A delightful puzzle from Bluth, which I really enjoyed solving and blogging. Some great surface readings and a wide variety of subject matter to test solvers.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Old men usually sit out together
SIMULTANEOUSLY
(O MEN USUALLY SIT)* with ‘out’ as the anagrind.
9 Ultimately Gordon Banks’s acrobatic jump inspired shot-stopper?
LENS CAP
An insertion of NS for the last letters of ‘Gordon’, ‘Banks’s’ and ‘acrobatic’ in LEAP. The insertion indicator is ‘inspired’.
10 Recall moment using exact replica and motion capture system?
CESSPIT
A charade of SEC reversed and SPIT. ‘He’s the spit of his brother.’ A very clever clue, and one of the reasons Bluth is becoming one of my favourite Indy setters.
11 Somehow isn’t as rat-infested after sending out echoes intermittently
IN FITS AND STARTS
(ISNT AS RAT INF[E]ST[E]D)* with ‘somehow’ as the anagrind. The removal indicator to ‘send out echoes’ is referring to E for Echo in the phonetic alphabet.
12 Discovering past life – yeah right!
AS IF
[P]AS[T] [L]IF[E] You need to read the instruction as ‘dis-covering’.
14 Supporters record cricket tournament – Test has no boundaries
DISCIPLES
A charade of DISC, IPL and T[ES]T [T]ES[T]. The IPL is the Indian Premier League, the big-money white-ball tournament in the sub-continent.
17 Public funds to cover work with carbon plumbing components
STOPCOCKS
An insertion of OP and C in STOCKS. The insertion indicator is ‘to cover’.
20 On reflection, Sunak and current government is submissive
GIMP
A reversal of PM, I for the SI measurement of electrical ‘current’ and G. My Collins has:
gimp (slang, chiefly US) n a lame person; a limp; a weak or submissive person
So if we read ‘submissive’ in the surface as a noun, we are home and dry.
22 Writer having stiff drink – it helps one get to the point
PENCIL SHARPENER
A charade of PENCIL and SHARPENER. The second element is a term, like ‘snifter’, that I always associate with elderly, gammon, handlebar-moustached Home Counties types reaching for the mahogany drinks cabinet. But that’s probably just me being patronising.
25 In France the party in charge is short
LACONIC
A charade of LA for one of the French words for ‘the’, CON, and IC.
26 Detectives scent returning trouble
DISTURB
A charade of DIS for Detective Inspectors and BRUT reversed. ‘Splash it all over,’ said Our ‘Enry.
27 Guide dog money emptied out before game
FOLLOW-MY-LEADER
A charade of FOLLOW, M[ONE]Y and LEADER.
Down
1 Will – one that’s written with wife oddly leaving photo
SELFIE
A charade of the author [Will] SELF and [W]I[F]E.
2 If established name begins to get into Communist policies?
MANIFESTO
An insertion of N, IF and EST in [Chairman] MAO. The insertion indicator is ‘to get into’.
3 Officially cool, acrylic, itchy trousers
LICIT
Hidden in acryLIC ITchy.
4 Acclaim as Dua Lipa makes comeback – using piano for single
APPLAUD
Bluth is inviting you to reverse DUA LIPA and replace the I (one, or ‘single’) with P for ‘piano’ musically.
5 Swapping ends once Des scrambles
ENCODES
A charade of ONCE with its outside letters changed – ENCO – and DES.
6 Alarming as courier, say, takes time and money
UPSETTING
A charade of UPS (the courier company) and T and TIN inserted into EG for ‘say’. The insertion indicator is ‘takes’.
7 Outcast quietly breaking wind from rear end
LEPER
An insertion of P for the musical ‘quietly’ in REEL reversed. The insertion indicator is ‘breaking’.
8 Put a relative under street arrest
STASIS
A charade of ST, A and SIS.
13 Partisan fighting in autumn, briefly
FACTIONAL
An insertion of ACTION in FAL[L] The insertion indicator is ‘in’.
15 Pop singer taking top off to reveal tattoo
INK
[P]INK This pop singer.
16 Playing Cluedo – Mr Green’s conclusion: it might be in the kitchen with a knife
LEMON CURD
(CLUEDO MR N)* with ‘playing’ as the anagrind. Another cleverly constructed, story-telling surface.
17 Provide with drink – trick is to avoid getting round in
SUPPLY
A charade of SUP and PL[O]Y.
18 Terms from HSBC to borrow money to start very profitable business
CASH COW
A charade of CASH (the ‘money, to start’) followed by COW. I want COW to be a banking abbreviation to make sense of the HSBC bit, but I can’t find anything to fit.
Edit: thanks to PostMark for pointing out that ‘terms from’ means the last letters of ‘HSBC’, ‘to’ and ‘borrow’, giving us COW.
19 Big characters from Sunday Times and Times should provide relief
STAND-BY
A charade of ST, AND and BY.
