Stamp is here with our mental warm-up today.
An enjoyable puzzle that needed a bit of thought but didn’t involve anything too obscure. I liked the sneaky definitions of 18a and 25d and, the double-bluff of “after tax” in 15a where “after” isn’t just an indication of ordering, and the neatly efficient construction of 13a and 32a. Thanks Stamp for the fun.
Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 8 | RUTHLESS |
Hustlers in resort showing no compassion (8)
|
| Anagram (in re-sort = sorting again) of HUSTLERS. | ||
| 9 | TEMPLE |
Model missing at Underground station (6)
|
| TEMPL[at]E (model = a basis to be adapted as required), without AT (from clue text).
On the Circle and District lines, between Embankment and Blackfriars. |
||
| 10 | SNUG |
Tight members of hunting party being sent back (4)
|
| GUNS (people with guns in a hunting party) reversed (sent back). | ||
| 11 | AROMA |
Travellers seen going after a perfume (5)
|
| ROMA (ethnic group of travelling people) after A (from clue text). | ||
| 12 | MIST |
Film audience’s avoided (4)
|
| Sound-alike (audience’s = as an audience would hear it) of MISSED (avoided).
As in a misted-up windscreen: a film of condensation on a surface. |
||
| 13 | ORNAMENT |
To embellish gold, call conservationists (8)
|
| OR (heraldic term for the colour gold) + NAME (call) + NT (abbreviation for National Trust = conservationists). | ||
| 16 | PISTOL |
One fired from shop is to litigate (6)
|
| Hidden answer (from . . .) in [sho]P IS TO L[itigate].
A firearm = something that is fired. |
||
| 18 | BIER |
Stand for stiff drink in Berlin bar? (4)
|
| Double definition. A stand on which a body or coffin is placed at a funeral (stiff = slang for a dead body); or the German word for beer, hence what you might drink in a bar in Berlin. | ||
| 20 | DINED |
From abandoned shed pig feasted (5)
|
| DI[sow]NED (abandoned) without SOW (a female pig). The grammar of the sentence is not obvious, but I think we can read it as “From a word meaning abandoned, discard (shed) a word meaning a pig”. | ||
| 21 | VETO |
Former US serviceman getting round Prohibition (4)
|
| VET (abbreviation for veteran = US word for a former serviceman) + O (round). | ||
| 22 | SCRAPS |
Given spades, cutting ditches (6)
|
| SCRAP (cutting = a small piece cut out of a larger sheet of paper), with S (abbreviation for spades, in card games) added (given) to it.
Ditch, as a verb = scrap = discard. |
||
| 23 | TAPESTRY |
Hanging judge on past performance terminally disposed (8)
|
| TRY (judge, as a verb), added to an anagram (disposed = arranged) of PAST + last letter (terminally) of [performanc]E.
A wall-hanging. |
||
| 26 | MEOW |
Second wicket interrupted by English catcall? (4)
|
| MO (abbreviation for moment = second) + W (wicket, in cricket scoring), containing (interrupted by) E (abbreviation for English). | ||
| 28 | ROGUE |
Disregarding system, turn around in French street (5)
|
| GO (turn, in a game where players take part one after another) reversed (around), in RUE (French word for a street).
As in “going rogue” = not acting according to the rules. |
||
| 30 | OAST |
Head away from seashore, it’s like an oven (4)
|
| [c[OAST (seashore) without the first letter (head).
A building for drying hops over a fire in preparation for brewing. |
||
| 31 | OSPREY |
Settled beside quarry, experts surveying bird (6)
|
| OS (abbreviation for Ordnance Survey = experts in surveying for the purpose of map-making) beside PREY (quarry = the target of a hunter). “Settled” isn’t necessary for the wordplay, so I think “settled beside” is just for the surface.
A big bird that eats fish. |
||
| 32 | WITHHOLD |
Keep back intelligence two hours out of date (8)
|
| WIT (intelligence or understanding, as in “beyond the wit of man” or “scared witless”) + H H (two H = abbreviation for hour) + OLD (out of date). | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | TURNER |
Service inspired by conversion of true apostate? (6)
|
| RN (abbreviation for Royal Navy = one of the military services), contained in (inspired by) an anagram (conversion) of TRUE.
Apostate = one who turns away from their previous faith. |
||
| 2 | THUG |
Time to stay close to gorilla? (4)
|
| T (abbreviation for time) + HUG (as in “hug the shore” = stay close to).
Thug = gorilla (slang) = someone who engages in mindless violence. |
||
| 3 | DEBATE |
Discuss revolutionary plot over high tea (6)
|
| BED (as in flowerbed = plot = an area of prepared ground) reversed (revolutionary), before (over, in a down clue) an anagram (high = intoxicated) of TEA. | ||
| 4 | OSLO |
City spectacles entertaining school on vacation (4)
|
| O O (two zeros = spectacles, especially in cricket where “a pair of spectacles” or just “a pair” means a player’s score of zero in both innings of a match), containing (entertaining) S[choo]L (on vacation = after emptying = inner letters removed).
