Knut has provided today’s lexical challenge in which there is nothing Christmassy but which is nonetheless a real treat.
It was only when I had almost finished this puzzle that I realised that there was a ghost theme around BLUE at 10 across, which can precede or follow many of the other entries to from expressions, e.g. blue movies, blue moon, blue whale, blue tits, Blue Danube, blue marlin, Blue Nile, navy blue, Blue Peter, true blue ….
This puzzle took a long time to blog on account of both the large number of relatively short entries and the intricate wordplay. I would appreciate confirmation of the parsing of 1A, where I cannot see what in the wordplay indicates that the solution is hidden in the clue, although the reversal indicator is clear; of 23, where I would have expected PRO, for spin doctor, rather than simply PR; and of 27, where I am not sure of what the exact definition is.
As for my favourite clues today, I am absolutely spoilt for choice. The smuttiness at 3, 21 and 29 appealed to my schoolboy sense of humour. I also very much appreciated 6, for its ingenious use of “mount of”; 19, 24 and 25, all for surface; and above all 30D, for surface and for the laugh-out-loud definition.
Overall, the puzzle was a lovely way to spend a couple of hours on a lazy day between Christmas and New Year, for which thanks go to Knut.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 08 | MANITOBA | Cabot in America, travelling west over prairie land
Reversed (“travelling west”) and hidden (“over”) in “cABOT IN AMerica”; Manitoba is one of the three prairie provinces of Canada |
| 09 | MOVIES | Some trafficked imported sex films
VI (=sex, i.e. six in Roman numerals) in *(SOME); “trafficked” is anagram indicator |
| 10 | BLUE | Complete rejection of EU; pound down
Reversal (“complete rejection”) of EU + LB (=pound, in weight); down is depressed, hence blue |
| 11 | BAYOU | A buoy adrift in southern backwater
*(A BUOY); “adrift” is anagram indicator; a bayou is the marshy offshoot of a lake or river, as in the e.g. Carpenters’ song Jambalaya |
| 12 | LOON | Simpleton left naked?
L (=left) + O ON (=naked, i.e. (with) O (=nothing) on!!) |
| 13 | ENORMOUS | As one might address Speedy Gonzales, endlessly huge
<s>ENOR MOUS<e> (as one might address Speedy Gonzales, i.e. “the fastest mouse in all Mexico” in the cartoon); “endlessly” means first and last letters dropped |
| 16 | ASPIRE | Hope to see Piraeus playing United away
*(PIRAE<u>S); “United (=U, as in UEA, ManU) away” means letter “u” is dropped from anagram, indicated by “playing” |
| 18 | MOON | Low note made by one who jumped over it?
MOO (=low, of cattle) + N (=notes, as in NB); the reference is to the nursery rhyme Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle, the cow jumped over the moon … |
| 20 | WHALE | A blubbery character, Henry gets stuck into whiskey and beer
H (=Henry) in [W (=whiskey, as in radio telecommunications) + ALE (=beer)] |
| 21 | TITS | Little peckers regular features of strip-tease, I’m told!
<s>T<r>I<p> (“regular features of” means alternate letters only) + homophone (“I’m told”) of “tease”; the “little peckers” of the definition are small birds! |
| 22 | CHEESE | It’s said to elicit a smile from one about to be shot
Cryptic definition: “about to be shot” refers to having one’s photograph taken |
| 23 | PROGRESS | Blairite organisation‘s spin doctor; fearful woman
PR (=spin doctor, i.e. Public relations) + OGRESS (=fearful woman); Progress is a Blairite group within New Labour that was set up in 1996 |
| 26 | EDIT | Rework script of Spielberg classic to include tragic princess
DI (=tragic princess, i.e. Diana Princess of Wales) in E.T. (=Spielberg classic, i.e. 1982 US film) |
| 28 | TURNS | Dregs of bitter in barrels goes sour
<bitte>R (“dregs of” here means last letter only) in TUNS (=barrels) |
| 30 | CULT | Corbyn’s first (and last) description of his political movement?
