At least this puzzle did not contribute much to my misery, being rather straightforward with no obscure vocabulary (except perhaps the hidden at 5d) to worry about, and on the general knowledge front only a couple of historical personages, hobnobbing in the NW corner. So once again I was comfortably inside 10 minutes this week, but only a minute behind Magoo, which I guess means this puzzle couldn’t have been a complete sitter.
But still, if anything I felt some of the clues were a bit too straightforward today? Starting at 6a, what else is “fingerprint feature” going to call to mind? 11a is a crossword staple that is brilliant the first time you encounter it, but for jaded old lags like me, becomes a write-in. “Deputy on vacation” led me instantaneously to “DY” so another automatic fill; “posh girls’ establishment” at 21a is basically a concise crossword clue, and surely everyone immediately thinks of PICT for “ancient Scot”, SIGN for “Leo possibly” and FEE for “Payment… (3)”? Perhaps I should check my privilege and realise that not everyone has done ten thousand crosswords before, and the times currently on the scoreboard don’t seem to bear out a theory that this was a totally predictable puzzle, but I don’t know, something about it felt a bit underwhelming to me. Or perhaps I’m just being a bear with a sore ear today. I am confident anyway that the normal phenomenon will occur in the comments wherein if I’m effusive about a puzzle everyone gives it a hard time, and if I’m lukewarm it attracts universal praise.
My LOIs were 5d (always nice when a hidden word evades capture until the very last minute; the clever lift-and-separate requirements of both 1a and 10a held out till almost the end) and 14a. COD-wise, I liked 7d and 23a: smooth surfaces incorporating the wordplay indicators in clever and elegant ways. So I guess I did enjoy it a fair bit really: many thanks to the setter!
| Across | |
| 1 | Nonsense talked about approved fairy stories kept here? (9) |
| BOOKSHELF – BOSH about OK + ELF | |
| 6 | A question of identity, both hands showing fingerprint feature (5) |
| WHORL – WHO + R L (right and left: both hands) | |
| 9 | Notable first female priest’s powerless (5) |
| ASTOR – {p}ASTOR (losing his P for power). Nancy Witcher Langhorne Astor, the first female MP to take her seat. | |
| 10 | I set on first mate in savage fashion (9) |
| BESTIALLY – I set on BEST [first] + ALLY [mate] | |
| 11 | The deficient retail supply (8,7) |
| DEFINITE ARTICLE – (DEFICIENT RETAIL*) | |
| 13 | Absurd noun dropped by Eastenders’ editor? (8) |
| COCKEYED – N dropped by COCK{n}EY ED | |
| 14 | Devious devil touring East in disguise (6) |
| VEILED – (DEVIL*) touring E | |
| 16 | Fine isn’t collected by deputy on vacation (6) |
| DAINTY – AIN’T collected by D{eput}Y | |
| 18 | Scorer‘s firm marks a problem (8) |
| COMPOSER – CO M POSER [firm | marks | a problem] | |
| 21 | Posh girls’ establishment disposing of tutor? (9,6) |
| FINISHING SCHOOL – FINISHING = disposing of, SCHOOL = tutor | |
| 23 | Disease that would be passed quickly by mouth when contracted (9) |
| INFLUENZA – the contracted form of which is a homophone (“by mouth”) of FLEW. | |
| 25 | Were bachelor to join this marriage there’d be trouble afoot (5) |
| UNION – if B joins UNION we get BUNION, a podiatric but far from footling complaint. | |
| 26 | Divine visitor almost succeeded (5) |
| GUESS – GUES{t} + S | |
| 27 | Before submission, one typically makes a claim (9) |
| PRETENDER – PRE TENDER [before | submission], one who makes a claim of thrones. | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Put identifying mark on torch (5) |
| BRAND – Double definition | |
| 2 | Abroad, old group’s unable to operate (3,2,6) |
| OUT OF ACTION – OUT O FACTION [abroad | old | group] | |
| 3 | 3 Religious instruction accepted by dramatist that supplies dope (7) |
| SYRINGE – R.I. accepted by SYNGE, John Millington, playwright of the western world. | |
| 4 | This writer knocked back pub drink in anger (8) |
| EMBITTER – reverse of ME [this writer, “knocked back”] + BITTER [pub drink] | |
| 5 | Housewife’s talk, not entirely joyous (6) |
| FESTAL – some of {housewi}FES TAL{k} | |
| 6 | Sound a warning, perhaps, when crossing street (7) |
| WHISTLE – WHILE crossing ST | |
| 7 | Member of parliament fed up with Liberal decline (3) |
| OWL – LOW [fed up], with the L declining to the bottom. Parliament being the collective noun for wise owls, presumably on the grounds that great wisdom was a prerequisite for a seat in the House, in some remote, near-mythical bygone age. | |
| 8 | Churchman responsible for poetry recital? (3,6) |
| LAY READER – a play on LAY, which can mean both “non-ordained” and a sung poem. | |
| 12 | Remembers what visiting carer does? (5,2,4) |
| CALLS TO MIND – A visiting carer being a calling minder… | |
| 13 | Commander improving without first getting organised (9) |
| CODIFYING – C.O. {e}DIFYING | |
| 15 | Fibre, and estimate of how long it’s been around? (8) |
| ROUGHAGE – My rough age is certainly a lot rougher than it was a decade or two back, I’ll tell you that… | |
| 17 | Government finally delivers something to deal with the cold? (7) |
| TISSUES – {governmen}T ISSUES | |
| 19 | Ancient Scot on river shot (7) |
| PICTURE – PICT on the URE. Quite right too, if he’s come down as far as North Yorks we can presume he’s part of a raiding party, and shooting certainly indicated. | |
| 20 | Leo possibly completed what recruits do (4,2) |
| SIGN UP – SIGN [Leo possibly] + UP [completed] | |
| 22 | Mortgagee, they say, not the man for company (5) |
| LONER – homophone of LOANER, eschewer of company. | |
| 24 | Payment offered on a regular basis (3) |
| FEE – {o}F{f}E{r}E{d} | |
Thanks to setter and blogger.
