23:42 but with one mistake, or with but one mistake, which sounds better. I parsed the bits of toast as CRUS(h),TIN,I. From someone who has ‘confessed’ to having thought the word was ‘expresso’ until not so long ago, it’s only to be expected. Crustini dunked in expresso are how I start my days.
Which down-home exordium brings me to my main theme: ten dollar words. I’m writing this a few minutes after the closing credits of Educating Rita, which I hadn’t seen for many years. In case you’ve forgotten, Rita enrols in an access course because she “wants to be able to talk like that lot down there”, the students lazing, all studied nonchalance, on the campus lawns below. She succeeds brilliantly, to the dismay of her tutor Frank Byrne, who has given up writing poetry precisely because he knows he was writing only to give that lot down there something else to warble elegantly about.
Having once been one of that lot down there, at Liverpool no less, I squirmed in recognition. But having also lived for two years above a bakery on Anfield’s Rose Lane, and having spent those two years striving to sing a little more like that lot up there (until I realised the vanity of the project), I rooted for Rita all over again, knowing Frank was wrong to see only what she would lose through learning. I’ll tell you how it ends in a bit, in case you’ve forgotten that, too.
The stand-out word in this Dean Mayer puzzle has to be ECDYSIAST, one of those high-falutin’ coinages which you can smile at or hate but probably can’t ignore. H.L. Mencken is universally credited with inventing, or assembling, the word, and has got himself an unfair press over it. For any scorn arising he can thank the most famous stripper of them all, Gypsy Rose Lee, who said of Mencken:
“Ecdysiast, he calls me! Why the man is an intellectual slob. He has been reading books. Dictionaries. We don’t wear feathers and molt them off … What does he know about stripping?”
In fact Mencken had come up with the word in response to a written request (presumably printed in a sort of philological agony column) from another celebrated lady of deciduous habit, Georgia Sothern. Also known as “The Human Dynamo”, Sothern was famed for ripping ’em off, presumably with her teeth, to the sound of “Hold That Tiger“. Sothern’s 1940 appeal for help from Mencken was clearly tongue-in-cheek, as was his reply. But Gypsy Rose, ever the diva, seems to have jumped to the conclusion that he was writing about her and was entirely serious (similar stories play out every day on Twitter, so no change there).
As is the way of these things, the spirited riposte to the slight that never happened is the bit which people remember. In this case, perhaps that’s because so many of us have an instinctive distrust of ten-dollar words and those who freely spend them. And it’s both easy and pleasing to side with good old Gypsy Rose, the honest-to-goodness gal from Seattle who knew what she was and made no bones about it. Frank Byrne, at least the disillusioned Frank at the start of Educating Rita, would have cheered Gypsy Rose along with most everybody else.
Rita and Frank converge from their very different starting places upon the same point of understanding: of course a stripper’s a stripper, but it’s good to know that a stripper can be an ecdysiast, too. And it’s good to know why. Having a choice of which song to sing is invariably good. And that’s what Educating, Rita or anyone else, is really all about.
——–
I’m the 4th of the musketeers holding the fort for the foreseeable while our man in the tuxedo, Dave Perry, gets over his recent setback. Dispatches from the front (someone said they saw it on Facebook) tell me that Dave is doing well enough to be annoying his wife by not taking it as easy as he should. Dave: listen to Mrs Dave. You know she’s smarter than you. Very best wishes. You’re missed around here.
Thank you to jackkt, whose format from last Sunday I’ve swiped.
