A couple of answers took a bit longer at the end. Thanks to Nutmeg. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 Speculators added to Harry’s recurrent worries (8)
BUGBEARS : BEARS(speculators who bet on a fall in share market prices) placed after(added to) BUG(to harry;to bother).
5 Odd cat in auditorium causing a stir (6)
RUMPUS : RUM(odd;peculiar) + homophone of(… in auditorium) “puss”(cat). Not a sound homophone, I thought.
9 Hazard in mine dismissed by a politician (8)
FIREDAMP : FIRED(dismissed;sacked from a job) plus(by) A + MP(abbrev. for a Member of Parliament;a politician).
Answer: Gas that is a potential fire hazard in, say, a coal mine.
10 Successful footballer who’s made an impression? (6)
SCORER : Double defn: 2nd: One who’s made a cut;a score in a surface.
12 Hollande’s here — the Queen becomes less cordial (5)
ICIER : ICI(“here” in French, the native language of M. Hollande) + ER(abbrev. for “Elizabeth Regina”, the Queen).
13 Constant or fading corvine cry? (9)
NEVERMORE : [NEVER MORE] (either constant;no change or fading;decreasing, but never increasing).
Answer: The cry from the talking bird in Poe’s poem, The Raven, with which it answers the narrator’s questions.
Thanks to commenters below.
14 Service requirement to study text no one recalled (12)
CONSCRIPTION : CON(to study attentively) + SRIPT(written text) + reversal of(… recalled) [ NO + I(Roman numeral for “one”) ].
Defn: … or the requirement to be enlisted into military service.
18 Trivial innocent quest arranged, time being short (12)
INCONSEQUENT : Anagram of(… arranged) “innocent quest” minus(… being short) “t”(abbrev. for “time”).
21 Detached view, previously one held by theologian (9)
DISTANCED : [ STANCE(view;opinion) placed after(previously) I(Roman numeral for “one”) ] contained in(held by) DD(abbrev. for for a Doctor of Divinity;a theologian).
23 A Lloyd Webber’s partner for a short while (5)
TRICE : [T(Tim) RICE] [lyricist partner of A(Andrew) Lloyd Webber]
24 A lack of facilities set back Glastonbury, some say (6)
AVALON : A + reversal of(… set back) [NO LAV] (no lavatory;a lack of toilet facilities).
Defn: What some claimed to be the burial site of King Arthur and his Queen, Avalon.
The surface reading could be said to be true of the Glastonbury Festival?
25 Vulgar Latin for “pump” (8)
INFLATOR : Anagram of(Vulgar) LATIN FOR.
26 Favourite place for cruisers focussed on one subject (6)
THEMED : [THE MED ] (the Mediterranean Sea, a favourite place for cruise liners).
27 Worker adopts formal attire, with star in the offing (8)
ADJACENT : ANT(a social insect possibly belonging to the worker caste) containing(adopts) [DJ(abbrev. for “dinner jacket”;formal attire) plus(with) ACE(star;an excellent exponent) ].
I’m not sure of the synonymity between definition and answer. Chambers gives the former as “not far off” (in addition to “likely to happen soon”). Can this be taken to also mean “proximity in space”, which is what the answer is?
Down
1 Ditch keeping away researcher (6)
BOFFIN : BIN(to ditch, literally into the wastebin) containing(keeping) OFF(away from).
2 Furry pet rabbit regularly feeds on getting up (6)
GERBIL : The 1st , 3rd and 5th letters of(… regularly) “rabbit” contained in(feeds) reversal of(… getting up, in a down clue) LEG(the on side in cricket, the side of the pitch away from where the batsman’s feet are pointing when standing to receive the ball).
3 Cover, of one colour that is, turned blue (9)
EIDERDOWN : Reversal of(…, turned, in a down clue) [RED(one colour) + IE(abbrev. for “id est”, Latin for “that is”)] + DOWN(blue;sad)
Defn: A thick warm cover for a bed with a soft filling, sometimes of eiderdown.
4 Criminal in crime scene harking back (12)
REMINISCENCE : Anagram of(Criminal) IN CRIME SCENE.
