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Apart from a couple of oddities, a relatively gentle solve from Pasquale this week.
I am not picking up on any themes or ninas. I wondered whether something more subtle was going on with 8D (such as “anagram of ONE inside TAIL”), but I finally landed on a simple “cryptic definition.” 11A struck me as particularly ingenious, assuming that I have parsed it correctly.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | HERRICK |
Poet is country person admitting blunder (7)
|
| HICK (country person) around (admitting) ERR (blunder), referring to Robert Herrick | ||
| 5 | BOYCOTT |
Stay away from child sent to bed on time (7)
|
| BOY (child) + COT (bed) + T (time) | ||
| 10 | HEEP |
Dickensian character – follower, not leader (4)
|
| [S]HEEP (follower) minus first letter (not leader), i.e., Uriah Heep in David Copperfield | ||
| 11 | BOUNDARIES |
Feature of tsar – I establish frontiers (10)
|
| Something of a reverse clue: ARIES is hidden within [TS]AR I ES[TABLISH], thus a “feature of” this phrase is a BOUND ARIES | ||
| 12 | CARTEL |
Political alliance has yesteryear’s president changing sides ultimately (6)
|
| CARTE[R] (yesteryear’s president, i.e., Jimmy Carter) with the final letter (ultimately) R [right] “changing sides” to L [left] | ||
| 13 | LEMPIRAS |
Honey going round Paris splashing the cash (8)
|
| MEL (honey) reversed (going round) + anagram of (splashing) PARIS, i.e., the currency of Honduras | ||
| 14 | BLASTS OFF |
Bishop behind everything and so very loud goes up in the air (6,3)
|
| B (bishop) + LAST (behind everything) + SO + FF (very loud) | ||
| 16, 17 | TABLE WATER |
Back of restaurant – competent server pouring out one drink (5,5)
|
| Last letter of (back of) [RESTAURAN]T + ABLE (competent) + WA[I]TER (server) minus (pouring out) I (one) | ||
| 17 |
See 16
|
|
| 19 | OCTAHEDRA |
Oh dear, cat wrecked geometrical shapes! (9)
|
| Anagram of (wrecked) OH DEAR CAT | ||
| 23 | HASTIEST |
Most impulsive atheists being nasty (8)
|
| Anagram of (being nasty) ATHEISTS | ||
| 24 | HACKLE |
Comb horse – starts to look elegant (6)
|
| HACK (horse) + first letters of (starts to) L[OOK] + E[LEGANT] | ||
| 26 | MOBILE HOME |
Phone in caravan? (6,4)
|
| MOBILE (phone) + HOME (in) | ||
| 27 | RIAL |
Heartless opponent making money (4)
|
| RI[V]AL (opponent) minus center letter (heartless) | ||
| 28 | BERGSON |
Philosopher‘s bit of work absorbed by British disciple (7)
|
| ERG (bit of work) inside (absorbed by) {B (British) + SON (disciple)}, i.e., Henri Bergson | ||
| 29 | STABLED |
After mad turns was first to be put in beastly home? (7)
|
| BATS (mad) reversed (after . . . turns) + LED (was first) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 2 | EYEBALL |
Stare at end of spectacle – then you shout audibly (7)
|
| Last letter of (end of) [SPECTACL]E + YE (you) + homophone of (audibly) BAWL (shout) | ||
| 3 | REPOT |
Record in rubbish put in new container (5)
|
| EP (record) inside (in) ROT (rubbish) | ||
| 4 | COBBLES |
Workers at last having right to remove stones (7)
|
| COBBLE[R]S (workers at [a] last) minus (having . . . to remove) R (right) | ||
| 6 | OEDEMA |
Medical problem making one gutted – then made worse (6)
|
| Outside letters of (gutted) O[N]E + anagram of (worse) MADE | ||
| 7 | CARTILAGE |
For body tissue eat garlic misguidedly? (9)
|
| Anagram of (misguidedly) EAT GARLIC | ||
| 8 | TOENAIL |
One’s quick on foot (7)
|
| Cryptic definition, alluding, I assume, to the nailbed | ||
| 9 | QUALIFICATION |
Degree of moderation? (13)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 15 | SHEATHING |
The woman with an obsession offering protection (9)
|
| SHE (the woman) + A THING (an obsession) | ||
| 18 | ABALONE |
Sailor on his own gets food from the sea? (7)
|
| AB (sailor) + ALONE (on his own) | ||
| 20 | ACHIEST |
A child that is on the street suffering most from exertion? (7)
|
| A + CH. (child) + I.E. (that is) + ST (street) | ||
| 21 | RELEASE |
Relative comfort, what a prisoner hopes for (7)
|
| REL. (relative) + EASE (comfort) | ||
| 22 | VENETO |
Seven Etonians excluding outsiders in Italian region (6)
|
| Hidden in (excluding outsiders) [SE]VEN ETO[NIANS] | ||
| 25 | CAROB |
Caught a bird hiding in a tree (5)
|
| C (caught) + A + ROB[IN] (bird) minus (hiding) IN |
Born under the sign but didn’t spot the bound Aries, so a bung and pray. Lempiras, also a shrug at the time, now looks vaguely familiar. Otherwise, pretty straight I thought, thanks Pasquale, and thanks Cineraria (a favourite of the gardeners of my parents’ era)
I couldn’t parse BOUNDARIES, so thanks for that, I am sure you are right. And I missed the last bit of 4d.
