One hour over two sessions. Not easy – or was it me? Have Tuesdays now joined the expanding array of harder puzzles? After 50 minutes I still had 12 or more unsolved clues scattered around the grid and had become completely stuck so I decided to take a break. A refreshing cup of coffee did the trick because on resuming the task the remaining answers fell steadily into place over a further 10 minutes. Overall I enjoyed 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]. “Aural wordplay” is in quotation marks. I now use a tilde sign ~ to indicate an insertion point in containment clues. I usually omit all reference to juxtaposition indicators unless there is a specific point that requires clarification.
Definitions underlined in bold italics, (Abc)* indicating anagram of Abc, deletions and [] other indicators.
 Across |
|
|---|---|
| 1 | Line advanced ahead of call for attack (4,3) |
| LASH OUT – L (line), A (advanced), SHOUT (call) | |
| 5 | Loose bit with nut and washer (4,3) |
| TWIN TUB – Anagram (loose) of BIT W (with) NUT. At one time some washing machines consisted of separate wash and spin compartments and were known as twin tubs. |
|
| 9 | Rachel’s sick having eaten too much dessert (9) |
| CHARLOTTE – Anagram [sick] of RACHEL containing [having eaten] OTT (too much) | |
| 10 | Televised broadcast involves hospital (5) |
| SHOWN – S~OWN (broadcast) contains [involves] H (hospital) | |
| 11 | What’s making a comeback right after Universal show? (5) |
| USHER – U (universal), then EH (what), S (’s) reversed [making a comeback], then R (right) | |
| 12 | Perhaps da Vinci’s structure on ship, more advanced externally (3,6) |
| OLD MASTER – MAST (structure on ship) contained by [externally] OLD~ER (more advanced) | |
| 13 | Dressing to impress, hugging mother, heading for town, fine and happy (6,7) |
| TOMATO KETCHUP – TO ~ ETCH (to impress) containing [hugging] MA (mother) + T{own} [heading for…] + OK (fine), then UP (happy) | |
| 17 | One’s clutched by awful tourist — it might be necessary to remove coat (5,8) |
| PAINT STRIPPER – I (one)’s contained [clutched] by PA~NTS (awful), TRIPPER (tourist) | |
| 21 | Fold plastic once, retaining length of course (9) |
| ENCLOSURE – Anagram [plastic] of ONCE containing [retaining] L (length), then SURE (of course) | |
| 24 | Rag, as in something used when driving? (5) |
| TEASE – AS contained by [in] TE~E (something used when driving a ball at golf) | |
| 25 | City’s name associated with smart technology? (5) |
| DUBAI – DUB (name), AI (smart technology) | |
| 26 | Wrong day to cover international sport (9) |
| BADMINTON – BAD (wrong) + M~ON (day) containing [to cover] INT (international) | |
| 27 | Wine, say, knocked back aboard physician’s boat (7) |
| DREDGER – RED (wine) + EG reversed (say, knocked back) contained by [aboard] D~R (physician) | |
| 28 | Opponent ran towards boxing competitor (7) |
| ENTRANT – Hidden in [boxing] {oppon}ENT RAN T{owards} | |
| Down |
|
|---|---|
| 1 | Regularly play-acted — Greek character sent up in school (6) |
| LYCEUM – {p}L{a}Y {a}C{t}E{d} [regularly] then MU (Greek character) reversed [sent up]. Originally the garden at Athens in which Aristotle taught philosophy but later used more generally for a place of learning although ODE now lists this meaning as archaic. | |
| 2 | Grabbing the bananas, Italian breaks up for his lunch? (9) |
| SPAGHETTI – IT (Italian) ~ GAPS (breaks) reversed [up] containing [grabbing] anagram [bananas] of THE | |
| 3 | First to leave country departs on strange, crude vessel (3,4) |
| OIL DRUM – {s}OIL (country) [first to leave], D (departs), RUM (strange). I wasn’t sure at first, but I found support for ‘country / soil’ eventually. | |
| 4 | Colossus almost crushing stronghold — time for retaliation? (3,3,3) |
| TIT FOR TAT – TIT~A{n} (Colossus) [almost] containing [crushing] FORT (stronghold), then T (time) | |
| 5 | Trail originally joins wide river going north — one that crosses the border (5) |
| TWEED – T{rail} [originally], W (wide), then DEE (river) reversed [going north]. ‘One’ in the definition refers back to ‘river’ | |
| 6 | Second son breaks new tin soldier (7) |
| INSTANT – S (son) contained by [breaks] anagram [new] of TIN, then ANT (soldier) | |
