Time: 45 minutes with one answer still missing at 27ac which I decided to reveal. By that stage I had solved most of the puzzle with confidence but I had just written in two answers with very little idea of why they may be correct and I felt that the puzzle had already beaten me at the final hurdle so I might as well cut my losses and move on to writing my blog. I suspected I would not know the missing word anyway and I was right about that although it has appeared in clues a couple of times.
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.
 Across |
|
|---|---|
| 1 | Bag some bargains at Chelsea (7) |
| SATCHEL – Hidden in [some] {bargain}S AT CHEL{sea} | |
| 5 | Start to pray, for example, like American stars (7) |
| PEGASUS – P{ray} [start to…], EG (for example), AS (like), US (American). It’s a constellation. | |
| 9 | An impressionist painter not using frame (3) |
| ONE – {M}ONE{t} (impressionist painter) [not using frame] | |
| 10 | Tube not fine enough? (11) |
| UNDERGROUND – UNDER-GROUND (not fine enough) | |
| 11 | Taking unusual role, stands out and coasts? (10) |
| SHORELINES – SH~INES (stands out) containing [taking] anagram [unusual] of ROLE | |
| 12 | House the French in slum (4) |
| HOLE – HO (house), LE (‘the’ French) | |
| 14 | Queen’s backed winner at racetrack (5) |
| SENNA – ANNE’S (Queen’s) reversed [backed]. Ayrton or Bruno Senna – take your pick. | |
| 15 | One’s hobby? Intense competition (8) |
| HOTPLATE – HOT (intense), PLATE (competition). I saw the wordplay whilst solving but the definition had me beaten until I came to write this. As per The Uxbridge English Dictionary, in cooking a hotplate may resemble a hob so it’s “hobby”. | |
| 17 | Admit I had meal at that restaurant? (8) |
| INITIATE – IN IT I ATE (I had meal at that restaurant). The definition as in admission / initiation ceremonies. | |
| 20 | Relative back at home retches periodically (5) |
| NIECE – IN (at home) reversed [back], then {r}E{t}C{h}E{s} periodically | |
| 22 | Escort begs to take clothes off (4) |
| LEAD – {p}LEAD{s} (begs) [to take clothes off] | |
| 23 | Notice czar relocated in far north (6,4) |
| ARCTIC ZONE – Anagram [relocated] of NOTICE CZAR. Just an alternative to Arctic apparently. | |
| 25 | Spill tea on Dieter’s good waterproof material (5-6) |
| GUTTA-PERCHA – GUT (Dieter’s good – i.e. German for good), TAPER (spill, for lighting fires etc), CHA (tea). This came up in the puzzle I blogged last Tuesday. | |
| 26 | I try to follow Earl (3) |
| EGO – E (Earl), GO (try) | |
| 27 | Essentially, setter had heavenly body (7) |
| PERSEID – PER SE (essentially), I’D (setter had). It’s a meteor. This was the clue I failed on. | |
| 28 | Knock airport evacuated repeatedly after introduction of robots (3-1-3) |
| RAT-A-TAT – R{obots} [introduction of…], A{irpor}T + A{irpor}T +A{irpor}T [evacuated repeatedly] | |
| Down |
|
|---|---|
| 1 | Director’s cut extremely savage about End of Days (8) |
| SCORSESE – SCOR~E (cut) + S{avag}E [extremely] containing [about} {day}S [end of…]. Martin Scorsese. | |
| 2 | Dicky mentoring father in recovery period (3,7,5) |
| THE MORNING AFTER – Anagram [dicky] of MENTORING FATHER | |
| 3 | Do her autopsy drunk (5,5) |
| HOUSE PARTY – Anagram [drunk] of HER AUTOPSY | |
| 4 | Boisterous Liberal ate food without first husband (7) |
| LADDISH – L (Liberal), {h}AD DISH (ate food) [without first husband] | |
| 5 | Sign left on shelter with time-sharing? (7) |
| PORTENT – POR←T→ENT (left on shelter) [time-sharing] | |
