Certainly one of the easiest Dean puzzles I’ve worked, but no less entertaining for that, and flawlessly executed.
I indicate (Ars Magna)* like this, and words flagging such rearrangements are italicized in the clues.
| ACROSS | |
| 1 | Words of old chief end when son interrupts (8) |
| ARCHAISM ARCH, “chief” + AI(S)M |
|
| 5 | Shakespeare’s ancient duelling weapon (6) |
| PISTOL DD Pistol is a swaggering, comical son of a gun who appears in three of the Bard’s plays and is referred to as Falstaff’s “ancient” or standard-bearer. He is more ancient than the use of the eponymous weapon in a duel. Wikipedia: “In London, the first recorded pistol duel was in 1711, but the use of pistols was unusual until the 1760s. Thereafter they quickly took over, and after 1785 it was rare for a sword duel to be fought in London.” …I was, at first, trying to remember if Pistol fought a duel, but if he had, he would have wielded a sword—the one he would use to open the world, his oyster! |
|
| 10 | Watch display (7) |
| MONITOR DD |
|
| 11 | River bank in huge French city (7) |
| ORLEANS O(R)(LEAN)S |
|
| 12 | Delayed parts I don’t care about (14) |
| PROCRASTINATED (parts I don’t care)* |
|
| 13 | Lead, with another one, around country (5,4) |
| COSTA RICA COSTAR, “Lead, with another” + I, “one” + CA, circa, “around” |
|
| 15 | Original way to go east of Douglas? (5) |
| FIRST FIR, of which “Douglas” is a type + ST, “way to go” |
|
| 16 | Stop working or carry on (3,2) |
| ACT UP DD |
|
| 18 | Face became hot and sandpapery (2,7) |
| GO THROUGH GOT, “became” + H(ot) + ROUGH, “sandpapery” |
|
| 20 | Goes on about turning point for mothers (14) |
| PROGENITRESSES PROG(TINE<=“turning”)RESSES |
|
| 23 | Filthy locale for school reunion? (7) |
| OBSCENE O(ld) B(oy), alumnus + SCENE, “locale” |
|
| 24 | Make one bed disappear? (2,1,4) |
| DO A BUNK DO, “Make” + A, “one” + BUNK, “bed” |
|
| 25 | Some casi{nos ide}ntify end of game (2-4) |
| NO-SIDE Hidden Rugby |
|
| 26 | Guys keep score in mind (8) |
| MENTALLY MEN, “Guys” + TALLY, “keep score” |
|
| DOWN | |
| 1 | Little time following morning rounds (4) |
| AMMO AM, “morning” + MO, moment, “little time” |
|
| 2 | Frauds rushed around wearing heels (7) |
| CANARDS CA(RAN<=“around”)DS |
|
| 3 | Greek destination of final flight? (5) |
| ATTIC DD, the second expressed somewhat cryptically |
|
| 4 | Broadcast serving to media (9,5) |
| STREAMING VIDEO &lit! (serving to media)* |
|
| 6 | Likely to get business, almost squeal about it (2,4,3) |
| IN LINE FOR LINE or “business” inside INFOR |
|
| 7 | Under property, men will find snake in the grass (7) |
| TRAITOR TRAIT, “property” + O(ther) R(anks), “men” |
|
| 8 | Go on and abandon final (4-5) |
| LAST-DITCH LAST, “Go on” + DITCH, “abandon” |
|
| 9 | Get captain’s position for game (8,6) |
| CONTRACT BRIDGE CONTRACT, “Get” + BRIDGE, “captain’s position” |
|
| 13 | What gets vice lowered? (9) |
| CLAMPDOWN CD |
|
| 14 | Fear capture (9) |
| APPREHEND DD |
|
| 17 | Some who believe toast is toast! (7) |
| TAOISTS (toast is)* “With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include ‘way’, ‘road’, ‘path’, or ‘technique’, generally understood in the Taoist sense as an enigmatic process of transforming ultimately underlying reality.” (Wikipedia) …I first guessed THEISTS, which seems a closer equivalent to “believers,” since Taoism, as much a philosophy as a religion, puts more emphasis on practice than on maintaining a set of dogmas (although certain of the many denominations do hold beliefs in deities and other supernatural entities). |
|
| 19 | Not like one in Paris Match (7) |
| UNEQUAL UN, “one in Paris” + EQUAL, “[m]atch” |
|
| 21 | Streetcars coming back into fashion? (5) |
| SMART TRAMS<=“coming back” |
|
| 22 | Fine wine, unopened (4) |
| OKAY |
|
5A: Pistols as handguns were around In Shakespeare’s time, and it seems widely accepted that the character has that name as he was “explosive”. Duelling is surely a sideshow compared to warfare.
