Well what a week that was for eyebrows, and it is carrying over into the first puzzle of this week. Perhaps TfTT could apply for a royal warrant on the supply of acronyms for expressions of disapproval, as it was revealed last week that our very own MER, coined in the TfTT blog a couple of years ago, was suggested by David Cameron to Crossworld’s favourite royal, ER ‘erself, as a method of signalling disapproval for a vote for independence in the Scottish referendum a few years ago. He was obviously struggling to express himself when he suggested that it might help the vote go the ‘right’ way if ER were to “raise an eyebrow a quarter of an inch”, but if everything had happened a few years later he would have had a ready-made acronym for the concept: “Ma’am, you know when you were doing the crossword the other day and you had an MER about that dodgy clue? Well, might I suggest that the same thing could be put to good use in the current referendum difficulty?”
I’m afraid that I got so excited at the possibility that TfTT could be drawn into one of these earth-shaking constitutional battles that seem to happen about twice a week these days that I fell to composing a clue in celebration of the incident:
Prime minister returns no account about slight expression of disapproval (7)
(I’m sure you’ve all got it but just in case I am supplying the answer at the end of the blog below. And of course clue composition is not my strongest suit, so I’m sure somebody can come up with a better one and if so I’d love to see it.)
And just for good measure I’m throwing in the associated bad one-liner of the week:
“I told my wife she paints her eyebrows too high. She looked surprised.”
Anyway, coming to the puzzle (at last!), I thought this was a gentle offering from Tracy, apart from 5D which held me up a bit at the end and which gets my COD. I think it is one of those that I would have written straight in if it had been in the 15 x 15 just because it is the sort of word you expect to see over there, but it is perhaps slightly off the beaten track for the QC. I think my FOI was 9A as it took me a second pass to get the first two.
Although 5D was effectively my LOI in actuality it wasn’t because although I knew what the answer to 22D must be the clue didn’t work as far as I could see. So I left it until the end but then it only took a second to realise that my answer must be right and that I was going to have to deploy the eyebrow. And not just for an MER. No, not even for an HER (Half Eyebrow Raise). In this case nothing will do but the full Monty: an FER (Full Eyebrow Raise), because I think the setter has simply made an error, as explained below.
So apart from that apparent aberration, many thanks for an entertaining puzzle. And even with the aberration, many thanks for an excuse to deviate and expatiate upon alternative uses of the eyebrow other than the presumed evolutionary one of simply keeping bugs out of your eyes.
Definitions are underlined and everything else is explained just as I see it in the simplest language I can manage.
| Across | |
| 7 | Gift tied up at resort (8) |
| APTITUDE – straight anagram (‘resort’ – as in ‘re-sort’) of TIED UP AT. | |
| 8 | Star clue (4) |
| LEAD – double definition. | |
| 9 | Ordered in more wool (6) |
| MERINO – straight anagram (‘ordered’) of IN MORE. | |
| 10 | Victor leaking wife’s secret (5) |
| INNER – wINNER (victor) ‘leaking’ W (wife). | |
| 11 | Employ trick, right away (3) |
| USE – same idea: rUSE with R (right) ‘away’. | |
| 12 | Name one foolish person, then another (6) |
| NITWIT – N (name) + I (one) + TWIT (foolish person). | |
| 14 | Tired agent outside shelter (6) |
| SLEEPY – SPY (agent) ‘outside’ LEE (shelter). | |
| 16 | Tabloid reportedly studied first (3-3) |
| RED-TOP – homophone (‘reportedly’) of READ (studied) + TOP (first). | |
| 18 | Released a Parisian, drawn (6) |
| UNTIED – UN (French indefinite article, thus = ‘a Parisian’) + TIED (drawn). | |
| 19 | Tear in jumper I purchased (3) |
| RIP – hidden word: jumpeR I Purchased. | |