Capital city of Norway. |
||
| 5 | STRAPPED |
Son caught in thongs maybe (8)
|
| S (abbreviation for son) + TRAPPED (caught). | ||
| 6 | IMAM |
One’s a leader in Mecca? (4)
|
| I’M (one is) + A (from clue text) + leading letter of M[ecca].
Clue-as-definition: an Islamic leader, for example in the Islamic holy city of Mecca. |
||
| 7 | FLESH OUT |
Make more substantial shelf for compiler? (5,3)
|
| Reverse anagram: to a crossword compiler, the word SHELF could be an anagram of FLESH, and OUT could be the anagram indicator. | ||
| 14 | AORTA |
Ordinary accident holds up advanced vessel (5)
|
| O (abbreviation for ordinary, as in O-level exams) + RTA (abbreviation for road traffic accident), after (below, in a down clue = supporting = holding up) A (abbreviation for advanced).
A blood vessel. |
||
| 15 | TENET |
Trustee completely disheartened after tax conviction (5)
|
| T[ruste]E (with all the inner letters removed = competely dis-heartened), then NET (the value of a sum of money after tax is deducted).
Conviction = tenet = firmly-held belief. |
||
| 17 | SAVES |
Husbands welcome aboard steamship (5)
|
| AVE (Latin greeting which could be translated as “welcome”) inserted into SS (abbreviation for a single-screw steamship).
Husband, as a verb = to keep in store. |
||
| 19 | INCREASE |
Where bats are seen to rise (8)
|
| Crease = the area on a cricket pitch where the batter stands, so IN CREASE = where bats are seen. | ||
| 20 | DESTROYS |
Oddly suspend trips around ancient city ruins (8)
|
| Odd-numbered letters of S[u]S[p]E[n]D, reversed (trips, as a verb = falls over = turns upside down in a down clue?), around TROY (ancient city). If you think “trips” is a bit of a stretch for a reversal, we could call it an anagram indicator and point out that reversal is just a special case of an anagram. | ||
| 24 | PRETTY |
Fairly minor heckler finally shut up (6)
|
| PETTY (minor), with the last letter of [heckle]R shut up inside it.
As in “pretty good” = fairly good = good but not outstanding. |
||
| 25 | RUSTLE |
Take lower road in principle (6)
|
| ST (abbreviation for street = road) in RULE (principle).
The old crossword favourite “lower” = an animal that makes a lowing (mooing) sound; rustle = to steal cattle. |
||
| 27 | WARD |
Needing turnover, attract patients (4)
|
| DRAW (attract), reversed (needing turnover).
A hospital doctor or nurse might say “my ward” to mean “the patients in the ward I’m responsible for”. |
||
| 29 | GOWN |
Go west to join new outfit (4)
|
| GO (from clue text) + W (abbreviation for west) + N (abbreviation for new). | ||
| 30 | OCHE |
Having switched sides, slavishly follow line (4)
|
| ECHO (slavishly follow or copy), with the end letters (sides) E and O switched.
The line where darts players stand when aiming at the board. |
Nice to see Mark on Stamp duty. A few tricky parsings but got there in the end. Only ever met RTA in crosswordland.
Stamp should know ‘ancient city’ is always ‘Ur’. For shame 😉
I can’t pretend I licked this Stamp, and like the post nowadays, I took a long time to get there.
No quibbles, an excellent set of clues, with impressive variety.
20(ac) had me beaten ( DINED ), until the crossers saved my bacon; which equally applied to many of the solutions. No prize for me, I mis-parsed 27(d), using (TO)WARD, deleting the “TurnOver”.
Super puzzle, thanks Stamp; and as ever, perfect work from the blogmeister, Ms.Q
Hovis@1 🙂 It took ages to see the THUG SNUG pairing, but they were among my favourites in the end. I had to parse backwards to arrive at “disowned” from DINED. Just the right level of trickiness for me.
I usually find Stamp’s puzzles a relatively stiff but / and rewarding challenge but this morning, tackling the clues in order, as usual, I was surprised to find the answers slipping in rather more quickly than I expected and made quite rapid progress until I came to a stop at 20ac, for which I ultimately needed the blog.
Lots to admire along the way. Along with our blogger, I admired the definitions in 1ac and 25dn and the ‘net’ in 15dn – great construction and surface. I was also quite taken with the spectre of ‘Hanging Judge Jeffries’ in 23ac.
Other ticks were for TEMPLE, FLESH OUT, SAVES, DESTROYS and PRETTY.
I mildly disagree with Hovis re the ancient city, although UR is probably the most frequent one: I’ve met TROY pretty often and THEBES (Greek or Egyptian) is not uncommon. I don’t remember seeing RTA in a crossword but seem to come across it fairly regularly in police and medical dramas.
