Congratulations to Vulcan on his 100th puzzle…
… “as may be seen”, says the rubric, and the letters IOO are to be found spelling this out in each of the four corners of the grid (twice in the NW and SE corners), as I noticed just in time to help with a couple of answers.
| Across | ||||||||
| 1 | HOMAGE | Tribute of silver received in house (6) AG (silver) in HOME |
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| 4 | BASSISTS | Bachelor helps musicians (8) B[achelor] + ASSISTS |
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| 9 | GISMOS | Gadgets shared by soldiers and doctors (6) GIS (American soldiers) + MOS (Medical Officers) |
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| 10 | OLD NORSE | One lord’s strange tongue (3,5) (ONE LORDS)* |
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| 11 | JOUSTS | Tournament contests that might have you out of your seat (6) Not-very-cryptic definition: a jouster might be unseated from his horse |
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| 12 | SHADOWED | Followed in poor light (8) Double definition |
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| 14 | MOTOR SPORT | Storm troop wildly racing? (5,5) (STORM TROOP)* |
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| 18 | FINGERNAIL | One on hand, if learning is disrupted (10) (IF LEARNING)* |
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| 22 | ABSINTHE | Upper classes at home with the liqueur (8) ABS (As and Bs – those in the highest socioeconomic classes) + IN + THE |
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| 23 | PENNON | Founder of colony holding no flag (6) NO in PENN (William P, found of Pennsylvania) |
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| 24 | SMOOTHIE | Soft drink for a glib type (8) Double definition |
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| 25 | RED-HOT | Revolutionary and popular sort of poker (3-3) |
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| 26 | THEORIST | Speculator, one believing in hoarding gold (8) OR (gold) in THEIST |
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| 27 | UNSPUN | Like washing still wet, not mangled by a doctor of sorts (6) Double definition – the washing hasn’t been spin-dried, and the facts haven’t been treated by a spin doctor |
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| Down | ||||||||
| 1 | HIGH JUMP | Athletics event you wouldn’t get over losing (4,4) Another not-very-cryptic definition: you could lose in the high jump by not getting over the bar |
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| 2 | MOSQUITO | Pest flying low round contemptible person (8) SQUIT in MOO (to low) |
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| 3 | GOOD TURN | Favour being spread got round (4,4) (GOT ROUND)* |
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| 5 | ALL THE RAGE | Highly popular article everyone seethes about? (3,3,4) THE (article) in ALL RAGE |
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| 6 | SYNODS | Extremely shyly signifies approval in church meetings (6) S[hyl]Y + NODS |
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| 7 | SHREWD | Astute on stage, one tamed daughter (6) SHREW (a “daughter tamed” in The Taming of the Shrew) + D[aughter] |
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| 8 | STEADY | Boyfriend not rocking? (6) Double definition |
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| 13 | SPLIT HAIRS | Quibble about problem ahead? (5,5) Double definition |
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| 15 | FREE REIN | Latitude with lavish downpours, do we hear? (4,4) FREE (lavish) + homophone of “rain”; this phrase is often misspelt as “free reign” |
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| 16 | PAWNSHOP | Pop in here? (8) Cryptic definition: to pop an item is to pawn it |
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| 17 | PLANKTON | Piece of wood: heavy weight that floats in the sea (8) PLANK + TON |
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| 19 | BASSET | Dog is initially big benefit (6) B[ig] + ASSET |
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| 20 | ASHORE | A support on land (6) A + SHORE (to support) |
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| 21 | UNITER | One joining football club the last to get changed (6) UNITED (as in the name of various football clubs) with the last letter changed |
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Nice Monday puzzle, to start the week. Not difficult but satisfying.
I looked for something relating to a hundred puzzles but obviously not hard enough as I didn’t see the 100s.
Thanks Vulcan and Andrew.
100’s: Quite interesting. Congrats Vulcan.
HIGH JUMP: maybe slightly cryptic, if we are willing to be misled thinking about a probable athletic event that will go on without getting over if you lose. 🙂
Nor I, Crossbar, but unlike you, I didn’t find this satisfying.
Good achievement to get all the 100s in but the clueing not to my taste I’m afraid.
Hey-ho, you can’t please everyone.
Thanks, V and A!
Liked UNSPUN and UNITER.
Andrew, I wondered if the def at MOSQUITO was pest flying rather than just pest
Thank you Andrew. Great homage to Vulcan at 1 across, (even if he did it himself, very funny) and the others in the ninas.
Pretty quick gridfill but my last two in, 16D and 27A, were the most mindbending and satisfying. Was that his alter ego Imogen?
