Rookie Corner 562 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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Rookie Corner 562

A Puzzle by Munkleton

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +


The puzzle is available by clicking on the above grid.

As usual, the setter will be delighted to receive feedback from you, the solvers. We do ask that you remember that for most setters this is a new experience, so please only offer constructive criticism.

Welcome to Munkleton with their debut crossword.  As I downloaded the “.puz” file directly on my phone the preamble did not appear before I solved the crossword and there were many mutterings of clues needing a definition.  However, looking at the blog this morning resolved that issue!  The relevant clues are highlighted in green.

I thought that this was tricky in places but with some inventive cluing, particularly the use of deflated in 1d.  As commentators have noted there are a number of rough edges that need to be smoothed out in the next puzzle.  The commentometer reads as 6.5/29 or 22.4%

Across

1a  Firm‘s endless  rip-off by agent (6)
CRISPY: A four-letter word meaning to rip off or copy followed by a three-letter word for a secret agent.

4a  Help mastermind partial withdrawal in trial (6)
SAMPLE: The answer is hidden (partial) and reversed (withdrawal) in the first two words of the clue.  Partial withdrawal on its own does not quite work.  Perhaps with partial withdrawal or partially withdrawing would be smoother.

8a  Awkward replays (7)
PARSLEY: An anagram (awkward) of REPLAYS.

9a  Spooner’s wetlands might stifle blaze? (7)
FIREMEN: A Spoonerism of MIRE FEN (wetlands).

11a  Description of one that enjoys the undefined but will also 4, 1 bacon? (10)
OMNIVOROUS: Someone who eats both herbs (the undefined) and meat.

12a  Unprincipled French artist rejected (4)
SAGE: Remove the first letter (unprincipled) from the name of a French artist and reverse the remaining letters (rejected).

13a  Question for audience to get into (5)
WHERE: A homophone (for the audience) of wear (to get into).

14a  Never-ending modern cigarette that is most flavourless (8)
VAPIDEST: A four-letter word for an electronic cigarette without the last letter (never-ending) followed by the full spelling of the Latin for “that is”.  Try to avoid wordplay indicators that are closely related such as endless (1a) and never-ending here.

16a  Prayer beads take up space (8)
ROSEMARY: A six-letter word for prayer beads includes (take up) a two-letter word for a printer’s space.  The cryptic grammar does not quite work here.  The clue resolves to A take up B when it should be A takes up B.  Perhaps “Prayer beads taking up space” would resolve this.

18a  Driver of taxi cab shows flesh underground (5)
TUBER: The first letter (driver) of taxi followed by a colloquial expression for a taxi from the firm that runs them.  I think that somewhat like Hoover, the name of the company has become synonymous with the service or product that it provides.  However, I don’t think that “driver of” works as an initial letter indicator.

20a  Combine ingredients of caramel dessert (4)
MELD: The answer is hidden (ingredients of) in the final two words of the clue.

21a  Friendliness exhibited in concentration on city without capital (10)
CORDIALITY: A seven-letter word for concentrated juice followed by the final three letters (without capital) of city.

23a  I get into shape, regularly clad in synthetic material (7)
FORMICA: The I from the clue inside (get into) a four-letter word for shape and the odd letters (regularly) of clad.  There is a problem with the cryptic grammar here.  I in the surface reading functions as a pronoun but in the wordplay is a single letter that requires “gets into” to work correctly (you could not grammatically say K get into shape….  The solution here is to use a construction “I may get into shape…”

24a  Example of  word group that has other meanings, or notions you muddle at first (7)
HOMONYM: The initial letters (at first) of the sixth to twelfth words of the clue.  I think that in the cryptic grammar “has” is doing double duty.  The construction of the clue is Definition that has Wordplay but “has” also provide the first letter of the solution.

25a  Conditional agreement key to argument (6)
ESCROW: A three-letter word for a computer keyboard key followed by a three-letter word for an argument.

26a  Viewpoint of street and endless church (6)
STANCE: The abbreviation for street followed by the first two letters (endless) of “and” and the abbreviation for Church of England.  Try to avoid repeating wordplay indicators.  Endless to remove the last letter was used in 1a.

Down

1d  Rivet from deflated armchair falling apart (5)
CHARM: An anagram (falling apart) of ARMCHAIR after removing the AIR (deflated).

