A tougher solve for a Monday, with a few trickier clues. Favourites were 10ac, 12ac, 24ac, and 23dn. Thanks to Picaroon.
There is a theme in the solutions around the LIONESSES, England’s Euro-winning football team, including Ellen WHITE, Millie BRIGHT, Chloe KELLY, Alex GREENWOOD, Ella Toone (in ONE-TO-ONE), Lauren HEMP, Beth MEAD, and Lucy BRONZE.
Edit thanks to The other Mark @4 in the comments: the grid also has the England 2, Germany 1 scoreline in the top and bottom rows as ENG TWO, GER ONE
| ACROSS | ||
| 7 | DENATURES |
Essentially alters fake ivories, smuggling in article (9)
|
| DENTURES=”fake ivories”, around A=indefinite “article” | ||
| 8 | GIANT |
Whopping G&T Scot tucks into (5)
|
| IAN=”Scot” inside G & T | ||
| 9 | LIONESSES |
Some in pride twirling crude capes (9)
|
| reversal (or anagram)/”twirling” of OIL=”crude” + NESSES=promontories=”capes” | ||
| 10 | WHITE |
Two players about to strike ball on table (5)
|
| definition: a WHITE cue ball in snooker, pool, etc
W+E (West and East, “Two players” in bridge), around HIT=”strike” |
||
| 12 | BRIGHT |
Bravo — just dazzling! (6)
|
| B (Bravo, Nato alphabet) + RIGHT=”just” | ||
| 13 | AVERSION |
Antipathy from states about to besiege India (8)
|
| AVERS=declares=”states” + ON=”about”, both around I (India, Nato alphabet) | ||
| 14 | SQUIRMY |
Gracious after country gent wastes energy wriggling (7)
|
| MY=exclamation of surprise=”Gracious”, after SQUIR-e=”country gent” minus ‘e’ for “energy” | ||
| 17 | SPOTTED |
Dotty, with drop of sherry drunk (7)
|
| only one letter/a “drop of” S-herry, plus POTTED=slang for “drunk” | ||
| 20 | TEAMMATE |
Two servings of cooked meat, one from the same side (8)
|
| two different anagrams/”cooked” of (meat)*, one after the other | ||
| 22 | COME BY |
Happen to find compiler black demure clothes (4,2)
|
| ME=”compiler” + B (black), both clothed inside COY=”demure” | ||
| 24 | KELLY |
Grace shown by opener bagging a couple of fifties (5)
|
| definition: Grace KELLY the actress
KEY=door “opener”, around a couple of L’s, which are “fifties” in Roman numerals |
||
| 25 | GREENWOOD |
Protecting the earth, driver perhaps in leafy area (9)
|
| definition: a forest or wood when the leaves are green
GREEN=”Protecting the earth” + WOOD=golf club=”driver perhaps” |
||
| 26 | KNOCK |
Criticise what rapper does? (5)
|
| double definition – second definition using ‘rap’ to mean ‘strike’/knock | ||
| 27 | DEEP-FROZE |
Fuzz finally stops free dope supply — it’s put on ice (4-5)
|
| final letter of fuz-Z, inside anagram/”supply” of (free dope)*
‘supply’ is anagram indicator as a form of ‘supple’ |
||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | EERIER |
European monarch twice hosts one stranger (6)
|
| E (European), plus ER (Elizabeth Regina, “monarch”) twice, around I=”one” | ||
| 2 | NANNYGAI |
Childminder again skinned Australian fish (8)
|
| NANNY=”Childminder” + a-GAI-n without its outer letters/”skinned” | ||
| 3 | GUSSET |
It could enlarge bags of spice emptied in buffet (6)
|
| S-pic-E emptied of its inner letters, inside GUST=”buffet” | ||
| 4 | TEHERAN |
Ground near the capital (7)
|
| anagram/”Ground” of (near the)*
“Ground” is an anagram indicator as in a past tense of ‘grind’ |
||
| 5 | WISHES |
Fellow is hesitantly nurturing dreams (6)
|
| hidden/nurtured inside fello-W IS HES-itantly | ||
| 6 | ONE-TO-ONE |
Love movie nobody catches involving pair exclusively (3-2-3)
|
| O=zero=”Love”, plus ET=”movie” caught inside NO-ONE=”nobody” | ||
| 11 | HEMP |
What’s up with politician getting illegal substance? (4)
|
| EH=exclamation meaning “What [?]” reversed/”up”, plus MP (Member of Parliament, “politician”) | ||
| 15 | QUEUEING |
It’s said playing snooker is the Brits’ forte? (8)
|
| homophone/”It’s said” of ‘cue-ing’=”playing snooker” | ||
| 16 | MEAD |
Off one’s head, swallowing drug or alcoholic drink (4)
|
| MAD=”Off one’s head”, around E (ecstasy, “drug”) | ||
| 18 | TIME-WORN |
Overworked miner with two shifts (4-4)
|
| anagram/”shifts” of (miner two)* | ||