Thanks both.
Thanks Cineraria. Wouldn’t have called it gentle myself, I thought it was a good workout that took me as least as long as the average. LOI was BOUNDARIES, I knew that had to be the answer early on but the device eluded me for quite some time. New to me were BERGSON and the Honduran currency but the crossers showed the way
I couldn’t parse the bound bit of BOUNDARIES, but saw the hidden Aries bit. I was organising a First Aid course last Saturday so didn’t get to sit down with the crossword until later on, but all done and dusted when I did.
Thank you to Cineraria and Pasquale.
Quite something to parse BOUNDARIES, Cineraria. I am very impressed. I add my name to the list of those that did not get it.
For me the obscurities and unknown words were more challenging than the cluing. Not excessive obscurities, but enough. I liked CAROB, SHEATHING, ABALONE and TABLE WATER given they had uncontrived surfaces.
Thanks to Pasquale and Cineraria
Annoyingly 4 Down, I had Pebblers (one who works leather by hand) without the R to get PEBBLES “Stones” and it fitted with the B from Boundaries, which I did get, so had to do a bit of rethinking to finish the top left corner. Never heard of honey as Mel, so that was my LOI.
Thanks Pasquale. I enjoyed this quite a bit but I needed outside help for LEMPIRAS because I didn’t know that mel=honey. My favourites included BOYCOTT, OCTAHEDRA, and STABLED. I couldn’t parse BOUNDARIES so I’m grateful to Cineraria for the blog.
Top faves: BOUNDARIES and TOENAIL (Went down the same route initially as Cineraria but remembered the nail-related meaning of ‘quick’…not quite quickly but at the very end)
EYEBALL
‘then you=’old/archaic you’, I think.
Enjoyed the puzzle. Thanks Pasquale!
A lovely and detailed blog to match the puzzle. Thanks Cineraria.
Another prize completed, so it must have been fairly straightforward.
KVa@8: Yes, quite plausible.
Thanks Cineraria – I am another who got as far as Aries then just shrugged and filled in Boundaries.
A good prize crossword which should and did have a few NHOs and stretches.
Thanks Setter and Blogger
I would not have thought of Mel for honey if not for the Paris part of the clue. I know it’s miel in French, but close enough to jog my memory . I had to check if Lempira was a currency somewhere. NHO the philosopher either and Google didn’t seem to be interested in helping me, but the wordplay fitted and it sounds like a name. I have found him since.
BOUNDARIES was a bung here too
Thanks both
I’m another who needed Internet help with LEMPIRAS.
This puzzle’s “president of yesteryear,” Jimmy Carter, is (knock on wood) still alive. He went into hospice care about a year ago, but has been resilient. At 99, he’s the oldest-ever ex-president, as well as the one with the longest ex-presidency. His wife Rosalyn died a couple months ago, though.
Good puzzle.
Had “trotter” at first for 8d which held me up in the NE but since 16/17 had to be TABLE WATER realised it was toenail. Like others saw the hidden ARIES but still couldn’t parse BOUNDARIES.
Liked: HERRICK, CARTEL, ABALONE, CAROB
Thanks Pasquale and Cineraria
Very enjoyable but I didn’t think it was that gentle a solve. It took me ages to think of HERRICK and BERGSON. I was helped slightly by memories of my childhood, some of which was spent in Malta, where we used to have a carob tree – I remember its black seed pods. Also, Malta was once known as Melita, the island of honey. None of which helped me parse BOUNDARIES, despite, like others, seeing the ‘Aries’ but not realising it was bound, and with no idea where the tsar came in. I’m impressed, Cineraria! Thanks, and thanks too to Pasquale.
