My solving time for this one was off the scale. After an extremely slow start which resulted in my falling asleep with only one word in the grid, things gradually came together for a while before petering out slowly towards the end. I shall be interested to know if others found it tricky too.
As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions are in curly brackets} and [anagrinds, containment, reversal and other indicators in square ones]
Across | |
1 | Drawer closed, fighting to grab book (6) |
TOWBAR – TO (closed), WAR (fighting) containing [to grab] B (book). For those in any doubt, I checked that both ‘towbar’ and ‘tow bar’ are allowable. TO meaning ‘closed’ divides opinion around here; for me “to” is the same as ‘ajar’ i.e. not quite closed, but I accept that others see it differently, and theirs is the meaning demanded by the clue today. Does a towbar actually tow/draw? | |
4 | International team’s way to win, holding firm (8) |
SCOTLAND – ST (way) + LAND (win) containing [holding] CO (firm). A somewhat loose definition, I feel. | |
10 | Romantic and tender, disturbed by one kiss (7) |
QUIXOTE – QUOTE (tender – offer) containing [disturbed by] I (one) + X (kiss). ‘Romantic’ has to be taken as a noun here; one of the many tricks used by this setter to deceive me. | |
11 | Champion after bronze, failing (7) |
TANKING – TAN (bronze), KING (champion). After my disastrous encounter with last Thursday’s QC I shall not forget ‘bronze’ = ‘tan’ for a while! | |
12 | Artist encountered in street, typically (4) |
ETTY – Hidden [encountered] in {stre}ET TY{pically}. Wiki advises: William Etty RA (10 March 1787 – 13 November 1849) was an English artist best known for his history paintings containing nude figures. But for all that, he’s managed to avoid my attention until today. | |
13 | Handle nothing but risqué plays (10) |
SOUBRIQUET – Anagram [plays] of 0 (nothing) BUT RISQUE. There’s no containment indicator so we have an anagram where one letter of the anagrist is clued indirectly. There have been a few of these recently. | |
15 | Ordinary fellow’s English journal commandeered by Trots (3,6) |
JOE BLOGGS – E (Engliash) + BLOG (journal) contained [commandeered] by JOGS (trots). I can’t find any definitive origin for this ordinary Joe or his brother Fred. I was first aware of them in the 1950s so Joe long precedes the clothing brand-name that’s cited as the origin in some sources. | |
16 | Bit of a bloomer, being as far as possible from NW China? (5) |
SEPAL – SE (as far as possible from NW), PAL (china – CRS). Part of the calyx of a flower. | |
18 | Separate set of countries with private code (5) |
UNPIN – UN (set of countries), PIN (private code) | |
19 | Lad in trouble with censor that’s pardoned slave (9) |
ANDROCLES – Anagram [in trouble] of LAD with CENSOR. I’ll leave you to look him up if you need to. | |
21 | Servants emerging from shadows with forms (10) |
DOGSBODIES – DOG (shadows), BODIES (forms) | |
23 | Prejudice from another time restricting author initially (4) |
BIAS – BIS (another time – encore!) containing [restricting] A{uthor} [initially] | |
26 | Not exactly promising more staff (7) |
CROSIER – C (not exactly – circa), ROSIER (promising more). As carried by a Bishop. | |
27 | Second buffoon given gold watch (7) |
MONITOR – MO (second – moment), NIT (buffoon), OR (gold) | |
28 | No longer have desire to score points (4,4) |
DROP GOAL – DROP (no longer), GOAL (desire) | |
29 | Army commanders, with informal agreement, are ingratiating (4,2) |
COSY UP – COS (army commanders), YUP (informal agreement) |
Down | |
1 | Sending up of books in French that is old hat (5) |
TOQUE – OT (books) reversed, [sending up], QUE (in French, that) | |
2 | A wide step, moving up to the middle (5-4) |
WAIST-DEEP – Anagram [moving] of A WIDE STEP | |
3 | Confess to a vice — at first it hurts (4) |
AVOW – A, V{ice} [at first], OW (it hurts). This was my first in, and my only answer for ages. | |
