En garde ! There are plenty of sneaky definitions here, some sharp moves to keep you on your toes, in another delirious dimanche with the requisite modicum of sex and drugs to start off with…
I indicate (Ars Magna)* like this, and words flagging such rearrangements are italicized in the clues.
| ACROSS | |
| 1 | Church pour wine to honour God, but I won’t have it (8) |
| CELIBATE CE, “Church [of England]” + LIBATE, “pour wine to honour God” …Seems our bloggers and commentators have reached a consensus that the euphemism deployed here is past its sell-by date, but don’t expect setters to drop it anytime soon. |
|
| 5 | British artist stumped by Borders drug bust (6) |
| BREAST B(ritish) + R(oyal) A(cademy), “artist” + ST, “stumped by” all surrounds or “[b]orders” E, ecstasy, “drug” …Did you know there is an Aboriginal Australian artist named REA? Well, actually, seems it’s r e a. I didn’t. Of course, this is irrelevant. |
|
| 9 | Rip off an unruly person (8) |
| TEARAWAY TEAR AWAY |
|
| 10 | Come into possession of a company in hearing (6) |
| ACCRUE “a crew” |
|
| 12 | State summit Soviet leader fronts (5) |
| SPEAK S |
|
| 13 | Additional indicators of drunken nips and slugs (4,5) |
| PLUS SIGNS (nips, slugs)* |
|
| 14 | One might be on a trip in Hull with raincoat on (12) |
| HALLUCINATOR (Hull, raincoat)* …“On” is one of the more rarely seen anagrinds, classified in one list (page 7) as “Advanced,” rather than “Standard.” |
|
| 18 | Honest mug acquiring side-swiped Benz for Swiss Baron (12) |
| FRANKENSTEIN FRANK, “Honest” + |
|
| 21 | After messing up, men I scorn turn red (9) |
| ENCRIMSON (men I scorn)* |
|
| 23 | Black pilot circles river to give chopper support (5) |
| BRACE B(lack) + R(iver) + ACE, “pilot” |
|
| 24 | Swinger’s club in Germany associated with Amazon? (6) |
| DRIVER D(eutschland) + RIVER, “Amazon?” |
|
| 25 | Tory MP involved in offensive disregard of authority (8) |
| CONTEMPT CON(servative), “Tory” + TE(MP)T, with your Member of Parliament in the thick of the historic Vietcong offensive at the beginning of the Vietnamese Lunar New Year celebration, i.e., Tet |
|
| 26 | Exhausted fellow, one from Germany (4,2) |
| DONE IN DON + EIN, “one” in German |
|
| 27 | Contract row in NHS unit (8) |
| ASTRINGE A(STRING)E A&E = the UK National Health Service’s Accident and Emergency department |
|
| DOWN | |
| 1 | Copper on trial will be appealing in toto (6) |
| CUTEST CU + TEST |
|
| 2 | Wealthy drunk (6) |
| LOADED DD |
|
| 3 | Club game (9) |
| BLACKJACK DD |
|
| 4 | I am torn and split after wrestling bouncer (12) |
| TRAMPOLINIST (I am torn, split)* |
|
| 6 | Folk group heading for successful careers (5) |
| RACES RACE, “Folk group” + S |
|
| 7 | For some Londoners, Yorkshire town’s sounding appropriate (8) |
| ARROGATE |
|
| 8 | On becoming a part of it, fantastic as true love (8) |
| TREASURE (as true*) folding in RE, “On” |
|
| 11 | Unctuous, base criminal gets under one’s skin (12) |
| SUBCUTANEOUS (Unctuous, base)* |
|
| 15 | Thriller in which cop perhaps holsters piece (9) |
| NAILBITER NAIL(BIT)ER |
|
| 16 | Killed without reason? (8) |
| OFFENDED OFF(END)ED …An offense under the law, even if the person offed hasn’t the time to feel offended. |
|
| 17 | Predatory flapper cut by husband with one sword (8) Story that didn’t make it into F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Flappers and Philosophers? |
| FALCHION FALC(H)(I)ON A FALCHION — from Old French fauchon, derived from Latin falx, “sickle”— is a one-handed, single-edged sword “found in different forms from around the 13th century up to and including the 16th century,” according to Wikipedia. “An unsolved mystery exists as to why there is such a large discrepancy between the frequency of falchions in period art, contrasted with the amazingly few surviving falchions from the medieval period. Currently, there are fewer than 30 confirmed surviving medieval falchions, contrasted with the thousands of straight double edged swords from the same period. Current research by James Elmslie suggests that the overrepresentation in medieval artwork may be a form of artistic short-hand to convey certain meanings, such as indicating who the story enemies are, as falchions are overrepresented in ‘villainous’ characters, such as biblical enemies, or non-Christian barbarians.” …Could be that I’ve never seen the word before. |
