Cryptic crossword No 29,773 by Brockwell

by

It’s the usual summer-holiday reshuffle of the blog rotas: I’m covering for Eileen today, and she will return the favour later this month.

Lots to enjoy here: I liked the unusual definitions in 7a and 20d, the surfaces of 13a and 16a, and the Poseidon reference in 17d.

Brockwell’s puzzles often include a theme, and today it’s given by 14d CLOCK. As well as the direct reference in 11d (which also includes COGS), we have (as full or partial solutions) TIMER, CHIME and FACE; TRAVEL, ATOMIC, CUCKOO and SPEAKING are all types of clock; clock TOWER, clockWORK and clockWISE; and a clock may STOP and need to be WOUND UP. I wondered about adding SWEEP second hand and ESCAPEment, but that’s quite a lot of entries in one puzzle already. Thanks Brockwell for the entertainment, and thanks Eileen for letting me blog it.

Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.

ACROSS
7 TOPIARY
More work defaced with your flipping clipart? (7)
[u]TOPIA (a book by Thomas More = More work) without the first letter (de-faced), then YR (abbreviation for your) reversed (flipping).

Artistic shapes created by clipping trees or bushes.
8 SWEEPER
Blubber on the belly of Basil Brush? (7)
WEEPER (someone who weeps = blubs = cries) + middle letter (belly) of [ba]S[il].
9 CYST
Terms of economic policy address insufficient growth (4)
End letters (terms) of [economi]C [polic]Y [addres]S [insufficien]T.

A type of abnormal growth in the body.
10 VOCATIONS
Nova Scotia almost botched missions (9)
Anagram (botched) of NOVA SCOTI[a] without the last letter (almost).

Vocation = mission = purpose in life.
12 CAMEL
Elle Macpherson in retreat holding a cigarette (5)
Hidden answer (. . . holding), reversed (in retreat), in [el]LE MAC[pherson].

US cigarette brand.
13 GAME FACE
Determined expression of girlfriend tackling a Brockwell Genius (4,4)
GF (abbreviation for girlfriend), containing (tackling) A + ME (Brockwell, our crossword setter), then ACE (genius = expert).

A determined expression adopted to intimidate an opponent during a sports contest, or more generally while concentrating hard on something.
15 DISC
Son admitted to lying about police record (4)
S (abbreviation for son), inserted into CID (abbreviation for Criminal Investigation Department = police) reversed (lying about).
16 TOWER
Exeter’s wingers go after draw in defensive formation (5)
Outside letters (wingers) of E[xete]R, after TOW (draw, as a verb = pull).

A structure traditionally built for defence.
17 STOP
Kitty’s back to stay (4)
POT’S (pot = kitty = money contributed by the members of a group for a common purpose) reversed (back).
18 REGISTER
Jockey regularly steers Tiger Roll (8)
Anagram (jockey, as a verb = shuffle around) of alternate letters from S[t]E[e]R[s] + TIGER.
20 CHECK
Bill Clinton’s original hell (5)
First letter (original) of C[linton] + HECK (a minced oath for “hell”).

US word for a bill = statement of money owed. There isn’t a specific indication here that we’re looking for a US word, but the reference to a former US President is a hint.
21 WORK ETHIC
Industry quarrel about Keith Chegwin’s No.1 hit (4,5)
ROW (quarrel) reversed (about), then an anagram (hit = damaged) of KEITH + first letter (no. 1) of C[hegwin].

Industry = work ethic = a hard-working attitude.
22 KISS
Group typically made up of runners heading to finish (4)
SKIS (runners), with the first letter (head) moved to the end (finish).

Rock group known for their elaborate face paint (make-up).
24 ESCAPED
Avoided Europeans on vacation dressed like Superman (7)
E[uropean]S (on vacation = after emptying) + CAPED (dressed like Superman).
25 WOUND UP
Tense over following injury (5,2)
UP (over = finished) after WOUND (injury).

Wound up = tense = anxious.
DOWN
1 BODY
Spooner’s house-elf is stiff (4)
Spoonerism for DOBBY (a house-elf from the Harry Potter stories by J K Rowling).

