The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/29836.
Maybe a notch above the general Monday fare, but I completed it in good time despite the loss of an hour with the end of UK DST. Altogether a witty offering from Philistine.
| ACROSS | ||
| 8 | OTOSCOPE |
Device that examines and controls croupier’s odds (8)
|
| Alternate letters (‘odds’?) of ‘cOnTrOlS CrOuPiEr’. | ||
| 9 | EXODUS |
Leaving the Guardian to follow old backwards party (6)
|
| A charade of EX (‘old’) plus OD, a reversal (‘backwards’) of DO (‘party’) plus US (‘the Guardian’). | ||
| 10 | ACME |
Top came off (4)
|
| An anagram (‘off’) of ‘came’. | ||
| 11 | LOCOMOTION |
Moving crazy shit (10)
|
| A charade of LOCO (‘crazy’) plus MOTION (‘shit’) | ||
| 12 | HICCUP |
Snag this Latin prize (6)
|
| A charade of HIC (masculine nominative ‘this Latin’) plus CUP (‘prize’). | ||
| 14 | MONTREAL |
My French later turned out to be useful here (8)
|
| A charade of MON (masculine ‘my French’) plus TREAL, an anagram (turned out’) of ‘later’, with an extended definition. | ||
| 15 | IGUANAS |
Native Americans sent back soldier to get sauna treatment … (7)
|
| A charade of IG, a reversal (‘sent back’) of GI (‘soldier’) plus UANAS, an anagram (‘treatment’) of ‘sauna’. | ||
| 17 | PLACEBO |
… one that doesn’t cure hygiene problem on set (7)
|
| A charade of PLACE (‘set’) plus BO (‘hygiene problem’). | ||
| 20 |
See 22 Down
|
|
| 22 | SENTRY |
Sway in to find guard (6)
|
| ‘Sway in’ must be split into S plus ENTRY (-‘way in’). | ||
| 23 | PLANETARIA |
Sky shows song by Mercury? (10)
|
| A charade of PLANET (‘Mercury’ for example – hence the question mark) plus ARIA (‘song’). | ||
| 24, 24 | BLAH BLAH |
Hogwash in barrel, although emptied twice (4,4)
|
| A charade of BLAH (‘BarreL AlthougH emptied’) and again (‘twice’). | ||
| 25 | REPAIR |
Fix couple one more time (6)
|
| A play on PAIR (‘couple’), with RE to do it again (‘one more time’). | ||
| 26 | EGOMANIA |
Say Arab has a sense of self-importance (8)
|
| A charade of EG (‘say’) plus OMANI (‘Arab’) plus ‘a’. | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1, 21 | STOCKING FILLER |
Present leg (8,6)
|
| Double definition – a small gift, and what is notmally to be found in a stocking. | ||
| 2 | ISLE |
‘Man or Dogs’ passage read out (4)
|
| Sounds like (‘read out’) AISLE (‘passage’); the definition gives refrence to the Isle of Man and the Isle of Dogs, the latter being in London. | ||
| 3 | DOLLOP |
Serving idiot regularly upset ballot (6)
|
| A charade of DO (‘iDiOt regularly’) plus LLOP. a reversal (‘upset’ in a down light) of POLL (‘ballot’). | ||
| 4 | WELCOME |
Appreciated little protection for Malcolm, orphaned and left out (7)
|
| An envelope (‘protection for’) of LCOM, which is ‘[Ma]lco[l]m’ without MA (‘orphaned’) and without L (‘left out’), in WEE (‘little’). | ||
| 5 | TERMINAL |
Change tramline’s last stop (8)
|
| An anagram (‘change’) of ‘tramline’. | ||
| 6 | COSTA RICAN |
American celebrity into abusing cocaine briefly (5,5)
|
| An envelope (‘into’) of STAR (‘celebrity’) in COICAN, an anagram (‘abusing’) of ‘cocain[e]’ minus its last letter (‘briefly’). | ||
| 7, 18 | AURORA BOREALIS |
As a rule, a biro or otherwise can show a spectacular vision (6,8)
|
| An anagram (‘otherwise’) of ‘as a rule a biro or’. | ||
| 13 | CHARDONNAY |
Wine and champagne to start erection? No! (10)
|
| A charade of C (‘Champagne to start’) plus HARD ON (‘erection’) plus NAY (‘no’). | ||
| 16 | ADULTERY |
Perhaps true lady is being untrue (8)
|
| An anagram (‘perhaps’) of ‘true lady’. | ||
| 18 |
See 7
|
|
| 19 | STARMER |
Politician marking time? Changing leaders would be smarter (7)
|
| ‘smarter’ with M and T (the leaders of ‘Marking Time’) exchanged. | ||
| 21 |
See 1
|
|
| 22, 20 | SHADOW OF A DOUBT |
How to fob us off about a couple of advertisements causing little suspicion (6,2,1.5)
|
| An envelope (‘about’) of AD AD (‘a couple of advertisements’) separately in SHOWOFOUBT, an anagram (‘off’) of ‘how to fob us’. For (6,2,1.5) read (6,2,1,5). | ||
| 24 |
See 24 Across
|
|
A nice little puzzle to fill a little insomnia. I liked 23a.
