As often, difficult solve from Vlad – and with some tricky parsing to work out afterwards. Favourites were 24ac, 7dn, and 16dn. Thanks to Vlad.
I can see three connected long solutions: A NASTY PIECE OF WORK; BRITAIN’S GIG ECONOMY; ZERO HOUR CONTRACT – haven’t noticed a theme beyond this.
| Across | ||
| 1, 13 | BRITAIN’S GIG ECONOMY | Big money, cigars … not one involved in this (8,3,7) |
| (Big money cigars not I)*, where the I=”one” Edit thanks to Hovis and NNI – I had missed out the ‘not’ in the anagram fodder |
||
| 5 | SHALOM | Peace and love? Left first to cut through pretence (6) |
| O=”love”, with L (Left) going first; both inside SHAM=”pretence” | ||
| 9 | See 22 | |
| 10, 20 | A NASTY PIECE OF WORK | Wife’s getting frisky with actor on Peaky — not a good one (1,5,5,2,4) |
| (Wife’s actor on Peaky)* | ||
| 12 | THERMOSTATS | Herbert’s story entertains a majority of regulators (11) |
| THE RATS [wiki] is the name of a novel by James “Herbert”; around MOST=”a majority of” | ||
| 15 | BIPED | Exercise in order for man? (5) |
| PE (Physical Education)=”Exercise” inside BID=”order” | ||
| 17 | ITERATIVE | Queen stage musical review — initially it’s repetitious (9) |
| ER (Elizabeth Regina)=”Queen” + EVITA=”musical” reversed/”review”; with IT going first i.e. “initially” | ||
| 18 | CORMORANT | Bird (Romeo’s second) managed to break bed (9) |
| R (Romeo, phonetic alphabet) + MO=moment=”second” + RAN=”managed”, all inside COT=”bed” | ||
| 19 | ENEMA | Tame! Newcastle after setback having big clear-out (5) |
| hidden inside/”having” a reversal/”setback” of “tAME NEwcastle” | ||
| 20 | See 10 | |
| 24 | EGOIST | Selfish being last to come and first to leave (6) |
| last letter to [com]E + GO IST=’go 1st’=”first to leave” | ||
| 25 | TIME BOMB | Press release about bishop — it’s explosive (4,4) |
| MOB=”Press” + EMIT=”release”, all reversed/”about”; plus B (bishop) | ||
| 26 | OGRESS | Maneater makes advance prince rejected? (6) |
| [pr]OGRESS=”advance”, minus pr[ince] | ||
| 27 | TERABYTE | Developed at last the battery’s storage capacity (8) |
| (e battery)*, with the e from “at last the“ | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | BACK TO BACK | Books turned up in seconds, one after the other (4-2-4) |
| OT (Old Testament)=”Books”, reversed/”turned up”; inside BACK and BACK=”seconds”, as second=give support to=back | ||
| 2 | INNKEEPERS | Hosts banquets, taking quick look round inside — Duke’s not there! (10) |
| [d]INNERS=”Banquets”, with PEEK=”quick look” reversed/”round” and inside; minus D (Duke) | ||
| 3 | ABRIM | Free bar — I’m full to capacity (5) |
| (bar I’m)* | ||
| 4 | NECESSITATED | Required to stop poverty, no end to sick state’s failing (12) |
| NEED=”poverty”, around (sic[k] state)* with the k removed i.e. “no end to sick“ | ||
| 6 | HANDSHAKE | Greeting Henry with hot drink outside (9) |
| H (Henry, SI unit of electrical inductance) + AND=”with” + H (hot) with SAKE=Japanese alcoholic “drink” outside | ||
| 7 | LAST | Remain in Mulholland Drive? (4) |
| Mulholland Drive is a Los Angeles street i.e. LA ST | ||
| 8 | MAYO | Jennifer finally leaving as Johnson was dressing (4) |
| Boris Johnson was MAYO[r] of London, with the final letter of [Jennife]r leaving Jennifer Arcuri [wiki] had a business relationship with then-mayor Johnson in which everything was done with full propriety |
||
| 11 | PARENTHESISE | Guardian’s German writer taking one in (as I do here) (12) |
| PARENT=”Guardian” + Hermann HESSE=”German writer” [wiki] around I=”one” | ||
| 13 | See 1 across | |
| 14 | REMARKABLE | Strange about a king turning into stone (10) |
| RE=”about”; plus A + K (king, in cards) both reversed/”turning” and inside MARBLE=”stone” | ||
| 16 | DOORPOSTS | Poor shot selection at start splits Mark’s supporters in opening frame (9) |
| (Poor)*, with “shot”=’ruined’ as anagram indicator, plus the start of S[election]; all inside DOT’S=”Mark’s” | ||
| 21 | FREDA | She has nothing over Ruby (5) |
| FA (F— All)=”nothing”, around RED=”Ruby” | ||
| 22, 23, 9 | ZERO HOUR CONTRACT | Variable working horror — cue to act over numbers initially on it? (4-4,8) |
| not quite &lit, definition could be “Variable working…”, or possibly “…it” referring back to the start of the surface Z=”Variable”, plus “working” as anagrind for (horror cue to act)*, around/”over” the initial letter of N[umbers] |
||
| 23 | See 22 | |
What a solve.
