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Apologies for a slightly hurried blog today. I enjoyed this, and particularly liked 13ac, 24ac, 5dn, and 20dn. Thanks to Qaos
There is a theme in the answers around bridges and supporting structures
| ACROSS | ||
| 9 | EXPLORERS |
Penny wears fake Rolexes to impress Romeo, Cook and Drake? (9)
|
| definition: explorers James Cook and Francis Drake
P (Penny) inside anagram/”fake” of (Rolexes)*, which also goes around R (Romeo, NATO alphabet) |
||
| 10 | LARCH |
Demo initially lost 950 in wood (5)
|
| definition: a type of pine
MARCH=”Demo” with M changing to L in Roman numerals, M (1000) changing to L (50) is a loss of 950 |
||
| 11 | GIRDERS |
Soldiers detain king over communist supporters (7)
|
| GIS (GI=soldier, GIs=soldiers) around both of: R (Rex, king) plus reversal/”over” of RED=”communist” | ||
| 12 | RESIDUE |
Engineers uranium inside remains? (7)
|
| RE (Royal Engineers), plus U (uranium) “inside”=’in / side’=in SIDE | ||
| 13 | TRUSS |
You ignoramus! Her reckless budget ends in disaster (5)
|
| definition: reference to the disastrous mini-budget of former UK prime minister Liz Truss
anagram/”disaster” of the end letters from [yo]-U [ignoramu]-S [He]-R [reckles]-S [budge]-T |
||
| 14 | CONSIDERS |
Thinks about fireman’s red – is no Chippendale revealed? (9)
|
| reversed (“about”) and hidden (“revealed”) in: [fireman’]-S RED IS NO C-[hippendale] | ||
| 16 | EMERGING MARKETS |
Joining record set to be broken following European investment opportunities (8,7)
|
| MERGING=”Joining” + MARK=”record” + anagram/”broken” of (set)*; following E (European) | ||
| 19 | TESTIFIER |
Trial by fire axed to protect independent witness (9)
|
| TEST=”Trial” plus anagram/”axed” of (fire)*; going around/”to protect” I (independent) | ||
| 21 | CABLE |
College fellow left out of story in telegram (5)
|
| C (College), plus [F]-ABLE=”story” without F for “fellow” | ||
| 22 | BEATS ME |
I don’t know the answer to strikes – make void? (5,2)
|
| BEATS=”strikes” + M-[ak]-E voided of its inner letters | ||
| 23 | TIEDYES |
Stained fabrics in draw starting to discolour, of course (3-4)
|
| TIE=tied game=”draw” + starting letter of D-[iscolour] + YES=”of course” | ||
| 24 | AMEND |
Change the last word down (5)
|
| AMEN=”the last word” + D (down) | ||
| 25 | ESPERANTO |
Language earns poet bucks (9)
|
| anagram/”bucks” of (earns poet)* | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | WEIGHTIEST |
It’s most important you and I gain 81 stone (10)
|
| WE=”you and I”, around EIGHT and I=eight and one=”81″; plus ST (stone) | ||
| 2 | APERTURE |
During fitting, queen’s certain to lose small opening (8)
|
| ER (Elizabeth Regina, “queen”) inside APT=”fitting”; plus [S]-URE=”certain” minus S for “small” | ||
| 3 | BOXERS |
Settlers kennel 10 dogs (6)
|
| BOERS=”Setters” around X=10 in Roman numerals | ||
| 4 | BEDS |
Where to find roses in county (4)
|
| double definition: flower beds; or Bedfordshire | ||
| 5 | ASTRONOMER |
One reviewing moon, star and limits of double quasar (10)
|
| anagram/”reviewing” of (moon star)*, plus the ends/limits of [doubl]-E [quasa]-R | ||
| 6 | FLASHIER |
More glamorous bird, perhaps circling tree (8)
|
| FLIER=”bird, perhaps”, around ASH=”tree” | ||
| 7 | BRIDGE |
Game of golf described by newly-wed (6)
|
| definition: Bridge the card game
G (golf, NATO alphabet), inside BRIDE=”newly-wed” |
||
| 8 | SHOE |
