Solving time: 23:50
I half expected some sort of Valentine theme today, then after meeting Macbeth, Richard and Othello in the first half dozen clues, I thought I was in for some sort of Shakespearean theme, but there was no further evidence of one.
It’s always a pleasant surprise to get a nice easy one on a blogging day, and at less than 25 minutes for me, it was certainly that. Anything sub-30 for me is a noteworthy achievement! Several good clues in here, although I think my COD goes to the cryptic def at 9d which I rather liked.
cd = cryptic def., dd = double def., rev = reversal, homophones are written in quotes, anagrams as (–)*, and removals like this
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | CHAMBER POT = (MACBETH)* about (R + PO) – All those Dean Mayer Sunday puzzles put me onto this one in a flash – he does like a bit of schoolboy toilet humour! |
| 6 | MARC = CRAM rev – Marc Chagall was a French painter |
| 10 | DRASTIC = DR + C about ASTI |
| 11 | HO |
| 12 | ST(ONE + W)ALL |
| 13 | RADII – cd |
| 14 | CHINA – hidden – CRS (china plate = mate) |
| 15 | DO + O + LITTLE – ‘Girl made grand’ is the definition, a reference to Eliza Doolittle in G.B. Shaw’s play Pygmalion, and the musical My Fair Lady that was based upon it. |
| 17 | NOTRE DAME = NOTE about (RED + MA rev) |
| 20 | WHERE = “WEAR” |
| 21 | IGLOO = GI rev + LOO (smallest room) |
| 23 | IN(T)UIT + I’VE |
| 25 | INSTEAD = IN (hot, as in trendy) + TEA (meal) in (S + D) |
| 26 | CURE-ALL = CU + L about REAL (physical) |
| 27 | N + ARK |
| 28 | TENDERLOIN = TEND (nurse) + EOIN (Irishman) about R/L |
| Down | |
| 1 |
|
| 2 | ANATOMIST = ANT about (ATOM + IS) |
| 3 | BY THE SAME TOKEN = (ENEMY TAKES BOTH)* |
| 4 | RI(CHAR)D |
| 5 | OTHELLO = (THE + L/L) in O/O (rounds) – the definition is a reference to a quote from the play where Iago tells Brabantio that ‘an old black ram is tupping your white ewe.’ |
| 7 | AV(O)ID |
| 8 | CENTIPEDE = CEDE about (TIP after E + N) |
| 9 | REAR-VIEW MIRROR – cd, and rather a good one I thought. |
| 14 | CONDITION – dd |
| 16 | THE MIKADO = (KID AT HOME)* |
| 18 | ARIADNE = ARIA + END rev |
| 19 | ENTICED – It reads as if ENTERED (went in) is having ER (monarch) replaced by ICE (diamonds), although that would leave an extra E in the answer, so there may be a better solution. |
| 22 | LASER = L + (EARS)* |
| 24 |
|
Also wondered, as per Dave, about the apparently missing E in 19dn and look forward to reading possible alternatives.
41 minutes. Didn’t know the OTHELLO reference or Chagall’s first name and that spelling of the Irish name was also unfamiliar. 19dn is surely an error.
I liked the defintion at 15ac best of all.
Then had finger trouble – TWICE.
Ah well, teach me to not triple check before hitting submit. Shame 42 mins very good for me.
To get the obvious gag out of the way….
1A – couldn’t stop laughing – nearly wet myself.
There were some fine clues, ‘Doolittle’ and ‘The Mikado’, ‘chamber pot’ and ‘hoedown’. The puzzle just needed a little more polishing.
Also, EOIN familiar from the children’s writer Eoin Colfer (wrote the popular Artemis Fowl series).
Edited at 2014-02-14 07:52 am (UTC)
28ac got me out of the hole I’d dug for myself down the SE corner. Had carelessly gone for Intuition rather than Intuitive for 20ac, which in turn led to the unlikely Nelle at 24dn… Then 28ac came to me (time spent watching the redoubtable Eoin Morgan in the recent England v Australia ODIs finally paid a dividend) and, armed with the certainty of that solution, I was able to unravel my, well, ravelled bits. Onwards and upwards…
There is a nice article about Woodsy in the Sports pages, as long as he does not mind being described as having hair like a badly-advised Apache. On the other hand, he is described as possibly the politest sportsman in Britain. His 5th is the best British finish in a ski event at the Olympics.
Edited at 2014-02-14 09:24 am (UTC)
I also think 19D must be a mistake.
We’re forecast over 30mm of rain today followed by gale force winds pushing a high tide directly up the swollen rivers. Could get very nasty.
hope it doesn’t get too bad for you.
