Vulcan kicks off the week for us.
Standard Monday fare – nothing too difficult although two or three answers near the bottom took a wee while to show themselves. BANKROLLS gave me the letters I needed to get all bar RADA, which was my LOI and also my favourite clue.
Thanks, Vulcan.
| ACROSS | ||
| 9 | LAUGHABLE |
Playing with a huge ball is ridiculous (9)
|
| *(a huge ball) [anag:playing with] | ||
| 10 | PURSE |
Contract for prize money (5)
|
| Double definition – for the first, think of pursing lips. | ||
| 11 | BLINI |
Taking back popular one-pound pancake (5)
|
| [taking back] <=(IN (“popular”) + 1lb (one pound)) | ||
| 12 | SHORT-HAUL |
Inadequate lobby speaking for such transport (5-4)
|
| SHORT (“inadequate”) + homophone/pun/aural wordplay [speaking] of HALL (“lobby”) | ||
| 13 | BREAKER |
Wave from vandal? (7)
|
| Double definition – for the second, think of someone who breaks things. | ||
| 14 | ANTIGUA |
Where to find St John’s University amid a giant redevelopment (7)
|
| U (university) among *(a giant) [anag:development] | ||
| 17 | ANGER |
Reason for swearing as bumper at front drops off rusty old car (5)
|
| B(umper) [at front] drops off (b)ANGER (“rusty old car”) | ||
| 19 | MME |
Frenchwoman shortly married me (3)
|
| [shortly] M (married) + ME, Mme. being short fro Madame. | ||
| 20 | TEEMS |
Pours money into driving centres (5)
|
| M (money) into TEES (golf “driving centres”) | ||
| 21 | DEADPAN |
God that’s passed on without expression (7)
|
| DEAD PAN (“god that’s passed on”) | ||
| 22 | HEADS UP |
Warning: boss is on trial (5,2)
|
| HEAD’S (“boss is”) + UP (“on trial”) | ||
| 24 | MODERATOR |
Arbitrator to order a revised mark to start with (9)
|
| *(to order a) [anag:revised] with M (mark) to start with | ||
| 26 | EPOCH |
Long period hard to manage in retrospect (5)
|
| <=(H (hard) + COPE (“to manage”), in retrospect) | ||
| 28 | ROUND |
18 holes in a sandwich? (5)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 29 | BANKROLLS |
Finds money for riverside picnic items (9)
|
| ROLLS (“picnic items”) on the river BANK | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | BLUB |
Burst into tears as tulip falls over (4)
|
| <=BULB (“tulip”) [falls over] | ||
| 2 | LUPINE |
Like wolf to be leading in procession (6)
|
| UP (“to be leading”) in LINE (“procession”) | ||
| 3 | SHRINK-WRAP |
Protective plastic to fall off drug package (6-4)
|
| SHRINK (“to fall off”, as in to “reduce in size”) + WRAP (“drug package”) | ||
| 4 | ABUSER |
A British employer who behaves insultingly (6)
|
| A + B (British) + USER (“employer”) | ||
| 5 | DEMO TAPE |
Audition piece poet made is distributed (4,4)
|
| *(poet made) [anag:is distributed] | ||
| 6 | SPIT |
Turning over dumps in light rain (4)
|
| [turning over] <=TIPS (“dumps”) | ||
| 7 | TRIANGLE |
A frame of snooker (8)
|
| Cryptic definition, frame being both a game of snooker and the wooden triangle used to put the 15 red balls in the correct formation at the start of the game. | ||
| 8 | FELL |
Knock down member of college: no cry of pain (4)
|
| FELL(ow) (“member of college”) with no OW (“cry of pain”) | ||
| 13 | BEARD |
It’s hairy to give birth to a daughter (5)
|
| BEAR (“to give birth to”) + D (daughter)
The “a” in the clue is superfluous, in my opinion. |
||
| 15 | TETRAHEDRA |
Read threat to demolish pyramids (10)
|
| *(read threat) [anag:to demolish] | ||
| 16 | AESOP |
Fabulous ancient author (5)
|
| Cryptic defintion (because Aesop wrote fables) | ||
| 18 | GRANDEUR |
Majesty offering a K and no end of currency (8)
|
| GRAND (1,000, so K) and [no end of] EUR(o) | ||
| 19 | MANITOBA |
Wild enthusiasm about computer program picked up in province abroad (8)
|
| MANIA (“wild enthusiasm”) about <=BOT (“computer program”, picked up) | ||
| 22 | HIRING |
Taking on husband, with one thing to exchange? (6)
|
| H (husband) with I (one) + RING (“thing to exchange” (at a wedding)) | ||
| 23 | SLOWLY |
By degrees small and mean (6)
|
| S (small) and LOWLY (“mean”) | ||
| 24 | MARK |
Take notice of good book (4)
|
| Double defintion, the second being one of the Gospels of the New Testament. | ||
| 25 | RADA |
Play school? (4)
|
| Cryptic definition, RADA being the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where one could go to learn how to act in plays. | ||
| 27 | HASH |
A number sign for meat dish (4)
|
| Double definition, the first referring to # |
Woke up, decided to try Vulcan puzzle.