Pastry delivered for loafer? (4)
|
| sounds like (“delivered” to an audience): ‘choux’ pastry | ||
| 14 | CANTILEVER |
Social worker first punches intelligent support (10)
|
| ANT=”Social worker” + I=number one=”first”; both inside CLEVER=”intelligent” | ||
| 15 | SUSPENSION |
Deferral of South American allowance (10)
|
| S (South) + US (American) + PENSION=”allowance” | ||
| 17 | GLISSADE |
One’s unhappy breaking leg outside in dance movement (8)
|
| (I = ‘one’, so…) I’S=”One’s”, plus SAD=”unhappy”; with anagram/”breaking” of (leg)* going outside | ||
| 18 | EMBAYING |
Shutting in criminal, maybe in top of gaol (8)
|
| anagram/”criminal” of (maybe in)*, plus top letter of G-[aol] | ||
| 20 | STAYED |
Remained sober as instructed (6)
|
| sounds like (“as instructed”): ‘staid’=”sober” | ||
| 21 | CHEERS |
Bishop leaves drinks after church in good health (6)
|
| B (Bishop, chess notation), leaving [B]-EERS=”drinks”; after CH (church) | ||
| 22 | BEAM |
West starting to break up broadcast (4)
|
| MAE (actress Mae West) plus start of B-[reak], all reversed/”up” | ||
| 23 | TYPE |
Katy Perry showing character (4)
|
| hidden in [Ka]-TY PE-[rry] |
One to irk the purists? Top ticks for RESIDUE, ASTRONOMER, LARCH & GLISSADE
NHO EMBRAYING but impeccably clued
Younger solvers maybe baffled by the Mae West reference?
Cheers Q&M
Thank you, manehi, couldn’t quite unravel LARCH. I could see what was going on but yours is neat.
I’ll leave finding al the “supports” to others.
Couldn’t parse LARCH, but otherwise a fine puzzle. Surely 13a is an &lit?
I enjoyed the trickery in LARCH. After finishing I thought Qaos… there must be a theme and of course there was for this ex-Stressman to do with structural elements. My current list includes BOX GIRDERS, TRUSS, BRIDGE, SUSPENSION, CABLE, TIE, CANTILEVER, STAY and BEAM, although there may be more.
LARCH was my personal favourite clue of the day; Qaos always has something a bit mathematical, and this was perfect. As usual, I forgot to seek a theme until after I’d finished, but then it was clear enough – brilliantly including TRUSS! TTS&B.
I thought 13 could qualify as an &Lit. GLISSADE and EMBAYING new words for me, but the clues gave the instructions. LARCH was a neat trick. BEAM was my LOI, I’m assumed to say, though I’ve seen enough 30’s films to remember the lady (‘Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me’). Thanks to manehi and Qaos.
Really not sure about LARCH. Does LM ever appear in Latin texts for 950? And, if so, how does that give L FOR M? I spent a bit of time toying with ELM and only completed through crossers – my LOI. Enlightenment, please.
agree with poc that 13a is &lit
Another one who enjoyed LARCH, amongst others. Took a while for the penny to drop as regards theme (after people on the site had mentioned its existence). Enjoyable, and a step or two up in difficulty from yesterday’s (though the first commenter over at the Guardian disagrees pointedly).
I’m with Alec @7 on LARCH. I just find it irritating.
It seems neither Alec@7 or Crispy@10 has read the blog which explains 10ac LARCH very clearly.
Thanks manehi. I had TRUSS as CAD, the whole clue (edit, as per poc@3 and mike@8).
.
I did get BEAM eventually from Mae West, bodycheetah@1, but then I’m only 70+ years young. Very deceptive with West at the beginning of the clue. It was my LOI, and hadn’t at that stage seen the theme. So I was beaming about that.
