The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/29843.
A typically amusing offering from Brummie.
| ACROSS | ||
| 7 | BALLROOM |
Couples go around it, vegetation covering the lot (8)
|
| An envelope (‘covering’) of ALL (‘the lot’) in BROOM (‘vegetation’ – a vague definition for the shrub). | ||
| 9 | CREDOS |
Business’s crushing bloody beliefs! (6)
|
| An envelope (‘crushing’) of RED (‘bloody’) in CO’S (‘business’s’). | ||
| 10 | ALLY |
Colleague (clot!) dumps wife (4)
|
| A subtraction: [w]ALLY (‘clot’) minus the W (‘dumps wife’). | ||
| 11 | CAMOUFLAGE |
Variant of ‘Mao flu’ carried by US composer in disguise (10)
|
| An envelope (‘carried by’) of AMOUFL, an anagram (‘variant of’) og ‘Mao flu’ in CAGE (John, ‘US composer’, best known for the piece 4’33”, in which the performing musicians do nothing in particular for the indicated period of time). | ||
| 12 | HANG-UP |
How to end a verbal communication problem (4-2)
|
| Double definition,the first not requiring the hyphen. | ||
| 14 | STARSHIP |
Enterprise, say, of burglars finally breaking into celebrity joint (8)
|
| An envelope (‘breaking into’) of S (‘burglarS finally’) in STAR (‘celebrity’) plus HIP (‘joint’), for the craft in Star Trek. | ||
| 15 | SKILLET |
Pan’s range of talents (not sex primarily!) (7)
|
| A subtraction: SKILL [s]ET (‘range of talents’) minus an S (‘not Sex primarily’). | ||
| 17 | SYRINGE |
Ecstasy ring encouraged to carry injector (7)
|
| A hidden answer (‘to carry’) in ‘ecstaSY RING Encouraged’. | ||
| 20 | UNFENCED |
Organisation with criminal department initially open to access (8)
|
| A charade of UN (‘organisation’) plus FENCE (‘criminal’) plus D (‘Department initially’). | ||
| 22 | MAYFLY |
Insect might escape (6)
|
| A charade of MAY (‘might’) plus FLY (‘escape’). | ||
| 23 | TROMBONIST |
Player isn’t playing with broom? End of concert! (10)
|
| An anagram (‘playing’) of ‘isnt’ plus ‘broom’ plus T (‘end of concerT‘). | ||
| 24 | HAIR |
Musical refrain led by Henry (4)
|
| A charade of H (‘Henry’) plus AIR (‘refrain’). | ||
| 25 | MOSAIC |
Short period before southern agency turns over decorative piece (6)
|
| A charade of MO (‘short period’) plus S (‘southern’) plus AIC, a reversal (‘turns over’) of CIA (‘agency’). | ||
| 26 | GANGSTER |
One of the Krays, possibly Reg, retired full of dread (8)
|
| An envelope (‘full of’) of ANGST (‘dread’) in GER, a reversal (‘retired’) of ‘Reg’. | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | HALLMARK |
Distinctive feature of hot finale from Diana Krall improvised around Miles (8)
|
| A charade of H (‘hot’) plus A (‘finale from DianA‘) plus LLAMRK, an envlope (‘around’) of M (‘miles’) in LLARK, an anagram (‘improvised’) of ‘Krall’. | ||
| 2, 24 | PLAY HOST |
Compere’s toy army (4,4)
|
| A charade of PLAY (‘toy’) plus HOST (‘army’). | ||
| 3 | MOB CAP |
Criminal group takes cover – that’s old hat! (3,3)
|
| A charade of MOB (‘criminal group’) plus CAP (‘cover’). | ||
| 4 | ACCURACY |
True quality of a cold copper blue (8)
|
| A charade of ‘a’ plus C (‘cold’) plus CU (chemical symbol, ‘copper’) plus RACY (‘blue’). | ||
| 5 | DECLASSIFY |
Schoolkids in worship – remove from security list? (10)
|
| An envelope (‘in’) of CLASS (‘schoolkids’ – ‘kids’ is really an indication by example) in DEIFY (‘worship’). | ||
| 6 | MOWGLI |
Trim foreign girl, not right for wild boy (6)
|
| A charade of MOW (‘trim’ – cut grass) plus GLI, an anagram (‘foreign’) of ‘gi[r]l’ minus the R (‘not right’). | ||
| 8 | MIMOSA |
Bush maligned Maoism (6)
|
| An anagram (‘maligned’) of ‘Maoism’. | ||
| 13 | GOLDEN MEAN |
Lemonade drunk in gallon containers, the moderate way! (6,4)
|
| An envelope (‘in’) of OLDENMEA, an anagram (‘drunk’) of ‘lemonade’ in GN (‘GalloN containers’). | ||
| 16 | ENCROACH |
The lead on Eddie Cochran’s arrangement for Trespass (8)
|
| An anagram (‘arrangement’) of E (‘the lead from Eddie’) plus ‘Cochran’. | ||
| 18 | GULLIVER |
Traveller wants to carry back organ (8)
|
| A charade of GUL, a reversal (‘back’) of LUG (‘carry’) plus LIVER (‘organ’). | ||
| 19 | EDGING |
Creating a border, don’t start being non-committal (6)
|
| A subtraction: [h]EDGING (‘being non-committal’)nminus its first letter (‘don’t start’). | ||
| 21 | NARROW |
Mean to get slimmer (6)
|
| Double definition. | ||
| 22 | MUTINY |
Greek character leading pocket uprising (6)
|
| A charade of MU (‘Greek character’) plus TINY (‘pocket’ as in pocket battleship) | ||
| 24 |
See 2
|
|
A couple of times I thought my general knowledge may be stretched by people who turned out to be anagram fodder. NARROW was my biggest hold up in a swiftish solve.
