Fed has now appeared four times in the Guardian: he’s also seen – rather more frequently – in the Independent as Bluth. I found this quite tricky in places, but with some easy clues as well to get things moving, and good fun. Thanks to Fed.
| Across | ||||||||
| 1 | SUDDEN DEATH | Oddly squad added no depth, losing power for a way to decide the outcome (6,5) Odd letters of SqUaD aDdEd No + DEPTH with P[ower] replaced by A |
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| 4 | PYJAMAS | First of all, probing young journalist asked me about strange bedtime habit? (7) First letters of Probing Young Journalist Asked Me About Strange |
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| 9 | RHAPSODIC | Smash hit podcast on radio originally — completely timeless and joyful (9) R + anagram of HIT PODCAST less both Ts |
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| 10 | WOUND | One can be dressed, just like a jack-in-the-box! (5) Double definition, with two different pronunications of the word |
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| 11 | AD HOC | Improvised epilogue about taking heroin (2,3) H in reverse of CODA |
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| 12 | INDULGENT | After stripping, find adult agents will be generous (9) [f]IN[d] [a]DUL[t] [a]GENT[s] |
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| 13 | TESTATE | One with plans for passing Tesla motorcar, say (7) T (symbol for tesla, SI unit) + ESTATE (car), with “passing” meaning “dying” in the definition |
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| 15 | REGARD | Watch revolutionary go on TV show (6) Reverse of DRAG (go on) + ER (TV show) |
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| 17 | SCORCH | School’s covering my burn (6) COR (my!) in SCH |
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| 19 | FLEAPIT | Dive and jump, keeping fit inside — quite the opposite (7) LEAP in FIT |
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| 22 | TOLERANCE | Give clearance (9) Double definition, though the two meanings are very close |
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| 24 | ROSTI | Partially defrosting potato dish (5) Hidden in defROSTing |
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| 26 | STAFF | Silent after vacation with a very loud man (5) SilenT “vacated” + FF (very loud), with staff=man as verbs |
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| 27 | METALWORK | Fed gossip about rejected column — it’s possibly forged? (9) ME (Fed, the setter) + reverse of ROW (column – spreadsheet users might query this) in TALK |
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| 28 | SWEETEN | Soften bulletin describing support from the east (7) Reverse of TEE (support) in NEWS |
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| Down | ||||||||
| 1 | SERVANT | One’s learned Queen must replace one American lady-in-waiting, for example (7) SAVANT with the first A[merican] replaced by ER |
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| 3 | EASY CHAIR | One might seek comfort in this tranquil church song (4,5) EASY (tranquil) + CH + AIR |
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| 4 | PICADOR | Publishing company with marketing men supporting single out on the radio (7) PIC (homophone of “pick” or “single out”) + AD (marketing) + OR (Other Ranks, men) |
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| 5 | JEWEL | Ultimately, he saw the deal — Jack is first, possibly a diamond (5) J[ack] + last letters of hE saW thE deaL |
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| 6 | MOUSE TRAP | Second service goes over net to get game (5,4) MO (instant, second) + USE (service) + TRAP (net) – I was rather surprised to see that the famous board game is actually written as two words |
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| 7 | SEDATE | Sample pitted fruit — it’s dull (6) S[ampl]E + DATE |
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| 8 | ADMIRE | Praise whenever I’m darning trousers in recession (6) Hidden (trousered) in reverse of whenevER I’M DArning |
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| 14 | SICK LEAVE | Crop cutter against visiting hospital department for period of recovery (4,5) SICKLE (crop cutter) + V (versus, against) in A[&]E |
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| 16 | GUERRILLA | Irregular and liberal — mostly irregular and liberal (9) Anagram of IRREGULA[r] + L[iberal] |
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| 18 | HANGMAN | Content to thank Fed for word game (7) [t]HAN[k] + G-MAN (Federal Agent) |
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| 19 | FIESTA | Formula One is in Monaco on a holiday (6) F1 + EST (French “is”) + A |
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| 20 | TRINKET | Rent kit out — it’s of little value (7) (RENT KIT)* |
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| 21 | STASIS | Unaltered under street arrest (6) ST + AS IS (unaltered) |
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| 23 | REFIT | Makeover with scope for sex change (5) REMIT with the “sex-change” of M to F |
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| 25 | STOCK MARKET | Family get together with boat for a base at last — but it can crash (5,6) STOCK (family) + MEET (get together) with the first E (e, Euler’s number, the base of natural logarithms) replaced by ARK (boat) I’ve overthought this – as Fed himself explains in the comments. the E is from “basE at last” |
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Was looking forward to tackling another Fed and not disappointed. Lots of different devices employed and very enjoyable apart from the clunky STOCK MARKET. Shame the first three letters in TESTATE were also in Tesla, although it was a good clue despite that. Liked PYJAMAS, RHAPSODIC, FLEAPIT, SCORCH and METALWORK. Thanks for explaining REGARD.