|
| 19 | I take orders from soldier behind blockade (6) |
| BARMAN BAR, “blockade” before MAN, “soldier” |
|
| 20 | One of The Animals with a sound like Lennon? (6) |
| BEETLE “Beatle” …And then we had virtually the same clue (a little more precise as to the kind of [a]nimal) in QC 3302 Friday by Wurm. |
|
| 22 | Old people not{ice ni}ce-looking houses (5) |
| ICENI Hidden Though omnipresent in crosswords these days, during the Iron Age and early Roman era this tribe occupied (saith Wikipedia) only present-day Norfolk and parts of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. There are theories about the origin of the name, nothing confirmed. |
|
Maybe not for the first time, I’ve looked up both “it” = sex/sex appeal and “it girl”, and seen that none of Collins/Oxford/Chambers marks them as old-fashioned.
Any day now…
There are some who complain about these every time they appear which may give a false impression and doesn’t make a consensus as there are surely many more who simply accept them for what they are, don’t comment one way or the other, and get on with the business of solving clues.
DNK FALCHION which appears to be on its first TfTT outing, nor BLACKJACK as a club. The NHS unit at 27ac is actually A & E but as with punctuation we have to allow for only letters going in the grid.
It’s true we don’t see ‘on’ as an anagrind very often but ‘working’ is common enough and ‘working / on’ turn up regularly as synonyms so it shouldn’t be much of a leap.
The thing that people including myself grumble about from time to time is ‘it’ for SA, an abbreviation that was probably last used in about 1963. ‘It’ as a euphemism for sex is still reasonably common.
As Templar wrote on September 25 of last year for Times Quick Cryptic No 3103, “The usual suspects may now clear their throats and deliver their well-rehearsed sermons on how young people don’t use “it” for “sex” these days, even though they do.” Wurm was thinking of folks like Merlin, who commented on the 6th of April of 2016 (nearly nine years earlier), re Quick Cryptic 542 by Pedro: “‘It’ for ‘sex appeal’, – and then that is itself abbreviated, seriously? Tired 50s slang, let’s have a few abbreviations from the last 40 years, setters. Lol.”
This reply is based solely on the top two Google results on the page in front of me.
QC 3103: Wurm was the setter. The statement you refer to was made by Templar as the blogger, but he was suggesting a possible reaction to the 3D clue, and indicating that he didn’t agree with it. As far as I can tell, there was no mention of this in the comments.
QC 542: the comment was about “it” indicating “SA”, not “sex”.
Not much confirmation of the claimed consensus.
Corrected the attribution. And yes, I thought this rather corroborated keriothe’s take on the recurrent grumbling, which also sometimes involves labeling “it” itself as passé. I spoke merely of a subjective impression. Jack is surely right about there being no objectively determined “consensus.”
Late to the party, but “it” for “sex” is just as current as it ever was. Not a particularly recent song but the first example I can think of is “Bad Touch” by The Bloodhound Gang, the main lyric being a repeated and vivid example of this usage.
Well, yes. But in context,”Let’s do it” (I looked up that song) would clearly mean that whether or not “it” had ever become a stand-alone euphemism. I’ve just used “that” the same way.
The dictionary definitions don’t mention any context other than informal speech/writing.
Why would they?
In informal speech, there is always a context that makes… it clear.
In cryptic crossword clues, it can be just there.
I’m not arguing about anything now. Not sure about you!
I can see that there is a context affecting the meaning of “it” in the song lyrics, and that “it” can mean practically anything in a particular context. But so can “that”, and I can’t find “that” defined as “sex” in a dictionary, so I believe there must be more than a possible temporary context for “it” behind the dictionary definition.
Of course.
14a the anagram is of ‘Hull raincoat’.
This is almost an &lit clue. There is apparently quite a drug problem there. Also being on the East coast and in the UK it’s bound to be raining at least 50% of the time. I speak with some knowledge of the place having lived there for a decade.
