Morph provides today’s challenge
Morph is a useful name for a setter, as it can be used as an anagram indicator as well as a reference to the setter as I or me. The name was used to indicate an anagram at 15 down.
The entry at 14 across was clearly clued, but I can’t find a dictionary that enumerates it as 5-3-5. Every dictionary I have looked at gives TRIAL AND ERROR as three separate words.
I can’t see a theme or a message in the grid.
| No | Clue | Wordplay | Entry |
| Across | |||
| 1 | Underground workers’ organisation able to confound the odds (4) |
TU (Trade Union; workers’ organisation) + BE (letters 2 and 4, i.e. ignoring, defeating or confounding the odd letters of TU BE |
TUBE (informal term for the London Underground rail network) |
| 3 | Abridged English novel winning Oscar is rot (10) |
(Anagram of [novel] ABRIDGED + E [English]) containing (winning) O (Oscar is the international radio codeword for the letter O) BI (O) DEGRAD* E |
BIODEGRADE (decompose by the action of bacteria; rot) |
| 10 | Managed to bag with rifle (7) |
RAN (managed) + SACK (bag) RAN SACK |
RANSACK (plunder; rifle) |
| 11 | Aristo on horse having tot (5,2) |
COUNT (in continental Europe, a noble; aristocrat) + UP (on a horse) COUNT UP |
COUNT UP (add; tot) |
| 12 | Outline clue for aide, cryptically? (5,4) |
ROUGH [anagram indicator] IDEA [anagram fodder] is a cryptic representation of the word AIDE* ROUGH IDEA |
ROUGH IDEA (first thoughts for a plan; outline) |
| 13 | Cut is acute cut (5) |
SEVER SEVER |
SEVER (cut) |
| 14 | Approach to solving problem of regressive atmosphere and country gripped by panic (5-3-5) |
(AIR [atmosphere] reversed [regressive] + LAND [country]) contained in (gripped by) TERROR (panic) T (RIA< L AND) ERROR |
TRIAL AND ERROR (method of discovery, solving problems, etc, based on practical experiment and experience rather than on theory; approach to solving a problem]) |
| 18 | Leisure facilities where one can get high, and very anxious? (8,5) |
CLIMBING WALLS (a feature of some leisure centres or adventure playgrounds constructed with hand and foot holds for practising mountaineering and rock-CLIMBING techniques) CLIMBING WALLS |
CLIMBING WALLS (being in a state of high anxiety) double definition |
| 22 | Giant cat biting a dog’s tail (5) |
MOG (informal term for a cat) containing (biting) (A + G [last letter of [tail] DOG) M (A G) OG |
MAGOG (along with GOG, the last two survivors of a mythical race of giants inhabiting ancient Britain. |
| 23 | Centre for cultural development where favourite food captivates Irish going over (5,4) |
(PET [favourite] + DISH [food]) containing (captivates) IR (Irish) reversed (going over) PET (RI<) DISH |
PETRI DISH (shallow glass dish with an overlapping cover used for cultures of bacteria; centre for cultural development) |
| 26 | Setback for West African, confusing endings of verb in East African capital (7) |
I NAIROBI< |
NAIROBI (capital of Kenya, an East African country) |
| 27 | Crew watched cutter (7) |
BAND (crew) + SAW (watched) BAND SAW |
BANDSAW (cutting tool) |
| 28 | What might one learn from reception of Space 1999? (4,6) |
ROOM (space) + NUMBER (1999 is an example of a NUMBER) ROOM NUMBER |
ROOM NUMBER (you may learn your hotel ROOM NUMBER at the reception desk) |
| 29 | Type of immunity said to be picked up (4) |
HERD (sounds like [said] HEARD [picked up]) HERD |
HERD (reference HERD immunity [the resistance to the spread of a contagious disease within a population that results if a sufficiently high proportion of individuals are immune to the disease, especially through vaccination.) |
| Down | |||
| 1 | Salt possibly a factor in judging bake-off? (8) |
TART (an example of a baked dish) + RATE (judge) TART RATE |
