Mainly just everyday words here, nothing very obscure… but, oh, those sneaky definitions! I somehow caught a breeze on this one last night and wasn’t held up too long anywhere. But in looking back over it, my passage seems to have been rather CHARMED. Hope you felt lucky too!
I indicate (Ars Magna)* like this, and words flagging such rearrangements are italicized in the clues.
| ACROSS | |
| 1 | Make-up container knight opens suddenly (4-4) |
| SLAP-BANG SLAP, “Make-up” + BA(N)G |
|
| 6 | Key used to quickly get out of a window? (6) |
| ESCAPE CD |
|
| 9 | Non-masculine ways of doing creative works (4) |
| ODES |
|
| 10 | A sober tune composed in coastal resort (10) |
| EASTBOURNE (A sober tune)* …Wouldn’t swear that I’ve heard of the place, but not hard to decipher. |
|
| 11 | One gulped before getting rid of black dog? (14) |
| ANTIDEPRESSANT CD …This was an answer in the Dean Mayer puzzle I addressed two blogs ago. I threw it in as soon as I saw “black dog,” without even thinking of the surface story. |
|
| 13 | Hammy sides of game served in lodge (6) |
| STAGEY STA(G |
|
| 15 | Going away around fourth of March is dramatic (8) |
| EXCITING EX(C)ITING |
|
| 16 | Nut loaf just served with slice of toast (4,4) |
| HEAD BUTT HEAD, “loaf” + BUT, “just” + T |
|
| 18 | In hearing, old partner scrutinizes tax (6) |
| EXCISE “ex eyes” |
|
| 20 | Low-grade salt in San Marino ready for refinement (8,6) |
| ORDINARY SEAMAN (San Marino ready)* |
|
| 22 | Beastly type in a temper around about noon (4,6) |
| PINE MARTEN (in a temper)* + N — or with an N inserted (since “about” can mean “near or close to” or “all the way around”) …My last one in—and maybe my first encounter with this cute little critter. |
|
| 24 | Guy ropes in English base (4) |
| MEAN M(E)AN |
|
| 25 | Periods of abstinence broken by these at last? (6) |
| FEASTS F(E)ASTS &lit! |
|
| 26 | Upright reputation (8) |
| STANDING DD |
|
| DOWN | |
| 2 | Stableboy on drug and getting loaded (5) |
| LADEN LAD, “Stableboy” + E, ecstasy, “drug” + N, “and” (’n’ with punctuation ignored) |
|
| 3 | Death is temporary (7) Nice to think so. Happy Easter to those who celebrate. |
| PASSING DD |
|
| 4 | Where one’s driven round the bend incessantly? (2,5,4) |
| AT EVERY TURN With a literal interpretation of the idiom as a cryptic hint |
|
| 5 | Disorderly senior and artist get complaint (15) |
| GASTROENTERITIS (senior, artist get)* |
|
| 6 | Decline of Rome … ultimately that’s Gibbon’s focus (3) |
| EBB |
|
| 7 | Arms-running company unionist managed over time (7) |
| COURANT CO, “company” + U(nionist) + RAN, “managed” + T(ime) “Arms” here means “the official heraldic symbols of a family, state, etc, including a shield with distinctive devices, and often supports, a crest, or other insignia” (Collins)—and COURANT, referring to an heraldic animal, means it is depicted “running” (of course). |
|
| 8 | Sorry folk writer interviewed at front by shelters (9) |
| PENITENTS PEN, “writer” + I |
|
| 12 | Awful cast sneer at system of Equity for presenters (6,5) |
| SECRET SANTA (cast sneer at)* An equitable exchange of presents among the anonymous givers is usually assured by a spending limit. |
|
| 14 | Cope with Leith criminal? They will! (3,6) |
| THE POLICE (Cope, Leith)* semi-&lit |
|
| 17 | Perform first of dates with Stones and Fairground Attraction (7) |
| DODGEMS DO, “Perform” + D |
|
| 19 | Cold, injured and lucky to be alive? (7) |
| CHARMED C(old) + HARMED, “injured” |
|
| 21 | A horse rearing around one once more (5) |
| AGAIN A + N(I)AG<=“rearing” |
|
| 23 | When rings start to smuggle dope (3) |
| ASS A(S)S |
|
I might be wrong here but perhaps the definition is ‘Decline of Rome’ sometimes known as the ‘ebb and decline of Rome’, with ‘that’s’ being ‘ie’ ultimately being ‘e’.
