Bluth’s latest puzzle has been provided for our cruciverbal delectation this Thursday morning.
As always with this compiler, the puzzle proved fairly challenging and provided head-scratching and entertainment in equal measure.
I think that I have managed to solve and parse all the clues correctly, with the entry at 23 being the one I am least confident about. Please let me know if I am barking up the wrong tree here!
My favourite clues today are almost too numerous to mention, but let me single out a few of them: 1, for the splitting of Emma / Willis in the wordplay; 7, for making me smirk; 11, for sheer concision; 12, for the clever inclusion of both Texas and Austin in the wordplay; and 27, for the use of the two parts of Harry / Potter in the wordplay.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 09 | REACH | Influence of a church on Bible studies
RE (=Bible studies, i.e. Religious Education) + A + CH (=church) |
| 11 | LEAVENING | Provocative agent seeing part of tour, maybe including a retro version of 9 to 5
[A + VENIN (NINE (=9) + V (=5, in Roman numerals); “retro version” indicates reversal)] in LEG (=part of tour, stage); leavening is a quality or element that modifies and transforms something for the better |
| 11 | WINSOME | Loose Women is captivating
*(WOMEN IS); “loose” is anagram indicator |
| 12 | EXAMINE | Vet discovering Texas state capital of Austin’s abandoned
<t>EXA<s> (“discovering” means first and last letters – “covers” – are dropped) + M<a>INE (=state, of US; “capital of Austin’s (=first letter, i.e. “a”) abandoned” means letter “a” is dropped |
| 13 | SLAM | Rubbish faith leader’s ignored
<i>SLAM (=faith); “leader’s ignored” means first letter is dropped; to slam is to rubbish, slate |
| 14 | PEPPERMILL | An A1 producer possibly making a record – give it a spin – it should be cracking
PAPERMILL (=an A1 producer possibly, where A1 is a paper size); “making a record” means letter “a” is replaced by “EP (=record)”; a peppermill cracks the peppercorns when turned |
| 17 | UNDER THE WEATHER | Rough article – and a copy – kept separately in drawers?
THE (=article) + THE (=a copy, i.e. a second article) in UNDERWEAR (=drawers, knickers); to feel rough is to feel under the weather |
| 20 | EXACTITUDE | Rigour in first part of play – tense show’s entertaining
[ACT I (=first part of play) + T (=tense, in grammar)] in EXUDE (=show, exhibit a feeling) |
| 23 | BODE | Put poem on book token
B (=book) + ODE (=poem); to token is to be a warning of, hence to “bode” |
| 25 | JUMP-CUT | Sudden change of scene as project’s welcoming politician and copper
[MP (=politician, i.e. Member of Parliament) + CU (=copper, i.e. chemical symbol)] in JUT (=(to) project, stick out); a jump-cut is a sudden change of scene when filming |
| 26 | ZAMBEZI | Revolutionary comedian Eddie wanting a way to accept an honour for African banker?
