A very fun solve – many favourites especially 25ac, 2dn, 3dn, and 23dn. Thanks to Picaroon
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | REPUDIATE |
Reject container of rice pudding this person put away (9)
|
| container/outer letters of R-ic-E + PUD=”pudding” + I ATE=”this person put away” | ||
| 6 | PANDA |
Both walls of pagoda one found in China? (5)
|
| P AND A=walls/outer letters of PagodA | ||
| 9 | VIRUS |
See Irish American as source of complaint (5)
|
| V (Latin vide, “See”) + IR (Irish) + US=”American” | ||
| 10 | UNFEELING |
A foreign affair involving drugs is not sensible! (9)
|
| UN=”A” in French=”A foreign” + FLING=”affair” around E+E (ecstasy, “drugs”) | ||
| 11 | LOSS OF FACE |
Shame this could make Clara Lara or Bill ill (4,2,4)
|
| losing their face/first letter would make “Clara” into “Lara” or “Bill” into “ill” | ||
| 12 | SHOE |
Woman crossing over platform, say (4)
|
| SHE=”Woman” around O (“over”, cricket) | ||
| 14 | PALAVER |
Much ado in state east of China (7)
|
| AVER=declare=”state” to the right/east of PAL=”China” as rhyming slang=’china plate’=’mate’ | ||
| 15 | SHAMPOO |
Clear out housing area with representative cleaning product (7)
|
| SHOO=”Clear out” around A (area) + MP (Member of Parliament, “representative”) | ||
| 17 | BETOKEN |
Mean Scottish eminence about to smoke pot (7)
|
| definition: “mean” as in ‘indicate’ or ‘signify’
BEN=Scottish word for mountain/”eminence”, around TOKE=”smoke pot” |
||
| 19 | PREFORM |
Initiator of profound change in fashion earlier (7)
|
| P-rofound + REFORM=”change” | ||
| 20 | INFO |
What Alain-Fournier pens inside story (4)
|
| hidden/penned inside Ala IN-FO urnier | ||
| 22 | HEADBANGER |
Lover of metal car was made to conserve energy at first (10)
|
| in definition, “metal” the genre of music
BANGER=[an old] “car”, with HAD around E (energy) going in front/”first’ I think this is HAD=”was made” as in ‘I had to attend’/’I was made to attend’ |
||
| 25 | HISTORIAN |
Gibbon, eg this wild one grabbed by tailless ape (9)
|
| definition: Edward Gibbon wrote History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
anagram/”wild’ of (this)*, plus I=”one” inside ORAN-g=”tailless ape” |
||
| 26 | IAMBI |
Setter’s perhaps half-straight feet? (5)
|
| definition: “feet” as part of the metre of poetry
I AM=setter is=”Setter’s”, with “perhaps half-straight” meant to indicate BI (bisexual) |
||
| 27 | RHYME |
In recital, Frost or Pound will do this with sound (5)
|
| edit thanks to Shirl in the comments: for the definition, ‘Pound’ rhymes with ‘sound’ definition: Ezra Pound used rhyme in [some of] his poetry homophone/”In recital’ of ‘rime’=”Frost” |
||
| 28 | ROSINANTE |
Mount Etna is on ground beside river (9)
|
| definition: an old worn-out horse, from the name of Don Quixote’s horse
anagram/”ground” of (Etna is on)*, next to R (river) |
||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | REVEL |
Some merrymaking in bar, whirling around (5)
|
| LEVER=”bar” reversed/”whirling around” | ||
| 2 | PORT SALUT |
Cheese and wine, you heard, is in season (4,5)
|
| PORT=”wine”, plus U=pronounced as ‘you’=”you heard” inside SALT=add salt to food=”season” | ||
| 3 | DOSTOEVSKY |
Dissident Russian party rigged votes? Heavens! (10)
|
| DO=”party” + anagram/”rigged” of (votes)* + SKY=”Heavens” | ||
| 4 | AQUIFER |
A pair of queens to keep providing a water source (7)
|
| A + QU and ER (both meaning ‘queen’) around IF=”providing” | ||
| 5 | EFFACES |
Associate of blind maestros getting scores out (7)
|
| in definition, “score” as in making scratch marks on top of something
EFF + ACES=”maestros” ‘eff and blind’ is a phrase meaning ‘use expletives’ |
||
| 6 | PEEL |
Zest coming from wee drop of Laphroaig (4)
|
| PEE=”wee” + L-aphroaig | ||
| 7 | NEIGH |
No outspoken nag’s comment (5)
|
| homophone/”outspoken” of ‘nay’=”No” | ||