| 7 | Beat with tail of wet fish (5) |
| TROUT – {we}T [tail of…], ROUT (beat) | |
| 8 | Slope above sunken track concealing quiet ruin (8) |
| BANKRUPT – BANK (slope), then RU~T (sunken track) containing [concealing] P (quiet) | |
| 14 | Sign up cook for grand event, initially tense (5-4) |
| KNIFE-EDGE – INK (sign) reversed [up], FEED (cook for), G{rand} + E{vent} [initially] | |
| 15 | Stop around middle of Derby, mainly to have food and drink (6,3) |
| HERBAL TEA – H~ALT (stop) containing [around] {D}ERB{y} [middle of…], then EA{t} (have food) [mainly] | |
| 16 | Special cap limits extreme cracking (8) |
| SPLENDID – SP (special), L~ID (cap) contains [limits] END (extreme) | |
| 18 | Got upset about old money in part of London (7) |
| TOOTING – G~OT reversed [upset]] containing [about] O (old) + TIN (money) | |
| 19 | Nationalist parade’s beginning at one following resistance to uprising (7) |
| PATRIOT – P{arade}’s [beginning], AT, R (resistance), I (one), then TO reversed [uprising] | |
| 20 | Reeves losing head in training is possible cause of violent reaction (6) |
| PEANUT – {K}EANU (Reeves) [losing head] contained by [in] P~T (training) | |
| 22 | Current over limit at first in live wire (5) |
| CABLE – AC (alternating current) reversed [over], then L{imit} [at first] contained by [in] B~E (live) | |
| 23 | Colour of flower, as Miss Doolittle might once have called it? (5) |
| UMBER – {H}UMBER (flower – river) [as Miss Doolittle might once have called it]. Eliza Doolittle is the Cockney flower seller in Pygmalion / My Fair Lady. | |
I found this a steady solve, with my only question being where did the middle of PEANUT come from, since I didn’t think of Keanu Reeves, I was thinking of magistrates and doges. Also, to me, dressing and TOMATO KETCHUP are different things but I know lots of things go under the heading of dressing in various countries.
Ditto on Kenau (sic) – not only did I not think of him, but I didn’t know how to spell his name; and was vaguely thinking of magistrates and birds.
Having read the blurb on the main page, my thought was that while maybe Jackkt found this one difficult, tonight I will be on the wavelength, and so it proved. The puzzle turned into a giant biff-fest; clues not parsed include tit for tat, twin tub, old master, tomato ketchup, bankrupt, knife edge, herbal tea, badminton, dredger, peanut, and cable. I can’t say how I knew the answers, but I did – maybe the enumerations were helpful. The cryptic solver’s brain works in mysterious ways.
Time: 24:07
I had exactly the same feeling. Maybe as vinyl fans our brains are more plastic. Or perhaps analogue? Definitely in the groove for this one.
Tricky but enjoyable. A steady solve, never held up but the NE was slow. LOI peanut, the only answer I couldn’t parse. No MER at the time with dressing/ketchup, and country/soil seemed OK. I always think of da Vinci as engineer, anatomist, polymath, who happened to dabble in painting – Old Master does him injustice, perhaps? And for me AI is not smart technology but the opposite. But that’s just me; my boss loves it and swears by it.
The technology behind it is no doubt very clever, but I very much take your point: I have tried with limited success to drum into my youngest’s head in particular that however useful LLMs may be they are not intelligent.
OIL DRUM and TIT FOR TAT begat LASH OUT and LYCEUM and I was on a roll. HERBAL TEA, KNIFE EDGE, TOMATO KETCHUP, USHER and LOI, SPAGHETTI slowed things down though. 22:11. Thanks setter and Jack.
58 mins but needed a couple of aids in the bottom half, mainly to see a synonym (ENTRANT) for “competitor”, where I didn’t spot the “hidden”.
My main problem was seeing “middle of Derby” as “r”, then with the “EA” being sure that it must be something SEA for “drink”. Figured that there are a few seas that I don’t know well, and this held up the SE corner.
The only Reeves I could think of was Rachel (we already had a Rachel at 9a), so PEANUT was LOI,
COD PAINT STRIPPER
Ah, that Reeves! Thank you. And for the Etch in Ketchup.
Otherwise a stress free morning wake-up, about 24 mins. Thanks setter and jackkt.
15.35
Fairly straightforward, but with biffs in double figures. Happy memories of Steptoe & Son living on OIL DRUM Lane.
