A slow solve, and many tricky parsings. Favourites were 17ac, 2dn, 9dn, and 18dn. Thanks to Soup for the puzzle.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | PSALTER |
Addendum to reform church text (7)
|
| PS (post script, “Addendum”) + ALTER=”reform” | ||
| 5 | PEACOCK |
It’s all eyes on this popinjay! (7)
|
| cryptic definition: “eyes” referring to the eye-like patterns on peacock feathers | ||
| 10 | FORA |
Free-for-all in these meetings? Quite the reverse! (4)
|
| the first part of the clue is to be read in “reverse” i.e. “[these] meetings in Free-for-all”
FORA=”meetings”, found inside [Free]-FOR-A[ll] |
||
| 11 | HEALTH CAMP |
That chap touring calm path in fitness retreat (6,4)
|
| HE=”That chap”; plus anagram/”touring” of (calm path)* | ||
| 12 | MANTEL |
Might her novels go here? (6)
|
| Hilary MANTEL [wiki] is a writer, and her books might be placed on a MANTEL above a fireplace | ||
| 13 | EMANATES |
Discharges drunk men at sea (8)
|
| anagram/”drunk” of (men at sea)* | ||
| 14 | SACRED COW |
In Cornwall, Catholic assumes a belief that can’t be questioned (6,3)
|
| C (Catholic), inside A CREDO=”a belief”; all in SW (“In Cornwall”, which is in the SW/south-west of England)
“assumes” as in ‘takes on’/’bears’/’wears’ to indicate insertion of C into A CREDO |
||
| 16 | FOLEY |
In film, sounds like a little horse? Sounds like it! (5)
|
| FOLEY means producing sound effects (e.g of a horse’s hooves) for film
it sounds like ‘foal-y’=”like a little horse” |
||
| 17 | DANCE |
Might one feature dapper hat and cane-twirling? (5)
|
| first letter/”hat” of D-[apper], plus anagram/”twirling” of (cane)* | ||
| 19 | CHIROPODY |
Footing cost up front (poor, taking on overdraft), touring Hawaii (9)
|
| first letter/”up front” of C-[ost], plus ROPY=”poor [in terms of quality]” around OD (over draft); all around/”touring” HI (state abbreviation for Hawaii) | ||
| 23 | SKELETON |
Support Bob in the Winter Olympics (8)
|
| double definition: a frame or supporting structure; or the Winter Olympics sport using a skeleton bobsled | ||
| 24 | CACTUS |
I ignored caustic, irritable, prickly sort (6)
|
| anagram/”irritable” of (caustic)*, ignoring the letter I | ||
| 26 | INHIBITORS |
They block things circling in his orbit (10)
|
| anagram/”circling” of (in his orbit)* | ||
| 27 | SONG |
Finally hears alto section performing one of these (4)
|
| final letters of [hear]-S [alt]-O [sectio]-N [performin]-G | ||
| 28 | SEAGULL |
Bird (hawk) eating a couple of scraps of guacamole (7)
|
| SELL=”hawk”, around A (taken from the surface) and a couple of letters/scraps from GU-[acamole] | ||
| 29 | IDEALLY |
In theory, one supports fish? (7)
|
| IDE ALLY might mean an ALLY/supporter of the IDE, a type of fish | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 2 | STOMATA |
Pores over a child’s first bits of artwork, messily clutched (7)
|
| STOMATA are pores in the surface of a leaf
reversal/”over” of all of: A TOT’S=”a child’s”, with first letters of A-[rtwork] M-[essily] clutched inside |
||
| 3 | LEAST |
Final one to finish admitted not being this, as the saying goes? (5)
|
| as the saying goes, “Last, but not LEAST”
LAST=”Final”, with the last letter/”finish” to [on]-E taken inside/”admitted” |
||
| 4 | EXHALED |
Formerly healthy, daughter had a blow-out? (7)
|
| EX=”Formerly” + HALE=”healthy” + D (daughter) | ||
| 6 | ENTRAP |
Catch lover, bound up, getting his end away (6)
|
| PARTNE-[R]=”lover”, reversed/”bound up”, with the “end” letter getting away
“bound” as in ‘heading in the direction of’ for the reversal indicator |
||
| 7 | COCK-A-HOOP |
Very happy to stake a birdhouse for the Reverend (4-1-4)
|
| “the Reverend” meaning the Reverend Spooner
Spoonerism of ‘hock a coop’=”stake a birdhouse” ‘hock’ as in ‘pawn’ or ‘use as a deposit’, similar to “stake” meaning ‘pledge’ or ‘put at risk’ |
||
| 8 | COMPETE |
Take part not all of whole (missing fifth) (7)
|
| not all of the letters of COMP-[L]-ETE=”whole”, missing the fifth letter specifically | ||
| 9 | HAVE NOTHING ON |
Be free to be a nudist (4,7,2)
|
| to HAVE NOTHING ON = to have no scheduled appointments, to be free at a certain time
