A fun solve, with favourites 11ac, 14ac, 3dn, 13dn, 16dn, and 19dn. Thanks to Brendan for the puzzle.
…I wondered partway through if there could be a SUDOKU theme, given Brendan’s recent themes of Noughts and Crosses and Rock/Paper/Scissors.
Instead, the centre row of UNTIED STATES hints at the names of US States split across multiple solutions in the grid. I’ve found IDA/HO, MAIN/E, AL/ASKA, U/TAH, N/EVADA, TEX/AS, and KAN/SAS. (There is also ANXIO in the row above UNTIED STATES, so ANXIO+US… not sure if that amounts to anything)
| ACROSS | ||
| 7 | MOUNT IDA |
I’m out and wandering around top location on Greek island (5,3)
|
| definition: a mountain on the island of Crete
anagram/”wandering around” of (I’m out and)* |
||
| 9 | HOOKAH |
Kind of pipe that has distributed H2O over reasonable area (6)
|
| anagram/”distributed of (HHO)* where HHO=”H2O”, around OK=”reasonable” + A (area) | ||
| 10 | ASTI |
It’s a west-facing wine-producing area (4)
|
| reversal/”west-facing” of “It’s a” | ||
| 11 | CART TRACKS |
Rudimentary ways in which chess beginner goes on offensive, capturing rooks one by one (4,6)
|
| C-hess, plus ATTACKS=”goes on offensive” around R and another separate R (“rooks one by one”, R is chess notation for a rook piece) | ||
| 12 | REMAIN |
Stay behind with one kept in by staff again (6)
|
| I=”one” inside RE-MAN=”staff again” | ||
| 14 | EFFACING |
Erasing mildly abusive word about a Conservative (8)
|
| EFFING=”mildly abusive word” around A + C (Conservative) | ||
| 15 | UNTIED |
Politically diverse assembly in no-win situation, liable to fall apart (6)
|
| UN (United Nations, “Politically diverse assembly”), plus TIED=”in no-win situation” | ||
| 17 | STATES |
Announces conditions (6)
|
| double definition | ||
| 20 | STAR WARS |
Liverpool player reportedly was crossing river for epic struggles (4,4)
|
| I think this is a homophone/”reportedly” of ‘Starr’ as in Ringo Starr the Liverpool musician/”player”, plus WAS around R (river) | ||
| 22 | SPARSE |
Son in scanty clothing — scanty, indeed (6)
|
| S (Son) in SPARE=”scanty”, with “clothing” as an additional containment indicator | ||
| 23 | WHIPLASHED |
Moved suddenly like cat — concoction with cream secured (10)
|
| in definition, “cat” as in cat-o’-nine-tails, a whip
WHIP=”concoction with cream” + LASHED=”secured” |
||
| 24 | DEAL |
Put hands out for old port (4)
|
| double definition: dealing hands of playing cards, or Deal the coastal town in Kent | ||
| 25 | ATRIAL |
Like court, or something happening there (6)
|
| defintion: like an atrium, and atrium can mean a court, though I associate ‘atrial’ more with the atria of the heart
A TRIAL=”something happening [at court]” |
||
| 26 | ASK AFTER |
Solicitously enquire about art fakes put out (3,5)
|
| anagram/”put out” of (art fakes)* | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | ROUSSEAU |
French philosopher‘s timeless stuff out of top drawer? Just the opposite (8)
|
| T-ROUSSEAU=”stuff out of top drawer”, without T for ‘time’
‘trousseau’=a bride’s collection of clothing, traditionally kept in the bottom drawer (i.e. “Just the opposite” to “out of top drawer”) |
||
| 2 | ANTI |
Not liking broadcaster’s pronouncement (4)
|
| homophone/”pronouncement” of ‘Auntie’, as in ‘Auntie Beeb’ the nickname for the BBC broadcaster in the UK | ||
| 3 | TIN CAN |
Old American in Tennessee that may be full of beans (3,3)
|
| INCA=”Old American” in TN=”Tennessee” | ||
| 4 | PHOTOFIT |
Assembled portrayal of it, following page just released (8)
|
| OF IT, following, P (page) + HOT=”just released” (as in hot news, gossip, etc) | ||
| 5 | NOVASCOTIA |
Not a tie, having broken through for province (4,6)
|
| NO=”Not a”, plus ASCOT=type of necktie=”tie” breaking into VIA=”through” | ||
| 6 | BALKAN |
Block article’s description of a fragmented region (6)
|
| BALK=”Block” + AN=”article” | ||
| 8 | AERTEX |
