Solving time: 7:25
An intriguing puzzle with some cleverly assembled answers, particularly amongst the downs – in comparison, the acrosses seemed much gentler.
I particularly enjoyed working out 1d, 6d and 15d, but my COD today goes to 17a for the smile it put on my face.
How was it for you?
Definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and substitutions are in curly brackets} and [directions in square ones]. The caret ^ indicates an insertion point in containment clues.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Kind lady finally shot sweet thing (6,4) |
| BRANDY SNAP – BRAND (Kind) then last letter [finally] of {lad}Y then SNAP (shot i.e. a photograph) | |
| 7 | Send off for skirt, out of book (5) |
| ORDER – |
|
| 8 | Motive in About a Boy (6) |
| REASON – RE (About) A SON (Boy) | |
| 10 | University charging millions and millions for parent (3) |
| MUM – U (University) inserted into [charging] M (millions) and M (millions) | |
| 12 | Importing fish primarily, I create a fishy eatery! (9) |
| CAFETERIA – Anagram [fishy] of I CREATE A containing [importing] the first letter [primarily] of F{ish} | |
| 13 | Flog rubbish, banking last of cash (6) |
| THRASH – T^RASH (rubbish) containing [banking] final letter [last] of {cas}H | |
| 14 | Resident in Pune, pal is Asian (6) |
| NEPALI – Hidden [Resident in] in Pune pal is | |
| 17 | Delicate items with knowledge of feature, seemingly (9) |
| CHINAWARE – CHIN (feature) AWARE (with knowledge of)
Think the ‘seemingly’ is there only to improve the surface reading |
|
| 19 | Pop into orchard, a delight! (3) |
| DAD – Hidden [into] in orchard a delight | |
| 20 | Meat I am sadly returning (6) |
| SALAMI – IM (I am) ALAS (sadly) all reversed [returning] | |
| 21 | European city with nothing for lover (5) |
| ROMEO – ROME (European city) with O (nothing) | |
| 23 | Town he reviewed, dump generally (2,3,5) |
| ON THE WHOLE – Anagram [reviewed] of TOWN HE, then HOLE (dump)
I wasn’t convinced that dump = HOLE, however there are a few interpretations where if you squint enough, it works: 1) dump = rubbish tip, and hole = an excavated pit used for dumping waste. The meaning is essentially the same as both refer to a discard site rather than a physical shape. |
|
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Sweeper with block bagging duck, most unfortunately (10) |
| BROOMSTICK – BR^ICK (block) containing [bagging] O (duck) and anagram [unfortunately] of MOST
Parsed post-solve. |
|
| 2 | Help girl having lost head (3) |
| AID – |
|
| 3 | Points in driest ground where 100 buried (7) |
| DIRECTS – Anagram [ground] of DRIEST containing [where… buried] C (100 i.e. Roman numeral) | |
| 4 | Unkempt individual, rapscallion initially getting into scrape (6) |
| SCRUFF – First letter [initially] of R{apscallion} inserted [getting into] into SC^UFF (scrape) | |
| 5 | A bit away from others (5) |
| APART – A PART (bit) | |
| 6 | Epicure, fellow cutting fruit (8) |
| GOURMAND – MAN (fellow) inserted into [cutting] GOUR^D (fruit)
From Old French gormant meaning “a glutton.” Different from gourmet, which emphasises an individual with a refined, discerning palate and is more often applied to the preparer than the consumer of the food. |
|
| 9 | 10 or 19, the same either way? (10) |
| PALINDROME – The numbers here refer to the answers to 10a and 19a, both of which are PALINDROMEs i.e. read the same forward as backward | |
| 11 | Alarming changes for minor (8) |
| MARGINAL – Anagram [changes] of ALARMING
Example: “There was only a marginal/minor difference between the two proposals.“ |
|
| 15 | English relative stuck in tree, hairy thing! (7) |
| EYEBROW – E (English) then BRO (relative i.e. diminutive of brother) inserted [stuck in] in YE^W (tree) | |
| 16 | European hand is shaken (6) |
| DANISH – Anagram [shaken] of HAND IS | |
| 18 | Story needing no introduction popular — encore! (5) |
| AGAIN – |
|
| 22 | Low satellite finally disappearing (3) |
| MOO – MOO |
|
This was a toughie for me and I found a lot of the clues quite convoluted, especially BROOMSTICK, and CHINAWARE. Didn’t like brand/kind in BRANDY SNAP. GOURMAND was a write along with a few others but ON THE WHOLE, I thought there were a few escapees from the biggie today.
Thanks Mike and setter.
9:36 for me. LOI was the easy APART, which I didn’t get to until the end for some reason. The only minor holdup was at EYEBROW. I was fine with dump=HOLE.
Both a hole and a dump refer undesirable towns in the US – I don’t know if you have that slang meaning in the UK. On the other hand, we don’t have that meaning of scruff in the US.
I liked the puzzle, but ran through it pretty quickly, parsing most answers,
Time: 7:52
Yes, we do have that meaning of “hole” over here too (at least regionally).
13 minutes. A bit slow. No problem with ‘dump / HOLE’.
