The preamble told us that all solutions are thematic, wholly or in part. All clues contain normal definitions but, with 18 of them, the wordplay ignores the thematic element.
I took a while to get into this before realising what was going on. I got my foothold in the SE corner with IRIS [27 across], SPINE [25 down], INSOLE [24 across] and CELLIST [21 down] after which the penny finally dropped recognising the theme of parts of the body. From then on it was a question of determining whether the clue was one of the remaining sixteen with omitted letters in the wordplay.
There were a couple of entries where two parts of the body were omitted from the word play – BRASS NECK at 19 across and HEAD OVER HEELS at 9 down.
The difficulty with this type of puzzle is that some of the clues lead to only two or three letters – eg BRASS NECK clued only BR, INSOLE clued only IN and SLIPS ON [20 down] clued only SON. There is, of course, one clue generating only one letter at 12 across.
At 29 across for a long time I thought ;Throws empty’ was generating TS. It took a while to realise that ’empty’ was qualifying vessel [URN]
You will see from the blog that I have not been able to link the entry BELLY [17 across] to the definition which I take to be ‘crop’ Also I am unsure how EPITAPH at 18 down relates to a part of the body. I will read the comments with interest to see what I have obviously missed.
Overall, an enjoyable puzzle.
|
Across |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Clue | Wordplay | Omitted Wordplay |
Entry |
|
1
|
After onset of winter, ordinary leaves disappear (4,3) |
W (first letter of [onset of] WINTER) + O (ordinary) + FF (folios; leaves)
|
EAR
|
WEAR OFF (disappear)
|
|
5
|
Nice art stored in suburbs of Leeds, unprotected (7) |
ES (Nice being a town in France I think this probably to do with French words. My French is not good at all, but I am guessing that ES is an old form of is/are equating to are/art in English) contained in (in) LS (outer letters of [suburbs of] LEEDS) L (ES) S |
ARM
|
ARMLESS (without weapons; unprotected)
|
|
10
|
Spain deceived banks in poll (4)
|
E (Espana; International Vehicle Registration for Spain) contained in (in) HAD (deceived) H (E) AD |
HEAD (pollard; poll) | |
|
11
|
Middle-class drink kept warm in cups (6,4)
|
M (middle) + ILK (class)
|
BREAST
|
BREAST MILK (MILK that is kept warm in the BREAST which itself is kept warm in the cup of a brassiere)
|
|
12
|
Origin of limp associated with shank (6)
|
L (first letter of [origin of] LIMP)
|
TIBIA
|
TIBIAL (relating to the lower leg or shank from knee to foot)
|
|
13
|
Nimble player, the German crosses ball oddly (8)
|
DER (one of the forms of ‘the’ in German) containing (crosses) BL (letters 1 and 3 [oddly] of BALL) D (BL) ER |
RIB | DRIBBLER (a footballer who keeps the ball under close control; nimble player) |
|
14
|
He’s on a mission to forget old Freudian desire (5,4)
|
ENVOY (a messenger, especially one sent to transact business with a foreign government; he/she’s on a mission) excluding (to forget) O (old)
|
PENIS
|
PENIS ENVY (the Freudian concept of a woman’s subconscious wish for male characteristics)
|
|
16
|
Is scab around bones? (5)
|
(IS + RAT [scab]) all reversed (around) (TAR SI)< |
TARSI (bones in the foot) | |
|
17
|
Crop by taking in some cloth (5)
|
BY containing (taking in) ELL (an obsolete cloth measure equating to 1.25 yards) B (ELL) Y |
|
BELLY (? – I am struggling to make a link between BELLY and crop) |
|
19
|
British nerve (5,4)
|
BR (British)
|
ASS and NECK
|
BRASS NECK (effrontery; nerve)
|
|
23
|
Eject short CD (8)
|
DISC (CD) excluding the final letter (short) C
|
GORGE
|
DISGORGE (eject)
|
|
24
|
One name for what underlies 16? (6)
|
I (one) + N (name)
|
SOLE
|
INSOLE (the inner sole of a boot or shoe; something that is placed under the bones of the foot [TARSI; 16 across])
|
|
26
|
Stones vehicle, black, belonging to relative (10)
|
CAR (vehicle) + B (black) + UNCLE’S (belonging to a relative [UNCLE])
|
|
CARBUNCLES (large pimples especially on the face or neck; local inflammation of the skin and subcutaneous tissues)
|
|
27
|
Flag of Hibernia, not Hungary (4)
|
IRISH (of Hibernia) excluding (not) H (International Vehicle Registration for Hungary)
|
|
IRIS (one definition of flag is IRIS)
|
|
28
|
Spoke rudely to party leader (7)
|
ED (reference ED Miliband, British Labour Party leader)
|
CHEEK |
CHEEKED (spoke rudely to)
|
|
29
|
Throws empty vessel (7)
|
URN (vase; vessel) excluding the middle letter (empty) R
|
SEATS
|
UNSEATS (throws)
|
| Down | ||||
|
2
|
Compose late poem "East is East …" (7)
|
E (East) + IS + E (East)
|
LEG
|
ELEGISE (write songs or poems of mourning; compose late poems)
|
|
3
|
Arm supporters and order raid on island (5)
|
Anagram of (order) RAID + I (island) RADI* I |
|
RADII (bones in the arm; arm supporters)
|
|
4
|
Bones lie over other nameless ones (7)
|
FIB (lie) + (ULNAE [bones in the arm] excluding [less] N [name])
|
|
FIBULAE (bones from the knee to the ankle)
