Thanks to Brockwell, this was a fun challenge and my favourites were 7dn, 8dn, and 16dn.
There is a theme around SHEEP, including names of sheep breeds, EWES, RAM-[bert], OVINE, LAMB CHOP and SHANKS
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | PESTLE |
Footballer crossing road to get pound (6)
|
| definition: PESTLE as a verb can mean ‘to pound’
PELE (the footballer Pelé); around ST (street, “road”) |
||
| 4 | SHANKS |
Poor shots from Spain’s No.1 player in Philadelphia (6)
|
| definition: a shank is a poor shot in golf
the first (No. 1) letter from S-[pain]; plus HANKS (Tom Hanks the actor/player in the film Philadelphia) |
||
| 9 | DOGE |
Italian dignitary delivers Elon Musk’s baby? (4)
|
| reference Elon Musk’s influence in the US Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE | ||
| 10 | BELLWETHER |
Ring with number for trendsetter (10)
|
| BELL=”Ring” + W (short for “with”) + ETHER (which makes you feel numb, so a numb-er) | ||
| 11 | DIPPER |
Duck followed by a bird (6)
|
| to DIP=to “Duck; followed by PER=”a” e.g. (twice per day / twice a day) | ||
| 12 | CHEVIOTS |
Pervert chose ITV2 (8)
|
| definition is “2”: CHEVIOT is a breed of sheep, and 2dn is SHEEP
anagram/(to pervert) of (chose ITV)* |
||
| 13 | TEESWATER |
Comic Stewart Lee forgetting line 2 (9)
|
| definition: another SHEEP breed
anagram/”Comic” of (Stewart [L]-ee)*, missing the L for “line” |
||
| 15 | STEP |
Backing favourites to show pace (4)
|
| PETS=”favourites” reversed/”Backing” | ||
| 16 | BAAL |
‘Dog in the mirror’ is entertaining answer for god (4)
|
| LAB=labrador=”Dog”, reversed/(in the mirror) and around/(entertaining) A (short for “answer”) | ||
| 17 | HEBRIDEAN |
Ambassador’s wife getting tips from Ascension Islander (9)
|
| HE (His Excellency, “Ambassador”) + BRIDE=”wife” + the “tips” or outer letters of A-[scensio]-N | ||
| 21 | LAMB CHOP |
Dear Charlie Dance showing a bit of flesh (4,4)
|
| LAMB=”Dear” as a noun; plus C (Charlie in NATO alphabet); plus HOP=a “Dance” | ||
| 22 | MOB LAW |
Untidy Womble briefly embracing a form of anarchy (3,3)
|
| anagram/”Untidy” of (Wombl-[e])*, around “a” | ||
| 24 | CORRIEDALE |
2 drunk cider or beer (10)
|
| definition: another breed of sheep
anagram/”drunk” of (cider or)*; plus ALE=”beer” |
||
| 25 | EWES |
Females take drugs orally (4)
|
| sounds like (orally): ‘use’ = be a drug user = “take drugs” | ||
| 26 | SUSSEX |
South American relations in part of England (6)
|
| S (South) + US (American) + SEX=”relations” | ||
| 27 | STATED |
Declared dead by the entrance of Serpentine Gallery (6)
|
| D (dead) after: first letter (entrance) of S-[erpentine], plus TATE (as in Tate Gallery) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | PROVINE |
Coat of plaster like a 2-layer (7)
|
| definition: to provine is to layer, to propagate a plant by layering
outer letters (Coat) of P-[laste]-R; plus OVINE=like a SHEEP=like a 2dn |
||
| 2 | SHEEP |
What’s up with record stock? (5)
|
| definition: SHEEP are ‘stock’ as in farm animals
EH’S=”What’s” (‘eh!’ as interjection of surprise = ‘what?’), reversed/”up”; plus EP (extended play, music record) |
||
| 3 | LIBERIA |
Pianist leaving church to tour one part of Africa (7)
|
| LIBERA-[CE]=the famous “Pianist”, minus CE (Church of England); and going around/(“to tour”) I=”one” | ||
| 5 | HAWKER |
Salesman’s wife getting into fish recipe (6)
|
| W (wife) inside HAKE=”fish” + R (short for “recipe”) | ||
| 6 | NITWITTED |
Foolish jester made woollen items for Spooner (9)
|
| Spoonerism of ‘Wit Knitted’=”jester made woollen items” | ||
| 7 | SWEPT UP |
Performed chore and cried into drink (5,2)
|
| WEPT=”cried” in SUP=”drink” | ||
| 8 | BLACK EYED PEAS |
Becks played incredibly to inspire team’s midfield for Fergie’s old outfit (5,4,4)
|
| definition refers to the singer Fergie, a former member of the US musical group the Black Eyed Peas
surface instead suggests Fergie as in Sir Alex Ferguson, former manager of Man Utd football club where the midfielder David Beckham (“Becks”) played
anagram/”incredibly” of (Becks played)*; around the middle letters of [t]-EA-[m] |
||
| 14 | SCABBARDS |
Fencing covers problem for 2 poets (9)
|
| definition: covers for swords, which are used in fencing
Sheep SCAB is a disease or “problem” for 2dn/SHEEP; plus BARDS=”poets” |
||
| 16 | BEACONS |
Unfinished Monster Munches regularly account for fires (7)
|
| BEAS-[t]=”Unfinished Monster”, which takes in/”Munches” regular letters from [a]-C-[c]-O-[u]-N-[t] | ||
| 18 | RAMBERT |
Male chimney sweep in dance company (7)
|
| definition: Rambert is the name of a British dance company
RAM=”Male” + BERT=name of the “chimney sweep” in Mary Poppins |
||
| 19 | ARANEID |
Spider has distinctive pattern on behind occasionally (7)
|
| ARAN=distinctive type of knitting “pattern”; plus occasional letters from [b]-E-[h]-I-[n]-D | ||
| 20 | CHEESE |
Stuck-up date tucking into revolutionary food (6)
|
| to SEE or “date” someone, reversed (stuck up); and inside CHE (Che Guevara, the “revolutionary”) | ||
| 23 | BLEAT |
Club accepting the French complaint (5)
|
| BAT=”Club”, around LE=”the [in] French” |
This was more of a “Phew, I managed to finish it” rather than an enjoyable experience for me.