| 19 | TERRIER |
Dog to slip inside bank (7)
|
| ERR=”slip” inside TIER=”bank” | ||
| 21 | MALICE |
Intent to do harm, one caught punching guy (6)
|
| I=”one” + C (caught, in cricket), both inside MALE=”guy” | ||
| 22 | CHEAPO |
Business securing great deal in budget (6)
|
| CO (Company, “Business”), around HEAP=”great deal” | ||
| 23 | BRONZE |
Medal of British and French football side (6)
|
| BR (British) + ONZE=French for ‘eleven’=”French football side” |
I’m growing to like Picaroon’s offerings, and I was keen this morning, after a hearty breakfast of muesli, fruit juice then lightly buttered, grilled nannygai, to get started. Too many great clues to nominate favourites, and no obscure Britishisms to bog me down. I’m more used to spelling it QUEUING, but both are acceptable. I was surprised to see that OED online says that “queue” is “mainy British”, but we certainly do it too in Australia. Wasted a lot of time trying to parse “one-on-one” for 6d. I’m used to the spelling TEHRAN … isn’t TEHERAN an older spelling?
And despite my flippancy above, I’ve certainly never heard of nannygai, and I doubt whether terribly many of my compatriots have! One or two obscurities in a puzzle are always good fun.
By the way, once again the theme was wasted on me …
Huzzah! A tribute to the fabulous Lionesses. Good for you Picaroon – it was great to see this unfold. I cannot get over the nasty first comment in the Guardian forum. How can anybody, anywhere be ungracious about this splendid achievement? Thanks for the, as ever, lucid blog, manehi. I think we could winkle out answers such as team mates, knock (and giant/s) also.
No way I would have got the theme. Never heard of a NANNYGAI but easily gettable from the clue. DEEP FROZE grates a bit. I don’t know why.
Also, note the score line in the top and bottom rows!
Oh – brilliant, Mark@4 – fantastic spot and fantastic setting. So happy.
Nice tribute, nice puzzle. GREENWOOD tipped me off and I saw I had MEAD, HEMP and BRONZE – the last of which had had me thinking ‘that’s one of our footballers’.
My initial attempts to parse WHITE had me thinking of Jimmy and a chess player as the ‘Two’ but that left a redundant ‘strike’. I don’t know if TEHERAN is an older spelling but I’ve encountered both in puzzles.
GIANT, KNOCK, WISHES and the delightful GUSSET are my favourites today.
Thanks Picaroon and manehi
Excellent spot T’other Mark @4: as usual, respect for the Pirate goes up another notch. Why do I hardly ever notice ninas???
I struggled to do the RHS, but had to reveal most of the rest – so much harder, especially for a Monday.
I should have seen “fake ivories”, and TEAMMATE – I was fiddling with ham. We had a clue similar to Grace, recently, where the initial capital turns it into a person’s name – must be alert to this in future. Have we had opener = key before? Again, something else to remember. Missed TEHERAN – GRIND (but of course it wouldn’t fit the surface) would be an anagram indicator, but not GROUND?
Thanks manehi and P
What a treat on a Monday 🙂 totally missed the theme but top marks for BRONZE, CHEAPO & SQUIRMY
for a moment I thought WHITE was going to be something ruder but it didn’t parse
Spent ages Tring to anagram SOME PRIDE into a kind of Cape. Doh!
ET really is the gift that keeps on giving for setters
Cheers all
Nice crossword. DENATURES and LIONESSES took me way too long. I enjoyed the theme, though I had to google the players afterwards. Maybe they’ll become household names here next year when we co-host the women’s world cup.
Thanks manehi and Picaroon.
Gotta love how autocorrect changed “trying” to a small Buckinghamshire town! I did once visit a poo exhibition there which was rated as their number two tourist attraction
As I’m sure I’ve said far too many times before, I’m not keen on themes or football, but I’m making an exception here. I of course didn’t see the theme for myself, but I loved the LIONESSES and actually got interested in the competition, and they deserve a tribute. The nina was super.
