ARTEXLEN kicks off the week…
An enjoyable and not too challenging puzzle with some lovely surfaces.
Thanks ARTEXLEN
ACROSS
1. Commercial yarn bags prone to losing colour (7)
FADABLE
AD (commercial), FABLE (yarn) bags
5. Long sections of wood somewhere in the West Midlands (6)
STAFFS
Double definition (Staffordshire)
8. Bird of prey’s activated trap by den over to the west (9)
RAPTORIAL
(TRAP)* (*activated) by (LAIR (den) + O (over))< (<to the west)
9. Fatigued in rows, expending energy (5)
TIRED
TI[e]RED (in rows, expending E (energy))
11. Turning nibbed utensil penning musical composition (5)
ETUDE
([nibb]ED UTE[nsil] (penning))< (<turning)
12. Relentless princess antagonised hosts (9)
INCESSANT
[pr]INCESS ANT[agonised] (hosts)
13. Person attempting to embrace tip to be less boomerish (8)
TRENDIER
TRIER (person attempting) to embrace END (tip)
15. Start journey from outskirts of Stowe with posh type (3,3)
SET OFF
S[tow]E (outskirts of) with TOFF (posh type)
17. Hero ignoring that male clown, extravagant in style (6)
ROCOCO
[he]RO (ignoring HE (that male)) + COCO (clown)
19. Prisoners love Madame’s soup (8)
CONSOMME
CONS (prisoners) + O (love) + MME (Madame)
22. Unbeatable team no-one will play is such (9)
MATCHLESS
Double (cryptic) definition
23. Daughter in eateries on vacation does this (5)
DINES
D (daughter) + IN + E[aterie]S (on vacation) &lit
24. Name of male journalist to be successful (5)
EDWIN
ED (journalist) + WIN (to be successful)
25. Pubs with ocean around the bend making money on island (5,4)
CUBAN PESO
(PUBS with OCEAN)* (*around the bend)
26. Front of carbuncle corroded, with harsh exterior (6)
CRUSTY
C[arbuncle] (front of) + RUSTY (corroded)
27. Most of team gathering at lift (7)
ELEVATE
ELEVE[n] (team, most of) gathering AT
DOWN
1. I would never fib, former mate is wrong (3,2,2,4,2)
FAR BE IT FROM ME
(FIB FORMER MATE)* (*is wrong)
2. Bird conveyed upwards protecting soft strip of feathers (7)
DEPLUME
(EMU (bird) + LED (conveyed))< (<upwards) protecting P (soft)
3. Chap fine participating in ballet regularly (5)
BLOKE
OK (fine) participating in B[a]L[l]E[t] (regularly)
4. Drew out extremely immoral rogue with deceit (8)
ELICITED
(I[mmora]L (extremely) with DECEIT)* (*rogue)
5. Exclusive group infiltrated by the Parisian (6)
SELECT
SECT (group) infiltrated by LE (the, Parisian)
6. They affirm cheers upset barking setters (9)
ATTESTERS
(TA)< (cheers, <upset) + (SETTERS)* (*barking)
7. Confusion with scrap taking place in Portuguese city (7)
FARRAGO
RAG (scrap) taking place in FARO (Portuguese city)
10. Business releases rent for airport shop, perhaps (4-4,5)
DUTY-FREE STORE
DUTY (business) + FREES (releases) + TORE (rent)
14. Pack mitts for sailors (9)
DECKHANDS
DECK (pack) + HANDS (mitts)
16. Second sibling in post showing potential (8)
POSSIBLE
(S (second) + SIB (sibling)) in POLE (post)
18. One drawing under case in cold storage unit (2,5)
CD TOWER
TOWER (one drawing) under C[ol]D (case in)
20. Fellow not totally put off being President (7)
MANDELA
MAN (felow) + DELA[y] (put off, not totally)
21. Great feeling suitable effects after exercise class (6)
PEACHY
ACHY (suitable effects) after PE (exercise class)
23. Poet died on stake (5)
DANTE
A good start to the week. I found suitable effects for ACHY a stretch too far. Is feeling part of the definition?
Thanks Artexlen and Teacow.
Thanks Artexlen and Teacow.
21dn further to SM@1: I took “feeling” as part of the indication for ACHY.
