I wonder if the setter knew it was my turn, and deliberately included Arsenal and Chelsea, Spurs’ London rivals, and Everton who beat us by the odd goal in nine last night to dump us out of the FA Cup. At least the location of our state of the art training facility, Enfield, also gets a mention. Otherwise, this occupied me for 16.53, which makes it the trickiest of the week so far, but not by much. I rather liked the style of cluing, with many devices represented, sometime two or three of the set in a single clue. I think the “piece of verse” was a lesser-known last time I logged it, but apart from a couple of bits of general (but not necessarily that general) knowledge the words to be entered are of the common variety and shouldn’t tax you too much. The great majority of the definitions are single words, which may be distinctive.
I have transcribed for you the clues, underlined the definitions and put the SOLUTIONS in bold capitals.
Across
1 Great bit of coiffure with king leaving church (3-5)
TOP-NOTCH The bit of coiffure is a TOP KNOT, as sported by Gareth Bale currently. Remove (leaving) the K(ing) and add the conventional CH(urch)
5 Pass on name taken from dancing wenches (6)
ESCHEW Pass on as in “I’ll pass on that” and not the more usual die. Take N(ame) out of WENCHES and make the remainder dance until they end up in the desired formation
10 Wheels secured by new tool men pick up in race (5,5,5)
MONTE CARLO RALLY Start by deciding the wheels are a CAR. Then assume “new” indicates an anagram and surround (secure) the CAR with the letters of TOOL MEN tastefully arranged. Add RALLY for pick up, as in the sick man rallied. Or just bung the whole thing in without too much thinking.
11 Coming out of their shells, Brad and Lucy not just loud (7)
RAUCOUS Four words contribute their internal letters, as indicated by “coming out of their shells”. So bRAd, lUCy nOt jUSt.
12 Proof one’s passed hummus, say, all of meal regularly put away (7)
DIPLOMA The surface suggested a rather unsavoury examination of one’s poo, but break the definition as indicated, and hummus is then an example of DIP to which you add the odd/even letters of aLl Of MeAl.
13 Irritation overwhelming terribly shy figure (8)
PHYSIQUE Irritation equals PIQUE, which “overwhelms” an anagram (terribly) of SHY
15 Governess protecting current brood here (5)
EYRIE It helps if you know the sometime profession of Jane EYRE, and that I is the conventional symbol for electric current. “Protect” one with the other for the brood location.
18 Ex-PM who will be given a hand at the table (5)
NORTH Prime Minister of the UK 1770-1783, so responsible for ridding the country of the burden of running America. Also a position at a bridge table.
20 Declare a cat can be heard (8)
ANNOUNCE Sounds like AN OUNCE, being (according to Chambers) an epithet given to various types of large wild cat.
23 Everton vacated ground somewhere in London (7)
ENFIELD Likes to describe itself as London’s top borough, which is at least geographically true. Vacate EvertoN, leaving just the EN, add FIELD for ground.
25 Defence in Arsenal’s opening games in division (7)
PARAPET A***nal’s opening is A, games are what we used to call PE at school. Stick those into PART for division.
26 Be the lead in Hamlet, say, taking king in hand with piece of deception (4,5,6)
PLAY FIRST FIDDLE The lead both literally as first violin in an orchestra and in figurative senses. Hamlet is a PLAY, put R for king into FIST for hand and complete with FIDDLE for piece of deception.
27 Place promoting weight-loss tablet (6)
LOCALE Promoting weight loss is LO-CAL and the tablet of choice E(cstacy), but don’t say I said so.
28 Very green, dewy ground around island and river (4-4)
WIDE-EYED Chambers allows naïve as one meaning. The letters of DEWY are spread randomly (ground) round I(sland) and the randomly-selected river DEE.
Down
1 Sentence about revolutionary R&B sound (6)
TIMBRE Sentence is (prison) TIME placed around the letters R and B in reverse order.
2 Clerk in high spirits, entertaining new escort (9)
PENPUSHER Lat in, as I was looking for an escort. High spirits is/are PEP (“full of”), N(ew) is inserted and USHER for escort completes
3 Heavy figure to excite briefly (7)
ONEROUS Today’s second figure, here wordplay indicating ONE. Excite briefly gives ROUSe
4 Order from Cheltenham’s Head Girl (5)
CLASS Cheltenham’s Head is C, and girl is the generic LASS
6 What wine’s knocked back in some verse? (7)
STROPHE A reverse (knocked back) of EH for what and PORT’S for wine’s
7 Terrible experience with love? I’m surprised (5)
HELLO Terrible experience is HELL (though CS Lewis opined that a hell for men and a heaven for mosquitoes could easily be combined). Add the O/0 for love.