TARTRATE (a salt of TARTARic acid) |
| 2 | Censor second person using French language (5) |
BAN (censor) + TU (a French form of ‘you’ [second person pronoun]) BAN TU |
BANTU (name given to a large group of African languages) |
| 4 | Social network left off confirmed pencil booking? (5,2) |
INKED IN |
INKED IN (confirmed a pencil entry, such as an earlier tentative booking)) |
| 5 | Spooner’s to check appointment’s in order (7) |
DICTATE – Reverend Spooner would pronounce this as TICK (check)+ DATE (appointment) DICTATE |
DICTATE (order) |
| 6 | Diminutive fixer digs company (4,5) |
GRUBS (digs) + CREW (company) GRUB S CREW |
GRUB SCREW (small headless SCREW; diminutive fixer) |
| 7 | E.g. hydroxychloroquine variant developed outside institute by head of lab (9) |
Anagram of (developed) VARIANT containing (outside) I (institute) + L (first letter of [head of] LAB ANT (I) VIRA* L |
ANTIVIRAL (HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE is an anti-inflammatory drug used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis [possibly viral] and malaria [not viral] and lupus erythematosus [possibly related to viral effects] and suggested by some as a treatment for Covid-19 [viral]) |
| 8 | Boffin no longer frisky? (6) |
EX (former; no longer) + PERT (perky; frisky) EX PERT |
EXPERT (research scientist for example; boffin) |
| 9 | Secure base of angel on top of tree (4) |
L (last letter of [base of]) ANGEL) + ASH (type of tree) This being a down entry the L is on top of ASH L ASH |
LASH (secure with rope or cord) |
| 15 | Morph noticing nothing unnoticed? (9) |
Anagram of (morph [transform]) NOTICING + O [zero; nothing) INCOGNIT* O |
INCOGNITO (in disguise; unnoticed) |
| 16 | False duvet material for napping, perhaps (5,4) |
LYING (false) + DOWN (soft feathers; duvet material) LYING DOWN |
LYING DOWN (resting, taking a nap perhaps) |
| 17 | Avoided tablets taken orally (8) |
ES (ecstasy tablets) + CHEWED (taken orally) ES CHEWED |
ESCHEWED (abstained from; avoided) |
| 19 | Immersion in water corrupted bitmaps (7) |
Anagram of (corrupted) BITMAPS BAPTISM* |
BAPTISM (immersion in water as a religious ceremony) |
| 20 | Well known to be inept? (7) |
NOT ABLE (inept) NOT ABLE |
NOTABLE (distinguished, memorable, well known) |
| 21 | Kid A‘s first chord (1,5) |
A + MINOR (child; kid) ‘A First’ instructs the solver to put the A at the beginning A MINOR |
A MINOR (example of a musical chord) |
| 24 | Pubs getting regulars to sign in before start of session (4) |
INN (letters 2, 4 and 6 [regulars] of SIGN IN) + S (first letter of [start of] SESSION) INN S |
INNS (pubs) |
| 25 | Edition of paper missing leader (5) |
ISSUE |
ISSUE (edition) |
ESCHEWED was an easy one after doing Tramp. I loved BIODEGRADE-I needed crossers, then there wasnt much to fit and it parsed beautifully.’
Thanks for parsing of NAIROBI and thanks Morph.
I enjoyed this. Some parts were relatively straightforward and others were quite challenging.
Many thanks to Morph and to Duncan.
I always enjoy a Morph crossword and this one was no exception.
Thanks to him and Duncan
I thought ‘hydroxychloroquine’ as an example of an ANTIVIRAL was a bit iffy, given the controversy about whether it really is active against COVID. In medical terminology, ‘acute’ to describe SEVER(ity) rather than duration is incorrect, but I accept is OK in a more general use.
Despite these little quibbles, I enjoyed this and found it less hard work than Morph can sometimes be. I liked the TART RATE, the parsing of NAIROBI, the ‘Centre for cultural development’ and the misdirection of ‘Morph’ as an anagram, rather than first person, indicator for INCOGNITO, as pointed out by Duncan.
