Always a pleasure to see Philistine’s name on a puzzle that I have to blog.
Timon and I made steady progress on this puzzle, with appreciation for some subtle definitions (e.g. “nitpicker” and “can be grotesque”) and the novel and topical anagram of LIONESSES. We took some time to finish in the south-east quadrant and then struggled to parse BEELZEBUB. If there was a theme, it has eluded us, but there was the usual reminder of what Philistine does for a day job with ASEPSIS.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | STEAMSHIP |
Crew on board trendy vessel (9)
|
| TEAM (crew) inside SS (on board) HIP (trendy). | ||
| 6 | OBOE |
Anyhow, let’s abandon obsolete instrument (4)
|
| Subtractive anagram: remove the letters of LETS from OBSOLETE, leaving the answer. | ||
| 10 | ON TAP |
Some don’t appear available (2,3)
|
| Hidden. | ||
| 11 | ABASEMENT |
A tendency to conceal same but different disgrace (9)
|
| *SAME inside A BENT (a tendency). | ||
| 12 | EVASIVE |
Except when reversing, I have become deceitful (7)
|
| SAVE (except, rev), I’VE. | ||
| 13 | DENIZEN |
Study one form of Buddhism as resident (7)
|
| DEN (study) 1 ZEN (form of Buddhism). | ||
| 14 | FINE-TOOTH COMB |
Nitpicker finding lie about cotton, home-spun (4-5,4)
|
| *(COTTON HOME) inside FIB (lie). “Spun” has to be separated to provide the anagram indicator. | ||
| 17 | IMPRACTICABLE |
Unrealistic start of play by awfully prim conductor (13)
|
| *PRIM, ACT 1 (start of play), CABLE (conductor). | ||
| 21 | ATHLETE |
Sportsperson’s permit to enter articles (7)
|
| LET (permission) inside A THE (articles). | ||
| 22 | COMPOSE |
Write regularly cool and fancy poems (7)
|
| C(o)O(l), *POEMS. | ||
| 24 | LIONESSES |
Remarkably noiseless football players (9)
|
| *NOISELESS. The England women’s international team is known as The Lionesses. | ||
| 25 | NACHO |
From kitchen, a chocolate snack (5)
|
| Another hidden clue. | ||
| 26 | TYRE |
They reinforce walls of old city (4)
|
| “walls” (i.e. outside letters) of TheY ReinforcE. | ||
| 27 | SANS SERIF |
Spam? Nosh oddly backfires and can be grotesque (4,5)
|
| Alternate letters of SpAm NoSh, FIRES (rev). A grotesque font is a type of sans serif typeface, apparently (news to me, but Timon was aware of it). | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | SLOPE OFF |
Clue for Poles to leave discreetly (5,3)
|
| A clue for the word POLES might be an anagram, with its indicator OFF. | ||
| 2 | EXTRA |
Fixed rate including unknown bonus (5)
|
| *RATE including X (unknown). | ||
| 3 | MEPHISTOPHELES |
Parliamentarian hit hopeless problem with hellish character (14)
|
| MEP (Member of European Parliament) *(HIT HOPELESS). I wasn’t happy with “problem” as an anagram indicator, but the dictionary shows that it can be an adjective as well as a noun. | ||
| 4 | HEAVE-HO |
After stripping, they raved: the cop delivered marching orders (5-2)
|
| Middle letters (after stripping) of “tHEy rAVEd tHe cOp”. | ||
| 5 | PLAY-DOH |
Fancy lady in dance up for modelling stuff (4-3)
|
| *LADY inside HOP (dance, rev). | ||
| 7 | BEELZEBUB |
Left cattle covered by BBC3 (9)
|
| (For some reason, I have been unable to underline the 3 in the clue, although it should be underlined, as it is the definition). The answer was obvious once a few crossers had gone in, but parsing it took us quite a bit longer. It’s L(eft) Zebu (a type of cattle) inside (covered by) BEEB (the BBC). The definition is a cross-reference to 3 down, and should perhaps have been followed by a question mark, since both Beelzebub and Mephistopheles are devils, but not the same devil. | ||
| 8 | EXTANT |
Contemporary top navigation instrument (6)
|
| (s)EXTANT (navigation instrument). “Top” here is a deletion indicator. | ||
| 9 | REINFORCEMENTS |
Control supporting bonds as they provide strength (14)
|
| REIN (control) FOR (supporting) CEMENTS (bonds). | ||
