Time taken: 14:13. I got off to a pretty good start but took a long time to piece together the ones I had to get from wordplay, and was relieved when there were no pink squares after the submission.
There are some very fast early times, so I may have made more of a meal of this than others. Fortunately the wordplay can be trusted.
Away we go…
Across | |
1 | Fly away after using this spray? (6,9) |
INSECT REPELLENT – cryptic definition | |
9 | Native of cold territory, one descending, having crossed mountain to the west (9) |
LAPLANDER – LANDER(one descending) containing ALP(mountain) reversed | |
10 | Victorian essayist‘s half-hearted idle chat? (5) |
PATER – PATTER(idle char) with one T in the middle. Got this from wordplay, was not familiar with the author Walter PATER | |
11 | Speculate about time these folk may arrive for dinner (6) |
GUESTS – GUESS(speculate) surrounding T(time) | |
12 | Change, say, when meeting old, trusted friend (5,3) |
ALTER EGO – ALTER(change), EG(say) and O(old) | |
13 | See a hundred relations making time for private drink (4-2) |
LOCK-IN – LO(see), C(a hundred), KIN(relations). Not a phrase I am familiar with, Collins defines it as an illegal session of selling drinks in a bar after it is meant to be closed. | |
15 | Behind river, exposed fish (3,5) |
SEA TROUT – SEAT(behind), R(river), OUT(exposed) | |
18 | Suddenly gets angry in front of sexy picture (8) |
SNAPSHOT – SNAPS(suddenly gets angry), HOT(sexy) | |
19 | David’s father’s making straps for falconers (6) |
JESSES – Jesse was the father of David. Todays word paying a visit from Mephistoland | |
21 | Roman Catholic father starting register (8) |
PAPALIST – PAPA(father) in front of LIST(register) | |
23 | Comedian gets someone to attract punters to show (6) |
BARKER – the comedian is Ronnie Barker | |
26 | One party has a grip on my part of America (5) |
IDAHO – I(one), DO(party) containing AH(my!) | |
27 | Raid, circumventing commercial security device creating obstruction (9) |
ROADBLOCK – ROB(raid) surrounding AD(commercial) and LOCK(security device) | |
28 | A warmer nest has to be configured to accommodate ten birds (4,11) |
MANX SHEARWATERS – anagram of A,WARMER,NEST,HAS containing X(ten) |
Down | |
1 | Bad girl admitting crime, finally banned (7) |
ILLEGAL – ILL(bad), GAL(girl) contaning the last letter of crimE | |
2 | Composer leaves meal unfinished (5) |
SUPPE – SUPPER(meal) missing the last letter. Franz von SUPPE composer of Light Cavalry | |
3 | Church article samples particular buildings for worship (9) |
CHANTRIES – CH9church), AN(article), TRIES(samples). Got this from wordplay. | |
4 | Participant in match, heading off for journey (4) |
RIDE – one participant in a match is the BRIDE, remove the first letter | |
5 | Fatter as a result of beer — pounds one’s hiding (8) |
PORTLIER – PORTER(beer) containing L(pounds) and I(one) | |
6 | Pass or failure? (5) |
LAPSE – double definition | |
7 | Ensure no hint of tittle-tattle spreading! (5,4) |
ENTRE NOUS – an all-in-one. Anagram of ENSURE, NO and the first letter of Tittle-tattle | |
8 | Happen to be in crowd at game? (7) |
TURNOUT – to happen would be to TURN OUT | |
14 | Explorer gets cold thigh going over steppe maybe (9) |
CHAMPLAIN – C(cold), HAM(thigh) over PLAIN(steppe). Samuel de CHAMPLAIN was all over place names in Canada | |
16 | AA might be travelling around country (3,6) |
THE GAMBIA – anagram of AA,MIGHT,BE | |
17 | Explain tricks, having got honest (8) |
CONSTRUE – CONS(tricks), TRUE(honest) | |
18 | Thus top politician conveys his dishonest argument (7) |
SOPHISM – SO(thus) and PM(top politician) containing HIS | |
20 | More than one flier cries with energy in decline (7) |
SHRIKES – SHRIEKS (cries) with E(energy) moved down | |
22 | Get lost regularly going round that French city (5) |
LYONS – alternating letters in LoSt containing YON(that) | |
24 | Lazy type’s beginning to change, making money (5) |
KRONE – DRONE(lazy type) with the first letter changed | |
25 | Fast runner briefly interrupted by a fog (4) |
HAAR – the fast runner is a HARE, remove the last letter and insert A |
LOI Pater
Missed the &lit of entre nous, that was excellent, but COD to the apposite SOPHISM.
FOI INSECT REPELLENT, and then I got all the down crossers…
LOI BARKER. Didn’t know Ronnie B.
I now have to read the blogs for the past two days, both of which I just got through tonight.
Edited at 2021-12-09 06:09 am (UTC)
I said 11 pm because that was the time when I was informed on that trip—in a pub—that it was last call.
Our Indian meal after the concert ran much later.
A gentle reminder George, that should be Walter and not Water.
FOI 1ac INSECT REPELLENT
COD 23ac Ronnie Barker I was one of his scriptwriters. A joy!
WOD 14dn CHAMPLAIN the explorer – with whom I am familiar. He appeared on the fine $1 bright blue, Canadian postage stamp – his statue stands in Quebec. Sam also appeared on the 1958 5c stamp for the Tercentenary of the Founding of Quebec.
Jesse is Biblical
Manx Shearwaters again! their collective noun is ‘an improbability’ – how lovely!
