I really struggled with this one – just not on Vlad’s wavelength, I suppose! Thanks to the setter, as usual
Across
1. Darn! Accepting credit leading to ruin (5,2)
SCREW UP
SEW UP = “Darn” around CR = “credit”
Definition: “ruin”
5. Arguments about a 9’s impositions (7)
TARIFFS
TIFFS = “Arguments” around A R = “[ROMEO]” (the answer to 9 is Romeo which is R in the NATO alphabet)
Definition: “impositions”
9. Capital! Old guy playing the field (5)
ROMEO
ROME = “Capital!” + O = “Old”
Definition: “guy playing the field”
10. Countryman rejected home at deer park, originally (9)
PAKISTANI
IN = “home” + AT + SIKA = “deer” + P[ark] = “park, originally” all reversed (“rejected”)
Definition: “Countryman”
11. So cheap it’s ridiculous, this previous form of transport (4,6)
POST CHAISE
(SO CHEAP IT’S)*
Definition: “previous form of transport”
12. Note cocaine and smack (4)
CHIT
C = “cocaine” + HIT = “smack”
Definition: “Note”
14. Figure’s toned and rather developed (11)
TETRAHEDRON
(TONED RATHER)*
Definition: “Figure” (I think of figures as being 2 dimensional, so the answer being a 3 dimensional solid was a bit surprising to me.)
18. Are sure to be in trouble during army detention (5,6)
HOUSE ARREST
(ARE SURE)* in HOST = “army”
Definition: “detention”
21, 22. Miserable reason for 8 7? (4,2,3,5)
DOWN IN THE MOUTH
An amusing link to SPITTING FEATHERS, since “down” is feathers
Definition: “Miserable”
25. Make standard inside Scandinavian country (9)
NORMALISE
NORSE = “Scandinavian” around MALI = “country”
Definition: “Make standard”
26. Good hotel described as having limited appeal (5)
NICHE
NICE = “Good” around H = “hotel” (“described” is the inclusion indicator, as in “A [that] B described”
Definition: “having limited appeal”
27. Silk in south-east courts not about to work (7)
TUSSORE
(SE OURTS)* – the anagram fodder is SE = “south-east” and [c]OURTS = “courts not about”, where C (Circa) is “about”
Definition: “Silk” – not a word I’d heard before
28. Split from a rubbish Tory department (7)
ABSCOND
A + BS (Bullshit) = “rubbish” + CON = “Tory” + D = “department”
Definition: “Split”
Down
1. Case of stout ready in bar (6)
STRIPE
S[tou]T = “Case of stout” + RIPE = “ready”
Definition: “bar”
2. Negligent about failure (6)
REMISS
RE = “about” + MISS = “failure”
Definition: “Negligent”
3. Feller with glasses at Washington, right? (10)
WOODCUTTER
W = “with” + OO = “glasses” (the two Os look a bit like a pair of spectacles) + DC (District of Columbia) = “Washington” + UTTER = “right” (as in “he’s a right plonker”). I wonder if Washington in the clue is meant to be an allusion to the story of George Washing cutting down a cherry tree.
