This is Stamp’s 3rd appearance in the Indy – and the 2nd time we have had the pleasure of blogging one of his puzzles.
Another great puzzle from this new setter. Some lovely surfaces and a good variety of clue-types. 19d was probably our favourite for its simplicity
We realised on completing the grid that it is Tuesday – theme day. It took us rather longer than it should have done to realise that several entries could be preceded by the centrally placed RED – but we were staggered to find that no less than 18 of the 33 answers were thematic – this must be a record? A very impressive grid fill, achieved without having to resort to unusual words.
Bert completed the blog and realised afterwards that he had included HEART as one of the theme words. When Joyce came to check the blog, a quick search revealed a RED HEART rum and a RED HEART emoji as well as a film. Maybe Stamp will let us know whether he included it in his list.
Congratulations Stamp – we’re really looking forward to the next one!
Maybe Stamp will also cheekily comment, as his alter-ego did on our last blog, saying that we are once again very lucky to be at home – thus enabling us to blog another super puzzle.
A E round or ‘collecting’ DOB (date of birth – ‘personal data’)
PRIG (‘Holy Joe’) round or ‘inspiring’ VILE (base) + E (energy)
DISC (record) + an anagram (‘re-issued’) of LIAM’S
A reversal (‘in retreat’) of DEC (December – ‘month’) + A + R (first letter or ‘glimpse’ of Ronnie)
HERR (‘German master’) IN G (German)
An anagram (‘mysterious appearance’) of O (old) S (saint) and LURED
Even letters (‘missing odd bits’) in mArCh To EnD
REaD (study) missing or ‘not enjoying’ the ‘a’
A cryptic definition: an anagram (‘adrift’) of SET between A (America) and A (Australia)
Hidden in (‘extract of’) malT IS AN ESsential
ROE (‘many eggs’) BUCK (jump about wildly) – the ‘does’ being female deer
A homophone (‘gathered’) of WRITES (scribes)
ARIA (song) round AU (gold) CAR (wagon) – the Monkey Puzzle Tree from S America
REF (judge) with the last letter moved to the front or ‘cycling’ + MANTLE (obscure)
ALE (‘porter possibly’) R (right) T (time)
CA (circa – ‘about’) RD (road)
BOW (knot) SPlIT (cut) with the ‘l’ (left) ‘changing hands’ to R (right)
A homophone (‘reportedly’) of SELL (dispose of)
SP (Starting Price – betting odds) RINGER (double) – as in ‘dead ringer’
DIES (passes) + alternate or ‘occasional’ letters of tEsLa
DISCO (dance) + an anagram (‘for reparation’) of ARGUE
An anagram (‘change it’) of DEAD EH
D (day) E’ER (ever)
Hidden in (‘drunk by’) FlemisH EARThenware – ‘bottle’ as in courage
A clue-as-definition: ONES in or ‘described by’ INDIAN (an Asian)
HANKS (actor Tom Hanks) with the last letter or ‘ending’ moved to the front (‘top’ in a down clue) – we had to check this – apparently a SHANK is a bad shot in golf
A brilliant cryptic definition
S (small) QUaRREL (bolt – a crossbow arrow) with I (one) replacing (‘installed for’) the ‘a’
SEER (forecaster) round or ‘keeping’ TT (teetotal – ‘dry’)
TART (hooker) in ScrumS missing the middle letters or ‘depleted’
cRAFT (‘another’ vessel) missing ‘c’ (first or ‘initial’ letter of crew)
The ‘C’ from the previous clue replaces or ‘covers’ the first letter or ‘prow’ of bOAT
A (are) + alternate or ‘regular’ letters of dNa TeSt
Thanks Stamp and B&J!
Top faves: HERRING (great surface), LOURDES (An extended def?), AT SEA (an all-round beauty. The contrast between AT SEA and Pacific is nice too), ROEBUCK (lovely def), INDONESIAN (great CAD) and the RAFT-COAT combo (…what to say!).
Superb puzzle. Great blog!
And that theme! You have painted the town in RED Stamp!
Found this tough in places…
Was oblivious to the theme, not sure it would have helped…
Thanks Stamp n Bertandjoyce
I thought today’s grid might need to be coloured in. 😉
Welsh SPRINGER Spaniel – ‘The breed’s coat only comes in a single colour combination of white with red markings, usually in a piebald pattern’
Thanks PM & B&J
me@1
You have painted the town in RED Stamp!
Forgive me-there was a rogue in in it!
I didn’t mention DARK AGES in my faves list @1. How dim of me!
Here‘s some GK GK: Manchester City goalkeeper Ellie ROEBUCK “seeing red” last May.
I have LOURDES as a CAD or at least &Lit, the ‘mysterious appearance’ being the 1858 apparition of the Virgin Mary. Some very inventive clueing and a detailed theme which I missed although I saw RED HERRING. I liked the link between 26/28d. Favourites include SPRINGER for ‘odds’ and PRIVILEGE because I didn’t know Holy Joe. Thanks B&J and Stamp.
A welcome return for Stamp, with a very enjoyable puzzle.
For once, I can’t say, ‘I’ll go along with PostMark’s favourites’ and so I’ll have to list my own – a lovely variety of clue types with lots of smiles: 13ac HERRING, 15ac LOURDES, 25ac ROEBUCK, 27ac ARAUCARIA, 2dn BOWSPRIT, 4dn SPRINGER, 6dn DISCOURAGE, 7dn HEADED and 8dn DEER.
I didn’t see the theme until I’d finished and then, like B&J, I was astonished to realise how many theme words had been included. (How about REDACTED and REDRAFT?)
