Some tricky parsings in this week’s Prize from Vlad.
Timon and I found this tougher than usual for a Prize puzzle and there are a couple of answers mentioned below where I am not satisfied that we have parsed them correctly. We liked the misdirection for OWLISH and the clever anagram at 17,21. There was a self-referential clue for SHORT CUT, but no hidden answers or clues involving a series of initial letters.
Suggestions for better parsings of REREDOS and FACE CARDS are very welcome.
Thanks to Vlad.
| ACROSS | ||
| 9 | SLUG IT OUT |
After drink I turn into child and fight (4,2,3)
|
| SLUG (drink), I U (turn) inside TOT (child). Thanks to Timon for finally parsing this one. | ||
| 10 | HOOTS |
Gives warning of streak when cycling (5)
|
| SHOOT (streak) with the first letter cycled to the end. | ||
| 11 | REGIMEN |
Soldiers missing out end of assault course (7)
|
| REGIMEN(t). | ||
| 12 | REREDOS |
Functions originally twice on screen (7)
|
| RE (on), twice, DOS (functions). I’m not sure what part “originally” plays in the clue but am open to suggestions as to alternative parsings. | ||
| 13 | NANNY |
Au pair maybe a horny type (5)
|
| Double definition. | ||
| 14 | FACE CARDS |
F1 drivers at first suitably placed (they’ll be in the pack) (4,5)
|
| F ACE (F 1) CARS, with D(rivers) inserted. I’m not comfortable with this parsing, which to me doesn’t adequately indicate “CARS”. The definition refers to what may also be called “picture” cards, i.e. the King, Queen and Jack. | ||
| 16 | MOVING SWIFTLY ON |
Vomits now flying in turbulence – let’s change the subject (6,7,2)
|
| *(VOMITS NOW FLYING). | ||
| 19 | CLOUD NINE |
Flashy female writer in church, a happy place (5,4)
|
| LOUD (flashy), (Anais) NIN (female writer), all inside CE (Church of England). | ||
| 21 | ORRIS |
Root of word Irish in essence (5)
|
| Central (“essential”) letters of wORd IRISH. | ||
| 22 | POLENTA |
Dish in Battle of Lepanto? (7)
|
| *LEPANTO. | ||
| 23 | HIT HOME |
Success in following had the desired effect (3,4)
|
| HIT (success) HOME (in). | ||
| 24 | WASTE |
Refuse answer to question, ‘Which Lawrence joined the RAF?’ (5)
|
| To that question the answer might be: TE (Lawrence) WAS, or WAS TE. T E Lawrence famously joined the RAF under an assumed name. | ||
| 25 | ORGIASTIC |
Frenzied royal companion caught at last drinking wine (9)
|
| ASTI (wine) inside CORGI (royal companion) with the C moved to the end. | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | ASTRONOMIC |
Very big to Macron is abnormal (10)
|
| *(TO MACRON IS). | ||
| 2 | TURGENEV |
Press coverage of nurse held by TV writer (8)
|
| EN (Enrolled Nurse) inside URGE (press), all enclosed within TV. | ||
| 3 | DISMAY |
Insult can disconcert (6)
|
| DIS (disrespect or insult), MAY (can). | ||
| 4 | GO ON |
Encouragement for thug (4)
|
| GO ON. | ||
| 5 | ATTRACTIVE |
‘Art’ models entertaining Troy by doing stuff – looking good! (10)
|
| T(roy) inside *ART, ACTIVE. | ||
| 6 | SHORT CUT |
Copper? One should be quicker (5,3)
|
| The answer is in fact a clue to the clue: short cut is equivalent to CU, or copper. | ||
| 7 | CONDOR |
My working day involved getting bird (6)
|
| ON (working) D(ay) inside COR (my!). | ||
| 8 | AS IS |
One’s foolish accepting current contractual disclaimer (2,2)
|
| I (symbol for electric current) inside ASS (fool). | ||
| 14 | FASCINATOR |
A good way to describe extraordinary actions which can go to one’s head (10)
|
| *ACTIONS inside FAR (as in “it’s quite far, a good way”). | ||
| 15 | SENESCENCE |
Growing old disgracefully – seen taking cocaine in tantrum (10)
|
