Hi everyone. Another enjoyable Oinker with lots of beautiful surfaces and some nicely disguised definitions – but nothing too devious for a QC, I would say. I picked out three highlights which have both: 4a (desire to live), 3d (Harry, Sarah and son) and 14d (spilt rum). Thanks Oink!
Definitions are underlined in the clues below. In the explanations, most quoted indicators are in italics, specified [deletions] are in square brackets, and I’ve capitalised and emboldened letters which appear in the ANSWER. For clarity, I omit most link words and some juxtaposition indicators.
| Across | |
| 4a | Desperate desire to live (6) |
| RESIDE — An anagram of (desperate) DESIRE | |
| 7a | Explode in meeting about public school (8) |
| DETONATE — DATE (meeting) around (about) ETON (public school) | |
| 8a | Smart Conservative party making a comeback (6) |
| CLEVER — C (Conservative) + REVEL (party) going backwards (making a comeback) | |
| 9a | Beer brewed by chemist’s shop — get it cheap here? (4,4) |
| BOOT SALE — ALE (beer brewed) by BOOTS (chemist’s shop). Or, a better interpretation (thanks to Roundabout Here in the comments) is simply BOOTS’ ALE – beer brewed by Boots | |
| 10a | Husband in great pain (4) |
| ACHE — H (husband) in ACE (great) | |
| 12a | Liquid he sipped — good for woolly customers? (5,3) |
| SHEEP DIP — An anagram of (liquid) HE SIPPED. (I originally frowned at the definition, thinking it should be “that’s good for …” or similar, but on reflection interpreted “good” as a noun which I’m perfectly happy with) | |
| 15a | Coach’s bearing (8) |
| CARRIAGE — Two definitions | |
| 18a | Lock up silver in church (4) |
| CAGE — AG (silver) in CE (church) | |
| 20a | Souped-up old Rover, one with great power? (8) |
| OVERLORD — An anagram of (souped-up) OLD ROVER | |
| 22a | LA heavy found in lake (6) |
| LAGOON — LA + GOON (heavy, a thug) | |
| 23a | Police holding everyone back: English crumble (8) |
| COLLAPSE — COPS (police) containing (holding) ALL (everyone) reversed (back) + E (English) | |
| 24a | Stimulate awareness, might one say? (6) |
| INCITE — INSIGHT (awareness), soundalike (might one say?) | |
| Down | |
| 1d | Submarine captain a little unemotional (4) |
| NEMO — Hidden: a little uNEMOtional. Although we are finding Nemo, here he is the Jules Verne character, not an animated clownfish! | |
| 2d | A few root out items such as wellies (8) |
| FOOTWEAR — A FEW ROOT anagrammed (out) | |
| 3d | Harry and Sarah turning up with son in tow (6) |
| HARASS — SARAH written upwards (turning up) with S (son) following/accompanying (in tow) | |
| 4d | Go back and plant again, we’re told (6) |
| RECEDE — Sounds like (… we’re told) RE-SEED (plant again) | |
| 5d | Outhouse only half finished (4) |
| SHED — Only half finiSHED | |
| 6d | Preparing a vinaigrette perhaps (8) |
| DRESSING — A double definition | |
| 11d | Silent comic embracing a man of the cloth (8) |
| CHAPLAIN — CHAPLIN (silent comic) around (embracing) A | |
| 13d | Good old Henry’s brought back something for the barbecue? (3) |
| HOG — The combination of G (good), O (old) and H (henry, SI unit of inductance) is reversed (brought back). Oink has laid on a hog roast for today’s piggy reference | |
| 14d | I clear up spilt rum (8) |
| PECULIAR — I CLEAR UP anagrammed (spilt) | |
| 16d | In agreement about head of church straightaway (2,4) |
| AT ONCE — AT ONE (in agreement – we are at one with each other) around (about) the first letter of (head of) Church | |
| 17d | First lady beginning to lecture in New York regularly (6) |
| EVENLY — EVE (first lady) + the first letter of (beginning to) Lecture in NY (New York) | |
| 19d | Prime minister’s daughter visiting me in Paris (4) |
| MODI — D (daughter, genealogical abbreviation) entering (visiting) MOI (me in Paris) | |
| 21d | Spots Charlie leaving accident (4) |
| RASH — C (Charlie, in the NATO alphabet) is leaving [c]RASH (accident) | |
Yes, very enjoyable. Struggled to get started at the top so went to the bottom and worked up. A quick return to the bottom to finally see LOI incite at 17.56
COD to Boots Ale, dad jokes do it for me every time
Thanks Oink and Kitty
On a side night we’re intrigued about why, when to blog is not published in the early hours, it appears at exactly 7am?
