Thank you to Pasquale. Definitions are underlined in the clues. Once again, very sorry for the very late blog.
Across
1. National organisation protected by proper payment (6)
RENTAL : NT(abbrev. for the National Trust) contained in(protected by) REAL(genuine/proper).
4. Clans to regroup by Dee here? (8)
SCOTLAND : Anagram of(… regroup) CLANS TO plus(by) D(dee, the letter).
Defn: “here” where you will find clans and the River Dee, Aberdeenshire.
9. Fish, black, with three eggs (6)
BONITO : B(abbrev. for “black”) plus(with) [O(a circular shape, like that of an egg’s) + NIT(the egg of a louse or other parasitic insect) +O) ](three eggs).
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10. Listener has obsession, running to ground (8)
EARTHING : EAR(that which is used to listen with/listener) plus(has) THING(an obsession/a fixation about a something or an idea).
Defn: Connecting an electrical device with the ground.
11. Trendy old man with holy books entertains animals (14)
HIPPOPOTAMUSES : HIP(trendy/fashionable) + POP(an informal term of address for one’s father/old man) + OT(abbrev. for the Old Testament, books in the Holy Bible) + AMUSES(entertains/provides something that delights).
13. Hell – state with one cut off, separate (10)
DISCONNECT : DIS(the underworld/hell) + “Connecticut”(an American state) minus(… off) [I(Roman numeral for “one”) + “cut”].
14. Priest in shortened jeans (4)
LEVI : Last letter deleted from(shortened) “Levis”(a brand of denim jeans).
Answer: A priest from the Levites, an Israelite Tribe.
16. Stimulant cool chap’s regularly taken (4)
COCA : 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th letters of(…’s regularly) “cool chap”.
Answer: Leaves traditionally chewed as a stimulant in South America.
18. Rapture with men excited in lab unit (6-4)
AMPERE-TURN : Anagram of(… excited) [RAPTURE plus(with) MEN].
Answer: A unit of magnetomotive force, associated with, say, a physics lab.
21. Author in a biblical city organised charities (6,8)
AGATHA CHRISTIE : A + GATH(a biblical city of the Philistines) + anagram of(organised) CHARITIES.
23. Resentment shown by a buddy – this person’s taken in (8)
ACRIMONY : A + CRONY(a buddy/a close friend) containing(… taken in) I’M(contraction of “I am”/this person is).
24. Point in the wrong direction, getting hurt crossing island (6)
MISAIM : MAIM(to hurt/injure) containing(crossing) IS(abbrev. for “island”).
25. Sound of a number of machines making threads (8)
TENDRILS : Homophone of(Sound of) [ “ten”(a number) “drills”(machines for making holes) ].
26. A tribe of old coming to Irish city (6)
AGADIR : A + GAD(one of the biblical Tribes of Israel) plus(coming to) IR(abbrev. for “Irish”).
Answer: A city in Morocco.
Down
1. Medal king’s put on garment (4)
ROBE : OBE(post-nominal for an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, a medal/honour bestowed by the British monarch) placed after(…’s put on) R(abbrev. for “Rex”/a king).
2. Minders given conflicting directions for protecting orphan (7)
NANNIES : N,S(abbrev. for for “north” and “south”, respectively, two conflicting directions) containing(for protecting) ANNIE(the main character in the comic strip, Little Orphan Annie).
3. Soon accepting hint, church finally offers ecclesiastical response (8)
ANTIPHON : ANON(soon/shortly) containing(accepting) [ TIP(a hint/a clue) + last letter of(… finally) “church” ].
Answer: A short sentence sung or recited after a psalm.
5. I will crow, as old clown left with joy all around (11)
CHANTICLEER : [ ANTIC(archaic/old term for a clown + L(abbrev. for “left”) ] contained in(with … all around) CHEER(joy/merriment).
6. Emblems – see them held by little kids (6)
TOTEMS : ‘EM(short for “them”) contained in(held by) TOTS(little kids/very young children).
7. A series of lies under discussion (2,5)
AT ISSUE : A + TISSUE(an interconnected series of items such as lies/falsehoods).
8. So dieting may change this bodily process? (9)
DIGESTION : Anagram of(… may change) SO DIETING.