6 Complaint from northbound hermit lacking solitude on vacation (5)
ULCER : Reversal of(northbound, in a down clue) “recluse”(a hermit;one living in solitude) minus(lacking) “solitude” minus its inner letters(on vacation)
7 Occasional inverted commas primarily seen after full stop (8)
PERIODIC : The 1st letters, respectively, of(… primarily) “inverted commas” placed below(seen after,in a down clue) PERIOD(the full stop, the end-of-sentence punctuation mark).
8 Soldier drove without changing gear (8)
SERGEANT : SENT(drove, as in “she sent him mad”) containing(without;outside of) anagram of(changing) GEAR.
11 Weighed down, like singer with too many choruses? (12)
OVERBURDENED : Cryptic defn: Reference to the burden;the refrain or chorus of a song.
15 King Cole tucking into rice dish might enjoy this, postprandially (9)
PANATELLA : NAT(King Cole, American singer) contained in(tucking into) PAELLA(the Spanish rice dish).
Defn: Something that might be enjoyed after dinner or lunch.
16 Film blocked by agreement distributed in error (8)
MISDEALT : MIST(a film made up of fine droplets) containing(blocked by) DEAL(an agreement in commerce or politics, say).
17 A must for winter sport site — cake supply! (3,5)
ICE SKATE : Anagram of(… supply) SITE — CAKE.
19 Resistance by union blocking struggle for excellence (6)
VIRTUE : [ R(symbol for “electrical resistance” in physics) plus(by) TU(abbrev. for “trade union”) ] contained in(blocking) VIE(to struggle;to compete against).
Answer: The good quality;efficacy of a thing.
20 Alter reference, holding up investigator (6)
FERRET : Hidden in(…, holding) reversal of(… up) “Alter reference“.
Answer: …, figuratively.
22 Terminal work of a poet? (5)
ANODE : [AN ODE] (possibly;? the work of a poet).
Defn: …, or an electrode in an electrical device, eg. a primary cell.
Thanks Nutmeg and scchua
One of my favourite compilers, with lots to enjoy. I particularly liked INFLATOR, OVERBURDENED and PANATELLA, though there were lots of other great clues too.
I tried for some time to justify PILTON (the site of the “Glastonbury” festival) for 24a, but AVALON is far better, of course!
I got NEVERMORE from the crossers and Poe’s raven, but I’m still struggling to see how it means “constant”. PERIODIC to me means “at regular intervals” rather than “occasional”.
Not seen BURDEN used in that way (11dn). Never too old to learn!
Thanks Nutmeg (and scchua).
Chris @2
It’s a common feature of carols, so you would see it in a carol book, and perhaps in the Christmas section of a hymn book.
Thoroughly enjoyable, just the right amount of challenge to wake one up at 7am on a Friday without causing you to wish you were back in bed after all. I take no issue with the clueing for 3a or 27a myself, although I felt “supply” was a very thin anagram indicator at 15d.
I agree with muffin – lots to like here. Nutmeg’s cluing is always very good. I couldn’t understand OVERBURDENED and hadn’t heard of FIREDAMP (LOI); particularly liked BOFFIN, GERBIL, PANATELLA and BUGBEARS. Many thanks to Nutmeg and scchua.
Fieldsman @4
Reading “supply” as “in a supple way” rather than “provides” works as an anagram indicator.
@3 Hi muffin! Ahh… thanks for that. 🙂
Fieldsman@4.
Re 5a (not 3a presumably): I take it you pronounce “rumpus” as “rumpoos”, or “puss” as “pers”?
Re 27a: Would be interested in an example where “in the offing” is used in the sense of proximity in space, or “adjacent” is used in the sense of proximity in time. “February is adjacent to January”?
scchua @8
“Ships in the offing” (a line in “Blow the winds southerly”) means ships adjacent to port?
Like muffin @1, I’m baffled by constant as a synonym for nevermore in 13a. Can anybody help?
I liked this puzzle so thanks to Nutmeg and scchua. I enjoyed the pictorial enhancements too,scchua!