or to have no clothes on = to be a nudist |
||
| 15 | RECALLING |
Thinking back to being exhausted after record breaking finisher (9)
|
| ALL IN=having used everything up=”[being] exhausted”, after REC (“record”); then plus the last letter/”finisher” of [breakin]-G
REC/record as in ‘make a recording’ e.g. a button labelled REC on a tape recorder |
||
| 18 | ASKANCE |
Like footballer Harry, tackling Chelsea’s forward sideways (7)
|
| AS=”Like” + KANE=”footballer Harry” [wiki]; around/”tackling” the first/”forward” letter of C-[helsea] | ||
| 20 | RECUSED |
Withdrawn, relieved, when son heads south (7)
|
| RE-S-CUED=”relieved”, with the S (son) moving down/”south” i.e. closer to the bottom of the grid entry | ||
| 21 | DIURNAL |
Face taking pot daily (7)
|
| DIAL=”Face” of e.g. a clock; taking URN=”pot” inside | ||
| 22 | ATRIAL |
Somewhat hearty nuisance – one kicks off (6)
|
| definition: relating to the ATRIA of the heart
TRIAL=”nuisance”, and A=”one” goes first/”kicks off” |
||
| 25 | COSTA |
What one pays when visiting a coffee chain (5)
|
| Costa Coffee is a British coffee company
COST=”What one pays” + A (taken from surface) |
LOI 3d, for which I totally missed the constructive part. Also failed to parse 14a and 2d. Thanks Soup and manehi.
I got the correct solutions to all of this but failed to parse STOMATA (a bit convoluted) and RECALLING (yes, it’s really that simple). Ta Soap and manehi
Agree with manehi’s opening comments. Thanks for the careful parsings; I see that I’d missed a few twists. Was convinced CHIROPODY had an anagram of ‘poor’ in it, but obviously OD was overdraft and didn’t think of ‘ropy’ for poor. Saw that FORA was contained in free-for-all, but didn’t understand the ‘quite the reverse’ bit. So all in all, a bit of a failure. Nice to see IDE re-appearing after being used a couple of days ago. Didn’t know the term FOLEY and initially assumed it must be a film I’d never heard of until Mr Google put me right. Thanks to manehi and to Soup
Soup wins. NHO FOLEY, but NW corner made me give in. Tricky parsing indeed. Thanks both.
Thought that this was going to be a simple Friday at first, but it got stickier quite quickly and the NW corner held out for quite a while. Favourites were FOLEY (seen innumerable times in the credits but I still had no idea what the job entailed until manehi enlightened me), SACRED COW, and PSALTER. Have not heard of a HEALTH CAMP; I think that ‘health farm’ is more usual. Thanks manehi, especially for the clear passing of LEAST. Thanks Soup for a very enjoyable puzzle.
A hot and delicious Soup. Manehi’s blog adding pepper and salt in the right measure.
Thanks both!
FOLEY (sounds like ‘like a little horse’. Let me add a Like to it. Welcome the likes of such clues), LEAST (a beautiful CAD) and HAVE NOTHING ON wear…er…were my top faves.
It’s quite fair to be stretched on a Friday and I certainly was today. I, too, had not heard of the term ‘foley’ and certainly tried hard, but unsuccessfully, to make ‘poney’ fit. I felt 12a, a little unfair as it involved no wordplay and relies on the assumption that novels might go on the mantel(piece); I have not known anyone who has placed books there. In 25d, should we be advertising coffee chains? Overall, I enjoyed the challenge so thanks to Soup and especial thanks to manehi, whose help was needed with a number of the more complicated parsings today.
I liked ATRIAL, once I got it. Knew the word STOMATA, but the wordplay wouldn’t yield.
CHIROPODY I took as a humorous definition but there’s no question mark. Or is the joke on me?
Liked LEAST, and it nearly was my last. DIURNAL, SKELETON and DANCE my picks for the surfaces. And ENTRAP, although I was misdirected by getting his end away, thinking I had to delete an ”s”, the end of his.
Only half finished, and not progressing, so I wandered over to the FT, where my self-confidence was restored. Plenty I couldn’t parse. Chuckled at HAVE NOTHING ON, and vaguely recall seeing this clue before. Never heard of Harry Kane.
Can’t say that I enjoyed this. Too smarty-pants for me. Thanks to manehi, and, grudgingly, to Soup.
