Time: 26:31, a little more than the additional minute I’ve scored over each of the first three this week. In several entries, working out how the wordplay worked was a stiffer challenge than sticking in what seemed to be a sensible answer. There is, perhaps, a mini NINA in that two cognate clues are one on top of the other, which surely must be intentional. There are a couple of mysteries which I couldn’t quite fathom: you’ll see them in my comments and will doubtless unravel them.
Definitions underlined in bold italics, everything else I hope explains itself.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Couple that dances around cooler (6) |
| ATTACH – So a verb, then. Anagram (dances) of THAT encloses A[ir] C[onditioning] | |
| 5 | Guy stuck in pile of earth, perhaps sinking fast (8) |
| MORIBUND – Guy as a verb can mean to ridicule or make fun of leading to RIB. Stick it in MOUND for pile of earth. You may want to attach “perhaps” to the pile of earth, since a pile can be of anything, but I prefer it as part of the definition. | |
| 9 | Period when Reform sought gin bar as PR exercise (4,6) |
| ARAB SPRING – Around 2010 and following, a series of pro-democracy, anti government protests across North Africa and much of the Middle East. An anagram (exercise) of GIN BAR AS PR. Slightly naughty putting the capital R on Reform, and coupling it to a gin bar. | |
| 10 | Look into artist cutting axes (1-3) |
| X-RAY – Your standard crossword artist, RA*, cuts into X and Y, axes on a graph etc. *Royal Academician. | |
| 11 | Harrow from Germany is kept in trim (8) |
| DISTRESS – I struggled to parse this, with D[eutschland] and IS leaving TRESS to mean trim. Rather it’s “is from Germany”, IST, inside DRESS for trim, which I’m okay with. Another verb masquerading as a noun. | |
| 12 | Turn around, facing barrier in the East End (6) |
| CURDLE – Milk, when it curdles, is said to go off or turn. Here, C[irca] comes face to face with ‘URDLE, an East End athlete’s sprint barrier. | |
| 13 | Result of mischief found in Pandora’s box (4) |
| ASBO – Pandora’s box released evils into the world when opened against Zeus’ strict instruction. An ASBO was an anti-social behaviour order targeting young mischief makers, and here is hidden in PandorA’S BOx. | |
| 15 | Star laughing about Ed Gamble’s opener (3,5) |
| RED GIANT – You don’t need to know this, but Ed Gamble is a regular on the soon-to-be-revived Mock the Week (hurrah!) and similar comedy shows. All you need here is the ED and the first letter of Gamble, wrapped in RIANT for laughing. | |
| 18 | Unfinished sweet dish otherwise called savoury dish (8) |
| MOUSSAKA – The unfinished sweet dish is MOUSS[e] AKA, also known as, for otherwise called. | |
| 19 | Habit of constant predator (4) |
| COWL – What a monk wears. C[onstant] and predator OWL. | |
| 21 | Tail-enders from England side, of the eleven, needed support (6) |
| DEFEND – After the Ashes, something rather more may be needed, but here you need the last letters of EnglanD sidE oF thE eleveN, needeD. | |
| 23 | Who hopes to profit from French sea air? (8) |
| MERCHANT – French sea is MER, and CHANT stands in for a musical air. | |
| 25 | 21 regressing without A & E? (4) |
| DRUG – My last in, only falling when I realised the E needed to be detached. Since 21a is DEFEND, Thesaurus it to GUARD, remove the A, and reverse. | |
| 26 | Mongrel dog hoped for one returning dog’s dinner to Labrador (10) |
| HODGEPODGE – I’m mystified by “to Labrador”, either a dog or a reference to Canada, both unnecessary. An anagram (mongrel) of DOG HOPED and the EG, for one (example) reversed. | |
| 27 | Short trip on vacation to probe ocean bed feature? (5,3) |
| SWEET PEA – A garden bed, that is. Short give WEE, T[ri]P is vacated, and both are inserted into SEA for ocean. | |
| 28 | Head of security again took back shocking equipment (6) |
| TASERS – The first letter of Security, then RESAT for took (an exam) again, all reversed. | |
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 2 | You shouldn’t have pain often in hand bones (5) |
| TARSI – TA, thanks, you shouldn’t have. Add RSI, Repetitive Strain Injury. | |
| 3 | Burden of Scottish political party beginning to take on region there (9) |
| ALBATROSS – From the Rime of the Ancient Mariner. I take on trust that ALBA, Scots Gaelic for Scotland, is a home grown political party. Apparently it has been described as “Trumpian” and “a hotchpotch of social conservatives and nationalist fundamentalists”. Add ALBA to the first letter of Take and ROSS, a region of Scotland. | |
