A tough one from Izetti, I had to press reveal on a couple.
On the NHO ATE, a couple of points. This goddess needs better marketing. 40 years ago Nike was just as obscure, and she is now one of the largest global brands. Second, we have no doubt all heard “Let slip the Dogs of War”, but scroll back three lines in the Julius Caesar text and there she is:
And Caesar’s spirit, raging for revenge,
With Ate by his side come hot from hell,
Shall in these confines with a monarch’s voice
Cry “Havoc!” and let slip the dogs of war,
Definitions underlined in bold , synonyms in (parentheses) (Abc)* indicating anagram of Abc, other wordplay in [square brackets] and deletions in {curly} brackets.
| Across | |
| 1 | Found out daughter has valid insurance policy? (10) |
| DISCOVERED – D{aughter} + IS COVERED (has valid insurance policy)
Very elegant clue to start off. |
|
| 8 | Guy last to enlist in service (3,3) |
| TEA SET – TEASE (Guy) + {enlis}T
Guy=tease was originally Theatre slang, and is now very dated, and survives only in crosswordland now. |
|
| 9 | Some pondering over nation’s rule (6) |
| GOVERN – Hidden in “pondering over nation” | |
| 10 | Like one with a vast tract of land (4) |
| ASIA – AS (like) + I (one) + A | |
| 11 | Removed a piece of furniture guards delivered (8) |
| ABSENTED – A + BED (piece) of furniture contains [guards] SENT (delivered)
Very smooth surface. |
|
| 12 | You and I occupying home most recently built? (6) |
| NEWEST – NEST (home) contains WE (You and I) | |
| 14 | Distant electronic device (6) |
| REMOTE – Double def
What do people call the Remote Control in their house? We call it the “Channel changer”. |
|
| 16 | Small amount for each fighter (8) |
| SCRAPPER – SCRAP (small amount) + PER (for each) | |
| 18 | Bird to get down suddenly (4) |
| DUCK – Double def
The verb form is very old (C13), we’ve all heard of the Ducking Stool. And has a completely different root from the bird. |
|
| 20 | Force small lock (6) |
| STRESS – S{mall} + TRESS (lock, as in hair)
“Lock” in crosswords often refers to hair, as “flight” often refers to stairs. Worth remembering. |
|
| 21 | Facing of plaster on great housing unit (6) |
| PREFAB – P{laster} + RE (on) + FAB (great) | |
| 22 | Concert going over politician’s head (10) |
| PROMONTORY – PROM (concert) + ON (going) + TORY (politician)
Not sure where the “over” fits, it’s an across clue, so it doesn’t work as a positional indicator. We don’t need another O, and “on” doesn’t really mean “going over”, and it’s not a reversal indicator. Is it an acceptable placement indicator for an across clue? |
|
| Down | |
| 2 | Thoughts tossed aside (5) |
| IDEAS – (ASIDE)* [tossed]
ANother very elegant surface. |
|
| 3 | Investigation in which baddie falls? (7) |
| CASCADE – CASE (investigation) contains CAD (baddie)
Really hard one, with the definition “falls” not what I was expecting at all. Even with all the checkers it was tough. Also confused by the crossword-friendly baddie Jack Cade, but he wasn’t needed this time. |
|
| 4 | Animal doctor providing check (3) |
| VET – Double def
Probably the easiest double def you’ll see. |
|
| 5 | Official back to cover essential point, right (9) |
| REGISTRAR – REAR (back) contains [to cover] GIST (essential point) + R{ight}
Another tough one. I tried to make REGULATOR work, then tried to start it off with REF. |
|
| 6 | Terrible Russian supporting head of dynastic seat (5) |
| DIVAN – D{ynastic} + IVAN (Terrible Russian)
One of the best nicknames, along with Vlad the Impaler. |
|
| 7 | Minister annoying individual about religious instruction (6) |
| PRIEST – PEST (annoying individual) contains RI (religious instruction) | |
| 11 | Stain a pot cooking Italian food (9) |
| ANTIPASTO – (STAIN A POT)* [cooking]
Careful, you need the singular here -O not the more common -I, which is the plural. |
|
| 13 | Old lover to mention thrill (6) |
| EXCITE – EX (old lover) + CITE (mention) | |
| 15 | We’d perished in fog in part of USA (7) |
| MIDWEST – MIST (fog) contains DWE=(WE’D)* [perished]
You know you’ve been doing crosswords for too long when you see a four letter word for fog and think “haar”. |
|
| 17 | Troublemaking female at uni totally demolished (3,2) |
| ATE UP – ATÉ (Greek goddess of ruin and mischief) + UP (at UNI, if your University is Oxbridge). The definition is a bit odd here: “ate up” has quite a few figurative uses none of which quite work for me, but “demolished” has a figurative use of eating up as in “he totally demolished that pizza”. | |
| 19 | Presiding officer in church broadcast (5) |
| CHAIR – CH (church) + AIR (broadcast) | |
| 21 | Person involved in public relations is no amateur (3) |
| PRO – Doble Def?
Is a PRO a Public Relations Officer? A Press Officer? Can’t find a good reference for it. Does “involved in public relations” mean just take the odd letters of “person” or is that a fluke? |
|
Seeing the esteemed bloggers who DNF made me feel better about my worse outing for sometime. Tea Set (Tease for Guy!), Prefab and Promontory not helped by my A in antipasta). Most annoyed about, the easy with hindsight, Remote. Thanks all
No problems with this. Although it had to be “ate up”, I did not know the goddess.
9.52. I suppose that if the Don says ‘absented’ equates to ‘removed’ it must do so.
Dnf…
Was looking forward to this on the train to London – but after 20 mins couldn’t tell if it was hard or I was distracted by the usual delays on Avanti West Coast. In the end, I opted for the former and it seems I wasn’t alone. Like Merlin, I was trying to fit “Regulator” for 5dn, but could see it wouldn’t parse. Didn’t have a clue for 8ac “Tea Set”. One of Izetti’s toughies.
FOI – 4dn “Vet”
LOI – Dnf
COD – 3dn “Cascade”
Thanks as usual!
There have been no trouble making females called ATE in my world. Nor have there been any guy’s referred to as TEASE. Add to these NHOs a slew of other almost impossible clues (CASCADE, ABSENTED, REGISTRAR, etc.) and Izetti has a metaphorical baseball bat with which to club Some Random Chaps like me.
I got there (unaided) in the end, but only after significantly more than an hour had passed. One of the most difficult crosswords I have ever fully solved, I think.
Many thanks to Merlin and Izetti (albeit rather grudgingly).
Horrible day (no surprise there).
I could only get 2 on the Quintagram and then the QC took 30 minutes. Dreadful performance. My level of ability appears as a hidden word in 16ac.
Got about 20 on 15 x 15 in well over an hour.
Why do I put myself through this daily grind when I don’t improve and just become frustrated at my inability to compete with others?
PS Having now read the blog for 15 x 15, there is no way I will ever have the ability to make a proper fist of this. It’s far too advanced for the likes of me.
I completed this one, finding the last third difficult, in about half an hour. Although the app doesn’t indicate the setter’s name (why not? It can’t be all that difficult to add), I surmised that it was an Izetti.
We call the remote control, ‘the dinger’. Our son coined it, years ago, explaining that “if you ding a number, the programme comes on”.
Thanks, to Izetti and Merlin.
Oh well, I went for AbSEnTEE for piece of furniture for 11a.
I can assure one and all that having sent a couple of parcels recently, it doesn’t mean that they are delivered. Otherwise I would not be dealing with insurance companies right now.