There are many very elegantly composed clues here, as usual with this setter. It was a constant pleasure, and I was in no hurry to finish.
I indicate (Ars Magna)* like this, and words flagging such rearrangements are italicized in the clues.
| ACROSS | |
| 1 | Old lady beginning to think breaks are important (6) |
| MATTER MAT(T)ER |
|
| 4 | Odds of a race finish paying out (8) |
| SPENDING SP, “Odds of a race” + ENDING, “finish” SP is “starting price” in Chambers, and Wikipedia says, “In horse racing and greyhound racing, the starting price (SP) is the odds prevailing on a particular entry in the on-course fixed-odds betting market at the time a race begins.” |
|
| 9 | Result after playing with brilliance (6) |
| LUSTRE (result)* |
|
| 10 | Service well covered by serviceman’s scribblings (8) Kilroy was here |
| GRAFFITI G(RAF)(FIT)I |
|
| 12 | Move around behind class (9) |
| REARRANGE REAR RANGE |
|
| 13 | One all-powerful measure (5) |
| RULER DD |
|
| 14 | Representative sample of fake notices on X (5,7) …As are seen everyday now… |
| CROSS SECTION CROSS, “X” + (notices)* |
|
| 18 | Some creatures stay in groups (5,7) |
| STICK INSECTS STICK, “stay” + IN SECTS, “in groups” |
|
| 21 | Statuesque figure given stretched limousine? (5) |
| OSCAR OS, oversize, “stretched” + CAR, “limousine?” |
|
| 22 | Reader, I married him in Kentish Town (9) |
| ROCHESTER DD In the first line of the last chapter of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, “him” refers to Eyre’s former employer, Mr. (Edward) Rochester (whom she persists in calling “Mr. Rochester” for the length of the chapter. The Victorian Age). |
|
| 24 | Rebel surrounded by fools and jerks (8) |
| TWITCHES TWIT(CHE)S |
|
| 25 | Reluctant farewell oddly rushed (6) |
| AVERSE AVE. “farewell” + RuShEd |
|
| 26 | Unqualified learner put into battle (8) |
| COMPLETE COMP(L)ETE |
|
| 27 | Approval and the way it was conveyed (6) |
| ASSENT AS SENT |
|
| DOWN | |
| 1 | Current diverted to power plant? (8) |
| MILLRACE CD, playing on “power,” which here could be a verb or the attributive part of the noun phrase, and possibly “plant” as well. …I think some may see the non-cryptic sense first. |
|
| 2 | Will author prove a rubbish revolutionary? (8) |
| TESTATOR TEST, “prove” + A + ROT<=“revolutionary” |
|
| 3 | Bloomer crust snatched from naughty kids (5) |
| ERROR |
|
| 5 | Polish rock musician’s gift (7,5) |
| PERFECT PITCH PERFECT (accent on the second syllable), “Polish” + ROCK, “pitch” (as verb) |
|
| 6 | I fear messing with intelligence gathering is wicked (9) |
| NEFARIOUS (I fear)* taken in by NOUS, “intelligence” |
|
| 7 | Dripping, frozen and not used in Icelandic cooking (6) |
| ICICLE (Icel |
|
| 8 | It stops blood swelling in a gland (6) |
| GOITRE GO(IT)RE |
|
| 11 | Feeling less than trendy (12) |
| UNDERCURRENT UNDER, “less than” + CURRENT, “trendy” |
|
| 15 | Poking fun about attending a trial is terrible (9) |
| SATIRICAL (a trial is)* hosts C(irca), “about” |
|
| 16 | Cost, perhaps, without charge (4,4) |
| SCOT FREE (Cost)* with FREE as anagrind in the answer |
|
| 17 | Hungry mutineers ousting the leader at sea (8) |
| ESURIENT ( |
|
| 19 | Lyrical work raising name to the top (6) |
| POETIC OP<=“raising” + CITE<=“to the top” |
|
| 20 | Break that is this chap’s first in months (6) |
| SCHISM SC, “that is” (from Latin scīlicet, contraction of scīre licet “it is permitted to know”) + HIS, “this chap’s” + M |
|
| 23 | Collection of bones after beheading the king (5) |
| ELVIS |
|
Great stuff from Myrtilus! I finally got a result after playing with brilliance, though the battle lasted nearly an hour. So much to like in this, with ELVIS as one of the more majestic answers, though my COD goes to GOITRE.