C<orbyn> (“first” first letter only) + ULT (=last, as in ultimate, ultimo) |
| 31 | DANUBE | Amateurish painting featuring Northern European river
[N (=north) in DAUB (=amateurish painting)] + E (=European) |
| 32 | ITERATED | Repeated it time and time again: education
IT + ERA (=time, age) + T (=time) + ED (=education, as in B Ed) |
| Down | ||
| 01 | MARLIN | One possibly struggling on line, having zero memory over
NIL (=zero) + RAM (=memory, in computing); “over” indicates reversal; a marlin is a food fish, hence “one possibly struggling on (fishing) line” |
| 02 | NILE | Rodgers and Hammerstein’s last Illinois performance. The end
<hammerstei>N (“last” means last letter only) + IL (=Illinois, i.e. abbreviation) + <performanc>E (“the end” means last letter only); the reference is to US record producer Nile Rodgers (1952-) |
| 03 | BOO-BOO | 21 detailed in error
“TITS (=entry at 21) de-tailed” means last letter dropped from 2 x BOO<b> (=tit, i.e. breast colloquially!) |
| 04 | NAVY | Billions invested in its flotation; net asset value unknown
NAV (=net asset value) + Y (=unknown, in algebra); cryptically, billions are invested in the navy’s “flotation”, i.e. in building and floating its vessels! |
| 05 | AMBULATE | British university lecturer takes a friend out to go for a walk
[B<ritish> + U<niversity> + L<ecturer>] in [A + MATE (=friend)] |
| 06 | EVIL | Wicked outsiders removed from Mount of Olives
Vertical reversal (“mount”) of <o>LIVE<s> (“outsiders removed from” means first and last letters are dropped) |
| 07 | DEMOCRAT | Some superstar comedian turned politician
Reversed (“turned”) and hidden (“some”) in “supersTAR COMEDian” |
| 14 | RINSE | Get out of bed about noon to wash
N (=noon) in RISE (=get out of bed) |
| 15 | SHARP | Special instrument’s raised pitch
S (=special) + HARP (=instrument) |
| 17 | PETER | Safe // principled chap
Double definition: a peter is a safe, strongbox AND the Peter principle is a concept used in management theory |
| 19 | OPHIDIAN | Known for its snakebite, I’d popped into old pub The Scotsman
I’D in [O (=old) + PH (=pub, i.e. public house) + IAN (=The Scotsman, i.e. typical Scottish male forename)] |
| 20 | WRESTLER | One grapples with the remnants of the French Resistance
W (=with) + REST (=the remnants) + LE (=the French, i.e. a French word for the) + R (=resistance, in physics) |
| 24 | OYSTER | End of fairytale story upset one in bed
*(<fairytal>E + STORY); “end of” means last letter only; “upset” is anagram indicator; oysters breed or are bred in oyster-beds |
| 25 | SILVER | Pirate remix of Elvis (the King)
*(ELVIS) + R (=king, i.e. rex); “remix” is anagram indicator; Long John Silver was a pirate |
| 27 | TRUE | Torture occasionally gets the right answer
T<o>R<t>U<r>E (“occasionally” means alternate letters only are used); true as opposed to false in a game of true or false? |
| 29 | RUIN | Without a question Thérèse, that’s a helluva bust!
R<aq>UIN (=Thérèse, from the novel by Émile Zola; “without a question (=Q)” means letters “aq” are dropped); the “bust” of the definition refers not to cleavage but to e.g. bankruptcy, ruin! |
| 30 | CRAB | Taxi driver finally accepted fare in shell suit
<drive>R (“finally” means last letter only) in CAB (=taxi); as an edible crustacean, a crab represents “fare (=food) in a shell suit!!” |
In addition to the BLUES you mention, there is, of course, BLUE OYSTER CULT, CRAB, CHEESE… There is also a colour SILVER BLUE and blue is the colour for the DEMOCRAT party. There is also a film BLUE RUIN.
Yesterday, we were treated to some amazing anagrams and today we ha e some great reverse inclusions at 8a and 7d. I liked the clue for ENORMOUS, that took me back. Some uses of google were needed to parse NILE and RUIN. Thanks to S&B.
