The Tuesday slot this week has been filled by Radian, whose work tends to be published on Tuesdays, in my experience.
I found this to be an enjoyable solve, perfectly pitched in terms of difficulty for a mid-week puzzle.
I would appreciate it if other solvers could confirm (or otherwise) my parsing of 6, since A1 is rarely written out in full, either in crosswords or in the wider world. I also wondered if there was some kind of theme around Elizabeth I going on here, given the entries at 14 and 29.
My favourite clues today were 3, for surface and brevity; 17, for the well-hidden definition; and above all 10 and 28, for their & lit. elements. It took me a while to twig what was going on at 12, but I think that I got there in the end.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01 | FAITHFUL | Constant fault if stove keeps hot
H (=hot, on a tap) in *(FAULT IF); “stove (in)” is anagram indicator |
| 05 | RANDOM | Casual travellers with lodging
AND (=with) in ROM (=travellers, gypsies) |
| 09 | MISTAKEN | Note pale number that’s wrong
MI (=note, in music) + STAKE (=pale, of fence) + N (=number) |
| 10 | NAUSEA | Outcome of a sharp turn in Northern ocean?
[A + U (=sharp turn)] in [N (=northern) + SEA (=ocean)]; & lit. |
| 12 | UNEATABLE | As Oscar’s quarry, supreme, not second-class
UN<b>EATABLE (=supreme); “not second-class (=B)” means letter “b” is dropped; the reference is to Oscar Wilde’s description of fox-hunting (“quarry”) as “the unspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable” |
| 13 | DOUBT | Distrust Dorothy hugging hubby only occasionally
<h>U<b>B<y> (“occasionally” means alternate letters only) in DOT (=Dorothy, colloquially) |
| 14 | MORE | Additional // victim of Elizabeth’s father
Double definition; the reference is to Thomas More (1478-1535), who was put to death by King Henry VIII, the father of Elizabeth I |
| 16 | KINGDOM | Taxonomic group making do, mainly preserved
Hidden (“preserved”) in “maKING DO Mainly” |
| 19 | PRETEND | Affect priest related to nurse
P (=priest) + RE- (=related to) + TEND |
| 21 | BODY | Organisation‘s overdraft appears in Times
OD (=overdraft) in BY (=times, as in 6 x 4) |
| 24 | ELEMI | Resin from tree around eastern India
[E (=eastern) in ELM (=tree)] in I (=India); elemi is a fragrant resinous substance from various tropical trees |
| 25 | REAR WHEEL | Bring up list limiting women’s part of cycle
W (=women) in [REAR (=bring up, raise) + HEEL (=list, lean, of ship)] |
| 27 | LOVING | Fond diary describing Bordeaux, say
VIN (=Bordeaux, say, i.e. French wine) in LOG (=diary) |
| 28 | TUMMY BUG | It upsets my bum and gut
*(MY BUM + GUT); “it upsets” is anagram indicator |
| 29 | DUDLEY | Queen’s favourite // town in West Midlands
Double definition; the reference is to Robert Dudley, the 1st Earl of Leicester (1532-88), favourite of Queen Elizabeth I |
| 30 | FAINTEST | Least obvious lover accepting one check
[I (=one) in FAN (=lover, enthusiast)] + TEST (=check) |
| Down | ||
| 01 | FAMOUS | Prominent female loves avoiding Republican
F (=female) + AMOU<r>S (=loves; “avoiding Republican (=r)” means letter “r” is dropped) |
| 02 | INSTEP | Tension in spine distorted part of foot
T (=tension, in physics) in *(SPINE); “distorted” is anagram indicator |
| 03 | HEART | It beats // a red card
Double definition: the heart as an organ that beats AND a heart is a red suit in a pack of cards |
| 04 | USEABLE | Working uniform, black clothing, European
U (=uniform, in radio telecommunications) + [E (=European) + SABLE (=black)] |
| 06 | ABANDONED | Musicians in first-class department gave up
BAND (=musicians) in [A ONE (=first-class, i.e. A1) + D (=department)] |