MILLRACE took a lot of work, as I thought I’d be looking for a plant I’d never heard of. Could a MILKROOT be diverting power to the roots of this one? ESURIENT was vaguely recognised as a word, though I couldn’t have defined it. Luckily it was an anagram with limited options.
Thanks to Guy for the blog, particularly the explanation of how ROCHESTER worked.
John Cleese defines ESURIENT as ‘Hoongry, like’ in the cheese shop sketch.
Merriam-Webster advises, “Be forewarned…that when used literally esurient has a humorous flavor.”
Knew I’d heard it before! Thanks. Now I’m going to watch it again…
Extra point on “Kentish Town”, for which you might have wondered why Town was capitalised, Kentish Town is a London district with a tube station, as well as a town in Kent.
Thanks. The capitalization would have been marked as a ruse by the setter, if I’d had (or had bothered to find) that information.
26:08
Another terrific puzzle from Myrtilus. 22ac was annoying: it should have been a gimme–I knew the ‘Reader, I married him’ line, but I couldn’t think of the name until near the end (POI). (I didn’t know that Rochester is in Kent. Oddly enough I did know Kentish Town, but not where it is.) A bunch of great clues–STICK INSECT, PERFECT PITCH, ICICLE, GOITRE–I’d give my COD to ICICLE.
42 minutes. No workings in the margins other than one anagram circle, but I noted the SW corner delayed me unduly towards the end. No idea why now.
In 8d Goitre, I think the def includes “swelling in”.
I could not parse 19d Poetic, thanks.
I think I second the COD for 7d Icicle.
Underline extended! Thanks
15:44. Super puzzle. I think MILLRACE is a little bit obscure for a cryptic definition. I remember being caught out by the word a long time ago and I don’t think I’ve ever met it outside crosswords.
26.33
Tut tut Lord Keriothe, you have clearly never encountered the delights of Ellis Peters’ Cadfael series. Millraces on every page there were. Tbf, apart from those hallowed pages…
Usual top notch fare. Although I am sure it is not new I did rather like the ELVIS clue
Thanks Myrtilus and Guy
Well since I’ve never heard of either Ellis Peters or Cadfael it’s perhaps not surprising that I haven’t learned about millraces from that source! I suspect these books might be right up my street though, I will give them a go when I’ve finished my current audiobook.
I’ve just looked back and the timer says 120 minutes! Though I think I might have left it running, which sometimes happens, that will be my excuse anyway. I do remember Esurient being new to me.
I knew ESURIENT from the Latin mass settings ‘esurientes implevit bonis, et divites dimisit inanes’ – the hungry he has filled with good things and the rich he has sent empty away. However, although I completed this in one sitting, my LOI which I probably got over-excited at finishing, was wrong. I knew SP for 4a and bifd SPANNING for paying out. Obviously SPENDING makes more sense, but it looks as though it didn’t occur to me at the time. I liked ROCHESTER and STICK INSECTS. As ever, glad that the parsing of GRAFFITI didn’t allow for mis-spelling.
Needed more than one go to complete this one, as I usually do with Sunday puzzles.
– Took a while to remember odds=SP to get SPENDING
– Vaguely remembered MILLRACE from somewhere
– Relied on the wordplay for the unknown GOITRE
– Hadn’t heard of ESURIENT but it was the most likely answer with all the checkers in place
Thanks Guy and Robert.
FOI Matter
LOI Millrace
COD Icicle
One sitting, but too many ‘look up’s’! (Left the first letter of ESURIENT blank as I’d NHO). MILLRACE also a lookup, as I was looking for a flower, but I was pleased to get MATTER straight off the bat for a healthy start! Had dividend too long where SPENDING should have been, but I was happy to see ROCHESTER from that famous line. A good workout for me, but Myrtilus still too clever for me!
Thanks Robert and Guy
Found this one inordinately tough – spilling over the two days of the weekend and more than two and a half hours – one of my longest ST solves ever. Took ages to get a word in the NW at the end, until eventually ERROR opened it up. Did have MATTER pencilled in, in my mind but couldn’t parse it based on the ‘old lady’ being MA rather than MATER – only twigged to that when I had all of the crossers and then really did have to work out why !
ROCHESTER took a while to drop. Needed most of the crossers before remembering the town in Kent (we also have one here in Victoria) and then the character from one of the classics.
Some very cleverly disguised definitions throughout and although taking much longer than normal, was still a most enjoyable crossword.