Loved it. Congrats Vulcan on your ‘ton’. Last 3 letters in the grid. Bravo! ( But hope there are many more to come.)
Saw the 100s and that’s about all I can say. Ridiculously easy.
Ta Vulcan & Andrew
There’s also The Ton at the end of PLANKTON. Not sure if that was intended.
New for me was Squit in MOSQUITO.
Congrats Vulcan and thanks Andrew.
Well done Vulcan and thank you for many hours of fun. This was straightforward but very enjoyable. Perfect after a long weekend! Didn’t spot the 100’s despite the hint. Thanks Andrew.
William @5, you are right of course. Blog corrected.
I don’t know why people are being picky about this crossword. It was just fun, and a Monday.
Love Vulcan’s sense of humour. I mean, who would set a homage to himself with lots of IOOs between the lines?
Maybe Brits are too tired out after the party to enjoy the party. Anyway, I’m amused.
I only saw the NW IOO and the TON at 17d so didn’t look hard enough. Not too difficult but I still failed on SMOOTHIE and entered PAWNSHOP unparsed, thinking of “uncle” rather than ‘Pop’.
I liked the BASSISTS / BASSET combo and the tricky UNSPUN.
Thanks and congrats on the 100 to Vulcan and to Andrew
Took a minute or two to remember about the weasel being popped, and liked the unspun clothes and message. Dnk about the red hot poker plant, ta Andrew, and nho squit (I don’t think … Tom Brown’s Schooldays, or similar?). Still, a cruisy Monday, ta VnA. [Ditto the quiptic. To top up the brain-stretching quota, I’m working backwards through the Rev … currently in 2009]
Oh yes, congrats on the ton, Vulcan. I saw the 100s after, when a G-threader called them mini nini, or wtte.
I found all the IOOs but only after searching the answers for the theme. As for Andrew, it helped with PAWNSHOP (which I couldn’t parse, not knowing the slang – PA.. but where does the rest come from?; or inside P…OP, but what is AWNSH?). And who spells GIZMO that way? Apart from that, a nice Mondayish stroll with a few meatier bits. Thanks, Vulcan and Andrew.
This was a bit of a write in, but a very enjoyable one at that, and congratulations on your ton up, Vulcan. Joe Root yesterday, and now you tOO with all those double O’s, or should I say double noughts cleverly in place. Last two in were SMOOTHIE and UNITER…
Marginally trickier than the quiptic for me. First three-quarters came pretty quickly but DNF as I had to cheat PENNON, and although the parsing makes sense I don’t think I’d have got it in a month of Sundays. PAWNSHOP I got through brute force as that meaning of ‘pop’ is new to me. I was thinking fizzy drinks and music…
And I didn’t spot the 100 thing at all, but now I see it – very clever!
I read the wordplay for RED-HOT as ‘revolutionary’ = RED, plus ‘popular’ = HOT.
Saw the 100s but missed the TON.
There’s also a BOSON nina (to go with half a HIGG’S at 1dn) but I’m sure that’s coincidental.
I didn’t find this as easy as some, with UNSPUN and PAWNSHOP holding out longer than the rest. And nice to have the chance to say thanks to the museum again.
[Oops, I mean three-fifths of HIGG’S. There’s a reason I didn’t specialise in maths.]
essexboy @18 – that’s exactly how I understood the first part of the RED HOT clue too.
Thanks essexboy and Rob T re RED HOT – a bit of “more haste, less speed” on my part there
Nice Monday puzzle. I actually thought that JOUSTS and HIGH JUMP were quite good; clearly in both cases the surface meaning is different to the cryptic meaning.
Andrew, in 7d, I think the SHREW is “on stage, one tamed”, not a “daughter tamed”.
I totally missed the 100s!
Thanks to both and congratulations to Vulcan.
Enjoyed this – though took a while to get the last few (and didn’t get PAWNSHOP) – also didn’t spot the 100’s
Some of the clues really made me smile: SPLIT HAIRS, SHADOWED
and others I liked included: ALL THE RAGE, FREE REIN, THEORIST
Thanks Vulcan and Andrew
I was looking forward to a challenging couple of hours, but it was all over in half an hour! But no complaints; it was most enjoyable. I’m used to spelling GIZMO with a Z, but the alternative of course is quite legit. I scratched my head trying to find the wordplay in JOUSTS, and wasn’t prepared for such a simple explanation. I don’t think we have any squits in the Antipodes, nor, as far as I’m aware, do we pop to pawn. And my idea of a smoothie is not a carbonated beverage. The clue for UNSPUN was interesting.
Thanks Vulcan & Andrew.
TassieTim@15 I think it’s just that POPping (or pawning) is what you do in a PAWNSHOP, i.e. in here.
