(In the clues, definitions are underlined and anagram indicators are in bold italics. In the explanations (ABC)* indicates an anagram of abc. Deletions and other devices are indicated accordingly, I hope).
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Last drink — cheers! (7,2) |
| BOTTOMS UP – BOTTOM (last) + SUP (drink) | |
| 6 | Some ignoramus, a proper idiot! (3) |
| SAP -Hidden (some) in ignoramuS A Proper | |
| 8 | A canoe I adapted for Pacific region (7) |
| OCEANIA – (A CANOE I)* | |
| 9 | Club employees (5) |
| STAFF – Double definition | |
| 10 | Bleeper beginning to provoke dreadful rage (5) |
| PAGER – P (beginning to Pager) + (RAGE)* | |
| 12 | Paid close attention to extraordinary deed by that man (6) |
| HEEDED – (DEED)* after HE (that man) | |
| 14 | Converted to supersonic, English jet, say (8,5) |
| PRECIOUS STONE – (TO SUPERSONIC)* + E (English)
Jet is a type of lignite which appears very black in the images I googled. Jet black I guess. |
|
| 16 | Couple aboard ship scrubbing the decks, perhaps? (2,4) |
| AT WORK – TWO (couple) “aboard” ARK (ship) | |
| 17 | Game with hands — and index finger? (5) |
| POKER – Double definition | |
| 19 | Honour a hospital department (5) |
| AWARD – A + WARD (hospital department) | |
| 20 | One politician for every one charge (7) |
| IMPEACH – I (one) + MP (politician) + EACH (for every one) | |
| 22 | Get down story (3) |
| LIE – Double definition | |
| 23 | A ruler got mistaken for governor (9) |
| REGULATOR – (A RULER GOT)* | |
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Poisoner flexed elbow having implanted seed (8) |
| BLOWPIPE – (ELBOW)* “having implanted” PIP (seed)
BLOWPIPE is used to describe a number of implements. The one referenced here is used for propelling poisoned darts towards one’s victim. I suspect it’s one of those things that featured more prominently in shows like Tarzan than it did in real life. See also quicksand. |
|
| 2 | Digit that’s over eight, first of all (3) |
| TOE – Initial letters (first of all) of That’s Over Eight | |
| 3 | Proprietor hugged by grandchildren woken up (5) |
| OWNER – Reverse hidden (hugged by…..up) in grandchildREN WOken | |
| 4 | Bold wife in belt, doing that up? (13) |
| SWASHBUCKLING – W (wife) in SASH (belt) + BUCKLING (doing that up?)
“That” of course is referencing the belt mentioned earlier in the clue. |
|
| 5 | Notices distributed to press (7) |
| POSTERS – (TO PRESS)* | |
| 6 | Gardening prep? (9) |
| SPADEWORK – Double definition
(Thanks 34kwhit for the correction). One definition is “hard or routine preparatory work” in any field. The other is an actual description of a specific gardening chore. Or if you think of SPADEWORK as a “gardening prep” chore then it’s a double def with the whole thing serving as a definition as well. |
|
| 7 | Advert for type of pastry? (4) |
| PUFF – Double definition
Is puff ok for advert? I know we have puff pieces, and we can puff something up, but I’m not sure of a situation where the word puff could directly replace the word advert. The verb form of advert means “to call attention to” something but that’s not the same as puffing it. Or maybe it is. I won’t be losing any sleep over it in any case. |
|
| 11 | Dog barking at grenade (5,4) |
| GREAT DANE – (AT GRENADE)* | |
| 13 | Hunter, marksman from the southeast? (8) |
| SEARCHER – SE (southeast) + ARCHER (marksman) | |
| 15 | Straight, as might be a nun? (2,5) |
| IN ORDER – Double definition | |
| 17 | Border raised, lifted for student (5) |
| PUPIL – [LIP (border) + UP (raised)] all reversed (lifted) | |
| 18 | Great time for bouncer? (4) |
| BALL – Double definition
Of course you can get from “bouncer” to ball with just “something that bounces” and the question mark plays its part there. But there’s a more specific definition in the cricket universe which has to do with a fast bowler trying to remove a batter’s head. “Chin music” to our American baseball friends (go the Jays). |
|
| 21 | Fit character starting arduous physical training (3) |
| APT – A [initial letter 0f (character starting) Arduous] + PT (physical training)
I originally had this as “Initial letters 0f (character starting) Arduous Physical Training”. Then wondered why it was character and not characters. A subtle distinction and another reminder that our wonderful setters very rarely get it wrong. |
|
There could be even another double definition – “spadework” can refer to either gardening (cheekily, hence the question mark) or prep independently.
