A lovely variation in clue difficulty today, from the very easy to the slightly tricky There are also some nice inventions with a couple of more unusual anagrinds and the clever HIDDEN AGENDA, which was a clear Clue of the Day for me. Or should that be obscure Clue of the Day? The neat surfaces got me wandering down a few bye-ways as I chewed over the clues and answers, which gave me an extra bit of fun. I hope you all enjoyed it as much. Thanks Tracy! How did everyone else get on? By the way, I’ll be out enjoying the Upper Teesdale countryside today, so may not be able to reply promptly to any comments or queries. But I’m sure there are plenty of others who will.
Definitions underlined in italics, (ABC)* indicating anagram of ABC, {} deletions and [] other indicators.
| Across | |
| 1 | Other pal made up excess (8) |
| PLETHORA – (Other pal)*. I saw it was an anagram, but couldn’t see the answer straight away so I left revisiting it until I had all the checkers. I always thought plethora just meant a large amount rather than too much. But I was wrong! | |
| 5 | Join indefinite number in outfit (4) |
| KNIT – N is the indefinite number. Put it in KIT (outfit) to get a joined up answer. And how to make your outfit, perhaps? | |
| 9 | Made tea, we hear, for children (5) |
| BROOD – “We hear” signposts that this is a homonym. If you made some tea, you would have brewed it… My brood like tea, but not brewed too much. A quick dunk of a tea-bag is enough. | |
| 10 | Shortage female in charge discovered in tight diet (7) |
| DEFICIT – This is a little trickier… You take F (female) + IC (in charge) and put them in (diet)* [tight] to discover the shortage. If you are wondering about the unusual anagrind, think of ‘tight’ as in ‘drunk’ (and disorderly). | |
| 11 | Eggs: run out by start of evening (3) |
| ROE – RO (run out) + E{vening} [start of]. All together now…. Chick, chick, chick, chick, chicken…. lay a little egg for me. | |
| 12 | Moving, large book about Scottish island lake (9) |
| EMOTIONAL – Did anyone else biff this from the checkers? If so, you may have missed out on the neat wordplay. The large book is a TOME, turn it about and add IONA (the Scottish island) and L (lake). | |
| 13 | Comic book character, an officer’s personal servant (6) |
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BATMAN – Double definition. Batman’s batman, of course, is |
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| 15 | Detailed statement about harbour (6) |
| REPORT – Don’t overcomplicate this by looking for a word for ‘statement’ to take the end off (as I did at first). It is simply RE (about) + PORT. | |
| 17 | Enter nervously following insensitive political address? (6,3) |
| NUMBER TEN – Another one I biffed from the checkers. Ignore the enumeration to construct NUMB (insensitive) with (Enter)* [nervously] after it [following] to get the PM’s house. I once was passing the gate at the end of Downing Street and saw a Domino’s Pizza delivery scooter stopped and the rider talking to the policeman on guard. It made me wonder if someone had been playing a practical joke! | |
| 19 | Make a mistake in bumper race (3) |
| ERR – Hidden in bumpER Race. What is a bumper race, I hear you ask? (as I did). “A bumper is a Flat race run under the rules of Jump racing. It is designed for horses who have not previously run on the Flat to get experience of racing. Horses who have previously raced in flat races are not eligible to run in bumpers.” So now you know. And so do I. | |
| 20 | Cover point perhaps made by fine senior member about island (7) |
| FIELDER – We all saw this was a cricket clue immediately, didn’t we? F (fine) + ELDER (senior member) with an island I in the middle. | |
| 21 | Saw Medical Officer, tot poorly (5) |
| MOTTO – MO (Medical Officer) + (tot)* [poorly]. No, not the sawbones sort of a saw. | |
| 22 | Legendary creature, until now, first in index (4) |
| YETI – YET (until now) + I{ndex}. But by no means an abominable clue. | |
| 23 | NI county players in blue (8) |
| DOWNCAST – DOWN (the county) + CAST (the players of a play). “In” is just a linking word, but it makes a nicely deceptive surface. It made me wonder who plays in blue… It’s not County Down, but Fermanagh. | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Local fare? (3,4) |
| PUB GRUB – Cryptic Definition (hence the question mark). | |
