I had an issue or two with this one, but nothing that impaired my considerable enjoyment. I worked more than half of it during a phone conversation after being interrupted, so it’s hard to gauge its general difficulty. I’m eager to read what you’ve all got to say.
I indicate (Ars Magna)* like this, and words flagging such rearrangements are italicized in the clues.
| ACROSS | |
| 1 | Flood defence completed following Depression (8) |
| OVERFLOW OVER, “completed” + F(ollowing) + LOW, “Depression” |
|
| 5 | Good turn-over dessert off the menu? (4,2) |
| USED UP USE, “Good” (as in “It’s no USE/ it’s no good arguing”) + PUD<=“turn(ed) over” |
|
| 9 | Suit of ice (8) Brrr… |
| DIAMONDS DD |
|
| 10 | Some massag{er — a ser}ious rubber (6) |
| ERASER Hidden |
|
| 12 | Grasses Blunt and Philby etc crossed England (5) |
| REEDS RE(E)DS or R(E)EDS Anthony Blunt and “Kim” Philby were KGB agents embedded in UK intelligence during War War II and at the onset of the Cold War. So they certainly “crossed England”! I have yet to come across a dictionary listing E as an abbreviation for “England” rather than “English.” (Country codes are typically at least two characters, except for some in the international vehicle registration code—where E is España.) …Fun Fact: New Order’s sole number-one hit, “World in Motion,” was originally called “E for England,”“with lyrics that ran ‘E is for England, England starts with E / We’ll all be smiling when we’re in Italy’, but the Football Association vetoed the title, realising that it sounded suspiciously like a reference to the drug ecstasy” (Wikipedia). That wouldn’t normally stop Harry! |
|
| 13 | Loaded, having loads of rooms? (9) |
| CHAMBERED DD Collins has “to put (a cartridge, etc.) into a chamber.” Despite the question mark, the second definition is only slightly cryptic; the word means (Dictionary.com) “having compartmental chambers” (one thinks of the chambered nautilus), but it could mean just a few of them. |
|
| 14 | Brave on a mule travelling about Mobile (12) |
| MANOEUVRABLE (Brave on a mule)* |
|
| 18 | In Barking, vice-consul gets unsettled (12) |
| INCONCLUSIVE IN + (vice-consul)* |
|
| 21 | Music producer hurt over in eastern California (9) |
| HARMONICA HARM, “hurt” + O(ver) + IN<=“eastern” + CA(lifornia) Here, “eastern” means “coming from the east,” but the word (like “easterly”) can mean the exact opposite. |
|
| 23 | Aussie skippers finally inspect Harrier crash site (5) |
| ROOST ROOS, “Aussie skippers” + |
|
| 24 | Fleeing battle (had a fill of killing essentially) (6) |
| FLIGHT F(L)IGHT “Fleeing” as a noun (gerund) |
|
| 25 | Cute icon given makeover failed to impress (3,2,3) |
| CUT NO ICE (cute icon)* |
|
| 26 | Vessels left by those eating no starter (6) |
| LINERS L(eft) + |
|
| 27 | A drug rock (8) |
| ASTEROID A + STEROID, “rock” |
|
| DOWN | |
| 1 | Old ways in which soldiers brought back commands (6) |
| ORDERS O(ld) + RD(RE<=“brought back”)S The “soldiers” are the Royal Engineers. |
|
| 2 | On a high with my boss coming around in the early hours (6) |
| ELATED E(LATE)D As when you stay out so LATE that it’s “early”… |
|
| 3 | Jellied eggs somehow go with prawns, fine as a starter (9) |
| FROGSPAWN F(ine) + (go + prawns)* |
|
| 4 | One often opening doors for an Eton man? (3,6,3) |
| OLD SCHOOL TIE CD, for an advantageous association with a fellow alumnus |
|
| 6 | Coach returning to pick up personnel in plant (5) |
| SHRUB BUS<=“returning” carries H(uman) R(esources), “personnel” |
|
| 7 | Scottish banker wins small house in draw (8) |
| DESCRIBE DE(S)(CRIB)E Collins lists CRIB as “a house or residence” as US informal. |
|
| 8 | Line out of standard vintage songs and burlesques (8) |
| PARODIES PAR, “standard” + O |
|
| 11 | Rash types rush all over the shop with a mum’s car (5-7) |
| HARUM-SCARUMS (rush + a mum’s car)* …My LOI. Not really familiar with the word as a noun. The first thing that comes to mind is the nearly eponymous (sans the terminal S) 1965 Elvis Presley film, set in the Middle East. “Harem” comes from Arabic, of course, while HARUM (which exists only in this phrase) does not. |
|
| 15 | Clergyman missing final church worship (9) |
| REVERENCE REVEREN |
|
| 16 | Just horrible giving leading female the boot (8) |
| RIGHTFUL |
|
| 17 | Stingy type of heir limiting men with power (8) |
| SCORPION SC(OR)(P)ION With “men” calling in our old standbys the Other Ranks |
|
| 19 | One spotted in party is old minister (6) |
| DOMINO D(O)(MIN)O |
|
| 20 | Minister in a race gets to finish (6) |
| ATTEND A + T(ourist) T(rophy), annual motorcyle race on the Isle of Man + END, “finish” |
|
| 22 | Further trouble following Brexit! (5) |
| OTHER |
|
I enjoyed this. Thought 12a was very good. I never really thought about E not being an abbreviation for England, but now that you mention it, the only abbreviation I can think of is EN, often seen on car stickers when travelling abroad.
