That’s me. I threw in the towel after ten minutes tussling with 4 down. I suppose I might have extended my alphabet trawl a letter further, but the inexact synonymity did for me. A perfectly fair clue, for all that. And a witty one to boot.
How did others do?
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | We must admit trade is mismanaged in bank? (9) |
| WATERSIDE – anagram* of TRADE IS in WE | |
| 6 | End of Siegfried in Ring Cycle (5) |
| PEDAL – ~D in PEAL | |
| 9 | Leaving a duck, everyone tucks into exclusive seafood (7) |
| SCALLOP – ALL in SCO |
|
| 10 | Slowly stewed beef initially increased in intensity (7) |
| BRAISED – B~ RAISED | |
| 11 | Field Bernabéu team, missing second half (5) |
| REALM – REAL M |
|
| 12 | Psychic powers in later years keeping old in secret work (9) |
| ESPIONAGE – ESP O in IN AGE | |
| 14 | Creature hunting near ground, moving left to right (3) |
| OWL – LOW with the L going east | |
| 15 | Writer of Aeneid led astray (6,5) |
| DANIEL DEFOE -OF AENEID LED* | |
| 17 | True crime work incorporated elderly relatives (2,4,5) |
| IN COLD BLOOD – INC OLD BLOOD; a book by Truman Capote | |
| 19 | Copper beginning to tire in nick (3) |
| CUT – CU T~ | |
| 20 | Constellation also wandered: Alpha moved to the east (9) |
| ANDROMEDA – AND ROAMED with the A going east | |
| 22 | Best study hard to get grip on English (5) |
| CREAM – E in CRAM | |
| 24 | Drug lord who ran to restrain murderer (7) |
| COCAINE – CAIN in COE (lord who ran, AKA Seb Coe) | |
| 26 | Did coach express disapproval? Nothing revolutionary (7) |
| TUTORED – TUT O RED | |
| 27 | Agent on vacation was resting around Black Sea resort (5) |
| YALTA – reversal of A~T LAY; best known for conference held in Feb 1945 which sealed fate of parts of Europe | |
| 28 | Tactless whisky promotion French king stops (9) |
| MALADROIT – AD ROI in MALT; ability to understand Yoda-speak needed here | |
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 1 | One desiring less herb to begin with and more sage (5) |
| WISER – WIS |
|
| 2 | Path to secure a victory for Labour (7) |
| TRAVAIL – A V in TRAIL | |
| 3 | Rock embracing European form for example (4,5) |
| ROLE MODEL – E MODE in ROLL | |
| 4 | Unbeatable chorizo served up by Puck? (11) |
| IMPREGNABLE – IMP followed by reversal of ‘EL BANGER’. ¡Ole! | |
| 5 | Decline leads to everyone being broke (3) |
| EBB – initial letters | |
| 6 | Greek troops not willing to participate (5) |
| PLATO – PLATO |
|
| 7 | Reversing identity, man’s female (7) |
| DISTAFF – ID reversed STAFF; the male equivalent in genealogy is spear | |
| 8 | Deposit from freemasons close to Craft? (9) |
| LODGEMENT -LODGE MEN ~T; I’m no fan of freemasonry, but a quick search shows that traditional male grand lodges do not allow women, so they have set up on their own | |
| 13 | Animal long dead at Clyde port reanimated (11) |
| PTERODACTYL – AT CLYDE PORT* | |
| 14 | Powerful group of 50 swelling fantastic gay choir (9) |
| OLIGARCHY – L in GAY CHOIR* | |
| 16 | Single-minded inspector with Jaguar perhaps in Endeavour (9) |
| DEDICATED – DI CAT in DEED | |
| 18 | Willing rider Richard endlessly breaking wind (7) |
| CODICIL – DIC |
|
| 19 | Comfort maiden Zeus seduced for so long (7) |
| CHEERIO – CHEER IO (maiden Zeus seduced – this poor girl was raped by Zeus then turned into a heifer by either Zeus or a seething Hera) | |
| 21 | Board somehow communicating green light from Macron, then Merz (5) |
| OUIJA – OUI JA | |
| 23 | Density in low cloud that’s thick (5) |
| MIDST – D in MIST; midst/thick as in ‘in the midst/thick of the crowd’ | |
| 25 | Line this writer grasps when climbing tree (3) |
| ELM – L in ME reversed | |
13.15
Nice untroublesome start to the week.
COD IMPREGNABLE – biffed obvs, but enjoyed it once I came back to it.
LOI PLATO, though still not sure about ON.
I think the explanation has a typo & should be “troops” = PLATOON with “not willing to participate = not ON, hence Plato (Greek)
15:42
NHO Bernabéu, thought it might be a famous soccer player; finally parsed post-submission. Ditto for ANDROMEDA, COCAINE. I confess I liked CODICIL.
