The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/28234.
I seem to be cornering Qaos puzzles, which is OK by me. As for a theme (is is Qaos, after all), it is announced at 11A SNAKE, and spreads over the larger part of the puzzle.
| ACROSS | ||
| 9 | OBESITIES | Fudge: is it devoured by old social workers to give weight conditions? (9) |
| An envelope (‘devoured by’) of SITI, an anagram (‘fudge’) of ‘is it’ in O (‘old’) plus BEES (‘social workers’). | ||
| 10 | ADDER | 1 + 500 + 500? Er … I can do this! (5) |
| A charade of A (‘1’) plus D (Roman numeral ‘500’) plus D (likewise ‘500’) plus ‘Er’. | ||
| 11 | SNAKE | Harry Kane’s got wind (5) |
| An anagram (‘harry’) of ‘kane’s’. | ||
| 12 | RAIN DANCE | Movement before a fall? (4,5) |
| Cryptic definition. | ||
| 13 | CODEINE | Program in Excel — to begin with it can ease the pain (7) |
| A charade of CODE (‘program’) plus ‘in’ plus E (‘Excel to begin with’). | ||
| 14 | MISSILE | Messi dribbles around 1, then 50, like a rocket (7) |
| An envelope (‘around’) of I (Roman numeral ‘1’) plus L (ditto, ’50’) in MISSE, an anagram (‘dribbles’) of ‘Messi’. ‘Like a’ introduces an indication by example. | ||
| 17 | BLIND | Swear on screen (5) |
| Double definition, the first being allusive (“swear blind”). | ||
| 19 | SEA | Main reason to get excited — Reagan’s quit (3) |
| An anagram (‘to get excited’) of ‘[r]eas[on]’ minus RON (‘Reagan’s quit’). | ||
| 20 | ABYSS | It’s deep inside wallaby’s sack (5) |
| A hidden answer (‘inside’) in ‘wallABY’S Sack’. | ||
| 21 | ALSO-RAN | Article about solar storm, one failing to win award (4-3) |
| An envelope (‘about’) of LSORA, an anagram (‘storm’) of ‘solar’ in AN (indefinite ‘article’). | ||
| 22 | RELAPSE | Start to reduce crush — please, fall back! (7) |
| A charade of R (‘start to Reduce’) plus ELAPSE, an anagram (‘crush’) of ‘please’. | ||
| 24 | CRABBIEST | Most irritable conservative Jewish leader is in Paris (9) |
| A charade of C (‘conservative’) plus RABBI ( ‘Jewish leader’) plus EST (‘is in Paris’). | ||
| 26 | WATER | 19 fighting to capture Troy, enemy’s capital (5) |
| An envelope (‘to capture’) of T (‘Troy’ weight) plus E (‘Enemy’s capital’) in WAR (‘fighting’). | ||
| 28 | RACER | One getting into expensive car to compete (5) |
| An envelope (‘getting into’) of ACE (‘one’) in RR (Rolls Royce, ;’expensive car’). The whole clue is the definition, since ‘compete’ by itself is the wrong part of speech. | ||
| 29 | MILK STOUT | Exploits solicitor’s drink (4,5) |
| A charqade of MILKS (‘exploits’) plus TOUT (‘solicitor’). | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | BOAS | Crow loses tail and several feathers around neck (4) |
| A subtraction: BOAS[t] (‘crow’) minus its last letter (‘loses tail’). | ||
| 2 | HERALD | Woman has called regularly to announce … (6) |
| A charade of HER (‘woman’) plus ALD (‘cAlLeD regularly’). | ||
| 3 | SIDEWINDER | … team’s success revoking card 14 (10) |
| A charade of SIDE (‘team’) plus WIN (‘success’) plus DER, a reversal (‘revoking’) of RED (‘card’, diamonds or hearts). The sidewinder is an air-to-air missile. | ||
| 4 | FIERCE | Violent prick going quiet to loud (6) |
| PIERCE (‘prick’) with the P changed to F (‘going quiet to loud’). | ||
| 5 | ASTIGMIA | Wine initially gives me intoxication and sight issues (8) |
| A charade of ASTI (crossword’s favourite ‘wine’) plis GMIA (‘initially Gives Me Intoxication And’). | ||
| 6 | SAND | Unhappy eating starter of nutritious grains (4) |
| An envelope (‘eating’) of N (‘starter of Nutritious’) in SAD (‘unhappy’). | ||
| 7 | IDENTIFY | Know I study fifty puzzles — not following? (8) |
| A charade of ‘I’ plus DEN (‘study’) lus TIFY, an anagram (‘puzzles’) of ‘[f]ifty’ without one of the Fs (‘not following’). | ||
| 8 | TREE | Plant 3 in Dublin (4) |