LOI BANKRUPT
COD CHARLOTTE
I had my refreshing coffee with me right from the start, which might explain my 36 minute time, quite quick for me at the moment. Delighted to see Keanu pop up rather than, say, Rachel; he’s been a prominent figure in popular culture since Bill and Ted’s in 1989, far more familiar to me than, say, the act of sending a CABLE. Very enjoyable, this one.
27’05”. Not a doddle by any means. Nice misdirection on the fish at 7 down, where I was convinced the ‘T’ of TAIL OF WET was the one at the end, which I already had.
Indeed. And I’m still not entirely sure ‘with’ is really enough to signal the spare T is in front as opposed to the end.
Words such as ‘by’, ‘with’ and ‘next to’ in clues are open to interpretation and solvers are expected to use their judgement accordingly to make a word that fits with other aspects of the clue, i.e. in this case the definition, and the available checkers. It might only be a problem if the word being clued is something obscure. For some reason lost in the mysteries of time ‘on’ in Across clues in Times crosswords has its own convention as to placement but even this can no longer be relied upon as exceptions have crept in over the years.
12:36. Lovely puzzle. Nice to see Keanu: I for one am very glad the old rule about living people has been retired.
43 mins and a good workout I thought. TWIN-TUB, BANKRUPT, HERBAL TEA & PEANUT were my LOIs and took up the last ten minutes.
I too queried wether KETCHUP is a dressing, sauce yes, dressing no.
I liked TIT-FOR-TAT & PAINT STRIPPER.
Thanks Jack and setter.
15:17. Nice puzzle. In the goldilocks zone for me with a steady solve. I was mystified by ?OIL for 3D as I never thought of SOIL. LOI PEANUT from the definition before spotting Keanu. Thanks Jackkt and setter.
Enjoyed this one. No queries, though I struggled to parse CABLE, not sure why.. I had all the right ideas, but not necessarily in the right order.
When first married, we had a separate washing machine and spin drier. the latter was lethal, as the lid was missing. For our own safety we upgraded to a TWIN TUB, and eventually to an automatic. With a separate tumble drier, which we have to this day, some forty years later, but seldom use.
16:17 which is among my best times. On wavelength with this obviously. Quite a lot semi-biffed. Never fully parsed TOMATO KETCHUP, PAINT STRIPPER, TIT FOR TAT, KNIFE EDGE or HERBAL TEA until after the solve.
Liked the anagrams of TWIN TUB and CHARLOTTE.
Agree with ketchup being a sauce. It will always be called red sauce by me.
Quite enjoyed this puzzle.
Thanks blogger and setter
49:59
Nice puzzle with a good level of challenge.
Thanks, jack.
20.18. Some very complex wordplay in this one, all of which I carefully unravelled, trying to bring down the error count which has been mounting recently.
Ah, the TWIN TUB! I’m quite surprised to see they’re still available: my family bought a Rolls Rapide in the early sixties, an example of which is in the Science Museum in the “Birth of High-Tech Britain” section. It was (relatively) cheap compared to the Hotpoint and Hoover machines, and it felt mildly subversive to own one.
A steady solve helped by my having had digs in Tooting in 1968 before the official bedsit years.I biffed PEANUT from crossers so don’t know if I’d ever thought of KEANU. COD to PAINT STRIPPER. I’ve always maintained rhat Britain’s decline started with Tomato Ketchup being preferred to HP Sauce. Nice puzzle. Thank you and setter,
Beaten all ends up by PEANUT and DREDGER… which really wasn’t difficult. So a major harrumph today.
My thanks to jackkt and setter.
I found it rather hard, at least for a Tuesday, and I had quite a few unparsed.
13a CNP Tomato Ketchup. I don’t worry about the differences between sauces and dressings, and Wiktionary says “2. (cooking) A sauce, especially a cold one for salads.”
17a COD Paint Stripper, fully parsed.
7d Trout; having a T at the end I didn’t think it would be trout; annoying as the only 5 letter fish ending in T I could think of was Trout. Doh!
20d Peanut, NHO Keanu. Well I have but forgot him.
16:12. No quibbles
COD: Tomato Ketchup
Thanks to jack and our setter.
Identical solve from me. I gave up after 40 minutes, with just the top half done, and a few below that. Came back to it after an hour and finished it in another 10.
I initially got a fright with this one, since my first entry was 23D! But I gradually sank into the setter’s wavelength.
Loved ‘tease’.