Soup is definitely a wavelength setter for me and can be quite tricky. This one chimed, mostly, though I was totally defeated by the nho FOLEY which is going to be the word we all comment on today. I would not be surprised to find there is a Cambridge don by that name that our setter has squeezed in as a tribute.
I had a rather unsatisfying MAKE NOTHING OF for some time and only switched at the eleventh hour. ATRIAL was LOI – I still associate the word more with a space within a building than a heart. My bad. And I’m another who wondered whether a MANTEL is a sensible place to keep a library. I did like PSALTER, EMANATES, SEAGULL, STOMATA and DIURNAL.
As for COSTA, I’d accept it’s more difficult for non-UK solvers but I wouldn’t view including a brand name as advertising. We’ve had this debate many times. Brands are part of the world in which we live, just like actors, football teams and TV programmes and they all turn up in puzzles. It’s intriguing, though, as to why some raise an eyebrow and others don’t: Mars, Ford, Hoover, Apple all appear reasonably regularly, clued as themselves (I know those four have alternative definitions). I recall BIC stimulating the debate a while ago and wondering why that, to me, inoffensive little word was so controversial.
Thanks Soup and manehi
Definitely this year’s PB for the number of clues that I failed to parse. I think I have become lazy knowing the answers are here. Also, there is the time investment to consider. Thanks to manehi and soup.
I see on Twitter that Soup has drawn our attention to a hidden theme. Looking at those two strange words – the nho FOLEY and the unusually clued MANTEL, I am wondering if there is a connection based around the latter? There appear to be mantel clocks with names including FOLEY, SKELETON and PEACOCK (possibly SEAGULL, too) but that might be a total coincidence.
Pm@13 it’s *really* obscure (though not as in-joke as the Cambridge names). If you know it you will know it and if you don’t you won’t and I hope it doesn’t get in the way. Foley is not part of the theme.
Am I the only person here unfamiliar with what is obviously a crossword convention of referring to Spooner as “the Rev?” That’s my excuse for not parsing COCK-A-HOOP. We had the Crossword Fish, the IDE, too.
Very tricky parsing, and I was also defeated by SACRED COW, RECALLING and STOMATA, and ended up revealing FOLEY, though I do know what they do. I liked DANCE.
I have never put a book by MANTEL (or any other novelist) on my MANTEL, so I failed that one.
A DANCE and SONG theme?
KVa@16 closest so far 🙂 But it’s really really obscure so don’t spend ages hunting for it.
Thanks Soup for letting me know. ?
🙂
I liked LEAST and SACRED COW, but got quite bogged down and had to resort to word searches for FOLEY. Is Soup suggesting that we shouldn’t make a song and dance about the theme?
Is the hidden theme anything to do with the crossing cocks in 5A and 7D. That seems a bit unusual, or deliberate.
Oh, KVa and Soup have had a chat.
Re theme
There’s a skeleton waltz and a peacock waltz. But per our esteemed Setter’s instructions I am not gonna start plugging other answers +waltz into Google.
Thanks Setter and Blogger
Although it was a quick solve for me, I had several I could not parse. SW was last corner in as nho skeleton bob or Harry Kane.
Thanks to manehi for parsings and Soup for the fun.
I liked SACRED COW. The rest not so much. I’m adding MANTEL to my personal contenders for worst clue of the year
Cheers S&M
Defeated by the NHO FOLEY. That assist, though, I must have been on Soup’s wavelength as the rest went in reasonably easily, including parsing. Gladys @15: I haven’t seen the Rev trick before, but noticed HOOP->COOP which put me in mind of Spooner, so I twigged it then. Thanks, Soup and manehi.
Defeated by 16a, slightly irritating as I am a big rugby fan and Tom Foley officiated at the Rugby World Cup Final last Saturday.
The rest was rather elegant in my humble opinion. Thanks to both Soup and manehi.
NHO Mantel, and a couple of the trickier parsings defeated me. Otherwise I a nice challenge for a Friday with some straightforward anagrams to help unlock the grid.
Lots of words relating to the body…
NHO foley. Put in “nope” for 10a which held me up. Don’t like “fora” as a plural of “forum”.
Found this very tough. RHS was easier for me.
Failed to solve 16ac and I did not parse 3d.
Favourites: COCK-A-HOOP, SEAGULL, SACRED COW, MANTEL.
New for me: STOMATA.
Thanks, both.
Great fun but ultimately defeated by the three in the top NW corner. Didn’t twig the Reverend but one for the future. Guessed FOLEY (could only be that) and liked PEACOCK, MANTEL, SACRED COW, SKELETON and SEAGULL. Tough finish to a great week.
