Solomon is a recent addition to the FT stable, and is definitely a setter with his own style, as demonstrated by a number of today’s clues. By no means an easy solve.
I am not quite sure what is going on with 20D SLEDGE; I see from reference material that this is a cricket term, but unfortunately I cannot fully account for the clue, specifically, I do not understand what “that goes down easily” has to do with it. An oblique reference to a sledgehammer or a sled for a double definition???
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | BREAD |
Money made on the radio (5)
|
| Homophone of (on the radio) BRED (made) | ||
| 4 | DEFECTIVE |
Broken device and odd parts from Fiesta getting replaced (9)
|
| Anagram of (getting replaced) {DEVICE + odd letters of (odd parts from) F[I]E[S]T[A]} | ||
| 9 | BUTTERFLY |
Stroke ram, then run away (9)
|
| BUTTER (ram) + FLY (run away), as in swimming | ||
| 10 | SATAN |
Looks at anthology including Lord of the Flies (5)
|
| Hidden in (including) [LOOK]S AT AN[THOLOGY | ||
| 11 | LANCE CORPORAL |
Officer and doctor clean my patient’s face before examination (5,8)
|
| Anagram of (doctor) CLEAN + COR (my) + first letter of (face [of]) P[ATIENT] + ORAL (examination) | ||
| 14 | BEEF |
Argument caused by fellow on the buzzer? (4)
|
| BEE (buzzer) + F (fellow) | ||
| 15 | LIMPET MINE |
One’s strong attachment may lead to explosive relationship (6,4)
|
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 18 | TELEVISION |
Evil set I turned on? (10)
|
| &lit and anagram of (turned) {EVIL SET I ON} | ||
| 19 | FELT |
Put my fingers on thick cloth (4)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 21 | CONGRATULATES |
Granola mixed with cut bananas put on the counter, generating compliments (13)
|
| Anagram of (mixed with . . . bananas) {GRANOLA + CUT} + SET (put) reversed (on the counter) | ||
| 24 | PRAWN |
Hollowed-out pumpkin contains fresh seafood (5)
|
| Outside letters of (hollowed-out) P[UMPKI]N around (contains) RAW (fresh) | ||
| 25 | GUARDSMAN |
Soldier and newspaper’s crossword setter dismissed for perverted acts (9)
|
| GUARD[I]AN (newspaper) with I (crossword setter) replaced with (dismissed for) S&M (perverted acts) | ||
| 27 | CITYSCAPE |
View of Whitehorse, perhaps, from crumbling tops of the Yukon ice-caps (9)
|
| Anagram of (crumbling) {first letters of (tops of) T[HE] + Y[UKON] + ICE-CAPS} | ||
| 28 | EMBED |
Dash alongside part of garden to obtain plant (5)
|
| EM (dash) + BED (part of garden) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | BUBBLE BATH |
Relax in this B&B with distressed blue decking and spa (6,4)
|
| Anagram of (distressed) BLUE around (decking) {B + B} + BATH (spa, here presumably referring to the spa town in Somerset) | ||
| 2 | EAT |
Wolf in ovine attire (3)
|
| Hidden in (in) [OVIN]E AT[TIRE] | ||
| 3 | DIESEL |
Locomotive stops on elevated railway (6)
|
| DIES (stops) + EL (elevated railway) | ||
| 4 | DAFFODILS |
Trumpet-bearing host also did dances, going around very loudly (9)
|
| Anagram of (dances) {ALSO DID} around (going around) FF (very loudly), with a rather poetic/cryptic definition | ||
| 5 | FRY-UP |
Breakfast that’s French? Yes (3-2)
|
| FR (French) + YUP (yes) | ||
| 6 | CASTRATE |
Cut fee for actors? (8)
|
| CAST (actors) + RATE (fee) | ||
| 7 | INTELLIGENT |
Smart and fashionable Swiss apple-slicer held up by one sophisticated bloke (11)
|
| IN (fashionable) + TELL (Swiss apple-slicer, i.e., William Tell) + I (one) + GENT (sophisticated bloke) | ||
| 8 | EONS |
Unconfined joy, in almost every direction, for ages (4)
|
| Inside letter of (unconfined) [J]O[Y] inside (in) {E + N + S (almost every direction, i.e., east, north, and south)} | ||
| 12 | NEEDLECRAFT |
Sewing ruffle on pram? (11)
|
| NEEDLE (ruffle, in the sense of “annoy”) + CRAFT (pram, referring presumably to the boat) | ||