5 | German city’s constant public transport curbing excessive (7) |
COTTBUS – C (constant) + BUS (public transport) containing [curbing] OTT (excessive). I thought I knew most German cities but this one has eluded me until now. | |
6 | She’s into wandering about in French sportswear (6,4) |
TENNIS SHOE – Anagram [wandering] of SHE’S INTO containing EN (in, French) | |
7 | I’m going to pass on gold rings (5) |
ADIEU – AU (gold) contains [rings] DIE (pass on) | |
8 | Enjoy everything, almost, connected with one’s plant (9) |
DIGITALIS – DIG (enjoy), IT AL{l} everything [almost], IS (one’s). Once I had a few checkers in place this came to mind quite easily as the drug ‘digitalin’ was in the QC I blogged yesterday. | |
9 | Take some time to get fit (6) |
BELONG – And spaced as BE LONG we have ‘take some time’ | |
14 | Flash twin waffling, suffering from loss of memory (5-5) |
BLING-BLING – {ram}BLING (waffling) [suffering from loss of memory – RAM] x 2 [twin]. We had this use of ‘twin’ only a few days ago when it was a means of indirectly disguising anagram fodder. Unfortunately it caught me out again today and as a result this was my last one in. It didn’t help that I wasn’t familiar with the hyphenated form of the answer, only the singular ‘bling’. | |
15 | German we agree not cut up but resentful (9) |
JAUNDICED – JA (German, we agree), UNDICED (not cut up) | |
17 | Mean to retain notes for future reading (9) |
PALMISTRY – PALTRY (mean) containing [to retain] MIS (notes – music) | |
19 | Small nation not forgetting ordinary men in military academy (7) |
ANDORRA – AND (not forgetting), OR (ordinary men in military – Other Ranks), RA (academy) | |
20 | Fancied a small drink around start of extra time (6) |
DREAMT – DRAM (small drink) containing [around] E{xtra} [start], T (time) | |
22 | I like that treacly stuff, cook! (4-1) |
GOOD-O – GOO (treacly stuff), DO (cook – how do you do your sprouts? for example). Another Bunterism, I think! | |
24 | Pet / that barber keeps (5) |
STROP – Two meanings, the first being a fit of temper or the sulks, and the second being the leather device used for sharpening razors. | |
25 | News concerning most of Ulster sent up (4) |
INFO – OF (concerning) + NI (most of Ulster) reversed [sent up]. Ulster consists of 9 counties, 6 which make up Northern Ireland and are part of the UK, and 3 that are in the Republic. |
I thought as I was solving that there would be no biffing tonight, you have to use the cryptics if you want to get the answers.
The tenses of the definition and the answer for 29 don’t seem to match.
I also wondered about 29 but came up with ‘they cosy up’ and ‘they are ingratiating’ which work for me as a substitution test, just about.
Edited at 2017-12-12 07:17 am (UTC)
I see what you mean about the substitution test for COSY UP, but it is also strange to see it just hanging there without a preposition or object (cosy up to whom?), which is not a problem with “ingratiating” (as the latter can be an adjective as well as a phrasal verb).
Edited at 2017-12-12 07:50 am (UTC)
Edited at 2017-12-12 11:57 pm (UTC)
But then I took a time out for breakfast – oat porridge banana and Italian roast coffee.
My LOI was 3dn AVOW! Jack’s FOI!
I biffed 12ac ETTY and was further delayed as I had 18ac as UNZIP!
Consequently I just didn’t see 2dn WAIST DEEP as an anagram until very late.
FOI 29ac COSY UP although the clue does appear, as suggested, damaged.
COD 10ac QUIXOTE
WOD 21ac DOGSBODIES
Time – longer than Jack!
I really liked this one – very, very clever. I knew Etty (from the statue in front of York art gallery) – but did not know Cottbus although what else could it be? I now have the ear worm of a Germanic Tina Turner singing ‘Ein church house, gin house…etc.’
Mostly I liked: Scotland, Soubriquet, Joe Bloggs, Waist Deep, Undiced.
Minor eyebrow raise at the extra ‘a’ in 20dn. How do we feel about these extra articles to improve the surface, but which are superfluous to the wordplay?
Thanks very clever setter and Jack.
