Today’s crossword has been set by Ringoe, who appears to have set just one puzzle previously blogged on this site.
This was my first outing with Ringoe, both as a setter and as a blogger, and it was a thoroughly enjoyable first experience of this compiler’s work.
I found it to be of medium difficulty on the Indy spectrum, so it was far from a straightforward grid-fill. In the end, I was left with a completed grid, but with an unparsed solution at 7, where the penny dropped only when I returned to the puzzle after a break.
As for my favourite clues today, I rather liked 4, for the “Ark-wright” device; 18A and 21D, both for smoothness of surface; and 25 and 27, both for their less obvious definitions. I also liked the fact that Ringoe spread some solutions over multiple grid entries, which adds an additional layer of interest for the solver, I find.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; a break in underlining separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| ACROSS
|
||
| 9 | ORDINANCE |
Put steps outside at home with men planning (9)
|
| OR (=men, i.e. other ranks) + [IN (=at home) in DANCE (=steps)] | ||
| 10 | PIANO |
Scottish John stops Pilot Officer in quiet passage (5)
|
| IAN (=Scottish John, i.e. a Scottish version of the name Ian) in PO (=Pilot Officer); a piano is a soft, “quiet passage” in music | ||
| 11 | GRILL |
Good and bad to host initially riotous quiz (5)
|
| R<iotous> (“initially” means first letter only) in [G (=good) + ILL (=bad)]; to grill someone is to quiz them, asks lots of questions | ||
| 12/17 | WORST CASE SCENARIO |
Does this foresee terrible cost, recession and a war? (5,4,8)
|
| *(COST RECESSION + A WAR); “terrible” is anagram indicator; semi- & lit. | ||
| 13 | INTEGER |
Two for one for example in Bury (7)
|
| E.G. (=for example) in INTER (=bury, place in ground); an integer is a positive whole number, of which two is an example, hence “two for one” | ||
| 14 | POACHER |
Who might steal eggs — and slowly cook them? (7)
|
| Cryptically, a poacher of eggs would “slowly cook them”; a poacher is someone who might steal e.g. birds’ eggs | ||
| 16 | ESSEN |
Ascetic at last departing for Ruhr location (5)
|
| ESSEN<e> (=an ascetic, from a small Jewish fraternity; “at last departing” means last letter is dropped); Essen is a city in the Ruhr region of Germany | ||
| 18 | DEN |
Study Hesiod’s conclusion in French (3)
|
| <hesio>D (“conclusion” means last letter only) + EN (=in French, i.e. the French word for in) | ||
| 19 | TUNIC |
One donning Great King’s spun garment (5)
|
| I (=one) in TUNC (Cnut=Great King, i.e. medieval monarch King Cnut the Great; “spun” indicates reversal) | ||
| 21 | THESEUS |
Old Greek university plugging dissertations (7)
|
| U (=university) in THESES (=dissertations); the reference is to the hero Theseus in Greek mythology | ||
| 22 | GAGARIN |
Cosmonaut, wildly enthusiastic, to call shortly (7)
|
| GAGA (=wildly enthusiastic, crazy about) + RIN<g> (=to call; “shortly” indicates last letter is dropped); the reference is to Soviet pilot and cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin (1934-68) | ||
| 24 | CEAUSESCU |
Romanian dictator stops hoarding uranium and copper (9)
|
| [U (=uranium, i.e. chemical symbol) in CEASES (=stops, ends)] + CU (=copper, i.e. chemical symbol); the reference is to Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceasescu (1918-89) | ||
| 26 |
See 1 down
|
|
| 27 | EXIST |
Be patronising towards women denied sons (5)
|
| <s>EXIST (=patronising towards women); “denied sons (=S)” means letter “s” is dropped | ||
| 28 | EPHESIANS |
Book in Spanish English twice revised (9)
|
| *(SPANISH + E (=English) + E (=English)); “English (=E) twice” means that 2 x E are added to the anagram, indicated by “revised”; the reference is to the Epistle to the Ephesians, attributed to St Paul, in the New Testament | ||
| DOWN
|
||
| 1/26 | LONG TIME NO SEE |
Greeting from one again and again denied preferment? (4,4,2,3)
|
| Cryptically, if one is repeatedly denied a preferment, i.e. senior position in the Church, such as a see, one might say “long time no see”! | ||
| 2 | ADDICT |
Person misusing horse? Put on an extra court (6)
|
| ADD (=put on) + I (=an extra) + CT (=court, in addresses); the “horse” of the definition is a slang word for heroin | ||
| 3 | INELEGANCE |
Doctor Galen with niece: not Grace? (10)
|
| *(GALEN + NIECE); “doctor”, adulterate, is anagram indicator; inelegance is the opposition of “grace” | ||