40 minutes with the parsing of IMPREGNABLE missing and not understanding ‘thick / MIDST’.
Very enjoyable though.
Yes some nice clues, I thought. I did like OUIJA, as well as CODICIL.. but cod must be the upside down Spanish sausage.
In the thick of it for MIDST came from the TV show. IMPREGNABLE was LOI and a biff from crossers. An off the wall clue. COD to IN COLD BLOOD as I got it fair and square. That picture of Churchill. Roosevelt and Stalin sitting together must have stuck in my mind since first seeing it as a little boy. An entertaining puzzle. Thank you U and setter.
Started off really fast but slowed in the bottom half. DANIEL DEFOE took too long, along with IN COLD BLOOD. Never heard of ‘el banger’ for chorizo. Saw MIDST once checkers were in. CHEERIO from the literal but no idea about the Zeus thing. Liked REALM, CODICIL and OUIJA.
Thanks U and setter.
36 mins. That was a stinker for a Monday. Ok there was plenty of straightforward stuff to get a foothold on but lots to slow us down too. Probably took 10-15 mins on the last 3 or 4.
IMPREGNABLE nearly was but fell to an alpha-trawl before parsing, does anyone claim to have constructed it from the wordplay?
LOI PLATO submitted with a shrug.
At least PTERODACTYL helpfully had the O as a crosser today.
Enjoyable to a point but a bit of a slog to finish. Thanks to setter and Ulaca.
I realise that I’m a week late and probably nobody will ever see this, but I’ve just got back from solving this puzzle at the pub with my friend Ian, where we solved IMPREGNABLE largely from the wordplay. He suggested “banger” as a synonym for a sausage, then I reversed it and the answer jumped out. It took me a minute to figure out where the “le” was coming from but we both enjoyed it when the penny dropped.
For once, I thought this was pretty gentle, 30 mins. Last 3 in, which took at least 5 mins, were PEDAL, LODGEMENT & PLATO, the latter unparsed.
Like jerry, I chuckled at the upside down Spanish sausage, good fun. I also liked ESPIONAGE.
I suppose MIDST as in « in the thick of it » just about works.
Thanks U and setter.
16’41”, with a guessed and unparsed PLATO LOI.
IMPREGNABLE a brilliant clue, but had to be reverse-engineered.
Hope everyone had a joyful Easter.
Thanks ulaca and setter.
26 minutes. I enjoyed this one. Good surfaces for DISTAFF and the turns out it was nothing to do with Morse DEDICATED. It was also interesting to see CRAM and COE in successive clues.
Of a good bunch, favourites were the EL BANGER reversal and the ‘Willing rider’ def. for CODICIL.
10:21, taken over the 10-minute mark by a long pause over 6dn, where the answer seemed obvious but it took me a while to decipher the wordplay.
EL BANGER is wonderful!
An enjoyable 23.17, with most time on LODGEMENT, PLATO, IMPREGNABLE and some of those others in the NW.
PLATO took ages as I just couldn’t see the parsing and was worried it could be another Greek I didn’t know. And, now seeing the explanation, I think it is very questionable / poor: ‘on’ doesn’t really mean ‘willing to participate’ (whereas ‘in’ does). ‘On’ might mean ‘participating’.
I also think that IMPREGNABLE should have “the chorizo” to give EL BANGER, otherwise it doesn’t quite work. So: “The chorizo served up by Puck is unbeatable” or something.
But with those points aside, I really enjoyed the amusing definitions and clues throughout. COD to CODICIL.
I liked both mixed-language clues – Ouija and Impregnable – but it took me longer to see the “el” connection.
All pretty gentle. Most of it was more or less a write-in, but IMPREGNABLE with its witty clue held me up for a bit and PLATO was tricky until I saw it, how obvious. In 16dn is a deed an endeavour? It seems to me that an endeavour is an attempt at a deed. I couldn’t have told you that Zeus and Io were connected in any way, but took it on trust.
15 minutes and something (sorry solved a few hours before the blog). My body decided 4am was the time to get up today but that must be peak solving time as that’s pretty good for me.
Wish I had taken the time to parse IMPREGNABLE. I saw the reversed banger and moved on. My COD.
Thanks blogger and setter.
A mixture of the straightforward and devilishly tricky. Started with WISER and finished with a lot of neural activity expended on IMPREGNABLE (haha) and PLATO. CODICIL raised a smile too. 23:45. Thanks setter and U.