| The wordplay says that “three” is often pronounced by the Irish as if without the H. | ||
| 13 | COBRA | British company first gets soldiers Indian beer (5) |
| A charade of CO (‘company’) plus B (‘British’) plus RA (Royal Artillery, ‘soldiers’). The beer brand is manufactured in the UK and India. | ||
| 15 | SHALLOWEST | Everyone in performance on wobbly set is most superficial (10) |
| An envelope (‘in’) of ALL (‘everyone’) in SHOW (‘performance’) plus EST, an anagram (‘wobbly’) of ‘set’. | ||
| 16 | ENSUE | Result of Sun hacking into telecom company (5) |
| An envelope (‘into’) of NSU, an anagram (‘hacking’) of ‘sun’ in EE (Limited, a British mobile network operator and ISP, ‘telecom company’). | ||
| 18 | INSTANCE | Fashionable position, for example (8) |
| A charade of IN (‘fashionable’) plus STANCE (‘position’). | ||
| 19 | SUNBEAMS | Broken down bus means travelling light (8) |
| An anagram (‘broken down’) of ‘bus means’. | ||
| 22 | RATTLE | Conductor and what he shook when much younger? (6) |
| Double definition, the first being Simon Rattle, the orchestral ‘conductor’. | ||
| 23 | PYTHON | Perhaps Palin‘s modern language (6) |
| Double definition, more or less: the first is a reference to Sir Michael Palin, onetime member of Monty Python, and the second a programming language. | ||
| 24 | CORN | Ignore economic regulations primarily to monopolise wheat (4) |
| A subtraction: CORN[er] (‘monopolise’) minus ER (‘ignore Economic Regulations primarily’). | ||
| 25 | BIRD | Time flies? It might! (4) |
| Double definition, the first being prison ‘time’ (bird-lime as rhyming slang). | ||
| 27 | RATS | S-sailor upset to see these leaving ship (4) |
| A reversal (‘upset’ in a down light) of S-TAR (‘S-sailor’). The ship must be sinking. | ||
Returning to the M-F puzzles after a few busy weeks to find Nutmeg and Qaos on consecutive days, and both on top form – what more could I ask? An unusually easy offering from Qaos, but still fun, and for once even I spotted the theme, although not in time to help with the solving. Favourites included the clever definitions for BOAS and SUNBEAM, as well as the trademark mathematical clue for MISSILE (neat surface there, too).
Didn’t parse BIRD, not being familiar with the rhyming slang. I thought that a bird “might time flies” in order to catch them, but that seemed to be a bit of a stretch, so thanks to PeterO for that, and to Qaos for the fun.
Often it seems ones difficulties or leaps forward depend entirely upon ones individual progress path through the grid. In my case, after entering about 10 solutions, I had {SEA, WATER, ABYSS}, {SIDEWINDER, MISSILE} and {SNAKE, SIDEWINDER, ADDER}, so it wasn’t at all clear if the theme was going to be aquatic, military or serpentine, or some strange mash-up. It became clear shortly thereafter, though.
I thought the 3 in 8d TREE not referring to another clue was particularly devilish, but I should have been prepared. Great fun, though.
Thanks PeterO & Qaos. SNAKE and ADDER both went in very early so I was straight onto the theme and for once it actually helped speed things along and meant by the end CORN and BIRD were the last two in half parsed but with a relative certainty of their correctness.
I don’t think BLIND is necessarily allusive – if someone is “blinding” (or “effing and blinding”) then they are swearing. I imagine the etymology of that usage and to “swear blind” are completely unrelated with one being an alliterative substitution for a swear word and the other alluding to losing ones sight but perhaps someone here will know.
Anyway a very enjoyable puzzle which as is Qaos’ wont tended towards the easier end of the spectrum and after Vulcan’s best effort so far on Monday and Nutmeg’s exemplary puzzle yesterday continues a very pleasant week of solving indeed.