| 20 | Army chaplain quietly read novel (5) |
| PADRE – P (piano, quietly) + anagram (‘novel’) of READ. | |
| 21 | Black parasitic insect does for garment (6) |
| BLOUSE – B (black) + LOUSE (parasitic insect). | |
| 23 | Old garment, article obtained in recession (4) |
| TOGA – A (article) + GOT (obtained) ‘in recession’. | |
| 24 | Complex patterns in part of church (8) |
| TRANSEPT – straight anagram (‘complex’) of PATTERNS. | |
| Down | |
| 1 | The old man rises with very little desire to eat (8) |
| APPETITE – PA (the old man) reversed (i.e. ‘rises’ in this down clue) = AP + PETITE (very little). | |
| 2 | Note short skirt (4) |
| MINI – if I remember my music theory correctly a MINIM is a two-beat note. Shorten it and you have MINI. | |
| 3 | Issue dismissed (3,3) |
| PUT OUT – double definition. | |
| 4 | Run two sons across lake (6) |
| SERIES – S + S (two sons) ‘across’ ERIE (one of the Great Lakes). A rare chance to quote the great Tom Waits: “Sittin’ by the Erie with a Bull-whipped dog Tellin’ everyone he saw they went thatta way, o boys, Tellin’ everyone he saw they went thatta way.” |
|
| 5 | Noisy fellow supporting idea (8) |
| PLANGENT – GENT (fellow) ‘supporting’ (i.e. underneath in this down clue) PLAN (idea). | |
| 6 | Adequate food, it’s said (4) |
| FAIR – homophone (‘it’s said’) for FARE (or FAYRE if you are going to be particularly twee in writing your pub signs) = food. | |
| 13 | Take back and charge up (8) |
| WITHDRAW – WITH (and) + WARD (charge) reversed (i.e. ‘up’ in this down clue). | |
| 15 | Exercises before first of several drinks (5-3) |
| PRESS-UPS – PRE (before) + S (first of Several) + SUPS (drinks). | |
| 17 | Rather small-minded hiding last of cider (6) |
| PRETTY – PETTY (small-minded) ‘hiding’ R (last of cideR). | |
| 18 | Optimistic at university before defeat (6) |
| UPBEAT – UP (at university) + BEAT (defeat). | |
| 20 | Fifty on board vessel providing storyline (4) |
| PLOT – POT (vessel) with L (fifty in Roman numerals) ‘on board’. | |
| 22 | Force out from famous street (4) |
| OUST – I believe this is meant to be a hidden word, but I am raising my eyebrow (how appropriate after last week’s royal raised eyebrow), and signalling not just an MER but an FER (Full Eyebrow Raise). I believe the setter MEANT famOUS STreet to give OUST but unfortunately there is an extra S in there. I hope someone can tell me I am wrong but that’s what it seems like to me. The only other way to read the clue that I could see was STREET = ST leaving OU somehow to mean famous, but I cannot find any basis for that.
And the answer to the clue in the preamble: CAMERON (NO AC (no account) ‘returned about’ MER (slight expression of disapproval). But of course that clue only works in the TfTT world, because nobody else, not even ‘ER indoors at the palace I suspect, knows what an MER is. |
|
I did not spot the OUST error. COD to SERIES.
David
I too noted the error at 22dn OUST! Editor fast asleep no doubt!
16 minutes alas!
FOI 2dn MINI
LOI 8ac LEAD
COD 7ac APPTITUDE
WOD 12ac NITWIT
I’m usually on a desktop PC running Windows 10 and viewing in Chrome, and that’s what my earlier comments were based on with the introduction and Across section in very large font (looks like point 16 when viewed at 100% zoom) and the Down section a bit smaller, say point 14. On my Android tablet and iPhone the font sizes are reversed so that the intro and Across clues are smaller than the Downs. I can work round it by adjusting the zoom size as I read but if any techies out there could identify the problem and come up with a solution it might be useful.
kpc
There’s me thinking Crosswords were meant to be fun!
Appreciation for the time taken and effort put in to writing these blogs far outweighs petty grievances about a mistaken font size and a strong attempt at bringing something other than “there’s the answer chaps” to the blog.
If you don’t like it don’t read it but grumpily dismissing the efforts of others (which is appreciated by most including me I’m sure!) just isn’t cricket!