| 4 | Female accepting program’s result (6) |
| HAPPEN – A female HEN with APP for program taken in. | |
| 5 | Me? I’m a tradesman, I cast traditional organs etc (10,5) |
| MAINSTREAM MEDIA – An anagram (cast) of ME? I’M A TRADESMAN I. | |
| 6 | Concerning American serving drink, not quite removing the head (8) |
| REGICIDE – Concerning RE, American serving GI, drink CIDER with its end missing (not quite). | |
| 7 | One maybe seeking belt for dog (5) |
| BOXER – DD. Boxing champions are traditionally awarded ornate belts. | |
| 8 | Primitive entering 22.5 degrees west in good condition (6-3) |
| NEARLY-NEW – Don’t be alarmed by that 22.5 degrees. In compass terms it’s NNW (oops, should read NNE, thanks Bletchleyreject), a sixteenth of the way round your 360 degrees. EARLY for primitive is placed within, then w[est] is added. | |
| 14 | Result of tie, both sides leaving keeper up? (5,4) |
| SCORE DRAW – I think this means you to recognise that an ASCOT is a sort of tie, then remove both ends, and then add WARDER for keeper, reversed. It explains why I have left “tie” out of the definition, though it sort of helps towards the answer. | |
| 16 | Secretly conspiring South American is having a laugh (2,7) |
| IN CAHOOTS – South America INCA (other brands are available but much less useful to setters) HOOTS for is having a laugh. | |
| 17 | Trial tried to avoid electronic transfer (8) |
| HARDSHIP – E[lectronic] is removed from HEARD for tried, than SHIP stands in for transfer. | |
| 20 | Imperative model of chivalry? (6) |
| URGENT – UR is from the German prefix meaning primitive or (better for us here) original, so an UR GENT can be a model of chivalry. Abraham, being a native of UR of the Chaldees, is the more widely used UR GENT. | |
| 22 | US symbol for 3 + 1, of course (5) |
| EAGLE – Somehow, 3 + 1 on a (golf) course represents a score of 2 under par. I admit I’m struggling to make the maths work but the idea’s there. | |
| 24 | State promoting independence initially in revolutionary rule (5) |
| NIGER – So take REIGN for rule, reverse it (revolutionary) and move the I[ndependence] helpfully qualified by “initially” up one space. | |
9:20 and I think the first one this week without a silly typo.
Collins has HODGEPODGE as US and Canadian, so Labrador is a reference to a Canadian province (or half a one).
For EAGLE, it’s a reference clue – the answer to 3 across is ALBATROSS, which is 3 under on a golf hole, EAGLE is 2 under, so one more than ALBATROSS.
I really liked the clues for CURDLE and SCORE DRAW
Thanks for the 3+1 explanation. I saw the two golfing references, but didn’t see that the clues were connected in that way. 3 down, I think.
Chambers doesn’t make the Canadian connection, so thanks again.
Hodgepodge is a traditional Canadian dish of fresh vegetables
For dogs? 😉
I liked curdle. too. Reminds me of a clue from a long time ago in puzzle 24,129. The answer to 13a was “UZI”, as in the cockney “Oo’s ee?” for someone not recognised. I’d love to remember the full clue, though….
Once again a puzzle I struggled with, finishing in about 45, but enjoyed a great deal. Some very tricky parsing here, without Z’s help I’d have no idea about SCORE DRAW, ALBA or URGENT and was pleased to figure out RED GIANT, HAPPEN, MOUSSAKA and several other toughies myself – eventually. Like Z I’m at a loss to explain the Labrador ref or the eagle enumeration. [On edit: oh, thank you glh!] Thanks to Martin Amis for making me aware of what an ASBO is. I was a bit thrown by HODGEPODGE, being more used to spelling it as it is spelt in the blog at 3dn…
From It Ain’t Me, Babe:
You say you’re looking for someone
Never weak but always strong
To protect you and DEFEND you
Whether you are right or wrong
Someone to open each and every door
But it ain’t me babe
I enjoyed this a lot and found it easier than the usual Thursday with some clever clueing. Liked ARAB SPRING. Have seen enough British cop shows to have heard of ASBO. I knew it had to be SCORE DRAW but couldn’t parse, so thanks Z. NHO ‘riant’ for laughing in RED GIANT. Liked URGENT but had no idea about ‘ur’. COD to SWEET PEA. Had to look up the reference to ‘Labrador HODGEPODGE’ to find that it’s a cross-breed dog or a ‘mixed-breed dog with a Labrador Retriever parent’. Who knew?
Thanks Z and setter.
The “3+1 , of course” means 3 shots on a par 5 hole and “of course” 1 shot on a par 3 (hole in one). 2 on a par 4 is not mentioned.