Stiff = slang for a dead body.
2 DIATOMIC
Day for Cristiano Ronaldo to meet international comms leaders, like O2 (8)
DIA (the word for “day” in Portuguese, for example as spoken by Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo) + TO + first letters (leaders) of M[eet] I[nternational] C[omms].

O2 = symbol for an oxygen molecule, which is diatomic (composed of two atoms).
3 TRAVEL
Pass time with composer (6)
T (abbreviation for time) + RAVEL (French composer Maurice Ravel).
4 TWO-TIMER
Tango with Oti Mabuse exhausted Romeo and love rat (3-5)
T (Tango in the radio alphabet) + W (abbreviation for with) + OTI + M[abus]E + R (Romeo in the radio alphabet).

Two-timer = love rat = someone who cheats on a romantic partner.
5 SET-OFF
Selection of Waitrose toffees in foil (3-3)
Hidden answer (selection of . . .) in [waitro]SE TOFF[ees].

Set-off = foil = something that enhances the appearance of something else by providing a contrast to it.
6 SEES
Calls on arrest for dictator (4)
Sound-alike (for dictator) of SEIZE (arrest).

Call on = see = to pay someone a visit.
11 COGSWORTH
Business mogul essentially throws out 14 from Disney Castle (9)
CO (abbreviation for company = business) + middle letter (essentially) of [mo]G[ul] + anagram (out) of THROWS.

Disney films aren’t really my thing so I needed some help with this one. It seems that Cogsworth is a castle employee who is transformed into a clock by a witch’s spell.
12 CHIME
The writer is restricted by red ring (5)
I’M (the writer is), contained in CHE (Che Guevara = Argentinian Marxist = red).
14 CLOCK
Notice male snorting line (5)
COCK (a male bird), containing (snorting = inhaling) L (abbreviation for line).

Clock, as a verb = notice = become aware of.
16 TOTTERED
Reeled in trout at sea intermittently on date (8)
Alternate letters (intermittently) of T[r]O[u]T [a]T [s]E[a], then RE (on = on the subject of) + D (abbreviation for date).

Reel, as a verb = totter = move unsteadily.
17 SPEAKING
Poseidon embracing power of conversation (8)
SEA KING (Poseidon = Ancient Greek god of the sea), containing P (abbreviation for power).
19 INROAD
Welshman pulled up over occasionally narrow encroachment (6)
DAI (Welsh male name) reversed (pulled up = upwards in a down clue), containing (over) alternate letters (occasionally) of N[a]R[r]O[w].
20 CUCKOO
Absent parent to throw husband out over nothing (6)
C[h]UCK (throw) without the H (abbreviation for husband), then O (abbreviation for over, in cricket scoring) + O (zero = nothing).

A bird that leaves its eggs for other birds to care for.
21 WISE
Sensible questions in audition (4)
Sound-alike (in audition) of WHYS = plural of the question “why?”.
23 SLUG
Lazy person getting the bullet (4)
Double definition. A lazy or slow-moving person; or a solid bullet, especially fired from a shotgun.

64 comments on “Cryptic crossword No 29,773 by Brockwell”

  1. A real favourite setter of mine, I had fun doing this last night, and dare I say it, CLOCKED the theme about midway. I counted sixteen references in the clues of both the noun and verb. A magnificent feat to include so many in the grid. I like the quirky way he includes real or fictional characters and TRAVEL reminded me of one of Anto’s clues yesterday. I didn’t recognise COGSWORTH, although I have seen the film and SWEEPER was my favourite clue.
    I also included SEES, REGISTER CHIME and CHECK in my list.

    Ta Brockwell & Quirister.

