As usual, we enjoyed today’s puzzle from Knut.
The theme became apparent very early on with the very straightforward gateway clue at 15ac. Several of 15ac’s film titles appear in the entries (at 1ac, 25ac, 7d, 14d and 21d), and one in the clue for 13ac. We loved his earlier films, but are not so enamoured with some of his more recent offerings – it’s pity Knut couldn’t fit ‘Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex (But Were Afraid To Ask)’ into the grid!!!
We do have a few niggles about one or two of the clues, as noted in the parsing below, and we cannot parse 16ac at all! Any thoughts will be gratefully received! Thanks to Andrew for the parsing.
| Across | ||
| 1 | One’s bedded down in wagon-lit (7) | |
| SLEEPER | Double definition | |
| 5 | Virgin Radio broadcast tracked down (6) | |
| CHASTE | A homophone (‘radio broadcast’) CHASED (tracked down) | |
| 10 | Gunners failing to finish second, missing the Emirates? (5) | |
| ARENA | AR |
|
| 11 | Extensive cheers in Toledo as Jonah is found (9) | |
| WHOLESALE | OLES (‘cheers’ in Spanish, as in Toledo) in WHALE (where Jonah is reputed to have been found) | |
| 12 | Italian island sailor heading west likely to get tax demand (7) | |
| RATABLE | ELBA (Italian island) TAR (sailor) reversed or ‘heading west’ | |
| 13 | Add gloss to finale of “Annie Hall,” shot in South Carolina (7) | |
| SHELLAC | An anagram of E (last letter or ‘finale’ of ‘Annie’) and HALL (anagrind is ‘shot’) in SC (South Carolina) | |
| 15 | Visiting Hollywood, y’all? Enjoy his work here! (5,5) | |
| WOODY ALLEN | Hidden in or ‘visiting’ HollyWOOD Y’ALL ENjoy – the gateway clue to the theme | |
| 16 | Leaves note, leading to row (4) | |
| TIFF | ||
| 18 | Related to becoming aroused, naked? (4) | |
| AKIN | ||
| 19 | “Band of Brothers”? (3,3,4) | |
| THE BEE GEES | Cryptic definition – founder members of the band THE BEE GEES were brothers Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb | |
| 23 | Almost time for original, American deep-fried food (7) | |
| TEMPURA | TEMP |
|
| 24 | Hesitate twice to enter social security premiums digitally (7) | |
| NUMERIC | UM and ER (two hesitations) in NIC (National Insurance Contributions or ‘social security premiums’) – the definition’s not quite right here – shouldn’t ‘digitally’ equate to ‘numerically’? | |
| 25 | Island cocktail (9) |
|
| MANHATTAN | Double definition | |
| 26 | Run off with lady responsible for Parker pen theft (5) | |
| ELOPE | ||
| 27 | Retire exhausted, taking “Times” to relax here? (3,3) | |
| DAY BED | DEAD (exhausted) round or ‘taking’ BY (times) all reversed or ‘retired’ | |
| 28 | Please shut up Mick Jagger! (7) | |
| SATISFY | We’re not convinced by this as a clue, but it is very original! It appears to be a reference to Mick Jagger’s lead vocal on ‘Satisfaction’ claiming that he ‘can’t get no satisfaction’ – so presumably if one were to SATISFY him, it might shut him up? | |
| Down | ||
| 1 | Spooner acclaims Mia’s role in “Zulu Dawn” (11) | |
| SPARROWFART | This was a new word for us – it’s a Spoonerism of FARROW’S PART – which might have been Mia Farrow’s role in ‘Zulu’, but as far as we can establish, she wasn’t in the film – she was however in a relationship with 15ac for several years. | |
| 2 | Entice Mr Clooney to use Western Union? (10,5) | |