| *SEEN C(ocaine) inside *SCENE (tantrum). | ||
| 17, 21 | NO DANGER OF THAT |
Had forgotten an arrangement? Never going to happen (2,6,2,4)
|
| *(HAD FORGOTTEN AN). | ||
| 18 | YARMOUTH |
Youngster carrying gun? Great place for a holiday! (8)
|
| ARM (gun) inside YOUTH. | ||
| 20 | OWLISH |
I’ll briefly show up as a Member of Parliament (6)
|
| *(I’L (l) SHOW). The clue is referring to the collective name for owls, a parliament. | ||
| 21 |
See 17
|
|
| 22 | PAWN |
Pledge from father son ignored (4)
|
| (s)PAWN, with “father” being used as a verb. | ||
| 23 | HIGH |
Off on 19 (4)
|
| Double definition; some rotting food could be described as high, or off; and someone taking psychedelic drugs could equally be said to be high or on cloud nine. |
12ac I read the originally to mean the two REs are before the DOS. Thanks
Agree with Rats@1 re REREDOS. As for FACE CARDS, drivers at first gives you D, suitably placed means in CARS (where you find drivers). A bit clunky, but I think it works.
And if the D(rivers) are in CARS then they are suitably placed. I see Dr W beat me to it.
I was sure WASTE was going to be DROSS, remembering that Lawrence changed his name to Ross, but was DISMAYed to find it wasn’t David, Donald or Derek.
Yes, solvers having to provide the cars is oblique, but with a big nudge from the F1 context. Reredos I think I just bunged, but I liked the turbulence in 16ac (small secular prayer of thanks, flown a lot, gripped the armrest at times, but never the bag). Waste took a long stare, don’t know why, it wasn’t likely to be DH. Thanks Vlad and B&T, now for today’s.
I actually thought the D(rivers) were appropriately placed in F1 CARS. Just an extension of what others have said. Tough but doable with plenty of nice clues. Thanks, Vlad and bridgesong.
Completely stymied my top-right by confidently putting TRIPS for 10a (as in , trips an alarm).
Vlad continues to be my nemesis!
Thanks Bridgesong for the blog and Vlad for the crossword – I’ll defeat you one day.
Isn’t “originally” in REREDOS just a positional indicator saying that the “twice on” comes before the “functions”?
I liked SLUG IT OUT, FACE CARDS, SHORT CUT, FASCINATOR and SENESCENCE.
YARMOUTH
Great place because it’s Great Yarmouth?
TURGENEV
I asked a friend if ‘URGE coverage of EN’ was grammatically correct. He said he took it as ‘URGE+NE (coverage of nurse)’.
No idea which was the intended parse.
Thanks Vlad and bridgesong!
@KVa. I think ‘coverage of nurse’ i.e. N(urs)E outside letters, gives the NE.
I’m not familiar with EN as a standard abbreviation for nurse, also don’t understand what coverage is doing otherwise.
I approach Vlad with trepidation, but I’ve come to expect some gettable anagrams will get me started, and that was the case here. In fact, I was thinking it was on the easy side for a Vlad prize, and with some clues I really liked, like the Lepanto anagram, the TE Lawrence reference and the royal corgi. And then it all fell apart at the end, when a careless ‘Fowler’ (someone who gets birds, but nothing to do with working days) instead of CONDOR meant I was never going to get REREDOS (pity, because I know the word). I ended up with ‘Rerolls’ – for which I did have an embarrassingly implausible parsing best forgotten about. Thanks, bridgesong, for explaining where I went wrong, and thanks Vlad, because I enjoyed all the rest.
Thanks for the blog , pretty tough when cold-solving but once I put the Downs in the grid was very helpful . The left hand column gives so many first letters and all consonants as a bonus .
A very neat and consistent set of clues .