Finished it – though RADA took a while.
Surprised to see an early blog.
Had to be first – doesn’t happen very often.
Back to sleep now.
Thanks s’er and b’er.
Started off thinking What’s fabulous about Aesop … talk about dim! Nice Monday potter, thanks V and loona.
Perfectly pitched for early on a Monday, though RADA was a bu**er to winkle out of its shell, and had to convince myself that there’s no such word as PANDIED.
Favourite was 21ac DEADPAN.
LOI also RADA
Thanks both
It went SLOWLY… maybe because I was sleepy, and the words just didn’t pop readily into my head… but also because the vocabulary, esp. snooker&golf, isn’t that familiar to me. Thanks loonapick and Vulcan
RADA was a bit mean for us in the Antipodes, I thought. (We have NIDA — National Institute of Dramatic Art.) ‘Twas the only one I couldn’t solve, although I also had no idea for TRIANGLE. All else tickety-boo.
Fun and quick at 10 on Sunday evening (MST). SW corner last bit, with RADA also my last in.
Thanks loonapick
Another where RADA was LOI. Knew it would be good when I got it, and so it was. Lots of great surfaces. Good fun.
MANITOBA favourite.
I liked HIRING as the whole clue leads to the answer.
Still not clear about SHRINK-WRAP.. Haven’t heard of a drug package referred to as “wrap”. Is it just the same as protective plastic around medications, another clue where Vulcan was being helpful?
Interestingly, RADA went straight in for me. The SE corner took patience, though, EPOCH, SLOWLY, HASH (LOI).
Thanks Vulcan and Loonapick.
pm@8 I took the wrap to be that used in smoking cannabis
thanks L and V! Agree with everyone else about RADA being the best clue and my LOI too (probably because it’s an acronym)
pm@8, street drug dealers carry indidual portions of their wares packed in small plastic bags or similar – these portions are known in UK as wraps. (Knowledge gained from watching too much police action TV.)
Good Monday puzzle. No real favourites for me, but no complaints either.
Thanks Vulcan and loonapick.
In SPIT I had the “dumps” as ‘tips’ (the third definition of tip2 in Chambers) being reversed. Pits reversed would be ‘stip’.
Vulcan is definitely chewier than they used to be I think.
TimC@13 – a typo on my part. Will amend when I get a chance.
RADA, the star clue for me. Also liked MARK, SLOWLY and DEADPAN.
TEES as ‘driving centres?’ Hmm.
Thanks both
Thanks Vulcan and loonapick
I’m another who didn’t understand SHRINK WRAP. Also missed the parsing of MANITOBA.
Lots of nice clues. I think DEADPAN was just favourite.
Perfectly pitched for what I come to expect from Vulcan on a Monday.
RADA was my first thought but didn’t want to put it in before I had both checking letters. MODERATOR took an age as I was trying to anagram the wrong fodder. Would have been quicker to just solve it from the definition.
Liked DEADPAN, TRIANGLE, HEADS-UP, ANTIGUA and LUPINE.
Thanks Vulcan and Loonapick
Very typical Vulcan puzzle, with a plethora of cd’s and some nice anagram spots. Favourite was LAUGHABLE.
A well-pitched Monday cryptic.Still can’t a grip around SHRINK-WRAP.Clue of the day DEADPAN.
Thanks Loonapick and Vulcan.
Nice stroll for a Monday morning.
I’ve just started using the Grauniad app – as far as I can see it doesn’t give the setter’s name!
That’s poor.
All too common thing – websites/apps made by people who don’t understand the subject.
(Perhaps you get it for a subscription, or perhaps I’ve got hysterical setter name blindness.)
I had to threaten to set my Jack Russell on the i-paper app staff before they restored the setter’s name after a rejig of their app a year or so ago.
Thought TRIANGLE was very clever. Thanks Vulcan and Loonapick.