Thanks Philistine and PeterO
Fine puzzle, only holdup was (like with PeterO it seems) wondering why the odd letters of OTOSCOPE were the even ones.
Well, they were the evens from controls then the odds of croupier … is there a trick … too smart for me if so …
In 1a perhaps “controls” indicates the odd letters are under control in the sense of locked up or put aside, leaving the even ones for OTOSCOPE.
Yes, I too queried the odds in OTOSCOPE. Enjoyable and a good level of difficulty for this solver.
Liked PLANETARIA and SHADOW OF A DOUBT (tho there is nothing to instruct us to include a couple of ADs in separate places).
OTOSCOPE
Doesn’t seem to work. Maybe someone will come up with a better idea.
Thanks Philistine and PeterO
Very clever. Some of these clues, they first make you outraged and then delighted once you realise the answer; like STOCKING FILLER, WELCOME (“orphaned”!), SENTRY, BLAH BLAH. Plus many easier clues to make it a doable puzzle… My sense of self-importance went up after solving this 🙂 Thanks a lot Philistine and PeterO for some needed explanations!
Liked LOCOMOTION. Not so difficult and a lot of fun from Philistine. What’s not to like? Thanks.
Odds in OTOSCOPE doesn’t trouble me, even though they are odds in one word and evens in the other. They’re still the odd letters, as in every other one.
Liked the misdirection in IGUANAS , as “Native Americans” commonly defines (north) American First Nations People, but the iguana are reptiles from South and Central America and surrounding islands. After all these years I’ve just discovered that is where the Australian word ”goanna” comes from, when European settlers here likened them to the iguana.
Similarly, the misleading American celebrity tickled me in COSTA RICAN.
Loved the surface, fodder and definition in AURORA BOREALIS, and the tight and humorous clue for LOCOMOTION.
I like paddymelon’s defence of 1a, although I have to be honest, I failed to spot the curio when I solved it.
I wonder if we’re going to see raised eyebrows at the slightly racy language here and there.
If you have to be awake at 4am, this was an enjoyable distraction.
Many thanks, both.
With “wee” (WELCOME), “shit” (LOCOMOTION) and a “hard on” (CHARDONNAY), I had to check that Paul’s name wasn’t at the top. That last one is going to haunt me when I hear the wine mentioned.
Favourite was STARMER.
thanks P and P! in particular for parsing WELCOME which was clever (and beyond me). I’m surprised that no one has noted the four-letter in the LOCOMOTION (great clue!) — I’ve never seen a broadsheet puzzle (or for matter elsewhere) using “such language”
What “such language” that no one has noted are you referring to Ilan @12?
shit – i thought it was obvious
Quite tricky and enjoyable.
Favourite: STOCKING FILLER, CHARDONNAY, COSTA RICAN.
New for me: OTOSCOPE.
I could not parse 22ac and 4d.
paddymelon@3
After all these years I’ve just discovered that is where the Australian word ”goanna” comes from, when European settlers here likened them to the iguana.
