Lots of well-clued fun from Qaos today…
…like yesterday, on the easier side and with a theme: headwear – the solutions include BUSBY, PILLBOX, BOWLER, STRAW, STOVEPIPE, PANAMA, TOP, and SUN hats; as well as BALACLAVA, BASEBALL cap, BALMORAL bonnet [wiki], and BAY LEAVES for a laurel wreath.
| Across | ||
| 7 | BALACLAVA |
Battle over a party with Corbyn’s lead — it’s very hot! (9)
A plus LAB[our], reversed=”over a party”; plus C[orbyn]; plus LAVA=”it’s very hot!” |
| 8 | CERES |
Asteroid at the heart of space research (5)
Hidden in [spa]CE RES[earch] |
| 9 | PAGEANTRY |
Show time raiding the larder (9)
AGE=”time” inside PANTRY=”larder” |
| 10 | BUSBY |
Manchester United manager once upset substitute with … (5)
Matt BUSBY [wiki]. SUB reversed=”upset substitue”; plus BY=”with” |
| 12 | GALAXY |
… celebration and kiss beside unknown number of stars (6)
GALA=”celebration” plus X=”kiss” plus Y=”unknown” |
| 13 | EDUCATES |
Trains Tom to wear suede pants (8)
CAT=”Tom”, inside (suede)* where “pants”=’terrible’ is the anagrind |
| 16 | PILLBOX |
Penny: “I will fight this case” (7)
P[enny] plus I’LL=”I will” plus BOX=”fight” |
| 19 | DEADPAN |
Father receives end of joke over 40 winks with a straight face (7)
DAD=”Father” around [jok]E; plus NAP reversed=”over 40 winks” |
| 22 | BALMORAL |
Castle made of cream and gold, with artificial walls (8)
BALM=”cream” plus OR=”gold” plus A[rtificia]L |
| 25 | BOWLER |
Cricketer‘s second ball gets wicket — England’s opener caught in both hands (6)
B=”second” if A comes first; plus O=”ball” plus W[icket]; plus E[ngland], inside L[eft] and R[ight]=”both hands” |
| 27 | STRAW |
Yellowish-brown lumps rejected (5)
WARTS=”lumps”, reversed/rejected |
| 28 | STOVEPIPE |
It gets rid of the reek of corrupt votes — good people are gutted (9)
(votes)*; plus PI[ous]=”good” plus P[eopl]E |
| 29 | NIXON |
In the news: 9-0 to president (5)
N[ew] and N[ew] make “news”, and inside them go IX=”9″ and O=”0″ |
| 30 | BAY LEAVES |
Horse doesn’t eat herbs (3,6)
BAY=”Horse” plus LEAVES=”doesn’t eat” |
| Down | ||
| 1 | PANAMA |
Parents tour new American republic (6)
PA and MA=”Parents”, around N[ew] A[merican] |
| 2 | BASEBALL |
Start to bet when Bella’s playing a game (8)
B[et] plus AS=”when” plus (Bella)* |
| 3 | SLINKY |
Figure hugging child’s toy? (6)
Double definition |
| 4 | AVERTED |
Very short alien green man’s turned away (7)
A[lien] cut very short; plus VERT=”green” plus ED=”man” |
| 5 | MEDUSA |
Monstrous woman who could be petrifying (6)
cryptic definition – “petrifying” in the sense of turning to stone |
| 6 | PEBBLE |
Soft after exercise? Get fit, losing a stone (6)
B=”soft” of a pencil, after P[hysical] E[ducation]=”exercise”, plus [a]BLE=”fit, losing a“ |
| 11 | HUGE |
Theurgies regularly conjure up giant (4)
Regular letters from [T]H[e]U[r]G[i]E[s] |
| 14 | TOP |
1st but not 2nd or 3rd of March … (3)
T[ro]OP=”March”, missing its 2nd and 3rd letters |
| 15 | SUN |
… a scorcher of a day! (3)
double def; SUN[day] is a day |
| 16 | PUB |
Uranium discovered in lead bar (3)
U inside PB, where these are the chemical symbols for Uranium and lead |
| 17 | LOL |
Fifty-fifty to catch Frisbee when laughing out loud (3)
L=Fifty plus L=Fifty in Roman numerals, around O=”Frisbee” as a disc-shaped object |
| 18 | OKRA |
Fine king stands on a lady’s fingers (4)
OK=”Fine” plus R[ex]=”king” plus A |
| 20 | DOWNPLAY |
Make light of sad performance (8)
DOWN=”sad” plus PLAY=”performance” |
| 21 | PLATEAU |
Mountain climbing before meal? They say you reach a level (7)
ALP=”Mountain” reversed/climbing, plus TEA=”meal, plus U=”They say you” |
| 23 | ALTAIR |
Actor Sim is dismissed as a star (6)
Alastair Sim is the actor [wiki] – I hadn’t known the name, but have seen several of his films. AL[as]TAIR with as removed. |
| 24 | MEADOW |
Field trip made by old women (6)
(made)* plus O[ld] plus W[omen] |
| 25 | BEVELS |
British girl’s lines and angles? (6)
B[ritish] plus EVE=”girl” plus L[ine]S |
| 26 | ESPIED |
Spotted dramatic episode, when Oscar’s withheld (6)
(episode)* minus O[scar] |
Generally excellent, though the very short alien jarred somewhat! Nice to see a different approach to Nixon. Thanks to Qaos and manehi.