  2. This was tough and very cleverly clued. My last one to parse was DIATOMIC – because I simply could not reconcile the Christiano Ronaldo element. I had D for day, of course, but what to do with IA? Then with a great clang of the thematic chiming bells I finally saw DIA for what it was. Felt pretty silly having trawled for info about the football player to no avail. Never heard of the Disney clock character but the clueing was mercifully clear (once I’d cracked 14d). As usual I did not see the theme until after completing the puzzle. I get tunnel vision and only focus on each clue in turn. Try to remember to look out for connections and see the whole but nearly always forget – unless it is clear from the start as in a Brendan crossword. Thank you, setter and blogger, for today’s fun workout.

  4. Thanks Brockwell and Quirister
    No theme, of course. Too many references to people I hadn’t heard of for it to be enjoyable.
    I did like SPEAKING.

  5. I found this very entertaining. Amusing contemporary references: Waitrose, Oti Mabus etc brought it Lo life for me. I couldn’t parse kiss. Thanks for the blog.

  6. What slightly spoiled this for me was my inability to parse so many of these clues once I had plumped for them in the grid. Including the last bastion to yield in the NW corner, with all of CYST, DIATOMIC, TOPIARY and BODY needing Quirister’s explanations. Guessed KISS from the crossers but again couldn’t see why that band with their garish b/w make up deserved to appear on stage here.
    Didn’t see the theme, too busy struggling my way through, clue by clue, this – for me at least – very tough challenge today…

  8. Thought this was completely brilliant. COGSWORTH was a write in for me due to my familiarity with Disney Princess oeuvre (I have three daughters). Too many ticks to mention, favourites were CYST and GAME FACE for the surfaces and KISS for the definition (and because I like the unfairly maligned band).

  9. Tough puzzle. I failed to solve 22ac, 23d.

    Favourites: ESCAPED, CUCKOO, TOPIARY.

    I could not parse 8ac (and had never heard of Basil Brush either); 13ac apart from A ME; 2d apart from the MIC bit

    New for me: COGSWORTH = clock / Disney character; DIATOMIC.

    I didn’t notice there was a theme until I read the comments at the Guardian blog after I gave up on the puzzle with two unsolved.

  11. To CLOCK someone can also mean to punch them in the head, so my thematics count also included SLUG.

    Oh, and as an afterthought, I also had CLOCK IN(road) as well as CLOCK OFF. And a GAME CLOCK, as used in tournament chess.

  12. TOPIARY (despite the overused ‘More work’), CHECK, WORK ETHIC, KISS, TWO-TIMER, COGSWORTH and CUCKOO were my top picks.

    Very enjoyable puzzle. Superb blog.
    Thanks Brockwell and Quirister.

  13. Favourite was loi TOPIARY. That yielded after I finally solved DIATOMIC which took a while because I was looking for words ending -IC which might refer to indoor arenas or possibly mobile phone companies.

    I was a bit worried to see references to Ms Mcpherson and Mr Ronaldo since beyond having heard of them I knew little about them – so I was glad such knowledge wasn’t needed (apart from CR’s nationality, which I did know). Never heard of COGSWORTH but it was clearly clued.

    Neither looked for nor saw the theme – though it is cleverly done.

    Thanks Quirister and Brockwell.

  14. [Incidentally I recently read an explanation of why the sex chromosomes of birds – the female has the different ones, unlike in mammals – allow cuckoos to lay eggs that match the eggs of their habitual hosts. (It was in The genetic book of the dead by Richard Dawkins, if anyone wants to chase it up.)]

  15. Didn’t much like this I’m afraid. Had to reveal COGSWORTH (two of my children are animators but I doubt even they would have remembered this), and an overuse of ‘alternate letter’ clues. I did like DIATOMIC.

  16. Tricky but enjoyable. I saw the theme for a change, which helped a bit. Missed the Portuguese day (although I knew about O2) and had to look up COGSWORTH. I had completely forgotten about KISS and hadn’t realised GAME FACE was a thing. Thanks to setter and blogger.

  17. My goodness,this was terrible.At least yesterday’s was still doable.I’ll steer clear from this setter,nothing memorable,all obscurities.

  18. A slow but steady solve for me, and very satisfying. Though I failed to notice the theme. I hadn’t heard of COGSWORTH but it was gettable from the wordplay.