After a spate of extreme frustration with Io (Enigmatist) in the FT, I switched to this crossword and I brightened considerably. SIDEWINDER, OBESITIES, SNAKE, CRABBIEST, and ASTIGMAS all delighted. For once I saw the theme but I needed the blog to understand PYTHON. Thanks to both.
Yep, an easy and fun potter from Qaos, and I did notice a few snakes along the way. First thought for 9ac, handicaps, was quickly scratched. Not sure how 10ac’s def works..me being dim probably, and the ‘like’ in 14ac feels adjectival, but hey ho. I took 17ac as verbal, as in “eff and..”. A local boutique brewer used to make a great 29ac (usual outcome, bought out by Fosters or someone..all lower-volume product ditched, sigh). Only vaguely knew Python was that sort of language, but the marvellous Michael left no doubt. So, easy but likeable, thanks P & Q.
I loved every minute and clocked the theme in time to get CORN and RACER, which were holding out in the SW and which I cross-referenced with Bradford’s helpful book of crossword lists. Those two helped me to solve BIRD, my LOI. Lots of ticks – all the theme words including 11a SNAKE (I really liked the “Harry” anagrind); other favourites for me (some of which have already been mentioned in dispatches) were 12a RAIN DANCE, 24a CRABBIEST and 8d TREE. Many thanks to Qaos for the characteristic fun theme as well as his usual inclusion of mathematical clues. Many thanks as well to Peter O for the blog, which was well done and very prompt!
Goodness: are all of those really snakes? I had no idea! Most of them went in – and were parsed – nonetheless, albeit with quite a lot if try-letters-and-check. I had forgotten time = can = bird = prison though, so thank you to PeterO for that, and indeed for the whole blog, and many thanks also to Qaos for the fun puzzle.
On the easy side but enjoyable, particularly SUNBEAMS. Thanks to Qaos and PeterO.
SUNBEAMS was my favourite too, although TREE (my LOI) raised a smile. Clocked the theme early after filling in ADDER and SNAKE as my first two.
Unless I’m feeling particularly enlightened this week, it’s surely time for a real head scratcher tomorrow, isn’t it? Vlad or Imogen usually put me to rights.
I would like to bump GinF@5’s request for an explanation of the definition in 10ac.
A pleasant solve today with nary a quibble. I got a chuckle from 8d when the penny finally dropped and for once I actually spotted the theme. 23d took me an unreasonable amount of time to see despite being a python fan and working in IT so I’m familiar with the programming language. Should have worked out astigmia faster given my daughter suffers from it but I’m more familiar with the term astigmatism.
Missed the theme until my LOI which was SIDEWINDER! FOI 13a and a refreshingly quick solve for this nearly-newbie.
Thanks Qaos for the puzzle, PeterO for the blog!
KLColin@10 – Re 10ac: I think it’s simply that someone who can ‘do this’ (add 1 + 500 + 500) is an ADDER.
Thanks Qaos and PeterO
Very quick, though I didn’t parse CORN. My first three were BOAS, COBRA, and ADDER, so I was fairly confident of the theme!
Not keen on SEA – Reagan was always called Ronald, never Ron. I tried subtracting “Reagan’s”, but it didn’t work.
When the rugby player Bill Twelvetrees started his career at Leicester, the Irish international in the side, Geordan Murphy, always referred to him as”tirtysix”.
Another thumbs up for SUNBEAMS.
Dr WhatsOn @2, re 8d – “devilish” seems appropriate given the theme, especially in the context of TREEs (maybe that was intentional!)
Thanks Q & P
Parsed BLIND the same way as AC87 @3 – i.e. “effing and blinding” – (I like its modern variant “effing and jeffing”). Can’t answer re. the etymology but the word “blimey” springs to mind – which I think may be a bowdlerised form of “God blind me” and could be related
Favourites were 19d SUNBEAMS and 25d BIRD, both very clever and neat.
It sounds a bit odd to have more than one obesity (9a), but no doubt there are contexts where the plural can occur.
Many thanks Qaos and PeterO.
