Hope you all enjoyed Heron’s first appearance here. Not sure if it’s a new setter or just a new moniker. Maybe some of you will recognise a familiar style?
So how difficult was it? I won’t venture an opinion after learning once again that such arbitrary assessments are not always well received!
Instead we’ll just look forward to your comments. Please let us know how you went.
(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 | Disturbances behind customs (8) |
| RUMPUSES – RUMP (behind) + USES (customs) | |
| 6 | Formerly operating by borders of Chile (4) |
| ONCE – ON (operating) + CE (“borders” of ChilE) | |
| 8 | Touch upon an objection (4) |
| ABUT – A (an) + BUT (objection)
On edit after Merlin’s comment: it parses more cleanly without the separation, ie “an objection” = A BUT. |
|
| 9 | Approve arrangement of red cacti (8) |
| ACCREDIT – (RED CACTI)* | |
| 10 | Gate-crasher at home beginning to turn more insolent (8) |
| INTRUDER – IN (at home) + T (beginning to Turn) + RUDER (more insolent) | |
| 12 | Noisily cycled in street (4) |
| ROAD – Homophone (noisily) of RODE (cycled) | |
| 13 | Cool down one hot meal (6) |
| CHILLI – CHILL (cool down) + I (one) | |
| 16 | Pull over fire-breather (6) |
| DRAGON – DRAG (pull) + ON (over) | |
| 17 | Dithering ref initially tolerates worry (4) |
| FRET – (REF)* + T (initially Tolerates) | |
| 18 | Father mixed tonic a little bit (8) |
| FRACTION – FR (father) + (TONIC A)* | |
| 21 | Speak against poetry (8) |
| CONVERSE – CON (against) + VERSE (poetry) | |
| 22 | Glen primarily drinks beer (4) |
| DALE – D (primarily Drinks) + ALE (beer) | |
| 23 | Place to eat dog’s dinner? (4) |
| MESS – Double Definition | |
| 24 | Mistrusts factions holding competitive advantage (8) |
| SUSPECTS – SECTS (factions) “holding” USP (competitive advantage)
Despite obtaining a (completely useless) marketing degree many decades ago, I had no idea what was going on here until I googled post-solve. USP = Unique Selling Proposition, a feature or quality that sets (or is claimed to set) a product apart from its opposition. |
|
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 2 | Doff tip of headgear in town (5) |
| URBAN – Remove the first letter of (doff tip of) |
|
| 3 | Remove stones from mine (3) |
| PIT – Double Definition
First one’s a verb, second one’s a noun. |
|
| 4 | Reportedly remained sober (5) |
| STAID – Homophone (reportedly) of STAYED (remained) | |
| 5 | Tied up dog in plant (7) |
| SECURED – CUR (dog) in SEED (plant)
I assume we’re looking at the verb sense of seed = plant, but are planting and seeding the same thing? Maybe there’s enough overlap in the metaphorical usage of the two words? Or more likely I’m missing something. |
|
| 6 | Contrive to veer car — go too far (9) |
| OVERREACT – (TO VEER CAR)* | |
| 7 | Fashionable turn around a city (7) |
| CHICAGO – CHIC (fashionable) + GO (turn) “around” A
American cities (and states) have great names. |
|
| 11 | Organise versatile family members (9) |
| RELATIVES – (VERSATILE)* | |
| 14 | What has an effect on body involved in cash or moneylending? (7) |
| HORMONE – Hidden (involved) in casH OR MONEylending | |
| 15 | Explains how schools might be arranged? (7) |
| INFORMS – Double definition, the second one slightly cryptic. | |
| 19 | Stadiums without northern zones (5) |
| AREAS – ARE |
|
| 20 | Yellow lettuce conceals baby animal (5) |
| OWLET – Hidden in (conceals) yellOW LETtuce | |
| 22 | Colour fade picked up (3) |
| DYE – Homophone (picked up) of DIE (fade)
New solvers often struggle with deciding which is the solution and which is the sound-alike in these clues. It’s pretty clear here, with the definition for DYE at the start of the clue and the homophone indicator firmly attached to the definition for DIE. |
|
Did ok, but like others stuck on top left, could see URBAN but could not see why. Turban is rather good! Haven’t been in a rumpus for a long time!
A rare Monday dnf with abut, rumpuses and urban unsolved.
16:48 very enjoyable solve. Spent the last 4 minutes in NW Corner until the penny dropped and I got URBAN.
Thank you Heron (whoever you are) and Galspray for the blog – I would never have parsed SUSPECTS!
Got URBAN, PIT and STAID, and so eventually saw RUMPUSES from the crosses. It made me smile – excellent clue. LOI was SUSPECTS, despite being familiar with the term USP. I think I was on Heron’s wavelength, so welcome to Heron and thanks to Galspray.
Like Mr Random I was soundly beaten by RUMPUSES, URBAN and ABUT.
Should really have thought of RUMP for behind so I blame myself.
Thanks Heron and Galspay.
Started in the middle and put in answers where I could until the NW corner held me up big time. Fr instead of Pa for father made me think a bit
6.39. A nice gentle start to the week.
(I posted this before reading other comments and now see that it makes me sound rather smug: I should have added that the clues just suited me and I did not parse all the solutions before submitting).
As someone whose average time is quite a lot longer than yours, I just want to say that these disclaimers, which seem to be getting more frequent, are really not necessary. Those who frequent the blog know very well that you’re not smug! Those whom it suits to take offence will always find a way.
Galspray
2d. I think in should be underlined as well. Urban is an adjective. Town is a noun.
I didn’t get it plus the other 2 in the NW. only 19 mins till then.
I think I considered it at the time John and would be happy with either.
Collins for example has town as an adjective: “of, or pertaining to, characteristic of, or belonging to a town”, which seems like a pretty good synonym for “urban”.
15 minutes.
Sensational work Gary!
Thank you 😊
We Yanks spell it chili.
Collins has USAGE as a meaning of the noun CUSTOM and CUSTOM as a meaning of the noun USE. But I can’t for the life of me see why, or think of a sentence in which the two words would be interchangeable. I must be being really dumb (it’s in the dictionary, after all) but I can see I’m not the only one confused by this – indeed several other commenters have asked above how this part of the RUMPUSES clue works but, unusually, no-one who found this puzzle straightforward has replied to them with an explanation. Oh well.
Like many others, I struggled and ultimately DNF with the top left. This is the first time this has happened to me on a Monday in a very long time. I wonder whether this puzzle would have been better suited to a Friday.