    It’s a shame Eileen isn’t around as she usually enjoys a “More work”!

    Many thanks Brockwell and Quirister.

  19. Jay@17. Hang in there. The “obscurities” today are mostly just that, another trick in the setter’s toolbox to distract us.

  20. About half-way through, the theme struck if not clanged, which certainly helped me.
    I liked ‘clipart’, the surfaces for TOWER & GAME FACE, and I loved the wordplay and (dance floor) surface in TWO-TIMER. But I failed with KISS.
    Thanks to Brockwell and Quirister

  23. [re 12a: to quote my late father: “Camel cigarettes, the only ones with a picture of the factory on the front!”]

  24. Phew. All in but not all parsed, and no theme (surprise, surprise).

    Ashamed to have no knowledge of anything by Thomas More, or Beauty and the Beast, and failed to spot the Portuguese “day” wheeze.

    The rest was thoroughly enjoyable with (now that I see it) TOPIARY as my COD.

    Many thanks, both.

  25. I enjoyed this, and spotted the theme, when I had to look up COGSWORTH, as not one I know (and I probably should with the girls I work with). I like Brockwell’s puzzles.

    Thank you to Quirester and Brockwell

  26. For me the best crosswords are the ones that seem impossible at the start, then after finding a way in they slowly unravel. Yes, this was tough but much more rewarding for being that. Got there in the end!

  27. I had heard of all of the references. But had forgotten that Kiss were a group. There are so many groups. So that wan ot parsed.
    Thought the Portuguese day was very clever. Knew the CR was Portuguese. But sadly did not know the Portuguese word for day so that was not parsed.
    Remembered Ewen Macgregor singing “Be My Guest”. He should do more musicals. And that long down word helped a lot.
    First in was Body. Rare for me to get a Spoonerism easily but, what else could House Elf be?

    In short, any failings on this crossword seem to be mine, not the Setter’s. Most excellent.
    DNF.

  29. MCourtney @27 BODY was my FOI too, but I did at the time question how well-known among the usual solving demographic Dobby the House-Elf might be. I had to watch the HP films with my children and remember him defecting from the Malfoy family to enter service with the young Potter. I also wondered about the legitimacy of the Spoonerisation of a single 2-syllable word rather than a phrase, but no one else so far seems to have queried this.

  31. Congrats if you managed this, how 6d) was arrived at, I have no inkling. Impatience with similar efforts to parse / redirect others, had me spitting like a cat. Shan’t waste another hour plus again!

  32. Pretty tough but solvable with aids. I liked DIATOMIC, TWO-TIMER, TOTTERED, and CUCKOO. I DNK COGSWORTH or DOBBY, although I had some inkling it could be an elf.

    Thanks Brockwell and Quirister.

  34. The etymology for DOBBY as a ‘household sprite or apparition’ derives from folklore. The SOED cites a reference from 1811.

  36. Completely missed the theme, as usual.

    I couldn’t find any definition for GAME FACE except in the AI bit that now appears at the beginning of a google search. That definition was quite plausible, but where the AI synthesized it from I can’t imagine.

    Never heard of Basil Brush, Elle Macpherson, Oti Mabuse , Cristiano Ronaldo or Cogsworth (I have heard of Bill Clinton). Fortunately you didn’t have to know anything about them except that CR is Portuguese. But though I do know a bit of Portuguese, that clue escaped me.

    I don’t know whether we have a word for “speaking clock” in the US, though you can dial a number and get the time. Or you could, I haven’t tried recently.

    I had a CYST as a child. I learned then that in the past the traditional way of getting rid of one was to bash it with a heavy book, hence the name “bible bump.” That came up a few puzzles ago and I forgot to say this then.

    Thanks Brockwell and Quirister.

  37. I don’t usually notice themes until someone in the comments mentions that there is one … O yes, so there is! And a very well worked one. I’ve lost track of how many there are. I did know COGSWORTH, but thought at the time that he was a bit specialised and there would be complaints, especially as you did need to know him, unlike many of the other names thrown in as distractions.

