Solving time: 30 minutes. Mostly straightforward, I believe, so let’s get on with it…
As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and substitutions are in curly brackets} and [anagrinds, containment, reversal and other indicators in square ones]. I usually omit all reference to positional indicators unless there is a specific point that requires clarification.
Across |
|
1 | Record struggle for club player? (4,6) |
DISC JOCKEY : DISC (record), JOCKEY (struggle – for position). We often have ‘disco’ for ‘club’. | |
6 | Change hands over (4) |
SWAP : PAWS (hands – slang) reversed [over]. There’s something recently familiar about this clue. | |
9 | Draw a secretive cuckoo (10) |
EVISCERATE : Anagram [cuckoo] of A SECRETIVE. Being hanged, drawn and quartered involved evisceration. | |
10 | Obscure promotion, dismissing second book (4) |
BLUR : BLUR{b} (promotion) [dismissing second book – b] | |
12 | Criterion was reformulated in a different way (12) |
CONTRARIWISE : Anagram [reformulated] of CRITERION WAS | |
15 | Plant collector finding her way around island (9) |
HERBALIST : HER + ST (way) contains [round] BALI (island) | |
17 | Gun control is reversed, not gradually eroded (5) |
LUGER : REGUL{ate} ([control) reversed [not, gradually eroded – ate away at] | |
18 | Bachelor leaves dog something valuable (5) |
ASSET : {b}ASSET (dog) [bachelor – b – leaves]. More usually ‘basset hound’ but in doggie circles ‘hound’ is taken as read. | |
19 | Start January by visiting and opening base (5-4) |
FIRST-FOOT : FIRST (opening), FOOT (base). The New Year custom is usually associated with Scotland, but other places do it too. | |
20 | Second trial dropped in place of overall cuts? (8,4) |
SHEARING SHED : S (second), HEARING (trial), SHED (dropped). Lucky sheep! It’s now 14 weeks since my last haircut. | |
24 | Prophet of a second coming before end of Christmas (4) |
AMOS : A, MO (second), {christma}S [end]. He has his own book of the Bible. | |
25 | Circulate, but it’s dire going around (10) |
DISTRIBUTE : Anagram [going round] of BUT IT’S DIRE | |
26 | A piece of cake is lardy, lacking in grain (4) |
EASY : {gr}EASY (lardy) [lacking in grain – gr] | |
27 | Mice emptied place for grain left over in London, say (10) |
METROPOLIS : M{ic}E [emptied} then SILO (place for grain) + PORT (left) reversed [over] |
Down | |
1 | One using colours of very poor quality, reportedly (4) |
DYER : Sounds like [reportedly] “dire” (of very poor quality) | |
2 | Son needs head covering in strong draught (4) |
SWIG : S (son), WIG (head covering) | |
3 | Light lifting device round channel navy used to hold tons (4-1-7) |
JACK-O-LANTERN : JACK (lifting device), O (round), then LANE (channel) + RN (navy) containing [used to hold] T (tons). This has several meanings, one being simply a man with a lantern e.g. a night watchman. Another is a lantern made of the rind of a large turnip or a pumpkin, in which holes are cut to represent eyes, nose, and mouth – these days ubiquitous at Halloween. And finally, it’s another name for ignus fatuus, a phosphorescent light seen hovering or floating over marshy ground, perhaps due to the combustion of methane. See also 11dn. | |
4 | Vehicle made to carry a weight (5) |
CARAT : CART (vehicle) contains [to carry] A. A measure of gold and precious stones. | |
5 | Fan, perhaps, of decommissioned vehicle? (9) |
EXTRACTOR : EX (decommissioned), TRACTOR (vehicle) | |
7 | Foot could be protected by this prime minister (10) |
WELLINGTON : Two meanings | |
8 | Commit to preserve right for upper class (10) |
PERPETRATE : PERPET-U-ATE (preserve) becomes PERPET-R-ATE when R (right) stands in [for] U (upper class) | |
11 | Article in wood is parking light seen at night (4-1-3-4) |
WILL-O-THE-WISP : THE (definite article) contained by [in] WILLOW (wood), IS, P (parking). Figuratively this is used to describe an elusive person but it’s also another name for ignus fatuus – see 3dn. | |
13 | Scrooge, perhaps keeping large amount in rough casket (10) |
CHEAPSKATE : HEAP (large amount) contained by [in] anagram [rough] of CASKET | |
14 | Rich oppress our organising (10) |
PROSPEROUS : Anagram [organising] of OPPRESS OUR | |
16 | Like children lined up around worker? (9) |
INFANTILE : IN FILE (lined up) containing [around] ANT (worker) | |
21 | Butterfly perched on the first down, regularly (5) |
SATYR : SAT (perched), {d}Y{e}R (the first down – the answer at 1dn) [regularly]. There’s a convention that direct cross-references to numbered clues have to be written in numerals rather than words but if it still applies it’s circumvented here by use of the ordinal number, ‘first’. I didn’t know the butterfly. | |
22 | Earthmovers removing sleepers and rubbish (4) |
BULL : BULL{dozers} [earthmovers} [removing sleepers] | |
23 | Girl arrested at Stonehenge starts to excavate some stones (4) |
TESS : T{o} E{xcavate} S{ome} S{tones} [starts]. This is a reference to Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbevilles. Wiki has a summary for those wishing to know more about her. |
That still would have put my time closer to 30 than to 20, and the reason for this was that I was truly stumped on the LUGER / PERPETRATE crossing. I suspected the former was ‘gun’ = LUGER but had no idea how to prove it. And I also had the right idea for PERPETUATE -> PERPETRATE (which is lovely, by the way), but couldn’t think of either word no matter how hard I tried.
