Thank you to Pangakupu. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
8. Operation? It’s recalled in entertaining scam (8)
FUNCTION : Reversal of(…’s recalled) IT contained in(in) [ FUN CON](what you might call a scam/con that provides fun/is entertaining, if there is such a thing).
Defn: The activity/operation that is the purpose of a person or thing.
9. Way to contain heartless evil? Prepare to fire again (6)
RELOAD : ROAD(a thoroughfare/way) containing(to contain) “evil” minus its inner letters(heartless …).
Answer: To …, say, a firearm.
10. Encounter poor horse (4,4)
BUMP INTO : BUM(of poor quality/defective) + PINTO(a horse having irregular patches of two colours).
11. Composed piano line that’s sharp (6)
PLACID : P(abbrev. for “piano”, a musical term) + L(abbrev. for “line”) + ACID(sour/sharp-tasting).
12. Smart behaviour: vital part needs twist to work (5-10)
QUICK-WITTEDNESS : QUICK(the vital or central part, as in “… was cut to the quick by that remark”) + anagram of(… to work) NEEDS TWIST.
15. That chap’s seizing English ancient monument (5)
HENGE : HE(pronoun denoting “that chap”) containing(…’s seizing) ENG(abbrev. for “English”).
16. Demanding performer stands beside new bed (5)
DIVAN : DIVA(a demanding performer, one who is difficult to please) plus(stands beside) N(abbrev. for “new”).
… and storage:
20. Welcomes new ideas – is still producing coal, mostly by day (5,2,4,4)
KEEPS AN OPEN MIND : “keeps an open mine”(how you might describe one who continues to operate a mine producing coal) minus its last letter(mostly) plus(by) D(abbrev. for “day”).
21. US drink – intend coming back to consume seconds (6)
MIMOSA : Reversal of(… coming back) AIM(to pursue as an objective/intend) containing(to consume) MOS(plural of “mo”/a moment/a second).
Prosecco in lieu of champagne:
23. Underwear items about to be removed in clubs (8)
BRASSIES : “brassieres”(items of feminine underwear) minus(… to be removed) “re”(“with regard to”/about).
… what a No. 2 wood was.
25. Location of setter’s name? Tell joke about it – not half (3,3)
DOG TAG : [DO GAG](to tell/do a joke/gag) containing(about) “it” minus its 1st out of 2 letters(not half).
Defn: …, the setter being a breed of canine.
26. One sea swirling in major event covering large area (8)
EPIDEMIC : [ I(Roman numeral for “one”) + reversal of(… swirling) MED(short for the Mediterranean Sea) ] contained in(in) EPIC(grand/major).
Down
1. Cloudy burial mound with top hidden in cloud (7)
CUMULUS : C(abbrev. for “cloudy”, as in “pc”/partly cloudy) + “tumulus”(an ancient burial mound) minus its 1st letter(with top hidden, in a down clue).
… cotton woolly appearance.
2. What leads to misplaced refractor? It means extra work (5,5)
SCOPE CREEP : [SCOPE CREEP](cryptically, when an instrument with a lens, like a telescope, moves/creeps, it might lead to/result in a misplaced/dislodged refractor/lens).
Defn: …, when the requirements/scope of a project widens, usually after the project starts.
3. Pieces encapsulating current attitude (4)
MIEN : MEN(pieces in a chess set) containing(encapsulating) I(symbol for electric current in physics).
Defn: A person’s appearance or manner/….
4. Officer on street blocking large expenditure items (7)
ONCOSTS : [ NCO(abbrev. for “non-commissioned officer”) placed above(on, in a down clue) ST(abbrev. for “street”) ] contained in(blocking) OS(abbrev. for “outsize”/large).
Defn: …, in this case, overhead costs.
5. One from larger family, I’m last to dance such as waltz? (6,4)
TRIPLE TIME : TRIPLET(one of three children or animals born at the same birth, definitely making the family it belongs to, larger than usual) + I’M + last letter of(last to) “dance”.
Defn: In music, time or rhythm with tree beats to each bar, an example of which is/such as the waltz.
6. Some fanciful name for bone in wing (4)
ULNA : Hidden in(Some) “fanciful name”.
Defn: Bone in the wing of a bird, corresponding to the bone in a human’s forearm.
7. Communist leader, guzzling sherries, disposing of Nationalist criminal (7)
MAFIOSO : MAO(Zedong, Chinese Communist leader) containing(guzzling) “finos”(very dry sherries/fortified wines originally from Spain) minus(disposing of) “n”(abbrev. for “Nationalist”).
Defn: … who is a member of the Mafia, the criminal organisation.
13. Comedian’s good one repeated in Australian city (5,5)
WAGGA WAGGA : [ WAG(a comedian/joker) plus(…’s/has) G(abbrev. for “good”) + A(a single quantity/one) ] plus(repeated) WAGGA.