[Shame the ladies cricket team didn’t manage a medal. 🙁 ]
Great puzzle, thanks Picaroon and manehi.
Fun puzzle. I agree with almost everything said above. Particularly DEEP FROZE. Thought we were on for a panogram when the Q and Z went in.
Thanks to both as well as those BTL.
Yahoo! Well done, Picaroon.
If you can’t celebrate the achievement of these girls, I’m sorry for you.
I would normally say DEEP FROZE(N) but it’s only a minor point.
BTW Will I have to start calling myself Mark III?
Even though I saw to my great pleasure that it was Picaroon today – the Pirate is not usually in the Monday slot – for some reason (because it was a Monday, maybe?) I didn’t look for a theme, However I had no idea about the names of the players in that team, though I had heard of their recent big success! So it was very informative to read the blog.
Geoff Down Under@1, I also tried really hard with ONE-ON-ONE at 6d, until 10a (my LOI) just wouldn’t work. So I then tried ONE-TO-ONE and began try to fit in some bridge players, who are so often referred to as “partners” in Guardian clues. The previously-solved clue at 15d meant I already had “snooker” on my mind, so I thought “ball on table” could also be a possible reference to snooker. That’s when I finished the puzzle with 10a WHITE.
Re 2d NANNYGAI, I had to ask my partner if there could possibly be a fish starting with NANNY and he immediately said, yes, a NANNYGAI it’s reef fish caught a lot in NSW, so I was grateful for that help with completing that clue.
Like manehi, I also had 12a BRIGHT and 24a KELLY as favourites, and also ticked 9a LIONESSES, 14a SQUIRMY, 15d QUEUEING and 22d CHEAPO. Thanks to Picaroon for a clever puzzle and to manehi for an informative and helpful blog.
Incidentally, would someone remind this dimwit where the word Nina comes from?
[There were only two comments when I started typing! So I crossed with a lot of posts.]
Loved the crossword. Needed a few returns to it to get all the solutions, and a very pleasing feeling of achievement when I did. Then to come here, and discover the theme! Absolutely brilliant.
I did watch the Euros, and I do know all those names, but I just didn’t clock it. Thank you manehi and Mark@4 for providing extra pleasure.
KNOCK:
Wonder if the clue should have been ‘…..rappers do?’ 🙂
Liked EERIER, AVERSION, TEAMMATE, SQUIRMY.
New: NANNYGAI, DENATURES.
Did not parse 17ac (potted = drunk? That’s new for me); 10ac (HIT in WE – but what is the ball on table? Oh I see now it is snooker, billiards)
I did not notice a theme, but I had heard that the Lionesses won a soccer match recently. (Soccer is not a sport that I follow.)
Thanks, both.
[Mark (III)@15: that;s the problem I rain into a year or so ago!
William @17: it’s in FAQ – because it’s a FAQ 😉 ]
Yhanks Picaroon and manehi
This was fun. No theme, of course – I don’t watch any football.
I’ve never heard “potted” for drunk.
HEMP meeds “Indian” to make it illegal; otherwise it’s what most ropes are made of.
Twigged the theme early with KELLY, WHITE and BRONZE, so it was a bit of a search for some of the other names in the grid. NANNYGAI was a nho and GUSSET was my favourite. Great spot Mark @4.
[I was at QPR on Saturday, when Chloe KELLY brought the ball over to the centre circle to start the game, to thunderous applause from both home and Middlesbrough fans. The LIONESSES’ victory is a real watershed moment in women’s football I hope. Incidentally, I used to play football for the Met with Alessia Russo’s dad (she of the wonderful back-heeled goal in the semi). He was the top goal scorer for 18 years on the trot].
Ta Picaroon & manehi
Picked up on the theme late (when 9A went in), and didn’t catch ’em all. nho NANNYGAI, but fairly clued, and the lesser-spotted spelling of TEHERAN held me up for a bit.
Favourites were 7A, 20A, and 26A.
Thanks Picaroon & manehi.
Maybe “I DEEP FROZE some NANNYGAI that I had left over”?
I wondered why we’d been treated to a Picaroon on a Monday. And now I know (well done, the other Mark@4!) and am telling myself – again – that I really should have watched some of the tournament….though I did see that back heel on the news!
Brilliant to have produced such a gridfill so speedily.
I found one or two clues in NW quite tough, but otherwise an accessible, and most enjoyable, solve.
Many thanks, both and all
[William@17 – Al Hirschfield was an American caricaturist who used to secrete, à la “where’s Wally?”, his daughter Nina”s name within his drawings.