| 8 | ANGLEWORM |
Low German novel is something to entice a swimmer (9)
|
| anagram/”novel” of (Low German)* | ||
| 13 | TAX EVASION |
Husband returns in vehicle, running financial fraud (3,7)
|
| SAVE=”Husband” reversed/”returns” in TAXI=”vehicle” + ON=”running” | ||
| 14 | PUBLISHER |
Penguin, say, right behind blue ship at sea (9)
|
| R (right) behind anagram/”at sea” of (blue ship)* | ||
| 16 | PLOUGHMAN |
Tiller of vessel touring miles behind lake (9)
|
| PAN=”vessel” around: M (miles) after LOUGH=”lake” | ||
| 18 | NEEDIER |
At last climate denier wobbles, being less secure (7)
|
| anagram/”wobbles” of (e denier)*, with the first ‘e’ coming from climat-e | ||
| 19 | PEDANTS |
Fussy people with power biting insect’s head off! (7)
|
| P (power) + r-ED ANT’S=”biting insect’s” with the head letter taken off | ||
| 21 | FISHY |
Proverbial drinker with yen for rum (5)
|
| definition: “rum” as in ‘odd’ or ‘strange’
FISH + Y (yen) Proverbially, one might ‘drink like a FISH’ |
||
| 23 | RAISE |
More dough that’s flatter, but not soft (5)
|
| definition as in getting a raise or getting more dough/money at one’s job
p-RAISE=”flatter”, minus p (piano, quiet or “soft”) |
||
| 24 | WOKE |
The Guardian installing fine new kind of PC? (4)
|
| definition: aware of social and political issues
WE=”The Guardian” around OK=”fine” |
HEADBANGER:
My parsing was almost the same.
I just took it as ‘HAD BANGER conserve E’
A long way above my level, looking forward to checking the hi to.
Thanks both.
Thanks Picaroon and manehi
I needed the blog for the parsings of SHAMPOO, the “HAD” of HEADBANGER, EFFACES, and RAISE.
Favourite ROSINANTE.
In 27a, I think that POUND rhymes with SOUND
Completed, but quite a few unparsed. V = vide = see seems a bit obscure. Eff being associate of blind also a bit weak imo.
Shirl@4
That’s a better parsing, I feel.
For PALAVER I just had Laver (a bowl… could be China) next to PA (State), but I much prefer your take manehi. For RHYME I had Pound rhyming with Sound.
Favourites were PANDA, EFFACES for the Eff and Blind and WOKE.
Snap Shirl @4
Crispy @5, V=see is reasonably common in crossword land (and in references in a book or paper). It’s worth remembering
Thanks Tim @8. I probably won’t remember. Discontent meaning to use the first and last letters still gets me every time amingst many other regular devices.
That was a toughie, quite Vlad-ish in places I thought.
DOSTOEVSKY was genius. Spent far too long trying to think of a Russian party ending in -viks.
Also liked the PORT SALUT and the PLOUGHMAN(‘s) and the P-p-penguin… I’m feeling p-p-peckish now. Thanks P-p-picaroon and manehi.
Failed dismally in the SE but enjoyable nonetheless. Liked DOSTOEVSKY, HEADBANGER and now EFFACES, having had it explained. Same parsing as Shirl @4.
Ta Picaroon & manehi
Quite enjoyable. My smile to groan ratio for Picaroon is higher than most. (The rhyming slang probably elicited the biggest groan.) There were a few that I wouldn’t have got in a million years, such as Latin vide, husband for save, toke for smoke pot, nor bi for bisexual. Favourites were LOSS OF FACE, WOKE & SHAMPOO. The SE quarter was last to yield. Hadn’t heard of that dead English historian. Might pop down to my local supermarket and see whether they have any port salut.
Tough puzzle. It was a struggle to get started on this. Solved SE corner last.
By coincidence, I had learnt a new word AQUIFER yesterday while I was walking along the River Itchen in Winchester.
New: ROSINANTE = a worn-out emaciated old horse.
Liked PEELS, FISHY, PUBLISHER.
I did not parse 5d, 16d.
Thanks, both plus Shirl for explaining 27ac.
I found this tough today and DNF. Some tricky parsing but having read the excellent blog from manehi I can see where I went wrong. Some cunning wordplay from Picaroon was my undoing. Eg unfeeling for not sensible and the eff in effaces.
