Time: 37 minutes. Fairly straightforward today. My only unknown was the Beatles song.
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 Caret 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 | Modern American elevated railway’s supporting pillar (5) |
| NEWEL – NEW (modern), EL (American elevated railway – especially in Chicago). A feature of many staircases, e.g. the central pillar on spiral stairs. | |
| 4 | A speed measure with current prohibition involving one Mr Toad? (9) |
| AMPHIBIAN – A, MPH (speed measure), I (current), then B⁁AN (prohibition) containing [involving] I (one) | |
| 9 | Conservative member unhappy in retreat (9) |
| CLIMBDOWN – C (Conservative), LIMB (member), DOWN (unhappy) | |
| 10 | Pressure on friend to provide dope (5) |
| CHUMP – CHUM (friend), P (pressure) | |
| 11 | Great splendour’s temptation ensnaring paragon of virtue (6) |
| LUSTRE – LU⁁RE (temptation) containing [ensnaring] ST (paragon of virtue – saint). I tend to think of lustre as a gentle sheen or glow, but Collins has ‘great splendour’ as its third definition. | |
| 12 | Good management being dear to the Beatles? (8) |
| PRUDENCE – A cryptic hint supports the main definition and refers to the Beatles song Dear Prudence which I’ve never heard of. | |
| 14 | Show less decorum chaps with tango confusion (12) |
| BEWILDERMENT – BE WILDER (show less decorum), MEN (chaps), T (tango – NATO alphabet) | |
| 17 | Purification of water in foul Ionian deltas (12) |
| DESALINATION – Anagram [foul] of IONIAN DELTAS | |
| 20 | Something plucked from within commando lines (8) |
| MANDOLIN – Hidden [within] {com}MANDO LIN{es} | |
| 21 | Unit previous to being led by a politician (6) |
| AMPERE – A, MP (politician), ERE [previous to] | |
| 23 | Affair of the heart of course that’s a short time earlier (5) |
| AMOUR – A, MO (short time), {co}UR{se} [heart of…] | |
| 24 | Memorial goes to Newcastle area (9) |
| HEADSTONE – HEADS TO (goes to), NE (Newcastle area – North East) | |
| 25 | Easy to manage fare on returning vehicle (9) |
| TRACTABLE – CART (vehicle) reversed [returning], TABLE (fare – food) | |
| 26 | Cranwell and Dartmouth establishments’ trainee, primarily? (5) |
| CADET – C{ranwell} + A{nd} + D{artmouth} + E{stablishments} + T {rainee} [primarily]. These are military training establishments, Cranwell for the RAF and Dartmouth for the Royal Navy. | |
| Down |
|
|---|---|
| 1 | Dickens hero heard metal buzzer? (8) |
| NICKLEBY – Aural wordplay [heard]: “Nickel” (metal) + “Bee” (buzzer) | |
| 2 | What will cut party organisers was arranged (8) |
| WHIPSAWS – WHIPS (party organisers – in parliament) anagram [arranged] of WAS. A saw with a narrow blade and a handle at both ends, used typically by two people. | |
| 3 | Cordelia Lambert’s running for MP perhaps? (7,8) |
| LIBERAL DEMOCRAT – Anagram [running] of CORDELIA LAMBERT | |
| 4 | Plant singly after November’s out (4) |
| ALOE – ALO{n}E (singly) [after November’s out – NATO alphabet again) | |
| 5 | Be nosy about worker, male assistant and home help (10) |
| PANTRYMAID – P⁁RY (be nosy) containing [about] ANT (worker), then M (male), AID (assistant) | |
| 6 | Claims Indic tune in play could be this (10,5) |
| INCIDENTAL MUSIC – Anagram [in play] of CLAIMS INDIC TUNE. Indic most usually refers to language but more generally it can also mean simply ‘of India’. | |
| 7 | Island tropical nation exporting unknown reptile (6) |
| IGUANA – I (island), GU{y}ANA (tropical nation) [exporting unknown] | |
| 8 | Relative hack chasing writer up (6) |
| NEPHEW – PEN (writer) reversed [up], HEW (hack) | |
| 13 | House in China with British kitchen appliance (7,3) |
| CERAMIC HOB – HO (house) contained by [in] CERAMIC (china) ⁁B (British) | |
| 15 | What dry material is best for rebuilding wide roof (8) |
| FIREWOOD – Anagram [rebuilding] of WIDE ROOF | |
| 16 | Deep-rooted — not out there, not lacking inmost character (8) |
| INHERENT – IN HERE (not out there), N{o}T [lacking inmost character] | |
| 18 | Reveal work of mischievous children? (6) |
| IMPART – IMP ART (work of mischievous children) | |
| 19 | A new record set over a country (6) |
| ANGOLA – A, N (new), then LOG (record) reversed [set over], A | |
| 22 | Worry about being repetitive (4) |
| CARE – CA (about) + RE (about) [being repetitive] | |
Liked this very much!