| 15 | NEIGHBOUR |
Mustang sound and smell extremely unfamiliar for local resident (9)
|
| NEIGH (sound made by a mustang) BO (smell) UR (extreme or end letters of UnfamiliaR). | ||
| 16 | WEREWOLF |
The Guardian, for one, rose over for this howler (8)
|
| WE (the Guardian) FLOWER (a rose for example, rev). This was one of our last answers to go in the grid. | ||
| 18 | ASEPSIS |
A timeless relative essential in surgery (7)
|
| A S(t)EP-SIS(ter). We are told to remove the T from STEP, but have to infer the removal of TER from SISTER. | ||
| 19 | TUCKS IN |
Starts eating food with greed? (5,2)
|
| Almost an & lit clue, where the wordplay and the definition are combined seamlessly; TUCK is food, and greed is a SIN. | ||
| 20 | TABLET |
Kind of treatment for computer (6)
|
| Double definition. | ||
| 23 | OCCUR |
On coronary care units resuscitation starts to take place (5)
|
| Initial letters (“starts”) of On Coronary Care Units Resuscitation. |
Thank you bridgesong and Timon. And a very close reference to Philistine’s day job is in the clue for OCCUR as Philistine is a cardiac surgeon. And there are his trademark clues which you have to dissect.
I did find the ”grotesque” SANS SERIF. Liked the clue although some might say that the word ”fires” appears in full, for the reversal.
Liked OBOE for misdirecting (me anyway) with the word ”abandon” which could have been an anagram indicator, but then I couldn’t explain ”anyhow”. I wondered for a moment if that was the definition. Liked the way P started off with that.
Great surface for MEPHISTOPHELES. When I initially saw BEELZEBUB I thought strange, but where’s the definition? The 3 B’s kept jumping off the page and I lost sight of the wordplay. Great clue.
EXTANT and TYRE were neat.
i needed the blog to parse BEELZEBUB. wondered over the parsing of ASEPSIS and finally settled for A STEPSIS – T. Happy to see that confirmed. Fine, enjoyable puzzle and an excellent blog, as usual. Thanks
Yes, wondered what could be grotesque about sans serif typefaces… shrug. Loi Lionesses took a long stare, odd as I love the surging tide of women’s sport and know very well who they are. Tablet similar … should’ve been obvious but wasn’t. The comb-nitpicker clue feels familiar … maybe. Tuck sin is very neat. Enjoyed, thanks Phil n b&T.
I enjoyed this, with nice tight clueing and a sense of humour. I finished most of the puzzle in one sitting but had to come back to solve 8d.
As I went I ticked NEIGHBOUR, TUCKS IN, HEAVE HO, and TABLET
I got BEELZEBUB from crossers but had no idea of either the straight definition or the parsing. I too was perplexed by SANS SERIF. Thanks for the explanations.
A big thanks to Philistine and bridgesong.
I always feel in safe hands when I attempt a Philistine puzzle, as I sense that he wants me to get the solutions and he’s not in the business of trying to trick me or bamboozle me with unfamiliar or obscure words and references. (He must have a very reassuring “bedside manner”, I reckon.)
I liked this one very much although it was challenging in places, but then that is part off the fun. Lots of ticks from me (some already cited above): 14a FINE TOOTH COMB, 17a IMPRACTICABLE, 22a COMPOSE, 24a LIONESSES, 3d MEPHISTOPHOLES and the much discussed already 7d BEELZEBUB. Again I also appreciated the signature medical references at 18d ASEPSIS – as well as in the surface for the final clue, 23d OCCUR, as already mentioned by paddymelon@1.
Thank so much to Philistine, bridgesong and Timon. Just to paraphrase your Preamble: It’s always a pleasure to see Philistine’s name on a puzzle that I want to solve.
Thanks Philistine for a super prize. I picked IMPRACTICABLE, COMPOSE, EXTRA, NEIGHBOUR, and OCCUR as favourites. I missed TABLET (no excuse) & couldn’t parse BEELZEBUB (no wonder!). Thanks bridgesong for the explanation.
Julie in Australia @5: I couldn’t agree more. Very well stated.