Definitions are underlined. ()* denotes an anagram.
|
Across |
|
|---|---|
| 1 | Period, when you’re ____ eating (4,4) |
| FULL STOP – an unusual clue, but you get to expect the unexpected in a Dean Mayer. You have to ignore a comma in the ellipsis to make it work | |
| 6 | Noise made by fiddle (6) |
| RACKET – both a double-definition (noise and scam) and a whole-clue definition of what happens when the little darling next door takes up the violin | |
| 9 | Oddly, in her case, it flows in a straight line (2,3,4,5) |
| AS THE CROW FLIES – (HER CASE IT FLOWS)* | |
| 10 | Female’s cooking fruit (6) |
| DAMSON – DAM’S+ON (=cooking), and food for 23a | |
| 11 | Basic uniform, grey, and split skirts (8) |
| RUDIMENT – R(U,DIM)ENT .. Uniform abbrev. + DIM all inside RENT (split) | |
| 12 | Read in church when bell is being fixed (3,7,5) |
| NEW ENGLISH BIBLE – (WHEN BELL IS BEING)* … an allusive def. and a humdinger of an anagram | |
| 16 | The Bowery’s name? (5,10) |
| SHADY REPUTATION – cryptic def. Bowers are notoriously shady. I’ve underlined the question mark as it seems essential to the whimsical definition. On edit: As linxit points out, this has to be a reference to The Bowery district of New York, though I gather its reputation is on the up | |
| 19 | Bits of toast briefly put out — can I? (8) |
| CROSTINI – oops! So it’s not crustini, then. Parsing is CROS(S),TIN,I, cross being what you are when you’re put out | |
| 21 | A contribution to what reduces hostility (6) |
| HATRED – hidden in wHATREDuces | |
| 23 | Number 10 (3,5,3,3) |
| MAD ABOUT THE BOY – MAD(reversed),SON(boy), all of the wordplay being entirely contained within the solution to 10a, and the solution being a number (song) by Sir Noël Coward. This is simply genius | |
| 24 | Given facts, tax the upper classes (6) |
| GENTRY – GEN(information),TRY(tax, the verb) | |
| 25 | 5 shot, only in Liverpool (8) |
| REYNOLDS – anagram of only inside (The) Reds, nickname of Liverpool FC. Definition is the solution to 5d. | |
|
Down |
|
| 2 | River banks washed out, raised area in the dark (7) |
| UNAWARE – U(NAW,A)RE … WAN(washed out) reversed (raised — it’s a down clue) + A(rea) inside the River Ure which banks, or borders, the contents | |
| 3 | See husband leaving so get sports car (5) |
| LOTUS – LO(see),T(h)US | |
| 4 | Anger about chasing cute adolescent (9) |
| TWEENAGER – TWEE,(ANGER)* .. this appeared again later in the week, but Dean can always say he got there first (but he might want to keep quiet about that one!) | |
| 5 | Quality French bread in bag-handler’s mug drawer? (8-7) |
| PORTRAIT PAINTER – TRAIT(quality)+PAIN(French bread) inside PORTER(bag-handler). Lovely def. (one who draws faces) | |
| 6 | Used blade in a way that’s audible (5) |
| ROWED – sounds like ROAD. This and the initial crossing RACKET held me up longest, and the forum suggests I was far from alone | |
| 7 | Writer’s charge to keep heading off graduates (9) |
| COLUMNIST – CO(LUMNI)ST … beheaded alumni inside COST(charge) | |
| 8 | “Timeless” is visible when “times” is removed (7) |
| ETERNAL – remove the times (X) from EXTERNAL (visible) | |
| 12 | Mid-point of any big numbers (3) |
| NOS – N,OS … N being the mid-point of ‘any’, and OS an abbreviation for OutSize (big) | |
| 13 | Stripper: It’s easy dancing without recorded music (9) |
| ECDYSIAST – E(CD)YSIAST … anagram of IT’S EASY outside (without) a CD | |
| 14 | Turn in Yankee after greeting that he fluffed (3,3,3) |
| HIT THE HAY – HI,(THAT HE)*,Y … anagram of THAT HE after HI (greeting), all followed by Y (Yankee in the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet) | |
| 15 | Long time no see — finally turned up (3) |
| EON – NO + the final letter of ‘see’ turned up (reversed — it’s a down clue) | |
| 17 | Vegetation now covers land (7) |
| HERBAGE – HER(BAG)E … bag as in get hold of, or land, something sought | |
| 18 | Duck call enthralling you, as Jack may be (3-4) |
| ONE-EYED – O,NE(YE)ED .. The Jacks of Spade and Hearts in a standard card deck have only one eye visible. Call as in calls for, sort of equals ‘needs’. Trivia: One-Eyed Jacks is a Western starring and directed by Marlon Brando. Also the name of the brothel in Twin Peaks | |
| 20 | Climber eating yellow pasty (5) |
| IVORY – IV(OR)Y … OR being pretty standard crosswordese for yellow/gold (through heraldry) | |
| 22 | Check balls out (5) |
| TABOO – TAB,OO … TAB as in ‘keep tabs on’ plus a brace of spheres | |
I was quite pleased with myself to have finished this one, rather less so when I found out I had 2 errors: I put in ‘mowed’ rather than ROWED, then forgot that I hadn’t justified it to myself, and then spent ages trying to solve 6ac; and, of course failed (finally went with ‘mickey’). Oh, well. 23ac is simply brilliant; out-Deans Dean.