12. Criticise a Caledonian, concerning bum provision for marine transport (6,5)
PANAMA CANAL : PAN(to criticise severely/condemn) + A + MAC(prefix in Scottish/Caledonian surnames meaning “son of”) + ANAL(concerning/relating to the anus/bum).
13. One announces new deal about to be sealed – bombastic speech (9)
DECLARANT : Anagram of(new) DEAL containing(… to be sealed) C(abbrev. for “circa”/about or approximately, when refering to time periods) + RANT(impassioned/bombastic speech).
15. Fastening a bone in where it belongs (8)
LEASHING : [ A + SHIN(a bone in the leg) ] contained in(in) LEG(where the shin belongs).
17. Annoyance of completely heartless geezer in row (7)
CHAGRIN : All inner letters deleted from(completely heartless) “geezer” contained in(in) CHAIN(a row/connected series of similar items).
19. Garment beginning to unravel – darn it possibly (7)
UNITARD : 1st letter of(beginning to) “unravel” + anagram of(… possibly) DARN IT.
20. Fiery beast without tail in Anglican gown (6)
CHIMER : “chimera”(in Greek mythology, a fire-breathing beast with a lion’s head, a goat’s body and a serpent’s tail) minus its last letter(without tail).
Answer: … or “chimere”.
: a priestly habit.
22. Old measure as part of home rule (4)
OMER : Hidden in(part of) “home rule”.
Answer: An ancient Hebrew dry measure.
A bit of a slog but got there in the end!
Another great puzzle to finish off an excellent week. One comes to expect obscure words from the setter but he always makes them gettable by following the instructions, hence BONITO, ANTIPHON and AMPERE-TURN were not really a problem. Could have ticked them all but I especially liked SCOTLAND, HIPPOPOTAMUSES, DISCONNECT, AGATHA CHRISTIE, ACRIMONY and LEASHING. A master at work.
Ta Pasquale & scchua (v colourful).
Interesting and fun puzzle, with all those OT references. Also nice to be reminded of CHANTICLEER. Faves: DIGESTION and LEASHING. As well as being chewable, COCA leaves also make a very refreshing cup of tea – excellent for altitude sickness! Many thanks to Pasquale for a tricky workout, and to scchua for the informatively illustrated blog.
Very nicely pitched for a Friday, SW corner slow for me, Pasquale’s such a great setter, thank you to him & scchua (definitely worth the wait!) [I had National Theatre for NT]
I’m getting better at blundering through Fridays! Parsed several legitimately. Guessed a few. No bludgeons today. Loved SCOTLAND, chortled over PANAMA CANAL, recalled AMPERE-TURNS after nearly five decades.
Thanks Pasquale and scchua – for your painstaking clarity. Very useful.
Tough and enjoyable.
In contrast to miserableoldhack@3, for me it felt like a few too many references to religion in the clues such as 11ac, 14ac, 21ac, 26ac, 3d, 20d.
New for me: OMER; CHIMER = sleeveless red or black gown worn by Anglican priests; AMPERE-TURN; CHANTICLEER.
Favourite: HIPPOPOTAMUSES.
I couldn’t parse 4ac.
Perhaps the setter forgot he was not setting for the Church Times with Gath, Gad, chimer and antiphon!
I had a couple of quibbles. I cannot equate “tissue” with a series of lies because the expression is “a tissue of lies”. “A tissue” on its own would not suffice would it? Also “shin” is a part of the leg which includes a bone (the tibia), often called the “shin bone”. “Arm” or “leg” would not do for “bone” so why should “shin”? Doubtless at least one dictionary inaccurately refers to “shin” as “the bone in the shin” which will justify the usage but it’s not to my taste.
Everything else slotted in nicely and without the difficulties I often face in a Pasquale. Gad, at least, I knew from the musical “Joseph” as one of the brothers and hence patriarch of one of the twelve tribes. “Ampere-turn” smacked of a setter backed into a corner – I would be willing to offer a reasonable wager that it was not one of his first choice words around which the rest of the puzzle was built.
Many thanks Pasquale and scchua, not least for the Illustrated Fifteensquared News.