Just to be consistent, so you know when to expect me. Posting in the small hours interrupts my sleep, particularly if there are typos to correct, so I have an early night and time the start of my day so I can be ready by 7.
Ah! Thank you. Had not noticed this only applied to your blogs but sounds like a perfect plan 😀
All good, thank you, Oink – LOI LAGOON, thank you Kitty, for explaining why heavy = GOON. DNK ale was beer brewed, so that’s what “brewed” was doing there – was expecting an anagram. Have a good week, everyone.
I think 9a is a kind of tongue in cheek DD “Boot’s ale” would be beer brewed by a chemists shop!
Yes, I’m sure you’re right. BOOTS’ ALE is a better way of reading it than ALE by BOOTS. I’ve added a note above.
And your apostrophe is better than mine 🙂
Not a catastrophe!
10 minutes. I spent the last two of these on LAGOON and INCITE. In my book a LAGOON is not a lake but POD has that meaning as North American English , Australian and New Zealand English, and Chambers has it without that qualification.
Held up only by my LOI. If Boots did turn to brewing, they could probably turn out a more palatable offering than some of the rubbish on the market these days. Thanks Kitty and Oink.
FOI DETONATE (that bloody school AGAIN!)
LOI BOOT SALE
COD RESIDE
TIME 5:01
Indeed, that bloody school AGAIN!
Five on the first pass of acrosses followed by lots of downs to finish in a spritely 8.29. Struggled to parse SHED for a worryingly long time.
An entertaining and fairly gentle start to the week. My only real hold up was caused by misspelling FOOTWare which made LOI CARRIAGE a touch harder than it might have been.
Finished in 6.23.
Thanks to Kitty and Oink
12:58
LOI INCITE where a lot of verbs could fill those checkers.
I was mainly held up by spelling HARRAS which made BOOT SALE look like it must end with FREE, such as COST FREE. Eventually unpicked, although I have only heard it as a “car boot sale”.
Pleased to see my Nemesis (Eton) again.
COD NEMO
I think pretending to be pleased is the only possible course of action by now. Rooting for you.
Got stuck in the SW with CARRIAGE and CHAPLAIN refusing to come to mind, but should have seen ‘Chaplin’ sooner. Liked the (Car) BOOT SALE for finding something cheap. Unusual to see Eton in DETONATE as it rarely comes up! Was thinking ‘as one’ for ‘in agreement’ for a while for AT ONCE’. Liked the Oink reference for HOG but didn’t know the SI unit meaning for ‘H’. COD to RESIDE.
Thanks K and setter.
😄
13:59 for the solve. Held up for six minutes in the SW with INCITE, MODI, LAGOON until I trawled to INCITE then the others felt quickly.
Just as Merlin has a pet peeve about that public school – I get miffed at being expected to know French words beyond the articles and numbers. “I’m not French, I’m not part of the EU anymore and I haven’t been there since 1997.” Yes, in retrospect it’s bleeding obvious but at 7am do I really have to try and recall words which this summer marks forty years ago that I gave up studying them!?!?! Good humoured rant ends!
Other than that nice little Monday puzzle.
Thanks to Kitty and Oink
Fawlty Towers ‘Pretentious…Moi?’
My favourite episode
Ooh, you beat me too it! My thought exactly!
😉
Held up briefly in the SW corner, where the crossing CHAPLAIN/INCITE took time to emerge – not sure why as very orthodox clues – but even with extra minutes there, a 10:57 finish for a good start to the week. BOOT SALE straightforward enough in retrospect, but is this an accepted term now? I have only heard them called Car boot sales.
