A Tuesday challenge from Coot.
I enjoyed this, though with a few niggles: 23d relies on a very unfamiliar word, and there are a couple of clues where the order of the elements isn’t made clear. But everything was guessable. I liked 23a where every single word in the clue means something, the clue-as-definition in 7d, and the iron deficiency in 25d.
It wasn’t hard to spot the Tuesday theme today, especially when looking at 28d which pulls together three otherwise unrelated entries. It’s 150 years to the day since ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL made the first ever recognised telephone call. The word “telephone” doesn’t actually appear anywhere but lots of associated words do: as well as the appropriate surname BELL, we have MOBILE, NUMBER, RADIO (as in radiotelephone), OPERATIVE, EXTENSION, BILLS, BOOTH, BOOK, LINE and CALL. Neatly done – thanks Coot.
Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | BE MY BABY |
Live Stone The Crows love song from the 60s (2,2,4)
|
| BE (live, as a verb) + MY (my! = stone the crows! = an expression of surprise) + BABY (love = pet name for a beloved).
Recorded in 1963 by the Ronettes. (For the surface, Stone the Crows was a slightly later Scottish blues-rock band.) |
||
| 5/31 | MOBILE NUMBER |
IBM Melbourne could produce figures contact needs (6,6)
|
| Anagram (. . . could produce) of IBM MELBOURNE.
The digits (figures) you need to dial to contact someone. |
||
| 10 | RADIO |
Method of communicating with satellite is cool (5)
|
| IO (a satellite of Jupiter) after RAD (short for radical = cool = slang expression of approval). The clue doesn’t specify the order of these two parts, but I think the intention is clear enough. | ||
| 11 | OPERATIVE |
Significant pair of musical works, back-to-back with common ending (9)
|
| OPERA (a musical work performed on stage), then EVITA (a specific musical work) reversed (so that the two words are back-to-back), sharing the final A of both words (with common ending).
As in “the operative word” = the one that carries the main point of what’s being said. |
||
| 12 | HEIGHT |
Earl breaks upper leg cycling some distance up (6)
|
| E (abbreviation for earl), breaking into THIGH (upper leg) with the letters “cycling” round so that the T appears at the end. | ||
| 13 | FLAGRANT |
Outrageous old woman drained nurses (8)
|
| GRAN (short for grandmother = old woman), contained in (. . . nurses, as a verb) FLAT (drained, as an adjective = tired and lacking energy). | ||
| 15 | ALEXANDER |
Great man relaxed with a new novel (9)
|
| Anagram (novel = new and unexpected) of RELAXED + A + N (abbreviation for new).
Alexander the Great, ancient king of Macedon. |
||
| 18 | TASKS |
Undertakings question case for tortuous checks (5)
|
| Outer letters (case) of T[ortuou]S, holding (checking) ASK (question, as a verb). | ||
| 21 | EGYPT |
Country type working to secure living at last (5)
|
| Anagram (working) of TYPE, containing (to secure) the last letter of [livin]G. | ||
| 22 | EXTENSION |
Added time pressure no longer felt? (9)
|
| Tension = pressure = stress, in common speech if not in scientific language. Tension that has now eased off might be called EX-TENSION, along the same lines as Monty Python’s ex-parrot. | ||
| 23 | FLOTILLA |
Loud crowd threatening a seafaring group (8)
|
| F (f = abbreviation for Italian forte = musical notation for loud) + LOT (a crowd) + ILL (as in ill-tempered = threatening) + A (from clue text).
A formation of small ships. |
||
| 26 | GRAHAM |
Norton, Gloucestershire: remote and agricultural, principally meat (6)
|
| First letters (principally) of G[loucestershire] R[emote] + A[gricultural], then HAM (cured pork meat). For the surface, there is indeed a place called Norton in Gloucestershire.
Comedian and TV host Graham Norton. |
||
| 29 | INFLUENZA |
Introduction to Leeds United fanzine stirred up disorder (9)
|
| Anagram (stirred up) of the introductory letters of L[eeds] U[nited] + FANZINE.
Disorder = an illness or medical condition. |
||
| 30 | BILLS |
Government proposals seek money from society (5)
|
| BILL (as a verb = seek money from = send a request for payment to) + S (abbreviation for society). | ||
| 31 |
See 5
|
|
| 32 | ELLIPTIC |
Tablet to be swallowed in advance, round or oval (8)
|
| PILL (tablet) swallowed up by CITE (advance, perhaps as in citing a proposal for discussion or citing evidence in a court defence), all reversed (round). | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | BIRTH RATE |
Tease about threat to career in demographic data (5,4)
|
| RIB (as a verb = tease) reversed (about), then an anagram (to career = to run around out of control) of THREAT. | ||
| 2 | MIDWIFERY |
Professional work at the end of term? (9)
|
| Cryptic definition: the work of a professional who assists when a pregnancy comes to the end of its term. | ||
| 3 | BOOTH |
Stall the pair patrolling entrance to Olympia (5)
|
| BOTH (the pair) around (patrolling) the first letter (entrance) of O[lympia]. | ||
| 4 | BOOK |
Abuse King or 2 Kings? (4)
|
| BOO (shout derisively at = abuse) + K (abbreviation for king).
Definition by example: short name for the Second Book of Kings in the Old Testament. |
||
| 6 | ORANG-UTAN |
Distant relative phoned during off-campus university function (5-4)
|
| RANG (phoned), inserted into OU (abbreviation for Open University = academic institution that provides off-campus study) + TAN (abbreviation for tangent = a mathematical function).
