What! No Eccles’s today. What is happening?
This was our first DNF for a very long time. We had to reveal 15d after checking in Chambers and a crossword page on the web which we find useful as it includes proper names as well as some more obscure words.
A homophone (‘for hearing’) of FINED (made to pay)
An anagram (‘cast’) of STAR TRIO
BLIND (Venetian possibly) A + a reversal (‘about’) of YELL (cry)
P (soft) ASH (stuff left behind by old flames)
An anagram (‘drunk’) of IS IRATE ‘behind’ W (whiskey in the phonetic alphabet)
Hidden and reversed (‘kept back’) in clASSY Lady
ALA (in the way of) BAtMAN (DC hero) without or ‘unplugging’ ‘t’ (Tesla)
With a considerable amount of help it is a double definition. We had to reveal the answer for 15d as we were stuck on 15d and 15a. Once we had the initial letter we guessed it was DATING (becoming old hat) but we were not confident that ‘attending events with’ is really the same as ‘going out with’ in a romantic relationship
The first three letters from WILlesden and FULham – the ‘matched’ refers to the fact that the same number of letters are used from each one
An anagram (‘restless’) of AS EVER SO
S (second) TEAM (lot of players)
IN A cURRY (‘where to get some spice’) with ‘c’ (cold) becoming H (hot) or ‘temperature changing’
DISCo (nightclub) missing last letter or ‘closing early’
FAR (distant) MAN (bloke) I’M (Methuselah – the setter – is) + A L (‘first’ letters of Applaud Lines)
An anagram (‘rendering’) of A HARP and LAUNDRY
FA (note) with I (India) in LLLL – presumably if a team was on a ‘losing streak’ it would be recorded as LLLL (four lost matches)
If there was NO NET on a tennis court there would be ‘nothing in the way of a service’
REL (relative) EARN (bank)
Alternate or ‘regular’ letters in kInDlY oLd + L (Liberal)
OP (work) and an anagram (‘moving’) of POETS IS
US (crossword setters) TA (you shouldn’t have) inside or ‘trapped in’ SIN (vice)
LA (Los Angeles – ‘Hollywood’) CRIMinAL (wrongdoer) without or ‘wanting’ ‘in’
ETC (I could go on) inside or ‘dressed’ in an anagram (‘awfully’) of FAB FUR
DIE (‘one spotted’ – as in the singular of ‘dice’) DAW (crow) AY (always)
‘Odd’ (not even) letters of ImPiSh + a homophone (‘leaving trap’) of WITCH (sorceress). We spent some while checking whether T = trap before we sorted out the correct parsing.
cOIMIC’s iRONy missing the first and last letters or ‘out of bounds’
Homophones (‘sounds like’) of MALE HEIR the other way round or ‘resorted’
MY (crossword setter’s) around or ‘embracing’ I (one) FF (very loudly)
UTI (urinary tract infection – ‘plumbing problem’) and C A (first letters or ‘leads’ to Class Action)
Interesting puzzle with some boundary testing tricks as one expects from Methuselah. (WILFUL actually reflects an ongoing discussion online about hidden words being separated into two parts to be found in different words, to which the setter has contributed.) I also thought there were some very unusual words which, together with the unusual displacement of Eccles, makes me wonder if there is a theme related to the date. I do not follow the programme but note that a new series of TRAITORS starts tonight?
WISTERIA, OVERSEAS, IN A HURRY, LACRIMAL, IPSWICH and UTICA were my faves.
Thanks Methuselah and B&J
PS. Aha! A note from the setter on BlueSky this morning: “I hope my faithful followers enjoy my latest cryptic”. Something is definitely up but I shall have to rely on other commenters to FIND the connections …
Once I had 15d, 15a became the only possibility and that’s what I went with. It certainly has the meaning of ‘becoming old hat’. Likes for ‘etc’ meaning ‘I could go on’ in BUFFET CAR, the parsing for DIED AWAY (which was counterpoint to the two-word enumeration and is a trick I like),and the clever def for OPPOSITES which took a while to drop for me. Needed a Google for the comics once Harry seemed to work, and to confirm the NY city. Bit of a surprise not to see Eccles, but a puzzle from old man Methuselah is always welcome. You could say he’s dated, but not old hat. Thanks to the bloggers as well.
My top picks: FIND, WILFUL, NO NET, IPSWICH and AIRMAIL.
Thanks to the setter and the bloggers.
A quick google suggests Alyssa, Amanda, Minah, Harry and Paul were in earlier series of Traitors. Expect there are more. Won’t be watching, despite the most enjoyable plug.
Linda, Ash
The Traitors is the hit BBC show where a group of complete strangers have to FIND TRAITORS in their midst (Traitors being double-crossing players tapped on the shoulder by host Claudia Winkleman during ep 1). James found some of the traitors lurking the grid, but the full list of the initial trios of Traitors in the first three UK series is: WISTERIA LYSSA, ALABAMAN DATING and WILFUL; PASH, HARRY and PAUL; BLIND ALLEY, STEAM IN A HURRY and FARM ANIMAL. I’ll be tuning in to the celebrity series tonight.
Thanks B&J for the blog
I was getting there!
UTICA, New York, counts as obscure even if you’re American, so I was surprised to see it. (But I have been there, technically, so no troubles for me.) I guess the list of U_I_A words is probably pretty short, which accounts for its presence here.
[I was driving from Boston to Indiana, and must have gotten a fairly late start; Utica was as far as I got when it was time to find a motel. And then I hit the road again first thing in the morning, so all I saw of Utica was that motel.]
I’d never heard of UTICA but got there once I deduced what sort of “plumbing” was being referred to.
Actually found this easier than today’s Grauniad, albeit not without becoming similarly stuck on the 15s. Got 15a before d and then got d without at all passing it beyond “ay”, so thanks muchly to B&J for the confirmation of that and some others I missed (and to Methuselah, natch).
So why are Harry and Paul a pair of sketches , presumably well known enough to others that blogger didn’t need to elucidate?
Reddevil@10 – the pair must be Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse. I had been wondering how they were sketches, but I’ve just realised they are “of sketches” in the sense of “from the world of”.
Maybe ‘sketchers’ might describe them better?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_%26_Paul
Thanks both. Tough in parts but all made clear by the blog
@10 Not obvious to me either so I’m glad someone explained. 7d – is “us” really crossword setters when only one of you is in the room? As for the theme, no chance. But some nice clues elsewhere.
Late to the feast… didn’t spot it wasn’t Eccles, until Methuselah came up in a clue.. felt quite Ecclesish all the same… LOI were the 15s and needed the blog to explain them fully. Everything else was OK, but slow… well, not for me perhaps…
Thanks Methuselah n Bertandjoyce
Ps. No chance on the theme, but no complaints either