Tuesday is theme day and I haven’t solved an Atrica for a while, so I was not sure what to expect today. As it was, an enjoyable and stimulating themed puzzle lay in store.
I was halfway through this medium-difficulty puzzle when I realised that the theme was around clocks and timekeeping, either in the form of individual entries (5, 12, 18D, 19) or a combination of entries (3D + 23 or 9 + 8). Atrica has managed to include an impressive amount of theme words in the grid.
My favourite clues today were 10, for the definition part; 13 and 25, for smoothness of surface; 18A, for the use of the “in the van” device; and 23, for making me smirk. Incidentally, the entry at 2 was new to me but could easily be teased out from the anagram and checked in Chambers.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; a break in underlining separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| ACROSS
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||
| 1 | DEPTH |
Pressure to replace article in the end? That’s as low as it gets (5)
|
| DEATH (=the end, of life); “pressure (=P, in physics) to replace article (a, in grammar)” means letter “p” replaces “a” | ||
| 4 | THREW OFF |
Distracted cast not currently performing (5,3)
|
| THREW (=cast, hurled) + OFF (=not currently performing, i.e. off stage) | ||
| 10 | PURSUER |
Disorganised runners-up withdrawing names one after another (7)
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| *(RU<nn>ERS UP); “withdrawing names (=2 x N=name)” means letters “nn” are dropped from anagram, indicated by “disorganised”; a pursuer is “one (chasing) after another”! | ||
| 11 | RACQUET |
Handled sports equipment – a scam, they say (7)
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| Homophone (“they say”) of “racket (=scam, fraud)”; a racquet is “handled”, i.e. hand-held | ||
| 12 | TIME |
Reportedly leaves something taken by the patient (4)
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| Homophone (“reportedly”) of “thyme (=leaves, i.e. herb)”; a patient person takes his time over something | ||
| 13 | ANGLOPHILE |
England supporter hoping all playing finally contribute (10)
|
| *(HOPING ALL) + <contribut>E (“finally” means last letter only); as a lover of all things English, an anglophile is an “England supporter” | ||
| 15 | CUCKOO |
Bird sound from hen dropping large eggs (6)
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| C<l>UCK (sound from hen; “dropping large (=L, in sizes)” means letter “l” is dropped) + O O (=eggs, i.e. pictorially) | ||
| 16 | GAMUT |
School uniform summer shirt range (5)
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| GAM (=school, of whales) + U (=uniform, in NATO alphabet) + T (=summer shirt, i.e. T-shirt) | ||
| 18 | COY |
Not saying much about old Yorkshireman in the van (3)
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| C (=about, i.e. circa) + O (=old, as in OT) + Y<orkshireman> (“in the van” means first letter only) | ||
| 20 | APNEA |
Trouble with inspiration for Springsteen? Quietly new drug embraced by support group (5)
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| [P (=quietly, i.e. piano, in music) + N (=new, as in NT) + E (=drug, i.e. Ecstasy)] in AA (=support group, i.e. Alcoholics Anonymous); apnea is the US spelling of apnoea, hence “for Springsteen”, with “inspiration” referring to breathing in | ||
| 21 | INHERE |
Exist as an essential part where the definition ought to be (6)
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| Cryptically, the definition should be “in here”, i.e. in the clue!; cf. inherent | ||
| 24 | TRADE DEALS |
Craft moral principles leader ditched for commercial treaties (5,5)
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| TRADE (=craft) + <i>DEALS (=moral principles; “leader ditched” means first letter dropped) | ||
| 26 | HAND |
Palm and what’s attached, a bunch of bananas (4)
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| Double definition: in anatomy, the palm is a part of the hand AND a hand of bananas is a bunch of bananas | ||
| 28 | MIAOUED |
Spoke like a Persian perhaps, but extremely misinformed about every vowel (7)
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| I A O U E (=every vowel, albeit not in the customary order!) in M<isinforme>D (“extremely” means first and last letters only); the “Persian” of the definition is a species of cat! | ||
| 29 | SUNDIAL |
Unreliable time indicator united island in revolt (7)
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| *(U (=united, as in Man U) + ISLAND); “in revolt” is anagram indicator | ||
| 30 | CEMETERY |
I’m kept nearby at regular intervals to follow church burial plot (8)
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| CE (=church, as in Church of England) + <i>M <k>E<p>T <n>E<a>R<b>Y (“at regular intervals” means alternate letters only) | ||
| 31 | TOTEM |
Add space symbol (5)
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| TOT (=add (up) + EM (=space, in printing) | ||
| DOWN
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||
| 1 | DIPSTICK |
Fool declines credit (8)
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| DIPS (=declines, sinks) + TICK (=credit, as in to buy something on tick) | ||
| 2 | PARAMECIA |
