Solving time: 6:05
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Filling in today for Doofenschmirtz who is abroad, this puzzle is generally on the straightforward side, though I do wonder whether 3a might catch a few out, as there is also a Custard Apple.
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When we were first married, my wife inherited a set of 7d furniture which ended up getting ripped to shreds by our dogs. Cost an absolute fortune in repairs….!
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How did you find find it?
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Definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and substitutions are in curly brackets} and [directions in square ones]. The tilde ~ indicates an insertion point in containment clues.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Male sheep turned to face English horse (4) |
| MARE – RAM (Male sheep) reversed [turned to face] E (English) | |
| 3 | Apple and fish for celebrity to tuck into (7) |
| COSTARD – Insert [tuck into] STAR (celebrity) into CO~D (fish) . The now-thought-to-be-extinct COSTARD apple was popular in medieval England, and was probably used as a cooking apple. . The apple gave its name to the costermonger (which was originally “costard monger”, a seller of costards), a term used to describe a transient fruit seller. |
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| 8 | Female who’s joined someone’s son at a match (8-2-3) |
| DAUGHTER-IN-LAW – ‘at a match’ is a mildly cryptic indication for a wedding. | |
| 9 | Observe some of those experts (3) |
| SEE – Hidden [some of] in those experts | |
| 10 | A man is one acting on behalf of others (5) |
| AGENT – A GENT (man) | |
| 12 | Once again deal with unwanted military manoeuvre (7) |
| RETREAT – To deal with once again would be to RE-TREAT | |
| 14 | Listener’s part involved a murder (7) |
| EARDRUM – Anagram [involved] of A MURDER | |
| 16 | Panic with leader deposed? That’s wrong (5) |
| ERROR – |
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| 17 | Tool everyone picked up (3) |
| AWL – Sounds like [picked up] ALL (everyone) . Homophone or aural wordplay? You decide… . (I’m inclined to the latter) |
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| 20 | Opposing money allowance — student studying hard needs it (13) |
| CONCENTRATION – CON (Opposing) CENT (money) RATION (allowance) | |
| 21 | What is left in lodge outside university (7) |
| RESIDUE – RESID~E (lodge) containing [outside] U (university) | |
| 22 | Birds contributing to the music (4) |
| EMUS – Hidden [contributing to] in the music | |
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Control way something is done with speed (8) |
| MODERATE – MODE (way something is done) with RATE (speed) | |
| 2 | Big defeat — manager finally dismissed (4) |
| ROUT – Last letter [finally] of {manage}R then OUT (dismissed) | |
| 3 | Smart class getting rid of idiot always (6) |
| CLEVER – CL . In the 16th century, CLEVER meant “handy, dexterous, having special manual ability,” possibly influenced by Old English clifer “claw, hand” (early usages of which seem to refer to dexterity). The extension to intellect is first recorded in 1704. . In his dictionary of 1755, Dr Johnson described CLEVER as “… a low word, scarcely ever used but in burlesque or conversation” |
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| 4 | Eight new lads misbehaving pretend to be ill (5,3,4) |
| SWING THE LEAD – Anagram [misbehaving] of EIGHT NEW LADS . Where does the term SWING THE LEAD come from? Before sonar was invented, ships would determine the depth of the water by posting a sailor at the bow of the ship with a lead weight attached to a long rope. The rope would have a knot at every fathom (6 feet). The sailor’s job was to swing the weight forward into the water and, when the ship passed directly over the weight, determine the depth of the water. As retrieving the lead weight was hard work, a lazy sailor might continually swing the lead as if about to release it, but only doing so if he thought he was being watched. Therefore, a sailor who was swinging the lead was being lazy. |
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| 5 | Welcome signal, nothing obscure (3-5) |
| ALL-CLEAR – If nothing is obscure, then it is ALL CLEAR . The ALL-CLEAR would be a very welcome signal following a wartime air raid, indicating that people could emerge from their shelters. |
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| 6 | Blue feathers (4) |
| DOWN – Double definition | |
| 7 | Provision for someone to sit in Derbyshire town (12) |
| CHESTERFIELD – The first part of the clue refers to the CHESTERFIELD sofa . Seeking a piece of furniture that combined both comfort and elegance, local craftsmen were tasked in the 18th century by Lord Philip Stanhope, the fourth Earl of CHESTERFIELD, with creating what became known as the CHESTERFIELD sofa. With its distinctive features including deep button tufting, rolled arms, and high backrest, the CHESTERFIELD quickly gained popularity among the aristocracy as a symbol of sophistication and luxury. |
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| 11 | What is made by grannies working? (8) |
| EARNINGS – Anagram [working] of GRANNIES | |
| 13 | Period in America, end point of travel (8) |
| TERMINUS – TERM (Period) IN US (America) | |
| 15 | Fellow hiding holy books in cloak (6) |
| MANTLE – MA~LE (Fellow) containing [hiding] NT (holy books i.e. abbreviation for New Testament) | |
| 18 | Back of his vehicle shows evidence of damage (4) |
| SCAR – Last letter [Back of] of {hi}S, then CAR (vehicle) | |
| 19 | Company not likely to collapse (4) |
| FIRM – Double definition | |
3 hours (!!!!!!!!!) on 15 x 15, only to fail by one clue! It was the easiest clue of the lot and I messed it up. What an idiot!
No sense of accomplishment, just the feeling that I’m wasting my time if that’s the best I can manage.
☹️
I nearly fell for the custard apple, but fortunately realised the error of my ways. Of course, with an Izetti, the instructions are really quite clear, so even an unusual word can be extracted, and – like Mike L – I don’t mind the occasional one! I had heard of a costard, but didn’t entirely know what it was – how interesting about the costermongers 😊 Apart from that, I fairly whizzed through this – a super puzzle.
6:25 I can write a bit faster, but not much, particularly if I want it to be legible! So it was A Good Day.
FOI Mare LOI Firm COD Daughter-in-law (partly because I have a new one!) but I liked Swing the lead very much too. (More interesting facts from Mike – thanks)
Thanks to Izetti and Mike
A rare sub-5 despite not having heard of COSTARD and considering custard and having not heard of SWING THE LEAD.
COD ROUT
12:41 here, but with one error. Like others, I went with the heard-of apple and the unknown fish, rather than the other way around.
Thanks to Mike for covering for me this week, and to Izetti for the puzzle.
I knew Costard so avoided that error. Thought this very straightforward from Izetti but he is always precise and a joy to solve.
FOI 1a mare
LOI 19d firm
COD 20a concentration
Quick, for me!
4:09. I remembered COSTARD so that went straight in. Thanks Mike and Templar for the discussion of archaic term “SWING THE LEAD”. LOI RESIDUE as I had a perfectly reasonable SCAB at first. Anyone else find that alternative answer? Thanks Izetti and Mike.
Too late for anyone to care . . . But I thought FULLSTOP a reasonable cryptic translation of american period . . .
Saw the light eventually.
Philip
Thanks for the blog.
Regardless of whether your explanation (which I’ve heard before) is correct, how does “swing the lead” mean “pretend to be ill”? I’d always understood it to mean “pretend to be busy”.
I was sure that the “way something is done” of 1A was an M.O., leaving me struggling way too long to find a word starting with D to mean speed.
NHO swinging the lead, but once all the crosses were in, there weren’t many other options! Thanks for the history.