My UK knowledge was insufficient to parse STAFFS. I’d have enumerated CD TOWER as (1,1,5). Business/duty I thought a bit loose, but no doubt it’s in Chambers …
FARRAGO was new to my lexicon.
Very enjoyable. SM @1 one is achy after exercise, I am told.
Liked Cuban Peso, Mandela, Dante (NOT Donne).
Didn’t love Fadable (is that a real word?), Staffs (plural of staff is staves in my book), Deplume (is that a real synonym for pluck?), CD tower (had a heyday of, maybe 10 years, not much help from the definition!).
Nevertheless, I finished and enjoyed it! Thanks both.
Collins 2023 gives the following:
1ac: fadable adj under fade (p 705)
5ac: staff or staves as the plural of staff¹ for the relevant sense here (p 1927)
2dn: deplume vb 1 to deprive of feathers; pluck (p 537)
My faves:
MATCHLESS, FAR BE IT FROM ME and ELICITED.
A minor point
TRENDIER
I took ‘less boomerish’ as the def.
PEACHY
Had the same reading as Pelham Barton@2.
Thanks Artexlen and Teacow..
Thanks Artexlen and Teacow
I think in 8 RAPTORIAL the “ ‘s “ needs to be underlined as part of the definition.
Correction to comment 5 re 5ac: Collins has staffs or staves as acceptable plurals for staff¹ in the sense used in this clue. Chambers 2016 p 1514 gives the same choice. ODE 2010 p 1733 gives no special plural for any meaning of staff¹. My apologies for the typing error, and for failing to spot it on several re-readings of the comment.
While I am back in:
8ac: I agree with Simon@7 about the definition in this clue.
10dn further to Geoff@3: Chambers 2016 p 479 has “one’s proper business” as a meaning of duty.
18dn: ODE 2010 p 1881 has tower as a noun with a modifier “a tall structure used as a receptacle or for storage: a CD tower“. In my view, this usage example fits the enumeration (2,5) for the answer to this clue, but I have no quarrel with anyone who prefers otherwise.
The argument in favour of (2,5) for CD TOWER is that there is no space between the C & D. It could be argued that (1,1,5) would give C D TOWER. But I’m sticking to my guns. 🙂
I left my phone at home today, and didn’t realize that until I was already on the train and it was too late to turn around. So I printed this out at work and solved it on paper over my lunch hour. Thus, my first pen-and-paper solve of a British crossword in a long, long time. I’d gotten used to having the internet available to look things up, and also the very helpful “check” buttons that the online version has; it was disorienting to realize that if I got stuck, I’d be stuck right and proper, up a creek without a paddle. Yet I got there in the end! It helps that STAFFS for Staffordshire came up in a recent puzzle elsewhere, and I had to take the existence of Faro, Portugal, on faith; but I got there!
(For the record, the train in question is Chicago’s Red Line elevated; the train trip is about 20 minutes, which is usually perfect, at my ability level, for solving a cryptic. So it was sad when I realized that I couldn’t do that today.)
Mrpenney@11, I’m interested that you haven’t done a puzzle on paper for so long. I’m the opposite and find it difficult trying to do them on line. Mind you, completing this message is about the peak of my computer skills. I’m impressed that you can do the puzzle in 20 minutes, and with the distractions of train travel into the bargain. I did today’s on the train and it took me an hour and a half. Although it was a fairly straightforward one, the interruptions caused by travelling slowed me down.
SM@1, I don’t have any problem with “achy” for suitable effects in the context of said effects following a PE class. In fact PEACHY was my favourite clue today.
Babbler@12: I may be misrepresenting SM@1, but the way I took it in comment 2 is that “suitable effects” would be the noun “aches”, and it needs to be “feeling suitable effects” to give the adjective ACHY. It is just a question of the parsing, not the legitimacy of the clue as a whole.
Ah! I understand.
I understand the helpful comments @2,4, 6 ,12 and 13. Thank you all.
Well, we got it all but can’t say we found it very satisfying. A few entries struck us as a bit odd, as if the setter had painted himself into a corner and they were the only things that would fit, CUBAN PESO in particular but also FADABLE and CD TOWER.
Thamks, though, to Artexlen and Teacow.
In MonX opinion, ArteXlen has given us a really beautifully clued eXemplar of Ximenean eXcellence.