[A + MBE (=honour, i.e. Member of the British Empire)] in ZZI (IZZ<ard> (=comedian Eddie; “wanting a way (=a Rd)” means letters “are” are dropped; “revolutionary” indicates reversal) |
| 27 | SORROWFUL | Harry Potter’s last four owls must be sad
*(<potte>R + FOUR OWLS); “last” means last letter only is used in anagram, indicated by “harry” |
| 28 | SQUAT | Half of Status Quo detailed working in illegal occupation
*(STA<tus> QU<o>); “half” means 3 of 6 letters only are used; “detailed” means last letter is dropped; “working” is anagram indicator |
| Down | ||
| 01 | BROWN SAUCE | Relish second half of show – ultimately keen as Emma Willis is hosting
[<sh>OW (“second half” means last two of four letters are used) + <kee>N <a>S <emm>A (“ultimately” means last letters only)] in BRUCE (=Willis, i.e. American actor); brown sauce is a kind of savoury “relish” |
| 02 | BARNYARD | Spooner’s story not allowed in part of farm
Spoonerism of “yarn (=story, tale) + barred (=not allowed)” |
| 03 | SHOOT | Go quickly and get away on time
SHOO (=get away) + T (=time) |
| 04 | FLEECE | Rip off // coat
Double definition: to fleece someone is to rip off, swindle AND a fleece is a kind of warm coat or jacket |
| 05 | TAKE A PEW | Sit or stand? Copy wife
TAKE (=stand, endure, as I can’t take it any more) + APE (=copy, imitate) + W (=wife) |
| 06 | REPAIRMAN | Mechanic on top of plane with pilot
RE- (on, regarding) + P<lane> (“top of” means first letter only) + AIRMAN (=pilot) |
| 07 | BIKINI | Cover for privates cycling island for good causes
BIKING (=cycling); “island (=I) for good (=G)” means letter “i” replaces “g” |
| 08 | OGRE | Monster’s therefore rampant
ERGO (=therefore); “rampant (=rearing, on hind legs, in heraldry)” indicates vertical reversal |
| 15 | LARCENISTS | Conclusively reveal new actress in Ocean’s Eleven, for example
<revea>L (“conclusively” means last letter only) + *(ACTRESS IN); “new” is anagram indicator; Ocean’s Eleven are a group of 11 robbers who organise heists on casinos in 2001 US film |
| 16 | ARCTIC FOX | It might be found in Iceland lorry – foil keeping cold in
C (=cold, as on tap) in [ARTIC (=lorry) + FOX (=(to) foil, defeat)] |
| 18 | HOT STUFF | In fit of pique, books season ticket, initially for something else
[OT (=books, i.e. Old Testament) + S<eason> T<icket> (“initially” means first letter only)] in HUFF (=fit of pique, tantrum) |
| 19 | HOOKED UP | Met lady of the night briefly before party
HOOKE<r> (=lady of the night; “briefly” means last letter is dropped) + DUP (=(political) party, in Northern Ireland) |
| 21 | ADMIRE | Take your hat off to plug hole
AD (=plug, i.e. advertisement) + MIRE (=hole, difficult situation) |
| 22 | DAZZLE | Twisted English chap’s transfixed by topless entertainers –wow!
ZZ <top> (=entertainers; “topless” means letters “top” are dropped) in DALE (E=English + LAD=chap; “twisted” indicates reversal); to wow is to dazzle, stun, impress |
| 24 | SMASH | Triumph as sergeant-major remains in support
SM (=sergeant-major) + ASH (=remains); a smash (e.g. hit musical) is a success, hence “triumph” |
| 25 | JEST | Gush when son cracks joke
S (=son) in JET (=gush, spurt) |
Though BIKINI had to be right, the parsing left me stumped for ages, because I was fixated on the operation of cycling letters. Doh!
I did like UNDER THE WEATHER, BROWN SAUCE, PEPPERMILL, HOT STUFF and TAKE A PEW. DAZZLE got a smile for the “topless entertainers”, and EXAMINE was a clever surface with Texas, State, Capital and Austin all in the mix to mess us up.
Also, I do believe it’s a pangram.
Thanks RatkojaRiku for the blog, and Bluth for another lovely puzzle.
I agree with you on BODE, RR.
Having waltzed through the G first thing this morning, I ran into somewhat of a brick wall with Bluth. I’d agree his puzzles are normally quite tricky but I don’t think we shared a wavelength today. Particularly so in the NE corner and with LARCENISTS. LEAVENING is a word I recognise in the context of unleavened bread but I’ve not encountered it in its positive form and did not recognise the def; I don’t know why but I find I naturally think of ‘privates’ in a masculine context so BIKINI was not a route I remotely considered and, finally, PEPPERMILL where I spotted neither the WP nor the def! All of which meant I failed on REPAIRMAN which I should certainly have got, on seeing the blog. My bad, I’m not blaming the setter at all but Bluth is very much a wavelength setter for me and, if it does not chime as per today, then I can flounder – as today.
Favourites from elsewhere in the grid include WINSOME, SORROWFUL, TAKE A PEW, HOT STUFF, HOOKED UP and DAZZLE – always nice to see the beardy chaps get a mention.
