Time: 17:38
Music: Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition, Byron Janis
These Monday puzzles with lots of long words and long clues look intimidating at first, but with a few crossing letters they can be easily tamed. I had a bit of trouble getting started, but then sped up considerably. The setter is rather fond of long anagrams and complex charades, but everything is pretty straightforward here.
| Across | |
| 1 | Moral member of royal family, mostly one quietly guided (10) |
| PRINCIPLED – PRINC[e] + I + P + LED. | |
| 6 | Partially wrap something put back in box (4) |
| SPAR – Backwards hidden in [w]RAP S[omething]. | |
| 9 | Permission to land on part of golf course (5,5) |
| GREEN LIGHT – GREEN + LIGHT. Probably geese, who definitely don’t have permission! | |
| 10 | Political group’s announced restrictive measure (4) |
| BLOC – Sounds like BLOCK. | |
| 12 | Football manager’s season threatened with relegation? (12) |
| WINTERBOTTOM – WINTER + BOTTOM, an easy cryptic to help US solvers. I suppose UK solvers wouldn’t know Casey Stengel or Vince Lombardi, either. | |
| 15 | To go round enclosure order permit (9) |
| ENCOMPASS – ENC + O.M. + PASS. | |
| 17 | Herd of animals runs into bird (5) |
| DROVE – D(R)OVE. | |
| 18 | Divert leader of saboteurs ahead of illegal pursuit? (5) |
| SHUNT – S[aboteurs] + HUNT. Not illegal everywhere, but practiced from deer stands. | |
| 19 | Rude nudes cavorting, having too little to do? (9) |
| UNDERUSED – Anagram of RUDE NUDES. | |
| 20 | During period I had to restrict journalist’s go-between role (12) |
| INTERMEDIATE – IN TERM (ED) I ATE. I biffed intermediary, and had to correct. | |
| 24 | Celeb, fellow spinning round with energy (4) |
| NAME – MAN backwards + E. | |
| 25 | Transfer of power achieved finally — a slow process? (10) |
| DEVOLUTION – [achieve]D + EVOLUTION. | |
| 26 | Old bird given repeated encouragement to act? (4) |
| DODO – DO + DO. | |
| 27 | Most variable in quality but having the most marks? (10) |
| STREAKIEST – Double definition. | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Servant’s time under pressure (4) |
| PAGE – P + AGE, a starter clue for sure. | |
| 2 | New Yorker’s got rid of cold (4) |
| ICED – Double definition, probably more appropriate to Chicago. | |
| 3 | Opposing company, a politician offering convincing evidence? (12) |
| CONFIRMATORY – CON + FIRM + A TORY. | |
| 4 | Direct contribution to debate? (5) |
| POINT – Double definition, verb and noun. | |
| 5 | He and I rested, sadly knocked out? (9) |
| ETHERISED – Anagram of HE + I RESTED. | |
| 7 | Ship’s compartment in a mess, so I help out (5,5) |
| PILOT HOUSE – Anagram of SO I HELP OUT. For once, out is not an anagram indicator. | |
| 8 | Argues for sports field primarily offering many, many goals (10) |
| RECOMMENDS – REC + O[ffering] M[any] M[any] + ENDS. | |
| 11 | Drew on being this overcome by awe? (12) |
| WONDERSTRUCK – Reverse cryptic, a clue for DREW ON, with struck as an anagram indicator. | |
| 13 | Greens said to be excited, given new position (10) |
| REASSIGNED – Anagram of GREENS SAID. | |
| 14 | Familiar chap denounced arrests (10) |
| ACCUSTOMED – ACCUS(TOM)ED. | |
| 16 | Fun in the morning time entertains service staff (9) |
| AMUSEMENT – A.M.(USE, MEN) T | |
| 21 | Privy to knowledge finally being combined (2,3) |
| IN ONE – IN ON + [knowledg]E. | |
| 22 | Female wrath — it is destructive (4) |
| FIRE – F + IRE, another starter clue. | |
| 23 | Bird in difficulty (4) |
| KNOT – Double definition, a chestnut I could not call to mind until I had the crossing letters. | |
Around 60 minutes for a most enjoyable puzzle. FOI DODO. The top was fairly straightforward but I wasted 15 minutes or so when I biffed CONFIRMATION. I slogged away trying to get words to fit together and realising I had an error somewhere I finally corrected to CONFIRMATORY and the solution fell out. LOI DEVOLUTION.
Thanks V.
Arguably easier than the Quickie. Nice to see WINTERBOTTOM pop up. Lombardi not a problem, though the other bloke is a NHO.