On the tough side. Finished with two mistakes for ANTIPHON and CHANTICLEER neither of which were known to me.
Enjoyed Hippopotamus
Thanks Pasquele and Scchua
Well he does set/edit for the Church Times. Perhaps this one went to the wrong place.
I liked SCOTLAND, PANAMA CANAL, DECLARANT, and LEASHING.
Thanks Pasquale and scchua.
This was a tough but fair challenge that I enjoyed.
There is GK that I enjoy learning, I’m a big trivia type, but I find the religious stuff a real turn off. However, for balance, there were also the NHO AMPERE-TURN and ANTIC, which I learned while looking for a clown to complete my charade at 5D. I was being too technical when looking to fill my hollow leg for LEASHING. I was never going to squeeze tibia, fibia, fibula or femur in there (other leg bones may get a mention tomorrow).
I liked PANAMA CANAL, LEASHING and SCOTLAND.
Thanks Pasquale and scchua
[The FT have had a river-blocking four hippos this year, but they rarely stretch to a full hippopotamus. Here in Grauniad 225, meanwhile, they tend to receive more coverage when the word inomorata inspires people to share the hippopotamus song.]
OMER and CHIMER were new to me.
Fwiw, “’em” is the unstressed form of “hem” in Old English, which survived the latter’s replacement by “them”.
Thanks to the Don and scchua
When pachyderms go to college, do they attend a hippocampus?
I agree that while Pasquale’s offerings are usually a little churchy, this one was pretty extreme in that direction. I hadn’t heard of CHIMER or GATH, but they sorted themselves out eventually.
OMER is familiar to me from the counting of the omer, the 49 days between Pesach and Shavuot. It’s etymologically related to the definition given here.
Thanks Pasquale and scchua
Several things I had never heard of – CHIMER for the gown, GAD, OMER, and (despite being a scientist) AMPERE-TURN,
Should there have been an indication in 6d that the “them” was abbreviated?
SCOTLAND my favourite too.
Goliath came from Gath, as I recall.
Oh, and for reference, Pesach and Shavuot are in turn liturgically related to the Christian holidays of Holy Thursday (the Last Supper was a seder) and Pentecost, respectively.
Got there finally, after quite a few checks. No less than five words, most of them in SE, I NHO and only guessed from the clue and the crossers. Couldn’t fully parse a few. Not convinced about LEVI: while OT priests were from the Levi tribe, most Levites were not priests, nor was Levi himself.
Lots to like; favourites: HIPPOPOTAMUSES (I wasn’t even sure what the plural was before), AGATHA CHRISTIE (one of my favourite authors – though I’m hardly original), ANTIPHON. Thanks Pasquale and scchua!
Enjoyable and challenging as usual from Pasquale. The more obscure answers were mostly gettable from the wordplay. Favourite HIPPOPOTAMUSES.
I think I said the last time the city at 26a appeared, it put me in mind of the AGADIR Crisis of 1911 in the build-up to the First World War. (And of course the jingoistic music hall song at the time, Agadir, dear, dear…)
Many thanks Pasquale and scchua.
[ Martin@10 – Fibula and tibia yes but ‘fibia’ is a chimera 😉]
With all today’s NHOs, including the last three down clues, I’m surprised that my LOI was TENDRILS. Still, it did remind me to trim my wisteria before more neighbours complain about them ripping their hats off…
Anybody else disappointed to discover that Deni is not a kind of priest?
I had much the same reservations as JoFT@7. I want to also say that series is one-dimensional while tissue is 2D, weakening the association a tad further.
Liked HIPPOPOTAMUSES, AGATHA CHRISTIE and NANNIES.
Quite so Hadrian @17. I don’t have a leg to stand on!
mrpenney@14: a slight pedantic note if I may; while Holy Thursday was indeed a Paschal Supper, calling it a Seder is not necessarily strictly correct as Haggadah, which sets forth the Seder, appeared later than 1c. AD, though doubtless it was based on an earlier tradition
Petert @19: I’m with you; I have even put in Deni hoping for this but was proven wrong by the check 🙂
I’m with JOFT @7 re shin and AMPERE-TURN.
Having done the Nuns’ Priest’s Tale for O-level Eng Lit CHANTICLEER was easier.