New for me: CHEVIOT sheep; NITWITTED; SHANKS = poor shots; ARANEID; BLEAT=complaint; TEESWATER sheep; CORRIEDALE sheep; PROVINE layer; DIPPER bird.
Favourite: BLACK EYED PEAS because I liked the misdirection of the surface which I assumed referred to the ex/former Duchess of York 😉
Who knew Stewart Lee was sitting on so many anagrams? He’d have been a good guest on House of Games. Previously unknown TEESWATER led me into the theme, which was useful today.
I liked HEBRIDEAN, DIPPER (I spot the per thing now) and BELLWETHER. Last one in was the dystopia DOGE.
I liked this one.
Thanks Brockwell and loonapick
Things I always tell myself to remember: Theatre can mean the operating type; per = a, and number = anaesthetic. Well, I did remember the second one today at least. A great puzzle, with brilliantly wrought theme and surfaces. Thanks B&M.
Thanks Brockwell and manehi
My first thematic was CHEVIOTS, which gave me SHEEP – fortunate, as I hadn’t heard of any of the other breeds here, so needed electronic help. I had also never heard ARANEID or PROVINE, but was able to put them together from crossers and clue. Also never heard of Fergie or the BLACK EYED PEAS as a band.
Lots to like, including a Spooner that actually made sense!
TUP in SWEPT UP fits the theme.
Thanks for explaining ‘Fergie’.
BELLWETHER also fits the theme. A wether is a (castrated) male sheep, and it was traditional for farmers to place a bell on one so that it led the remainder of the flock.
I spent ages trying to parse BELLWETHER to accommodate the thematic Wether, a neutered ram. So thanks to manehi for providing the correct parsing and to Brockwell for his trickery.
Rich @5 Yes – there ar quite a lot of covert OVINE references, such as SHEEP DOG(E) and SHEEP DIP(PER). When they BLEAT, they say BAA(L), and so on. And of course a BLACK SHEEP. Others will doubtless elaborate further.
HEBRIDEAN is another breed of sheep.
CORRIEDALE sounds more like a soap hybrid than a sheep. I was another who vainly tried to remember what the Duchess of York used to wear, which left me feeling a bit sheepish. DIPper another for the theme. I see Balfour got there first.
A couple of other possible themers: BAA[L], ARAN[EID] – home to the woollen sweaters, WETHER – a castrated ram, BLEAT of course and maybe even BEACONS – many sheep on the Brecon Beacons – even though they are now Bannau Brycheiniog. (Ah, I see others beat me to it whilst I was typing and, yes, included both DIP and DOG.)
Splendid theming and cluing as always with this setter. Thanks both
Also SUSSEX and maybe CHEESE. Great fun. Thanks both.
I think Sussex is also a breed of sheep. Of maybe they’re called Southdowns. They look like teddy bears. Great puzzle!
What? No merinos?
Got the theme after just a couple in. My father grew up on a sheep station, later a butcher, but some of these clues pulled the wool over my eyes when it came to British breeds.
Favvourite meal was roasted lamb SHANKS, these days more often in a slow cooker.
CHEVIOTS my choice today, along with the key clue SHEEP.
A delightful puzzle from one of my favourite setters.
I can’t pretend to have heard of all the sheep varieties but enjoyed finding out about them, especially TEESWATER, as my maiden name was Teasdale. I did know CHEVIOTS, SUSSEX and HEBRIDEAN and admired the deft way that other references to sheep were woven into the clues (PROVINE, SWEPT UP, RAMBERT, BLEAT, SCAB, etc). I loved BELLWEATHER (lovely word ) as a trendsetter.
