Hello again. This crossword I really enjoyed. It has excellent surface readings, not a single cruciword or obscurity, and neat and tidy clues with no unnecessary punctuation. I always find a plethora of ?s and !s rather off-putting. In other words, a model of its kind, and I can’t fault it.Currently the SNITCH is standing at 96, which seems about right.
Difficulty I thought was somewhere about the middle. I found both 1ac and 5ac to be write-ins, always a cheerful start.
I use the standard conventions like underlining the definition, CD for cryptic definition, DD for a double one, *(anargam) and so forth. Nho = “not heard of” and in case of need the Glossary is always handy
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Drink tea perhaps, maintaining sober condition at first (6) |
| MESCAL – S(ober) C(ondition), in MEAL (tea, perhaps). More often mezcal, a distilled drink made from agave. Tequila is a form of mezcal. Not my poison… | |
| 5 | Story books editor gifted (8) |
| TALENTED – TALE (story) + NT (books, specifically the new testament) + ED, editor.. | |
| 9 | Bravo leaving Edinburgh after assassination? (5,3) |
| HIRED GUN – *(EDINBURGH), less the B(ravo). Assuming that “assassination” is to be treated as an anagrind, this seems to be an &lit., the entire sentence being both definition and wordplay.
Collins has “BRAVO: a hired killer or assassin” as well as being the NATO alphabet B |
|
| 10 | Dangerous section of river primarily perilous in storms (6) |
| RAPIDS – P(erilous) in RAIDS (storms). I expect there is a world in which storms = raids. The nearest Collins dictionary gets is storms = “a direct assault on a stronghold.” Not quite near enough imo, but hey. | |
| 11 | Concerned about fellow ruler (6) |
| REGENT – RE (about) GENT (fellow) | |
| 12 | Merganser actively shunning northern lake (8) |
| GRASMERE – *(MERGANSER), less the N(orthern). | |
| 14 | Checking drawbacks connected with exercise (12) |
| CONSTRAINING – CONS (drawbacks) + TRAINING (exercise). This clue could hardly be any simpler. Why did it take me so long? | |
| 17 | Maybe servants baron studies suspiciously (12) |
| SUBORDINATES – *(BARON STUDIES). | |
| 20 | Revolt reported on much of central part of island (8) |
| CORSICAN – So, I think this is COR(e) (much of central part) + “sicken,” sounds like SICAN. I tend to think that homophones and puns share one thing: the worse they are, the better and more fun they are. So this is a really good one! | |
| 22 | Feel me regularly probing inflamed wound (6) |
| REELED – (f)E(e)L (m)E, inside RED, inflamed. | |
| 23 | Speculation of mould’s origin in wall section (6) |
| GAMBLE – M(ould) in GABLE, a wall section. | |
| 25 | Pledges to leave old in favour of new unclad property (8) |
| PREMISES – PROMISES (pledges), with the O(ld) replaced by (n)E(w), new unclad. As it were. | |
| 26 | Worker on crossing oiled nut according to Spooner (8) |
| FERRYMAN – Spooner would say “Merry fan,” | |
| 27 | Taxing task poorly tackled by king and queen (6) |
| KILLER – ILL (poorly) in between K(ing) and ER, queen. | |
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 2 | Artist and author’s personal pronouns — start to finish (6) |
| EMINEM – ME and MINE, our setter’s personal pronouns, with the initial M sent to the end. Eminem, m’lud, is a popular exponent of music known as a “Rapper.” Very popular, not necessarily all that musical, but he is extremely successful. So much so that even I had heard of him. | |
| 3 | Smart person using pivoted device to split two hundred timber pieces (6,5) |
| CLEVER CLOGS – LEVER, a pivoted device, in between CC, two hundred, + LOGS, pieces of timber. | |
| 4 | Top of leg cramped, not initially eased (9) |
| LIGHTENED – L(eg) + (t)IGHTENED, cramped but not initially. | |
| 5 | Later on drunk eats (7) |
| TONIGHT – ON, in TIGHT (drunk). | |
| 6 | Lady in caravan rolled up (5) |
| LORNA – hidden reversed, as above. | |
| 7 | Pinch small amount of alcohol (3) |
| NIP – a DD. Possibly the alcohol is mezcal or tequila? | |
| 8 | Staying close with university group (8) |
| ENDURING – END (close) + U(ni) + RING, a group. | |
| 13 | A lot remains to be resolved about brothers (11) |
| MONASTERIAL – *(A LOT REMAINS) | |
| 15 | Pack beneath post somewhere on ship (9) |
| AFTERDECK – AFTER (post, as in post mortem) + DECK, a pack of cards. | |
| 16 | Have machines take over from assistant beneath car (8) |
| AUTOMATE – AUTO (car) + MATE, an assistant, eg to a ship’s captain. | |
| 18 | Square leg is one often hit by ball (7) |
| NINEPIN – NINE (a square, of three specifically) + PIN, a leg. | |
| 19 | Greatly admire the other side having lost final to rivals (6) |
| REVERE – REVERSE, the other side, without the (rival)S | |
| 21 | Pick cosmetic product (5) |
| CREAM – another DD | |
| 24 | Strip naked, almost entirely (3) |
| BAR – BAR(e) | |
Didn’t quite get the HIRED GUN meaning so looked up BRAVO, apparently, it can refer to a ‘hired assassin’, (listed as historical) making it an even better &lit.