See George’s comment linking to 3d ALBATROSS, 3 under par.
4 minutes under an hour, but this was a lively and enjoyable solve. Like others I failed to ‘get’ the Labrador thing re HODGEPODGE, UR GENT and the {a}SCO{t} tie device in SCORE DRAW, so thanks for those, Z.
I saw ‘of course’ at 22dn and thought of golf, also spotted EAGLE fitted the checkers so I didn’t bother to think any more about that clue.
The British equivalent of HODGEPODGE is ‘hotchpotch’ which survives as a legal term sometimes encountered in the dividing up of estates of the deceased.
We seem to be enjoying a surfeit of peas and sweet peas at the moment.
22’35”, but didn’t parse URGENT, and still don’t understand. Liked the golf clues (-1 is a birdie, -2 is an eagle, -3 is an albatross and -4 is a miracle). Good puzzle.
Thanks z and setter.
I thought UR stood for “you are” so for chivalry it is imperative that you are (a) gent.
Really enjoyed this puzzle and was delighted to get through it with not too much help from the thesaurus! No idea what my time was – and don’t care – what else would I be doing?
Babysitting for grand-daughter Emma, perhaps? 😃
45 minutes. Very enjoyable and satisfying to finish though I missed the parsing for EAGLE and semi-biffed RED GIANT, not remembering RIANT for ‘laughing’. I see George’s explanation above, but I wondered if the ‘Labrador’ makes an appearance in 26a as labs will eat anything including maybe a HODGEPODGE of food that dogs with a more discerning palate wouldn’t touch.
As someone who can’t tell my left from my right, I’m probably the last person who should be pointing this out, but I think you’ll find that ‘22.5 degrees’ in 8d is NNE, not NNW, so the parsing is EARLY (‘primitive’) within NNE to which W (‘west’) is added.
Thanks to Z and setter
Thanks for that. I was about to comment that I couldn’t follow the parsing in the blog!
Happy to finish this with no pink squares in about 30 mins, with NEARLY NEW the only one not (entirely) parsed.
This took me forever, with HODGEPODGE of all things my LOI. I guessed that ‘to Labrador’ indicated a North Americanism, and sure enough ODE confirmed that. Couldn’t figure out EAGLE, so thanks to George. I liked ATTACH for (that),and especially CURDLE & REGICIDE.
That’s a super clue for URGENT, I was also puzzled by the Labrador in 26a but doubly so since I had “Mongrel” as the definition so I figured it was some Canadian reference I didn’t get and moved on.
Thanks setter and Zabadak
23.30
Excellent stuff! Some brilliant surfaces, and only REGICIDE unparsed in the end. Didn’t spot the link between ALBATROSS and EAGLE, possibly because I had difficulty distinguishing between plus and obelus in the latter. Should have gone to Specsavers.
X-RAY came in early so I was looking for a pangram, but not today.
LOI DRUG
COD IN CAHOOTS
Thanks Zabadak
Could only finish with aids for HODGEPODGE ( tried to force in hedgehoggy) LOI DRUG I convinced myself initially Brag was a form of “pontoon” or “21” not being a card player & put that in
I parsed URGENT as “you are” textspeak + GENT – maybe not
COD EAGLE ( it’s nice when you solve and parse at same time)
I biffed EAGLE and DRUG as LOIs without making the GUARD connection to the golf terms. They’re not ones I found the need for when I’ve played golf, but I guess double bogey didn’t fit the theme. I’ve used HODGEPODGE most of my life so was surprised to find it NORTH AMERICAN. Good puzzle if a bit too complex for me in the south. COD to NEARLY NEW. Thank you Z and setter.
Another enjoyable one. My only problem was starting to write “Brand new” for 8dn, only to find that it wasn’t even the right number of letters, never mind correct .. sorted in time, but a nuisance.
As for hodgepodge, the OED strangely makes no mention of it being an Americanism. It insists on a hyphen, and says hodge-podge is a variant of the original hotch-potch, which has a long history. My Sheffield granny said hotch-potch, I’m pretty sure.
I think ALBA was started by the late Alex Salmond, when he fell out with the SNP. Or rather, with Ms Sturgeon.
I was puzzled by the ‘Labrador’ reference too. HODGEPODGE appeared later than ‘hotch-potch’ but it has some proper English heritage: Isaac Walton no less! It appears to have just passed out of common usage here in favour of the alternative.
23:47 must be a Thursday pb. The editor is being gentle with us. Some quality surfaces but for once I twigged fairly quickly so obvs on wavelength.
Agree with others over NNE+W. Failed to parse AC, UR, Riant, the Labrador or any part of SCORE DRAW but no harm done to result or enjoyment.
