Solving time: 8:02
I think this is Heron’s second visit to the setters’ enclave, the first being for QC3160 at the beginning of December.
I enjoyed the challenge, picking up six or seven acrosses on the first pass, however my eyebrows twitched once or twice during the solve due to a couple of synonyms which, I felt, pushed the boundaries a little (see 8a and 7d).
However, I did think that 2d, 5d and 16a were together worth the price of entry.
Interested to know what you all thought…
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 | Huge tunnel blown up with ammo (10) |
| MONUMENTAL – Anagram [blown up] of TUNNEL with AMMO | |
| 8 | Walk quietly from edge to edge of edge (6) |
| TIPTOE – TIP (edge) TO the first (or last) letter [edge] of E{dge}
I had a question mark over whether TIP and edge could be synonymous. |
|
| 9 | Break tea urn in temper (6) |
| NATURE – Anagram [Break] of TEA URN | |
| 10 | Starts to play energetic sport for country (4) |
| PERU – First letters [Starts to] of P{lay} E{nergetic} RU (sport i.e. abbreviation for Rugby Union) | |
| 11 | Ancient civilisation taking on European expansion (8) |
| INCREASE – INC~AS (Ancient civilisation) containing [taking] RE (on) then E (European) | |
| 12 | Clergyman who might be seen on board? (6) |
| BISHOP – gently cryptic – a BISHOP might be seen on a chessboard | |
| 14 | Choice of mixing up elixir’s first two ingredients (6) |
| OPTION – POTION (elixir) with the first two letters (ingredients) swapped around [mixing up] | |
| 16 | Notes similarity of hosts for the audience (8) |
| COMPARES – Sounds like [for the audience] COMPÈRES (hosts) | |
| 18 | Feature in techno session (4) |
| NOSE – Hidden [in] in techNO SEssion | |
| 20 | Mail runs entertaining article in paper (6) |
| MANILA – Anagram [runs] of MAIL gives M~ILA, containing [entertaining] AN (indefinite article)
MANILA paper is a relatively inexpensive type of paper, made through a less-refined process than other types of paper, and is typically made from semi-bleached wood fibres. The manila component of the name originates from manila hemp (also known as abacá leaves), which was named after Manila, the capital of the Philippines. Beginning in the 1840s, recycled abacá rope fibres were the main material for manila paper. Towards the end of the 20th century, papermakers replaced the abacá fibers with wood pulp, which cost less to source and process. Despite the change in production material, “the name and colour remain.” |
|
| 21 | Quickly pull on fashionable jacket (6) |
| JERKIN – JERK (Quickly pull on) IN (fashionable)
A JERKIN is a man’s short close-fitting jacket, made usually of light-coloured leather, and often without sleeves, worn over the doublet in the 16th and 17th centuries. The origin of the word is unknown. |
|
| 22 | Doctor omits blame in process (10) |
| METABOLISE – Anagram [Doctor] of OMITS BLAME
This anagram doesn’t quite work… |
|
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 2 | He wanted some more cut fruit (5) |
| OLIVE – Remove final letter [cut] from OLIVE In the Charles Dickens novel, OLIVEr Twist, an orphan, driven by extreme hunger and forced by other workhouse boys, asks for another portion of gruel with the words, “Please, sir, I want some more.” |
|
| 3 | Account ruthlessly suppresses falsehood (7) |
| UNTRUTH – Hidden [suppresses] in AccoUNT RUTHlessly | |
| 4 | Regularly nervier the day before a festival (3) |
| EVE – Alternate letters of nErViEr | |
| 5 | Persistent chartered accountant after tax returns and debtor’s notes (9) |
| TENACIOUS – CA (chartered accountant) NET (after tax) all reversed [returns], then IOUS (debtor’s notes) | |
| 6 | Unit set fire to centre of forest (5) |
| LITRE – LIT (set fire to – past tense) then middle letters [centre] of {fo}RE{st} | |
| 7 | Servant returned company artwork (6) |
| FRESCO – SERF (Servant) reversed [returned] then CO (company)
Dictionaries appear to differ on whether SERF and servant are synonymous. A servant is hired to perform regular household or other duties, and receives compensation, while a SERF was a partially free peasant of a low hereditary class, slavishly attached to the land owned by a feudal lord and required to perform labour, enjoying minimal legal or customary rights. |
|
| 11 | Bring in social worker of influence (9) |
| IMPORTANT – IMPORT (Bring in) ANT (social worker) | |
| 13 | A biro’s broken making line on chart (6) |
| ISOBAR – Anagram [broken] of A BIRO’S
An ISOBAR is a line on a map or chart connecting points of equal atmospheric pressure. The etymology comes from the Greek words isos, meaning “equal,” and baros, meaning “weight,” indicating its function in representing equal pressure. ISOBARs are crucial for understanding weather patterns and are typically measured in millibars (mb) or hectopascals (hPa). |
|
| 15 | Hard-bitten drill-sergeant clutches strand of hair (7) |
| TENDRIL – Hidden [clutches] in Hard-bitTEN DRILl-sergeant | |
| 17 | Shape public relations ideology (5) |
| PRISM – PR (public relations) ISM (ideology) | |
| 19 | Pack contains four of these outfits (5) |
| SUITS – Mildly cryptic – a pack of cards contains four suits | |
| 21 | Work book (3) |
| JOB – Double definition | |
I couldn’t decide on METABOLISM or METABOLISE, and trusted the anagram, assuming there was some way in which METABOLISM is synonymous with “process”.
Otherwise I enjoyed this, although I didn’t parse OPTION and wasn’t convinced by NATURE=temper. Can you say good natured and good tempered?
‘Omits blame’ isn’t an anagram of ‘METABOLISE’ (nor is metabolise a process*), but it is an anagram of METABOLISM (which is). Surely this is an error. *on edit: but to metabolise is to process something
I got a pink square on METABOLISM, and I agree it must be a mistake. I assume the solution in the computer is METABOLISE (haven’t checked on the non-crossword-club version of the puzzle) but that is neither a correct anagram nor a match for “process”. Otherwise no issues. TIPTOE was my LOI.
Well, metabolise would fit the literal if process were a verb, but metabolism is valid if process is a noun. The anagram letters clearly point to metabolism. A large number of highly skilled solvers have one error, and that’s probably it. The scoring will be probably be corrected in the morning.
I found the whole puzzle rather difficult, with a few tough literals: temper = nature, notes similarity = compares, of influence = important, choice = option. All fair, but maybe a cut above the usual Quickie.
Time: 13:12
10 minutes for this very enjoyable puzzle. METABOLISM is clearly the intended answer at 22 across. As has been said already that’s where the anagram takes us and the definition works as a noun (confirmed by ODE) so I look forward to a correction appearing in due course.
11:29. I’m currently a victim of the METABOLISM error (I presume) at 22a. I liked this, particularly the mix of the not so difficult clues and the less common words such as JERKIN. Glad to have avoided the potential COMPERES trap.
Favourite bit was having PERU and the reference to the INCAS – apt surface- side by side in the fifth row.
Thanks to Heron and Mike