After my first run through I only had MAYO and ABRIM. Another look through gave me a few more but thought I’d never make it. However, Job (Mr pvb) started to work together and between us we managed to solve and parse everything.
I also thought GIG ECONOMY, ZERO HOUR CONTRACT, and A NASTY PIECE OF WORK went together nicely.
Thanks Vlad for the excellent puzzle and Manehi for the blog.
Baffled after first pass with just one solution entered (ABRIM) . Nearly gave up , but after a bit more struggle and comparing notes with Mrs Job (PVB) it suddenly started to flow and we finished as a joint effort, very pleased with ourselves. What a devious setter Vlad is. Thanks to him, and to Manehi. Manehy, did your heart sink when you saw the name at the top?
Tougher to parse than to solve, as usual with Vlad. First reading yielded only EGOIST and LAST. Then steady until it all came in a rush at the end.
Thanks to Vlad and to manehi for the explanations.
PS we laughed and laughed when Manehi revealed to us the identity of Jennifer. We re-read the clue – clue of the week maybe
Blog is missing NOT from the anagram fodder in 1/13. Always enjoy the challenge of a Vlad and this was no exception.
Wow – that was hard. Like pvb@1, I thought I’d never finish it, so very satisfying. Many thanks to Vlad and manehi.
NOT is also part of the fodder in 1,13.
First pass gave me ABRIM, LAST, ENEMA, MAYO, and FREDA.
I’m not a fan of multi-word solutions clued as anagrams, maybe one per puzzle would be ok, but not three.
A toughie from Vlad, as per usual.
Great puzzle and blog – many thanks to both.
I’m with Job @4: I gave 8dn two big ticks – brilliant!
I had one on my first pass and was putting it down to an excellent dinner and wine tasting last night. Either I gradually woke up or I slowly got on Vlad’s wavelength but it all fell out in the end. The three long ones linked nicely but needing unraveling bit by bit…I found myself getting one word of the answer, then another and then the whole thing.
To be fair to Vlad, to find the solutions you do exactly as the clue tells you. Even when he wants part of a word as anagram fodder he tells you fair and square “no end to” etc, rather than “short” which many setters use. It’s just it is not very obvious what is instruction and what is fodder and what is definition because the clues are so damned cunningly written! I have to admire the fact that, once solved the clue is definitive and clear but prior to that it is a masterpiece of obfuscation.
Thanks Vlad – my brain is back in gear, and thank you Manehi for sorting it all out.
A Nasty Piece of Work says it all.
I’ve just remembered that Eddie Mair challenged Boris Johnson with the words ‘you’re a nasty piece of work’ in this brilliant (from Mair’s point of view – Johnson had a ‘mare) interview.
https://youtu.be/Agx5H6H3Gtg
{Gasp} Like others, thought I’d never make it.
Failed to parse TIME BOMB and now it has a tick.
First pass yielded only MAYO and was hung up on Britain’s Got Talent which was never going to work.
ITERATIVE my CoD.
Surprised there wasn’t more going on with the theme – perhaps others will spot something.
A worthwhile struggle this morning, many thanks Vlad and manehi for the excellent blog.
Nice week, all.
What a great puzzle. I was mentally exhausted when I got to the end and although I’d just about worked out the parsing for 1/13
I hadnt heard that expression before (I know, disgusting for a muso) so I was held up on first letter of 13.
But I only noticed later that I’d put FIRE BOMB instead of TIME BOMB-[no wonder I couldnt parse it-should have used check!!)
So no cigar for me today but much enjoyment
And thanks to Vlad and manehi
I foudn this difficult but enjoyable, and I am very glad I did not give up as I was tempted to do at one point.