Another friendly offering which I found enjoyable. Knew it had to be CORSICAN but was slow to twig to the ‘sicken’ part. Liked CLEVER CLOGS. Don’t think I’ve heard of GRASMERE before but the checkers and angrist left little doubt. EMINEM, my LOI, had me stumped looking for a more traditional artist before seeing the light. MONASTERIAL was a great anagram and needed most of the checkers for it. Liked PREMISES for the swapping of ‘old to new’, clever. COD to REELED, which had me thinking of the ‘hurt’ meaning for a while.
Thanks Jerry and setter.
Perhaps the assassin meaning of “Bravo” is not as widely known as I thought. I have added it to the blog..
This puzzle had a lot of clever stuff in it, and I solved it carefully – but not carefully enough. Having monastarial really messed me up for a while, until I decided a vowel-count was needed. This made reeled and revere possible, but not easy – a lot of words fit _ E _ E _ E. Hired gun was also tough, but it was a brilliant &lit. Surprisingly I was also stuck on regent – no excuse.
Time: 27:24
Tough but enjoyable up to the point where I became stuck on the two remaining clues 1ac and 2dn which had they not been intersecting I may have stood a chance at, but as it happened I lost patience eventually and resorted to aids. I can’t say I’m particularly aware of MESCAL as a drink but it has appeared here a number of times previously. As for EMINEM, he’s been mentioned at least half-a-dozen times in the wording of clues but this appears to be his first appearance as an answer. Needless to say I don’t know his work and have zero interest in finding out about it.
Or to put it another way, you don’t stan him—a word added to the OED in 2017, after his song Stan, about an obsessive fan, broke out into the language as both a noun and a verb! I wonder if we’ll ever see that in a puzzle…
Admittedly I haven’t done an exhaustive TfTT site search but can’t find STAN as having appeared as an answer or part of an answer here. It has however appeared in puzzles which are part of the Fifteensquared ecosystem. Here’s a blog of an Independent puzzle from 2023 (blogged by Kitty who is one of our Monday QC bloggers) in which STAN appears, with explanations from Kitty.
I have to say that, whilst rap really isn’t my bag, and I was persuaded by my son to listen to it, the song Stan is an outstanding example of the genre – the story is incredibly moving, and incorporates a beautiful chorus by Dido – I never fail to be moved by it. Sometimes it’s worth investigating other genres of music for the surprises they can spring on you.
Dido wrote most of it. The song is almost exclusively based on the hook from her song ‘Thank You’, and she sued him for unpaid royalties later on.
Up until Quadrophenia’s revelation about the meaning of bravo I was really struggling with HIRED GUN, but am now converted. 34.06 for me which puts it somewhere in the middle as Jerry suggested. I slowed down a lot in the SW, with CORSICAN, CREAM and LOI FERRYMAN causing considerable delay. All up a really good puzzle I thought.