Ta Hamish & manehi
A DNF for me as I couldn’t get 16a FOLEY (I’ve never heard that word in relation to film sound effects, but I was consoled to see I was in good company in not having met that word before. As ever, I am just as happy to add a new word to the things I learned today). I also bunged in CASHA for 25d (“paying in cash” plus “a”) as I didn’t know that coffee chain. Even when it came to those I solved, I was in accord with several other contributors as I ran into trouble with quite a bit of the parsing. Thanks to manehi for all the explanations of those that were beyond me. I did like 12a MANTEL and the previously mentioned 14a SACRED COW. Thanks to Soup for a tough puzzle that outwitted me on the day.
Very much Friday fare, though nothing wrong with that. I couldn’t penetrate the NW so turned to the NE which I found to be mostly a write-in. The rest was a slow solve and I never did manage to crack the NW. MANTEL came to me quickly as I’m a fan, though I tend to read everything on Kindle these days. She is much missed. With thanks to Soup and manehi.
Got there in the end although only with help from Chambers as NHO foley. Great clue though!
Larry @7, my mother had two rows of Penguins on her mantelpiece, which was an ornate wooden affair with two shelves. We inherited her house and also put our small paperbacks there (but that was in the 70s).
Jacob @28, you really should try Hilary Mantel, alas no longer with us, but she wrote wonderful books especially a trilogy about Thomas Cromwell (Wolf Hall, Bring Up the Bodies, The Mirror and the Light).
No idea about the theme, but thanks to Soup and manehi for some Friday fun.
Hi all –
a) The theme is *really really obscure* and I don’t expect anyone to get it. I don’t know why I even mentioned there was one – it’s just a way in for me to put words in the grid. In this case it’s the band TELEMAN (hidden in STELE MANTEL); they have songs including SONG FOR-A SEAGULL, SKELETON DANCE and CACTUS, and their band members are PETE, TOM and HIRO (hidden in COMPETE, STOMATA and CHIROPODY). Worth a listen.
2. COSTA: I was unsure about this one, because of the UK-ness of it, but I liked the construction of the clue. I don’t know Australian coffee shop chains, but I wouldn’t mind if one were in. I’d have learned something.
3. MANTEL: Lots of brickbats for this one. It’s a shelf, isn’t it, and books go on a shelf? I don’t think it’s a horrible clue. Maybe not my best, but not emetic.
4. FOLEY: See also Best Boy Grip, Dolly Grip etc. in film credits. (WHAT DO THEY DO?!) A friend told me once that he went to see the foley artists in Hollywood and asked what their most unexpected noise was. Turns out that in the Passion of the Christ (Mel Gibson) the sound of the stone being rolled away from the empty tomb – literally the ‘big reveal’ in Christianity – is of a bearded bloke in a T-shirt dragging a broken toilet over a concrete floor. See also https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_tqB4IZvMk .
My personal favourite was STOMATA – I love the misdirection of ‘pores over’ at the start – and CHIROPODY for a similar reason, it was fun to hide the definition.
Right, back to work. Thanks all for comments, as ever.
H/S
Roundly, soundly defeated by Soup this morning. Even with FOLEY revealed I was blank faced. NW corner particularly tricky, I thought. The only sense of familiarity was when I got ATRIAL, as I’ve just participated in an AF medical survey. Think I’ll have a nice hot bowl of Mulligatawney now, though this setter too hot for me today, I’m afraid…
…can’t even spell Mulligatawny correctly, but interesting to get the setter’s comments between spoonfuls…
I don’t think “Foley” is outside of the realms of feasibility, certainly weighed up against stuff that always gets taken as “common knowledge”, like Cricket, or episode titles of Fawlty Towers or whatever. I’m very familiar with Foley work, so thought it a very good clue, whereas I could look forever at a clue that is referencing the (allegedly) common knowledge of … idk, the nickname of a Carry On character, and not guess it in a million lifetimes.
I guess, in summary, at least for my money… less clues about Only Fools & Horses and Eastenders, more clues about LOST!
Sorry Hamish_ couldnt get to grips particularly in the NW
I’m actually finding it rather reassuring that at least a couple of other people have never heard of Harry Kane. No longer plying his trade up the Seven Sisters Road, but in Bavaria. Still knocking the goals in of course…
Just like to say that, though I didn’t enjoy this, I have heard of FOLEY, but didn’t have a clue as to what he / she / it does.
Defeated by 16a. Seems a perfectly fair clue to me but maybe better saved for a grid where we get F_L_Y not _O_E_.
Not just tough but tedious too, with some very clunky surfaces I thought. Did smile at HAVE NOTHING ON, but otherwise not for me.
Good to see Soup back in the saddle with a nice Friday puzzle. I did Google FOLEY and MANTEL together to see if there was a connection but I’m glad I didn’t pursue the search for a theme (see Soup @36).