A wry smile at AT ONCE – in stark contrast to the Catholic Church earlier this year (two days to elect a new pope), the Anglican Church is still pondering its new supreme head seven months after the last Archbishop of Canterbury resigned. Not exactly “In agreement about head of church straightaway” …
Many thanks Kitty for the blog
15m. Nice puzzle, greatly enjoyed.
Poor Merlin – I think it’s personal. What did you do to rankle the setters so?
Pi ❤️
I think it’s his tone*
Let’s hope he takes note*
👏🏻
😆
Please tell me I’m not the only one who originally put in sheep pig!
Not me Babe!
👍🏻
I enjoyed this. I think Oink is one of the more consistent setters so thank to him/her and to Kitty. Only reservation is that I think Lagoon is doubly dodgy, at least for the UK audience. Goon I think is US slang for heavy which is UK slang for a mobster maybe , but I then I don’t think of a lagoon as a lake either.
13:51 MER at Boot Sale which I have only heard as Car Boot Sale. I had Boot Lace for a while.
Also insight into awareness and a desperate desire to reside evaded me for a bit but I got there in the end.
Thanks Kitty and Oinky
8.53
A bit on the sluggish side as I managed to play all around the gentle HARASS which didn’t help my LOI by some way, BOOT SALE. Maybe I’ve only seen it with CAR stuck on the front. Nice clue in any event.
Thanks Oink and Kitty
All done and fully parsed in 7:53. Seemed quite Mondayish.
LOI LAGOON
Thanks Oink and Kitty
I was slow to get going, and my first couple were in the middle of the grid. Fun crossword, 11.24 in the finish. I’ve been to a few LAGOONs and none of them were anything like a lake, just as I’ve been to a few barbecues but never had the pleasure of a whole HOG. I’d call it a spit roast, but hey. To Kitty’s list of highlights I would add PECULIAR, a lovely QC clue. Thanks Oink and Kitty.
Enjoyable straightforward puzzle today. I did wonder why ‘brewed’ was needed in 9A, but explanation above makes perfect sense and makes it my COD. Thanks Kitty and Oink.
Great puzzle. Fairly straight forward and a steady solve, though felt I should have been quicker e.g. with LOI DRESSING and POI BOOTS ALE.😯
Liked many inc COLLAPSE, EVENLY, MODI, DetonATE, SHED.
FOI NEMO.
Thanks vm, Kitty.
A good QC from Oink who is consistently clever but fair, to my mind. That said, I needed crossers to see CLEVER, INCITE and LAGOON and took too long to get EVENLY and COLLAPSE.
The timer was still moving on after I finished (on iPad) and so didn’t give me a final accurate time, although I took well under 17 mins. I had to make two attempts before this site allowed me to post my comment, too. I must check my settings….
LOsI were EVENLY and COLLAPSE.
Thanks to our two smart animals, Oink and Kitty.
P.s. The term ‘chemist’s shop’ always sets me off! Whilst ‘Boots the Chemist’ formerly had a large Chemistry Research Centre in Nottingham, the ‘Chemist’s shop’ is an outdated term for what is, nowadays, a Pharmacy.
Old-style chemist’s shops used to sell a wide variety of chemicals and ‘the chemist’ had some chemical expertise. Pharmacists in Pharmacies have little or no chemical expertise.
Pharmacists and Chemists have their own, separate, training routes and professional bodies, too. I write as an FRSC (Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry) for my working life as a Research Chemist and University Academic.
It might be an age thing, but I still say that I have to ‘pop to the Chemist’ to pick up a prescription, or whatever. I did look here for Pharmacist but old habits die hard…. One of my forebears was Chief Apothecary during the Crimean War and then at London Hospital, and I have a lovely glass plate, hand-coloured, of a family Chemist Shop in Plaistow stacked out with bottles of all sizes and shapes (sorry, that second comment was just a mental meander!).
As you say, it is probably an age thing – old habits die hard. Younger pharmacists are proud of their calling; it is only a few older ones (and those pharmacists who are too mean to change the signage over their pharmacy) who allow the description to persist. It will take generations, no doubt.
I spent decades trying to persuade my mother that I was not secretly some sort of drug dispenser (despite my presenting her with copies of my two doctoral theses in Organic Chemistry and doing my best to explain).