I always recommend crosswordunclued.com for interesting information, shorn of the apocryphal]
Totally missed this theme and, now it’s revealed, I can see why; it’s as obscure as hell.
Have to disagree with the definition for HEMP. It’s so legal in Australia that you can buy hemp seeds in the supermarkets.
AlanC @24… “a real watershed moment”… they’ve been saying that about the Australian men’s football (soccer) team every time they’ve won for the last few decades, but it never has been.
GregfromOz @29, yes but there’s hemp and then there’s HEMP.
Bodycheetah@11 (and anyone who may have erroneously updated their UK geography), Tring is in Hertfordshire not Buckinghamshire.
As well as the score, in the top/bottom rows, round the corner in the top right there’s “Two one, t[w]o one”
I found this good fun for a Monday morning. Lionesses and Kelly gave me the theme, but missed the score. I do hope Picaroon sends a copy to the England squad, as it’s such a tour de force.
I will never understand what it is with me and themes. Spent ages thinking that LIONESSES fits but couldn’t parse it, saw BRONZE, MEAD and HEMP, but still the penny didn’t drop. Maybe it would help if The Guardian printed “This is all about England Women’s football team” across the grid in big red letters.
I entirely missed the theme, yet again, and the Nina. But enjoyed them now they’ve been pointed out, so thanks to Picaroon, Manehi and The Other Mark. A tough start to the week, but thoroughly enjoyable
I started with: “Is there a NINA” but gave up once I found DLBSTKK, down the LH side, doh!
I spotted some of the names, which helped to solve LIONESSES. What a great tribute, and very fine cluing to get in all the names and NINA (William @17, see FAQ above). William @14, DEEP-FROZE is the past tense of the verb, which is in all my dictionary lists.
I particularly liked GUSSET for the ‘it could enlarge bags’, WISHES that was nicely hidden, and TIME-WORN for the surface.
Thanks Picaroon and manehi.
Thanks Picaroon and manehi
Re the legality or otherwise of hemp, some forms of hemp are illegal, and the question mark at the end of the clue creates the necessary leeway.
Mb@31 my sincere apologies to the good people of Tring! It’s close to where I used to live in Bucks and I’d mistakenly assumed it was in the same county. A “grealish” moment perhaps?
Simply Brilliant.
This was fun, even though with BRONZE in place I didn’t realise this was a tribute to the LIONESSES (even more astonishingly) as I was one of those 17 million on the edges of their seats 8 days ago. Last one in the clever TEAMMATES. Well, even more than clever, brilliant more like…
As soon as I saw “Some in pride” I thought LIONESSES, which helped, although I must admit that I didn’t know all the names (or of course notice the scoreline). A great theme.
I think the only time that I’ve come across this meaning of “potted” (17a) is in Fawlty Towers when Polly is trying to tell Basil (in front of the guests) that the chef is drunk:
“He’s potted the shrimps… He’s soused the herrings… He’s pickled the onions…”
I think maybe “what” needs to be underlined as part of the second definition in KNOCK.
Many thanks Picaroon and manehi.
Nice surprise on a Monday/.didnt think the theme was deep as i thought it referred to Pandas!
Nice to see the gals playing the game
Thanks all
Mostly pleasantly paced, slightly chewy towards the end. Harder than the quiptic for the third or fourth week running, so the crossword editor seems to have recalibrated, which is good. Theme emerged late and didn’t help much as I couldn’t name many of them off the top of my head. I didn’t spot the lovely Nina.
Alternative spelling of TEHERAN held me up for a while but it is legit. NANNYGAI looks desperation/deadline-driven as I can’t imagine one would actively choose that word if another would fit! DEEP-FROZE sounds odd on the tongue on its own, but after a while I realised it can make sense in the right sentence structure: “I deep-froze the meat as soon as I got home“. I couldn’t parse a couple that I got through definition alone (COME BY, GUSSET).
Good Monday, that. Thanks both.
On the topic of DEEP FROZE, I think it grates because the answer isn’t the same part of the verb as the clue (past participle versus simple past). I suppose if we’re being charitable we could interpret the clue as: “It’s X” plus whatever the answer is, regardless of the grammar of the clue. However, the surface reading of “it’s put on ice” suggests a passive form, such as DEEP FROZEN. An unsatisfactory clue. Other than that, it was an enjoyable puzzle, as always from Picaroon.
