And still Araucaria keeps them coming! Like PeterO yesterday, I count myself blessed in having landed a good proportion of them recently. I was fortunate in that 12ac, for which we Brits, of necessity, have a number of paraphrases, was one of the handful that I got on the first run-through, so, once I got started, I found this an amusing and entertaining solve, during which, perhaps fittingly, there was a very sudden and rather violent freak hailstorm here.
I have, as you would expect, included one or two get-out clauses for Araucaria in the blog but I shan’t be around to answer for any of these or make any amendments / answer any queries or comments after about 9.00am, as I don’t have – or understand – any of the wondrous devices that would enable me to view comments en route. I look forward to seeing a fair few of you in Manchester later on today – have a good journey!
Across
1 25 in balance
SCALES
double definition, referring to Prunella Scales, a well-known chum of Araucaria, who said, in a foreword to a compilation of Araucaria puzzles, that she loved going to bed with Araucaria. [I know what she means. 😉 ]
[Both Chambers and Collins give STAGER [25ac] as an ‘archaic’ meaning of actor – but I’m sure Prunella will forgive him. ]
8 Ring for fat emperor? Ring off
LARDNER
LARD [fat] + NER[O] emperor] minus O [ring] – ring off – for writer Ring Lardner
9 Fruit for wader (not alien) at a party
AVOCADO
AVOC[et] [wader minus ‘et’, the oxymoronic familiar alien] + A DO [a party]
11 South American stand-off at party in rough clothing to 12
RAIN CATS AND DOGS
INCA [South American] + anagram [off] of STAND + DO [party – again, so soon, unfortunately] in RAGS [rough clothing]
12 Page of the Guardian — will you do it or shall I?
POUR
P [page] + OUR [of the Guardian]: question asked at teatime: ‘Will you pour / be mother, or shall I?’
13,5 Pull in later: like this writer to the editor, it 12-ed
THE HEAVENS OPENED
HEAVE [pull] in THEN [later] + SO [like this] + PEN [writer] + ED [editor]
17 Corporal punishment for swigging ale at opera
LEATHERING
anagram [swigging?] of ALE + THE RING [opera]
I saw the possibility of some lively discussion of this original anagram indicator – but then I dug deep into my SOED and found, as the very last entry, in the fourth definition: ‘to sway about, waver’ – that’ll do me! [It also means to castrate a ram by ligature.] Over to you…
18 Backing provided for American holy man
SUFI
reversal [backing] of IF [provided] + US [American] for a Muslim mystic
20 Broadcaster about narcissus, it may be, when bands are out
MUSICIANS’ STRIKE
MIKE [broadcaster] round anagram [may be] of NARCISSUS IT
23 Monument as honour for potential silk
OBELISK
OBE [Order of the British Empire – honour] + anagram [potential] of SILK
24 Honour great leader if parrot’s about
GLORIFY
G [first letter – leader – of Great] + LORY [parrot] round IF
25 Deer with royal putting on performance
STAGER
STAG [deer] + ER [royal]
the definition is dodgy, even for this devotee
26 Number for insect in residence
TENANT
TEN [number] + ANT [insect] – a not very Araucarian clue!
Down
2 Courses of hot food getting cooler, one might say
CURRICULA
Oh dear!: CURRI [sounds like – one [but not all!] might say – curry {hot food}] + CULA [sounds like cooler], which seems even more of a stretch, but the Classical Latin – and modern Italian – pronunciation would sound rather more like ‘cooler’ than the Anglicised version – but not, of course, to those with a rhotic accent! Araucaria has stirred up more than one hornets’ nest here! – but ‘one might say’ lets him off the hook here, I think..
3 Girl swallowing sodium — it’s madness
LUNACY
LUCY [girl] round [swallowing] NA [chemical symbol for sodium]
4 People carrier adding to tension?
STRETCHER
double / cryptic definition?
