It has been a long time since it has fallen to me to blog a puzzle by Wire.
I found this to be an enjoyable, not overly taxing, puzzle to kick off my blogging duties in 2021.
As today is Tuesday, a theme is to be expected, and this one is easier to spot that many: the grid contains many references to wine, how it is made and how it is consumed. Indeed, a rather impressive amount of thematic content has been accommodated in the grid.
My last-ones-in today were the intersecting entries at 6, 11 and 13, the first two of which were unfamiliar to me but could be worked out satisfactorily from the wordplay.
My favourite clues today were 4, for the use of “pitchers”, which kept me guessing for ages; 13, for making me smile when the penny finally dropped; and 12 and 23, both for smoothness of surface.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01 | DOCILE | Easy to manage stealing note from abode
DO<mi>CILE (=abode); “stealing note (=mi)” means letters “mi” are dropped |
| 04 | CHAMPERS | Posh stuff husband put into pitchers
H (=husband) in CAMPERS (= “pitchers”, i.e. those pitching tents!) |
| 10 | MARVELLED | Comic publisher left, editor was amazed
MARVEL (=comic publisher) + L (=left) + ED (=editor) |
| 11 | SOAVE | Verona’s drop of espresso average
Hidden (“of”) in “espresSO AVErage”; Soave is a dry, pale white wine from a small region east of Verona, hence “Verona’s drop (of alcohol)” |
| 12 | JUST | Succeeded in project by a whisker
S (=succeeded, in obituaries) in JUT (=project, stick out); e.g. I just made it = I made it by a whisker |
| 13 | TRANSACTOR | Player who’s perhaps switched sides gets negotiator
Cryptically, a player (“actor”) who’s perhaps switched sides, i.e. had a sex change, could be described as a “trans-actor”! |
| 15 | HARVEST | Gathering hears TV broadcast
*(HEARS TV); “broadcast” is anagram indicator |
| 16 | CHEESE | Briefly applaud south-east Cheshire maybe
CHEE<r> (=applaud; “briefly” means last letter dropped) + SE (=south-east) |
| 19 | SWOOPS | Sorry after empty show nosedives
S<ho>W (“empty” means all but first and last letters are dropped + OOPS (=sorry, as exclamation) |
| 21 | POLEMIC | Staff getting bug possibly creates controversy
POLE (=staff, rod) + MIC (=bug possible, i.e. a hidden microphone) |
| 22 | ECOTOURISM | Cruise too choppy near Malta for whale spotting?
*(CRUISE TOO) + M (=Malta); “choppy” is anagram indicator; whale spotting could be described as a form of ecotourism |
| 25 | MEAD | Mother recalled swallowing energy drink
E (=energy) in MAD (DAM=mother, of horse; “recalled” indicates reversal) |
| 27 | ALIBI | Bimbo regularly interrupts boxer’s defence
<b>I<m>B<o> (“regularly” means alternate letters only) in ALI (=boxer, i.e. Muhammad Ali) |
| 28 | TABLE WINE | Ordered new balti and eastern booze
*(NEW BALTI) + E (=Eastern); “ordered” is anagram indicator |
| 29 | TREATISE | Free entertainment is essentially cheap work
TREAT (=free entertainment, i.e. paid for by someone else) + IS + <ch>E<ap> (“essentially” means middle letter only) |
| 30 | GUTROT | In Rhineland, it’s good red plonk
GUT (=good, in German, hence “in Rhineland”) + ROT (=red, in German); gutrot is rough, cheap alcohol, hence “plonk” |
| Down | ||
| 01 | DEMIJOHN | Bottle stars Moore and Travolta
DEMI (=Moore, i.e. American actress) + JOHN (=Travolta, i.e. American actor) |
| 02 | CORKSCREW | Irish County’s team opener
Cork’s (=Irish county’s) + CREW (=team) |
| 03 | LEES | Python discovered in sediment
<c>LEES<e> (=Python, i.e. John Cleese, from Monty Python’s Flying Circus); “dis-covered” means first and last letters are dropped |
| 05 | HEDONIC | Bacchanalian party held by female in charge
[DO (=party) in HEN (=female)] + I/C (=in charge); hedonic is a synonym for hedonistic |
| 06 | MUSCADELLE | Contractor stores one key grape
[A (=one) + DEL (=key, i.e. DELETE on a keyboard)] in MUSCLE (=contractor); muscadelle is a white wine grape variety |
| 07 | EXALT | Praise old sailor having had tip-off?