7:12
COD to BOOT SALE. I once made home brewed ale using a kit from Boots’. Not the most enjoyable of drinks.
Thanks Kitty and Oink
9:12 (pre-coffee) DNF due to CARRIAGE and INICTE. Puzzled by the latter. Surely this isn’t a homophone of INSIGHT due to the different stress pattern?
I would say that it works OK as a homophone of IN SIGHT rather than of INSIGHT, but you make a good call.
In the setter’s defence, the indication in the clue is “might one say?” which surely leaves room for slightly differing stress patterns. I would bet that the indicator was carefully chosen to allow for this.
Lovely puzzle. Lots of fun clues but COD from me to the unsung SHED, which really made me chuckle when I saw how it worked.
Bogged myself down by (a) being unable to accept that LA simply indicated … LA, thus trying to make the clue more complex than it was, and (b) being sure that HARASS was spelt HARRASS and thus going round and round the clue.
I did enjoy the ETON moment, and wondered if Merlin would DETONATE over his morning toast.
All done in 07:49 for my customary mid-table mediocrity on the leaderboard and a Decent Day. Many thanks Oink and Kitty.
5:14
Plainish sailing bar the last couple, which were BOOT SALE (normally called a CAR BOOT SALE in the UK) and HARASS. I didn’t actually parse OVERLORD, just looked at ‘old Rover’ and thought, ‘that’s probably it’ and never went back to check.
Thanks Kitty and Oink
Hovering at entry to SCC — held up by MODI – then, for a long time by LOI LAGOON. Plenty to enjoy here, and we did as we sat on a train moseying through the countryside.
We rather like the repetitious School whose name starts with E. Means we don’t need to think…
Happy week everyone – and thanks to Oink and Kitty.
From SHED to INCITE in 6:38. An old college friend who used to live in Woking but now lives in Windlesham had a Hog Roast for his 50th birthday party at a golf club somewhere between the two. Tasty! Thanks Oink and Kitty.
A very enjoyable puzzle from our porcine friend, and one that stretched me beyond my target finishing in 10.59. It was my LOI that extended me beyond the ten minute mark, where I was looking for a solution that didn’t start LA****.
A fairly smooth solve with a smile at DETONATE en route from RESIDE to BOOT SALE and finally HARASS. Not sure why my last two took so long for the penny to drop. 7:13 Thanks Kitty
14 but I missed hog.
8a could be a triumph of optimism over experience like a second marriage.
Cheers Kitty and Oink
10:33
Fun one today
Was completely thrown by confidently putting WANTON at 4a
20 minutes but yet again one stupid mistake! As Eric Morecambe once said about playing the piano using the right notes but in the wrong order, I put ENTICE instead of INCITE!! I couldn’t parse it but to entice is to sort of stimulate but as for awareness, no I knew it would be incorrect.
A very enjoyable puzzle thank you Oink and thank you Kitty for the explanations.
A slow start in the NW, but Boot Sale and Ache started the ball rolling and it soon became a steady solve. However, my last pair, Incite and Lagoon, put up enough resistance to turn a comfortable sub-20 into a close run thing. CoD to Shed, which I couldn’t parse for ages: talk about hiding in plain sight! Invariant
PS There used to be a joke about old Chemists ‘failing to react’ — clearly not true today 😉
is that a bit like physicist putting up too much resistance? Biologist failing to reproduce their results?
😂
💀
Well done.
🥁
9.14 Fairly steady. Last two were BOOT SALE and RASH. I also made a barrel of Boots ale. It was more than thirty years ago and I can still clearly remember the taste. Ugh. Thanks Kitty and Oink.
12:38
Looking at some of the other times today I feel I’ve done quite well for someone who rarely escapes the SCC.
Loved this QC – a whole host of beautiful clues.
FOI: DETONATE
COD: BOOT SALE
LOI: RASH
Many thanks to Oink & Kitty
All done and dusted in 21 minutes, so a good start to the week for me. And it could so easily have been an away day from the SCC, had my final four clues not conspired to add 6-7 minutes to my time. The offending clues were all interconnected and down in the SW corner – MODI, LAGOON, CHAPLAIN and INCITE. Drat!