| 2 | Run away with girl once writer’s gone (5) |
| ELOPE – The girl in question is {Pen}ELOPE. Drop the writer from the front and run away with her. | |
| 3 | Ulterior motive: what collagen database has in it? (6,6) |
| HIDDEN AGENDA – This is a beauty! Look at the collAGEN DAtabase. See what it has HIDDEN in it? | |
| 4 | Was up on back of bronco in riding exhibition (5) |
| RODEO – RODE (Was up) + {bronc}O. How long can you stay ‘up’ on a bucking bronco? | |
| 6 | Old knight upset a name in Conservative party? It’s not possible (2,3,2) |
| NO CAN DO – This is a bit tricky for a QC, I think. Can you parse it? Yes it is possible. O + N (Old knight) going upwards [upset] + A N (a name) inside a C (Conservative) DO (party). Sneaky trick in splitting “Conservative Party”. Something to watch out for in future… or even the very next clue… | |
| 7 | The whole time a lot developed (5) |
| TOTAL – (T + a lot)* [developed]. Here’s another where you could get misled – the definition is not ‘The whole time’. | |
| 8 | Commend a fine new novel (2,4,3,3) |
| OF MICE AND MEN – (Commend a fine)* [new]. A perenniel set text for GCSE English, it would appear. Well all 3 of my children have had to read it! (But I confess I haven’t). The book by John Steinbeck, published in 1937. | |
| 14 | Violent storm encountered on the way up – bother! (7) |
| TEMPEST – Encountered is MET, reverse to make it go [on the way up] and add the PEST (bother). Today’s crossword’s weather forecast, perhaps? Not for today on my way up Teesdale, I hope. That would be bothersome! | |
| 16 | Prove vase nicked by hawker (4,3) |
| TURN OUT – The hawker is a TOUT, and the vase is an URN. which he [nicked] by surrounding it… which turns out to be a crime. Case proven! | |
| 17 | Providing temperature in New York is fine (5) |
| NIFTY – IF (Providing) + T (temperature) in NY. A particularly fine clue, perhaps? By the way, the NIFTY50 is an Indian stock index. | |
| 18 | Initially ten, approximately, in trunk (5) |
| TORSO – T{en} [initially] + OR SO (approximately). Now I hope that’s not about 10 bodies in a big suitcase. | |
| 19 | Spare more (5) |
| EXTRA – Double definition. I’ll spare you any more explanation than that. | |
I wondered between PUB GRUB and PUB FOOD for 1dn as both are in common usage in the UK. The former may not be known beyond these shores although it’s still the better answer (and the correct one as things turned out).
The comedian Eddie Izzard in his heydey (i.e. before he became a political bore) used to do a wonderful routine on the subject of the “best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men”. If anyone’s wondering, the line is taken from Robert Burns’ poem “To a Mouse”.
Edited at 2018-06-22 06:45 am (UTC)
An entertaining end to the week
I’ve only seen PLETHORA in actual use in The Three Amigos:
El Guapo on his birthday: Jefe, would you say I have a plethora of piñatas?
Jefe: A what?
El Guapo: A plethora.
Jefe: Oh yes, El Guapo. You have a plethora.
El Guapo: Jefe, what is a plethora?
Jefe: Why, El Guapo?
El Guapo: Well, you just told me that I had a plethora, and I would just like to know if you know what it means to have a plethora. I would not like to think that someone would tell someone else he has a plethora, and then find out that that person has no idea what it means to have a plethora.
I liked the plethora of piñatas. Thanks.
Thought I was on for a speedy time but came to an abrupt halt in the SW … this turned out to be because I was reading the clue for 20ac (7 letters) as the clue for 22ac (4 letters) and thus wasted 5 minutes wondering how on earth a 4 letter answer could justify such a long clue! Durrr. So not speedy in the end and I’m guessing 3.75 Kevins.
What a lovely day to be going for a proper walk. Much more fun than sitting in a commuter train.
Templar
Did this immediately after yesterday’s QC. Within a couple of secs of plett11 but no Kevin today to measure against. John
Nakrian kickiat.
Collins says:
“A wise saying, maxim, or proverb
Word origin of ‘saw’
Old English sagu a saying; related to saga”
PlayUpPompey
Should have got 23a quickly as last year’s golf trip was to County Down.
About 18 minutes. David
Also a pesky typo with nifyy for 17d.
Last few were pub grub, which I will be returning to in a week, batman, hidden agenda (cod) and plethora.
Only quibble is nervously for the anagram indicator, otherwise very enjoyable.