LOI CARE, clever! And what an alphabet trawl that could have been!
22:44 but
a typo at 2d gave me two pink squares. I took the definition of AMOUR to be ‘affair of the heart’, which made it impossible to account for UR. DNK POI CERAMIC HOB. And I failed to see how LOI CARE worked; clever indeed.
I had IMPACT instead of IMPART which works for the cryptic but not really the definition even if ‘reveal’ can be a noun.
Easy solve but I would pronounce last syllable of NICKLEBY as bi not bee but this might be a cavil that many would reject.
I also put IMPACT. Otherwise dead easy.
18.27, a clever puzzle but not too hard. Spent a while looking at _A_E before CARE finally revealed itself, a very crafty clue. Thanks Jack, especially for explaining what was going on with AMOUR – another very good clue.
From Things Have Changed:
People are crazy and times are strange
I’m locked in tight, I’m out of range
I used to CARE, but things have changed
33 mins here, though I confess to have parsed neither CARE nor AMOUR. Dear PRUDENCE known to me mostly through the Siouxie and the Banshees cover; I have it on vinyl on the live album Nocturne, with the Cure’s Robert Smith on guitar.
A nice gentle start to a day off, though given the forecast is for a high of 33C I might have to spend much of it sheltering indoors…
A rare example of a really good Beatles cover. Dare I say better than the original?
Well *I* wouldn’t disagree, but do prepare to be beheaded by angry Fab Four fans wielding sharpened copies of the White Album.
Better than Joe Cocker’s ‘ Little Help’?
Tina Turner’s version of”Help” is in the same category
And what about the Carpenters’ version of Ticket to Ride?
48:06
LOI CARE, which I sort of got, seeing CA=about, and RE=about, not clocking that I had used “about” twice.
LIBERAL DEMOCRAT anagram took ages.
Was really stuck after confidently putting HACKSAWS, I think “hacks” are political enthusiasts, so “party organisers” looked pretty good.
Only got “the EL” from the TV show ER, where it features a lot. Didn’t understand PRUDENCE, it was never released as a single, hence NHO. Fun Fact: John Lennon wrote the song in India to coax Mia Farrow’s sister, Prudence, out of her room because she was meditating so intensely she wouldn’t socialize. Lennon later noted it as one of his personal favorite songs he ever wrote.
27:00. I didn’t know Prudence either but it seemed likely. We’ve had a few helpings of RAITA recently which made that one very easy. Tried to do this sitting up in bed and 05:30, got nowhere but then I went to put the boat in the water and it all went in fairly smoothly an hour later.
Wasn’t RAITA from yesterday’s puzzle?
Some very simple clues
Some brilliant ones
Prudence or over prudence can be the antithesis to good management some would argue?! Discuss
It would be prudent not to be over-prudent..
One of my former colleagues in the investment business, a very successful stockpicker, coined the phrase “reckless conservatism” to describe this atrophy by over-caution.
Quite straightforward today, except I also put IMPACT, very careless since it really doesn’t fit the definition.