From Absolutely Sweet Marie:
Well six white horses that you did promise
Were finally delivered down to the penitentiary
But to live outside the law you must be honest
I know you always say that you agree
But where are you TONIGHT, sweet Marie?
I found the clue for HIRED GUN a bit weird, but given the letters that had to be the answer. I guess it is meant to be good for an assassin to get out of the city without being caught. I had to be careful with PREMISES to make sure I got it the right way round. Nice crossword. After two really easy ones on Monday and Tuesday I was expecting something really hard, but this was straightforward (without being really easy).
I assume it is a coincidence that the grid central line tells of two things needed for a good night out?
Ha, I expect it is but good spot! I never notice things like that ..
Good for you – I definitely need to get a life! Actually – taking into account the central vertical line, I have to wonder if the setter is going bowling this evening!
Maybe REELED out of a BAR after a NIP of MESCAL
And a trip to the casino for a GAMBLE.
Isn’t that Farage territory?
Some nice anagrams, even though the anagrist usually fairly obvious. The &lit clue for ‘hired gun’ deserves to be remembered.
26.21
That clinking noise is the penny dropping at the parsing of CORSICAN. Congratulations and thanks Jerry and setter.
Couldn’t get started in the NW so solved from TALENTED working my way clockwise to finally finish with REGENT/EMINEM. It doesn’t help that I’d assumed the artist was Tracy EMIN. Glad I was recently looking at old photos from a wander near GRASMERE.
23’27”, seemed like hard work. EMINEM LOI, which only occurred when I thought of Emin as an artist. Long answers SUBORDINATES and CONSTRAINING took a while to fall. PREMISES also was very slow, ‘new unclad’ puzzling me. I liked the Spoonerism.
Thanks jerry and setter.
24:36. Enjoyed that. Some resistance in the NW where I pencilled in CO for fellow and couldn’t match the pronouns with Tracey EMIN. Also NHO that meaning of Bravo. Another Spooner fan here.
Thanks to Jerry and setter.
20 minutes or so.
– Had to trust the wordplay for MESCAL
– Didn’t know that meaning of Bravo in HIRED GUN
– Got CORSICAN without understanding the ‘sican’ part
– Didn’t parse EMINEM (thought Tracey Emin might be involved)
– Failed to see how deck=pack for AFTERDECK as I didn’t think of cards
– Biffed REVERE
Thanks Jerry and setter.
FOI Lorna
LOI Eminem
COD Corsican
17.00
Very enjoyable, with only a couple of biffs (CLEVER CLOGS and CORSICAN) and one NHO (MONASTERIAL)
Not sure about “assassination” as an anagrind for HIRED GUN or the whole thing as an &lit, but COD anyway.
LOI REVERE
31 minutes. The HIRED GUN &lit was excellent (I note KILLER further down the grid) and EMINEM and CORSICAN (yes, the worse the pun the better) weren’t far behind. MESCAL was almost my LOI; I thought it was an hallucinogenic drug, but that’s “mescaline” which my AI tells me comes from cacti, not the agave plant.
Out to unch. Too many for me…
Ditto what Jackkt said. Never understood CORSICAN so thanks for that Jerry.
I did like FERRYMAN.
Thanks jerry and setter.
24.33, with no idea why REGENT was my last in: it was probably the easiest clue in the set. MESCAL and EMINEM (that sort of artist) immediately preceded, which indicates that, without the NW, I struggled initially with this one.
I don’t think I’ve ever met MONASTERIAL in the wild, and I used to live close enough to Buckfast Abbey to taste the wine. But we had a decent Rooner Spism, a wonderfully horrible soundzlike, and a very good &lit. Who could ask for anything more?
REGENT was my LOI too.
Coming from the Glasgow area I know Buckfast and its effects only too well
51 minutes. NHO MESCAL. NINEPIN exercised me for a long time. I’d worked out straight away that it was nothing to do with cricket but needed all the crossers before the penny dropped.
Some nice challenges but doable for me .
Was on the wavelength with this one and finished it in a quick – for me – time of 14 mins. Only my LOI, CORSICAN, gave any trouble. Thought EMINEM and FERRYMAN were clever.
