Thanks to Pangakupu for another solid puzzle.
Looking for the trademark Maori Nina I see TEKAU in the sixth row, which is the Maori word for “ten” (though apparently it originally meant twenty). KITARA in the middle row looked promising, but it’s a legendary ancient empire in the area of modern Uganda. Whether this is significant I could not say.
| Across | ||||||||
| 1 | SATIRES | Scottish symbols left out in ironic pieces (7) SALTIRES less L |
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| 5 | CACKLED | Conservative, challenged, losing head, snickered (7) C + [t]ACKLED |
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| 9 | I will block rejection of unconvincing message (5) I in reverse of LAME |
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| 10 | UNIVERSAL | Film company runs a live broadcast (9) (RUNS A LIVE)* |
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| 11 | LARGHETTO | Musical piece: singer tailing off in front of non-mainstream group (9) LAR[k] (singer) + GHETTO |
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| 12 | PROOF | Possible result of investigation: academic with double character (5) PROF with the O doubled |
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| 13 | HOARD | Keep a big audience, say, on the radio (5) Sounds like “horde” |
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| 15 | IDENTICAL | Impression received by two clubs almost entirely the same (9) DENT (impression) in II (2) + C[lubs] + AL[L] |
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| 18 | CASTANETS | Spanish percussion and Scottish rock in Lloyd Webber musical (9) STANE (Scots “stone”) in CATS |
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| 19 | ASSET | Energy in assistant is something useful (5) E in ASST |
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| 21 | RIPON | Continue to split Yorkshire city (5) To continue to split is to RIP ON |
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| 23 | COMIC BOOK | Mike capturing dismissive sound after company’s funny scenes here (5,4) CO + BOO in MICK |
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| 25 | FROGSPAWN | Fellow sadly wrong about spring as source of amphibians (9) F + SPA in WRONG* |
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| 26 | NULLS | Invalidates lines in newspaper after backlash? (5) L L in reverse of SUN |
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| 27 | LOOK SEE | Quick scan: beauty, grace and allure at last (4-3) LOOKS (beauty) + last letters of gracE and allurE |
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| 28 | YUCATAN | Recalled vote against including University guy in part of Mexican trip (7) U CAT (guy) in reverse of NAY (a vote against) |
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| Down | ||||||||
| 1 | STEALTH | First to snatch key amid the rioting shows sneakiness (7) S[natch] + ALT (computer key) in THE* |
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| 2 | TEA BREAKS | Leaves magistrates imprisoning Rector for drinking sessions (3,6) TEA (leaves) + R[ector] in BEAKS (magistrates) |
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| 3 | RALPH | Perhaps Vaughan Williams recording receiving cheer? On the contrary (5) LP (record) in RAH (a cheer) – Ralph was the composer’s first name |
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| 4 | STUNT KITE | Acrobatic toy was high – about time? That is about time (5,4) T in STUNK (was high) + T in I.E. |
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| 5 | CAIRO | Lead meeting to ditch hot, old African city (5) CHAIR (to lead a meeting) less H[ot], plus O[ld] |
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| 6 | CLEOPATRA | Queen relocated to palace, embracing King (9) R in (TO PALACE)* |
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| 7 | LASSO | Ranch equipment to remain fresh, trimmed in this way (5) LAS[t] (to remain fresh) + SO (in this way) |
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| 8 | DOLEFUL | Unhappy party line about distribution of fuel (7) FUEL* in DO (party) + L[ine] |
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| 14 | DIAGNOSIS | Air support picked up one’s identification (9) Reverse of SONG (air) AID (support) + I’S |
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| 16 | EASY MONEY | A source of wealth? It’s sick, without question, getting surprised comment about individual (4,5) QUEASY (sick) less QU + ONE (individual) in MY (surprised comment) |
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| 17 | CASSOULET | Person in legal affair getting tense, in a stew (9) SOUL (person) in CASE + T[ense] |
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| 18 | CAREFUL | Painstaking official probing birth membrane (7) REF[eree] in CAUL. A caul is a membrane that (in rare cases) covers a newborn’s head and face. Various superstitions apply to cauls; Dickens’s David Copperfield was born with one |
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| 20 | TAKES ON | Youngster supporting viewpoint is distraught (5,2) TAKE (viewpoint) + SON – a rather old-fashioned expression, as in “don’t take on so!” |
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| 22 | PHOTO | Expressionless when absorbing racy picture (5) HOT (racy) in PO (as in po-faced, though to me (and Chambers) that means “stupidly solemn and narrow-minded” – is the setter thinking of “poker-faced”?) |
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| 23 | CHASE | Engrave Harold’s initial in piece of luggage (5) H[arold] in CASE |
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| 24 | CYNIC | Pessimist in Surrey finally turned up, blocking County Council (5) Reverse of IN [surre]Y in C.C. |
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CLEOPATRA is a very nice spot and FROGSPAWN made me smile. First time I’ve encountered GHETTO as ‘non-mainstream group’ but there it is in Chambers.