The song itself has earwigged me for a week, and now probably will do so for another. Ironically, my less than comprehensive (i.e. Google) search for who “the boy” was led me to an obit of Rudolph Valentino penned by none other than H.L. Mencken (op cit). I’d wax lyrical about returns to the origin in a random walk but perhaps you should all embark on walks of you own. Mine started with Marianne Faithfull’s version of the song in question on youtube (although I think I prefer Blossom Dearie’s).
I always like Dean’s puzzles. And they’re frequently shared with Mrs McT over Sunday breakfast as a bonus. We worked through this one with only (as I remember) SHADY REPUTATION missing. That was just a bit below the belt, I felt.
COD to ECDYSIAST; but EON wasn’t bad either. I often think of the setter’s plight when confronted with 3-letter answers.
Old Angonamo was lurking at 25ac. Eh?
As for the puzzle, in my novitiate state I was pretty chuffed to have got out most of it (all bar 5 of the blighters). Sadly Number 10 proved a step too far for my lateral thinking capabilities, but I feel privileged to have even been playing against it!
Terrific puzzle and terrific blog – thanks again.
Another fan here Sotira of “deciduous habit.” No doubt I will make use of it too, if circumstances permit, but it seems a big if! Perhaps Nick’s circumstances are more exciting than mine
However. I always find “a propos of nothing in particular…” a useful gambit for derailing tedious dinner party chatter and taking it in a more racy direction, and I see the sheer elegance of Sotira’s coinage as a perfect opportunity to do so without in any way compromising the sensibilities of any vicars or maiden aunts who happen to be present (that said, the only vicar I know socially has a tendency to sink several beers rapidly and then launch into spirited renditions of obscure 17th century English folk songs, most with an – albeit archaic – blue fringe).
Probably also helps that Mrs. Novice has several “upmarket adult entertainment” characters amongst her clientele, and our prurient friends invariably request tales of the more garish episodes from her legal practice.
Plenty of scope, I reckon.
Great blog too – a nice Sunday sermon.
I’m possibly being a bit thick here, but apart from the straight definition (period) I still don’t understand 1ac and in particular what purpose the blank is serving.
Coward’s ‘Mad About The Boy’ as it appeared in Words & Music (1932) was superficially a comment on matinee idols of the day such as Valentino, Cary Grant, Robert Taylor and Errol Flynn, but it appears the song was written, though not published, prior to that and Coward may have set it with reference to one of his own infatuations. The names James Cagney, Douglas Fairbanks Jr (who appears in the lyric) and Tyrone Power have been mentioned in this regard.
I had also marked up 17ac and the 23/10 clues as outstanding but against that, I agree with mct that 16 is unfair.