ASTRONOMER, on the other hand, I don’t think works as a CAD. Maybe a different anagrind although I can’t come up with a better suggestion. I suppose an astronomer could be reviewing those things.
Liked ESPERANTO and BEATS ME.
@Alec No7 Whilst LM could be read as 950 in Roman Numerals (like you I am not sure it ever really appears like that) it is not necessary for clue. Demo is March. March initially is M (1000). 1000 losing 950 is 50 which is L. It’s pretty tortuous but I think it is acceptable.
thanks Manehi and Qaos
The parsing of Larch was too clever for me, but now I get it thanks to Manehi, as it is M-950 which equals L.
I liked LARCH and agree with Manehi’s explanation. I would include ARCH in the theme words. Also CABLE-STAYED, perhaps?
Thanks M and Q
@Alec No7
Demo gives March. Initially points to M. M is 1000. 1000 losing 950 is 50. 50 is L .
It is not necessary to think of 950 as LM in Roman Numerals – like you I am not sure if that is a correct construction.
thanks Qaos and Manehi
alec @7 I thought the 950 trick was a clever novelty. You don’t need LM=950, you just have to treat M=1000 and L=50 as different ways of stating the same number.
You are not being asked to believe that LM=950 in Latin notation (which I don’t think it does). If you start with the initial M(arch)=1000, then subtract 950 from it, you are left with L(arch)=50. You are entitled to find this kind of trick annoying – I don’t, but other kinds of clever-dickery irritate me instead. My brain wasn’t in gear this morning and I didn’t finish this one, so I’ll say no more.
test. My comments keep seeming to be swallowed up. Wrote two explanations for Alec -both gone for ever into the ether.
thanks Qaos and Manehi.
Last try
Looked for a theme after I finished but could not see it.
Favourites: SUSPENSION, GLISSADE, TRUSS.
I didn’t parse 10ac LARCH apart from thinking of [m]arch = ‘demo initially lost’ but did not get the maths bit of it which is very clever.
New for me: EMBAYING.
Thanks, both.
Thanks ravenrider@15 and gladys@16. You have taken me kindly by the hand. Now all is light.
A sheer delight. Thanks Qaos for the puzzle and Manehi for the blog.
I got the theme early on – solving CANTILEVER just after solving GIRDERS was a bit of a clue to me! It helped with my LOI – BEAM, which fitted the theme but which I couldn’t parse otherwise (I had totally forgotten about the wonderful Mae West).
I agree about ARCH and CABLE-STAYED Judge @14. My working life was more involved with ribs, spars, stringers, longerons and intercostals.
My LOI, BEAM, delayed my completion for ages! I thought of that crosswordland chestnut Mae West immediately (‘cos I had the crossers, so ‘W’ wouldn’t work) but discarded it just as quickly since I couldn’t see a way to make her fit. And then I ploughed laboriously through the alphabet. Of course, I hadn’t clocked the theme, otherwise that might have helped me. Doh!
“bucks” as an anagrind is a bit overstretched, I think… just to squeeze out a decent surface.
Thoroughly enjoyable. Spotted the supporting theme rather late but I often miss themes. Parsed LARCH as Gladys @16 describes. Many thanks Q and M.
Fairly flew through this, unusually for me when tackling a Qaos puzzle. Even noticed the theme with the likes of CANTILEVER, BRIDGE, GIRDERS and TRUSS in place. Though couldn’t quite work out how the very short lived PM worked. Loi was BEAM after quite a pause. Should have realised much more quickly that it might be another theme related clue. Many thanks Qaos for the entertainment and Manehi for the enlightenment…
And thanks Matthew newell@17. It’s the thought that counts. 👍
Gladys@16, that’s right, Latin for 950 is CML. That’s what I was initially looking for…
Another clever puzzle from Qaos – and I’m chuffed to have spotted the theme.