Ta Fed & Andrew
I parsed STOCK MARKET as bas(e) at last in meet, being replaced by ark, but your parsing is much more interesting Andrew.
I agree with Alan, STOCK MARKET was very clunky. I thought “boat for a base at last” meant replacing the last letter of base (E) with ARK. But I didn’t like this clue. Also I struggled with 4d. I realised the answer from the crossers, but failed to parse it, with the homophone “pick a door”. Thank you Andrew for posting this so promptly (I’m still in my 4a, and must go and make breakfast now…) Happy Christmas!
Thanks Fed & Andrew. Maybe over-complicating things with Euler’s number in 25d/29a? I took the “E” to come from the last letter in BASE – otherwise, the “at last” in the clue becomes redundant does it not?
note to self: must learn to type faster…
Couldn’t parse stock=family (maybe some kind soul will do an e.g.) or drag=go on. And we saw the play but the fame of this other Mouse Trap hadn’t reached me … deprived childhood. Fun puzzle though, some neat tricks, like passing the motorcar and the forged gossip. Thanks to Fed and to Andrew.
This struck me as quite modern and refreshing rather than the usual literary/classical references with words like podcast and Tesla. There’s nothing wrong with the former but there are many contemporary cultural changes some setters seem to be oblivious of. Perhaps it reflects the solver demographic – in which case I don’t know how younger people will be drawn in.
I didn’t know OR=men, E=base, GMAN=federal agent. Thanks Andrew.
And thanks Fed for being different.
That’s more like it! An enjoyable tussle today – Fed certainly does think slightly differently resulting in some quirky devices but I was on his wavelength today. I suspect there will be some raised eyebrows – over and above STOCK MARKET; the ROW/column and the homophone at a guess. But I’ll take those in exchange for some of the splendid creations: savant to SERVANT, the ‘pitted’ sample in SEDATE, the sex change in REFIT, the self reference in HANGMAN, the brilliant repetition in the clue for GUERILLA, the misdirecting definition in METALWORK, the internalised INDULGENT … I could go on (to make up for yesterday’s brevity) … but I won’t. Despite all the ingenuity however, I’m opting for the simple initial letter device in PYJAMAS; for once a really natural sentence with amusing surface.
Thanks Fed and Andrew
gif @6: stock as in family line or pedigree? He comes from good stock?
Even though I finished it, I found this to be one of those puzzles where I couldn’t parse many of the answers even when I’d checked to see whether they were correct.
I thought AD HOC was very clever – finding a neat way to clue a very short word or phrase takes great skill. And although ADMIRE is actually straightforward, the clue is so well put together that the “container” is very well hidden. Quite neat use of “Fed” = “G-man”, reminiscent of Boatman’s habitual introduction of some form of sailor into his puzzles. There were two or three clues in this which either I didn’t solve or couldn’t parse, but having read Andrew’s blog, I am kicking myself
I agree that STOCK MARKET was clunky; but generally, an enjoyable start to the morning. Thanks both
I regret to say that I did not enjoy this much. I prefer concise clues, and found some of the definitions rather loose: for instance, I see ‘ad hoc’ as ‘for a particular purpose’ rather than ‘improvised’, where ‘ad lib’ would be more appropriate.
Enjoyable, but with some quibbles: admire is not the same as praise (one can do either without necessarily doing the other), a coda is a climax, not an epilogue (at least in music), and a row is not a column. Plus I’m not sure why liberal was repeated – guerrillas are not necessarily liberal folk.