Thanks both
15a: Isn’t AL[l] “almost entirely” and the definition just “the same”?
Re 20, the expression “what’s your take on this?” is still pretty common in these parts….. or at least that’s my take on it.
Thanks both.
KITA RA as two words?
With Justigator = 2 on tbe parsing of IDENTICAL.
HOARD. Is horde meant to be a big audience, definition by example (say)?
Liked this – very clearly clued. I’m guessing the underlining in the blog for 15a is in the wrong place.
Favourite was CLEOPATRA.
Google translate gives me guitar for KITARA and “to the dollar” for KI TARA. Not sure how either relates to whatever number puzzle this is, somewhere in the 40s?
Thanks Pangakupu and Andrew
I didn’t like the clue for LARGHETTO much – “singer tailing off” for LAR is a bit loose, and GHETTO for non-mainstream group is odd – it usually means an area where the group lives (after the original one in Venice), rather than the group itself.
I didn’t see why “Mexican trip” rather than just “Mexico”.
Lots I did like, though. Favourites FROGSPAWN and CASSOULET.
Very enjoyable…
A couple of things that I’m sure people can put me straight on…
Isn’t a GHETTO an area in 11a? Also, are ‘say’ and ‘on the radio’ both needed in 13a?
Other than that, surprisingly on wavelength today. Only delay was forgetting for a millionth time the use of KEY in a crossword.
Thanks both
Andrew, 15a…ENTIRELY, part of the wordplay not definition?
I had the same query about 22d po-faced which is ‘humourless and disapproving’ and implies a certain facial expression, not lack of expression.
I could not parse 14d.
New for me: STANE = rock; STUNT KITE.
I agree with Justigator@2 re 15ac.
Pangakupu Is one of those setters that whilst excellent I never seem to get on wavelength with. That changed today with this going in relatively smoothly. Even the unheard of LARGHETTO didn’t hold me up.
FROGSPAWN, PHOTO and RALPH on the favourite list today.
Thanks Pangakupu and Andrew
With respect to RALPH, what is “on the contrary” doing? I took it to refer to the other meaning of RALPH – to throw up. When doing this after drinking you’re definitely not “receiving cheer” – quite the contrary!!! Lots to make me smile in this.
Me @15: the bloggers take is of course correct (ie lp in rah rather than rah in lp) – if less colourful!
This might be tenuous but “teakau kitara” might translate as ten guitars.
According to Wikipedia, “Ten Guitars” was the favoured side in NZ of Englebert H’s hit “Release Me” due to its upbeat sound and guitar style that lent itself to the popular ” Maori Strum” technique.
MuddyThinking@15: It’s LP inside RAH, rather than the other way round.
Quite liked this, but with some quibbles:
26a: NULL is not a verb in my vocabulary (nor in Chambers’), though ANULL would be.
4d: Nho STUNT KITE.
I see TE ATALAO TEKAU KITARA, which Google translates as “ten-string guitar”, though I’m not sure if I should trust him as he would translate anything from any language. In any case, if this is No. 46 then the 10 might correspond to 4+6.
