Independent 10933 / Eccles

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I always look forward to an Eccles puzzle given his track record of writing excellent clues with very plausible surfaces.

 

 

 

There were examples of smooth clue writing today as well.  Linking two islands in the clue for UNSTABLE was clever.  I liked the use of Renault car marques Megane and Clio in the clue for MUSE.  The definition – washer – was well hidden in the clue for TWIN-TUB.  For me though, the best of the bunch was the picture painted by the clue for PIED-A-TERRE.  There were other clues with good surfaces.

Crosswords are a continuing source of learning.  I hadn’t heard of a WINCHESTER bottle before today.

It’s always tricky to assess the difficulty of a puzzle for solvers across the spectrum, but I reckoned this was towards the easier end of Eccles work.  No doubt other solvers will have a different view.

No Detail
Across  
1

Carol collects stuff for a bit (10) 

SMATTERING (small amount; a bit)

SING (carol [as a verb]) containing (collects) MATTER material; stuff)

S (MATTER) ING
6

Period of time eating milk-soaked bread? On the contrary (4) 

STOP (mark at the end of sentence; period, as in [full] STOP)

SOP (milk-soaked bread) containing (eating) T (time) which is the opposite of the wordplay set out in the clue (on the contrary)

S (T) OP
9

Spy mother with vacuum perhaps (7) 

MACLEAN (reference Donald MACLEAN [1913-1983], British diplomat who acted as spy for the Soviet intelligence service)

MA (mother) + CLEAN (vacuum [the carpet] for example)

MA CLEAN
10

Tickle a playful feline (7) 

CATLIKE (feline)

Anagram of (playful) TICKLE A

CATLIKE*
12

Lift chemical in two quart bottle (10)

WINCHESTER (a narrow-necked bottle for liquid chemicals, originally so called because it contained a Winchester quart (approximately 80 fluid ounces, or 2.25 litres which is a volume very close to four pints or two imperial quarts)

WINCH (lift) + ESTER (a compound formed by the condensation of an alcohol and an acid, with elimination of water; a chemical)

WINCH ESTER
13

Britain’s favourite drink is essentially hot water (3) 

TEA (a liquid said to be Britain’s favourite drink)

Anagram of (hot) ATE (central letters [essentially] of WATER)

TEA*
15

Distinction of Nevadan city when unoccupied (6) 

RENOWN (fame; distinction)

RENO (city in Nevada) + WN (letters remaining in WHEN after the central letters HE are removed [unoccupied])

RENO WN
16

Rocky islands in both directions (8) 

UNSTABLE (rocky)

UNST (one of the Shetland islands) written normally left to right + ELBA (Italian island) reversed (in the other direction, written right to left) thereby giving islands in both directions

UNST ABLE<
18

Group of left-wingers getting diarrhoea (3,5) 

THE TROTS (Trotskyists; group of people on the left-wing of politics)

THE TROTS (colloquial term for diarrhoea) double definition

THE TROTS
20

Fear I must abandon growing situation in Bordeaux? (6)

TERROR (fear)

TERROIR (French [Bordeaux] word for the distinctive quality imparted to a wine by the climate and soil in which its grapes are grown) excluding (must abandon) I

TERROR
23

Drain noodle juice (3) 

SAP (drain)

SAP (fool; noodle)

SAP (juice) triple definition

SAP
24

Mostly pleased with Cup a Soup or fruit puree (5,5)

APPLE SAUCE (fruit puree)

Anagram of (soup) PLEASED excluding the final letter D (mostly) and A CUP

APPLE SAUCE*
26

While arsing around, cuddles Sharon? (7) 

ISRAELI (reference Ariel Sharon [1928-2014], Israeli General and Politician who served as his country’s Prime Minister)

ISRAELI (hidden word [cuddles] reversed [around] in WHILE ARSING)

ISRAELI<
27

Range of colours displayed by female friend? (7) 

PALETTE (range of colours)

PAL (friend) + –ETTE (suffix forming nouns denoting female)

PALETTE
28

Piece of Megane exhaust found in Clio, perhaps (4)  

MUSE (Clio was one of the nine MUSEs of Greek mythology)

M (one letter from [piece of] MEGANE) + USE (exhaust, as in USE up)

M USE
29

Pervert already sat in a perverted manner (4,6)

LEAD ASTRAY (seduce from proper conduct; pervert)

Anagram of (in a perverted manner) ALREADY SAT

LEAD ASTRAY*
Down  
1

Head-hunter ignores Alabama for a bit (4) 

SOME (a little; a bit)

SALOME (reference the biblical story about the lady who performed the dance of the seven veils in front of King Herod and asked for the head of John the Baptist as her reward; head-hunter) excluding (ignores) AL (Alabama)

SOME
2

A row, not the first, in public sale (7) 

AUCTION (public sale)

A + RUCTION (noisy disturbance; row) excluding the initial letter R (not the first)

