It’s an Eccles puzzle today
We know where we stand with Eccles; no themes, no NINAs, just good smooth clues leading to fairly well known entries.
TAPIOCA brought back some memories of rather unappetising puddings of young years. I was never really a fan of TAPIOCA, sago or semolina.
I had vague memories of LOS ALAMOS as a test site for something but I had to do a bit of research to track down what was tested. There really wasn’t much time between testing deployment.
The clue for POINTER must be a candidate for shortest clue of the year, but I expect solvers will refer me to a number of single word clues. The clue for ADMIRER wasn’t much longer and made good use of ‘Jockey’.
I liked the clue for GLOOM with its novel use of 2023.
As ever, Eccles continues to produce clues with excellent surfaces that make you think before solving.
| No | Detail |
| Across | |
| 9 |
Cow‘s reproductive cells not treated by sound waves (7) OVERAWE (daunt by arousing fear or reverence in; cow) OVERAWE (OVER sounds like [by sound waves] OVA [reproductive cells] + RAWE [sounds like RAW [not treated]) OVE RAWE |
| 10 |
Bug widow regularly about pudding (7) TAPIOCA (pudding made from a by-product of cassava and potato starch) TAP (listen in; bug] + IO (letters 2 and 4 [regularly] of WIDOW + CA [circa; about]) TAP IO CA |
| 11 |
Coffee seller from Italian port sat around (7) BARISTA (person who is employed to make coffee in a coffee shop ; coffee seller) BARI (Italian port city) + an anagram of (around) SAT BARI STA* |
| 12 |
Guide dog (7) POINTER (guide) POINTER (breed of dog) double definition POINTER |
| 13 |
Extremely divisive change in speech results in moral deterioration (9) DECADENCE (deterioration of morality) DE (outer letters of [extremely] DIVISIVE) + CADENCE (rise and fall in sound; change in speech) DE CADENCE |
| 15 |
What does 2023 have in store? Despair! (5) GLOOM (despondency; despair) GLOOM (hidden word [what does … have in store] in IGLOO MARROW, the entries at 20 across and 23 down) GLOOM |
| 16 |
Professional entertainer‘s tits are fake (7) ARTISTE (professional entertained) Anagram of (fake) TITS ARE ARTISTE* |
| 19 |
Beginning to stare at present put on rock in Wales (7) SNOWDON (mountain [rock] in Wales) S (first letter of [beginning to] + NOW [at present] + DON [put on]) S NOW DON |
| 20 |
Magnanimous John Bishop abandoned Northern home (5) IGLOO (dome-shaped Inuit house made of blocks of hard snow; home for some people in northern lands where ice is readily available) BIG (magnanimous) excluding (abandoned) B (bishop) + LOO (toilet; john is slang for toilet) IG LOO |
| 21 |
Twice I must leave African country, land rejected as a test site (3,6) LOS ALAMOS (the first plutonium implosion device was tested near to LOS ALAMOS in July 1945) (SOMALIA [African country] excluding [must leave] I + SOIL [land] excluding [must leave] I, taken together an I leaves twice) all reversed (rejected) (LOS ALAMOS)< |
| 25 |
Feels that boxes of rabbits’ heads can create atmospheric phenomena (7) AURORAS (luminous atmospheric phenomena of electrical character seen in and towards the Polar regions, with a tremulous motion, and streamers of light) AURAS (feels, plural noun) containing (boxes) OR (first letters of [heads] each of OF and RABBIT’S) AUR (OR) AS |
| 26 |
Jockey married fan (7) ADMIRER (fan) Anagram of (jockey) MARRIED ADMIRER* |
| 28 |
Women in Mass make sound using vibrator (7) TWANGLE (sound made some by something that vibrates, such as a guitar string) W (women) contained in (in) TANGLE (mass of perplexity or confusion) T (W) ANGLE |
