Thank you to Vlad. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 Value greatly as singer? (7)
CHERISH : CHER(American pop singer) –ISH(suffix indicating likeness/as).
5 Compare white American coming in with sweetheart (7)
BALANCE : BLANC(white, in describing such wine) containing(… coming in) A(abbrev. for “American”) plus(with) middle letter of(…-heart) “sweet“.
10 Call round (4)
RING : Double defn. 1st: … on the phone.
11 For one promoter going round it’s horrible – stay strong! (5,2,3)
TOUGH IT OUT : [ TO(for, as in “the missile was heading for its target ….” or “it was for his advantage that he did …”) + I(Roman numeral for “one”) + TOUT(a promoter/a solicitor) ] containing(going round) UGH!(an expression saying “it’s horrible!”).
12 Man shot in the arm shouting (6)
PHILIP : Homophone of(… shouting) “fillip”(a shot in the arm/a booster).
13 Cool touch? Sort of (2,1,5)
IN A SENSE : IN(cool/trendy) + [ A SENSE ](touch being one of the faculties/senses by which the body perceives external stimulus).
14 Winger receiving ball turned like this, look (9)
GOOSANDER : [O(letter in the shape of a ball) + reversal of(turned) SO(like this/in this manner) ] contained in(receiving …,) GANDER(a look/a glance).
Would have been easier to solve and parse if the first and last words in the clue were interchanged, especially since a gander is another winger.
16 Shoot yak by Siberian border (5)
STALK : YAK(talk/chatter) placed after(by) 1st letter of(… border) “Siberian“.
Defn: … of a plant, say.
17 Bully occasionally shut up about prison (5)
GULAG : 2nd and 4th letters of(… occasionally) “Bully” contained in(… about) GAG(to shut up/to prevent from uttering).
Defn: … camp with harsh conditions and forced hard labour.
19,27 Like little ‘un latching on to bosom – it should prevent problem later (1,6,2,4)
A STITCH IN TIME : AS(like/similar to) + TITCH(a little ‘un/a child) plus( latching on to) INTIME(intimate/bosom/very close).
Defn: …, per the proverb, “…. saves nine.”
23 Might masochist do this religiously? Very much so (4,4)
LIKE HELL : Cryptically, a masochist/one who likes to torture himself/herself would like hell/a tortuous place, religiously speaking.
24 Hole up after Birkdale’s seventh, one down round start of eighteenth (3,3)
LIE LOW : 7th letter of(…’s seventh) “Birkdale” placed before(after …) [ I(Roman numeral for “one”) LOW(down/nearer the bottom) containing(round) 1st letter of(start of) “eighteenth” ].
A golfing surface.
26 Don’t go yet, can one shag hurt? (4,2,1,3)
HANG ON A SEC : Anagram of(… hurt) CAN ONE SHAG.
A sexual context.
27 See 19 across
28 Hit back, right? (4-3)
REAR-END : Reverse clue: r(abbrev. for “right”) = last letter of(-END) “REAR“.
29 Payment and a bit extra in post (7)
STIPEND : TIP(a bit extra/an additional sum of money given as reward for a service) contained in(in) SEND(to post/to transmit).
Defn: A regular ….
Down
2 Resigned expression from most of crew in water? (5-2)
HEIGH-HO : “eight”(the crew of a rowing boat, comprising eight oarsmen) minus last letter of(most of …) contained in(in) HHO(or H2O, the chemical formula for water).
3 Splendid drink knocked back (5)
REGAL : Reversal of(… knocked back) LAGER(an alcoholic drink).
4 Attack arrangement that’s working (3,4)
SET UPON : SET-UP(an arrangement/structure) plus(that’s) ON(working/functioning).
6 Button it! A horny fellow’s seen round monastery (6)
ASHRAM : SH(button it!/shut up!) contained in(…’s seen round) [ A + RAM(an adult male sheep, with horns/a horny fellow) ].
Defn: … in India.
7 Real jerk tailgating car, ignoring old woman (9)
AUTHENTIC : TIC(a jerk/a spasm of the muscles) placed below(tailgating, in a down clue) [ “auto”( American informal term for a car) minus(ignoring) “o”(abbrev. for “old”) + HEN(in Scottish, an affectionate term of address to a woman).