A top, not very abbreviated, in cotton fabric (6)
|
| A + v-ERTEX=”top” minus the ‘v’=”very abbreviated” | ||
| 13 | ANTHROPOID |
Like you or me, fudged hard option (10)
|
| anagram/”fudged” of (hard option)* | ||
| 16 | EVADABLE |
As tax may be, having set up island — old money welcome (8)
|
| reversal/”set up” of ELBA=”island” + D (abbreviation for ‘pence’ in old UK money) + AVE=”welcome” | ||
| 18 | SASHAYED |
Ostentatiously paraded a call for peace buried by opinion editor (8)
|
| A + SH=’Shh!’=request for quiet=”call for peace”, all buried inside SAY=”opinion”, plus ED (editor) | ||
| 19 | ASTHMA |
With no end in sight, ask the man why breather isn’t okay? (6)
|
| AS-k TH-e MA-n, without their end letters | ||
| 21 | TAHITI |
Temperature upset leaders in Haiti and another tropical island (6)
|
| T (Temperature” + HAITI with the two leading letters rearranged/reversed/”upset” | ||
| 22 | SUDOKU |
Political allies upset about party? That’s a puzzle (6)
|
| UK + US=”Political allies” reversed/”upset”, and around DO=”party” | ||
| 24 | DOFF |
Section in crowd of fans give bowler a lift? (4)
|
| in definition, “bowler” as in a hat
hidden in crow-D OF F-ans |
Thanks much, Manehi. ANXIO + US is exquisite — wish I’d thought of that.
Hot here in Portland
Thank you Brendan and manehi, and for the early blog.
Entertaining surfaces with lots of chuckles.
I liked all the chess stuff in CART TRACKS, distracting me from the definition.
Another nice piece of misdirection in SASHAYED, with SAY for opinion. Tried to do something with OP ED.
I don’t pronounce Auntie like that but maybe Brendan does and a lot of others.
Didn’t know AERTEX, but enjoyed the not very abbreviated wordplay.
The UNTIED STATES jumped off the page but it was only after the gridfill that I saw the rest.
Nice puzzle, clever theme/grid construction. UNTIED STATES jumped out quickly, which along with the several intact geographic answers, made one (well, me) wonder what the connection was. Apparently, none!
I particularly liked STAR WARS, both for the Ringo reference and “was crossing river”. Very nice.
Didn’t really enjoy this one as it seemed a bit of a slog, or maybe I’m just having an off day. Half bunged in Ignore instead of BALKAN. The 2 ‘containers’ in SPARSE and the ‘abbreviated’ in AERTEX seemed redundant.
I did like STAR WARS.
I’ll grump off now.
Clever theme. I know to look for one with Brendan, but missed this by a mile.
I’m having trouble seeing “ANTI” and “AUNTIE” as homophones. Perhaps it’s my Aussie accent.
Thanks manehi and Brendan.
That was fun. I did look for a theme and missed this one although states did cross what little grey matter I think of as my brain a a few times as I was solving.
I speak pretty standard RP or estuary English, depending on who I’m talking to, and I distinguish between auntie and anti – that first vowel is different. I read that clue on my first run through, wondered if ANTI was the answer, discarded it until I had crossers.
Thanks to manehi and Brendan.
Spirits always lift when it’s a Brendan and the clueing seemed as sprightly as always to me. Lots of variety, lots of imagination, quite evasive – plenty I stared at for ages before pennies dropped. And not my favourite grid design tbh: rather two puzzles in one so, even when I had the SW complete, I only had a couple of leads for the NE so felt I was starting again from scratch. After all that hard work!
I liked piecing together CART TRACKS, DEAL was a neat double def which took a while to drop, STAR WARS is neat though I’ll confess to assuming there is a footballer with a similar moniker (even I could work out it wasn’t a homophone for Salah who is the only one I could name), EFFACING made me laugh as did TIN CAN, I liked the definition for ASTHMA and spent too long, like paddymelon, trying to work OP into what ended up as SASHAYED. Finally, isn’t DOFF delightfully hidden and clued?
