Its been over two years since I blogged a Qaos…well worth the wait though!
March 2023 to be precise, and I thought something looked familiar at 5D – a Qaos-trademark ‘mathematical clue’… of which another example appeared in that previous puzzle.
I thought there might be a theme-ette suggested by the juxtaposition of DIDO and CARTHAGE, over which she ruled, but if there is anything it is far too subtle for me.
Other than that, ‘just’ a challenging solve with some witty clues and enjoyable surface reads. The homophonic BERTH/BIRTH CONTROL at 1A set the tone; the adoration of a red-top for ‘SUN’ WORSHIP carried it on; and the image of a gold interior-ed car reversing into a tree for ARAUCARIA certainly raised a wry eyebrow.
[Incidentally, I think this is the third occurrence of ARAUCARIA in puzzles that I have blogged recently – not sure if there is or has been a significant anniversary?]
The clueing was all pretty tight and concise – lots of 4- and 5-word clues. I hadn’t encountered CODETTA before, but assumed it was a diminutive form of CODA, which a quick reference-check confirmed.
I think it just remains for me to thank Qaos for an enjoyable solve and blog – hopefully not another 2.5 years until the next one – and I trust all is clear below.
[As is my wont, I will be out most of Saturday golfing and then shopping, so will keep an eye on things, but will appreciate any answering/explaining of queries/quibbles, and I will perform any major corrections or correct any omissions later in the day…]
| Across | ||
|---|---|---|
| Clue No | Solution | Clue (definition underlined)
Logic/parsing |
| 1A | BIRTH CONTROL | Management of bed onboard delivered in French letter? (5,7)
punning homophone, i.e. delivered – a bed on board a ship is often a berth, so to manage or control it might take BERTH CONTROL, which can sound like BIRTH CONTROL, of which a French letter, or condom, is an example |
| 9A | RAINS | Top Thunderbird character showers (5)
( |
| 10A | STEAMSHIP | Vessel of cooked meats hard to sample outside (9)
S_IP (taste, sample) around (outside of) TEAMS (anag, i.e. cooked, of MEATS) + H (hard, pencil lead hardness) |
| 11A | CODETTA | Some chatted occasionally about last piece of work (7)
reversed hidden word, i.e. some and about, in ‘chATTED OCcasionally’ |
| 12A | SET FREE | Release group regularly tries iron shackles (3,4)
SET (group) + F_E (Fe, iron) around (shackling) RE (regular letters from tRiEs) |
| 13A | SUN WORSHIP | Part of Egyptian religion to adore red top? (3,7)
a red top can be a tabloid paper, like the Sun; and if you adore , or worship it, you might practice SUN WORSHIP! |
| 15A | DIDO | Ancient queen achieved nothing (4)
DID (achieved) + O (zero, nothing) |
| 18A | BUSY | Times describes you and me as ‘engaged’ (4)
B_Y (times, as in multiplication, 5 by 5) around (describing) US (you and me) |
| 19A | PARLIAMENT | Even drunk’s bored by final word of political body (10)
PAR (even, average, expected score) + LI_T (drunk) around (bored by) AMEN (last word, usually of or after a prayer) |
| 22A | REPLICA | Duplicate sorted parcel I collected (7)
REPL_CA (anag, i.e. sorted, of PARCEL) around (collecting) I |
| 24A | SETTLER | Colonist, perhaps 25, secures lake (7)
SETT_ER (25A, Araucaria, is an example, and a very good one at that, of a crossword setter) around (securing) L (lake) |
| 25A | ARAUCARIA | Fancy car with gold interior? Look – one reverses into tree (9)
AR_C (anag, i.e fancy, of CAR) around AU (gold, Aurum, i.e. with a gold interior) + ARIA (AIR, or look, plus A, or one, reversing) |
| 26A | AISLE | Sounds like I will shortly marry near here (5)
homophone, i.e. sounds like – I will can be shortened to I’ll, which can sound like AISLE, which you would be at the end of to get married, in a church |
| 27A | NEVERTHELESS | He lets nerves fray still (12)
anag, i.e. fray, of HE LETS NERVES! |
