Time: 23:56 Not especially difficult, though younger viewers might be challenged by the featured entertainers and some rather odd vocabulary. Our setter seems to be particularly fond of things going backwards – I’ve counted 8 instances, though maths may not be my strong point.
My definitions are underlined in bold italics, and for the most part unwanted letters are shown in []
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Belittle bridge opponents with “mug to lead” (2,4) |
| DO DOWN – These opponents at bridge (the card game) are W[est] and N[orth]. The mug to lead them is a DODO. Chambers 2nd definition: an old-fashioned or stupid person (informal), so it’ll do. | |
| 4 | Called again about faulty gadget (8) |
| RETAGGED – RE for about and an anagram (faulty) of GADGET. | |
| 10 | Criminal lawyer and con man spoke at last in good nick (6,3) |
| NEARLY NEW – An anagram (criminal) of LAWYER and the last letters of coN maN spokE | |
| 11 | Outgoing type stripped twice in store (5) |
| TROVE – Think of EXTROVERT as the outgoing person, take off the outside letters twice. Or do what I did, come up with TROVE and spend a bit of time working out what 4 letters to dress it with. | |
| 12 | Bring back one beer to accompany a big cigar (7) |
| REGALIA – From Spanish, apparently, a similar root to the more familiar meaning of regal trappings. Reverse I (one) LAGER beer and accompany the result with an A. | |
| 13 | Seek further use for components within grey vehicle (7) |
| RECYCLE – The components within gREy added to CYCLE doing duty as a vehicle. | |
| 14 | Spot sheep collectively shifting over to middle of field (5) |
| FLECK – A bunch of sheep, FLOCK, has its O[ver] changed to the middle of fiEld. | |
| 15 | Community has charging point finally switched on (8) |
| TOWNSHIP – Has gives you OWNS, insert into the last letter of poinT and HIP for switched on. I’m hip with that. | |
| 18 | City hospital to decline work (3,5) |
| SAN DIEGO – An older word for hospital, SAN[atorium], DIE for decline and GO for work. Does this go for you? | |
| 20 | Writer’s miserable doctor tried, having neglected case (5) |
| DREAR – Writers apparently tend to drop the Y from dreary. For us its DR (doctor) and a word for tried caseless, [h]EAR[d] | |
| 23 | Drained theatre nurse maybe collars food supplier (7) |
| CATERER – This time the outside letters of T[heatr]E (drained) are used, with a nurse characterised as a CARER taking them in. | |
| 25 | Revolutionary Green leader? That could be incendiary (7) |
| WARHEAD – Green translates to RAW which is reversed, and your leader is a simple HEAD. | |
| 26 | Catches slowcoach delaying son’s appearance (5) |
| NAILS – Slowcoach SNAIL. Move the S[on] to the end. | |
| 27 | Fools lease land west of London (9) |
| BERKSHIRE – Our setter must have known it was me, and I get BERKS for fools (see my derivation comment in my last blog). These ones HIRE or lease. | |
| 28 | Solid shelf delivered with fashionable red backing (8) |
| CYLINDER – the first syllable sounds like SILL or shelf, tack on IN (as is) and a reversed RED | |
| 29 | Act like court has sealed the end for MS Outlook (6) |
| ASPECT – Act like gives you APE, add C[our]T, and insert the end for MS, which appears to be S. | |
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Fine curtailed Trump’s flakiness? (8) |
| DANDRUFF – What, with that wig? Of course, we eschew politics: this is DANDY for fine with its end cut, and in bridge (see 1ac) to RUFF is to use a trump card to win a trick. | |
| 2 | Trail broken leg, bearing pain (7) |
| DRAGGLE – Not, perhaps, the first word you’d come up with for trail, but break a LEG to get GLE, and put DRAG for pain (as …in the neck) on top. | |
| 3 | Popular Liberal upset butcher in garden (4-5) |
| WELL-LIKED – L[iberal] and reversed, upset, KILL for butcher, contained within WEED, one way of gardening. | |
| 5 | Actor and journalist on identical charges having pinched fuel (6,8) |
| EDWARD WOODWARD – Played the police sergeant in the original Wicker Man(and many other roles, of course) ED the journalist takes to WARDs or charges and inserts WOOD as a |
