[If you’re attending York S&B please see comments 32&33] - here
What a wonderful surprise to wake up and see the much-missed Arachne’s name on this puzzle!
The trademark witty, story-telling surfaces and ingenious, intricate wordplay made for lots of smiles/laughs and ahas as the parsing penny dropped – sheer delight from start to finish. I won’t waste time listing my favourite clues – I’ll leave that to you.
Huge thanks and the warmest of welcomes back, Arachne!
Across
1 Baby eland’s content to be left by itself more than once (5)
CUBED
CUB [baby] + E[lan]D [content to be left]
4 Relating to drink, I bloat badly — I try avoiding it (8)
LIBATORY
Anagram [badly] of I BLOAT [i t]RY
8 Domestic problem of depression in film actors’ guild (8,6)
NEGATIVE EQUITY
Cryptic definition, Equity being the actors’ guild – ‘of depression’ could be included in the definition [Edit: I should have known there was more to it than that: NEGATIVE = film {I’d wondered why that was there!} and ‘of depression’ is definitely part of the definition – thanks to Limeni @16]
10 Dear me, I suspect Liberal intended to make things better! (8)
REMEDIAL
Anagram [suspect] of DEAR ME I L [Liberal]
11 Endless rubbish stuck in which craw? (6)
THROAT
RO[t] [endless rubbish] in THAT [which]
12 Expressing a slight scepticism about old ways of seeing things? (9)
GASLIGHTS
Well hidden in expressinG A SLIGHT Scepticism – a real ‘aha’!
15 Sheepishly talk with senior having invaded Iraqi city (5)
BASRA
BAA [sheepishly talk!] round SR [senior]
17 A large group backing US inventor (5)
TESLA
Reversal [backing] of A L [large] SET [group]
18 One abreast of new and original band, we hear (9)
NURSELING
N [new] + UR [original – which I learned through crosswords] + SELING, which, in the answer, sounds like [we hear] sling – band – despite what I said, I have to say this was one of my top favourites, for the definition and surface
19 Husband stepping back in show of respect — or resistance? (6)
OHMAGE
H [husband] stepping back [we sometimes have discussions about whether it’s back or forward] in HOMAGE [show of respect] – Prince Philip springs to mind
21 When in Paris, you prove to be most discerning (8)
ASTUTEST
AS [when] + TU [in Paris you] + TEST [prove]
24 Slough’s allure is, on reflection, very English (that might win you over) (5,9)
CHARM OFFENSIVE
CHARM OF FEN [Slough’s allure!] + reversal [on reflection] of IS + V [very] E [English] – this reminded me of the very English John Betjeman’s poem ‘Slough’, which he felt needed a charm offensive!
25 Insult the sovereign, say, when changing sides at the front like a traitor (8)
DISLOYAL
DIS [insult] + LOYAL [royal – sovereign, say, with the initial letter changing sides]
26 Sees red Greek’s heart in tatters (5)
RAGES
E [grEek’s heart] in RAGS [tatters]
Down
1 Churchgoers go on catering course (12)
CONGREGATION
Anagram [course?] of GO ON CATERING
2 Two Dutch chaps? (9)
BIGAMISTS
Cryptic definition: a man with two Dutches [Cockney slang for wife] would be a bigamist – hilarious!
3 Departs, following first pairs of dazed terrapins out of the ark (5)
DATED
D [departs – as on timetables] after first two letters of DAzed TErrapins
4 Travelling through time back to Jonah in poor whale (9)
LEVIATHAN
VIA [travelling through] + T [time] + [jona]H [back – last letter] in LEAN [poor]
5 Source of sugar cane, reportedly (4)
BEET
Sounds like BEAT [cane] – no ambiguity today, I think!