| 6 | Clothes to boast about (4) |
| GARB – BRAG (boast) reversed [about] | |
| 7 | Spontaneous outpouring when their warning is received (4-2-3-6) |
| SPUR-OF-THE-MOMENT – OF THEM (their) + OMEN (warning) contained [when…received by] SPUR~T (outpouring) | |
| 8 | Small snake is less happy (6) |
| SADDER – S (small), ADDER (snake) | |
| 13 | Sailor’s map of earth perhaps containing fish (5,5) |
| PLANE CHART – PLANE~T (earth perhaps) containing CHAR (fish). A chart used in plane sailing, in which the lines of latitude and longitude are straight and parallel. NHO this. | |
| 16 | Maestro Pele turned up grasping move instantaneously (8) |
| TELEPORT – Reversed up] and hidden in [grasping] {Maes}TRO PELE T{urned} | |
| 18 | I’m dizzy blonde, removing top on summit (7) |
| AIRHEAD – {f}AIR (blonde) [removing top], HEAD (summit) | |
| 19 | Repeat from memory entertaining new lies about temptress? (7) |
| ENTICER – RECITE (repeat from memory) reversed [lies about] containing [entertaining] N (new) | |
| 21 | Highlight clue for Eid (4,2) |
| FLAG UP – A crossword clue for ‘Eid’ might be FLAG (die) UP [indicating reversal]. This was the second clue I was unable to parse whilst solving. | |
| 24 | Prohibit class A drug, the cause of much distress (4) |
| BANE – BAN (prohibit), E (class A drug), as in the bane of one’s life | |
Got most solved in around 50 minutes but spent a lot of extra time on FLAG UP and LOI ONE which was a complete guess from OBE, ODE, OLE, ONE, ORE and OWE. I didn’t have clue about the wordplay. I later saw AN = ONE but needed the blog for the parsing.
Thanks Jack
My LOI was HOTPLATE, with the goofy definition finally dawning. PLANE CHART was new, and FLAG UP (instead of simply “flag”—although “flag down” is something else) unfamiliar. The definition for ONE was impressive.
Exactly what I was going to say. 3 lucky biffs.
31 minutes. Not as many uncommon words as yesterday and I was doing OK until the misleading ‘Eid’ capitalisation at 21d well and truly fooled me and the unparsed (and like Guy, unfamiliar) FLAG UP was my LOI by some margin. Favourites were the easy to overlook ‘An’ def for ONE and the ‘One’s hobby?’ def , once I’d managed to work out that the ‘hobby’ was nothing to do with falconry.
Thanks to Jack and setter
Came up a few short after 40 mins.
PORTEND=sign held me up, as TEND=shelter seemed close enough, and that made HOTPLATE impossible. Also got my Es And Ss in the wrong place at 1d, so was looking for a word ending ESS.
Saw the reverse cryptic for Eid, but then spent ages on finding a synonym for Die that would work.
For my impressionist not using, I was looking to take ON (using) out of MONET, was convinced the definition was “frame”.
GUTTA PERCHA went in even faster than last week.
I seem to have been on the wavelength for this one … the hobby clue made me laugh, a chuckle for the underground, and I was familiar with the Perseid Shower of meteors, which comes every year.
Strange to see gutta-percha twice in a week.
32 mins. I was also baffled by HOTPLATE until I read this. Hadn’t heard of GUTTA PERCHA until last week and needed all the wordplay to retrieve it from depths of memory.
DNF. I did all of this bar 27ac in under 5 minutes, but after another 5 minutes of staring blankly gave up.
Glad I wasn’t alone!
Likewise! The answer rings a vague bell now that I see it but it wasn’t something that was ever going to occur to me and the wordplay was (to me) impenetrable.
