It’s Maskarade filling the midweek slot…
… with a nice variety of clue types, mostly straightforward, with some requiring general knowledge, fairly easily gettable, with internet help. My favourite of the anagrams was 1dn SPOILT BRAT and I also liked 14ac SEAFARERS, 22ac ELECTRA, 25ac OLEANDERS, for the feasible-sounding nurserymen, 5dn MRI SCANNER and 6dn MERCHANT, for the reminder of some favourite films.
Thanks to Maskarade for an enjoyable puzzle.
Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Many thanks to my fellow bloggers who stood in for me (some of them more than once) in the past two months, during my hospitalisation and continuing slow and steady recuperation at home and to commenters here, for their good wishes. It’s good to be back.
Across
9 Old fellow at French guest-house outside of Exeter (9)
PENSIONER
PENSION (French guest house) + E[xete]R
10 Somewhat well-endowed woman (5)
ELLEN
Contained in wELL-ENdowed
11 Complaint from one head about pupils (7)
ILLNESS
I (one) + NESS (head) round LL (learners, so pupils)
12 Short time before new seed withdraws (7)
SECEDES
SEC[ond] (short time) + an anagram (new) of SEED
13 Trout-fishing river’s matches (5)
TESTS
I originally had this down as a double definition but then realised that the first part is wordplay (note the apostrophe): the River Test (one of the basic crossword British rivers) is ‘the birthplace of modern fly fishing’ – see here
14 Limeys from a distant place amongst spectators (9)
SEAFARERS
AFAR (a distant place) in SEERS (spectators) – Limey: a British sailor or ship, referring to the requirement for British sailors to drink lime juice as a protection against scurvy, and so it’s a North American slang word for a British person
16 1964 horror fantasy film of Lazio playing the A.S. team? (4,7,4)
ROME AGAINST ROME
An excellent clue for an apparently execrable film (see here) – also known as ‘War of the Zombies’, which mercifully passed me by in 1964
Lazio and Associazione Sportiva Roma are the two principal football teams in Rome
19 Giant Carmelites, perhaps, too much to expect (4,5)
TALL ORDER
TALL (giant) + ORDER (Carmelites, perhaps)
21 Sounds essential but cut short, I see (5)
MUSIC
MUS[t] (essential, as a noun, cut short) + I C (I see)
22 In real trouble, shock treatment for sort of complex (7)
ELECTRA
ECT (electroconvulsive therapy, shock treatment) in an anagram (trouble) of REAL
23 Straw breaking camel’s back, doubly profligate (7)
WASTREL
An anagram (breaking) of STRAW plus the last two letters (doubly) of camEL
24 Severely criticize cook (5)
ROAST
Double definition
25 Flowering shrubs from R. E. Dale & Son (9)
OLEANDERS
An anagram of R E DALE and SON
Down
1 Tip: borstal may be what he needs (6,4)
SPOILT BRAT
An anagram (maybe) of TIP BORSTAL
2 Representation of the USA by pawnbrokers before midday (5,3)
UNCLE SAM
UNCLES (slang for pawnbrokers) + AM (ante meridiem, before midday)
3 Several folk snorkelling (6)
DIVERS
Double definition
4 Australian group is overabundant, we’re told (4)
INXS
Sounds like (we’re told’ in excess’ (overabundant)
5 Danger is spoken of in style of radiological machine (3,7)
MRI SCANNER
RISC (sounds like – is spoken of – ‘risk’, danger) in MANNER (style)
6 Wholesale trader with Ivory’s film partner (8)
MERCHANT
Double definition – see here for the film partners (take your pick)
7 Santa likely, initially, to move cautiously on it? (6)
SLEDGE
Initial letters of Santa Likely + EDGE (move cautiously) – Santa’s conveyance is more usually called a sleigh (which is, in fact, rather different from a sledge – see here and EIGH didn’t parse
8 It’s ours to bear! (4)
ONUS
It’s ON US
14 Flower and photo by fierce type (10)
SNAPDRAGON
SNAP (photo) + DRAGON (fierce type)
15 Dumbfounded there is no address? (10)
SPEECHLESS
(Not quite) a double definition
17 One no longer believing in a job caused worry (8)
APOSTATE
A POST (a job) + ATE (caused worry)
18 The Spectator or Sunday newspaper (8)
OBSERVER
Double definition
20 General method to establish latitude (6)
LEEWAY
(Robert E.) LEE (the familiar crossword Confederate general) + WAY (method)
21 Craftsmen for two generations (6)
MASONS
MA and SONS (two generations)
22 Nobleman nearly at the centre (4)
EARL
Middle letters of nEARLy
23 Heartless worries! (4)
WOES
WO[rri]ES
Favourite: SPEECHLESS, WOES, INXS – I met these guys in Australia in the early 1980s before they became world-famous.