This was enjoyable and quite a lot easier than yesterday, I liked DECLASSIFY, TROMBONIST and SKILLSET.
Thanks Brummie and PeterO
I can’t put it better than Martin@1
That includes the likes.
And the thanks.
Liked SKILLET and DECLASSIFY.
Two very minor points:
TROMBONIST
Took the last T to be outside the anagram fodder.
ENCROACH
Took the E to be outside the anagram fodder.
Thanks Brummie and PeterO.
Two sittings four hours apart and a rare occurrence of having parsed everything.
Very enjoyable.
Thanks PeterO and Brummie.
And so back to bed.
Nice puzzle.
I interpreted the wordplay for TROMBONIST and ENCROACH just as KVa@3. I think leaving alone letters that are already in the right position is a more minimalist approach, and so is to be preferred.
Tx B&P
Good fun today, plenty of smiles. I had MUTANT for 22d — no wonder I couldn’t parse it. New to me MOWGLI, MOB CAP & the Krays.
Thanks Brummie and PeterO
Lots of lovely clues. Favourites STARSHIP, GOLDEN MEAN, and GANGSTER. MOWGLI was a great clue as well, but might be a bit difficult if you didn’t have the GK.
I can’t see how “wants” fits in the clue for GULLIVER.
My vocabulary was being stretched, but the abundance of anagrams helped. I didn’t get MOB CAP; SKILLET was my jorum. I liked the combination of words containing ALL in NW; GANGSTER brought to mind the great Tom Hardy in “Legend”. Thanks Brummie and PeterO!
GDU @6: I’m surprised you have never heard of The Krays. They are probably the most notorious gangsters ever to pollute the streets of London. The movie Legend, starring Tom Hardy as both Ronnie & Reggie, would be a great introduction to their story.
Pretty straightforward for this setter, with lots of witty clues. I really liked HANG-UP, STARSHIP, SKILLET and ENCROACH but there were other ticks. Hadn’t heard of MOB CAP but easy enough from the wordplay. I noticed a lot of double LL clues with BALLROOM, ALLY, HALLMARK, SKILLET and GULLIVER, although probably nothing in it. I wonder if HAIR will ever disappear from these crosswords?
Layman @8, I’ve just seen your comments, great minds and all that 😉
Ta Brummie & PeterO.
muffin@7
GULLIVER
The ‘wants’ in the clue seems redundant as you say. Maybe someone has an explanation.
Fun, but over too quickly! I liked SKILLET
Thanks Brummie and PeterO
I’m not sure if the 10 metre tall mimosa in the garden is a mere bush!
Lovely stuff from an accomplished setter this morning.
Slight eyebrow-raise over MIMOSA described as a bush. The one in next door’s garden is surely a tree.
Quite tough but a very enjoyable challenge.
New for me : PLAY HOST, MOB CAP.
Geoff@6 – one of the seasons of the excellent BBC TV series Whitechapel was about the Kray twins.
Good fun. STARSHIP, SKILLET and GANGSTER did it for me.
muffin @7: ‘wants’ is a linker – [solution] wants (ie requires) [wordplay]. I agree that it isn’t strictly necessary but it makes the surface a proper sentence rather than telegraphese.
Thanks to Brummie and PeterO
Protase @15
I see what you mean, but I think the surface makes more sense without the “wants”, even if it is “telegraphese”!
Stuck at SW corner for a bit but enjoyable nonetheless.Favourites:GULLIVER,GANGSTER and MOWGLI.Thanks Peter O and Brummie.
Surprised to be given Reg, but perhaps the clue is too obscure otherwise. Apart from that, a solid Tuesday and not too tough.
