Bravo, maestro!
You know the score, everybody. There is some fine (mis)direction in this puzzle. Really can’t tell you how long I took with it, because I like to lose the sense of time when engrossed in art.
I indicate (Ars Magna)* like this, and words flagging such rearrangements are italicized in the clues.
| ACROSS | |
| 1 | Self-assembly bed with special base (10) |
| DESPICABLE (bed, special)* Quite the inventive anagrind |
|
| 6 | Sign one’s expecting seat … lead in polls (4) |
| BUMP BUM, “seat” + P |
|
| 9 | Funny business I see going on close to referendum (5) |
| COMIC CO, “business” + |
|
| 10 | Conductor contains high electric current (9) |
| TOSCANINI (contains)* + I, symbol for “electric current,” from the French intensité du courant Arturo TOSCANINI (1867–1957), says Wikipedia, is “renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and his eidetic memory” (emphasis added). …And he presents a—rather timely—profile in courage: « [O]n May 14, 1931, at the Teatro Comunale in Bologna, Toscanini was ordered to begin by playing [the Fascist anthem] Giovinezza, but he flatly refused, despite the presence of fascist communications minister Costanzo Ciano in the audience. Afterwards, he was, in his own words, “attacked, injured and repeatedly hit in the face” by a group of Blackshirts. Mussolini, incensed by the conductor’s refusal, had his phone tapped, placed him under constant surveillance, and confiscated his passport. His passport was returned only after a world outcry over Toscanini’s treatment. Upon the outbreak of World War II, Toscanini left Italy. » |
|
| 12 | Upright type handily disclosing enemy position? (8,5) |
| LONGCASE CLOCK CD Another term for a grandfather clock Time, as ever, is the “enemy,” and the hour and second hands reveal its “position”—so to speak—the present stage in a twelve-hour cycle. …An addition to my vocabulary—wonder when it might be useful… |
|
| 14 | Re-enlist having been redrafted? Bugger! (8) |
| LISTENER (Re-enlist)* |
|
| 15 | Lousy M&S rolls stuffed in face (6) |
| DISMAL DI(MS<=“rolls”)AL |
|
| 17 | Get thanks, having opened old booze store (6) |
| OBTAIN O(ld) + B(TA)IN |
|
| 19 | Hard parts done with accuracy on My Way (8) |
| CORNICHE COR, “My” + NIC(H)E A coastal road, particularly one built into the face of a cliff (like a cornice: a strip of plaster, wood, or stone along the top of a wall or building); originally corniche road, the coastal road between Nice and Monte Carlo. Marseille has a famous one. …I’ve been to Marseille…. |
|
| 21 | Long run doctor managed in Houston? (6,7) |
| GROUND CONTROL (Long run doctor)* |
|
| 24 | State where one might see hay withering (2,3,4) |
| ON THE WANE “on the wain” “Wain’ is an old-fashioned, poetic term for a farm wagon. (The Wain, the Great Wain and Charles’s Wain are among the many names for the constellation commonly known as the Big Dipper.) |
|
| 25 | A ministry u-turning over German doctrine (5) |
| DOGMA A + M(G)OD <=“u-turning” |
|
| 26 | A grand company car? (4) |
| PERK PER, “A” + K, “grand” |
|
| 27 | Treaty of Paris (earliest version)? (10) |
| SETTLEMENT With the cryptic reminder that most great cities started as smaller communities, and often on a frontier |
|
| DOWN | |
| 1 | Avoid love in the Midlands (4) |
| DUCK DD …I didn’t know the British “duck,” “ducks” or “ducky” was particular to the Midlands, so thanks to Peter W. “Duck” is “zero” in cricket, so—even if “love” isn’t!—I was connecting that to the name of a UK cricket club (there’s also one in Zimbabwe). |
|
| 2 | Plenty of dons ship specimens (7) |
| SAMPLES S(AMPLE)S |
|
| 3 | One with new toilet trouble (13) |
| INCONVENIENCE I, “One” + N(ew) + CONVENIENCE, “toilet” |
|
| 4 | Lather conceals these things (8) |
| ARTICLES You’ll find both “a” and “the” in “Lather,” indefinite and definite ARTICLES, respectively. |
|
| 5 | First in line heading for soup and rolls (5) |
| LISTS L(IST)S |
|
| 7 | What one might complete to get into Oxford flat (7) |
| UNIFORM That’s “flat” in the sense of (def. 14 in Collins) “without variation or resonance; monotonous.” Applying to Oxford, you might have to fill out a “uni” form. |
|
| 8 | Anodyne murderer, supporter of Spooner (10) |
| PAINKILLER “Cain pillar”! |
|
| 11 | A big reduction changes the game (7,6) |
| AUCTION BRIDGE (A big reduction)* |
|
| 13 | A possibly poor old bug needing treatment (5,5) |
| BLOOD GROUP (poor old bug)* |
|
| 16 | Half the clues here are so tired and gloomy (8) |
| DOWNBEAT DOWN, “Half the clues here are so” + BEAT, “tired” |
|
| 18 | Ultimately rampant cad, supporter of Napoleon (7) |
| TROTTER |
|
| 20 | Record with cornet on that some men slap on? (7) “If this Louis Armstrong disc doesn’t get her hot, nothing will!” |
| COLOGNE CO(LOG)NE |
|
| 22 | Discontinue drug when patient comes around (5) |
| CEASE C(E)ASE |
|
| 23 | P{last}ic bottles (only one left) (4) |
| LAST Hidden |
|
For the second definition in 1D, I think we are looking at regional terms of endearment. So, in the Midlands, to mean “My dear”, or “Love”, they say “Duck”.
