Yesterday someone commented on the new kids on the block and said how well they are all doing, something with which I agree, and Donk is at the forefront of this group. Today’s crossword has, as has always been the case with him so far, some outstanding clues.
No doubt he has some cunningly concealed Nina, since so far he has not disappointed us, but I don’t see it today.
(Definitions in italics.)
Across
1 Request good breaks in weather for painter? (5,3)
SPRAY GUN
(pray g) inserted in [= breaks in] sun [= weather]
6 When reversing, can a driver’s head turn? (2,3)
GO BAD
(bog [= can])rev. a d{river}
10 Blue stuff eroded tiny cave to halfway? (7)
EROTICA
ero{ded) ti{ny} ca{ve}
11 Celebrity setter soon pens end of clue (7)
SOMEONE
me [= setter] in soon, followed by {clu}e — ‘pens’ is referring not to the end of clue, but to what immediately precedes it
12 Boring partner up the spout (5)
ERUPT
partnER UP The — a hidden that I missed for a long time — indicated by ‘Boring’
14 Here, blogs are reporting where Yorkshireman’s shot finished? (8)
INTERNET
“in the net”, as a Yorkshireman might pronounce this
15 Door’s opening in British Airways lounge, one without locks (6)
BALDIE
BA l(d{oor})ie
19 Follower of M People agreeing pitch? (6)
ENCAMP
The follower of M is N, or en; people agreeing = camp
21 What’s more, chap’s turned against old European (8)
YUGOSLAV
The wordplay is fine here, but the definition escapes me: (guy)rev. o Slav — the definition is presumably ‘What’s more’, but how this relates to Yugoslavia I can’t see I’m afraid. As several people have pointed out, the definition is ‘old European’ and it’s (also [=What’s more] guy)rev. v
24 These won’t help accountant see you before courts (9)
CATARACTS
CA [= Chartered Accountants] tara [= see you] cts — semi &lit. I think, certainly there’s an &littish quality here, but the precise terminology I’m a bit vague about
26 Pulled back down trousers for one artist (5)
DEGAS
(sad [= down])rev. [ie pulled back] round [ie trousers] eg [= for one]
27 Name woman involved in presidential scandal over blower (7)
MONIKER
“Monica” — ref Monica Lewinsky — the homophone indicator is ‘over blower’, in the wordplay at any rate
28 A hanged criminal – situation for Dutch politicians? (3,4)
DEN HAAG
(A hanged)* — Den Haag is the Dutch name for The Hague
29 None in current state can make retreat (5)
OASIS
0 as is [= in current state]
30 Knocking shop‘s doorbell for a change (8)
BORDELLO
(doorbell)*
13 See 2 down
Down
2,13 Plugs in grid for tube station, blokes install centrally (7,9)
PRODUCT PLACEMENT
Pro [= for] duct [= tube] place [= station] men [= blokes] {ins}t{all} — presumably the definition is ‘Plugs in grid’, but although product placements are types of plug, I can’t see where the grid comes in
3 For now, a team from Milan wears grey (2,7)
AD INTERIM
a d(Inter)im — not a Latin term I knew, but obvious enough from the wordplay, so long as you have heard of Inter Milan, that is
4 Place invested in must for wine deals (8)
GRAPPLES
grap(pl)es — grapes = must for wine
5 Exchange note when lawyer takes question (6)
NASDAQ
n [= note] as [= when] da [= DA, District Attorney] q [= question] — ref the Nasdaq
6 Reason for unnecessarily putting Gandhi’s evacuated wife in France (5)
GIMME
G{andh}i Mme [= Madame] — but a gimme is hardly a reason for unnecessarily putting [putting as in golf] — a gimme is a very short putt — your opponent may insist on your sinking it, but I can’t see how a reason comes into it
7 Show disgust at performer with feather duster, ignoring odd support (7)
BOOKEND
Boo Ken D{odd} — Ken Dodd used to perform with his feather duster, which he called his tickling stick — this took me ages to see, since I was trying and failing to find something of the form _K_E_N_D
8 Lewd cracks – finally complaint was lodged (5)
DWELT
(Lewd)* {complain}t
9 Forged steel I’ve put on box (8)
TELEVISE
(steel I’ve)*
16 Dodging a very ordinary party for Steve Jobs? (9)
AVOIDANCE
a v o i-dance — the late Steve Jobs, of Apple, called his products the i-Mac, the i-Pod, the i-Pad etc, so whimsically he might have called a dance an i-dance
17 Imagine most were jealous of round sink (8)
ENVISAGE
Envie{d} round sag — most = mostly here, something that seems OK to me but which I can’t actually find
18 1000/1 shot‘s detour is funny (8)
OUTSIDER
(detour is)*
20 Craft bean bags frequently for chains (7)
CATENAS
C{r}a{f}t {b}e{a}n {b}a{g}s — a catena is a chain
22 Trouble with those enabling hearing aid for sailor (7)
LUGSAIL
lugs [= ears, those enabling hearing] ail — a lugsail is a type of sail
23 Small vehicle, a black Beetle? (6)
SCARAB
s car a b
24 Brief appearance climaxed with solo’s finale (5)
CAMEO
came [= climaxed] {sol}o
25 Leaves collectors pulling clutch from brake system (5)
RAKES
bRAKE System — clutch = a group
Thanks Andrew and Donk, great crossword and blog.