Thanks for this! I had always assumed that goanna was an Aboriginal word.
Thanks also to P&P.
Michelle@15. Me too. And I have no excuse. 🙁
Great stuff with plenty of humour and quite a bit of naughtiness. Took longer than par for a Monday but worth the effort.
Like LOCOMOTION, STARMER and CHARDONNAY (never going to be able to read that word again). Thanks PeterO and Philistine.
Ilan @14, but I noted it @11
A really nice puzzle. Took me some time to work out EGOMANIA and ISLE; loved SHADOW OF A DOUBT and COSTA RICAN. Many thanks to P & P.
For those who blanched at the contents of CHARDONNAY, maybe you’d prefer a Semillon?
Michelle @15 and paddymelon @16, the other word people mistakenly think is indigenous is Nullarbor as in the Nullarbor Plain. It’s Latin for (nullus arbor) no trees.
Tim C @11 — we wondered about Paul too!
Philistine a sheer delight on a Monday. Didn’t see the clever STOCKING FILLER until almost the very end. Can’t say I’m quite in the Christmas mode just yet. Thought LOCOMOTION a hoot. Loi was OTOSCOPE, strangely, as I had pencilled in the Scope part of the clue very early on. Many thanks Philistine and PeterO today…
Very entertaining esp for a Monday. Also a bit Pauline (slightly naughty).
Thanks Philistine and PeterO
[Tim C. I do know the Latin for Nullabor Plain. We’re not all that ignorant of older languages, but maybe not so old as Aboriginal languages. I studied Aboriginal linguistics and was simply saying that I didn’t know that ”goanna” was a borrowed word from IGUANA. I don’t know of any other word that’s been borrowed from a European language and ”Aboriginalised” ,)
Like paddymelon @9, I justified it as every other letter, so no quibble, although I note others’ objections. A very welcome surprise on a Monday and not as stiff as it first looked. Favourites were LOCOMOTION, HICCUP, MONTREAL, SENTRY, BLAH BLAH, ISLE, CHARDONNAY, ADULTERY, STARMER and SHADOW OF A DOUBT.
As much as I love his puzzles, I think there are too many references to Paul, when another setter produces a raunchy clue. Tramp especially can match him. Just a slight gripe.
Ta Philistinise & PeterO.
Thanks Philistine and PeterO
Harder than a usual Monday, though very enjoyable. Favourite EGOMANIA.
Does no-one write “hiccough” any more?
AlanC@ 26. I find it tedious that comments keep referring to Paul. That’s not giving the other setters their due. Tramp also good. And frankly I prefer theirs.
Lots of fun, as ever from Philistine – and a splendid start to the week.
Like AlanC and paddymelon, I didn’t bat an eyelid at the croupier’s odds – it’s just a matter of how you look at it. I think my favourites exactly match AlanC’s, (with the addition of AURORA BOREALIS). SHADOW OF A DOUBT shot straight into my little book of classic clues: ‘How to fob us off’ – brilliant!
Many thanks to Philistine and to PeterO.
Splendid puzzle, a little chewier than usual for a Monday, with clever constructions: ‘orphaned’ is beautiful, as is ‘How to fob us off’, and CHARDONNAY alluded to the BREWERS DROOP of recent memory. There are some brilliant surfaces.
muffin @27: HICCUP is the original and ‘proper’ spelling. ‘Hiccough’ is an erroneous spelling based on mistaken folk etymology.
Thanks to Philistine and PeterO
Nothing to do with the crossword (which I enjoyed), but didn’t we gain, rather than lose, an hour yesterday? If I’m wrong, I’m now 2 hours late for everything (including two cathedral services I sang at yesterday).
It puts me in mind of a particularly ingenious and funny TV episode of Count Arthur Strong involving a flying lesson.
I thought STARMER was superb (the clue, not the PM) COTW doesn’t seem like much of an accolade on a Monday – COTM or even COTY? Also podium places for SENTRY, WELCOME & COSTA RICAN
I thought we might be in for some “stiff drink” jokes but Bullhassocks@20 is much classier 🙂
Cheers P&P
A most enjoyable start to the week, what fun. Thanks Philistine and PeterO.