So for me this was a mostly straightforward puzzle, but with a hard corner, and one really tricky word.
Took a long time to see PERPETRATE
I thought there was a risk
That DISC might be disk
But no birds today. I elate.
I’ve never heard of the butterfly, either.
Solving early today as I want to concentrate on the Test in Chennai the last day of which starts in just under 2 hrs.
Edited at 2021-02-09 09:10 am (UTC)
I’d like to think that would be ok as it’s in the dictionary but ..,
Having had the recent Flanders and Swann theme I thought it interesting to see JACK-O-LANTERN and WILL-O-THE-WISP today. Is this the start of a move towards themed puzzles?
Thanks to blogger for the parsing of 8d PERPETRATE that defeated me.
Andyf
FOI 9ac EVISCERATE
LOI 22dn BULL
COD 8dn PERPETRATE
WOD 3dn JACK O LANTERN and his twin brother 14dn WILL O THE WISP
25 mins pre-brekker left the First Foot. Good one.
At 1ac my thinking went… a club player might be a DJ. What do DJs struggle with on records? DUST JACKET, obviously — so started to write that in. Then thought, actually DJ might be better. What a mess.
Thanks setter and J.
Edited at 2021-02-09 08:05 am (UTC)
Everything fell into place until I ground to halt at around 20m on 20A: with SHEARING _H_ _ and 21D: with _ _T_R. I had never heard of SATYR and the shed evaded me.
Thank you, jackkt and the setter.
No dramas – didn’t know satyr, but the wp was generous. THanks jack.
My first thought for the head covering at 2d was HAT, so I was relieved when the A became impossible, but still left it to the last.
I also delayed while working out why LUGER was right, but both the long ones were only vaguely parsed given the spacing. Rare to have two single letters neither of which was A.
I liked PERPETRATE once I saw how it worked.
If Jimmy Anderson keeps on getting better at 38 as he appears to be doing, does it mean it I could still go for a career in test cricket at my age?
Granted on the age thing, and clearly in his field a fine player, but more brutal and strenuous than cricket? Hm. 15 minutes actual action punctuating 3 hours of adverts, replays and whatnot. When fielding, cricketers are on the go for 5 hours or more. Bowlers run hundreds of high intensity metres. Fielding close to the wicket can get clobbered with a solid ball moving at 90 miles an hour- no wonder they sometimes wear helmets and body protection, though way less than the NFL snowflakes. Batsman like the incredible Joe Root concentrate for hours at a stretch, can run a mile or more compiling a decent score, and (like Root in the current tests) can push themselves to the edge of exhaustion only to do it again the next day, and for days after that. Could Tom Daly manage 2 or 3 matches a day over 5 days without flagging? I wonder!
FIRST FOOTing is a practice I have only ever encountered in crosswords, and it took a while to remember.
COD: Shearing Shed.
And yes COD AMOS. Very neat
All done in 5m 07s with PERPETRATE taking the longest to fall, and my LOI. METROPOLIS is a very nice breakdown.
Wavelength is a very important factor in these puzzles.
Plenty I didn’t parse e.g. LUGER which I wrote in from first two checkers, PERPETRATE needed all of the checkers to confirm my suspicion.
CONTRARIWISE could see the CONTRA part but couldn’t make sense of the rest of the letters for a while.
Wondered if DYER was DOER (sounds like DOUR) though wasn’t convinced.
LOI SATYR following SHEARING SHED — didn’t know there was specifically a place to do SHEARING — just thought it was done any old place where a sheep could be secured….
COD LUGER
FOI eviscerate, LOI swig.
JACK O LANTERN and WILL O THE WISP straight in which helped. Anagrams were tricky. PERPETRATE too neat for me and shamelessly biffed. Liked SHEARING SHED
Thanks all
Otherwise I thought this was a bit easier than yesterday.
Could not parse PERPETRATE- thanks for that.
David
https://sites.google.com/view/tft-glossary/home
Edited at 2021-02-09 05:43 pm (UTC)
Edited at 2021-02-09 11:38 pm (UTC)
Inexcusable — it’s not a hard clue and I’ve even read the book — although I don’t remember that she was arrested at Stonehenge. I do remember (spoiler alert!!) that she was hanged at Winchester prison (I live in Winchester).
Had my jab today — that’s my excuse.
Valid?
Edited at 2021-02-10 12:06 pm (UTC)
31’28”
Edited at 2021-02-10 01:17 pm (UTC)