Another puzzle from the mysterious Omnibus, which is speculated to represent a collaboration of setters. I’m afraid I wasn’t too impressed by this one: there are some quite amateurish and inaccurate clues here. Still, thanks to Omnibus.
As in previous Omnibus puzzles, there’s a unifying theme around the song FLOWER OF SCOTLAND, with most of the thematic entries being “flowers” in the familiar crossword sense of flowing water.
| Across | ||||||||
| 7 | THISTLE | Two-thirds of Bath is let out in 13/18 (7) Two-thirds of the letters of baTH IS + LET* |
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| 8 | FIRTH OF FORTH | Violet Elizabeth’s evergreens not available – or they’re mostly lost in 13/18 (5,2,5) FIRTH (“firs” as pronounced by V E Bott in the Just William stories) + OFF + OR TH[ey’re] |
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| 9 | HOBO | Beggar belief at first, smothered by short cry … (4) B[elief] in HOO[t] |
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| 10 | PROSCRIBE | … to ban cheat in writing? (9) CRIB (to cheat) in PROSE |
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| 12 | MAINE | The state of an Antrim river (5) Double definition |
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| 13 | FLOWER OF SCOTLAND | Town clears off old wrecks for a song (6,2,8) (TOWN CLEARS OFF OLD)* |
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| 15 | INCH | Monsters, Inc. has part for Edge (4) Hidden in monsters INC Has – unfortunately “Monsters” is completely redundant except in giving the film title |
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| 17 | BUMP | Remove from flight: early sign of pregnancy (4) Double definition |
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| 21 | CONSTANCY | After scam, South African party’s in a mess – it was ever thus (9) CON (scam) + ANC (African National Congress) in STY (mess) |
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| 22 | DEBT | Flag cut in return of Irish MP’s bill (4) ED[b] (to flag) in reverse of TD (Teachta Dála, a member of the Dáil Éireann ) |
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| 24 | WATER OF LEITH | 13/18 misrepresented elite – for what? (5,2,5) (ELITE FOR WHAT)* |
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| 25 | A FAR CRY | Shed tears after empty aquifer found to hold nothing? It’s not like that (1,3,3) FA (nothing) in A[quife]R + CRY |
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| Down | ||||||||
| 1 | SHOO | Southern peninsula – get out of here! (4) S + HOO (peninsula in Kent – new to me) |
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| 2 | ASTONISH | Surprise when century is first hundred (8) AS (when) + TON (100, a century) + IS + H[undred] |
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| 3 | ELAPSE | Pass – despite online error? (6) E-LAPSE |
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| 4 | OILCLOTH | Protective layer for fool in grip of Hi-Lo fever (8) CLOT in HILO* |
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| 5 | STRIVE | Struggle of five in difficult resit (6) V (5) in RESIT* |
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| 6 | NOSE | Pry? That makes sense (4) Double definition |
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| 11 | OXFORD DON | Put your shoe on, professor (6,3) OXFORD is a style of shoe, and DON is to put on, but “put your shoe on” should be surely be DON OXFORD |
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| 12 | MANIC | Crazy commanding officer? (5) A commanding officer is a MAN I[n] C[harge] |
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| 14 | OOMPH | Low back – acid test of welly? (5) Reverse of MOO (to low, as a cow) + PH (measure of acidity) |
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| 16 | FRACTION | Portion made by breaking bread (8) Double definition – fraction is the breaking of the bread in the Eucharist |
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| 17 | BLINDERS | Athletic feats keeping horses on track (8) Double definition – “he played a blinder” for the first; for the second: I’ve always known the things horses wear over their eyes as blinkers, but apparently blinders is another name for them |
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| 19 | TINDER | Tired – knackered – embracing unknown number – here? (6) N (unknown number) in TIRED* – I assume this is a reference to the dating app, but it seems a bit vague |
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| 20 | LAY OFF | Mitigate risk of fire (3,3) Double definition |
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| 21 | COAT | Layer Cake (4) Double definition |
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| 23 | BURN | 13/18’s bloody start to Ashes? (4) B[loody] + URN (which contains ashes) – a burn is a scottish stream |
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Andrew, I think you have a typo in 22a: it’s EB(b) not ED(b). I couldn’t parse that one apart from the TD.
