40:52 for a challenging and very enjoyable puzzle. I worked hard, and in the end, everything was gettable.
| Across | |
| 1 | House reports worker installing stairs in odd places (7) |
| HANSARD – HAND around S{t}A{i}R{s}
Chambers has: the printed reports of debates in Parliament, from Luke Hansard (1752–1828), whose descendants continued to print them down to 1889. |
|
| 5 | Small individual upset player on pitch (7) |
| SWEEPER – S + WEEPER (individual upset)
In cricket, this sounds like what we’d call an ‘infielder’. |
|
| 9 | Port and rhubarb trade reshaped capital of Malta (9) |
| ROTTERDAM – ROT (rhubarb) + anagram of TRADE + first letter of MALTA | |
| 10 | I see rat in retreat, a Russian one? (5) |
| DACHA – AH (I see) CAD (rat) reversed
A Russian cottage. |
|
| 11 | Smart superior wanting introduction (5) |
| NOBBY – SNOBBY (superior) without the first letter | |
| 12 | Fiddler on the Roof surely has such scope (5-4) |
| ELBOW-ROOM – a fiddler on the roof has plenty of ELBOW ROOM | |
| 14 | Rulings stop lackeys gathering inside of gate (14) |
| DETERMINATIONS – DETER (stop) + MINIONS around g{AT}e | |
| 17 | Manoeuvre that could get you sent from nest? (5-5,4) |
| THREE-POINT TURN – if you turn around the points N,E,S in NEST, you get SENT | |
| 21 | Thick book, perhaps very dry (9) |
| BRAINLESS – B + RAINLESS | |
| 23 | Banish cross page occupying overturned shelter (5) |
| EXPEL – X (cross) P in LEE reversed | |
| 24 | Principle relating to a culture that’s unnamed? (5) |
| ETHIC – ETHNIC without N (unnamed) | |
| 25 | Terrible two baulk a public stroll (9) |
| WALKABOUT – anagram of TWO BAULK A | |
| 26 | Thugs regularly given blow and grass (7) |
| TUSSOCK – T{h}U{g}S + SOCK (blow) | |
| 27 | Attempt nursing former queen where skin is treated (7) |
| TANNERY – TRY around ANNE
Originally tried TREXERY. |
|
| Down | |
| 1 | Following brief strike, call staff building (6) |
| HIRING – HI{t} + RING
Took me until writing this blog (and then some) to understand what the hell the definition was here. It probably should be ‘staff-building’ (as in ‘morale-boosting’, say): the act of building one’s staff. |
|
| 2 | Worthy excuse for a TV dinner? (7) |
| NOTABLE – NO TABLE | |
| 3 | Gas expert on river containing half of leak (9) |
| ACETYLENE – ACE (expert) + TYNE around LE{ak} | |
| 4 | Useless line again entertains old comedian (6,5) |
| DUDLEY MOORE – DUD (useless) LEY (line) + MORE (again) around O
I always forget about the LEY lines. As for Dudley Moore, I’ll just leave this here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YqgiOj54Ko (Not sure whether the impression of Britten or Pears is better.) |
|
| 5 | Add up characters in Iliad in reverse order (3) |
| SUM – MUS (characters in Iliad) reversed
That’s the plural of MU, or μ. |
|
| 6 | Seller that’s been exposed with fund (5) |
| ENDOW – {v}ENDO{r} (seller that’s been exposed) + W (with) | |
| 7 | What may be heard from pit crosses Olympic colosseum (7) |
| PICCOLO – hidden in OLYMPIC COLOSSEUM | |
| 8 | Bring up the majority at the very end (8) |
| REARMOST – REAR (bring up) MOST (the majority) | |
| 13 | Relative casually left after sailor overturned dish (6,5) |
| BANANA SPLIT – NANA (relative casually) SPLIT (left) after AB (sailor) reversed | |
| 15 | Place once for storage in Bath with term almost up (5,4) |
| TITHE BARN – IN BATH TER{m} anagrammed (up)
This was my last in. I’ve seen ‘up’ as an anagram indicator before but it took awhile to see it. |
|
| 16 | Most durable Arab Quarters maybe close to desert (8) |
| STABLEST – STABLES (Arab quarters maybe) + last letter of DESERT
This one also took me ages as I felt it had to be something like AR + COINS + T. |
|
| 18 | Fresh search nets zero fish (7) |
| ROACHES – anagram (fresh) of SEARCH around O | |
| 19 | Censure sales person over cycling (7) |
| REPROVE – REP + OVER with last letter moved to first | |
| 20 | In a monotone, starts to lecture youth lifting tyre (6) |
| FLATLY – first letters of LECTURE YOUTH below FLAT (tyre) | |
| 22 | Chip from hot tin flipped with egg (5) |
| NACHO – H CAN reversed + O | |
| 25 | Pan Labour when Republican is baned (3) |
| WOK – WORK (labour) – R (Republican)
Banned? |
|
17a definitely the COD for me. Took quite a while to see the three compass points but eventually the penny dropped. Again, I failed to get the Arab/Horse connection and couldn’t get caravan out of my head. Don’t really understand 20d FLAT for TYRE.
