Not my favourite puzzle then but certainly alright, let’s focus on some positives! My LOI 19ac seemed a little bit tricker than the rest with its more lateral definition part, I liked the &lit at 21ac, and my COD by far was 24dn, simple enough but a good “story” told by the surface that misleads effectively with the definition. Thank you setter and how did everyone else fare? Maybe if anyone’s interested I can tell you about getting to be on the mighty Kevin Ashman’s quiz team in a few friendly rounds earlier this week – given that a stuffed bear in my seat would have scored almost as many points for his team as I did I’m not expecting any calls asking me to join the First Division any time soon, but it was a great honour nevertheless! If anyone wants to start a (lower division) team in time for the Quiz League London Summer League, do hit me up…
ACROSS
1 Good sign, mostly, about boys being happy once (8)
GLADSOME – G OME{n} [good | sign “mostly”] about LADS [boys]
5 University location affected our team (6)
CAMPUS – CAMP [affected] + US [our team]
10 Take over kingdom, having others enchanted magically (6,3,6)
ASCEND THE THRONE – (OTHERS ENCHANTED*) [“magically”]
11 Build at the sports ground and refuse to move? (4,1,5)
MAKE A STAND – double def, one quirky and one straightforward reading
13 Feature of reef failing first examination (4)
ORAL – {c}ORAL [feature of reef “failing first”]
15 Greek character recalled problem about British diamond (7)
RHOMBUS – RHO [Greek character] + reversed SUM [“recalled” problem] about B [British]
17 Girl’s beginning to use speed in run, though clumsily (7)
GALUMPH – GAL [girl] + U{se} + MPH [speed]
18 Appreciates the money earned by Pole at home (5,2)
TAKES IN – TAKE [the money earned] by S IN [pole | at home]
19 Skirt needing attention around back: not true? (7)
RATLIKE – KILT [skirt] needing EAR [attention] around, the whole reversed [“back”]
21 Some inhabitants of Uranus taking a spin in these? (4)
UFOS – hidden reversed in {inhabitant}S OF U{ranus}, semi-&lit
22 Munitions left by English — not quite the safe distance? (4-6)
ARMS-LENGTH – ARMS L [munitions | left] by ENG [English] + TH{e} [“not quite” the]
25 Unusual sunlamp with Internet control system (10,5)
INSTRUMENT PANEL – (SUNLAMP + INTERNET*) [“unusual…”]
27 Heads of military alliance backed a shuffle in top positions (6)
MAXIMA – M{ilitary} A{lliance} + reversed A MIX [“backed” a shuffle]
28 Old writer, not elaborate, omitting one description of office (4-4)
OPEN PLAN – O PEN PLA{i}N [old | writer | not elaborate, “omitting (I for) one”]
DOWN
1 Weight reduced with a lot of skill and a system of rules (7)
GRAMMAR – GRAMM{e} [weight “reduced”] with AR{t} [“a lot of” skill]
2 Form of current around river bend (3)
ARC – A/C [form of current] around R [river]
3 Use standby shifts for special clothes (6,4)
SUNDAY BEST – (USE STANDBY*) [“shifts”]
4 Satisfied about Biblical text in church music (5)
MOTET – MET [satisfied] about OT [Biblical text]
6 Crack around top of head produces pain (4)
ACHE – ACE [crack] around H{ead}
7 In favour of striking after Government’s initial brainwashing (11)
PROGRAMMING – PRO [in favour of] + RAMMING [striking] after G{overnment}
8 The last crooks to display cunning (7)
STEALTH – (THE LAST*) [“crooks”]
9 Half of team keen to bring in new youngster (8)
TEENAGER – TE{am} [“half of” team] + EAGER [keen] to bring in N [new]
12 Criticises one on Times about supporting strike (5,3,3)
KNOCK FOR SIX – KNOCKS I [criticises | one] on X [times], about FOR [supporting]
14 Line retained by company actor not having a common attachment to line (7-3)
CLOTHES-PIN – L [line] retained by CO THESPI{a}N [company | actor “not having A”]
16 Characteristic events on the radio offended religious centre (8)
SYNDROME – homophone of SINNED [“on the radio”, offended] + ROME [religious centre]
18 French city bringing in one million for vacations etc. (7)
TOURISM – TOURS [French city] bringing in I [one] + M [million]
20 Group he left to engage in economics (7)
ECHELON – HE L [he | left] to engage in ECON [economics]
23 Greek characters will be revealed in this dawn (3-2)
SUN-UP – reverse cryptic; SUN “up” = NUS = Greek characters
24 Origin of tattoo? Daughter having booze (4)
DRUM – D [daughter] having RUM [booze]
26 Endlessly queue up, getting nothing for it! (3)
NIL – LIN{e} reversed [“endlessly” queue, “up”]
This was definitely on the easy side and a PB for me at 33:21.