I couldn’t have told you what a GRUB SCREW was before, but I could now. The useful things you learn from crosswords.
Thanks to Morph and Duncan
Morph is without exception challenging but good fun, and my favourites in this were the definition for PETRI DISH and the clever spot for NAIROBI. I made it harder than it should have been by entering GANGSAW at 27ac (it’s a valid answer) but otherwise it fell out nicely with a bit of pencil chewing.
Hyphens are often a matter of style and preference, but I would probably side with our blogger by saying that TRIAL AND ERROR shouldn’t have them, except maybe when it’s used adjectivally. I would write ‘We solved the problem through trial and error’; I might just write ‘We solved the problem using trial-and-error methodology.’
MAGOG (together with GOG) doesn’t usually throw me because I used to live near to the Gog Magog Hills in Cambridgeshire, and it’s always nice to be reminded of that.
Thanks as always to Duncan, and to Morph for the entertainment.
Although I answered correctly, I needed Duncan’s explanations at 26A and 28A, and 21D seemed too simple, but it couldn’t be anything else. Thanks Morph and Duncan.
Thanks for the blog, Duncan.
I could echo all of K’s D’s comment, including initally entering GANGSAW for 27ac, thus holding myself up for a while on 20dn, arguably the easiest clue of them all – except that I’ve never lived in Cambridgeshire.
My favourites were 3ac BIODEGRADE, 14ac TRIAL AND ERROR, 23ac PETRI DISH, 15dn INCOGNITO and 24dn INNS [nicely topical, along with 29ac HERD).
Many thanks to Morph for the fun.
Thanks Morph and DS
I think there’s a little more going on in 21, as Kid A is an album by Radiohead, so quite a neat allusion.
Very enjoyable, particularlr BIODEGRADE, NAIROBI and PETRI DISH.
Thanks to Duncan and Morph
We found this a fairly easy solve; our only problem was parsing NAIROBI as we never thought of ‘Ivorian’ – we were fixated on the ‘obi’ being a reveral of ‘Ibo’ (one of the peoples of Nigeria, hence West African) so couldn’t make anything of ‘nair’.
Some nice topical references as one expects from Morph.
Favourites were BIODEGRADE, MAGOG, PETRI DISH and INCOGNITO.
Thanks, Morph and Duncan.
Always a pleasure to get a Morph puzzle and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I did fall into the GANGSAW trap but probably shouldn’t have done as the dictionary only lists it as being two separate words.
Personal favourites were CLIMBING WALLS and PETRI DISH.
Many thanks to Morph and thanks also to Duncan for the review.
As Eileen hasn’t said it today – what crypticsue said.
We felt handsaw was a better alternative to bandsaw and gangsaw.
Carol @ 13, I can see that both BAND and GANG are synonyms for ‘crew’, but I think HAND refers to just one person rather than a crew of people. But as mentioned by Jane @ 11, when considering BAND and GANG, only BAND-SAW is given as one word in the dictionary, and of course, only BAND-SAW intersects with NOTABLE.
I had all of the south of the grid filled in but only 4 clues in the north. Some lovely clues and some that completely defeated me.
Count me in the HAND (crew) SAW camp too. I did have a question mark against it so I didn’t take much persuading to ignore the H in my search for 20d.
Thanks to Morph, Duncan and the Indy as always.
Generally fun but I’m with wordplodder that even as fun no-one should imply that an antimarial is an antiviral. More than iffy, please don’t .
Absolute corker I thought. TARTRATE and SEVER were great, but ROOM NUMBER put a proper smile on my chops once I’d worked it out. Many others were most satisfactory. NAIROBI was sensei-level clueing.
Thanks Morph and Duncan
Apologies re hydrochloroquine – I thought like some of the other drugs being touted around it was used for treating other viruses but not just this one – certainly didn’t want to boost the orange one’s shares or give anyone stoopid ideas. And I’d never heard of a gangsaw, and didn’t think of a handsaw (which I do know from a hawk) as fitting here. Thanks all for the blog and comments.