I liked the wordplays of SACRED COW, DANCE, STOMATA, SEAGULL (not penguin), and ENTRAP. However, I failed to parse RECALLING, which should have been easier than STOMATA (there must be a clue out there using tomata (?)). I also liked the anagram for INHIBITORS.
Thanks Soup and manehi.
Mostly very easy with just a few chewy ones with tricky parsing. A strange mix.
Thanks Soup and manehi
‘Atrial’ defined as ‘hearty’, and ‘chiropody’ as ‘footing’? Perhaps we need to re-think what ‘define’ means, or use another word in relation to this part of each clue. In particular, it now seems futile to apply an interchangeability test. Cryptic crosswords suddenly got a lot harder.
Really enjoyed this; LOI FORA!!!
It’s always the little ones…
I had no chance with COSTA. I tried CESSA, with cess being one of those obscure words for “tax” that I learned from having done these puzzles for far too many years. Still, I’m not going to complain about it–brands are definitely fair game in my book.
[In the US, we really only have two nationwide coffee chains any more–Starbucks and Dunkin (which removed the “Donuts” from its branding a few years ago–they sell more coffee than everything else combined). Tin Horton’s is slowly invading from Canada, but still hasn’t made it as far south as, say, Tennessee. Seattle’s Best was once a Starbucks rival, but has gotten outcompeted pretty badly.]
Strangely enough, I am not in the “never heard of Harry Kane” camp, despite being both American and not much of a soccer fan. He is, y’know, one of the best players in the world.
[Er, Tim Horton’s. My phone decided to auto-emend the man into a metal.]
I’ll probably not be believed now, but I did spot Teleman this morning, but I thought it was misspelled Telemann. I looked up the spelling and found they were an Indie band which led to Stone Roses, Pavement and several others I couldn’t see in the crossword, so gave up – yet so near.
Thanks, Soup. MANTEL seems fine to me – if one googles books on mantel piece you will find plenty of images. FOLEY I knew about (though I had forgotten the word), and I seem to remember a TV program program about these positions used in film credits; and it was a Guardian article fairly recently, too.
Thanks also manehi for several explanations
Thanks Soup and manehi
Hamish/soup@36 TELEMAN is very well hidden. I missed STELE
Got it now MANTEL EMANATES. I’ll get the hang of ninas one day
Sorry, I had misremembered an earlier version of the grid!
A theme more for Soup’s amusement than (most of) ours, I think.
I had a crazy knee-jerk answer for 3d! Skimming through the clue, I thought of the phrase, “last one in is a rotten egg.” Five-letter word that would be the opposite? FRESH. It made no sense at all, but the check button gave me the S, and I eventually thought of the right answer.
I’m going to put in another good word for Teleman, I did spot the band name and Pete when alerted to a possible theme above, but couldn’t remember the other names and neither of my favourites “Düsseldorf” and “Glory Alleluia” made the cut. Really enjoyed the lateral thinking and detailed parsing involved today, thanks manehi for explaining ATRIAL and Soup for the fun and challenge.
mrpenney@50 Maybe your phone had Tin Horton confused with (the) Tim Woodman.
Thanks, Soup and manehi.
Hamish/Soup @36 Even though I’m fond of Teleman (and, before them, Pete and the Pirates) I could never have spotted the theme. Good work though – Marc on 6Music will be pleased!
Among the clues, PSALTER, DANCE and DIURNAL were my favourites. And MANTEL wasn’t so bad.
Thanks to Soup and manehi.
I did take pains to stress that MANTEL was going on my personal worst clue contenders pile. It’s just a style of clue that leaves me cold – YMMV as they used to say
edit by manehi: a post by a different commenter that was previously at 61 has been removed. I’ve added this note as some following comments refer back to 61, which was not written by Mandarin
I’m very pleased to have completed this unaided, though it wasn’t quick and half a dozen were unparsed. Hats off to those who found it easy. MANTEL needs the crossers, but it’s not horrible. PSALTER, LEAST, SACRED COW I thought were excellent but my favourite was HAVE NOTHING ON – great DD with a nice surface. Thanks to Soup, and chapeau to manehi for the enlightenment.
Hermano@61: I’m a human. I’m here. I’m reading this. I’m sorry it didn’t push your buttons. But really, is it actually worth coming here and taking the time to post that? And, specifically, to post such a generalisation? If you don’t like it, don’t do it – but don’t slog your way through something you don’t like, then come and complain you wasted your time. It’s just a crossword – you can stop solving it whenever you want.
I set for fun and enjoyment, and the fact I get published is very pleasing to me; imagine if someone had come and said what you said about something which you do for fun and enjoyment and hoping that you give others fun and enjoyment out of it too. Please: take the time to think about comments like this, and that there’s a human on the receiving end. I’m not asking you to not have your opinions, just express them kindly.