I started in the bottom half and found that when I got to the top half it was much easier to fill in overall, not least because my brain was in gear by that point. A nice steady solve with one or two chewier answers, and a good start to the week.
RADA also my last in, which was particularly irritating because I’ve been to a number of shows in their theatre.
Entertaining puzzle, thank you to loonapick and Vulcan.
I too was unaware of that meaning of WRAP (the 11th alternative definition in Chambers, and that’s just the noun). Struggled with RADA until I had the crossers.
Enjoyable puzzle, neither too easy nor too difficult. Perfect for a Monday morning even though I couldn’t parse the WRAP bit of 3d. Like Paddymelon@8, I haven’t heard of a drug package referred to as “wrap”.
TEEMS last in for me; Found that a bit unconvincing. Driving areas may be tees, but driving centres would be ranges in my experience.
Lovely start to the week, got RADA right off, but my street knowledge left me unable to parse all the wraps…
Favourite today was AESOP.
Thanks Vulcan and loonapick
Thank you to Vulcan, loonapick and previous posters. I’m another one for whom 25d RADA was the last one solved. Otherwise it all unfolded fairly smoothly for me, with a likeable level of challenge.
Bit of a head scratch in the SW, with MARK & RADA resisting to the end.
Having no knowledge of golf, could someone explain how tees are golf centres? I thought they were the little plastic things you put your ball on to drive off.
Rapid start, then slowly to a crawl with this, rather like the story of AESOP’s Tortoise and the Hare. Last couple of intersecting clues were HIRING and HEADS, followed finally by TEEMS and TRIANGLE, having almost forgotten meanwhile that a frame of snooker starts with the balls coralled up in that triangle thingee. I too liked DEADPAN…
Thanks Vulcan and loonapick
I thought the definition in 19A was “Frenchwoman shortly”, to indicate that the solution is an abbreviation.
Why is M clued by ‘money’ in 20a? I can’t think of when that abbreviation would be used except in an initialism like IMF but that doesn’t seem adequate reason.
Surprised by the struggle with wraps, which refers to powder-based drugs like cocaine and heroin folded in a square of paper, rather than bags or cellophane, although my ex-profession obviously helped. Thought there were some great clues, including LAUGHABLE, PURSE, HEADS UP, DEADPAN, DEMO TAPE, MANITOBA, HIRING and the super RADA. Perfect start to a teeming/spitting Monday in London.
William @28: when you drive off, you place your golf ball in the centre of the circular tee. The best I can do.
Re. ‘tees’ as “driving centres”: I think the idea is that the little plastic thing functions to centre the golf ball at the teeing-off point, keeping the ball centred while the player swings to make their shot — which will be a ‘drive’ shot (a powerful straight whack to get the ball well down the fairway). So a tee is a ‘driving centre’.
rosencrantz @31, M is often used for Money in crossword land. Chambers has the following….
M
symbol
1. (as a Roman numeral) 1000
2. Followed by a number, used to designate the seven categories of money supply in the UK (see M0, M1, etc, below; economics)
3. Meta- or meso- (chem)
M0 noun
All notes and coins in current general circulation plus banks’ till money and balances with the Bank of England
M1 noun
All notes and coins in current general circulation plus all instantly-withdrawable bank deposits
M2 noun
All notes and coins in current general circulation plus non-interest-bearing bank deposits, building society deposits, and National Savings accounts
M3 noun
M1 plus all privately-held bank deposits and certificates of deposit
M3c noun
M3 plus all foreign currency bank deposits
M4 noun
M1 plus most privately-held bank deposits and holdings of money market instruments
M5 noun
M4 plus building society deposits
M or M.
abbrev
1. Maiden over(s) (cricket)
2. Malta (IVR)
3. Master
4. Mega-
5. Member (of)
6. Mille (Latin), a thousand
7. Million(s)
8. Money
9. Monsieur (French), Mr (pl MM)
10. Motorway (followed by a number)
rosencrantz@31: I believe M=’money’ is from the Bank of England’s (UK’s central reserve bank) fundamental measures of the amount of money in the economy. There are several variants — M1, M2, etc. because the definition of “money” (e.g. coins and banknotes, electronic deposit balances at the bank, credit card balances, etc) varies. The BoE publishes statistics for all the M values regularly.
Ah right, thanks Tim C and pserve_p2, I feel fractionally less economically illiterate!
For those who didn’t have a mispent youth:
http://www.acrylicafternoons.com/sorted.html
Wraps are also good for seed-saving, and many other wholesome uses.
