- *=anagram
- [] = removed e.g. char[m]=char
- ()=abbreviation e.g. A(mpere)=a
- Hom. = homophone
I breezed through most of this but then got stuck on a couple of clues, which took me a long while to work out. 8 was an unfamiliar word and took some time to realize it was a simple charade rather than container and contents. 17 also took quite an effort – the “open” for extended just didn’t occur me (and it still seems like an odd synonym, even though it is in the dictionary). 15 was one of those slightly irritating CDs that have never been my favourite type of clue.
| Across | |||
| 1. | Soldier taking r-risk with structure that spells death (6) | ||
| Gibbet | GI + b-bet. | ||
| 4. | Food aboard ship for breaks (6) | ||
| Starts | Tart in SS. | ||
| 8. | Version of Bible is in another tongue, a new language (7) | ||
| Avestan | AV (Authorised Version) + est (is in French) + a n(ew). | ||
| 10. | Bit of food that is producing disease in sheep (7) | ||
| Scrapie | Scrap + i.e. | ||
| 11. | Where one may stay very warm — the bowels of hell! (5) | ||
| Hotel | Hot + [h]el[l]. | ||
| 12. | Garden lad laid out adorned with flowers (9) | ||
| Garlanded | (Garden lad)*. | ||
| 13. | I notice her at work — someone who figures things out on paper? (12) | ||
| Theoretician | (I notice her at)*. | ||
| 17. | Extended shed possessed by this writer — building material may have come from here (8,4) | ||
| Opencast mine | Extended(=open, as in an open newspaper) + shed(=cast in the sense of shedding skin) + mine (possessed by this writer). | ||
| 20. | Delay food that’s kept on the menu wanted by everyone (9) | ||
| Stonewall | Seems to be stew around on + all, “the menu” part just being there to help the surface reading. | ||
| 21. | Problem in hospital — bit of a pain (5) | ||
| Hitch | H(ospital) + itch. | ||
| 22. | Good person, one in hovel that’s unfriendly (7) | ||
| Hostile | St (Saint) + i in hole. | ||
| 23. | Staked money in pay packet — subsequently embarrassed (7) | ||
| Wagered | Wage + red. | ||
| 24. | Quarrel over your esteemed dignitary (6) | ||
| Worthy | Row< + thy. | ||
| 25. | Garment boy wrapped around neck (4-2) | ||
| Slip on. | Son around lip (neck in the sense of cheek, if you get my drift). | ||
| … Down |
|||
| 1. | Damage in fruit — there’s black stuff (8) | ||
| Graphite | Hit in grape. | ||
| 2. | Swimmer crossing river with little energy must get a rest (8) | ||
| Breather | Bather round r(iver) + e[nergy]. | ||
| 3. | Praise from former sweetheart upset man with backward-looking wife(5) | ||
| Extol | Ex (=former sweetheart) + Lot<. Lot's wife was turned to a pillar of salt because she looked back at Sodom. | ||
| 5. | Awful female manager nastily engaged in heart of battle (9) | ||
| Termagant | Manager* in [ba]tt[le]. | ||
| 6. | Power limited in attacks on account of fast-flowing water (6) | ||
| Rapids | P in raids. | ||
| 7. | Maybe ‘staid’ could be confused with ‘stayed’ (6) | ||
| Steady | Stayed*. | ||
| 9. | Bird‘s extremely blustery experience after sunset (11) | ||
| Nightingale | Not totally sure here – maybe “in gale” after night. | ||
| 10. | Adversely affected vehicle having power reduced going into pig (6,1,4) | ||
| Struck a blow | Truck + abl[e] in sow. | ||
| 14. | Top up Pilsner and he will get drunk (9) | ||
| Replenish | (Pilsner he)*. | ||
| 15. | Cover that will soon be found under a tree? (4,4) | ||
| Gift wrap | CD (Xmas trees, presumably). | ||
| 16. | Not all fishermen had enough fish (8) | ||
| Menhaden | Hidden in firsherMEN HAD ENough. | ||
| 18. | Steer clear of explosive wife, wanting escape at the outset (6) | ||
| Eschew | HE (high explosive) + w(ife) after esc (abbreviation for the escape key). | ||
| 19. | Cat doctor — one having lots of drugs (6) | ||
| Mouser | Mo + user. | ||
| 21. | Philosopher offering cant, good at heart (5) | ||
| Hegel | Heel around g. The heel/cant puzzled me, but I eventually found out they could both mean to lean. | ||
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I found this a little harder than some of Quixote’s Monday puzzles but it was a good challenge.