6 It pains me to be wearing present material (9)
TOUCHABLE
OUCH [it pains me] in [wearing] TABLE [present – as in table a motion]
7 Proportion beginning to reach one in a hundred, almost (5)
RATIO
R[each] + I [one] in A TO[n] almost a hundred
9 Honesty is his strangest failing (12)
STRAIGHTNESS
Anagram [failing] of HIS STRANGEST
13 Maiden name used during date by Laura, shortly after break-up (9)
INAUGURAL
N [name] in I AUG [date] + an anagram [break-up] of LAUR[a] [shortly
14 Loves escaping from stores, so foul and mentally draining (9)
STRESSFUL
ST[o]RES S[o] F[o]UL – ‘loves escaping’ – a real ‘aha’ when this emerged, all in order!
16 Sign of frigidity? Sign of wedding following tip from birds and bees! (9)
SHIVERING
RING [sign of wedding] after [bird]S + HIVE [bees] – lovely!
20 Umra and hadj regularly supported by one Muslim leader (5)
MAHDI
[u]M[r]A H[a]D + I [one]
22 Graceful, narrow ring of bone (5)
ULNAR
Hidden in gracefUL NARrow
23 Leaves Billericay at last — perhaps Ceylon’s warmer? (4)
COSY
COS [lettuce – leaves] + [billerica]Y – a warmer for [Ceylon] tea – a superb surface to end with!
Thanks Arachne and Eileen
Yes, wonderful to have Arachne back – I hope that she is fully recovered?
So many amusing clues. This is what crosswords are supposed to be like. Special mention for the wonderfully hidden GASLIGHTS, the “charm of fen”, the unusual STRESSFUL (I don’t think I have seen anything like this before), the cheeky COSY, and last but by no means least, the hilarious BIGAMISTS!
[P.S. when the British were sent to Basra*, the Defence Secretary, Geoff Hoon said “It’s rather like Southampton”. A British soldier commented “He has either never been to Basra or he’s never been to Southampton. There’s no beer, no prostitutes and people are shooting at us. It’s more like Portsmouth.”.
*according to some sources, the nearby Umm Qasr rather than Basra, in fact.]
Thank you, Eileen, I echo everything you have said about this much missed setter – if she drops in here, welcome back Spider Lady and I hope you are getting well.
A few deserve mention; the astonishing inclusion in GASLIGHTS; the possible misdirect of anagram (could be ‘honesty is his’ or ‘his strangest’) in STRAIGHTNESS; the lovely ‘story’ in SHIVERING; the clever mechanism in STRESSFUL; and my favourite double-dutch BIGAMISTS.
I need some help with ‘ur = original’ in the excellent NURSELING clue. Don’t think I’ve come across that before.
Couldn’t agree with more with Muffin’s remark, “this is what crosswords ought to be like”!
Many thanks Arachne, more please.
Muffin @2 HA-HA! I remember that, thank you!
All good clean fun, but I still needed the details of a few so ta both.
The ‘a’ is missing in 7 btw.
Hi William @3
UR is a German prefix, meaning primitive or original. As I said, I only know it from crosswords, never having learned German.
Thanks, muffin @2 😉
Thanks, Derek – sorted now.
I have to go out for a while now, so will correct any other errors / omissions when I get back.]
Thank you Eileen.
William @3
Perhaps you have come across the Wunderhorn song that Mahler included in his Second Symphony – Urlicht (“Primeval light”)
Thank you Arachne and Eileen. GASLIGHTS was too well hidden for me, so I rationalised an anagram (scepticism) of ‘slight’ for ‘lights’, and ‘gas’ for ‘express’ – sort of. Doh! Oh, and I was going to spring to the defence of Slough, being described as offensive, but I got that wrong too! I liked the simplicity of STRESSFUL, and the cleverness of SHIVERING.
I happily join in the chorus of welcome for our very own Spider Lady.
People may like to know that the R4 programme where David Baddiel misses the point, despite Arachne’s best efforts is on Thursday at 12:04.
Arachne’s accompanying notes are still the best short introduction to crosswords.
Thanks Arachne and Eileen
I’ll certainly echo the delight at this crossword, and think that ‘Two Dutch chaps?’ has to be one of the lcues of the year so far.
I think you can argue that the H in HOMAGE is moving either forward or back: forward as it’s moving along the word, back as it’s moved from the front. Which one doesn’t bother me at all, the clue was clear in my view. Others pricklier than I may differ, of course.
