Crosophile has served up this morning’s cruciverbal fare.
I enjoyed this puzzle, finding it a challenge but not an insurmountable one. There was no point at which the solution suddenly revealed itself to me; rather, I had to keep chipping away at it from start to finish, getting stuck in the end with the intersecting entries at 12, 13 and 21. With 12 and 13, when one was solved, the other followed soon after; while with 21, I guessed the answer from the definition and then had to dig around on Google to find the 7-letter name of a painter.
In actual fact, much of the challenge today lay in parsing the wordplay of clues to which I was sure that I had found the solution from the definition alone – for example, at 19 (where I didn’t see the name of the detective for ages) and in particular in the more convoluted clue at 14.
On the parsing, I am not sure that I have correctly explained 23, where the “included” makes me want to insert the “a” between other letters instead of adding it at the end – any better offers? Thanks for the input – I have modified the parsing as suggested, although I have chosen not to ignore the comma, since there is a perfectly acceptable alternative to doing so. I have also amended 14 to agree with the official solution, although I think SPIRITIST can be parsed satisfactorily too. Well done to those who’ve spotted the theme that I (typically!) missed.
As for my favourite clues today, I rather liked 15 and 25, for their misleading surfaces, and the semi-& lit. at 16. And, of course, given recent events at this newspaper, who could fail to raise a smile at 26?!
(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
Across | ||
01 | MOUNTIE | Instant release for Northern cop
MO (=instant, i.e. moment) + UNTIE (=release); a Mountie is a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, hence “Northern cop” |
05 | GNASH | Bite required new injection into deep cut
N (=new) in GASH (=deep cut) |
08 | MASH | Mum’s hot spuds
MA’S (=mum’s) + H (=hot) |
09 | INIMITABLE | Exceptional classic car rolled over with one move
INIM (MINI=classic car; “rolled over” indicates reversal) + I (=one) + TABLE (=move, as verb, e.g. proposal) |
10 | OPERATIC | Drinks dispenser takes an age – like the Ring cycle?
ERA (=an age) in OPTIC (=drinks dispenser, in bar); the reference is to Wagner’s Ring cycle of operas |
11 | TRAVEL | Telly’s top composer to go abroad
T<elly> (“top” means first letter only) + RAVEL (=composer, i.e. Maurice) |
12 | BEACH | Holiday destination for everyone backing Britain?
B (=Beach, from GB) + EACH (=everyone) |
14 | SPIRITISM | Séance beginning and one travels back over India to contact medium (who believes this?)
I (=India, in radio telecommunications) in SPIRTIS (S<eance> + I (=one) + TRIPS (=travels); “back over” indicates reversal) + M (=medium); “beginning” means first letter only; spiritism is another name for a spiritualism |
16 | INVISIBLE | Bride’s head is in veil; rendered _________
*(B<ride> + IS IN VEIL); “head” means first letter only; “rendered” is anagram indicator |
18 | TREES | Why you can’t see wood? Look right round
SEE (=look) + RT (=right); “round” indicates reversal; as the saying goes, “you can’t see the wood for the trees” |
21 | SICKER | A painter knocking off early gets worse
SICKER<t> (=painter); “knocking off early” means last letter is dropped; the reference is to German-born painter Walter Sickert (1860-1942) |
22 | A BIT MUCH | One dog biting a Greek character is out of order
MU (=Greek character, i.e. a letter of the Greek alphabet) in [A (=one) + BITCH (=dog)]; a comment that is “out of order”, inappropriate could be described as being “a bit much” |
24 | NASTURTIUM | Around river it’s autumn riotously in flower
R (=river) in *(IT’S AUTUMN); “riotously” is anagram indicator |
25 | MOOR | Make fast run after low start
MOO (=low, of cattle) + R (=run, in cricket) |
26 | LURED | Attracted by brilliant Independent becoming electronic
LURID (=brilliant, of colour); “Independent (=I) becoming electronic (=E)” means letter “i” is replaced by letter “e” |
27 | MERMAID | Fantastic woman providing Crosophile with marine assistance
ME (=Crosophile, i.e. today’s compiler) + RM (=marine, i.e. Royal Marine) + AID (=assistance) |
Down | ||
01 | MEAT PIE | Pasty perhaps – there’s me about to consume an irrational amount
[EAT (=to consume) + PI (=irrational amount, in maths)] in ME |
02 | USHER | A guide for the first and second and third persons?
