Solving time: 28 minutes
Another easy Monday, I would say. I gained considerable confidence by finishing the Saturday and Sunday puzzles this weekend, so this did not prove to be much of a challenge. Not a bad puzzle, but one where the literals and enumerations will give you a lot of help.
Music: Elvis Costello, Brutal Youth
Across | |
---|---|
1 | WILLPOWER, W(ILL POW) ER. In this one, ‘ER’ is most probably Elizabeth Regina. |
6 | SOFIA, SOF(I)A. A rather well-known clue. |
9 | ROMEO, cryptic definition, referring to the presence of ‘Romeo’ and ‘Juliet’ in the NATO radio alphabet, although not in other widely-used ones. |
10 | OBSERVANT, O + B + SERVANT |
11 | ANTWERP, anagram of NEW PART, a very smooth anagram. |
12 | BREATHE, BR + E + A + THE, where ‘inspire’ has its literal meaning. |
13 | COUNTERFEITERS, anagram of SET FREE IN COURT, another smooth but not particularly challenging clue. |
17 | HENRY THE FOURTH, cryptic definition, referring the the historical plays of Shakespeare. |
21 | AFRICAN, A FR (I) CAN. |
23 | GLEANER, [bein]G + LEANER, just slapped in from the literal by me. |
25 | SCHOOLING, S C(H[igher])OOLING. |
26 | TACIT, T[imes] A[re] C[onservative] I[n] T[one]. My first in, would be omitted if we still did that. |
27 | WEDGE, double definition. I nearly put in ‘slice’, but it’s called a ‘fade’ if you’re trying to do it as your approach shot. |
28 | EIDERDOWN, anagram of ROW, INDEED. |
Down | |
1 | WAR DANCE, anagram of A NEW CARD. That’s two anagrams with ‘new’ spelled out. |
2 | LIMIT, cryptic definition, where a drunk is presumably over the legal limit. |
3 | PROTESTER, PRO + TESTER, where ‘demonstrating kind’ is the literal. |
4 | WHOPPER, double definition. |
5 | RISIBLE, RI(SIB)LE, where ‘sib’ = sibling. |
6 | SURGE, SUR(G[uerillas])E. This has become every politician’s solution to every problem. |
7 | FLATTERER, FLATTER + ER, which is most likely Edwardus Rex here. Imitation is, of course, the sincerest form of flattery. |
8 | ANTHEM A + N + THEM[e]. |
14 | UNEARTHED, double definition. I started to put in ‘ungrounded’, and had to switch from American English to British English in mid-entry. |
15 | TWO-SEATER, anagram of ROA[d] TEST WE. I was held up because I was looking for 6-3 instead of 3-6 for a while. |
16 | SHERATON, S(HERAT)ON. An elegant style of furniture, to be exact. |
18 | TONTINE, cryptic definition, as far as I can tell. The ‘one’ and ‘totally’ are tempting, but don’t seem to lead anywhere. |
19 | ENGAGED, double definition. |
20 | WARSAW, WAS RAW upside down. |
22 | CHOSE, double definition, where French ‘chose’ = ‘an article’ May be tough for monolingual solvers. |
24 | NACHO, found in [Tijua]NA CHO[ose], I would not say hidden. |
18dn looks barely cryptic to me, pretty much a straight definition, surely? I thought of TONTINE immediately once all the checkers were in place but didn’t know exactly what it meant so I was hoping for confirmation from wordplay which turned out to be absent.
Tontines are illegal in the UK for obvious reasons since actuarial factors are most unlikely to decide who gains the pot!
Edited at 2013-12-09 09:02 am (UTC)
Best of the day is the anagram at 13ac. It might be obvious, but I’d have been very happy to write such a clue.
I liked WILLPOWER for the surface but COUNTERFEITERS is a beauty. If it’s original, it’s worth the price of admission.
Oddly it is a brand name for pillows in Australia – I say “oddly” because I would think that being a participant in a tontine was hardly conducive to a good night’s sleep.
Left with a blank at the unknown TONTINE, and with SHERATON put in with a ?, since I knew neither the style nor the town.
As for the rest of the puzzle, sailed through the top half, staggered through the rest. WARSAW is probably an oldie but is my pick for today’s goldie.
My spellchecker also doesn’t know tontine. But then it doesn’t know spellchecker either
Edited at 2013-12-09 09:23 am (UTC)
But all else to one side, what a fantastic clue is 13ac. Such a lovely surface, and I didn’t find it straightforward since having the initial C I thought it might start CONS…
This crossword is surely a good way of finding out who is a glass-half-empty person, and who half-full 🙂
Still, it was never going to ruin my day after going two-nil up.
Peebles. Probably no connection …
As regards the TONTINE, I am indebted to the film The Wrong Box, a very pleasant British comedy film of the 60s featuring a young Michael Caine and a whole raft of other stars. Ralph Richardson and John Mills play brothers who are the last two survivors of a tontine, and the plot (based on a story by Robert Louis Stevenson) demonstrates why such schemes are now illegal, as various characters attempt to keep alive / dispose of each brother as appropriate, with hilarious consequences etc. etc. Anyway, the opening sequence explains exactly what a tontine is, and how it works, and clearly lodged in my mind, though it’s years since I saw the film.
By the way Vinyl, to be mega-pedantic, ‘Chose’ as in article exists in English as a noun. A chose in action is a description of matterless property (see Theft Act 1968)
13 ac what a magnificent anagram.
Golf course frozen solid in the sunshine.
SHERATON from definition and part wordplay, and I guess we’re in the two cryptic defintion Monday phase of the Times.
The clue could also at a pinch point to “tin mine” (yes I know it’s two words): A tin mine is “a scheme to generate money”, think Bolivia’s Simon Patino, and “one totally enjoys at last” is Tin! Mine! Mine! All Mine! (said in a Neddy Seagoon voice).
I too remember the TONTINE in The Wrong Box, which featured a whole raft of British character actors (I particularly remember Wilfrid Lawson), but I recall that the word was already familiar – perhaps from the Times crossword where it appeared (and still appears) regularly.
Pleased to get it right after making a boo-boo in the Grauniad.
Henry the Fourth, Part I
Henry the Fourth, Part 2
But…
Henry the Sixth, Part 1
Henry the Sixth, Part 2
Henry the Sixth, Part 3