8 No clues solved, in brief (7)
COUNSEL : Anagram of(… solved) NO CLUES.
Defn: A …/a barrister.
9 Empty seats basic unless travelling here (8,5)
BUSINESS CLASS : Anagram of(… travelling) [ All inner letters deleted from(Empty) “seats” + BASIC UNLESS ].
Defn: …, ie. that section in an aircraft in which one might be seated when travelling, and where there may be empty seats in the basic Economy class section.
15 He prefers to have his meals late (9)
SCAVENGER : Cryptic defn: One that feeds on the decaying flesh of animals that are dead/late.
18 Go in truck – could be rain (7)
URINATE : UTE(Australian informal term for a pickup/small truck) containing(in …) anagram of(could be) RAIN.
Defn: …/to pee.
20 One about to punch sick sex criminal (7)
ILLICIT : [ I(Roman numeral for “one”) + C(abbrev. for “circa”, about/approximately when refering to dates) ] contained in(to punch) [ ILL(sick/ailing) + IT(euphemism for “sex”) ].
21 Feted test of stamina? (4,3)
IRON MAN : Cryptic defn: An exceptionally strong man, perhaps the celebrated/feted winner of the Iron Man sporting contest, which is a test of stamina).
22 Check on homes (4,2)
REIN IN : RE(with reference to/on) + IN,IN(2 x “home”, as in “I’ll be home tonight”).
25 Bar in ‘The Grapes’ closes – at ‘Crown’ (5)
ESTOP : Last letters, respectively, of(…’ closes) “The Grapes” plus(at) TOP(the crown/highest part of something, a head, say).
Defn: In legal terms, to ….
Took FETED as FE + TED iron + man.
I found this chewy, but all in and parsed, except PHILIP, where I didn’t think of a homophone, I got stuck on LIP as shouting. Doh.
Several grins as pennies dropped while solving this. I agree with Hovis @1 for IRON MAN, which was one of my earlier solutions.
Thank you to scchua and Vlad.
Thanks Vlad and scchua
I laughed at FOI CHERISH – it reminded me of the Uxbridge English Dictionary (there is an online version of the book, but I got a hazard warning when I tried to access it).
I didn’t see INTIME, or see how “feted” worked in 21 – I think Hovis @1 has that right.
So, Home(s) = In In at 22d. Well now…
As a matter of fact this was my last one in, briefly preceded by the other intersecting clues I found tricky in the SW corner, GULAG, REAR END and URINATE.
Came back to this after a morning snooze with much greater success than my first attempt.
Found the clueing very fair, though didn’t know ASHRAM, and ESTOP was a bit of a half remembered legal term.
So the winger at 14ac wasn’t Bukayo Saka or any of the other young men dashing up and down the touch lines in Germany this last month. Struggled to see how GOOSANDER parsed, so many thanks Scchua. Enjoyed the journey…
[I meant to say that over the winter, goosanders were by far the commonest bird on our local canal reservoirs – lots more than even mallard. One day there were over 50!]
I parsed IRON MAN as Hovis@1 did. Neat lift-and-separate.
Not a clear round this time as I didn’t know ESTOP and eventually gave up and revealed GULAG/URINATE (both of which I should have got, though the UTE is a bit of a stretch for UK solvers). Typical Vlad mix of fun and exasperation: I liked the “homes” in REIN IN, and the H2O in HEIGH HO, got confused by the GANDER in GOOSANDER, and couldn’t work out where the tout fitted into TOUGH IT OUT.
So it was “intime” in A STITCH IN TIME. I thought I was missing something. And is BLANC a legit English word for white? After I solved that, I thought there should have been a French-word indicator.
Thanks Vlad and scchua.
I found this tougher than yesterday’s Enigmatist, but more elegant and pleasing. Five left over, including Goosander, which I really should have got. Thanks to both.
I agree with Gladys@6, except I got estop more out of luck than anything. Vlad is annoying and fun in equal measure.
Enigmatist, then Vlad, I wonder what tomorrow will bring?
My computer and I solved this with ticks for TOUGH IT OUT, GOOSANDER, REAR-END, HEIGH-HO, REIN IN and the good cd for SCAVENGER.
Thanks Vlad and scchua.
