Great fun from Goliath.
A thoroughly enjoyable puzzle – simple but not easy, challenging but not hard.
ACROSS
1. Time to add salt (6)
SEASON
4. Spin monster’s advance (8)
PROGRESS
PR (spin, Public Relations) + OGRESS (monster)
9. Observe water or steam? (6)
NOTICE
10. Composed lyric half Gaelic in this script (8)
CYRILLIC
(LYRIC)* (*composed) + [gae]LIC (half)
12. One’s upset for a very long time (4)
EONS
13. Regularly quibble in what I’m doing now, providing a roof over someone’s head (10)
SUBLETTING
[q]U[i]B[b]L[e] (regularly) in SETTING (what I’m doing now)
15. Obtain silver for corrupt economic ends (4,2,6)
COME IN SECOND
(ECONOMIC ENDS)* (*corrupt)
18. Dental expert has a monthly event — it’s not changing (12)
PERIODONTIST
PERIOD (monthly event) + (IT’S NOT)* (*changing)
21. For Elton John, Kenneth became Hercules (6,4)
MIDDLE NAME
Cryptic definition (although not cryptic really…)
Elton Hercules John was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight
22. In Somalia, an African country (4)
MALI
24. Denial of actual bottom-pinching (8)
REBUTTAL
REAL (actual); BUTT (bottom) pinching
25. Tumble that hurts when not active (6)
FALLOW
FALL (tumble) + OW (that hurts)
26. Look back with wine for a memento (8)
KEEPSAKE
PEEK< (look, <back) + SAKE (wine, Japanese)
27. Absolutely not taking over right to be a nation (6)
NORWAY
NO WAY (absolutely not) taking over R (right)
DOWN
1. Time for a few words (8)
SENTENCE
2. Crazy amount you endlessly wasted to get independence (8)
AUTONOMY
(AMOUNT YO[u] (endlessly))* (*wasted)
3. Previously a Spanish team? (4)
ONCE
Double definition
The ONCE team were a highly successful Spanish cycling team, actually sponsored by ONCE. Click here for more.
5. Prince, perhaps a rogue, gets half- hearted TV award in art venue (5,7)
ROYAL ACADEMY
ROYAL (prince, perhaps) + A + CAD (rogue) + EM[m]Y (TV award, half-hearted)
6. Bright to be paying attention after midnight (10)
GLISTENING
LISTENING (paying attention) after [ni]G[ht] (mid)
7. Pastry served up in memorial ceremony (6)
ECLAIR
[memo]RIAL CE[remony]< (served <up in)
8. Feudal rent saturation reported (6)
SOCAGE
“SOAKAGE” (saturation, “reported”)
11. Meson, it somehow splits another subatomic particle? (8,4)
QUESTION MARK
(MESON IT)* (*somehow) splits QUARK (another subatomic particle)
14. Crash diet lapses with bread and butter here (4,6)
SIDE PLATES
16. Bar from which Goliath would come back looking unhealthy (8)
DISALLOW
I’D< (Goliath would, <come back) + SALLOW (looking unhealthy)
17. Steps leaving street for a breather (8)
STAIRWAY
[st]AIRWAY (a breather, leaving ST (street))
19. National Rail’s trademark designed with no red elements (6)
AMTRAK
T[r]A[de]MARK* (*designed, with no RED elements)
From United States
20. Fit to eat by consumer on vacation? That would be plausible (6)
EDIBLE
C[onsume]R (on vacation) + EDIBLE would be plausible
23. Previous leader’s love for county sauce (4)
MAYO
MAY (previous leader, Theresa May) + O (love)
With two straight definitions
Loved this. Eminently solvable, but witty throughout, with no obscurities or over-contrivances.
Question mark is a classic among a rich crop.
Thanks Goliath and Oriel for the blog.
I enjoyed this too.
23d was clever with two definitions.
Thanks Goliath and Oriel. First class from both.
In 3d I took ONCE as just the Spanish word for eleven (a football team), rather than the (obscure?) cycling team.
Didn’t know either meaning for the ONCE team and I always thought (wrongly, obviously) that SOCAGE was pronounced sockage rather than soakage, so I missed that one. But yes, great fun: I liked NOT ICE.
Tiny quibble: if there are to be no red elements in TRADEMARK, surely you have to remove both Rs?
Never heard of SOCAGE, which I had to reveal — is it a British thing? The Spanish team and Elton’s nomenclature were beyond me, and I couldn’t parse EDIBLE. Otherwise all good.
