| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Bishop and I will advertise a list of actors (4) |
| BILL – B + I’LL. | |
| 4 | For classicists this hack causes something of a problem (8) |
| HICCOUGH – HIC (Latin for this) + COUGH. | |
| 10 | Countermand from Caesar’s unit — anyone with plough (9, three words) |
| AS YOU WERE – AS + YOU W/ERE. An as was a heavy Roman bronze coin, and to ere is to plough. | |
| 11 | One responds when Academy bores head of university college (7) |
| REACTOR – RE(A)CTOR. | |
| 12 | Such nobles led by page would be paragons (5) |
| EARLS – [p]EARLS. | |
| 14 | Where sumotori gather round one not moving (7) |
| STABILE – STAB(I)LE. Stable here is the commonest translation of the Japanese word for sumo wrestlers’ communal training and living facility. | |
| 15 | Pretence for us in going real (6) |
| ACTUAL – (-us,+ACT)UAL. As in the going price. | |
| 16 | Kill formality to some extent as a subject for discussion (5) |
| TOPIC – TOP + IC[e]. Of course, ice can mean kill as well, but not here. | |
| 18 | Drink affected a current recipe first (7) |
| CAMPARI – CAMP + A + R + I, a compendium of one-letter cryptic cliches. | |
| 23 | English giant shifting grand glut (7) |
| ENGORGE – ENG + OGRE with the G moved back one position. | |
| 24 | Poet’s comparatively dry part of Miserere (5) |
| SERER – Hidden in [Mi]SERER[e]. | |
| 25 | Chinese vase’s plant (6) |
| CHOLLA – CH + OLLA, a cactus. | |
| 28 | Scottish offices being the opposite of schools’ regulator, we hear (7) |
| ONSTEAD – (-off,+ON)STEAD. Off is heard, because the regulator is OFSTEAD. | |
| 29 | Afternoon spectators on the way somewhere (5) |
| AGATE – A + GATE. Not related to the gem. | |
| 30 | Cooking pot which divides opinion (7) |
| MARMITE – Possibly a reference to Marmite the sticky paste, a love it or hate it food. Other interpretations invited. | |
| 31 | Description of capers, his exceptionally (9) |
| ECPHRASIS – Anagram of CAPERS, HIS, more usually spelt ekphrasis. | |
| 32 | Cross about mentor’s disguise (8) |
| TRAVESTY – T(RAV)ESTY. | |
| 33 | So informally husband getting into shabby schmutter (4) |
| THAT – T(H)AT. | |
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Bank on the Bard’s flying cloud and first of some ironic cheers (8) |
| BARRACKS – BAR + RACK + S[ome]. | |
| 2 | McGonagall’s sort of grey lyric, free of accepted craft (5) |
| LYART – L[a]Y + ART. | |
| 3 | Investments being certainty for Trump over successes (7, two words) |
| LOCKUPS – LOCK + UPS, where Trump is bought in only to indicate an Americanism. Biden used to have this job. | |
| 4 | Rodent’s whiff mostly on north facing island (5) |
| HUTIA – HU[m] + AIT backwards. | |
| 5 | Sure murderer accepting gallows, barely looking up (7) |
| CERTAIN – C([e]ERT)AIN. The gallows are often referred to as a tree in Old and Middle English poetry. | |
| 6 | Design eccentricity in jalopy perhaps (6) |
| CREATE – CR(E)ATE. | |
| 7 | Somehow ruin a synonym for less excellent (7) |
| UNRIPER – Anagram of RUIN + PER. | |
| 8 | In an irritating way fish inside frighten on whalers (9) |
| GALLINGLY – GAL(LING)LY. Gally is indeed whaling slang, and does mean to frighten. | |
| 9 | What goes inside tight shoe? (4) |
| HOSE – Anagram of SHOE, an &lit | |
| 13 | Inventor of torture perhaps — namely, one of the Furies (9) |
| SCAVENGER – SC. + AVENGER. Originally Skevington, you can look him up. | |
| 17 | Most reasonable London suburb free of mass nuisance (8) |
| CHEAPEST – CHEA[m] + PEST. | |
| 19 | Spoil, with mounting woeful wail, wine (7) |
| MARSALA – MAR + ALAS upside-down. | |
| 20 | Short cleric active on those whipped into line makes good (7) |
| REVAMPS – REV + A + MPS, as in a three-line whip. | |
| 21 | I never complain lifting cross then cap (7) |
| DOORMAT – ROOD upside-down, then TAM upside down. | |
| 22 | Flight home for Mitsotakis (6) |
| GREECE – Double definition, one a variant spelling of a Scots word for a staircase. | |
| 26 | Good to stay away from Indian vehicle’s nag (5) |
| HARRY – [g]HARRY. | |
| 27 | Scots active independent in leaderless body (5) |
| LEISH – [f]LE(I)SH. | |
| 28 | Something for drying pipes when night finally falls (4) |
| OAST – OATS where [nigh]T moves down one position. | |
After getting a smattering of answers spread around the grid pretty easily earlier in the week, I had meant to get back to this, but suddenly realized the time today at around 6 o’clock and figured I’d not be able to finish it before the blog went up. Instead, I wound up working the whole thing by 7 (19h, American time). I’m actually not sure I get the pun, though… Bill Hitchcock? Billy club? Those seem pretty far-fetched…
…
Well, whaddya know: “The Billie Cup is a reusable and exchangeable cup that reduces disposable waste and increases circularity on campus.”