Unlike jackkt I found this one much easier than yesterday’s non-Monday, finishing in abut 15 minutes with LOsI TEASE and PEANUT. However there were several BiFFs like PEANUT, KETCHUP, KNIFE EDGE, as I was in a hurry to go somewhere else. So thanks jackkt for the parsing. I see TEASE was AS in TEE, I’d thought it was a homophone for TEES. Works too. Good fun puzzle.
Not all that hard I thought, and far easier than yesterday’s. Usher = show struck me as a bit of a stretch. No doubt the dictionaries support it. And I couldn’t see the eh’s, although I’m quite used to eh. Honestly.
I thought of USHER as in showing/ushering someone to their seat.
Aha… Thanks. I was too groggy last night to come up with that.
Must start working these sooner again.
Yes. The clue shouldn’t have an apostrophe. I can’t see how EH IS or ‘belonging to EH’ makes any sense
The apostrophe S in the clue is attached to “what” meaning “what is” and makes perfect sense. Any error was in my explanation of the parsing, although I’d have hoped it was clear I meant that “what” = EH and then “s” = S. I’ve now amended the entry to clarify that the two elements of “what’s” are to be treated separately.
Two goes needed.
– Didn’t know that a CHARLOTTE is a dessert
– Thought the clue for PAINT STRIPPER would involve an anagram (‘awful’) for a while
– Completely misparsed TEASE, thinking it was a homophone even though there’s no indicator
– Failed to see where the ‘eanu’ of PEANUT came from
Thanks Jack and setter.
FOI Lyceum
LOI Peanut
COD Instant
Nice and straightforward with some cracking clues. COD to “tease”.
I looked twice at Usher as a synonym for show, and then thought that’s okay.
I looked twice at soil meaning country, but I’m still not at all convinced by that one.
Thanks, setter and Jack.
Where is the homophone indicator in that clue?
Well this was interesting after yesterday’s discussion on toughies. Beautiful cluing, nothing obscure yet so many obvious answers that I could not tease out, especially in the NE corner. TWIN TUB looked like an anagram all day but why did it take me so long to see it? TROUT I saw straight away but why was TROU beat? Of course I was looking through the wrong end of the telescope. PEANUT I put in as a last resort as I’d exhausted my list of Reeves without alighting upon Keanu.
Excellent puzzle, a struggle in 44 minutes. Thx V and setter
45’or so after golf. Like some others a lot of biffing and then parsing, though only so far. Keanu didn’t come to mind and I didn’t quite get there with KNIFE EDGE either, but I’ll take the win as they say…
Thanks Jack and setter
25.51, really liked ENCLOSURE and PEANUT. Thanks setter and Jack.
Pretty steady solve on this one, compared to my poor effort on the QC, finishing in 42.21. All parsed as I went with the exception of s[OIL] for 3dn, just didn’t see the synonym for ‘country’.
Tough but got there in the end. Had forgotten that living people are now allowed,
otherwise Keanu might have come sooner.
Can’t really accept ‘soil’ as country.
It’s in at least two dictionaries, so perhaps the problem lies closer to home.
Welcome back McGuffin- not heard from you recently
Very elegant crossword- clues well constructed and a complete correct solve which for me at the moment is frustratingly rare!
Enjoyed this, PEANUT my LOI. Thanks setter and blogger.
A straightforward and good puzzle that took me two sessions totalling 25 mins. I then spent at least 15 mins studying wordplay. It was rather like solving a times2, with PAINT STRIPPER being my first entry based solely on the ‘definition’, and several other entries being driven by their checked letters and definitions only. It was nevertheless an enjoyable solve. My favourite three clues were to CHARLOTTE, SPAGHETTI and UMBER. Thank you to Setter and Blogger.
42 mins. 1st pass only yielded about 5 answers so I thought this was going to be pretty tough, but subsequently settled in. Shouldn’t 6dn have a question mark as “soldier” is a reference by example ?
55:27 – like Jack I found this pretty tough going. no discernable reason that I could see for the difficulty, which I suppose is part of the fun. Nice puzzle, thanks both.
14:40 – my cultural references for Reeves extend to Vick, Rachel and some sort of vaguely familiar medieval magistrate. I was confident the answer was right when I stopped the clock but it took quite a while after that to see why.
27:29 so back inside my 30 minute target, I found this a lot easier than yesterday
21:49
Like Vinyl, there was a fair amount of biffing, with TOMATO KETCHUP, SPLENDID and KNIFE EDGE each being inked in not fully parsed. Completed in two sessions over two days, catching up with a few that I’ve missed while busy/preoccupied with a funeral.
Thanks Jack and setter