Blimmin’ ‘eck this were tough. We limped to just short of the finishing line, failing to get 12 across and 11 down – comments welcome as ever. Didn’t enjoy this as much as usual, as there were a number of unfamiliar words that required a dictionary to confirm. Probably just gaps in our knowledge, but we look forward to finding out whether anyone else struggled this week.
ACROSS
1. PROD(ucts)
4. (a)ITCH
10. OPENCAST MINING (no menacing pits)*
12. Not sure on this one: ‘Holy person, male cut out to be cathedral artist’, perhaps ‘piper’? All is now clear. It’s PI PERson
13. CHE LATE< Not a word we knew, but easy enough to parse
15. CR(hEEP)Y
17. A T(H)OLL Didn’t know this word
19. PLEA TED
20. MO T E.T. Didn’t know this word either
21. CON FORM E.R.
23. LIVES IN THE PAST (invites the pals)*
24. DREW dd
25. NOSE (ones)* Correction – see Neil’s comment below: oNE’S Tired
DOWN
2. REPRESENTATIVE dd
3. DEN I’M
5. TOTEM IC anagram of ‘motet’, then I C ‘in charge’
6. HAIRPIECE sounds like ‘hare peace’
7. VA(RE)SE Didn’t know this either…
8. HIPPOPOTAMUSES (hit pompus apes)*
9. AGAR<
11. Not sure on this one either: ‘Twelfth in series then king? Four such series in this’. It looks like ‘Duck’ or ‘Dick’? DEC K – Thanks Gaufrid
14. AMORTISED (mediators)*
16. ODER<
18. LICE N(i)CE
19. PUN(CH)Y
20. MULL dd
22. OR PIN(e)
Hi Handel
I didn’t do this one but I think I can help.
12ac is probably [John] PIPER the artist who helped to design the stained glass windows for Coventry Cathedral, see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Piper_(artist)
I think 11dn is DECK – DEC[ember] (Twelfth in series) K (king)
Thanks Gaufrid, that’ll be it. 11dn’s definition is very subtle – clever stuff.
Definitely struggled with this. In fact I’m trying to avoid reading the answers as I post this, as I’ve yet to complete it, pending a second attempt!
I too found this tougher than usual from Quixote and wondered for quite a while if the unusual pattern of two four letter answers in each of the four sides of the perimeter meant is was thematic is some way, tho apparently not as the answers emerged. Just to elaborate on Gaufrid’s explanation of PIPER, I think it’s PI (holy) and PERSON less SON = ‘male cut out’
I thought that 23 across was excellent, such a natural reading for what was quite a long anagram – this kept it hidden from me for quite a while.
Great blog, Handel.
Glad it wasn’t just me to ztruggle with this then. Much harder than anything Quixote has produced for a while (well to me anyway)
Err struggle even
Late entry from the online community…
Thanks Handel.
I had an issue with 13ac – “ET AL” means “and others” not just “others”.
I’m not sure how you arrived at NOSE for 25ac – the definition is “somewhere comfy” and the answer surely is NEST, hidden in “One’s tired” with the indicator “Look for”.
Oops – changed my mind about 13ac – ET AL can of course mean “with others”!
I must have been inspired today.I did all but 4 clues.7d too obscure,never heard of 17a.I got 19a but ‘Old rocker?’ Delighted I got 10a.Like I’ve said,(ad nauseam!) love anagrams! 23a great!
A Teddy Boy or Ted was a UK rock fan from the 1950’s
Thanks Peter.
No one mentioned 11ac help please.
Foxy
Yeah, I was unhappy with 11ac as well, Foxy.
It was clearly “dream team”, since a vision is a dream, but why a team is necessarily a couple was a bit unclear (to me at least).
It would appear gents that 11a was difficult to understand as it’s not in the answers above! Perhaps it was all a dream