17:35, so missing my target by more than ten minutes today.
I think it was Dirty Harry that said “a man’s gotta know his limitations”.
It’s amazing how quickly you lose touch with these things over the holidays when you stop doing them every day and just drop in from time to time. This took me 40.38, with the long ones in the bottom half causing all sorts of problems. LOI was STREAKIEST but ACCUSTOMED, INTERMEDIATE, ENCOMPASS etc all took their time. Who exactly is this WINTERBOTTOM person with whom everybody seems so familiar? Thank you V.
From Tangled Up In Blue:
So now I’m going back again, I got to get to her somehow
All these people we used to know, they’re an illusion to me now
Some are mathematicians, some are carpenters’ wives
Don’t know how it all started, I don’t know what they do with their lives
Me, I’m still out on the road, heading for another joint
We always did feel the same, we just saw it from a different POINT of view
Tangled up in blue
Walter Winterbottom was manager of the England football team immediately after WW2. His replacement in 1962 was Alf Ramsey. I presume you know who Alf Ramsey was?
Another one who started with INTERMEDIARY.
Yes. He was Walter Winterbottom’s successor.
If you knew that, why did you then ask:
“Who exactly is this WINTERBOTTOM person with whom everybody seems so familiar?”
I think the ‘successor’ comment was a (rather good) joke, as your previous comment explained Ramsey replaced Winterbottom.
I believe he meant that of course he knows that much now!
Since you just told him.
That has to make him the longest not-fired manager of the England team at 16 years. Alf Ramsey only got to 11 (but won the world cup with a dubious goal, nothing to with him being dubious, but before replays it was just hard to be sure).
Even though the third goal in the 66 Final might be questioned surely the thunderous fourth laid any qualms to rest!
The fourth should have been disallowed – there were fans on the pitch! Kenneth Wolstenholme: “Some people are on the pitch. They think it’s all over – it is now!” – net bulges.
18 minutes delayed by not knowing WINTERBOTTOM so waited for all the checkers, and by biffing INTERMEDIARY 20ac which stayed uncorrected until, having solved 11dn, I found I had a clash of checkers.
The wordplay at 18ac seemed to lead naturally to SHUNTING but the main definition and enumeration forced me to think again.
45m 47s.
Nice Monday puzzle. And good to see Walter WINTERBOTTOM get a mention.
7:03. Must be a glitch in the space-time continuum. My fastest weekday solve and currently sitting second on the ladder behind the mighty V.
PILOT HOUSE and WINTERBOTTOM were unknown but generously clued, and I guess I just forgot to get bogged down on the others. Like Jack I had INTERMEDIARY at first before a faint alarm bell rang.
What a lovely way to start the week. Thanks setter and Vinyl.
I’m sending you the dry cleaning bill. Lost a mouthful of cornflakes on the duvet when I saw the leaderboard.
Grudging congratulations…
Can’t explain it to be honest. Just one of those nice twists of fate, like Bumrah being unable to bowl on the deciding day of a Test series.
34 mins, LOI the unknown WINTERBOTTOM. Also wasn’t sure about STREAKIEST in its quality sense, and “wheelhouse” is more in my wheelhouse than its apparent synonym PILOT HOUSE!
I finished this and I still haven’t finished the “easier” quickie. The long clues were hard even with a few checkers, and I actually got the NHO WINTERBOTTOM early (having looked at his Wikipedia entry I see he was manager when I was growing up, but I had no interest in watching sports then or now, only playing them). When I got to 11D I typed THUNDERSTRUCK to see if it worked, only to discover it was a letter too long. Took far too long to get the correct WONDERSTRUCK. I started with 1D PAGE and assumed it would be Monday fare, only to discover it was later in the week. I think I took about an hour of actual solving, doing things in the middle. I’m another who started with INTERMEDIARY and had to revise my decision later.
Happy with 27 minutes as I was expecting a nice easy Monday offering instead of this chewy one.
NHO WINTERBOTTOM even though am from the UK.
KNOT was a bit of an ‘enter and hope’ as DNK THE bird.
6.26, all fell fairly nicely. I knew of the manager, which of course helps – not of the PILOT HOUSE, but once I saw ‘pilot’ that was all that was left.
Thanks both.
The rusted nails fell from the Knots
That held the pear to the gable-wall.
(Mariana, Tennyson)
(I decided against the obvious Prufrock, etherised)
35 mins pre-brekker. Well I struggled a bit – trying to understand how go-between role (noun?) could be intermediate (verb?) – and coming up with Devolution and Steakiest.