I didn’t know BEAKS, STUNT KITE or CASSOULET; my favourites are DIAGNOSIS and LOOK-SEE. Thanks Pangakupu and Andrew!
I like your explanation for the Nina, Layman @19, he did something similar with another meaningless number. I didn’t know LARGHETTO or that meaning of GHETTO but RALPH helped with that. A good challenge with some lovely clues like CASTANETS, FROGSPAWN and CASSOULET. I agree with others about the parsing of IDENTICAL.
Ta Pangakupu & Andrew
Layman @19: I just checked and his last Cryptic in January was number 44, but I have no idea how 45 relates to your translation?
Null is a verb in my Chambers App. Some great clues here as others have noted. FROGSPAWN probably my favourite.
If it’s 45 then Frank Male has got the Nina. It’s a 45rpm record.
Well done Frank and Peter.
I was very thankful that my misguided youth was mostly spent immersed in the careful study of Bertie Wooster’s misadventures, especially the one in which he gets a coldish nod from the beak on the morning after boat race night, which helped with 2d.
A thoroughly enjoyable grid indeed.
Thank you, Pangakupu and Andrew!
Layman@19 I’m afraid that your nina cannot be correct as there is no L in Maori – the nina therefore does not contain “te atalao”
Enjoyable puzzle. Living in Scotland, I am familiar witrh stane for stone (though rock is actualy craig) and 18a was my FOI. I needed this blog for some parsings: I had not spotted the song for air in 14d and had not heard of rah for cheer. I am still not sure about 20d: why is “takes on” distraught? I think 9a would work better without “will”. I tried to put “ill” into something, which of course did not work.
Thanks, Pangakupu and andrew
I didn’t spot ghetto=non mainstream group, but I have no quarrel with it: ghettos can be social as well as physical. Not so happy with horde=big audience.
DutchGirl@27: the definition for TAKES ON is “is distraught “.
Favourites FROGSPAWN, CASSOULET.
Thanks Pangakupu and Andrew! A very nice crossword with a few learning opportunities (STUNT KITEs, TAKES ON, asst. for assistant, beaks for magistrates, etc).
Could someone explain how engrave=chase? Thanks 🙂
Please tell me someone else had sketchy for sneaky. It’s a perfect anagram of the + key + s.
Calabar Bean@30. I think engraving and chasing are both terms used in arts and crafty metal working.
recnepS kraM@28. It’s a shame we are not allowed to use the term retarded, anymore.
Re: nina – thanks to all who commented. Frank’s version @17 is the correct one then, with the 45 explained by Petert @23
Did anyone else have HEARD for 13ac. It almost works: ‘herd’ for ‘a big audience’, ‘say’ giving ‘sounds like’ and ‘on the radio’ as a definition by example for ‘heard’.
Thanks Pangakupu and Andrew.
I agree with the doubts about GHETTO – it’s a place, originally where Jews were required to live, etymology unclear. Here in the US it’s also an adjective.
I am still struggling with the parsing of DIAGNOSIS. How does “I’s” equate to “one’s”? Can somebody use it in a sentence? Outside of certain dialects, does anybody actually say “I’s”? Clarification welcome.
28 across: U CAT? Help with this, please!
28 across: U CAT? Help with this, please!
I’s the ninth letter of the alphabet (though it doesn’t mean “one” in that context)?
A guy as in ‘he’s a cool cat/guy’, I think.
Pleased to complete a Pangakupu puzzle on the first pass. Diciest was 14d DIAGNOSIS, but I eventually cracked it before completing the last column. Enjoyable puzzle with a lot of great clues. Favourites, 10a UNIVERSAL (smooth surface), 28a YUCATAN (for “University guy” = U CAT), 6d CLEOPATRA (excellent surface, and near anagram “to palace”)
NHO’s, 2d TEA BREAKS (BEAKS for “magistrates”), 23d CHASE (“engrave”)
9a We had EMAIL very recently
Ace@36, “one’s” wordplay, separate “one” and “s” to get “i” and “s” = “is”
Ace@36, it’s Roman numerals, I = one. So ones becomes Is.
