A Puzzle by ALP
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The puzzle is available by clicking on the above grid.
ALP having moved to my side of the NTSPP blogging rota, I abandoned the on-going processing of the East Kent apricot mountain to solve and review what I thought was the most difficult NTSPP (or indeed cryptic crossword) for some time. I spent far longer than ‘normal’ on this crossword and then, as the afternoon was fast disappearing, I revealed quite a few letters in order to get a completed grid and prepare the review
Across
1a Old writer fighting to be heard (5)
WAUGH: A homophone (to be heard) of some fighting gives us the surname of a British writer and journalist born in 1903 which definitely makes him an ‘old writer’
4a Versatile Elaine Paige's original cover of pop banger (9)
PINEAPPLE: An anagram (versatile) of ELAINE PAIGE and the ‘cover’ of PoP - this banger can be a bomb, or more commonly in crosswords, a hand grenade
9a Miss Turner has trapped wind after flipping pasta (7)
LASAGNA: The forename of Miss Turner the American actress into which is inserted (has trapped) a synonym for wind, the result then reversed (after flipping)
10a Collins' latest American dictionary defines Yankee as "person from a northern state" (7)
SAMOYED: The last letter of collinS, a two-letter abbreviation for American and an abbreviated dictionary into which is inserted (defines) the letter represented by Yankee in the NATO Phonetic Alphabet
11a Burst into tears emptying out Pelicot's cellar (5)
CRYPT: Burst into tears and the outside (emptying out) of PelicoT. Given events associated with someone with this surname, I’m not sure the surface reading and the use of the name is not particularly suitable for a crossword clue
12a Flash crook visits city in the UK? (8)
MONARCHY: A short period of time and a synonym for crook, the latter inserted into an abbreviated American city
14a Heavy metal is not One Direction! (8)
ORDNANCE: A direction or regulation without (not) the Roman numeral for one
16a Chalicea nearly puts out a terrible chestnut (6)
CLICHE: An anagram (terrible) of almost all of CHaLICEa without the first A
18a Animation is checked by film's number one fan (6)
EGOIST: The crossword setter’s most useful Spielberg film into which is inserted (checked by) some animation and IS (from the clue)
20a Clearly, arm curls end in you getting ripped and buff (8)
MUSCULAR: This is supposed to be an anagram (getting ripped) of ArM CURLS and the ‘end’ of yoU. Apparently clearly indicates that you remove the middle letter of arm
23a Sensitive Joe and Charlie go to France, initially ... (8)
ALLERGIC: The French word for go precedes (initially) an American soldier (Joe) and the letter represented by Charlie in the NATO Phonetic Alphabet
24a ... far from Paris, close to Limoges's private parts (5)
LOINS: The French (as used in Paris) word for far and the close to limogeS
27a Pancake filled with mostly fish sauce (7)
TABASCO: A Mexican pancake filled with most of type of fish
28a Audible's "Ultimate Mark Twain" is welcome (7)
EMBRACE: Sound out (audible) the M in mark and add a pair or couple (twain)
29a Silvanus exhausted solvers, primarily opting for cycling clues (9)
SIGNPOSTS: The outside (exhausted) of SilvanuS into which is inserted the primary letter of Solvers and a ‘cycling’ of OPTING
30a European escape is happening (5)
EVENT: The abbreviation for European and a verb meaning to escape
Down
1d Spring chicken's top and stockings principally need to be appropriate (4-6)
WELL-CHOSEN: A source of water (spring), the ‘top’ of Chicken, some stockings and the ‘principal’ letter of Need
2d Withdraw from country club, for example (5)
UNSAY: An abbreviated club of the world’s countries and an adverb meaning for example
3d Maybe eat what's served up? (4,3)
HIGH TEA: An anagram indicator followed by an anagram of EAT
4d Hurried to swallow pain meds here (8)
PHARMACY: An informal word for fast or hurried ‘swallows’ an injury (pain)
5d Creeping thing on the stairs? (6)
NOSING: The first definition is obvious and the BRB tells you it can also mean the projecting round edge of the step of a stair