Thanks Galspray and Mara!
Yes, I think you’re right 34 (may I call you 34?). In fact I think that’s what I originally had in mind, but then, being in a hurry (and hungry)…
Will edit now.
19.16. Fast, then slow, then crawl. But got there in the end. NHO PUFF as advert.
Pi ❤️
A most enjoyable puzzle, completed in 8:39 for a rare week of 6 puzzles done in under an hour. And some really sparkling clues from Mara today – hard to choose a COD. LOI was SWASHBUCKLING; I have always wondered what the swash is that is being buckled.
I notice no less than eight clues end in question marks; I think this is quite a high number, and as setters often seem to use question marks for their quirkier or more imaginative clues, I suspect Mara enjoyed setting this one.
Many thanks Galspray for the blog.
C16: from swash (in the archaic sense: to make the noise of a sword striking a shield) + buckler
Started with BOTTOMS UP and finished with AT WORK in 7.30.
Thanks to Mara and Galspray (congrats on your century).
Was on for a rare sub ten but crawled over the line in 11:08 out of puff at work.
Ta GAM
Minor subbing:
This blog is uncategorised, so it’s not showing up in the QC section (I thought I’d beaten the blog when I first completed it at 6am BST)
5d currently has POSTERS as an anagram of itself, rather than TO PRESS
Pedantry aside, I found this pretty straightforward by my standards (as indicated by the 6am finish!)
PUFF in 7d is ok, I think. Puff as a dismissive term – if you were dubious about the claims made “it’s just puff” / “it’s just an advert”
Thanks to galspray & Mara for a good start to the weekend.
Cheers for that. Both errors fixed now I hope.
Your example has puff = “an advert”, not “advert”, so my (mild) doubts linger.
Just the nine in 30 minutes. Eight in 20. After that reveal and work with crossers to complete the puzzle.
I had a good day today, so the 30 minute metric didn’t come into play for me. It won’t last, though. It never does.
We like anagrams and find DDs can be a mixed bag, so delighted to finish in 11.33.
Would have been close to the magical 10 minutes but one of those puzzles where we stopped to go over several clues after entering, to marvel at the setter’s artistry. COD to Great Dane
Thanks Mara for an enjoyable start to our weekend and Galspray for the extra entertainment.
4.27
Big congratulations on the ton. Can understand you want to get some century celebrations in now, in case the forthcoming hostilities provide thin pickings 🙂
No problems here this morning, even caffeine-free. Not sure whether that means my mileage is high or low (stationary and prone more like!)
Amusing blog as always. Solid puzzle – liked BOTTOMS UP.
A good puzzle. BOTTOMS UP went in straight away but I was left with too many gaps after picking off the other ‘sitters’. I usually polish off anagrams quickly but PRECIOUS STONE took me much too long (having been sidetracked by planes and spouts). I found some of the longer answers difficult today (a massive clang when the penny dropped for my LOI SWASHBUCKLING after a slow alphabet trawl).
No complaints, though, it was all fair. However, after a reasonable time for the bulk of the puzzle, my LOI took me into the SCC again. I think I have a frequent visitor pass this week. I hope it will have expired by Monday.
Thanks to Mara and to Galspray for an entertaining (hundredth) blog.
Congrats on your ton-up, Galspray!
13 minutes. Mara not fully descended from the heights of his Guardian puzzle this week perhaps?