Re YUGOSLAV – a reversal of also and guy followed by v (against)
John – at 21ac I have ALSO (what’s more) plus GUY (man) reversed plus V (against) with old European as the definition. I thought this was very tricky but managed to get there in the end without resort to aids.
Despite hailing from Merseyside I took a long time to see BOOKEND. NASDAQ was my LOI.
Thanks Donk and John. I liked 24d, 29a, 23d, 9d, 3d, 5d, 17d, 11a and my favourite was 27a MONIKER.
I couldn’t parse 6a, 20d, 16d, 7d, 6d. I now realise I don’t really get (or like?) 26a (EG = for one). And I agree with your comment about “in grid” in 2/13. However, 24a and 17d were fine for me.
Some new abbreviations for me in this puzzle, such as D = driver, O = ordinary.
Muffyword@1 – thanks for the parsing of YUGOSLAV. I had also tried to parse it as John.
Ref. 2d there are quite a few ‘names’ in the completed grid (e.g. APPLE, DELL, NIKE, VISA, LEVIS, ASDA and ALDI).
@Gazza well spotted that man! Really tough chewy one from Donk (again).
Thanks John for the blog and others for a few that I couldn’t see how they worked.
Re 20 down. I don’t think ‘frequently’ is fair play.
I can though see why Donk wouldn’t wnat a giveaway like ‘regularly’.
There are indeed.
What a fabulously smart puzzle.
Re 6D, if a putt is “given”, it is unnecessary to putt. If it isn’t given, then it can’t be a “gimme” it seems to me. I don’t have a dictionary to hand but I would take a “gimme” as meaning a putt your opponent does not require you to sink, however short or long it is.
Sorry, I was agreeing with Gazza @ 4. There are one or two other big companies in there too.
The SW corner was splendidly cheeky, with 24D and then 27A’s hilarious homophone indicator.
Naughty, hugely admirable stuff.
Re PJ @ 8, it was cheeky elsewhere as well; 10ac and 30ac.
The golfing reference in 6dn totally passed me by (I share Mark Twain’s opinion of golf) so I didn’t understand the clue, but the answer was obvious from the wordplay.
I thought this was a lovely puzzle – tough, but with some fun thrown in. CAMEO was outrageous (but funny) and what with knocking shops and Ms Lewinsky elsewhere, there’s no shortage of rumpy-pumpy in this one. Although of course Bill did not have ‘sexual relations’ with Monica. Blow me.
If I were being picky, I’d say folk from Yorkshire would say IN TER T’NET, but it’s pretty clear what’s going on in that one. The Ken Dodd reference passed me by, so well done John for the parsing there.
Look forward to some more Donk soon; thanks to him for this one.
I managed to complete this after a bit of a struggle, but with several clues I couldn’t parse or understand properly. So thanks to John and everyone above for revealing the subtleties that Donk has woven into this super puzzle (though I agree with CC@6 regarding the use of “frequently”!)
