PETO kicks off the week…
A gentle and enjoyable Monday puzzle.
Thanks PETO!
ACROSS
1. Seek penetrating opinion of carrier (6)
BASKET
ASK (seek) penetrating BET (opinion)
4. Like version Tom abridged (4,2)
TAKE TO
TAKE (version) + TO[m] (abridged)
8. Allow space to perform with style (4,3)
MAKE WAY
MAKE (perform) with WAY (style)
9. Write about outstanding medium-fast bowlers (7)
PACEMEN
PEN (write) about (ACE (outstanding) + M (medium))
11. Surprisingly into disco admitting new circumstances (10)
CONDITIONS
(INTO DISCO)* (*surprisingly) admitting N (new)
12. Labour for instance not initially interested in painting and sculpture (4)
ARTY
[p]ARTY (Labour for instance, not initially)
13. Rid of power to incite (5)
PURGE
P (power) + URGE (to incite)
14. No more than short slogan relating to commerce (8)
MERCHANT
MER[e] (no more than, short) + CHANT (slogan)
16. Shared out everything turning to note daughter (8)
ALLOTTED
ALL (everything) + (TO)< (<turning) + TE (note) + D (daughter)
18. Searches finding doctor overwhelmed by expenditure mostly (5)
COMBS
MB (doctor) overwhelmed by COS[t] (expenditure, mostly)
20. Cross ducks blocking road (4)
ROOD
OO (ducks) blocking RD (road)
21. Not against change of opponent (10)
ANTAGONIST
23. Insect reportedly biting Brown, one of exceptional size (7)
TITANIC
"tick" = TIC (insect, "reportedly") biting (TAN (brown) + I (one))
24. Deny knowledge of girl’s promise after first of accusations (7)
DISAVOW
DI'S (girl's) + (VOW (promise) after A[ccusations] (first of))
25. Ruse right for a shirker (6)
DODGER
26. Failing to change sides (6)
DEFECT
DOWN
1. Party in opposition originally supporting embargo taking in Spain (5)
BEANO
O[pposition] (originally) supporting (BAN (embargo) taking in E (Spain))
2. Very small transmitter left inside (7)
SLENDER
SENDER (transmitter), L (left) inside
3. Law passed to have an effect on workers in hospital department (9)
ENACTMENT
(ACT (have an effect on) + MEN (workers)) in ENT (hospital department))
5. Bring together some of lama’s stories (5)
AMASS
[l]AMAS S[tories] (some of)
6. Nonsense verse eventually seen on tree after tree (7)
EYEWASH
[vers]E (eventually) seen on (ASH (tree) after YEW (tree))
7. Implicit qualities observable working with verse regularly (9)
OVERTONES
OVERT (observable) + ON (working) with [v]E[r]S[e] (regularly)
10. A useful thing for Rocker’s adversary surrounded by civility (9)
COMMODITY
MOD (Rocker's adversary) surrounded by COMITY (civility)
13. Sick soldiers seen in variegated colours ridiculed publicly (9)
PILLORIED
(ILL (sick) + OR (soldiers)) seen in PIED (variegated colours)
15. Dicky sincere? Go and see (9)
RECOGNISE
17. Experienced performer of ancient Chinese dance primarily (3,4)
OLD HAND
OLD (ancient) + HAN (chinese) + D[ance] (primarily)
19. Lacking interest in unnamed butcher (7)
MUNDANE
21. Become apparent with an increase in pay (5)
ARISE
A RISE (an increase in pay)
22. Section on largely sophisticated information gatherer (5)
SCOUT
S (section) on COUT[h] (sophisticated, largely)
21a is a beauty!
23a ticks are (nasty) arachnids not insects but I think that’s defo the setter’s intention.
Thanks Peto and Teacow
23ac: Collins 2023 p 2064 gives three meanings for tick², of which the first two are arachnids, but meaning 3 is “any of certain insects of the dipterous family Hippoboscidae that are ectoparasitic on horses, cattle sheep, etc, esp the sheep ked”.
Liked TAKE TO, PACEMEN, MERCHANT, ANTAGONIST, EYEWASH and SCOUT.
A couple of points:
ENACTMENT
have an effect=ACT
ACT on MEN=ACT above MEN (I think)
PILLORIED
in variegated colours=PIED? If so, there seems to be something missing in the clue.
Thanks Peto and Teacow.
The first example of COMITY I have just found on the internet was “ a show of public comity in the White House”Ha ha!
PIED means “variegated colours” – the variegated colours bit can also be PIE, in examples: the magPIE is a black and white bird, a PIEbald is a horse in two colours, the PIED wagtail is a black and white wagtail, the PIED piper of Hamelin wore clothing of two colours/harlequin garb so I didn’t have a problem with that.
Thank you to Teacow and Peto for the blog and puzzle.
Thanks to Peto and Teacow!
I can see KVa’s point about the part of speech for PIED. The examples Shanne gives are all adjectives, I think, but I wasn’t over concerned about “in” doing double duty. I also had a tiny question mark in my head about “of” as a link word in BASKET and biting as an inclusion indicator in TITANIC, but all these are very minor quibbles about what I thought was a good puzzle. Thanks, both.
Well, I am totally out of step with today’s setters and puzzles, and other solvers.