CharlesY @13: liberal is the anagrind.
I didn’t enjoyed this as much as some clearly did – some clues were write-ins, and some felt a bit clunky. Ticked FLEAPIT, GUERRILLA and AD HOC. Thanks to Fed and Andrew.
Thanks for the blog, Andrew.
As AlanC and others have said, there’s no need for reference to Euler in 25, ‘base at last’= E.
CharlesY @13 re definitions.
Chambers: Admire – To have (or express) a high opinion of
I think the “or express” qualifies praise.
Coda – 1: a passage forming the completion of a piece, rounding it off to a satisfactory conclusion (music)
2: Any similar passage or piece in a story, dance sequence, etc.
Surely an epilogue is doing just that in a story
Column – a vertical row of figures, etc
Quite a mix of difficulty here (just as well as I’d never have got started otherwise). I liked FLEAPIT, GUERRILLA, HANGMAN among many, but couldn’t sort out PICADOR, STOCK MARKET or REGARD (where I started out with ROTARY for the revolutionary watch). A row is not a column in many contexts, but it just about passes.
For stock=family, here’s today’s earworm:
“The Bindweeds, they said, are inferior stock…”
Thanks Fed @16: I was just about to quote Chambers for these.
For GC @12, whilst Chambers dictionary agrees with you about AD HOC, the thesaurus has nothing but the other meaning:
makeshift, improvised, extempore, ad-lib, unscripted, unrehearsed, unprepared, spontaneous
colloq. off-the-cuff
which is the only meaning I knew.
AlanC@14: I get that one “liberal” is the anagrind, but don’t get the other one.
In 4d there is an anagram of radio plus PC which I thought when I solved it might be publishing company but then realised that Picador was the company. Was the anagram of radio just accidental?
CharlesY @ 19
As per the blog, one “liberal” is the anagrind and the other gives the second L necessary for GUERILLA.
PM@9, oh yeah of course, ta for that
Some of the clues are very clever, but too many of the surfaces are awkward and clunky for me:
‘losing power for a way to decide the outcome’
‘Family get together with boat for a base at last’
‘Formula One is in Monaco on a holiday’
For me, ‘trousers’ doesn’t make sense in 8D
Thanks Fed, very enjoyable. I love deceptive definitions and long(ish) clues with clever surfaces, and Fed/Bluth is a master at both.
But 25d did seem a bit clunky – I thought the “at last – but” was mistakenly cluing the final T (already accounted for in MEET) as that part of the clue seems redundant. With e as the ‘base’ you could have (the less clunky?) “Family get-together with boat for a base – it might crash!”
Anyway apart from that uncharacteristic blip, great stuff – thanks again Fed
I found this a curious mixture of the straightforward (e.g. SUDDEN DEATH, PYJAMAS, AD HOC, ROSTI, SEDATE) and the quite difficult (a la drofle @15; Steve69 @23 – those sorts of clues are good examples). I had several answers in mind long before I could justify (or semi-justify) them – e.g. PICADOR, METALWORK, STOCK MARKET, REGARD. The use of ‘Fed’ was a good mix of self reference and G-MAN, as noted by NeilH @11. Overall, a bit of a curate’s egg for me. Thanks, Fed and Andrew (I certainly needed some parsing help).
@Steve69
“Trousers” as a containment indicator is obviously OK but the “in recession” doesn’t work at the end of the phrase. It’s a down clue in any case.
On balance, I found this a very good puzzle – a lot of clever constructions but a bit rough round the edges. Fed is a refreshing addition to the Grauniad squad.
Stars for PYJAMAS, TESTATE, MOUSE TRAP and the wonderful GUERRILLA.
But you don’t wind up a jack-in-the-box, do you?
Thanks to S&B
Thanks for the blog, really enjoyed this, a lot of imagination in many clues, minor quibbles far outweighed by the clever word play. PM@8 has a good list , I will add SICK LEAVE for the use of sickle and the nice idea with against. I always think e for BASE but here the “at last ” changed things, at last could actually have been removed for a slightly better clue.
Happy Winter Solstice Festival everybody , ( or summer in the South ), 3.59 pm GMT , the comeback starts.