Thanks for the blog
I’m used to seeing the intro in a much larger font than the rest of the blog on alternate Mondays, but today the dividing line has moved downards to between the Across clues and the Down clues. It’s all a bit disconcerting.
jackkt
Thanks Don and Tracy.
Dejected Templar
NeilC
FOI MERINO
LOI NITWIT
COD RED-TOP
TIME 3:23
Edited at 2019-09-23 10:14 am (UTC)
The efforts of the bloggers are very much appreciated – that’s how we all learn. In addition the daily comments from jackkt and kevingregg are very welcome.
But we are all busy people and frankly are not looking for humour or details of bloggers’ domestic affairs etc.
Whenever I see “astartedon” I reach for the page forward button to get to the relevant parts of his blog.
It would be useful if you would identify yourself with your initials or whatever.
And maybe cut down on teh blasphemy.
kpc
I am enormously grateful for all the time and effort the bloggers put into helping me. I can now complete most of the QCs and usually manage to parse (almost) everything. Without the amazing help from this site I would have given up on cryptics long ago.
So a HUGE thank you to all the bloggers. As I see it, you deserve to have free rein!! MM
Diana
I am very short-sighted and my reading sight is getting worse so I pump up the font size when writing the blog because it makes it easier for me to read. I had assumed that being easier to read might also be a benefit for other readers and that it would at least not be to anybody’s detriment but it seems on balance it is better to post the blog in the normal sized font. I will therefore try to remember in future to resize the font to normal after I have used the larger size for my writing and editing.
As for my comments in the preamble, most weeks nowadays I do stick simply to solving the puzzle and then getting out. When I first started I assumed that people would like a bit of extra material as well so I used to write a bit of padding, once even composing a little story using all the answers from that week’s puzzle. Some people found this entertaining and some found it boring, but on balance the feedback was not all that positive so I started slimming my blogs down.
Every now and again though something comes up which I feel may be worthy of extra comment, as was the case here. I did not do it, as someone has suggested, to make myself feel good. I just did it because it entered my head. Quite honestly the only thing that makes me feel good after writing this blog is a positive response, for example when somebody says that they found my elucidation of a clue helpful, or when something I have written sparks a comment from someone else and it begins to feel a bit like the start of a conversation.
As for the content not being to some people’s taste, well, it’s a bit like me and television. I can’t stand watching it most of the time, but it certainly seems to be popular with a lot of people. Luckily though there are other rooms in the house where I can do other things when it is on. I don’t need to harangue the watchers and tell them to turn it off. So if I write a preamble that you find boring then do please just skip to the explanations and surely no harm is done?
The last thing I want though is for people to make negative comments at each other. That certainly doesn’t make me feel good. Thank you for the anonymous poster who waded in on my behalf, that was very kind of you. But honestly I do regret the fact that I seem to have provoked at least two people to ire. That is not my intention. It is no hardship to me to keep the blogs short and to the point and in future I will try to do so.
Pretend that you’re reporting on a football match and get stuck into the meat of the action pronto. We don’t need to know what you had for breakfast or how you travelled to the stadium – reserve the chummy banter for your Facebook pals.
It’s very telling that your resolve to be more concise takes another 6 paragraphs.
“If brevity be the soul of wit…”
Polonius
-CHS
Speaking of complaints, please disregard them, astartedon. It’s your blog, you’re providing a free service and trying to entertain along the way. It’s a shame that others can’t just scroll past if they don’t like it.
Amazed not to see more 1-offs in the leaderboard, tbh.
Thanks for the eyebrow gag. Not sure of the relevance but worthy of Tim Vine.
For those who didn’t spot oust don’t worry if u did the e version. It had changed by lunchtime
Bit tough today. DNK plangent. Also a pleasure
Johnny
So thank you to all the bloggers who give up their time so early in the day (or late at night) to help the rest of us.
I always enjoy it when bloggers add some colour to their explanations.
Don’t let the miserable buggers get you down!
I must have been feeling a bit under the weather this morning to have capitulated so easily. I now realise at this end of the day that I did something that I try never to do: I gave in to a bit of bullying. And not even very fierce bullying at that. Just a bit of playground barracking really.