Thanks J and setter.
FLAT is commonly used to mean a flat tyre or puncture.
Thank you, kind sir.
That’s not a tyre. That’s a flat tyre.
I put THREE-POINT TURN in from the enumeration and manoeuvre and only later saw how it worked. Made a mess of STLABLEST, my LOI, since I was trying to think of words like withers and fetlock for parts of horses, and in the end it was simple. I’m pretty sure HANSARD is still produced but of course is online.
Sorry for the rant, and in this case TITHE BARN was not too difficult to see, but I dislike ‘up’ as an anagram indicator. I suppose the case in favour of it will rely on phrases such as ‘something’s up’, meaning ‘something’s out of the ordinary’, or possibly other slang uses of ‘up’.
These meanings of ‘up’ are no doubt justifiable if you delve deep enough into the dictionary list of meanings of the word, but I think indicators should be held to a higher standard than definitions. They are supposed to be instructions telling you what to do with wordplay elements. An instruction in which the word ‘up’ means ‘having been jiggled about’ is a poor instruction. The fact that setters use it from time to time doesn’t make it any better.
“Up” as an anagrind has been around a lonnnng time, and appears rather often, as such things go. The sense “in a state of agitation” (Dictionary.com) explains it. Anagrinds always mean that the letters are “jiggled about”—what else?!—jumbled, mixed up, in a state of agitation, drunk, disorderly, discombobulated, etc. etc. Nowadays, we sometimes get “cycled” or equivalent words, which do give more precise instruction; they’re not anagrinds.
Agreed. Up is fine by me.
For what little it’s worth I’m with David on this one. I don’t think ‘up’ is really good enough but I’ve just got used to it over time.
Just under 60 minutes. I found it reasonably straightforward though I needed the blog to parse a few. I really enjoyed the puzzle. COD DETERMINATIONS
Could someone please expand on how MUS is derived as I have no idea how it is obtained from Iliad.
Thanks Jeremy.
The Iliad is in Greek, so you’ll find the letter “mu” (M) there.
The letter mu is the first letter of the first word of the Iliad, so they’re certainly there.
Seems rather random?
Well, any (originally) Greek book would have given the idea, and worked equally well. Which is certainly well enough.
I agree, the puzzle was first-rate. I biffed a lot of answers without being able to see the parsing at first – sweeper, three point turn, tannery, banana split, and my LOI, stablest. The parsing turned out to be simpler than I expected – why is sweeper S + WEE + PER? Well, it isn’t. I did want 9 to start with row, which is the US slang meaning, unlikely to appear in a UK puzzle. OTOH, I did know of Hansard, so that was a write-in.
Time: 33 minutes
Excellent workout. NOBBY was my POI and then I got HIRING—which should have come much sooner.
I can’t see “Fiddler on the Roof surely has such” as anything but a cryptic hint for the first definition in Collins, where the reference to the ELBOW is not necessarily (or even usually) literal, “room to move” (with the second there being, exactly, “scope”); I wouldn’t call the former a definition, so I found Jeremy’s gloss on that confusing at first. (Well, I was tired, and hungry—rectifying that now.)
Yes, probably a stretch on my part.
If anyone needs room for their elbow, top of the list must be a fiddler. Trying to bow properly without enough elbow room is rather difficult.