Can’t imagine many people knowing the currency of Honduras off the top of their heads. Not a crossword regular either (unlike yen, say). Took me a while to remember BERGSON, but HERRICK went in quite quickly, which helped. On the whole, I thought this was Pasquale being gentle, but an enjoyable solve. Thanks to him and to cineraria for the excellent blog.
Thanks for the blog, good set of neat and tidy clues, BOUNDARIES my favourite , I always like this device. I was not totally sure for LEMPIRAS. mel for honey turns up in Azed but I had two choices for the Paris and the most obvious gave the answer. VENETO new to me so glad it was hidden.
Grant@1 , still fairly popular in the UK , especially formal bedding in parks etc, commonly known as silver leaf.
Like most of us, I found 11a hard to parse, and I wasted time trying to find how ts=bound, so thanks for clarifying, Cineraria. I was doubtful about mel meaning honey, without some indication it was a foreign word (eg, ‘honey for Caesar’ or ‘honey in Lisbon’), but Chambers reassures that it qualifies as English, mainly pharmaceutical.
I looked for a theme, perhaps of currencies or terms in medicine and anatomy, but I agree there are not enough of these to provide a theme.
I wondered about mel = honey too but remembered mellifluous can mean honey toned.
@biggles. I also knew the honey tongued / honeyed derivation and meaning of mellifluous – always helped me remember the french word for honey.
COBBLERS.
This is not a comment. I thought S&B were excellent. Just a question though whether WORKERS needs an EG or ?
COBBLES
Workers at (a) last=COBBLERS as the blog says.
(last: the wooden or metal form on which a shoe or boot is fashioned or repaired).
KVa and Cineraria and Pasquale,
Completely missed the AT LAST. Very sorry. I now see that this is clue of the day.
Enjoyable puzzle. Lower half was easier for me. Solved the NE corner last.
Favourite: COBBLES, CARTEL (loi).
New for me: HACKLE = a steel comb for dressing flax; philosopher Bergson, Henri; English poet HERRICK, Robert (1591–1674); LEMPIRAS = the basic monetary unit of Honduras.
I could not parse 11ac although I saw ARIES in tsAR I EStablish.
Thanks, both.
Like (many) others, I saw ARIES but not the BOUND bit. (I should have gone back to that clue, as I may then have got it.) An enjoyable experience nevertheless, and not what I would call gentle or easy.
Thanks Pasquale and Cineraria.
Yes, I thought this was at the easier end of the Pasquale spectrum.
I stared for some time at my entered STABLEs and then shrugged and moved on. I did like ‘splashing the cash’ for LEMPIRAS, the surfaces for TABLE WATER and OEDEMA, and the ‘workers at last’ for COBBLES. I did spot the BOUND ARIES, another good one.
Thanks Pasquale and Cinearia
Disciple had to be SON, but I can’t say it’s a usage I would think of. Sons used to rebel (a bit) in my day. Apart from that, all good, although LEMPIRAS took a bit of believing.
Thank you Pasquale and Cinearia.
Happy overall on completion. Broadly in agreement with Cineraria. I wrote down BOUNDARIES as a possible fit early on, but it took me a long time to work it out. Rather clever. CAROB likewise. I didn’t like the contortion ‘having right to remove’ in 4d. I note Cineraria’s uncertainty about TOENAIL. I am still unconvinced that it is a synonym for QUICK, but I put it in for completion. SOED: ‘tender or sensitive flesh in any part of the body, as that under the nails’. WIKI: ‘a seal that protects the nail bed.’
I’m full of admiration for and astonishment at those who found this at the easier end of this setter’s spectrum. I felt very pleased with myself for spotting ‘then you’ (as per KVa@8), ‘workers at last’ (@22) and the parsing of BOUND ARIES (my clue of the day), but ‘disciple’=SON defeated me, not helped by having never heard of that French philosopher (1859-1941) https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/bergson/. Another nho was the Honduran currency; one of my pet peeves is when unknown (to me) words are clued by an anagram, as this one was, so that even with the crossers one can never be sure of the answer.
“Apart from that, Mrs Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?” Actually, it was mostly very enjoyable, and it wouldn’t be the Don without a handful of obscurities, would it. 🙂
Thanks to Pasquale and Cineraria.
(I edited to insert the link to Bergson, but it can only be pasted in edit mode, not inserted.)
I parsed 11a but can’t say I liked the device. Definitely a solve first and parse later.
