We were surprised to find that it was only 2 months ago that we last blogged a Hob puzzle. As usual an enjoyable solve although we found this one a little easier than we expected.
We have to admit that we prefer ghost themes. With a straight themed puzzle you sometimes have little knowledge of the subject and struggle or at the other extreme the answers are almost write-ins. This one was somewhere in between thankfully – the parsings were still very important as in 1ac and 33/11.
Thanks to Hob for the Tuesday amusement.
| Across | ||
| 1 | 7 35’s Director? (11) | |
| CHAIRPERSON | Thomas Chippendale (7/35) was a PERSON who made CHAIRs | |
| 9 | Revolting German article in Manx dwelling-place (7) | |
| HEINOUS | EIN (German for ‘a’ – article) in HOUS |
|
| 10 | Verbal account of revolting article (7) | |
| RECITAL | An anagram of ARTICLE – anagrind is ‘revolting’ | |
| 11 | See 33 | |
| 12 | See guest has forgotten us (3) | |
| GET | G |
|
| 13 | Town in Yorkshire, as its resident might say with passion (5) | |
| OTLEY | A homophone (‘as its resident might say’) of HOTLY (with passion) – although Yorkshire folk are not as renowned as Cockneys for dropping their aitches | |
| 14 | Person proficient in judo and cycling (3) | |
| DAN | AND with the last letter brought to the front or ‘cycling’ | |
| 15 | Close relations lead to sex and a bowel condition (4) | |
| SIBS | S (first letter or ‘lead’ to ‘sex’) IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) | |
| 17/24 | New inn tests alarm in Covent Garden street (2,7,4) | |
| ST. MARTINS LANE | An anagram of INN TESTS ALARM – anagrind is ‘new’ | |
| 21 | Ginger wine gets male dead drunk (3-6) | |
| RED-HEADED | RED (wine) HE (male) + an anagram of DEAD – anagrind is ‘drunk’ | |
| 24 | See 17 | |
| 26 | Character of superior hotel (3) | |
| RHO | Hidden in (‘of’) superioR HOtel | |
| 28 | Raises poultry (5) | |
| COCKS | Double definition | |
| 30 | Country home’s vacated in spring (3) | |
| SPA | SPA |
|
| 31 | Propose docking of iPad? (5) | |
| TABLE | TABLE |
|
| 33/11 | 7.35? May now…. (7-5) | |
| CABINET-MAKER | Theresa May, as PM could be described as a CABINET MAKER – though she’s not got much material to work with, and doesn’t seem to be much good at it either, in our opinion | |
| 34 | ….love to kiss a behind that’s salty! (7) | |
| OXALATE | O (love) X (kiss) A LATE (behind) | |
| 35 | Stripper snapped topless, gyrating in S American country (11) | |
| CHIPPENDALE | An anagram of |
|
| Down | ||
| 1 | Smart man on board, a young singer (5) | |
| CHICK | CHIC (smart) K (king in chess – ‘man on board’) | |
| 2 | On a plane where Bill eats pig flesh? (6) | |
| ABOARD | AD (bill) round or ‘eating’ BOAR (pig) – we’re not sure about the inclusion of ‘flesh’ here | |
| 3 | Singer, having turned soprano, gives up (7) | |
| RESIGNS | An anagram of SINGER – anagrind is ‘having turned’ + S (soprano) | |
| 4 | Rare outing: corporation’s mistake (7) | |
| ERRATUM | An anagram of RARE – anagrind is ‘outing’ TUM (corporation) | |
| 5 | Gives aid to gullible people, say (8) | |
| SUCCOURS | A homophone (‘say’) of SUCKERS (gullible people) | |
| 6 | Relating to the birth of an ass? (5) | |
| NATAL | Double definition – we had to check that NATAL could also be an adjectival form of ‘nates’ (buttocks) | |
| 7 | Chap with stomach upset after taking cocaine (6) | |
| THOMAS | An anagram of STOMA |
|
| 8 | Group with black horse – Clive, Marie, Sian and Harold, perhaps (6) | |
| LLOYDS | The four individuals are all well-known people with the surname LLOYD | |
| 16 | Bottom layer might be laid here (3) | |
| BED | Double definition | |
| 18 | Set up drug and sex game (3) | |
| TIE | E (ecstasy – ‘drug’) IT (sex) all reversed or ‘set up’ | |
| 19 | Country’s unnamed nationalists (3) | |
| IRA | IRA |
|
| 20 | Sheikh going short, surprisingly with nil capital (8) | |
| HELSINKI | An anagram of SHEIK |
|
| 21 | Right old clown, in 18th-century style (6) | |
| ROCOCO | R (right) O (old) COCO (clown) | |
| 22 | Bureau assistant’s last work computer (7) | |
| DESKTOP | DESK (bureau) T (last letter of ‘assistant’) OP (work) | |
| 23 | Cavalryman a drongo irritated (7) | |