As for others… seems a mixed bag of comments. Thanks for the compliments; other stuff noted; I’ll try to make things a little easier next time, particularly on words which not everyone might know. (I really did think more people would know FOLEY though.)
Thanks for the blog , pretty good overall with some clever clues, LEAST was my favourite . Azed used Reverend William a few weeks ago for his Spoonerism. I read about Foley in the Guardian last year and it was mentioned in a programme I saw about Orson Welles . I did wonder about a penin hawk until I had put the Downs in.
Soup @65 please do not make them easier , we need more hard crosswords in the Guardian.
@65 Roz. I agree. I enjoy a good brain work-out. Thanks to M and S. Enjoy your weekend.
@Soup #63, the comment you refer to was totally out of order. We found this quite tricky, but still very enjoyable. Thank you for your excellent efforts and keep up the good work.
I really enjoyed this crossword – it was both fun and clever. I’m not the most competent solver, probably much slower than most contributors to this site, and often have to resort to some form of cheating; not today however, so please don’t dumb down or change style Soup, as I agree with @65 Roz.
Disappointing to see the dogmatism of @61. The comment doesn’t seem to conform to Site Policy, and also fails to recognise the subjectivity and diversity of human experience.
Soup @63 – well said. I place the highest importance on being civil online, and I’m not going to make an exception for that prat.
I for one thought the clue for the late lamented Hilary MANTEL was clever.
The comment at 61 is rude and unpleasant, and totally at odds with the tone and purpose of Fifteensquared. I am sorry that Soup had to read it, when he is taking the trouble to enter into discussion with those who here.
Thanks, all. I’ve calmed down a bit now. Sagittarius@71: I’ve had worse (on the Guardian site for Araucaria’s birthday puzzle – along the lines of ‘Araucaria would have been disgusted’ etc.) It’s only a crossword…!
Couldn’t parse 7D and never heard of 16A. I expect to be stretched on a Friday but there is a limit.
I do not comment on this site very often, as I live in Canada and I’m often too late by the time I get here, but I want to add my voice to those who appreciated this puzzle and Soup’s in general. I am a relatively novice North American solver and often feel as if a given setter lives in a different world from me, but I find Soup’s crosswords to be accessible, if difficult. COCK-A-HOOP and FOLEY were unknown to me, but I take pleasure in learning new things. Thanks very much to Soup for the fun and Manehi for the blog.
Nice crossword, but my luck finally ran out this week – failed with 16. FOLEY as it was completely unknown to me. Having said that I did think of ‘foal’ so should have persevered and maybe I should get in the habit of checking dictionaries! Also entered 7. COCK-A-HOOP with zero understanding and likewise 23. SKELETON. I enjoyed being able to derive 2. STOMATA and 19. CHIROPODY from the constituent parts. Not sure why 12. MANTEL has had such a hard time – seems perfecty reasonable to me.
Many thanks to Manehi for the blog and the explanations and to Soup for a nice challenge.
As is usual when I have a DNF like today ( NW corner ) I tend to find, via 225, that the clues are perfectly constructed and it’s my fault that I didn’t solve them. I’m always grateful for the bloggers who explain what I’ve missed or where I’ve gone wrong. I once set a birthday crossword for my wife in which I included some words which had special meanings to her and even a nina, and just getting the answers in the grid was a challenge before I even set the first clue, so I really admire all the setters regardless of their style or my ability to solve them. Having the setter take the time to come on to 225 and join in the discussion is something I always welcome, so big thanks to Soup and Manehi.
Hamish/Soup – lovely crossword. A problem I had as a teacher was listening to the one bad evaluation rather than the many positive ones – glad that you seem not to have that silly issue.
Polyphone@77 Sadly, I’m entirely with you and will brood on this one for ages!! But I do take pleasure in the positives as well.
PS: I think I will now be looking for an opportunity to describe “Wolf Hall” as a Mantelpiece.
Was so certain 16a was FOGGY (fog = film, GG etc and not bothering to parse observantly) I went and revealed it. Was peeved to discover the answer, since FOLEY is a term I’ve longed to uncover in a cryptic. Berberian Sound Studio. Toby Jones. Oh yes.
For 7D, I consulted my father, who happens to be a clergyman. He told me that “OP” stands for the Order of Preachers. In that case, “stake” can be an instruction to drive the “a” between the two parts of the clue, as one would drive a stake into the soil, and “birdhouse” would be a Playtex, lifting and separating the “bird” to be COCK and the “house” to be HO, with the “A” driven between them and the Order of Preachers appended. No sign of Dr Spooner whatsoever.
