If you’re reading this on Saturday morning, then this week’s site issues may have been resolved.
Ken may be on holiday, sipping a cocktail or two whilst fending off the paparazzi, but he can still find time to wave his magic wand over t’internet. Thanks muchly.
On to today’s grid by Raider. A nice variety of clues.
I got sidetracked by 9a which to me should be CHECKMATE from the definition? STALEMATE would really be where neither side has any moves!
No obvious theme or messages that I can see.
Definitions are underlined.
ACROSS
9 Boring to have sex when the other person has no moves (9)
STALEMATE
Boring [STALE] to have sex [MATE]
10 Ben Affleck’s biggest character lacking in measure (5)
MOUNT
Affleck’s biggest character [A] lacking in measure [AMOUNT]
11 Red Cross stops outcome of exsanguination? (7)
OXBLOOD
Cross [X] stops [inside] outcome of exsanguination [0 (zero) BLOOD]
12 5/10 – Fast & Furious (7)
VIOLENT
5 [V] 10 [IO] fast [LENT]
13 Naval post held by Emma Stone (4)
MAST
Hidden word [“held by”] EMMA STONE
14 Plain ring gets adjusted to fit a woman getting married? (10)
STONEHENGE
Gets adjusted [anag. GETS] to fit [around] a [ONE] woman getting married [HEN]
15 “Elementary, Doctor Watson” – Sherlock’s last point (2,5)
NO SWEAT
Doctor Watson [anag WATSON] + Sherlock’s last point [East= E]
I think Sherlock’s last point is reference to the final lines of The Last Bow where he earns Watson about a “storm from the East”.
17 Potentially drives TT circuit very strongly (4,3)
TEES OFF
TT circuit [TEES] very strongly [FF = musical direction]
19 Walk over and queue where the bouncers are? (10)
TRAMPOLINE
Walk [TRAMP] over [O] and queue [LINE]
22 Setter’s going round holding in wee (4)
MINI
Setter’s [I’M] going round [reversed] holding [around] in [IN]
23 Dad about to take gentle wander back (7)
APPROVE
Dad [PA] about [reversed] to take gentle [P = musical direction] wander [ROVE]
24 Take remedy to keep fit (7)
CAPTURE
Remedy [CURE] to keep [around] fit [APT]
26 Cryptic clue cracked by new family member (5)
UNCLE
Anag. [“cryptic”] CLUE cracked by [around] new [N]
27 Running about then abrupt diarrhoea (2,3,4)
ON THE TROT
About [ON] then abrupt [THEN] diarrhoea [TROT]
DOWN
1 Spoiled American spat out overegged trifle? (1,5,2,1,6)
A STORM IN A TEACUP
Anag. [“spoiled”] AMERICAN SPAT OUT
2 Roasts meat overnight, ultimately to go into buns (8)
LAMBASTS
Meat [LAMB] overnight, ultimately [T] to go into [inside] buns [ASS]
3 Notorious fiddler has turned over capital for nothing (4)
ZERO
Notorious fiddler = NERO and the capital [N] turned over becomes Z.
Emperor Nero famously played his violin while Rome was sacked
4 Complex booby traps are working (4,2,2)
HARD AT IT
Complex [HARD] booby [TIT] traps are [A]
5 Peaceful place outside of Earth (6)
HEAVEN
Cryptic and DD
6 Low suppressed by this fizzy energy drink (8)
SMOOTHIE
Low [MOO] suppressed by [inside] this fizzy [anag THIS] energy [E]
7 You in Strasbourg? No, in Stuttgart – listen! (4,2)
TUNE IN
You in Strasbourg [TU]? No, in Stuttgart [NEIN]
8 Lady turned green by fart, use toilet desperately (6,2,7)
STATUE OF LIBERTY
Anag [“desperately”] of BY FART USE TOILET
When first erected the statue of liberty would have been a brown colour as it was coated in copper. Oxidation has gradually produced the more familiar green colour.
