Solving time : 26:45 – which has to rank as one of my slowest solves ever, and I was on the verge of going and leaving this, but I have limited computer batter life and of course left my charger at home. Grumble grumble. Now this is a tour de force of a crossword – there’s some exceptionally well-hidden definitions and outstanding surface. Ye who hope to rely on definitions for some of the last few are going to be in for a shock here.
Wow… just checked and nearly an hour after it came out, I’m the only one on the crossword club leaderboard (though I’m sure a lot are solving on the new site – I prefer the old one, can’t quite get the knack of only typing in letters I haven’t entered yet), but at least I’m all-correct, phew.
We appear to be close to a pangram, I can’t seem to find a V.
Away we go…
Across | |
---|---|
1 | JUMP SHIP: or JUMPS HIP |
5 | PICK UP: three definitions in three words for a two word answer |
8 | EID: DIE(something cast) reversed |
9 | JET(raven)-SETTING(becoming hard) |
10 | URETHANE: (UNEARTH)*,E – most commonly encountered in its polymerized form |
11 | EILEEN: hidden reversed in nomiNEE LIEs |
12 | LOTS: double definition (with the question mark I was thinking cryptic definition originally, and didn’t see the easier option) |
14 | KICK(thrill),BOX IN(corner),G: I had the BOXING part well before the KICK part |
17 | CHIMNEY POT: YEN reversed in CHIMP, then OT for the bible bit |
20 | DAZE: sounds like DAYS |
23 | QUARTO: ART(drawing) in status QUO |
24 | SKIP(refuse container),JACK(small ball): this clue rang a bell, though there’s probably not that many ways to clue this word |
25 | TOWER(drag performer) BLOCK(bar): for the tall residential building |
26 | SKI: double definition, referencing that many Polish names end in SKI. I can say the one Pole I know well, is a Wolinski |
27 | IN DEEP: INDEED (for sure) with one of the D’s changed to P’s (partial decimalisation) |
28 | INUNDATE: U (middle of janUary) in an INN DATE |
Down | |
1 | JOE PUBLIC: anagram of COUPLE and JIB |
2 | MIDWEST: M for motorway, then W(width) in ID EST |
3 | ST JOHN: ST and then JOIN(couple) with H for I |
4 | INTENSIFY: definition is “fan” – IN(at home) then an anagram of (FIESTY+N) |
5 | POTHERB: OTHER in Pb(lead) |
6 | C(lot)H,ILL,AXED: oh dear – it’s not in Chambers (yet), but it is in Collins – slang to rest |
7 | UNGREEN: the middle parts of hUNGRy tEENs |
13 | SAM BROWNE: SANE(all there) around M(minute),BROW(top) |
15 | KNOCK(slate),DOWN(blue) |
16 | GREEK FIRE: REEK in (GRIEF)* – a new term for me, but fortunately clear wordplay |
18 | HOUSTON: HOT ON surrounding US – my brother lives there |
19 | E,GOT,R.I.P. |
21 | ARAL SEA: very tricky wordplay – L in AS in AREA |
22 | SPOKEN: OPS reversed then KEN |
SAM BROWNE was unfamiliar but I have probably met and forgotten it. ARAL SEA took a bit of working out from wordplay. I was pleased to remember EID, a source of trouble in the past, and I have come across CHILLAX somewhere very recently, if not here then elsewhere. The SKI clue amused me.
Pleased to see the Quickie is available, if a little late after midnight, but the multi-word enumeration has gone wrong again.
Edited at 2014-03-13 02:20 am (UTC)
Mega kudwos Amerikanski to the setter!
Didn’t (completely) understand IN DEEP, SKI or POTHERB, didn’t get the 3 meanings of PICK UP, didn’t know GREEK FIRE (yep, I too had great fire for quite a while), but they all went in with a shrug.
Oh, and I had arab sea at 21dn. I’ve never heard of the Arab Sea, but then again, I’ve never heard of the Aral Sea either…
Lots of candidates for COD, but I’m going for SPOKEN for the ‘released from trap’ definition.
Many thanks to both setter and blogger for a great work out
I was held up considerably by having GREAT FIRE and wondering why SKIPJACK didn’t fit until I realised the former was wrong and amended to GREEK FIRE (which I’ve not heard of).
A very enjoyable crossword with some excellent surfaces. I particularly liked ‘released from trap’ for SPOKEN.
I was at a Russian holiday camp on the ARAL SEA*, all wonky fittings and back-filled latrines, in 1989 (before things changed, and another planet from Sochi). Entering the answer was therefore not tricky, but justifying it was.
Laughs out loud at SKI (indignant Polish wife notwithstanding) and QUARTO (companion of status, indeed) and huge approval for the devices for POTHERB and IN DEEP. An urgh! for UNGREEN: that’s surely just made up.
Kudos to a setter who can produce both CHILLAXED and SAM BROWNE from his store, and a (sixties? seventies? JET SETTER to boot. Favourite of the year so far.
*Dam’ (on edit) that was the Sea of Azov. How I do these things with marbles leaving the brain in hordes is (obviously) beyond me.