Given that my first two were BOAS and SNAKE I was pretty sure that for the first time I spotted Qaos’s theme. This helped with COBRA as I had being toying with trying to get IPA into the answer. I didn’t know about PYTHON as a language but managed to parse everything else. Loved SUNBEAMS with the misdirection if travelling light from the bus! Also the thought of Simon shaking his RATTLE as a baby amused me as I am a fan of his. The performance of Vaughan Williams’ 5th symphony he gave at this year’s live proms with the LSO was balm for the soul in these distracted times. Still on iplayer for those interested.
Thanks PeterO and Qaos.
(BLIND meaning “swear” always reminds me of the Punch cartoon of the 19th century young lady in the office of a publisher who is saying to her, “We like the plot, Miss Austen, but all this effing and blinding will have to go”.)
Like Beobachterin @7, I’m astounded to discover how many of the solutions are actually snakes. I’d spotted the obvious half dozen or so – which meant I missed ten! It’s funny how often comments on a Qaos include “It’s a Qaos so I knew there’d be a theme”. So often I forget to even look or I only spot it at the end. Here, I was looking from the beginning – and, I completely agree with Dr WhatsOn @2, if your first solutions are HERALD, IDENTIFY, ALSO-RAN and RAIN-DANCE, your mind is sent haywire.
What a splendid week so far. No Reveals, a couple of checks (today I solved but didn’t parse CORN), all grids completed. And treated to some delightful clueing and those all important smooth surfaces (on the whole). Today’s treats included SUNBEAMS and BOAS for the surfaces/definitions as noted by DaveinNC, CRABBIEST with the clever insertion of rabbi (how many of us were pondering where a J might go?), ENSUE once I’d worked out which of the two telecoms companies it might be, the themed COBRA and the delightful TREE. Top ticks for PYTHON (which my younger son is studying, which helped) and the theme key, SNAKE. (I do have a sneaking feeling, though, that I may have seen this one before – and admired the use of ‘harry’)
Re TREE, from the days before we went PC, I fondly recall a Two Ronnies sketch where they played job-seeking Irish workers and Ronnie Barker’s punch line was, “… and they want tree fellers and we’re only two fellers.”
Thanks Qaos and PeterO
[Munromad @18 – short, but as a fellow RATTLE fan, you may be interested to know that unless our wonderful government scuppers any kind of artistic life, RATTLE and the LSO are performaing live at LSO St. Lukes on the 23rd September. Tickets (not many) on sale on the 21st at 08.00:00, probably all sold by 08.00:01]
I also meant to say how much I love seeing programming language in there at 23d!
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
Ena Sharples, Minnie Caldwell and Martha Longhurst gossiping over a glass of milk stout in the snug at the Rovers.
The sidewinder sleeps on his back, a girl needs a gun these days on account of all the rattlesnakes and Python Lee Jackson’s in a broken dream.
An enjoyable puzzle. Thanks Qaos and PeterO.
Thanks both. Qaos, so looked for a theme. As well as the possibles mentioned by Dr. WhatsOn @2, there were cars (HERALD, SUNBEAMS) and black (ADDER, SEA and BIRD). But it was snakes, and so many!
Lots of fun, as expected – and very clever to have included so many snakes.
My favourites were 11ac SNAKE, 1dn BOAS, which made me smile and 22dn RATTLE, for the same reason as Munromad.
Many thanks to Qaos and PeterO.
MaidenBartok @21
Thanks for the Rattle info. Sadly being ensconced in the wilds of Suffolk I think it unlikely that I will make it!
Normally find Qaos tricky to solve, but today was almost a write in, and even I spotted the theme as Harry Kane’s writhings prompted 11ac as first one in. Didn’t spot any ladders to trip me up, though…
How funny! I was quite happy with 2d i.e. Woman has called regularly to announce … (6)
HER and announce (Herald) and regularly?
Well, the Daily Herald of course!
I did wonder if youngsters would remember it but PeterO clearly has the correct solution.
I got 4d from violent and the intersecting letters but knew I had not solved it.
Now I feel a right PIERCE!
This was a really enjoyable puzzle, thanks to QAOS and Peter.
AC87 @3, gif @5, Pedrox @16: if I don’t swear, does that make me ineffable???
shirl @23 you can add NSU to the cars
8 down (once I got it) reminded me of the story of Pat and Mike who, after five years working as lumberjacks in Canada, decide to return to good old Ireland. Although they’re almost out of funds, they spend all their money in the pub and then realise that they’ll have to find a job. No luck in the city, so they head for the country. They’re strolling past what looks like a forest, but in fact is a large country estate. They eventually reach an imposing gateway. With a sign that reads “Tree fellers wanted. Excellent terms and conditions.” Pat turns to Mike and says “What a shame there’s only two of us!”