| 13 | JETTISONED |
Axed plane tree’s top is 1d (10)
|
| JET (plane) + first letter of (top [of]) T[REE] + IS + ONE (1) + D | ||
| 16 | PROSTRATE |
Those given money and time consider lying down (9)
|
| PROS (those given money) + T (time) + RATE (consider) | ||
| 17 | EVENINGS |
Decreasing speed initially results in late times (8)
|
| EVENING (decreasing) + first letter of (initially) S[PEED] | ||
| 20 | SLEDGE |
Insult sportsman that goes down easily (6)
|
| 22 | RAGGA |
Music from part 3 of Horace Silver’s Goin’ Both Ways (5)
|
| Third letter of (part 3 of) [HO]R[ACE] + {AG (silver) + AG (silver) inverted} (goin’ both ways) | ||
| 23 | EPIC |
Impressive record by 10cc regularly skipped (4)
|
| EP (record) + alternating letters of (regularly skipped) 1[0]C[C], reading the numeral 10 as “IO” | ||
| 26 | MOB |
Pack in 2 seconds (3)
|
| MO (second) + B (second [letter of the alphabet, class, etc.]) |
I came here to see how “Guardsman” parsed. Yes, not an easy solve. I think “sledge” also refers to sled or sleigh that goes downhill. The first def. is an attempted insult/distraction of a batsman. Thanks Solomon and Cineraria.
Thanks Solomon for the challenge. This was a mixed bag for me; some of this went in easily but I eventually threw in the towel and revealed LIMPET MINE (nho), CITYSCAPE, PROSTRATE, and SLEDGE. I could not parse the clever GUARDSMAN. There was much to like, however, including BUTTERFLY, TELEVISION, CONGRATULATES, EAT, and CASTRATE. Thanks Cineraria for the blog.
I found this middling difficult, but I think it was one of those days where everything just clicks…
Like others, couldn’t parse “Guardsman”, also didn’t equate “evening” with “decreasing” in 17d
Liked the surfaces for “Epic” and “Castrate”
TIL “Ragga” is a distinct type of music, I thought it was an alternate spelling for “Raga”
Thank you to Solomon and Cineraria
Much of this went in easily, but then I got very stuck in the SE corner, from LIMPET MINE down. I will not bore you with the gory details but I got there in the end. There were some nice surfaces today and my favourites were similar to Tony S@2.
I agree with ub@1 about sledge being a sled, a definition I learnt today from the dictionary. For my part, I wonder why the Whitehorse is representative of the city (perhaps).
Thanks Solomon and Cineraria
Not an easy solve? Yes. Yes.
Top faves: LIMPET MINE (took some time to parse), TELEVISION (funny def), DAFFODILS (nice def) and SLEDGE (after the introduction of various T20 premier leagues, I find a lot of friendly chatter between wicket-keepers and batsmen on cricket fields as opposed to ‘sledging’).
Thanks Solomon and Cineraria
Thanks for the blog, very good puzzle , quite tricky to cold-solve but I found the grid very helpful once I put in what I had.
SLEDGE , this is the common term in the UK , we rarely say sled or sleigh.
GUARDSMAN is very neat and TELEVISION. We do not hear much about the evils of TV these days , everyone obsessed with their phone instead,
DAFFODILS has a nice touch of Wordsworth – I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud .
Martyn @5 for Whitehorse , the perhaps just means it is an example of a city and so has a CITYSCAPE . Any city would do but this one is the capital of the Yukon and fits nicely with the rest of the clue.
I was unaware that a pram is also a boat. EL for elevated railway was a surprise (my research indicates it’s American?). Never heard of RAGGA, LIMPET MINE nor S&M. LANCE CORPORAL was my favourite. It would be a great clue to explain to a person who’s not into cryptics, just to see them roll their eyes.
Challenging, but rewarding, thanks Solomon & Cineraria.
TPS @3. You have to think of ‘decreasing’ as ‘de-creasing’.
TELEVISION, the ON is not part of the anagram.