Never heard of ‘nobby’ for ‘smart’. Just me then?
No, you’re not alone. I never heard it before today.
DNK Nobby as smart, but found this in Wiktionary which states it is US usage:
nobby (comparative nobbier, superlative nobbiest)
1) (UK, informal) Wealthy or of high social position; of or pertaining to a nob (person of great wealth or social standing).
2) (US, informal) Fashionable or chic.
Thanks. Yes, I found ‘stylish’ in Collins which I think is close enough to ‘smart’. I was just surprised I’d never heard it used other than as in Example 1 in your posting.
“Where did you get that hat
Where did you get that tile?
Isn’t it a nobby one
and just the proper style?”
Benefits of a classical education… oh, wait…
Nor me.
Not just you – I have never heard of the word “nobby”, except as “Nobby”, which for some reason used to be the standard nickname for people with the surname Clark(e)/Clerk.
I note from one of the other replies that “nobby” only means “smart” in American English, a language which I don’t speak and don’t always fully understand.
But it’s not true, as OliGrant points out with the song above (which is also the example I hit on and which is now earworm of the day).
A satisfying 22’37” today, with 17A THREE-POINT TURN the clear COD.
Yep, I thought that was a bit dodgy too
27:17
HANSARD was my FOI, but I couldn’t see the parsing, so dropped it, to return once I had a checker or two. DNK NOBBY, but figured it had to be once I got POI HIRING . DNK SWEEPER, but figured it ws a cricket term; although ODE and Collins say soccer. Not that it matters. This was tough, but as Guy says, an excellent workout.
Sweeper is not a cricket term although a “sweep” is a shot in cricket where the batsman plays the ball on the leg side with a rounded swing of an almost horizontal bat – so somebody playing this shot often and well might just be described as a “good sweeper”.
It is however a frequent and long used term in football for a defender who plays behind the rest of the back line and intercepts (sweeps up) passes that penetrate the back line.
It is a cricket term, though that usage was indeed listed behind the one for football.
Yes, I’ve heard Michael Vaughan say it more than once this summer, though I’ve never heard it before in a cricketing context.
I thought a sweeper was the person who swept the ice in curling .
Regulars may know that sport is not my thing, but I think SWEEPER is more football than cricket, although it may also be a cricketing term I’m unware of.
It is around now, a boundary rider.
And, since Bazball, some of our elite batspersons are inveterate sweepers, sometimes reverse.
I agree with much of what has already been said. An excellent puzzle that was fun to solve and I can’t remember an occasion recently when I thought of so many answers because they fitted the checkers and/or enumeration and then went on to consider definitions and wordplay. I never did figure out how THREE-POINT TURN worked, neither definition nor wordplay, so thanks for sorting that, Jeremy.
I enjoyed being reminded of Little Miss Britten. There’s also a Flanders and Swann parody that’s quite near the knuckle for its time – and for their style and audience – and a very, very rude one by Kit and The Widow that hasn’t yet found its way to YouTube.
My solving time was 54 minutes over two sessions because I was too tired to concentrate and complete it in one.
5 Down.
Why are the characters in ILIAD MUS?
Could someone explain, please.
The Iliad was written in Greek, and mus (μ) are Greek letters (characters).
I already (re)explained that (Jeremy already had in the blog, really)!
An excellent puzzle which required a lot of figuring out, and I was surprised to finish in 37.59 because I thought it would be longer than that. What a fantastic clue for THREE-POINT TURN, though there were several other NOTABLE contenders. NHO NOBBY for smart but I settled on it as a guess after natty and nifty didn’t cut it. In recent years the term ‘sweeper’ has been used by cricket commentators to describe a fielder on the boundary whose job is to cut off 4s. It is not, as far as I know, an official position and seems mainly to be used in limited-over games. Thanks J, tough one to blog.
Oh! Dylan! Um…would you believe…
Who killed DUDLEY MOORE?
Why, and what’s the reason for?
HAH! But no…
How about:
a wasteland wind whistled
from behind the billboard “there’s nobody home
all has moved out”
FLATLY denied
I turned indeed
flinched at first
but said “ok
I get the message”
—from “11 Outlined Epitaphs” (liner notes on The Times They Are A-Changin’)
A- Changin’
Ta. Typo fixed.
