An enjoyable puzzle with some tricky surfaces. My favourites were 27ac, 4dn, 5dn, 6dn, 14dn, and 18dn. Thanks to Tramp.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | RIP-OFF |
Rent high? Fraud (3-3)
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RIP=a hole in torn material="Rent" + OFF=rotting, decomposing="high" |
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| 4 | SPEEDOS |
Sun very low, lying around in swimwear (7)
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S (Sun), plus reversal/"around" of SO DEEP='very low-lying' |
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| 9 | LIQUIDATE |
Cash in is overdue; one pound collected (9)
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LATE="overdue", with I="one" + QUID="pound" collected inside |
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| 10 | SONIC |
Shown piece, oddly relating to report? (5)
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for definition, "report" meaning 'a noise' odd letters from S-[h]-O-[w]-N [p]-I-[e]-C-[e] |
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| 11 | APERY |
Mocking Prince overwhelmed by awful year (5)
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P (Prince) inside anagram/"awful" of (year)* |
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| 12 | CORRELATE |
Show a connection in my marriage guidance (9)
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COR=exclamation of surprise="my" + RELATE=name of UK organisation offering "marriage guidance" |
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| 13 | EDITION |
Copy English language out of chapter … (7)
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E (English) with DI-[C]-TION="language" without C for "chapter" |
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| 15 | DAMPEN |
… writer’s block beginning to depress (6)
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PEN="writer", with DAM="block" going at the beginning |
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| 17 | STAG DO |
Being in a rut, perhaps prepare for party (4,2)
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a STAG is a living "Being" that can perhaps be "in a rut"; plus DO=e.g. to do/prepare the food for an event="prepare" |
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| 19 | HONESTY |
Sharpen pen: true quality (7)
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HONE="Sharpen" + STY=enclosure="pen" |
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| 22 | PURCHASER |
Client with short, straight drink after a pint? (9)
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PUR-[e]="straight" cut short; plus CHASER=a drink taken after another="drink after a pint?" |
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| 24 | SUCRE |
Foreign money once in safe including cents (5)
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definition: the sucre was a currency used in Ecuador SURE="safe" around C (cents) |
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| 26 | TRIER |
Bank robber finally caught, one hears (5)
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definition: someone who hears a trial TIER="Bank", with final letter of [robbe]-R caught inside |
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| 27 | RECRUITED |
Took on credit – rue getting fired (9)
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anagram/"fired" of (credit rue)* |
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| 28 | NOWHERE |
Two presents in remote place (7)
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two words that mean 'present': NOW=the present + HERE=present in this location |
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| 29 | WETHER |
Wimp with that woman: horny one with no balls? (6)
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definition: a ram that has been castrated WET as a noun="Wimp" + HER="that woman" |
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| DOWN | ||
| 1 | RELEASE |
Free soldiers let out (7)
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RE (Royal Engineers, soldiers) + LEASE="let out" |
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| 2 | PIQUE |
Irritation from foreign character, Manuel’s catchphrase? (5)
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PI from the Greek alphabet="foreign character" + QUE="Manuel's catchphrase" from the comedy show Fawlty Towers [wiki] |
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| 3 | FAIRY RING |
Festival close to Glastonbury: call band that might be on grass (5,4)
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FAIR="Festival" + closing letter of [Glastonbur]-Y + RING="call" on a phone |
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| 4 | SMEARED |
Drunk same wine to get plastered (7)
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anagram/"Drunk" of (same)*; plus RED="wine" |
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| 5 | ENSUE |
Having a private shower? No sex to follow (5)
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a room can be described as EN SUITE if it has a private shower; minus IT="sex" |
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| 6 | DUNGAREES |
Overalls with most of muck and grease coming out (9)
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most of DUN-[g]="muck" plus anagram/"[coming] out" of (grease)* |
