A fine puzzle by Oink which stretched me to 11 minutes after a bit of a delay in the south, where 16d, 22d and 21a held me up slightly. I expect to see some fast times from the regular solvers, but with a modicum of GK required, there may be some who struggle a little. Having said all that, I was much quicker today than yesterday, so I am feeling better.
Thanks to Oink, and please let me know how you all got on.
Across
1 Brontë’s governess married him somewhere in Kent (9)
ROCHESTER – Two definitions, the first referring to Edward Fairfax Rochester, who Jane Eyre married in Charlotte Emily Brontë’s eponymous novel, and the second referring to the town in the Medway Unitary Authority in Kent. I wonder if this gave Kevin a panic – he doesn’t usually like clues that define English towns by their county location.
6 Strange drink for a pirate?(3)
RUM – Straight into another double definition. Of course, it isn’t just pirates that drink rum – hence the question mark. Yohoho and a bottle of rum!
8 Idiot going round Brazil? (7)
NUTCASE – …and another DD (possibly). A NUTCASE might be wrapped around a Brazil (nut), as well as being an idiot.
9 Half of police are finishing early, freezing cold (5)
POLAR – Half of POL{ice} and AR{e} finishing early (drop the last letter).
10 Skilled worker sends a porter mad (12)
TRADESPERSON – Anagram (mad) of [SENDS A PORTER].
12 Nonsense poet’s lecherous look, they say (4)
LEAR – Homophone clue (they say) sounding like LEER (lecherous look). The poet was Edward LEAR who was an artist, illustrator, musician and poet – famous for writing The Owl and the Pussycat among other notable achievements.
13 Almost never coming back unruffled (4)
EVEN – NEVE{r} (almost never) reversed (coming back).
17 Captain Nemo somehow inspiring India’s liberation (12)
EMANCIPATION – Anagram (somehow) of [CAPTAIN NEMO] and I{ndia} (inspiring here meaning taking in).
20 Dish made by English on holiday (5)
TRIPE – TRIP (holiday) and E{nglish}. TRIPE might be a dish to our setter, but it is an abomination to me.
21 Report of rough sleeper crossing island (7)
DOSSIER – DOSSER (rough sleeper) containing (crossing) I{sland}.
23 Prawns occasionally cooked in this (3)
PAN – Alternate letters (occasionally) in PrAwNs to give the wordplay in this Semi &Lit clue where the whole clue forms the definition, and contains the wordplay.
24 Carry on being strict on representative from the east (9)
PERSEVERE – REP{resentative} reversed (from the east) and SEVERE (strict).
Down
1 Teacher unthinkingly grabbing smallest of the lot (4)
RUNT – Hidden inside (grabbed by) [teache}R UNT{hinkingly}. We start the down clues with Oink’s trademark piggy reference!
2 Group needing somewhere to sleep beside Great Lake (7)
COTERIE – COT (somewhere to sleep) and ERIE (Great Lake). A COTERIE is an exclusive circle or group.
3 Greek character cutting top off cheese (3)
ETA – {f}ETA (cheese with first letter removed). ETA is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet – I must get around to learning it one of these days. I already know most of the characters from maths.
4 One believing article is true at first (6)
THEIST – THE (definite article) and IS (is) and T{rue} (at first).
5 Speak for Royal Engineers in attendance (9)
REPRESENT – RE (Royal Engineers) and PRESENT (in attendance).
6 Goes for a spin in expensive car? (5)
ROLLS – Double definition, the second referring to a ROLLS Royce. The question mark is to indicate that other expensive cars are available – it is a definition by example.
7 Soldier reluctant initially to visit US state (6)
MARINE – R{eluctant} (at first) inside (visiting) MAINE (US state). Really, a Soldier and a Sailor Too. Soldier An’ Sailor Too by Rudyard Kipling (poetry.com)
11 Ridiculously priced hat – very unexpensive (4,5)
DIRT CHEAP – Anagram (ridiculously) of [PRICED HAT].
14 Controversial European given reason to act (7)
EMOTIVE – E{uropean} and MOTIVE (reason to act).
15 Keep quiet, as those in car should (4,2)
BELT UP – Cryptic hint referring to wearing a seat belt.
16 Reporter’s spotted a flycatcher (6)
SPIDER – Homophone clue (reporter’s) SPIDER sounds like ‘spyed a’ (spotted a).
18 Stranger has an entertaining story (5)
ALIEN – AN (an) ‘entertaining’ (hosting or containing) LIE (story).
19 Native American’s beliefs died out (4)
CREE – CREE{d} – remove D[ied} from CREE{d} (beliefs).