2d  Trigger in start of sucker punches on Fury (7)
INSPIRE: The initial letters (start) of sucker and punches in (punches) a two-letter word meaning on and a three-letter word for fury.  Punches is doing double duty as an insertion indicator and one of the words to provide the initial letter.  Also, if you are indicating the first letters of two or more words, you need starts to.

3d  Rare observations in basic measure of climbing windflower (9)
PHENOMENA: The scale that measure the acidity or alkalinity (basic measure of) followed by a reversal (climbing) of another name for the windflower.

5d  Incorrect computation of current and mass (5)
AMISS: An anagram (computation) of I (current) MASS.  Whilst you can use abbreviations as part of the letters to be rearranged, it is better to use indicators that have the same letter as the full form of the word – for example bishop for B, otherwise it risks becoming indirect.  In this clue, current could be I or A (ampere).

6d  Satisfied rental contract in empty pad (7)
PLEASED: A five-letter word for a rental contract inside (in) the outer letters (empty) of pad.  Try to avoid using closely related wordplay indicators such as in (this clue) / into (23a).

7d  Redesign greeneries to use less energy and create something vitalising (9)
ENERGISER: A anagram (redesign) of GREENERIES with one of the E’s removed (to use less energy).  Whilst not wrong, it is unfortunate that the first five letters of energy appear in the solution.

10d  Transporters in caravan bearing east for old Norse centre (9)
CONVEYORS: A six-letter word for a caravan with O (old) replaced by E (east) followed by the middle letters (centre) of Norse.  Some editors will not accept centre on its own following a word, instead requiring X’s centre.

13d  Good females mostly full of flaws (9)
WHOLESOME: A five-letter word for females with the last letter removed (mostly) includes (full of) a five-letter word for flaws.

15d  Some might say it’s a small jacket, but it’s worn under a skirt (9)
PETTICOAT: A homophone (some might say) of PETTY (small) followed by a four-letter word for a jacket.

17d  Unlimited sex on loudspeaker is a problem for certain people (7)
ENDEMIC: A six-letter word for sex without the first and last letters (unlimited) on a three-letter word for a loudspeaker.  I don’t think that a microphone (the input) is the same as a loudspeaker (the output).

19d  14th sphere absorbs another two to create yet another? (7)
BALLOON: A way of describing by letter the fourteens sphere that includes (absorbs) another two letters shaped like a ball.

21d  Seeds are more or less approaching organic (in principle) (5)
CACAO: The abbreviation for more or less and (repeated) approaching followed by the first letter (in principle) of organic.  As with 12a, I don’t think you can use in principle to indicate the first letter as the in changes the sense in which principle is used.  Perhaps principally would work better.  The clue also resolves in the cryptic reading to definition are wordplay, which does not work.  Perhaps seeds maybe…

22d  Tucked into healthy meal (5)
THYME:  The answer is hidden (tucked into) the final two words of the clue.


17 comments on “Rookie Corner 562
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  1. We started off very slowly and almost gave up with nigh on empty grids. Then we got a couple in the SE which whetted our appetite and encouraged us to keep going. So glad we did as we found this a very clever well put together puzzle that was an absolute joy to solve. Finding the four undefined answers has given us both a delightful earworm for the afternoon so these have to be our favourite. Suspect that Munkleton is far from being a first-time Rookie.
    Thanks and well done Munkleton.

  2. Welcome to Rookie Corner, Munkleton, with an accomplished and very enjoyable challenge. I feel sure it is not your first cryptic puzzle.

    I was concerned when I saw the preamble. This is an unusual device and perhaps the first time it has been used in Rookie Corner. However, once I had the two checking letters in place for 12a, that led me quickly to the identity of the French artist and hence to the first undefined answer. That in turn immediately suggested the other three required answers and, as reported by the 2Ks, a delightful earworm.

    There were many very clever clues and some good disguises on show. I have only three clues with scribbles by them:

    -18a. I don’t think that you can use “driver” as a first letter indicator, and Uber is a company not a cab.
    -7d. It’s a pity that the first five letters of the word energy in the clue are the first letters of the answer. Also, as “greenery” means green plants, the plural “greeneries” seems slightly incongruous.
    -17d. A mic is not a loudspeaker.

    I had a plethora of ticks on my page with all of 9a, 12a, 13a, 23a, 25a, 1d, 13d & 19d earning double ticks.

    Very well done, Munkleton, and thank you for the fun. More like this soon please. Thanks too in advance to Prolixic.