| Down | ||
| Clue No | Solution | Clue (definition underlined)
Logic/parsing |
| 1D | BUILDINGS | Houses listening devices picking up long row after lunchtime? (9)
BU_GS (listening devices) around (picking up) I (one, lunchtime) + L (long) + DIN (row, noise) |
| 2D | RISOTTOS | S. Connery was one raised to put away German dishes (8)
S + SIR (Sean Connery was knighted, so a ‘Sir’) = SSIR, all raised to give RIS_S, around (putting away) OTTO (example of a German name) |
| 3D | HOSEA | Book hotel over by expanse of water (5)
H (hotel) + O (over, cricket notation) + SEA (expanse of water) [book of the Old Testament] |
| 4D | OVERSPILL | Design proves I will get surplus (9)
OVERSP (anag, i.e. design, of PROVES) + ILL (I’ll, I will) |
| 5D | TOMATO | Fruit, say 2 x 2 ÷ (1000 + 1) (6)
TO + TO (homophones, i.e. say, TWO twice could sound like TO TO) around (divided by) MA (M, mille, 1000, plus A, one) |
| 6D | OTHER | Intermittently dotty, that woman’s different (5)
OT (intermittent letters from dOtTy) + HER (that woman) |
| 7D | WRECKS | King allegedly in ruins (6)
homophone, i.e. allegedly – REX (king) can sound like WRECKS (ruins) |
| 8D | SPEEDO | Drivers keep an eye on this drug ring (6)
SPEED (drug) + O (ring, round-ish letter) |
| 14D | SEA PARROT | Puffin decided to eat a fish egg (3,6)
SE_T (decided) around (eating) A + PARR (fish) + O (oval letter, egg!) |
| 16D | IDEALISTS | Ladies excited to embrace first romantics (9)
IDEAL_S (anag, i.e. excited, of LADIES) around (embracing) IST (1st, first) |
| 17D | CARTHAGE | Charge at crumbling old city (8)
anag, i.e. crumbling, of CHARGE AT |
| 18D | BURIAL | Following difficulty standing up, I upset state funeral (6)
BUR (rub, difficulty, standing up) + I + AL (Alabama, US state) |
| 20D | TURNER | Go on about prize (6)
TURN (go) + ER (re, on, about) |
| 21D | CIRCLE | 150 tuck into boiled rice and get wind (6)
CIR_E (anag, i.e. boiled, of RICE) around (tucked into by) CL (150, Roman numerals) [circle as in wind round, rather than wind as a movement of air] |
| 23D | PEACE | Calm tennis winner completes training (5)
PE (Physical Education, training) + ACE (winning serve in tennis) |
| 24D | SLAVE | John, in case of struggle, provides servant (5)
S_E (case, or outer letters, of StrugglE) around LAV (lavatory, toilet, john) |
I’ve just watched the first episode of David Olusega’s Empire series in which he makes quite clear the difference between a servant and a SLAVE.
I found it a mix of very easy and very difficult clues, with a good dose of nice surfaces. I finished the bottom half before getting a toehold in the top.
In particular I found the NW corner difficult and I was still working on that quadrant on Tuesday. Otherwise no issues and not much to add to the excellent blog
Thanks Qaos and mc_r
Thanks for the blog.
I really enjoyed the puzzle.
I’m pretty sure that Turner (20D) is the theme, having initially thought it might be an ancient-world one.
I’ll leave it someone else to list the paintings.
It took me until Monday afternoon to finally get TURNER, but I enjoyed it. I like Qaos.
Ah! Well spotted, Forest Fan. I’ll start looking…
Turner was my last one in, and it was only then I saw the theme. Like mc_rapper I thought it was something to do with Dido and Carthage at first.
Thanks mc and Qaos Enjoyed this hope to see another one soon.
Thanks mc_r. I share your enthusiasm for this setter, and could have used a bit more math ☺. One note on BURIAL: since the final piece is “upset”, aren’t we talking about Louisiana (LA) rather than Alabama?
Someone once told me that the French call condoms capots anglais, but I’ve never seen this written. Anyway, from what I remember, this went in smoothly with a bit of a stare in the NW for rex/wrecks and loi buildings. The only Turner I can name is the Temeraire, so no theme … I await the cognoscenti. Thanks Q and rapper.
