An enjoyable solve – I especially liked 8ac, 25ac, 5dn, and 6dn. Thanks to Alia for the puzzle
| ACROSS | ||
| 8 | PAST PARTICIPLES |
Dodgy plastic pipes around museum pieces cracked and leaked, perhaps (4,11)
|
| definition: “cracked” and “leaked” are the past participles of ‘to crack’ and ‘to leak’
anagram/”Dodgy” of (plastic pipes)*; around ART=”museum pieces” |
||
| 9 | ADDLED |
After a couple of days, was the person in charge confused? (6)
|
| A (from surface) + D D (two ‘d’ for ‘day’, so “a couple of days”) + LED=”was the person in charge” | ||
| 10 | SCOTCHED |
Frustrated senior journo pursuing hard liquor (8)
|
| ED (editor, “senior journo”); after SCOTCH [whisky]=”hard liquor” | ||
| 11 | THANK YOU |
You shouldn’t have stood up periodically hiding something up your sleeve? (5,3)
|
| definition: “You shouldn’t have” as an expression of gratitude
periodic letters from [s]-T-[o]-O-[d] U-[p]; around/”hiding” HANKY (a handkerchief, that might be kept up one’s sleeve) |
||
| 12 | NOODLE |
Bit of ramen ultimately eaten a lot, but not quite finished (6)
|
| last/ultimate letter of [eate]-N; plus OODLE-[s]=”a lot” without its end (“not quite finished”) | ||
| 13 | PERSIST |
Carry on being cheeky about female relative (7)
|
| PERT=”cheeky” around SIS (sister, “female relative”) | ||
| 16 | EROSION |
Love one playing Disintegration (7)
|
| EROS=”Love” + I=”one” + ON=”playing” (e.g. to have a music record on/playing) | ||
| 19 | ICONIC |
Widely recognised architectural style outside capital of Crete (6)
|
| IONIC=a classical “architectural style”; around the capital letter of C-[rete] | ||
| 21 | NICETIES |
Elegant features of associations in a French resort? (8)
|
| NICE TIES could be read as: ties=”associations” in Nice=a resort town in France | ||
| 24 | KINSHASA |
Family experiences in South America and somewhere in Africa (8)
|
| definition: capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
KIN=”Family”; plus HAS=”experiences” (e.g. to have/experience difficulty) inside SA (South America) |
||
| 25 | BLEATS |
Animal noises filling stable at sunset (6)
|
| hidden in (“filling”): [sta]-BLE AT S-[unsets] | ||
| 26 | GLOUCESTERSHIRE |
Part of the UK rioters trashed with such glee (15)
|
| anagram/”trashed’ of (rioters such glee)* | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | SANDSHOE |
Moved hods wearing sensible footwear (8)
|
| anagram/”Moving” of (hods)* inside SANE=”sensible” | ||
| 2 | STOLEN |
Hot German Christmas cake one left out (6)
|
| definition refers to slang use of ‘hot’ goods to mean stolen goods
STOL-[L]-EN=”German Christmas cake”, with one L (left) taken out |
||
| 3 | HARDLY |
Line penned by Victorian author? I don’t think so! (6)
|
| L (line) penned inside [Thomas] HARDY=”Victorian author” | ||
| 4 | AT ISSUE |
Academic’s third paper up for discussion (2,5)
|
| third letter of [Ac]-A-[demic]; plus TISSUE=”paper” | ||
| 5 | SCHOONER |
Boat rather packed with deckchairs in the middle (8)
|
| SOONER=”rather” (e.g. ‘I’d sooner/rather choose A than B’); around (packed with) the middle of [deck]-CH-[airs] | ||
| 6 | SPECIOUS |
Misleading promise of payment included in project details (8)
|
| IOU (I-owe-you, “promise of payment”) inside SPECS (specifications, “project details”) | ||
| 7 | CEREAL |
Soap maybe picked up; it’s usually sold in boxes (6)
|
| sounds like (“picked up”): ‘serial’, and soaps (soap operas) are an example of serialised TV programmes | ||
| 14 | SENDS OUT |
Posts secured at the front with one stud, possibly (5,3)
|
| definition e.g. in the sense of to post or send something through the mail
first/front letter of S-[ecured]; plus anagram/”possibly” |
||
| 15 | SOCRATES |
I need help taking on case for philosopher (8)
|
| SOS (signal for help, “I need help”); around (taking on) CRATE=”case” | ||
| 17 | OVERTURN |
Upset created by obvious item you can dispense with? (8)