Edited at 2014-05-25 08:23 am (UTC)
Credit, too, to our locum blogger for producing an equally entertaining analysis *fumbles in pockets as collection plate comes round*
No-one’s mentioned it, but 16ac is a reference to The Bowery, a notorious area of New York City.
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=mwbZAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA130&lpg=PA130&dq=even+douglas+fairbanks+junior+hasn%27t+smaller+hips&source=bl&ots=0ScoILzycA&sig=EsAWB0OS_xDNg4u_PyVKSQyOgDw&hl=en&sa=X&ei=8eGBU7GNGsfI0wXdgoCACg&ved=0CEAQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=even%20douglas%20fairbanks%20junior%20hasn%27t%20smaller%20hips&f=false
My only quibble is not with16ac but with 20dn. I am not totally clear why IVORY = PASTY, although I can see that both could be yellowish off-white.
Quite a few I couldn’t parse so many thanks Sotira for a really masterful/mistressful blog.
It took me several days to get into this one – at least today’s was considerably easier.
Like others I don’t like 16A. I know of The Bowery (Saturday Morning Pictures circa 1950 and the Bowery Boys!) and had it in my mind that like other similar areas it is nothing like as bad as it once was. Would Berlin’s Linden Strasse have worked – shady in Sotira’s sense?
23A is of course a stand out clue
Mrs K says I must resist the temptation to write an even longer intro to the blog tomorrow… and she’s already worrying on my behalf in case I can’t do it all.
Sorry that 16a didn’t hit the spot. To be honest, the shady=bowery pun was one that raised a bit of smile when it popped into my head, but I evidently have a strange(r) sense of humour.
23a was a long way from genius, I promise you. DAMSON was the first of the two answers to go in. The wordplay was a delightful find, of course, but it would have needed lots of false capitalisation so I simply played safe and gave it a grid spot of its own. Had to do a slight re-jig of the grid to grab the ’10’ reference, but that was straightforward enough.
I’ve nothing to add really. I struggle to see 16ac as a real phrase, and I got to it from shady bowers, rather than anything in New York. 23ac is genius. ECDYSIAST is a ridiculous word, but there’s nowhere else to put the letters.
I watched the YouTube video of Hold That Tiger you advertised and it seemed for the most part to be just a lot of boring old men. There were a few young ladies dancing at the end but they appeared to remain fully clothed and not at all in keeping with the spirit of 13dn! I’d demand my money back if I’d paid any.
Yours truly,
Disappointed of Ealing
This being the Sabbath, I felt able to include only those references which might lead to the moral improvement of the congregation.
But, as you are indeed well known and a worthy of this parish, I feel no peril need be feared in inviting you to share in my outrage and disgust at the following.
http://trueburlesque.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/the-worlds-fastest-stripper-true.html (scroll down for the racy video)
I hope this will soon see you measurably more gruntled.
Yours etc
Yours gratefully,
Rejuvenated of Ealing
That was possibly the most unalluring demonstration of the edysiwotsit’s art I have ever seen, I watched it all the way to the end to make sure. I would like to point out that, in case there are any jealous deities watching, that I waited until Monday morning to view.
Mildly disappointed of Epping Forest.
PS Stunning blog. I may well preach that one next time out and see if anyone notices. I just hope it hasn’t set any kind of bar or I won’t get any sleep at all on Wednesday nights.
PPS Excellent puzzle, enjoyed over 30 and a smidge minutes. 23/10 is a thing of true beauty, with a penny dropping moment worthy of a Las Vegas fruit machine on overdrive.
PPPS You have clearly achieved the revival of the Sunday blog amongst us unappreciative resters on the Sabbath. Long may it continue!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxwFy7hC0yU
Edited at 2014-05-26 08:08 am (UTC)
I should mention that it’s far from a debut. I used to blog quite a bit from the subs’ bench, where I’ve been happily resting for some years now, a bit like one of those players no one can quite remember the name of at Manchester City (so where’s my 5 million in back pay, I want to know?).
I do promise not to go on at quite such length on any future occasions. Probably.