Ta setter and V
Mesmerised by trying to recite Prufrock – I’ve never seen the word ETHERISED anywhere else. Knew the name WINTERBOTTOM, although when at primary school it was Division One we followed. What’s wrong with ‘awestruck’?
10’14”, but with a typo – maybe I’ll go back to paper.
Thanks vinyl and setter.
6:31. Pretty breezy this morning. Never heard of WINTERBOTTOM or PILOT HOUSE but the wordplay was kind.
In the UK ‘hunting’ refers by default to the pursuit of the uneatable by the unspeakable, which is indeed illegal. The word isn’t usually used for shooting other creatures.
40 mins, mostly held up by some of the unched (I hate ‘em) longer clues, as some others apparently.
Otherwise nothing too complicated. WINTERBOTTOM vaguely remembered from the dark and distant past.
I liked WONDERSTRUCK.
Thanks vinyl and setter.
23 minutes, delighted to see Walter Winterbottom running the show. That’s telling those wanting to attract younger solvers. Maybe Nat Lofthouse will appear next; he wouldn’t be difficult to clue. LOI, perhaps ironically, IN ONE. Enjoyable. Thank you V and setter.
“1952 winner an Austrian cat.” (3,4,2,6)
“The Lion of Vienna”
Raich Carter and Tom Finney would also be promising, with Stanley Matthews offering 15 letters and lots of crosses…..
That’s the man. Still my most prized possession, “Goals Galore”, signed by Nat in 1954.
13:30
Pretty quick for me and I might have been quicker had I not followed our blogger’s lead and biffed INTERMEDIARY. That slowed down WONDERSTRUCK which was the obvious answer based on the checkers but it took a little while to work out what was going on.
All in all a nice start to the week so thanks to both.
15 minutes
– Nice to see Walter WINTERBOTTOM get a mention, a manager who never got to pick his own players for England (that was the job of the selectors)
– Not familiar with PILOT HOUSE, so had to piece together the anagram and hope it was right
– Only dimly remembered the KNOT bird
Thanks vinyl and setter.
FOI Page
LOI Iced
COD Pilot house
9:21. Another who DNK the football manager or PILOT HOUSE, but the answers were clear from the checkers and wordplay. LOI POINT. I liked the reverse hidden SPAR. Thanks Vinyl and setter.
13:05, very rapid by my undemanding standards so a good start to the week, though like v I was initially on the wrong side of INTERMEDIATE/INTERMEDIARY. Thanks both.
9:43 for a breezy start to the week, in stark contrast to Friday’s stinker. I felt for our overseas chums when I saw old Walter but then I thought if I have to learn all those American presidents…
21:05
No dramas.
Thanks, v. PAAE a great choice 🙂
17.40 with spar LOI having failed to recognise the hidden word. Surprised at Winterbottom being in the puzzle considering its Anglo centric drift. I shall mug up on the likes of Yogi Berra in anticipation, though he was far more successful and fun than Walter.
Thx setter and blogger.
Far and away the most famous thing about him for anyone not from the States is of course the fact that ‘Yogi Bear’ was named after him, so I expect ‘bear’ would feature in the clue somewhere
19:31
Certainly intimidating at first but I worked through this reasonably steadily.
Nice to be reminded of WINTERBOTTOM. Apparently he was never allowed to pick his own team, instead it was chosen by a selection committee. I doubt that Thomas Tuchel would have taken the job on that basis.
Thanks to vinyl and the setter
I was surprised to see WINTERBOTTOM here and imagine that only those Anglocentrics of a certain age will know of him, even Walter W, which has a pleasant ring to it. I remember as a boy being amused by the name. 30 minutes on a puzzle that presented few difficulties for once, although the PILOT HOUSE I took on trust, never having heard of it.
I think there was a letter in The Times from Walter Winterbottom’s son, only last week.
Enjoyable solve, getting the TS Eliot inspired 5d, but held up at end by the 11d/17ac intersection.
A very enjoyable start to the week. I was looking for an Epiphany theme, but didn’t spot one.
Another INTERMEDIARY here, which held up WONDERSTRUCK for which I never saw the wordplay. Also didn’t know the manager or PILOT HOUSE, but managed to assemble them. PAGE and PRINCIPLED were first 2 in. STREAKIEST was LOI. 20:03, which was quicker than I managed to do the QC in. Got 1 wrong with a typo in that too! Thanks setter and Vinyl.
DNK 12a Walter W, but workable-out. Not familiar with 7d pilot house, 2 words, Wiktionary has it as one word (only.) All seem unanimous that wheelhouse is only one word.