Hmmm . . . I found this hard to get into, but unlike Andrew didn’t think it was amateurish. I liked OOMPH, DEBT and HOBO. Thanks to O and A.
While an urn may be used to hold ashes, it is not ashes. I thought that most of the puzzle was fine, but solving on the left side of the pond I had never heard of Victoria Elizabeth, although the answer was readily apparent anyway. Thanks to Andrew and to Omnibus (whoever you are).
I initially had set off instead of lay off, which to my mind is a better solution. Wouldn’t firing an employee imply they were at fault, whereas lay off implies the employer is cutting costs?
Thanks Omnibus and Andrew
I agree that there were some rather weak clues. Also some rather obscure references – HOO? Violet Elizabeth? Fraction for breaking bread? Maine river? TD for Irish MP (and why is DEBT a bill)?
Having “Monsters” as part of a hidden for INCH is very poor.
I thinks BLINDERS is a US term.
I liked E LAPSE.
Thanks for explaining FRACTION and the VE reference
I also didn’t like the redundant Monsters.
I wonder how many younger people are aware of Violet Elizabeth Bott? I reread a couple of my old and battered Just William books a month or so ago. Richmal Crompton took no prisoners with her wide ranging vocabulary. This is praise, not criticism.
I enjoyed the puzzle with DEBT holding out until the very end.
Jay @3 – I think in this case the fact that Ashes in the clue has a capital A means it’s a cricket reference. When the winning captain (usually an Australian) is handed the trophy, he / she is handed an urn
As Crispy@8 says, for cricket followers the Ashes and “the urn” are synonymous when talking of an England v Australia series. What puzzled me in 8A was the reference to ‘or they’re” being “mostly lost”, when in fact the answer demands the phrase be halved.
I’m afraid I agree with all the criticisms made by others; in addition it’s a stretch calling the FIRTH OF FORTH a ‘flower’ – it’s basically the inlet of the North Sea into which the River Forth flows; and the ‘mostly lost’ part of the clue is inaccurate – 4 letters out of 8 is not ‘most’ (beaten to it by Sagittarius).
Being a Scot I did like the key clue ‘FLOWER OF SCOTLAND, and also WATER OF LEITH.
Thanks Andrew and Omnibus.
In 19D could an unknown number be a date you haven’t met yet on Tinder?
I enjoyed this (I’m one of those weirdos who actually like a puzzle with linked clues), despite agreeing with the criticisms made by Andrew and others. I’ll add another quibble, which is that, strictly speaking, an Oxford don isn’t necessarily a professor, in fact more likely not.
I’m guessing the theme is a nod towards Sunday, which of course is BURNs night.
Thanks to O & A.
Had to reveal FIRTH OF FORTH. Well I guessed FIRTH but as the third word. Still don’t entirely get the clue but I haven’t done the background reading. Unaware of the place but it looks lovely on Google.
Slowly worked my way around the rest with only DEBT unparsed.
Heart sank when I saw OXFORD DON, I was sure a Spooner clue was going to link to it.
I share most, possibly all, of Andrew’s critiscisms with this puzzle.
I never seem to get on with Omnibus. Is the saying about too many cooks true in this case? The Guardian comments seem to have enjoyed this puzzle though and they are a tough crowd.
Thanks Omnibus and Andrew
Being aware of Hoo (due to proximity), I put that in for SHOO tentatively and was amused to find it was right.
Otherwise, faint praise for this one – it was alright. Satisfying to finish after what I found to be another chewy week, and a fair few moments of enjoyment throughout.