5 Scarlet woman said she’s surprised at losing roof of her house
O’HARA
OH [I’m surprised] + [t]ARA, the ‘roofless’ home of the heroine of ‘Gone with the Wind’ – ‘said’, because her name is Scarlett
6 Old gold face is introductor
EXORDIAL
EX [old] + OR [gold] + DIAL [face]
7 Inspirer of number at Oxford
ERATO
hidden in numeER AT Oxford
Erato is the Muse of lyric love poetry
8 See about alternative to saying nothing about friend to developer
LORD PALUMBO
LO [see] round OR [alternative] + DUMB [saying nothing ] round PAL [friend] for the property developer
10 Bad vibes? Yes, so left off having fanatical concentration
OBSESSIVELY
anagram [bad – and, for good measure, off] of VIBES YES SO L[eft
14 Alleged location of deer in retrospect
HINDSIGHT
HIND [deer] + SIGHT sounds like – alleged – site [location]
15 Learning the 15-a-side game in book form
ERUDITION
RU [Rugby Union, the 15-a-side game] in EDITION [book form]
16,19 12-ing caught Finn in academic dress keeping up government department
CHUCKING IT DOWN
C [caught] + HUCK [Mark Twain’s hero, Huckleberry Finn] + IN + GOWN [academic dress] round [keeping up] a reversal, in a down clue, of DTI [Department of Trade and Industry] –
21 Piece of linen, one of those that are 12-ing?
SHEET
a piece of bed linen and a reference to rain coming down in sheets
22 Bilk of singular amount of money
ACKER
a whimsical double definition, since ackers = money doesn’t exist in the singular but this man certainly does -and I would rate him as ‘singular’ – nice clue!
Many thanks Eileen & Araucaria
This was another great puzzle although I didn’t fully appreciate the Prunella part of SCALES until you pointed it out.
Thanks Eileen. On the more difficult end of the Araucaria scale I thought and it took me some time to unravel the bad weather theme. 8 a and d were new to me and I had to confirm them but they were realisable enough with the help of crossing letters. I wasn’t very keen on 1, the link with Prunella is rather a stretch of the imagination.
Thanks, Eileen. I thought this was a great puzzle with just the right level of difficulty for a prize.
CURRICULA couldn’t be anything else which is all I care about rather than the homophonic “accuracy” and, as you say, he is careful in the phrasing of the clue.
This puzzle was slow-going until I took a chance on POUR even though I was not 100% sure of it, but after that things moved along more briskly as I could solve the clues related to ‘pouring rain’.
I liked 3d, 24a, 5d, 11a, 17a and my favourites were favourites CURRICULA & LORD PALUMBO.
I could not parse 22d apart from ‘acker’ being the singular of ACKERS = money.
For 4a, I was happy with STRETCHER being a DD: 1/ people carrier (a framework of two poles with a long piece of canvas slung between them, used for carrying sick, injured, or dead people.) & 2/ used by painter or artist: a wooden frame that stretches a canvas, adding to the tautness or tension.
Thanks for the puzzle Araucaria and for the blog, Eileen.
Thanks Eileen. 12a (to me) gave the mini-theme away too easily, and it was a bit of a canter until the LARDNER and LORD PALUMBO hurdles had to be struggled over. 2d as a pun or ’sounds like’ is truly weird: but I’m in the mob who’ll forgive Araucaria anything.
I enjoyed this puzzle and found it relatively easy once I had twigged the mini-theme. I also got 25ac STAGER fairly early on and despite not realising Prunella’s association with Araucaria I guessed it was she in 1ac. I thought 22d could be ACKER on first read through, but tried several other solutions until I looked up ackers. I hadn’t heard of Ring LARDNER and so had to resort to Google to check his existence.
Thanks for the blog Eileen as I lazily did not parse O”HARA. It’s a long while since I saw the film and I don’t think I have read ‘Gone with the Wind’; I had forgotten Scarlett lived on the Tara plantation.
[See you later in Manchester. I hope that the heavens don’t open on our way there and the only pouring is in the pub!]
