A lively and very timely mid-March offering, with a bright green thematic thread linking five answers at the very top and two in the bottom half. Also appearing openly in a few clues, nothing hidden about it! And yet, do you think I noticed until… some time after I’d finished? Too much on my mind these days…
My Nation colleague Joan Walsh wrote a piece for St. Patrick’s Day pointing out that the United States’ Alien Enemies Act, born in 1789 and now, horrifyingly, again in the news, was formulated by the Federalist Party “to fight an influx of foreigners into the new nation who might align with their [political] enemies. And chief among them were my people, Irish Catholics.”
I indicate (Ars Magna)* like this, and words flagging such rearrangements are italicized in the clues.
| ACROSS | |
| 1 | National emblem put on music (8) |
| SHAMROCK☘️ SHAM, “put on” + ROCK, type of “music” |
|
| 6 | Novelist and politician in conversation (6) |
| GREENE “green” That’s Graham G. (1904–1991), of course. |
|
| 9 | Tears regularly shed in Ireland for poets (4) |
| ERIN |
|
| 10 | Irish author’s binder, one with a novel (4,6) |
| EDNA OBRIEN (binder, one + a)* (1930–2024) |
|
| 11 | Resounding effect bible classes have, perhaps (6) |
| REVERB R(eligious) E(ducation) + VERB, “have” as an example …I think “Bible” should be capped in this context. |
|
| 12 | Finished clothing people, almost wrapped up (8) |
| ENFOLDED EN(FOL |
|
| 14 | Dance song covered by a sportsman (10) |
| BALLPLAYER BALL, “Dance” + P(LAY)ER |
|
| 16 | Spirit bottled in Ir{elan}d (4) |
| ELAN Hidden |
|
| 18 | Sort of oil Titian turned against (4) |
| DERV RED<=“turned” + V, versus, “against” Diesel engine road vehicle oil, that is. |
|
| 19 | Publication’s replacement compiler — about fifty (10) |
| NEWSLETTER NEW S(L)ETTER |
|
| 21 | Local brought in to judge stout (8) |
| GUINNESS GU(INN)ESS The dark, rich libation “originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James’s Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in the 18th century,” says Wikipedia. However, the first Guinness brews to be called “stout” “were Single Stout and Double Stout in the 1840s.” |
|
| 23 | Writer records arms contractors (6) |
| BICEPS BIC (pen), “writer” + E(xtended) P(lay), “records” Very clever definition! |
|
| 25 | Dump attendant after I left something dull (10) |
| DITCHWATER DITCH, “Dump” + WA |
|
| 27 | County top for whiskey? (4) |
| CORK DD, first being the third-largest in the Republic of Ireland That’s the Irish spelling of “whiskey” too (with an E). |
|
| 28 | Model that’s shunned at church (6) |
| TEMPLE TEMPL |
|
| 29 | Gym equipment except rings (8) |
| BARBELLS BAR, “except” + BELLS, “rings” |
|
| DOWN | |
| 2 | Sports event broadcast grating on people (5,4) |
| HORSE RACE “hoarse” + RACE, “people” |
|
| 3 | Church housing island state extremists (5) |
| MANSE MAN, “island” + S |
|
| 4 | Complete remainder left as tip (11) |
| OVERBALANCE OVER, “Complete” + BALANCE, “remainder left” |
|
| 5 | News journalist’s guide about a US President (7) |
| KENNEDY KE(N)(N)(ED)Y JFK, the first Irish-Catholic US president |
|
| 6 | Make tracks over sludge (3) |
| GOO GO, “make tracks” + O(ver) |
|
| 7 | Signing up men to learn, except for a drunk (9) |
| ENROLMENT (men to le |
|
| 8 | Relation of a city to its auditors (5) |
| NIECE “Nice,” in France |
|
| 13 | Ranch hand’s dog held by much greater resistance (4,7) |
| FARM LABORER FAR M(LAB)ORE + R(esistance) …A little surprised to see the American spelling of “labourer.” |
|
| 15 | French wine parts clog up plastic drinking vessel (6,3) |
| LOVING CUP (clog up}* divided by VIN, “French wine” |
|
| 17 | Note penned by a politician said to be timeless (9) |
| ATEMPORAL A(TE)MP (TE being the “Note”) + ORAL, “said” |
|
| 20 | Copper, however hard, got upset (7) |
| WASHTUB BUT, “however” + H(ard) + SAW, “got” <=“upset” “a large vessel, formerly of copper, used for boiling or washing” (Collins) …A new one on me. |
|
| 22 | Ally’s fifth brigade? (5) |
| UNITE UNIT E |
|
| 24 | Green transport revolution (5) |
| CYCLE The first reference is rather allusive or cryptic, since “green” is not necessarily definitional for the word, which could signify, rather than a uni-, bi- or tri-, a motorCYCLE. |
|
| 26 | Go large? Quite the opposite! (3) |
| WEE “Go” meaning urinate |
|
I was also surprised to see the American spelling LABORER. But then I realised it had been flagged as RANCH HAND would never be used for farm labourer in the UK. All is good. Nice puzzle and nicely illumated blog.
