Our regular cruciverbal challenge is provided by Wire today.
I found this one quite tricky in places, with a few obscure definitions and awkward constructions, and I needed help with the two short entries at 26a / 26d and the parsing of 23a. The more enjoyable bits included the bizarre surface of 27a, the internet meme suggested by 6d, and the maths-with-Roman-numerals of 3d.
The theme was nagging at me throughout the solve, with frequent references to films and actors, but I only spotted the Nina around three sides of the grid when I’d almost finished writing up the blog. Thanks to our director Wire for a well-crafted production.
Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 7 | LEXICONS |
Luthor perhaps figures in reference books (8)
|
| LEX (perhaps Lex Luthor, comic-book villain) + ICONS (figures = pictures representing computer applications, or important / famous people). | ||
| 8 | ARCANA |
Secrets penned by co-star can alarm (6)
|
| Hidden answer (penned by = contained in) [co-st]AR CAN A[larm]. | ||
| 10 | IBIS |
Soft pencil is required for flyer (4)
|
| IB (1B = soft pencil; this doesn’t quite work because the pencil grade between HB and 2B is normally just called B) + IS.
A bird = something that can fly. |
||
| 11 | IDOLS |
Papers oddly eschewing coolest pin-ups (5)
|
| ID (short for identification = papers, colloquially) + [c]O[o]L[e]S[t] eschewing the odd-numbered letters. | ||
| 12 | EPIC |
Character caught on centre of set in Spartacus? (4)
|
| PI (Greek character) + C (caught, in cricket scoring), added to the central letter of [s]E[t].
Definition by example, indicated by the question mark: Spartacus is a large-scale historical drama film = an epic. |
||
| 13 | GRIPES |
Clutch starts to eat small crabs (6)
|
| GRIP (clutch) + starting letters of E[at] S[mall].
Crab, as a verb = gripe = grumble. |
||
| 15 | SMARTEST |
Most fashionable of stars met cast (8)
|
| Anagram (cast = thrown) of STARS MET. | ||
| 16 | SHOOTS |
Films get lost by vacuous teenagers (6)
|
| SHOO (shoo! = get lost! = a command to go away) + T[eenager]S (vacuous = middle letters emptied out).
Shoot = film, as a verb. |
||
| 18 | DECAFF |
Fellow confronted about making Java drug-free? (6)
|
| F (abbreviation for fellow) + FACED (confronted), all reversed (about).
Java = a type of coffee; decaff = short for decaffeinated coffee. |
||
| 21 | HARUSPEX |
Mash up hare’s last bit of appendix for prophet (8)
|
| Anagram (mash) of UP HARE’S + last letter of [appendi]X.
Extended definition perhaps: in ancient Rome, haruspex = someone who claimed to discern the will of the gods by looking at the entrails of animals. |
||
| 23 | MUESLI |
Smugglers left to finish one’s healthy breakfast (6)
|
| MULES (drug smugglers), with the L (left) moved to the end (to finish), then I (one in Roman numerals). | ||
| 24 | TEXT |
Kiss in tense film script (4)
|
| X (symbol representing a kiss at the end of a letter or message), in T (abbreviation for tense) + ET (every crossword setter’s favourite Spielberg film). | ||
| 25 | CAMEO |
Company boss limits amateur’s brief appearance (5)
|
| CEO (company boss) containing (limiting) AM (abbreviation for amateur, as in Pro-Am sports events).
A brief appearance by an actor as a supporting character in a film. |
||
| 26 | VINO |
Fluid from bottles maybe working, drip returned (4)
|
| ON (working) + IV (short for intravenous drip, in medical contexts), all reversed (returned).
Slang for wine, from the Italian or Spanish word. |
||
| 27 | STOOPS |
Duck stopping stops ducks (6)
|
| O (zero = duck in cricket scoring) inserted into (stopping) STOPS.
Duck, as a verb = stoop = bend downwards to avoid an obstacle. |
||
| 28 | LISTEN IN |
Earwig gleaming having shed skin (6,2)
|
| [g]LISTENIN[g] (gleaming), having shed the outer letters (skin).
Earwig, as a verb = to listen in on someone else’s conversation. |
||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | CERBERUS |
Heads off to deal with this gatekeeper? (8)
|
| Cryptic definition: in Greek mythology, Cerberus was a three-headed dog who guarded Hades, so you’d have to remove more than one head to deal with him. | ||
| 2 | AIRS |
Tax department underwriting American shows (4)
|
| IRS (Internal Revenue Service = the US tax authority), after (written under, in a down clue) A (abbreviation for American).
Show = air = broadcast. |
||
| 3 | MOVIES |
Screenings of birthmarks essentially down by 88% (6)
|
| MO[l]ES (birthmarks), with the middle letter (essentially) changed from L to VI (from 50 to 6 in Roman numerals = a reduction of 88%). | ||
| 4 | ESPOUSE |
Embrace special powers to oversee Yorkshire Water? (7)
|
| ESP (extra-sensory perception = special powers) before (above, in a down clue = to oversee?) OUSE (there are a few British rivers with that name, one of them in Yorkshire).