Needless to say, the theme escaped me but it’s very nice to have to so colourfully explained: neat idea by Brendan and well executed. TILT: a different spelling for BALK having only encountered it with a U in the past.
Thanks Brendan and manehi
I never know what level of difficulty to expect from Brendan. This was fairly mild. I looked for, but failed to see, the theme and could do nothing with RAT, MARS, IDE, LEG as ninas.
Greg@5: Anti and Auntie are pronounced the same in most of the midlands and north of England. Either pronunciation is odd for .
Thanks to manhi and Brendan.
Either pronunciation is odd for AU.
Thanks Manehi for posting this early – and yes I agree with the Untied States now you have highlighted them. Aertex shirts remind me of PE lessons in the 60s
Found some of this difficult and missed the theme, but that’s just me. For a while it looked as if there might be a peripheral Nina building up, but nothing came of it.
No, I don’t say Auntie like that here in West London, but obviously enough people do. I enjoyed the short ones most: TIN CAN and SPARSE, DEAL and DOFF. And I also assumed that STAR was some footballer unknown to me (as 99% of them are) and didn’t look for the other kind of player. Sorry, Ringo.
Always look forward to Brian’s challenges and surprisingly had this done and dusted last night apart from the pesky AERTEX, which I had to reveal this morning. I did notice UNTIED STATES but totally missed the theme. My favourites were HOOKAH, STAR WARS and EFFACING.
Ta Brendan & manehi
Damn! Missed UTAH and NEVADA-and I’ve been to both
I was late to theme anyway.(Too busy laughing at the Liverpool player)
Superb setting and thanks all.
Ticks for ROUSSEAU, STAR WARS & CART TRACKS. I’m not a big Brendan fan and this didn’t do anything to change that. More groans than grins today
Cheers all
I took 2d as a homophone of “ante”, i.e. an opening bet which could be a pronouncement in the sense of a declaration, perhaps.
I knew there had to be something going on because it’s Brendan, but I just couldn’t see it. D’oh!
ANTI raised a smile because it upsets the usual crossword convention that a homophone means a homophone in RP. It works fine in various accents including Brendan’s Irish one.
Other favourites were STAR WARS for Ringo as the Liverpool player and DOFF which was an excellent hidden.
Many thanks Brendan and manehi.
The same favourites as Bodycheetah@14, but I am a big Brendan fan and really enjoyed this. I was pre-literate when I wore Aertex shirts, so I always assumed it was Airtex.
As usual, I also missed the theme – the crossword itself was hard enough in places but I can now see some State abbreviations in the answers, eg
5 SC for South Carolina. 7 MO Missouri. 9 OK Oklahoma. 22 PA Pennsylvania. 25 RI Rhode Island
or am I reading too much into this?
5 also has VA for Virginia!
Lord Jim@16: if the homophone works in Brendan’s native accent, it’s fine by me. It’s unreasonable to expect a setter to think in an assumed RP (or rhotic, or whatever) voice.
Martin@18 and 19. Probably not!
Like Petert, I’m a big Brendan fan but, like Lord Jim, I missed the theme, alas. Still really enjoyed it, though.
Nice to see most folk being more relaxed about the homophone today.
Many thanks to Brendan for the puzzle and manehi for the blog.
I thought Anti was about the broadcaster Ant ( Ant and Dec) plus I (I am Ant)
Enjoyed the puzzle.
Thank you manehi, and well done again Brendan. No, I don’t think Martin (#18) is reading too much in. This magician can do almost anything. It’s just so sad that the theme is elegiac. I suppose the divisions were always there, but… Look at row 7. I cannot believe that Brendan, obviously loving the US as he decided to go and live there, has not been deliberate in creating ANXIO… (finish it for yourself). Something else: with only 8 Es, there is obviously a harsh sound to the gridfill. Partly that is because of the Native American geographical words. With 23 As, it’s harsh (see RAT and MARS appearing) but also (15/17) about the beginning and end of America. Brendan takes the craft of crossword-setting to a new level: he also brings it very close to being Art. One day his Collected Puzzles will be published, and for anyone who’s left to explore it will be a bit like discovering Mozart. The elephant in the room (which I’m sure must be an old chestnut) is ‘connect? I cut’.
