I think I may need to go back to bed and have a lie down!
My brain hurts! This was tough – very tough. I think I have all the right answers in the right places, but I was unsure about parsing on some of the clues (my first couple of commenters below helped though).
To the good stuff first. I really liked the clues for DUBLIN BAY PRAWN (very clever), FAIR’S FAIR, UNMUSICAL and WORD ASSOCIATION. Most of the rest of the clues were also of a high standard.
But (and I will preface these objections with an apology if I am missing something clever in the clues, but as I say “my brain hurts”)…
The clue for BENJAMIN BRITTEN seems to be missing a word meaning “INTEND”, and NORWAY LOBSTER has a B in it that I cannot see indicated. (see comments 1 & 2 from bdg and Hovis below to see where I went wrong).
I am also unconvinced by TIP-AND-RUN (liked “touch and go”, but can’t really see a clear definition), A BIT OF A DO, ONION RING and POINT, but I am happy to have commenters point out that I am wrong.
Anyway, thanks to Io (and my apologies for doubting him), and can I take this opportunity to wish everyone in this supportive and fun community the very best Christmas they can manage in the circumstances?
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | DUBLIN BAY PRAWN | Provider of course heard seethin’: wages received, but tips mixed up (6,3,5) |
| Homophone [heard] of BUBBLIN’ (“seethin’ “) PAY (“wages”) DRAWN (“received”) but with their first letters (tips) mixed up | ||
| 8 | ERNST | Dadaist back cycling (5) |
| (st)ERN(ST) (“back” cycling) The best way I can think of to descibe the “cycling” element is to think of a wheel with the letters of STERN in order around the edge, and with S at the top. If you turn (cyle) it two-fifths of the way round anti-clockwise, the E would now be at the top and would spell out ERNST
Max Ernst was one of the principal artists in the Dada movement. |
||
| 9 | TIP-AND-RUN | Which side will win it? (It’s touch and go) (3-3-3) |
| Tip-and-run is a form of cricket where the batsman has to run if his bat touches the ball, so that explains “touch and go”. Not sure where the definition is though. | ||
| 11 | See 4 | |
| 12 | OP ART | “Moving” style of Vasarely’s old role (2,3) |
| O (old) + PART (“role”)
Victor Vasarely was a member of the op art movement. He experimented with images that appeared to move depending on the viewpoint. |
||
| 13 | FAIR’S FAIR | It’s only just succeeded in light entertainment (5,4) |
| S (succeeded) in FAIR (“light”) + FAIR (“entertainment”) | ||
| 14 | ALICE BAND | A country in which you’ll see black diamonds before lock-keeper? (5,4) |
| A LAND (“country”) in which you’ll see ICE (“diamonds) before B (black) | ||
| 16 | TOSCA | What players may perform in Rome and jockeys Ascot (5) |
| *(ascot) [anag:jockeys] | ||
| 17 | ABBES | This paper’s deserted the most excellent French clerics! (5) |
| FT (“this paper”) deserted (f)ABBES(t) (“most excellent”) | ||
| 18 | UNMUSICAL | Distracted alumnus I see slipping through grating (9) |
| *(alumnus) [anag:distracted] with I + C (see) slipping through | ||
| 19 | ONION RING | One may be battered after being kicked in groin (5,4) |
| ON (immediately “after”, as in “on discovering”) + *(in groin) [anag:being kicked] | ||
| 22 | PLAN B | A failing put this into action! (4,1) |
| If plan A fails (“A failing”), move to PLAN B | ||
| 23 | A LA | Like missing the first festivity (1,2) |
| [missing the first] (g)ALA (“festivity”) | ||
| 24 | AT THE REAR | A sailor attending to cut astern (2,3,4) |
| A TAR (“sailor”) cut by THERE (“attending”), so A-T(THERE)AR | ||
| 25 | POINT | Indicate more beer’s needed, it seems? (5) |
| O (nothing) in PINT, so “more beer needed”, although this would only really work if the PINT referred to the glass rather than to the beer itself, which I don’t think applies. | ||
| 26 | ANCIENT MARINER | Weather-beaten centenarian associated with endless Rime? (7,7) |
| *(centenarian rim) [anag:weather-beaten] where RIM is [endless] RIME(e)
I don’t know how old the Ancient Mariner was in Coleridge’s poem, but I doubt he was 100! |
||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | DIEGO MARADONA | Long flip working, Arsenal’s first scored by Gunners great (sadly lost) (5,8) |
| DIE (“long”) + GO MAD (“flip”) + ON (“working”) + A(rsenal) [‘s first] scored by RA (Royal Artillery, so “Gunners”) | ||
| 2 | BENJAMIN BRITTEN | Composer approaching peak, Weller & Co shortly to receive music award (8,7) |
| BEN (“peak”) + JAM (Paul “Weller & Co”) + IN TEN (“shortly”) to receive BRIT (“music award”).