Hit trouble with FRIGHT for “unkempt individual”, with R into FIGHT (=scrape). “He looked an absolute fright after the storm”.
And decided BLOOMSTOCK must be a type of brush. I thought “bloodstock”fitted, so was working from that.
Whenever I see feature I try “chin”, but I really don’t understand why setters use this.
COD PALINDROME
Collins: features – the individual parts of the face
Now see I think PALINDROME is the worst clue on the board, and by a distance. Easily biffed and learning the parsing did nothing for me
Agreed!
7.40. I found some of these quite hard but biff-friendly, and became aware of the complexities in ON THE WHOLE, BRANDY SNAP (v tricky) and GOURMAND only when I came here. Also missed that 10 and 19 were pointing us at PALINDROMEs. Thanks Mara and thanks for the blog Mike, I’m still a bit confused by 6dn because, as the blog observes, a GOURMAND is not a gourmet and I thought epicure was much closer to the latter than the former…
Agreed! Cf. also Countrywoman1 below.
As ever, Mara’s puzzle is full of clever misdirection, so another morning of “oh that …..”. All done in an enjoyable 16.10 but needed Mikes help on a couple of parsings, thanks.
Like him, also had a big grin at COD chinaware, thanks Mara
Six on the first pass of acrosses after a long wait to get to MUM for my first one in. Bit dim on PALINDROME until I checked realised 10 and 19 meant clues not words and just slow to CHINAWARE. Made a right mess of BROOMSTICK, got ‘broom’ from sweeper then couldn’t make sense of the rest of the clue. Ended up all green in 13.41.
Plenty of gimmes to help with the handful of trickier clues (BROOMSTICK took a lot of fiddling around to unravel) and a big smile for CHINAWARE. No problem with dump/hole as they seem fairly interchangable to describe the various student houses I occupied in the dim and distant past.
Started with REASON and finished with ORDER in 6.55.
Thanks to Mike and Mara
17:31 Couldn’t thrash chinaware with that broomstick.
Ta MAM
BTW Closest W3W ///trash.unaware.broomstick
Oh, so easy when we read the blog.
15D EYEBROW- we dragged in Esau, echidna (prickly not hairy) and on we went -adding elm and elder to the mix – merrily off course for way too long.
The obvious BROOMSTICK was tricky for no reason. CHINAWARE and ORDER likewise.
Roundabout Here’s ‘clever misdirection’ comment summed it up for us.
Enjoyed – though BRANDY SNAP for whatever reason didn’t really please.
Thank you Mara and Mike H
4:58. I liked REASON and CAFETERIA best. Nice one Mara. Thank-you for that and Thank-you Mike for the blog
Couldn’t get either of the 1s to start with so slogged through the rest of it, returning every now and then to the 1s to see if they were now gettable. They weren’t, so after I’d solved everything else I sat and stared at them crossly.
BROOMSTICK came first, but more time lost trying to parse it (I couldn’t). Then BRANDY SNAP LOI. I didn’t like brand for kind, really, and to be honest found that a bit of a meh puzzle. I loved CHINAWARE, though!
All done in 08:51 for a Tough Day. Many thanks Mara and Mike.
Made heavy weather of this one but got there in the end. PDM with BROOMSTICK and wild guess with BRANDY SNAP helped. CNP ON THE WHOLE, though an early solve. Among LOsI were CAFETERIA, CHINAWARE (good clue) and PALINDROME.
Also liked EYEBROW, ROMEO and GOURMAND – though my dictionary confirms my MER and thoughts that an Epicure is a person of refined tastes, i.e. a Gourmet rather than a Gourmand.
Thanks vm, Mike.
I’m very much with you on GOURMAND. I might qualify as one such, given that I enjoy good food and drink despite repeated warnings from my GP about about the quantities I put away. I’m definitely not an epicure!
Lots of (just a bit too-) clever and misleading clues. Tough overall and, towards the end, I began to get frustrated with the misdirection and slightly iffy definitions (see posts above). Didn’t like BRO for relative, for example. Bro is more often applied to kindred spirits and ‘mates’ in social groups rather than relatives.
Like Templar, the 1s did not drop out and I moved to the RHS which I found just a bit more approachable. I finished a slow-ish solve with BROOMSTICK, CHINAWARE, and EYEBROW.
I bifd then parsed a few and will now read Mike’s blog properly to tie up my parsing.
Thanks both.
My sentiments too. Felt like some were 15×15 clues being tweaked into a QC and losing something in the surfaces which then felt a bit awkward. Several groans as I filled the grid. CHINAWARE particularly, did merit a smile. REASON was very smooth.
10:50
Enjoyed the cross-referencing.
FOI AID LOI CHINAWARE COD PALINDROME
Thanks both.
Surprised to finish in 11:30 as it felt slower. Took a moment to see how SALAMI and CHINAWARE worked. EYEBROW made me smile and failed to parse BROOMSTICK correctly.
COD to BRANDYSNAP.
Thanks to Mara and Mike.