Definition: “Feller” (one who fells)
4. Go quietly, American pig! (5)
PEPPA
PEP = “Go” + P (“piano” in sheet music) = “quietly”
Definition: “pig!”, referring to Peppa Pig
5. Cheers — doctor keeps half of hair gel (4,5)
TAKE SHAPE
TA = “Cheers” + (KEEPS HA)* – HA in the anagram fodder is “half of hair”, “doctor” is the anagram indicator
Definition: “gel”
6. Rebel forces Irish division raised (4)
RISE
Hidden reversed in “[forc]ES IR[ish]” – “division” is the (slightly weak) hidden indicator and “raised” indicates reversal
Definition: “Rebel”
8, 7. Fight a persistent battle, getting furious (8,8)
SPITTING FEATHERS
(FIGHT A PERSISTENT)*
Definition: “furious”
13. Ready to include north? People involved in it having second thoughts (10)
SENTIMENTS
SET = “Ready” around N = “north” followed by MEN = “People” in IT + S = “second”
Definition: “thoughts”
15. Persecute Francesca on the stage wearing rubber (9)
TYRANNISE
ANNIS = “Francesca on the stage” in TYRE = “rubber”
Definition: “Persecute”
16. Savage taking too many drugs in comic novel (8)
WHODUNIT
HUN = “Savage” around OD (Overdose) = “too many drugs”, all in WIT = “comic”
Definition: “novel”
17. Kabul was gutted, right? Rebuilt defensive fortifications (8)
BULWARKS
(KABUL WS R)* – the WS in the anagram fodder is from W[a]S = “was gutted”, and R is “right”
Definition: “defensive fortifications”
19. Ambassador’s sister vicious at heart (6)
NUNCIO
NUN = “sister” + [vi]CIO[us] = “vicious at heart”
Definition: “Ambassador” – a Nuncio is a papal ambassador
20. Nurse invites the man inside (that’s all there is) (3,3)
THE END
TEND = “Nurse” around HE = “the man”
Definition: “that’s all there is”
23. Might one be spotted laughing? (5)
HYENA
Cryptic definition: some hyenas has spotted patterns on their coats, and they’re famous for laughing
24. One about to make an alliance (4)
NATO
AN = “One” reversed (“about”) + TO
Definition: “an alliance”
Thank mhl. Another good test I thought. Quite a lot fell into place readily enough but the NE corner held out for some time, mainly because I couldn’t see 8,7, an expression I haven’t encountered before – spitting tacks yes but feathers no – even though the pointer of 21,22 was tentatively one of the FOIs. I didn’t help myself by toying with ‘frights’ for 5a; OK, I know an imposition is not a fright but it can be!
I also delayed progress by entering ‘screw it’ for 1a. BTW, I think you’ve missed accounting for the A in PEPPA.
Hahaha! That Peppa pig clue had me in stitches!
My first thought for 21, 22 was DOWN IN THE DUMPS, but I didn’t write it in as I couldn’t see the connection to the likewise unsolved 8, 7. Retrieving last Saturday’s Guardian from the recycling just before midnight I quickly saw what was going on and finished the puzzle with no more than the usual trouble with Vlad, or with my faulty memory (got my deer and my trees mixed up at 10a when trying to parse it). Though I remembered Francesca Annis straight away, but thought she must be too obscure – but of course nothing is too obscure for Vlad. 🙂 And she does have a very memorable name – once seen, never forgotten.
Thanks to Vlad and mhl.
Biggles @2 American gave us the A, since Peppa is very British
Like mhl, Tussore was new to me. I only got it from a solver with the crossers.
Another one here with Screw It and Down In The Dumps until the crossers disabused me. I enjoyed NORMALISE.
Yes there were some tough moments with this one, but it all worked itself out in the end. No idea how I remembered PEPPA pig or Francesca ANNIS but I did.
So what I struggled with the most was whether the referent in WHODUNIT was “too many drugs” or “taking too many drugs”. It seems for the semantics an overdose is “taking too many drugs” but that uses up the inclusion indicator. “too many drugs” by itself is not an overdose – you may have too many drugs on the table or in your pocket – they need to be taken.
Thanks mhl, including for the parsing of TUSSORE, last in and more or less guessed. Several other answers seemed near certain but parsing them took a good while. One was WOODCUTTER and even more than you perhaps I saw here a cherry tree reference. All in all a good challenge and well done Vlad.
Same. I screwed up by entering screw it and then couldn’t get the pig. Learned a lot about pigs on the American continent until I fixed that mistake. Pig as a definition was a bit broad, even with the exclamation mark.
Also didn’t know SPITTING FEATHERS but enjoyed the wordplay as I did for PEPPA (when I got it).
HYENA made me laugh, and I liked the positioning of THE END in the grid. For today’s earworm cue Peggy Lee.
Like Dr. Whatson@8 I struggled with ODing in WHODUNIT. But in the end I didn’t mind ‘taking’ as the inclusion indicator, or possibly doing double duty.
Got SPITTING FEATHERS quite quickly. Then for a while wondered if 21/22 could be wars of the roses but then I got BULWARKS so had to think again – DOWN IN THE MOUTH made me laugh.
Pleased I got TAKE SHAPE as I usually forget that doctor can be an anagrind.
I think my favourite was WHODUNIT. Also liked CHIT, HOUSE ARREST, SCREW UP (for the surface), WOODCUTTER
SIKA for deer was new to me.