Many thanks to Stamp and to Quirister (and to E.N.Boll& @2 for an amusing post).
I agree with Eileen that this was less tricky than I have found Stamp’s puzzles in the past, but I really enjoyed it from start to finish.
DINED was my favourite of many ticked clues.
Many thanks to Stamp and Quirister.
Very nicely done. TEMPLE’s fun, TENET tickled me and BIER’s top notch. Etc. Best thanks to Stamp and Q.
Setter dropping in at midday to thank Quirister for a truly splendid blog – everything beautifully parsed and elegantly phrased – together with other posters for their comments. And for the Stamp puns. Very droll.
E.N.Boll&: I’ll confess to initial consternation when an over-hasty read of your first line suggested you couldn’t pretend you ‘liked’ … It was a relief to don the spectacles and find myself mistaken 😉
And, yes, other ancient cities are available … 🤣
I join those appreciating the lovely DINED.
Other faves: BIER, TAPESTRY, WITHHOLD, FLESH OUT, DESTROYS, TENET, RUSTLE and OCHE.
IMAM: Seen a similar clue elsewhere.
Great puzzle on the whole. I found it somewhat tough.
Excellent blog as usual.
Thanks Stamp and Quirister.
Odd how we never see Ctesiphon, though.
Other ancient cities are available? Next you’ll be telling me there are other musical instruments apart from the ocarina. (Ok, (f)lute appears quite often.) I’ll remember to look out for Ctesiphon now that it’s out in the open.
There are even muses other than Erato … Petert and Hovis should keep their eyes peeled for Melpomene, Terpsichore and Polyhymnia. (Mind you, I see the latter was actually used in wordplay – as part of the anagram fodder for HYPOMIXOLYDIAN!)
Nameless old City dancing with king and old queen inspired by her?
Stamp@7…I’ll confess, when I revisited the comments, even I thought I’d typed I didn’t like it!
Perish the thought, a bad pun gone wrong. Loved it.
Eileen@4, many thanks for the name check. Now, to grab my opportunity, I’m writing a book on cryptic crosswords. Suffice to say, my section on JORUMS is titled ” Come on Eileen”. I know that you eschew the credit, but may I cite your contribution to the cryptic canon? I hope so. It’s the best chapter.
Comment #14
It seems to be referred to as RTC (Road Traffic Collision) these days…
Thanks Stamp for an excellent set of clues. I couldn’t parse everything (RUTHLESS & DINED come to mind) but I solved the rest without too much angst. Favourites included TEMPLE, PISTOL, OSPREY, DEBATE, IMAM, INCREASE, DESTROYS, PRETTY, & GOWN. Overall I like the economy of the surfaces. Thanks Quirister for the blog.
Thanks both. All very pleasantly inventive; many admired for reasons already listed. LOI was TURNER – not sure I knew the meaning of apostate anyhow, but I should have borrowed the goggles from OSLO as I’d read it as apostle.
E.N.Boll& @ 13 – thank you for asking. 😉
I can only repeat once more exactly what happened.
In my blog of a Puck Puzzle ten years ago,
https://www.fifteensquared.net/2015/07/25/guardian-prize-26627-puck/
where I first encountered JORUM, I commented,
‘ …isn’t it satisfying to construct an unlikely-sounding word from the wordplay and then look it up and find out that it does exist? [Collins: ‘prob. after Jorum, who brought vessels of silver, gold and brass to King David [II Samuel 8:10]’.
Marienkaefer @27 made the following comment:
‘ … your comment on Jorum reminded me of my late mother who loved clues where you put together a word you had never heard of, and then looked it up to find it does indeed exist. I shall think of them as “Jorums” from now on.’
I resolved to do the same and did so in subsequent blogs, repeatedly quoting Marienkaefer – and was chuffed when others followed suit.
All the best with the book!
I now realize that my attempt to clue Terpsichore as an anagram of Ctesiphon minus the “n” and adding “er” and “r”, was an indirect anagram, so not valid.
Something of a challenge for me and I was almost beaten by the abandoned shed and the ditch cutter. Happily breasted the tape with my favoured clues being the stiff drink in Germany, the kept back intelligence and the high tea discussion.
Many thanks to Stamp and also to Quirister for an excellent blog.
Apologies to S&B for the late posting but we have been out walking today and only had time to finish the puzzle late this evening.
It’s all been said – plus a lot more in fact which is somewhat unusual for the Indy blogs. We had as much fun reading the comments as we did solving the puzzle!
I usually save the Independent for lunch, but today work was insane, so lunch happened closer to dinner. And I live in Chicago, so the book is probably nearly closed here. For that reason I won’t say much. I just wanted to tell Stamp, in case he stops back in, how much I enjoyed this one.
Oh, and re ancient cities, if anyone manages to work Tenochtitlan into a clue, they get the gold medal…
And to join together two other parts of this discussion:
The muse of the steam organ (8)