15:07. Enjoyably chewy. I got particularly stuck in the NW: the anagram at 9ac is quite tricky to work out without a definition (NHO ‘bravo’ in this sense), and the combination of multiple options (I, ME, MY, MINE, and arguably these days SHE, HER, HE, HIM) and a not-your-run-of-the-mill Times ‘artist’ made EMINEM hard to spot.
49:06
Nice puzzle – steady solve.
Thanks, Jerry.
43:22, needed help to parse CORSICAN.
Thank you for the blog!
36:24
Was listening to a Radio 4 programme about MESCAL and tequila not so long ago, so it was somewhere in my head. No idea about the BRAVO = assassin, and took it on trust that there is such a thing as an AFTERDECK. LOI EMINEM once I realised it was that kind of artist. Liked CLEVER CLOGS and CORSICAN.
Thanks J and setter
Just under 40′ (I’d think, lots of interruptions..) and couldn’t post earlier due to access issues. Anyways. a really nice puzzle with a couple of unparsed chewy parts. AFTERDECK was my only NHO though it seemed reasonable. Didn’t parse CORSICAN but did see “cor(e)” and even the dreaded Spooner came quickly.
Thanks Jerry and setter
A pleasant crossword with lots to like, all done in 35 minutes. I had always thought of GRASMERE as a village rather than a lake, but it is all in the name. 2dn was a bit of a poser, but back in the day one of my teenage sons was an an oiled nut of EMINEM, so I was not confused for too long.
FOI – TALENTED
LOI – FERRYMAN
COD – HIRED GUN
Thanks to Jerry and other contributors.
NHO MESCAL, and didn’t parse CORSICAN, so a DNF, but otherwise enjoyable. I’m sure I’ve heard of Mr Eminem somewhere, but I couldn’t pick him out in a line-up or name any of his works. Maybe one on which to quiz the younger generation (if I remember).
All was going smoothly enough until the top left corner slowed me down a lot. MESCAL I hardly knew of and if asked would have said it was a surname of an actor connected with Sally Rooney. Like many others I was unaccountbly slowed on REGENT. EMINEM was also slow to come and I thought of many possile artists’ names before reluctantly accepting that yes, I suppose you could call EMINEM an artist. Jerry says not a single cruciword, so his vocabulary is evidently more extensive than mine. I’ve never come across MONASTERIAL before.
Not a word that trips off the tongue, I suppose .. but so close to monastery that I didn’t mind it.
At 15:34 I seem to have made very light work of this. Never knew that ministers were a brotherhood, but it seemed more than adequately plausible to fill M_N_STERIAL. Oh right.. I suppose a cursory glance at the anagrist might have been helpful. Lovely puzzle and blog – thanks setter and Jerry.
Brain not behaving today – 29 mins when it should have been c 22 mins. Ages spent getting REELED because (a) I had MONESTARIAL at 13D and (b) I assumed ‘wound’ would be some kind of injury. Having finally correctly cracked those two, I then turned to the SW corner where GAMBLE, FERRYMAN and BAR had me scratching my head for too long, until I thought perhaps Spooner’s nut might be FAN. I was left uneasy about EMINEM because there seemed to be no definition, the wordplay indicating (to me) EMIN + ME rev.. First in was TALENTED and last GAMBLE. Out of numerous excellent clues, my favourite four were to HIRED GUN, FERRYMAN, TONIGHT and NINEPIN. Thank you to Setter and Blogger.
One of those puzzles I just couldn’t catch 5 minutes of peace for so no time for this interrupted solve. It did mean I could slow down and admire the surfaces a bit more which was well worth doing. I probably found it slightly below par difficulty for a Wednesday.
Got to EMINEM the wrong way seeing that Emin fitted the checking letters before realising what I should have done.
COD hired gun and since that meaning of bravo has been pointed out I think it’s even better.
Thanks blogger and setter.
70 mins, but all green and no aids.
Really enjoyable puzzle all correctly completed bar “revere”. Having spelt wrongly “monasterial”, and finding it tough to move away from an incorrect “promises” for ages, I think I convinced myself that corner wasn’t for me and I wouldn’t get it although easyish on seeing the answer.
“Eminem” is a great clue and an example of why I enjoy these puzzles.
Like others didn’t know “bravo” and thought “Grasmere” was the village and hadn’t appreciated a lake.