Pdp11 @18 (& GC @12) you’re right, also Chambers does have
Ad hocery – the use of ad hoc measures, improvisation or pragmatism
So I don’t think it’s a big leap!
baerchen @26
It was more the tense for me – shouldn’t it be ‘trousered’ (as Andrew indicates)?
I like what someone described as Fed’s Lego style. Sometimes you don’t see the definition until you have assembled the parts and sometimes you think it must be that but can’t at first see how. I agree with Roz about SICK LEAVE. Thanks, both.
Steve69
I see, yes indeed
A most enjoyable challenge!
Quite tough going – on my first run-through I entered only eight answers (not helped by reading ‘burn’ as ‘bum’ in 12ac!) but then they rolled in steadily and I was never completely stuck.
I had ticks for RHAPSODIC, FLEAPIT, METALWORK, SERVANT, PICADOR, ADMIRE, GUERRILLA, HANGMAN, FIESTA and STASIS.
Gervase @27 – surely the spring of a jack-in-the-box is wound?
Many thanks to Fed for the fun – and for dropping in – and to Andrew for the blog.
Gervase ‘
Apologies – I don’t know how the second ‘Gervase’ crept in.
Some jack-in-the-boxes need winding, some don’t. “Like clockwork” would have fitted well in that surface, but perhaps it wouldn’t have been difficult enough.
Base=E is the first thing that comes to mind for some, totally unknown to others.
gladys @ 35 , natural logarithms are to base e, a lot of calculus only works nicely in that base and also most of complex analysis.
Roz @ 28
Happy Solstice Festival to you too.
Minus 14 on the balcony this morning so we need Ra to make a reappearance soon …
Oh, and thanks to Fed if he’s still around. I enjoyed the puzzle.
And Andrew for the excellent blog, written in good plain English.
[ Anna @28 , will only be a few minutes difference for a few weeks but then starts to make a big difference, very important for swimmers. ]
Thanks Fed and Andrew
I really enjoyed this challenge. Favourite was LOI TESTATE, for the quirky definition. I didn’t parse REGARD.
I wondered if the native language in Monaco was Monegasque rather than French, but Google translate let me down!
[Roz@36: my mathematical education stopped at O level: I did learn how to use log tables, but not how they were derived (like the difference between driving a car and understanding how the internal combustion engine works). ]
[ Gladys I think logs at school were to base 10, better for arithmetic, I have seen those log table books, have all the sin, cos , tan in as well. All calculators now , they have LOG ( base 10 ) and ln ( base e )
I will dare to add Euler’s equation to the blog. e( to the power i x pi ) + 1 = 0 , someone may be able to do it more neatly with symbols and power notation. It contains the six most important symbols in one simple line. ]
Thanks Fed, Andrew
It reminded me of a Philistine puzzle, in that there were lots of clues containing the solution – hidden words, first/last letters, alternate letters etc., but unlike Philistine there were few anagrams; if they were reduced to compensate, I for one appreciated it.
I wondered if ‘base at last’ was editorial, as Bluth in the Independent has used base for E before.
I liked the short sweet ones on the whole, REMIT & STAFF particularly and, Steve@69, can’t see anything wrong with ADMIRE: to me the clue reads ‘a word for praise that wheneverI’mdarning contains when it’s reversed’
Re AD HOC, the Latin original ‘for this’ meant ‘for this specific purpose’ , ‘tailor-made’, and is still used in this sense in other languages, but has drifted in English to mean ‘impromptu’, with the connotation of not being very good.
Eileen @33: I also read ‘burn’ as ‘bum’ to start with. Perhaps we’re compensating for Paul’s reduction in ribaldry?
Gervase @44 – you’re maybe right but i don’t miss it as much as you do. 😉
[I too had to look at 17a very closely to decide if it was “burn” or “bum”!]
I found this mostly heavy going, with some quite tortured word play for those not thinking as Fed did. I was able to parse several answers in retrospect, and I thank Andrew for explaining a few.
Quibbles include row for column – I am unimpressed by Fed’s justification, presumably quoted from a dictionary – and AE for A&E, which will probably turn out to be standard practice but doesn’t look right to me. I hope that next time I’m looking for A&E the signs don’t list AE!