Liked F-T COMB, IMPRACTICABLE, BEEZLEBUB, ASEPSIS.
OBOE: Does the cryptic grammar work with ‘abandon’? Or does it require abandons (of course, the surface won’t work then)?
TUCKS IN
I took the def as ‘starts eating’ with no double duty for ‘food’. Do we need ‘starts’ in the clue? ‘Eats food with greed?’ wouldn’t do?
(Yes. The clue reads like a CAD)
Thanks Philistine and bridgesong..
KVa@. I see your point about the grammar in OBOE, which caused me to pause, but after Enigmatist yesterday I’m not going to quibble about changes in orthodox word order.
And agree with you about TUCK SIN
Um, we do need “starts” in TUCKS IN, because that is what it means, in the sense I know it, starting to eat (food).
I was pleased to parse BEELZEBUB correctly, it’s a type of clue I can miss. I took a while to find my stepsis for ASESPIS having already tried sister and sis. I felt like something was being used twice in STEAMSHIP with the SS being a vessel too. It had to be that anyway and it’s clear enough. This was a fun little Saturday puzzle from what I remember.
Thanks Philistine and bridgesong (and Timon)
A host can say “Tuck in” meaning “Please, do start”….
I enjoyed the puzzle – it was just at the right level for me, solving in one session during the lunch hour. I had no problem with step-sis as a relative, and as a Mephisto blogger the zebu is an old friend; in fact, the whole Beelzebub clue was brilliant. I was surprised to see Play-Doh, but why not? As for grotesque, I deduced it must be a typeface.
Good level of difficulty, mostly straightforward but with a dash of trickery. I’m looking at you, BEELZEBUB. It had to be that from the crossers, but only figured out the 3 after it went in.
A bit strange to see REINFORCE in both a clue and an answer. WEREWOLF was still top of mind from the other day, but the setter couldn’t have known that.
Tx both.
Pleasant Philistine Puzzle. Loi 9d took a while. I was looking for “control” underneath “bonds”, so it was a delightful pdm when I found REIN FOR CEMENTS for the win. Other favourites, 6a OBOE (I thought we might have seen something similar before, but a search turned up nothing), 25a NACHO (nice “chocolate” misdirection), 26a TYRE (tricky, with a great surface), 23d OCCUR (better than usual surface for starting letters). Finally got 24a LIONESSES, which seems to appear frequently. Nho 27a “grotesque” for SANS SERIF, 7d ZEBU for “cattle” (but I did confirm them by looking them up)
Just J and Q short of a pangram
19d TUCKS IN, I agree with KVa@8 that “Starts eating” is the definition, and “food” is part of the wordplay
KVa@8 re 6a OBOE, could it be read as “Anyhow, [the letters of] let’s abandon obsolete…”?
Thanks both
I was pleased to solve BEELZEBUB the intended way, although I agree the two devils aren’t the same (as I’ve always understood it at least). Quibble aside, this was my favourite clue, followed by TUCKS IN and IMPRACTICABLE, the former being a lovely semi-&lit and parsed as per pm/gif above.
I had the same thoughts about REINFORCEMENTS and WEREWOLF as Dr. WhatsOn@14.
LOI was ABASEMENT; I couldn’t fill in around those vowels for ages, even with the surmised S and M!
A pretty straightforward Prize, I thought – or maybe that’s just in the light of yesterday’s mauling. Talking of which, relative to the tortuous grammar frequently used there, I’d say re KVa@8′ OBOE that the “anyhow” was a welcome bit of clarity, indicating that the letters of “let’s” must be removed individually. Necessary in fact, because although I personally think e.g. “set out” from yesterday is ok for “remove the letters s, e and t” (if it’s fine to ignore punctuation in clues then it’s fine to mentally insert spaces/commas too), in today’s case there’s an apostrophe that we need to be instructed to ignore somehow.
Thanks both
paddymelon and ginf
Thanks for your input on TUCKS IN.
I am starting to appreciate it. 🙂
OBOE
I read it as LETS* abandon(s) obsolete. Hence my query. I think
Mig and AP have a plausible explanation. Thanks.
Good puzzle. I had to leave the SW unfinished for a while but finally got TABLET when I came back and then got the rest.