[paddymelon @25, I didn’t mean to infer any ignorance on your part. If it read that way, I apologise. I only mentioned it as it seems to be a common misconception that Nullarbor is of indigenous origin. At the risk of further confusion, here’s an interesting article from NITV. I’m off to bed now.]
[ TimC@21
the other word people mistakenly think is indigenous is Nullarbor as in the Nullarbor Plain. It’s Latin for (nullus arbor) no trees.
Thank you for this info. As an Australian, I ought to know these things 😉 ]
I rather garbled my comment in me@2, but people understood what I meant, so thanks for that. I still don’t see how odd can mean every other. Maybe it’s just a HICCUP: didn’t lose any sleep over it – literally!
Rog @31 I thought the same and am a bit puzzled about that.
This felt like it tested me and took quite some time to complete, but without being a slog. There were a good few which I needed to come here for to check the parsing, but it held its appeal throughout.
A lovely start to the week!
I liked ‘sway in’, ‘true lady’, and ‘how to fob us off’
Just as a matter of interest, in MONTREAL, and extended definitions generally, is there a term for words which are not part of the wordplay fodder but are needed for the extended definition, i.e. ‘to be useful’?
Thanks to Philistine and PeterO
Thanks Philistine. Excellence on display as usual — loved HICCUP, CHARDONNAY, STARMER (COTD), COSTA RICAN, & MONTREAL among others. Thanks PeterO for the blog.
Thank you for the parsing of 19D, PeterO.
Very nice, somewhat spoiled by the peculiar clueing of 8a. I spotted the ‘cope’ quickly, but had to wait for the crosser to get the rest of it.
TimC@21 I liked your contribution. I don’t know why paddymelon took offence.
[It’s OK, Anne@42. TimC and I know each other from Oz cryptics. We’re old friends and can speak frankly.]
Loved the sentry and the wine. As a French resident the other spelling of HICCUP was always a useful bonus for reinforcing people’s complaints about how unphonetic English words can be, although (cough, cough!) it ought to be tough enough ploughing thoroughly through them all.
Quite difficult for a Monday but very enjoyable. Some clever devices, eg “orphaned” to mean without MA. My favourite was PLANETARIA for the well-disguised definition (“Sky shows”) and the great surface.
8a was indeed a bit strange. I note the comments that “odds” could just mean every other letter, but every other letter of “controls croupier” would be OTOSRUIR or CNRLCOPE. But I twigged what was required so no major problem.
Many thanks Philistine and PeterO.
Re 8ac: Should this read “Device that examines and EVEN controls croupier’s odds” ?
Re discussions about 8 across, if odds can mean the intermittent spacing of “even” letters, presumably evenly could refer to the regular spacing of “odd” letters?
Agree 8a doesn’t quite work, Judith g@46 is an improvement.
I don’t often comment here but really enjoyed this puzzle, very witty with some clever clues.
I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed a crossword as much as this.
Normally I tick clues that impress me – but by about halfway through there were so many ticks it was just getting silly!
Like many others, I shall never think of CHARDONNAY in the same way again and I thought 11A was an admirably succinct and smoothly-colloquial surface. MONTREAL was masterly, HICCUP and STOCKING FILLER made me grin – and ACME was a little beauty!
(Plus it reminded me of Wile E Coyote & the Roadrunner. Meep-meep!)
Thanks to PeterO for the blog – and three cheers for Philistine!
It’s possible that the OTOS in 8A refers to an abbreviation for “One Time Only Set-up” which is an industrial form of control for automated machinery. That would be a fairly niche piece of knowledge though.
Great puzzle, enjoyed it all. Finished most of it before I went to sleep and the rest at 3am when I woke up for a bit.
Thanks to Philistine and PeterO.
The smut reminded me more of Cyclops in Private Eye (AKA Brummie, here). Really enjoyable, if a bit of a stiffy for a Monday.