24’35”. Nearly gave up in NW, but eventually ONE emerged, and then LOI SCORSESE. Some clever clues, I liked PERSEID and HOTPLATE.
Thanks jack and setter.
About 20 minutes.
– Took ages to get HOTPLATE as I kept thinking it might be a bird
– Was glad that GUTTA-PERCHA came up very recently as I’d have struggled otherwise (I keep forgetting spill=taper)
– Biffed SPUR-OF-THE-MOMENT from the enumeration
– Didn’t understand how FLAG UP worked
Thanks Jack and setter.
FOI Satchel
LOI Hotplate
CODs One / House party
20.54. I thought I was on for a fast solve as the first few fell in, but there was a lot to slow proceedings. Such as looking for a painter ?APE? for an impressionist and a blind spot with regard to SPUR… To have PLANE CHART (sailor seemed unlikely) and HOTPLATE (a hobby is a falcon or somesuch, no?) crossing jammed on the brakes. While GUTTA PERCHA was a write in, PERSEUS was likely, though why the setter should have a quasi royal US puzzled. I missed the reverse hidden for too long.
A classic instance of being conned into complacency.
25 mins. Great puzzle, approachable but chewy enough to challenge and engage.
Only one NHO in PLANE CHART but simply clued. Not keen on ONE.
LOI PERSEID which must have been tricky without the GK. Oh well, I suffered from lack of legalese yesterday so I’ll enjoy this one.
Loved the Uxbridge but COD to UNDERGROUND.
Thanks to jackkt and setter.
34:30
Good puzzle with a pleasing level of challenge.
Thanks, jack.
Well, I clearly wasn’t paying attention last week as GUTTA PERCHA completely flummoxed me, PERSEID too. Shame, because all good up to then.
a few great clues including ONE, UNDERGROUND and THE MORNING AFTER.
Thanks Jack and setter.
About 40′, after spending maybe 15′ on the last 3. I wasted too much time failing to parse FLAG UP. Various alphabet trawls yielded nothing on the crossing of HOTPLATE and (NHO) PLANE CHART until I finally saw the fish. PERSEID came to mind quite quickly as I had bought my granddaughters a decent telescope for Christmas and meteor showers had come up in the conversation.
I too enjoyed THE MORNING AFTER and I’m not sure SCORSESE would want to be associated with the awful Arnie film, End of Days!
Thanks Jack and setter.
I thought I was breezing through this one, but after more or less completing the right hand side, came to a shuddering halt. After traversing multiple blind alleys I eventually started to fill in the blanks. THE MORNING AFTER took far too long to appear, but gave me new inspiration and I finally trickled over the finishing line with SCORSESE and ONE. I’d made this tricky by biffing APE (an impressionist) at 9a. 35:53. Thanks setter and Jack.
Hobby was tenuous, to say the least.
Having never previously heard of gutta percha, it has now appeared in two crosswords in a week!
Enjoyed this puzzle with perseid (had heard of) and gutta percha (would never have got) the two at the end. Thanks jackkt and setter.
22:45
Off to a flyer then slowed right down.
COD: ENTICER
Thanks to jack and our setter.
Feeling quite chuffed, having joined our esteemed blogger at the same hurdle.
30 mins. Still not convinced about flag= die. I think some of the definitions recently have been a bit tenuous, esp in the Jumbos.
Held up for ages by SPUR OF THE MOMENT. Was convinced that the warning was FORE, but for the life of me couldn’t work out what FOREST had to do with clue.
Lots to trip me up here and I made slow progress through it until a complete blank over SCORSESE, which I revealed. My knowledge of film directors is very thin, and in any case I thought the clue was misleading one and it wasn’t about film directors, but funeral directors or something else. Surely earth is wrong in the PLANE CHART clue at 13dn; the planet is Earth not earth.
See below: apparently not!
