Solving time: 9:48
A not too difficult puzzle, though I did get a good start with 1A/1D both falling at first look. This despite Mrs B’s attempt to slow me down with some gentle tickling as I tackled this puzzle in bed. I don’t think she realises quite what effort used to go into solving against the clock while strap-hanging on the tube, years ago. Curious to get just two of Europe’s micro-states – I’ve hunted for others, but can’t see any lurking in the grid.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | THURSDAY’S CHILD ref GK Chesterton’s The Man who was Thursday and “Thursday’s Child has far to go” |
| 9 | ANTIVIRAL – R ion (in Latvia)*. As an immunologist, Mrs B came into her own for the explanation here. Interferons are white blood cells, also known as interleukins, which act as ‘intercellular hormones’ and are used to treat Hepatitis B and C. |
| 10 | PLAIN – def. and CD relating to “no oil painting” as a description of, say, Anne of Cleves as seen by Henry VIII. |
| 12 | EARLY – the London king being a pearly one. |
| 13 | LAWFULLY – L=beginning to live,AWFULLY = very much |
| 15 | RANGER – from (st)RANGER |
| 17 | RAGMAN – def and whimsical def., Scott Joplin being the master of the rag, as anyone alive in the early 1970s will remember, when the use of his music for the film The Sting started a minor craze which held on longest in the Pot Black signature tune. |
| 19 | LAND CRAB – AND,CaRp in LAB |
| 22 | TOUCHWOOD – 2 defs, one for “touch wood” |
| 23 | SWEAR – we disregard the men in menswear = suits, for example (a nice change from clubs and hearts) |
| 24 | LOCUM – Cu=Copper in L,O,M |
| 25 | ALIGNMENT – punning def. – dress = “draw up troops in the proper alignment” |
| 26 | DEAD TO THE WORLD – late=DEAD,TOT=drink,”H.E. world” = “ambassador’s set” (HE = His/Her Excellency) |
| Down | |
| 1 | TRAVELLER’S TALE – cryptic def referring to Alexander Selkirk, the model for Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe |
| 2 | UPTHROW – UP = on horseback = “where riders are”, THROW=put out. The fact that we start off with “put out” = UPT is just a decoy |
| 3 | SAVVY – swap the N in navvy |
| 4 | AEROSOLS – anag of (roses a lot – T) |
| 5 | SELINA – hidden – the possibility of S(girl’s name)S is another decoy. |
| 6 | HAPHAZARD – (c)HAP=”bloke caught out”,HAZARD=venture |
| 7 | LEANING – lose one of the “three Rs” in LEA(r)NING – corrected courtesy of penfold_61 |
| 8 | UNCORROBORATED – UNCO=”strange Scottish”,RROBO=”robber”=thief noisily,RATED=admonished |
| 14 | UNASHAMED – SHAM, 16ed by Una and Ed |
| 16 | SANDWICH – (George) SAND,W(h)ICH |
| 18 | GOUACHE – U in GOA, then our favourite revolutionary, Che (Guevara) |
| 20 | ROE DEER = “rode ‘ere” |
| 21 | MONACO = MON.,A,C.O. |
| 23 | SINEW – IN in SEW |
I don’t think the use of Black and White Rag as the Pot Black theme had anything to do with the revival of interest in Scott Joplin as a result of the success of The Sting, as Pot Black had started 4 years before the film was released. It was written by George Botsford and performed by Winifred Atwell on what she used to call her “other piano”.
After 9 minutes all was complete apart from 13A and 2D. There followed an inexplicable bout of word-blindness before they succumbed.
A good puzzle all round without venturing into groundbreaking territory. I’ve never been a great fan of answer components being clued for what they are, as in DEAD at 26A and HAZARD at 6D, but on the other hand in an easier puzzle these are good for helping newer solvers.
That said, if I’m poked into offering a COD nom I’d go for 26A which reads very nicely.
Q-0 E-5 D-5
Tom B.
Like Jimbo, I wasn’t wild about the pair of 1s, which rather undermined the whole experience. Plenty to enjoy, though, especially the surfaces of LEANING and DEAD TO THE WORLD.
Today’s One Across Rock was tricky, until I spotted angsty Seattle-based acid-rock combo Thursday’s Uncorroborated Child. Shame about the 1 across stipulation, else I’d have plumped for Bootle’s ironic, post-punk anarcho-popsters Antiviral Sandwich, best known for the minor hit “Mahatma Ghandi ate my hamster”.
And it’s a shame that album titles don’t qualify, or we could have had Morrissey’s forthcoming “Thursday’s Child is Dead to the World”.
I parsed 8 down as unco + Rob (Roy) + sounds like berated but I can see now that doesn’t work due to the double r and Rob Roy wasn’t a thief as such.
I don’t see a problem with hazard. I read the wordplay bit as venture as in venture an opinion/hazard a guess which is not the same as hazard as a trap or danger.
As for Sotira’s little game, I’d go for Alabama’s Southern rock outfit Thursday’s Child and the Touchwood Rangers.
Peter, in the blog at 7d I think you meant to have LEARNING rather than EARNING.
The HAPHAZARD clue isn’t a bad one per se. It’s just that the etymology is based on HAP + HAZARD in its original meaning, so using that same meaning as part of the clue isn’t something I’d choose to do as a setter unless I got desperate. Like I said, though, an “easy” approach like this is definitely good for solvers who might be struggling to make headway.
Any chance of another bonus crossword soon Anax? And what news of the “beginners bar crossword”?
I’ve not been able to start on a new bonus puzzle just yet, but have added another Imperator puzzle to a pdf collection available on my home page (www.ukpuzzle.com) – the link is at the bottom of the page.
My day consisted of telling people that random didn’t mean haphazard and there it was. How do they know?
Another result of my crash bang wallop approach is atrocious writing. My second D in 26 looked like an O so I was held up for a wee bit by 14 looking for something to fit U-A—M-O. Doh!
Nothing really stood out for me today. I didn’t get 1a and 1d until just after the half hour mark and that contributed to the final surge. New words for me were 1. GOUACHE although the wordplay was obvious and 2. UPTHROW which took some time as I thought UPT was an anagram of PUT.