|
| OVERT=”obvious” + URN=”item you can dispense with” e.g. an urn/dispenser for hot water | ||
| 18 | INFANTA |
Admirer cheers to support popular Spanish princess (7)
|
| definition: a Spanish royal title for a princess
FAN=”Admirer” plus TA=’thank you’=”cheers”; after (to support) IN=”popular” |
||
| 20 | CHILLI |
Dish taken from church illicitly (6)
|
| hidden in [chur]-CH ILLI-[citly] | ||
| 22 | CYBORG |
Extremely cocky tennis champ is somewhat mechanical individual (6)
|
| definition: a being with both organic and mechanical parts
extreme/outer letters of C-[ock]-Y; plus [Björn] BORG=”tennis champ” |
||
| 23 | TEETHE |
Cut, in a way, assistance for driver, mostly at that time (6)
|
| definition as in ‘to cut one’s teeth’=TEETHE
a TEE supports a golf ball for a golfer’s drive stroke=”assistance for driver”; plus most of THE-[n]=”at that time” |
A very welcome visit from Alia again. The bottom half went in smoothly but I struggled with the NE with CEREAL loi. It certainly helped getting the brilliant PAST PARTICIPLES and GLOUCESTERSHIRE early on. Lots of ticks with too many to list.
Ta Alia & manehi.
I was confused by 25a, BLEATS, because bleats is an anagram of stable so I didn’t recognise it as a hidden word clue. Sunset was then redundant and filling didn’t seem an adequate anagrind. Otherwise, very enjoyable. This week is going much better than last week.
Thanks Alia and manehi
I didn’t parse EROSION – thanks for that.
I don’t see why “in a way” is needed in 23d.
Favourite AT ISSUE.
Lovely puzzle.
Favourite: STOLEN.
Yes muffin, I had the same thought about ‘in a way’.
Even though I got the long ones at 8ac and 26ac very early on, excellent clues both, this became a grid of two halves. The bottom half went in quite swiftly but the top half was slow to yield, with question marks about whether several of the definitions were precise enough. SCOTCHED, THANK YOU and EROSION for three. Having said all that, my last one in today was OVERTURN in the bottom half.
Whenever I see the word GLOUCESTERSHIRE I hear resonations of that wonderful last line of Edward Thomas’s poem Adlestrop…
Nice to see Alia back. After drawing a blank on a first quick scan of the upper half, I hit paydirt in the lower section with GLOUCESTERSHIRE (good anagram, though in current circumstances I hesitate to describe it as “nice”), and then was able to work upwards fairly smoothly.
Lots to like, but especial ticks to THANK YOU for its neat construction, CYBORG for the image invoked of The Terminator on Centre Court, and OVERTURN for resisting the obvious cricket term and the devious “item you can dispense with ” for “urn” . BLEATS was neatly hidden, and PAST PARTICIPLES was a great surface for an exemplary definition.
Thanks to manehi for the blog (for some reason I didn’t clock the parsing for SOCRATES) and of course to Alia for a pleasant pre-bedtime wind-down.
Like AlanC@1, I had all the bottom with little in the top. Then the NW went in, and left me with but one entry in the NE: SPURIOUS at 6d (‘spurs’ project, don’t they? Snap, Petert). Once I sorted that, the rest followed. Favourites CYBORG and THANK YOU – the latter to Alia and manehi.
I liked the rioters in Gloucestershire and the moment I realized how you could dispense with an urn. I tried to convince myself that spurs were details that projected before specs finally came to mind.
Alia is fast becoming a welcome name to see associated with a puzzle and this was another typically clean, largely succinct and elegant puzzle with lots to like. Delightful anagram for GLOUCESTERSHIRE! INFANTA, CYBORG, SCHOONER, KINSHASA, STOLEN and HARDLY my faves.
Thanks both
Petert @9: me too re spurious/SPECIOUS, but sadly, I wrote mine in and had to wait for the excellent SCOTCHED before putting things to rights.
Very enjoyable crossword, many thanks both.
I too had SPURIOUS first.