Well I really enjoyed this last night and opened up an interesting thread on the chances of our overseas solvers getting some of the more obscure clues. It seems that many of the older Aussies are well versed in UK geography but they concede it would be more difficult for younger solvers. I agree with beaulieu @10, that the definition of the FIRTH OF FORTH is a stretch. (It had me thinking of the marvellous FIRTH OF FIFTH by Genesis).
I’m slightly surprised muffin @5, that TD is not a well-known abbreviation for Teachta Dála.
Thanks for explaining Violet Elizabeth, that was a real head-scratcher to try and parse, and I agree that OXFORD DON seems back to front.
Ta Omnibus & Andrew.
I wonder if using “lay off” and “blinders” hints at an American element to Omnibus’s identity?
I’m afraid that neither being Scottish, nor being a follower of the Ashes, nor having been an OXFORD DON at one time (and quite right, moh @12, I wasn’t a professor) was sufficient to reconcile me to this crossword, which, for reasons already adduced by Andrew and previous commenters, seemed to me to be, as Andrew puts it, amateurish. After Brendan, Paul and Pangakupu through the middle part of the week, this was a huge let-down on a Friday.
Well, I’ll agree with Andrew. The number of poor clues is indicated by the number of question marks I’ve written down. I’m still no nearer despite the excellent blog about TINDER. Is it supposed to be &lit? Is it required to be tired or knackered to be on there? or is the definition just “here”?
The only one that I didn’t have a problem with was FIRTH OF FORTH as Violet Elizabeth immediately reminded me of Just William as my Auntie used to buy me one of Richmal Crompton’s books every year for my birthday when I were a little lad. They’re on my bookshelves here in my Gloria Soame in Sydernee.
Is a hobo really be definition a beggar?
A lot of local knowledge required, and the Violet Elizabeth sailed right over my head, but I worked it out from context.
Not the best crossword ever.
1 D – A hoo is the old English name for a headland. Most people will have heard of Sutton Hoo in Suffolk.
Lots of general knowledge here – the river MAINE and the WATER OF LEITH, the song FLOWER OF SCOTLAND, the Hoo peninsula, Violet Elizabeth Bott, the ANC and the TD abbreviation, FRACTION for the breaking of the bread. Kudos to anyone who knew all of those: I certainly didn’t. As with other Omnibuses, some clues were much better than others: I liked OOMPH and MANIC, CONSTANCY and ASTONISH, but some others felt very amateurish. Was everything the work of the same person? I doubt it.
For those not from Kent, HOO (an old Anglo-Saxon word for a heel-shaped ridge) may be more familiar from Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, site of an Anglo-Saxon ship burial, and probably the greatest archaeological treasure ever found in Britain.
I agree that FIRTH OF FORTH is an estuary rather than a river, but tides do still flow through it, so technically it could still be described as a ‘flower’. For those complaining about OR THey’re not being ‘mostly lost, try splitting those two words up. OR is taken completely from the surface, and then it is 1/3 of THey’re.
Sorry Shirley. You beat me to it at typing.
As beaulieu@10 pointed out, it’s difficult to justify the Firth of Forth as a “flower”. OK, water comes in to it from the river and moves around, but the same could said for a lake, and I doubt if you would see that clued as a flower.
Thanks to Andrew and Omnibus
In 1d apart from being the name of a specific peninsular(which I had not heard of) according to Collins hoo is an old English word for a “spur of land” and features in the Domesday Book of 1086
And thanks Andrew for explaining many of my unparsed answers
Sorry Shirley@20. I am slow typer!
Easy, if not elegant.
Plymouth Hoe is a variation of Hoo.
Re 11d, if you put an imaginary comma between OXFORD and DON, the solution is not necessarily backward. And some dictionaries (including Collins) say that DON is casually used to mean any academic, so I think this clue is OK. You could say that DON and PROFESSOR are synonymous for the man on the Clapham Omnibus. I’ll get my layer cake.