I can’t imagine ‘ranch hand’ being used for farm laborer in the US, either.
I was also surprised at LABORER. After spending some time on 3d, I finally realized that ‘church housing’ wasn’t CH or CE including something, but church housing. I liked REVERB, GUINNESS, inter alia.
Re CYCLE, don’t really see a problem with ‘green transport’ being specifically a (bi)cycle. I think you’d say ‘I’m just cycling to the shop’, whereas you’d be ‘riding’ a motorcycle. Add to that a motorcycle uses a fossil fuel so couldn’t be considered green.
I also missed the Irish theme but very clever now that you point it out.
I assumed that ‘ranch hand’ was used to indicate the American spelling of FARM LABORER, but then does America have farm laborers? Guinness = Nectar of the Gods. Thought BICEPS was very good and managed to pick up BIC for pen straight away. I’m always surprised by MAN being clued for island so often in these puzzles, such a small island too, spent holidays there as a child. NHO EDNA O’BRIEN. NHO DERV either. I think LOVING CUP could also deserve a green flag as from what I have read they are Celtic/Irish in origin.
Thanks Guy.
“Man” is often indicated by “island” because it’s both an an island name that can mean something else and a pretty frequent part of longer words. Greenland, for example, is only going to be “island” if it’s the answer and the setter decides not to use a more imaginative definition.
Thank you Peter.
Around an hour but DNF by one. Although I spotted some Irish things going on I never realised it was a theme or make the connection with St Patrick’s Day as it’s not an occasion I mark or even know when it takes place. If I’d been aware of the theme it may have helped me with with my missing answer, CORK, via the definition ‘county’, but the wordplay didn’t as every bottle of whiskey I’ve ever seen has had a screw-top.
As defined in dictionaries, “whiskey” and “whisky” are simply spelling options for a drink that may be from Ireland, Scotland or other places. So “Irish whisky” and “Scottish whiskey” may look a bit odd, but they make sense and have a perfectly clear meaning. Bottles of malt whisky frequently have corks, and as it happens, at least Bushmills in Ireland sell malts.
Thank you, Peter. Once I’d seen the answer I didn’t doubt that whisk(e)y might come in bottles with corks, just remarking that because I’d never seen it there was no association in my mind to get me to the answer via the wordplay. My ignorance, not the fault of the setter.
I am aware that whisky and whiskey can be interchangeable regardless of country of origin but I wonder if that extends to both spellings when standing for W in crossword puzzles with reference to the NATO alphabet. I’ve a vague idea I was involved in at least one discussion about this and other NATO spellings at TfTT many moons ago but can’t recall the outcome. Perhaps someone can track it down in the archive.
The NATO alphabet is something where it’s sound that actually matters, not spelling. The indications of how to pronounce the words in it are intended for an international audience, and presumably it was thought that “whiskey” was significantly clearer than “whisky” for the intended sound for some non-English speakers. Any xwd editor who ruled out “whisky” representing W would logically have to rule using “alpha” for A and “Juliet” for J, as they are “alfa” and “Juliett” on the official list. I’m not aware of anyone who does, so “whisky” = W makes sense to me.
A provocative query, jacket, given the way Peter Biddlecombe discombobulated so many of us with his “ruling” that the spelling didn’t matter, which is no doubt what you half remember. (I have the reference somewhere but I’m not at home at the moment).
Let’s not stir it up again but, having said that, my own view has never changed. In the NATO alphabet the word whiskey (with an e) represents the letter w. You can look up the definitive source on the NATO website. It says there they took a lot of time and care constructing it, and we should respect that.
Oh, and a very nice crossword
The Jameson’s Distillery in Midleton, County Cork, also do “Single Grain Irish Whiskey” – I guess this is the equivalent of the Scots’ “Single Malt”. I have a bottle of this called “Method and Madness”. This bottle is sealed with a cork, not a screw-top. Despite being from a small town in the SW of Ireland it appears to be quite cosmopolitan as the label says it is matured in Bourbon barrels and finished in Virgin Spanish oak casks.