I thought I might be in a bit of trouble with that drive-by Davey Moore ref. But liner notes, what an inspiration! Also I’ve got a copy of Tarantula somewhere, I knew when I bought it in 1976 it would be useful one day. Well spotted Guy.
Re your definition of sweeper – this would apply to a ‘player in the field’, not ‘player on pitch’.
This refers 100% to the position in football. 🙂
Indeed it does, I was responding to Jack’s earlier comment about how ‘it may be a cricket term I’m unaware of’ or something like that…
Not sure if anyone has mentioned this, but the ‘building’ in ‘staff building’ just refers to an increase in staff numbers, no?
Just on 20 minutes for this, with STABLEST last in because, as others have noted, I was trying to make more sense of the clue than it actually had (as with SWEEPER.)
Talking of which Franz Beckenbauer was virtually synonymous with the position, called ‘libero’ in Italian. Basically, a cross between a centre-half who could play a bit (or a lot, in his case) and a defensive midfielder.
That’s the way I read it too. I think Jeremy was just saying it should be hyphenated.
Collins, the only one of the usual sources to list the term, has it as two words, but adds: as modifier
team-building exercises
But it’s actually ‘staff building.’
Oops! I kept seeing ‘team building’ when I was trying to find ‘staff building’ and confused myself. In that case ‘staff building’ with or without a hyphen isn’t in any of the usual sources.
Does it need to be? You could refer to anything-building as an accumulation of that thing.
I didn’t say the answer needed a hyphen, just that that’s the sense in which it should be understood.
Excellent puzzle. COD to THREE-POINT TURN. An example of a clever clue with a believable surface.
15:28. My first one in was SUM after I’d initially parsed DII from the clue – I guess I’m not the only one! THREE POINT TURN was very nice but the parsing completely passed me by until reading Jeremy’s blog. I finished up with STABLEST where I’d presumed that E and S were quarters so was bemused at how STABL could be Arab until the penny dropped just before submitting.
15’35”. I didn’t bother to parse THREE-POINT TURN, BANANA SPLIT, DUDLEY MOORE or TITHE BARN.
‘Up’is fine.
Thanks jeremy and setter.
Quick today, but fun. I failed to parse 6dn but the anwer was clear..
Only aware of a sweeper as what they used to call a full-back, in football
No problem with “up,” anagrinds are a legitimate opportunity for setter creativity..
47 mins and very enjoyable. The NE held me up a bit until the SWEEPER (known from footie and not cricket) came along and tidied up. PICCOLO, DACHA & ENDOW swiftly followed.
Definitely favourite clue was THREE-POINT TURN which gave me a grin when I saw the wp. Excellent.
Thanks Jeremy and setter. PS did anyone else notice 25 d has « baned » instead of (I assume ) banned? Sorry J just noticed you mentioned it!
41 minutes with LOI HIRING. I’ve only heard of NOBBY as a nickname for various footballers but the other half of the clue worked. I biffed THREE-POINT TURN. COD to ELBOW-ROOM. Wok, the bane of the proof reader? Tough in parts, but mainly enjoyed. Thank you Jeremy and setter.
14:45. Nice one. I enjoyed the THREE-POINT TURN, the “staff building” and BANANA SPLIT. LOI DETERMINATIONS. NHO that meaning of NOBBY, but it had to be. Thanks Jeremy and setter.
17.55
I wasn’t impressed with the definition of ELBOW ROOM, but at least it reminded me of the coarse expression ‘like a fiddler’s elbow’.
I once saw Sir Lenny Henry give his Othello at the West Yorkshire (now Leeds) Playhouse, describing which the Times reviewer called him “the Dudley Moor”.
LOI STABLEST
(I see below the puzzle in the paper that The Times are HIRING, seeking a crossword editor to take the place of the greatly-missed Richard Rogan.)
Would have completed this quicker if I’d not been handicapped by being convinced 6d was PAYEE (‘been’ exposed – ee – after pay – fund). SWEEPER didn’t come easy, either, so the NE was a blank for a long time. Finally crossed the line in 56 mins, unsure whether I was more irritated with the setter or myself. Liked HANSARD and STABLEST, though.
