Phi brings the standard working week to a close as is usual.
The shortest entry has given me the greatest problem in parsing today. I think the wordplay for TOO at 18 across is split into TO (set) + O (old) but I’m struggling a bit to find a phrase or sentence where I could swap ‘set’ and ‘to’ and retain the sense. I’m sure someone will point out the ease with which it can be done or explain that I have got the parsing wrong.
BISQUE at 2 down is not a word I have come across for a while, but I first met it when I enjoyed playing a bit of croquet nearly 50 years ago while I was learning surveying as a civilian at the School of Military Survey near Newbury. One of our surveying training tasks was to produce a 1 centimetre contour map of the croquet lawn.
I’ve also done some mapping for orienteering near LOSSIEMOUTH, so this crossword was a bit of a trip down memory lane for me. To complete the nostalgia, I used to understand MATRIX algebra in some depth, but that knowledge has now all gone.
I liked the clue for ANDROCLES (29 across) with its allusions to lions and Christians in gladiatorial combat
I wondered if we were going to get a pangram when a Q, V and X appeared, but we are well short of the necessary letters.
| No | Clue | Wordplay | Entry |
| Across | |||
| 1 | Bit of clipper sailor’s occupying (5) |
C (first letter of [bit of] CLIPPER) + AB (able seaman; sailor) + IN (occupying) C AB IN |
CABIN (a room a sailor may occupy aboard a clipper) |
| 4 | American to stop daughter securing flat in US city (9) |
(CAN [American term for ‘put an end to’ or stop] + D [daughter]) containing (securing) LEVEL (flat) C (LEVEL) AN D |
CLEVELAND (city in the United States) |
| 9 | Hostile sumo wrestling in Scottish port (11) |
Anagram of (wrestling) HOSTILE SUMO LOSSIEMOUTH* |
LOSSIEMOUTH (port on the Moray coast in North East Scotland) |
| 10 | Vehicle almost failing to operate (3) |
BUS BUS |
BUS (vehicle) |
| 11 | Novelist concealing disgusted expression in polite greeting to woman (7) |
UGH (expression of disgust) contained in (concealing … in) MA’AM (polite greeting to a lady) MA (UGH) AM |
MAUGHAM (reference W Somerset MAUGHAM [1874 – 1965], English playwright, novelist and short story writer) |
| 12 | Unidentified person, rather overlooking rule, embracing the writer (7) |
SOONE SO (ME) ONE |
SOMEONE (an unidentified person) |
| 13 | Pain has one going round hospital (4) |
ACE (one) containing (going round) H (hospital) AC (H) E |
ACHE (pain) |
| 15 | Pig-like monster goring tree (7) |
ORC (mythological sea-monster or an ogre from J R R Tolkien books) contained in (goring) PINE (type of tree) P (ORC) INE |
PORCINE (pig-like) |
| 18 | Very old when set beside the old (3) |
I think this is TO (set) + O (old) but I’m having difficulty thinking of an example where I would substitute ‘to’ for ‘set’ or vice versa. TO O |
TOO (to a greater extent than is required; very) |
| 19 | Help and aid distributed for London theatre (7) |
Anagram of (distributed) HELP and AID ADELPHI* |
ADELPHI (theatre on the Strand in London) |
| 20 | Not initially full, not initially empty (4) |
N (first letter of [initially] NOT) + N ULL |
NULL (empty, descriptive of a special type of set in mathematics) |
| 23 | Gutted the insect’s weapon, dealing with bugs? (7) |
TE (letters remaining in THE when the central letter H is removed [gutted]) + STING (an insect’s weapon) TE STING |
TESTING (TESTING of a computer program involves looking for bugs that might stop the software performing correctly) |
| 24 | Film director not too keen about very quiet acting (7) |
(COOL [indifferent; not too keen] containing [about] PP [pianissimo; very quiet]) + A (acting) CO (PP) OL A |
COPPOLA (reference Francis Ford COPPOLA [born 1939], American film director or his daughter Sofia COPPOLA [born 1971], also a director. Francis Ford’s wife Eleanor is involved in film making as well) |
| 26 | Man needing time to leave prison (3) |
S SIR |
SIR (word of respect when addressing a man) |
| 27 | Epicure curses onion in the soup (11) |
Anagram of (in the soup) CURSES ONION CONNOSSIEUR* |
CONNOISSEUR (person with a well-informed knowledge and appreciation, especially of fine food and wine or of the arts. An EPICURE is defined as person of refined and fastidious taste, especially in food, wine) |
| 29 | Hero of Shaw play with parts including leader of Christians (9) |
AND (with) + (ROLES [parts] containing [including] C [first letter of {leader of} CHRISTIANS]) AND RO (C) LES |
ANDROCLES (reference the George Bernard SHAW play ANDROCLES and the Lion) |
| 30 | Article subsequently cut to form additional item (5) |