Yes, I apparently can’t count, only 12 letters.
I agree with your “almost” about an &lit, knowing zilch about Hull.
Took nearly an hour, spending a disproportionate amount of time on my LOI HALLUCINATOR which I entered unparsed, not even considering ‘on’ as an anagram indicator. I’ve never come across ENCRIMSON or ASTRINGE before but they were gettable from the familiar colour and the commoner adjectival form respectively. I remembered FALCHION from an outing in an Independent puzzle a few months ago. Capitalising ‘toto’ in 1d wouldn’t have worked (and the ‘in toto’ is presumably meant to indicate the superlative form) but even so I did wonder if there wasn’t just a slight nod to the The Wizard of Oz in the clue.
I’m probably over-thinking it, but I still don’t get OFFENDED; I can see the wordplay but not how the whole clue is the definition.
Thanks to Guy and setter
If you’ve killed someone without reason, you’re an “offender”—have OFFENDED—in the eyes of the law, which would not be the case if the act were done in self-defense or, say, commanded by a military superior.
Thanks Guy. Yes, I was trying to over-complicate things; simple once you see it.
41:39
DNK that Frankenstein was Swiss, let alone a baron. I’m one of Jack’s silent majority re ‘it’; I’d give today’s CELIBATE my COD, for that matter.
According to Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein was Swiss, came from a distinguished family, and is the oldest son, but there is no indication that he has a title.
Y’know, I wondered about that… have the book… around here, somewhere…
My thanks to David McLean and Guy du Sable.
Not too hard.
1a Celibate. I think libations pre-date Christianity.
21a Encrimson. I wasn’t sure this was a word, but it is in all the usual sources.
27a Astringe, not a word that comes readily to my lips. Astringent, yes.
7d Arrogate. Yorkshiremen often drop aitches too. My brother in law used to say in broad Yorkshire “They should take that ‘Arrogate, tow it down M1, and dump it in Surrey where it belongs.”
17d NHO Falchion. Felt the need to check that it exists.
I only know libations in a religious context from the obviously pre-christian Libation Bearers by Aeschylus. Much more common in my experience to hear it as a generic term for alcohol, mainly in US crosswords.
Interesting, thanks. Didn’t know about Aeschylus. Will research him. Regards, andyf
18:52. Tricky one, and I had a typo which I didn’t spot. Didn’t know FALCHION, LIBATE, or that FRANKENSTEIN was either Swiss or a baron.
33 mins. Good fun with COD CELIBATE a standout.
“Death for no reason is murder” (The Smiths) so definitely offensive.
Didn’t get “on” as an anagrind so thought the trippiness was doing double duty. LOI. Actually the east of the UK is drier than the west and as I remember it a windcheater is what you need in Hull.
Thanks to DM and to Guy for the entertaining irrelevancies.
DNF
Falchion? Hmmm. Liked the rest of it. Thanks Guy/David.
I was slow, but I was able to bring falchion to mind as a valid word. Arrogate/Harrogate is a well-known clue, verging on a chestnut. I thought hallucinator was really good, and the &lit element makes it even better.
Time: 44:48
14ac. Thanks for that link to the list of anagram indicators. The function (part of speech) column is interesting. “On” (like “out” and “up”) is marked as an adverb; “off”, an adjective.
Given this particular setter I wondered if “on” meant under the influence of drugs, like “wired” or “buzzing”, but neither of those is on that list.
1d. Lawyers love their Latin phrases, so the surface reads like the headline from a law report. However, how well does it work for the definition? “In toto” means in total, entirely. Does “appealing in toto” mean (the) most appealing? If something is entirely cute, is that the same as cutest?
Re “in toto,” I had the same thought, in passing. But when someone says, “That’s just the cutest puppy!” I don’t think they have compared that pooch to all the others on Earth.
Yes, I see – thanks!
Got all bar 14a on the first go, then got HALLUCINATOR almost as soon as I sat down for another go. It didn’t help that I didn’t know ‘on’ can be an anagrind.
– Can’t recall seeing ENCRIMSON anywhere before (though of course it’s entirely logical)
– Had to trust the wordplay for the equally unfamiliar ASTRINGE
– Same for FALCHION
Thanks Guy and David.
FOI Arrogate
LOI Hallucinator
COD Breast