I spent far too long over 2D trying to work out what a play host was before realising that compere was a verb here.
A fun work out, fitted well with my one coffee brain.
NHO of a mob cap, so that went unsolved. Also not come across mean as a synonym for narrow, but it had to be that.
Otherwise straightforward and fun, and had the requisite GK.
This went in quite quickly but probably more by luck. I had been reading both Gulliver’s Travel and The Jungle Book to my son recently so they were at the forefront of my mind. I did like both clues.
Also liked STARSHIP, SKILLET (a bit of Cyclops coming out) and GANGSTER.
Thanks Brummie and PeterO
AlanC@9 I think the Krays are probably remembered more by those who remember them when they were a current news story and perhaps the next generation. As somebody born in 1965 I’m aware of them but tend to regard them as a footnote in history that isn’t particularly relevant to me. Maybe they are also more relevant to Londoners?
I agree with muffin re GULLIVER. Traveller to carry back organ seems like a perfectly good surface (and not telgraphese!)
Muffin@7: I had the same thought. ‘Wants’ is redundant. ‘Has’ would have been better i think.
ravenrider @22: Al Capone isn’t particularly relevant to me, (I was born in 1960) but he certainly is in these crosswords.
Thanks Eoink. I hadn’t clicked that compere was a verb here either. I thought with 1D we might be in for a jazz theme…
Enjoyable puzzle. Interesting that broom featured in both 7a and 23a, and Mao / Maoism in both 11a and 8d.
I’ll have that 4’ 33” going round my head all day now.
Many thanks Brummie and PeterO.
Muffin@7 et al. I’ve never liked “wants” or “needs” as a link word, thinking if any is necessary it should be a synonym of “is”, “becomes” or “produces”. However, you do see them both quite frequently. I suppose if I were a setter I might want or need to use them too.
I liked the Enterprise STARSHIP, the well-hidden SYRINGE, the GANGSTER not being Al for a change, and the trim girl not being suitable for MOWGLI.
Thanks Brummie and PeterO.
A game of two distinct halves for me today, with the right hand side of the grid filling up quite nicely. Then got rather stuck with the interlocking HALLMARK, HANG UP, SKILLET and the expression I wasn’t at all familiar with, GOLDEN MEAN. Although of course all the anagram fodder was there in plain sight for that. I liked CAMOUFLAGE and TROMBONIST.
Thanks Brummie for the amusement. I was able to solve MOB CAP & MOWGLI, two unfamiliar answers but I was unable to get BALLROOM & MOSAIC, two things I know well. Funny how that works. Favourites were STARSHIP, SYRINGE, MAYFLY, & DECLASSIFY. I agree with those who think ‘wants’ is not a good link work. Thanks PeterO for the blog.
Enjoyable puzzle. NE took the longest. Made mistakes at 19d EMMING (non-committal) instead of EDGING, and 20a INTERCOM (??) instead of UNFENCED, so dnf
8d MIMOSA described as a bush can be forgiven for the sake of the (excellent) surface
1d HALLMARK, nice to see the great Canadian jazz musician Diana Krall referenced
Lord Jim @27, 4’33” as an earworm is hilarious — well done! I’d post a link of a recording, but that would just make it worse! 🙂
[I did wonder which combination of instruments for 4’33” Lord Jim was (not) hearing!]
Me@32, not that it matters to anyone, but I meant NW
Muffin@33, my favourite version is the orchestration by Milton Babbitt — much better than the original piano version
Fun puzzle. I had 13 to fill in this morning, including 4dn ACCURACY for “true quality” instead of ACCURATE for “true,” which messed up the hidden 16ac SYRINGE. Anybody else do that?
For once I had all the GK, though I’d forgotten the Kralls.
Thanks Brummie and PeterO.
Out quite early this morning, so little left to say in appreciation of this enjoyable puzzle.
I always appreciate clever exploitation of people’s names in clues and answers (Diana Krall, Eddie Cochran, John Cage and the Krays – all with great surfaces).
Other ticks were for CAMOUFLAGE, STARSHIP, SKILLET, GOLDEN MEAN and GULLIVER.
Thanks to Brummie and PeterO.
[Lord Jim @27: Some days I would love to have 4′ 33″ playing in my head 😄]
[Eileen @37
Good example of the usefulness of the Oxford comma – John Cage and the Krays sounds like a pop group!]
Agree that “wants” is necessary in the GULLIVER clue to make it a complete sentence and therefore a more pleasing surface. I thought this was as neat and tidy a puzzle as you could ever wish to see, save perhaps for the double uses of Mao and broom. I also found it easier than yesterday’s Vulcan. Favourites were SKILLET and GANGSTER.
A bush is typically multi stemmed and under ten metres tall.