Spoke to my aged mother (90 years young) earlier. She started prattling on about how the floods would be soon be affecting her because she lives in Dorset. She only calmed down when I pointed out to her that as she lives on the top of Shaftsbury, in a 1st floor flat, with commanding views across the valley, she was hardly likely to need sandbags. Bless.
Hope your mum was OK up there on Golden Hill – wind here reached 96mph so must have been quite bad on top of the hill
Thank you for your interest/support/patience with the whole Woodsy thing. Final comment and then back to Crossowrd Land.
We found out afterwards that he has inflamed fluid in the hip socket and can hardly walk. They seriously considered pulling him from the event but, as it wasn’t doing lasting damage, drugged him up with pain killers, strapped him into tight, skin-diving type shorts, sent him out and he came 5th in the World in front of a multi-million TV audience. I think he’s a bloomin’ hero!
Edited at 2014-02-14 09:48 pm (UTC)
Continued my run of good form this week, though if your self-imposed target is <2(Magoo), your heart tends to sink when you see him already clear at the top of the leaderboard with another ridiculous time.
Anyway, hit my target, and thought this was perfect proof that Times crosswords absolutely don’t have to be difficult to be entertaining. Particularly liked 1ac, and thought 9dn was as good a cryptic def. as we’ve had in ages. I also paused on the ODES, but it’s a perfectly satisfactory synonym of “works” on its own, if you just see the presence of Pindar as adding to the surface, not doing double duty. On the other hand, 19dn has to be an error, doesn’t it, though luckily it probably won’t stop many people putting the right answer in.
At 1D, I took “Pindaric” to be be doing double duty, defining both the kind of “works” in question and supplying the letter C. But on reflection I’m sure Vinyl’s simpler parsing (“odes” = “works”) is what the setter intended. Not that it really mattered as far as the solution was concerned.
I share the general bemusement about the spare E at 19D
Thank you for the clear blog.
Nairobi Wallah
Cheers setter & blogger.
So thank you, Penfold, but …
19dn seems to be wonky. Took me around 19 mins, which is not up to superstar standard but not bad for me, and my best time for this week.
I also didn’t notice the apparent error in 19dn but it didn’t stop me solving the clue. CENTIPEDE was my LOI and I’m very relieved it wasn’t defined as an insect. I just couldn’t go through that again.
The following is only a “thought”, so please don’t shoot me down!!
Knowing how the Bard and his peers invented words and abbreviations, but not being familiar with his works, as 19D remains unparsed, I’ve just had a nose on Google, and found…..
William Shakespeare. flJine.
Whe did ewihe ent the light ! l afm. Wet’t nnt the wey I 3 Mm. Them’e hnt ene dewn i the enn ie fled. 2 Mee. We heee leet heet helf ef …
(which immediately reminded me as to exactly why I have never attempted to read him since schooldays)
SO, is parsable……..
“ent” (Bard-ism for “went in”) + ICE + D
If you look at the actual lines highlighted in the book, you’ll see it actually reads:
3 Mur. Who did strike out the light?
1 Mur. Was’t not the way?
3 Mur. There’s but one down; the son is fled.
2 Mur. We have lost best half of…
Which makes a tad more sense.
ENT STAGE LEFT – went in on the left of the stage
you are undeniably correct (as one has learnt to expect from you).
And even if it was ENT + two – it is in the plural – diamonds (ICE & D), that would then make the ref to monarch superfluous.
Back to drawing board (or setter admitting to EE error) – but running out of apace.
For some reason (ennui?), this is really bugging me.
THIRD MURDERER Who did strike out the light?
FIRST MURDERER Was’t not the way?
THIRD MURDERER There’s but one down. The son is fled.
SECOND MURDERER We have lost best half of our affair.
But you may have a point. Waggledagger might well have written entered as enter’d to suit the metre, also suiting our purpose. Should have been indicated, though.
Many thanks to all the regular posters here who have been a great help in enabling me to hone my skills.
From the Editor
I can’t see any other explanation for 19dn other than an error. As this was a puzzle pre-dating my arrival I was in the same boat as everyone else.
RR
Anyway, c’est la vie, and I hope that you all have an excellent St Valentine’s weekend.
Anon.
But, for holding your hands up, you are totally forgiven.
I’m ashamed to admit I enjoyed 1ac. I also liked 13ac (RADII), though the checkers made it too easy.
Failed to parse 28ac, never having heard of Eoin. I’m not sure one should encourage these other countries in their perverse spellings – if Ian is good enough for us, it ought to be good enough for them.
Well, I’m off duty yet again on a Friday night, and wondering why. Honestly, leave just one pair of forceps in a patient they lose all confidence in you. It’s not even as if we’re particularly short of forceps.
Tom