A very accessible puzzle from Goliath.
This was extremely enjoyable, and I seemed to fly through it. We very nearly have a pangram, but not quite. Thanks to trusty Goliath for the fun!
A + PEST (nuisance); DUB< (call, <returned) first
MOS[t] (but not all) + [d]A [v]I[n]C[i] (regularly)
Cryptic definition
Hero and Leander are characters from Greek mythology. They were in love, and Hero lived in a tower from where she might have exclaimed ‘O, Leander’. For more, click here.
Double definition
D[a]ILY (quotidian, O for A)
STARLING (bird) eating [withou]T (end)
DID* (*wrong) stuffing HEN (chicken)
[s]ELECT OR[chestra] (of)
CONFER (have a discussion) about I (one)
(STAY + ME)* (*could be)
IMPROVE (better) to hide I’S (one’s)
B[a]R[b]A[r]I[a]N[s] (oddly)
RILE< (upset, <over) admitting IX (nine, Roman numerals)
[st]Y[le] (essentially) wearing BLOUSES* (*fancy)
[ha]T[es] (at heart) + HEIST (crime)
BRED< (raised, <the wrong way) surrounded by THEY (those people)
B-ROADS (minor highways)
DIE (cube) + TITIAN (artist)
[holida]Y SNAP[s]< (<turned up, in)
STEPS ON (tramples)
OVERT (obvious) + HERE (present in this place)
([g]A[rl]I[c] (two slices of) + OIL)* (*mixed with) – &lit
CAT (tiger perhaps) + [fierc]E (ultimately) + GORY (gruesome)
Cryptic definition
C over AGE
[someone’]S LID OFF AD[miring]< (<flipped)
We seem to be missing the containment indicatorEDIT: […one’]S LID OFF AD[miring]< (some…, <flipped)
MOST* (*criminal) + [l]AWYER[s] (dropping case)
ACCENT (stress) about ID (papers)
RA[p]ID (fast, heartless)
STEAL (pinch) + TH[e] (article, mostly)
IN JURY (serving as part of twelve)
“PRIES” (snoops, “report of”)
AS (like) to be in BED
My knowledge of Greek mythology is not great, so I failed to solve OLEANDER. Also I’m not familiar with Norfolk, so 1d was a guess that proved correct. A relief to twice see flowers meaning flowers, not rivers! Yes, Oriel, there seems to be no inclusion indicator for DAFFODILS, until you split “someone’s” into two perhaps?
A slow but steady solve, and quite enjoyable.
Yep, don’t see why the ‘some’ can’t be lifted to do the including …
I agree, I suspect Goliath means solvers to split someone’s into some (containment indicator) and one’s as part of the fodder. We got a similar trick on Monday with Sway in for Sentry.
Fun puzzle – I had to look up Hero and Leander as not in my general knowledge. Everyday’s a school day. And why I do puzzles, to learn things!
Thank you to Goliath and Oriel.
Thanks grantinfreo and Shanne – I had missed the lift and separate device for 15d, but of course you are right! I will amend the blog.
It was a delight to find a Goliath puzzle his morning, so soon after Monday’s Philistine in the Guardian.
Some lovely clues, as always. DAFFODILS is brilliantly hidden – and clued! Other favourites (among many ticks) were MOSAIC, ELIXIR, CATEGORY, TOM SAWYER, DIETITIAN (with a useful mnemonic for the spelling: it always seems to me that it should be ‘dietician’) and OLEANDER – I’m very familiar with the sad story and have seen variations of this clue before – but this one was one of the best.
I have to confess to a temporary hold-up in the bottom left corner – comeuppance for my haste. Such is my faith in the integrity of Goliath’s clues that, seeing ‘mishap’ in the clue, I had fairly confidently pencilled in EMPHASIS at 18dn on my first run through, leaving the spare E S to parse later!
Huge thanks, as ever, to Goliath for a lot of fun and to Oriel for a fine blog.
My faves: OLEANDER, DAFFODILS, CAGE and INJURY.
STARTLING
Someone may have a word or two to say about ‘without end’.
BLESS YOU
As if there are two WP but no def…
Thanks Goliath and Oriel.
Eileen @5. According to Chambers, ‘dietician’ is perfectly acceptable (but not here, of course).
KVa – STARTLING is “eating (inclusion indicator) withouT end (letter indicator)”. What’s the problem? Other than the use of more than one inclusion indicator to mislead.