Yes, I meant only “duelling weapons.” I’ll amend slightly.
Didn’t fully get the wordplay for IN LINE FOR but I do now, thank you Guy.
NO-SIDE is a curious term I’d NHO. The explanation is online. Apparently rooted in the history of rugby, where at the end of a hame the referee would call “no side” to indicate that no side had possession of the ball.
Nice puzzle. Enjoyed it a lot.
NO-SIDE occasionally appears in puzzles and often elicits similar comments. Many solvers have never encountered the phrase and, of those who have, few have actually heard it used in real life. Maybe when I was playing 40 years ago but not in recent decades.
I can confirm that this is a term I know exclusively from crosswords.
Didn’t see how COSTA RICA worked. COSTAR has to be ‘lead, with another’ since I is ‘one’.
oops! ta
I agree much of this was straightforward for a puzzle by Dean Mayer but three clues took my solving time from the quite reasonable (for me) 40 minutes to a full hour: ARCHAISM, STREAMING VIDEO and the unknown PROGENTRITRESSES, making its first appearance. On reflection I should have got ARCHAISM sooner but I was missing one of the checkers and was unable to spot the word pattern.
13d also clued as CLAMP = vice (woodwork) and DOWN = lowered. Does this make it more than a CD?
Hmm. A CD typically plays on at the meaning of at least one word in a way that usually doesn’t need spelling out once the true definition is grasped. But I guess sometimes the line between a charade and a CD can be thin.
It’s an &Lit.
The two long clues ( 20a and 4d) didn’t exactly spring to mind and this made life difficult given the absence of crossers. Certainly didn’t feel it was one of Dean’s ‘easiest’.
PISTOL was brilliant.
Over an hour but enjoyable as ever from Dean and it didn’t feel like a chore. Like Guy I first thought of THEISTS for 17d and once I’d realised this didn’t work and that the answer was probably an anagram I just couldn’t make the mental leap required to consider a word with three consecutive vowels. Like richard, NO-SIDE was new to me but I guessed it was from rugby. LOI was the never before seen PROGENITRESS for which I needed all the crossers.
I liked STREAMING VIDEO and working out the parsing of COSTA RICA.
Thanks to Guy and Dean
NO-SIDE has appeared here several times but I only remember it since it came up in one of my blogs. As I checked the archive for that I thought it was last year, but it turned out to have been December 2019. Frightening!
can someone please explain TINE in 20ac. Thanks
A TINE is one of the pointed prongs of a garden fork
Also on table forks etc
I’m in agreement with those who found this a tad more accessible than usual – and no complaints about that. Some lovely surfaces. CONTRACT BRIDGE, STREAMING VIDEO, ATTIC, OBSCENE, PISTOL and ARCHAISM my faves. Surprisingly quick for me at around the 25 minute mark.
Thanks to setter and blogger
Another Sunday DNF with one clue spoiling the party. I kicked myself over last weeks CANNES but I’ll forgive myself PROGENITRESSES and tune in next week for today’s.
Liked COSTA RICA and UNEQUAL.
19:02. I found this pretty tricky. Great fun though as always. I thought STREAMING VIDEO was a bit green-paintish.