Thanks Vlad & scchua. I toughed it out, enjoying the challenge but failed to parse GOOSANDER and REAR END.
Loved the compact ‘check on homes’, ‘feted’ and the late meal.
Sauvignon blanc, blanc mange? Still French I guess.
I think BLANC as a generic term for white wine is sufficiently assimilated into English to not need a “French” (or even “Nice”) indicator.
Tough puzzle. I could not parse 28ac or 19ac apart from AS TITCH = like little ‘un.
9d – I find this clue confusing – I get the anagram part of empty seats=SS BASIC UNLESS travelling – does that mean the definition = here?
I thought that 15d and 21d were quite weak as clues. But I like Hovis@1 explanation of FE+TED.
New for me: ESTOP = bar / to stop; GOOSANDER.
Thanks, both.
This was great fun, my favourite being the brilliant HANG ON A SEC.
I also enjoyed 1a. The article in the Guardian a couple of weeks ago saying that in cryptic crosswords “singer” is always Elvis was nonsense – we all know that it’s always CHER.
I agree with Hovis about IRON MAN but I do have a slight quibble about it. “Ted” for MAN really needed a definition-by-example indicator. I don’t think the question mark at the end of the clue is sufficient as it’s nowhere near “Ted”.
But that’s a minor point. Many thanks Vlad and scchua.
I struggled through three quarters, and completely failed on the NW (apart from the gentle 10A). Oh well, on to tomorrow.
michelle @13: I think BUSINESS CLASS is a CAD (clue as definition).
I also parsed FE TED as Hovis @1. Rather neat – if somewhat unforgiving but then what should we expect from Vlad. It’s a different kind of difficult to yesterday: the terse style gives very little away, especially when tricks like FE TED, HHO = water or homes = ININ are being employed. Or brutal synonyms like ‘for’ = TO. And how many of us knew INTIME I wonder?
Still, I am not complaining. I got through it and it was rewarding to be able to parse the vast majority. My only failure was SCAVENGER and it is often the way with cryptic defs. All about wavelength. I suspected something along those lines but the right synonym would not come to mind
Thanks Vlad and scchua
…and another winger at 26ac, or have I misinterpreted the meaning of Shag there? Mustn’t be prudish, though…
Can someone please explain why INTIME means INTIMATE/BOSOM/VERY CLOSE?
Witty and elegant clueing from a favourite setter. Vlad has a great range of depth, very rewarding. Paulesque in places. Dare I say a treat after yesterday….
Tough, but (IMHO) much fairer than yesterday. Sav blanc is Aussie enough for me. I’m with Lord Jim@14 on HANG ON A SEC. Thanks, Vlad and scchua.
Full of joy and wit and elegance – some remarkably short clues which left me staring and wondering how they could work, followed by numerous head-slaps and laughs. When you got an answer, you knew it was right. Thank you Vlad and scchua – immense fun.
21d IRON MAN – is a Playtex, not a ‘lift and separate’. And we’d need to do a Gossard on the Marvel Hero (4,3) solution to get the ultra-Triathlon (7).
If you say so, FrankieG@23. I’ve never really understood the difference.
Such fun to solve, with an array of creative morsels…
Far from Vlad at his toughest, but still enough thought required to ensure pleasure and appreciation
SCAVENGER was superb; CHERISH, PHILIP, LIKE HELL and URINATE were pretty good too. And so on …..
Many thanks both and all
@David #19
intime /ɛ̃-tēm’/
adjective
Intimate
Small and cosy
ORIGIN: Fr
From Collins
Phew…
Roared through 80 percent, but just could not crack the SW corner, eventually having to reveal GULAG & URINATE (which last I’m now forced to admit is rather good.)
Rats.
…meant to add that HANG ON A SEC was an absolute beauty…
michelle@13
BUSINESS CLASS
(It’s a CAD as Lord Jim says tho the blog doesn’t explicitly indicate so)
From the KLM website:
The term ‘Empty Seat’ refers to a seat in Economy Class next to your own seat that is not occupied by another passenger for the duration of the flight.
I think the clue means: Vacant seats in BUSINESS CLASS won’t be called empty seats. In other words ‘empty’ seats in BUSINESS CLASS aren’t basic. Actual empty seats are in the basic economy class.