Thanks Bluth and RR
[RR: typo – BARNYARD- yarn barred]
I think this might be the first Bluth puzzle I couldn’t complete. Ran into a brick wall in the NE, pretty much as detailed by PostMark. Ah well, WINSOME, lose some.
Lots of lift-and-separates (including a triple for EXAMINE) but “retro version” had to be squeezed together for LEAVENING.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9_to_5_(Dolly_Parton_song): ‘The song & film owe their titles to 9to5, an organization founded in 1973 with the aim of bringing about fair pay and equal treatment for women in the workplace.’ – A 50th anniversary.
Lots of popular culture as usual – Not Emma but Bruce for BROWN SAUCE, ZZ TOPless
For ZAMBEZI it should have been Suzy Izzard, but that would have made the clue impossible. She hasn’t got A MBE, but there was a petition for a KBE:
https://www.change.org/p/honours-a-knighthood-for-eddie-izzard – that would need to be a DBE now. I’m a fan.
Lovely stuff. Thanks B&RR.
Failed on the 14ac/15dn combination – wordfinder suggested PEPPERMILL and LARCENISTS as about the only combination but I couldn’t quite see how they worked.
The rest came together eventually, although there were some I couldn’t parse.
Thanks, Bluth and RR.
Thanks, Bluth and RR!
Liked PEPPERMILL (cracking, spicy stuff), UNDER THE WEATHER (the ‘copy’ idea seems original) and HOOKED UP(hooking up and having a brief de-briefing…nothing paradoxical about it!).
Thanks both. Like others, this seemed harder than usual for the setter, although I eventually solved the vast majority unaided. LARCENISTS referencing a film I did not enjoy was likely to defeat me until I revealed the first letter which also assisted with PEPPERMILL for which wrongly I had deemed A1 for anything paper-related to be too obscure. I’ll cite as my excuse that the cricket was on, though it finished (badly) before I did
Thanks RatkojaRiku and Bluth.
Tough, fair puzzle.
DNF without 23a. Needed parsing for PEPPERMILL.
Likes –
LEAVENING
UNDER THE WEATHER
ZAMBEZI
SORROWFUL
SQUAT
BIKINI
Thanks RatkojaRiku and thanks all.
I think there are a couple of typos in the blog. There’s the Barred/Banned thing already picked up by FrankieG @3 and in 3d the second ‘go’ should be a ‘get’. Not that it makes much material difference.
In 24d I didn’t mean SMASH as in a (tennis) shot – which is what I think you’re alluding to with smash = winner = triumph… I think of it more in the sense of a show being a hit. It’s a smash. It’s a triumph.
FrankieG @5 re Eddie/Suzy Izzard. I’m also a fan, but while her recent statement explaining the use of Suzy says, “I am preferring Suzy but I don’t mind Eddie” it also ends with the words, “I am remaining Eddie Izzard in public” – and Eddie is the name used on their tour posters, so I think this was the fairest/most accurate way to go!
Cheers all!
The blog has 2 11a’s. Also in 26a the letters to be removed are ARD not ARE.
I got it all without in app reveals, but not without wordfinding. I find myself working out what I’m being asked to do but unable to come up with the correct synonyms to reveal the answer. It’s really frustrating.
Thanks to Bluth for stretching me and RR (esp. for explaining EXACTITUDE which I didn’t completely parse)
Enjoying this … 22d invokes a déja vu for 20201130 ! (Has it really been that long!?)
Glad I wasn’t the only one to find this difficult. Got about a quarter of it done.
After having read the blog I no longer feel so bad for falling short on three clues!
Kind of puzzle I’d’ve stood no chance of getting anywhere near finished a few months ago, but 15^2 has really helped me improve.
N.E. corner was the hardest. I couldn’t parse leavening at all even though I was reasonably happy it was right. Peppermill is very clever, I could not fathom what A1 producer meant, groaned when I read the blog.
Many thanks RR & Bluth.
Thanks to FrankieG @3 for pointing out the typo, now corrected.
And thanks to the compiler himself @10 for the correction and the clarification – the blog has been updated accordingly.