Distant relative of humans. |
||
| 7 | IBIZA |
Island, the leader in after-hours entertaining business? (5)
|
| I (abbreviation for island) + leading letter of A[fter-hours], containing (entertaining) BIZ (as in showbiz = abbreviation for business).
Clue-as-definition: Spanish island known for its nightclub culture. |
||
| 8 | EJECT |
Remove first person in Strasbourg to squat in European court (5)
|
| JE (“I” in French = the first person singular in the French city of Strasbourg), contained in (squatting in) E (abbreviation for European) + CT (abbreviation for court, especially in streetmaps). | ||
| 9 | BELL |
Lovely short percussion instrument (4)
|
| BELL[e] (feminine form of the French word for “lovely”, also used in English to mean an attractive woman) without the last letter (short). | ||
| 14 | EDGE |
Outline book of accounts unwrapped (4)
|
| [l]EDGE[r] (traditional account-book) without the outer letters (unwrapped). | ||
| 16 | ATTRIBUTE |
Quality testimonial at first (9)
|
| TRIBUTE (testimonial = a speech in appreciation of someone), with AT before it (first).
Quality = attribute = a feature. |
||
| 17 | ROTE |
Mechanical process available to repair recalled clutches (4)
|
| Hidden answer (. . . clutches, as a verb = holds), reversed (recalled), in [availabl]E TO R[epair].
As in “learning by rote” = by repeated recitation. |
||
| 19 | SKI CHALET |
Funny routine drinking beer with companion in cabin (3,6)
|
| SKIT (a short comedy sketch = funny routine), containing (drinking) ALE (beer) after CH (abbreviation for Companion of Honour). Again, there’s nothing to tell us that CH goes before ALE, but we can work it out. | ||
| 20 | SONY MUSIC |
My cousins played recorders (4,5)
|
| Anagram (played = messed around) of MY COUSINS.
Multinational music recording company. |
||
| 23 | FEIGN |
Assume old temple can be made out (5)
|
| Sound-alike (can be made out = can be heard) of FANE (no, I’d never heard of it either, but the dictionaries tell me it’s an old word for a temple).
Assume = feign = to pretend, as in “to assume an air of authority”. |
||
| 24 | OXFAM |
Half of relatives must support hard-working animal charity (5)
|
| Half of FAM[ily] (relatives), after (below, in a down clue = supporting) OX (a hard-working animal).
Charity originally founded as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief. |
||
| 25 | LINE |
Mark is catty – suffering iron deficiency? (4)
|
| [fe]LINE (associated with cats = catty), without FE (Fe = chemical symbol for iron, from Latin ferrum). | ||
| 27 | RABBI |
Minister‘s raised staff attempt to dispose of dead (5)
|
| BAR (staff = rod) reversed (raised = upwards in a down clue), then BI[d] (attempt) without the D (abbreviation for dead).
A minister of Judaism. |
||
| 28 | CALL |
Name what 15 26 9 made first (4)
|
| Double definition. Call, as a verb = name = to identify someone by name; or a reference to the first ever telephone call, made by ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL (15a 26a 9d) 150 years ago today. |
Nice job. Not too many fell on the first pass through the clues but 28d unravelled everything. I don’t know why – there are many three-part names – but the right answer was the first thing to enter my mind and then a bunch of other solutions opened up as a result. Plenty of tightly constructed clues and I agree with our blogger’s highlighted favourites. And with the niggle rev the temple but Coot has a wide GK and I can imagine him throwing that one into conversation so it’s my bad …
Thanks both
Crikey, this was tough but well worth the effort. I was suspecting a pangram but only 25 letters appeared in the grid.
I couldn’t parse 4d but it’s so simple when you see the explanation. Thanks Q (the missing letter!).
I wasn’t keen on 10a as it doesn’t specify the order of the components.
Thanks to Coot for the challenge.
Didn’t know Mr Norton, or the temple esoterica, or twig the bit of Bible jargon for 4d. So a bit of biff but otherwise pretty smooth, ta Q and Coot.
Excellent puzzle, excellent blog.
I didn’t mind RADIO, 10(ac), since there’s only two elements, and “one with the other”, works OK; maybe “by satellite” works better? Or not.
Am I pushing it, to offer ATT in 16(d) for the theme?
I think I broke my own record, for twigging the solution first, and then having to wrestle with the parsing, but no quibbles.
Very crafty stuff, lots of originality + variety.
Both thumbs up, Coot and Ms.Q
Alexander Graham Bell enabled me to finally get on Coot’s wavelength. I wonder why it seems fairer to clue an unfamiliar word with a better known one than vice versa.
[Petert @5: general advice to setters is easier clues for hard words and harder clues for easier words. Not always followed, mind you … And I certainly wouldn’t cast the first stone in that respect😉]
Lovely puzzle. Great blog.
Thanks Coot and Quirister.
My top faves: M NUMBER, EXTENSION, ELLIPTIC, MIDWIFERY, IBIZA, ATTRIBUTE
and RABBI.
I was pleased to see Coot’s name on today’s puzzle, as I knew I was in for a treat.
To save myself some time, I find I can concur completely with KVa’s comment @7.
(MIDWIFERY reminded me of Philistine’s clue, in my little book of classics: ‘End-of-term party? (6)’)
Eileen@8… that’s a teaser!
What was it…..Midwife? but that’s (7).
Funnily enough, MIDWIFERY was my last one in, and the best in show today, for me, from Coot.
E.N.Boll& @9
Party?
What do midwives and Philistine have in common? They both lift and separate.