|
|
6
|
Send away again for Roman object (6)
|
RES (Latin [Roman] for object))
|
HIP
|
RESHIP (send away again)
|
|
7
|
Noodle meal cooked (9)
|
Anagram of (cooked) MEAL
|
BRAIN
|
LAMEBRAIN (idiot; noodle)
|
|
8
|
I’m missing simple directions for waste processors (7) |
SIMPLE excluding [missing] I’M + (E [East; direction] + N [North; direction] + S [South; direction] giving directions)
|
|
SPLEENS (organ of the body that removes worn-out blood cells and other waste matter from the bloodstream)
|
|
9
|
Completely finished (4,4,5)
|
OVER (finished)
|
HEAD and HEELS
|
HEAD OVER HEELS (completely)
|
|
15
|
Scrawled articles in Italy about book by egghead (9) |
([IL {‘the’ in Italian; definite article} + IL {‘the’ in Italian; definite article} giving articles in Italian] containing [about] B [book]) + E (first letter of [head] EGG) IL I (B) L E |
LEG
|
ILLEGIBLE (scrawled)
|
|
18
|
Record smash hit about a priest’s lapidary words (7) |
EP (Extended Play record) + (an anagram of [smash] HIT containing [about] [A + P {priest}]) EP IT (A P) H* |
|
EPITAPH (lapidary [inscribed on stone; suitable for an inscription, eg on a monument)
|
|
20
|
Thus new dons fast (5,2)
|
SO (thus) + N (new)
|
LIPS
|
SLIPS ON (puts / goes on quickly; dons fast)
|
|
21
|
String player lives with tenor (7)
|
IS (lives) + T (tenor)
|
CELL
|
CELLIST
|
|
22
|
Bang! Iron band splits (6)
|
RING (band) contained in (splits) FE (chemical symbol for iron) F (RING) E |
|
FRINGE (one of the definitions of BANG is FRINGE [hair cut square across the brow]))
|
|
25
|
Second long quill (5)
|
S (second) + PINE (long)
|
|
SPINE (a porcupine’s SPINE is a QUILL)
|
Thanks duncan, I got bored with this and have lost my copy so I can’t remember what I failed on. I think crop = stomach in some dialects so belly’s almost there. For EPITAPH I could only assume that it must be PIT, there are various ones about the place, arm, stomach, eye, possibly more.
Thanks Duncan. Like you i can’t see the connection to EPITAPH. I was also mystified by the definition of CARBUNCLE as STONE, because carbuncles (boils) so not always contain stones. Then I found the second definition of Carbuncle in Chambers – “a rounded gemstone, esp a garnet without facets”.
Oops, Collins, not Chambers.
Thanks duncan.
I wasn’t sure about epitaph, but the instructions don’t say that the body part has to be the whole solution for the other clues, so having pit as part of the answer does fit.
(Any significance in 18dn being the exception in a crossword with 18 themed clues?)
Thanks for the blog, unfortunately it shows we got three wrong: YEAR END for 1a (after onset of winter with Y=ordinarY leaves, END=disappear). This was plausible, but it then made 4d NEBULAE which we couldn’t parse at all (now I know why!!), and we had SPINSON for 20d: it seemed convincing at the time 🙁 )
However, it was enjoyable once the theme became clear. First in was RADII, making me think (briefly) it might be mathematical terms…
Hi Duncan
Thanks for the blog.
I liked this puzzle, partly because it was the first one that I have completed fully in a couple of months!
A pit cell is a specific type of body cell, so as far as I can see that fits the thematic part for 18d. I’m not sure why you don’t think it does. Here is a description
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9408963
Also re: 5A don’t you remember from school the french verb Etre ‘To be’. Je suis, Tu es, Il est ….[I am, you are, he is etc.]. So yes Es means are or, as you mention, art in quaint English.
I caused myself problems early on with 17 across as I put in Shear [crop] as SH from taking in [removing everything between the S and H] in Some clotH] and then Ear as the thematic part. This is the only trouble I have with clever crosswords of this nature as with parts of answers that are unclued it is frequently possible to conjure up solutions that the compiler had not forseen.
I also wonder whether Crucible has some connection with USA as Ass is definitely American rather than our slightly cruder version and bangs are what Americans call fringes and my US wife insists that fringes is never used in USA.
I hope to win the prize again as today is my birthday – thanks Crucible.
In response to a number of comments, I regret that I was never an arts person at school. Scientific subjects were more of a strength than languages and continued to be so through University and working life. I struggled through German to Scottish Highers level and never did French.
I guess I struggled with EPITAPH because although I saw PIT I had a fixation that all part references to the body would have been ignored in the wordplay. Thinking about it again, I guess the preamble didn’t rule out the use of wordplay for body parts completely. It just said that eighteen references were omitted.
Sorry I missed out the reference to stone in the parsing of CARBUNCLE. I had seen the relevant definition in Chambers but just forgot about when writing the blog.