Since what effing means is hardly mild, maybe someone [self-]effacing is mildly erasing … 🙂 ?]
gladys@11: having ruled out footballers, I could only come up with Freddie Starr as my ‘Liverpool player’. His wiki bio does include actor. So sorry again Ringo!
What Eileen said apart from the fact that I saw the theme
Thanks to Brendan and manehi
Sorry manehi, I failed to see that you had already spotted ANXIOUS over the Untied States. And now I just read that Brendan hadn’t seen it either… The more Brendan practises, the luckier he gets?
I’d always thought of ROUSSEAU as Swiss: or at least, Genevan. I know he lived part of his life in France, and is buried in the Pantheon. Does anyone know if he took French citizenship?
While I reviewed my enjoyable solve after I was finished, nothing “jumped out” for me (sad face) – I didn’t spot the theme: so glad I could come here to deepen my appreciation for this one. Brilliant Brendan! All my favourites have been mentioned already, though I also thought ATRIAL at 25a was well done. With gratitude to Brendan for today’s challenge and to manehi, and other contributors, for unravelling the whole shebang!
[Thanks for coming on @1, Brendan/Brian! Cold here just north of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.]
[I think you are right, Komornik@24: well said! Brendan takes the craft of crossword-setting to a new level: he also brings it very close to being Art. One day his Collected Puzzles will be published, and for anyone who’s left to explore it will be a bit like discovering Mozart. ]
Didn’t get the theme, agree grid meant two separate puzzles, found the left hand corner quite hard, and didn’t find any clues that made me smile.
Apart from that, a decent workout.
Thanks Brendan and Manehi
Disappointing for me as I can do next to nothing of a Brendan puzzles, the hardest setter for me, by far.
Others enjoyed it which is good, leaves me all afternoon to finish Pride and Prejudice.
Thanks both.
By the way Rousseau did not take French citizenship and the Swiss have claimed him as theirs with at least some French approval. He died in France aged 66.
I’d thought maybe Geneva was in France at the time, as the borders changed often over the years, but I was wrong.
I had the same idea as Thelma@23 about the clueing of ANTI. This didn’t have the wow factor for me – until I came on here and discovered the clever concealed theme. Found the SW corner hardest to yield. Did like ANTHROPOID, had Airtex instead of AERTEX, as it was a word I knew from hearing it, not seeing it written down. Wasn’t sure about the STAR part of 20 ac for a while, as perhaps not all members of the Liverpool F.C. players were/are stellar performers, until the penny drop re Richard Starkey/Ringo Starr – take your pick. Thanks Brendan and Manehi…
…oh, and I rather cheated with the French philosopher with with an O and an S crosser in place. When googled for he was 13th in the list…
Whilst the craft is undeniable, I am finding Brendan puzzles increasingly tiresome as an accompaniment to my daily newspaper. The contrivance necessary to construct this puzzle made it difficult to get going, but once the theme was grasped, big chunks of clues became write ins. Frustration followed by freewheeling removes much of the enjoyment. Less of this sort of thing in the Guardian, please.
Well as Brendan himself has said, the ANXIO/ US wasn’t intentional, and of course UNTIED is not UNITED in any case, which would discount the U. But this excellent puzzle did not require that extra trick, with its nicely-worked theme that does not intrude, and extremely good cluemanship all round: simple and elegant.
Thanks to him and manehi.
A very enjoyable challenge from Brendan, although I too missed the theme despite it being so clearly flagged.
PHOTOFIT and ANTHROPOID were my favourites.
Thanks Brendan and manehi
manehi, how did you ever spot this theme!? I’m flabbergasted. And I hadn’t a hope of parsing NOVA SCOTIA.
SASHAY has an interesting history. It currently means “ostentatiously parade,” but the word comes from square dancing, As I remember doing it, partners face each other and hold hands (both hands) and move with a sliding step in a skipping rhythm. Wikipedia has them moving in a circle. At any rate, there’s more, because it’s French — there’s a good deal of French in square dance terms. (Dosey-do for back to back, “dos a dos,” or allemand left for “al la main gauche”, for instance.) The same step is called “chasser” in French quadrilles, which were popular in many of the same regions that square and contra dance were. What’s contra dance, then? It’s English “country dance”. French speakers adopted the dances, which are done not in squares but in two lines facing each other, or “contre,” and that’s how it came back into English. Contra dance is more of a New England custom, while squares were more Western.