Saw the theme about half-way through, but wasted a lot of time looking for Lotte Wubben-Moy in the circumferential nina. 😉
Thanks to Picaroon and manehi.
northnorthwest @44: isn’t it quite normal for something to be a different part of speech in the surface reading and the cryptic reading? For example in 13a, “states” is a noun in the surface but a verb (=AVERS) in the answer. It’s just one way that the setter tries to mislead us. I think 27a is fine.
Well that was tough for a Monday. Quite a few that I couldn’t parse, and I missed the theme as always (very nice one though). Liked KELLY, KNOCK, and QUEUEING. Thanks Picaroon and manehi.
NNW@44 maybe the “it’s” is just a link to the definition rather than part of it?
And today’s ear-worm just has to be Grace Kelly
Never saw the Nina (of course!). Wow! I’ll have another G&T!
I’ll fess up. Did know what a NANNYGAI was. But didn’t know about the GUSSET in bags. Looked up bags thinking they were trousers, but couldn’t find a gusset in Oxford Bags. Then found gussets in bags, common, ordinary bags. So that’s what that thing is called? It’s a bit like the hollow in a brick. Who’d have thought there was a name for that?
I only knew ‘frog’ as the middle bit in a loaf of bread that we fought over as children, and then years later learned it came from that bit of the brick. And there’s a punt at the bottom of a wine bottle. Gusset is much more relatable.
As for the theme. First guess, with the snooker clues, was that KELLY GREEN might be the colour of the baize.
Did find a nina of sorts. EYE in the row above BRIGHT. I’d have bet a Fiver it was Watership Down.
NNW@44 “Put” is a simple past as well as a past participle. “I deep-froze it” = “I put it on ice.”
No hope of getting the theme — I’ve never heard of the Lionesses, let alone any of their players. But this triumph certainly deserves a commemoration, and a timely one, even in a normally gentler Monday slot. Congrats, Lionesses!
And thanks to Picaroon and manehi.
Thanks for the blog, totally missed the theme but thought the clues were good, especially the dentures in 7Ac. Do not like this sticklebrick grid but presume it was necessary for theme words. Quite tricky for a Monday, when I was learning I would bank on Monday to give me confidence.
I will say one good thing about football, it does not last five days and does not take over Radio4 longwave.
Thanks Picaroon & manehi. Took me a while to get started with this one but then it all came together nicely. Got the fish, didn’t see the theme until I saw mention of it elsewhere, then it leapt out at me. Can’t believe I missed it. Very good. Faves were DENATURES, TEAMMATE, QUEUEING.
Re 27, I’m with Lord Jim @46 and Valentine @51, no problem with the clue at all.
Ah Roz@52, in the immortal words of HMHB “What I call pleasure you may call pain. I’m talking five day tests”
Bodycheetah@54 , the deadly combination of cricket and HMHB , you forgot to mention IT as well.
[Roz & bodycheetah, TMS is the sound of summer! 🙂 What I don’t get is that the footie now starts again almost before the previous season’s finished. ]
Well done picaroon. Kicked myself for not seeing WISHES. Obviously a good hidden.
GeoffDownUnder@1 et al: my daughter (degree in French and Persian) says that as the Iranians use a modified Arabic script, the choice between Tehran and Teheran is a matter of transliteration, so both are equally (in)correct.
Thank you manehi et al: this is so much cleverer than I thought.
Thank you manehi and Other Mark, the icing on a very enjoyable cake indeed, thanks and bravo Picaroon.
This was an education for a moderate level solver such as myself – must remember ‘supply’ as an anagrind. Managed about 80% but couldn’t parse quite a few. Teheran was frustrating as I wasn’t aware of that spelling
Didn’t notice the theme and it didn’t feel forced. I thought the clue for LIONESSES Was particularly elegant. Thanks Picaroon and Manehi
Thanks Picaroon, it’s always a treat Monday or any day for that matter. Failed with HEMP, don’t associate it with illegality any more, but everything else fell into place. I missed the theme but the crossword held up on its own regardless. Thanks manehi for the blog.
I spotted the theme early on, but that didn’t help me. This was significantly harder than most Monday offerings but I am prepared to forgive as it was celebrating an impressive sporting achievement (even though I usually really don’t enjoy watching football).
Thanks both.
A brilliant puzzle, and compiled so soon after the Lioness’s success! For once I actually spotted the theme, admittedly fortuitously, as I entered GREENWOOD immediately after BRONZE, which turned the light bulb on. I’ve never yet spotted a Nina and today was no exception. By the way, what position does the unused sub NANNYGAI play?
Lionesses’ even!
Not know anything about the English women’s football team the theme was completely lost on me. A very nice puzzle nonetheless.