Solving time: say 13 minutes
I have 11:20 written next to this puzzle but had probably heard one or two answers being talked about. On the other hand, the prize was in the bag so the incentive for speed wasn’t quite there! No really obscure answers or references, and no major traps that I know about. Plenty of well-worded clues. 13D is one good one, especially if no-one comes along to point out that it’s been used before.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | P(AROD=Dora rev.)IC – Dora Spenlow, IIRC. |
| 5 | FELL=wicked (old word),FOR=pro |
| 9 | ENCLOSURE – 2 mngs – envelope contents, and an area for keeping animals, or “pound” |
| 10 | GO RED |
| 12 | DAIRY FARM = far in myriad rev. |
| 14 | FLYING SCOTSMAN – 2 def’s, one cryptic |
| 17 | APPLES AND PEARS = stairs (rhyming slang) – and now two of your “five a day” |
| 21 | B,ERNST,EIN – Leonard B was a composer as well as conductor (and a Times crossword fan). |
| 23 | NADIA = Aidan rev. I’m sure this is the saint they meant, though if you’d heard of Llanidan on Anglesey you might imagine a St Idan too. (I’m pretty sure this is also Aidan in fact.) |
| 24 | IDIOM – O=old in MIDI (southern France) rev. |
| 25 | CHAR,G(roupe)R,I’LL |
| 26 | EAST END – A in nested* |
| 27 | SOR(C.E.)RY |
| Â | |
| Down | |
| 1 | P(R)EPPY – pupil at the American type of prep school – not the same as the Brit type – I’m pretty sure the US ones are for older pupils. |
| 2 | ROCK ALL – the lump way out in the Atlantic that was the last addition to the British Empire, courtesy of a Navy helicopter and brass plaque, in 1955. |
| 3 | D(E)ODO,RISE = down – the hill kind of ‘down’ |
| 4 | COUP(D)E,G,RACE |
| 5 | FEE(d) – ‘prompt’ is a verb in the cryptic reading |
| 6 | LEGGY – EGG in L(ad)Y – surprised they didn’t put in something about the Provost of Eton to make a ‘famous solvers’ pair with Lenny B … |
| 7 | F.(I,REAR)M. FM=Field Marshal was new to me but easy enough to deduce. |
| 13 | INCI(DENTAL)S(or) – one of those clue ideas waiting to be discovered |
| 15 | TWEE,NAGER = Regan rev. (a daughter of King Lear)- |
| 19 | RE,D(W)INE |
| 20 | G,ALLEY |
| 22 | SOMME(liers) |
There were several words or meanings that I didn’t know, for example (St) IDAN, COD = play joke on and ALLEY = marble.
I was surprised by “cuckoo” as an anagram indicator but it’s fair enough and makes a nice change from “mad”.
I’m still completely baffled by “wicked old pro” in 5A and don’t quite understand 9A.
Over all it was a good and interesting puzzle with several candidates for COD but no obvious first choice. Maybe I’d go for 5D as it baffled me for a while. It’s notoriously difficult to be inventive when cluing 3-letter words whilst not making the answer/wordplay too obvious.
I also knew FELL meaning wicked and should hav espotted it.
2D reminded of the Flanders and Swann song which ends:
Though we’re thrown out of Malta,
Though Spain should take Gibraltar,
Why should we flinch or falter,
When England’s got Rockall.
One of those blank moments!
(I’m turned)* – ‘off’ is the anag. indicator.
(kick, kick, kick )
I’d rather feel daft than still not know though!!
I wonder if the colonel regards 9 across and 25 down as cryptic and if he does, how do they differ from the two rhyming definitions of EVANS that as Tony mentioned yesterday were a real though rather easy throwback to times or yore. Jimbo.
Lots of satisfying clues – particularly 3, 4 and 13 dn, though in the latter I’m not sure of the cryptic function of “regarding”. It seems to me the clue would’ve read better with “of” instead of “regarding”.
Re “preppy”: used both as a noun and an adjective, I think “preppy” is roughly the US equivalent of the British “public school” [boy/girl] – i.e. someone attending one of the better known fee-paying private (secondary)schools that “prepare” their pupils for university (college in the US) – and implies, like its Brit equivalent, the values, mores, dress, manner of speaking, class background etc supposedly exhibited by such young persons. Confusingly, a “preparatory school” in Britain, of course, denotes only the primary stage of a (private) public school education. How treacherous are the distinctions of transatlantic parlance! As Oscar Wilde put it: “We have really everything in common with America nowadays except, of course, language”.
Got 1a, 3d and 11 and then got gruesomely bogged down before bits of the SW corner started to emerge. 40 mins all told.
One of those odd crosswords that played to my upbringing (Australia -> Canada -> US). I’m with jackkt that Rockall is memorable from the Flanders and Swann piece, and I found the construction at 21ac clever.
As others have pointed out, there is much to praise in this one. However, I’m a little parrotlike to have got 16d wrong. I guessed MAY BRIDE. After OneLooking, I’m presuming it should have been WAR. I really must allow myself to get to the end of the alphabet when I’m trying to get that last, elusive answer! Since Peter chose to leave this clue off his blog, and nobody else has commented on it, I can only assume I had another senior moment. Never heard of TWEENAGER. Difficult to choose a COD today, because I liked so many, but I’ll plump for 13d or 10a.
I’ll get my coat.
I’m going to vote for 11A as my fav clue simply because PIANO was so very well hidden (from me!).
Came in at 53 minutes all correct and gave my favourite to 16d.
And since when is rudiment singular anyway? Can you have a rudiment of something?
Valentine (sorry I forgot to sign the last one)
11a ThesPIAN Occasionally keeps quiet (5)
PIANO
8d (I’m turned)* off stage at the start (8)
RUDIMENT
16d One getting married after action-packed engagement? (3,5)
WAR BRIDE
18d Celebrates average score at matches (7)
PAR TIES
25d Play joke on swimmer (3)
COD