Tricky in places. Loi 1/21 STOCKING FILLER. Great clue — very concise with only two small words. The only downside is that “Present leg” isn’t very meaningful. In Canada we’d say STOCKING STUFFER. Lots of other favourites, including 10a ACME (concise, with a surface that is meaningful), 11a LOCOMOTION (ooh!), 14a MONTREAL (for the Canadian reference!), 22a SENTRY (for the “sway” fission), 23a PLANETARIA (great misdirecting surface)
24/24 BLAH BLAH, interesting to see the same word repeated in the grid
I thought this was a good one. I wasn’t bothered by the OTOSCOPE issue, although I too had the scope before the rest. I enjoyed writing AURORA BOREALIS straight in and BLAH BLAH was fun. There loads of good clues today. I like CHARDONNAY bone dry in summer and full-bodied in winter, but that’s just me.
Thanks Philistine, PeterO and everyone else.
Good fun with lots of lovely clues. Despite the valiant attempts to explain the parsing of OTOSCOPE, I think it’s just a mistake. As others have pointed out it is not every other letter because the S and C are consecutive. Something like … ‘and regularly controls croupier’s odds’ would have been fine.
I agree with Robi, looks like a mistake to me too.
Can we please find a word to replace “smut” (Steppie@52) with the meaning “word that would not be used in polite conversation, especially with one’s grandmother, but usually passes without mention in crosswords because we’re all grown ups aren’t we”? I’m fortunate (Wellbeck@49) in that I never think of CHARDONNAY at all, in fact I needed all the wordplay to help me to spell it!
Thanks to Philistine for a gloriously witty puzzle and to PeterO for defying jet lag while staying in one place.
Brilliant again from Philistine, displaying a variety of misdirections and clever manipulations of letters and words. I left BLAH BLAH (because I couldn’t get it in a reasonable time), but I got everything else. I thought the clue to OTOSCOPE had to be either a mistake or an unsolved mystery, but I did like JudithG’s suggestion @46 (to insert the word ‘even’). It seems that my favourite clues were those listed by AlanC @26 (even including BLAH BLAH now that I get it), as supplemented by Eileen @29 (with AURORA BOREALIS).
Thanks to Philistine and PeterO.
I got the COPE bit, thought “aha! – it’s some kinda scope…”, spotted the S and failed to notice that not all the odds were odd. I think it’s just a HICCUP. What does an OTOSCOPE do, anyway? Look down your ears? (Looks at Google… oh yes, one of those.)
Great fun today with LOCOMOTION and SENTRY and STOCKING FILLER and… and… Great surfaces too. I was surprised that Philistine got away with CHARDONNAY, but I have no objection to it.
Anyone else trying to find a Queen number for what turned out to be PLANETARIA?
Otoscope was an error. My apologies, and thank you for all the positive comments
bodycheetah@32 – I do agree with you about the clue for STARMER – superb! There was a lot of joy to be had. And what a delightful surprise for a Monday!! (somewhat makes up for last Thursday?!)
Wonderful
Huge thanks, Philistine!
That was fun! Thank you Philistine.
Funny – I’d noted the hidden erection in chardonnay for many years and wondered who would be brave enough to use it. Where’s Paul?
Gladys@58 – I was looking for a Queen song too. Perhaps there could also have been a reference to Brian May, given the topic.
The discovery that
TRAMLINE = TERMINAL
TRUE LADY = ADULTERY
has changed my life!
Philistine1@59, …but not an egregious one. The clue was witty, and the error didn’t impede solving.
Mig@53, as a fellow Canuck I too call them STOCKING STUFFERS. I think the surface is fine, if you treat “present” as a verb. (e.g., Lift skirt and present leg.)
I share the sentiment of Wellbeck@49 – my experience exactly. Philistine is one of my favourite setters and I’ll add my three cheers.
13 down is my favourite clue of the year I think. Brilliant Philistine.
Enjoyed this. Agreed with suggestions to improve OTOSCOPE clue. My only other slight quibble, although I got the parsing, was in 4d, where I think to be orphaned you had no MA and no PA.