Thanks Vlad and mhl
Thanks for the blog, really enjoyed this, so many good clue I will just mention three.
SPITTING FEATHERS is a fantastic anagram although does anyone else associate it with being thirsty not furious ? PAKISTANI is put together so neatly. WHODUNIT is very cleverly done, elegant and concise and actually took me the longest to solve.
TETRAHEDRON, I had identical thoughts on figure, but Chambers does support the setter – A solid figure.
TUSSORE is pretty obscure for me, I think it was just a dead end in the grid, fairly clued but I did need all four letters.
I had to keep coming back to this, slowly progressing, and at the end I thought Vlad was going to defeat me yet again, as I stared at every other letter for WHODUNIT without being able to think of anything that fitted. Finally it clicked, in a very satisfying way, and I even eventually saw the parsing; three nested synonyms, of which OD was the only one I’d thought must be in there somehow. I needed to come here to see the parsing for WOODCUTTER, though (‘Washington’ had made me think of felling trees, but not of DC). I always feel pleased to finish a Vlad puzzle – normally I tell myself to think of them as learning exercises, and not to expect to get everything. Thanks for this exercise, Vlad, and thanks for the blog, mhl.
Another one who didn’t find this impossible, although I didn’t parse WOODCUTTER, nothing else it could be. I thought the anagram for SPITTING FEATHERS was clever and the tie in with DOWN IN THE MOUTH amused me. I use spitting feathers as a phrase.
I got TUSSORE on the first pass: there are advantages to liking dressmaking. It’s a very nice silk. Last ones in were the north-west corner, PEPPA was a groan when I saw it, and PAKISTANI late, but satisfying when I saw it.
Plenty of fun last Saturday dealing with this although I’m another who found the NE corner rather tougher and didn’t know TUSSORE. I share Roz’s top three and would add the SPITTING FEATHERS that has been highlighted by others. (Never heard that one used to mean a dry mouth, though). OD is tricky – I absolutely cut Vlad some slack on this one; unusual for this setter to employ double duty. I persuaded myself there is a difference between the verb and the noun. Taking too many drugs – verb – requires them, yes, to be taken. Too many drugs – noun – could be carried around in pocket as per DrW above. I could certainly have a dose in my pocket – perhaps because I was on my way to get some water with which to take it. Why could I not then have an overdose in my pocket? But it is splitting hairs and I cannot pretend to have spent more than a few seconds debating it 😉
Thanks Vlad and mhl
Francesca A (besides having an unusual surname, as per hatter @4) was deliciously superb as Lily Langtree, decades ago but indelible, so tyr Annis e was a gimme. Otoh, sika as deer was a nho, so Pakistani was a bit of a shrug. Here we usually spit chips, but I have seen feathers before, here in cwland I think. For Biggles A it’s tacks, I notice. Not Vlad at his gnarliest but chewy enough, thanks to him and mhl.
Roz @12, thirsty is what I remember the phrase “spitting feathers” to mean from my early days oop North. Apparently, from a google search, it’s the older meaning. I came across a quote from a book called Notes and Queries (A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men and General Readers), 1865. which I must add to my buy list. It said “Surely Falstaff’s spitting white is what, in Lancashire low life, is called ‘spitting feathers’. A man, who has been drinking is feverish, his mouth is dry, and his saliva white.” The later “angry” meaning appeared in the 1970s.
Thank you Tim C , I am Lancashire low life these days but I also remember it growing up in Florence, and it was associated with the dehydration from a hangover.
I knew ‘spitting chips’ but I see it’s Australian. I thought ‘down at the mouth’ might mean grumpy or surly but online dictionaries would seem to indicate they’re synonyms for being angry or frustrated, in more recent times as TimC@17 has said. I also found the Shakespearean reference.
Maybe if someone is thirsty (for alcohol) they’re more likely to be angry or frustrated?
As Roz said @18.
Liked ABSCOND.
New: SIKA = deer (for 10ac); SPITTING FEATHERS.
Thanks, both.