| 4 | KNOWER |
Person with assured belief Arkwright heard? (6)
|
| Homophone (“heard”) of “Noah (= “Arkwright”, i.e. the builder of the ark in the Old Testament)” | ||
| 5 | TERRAPIN |
Easy opportunity to bag stray reptile (8)
|
| ERR (=stray, wander off course) in TAP-IN (=easy opportunity to bag, in sport) | ||
| 6 | SPOT |
Kitty after second little bit (4)
|
| S (=second) + KITTY (=pot, fund) | ||
| 7 | MARATHON |
Revolutionary husband taking place in battle (8)
|
| MARAT (=revolutionary, i.e. Jean-Paul Marat (1743-93), key figure of the French Revolution) + H (=husband) + ON (=taking place, not cancelled); the reference is to the Battle of Marathon (490 BC) | ||
| 8 | POSEUR |
Exhibitionist regrets surgery after lift (6)
|
| RUES (=regrets) + OP (=surgery, i.e. operation); “after lift” indicates vertical reversal | ||
| 15 | ANTAGONISE |
Anger on stage in a cast (10)
|
| *(ON STAGE IN A); “cast”, thrown, is anagram indicator | ||
| 17 |
See 12 across
|
|
| 18 | DISASTER |
Terrible blow where driest winds circling it (8)
|
| SA (=it, i.e. sex appeal) in *(DRIEST); “winds”, twists, is anagram indicator | ||
| 20 | CONDENSE |
Cut down knight in cold Danish city (8)
|
| N (=knight, in chess) in [C (=cold, on tap) + ODENSE (=Danish city)]; to condense e.g. material is to compress it, cut it down | ||
| 21 | TICKER |
Watch insect here shedding wings (6)
|
| TICK (=insect, parasite) + <h>ER<e> (“shedding wings” means first and last letters are dropped); colloquially, a ticker is a timepiece, hence “watch” | ||
| 22 | GAUCHE |
Sinister Parisian displaying 3 (6)
|
| The French (=Parisian) word for left (=sinister) is gauche; someone who is gauche, awkward, is “displaying inelegance (=entry at 3)” | ||
| 23 | RASCAL |
Bad hat seen in opera (Scala) (6)
|
| Hidden (“seen”) in “opeRA SCALa”; a bad hat is a scoundrel, troublemaker, hence “rascal” | ||
| 25 | SETH |
Fourth man group hated at first (4)
|
| SET (=group, class) + H<atred> (“at first” means first letter only); in the Old Testament, Seth is the fourth man to be born, after his father Adam and his brothers Cain and Abel. |
Sometimes it’s good to find a setter where one needs to tune in to a subtly different wavelength, and I enjoyed this one, including the multi-word answers.
Shall I be first to point out that a tick is not actually an insect? I accept common usage may use the term to cover all creepy crawlies but we reside, usually quite happily, in pedant land!
Thanks to Ringoe and RR
According to Chambers, ‘tick’ can also refer to the ked that infects sheep. I believe this can be classed as an insect, unlike the usual meaning.
Unaware of the sheep parasite, I was ready to throw up my hands in despair, abandon pedantry and start referring to all quadrupeds as dogs, for simplicity!
Nice to see a different revolutionary and a fourth man instead of the first woman. Arkwright was amusing too, as the clue made me think of clever Dick.
Thanks both. Whilst WORST CASE SCENARIO was excellent, I didn’t get along with all of this. NHOs included EPHESIANS (is it a book in its own right?) Marat running in the MARATHON, SETH in terms of his rather niche position in the good book, and THESEUS the old Greek I.e. they never existed. The latter not helped by me entering in place of the crossing TICKER ‘mother’ in the sense of to watch over, which at least does include an insect.
This was a very tough solve, I found, with at least four or five clues that were a real struggle; so I can’t agree it was “medium difficulty”.
Some novel and devious wordplays, but things like SA= sex appeal = “it” (18d) ; and essene = Jewish ascetic ( 16ac); are a bridge too far for me.
I’m amazed to have solved it, so the wordplays must have been fair, but a bit less obscurity is my level, I’m afraid.
Not quite the fourth man that the group hated, Ringo, but a hard day’s night.
Very clever though, so cheers, and ditto RR
Well, I enjoyed this trip around the world, both classical and more modern… accepting that a tick is not an insect, was not too much to bear, nor the inclusion of the obscure book… the clues were anything but gauche, and raised more than one chortle. Arkwright was a definite favourite, mostly cos I saw it the first time round. Others took a lot longer, but I had time on my hands today, so…
Thanks to Ringoe and RatkojaRiku
I enjoyed this too. Different and refreshing albeit tough. I now have a handy mnemonic should I ever need to spell CEAUSESCU. Favourite was WORST CASE SCENARIO.
Thanks both