Our regular Wednesday fun from Eccles.
A range of clues from fairly straightforward to slightly sneaky; I had a few niggles, noted below, but nothing insurmountable. I particularly liked the “timeless opening lines” and “clip of mountaineer”; honourable mentions to the cricketing surface of 19a and the “drink date”. Thanks Eccles as always.
Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | LAPLANDER |
Perhaps Finn Russell finally with a strategy backing left-winger (9)
|
| Final letter of [russel]L + A PLAN (a strategy), then RED (slang for communist = left-winger) reversed (backing). For the surface, Finn Russell plays rugby for Bath and Scotland.
The region of Lapland covers parts of both Finland and Sweden, hence “perhaps”. |
||
| 6 | STUMM |
Must rank male as dumb (5)
|
| Anagram (rank = awful) of MUST, then M (abbreviation for male).
Dumb = silent, not speaking; stumm is a German word assimilated into English, and also Yiddish with various spellings. |
||
| 9 | CROESUS |
Lydia’s boss folds, some might say (7)
|
| Sound-alike, or not, depending on your pronunciation (some might say) of CREASES = folds.
Greek name for the legendary, and very rich, king of Lydia in Asia Minor. |
||
| 10 | PROBING |
Investigation is anti-Google? (7)
|
| Whimsical definition: Bing is a web search engine from Microsoft, so those who don’t like Google may be PRO-BING. | ||
| 11 | NEATH |
Trim bit of hair down below (5)
|
| NEAT (trim, as an adjective = tidy) + first letter (a bit) of H[air].
Strictly it’s ‘NEATH with an apostrophe: a poetic form of “beneath”, used by writers who find themselves with too many syllables for a line. |
||
| 12 | CHAPERONE |
Escort‘s timeless opening lines (9)
|
| CHAP[t]ER ONE (the opening lines of a book), without the T (abbreviation for time). | ||
| 14 | ARC |
Section of graph provided by cycling coach (3)
|
| CAR (coach = train carriage), with the letters “cycling” to put the C at the end. | ||
| 15 | TRAMPOLINER |
Hobo with ordinary make-up becomes bouncer (11)
|
| TRAMP (hobo) + O (abbreviation for ordinary, as in O-level exams) + LINER (short for eyeliner = make-up). | ||
| 17 | INSECTIVORE |
Maybe Nightingale tires novice out (11)
|
| Anagram (out) of TIRES NOVICE. | ||
| 19 | PIN |
At last, Carse removed from long leg (3)
|
| PIN[e] (as a verb = long = yearn), without the E which is the last letter of [cars]E. For those who don’t follow cricket, Brydon Carse plays for Durham and England, and “long leg” is a fielding position near the boundary. | ||
| 20 | CARABINER |
Clip of mountaineer‘s nurse hiding a receptacle for rubbish (9)
|
| CARER (nurse), containing A BIN (a receptacle for rubbish). Reminds me of a slightly pompous headmaster who always told us “deposit your refuse in the receptacle provided”.
Metal loop with a spring clip, used by climbers to attach equipment to a rope or harness. |
||
| 22 | NOOSE |
Cryptically, nostril can provide loophole? (5)
|
| Cryptically, a nostril is an O (hole) in the NOSE.
Noose = a rope tied into a loop, which might loosely be described as a loop-hole. |
||
| 24 | UKIPPER |
Old isolationist is Unionist sleeper (7)
|
| U (abbreviation for Unionist) + KIPPER (kip, as a verb = slang for sleep).
Term for someone in favour of Britain’s exit from the EU, as advocated by the UK Independence Party. I’m not sure about “old” because the party still exists, though in much reduced circumstances. |
||
| 26 | ANATOMY |
The tiniest component in any make-up (7)
|
| ATOM (the tiniest component) in ANY. | ||
| 27 | TREAD |
Almost ready to hold walk (5)
|
| Hidden answer (. . . to hold) in [almos]T READ[y]. | ||
| 28 | TREATMENT |
Therapy course in central England admitting wayward mate (9)
|
| TRENT (a river = watercourse, in the North Midlands of England), containing an anagram (wayward) of MATE. | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | LUCAN |
Missing peer found in toilet, reportedly, with John (5)
|
| Sound-alike (reportedly) of LOO (toilet), then CAN (john = slang for toilet).
The 7th Earl of Lucan: he disappeared in 1974, suspected of murder and attempted murder, and was never found. |
||
| 2 | PROSAIC |
Dull specialists are in charge (7)
|
| PROS (short for professionals = specialists) + A (abbreviation for are = a unit of area, more often multiplied into hectares) + IC (abbreviation for in charge). | ||
| 3 | AESTHETIC |
Fine anagram cheat site (9)
|
| Anagram of CHEAT SITE. I assume we’re supposed to think of a website that provides automated help with solving anagrams, but it seems a slightly weak clue. | ||
| 4 | DESECRATION |
After evacuating, double second helping is sacrilege (11)
|
| D[oubl]E with the inner letters emptied out (after evacuating) + SEC (abbreviation for second) + RATION (helping = a measured serving of food). | ||
| 5 | RAP |
Boosting standard in some music (3)
|
| PAR (standard, as in golf scoring) reversed (boosting = upwards in a down clue).