Getting the longer words at 14a, 18a and 4d early on, CONSCRIPTION, INCONSEQUENT and REMINISCENCE respectively, made a difference.
9a FIREDAMP was also a new word for me, drofle@5, but the guess made sense given the word play and the crossers, and while I had never heard of a NODE poem for 22d, ANODE was clearly the synonym for “terminal” here. I liked learning that “corvine” in 13a was the word relating to a crow or raven, but I did have to use the dictionary to discover that and saw the Poe link at once.
I stuffed around trying to fit two musicians – Eric Burdon but knew the spelling didn’t work – and then Michael Burden who I googled – for 11d, and put in OVERBURDENED without really getting the parsing. As Chris@2 has remarked, it was interesting to discover that particular usage of the word “burden” as a synonym for a chorus or refrain. (Thank you to muffin@3 for the extra info. re carols)
Was not sure about “auditorium” as the indicator for the homophone of “puss” in RUMPUS at 5a.
Favourite was 15d PANTANELLA, and others seemed to like it as well.
Thanks, scchua for the blog and Nutmeg for another enjoyable puzzle.
I see you ‘ve beaten me to it, muffin – that’s how I knew ‘in the offing’: I was going to supply the link [any excuse!]:
http://www.bing.com/search?q=blow+the+wind+southerly+kathleen+ferrier&src=IE-SearchBox&FORM=IENTSR&pc=EUPP_
scchua, my Chambers [12th edition] has ‘offing’ as ‘the region some distance offshore’
Ha Ha, just read your final parsing, scchua, which I had obviously skipped, regarding 22d – AN ODE – of course! None so blind as those who cannot see and all that! But when I googled – there is such a phenomenon as a NODE poem, where the reader helps to create the poem.
[BTW, this screen is jumping around like crazy so all seems to be not well still at the site.]
Brewer’s gives the ship sense of “offing” as the original one and the time one as figurative.
Muffin@1 and Bagel@10: I agree regarding NEVERMORE. Chambers has it as “at no future time”, virtually the antithesis of constant. Of course in the poem it’s constantly being squawked by the blasted raven, so maybe that’s what the clue is alluding to.
Thanks, scchua, excellent blog to a fine crossword.
It all went smoothly until the last 2; AVALON & ANODE which took longer. Both excellent clues and nicely hidden.
I ticked DISTANCED, EIDERDOWN, & OVERBURDONED.
Less enthusiastic about the homophone at RUMPUS or the def at NEVERMORE. I’ll let the homophone lie as they’re often contentious for boring reasons. With the reference to The Raven I can only assume that the whole clue is &lit, with no real definition.
Anyone any better ideas?
Nice weekend, all.
Apologies poc @15, crossing.
Thanks Nutmeg and scchua
A lovely puzzle.
How about ‘n evermore’ for the constant? I.e. an unchanging number.
Somewhat contrived, but I’m trying to get Nutmeg off the hook
Thanks scchua and Nutmeg.
My only thought for NEVERMORE would be something like “what do you weigh?” “Ten stone, never more, never less.” Sorry, can’t do any better.
Thanks Eileen and muffin re “in the offing”.
I did see the Chambers’ defn. of “offing”: the more distant part of the sea that is visible from shore. But “more distant” isn’t exactly adjacent!
Re NEVERMORE: I took NEVERMORE as “constant” in the sense, negatively, that “it will constantly never ever be again”.
I think jvh@19 is about the best way to justify nevermore=constant.
PeterM, perhaps…but then the enumeration should have been (5,4).
scchua@22
Not if it’s wordplay. Isn’t the def in the raven quote?
Thanks James, PeterM and jvh. That settles NEVERMORE. It’s not a double defn then. Blog suitably amended.
scchua@8 – I pronounce both “puss” and the second half of “rumpus” as I would in the word “pussy” (with apologies for the mild vulgarity!). Unsure if that’s any kind of regional variation but I would guess Nutmeg reads it the same way. And yes, 5a, of course.
muffin@6 – Very good point, for some reason that simply didn’t enter my head. Clearly I still wasn’t sufficiently awake after the puzzle!