[18a TELEVISION – {EVIL SET I}* + ON]
Really liked 2d EAT for the wolf in sheep’s clothing, 4d for the ‘”host” (of golden) DAFFODILS’, and 8d EONS:”…let joy be unconfined” (Byron).
Hadn’t heard of 12d NEEDLECRAFT’s pram = boat. Now I have.
23d EPIC – 10cc’s breakthrough album – an “Impressive record” – Sheet Music, came out in 1974 (a 50th (Golden) anniversary).
Thanks S&C
Elevated railway is, indeed, a US term – most famously, Chicago’s El – but I think using the full term means an American indicator is not particularly necessary and gets Solomon off the hook. And, yes, ‘sledge’ is the typical UK term applied to both the downhill runner and the cricketing insult. Worked for me.
This went in very smoothly – I like Solomon’s penchant for creative definitions for both solutions and synonyms. Plenty of ticks – picking out a few favourites: SATAN, TELEVISION, GUARDSMAN, CITYSCAPE, EMBED, BUBBLE BATH, DAFFODILS, FRY UP, NEEDLECRAFT and PROSTRATE.
Thanks Solomon and Cineraria
Roz@6 & PM@11: I do remember “Brenda’s Iron Sledge” by the formidable Robyn Hitchcock, but even allowing for the ubiquitous UK usage of SLEDGE, “that goes down easily” still strikes me as obscure or, at least, extra-cryptic. If that were all we had to go on, I doubt that “sledge” would come to mind.
In agreement with others, I found this tricky but engaging. SLEDGE pops up often enough here to recognise the double definition today.
My favourite was DAFFODILS for the poetic reminder.
The resident mariner confirmed LIMPET MINE but not ‘pram’ being ‘craft’ although that was straight-forward. I needed Cineraria’s help, however, parsing GUARDSMAN.
Thanks to Solomon, whose outings I have enjoyed thus far, and Cineraria for doing the honours …remember Sister Sledge? Ha ha
My thoughts agree with those of PostMark @11
Thanks to Solomon and Cineraria
Cineraria @12: completely agree that the SLEDGE definition on its own is highly unlikely to lead to the correct solution but, with the well-recognised alternative def preceding it, the overall clue seems fair. Albeit, from the perspective of a UK solver.
[Diane@13 – Yes, I remember Sister SLEDGE. But do they remember me? (TOTP 1985 – they’ve probably forgotten by now, after 39 years).]
Thanks S&C – I see the FinaNcial bug is back again.
[Very good, Frankie!]
For LIMPET MINE I had MINE for “ones” and LIMPET for the strong attachment with a poetic word order to make a DD, but a cd seems more sensible. DAFFODILS my favourite. Nice puzzle . Thanks, both.
I thought this was going to be too easy, having completed all down to line nine within a few minutes . Then got completely stuck in lines 10-15. I entered sledge, parsed as “the goes down easily” and ignoring “insult sportsman”. Also, having C-T——“ for 27a, I desperately wanted it to be connected to ‘Cotswold” , failing to take the mention of Yukon seriously.
Thanks Roz@7 for the steer on Whitehorse. If you have not done so, I suggest you look at photos of the place. With a population under 28k, it is not what I would call a CITYSCAPE. I also found myself thinking of the pub name while solving the clue. All in all, indications of a sense humour from Solomon.
PM@11 – foreign language indicator for a U.S. word?
Martyn@29 if you want to see a real CITYSCAPE have a look at St Davids in Wales.
I hope I am not straying too far off topic….
….. I looked at St David’s, population 1,700, at your suggestion Roz@21. What a find! I note that it was returned to city status in 1994, at the Queen’s request, perhaps showing that she, too, had a sense of humour?
I found the puzzle challenging, but lots of fun. I agree that Solomon’s style is different but after a while you catch on. My favorite was GUARDSMAN.
Thank you hovis@9, understand it now…
Late as usual.. came here to understand the Yukon city, which I had never heard nor was tempted to look up in context of a city.. I strayed more to the Cotswold side of things as Martyn@4… mildly surprised at the confusion over sledge as a conveyance on runners designed for use on snow, the much more recent usage, as a description of slagging off sportsmen in an unsporting way, seems way more obscure. JETTISONED was extremely obscure altho approaching it as an anagram of indeterminate fodder and definition didn’t help…
Thanks Solomon n Cineraria