Crosophile provides us a puzzle today where he highlights the theme himself rather than leaving us to wonder if there is a theme.
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The theme is based around MOTHERs and FATHERs. Each of 1a, 6a, 18a and 29 can be preceded with FATHER to give FATHER CONFESSOR, FATHER BROWN (G K Chesterton’s detective), FATHER TIME and FATHER CHRISTMAS. There are more MOTHERS with 14, 28, 1d, 16 and 21 generating MOTHER LODE, MOTHER GOOSE, MOTHER COURAGE, (reference play by Bertolt Brecht) MOTHER SUPERIOR and MOTHER TONGUE
Honours are mentioned a couple of times in the clues – Order of the British Empire at 5 down and Order of Merit at 15 down but I don’t think just two references justifies another theme. Words from the International Radio Communication alphabet get a mention in the clues three times.
I have struggled a bit with the wordplay at 6 across as you will see in the detail of the blog below. I will welcome any better suggestions. I am sure there must be something I haven’t seen.
Overall a good and fair challenge for a Wednesday
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Clue | Wordplay | Entry |
|
1
|
How Edward is entitled to consult about oil company boss being sacked (9)
|
CONFER (consult) containing (about) ESSO (oil company) excluding the first letter (boss; leader) E CONFE (SSO) R |
CONFESSOR (reference Edward the CONFESSOR [1003 – 1066], one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England)
|
| 6 | Two different men on the board have coffee say (5) |
B and N are chess notation for the two pieces [men] Bishop and Knight in chess, so we have two different men. However, I can’t see how ROW relates to BOARD other than a ROW is an element of a Chess BOARD. Chess uses a ROW column notation these days to indicate the position of pieces but I still can’t see how that fact relates to the clue. B ROW N |
BROWN (a BROWN object or thing, e.g. [say] coffee) |
|
9
|
Looking like an ideal place to deal out pain (7)
|
Anagram of (deal) OUT PAIN UTOPIAN* |
UTOPIAN (perfect; looking like an ideal place)
|
|
10
|
I see diver returning to a shipping hazard (7)
|
I + C (see [the letter C]) + (GREBE [diving bird] reversed [returning]) I C EBERG< |
ICEBERG (huge mass of ICE floating in the sea; shipping hazard)
|
|
11
|
Take trouble with exercises (5)
|
ADO (fuss; trouble) + PT (physical training; exercises) ADO PT |
ADOPT (take)
|
|
12
|
Time’s right to take what cannibals do for therapy (9)
|
T (time) + (RT [right] containing [to taker] EAT MEN [what cannibals do]) T R (EAT MEN) T |
TREATMENT (therapy)
|
|
13
|
Ukraine at last! How fast Russian fighters move to settle in a new country (8)
|
E (final letter of [at last] UKRAINE) + MIG (Russian fighter plane) + RATE (speed) so MIG RATE describes how fast Russian fighters move E MIG RATE |
EMIGRATE (settle in a new country)
|
|
14
|
Pick out some minerals here – sounds like a great deal (4)
|
LODE (sounds like LOAD [a lot; great deal]) LODE |
LODE (vein containing metallic ore; pick out some minerals here)
|
|
18
|
A spell let out rebounds (4)
|
EMIT (let out) reversed (rebounds) TIME< |
TIME (spell; period of TIME)
|
|
19
|
A period of all-out strike? (4,4)
|
FULL (complete; all out) + STOP (cease work by striking) FULL STOP |
FULL STOP (point marking the end of a sentence; period in punctuation)
|
|
23
|
A long time to hold a job mostly – it provides security (9)
|
(AN [a] + AGE [long time]) containing (to hold) CHORE (job) excluding the final letter (mostly) E AN (CHOR) AGE |
ANCHORAGE (something that provides security)
|
|
25
|
It’d be cleaner if I wasn’t sat in it (5)
|
If you take an I out of CHAIR [the entry] you would have CHAR [CHARwoman; cleaner] CHAR |
CHAIR (something sat in, or IT as far as the clue is concerned)
|
|
26
|
I will say almost everything is not allowed (7)
|
I’LL (I will) + E.G. (for example; say) + ALL excluding the final letter (almost) L ILL EG AL |
ILLEGAL (prohibited by law; not allowed)
|
|
27
|
Maybe Spaniard comes from the cold region of Russia setting off south (7)
|
SIBERIAN (from the cold region of Russia) excluding (setting off) S (South) IBERIAN |
IBERIAN (from one of Spain, Portugal or Andorra)
|
|
28
|
Go to sea when short of time and with no adult? Silly person! (5)
|
GO TO SEA excluding (when short of) T (time) and excluding (with no) A (adult) GOOSE |
GOOSE (silly person)
|
|
29
|
A time for celebrating its charms perhaps (9)
|
Anagram of (perhaps) IT’S CHARMS CHRISTMAS* |