Nice to see Prudence, one of my favourite tracks from the White Album.
28 minutes. Like yesterday, not too demanding though I was starting to feel panicky at the end with CERAMIC HOB, my LOI. I thought our setter was being generous at 1a with ‘American elevated railway’ for EL which I’ve seen just clued as railway (or maybe railroad) before.
CARE was excellent – a pity in a way to deconstruct such a natural surface to solve it.
56 minutes on the train into London. NHO Beatles song either.
Thanks Jack and Setter
9.25
A second fairly simple (and fairly musical) one for this week. Knew the Beatles song, but I did consider MARTHA (My Dear) for a while.
Three long crossing anagrams made the rest more gettable.
LOI CARE
COD PRUDENCE
Just under 20 minutes. Liked CARE, AMOUR and NICKLEBY in particular.
Thanks Jack and setter.
10:25 but WOE – like Jerry a careless IMPACT that I failed to revisit. DNK the Beatles song so got PRDUEBCE from the definition and checkers. I liked NICKLEBY and HEADSTONE best. Thanks Jackkt and setter.
19:20 despite a brain fart to start with by putting in Copperby for 1d, I think a combination in my mind of the correct character and another one from Dickens. Thankfully the puzzle was kind so it could be corrected.
I usually struggle with plants but thankfully put on some ALOE vera this morning after overdoing the sun yesterday.
COD CERAMIC HOB
Thanks blogger and setter.
Finished eventually with the WHIPSAWS/NEWEL crosser. COD to BEWILDERMENT. The site isn’t recognising me again. It’s very hurtful after all these years. Thank you Jack and setter.
15 minutes. Must confess that I’m shocked to see the number of people here who haven’t heard of Dear Prudence, but I suppose it’s a case of “One person’s general knowledge…”
– Was surprised to see the ‘el’ in the unfamiliar NEWEL clued by ‘American elevated railway’, and it had me trying to fit A or US into the answer for a while
– Didn’t parse AMOUR
– Took a while to see that ‘not out there’ has to be read together for INHERENT
Thanks Jack and setter.
FOI Prudence
LOI Inherent
COD Liberal Democrat (Cordelia Lambert is quite a Lib Dem-sounding name!)
I think you have to remember, Chris, that Dear Prudence was released 58 years ago – some solvers are much younger than that! I always sympathise with younger solvers when some of the archaic Times favourites ( RHINO, TIN, IT, CHINA etc. ) come up.
True, but then again I’m 33!
You’re obviously right about the time that has passed since it was released, though, and to be fair I think we’re now at the stage where people have to make more of a conscious effort to listen to Beatles songs in order to know them. A few years ago I decided that I was going to listen to every Beatles song, going through them track by track, album by album, and I’m really glad I did. I also read Ian MacDonald’s book “Revolution in the Head”, which I strongly recommend – it works both as a history of the band and a reference book for every song they ever recorded.
On-wavelength at 13:59. Slight pause over LOI CARE which on another day might have added 5 minutes. Still found time to enjoy BE WILDER, NICKLEBY and PRUDENCE and to dislike EL. I know we’ve had it before but it crosses the line of too obscure IMO.
Thanks jackkt and setter.
14.42, so maybe getting my mojo back after a few rather lengthy solves.
The anagram seemed to make INCIDENTAL MUSIC possible: just as well it was too long.
I suspect that those of us who remember Dear Prudence have yet to catch up with CERAMIC HOBs, so I think a tip of the hat to the setter for a broad appeal.
I don’t remember Dear Prudence, but I did know the song, and my reflection on CERAMIC HOBS was that they are effectively obsolete now that induction is an alternative!
Did you mean something other than INCIDENTAL MUSIC (which is the answer!)?
Must be the heat! INSTRUMENTAL was the word. Is today Tuesday? I could never get the hang of Tuesdays.
I’m too old for Dear Prudence but our hob is ceramic!