COD 21a closely followed by 25a.
Hopefully the rest of the day will go this well as I’m well and truly ready for the weekend.
Thanks for the blog.
Parsing/blog shamefacedly corrected.
Well done to Mr Chumley on the PB.
Leisurely solve, ending like Jack with RATLIKE. I too was mildly troubled by the KNOCK rather than ‘knocks’ at 12dn. Thanks, V, and well done on your quizzing!
CLOTHES PIN delayed for a while, possibly because we always called them pegs: the unusual use of thespian was clever enough to make me wonder whether the setter had been saving it up.
RATLIKE turned out to be my last, even though I could see what was supposed to be going on, the kilt bit and the definition didn’t come to mind. In (some of) the dictionaries, ratlike seems to have more to do with appearance than behaviour.
I liked (once I understood it) the cryptic-clue-as-answer SUN-UP
I also thought “crooks” questionable as an anagrind at 8dn.
Certainly, one of the easier Friday offerings. 24dn was indeed clever.
Edited at 2018-02-02 09:30 am (UTC)
Rat: a person who deserts his or her friends or associates, esp in time of trouble.
True: unswervingly faithful and loyal to friends, a cause, etc.
Can’t see the problem.
But someone who isn’t true, in that sense, isn’t “ratlike.” He’s a full-blown rat, in the Cagney sense. No sense in having “like” then.
Edited at 2018-02-02 07:30 pm (UTC)
I thought of the “Cagney” interpretation first, and was dissatisfied for the reason I have been at pains to explain.
That might be part of it, I’ll allow, but it seemed there should be something more to make it clever (which, otherwise, it ain’t very).
Edited at 2018-02-02 07:53 pm (UTC)
Regards
Andrew K
Edited at 2018-02-02 10:21 am (UTC)
Andrew
I can’t see the problem with 12dn: it seems to have the right number of Ss in all the right places.
To develop genuine creativity will I suspect take a huge amount of time and money – resources that can better be deployed on fully utilising artificial intelligence in more straightforward applications
Creativity is what we humans are best at so currently the best combination is using us to be inventive and the machines to do the analysis
I’m out of touch now but it certainly used to be the case that when simulating war games the Spanish, French and Germans always win at Trafalgar, Waterloo, and the Battle of Britain!
Nice clean formatting Verlaine; I think in your preamble 19dn should read 19ac. Pip
Edited at 2018-02-02 11:11 am (UTC)
Edited at 2018-02-02 11:36 am (UTC)
I notice that Chambers does not actually list RATLIKE as a word, even though it uses ‘rat-like’ in several definitions ! (Hence mechanical aids don’t find it.)
We never say ‘clothes peg’ in the US, it’s always ‘clothes pin’, which can even be one word.
Edited at 2018-02-02 01:13 pm (UTC)
Gandolf34
Edited at 2018-02-02 05:47 pm (UTC)
See keriothe’s reply to me about Cagney and loyalty.
If a person is a rat in the Cagney sense, there’s no need for “like.”
I’d like to hear from the editor on this.
This seems an unduly nice distinction to me.
A real rat, the four-footed mammal, is not disloyal, as far as i know. But humans rather unfairly typify as “vermin” the less shining exemplars of our own species. We don’t say they are “ratlike” (rats aren’t really like that). We simply call them rats. A person you can’t trust or rely on, a traitor, a backstabber… is not “ratlike” but the real thing, in the (speciesist) metaphorical sense in which we use the word.
Actually, if you think both interpretations simultaneously, it makes “not true” a pun.
Edited at 2018-02-02 07:41 pm (UTC)
Edited at 2018-02-02 09:31 pm (UTC)
Edited at 2018-02-02 09:41 pm (UTC)
Now home (Edinburgh) from my ski week.
As has been said above, you either liked Ratlike or you didn’t. I didn’t.
Thanks setter and V.
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