[i]CIL[l]IN (an antibiotic), with the first I taken out, and (in a different place) an L (abbreviation for left) also taken out.
To put something into a diary with the understanding that it might get taken out again if plans change. |
||
| 8 | DISLODGE |
Avoid going across island to get prize? (8)
|
| DODGE (avoid, as in “dodge a bullet”) around ISL (Isl. = an abbreviation for island, though just “I” or “Is” is more common; or possibly it’s ISL as an abbreviation for the island of Iceland).
Also spelled prise = to lever something away from its position = dislodge. (For once the Z spelling doesn’t seem to be an American variant; both prise and prize are British English, and the US equivalent is pry.) |
||
| 13 | PAPER MONEY |
Give cash to adopt hairstyle: single dollar bill? (5,5)
|
| PAY (give cash), containing (to adopt . . .) PERM (short for permanent wave = hairstyle) + ONE (single).
Definition by example: one or more banknotes. |
||
| 15 | INDIANIAN |
Scotsmen supporting Independent American statesman? (9)
|
| IAN (the usual Scottish man’s name in crosswords) twice (therefore Scotsmen plural), after (below, in a down clue = supporting) IND (Ind. = abbreviation for independent).
According to Wikipedia, residents of the US state of Indiana are called Hoosiers, though the origin of the term is disputed, but before 2017 “Indianian” was the official term. I would have guessed “Indianan” which seems more logical, but what do I know? |
||
| 16 | BELL JARS |
Scientific apparatus made from grates under ring (4,4)
|
| JARS (as a verb = grates = seems incongruous and/or unsettling) after (under, in a down clue) BELL (as in “give me a bell” = “give me a ring” = call me on the telephone).
Bell-shaped glass covers used in scientific experiments. |
||
| 17 | RESUPPLY |
Again provide super cast with work, steadily (8)
|
| Anagram (cast, as a verb = thrown) of SUPER, then PLY (as in “ply one’s trade” = work steadily). | ||
| 19 | ANOINT |
Bless a number at home time (6)
|
| A + NO (no. = abbreviation for number, or strictly for Latin numero = by or with the number) + IN (at home) + T (abbreviation for time).
To bless someone or something by applying holy oil. |
||
| 20 | CRAYON |
Have to cover shaft in coloured wax (6)
|
| CON (to trick or swindle = have, as in “you’ve been had” = you’ve been tricked), covering RAY (a shaft of light). | ||
| 23 | INGOT |
Helping others to hide gold block, perhaps (5)
|
| Hidden answer (. . . to hide) in [help]ING OT[hers]. | ||
| 24 | OATH |
Curse hate without limits (4)
|
| [l]OATH[e] (hate, as a verb) without the end letters (limits).
Curse = oath = a swear word. |
TRY IT ON
Chambers has this:
To attempt to do something risky or audacious to see how far one can go unscathed.
Liked TROMBONES, PROLEPSIS, RESUPPLY and CRAYON.
Thanks Eccles and Quirister.
Very nice gentle midweek puzzle which only had me looking blank at the nho LOI, PROLEPSIS which sounds more like a medical condition than a figure of speech. Whilst I had sussed the role of the long Greek name straight off, PSI is one of the letters that I always overlook so a quick check online was required.
Some very nice clues in here, as always, with faves being PAINSTAKING, APPEALING, NOISY, SAY WHEN, PENCIL IN, PAPER MONEY and CRAYON.
Thanks Eccles and Quirister
Played in the orchestra for Dido and Aeneas at school, but of course dnk Eminem sampled it. Also dnk the Greek PM, or the figure of speech for that matter. Otherwise, pretty smooth, thanks QnE.
A most enjoyable puzzle, as usual from Eccles.
I particularly enjoyed the fine anagrams EMERALD ISLE and PAINSTAKING (as well as its surface) and the construction of PROLEPSIS (I was lucky enough to know the word but feel I should have recognised the president), PENICILLIN and, like our blogger, LUBE.
SAY WHEN made me smile and I thought LAUD was neat.
Many thanks to Eccles and to Quirister, particularly for the explanation of DIDO.
Another excellent puzzle from our setter with the expected clutch of unknowns that required a mix of wordplay, guesswork and then dictionary confirmation. Particular answers that appealed were PAINSTAKING, SAY WHEN, TRY IT ON & CRAYON.
Thank you, Eccles, and thanks also to Quirister for the review.
Thanks both. Plenty to admire and enjoy here. PROLEPSIS was LOI and required a guess – I identified the Greek alphabet angle, but I have never been a fan, as there are 24 to choose from – don’t think cluing ‘bee’ as ‘letter’ would be very well received when we are addressing matters closer to home.
For the record, I spent the first eighteen years of my life living in Indiana, and I still have family there; I thus have enough experience that I can promise you that the word INDIANIAN is never actually used by any Hoosier. (Yes, it’s available as an alternative according to dictionaries, etc., but this one’s basically a shibboleth.)
Good to see 21st-century music being referenced (or almost–“Stan” was released in November 2000, and the pedantic all know that the 21st century technically started in January 2001). Incidentally, the song is about an obsessive fan of Eminem’s who crosses the line into harassment; based on it, the word stan (with no capital) has now been coined to mean, not necessarily with negative connotations, an obsessive fan (or as a verb, to be obsessively fanatical about). So yeah, you should learn that one.
Well, jane @ 5 has read my mind. Agreed exactly.
The Eminem sample is unknown to me, though “Stan” rings a bell. I won’t be rushing to YouTube.
Always pleased to see IAN in an answer, so two in one go is a bonus. I’m Liverpool-Irish, but Scotsman is OK by me.
TROMBONES. ” It’s life, Jim, but not as we know it”. The 10(ac) parsing defeated me, because I was convinced that “bones” related to the dead body, and MORT is a new one on me.
Anyway, Eccles as the setter, and the redoubtable Ms. Q, as the blogger, what else could I wish for?
Lovely stuff.
Ian @8: understood re the Eminem, but the DIDO song he sampled is pleasant enough (her voice is a little thin for my taste, but it works there). Now just imagine someone rapping over that track and you’ve got the picture.
MrP@9 As usual, you make a very fair point…I shall expand my musical experience this evening!
IanB
What Jane said @5.