Many apologies for the late publication of this blog: I only realised I was the scheduled blogger when I logged on to fifteensquared on Saturday morning and realised that the blog for last Saturday’s puzzle was missing!
Timon and I finished this on Sunday morning, after which my copy of the paper went into recycling, so I have had to re-solve the puzzle for the purposes of the blog. I confess to using the annotated solution (which I normally never use), if only for 23 down, which defeated us at the time. Other than that, it seemed to be a fairly standard Paul puzzle (but no toilet humour this week).
| Across | ||
| 9 | EMOTIONAL | Moving book back, Orwell initially secured by bent nail (9) |
| TOME(rev) O(rwell) in *NAIL | ||
| 10 | VERNE | French author puts bird behind geese, flying (5) |
| ERNE behind V (shape taken by skein of geese in flight) | ||
| 11 | See 8 | |
| 12 | NORFOLK | County needing way to avoid country music genre (7) |
| NOR(way) FOLK (music) | ||
| 13 | IRATE | Hook perhaps scratching head, incandescent (5) |
| (p)IRATE. | ||
| 14 | ROY ROGERS | Unknown number it’s understood, endless wine bottles for old movie star (3,6) |
| Y (unknown number) ROGER (radio code for “it’s understood”) in ROS(e). “Bottles” here has to be read as a verb. | ||
| 16 | PUT ON A BRAVE FACE | Keep your chin up to apply warpaint? (3,2,1,5,4) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 19 | RIGHT WING | Proper bit of 11 in position (5,4) |
| RIGHT (proper) bit of chicken (11); the definition alludes to e.g. football | ||
| 21 | FINAL | Ultimate bit of fluff in a leotard (5) |
| Hidden | ||
| 22 | CON GAME | Dance with me for some fiddling (3,4) |
| CONGA ME | ||
| 23 | CATALAN | Barcelona’s tomboy? (7) |
| CAT (tom) ALAN (boy) | ||
| 24 | See 20 | |
| 25 | RESPONSES | Openers: with those for Sussex and Surrey testing reactions (9) |
| S(ussex) S(urrey) in *(OPENERS) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | TEA CLIPPER | Old transporter, truck loaded with embroidered lace (3,7) |
| *LACE in TIPPER | ||
| 2 | DOMINANT | Leading man I suspect, about which a word of caution? (8) |
| *(MAN I) in DON’T (word of caution) | ||
| 3 | PICKLE | Relish difficult situation (6) |
| Double definition | ||
| 4 | ANON | A cipher featured in news soon (4) |
| 0 ( a cipher) in A N(ew) N(ew). | ||
| 5 | YLANG-YLANG | Tree — positive thing planting 50 x 2 (5-5) |
| L (50) in YANG (positive thing) repeated. | ||
| 6 | OVERTONE | Obvious figure, hidden meaning (8) |
| OVERT ONE. | ||
| 7 | ORIOLE | Bird hunter cut loose after evisceration (6) |
| ORIO(n) L(oos)E | ||
| 8,11 | JERK CHICKEN | Table for a Jamaican fool and poltroon (4,7) |
| JERK (fool) CHICKEN (poltroon, or coward). I thought the definition a little loose. | ||
| 14 | RABBIT EARS | Those picking up signals there’s evidence of wailing in the synagogue? (6,4) |
| RABBI TEARS. Another fairly vague definition. | ||
| 15 | STEELINESS | Scores in southern river determined quality (10) |
| LINES (scores) in S TEES. | ||
| 17 | NUTHATCH | Bird which occupies nest until chicks hungry, primarily (8) |
| THAT (which) in N (est) U(ntil) C(hicks) H(ungry). | ||
| 18 | ANNALIST | Historian head examiner discussed? (8) |
| Sounds like “analyst”. | ||
| 20,24 | GIN AND TONIC | What one gets when noticing mixed drink (3,3,5) |
| AND in *NOTICING. I’m not sure that the wordplay actually indicates “and” but the enumeration made the clue fairly straightforward. | ||
| 21 | FATHOM | First to fall, in short, a downward distance (6) |
| F(all) AT HOM(e) (“in”). A write-in from the definition. | ||
| 22 | CUTE | Pretty detached, remote ultimately (4) |
| CUT (detached) (remot)E. | ||
| 23 | CASE | Patient enquiry (4) |
| The annotated solution says that this is a double definition, but I thought that while a patient can be a “case” to a doctor, I wasn’t so sure that an enquiry could be so described. | ||
*anagram
For a while this looked like it was going to be a total “write-in”. However later clues at least put up some resistance.
