It’s Wednesday, so it’s Dac. Hang on … What’s occurring? Well, I guess Wednesday is The Night Before Christmas, so the editor may have something appropriate up his sleeve. Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn, because it gives me the chance to blog one of my favourite Indy setters. But I need a sailor to help with 15ac.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) missing
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Instrumentalist misses introduction – help needed
ASSIST
[B]ASSIST. One of our other compilers for the Indy is a renowned bassist, but his puzzles are one of the reasons I stick to blogging the Monday offering.
4 Perverse notion, note
CROTCHET
A dd. No, I didn’t know the first definition either, but it’s there in my Collins.
9 Quiet worker’s defiant refusal to comply
SHANT
I shall use up the last of my supply of exclamation marks for this year to explain this one. It’s SHAN’T! Which is what naughty children say when they don’t want to do what you’ve told them to. SH plus ANT.
10 Examiner collects religious instruction marks for a term in Harvard
TRIMESTER
An insertion of RI and M in TESTER. Not sure why Dac has included ‘in Harvard’ in the clue: I think this is becoming standard in British English too, isn’t it? It means ‘three months’, and is commonly used to describe periods of pregnancy: first, second and third TRIMESTERS.
11 I’m regularly seen interrupting knowledgeable colleague as lab work is carried out
EXPERIMENTALLY
An insertion of IM and EN for the even letters of ‘seen’ in EXPERT ALLY for ‘knowledgeable colleague’. Which is how science should be carried out.
13 Observes king and prince, presumably near small room
LOOKS ON
A charade of LOO for ‘small room’, K for ‘king’ and SON for a prince, presumably the son of a king, or future king. Let’s not mention Prince Harry, because my legal team have advised against it.
15 Bad luck, perhaps, having to fix sails for ship
FRIGATE
I think this is FRI for Friday, which could be ‘bad luck’ if it was Friday 13th. And then GATE, which I presume is a nautical term which means ‘to fix sails’, but I can’t find any corroboration of this idea in my dictionaries. Where is a sailor when you need one?
17 Nob inhaling pot, a source of distaste
TURN-OFF
An insertion of URN in TOFF.
18 Attractive person, unusually reticent for the most part
ENTICER
(RETICEN[T])* with ‘unusually’ as the anagrind.
19 Novel article on newly-designed Arab website
THE WATER BABIES
A charade of THE for ‘article’ and (ARAB WEBSITE)* Charles Kingsley’s novel, which I really disliked as a child because it gave me the willies about drowning.
23 Exploit other people? It’s always academic, initially
PROFITEER
IT has EER for the archaic word for ‘always’, preceded by PROF, who is the ‘academic’.
24 Old car making a hundred at speed
CRATE
A charade of C and RATE.
25 Excitement of American enthralled by English poet briefly
SUSPENSE
An insertion of US in SPENSE[R], who was responsible for The Faerie Queene, among other things.
26 Given time, I would catch retreating outlaw
BANDIT
A reversal of T, I’D and NAB.
Down
1 Trust Eliza to become disorientated in battle
AUSTERLITZ
(TRUST ELIZA)* with ‘to become disorientated’ as the anagrind. The battle of 1805.
2 Hairdresser’s assistant squeezed more soap round top of head
SHAMPOOER
(MORE SOAP)* around H. Lovely story-telling surface. This reminded me of a clue that Arachne, in Another Place, wrote some time back, which always makes me smile when I think of it. Might not be exactly this, but it was something along the lines of Hairdresser’s assistants taking too many toilet breaks? (10) Except it got the blue pencil from the editor.
3 Musical instrument, one held by top performer
SITAR
An insertion of I in STAR. Always associated with Ravi Shankar, in my mind at least.
5 Unpleasant time in France as regards new soldier being hauled up, often by mistake
REIGN OF TERROR
A bit intricate: it’s RE for ‘as regards’, N GI reversed, OFT and ERROR. Referring to the period of guillotineing after the onset of the French Revolution.