Tim/Kathryn Chard@37/38. University abbreviated to U (as in UCL for example). Guy and cat are both slang terms for a man/person, think of jazz slang such as “hep cat”.
“Stunk” is the past participle of stink, not the past tense, which is “stank”, i.e. “it stank”, not “it stunk”.
I did raise an eyebrow at YUCATAN as “part of Mexican trip” rather than just “part of Mexico,” but it is one of the most touristed parts of the country, so the definition is just about fair. [The so-called Mayan Riviera (Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Tulum, Cozumel) is there; just further inland are the historic ruins of Chichen Izta.] And of course it works better for the surface reading too.
I’m glad the ubiquitous Rev Spooner didn’t get anywhere near STUNT KITE.
Is a larghetto a piece of music? I thought it was a tempo instruction.
Can “po” by itself stand for “po-faced”? New to me.
Nho stunt kites.
I hope somebody deletes backwards Mark.
Other than those small items, I enjoyed the puzzle. Thanks Pangakapu and Andrew.
Larghetto was my loi, Valentine @47. Took all crossers to remind me that pieces can named after tempi, like Adagio, Allegro, Andante etc.
MCourtney@32 It’s really not a shame, and I’m saddened to see a slur in what is usually my favorite comments section on the internet for the prevailing kindness and civility.
That unpleasantness out of the way, many thanks to Andrew and Pangakupu. I often struggle with Pangakupu puzzles, and while this one still felt like a battle throughout, I did manage a completion fairly quickly, though I needed Andrew’s help parsing a couple of answers. STUNT KITE was my LOI, and I think CASTANETS was my favorite.
I remain unsure of how Mike = Mick – is it just that they are both short for Michael…?
Loren ipsum @49
I was expecting Mike=microphone=mic, but I think the Michael connection is the right one.
jeceris @ 44
Chambers:
stink /stingk/
intransitive verb (pat stank or stunk; pap stunk)
For whatever reason LARGHETTO went in fairly easily, and then I found I was unsure just what type of musical piece it was/is. Somehow it sounds more like some kind of traditional Venetian water-transport: a bit oversized and unwieldy, delivering cargoes of less-than-fresh pasta, cheap tin trays and snow-globe models of the Rialto Bridge to various slightly shady waterfront destinations.
Ahem.
DIAGNOSIS was LOI as I had trouble parsing it. Eventually, with MrsTheSheep helping, we puzzled it out.
I’m mildly surprised that there have been no mutterings about RIPON from our non-UK friends – maybe it’s better known than I might think.
I liked the construction of STUNT KITE; very neat; though as Bullhassocks@46, notes, it is as well that it was not clued via the Rev. Spooner.
Nice stuff!
Thanks Pangakupu and Andrew.
This puzzle was unusually friendly for a Thursday and indeed for this setter, but a fun solve nevertheless. YUCATAN was probably my favourite having visited the region, but I agree with mrpenney@45 that it should really be clued as “part of Mexico” rather than “part of Mexican trip.” Thanks to Andrew and to Pangakupu.
Light and breezy. I’ve never heard of CHASE in that sense, so that was the only one giving pause.
Thanks, A&P.
Shirley @31, not quite perfect, I think 😉 .
DTS@52 Ripon may be reasonably well-known because of the famous Fountains Abbey ruins nearby. This Canadian visited it a long time ago. It’s also a Cathedral city. I also happened to have a dear friend, now deceased, who lived there
Mig @55 – Ripon is home to a pleasant racecourse too.
“Chasing” is something builders do when they bury a cable or similar in existing plaster on a wall. So I was quite happy to take that as a scaled-up version of engraving.
Thanks Pangakupu & Andrew.
Loren ipsum #49 well said. A very outdated, judgmental and inaccurate term.
“Chasing” is well-known in antique circles. It’s shallow engraving, usually on silver articles.