Far too easy for a weekend puzzle slot.
I foresee some moans from the usual suspects about “Barcelona’s” = “Catalan” but this was fine for me.
Thanks, Paul and bridgesong.
The top right took me ages, mostly because of one little letter error – I had E instead of G in 19ac (RIGHT SIDE). I suspected ROY ROGERS, but the consequent Y-A-E of 5d stumped me until I found WING instead of SIDE.
Otherwise a decent crossword
Some nice stuff here but I do agree that some of the definitions were a bit suspect. Particularly enjoyed 23ac and 18dn. Police have “cases” so I guess enquiry is Ok.
Thank you to Paul and bridgesong
Relatively gentle for a Saturday Paul. I found yesterday’s much more challenging.
The ever reliable Bradford lists “case” under “enquiry”.
I’ve just looked back at my printout and see that I didn’t make any comments on it so I take that to mean it was ok but unremarkable. I also saw CASE as in police enquiry. I also see I didn’t fathom the parsing of 21d. And surely RABBIT EARS should be a known phrase rather than an example from thousands of something that picks up signals. I know Paul is a prolific and outstanding setter but are we seeing too much of him?
Thanks to him and Bridgesong for the rapid re-solve.
Thanks to Paul and bridgesong. I agree this was mostly a straightforward solve, but I was held up for ages in the NE. Never heard of the tree, but easy enough to work out from the clue. That along with oriole were the last ones (kicked myself with the latter, because the Baltimore oriioles are the only baseball team I have ever watched). I did like annalist and jerk chicken and I seem to remember we also had a coronation chicken from Paul quite recently. Thanks again to Paul and bridgesong.
Marienkaefer@4 – thanks for mentioning Bradford – I’d never heard of it and have just looked it up and ordered the updated version which is due out in September this year. I decided I’d managed this long without it that another few months wouldn’t hurt and it will then be a birthday present to myself. 🙂
Chambers defines case as the subject of an inquiry and the police make enquiries into cases but that doesn’t indicate to me that one is a definition of the other. Similar thoughts to bridgesong and Jaydee about the loose definitions.
5d was simple enough once I had the crossers and I could check the answer with Wikipedia but I find this sort of clue unsatisfactory, though I can’t explain why.
Thanks to Paul, though not one his best, I think, and to bridgesong
No setter better than Paul at hiding an answer’s give-away letters, so the Yx2 tree was neatly hidden in this grid. But nor is Paul averse to re-using some of his shrewdities, so ‘in short’= home, short was used to cue FATHOM last October, as here.
WhiteKing @7
There are two Bradfords – red (dictionary) and blue (lists).
I am on my third red: hardback this time and starting to fall to bits. Let’s see if it lasts until September!
I defend the definition in 8,11 as meaning ‘bill of fare’.
RABBIT EARS are a specific type of radio antenna.
But CASE is really the same definition twice.
Thanks Paul and bridgesong.
Like others, I felt this was a bit too easy for a prize puzzle – though it did get a little more demanding as the grid filled up.
Well I couldn’t fathom out the parsing of VERNE but thanks for the information that geese fly in a V-shape. A bit of general information that I must have missed as a child. (Along with lots more, no doubt).
Is table OK for a meal?
I liked the RABBIT EARS – it was a new meaning for me.
I also liked FATHOM.
Thanks to Paul and to bridgesong.
Thanks Gonzo@11 – I didn’t know about the radio antenna so that makes the clue perfectly legitimate. My apologies to Paul.
Thank you Bridgesong for blogging and remembering. Anxious times in our household when the blog does not appear. In this case we couldn’t fathom fathom or figure out oriole and we needed you Bridgesong. Mr King and I like the easy ones (Thank you Paul) – we would never get started otherwise – and are simply pleased with ourselves for getting rabbit ears and the like. However do appreciate others much more experienced than us liked to be more stretched. For anyone who has worked in a restaurant kitchen ‘table’ is the shout that goes up when full plates need collecting from the hatch by waiting staff and I took it to be a verb in this clue.
Not sure we are in the Bradford buying class yet but enjoyed finding out it exists.
To joleroi @ 14
Many thanks for that excellent piece of information about ‘table’. Is this pronounced as in English or French?
One of the more straightforward Paul’s and certainly very much easier than yesterday’s. Still I was delayed by having HAPPY instead of the superior BRAVE in 16ac. LIked CHICKEN JERK and CON GAME. I remember my parents taking me to see ROY ROGERS along with Dale Evans and Trigger at Liverpool Empire many years ago,so 14ac brought back some memories.