Think there’s a typo in the notes for 23d. Shouldn’t it be AL[as]TAIR with as removed=”dismissed”?
I’ve recently returned to the Guardian Cryptic after a long absence and am slowly relearning to parse a clue, so these blogs are very useful to me. So many thanks manehi and all the other people who take the time and truble to produce these.
And of course thanks to Qaos for an enjoyable puzzle!
MarionH – thanks, corrected.
Thanks manehi. Entertaining and not too difficult.
Chapeau Qaos! (Sorry, folks)
Thanks manehi and Qaos, another swift and enjoyable solve today.
A small astronomical theme too? (SUN, GALAXY, CERES, ALTAIR)
3dn Figure hugging child’s toy? (6)(?L?N?Y)
Solved 3dn as “clingy”. Is slinky a child’s toy?
Thanks Qaos and manehi
Paul W @ 6: yes, a Slinky is a metal spring that can be made to walk down stairs, among other things, delighting young and sometimes old alike.
Not too much trouble today, though only a last-minute change of FEEBLE to PEBBLE at 6d prevented eventual embarrassment. A couple I couldn’t parse, including the Otterdenish AVERTED. Didn’t quite realise there was a theme, though ‘PILLBOX. That’s a type of hat. So is STOVEPIPE. Cor.’ did float across my subconscious.
One or two clues are okay which means setter can either do it if he tries hard, or is getting the odd one right by accident 😀
7a word order, prepositional ‘over’; 8a well the word is not at the heart; 9 not properly indicated; 10a can ‘by’ mean ‘with’? I guess so; 13a the past participle is better for anags, ‘it has been mixed’ sort of thing; 16a what is ‘this’ for?; 19a ‘over’ used prepositionally again; 22a he clearly means ‘artificial’s walls’ 😀 ; 25a a grammatical mess to try to get surface; 27a old chestnut; 28 ‘are’ gives poor cryptic grammar; 29a why use ‘to’?; 4d ‘very short’ to give a first letter?; 5d probably ‘can’ would be better; 11d why ‘conjure up’, it sounds like an anagrind; 14d doesn’t need ‘but’; 17d Frisbee = O? Well let’s have anything round then; 18d ‘stand’ makes you look for a reversal; 24d ‘trip’ is the imperative then!!!; 26d ‘dramatic’ as the indication, well I’ve seen better.
I don’t have any problem with Alistair with an IS do you?
HH
Thanks manehi, fine blog.
I enjoyed this more than this setter’s previous offerings…perhaps it was just easier.
Failed to spot BALM for cream although the answer went in easily enough. Not wild about the very short alien but it’s a valid ruse I guess.
Enjoyed PLATEAU.
Got in a tangle with PEBBLE as I went for BB = ‘soft’ leaving problems parsing the final LE.
Good solid puzzle, many thanks, Qaos.
PaulW @6 me too until I spotted SLINKY. I brought a couple of these home from a trip to the US when my kids were way too young – they lasted about 100ms. My wife still rags me on the ineptitude.
For any who may have missed the dropped slinky clip, take a look here. It’s fascinating.
[To check out the best (only?) lyrical reference to a pillbox hat – it ‘balances on your head just like a mattress balances on a bottle of wine’ – listen to this Bob Dylan track from Blonde on Blonde.]
Whenever I notice that one of the regular nitpickers has dropped in, that phrase about not seeing the wood for the trees springs to mind. Can’t think why.
The quality of a puzzle is in its clues however Simon.
Thanks Qaos & manehi.
Fairly straightforward puzzle but horrible grid that is usually used for NINAs. I finished in the NW quadrant with SLINKY, having first thought of clingy.
My favourite clue was for NIXON.
Thanks to Qaos and manehi. I usually have great difficulty with this setter but this puzzle was less daunting – and I even got BUSBY without knowing any previous MU managers. I needed help parsing TROOP and the BO in BOWLERS – and it took me a while to remember that B = soft pencil (from a previous puzzle). Very enjoyable.
HH, while I know an Alastair and an Alistair, and may once have met an Alister, I’m pretty sure the actor was Alastair Sim, which is why some of us may have a problem with Alistair in this context.