| 07 | DISSUADE | Stop notice appearing in Democrat publication
AD (=notice, advert) in [D (=democrat) + ISSUE (=publication)] |
| 08 | MEANTIME | Opposed to appearing in web image, for now
ANTI (=opposed to) in MEME (=web image, i.e. an image spread by internet users) |
| 11 | WEAK | Frail first of azaleas in gardens pulled up
A<zaleas> (“first of” means first letter only) in KEW (=gardens, in London); “pulled up” indicates vertical reversal |
| 15 | OBEDIENCE | Medal enclosed in cube for submission
OBE (=medal, i.e. Order of the British Empire) + [ENC. (=enclosed) in DIE (=cube)] |
| 17 | APPEALED | Drew took off, nicking ring
PEAL (=ring, of bell) in APED (=took off, mimicked) |
| 18 | DESERVED | Just duke and earl waited
D (=duke) + E (=earl) + SERVED (=waited, on tables) |
| 20 | DARE | Challenge bunch of desperadoes heading north
Hidden (“bunch of”) and vertically reversed (“heading north”) in “despERADoes” |
| 21 | BRAVURA | British artists impress very snooty virtuoso
[V (=very) + U (=snooty, upper-class)] in [B (=British) + RA RA (2 x RA=Royal Academician)]; cf. a virtuoso/bravura performance |
| 22 | FEEBLE | Unconvincing complaint about Nancy’s article
FEEB (BEEF=complaint, grumble) + LE (=Nancy’s article, i.e. a French word for the definite article the) |
| 23 | PLIGHT | Soft, easily digestible pickle
P (=soft, i.e. piano in music) + LIGHT (=easily digestible, i.e. a light meal); to be in a pickle/plight |
| 26 | WOMAN | She was victorious over core of armada
<ar>MA<da> (“core of” means central letters only) in WOM (=was victorious) |
I parsed 6d exactly as you have. I think I am ok with it even though one would normally see it as A1.
I thought 1a was an exceptionally well clued anagram.
Having presumably run out of Hamlet soliloquies, Radian has moved on to Elizabeth I’s speech to the troops at Tilbury.
Thanks for the blog, RR – and bless you, Andrew, for putting me out of my misery, as I’ve pored over this for ages, in view of Radian’s recent offerings!
I should have spotted the BODY of a WEAK and FEEBLE WOMAN [I did note the Armada reference in the clue] and the HEART and stomach of a king [I’m chuckling at the latter being referenced by TUMMY BUG. 😉 ] I’ve found half a dozen more words from the speech and will now go back and look for MORE.
Many thanks to Radian – another tour de force. I’m happy to concede this time. 😉
PS: I’d have preferred ‘Queen’s favourite in East Midlands town (9)’ – but it’s not such a good clue. 😉
Thanks to RR and Radian
I missed the larger theme until pointed out by Andrew – it improves an already excellent puzzle. With just Dudley and More mentioned by name I hoped there might be an old sketch lurking somewhere on the net, but that was probably too much to ask.
Hi Dansar @5
This is one of my favourites – I remember seeing it on TV, when they kept getting the giggles.
Hi Eileen @6
Thanks for that, it’s one I remember well. I was wondering if there was one set in Tilbury in 1588 that I had forgotten. With Moore up on a horse and Cook casting him withering sidelong glances whenever he got “above himself”, I doubt whether Dud could have finished the speech.
We think the references in 14ac and 29ac were a broad hint as to the main theme, as correctly spotted by Andrew. For the record we’ve found 15, possibly 16, words from the speech: loving, faithful, kingdom, body, weak, feeble, woman, heart, dare, deserved, mean time, more, doubt(ing), obedience, famous – to which might be added ‘stomach’ (as ‘tummy’ in 28ac).
But knowing the theme wasn’t necessary for solving – we only saw it after completing the puzzle. And our favourite was the non-themed UNEATABLE.
Thanks, Radian and RatkojaRiku.