| ELECTRONIC MONEY | This is not a phrase we’ve come across and doesn’t seem to be in Chambers, but one can use Western Union to send money electronically, so it moreorless works as a solution – it’s an anagram of ENTICE MR CLOONEY – anagrind must be ‘to use’, but there isn’t a ‘proper’ definition. George Clooney has appeared in some 15ac films | |
| 3 | Parking places for lorry drivers to tuck in over men’s magazines (8) | |
| PLAYBOYS | P (parking) LAY-BYS (‘places for lorry drivers’) round or ‘tucking in’ O (over) | |
| 4 | Germany probes unagi sashimi reportedly not “fair trade” (3,4) | |
| RAW DEAL | D (Germany) in or ‘probing’ a homophone (‘reportedly’) of RAW EEL – we had to look up ‘unagi sashimi’ | |
| 6 | What’s up? Labour’s 2015 dream team paid attention (6) | |
| HEEDED | EH (what) reversed or ‘up’ + ED and ED (Miliband and Balls, ‘Labour’s 2015 Dream Team’) | |
| 7 | Petty criminals conceal trafficked Timor coke in underwear (5,4,6) | |
| SMALL TIME CROOKS | An anagram of TIMOR COKE (anagrind is ‘trafficked’) ‘concealed’ in SMALLS (underwear) | |
| 8 | Very few regularly watch (3) | |
| EYE | Alternate or ‘regular’ letters of ‘vErY fEw’ | |
| 9 | I’m told Liam will feature up front for The Mariners (6) | |
| FOCSLE | A homophone (‘I’m told’) of FOX’LL (Liam ‘Fox will’) – however, we’ve always thought that the first syllable is pronounced as in ‘foe’, not ‘fox’ – if so, it doesn’t really work for us | |
| 14 | Eco-city, safe resort for the chattering classes (4,7) | |
| CAFÉ SOCIETY | An anagram of ECO-CITY SAFE – anagrind is ‘resort’ | |
| 17 | Most murky coastal fog enveloping Spain (8) | |
| SEAMIEST | SEA MIST (coastal fog) round or ‘enveloping’ E (Spain) | |
| 20 | Try on Eliot’s suit (6) | |
| HEARTS | HEAR (try) TS (TS Eliot) | |
| 21 | Crazy grandma in revolting Swedish car (7) | |
| BANANAS | NAN (grandma) in SAAB (Swedish car) reversed or ‘revolting’ | |
| 22 | Have only one pill and some lighter fluid (6) | |
| BUTANE | BUT (only) AN (one) E (pill) | |
| 25 | It’s maliciously slung by toaster into 8 (3) | |
| MUD | Cryptic definition – Someone giving a toast might say ‘here’s MUD in your eye’ (8d). We’re not sure that it’s malicious though! | |
I (rather tentatively) think 8a is FF (folios = leaves) with TI (note) “leading”.
Super puzzle, Thanks B&J and Herr Knut.
“The theme became apparent very early on ”
Did I spot it? As Pierre is wont to say in similar circumstances, don’t be silly.
I will however try it out on my better half when she gets back. (She went off to the allotment at sparrowfart. It gets a load of work done before any heat kicks in.)
Thank you Knut and B&J
I was so unconvinced by the ‘homophone’ in 9d that I didn’t write in the solution but came here to see whether I’d missed anything.
I am, however, delighted to report that for once I actually noticed the theme
I’m not very familiar with Woody Allen’s recent work, but I saw most of his earlier films and could spot the theme once the gateway answer was in. Thanks to B&J for the parsing of ELOPE and to Andrew@1 for working out TIFF, neither of which I had the least idea about. Yes, SATISFY is very original and I ended up liking it, though I took a while to work out what was going on.
FOCSLE just about worked but didn’t quite. Still I liked the def.
SPARROWFART brings back fond memories of Barry McKenzie. A long time ago now.
Thanks to Knut for an entertaining puzzle and to B&J for your usual clear and helpful blog.
Thanks B and J for the blog and Knut for another highly enjoyable and clever puzzle.