Embrace = espouse = give one’s support to a belief or a cause. |
||
| 5 | RAT SNAKE |
Creature in a new feature climbing tops of Kensington East (3,5)
|
| A + N (new) + STAR (as a verb = feature in a film etc), all reversed (climbing = upwards in a down clue), then the first letters (tops) of K[ensington] E[ast].
A creature I hadn’t heard of – but I can’t say I’m a fan of snakes in general. As you might imagine, it’s a snake that eats rodents. |
||
| 6 | ACCENTUATE |
Highlight is a cute cat leaping across tiny space (10)
|
| Anagram (leaping) of A CUTE CAT, containing (across) EN (typographical name for a narrow space between characters). | ||
| 9 | NAILS |
Secures sluggish individual cycling (5)
|
| SNAIL (a slug-like creature, or metaphorically a sluggish / slow individual), with the first letter “cycling” round to the end. | ||
| 14 | PRODUCTION |
Release Dynamic Duo in port around Cuba (10)
|
| Anagram (dynamic = moving) of DUO IN PORT, around C (which might be an abbreviation for Cuba, though it’s more often CU).
As in the release / production of gases from a chemical reaction, I suppose. (Release and production in film-making aren’t the same thing.) |
||
| 17 | TYPECAST |
Chuck supports characters in the same old roles (8)
|
| CAST (chuck = throw) after (below, in a down clue = supporting) TYPE (characters in printed text). | ||
| 19 | FILM NOIR |
Document mostly deconstructed minor style of drama (4,4)
|
| FIL[e] (document) without its last letter (mostly), then an anagram (deconstructed) of MINOR. | ||
| 20 | EXAMPLE |
Partner once given plenty of warning (7)
|
| EX (partner once) + AMPLE (plenty of).
As in “to make an example of someone” = to treat them harshly as a warning to others. |
||
| 22 | AGENT |
Actor’s representation of a well-mannered person (5)
|
| A + GENT (short for gentleman = well-mannered person).
A person who represents an actor in contractual dealings. |
||
| 23 | MAOISM |
Movement in Io as possibly captured by thousands (6)
|
| Anagram (possibly) of IO AS, contained in (captured by) MM (two thousand in Roman numerals).
Political movement founded by Chairman Mao Zedong. |
||
| 26 | VEER |
Change direction of film that lacks heart (4)
|
| VE[ne]ER (film = a thin surface coating), without the middle two letters (lacking heart). |
Got there in the end but needed a little help with the unknown (to me) prophet. Liked the maths needed for MOVIES (my loi). Needed the nina to get this and the unknown snake. Lots of fun from a great setter.
Why I wonder do I never think to look for a nina? The theme fortunately was unmissable!
Very enjoyable with just MOVIES unparsed – very clever clue.
Thanks Wire and Quirister
23d was made harder for me because “Io” and “lo” are indistinguishable in the sans serif font used on line.
Thank you to Wire and Quirister
Same issue for me, Graham. For a long while, I was assuming it was a misprinted “low”.
The Nina was once again a solving aid for this enjoyable puzzle. Managed to get lucky with the non-crossing consonant placement for HARUSPEX and put in RAT SNAKE from wordplay. The parsing of MOVIES was beyond me – v. clever.
Thanks to Wire and (a very busy) Quirister
I managed to finish by correctly guessing without really understanding several solutions, in particular 12A and 26A. With such a grid, I’m always on the lookout for a nina, so sussing the theme and guessing ‘camera’ and ‘action’ halfway was a big help. Haruspex was a good new word to add to my vocabulary, but I expect it will be a long time before we meet again. Thanks Wire and Quirister.
An extremely well-crafted puzzle, complete with theme and Nina! I didn’t understand Cerberus when solving, and put in MOVIES without parsing. I wish I’d spent more time thinking about it as it’s brilliant. I actually knew Haruspex from Stephen Saylor novels (I think).
Not at all sure that ‘star’ and ‘feature’ as verbs are the same.
Starring actors are listed first and then ‘featuring’ ones come afterwards.
Would never have realised that IV = drip but the answer was, fortunately, obvious.
Enjoyed this a lot and learnt a new word at 21 so thanks to Wire & Quirister
The first time ever a Nina has helped me complete a crossword. I wish I had parsed MOVIES, though. I suppose movies, screenings, productions and releases are all, loosely, films, so I think the definitions for these are Ok, especially in the context of the theme.
For once we saw the nina and it helped, particularly with MOVIES, although we couldn’t parse it. But we had no trouble with 23dn as we print out to solve on paper and at the same time change the font. In 21ac we got HA-U—X from the nina and crossers, from where we were able to track down HARUSPEX in Chambers – and we liked the extended definition aspect of it.
Thanks, Wire and Quirister.
One of those days were I couldn’t get in to it, got just over half done. Annoyed I didn’t get 7ac as I’d been watching Supergirl on TV with Lex’s sister Lena, but I kept on misreading the clue as Luther,