    1. Unfortunately, I think ‘Uber’ can be a cab: I’ve heard far too many people say “We’ll catch an Uber,” when they mean they’ll catch a minicab they booked using the Uber app. As much as I don’t like it, that makes it a fair synonym in crosswords.

  3. Thank you so much to 2Kiwis and Rabbit Dave. Your feedback is very useful and I’m so pleased that it has been received well overall.

    I assure you this is my first puzzle, but I have been a blogger of the Financial Times cryptics for a number of years, giving me an advantage I suppose!

  4. Welcome Munkleton and thanks for a very enjoyable puzzle (which is surely not your first).
    I started slowly but the first undefined answer (22d in my case) gave me the other three which speeded up the process.
    5d seems to be verging on being indirect.
    I’ve ticked 1a, 25a, 1d (I liked ‘deflated’), 10d and 13d.

  5. Welcome to Rookie Corner Munkleton

    A very accomplished and crossword which took me a while to get started but once I’d solved 22d, I realised what the undefined had to be and that got me going

    Thank you and in advance to Prolixic

  6. Welcome, Munkleton.

    A lot of creativity and cleverness on display, but I also found several repetitions of wordplay devices and I felt some clues were over-ambitious. Overall, the crosses on my printed page outnumber the ticks unfortunately. I have no issue with certain solutions being undefined but, if a setter decides to include themed solutions in a puzzle, then I think having just four is a disappointingly small number.

    “Endless” was used twice and “never-ending” once, so alternatives ought to have been considered. “Principle” was repeated too, in 21d and 12a, as a first letter indicator, and “in”/”into” cropped up more than once as an insertion indicator. “Taking up” in 16a would have solved the cryptic grammar issue of having a plural verb in the surface reading. “I get into shape…” in 23a doesn’t work cryptically, but it would work if it read as “One gets into shape…”. I’d also prefer to see “partially withdrawing” in 4a rather than the existing construction.

    Like Gazza, I liked “deflated” in 1d, that and 13d I considered your best clues.

    I’d be very interested to see a second submission as, despite the flaws, this one contained a lot of promise. Many thanks, Munkleton.

  7. Like some other commenters, my first answer in was 22d which gave me a very good start where the undefined answers were concerned. Elsewhere I had rather more problems – is 14a a valid word and can someone please advise on the ‘rip-off’ in 1a?
    I’ll be interested to see another puzzle from you, Munkleton, at this moment the jury’s out regarding enjoyment for me.

  8. Thanks for the puzzle Mungleton. As others have a said, there’s a few rough edges that need polishing, but I enjoyed it overall. Favourites for me were 1d, 13d and 19d.

    Thanks again, and in advance to Prolixic.

  9. Thank you to everyone for taking the time to review and feed back on the puzzle. Lots of food for thought which is invaluable, and I have taken notes to work through for my next attempt.
    Despite re-reading my own clues numerous times, I missed quite a few things, but that’s what this forum is for, of course, so thank you again.

  10. For a debut RC puzzle I thought that was outstanding, even with those rough edges as noted above by Silvanus and which will need some polishing.

    Like the 2Ks I had a relatively slow start, but was helped by the lurker at 20a being my first answer, so when a few moments later 22d went in, sans definition, sage could only go in one other place and the two other linked clues fell quickly. From there it started to flow smoothly.

    I’m not usually a fan of themed puzzles or linked clues, but this worked so well and for me 11a was a podium nominee, alongside 1d and 9a, with many other runners-up.

    Thank you Munkleton for a super lunchtime challenge, I look forward to your next puzzle. Thanks also in advance to Prolixic

  11. Many thanks for the review, Prolixic. I wonder whether having been an FT blogger for some years is an advantage or a disadvantage? I’m sure it’s a challenging role at times but maybe gives a very one-sided view of crossword construction.

  12. Apologies for the delay in responding here, but a big thank you for the detailed analysis from Prolixic! Much appreciated, and I can now quite clearly see a few common points I had missed.

    A couple of thoughts for the record (I don’t expect a response):
    4a: ‘Mastermind’ was intended as a verb which I think works ok.
    18a: I accept that ‘driver of’ may not work as an initial indicator. I thought it might just be passable, so it was a calculated risk.
    2d: My intended parsing was:
    IN + S[ucker] P[unches] (start of) on IRE (fury). I can see that I need to pluralise ‘starts’, thank you, but ‘punches’ was not intended to function as an indicator.

    Thanks again – all commentary gratefully received, and I hope to be back here soon.

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