New for me: ROME AGAINST ROME – never heard of the film – I only managed to solve this because I know of Lazio as the region in which Rome is. Also new for me A.S. team as I have no interest in soccer or football.
15d I was fine with it being a dd in that speech-less is address-less/no address.
Welcome back, Eileen – I did not know you have been ill. I wish you a smooth recovery.
Welcome back Eileen. Very happy to see your blog today.
Best wishes for good health.
Thanks for the lovely blog Eileen.
Great to see you back, Eileen!
Favourite was WOES.
I wasn’t impressed by INXS – the clue seems almost completely non-cryptic.
Thanks Eileen and Maskarade.
Had to reveal 4d – would never have got it. Welcome back, Eileen.
[Welcome back,Eileen. Hope the recovery’s going well]
Good to have you back Eileen. I liked the slightly odd parsing of MRI SCANNER and that the puzzle wasn’t a jigsaw/alphabetical. A bit heavy on the GK (proper nouns?) but Maskarade never strays too far from pub quiz territory. DIVERS could possible have used an indication that it’s an archaic term eg “Several old people …”
Cheers E&M
Welcome back, Eileen, and best wishes for a full recovery. Thanks for the blog – I needed help with the SCANNER and had to consult a list of Italian films for 16a, but it is indeed an excellent clue.
Lovely to know that you are well enough to blog again, Eileen. I liked WOES and MRI SCANNER.
Welcome back Eileen and all the best for your recovery.
I found this a very enjoyable solve with everything well clued and gettable albeit with a fair amount of staring (particularly at the MRI SCANNER and the SPOILT BRAT where I was initially looking for a single word) and some research needed. New for me: the river TESTS (banked for the future), R A R, the Carmelites, UNCLES as pawnbrokers and the film partners.
SNAPDRAGON came up in a Paul I just looked at in the archive from ~11 months ago so that came to mind readily.
Thanks to E & M.
Great stuff which I managed to complete quickly but needed the blog to confirm why some of my answers were correct.
Not encountered the several definition of DIVERS before. Thankfully I couldn’t think of any other synonym for snorkellers.
The Ivory partnership was not in my general knowledge.
Could see what was going on with R AGAINST R but not heard of the film and was unsure if they wanted Roma or Rome. The English variety thankfully seemed most plausible.
I knew the river but not that is was particularly associated with trout fishing.
Couldn’t quite see how MRI SCANNER worked and originally had EYES (ice/danger)CANNER in there. Is it kosher to have a homophone if it’s not pronounced as such in the word?
Enjoyable puzzle though and admire the breadth of clue types.
Welcome back Eileen and thanks to yourself and Maskarade.
I laughed at the TALL ORDER and enjoyed the heartless worries, but this was too much of a pub quiz today. I wouldn’t have been old enough to be allowed to see what was presumably an X-rated film in 1964, even if I’d known of its existence – which I didn’t, then or now. As I only knew one of Rome’s football teams, that was a reveal, as was MRI SCANNER (the misleading enumeration didn’t help.) Like Eileen, I thought SLEDGE should have been a sleigh.
Lovely to have you back, Eileen.