I don’t agree with all the criticisms here. In particular, re 15a, I know there is a school of thought that any extra word in a hidden clue is a crime, but I’m not of that opinion. If there were three or four extra words that would be a bit over the top, but I would never object to the odd one. And logically the clue does work perfectly because the word INCH is indeed contained in the sequence of words “Monsters, Inc has”.
Also I thought “Oxford — don!” was quite amusing as an instruction to put on a shoe.
It would be nice to know more about Omnibus. Thanks both.
Fully expecting to look foolish here when someone gets out the sock puppets to explain it to me, but re 7a’s explanation, BaTH IS LET. THISLET is 7 of the 9 letters of BATHISLET, so how is that two thirds?
Please someone put me out of my misery!
For those unfamiliar with the delightful Violet Elizabeth Bott, perhaps her most memorable saying is “I’ll thcream and I’ll thcream till I’m thick”
Puzzles like this might make one think that the editor should do his job or that the setter(s) should use testers – but then what would we have to talk about? Oh, we’d find something.
gwd @30
TH IS two thirds of BaTH IS. Then the anagram of let is separate.
Didn’t know that definition of BLINDERS, nor that for FRACTION, nor Sty for a Mess. Nor that there was a River MAINE in County Antrim. Didn’t know HOO, though I quite liked the clue for OOMPH. Didn’t for a while make the (oft used in cryptic crosswordland) transition from Flowers to Rivers. But all adding to my GK, I suppose. Though this puzzle did irk me at times this morning…
This is what happens when you let a great pub quiz team write cryptics 🙂
MANIC the pick of a fairly underwhelming selection
Cheers O&A
Yes, a bit of a curate’s egg, and I had the same reservations as some above. HOO doesn’t seem to be the first answer that one might think about as a peninsula, and I didn’t know the TD. BLINDERS is given as N.Amer. in most of the dictionaries. In the clue for ASTONISH it would have been better to put ‘first of’ hundred without spoiling the surface. I thought the FLOWER OF SCOTLAND anagram was good, and I liked E-LAPSE and MAN IC.
Thanks Omnibus and Andrew.
Think I’ll stick to Codeword – although I did get shoo, bump and oomph!
I really dislike under-defined linked clues. Song is really too vague for such a long anagram. Two pet hates, low and flower. Also disliked the lisping one.
The Forth of Forth isn’t a River.
It’s an Estuary
I seem to be not alone in being underwhelmed by this one. I thought initially, having got FLOWER OF SCOTLAND (nice anagram, though “song” on its own is a bit broad), that I was in for a nice jog through a themed puzzle, but not so. The clue for FIRTH OF FORTH (hardly a river anyway) was weird, and my LOIs were several of the short clues, these being underspecified (COAT) or relying on (OK, slight) obscurities (DEBT).
Being a retired OXFORD DON, I wouldn’t say that means professor, or vice-versa (especially without any indication in the clue that it’s “by example”); there are many professors who are not at Oxford (reluctant though some of my, er, crustier colleagues might be to admit the existence of other universities except just possibly Cambridge), and many Oxford Dons are not professors (even though many new recruits are now “”associate professors” rather than “university lecturers”). Also, as has been said, the clue does seem to be arsy-versy.
Various other grumbles, as with others above, about URN/ashes, HOBO/beggar, etc.
Thumbs-ups to WATER OF LEITH, CONSTANCY, MANIC and a few others, but on the whole, I think I’d rather have a nice walk than take the Omnibus.
Thanks, Andrew, for sorting out various parsings.
Ed@40 the clue refers to it as a FLOWER OF SCOTLAND not a river. I would assume the water in the estuary flows to some extent?
My UK GK fell embarrassingly short today, more Wikipedia than dictionary for me — but that’s how one learns. It surely it was easier for the English everyman, if only there were some sort of idiom for the archetype.
I share many of the quibbles above. But in defense of the setter(s), there was a lovely piece of setting here! I found it very enjoyable how the definition “song” in the long 13/18 turned into both water and plants, a few of them pretty long answers themselves.