CODs to the ALBATROSS / EAGLE combi. Thanks Zabadak and setter.
Just under 20 minutes.
– Didn’t see what Labrador was doing in the clue for HODGEPODGE
– Failed to parse SCORE DRAW
– Had no idea how EAGLE worked
Thanks Zabadak and setter.
FOI Tarsi
LOI Curdle
COD Arab Spring
Hadn’t got a single answer after 20 mins. Gave up. I don’t know what this means.
15:08 I was on wavelength for this one. Not even slowed down by an incorrectly biffed Nadir. Seeing MAINSTREAM MEDIA straightaway was a huge help.
Also mystified by EAGLE. I’ve not played more than mini golf but surely that is a bogey. Cheers for the explanation. Thankfully the checking letters were kind.
COD DRUG thanks blogger and setter.
33 mins. Enjoyed this relatively gentle offering for a Thursday. l also couldn’t work out EAGLE without help from here.
11:45. Nice puzzle. I biffed quite a lot but in several cases went back to check the parsing to be sure of checking letters when I was stuck on a crossing clue. I’m glad I wasn’t in pure biff mode or I would doubtless have bunged in CIRCLE at 12ac. As it was I came pretty close.
35 mins. Spent way too long wondering if BRAG was a form of twenty-one before deciding on a more sensible course of action. Not a hard Thursday at all, which probably means we are in for a right royal spanking tomorrow! Liked ASBO here. Thanks blogger and setter.
22:36 WOE – an unparsed CIRCLE for 12A which I failed to revisit. Nice puzzle. I liked the 3 +1 when I’d worked it out. SWEET PEA was another favourite. Great puzzle. Thanks Z and setter.
I had the same mistake. I don’t feel so bad now.
So did I sadly!
From TARSI to URGENT in 34:08. A biffed HANDICAP held up POI, HODGEPODGE. Thanks setter and Z.
Pressed for time, I submitted with three unsolved. Baffled by DEFEND and DRUG. Also spent far too long with CARPI, convinced that the hand pain was carpal tunnel syndrome.
Oh well, tomorrow’s Friday so it will probably be worse.
Thanks to both.
Two seconds over the hour. I found this hard (harder than most of you, with my WITCH of 140) but I was totally gripped by it. Excellent crossword
Why does the setter bother with ‘initially’ in the NIGER clue? At first I thought this had been done because the dictionaries give I = independent not independence, but Chambers (and no doubt others) does have ‘independence’, so I don’t think it’s helpful at all. You look for something else that isn’t there. ‘initially’ could easily have been omitted, in fact it makes the clue tidier.
In the TARSI clue my initial thought was that the setter had made a mistake, and if you have RSI you don’t necessarily have pain often, but it’s pain that’s often in the hand, so a nice little bit of cunning.
Chambers has hundreds of rather curious abbreviations so isn’t usually accepted as a source on its own. I for ‘independence’ isn’t in Collins or ODE so I suspect it’s not in the accepted list.
It’s because rule is reign and then you have to promote (move up) the ‘I’ (independence initially) and reverse it (revolutionary)
Sorry, I should have read your comment further!
Great puzzle in retrospect, but I struggled with HODGEPODGE (to me it’s always been a hyphenated “hotch-potch”), couldn’t parse URGENT, and finally biffed my LOI. I detest cross-referenced clues.
FOI X-RAY
LOI DRUG
COD REGICIDE
TIME 17:52
26:10 – CURDLE was my LOI and held out to the end. HODGEPODGE went in easily enough with no hesitation at the Labrador link. I would never have thought of it as an Americanism but, with our daily language drifting ever westwards, I was happy to take it on trust.
About 40′ visiting both before and after a golf game (no eagles or albatrosses..). Like many, constructed from a lot of biffs and post-parsing, too many perhaps.
However, couldn’t parse RED GIANT or SCORE DRAW (NHO riant; didn’t see Ascot). I also parsed URGENT as text-speak and looked at “carpi” for while.
Thanks Zabadak and setter
hodgepodge is apparently a stew ‘particularly from Nova Scotia’, so quite close to Labrador! Nice crossword
All finished in reasonable time, but didn’t parse either score draw or urgent. Like Gerry and Hufflepuffle I also thought of the text speak for urgent, this sound sounding like rather an imperative statement. Like RobR I still don’t really understand Zs take on this.
COD to DRUG
In my defence, my experience of the “original” meaning of UR predates textspeak by (probably) decades. The ur- text is the supposed or reconstructed original in ( for example) biblical criticism, so in our case a true or original, model, gentleman could be an ur-gent. That leaves us properly with imperative as the definition.
I parsed it the same way as you did Z : UR = “model of”. I don’t see how the textspeak interpretation fits the clue.