| DRAGOON | An anagram of A DRONGO – anagrind is ‘irritated’ | |
| 25 | Team Maker is here today (6) | |
| ELEVEN | ‘Maker’ is the answer to the clue at ELEVEN across in this puzzle. Our LOI and it took a few moments before the penny dropped! | |
| 27 | Exaggerated answer given by state capital (6) | |
| OTTAWA | OTT (over the top – exaggerated) A (answer) WA (Washington – US state) | |
| 29 | Young animal, one to see in 3D? (5) | |
| CUBIC | CUB (young animal) I (one) C (see) | |
| 32 | Support tossing of caber (5) | |
| BRACE | An anagram of CABER – anagrind is ‘tossing of’ | |
Money’s worth today with 37 clues, and nice to see the East End not blamed for H-dropping for once. Justified, as folk in nearby Ilkley are well aware of the consequences of not wearing thy ‘at on t’moor. Favourites were Chairperson and the May one. Thanks to Hob and S&B.
Thanks, B and J.
I’m a fan of ghost themes, too, but I really enjoyed the ingenuity of this one, with its clever intertwining of strippers, directors and cabinet makers – one so much more successful than the other, as you say: 33/11 has to be top favourite today.
I agree with Paul A re the H-dropping. I think I’ve quoted one of my favourite Yorkshire stories here before: when asked by a visitor why Dent station [the highest in England] is nearly five miles away from Dent village, a local replied, ” ‘Appen they wanted it near t’railway”.
Many thanks to Hob for an enjoyable puzzle.
Although I’d agree with B&J that this puzzle wasn’t Hob’s hardest, I didn’t enjoy it any the less for that. Funky piece of DIY grid design, too.
I used to work in the Aldwych and the Chippendales had a week or so in the theatre by the Waldorf in the early 90s. The bars in Covent Garden after the show were absolutely out of control; never seen anythng like it in my life
Thanks all round
Always nice to finish a Hob. I was confused for a bit by the period between 7 and 35 in the clue for 33/11 but, once the answer became clear, realised this was a printing error. I also found the inclusion of ‘flesh’ at the end of 2d a bit odd and unnecessary but ok nonetheless.
Thanks to Hob and BJ.
This took a bit of working out, but we almost got there – failed on LLOYDS as we didn’t think of the bank. Took a while to realise the theme but once we got 33/11 it all fell into place and helped with several other clues. Favourites, though, were ST MARTIN’S LANE, OXALATE and HELSINKI.
Thanks, Hob and B&J.
Never heard of Chippendale in that sense. Dont think I want to again.
legendary chairs though.
Puzzle? Too many 3 letter words for me.
Thanks Hob and BnJ
I just found out by accident that today is the 300th anniversary of Chippendale’s birth, which makes the puzzle entirely appropriate.
Several Chippendale references not mentioned in the blog, including that he was born in Otley and lived in St Martins Lane (not sure if it has an apostrophe). Perhaps others.
After initial exasperation at not solving the links immediately, it all came satisfactorily together, apart from 8D, whose emblem (I presume) is a black horse.
Thanks to Hob for the entertainment and ingenuity and Bertandjoyce for the blog.
I was proud of getting st martins lane, seeing as my geography of Covent Garden is non-existent. However I didn’t know any of the lloyds or the Yorkshire town. I enjoyed all the Chippendale stuff.
Manx doesn’t mean tailless, it means from the Isle of Man. Manx cat could be used to clue CA, since a Manx cat is a tailless cat. But you can’t have Manx dog = DO since Manx dogs are not tailless (in general). Manx dwelling-place would be no more than a dwelling place in the Isle of Man. Rant over, sorry to repeat it yet again.
Thanks to Simon S [well spotted!] and gwep for further insights. I hadn’t thought to research Thomas himself further but now find, through Wiki, that he was buried at St Martin-in-the Fields and, of course, designed in the English ROCOCO style – so there was a bit of a ghost theme after all.
gwep @8 the black horse is indeed, the iconic emblem of Lloyds.
Hi Dutch @9 – I think you’re fighting a losing battle: the Manx device is pretty much enshrined in Crosswordland now, I think. 😉