Thanks both. Great stuff
{27a reminds me of the early 1970’s when the BBC were launching a daytime programme for “older people”, and they were searching for a title. They chose “The 60 70 80 show” (yuck!), but a humorous suggestion was “A Coffin In The Offing”! After 40 odd years, doesn’t seem do funny now!}
Sorry, should be “doesn’t seem so funny now”
Good fun and I had the good fortune to be on the right wavelength today.
Regarding ‘burden’.
There was a jolly miller once
Lived on the river Dee
Ti-tum, ti-tum (etc)……
And this the burden of his song
Forever used to be…. (etc)
Hope that’s helpful!
Could it be ‘Constant or fading’ for NEVERMORE, i.e. if it doesn’t ever increase it can either stay constant or decrease?
Then simply corvine cry for the defn.
Thanks PDAM, that’s even better!
PDAM@29
Yes!
Another polished and enjoyable crossword – the last three have really spoiled us. AVALON was last in.
Thanks to Nutmeg and scchua
PDAM @29 Yes! I think you’ve nailed it!
Great crossword and blog thanks both!! My favourites were ICIER and EIDERDOWN but there were many more to enjoy. In fact, as one who quite enjoyed the Sphinx puzzle it has been a very good week (again).
Eileen @12, you will not have pleased Muffin with your link to the incomparable Klever Kaff since some time ago he and I traded views on her singing and he was not a fan!! For me her recording of Das Lied von der Erde would be with me on the Desert Island; but each to his own.
I was always aware that ‘the offing’ was that area of the sea that can be seen from where one is standing, perhaps on the shore, to the horizon!!
[S Panza @34
I didn’t click on the link, of course!]
S Panza and muffin
I must have missed that exchange! I’d be quite content with ‘What is life?’, which I’ve loved since school days. [I’ll refrain from supplying the link. 😉 ]
Thanks to Nutmeg and scchua. Very enjoyable. This blog again did not appear on my 15squared website today but, thanks to your comments, I’ve learned to use the refresh key. I needed help parsing TRICE but from a previous puzzle I did remember DJ = dinner jacket for ADJACENT. LOI was AVALON which was my favorite once I got it. Re Burden, the musical term turns up in the Shakespeare canon at least twice (often spelled “burthen”) most audibly in As You Like It where Celia tells Rosalind “I would sing my song without a burthen; thou bring’st me out of tune” (3.2.247 – also Two Noble Kinsmen, 4.3.11 for “burden”).
As often happens I seem to be on the same wavelength and level as JinA. Very unusually for me I did this from the middle out. I didn’t parse 11d and the SE corner put up strong resistance. There have been some brilliant hidden words this week and FERRET was another one where the answer came before spotting what was in plain view all the time. Thanks to Nutmeg for rounding off a fun week (including the Sphinx) and to scchua for the blog.
Eileen @36, well I would have been happy to receive it!! That wonderful aria from Gluck’s beautiful opera sung by the peerless Kathleen is indeed a delight!! These things become the stuff of legend and may well be apocryphal but I believe she was singing that opera, while suffering from the bone cancer that shortly after killed her, when she broke her hip, but still, in terrible pain carried on and finished the performance!! Sorry I’m well off subject and will stop this now!!
Tough enough for a Friday. Last in was the lack of toilet provisions. Nice surfaces and no problem with any of the homophones. Ee by gum, it wurra good ‘n. Thanks to everyone.
A fine puzzle on a day when I wasn’t at my sharpest. I had to get 15d PANATELLA and 23a TRICE before I could solve anything else in the SE corner, but I was slow to get them, despite the perfect clueing. (I even tried ‘timpe’ for TRICE, as it sort of nearly fits the clue.) Anyway, that corner became solvable after that.
PANATELLA, TRICE, ANODE and THEMED were my favourites. I didn’t fully understand the clues for NEVERMORE and AVALON, but that didn’t stop me bunging them in.
Thanks to Nutmeg and scchua.