A UCTION
3

RAF crew are almost then involved in land battle (6,7) 

TRENCH WARFARE (land battle fought by opposing forces located in TRENCHes)

Anagram of (involved) RAF CREW and ARE excluding the final letter E and THEN (almost)

TRENCH WARFARE*
4

Stomach lining, note, can be thrown up (6) 

RENNET (membrane lining the fourth stomach of a young calf)

TENNER (ten pound note) reversed (thrown up; down entry)

RENNET<
5

Stimulant found in 1 bed in 9 (8)

NICOTINE (poisonous narcotic that acts as a stimulant)

(I [Roman numeral for one] + COT [bed]) contained in (found in) NINE (9)

N (I COT) INE
7

Washer women at home stopping behind after setback (4-3) 

TWIN-TUB (type of washing machine; washer)

(W [women] + IN [at home]) contained in (stopping) BUTT (buttocks; behind) reversed (after setback)

T (W IN) TUB<
8

Tart on romantic rendezvous admitting to sin in small flat (4-1-5) 

PIED-A-TERRE (a dwelling such as a flat, usually small, kept for temporary, secondary, or occasional lodging, or maybe even a romantic rendezvous)

PIE (tart) + (DATE [romantic rendezvous] containing [admitting to] ERR [sin])

PIE D A T (ERR) E
11

Go off with Greek character to get bullets, oddly, and transform difficult situation (4,3,6) 

TURN THE TABLES (bring about a complete reversal of circumstances; transform a difficult situation)

TURN (go, in a board game for instance) + THETA (Greek letter) + BLES (letters 1, 3, 5 and 7 [oddly] of BULLETS)

TURN THE TA BLES
14

I rib Smiths fans – it’s a local custom (10)

BRITISHISM (expression characteristic of the English spoken in Britain; local custom)

Anagram of (fans) I RIB SMITHS

BRITISHISM*
17

A whim to replace Conservative with fascist, ultimately with unpleasant consequences (2,1,5)

AT A PRICE (with consequences, often unpleasant)

A + CAPRICE (whim) with T (last letter of [ultimately] FASCIST) replacing (to replace) C (Conservative) to form TAPRICE

A T A PRICE
19

Prince wearing sexier pants runs out (7) 

EXPIRES (runs out)

P (prince) contained in (wears) an anagram of (pants) SEXIER

EX (P) IRES*
21

Seismologist‘s unfinished biscuit beginning to rot (7)

RICHTER (reference Charles RICHTER (1900-1985), American seismologist and co-creator of the RICHTER scale for the magnitude of earthquakes along with Beno Gutenberg)

RICH TEA (type of biscuit) excluding the final letter A (unfinished) + R (first letter of [beginning to] ROT

RICH TE R
22

Insect eaten by aggressive spider (6) 

VESPID (Any insect of the family VESPIDae including common wasps and hornets)

VESPID (hidden word in [eaten by] AGGRESSIVE SPIDER)

VESPID
25

Fed up with bottom of straggly beard (4) 

DEFY (beard [oppose resolutely])

FED reversed (up; down entry) + Y (last letter of [bottom of] STRAGGLY)

DEF< Y

 

25 comments on “Independent 10933 / Eccles”

  1. Another fine crossword from Mr Every Other Wednesday and an equally fine blog from Duncan

    My particular favourite has to be 21d when I realised what the biscuit had to be!

    Thanks to both setter and blogger

  3. As you predicted, I’m at least one solver who found this more difficult than the “usual” Eccles. Thanks to previous appearances in crossword land, I remembered WINCHESTER and DEFY for ‘beard’ but I found some of the parsing pretty tough, eg PIED-A-TERRE and TURN THE TABLES. Not quite sure of TEA – I parsed it like Hovis @2. The only new word was VESPID but I failed on RENNET – “tenner” for ‘note’ is one of my blind-spots.

    Favourite was the ‘islands in both directions’ for UNSTABLE.

    Thanks to Duncan and Eccles

  4. Hovis @ 3

    Yes, that parsing of TEA makes much more sense that my rather convoluted attempt. I realised that the words ‘hot’ and ‘essentially’ were the wrong way round for what I was suggesting, but when I get fixated on a parsing, common sense often goes out the window.

  5. Duncan has pretty much said it all, although I am with Hovis on the parsing of TEA. I didn’t know either UNST or the specific meaning of BEARD needed in 25d, but WINCHESTER took me back to days of yore when I was a laboratory chemist in the late 1960s.

    THE TROTS made me laugh.

    Many thanks to Eccles, one of the very best exponents of smooth surfaces, for the fortnightly fun, and thanks too to Duncan.

  6. Tough to parse, as acknowledged by all so far, but very rewarding and some real gems. Completely agree with Duncan on the surface for PIED A TERRE and also loved RICHTER, BRITISHISM, AT A PRICE, TRENCH WARFARE and the very cleverly hidden ISRAELI. Top honours shared between WASH TUB and UNSTABLE, as highlighted by our blogger, and SOME which was almost last to fall and a brilliant use of head-hunter.