As one who isn’t over-fond of Spoonerisms, I was chuffed to work out this unknown word from the wordplay. Now I’ll just have to find a way to use it [well done, Conrad!].
As for the homophone: that was my last one in, as I couldn’t think which Liam I was after. I’ve never used the word myself but thought the same way as B and J about the pronunciation. I’ve just spent an interesting few minutes investigating various online pronunciation guides, which came up with four or five different suggestions!
Thanks Knut, Bertandjoyce
Good fun, quite tricky in places, didn’t spot the theme till the end.
I think for the MUD, the clue is in two parts: mudslinging is malicious, and mud in your eye is the toast.
I got all the answers, but didn’t quite manage to get to the bottom of how it all worked, for much the same reasons as in the blog.
I wondered if the Zulu went with the Dawn as some sort of etymological indicator, but I can’t find any evidence to back this up, so it’s a mystery to me to.
So much GK: I like the ‘is it something I know/something I don’t know/something I don’t need to know’ dilemma (or is trilemma a word?)
My tolerance of any purist imperfection in any of the clues rose in direct proportion to the amount I was chuckling.
Great fun. And I still remember BANANsAS-and SLEEPER-isnt that the one where the VW starts first time after being left in a cave for an eon?
Thanks for the blog.
My first one in was SLEEPER, since I habitually start with the first across clue. WOODY ALLEN was randomly second. Missing a theme, moi?
You didn’t really need to know about the man’s films, but I guess MANHATTAN and the other references were helped by having spotted it. I enjoyed this one, but wasn’t keen on SATISFY and still can’t see NUMERIC for ‘digitally’.
I don’t think I’ve ever said FO’C’SLE, but if I did, I’d probably pronounce it with a short O, because I’m from oop north. So I’m with Knut on that one. Thanks to him for the puzzle.
Missed the theme, but one didn’t need to know it. 1D excellent Spoonerism for those who like them – I am one (apparently in a minority) who does.
Never heard 9D pronounced in the way required by the clue so didn’t get it and never would have done.
28A – well, I thought the clue of the year, if not the decade. Very original and MJ did go on and on about his lack of satisfaction in the song (full title “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”).
Brilliant stuff from Knut and thanks to Bertandjoyce.
Enjoyable stuff as always. I found this an easy to get into medium-level puzzle and chuckled my way through with help of the theme (hit upon as soon as I had Manhattan and Cafe Society) until being beaten by 9d.
Honours today go to the word ‘sparrowfart’ and its clue. Just the other day there was a discussion about Spooners and this is one of the ones where the clue form really works, I reckon. I’d never heard of the brilliantly-named answer word, so went purely from the Reverend and Knut’s kind construction. I knew ‘Mia’s’ had to be ‘Farrow’s’ because of the theme and ‘part’ is the first synonym I’d think of for ‘role’ so I Spoonered them and thought, sparrowfart? Surely not! Then I checked the dictionary and there it was! Lap round the living room in celebration with a grin on me face. Now that’s the kind of new word I wanna learn.
Many thanks to The Wet-Footed King for the fun and frolicks and to B&J for the blog.
Thanks to Bert and Joyce for the blog and to those who have commented.
I’ve now resolved to use an iffy homophone in all my puzzles since it is a guaranteed way of boosting the number of comments.
I’m not much of a cinemagoer but the singer showering gag in To Rome With Love is Allen genius.
Where Hoskins and Knut are at home getting stuck into Vicky Cristina Barcelona? (2,1,3)
A small request to our setter today, please (and indeed to all setters). If you comment on your own puzzle – which is always welcome – can you use your setting name? I, and most regulars, know that baerchen and Knut are one and the same, but the myriad lurkers here might well not. I got confused when I first started coming here all those years ago when setters did it.
Request ends. Thank you.
@K’sD
Certainly sir.
I used to use this username to comment on my Indy puzzles until I saw a contributor warned off the course for using two IDs in the same thread.