William @28 AlanC@33
The tee is also the name of the special patch of ground from within which you make your first shot. Often a raised area, and mown very short.
Thanks AlanC & pserve_p2 for your spirited defence of the tee, but I have to say, neither sounds all that convincing!
An enjoyable puzzle. The left half went in fairly readily for me but I slowed down considerably for the right half.
Re RADA, does anyone remember Shed’s “RADA 5, surprisingly, aboard floating zoo with one of its occupants? (8)” (28,230) which gave rise to a bit of discussion at the time?
DEADPAN calls to mind this story from the ancient world:
During the reign of Tiberius, one Thamus, a sailor, was on his way to Italy by way of the Greek island of Paxi. A divine voice hailed him across the salt water, “Thamus, are you there? When you reach Palodes, take care to proclaim that the great god Pan is dead.” Which Thamus did, and the news was greeted from shore with groans and laments.
Many thanks Vulcan and loonapick.
Showaddydadito @39
Actually the area where you put your tee in and drive off from is called the “tee bed”.
I was fine with TEE(M)S, while agreeing that ‘driving centres’ is not how we would normally think of a tee. Like Showaddydadito@39 I see it as a reference to the raised area from which the player drives to start the hole, rather than the plastic peg on which the ball sits. If we referred to it as a driving centre in normal conversation, everyone would think we were mad, but in a crossword it raises a wry smile. Well, it did in my case anyway.
(Muffin@42. That’s not what I’ve heard the announcer say when I’ve watched golf on TV. It’s “next onto the tee…” Perhaps they are using metonymy?)
Thanks to Vulcan and Loonapick.
Good start to the week. I did like the driving centres, I thought it was quite clever. I also liked the TRIANGLE being a frame of snooker.
Thanks Vulcan and loonapick.
RADA was a write in. Epoch and Slowly took time. Apart from that, finished in 20 minutes
I still don’t get aesop. What is fabulous?
Kirsty @46 Aesop’s best known work is known as Aesop’s fables
Kirsty@46: “fabulous” as in known for fables.
NHO of “round” for sandwich so got stuck there. And RADA is also off this yankee’s radar, so no help there.
KIRSTY @46. Aesop’s Fables
Failed to get FELL.
DEADPAN sort of made me smile … but Pan is such a (literally?) fabulous god that I was too sad thinking of him as dead.
Fun puzzle. I also got but only half-understood SHRINK WRAP.
RADA very good, not quite my LOI but near to it. That honour went to TEEMS because of the centres bit.
Nice puzzle, and thanks to ayeaye @38 I now know how to make wrap for seed-saving. What a useful site this is…
Very nice. Sometimes cryptic definitions bother me but these were all very well done including LOI TRIANGLE. Fortunately I had heard of RADA [I think for the first time in Ruth Rendell’s The Bridesmaid, when the title character claims to have gone there and either hasn’t or surprisingly has]. Didn’t parse WRAP for the drug thing but it was pretty clear.
Did anyone else spend a while trying to work out how ABONAM could be wild enthusiasm, since it was reversed around IT for the computer program?
Thanks Vulcan and scchua!
I always thought ‘blini’ was a plural form (of ‘blin’) but having looked it up it seems it’s acceptable (in fact most common) as either. Ho hum.
Enjoyable Monday puzzle, thanks Vulcan and scchua.
Missed out on RADA thinking that “ride” could just about stretch to a double definition of play (some looseness of fit e.g. in a gearbox or clothes that ride up) and school (to teach someone if you are riding them hard). RADA makes a lot more sense. The usual lovely Monday from Vulcan with smooth and efficient surfaces as always. Thanks Vulcan and loonapick.
I didn’t know blini or how to get to Manitoba but loved RADA. I didn’t spot the fabulous/fable link – yes, I know but there we are. Thanks to all for the informative comments, blog and set.
Paul @2:53pm – I also had RIDE for a while (in the sense of “play”/“ride” on a hobby horse or roundabout etc) but there was just something unsatisfactory about it in the back of my mind. A quick spin through possible alternative vowels yielded RADA and the dropping of the penny. These two word cd’s can be the hardest clues to answer, especially when the checked letters are common ones.
A bit like Baldrick’s poetry, started well tailed off in the middle and the less said about the end the better!
Finally got there , and as always astounded by the level of skill shown by the blogger and other contributors.
Great test for me at my level and thanks to Vulcan and loonapick.