    Failed to parse KISS or REGISTER (nice to see the double Grand National winner Tiger Roll namechecked). The very short Spoonerism was unusual, and I haven’t seen “belly” to indicate a middle letter before. But a very enjoyable solve, though I needed to go away and come back a couple of times before it all clicked.

  38. Tough, but many very enjoyable! Thanks to Brockwell for the puzzle and to Quirister for a very precise parsing that helped me get the many I guessed or hacked my way through.

  39. [Muffin @14: Likewise I found that fascinating as Nick Davies knew of no explanation in his excellent book “Cuckoo”. I think Dawkins in one of his autobiographies discusses whether the cuckoo call is a minor or major third, something which seems to change with time of year perhaps…so many simple things we don’t know.]

    Thanks Brockwell and Quirister – I thought this nicely clued and good fun with enough hand holds to allow me to make a start without staring at too much blank real estate.

  40. I failed to parse TOPIARY. I was puzzled by REGISTER until I realised I had got the definition and anagrind the wrong way round. KISS I could only link to ‘kiss and make up’. I used Google to confirm COGSWORTH and to check CR’s nationality and then to translate day. Also Googled KC’s hits but that got me nowhere.

  41. Fwiw Brockwell, I thought this was one of your best yet and don’t understand the negative comments. You can only please…..

  42. Gave up with 5 unsolved and 1 unparsed (KISS), but I enjoyed what I could do (even COGSWORTH which I’ve nho, but was fairly clued). Worth the struggle so I’ll persevere with Brockwell in the hope of succeeding in future. Thanks, Brockwell, and thanks Quirister for the excellent and much needed blog.

  43. The vital nature of this blog to my cruciverbal contentment was demonstrated again today. I was pleased to get almost all of these, which are at the outer edge of my ability, but even for some that I could get from crossers and definitions I needed the blog for the parsings – as a result of which I walk away with dopamine inducing “aha”s and a smile rather than a frown and a shrug.

    Thank you to Qurister today and to all the other bloggers for other days.

  44. I enjoyed this, though the theme whistled above my head as per. TOPIARY was great.

    Thanks Brockwell and Quirister.

  45. AlanC@41 – agreed re this crossword, did not parse too many negative comments though (maybe my internal blocker is working well). We often agree – you were an early Anto supporter (as was I) when the negative comments were much more abundant … . There’s only one regular setter I don’t particularly enjoy – but in some ways that makes the work-out more interesting :-).

  46. polyphone @45: yes you were and thanks for the kind words, I try and enjoy every crossword even if they’re beyond me. I know whose comments to skip because they just drain me. I think Anto is now way up there and always look forward to his quirky challenges as well.

  47. Many thanks to Quirister for the typically excellent blog and to everyone else for the comments. This one was obviously a bit marmite, but I’m very happy that most of you seemed to enjoy it. Appreciate the support AlanC @41, as always. Cogsworth was played by Ian McKellen in the live action remake of BATB. Time to clock off. B

  48. I appreciated the clueing for the ones I got, and probably could have got three or four more. But in the end I gave up with perhaps a third of the puzzle solved, as this was beyond my capabilities. Which is fine as far as a Thursday puzzle goes.

  49. NHO COGSWORTH, but it could be nothing else: without this blog it would have made no sense to me at all and I am pretty sure I’ll have forgotten all about it before bedtime this evening. DIATOMIC was clever-ish, but hampered by the inability of the website to handle a subscript 2 in O2 (I don’t know how to do it either). Otherwise an enjoyable solve. Thanks to setter and blogger.

  50. BigNorm @49
    It would have made the clue much weaker if subscript 2 had been used, as the confusion with the telecom company would have been ruled out.

  51. I enjoyed this a lot. Unfortunately, failed on BODY and TOPIARY. Kicking myself about the latter. WISE, SPEAKING and CLOCK were my first three in, so saw the theme early. Interesting that VOCATIONS was there along with ROAD SWEEPER. TRAVEL [agent], CLOCK [maker], BODY [snatcher], DISC [jockey]? I wonder whether that was an aborted theme.
    Lots of fun. Thanks, Brockwell and Quirister for stepping up.