GDU@5
SOCAGE is defined by the Shorter OED as: the tenure of land by certain determinate services other than knight service. It is Anglo- Norman. Not much of it down under?
Thanks, SM. I just found it in Collins, which indeed says English legal history and English law. I’ve never heard of it but I do lead a sheltered life.
Thanks Goliath and Oriel
3dn: I am another who took ONCE as the Spanish for eleven.
8dn: Collins 2023 p 1882 and ODE 2010 p 1693 give socage pronounced with a short O, and ODE has the alternative spelling soccage. Chambers 2016 p 1478 gives socage or soccage without an explicit pronunciation, but under the headword soc, which is given a short O. Perhaps someone can find a respectable source that will make this clue work.
19dn: I agree with Gladys@4 that “with no red elements” should not leave an R in the answer. To me, the clue would work properly if Goliath had written “without red elements” instead.
Lots of fun, my faves being Royal Academy, Cyrillic, Come In Second amongst many others.
Thanks to Goliath and Oriel.
Having listened to a couple of YouTube pronunciation videos, it appears that there are two ways of saying SOCAGE – the “UK” way (SOCKage) and the US way (soCAGE) which doesn’t quite match SOAKage but is a better fit than the UK version.
It took me a while to get going with this – I think the thought of having to take the cat to the vet for her annual once-over was something of a distraction – but when that was over and done with and I could relax it went along fairly smoothly. Putting ‘orthodontist’ in for ‘periodontist’ didn’t help, but I fairly quickly realised I was being an idiot . . .
I’m in agreement with the general chorus of approval but then I always do find Goliath’s puzzles uplifting.
I liked the two ‘time’-themed double definitions at 1a/d, the ‘corrupt economic ends’, MAYO and the surface for SIDE PLATES.
Thanks Goliath and Oriel.
Rarely do the FT (mostly issues with their software rather than a critique of their puzzles) but I do make an exception for Goliath.
Usual cheekiness and humour. I was unaware Hercules was Elton John’s MIDDLE NAME but figured out from the checking letters. Not a clue about the second part of the definition for ONCE either.
I do admire how Goliath keeps it fun and challenging without completely frying the brain.
Loved the long anagrams and partial anagrams in this but could probably shortlist three quarters of the clues.
Thanks Oriel and Goliath
I had so many likes, including AMTRAK, SIDE PLATES, SEASON, ROYAL ACADEMY, PROGRESS, and SENTENCE. ECLAIR was nicely hidden and I thought COME IN SECOND was a wonderful clue.
On the other hand, i thought there was a bit too much repetition and a few too many obscure words.
Thanks Goliath and Oriel
Thanks Goliath for the usual top-notch puzzle. I found this on Goliath’s gentler side; I managed to solve this on my phone last evening which I usually find more difficult than old school pencil & paper, my preferred method. My top 3 clues were AUTONOMY, QUESTION MARK, & COME IN SECOND. I wonder about connecting words (except ‘and’) in double definitions i.e. ‘for’ in 1d; is this considered acceptable? In 1a, one can argue that ‘to’ can be attached to ‘season’ but ‘for’ in 1d is not part of either meaning. Thanks Oriel for the blog.
On the SOCAGE front, I was aware that it had affinities with the Soke of Peterborough and the places in Essex called the Sokens, so I was prepared to believe that it might be pronounced soak-age, though I always call it sock-age. Why do I call it anything? Because I’m interested in legal history. All you English freeholders may like to know that you hold your property in common socage. I hope that makes you proud.
I liked REBUTTAL. My last one in was SEASON. In desperation I was reluctantly about to enter “seadog” (= salt) when I saw the correct answer.
I agree with others – very entertaining throughout. Pretty sure the non-English meaning of ONCE here is simply the Spanish for ‘eleven’, a standard team for many sports. Loved QUESTION MARK – true genius.
My FOI was SEASON 🙂
Once again I’m a little concerned about a double anagrind in 2d – or is “endlessly wasted” a tautology rather than “crazy” and “wasted” being equivalent?
Huge tick for 11d.
I thought this was one of the better puzzles of the year. Enjoyed it all. Didn’t know about the Spanish team but got it from previously. Thank you all
Oops, I@14 forgot to add my vote for QUESTION MARK. I agree it was another wonderful clue.
Great fun. Too many excellent clues to list. Deduced MIDDLE NAME from the crossers although I have zero interest in or knowledge of Elton/Reginald’s second name. QUESTION MARK was last in and a lovely penny-drop moment to finish on. Thanks both.