Reasonably challenging from Serpent today – about right for a Thursday.
There are some cleverly twisted definitions here: 24a is probably my favourite, with honourable mentions to the cryptic definition in 1a and the pun as part of the wordplay in 30a. I also liked the easy-when-you-know-how construction of 31a.
We seem to have a rather unhappy mini-theme in 1d, 3d, 5d and 14d, with 2d, 24a and 27a hinting at the same mood. I really hope this isn’t an indication of Serpent’s current mental state, or indeed anyone else’s; please talk to someone if it is. Apart from that pause for thought, I enjoyed the puzzle – thanks Serpent.
[UPDATE: it really is a theme, in all the down clues. Some can mean “down”, and the others require the addition of “down” to create another word or phrase.]
Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | SIDE BY SIDE |
Abreast of method for FA Cup draw? (4,2,4)
|
| Double definition, the second cryptic-ish. Each side (team) in the FA Cup is represented by a numbered ball, and these are drawn one at a time (side by side) to allocate the sides to matches. | ||
| 6 | ETCH |
Create an impression in France and Switzerland (4)
|
| ET (in France “and”) + CH (abbreviation for Switzerland).
Etch = to create a print (impression) from a design cut into metal. |
||
| 9 | DISCO |
Club‘s record number of points at start of season (5)
|
| DISC (record: CD or old-fashioned vinyl) + O (zero = number of points that a sports club has at the start of the season before they’ve played any matches). | ||
| 10 | OBSESSION |
Regularly lobby meeting with passion (9)
|
| Alternate letters (regularly) from [l]O[b]B[y] + SESSION (meeting, for example of a committee or court). | ||
| 12 | QUEUED |
Waited in line by indicated entrance for audience (6)
|
| Homophone (for audience) of CUED = indicated (an actor’s) entrance on stage. | ||
| 13 | MIGRATES |
Plane’s speed cuts journeys to new destination (8)
|
| MIG’S (MiG = Russian fighter plane), with RATE (speed) inserted (cutting it).
Journeys as a verb = migrates. |
||
| 15 | AIDE |
Unveiled female personal assistant (4)
|
| [m]AIDE[n] (female), with the outer letters removed (unveiled). | ||
| 16 | DEDICATEES |
Dodgy case edited names author recognised? (10)
|
| Anagram (dodgy) of CASE EDITED.
People to whom an author dedicates a piece of work = names that the author has recognised. |
||
| 19 | FELT-TIP PEN |
Writer left out correcting fluid having erased last name (4-3,3)
|
| Anagram (out) of LEFT, then TIPP-E[x] (brand name of correcting fluid) with the last letter erased) + N (name).
Otherwise known as a fibre-tip or marker pen: usually disposable, containing liquid ink with a writing tip of compressed absorbent fibres. |
||
| 21 | ABBA |
Members of Black Sabbath joined famous group (4)
|
| Hidden answer (members of) in [black s]ABBA[th]. “Black” isn’t really needed, although Black Sabbath is the name of a band so it’s justifiable as a whole; “joined” isn’t adding much either. But I can forgive the slight clumsiness just for the image of Ozzy Osbourne and mates singing along with Frida and Agnetha. | ||
| 24 | FOGBOUND |
Foreign Office certain about government leader being detained by undesirable elements (8)
|
| FO (abbreviation for Foreign Office) + BOUND (certain, as in “it’s bound to happen”), around the leading letter of G[overnment].
Elements = weather; fogbound = unable to travel because of reduced visibility in fog. |
||
| 25 | UPDATE |
Promote potential partner’s report on latest developments (6)
|
| UP (as a verb = raise = promote) + DATE (potential romantic partner). | ||
| 27 | ROTTENEST |
Setter not being edited is extremely bad (9)
|
| Anagram (being edited) of SETTER NOT. For once, “setter” isn’t either the crossword compiler or a dog. | ||
| 28 | ALIEN |
Peripheral characters killed in outstanding film (5)
|
| [s]ALIEN[t] (outstanding, in the sense of noticeable or significant), with the peripheral characters removed (killed?).