I do like old slang, like palaver; [having] conniptions is another one; these days even serious news anchors say “freaking out”. Mind you, that too is my-gen language and hearing it mainstream warms me. So, as you say, manehi, quite fun today. P and A, and shOe a bit chestnutty, but then I didn’t click bi being half straight … dim! I thought ‘horse’ first on seeing ‘mount’, then later stuffed around looking for a mountain … dim again … I’m sure the amyloids are thickening! Oh well, what the hell. Ta Pnm.
A very enjoyable crossword with lots of great clues. Personally I really liked “associate of blind” for EFF (and it reminded me of the Punch cartoon of the young woman in the publisher’s office, and he’s saying to her “We like the plot, Miss Austen, but all this effing and blinding will have to go.”)
Other favourites were the excellent PALAVER and (speaking of publishers) PUBLISHER.
Many thanks Picaroon and manehi.
Picaroon on top form today – lots of clever and amusing misdirection and ingenious wordplay, with too many favourites to list.
[Geoff @12 – I hope you find some Port Salut – it’s one of my favourites.]
Many thanks to Picaroon for a great start to the day and to manehi for a great blog.
Completed this but couldn’t parse PEDANTS. Still can’t even now the blog is up. Can someone explain, please?
Pork Scotch @18
“Power” gives the initial P, then the biting insects RED ANTS with the “head” letter removed.
I hope that helps – I’ve looked back and seen that what I wrote is almost identical to manehi’s blog, which didn’t explain it for you!
Thanks, Muffin! Obvious now. I initially took RED and ANTS to be separate things. Feeling suitably foolish now!
Muffin @19
I think I was so convinced that biting was an envelope indicator that I was blind to other possibilities.
Lots of fun, although I was mostly guessing the answers and then doing the parsing afterwards. Very much liked IAMBI, LOSS OF FACE, and HEADBANGER. Also RHYME and my LOI RAISE now that Manehi has explained them to me. Thanks very much Picaroon and Manehi.
Not familiar with the phrase ”eff and blind”. Understood the ”eff” but not the ”blind”, therefore didn’t get the association. Looking it up, it seems to be mostly British, and I also learned what the minced oath Cor Blimey means. Aussies are more likely to say s/he was ‘effing blind +/- drunk’.
I was happy to see the ‘perhaps’ with ‘half-straight’ in IAMBI, not because cluing ‘bi’ in terms of sexual identity is risky, and previous examples have sometimes caused offence, but to me the meaning is double, rather than half.
Really enjoyed the crossword. Lots to like. DOSTOEVSKY favourite.
@paddymelon: there is no phrase “eff and blind”, whatever manehi says. The phrase is “effing and blinding”, which means approximately “spewing forth a tirade of foul language”.
Odd to see ROSINANTE with that spelling (Cervantes has ROCINANTE) but it’s in Chambers, along with ROZINANTE, so I suppose it’s OK.
PUD for pudding was a bit clunky I thought.
I’m not sure I agree with you TonyG@25. ‘He used to love to Eff and Blind’ is ok for me. Is it to late to mention sister expression ‘Eff and Jeff’?
Very pleasant. DOSTOEVSKY clued beautifully and enjoyed the effing and blinding (there’s a lot of it about these days!)
Many thanks Picaroon and manehi
A misdirection masterclass that made my morning. Many thanks P&M
Thought this far trickier than Picaroon’s last Saturday prize puzzle. Wasn’t very happy with V representing Vide in 9ac, or the tightness of the clueing in LOSS OF FACE. Last two in the tricky BETOKEN and FISHY. Clue of the day for me was REPUDIATE…
Excellent puzzle, I never knew ANGLEWORM!
Yes, it had a Saturday feel, though excellent. I solved the LHS, but was left with little in the RHS for far too long.
I was somewhat embarrassed to take a long time to see the P AND A, despite having written a similar clue recently, doh! Lots of nicely misleading definitions, and I failed to see the rED ANTS.
Thanks Picaroon and manehi.
At the risk of being pedantic, isn’t the apostrophe in 19 down in the wrong place.
Ken @33
I see what you mean, but if it were insects’, it would need to be “heads” rather than “head”, which would give more than the required deletion.
General rule in crosswords – ignore puntuation!