A type of music, if that’s your taste. |
||
| 6 | SPOKE |
Declared part of wheel (5)
|
| Double definition. Said something out loud; or a rod connecting the rim of a wheel to the hub. | ||
| 7 | UNICORN |
Fancy coin in vessel that only exists in legends (7)
|
| Anagram (fancy) of COIN, in URN (vessel). | ||
| 8 | MAGNETRON |
Microwave manufacturer is not German, surprisingly (9)
|
| Anagram (surprisingly) of NOT GERMAN.
Magnetron = a device that generates microwaves, though “manufacturer” doesn’t quite seem right. |
||
| 13 | APPROPRIATE |
Right pocket (11)
|
| Double definition. As an adjective = correct or suitable; or as a verb = to take for oneself. | ||
| 14 | AGINCOURT |
A drink date leads to battle (9)
|
| A GIN (a drink) + COURT (date, as a verb = have romantic meetings with). | ||
| 16 | LIE IN WAIT |
I tie in-law up and hide (3,2,4)
|
| Anagram (up, as in “up in the air”) of I TIE IN-LAW.
Lie in wait = to hide in order to mount a surprise attack. |
||
| 18 | SERVILE |
Submissive addict loses uniform? Very bad (7)
|
| [u]SER (short for drug user = addict) without U (Uniform in the radio alphabet), then VILE (very bad). | ||
| 19 | PROVOKE |
Justify receiving fine for incense (7)
|
| PROVE (justify) containing OK (fine = good enough).
Incense, as a verb = provoke to anger. |
||
| 21 | BIPED |
Man possibly tender taking exercise (5)
|
| BID (tender = a proposal for completing a requested piece of work) containing PE (abbreviation for physical education = exercise).
A creature with two feet. |
||
| 23 | EGYPT |
Eccentric type welcomes German nation (5)
|
| Anagram (eccentric) of TYPE, containing G (abbreviation for German, as in the old GDR). | ||
| 25 | RAT |
Traitor found in crater (3)
|
| Hidden answer (found in . . .) in [c]RAT[er]. |
Eccles on a Wednesday – excellent, as ever.
My page is littered with ticks from which PROBING, PIN, LIE IN WAIT and PROVOKE are my top picks.
UKIPPER made me smile, although I was mildly surprised to find it in Collins.
Many thanks to Eccles and to Quirister,
Loved the puzzle. Excellent blog to match.
Thanks Eccles and Quirister.
My faves: PROBING, CHAPERONE, PIN, NOOSE, LIE IN WAIT and BIPED.
Agree with the blogger on ‘anagram cheat site’.
I really liked CHAPERONE and BIPED. I confess to having used an anagram cheat site in the past. It’s nice to think of it as AESTHETIC rather than lazy.
Had no idea, of course, that the Finn played rugby in UK. And then thought hmm, the Lydia I know is a Russian whose parents escaped the Bolsheviks, but of course the name derives from the realm of which Croesus was indeed boss. Always learning. A few chestnuts, like Agincourt, and a long lost Lord, been an age since his last siting. All fun, ta E and Q.
At the risk of getting boring, another Tina Turner from Eccles. Simply The Best.
Not a quibble on the horizon.
Cheers, Mr. E, and as ever, Ms.Q
1d surprised me as an opener, only because the subject seems so dated now. 24a surprised me as LOI only because it’s word I’ve never used though, obv, one I have encountered. I liked the rugby allusion in LAPLANDER, the slightly dubious surface of NEATH, the cryptic NOOSE and the mountaineering clip that is CARABINER, the in-house-joke for solvers in the surface for AESTHETIC and the smooth surface for MAGNETRON. And I always enjoy a good ‘timeless’ clue.
Thanks Eccles and Quirister
PostMark@6 In other words one clue is timeless but some others aren’t?
Thanks both. CHAPERONE takes top-slot for me. In some other cases….STUMM feels more German than English, I’m not sure how O-shaped a NOSTRIL is, and how to pronounce CROESUS doesn’t matter as he existed no more than the UNICORN….however I really enjoyed those clues too, perhaps owing to today’s sunshine, or that I spent far too much of my life yesterday staring at a fairly blank grid.
TFO, Croesus is a historical character, not a myth. Just ask Lydia. Perhaps you’re thinking of Midas, who was also real, but had myths associated with him. Anyway, thanks Q & E. Favourite today was Insectivore, despite Nightingale not being Annie. 🙂
STUMM more Yiddish than German though I would always spell it SHTUMM. Chambers gives SHTOOM as the main spelling.
My last one in was STUMM, which I too was surprised to find counted as English.
For those who want one, this is my anagram cheat site of choice. I admit I used it while doing the recent Easter special from Maskarade. (For those Maskarade puzzles, I personally declare that nothing counts as cheating, especially since I never actually submit entries to the prize competitions.)
Sorry if I’m being dim, but puzzled by explanation of 3D. Isn’t aesthetic simply another word for ‘fine’ in the sense of beautiful?
ele, yes. Aesthetic is defined as “fine” in the sense of “beautiful. It is also an anagram of “cheat site,” which the clue quite plainly tells you to do. The explanation in the blog is of the surface reading: “fine anagram cheat site,” which seems to be talking about that site I linked to @11.
Thank you for CHAP(t)ERONE. Now one of my favourite clues, along with CARIBINER and NOOSE,
Chuffed to get LUCAN. He was supposed to have escaped down here, but no definitive proof.