I don’t usually join the weekday blogs but thought this was a, mostly sound, test. Thanks to Soup & manehi.
I failed to spot FOLEY though I had heard of the term but only two letters O & E out of five gives about a hundred words to choose from There is a very creepy film about a foley artist with, I think, Toby Jones.
“Berberian Sound Studio” is the movie
Thanks Soup. I only had time for one crossword today and I picked this one because of its rarity. I found it difficult and left six unsolved but I’d rather have my brain stretched than have a puzzle that’s too easy. I loved clues like DANCE, LEAST, and CACTUS, the latter for its surface, “I ignored caustic, irritable, prickly sort.” (Hmm … that’s funny in light of today’s blog.) Thanks manehi for the blog.
TassieTim@26: I don’t remember if I’ve ever seen Spooner clued like that, but I love Spoonerisms, and I got the reference right away. This one was excellent.
I think MANTEL was more than okay.
So we don’t even get “Spooner” now… I didn’t parse COCK-a-HOOP . Books on a MANTEL seemed odd to me and SW defeated me for Cornwall as I has s a w for that bit.
Otherwise a good test.
Thanks Soup and manehi
Dear Soup, Hamish
Please DROP that pointless, rather poisonous post straight down the loo and flush it far away where it belongs.
I’m feeling guilty now for giving up with MANTEL.
Solidarity. x
Horribly late because a busy day, but coming to say I enjoyed this, needed help with some of the parsing in the NW (STOMATA, even though I knew it from definition). I’ve seen books on the MANTEL, in old houses with fireplaces in bedrooms or set by interior designers.
FOLEY artists I connect with radio having seen a couple of live BBC radio productions with the sound effects being produced to one side of the stage, plus a play doing something similar set around Ole Opry style radio.
Thank you to manehi and Soup.
We (brother and sister team) enjoyed this and finished it which we don’t always do – horses for courses and this was great for us. We went to a play with a foley artist doing the sound effects side-stage earlier this year – it’s not such an obscure word? Thank you Soup and lots more please!
Also a Canadian reader so late to the party but hope soup,is watching. Having hung around with rather vulgar rugby players in my youth I was amused to see the answer to 7d placed next to the clue for 6d and thought that was going to be the beginning of a theme. A very enjoyable puzzle – difficult but not frustrating. Thanks to manehi for parsing some of the more obscure clues. I’ll have to remember SW for Cornwall.
Shanne@89 , the programme I saw about Orson Welles concerned his radio production in the 1930s of War of the Worlds , which caused such a panic . It mentioned all the tricks for the sound effects.
Late to post but want to add our voice to Roz@65 and many others, we are so happy to see a Soup crossword, and settle down to a meaty solve. There’s a quiptic crossword for those who want an easy solve, and yet many of the weekday crosswords are only of equal standard to the quiptic…..we would prefer a Soup standard every day! If the boundaries aren’t pushed a bit then the solve becomes anodyne and workaday.
Thanks to Soup and manehi
That was almost entirely impossible for all of yesterday and then finished in half an hour today. Those who burned themselves on Soup: leave it to cool for a bit.
Foley was my favourite. I’m surprised at the number of people who hadn’t heard of it.
quite a toughie this one, and I have to confess a DNF – I thought of FOLEY but didn’t write it in – never heard of the word except as someone’s name perhaps.
I’m not complaining about MANTEL (alas, not “is a writer” but “was a writer”, she died in September last year). I think as a rather cheeky cryptic/double def. it serves quite well – at least in the Graun (I wouldn’t try to get a clue like that past Mike in the Indy though).
For some reason I wrote in PENGUIN at 28a but left the parsing for another timeline – I couldn’t match PEN IN with “hawk” in any sense. It was only when I sussed ATRIAL – my LOI apart from FOLEY – that it clicked! And, annoyingly, the nearest Premier League team to where I live are the SEAGULLs….
RECUSED seems to me rather archaic – I remember using the word myself, it refers to someone who refused to go to church when it was compulsory. But in a tough puzzle like this, it’ll do.
Likes? I’ll go for SACRED COW and HAVE NOTHING ON. Oh and COCK-A-HOOP: the first instance I’ve seen in the Graun of a Spoonerism not containing the word “Spooner”. I’ve often felt that saying “the Reverend” is a good enough indicator – not everyone agrees, I guess.
Thanks to Soup/Hamish (good to meet you last Saturday) and Manehi.
Laccaria @ 95 I don’t think RECUSED is archaic – in recent years several politicians and / or officials both in UK and US have been asked / forced to recuse themselves from decisions in an area in which they also had an involvement.
Hamish, I’ve just – alas! – noticed the rather unpleasant post above by another commenter (who shall be nameless). Rest assured, I and the overwhelming majority of 225’ers are with you! I know what it’s like to get online abuse – don’t we all!? Stand firm!