[Speaking of Cage and auditory minimalism, anyone heard the tiny faint tone in the Mont Saint Michel refectory? When it finally registers, you can trace it to a little wall thingy that reads Sound by Philip Glass, or wtte]
I once attended a performance of 4’33” that lasted under three minutes. The audience castigated the performer for not paying attention to the tempo markings. The performer explained that he left out one movement, to see if anyone noticed.
Re 1a, 26a and 3d, my favourite band is Diana Kray and the Mobcaps.
muffin @39
Point taken – but you may have noticed, over the years(!) that I don’t tend to use the Oxford comma. As for John Cage and the Krays (;-) , I’d rely on solvers’ GK!
Cellomaniac @43
🙂
I sometimes struggle with Brummie, but for once I was on his wavelength. There are lots of different mimosas, from herbs to trees, so some are bushes. I spent too long trying to work Ron or Ronnie into GANGSTER. [4.33 is great but Ornette Coleman’s Silence is wonderful]
KVa @2
By al means treat the T in 23A TROMBONIST and the E in 16D ENCROACH as separate from the anagram – if you think it makes any significant difference (but I am not sure how Dr. WhatsOn @5 sees the addition of an extra element to the wordplay as minimalist).
Mig @32
I had intended to point out in the blog that Diana Krall is a jazz pianist and vocalist (which accounts for the ingenious use of ‘Miles’), but somehow it did not happen. 8D MIMOSA: Wiki says that mimosa is a genus of about 600 species of herbs and shrubs, so I think that the description ‘bush’ is reasonable for many, even if some approach the status of small trees.
Staticman1 @21
Such connections are curious, are they not? I volunteer at a charity shop (which is where I have been all day today), and the other day, among the voluminous donations, was a 3D MOB CAP, complete with ribbons hanging down the back in the style of drawstrings. Good examples of how real life can make itself useful for solving crosswords.
I solved 11a, and had ACCURATE for 4d.
Truly humbled everywhere else.
Valentine @36
I had exactly the same mistake and went so far as checking if seringe was a valid alternative spelling of an injector before the pennies dropped.
Thanks for the puzzle, blog and all the ensuing musical discussions.
General question…in a clue like 20a where “initially” is used, is there any way to tell whether it’s the word(s) before or after that are involved?
Steffen @49
Sorry, it’s whichever works.
Re wants in the clue for GULLIVER. It’s not uncommon to have definition > wants> wordplay. Everyman is fond of wants. I found it strange too at first but have got used to it. A recent Everyman clue: SINCERE Frank wants extracts of vitamins in cereals.
Steffen @49: no, and yes. Which is to say, on first reading a clue like this the solver should be open to the possibility that the solution might contain the first letter of the word(s) either before or after “initially”. Consideration of which part of the clue is the definition can help clarify where the initialised word is. In this instance, Brummie ingeniously misleads us, by sneakily suggesting “criminal department” should be read together, and that the definition might be “access”. And going down those dead-end rabbit holes is where the fun is.
Valentine@36 and Philinch@48, I assumed -A-Y for blue led to NAVY and spent some time wondering what ACCUNAVY meant, again before the painful realisation.
PeterO@46 it’s a bit of a stretch, I’ll admit, but what I was thinking was that after the letter had been introduced, it is (marginally) less effort to just leave it there than add it to the anagram. I can appreciate the counter-argument too.
About “foreign girl”: it seems everything can be an anagrind these days.
Also, I agree with those who would have preferred the “Gulliver” clue without the “wants.”
Still, I enjoyed this puzzle. I thought the clue for “gangster” was very good.
About a quarter of comments have been about ‘wants’ in the clue for GULLIVER, which I think is fine; and another 25% have been about John Cage’s best known work. Which suggests that the puzzle was a model of cryptic 4d, if there was nothing else to write about. My last in were 2/24, when I realised that ‘compere’ was a verb. Favourite GK mention in the clues was for Eddie Cochran, whose Something Else is suggested to help Lord Jim@27 lose his 4’33” earworm, or at least substitute it with something worth listening to. (Probably too late, as everyone’s in bed, in the UK.)
Thanks to Brummie and to PeterO.
sheffield hatter@56. Agree with your opening. Comments do seem to be picky or on another tangent, and not giving credence to the puzzle and the setter. Maybe that’s an understood, and is not spoken about, but then this blog has a life of its own, and is entertaining in its own right.
I was helped by wondering if “compere” were a verb fairly early on, and found this easier than Monday’s too, with plenty of good stuff.
Many years ago a young Bob Dylan wrote – in his general advice to anyone interested – that he thought that it was best to avoid falling into the trap of criticising people for criticising things.
So thanks everyone for everything.
Mandarin@40: I disagree on the necessity of ‘wants’ when more neutral alternatives such as ‘has’ are available.