Liked: ATHLETE, WEREWOLF, BEELZEBUB (though couldn’t work out why 3 was the definition)
Thanks Philistine and bridgesong
I have to say I thought this was a little straightforward for a Prize puzzle, only ASEPSIS held me up. There are numerous delightful clues, as always with Philistine. My favourite was ON TAP, just super neat.
Good fun with some very neat clues – TUCKS IN, WEREWOLF in particular.
As an OBOE player, it’s always nice to see the instrument represented.
Very enjoyable although I failed to solve 27ac and 16d.
I couldn’t parse 7d BEELZEBUB – like paddymelon@1 I was looking at the 3 B’s and could not get further in my attempt at parsing it.
I loved Julie in Australia’s first paragraph @5 – my feelings exactly.
I think all my favourites have already been noted but I can’t not mention the pleasure I got from 27ac, with the reminder of the brilliant Guardian April Fool spoof: I make no apology for providing the link to it yet again:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Serriffe – I’m surprised that I haven’t been forestalled. 😉
Many thanks to Philistine, Bridgesong and Timon.
I love the San Serriffe spoof Eileen @ 22, which I only found from 15 sq, and don’t mind how many times I am reminded.
Woody @ 20. Is your oboe connected to your moniker?
Lots to enjoy here: particularly BEELZEBUB & WEREWOLF. Stuck for ages with REINFORCEMENT even though I had most crossers – had to wait days for it to emerge from the depths of my brain which was devilishly misdirected by ‘supporting’ making me think 1 component was above the other.
Dr. WhatsOn@14: I expect I’m in the minority, but that’s why I’m not keen on so-called lift and separate. How many solvers would read the clue and see that separating 3 from BBC might be necessary? And how many would arrive at BEELZEBUB by other means, as you did, and only then see how the clue works? I could make a similar point about the clue to SANS SERIF, ie that ‘backfires’ is not the same as ‘back fires’, but I’m probably in enough trouble as it is.
[I note that the printed listings in the Guardian are headed ‘BBC Three’, so if Philistine had written the clue that way I’d have been happy.]
BEELZEBUB was worth the price of admission alone. Brilliantly BBC3 misdirection since the word includes three Bs. I have no problem with getting an answer and then working out how the clue works. Doesn’t everyone do that all of the time? That’s part of the joy. MEPHISTOPHELES was a write in and got me off to a good start followed by a steady solve with ASEPSIS and REINFORCEMENTS finally holding out on me. As is often the case I would only add ‘What Julie said’ @5.
An excellent puzzle, as I hoped and expected from this setter. BEELZEBUB (a favourite) was certainly very tricky, but I managed to get it with the help of the initial B and having solved MEPHISTOPHELES early on. Knowing BEEB, meaning the BBC, was obviously necessary for working out this clue, and I wondered how well-known that ‘pet name’ for the BBC was outside the British Isles.
I admired the whole construction of this puzzle, in which so many long entries have been incorporated. And I was glad to be reminded of the Guardian spoof on San Serriffe as I had forgotten it!
Many thanks to Philistine and bridgesong.
For those querying the equivalence of grotesque and SANS SERIF, being sad about print forms and font faces, I looked it up, and the early SANS SERIF font faces were called grotesque, see more here. Considering how much fuss there often still is about the use of sans serif fonts, I was surprised how long ago the first fonts were designed (more than two centuries ago).
I enjoyed this Philistine puzzle last weekend, but a lot has happened since then, so other than remembering it took me a while to parse BEELZEBUB, and I laughed when I did, I’ve forgotten most of the solve, it was a long train journey back from Edinburgh and I covered a lot of puzzles.
Thank you to bridgesong and Philistine.
Mr T and I remember well the April Fool story about San Seriffe, we loved it. But there was lots of stuff I didn’t know in the Wiki article, so thanks for that Eileen.
Great puzzle as usual from Philistine, my favourites were IMPRACTICABLE, REINFORCEMENTS and BEELZEBUB.
Thanks Philistine and bridgesong.
paddymelon @24 – I always thought not – but now I’m not so sure!!
I did find a Beelzebub/BBC3 connection. A series or something.
Ian W Pettigrew @32, we have to separate “BBC” and “3”. The definition is “3”, as a reference to 3d MEPHISTOPHELES. “BBC” refers to the BEEB part of the answer (nickname for the BBC). Does that make sense?