Thanks very much to both our blogger and setter.
Re GRASMERE, I can’t believe no one has mentioned Wordsworth!
Didn’t know Bravo the Assassin, but got thru this quickly enough. Wasn’t sure this morning whether I had commented yet…
I’m surprised no one mentioned the gingerbread!
37 minutes. Fun puzzle.
I remember having mescal at college, with much excitement over the worm in the bottle. It seemed to us like the height of sophistication, bless our hearts.
An excellent puzzle, but I struggled with CORSICAN and HIRED GUN (great clue!).
Nice blog Jerry, and thanks Setter.
I had a lot to do today, so came to this when all the work was finished. Which was a good thing, as this morning’s glance wasn’t very promising. Enjoyed this a lot, without ever being sure I would finish, but all teased out in the end. I left EMINEM till I had a couple of crossers, but messing around with the pronouns made it not that difficult, once HIRED GUN was in, which I liked, though the bravo part passed me by. Also liked GRASMERE and CORSICAN, once I’d squinted hard enough at the homonym! LOI AFTERDECK, just to be different…
I’ve walked around Grasmere village and lake, so no trouble with that one. I’ve also visited Wordsworth’s grave in the village in the church round the corner from the cottage he lived in. MESCAL had to be dragged from the wordplay, and I didn’t know the required meaning of Bravo, although it didn’t stop me solving the clue. 21:45. Thanks setter and Jerry.
The management must be easing off on the difficulty, because again I’ve completed a Wednesday puzzle in under 40 minutes (35+). This was fun. FOI TALENTED, LOI FERRYMAN, which I painstakingly reasoned through for a satisfying finish. REELED fooled me for a good long while. Liked GRASMERE best. Thanks setter and Jerry.
FOI TALENTED, LOI FERRYMAN for me too.
Really struggled with the left hand side.
I don’t know any of his music but EMINEM has appeared often enough in the media to be familiar to most people I think.
COD CORSICAN
33:22
Held up at the end by CORSICAN (eventually biffed unparsed – thanks Jerry for making sense of it, and my LOI EMINEM on eventually twigging that not all artists are painters.
Really enjoyed this one. I dipped in and out from lunchtime, between meetings, and solved it in 48:12, according to the website.
NHO this sense of Bravo, I just assumed it was an &Lit, albeit a little weak, since it didn’t really define assassin, so much as give praise to one for evading capture. Thanks for the extra information, it certainly elevated the clue for me.
NW corner was my trouble today, throughout a long meeting after lunch 2d, 4d and 9ac remained unaccounted for. As soon as glanced back I immediately saw LIGHTENED (not sure why that took so long) which gave me HIRED GUN and then EMINEM (having at first spotted EMIN as the artist before parsing correctly).
Overall a pleasant and leisurely solve.
Thanks Jerry
Not going to mention Wordsworth, but will mention Hugh Walpole whose Rogue Herries — my current reading — is set around nearby Derwentwater. Funnily enough I was wondering only today if the Lake District would pop up in a crossword so I could say that! I seem to be way behind the Snitch these days. 27’46”. HIRED GUN and EMINEM the two last to go. Both good clues. So Juliet BRAVO was on the other side of the law. No-one mentioned I, Me, Mine? Actually CORSICAN was LOI, but only because I hadn’t parsed it. Then I got it. Many thanks as ever.
So near….. Failed only on MESCAL ( NHO) and EMINEM ( no excuse). Some really enjoyable clueing and a degree of difficulty that about suits me perfectly ( at my present level anyway). No GK and no obscurities (ALLOPATRIC, I’m looking at you…). NINEPIN is excellent- complete with thinly disguised attempt at cricketing decoy ( oh no you don’t!). REELED also came with excellent misdirection . Absolutely couldn’t parse CORSICAN, and looking at the blog, I’m not surprised- fortunately the crossers left no alternative. Personally I find the use of arbitrary proper names (LORNA) something of a “meh”, as well as the somewhat overused Spooner gambit ( end of whinge)
Many thanks to setter and blogger- pretty much an ideal 15*15 for humble me.
67:02. I found this very hard, complex surfaces and wordplay. worth the effort though!