14. Trawler’s equipment cut, with ship surrounded by troops – collisions avoided (4,6)
NEAR MISSES : “net”(equipment of a trawler/a boat used for fishing with a trawl net) minus its last letter(cut) plus(with) [ SS(abbrev. for “steamship”, as used in the names of such ships) contained in(surrounded by) ARMIES(military troops) ].
17. Vegetarian’s opening no function that’s dished up meat (7)
VENISON : 1st letter of(…’s opening) “Vegetarian” + reversal of(… that’s dished up, in a down clue) [NO + SINE(a trigonometric function/ratio) ].
Defn: … from a deer.
18. Broad projection involving Times beginning to recruit influence in Parliament? (7)
LOBBYER : [ LOBE(a broad projection/a rounded part extending from a larger structure) containing(involving) BY(denoting multiplication/times, as in “2 by 2 = ..”) ] + 1st letter of(beginning to) “recruit”.
Answer: … or “lobbyist”, one hired to influence lawmakers/Parliament.
19. International difficulties elevated for now (7)
INTERIM : INT(abbrev. for “international”) + reversal of(… elevated, in a down clue) MIRE(trouble which is difficult to get out of/difficulties).
22. Unwilling to forgo large bond (4)
OATH : “loath”(unwilling/opposed) minus(forgo) “l”(abbrev. for “large”).
Defn: …/a solemn promise.
24. Song’s introduction missed in item from West Side Story (4)
ARIA : 1st letter(introduction) deleted from(missed in) “Maria”(an item/song from West Side Story, the musical).
Another challenging puzzle, with lots of witty clues and ULNA again the bone of choice. I liked BUMP INTO, QUICK WITTEDNESS, KEEP AN OPEN MIND, BRASSIES, EPIDEMIC, NEAR MISSES and INTERIM (topical). I can’t see any Nina and apart from there being four four-lettered clues, I can’t see a link to 44. I couldn’t parse CUMULUS.
Ta Pangakupu & scchua for the colour.
Well that was a struggle but very satisfying to finally reach the finishing line (which for me was INTERIM – couldn’t see the difficulties at first). Couldn’t help thinking there could be no such word as LOBBYER but it had to be right. Never heard of SCOPE CREEP and reverted to a word finder for that one. Always count reverting to that ploy as a fail on my part. Thanks all round.
Thanks Pangakupu and scchua
I usually enjoy this setter, but this puzzle not so much. A couple of solutions I had never heard of in 2d and 4d (I had heard “feature creep”), and several I couldn’t parse satisfactorily.
I hadn’t come across C for “cloudy”. Is it used in weather forecasts?
Favourite TRIPLE TIME.
Nice puzzle, but for me dog tags are not worn by dogs.
The problem of SCOPE CREEP was well known to me in my working life on IT projects. I’m sure it’s still a bugbear, particularly on government projects. LOBBYER was my LOI, but ONCOSTS was new to me. Hasn’t ULNA appeared in another puzzle recently? I was really pleased when I solved KEEP AN OPEN MIND as that helped enormously with the solve, as well as being a clever clue. No doubt someone with the requisite knowledge will reveal the nina before long.
Thanks to Pangakup and scchua.
I suspect the best known example of SCOPE CREEP is HS2.
For the Nina, I did wonder about TIKNSSA OCENIIM, but I have no idea how to space it – shoving that into Google translate Maori to English gets results for “Tiktok is so cute” and apparently there’s a TikTok trend “44 I’m so cute”. (After extensive use of search engines.)
Thank you to Pangakupu and scchua
Billy Mills @4: what would you call tags worn by dogs?
Nearly got there but defeated in the SE corner, having to reveal EPIDEMIC to break the deadlock.
Not wild about ‘C’ for cloudy and SCOPE CREEP was new. The Cousins use mission creep I believe, too define a project that fails to meet it’s key targets.
Toughie but goodie all in.
I’d heard of mission creep so SCOPE CREEP seemed plausible. AlanC has already picked my favourites. Shanne@6 That’s impressive detective work!
Nho ONCOSTS, but liked TRIPLE TIME. I’m not entirely convinced that FUNCTION=operation. One implies purpose and the other the means of achieving it.
If i had a pound for every time SCOPE CREEP was used in a meeting I would no longer have to work on these under resourced projects with unrealistic timelines.
Slightly intimidated seeing the grid shape and the setter but with the two long answers quickly in it was plainer sailing than usual for this setter.
Enjoyed KEEP AN OPEN MIND, BUMP INTO and HENGE amongst others.