I remembered HERRICK from “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may” and BERGSON from I don’t know where or when. There’s always at least one new word for me in a Pasquale puzzle and this week’s was LEMPIRAS – clearly clued.
I parsed the YE in EYEBALL as KVa @8 but Cineraria’s version also works though the “then” wouldn’t be necessary.
Thanks to Pasquale and Cineraria.
Good fun – BOUNDARIES and the workers at last were particularly amusing. The Central American moolah was unknown to me, but I spotted the reversed MEL and -PIRAS was the only possibility once I had the crossers.
VENETO was a write-in for me of course, and one of the few Italian regions adaptable to this type of clue. Try hiding Friuli-Venezia Giulia 🙂 .
Thanks to the Don and the daisy
Thanks Pasquale and Cineria. Well I spotted BOUNDARIES ok but then failed with the obvious (now) STABLED. I had STABLES and couldn’t understand how. Otherwise, I needed a bit of help from Google for poets, philosophers and currencies.
JohnJB@28
TOENAIL
I think the clue needs to read as
One has quick-on foot.
KVa @33. I see that ‘One’s’ could mean ‘One is’, but not ‘One has’?
Thanks to cineraria and pasquale! Enjoyed this one, dipping my toes into the prize and managed to get all but a few—found it very tricky but not ungettable! Loved ABALONE and BLASTS OFF
KVa@33. ‘One’s’ could be ‘One has’ past tense, but surely not ‘One has’ possessive?
Thanks both and a fine entertainment, though it didn’t last too long (but then I dip in and out of the prize so it lasted long enough).
I had similar reservations to sheffield hatter@29 about ‘son’ = ‘disciple’ but hey-ho. BOUNDARIES got my ‘watery’ mark but I did figure it out so the setter wins. COD for me was the elegant CAROB (and it shows that we all can change – it’s not so long ago that a matryoshka like this would have had me knuckling my chin).
JohnJB@36
TOENAIL
In the surface reading, the clue reads: One is quick on foot
In the cryptic reading, the clue reads (Or so I think): One has…
Call it the cryptic grammar!
JohnJB @36: I’m with you on this and I’ve complained about it in the past, but I’m now more or less resigned to it. The deceptive ‘apostrophe s’ is a common device but I don’t think it works well with pronouns. The contraction of ‘[pronoun] is’ tends to be used only in subordinate clauses and ‘…if one’s an adult’ would never be interpreted as ‘if one has an adult’.
…. In fact you can use ‘He’s’ in a main clause, but ‘One’s’ Is decidedly rarer
… and only as a contraction of ‘has’ rather than ‘is’ when it is an auxiliary verb rather than indicating possession
SH@29 and AA@37 eg Dombey and Son, perhaps? Surely there are many more examples.
Sons of the Desert – Disciples of the Exhausted Ruler
And, the same day I posted about it, the New York Times featured an article about Carter’s resilience, here. It’s behind their paywall, and it’s not that interesting, so don’t waste a free article on it if you don’t subscribe. But the coincidence of my mention and theirs deserves to be mentioned. Apparently he’s in fact at his one-year anniversary of hospice.
Anyway, he’s hardly yesteryear. He’s still here!
Thanks mrpenney@13 and 44 for the information about Jimmy Carter, which I found interesting. Glad to be able to come here to understand BOUNDARIES at 11a. I was a DNF as my impulsive (!) entry for 23a, CATTIEST, was incorrect and should have been HASTIEST. I found it a challenging puzzle. Thank you to Pasquale and Cineraria, and to other solvers for your contributions.
KVa and others re 8d.
I read this as One (of these, i.e. a toenail) is (a) quick on (the) foot.
I too doubted son=disciple but on this occasion stirred myself to look in Chambers and it’s there and fairly early on in the entry.
.
Lot of debate on TOENAIL I’d like to suggest the clue “One is over-quick on foot”. The hyphen could be left out if you think the surface can manage without.
TABLE WATER was pretty clear, but I’m not sure where I’ve heard the expression. If it comes free in a jug, I’d just call it ‘water’. And when some pompous waiter asks “sparkling or still, sir?” (cheek!) I’d glower at him and say “in a carafe please”. In France, I’m told, they will sneeringly (behind your back) refer to it as “Château de la pompe”. Ho hum…
Thanks to the Don and Cineraria, anyway. I don’t often get around to doing the Prize, but this was fun.
Love reading the explanations. Can we just take as read that we are all grateful to the setters and the guys who put this website together! Harrumph..