So I’m parsing TREE and clearly 3 must be a reference to SIDEWINDER right? And the side of WINDER would be W or R … and I have the R & E crossers to confirm … and a TREE is a plant but what does a TEE have to do with Dublin? I’m about to biff it in when the super-sized penny drops 🙂
As noted above this was probably the easiest Qaos I have solved but still very enjoyable. Thanks PeterO for highlighting all the snakes as I only knew the obvious ones. My favourite was RAIN DANCE and the clue for SHALLOWEST made my think of the wonderful hammy acting and wobbly sets in the long-running series Crossroads. I don’t think Minnie and Ena suffered from the same problems Penfold@22 🙂
Very enjoyable. I raced through much of this, seeing the theme early (SIDEWINDER confirmed it) which did help when I was slowed down. Last ones in were RACER and BIRD, and knowing they were varieties of snakes helped me bung them in, even though I couldn’t see the parsing (thanks, PeterO). Earlier, it also helped me discard IDDER (what?) for ADDER. I do wonder whether calling Asti a wine is pushing things too far, though. Thanks, Qaos.
Could not parse CORN, guessed the parsing for BIRD.
Favourites were TREE, ADDER and RACER (once properly parsed, at first we thought it was a not very good cd)
Thanks to Qaos and PeterO.
Apparently there’s also a snake called the ‘fierce snake’! Who’d have thunk it
And a herald snake…..
And last (probably not!) a sunbeam snake…
bodycheetah @31: That sounds uncannily like my own thought process. With only an R and an E, I deliberately left 8d until I’d cracked 3d which I clearly needed to do… I’m not great on plants – as in plants – at the best of times. Once I’d realised a plant might be something bigger than a dahlia, the word popped up and then the same penny hit me on the forehead.
blaise @30: I’m guessing you didn’t glance through my post @20? I suspect it’s a very old joke. 😀
steveb @35 & 36: this gets better and better. Just pick a word and Google it with snake. There’s a STOUT snake too!
Yes, difficult to miss the snake connections, and very enjoyable.
I particularly liked SUNBEAMS and the RAIN DANCE.
Thanks Qaos for the entertainment and PeterO for snaking around.
Thankyou PeterO, I couldn’t see where the T in WATER came from, Troy weights not coming to mind and applying the capital instruction to the two previous words would have been clumsy. Are Troy ounces etc used for anything other than precious metals? I was going to grumble about COBRA as I had always thought it originated in the UK (as opposed to Kingfisher) but Wikipedia has put me right (first brewed in India although conceptualised and later brewed in Britain). My way in was exactly the same as Munromad@18 so the theme sank its fangs into me immediately although only useful in retrospect when parsing. Enjoyed ADDER, PYTHON (a language I have dodged so far but may not be able to do so for ever), MILK STOUT (pleased with myself for not immediately entering SHAKE and taking the time to think through the wordplay) but favourite was RATTLE. Thanks Qaos.
Lurking at 23ac, ELAPS is also a snake !
Enjoyable and mostly straightforward. I saw many snakes, and even more on seeing Peter’s diagram.
I liked seeing ‘program’ spelt that way in the clue for CODEINE, as that is the widely accepted way of spelling the word when it has that meaning of ‘code’. (Excel isn’t a programming language, but it does have one built-in if you want to and know how to use it.) PYTHON made a nice companion for CODEINE in that way, as Python actually is a programming language and is ‘modern’ because of that (dating from about 1990).
Thanks to Qaos and PeterO.
A completed grid for a change and 100% parse rate.
Just right for me, was this. I enjoyed the theme, but was amazed by the number of snakes that our blogger identified.
8d was my LOI, for no particular reason, it just turned up last. Loved the wordplay, but was concerned that the thought police may have had something to say.
Thanks for the hints.
Steveb and Mark@38: how about rain snake and snake dance?
Mark@38 Stout snake? Is that Guin-hiss or Mack-hiss-on? If you gave it cider, you might get a snakebite.
Penfold @45: very droll! Technically, it’s a stout sand snake – which uses three answers from the grid. Psammophis longifrons for them that likes Latin.