Thanks, Brendan and manehi.
[As someone on the G-thread said, RIP James Lovelock, died on his 103rd birthday, 2 days ago]
Given his provenance and his province I was convinced that 15 Across was Ulster!?
Enjoyable; as usual, the theme eluded me completely.
My apologies about Rousseau. Ignorance, pure ignorance, compounded by laziness. My mentor Edmund Akenhead, used to say “Check everything, especially if you are sure about it”. His example: What was former PM Wilson’s first name?
As always, thanks for all the fascinating extras.
Good to revisit TAHITI – I actually found today’s clue trickier to parse than the now-notorious “Island that’s taken over island that’s taken over island “.
Valentine @39, you are a mine of information. Interesting about the French origin of SASHAY. These days, of course, it’s something they might use to make thé 😉
Regular readers will know that I’m quite good at spotting themes which aren’t there; today, however, I completely failed to see the one which was there – so many thanks to manehi for the enlightenment, and to Brendan of course.
[ginf @40 : thanks for the James Lovelock mention (I wonder if he ever got called Harold?) Since we’re doing RIPs, here’s a reminder of the great Bernard Cribbins.]
Brian Greer: It clearly didn’t spoil what was actually a really good puzzle. So thanks for the entertainment. PS I’m half way through the late Ben Pimlott’s excellent biography of Wilson. I’ve known two people as friends in my sixty years who’ve taken their middle name over their first. Their first name being James in both cases, as with Wilson. Not sure why, as James is a fine name.
[Let’s ava nuvver, eb @44. Just ran that by my mate (ex Lancs), and she said, Weren’t he in I Only Asked? but no, that were another Bernard … ah, memories, ageing brains… ]
[Well no, the Gaia guru was James Ephraim and (guessing) didn’t smoke a pipe … ]
Great idea and puzzle, as usual.
Nuntius @ 45. My first name is George.
eb@44 A fifteen squared Antigonish
Yesterday on fifteensquare
I saw a theme which wasn’t there
Completely missed the theme today
I wish that themes would go away.
I don’t do the Guardian crossword every day but I would never miss either the Saturday Prize or one by either Brendan and Paul on any day. Agree with Eileen, as I generally do, that this was highly enjoyable even though I missed the theme. Came here for the parsing of NOVA SCOTIA and AERTEX, as well as the illuminating comments. Thanks to Brendan, manehi and all contributors.
essexboy@44 – many thanks for that.
I’ve just watched the evening news and been reminded of the range of this multi-talented and dearly-loved actor: I loved The Wombles but top of the list for me was one of my most beloved films – the perfect ‘The Railway Children’, which I watched, for the umpteenth time, just last week. RIP Bernard Cribbins.
Brian Greer @49: Another fine name; and, for obvious reasons, back in fashion (!)
PS My first name, which I am known by, is Andrew. I share a birthday, and was born exactly one year after, a certain prince. Not named after him, thankfully (!) I can think of other Andrews I’d rather be associated with.
[Eileen @52 – according to the BBC obit –
“If you don’t shed a tear when she shouts, ‘Daddy, my daddy!’ you’re made of wood,” said Cribbins. “I always well up when I watch it. But Jenny, who remains a close friend, doesn’t. Hard as nails, she is!” 🙂
Petert @50: 😀 !!
Ah yes! The theme that wasn’t there
Which, just like Kirk, dissolved in air.
Yet now (which goes to show nature abhors
Athemic puzzles) – here’s STAR WARS!
All I need now is for mrpenney to compose an appropriate sonnet. ]
I miss most weekday puzzles these days, but I was pleased indeed to start this one on a tip-off. Once again, I enjoyed Brendan’s skilful and entertaining clueing. My grid was more than half complete when I noticed ALASKA, then IDAHO, then MAINE. Why I didn’t look in the columns as well as the rows I have no idea, but I now admire this creation all the more for seeing the other split names of states going down.
Thanks to Brendan and manehi.