6 Medic, one believing criticism should be concealed
THERAPIST
An insertion of RAP in THEIST.
7 Holidaymakers or tourists expect luxury, principally … here?
HOTEL
The initial letters of Holidaymakers Or Tourists Expect Luxury.
8 Hurried to Rome, avoiding centre
TORE
A charade of TO and RomE.
10 Tiny chap and Yoko, people enthusiastic about the old drama
TIMON OF ATHENS
Beautifully clued, but again a bit intricate: TIM, ONO and THE in FANS. A nod to Yuletide with TINY TIM. ‘God bless us, every one!’
12 Survey of past reports for reviewing hospital treatment
RETROSPECT
(REPORTS)* followed by ECT for Electroconvulsive Therapy, which is a medical ‘treatment’. Used much less than it used to be.
14 Heroine presently attending religious festival in the south-east
SNOW WHITE
I’m feeling all Christmassy. TINY TIM and now a Pantomime heroine. NOW followed by WHIT in SE. WHIT, WHITSUN, WHIT SUNDAY or even WHITSUNTIDE are all to do with a Christian festival which comes fifty days after Easter. WHIT MONDAY used to be a public holiday when I were a lad, but my kids wouldn’t even recognise the word. We now have the more secular Spring Bank Holiday, which doesn’t always coincide with WHIT.
16 Fellow, clever and rather rude, ignored at first
ARCHIBALD
One of my least favourite types of clue: there are lots and lots of ‘fellows’. So it was my last one in. It’s ARCH and [R]IBALD.
20 Rings hospital before operation’s over
HOOPS
A charade of H and O for the cricketing ‘over’ before OPS for ‘operations’.
21 Port: small amount served at end of dinner hosted by non-drinkers?
ACCRA
Dac’s surface readings are so smooth that you sometimes slip over and end up on your arse. An insertion of CC for ‘small amount’ and R for the last letter of ‘dinner’ in AA, for Alcoholics Anonymous.
22 Sculptor regularly holds up work
OPUS
The odd letters of ScUlPtOr, reversed. Another fine, slippery, surface.
Many thanks to Dac for today’s puzzle. A cool Yule to him, and indeed to everyone.
Thanks Pierre
I’m no sailor but I think you will find that 15ac is RIG (fix sails) in FATE (bad luck, perhaps).
The bad luck is FATE with RIG or sails fixed in it. Lovely puzzle as always.
I am going to have to find out how to slow Gaufrid down…
Thanks, both. Bit of brain fade with that one.
It took me a while to work out the parsing 20 as it initially looked as if the ops had to be reversed. 12 was my LOI – I wasn’t familiar with the word, since it’s normally retrospective, and I had to work it out from the wordplay.
Thanks Pierre, another surprise setter today. 12 my last too although that may just be it’s position in the grid. Was a tad surprised at your frigate problems though.
Just about a perfect Monday puzzle, and a near-perfect blog. I can easily forgive Pierre’s confusion because fate is not synonymous with bad luck. That’s my excuse anyway.
I’m sure Prince Harry’s father, whom I don’t know personally, would appreciate your legal team’s discretion Pierre.
Thanks to both
Well, flashling, thanks for the public humiliation over FRIGATE. I won’t mention your misuse of the apostrophe in it’s in your comment then …
Discretion is my middle name, Geordygordy.
Thanks for the fun blog Pierre – always a pleasure to read. If you would like us to send you a few exclamation marks for Christmas just let us know. We’ll gift wrap them too.
Thanks Dac – a lovely puzzle to start the week and a great way to cheer us up after having problems with computers this evening.
Thanks Pierre,
Is 20 an acceptable clue? Surely the ‘over’ needs to come before the operation, no? What’s the general consensus here?
Reiner, welcome.
I didn’t explain HOOPS particularly well. You need to read the apostrophe s as ‘has’ rather than ‘is’. So then it’s H before OPS ‘has’ (in other words includes) O. That’s how I read it, anyway.