Nitpickers unite and head back to yesterday’s Brummie blog, where discussion about apostrophe’s is still ongoing.
Today’s campaign – against using B to mean soft. Jab yourself in the ear with a 3B (4B even) and tell me again how soft it is as you wipe the black away (6d).
And as William has already pointed out, the concept of a slinky as a child’s toy is ridiculous (3d).
Pray this crossword madness will never end!
Thanks Qaos and manehi.
I enjoyed this, especially NIXON, TOP and LOL!
The ‘heavenly bodies’ Dave Ellison @7 lists are also over our heads.
Van Winkle @18, my kids played with plastic Slinkys, agreed they did not last so long as the metal ones.
By the way, you need to go back to the apostrophe discussion…
Oh yes, Sim is ALASTAIR so it is an error by the compiler and editor.
Is that your jone about apostrophe’s (sic) Van Winkle???
*joke*
All quite enjoyable, probably the easiest Qaos yet. Last in PEBBLE, liked EDUCATED and ALTAIR.
Thanks to Qaos and manehi
hedgehoggy @22 – yes, it was a joke, although its humorous content was arguably minimal.
I suppose it’s OK but ‘ladyies’ fingers’ is a more common usage than ‘lady’s fingers’. It would be a meagre dish if you were sereved only eight of them.
Sorry, ‘ladies’ fingers’.
Tyngewick @ 25: I think you must mean ‘ladies’ !
Pretty straightforward except for PEBBLE-which I got but couldn’t parse and SLINKY for which I had clingy- I’d forgotten the toy but SLINKY is better anyway.
Thanks Qaos.
Thanks Qaos and manehi
Late to this, but it was straightforward up to my last (and favourite) NIXON, which took more time to see. Other favourites were BAY LEAVES amd MEADOW (for the “trip made” – I spent some time trying to see how “trip” could be “mead”.
I assumed without checking that it was ALISTAIR SIM, so was surprised to find that that wasn’t how he spelled his name. Mistake, or is there an indication that “as” should be removed?
I didn’t like LOL. “Frisbee” for O is pushing it a bit, and also there isn’t any indication of text-speak being required. I didn’t parse TOP, which also was one I didn’t like all that much.
I don’t think there’s been mention of a “Nixon” hat.
… or a “Medusa” hat (or head of snakes).
The Women’s Institute, of which I have huge experience, is a haven of peace and accord compared with the catty discord apparent herein. Grow up boys, if you’d just bottle the testosterone you might be able to sell it. Or are you not that clever?
I missed the theme as usual, even though, like Trailman @8, I did register that both PILLBOX and STOVEPIPE are hats. Some of the NW corner held out for quite a while, with PAGEANTRY my LOI.
I agree with those saying that ALTAIR really only works if it is “is” which is removed, as otherwise the “is” in the clue is redundant. Perhaps the clue should have read “Actor (or [Impressionist] McGowan is dismissed as a star”?
Thanks to Qaos and manehi.
MrsHaynes @ 32 – In the scheme of things this is a very peaceful thread. Have you ever visited this neck of the woods before?
I was puzzled by Mrs Haynes’s comment too.
Along with the puzzling assumption that you can tell a commenter’s gender despite being provided with only a cryptic internet nickname.
Simon @ 36 – Good point! There are one or two commenters here whose gender, when revealed, has surprised me.
I failed at 21D because for the life of me I cannot think of tea as a meal. It’s a North/South translation problem, I think?
William@11 – Great link. Many thanks! (mind you, it’s from Australia, where everything’s upside down. It clearly wouldn’t work here!)
….and thanks to Q and m, of course.
Thanks manehi and Qaos.
Good puzzle but I think that 23dn is a mistake. The instruction is to remove the ‘is’ from Alastair/Alistair. Both spellings are used and are shortened to ‘Ali’ – but the eponymous subject of this clue spelt his ALAS!
My favourite was BAY LEAVES. Surprised that our resident punctuational pedant (HH) didn’t pick up on the sideways reference to the book EATS, SHOOTS, AND LEAVES.
I failed to spot the theme – situation normal – but thoroughly enjoyed this so thanks again.
Thanks Qaos and manehi
Actually did this one a while ago and only just checking it off now. Remember enjoying the puzzle a lot – starting it off on the train-ride into work one Monday and keeping at it throughout the day to get it finished.
Completely missed the theme and don’t know why – it was quite obvious in retrospect.
Still enjoy the inventiveness of this setter, in particular the clues like NIXON.
Finished up in the NE corner with AVERTED (being misled that the VER was ‘very short’ rather than a part of VERT), PEBBLE (still get fooled with the pencil grades for B and H) and BUSBY (was always going to be hard to find an English footballer without help) the last few in.