Unlike our setter, this is the first time I’ve seen 11a, so I rather liked it; COD though to my LOI as the bell rang, COCKEYED. Never heard of SYNGE; knew of Lady ASTOR, but sadly didn’t know she was the first female MP; wavered between BRAND and blaze because I didn’t know a “brand” was a torch. Have only just worked out why “deputy on vacation” is “DY”.
Might be worth noting that 20a has a misprint in the CC printed version; is has “possible” instead of “possibly”, but that didn’t slow me down much.
Still, pretty good for a Friday. Definitely more of a workout for me than for our esteemed blogger. Hope the ears improve soon. Thanks for the education. I SAID, THANKS FOR THE EDUCATION!
Great blog though. Totally agree with your observations on today’s puzzle, especially with the climax when you come down in favour of the setter. Nice way to finish.
Pleasant solve. FESTAL and ROUGHAGE were my LTI. INFLUENZA unparsed.
Thanks setter and V, have a good weekend everyone.
I agree with your verdict; 17 minutes for me, another straightforward job and the hidden 5d was also my LOI. Thanks also for explaining INFLUENZA which was just biffed.
I liked 17d for my CoD.
My favourite is Cadogan’s tart response when Liddell told him he wouldn’t run on a Sunday: “In my day it was King first and God after.”
I did try BOOKLOCKS at 1a but remembered this was The Times.
I’m not entirely happy with SYRINGE as something that supplies dope a) because it can supply lots of other things too, and b) because there are many other means of administering dope. It’s too loose and with no suggestion of the fact (like a question mark). I never heard of SYNGE either, so that didn’t help.
Everywhere I’ve looked on online has “Leo possible” at 20dn. I’ve not seen the printed copy but the alleged facsimile of same also has “possible”.
Edited at 2016-07-22 09:48 am (UTC)
Whilst you were away in Tentville catching your death, I took up your challenge and polished off last Friday’s 15×15 in a mere 2:59! This was was my second attempt – I was simply trying to establish how quickly I could fill her in knowing the answers.
I am sure you might do just better than this but as someone pointed out it means that Magoo & Co are reading, solving and writing all at the same time. (They may also be eating drinking and smoking!)
Could you break 3 minutes in this fashion?
Today took me some ten times longer – 34 minutes. Initially I had 12dn as COMES TO MIND with 5dn FESTAL LOI.
COD 1ac BOOKSHELF a tricky parse WOD WHORL
horryd Shanghai
Last in the devious VEILED.
Edited at 2016-07-22 11:41 am (UTC)
I had never heard of Synge, although I had heard of his most famous play. So I have learned something today.
> Quick start, slower finish;
> Didn’t know what Nancy was first to do;
> Hadn’t heard of Synge (or the plays wot he wrote);
> Biffed influenza.
No problem with calls/comes but possible/possibly probable threw me a bit.
I loved the clue for ROUGHAGE.
Thanks setter & V for the entertainment.
Frankly, Verlaine, after 3 days of peanut butter, well-known to be churned by the devil himself, I think you got off lightly.
There was a time when SYNGE used to crop up pretty regularly, but it would seem that he’s been neglected by the daily cryptic for more than 10 years.
As for ASTOR, I first came across her while singing Harry was a Bolshie:
(That was “Comrade God” asking the question – or maybe St Peter asking on his behalf.) Sadly, it’s quite hard to find a decent version of this delightful old song – very popular when I was young – on the Web. For instance the word “reactionary” has all too often been replaced by “counter-revolutionary”, which makes a mockery of the scansion.
Edited at 2016-07-22 10:36 pm (UTC)
It did seem rather gentle to me, with 11ac reminding me that I have spent too long doing these puzzles.
My sympathies to Verlaine over his ear, and my admiration for coping on such limited rations.