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| 7 | SACHET |
Way to wrap long package (6)
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ST=street="Way" around ACHE=to "long" [for something] |
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| 8 | FALCON |
Bird to soar briefly over a rook (6)
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FL-[y]="soar" briefly; around/"over" A (from surface) + CON=swindle="rook" |
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| 14 | INTERVIEW |
Question put to rest on survey (9)
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definition: to question or to interview someone INTER="put to rest" + VIEW="survey" as a verb |
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| 16 | MINT SAUCE |
A lot of cut meat, in this, ultimately getting dressed? (4,5)
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anagram/"dressed" of (cu meat in s), with cu from "A lot of" cu-t, and with s from [thi]-S "ultimately" |
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| 18 | OBSERVE |
See two tennis shots, first one missing line (7)
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[L]-OB and SERVE are "two tennis shots", with the first missing L for "line" |
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| 19 | HORACE |
Poet cut short exciting career (6)
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HO-[t]=exciting, cut short; plus RACE=to move swiftly="career" |
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| 20 | YIELDER |
Eyelid fluttering – Romeo is one to give in (7)
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anagram/"fluttering" of (Eyelid)*, plus R (Romeo, NATO alphabet) |
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| 21 | SPOT ON |
Excellent time during cuddle (4,2)
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T (time) inside SPOON=to "cuddle" |
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| 23 | HORDE |
Hotel booking mostly for large group (5)
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H (Hotel) + ORDE-[r]="booking" mostly |
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| 25 | CATCH |
Collar and tie, Mark going out after college (5)
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definition as in to collar/catch a criminal [M]-ATCH="tie", with M ("Mark", former German currency) going out; after C (college) |
It took me a while to parse ENSUE and FALCON where I couldn’t work out how FAL(L) could be a synonym for soar briefly, rather an antonym. Then the pdm thankfully. Laughed at the disturbing RIP-OFF SPEEDOS across the top line. Tricky in places but enjoyable, with INTERVIEW, SMEARED and DUNGAREES my favourites. WETHER was new.
Ta Tramp & manehi.
There was quite a range of difficulty here, I felt.
I loved ENSUE once I eventually parsed it, along with WETHER, MINT SAUCE, OBSERVE, HORACE and FAIRY RING.
I couldn’t fully parse FALCON (never heard of “rook” in that sense) or PURCHASER, and I thought DAMPEN had the toughest cryptic grammar. CATCH and SPOT ON took a while, and I wasn’t too sure about “diction” for “language”.
Nice challenge. Thanks both!
I may be thick, but I came here for MINT SAUCE and I still don’t get it,
This was quite tough. I didn’t parse ENSUE; I’d have seen it in the end, but thanks Manehi for saving me the trouble. I liked the neatness of OBSERVE and NOWHERE (plus the fact that I got them straight away). To balance that, I did look at Damian, Damoah and Damono as potential writers before the penny dropped for DAMPEN
Good workout. Thanks Tramp.
Paddymelon@3 I took it to mean almost all of cutmeatin (minus a t) and the last letter of this.
Really enjoyed this (mind you I always enjoy my Guardian crossword). Thanks all round.
Oh, ok, got MINT SAUCE now. Didn’t twig it was an anagram. Couldn’t unsee MINCE in the outer letters, and thought that Mint Sauce was a dressing.
And thanks TerriBlislow@5 for the confirmation.
Martin@4: I got obsessed with Dryden. DAMPEN was my last one in and I am bruised all over by the self kicking I administered.
Terri @7 some would say it is better to travel well than to arrive. I think we’ve proved the opposite in crossword land.
paddymelon@6
MINT SAUCE
The clue reads more like an extended def than as a CAD. That misleads us a bit.
STAG DO, ENSUE and FALCON were my top faves.
Thanks Tramp & manehi..
Great puzzle – lots of pdms and chortles, especially at SPEEDOS, STAG DO, SMEARED, ENSUE, DUNGAREES and FALCON.
Many thanks to Tramp for the fun and manehi for a great blog.
Well, I got all the answers but not all the parsing. I identified the definitions for ENSUE and FALCON but couldn’t make head nor tail of the rest: unlike MartinN@4 I’m not so sure I’d ever have got there. Failed to add SO to DEEP to parse SPEEDOS, to see why a TRIER “hears” or to spot PUR(e) in PURCHASER (because I was trying to include P(int) in the wordplay). Thanks manehi for sorting out the tangles and Tramp for creating them.
Enjoyable, but quite a few remained unparsed, so thanks for the good work, manehi. Add me to the cohort of those with DAMPEN last in.
A bit of a game of two halves for me – started out well enough in the north but got bogged down in the south. Got there eventually, except that I couldn’t for the life of me parse MINT SAUCE, so thanks manehi for the explanation. Liked SPEEDOS, DAMPEN, FAIRY RING, OBSERVE among others. Thanks Tramp and manehi.