For those desperately seeking theme connections, somewhere in the world there will be the one snake that is the CRABBIEST snake.
Didn’t know PYTHON was a computer language, so had to guess at that, but otherwise a fun work out.
Except CORN, which although I parsed and bunged in, is not synonymous with wheat. They’re both crops, but there must be more to it. Am I missing something?
HarpoSpeals @48 In the UK “corn” is a general term for “grain.” Our corn is “maize” over there.
PeterO, thanks for parsing Troy. corn and ensue — never heard of EE the company.
I found a few more snakes by googling “snake” with almost every answer, as did Mark@38. (I didn’t try “also-ran snake” or “relapse snake,” though now I know that the latter contains a snake — how did you ever get there, PeterM?) There is a herald snake and a sunbeam snake and there are rain snakes, or at least rain-loving snakes. And in video games there are snake missiles, abyss snakes and crabsnakes.
I’ve never understood about rats leaving a sinking ship — wouldn’t they drown?
And thanks ever so to both Qaos and the ever-so helpful PeterO.
Valentine @49. I know corn and maize after different words for the same crop, but wheat is entirely different. And I don’t think corn can be used as a generic word for grain. Seems to me it’s just a mistake, or at best very sloppy.
HarpoSpeaks @50: Collins online gives as its first definition for corn, “any of various cereal plants, esp the predominant crop of a region, such as wheat in England and oats in Scotland and Ireland.”
In an attempt to justify corn=wheat, I was surprised to discover that, although the original recipe used wheat, cornflakes have actually been made from corn for over 1ooyears.
American “cornfields” mostly grow wheat though, don’t they?
muffin @52, you might call a field full of wheat a cornfield, but over here cornfields grow corn (maize to you) and wheatfields grow wheat.
Apep, who appears as a giant serpent was the ancient Egyptian deity who embodied chaos. Just saying.
DaveinNCarolina @51. Thanks for clarifying. I realise that dictionary definitions are the gold standard here, but has anyone ever actually used the word corn to refer to wheat? Maybe it’s just me, but I still don’t like it.
Thanks for the clarification, Dave
Good fun – and I spotted the theme for once (couldn’t really miss it, mind).
8d reminded me of hearing about the Rugby player Billy Twelvetrees, who got the nickname “36” from his Irish captain..
Thanks, PeterO.
17a reminded me of an ancient Punch cartoon showing an avuncular gentleman in Regency dress talking to a young woman in a bonnet: “We love the novel, Miss Austen, but I’m afraid all that effing and blinding will have to go.”
HarpoSpeaks@55:
“Augustus sent commissioners to Egypt and other parts to buy huge quantities of corn.” [ I, Claudius]
“The people cry you mock’d them, and of late,
When corn was given them gratis, you repined.” [Julius Caesar]
Merriam Webster gives for corn:
“the grain of a cereal grass that is the primary crop of a region (such as wheat in Britain and oats in Scotland and Ireland)”
I presume I was alone in trying to get PIRATE to fit for 4d? P=quiet, IRATE=loud (sort of), PIRATE = Vicious prick
I know it doesn’t quite fit, but I would’ve been oh so happy if it had.
Being pedantic, does no-one else have an issue with WOMAN ->HER in 2D as stand-alone synonyms? Surely it requires THAT before WOMAN to work correctly in this context?
Also KNOW -> IDENTIFY don’t equate in my mind as I’m struggling to directly substitute one for the other in a sentence.
Maybe some-one can put me right?
Thanks for not including any pictures in the blog …. I liked the puzzle, but disliked the theme – makes my skin crawl just thinking about our reptilian enemies.
There are clearly more varieties of snake than there are humorous comments. That’s two Billy Twelvetrees, two Jane Austen’s and two tree fellers…
Valentine @49: glad I wasn’t the only one who discovered the abyss snakes and the crabsnakes. I’ll leave the video versions to my teenage sons though!
Two “primary crops” as well, Mark!
Pentman @61
I wondered about “woman=her” and particualarly “know=identify” too. To me, having to identify something means that you didn’t previously know what it was.
Penfold @45: I’ve been on a video meet for the last couple of hours and was about to post, before it began, expressing surprise that you mentioned snakebite @45 without making today’s HMHB reference: “And I had my first Snakebite When I was in halls” I think.