US (=first and second persons, in grammar, i.e. me and you taken together) + HER (=third person) |
03 | THIRTY | A number needing a drink out of the sun
THIR<s>TY (=needing a drink); “out of the sun (=S)” means letter “s” is dropped |
04 | EPISCOPALIANISM | Special mini-soap broadcast in which the bishops take power
*(SPECIAL MINI-SOAP); “broadcast” is anagram indicator |
05 | GLITTERY | Sparkling start to gala – rubbish by the end of the day
G<ala> (“start to” means first letter only) + LITTER (=rubbish) + <da>Y (“end of” means last letter only) |
06 | ALABASTER | A research facility plant producing mineral
A + LAB (=research facility) + ASTER (=plant, in botany) |
07 | HELMETS | Protection from tree held by these cut and half-cut
ELM (=tree) in *(THES<e>); “cut” means last letter dropped in anagram indicated by “half-cut” |
13 | CRICKETER | Small chirpy one with energy at back of choir – he’s usually in and out
CRICKET (=small chirpy one, i.e. insect) + E (=energy) + <choi>R (“back of” means last letter only) |
15 | MIRRORED | Right! I’m upset! (Run out with wine in a glass)
MIR (R=right + I’M; “upset” indicates vertical reversal) + RO (=run out, in cricket) + RED (=wine); the “glass” of the definition is, of course, a looking-glass |
17 | NAIPAUL | McEwan turns up with Theroux and another writer
NAI (IAN=McEwan, i.e. British writer; “turns up” indicates vertical reversal) + PAUL (=Theroux, i.e. American travel writer); V S Naipaul is a Nobel prize-winning Trinidadian/British writer (1932-) |
19 | ENCLOUD | Obscure final chapter about useless ‘tec only half-finished
CLOU<seau> (=useless ‘tec, i.e. Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther films) in END (=final chapter); “only half-finished” means 4 of 8 letters are dropped; the definition “obscure” is to be read as a verb |
20 | FIRMER | More stable business with the queen
FIRM (=business) + ER (=the queen) |
23 | MAMBA | Mum’s book included a tree creeper
B (=book) in MAMA (=mum); most species of mamba snakes are arboreal and can thus climb trees |
A few tricky ones including SPIRITIST, for which I incorrectly had ‘M'(medium) as the last letter. I was also unsure about the parsing of MAMBA. I don’t know (I really should by now) if it’s acceptable to substitute a plural for the possessive, in which case it could be MA+MA (=Mum’s) + B (=book included), with the ‘a’ being redundant. Not very convincing I agree. Anyway, some good clues for which the parsing was clear, including CRICKETER and ENCLOUD, especially the ‘useless ‘tec’ bit of the wordplay.
Thanks to RatkojaRiku and Crosophile.
Breezed through most of this, only held up by 13D, which I was convinced had to start with CHICK.
Bit dubious about USHER as “us” is a form of the first person plural, but on reflection I guess it works.
21A Describing Sickert thus is a bit like describing Ted Dexter as an Italian-born cricketer. Sickert of course ludicrously identified as Jack the Ripper by Patricia Cornwell.
20A includes a nod to the fact that the Royal family refers to itself as “the firm”.
Thanks to Crosophile and RatkojRiku.
There IS a nina. More of a nudge later if needed … 🙂
Isn’t 23 simply “Mum has book included” MAMA round B, definition “a tree creeper”?
Thanks, RR. Like you, I found this yielded steadily with a bit of effort on my part. A good variety of clue types, which I always appreciate.
For MAMBA, I had B in two MAs for MUMS, but sidey’s way works as well.
Nina? You’re speaking to the wrong person. But I’ll drop back in later when someone’s uncovered it.
Thanks to Crosophile – good puzzle.
Not sure about a nina, though I can see a few seemingly unrelated words in the unches, but HELMETS, INVISIBLE, LURED and MERMAID, taken together with OPERATIC suggest some sort of a theme.
A bit tricky in places, but all solvable. Favourite was MEAT PIE for its surface.
Thanks, Crosophile and RatkojRiku.
For MAMBA, I had B in two MAs for MUMS , tsk, there’s an apostrophe in the clue young man.
Yay, got it! I think…
sicker moor
mountie gnash
beach
any more?
Well spotted, doofs@8! As for any more, what about ELM and FIR (reversed) in the unches; there’s also MAY (hawthorn) if that counts as a tree.
But for ELM to appear in the unches, 14ac has to be SPIRITISM – which is correct according to the website – you were right after all, WordPlodder @1.
Well done, Doofs @8, way beyond me to spot that one. I suppose INVISIBLE TREES is meant to be the lead in. Thanks for pointing out that SPIRITISM was correct allan_c @9, though not a word I can claim to have ever come across before.
Ah well, I’m never upset when I don’t spot a nina, and I’d never have got this one. Well done to those who did.
As well as teaching us to wash behind our ears and always to wear clean underwear in case we were involved in an accident, our mam brought us up to ignore punctuation in cryptic crosswords, sidey.
Many thanks for the nice blog, RatkojaRiku, and thanks for all the other comments too. Doofs, you did well to spot the nina. Don’t think I would have! 🙂 And yes, there’s one or two other elms etc lurking [including FIRmer]. And yes, ‘Invisible trees’ was somehow the inspiration for that quirky idea. Wish I’d come up with one or two more.