Alex@7 that is exactly the right attitude , Bunthorne was my nemesis a long time ago but I always vowed to beat him one day .
KVa@9 yes Great Yarmouth in Norfolk .
Thanks KVa@9 for Great YARMOUTH. I went with your friend’s parsing of TURGENEV, as I think that works better grammatically.
FASCINATOR and NO DANGER OF THAT my picks for the defs.
For TURGENEV I think that both suggested parsings work. In defence of mine, I would point out that Chambers gives EN as an abbreviation for Enrolled Nurse (formerly State Enrolled Nurse).
Thanks Vlad for a very enjoyable Prize. I had never heard of REREDOS (I tried REPEATS for ‘twice on screen’) and so missed out on SHORT CUTS and CONDOR. But I liked Vlad’s typically clever surfaces and general ingenuity. Thanks to bridgesong for explaining some tricky parsing
Petert@4 My first thought was A/c Ross, his name and rank, which would have been appropriate for a crossword, but was obviously wrong.
I liked NANNY and TURGENEV, but didn’t really have the time to look at this in detail, so didn’t finish.
I was also still chipping away at the Easter Special in spare moments, so that took priority.
I was very pleased to see Vlad in the Prize slot.
I had the same qualms as Bridgesong and Timon re REREDOS and FACE CARDS but I’m now quite happy, with the additional comments re the use of ‘originally’ and ‘suitably placed’.
My ticks were for CLOUD NINE, WASTE, ORGIASTIC, ASTRONOMICAL (for not indicating a French word with Macron), TURGENEV, where I went with B and T but I now agree that both interpretations work (although we do see EN for nurse quite frequently), SHORT CUT, CONDOR (I thought of you, Lord Jim), SENESCENCE, for the amusing surface – although they’re all good, as usual, SPAWN and (great) YARMOUTH, where I spent three happy summer vacations working as a waitress. There is also a Yarmouth on the Isle Of WIGHT.
Thanks to Vlad for the Saturday fun and to Bridgesong and Timon – I do envy you your partnership.
Tricky and brilliant puzzle, a. DNF for me. I didn’t get either SHORT CUT (haha) or HOOTS. Thanks B&T for those and other explanations.
TURGENEV: I parsed it Russian doll style but agree both parsings work.
My favourites were WASTE and both MOVING SWIFTLY ON and NO DANGER OF THAT as great anagrams.
Thanks to Vlad and B&T.
If Vlad looks in, I’d love him to know I thought this a superb puzzle that was a joy to solve from start to finish. Bless you!
(FASCINATOR almost a DD as well, the word play describing “fascinatorS“!)
Many thanks, Bridgesong and Timon, for your continued generous efforts
I only managed to finish this yesterday, so I was very pleased to complete it. I’m another who had put TRIPS in place of SHOOT, which stymied me in the NE for a while. Then I finally recognised the “my” = “cor” trick which led to CONDOR, and in turn to HOOTS and REREDOS (which I first came across when it appeared in a cryptic about a year ago), and then my loi SHORT CUT.
Am I the only one who is a tiny bit miffed that there is often no indication that we are looking at a “reverse clue”? We get indications when the clue is an anagram, or a hidden word, but nothing for this – or is the question mark sufficient?
I was also going to have a minor quibble over the CARS in FACE CARDS, but Dr W @2 has convinced me that this is actually a very clever clue.
Many thanks to Vlad and bridgesong.
This was fun and didn’t take too long, although I had only a vague idea of REREDOS and it took a while to seat the F1 drivers. I really liked SHORT CUT, MOVING SWIFTLY ON and NO DANGER OF THAT.
Thanks Bridgesong for showing the grid. It’s always best when the blogger does that, especially for a week old grid.
Thanks to Vlad. (Off topic, also to Paul for today’s treat.)
Very enjoyable puzzle with some great clues. I thought the “drivers at first suitably placed” in 14a was very clever, as was the misdirection of “to Macron” in 1d, which of course immediately suggested a French word.
Eileen @18 🙂 — Tip for newer solvers: whenever you see the word “my” in a clue, think COR!