I had lots of ticks but won’t list them all. I loved my first one in, 9ac EXPLORERS but laughed out loud at the brilliant 13ac TRUSS, imagining the lady in question saying, ‘That’s not funny!’ and storming off.
Many thanks to Qaos for the fun and manehi for a great blog.
Thanks Qaos and manehi
TRUSS was obvious from the definition, but I had no idea of the wordplay. “Small county” (or similar) would have fairer in 4d, as “Beds” is an abbreviation for Bedfordshire. “Axed” is pretty left-field as an anagram indicator.
Favourite BEAM.
There is also a TIED-ARCH bridge.
All in and parsed – and even spotted the theme (I was hoping to get Qaos to blog when I was covering for Eileen last week as I love the maths trickery)
We’ve seen L converted to V, or M to C, before by dividing by 10 (or vice versa), so M to L by subtracting 950 is just more along the same theme.
Thank you to manehi and Qaos.
I always enjoy seeing Qaos as the setter. Fun in solving and fun to find the theme. Luckily I spotted it before the LOI CANTILEVER. Perhaps SHOE and BOXERS are also supporters (and maybe LARCH gate posts); any more?
I liked the well-hidden CONSIDERS, the wordplays for RESIDUE, GLISSADE and APERTURE, and the bucks anagrind for ESPERANTO. I spotted the demo = mARCH and the change to LARCH, but like some others got my knickers in a twist by thinking of LM; CHEERS manehi for the explanation.
Thanks Qaos and manehi.
Othello Act II scene i: Montano discussing the ferocious storm in the seas off Cyprus:
If that the Turkish fleet
Be not enshelter’d and embay’d, they are drown’d:
It is impossible they bear it out.
I can’t think that I have seen it anywhere else, but other examples welcomed.
Not quite right on the theme – it’s underwear. SUSPENders, CANTILEVER bra, BOXERS, TRUSS, maybe BEATS ME for an S&M angle?
Total disaster with only two answers so didn’t get anywhere near the theme!
Is the Graniad inconsistent or is it just me? I usually complete but some puzzles leave me stumped.
On the gentler side with what I thought was as reasonably obvious theme, liked the devices used in RESIDUE, CONSIDERS and BOXERS.
Ta Qaos & manehi.
Has anyone already mentioned WEIGH-bridge?
Lovely.
CONSIDERS was one of the best-concealed containers I’ve seen for some time, and TRUSS was absolutely brilliant. Eileen @27 takes the words out of my mouth.
Thanks, both.
As a mathematician I would express 10 as:
MARCH – 950 = MARCH – (M – L) = MARCH – M + L = LARCH
Thanks to all
For some reason, despite being used to Qaos’ puzzles, I didn’t even think to look for a theme. Re: 10, never let it be said that Monty Python wasn’t educational!
I was about to put what MikeB@38 did. The other offered explanations have all the pieces, but this is the only one where the arithmetical syntax lines up exactly with the clue syntax.
Thanks for the blog, for LARCH I agree with the blogger. MARCH initially = M = 1000 lost 950 so is now 50 = L.
Cormac@33 , a nice idea , we also have Playtex for RESIDUE , but I think the bridges etc win. If the setter wanted underwear then GIRDERS could easily have become GARTERS with a small change in wordplay.
Another who couldn’t quite get the wordplay for LARCH with the M and L, though I could see what was needed. It’s very ingenious. Thanks manehi and others for the explanations.
I enjoyed the variety of devices and the neat surfaces in this puzzle. Spotting the theme early helped to find the last few.
Apart from LARCH, I liked BEAM, BEATS ME, TRUSS, BOXERS and RESIDUE.
And as a former social worker (not an 🐜 or a 🐝), I was quite amused by the surface for CANTILEVER.
Thanks, Qaos and manehi
KLRunner @11. Not sure I like the tone of your comment. I DID read the blog, and undetstood what was being said. I still find the clue irritating.
Cormac@33 and Roz@41 – remember this is Qaos, not Paul!
