A wide variety of clue types on display in this week’s Prize puzzle by Brockwell.
Although there were some unfamiliar terms (ALGID, BRECCIA and GOATFISH), the wordplay left no room for doubt although Timon and I did check them in the dictionary just to be sure. We liked the cleverly hidden reversal of COFFEE BAR, and the two connected clues at 24 and 25 down. This may not have been the most difficult of Prize puzzles, but that’s not a complaint. Many thanks to Brockwell.
| ACROSS | ||
| 9 | ENCOUNTER |
Frenchman returning to win noble battle (9)
|
| COUNT (noble) inside RENE (Frenchman, rev). | ||
| 10 | PINTO |
Prince enthusiastic about piebald horse (5)
|
| P(rince) INTO (enthusiastic about). | ||
| 11 | DWELT |
Last bits of hard jigsaw were all that remained (5)
|
| Last letters of harD jigsaW werE alL thaT. | ||
| 12 | SEA NETTLE |
Jellyfish nuisance on vacation in Pacific coastal city (3,6)
|
| NE (nuisance on vacation, i.e. with its internal letters removed) inside SEATTLE (Pacific coastal city). | ||
| 13 | BISTROS |
Pop trio bored by top restaurants (7)
|
| IST (first, or top) inside BROS (pop trio). We got this from the definition and the crossers, and it was only when I came to write the blog that I was able to work out the wordplay. | ||
| 14 | ELITIST |
Some feel it is terribly snobbish (7)
|
| Hidden. | ||
| 17 | ALGID |
Cold relief contains illegal drug ultimately (5)
|
| (illegal)L (dru)G inside AID (relief). | ||
| 19 | MRS |
Wife is occasionally morose (3)
|
| Alternate letters of MoRoSe. | ||
| 20 | PAGAN |
Georgia inspired by God? Quite the opposite (5)
|
| GA (Georgia) inside PAN (god). Very nearly an & lit clue. | ||
| 21 | SHAR-PEI |
Dog pen that is back to front (4-3)
|
| SHARPIE (brand of pen) with its last two letters reversed. | ||
| 22 | BRECCIA |
Acerbic Rolling Stone (7)
|
| *ACERBIC. As the name suggests, this is a geological term of Italian origin, referring to a type of rock with angular fragments. | ||
| 24 | COFFEE BAR |
Piece of extra beef focaccia on the counter in small restaurant (6,3)
|
| Hidden and reversed (on the counter). | ||
| 26 | SPILL |
Drugs for cycling in shed (5)
|
| PILLS (drugs) cycled by moving the last letter to the front. | ||
| 28 | RASTA |
Dreaded one American despot making a comeback (5)
|
| A TSAR (despot) (rev). | ||
| 29 | GREEN ROOM |
Jealous Othello described as one retiring in relaxing space (5,4)
|
| GREEN (jealous) MOOR (Othello, rev). | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | HEAD |
Teacher in NUT (4)
|
| Double definition. | ||
| 2 | ACCESS |
Approach chartered accountant about tax from previous years (6)
|
| CA (chartered accountant, rev) CESS (old local tax). | ||
| 3 | BUTTERED UP |
Fat journalist happy to get soft-soaped (8,2)
|
| BUTTER (fat) ED (journalist) UP (happy). | ||
| 4 | STASIS |
Secret police beginning to schedule arrest (6)
|
| STASI (East German secret police) S(chedule). | ||
| 5 | BROADENS |
Track surrounded by mountains gets wider (8)
|
| ROAD inside BENS (mountains). | ||
| 6 | APSE |
Student going missing in fall recess (4)
|
| (L – student) APSE. | ||
| 7 | UNSTRING |
Loose nuts ordered on telephone (8)
|
| *NUTS RING (telephone). | ||
| 8 | POLE |
European terminal (4)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 13 | BEANS |
Live photo briefly raised pulses (5)
|
| BE (live) SNA(p) (photo, rev). | ||
| 15 | IMPRESSING |
Brockwell is urgent bowling over (10)
|
| I’M (Brockwell is) PRESSING (urgent). | ||
| 16 | TONGA |
