Time: 19:30
Music: Brahms, Symphony #1, Klemperer/Philharmonia
Due to a busy weekend, I haven’t solved a puzzle since Thursday, but this one is a moderate Monday, easy without being too easy. The early solvers did well, but there are a few tricks and obscurities that may catch the less able. Some of the cryptics are a bit convoluted, as in the clues for elfin and cabin boy, but the answers are usually rather obvious.
There is one thing about this puzzle that I am asking you not to mention – if you do, I will have to delete your comment, so please be considerate to your fellow solvers.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Crew member’s company detains sailor in Boar’s Head (5,3) |
| CABIN BOY – C(A.B.,IN,B[oar])OY. Is Coy. a valid abbreviation for company? Yes, according to Chambers, but this one is perhaps more appropriate for Mephisto. | |
| 5 | Infatuation with books about language (6) |
| PASHTO – PASH + O.T. backwards. | |
| 10 | After abundant protest, whip accepts Republican Party member (7,8) |
| LIBERAL DEMOCRAT – LIBERAL DEMO, C(R)AT. | |
| 11 | Register reportedly concludes article by American pundit (7) |
| ANALYST – AN, A + sounds like LIST. | |
| 12 | Firm following free trade style (3,4) |
| ART DECO – Anagram of TRADE + CO. | |
| 13 | Bone’s depleted cell area left in clamp (8) |
| CLAVICLE – C[el]L + A + VIC(L)E. | |
| 15 | The Spanish film’s last caption’s mischievous (5) |
| ELFIN – EL + FI + [captio]N. No, fi is not a valid abbreviation for film from Chambers, but rather refers to F1, a 2025 movie. | |
| 18 | Perhaps millions live on for ever (5) |
| MAYBE – M + AY + BE. | |
| 20 | Fewer than 500 try backing unlikely winner (8) |
| UNDERDOG – UNDER D + GO backwards. | |
| 23 | Trim line on archbishop’s cloak and dress (7) |
| APPAREL – PARE L in front of A[rchbisho]P. Hard to parse, easy to biff. | |
| 25 | Part of mosaic seen in square’s setting from the east (7) |
| TESSERA – Backwards hidden in [squ]ARE’S SET[ting]. | |
| 26 | Absolutism rose disastrously before conclusion of bloody disorder (7,8) |
| RIOTOUS ASSEMBLY – Anagram of ABSOLUTISM ROSE + [blood]Y. I did waste a little time looking for a disease, which is what disorder usually clues in puzzles. | |
| 27 | Simply gorgeous model my dear (6) |
| DREAMY – Anagram of MY DEAR. | |
| 28 | Love in staff party ending in conviction for old beast (8) |
| MASTODON – MAST (O) DO + [convictio]N. | |
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Commander, completely upset, initially resisted arrest (6) |
| COLLAR – C.O. + ALL upside down + R[esisted]. I was totally on the wrong track here for a long time. | |
| 2 | Singer is mafia grass according to Spooner (3,6) |
| BOB MARLEY – Spoonerism of MOB BARLEY. | |
| 3 | Dancer’s series returning — watch on 5 (7) |
| NUREYEV – RUN upside-down + EYE + V. I felt sure this would end in -LOV, but no. | |
| 4 | Nothing soppy about beginning to like little bird (5) |
| OWLET – O W(L[ike]ET. | |
| 6 | Beer guzzling job for true believer (7) |
| APOSTLE – A(POST)LE, a chestnut for sure. | |
| 7 | Run in stockings for Jade, perhaps (5) |
| HORSE – HO(R)SE. Familiar to readers of 18th-century poetry, among others. | |
| 8 | Extrovert in latter stages of incumbency? (8) |
| OUTGOING – Double definition. | |
| 9 | Succeed, for example, after experiencing setback? Thanks, boss (3,5) |
| GET AHEAD – E.G. upside-down + TA + HEAD.. | |
| 14 | Stupid advice to overworked setter? (8) |
| CLUELESS – CLUE LESS. | |
| 16 | Onset of frost threatened to overwhelm British garden feature (9) |
| FLOWERBED – F + LOWER(B)ED. I would be inclined to write loured, but that is not what is required here. | |