Those of us old enough to have been brought up with the Authorised Version will remember reading about Jesus healing people of “divers diseases”, and wondering how people got the bends in Biblical times.
Welcome back Eileen – you’ve been missed.
Hope your recovery goes well
Welcome back Eileen.
Simonbyc @9 -The river is simply TEST – The S comes from the clue
I commented a few days ago about having had an MRI scan (it was vaguely relevant to some clue or other) so MRI SCANNER rather jumped out at me. It is indeed a slightly unusual clue, a sort of “looks like a homophone”, because of course RISC is not pronounced like “risk” in the answer!
Many thanks for the entertainment Maskarade, and many thanks for the blog Eileen, it’s great to see you back.
Surely the answer to “It’s ours to bear” must be FRENCH 🙂
Dreadfully tempted to watch the NHO Rome against Rome, in the hopes it’s enjoyably bad — it certainly sounds so!
Am I the only one to have foolishly thought until today that INXS rhymed with Lynxes?
Welcome back Eileen, and thanks to you and Maskarade!
Great to see you back in action Eileen!
Crispy @15 – yes just typo, thanks!
So good to have you back, Eileen, missed you.
A dnf here as never heard of INXS. All the rest do-able but raised an eyebrow at the iffy risk homophone.
Enjoyable solve many thanks, both.
Someone’s got to say it, but shouldn’t 5d be (1,1,1,7)?
(Oh, look at all the worms wriggling in that can.)
No, Calabar Bean, I also pronounced INXS as rhyming with ‘lynxes ‘ I can still hear my teenage children laughing at me all those years ago !!
All went in smoothly enough, except that long one across the middle. Even with everything else in, I couldn’t see it: football doesn’t interest me in the least, so the names of even big-time Italian clubs are well outside my GK. I was wondering if there was some maybe partial anagram I’d missed. It was a “guess and bung it in” in the end, after which Wikipedia confirmed there was in fact such a film as ROME AGAINST ROME, though it’s not in my mental list of truly-awful SF/fantasy films. Hence, for me, a double level of obscurity. So I learnt a few new things today; let’s call that a plus.
Thanks Maskarade, and welcome back, Eileen!
Welcome back Eileen. I always enjoy your erudite and informative blogs. Very best wishes for your continued recovery, from a fellow denizen of Leicestershire (I believe I’m right on that?)
Welcome back Eileen and thanks for the blog! This wasn’t as simple as the last Mascarade, and some clues were very elegant. I particularly liked MASONS, WOES, LEEWAY and SLEDGE. INXS, I think, is a tautology as the group name is itself a soundalike. Thanks Mascarade for the puzzle!
Welcome back, Eileen. I’ve missed you. I hope you continue to get better.
Great to see you again Eileen, as my favourite blogger
And an enjoyable puzzle as usual from Maskerade
So thanks both
greyfox @24 – 100%!
Good to see you back, Eileen.
Quite enjoyed the crossword (WOES is a brilliant spot) but the high spot of my morning was seeing you back in action, Eileen. Bon rétablissement!
Straightforward even for me. Had to check exactly where Lazio is and nho the film but guessed it right.
INXS came to fame over here when nice girl next door Kylie Minogue paired up with INXS bad boy front man Michael Hutchence.
Liked ELECTRA and TALL ORDER.
Welcome back Eileen.
Ah, yes, by far the best bit of news what with coming on here this morning was to see Eileen’s name up in lights again. Welcome back!
On the whole a good offering from Maskarade today, but one or two quibbles. Thought 16ac might be deemed a bit unfair if you had no knowledge of Italian football or indeed knew of the film (I didn’t). Couldn’t parse MRI SCANNER, and last one in INYX raised an eyebrow until I saw Eileen’s explanation…
With 16a, the problem is not that you need to know the name of the film, you don’t, but you need to know a bit about Italian football.