A most enjoyable solve, thank you, Robert, and thanks to Guy for
illuminating what I totally failed to see – the St Patrick’s Day theme,
despite the fact it’s rammed down our throats on the radio. Solving
clues in isolation means I often miss the most obvious themes. Some
lovely PDMs including DITCHWATER, SHAMROCK and BICEPS. LOI was
BARBELLS, where I couldn’t decide what the definition was and then was
held up by being unable to see BELLS=rings in the plural. It works as a
singular for ‘phone’ and you can have a ‘ring of bells’ but I can’t
think of a sentence in which they can be substituted.
With bell as a verb meaning phone, third person singular: She bells / rings her every weekend.
An entertaining puzzle with the St Patrick’s Day theme a day early. I like a theme in a crossword like this – perhaps there could be more? There are plenty of “days” to celebrate during the year. No Welsh theme on March the 1st sadly. How about April 23rd setters?
Talking of setters – I print the “10 years ago” puzzle on the reverse side of “today’s”. This makes the most of the sheet of paper and gives me more entertainment should I accidentally complete the “today” one. Recently, most of the “10 years ago” puzzles are being attributed to “Hayley Dixon”. Does anyone have any idea of what is going on?
Thanks to Robert for the themed puzzle, Guy for the themed blog and Peter for this blog.
24:53. I found this very hard – at one point I got completely stuck for about 10 minutes – but very enjoyable. Lots of penny-drop moments. MER at LABORER.
Took a while but I throughly enjoyed this. Dnk Edna O’Brien, took some time to convince myself that REVERB was a word rather than part of one, liked GUINNESS and UNITE. Also – had never heard of dull as ditchwater – always dishwater where I was dragged up – always learning.
I saw the theme, and wondered whether 22d was a controversial part of it.
45.00
Thought I was waaaaaay off the wavelength but seeing Keriothe’s time, maybe not. I also rushed through plenty and then hit the GOO big time, slowly teasing out each of the remaining answers finishing in the SE where I had briefly thought of ATEMP but rejected it on the basis there are no words starting with that combo of letters…My LOI
Great blog and love the greenery. There are probably a few more Irish references, not least 2d where Cheltenham pretty is a bit of the Emerald Isle nowadays.
Great puzzle and blog – thanks all
Took longer than I should have done to spot the theme – only once I worked out SHAMROCK did the penny drop.
– Not familiar with EDNA O’BRIEN, and once I’d got the surname I thought of Dean as a potential first name before OVERBALANCE and KENNEDY made Edna inevitable
– Like others had a MER over the US spelling of FARM LABORER, but then thought ‘ranch’ in the clue just about covered it
– Only dimly aware that there is such a thing as a LOVING CUP
Thanks Guy and Robert.
FOI + COD Biceps
LOI Enfolded
The bottom row deconstructs as Temple Bar Bells – there is a famous bell in Temple Bar in Dublin – a final Irish reference.
That’s amazing, Paul!
More like that’s amazing Roberto!
I didn’t know about the bell until I looked Temple Bar up, being pretty sure that Price’s bottom row would mean something.
Good spot. I was surprised others hadn’t spotted Temple Bar. It is the nightlife area of Dublin which is always fun, especially on St Patrick’s day. When I compiled this one, I expected Ireland to win the Six Nations rugby too, but that wasn’t to be.
I guess you still could have squeezed Millennium or Centenary in, though that would have been taking a chance. I would have missed either of those.
DERV. Really? I looked it up, seems to refer to diesel itself not oil?
Otherwise lots of great clues. sol (snort of laughter) at arms contractors. Twigged the Irish theme but not the date, as in The Australian puzzles appear a week later.
Usual thanks.
Diesel is a kind of oil.
Thanks Robert and Guy
Playing catchup with these puzzles after being away up-country with no printing facilities. Found it solid going taking a couple of half hour sittings to complete with a number of very nice charades. Noticed the St Patrick’s Day Irish theme about half way through which helped a little with the second half.
Can remember a copper at my grandparent’s farmhouse, where it was filled with boiling water and soap with clothes washed by using a smooth ‘small baseball bat-like’ stick – clothes were then rinsed in another trough before being put through a hand-wringer and then hung out on the clothes-line with wooden pegs. Oh, how far we have advanced !!
Finished in the SW corner with GUINNESS (one of the clever charades), TEMPLE and UNITE (taking a while to see UNIT E) as the last one in.