Many thanks to Stamp – come back soon – and to B&J.
Setter popping in early, as I have a meeting shortly, to thank those who have solved and commented thus far. I am delighted the puzzle seems to have gone down well; it was great fun to put together.
Dear B&J: what a delightful blog. I cannot thank you enough. You have correctly identified (nearly) all the themers, including ACTED and RAFT as mentioned by Eileen. Although it is only part of a solution, I did intend AT SEA to be a themer giving RED SEA. I didn’t have the nerve to claim SPRINGER – as FrankieG has discovered, if you put ‘red’ and ‘springer’ into Google, you do get tons of references to the Welsh Springer but the theme word is not part of its official name. If I am allowed stretchiness (!), ADOBE RED does appear in some colour charts as a dusty pink whilst a much brighter red is the official colour of the software company’s brand. And it was the RED HEART emoji I had in mind, though I’m not sure I’ve ever used one.
Thanks again. ❤️
Red adobe and Red [at] Sea as well?
Very good puzzle, SPRINGER and DISCOURAGE were my faves. Also liked the proper use of ellipsis to link clues, although I took far too long to realise I wasn’t looking for a three-letter word for the prow of a boat for 28d.
Thanks, Stamp and B&J.
(Edit: cross posted with Stamp! An adobe is a hut typically built out of red clay, hence the colour association there.)
On looking into it further, it seems adobe is the name of the red clay itself.
Another just adding my appreciation for a super puzzle, albeit pretty tough for this mediocre solver. Particularly liked CEDAR, ROEBUCK, SHANK (although the golfer in me shudders slightly to see the word in print) and the linked clues RAFT & COAT. Thanks Stamp.
… how could I forget … thanks B&J for an excellent blog!
This was an excellent puzzle, quite challenging in parts, but a pleasure to solve. I even found 17 themed items, missing only REDRAFT.
Many thanks to Stamp and to B&J.
Thoroughly lovely stuff Stamp, thanks for an entertaining puzzle and to B&J for an excellent blog. I thought the definitions here were particularly fun, including those for HERRING, AT SEA, ROEBUCK, ARAUCARIA, DEER, INDONESIAN and SETTER, plus a satisfyingly challenging mix of devices employed through – keep ’em coming!
Thanks both. Spotting the theme became my consolation for needing a little help – had not heard of BOWSPRIT nor did I know the meaning of Holy Joe which sounded to me like a vague American expression. I believe I have seen ARAUCARIA before, but having carefully constructed most of the answer I entered Araucania half-remembering the region – as my excuse, wagon and car will always be different types of vehicle to me; one for goods, one for people, though they are interchangeable when picking up the mother-in-law
Well, there you go. I could only see a mini theme relating to various kinds of deer! Well done and thanks B&J for spotting that and of course thanks and congratulations to Stamp. Next time I’ll try to be more explorative.
Thanks for the blog and the coloured grid , very helpful as i totally missed the theme.
Very neat and diverse set of clues, I actually liked RED the best , hard to clue a small word.
I agree with Widdersbel for the ellipsis , often just the clues are linked and not the answers.
Great fun, Stamp, even though I didn’t register the theme until much later in the day.
Favourite clue for me was SPRINGER with a nod to DARK AGES.
Many thanks to Stamp and to B&J for the review.
Great stuff. Nearly put in STAGger for ROEBUCK but that turned out to be a red HERRING. THANKS ALL.
Thanks Stamp, I enjoyed this immensely with my top picks being CEDAR, HERRING, AT SEA, DIESEL, and HEADED, the latter for its LED misdirection. I caught the RED theme early and that helped with a number of clues but it delayed my progress a bit in the NW because I bunged in ‘apple’ instead of ADOBE. Thanks B & J for the blog.
Setter visiting again to thank all who have solved and commented.
Picking up on one specific from earlier, Sofamore @7 picked up on the background I had in mind when constructing LOURDES which I did think was &littish. And Widders was right with adobe being the red/pink clay that gives its name to the buildings. (Probably insufficiently bold for the software company to adopt for its own livery). TFO @16: Holy Joe has two main meanings: you might be thinking of the military parson which is, indeed, more associated with the US. I was using the ‘sanctimonious person’ alternative which is in Collins. Roz @18: it is nice to see a shout out for the shortest word in the grid and I will admit to being chuffed when the construction suggested itself.
Best to all
Another enjoyable puzzle, Stamp, you’re getting rather good at this 🙂 The (ghost) theme whistled right over my head but the sheer number of thematic entries is impressive. Liked HERRING, LOURDES, RED, SPRINGER, DARK AGES and the RAFT/COAT combo.
Thanks Stamp and B&J
Stamp@22
LOURDES
I asked (@1) if it was an extended def, considering the same background (in all probability).
Your ‘&litish’ @22 answers my question. Thanks (Didn’t want to be left behind. you know!)!
Coo I found bits of this quite tricky indeed. Got the red bit early but didn’t help with the ones I struggled with. Thanks b&j and Mark/PM/Stamp for a great puzzler and lateral thinker. Great stuff old bean.
I was defeated by this but enjoyed the wit of the clues I solved, and am very impressed by the handling of the theme. Hugely impressive.
Thanks too for a marvellous blog, without which I wouldn’t have appreciated how smartly done the puzzle was.
Thanks Bertandjoyce and sorry this is so late but it took me until this evening to finish with BOWSPRIT, new word for me, and I missed the theme entirely! Really enjoyed the variety and challenge, thought LED very cheeky and 24d a nice reminder of the only position in the pack I never played. Great puzzle, Stamp!