Don’t know why, but I’d always thought it was ‘down AT the mouth’. So that scuppered my chances of getting TYRANNISE, which in turn had implications for TUSSORE, for which I would have needed all the crossers to stand a chance. But that’s all my problem, not Vlad’s. Thoroughly enjoyed the rest of it. Many thanks to Vlad and mhl
The Spitting Feathers/Down in the Mouth/Dumps combination appeared elsewhere quite recently. I guessed wrong both times. Some great clues, ABSCOND, WHODUNIT among them.
Some overthinking here for OD, isn’t there? You can take an overdose. That sentence needs both take and overdose, so OD (as noun) and take can be separated.
Some parallels with others’ experience of this one. As grantinfreo@16 and paddymelon@19 said, in this household we say “spitting chips” for “getting furious”, so 8,7d SPITTING FEATHERS was also a new one on me, but I liked it a lot! [And thanks to Biggles A@1, I learned “spitting tacks” today as well, as well as discovering some other interesting layers to “spitting feathers” in some of the above comments.] Francesca ANNIS was also unfamiliar, though I guessed TYRANNISE from the rest of the word play and crossers; I also had to have a “guess and look up” to complete TUSSORE at 27a satisfactorily. However, I had ticks for 9a ROMEO, 12a CHIT (my LOI – those darned four letter words!), and 14a TETRAHEDRON. Thanks mhl, for explaining the entire clue for 3d WOODCUTTER, which I had only partially parsed as l had a similar experience to molonglo@9 and KeithS@13, thinking it was referencing George Washington and the cherry tree – I didn’t “twig” to the DC bit. All in all, a Prize puzzle I enjoyed – for once, and unlike mhl, I did feel I could get on Vlad’s wavelength. Thanks to Vlad and mhl, and apologies for the points where I have echoed some other contributors without acknowledging them.
All seemed very fair. (Francesca) ANNIS was unfamiliar to me as (Derek) NIMMO was to others a couple of prizes ago. Some words stick because of multiple exposures, others need only a couple? Knew “spitting feathers” from somewhere. Linked beautifully by Vlad with DOWN IN THE MOUTH.
I’m glad I wasn’t the only one to find this difficult.
I have never heard of Annis Francesca, though got the answer from the crossers.
I was convinced that 27a was VISCOSE.
And I was trying to get a Russian novel from CHAV (savage) around OD IN. Google just threw up some rather unfortunate responses.
Oh dear!
And NATO was just a little too close for comfort. I do hope we’re not making a huge mistake.
Thanks mhl for the blog, excellent as usual.
Yes, a bit of a toughie, but I got there in the end, despite TUSSORE.
I liked HOUSE ARREST for the nice surface, SENTIMENTS for the Lego putting-together, and WHODUNIT for the misleading ‘comic novel’.
Thanks Vlad and mhl.
I was getting a sense of deja vu reading the comments here about SPITTING FEATHERS, and of course the discussion occurred along very similar lines (though as far as I can make out, involving different commenters) following Guardian puzzle 28,372 from February last year, set by… Vlad. And in that case the phrase was used in the clue (for MAD) rather than the solution.
21, 22ac Like sheffield hatter @4 and others I also thought DOWN IN THE DUMPS instead of MOUTH before I had 8,7dn so it didn’t tie up properly of course and held up the SE corner.
27ac TUSSORE I’ve seen before but only in a crossword, so was pleased to remember it. Thought the wording for the anagrind was a little strained.
3dn WOODCUTTER I’m never happy with OO for glasses – rather contrived, especially in a down clue. But it does pop up from time to time.
8,7dn SPITTING FEATHERS great anagram. I tend to spit nails but am familiar with the feathers version.
All in all not too taxing, and very enjoyable.
Thanks to Vlad and mhl.
Got most out, and enjoyed. Never heard of Francesca Annis. TUSSORE & NUNCIO were new to me. And I’d not heard of spitting feathers, only chips.
[Happy Birthday to Francesca Annis. Today, not the day the crossword appeared, so it’s purely coincidental, obviously.]
A really good Prize puzzle with generous helpings of ingenuity and wit. The pairing of those two long answers DOWN IN THE MOUTH and SPITTING FEATHERS was brilliant. I also particularly liked WOODCUTTER and SENTIMENTS, the latter for its clever reference to the supposed ‘levelling up’ plan for Britain.