[I didn’t mention it, but I know that Jane Austen card. I’m a fan, so my wife got it for my birthday card 3 or 4 years ago. I still have it. (I also have a book of the missing sex scenes from Austen. It’s called Pride and promiscuity…)]
Pentman @61 and muffin @64
Interesting points.
“Did the snake deceive Woman, or Man?” – as Paul (not that one) might have said.
“He knew every bird, just by listening to its song”
Or possibly:
“He knew every snake, just by listening to its hiss”?
Regarding corn and wheat. My first reaction was that they are different, but then I remembered that the French word blé can stand for either one (which confused me a bit when I first learned that, to be sure). So maybe it’s a matter of cultural relativism?
Oops! Apologies to Lord Jim (and everyone) for replicating his comment @19. Don’t know how I didn’t see it.
Mark@65 Top marks for a correctly played HMHB reference. There’s also:
I’m gonna go down to the river, that old snake they call the Dee, and
Don’t get too excited boy, although it’s nearly spring
‘Cos the serpent also hisses where the sweet birds do sing
Penfold @70: I was slightly concerned, having suggested it was the first reference of the day. As far as I can tell, any of the comments you posted back @22 could have been lines of theirs…!
That was fun! I was done in again by the whole Cockney rhyming slang thing – there was no way I could parse BIRD. Also failed to parse BLIND – couldn’t associate it with “swear” I’m afraid.
Jay @72
As an Englishman, I feel that I should admit that, although I knew “bird” as a prison sentence, I never realised that it was rhyming slang.
Pentman @61, muffin @64
I too balked at ‘woman’ = ‘her’ but decided not to mention it in my earlier general comment. That issue came up recently elsewhere (with ‘girl’ = ‘her’), when I did comment on it, but on that occasion there was no agreement or disagreement with my point of view.
I don’t think it works. As Penfold says, ‘woman’ needs an article in front of it for the equivalence to work: ‘a’, ‘the’, ‘this’, or whatever.
Alan B @74. Glad I’m not alone!
essexboy@67. A good try to explain away the apparent discordancy. The biblical example might almost work for “her” but that is a very special case and probably not intended in that context in this clue.
As for “identify/know” you have probably settled my mind. A statement like “I know every bird by its song.” and “I identify every bird by its song.” might justify the definition.
I think these clues, together a few others (e.g. 17A where the redundant “on” has no function other than to create a surface), lacked polish compared with the finesse of the majority.
Pentman, Alan B and muffin,
I think HER for woman is OK. Imagine a conversation such as “Did you see the person? Was it a him or a her?” I also struggled with IDENTIFY for know but came up with something like “I know/identify her from an old photograph I have)
For MISSILE, Collins online suggests it can be adjectival in America, but not in Britain! I’m not convinced it’s a DBE.
I only looked for the theme at the end, at which time it stuck out like a sore thumb.
Thanks, Q & P
[muffin, isn’t there a more modern Austen set in the Flower Power era called Incense and Insensibility?]
When the Flood was over, and Noah told all the creatures to go forth and multiply, two snakes remained sadly in their pen. Unfortunately, they were ADDERS.
No problem with 2d when the cryptic element is read as one. If a woman has called regularly, then with the alternate letters of called in her possession, it is her ALD.
phitonelly @76
Haven’t come across that one – I’ll look it up.
Mmm – the hits on Google either refer to music or “Austin”. Could you give me a link, please?
phitonelly @76
Thank you for finding an example of what I actually wanted but failed to find in two attempts! “Is it a him or a her?” is good, idiomatic English in which the intended substitution can be made, and the device Qaos used must be sound.
[muffin, no reference – I just made it up 🙂 ]
[Not the only one then, phitonelly!]
I assumed that the red card in 3dn was a football reference, not a reference to a playing card in one of the red suits. Either way, I don’t think this is a particularly sound bit of cluing: Just because there are red cards doesn’t mean that CARD = RED. There are hunting dogs, but you couldn’t use DOG to clue HUNTING, could you? But I’m not too fussed about it.
Unusually for me, I spotted the them relatively early, and it actually helped me solve several clues. I didn’t find this as easy as some, but I got there in the end and quite enjoyed it.
gladys @77
…so Noah chops down a tree, splits a log in two and makes a table out of it. “There you go,” he says to the ADDERS, “just use a log table…” 😉
For 26a – please can someone explain why “19” (or “sunbeams”) is a synonym for “water”? Thanks
You’ve got the wrong 19, LM – it’s SEA.