CHRISTMAS (a time for celebrating)
|
| Down | |||
|
1
|
Bravery of old university rector put in prison (7)
|
(O [old] + U [university] + R [rector]) contained in (put in) CAGE (prison) C (O U R) AGE |
COURAGE (bravery)
|
|
2
|
Here’s me losing nothing in change when providing coinage (9)
|
Anagram of (change) ME and LOSING and O (zero; nothing) NEOLOGISM* |
NEOLOGISM (the practice of coining new words, phrases or doctrines; coinage)
|
|
3
|
A suitable moment to return by short cut – they’re giving out (8)
|
TIME (suitable moment) reversed (to return) + TERSE (short) excluding the final letter (cut) E EMIT< TERS |
EMITTERS (things that give out)
|
|
4
|
Reason for hanging around court is pure quality (8)
|
SANITY (rationality; reason) containing (around) CT (court) SAN (CT) ITY |
SANCTITY (purity; pure quality)
|
|
5
|
Horseman arrests amateur looter (6)
|
RIDER (horseman) containing (arrests) A (amateur) R (A) IDER |
RAIDER (looter)
|
|
6
|
How far across (ignoring depth)? A lungful’s required (6)
|
BREADTH (width; how far across) excluding (ignoring) D (depth) BREATH |
BREATH (air drawn into and then expelled from the lungs; lungful)
|
|
7
|
Very heavy gongs with extra echo (5)
|
OBES (Order of the British Empire medals; gongs) + (extra, as there is already an E in OBES) E (Echo is the international radio communication codeword for the letter E) OBES E |
OBESE (abnormally fat; very heavy) |
|
8
|
Close old-fashioned strap in nocturnal attire (7)
|
NIGH (obsolete [old-fashioned] word for near or close) + TIE (strap) NIGH TIE |
NIGHTIE (example of nocturnal attire)
|
|
15
|
Barring twisted racists is in order (9)
|
Anagram of (twisted) RACISTS contained in (is in) OM (Order of Merit) O (STRACIS*) M |
OSTRACISM (exclusion; barring)
|
|
16
|
Sierra on high above most of one great lake or another (8)
|
S (Sierra is the international radio communication codeword for the letter S) + UP (on high) + ERIE (one of the Great lakes) excluding the final letter (most of) E + OR S UP ERI OR |
SUPERIOR (another of the Great Lakes)
|
|
17
|
Something missing in a boy’s slanders (8)
|
LACK (something in short supply; something missing) contained in (in) BEN’S (boy’s) B (LACK) ENS |
BLACKENS (defames, possibly by means of slander)
|
|
18
|
Walking out of Spain in traffic (7)
|
TREADING (walking) excluding (out of) E (international vehicle registration for Spain [España]) TRADING |
TRADING (business traffic)
|
|
20
|
Maybe 1Ac,6Ac,18Ac or 29 and 14, 28, 1Dn, 16 or 21 – one of them has a lease (7)
|
PA (Father, one of someone’s PARENTS [entry]) + RENTS (has a lease) PA RENTS |
PARENTS (one of MOTHER [1a, 6a, 18a or 29] or FATHER [14, 28, 1d,16 or 21])
|
|
21
|
Polish maybe kept in toilet on guest-nights (6)
|
TONGUE (hidden word in [kept in] TOILET ON GUEST-NIGHTS) TONGUE |
TONGUE (Polish is a language [TONGUE])
|
|
22
|
The French put in this for cooking – it might make us allergic (6)
|
ALLERGIC* is an anagram of (might make) LE (one of the French forms of ‘the’) and GARLIC (the entry) GARLIC |
GARLIC (a bulb with a pungent taste and very strong smell often used in cooking)
|
|
24
|
A big fiddle as the big cheese snorts lines (5)
|
CEO (Chief Executive Office; boss; big cheese) containing (snorts) LL (lines) CE (LL) O |
CELLO (violincello [bass instrument of the violin [fiddle] class; big fiddle)
|
I had similar doubts about 6ac, but it’s B (bishop) + N (knight) + OWN (have)
Oops, I mean B[ishop] + R[ook]
Andrew @ 1
Thanks – I was fixated on N for knight. It’s very obvious when the Rook comes into play
Thanks Crosophile and Duncan
I agree with Andrew on the parsing of 6A, and think the definition is simply that coffee is a shade of brown.
I also think it’s a fortuitous coincidence that garlic in 22 is used for cooking, as to me ‘cooking’ is the anagrind: otherwise there isn’t one.
Really enjoyed this. Of course, I still managed to banjax myself for a while by stupidly banging in ‘pollen’ for 22d – but got there in the end. Lots of nice stuff here with a clever clue-related theme taking my honours so many thanks to Crosophile for the crossword and to DS for the blog.
Oops! I missed the boat. But thanks, Duncan, for the blog. And yes, it is B+R+OWN.
Enjoyable puzzle, except I was floored by fixating on two amusing, yet to me equally valid, alternative solutions to 25A. Both are anagrams of IT’D BE, with the apostrophe and CLEANER as anagram indicators:-
BIDET – a CLEANER (definition), but not if one sits in it.
DEBIT – whereas DEBT ‘cleans out’ the financial balance