Wot, no comments? Here’s one. Excellent puzzle!
Top stuff. The trouble when there are so many good clues in a puzzle is that it takes effort to single some out for praise. I think I do remember that my biggest laugh was when I got the BOO BOO.
My boo boo today was in failing to understand the wordplay for RUIN – but at least the theme hit me square on, if too late to be of any use.
Thanks Knut, for the entertainment, and thanks to RatkojaRiku for the explanations.
Ob(li)vious theme of course. Grr!
Sorry, can’t help with the hidden indicator for 1a. I think your parsing and def. for TRUE is correct. PR can be used as an abbreviation for ‘the PR man/woman’ in an organisation so I think it’s OK for ‘spin doctor’.
Never heard of NILE Rodgers, and only very vaguely of Thérèse R(aq)UIN, so I guessed 29 incorrectly as ‘raid’. Despite this the surface for 29 was my highlight, especially as I thought the name of a certain eminent UK person ended with an ‘e’. Silly me.
Lots of fun and plenty of chuckles along the way.
Thanks to RR and Knut
Nice to see T Raquin get a mention-great book,
And Nile Rodgers-great guitarist and producer albeit not blue!
Lovely puzzle as usual and thanks to RatkojaRiku.
Delightful puzzle with lots of smiley moments. Didn’t see the theme, but then I never look for them once I’ve finished (I promise to stop saying this in 2018). CRAB, ENORMOUS and BOO-BOO were the smiliest.
Corbynistas a cult? Nooo … just sensible folk trying to find a way out of the neoliberal capitalist shitstorm in which we find ourselves at the moment.
Thanks, both.
Thanks RR and Knut, enjoyed although I failed on ruin opting for raid and not being able to justify. Some belters of clues.
Thanks to RR for the blog and to those who have commented.
In 8a, the intended reversal indicator is “travelling west” and the inclusion indicator is “over”.
@Hovis
The thematic use of BLUE RUIN was supposed to refer to an old term for gin, but the movie works too.
I’m sorry about the GK re the Zola novel and Nile Rodgers; I can’t say I wasn’t warned.
Best wishes to all for a happy 2018
Rob/Knut
Thanks for the blog, RR and Knut for another super puzzle – as I’ve said elsewhere, it’s Christmas all over again today for me, with puzzles by three of my top favourite setters.
I’ve been out since before the blog came out, so it’s all been said, really. I did guess RUIN but couldn’t parse it, not having read the book. And I didn’t actually quite finish, never having heard of the NILE in question [which might have helped me get the theme – kicking myself for missing it].
There really are too many excellent clues to list today – it was a delight from beginning to end, with lots of smiles thrown in. Many thanks again, Knut.
Thanks Knut. guten rutsch! I was about to offer my interpretation of the 1a hidden indicator but you heart me to it. Many thanks RR, I needed more than one of your parsings.
I enjoyed the theme and the clueing, great fun as always.
30ac defeated me. On the other hand, I’ve just started re-reading Moby Dick and 20ac was my FOI.
Thanks knut@8. Knew of mother’s ruin but not blue ruin. It wasn’t that many years ago somebody told me where Blue Oyster Cult got their name which, to be honest, I was better off in ignorance.
Tremendous puzzle with brilliantly inventive clueing. Loved ‘senor mouse’ and the ‘fare in a shell suit’ especially.
We spotted the theme towards the end although that didn’t help us with 2d our LOI.
Bert started to rattle off all the ‘blues’ but Joyce thought he was kidding when he said Blue Oyster Cult!
Thanks Knut and RR.
Meant to say congratulations to Knut for the number of thematic references.
Enjoyed this one senormousely, but had to gues RUIN from bust definition as I didn’t know the book but surmised AQ was being removed from somewhere. NILE Rogers was unknown too, but I followed the wordplay. A few clues defeated me until I revealed a letter or two,(of all things the P in SHARP was what got me going again) but I was 99% unaided when I completed(in around 10 minutes under the hour). A tough challenge. Thanks Knut and RR.