Thanks Qaos. I enjoyably solved most of this over several days. I needed a word finder for SUN WORSHIP & I missed TURNER entirely. I knew there must be a theme but even if I got TURNER it wouldn’t have done me any good anyway. My top picks included BUSY, AISLE, TOMATO, WRECKS, SPEEDO, and PEACE. I was a bit surprised to see ‘state’ in BURIAL as an indicator of one of the 50 US state abbreviations; I was once told that this was unfair to British solvers. (As an American it’s not an issue for me 😄). Thanks mc_rapper67 for the blog.
Al not LA. Well spotted Coloradan, I wonder who else was sharp enough, it went straight by me.
…AL not LA ..
Liked BIRTH CONTROL, SET FREE, PARLIAMENT, TOMATO, SEA PARROT and TURNER.
Thanks Qaos and mc.
Nice to see Qaos back in action after an absence (since last April). Very enjoyable puzzle. Loi 20d TURNER one of my favourites (beautifully succinct). Also plenty of others, such as 11a CODETTA (I like musical clues), 18a BUSY (great surface), 27 NEVERTHELESS, 14d SEA PARROT (another great surface), 18d BURIAL (funny imagery), 23d PEACE. I also have a soft spot for Qaos’ characteristic mathematical clues, 5d TOMATO and 21d CIRCLE (with an amusing surface),
9a RAINS, should it read “Top Thunderbirds character…” (plural)?
I think 15a DIDO is a classic?
I still wince a bit when knowledge of a Guardian crossword setter’s moniker is expected, as in 24a SETTLER. Not really General Knowledge, but Niche Knowledge
Zoot@1 I too raised an eyebrow at 24d “servant” for SLAVE. Chambers has “someone who is hired to perform service” (so not a slave), but it also has “someone who serves in any capacity”, and “a designation formerly used in the USA for a slave”
Me@12, sorry the last Qaos was back in February. I commented on it in April, when I was still two months behind in the archive!
I looked for the theme (“Qaos always has a theme”), but never would have got it for two reasons. While I have always appreciated Turner’s works, I couldn’t name many; and in any case I had TARGET for 20d. To go on about something might be to target it, and a prize is a target for competitors – sort of works. Mig@12: Dido certainly is a classic. Thanks anyway, Qaos and mc.
Famous works by TURNER. The ones I noted were…
RAIN, STEAM and SPEED
DIDO BUILDING CARTHAGE
PEACE – BURIAL at SEA
THE SLAVE SHIP
THE SHIP WRECK
THE burning of the houses of PARLIAMENT
SUN also appears in many titles.
Thanks to Qaos and mc
Also the Fighting Temeraire, as per Grant@7, which is being towed by a STEAMSHIP, indicating how steam was overpowering sail. But I missed this theme, having failed to get TURNER at all. I decided 20d must be Target, through a rather weak double definition. All is now clear.
Thanks Qaos, mc_rapper, and also Forest Fan for identifying the theme. As I live west of London, I often cross Maidenhead bridge on the train, and think of Turner locating the engine terrifying a hare there in Rain, Steam and Speed.
Agree with Jay about the titles – I couldn’t see any more, apart from sneaking Houses (of Parliament) in from the clue to 1dn!
Lovely puzzle from Qaos, as always – and so very good to see him back.
Many thanks to him and to mcr.
I moved house this week and lost the paper with a few still missing (CODETTA, TURNER, RISOTTO).
I remember enjoying this one and thanks to all for the Turner references, which eluded me completely.
Important point @Zoot re servant and slave. Just listened to a conversation that made that clear. An indentured servant’s life could be awful but the indenture was time framed and their children not born into indenturedness (if that’s a word) unlike enslaved people.
@7grantinfreo – “capottes anglaises”, “‘filer à l’anglaise” (leave discreetly). Many of these idioms in French. How we neighbours see each other!
Mig@12 I don’t think ‘it’s in Chambers ‘ works here. Someone who serves is a person. A slave was not regarded as a person, just disposable property, and the obsolete American usage seems to me to be a conscience salve.