Similar to you, William. though I wouldn’t say I “roared through” the rest! But SW corner meant resorting to my wordsearch device for anything that’d fit the few letters I had got. Completed eventually but, as with yesterday’s, I found this too tough/obscure to give much pleasure. I appreciate this is a Friday Cryptic and due to be testing and there were certainly some clever, amusing clues. Probably just my inadequacies!
Far fewer comments than usual — wonder why?
I don’t know about you, but anything I eat is already dead. Does that make me a SCAVENGER?
PHILIP is a pretty weak clue, with “man” as the definition. (Others have griped about this before.) And with “Ted” = “man” in another clue ,,,
But I loved HHO!
Kva, what do they call empty seats in BUSINESS CLASS?
Thanks, Vlad and scchua (nice pictures!).
[For completeness, scchua’s picture is of a female goosander. See the (very elegant) male here. ]
Testing whether comments can be sent.
Having trouble posting comments
Like many commenters before me, I found this tough, but also like many before me, found it much more enjoyable than yesterday’s. If I had the time I might try to dig in to why (for me), but with Wimbledon and the Euros I’ve been a couch potato recently, so maybe not.
I too found this quite tough – also very enjoyable. I got held up by ASHRAM and GOOSANDER, but I got there in the end.
Either my solving skills have dramatically improved since yesterday or today’s clues were much clearer than yesterday’s!
Thanks to Vlad and scchua.
Done lots of Vlads, but aging brain has to re-remember his elided operators, like the ul from bully [that has] gag around it; or receiving oos [is] gander. Needs oiling old neural pathways, like switching old rusty railway points….
Thanks for the blog, very neat puzzle, bottom left was tricky. AUTHENTIC flows very nicely, GULAG is clever , feted a quite novel Playtex, I went to watch the UK IRON MAN very recently, they do not swim very far , perhaps it should be aluminium man .
Ronald@4 a break often helps, very under-rated . If the clue was Saka etc it would be diver not winger.
… hey ho (not heigh: always thought the dwarves were going off to work happily, not resignedly. Could be wrong, hey, er, whatev …)
Grant@39 not all of them were happy , at least one was grumpy.
Valentine@31
BUSINESS CLASS
When you want to block an empty seat for a price (for better comfort), that is in Economy Class. Such a provision doesn’t exist/is not needed in BUSINESS CLASS. That said, I don’t know if there is any specific airline term for vacant seats in BUSINESS CLASS.
[I admired the Iron Man champs until a certain Oz power couple endorsed a breakfast cereal that was 30% sugar, erk!]
Enjoyed this very much–a workout in places but clever and for the most part fair, maybe Enigmatists softened me up for it! Loved HHO in Heigh-Ho and the IN IN for “homes” freshened up a chestnut. GULAG and ILLICIT nice constructions as well, and a few others.
Quibbles: The “man” (or “woman” or “girl”) for a name thing always bothers me, strictly it could mean anything from your Philips and Bobs to Martevious or Jackson or Brayden. “Feted” was clever enough to justify it (and clear from crossers, enumeration, and definition) but I didn’t like “Philip.” Also, “rear-end” defines r and “r” defines right but does it work transitively? I don’t think “Rear back after battle begins–smart! (6)” would pass muster.
Again, though, nice puzzle, thanks Vlad and sschua!
[FrankieG@23 and Roz@38–I’ve never heard of a Playtex in this context, what’s the difference between it and a lift and separate?]
David s @30. Sorry to disappoint you, but it’s only Thursday as far as the crossword is concerned
Beaten to the punch by Valentine @31. Surely the carnivores that consume their prey live are the exception rather than the rule. What distinguishes SCAVENGERs is that they don’t do the killing. Perhaps ‘find’ (his meals lte) would have been better than ‘have’, perhaps with some massaging of the surface.
Enjoyable. Faves PHILIP and STALK. Another who’s never heard of intime. Apparently my spellchecker hasn’t either!
So, is a little goosander a goslingander??
Thanks, scchua and Vlad
I’ve had another look and realised that I had a different take on STALK. I wouldn’t equate stalk and shoot in the plant sense (different parts of the plant), but they are more equivalent (as nouns) in the game shooting context.