Thanks KVa@9 for letting me off lightly.
I also liked your picks.
Similar experience with FALCON as AC@1 – the mind boggles at what disasters might ENSUE from RIPOFF SPEEDOS
Overall a well-judged Wednesday workout continuing a run of perfectly pitched puzzles so far this week
Cheers M&T
APERY and WETHER were new to me but well clued. I think Sherlock Holmes had some suitable quote for this sort of situation.
Thanks to setter and blogger.
pdm@14
Hahaha.
Seriously, isn’t MINT SAUCE a dressing like you said? It goes with meat, but is not made out of meat.
Correct me.
I’m aware that it causes insufferable smugness among some competent solvers to mention how difficult a puzzle was…so I won’t.
SPEEDOS was one of my favs. Great wordplay, and very restrained setting by Tramp, who is capable of going where others might not venture. I saw “peed” before I saw “deep”. Made me laugh.
Down here they’re known as “budgie smugglers”, which have appeared before on Guardian cryptics.
KVa@17. Yes MINT SAUCE is meant to go well with lamb. I was looking for that in the wordplay. Bur I’m a butcher’s daughter and we have excellent lamb here which I woudn’t ruin with mint sauce.
😊👍🏼
That was a toughie. I still don’t get MINT SAUCE, and needed a couple of other parsings.
Indeed, pdm @19, they appeared recently, not sure where. Someone said they liked the clue, not the garment. I said yes, not our classiest cultural contribution, but made up for by Dames Nellie and Edna, plus Clive, Germs and Geoffrey R.
In today’s, I liked the rutting being. No chance of that for the poor wether though — looked in vain for a horned beast spelled with subtractable oo, but no, it waa the actual knife (or these days the scrotum ring). And for marriage guidance I thought Relate! was just the verb in imperative mood. (Er, not a good segue). All part of life, cheers Tramp and manehi.
My French colleagues used to consider MINT SAUCE as the epitomy of awful English cooking, unlike the crossword which had a number of very tasteful concoctions.
Grant @23 Philistine paraded some budgie smugglers in January (21st) and MUDD showed his off in The Financial Times just 9 days ago.
Thanks Martin N, they’re developing something of a crossword pedigree!
Delightful crossword to solve. I liked the surface for SPEEDOS, the writer’s block for DAMPEN, the CAD and good anagram for MINT SAUCE, the being in a rut for STAG DO, and the bank robber in TRIER. I failed to parse ENSUE and FALCON.
Thanks Tramp and manehi.
[paddymelon @20 Yes,MINT SAUCE is an abomination, and one that was visited upon me before I was old enough to know better. Now at Balfour Towers lamb is served with a sauce of my own devising the recipe for which is so secret that, like Mr Krabs’ secret formula in Spongebob Squarepants, it is locked away somewhere where no one can misappropriate it (my head). Only my youngest son knows what the secret ingredient is but he does not know how to assemble it. But I shall pass it on to him before I myself pass on.]
I failed on DAMPEN and couldn’t parse the very good ENSUE, but otherwise enjoyed this. However I raised an eyebrow at ‘DIcTION’=’language’, two quite different things in my view.
Have to come out in defence of mint sauce. Mint from the kitchen garden, diced fine then then breflly steeped, a little sugar, a little white wine vinegar. You don’t souse the lamb with it, it’s just a delicate aside note.
Sorry, mint sauce lovers. Can’t stand the stuff.
I typed mint sauce in because it matched with the crossers. Having read the breakdown herein I still fail see how it works. Unlike others I do like it on my lamb. Unless it is early ‘Spring lamb’, that should never be adulterated, except for a soupcon of gravy sweetened with a little fresh rosemary, yum!
Martin N@25
I’m sure Paul clued Budgie Smugglers a few years ago with the definition ‘brief horror’.
Thanks for the blog, manehi.
I wrote this puzzle in June 2023. MINT SAUCE uses “getting dressed” as an anagram indicator.
[CU(t)MEATIN(thi)S] anagrammed. The definition is the whole clue. I think it’s decent as a clue.
Struggled towards the end in the SE corner with the likes of DAMPEN, SUCRE and WETHER, which last was an unknown for me. Didn’t much care for TRIER as a clue or indeed a thing. But much else the admire and enjoy. Though needed Manehi to explain how both SPEEDOS and CORRELATE were put together…
Great puzzle! Many cut and trim clues.