Qaos could have clued the word as a verb.
Jess A@19 And their children could be sold never to be seen again. I’m a little surprised at so few comments here.
This took me ages! I got there in the end but am grateful for this help in parsing some of them. I fell into the trap of thinking S stood for Sean in 2d, as Qaos must have intended! A couple of quibbles: there’s nothing cryptic about ‘worship’ in 13a, and in 1d I’m surprised to find that ‘I’ can really stand for lunchtime. But maybe it’s been in use for years and I just haven’t encountered it?
Zoot@ 21 et al. I was also slightly shocked at the definition for SLAVE, and wondered at the use of the word when the crossers made less contentious words possible. The TURNER painting is an explanation, but it’s an example of a setter being a slave to their theme (sorry).
Needed my co-solver to point out the obvious answer to 11A as ‘occasionally’ stuck in my brain as ‘take alternate letters’ & wouldn’t be shifted. It didn’t help that I couldn’t see ‘allegedly’ as a homophone indicator despite the fact that ‘said’ was the only synonym for it that I could think of.
I had BUNGALOWS at 1d at first, but I couldn’t justify it from the wordplay and eventually got the right answer. (Big Maz@22. 1pm for lunchtime has been used before, but it didn’t come readily to mind, I admit.)
Yes, ‘allegedly’ is a tricky indicator at 7d, Mr W@24. I was expecting a comment about the soundalike for “rex” from someone who always gives full value for the W in WRECKS. No one?
Thanks to Qaos and mc_shopper.
Always good to be faced with a Qaos crossword. I failed to see the theme though.
I liked the reverse hidden CODETTA, the tabloid liking SUN WORSHIP, ARAUCARIA’s fancy gold car, the BUILDINGS with their bugs, and the SEA PARROT puffin eating a fish egg. Re the discussion of slave/servant, slave can be used colloquially i.e. he’s a slave to fashion, so maybe it’s OK in that context.
Thanks Qaos and mcr.
Robi@26 But that’s not the context here.
Thanks, Jay @15. Turner was my last-but-one answer and I hadn’t thought to look for a theme, so this is the icing on the cake. CODETTA and BUILDINGS were my favourites.
Re: 24d The issue goes back two millennia, at least according to my former teachers. When in school, we were taught that the Latin servus meant both servant and SLAVE. A schoolboy in their single digits or early double-digits of age is not going to question it (I don’t remember the exact year it first came up), but it made it somewhat of a challenge to realize later that these were were not the same.
It’s not often that one is lucky enough to see the first three clues (26 letters!) very quickly leading to the top half of the puzzle being soon completed. However, we struggled somewhat on the lower half with our Loi also being TURNER with a few other clues not fully parsed until afterwards. As with other solvers, we had BUNGALOWS at 1d and TARGET at 20d, but were not sufficiently convinced to put them in.
Many ticks, including (in no particular order) BUSY, PARLIAMENT, ARAUCARIA, AISLE, TOMATO, WRECKS and PEACE. We are not sufficiently familiar with the names of many Turner paintings, so did not spot the theme, especially coming so late in our solving. In retrospect, we note that many of the connections are with single words in rather long titles, leaving us to synpathise with sheffield hatter @23.
Many thanks to Q, m and other bloggers for the entertainment and information.
I hesitated on bRAINS because of course Brains is a ThunderbirdS character. I don’t think anyone would ever have used the term adjectivally in the singular.
I was another who frowned at SLAVE, and I didn’t find the surfaces quite as elegant as many apparently did; the one for BERTH CONTROL in particular was pretty clunky (although I liked the construction), and in the one for BUILDINGS I think an apostrophe (houses’) would have given a more pleasing surface than interpreting “houses” as a verb conjugation.
But grumbles aside, there was lots to like, and my favourites were TURNER, BURIAL and SEA PARROT. I failed on WRECKS because I didn’t identify “allegedly” as a homophone; I’m still not convinced… one can allege something in writing, not necessarily in speech.
Thanks to Qaos (particularly for the mathematical fun) and to mc_rapper67