Many thanks Vlad and bridgesong.
Zoot@16: Maybe one of the setters here will take note of the clue for A/C Ross and use him in a crossword one day. Good spot. (and I enjoyed the TE clue itself as well).
I expect Vlad to be difficult: sometimes I get impaled and sometimes I don’t, and this time I wasn’t: the suitably placed drivers in their F1 cars were a favourite among many. As well as cor=my, beginners should remember to always consider owls whenever Parliament happens to be in the clue. Tu-whit tu-whoo!
I thought this was well worth the struggle.
24a I looked upTEDID to see if it could mean refuse before getting WASTE from the crossers
but I still can’t make the word order work unless there is an “it” understood.
I wondered if this puzzle was old stock as I wouldn’t define corgis as royal companions since the Queen’s death. I’m told that they were adopted by Prince Andrew but he is normally associated with a different sort of companion.
Thanks Vlad and bridgesong.
My father used to refer to Macron as “Micron” on account of his stature. That gave 1D extra amusement for me
It’s always good to complete a Vlad, even if some electronic help is required. I liked the F1 drivers in their cars for FACE CARDS, the TURGENEV TV writer, the SHORT CUT to the copper, the FAR = a good way in FASCINATOR, and growing old disgracefully to produce SENESCENCE (I don’t think we need the asterisk in front of SCENE in the blog).
Thanks Vlad and bridgesong.
I finished a Vlad without any unparsed entries! I felt so pleased about that.
Eileen @18: there is also a Yarmouth on Cape Cod. Since all three are seaside, I can imagine all three attracting some holidaymakers. But most people who do that in Massachusetts go farther up the Cape than Yarmouth. And it doesn’t look, from my very brief research, like the one on the Isle of Wight has a robust tourism industry either. So Great Yarmouth it is. (And as Kva points out, that’s signaled in the clue.)
Many thanks to bridgesong for the blog and to others who took the trouble to comment.
Just got round to checking this: The parsing at 15 doesn’t work.
Scene is not written around an anagram of seen and c
I actually think it is a typo and should read tandem instead of tantrum, being an anagram of seen c twice
Brownphel@30 I agree that Bridgesong’s parsing of 15D doesn’t look right, but I don’t think your reading can be what was intended. As I see it, “taking” serves as a juxtaposition indicator, “disgracefully” acts as an anagram indicator only in relation to “seen” (to give SENE), and “cocaine in tantrum” inserts C in SCENE – that is, SEEN* + SCEN{C}E
Thanks for the blog Bridgesong.
Top right corner defeated me 🙁
I should have learned the my=cor bit by now, but for some reason it never comes immediately to my Canadian mind.
OWLISH on the other hand was a write-in, didn’t occur to me until later that “up” is an unusual anagrind – or am I missing something?
I finished the crossword but couldn’t satisfactorily parse SHORT CUT or CONDOR. So thanks a lot for that Bridgesong. The SHORT CUT explanation was a bit of a facepalm moment but I don’t feel too bad about missing the CONDOR one. I also read another meaning into the ORRIS clue namely the essence of IRISH was IRIS from which ORRIS is made
I got started well with the anagrams. I solved all except the top right corner, but was then distracted with keeping grandchildren amused for a few days. Determined to finish somehow, so had one last go this evening. I already had AS IS and FACE CARDS. I finally thought of REREDOS, and so worked out SHORT CUT (nice one), and HOOTS. I used a word finder to get the bird. I agreed with bridgesong and other bloggers about a few slightly questionable solutions. Tough puzzle, but doable. Glad that I stuck at it.
Eileen@18 and mrpenny@28, I happened to be visiting family in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia as I solved this puzzle (serendipitous timing), and I can attest that it too is an great place for a holiday, as is the entire province.
Needless to say, 18d was my favourite clue in this excellent puzzle. Thanks, V, B and T for the challenging fun and helpful blog.
I just have to join mrpenney @28 in congratulating myself a bit. I finished a Vlad prize puzzle with no help and with all parsings understood!