8 Traveller, much prettier, getting picked up (8)
WAYFARER Well, yes, does sound like (picked up) WAY FAIRER, a lot prettier.
9 Move to invest pounds, running club (8)
BLUDGEON Last in, looking for a running club like Harriers or somesuch. However, move is BUDGE, with an L for pound “invested”, and running is ON.
14 Jam accompanying a track started by Queen (8)
QUANDARY Accompanying gives AND (easy to miss), a track gives A R(ailwa)Y, and QU(een) starts
16 Cost dropping right down, lend yen for Asian growth area (4,5)
RICE PADDY I’m not sure of this, and I suspect an error. Cost is PRICE, but you don’t drop the R(ight) down, you drop the P. Lend is ADD, and Y(en) completes. Cute definition.
17 Let rip on spreading force globally (8)
INTERPOL A straight anagram (spreading) of LET RIP ON
19 Attentive husband required to go topless (7)
HEEDFUL You need H(usband) before making required, NEEDFUL lose its top.
21 Elevate the core of sun worship (7)
UPRAISE The core of sun (another middle) is U, and worship PRAISE.
22 Go to the races after a knock on the head (6)
ATTEND I’ve only just worked this out. The races are TT, placed after A, and knock on the head produces END
24 Currency smuggled into Chelsea, say (5)
FRANC Smuggled is RAN, and Chelsea is (allegedly) a F(ootball) C(lub). Insert one into the other
25 In art, children phrase it the wrong way (5)
PUTTI Simple enough, once you split definition from wordplay. Phrase is PUT (that’s one way to phrase/put it) and IT the wrong way is TI. Putti are chubby, usually quasi angelic small nude male children, the depiction of which might well draw the attention of the authorities, possibly even Interpol, in today’s moral climate.
I did notice the P not the R was dropped – a rare mistake?
A Mövenpick (i.e. Swiss run) hotel I stayed at in Doha once had on a currency board on the reception desk a rate for the Swiss FRANK!
Lastly, mention of PUTTI puts me in mind of the Camera degli Sposi in Mantua. I’ve never been but I’ve seen plenty of images of some putti getting up to naughtiness in an oculus in the ceiling.
Finished in 33 minutes. Not last on the Club table anyway.
Thanks to setter and blogger.
I spotted the error in the RICE PADDY clue which is sadly no longer as rare an occurrence at The Times as others have been generous enough to suggest. Between the QC and the 15×15 it’s starting to feel like we get at least one error most weeks.
Like others, I queried the existence of PLAY FIRST FIDDLE as an expression. It’s not in any of my dictionaries nor in Brewer’s, but it’s easy to find in other on-line resources e.g. Wiktionary, where it has its own entry and is defined as ‘To play a leading role’.
Edited at 2021-02-11 05:33 am (UTC)
“play first fiddle or second fiddle: to act as a first violin or a second violin player in an orchestra; to take a leading, or (esp unwillingly) a subordinate, part in anything.”
Perhaps it has dropped out of common usage since then – enough to see it dropped from the sources?
Like Z I also noticed the slight football theme in the clues. I woke this morning thinking about Tottenham’s loss last night and didn’t welcome being reminded of it by the appearance of Everton here!
I just hope in tonight’s draw we don’t get the noisy neighbours again! Barnsley away would suit so we can buy a decent young defender. What’s with Spurs all of a sudden!? The manager I suppose.
Time 32 mins with shrapnel; but I found this puzzle rather unexciting and unrewarding.
I struggled to find a COD but settled on 24dn FRANC
FOI 5ac ESCHEW -an old friend
SOI 10ac MONTE CARLO RALLY used to be a thing.
LOI 22dn ATTEND – knock it on the head!
WOD 2dn the pejorative PEN PUSHER
16dn RICE PADDY parseth all understanding!? (P)RICE-ADD-Y – wrong instructions from IKEA Shanghai?
Edited at 2021-02-11 07:47 am (UTC)
Edited at 2021-02-11 08:24 am (UTC)
The aspiration of my youth, to build
Some tower of song with lofty Parapet.
35 mins pre-brekker having struggled on Penpusher, Physique, Quandary.
And spent a while trying in vain to parse the dreadful Rice Paddy.
Thanks setter and Z.
PLAY FIRST FIDDLE seems to work as a neologism but in that case it should perhaps have a question mark. Still, if it is beginning to show up in online dictionaries it must be gaining traction and therefore be counted fair game I guess. I haven’t checked myself but I suppose it doesn’t pass the Chambers test? I remember when you could only be overwhelmed, not underwhelmed, and the first time underwhelmed was used publicly it caused a bit of a stir as a witty comment whereas now it has become commonplace and is now actually a ‘word’. Same thing with ‘gobsmacked’. Was it Michael Heseltine who first used it publicly and caused much merriment?
