Bard provides our Wednesday challenge this week: always good to meet a setter I haven’t blogged before.
An enjoyable puzzle: I liked the heavy-going books, the shifty dude and the establishments “done with redevelopment”. Overseas solvers may not be familiar with British comedians (especially those best known for children’s TV) or London teaching hospitals, but I hope they weren’t put off.
11d is a very neat clue with a good surface, and is also the gateway clue for the puzzle: Bard has referred to it in several other clues, both in its direct arithmetic sense and in its useful shorthand sense for a companion at a social event (covering the full spectrum from a spouse to someone you’ve just brought along for a free lunch). I enjoyed trying to work out which of these meanings applied in each clue, and wondering whether 11 might also simply mean 11 (it didn’t). Thanks Bard for the fun.
Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | TWELVE |
Number one more than ten: 11 (6)
|
| One more than ten is eleven, then PLUS ONE (11 = reference to 11d) makes it twelve. | ||
| 4 | SPOUSE |
11’s special flower (6)
|
| SP (abbreviation for special) + OUSE (one of various rivers of this name in England: a river is a thing that flows = a flower).
Reference to 11d PLUS ONE = a partner. |
||
| 8 | HYGIENE |
Audibly welcome Mr Kelly’s sanitary practices (7)
|
| Sound-alike (audibly) of HI GENE, which might be a greeting (welcome) to the actor and dancer Gene (Eugene) Kelly. | ||
| 9 | SLOE GIN |
Legions’ fermented spirit (4,3)
|
| Anagram (fermented) of LEGIONS.
An alcoholic drink (spirit), traditionally made by soaking sloes (blackthorn fruits) in sweetened gin. |
||
| 10 | AUDIOTAPES |
Dictaphone consumables PA used recklessly – tiny bit stuck inside (10)
|
| Anagram (recklessly) of PA USED, with IOTA (a tiny bit, from the name of a very small Greek letter) stuck inside it.
Dictaphone = manufacturer of speech recording machines using magnetic tape cassettes (or recordings on wax cylinders in its early days), before the era of electronic recording. |
||
| 12/1d | TO ME TO YOU |
Catchphrase from heavy-going books, setter falls for solver in the second (2,2,2,3)
|
| TOME (a large heavy book) twice (books), with ME (the setter of this crossword) in the second TO[me] replaced by YOU (the solver).
Catchphrase of the comedy duo Chuckle Brothers, probably best known for appearances on children’s TV. |
||
| 13 | LIMIT |
Maximum allowed to increase tenfold, essentially (5)
|
| LI[c]IT (allowed; perhaps more common in its negative form “illicit”), with the middle letter (essentially) changed from C to M (in Roman numerals, C = 100 and M = 1000, hence “to increase tenfold”). | ||
| 14 | URBANITE |
Citizen from old city thorn in one’s side it’s assumed (8)
|
| UR (a city in Mesopotamia mentioned in the Old Testament, always a good guess for “old city” in crosswords) + BANE (as in “the bane of my life” = thorn in one’s side = a persistent annoyance), containing (assuming) IT.
A person who lives in the city rather than the countryside. |
||
| 16 | INNUENDO |
Suggestion hotel and university done with redevelopment (8)
|
| INN (hotel = a place to stay overnight) + U (abbreviation for university) + anagram (with redevelopment) of DONE. | ||
| 18 | RELIC |
Antique trousered by Yorkshire licensee (5)
|
| Hidden answer (trousered by = taken by = contained in) [yorkshi]RE LIC[ensee]. | ||
| 20 | DATE |
11 or 12 February? (4)
|
| Double definition. Reference to 11d PLUS ONE: date = someone that you pair up with for a specific occasion (or more than one). Or a definition by example, indicated by the question mark: 12 February is an example of a date (and I’m not aware that it has any particular significance for this puzzle). | ||
| 21 | SEE THROUGH |
Briefly fume before violent rumble (3,7)
|
| SEETH[e] (fume = become angry) without the last letter (briefly), then ROUGH (violent).
Rumble, as a verb = see through = to recognise a deception. |
||
| 23 | LADDERS |
Start to loathe snakes and their game counterparts (7)
|
| Starting letter of L[oathe], then ADDERS (venomous snakes, also known as vipers).
Reference to the board game Snakes and Ladders. |
||
| 24 | BRUISER |
Prize fighter rubs one the wrong way, generous at heart (7)
|
| Anagram (the wrong way) of RUBS + I (one in Roman numerals), then the middle letters (heart) of [gen]ER[ous].