Thanks Omnibus & Andrew.
bodycheetah@42: Point taken; though still moot, perhaps. I had a quick mental scan through other possible comparators:
River Severn: definitely a “flower”; Bristol Channel, not so much I think, despite its fearsome tides. Opinions may differ,
Menai Straits: Water belts though it at various states of tide. Is it a crosswordland “flower of Wales”? Maybe.
English Channel, the Humber Estuary… I guess any non-static body of water could qualify at a greater or lesser stretch.
What about, say, the Kennet & Avon canal?
Only did this because I didn’t recognise the setter.
Only completed it to confirm just how poor it was.
Does anybody check these puzzles now before they are published? (I was under the impression that that there was somebody 🙂 )
I asked Google whether estuaries flowed. It assured me that they do. As Monsters Inc is a single signifier, albeit in two words, I didn’t see a problem there. I don’t think all dons have to be professors for the clue to work, any more than all shoes have to be Oxfords.
If you can glean the answers from unsatisfactory and inaccurate clues, then it’s a good crossword as you have to think harder!
Couldn’t get BLINDERS or DEBT and CONSTANCY is a word I’ve not come across.
Nice to see Violet Elizabeth (played magnificently by Bonnie Langford) in a crothword.
I did finish this, with the exception of DEBT, which I revealed, which also gave me the crossing letter necessary for BLINDERS. I agree with much but not all of the criticism of the puzzle. And yet, as an overseas solver, the fact that only one solution eluded me indicates that the setting was adequate. And the FLOWER OF SCOTLAND concept was a fun one. (I did tut-tut a bit at the superfluous Monsters, though.)
Further to whoever mentioned above that a HOBO is not necessarily a beggar, real-life hiboes would actually take umbrage at the suggestion. They accept charity when they must, but are mostly looking to earn their suppper. They’re essentially itinerant workers. Merriam-Webster’s entry, especially the quotations and usage note, is good reading on the subject.
I enjoyed this. Super theme with Burns Night coming up, I was pleased that there was one actual flower among the flow-ers and I don’t mind a bit of general knowledge – most of it could be worked out from the clues and crossers anyway. I did have to look up what an Irish MP was called but I’m not blaming other people for not knowing it – will know next time.
Apparently Violet Elizabeth doesn’t actually lisp in every single book she appears in, but that’s what she’s famous for. Tweety Pie would have been an only marginally more current reference.
I must add to the list of those who found this somewhere between underwhelming and annoying. Let’s hope for a better week next week.
There may be Americans who say blinders for the equine equipment, but I have always heard them called blinkers. And no Americans say blinder for an athletic feat, so it was not an American-friendly clue. Also new to me were the song, the Antrim river, the peninsula (knowing about Sutton Hoo didn’t help), WATER OF LEITH, “welly” meaning anything but the boot, and Violet Elizabeth (and btw I don’t think it’s possible for the same person to pronounce scream as “thcream” and firth as “firs”). I knew there was an equivalent of MP for a member of the Dail but couldn’t remember either the word for member or the abbreviation. I wondered if INCH could be right given the superfluous monsters. I congratulate mrpenney@48 for having almost finished.
I wonder if Omnibus really is a new setter. This is the most Araucarian set of clues I’ve seen for a long time. Very Guardian, and I’d say very promising. Although I’m quite a stickler and wouldn’t mind a few edits (e.g. Oxford Don is certainly funny, but it is naughty too), I hope he/she/they don’t worry too much about the negativity. Even apart from e.g. the wholly mistaken exchange about “or they’re”, a lot can probably be attributed to the blogger’s original criticism at the top. That always seems to be something of a starting gun.
By the way, the last mainstream TV adaptation of Just William was in 2010, and it did pretty well. It’s old as a reference but not quite dead?
Although there were clues I didn’t care for (DEBT and BLINDERS) in particular), I think “amateurish” is a rather harsh criticism, even when shared among several setters.
19D must be a sort of &lit, but I’m not enough of an expert to say whether it actually parses properly.