14.58 So pretty Mondayish, but what a fabulous, polished set of clues. A setter who bothers to get Siegfried in the Ring, delivers that Morse clue with such panache, gives us a menu choice for SCALLOP, and (of course) crafts a belly laugh with EL BANGER should be properly admired. The Freemasons’ Craft, half time at REAL Madrid, even the OCD OWL are fine details.
Once I looked it up, IN COLD BLOOD as a True crime novel is brilliant: Truman Capote’s book is indeed non-fiction, and the man’s name is even hinted at.
I assume boltonwanderer’s reference to the Big Three is prompted by YALTA: coincidentally they featured in a well crafted Inquisitor puzzle this weekend, which I also enjoyed. I need to take a break now before tackling the bonus Jumbo!
13:35 – the clues deserved to be savoured rather more than they were amidst an unusually long rally of biffs. I couldn’t parse PLATO and admired IMPREGNABLE when I tried to unpick them post-solve. A good start to the week.
Enjoyed this easy Monday offering, 15 minutes, thankfully I knew who plays at the Bernabéu and what happened to IO. Calling a chorizo a banger was enough to upset a Catalan. Nice to see the OWL appearing now and again.
Yes. Everyone seems to take it as read, but I’m none the wiser🤷♂️
Not too difficult to upset a Catalan, to be fair.
No time as I was interrupted mid-solve, but an enjoyable Bank Holiday puzzle.
– Got IN COLD BLOOD from some of the wordplay and didn’t know it’s the name of a novel
– Only realised how IMPREGNABLE worked as I was writing it in
– Didn’t parse PLATO
– Had to trust that Io was a maiden seduced by Zeus to get CHEERIO
Thanks ulaca and setter.
FOI Ebb
LOI Impregnable
COD Cocaine
35:26. IMPREGNABLE did for me too. As I’m at the ROH today, watching Siegfried, 6a seemed particularly apt. Freemasons Hall is just around the corner too (8d) – could the setter be an opera fan?
Just over the half hour. I’m afraid the Spanish sausage went right over my head, only grasped when I had all the crossers. A splendid selection of clues, I thought. Especially liked DANIEL DEFOE, CODICIL and particularly COCAINE my current prescription drug of choice. Not too happy with 3 down: rock and roll may be closely associated by usage but hardly describe the same movement separately. Or perhaps the drugs are wearing off.
Thanks to setter and ulaca.
I too got stuck on impregnable at the end, but I did eventually see and reverse-engineer it. I also had trouble parsing Plato and realm, both obvious answers.
Time: 19:13
I cantered through this at a nice pace finishing in 29.34. I was held up a little by my last two, before PLATO came to me which went in with a shrug, but no sooner had I done so I twigged the parsing. IMPREGNABLE was what it said on the tin for a while, before I managed to think of the word without ever getting the parsing. Particularly liked the OUIJA clue.
30 mins finishing with the spectacular Spanish sausage clue. Just what I needed today.
I must be starting to get the hang of the Monday ish puzzles: I had my third or fourth fully parsed solve, even EL BANGER. A playful puzzle that rewarded the 40 minutes I stole after my bedtime last night. Thanks setter and ulaca.
I’ve just done this puzzle and when I got to 24A with “Lord who ran” I thought of you. At least I think I mentioned him to you recently!
You did and it probably saved me there.
My thanks to ulaca and setter.
Lovely puzzle. My LOsI were the excellent 21d & 23d because my brain had gone AWOL. Otherwise a top to bottom solve.
Biffs included SCALLOP at 9a, missed the scoop. 11a Realm, I had no idea what Bernabéu was but after biffing I suddenly saw Real Madrid, a football team of which I have heard. NHO its stadium though. Biffed 1d Wis(h)er. 4d Impregnable; never saw the El, saw the banger though. COD I think.
15:54
Comparative blast compared with the QC on which I struggled. Runners CRAM and COE noted in consecutive clue wordplay. Chorizo is one of those ‘nails down a blackboard’ words for my wife, who, having lived in Spain, and knowing the word is correctly pronounced ‘cho-reeth-o’, can’t bear UK restaurant service staff etc. referring to it as ‘cho-ritz-o’. Very amused by the wordplay.
Thanks U and setter
Same with me for ‘chorizo’. Drives me nuts.
No reason to expect better from a country that can’t even manage kilometre correctly …
Isn’t that just a Catalan pronunciation? Similar to CERVEZA which in Castilian Spanish is pronounced with a hard S sound?
Chapter 1 of my copy of ‘An Essential Course in Modern Spanish’ by H. Ramsden says, on pronunciation of z, “z = th in think: manzana, zorra, lápiz”
No, as Mike says, Castilian is pronounced with a ‘th’ for ‘z’ . Only Andaluces and South American speakers use the S pronunciation. Catalans, by and large, use Catalan, but will condescend to speaking Castilian to foreigners.