18.45, wondering whether smart fashions are NOBBY styles.
Many thanks, PJ, for the Britten spoof ( which I think I can sing from memory!), which has set me wondering whether such comedy would be accessible to modern audiences for whom the pool of shared knowledge is perhaps rather shallower.
At least partly because the audiences are much larger.
A lot of modern lampoons public figures, including public musical figures, no? I think we don’t anymore have figures like Bernstein, Britten and Pears, Irving Berlin maybe? who bridge the gap between theater/art music and the truly popular. But well known popular artists are definitely parodied.
I think this is at least in part because the definition of ‘truly popular’ has changed. I’m sure the audience for Beyond the Fringe was much smaller and more refined than the modern-day audience for Strictly or whatever.
They probably read books, at least.
All went well enough on this pleasant puzzle, but (as is so often the case) I put my last two or three in without understanding them. HIRING = staff building? Oh, staff-building. Why did the setter have both s and wee for small in 6ac, and ‘individual’? Helpful blog. Liked the THREE-POINT TURN although my driving instructor always said there was no such thing, and you’re just turning the car round. SWEEPER very much a cricket word nowadays, in at least two senses. Hope there’s play at Lord’s today, where I’m headed. 34 minutes.
Goos luck Wil, I just tuned in from Melbourne and it looks really miserable
Well they started late and the match was reduced to 39 overs each but otherwise everything went well — so far as I was concerned very well. I was impressed with the way Steve Smith, when caught at the wicket, strode off without waiting for an umpire’s decision.
It’s S and Weeper…
9:55. I started very slowly on this, with only four or five answers after my first go at the acrosses, but picked up speed before slowing down again in the NE.
If someone had said I was NOBBY before today it would have resulted in an unfortunate misunderstanding.
I don’t think it could be said of you (or any person); only of your clothing. “It’s a nobby hat that that scruffy chap is wearing” would be a sentence which works, though, I feel sure, never if directed towards your good self, Sir!
Indeed, the chances of me wearing a nobby hat are very slim indeed.
32:36, I was held up quite a long time at the end by PICCOLO where I had pencilled in ECHO in the middle and only saved myself by taking that out and having a rethink, when suddenly all was clear.
I agree with others this was a very good puzzle with just the right level of challenge.
Many thanks setter and blogger
PS did everyone notice the typo at 25dn?
I’d mentioned it in my blog.
Yes saw that now sorry.
PS thanks for the blog without which I’d never have got how the three point turn worked, which would have been a shame as it’s really good
Never saw the excellence of THREE POINT TURN – thanks Jeremy and bravo setter!
Steady progress for me. ACETYLENE LOI after NOBBY gave me the much needed Y.
18:08
Ditto re THREE POINT TURN
Just in case you’re crazy enough to attempt the Luxury Crossword today, it might be worth knowing that there’s a misspring in 37d, which should refer to 44d.
Thank you +jeremy for 17a Three Point Turn; I had no idea how it worked.
I felt it was a wee bit more approachable than yesterday’s for which I was grateful.
23:15 – very entertaining despite some picky misgivings. I thought the ELBOW ROOM clue was simply a rather weak cryptic definition and flat defined as tyre seemed a little odd, but I can appreciate the point of the latter at least.
11:47, a nice puzzle to end the week. NOBBY was my last one in, but I eventually thought of the right starting letter.
PS. Magoo has the highest personal NITCH I think I’ve seen today – I assume he was rudely interrupted, or on CtC duty and inadvertently submitted on leaderboard.
Whizzed through this, but left several unexplained answers in its wake. Many tx Jeremy for the explanations. Yes, NEST->SENT v clever.
24.06. Rather better than the struggle of yesterday. Could have been a lot worse as I got twitchy with lack of progress and initially had world view rather than elbow room. Fortunately crossers later saved me from disaster. Same fault found me thinking propylene was the gas.
Good puzzle but not a Friday beast. Always good to finish the week with a full house.
Thx setter and blogger.
Two goes needed.
– Like many others it seems, I didn’t see how THREE-POINT TURN worked
– NHO NOBBY=smart
– Took ages to get DETERMINATIONS, which I needed to be confident that ACETYLENE was right
– Had forgotten about ley lines for DUDLEY MOORE
No problem for me with ‘up’ as an anagrind. A while ago I learned on here that the phrase “The road’s up” can be used to mean construction/repair work is being done on a road, and that would make ‘up’ a perfectly legitimate anagrind alongside the other justifcations.