Arachne is one of my favourite setters, and I hope that she is recovered and will start to appear more frequently. She hasn’t been seen much on twitter recently, though.
Thanks Eileen and Arachne
A very accessible puzzle with the setter’s trademark wit and lightness of touch. 1a was last in and I failed to parse it in full detail so special thanks for that. Welcome back.
Thanks Arachne and Eileen.
A lovely puzzle which I managed to solve without the help of the check button. The NW corner was the last to be finished, NURSELING and COSY the last to be fully parsed – with Eileen’s help!
STRESSFUL, GASLIGHTS, NURSELING, BIGAMISTS and SHIVERING were fantastic clues.
I did enjoy this tremendously. Too many favorites to list. I had to come here for the parsing of INAUGURAL. Thanks to Eileen for that.
Ur= original is most commonly found in English if you read German philosophers, where half-digested German words seem to creep into it all the time.
This may be one of those trans-Atlantic things, but over here, Actors’ Equity is the stage actors’ union. Film and TV actors belong to SAG, the Screen Actors’ Guild. Minor quibble at most, though.
Another masterwork from my favouritest of all setters. Today is the first day of holiday, so imagine my joy (having got up at 04.15) on finding a WiFi hotspot on our Brittany Ferry, and seeing her name. An Arachne/Eileen combination – what better start to our trip!
Joy and invention throughout, with highly satisfying surfaces as you say. BIGAMISTS is a minor classic!
I think NEGATIVE EQUITY is intended to be a charade of film=negative and equity (which is of course not just for film actors). That then frees up ‘of depression’ to be entirely part of the definition, which works better.
We musos know Ur as part of Urtext – meaning editions made from the original composers’ manuscripts, without insertions from well-meaning editors. [although of course we all have a place in our hearts for Ur=Ancient City!]
Thank you so much Arachne (hope you are on the up), and of course Eileen.
Hi Limeni @16
I thought there must be more to 8ac than that and wondered “why ‘film’?”, not equating it with ‘negative’ – Doh! Many thanks for that – and have a lovely holiday!
Yes, it was excellent to see Arachne back. My last three answers took a while and it was only after I finally cracked LEVIATHAN that I was able to get GASLIGHTS and NURSELING. For a while I was trying to parse 9dn the wrong way; I had been trying to think of a word meaning “failing” with “honestyishis” as the anagram fodder and “strangest” as the anagrind, and it was only after I got the second T from ASTUTEST that I realised I needed to rethink it.
A tremendous puzzle as always from Arachne. GASLIGHTS was so well hidden that it was my LOI and I stared and stared . . . eventually the penny dropped. Wonderful.
Thanks Arachne for a stunning crossword. I hope HH likes it!
Thanks Eileen for a good blog and explaining the Ceylon’s COSY – I spent ages trying to find some sort of justification with abbreviations for Ceylon! In 1d, course can mean run, which is an accepted anagrind, so that’s OK then.
As others have said, too many great clues to list, but the one for BIGAMISTS needs special mention.
I too have been keenly awaiting Arachne’s return and the wait was worth every minute. The answers went in fairly smoothly, indeed it took me barely any longer than yesterday’s Rufus which I’m sure has never been happened before, but good as his cryptic defs can be I’m sure he’s in awe of ‘Two Dutch chaps?’ Spent too long trying to fit in combinations of Piet, Hans and Gert etc and I bet I’m not the only one there.
Didn’t get leaves = cos even though I eat the stuff but did work out the Ceylon ref so COSY duly went in.
What a treat – Arachne blogged by Eileen. A host of wonderful clues.
Limeni – you beat me to the same observation re Ur(text) and the ancient city. There is no link between the words though.
Eileen there are one or two annoying things as you have blogged, but here is one of the Guardian compilers who can write correctly. I enjoyed it. ‘Charm of fen’ was my favourite moment.
HH
Welcome back Arachne – you’ve brightened up the last day of my holiday no end.