Oops, another IMPACT here. Oh well. Otherwise very enjoyable.
I liked PRUDENCE, for once remembering the song.
Thanks Jack and setter.
I’m baffled. I am sure I typed ALOE but when I submitted I got the dreaded pink’un for ALON. How these clever chaps manage to type in the full correct solution in 2 or 3 minutes baffles me – as does the question of why they do it.
Otherwise it was a game of three halves for me. Got stuck on NEWEL, looking for something more substantial than a wooden post. Then on dear PRUDENCE, surely one of the more obscure of the oeuvre. Finally couldn’t persuade analog out of my head in favour of its anagram. But on reflection, a rather jolly puzzle.
Thanks to setter and jackkt.
I also am staggered that Dear Prudence is so little known. From memory, it’s the second track on the White Album after Back in the USSR.
The puzzle was a steady solve, avoiding the ‘impact’ possibility. CARE was LOI having previously made up ‘caca’ and ‘rere’.
Nicholas NICKLEBY excoriates the schools where rich men sent their illegitimate sons, out of sight, out of mind, and being minimally paid for.
14’07”, thanks jack and setter.
17:52 so either I found it easier than yesterday or I was more on form or something
But I had a stupid pink square for IBCIDENTAL it’s so easy on the phone to mix these neighbouring characters
I have Dear Prudence going round in my mind now
6:36. No real problems but I slowed myself down a little bit by putting in NICKELBY. I think my brain somehow managed to apply the homophone instruction to ‘nickel’ twice. Today was also one of those rare occasions where taking the time to check my answers paid off: I managed to spot a rogue NUPHEW.
No problem with the song. It predates me by a few years but my wife is obsessed with The Beatles so I have been exposed to all of their stuff over the years.
Just think – you might have got under 3 minutes!
I forgot to say something about the clue for INCIDENTAL MUSIC. “Claims” isn’t part of the definition, only the wordplay, which part of the definition (“tune”) surely is too. I don’t know what to call this.
The LIBERAL DEMOCRAT clue seemed wrong because of the silly failure to notice that the definition was just ‘MP, perhaps’, and didn’t include ‘running for’. The Beatles song was unknown to me: if it had been a Beatles song from an earlier era it probably wouldn’t have been a problem — we all remember the “music” that was around in our youth. Otherwise fairly straightforward.
All done apart the word preceding hob, which was not forthcoming, so I walked to the barbers and on the way back ceramic popped into my head, a relief- as was me spelling PRUDENCE correctly. Following yesterday’s success whilst waiting at Eurostar check in, dare I hope for more success tomorrow as well.
Thanks to blogger and setter.
31:56.
COD CARE. NHO WHIPSAWS but got it from the parse. Also biffed PRUDENCE, having NHO the Beatles song. A satisfying half hour!
My thanks to jackkt and setter.
A pretty straightforward one as jackkt mentions. I sped up when my attention went down South, then tidied up on the way back.
LOI 12a Prudence; NHO Dear P AFAIK although I must have heard it at some point. The reference in the clue did not help at all, I just biffed it as the only word that fitted.
1d Nickleby; I can’t spell this which delayed me a bit.
6d Incidental M; I spotted “Music” straight away so rearranging the rest was easy.
13d Ceramic Hob. NHO, not in Wiki. HHO Induction H. I’ve added it to Cheating Machine even if it is green paint.
CERAMIC HOB is in Collins and the ODE so free of green paint.
Oh yes, so it is. Paint-free zone.
15 – straightforward, as he said. Some nice anagrams but otherwise nothing particularly difficult apart from the tiny CARE, which I though was neat.
Mostly ok, but gave up and used aids for NEWEL and WHIPSAWS. I also failed to get the excellent CARE, but did get AMOUR.
Nice puzzle, Setter
Thanks for the excellent blog, Jack.
