Julius is the Thursday setter in the FT
As this was my third blog in 24 hours after a Paul in the Guardian and the FT weekend jumbo, I was glad it wasn't too complicated. Crosswords by Julius are always fun to solve and this was no exception if perhaps on the easier side of his spectrum. A good range of devices, with my only quibble beiing N indicating knight appearing twice, albeit in one case the N in question is being swapped out. As is often the case, solving the long entry (one that is very easy to British solvers, but maybe not to those from other countries) provided an in to many other solutions.
Thanks, Julius.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | EVANESCENT |
Passing criminal sentence requiring Virginia to be imprisoned (10)
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*(sentence) [anag:criminal] requiring VA (Virginia) to be imprisoned |
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| 7 | PHEW |
Not many escaping trap — that’s a relief! (4)
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Homophone/pun aural wordplay [escaping trap (i.e mouth)] of FEW ("not many") |
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| 9 | BLOC |
EU — for one — backed firm pound (4)
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[backed] <=(Co. (company, so "firm") + lb (pound)) |
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| 10 | BIG BROTHER |
Reality TV show runs into huge trouble (3,7)
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R (runs, in cricket) into BIG ("huge") + BOTHER ("trouble") |
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| 11 | LABOUR |
Threaten to host a bachelor party (6)
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LOUR ("threaten") to host A + B (Bachelor) |
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| 12 | NOAH’S ARK |
Koran has adapted storyline from Genesis (5,3)
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*(koran has) [anag:adapted] |
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| 13 | ATLANTIS |
Fabulous place, but the bar’s a bit of a dive (8)
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Cryptic definition, as you'd need to dive under the sea to find Atlantis. |
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| 15 | IOWA |
Leaders of independent, outgoing west African state (4)
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[leaders of] I(ndependent) O(utgoing) W(est) A(frican) |
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| 17 | STEP |
Sprinter’s first time? Record pace (4)
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S(printer) ['s first] + T (time) + EP (extended play "record") |
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| 19 | OINTMENT |
Cream program out of date (8)
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APP ("program") out of (app)OINTMENT ("date") |
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| 22 | MAGELLAN |
Explorer’s maiden voyage cut by 50%, everyone turned back to Lisbon (8)
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M (maiden, in cricket) + (voy)AGE [cut by 50%] + <=ALL ("everyone", turned) + [back to] (Lisbo)N |
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| 23 | ESCAPE |
Get free, completely unlimited Tesco paper (6)
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[completely unlimited] (t)ESC(o) (p)APE(r) |
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| 25 | CAFE AU LAIT |
Iron and gold loaded in French port — time for small beverage there (4,2,4)
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Fe + Au (chemical symbols for "iron and gold") loaded in CALAIT where CALAIT is CALAI(s) ("French port") with T (time) for (i.e. instead of) S (small) |
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| 26 | BRUT |
Dry, except when crossing river (4)
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BUT ("except when") crossing R (river) |
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| 27 | PLOD |
Copper penny: large old, old penny (4)
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P (penny) + L (large) + O (old) + D (old penny) |
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| 28 | TIEBREAKER |
One helping to sort out intractable court battles? (10)
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Having just watched Cameron Norrie go through three of these in one match at the US Open, this was a straightforward cryptic definition. |
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| DOWN | ||
| 2 | VALIANT |
Showing Courage barrel pierced by spike from the bottom (7)
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VAT ("barrel") pierced by <=NAIL ("spike", from the bottom) |
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| 3 | NACHO |
Knock over old tin containing hot snack (5)
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[knock over] <=(O (old) + CAN ("tin") containing H (hot)) |
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| 4 | SYBARITE |
Big spender visiting classy bar I tended (8)
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Hidden in [visiting] "clasSY BAR I TEnded" |
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| 5 | EGG-AND-SPOON RACE |
Grandpa goes once around school field event (3-3-5,4)
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*(grandpa goes once) [anag:around] |
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| 6 | TARZAN |
Pitch article about Zulu jungle resident (6)
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TAR ("pitch") + AN ("article") about Z (Zulu, in the NATO phonetic alphabet) |
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| 7 | POTASSIUM |
K P moist USA nuts (9)
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*(p moist usa) [anag:nuts] K is the chemical symbol for potassium and KP is a major brand of snack nuts in the UK. Personally, I don't think there needs to be a gap between the K and P in the clue. |
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| 8 | EYEBROW |
One raised in surprise when discussing East End intellectual? (7)
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Homophone/pun/aural wordplay [when discussing] of 'IGHBROW ("intellectual" in the East End of London, where H's are optional) |
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| 14 | APPREHEND |
Nick unfortunately happened to catch onset of rubella (9)
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*(happened) [anag:unfortunately] to catch [onset of] R(ubella) |
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| 16 | ANCESTOR |
Forebear found in seances tormented (8)
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Hidden in [found in] "seANCES TORmented" |
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| 18 | TRAVAIL |
11 2 beaten after swapping knight for king (7)
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*(valiart) [anag:beaten] where VALIART is VALIA(n)T with R (Rex, so "king") swapped for N (knight, in chess notation) The definition (11) refers to 11ac (labour). |
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| 20 | NEPTUNE |
Planet starts to need extra purified air (7)
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[starts to] N(eed) E(xtra) P(urified) + TUNE ("air") |
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| 21 | FLAUNT |
Show off apartment housing upper- class knight (6)
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FLAT ("apartment") housing U (upper-class) + N (knight, in chess notation) |
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| 24 | COBRA |
Emergency meeting occasionally held in Crosby Road (5)
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[occasionally held in] C(r)O(s)B(y) R(o)A(d) COBRA stands for Cabinet Officer Briefing Rooms (the A is an add-on) and such meetings were regularly held during COVID, for example. |
What would be wrong with Fabulous place, but it’s a bit of a dive? Does the bar serve a purpose?