I noted “awful” against a lot of these clues.
1(ac) OK. “That’s my bet” = “That’s my opinion”. Synonyms? Not for me.
4( ac) “Tom” abridged, for “to”, in a meaningless surface.
8 (ac) Perform = make.
When “verse eventually” = E, ( final letter), [6d], and, ” A Raise” ( an increase in pay) is OK as “A Rise” (21d), and “Mercantile” becomes MERCHANT ( with slogan = chant!), then it seems to me, anything goes, and everyone salutes.
24(ac): Girl’s = DI’S. overdone and overrated.
13(d) , PILLORIED ( and I will be) was actually OK, but “seen” in an already perfunctory surface is doing nothing.
More PTO than PETO, with apologies. Nice blog, TC.
ENB@8: not pillorying at all. I also thought some of the definitions here were a bit loose, but it didn’t bother me.
FWIW, Chambers gives “a slogan spoken or sung in a repetitious or rhythmic manner” as a meaning of chant and in my working days we always referred to a pay rise, or a rise – I regarded “raise” as an americanism and indeed my 2006 Chambers gives “raise” in this sense as (inf., esp N AM).
21dn (added in edit, further to Perplexus@9): SOED 2007 p 2591 has rise noun 14 spec An increase in the amount of wages or salary. This meaning is dated mid 19th century, supported by a quotation from Francis Chichester (1901-71) “I asked for a rise from fifteen … to twenty-five shillings a week”. Page 2454 has raise defined as “a pay rise” marked “chiefly N.Amer.”
As a general point, when a setter uses a meaning that is outside my regular vocabulary but supported by one of the standard dictionaries, I accept the fact that my knowledge of the English language can never be complete, and usually keep quiet about my ignorance. This is a policy which I recommend to others.
Further to comment 10, I just failed to complete an edit in time. I would add to my final sentence “unless asking a question with a clear intent to learn not to complain”.
Not much to add. Ticked ANTAGONIST, SLENDER
Thanks Peto and Teacow
21A ANTAGONIST This doesn’t really work. First, I do not see how “Not against change” can properly be interpreted to provide for a rearrangement of the letters contained in NOT AGAINST. CHANGE needs to act as an imperative in order to be an anagram indicator, and consequently needs to precede its object. Second, the structure of the clue is WORDPLAY of DEFINITION, which makes little sense. The clue would have worked perfectly well as “Not against changing opponent”, where “changing” acts intransitively for the cryptic reading and transitively for the surface.
I agree with ENB@8 that there were some loose clues, and I agree that ANTAGONIST may have been one of them. But I thought “not against change” was an instruction to rearrange “not against”, even if it meant using “of” as a distracting fill word. At least it resulted in a nice surface, unlike many of the others. Horses for courses: I am sure that others found the surfaces quite acceptable.
21ac and 19dn: Personally I am not keen on anagram indicators of this type, but would argue that, if you are going to do them at all, it actually helps the solver to have two in the same crossword. A specific point relating to 21ac is that Chambers 2016 p 58 has “adj acting against” as a definition of antagonist, so perhaps we can take “of opponent” as the definition.
Martyn@14. Yes, the intention at 21A is clearly to rearrange the letters of NOT AGAINST. But the reason that “change” cannot work here as a present indicative is that anagram fodder, being a set of letters requiring rearrangement, is a singular quantity, irrespective of the fact that, in this case, it consists of more than one word. A properly constructed clue has to be grammatically correct both for its surface reading and its cryptic reading. In this clue, although “changes” would be correct for the cryptic reading, it would be incorrect for the surface reading. Either “changing” or “changed” would work for both readings. The “of” here is just egregious. If it is to be used in a clue as a link word, the structure needs to be DEFINITION of WORDPLAY for it to make sense. Link words are best avoided.
PB@15 I think you are being generous!
I liked this crossword. My favourites were ANTAGONIST, PILLORIED and COMMODITY.
Thanks PETO and Teacow
Never heard of BEANO as a party! I was thinking bingo for a bit. I guess that’s very American? A bingo party? But really not sure what you brits are doing at a beano party! Thank you all.
Anil,
BEANO was in a puzzle a while back. Going from memory, so this may not be entirely accurate, it is short for beanfest and was used in Wodehouse. Don’t ask me why a beanfest is a party….
1dn: Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (2018) edition has the following:
p.117 Beanfeast Much the same as wayzgoose. It was properly an annual dinner given by an employer to his employees, and so called because beans and bacon formed an indispensable feature of the meal. The word is now applied to various annual outings or ‘beanos’.
p. 1462 Wayzgoose An annual dinner, picnic or beanfeast especially one given to, or held by, those employed in a printing house. ‘Wayz’ (‘wase’) is an obsolete word for a bundle of hay, straw or stubble, hence a harvest goose or fat goose, which is the crowning dish of the meal.
It must be decades since the word wayzgoose was last at the front of my mind, but I had heard of it before.
PB@20: In Derby there is a Wayzgoose Drive, so named from a printing works that used to be nearby.
[allan_c@21: Thank you. Wayzgoose Drive is indeed shown on my A-Z map of Derby. It branches off the Nottingham Road just too far away from the city centre for me to have gone past it on my way to or from the Cricket Ground.]