Clever cluing at 3dn LIBERIA, 16dn BEACONS and, top of the tree, 8dn BLACK EYED PEAS.
(I had a wry smile at the reminder in 17ac of the puzzle which – and I’ve quoted it more than once here – in my first year of blogging, had the definition ‘diplomat’s wife’ for ‘ambassadress’. )
Many thanks to Brockwell for a lot of fun and to manehi for a fine blog.
I knew of the sheep-connection to BELLWETHER, and I’d heard of CHEVIOTS. (Other than that, the only sheep breed I know are Herdies, from trips to the Lake District. I’m more of a Shaun The Sheep type, myself).
I’m equally clueless about sheep diseases, apart from Foot & Mouth.
So I’m afraid I concur with michelle @1.
SHANKS, ARANEID and PROVINE were newbies for me, and I solved the 8D anagram the long-winded way, the various understandings of “Fergie” sailing past me, unnoticed…
Hearty thanks for the blog, manehi: I really needed it, especially for my semi-parsed LAMB CHOP and CHEESE, and for BAAL – which was a lucky guess.
Comment #17
Good fun! Count me as a fan of this one. I enjoyed teasing out the sheep breeds, none of which I’d heard of but all of which were reachable. The theme was very fair, with a clear reference via ‘2’, which made the PDM for ITV2 very satisfying. I rated BELLWETHER (and knew the sheep reference), plus NITWITTED and SCABBARDS. Cotd was BLACK-EYED PEAS… I spent too long thinking what the Duchess wore, and when BLACK became inevitable it surely had to be little black number or something! Talking of number, I was pleased to clock ether and per=a today. I need to stop doing these things so frequently!
Aside from the breeds, I’d nho PROVINE (but got it); not RAMBERT nor ARANEID (which alas I didn’t). No way in, really, for the former if GK is missing. The latter seems a bit out there… can one say “look at the beautiful Aran on that”?
Note that SHANKS are poor shots in other sports too, such as volleyball (a poorly handled ball). Alas I speak from much experience.
Thanks both
*nor RAMBERT
Petert @10 – apparently there was once such a
soap hybrid.
Wiki tells me that araneids are specifically orb-weaver spiders.
Just superb. Can’t believe it’s already 3 years since Brockwell’s Guardian debut (as of yesterday) – one of the names that I get a tingle of pleasure at seeing now before I even look at the first clue.
As well as the references mentioned above [Dawn] BELLWETHER is the main antagonist, an apparently mild mannered sheep, in the animated film Zootopia.
Excellent crossword! thank you to Brockwell and manehi
8d — Anagram of “Becks played” (incredibly) + EA — middle (midfield) of “team.”
This felt like quite another level after the previous offerings this week. Never got even as far as solving anything in the NW corner, so hadn’t discovered that SHEEP was the key to many of the clues, several of which I had already solved, perplexed about their common connection. Fair play to those that succeeded today, and when I reluctantly felt the need to employ the Reveal button, the ones I hadn’t managed to unravel were indeed ingenious enough. Too clever for me on this occasion…
…Bo Peep, needed look any further, if that isn’t judged a spoiler…
This made me realise that my knowledge of sheep breeds really is quite poor!
Very enjoyable puzzle with 8d the stand out for me.
Thanks Brockwell and manehi
Brilliant crossword and now I know how to spell bellwether as I thought there was an A in it. 9A and 1D held out for a long time. Thanks to B and M
Fabulous fun with a cornucopia of cultural references including Britain’s 41st best stand up and the wonderful LAMBCHOP for fans of alt country music
God knows what the google advertising algorithms will make of my sudden interest in sheep 🙂
Cheers M&C
Thanks for the blog today. I got all the answers but hadn’t managed to parse everything. The theme was v clear, however, and lots of fun. As someone who isn’t a fan of football I was less excited by 8d. I think 12 was my favourite.
PROVINE and ARANEID have appeared a few times. And there’s Tom Hanks again.
Tough even with the clever theme. Thanks both.
Difficult for me but good fun; I got rather stuck in the SW corner. I liked the [Tom] S HANKS, the HEBRIDEAN Ambassador’s wife, the good NITWITTED Spoonerism, the satisfying anagram for BLACK EYED PEAS, and the SCABBARDS fencing covers.
Thanks Brockwell and manehi.
Difficult puzzle, but a great theme and some really good surfaces. Chevriots gave me the theme and then I guessed 2 down. The only other sheep breed I had heard of is Hebridean, but I got the answer from the islander, and only afterwards realised it also fits the theme. I got defeated by a=per and ether=numb-er, which I really should recognise by now…
Thanks, Brockwell and manehi
PROVINE and DOGE defeated me. Never heard of the former, and wish I never hear of the latter ever again….
As usual, a very enjoyable and vocabulary-challenging themed puzzle from Brockwell. I didn’t get ARANEID; lots of jorums incl. HAWKER, PROVINE, RAMBERT. NHO LIBERACE, either. My favourites were SWEPT UP, BEACONS and SCABBARDS. Thanks Brockwell and manehi