As for obscure slang, I suppose we in the UK usually have it easy, so I shouldn’t object too long about G-man, which I don’t expect to come across again in my lifetime!
Monkey@47 – I read 14d as “visiting hospital department” = “in A&E” = “between A and E”.
Thanks to Fed for the typically inventive puzzle and to Andrew for the blog.
Monkey @47: I’ve only really encountered G-Man in crosswords yet it rang an immediate bell so I was surprised a search of the site takes us back to a Picaroon of last year
8 Ex-communist card player fed without hesitation (4,6)
EAST GERMAN : EAST(term for the player partnering West against the North and South partnership, in the card game of bridge) + G-MAN(an agent of the US FBI/a Fed, in short) containing(without) ER(an expression of hesitation).
Remarkably, although I don’t do the FT regularly, the same site search revealed that the word G-Man appears in a clue in today’s offering by Falcon!
First time for a disagreement with Andrew. 🙁 STOCK MARKET took an age to parse and not at all enjoyable. This applied to many of the clues, which meant we [cobbler and I] had to rely on the crossers.
Thanks to Fed, hoping we will grow to like your puzzles and as ever huge thanks to Andrew for his blog.
Happy and Healthy Christmas to fellow bloggers. :)?
[Roz@41, at school we had a book of tables (started with an R, I think, but not Rutherford) with all the math gen, logs to base 10 and base e, trig functions etc, and up the back a table of the known sub-atomics which, mid ’60s, already comprised a zoo. V cool for nerdy kids]
[grant@51 I have seen these books, pretty sure they were orange , small paperback perhaps A5 size.
I would quite like to own one really.]
Gervase @27
“But you don’t wind up a jack-in-the-box, do you?”. Wikipedia thinks otherwise.
As some have said already this was enjoyable but a curious mix of the very straightforward and the head-scratching.
I thought RHAPSODIC, GUERRILLA and HANGMAN were superbly clued.
I had STOCK MARKET unparsed.
Thanks to Fed (I’m warming to you!) and to Andrew
Lots of misdirections from Fed today. Quite convenient that he can employ his user name with another apparent meaning as in 27ac. Last two in were SERVANT and TESTATE. Liked the conciseness of the clueing for SCORCH…
[Roz@38 After about 13 December I like to exclaim how the evenings are getting lighter – by as much as 2 minutes when the solstice arrives! From January to June it is then approximately 1 hour per calendar month. This applies to Dundee, at any rate]
As usual, a couple I couldn’t parse so thanks Andrew.
I shared the doubt about a ROW being a COLUMN. Also I don’t see FLEAPIT with as the FIT “inside” the jump. We seem to get this seemingly opposite occurring quite often though.
Thanks Fed
[grant@51Were they perhaps Knott’s 4 figure Tables? My version contains such gems as the specific heat of fusion of ice as 144 British Thermal Units per lb]
[[Dave, Grant et al: in my day we used Godfrey and Siddons, 4 Figure Tables:, though later on I also had The Penguin Honeywell Book of Tables, in which the numbers had been calculated by (gasp) a computer!]]
[ Dave@56 it does depend on latitude but it is quite surprising everywhere, sunrise will keep getting later for quite a few days but sunset will be slightly later still . Up to the solstice we have already had slightly later sunsets for about 10 days but sunrise getting later by a slightly larger amount. ]
Is Fed a Mr Gorman? Seem to think his last offering was marmite
Cedric @ 61 Yes, Fed is Bluth is Django is Dave Gorman.
[PeterO @53: Thanks for the enlightenment. The only jack-in-the-boxes (jacks-in-the-box?) I have encountered – and that was an unconscionably long time ago – were simple, non-musical affairs from which the clown sprung up as soon as the latch was lifted]
tim@57 I agree we have had a few that seem the wrong way round lately but this one is okay.
jump (leap ) keeping fit inside – quite the opposite. So it is fit keeping leap inside.
Excellent crossword. Clues I could solve (it happens occasionally), no words I’d never heard of – and as a bonus it looked as though it had been written in the 21st century.
Like some other’s have commented, it is really refreshing to have a few more contemporaneous references and no need for a classical education. A really good mix of clue types and creative use of devices.