I originally wondered if I might be misparsing this clue, with IN TEN not indicated in the clue, and thought it might have been an accidental omission in the clue, but Hovis in comment 2 below has put me right. |
||
| 3 | IN TATTERS | Cross cracking new train-set’s ruined (2,7) |
| T (-cross) cracking *(train set) [anag:new] | ||
| 4, 11 | BIT OF A DO | Too bad if this little party screws up! (3,2,1,2) |
| *(too bad if) [anag:screws up]
Not sure if my explanation of this clue works, but here goes – A “bit of a do” is an understatement for a large party, so it is “turned up” which somehow becomes “screwed up”? Hovis (comment 2) agrees with my parsing, but I’m not happy with the anagrind being so far from the fodder. |
||
| 5 | YUPPIEDOM | Affluent youth finished something easy? Do my cryptic to seal it! (9) |
| UP (“finished”) + PIE (“something easy”, as in “easy as pie”) with *(do my) [anag:cryptic] sealing it. | ||
| 6 | RINGS | They may be run around inferior bells (5) |
| You can “run RINGS around” an “inferior” opponent. | ||
| 7 | WORD ASSOCIATION | Unconscious insights gleaned from this Cruciverbalist Club? (4,11) |
| A club for crossword lovers could conceivably be called the WORD ASSOCIATION | ||
| 10 | NORWAY LOBSTER | I’m snarled by trawler and soon cooked (6,7) |
| *(by trawler soon) [anag:cooked] | ||
| 15 | ADUKI BEAN | Legume men left off menu baked in foremost of Asian stews (5,4) |
| *(u baked in a) [anag:stews] where U is [men off] (men)U and A is [foremost of] A(sian) | ||
| 16 | TEST PAPER | Litmus exam? (4,5) |
| Litmus paper is used to test a solution for acidity, so could be described as “test paper” | ||
| 20 | NAEVI | Io has a name for shooting up marks (5) |
| <= (I’VE A (“io has”) + N (name)) shooting up | ||
| 21 | GARUM | Fish sauce Georgia’s made with spirit (5) |
| Ga (Georgia) with RUM (“spirit”)
Garum was a fermented fish sauce in ancient Mediterranean civilizations. |
||
Norway lobster is (by trawler soon)*
I can help a little, but not with 9a.
In 2d, I took IN TEN to mean “shortly” as in I’ll have it done in ten.
4d, I took def as “little party” and it becomes “too bad if’ when it “screws up”.
In 10d, it is an anagram of BY TRAWLER + SOON.
Didn’t get 1a (never heard of it) or 6d.
Thanks all – I’ll amend the blog accordingly.
Looking at 4d again, I realise that I was making “if” do double duty without realising it.
I must have been on the Henderson wavelength with this one which hopefully will stand me in good stead for the annual battle with his Telegraph Double Toughie tomorrow
Lots to enjoy – thank you to him and Loonapick and Season’s Greetings to all
Well done, Loonapick and Hovis! Full of admiration for you, as we only managed a handful of solves! Merry Christmas.
I completed this fairly easily compared to most of JH’s puzzles in his various guises, but as per usual I didn’t fully parse everything.
Thanks to Loonapick and Hovis, and Season’s Greetings to all bloggers and solvers.
Thanks Io and loonapick
Felt that this was not quite as hard as usual for this setter, but see that it still took up a good hour and a half of Xmas Eve to complete the grid. Took even longer to work out the parsing of the half dozen that I’d biffed along the way. Eventually got them all I think.
With 9a, I had it like a difficult double definition but using the whole clue for each – one is the game as described and the other is a whimsical description of tipping the winner of a football match and running because the result would be close (‘touch and go’) and your tip could be wrong.
Merry Christmas all … has been a long year to get here this time.
Gave up on this setter, never have been on the same wavelength with him, got fifteen clues though.Could not believe the very easy TOSCA could feature in his crosswords. Merry Christmas to you all.
I had a good time with this after deciding not to worry about understanding anything that wasn’t immediately obvious. The defs weren’t too hard so a pleasant 15 mins biffing in the answers then checking here. 1ac and down 2 and 9 in particular I was clueless about.
I looked up trawling lobsters as I thought they were caught in pots; I see not only that trawling is the usual method of catching Dublin Bay Prawns and Norway Lobsters, but also that Dublin Bay Prawns and Norway Lobsters are one and the same!
I liked the structure of BIT OF A DO very much.
Thanks IO, Loonapick, happy Christmas everyone.
Whenever we see that a puzzle is set by Io/Nimrod/Enigmatist we’re pretty sure we shall need some help along the way. This one was no exception but only a little wordfinder help and checking in the dictionary was needed today. In fact we found it quite a satisfying solve, with several pennydrop moments.
Thanks, Io and loonapick, and a Merry Christmas to all.
Unlike others, I found this to be one of JH’s more difficult puzzles. I didn’t think I was ever going to get going, but after a slow start momentum gradually picked up.
I saw 9 across as a cryptic definition. “Which side will win it” is a fancy way of telling us it’s a game, with “touch and go” adding more detail. There is a whiff of double definition about it too, of course. I guess it’s one of those multi-layered clues that only the setter fully understands!
This was a super challenge taken in fits and starts over the last few days and a joint effort. Still failed on DUBLIN BAY PRAWN, even with its crustacean fellow already in. Seemed difficult, at first, but a fresh look yielded enough to finish. I don’t envy your task, Loonapick! There was much left unparsed by me. So thanks to you and others offering explanations.
A BIT OF A DO was among my favourites. Also liked ANCIENT MARINER (lovely surface), ERNST and ONION RING. Though a devil to parse, I really admire and enjoy Io’s freewheeling style.
I found this really tough but managed to complete eventually, if not getting all the parsings, 1A & 1D in particular. @Loonapick, possibly you’re overthinking 8A – I took “cycling” to be the anagrind for “stern”, that’s all.
Thanks for the blog, Loonapick.
I’m really glad I didn’t attempt this before Christmas.
I’ve nothing good to say about this crossword.