Muffin@3 and AlanC@5 I took in a way to imply that teethe is an example of cut, rather than a definition
Good fun, so thanks to both Alia and manehi
Good fun. The two long anagrams are excellent clues with smooth surfaces; all the clues read well (apart from TEETHE, which I found a bit clunky). Other favourites were SOCRATES and INFANTA. I’m afraid I don’t agree with the praise for THANK YOU – having ‘you’ in both the clue and solution was the one inelegance in an otherwise beautifully crafted puzzle.
I was another who toyed with ‘spurious’ before spotting SPECIOUS.
Thanks to manehi et Alia
Me also, for SPURIOUS / SPECIOUS. A trap neatly laid, or an accidental near- ambiguity? Maybe Alia will drop in to say.
Nice to see “you shouldn’t have” as the definition rather than used to produce TA in the wordplay, as it usually is – even if the repeated “you” irritates the purists. Alia is refreshingly different without being obscure: I liked the dispensing urn and the CEREAL boxes (my last in). After having it fairly recently, it took time to convince me that the place in Africa wasn’t BOTSWANA, which fits three of the crossers but of course wouldn’t parse.
My first pass yielded a few in the bottom half, so I then had to work upwards. Largely, pleasing surfaces for an enjoyable solve. I liked the two long ‘uns, EROSION for a good, but misleading, charade, the surfaces for SCHOONER and SENDS OUT, and the cutting TEETHE.
Thanks Alia and manehi.
A slightly more difficult Alia offering but still amongst the more approachable Guardian setters.
Lots of fun with this. I did it at 5am (so forgotten all my likes) but remember enjoying STOLEN and GLOUCESTERSHIRE
Thanks Alia and Manehi
I think Socrates is regarded more as a sophist than a philosopher these days.
sophist
[sof-ist] / ˈsɒf ɪst /
noun
1) (often initial capital letter)
a) any of a class of professional teachers in ancient Greece who gave instruction in various fields, as in general culture, rhetoric, politics, or disputation.
b) a person belonging to this class at a later period who, while professing to teach skill in reasoning, concerned himself with ingenuity and specious effectiveness rather than soundness of argument.
2) a person who reasons adroitly and speciously rather than soundly.
3) a philosopher.
I think Socrates had it in for those he called sophists.
“Sophists? You mean the Popular Disputational Front of Athens? SPLITTERS!”
Hmmm. Once again I have the opposite experience to majority (I often struggle when others find it easy going, and vice versa). This one went in smoothly with slightly more than one pass, with TEETHE holding me up a little at the end.
Really enjoyed this. Like many others the bottom half went in smoothly first and the top half more of a struggle. Took far too long to get PAST PARTICIPLES. Nho SANDSHOE as one word but easy to work out. Favourite CYBORG.
For me, the top half was easier than the bottom. I know it’s standard procedure to use ED for journalist, but most editors are ex-journalists. Just a personal quibble.
Difficult, but got through. Enjoyed the struggle.
Thanks Alia and Manehi
Muffin@3, AlanC@5 and DropBear@13. We decided ‘in a way’ in 23d went with the wordplay for tee. (Ie assistance for driver in a fairway)
Nice puzzle. I’m quite inter Alia, so to speak, among Guardian setters. This one got off to a great start with the seemingly forbidding but actually ingenious PAST PARTICIPLES, and kept up a satisfying standard right through to last one solved CEREAL.
Billy Mills @25 — I agree with your point about the overused -ED for journalist; it’s a bit of crossword cliche, like OR for men and flower for river.
I don’t suppose we’ll see the practice cease any time soon, but alternatives for both -ED and journalist would be most welcome.
Anyway, thanks to A&M.
A straightforward but fine puzzle, with 26 my favourite. I groaned as I entered 19, since it’s such an overused word these days; it seems you can’t listen to any radio programme for more than ten minutes without hearing it. Thanks, Alia and manehi.