Bit of a mer at Aussie skippers. Having looked up the meaning of SKIP, it describes an action of moving from one foot to the other. I’ve never seen a roo do that down under.
My thinking with CHAMBERED was lots of rooms in a large house or hotel, failing to see the nautilus/shell connection.
Thanks Guy and setter.
And, just remembered that the Harrier, a British vertical take-off jet was called a ‘Jump-Jet’, kind of fits in with the clue I think, but probably wasn’t intended.
I’m sure that was intended. It explains the deceptive capitalization in the surface.
Yes, sorry. I was thinking more about a possible ’jump/skip/roo’ connection, but maybe not.
23:39
This may be the easiest of Harry’s puzzles that I’ve done. (9ac is QC material.) I never did get the Brexit reference.
I found this an enjoyable puzzle, with some novel devices. The old school tie and frogspawn were quite entertaining
I interpreted chambered as meaning having a bullet in the barrel ready to fire, which I was surprised to see in a UK puzzle – it is quite common in the US among those who carry legally.
Time: 30 minutes
Collins has the only dictionary reference I could find for that (or close enough). Thanks for reminding me! Added above.
The expression is also probably not unknown to those who carry illegally.
E for England is found in C of E (Church of England). CHAMBERED reminded me of Teresa of Ávila’s image of the soul as a many-chambered castle with a pearl at the centre.
Nice puzzle, though I didn’t find it particularly easy. Not helped by getting into a pother over the spelling of MANOEUVRABLE.
The C of E slipped my mind, thanks. But let’s hear it for the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the US Constitution!
As we know, the ST sets its own policies on such matters, but my understanding re The Times is that the practice (if not rule) has been not to include single-letter abbreviations that are only in the usual sources as part of a multi-letter abbreviation or acronym. So E for England justified by Church of England would not be good enough. But as I say, the ST may take a different view, and the practice at The Times may have changed or be about to under new management. The Guardian does it all the time with far more extreme examples than we are discussing here, so I can’t say I noticed when solving this puzzle.
B for Britain, btw, is in Chambers.
I needed 50 minutes for this one.
Lowering the tone (as so often around here) my first thought on seeing ‘Aussie skippers’ was of Skippy, the Bush Kangaroo so I had no problem making the necessary connection.
The ST, unlike Mephisto, is not supposed to take Chambers as a source, but at least it’s there…
Perhaps Peter will confirm later re the ST. I’ve never seen Chambers cited as a reference for the daily Times puzzles but they often include items that are in Chambers but not in Collins or the Oxfords.
I like the first -not so keen on the second…
Interesting in my memory this was quite an easy sunday puzzle but on the timer when I just looked is 54:49. So I’m not sure if my memory is playing tricks or maybe I had left the timer running. LOI was evidently OLD SCHOOL TIE and in fact I do remember puzzling for a while over that. E for England did strike me as an oddity at the time, I remember.
8:32. No dramas. I didn’t know this meaning of HARUM-SCARUMS either.
Oddly Collins has E for England in its American dictionary.
Ah, I must have missed the online Collins listing from Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition and only seen the other two American English lists there.
I thought Brexit should mean BR(itain) leaves. The interjection Brother! could be interpreted to signify trouble.
Alas, no dictionary within my reach lists “trouble!” as an interjection. (And I guess “Bubble, bubble, toil and…” doesn’t count.)
14a I can’t spell MANOEUVRABLE but being an anagram helped there.
Thanks David and guy
Took right on the 70 minutes to finish this one, but it was whilst watching a very one-sided Grand Final at the same time. I struggled getting the OEUV part of the spelling of MANOEUVRABLE right initially ! Had OLD SCHOOL BOY at first at 4d which was only corrected when HARMONICA landed later. HARUM SCARUM and CRIB (as a reference to a house) were new and must admit that FROGSPAWN wasn’t a word that comes to mind very often.
Whilst kangaroos do jump, when moving at speed they do look they are skipping along – and hence the term ‘Skippy’ in reference to the show and as a slang term for the rest of us.
Finished in the SW corner with OTHER (had to think a bit about the ‘further’ definition), FLIGHT and SCORPION (liked the ‘stingy type’ reference).
You’re welcome.
Y’know, I don’t have to lower-case my nom de blog on the “new” website.
Old habits 🙂 – will remember to capitalise you next fortnight !!
As a “longtime lurker” from Oz, like brucew@aus I was surprised to see the skippy reference to the roo (definitely does not skip). 1a immediately got me thinking of Clancy, he “of the overflow” an iconic Aussie poem. Faltered with visions of crepes being hurled into the air with TOSS UP incorrectly at 9a, which left me unable to fathom the comparatively easy 6 and 7d. The setter has to be congratulated for getting MANOEUVRABLE into an anagram, but I’m aware that he’s one of the very best at his art. Very much liked REEDS (because I got it I suppose) with it’s deceptive definition; also OLD SCHOOL TIE