|
| 6 | Casual job rejected by great old buffoon (5) |
| ANTIC – So great is GIGANTIC, remove the GIG pretending to be a casual job. | |
| 7 | Coaching failed to yield first-class dumplings (7) |
| GNOCCHI – An anagram (failed) of COACHING but relieved of its first-class A. | |
| 8 | Increase strength of hideaway, covering leak up (6) |
| DEEPEN – I would never suggest you PEE backwards, but with this version of leak you’re obliged to, placing it within DEN for hideaway. | |
| 9 | Enter bar in felt buckles? That’s an embarrassment (6,8) |
| ENFANT TERRIBLE – An anagram (buckles) of ENTER BAR IN FELT. | |
| 16 | Complaint papers raised ulcer acquired by relative (9) |
| SIDEROSIS – Particle-induced lung disease. Papers ID, the SORE for ulcer, reversed (raised) acquired by SIS for relative. | |
| 17 | One’s inclined to bend the limits of radioisotope dating (8) |
| GRADIENT – An anagram (to bend) of the outside letters of RadioisotopE and DATING. | |
| 19 | Pile of workers want to go topless — Benny, for example (7) |
| ANTHILL – WANT without its top, and broad-humoured Benny HILL, author and performer of Ernie, the fastest milkman in the west. | |
| 21 | Loner’s suitable moment to return, before crowds (7) |
| EREMITE – TIME for suitable moment reversed, and “crowded” by ERE for before. | |
| 22 | Beautiful actions excuse turning up now and then (6) |
| SCENIC – Every other letter (now and then) of aCtIoNs ExCuSe reversed (turned up) | |
| 24 | Partly lifting ottoman is ordinarily a help when varnishing (5) |
| ROSIN – Hidden and reversed in ottomaN IS ORdinarily. Rosin can be used to produce varnish. | |
It took an age to even get started on this but eventually saw ANTHILL in the SW and that started the ball rolling. I found this quite difficult but persevered and managed to solve all but GRADIENT, missed the anagram, DO DOWN, a NHO, WELL-LIKED, DREAR and DANDRUFF. Managed to get the two long downs after a while which helped enormously. I don’t get the CYLINDER/solid thing, surely a cylinder can be hollow, what am I missing? Thought NAILS was clever along with FLECK, my LOI. SIDEROSIS came from the wordplay but I’m sure we’ve had it before. We had berks as fools last week as Z mentions so BERKSHIRE came quite easily along with the recent REGALIA.. Had ANTIC but missed the ‘gig’ bit. Liked TOWNSHIP. RETAGGED it had to be but seems strange for ‘called again’. Saw the exTROVErt thing straight away for ‘store’.
Happy to have made it as far as I did. Z, the wood in 5d is a fuel.
Thanks to Z and setter.
Quad, if it’s a three-dimensional figure it’s regarded as a solid, regardless of its substance / contents / hollowness.
Ok. Thanks G.
Enjoyed this, finishing in 27:51, just 70 seconds over target. The only REGALIA I can find seems to refer to a particular brand.
It’s not in Collins, but it is in the full OED: “A Cuban or other large, high-quality cigar.”
Ah, thanks.
26:41 (70 seconds within target) and I battled all the way. DO DOWN was only vaguely familiar, REGALIA unknown in that sense and I don’t think I’ve heard of SIDEROSIS. Kept thinking of syndesmosis, the injury that now decimates sporting teams despite nobody having heard the expression until a few years ago. In that sense it’s the quinoa of the sporting world.
A good challenge today and a relief to stagger over the finish line. Thanks setter and Z.
I hadn’t heard of either. I must stay in more.
Too much for me. DO DOWN was a write-in as my FOI, then I got all the LH side as far across as EDWARD WOODWARD including the NHO REGALIA cigar (taken on trust) but didn’t find it easy. The remainder of the NE segment was a struggle apart from GNOCCHI, but the SE corner proved impenetrable for ages by which time my energy for the fight had all but gone. I’m always dispirited when I’m reduced to guessing answers and then having confirmed they are correct I am unable to see why. REGALIA, ANTIC, DREAR and ASPECT were four such examples today. Never stood a chance with SIDEROSIS which is making its first appearance here today.