Another LTTP Canuck here, with a comment more about the blog than the puzzle.
One of the things I like about this site is how, when (to steal from Tony and Soup) a caustic, irritable, prickly sort turns up, the community is quick to restore the congeniality and civility that is one of its trademarks. In a perverse way, the comment @ 61 served to remind us of this.
Unlike Roz and others, I prefer easier puzzles – I go for witty surfaces, rather than tricky constructions. (I’m a Gumby – I don’t like it when my brain hurts.) But I agree that the Guardian should try to appeal to all types of solvers. So give me Brendan, Arachne and Philistine, and give Roz Soup, Enigmatist and Maskarade. I can skip a day or two (and dip into the archive) without feeling hard done by.
So thanks, Soup, for the challenge and especially for joining in the discussion, and manehi, for the much needed blog.
Thanks again, all. I guess I’m a bit sensitive about negativity online, for assorted reasons. I hope it didn’t come across as ‘you can’t have negative opinions about my puzzles’ – I’ll happily accept constructive criticism (and there’s some to take from here). Your positivity is much appreciated!
I’ll bear everything that’s been said in mind for my next one, assuming I’m allowed back – and I have a Genius on the go, too, which I think will be infuriating (in the best possible way).
Simon S@96: I even hear it said in the voice of Lindsey Graham
Okay a tiny bit of criticism , perhaps constructive, concerning FORA, first though I really like the way the parts of the sentence are swapped . Quite the reverse usually means X is inside Y instead of Y is inside X. My quibble is with FORA starting with the F of FOR, it is not technically wrong , just not as elegant as a word totally hidden.
Cellomaniac@98 I actually think the Guardian should have two “easy” puzzles per week instead of the usual one, we just seem to get so many “medium” puzzles , often five a week . It would be nice to have one or two “hard” puzzles each week.
I have tried very hard this year not to rant when the puzzles are too easy, especially on a Saturday, but I will continue to ask for more of a challenge sometimes and the return of Enigmatist.
[ Roz@102, I find the medium ones to be just right, although the “easy” ones, when done by good setters (e.g., Matilda, Hectence, Carpathian) also give me much pleasure.
I usually start a Maskarade or Enigmatist, but when my brain starts to hurt I switch to the blog, in the hope of learning something. Then I treat myself to an archived Brendan or Arachne, and all becomes well again.
I have often thought that the Quiptic should come out on Thursday. That way, beginners and others who want easier puzzles are not limited to Sunday and Monday (and we would be spared the meaningless degree of difficulty comparisons of the Monday cryptic and Quiptic puzzles). ]
I’ve only just caught up with the comments. The comment that was previously at 61 has been removed.
Hamish – thank you again for the puzzle. I enjoy variety in crosswords, not just in terms of difficulty, but also in the personality of the setters that comes through.
MANTEL – I find that I end up with books on any and all available surfaces at home…
Manehi@103: wave 🙂 and thank you.
Roz@100: fair. This is actually a clue from real life – my wife described some meetings she’d attended as ‘a bit of a free-for-all’ and then my brain just whirred. I often wonder how many real-life sentences are actually clues.
Thanks Soup and manehi – a great puzzle, I very much enjoyed it!
I did begin to wonder if there was a medical theme somehow as FOLEY is also a type of catheter (and there is ATRIAL, and the no clothes (for examination), health camp, the double male appendages, and the “emanates/discharges” etc. overthinking!
I am a relative beginner and I enjoyed being able to do about half of this unaided, good brain stretch. I agree with the need for variety (which is why I asked which setters are more likely to be challenging last week so I can build up my own set of favourites). I also agree with maybe having the quiptic mid week as it seems they get harder as the week goes on, would mean us newbies don’t have a steady worsening fail rate and give up! Tho I won’t!
And I thought the MANTEL clue was excellent.
I’m late getting here, so I didn’t see the now-deleted comment. One of the things that I love about this site is that the tone of the comments is almost always constructive and friendly. I support efforts to maintain that, so, while I confess I’m curious as to the nature of the deleted comment, I strongly suspect that manehi did well to remove it.
I found this one of the toughest Guardian puzzles I’ve done in a while, but I’m not complaining: it’s good to have a range. I failed to finish it, having to cheat on about 5 clues, one of which was the controversial MANTEL. I confess I didn’t like that clue: there are lots of authors, and lots of places one might put a book, so it seemed overall too vague. But not all clues are going to please all solvers, and honestly if I’d figured it out I might feel quite differently!
As always, I appreciate it when setters come by to discuss their puzzles here, so huge thanks to Hamish / Soup (and of course to manehi).