A joy to have you back Eileen. Like Calabar Bean @17, I also thought something French was going on with ONUS. There were a few write-ins in the bottom half but ROME v ROME was superb and once again, do we really need to know that you’re not interested in football? I also enjoyed SEAFARERS, TALL ORDER, SPOILT BRAT, INXS (best band to come out of Oz), MERCHANT and WASTREL.
ronald @32: I raised an eyebrow at your loi INYX 😊
Ta Maskarade & Eileen.
Welcome back Eileen. It is good to have you back with us. Hope the convalescence is going well.
NHO the film or the team A.S. Roma but did know Lazio, so managed to guess that one after getting a few of the crossers. I agree with other complaints about MRI SCANNER – A homophone of something that is not actually pronounced like that in the answer seems a step too far to me.
Eileen, I’m glad to see you back in action – it’s always good to see your take on a puzzle.
Others have already covered my reservations with 16a, 4d and 5d, but I enjoyed the rest. I had the same thought as CalabarBean @17 on 8d – I wonder whether Maskarade intended that particular misdirection?
@PhilB #31 – The real tabloid news was his relationship with TV presenter Paula Yates, wife of Bob Geldof and daughter of Opportunity Knocks presenter Hughie Green.
I can’t see how snorkellers are divers. One famously goes under the surface while the other necessarily stays on the top in order to breathe (via their snorkels).
Best wishes to Eileen and thanks to setter.
Oh hooray Eileen’s back – you’ve been much missed!
I found this an odd mix of delightful and pesky. WOES was brilliant, LEEWAY and UNCLE SAM were pleasing, TALL ORDER was amusing.
Like simonc and gladys I was thrown by the enumeration for 5D: “MRI” is not a three-letter word.
Santa does indeed travel on a sleigh, not a sledge (having S & L, I spent a while trying to make EIGH work) but in any case, surely the whole point about the man is that he careers around the world on it at a breakneck speed, rather than moving cautiously? (Or was there a “Santa, the early years” period, before he became grey and grew the beard…???)
I really wasn’t wild about 16A either. I know very little about Italian football, and even though I have a Film Degree had never heard of that one. In the end I guessed it after I had all the crossers (tossing a coin for ROMA vs ROME).
But minor irritations with a less-than perfect crossword are just that, minor. For Eileen’s back, and all is well again.
Thank you very much for the informative and helpful blog, and thanks to Maskarade for the challenge.
TripleJumper@37. Yes, but, the main point about snorkelling is that it allows you to swim face-down on the surface, so as soon as you see something interesting below you can dive down to inspect it closely.
Welcome back, Eileen, and thanks for the blog-
TripleJumper @37: I remember the very overt flirtation between the two on The Tube and many years later, on The Big Breakfast. Alas, it ended tragically for all concerned including Geldof.
I needed the explanation for MRI Scanner, and am unfamiliar with the Test river, but otherwise this was smooth sailing. Hope that’s the case for your recovery Eileen!
Andy in Durham @35: I can’t speak for anyone else, but just to be clear I wasn’t complaining about MRI SCANNER @16; in fact I thought it was rather inventive. Maybe a homophone lookalike could become a recognised clue type?
Great to see Eileen back and best wishes for a full recovery.
Fairly straightforward solve, apart from ROME AGAINST ROME, although the clue was quite inventive. I liked the limey SEAFARERS, the WASTREL with the straw breaking camel’s back, and the borstal’s SPOILT BRAT (great anagram spot). There are. two quite frequent moans that seem to be rather pointless. One about enumeration – no MRI should be 3 according to the Guardian guide and dictionaries. The other about homophones – enough said!
Thanks Maskarade and Eileen for the usual superb blog.
Lovely to have you back, Eileen.
Thanks to you for the blog, and to Maskarade for the puzzle.
My favourite clue was the one for WASTREL. Very clever!
Blaise@37 Yes, that’s true, but in the pedantic world of 125 a swimmer would also be a diver since I have been known to pop down for a closer look without a snorkel attached.
Apparently the 1964 film was an example of a “peplum” fantasy. I look forward to seeing PEPLUM in a crossword one day (if I can remember it!)
Comment #47