I though this was a splendid puzzle, and my enthusiasm for it redoubled during the parsing. I like a bit of setter braggadocio, the like of which we see at 28ac; of course it’s a risky play, as the puzzle does then need to be above average, but I think this one was top-notch. The excellent clues start at 1ac and just keep on coming. Interestingly from the solving perspective, I got the usual handful of the across on the first pass, but then was really off to the races on the downs, which seemed easier and less pyrotechnic. With hindsight I kind of wish I’d attempted the whole thing backwards, a la Ginger Rogers.
LOIs were the 27ac/22dn crossing pair, the former of which held me up for quite a lot of valuable seconds towards the end, the latter becoming obvious once I had the final letter. My COD, amidst many spectacular clues, is I think just the completely smooth and slightly naughty surface of 16dn. I’d better sign off here as I believe I have an outstanding TLS puzzle to blog and thus plenty to be getting on with, but I promise it’ll be with you within 24 hours. Round of applause to today’s setter and see you again soon!
Across
1 Confounded components of translation of Donne’s? (10)
NONPLUSSED NON PLUS SED = NON + SED = components of (DONNE’S*) [“translation of”]. Unusual and clever!
6 Boat lower after losing stern (4)
SCOW SCOW{l} [lower, “after losing stern”]
10 Performed in opera having declined a wine (7)
SANGRIA – SANG {a}RIA [performed in opera “having declined a”]
11 Marx talking about object of whaling industry? (7)
HARPOON – HARPO ON [Marx | talking about]
12 Backed great time involving rugby, though not initially where play occurs (9)
LLAREGGUB (the setting of Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood) – reverse of BALL [great time] involving {r}UGGER [rugby, “though not initially”]
13 Very rapid activity mostly constraining one computer problem (5)
VIRUS – V RUS{h} [very | rapid activity “mostly”] constraining I [one]
14 Make complaint, being exhausted, having circled lake (5)
BLEAT – BEAT [exhausted], having circled L [lake]
15 Online clothing store perhaps recalled accepting thanks in reply (9)
RETALIATE – reverse of E-TAILER [online clothing store perhaps “recalled”] accepting TA [thanks]
17 There’s a surprise! A half back is on target (4-5)
WELL-AIMED – WELL [there’s a surprise!] + A + reverse of DEMI [half “back”]
20 One fanatic seizing power supply (5)
INPUT– I NUT [one | fanatic] seizing P [power]
21 Get rid of shifty person hogging Times page (5)
EXPEL – EEL [shifty person] hogging X P [times | page]
23 Be inclined to follow slow sort of schedule (9)
CHECKLIST – LIST [be inclined] to follow CHECK [slow]
25 Popular female visiting France no longer productive (7)
GAINFUL – IN F [popular | female] visiting GAUL [France no longer]
26 Bone from bird included in total (7)
STERNUM – TERN [bird] included in SUM [total]
27 Be dilettantish, turning out books in depression (4)
DALE DA{bb}LE [be dilettantish, “turning out books”]
28 I control series of clues with a glittering display (10)
IRIDESCENT I RIDE SCENT [I | control | series of clues]
Down
1 Rocket builders taking line regarding the nose (5)
NASAL – N.A.S.A. [rocket builders] taking L [line]
2 Plain one should make shift to welcome in Queen without peers (9)
NONPAREIL – (PLAIN ONE*) [“should make shift”] to welcome in R [Queen]
3 Extravagant circulation claim by another old American magazine? (6,4,4)
LARGER THAN LIFE – Life being one American magazine, another might claim their circulation is larger than Life. Just about.
4 Surprise when male clothing excludes article (7)
STAGGER – STAG GE{a}R [male | clothing “excludes article”]
5 Depart clutching sort of pencil after taking in one show (7)
EXHIBIT EXIT [depart] clutching HB [sort of pencil] after taking in I [one]
7 People in church half-peeping round front of organ (5)
CHOIR – CHIR{ping} [“half” peeping] round O{rgan}
8 Expressed unhappiness after snakes affected by gale (9)
WINDSWEPT – WEPT [expressed unhappiness] after WINDS [snakes]
9 Discomfort from motion and flapping of valences and skirts (6,8)
TRAVEL SICKNESS – (VALENCES + SKIRTS*) [“flapping”]
14 Asked to adopt bird with deformed limbs? (3-6)
BOW-LEGGED – BEGGED [asked] to adopt OWL [bird]
16 Scotsman caught hacking into fruit machine? (9)
APPLIANCE – IAN C [Scotsman | caught] hacking into APPLE [fruit]
18 Wild alarm about copper affected by spots (7)
MACULAR – (ALARM*) [“wild”] about CU [copper]
19 Mostly sweet daughter twirling in clothes (7)
DRESSED – reverse [“twirling”] of DESSER{t} D [“mostly” sweet | daughter]
22 Source of medicine mostly a success in China (5)
PHIAL – HI{t} [“mostly” a success] in PAL [china]
24 Satisfied to pick up point in draw (5)
TEMPT – reverse of MET [satisfied “to pick up”] + PT [point]
Not come across scowl=lower. I thought it was something to do with lower=cow, so clearly couldn’t make it work at all.