EX- (=old, former) + <s>ALT (=sailor; “having had tip-off” means first letter is dropped) |
| 08 | SHERRY | Wander into quiet yard – it’s fortified
ERR (=wander) in [SH (=(be)quiet) + Y (=yard)]; sherry is fortified wine |
| 09 | CLARET | Somewhat better alcohol to be served up
Hidden (“somewhat) and vertically reversed (“to be served up”) in “betTER ALCohol”; semi-& lit. |
| 14 | OENOLOGIST | Expert one got Lois in a state
*(ONE GOT LOIS); “in a state” is anagram indicator; an oenologist is a wine expert |
| 17 | SOMMELIER | Waiter weaving more lies around top of menu
M<enu> (“top of” means first letter only) in *(MORE LIES); “weaving” is anagram indicator; a sommelier is a wine waiter in a restaurant |
| 18 | ACID TEST | Ultimate decider of a police departmental match?
Cryptically, “a CID (=Criminal Investigations Department) test” could be described as a police departmental match |
| 20 | SPRITES | Elvish folk spin in places
PR (=spin, i.e. public relations) in SITES (=places) |
| 21 | PASS BY | Ignore ticket on unoccupied Bentley
PASS (=ticket, permit) + B<entle>Y (“unoccupied” means all but first and last letters are dropped) |
| 22 | DECANT | Transfer cycling Geordie duo on the box
ANT and DEC are a “Geordie duo on the box”; “cycling” indicates that the two names are swapped round |
| 24 | OVINE | Sheepish bearer of grapes bearing nothing
O (=nothing, pictorially) + VINE (=bearer of grapes) |
| 26 | PERU | Paddington’s home page initially enrages rail union
P (=page) + E<nrages> R<ail> U<nion> (“initially” means first letters only are used); Paddington Bear originates from Peru in the children’s stories by Michael Bond |
Indeed, all very smooth, as good wine should be. How strange that the German ‘gut rot’ means the very opposite of our ‘gutrot’. Congratulations to Wire for squeezing in so many thematic answers – I counted 16, if you include ‘harvest, ‘cheese’ and ‘mead’. Thanks Wire and RatkojaRiku.
I liked the theme and the way apparently unrelated clues such as OVINE were worked in. Not being familiar with the UK TV / popular culture scene, 22d held me up as I’d barely heard of ANT and DEC and I wasn’t helped by taking a while to see TREAT for ‘Free entertainment’.
V. enjoyable and made a welcome change from asti, the usual cruciverbal vin du jour!
Thanks to Wire and RR
very enjoyable theme close to my heart.. topical also… shame Wire couldn’t include “COPING MECHANISM” somewhere..
thanks Wire n RatkojaRiku
Close to my heart (and presumably liver) also. I started at the bottom, for no reason, and as soon as I had rotgut and table wine I settled in to really enjoy myself. Ant and Dec featured in a Bluth crossword recently, so came to mind straight away, though I’ve never seen what they do. Loved champers – great misdirection – and the old sailor. Thanks to Wire and RatkojaRiku.
Tatrasman @1: I came up with 16 too though wondered whether ACID TEST could scrape in? Ditto HEDONIC, particularly given the way it’s clued. An amazing number of thematic entries to be sure, and it’s always good when the theme doesn’t force the setter into either obscurity or tortuous definitions.
Favourites were divided between themed and non-themed: OENOLOGIST is a lovely surface/anagram combo, LEES nicely clued, CHAMPERS has already had deserved praise and TABLE WINE reads nicely. PERU is superb for an initialised clue, the surface of ECOTOURISM nicely alludes to the solution, SWOOPS is another great surface and JUST is probably my COTD for being just sublime.
Thanks Wire & RR
Acid test is a themed answer. There’s a test for malic acid, to check grapes are ready for harvest (15a) and home winemakers check pH values and adjust.
For once I spotted the theme early, which helped. Python was my LOI, I kept trying to parse it as a hidden word, then kicked myself when I realised. OENOLOGIST and SOMMELIER favourites.
An enjoyable solve, especially as we spotted the theme and it helped, particularly with OENOLOGIST and SOMMELIER which were guessed first and then parsed. We didn’t associate ACID TEST with the theme, though, thinking of it in terms of testing gold (which is insoluble in most acids) but we did wonder if DECANT was thematic.
Thanks, Wire and RatkojaRiku.
There are three clues, OENOLOGIST, SOMMELIER and DECANT where the implied inclusion of the theme makes the definition more precise. They seem to me to be half way between the usual themed clue and the type with a rubric like “3 clues are related but not otherwise defined”. No complaint, but new to me.
I’m another who started at the bottom right and worked up. Everything went smoothly until DECANT and TREATISE. I’ve no idea who Ant and Dec are. Impressive number of themed entries!