My experience matched Blighter’s almost exactly, as I found this a puzzle where a fair number of clues could be biffed, but the parsing was more tricky. Both 1A and 1D fell into this category, as I solved both but then struggled to see Block = Brick or Shot = Snap. On the other hand I skated over the Gourmet/Gourmand debate as I’ve never known which is which anyway.
13:05 for the completion in the end, for a slow day and a fair reflection of a challenging puzzle. Many thanks Mike for the blog.
Surely a gourmet is one who will recognise, appreciate and savour the distinction between his sirloin and his fillet, whereas the gourmand will wolf both down irrespective but with huge enjoyment and licking his chops.
If he had chops on his plate as well as sirloin and fillet I suspect he’d wolf them down too, not just lick them.
From AID to CHINAWARE in 7:54. Never did parse BROOMSTICK. BRANDY SNAP was another late entry. Thanks Mara and Mike.
7:20, and I thought above average difficulty.
NHO BRANDY SNAP so that was LOI and slow.
But generally I liked this, and found it witty. Managed to parse BROOMSTICK in flight. I’m in the pro-PALINDROME camp, I enjoyed it.
Almost nothing (except MUM and DAD) went in quickly, but grim determination and concentration for an hour got me there, LOI EYEBROW. Couldn’t work out why BRANDY SNAP, thanks Mike.
18:15 – average time for me, but much biffing required to limp home. LOI PALINDROME once the 10 & 19 ignored. Several other dodgy clues too, as others have already pointed out.
Pleased with 15 in 30 minutes
Very pleased to have parsed 12ac with the PDM being there being an F in the word.
Thanks Scot’s home early
I needed 10.19 to finish this puzzle, just a little over target. I thought it was an excellent puzzle that was no gimme, but perfectly weighted for a QC. The main hold up was with my last two in, but eventually I thought of BRANDYSNAP and then worked out the parsing, enabling me to finish with BROOMSTICK.
Very pleasant chug through, not much speed but no hold-ups at all, and all parsed in flight.
Happy with all of the clues, possibly due to me being hazy about the difference between a gormet and a gormand. I always call my brother bro. (curiously he always calls me bruv). Numbers printed as numbers are almost always cross references so 9d no problem, although for a moment I wondered what word could have X and XIX in it (10 & 19).
Thanks Mara and Mike.
I got nowhere with the 1s and needed ORDER and AID to get going. BROOM arrived from an incorrect interpretation of the wordplay followed by BRANDY SNAP but the STICK part needed checkers and a rethink. I biffed PALINDROME and parsed later. My penultimate solve was GOURMAND. GOURD for a fruit never occurred to me and my LOI was the hairy EYEBROW. 8:12 with my COD to ON THE WHOLE. Thanks Mike
An episode of The Simpsons defined gourmand as: like a gourmet, only fatter.
Thanks – I will now know the difference for ever!
I had to ask Gemini to remind me of the meaning of epicure which forever in my mind is a pickled onion for some reason.
A brand of pickled shallots evidently…
And I don’t even like pickled onions. The only thing pickled I can tolerate is girkins and would never put vinegar on my fish and chips (!)
Like others, drew a blank with 1ac/d and, as usual, that set the tone for quite a challenging solve. The odd write-in certainly helped, but I was well off the pace before grinding to a complete halt with the Chinaware Broomstick pair extant.
An extra coffee over a read of the headlines helped clear the fog, and both quickly fell at the start of a second sitting. Overall, one to forget.
CoD to Reason for the smooth surface. Invariant
A tricky one, exacerbated by 1a and 1d both being complicated and (in my case) requiring lots of checking letters. Finished a bit over my average at 16:18 but made very heavy weather out of it.
Thank you for the blog!
A slow 24 minutes for me with all parsed except CHINAWARE. Had to dodge all over the grid to make progress. No MER at GOURMAND as I can never remember which is which between that and gourmet.
FOI – 8ac REASON
LOI – 1ac BRANDY SNAP – I was looking for something ending in t (finally shot)
COD – 12ac CAFETERIA
Thanks to Mara and Mike
I’ve already discussed GOURMAND in my response to Countrywoman earlier. I biffed BROOMSTICK, and am grateful to Mike for parsing it when I utterly failed to do so. Neither of these problems held me up.
FOI REASON
LOI AGAIN
COD BROOMSTICK*
TIME 3:23
*It would have been CHINAWARE, until Mike deconstructed the witch’s transport.
8:22 – thoroughly enjoyed a splendid crossword. Thanks M&M!
Funny puzzle! Initially very quick and then very complicated. PALINDROME didn’t feel cryptic at all to me, but I enjoyed ON THE WHOLE and was very pleased with EYEBROW (my COD). 38 minutes and I can’t blame the family for interrupting this one. Thanks to Mara and Mike.
This took some time with one or two being a challenge to parse. 9D took a while as I tried to find a word for parent that would fit!
Tricky in parts and the cuppa was quite cool by the time I had every clue parsed. Had to resort to writing down BROOMSTICK and giving it a hard stare before the penny dropped. Only then did I get CHINAWARE (LOI) to finish the puzzle with a grin. Much to like about it despite my slowness. BRANDY SNAP and REASON much liked also
Thanks Mara and Mike