Valentine @57: “I’ve never understood about rats leaving a sinking ship — wouldn’t they drown?” One would hope so. I think it would happen in a slowly sinking ship, as the water rises through the lower decks, so the rats are forced to the upper decks and eventually have nowhere else to go. (A bit like cabinet ministers, really.)
Pentman @61: “…does no-one else have an issue with WOMAN ->HER in 2D as stand-alone synonyms?” Despite subsequent comments from several above, I was initially in agreement, but then I looked again at Van Winkle @78: “with the alternate letters of called in her possession, it is her ALD.” Neat.
Jay in Pittsburgh @72: “failed to parse BLIND – couldn’t associate it with ‘swear’” This one came up as recently as 30 July: “EFF (as in effing and blinding) – perhaps this puzzle didn’t reach you in Pennsylvania?
phitonelly @ 76: “For MISSILE, Collins online suggests it can be adjectival in America, but not in Britain!” It can be used adjectivally in missile silo, for example. I don’t see how that would be US but not UK. Except that US missiles are kept here in Scottish lochs rather than silos, I guess. Missile loch? Probably not.
Like Ted @83 I assumed that “the red card in 3dn was a football reference, not a reference to a playing card in one of the red suits.” It’s not ideal, but at least more fluent and apposite (in terms of the surface). Well, as far as I’m concerned, it works in the context of “team” in the clue.
LM @85: It’s a convention that, when there are across and down clues with the same numeration, a reference in an across clue is to another across clue, unless stated otherwise (and vice versa). Unless it’s not really a reference to another clue, but just pretending, of course…
Sorry, my reference re blind in 87 has got garbled: try this one instead. (26a in 28199 by Tramp on 30/07/2020.)
essexboy @84. It’s almost like you were there!
Nigel de Jong should have been shown a straight red.
And so, ‘red’ = ‘card’ (both being nouns) is fine by me.
At first, I didn’t like ‘woman’ = HER very much but after reading phitonelly’s comment @76, I think it’s all right.
A bit like Tim Moorey’s principle: “if you can replace one with the other etc”.
Still, I wouldn’t use it myself.
I am less keen on ‘got’ in 11ac and I wasn’t a fan of ‘on’ being used as a link word in 17ac.
But then, Qaos never said he was a Ximenean.
He only wants to provide some fun to solvers.
And he once more did, even if it was (again) very short-lived.
Many thanks to Peter O for the blog & JT (which is not James Taylor, penfold – and , btw, the sidewinder sleeps tonight!)
Looking forward to, um, Serpent tomorrow ….
I am surprised that nobody has mentioned the Corn Laws (between 1815 and 1846) in the UK. As a kid, that confused me, as here in Oz (like the US) we use ‘corn’ exclusively for maize, yet the Corn Laws seemed to be all about wheat (though checking just now, I see they also cover other grains).
Indeed, the corn laws were primarily, but not only, about wheat. On Troy = t, I parsed it as capital instructing me to take the first letters of “Troy enemy.” (Apologies if someone else has already said this; I am reading the blog on my phone and may have missed some contributions.)
I took ‘woman has’ to mean HER. Apologies if this came up earlier!
Alan@74 it looks to me that there is a ready workaround by changing the “has” to “‘s”, so we get “Woman’s called regularly …”. Then it can still be interpreted as “has” in the surface, bur as possessive in the wordplay. Still would be improved with an article.
Dr. WhatsOn
Good point. I agree that would be a good workaround in this case and would indeed solve the problem. And we would enjoy that gentle piece of misdirection or disguise.
Sil van den Hoek @90’s comment about red cards causes me to withdraw my concern about that clue. Not being a football fan myself, I didn’t know that people said “a red” for “a red card” (although it’s not surprising to find out that they do). I think that does strengthen my belief that the reference in the clue is to football, not to playing cards: I don’t believe anyone says “a red” to refer to a red playing card (although of course that could be another of the many gaps in my knowledge).
DaveinNCarolina @1 – there really is no need to swear !
For 12ac, I got really stuck on the fact that Pride is a movement (gay rights) and also comes before a fall.
Isn’t Michael Palin still a member of Monty Python PeterO ?