This fell into place fairly readily, except the NE, which held out the longest. Like AlanC@1, gladys@16, and 1961Blanchflower@28, 7d CEREAL was loi (I had feared the clue was referring to some UK brand of soap I’d never heard of, but I needn’t have worried). Favourites 9a ADDLED (“was the person in charge” cleverly hidden in the form of a question), 12a NOODLE (“Bit of ramen” was a nice misdirecting definition, looking like wordplay), 25a BLEATS (well hidden), 15d SOCRATES (“I need help” = SOS), 18d INFANTA (good surface)
20d I used to spell CHILLI with two L’s, until I recently tried to correct a restaurant that had only one. I discovered to my surprise that in NA it’s spelled CHILI, which I’d never noticed before!
manehi, 14d SENDS OUT you’ve left out the anagrist, “one stud”
Thanks for the wonderful puzzle and blog
Well, I thoroughly enjoyed that. Since I didn’t get the brilliant PAST PARTICIPLES until late, I was another where the bottom half was completed – and then a long time until I managed the top half.
Perfect because completed, but a good long diversion, with lots of ah ha moments, like STOLEN, CEREAL and AT ISSUE (and, of course, 8 across).
Enjoyed this. LOI was the far-too-long-taking PAST PARTICIPLES, nice clue. Fave was THANK YOU. Thank you.
I wasn’t as impressed by PAST PARTICIPLES as most here. I thought “museum pieces” to give ART was rather loose; a classic “parse post-guess” clue.
[Bayleaf @27
Using a tee peg on the fairway would be frowned upon!]
You can of course play an iron club off a tee. Fun puzzle. Thanks.
Liked this. Effectively a Monday for me as too busy to tackle the past two days’ puzzles, so I welcomed the relative gentleness. All very neat and tidy, thought BLEATS was lovely.
[@25,@28: Rising disorder after Caledonian gets frustrated? (8)]
muffin@33 re Bayleaf@27 re 23d TEETHE, I agree. The tee box is not a part of the fairway. AlanC@5 and muffin@3, I saw “in a way” as a further misdirection, intending to lead the solver’s driver away from the golf course and onto the roadway.
AlanC @1, Roz isn’t here to congratulate you on your #1 appearance, so I will. However, not being a footie fan, I apologize for having nothing to say about the exploits of the K/QPR team.
Thanks A&M for the ancient (19a, 15d) and modern (26a, 9a) puzzle and blog.
Until I reached muffin @33 I was beginning to think I was the only person who felt deriving ART from “museum pieces” was a stretch too far to get PAST PARTICIPLES. Then again, seeing it was muffin who raised it, perhaps it is only ex-chemistry teachers who feel that way.
Thoroughly enjoyed the whole exercise though and thanks go to setter and blogger.
Mystogre @38
🙂
[Cellomaniac @37: now that made my day. K/QPR had a great win against the top team on Saturday and I’m sure Roz kept a listening watch via her students 😉].
Re. ART, while the UK tends to use ‘Gallery’ for collections of paintings, elsewhere ‘Museum’ is standard,as, for example, the Musee du Louvre, or the Guggenheim and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. So no problem for me there.
[Meanwile, AlanC@40, as a follower of one of the chasing pack, I thank you for QPR’s result at the weekend..]
Liked STOLEN, but then I also like stollen. #16 Gladys. Didn’t know that I was a purist – not experienced enough for that – but I admit I did find that the use of the word “you” in the clue and answer in 16A THANK YOU made me a little uncomfortable. PS #41 Balfour, as another follower of ‘the chasing pack’ I was also happy with QPR’s win. As no doubt was Hoofityoudonkey, if they come on here today.
Struggled with this yesterday (Wednesday). No idea why I finished it off quickly this morning whilst waiting for the Thursday puzzle to be published.
Thanks Alia & manehi
Like others we struggled with CEREAL (Mig @30 we too feared it was an unknown UK soap) and were unimpressed by “you” in THANK YOU, though the clue was otherwise good. NE was slowest. (Just finished Thursday, all very easy except 16d, which we failed to parse, and 13d, which almost stumped us bc we got hung up on the wrong second word.)
Re 11a THANK YOU, if having “you” in both the clue and solution misdirects you from the correct answer, is that not a cryptic device, a bit like a double bluff? I don’t see any principled argument against it.
I thought that this was a highly commendable puzzle.
It was a satisfying challenge, stemming from clever wordplay, but not requiring specialist, esoteric, or other obscure general knowledge, and that’s not to be undervalued.
Thanks all.
DerekTheSheep@22 your “not nice” comment – is that a reference to certain members of the royals living in Glos? It’s not our b****y fault!