Anyone remember this?
I’ve just remembered a scene from a film (I think) when some people need money / have suffered a loss of money and a women comes up with what’s needed and when asked where it came from she says
“Popped my rocks darling – all my beautiful stones” or something like that – can’t remember where I heard or read it but had long forgotten the use of popped for pawned.
Thanks, Crossbar @25 – I got that once I read Andrew’s blog, but having never heard of the slang pop = pawn, parsing it before the blog was impossible. I was just outlining my attempts.
Found this trickier than most seem to have. Even though I looked, somehow I didn’t see the IOO s but I did notice that the letter C does not appear in any answer. No C = number one hundred?
It’s rare indeed for the letter C (Latin 100. as often used in cluing), not to appear in a grid. Could this be deliberate, offsetting the TON and the profusion of 1-0-0s? Or just an odd coincidence? I’m happy anyway to join today’s 1 across to Vulcan.
Thanks Vulcan and Andrew
Didn’t parse 27. I was fixated on that oft-cited ‘mangler’ the Reverend Doctor Spooner.
Brian @28 – you got in faster!
Congratulations to Vulcan on his 100th – a fitting tribute.
I managed to see some of the 100s, which helped with getting FREE REIN. Like some others, I got a bit stuck on the UNSPUN/PAWNSHOP combo. I DNK pop for pawn; an interesting discussion about ‘pop goes the weasel’ here.
Thanks Vulcan and Andrew.
Getting to 100 is an achievement in itself. Congratulations to Vulcan.
I completely missed the IOOs (and getting them in was indeed very clever), but even without them this was the sort of steady, un-devious stuff we traditionally wanted on a Monday. Not, I thought, tremendously exciting; but competently done and gently reassuring in a quiet way.
Thanks, both.
A brief and pleasant diversion. The 100s helped once I saw the first one in the NW.
Congrats to Vulcan and thanks to Andrew
Top half was much easier for me.
New: SQUIT = contemptible person.
Did not parse fully 27ac but I did have the idea of a spin doctor in my mind.
Liked PLANKTON.
Thanks, both.
* I missed seeing the 100s
I do wonder if couples “go steady” anymore. I suspect not! Vocab from a bygone era.
I thought SQUITS were what the Germans rather splendidly call durchfall so that was a TILT along with PENNON and POP
Liked SPLIT HAIRS, THEORIST & ABSINTHE
[Sorry TT@27 I misunderstood what you were saying]
Thank you, Vulcan, and I would like to add to the congratulations on your 100th puzzle. I enjoyed this one but all I spotted was HOMAGE in 1a, which I am now paying to your clever Ninas. I appreciated the enlightening blog, Andrew.
Thanks and congratulations to Vulcan on his ton. A six-pack of fun this morning. And thanks to Andrew.
[No problem, Crossbar @38 – easy to do!]
Hate to be a party pooper, but this is not Vulcan’s 100th Guardian puzzle – it is his 101st.
Didn’t know about the A and B socioeconomic classes or squits (but that word sounds like what it means).
Andrew, I think you meant that William Penn was the founder, not the found of Pennsylvania.
Pleasant diversion. The Quiptic was harder. Thanks, Vulcan and Andrew.
Thank you Andrew for the blog, and hearty congrats to Vulcan on reaching a century!
I was all set for lots of Cs, tons, maybe even a Chiltern Hundreds – but there were none of the first or last, and only one of the second. Needless to say, I didn’t spot the teeny-weeny ninas!
Good fun nevertheless – here’s to the next 100!
In that case Mitz @42, I’ll wish Vulcan a belated happy 100th and a happy 101st. I enjoyed Vulcan’s “Blonde, 78” as Fieldfare in the Speccie this week.
Congratulations to Vulcan on his 100th puzzle, and a big thank you for a smooth and enjoyable start to the week.
Thx also Andrew for blog.
NeilH @33 your comment is spot on.
Lovely start to the week and fully agree with comments from NeilH@33. Interesting comment by Mitz@42. However, if this is the 101st puzzle published it may still be the 100th Vulcan created, depending on the Grauniad’s schedule (shades of ‘Abbey Road’ and ‘Let it Be’?). Either way, it’s good to celebrate the achievement and with repeat Nina’s to boot. Big thanks to Vulcan and to Andrew for the blog.
When I was at school in the 70s, ‘squits’ were the new boys.
When I was at university in the 80s, ‘having the squits’ meant something very different. I shall not elaborate overly, but it often followed a night on the beers.