| 29 |
Peanuts, perhaps, in container with hole in it (7) CARTOON (Peanuts is a cartoon strip) CARTON (container) containing (with … in it) O (hole-shaped character) CART (O) ON – either O could be the one contained |
| Down | |
| 1 |
Person accepting award honour got terrible reception (6) BOMBED (flopped; failed; got a terrible reception) BOD (person) containing (accepting) MBE (Member of the British Empire award) BO (MBE) D |
| 2 |
Consisting of verses Tim Rice’s rewritten, with one missing (6) METRIC (descriptive of verse or verses) Anagram of (rewritten) TIM RICE excluding (with … missing) one of the Is (Roman numeral for one) I METRIC* |
| 3 |
Musical compositions in tatters (4) RAGS (pieces of RAGtime music) RAGS (torn shreds; tatters) double definition RAGS |
| 4 |
Intern left out of feature on Navy (6) DETAIN (confine; intern) DETAIL (feature) excluding (out of) L + N (Navy) DETAI N |
| 5 |
Prevents top personality accepting bungs (8) STOPPERS (plugs; bungs) STOPPERS (hidden word in [accepting] PREVENTS TOP PERSONALITY) STOPPERS |
| 6 |
Jump to get part in play on the radio as a starter (6,4) SPRING ROLL (item often offered as a starter in restaurants) SPRING (jump) + ROLL (sounds like [on the radio] ROLE [part in a play]) SPRING ROLL |
| 7 |
Idiot died protecting hot shot’s secure starting position (8) FOOTHOLD (firm starting position) (FOOL [idiot] + D [died]) containing (protecting) an anagram of (shot) HOT FOO (THO*) L D |
| 8 |
Perhaps cheese producer may drain churns (8) DAIRYMAN (someone who may produce cheese) Anagram of (churns) MAY DRAIN DAIRYMAN* |
| 14 |
Put off dance craze that’s going round university (10) DISCOURAGE (hold back; put off) (DISCO [dance] + RAGE [craze]) containing (going round) U (university) DISCO (U) RAGE |
| 16 |
A story about hypocrisy in Spanish city (8) ALICANTE (Spanish city) A + (LIE [false statement; story]) containing (about) CANT (hypocrisy) A LI (CANT) E |
| 17 |
A way to pay for fancy roll eaten by loathsome individual (4,4) TOLL ROAD (a route [way] where you have to pay to use it) Anagram of (fancy) ROLL contained in (eaten by) TOAD (loathsome individual) TO (LL RO*) AD |
| 18 |
Inclined to support men losing millions being registered (8) ENLISTED (registered) MEN excluding (losing) M (millions) + LISTED (leant; inclined) EN LISTED |
| 22 |
Wanting Conservative to be overcome with alarm (6) SCARCE (lacking; wanting) C (Conservative) contained in (overcome with) SCARE (alarm) SCAR (C) E |
| 23 |
Male, 12, displaying vegetable (6) MARROW (a vegetable) M (male) + ARROW (POINTER [entry at 12 across]) M ARROW |
| 24 |
Pious woman inappropriate, going topless in stable (6) STRONG (stable) ST (saint [pious woman]) + WRONG (inappropriate) excluding the first letter (going topless) W ST RONG |
| 27 |
Bar spoils planet (4) MARS (chocolate bar) MARS (spoils) MARS (plant) triple definition MARS |
The usual high class puzzle that we have come to expect from this setter incorporating super-smooth surfaces and clever disguises with GLOOM my favourite. I found most of this at the easier end of his spectrum although the parsing of both OVERAWE and LSO ALAMOS took quite a bit of working out. My only question – is 19a really a rock?
Many thanks to Eccles and to Duncan.
I share with RD both the appreciation for the puzzle, the sense it was slightly more approachable than some and the query about SNOWDON = rock. I have spent a lot of time in hills and mountains and have never heard a mountain – and Snowdon is deffo one of those in UK terms – referred to as a rock.