It certainly is true that I have no wish to upset anybody, but in this case I did nothing to upset any reasonable person. As has been pointed out several times, people don’t have to read what they don’t like or can’t be bothered to read.
Even when I posted my conciliatory message another complaint came back that it was too long (and to be honest I predicted to myself that that would happen). Surely an attempt to pour oil on the waters could have been met with better grace? And the advice I was given at that point came from who? Shakespeare, certainly. But out of the mouth of Polonius, ever the model for peddlers of well-meaning but empty platitudes and homilies, who ends up skewered as “a rat, dead for a ducat” while snooping around behind an arras, and later becomes the subject of the best black humour joke in the whole of Shakespeare.
Shades of Ulysses too. When Stephen Dedalus goes to visit the tedious Mr Deasy in the Nestor episode of the Telemachiad to receive his pay he is urged to follow Shakespeare’s advice and “put money in thy purse”. Stephen, however, despising the old fool, recognises the line and denounces it as coming from the mouth of Iago, hardly the most trustworthy of Shakespeare’s characters.
Did you see what I did there? Well blow me down, I think I went over the top again in verbosity and high-flown rhetoric. And I played fast and loose with Hamlet, Othello and Ulysses into the bargain. And I bet some people didn’t like it.
As it happens, my blogs are a lot shorter nowadays than they were when I started, simply because as time has gone on I have realised how much time they take. But you are all absolutely right. If it occurs to me to write something then I should just write it whilst exercising normal discretion and otherwise be damned. Let the critics wear their scrolling fingers to the bone.
So many thanks again to all of you. My backbone feels a lot stronger now and my skin has thickened like Sunday’s custard. I certainly don’t feel like capitulating again.
Today’s overlong dialogue stems entirely from astartedon’s hyper sensitivity and unwillingness to accept horryd’s quite correct and overdue comment of this morning about “verbose and irrelevant” content.
It’s about time someone went public on this regular annoyance.
Astartedon’s preambles are akin to fouling people’s doorsteps and telling them when they see it to step over it.
He makes the case against himself yet again by bombarding us with 8 tedious paragraphs of self indulgent and self pitying verbiage. Astartedon is not being bullied at all – just being politely asked not to be so prolix – a sin he has confessed to. Is he not familiar with the term “club bore”?
My heart sinks when I see “astartedon” as the blogger’s name – I know I’ll have to wade through piles of uninteresting, boring and irrelevant material that has nothing to do with the QC – till I eventually reach the blog proper where sanity prevails.
I regret I have been able to stretch my comments to a mere 6 paragraphs.
From a QC novice
Sal
And I am all for bloggers being given rein to say what they want, in whatever way they think fit. They are providing a free service in an entertaining manner. Different styles are all part of the enjoyment.
No one says otherwise.
I think the bloggers get a kick out of it too.
But have a look at astartedon’s last posting. A lot of it is really almost a cut and paste job from a precocious 6th former’s ‘A’ English essay. Does it really belong in a QC forum? Is it interesting? Is it amusing? Is it informative? Is it relevant? What’s the point of it?
I don’t know astartedon but am I getting a slight hint of “Oh! What a clever boy I am” – and you all have to know it.
I can’t prevent the word “logorrhoea” coming to mind.
(Chambers : “an excessive flow of words, uncontrollable garrulity”.)
Long live all the bloggers – and the setters!
If only he had worked at DDB, CDP or Saatchi & Saatchi he might have learnt the ways of David Abbott,John Salmon, Charlie Saatchi, Adrian Holmes,Paul Arden, David Brown et al
Tony Brignull was the master of long copy. One wanted to read every word!
No streams of consciousness thereabouts.
Are you from the Indra Sinha / Salman Rushdie School of advertising?
I worked with all the above (bar Rushdie) – you are not in their class, I can assure you.