OMER GAD! Not easy!
As is ever the case with a Pasquale puzzle there were, for me, a few obscurities. But these all seemed to come towards the end of completion. UNITARD, CHIMER, ANTIPHON, BONITO, OMER and AGADIR. In truth, a dnf, but some pleasing stuff along the way…
Thanks Pasquale for the challenge. I needed a couple of reveals in the SW to get unstuck but most of this made sense to me. My top picks were SCOTLAND, LEVI, NANNIES, & DIGESTION. Thanks scchua for the blog.
Where would one meet chimer? I don’t remember it, having read and loved lots of ‘Anglican’ fiction, especially Trollope.
Lautus @25, 🙂
An antiphon is not a response. (For all that the Greek anti-phon means opposite voice.)
If singing antiphonally then the choir on the two sides sing alternately responding to each other. But that does not an antiphon make, it is antiphonal music.
An antiphon is a verse of a psalm used as a refrain. For instance sung before, and repeated after, another set of words like the Magnificat at evensong.
Thanks for the solutions. I came straight here as it was obviously going to be a non-starter for me!
If you say “I get here” in an Irish accent you get AGADIR.
James@29. My dictionaries (Chambers and SOED) suggest that an antiphon can be both.
GiF@28, my aged OED has a collection of obscure references going back to the statutes of New College Oxford. The most likely to be familiar is Elizabeth Barrett Browning: “that purple chimar [sic] which we wear”. No Trollope.
Lautus @25. If 15² had a like button I’d have worn it out responding…
Was I the only one who imagined “TENDRILS” would be available in the shop in the “Four Candles” sketch? 😃
I generally enjoy the Don’s puzzles. I even have his book. However the obscurities here rather put me off. NHO GATH, GAD, OMER nor CHIMER, and I think the first two at least are only gettable by working back from the definitions.
On the off-chance that 22d piques anyone’s interest here in ancient corn-chandler terminology, here’s an old limerick of mine that may assist.
From the Bible, I have this belief: a
Dry measure, the omer’s a sheaf. A
Mule-load’s a homer
(That’s one hundred omer).
Ten omer: a basket, an ephah.
omer (OH-muh)
homer (HOH-muh)
ephah (EE-fuh as here, or EH-fuh)
Hebrew scholars have struggled to convert biblical weights and measures into modern terms. The omer (עמר [OH-mer]: sheaf) was the amount of barley that could be bundled. Similarly, the homer (from חמור [huh-MAR]: donkey) was the amount of barley an ass could carry. Ephah (איפה) meant both a basket, the amount in it (about a bushel), and the word “measure” in general.
http://www.oedilf.com
That is fabulous Rusty!
An early comment on Brendan’s brilliant Prize puzzle of today’s (9th August) date … it’s a wonder. Thank you, Brendan. I particularly enjoyed the ingenuity regarding the “follower of Washington”, but there are many other felicities.
I don’t often comment, as I usually do the crossword the next morning (as I now have to fetch it, and I like doing the crossword first thing).
But I wanted to mention I had PENANG for an island in 24a for ages. EN a point in the wrong direction (NE reversed), and PANG for hurt.
Got it sorted in the end though.
NG @ 37
This site specifically requests no comments on current Prize puzzles.
The dictionary I consulted (Mr Google) only gives CHIMERE, not CHIMER. Thanks, Pasquale, for an enjoyable work-out.
A little better than yesterday — two thirds instead of one third completed. Maybe I’ll get the hang of this one day. Enjoyable and varied clues. Love the word MISAIM — there’s something really beautiful about it
9a I should have got this one — not long ago I wrote a song featuring the BONITO!
Missed 2d — couldn’t dislodge NAPPIES from my head
20d I’ve been involved in the Anglican Church all my life and never heard of a CHIMER
I’m a physicist who regularly teaches courses on electromagnetism, and I’ve never heard the term “ampere-turn” (but the clue was gettable from wordplay + crossers).
One expects jorums from this setter, but this one had more than usual for me (BONITO, GATH, AGADIR, CHIMER, OMER, in addition to AMPERE-TURN). But as usual, the clueing was clear and precise enough to make the puzzle solvable (though certainly not easy).