22 Woman in diocese undergoing change of heart (3)
SUE – Today’s random girl’s name is SUE, from changing the middle letter (change of heart) of SEE (diocese) to a random other letter (U replaces the middle E). I guess SHE is also a perfectly good answer.
Came here for the controversy… up until now my least favourite type of clue was one where a letter has to be changed to a random, unindicated letter. Now, my least favourite type of clue is one where as letter has to be changed to a random, unindicated letter, but there are two equally valid options (arguably in this case the ‘incorrect’ option was the better one).
In case it wasn’t clear, I put SHE. Adding insult to injury, I did it a second slower than Verlaine.
Another she for me.
Johnny Cash had a hit with a “Boy Named Sue” so I am happy with my answer.
Otherwise a good puzzle.
Having tried Gravesend and Sevenoaks, I recognised Rochester when I had Coterie. You’ll have guessed I am not a Bronte fan (nor Dickens)… but Trollope is good and keep thinking The Way We Live Now is about a certain Robert Maxwell… Anyway:
FOI 2d Coterie
LOI 20a Tripe
COD 11d Dirt Cheap simply because of the clever anagram.
This has me caught up after missing any chance to tackle yesterday’s QC until this afternoon.
Add me to the list having SHE for 22d. Clearly a better answer than a random female name and possibly more popular amongst the bloggers too.
25 mins today – stuck in the SE… I had SUE because I thought it was a hidden with a change of the middle letter (I think someone else above also saw it as a hidden). LOI TRIPE – stumped by ‘on holiday’ meaning ‘empty preceding word’ so didn’t think of TRIP. Spent ages looking for piggy reference before spotting RUNT. Tough one again today. Many thanks to Rotter and oink.
Enjoyed the puzzle, we had sue for 22d, did not consider she. Took time to remember Rochester for 1a. Thanks Oink.
9 minutes for a good day, albeit with She like so many others. A good job I do the puzzle for fun not as a competition or I might be slightly more aggrieved that Oink and I had different valid answers!
Many thanks to Rotter for the blog
Cedric
a nice puzzle
put Sue so ok there.
I thought sue/she was a Japanese dish
My joint 24th fastest ever time at 14:04. It would have been faster too had I not been held up in the SE corner, but at least I never thought of SHE. Lots to enjoy so thanks to Oink and Rotter.
I did this before going out in Chipping Campden this morning and thoroughly enjoyed it. I didn’t even think of SHE as a possible answer to 22d, so it didn’t spoil the solve, but am totally sympathetic to everyone who did. It’s 7 o’clock and still no word from setter or editor!
8:04. FOI Rochester (we were there only a couple of weeks ago – lots of Dickens stuff there) LOI Spider CsOD Rolls and Spider
Thanks Oink and (T)Rotter
Fingers crossed for a less EMOTIVE or controversial crossword tomorrow 🤞
I completed this but in an utterly embarrassing time (over the hour mark). Was going reasonably well, but then held up by 20ac/18dn and 24ac/19dn. Took ages to bring trip to mind and completely missed the wordplay for alien.
This delay was as nothing compared to the last two clues. I worked out the wordplay for 19dn, but just couldn’t think of creed for what seemed like an eternity. A similar story with persevere.
I’m finding the QC a struggle at the moment and, if anything, going backwards. Most of my recent times are reminiscent of the bad old days when I started. I will 24ac.
Thanks for the blog Rotter, entertaining as always.
Those of us who remember using a diary when we started playing this game, find nothing embarrassing (utterly or otherwise) about taking an hour over a crossword – and neither should you. Invariant
Thanks Invariant, duly noted.
12min, slowed down by TRADESPERSON for some reason and LOI NUTCASE.
Add me as another she for 22dn. Was glad to see that so many others had the same.
Found this very straightforward and like others wrote a question mark by SUE. I read it as a hidden with a swap of the letters E and U. I didn’t think of SHE. Whatever the original intention of the setter it needs a small improvement to disallow the other reading of the clue.
PS Haven’t posted here for some time due to house moving and renovations- found that my account was purged but have reclaimed it. Not sure if it will link with my old posts/pages.
Best
Woodspiral
Still an amateur, occasionally breaking 30 mins but at Toronto airport and had to comment on Canadian bacon. As a grad student in the ‘80’s we were taken in by a kindly B&B couple who asked us subsequently to act as hosts when they were on holidays. I served up good Irish/British cooked bacon and was promptly told to put it back on until it was burnt/crisp! Lesson learnt.