Happy to have completed a crossword after a break, and many a smile along the way, even if I couldn’t parse every clue. Thanks P and M
Great. I had a brain freeze trying to parse EFFACES. I became stuck on the Dutch footballer Daley Blind and wondered if he had a teammate called eff or a brother called Jeff. I liked DOSTOEVSKY but he was only dissident for some of his life.
How funny – I thought I’d spotted a tricksy bit of play by Picaroon and it turns out I parsed VIRUS wrongly but it worked for me. I took See = Vatican which, of course, is abbreviated to V. Doh!
Lovely smooth piece of work, as always. I was pleased to spot the likelihood of a misdirect in both ‘Tiller’ = PLOUGHMAN and ‘Lover of metal’ = HEADBANGER.
[On the subject of the latter, I only discovered yesterday, having not watched the final ceremony of the Commonwealth Games, that it was brought to a close by Tony Iommi and Ozzy Osbourne performing Paranoid. Nailing my musical preferences firmly to the mast, what a delightfully brave and down-to-earth decision by the organisers to showcase a bit of original Made in Birmingham!]
Thanks Picaroon and manehi
Thanks for the blog, I liked DOSTEOVSKY being called a dissident , he was a naughty boy when he was young, sentenced to death at one stage and when this was commuted he was sent to Siberia. Found most of this a bit obvious, perhaps because I never read the clues.
[ MrPostMark during the games BBC4 had a music compilation show – Sounds of Brum ( or something like that ) very early Black Sabbath on TotP 1970 doing Paranoid, I had never seen it , think it was lost for a while. Many other Birmingham acts. I suspect you will be able to find this if you look. ]
What Eileen said
Thanks manehi for the V of VIRUS (the best I could do was the same as PostMark@37 – but that is the international vehicle code apparently so maybe we are both in the clear) and the (R)ED ANT where I didn’t think to be specific. I agree with those who found this tough but great fun and very satisfying to somehow reach the end, a few lumps of Jorum uncovered (and relief at the vowels for the horse in the right spots, me thinking it was some Rosin-derived substance used maybe for mounting cards or stamps in an album!) Hard to pick favourites from such a strong field, thanks Picaroon.
Apart from now knowing V for SEE (and I still think is a bit obscure) this was fun, with just the right amount of difficulty to make it challenging but do-able.
[When young I was a very picky eater, and when my parents were advised to get me to eat some cheese the only one I was prepared to eat was Port Salut. Presumably because it’s so mild. Nowadays I’m not sure it has much going for it.]
poc @ 26: That’s why I didn’t get Rosinante. I enjoyed the book, and knew the spelling with a C, but didn’t know the dictionary inclusion. Tricky enough finding a fairly long obscure anagram, once you’ve worked out that’s what it is. Harder still if it ain’t spelt the same as the thing you know. That one gets a Paddington hard stare from me.
MarkN @42 et al
I’ve never seen it spelled any other way than with an S. I had no idea that it wasn’t the way Cervantes spelled it.
Thanks Picaroon. I had a similar experience to Paul @23, often playing the “guess, then parse” game, not my preferred method of sloving a crossword. I also agree with Ronald @30, finding this more difficult than the excellent Saturday prize. Still, I had a ton of ticks including LOSS OF FACE, PALAVER, IAMBI, PORT SALUT, PEEL (any mention of Laphroaig gets an automatic like), and TAX EVASION. I failed with ROSINANTE and WOKE; I couldn’t parse EFFACES and RAISE so thanks manehi for the blog.
Really enjoyable, and I found that once I had cracked the tough ones the wordplay made it clear that I’d done so correctly (a requirement which, I recall, was one of the more sensible things Ximenes said).
Really too many favourites to list, including UNFEELING, LOSS OF FACE, SHOE (a clever clue for a short word, I always think, shows a setter on top of their game), PALAVER, BETOKEN (showing my age with those two), IAMBI, RHYME, ROSINANTE, DOSTOEVSKY, ANGLEWORM, TAX EVASION and the superb EFFACES.
Thanks to Picaroon and manehi.
muffin @43 – I recommend Don Quixote. It’s a much better read than the dictionary.
Should’ve put a winky on that one. Comes across harsher than I wanted. maybe
😉
I might have a go if it were in Italian, but I have no Spanish!
I agree with TonyG @25, the phrase is surely “effing and blinding”, not “eff and blind”. Thought the parsing there was a bit of a stretch.
Otherwise…. all good, thanks Pica and Manehi!
Thanks both. Regarding eff and blind, just checked and Google lists it, which in my book (pun intended) trumps (no political pun intended) any dictionary these days
Loved Dostoevsky..having just read “1916 the red wheel” ..