30A MARMITE: just before the def for Marmite in Chambers, you should have marmite = a French cooking pot. There’s a picture of one on a Marmite label, as illustrated here in another puzzle context – https://petersjigsaws.wordpress.com/2025/07/05/gibson-the-marmite-puzzle/
Also of course marmite is used adjectively as “you hate it or you love it”. It’s a very common idiom in British English and rather surprises me that that meaning is not in Chamber’s. I’d say that half the British population regard marmite on toast as an essential part of the British breakfast and the other half don’t. I love it! However the antipodean version Vegemite I can’t stand, which just goes to illustrate the marmite effect.
The interesting thing about marmite is that’s byproduct of the brewing industry. The process to reclaim spent yeast was an invention of Justus von Liebig of condenser fame.
The ‘love it or hate it’ thing with Marmite is pure marketing invention, and I thought the clue needed a question mark to reflect that. I, like a great many people, can take Marmite or leave it, I eat it from time to time but not regularly.
The real distinction is between people who grew up with the stuff, who might love it or (again, like me, think it’s OK), and people who didn’t, who invariably find it incomprehensibly disgusting!
I didn’t know the origin of that phrase. We once commissioned a full structural survey for a house we were considering. The surveyor’s report opened with “This is something of a marmite house …” We didn’t buy it.
😄
I don’t fully understand the parsing of ACTUAL. I assumed that it is:
ACT (pretence) + USUAL (real) – US (from the clue) but I’m using US in both the definition and wordplay.
When I suggested this as a possibility explanation of a Sunday cryptic clue a few weeks ago someone cried foul. What am I missing?
I really liked the puzzle. It was a steady solve Monday evening. The pun wasn’t obvious to me. Had to google for likely candidates and found Billie Cup. Is that it? (So it is, thanks Guy). Never come across that before. It’s not in any of my dictionaries.
“Going” is “usual.” ACT is (put in) “for” (i.e., replaces) US in that word. To give us ACTUAL, “real.”
Ah, thank you Guy. Got it! It’s a substitution clue. I often miss those
Yes, it is notated as substitution, with the minus and plus signs.
Ok noted. Thanks
I usually look at these and wonder how anyone gets any of the clues.
Once in a blue moon I manage a few answers.
This week’s was the rarest of moons as I finished it – although I cheated on a couple ( I obviously didn’t submit).
It helped that 1ac went straight in – which is not that common with me in QCs, and that there were very few words I had not heard of. I liked the very tight clueing.
Part of my brain did wonder about Trump in 3d, given the answer – but I am dutifully ignoring this.
Is this the origin of the pun?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wide_Open_Spaces_(1924_film)
The film was originally called ” Wild Bill Hiccough” This was a parody about a film about Billy Hickok , who apparently was an American folk hero
Thanks to setter and for the blog.
I found this remarkably straightforward, finishing in just under 20 minutes (probably a PB, although I don’t record such things!), despite pausing to look up a couple of things (curiosity, rather than checking).
Small points: in 28ac, the “regulator” is Ofsted and in 7dn, I think the definition is “synonym for less excellent”.
Yes agreed that ‘synonym for’ needs underlining in 7dn. My other very minor point is that ERE in 10ac is a verb.
Straightforward stuff.
Sorry, I didn’t really read the definition of ere/ear in Chambers, just saw plough and moved on.
Whereas of course I had never heard the word so looked it up to check – ignorance can be an advantage!
Thanks Paul and Vinyl. Very clearly clued- but a lot of the parsing eluded me as is often the case so grateful for Vinyl’s blog. For 1down- I take it BAR= BANK, but could someone please explain how Bard’s flying cloud = RACK?
It’s in Chambers – rack (6) a flying cloud (Shakespeare).
Thanks Vinyl
Late to the party, but I thought this was a bit of fun and did get me on a text rant with vinyl1 about marmite and vegemite (both of which is find utterly disgusting).