  52. Failed completely on KISS, hit my weak spot since they’re one of the many pop/rock groups I’ve never heard of. Would have liked an easier clue since the wp is far from obvious.

    COGSWORTH was also a complete guess.

    On the other hand, kicking myself for not fully parsing TOPIARY (loved the def. though). I must file away in the old grey cells: “More” can be a name!

    Wasn’t quite sure of the grammar of SWEEPER: ‘Blubber’ looks like the verb: “to blubber” rather than the person doing it – but it seems I’m over-ruled…

    Else was fine. Liked WORK ETHIC, CUCKOO (I thought CUCKOLD at first but it doesn’t fit), REGISTER, TOTTERED, TWO-TIMER (that’s what put CUCKOLD in mind!); CHIME.

    Thanks to Brockwell and Quirister. Not an easy one!

  53. I didn’t look for the theme at the time though now of course it’s pretty obvious. Annoyed with myself for having missed it.

    Having now had COGSWORTH explained to us – the Beast’s sidekick turned into a clock – put me in mind of a character in The Rose and the Ring – a fairy-tale novel by W.M. Thackeray (we had to ‘do’ it in Primary School, and of course the inherent satire was totally lost on us kids!).

    Anyway, in said fairy-tale, a very uncultured servant called ‘Gruffanuff’ tries his rudeness on the wrong person, and accordingly gets turned into a door-knocker.

    That’s a story that might well have been Disneyfied – but I don’t think it has. Anyway the name ‘Gruffanuff’ is probably too obscure to make use of in crosswordland (except perhaps in a themed puzzle).

  54. Valentine@36: GAME FACE is in Chambers Dictionary (‘a serious, business-like expression’), but that’s likely to be a more helpful source here than in the US.
    Muffin@50: the clue as printed in the newspaper used subscript 2. I think the telecom company’s logo shows it that way too, although its name doesn’t.

  56. AC@41 perhaps, to paraphrase an old adage, a bad solver always blames the clues 🙂

    Brilliant from start to finish with the parsing for TOPIARY holding out till the bitter(sweet) end

    Cheers B&Q

  58. I absolutely love BROCKWELL’s style, they are not obscure, just quirky and imaginative and it makes a change from all the usual stuffy Shakespeare and Wagner. All fairly clued, a bit tough – YES, and an inventive theme to unwind, that doesn’t ruin the fun of solving.

  60. I got beaten by a couple, but my goodness what a puzzle! The general cluing quality was very very high. I enjoyed this a lot

    Thanks both!

  61. I came here to parse REGISTER. Looks like I was another who incorrectly had ‘roll’ as the anagrind.

    Never be put off if you see the name of a person you don’t know. It’s usually fodder for the cryptic part of the clue.

  62. Thanks Quirister, your explanations of definition and parseing are so clear and concise to a struggler like me, I really appreciate them.

  63. Pretty tough. I started well, completing the first column right away, but gradually ground to a halt with half completed, ending my streak at three. Still a good puzzle. Favourite 5d SET-OFF

    7a TOPIARY was dastardly, both wordplay (haven’t seen “more work” for a while) and definition (clipart)

    10a VOCATIONS, nice to see the beautiful province of Nova Scoti[a] used as anagrist

    18a REGISTER, “Jockey” as an anagrind? Sheesh!

    2d DIATOMIC, I was so close with this one, but was misled by Portugese days all ending in “feira”, so I figured that meant “day”

    When will I learn to look for a theme??

  64. Like Laccaria@52 I I think blubber (unless it’s whale fat) is a verb, so the noun is blubberer. I don’t have a dictionary on hand, but google seems to agree with us. This perception (or misperception) did not spoil the clever clue for me.

    Thanks, Brockwell for the excellent puzzle, and Quirister for the successful pinch-hit appearance.

    And I agree with Bodycheetah@56. It continues to surprise me how often clues are deemed to be awful, solely because the complainant was unable to solve them.

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