27a Streakiest was my first (and last) idea, but I didn’t feel happy with it until I had a lot of crossers. Guessing the K helped to get the unexpected word at 11d, Wonderstruck.
18:50 – didn’t know Winterbottom, although I am undoubtedly an Anglocentric of a certain age, but the rest went in without too much of a fuss – rather less, in fact, than was occasioned by today’s QC.
I actually finished this in a quicker time than the QC at 24.36. As an England supporter, I had no trouble with WINTERBOTTOM of course, even though he was manager when I was all but a lad. It’s difficult to believe in today’s footballing world that even as manager he didn’t get to pick the team. This was done by the members of the FA committee. The man to change this absurdity was Alf Ramsey, who on becoming manager in 1963 insisted on picking the team.
It was a different culture in those days. I’ve just finished reading a book by Geoff Hurst the hat trick hero from 1966. He played for West Ham, and after winning the World Cup he had the funds to move to a new and larger house in a better district. When news got around, he was informed by his manager that he may wish to reconsider buying that particular house as it was just up the road from the vice chairman, who felt it was inappropriate to have a player living in the same road!
I know we all reminisce about the good old days at times, but thank god we’ve moved on from such pomposity.
I think the overwhelming temptation to put INTERMEDIARY in first (which I too succumbed to) is because of a weakness in the clueing. Yes, INTERMEDIATE can be a noun, but is rarely used as such, unlike INTERMEDIARY, which is unequivocally a noun. Using ‘role’ suggested a noun answer, but there was no need for it: ‘going between’ would have been enough, and — being an inherently adjectival phrase — have eliminated the noun candidacy.
Them’s my sentiments!
Completely agree.
But unfortunately someone will quote a dictionary at you.
The setter of a cryptic crossword using ambiguity in word meanings to mislead the solver? What is the world coming to?! 😉
17.50
PEON straight in and pleased to have remembered it from a previous puzzle. And it does work I think, but…
Didn’t see the reverse cryptic but the manager was no problem.
Enjoyed it as light relief after the tough main fare earlier (the QC).
Thanks Vinyl/setter
Yes, I went with Peon at first.
17:29
Straightforward enough – knew the manager. LOI KNOT once I’d bagged the first checker
Victim of biffing. ‘Intermediary’ was corrected by the crossers, but not ‘Revolution’. Otherwise would have been about 23.00.
51:13 for this QC regular to complete the cryptic for once, admittedly using aids. LOI KNOT (NHO), unaware of PILOT HOUSE and a couple of biffs needed too.
11d In awe of Stevie’s lorry.
This seemed tougher than the average Monday offering, but all done in 25 minutes, with some delay in the SE corner. NHO PILOT HOUSE but it had to be right. No issues.
FOI – BLOC
LOI – ICED
COD- WINTERBOTTOM
Thanks to vinyl and other contributors.
60 minutes. I did the QC in an average time today but I found this very difficult. ETHERISED, WINTERBOTTOM, KNOT and PILOT HOUSE were new but nothing looks especially hard in hindsight. Thanks vinyl1.
I went in with PEON too, because what else could it be? Saw my error with a O.E.N arrangement which would only permit OCEAN or ODEON, neither of which made sense. Assumed WINTERBOTTOM was a modern-day manager — one of the names we’re supposed to know because they are going to start appearing regularly in the puzzle. Happy to learn otherwise. Made stupid error with CLIC instead of BLOC. If I may quote the McGarrigles, “Sad and foolish that’s how I feel.” Otherwise 17’05”. Many thanks.
I always struggle with loads of longer, and wonderstuckish style words so it took me a whole hour!
I couldn’t get Dyche to fit in 12a – so I went for Winterbottom instead – I presume he is lined up to be our next manager.
I don’t generally like longer clues, and there were a fair number, but they weren’t actually that difficult. I fell into the INTERMEDIARY trap and also the CONFIRMATION one – both sorted out on solving the crossers. 1a and 1d first in, and last was STREAKIEST. The fact that many clues were biffable was a help, and the LHS went in more or less straight away, but 8d held up many of the RH ones, especially DROVE and BLOC. NHO WINTERBOTTOM, but clueing was kind once the crossers were in. I think the Quickie took me longer.
We’re late solvers and so infrequent commenters here. A couple of NHOs, PILOT HOUSE and WINTERBOTTOM (and we’re English) but the clueing was straightforward enough when helped with a few checkers. 23:11 is pretty quick by our standards and we certainly found this easier than the QC today.
A rather frustrating one for me because I misled myself by answering PEON for 1 down and JACK for 4 across (part of JACK(et) = wrap – a book for example – and you obviously put a JACK back in the box).