Lack of a report here is entirely my fault. Sabine has given up her Friday slot and I failed to complete the process of finding a new candidate in time. I’ll write something by about 1 p.m. In the meantime, talk amongst yourselves.
Initial verdict: another fairly easy one – 8:51 for me, which might have been faster if I’d managed to convert the too-short craftsmanship at 5D to DRAUGHTSMANSHIP from the sound of the words, instead of just keeping the final SHIP and getting the rest from checkers.
Sorry for the delay today – it’s 12:39 BST as I start this, so let’s see how fast I can write a tolerable report, continuing from the placeholder. (Answer: 24 mins unless I find any howlers when reading it back – add another 5 mins for doing so and correcting a couple.)
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | BAREFACED – ARE in ABCDEF* |
| 6 | Today’s omission which some beginners might have to work out from T?A?H |
| 9 | 1(MM=”two marks”),ORAL |
| 10 | A,MATE=colleague,UR=”you are” |
| 11 | SHIFT – 2 defs |
| 12 | UNGUARDED – 2 defs, one about chess |
| 13 | CHIPS – 2 defs, one schoolmaster, one informal carpenter |
| 14 | BOTTLE=vessel,OUT=away from shore |
| 17 | MAGNESIUM – (MM=two thousand,guineas)* – the Two Thousand Guineas is a classic horse race if the capitals puzzle you |
| 18 | VOTES, which are often indicated by (show of) hands, and could be Noes and Ayes = “nose and eyes” – instant choice for COD |
| 19 | FORBIDDEN = (in Bedford)* |
| 22 | MERIT – reverse hidden in “retirement” |
| 24 | REP,LACE = “combination of fabrics” |
| 25 | HOTSEAT – T in Hosea (Bible book), then another T |
| 26 | HO(L=50=half-century)ST – similar mild reservations about the def to jacckt’s comment |
| 27 | SAPPHIRES = (is perhaps)* – an anagram which I’m sure I’ve seen before |
| Down | |
| 1 | (Arthur) BLISS=composer (search for his last appearance here to hear some of his music) and “what inspires rhapsody” |
| 2 | R(E,MAIN)ING |
| 3 | FOR,E,TA(S=second)TE – tweaked after a comment |
| 4 | COLOUR BLINDNESS – cryptic def. I’m never quite sure about how many “colur blind” people would actually struggle with Rubik’s cube or similar – I thought the problem was seeing (e.g.) red on a green background. |
| 5 | DRAUGHTSMAN = “piece moved on board”,SHIP=vessel |
| 6 | T(I)ARA – “tiara” is specifically papal headgear as well as a blingy hairband |
| 7 | A=article,HEAD=crisis, as in “Fred’s personal problems came to a head” |
| 8 | HERODOTUS – “father of history” and hence “historical pioneer”, and (rode south)* |
| 13 | (River) CAM,E, (River) FORTH |
| 15 | LOVE MATCH – cryptic def for a marriage based on love rather than being “organised”=arranged |
| 16 | OUTERWEAR = “we tear our” – unlike a commenter, I didn’t mind “worn” in its double role |
| 20 | RE(P)EL |
| 21 | I(NAP)T |
| 23 | TITUS – T from “revolT”, in rev. of SUIT=become – “stopping” is a two-way containment indicator, here using stopping=holding/arresting/containing |
I liked VOTES where the eyes and nose had me fooled.
Needed quite a few checkers to get the long down entries.
As ever this puzzle provided me with a number of learning opportunities (which is what an obscurity is called when you’re in a good mood). BLISS I think I knew but only very vaguely. REP was unknown although I’ve a feeling I’ve come across it before, which can only have been in this crossword. 6dn had two complete unknowns: the Hill of TARA and the non-sporting meaning of “triple crown”. Somehow this didn’t stop me getting it almost immediately.
With a memory like that it’s little wonder I struggle with general knowledge.
Looking on the bright side the pleasure of discovering interesting new facts is one I can experience again and again…
I still have one unexplained. I’m not saying which it is in case I’ve missed something obvious, but I shall admit later if I did.
Also I don’t quite understand ‘top’ in 26ac as with reference to any composer it’s surely a matter of opinion. But it helps the surface reading, I suppose.
Using ‘worn’ in the clue to 16dn was a bit feeble, I thought.
Tom B.
18ac I got, but the reason befuffled me for ages, and in fact even after seeing the explanation it took me a minute to get it.
REP as a fabric was new, but what else could it be?
In 15d I got too hung up on having to take ‘union’ out of something, but faced with L… M.T.H, jotted it in and awaited an explanation from the blog.
In 23d I totally failed to find suit = become, but there can’t be many emperors who fit T.T.S.
Battening down hatches here ready for the arrival of Hurricane Earl. This is when choosing a house twenty yards from the sea doesn’t seem such a great idea.
I’m also with Jack – “top” in 26A is padding. Not convinced that a LOVE MATCH has anything to do with formal marriage. It’s surely partnership, married or not, that is not undertaken for reasons of status, wealth, etc.
Liked VOTES
If you think the dictionaries are wrong about “love match” relating to marriages rather than all cohabiting couples, your dispute is with the lexicographers whose definitions the crossword setters are using.
If you “don’t have any trouble with the dictionary”, then you can’t simultaneously say that “people in a LOVE MATCH may or may not be married” – if you think that, the dictionary is wrong.
Where do you think we disagree? “Humpty Dumpty” suggests that you think I’m imposing some definition of my own, rather than using precisely what the dictionary says. But I can’t see where I’m supposed to be doing this. I have already said once that I was initially surprised in the same way as you.
I can’t see what’s wrong with “worn” at 16 as it helps both def and surface, although looking at it again “oddly we tear our clothes” would have been enough on its own methinks.
Having Bliss made ‘colour blindness’ easily, since Bliss wrote The Colour Symphony. Holst, too, is an old friend, we’ll be having Rubbra, Bridge, and Bax next.
As for Tara, it is also an Irish record label – Clannad and Planxty were on it. Quite a musical puzzle if you look at it that way.
My troubles were all on the right, the non-musical side. I just could not get ‘ahead’, ‘amateur’, ‘unguarded’, ‘bottle out’, ‘love match’, ‘votes’, and ‘merit’ for the longest time. They were not that hard, I just couldn’t get rolling.
Nice puzzle. Some very good clues but if one is on a roll (as I seem to be) nothing is a problem. Pride comes……!
The moral of the tale is the extra few secs getting FORETASTE would have saved several minutes of pain and the errors, although in my defence FORESTATE is plausible, even if it doesnt actually exist!
Perhaps tomorrow’s will be a terror. With everyone here in HK hunkering down for a typhoon (I note this is also affecting Sotira in Canada), that might be good timing.
PS to Peter – you’ve left the ‘English’ out of FORETASTE: something, sadly, I was bound to notice given my travails …
Good luck Sotira….hope this helps
http://www.stormpulse.com/hurricane-earl-2010
Bob in Toronto where a heavy rainstorm has held up the air show at the annual Canadian National Exhibition.
I agree with your interpretation, and in this sense in Western societies it’s more or less archaic.
I’d also say that it has to apply to a marriage. It’s a term that takes its meaning from what it is not, and I’ve never heard of an arranged cohabitation!