A second appearance by Ramsay
Ramsay is a new name for me: I’ve searched the archive and can’t see any comment from me on the previous puzzle and I have no recollection of solving it, which is rather odd. It was certainly well received and this one seems a worthy follow-up.
I found this a very interesting puzzle, with a fresh approach to cluing, which made for an enjoyable solve. I particularly admired the linkage of the first three clues – a brilliant start – and the cross-referencing of 6 and 15 in 8dn. There are some neat anagrams (12ac TREACHERIES, 20av EVANGELISM), three ‘lift and separates’ (2dn, 14dn and 23dn) and smooth, meaningful surfaces throughout. My other ticks were for 13ac BANANA SKIN, 23ac GASTRONOMIC and 5dn DIRECTION. There are a couple of places where I can’t quite see the parsing, so thanks in advance for enlightenment.
(Those expecting / hoping for a Paul puzzle at this end of the week might not be too disappointed, I think.)
Thanks to Ramsay for the puzzle. I’m sorry I missed your first one (I’ve just consulted my 2025 diary and see that I was busy cooking for a family occasion on that day) and look forward to the next.
Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 Just as orgasm prompts poem by Yeats … (3,6,6)
THE SECOND COMING
THE SECOND (just as) + COMING (orgasm)
9 … wrongly read note by misfortunate Keats (7)
MISTAKE
MI (note) + an anagram (misfortunate) of KEATS
10 For example, Keats and Yeats (or not) (7)
RHYMERS
Keats and Yeats are both poets but their names don’t rhyme with each other
12 Heretics are punished for unfaithful acts (11)
TREACHERIES
An anagram (punished) of HERETICS ARE
13 You might slip on this bats blood (6,4)
BANANA SKIN
BANANAS (bats) + KIN (blood? – it works for me)
15 Light’s non-binding energy (4)
NEON
NON round E (energy)
18 E … e (4)
ECHO
ECHO represents E in the NATO alphabet – and the best I can do is that the second e echoes the first – but I’m sure you can do better
20 Bible teaching wrongly maligns Eve (10)
EVANGELISM
An anagram (wrongly) of MALIGNS EVE
23 Gordon’s starter presented to massive foody? (11)
GASTRONOMIC
G[ordon] + ASTRONOMIC (massive); food-y – a neat (Pauline) definition
25, 11 That man follows backwash of river froth (6)
SEETHE
HE (that man) following a reversal (backwash) of TEES (river)
26 Playing bingo, the French are mean (7)
IGNOBLE
An anagram (playing) of BINGO + LE (the French) – I’m not entirely happy with the grammar here but it’s a nice clue and I’d like it to work
27 Beast of burden returned to castle (7)
CAMELOT
CAMEL (beast of burden) + a reversal (returned) of TO
28 Fascist leader controlled Houston with rumba master general (9,6)
FRANCISCO FRANCO
F[ascist) + RAN (controlled) – but I can’t disentangle the rest, I’m afraid
Down
1 Backup part of database liable to corruption (9)
TEMPTABLE
TEMP (backup) + TABLE (part of database)
2 Sea-sick seabird from China? (7)
EASTERN
An anagram (sick) of SEA + TERN (seabird)
3 Challenging former lover on stage (8)
EXACTING
EX (former lover) + ACTING (on stage)
4 Huge honour to sit on banks of Seine (5)
OBESE
OBE (Order of the British Empire – honour) + S[ein]E
5 Re-entering language course (9)
DIRECTION
RE in DICTION (language)
6 Gone wild with axes splitting something needed for fire (6)
OXYGEN
XY (axes) in an anagram (wild) of GONE
7 Provide detailed account of quite miserable passage (7)
ITEMISE
Deftly hidden in quITE MISErable
8 Donates, as replacing 4, 6 and 15 (5)
GASES
G[iv]ES (donates) with AS replacing iv (4)
14 International waters still surrounded by dumb-asses (5,4)
SEVEN SEAS
EVEN (still) in an anagram (dumb) of ASSES
16 Dropping dead, wrote frantically (6,3)
NUMBER TWO
NUMB (dead) + an anagram (frantically) of WROTE
17 Fresher report of any toilet more sullied (8)
NEWCOMER
NE (sounds like – report of – ‘any’) + WC (toilet) + an anagram (sullied) of MORE; I was held up for a minute or two here, trying to make NEWER from ‘fresher’ – but it was cleverer than that
19 Take end from communion wafer – on reflection, an exaltation! (7)
HOSANNA
HOS[t] (communion wafer) + AN NA (AN – on reflection)
21 Slight temperature dropping off with cool hormone (7)
INSULIN
INSUL[t] (slight) minus t (temperature) + IN (cool)
22 A right-beginning, dotted-letter-including alphabet (6)
ARABIC
A + R[ight] + I (dotted letter) in ABC (alphabet) – I’m not sure of the definition but I liked the clever use of the last hyphen
23 Sadness as building terminally fire-damaged (5)
GRIEF
[buildin]G + an anagram (damaged) of FIRE
24 Like Top Gun pilot’s taxiing speed (approximately) (5)
MACHO
MACH O (pilot’s taxiing speed, approximately) – I don’t really understand this one
In 24 Mach 1 is the speed of sound so Mach 0 might be taxiing speed. In 19 the AN is part of wordplay not definition.
Thanks both.
Thanks Ramsay and Eileen
Not on Ramsay’s wavelength in several places here (including 28, which I don’t see either!)
Favourite RHYMERS.