Might try and get some sleep now
35 mins for an elegant crossword. I was another who put in NICKELBY until I got LUSTRE which sorted it all out. I was pleased to see CARE immediately since the two checkers were not going to be very helpful. I just checked in Chambers and there are 105 words that fit. No problem with PRUDENCE since I used to own a copy of the white album, my only other slight holdup was the CERAMIC part of the HOB, which was my LOI.
13:58
Enjoyable puzzle. COD: AMPHIBIAN
Thanks to jack and our setter.
A careless IMPAcT at 18D spoiled my 6:06 effort. COD AMPHIBIAN.
CARE was tip top. Thanks, jack
Fairly easy today – 23 mins. But at least 5 mins of that was because I carelessly inserted WHIPSSAW at 2D. Not heard of PANTRYMAID before. Dear PRUDENCE: as a teenager I heard Love Me Do on Radio Luxembourg and dashed out to buy it, but my local record shop had never heard of it, and furthermore we didn’t know how to spell ‘Beatles’. I was a great fan, particularly of their songs, but lost interest in their albums after Sgt Pepper ( which I thought was fantastic), so just too soon for Dear Prudence. As remarked above, it all depends how old you are. First in was CARE and last BEWILDERMENT. Three favourite clues: to CLIMBDOWN, CERAMIC HOB and CARE. Thank you Setter and Blogger.
25:00 on paper
Solved on paper on flight to Leipzig. Knew PRUDENCE but never liked either the original or cover. Where I flunked was on inadvertently entering WHIPSSAW which left BEWILDERMENT tricky to see, eventually spotting the mistake.
Thanks Jack and setter
Everything dead easy today. The long ones all went in straight away – always a good place to start, providing lots of checking letters! CARE last one in, but straightforward given the A and E. 21 minutes all told.
A satisfying Goldilocks puzzle – not too hard, not too easy but just right. Liberal Democrat needed most checkers which then left Newel and Whipsaws. COD Care.
I managed to finish this after lunch: a very slow start but once I had a foothold, I was able to keep going.
LOI was CARE without full understanding. WHIPSAWS and NEWEL just before that; I vaguely remembered the elevated train.
Growing up at the same time as The Beatles, I bought the albums as they came out and listened to them a lot. The White Album is a bit of a mish mash, mainly written in India when they were with the maharishi in Rishikesh. I liked Dear Prudence and remember well the story behind the track. I think she became a meditation teacher, unlike her sister.
Fun puzzle.
David
An enjoyable puzzle finished in 32.54, but with IMPACT for 18dn. I didn’t give it a second thought, convincing myself the parsing was just about OK. I got myself in a bit of a mess in the nw corner misspelling NICKLEBY with EL in the middle, but LUSTRE which I initially of course I couldn’t get, had me backtracking to find the error.
Rather stupidly misspelt Nickelby putting Nicholby, making Lustre impossible! Otherwise all pretty good for, thanks all, Cx
From NEPHEW to WHIPSAWS in 17:57. COD, AMPHIBIAN. Nice puzzle. Thanks setter and Jack.
I never parsed LUSTRE, thinking of temptation as ‘lust’ rather than ‘lure’ and failed by putting ‘impact’ and ‘cave’ instead of IMPART and CARE but otherwise completed in around 30 mins. I’m surprised so many consider CERAMIC HOB to be obscure but then again I’ve never heard of ‘Dear Prudence’ which I assumed correctly to be the title of a Beatles song from the missing letters, definition and wordplay.
Dear Prudence also covered by Jerry Garcia. I’m not going to claim his version beats the original, but I do still like it. I remember long sessions with the White Album at school, and was shocked many years later to read critics saying it was generally regarded as below form. I suppose I see the point. Number Nine Dream is a shocker. But when you love an album, you love it. 15’18”. And very glad to have avoided IMPACT. My rule worked: if you’re not entirely happy with an answer, remember there MIGHT be another word that fits.
A very enjoyable puzzle, and forgiving of my bumbling around. The LIBERAL DEMOCRAT anagram was super. About 37 minutes to solve, a very comfortable time for me. Thanks setter and Jack.