Solving Time: Not too bad this time, a little bit under the hour in two sessions. Apologies if this blog is a bit briefer than usual, it is being launched from sunny Qatar where I am at present, visiting my daughter. This month’s crossword is as good as ever, the best regular offering that The Times provides, or so I think. I suspect it is a pangram too..
| Across |
| 1 |
Pseudo-archaic – DUES + P rev., + OAR + CH (I) C |
| 9 |
Oread – Swedish currency, = ORE (or more correctly ÖRE – and not to be confused with ØRE which are what the Danes and Norwegians use) + bill = AD, to make one of the various kinds of nymph that were once so much more common than they seem to be now. I blame modern industrial farming… an example of a famous Oread would be Echo. |
| 10 |
Dulcamara – (drama)* containing ACLU rev., ie the American Civil Liberties Union. It turns out that bittersweet is another name for the woody nightshade, and dulcamara is an extract thereof used as a medicine. |
| 11 |
Epiplastra – craft market = ART SALE rev., containing PIP = resentment. A cunning clue. |
| 12 |
Rukh – RUSH, with the S replaced by a K. Rukh is one of several alternatives for the better known ROC, a mythical (thank the lord) bird large enough to carry off an elephant. Also to sink and destroy Sinbad the Sailor’s ship.. |
| 14 |
Lokshen – L OK’s HEN – very droll, and raised a smile at the time. Locksh is a Yiddish word for noodle, derived from Russian. |
| 16 |
Pot-herb – lead = PB containing OTHER, which I take rather on trust to be a possible synonym for “further.” My usual test is to think of a phrase or sentence where the one word can be substituted for the .. other, but in this case nothing comes immediately to mind |
| 17 |
Rorqual – hidden in terROR QUALms |
| 19 |
Chalutz – C + HALT + Z containing U for united. One of a number of Jewish words which I think are beloved of setters because they contain so many Xs, Zs and similar. |
| 20 |
Humf – the first letters of Hear and Uproar, + M = medium = “quite,” + F for Forte, ie loudly. Humf is Scottish for carrying something cumbersome, ie to hump something.. |
| 21 |
Ex mero motu – EU containing TO + MORE + M for Middlesex, all rev. Possibly not the most convincing surface reading, but as Dr Johnson almost said after hearing a woman preach a sermon, the miracle is that it can be done at all.. |
| 24 |
Fizzle out – sparkle = FIZZ with the star group LEO + UT = “unlit, void” |
| 25 |
Twice – T + W + ICE |
| 26 |
Varnishing day – change = VARY containing (SHADING IN)* – another very slick clue. Varnishing day, when artists could put the finishing touches to their work before an exhibition opened, was new to me but it conjured up a fun scene in my mind which I discover has been captured by du Maurier – note the reference to Turner, too.. |
| Down |
| 1 |
Propeller shaft – prim = PROPER containing ELL = “English lines,” + “quiet at the back” = SH AFT.. More often called a drive shaft nowadays except by old fogeys like me. |
| 2 |
Elemi – ELM + I containing E |
| 3 |
Didelphous – fixed = DID + (UP HOLES)* |
| 4 |
Addison – ADD ON containing IS. Addison is one of a small number of regular essayists, along with Lamb, and, er… |
| 5 |
Caltrop – it seems the idea is you start with “tropical,” and then the wordplay somehow transforms that into caltrop, which by extension from its primary meaning of a trap for feet or hooves, is a name given to various plants. I know it better as a calthrop but both are used. The CIA apparently regarded it as the “perfect weapon,” which probably says more about them in particular, and us in general, than one would really want said. |
| 6 |
Ajax – A + JA + X .. Not just a household cleanser but a Greek hero too, cousin of Achilles. |
| 7 |
Chalumeau – CHATEAU, with the T replaced by LUM to make an ancient pipe, which amazingly is still in use and available for purchase
|
| 8 |
Bashi-Bazoukery – ah, Bashi-bazouks.. brutal but romantic Turkish irregular soldiers from the days of the Ottoman Empire. How on earth could you clue such a word? It is “party with one” = BASH + I, + “source of bread” = BAKERY, including Z + OU = “unknown in France, or” … |
| 13 |
Strapontin – a strapontin is a tip-up occasional seat, such as the rear-facing seats in London black cabs. I dare anyone, next time they use a cab, to ask the cabbie if they can use his strapontin? I think the wordplay is just a cryptic def, STRAP ON TIN etc. |
| 15 |
Karamazov – (VA + OZARK)* containing Massachusetts = MA. Very clever to transfer such a very Russian name to the US like that.. I have a copy of the “Brothers Karamazov,” in two volumes, in totally unread condition bar the first seven or eight pages.. |
| 18 |
Lex loci – LEO (Tolstoy) + Ci containing XL. Ci is the abbreviation for the Curie, an old unit of radioactivity now replaced by the Becquerel (Bq). Surely that is enough latin for one crossword? English language not rich enough, prima facie? |
| 19 |
Cheetah – recoil from = HATE + what? = EH + C all rev., very neat clue. |
| 22 |
Obied – OED containing containing B + I. I hereby declare Obi and its various spellings to be henceforth a crossword cliché.. |
| 23 |
Flor – in place of = FOR containing litres = L to make “growth affecting sherry.” This word has also cropped up a few times lately but sherry is one of my favourite drinks, so I forgive it. A fine sherry from the likes of Lustau is perhaps the only way left to us, of buying one of the world’s best, most complex and interesting wines for o a tenner. |
However, I can’t make 5D work. If CALTROP “switches parts” it becomes trop-cal. Where do we get the “i” from to make “tropical”? Also agree with you about the Latin. Just started to grate after a while.
So far as 5dn is concerned, you will have noticed that I admitted to some uncertainty there.. the clue does contain the word “one”and my best guess is that “one such spiny plant” means “CALTROP + I” which by then swapping parts would become TROPICAL. I suppose as we are both so uncertain it should not really be considered a good clue but I do like the way it asks you to get the answer by effectively working backwards from a different answer, if you see what I mean. Inventive.