23:31
Wavelength, maybe? Only a couple of bits missed:
SENNA – had TOSCA (ASCOT backwards) initially, on the vague notion that TOSCA was a Queen (though that’s probably wrong)
HOTPLATE – ah, very good
INITIATE – couldn’t think how it equals ‘admit’, so thanks for the clarification
GUTTA PERCHA – couldn’t quite parse – seem to forget every time that ‘spill’ can mean ‘taper’
FLAG UP – failed to parse
PLANE CHART – NHO
SPUR OF THE MOMENT – bifd
No problem with PERSEID – something of an amateur astronomer in my teens.
Thanks Jack and setter
Defeated by the HOT PLATE/PLANE CHART crosser. Up to then, I was going well. In my world, a hot plate is a separate item brought out for a larger gathering to keep the food warm. I guess it can be other things as well. Thank you Jack and setter.
My thanks to jackkt and setter.
Not too hard, but a couple of mysteries.
9a One COD.
15a Hotplate biffed. I don’t believe HOBBY, doh!
23a Arctic zone, is this a thing?
25a Gutta Percha, good thing we had this recently. Biffed.
13d NHO Plane chart. Is it a thing?
21d Flag up, biffed, although I did see that Eid is die backwards.
FOI was PERSEID, surprisingly. No idea what was going on with HOTPLATE and FLAG UP, so thanks for explaining them. Only got GUTTA PERCHA – without fully understanding the parsing – because it came up recently. Finished this in 45 mins, but could easily have had three or four clues missing if I hadn’t taken a punt.
Can the setters please agree never to clue GUTTA PERCHA ever again.
Thank you.
34 – took a long time to see the director and the impressionist though most of the rest went in smoothly. The Perseid shower features in the paper annually with advice on how to see it in the summer sky. I wasn’t aware a singular Perseid could be one of the meteors in the display but I suppose it might follow.
I agree with the “green paint” feeling about a couple of the clues. Please lets have gutta percha again soon though as it got me below ten mins for only the third time in my TFTT life.
11:27
Everything Jerry said.
I must have been on the wavelength, as I breezed through this. FLAG UP was entered on the basis of the definition, though I had to come here to understand the parsing. PLANE CHART NHO, but the cryptic demanded it, although surely Wil is right that ‘earth’ has to have a capital? PERSEID was bifd and post-parsed – very good! I also liked THE MORNING AFTER, and was amused by my LOI, HOTPLATE.
None of the usual dictionaries (Collins, ODE, Chambers) require a capital.
Collins says “(sometimes capital)” .. but I long ago gave up paying any attention to setters’ capitalisation, or lack thereof.
Yes all the dictionaries say something similar, so it appears to be generally regarded as optional.
I think we’ve covered the question of capitalisation adequately here already…
22 mins today. Sorry to see GUTTA-PERCHA again so soon, but its reappearance probably knocked a couple of minutes off my solving time. Am I right in associating it with certain antiquated sports equipment? I didn’t know PERSEID or PLANE CHART, but the wordplay in both clues was clear enough. My favourite two clues were to UNDERGROUND and SPUR-OF-THE-MOMENT (lovely wordplay). Thank you to Setter and Blogger.
Completed in two sessions, so approx time only of about 45 minutes. Like Jackkt came to a grinding halt on 27ac, and with FLAG UP being unparsed, didn’t have the assurance that the answer actually began with P. To my amazement I did actually put in the correct answer, but with no confidence whatsoever. My reasoning was based on the supposition that characters from Greek mythology figure strongly in the night sky, so I based the first part of the answer on Perseus, and id to finish seemed a distinct possibility.
All bar hotplate solved in 20 minutes but then delayed by firstly an incorrect portend, then being totally thrown by the Uxbridge English of hobby so limped home in 31. Excellent clues and really enjoyed it.
For fans of Christy Moore, the literal at 28 across raised a smile. Have a listen here if you don’t know it.
https://youtu.be/he7n28ELtu8?si=3rw3CUei-Fhsgo5W
Thx Jack and setter