MINT SAUCE
(Apologies to Tramp for not understanding it earlier)
I thought it was an extended def but now it’s clear to me that it’s a CAD. Probably, most solvers got it straightaway.
‘Ultimately, a lot of cut meat is getting dressed in this’
Yes Tramp. Great clue.
Thanks Manehi
I needed the blog today. Not a clue about FALCON or ENSUE and MINT SAUCE I solved as a CD so great to see there was more going on.
I found this tough and had to have my fingers crossed for some of the synonyms I used.
A good Wednesday challenge.
Favourites today: LIQUIDATE, SMEARED and DUNGAREES
I agree with bodycheetah @ 15 about the “perfect pitching” of this week’s puzzles – so far!
I’m always heartened when Tramp appears and today was an enjoyable solve were it not for my stubbornness; FALCON initially escaped me – I only had one crosser (the A), and so convinced it contained AR that I couldn’t get “parrot” out of my mind. Of course, once I had the other crossers it was clear, as I do know the meaning of the verb ‘to rook’. But it goes to show how just one straightforward clue can interrupt an otherwise smooth solve as I spent far too long initially on it……
But another great puzzle from Tramp…
Many thanks both and all
Reliably good. Agree there was some tricky stuff in here, but the friendly ish grid helped out. Liked PIQUE, SPOT ON and OBSERVE.
Ingenious, favourites were ENSUE, STAG DO and OBSERVE. Needed manehi to parse the PUR(e) bit of PURCHASER. Thanks both!
Thanks for the blog , neat and clever clues throughout , lots of letter addition and subtraction, TRIER , FALCON , ENSUE all excellent .
MINT SAUCE a stunning &Lit and I am very strict on these , I agree with Grant@30 , just make your own , very easy and mint grows like a weed , although I mainly use it for new potatoes .
[ Once again , perfect timing , I have the answer to everything . AlanC@1 , 42 is the new 1 . ]
Thanks for dropping in, Tramp, and for an entertaining crossword.
Failed to parse MINT SAUCE but now think it’s an excellent clue.
(I think it’s jolly mean of Balfour @28 to whet our appetites for an alternative dressing for lamb and then refuse to share it. Perhaps his youngest will be more forthcoming. )
Just like wading through the Everglades!I managed to solve 3/4 of the grid before giving up,not worth the effort.But many thanks to the blogger for the explanations and you really deserve credit for that.
Thanks Tramp. I enjoyed that with my favourites being LIQUIDATE, HONESTY, NOWHERE, INTERVIEW, and MINT SAUCE after I saw how it worked. I missed the nho WETHER and I could not parse ENSUE. Thanks manehi for the blog.
[Roz @42: I agree with your recommendation on potatoes & mint. I often make a potato salad with olive oil, vinegar, & mint. It’s a nice side dish, especially in the summer.]
Rogerpat@18 – 😊 count me in as one who finds crosswords more tricky than most contributors. It’s nice to know that I’m not alone! Maybe we need more contributors who struggle!
This was a rare occasion when I nearly finished the crossword, though only cos I had a lot of time today.
Couldn’t parse EDITION or PURCHASER. Having read the parsing, I don’t like diction as language – but the “pint” was a clever diversion which fooled me completely!
Still, all thoroughly enjoyed. And I like MINT SAUCE a lot, whether in life or as a great clue.
Absolutely cracking puzzle. Smack in the middle of my Goldilocks zone.
I managed to complete the puzzle, but wasn’t happy with some of the parsing.
In 13 across I’ve only ever come across ch. as a shortened form of chapter, although I suppose some obscure tome will have c. as an abbreviation, along with dozens of other words that begin with c.
In 28 across I can’t see that NOWHERE and a REMOTE PLACE are synonymous (Where can you see leprechauns? Only one of the above gives the right answer. Ditto as an answer to What is Spitsbergen?)
In 5 down HAVING is a gerund and EN SUITE isn’t – surely HAVING is superfluous (and therefore misleading).
In 8 down FLY and SOAR are not synonymous – SOAR is to fly upwards: a blackbird flies, but it doesn’t soar.
And finally I don’t care for MINT SAUCE, either on lamb or in this crossword – far too convoluted a clue IMO. (Sorry Tramp!)