| 17 | Spoiled international politician given publicity (8) |
| IMPAIRED – I + MP + AIRED. | |
| 19 | Composed more war music that drives people crazy (7) |
| EARWORM – Anagram of MORE WAR. | |
| 21 | Observe others keeping quiet on city (7) |
| RESPECT – RES(P, E.C.)T. | |
| 22 | Caught somebody without European pass (6) |
| CANYON – C + ANYON[e]. | |
| 24 | Writing introduction to perennial beauty (5) |
| PROSE – P[erennial] + ROSE. | |
| 25 | Bizet ultimately snubbed award for opera (5) |
| TOSCA – [Bize]T + OSCA[r]. The most popular opera in crosswords, along with Aida. Someday they’ll throw in Thais or Aleko and fool everyone. | |
18:07
I took ELFIN to be EL (the Spanish) + FIN (film’s last caption). I wondered about ‘coy’ (didn’t it come up here once?), but ODE has it (capitalized) as a military term. This setter is fond of initial/final letters: 1ac, 26ac, 28ac, 1d, 4d, 16d 24d, 25d.
Yes, Kevin, your parsing of ELFIN is obviously the correct one.
Agree with Kevin about EL FIN.
Fun fact: “Fin,” though feminine (in this sense) in French, is masculine in Spanish!
I had no idea about parsing ELFIN until I came here, and I am now presented with two options which I find equally plausible. A quick time for me today, 14.44 including a phone call, not sure why Jade = horse but there was no alternative. I’ll go and look it up, thank you V.
From Romance in Durango:
No llores, mi querida, Dios nos vigila
Soon the HORSE will take us to Durango
Agarrame mi vida, soon the desert will be gone
Soon you will be dancing the fandango
“Film’s last” could be M—though it’s not, here—but “last caption’s” can’t be N.
When I saw ‘the Spanish’ and ‘film’s last’ I immediately thought ELM.., which set me scampering off after Elmer Fudd and that wascally (mischievous) wabbit. Very little of this made sense but sometimes that’s how the mind works…
We have them here in Patagonia! https://metro.co.uk/2013/09/05/on-the-hunt-for-wascally-wabbits-in-patagonia-3949899/amp/
For poetry, he’s past his prime,
He takes an hour to find a rhyme;
His fire is out, his wit decayed,
His fancy sunk, his muse a jade”.
40 minutes for all but PASHTO which I failed on as my LOI. I can’t say I know the word although I see it has come up before, perhaps with more helpful wordplay. NUREYEV had been an earlier sticking point, and figuring out the wordplay for APPAREL and the obvious ELFIN where I went for Kevin’s solution.
Nice crossword, smooth surface readings. But quick, Snitch is currently 61 which seems about right…
PASH came up twice, recently, which helped with 5ac.
I’m sure Kevin’s parsing of ELFIN is the one intended.
COY = company is in Collins as well. It is quite a common abbreviation here in the UK, especially for a military sort of company.
No idea, sadly, what I’m not supposed to mention. So not mentioning it won’t be difficult!
EL FIN is just ‘The End’ in Spanish, I believe, so a Spanish film’s final caption. That might be what Kevin Gregg is saying earlier though no need to separate the two words. OUTGOING, OWLET and, for once, a Spoonerism in BOB MARLEY are my podium today in a solve that was slow to get started – c21 mins.
Thanks to setter and blogger.
That wasn’t what I was saying: if the caption was ‘el fin’, ‘The’ in the surface would be superfluous: ‘Spanish film’s last caption’ would do the job. My parsing is ‘the Spanish’=’the’ in Spanish=EL, followed by ‘film’s last caption’=FIN, in which case ‘The’ is necessary.
Pretty quick for me at about 18′. I’m in the EL-FIN camp too, being a write-in. Enjoyed how RIOTUOS ASSEMBLY worked with the wordplay. TESSERA has been used pretty frequently I think, becoming a chestnut? Coy is pretty widely known I’d thought.