Absolutely battered, but really enjoyed the clues when I glumly revealed the ones that beat me.
Thanks for the blog which was exceptionally helpful today! And thanks Qaos.
Thanks for the fun, Qaos and manehi.
Thanks to Qaos and Manehi. I still don’t get how 14A is parsed though. I didn’t spot the theme, I never do, probably cos I forget about them. So many to like but RESIDUE and CANTILEVER were my faves. Have a good afternoon.
Subtract 950 from the initial letter of march: M – 950 = L, giving larch. No algebraic improvement needed.
Did anyone (particularly non-UK commenters) follow the link I gave @27? (It’s rather faint and I don’t always spot them myself.)
Ludosmoll @47 start at the C of Chippendale and go backwards through the letters of the clue. It is very well hidden.
Roz@41 or indeed GIRDLES
Nice try , would not quite fit because the E has moved so no BOXERS .
Stacks of checks but did manage to finish. I worked out beam from broadcast but it was the only one I was unable to parse.
[My opinion on 13a: TRUSS doesn’t deserve to have a good &lit clue written about her.]
nho 18d EMBAYING but it does contain this, known locally as the Bay Bridge – ‘often cited as one of the scariest bridges in the United States.’
grantinfreo@48 “No algebraic improvement needed”
I would say it was arithmetic not algebraic, and an improvement is needed in the form such as Roz@41 gave.
Had TRUSS and CABLE early on so thought the theme maybe was political leaders, until a few more answers revealed the correct one.
Enjoyed this again, so thanks Qaos and manehi
Took a while to cotton on to ‘Mae’ West and had to check I wasn’t inventing a new word with ‘embaying’ !
Eileen@49 – I did. 😉 – Here it is again, emboldened: 😀 —>‘That’s not funny!’<— 😀 – Oh yes it is!
I didn’t know GLISSADE as a dance movement. To me, it is a mountaineering technique for the easy descent of snow slopes; it usually starts as a standing glissade (skiing without skis) and frequently turns rapidly into a sitting glissade (or “bumslide”).
An obvious theme which I saw early but it didn’t help me noticeably.
FrankieG @58 – Thank you 🙂
I thought it was particularly funny because Qaos must have written the puzzle before this incident.
A fine puzzle, with some very nicely clued charades (e.g. SUSPENSION, EMERGING MARKETS, and the excellent TESTIFIER). Agree with others that CONSIDERS is a top class example of the type. Most enjoyable.
Thanks Qaos for a fun puzzle with a theme I saw about halfway through my solve. My top picks were EXPLORERS, TESTIFIER, ASTRONOMER, BRIDGE, and GLISSADE. I couldn’t fully parse CONSIDERS (nicely hidden but the surface is weird), LARCH, and BEAM. In TYPE I think ‘showing’ is an odd hidden indicator. Thanks manehi for the blog.
[FrankieG @55: Really? I routinely drive across the Bay Bridge and I’ve even run a 10K that crossed it and I see nothing scary about it.]
It’s taken me all day but I’ve just finished. LOI was 22 down but I now need to check the parsing of five or six clues. Nice puzzle – good thing I’ve nothing better to be doing!
Thanks for the link Eileen@49. I imagined her reacting that way but didn’t know it had actually happened!
I enjoyed this crossword a lot, particularly LARCH which took me way too long to figure out. BEAM took me ages too. All in all, it seemed like just the right mix of easier and more challenging clues.
Thanks to Qaos and to manehi
Crispy@43, the clue @10a LARCH does not require ML to be the Latin numeral for 950, and manehi’s blog makes that clear. Alec@7’s comment was based on the erroneous assumption that Qaos was using ML as the Latin for 950, and you agreed with Alec. That suggests that you didn’t understand what was said in the blog, which is why you found the clue irritating. If you did understand that Qaos was not using ML as the Latin for 950, then I don’t understand why you found the clue irritating.