That was hard for me. I usually do the paper version early in the morning Holding a pen, scribbling anagram fodder etc seem to help. But thank heavens for the app! I stupidly broke my right (dominant) wrist yesterday, so writing totally out of the question. Even left handed typing is a chore.
However got there in the end with much cheating and had to come here for several parsings. But it’s all good and clever and in an odd way I enjoyed it. I think maybe I have pain killer brain fog. I fell for several misdirections.
Many thanks Picaroon and manehi
[Roz @38: belated thanks for picking up on that. Amazing that Ozzy is still standing, let alone able to perform. They were ‘my band’ growing up in the 70’s]
I parsed HAD in HEADBANGER as manehi did, but it didn’t seem very convincing. I think HAD = was obliged might have been more accurate.
It was nice to construct PORT SALUT, ANGLEWORM and ROSINANTE from the clues and then confirm in the usual sources.
Not seen V = see before, as far as I can recall. (which isn’t too far these days : ( )
Classy puzzle.
Thanks, P, m. Afternoon all.
[ Good timing.. PM@53 you are welcome, my lesser half says it is called Sounds of Birmingham , and it is on something called the eye player.
Our TV box has something called series record for ” Sounds of…. etc” so we watch them all . ]
v=see is frequently used by Azed but rarely seem in normal dailies. Last Sunday Azed actually used something I have been asking for over many years.
It turns out that “risonante” is an Italian musical instruction, but it indicates a sonorous effect rather than a mounting series of notes, so the horse wins that particular race at 28A (much to my chagrin) even if the nag is old and broken down.
Had heard of the cheese, but in my mind it was ‘salou’. Hold-up on 17a as a result, but a quick Google solved the blockage. Tough, fair and fun. Thanks both.
I agree with Lord Jim @16 I’m liking ‘associate of blind’=EFF. I also enjoyed BETOKEN, PREFORM and many others. It’s good to find myself on Picaroon’s wavelength, though luckily not to the extent described by Roz @38. In the unlikely event that the grid fill becomes obvious without reading the clues, I think I should find a different pastime. 🙂
Thanks to Picaroon and Manheim.
Grrr. Effing spellchecker. Sorry, manehi.
Needing help with a few parsings. EFF and V= see. I just don’t like those single letters.
But still… Thanks Picaroon and manehi
27a Both Pound and Frost used rhyme, Frost perhaps more so. Thanks, Picaroon and manehi.
Sheffield hatter@59 as you probably know I do not “read” the clue but I read each word with suspicion and a pause. Sometimes it makes the definition obvious, 22Ac, 25Ac , 16D…
sometimes the word play 6Ac,9Ac, 12Ac,24D …… . Nutmeg is another setter where it all just seems a bit Sybil Fawlty.
Couldn’t parse the V in VIRUS, so thank you manehi. Didn’t get EFFACES. I saw that it fitted the crossers, but didn’t know it meant Scratches Out. So did not persevere with the parsing. Hey ho. Today is another day…
[Roz @63. Yes, I knew that was what you meant – I was just having a little fun. 🙂 ]
Just wasn’t on the pirate’s wavelength. Gave up with about a third left.
[Roz @63: thanks for your explanation of your comment @38 – I was feeling even more stupid than usual at the thought of someone being able to fill in the grid without reading the clues…. Just for clarification, I take it you mean you don’t worry about the surface of the clue, just the actual words??]
[Me @67: just asking, because I need all the help I can get 🙂 ]
GrannyJ I never read the whole clue as one , just look at the words. A couple of simple examples. 12Ac Woman , nearly always SHE , crosses over , around O done.
24D The Guardian , has to be WE, installing fine, nearly always OK , done.
When I was learning and could not get going I would treat it as a quick crossword , the definition is nearly always the first or last word(s).
25Ac Gibbon(9) surely HISTORIAN 16D Tiller(9) has to be PLOUGHMAN.
Of course we want to piece the words together plus the definition all in one, but sometimes we have to get started in order to get started, LETTERS always help.
Further thought, I expect you can find the Everyman crossword every Sunday in the Observer, it is aimed at improving cryptic skills. I learnt using Everyman , used to take me all week.
There is a lovely blog a week later , lots of newer solvers and not as hectic as the Guardian blogs.
Thanks, Roz @70 – I’ve just completed this week’s Everyman – I do find it much easier (most weeks, anyway) 🙂