My favourites were LAST, MAYO, TERABYTE, PARENTHESISE.
I could nto parse 12a, 25a, 16d.
New for me was Britain’s Gig Economy.
Thank you Vlad and manehi.
Hat off to those who persevered with this and got there in the end.
I didn’t have the time or patience to deal with the obscure parsings (eg PRESS = MOB).
Clearly a great work to most but I’m with rodshaw @ 10
Way over my head and although there were some lovely clues, others read like gibberish such as ‘variable working horror-to act over numbers initially on it’! What does that mean?
Had to put this one in the too hard basket although I now see how very clever it was. It is now a bit of a pattern for me that I just can’t seem to get on Vlad’s wavelength, even though I loved solving solutions here like 5a SHALOM, 19a ENEMA and 8d MAYO (despite not knowing the Jennifer back-story for the latter).
I missed the Herbert reference in 12a THERMOSTATS, so that one was unparsed. I did very badly in the Eastern half – didn’t understand TIME BOMB at 25a or TERABYTE at 27a – both were biffs. Blanks for 10a A NASTY PIECE OF WORK and 6d HANDSHAKE. Also missed PARENTHESISE at 11d. Had not heard of 22/ 23d/9a ZERO HOUR CONTRACT, even though we too have seen the rise of the very worrisome gig economy here in Australia as well.
Overall, an epic fail for me on this occasion. Thanks nevertheless to Vlad and manehi.
8d is already my clue of the year, in January!
Yes, very tough; as I got a few crossers I just seemed to accumulate more vowels.
Some really excellent clues here – the ‘press release’ was great and chapeau for MAYO, what a great clue!
Thanks to Vlad and manehi for unravelling one or two.
Quite difficult, so I’m proud just to have come close. Couldn’t see OGRESS even with all crossers in, but otherwise all solved and parsed. As always, Vlad’s clues are worth an admiring second look post-solve. Thanks to him and manehi.
Glad that’s over. I liked 7d but too many verbose clues. 22 felt a bit like Vlad gave up trying at the end?
8 down may be brilliant but definitions such as “in this” (1a) and “not a good one” (10/20a) are very lazily clued in my view.
Feeling a bit battered and bruised, but so very nearly got there. DNF with ABRIM and TERABYTE and FREDA, and never written in so many answers from overall definition without completely parsing their provenance. Phew!
thanks Manehi, i was puzzled over some of the parsing, in particular time bomb, had pipe bomb initially, but could not parse either! I found this slow to unravel and see that I am not alone.
I enjoyed the theme with its commentary on current employment practices.
thanks to Vlad for the workout.
Thank you Vlad and manehi.
I got there in the end after an almighty struggle and a certain amount of checking.
The only reason for commenting is to add my appreciation of the brilliance of 8dn.
I couldn’t see why it was TIME BOMB, probably because PRESS for MOB is so archaic. As is ABRIM. Much as I admired the politics of the puzzle, I found it strangely unsatisfying – constantly working back from solutions to wordplay.
A long slog but got there in the end. Technically did not complete because I put parenthetise in (probably not even a word) and couldn’t parse “time bomb” so thought it could have been “pipe bomb”.
Is “Zero Hour Contract” a real phrase? I would have thought “hours”.
Needed a bit of help from the check button, but loved this one – another top class challenging crossword.
Thanks to Vlad and manehi
Howard @27
I too wondered about 22d. I only remember seeing the phrase ‘zero hours contract’ (countless times), but ‘zero-hour contract’ is also correct, if less familiar, and Vlad correctly indicated the hyphen. I couldn’t get it, but that’s another story.
Is “Britain’s gig economy” a phrase? I’m sure one can find this made-up phrase somewhere, skipping past references to the UK gig economy, perhaps, but it’s not a recognised phrase like ‘gig economy’, ‘market economy’ and suchlike.
I was very nearly led astray at the death. Working on the, I thought plausible, theory that Looo-tenant Mulholland sounded a very feasible name for an Irish-American TV cop (a subject about which I know next to nothing) and then by adding the utterly implausible theory that Vlad had presumptuously assumed that I along with he were not in sympathy with old Nigel F’s views, I got:
us=remain in Lt.=cop Mulholland giving LUST=Drive
but then I thought no.
Thanks Vlad (I think) and manehi
First pass yielded only ABRIM – not a common word, so I thought I was in for a struggle, and so it proved. Too many entered from definition alone for me to be satisfied with it.