Edited at 2017-12-12 08:37 am (UTC)
I guess if the clue passes the “it couldn’t be anything else” and the “I see what the setter means” tests then that is good enough.
I did like 20dn, but I would have agonised about, and eventually dropped the ‘a’.
‘Fancied small drink around start of extra time’ is still a good surface.
As for COTTBUS, it looks distinctly un-Germanic (even some Germans think so: in Berlin, it’s down as Kottbus). possibly the largest German (even European) city I’ve never heard of. Even the Wiki entry’s a bit sketchy, along the lines of “belonged to various states at various times, nothing much happened”. Perhaps the good Burghers should be notified that their cosy private existence has been outed by the Times.
I’d like to see how UK solvers do with US towns, although many names are used over and over again in different states.
Lutton is new to me! Whereas Luton in Bedfordshire is quite definitely on the map.
Any of these familiar? Skegness, Boston (my home town), Kettering, Goole, Godmanchester and we have the village of New York in Lincolnshire which I believe predates New Amsterdam! But still only three houses and no trees.
I’m good on American towns as most of them are the subject of songs from Glen Campbell, Bing Crosby, The Beatles, Sinatra, CSNY and countless others.
There is a song about Luton Airport (Lorraine Chase)
Sadly, we’ve never been eligible for the Brandenburg Cup, which seems to be the highest reach of FC Cottbus. But you never know!
Slowish 27 min for me, but about the last 7 on CROSIER – a full alphabet trawl failed to reveal a single valid word, and the wordplay wasn’t that obvious, though eventually twiggable. And it turned out to be an actual staff.
Very enjoyable puzzle with only 29A causing some raising of the eyebrows
Edited at 2017-12-12 10:09 am (UTC)
Edited at 2017-12-12 03:11 pm (UTC)
Edited at 2017-12-12 03:55 pm (UTC)
COTTBUS (chief topic of conversation for the next week: “Did you know there‘s a city in Germany called Cottbus?” and I’m sure there’ll be room for the Sorbs too) and ETTY both new so at least I have learnt something. I did enjoy DROP GOAL and BLING-BLING.
Thanks to setter and blogger.
I scanned it to see if I could solve at least one clue – I got 29a and then gave up. The puzzle looked very difficult.
Having looked at today’s answers I do think Cottbus is too obscure. I thought I knew a lot about Germany etc.
However I think Worksop and Stavanger are OK.
And I am ready for the return of Habakkuk. David
I spent a long time trying for the wrong dramatist with ANDROCLES, which was rather feeble because I once was third spear carrier in that play. ETTY is featured in the Collins mini crossword dictionary otherwise he’s unknown to me. 31.33
An hour and a half to give up and come here, basically. Not sure I’d have ever spotted JAUNDICED, DROP GOAL or CROSIER, as I apparently didn’t know their definitions, let alone know what was going on with the wordplay.
At least I didn’t come here to find that everyone else thought it was a bit too easy for a Tuesday…
Edited at 2017-12-12 06:08 pm (UTC)
If Tottenham do ever met Cottbus Energie I shall make the effort to commit the place to memory, but until then……
As someone said above, I was pleased to come here and find everyone else thought it hard too. It is annoying when the opposite happens.
If Tottenham do ever met Cottbus Energie I shall make the effort to commit the place to memory, but until then……
But I found this really tough to get started, and it was over half an hour before I had more than ETTY, whereas I’m usually done in that time.
Mood: Christmassy (very similar to grumpy)
Drink: Warre’s Otima 10 which, for reasons unknown and unjustified, only comes as a 50cl bottle.
Beaten by the south-left corner. I’d considered at least one BLING, but have never encountered two of them together and, in any case, missed the ‘rambling’. DROP GOAL comes under my “unfairly obscure sporting terms” umbrella. I have no plausible excuses for failing on CROZIER and GOOD-O.
Excuse my ignorance, but what connects ‘pet’ to the answer, strop ??
Thanks
PET noun
a fit of sulkiness, esp at what is felt to be a slight; pique
STROP noun
A bad mood; a fit of temper
And something I am prone to myself unfortunately … taking things too personally.
I was thinking of petulance … which maybe connected.
Cheers.