Best wishes, and if you are going to Macclesfield at the weekend I hope you have a blast.
Rob
Like James I don’t understand why the word Zulu is included in one down. Could the setter explain, please, as he’s visiting?
@David
SPARROWFART has its roots in Army slang, I believe, and the Army uses the word ZULU as a word for “local time” (which I think, as someone challenged by time zones, is quite smart).
I originally had “Daybreak” in the clue but since Ms. Farrow was in neither Zulu Dawn nor Daybreak and the “Mia” indicator in a Woody Allen context seemed a bit of a gimme anyhow, I persuaded Eimi to agree to the slightly harder version.
It’s puerile, I’m afraid
@Knut/Baerchen/Rob
Thanks for the explanation. Not harder, unless you’re getting it from the def, which I doubt anyone did. V nice word, anyway.
Not a very satisfying solve today. Didn’t spot the theme but hardly surprising since to say that I’m not a Woody Allen fan is something of an understatement. And imho the clue to 1dn just doesn’t make sense, since to the best of my knowledge SPARROWFART is Australian rather than army slang. And I’m another one for whom the homophone in 9dn doesn’t work so I never got it.
Otoh there were some good moments. I particularly liked ELOPE, SATISFY and BANANAS.
Thanks, though to Knut and B&J.
Well if you’d bother to check instead of assuming you were right you’d have found the setter was right and avoided looking a bit of a numpty
Enjoyed this but failed on FOCSLE – fair enough in retrospect though I must admit I thought it was pronounced differently, but I was probably only aware of it from reading Arthur Ransome as a child and probably never knew. Never heard of SPARROWFART but no problems guessing that. Favourite was ELOPE.
Thanks to K B & J
I didn’t avoid spoilers, don’t know much about the theme, and generally didn’t do very well here. Nonetheless, I found lots to amuse and entertain me. My favourites match those of allan_c @17. Thanks to Knut and B&J.
SATISFY was wonderful, and I laughed at SPARROWFART, a word I know well from commuting on the 06:xx ‘express’ for years, but is it really a Spoonerism? Farrow’s Part gives Parrowsfart to me. Anyway, I thought the theme was just 4th July Americana until halfway through (or thru, maybe). A fun experience, and we’ve been spoiled this week.
Thanks to S&B
Baerchen/Knut @11 – very accurate def is that. Cheers again for puzzle and theme as it’s inspired me to rent Mighty Aphrodite tonighty as its one of his I’ve yet to see.
For anyone not au fait with the Woody, might I suggest you consider watching Crimes and Misdemeanors for all round brilliance (much more than just a comedy), The Purple Rose of Cairo for the escapism, and Broadway Danny Rose for the fun.
However, if you’ll forgive my continued digression, the best gag in any WA film is in the (bit patchy, I thought) Take the Money and Run where our Woody plays cello in a marching band. Ba-bum-tish!
This was a goody, and I thought the hidden word(s) gateway clue was superb.
Talking of great Woody gags, don’t forget the slipping on a giant banana skin in Sleeper.
Like wordplodder @4, I first came across SPARROWFART through Barry McKenzie. (It’s in the glossary of The Complete Barry McKenzie on the same page as ‘Technicolor Yawn’, another memorable one that Humphries enlightened Britain with in the 1960s.)
Paul A @ 21, a Spoonerism doesn’t have to be a transposition of the sounds at the start of two words. You could be “All Pay” and “Ale Paw”, for example.
Not much to add to the debate on the crossword. Knut expected me to strike out the Mick Jagger clue, but I loved it. And as for Woody, my favourite films apart from the obvious Annie Hall/Manhattan/Purple Rose of Cairo/Hannah and Her Sisters are Love and Death for it’s silliness (almost Pythonesque) and I think my favourite of all Is Everyone Says I Love You (funny/charming/touching and with a cast to die for).
Minor note: ‘Zulu’ refers not to local time but to UTC, or Greenwich Mean Time.