I too admired the Advertising greats and I learned a lot from them. I never hero-worshipped them however, whereas it sounds as though horryd has a bad case of the Leo Burnetts – looking up at the stars but not quite getting there? (Sorry, there is no malice intended in that. I simply couldn’t resist the opportunity of misapplying and weaponising one of the great man’s aphorisms in the current context. I know nothing of horryd’s career and I am sure it has been a highly distinguished one.).
For the record I did in fact win a Pharmaceutical Marketing Award for Copywriting, and I say that not to appear clever but simply to put an objective flag in the sand and show that although of course I did not reach the heights of the advertising stars cited by horryd (I mean, obviously, if I had done I would have been one of them, wouldn’t I?) I was at least half-decent at my job. I am also unfashionably proud of the achievement, particularly given that I only spent about a tenth of my total working life at Ogilvy.
(Unfashionable because it is one of the great paradoxes of life that although Adland enthusiastically attends its award bashes and strives to win the glittering prizes, the coolest thing is to drop them in the trash (or recycling bin nowadays) as you leave the ceremony. For people who spend their entire working life trying to attract public attention for their clients it has always amazed me how reluctant they are to accept recognition when they succeed. Perhaps it has something to do with the little piece of research cited by Ogilvy in his advertising ‘Bible’ that something like 75% of Clio Award winners went out of business fairly soon afterwards. But still, it’s nice to be appreciated).
Just in passing though I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Ogilvy. It was the best working fun I ever had (apart from working for myself as I do now) and the friendships I formed there were lasting and pleasurable. It never seemed like work, more like going to a party every day with a group of endlessly interesting and entertaining guests. I would have loved to have carried on but fate took me in another direction and I’m sure horryd and anonymous will be pleased to know that even I will not embark on an explanation of that here.
I am also inordinately proud that anonymous has praised my efforts at Eng Lit Crit so highly. To have my random ramblings compared favourably with a ‘precocious 6th former’s ‘A’ English essay’ must be one of my finest achievements as I never studied it beyond ‘O’ Level (those were the days) and even then I studiously managed to avoid reading any of the set texts (and they didn’t include Othello, Hamlet or Ulysses anyway). And although I didn’t cut and paste it I would not have sniffed at doing that as it has long been my philosophy that all of life is cut and paste. What’s more I learned that in Advertising, where there is nothing new under the sun. If you don’t believe me go back to Pompeii and have a look around. I am sure horryd will agree.
But come on guys, can’t you tell by now that I’m long past caring what I’m writing in these posts? I’m just setting out bait. If you want to bite again then you’re welcome (and I’m sure you will because you seem like the sort of people who like to have the last word) but I won’t respond this time. That’s not to be rude, it’s just to move on. There is a lot more life out there that needs cutting and pasting.
Seriously guys, no hard feelings, I love you to death and I am very grateful that you have taken the trouble to respond to my little blog and comments. As Mr Deasy of Ulysses fame would say “I like to break a lance with you”. There you go, once a precocious 6th former always a precocious 6th former.
What’s so funny ‘bout peace, love and understanding?
I admit I found this particular blog slightly wearing, but you should continue to be your own man. There are other times when I find your observations amusing and I’d hate that to change.
“Nil Illegitimum Carborundum” as we used to claim was the real motto of my old grammar school (it was really “Labor Omnia Vincit” – which made zero appeal to me !)
Curious of NW10
all bloggers are appreciated and if others don’t like it, they can scroll down- it’s not difficult.
I’ve been using the blogs for a couple of years now and can usually fully parse and complete daily! without this blog, I doubt if I would have achieved the same.
many thanks, Carl
Most of those who post don’t need help, most complete in times I find mind boggling, but they clearly enjoy discussing, and competing to varying degrees. I enjoy reading their comments and digressions. Horryd seems as fond of a few digressions as any, generally not directly relevant to the answering of the clue itself. I enjoy that.
I can however, without difficulty, scroll down a few paras if I am in a hurry, or get bored, albeit that I rarely do.
If the answers are all you want, they will be there the next day. If it is chat you want, and help for the likes of me, this is a great resource. I don’t see any need to complain that someone adopts their own approach to a volunteer role in a forum for discussion.
Plymouthian.
Don