I enjoyed very much this Lohengrin puzzle, with a good variety of clue types and subject matter. He’s a comparatively recent addition to the Indy stable, but a good one. Sadly, this will be my last blog for the Indy daily paper version (if I’ve got my dates right), so we’ll have to see what transpires when it goes digital-only. I’ve enjoyed blogging all the Monday puzzles – they have generally been
accessible but innovative. I have wittered on even more than usual today (usually a sign that the crossword engaged me).
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) missing
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Home Office having regenerated Surrey – what of it?
HOW’S YOUR FATHER
I thought this was a really clever clue to get us going (although it certainly wasn’t my first in). It’s a charade of H, O and (SURREY WHAT OF)* and is one of the many euphemisms in English for sexual intercourse. I was minded to look up its origins, and this made me laugh, although I don’t believe it.
9 Drink alcoholic beverage in lounge
LIMEADE
MEAD, for the honey-based drink favoured by monks, in LIE.
10 Chemical gear distributed by hospital department
REAGENT
(GEAR)* plus ENT. Where would setters be without the ear, nose and throat department?
11 Man, for example, returning with travel sickness
ISLE
Hidden reversed in travEL SIckness. And indeed, where would setters be without the ISLE of MAN?
12 Mint coin befitting the Queen
PENNYROYAL
I did vaguely know this, but had to have a furtle online to check. A simple charade of PENNY and ROYAL.
14 Head led astray following signed agreement
NODDLE
A charade of NOD and (LED)*
15 Factory one’s banking on to provide huge numbers
MILLIONS
A charade of MILL and ON in IS.
17 Two short guys after sailor’s rum
ABNORMAL
A charade of AB, NORM and AL.
18 Threaten Lohengrin about form of corporal punishment that’s brought back
MENACE
An insertion of CANE reversed in ME for the setter.
21 Beat reduced for one that’s charged outside force
PROPULSION
Lohengrin is asking you to put PULS[E] inside PRO and ION.
A sodium atom walks into a bar.
Barman: Good evening sir. How are you today?
Sodium atom: I’m fine, thanks, but I’ve lost an electron
Barman: Are you sure?
Sodium atom: I’m positive
22 Hack computers to alter copy?
EDIT
A charade of ED for ‘hack’ and IT for ‘information technology’.
24 Change rock 60’s youth puts on
REMODEL
An insertion (‘puts on’) of MOD in REEL. MODS and ROCKERS and all that stuff on bikes by the seaside.
25 Lecturer exhibiting pain during short semester
TEACHER
An insertion of ACHE in TER[M].
26 Lay claim to stop wedding with gangster
UNPROFESSIONAL
I got fixated with PROFESSIONAL being ‘gangster’ and then couldn’t get that out of my head (please can others tell me that this process happens to them). In fact it’s PROFESS in UNION followed by AL (Capone).
Down
1 One working beneath underworld troublemaker in the States
HELLION
Not a word I’d come across before, but easy enough from the cluing and the crossing letters. It’s American English usage, hence ‘in the States’.
2 Familiar as base for Womble in Beresford’s last novel?
WIMBLEDON COMMON
Another cleverly constructed clue, although the enumeration gave it away if you knew anything about our furry recycling friends. Since it’s a down clue, ‘as base’ is telling you to put COMMON underneath (WOMBLE IN D)* Elisabeth Beresford wrote the books. Great Uncle Bulgaria was my fave, although Orinoco had a certain something about him. I think that this is &lit.
3 Robbery earning twelve months inside
YEAR
In an act of complete and utter muppetry on my part, this was my last one in, and I stared at it for a long time. It’s hidden in robberY EARning.
4 Rough concert venue close to London
UNEVEN
(VENUE)* plus N for the last letter of ‘London’. The anagrind is ‘concert’: ‘arrange something by mutual agreement or co-ordination.’
5 Pro tennis regulars in charge of the courts
FORENSIC
A charade of FOR, ENS for the even letters of ‘tennis’ and IC. ‘Relating to courts of law’, say my dictionaries. I never knew that.
6 Put away some bread on board yet upset drinks service
TEA TROLLEY
An insertion of EAT and ROLL in a reversal of YET.