I was confused by the “hot” in 6d, as I would regard a “shake” as a drink.
Favourite was CORMORANT. I like it when I can build up the answer from the bits.
I loved this; I always relish a puzzle that takes me an age to get started, and Vlad was pulling out all of his best ingenious stops here. I would defend the surface of 22; with a little reflection I think it reads very well.
Many thanks to The Impaler and congratulations to Manehi for teasing it all out.
Now I’ve completed it , I think it’s about time for my breakfast !
I was familiar with Mulholland Drive from the Harry Bosch books.
me @32
“Shake” as a drink possibly overinfluenced by (infrequent) visits to McDonalds!
Oh dear. Couldn’t solve a single clue, not even ABRIM which I’ve never come across before.
Like Muffin, I only had ABRIM on the first pass but then I got NASTY PIECE OF WORK initially by the word count and slowly,v e r y slowly the puzzle started to unravel. I got MAYO but I’m afraid I didn’t parse it. BRITAIN’S GIG ECONOMY took a while but it seems a perfectly acceptable term to me. I’ve seen it in many a newspaper over the years! Anyway slow going but pretty good.
Thanks Vlad.
Many thanks to both. It seems ABRIM was a common start and, like most others, the rest got slowly teased out. But I really enjoyed it although my lunch coffee was well and truly gone by the time I finished it. In many cases I did the solve then parse thing but it was all clearly clued and fell into place. A cracker!
And a cracker it was, indeed.
Very satisfying to solve (and to parse).
Egoist Time Bomb? Wot no theme?
Thanks to Vlad and manehi.
Yeah, no, not for me. Impressive nonetheless, and I enjoyed EGOIST (another Bojo reference?) and OGRESS. I wish I could have summoned the attention span to attention so that I could have enjoyed ENEMA and TIME BOMB (more Bojos?) but, unlike many, I didn’t have the staying power.
Victory and all hail to Vlad! (But so impressed by the blog by manehi – nothing strange there.)(I mean, HANDSHAKE: if I were washed up on a desert island with nothing else to do all day for a year I still couldn’t parse that….)(nice surface though…)
With crossed Fingers@41
Cormorant enema? Ok, that one’s getting a bit personal!
In addition to the gig-economy theme in the answers, spotted by manehi, isn’t there also a bit of a David Lynch thing going on in the _clues_? Peaky (Twin Peaks), Dune (Herbert’s story), Mulholland Drive (appearing literally). Maybe more: I’m not a Lynch buff and have probably missed things. (His daughter is called Jennifer but obviously that name is fully explained by Ms Arcuri.)
David Lynch also happens to supply two valuable tools in solving a difficult crossword: eraser, head.
Glad this wasn’t a Prize or I might have spent too much time not solving it.
I think I’ve set a personal best today – the most number of clues unparsed when coming here – so many thanks to manehi for providing the illumination. It was also a dnf as I gave up on the cleverly defined PARENTHESISE. CORMORANT was my only entry on the first time through and bit by bit it went in very slowly. 8d is a gem once properly explained (thanks again manehi), ENEMA provided a much needed chuckle and as Mulholland Drive is a favourite film of mine I liked LAST. Thanks to Vlad for continuing to pen puzzles which provide an extreme challenge.
Thanks to manehi for an excellent blog and to those who took the trouble to comment.
I don’t think BACK TO BACK means the same as ‘one after the other’.
simonc@49 : when Test matches are scheduled closely one after the other, with only a few days of rest between, as with this week’s games against South Africa, they are invariably referred to as BACK TO BACK.
Could anyone tell me how many different 15 x 15 blocked grids the Guardian cryptic uses please,and if a list is available? I am creating an interactive grid database and I’d like to start with the Guardian. I expect this has already been done, and much better than I could do it, but I don’t mind because I’m just doing it for fun and a bit of database programming practice. Thank you.
Similar experience to many. One run through and we had ABRIM. At that point I resolved never to look at a Vlad again, but persistence and a few cups of tea slowly cracked it open. Very satisfying in the end.
As I saved this to enjoy with my Saturday morning’s coffee, I doubt anyone will see this. But, just in case, can anyone explain why V defined ENEMA as a “big” clear-out; my only quibble in an otherwise exemplary puzzle.
William F P @ 53 Most of us have regular modest evacuations, on at least a daily basis, but if you really want to push the boat out…. Need I say more?