I hadn’t heard of G-man – I kinda half settled on it being ‘Guardian man’ as in a geezer who contributes to the newspaper! GUERILLA took me ages, such a good clue. Nice one G-man & Andrew.
I really enjoyed this, a few I came to check parsing, but mostly fun with the different ways of cluing. I also liked the variety of clues. (I have no idea how long it really took me, I had it up on my phone while I was making breakfast and stirring porridge, so much distraction while I was completing it.) (
And for all those with log tables, I have a set of SMP log tables that date from the 1970s, and learned to use them and a slide rule. Olive green with the SMP symbols and characteristic stripe in a darker colour.
[Shanne @67
I think I could still lay my hands on my 50-year-old slide rule. Not sure if I would remember how to use it; indeed, some of the scales I don’t think I ever used!]
A lady-in-waiting isn’t a servant. She’s a high-ranking lady in a position of honor.
Monkey @47 I don’t think anybody has been called a G-man since the days of Al Capone. Yankee that I am, I don’t expect to use the word either, but it may pop up again in crosswords, those museums of the long-ago.
Thanks to Fed and to Andrew for a pleasant evening and morning.
Thanks Andrew for parsing a few and others for extra meat, I find myself agreeing with NeilH@11 and the yaysayers, especially those welcoming some references to modern life. PICADOR was a nice reminder of “White Spines” by Nicholas Royle, a very enjoyable read earlier this year. And I think the “Coda” of Pavane by Keith Roberts functions as an epilogue so had no problem with that. Perfectly pitched challenge, thanks Fed.
[Gazzh @70
Pavane by Keith Roberts – strange but haunting book. Thoroughly recommend.]
Gervase @63. Not sure if you’re a fan of the Big Bang Theory, but here’s Sheldon with one.
baerchen and Steve69, how about “Praise whenever I’m darning trousers pulled up”?
On another directional point, I can only see rows as horizontal and columns as vertical, so a minor quibble there.
Quite fun but a DNF for me, failing on GUERRILLA. Liked HANGMAN a lot.
I am very content to thank Fed. And Andrew of course.
Thanks both,
OED has ‘improvise’ in its first definition of ‘ad hoc’. I can’t find OED support for ‘row’ equals ‘column’ but a column of troops is really a row of them. And, ‘Get all my ducks in a column’ works just as well as ‘Get all my ducks in a row’.
Valentine @69. If you have information that shows that a lady in waiting did not actually serve a member of the royal family, perhaps you should amend the Wiki article on this subject. 🙂 “…a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman” – sounds like a servant to me, albeit a high ranking one, in an honourable position.
sh @74 – I don’t think you can necessarily equate ‘personal assistant’ or ‘one who serves’ with ‘servant’ – otherwise ‘waiter’, ‘cleaner’, ‘health care assistant’ and ‘secretary’ could all be clued as ‘servant’.
The wiki article says ‘Historically, in Europe… a lady-in-waiting was considered more of a secretary, courtier or companion to her mistress than a servant’ – which bears out Valentine’s point.
However, it goes on to say ‘In other parts of the world, the lady-in-waiting, often referred to as palace woman, was in practice a servant or a slave’ – so it would seem to be a grey area.
Roz@64 thanks… I had taken “opposite” as referring to the FLEAPIT not being “fit inside”. Oops!
I did not parse 9ac, 8d, 15ac, 25d.
Thanks, both.
essexboy @75. Thanks – I didn’t read the whole article; there was a begging bowl in the way. A grey area, but the definition was not so obscure that the answer wasn’t immediately apparent.
Isn’t TESTATE (13A) an adjective? The clue seems to call for a noun–the testator is the one with the will . . .
pianola @79
Yes, it is an adjective, but it is also a noun. From Collins and the ODE:
testate
noun
A person who dies testate
From the moment, light years ago, I first saw E = ‘base’, I hated it.
Chambers tells me that one the meanings of base can be “7. A number on which a system of numeration or of logarithms is founded“.
Indeed, e is one (and a special one) but 2, 3, 4 or actually any positive number is also one.
It is the mathematician in me who hates this simplistic definition.
Therefore I applaud Fed using ‘base at last’.