AN (indefinite article) + NEX AN NEX |
ANNEX (additional item) |
| Down | |||
| 1 | Explorer abandoning vehicle ahead of new group of fighters (6) |
COLUM COLUM N |
COLUMN (body of troops forming a long narrow procession; group of fighters) |
| 2 | Book is rather lacking that certain something – that’s a handicap (6) |
B (book) + IS + QU B IS QUE |
BISQUE (a term in some sports for the handicap whereby a player allows a weaker opponent [at the latter’s choice of time] to score a point in a set, deduct a stroke at a hole, take an extra turn in croquet, etc) |
| 3 | Number – number reduced by 20% – gets comment on farm (5) |
N (number) + EIGH N EIGH |
NEIGH (cry of a horse; comment by farm animal) |
| 4 | Theatrically fitting in good religious gathering (4-7) |
CAMP (theatrical) + MEETING (fitting) CAMP MEETING |
CAMP-MEETING (a religious gathering in the open air or in a temporary encampment) |
| 5 | I’ll be taking no flights? Rising anger after heading out (3) |
EMU< |
EMU (flightless bird) |
| 6 | Recording number of years controlling border line – it’s not at all long (9) |
(EP [extended play record] + ERA [period of years] containing [controlling] HEM [border]) + L (line) EP (HEM) ERA L |
EPHEMERAL (existing only for a day; short-lived) |
| 7 | Tasteful stuff from married relatives in excellent area (8) |
([M {married} + BROS {brothers; relatives}] contained in [in] AI [A one; excellent]) + A (area) A (M BROS) I A |
AMBROSIA (any fragrant or delicious food or drink; tasteful stuff]) |
| 8 | Get untidy to confound and upset most of distinguished party (8) |
DISH (outwit; ruin; upset) + DISH EVEL |
DISHEVEL (disarrange; spread in disorder; get untidy) |
| 12 | A sauce spoon needs treatment – such as washing-up liquid? (11) |
Anagram of (needs treatment) A SAUCE SPOON SAPONACEOUS* |
SAPONACEOUS (soapy or soaplike as is washing-up liquid) |
| 14 | Italian holiday island company adopting Channel Islands? It’s light headed stuff (9) |
CAPRI (Italian holiday island off the coast near Naples) + (CO [company] containing [adopting] CI [Channel Islands]) CAPRI C (CI) O |
CAPRICCIO (a lively piece composed freely and without adhering to the rules for any specific musical form; light headed stuff?) |
| 16 | I will avoid obscure part of the world for Disney film (8) |
FA FANT ASIA |
FANTASIA (title of a Disney film released in 1941 which featured animated animals moving in time to various pieces of classical music) |
| 17 | Certain to tuck into alcohol in a responsible manner? (8) |
SURE (certain) contained in (tuck into) MEAD (an alcoholic drink made by fermenting honey and water, usually with the addition of spices, etc) MEA (SURE) D |
MEASURED (considered; calculated; in a responsible manner) |
| 21 | Solemn over adolescent getting hooch (6) |
PO (PO-faced [stupidly solemn and narrow-minded]) + TEEN (adolescent) PO TEEN |
POTEEN (Irish whiskey illicitly distilled; hooch) |
| 22 | Mathematical item: arts graduate gets confused on the radio (6) |
MA (Master of Arts; arts graduate) + TRIX (sounds like [on the radio] TRICKS [deceives; gets someone confused]) MA TRIX |
MATRIX (rectangular array of quantities in mathematics) |
| 25 | Food that may listed anywhere except the start of the dictionary (5) |
PAST A (beyond words beginning with the letter A in the dictionary, so any word not near the start of the dictionary) PAST A |
PASTA (foodstuff) |
| 28 | Love letter, unfinished turning up (3) |
LIN NIL< |
NIL (zero; love score in tennis) |
I parsed TOO as O (old) set beside T’ (the) O (old). Couldn’t parse DISHEVEL and still not sure. That meaning for BISQUE was new to me. Thanks to Phi and Duncan.
I wasn’t sure about TOO either and thought it might be T(he) O(ld) O(ld) as Hovis did, though I wasn’t entirely convinced it was right.
All good fun!
We agreed with Hovis @1 and passerby @2 about TOO. We parsed 4d as: theatrically = CAMP, fitting = MEET, in = IN, good = G to account for all parts of the clue (though we hadn’t actually heard of a CAMP MEETING).
We entered DISHEVEL unparsed, and have to say that we aren’t entirely sure that the blog explains it fully. Why would DISH be ” confound and upset”, why would a REVEL be a distinguished party, and it doesn’t seem usual to use “most of” to indicate dropping the first letter. We were expecting a distinguished party to be a LEVE-something (reversed, or upset).
Thanks to Phi and Duncan.
Also, we looked for a theme but, as is often the case with Phi, if there is one it has passed us by. Spotting the occasional connection between a few entries (e.g. a MATRIX has COLUMNs, and the NULL MATRIX is a thing) didn’t lead anywhere.