Like many others, couldn’t parse PLATO but thought El Banger was brilliant.
Excellent Monday puzzle – 19 mins. No unheard-ofs, all wordplay understood. Great clues. IN COLD BLOOD went in as soon as I saw ‘True crime work’ and the word lengths. First in was BRAISED, last ESPIONAGE (immediately after IMPREGNABLE). Favourite four clues: to PEDAL, ANDROMEDA, IMPREGNABLE (loved EL BANGER = Chorizo) and DISTAFF. Thank you Setter and Blogger.
“El banger”? Give me bloody strength! Obvs I biffed it. My only slight cock up otherwise was trying to use “Lucan” for “lord who ran”.
FOI PEDAL
LOI IMPREGNABLE
COD COCAINE
TIME 7:33
Also biffed IMPREGNABLE, may have been my last one in (it’s been a while now…). Also didn’t know the soccer player. Worked pretty quickly, though.
14:11. Very nice puzzle.
COD: The Spanish sausage!
Thanks to ulaca and our setter.
I was doing fine on this until the last three. PLATO was bifd, but with no clue as to the parsing. Freemasons? No idea. I had to use aids to get the missing O and G, though an alphabet trawl would have got me there eventually, I suppose. Bernabeu – not a clue. I assumed it was a foreign, probably Spanish stadium, but went for REARM for ‘field’. I then compounded my error by changing the spelling of SCALLOP to SCALLUP, on the basis that the duck is a ‘scaup’ (it’s a crossword duck, if not as familiar as a mallard) and putting ‘all’ in after removing the ‘a’. (Actually, what is it doing in the clue, anyway?) I just assumed it was an alternative spelling of the seafood I’d not come across, perhaps a more exclusive one! The rest of it was easy!
Don’t quite share the enthusiasm for ‘el banger’, but did like willing rider for CODICIL.
Very nice holiday challenge.
I’m with you there. On both.
A PB for me today at 32 mins !
Thanks Ulaca and setter.
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Thanks to the setter for a very entertaining crossword.
FOI BRAISED
LOI IMPREGNABLE (couldn’t parse initially but needed to because I wasn’t sure if it ended …IBLE or …ABLE)
COD OUIJA (but spoilt for choice today)
All correct, but spent 20 minutes on PLATO and DISTAFF. Liked El Banger.
Thanks I and Setter.
Perfect start to the week.
35:27
LOI CHEERIO, just about everyone and everything is seduce by Zeus. Knew IO from its moon
COD OUIJA.
42 mins without parsing PLATO.
I also knew (well guessed!) IO from the moon. EL BANGER made me laugh when I eventually saw it. My only raised eyebrow was ON and not “in” for “willing to participate” but I enjoyed the whole puzzle. Thanks for the blog!
Like many others, I couldn’t parse IMPREGNABLE.. in fact, I’m still not sure. I didn’t even know Puck was IMP never mind the other part!
I did get OUIJA though, nice clue. Never heard of YALTA or CODICIL.
Pretty tough for a Monday, was thankful to have a lot of time in the garden to work on it!
Exactly 20 minutes, with LOI PLATO.
I saw YALTA quickly, but could not parse it as I assumed “agent on vacation… about” would be Y…S.
COD to OUIJA
Thanks Ulaca and setter
This was fun! Loved DEDICATED, CODICIL and COCAINE. But stumped by PLATO as couldn’t understand how it worked.
Don’t know much about foreign football teams but can never forget Real Madrid – famously beaten by Aberdeen (then managed by Alex Ferguson) in the 1983 European Cup Winners’ Cup final in Gothenburg.
Thanks again to setter, blogger and all who contribute to the discussion.
23.45 with LOI impregnable which was also my COD.
With my family on holiday, tried to explain IMPREGNABLE to them (they don’t do crosswords). Eventually penny dropped, and henceforward chorizo will be referred to as El Banger. 20 mins.
Very rarely do I get near to finishing one of these ( but I do so enjoy trying). This was pretty friendly, and a return to what always used to be gentler Mondays, after a couple of tougher weeks IMHO. Defeated only by PLATO and on looking at the decode, I’m not surprised- never heard “ on” used that way – definitely a meh. Really liked El Banger ( arf) and ouija. Thanks to setter and blogger.
11:00. Coming to this late after 5 days of visitors. El Banger indeed. Nice one. Thanks setter and Ulaca.
23:06 for the solve coming to this one a day late when it’s SNITCHING at 69. Never parsed IMPREGNABLE but that’s because it was my LOI
18’39” on Tuesday. Never did see the parsing of IMPREGNABLE.