Vulcan in his customary fortnightly Monday slot
Mostly straightforward, with the usual medley of anagrams and double and cryptic definitions.
I had ticks for 12ac TASTE, 6dn SOLUTIONS, 8dn WESSEX, 10dn LONG TIME NO SEE, 14dn AFORESAID.
Thanks to Vulcan for the puzzle.
Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 Pretty shy hugging me at rear of school (6)
COMELY
COY (shy) round ME + [schoo]L
4 Get over arch, and one may make a bolt for it (8)
CROSSBOW
CROSS (get over) + BOW (arch)
9 Relish oxygen brought by sudden wind (5)
GUSTO
GUST (sudden wind) + O (oxygen)
10 Old Parliamentary radicals who told it to you straight? (9)
LEVELLERS
To level with someone is to be honest with them
11 Deal-maker in pub, one taking a profit (9)
BARGAINER
BAR (pub) + GAINER (one taking a profit)
12 A brief experience of discrimination (5)
TASTE
Double definition
13 Lower tier seats filled first for this film? (4,2,3,3)
ROOM AT THE TOP
Cryptic definition
17 In isle grey tomb crumbling, typically romantic (3-5-4)
BOY-MEETS-GIRL
An anagram (crumbling) of ISLE GREY TOMB
20 Have no argument with an Athenian amputee (5)
AGREE
A GREE[k] (an Athenian ‘amputee’)
21 Missile landing in sniper’s lair: this tightest of squeaks? (9)
NARROWEST
ARROW (missile) in NEST (sniper’s lair)
23 On journey, train isn’t moving (2,7)
IN TRANSIT
An anagram (moving) of TRAIN ISN’T
24 Track down a very tiny amount (5)
TRACE
Double definition
25 Kubrick briefly portrayed Scottish patron (2,6)
ST ANDREW
STAN(ley) (Kubrick) + DREW (portrayed)
26 Not simple, so restive (6)
UNEASY
UN-EASY – not simple
Down
1 Budgie perhaps free in big cedar (4-4)
CAGE-BIRD
An anagram (free) of BIG CEDAR
2 Swell breakfast item (8)
MUSHROOM
Double definition
3 An idiot picked up sponge (5)
LOOFA
A reversal (picked up) of A FOOL
An attempt to forestall the objections that this definition often raises: Collins – ‘loofa: the fibrous interior of the fruit of the dishcloth gourd, which is dried, bleached and used as a bath sponge’; Chambers – ‘a tropical plant of the gourd family, used as a hard rough sponge’
5 Brazen volte-face about poem, ‘Polecat’ (7,6)
REVERSE FERRET
RE VERSE (about poem) + FERRET (‘polecat’ – see here)
and here for the brazen volte-face – two new things in one clue for me today
6 People searching for these here but they lack concentration (9)
SOLUTIONS
Double / cryptic definition
7 Reach the top of chest (6)
BREAST
Double definition
8 Hardy folk lived here in primarily wild county (6)
WESSEX
W[ild] + ESSEX (county) – WESSEX is the setting for most of Thomas Hardy’s novels and also the name of one of the four Anglo-Saxon kingdoms
10 Hello again, rector: still not made a bishop? (4,4,2,3)
LONG TIME NO SEE
Cryptic definition, a see, as all cruciverbalists know, being a bishopric
14 Ideas for a reform mentioned earlier (9)
AFORESAID
An anagram (reform) of IDEAS FOR A
15 New American widescreen system (8)
CINERAMA
An anagram (new) of AMERICAN
16 Cook breakfast, including coffee, getting insincere praise? (8)
FLATTERY
FRY (cook breakfast) round LATTE (‘coffee’)
18 Spoke of what one has in each arms (6)
RADIUS
Double definition: ‘arms‘ presumably a misprint? – it’s in both online and print version
19 Shrub and vegetable penetrated by decay (6)
PROTEA
ROT (decay) in PEA (vegetable)
22 Many times relent, though not at first (5)
OFTEN
[s]OFTEN (relent)
I would agree the plural in 18d is nothing other than a misprint. Lovely crossword and I have never heard of the REVERSE FERRET but now I have read about it it may well go into my lexicon. Thanks all round.
Thanks Vulcan and Eileen
Lots to irritate here. I’ll pass over LOOFA (it’s just wrong, though). What is “in” doing in 17a? Why is mushroom defined as “breakfast item” – they are far more commonly used otherwise? Why “lack concentration” for SOLUTIONS? A concentration is a vital measure of any solution. The grammar of 18d doesn’t make sense, but your suggestion of a misprint is probably the explanation.
I had (fortunately?) never heard REVERSE FERRET.
Several good ones, though. COMELY favourite.
I had the same ticks as Eileen, plus ST ANDREW. I wondered about SOLUTION. You can surely have a concentrated solution?
Good Monday fare. LONG TIME NO SEE was also a particular fave of mine, and I’d add AGREE (for the humour) and NARROWEST (for the obliqueness and impenetrable-seeming wordiness) to the list.