The most difficult clues were, naturally, my last two to go in: TUSSORE (which I didn’t know) and NATO (which seemed to need ‘makes’ for the cryptic grammar but not of course for the surface – unless ‘to’ is doing double duty).
Thanks to Vlad and mhl.
I toyed for a while with putting BLOW at 12. It’s fine as a definition for ‘cocaine’ and for ‘smack’, but B LOW for ‘low B’ (‘note’) seemed too contrived, even in a cryptic.
Proper Prize Puzzle perplexity from Vlad, thanks to him and mhl.
WOODCUTTER was last in as the parsing took a while to come. Does anyone else think ‘utter’ is just a tad more intense than ‘right’?
Gonzo @ 35
“He’s a right / an utter [insert description of choice]”
Thanks mhl and I hope you felt rewarded for your struggle with this – i have found Vlad’s puzzles more accessible lately but am never sure if this is down to smoother clueing from him, my growing familiarity with his style, or (probably) a bit of both. Anyway I really enjoyed this, learned a few new terms and have enjoyed reading about the derivations and regional variations mentioned above. Thanks also Roz for Chambers confirmation of the 3D figure, I could only justify it by thinking of eg Kelly Brook’s figure. Thanks Vlad, this was never easy (i fell into a few of the traps mentioned above but luckily was able to extricate myself) but I am especially grateful that the new ones to me were very fairly clued.
Many thanks to mhl for the blog and to others for their comments.
My first completed Vlad (having previously given him a swerve). Loved the SPITTING FEATHERS / DOWN IN THE MOUTH combo. Thanks Vlad & mhl.
I also thought of ‘down in the dumps’ straight away, based on definition and enumeration but couldn’t see how it fitted with wordplay. Delighted when I realised what it was from the connection with SPITTING FEATHERS. Anyone who’s not averse to clicking a link (or can find a minion to do it for them) can read a full explanation of the original meaning of the phrase and the newer meaning (as here) at phrases.org
Alan B@33, I had a similar thought about make vs makes, but I think the plural can be justified if you think of it as
“One about and to together make an alliance.
Mhl, this post is uncategorised.
Vlad used to be my bete noire but is now a setter I look forward to grappling with. I loved this puzzle – the “spitting feathers”/“down in the mouth” combo alone made it worth the price of admission and there were several other LOL moments, most notably Peppa and whodunit. I agree that to spit feathers is, in my experience, to be thirsty and to be angry is more usually to spit rivets but it didn’t spoil my enjoyment. Any reminder of the superb actress Francesca Annis is also welcome. Many thanks to Vlad and to mhl.
Simon S @ 36, yes I understood it and it’s fine as a clue. I just feel that as an intensifier ‘right’ comes between ‘bit of a ‘ and ‘utter’, and wondered if there are other gradations.
Sorry for misunderstanding you, Gonzo @ 42. For me ‘a right’ is at the far end of the scale. Strokes for folks, eh!
I guessed that there must be a fictional pig named Pappa, Peppa, Pippa, Poppa or Puppa. Never having heard of him/her, I went with POPPA, from the wordplay (go = pop, as in “have a go”). Wrong again, as usual.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed this puzzle, with a special star for 25a NORMALISE.
Thanks Vlad for the fun, and mhl for the much needed explanations.
Tony Collman@40 – thanks for pointing that out – I’ve given this post the “Guardian” category now
Tony Collman@40 thanks for that link and also for the one you posted on Cyclops a couple of weeks ago.
Tony @40
I too (in my head) tried to make the NATO clue work in the way you suggested (and clearly indicated). I just think it’s a bit of a stretch to do so, and it remains a minor quiblet IMHO. Thanks for explaining it, though.
Cheers, gazzh. Was that the Holy Walsh?
*Holly!
[Tony@49 yes – liked the venn diagrams as well as the “first base” etc]
Thanks. Nice puzzle. No time-wasters. All clues solvable without word-fillers, but I still ended up using one for whodunit (my failure) and (reasonably) to find the name of the silk. I confirmed Francesca Annis via google.
Alan@49, yes, I agree it’s a bit of a stretch. Still … topical!
[Gazzh@50, for the sake (and amusement, hopefully) of all those still following but with no idea what we’re talking about:
https://youtu.be/ucVo643bk0E
(YouTube, 11 mins in total, specific clip from 2’53”)]