At the risk of appearing a tad pernickety for once, I got ticked off when I managed to include part of a solution in the clue for another: ROLL appears – as a food item – in SPRING ROLL as a solution and in the clue for TOLL ROAD. But it’s a small thing that hardly detracted – particularly as I had solved the former before reaching the latter.
On the positive side, this was a smoothly put together as ever with the device for GLLOM, the surfaceS for ARTISTE and IGLOO, the anagram for ADMIRER, the excellent hidden STOPPERS, surfaces again in DISCOURAGE and ALICANTE and the smooth triple MARS all earning big ticks. COTD, though, with the glorious anagram related to surface is DAIRYMAN.
Thanks Eccles and duncan
Very nice.
The expected good offering from Eccles. Annoyed to have put in “lays” for ‘musical compositions’ at 3d, even though it didn’t seem to fit the second def. I was hoping in vain it might have something to do with lace making and was getting impatient with the alphabet trawl.
I was surprised to see TWANGLE as a real word – I like it. AURA for ‘feels’ (rather than “feelings”) was new but seemed to be the obvious choice given the def. My picks were the ‘Guide dog’ and the MARS triple def.
Thanks to Duncan and Eccles
I thought this was on the tougher side for an Eccles but perhaps I was somewhat annoyed at him referring to the beautiful mountain I can see from my windows as a rock! I don’t recall you volunteering to climb said rock whilst you were here, Andy……..
Thought GLOOM was very well constructed and POINTER made me smile. Can’t say I’d previously heard of TWANGLE and both IGLOO and LOS ALAMOS took me some time on the parsing front.
Thanks to Eccles and to Duncan for the review.
Well, I found this well to the hard end of the Eccles spectrum, and spent far too long on it. Like Postmark, I thought Snowdon = Rock questionable. And at 1D surely “award” duplicated “honour” and just one of them would have done? But this didn’t spoil the enjoyment at all, so thanks Eccles and Duncan.
If Gibraltar is a rock, why can’t Snowdon be?
Thanks Eccles and DS
Lots to enjoy here. Like Tatrasman @ 6, however, I wasn’t sure why “award honour” appears in 1D for MBE, both for the presence of the unnecessary word and also for the fact that the expression is not, in my experience, idiomatic (looks like an error to me). More importantly, the structure of 17D is “DEFINITION for WORDPLAY”, which seems to be the wrong way round for wordplay other than a charade or a straightforward insertion.
Rudolf@8 I believe the definition should be read as “A way (to pay for)”, i.e. a route for which you must pay, and thus the “for” is not a linkword.
Good stuff, Eccles, and thx Duncan.
Another who thought award homour was duplication here.
Wasn’t overjoyed by ‘accepting’ as a containment indicator either if truth be told but thoroughly enjoyed the rest especially the clever use of 2023 in 15.
Thanks to Eccles and Duncan
honour not homour!
Mev @ 9. Thanks – that makes sense. I withdraw my objection.
Rudolf @ 8
Mev has beaten me to it – I meant to underline ‘for’ as part of the definition in 17 down. My mistake, sorry.
I must admit I hadn’t really noticed the use of both award and honour in the clue at 1 down. I should have done.
‘Accepting’ seems like a very sound containment indicator to me FWIW. If you accept a stray dog you take it inside.
Joshua R @14 You may take it inside but you don’t have it inside which is what you would need for it to be contained
Thanks duncanshiell and Eccles.
Excellent as always.
GLOOM, IGLOO, LOS ALAMOS, ADMIRER (neat), TOLL ROAD and STRONG* make my list.
*For a while struggled with w from wrong and woman, till I saw ST for who she is.
Thanks to Duncan, and all commenters. Apologies for 1d, I think it was a typo made in late replacement as the original referred to the Queen. As for Snowdon, I did wonder but will point out that I didn’t call it ‘a rock in Wales’ but ‘rock in Wales’. I think there is a difference.