Thanks Vinyl and setter
15:50 I found this usual Monday fare.
The only real hold ups were my LOI ANALYST (which I hadn’t read to that point) being blocked by an incorrect NURSEEV who I had not heard of. Would have been quicker if I had done that clue first and didn’t have to spot the error with the dancer.
Also took an age to assemble RIOTOUS ASSEMBLY with my brain after a medical disorder.
I thought there was a misprint for CABIN BOY so thanks blogger for explaining coy=company.
COD LIBERAL DEMOCRATS
Not quite sure what it is we are not to mention. I hope I have not done that.
Thanks blogger and setter
21.58. Started dreadfully with one or two at most of the across clues on the first run. Down was much better and gradually worked my way through.
But how much do I hate spoonerisms? Let me count the ways. Seemed to take ages!
The most recent update to the Scrabble lexicon included BABYCINO as a valid word. But I always think ‘CABINBOY’ first
Ha! Bravo!
21 mins so definitely a PB! Phew.
I am in the EL FIN camp but with Kevin. EL (Spanish the) and FIN as seen at the end of most French films as well as others.
I liked ART DECO and the long clues.
Thanks V and setter.
17:15. Fairly smooth solve having been defeated by Friday’s offering. I spent a fair while wondering what words ended with TO for PASHTO, which was my LOI. but I think I parsed everything which was good for me. Not a PB but not miles away either.
RIOTOUS ASSEMBLY reminded me of the Tom Sharpe book set in apartheid South Africa. I haven’t read it in a while but found it very funny at the time. I wonder how un-PC it is now…
7:35. Mostly very Mondayish although PASHTO isn’t the easiest of clues.
I’m sure Kevin’s right about EL FIN. ‘Last caption’ is not a valid indication for N in the Times.
Like others I’m mystified as to what we’re not supposed to be mentioning, so I won’t mention it.
16.35, so a moderate Monday, with very little going in on first glance terms. I’m hoping any apocryphal reference to CABIN BOY and Captain Pugwash won’t get me deleted, and I forbear to mention the unlikely association of the inoffensive LIBERAL DEMOCRATS with RIOTOUS ASSEMBLY. I’ve got Tom Sharpe’s Vintage Stuff on my bookshelf, but the latter seems to have disappeared. His books are great reads, and don’t give a fig about PC.
I initially had CARELESS for the instruction to the setter, which seemed reasonably inapposite, by stymied me for UNDERDOG so got corrected to enable my last in. My history with misspelt and misidentified dinosaurs kept me worried about MASTODON until submission produced all-greens.
Will the taboo subject be revealed by the end of the day? Over to you, you teaser, V
I don’t think I’m crossing the line (am I V?) to say it’s a QC/15×15 crossover…those of you who haven’t done the QC could, of course, have no idea.
28:33. Completely off wavelength. As ever when that happens I look back and can’t see why. LOIs ANALYST and OUTGOING.
Enjoyed RIOTOUS ASSEMBLY eventually.
I wondered if we were not supposed to get into a Pugwashian discussion about Tom, yes Tom the CABIN BOY but maybe our blogger is nervous about a LibDem falling off a paddleboard. Little bit of politics there.
Thanks both.
EDIT: I see my thoughts overlapped with Zabadaks but of course less eruditely.
Wasn’t the late Victor Lewis-Smith something to do with the misremembered characters?
15 minutes.
– Completely failed to parse CLAVICLE
– Agree with Kevin re the parsing of ELFIN
– Needed all the checkers to get the unfamiliar RIOTOUS ASSEMBLY
– Had to trust that Jade was a HORSE
Thanks vinyl and setter.
FOI Horse
LOI Riotous assembly
CODs Liberal Democrat / Earworm
29:35
LIBERAL DEMOCRAT took an age, but LOI was RESPECT.
Couldn’t see where the Y came from for CABIN BOY, who has ever seen Coy in the wild for company? Ah, I see military slang, that looks plausible.