You could humourously say that Tinder is a place where, when tired, you embrace an unknown number (of people).
@54 I like that clue. It’s what used to get called a “semi-&lit”, I think. My parsing was that “this” refers to the preceding phrase only, “embracing unknown numbers” – ie the unknown number of people you “embrace” (possibly a euphemism) might be on tinder. Your parsing works too – I suppose all that “embracing” could get tiring.
Just William originated in book form, and is still widely read and available in the children’s section of most bookshops: how recently it has been on TV isn’t really that relevant.
Finished it but not happy with my parsing. No idea TD was Irish MP, or fraction was ‘breaking bread’
@42 bodycheetah.
An Estuary is tidal. The Firth of Forth is not a river
An AI, in response to my question “was the lisp always at the beginning of words” said:
End of words: She would say “dogth” instead of “dogs” or “kith” instead of “kiss”.
Middle of words: She said “fairieth” for “fairies” and “muth” for “must”.
Beginning of words: Most famously, she said “thick” for “sick” and “thcream” for “scream”.
Almost there.
I quite like connected clues, though it did take me a while to suss today’s key. I got hung up on their being Burns’ songs
Thanks Andrew for the blog.
I agree with almost all criticisms above; I think it is time for the editor to 20d Omnibus
Herb@52 I felt exactly the same before and after l read the blogger’s blurb. I wrote it on the Graun’s comments before I read this blog. I think you should credit us with a bit more intestinal fortitude.
Ed@58 The point body cheetah and I are making that the Firth of Forth does not need to be a river to be a flower, just something that flows. William Wallace’s wounds could also be Flowers of Scotland.
Petert @61: exactly. As an estuary, it’s tidal, thus it (ebbs and) flows.
Most of my quibbles have been mentioned by Andrew and others.
Billy Mills @19: I’d say no. A person may be both a hobo and a beggar, but the words don’t mean the same thing.
If Violet Elizabeth said “firs” it wouldn’t have a soft /th/ as in firth, but a hard one as in further.
I completed the puzzle, but I had to do some internet search and I learned a few thing: what is not to like? I found it amusing that some crossword solvers are so much set in their ways that they don’t realise that a flower is not just a river or plant.
Apart from my pet peeve of deploying an ellipsis to no purpose (between 9 and 10 across) other than to shirk having to construct two complete sentences, I didn’t have a problem with the clueing here. The redundant “Monsters” isn’t terribly pleasing but it’s not offensive. I’ve never read or watched Just William, but it’s no more obscure gk than Ivan Lendl on Wednesday or most of Paul’s (no spoilers) on Tuesday. Equally, there’s nothing for the pantheon either though I did think CONSTANCY was quite good.
Thanks to the Omnibus collective, and to Andrew for sorting out a number of things for me. Maybe the HOO peninsula deserves to be less obscure since Dickens had it in mind for the opening scenes in Great Expections where Pip encounters Magwitch, and David Lean filmed on location there for his 1946 adaptation.
Why there is an ellipsis in 9 across and 10 across?
I can see that the two clues run together as a complete sentence but they work as standalone clues too.
Thanks for the blog , #@&% $£* <@#^ ?
I too think the criticism is a bit overdone. One or two could be better, but overall I enjoyed it, particularly the theme clue’s anagram. Clueing 11 as Putting your shoe on, professor? may have better.
Unable to parse FRACTION or DEBT as I lacked the necessary GK.
Fun theme. Thanks, Andrew and Omni.
Me@6 I think the reason I don’t like the redundancy of Monsters is that Inc. contains 3/4 of INCH and the Monsters part didn’t make it any less obvious to me. I don’t think there’s a neat link between the film and Edge which would make the clue wittier than an alternative.
I’ve no problem with a clear multi-word signifier, maybe ‘Alice in Chains’ would have been more relevant?
Anyway I thought the anagrams were good and the loose definitions washed over me.
Not my favourite puzzle, I have to say.