I wasn’t sure about the ‘a’ that comes in front of it but if he means that only one of the letters e should be removed from ‘meet’ (as Phi would do), then he’s my man tonight!
Of course, the mathematician in me also frowned at ‘row’ = ‘column’ but it’s fine for the reason mentioned by some above.
Good crossword, rather easy, less intricate than this setter can be.
Thanks Andrew & Fed.
[Sil @81
Mmmm – light years is a distance, not a duration 🙂 ]
[I should add, “pet hate” (along with “epicentre”!).]
OK, muffin, many many years ago.
Sil @81 – whilst I have some sympathy with your objection to e = base, e is itself defined (in Chambers) as “the base of the natural system of logarithms” so it does seem perfectly fair – whilst other numbers can of course also be a base, they are not specifically defined in this way. Maths-wise it might seem arbitrary, but in crossword-land it’s the dictionary that’s the judge.
CranberryBoat @85, I know what the dictionaries say and I know how it works in crosswordland.
It’s not that I think that it’s unfair, I just don’t like it.
Meaning: as an occasional setter myself I would not use it.
Because …. I just don’t like it.
Can happen, can’t it?
re discussion on ‘wound’: you could argue that a spring is itself a wound device.
Thanks to Fed and Andrew.
Excellent crossword with a pleasing mixture of wordy & shorter clues. Always enjoy DG’s puzzles even though, for an average ability solver like me, they’re invariably pretty challenging – this one no exception.
Too many good ‘uns to pick a fav. Lots of ticks on my page.
Thanks Fed & Andrew
Mostly enjoyable; a few quibbles. 8d: there are plenty of people and things I admire but have never praised. Why is estate a car? Easy & tranquil a bit of a stretch. And I keep forgetting that in the UK Other Ranks are men. Accident & Emergency in 14d tripped me up for the same reason.
[Roz@52 time to repay your previous kindness. I have just looked at world of books https://www.wob.com/
and searched for ‘four figure tables’
There are 6 listed, a JT Bottomley, a Godfrey and Siddons, two from Frank Castle, one by C.G Knott and an ‘Old and rare’ SH Burton. Priced between £3.19 (Knott) and £10.79 for one of the Castles. The Burton was £9.09. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone.]
[ Taffy@90 , kindness indeed , thank you so much. F Castle is the one I remember and I have recalled where I have seen it, My senior technician has a shelf full of reference books, he likes to keep old things and there are definitely log tables there. I would imagine that schools disposed of thousands of these books once calculators came in and now they are worth something. ]
Sil @86 . I just don’t like it….. is always a good reason. we all have our irrational likes and dislikes. Personally I love to see base=e and I am still waiting to see S=strangeness.
Even worse than light-years is parsecs. I am told that they misuse this in Star Wars.
Geoffdownunder @89 see my comment @16 re admire/praise.
An ‘estate car’ is probably a Britishism. It’s what Americans would call a station wagon – not sure if Australia uses another different term for it or not.
I don’t think Easy and Tranquil is a stretch at all, per Chambers:
1: not difficult, 2: At ease, 3: Free from pain, 4: Tranquil
Etc
As Lionel Richie didn’t sing – I’m tranquil like Sunday morning…
@Fed
Newbie here, so keeping quiet on comments from more experienced commenters.
Piping in to say thanks to Fed for showing up and defend the clues. Please do some quiptics. They are supposed to be easy for the solver, but be creative and funny enough to draw in and raise the next gen cryptic solver fans. So much harder for the setter. Fed, please take up the challenge. Thanks.
Ravilyn @94, please no need to keep quiet. EVERYONE on here is entitled to their views and diversity of experience is something to be welcomed.
Roz @95
Well said. I couldn’t agree more.
@roz Thanks for kind words
I need to read a lot of here and understand the basic netiquette of the place, then I will post if I think I have something interesting.
I’m a week behind with my crosswords so I’m just lurking these days, but I just have to add a lone dissenting voice – I liked the clue for 25,29 STOCK MARKET. I thought the construction was clever and the surface, while long (but no longer than five or six others) made sense,
conjuring up an image of a drunken boat party coming to a nasty end.
Thanks Fed for a fun puzzle, and Andrew for helping with a couple of parsings that I just couldn’t see.