    Thanks Eccles and Duncan

  7. btw – for once I’m with the blogger (or, at least, the blogger’s original thinking) and not my fellow posters on TEA. I took ‘essentially hot’ to indicate an anagram of the essence of water which is ‘ate’. I do like the alternative a lot but the quibble would be that water can be hot without being steam. And some solvers do complain about the ‘think of an alternative and then do something to it’ device – though I’ve generally been a tad more relaxed about it.

  8. I parsed it as sTEAm (like Hovis@2).
    PM@7
    Right. Hot water need not be steam. in fact, it is either hot water or steam.
    Anagram of ATE seems to be an equally good alternative.

    Loved Palette.

  9. Although one might argue that water is a liquid and steam is a gas, I don’t think anyone would object to saying ice is frozen water so steam as hot water is fine by me.

  10. True Hovis. Nothing much to argue there unless we talk science and strict definitions.

    Was thinking about ‘hot’ as an anagrind.

    Hot water is in an agitated state and so hot as an anagrind is quite cool! 🙂

  12. First one in pied a terre (it’s directly under the grid when printed off, and an interesting letter-count, so I started there). Last one rennet, remembered just in time. Parsed 13a via steam, but the alternative seems better. Favourites: unstable, pal-ette, Richter and at a price. Great fun. Thanks to Eccles and Duncanshiell

  13. Fell 2 shy of an unaided finish not knowing WINCHESTER & missing the Salome wordplay. PIED A TERRE & RICHTER were my top two & THE TROTS also raised a broad smile. A super puzzle, as ever, from this setter.
    Thanks to Eccles & Duncan for explaining those I couldn’t parse fully

  14. I’m another in the quite hard camp. I think TURN in TURN THE TABLES is go off as in “The milk has turned/gone off” I parsed TEA like Duncan and PostMark. Thanks both.

  15. Couldn’t parse TEA as I’m not familiar with ‘hot’ as an anagram indicator and did have to check on both the required definition of WINCHESTER and the 1d ‘head-hunter’ (should have spotted the latter!).
    Favourite was definitely RICHTER.

    Thanks to Eccles for the challenge and to Duncan for his help with parsing.

  17. Another very fine Eccles Wednesday.
    I parsed TEA as Duncan originally suggested and I think hot as anagrind is fine.
    Very rarely disagree with Hovis but today I don’t think sTEAm works.
    My only very minor quibble is that at 26a the clue should at least include something like “for one” as Sharon is not the only one.
    Thanks all

  19. I think for Duncan’s original parsing to work it’d have to be ‘hot essentially water’ (horrible) or ‘hot water essentially’ (OK).
    I prefer the sTEAm solution.
    Thanks to S&B

  20. Late to the party today, but I did find most of this easier than usual. (In fact if the solving score on the website means anything this was one of my best performances!) After getting about 3/4 completed I did slow down, didn’t know this meaning of Winchester, took me too long to remember soup can be anagrind, and to realise fan was one, and vespid was at best lurking in the distant reaches of my memory so didn’t manage to solve it. But the difficult bits didn’t detract from the enjoyment.

  21. Thanks both. Failed to parse RENNET and still can’t see a justification for inclusion of ‘can be’ in the clue unless it is telling me a tenner can be a note in which case the word order is alien (perhaps Yoda)

  22. I very much enjoyed this. Not to flog a dead horse, but how about “steam” = “heated water” = “hot water”? When I was solving I made an anagram of (w)ate(r) but was a bit uneasy about it.

  23. Alliacol @22: nothing wrong with flogging a dead horse on this site. I nearly popped in a while ago and now feel it’s worth contributing my two pennorth after all. I’ve never been comfortable, when similar debates have arisen before, with the water = ice or steam equation. Yes, it’s all H2O and I daresay a scientist could resolve this once and for all but, to me, water has certain properties – it flows, it fills and conforms to the shape of a container, it responds to gravity. It retains those properties when it is hot and even very hot. And when cold or even very cold. But at freezing point or boiling point it undergoes a significant change in form and properties. It freezes or evaporates becoming ice or steam. I’m happy to accept it’s still water – H2O – in a different state. But I’ve always struggled with saying it’s hot or cold water; at those points it’s frozen or evaporated water.
    I feel better now! Off to have a glass of something that isn’t water.

  24. This was an utterly brilliant puzzle; one of the best all-round clue collections in a single 225 for a long time. Bravo Eccles!

  25. Well, what’s often referred to as steam coming out of a kettle is actually recondensed water vapour – hot water – and real steam is invisible.

    Mostly found this fairly easy apart from the top left. I put the puzzle aside for a couple of hours whilst watching television and have just picked it up again and immediately got the remaining answers.

    I must admit 28ac was cleverer than I realised. As a non-driver I had no idea Megane was a type of car and I think of Clio as a muse first.

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