Re the comments on ‘burden’ there is this from Shakespeare:
Come unto these yellow sands,
And then take hands;
Curtsied when you have and kissed
The wild waves whist.
Foot it featly here and there,
And sweet sprites the burden bear.
Tempest I.2.380
Bottom half a bit of a struggle, after the top had gone in fairly smoothly – but then this is a setter who I often find tricky. AVALON / ANODE last in, the latter after having thought I’d run through all the AVERSE etc synonyms.
Thank you Nutmeg and scchua.
A most enjoyable crossword. I had no problem with the definition for NEVERMORE, even though I did not know the Poe poem, but did not understand OVERBURDENED or ADJACENT. Wonder if anyone else first tried at 1d to fit in OFFA of dyke fame – there is a ‘ditch’ below it.
I found the clues for RUMPUS, AVALON and ICIER fun.
Yes, Cookie @44 I toyed with Offa at 1d until I realised it was not going to work!!
This was rather good. I liked RUMPUS and AVALON and quite a lot more. My enjoyment was a little spoiled by opting for THESES for 26 ac – the seas. Seemed Ok to me. Oh well!
Thanks Nutmeg.
Late to the party today but lots of fun. I was an other who struggled to parse OVERBURDENED AND ADJACENT (BURDEN I should have known, given the musical/Shakespearean connotation). Thought AVALON was genius. Only minor niggle was the repetition of “rice” in 15d clue and 23a solution.
Thanks Nutmeg and scchua
Took nearly all day.good puzzle.
Diolch
Posting on same day! Steve mainly solved this as I have a cold and it affects my brain (well, that’s my story….). Got overburdened with just the “u” but no idea of how to get there. Interested to learn the meaning and link to Miller of Dee song. I always wondered why it didn’t seem to make sense! Lots of clever clues. Liked Avalon, Themed and firedamp (which I knew – need to read books about mines!).
Thanks all and have a good weekend
Dp –
poignant memories….
“I care for nobody, no not I, if nobody cares for me!” repeated at end of each verse (unless I misremember). That’s where my mind jumped when solving. My grandfather (born in 1842!) used to sing it to my father and he used to sing it to me. My voice has not been sufficiently harmonious to disturb young infants with songs of that sort!
Yes, it has been another jolly good week. I too enjoyed the Sphinx; not sure Mr Pemberton shouldn’t consider giving up his day job?! (wish editor had given TV ‘heads up’ in the DTV).
This puzzle was just so neat (in both senses of the word). sschua’s parsing of NEVERMORE is as I had it – though gather there may have been some evolution! A pretty ‘neat’ clue eh? Similarly, I like the “Coffin in the ‘offin” example given above to explain ADJACENT. So another case of contentious clues being sometimes in fact absolutely spot on! Now that’s misdirection! Nutmeg at her glorious best – and always good fun. Many thanks – and to sschua for another fine blog.
Re Kathleen Ferrier
I must also admit to carefully avoiding the “Blow the Wind …” Ferrier link.
This may be a rare occasion when I agree with Muffin although I missed the original exchange with S Panza. The awful trend of the sixties to popularize “classical singers” by asking them to sing folk/poplular music was a disaster and probably persuaded many people to avoid opera/oratorio if it was going to sound similar.
Personally I find Ferrier’s interpretations of “Blow the Wind …” etc vile and vomit inducing. However she was eclipsed in this by the similarly awful attempts at the “Classical goes Hip” oeuvre by Kiri Te Kanawa. Of course both ladies are perfectly good classical contraltos/sopranos respectively (although Ferrier’s work is sadly marred by the quality of her era’s recordings)
I cannot let this end without paying tribute to Kathleen Ferrier, thank you for beautiful memories.
Cookie @53
Sorry but this Ferrier English version of “Che farò senza Euridice?” always sounds to me like Janet Baker with a bad cold!
PANATELLA?
A bit late for anyone else to see this, probably, but in support of BNTO (!) today’s lunchtime concert on Radio 3 with Carolyn Sampson started with her singing some Dowland – beautiful – then Britten folk song arrangements – ugh!