Thanks Qaos for the fun puzzle, and manehi for the excellent blog.
Tony Santucci@62, I can’t help what Wikipedia@55 says. Here‘s one of the 3 links with which it backs up its claim. It contains the word gephyrophobia, fear of bridges.
Cellomaniac@65. I found it irritating because I don’t like the construction – I think it’s too smart-arsy. You make it sound like I have to agree with what everyone else thinks. Sorry, but on this one I don’t.
Thanks for explaining LARCH. Very clever. The only thing I take issue with in the comment is that a larch is a type of pine. It isn’t. It’s a larch. A fir isn’t a pine either. People think of Christmas trees as pines. They are firs for the most part. They are all different and look different, although you could confuse firs and larches until winter, when you’d quickly spot the difference. Larches are deciduous, firs aren’t – and neither are pines.
Agreed gliddofglood, you make a fir point.
Monkey @59
I never forget Alan Blackshaw’s words about glissades in his classic, mountaineering. “There are three kinds of glissade; standing, sitting and involuntary. They usually follow each other in that order!”
Crispy@67, my comment@65 was based on your objection to ML = 950, which was the only complaint you made. If you had also said that you found the construction too smart-arsy for your taste – an opinion not based on a misconception of the clue – I would not have made my comment. Sorry about that.
Cellomaniac@71. I’m sorry for not making the cause of my irritation clear. Qaos regularly does this to me. Causes me irritation, that is.
Cellomaniac @71 and previously
I think you have misread the detail, if not the sense. The (incorrect) Roman numeral for 950 would be LM rather than ML; the latter would be 1050.
(The rule is that the subtractive number must be at least a tenth of the the number it’s subtracted from. Of course, that isn’t relevant in this case.)
Very enjoyable solve. Took me just the right amount of time – not too easy and not impossibly difficult. I loved TRUSS and EMERGING MARKETS.
Never having never heard of ‘choux,’ I did not get the parsing of SHOE until I read the blog.
Thanks to manehi and Qaos
The way I’d like to parse 10a is: demo=MARCH minus M(1000) giving the thematic ARCH, then add L(1000-950) to get LARCH – which, as gliddofglood@68 points out, is certainly not a type of pine.
TRUSS (lucky guess) and SHOE were my successes.
I found this much more difficult than yesterday.
Well, I gave up on 22d: I suppose BEAM = broadcast (and I was also thinking of the ‘beam me up Scotty’ sort of BEAM) – and also BEAM fits the theme – but I couldn’t place MAE: I tried other ‘West’s to no avail (now I come to think of it, in WW2 days a lifejacket was known as a ‘Mae West’ – apparently because someone wearing one looked as if they had Ms West’s – errm – ample ‘attributes’).
I suppose CANTILEVER has to get top marks – I took ages to figure it out even with all the crossers. Very – er – CLEVER! Oh and ASTRONOMER – seeing as I was one, only amateur. I don’t think there are any known ‘double quasars’ – but maybe one will be discovered even as I write this…
Likes for a lof of them: I’ll pick out TRUSS for the laugh, BRIDGE (obviously the theme, and something I used to play); BOXERS; SHOE; WEIGHTIEST (liked the numerology); BEATS ME (this one didn’t).
Oh and gliddofglood@68: I agree: a LARCH isn’t a type of pine. Conifer (or Gymnosperm to be all scientific), yes; pine: no.
Thanks to Manehi and Qaos. Very entertaining.
Reminded me of Nutmeg. NHO 18dn. Excellent puzzle.
I think the theme is just bridges which are sometimes merged from different solutions.
Box girder bridge
Shoe bridge
Weigh bridge
Suspension bridge
Beam bridge
Tied Arch bridge
Cable stayed bridge
Cantilever bridge
Truss bridge
FrankieG @ 68, I think the problem is that, to many of us, the Bay Bridge means the Oakland Bay Bridge, which is not scary, rather than the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, for which I personally have to close my eyes when crossing