Wasn’t sure what COBRA was about, but I see now that it’s a UK-only clue.
Never heard of SYBARITE.
Thanks for a very early blog, Loonapick. I don’t remember whether you’re a British insomniac or in another time zone. 🙂
Loonapick summed up my experience nicely. This non-UK solver had no trouble with EGG AND SPOON RACE. Like GDU, COBRA was the UK mystery.
Specifically, I loved PHEW (for its variation on “oral”); SYBARITE was nicely hidden in a clue with a nice surface; TARZAN, BRUT, and STEP made me smile; and both EGG AND SPOON RACE and NOAHS ARK were masterful anagrams in true Julius style.
Thanks Julius and loonapick
Another fine puzzle from Julius.
I competed in the egg-and-spoon race for Field Day in sixth grade (in the US). I don’t think I acquitted myself very well, as I recall, but I surprised everyone (including myself) in the relay race. Hard to believe that was 50 years ago now.
You’ve been a busy bee, Loonapick, but your efforts are much appreciated. I see this fun-filled grid was a breeze, at least.
So much to like, as usual, such as ‘escaping trap’ to indicate a homophone, as well as MAGELLAN (wordplay), STEP, PLOD and APPREHEND. Top picks, though, were CAFE AU LAIT and VALIANT/TRAVAIL.
I agree with Loonapick that ‘KP…nuts’ would have enhanced the wordplay in an already neat surface but perhaps (COBRA, EGG AND SPOON notwithstanding) Julius was giving non-UK solvers a passing chance with that one.
As Martyn says, 5d was a splendid anagram.
Thanks, Julius, for your joie de vivre!
[Loonapick, Cam Norrie often does make heavy weather of it but I hope he can make the second week without shredding his fans’ nerves too much!]
Liked PHEW, MAGELLAN, CAFE AU LAIT, EGG-AND-SPOON RACE, POTASSIUM and NEPTUNE.
Thanks Julius and loonapick.
ATLANTIS
I have the same question as GDU@1. Was looking for a different meaning of ‘bar’ that could fit, say,
‘an island’. All I could find was this
Someone should have a suitable explanation.
KVa@5, I thought of that possibility but dismissed it as a long shot. Sandbars are usually above or only just below the surface, if my understanding is correct.
I agree with you GDU@6. There should be a better explanation.
I think it is cabinet office brief room A because it’s the first of several. They hold important meetings there rather than COBRB etc so they sound more high powered. Nice puzzle/blog. Liked cafe au lait, egg and spoon.
PHEW! Not only does loonapick manage the equivalent of four solves/blogs in twenty four hours, he did this one in only a whisker above an hour after publication – hardly enough time to enjoy it!
And there was much to enjoy. I (sparingly, I thought) awarded a dozen ticks and find it impossible to whittle them down. Great anagrams, as always, a great hidden, several substitutions, which I always like to see and I particularly enjoyed the allusiveness of MAGELLAN and NOAH’S ARK.
Many thanks to Julius for a great start to the day and to loonapick for a quite remarkable feat – and now he has his day job!
This was fun, I struggled only with 18D and couldn’t get my head around 28A until I revealed a couple of letters.
Thanks to Julius and Loonapck
Personally, I thought ‘bar’ was used in 13a purely because ‘dive’ usually refers to a (disreputable) bar.
As others have said, lovely and smooth and with some super anagrams. I was only defeated by the aforementioned ATLANTIS bar; it’s funny how, for the solver, a single element that cannot be accounted for can cause problems. POTASSIUM is a fun idea: whilst some solvers might prefer to always see the definition stand alone, I think I agree with loonapick that KP could have appeared together. The standalone K did stick out – but that is not a criticism. It just made it easier to solve.