Many thanks to Kitty and Oink.
13:56, and a nice start to the week. RECEDE and CLEVER held me up for quite a long time with their miserable checkers, but I found this a very enjoyable puzzle.
Thank you for the blog!
7:40. Smooth sailing today- EVENLY, PECULIAR, and MODI were favourites.
Was wondering what the ‘found’ was doing in the clue for ‘lagoon’. I see now. The parsing of BOOT SALE in the discussion helped. This was a reasonable QC by Oink. Thanks!
I think it’s a bit different from brewed in BOOT SALE – that was just me splitting the clue up into more parts than necessary. LAGOON is a clue with a link word (or in this case a linking phrase).
I should perhaps be more thorough in explaining link words, but it can add a lot of wordage to the explanations. That in turn can make everything less clear, which is the opposite of what I’m trying to achieve. So I usually omit them – a decision which may or may not be influenced by it being easier to do so!
22a LAGOON has the structure {wordplay} found in {definition}, which is a standard form for cryptic clues. Other link word examples from the clues above:
7a DETONATE {definition} in {wordplay}
15a CARRIAGE {definition}'s {definition} – with 's = is, not the possessive 's which it looks like in the surface reading of the clue
3d HARASS and 4d RECEDE {definition} and {wordplay}
19d MODI {definition}'s {wordplay} – similar to 15a, but here I think you could equally well take the 's to mean has
I hope this is helpful. If I’m telling you stuff you know perfectly well, then I hope it’s useful to someone!
Is there such a thing as womansplaining? I’ll go to my room……
You will have to imagine the look I am giving you right now. Beware, your screen might crack!
Or remind me at the next meet up and I will glare at you in person …
I can almost feel the reflected radioactivity from here …
No-one Kitty could accuse you of excessive verbiage. Indeed if anyone is at risk of that it is me, as my blogs are routinely twice as longwinded as anyone else’s.
Yes, Kitty, very useful!
Liked this on the whole, especially MODI. BOOT SALE, our LOI, took us nearly 1 1/2 minutes but all through in 11:26. Thought you were remarkably restrained, Merlin! Thanks to Oink and Kitty.
I forgot HOG and wondered whether 21d RASH + following on to the top two of the next column gave us RASHER….
Maybe a transatlantic touch with Boot’s and Lagoon?
FOI 4a Reside
LOI 22a Lagoon
COD 9a Boot Sale
Entertaining puzzle, Thanks both.
Oink and I always get on well together, enjoyable canter
A lovely QC and now enjoying my beer from a chemist’s shop in the SCC
Nice one taking 25 mins.
Didn’t know Harass meant Tow until I found out that it didn’t. Brilliant clue.
Thanks both for the entertainment and the explanation.
23:24 here, for a very slow day. The hold-up was in the SW corner where I stubbornly held on to EDEN as the PM for far too long despite knowing it didn’t really parse. With Charlie Chaplin not coming to mind, that left that whole quadrant undone for ages.
Really liked HARASS, my COD.
Thanks to Kitty and Oink.
Enjoyed this puzzle finished in about 30 m , good for us
7:22 today. I do enjoy a good Oink!
Any reference to GOON always makes me think of the Goon Show and leaves me with the Ying Tong Song as an earworm. This is not necessarily a bad thing. It’s impossible not to smile at that song.
Thanks to Oink and Kitty.
11:14 to solve this entertainment from Oink; admired the well-placed HOG trademark. Stumbled around a little at the beginning but it flowed eventually with NEMO and FOOTWEAR and BOOT SALE (NHO but obvious) and SHEEP DIP, which I loved, providing a foothold. Enjoyed COLLAPSE the most for the way it revealed itself as the wordplay unwound.
I see the HARASSment continues. Well played, editor.
Thanks to Oink and Kitty.
Beaten by Footwear but otherwise very enjoyable despite a late start with 10a Ache, flowed after that. Thanks Oink and Kitty
14:20
Nice and simple. Couldn’t see where today’s pig was until submitting and then realised it was right in the middle.
Loved the clever use of ETON for public school. Must remember that one in case it ever comes up again.
🤣
I could clap at both of your comments. Bravo!
I am in awe of you.