Prize fighter = someone who takes part in a fight or boxing match to win money; bruiser = someone big and tough who is easily drawn into a fight, or (according to Chambers) another word for a prize fighter. |
||
| 25 | DODGER |
Department of Defense withdrawing registration for one shirking draft, say (6)
|
| DOD (abbreviation for the US Department of Defense), then REG (abbreviation for registration) reversed (withdrawing).
Draft dodger = someone who makes excuses to avoid military service. |
||
| 26 | ASCENT |
Climb advanced trail (6)
|
| A (abbreviation for advanced, as in A-level exams) + SCENT (trail = remnants of body odour that a dog can follow to locate a person or animal).
Climb, as a noun = ascent = a route up a mountain. |
||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 |
See 12a
|
|
| 2 | ELITISM |
Snobbery in English literature is minimal at first (7)
|
| E (abbreviation for English) + LIT (abbreviation for literature) + IS (from clue text) + first letter of M[inimal]. | ||
| 3 | VINGT ET UN |
Card game score for Pierre – 11 (5,2,2)
|
| VINGT (French word for twenty, also called “a score”; Pierre = a French man’s name), then ET UN (French for “and one”; 11 = reference to 11d PLUS ONE).
Vingt et un = twenty-one = a name for card games where the aim is to make a hand scoring twenty-one points. The English name pontoon is said to be derived from a corrupted pronunciation of the French name. |
||
| 5 | PELTS |
Fur rugs and throws (5)
|
| Double definition. Pelt = the fur of an animal; or pelt = to throw repeatedly, as in to pelt someone with stones. | ||
| 6 | UNEATEN |
Left American baseball team maybe, 11, following one to Orleans (7)
|
| A (abbreviation for American) + TEN (for example a baseball team has 9 players, then “11” = reference to 11d PLUS ONE, making 10), after UNE (feminine form of “one” in French, for example in the French city of Orléans).
Left on a plate at the end of a meal. |
||
| 7 | ENIGMATIC |
Puzzling new game I cracked – triumphant at last I see! (9)
|
| Anagram (cracked) of N (abbreviation for new) + GAME I, then the last letter of [triumphan]T + I C (text-message representation of “I see”). | ||
| 11 | PLUS ONE |
Companion poorly – no pulse (4,3)
|
| Anagram (poorly) of NO PULSE.
Someone who accompanies you to a social event; often used as shorthand to avoid being specific about whether this is your long-term partner or just someone you have brought along for the day. |
||
| 13 | LEND A HAND |
Help learner to complete round of whist (4,1,4)
|
| L (abbreviation for learner, as in L-plate on a learner driver’s car) + END (as a verb = to complete) + A HAND (a round in card games such as whist).
Lend a hand = to give assistance. |
||
| 15 | BAR CHARTS |
Hospital grasping cleaning lady’s figures (3,6)
|
| BARTS (common name for St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London), containing (grasping) CHAR (short for charwoman = old name for a domestic cleaner).
A visual representation of numerical data (figures) as bars of varying length. |
||
| 17 | UPENDED |
Greatly affected writer kidnapped by shifty dude (7)
|
| PEN (something that writes = writer), contained in (kidnapped by) an anagram (shifty) of DUDE.
Turned upside down, or metaphorically “thrown into disarray”. |
||
| 19 | LIONISE |
Give a hero’s welcome to rugby team winning international and latest bit of silverware (7)
|
| LIONS (short name for the British & Irish Lions rugby team) containing (winning) I (abbreviation for international), then the last letter (latest bit) of [silverwar]E.
Lionise = to treat as a hero or celebrity. |
||
| 21 | SCREE |
Loose rock formation in dangerous creek (5)
|
| Hidden answer (in . . .) in [dangerou]S CREE[k].
Loose broken rock at the base of a cliff or steep rocky slope. |
||
| 22 | GUEST |
11 oddly glum, expressionless, exhausted and close to exit (5)
|
| Odd-numbered letters of G[l]U[m] + E[x[ressionles]S (exhausted = emptied out) + end letter (close) of [exi]T.
Reference to 11d PLUS ONE, as in a formal invitation to “Sam Bloggs and guest” which entitles you to bring a partner or friend. |
I had brain freeze on 11(d), PLUS ONE, which was a bit of a handicap, but it didn’t spoil a very entertaining and accomplished puzzle.
I’m not entirely sure I like “figures” = BAR CHARTS, and in 25(ac), “draft shirker” was a bit too obvious for DODGER.
I had to turn to Ms.Q for the explanation of both letter-substitution clues, 12(ac) + 13(ac), but both are nicely crafty.
Excellent show, Bard and Q
I thought the heavy going applied to the catchphrase as it was used when carrying heavy things. A nice mix of clues.