Edited at 2021-12-09 05:52 am (UTC)
Edited at 2021-12-09 06:07 am (UTC)
NHO of PAPALIST, only PAPIST. Nor CHAMPLAIN.
Knew both meanings of JESSE and knew from the start that I knew them, but I took ages to dredge them from the depths of my memory.
Since we’re name-dropping I also met Ronnie Barker on several occasions, including selling him furniture for his kitchen.
Edited at 2021-12-09 09:51 am (UTC)
With 4d you could easily use (G)room and just change the definition to space iso journey but leave the rest of the clue as is.
Thanks, George for KRONE. I didn’t know drone as a lazy type. Certainly NHO PATER.
There’s a plaque in commemoration of CHAMPLAIN in that lovely Normandy port of Honfleur.
Today it’s SHEARWATERS and SHRIKES
But they’ll be pleased to hear
That my verse won’t appear
On bird-days. There will be strikes
Of Astro Nowt’s great irritation
But to find there’s a flock
Must have come as a shock
And caused him to vent his frustration.
R Barker c. 1976
After 30 mins pre brekker I had the Krone/Barker unfilled. I thought of the Drone/Krone thing, but it is weak so I wasn’t confident. And I couldn’t remember the word for a Barker — which is worrying. I blame yesterday’s Moderna booster.
I assumed Suppe was a composer and Pater an essayist.
Thanks setter and G.
Triple harrumph.
I feel the same way about birth signs. Not a clue, apart from my own…
Edited at 2021-12-09 09:26 am (UTC)
Now waiting to see what Astro manages to rhyme with shearwater and shrike …
Like keriothe, I was never gonna get jesses. Lapse = pass? Help! Pater – no chance with that either. Worst week ever so far.
Thanks, g.
Not a complaint, and not that it matters, but I had HART for the fast creature to be detailed.
I shall repair to the TLS, where I usually expect there to be things I don’t know, and where that’s part of the fun.
Edited at 2021-12-09 09:56 am (UTC)
Edited at 2021-12-09 10:51 am (UTC)
NHO of Pater and couldn’t see how the wordplay worked.
Lapse = pass?
Didn’t know who David’s father was or the name for the falconers’ straps so 19ac was impossible even with the crossers.
I’ve not seen ‘hint of’ indicating the first letter before so never did get any idea of what was going on with 7dn.
Not heard the word ‘papalist’ before but it was clear.
Several others not parsed.
The main entertainment of the day was wondering how Astronowt would respond to the glory of Manx Shearwaters and a flock of shrikes.
Thanks to the setter and to the blogger for the much needed explanations.
Edited at 2021-12-09 01:17 pm (UTC)
I knew JESSES, but ‘David’s father’ seems a very obscure second definition to one not steeped in the bible.
52:07 DNF, annoyingly, because I knew David’s dad and I struck lucky with PATER (despite not accepting idle chat is patter) but screwed up with POPULIST at 21ac with POP for father plus list, just ignoring the U and the definition. And I misspelled SHEARWATERS. Still, tomorrow is another day and we haven’t had the easy one yet this week
PATER, MANX etcs ENTRE NOUS, JESSES, all way beyond me. Even those I now see, I know I would never have seen…
All quite dispiriting for one trying to graduate from quickie to biggie 😕
All this covers perhaps twelve years of one’s life. This bears comparison with the ‘quickie’ and later the ‘biggie’. It can take several years to get proficient, know what you are about but even then one has bad days.
So just grow into it and read every word of every blog and you might well become a speedy one! And don’t tell us what you don’t know, but what you do know and what you have learnt. It is far more interesting!
Having to now explain away three separate illegal Christmas gatherings last year, Bojo will need to set his SOPHISM selector to overdrive.
FOI INSECT REPELLENT
LOI LYONS
COD SOPHISM
TIME 8:33
Way past my pay grade, as the modern expression seems to go. Oh well, there’s always easy-peasy Friday to come.
Thanks G.
Well, anyone, I completed the puzzle in about 50 minutes. I had The Gambia in the wrong place for about 20 minutes, which certainly made the puzzle even more difficult than it is!
Heard of JESSES, but NHO JESSE. KRONE bunged in from crossers and def (I would have had a drone as a hard worker — I may have seen this argued about here before), NHO CHAMPLAIN, vaguely dredged CHANTRIES, but WP was clear enough, NHO SUPPE, but obvious enough once crossers hove into view, I had NATER until LAPSE. The SHEARWATERS arrived after some doodling with the anagrist.
I live and learn. 29:09.
I would assume that today Walter Payton is better known than Walter Pater. And thanks for putting The Gambia back where you found it!
Edited at 2021-12-09 03:09 pm (UTC)
The top half went in quite rapidly, thanks to a very accessible 1a, but the bottom half put up more of a fight.
An enjoyable puzzle.
Speeded up somewhat after that, filling the whole of the SW, before THE GAMBIA (obvious once I’d written out the letters, but should have realised from the (3,6) configuration) fell, opening up quite a few answers (SEA TROUT, ROADBLOCK, SHRIKES) which was enough to work out the random bird from the anag. BARKER and KRONE (with a shrug — it was a bit rubbish) followed a while later, as did LOI HAAR which I vaguely remembered from a previous grid?
Now for the top half which had only given up PORTLIER thus far. SUPPE, RIDE, LAPLANDER, ILLEGAL which finally revealed 1a INSECT REPELLENT. Shrug over NHO PATER and LAPSE (though I see why = pass now).
If I’d gotten a better start, I might be laughing….