Kairos is a regular, if infrequent, setter for the IoS (and occasionally, in the Indy itself). Here he’s provided a sound and engaging puzzle with some fine surface readings. Just one definition I didn’t know.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) missing
definitions are underlined
Across
1 What itchy divers do to satisfy requirements
COME UP TO SCRATCH
If you were wearing a wetsuit and goggles, this would be your only option, I guess. A cd cum dd.
9 Latest news of US lawyer in illegal set-up
UPDATES
An insertion of DA for District Attorney in (SET UP)*
10 Shuffle about with family
REGROUP
A charade of RE and GROUP
11 Permission for demolition
CLEARANCE
A dd.
12 I chewed over a bone
TIBIA
A reversal of I BIT followed by A gives you the leg bone.
13 Choice work with metal including a bit of osmium
OPTION
A charade of OP for opus or ‘work’ and O for the first letter of ‘osmium’ in TIN.
15 Georgia’s capital welcomes a group of Italian players
ATALANTA
Insert an A into ATLANTA and you end up with the Italian Serie A footie team based in Bergamo.
18 Letters of stone seen in European houses
EPISTLES
An insertion of ST in E PILES. PILE is an informal term for a residence, usually indicating a substantial one: ‘their country pile is worth a couple of million’.
19 Cleric‘s hand over when first son becomes rector
PARSON
The setter is inviting you to find PASS ON as a synonym for ‘hand over’ and then replace the first S with an R. Epistles, clerics, rectors, parsons … you’d be forgiven for thinking that Kairos was a man of the cloth.
21 Outbursts during yoga lesson
GALES
Hidden in yoGA LESson. Synonymous most often in the phrase ‘gales of laughter’.
23 Better chance of success following destruction of Death Star
HEADSTART
(DEATH STAR)*
25 Bony with a collapsed lung and a touch of rheumatism
ANGULAR
A charade of A, (LUNG)* another A and R for the first letter of ‘rheumatism’.
26 Fruit and veg originally by food delivery company
AVOCADO
A charade of the first letters of ‘and’ and ‘veg’ and OCADO, the middle-class’s online supermarket of choice.
27 Holding back engineers receiving European money for prison
DETENTION CENTRE
An insertion of CENT for the coinage of the Euro in DETENTION and RE for [Royal] ‘Engineers’.
Down
1 Maybe Charlotte’s frequently taking time out with good state institution
CHURCH OF ENGLAND
The Welsh chanteuse is followed by OF[T]EN, G and LAND. This surely betrays the fact that our setter occasionally dons the dog collar.
2 Fly in central Georgia
MIDGE
Georgia is popular this morning: here it’s the state abbreviation you need. MID-GE.
3 What one with the biggest mouth does is extreme
UTTERMOST
A cd cum dd.
4 Eats in mess for tea
TISANE
(EATS IN)* Nice surface.
5 Instruments Queen held on board ship
SERPENTS
An insertion of ER for Elizabeth Regina and PENT in SS. ‘An obsolete wind instrument resembling a snake in shape, the bass form of the cornett’ (Collins). No, I hadn’t either.
6 Rectify title
RIGHT
A dd.
7 Members of the Royal Ordnance Military Band originally playing note on top of slide
TROMBONES
A charade of the first letters of ‘the Royal Ordnance Military Band’, ON for ‘playing’, E for ‘note’ and S for the first letter of ‘slide’. An extended definition clue, perhaps a cad.
8 Keep your fingers crossed when Bob, for one, and a thespian go travelling
HOPE AGAINST HOPE
A charade of [Bob] HOPE and (A THESPIAN GO)*
14 Rear window and another car part
TAIL LIGHT
A charade of TAIL and LIGHT.
16 Weight put on first magnet
LOADSTONE
A charade of STONE preceded by LOAD.
17 His padre converted Spanish jew
SEPHARDI
(HIS PADRE)* Another mention of men of the cloth. The Jewish ethnic division that originated in Sepharad, Spain.
20 Northern Australian adult in toilet with Noah’s grandson
CANAAN
More references to Judaism. An insertion of NA and A in CAN.
22 Room letters regularly overlooked in small town
SALON
The odd letters of SmAlL tOwN.
24 Look for athletic power we hear
AWAIT
A for ‘Athletic’ and a homophone of WEIGHT.
Many thanks to Kairos for this morning’s puzzle.
I had no idea about SERPENTS as ‘instruments’ either, so even though 5d was maybe solvable with the wordplay, I don’t feel so bad about not getting it despite the obligatory alphabet trawl. I also didn’t know OCADO which (I don’t think) we have here, but the ‘Fruit’ in 26a was clear.
Everything else was perfectly fair, with some nice touches, eg the appearance of ‘Georgia’, referring to different places, in two clues and the way the two HOPE(s) were clued in 8d.
Thanks to Kairos and Pierre
Thanks Pierre and Kairos.
The family of instruments to which serpents belong – essentially wind instruments but with a brass instrument mouthpiece – has long since died out.
Re Ocado. 1. I’ve never been called ‘middle class’ before, Pierre, and it is possible I might take the huff. 2. It is far more than a ‘food delivery company’, Kairos. Just saying.
A few new things for me in this one – the Italian team, the instruments and the Spanish jew, plus I hadn’t come across that spelling of 16d.
1a made me smile, definitely my favourite.
Thanks to Kairos and to Pierre for the blog – particularly the parsing of 27a.
Sorry, but 16d is wrong. Lodestone is a magnet. Loadstone is something very different.
Thanks, Andrew. I solved and parsed LOADSTONE without really thinking about the spelling, but LODESTONE is indeed how I would normally spell it. However, LOADSTONE is given as a variant, as Jane says.
Conrad Cork: the Serpent is still used in early music and folk music circles. I’ve often played both genres with a serpent player in the ensemble.
Goujeers “6
Thanks for the info. I should have realised.
The State, of which the capital is Atlanta, is abbreviated to GA. It is the nation that is GE in vehicle registration.
I seem to recall serpents being mentioned in Thomas Hardy somewhere. They were used in church music up to the beginning of the 20th century. Also, the great film composer Bernard Herrmann used one in his score for White Witch Doctor.
I, too, was surprised by the spelling of 16dn. Don’t have access to a paper dictionary at the moment, but I see it’s in Chambers Online.
Andrew B @ 4
From Chambers
lode?stone or load?stone noun
1. A form of magnetite which exhibits polarity, behaving, when freely suspended, as a magnet
2. A magnet (often figurative)
We needed a wordfinder for AWAIT, and it was a real ‘doh!’ moment when we got it. Otherwise all was plain sailing. Referring to points raised above, a description and illustrations of serpents can be found here – there’s also a delightful Hoffnung cartoon somewhere depicting a serpent supposedly having swallowed its player with the caption “for security reasons this instrument is no longer in use”.
We think that Kairos is a man of the cloth – possibly part-time. In which context ‘look for’ for AWAIT is biblical usage.
And LOADSTONE is given as an alternative spelling in Chambers 13th edition.
Thanks, Kairos for a pleasant Sunday diversion, and Pierre for the usual comprehensive blog.
My thanks to Pierre and to all for their comments. The serpent is still alive and well. I knew a musician whose job was to make and restore old period musical instruments, including (I believe) serpents.
Hairos: Chistopher Monk, by any chance?
Goujeers
No it was Keith Rogers who, with Jeremy West, continued the work of Christopher Monk’s instrument making workshop.