Had to reveal 25d RADA after guessing RIDE (like paul@55, Mandarin@57). After revealing I realized I’d encountered it in a previous puzzle. I agree it’s a great clue. Otherwise a pleasant Monday solve, with a few challenges
14a ANTIGUA, at first I thought this might be a Canadian reference as there’s also a St John’s in Newfoundland (not to be confused with Saint John in New Brunswick), but not to be. 19d MANITOBA came through, though!
19a MME, I agree with Simon S @30 that “Frenchwoman shortly” makes a better definition. I think “M” for “married” can stand alone
20a TEEMS, further to Showaddydadito@39, muffin@42, sheffield hatter @43, yes the “tee” can refer informally to the area where you drive (eg “the fourth tee”), hence “driving centre” as a whimsical definition. Works for me, and is funny
21a DEADPAN, is there any reason not to have “God who’s passed on”? Seems to read better
Nothing to frighten the horses here, I felt, and a good progression for those who got on well with yesterday’s Quiptic. The short CDs (RADA, AESOP, the “driving centres” bit of TEEMS) were more ponderous, as CDs are wont to be; and having checkers certainly helped.
I couldn’t decide whether it was unfortunate or helpful that the M for Mark (abbreviation for Bible book reference) in MODERATOR was a checker for MARK defined as “good book”). Certainly, the fact that I’d just got the former and had the book in mind made the latter a write-in; but it could certainly be viewed as a helpful nudge appropriate to the overall level of the puzzle.
Faves were RADA and TRIANGLE, two of several nice CDs.
Thanks both.
BTW somebody yesterday mentioned they’d deleted their comment. How does one delete a comment?
AP @60
You can delete a comment from the “Click to Edit” option, but only within about four minutes of posting.
Thanks muffin@61 – my phone happens to be of the exact size that when I click to edit, I see the Save and Cancel buttons but not the Delete button which is hidden below my pop-up keyboard. I’ve literally never seen it – and probably never would have!
I usually find Vulcan one of the hardest crosswords to solve, certainly harder than last Saturday’s prize as there are so many CD’s.
RADA was OK for me, but I failed on TETRAHEDRA AND TEEMS. I haven’t come across M = MONEY before. I don’t worry about where it comes from as no doubt somewhere there is an abbreviation that uses it.
Thanks both.
Mig@59. I think from the setter’s point of view the use of “that’s” keeps all options open. Using “who’s” turns the focus onto the “god” and makes the clue easier to solve.
Conradici @ 54 I’m pretty sure you’re right about the BLINI. It’s certainly plural in Polish a related language, and in Google translate. I suppose it’s like panini/panino, commonly misused and now acceptable.
I saw ‘Teems’ as a Tee and Motoring School. Two places from which one drives?
sheffield hatter @64 [*strokes beard*] Interesting theory…
Mig: I hope that was your own beard you were stroking?
It says something about my mis-spent youth that SHRINK-WRAP was a write-in….
Thanks both for a really plusgood entertainment.
RADA!
I ambled clockwise from LAUGHABLE until deciding that ____R_L_S – (Finds money for riverside picnic items (9) ) – was squiReLlS, and hit the reveal button along with the thought ‘What are these squirells doing at a picnic? Eating? Being fed? Being eaten?’ All too late so a dnf but a similar blempf from RiDe to RADA led to a snort and almost a knee-slap.
Of course self-recrimination followed (squirells? really?) but I was won over by the old argument that it’s not a fight it’s a sport. And in future remember that ‘?’ is not going to accompany a dd.
Showaddydadito @20 in the puzzles section of the app, scroll down to the crossword archive. They’re all there, including today’s, with the setter’s name. Not obvious, but still.
Vulcan seems to have two levels for Mondays now. This wasn’t the quicker of the two. I like CDs and knew RADA straight away. I’m surprised it was LOI for so many. It’s a very British reference, but it comes up quite often.
I had LIGHT RAIL before realising it had to be SHORT HAUL. Rail against, lobby against? I felt like it worked.
I liked LAUGHABLE, AESOP, TETRAHEDRA, well, loads actually.
Thanks all.
sheffield hatter @68 I’ve just realized I don’t actually have a beard, so I have no idea whose I was stroking! 🙂
Shawaddydadity @ 20, I find it annoying that the setter’s name isn’t shown. You can see it if you go to today’s puzzle through the archive.
I must live a sheltered life. I did not know about “wrap” as drug package.
Thank you for a nice crossword and the explanations.
Mig@59 I got MANITOBA first, sensed a theme, and spent far too long trying to work the Newfoundland St John’s in somehow.
Loona picked my favourite, 25 RADA. I love concision.