I struggled with REVERSE FERRET, having never heard of the term. My first instinct was ferret but I didn’t know why we were being asked for two words. Then REVERSE came along from the checkers, which made me discard it. Next I decided that polecat and reverse ferret must be fistfighting moves or something, which left me trying to make an anagram (brazen) of volte-face around the verse which obviously couldn’t possibly work!. In the end I just bunged and hoped. Which should have saved men but…
…alas I failed on UNEASY. Obvious when you see it, of course – but not all that obvious to construct, and the way I use it “restive” is more than merely UNEASY so it never occurred to me.
Thanks both!
My faves: CROSSBOW, ROOM AT THE TOP, LONG TIME NO SEE and OFTEN.
muffin@2
17a In WP, Def —is the format. I think we have seen it before. Some like it. Some don’t.
I am fine with this format.
MUSHROOM, SOLUTIONS, RADIUS: Agree with your comments.
Thanks Vulcan and Eileen.
LONG TIME NO SEE
I think…
Hello again: Def
The rest WP
REVERSE FERRET was one I had to look up after I realised the answer to 5d couldn’t be anything else. WESSEX made me smile, a lovely smooth clue. And I do remember watching in awe How The West Was Won and also It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World on the CINERAMA screen somewhere in London back in the early Sixties when it first appeared.
Many thanks for the entertainment this morning, Vulcan..
muffin@2, haha I had the same fungal conversation with myself, but decided that they’re more identifiable (without being a giveaway) as breakfast items than anything else.
I agree with the quibble (more than a quibble really) regarding SOLUTIONS but I guess common parlance differs from scientific usage again.
The “In” in 17a B-M-G is a link word (for want of a more general term). It makes for a sensible surface, and the cryptic reading is grammatical. 《In {wordplay}, {def}》is equivalent to 《{def} in {wordplay}》and I don’t think anyone would quibble about the latter.
Really enjoyed this, especially LONG TIME NO SEE which raised a chuckle.
Struggled to get past visions of the Venus de Milo for the Athenian amputee.
Agree with Eileen re the typo at 18d.
Many thanks both.
Regarding the discussion of “in”, I thought there did seem to be quite a few examples, but I haven’t gone back to count them. “In” is usually redundant other than making a smoother surface, but I tend to take it as equivalent to “as in” and similar in meaning to “makes” or “giving”
Straightforward Monday fare. Liked REVERSE FERRET.
The misprint was annoying, making me think of weapons!
Thanks Vulcan and Eileen
Comment #11
I thought a polecat must have been an alternative name for a ferret, but your link, Eileen, takes me to a hybrid that suggests they’re not the same. What am I missing? It took me a while to discover the rather obscure REVERSE FERRET, and LEVELLERS was another British curiosity that was new to me. All else fell into place and was good fun. I only had a vague recollection of ROOM AT THE TOP — a bit before my time.
Great fun from Vulcan but don’t think he is as “easy” as he used to be. I feel the difficulty has upped in the last year or so. This took me longer than the Times today and I had to reveal RADIUS. Atleast I can blame the misprint after trying to get a homophone for a pluralised weapon.
Not heard of REVERSE FERRET which I assumed was wrong but couldn’t think of anything else.
No MUSHROOMs on my fry-ups but they seem to be standard breakfast fare eating out here.
Liked CROSSBOW and LONG TIME NO SEE.
Thanks Vulcan and Eileen
MUSHROOMs are a standard component of the classic Full English Breakfast as served by caterers, so I suppose the definition is OK even if not many people eat them at home (and I see that in Vulcan’s lexicon, “cook breakfast” = FRY).
Agreed that the misleading “arms” must be a misprint. My quibble with LOOFA isn’t the definition but the spelling: isn’t LOOFAH more usual?
I liked COMELY, ROOM AT THE TOP, LONG TIME NO SEE, AFORESAID, WESSEX. The REVERSE FERRET, like the ICK yesterday, is a term I’ve only recently learned, though I didn’t know its origins.
As a solution is a homogeneous mixture, there is no “concentration” of particles in any particular spot?
Came here for reverse ferret which is completely new to me. Didn’t get RADIUS, the misprint didn’t help. But otherwise enjoyed this , especially LTNS. Agree with others about SOLUTIONS but at this point well used to questionable definitions so write it in and move on…
Ferrets are domesticated animals descended (at some indeterminate time in the past) from wild polecats: they are still closely related enough to interbreed.
I’m not entirely surprised to hear general bewilderment over REVERSE FERRET, but to this old hack it’s an extremely familiar phrase from my days on the backbench of various organs. Usually around 20 minutes before the paper was due to be off stone, the editor would decide to completely change up the front page and the poor old production editor would have to order an instant reverse ferret on the splash. Ah, heady days… Anyway, I digress. Thanks to Vulcan for a fun puzzle and to Eileen for the ever-excellent blogwork.