Despite all that, I always enjoy a crossword that I complete, so thank you Tramp and manehi.
erike44@49, I too dislike ‘c’ for chapter but I’ve no doubt that it gets used in some context or other, so it’s just another one of many such elements of crosswordese that one simply has to add to the arsenal.
Goodness that village is in (a) remote place / is nowhere, isn’t it? [I think the def has to be “in (a) remote place” to make it work, which indeed is possible from the surface.]
I’d describe that bedroom as en-suite / as having a private bathroom.
A blackbird may fly but not soar, but check out that rocket: look at it fly!
So it all holds up, albeit in informal language usage, I think.
I couldn’t find c=chapter in the usual dictionaries, but Google found this: Legal Citations: In legal contexts, “c.” can be used to refer to a chapter within a specific law or statute.
It is in Chambers 93 . c=caput (Latin) = chapter .
[ Exactly Tony@46 , I always make extra new potatoes just to make potato salad after . ]
[Roz @43: your mind does work in mysterious ways, Douglas Adams I presume although I had to google as not familiar? I have loads of mint in the garden, but I prefer my potato salad with spring onions or scallions as we call them in NI. I’m glad you mentioned the &lit, as I never feel qualified to call it.]
[ AlanC , the computer Deep Thought took 7.5 million years to find the answer to Life , the Universe and Everything .
The Answer is 42 .
Our mint is confined to a large tin trough , spring onions up early this year but too small yet .
&Lit is simple – The WHOLE clue gives the definition , the WHOLE clue gives the wordplay .
I am sure your post has changed while I am typing ? ]
I would never dream of cooking new potatoes without mint – fortunately, I have a completely indestructible supply in my garden.
As for accompaniments for lamb – a simplified version from Delia Smith’s (‘it must be one of the simplest sauces in the world and it’s absolutely delicious’) original 1970s/80s Cookery Course: I use equal quantities of mint jelly and redcurrant jelly, gently warmed, to combine, plus the grated zest of an orange.
Eileen @ 55
New potatoes, steamed till tender, with asparagus, steamed separately till tender then refreshed under running water, the two then combined and warmed in very good olive oil with chilli flakes and finely chopped garlic, tipped into a baking dish, topped with coarsely grated Parmesan then grilled till the cheese melts and starts to brown.
Nirvana!
What a wonderful set of comments! A veritable fugue of themes: mint sauce, hhgttg, clues. Kept my wife and I amused for ages, many thanks!
Hi Manehi, I’m a Times solver but did the Guardian today for fun, and then happened to look at this site and the bloggers, which led me to notice your name. On that basis, I wondered if you’d be interested in a quick read-through of this (very preliminary sketch based on a longer, older version which I lost) and whether you’ve ever had similar thoughts – that’s if you are fluent and/or interested, of course, which I wouldn’t want to assume:
https://bradley.fit/the-vietnamese-cryptic-crossword-some-preliminary-guidelines/
I’ve been a bit busy so only just finished this after what I estimate were half a dozen sessions of 15 to 20 minutes. I always know I can solve a Tramp puzzle, but I must admit I had doubts during a few of those sessions. The only one unparsed was MINT SAUCE , as I thought that solving it was quite enough, but I’m grateful for the many explanations, especially from Tramp himself.
Thanks to setter and blogger as ever.
Busy so only finished this now. Hope I’m not too late and someone still looking at this blog…I have a question: why the ellipses in 13 and 15?
Enjoyed this although tough in places. Thanks to setter and blogger!
What does pdms mean? Don’t expect comments to be cryptic!
@61 I’ve not come across this before either. Google/Wikipedia says:
Penny-drop moment, an abbreviation used by cryptic crossword bloggers
@60 Setters often use ellipses to make the surface of two adjacent clues read nicely together. So in this case we have: “Copy English language out of chapter … writer’s block beginning to depress”.
They are rarely part of the clue itself and can generally be ignored.
They are rarely part of the clue itself and can generally be ignored… except when they are a way of including part of one clue within the other. Though I agree this is rare.
Second completion in a row — yay! SE last to fall. MINT SAUCE was diabolical, but I do love the stuff, and lots of it!
We had SPEEDOS recently, which helped with 4a
15a DAMPEN took a while — I was looking for the name of a writer. Great use of “writer’s block”
Nice to be reminded of Fawlty Towers with 2a PIQUE. Due for a re-watch!