Exactly the same experience. Already irritated by having to guess the unknowns REGALIA and ANTIC, I lost interest in the SE corner and walked. Would never have got SIDEROSIS, even with all crossers – one guess too bloody many.
A steady solve bar one or two oddities .. the nho (as a cigar) regalia, the nho (as a buffoon) antic etc.
I’m too lazy to look up Z’s last reference to berks, but I’m aware that it is rhyming slang in origin, and quite rude. I remember my father, who had been calling people berks all his life, as it were, being quite shocked when he found out the derivation..
Benny Hill’s rather downmarket reputation did for him in the end and saw him booted off TV, but it is a shame because at his best, he was a fine, surreal comedian right up there with Spike Milligan.
V strange film, The Wicker Man, quite dark. Scotland for you, hey?
I found the SE corner hard. Also confused at ASPECT since I didn’t think of APE I had AS CT with P in it and an unexplained E. Had to drag up EREMITE from the deeper recesses of my brain andlike everyone else I had to make up SIDEROSIS. having no recess in my brain that held it. Luckily early on I looed at the long down clues and fllled in EDWARD WOODWRD without any checkers. But finally defeated at the final fence with ANTIC where I just gave up and threw one of the very few words that fitted so pink square for me..
37 minutes, a bit of a struggle. DO DOWN wasn’t difficult, but I’ve never encountered it before as “belittle” – it’s more like “cheat”. “Belittle” is more like “put down” (qv “People try to put us down…”, My Generation by The Who).
Thanks Z and setter.
I loved The Wicker Man, although I was relieved to find out that the ‘religion’ was all hokum. Callan was brilliant too.
Had no idea about the parsing of my LOI ASPECT.
25’42”. I don’t have a target time, is there an algorithm?
Thanks z and setter.
Because of the time constraints of being part of a double bill the film was butchered for showing in cinemas on early releases including a lot of the musical items being cut out. Over the years many of the cuts were restored for TV and video release but I’m not sure there’s ever been a definitive restoration of the original director’s cut.
I have a dvd which describes itself as “directors cut” but have no idea whether it is definitive. When I saw it in the cinema, I certainly remember one “musical item” featuring Britt Ekland!
Well, I’m here with DANDRUFF and CYLINDER understood but not parsed and REGALIA and SIDEROSIS parsed but not understood. At least I knew EDWARD WOODWARD but I sympathise with anyone not old enough to have seen CALLAN. COD to BERKSHIRE. Thank you Z and setter
EDWARD WOODWARD my FOI was helpful–I’ve just finished watching the surviving Callan episodes–but this still took a solid hour, finishing with a guess at ANTIC where I hadn’t thought of “gig”.
Tricky. A few NHOs, as others. Couldn’t parse ANTIC or ASPECT. Can’t see Edward Woodward without remembering his Australian TV ad. Liked dandruff and cylinder and fleck most. Thanks all.
51 mins but past caring. Don’t remember Callan but the Wicker Man is a classic though from first viewing as a teenager it’s Britt Ekland I remember most vividly.
It is interesting to see other solvers times, I have noticed mine are often inversely proportional to some peeps which can be a good indication of likely enjoyment. The last couple of days are good examples.
Thanks Zabadak and setter.
Over 40′ and for some reason made a real meal of the SE corner which, once solved, seemed easier than I thought. (I didn’t see the GRADIENT anagram which would have helped and was looking for something more precisely “incendiary”). A few other unparsed biffs made this a less than satisfactory win, but always glad to finish.
I can’t remember seeing Z’s “Berk” derivation (maybe before my time here) but if it’s the same one I heard then I’m surprised he got it through the censors! Smelling salts please…
Thanks Zabadak and setter.
My blog, a fortnight ago. I’m quite good at getting past the censors!
ah yes, same derivation. It can be a term of endearment in Glasgow, that word we shouldn’t say 🙂
My history teacher said it was because eighteenth century people didn’t like ‘Reflections on the revolution in France’.
From DO DOWN to GRADIENT in 32:08. There were several points where I got stuck for a while before teasing out just one more answer to keep going. The SE was the final hold up. SIDEROSIS, DREAR, BERKSHIRE and WARHEAD all had to be dredged up the hard way. In the NW REGALIA, DRAGGLE and DANDRUFF all helped to extend my time. Rewarding to actually finish without a pink square though. Thanks setter and Z.