Edited at 2014-03-13 09:28 am (UTC)
Edited at 2014-03-13 09:10 am (UTC)
Some of this is very amusing – the Pole ending and “release from trap” for example. Not sure if the military still wear a SAM BROWNE but a common enough sight in my youth.
Well done George and thank you setter
What am I doing wrong?
Update: Seems to be sorted and I have posted the blog!
Edited at 2014-03-13 10:03 am (UTC)
There are too many brilliant clues in here to mention but 21dn is a little miracle.
Bravissimo!
Could I have a quick ask about 21ac? I get that the def =has contracted (and it’s a lake) with parsing of Lake =L divides AS so =ALS and that expanse =AREA but there isn’t an indication that AREA is around ALS. Is this OK as the clue is get-able enough? Some times this blog site seems to pick up on inconsistencies in parsing – so I’m interested to learn why this one is OK.
I had never heard of it, so I had to get this from the wordplay. When I solved it I thought “if the Aral Sea turns out to be a lake that has divided as its expanse has contracted, this might just be the best clue I’ve ever seen”.
Great crossword, really enjoyed the challenge.
On a different matter, Dr. Thud’s really hilarious blogs make mention of six foot/Norfolk. Can someone tell me what this is please? Thanks.
Nairobi Wallah
Nairobi Wallah
I suspect those days have gone now
About 5 years ago I had to talk with some residents of the villages around Bridport on the Jurasic Coast. I met two women who had never been further than Dorchester and who regarded London as the fount of all evil!
21d COD – I remember that the ARAL SEA was in our school geography book as the world’s largest body of fresh water.
I recalled GREEK FIRE from a documentary about unsolved ancient mysteries – I think the conclusion was that it was probably something like napalm, but its production remains an undiscovered secret.
I panicked at bit at 23 as my mind went blank on book sizes, but I’d (unusually for me) spotted the possibility of a pangram and evoked the law Janie quotes above about considering Q before a U. As it turned out the wordplay was most helpful anyway.
The only answers I couldn’t parse fully were St. John (I think I was thrown by the Yoda-esque “for one hour”) and tower blick, where I took drag to cover tow which left ER as a performer, and whilst I’ve seen her Maj in her box at the Royal variety Performance, I’ve never seen her on stage juggling or owt. I also hadn’t come acroos yen as a verb (17a).
Thanks George for the blog, and especially to the setter (and new editor) for a superb puzzle. More like this please. Very hard to choose a favourite clue from such a good bunch, but I’ll go for 28 for “inn date”.
Edited at 2014-03-13 10:40 pm (UTC)
Edited at 2014-03-13 09:29 pm (UTC)
Bravo!
Edited at 2014-03-13 04:11 pm (UTC)
> In the surface reading: a synonym of drag artist, drag queen
> In the wordplay: the performer of a drag, a dragger, a tower
Edit: rereading my comment it appears rather abrupt. Apologies, this was not my intention. I’m genuinely curious.
Welcome, by the way. I gather from comments above that you are the barracuda I recognise from the forum (where I am an occasional lurker and very occasional poster).
Edited at 2014-03-13 10:47 pm (UTC)
Glad I wasn’t the only one to find this tough. Had four missing: Eileen, Tower Block, Sam Browne (had not heard of it so looked it up on Google Images – recognise it now) and Spoken.
Put Gate initially at 12ac which held up getting Joe Public.
Haven’t seen a SAM BROWNE in the crossword for years – it use to turn up quite often back in the day. Liked SKIPJACK, my penultimate solution: sometimes the words “refuse” “container” just mean a refuse container! Misdirection by not misdirecting! My COD. And IN DEEP another excellent and very tricksy clue. Enjoyed ARAL SEA, GREEK FIRE, HOUSTON and TOWER BLOCK. UNGREEN a tad desperate, but then perfection is not to be found in this world.
Would have given my LOI, SPOKEN, my COD nomination if not slightly bemused by the vulgarity of the clue. No doubt the censorious Yorkshire neighbours of my childhood would have told the setter to wash his mouth out with soap.
That said, the best for some time. Thank You, Setter. More please.
Regards
Andrew K
Full marks to the setter – nothing underhand and nothing sloppy. I failed to parse “SKI”, and didn’t stop to pick apart “ARAL SEA”. I’d be hard pressed to pick a COD in this one – all were good, though no one clue leapt out at me.
Re. our blogger’s comment that he’d left his charger at home – I cannot get out of my head the image of a fully armoured knight turning up to battle on foot with the same problem.
URETHANE (at least in its foamed poly form) would have been topical a couple of weekends ago. It is very hard to believe that evolution has really been worth all the trouble, when faced with a teenager who has squirted builder’s insulating foam up his nose for a bet. If you are ever tempted to try this at home, bear in mind that (a) the foam is designed to expand about 20-fold (b) the nasal areal is (or at least was, in his case) chock full of lots of wafer-thin bones.
Today’s customers, by contrast, were a dull and predictable lot. However, the fog is closing in so I’m optimistic for the later part of tonight’s shift.