[essexboy @55 – I cry every single time I watch it. I’ve read the book, too – I can’t remember the wording exactly but it’s beautifully rendered in the film version – all credit to Lionel Jeffries. So many memories shared with children and grandchildren].
Anti/Aunty? Really??
In 9A, I don’t think you have to see “distributed” as an anagrind. It’s H2O because H is monovalent and O is divalent, so you draw the molecule as H-O-H, which is distributed round OK + A.
Quibbles:
22A — I concur with Manehi and Tim C @4 that “in” and “clothing” should not both be there. The “S” for son is only inserted once.
23A — surely a “whip” is not a “concoction with cream” but a concoction with air. A Cheese Whip does not have cream in it. In that case the “cat” must be the whip and the definition must be shorter, merely “moved suddenly.” But then what do we do with all that cream? It’s spoiled, isn’t it?
5D — I disagree that an “ascot” is a tie. It’s a cravat, therefore literally “not a tie” which leaves us with the problem of explaining the NO in NOVA SCOTIA.
6D — I am in the same camp as Post Mark @7, that a balk, properly, is a “baulk” so the clue needed a homophone indicator.
Plus I agree with so many others that, for example, my darling Aunt Brigid shares no pronunciation with naysayers. Having said that, our fearless leader Eileen @22 is, as ever, completely on point…and everyone should be relaxed about it…and not be so “ANTI”.
I learn so much about parsing from a Brendan puzzle. Slapped wrists for me as my father was born in Deal.
AT @ 60
From Chambers
Ascot: “A type of necktie with broad ends that are tied to lie one across the other”
“balk or baulk /bö(l)k/”
Simon S @62: thanks for the correction. The balk spelling is used so commonly in America (it’s a term for a violation of the rules for pitching in baseball) that I jumped to the conclusion that it was another of those transAtlantic spellings (colour/color) where the English retain the “u” and the Americans remove it. It’s a convention in an English crossword to add a reference to an Americanization (see what I did there with the zed?) if it occurs. I was surprised when that convention was not observed in this instance. My mistake.
I wonder if the Auntie/Anti is a joke in a US themed puzzle (see also Roald Dahl’s Ant Eater in Dirty Beasts:
“ Ant-eater!” He yelled. “Don’t lie there yawning!
“This is my ant! Come say good-morning!”
(Some people in the U.S.A.
Have trouble with the words they say.
However hard they try, they can’t
Pronounce simple words like AUNT.
Instead of AUNT, they call it ANT,
Instead of CAN’T, they call it KANT.)”
This link seems fairly definitive on the balk/baulk question.
So annoying to see theme here but rarely think of looking for one. I’m sure I’ve seen airtex but not AERTEX. As previously pointed out the AERTEX clue has a redundant “not” or “abbreviated” I think.
Thanks both
I’m very late to the party, I know but wanted to add my thanks to Brendan for another super puzzle. They are always a joy, even if I miss the theme (mostly). Thanks too to manehi for clarifying the couple of parsings I’d stumbled over.
With regard to ‘anti’, my dear friend who hails from Lancashire always talks about her Anty Kitty, which really tickles my Aussie funnybone.
Another joy in my crossword experiences is reading the comments here. Thanks all for your humour and erudition.
Late again, and this time a very poor effort from me. Only got about half (mainly on the RHS). Ah well, stops me getting smug is suppose!
I have no problem with Auntie/Anti. I believe I have said before, if anyone with English as a first (or close second) language uses the relevant pronunciation, then I’m happy for it to be a homonym. And lots of places do pronounce Auntie as Anti. Nice as a change for it not to be the RP pronunciation.
Particularly tough for a Brendan, and I completely missed the theme.
Still playing catch up with last week’s puzzles, and I’m glad I didn’t miss this one, especially as there was a theme to go “woosh!” over my head.
Last one in was EVADABLE, which is an ugly enough word anyway, but when applied to taxes, as it is here, surely ‘may be’ is wrong. Tax MAY NOT be evaded. Of course you *can* evade tax, with a clever enough accountant, but when the taxman finds out you’ll be in for a hiding.
What’s that? HMRC don’t really go after people for evading tax any more? Ah well, that’s one more piece of pedantry to throw out of the window.
Thanks to Brendan and manehi, for the theme and for spotting the theme, respectively.