Thanks Eileen and Araucaria
Another good offering. I guessed at Prunella but wasn’t quite sure.
I ticked 9a and 16,19d and enjoyed lots of others as usual.
I hope I haven’t given the impression, especially to overseas readers, that 1ac was an in joke, making the clue exclusive. I added the note about her association with Araucaria only for interest. Prunella Scales is a very well-known actress here, as the link that I supplied shows.
Araucaria is a real old stager, been turning them out with consistent brilliance for as long as I’ve been doing the Grauniad crossword, which is a long time now and even being a rather poorly nonagenarian doesn’t seem to have cramped his style.
I lurk here, reading the blog a lot more than I post, but I do feel the occasional sniping by a few pedants who presumably burn candles at the shrine of Mr Macnutt every night is a tad annoying. Finishing the crossword over morning coffee is satisfying; not finishing leaves a cloud over my day, but an Araucaria leaves me with a smile on my lips and a spring in my step! He is, and always will be, the master!
Thanks for the blog, Eileen, and I hope everyone has a great time in Manchester today (a wee bit far for me).
Another delight from Araucaria to brighten up Saturday! Like you, I did raise an eyebrow at the definition of STAGER, but I didn’t see what else it could be.
Have fun today!
Thanks for the blog Eileen.
I strongly suspected there was some hidden theatrical message in this one. Lord Palumbo was Chairman of the Arts Council back in the day and there was some rumble involving a musician’s strike but I can’t remember the details. Reminding Prunella of some shared memory in rainy weather? Hmm… not so much him going Palumbo as me going Columbo. Impossible to fathom, of course but the choices of words looked pre-meditated – but it wouldn’t be the first wild-goose chase he’s set me on.
Thanks, Eileen. I managed to solve this, albeit with some online help to confirm a few entries, and you clarified the rest. This Yank had never heard of Prunella Scales, Acker Bilk (or ackers = money), Lord Palumbo, or “chucking it down.” (Initially thinking Finn = LAPP, I spent a lot of time futilely trying to confirm that “clapping it down” was a euphemism for raining.) A couple of nits:
5d: Isn’t “said” doing double duty here? (It’s needed to make Scarlet a homophone, but “she’s surprised” seems inadequate to give “OH”.)
16,19d: Shouldn’t the clue have read “former government department”? The UK DTI ceased to exist in 2007 (having been replaced by two other departments); I earnestly hope Araucaria was not referring to the extant DTIs in South Africa or the Philippines.
I do feel the occasional sniping by a few pedants who presumably burn candles at the shrine of Mr Macnutt every night is a tad annoying.
Not that you’d do any sniping, obviously.
Thanks to Eileen for the blog. I did know that Prunella is a crossword fan but forgot it just when I needed it. I was left scratching my head until seeing this blog.
I was not at all bothered by 2d. Once I had spotted CURRY=CURRI I just assumed the rest.
@15 Not at the compilers, no. Thank you for your welcome sidey. I’ll go away now and not interrupt the regulars in their little love-in.
Well, you’ve made yourself an instant hit. Where did you learn that skill?
Thanks for the blog.
I mostly enjoyed this. I thought SHEET was too obvious from linen and was puzzled by sheets pouring, so spent time looking for a trick that wasn’t there.
Thanks Araucaria and Eileen
Started off smartly enough seeing Scarlett O’Hara and Tara as first in, but as so often with A it was a case of “Let the battle begin”. Even though familiar bells were ringing with the ‘or shall I?’ – I needed to solve THE HEAVENS OPENED to break open the theme.
A fair bit of looking up references to check the unknown personalities – had vague memories of seeing PALUMBO before, and a quick search of this site showed that A had used him in July 2012. Took a while to get the connect between STAGER and SCALES, until I figured that there might have been a person involved and stumbled on the more likely Prunella and the less likely Harvey as stage performers.
Last in was ACKER – neither knowing the person whom nor the slang money term. Good to get there in the end!