16 Former copper cocked up, detective’s cover is blown (8)
EXPLODED
Former [EX] copper [PLOD] cocked up, detective’s cover [DE backwards]
17 Etna billowing big smoke and grit (8)
TENACITY
Anag. ETNA [“billowing”] big smoke [CITY]
18 Passing judgement you are essentially a bit weird (8)
OBITUARY
Anag [“weird”] YOU + are essentially [R] + A BIT
20 Dimension warping space-time (6)
ASPECT
Anag [“warping”] SPACE + time [T]
21 Hide air-bed that’s been delivered (3,3)
LIE LOW
Homophone [“that’s been delivered”] LI-LO
25 Nose broken by the end of the game (4)
PREY
Nose [PRY] broken by [around] the end of the [E]
Appreciate the work to get the website back to normal. Really liked this puzzle from Raider and the blog from LC. I thought perhaps STALEMATE didn’t necessarily have to refer to chess. Likes for OXBLOOD, OBITUARY and the long entries at the sides, among other great clues. The blog is currently confused around 5d and 6d which is SMOOTHIE. For 5d I had E for Earth in Haven. Maybe that is also the blog’s intention. Had no idea about the reference to Sherlock but an ‘e’ was required somehow. Thanks.
Thanks and well spotted. Now fixed
I had a different parse for TEES OFF: TT = TEES circuit = O very strongly = FF = TEES O FF.
And I agree with Sofamore ref H(E)AVEN which makes it an &lit in my book.
Had TEES OFF as PostMark. Thought 9a didn’t quite work, as mentioned in intro. Diarrhoea has always been TROTS not TROT for me. Of course, Nero didn’t actually play a fiddle. More likely a lyre.
Looking again at STALEMATE, the dictionary def is In chess, a situation where a player not actually in check has no possible legal move, resulting in a draw. Given the clue is written from the perspective of the person who has created the situation, then it is when the other person has no moves. The difference between the two options is just that that other person is not in check in STALEMATE and is in check in CHECKMATE so the same def could arguably support both situations? Given that we have wordplay, the clue only has one valid solution though.
I agree with Hovis ref TROTS rather than TROT.
Yep no clue whence the e in no sweat. Think I’ve seen lambast a couple of times lately. Couple of beaut long anags at 1d and 8d, amid a heap of neat clues. Ta much Raider and Leedsclimber.
I has for TEES OFF as PostMark and HEAVEN as Sofamore also.
Diarrhoea is always The trots not just trot or trots as far as I know.
The explanation for the missing Sherlock e seems a little contrived, but hey ho.
Isn’t “Sherlock’s last point” E for east, his first being S for south? Not that I noticed at the time.
I took the E in SWEAT to be the last compass point in the word ShErlock.
Looking at the last three comments, I think I misread the blog as I thought it had already identified ShErlock’s last point as E as per Hounddog and Crucivercial above. I took the expansion ref the Storm from the East to just be a nice additional touch/observation. I parsed it as the second of the two compass points within the detective’s name.
NO SWEAT
Sherlock’s first point is S. The last point is E. Does it work?
(Or Sherlock Holmes’s last point is E)
Sorry. I couldn’t even delete my post. Many have made the point already.
Dropping in to clarify a few points:
9a should have been changed to “Boring to have sex when you have no moves (9)” but must have missed the cut off.
15a it’s Sherlock’s last [compass] point i.e. E
27a the abrupt applies to just diarrhoea i.e. “the trot(s)”
I thought this was very good, LAMBAST and OBITUARY among others standing out. At first I thought describing STONEHENGE as plain was harsh, though I now assume we are looking at the Salisbury variety.
Thanks Raider for an enjoyable crossword. My top picks were STALEMATE, STONEHENGE & OBITUARY for their definitions, CAPTURE, LAMBASTS, and TUNE IN. I had some parsing gaps but none that prevented me from getting the solutions. I’m still wondering about ON THE TROT — if ‘abrupt’ is applied to diarrhoea, what accounts for the deletion of N in then? Thanks Leedsclimber for the blog.
Tony Santucci@15, there’s no deletion of N. The “then” is not an element of the wordplay but rather (valid) filler: ON then THE TROT[s]. I didn’t spot this when I solved, though. I too thought it was THE[n].
I also thought “plain ring” was harsh… so thanks to TFO@14 for clarifying! Very good, as that device so often is.
I didn’t spot the HEAVEN &lit either, so thanks to sofamore@1.
This was a lot of fun, and several of the clues were cleverer than some of us realised. Good stuff! Thanks both
Thanks AP for the clarification. That makes perfect sense.
Very late to this but a player in checkmate may have many valid moves but none that gets him out of check, hence end of game.
In stalemate the player literally has no valid moves i.e any move he makes would put him in check which isn’t allowed.
So clue is spot on as published.