Bluth kicks off the week in the Indy for a change.
I thought Monday was meant to be easy here, some of the parsing at least to write up was downright difficult, can’t see a particular theme or Nina but if you know better …
SLAM – to clobber – inside GAP. GAP are a now online only in the UK, probably elsewhere too, clothing company. No I’ve never shopped there online or in person. If you’ve met me you might find it hard to believe I’m not always dressed in the latest fashion and accessories.
Alternate letters of GiLeAd & final letters meN traffiC thE handmaidS
The starters of Someone Like You
Bluth does like these complex ‘uns to make a blogger’s life difficult. Here goes. To open GO – run & Over & MORN sounds like MOURN – to keen – inside – welcomed by – DING – to sound. These sorts of wordplay take a lot longer to write up than solve!
I’M & most of MENS(a) & E for base. Well E is a natural logarithmic base but virtually any number could be a base.
HAVE – a con a criminal & AGO – before, usually long ago but still.
CARD – an eccentric & TABLE – to suggest
Double def
Hmm if you cycle crazily twice you get LYCRAZI now we need to remove the centre – essentially of wheeZIness to leave LYCRA(zi). AT least I think this is how it’s meant to work
I – one & a vacated M(essag)E all inside a re-sorted HOTELS*
The cover of M(agazin)E & E.R. & most of KAT(e). I couldn’t find mob as a collective noun for them however
Hidden in bruTALLY HOnest
I & an upset [ROD HULL EMU]*. Nice I just wonder how long Bluth has had this particular anagram gem waiting for a chance to use it.
Without the frills (n)IK(e) & last of trainerS all reversed – rejected
Tail of (stingra)Y inside TRITON a merman
MANY kettled by CID all reversed – heading west
A perverted COMPULSIONS* inside GIST – main point of an argument
Double def
J(udge) removed from (j)ARGON
ROVER inside PB for lead. ROVER cars went bust quite a few years ago now
GUM something to chew & SHOE an oxford is a type of shoe
Nothing topical or satirical in the surface here. Honest. An endless (c)ARRI(e) with the conclusions of (bori)S (temperamen)T inside VIE – struggle
a confused [TO MY LOGICAL]*
F(ine) for B(ritish) in [IN F(b)IG CAT SHED ZOO]* in a state of disrepair
RAC – motorists’ group in MILE – a race distance & P(ower) & LAY to plant
TRACK to monitor & SUIT clubs for example
L(eft) &ET – French “and” & D – Germany & OWN – have
TOUT to solicit with the O dropping & RED – wine say
hidden reversed in oNE DALek. Loaded and laden seem a little too close in meaning for my liking though,
Sounds like “SOME”
Marvellous anagrams for 23a & 1d. Couldn’t parse 10a. I was convinced ‘opening’ was going to be part of the definition. According to Chambers, ‘have a go’ can mean ‘tackle criminal’ (by a member of the public), so ‘criminal’ is part of the definition in 13a. In 17a, there is no need to cycle ‘twice’, it is ‘crazily’ with last 2 letters cycled to the front with ‘zi’ removed.
It was handy that ‘arriviste’ was used recently to clue ‘parvenu’.
Crikey. Reading the blog, I wonder how I managed to complete the puzzle! Yes, this was certainly Bluth at his more convoluted. There were three (the two long ones and GOOD MORNING) where I stopped parsing once I’d got the gist but without going into the detail required of our blogger. Thanks, flashling, for making it as clear as day – and it’s a fairly murky day where I am this morning. I am still at sea when it comes to understanding HAVE A GO, even with the explanation. There seems to be an extra element if con = HAVE and before = AGO. I can’t see what criminal is doing. Sorry – it is Monday morning!
ILL-HUMOURED is, of course, the pick of the bunch and one of those spots that makes you think there must be order in the universe! I also liked TUTORED for the surface, TRACKSUIT for the def and GAS LAMP for the construction.
Thanks Both
Crikey, that was tough with several bits of convoluted parsing to unravel, although in the end it proved to be a satisfying solve.
I don’t understand the need for “of sorts” in 12d, nor for “once” in 1a as GAP re-opened in the UK earlier this year.
Many thanks to Bluth, and well done to flashling for explaining it all succinctly.
PM @2. Perhaps the fact that you and I both chose the same opening word for our comments at exactly the same time is another indication of order in the universe!
This wasn’t too hard if (like me) you took the easy way out and just bunged in the difficult ones from the def. Trying to parse everything was another matter and I gave up on GOOD MORNING, HAVE A GO and SIGN OF THE ZODIAC. Thanks to our blogger and to Hovis @1 for explaining it all.