Shanne @8: I think the ‘problem’ is whether you are happy to accept ‘without end’ as meaning ‘the end of without’. Some solvers are; some are not. To me, it does not actually say what the setter wants it to say. ‘without’s end’ or the above ‘end of without’ would be my preferences from a cryptic grammar perspective – but neither makes for a good surface. I know what the setter intended. I was able to solve the clue. But it is not a construction I like.
Loved this but it took a while. All the clues which held me up seemed obvious once I’d got them!
Standouts: hidden, brain, dietitian, injury.
Not sure I fully understand the ‘coverage’ part of 11d. Feels like a dd of some kind but I don’t see quite how.
Didn’t know that DIETITIAN can be spelt this way. Needed help with CONIFER; wasn’t sure about the parsing of CAGE and OLEANDER… thanks Oriel and Goliath!
It’s another one, a ‘separator’, similar. Shanne’s @3 example is “sway in” = s + way in = s + entry = sentry. Here it’s just coverage = c over age = cage; because it’s a down clue, the “over” bit can become an operator.
I agree with the plaudits for this which I zipped through.Many clues were praiseworthy with OLEANDER top of the list.
Thanks Goliath and Oriel.
Thanks Goliath, I fully concur with Eileen’s opening statement. I enjoyed this crossword a great deal with my top picks being TOM SAWYER, RAID, STEALTH, HIDDEN, & IMPROVISE. I wasn’t sure how to parse OLEANDER & CAGE but cryptic definitions often elude me. I initially had no issue with ‘without end’ meaning T in STARTLING but after reading PostMark’s remarks perhaps ‘the last of suet’ might have been clearer. Thanks Oriel for the blog.
I’m on the fence in regard to the withouT construction. I reckon I would refer to ‘the page end’ rather than ‘the page’s end’ for example, but maybe I shouldn’t.
Very late to this after watching live tennis action but I agree not only with Eileen’s opening statement but also her faith in Goliath’s cluing. I always smile when this setter is at the helm. [Eileen, I’m sad to report that Leicester girl, Katie Boulter, had to retire from this year’s Hong Kong 250 WTA tournament yesterday in the early stages].
Favourites today included PANSY, CONIFER, INJURY, CAGE, STEPSON and DOILY (just because).
Hearty thanks to Goliath and to Oriel (I’m another unfamiliar with the Hero and Leander tale but what a beautiful word OLEANDER is!)
STARTLING
Shanne@6
When I said ‘someone’, I was thinking about PostMark. 🙂
Diane @16 – thanks for the disappointing news. 🙁 As it happens, Katie Boulter’s grandmother was my daughter’s form tutor and her mother was in her year group at the same school.
D’oh!
Coverage = cage is now so obvious that I can’t believe I missed it.
Great puzzle, the gift that keeps giving!
Yes, Eileen, I remembered there was a connection there. We were disappointed to see her retire (her leg was heavily strapped) and hope she gets back to winning ways soon.
FWIW I have oleanders in the greenhouse , one still in flower.
SM@21. FWIW I have OLEANDERs in my garden ( yard), but I probably live somewhere warmer than where you are. Grew up with them in Queensland, Oz, but even here in the Blue Mountains, NSW, they’re very hardy. Never knew about their toxicity until recently, but then I don’t eat them or prune them.
I can usually see missing letters, but I had to reveal this one which was holding out at the end. Didn’t know the mythology. Tried all sorts of things with Oh (exclamation), and Ox (tower) from the clue. Had the def at the wrong end, couldn’t see the wood for the trees.
DAFFODILS was a good’un. Loved the crossword.
Loved the crossword.
(oh, reiteration … again)
paddymelon@22
I live in southern England and Oleanders are not hardy here
SM@24. Just googled risks of oleanders in a greenhouse. Handle with care, preferably not at all, and don’t let a cat in there.
The good doctor certainly likes the CAGE trick.
See Goliath 18,181, 20A “Prison coverage not over (4)”
And Philistine 26,513 2D “Prison 14 (4)” where the solution to 14 was COVERAGE. (By an odd coincidence we revisited this puzzle just a few days ago.)
However, he’s still my favourite setter, so thanks again Goliath and Oriel.
Nothing to add today except that it was, for me, very straightforward and enjoyable. Thanks as usual
Thanks paddymelon @25
Luckily we have no cats and I always wear gloves when handling the plants. With winter soon to come here I envy you the warm climate.
I can’t see a problem with “without end”. Is it confusing? Well, maybe, but that’s cryptic crosswords’ raison d’être, isn’t it? There are plenty of other things that annoy me; I could probably write a book. Using “of” as an inclusion indicator is one that springs to mind.