Kva@41 I didn’t know you could do such a thing, in coach or any class.
Is there an equivalent term to earworm for something that drives you to compulsively search out the book that you’ve just been reminded of? It can’t be bookworm, ‘cos that’s something else… Anyhow, ESTOP drove me to hunting out my severely tattered copy of “The Best of Myles,” which is a collection of Flann O’Brien’s articles in the Irish times column “The Cruiskeen Lawn,” under the penname of Myles na Gopaleen. I found it, severely bruising my head in the process. In the collection “The Cruiskeen Court of Voluntary Jurisdiction,” the presiding magistrate, His Honour Judge Twinfeet, expresses the hope that there would not be too much jargon…
“In the first case the plaintiffs sought a plenary injunction for trespass, a declaration of fief in agro and other relief. The defence was a traverse of the field as well as the pleadings and alternatively it was contended that the plaintiffs were ESTOPped by graund playsaunce.”
…funny how things stick in your mind.
I heartily recommend all his books.
Yesterday was much easier than this.
Then again, I have never really understood Vlad’s crosswords.
Did nobody else cut the Gordian knot at 19/27 by observing that nursing infants enjoy TIT CHIN TIME?
Come on, you know there have been ruder clues of late.
Roz@38…ha, yes! Yesterday he also got away with an apparent handball before ‘Arry’s successful penalty attempt.
And one of the most remarkable little river birds I’ve set eyes upon in the UK is the dipper. A winger (a fast whirring action) and of course a dipper and a diver too. All of these things…
[ronald @52
What do dippers and hippos have in common?]
Maybe the usage is different in the US, but SCAVENGER could refer to someone who scavenges leftover food from dumpsters, which could be over-ripe or bruised fruits and vegtables, old pizza, a half-eaten sandwich, etc.
pianola @54
That usage is probably by analogy with animals like vultures and hyenas that dine on leftover kills made by other predators; these are termed scavengers.
Thanks to scchua for the blog and to everyone else who commented.
As tit chin time.
When baby’s chin meets mothers tit.
Bit late to comment, but I don’t think anyone else has noted that “like hell” is more usually used to mean “not at all” than “very much so”. For example “Boris is an honest man” is answered with “like hell he is”, at least in my neck of the woods. Otherwise tough but fair, thanks to setter and blogger.
muffin@53: ‘What do dippers and hippos have in common?’ Go on then…
(Which reminds me of the paleontologically old joke: What do Vlad the Impaler and John the Baptist have in common? (Same middle name.))
Since revenge is a dish best eaten cold, I had the AVENGER as the final letters of 15D…could not see the initial “SC” for the life of me.
Bodgel, it’s not too late at all.
I’m an evening solver, and why not?
Donald Trump: “Fight like hell”
[Alphalpha @59
It’s not actually a joke! They are the only two animals that can walk into water and continue to walk down the bed until they are completely submerged. Dippers do it by walking upstream and angling their backs so they are forced downwards (like the wing on an F1 car). I don’t know how hippos do it.]
The Workman’s Friend by Flann O’Brien / Myles na Gopaleen (Brian O’Nolan) ‘
When things go wrong and will not come right | Though you do the best you can | When life looks black as the hour of night | A pint of plain is your only man.
When money’s tight and hard to get | And your horse has also ran | When all you have is a heap of debt | A pint of plain is your only man.
When health is bad and your heart feels strange | And your face is pale and wan | When doctors say you need a change | A pint of plain is your only man.
When food is scarce and your larder bare | And no rashers grease your pan | When hunger grows as your meals are rare | A pint of plain is your only man.
In time of trouble and lousey strife | You have still got a darlint plan | You still can turn to a brighter life | A pint of plain is your only man.’
Never too late indeed…Alphalpha58, and I too thought it might be an unfathomable joke set by Muffin@53. And thanks so much for that absolutely fascinating piece of extra GK! (I don’t suppose Lord Lucan actually managed to do this all those years ago now). Lifting my spirits somewhat after being pummelled by Paul’s puzzle today…
A day late, so probably talking to the breeze, but surely HIT BACK RIGHT is a triple definition:
A HIT can be a REAR END.
BACK can be a REAR END.
RIGHT (R) is the END of REAR.