Thanks Pangakupu and scchua
ONCOSTS, SCOPE CREEP, the great unknown. But apart from that and therefore a dnf, a nice puzzle from Pankakupu today. Particularly liked BUMP INTO and BRASSIES…
Re the nina: “The Forty-Fours are a group of islands in the Chatham Archipelago, about 50 kilometres (31 mi) east of the main Chatham Island. They are called Motchuhar in Moriori and Motuhara in Māori.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forty-Fours
Top row contains MOTU
Bottom row contains HARA
Loverly puzzle, Mr P, even if I was beaten by the mafioso. Ta for the graphic blog, scchua.
According to Google Translate, row 7 + column 13 – SRAS TEO OCENI IM – is Māori for “I’m sorry”. I wonder what for?
[ONCOSTS was a bugbear of mine in the later stages of my career when bidding for funds for projects. The university’s accountants and other bureaucrats would insist on including ‘oncosts’ – typically 20% or so, and apparently plucked out of the air – to cover things such as project staff (who were usually already employed), use of libraries, heating, etc. To me, it seemed like padding in an attempt to make a few quid for the organisation, whilst reducing the competitiveness of my bid. Grr! I’m glad I’m retired!]
After the last two cryptics, I was beginning to think I’m not cut out for this crosswords lark. Today was better in that I finished somehow. I revealed only MAFIOSO and was annoyed with myself because I’d got as far as the Mao bit. Never heard of SCOPE CREEP, OUTCOSTS or BRASSIES,though crossers and guessing gave me the answers, and some of the parsing seemed, as it often does to me, nuts. I liked TRIPLE TIME and INTERIM.
This was tough. I also had not heard of scope creep, but one can guess its meaning. Brassies aso new to me,despite working in the Home of Golf. I had the last three words of 20a early on, but it took me a while to find the first one. For 25a, I was distracted trying to find a location for Pangakupu’s name (top left, above the puzzle)…
Thanks, Pangakupu and scchua for explaining a few I could not parse
I am a golfer, but I don’t think I’ve seen the term BRASSIE outside P G Wodehouse’s golf stories. They were so-called as they usually had brass plates on the soles.
[There are several more interesting old names for golf clubs – cleek, baffing iron, mashie, and niblick spring to mind.]
I have never heard of SCOPE CREEP or the word ONCOSTS in 60 years of doing crosswords. ONCOSTS is a made up word, surely. Not in my Dictionaries
The complete book of Wodehouse golf stories is a treasured book of mine so BRASSIES was a good starting point. Occupied quite a few IT roles in my time (retired now, thankfully) and SCOPE CREEP was the bane of my life in almost all of them – ‘Oh, when you’re doing that could you just add five new functions. Won’t take too long will it’.
Ed @19 ONCOSTS is in Chambers and has come up several times over the years. And BM@4 while we’re in the big red book DOG TAG: “a metal identity disc for a dog or (informal) for a soldier”
Same faves as AlanC and others. Didn’t know C for cloudy but I do now 🙂
Cheers P&S
I know mission creep, but not the scope version. Obviously management jargon has moved on since my day. Other terms new to me were BRASSIES and ONCOSTS, and c for cloudy: I took CUMULUS to be some sort of substitution but couldn’t quite work out if the result was supposed to begin with T or C.
Billy Mills @4 The use of the term “dog tags” in the military sense is borrowed directly (and humorously) from its literal use for dogs.
NHO ONCOSTS nor LOBBYER, lobbyist being familiar, and the parsing escaped me too. For me 23A was unsatisfactory as it required knowledge not merely of golf but of an archaic term.
By the way, when was the last time I clue mentioned underwear and the item in question was not a bra? How about some vests in the future? Does anybody still wear those?
muffin @18: … and not forgetting spoon and jigger, now consigned forever to crosswords alone. (I wonder if golf holds the origin of the phrase, “well, I’ll be jiggered!”?
Good puzzle with some nice constructions. I found it quite tricky in places and it took two sessions to see it off. Not for the first time I’ll echo AlanC’s choices @1.
Like gladys @22, ‘mission creep’ was familiar (used a lot during the Gulf War) but not SCOPE CREEP, though the expression is self-explanatory. However it seems horribly familiar to some of us. Is it just a newer piece of business jargon, or it it used particularly in the IT industry?
Thanks to Pangakupu and scchua
SCOPE CREEP is very familiar at work, almost every project has been an ongoing fight against the feeping creatures; but I’m not surprised it’s obscure to many.
A couple of hmms. “Do gag” for “tell joke”? C for cloudy? (not in Chambers, is it?). ONCOSTS a new word for me. Definitely found it harder than par for the setter.
On the other hand, I really enjoyed the entertaining scam (scchua: surely you’d have to concede at least The Sting fits the bill!) and the poor horse.
Thank you Pangakupu and scchua, and rusty@13 for shedding light on the Nina.
Ace @ 23. The last time Vest got a mention was in Budmo’s Quiptic on Sunday
@Ace and @Alan C, I’m pleased to learn something new every day. I have a dog and she wears a name tag. Until today, that is.