See the bottom section of this page:
https://englishlive.ef.com/en/blog/language-lab/sweetheart-love-darling-typical-british-terms-endearment/
Thanks. I was aware that “ducky” (and “duck” would follow) is an English term of endearment, but Collins does not connect that to the Midlands.
I would say that “duck” is the Midlands slang, and “ducky” would be seen more as camp/affected theatrical slang.
I think of Ronald Harwood’s 1980 play The Dresser where the waspish title character (Norman), tells the young actress that the reason she has been promoted to play Cordelia is less because of her talents, but because the aging actor playing Lear is having increasing difficulty managing to carry his wife on stage in Act 5:
“Never mind a young Cordelia, ducky, he wants a light Cordelia. Light, ducky, light. Look at yourself. Look at Her Ladyship. You don’t understand… It’s not youth or talent or star quality he’s after, ducky, but a moderate eater.”
Seems plausible, at least because the page linked does not mention “ducky.”
In any case, Collins simply lists both as British terms of endearment or general address.
The homeless lady (I forget her name) in ‘Doonesbury’ addressed people as ‘ducks’.
I see I never finished this. Obviously meant to come back and never did. I failed to get the first word of LONGCASE clock, but otherwise no problems. Fun crossword.
38 minutes but used aids for the LOI CEASE which actually should have been one of the more straightforward answers to construct form wordplay. I guess I was out of steam by then.
Re 27ac, one of the most favoured descriptions in place-name entries at Wikipedia is ‘human settlement’.
53m 16s
Thank you, Guy, especially for the information about Toscanini.
TROTTER and DUCK were particularly good but my COD was LONGCASE CLOCK.
Regarding 18d, “supporter of Napoleon”, my initial thought was Marengo, one of his horses.
I assume that both Marengo and Trotter would be the sort of GK not required of those attempting any Sign of the Times cryptics.
I don’t think there’s any need to think of “trotter” as a name. The pig’s foot name must have existed for centuries but I can’t see that it’s something under-forty solvers would claim not to know about.
Peter Biddlecombe (not logged in) just before watching some less stressful football
Thanks, Peter.
I assumed the lower-case “trotter” was as G you could ever want for crossword K!
Done, and very much enjoyed. I’m one of “those” – see above – who didn’t automatically associate Napoleon with “Animal Farm” despite having read it in long-past schooldays. I guess it’s a matter of where your interests lie and what GK you’ve retained over the years. It’s perhaps also one of those “insider” clues that experienced cryptic crossword aficionados connect automatically but that can tend to exclude those trying to get into it, as per recent discussions on the issue. Anyway, thanks, all.
I’ve mislaid the paper, but I remember LONGCASE CLOCK took longer than I would have hoped; it is a term familiar to me.
I’m a Midlander and never knew “duck” was regional.
TROTTER; Marengo had slipped my mind but Animal Farm came to the rescue pretty quickly. I do remember Bucephalus (Alex. Gt’s horse) but he wasn’t required either.
Mused for a while over SETTLEMENT, which was my LOI. The penny dropped with a huge clang for ON THE WANE eventually. Good one! Liked TROTTER too. 25:06. Thanks Harry and Guy.
Didn’t keep the paper from last week and I can’t remember exactly how I did, but I found this tough. I definitely didn’t know LONGCASE CLOCK, and I don’t think I would have got CORNICHE or ON THE WANE.
Thanks setter and blogger.
COD Listener