Levee for the party. Still staring at the grid.
Phi is the null set, for starters
I think the EVEL in 8d is from a reversal (upset) of a truncated (most of) LEVEE: “a … reception of visitors etc, esp by a person of distinction”
I don’t solve this crossword but I read blog and the comments to gain insights.
Setters use o for ‘of’. I can understand it from phrases like Tom o’ Shanter and will-o’-the-wisp/
Could someone tell me where ‘t’ is used for ‘the’? This abbr. is indeed in XWD: A Dictionary of Crossword Abbreviations (Chambers).
Sorry, James, I was so slow to type my comment that I didn’t see yours in time.
Thanks James. Didn’t know that meaning for LEVEE but it’s in Chambers. Didn’t know that meaning for DISH either, so was never going to parse it.
Mathematicians may disagree that Phi is the null set. The symbol for the latter has a larger circle.
Rishi @8. T’ is use for THE in t’ North (of England) – mainly Lancashire, I think.
A good crossword but with one poor clue. Unless we are all missing something, TOO doesn’t work. Most comments have focused on the parsing – but I’m not even certain about the definition. Does ‘too’ mean ‘very’? I feel the first suggests excessiveness whilst the second is comparative/emphatic. Swapping the words in most instances I can think of changes the sense of what is being said.
I enjoyed three highlighted by Duncan – LOSSIEMOUTH, ANDROCLES and the delightful BISQUE which was a pleasure to piece together and a completely new meaning of the word for me. The surfaces for CONNOISSEUR and POTEEN were amusing and PASTA is a neat trick.
Thanks Phi and Duncan
PostMark @12. I think people say “Too true” to mean “Very true”.
Too right Hovis@13… wow for dishevel!
thanks Phi n Duncansheill
Re parsings such as in ‘too’, ‘dishevel’ today but also on many other occasions, and assuming that they have received editorial approval, I think we must allow setters to get away with some very (too?) abstruse constructions and analogies in order to be different, which is a good thing, otherwise the clues would become boring and unoriginal. I solved the puzzle, despite being very unsure about some answers, and enjoyed it, so thanks Phi and Duncan.
Hovis@13
I am reminded of an experience that I had during a US visit several years ago.
My daughter’s family and I stepped out of our car and stood at the top of the Rose Garden in or near Berkeley in Calif.
My grandson, then a mere child, looking down at the tiers and tiers of rose plants, remarked profoundly, “Too many roses.”
An American visitor nearby heard him and laughed amusedly.
We worked steadliy through this and got everything without too many problems, athough we couldn’t parse TOO properly. SAPONACEOUS held out on us for a while and we were beginning to think it wasn’t an anagram and we were looking for the name of a sauce (no idea what!) when the lightbulb moment occurred. BISQUE was our LOI after we vaguely remembered the handicap meaning and confirmed it in Chambers.
If there is a theme (as there probably is) it’s well hidden. We’ve no idea what it might be.
Thanks, Phi and Duncan.
Thanks James and Andrew for explaining about the LEVEE. We didn’t know that.
I see that Chambers gives “extremely” as a meaning for “too”, so I think too = very has to be fine. In general, I’d agree with Tatrasman @15, that there has to be some leeway for setters to be a bit, er, cryptic to avoid every answer being a write-in. It’s just a question of how much is too much, and the Indy setters in general (and Phi in particular today) get it about right, as far as we’re concerned.
Rishi @16,
Thank you for the reminder of the dear old Berkely Rose Garden, a vast amphitheatre of colour. I used to stop off there to catch my breath, halfway up the steep cycle home from school, and deadhead a tier or two. Certainly too many roses to maintain easily.
I took the bugs in 23 to be a reference to the current pandemic, though adequate TESTING still seems elusive.
Thanks, Phi and Duncan
Sorry — as a native, I know better than to omit the last E in Berkeley. Clumsy fingers.
In the nineteenth century, ‘dishing the Whigs’ upset them by introducing the liberal reforms they had wanted to introduce themselves. A very faint memory from O Level history when O Level was a very new qualification.
No hidden theme today. TOO and DISHEVEL are as I had them, but EMU is the one pertaining to the current situation. DISH = confound is probably much less used than hitherto, but those of us from east of the Pennines are just as familiar with T’ = the.
Same as others here, couldn’t parse TOO and DISHEVEL. Didn’t spot a theme. Nothing changes there.
Having got CAMP MEETING I was hoping for a theme of works by Charles Ives.
I’d have got POTEEN much more quickly if it had been a youngster under a river. Pesky setters.
I was the same on DISHEVEL. I wrote it in but didn’t have a single element of the parsing. Parsed BISQUE (LOI) in the end but had never heard of the definition use. Obviously Google confirmed.
Didn’t know CAPRICCIO, but easily worked out, or SAPONACEOUS for which I cheated with an anagram solver. But was pleased with myself for getting NEIGH with no crossers.
Thanks Phi and Duncan.