I’ve never seen Top Gun, but were the pilots macho? (Wouldn’t Mach 0 be stationary?)
(Slight typo, Eileen – you have V instead of X in 3d.)
Thanks Eileen. After some research, (i.e. Google, Wiki), I found Cisco Houston, an American folk singer and songwriter, and Franco Luambo, “a master of the Congolese rumba”.
Much respect to anyone that knew either of those two without doing research!
Quite tricky and enjoyable puzzle.
Favourites: BANANA SKIN, RHYMERS, NEWCOMER, ECHO (loi).
I could not parse the temp part of 1d and 19d – I was brought up C of E and went to an Anglican school but I did not understand the communion wafer bit of this clue! I also realise now that I did not parse 28ac but the answer was obvious.
New for me: 1ac – thanks to google I found the poem by Yeats.
FRANCO in FF I think refers to Franco Luambo a rumba master (thanks wikipedia) I’m struggling with CISCO/Houston
I see Crispy @3 has it. Thanks!
Yes, much to enjoy including BANANA SKIN and the Keats & Yeats clues. Many thanks to Ramsay and Eileen.
Mach 0 works as “approximately”
Crispy @3
Well, much respect from me for doing the research! – many thanks. I suspected something like that but couldn’t see where to start. Bravo!
Lots of clues which I thought initially didn’t work but which turned out to be clever when fully understood.
muffin @2 – taxiing speed is only slightly faster than mach 0, so it’s approximately mach 0
I also can’t parse most of 28
I think in 22, ABC could come from “beginning” leaving alphabet free for the definition
I have no recollection of having tackled Ramsay’s previous offering (which doesn’t, of course, mean I didn’t do it) and I agree with you, Eileen, about the clueing style and resulting enjoyment.
I much prefer smooth surfaces to word-salads, and this was chock-full of pleasing images.
I can’t help with the parsing of 28A (I only managed to semi-parse it – and chapeau to Crispy for unearthing the Congolese Rumba maestro) but perhaps 24D, in addition to Mach 0, is simply referring to the plethora of tiresome macho antics in that film…
Lots of clever anagrams, but actually my faves were OBESE, NEON and EASTERN – for their respective surface and pithiness.
Thank you for the blog, and thank you Ramsay – I look forward to your next one.
I think ARABIC is a semi &lit, as Arabic has many dotted letters, but I can’t quite make it work. A very enjoyable puzzle.
I was equally puzzled by the rumba master, so many thanks to Crispy and Rich, but was rather proud of digging up Cisco Houston from the depths of my memory of a very early Dylan number, ‘Song to Woody’ (Guthrie), with the lines ‘Here’s to Cisco an’ Sonny an’ Leadbelly too / An’ to all the good people that traveled with you’. It’s a lovely tribute to Guthrie that Dylan sang to him when he was dying of Huntington’s chorea.
I think ARABIC is an &lit isn’t it? Starting on the right, containing dotted ‘letters’ …
ARABIC
Looks like an &lit clue
ARABIC is written from right to left, many dotted letters included…
Thanks Ramsay and Eileen.
And just to add – I very much enjoyed this, so thanks to Ramsay and Eileen.
I would assume 22 is meant as an &-lit – it’s certainly an accurate description of the Arabic alphabet.
Mach 0 as explained at #1 and the Top Gun possibly a gunslinger. More macho than a pilot. Another lift and separate? Elsewhere I liked DIRECTION and RHYMERS. Thanks.
ARABIC is an &Lit, “right beginning” because it is written right-to-left, it has dotted letters, and is an alphabet.
Like others here I suspected FRANCISCO FRANCO for a long time before entering it when enough crossers appeared, I had no idea why Houston might be CISCO or rumba master FRANCO but it eventually became obvious that it was the answer so kudos to Crispy@3 for the obscure info.
What a wonderful forum this is! Many thanks to all who’ve helped with 22dn – &lit it is, then.
This puzzle gets better all the time. 😉
Browsing through the wikipedia article on Keats (to find the unheard of poem) I discovered he founded a poetry club called THE RHYMERS. Could this be part of a theme?
Re ECHO. My reading is that the e is the quieter echo of the E.
Crispy@21 That’s exactly what I thought.
I’m with Crispy ref ECHO – the E is getting smaller and fading away … away … awa
Cisco Houston rang a faint bell but only after reading Eileen’s try, so my entry was a total biff. As for the rumba bloke, well ..! But yes, lots of clever clues. I liked the choice of name in 23ac and the sly cheat of foodie->foody to give the -ic ending. Thanks Ramsay and Eileen, looking forward to the next.
Like Crispy @3 I’d Googled the previously unheard of Messrs Houston and Luambo. Like everyone else, the solution had become self-evident before that.
I loved MACHO (Top Gun is one of the most homoerotic blockbusters in history, reaching an apotheosis in the infamous/celebrated volleyball scene. As has been discussed repeatedly this week, words take on new meanings over time.) I like the idea of taxiing speed being measured using a totally inappropriate scale, like measuring my running speed using a calendar.
Other favourites include GASES and BANANA SKIN (first one in).
This was an excellent puzzle.
Thanks Ramsay, Eileen and elucidatory commenters.
I enjoyed this, but there were a few doozies, chief among them FRANCISCO FRANCO, which I’d never have solved, as I see it involves three people I’d never heard of. I also entered timetable for 1d, as it fitted nicely, and I was looking forward to coming here for parsing. The clue for ECHO — which I got — was a bit unusual.