Thanks both
What Eileen said
I thought that as Atlantis is supposed to have sunk under the sea, if you wanted to visit a bar there you would have to dive to get there
Thanks to Julius for the usual wonderful crossword and to loonapick for his extra service
As with others, I found this a very enjoyable smooth solve (almost certainly the quickest I’ve completed one in months). I think I disagree with those suggesting KP would have been better without the space; I get that it would have made it a more natural surface and more of a challenge, but while I don’t mind a lift-and-separate definition from time to time, doing so with a single letter is pushing it a bit. Even with their both being capital letters.
Thanks both.
Thanks Julius and loonapick. I got off to a great start with the gems at 3ac, 8dn, 15ac, 7dn, and 12ac (in that order). For 7dn, let me cast my personal vote firmly in favour of the space between the definition and the wordplay. Things slowed down a bit after that, and my usual dislike for one part clues showed in the fact that my last one in was 28ac and it took me about as long as the rest of the puzzle put together before the penny dropped. Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable puzzle.
24dn further to James@8: COBRA is listed specifically in Collins 2023 (p 395) with the entry “n acronym for (in the UK) Cabinet Office Briefing Room A: the civil contingencies committee that leads the UK’s responses to crises such as terrorist attacks and epidemics”. Chambers 2016 p 302 has an entry for “COBR or COBRA“. I could not find it at all in ODE 2010 or SOED 2007. It may be worth noting that Collins is the only one of these to have dictionaries to have produced a new printed edition since the Covid pandemic.
Correction to 15: I started with 7ac, not the non-existent 3ac.
That was a lot of fun. I too wondered if there was something more to 13a, and I did notice the N-for-Knight appearing twice but that was a mere eyebrow-twitch. I thought 7a and 7d were delightful. Defeated at the last by 19a where I failed (once again) to spot the program trick. Thank you Julius! Thanks also to loonapick.
crypticsue @13. I didn’t get the impression anybody disagreed with that part of 13a. The issue was as to why to specify a bar in particular, as opposed to anywhere else. @11, I suggested that it was purely because ‘dive’ can also refer to a bar. Maybe Julius will clarify.
It must have been on the easy side today as I was actually able to complete it! I loved PHEW and POTASSIUM.
Cineraria @3, I know I shouldn’t boast, but I did win a school egg and spoon race 62 years ago. (The last prize I ever got for anything athletic).
(new pseudonym – formerly allan_c)
A mostly steady solve without assistance, although ATLANTIS, OINTMENT and TIEBREAKER only came after much-delayed PDMs. Spolier alert! We spotted SYBARITE early on, having encountered ‘sybaritic’ in today’s reprint of an Indy puzzle in The i Paper.
Thanks, Julius and loonapick.
Thanks for the blog(athon), dear loonapick, and thanks to those who have left a comment.
I thought about joining the K P nuts idea but rejected it because I thought it unfair. I understand the comments about it but I think that while it might look like a neat idea once you’ve got the answer, it would be very difficult to solve without the separation. Perhaps if I was submitting it to The Guardian I might have tried.
Regarding the “bar” reference in ATLANTIS, to me this seems clear; again, without it I just don’t think there’s enough there and the idea was to exploit the double meaning of dive.
Best wishes to all, Rob/ Julius
I really enjoyed this one! I’d never heard of SYBARITE, but was able to figure it once I had enough crossers. I liked CAFE AU LAIT and MAGELLAN. I can confirm that EGG-AND-SPOON RACE did not give me any pause as an American.
For 13ac, I think the ‘bar’ helps the surface a bit – in Geoff @1’s suggestion, the whole place is described as both fabulous and a dive, which seems a bit contradictory.
I’ve just been called off the bench as a last minute sub to do the August news puzzle, which I need to submit tomorrow afternoon for publication on Sunday. I’m out to dinner tonight so won’t be able to start until the morning.
Be gentle with me, darlings…
Wow – good luck! Looking forward to it!
That seems a really big ask, Julius – all the best!
Why does 18D have the number “2” in it? Am I being dim? It’s probably that…
A terrific puzzle, as was his Hudson Toughie today in the Telegraph. Too many cracking clues to list. Thanks to CrypticSue for alerting me to it.
Thanks to Julius & to loonapick.
Matt @ 26
Because 18D, definition 11 LABOUR is an anagram of 2 VALIANT with N (knight in chess notation) replaced by R(ex) = KING
Simon S @ 28
For some reason I missed this – I still got it out, but only because of the anagram of VALIANT (swap N for R) – but I didn’t quite get the “LABOUR” bit. Eesh. Thanks for replying!
Julius @23,
I’m sure you’ll score the winner in the 91st minute! Looking forward to it, thanks for the tip-off.