I was going to say that Ripon has a minster rather than a cathedral, but Wiki contradicts me. I’m not sure what the difference is, anyway!
Simon @ 51
Not for the first time, Chambers is wrong.
I won’t bother quoting all the dictionaries which agree with me.
EH’s Ten Guitars achieved a high profile among Māori and it seemed an obvious choice for 45. Mr H is touring NZ later this year so will have to mug it up.
Across the musical divide, James Macmillan recently wrote an orchestral piece called Larghetto. It’s generally acceptable for a tempo indication to stand in as a title.
[Mig@55 : yes, Ripon is possibly next on our no-rush visits towards (eventually) completing our tick-list of Cathedrals. Top Cathedral to date, displacing the long-time favourite Durham, has been Lincoln – airy, huge and gorgeous.
Somehow, Fountains Abbey doesn’t do it for me; I don’t know why, apart from it seems, maybe, a bit too cleaned up and over-curated. Rievaulx Abbey, not too far away from Fountains, for me hits the spot rather better. And Tintern , of course.]
[DTS @62
I agree about Durham and Lincoln (how it dominates the skyline for miles around!), but I would favour ones that don’t charge you to go in. Are there any left?]
MuddyThinking@15
I think “on the contrary” refers to the fact that LP is inserted inserted into RAH which is opposite to that implied by “recording receiving cheer”.
Derek the Sheep @52: Ripon frequently features in Downton Abbey: in the world of the show, it’s the nearest decent-sized town, so the characters are always running there for things that they can’t find or do in Downton, the fictional village near the fictional abbey. (I doubt any of the scenes set in Ripon were actually filmed there.) Anyway, that’s how I’ve heard of it.
Admin, my comment @33 was veiled in heavy sarcasm about the inane comment @28. I really hope and trust you didn’t think I was endorsing it.
jeceris @ 60
I didn’t say that Chambers was necessarily right. My point is that if a word is in a dictionary it is fair game for the setter, whether one agrees with the dictionary or not.
In any event the OED has stunk as the past participle of stink dating from the 1690s.
As I’ve observed before, it always amuses me when amateur solvers claim to possess greater knowledge than professional lexicographers.
[muffin@63: I’m always happy to pay, as I’m just there as a tourist, rather than to worship (that would be tricky, me being a hardcore atheist & all); especially as we always try to get on one of the special tours to the roofs or whatever. The tour of Lincoln Cathedral’s upper levels is excellent. Likewise Salisbury’s… Top spot of that sort of trip was, many years ago, a 2-hour “architectural” tour of Mont-St-Michel, which got us so high up we would have needed to have been steeplejacks to have got any further. Or possibly John Noakes.
mrpenney@52: I’ll take your word for it, as I’ve not seen even a single episode of Downton Abbey! I gather, though, that the “actual” house used is Highclere Castle, some few miles south of us here in Oxford. A bit of a trek to Ripon for a bag of sugar…]
[DTS @68
I had a distressing experience on a tour of the roof of York Minster a few years ago. A child just ahead of us was so frightened by the heights that he insisted he had to go back down, causing major disruption to the queue of people behind!]
I’m always pleased to finish a Pangakupu. Everything has been said, but yes Dermot @35, I at least toyed with heard.
I learnt a few new meanings today, all of which I corroborated in the dictionary. I didn’t feel I was in any position to question what I found there and happily settled for the joy of knowledge gained.
Thanks all.
SimonS @67
You miss the point that dictionaries are descriptive, so if a word is misused frequently enough, it will be included. I look forward to whale being defined as “large fish”. “Amateur solvers” don’t necessarily have greater knowledge, but perhaps greater discrimination.
I do agree, though, that if it’s in a dictionary, it’s fair game for a setter.
muffin#63
Chichester and St Albans are two, though they rightly expect a donation.
[Pino@72, Muffin@63: Yes Chichester was free (with suggested donations) when I was there last month, as was the catholic cathedral at Arundel (designed by Hansom of cab fame…). So was Guildford which is much nicer on the inside than the outside may suggest. Rochester is another from recent trips. Ditto Southwark.