Sci-fi horror film and several sequels. |
||
| 30 | EARL |
Gain by Labour unseating new Liberal peer (4)
|
| EAR[n] (get paid for work = gain by labour), removing (unseating) N (new), then L (abbreviation for Liberal). | ||
| 31 | STOP THE GAP |
Servant emptied heaviest containers brought round to supply what’s lacking (4,3,3)
|
| PAGE (servant) + H[eavies]T (emptied = inner letters removed) + POTS (containers), all reversed (brought round). | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | SAD |
Complaint letters periodically dispatched from island (3)
|
| Alternate letters dropped (periodically dispatched) from [i]S[l]A[n]D.
Complaint = illness. It took me far too long to realise that the answer isn’t “sad” but SAD = seasonal affective disorder = depressive illness during winter months with less sunlight. |
||
| 2 | DESCEND |
Drop key objective following board’s conclusion (7)
|
| ESC (the Escape key on a keyboard) + END (objective = target), following the last letter (conclusion) of [boar]D. | ||
| 3 | BROKEN |
Smashed gun having incurred fine (6)
|
| BREN (a type of light machine gun), containing (having incurred) OK (fine = good). | ||
| 4 | SHOW |
TV programme broadcast about hospital (4)
|
| SOW (broadcast = scatter seeds), around H (hospital). | ||
| 5 | DISPIRITED |
Blue bottle getting passed around (10)
|
| SPIRIT (bottle = courage; the derivation of “bottle” in this sense is Cockney rhyming slang and not very polite), with DIED (passed) around it.
Blue = unhappy or depressed = dispirited. |
||
| 7 | THISTLE |
Article about list circulating in plant (7)
|
| THE (definite article), around LIST with the L moved to the end (circulating). | ||
| 8 | HANDS |
Manual workers describing case for historians? (5)
|
| H AND S are the outer letters or “case” of H[istorian]S.
As in farmhands or deckhands. |
||
| 11 | STREAM |
Master trained pupils of similar ability (6)
|
| Anagram (trained) of MASTER.
Stream (in school) = a division of pupils by ability, so that slower learners can be given more help where needed and more able pupils aren’t held back. |
||
| 12 | QUAFF |
University dons question answer following drink (5)
|
| U (abbreviation for university), inserted into (dons, as a verb = puts on) Q + A (question / answer) + FF (abbreviation for following).
To quote Terry Pratchett: “Quaffing is like drinking, but you spill more.” Think of big mugs of ale and rowdy singing. |
||
| 14 | DESPONDENT |
Demoralised person in divorce case losing right to support daughter (10)
|
| [r]ESPONDENT (someone who has to respond to a court case, especially in a divorce court), losing R (right), preceded by (supporting, because it’s at the top in a down clue) D (daughter). | ||
| 17 | STAGE |
Put on period drama here? (5)
|
| Triple definition. Stage, as a verb = put on (an event); stage = a period of time, especially a transitional one; and stage = platform where a drama is performed. The third definition also applies to the whole clue, because the play being presented (put on) there may be a period drama (one set at a specific time in the past). | ||
| 18 | STROKE |
Pet butterfly? (6)
|
| Double definition. To caress; or a swimming stroke = style of swimming, of which butterfly is an example. | ||
| 20 | LIGHTER |
The new girl ordered sandwiches containing less fat (7)
|
| Anagram (new) of THE, contained in (. . . sandwiches) another anagram (ordered) of GIRL.
As in diet or “lighter” versions of processed foods. |
||
| 22 | BEARING |
Relevance of reporter’s exposé … (7)
|
| Homophone (reporter’s = as it’s said) of BARING (exposé).
As in “that has a bearing on the case” = it’s relevant. |
||
| 23 | SPLASH |
… leads to some papers linking burnt remains in prominent story (6)
|
| Leading letters (leads) to S[ome] P[apers] L[inking] + ASH (burnt remains). The ellipsis … at the start is just there so that the surface makes sense as a continuation of the previous clue, and doesn’t contribute to the wordplay.
Splash = a noteworthy story given prominence on the front page of a newspaper. |
||
| 24 | FORCE |
Group assembled for collective action in favour of church (5)
|
| FOR (in favour of) + CE (Church of England).
As in a task force. |
||
| 26 | STEP |
Short month in which temperature rises a degree (4)
|
| SEPT (short form of the month September), with the letter T (temperature) moving towards the start (rising, in a down clue).
Degree = step = one of a series of levels. |
||
| 29 | NAP |
Be critical of backing tipster’s favourite (3)
|
| PAN (as a verb = criticise), reversed (backing).
In horse racing, “nap” means a tipster’s recommendation of a horse that is very likely to win. |
Serpent is such a consistent, superb setter. Loved it.