Pond-dwellers came and a pair reproduced (9)
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| *(CAME + A PAIR); “reproduced” is anagram indicator; paramecia are single-celled aquatic organisms | ||
| 3 | HOUR |
Excursion heading off after hot period (4)
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| H (=hot, as on a tap) + <t>OUR (=excursion; “heading off” means first letter is dropped) | ||
| 5 | HOROLOGY |
Time-study men, I now see, set up record year (8)
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| HORO (OR=men, i.e. other ranks + OH (=I now see, as an exclamation); “set up” indicates vertical reversal) + LOG (=record, entry) + Y (=year); horology is the science of the measurement of time | ||
| 6 | ESCAPEMENT |
Key American gym crew with time clocking mechanism (10)
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| ESC (=key) + A (=American) + P.E. (=gym, i.e. physical education) + MEN (=crew) + T (=time) ; an escapement is part of a clock or watch connecting the wheelwork with the pendulum | ||
| 7 | OCULI |
Eye doctor scrubbing cover of sealant round windows (5)
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| OCULI<st> (eye doctor; “scrubbing cover (=first and last letter) of S<ealan>T ” means letters “st” are dropped) | ||
| 8 | FATHER |
Article boring distant relative (6)
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| THE (=article, in grammar) in FAR (=distant, remote) | ||
| 9 | GRAND |
Piano lacking seventh note given away (5)
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| GRAN<te>D (=given away, ceded; “seventh note (=TE, in music) given away” means letter “te” are dropped) | ||
| 14 | LOUNGE SUIT |
Relax fit for semi-formal attire (6,4)
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| LOUNGE (=relax, rest) + SUIT (=(to) fit, be suitable for) | ||
| 17 | THERAPIST |
Personal counsellor, priest that mostly messed up (9)
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| *(PRIEST THA<t>); “mostly” means last letter is dropped from anagram, indicated by “messed up” | ||
| 18 | CALENDAR |
Where to find the time and day some Biblical end arrives (8)
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| Hidden (“some”) of “bibliCAL END ARrives” | ||
| 19 | PENDULUM |
I go back and forth, write, and occasionally double up with a hint of mirth (8)
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| PEN (=write) + D<o>U<b>L<e> U<p> (“occasionally” means alternate letter only) + M<irth> (“hint of” means first letter only is used) | ||
| 22 | ATOMIC |
The first half of the alphabet at first is centrepiece of elemental building blocks (6)
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| A TO M (=the first half of the alphabet) + I<s> C<entrepiece> (“at first” means first letters only) | ||
| 23 | GLASS |
Exhausted genteel American behind mirror (5)
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| G<entee>L (“exhausted” means all but first and last letters) + ASS (=American behind, i.e. an American word for bottom) | ||
| 25 | ALARM |
Panic contained by Territorial Army (5)
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| Hidden (“contained by”) in “territoriAL ARMy” | ||
| 27 | UNIT |
Briefly join detachment (4)
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| UNIT<e> (=join, ally; “briefly” means last letter is dropped); a detachment is a military unit, separated from the main body |
Thank you Atrica and RR.
3, 15, 22, 25, 26, 29 also pertinent.
Had USURPER for 10a at first, as it was the only anagram I could think of, and I rather easily talked myself into such being a “one after another.” That held up the entire NW, until PARAMECIA brought me to my senses. Then everything clicked. Great job, A&R!
Thanks both. Gentle but entertaining, with a theme that quickly hit me in the face (clock pun). Thought Springsteen having APNEA might be a wind-up (pun #2) but I’ve put it down to his regular dancing in the dark (I’ll get my coat).
big@2 exactly the same happened with me, USURPER was one of my first ones in, and like you PARAMECIA settled it for me.
I also got held up by putting in USURPER at 10a.
Thanks all
I did not realize, but should have, that the British spell APNEA as apnoea. So Springsteen’s presence in that clue baffled me. But of course. (Rule of thumb: Americans spell the Latin digraphs ae and oe as just e. Exceptions are in proper names (Caesar, Phoenix), first-declension plurals (alumnae), and a very small handful of others (amoeba; some dictionaries also give ameba, but you never ever see it in the wild). And American orthopaedists have begun spelling their profession with the extra A, but AmEng spell-checkers haven’t caught up.) Anyway, it’s good to see an American other than the orange menace (and in fact one with opposite politics) used as a symbol for our country; thanks so much to the setter for that.
Thanks Atria for an enjoyable crossword with a timely theme. Except for missing RACQUET and not parsing GRAND or GAMUT this was relatively smooth sailing for me. My favourites were THREW OFF, TIME, ANGLOPHILE, CUCKOO, CALENDAR, and ALARM. Thanks RR for the blog.
[mrpenny @ 6: I don’t care much for Springsteen or Trump being used as a US symbol — America is much more than old men with calcified beliefs]