Having lived on the Hoo peninsula, I think our overseas solvers would struggle with that.
Was confused by 7a, I had it as only 50% of baTH + IS + LET for the anagram.
Thanks both.
#63 Regardless of pronunciation of FIR-TH, the spelling – what you write in as the answer – is the same.
A hobo is an itinerant worker – and as the old gag has it, a tramp is an itinerant non-worker and a bum is a non-itinerant non-worker. Surely a sea inlet ebbs and flows?
Thanks both,
There’s a bit of title creep going on these days. Most American students would call all of their lecturers ‘Professor’ and quite a few UK universities are calling senior lecturers ‘associate professors’. So we crusties who earned our titles the hard way are just going to have to get used to it.
I hardly ever do the weekday crossword and thought this one was ok, if not sparkling.
I’ll be back for the Saturday prize.
Dave @59
“I think it is time for the editor to 20d Omnibus”
oh, i’m with you, but i’m convinced Alan is actually one of the setters.
hold onto your stats moal &co., it’s going to be an interesting year.
I don’t comment often but I didn’t think this crossword was particularly bad. 15a was a bit off but was easy enough to solve. 2a was good and 19a made me chuckle.
vinny@51, you press hard on the accelerator with your boot or your welly to get more oomph out of your motor.
re the two-thirds of Bath, ‘T’ is one third of Bath and ‘H’ is one third of Bath making in total two thirds of Bath.
TimC @79 – ‘T’ is one quarter of BATH, ‘H’ is also one one quarter of BATH. 1/4 + 1/4 = 1/2, surely?
I rather liked the theme, had the same GK holes as others, and thought that the clue for DEBT perhaps supported the theory of this being a collaboration. I guessed that TD was Irish for AM, MP, etc. but couldn’t bother searching.
I prefer puzzles where I know that I’m being challenged by a particular mind, however.
Have a good weekend all.
Given that Edge is a former famous wrestler and is an actor, and that he could conceivably be cast as a monster, I feel that 15a is fair enough. Admittedly, I knew neither of those things about him until I looked him up today!
TomK 82,
That nails it for me, thanks.
Unlikely that TomK@82 will read this, but having just finished this puzzle (had no time for it on Friday or Saturday), I am not satisfied with his reasons for finding 15a ok. I like to be sure that an answer is right, but the presence of ‘Monsters’ introduces an uncertainty. I don’t like having to do online searches to find that there was a wrestler and actor called ‘Edge’ who “could conceivably be cast as a monster” – this is all speculative and requires extra work that a more soundly written clue would not have.
I don’t think I’ve ever written so many question marks alongside clues before.
Thanks to Andrew, and commiserations that you had to suffer through this unpolished effort at a crossword on our behalf.
I had to look up the Irish river, at which point I discovered that the Main is in County Antrim; the Maine is in County Kerry!
We found this tough but not as annoying as some here have. I had forgotten the wonderful Violet Elizabeth (Baz had never met her) and had to google, as also TD, HOO, and the Antrim river. No problem with a flowing estuary or with TINDER as a site to embrace unknown numbers, but agree that the phrasing of 11d is awkward and that (at least until recently) “professor” for any academic is an Americanism. (I found it amusing being called professor by my students in my first full-time academic job there many years ago.) Also agree that a HOBO is not a beggar. “Monsters, Inc” is a thing, so didn’t see “Monsters” as redundant—just “Inc” would have been very strange.
SheffieldHatter #84 I should have added that Monsters Inc is a pretty well-known film and as such worthy of being mentioned in the wordplay. But yes, people have different views on this sort of thing. There are so many times where I have to look up the references, even where the solution is already clear, as was the case in this clue.
Why is there a Northern Irish river in a crossword themed around Scottish flowers? Apart from this oddity I thought the crossword was a good bit of fun.
Late posting because of a busy week. First completion in a couple of weeks, so confidence gets a bit of a boost. Favourites 12d MANIC (nice pdm), 21d COAT (“Layer cake”)