21:50. That was quite hard. DNK the cigar, but vaguely remembered SIDEROSIS without knowing what it affected. LOI ASPECT. I liked DANDRUFFAs for EDWARD WOODWARD it reminds me of the series of jokes “What do you call a man with a/two/three plank(s) in his head?” – Edward, Edward Wood and Edward Woodward. Thank-you Z and setter.
What do you call a man with four planks on his head?
I don’t know, but Edward Woodward would!
42:57. This was tough! LOI was ANTIC and not understood.
I wasn’t too keen on NEARLY NEW with 3 of the letters required for the anagram fodder needing to be derived from the end letters of sequential words, all indicated by ‘at last’. I know others don’t seem to mind this device.
Thanks to Z and our setter.
Gently, gently Johnny, gently Johnny my …. what? Gigolo? That was with Britt and Edward upstairs, I seem to recollect. Whizzed through half the clues, then slowed down, ending on 23’30”. This is more or less my average, so the Snitch should be 100. Took a long time parsing CYLINDER till I saw the delivered shelf. SIDEROSIS — which I see is also called Welder’s disease — I guessed from the French sidérurgie, which means the iron and steel industry. From the Greek Sideros. Many thanks.
PS. Turns out Snitch is higher – 131 at time of writing. So Nitch 100, Witch 70. Whoop whoop.
I’d always thought an ENFANT TERRIBLE was some sort of young prodigy who behaves unconventionally. Not necessarily an embarrassment. But I see that Collins uses the word ’embarrassment’ in its definition, so perhaps it’s OK. Lots of words here that were largely unknown to me and which I had to look up to confirm. If a crossword has a SNITCH of 130 is it ‘not especially difficult’?
I had the same thought. When I’ve seen the term used it’s generally been intended as a compliment!
Fully agree – ENFANT TERRIBLE is usually used to describe someone who is talented but is not a particularly pleasant person.Never seen it in a context where it is a source of embarrassment, but let us bow down before the wisdom of Collins.
I felt a sense of achievement on completing this, but I would not call it enjoyment. It took me the best part of an hour, on the train, with the usual interruptions. It was not just things going backwards, but things needing to be chopped off other things which were not immediately obvious. But it takes all sorts.
FOI – RETAGGED
LOI – ANTIC
COD – DANDRUFF.
Thanks to Zabadak and other contributors.
In his sonnet “Bright Star” Keats refers to the star as “Nature’s ceaseless eremite”. Poetic variation on hermit.
Couldn’t finish this, though it was NW rather than SE that did for me. I blame the holiday injections I had this morning.
Thanks Z.
I disagree that this is straightforward! I am having a slow day, but even so, this took 52:24 and was a real battle. NHO many of several answers and/or parts of the wordplay.
I’m not sure I did enjoy this really. A little bit too difficult and obscure for my liking.
Couldn’t finished because I had SMEAR (Rams – sheep- shifted into reverse) around E, so couldn’t make the down clues. 🙄
21.39
I seem to be spending a lot of time with the wavelength recently as I steadily worked through this trusting the w/p and seeing SIDEROSIS and DRAGGLE miraculously appear.
Really liked it, particularly DANDRUFF and RETAGGED. A couple of chuckles along the way as well. Thanks setter.
And a fantastic blog as always from Mr Z.
‘Not especially difficult’ …really? Let’s hope tomorrow’s is a bit more challenging!
DNF, defeated by DRAGGLE and ANTIC (I hadn’t come across its buffoon meaning).
– Didn’t know REGALIA as a cigar but got there from wordplay
– Had no idea how DANDRUFF worked
– Thought the same as Wil Ransome above regarding ENFANT TERRIBLE
– Trusted the wordplay to get SIDEROSIS
– Hesitated over EREMITE as I thought ‘crowds’ meant it was ‘ere’ being inserted into ‘time’
Thanks Zabadak and setter.
COD Edward Woodward
Thanks to the setter for this fun puzzle.
Apologies – I didn’t time myself doing the puzzle. I did most of it on the train into work then got the last few during my lunchbreak just now. I finished with the SE corner and ANTIC.
Among many fine clues my favourite was DANDRUFF.