DTS@62: Not sure I will complete them with quite a few not really worth a special trip, but Orkney’s St Magnus was rather special. Salisbury’s nave with all the chairs removed was a stunning sight. Lincoln remains top for us too though.]
muffin @ 71
My point is precisely that dictionaries are descriptive.
You say “if a word is misused frequently enough, it will be included”.
“Misused” is your term.
If that is how the word is used “frequently enough” by people, then it becomes part of the lexicon, whether you like it or not.
It is people’s usage which determines the evolution of language.
You may not like it, but it is reality, and dictionaries are correct to document it as valid usage.
I’d say Frank @17 is probably right about the Nina. Ten Guitars is part of the soundtrack of my kiwi childhood.
As for stunk/stank, stunk (along with drunk, sunk, etc) is commonly used as both the past participle and past tense in NZ English vernacular.
Jolt #74. Pankakupu confirmed that #60. I was quite keen on EH myself.
Pangakupu did tell us at no. 33 to expect this at no.45.
Struggling with DIAGNOSIS.
Seems to me picked up can either be the reversal indicator, or the insertion indicator, not both?
Good work out.Ta all.
just catching up – agree with dermot @34 – I had HEARD for the same reason as you. And I spent lots of time trying to unsuccessfully decode the Maori nina
Simon S @73
I give you “epicentre”….
Simon S @73
I give you “epicentre”….
Muffin
I give you refute, humanitarian, hopefully. There are many more.
Whether you like it or not, whether you agree with it or not, the meaning of words changes over time because of how they are used.
Trying to deny that is like being akin to what Cnut was demonstrating on the foreshore.
[muffin@80 – why are you giving us “epicentre”? It is a very good example of a word that serves the public good by meaning “where the earthquake happened”, without challenging its proper use in seismological circles.]
PeterT@23: Yes, null as a verb is in the Chambers app, but not with the meaning implied by the clue. It’s defined as ‘to kink’.
Van Winkle @82
I have heard “the epicentre of the earthquake was 2 kilometers below the surface”.
The big problem, though, is people using it to mean “absolute centre”, which is just wrong. “Centre” woul be more correct, but doesn’t have enough syllables for some.
Muffin @84. This is similar to the use of “shell shocked” to mean simply, shocked. If shocked had more syllables would it be used more?
I baled out on Wednesday’s puzzle and at first thought I was going to be in the same boat with this one. But I made it through but a bit of a struggle here and there. In hindsight the clueing was fair and the blog has clarified some of the wordplay I didn’t see. Thanks Pangakupu and Andrew.
Re: Larghetto, there is at least Barber’s Adagio For Strings as an example of a tempo indicator used as title and at a stretch you can argue for the largo or larghetto (etc.) movement of Blah’s Symphony number N being the title of that particular movement of the symphony (maybe?).
I give you…”performative”
Fun crossword, thanks Pangakupu. DIAGNOSIS took us a while (we wondered about the beginning being ID reversed, as we had the D). Yes, “stunk” is unfortunately much (mis)used these days. DerekTheSheep @51 we did have to look up Yorkshire towns (though we have heard of it and indeed have been to Yorkshire, though not to Ripon). Agree with those pointing out that “entirely” is part of the clue, not definition, in 15a, that “po-faced” is a specific expression, and that the trip is redundant in 28a.
I parsed 3d as did MuddyThinking @15. Of course it has to be as in Andrew’s blog.
Thanks all!
Late to the party again. Last attempt to get someone to explain how “takes o ln” means “is distraught”.
If he is distraught, how can thst ve replaced by he takes on? Completely different meanings. What am I missing?
Robruss 24, 89
The verb “to take on” is a now-out-of-date term, meaning “to be offended, disturbed, or distressed, by something that someone has said or done” that is, to be distraught.
It was perhaps more common in the North.
Thanks Etu, that’s cleared it up. You learn something new everyday.
Robruss,
It also implied criticism of the person offended, for being too touchy, and given to bearing grudges.