Really liked this and thought the ‘ESCAPE’ clue was clever referring to escaping from a computer screen window. SLAP BANG has a different meaning for me, being ‘slap bang in the middle’ but I’ve come across its other meaning to be wise to it. ANTIDEPRESSANT was slow to come but liked it when the penny dropped, always think of Churchill when I see it, I think he may have coined the phrase? HEAD BUTT had to be and saw head/loaf and t/slice but don’t get just=but. Liked PASSING for the clue. Didn’t know Courant but the wordplay was clear. Enjoyable puzzle.
Thanks Guy and setter.
‘Black dog’ goes back to the late 18th century, according to ODE.
Thank you. Quite a bit earlier than Winston, then.
Edward Gibbon’s book is The History of the Decline and Fall of Rome. (“Ebb” and “decline” are synonyms, but there’s no reason to associate the word EBB definitionally to Rome.) Seems you’d be cluing the E twice.
Yes, I just saw that Edward Gibbon was the author of the Decline and Fall… Very clever clue now I see the author’s name plays a part.
I would have considered it strange if “Gibbon” were just a random name with two Bs in the middle!
I read it as: Rome ultimately that has Gibbon’s focus.
Easiest Sunday for me in a long time. 35 minutes. Very enjoyable.
Yeah, but…
Decline of Rome—ultimately Gibbon’s focus.
Anyway you parse it, “that’s” is superfluous, though not necessarily fatally distracting.
(And to say “that has [the author]’s focus” is in any case slightly odd.)
Referring to the wordplay not the definition. E has BB to give the answer. What I call a riddle device that’s often used in clues.
Yeah, but seems an unnecessary complication.
‘That’ is unnecessary but ‘Rome… ultimately that’ is a perfectly valid indication for E and it improves the surface.
I disagree about the surface. Oh, well. BTW, in real life, when do you ever see the contraction with apostrophe-S meaning “has” in the possessive sense and not just as part of the verb tense? I am only half-awake and not for long, but I can’t think of an example.
Yeah the surface works either way – I personally prefer it as is but can see it the other way.
Your other point is fair (and has been discussed here before I’m sure) but the form is reasonably common in the first person – ‘I’ve a lot of work to do’ – so by extension you might argue that it’s grammatical in the third. ‘She’s a lot of work to do’ strikes me as grammatical even if I’m not sure anyone would actually say it!
22:10
One of Harry’s easiest. DNK SECRET SANTA, COURANT (so ‘arms-running’ was lost on me), the HEAD BUTT meaning of ‘nut’.
Another enjoyable one from David. Seen the use of the contraction ‘n’ for ‘and’ in 2 down before and don’t like it.
In 14d wondered if there was a subliminal reference to that old tongue twister ‘ The Leith police dismisseth us’
I think there was,or at least I was reminded of it. Apart from “port, part of greater Edinburgh”, as a Southern softie I could tell nothing else about the place.
Very straightforward and thoroughly enjoyable – a welcome fillip after last week’s debacle! SLAP-BANG was not a problem, though, like Quadrophenia, my understanding doesn’t include ‘suddenly’ – rather ‘right’ (in the middle). It’s probably a regional thing. I liked O.S., ESCAPE, SECRET SANTA for the misdirection and I enjoy Ikea clues like DODGEMS and PENITENTS. LOI was HEAD-BUTT, where ‘just’ didn’t feel right for ‘but’ and I don’t really like T being a ‘slice of toast’. However, I’ve come across it before, so I guess it’s common usage. Many thanks to D McLean and Guy.
Didn’t get the just/but connection but gave it some thought and came up with:
‘Tis but/just a shower and will clear up soon.
8:13, but with AT EVERY TUNN. Drat.
I’m in the same camp as Quadrophenia and alto_ego on SLAP BANG.
P.S. as the (appropriate for the clue) self-appointed &Lit police, I need to point out that 14dn isn’t. ‘They will’ is not part of the wordplay.
It’s a semi- now and I removed the exclamation point.
15 minutes.
– Think the same as Quadrophenia and alto_ego about SLAP-BANG, but it’s come up before in these puzzles and the parsing wasn’t too tricky
– Nearly bunged in HEAD HUNT for 16a before thinking of HEAD BUTT
– Trusted the wordplay for COURANT
Thanks Guy and David.
FOI Passing
LOI Head butt
COD Ordinary Seaman (an anagram involving San Marino that doesn’t lead to Romanians!)