7 Just on occasion or literally all the time?
EVERY NOW AND THEN
I think that this is a dd cum cd. The first definition is the usual one; the second seems to be suggesting that EVERY could mean that NOW AND THEN happens ‘all the time’. If I’m right, I don’t like it much. If I’m wrong, someone will no doubt put me right.
8 Where to find whisky shots
STILLS
A dd.
13 The ultimate bowler and batsman in dual role, perhaps
ALL-ROUNDER
An insertion of R and N for the last letters of ‘bowler’ and ‘batsman’ in (DUAL ROLE)* I’ll stick my head out and say that this is an &lit as well.
16 Scales played in key following symbol on score
BASS CLEF
An insertion of (SCALES)* in B for the scary key which uses all the black notes on the piano and F for ‘following’. Although some piano teachers, including Chopin apparently, made their students learn this key first, because the five black notes fit the position of the fingers more easily.
17 A camper eating sandwiches
AMPERE
Hidden in cAMPER Eating. A is the abbreviation for AMPERE.
19 English books artist left around hotel entrance
ENTHRAL
An insertion of H for ‘hotel’ in the phonetic alphabet in E, NT, RA and L.
20 One developing fuse to bombs
FOETUS
(FUSE TO)* with ‘bombs’ as the anagrind.
23 Prepare to take off former volunteers on team
TAXI
A charade of TA and XI for your footie or cricket team. Interesting that the setter has used ‘former volunteers’ for TA; not all setters do.
Many thanks to Lohengrin. From me, in this format at least, so long and thanks for all the fish.
Au revoir, Pierre. The fish are in the post. Enjoyed this v. much for a Monday-morning romp. I thought the 1a definition was unimprovably succinct until I got to 17d. Splendid. I in fact liked the philosophical wrangling in EVERY NOW AND THEN although to be really pedantic – & which of us here is not? – there should be some inclusion of all possible future moments to justify ‘ALL the time’. Just saying.
Thanks, Lohengrin.
Thanks to Lohengrin for a great puzzle and to Pierre for a very entertaining blog (I am reminded of a cartoon in Private Eye in which we see various Wombles queueing at passport control. The customs officer says “ok all you lot can come in. Apart from you, Great Uncle Bulgaria”).
Hard to pick a favourite among so many smooth surfaces, but I thought the clue for AMPERE was outstanding
Well at least you didn’t go out on a grump Pierre!
Good inventive puzzle. The answer to 1 across has appeared a few times of late, but this was the best surface to date, with the surface cleverly disguising the definition, as it did in 17 down.
Lot of au revoirs being said around here currently. Still don’t know what I’ll do. 🙁
PS
In a previous life I used to grow two types of pennyroyal, upright and creeping. It tasted exactly like Polo mints.
One of the easiest Monday Indy crosswords for a while, imho. Some clever clueing, though, e.g. PROPULSION and UNPROFESSIONAL. On the other hand, I thought the clue for 2dn was hardly cryptic, the answer was so obvious (imho, of course).
The sodium ion joke raised a smile – on a par with the one about the Higgs boson and the Catholic priest.
Thanks, Lohengrin and Pierre.
Don’t tease, Allan. Let’s have the Higgs boson and Catholic priest joke, please. I’m sure Gaufrid will indulge us.
A Higgs boson walks into a Catholic church
“Get out, blasphemer” screams the priest, “calling yourself the God particle. Get out!”
“OK, says the boson – but without me you can’t have mass!”
Thanks Lohengrin and Pierre. I thought this was great, really devious without being difficult. I shouldn’t have read the comments though, I think the boson joke has scarred me for life.
As a final challenge, I shall now attempt to solve ‘one x 1’ – wish me luck.
I thought the EVERY NOW cd was okay actually. Now plus then equals all the time, since the future doesn’t come into it. You have to have an advanced concept of time that means ‘all time’ for this not to work, I think.
I thought 2D was very simple until I read the full parsing, thanks Pierre. Some great clues here, 1A, 26A and 17D particularly, with cleverly obscured definitions.
Thanks to Lohengrin and Pierre.