I was sure “archbishops cloak” was going to be that common crossword staple “cope”, and thought the “singer” would be a bird, not BOB MARLEY.
“Watch on 5”— I thought a digit was a cross reference?
Ah yes, the apocryphal and false derivation of the Captain Pugwash names was an example of an early internet meme, propagated on alt.tv newsgroup.
23 minutes. Slow to get the ‘language’ at 5a and the unexpectedly non-medical ‘disorder’ at 26a but otherwise nothing too unexpected. I parsed ELFIN as vinyl did but I think the parsing proposed by Kevin et al is correct.
Talking about less common operas we had Rienzi here in the Jumbo a few years ago. Getting back to more popular operas in crossword land, I’ll see your TOSCA and Aida and raise you Norma.
I feared I would be embarrassed by my 17.08 time because it seemed easier than that. No biffing needed today. I knew PASHTO but no idea why. Tickled by CLUELESS but it surely can’t be its first appearance, can it?
Thanks to a benevolent setter and to vinyl1.
With fingers crossed I haven’t transgressed!
13:09 for a very good day.
Solved more or less in numerical order. I didn’t think this was quite as easy as the SNITCH suggests, but plainly it was on the green end of things. Nonetheless, I enjoyed it hugely. CLUELESS my COD.
My only complaint is PASH: not only archaic, but overused. Other than that, a terrific Monday puzzle.
Is the thing we aren’t supposed to mention related to a similarity with the QC today?
14:50
Gentle Monday fare with just a few notes:
PASHTO – couldn’t have told you it is a language but sure I’ve heard of it before so in it went.
MAYBE – I didn’t get the AY bit – assume it might mean ‘always’ i.e. forever?
EARWORM – should be an easy anagram of WAR ROOM, but I seem to have a blind spot for anagrams beginning with two vowels.
I liked CLUELESS.
Thanks V and setter
29 minutes but whacked in Tessela instead of Tessera in my rush to get a (for me) rare sub 30 minute solve.
All pretty straight forward an I too assumed ‘El Fin’ for 15a.
Thanks Vinyl and setter.
All correct and under the hour, but initially I had to scout around the down clues to get started. Loved the GET AHEAD clue (“if you want to get ahead, get a hat”, was something my Dad remembered from his youth).
I didn’t understand the Jade/HORSE clue, but the wordplay was very clear.
Nice puzzle. Hopefully I can do better later in the week.
“ Holla, ye pampered jades of Asia!” from Marlowe’s Tamburlaine is the only actual usage of ‘jade=horse’ I am aware of, and the best known, though doubtless there are others.
I thought having to know “F1” as a film title was a little below the belt.
Coy as abbreviation occurs throughout WW1 records. PASH is a word that comes around now and again, but PASHTO may be well-known as the language mainly spoken in Afghanistan. There must be many sorts of innuendo about anyone called Roger. There was a boy at school whose name was Bates, guess his cruel nickname?
On the ELFIN question, I associate the word with lightness and grace – the nuances involving elfish, elvish etc. are several (see Tolkien) but in crossword land elves seem to be malevolent spirits.
13’19” thanks vinyl and setter.
The fellow named Bates I knew in college solved that problem by living with his girlfriend in high school.
My thanks to vinyl1 and setter.
Quite straightforward I thought.
5a Pashto, my Cheating machine has: Pashto, Pashtu, Poshto, Pushto and Pushtu.
7d NHO Horse called Jade, but shrugged.
P.S. I’ve just seen what I mustn’t mention!
Nice puzzle all correctly solved with “cabin boy”, “collar” and “Bob Marley” the last three.
Not sure I associate “lower” as the same as “threaten” but we all think in different ways.
Never known “jade” to be a “horse” but the clue was clear.
Thanks to both our blogger and setter.
Under the half hour – a PB! Albeit I put in CHURLISH instead of CLUELESS and then wondered why I couldn’t parse it. I liked JADE – a GH type of clue I think. A MER at 24D – would you say ROSE equated BEAUTY?
Thanks to vinyl and setter.