My favourite was GOSSIP COLUMNIST, for which I took the whole clue to be the def and which I think would therefore qualify as a semi-&lit.
Thanks to Bluth and flashling
RD @4: more than you might think, given we have both just made Comments elsewhere that appear to be in synch too! Good job I didn’t open my Comment @2 with an un-attributed Jeepers Creepers 😉
I’d go for ‘hard in places’, especially for a Monday. Bluth keeping up his high standard of entertaining crosswords. Thanks to him and Flashling
Seemed quite chewy for a Bluth, especially for a Monday (not that I’m complaining). Like Postmark @2, though, I do not understand HAVE A GO or your parsing.
You might need a nice lie-down in a darkened room after that, flashing. Like others, I gave parsing a miss on one or two (saves time), so thanks for your work! I had a feeling I’d seen something like the excellent 23a before but as I only do this one crossword a day and people here do many more, I must have dreamt it. Crikey. Really liked 1d and the simple but smooth 4d. Thanks to Bluth for the work-out.
Ian @8. ‘Tackle criminal’ is the definition (see me @1), ‘ago’ is ‘before’ and ‘have’ is ‘con’ with ‘starts’ signifying it goes first. ‘Have’ in this sense is more often seen in the past tense, as in ‘I’ve been had/conned’.
Thanks, Hovis. Do they mean “tackle a criminal”? Seems a strange thing to have an expression for, and I struggle to see how HAVE A GO fits, but I’ll take your word for it.
Crikey, yes – some tricky parsing but very satisfying to tease it out finally. I agree with Hovis @1 re HAVE A GO and the ‘cycling’ twice for LYCRA. Also that the anagrams at 23ac and 1dn are marvellous – and I’d add 7dn, too.
Talking of 1dn: I initially did Bluth a disservice, thinking that a second use of ‘this writer’ (see 11ac) was rather lazy cluing – only to discover that it was a completely different usage. I should have known better.
flashling, googling ‘meerkats, mob’ turned up a whole lot of references – see here, for instance.
Ian SW3 @11 – ‘have a go’ meaning to tackle a criminal is a well-known expression – see here – and I see now it’s in Chambers.
Many thanks, indeed, for the blog, flashling and to Bluth for the fun.
Thanks for the blog flashling. I think Hovis’ explanation for ‘Have a go’ tallies with my intention (I think it’s most commonly seen in the phrase ‘Have A Go Hero’)
I think the parsing on 18a isn’t quite right either, in that it’s not all of the elements that are inside the re-sorted HOTELS. The I is and then the M(assag)E follows.
Jayjay @9 – You might have seen something similar before – in 2012. Tramp test-solved this for me and told me that he had clued ILL-HUMOURED in a very similar fashion many years ago. (It was as Jambazi in the Indy. I had no idea at the time and he didn’t think I should change it.)
Rabbit Dave @3, I don’t think Gap have re-opened. Their website store-finder reveals a few shops in France and Belgium but none in the UK. (I think they may have come to some arrangement to sell some of their clothes through Next stores, though.)
Cheers, all.
Thanks Bluth – I think the blog & blogger suffered from the enforced festivities of the last few days 🙂
Thanks Bluth & Flashling. I don’t mind the convoluted clues – you just have to follow the instructions to the letter and build up the solution. All perfectly fair. That said, my favourites are the ones with simpler wordplay – the Emu anagram is a wonderful find, and GOSSIP COLUMNIST has a great surface. Also liked the subtle allusion to use of inhalers in pro cycling in the LYCRA clue (assuming that was intentional). Nice.
I wasn’t aware that Gap had closed, never mind that it had re-opened, but I guessed that was the shop we were looking for.
Ian SW3 – “Have-a-go hero” was the phrase that came to mind for 13a – have you not come across that one? It’s often used in newspaper headlines.
Re ‘have-a-go hero’ – please see the link I gave @12. 😉
Thanks Bluth @ 13. Ten years ago? Crikey again. Respect to Jambazi, but good clue today!
Thanks, Eileen and Bluth for further clarification on HAVE A GO. Of course, I can see that a Have-a-Go Hero might try to tackle a criminal, but I was unfamiliar with the idiom in which it apparently means more than just “try” (but then I’ve only lived in this country for 25 years).
Thanks Bluth. I breezed through this little gem but like others I gave up trying to parse them all. GOOD MORNING, HAVE A GO, and CARD TABLE all escaped me. I had many favourites including the oft-mentioned 1d with its splendid surface and anagram, LYCRA, LITHESOME, MEERKAT, and PROVERB. Thanks flashling for untangling everything.
Thanks Eileen obviously as a computer professional I can’t do Web searches. Ta for the corrections folks. Serves me right for posting early to get the blog out before work.