21 Investigator‘s right over cover of Bowie and Queen being Under Pressure
PROBER
A charade of P, R, O, B and ER for the late Elizabeth Regina.
23 Half dance after turning up disc by Hot Chip?
NACHO
A reversal (‘turning up’, since it’s a down clue) of O, H and CAN[CAN].
24 In retirement Duchess appears somewhat old-fashioned
PASSÉ
Hidden reversed in DuchESS APpears.
Many thanks to Bluth for our start to the Indy puzzling week.
18d is terms from hsbC tO borroW with CASH to start = CASH COW
LENS CAP
(A minor omission)
Ultimately acrobati-C.
PROBER
I took BE as the cover of Bowie and R as Queen.
Thank you, PostMark. Overthinking things as usual – or just muppetry on my behalf. Obvious when you point it out. I’ll amend the blog.
Thanks to Bluth for another enjoyable crossword and Pierre for an equally enjoyable blog
Parsed CASH COW as PostMark@1; LENS CAP & PROBER as KVa@2.
From The New York Times – Nov. 25, 1974 – a golden anniversary – ‘Fabergé Picks Mohammad (sic) Ali
… Fabergé is rushing three new 30?second commercials out to TV stations … All three star … the new heavyweight champion of the world, so naturally there is a bit of poetry delivered by the champ himself. “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, The great smell of BRUT and the punch of Ali.”’
Liked LACONIC – it goes nicely with AS IF
I was puzzled by how lemon curd “might be in the kitchen with a knife”. Is it just hinting it’s a spread? Or am I missing something?
Thanks both. Ideal level of challenge for me, with PENCIL SHARPENER providing a new word for alcohol, which is always useful, and STOPCOCKS providing the only minor uncertainty around ‘stocks’ equating to public funds, which I have taken to be in the context of the stock exchange.
GIMP has a few uncomplimentary associations but I thought the one linked to BDSM was implied in 20a where a gimp is a sexual submissive, almost always male, dressed generally in a black leather suit for sadomasochistic purposes. Not that I’d know. AnneH@6 ‘just a spread’ but the knife fits with the Cluedo surface. Thanks Pierre and Bluth.
I think that’s about it, AnneH. The surface is there to allude to the game of Cluedo, of course, in which a knife is one of the weapons of choice and the kitchen is one of the rooms in which the deed can be carried out.
I’m with TFO@6 – perfect difficulty level without anything that requires knowledge a non-UK solver would lack (though in the US the game is Follow THE Leader, so I had to confirm that one). Some absolutely brilliant clues – my favorites being MANIFESTO and APPLAUD (I admire the mind that sees her name and finds this connection). Bravo to Bluth and many thanks to Pierre.
Just finished the puzzle after lunch. Our LOI was 10ac which needed all the crossers before we could solve it. When we did, we both laughed out loud.
Thanks Bluth for the puzzle – especially 10ac. Keep them coming.
Thanks Pierre for the usual splendid blog.
Exactly the same as B&J @11 here. 10a was an absoulte gem of a definition and my LOI also.
Tiny typo in the blog Pierre – I think 14a T[ES]T should be [T]ES[T] according to your legend?
Thanks to Bluth for another cracker and to Pierre for the very well explained parsings in his blog.
Another good crossword from Bluth, where Pierre sums up my reactions perfectly. Thanks to both
Thank you Pierre and thank you everyone.
My intended parsing for CASH COW was indeed as PostMark suggests @1 and KVa has my intended parsing for PROBER @2 too. Cover of Bowie = BE AND Queen = R. But I can see how in a down clue, one might see it Pierre’s way also and either way feels fair, I think.
Thanks, rocket. Blog amended.
Lovely puzzle.
Thanks Setter and Blogger
One minor correction. The SI unit for current is A or Ampere (capitalised as it is a name).
I is a symbol used by convention in physical formulae. It is from Intensity / Intensité and was an original usage of M. Ampere in his groundbreaking work
Ew – 10a is my fourth-from-last one in .. I haven’t read anything here yet, but oh my goodness that is one brilliantly creepy clue!
Finally got there! Loved the big anagram for 1a SIMULTANEOUSLY. Also liked the brevity of AS IF and enjoyed the edgy GIMP. I’d not heard of SHARPENER, more a ‘sundowner’ upbringing myself. Thought through all manner of DIS* words (dispute, disrupt, … ) before twigging the lovely Brut scent (I remember the bottle and the ads) in DISTURB. Thank you Bluth!
Thanks Bluth for a solid crossword. I manage to get all the correct solutions though my parsing had a few gaps. My favourites were AS IF, APPLAUD (I recently saw a similar device in a Coot crossword), and PROBER. I was a surprised to see “autumn” mean “fall” without an American modifier. Thanks Pierre for the blog.
( I wondered for 1d whether “that’s” signified IE in SELFIE, with “one” giving SELF, but couldn’t get where “writer” came in. I’m gutted – he’s a favourite in the A Point Of View spot on R4 Sunday 08.45.)