I agree with you about errors, especially subediting errors, which are pandemic in The Times. I blame my own generation for allowing our childrens’ standards to drop .. no teaching of grammar or syntax any more .. aided and abetted by textspeak etc.
I’m not sure if it matters, but if it doesn’t then we might as well go phonetic?
Andyf
I can’t really comment on spelling: standards vary significantly between my children so I can’t blame the school.
Edited at 2021-02-11 11:34 am (UTC)
But then again, my sons went to the same school as I did which is generally recognised as academically one of the best in the country. A group of my son’s alumni were responsible for the funeral arrangements of another Old Boy who died recently and I happened to see the Order of Service which had the local vicar on the front as ‘Principle Celebrant”. So my wife’s MD would presumably have rejected all these otherwise highly capable people for the sake of an error that is now so commonplace that it is only people like us that notice.
And then again, when I worked in advertising we were presenting concepts to a new Product Manager at the client company, one of the major pharmaceutical giants. We had two campaigns that we were very proud of on both copy and imagery and another ‘makeweight’ concept that depended on little more than an image. The Product Manager surprised us all by going for this last concept. We later learned that he was dyslexic and tended to latch onto an image and not process copy. And in the end who can say? He was probably right and we were probably wrong.
And then you have my brother who was just never any good at anything at school except Music. I once saw one of his exercise books and it was riddled with incorrect spellings with angry red marks all over them (one that stands out in my memory was ‘igzosted’ for ‘exhausted’). I am afraid I looked at it and just laughed and teased him about it for ages afterwards. Such is the cruelty of children. And I didn’t even think I was being cruel, it was just that you had to be good at this sort of thing and if you weren’t you got laughed at. As an adult he has since claimed that he was dyslexic (although I think he has largely overcome it and forged himself a good career in Education) and I do believe that the more enlightened modern approach would have served him well.
And then my younger son when he was at primary school had a teacher that he absolutely idolised. He thought the world of this teacher and looked up to him and I thought he was a very positive influence so I was very pleased with the relationship. Then I was looking for something in one of his school bags one day and accidentally found a spelling test that Rob had done. And this teacher had gone through it marking quite a few incorrect spellings correct and vice versa so I imagine he was dyslexic as well. I didn’t have the heart to go through the corrections and tell Rob that a lot of them were wrong. I thought it better not to undermine the relationship, and after all if I had not chanced upon the test I would not have known. And Rob has turned out to be a very pedantic reader himself so no harm done. I don’t know if he was involved in proofing than Order of Service though!
So I don’t know what conclusions I draw from all this, but it all seems interesting to me in the context.
Why it’s ONEROUS, I can’t explain
Wavelength is a must
Thursdays are a bust
As ever they BLUDGEON my brain
Failed as usual to spot the rice paddy error. I agree they are more common than once they were, but hey, it all adds to life’s rich pattern.
ESCHEW FOI, liked that.
(I thought the Lord NORTH must be Viscount Melbourne, who was Queen Victoria’s first PM, but this was completely wrong.)
ATTEND LOI, as noted it took some parsing.
13′ 17″, thanks z and setter.
Edited at 2021-02-11 09:43 am (UTC)
Pythagoras advised us to eschew (rather than chew) beans though there is some debate as to why.
Thank you setter and blogger
I did spot the problem with RICE PADDY – in fact it slowed me down because I couldn’t work out the parsing so I didn’t put it in until I had all the checkers.
Edited at 2021-02-11 11:21 am (UTC)
An enjoyable crossword, above query aside.
FOI Interpol
LOI Putti
COD Attend
Anyway, an enjoyable puzzle, under 19 mins.
Edited at 2021-02-11 05:29 pm (UTC)
Edited at 2021-02-11 11:28 am (UTC)
The error in RICE PADDY hasn’t yet been corrected online…
I wonder if I was the only one who entered ERNES for 15a? Hidden in govERNESs but doesn’t really work.
Liked diploma, wayfarer and heedful but my COD was physique.
I did notice the apparent error in RICE PADDY but can’t claim it held me up for long. However TIMBRE did as I couldn’t really equate time and sentence, but probably just me. Many thanks, Z, for the characteristically entertaining blog and also setter for the workout.
Greek O-Level helped with STROPHE (and 1d from yesterday). and no other unknowns.
Stared at M_N_E for longer than I should have. The error in RICE PADDY went over my head but not the nice (as already mentioned) definition.
Not sure the clue for DIPLOMA was the smoothest ever but as I had the wrong end of the stick on the type of pass the PDM made me smile so that’s my COD
Thanks all
FOI ESCHEW
LOI EYRIE
COD QUANDARY
TIME 8:16
My favourite was TOP NOTCH.
David
Of course, but where is that indicated in the clue?