Michelle@3: D is the “head” of driver and O is in Chambers as an abbreviation for ordinary.
howard@11
thanks- I wasn’t doubting the abbreviations, I was just noting that they were new to me
Dunno about d for driver but I did o for ordinary levels. Showing my age I know…
Thanks, John.
I’ve been out for most of the day, so have little to add, but I couldn’t not comment on such a a super puzzle from one of my favourite new setters. How lucky are we, to get the two Likely Lads on consecutive days?!
I did this in a bit of a rush, before goung out, so, although I smiled at PRODUCT PLACEMENT, since there has been some discussion about it lately, I missed the theme answers [beautifully hidden].
I agree totally with K’s D’s comment, [including the Yorkshire bit]. I wonder if Mary Whitehouse did cryptic crosswords. If so, she’ll be twirling in her grave.
Huge thanks, Donk – I loved it!
Re the comment at 10. A Yorkshireman would say ‘In t’net’ for ‘In the net’ I can’t see him saying ‘In ter t’net’ which would be ‘In the the net’.
Another fine puzzle by Donk who perhaps has the edge over his Matey when it comes to what I call tightness of cluing. But yesterday’s Boy Wonder was a bit more adventurous, I thought – at least this time.
Does it matter?
Not really.
Donk, Rorschach and a handful of other talented setters make sure crosswords will be there for as long as we live and beyond – no cruise missiles to stop them!
Sometimes I wonder why solvers/commenters often focus on clues of a sexual nature (10ac, 27ac, 24d in this puzzle).
Personally, I do enjoy clues in which music or sport are embedded a lot more – 19ac and 3d being examples of it.
I spotted the theme early on but it left me rather cold – I am not a big fan of using brand names in a crossword (well, apart from Russell – but that would be unfair use of decapitalisation 🙂 ).
Don’t worry, I agree with everyone else that this was a very fine puzzle.
Quite Ximenean too, so Rowland must have loved it.
Nothing wrong with that.
BTW, what a coincidence to see Donk and Rorschach use a similar device (Rorschach’s CAPELLO, Donk’s EROTICA). A device that Arachne uses so often that I called it ‘hers’. Not the worst source of inspiration (if it is)!
High quality – again.
michelle@12 The “d” is not an abbreviation for driver, it is “driver’s head”, ie the first letter of driver.
Brilliant crossword that took me several visits to finish.
Thanks to Donk and John.
Brilliant puzzle from our baby bro!
Love the theme and some stonking clues thrown in for good measure. Particularly enjoyed SCARAB for the flawless surface. Some wonderfully disguised anagrams too!
Thanks all!
The setters name always conjures a madness of sorts, along with the big fella from crocodile dundee! ‘What’s a Donk’ – whack!
Great puzzle, I think the setters name very much suits the puzzle style.
Donk, start setting Listener or themed barred grid puzzles – I’d like to see your interests! 🙂
howard@11 and gwep@17
thanks regarding the D = “head of driver”. I should have realised of course!
It was Thursday, it was Donk – we should have started earlier!
As it was, we had to finish this one this morning. We only had a few left but PRODUCT PLACEMENT was one of them. We totally missed the themed answers hidden within the grid although we did have a quick look for a nina.
This was excellent fun. Some inventive clueing, smiley moments and smooth surfaces. Thanks Donk- more puzzles please!
Thanks John.
Great puzzle with lots of witty clues.
Thanks John; I, of course, missed all the PRODUCT PLACEMENT – nice setting.
Favourites were INTERNET, BOOKEND [ignoring odd very misleading], LUGSAIL and BALDIE.
Thanks everyone for the lovely comments, and to John for the excellent blog. Congratulations to anyone who spotted the PRODUCT PLACEMENT extras – I’d toyed with making it ‘(in grid)’ or using examples but decided against it in the end!
A gimme can be the shot that is accepted, and in matchplay you’ll often see a putt given but the player still knock it in to get the speed of the greens.
As for INTERNET, I had hoped it’d be a Yorkshire-homophone for ‘in the net’ rather than ‘into the net’ but I may have got myself into a muddle and messed up!
Anyway, thanks again and all the best,
Donk
Some iffy ones here, and clearly not a Yorkshireman. Int’e net? Come on!