Someone emailed me earlier to say that 2d was Clue of the Year and I have to agree with him – the rest of the puzzle is a thing of joy too.
Thanks to Arachne (hope this means you are on the mend and we’ll see a lot more of you soon) and to Lucky Eileen.
HH @23
“Eileen there are one or two annoying things as you have blogged,”
??
Arachne was on BBC Radio 4 at noon today helping a novice (David Baddeil) with cryptic crosswords. Well worth a listen on iplayer radio!
This is a link to Arachne’s tips for crossword solving, linked to today’s broadcast of “David Baddiel tries to understand……cryptic crosswords”.
Note that she confirms that defs. should be at one end or the other of the clue – I remember having discussions about that here in the past!
We crossed, Gasman jack.
I join in the chorus of plaudits but have a couple of nits. Why “domestic” in 8a? It seems redundant. Also, Tesla is sufficiently well-known not to require the US in 17a.
Poc @29
“Domestic” as referring to a home. Negative equity is when your house is worth less thatn you have still to pay on your mortgage.
I agree about TESLA, but it doesn’t really spoil the clue.
[Tesla appeared in Christopher Priest’s novel about rival stage magicians, “The Prestige”.]
My eyes lit up when I saw Arachne’s name in this morning’s paper, and I wasn’t disappointed at all – I hope her appearances will become a little more frequent in futire. This wasn’t the most difficult, but was a delightful reminder of what we have been missing. Liked NEGATIVE EQUITY, GASLIGHTS, BIGAMISTS, BEET, TOUCHABLE and SHIVERING among others.
Thanks to Arachne and Eileen
Thanks to Arachne and Eileen – and I agree BIGAMISTS was a treat. I needed help parsing LEVIATHAN, NEGATIVE EQUITY, and CHARM OFFENSIVE (Slough’s “charm of fen” was new to me as was the term LIBATORY). Two notes: 1) the “ur” prefix in Shakespeare scholarship is used for what has been termed the ur-Hamlet, a version a decade or so earlier perhaps by Thomas Kyd; 2) I had some initial difficulty parsing TOUCHABLE because I had forgotten the UK use of “table” to “present a motion” vs. the US use to “vote to postpone discussion.”
Hi ACD – re your note 2)
I nearly mentioned that I was completely bamboozled by a clue for PUT OFF in Radian’s Indy puzzle just a week ago: ‘Drag over to table in Washington’, as I’d never heard that [opposite] meaning.
[Two nations divided by a common language…]
Muffin @9 I have indeed come across the Wunderhorn song but would have struggled to identify it as Mahler 2. Thanks for that.
Limeni @16 Well done, I sort of knew there was something not quite right with NEGATIVE EQUITY but couldn’t quite see it. I do a fair bit of arranging myself and have come across ‘Urtext’ now that you mention it. Editors have a lot to answer for, particularly in earlier music. Nice day.
Yes it’s nice to have Arachne back and to hear her on R4 at lunchtime,and yes the puzzle was quite entertaining. However I seem to have had more difficulties in parsing than some others did. I arrived at BIGAMISTS without really understanding why, and I made rather harder work of some other clues than I should have.
Problem was with me rather than the setter.
Thanks Arachne
A complete delight. NURSELING and SHIVERING the outstanding offerings (with plenty to choose from) for me. Regarding the UR in NURSELING, it seems we have a number of musos contributing! I also spotted it subito for muso reasons…..
Thanks, all.
I just saw UR as it is in urmensch etc. There is the old city of course.
Does anyone recognise On as being the same as Heliopolis? I am sure I have seen it.
I found this one difficult but enjoyable. I couldn’t parse NURSELING, this meaning of UR being new to me. I saw “via t”, but missed the rest of the parsing of LEVIATHAN. I also missed “table” = “present” for TOUCHABLE. Among many nice clues, I particularly liked BIGAMISTS, STRESSFUL and COSY.
Thanks to Arachne and Eileen.
In fact, the only one I had any question about was NURSELING. I did know the “ur”, but I thought that “sling” = “band” was on the loose side, though just about OK.