In 21a, I took ABBA as an inclusion in BlackSabbath (Black Sabbath joined).
Great crossword – thank you Serpent. Like Quirister, I do hope the mood of some of the Down solutions is just a coincidence. I thought the surface reading of 21a conjured up a wonderful ‘supergroup’ image
Thanks also to Quirister for the blog
Hopefully, all those indicators of mental state can be ascribed simply to the inclusion of both ABBA and DISCO in the answers! Particularly since Serpent has come close to sacrilege in spotting the former contained within one of the most classic heavy metal bands of the 70’s and a personal favourite, Black Sabbath!
I’ve been enjoying quite a few triple definitions over the last few days so STAGE went down well. I shared our blogger’s experience with SAD which is very neat. Ticks for FELT-TIP PEN, QUAFF, HANDS, FOGBOUND and the lovely STROKE. Technically a dnf as I couldn’t quite sort out in my head if Earl was being changed to Earn or vice versa and I opted for the wrong one. Oh, and I’m looking forward to Eileen’s comments on DEDICATEE!
Thanks Serpent and Quirister
Fairly steady solve for me today. Spotted the depressing theme, but despite having a sore upper arm, I am in a happy state today having just had my 2nd Pfizer jab. Light at last at the end of a tunnel I’ve been in for 13 anx a half months. Only 3 more weeks now.
Many thanks to Quirister for the fine blog and for the lovely comments that have been posted thus far.
I’d just like to reassure everyone that the rather downbeat down entries are not indicative of my mood. In fact, all the down entries…
@Serpent
thud!
Great idea, many thanks to S&B
Serpent @5, baerchen @6: of course, now I see it. Penny-drop moment, appropriately enough for the theme. Thanks for coming down to see us.
If Black becomes B then ABBA is bang in the middle of BS ABBA TH-as you would expect from a class setter.Thanks
Rather late today – I’ve had a busy morning hanging curtains. Glad to have had Serpent’s reassurance re his state of mind. I hadn’t seen the full scope of the theme in the down clues – brilliant!
Hi PostMark @3 (sorry to keep you waiting 😉 ) – as I said @77 on Tuesday’s Pasquale, I’m trying hard these days to resist flogging dead horses but, in fact,
I have no quarrel with DEDICATEE: it’s an (indirect) object – ‘A person to whom a thing is dedicated’ (cf payee – a person to whom money is paid).
I really enjoyed this puzzle – many thanks to Serpent and to Quirister.
Excellent stuff. Thanks to Serpent and Quirister, and congratulations to NNI on your imminent release.
‘Pet butterfly?’ took me far too long, but when it dawned on me, a great moment was had. Thanks Serpent and of course to Quirister for the blog.
Spent far too long on this and was beaten once again by the SE corner. Should have spotted the theme but didn’t. Thanks Serpent and Quirister.
Tricky in places but we got and parsed it all – but missed the theme as we were too busy looking for a non-existent nina. The SE corner held us up for a while – 29dn was ambiguous as to whether it was ‘pan’ or ‘nap’ till we got ALIEN, and we didn’t think STOP THE GAP was a particularly well-known expression – ‘plug the gap’ is more familiar to us.
Lots to enjoy, though. FELT-TIP PEN, QUAFF, and FOGBOUND were among our favourites.
Thanks, Serpent and Quirister.
As is so often the case in such matters, I’m quite at sea. Please could someone be so kind as to explain what Serpent means by ‘In fact, all the down entries ….’ and the general acclamation of what’s going on.
Wil @14
All the down entries either mean ‘down’, as noted in the blog or, as Serpent hints, can have ‘down’ added to them : e.g. BROKEN DOWN, THISTLEDOWN, HANDS DOWN, DOWNSTREAM …
Each of the down answers is either a word that means “down” (in any of its meanings) or a word that can be preceded or succeeded by the letters D, O, W, N to form a new word or expression. eg NAP, DOWNLIGHTER and SHOWDOWN
My apologies, Quirister – I missed your latest update.
Just like his arse, his crossies are top class. But it’s his snake hips and lugubrious bits what we love the best. More of this please.
I seem to have troubles with both Thursdays and Serpent. Many I couldn’t get.
Well thanks everyone but I’d never have seen that. Downlighter? And for a while I was trying to think what ‘nap down’ or ‘down nap’ meant.