Thanks as ever, V, great blog.
Janie
I’m not as impressed with this as our blogger. 12ac is impossible unless you happen to know it and anyway I’d have thought an inventive setter could have come up with something far more entertaining and less impenetrable for an answer that’s the reverse of bugger all.
If one first thinks (as I did) of DELL as the answer at 27ac it’s a long road back.
Edited at 2016-05-13 07:44 am (UTC)
Yeah, perhaps I was fortunate to know and love Under Milk Wood as well as I do, and have the luxury of being able to biff it in confidently and actually parse it post-submission…
The welsh answer is a marmite clue, in my opinion. You are either in the Smug or Mugs camp – sadly I am in the latter. As an average punter, it failed my 3 tests.
I loved the vocab selection in the grid. There’s an impenetrable poem in there somewhere.
Thanks for the blog, Verlaine. “Long Bus Ride Home from Penge” is surely an album title.
Edited at 2016-05-13 09:38 am (UTC)
My only issue with Dylan’s famous (if rather backward village) was that I couldn’t remember whether it penultimated with a U or a Y. Needed to fully understand the WP to be confident. Loved the play at 1ac: my sort of quirky clue. On the enthusiastic side overall, taking aound 22 minutes (if memory serves).
But I think there are many who do prefer them easy. And nothing “obscure,” where obscure means you need to have paid attention in school, or actually read something, or remembered a word for several years once it’s come up …
There is a racehorse in Hong Kong (owned by a local Chinese fellow) called Packing Llaregyb. I don’t know if the spelling change was forced on him by the stewards of the Jockey Club. Wouldn’t surprise me – they get very touchy about that sort of thing.
Incidentally, since LIFE has been defunct as a magazine for some time, the ‘old’ in the clue makes it function okay, even if it’s still rather clunky.
COD was 1ac for me.
– After yesterday’s quickie I thought today’s would be decidedly harder, but 22 minutes was all it needed. In retrospect I think I should have slowed down and savoured the clues more. I share Verlaine’s enthusiasm. There are some lovely surfaces and the wordplay to 1a is wonderfully inventive.
Perhaps I was helped by my intimate knowledge of Dylan Thomas’s masterpiece, but 12 was very fairly clued.
If you are not familiar with the work listen to Richard Burton’s mellifluous delivery on the original BBC recording.
If a puzzle hard because it’s full of “stupid” words then we might find it less enjoyable than an easy one.
Count me as another Under Milk Wood fan. LLAREGGUB is unforgettable if, like me, you first come across it at a young enough age for it to generate a frisson of naughtiness. And anyone who hasn’t heard Richard Burton reading it should do so forthwith.
As well as the “clothing store” misdirection how about “Marx talking”?
V, what happened to your survey on degree subjects?
Ha ha, yes, I like “Marx talking” in apposition to the least talky Marx ever! Presumably Llaregyb is the Welsh spelling and Llareggub the English, in the manner of my own hometown of Fflint/Flint.
Edited at 2016-05-13 02:33 pm (UTC)
It is also served by the 176 bus .
Despite a slightly dodgy reputation, house prices there are rising quickly.
I did not do this crossword but today’s QC is very enjoyable. David
In the SW I didn’t have a problem with PHIAL but I spent a while trying to justify either “dell” or DALE, and I was very glad when the “da(bb)le” penny finally dropped.
Oh, and I confess that NONPLUSSED was totally biffed. In retrospect I should have seen how it worked, but the answer was so obvious I didn’t spend too much time trying to work it out.
Great blog V, 9 1/2 out or 10 to the setter.
GeoffH
Although I was perfectly well aware of the ultimate derivation of the name of village setting of Under Milk Wood, in my 1964 paperback copy of the play (and, as far as I can recall, all other versions where I’ve seen it printed) it’s spelled “Llaregyb”. I then got myself into a knot imagining that “great” was BIG reversed giving the ending “gib”.
And as a further illustration of how tired I was (am!), I couldn’t for the life of me come up with “dabble” for 27ac but kept bumbling round non-words like “dantle” and “dotell” (or “do tell”).
Apart from the unnecessary (and slightly annoying) “clothing … perhaps” in 15ac, I agree that this was a very fine puzzle.
In the end, I couldn’t convince myself that the setter had simply mis-spelled “tailor”, and threw up my hands and down my pen.
And this in a puzzle to which I turned for a little mental recuperation after a trying time! I have been attempting to set up an electronic device which has been designed by malevolent engineers and then built by inept technicians. Since the technical support person (and I use all three of those words quite loosely) was in the US, my attempts to resolve matters extended well into G&T time.
Thanks setter and V.
On the other hand, I fully agree re Elder Brethren.
Admittedly this distinction may be largely based on which one I managed to correctly solve!