Hi muffin @40
Collins has ‘sling 4: a loop or band attached to an object for carrying’.
Hi Eileen
Yes, that’s the meaning I settled on – as I said, loose, rather than wrong. Sling = loop is rather more obvious than sling = band.
Muffin, some slings used for hand injuries are just like a large Alice band.
Mmmmm, Cookie………….I do have a (lapsed) first aid qualification. “Alice band” wouldn’t have sprung to mind!
This was such a brilliant crossword that it was almost straightforward to solve.I found that many answers just fell into place by just looking at the clues!
I echo every plaudit and look forward to the next Arachne. Many thanks to both her and Eileen. I hope that there will be no squabbles amongst solvers today.
Hoggy, apparently Heliopolis is called On in the English translation of the Bible, which is the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew ‘awn’, from the Egyptian ‘iwnw’.
[muffin, here in France they are about 2 ins wide, usually black.]
[Cookie – in England they are about the same width, but pink, and made of a foam-like material.]
A bit late, but welcome back Arachne & thank you very much for an entertaining puzzle with too many excellent clues to list individually.
I loved 23d, but have to admit to being totally floored by it; so many thanks you for your explanation, Eileen. It was indeed, as you say, a superb note on which to end.
Thanks Eileen for clearing up a couple and a warm welcome back to the lovely Arachne.
Merely endorsing all the previous plaudits. My favourite was 1a with its misleading smoothness.
Thanks to Arachne & Eileen
Corking puzzle.
Hello Arachne!
Nice one.
PB
It’s all been said but a gorgeous crossword and a superb blog – great combination of S & B.
I completely missed the subtlety of CHARM OFFENSIVE – Brilliant!
Muffin, we have just had Des Knaben Wunderhorn Urlicht of Mahler on one of the Suisse-Romande radio stations, marvellous.
Thank you again Arachne for a lovely day.
[Cookie @55
O roschen rot (excuse missing umlauts)
Lovely!}
Agree with all the praise. Superb puzzle.
Loved this enough to post again after an absence. Needed Eileen’s succinct help with parsing a couple but STRESSFUL was a real “ahah” moment.
But a cosy is not a warmer. It slows heat loss but does not heat, so it is not a warmer. So the clue is misleading by being wrong.
Please excuse this off-topic comment, but I didn’t know how else to ask. I just finished Imogen’s Guardian No. 26,645 and was unsure on the parsing of a couple of clues. So I came here to look at the blog and found that it had not been blogged. Is there some reason it was skipped?
Hi Cowshill
This was a Prize puzzle, so the blog will appear on Saturday, 15th.
Cowshill @ 60
The reason Imogen 26645 hasn’t been blogged is that it’s a prize crossword which is still open till Friday. It won’t be blogged until the time for entering has passed.
hth
Thanks. Sorry, I should have realised that. Silly me!
I don’t understand why Slough 24a has anything to do with the answer other than a reference in a poem I have never heard of. How can you get it from the clue otherwise? That spoilt the crossword.
michael @64
If you look up ‘slough’ in a dictionary, you will find [eg Chambers and Collins]: ‘a hollow filled with mud; a marsh’: marsh = fen and so ‘Slough’s allure’ gives us CHARM OF FEN, as in the blog.
[I’m sorry my allusion to the poem put you off: I didn’t suggest it was part of the wordplay – I simply said I was reminded of it. I’m also sorry it spoilt this lovely crossword for you.]
Thanks Arachne and Eileen
A belated welcome back to this iconic setter. Actually did this one close to publication date, but only just checked it off for some reason. Remember enjoying the wit, variety and originality of the clues throughout – in particular, with BIGAMISTS and STRESSFUL.
A couple of construction elements that I hadn’t seen before – DIS (as insult / criticise) at 25a and UR (as the German-based prefix for original) at 18a. Had IN AUG rather than the correct N in 1 AUG at 13d.
Just finished her later puzzle from last week as well, which continued the comeback … really hope that she has fully recovered from her health issue.