Thanks Philistine and PeterO
I agred with Stephen @67. Is a child without a Ma, but who has a Pa, an orphan?
Slight quibble over the definition for PLACEBO. The placebo effect means that it could cure, despite not having any active components!
In an anthology I once owned there was a list of classic crossword clues from the 1930s: one of them was “An orphan has neither – a widely accepted view” to clue PA-NOR-A-MA.
muffin@69 I wondered about that too but decided the point of a placebo is that it’s the belief in the cure that cures rather than the placebo itself?
J@69 et al MALCOLM doesn’t have a PA so when the poor chap loses his MA he becomes an orphan 🙂
Thanks for that gladys@70. Superb. StephenM@67, jeceris@68: My initial thought as well, but online Chambers has:
orphan noun a child who has lost both parents, or, more rarely, one parent.
Thanks both.
Similar experience to gladys@58. CHARDONNAY (ooer missus!) reminded me of this.
Cellomaniac@65, yes “present leg” can certainly mean something (as say a whimsical counter to “present arms”), but it doesn’t have the same naturalness as some truly great surfaces like, say, “top came off” or “3 of clubs” (from last week’s prize). A great clue nonetheless!
Muffin@69: I thought the same about PLACEBO. I saw an article once that surveyed various research studies; apparently up to 20% of subjects reported some benefit from taking a placebo. Of course this was dependent on the condition — anxiety, depression & mild pain sometimes improved with just a placebo.
Bullhassocks@20 I’ve never laughed so much at a comment here, thank you for that.
Correction, me @25. The word IGUANA comes from an Arawakan language spoken by indigenous peoples in South and Central America and the Antilles.
Philistine @59 Thanks for dropping in here to clear up the OTOSCOPE debate. It didn’t detract from your excellent crossword.
solved at 0:01 tuesday 🙁
thought “orphaned” was cute.
i let myself use the check button for otoscope because it was the only thing that fit the space even if the clue was a bit wonky. glad to know i wasn’t going mad.
Loved this! Very tricky I think for a Monday but apart from my LOI OTOSCOPE very fair. I don’t mind too much as it’s a new word for me and now with all this talk about it I’m sure I won’t forget it, and it made me have to fight for my POI STOCKING FILLER which is excellent. I did think that one of the famous things about placebos is that often they infact do cure.
Delightful! So glad I persevered with it today after being too tired to finish it last night. Thanks in abundance to Philistine, PeterO and all contributors to the blog.
[JiA@80 I hope your health is on the mend. )
I also thought that the ribaldry was akin to that in Cyclops’s puzzles.
Thanks very much for the hoot @20, Bullhassocks too – great one.
Cheers all.
Great to wake up in the morning to finish off the crossword and then to come on here, read the comments, and fully appreciate just how good it was. So witty, so ingenious. Don’t know how unusual this is, but it was interesting to see Philistine come onto the blog and own up to their ‘error’ re 8A. Thanks
I thought that the day had changed as well as the hour! Too difficult for me for a Monday – I avoid Philistine as a rule, but was deceived by the day.
Laugh out loud puzzle. Thank you Philistine. Re 8a: surely in the casino odds can be evens?
I know nobody is going to read this blog anymore. at this time… I planned to solve the Monday puzzle this morning (having most of the day off due to travelling for a meeting), but accidentally did the Tuesday puzzle (which turned out to be easier than the Monday one). I just finished the Monday puzzle now after the conference dinner. I scanned the blog to see if anyone mentioned my one gripe (though I must say I did really like the puzzle): an orphan also does not have a pa (I thought of removing “ma” from malcolm, but decided against it because there was no “pa” to remove). I see it came up towards the end of the blog. And yes, PeterO, shouldn’t you have had one extra hour to solve this puzzle after the clocks went back one hour? Thanks Philistine and PeterO
That was naughty but nice! It was a long but ultimately very enjoyable solve for me. Favourites were: locomotion (naughty), Chardonnay (naughtier still), blah blah, welcome (lovely parse), and iguanas ( great misdirection).
For locomotion, “movement crazy movement” might also be a nice clue, no?
Thanks PeterO and Philistine!