Thanks Paul.
Case in the sense of enquiry is familiar to me in the context of a case management system. I don’t think I’ve ever heard the phrase con game though, and rabbit ears seems rather woolly as a meaning.
Howard March @ 17
Fluffy surely …
A rarity in that I managed to complete it, with admitted alternative spelling of “Oreole” which was my LOI. Clearly I hadn’t managed to parse that, along with many others. I’m with those who are grateful for the easier weeks! Thanks for the blog, it’s always great to see other people’s comments and reactions.
Thanks all for your comments and I’m pleased that nobody has spotted any major bloopers in what was of necessity a very hastily written blog. Like others, I wasn’t aware of the specialised meaning of RABBIT EARS , nor had it occurred to me that “table” in the clue for JERK CHICKEN might be a verb.
I really enjoyed this easy puzzle, it still took a while, I appreciate an easy one every now and then as I only do Saturday’s offerings anyway. I said to my wife that there would be loads of moaning this morning.. there’s always something to be learnt!!
The best part for me was “in short”.
Bridgesong wondered about the unclued AND in 20,24. I justified it by treating the answer as a cryptic clue for “noticing mixed”. Thanks both.
Thanks to Paul and bridgesong. Unlike previous commenters I struggled before getting most of this puzzle and then for several days was stuck on YLANG-YLANG (new to me) until I finally got NORFOLK and had all the crossers so that I could figure out what to do with the 50×2.
WK @ 5: I agree that we see too much of Paul in his various guises, and think that his quality suffers as a result. He also has the habit of coining a phrase to fit the clue, eg MONEY NUT for ‘one obsessed with material gain’ yesterday. I also wish he’d cut down on his device of using -Y or -ISH, cf RUMMY for ‘somewhat spirited’, also yesterday.
“I foresee some moans from the usual suspects . . .”, warns Alex@1. “But this was fine for me.”
I am so relieved at this reassurance. And I’m sure that Paul will sleep more soundly as a result. This type of pompous — and frankly, irrelevant — comment adds nothing to the excellent efforts of the 225 bloggers, but no doubt serves to further inflate the commenter’s self-image.
It was only when I came to the blog that I realised I’d understood RABBIT EARS as just ‘the ears of a rabbit’ from “Those picking up signals”, which wouldn’t be a good entry. I once solved an amateur crossword that had RABBIT EARS, defined as a prank (otherwise known as ‘bunny ears’, though I hadn’t heard either term at the time). I’m grateful to Gonzo@11 for explaining about radio antennae (I think I can guess which sort).
Interesting that there’s no comment from America about identifying ‘that’ and ‘which’ in 17d, because I’m aware there are places where we might use either but they only one (can’t remember how it goes exactly).
23d: Morse realised he was getting nowhere with the case/enquiry.
20,24 I read it that you can get GIN and TONIC from ‘noticing’, mixed
Bridgesong, I think you forgot to underline ‘determined’ in 15d.
Agree with Tony @ 26 that 15d STEELINESS is “determined quality”.
And, like AdamH @ 25, I found the comment by Alex@ 1 gratuitous, provocative,and (so far) inaccurate.
AdamH
I think you’re taking this a little too seriously. Don’t you?
What has my comment to do with Paul? It was referring to posters on this board and not the setter for whom I have a great respect. (Unlike certain other recent posters who have made some rather cutting remarks about Paul. They are off course entitled to their opinion as we all are)
In what way do you consider my remark gratuitous? I merely solved the clue and immediately thought of several people on here who often have drawn out discussions on here about such things.
Obviously I was either wrong on this occasion or perhaps my comment influenced them somehow. Either way I care not.
Please feel free to gratuitously insult me whenever you like on here as I care not a jot.
Btw:
Table: “food as served in a particular household or restaurant
a good table”
Collins online (in British, 3)
@Alex,
I think AdamH was sarcastically suggesting Paul would be relieved that you his approved clue. Maybe it would be better to wait for complaints to appear before taking issue with them? Anyway, isn’t the usual gripe using “in Barcelona” to identify a Spanish word when Catalan is the main language there?
Well, Alex
If you’re going to be touchy, at least get fretful about the right thing. At no point did I suggest that your comment was ‘gratuitous’; maybe you’re confusing mine with the comment @27. Never mind . . .
To Anna @15 sooty I missed your question. It was an English ‘table” even though the restaurant served galettes and crepes and the staff came from many corners of the globe.