Country cousin at last wearing outer garment (5)
|
| (cousi)N inside TOGA (outer garment). TANGA, a very different sort of garment, would also fit but the wordplay and definition are wrong. | ||
| 18 | GOATFISH |
German with time to cut idiotic mullet for Springsteen (8)
|
| G(erman), T(ime) inside OAFISH (idiotic). Apparently it’s what Americans call the red mullet. Nothing to do with haircuts! | ||
| 19 | MAILBAGS |
27 altered trousers for postholders? (8)
|
| *LIMA BAGS (trousers). | ||
| 22 | BURGER |
Regularly fried food served up in sandwich (6)
|
| (f)R(i)E(d) GRUB (food) (all rev). Again, it’s nearly an & lit, with the wordplay definitely complementing the definition. | ||
| 23 | CHINOS |
Mate losing a bone making strides (6)
|
| CHIN(a) (old slang for mate), OS (bone). | ||
| 24 | CURD |
Dog with Dutch cheese … (4)
|
| CUR (dog) D(utch). | ||
| 25 | EDAM |
… forced to regurgitate? (4)
|
| MADE (forced, rev). The definition is indicated by the ellipsis, linking to the last two words of the previous clue. | ||
| 27 | LIMA |
Unconfined orgasm in the city (4)
|
| (c)LIMA(x) (orgasm). |
in 18D, what’s the Springsteen reference to ?
Thanks bridgesong. I enjoyed it but had to wait for your explanation of 21a, I had ei=’that is back to front’ but couldn’t connect ‘sharp’ and ‘pen’. Didn’t help that sharpie meant nothing to me.The NW corner held me up, mostly because of overthinking as no doubt was intended.
Only that he is an American I suppose David.
Found “mullet for Springsteen” to indicate an American word for mullet a bit odd.
“… mullet for Springsteen, say” might have been better
No mention of the BEANS???
Mostly very enjoyable, though not as tough as some we’ve had lately. The SEA NETTLE and the GOATFISH were new to me – and yes, the Springsteen reference (presumably just a random famous American to indicate that the word comes from across the pond) had me confused for some time. Took a while to remember BROS too.
I know OS=bone from French but there’s nothing to indicate that, so presumably it exists in English too? As for the BRECCIA, I remember it from the Discworld books, where it is the trolls’ version of the Mafia…
My comment @4 is about as much as I can manage to type while in a recumbent posture with the laptop perched on my chest and only the screen light for illumination. My typing is crap these days at the best of times. However, since something in my eye has forced me to get up, let me elaborate. We have COFFEE BEANS + GREEN + BROAD + STRING + BUTTER + LIMA + PINTO. Also BEAN CURD, BEAN POLE, BEAN BURGER and BEAN BAGS. Any more? I’d be surprised if I had spotted all of them.
Hmm, another -gid word besides frigid meaning cold. The pop trio and the Italian rock were a couple more nhos. O’wise, a pleasant potter, ta B and b and T. Now for a latte and today’s.
Well done on the beans beano Balfour!
David @1: my take on 18D is that some fans consider Springsteen the Greatest Of All Time. Ta B&b.
My first thought when reading the blog echoed Balfour @4 & 6 – I also had TONGA BEANS – turn up on fancy cookery shows in puddings as a sort of chocolate flavour – and a BEAN COUNTER, and HEAD as another meaning of BEAN.
I knew BRECCIA, although I don’t remember the geology questions I answered on it (for an Earthcache – a Geocache looking at geology).
Thank you to Brockwell and bridgesong
Don’t forget to SPILL the BEANS 🤭
Really enjoyed this one thank you!
Liked SEA NETTLE, BISTROS, COFFEE BAR, GREEN ROOM, BURGER and EDAM (forced to=MADE, I think).