14:56. I found that tricky, particularly in the SE corner. I enjoyed it a lot.
SIDEROSIS rang a vague bell and I wondered if it was one of the diseases that used to pop up in House. It seems not. It was a bit of a running joke that they would always think that the mystery syndrome of the week was sarcoidosis, but it never was.
In our work weekly “Case of the week”, Sarcoid and Lupus were always the first guesses…. until COVID came along (it had an equally surprising constellation of effects).
I enjoyed this but, then again, I finished!
Oh, and I interpreted WORK=GO as referring to machinery
All finished in about 40 minutes. Didn’t see why it was CYL in CYLINDER, until explained. Didn’t spot the now and then reversal for SCENIC. But no unknown words.
One man’s not especially difficult is another man’s impenetrable forest. Would never have got Dandruff without every checker which I wouldn’t have because regalia and fleck refused to yield. Draggle not the first or the nth word I would come up with for trail. Antic as old buffoon is a NHO for me, eremite a NHO full stop. Somehow I vaguely knew siderosis. In other words, today was an absolute disaaaster darling. There’s always tomorrow.
Thx v and setter
Really a fun day, still 50. Mins but steady! Loved the Berkshire clue and requisite tittering, and Dandruff, without knowing that Ruff meant anything, just enjoyed the thought attached to you know who! Also enjoyed siderosis, trove and drear, great fun, thanks all, Cx
27 mins, only slightly slower than average. I took too long on RETAGGED – is it a word in actual use? I just about recalled SIDEROSIS. EDWARD WOODWARD went straight in. I was an avid fan of Callan, and The Wicker Man was unforgettably sinister, helped by Christopher Lee being the laird. Thanks, Blogger, for explaining ANTIC’s wordplay, I’d never have got it otherwise. First in was GNOCCHI and last DO DOWN. Favourite clue: to SAN DIEGO. Thank you Setter and Blogger.
I did wonder what the B was doing in my confident answer of BRENTFORD… silly me.
17:26 feeling quite good about myself only to realise I had put in INFANT TERRIBLE. Nothing like a pink square to bring you down to earth. A complete brain fart I promise I know the correct spelling.
Seemed one of those puzzle where despite not knowing some of the vocab the word play was kind enough that I only needed the bits I did to take a stab at the answer.
COD EDWARD WOODWARD
A slowish and incomplete but enjoyable and fair solve today, I had 6 left in the SE corner and failed to parse the only one there that I did correctly answer, ASPECT. I don’t see the issue with DO DOWN, which very much means ‘put down’ or ‘belittle’ and very much doesn’t mean ‘cheat’ by my lights. Can anyone provide an example of where ‘called again’ and RETAGGED are substitutable?
I would use “do down” to refer to actions, and “put down” to refer to words. Just me, no doubt..
Reminded of the old joke: What do you call a man with a plank on his his head?
Edward!
What do you call a man with three planks on his head?
Edward Woodward
What do you call a man with four planks on his head?
I don’t know, but Edward Woodward would
35 mins, much of it spent on ANTIC and TROVE, neither of which revealed themselves with the literal. I still can’t see a trove being a store.
I took it that a treasure TROVE is a bunch of valuables in store waiting to be found.
40:08
Considering the Snitch when I checked was at 129 giving me a target of 49m30s, this seemed to go quite well. Thought of DRAGGLE early on, but thought that was something to do with being wet – went in with a shrug near the end. Ditto ANTIC, again from wordplay, NHO of the definition. Considered SCLEROSIS for the ailment but obvs didn’t work. Failed to fully parse ASPECT too, thinking like = AS.
Thanks Z and setter
Just finished this, this morning, Z, after a busy day in the garden yesterday, when this big yellow thing appeared in the sky for the first time in Cornwall this year. I found this tough but fair and finished with everything parsed bar ASPECT and ANTIC. I just wanted to say thank you for an excellent blog.
You’re very welcome!
Not too sad to have solved all but DREAR, WARHEAD, ASPECT, EREMITE, GRADIENT. Well, should have got EREMITE but I was tired. (On edit, I spent probably too much time chortling at the to me funny name EDWARD WOODWARD, especially amusing when contrasted with the expression usually found on his face.) Thanks much for the great blogging, Zabadak. And thanks setter for an amusing challenge.