Thanks Jeremy and setter.
FOI Wok
LOI Nobby
COD Hansard (though THREE-POINT TURN is also very clever, now that I see how it works)
A most enjoyable puzzle. HIRING was my FOI followed by ROTTERDAM and SUM. ACETYLENE came next, but the rest of the NW resisted my efforts until much later. (natty, niffy nifty???). I needed NOTABLE(ha ha) before considering NOBBY, which I still spent time considering before deciding it had to be. The NE also took a while and didn’t yield until REARMOST changed my posited VIEW at 12a to ROOM, with ELBOW arriving slightly later. 14a raised a smile when I saw where the minions came in. THREE POINT TURN was biffed. Very clever! at 16d I was delayed by only thinking of Arab people and Studs until STABLE jumped out at me. Doh! Liked BRAINLESS. Finally back in the NW, Dud and HANSARD arrived and NOBBY was LOI. 22:50. Thanks setter and Jeremy.
43:25
I wouldn’t normally persevere so long, but this was a cracker: lovely PDM’s at regular intervals kept me going.
LOI SWEEPER after missing the hidden PICCOLO until the final O appeared.
In 10a, should ‘retreat’ not be underlined?
Thanks setter and Jeremy for explaining the nest device.
23:57 but with typos (x2)
I found this one straightforward for the most part but I couldn’t parse THREE-POINT TURN, and I entered both DUDLEY MOORE and TITHE BARN without trying to work out what was going on.
I’ve found this week quite the challenge so in spite of the pink squares I’m happy to finish on firmer footing.
Thanks to both.
11:46
No great problems with any of this, which I thought was succinctly clued and much easier than yesterday’s. Given how much pedantic twaddle MONOPOLY initiated last week I’m frankly amazed that the usual suspects aren’t crying foul over FLAT being an acceptable synonym for a tyre. “A flat is most definitely NOT a tyre”, “A tyre does NOT have to be flat” etc. etc. ad nauseam.
31:48
I did not understand how THREE POINT TURN worked, but just biffed it as the only manoeuvre that fitted. Thanks for explaining the nest part of the clue.
Despite having once listened to a lot of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore recordings, I spent a while trying to remember names of comedians with the surname Moore.
I enjoyed the cryptic definition of ELBOW ROOM.
Never heard NOBBY=smart, but in the end it had to be the answer.
Thanks Jeremy and setter
All. Correct and enjoyed it very much. I did about half over breakfast, then had gym. Did three or four clues and then got properly stuck. Walked into Cirencester and had tea, and managed to finish it. I liked the THREE POINT TURN clue, and BRAINLESS, which was second last in, brought on a wry smile.
Thanks for the excellent blog, and thanks setter for an excellent puzzle.
“Walked into Cirencester and had tea”
Love this — you sound like an 18th-century diarist!
Now there’s an idea!
Sweepers are the players with brushes on the ice in a curling game. The sweeping encourages the direction of the stone.
40 minutes, most of which was devoted to the top half of the grid. I knew NOBBY from ‘Where Did You Get That Hat?’ which I first heard in the Jeeves and Wooster TV show in the 90s, and which I still find myself singing at odd moments. They built songs to last in those days.
Thanks to the blogger for explaining THREE-POINT TURN. It’s a clever clue. But if there’s not the remotest chance that anyone will get it from the wordplay can it be said to be a good clue?
Tough but enjoyable Friday puzzle. Thanks setter.
To be fair, I absolutely did get THREE-POINT-TURN from the wordplay, although weekend guests meant that I only finished the puzzle and looked at the blog today. It was one of my first in, and I saw it as a version of the increasingly popular ‘cycling’ indications.
What happened to your cat profile pic, by the way??
25.01. Glad that I’m not the only one who couldn’t decipher the parsing of ‘Three Point Turn’.
29:02
NHO: NOBBY = smart
FTP: DETERMINATIONS, THREE-POINT TURN, ETHIC, TITHE BARN
Came through unscathed though.
Thanks J and setter