Thanks Brockwell and bridgesong.
I had…
Lima, Green, Coffee, Butter, Broad, String, Pinto, Edam(ame), Tonga, Spill (the), Mr, Sean, Counter, Curd, Bags, Pole, Head.
Also, “Sean Bean” played “Sharpe” (21a) … deliberate or a happy coincidence, I wasn’t sure.
Good fun. Thanks Brockwell and bridgesong.
There’s a reversed TILE (bean) in ELITIST
Sorry, last post was incorrect. American, mixed up hat with head.
“Frijoles chinos” is a term for “refried beans”, though.
GOAT is because Springsteen is referred to being the Greatest Of All Time, and Mullet is a fish hence Goatfish!
Thanks Antonknee I never understood why Nathon Lyon (the australian spin bowler) was referred to as the goat!
I feel as if I spent as much time getting GOATFISH as I did on all the other clues combined. And having read the whole of the Wikipedia Springsteen article in a pointless search for anything relevant, I was mildly miffed to finally discover that the fish was an American mullet and the Boss was apparently only there as a token American! That aside, I did enjoy this, and I learned a few new words (not just the fish – the dog as well). The reversal in COFFEE BAR was impressive, and 24,25 were a neat use of the ellipsis. I’m used to coming here and finding I missed a theme, and I did of course miss the beans references. Thanks to both Brockwell and bridgesong.
All complete, with great pleasure. Agree that the nho’s were gettable from the clear and effective clues. I also love a good surface, and this puzzle came through in spades. Too many favourites, but let’s say 11a DWELT (nice surface, though not difficult), 14a ELITIST (ditto), 22a BRECCIA (“Rolling Stone”), 24a COFFEE BAR (agree this was an excellent reversal), 28a RASTA (great pdm for “dreaded one”, and the naughty surface), 7d UNSTRING (funny imagery!), 25d EDAM (ouch!)
18d GOATFISH, really thrown by the reference to “Springsteen”, which I still didn’t understand after solving
Didn’t clock the theme, as usual! 🙂
Embarrassed to have missed the beans, so thanks to Balfour, Jay and others for setting out the relevant answers.
Shanne@9. Are you thinking of Tonka, rather than Tonga, beans?
Found this quite challenging as I usually do with this setter. Top half went in OK bottom took a lot longer – not helped by never having heard of ALGID and BRECCIA – and how does CHINOS = strides
Liked: ENCOUNTER, BUTTERED UP, PINTO, BROADENS, MAILBAGS
Thanks Brockwell and bridgesong
Fiona @21 strides are trousers or CHINOS in, I think, Australian slang.
Pavement @20, probably – and thinking Brockwell had missed a trick.
Thanks bridgesong and Brockwell.
Why have the word “in” in 1D? Wouldn’t “NUT teacher” have worked far better?
Ref TONGA beans – yes, probably slightly more familiar as tonka beans but Chambers lists the G spelling as an alternative. Along with tonquin-bean.
Nice collection of themers which I saw coming together quite early on. Plenty of smooth cluing.
Thanks Brockwell and bridge song
What fun – a veritable beanfeast! Once again, Brockwell wrings every drop out of his theme, with almost every clue or definition having some connection – and yet I still didn’t see it until after I’d finished the solve.
I’ve perhaps been over-enthusiastic in my research but I also found references to PAGAN (fava) beans, BISTRO bean (parrot food) and RASTA bean. (My apologies if I’ve missed those in others’ comments.) Like Jay @12, I wondered about SHARPE.
I might not have recognised COUNTER without Vlad’s ‘nitpicking accountant’ two days earlier.
Huge thanks to Brockwell, as ever and to Bridgesong and Timon, together with my sympathy: I’ve been similarly caught out myself when blogging a Brockwell.
Please read ‘solution’ for ‘definition’ in my first sentence above.