Fiona Anne’s recollection at 26 rang a bell with me but it took a while to find the reference. In ‘Hot Money’ by Dick Francis one character says “Popped my baubles. … All my lovely rocks”. Of course, he may have taken it from elsewhere.
Thanks for the blog, my least favourite grid but I suppose it was needed for the 100s that I totally missed .
I thought the clues were pretty tidy and a nice range.
Mr Essexboy @19 nice try , it is actually HIGGS boson , no apostrophe , after Peter Higgs. At least five other theorists have a valid claim as well but the name has stuck.
I , of course, have a quark named solely after me.
Spent so much time looking for something other than 1ac that completely failed to notice all the 100s!
And, isn’t homage what you pay to someone else and not yourself?
Saw the J, scanned for a pangram, came up empty, but noticed an awful lot of O’s. Took a while for the reason for that to dawn on me. Still, nice puzzle.
There a few more TONs in the grid if you include L shaped and reverse diagonals etc 🙂
Fun, easy puzzle, although I missed a few parsings (unfamiliar with a squit, As and Bs, and the odd spelling of gizmo).
For PAWNSHOP, I took the “?” as a homophone indicator for “Pa in shop”.
[Enjoyed PENNON, as my parents met at Penn State.]
MikeB @ 50
I have read that book (used to read all his books) and I remember it now. It is the reference I remembered.
Thanks
I’ve never seen GISMO with an S, but it’s obvious enough. Liked PAWNSHOP, spotted the IOOs eventually.
[Roz @51: oops and double oops, as Dick Dastardly might have put it, had he been an error-prone contributor to a crossword forum. That’ll teach me to stray into the world of subatomic particles… but since I’m here, I can’t help wondering which is the Roz quark? I wouldn’t dare suggest strange… charm might be a contender… but then I read that “alternative names for bottom and top quarks are ‘beauty’ and ‘truth’ respectively” 😉 ]
[ Eb@58 , drat I think you mean, I am a world expert on Wacky Races. I am sure you know which quark I mean. Beauty and truth are frowned on by theorists and are gradually dying out. Similar to “aces” and “partons” losing out to quarks.
“Three quarks for Muster Mark” is now out of date, there are six. Perhaps the James Joyce estate should consider an edit to Finnegans Wake. ]
Still don’t get fingernail, the nail bit(bitten)
Oh anagram, all’s well
Thanks Vulcan and Andrew. Very enjoyable – I really enjoyed all the cryptic definitions, even if some of them were a tad cheesy. Very nice puzzle to mark the century, even if it’s late.
brianwithaneye @28 / Charles Barr @29 – I noticed the lack of a C because I was expecting a pangram, but didn’t twig the C=100 connection. It is the only letter that’s missing, which makes this a lipogram, of course – and pretty much confirms that it’s deliberate. Very good. Completely missed the 100s scattered throughout the grid.
Widdersbel: sadly for your lipogram idea, V, X and Z are also missing from the grid. Still a nice touch that C is missing, which could well be deliberate.
[Roz @59: well, clearly, you’re top in my book !!! 😉
For that one, definitely ‘No medals, Muttley!’]
Tons of good wishes, V.
Congratulations Vulcan. I had fun spotting the 100’s; I had just completed the Basilisk crossword in the FT so searching for hidden messages was foremost in my mind. My top clue was MOSQUITO partly because it taught me a new word, squit. Thanks Andrew for the blog.
[MikeB@50 You’ve prompted me to take Hot Money off the shelf. I re-read this or that Dick Francis now and then, so this will be now. I hadn’t remembered the baubles — I’m impressed that you did. But when I glanced at the book I remembered the last line, “You may win on the nod.”]
Andrew @63 – yes, of course. For some reason I had mentally ticked off V, X and Z. Doh! What was I thinking? I only had K and C left unaccounted for when PLANKTON went in. Not sure how that happened. Ignore me. Sorry!
I missed the IOO’s but saw SET TON in the bottom left and right.
I couldn’t parse UNSPUN, as a spin doctor never occurred to me, so thanks for that.
Like others, I’ve never seen “gizmo” spelt with an ‘s’, not even in a cryptic crossword. The pedant in me wants to point out that there is more then one fingernail on a hand.
It’s a certain kind of misdirection, when you’re looking for the misdirection and it’s not really there.
A write-in except for PAWNSHOP and UNSPUN, which took a lot longer and couldn’t parse the latter. Congratulations Vulcan, didn’t see the 100s, just the plankTON.
Didn’t see the100s, even after completing the grid. Thanks, Vulcan, and Andrew, particularly for the spin doctor, which went over my head.
I use quark in preparing Slimming World recipes, but I use Sainsbury’s or Lidl’s. Where can I get Roz’s?