AVESTAN and MENHADEN both went in from the wordplay rather than the definition, and the GIBBET/GRAPHITE crossers held me up. My LOI was GIFT WRAP and it took a while to see, although I would probably have seen it sooner had I not convinced myself that the second word was “drop”.
9A To spend [the] night in [a] gale would be a blustery experience after sunset.
That is, 9D.
Thanks Quixote for an enjoyable puzzle and NealH for the blog.
4ac: We often see “aboard” on its own used for “in a ship” and thus “between two Ss”. I greatly prefer the form used here.
13ac: The cryptic grammar here is not completely clear. Three options have occurred to me, of which I am happy with only one, taking “work” as a plural indicative intransitive verb. It could be that “work” is intended as an imperative verb, but for me it is the wrong side of the anagram fodder, although I know a lot of setters use this approach. Another possibility might be to allow “at” to do double duty as part of anagram fodder and anagram lead, but that is so far away from what I would expect from Quixote that I cannot believe that it is the intended parsing.
20ac: I think this must be “on the menu” cluing ON, although it does seem undesirable to use a word as part of its own definition.
9dn: I read this the same way as gwep.
15dn: Not my favourite type of clue either, Neal.
16dn: Maybe this jumped out at some other solvers, but for me it was wonderfully hidden.
Where I have offered opinions here and previously, I have full respect for the fact that others may have different preferences, but ask the same respect in return.
20a the menu wanted all seem superfluous and most un Quixote like. As for 15d that’s straight out of a Rufus, leave them there please.
There’s definitely something not quite flowing with 20a (STONEWALL)
Would:
Delay everything after working in a state of panic (9)
or
Delay everyone after mixup with notes (9)
be any better?
Maybe not 😕 🙂
Pelham old chap –
This is where we’re at odds (not the mutual respect homily; I’m in total agreement with you there!) I find the 15 type most enjoyable. it’s true that logical justification is thin (if non-existent) but its solving requires lateral (as opposed to vertical) thinking which I find most satisfying. A personal foible I know but keeps the Alzheimer doctors at bay?!
Flashing –
I agree – “the menu wanted” seem to be redundant words in 20.
Pelham might like ‘for’ to help at 13ac. I don’t know.
13a is an interesting one for Ximeneans – as Pelham B says Quixote’s indicator is “work” rather than “works” (and not “at work”, “at” being part of the fodder). Azed responded to this issue in his slip quite recently and I hope it’s ok to quote him here (from June 2011):
“An interesting point was raised by a very experienced campaigner. In my clue to PLIANCY (‘Being flexible I can swim in strand’) should not ‘swim’ be ‘swims’ for the anagram to work cryptically? This took me back to a similar question I put many years ago to Ximenes when the late Eric Chalkley won first prize with this clue to PANTOPHAGIST: ‘What pig has to become when gripped by hunger? (anag. in pant, & lit.). Surely, I asked, it should be ‘becomes’, unless he accepted that as a singular string of words or a plural set of words, in this case three of them, it could govern a singular or a plural verb. He replied (I still have his pencilled note) that yes, he did think either a singular or a plural verb was OK, ever since when I’ve followed his dictum, both in my own clues and in my judgement on those of others. Does anyone hold strong contrary views on this? I’m pretty sure the practice is widespread. (On a separate issue entirely, I don’t think I’d accept ‘become’ as an anagram indicator nowadays – the words only become something else when something disruptive is done to them – but I don’t think at the time I’d the temerity to query the great man’s judgement twice in relation to a single clue.)”
Another way to look at “work” is that postfixing -work indicates that something is made out of what precedes.
Eg woodwork is made from wood. So in general Xwork is made from X.
But it always(?) seems to be made into a single word – which might present an issue in certain camps – and that line of thinking may not flow so well in the same neck of the woods anyway.