15:21 – quite a rapid solve for me. Biffed SWASHBUCKLING and wondered about PUFF = advert, but worked steadily through the rest.
Like Pi: fast, slow, crawl but a little slower and ended the week in the SCC at 20:44.
Held up by the two long crossing clues and also AT WORK which I failed to parse. A fun puzzle, thanks to Mara and Galspray.
I linked puff to advert by recalling some training I had on contract law many many years ago, whereby iirc some advertising claims do not form part of a contract. Such claims are “mere puff”. Or something like that.
Congratulations on your 100, Galspray. Thanks to you and all the bloggers who add immeasurably to the pleasure of crossword solving.
8:48
Some of the double defs held me up until checkers appeared. LOI BALL.
18 mins…
Seriously thought I wasn’t going to finish this as I hurtled through most of the grid only to come to a grinding halt at 4dn. Must have stared at it for a good 5 minutes before it finally twigged.
Congrats on the 100 Galspray.
FOI – 1ac “Bottoms Up”
LOI – 4dn “Swashbuckling”
COD – 16ac “At Work”
Thanks as usual!
Just 15 minutes, so a rare day out from the SCC for me. Spoilt only by having to sit through a half-hour delay at Southampton station, due to a cancelled connecting service. Oh well!
Many thanks to Galspray and Mara.
Enjoyable puzzle. Was a bit slow on the anagram for LOI PRECIOUS STONE.
Some easy ones.
Liked SPADEWORK, IN ORDER, AT WORK, BLOWPIPE, among others.
In the media world, PUFF is a familiar word. Yes, it can replace advert, sort of.
Thanks vm, Galspray. Congrats on 100 blogs!
Steady solve until SEARCHER and IMPEACH which both took a lot of contemplation before the pennies dropped.
I thought ‘Dog barking at grenade’ was a lovely surface.
Thanks Mara and congratulations to Galspray on 100 blogs. We are all very grateful for the contribution made by you and your fellow bloggers.
35:32
As the SCC approached I still had 3 to go. Those 3, SWASHBUCKLING, AT WORK and LOI IN ORDER added another quarter hour to the clock!
Congrats on the ton, galspray, superb innings!
9.16 PRECIOUS STONE was nice. BALL LOI. Thanks Mara and congratulations galspray!
13:37, liked HEEDED best. Didn’t really get BOTTOMS UP, oh thank you galspray, I really should read the blog before commenting. At 5d I anagrammed “notices” to get the non-answer SECTION, threw that out, and had to revisit later to see something sensible.
Thanks Mara and galspray.
Oh and congratulations to galspray, long may you blog!
15:40 (average: 35, target: 30)
I found it very light today. Way over half the puzzle went straight in which is quite unusual for me and then with all the checkers I don’t normally have it was relatively easy to unpick the missing ones.
I hadn’t spotted the anagram on POSTERS. I thought it was a strange double definition while I was solving.
Warm applause and a standing ovation from the stands and evidently the pavilion too on the major milestone brought up elegantly with a great write up.
Thanks Galspray and Mara.
I also doubted PUFF but Chambers lists it as “Praise intended as, or serving as, advertisement” so I guess it’s allowable.
An enjoyable 9:35 for me.
Note to galspray – whereabouts is South-west of WA?
Congrats on your blogging century.
This was a nice QC today, faster than Wurm , Teazel and Asp this week.
Very enjoyable puzzle. My first thoughts for 11d dog/grenade was Mills Bomb and it fitted but wouldn’t parse so hard to come out and start at the other end of the clue. Needed some checkers for 14a Precious Stone, but had the S so that helped a lot.
FOI 1a Bottoms Up
LOI 13d Searcher – just because I got to it last
COD 16a At Work – took a moment to see the parse…
Galspray – Congratulations on your Century! I so appreciate all the work of the Bloggers, and those behind the scenes too.
8.27. Thank you galspray for all you efforts.
14:21 today, reverting to the mean after a fast one yesterday. Nice to see “ship” cluing something other than “SS”. Too many good clues to pick a favourite today.
Thanks to Mara and thanks and congratulations to Galspray