6d Brutal Lamar almost did for Drake? (7)
ADMIRAL: An anagram (brutal) of LAMAR and almost all of DId
7d Visionary pal's novel receives backing from Hilary Swank (9)
PSYCHICAL: An anagram (novel) of PALS into which is inserted the ‘backing’ from hilarY and a synonym for smart (swank)
8d Go for a spin with Merckx? (4)
EDDY: Spinning water or the forename of M Merckx, the Belgian cyclist
13d Time mushroom picker retired, in hindsight (10)
RETROSPECT: A reversal (retired) of the abbreviation for Time, a type of mushroom and a picker
15d Explosive draw on tap (9)
DOODLEBUG: Draw, scrawl, or scribble meaninglessly and a verb meaning to tap or eavesdrop
17d Look for Queen Vic's killers (8)
BUTCHERS: Cockney Rhyming Slang for a look
19d Raises rampant Manx cats? (5,2)
STEPS UP: Reverse some cats, removing the ’tail’ as it is a Manx cat and add what cats are when they live in your house
21d Spooner's blinking bounder is a bore (7)
CALIBRE: I could see how the Reverend would say a slang euphemism for bxxxxy (blinking) but it wasn't until I read PostMark's comment on Sunday morning and had yet another go at saying the solution in different ways, that I finally 'saw' the bounder
22d These housing blocks might have problems with running water (6)
IGLOOS: You wouldn’t want this type of house to melt and producing running water
25d Picture that is all over Vogue? (5)
IMAGE: The abbreviation for that is ‘over’ an abbreviated publication such as Vogue
26d Murdoch's trucks held up in tense Turkmenistan (4)
UTES: What the Australian-born Rupert Murdoch would call truck is hidden in reverse in tensE TUrkmenistan
A real Toughie from ALP full of invention and clever touches which I really enjoyed (I’ll even forgive the 1a ‘homophone’).
I got held up in the SW corner until the 15d explosive dawned on me. I’m probably missing something but I can’t quite make the 20a anagram work.
I thought that 14a really needed “metal’s” rather than ” metal is”.
I have loads of ticks including the LOL 9a, 12a, 28a and 3d with my favourite being 23a.
Many thanks to ALP.
There is a spare R in the anagram fodder
Not to everyone’s taste I know, but “clearly arm” = A[r]M here. In my world anyroad!
Unless ‘clearly arm’ means clearing out the centre of arm ?
Sorry ALP – retired hurt, too much of a Toughie for me.
Thanks anyway and I will await Stephen L’s review with interest.
ALP has moved to my side of the blogging rota so I’m currently trying to sort out the review of this Toughie
Thanks CS – I will await your review with interest!
I had to reveal a lot of letters and still don’t understand several of my answers. Think I’ll just have to accept that your compilations are well out of my league, ALP, but thank you anyway. At least I gave it my best effort!
Some way beyond my solving abilities, ALP. I gave this a pretty solid chunk of time but have had to retire hurt at about two thirds complete and will await the CS explanations in due course. Of those I solved, 10a, 28a, 1d, 6d and 13d are my picks. Bit of an eyebrow for the Spoonerism: you need to be pronouncing things in a very particular way for the device to work but maybe you do.
Thanks
PM
To paraphrase part of CS’s introduction, “As the afternoon was fast disappearing, I needed a little wordfinder help in order to get a completed grid.” Even then I couldn’t parse some of the answers. I did manage to unpick the spoonerism, although I thought the reverend’s pronunciation a bit odd.
Thanks, though, to Alp – and to CS for the explanations.
13d word for word in the Independent’s Sunday July 6 grid (10a) by Filbert. Is there a connection?
Welcome to the blog
HUGE thanks to CS for her steely perseverance/tolerance and sincere apologies for messing with your apricot (how delicious) schedule. Humble nods to everyone who gave it a bash. To sofamore @6: yes, I spotted Filbert’s clue in today’s Indy too. No connection/collaboration, just random chance. There must be a million other ways to clue that word but, off the top of my head, I can’t think of any. Still, at least I was on the right lines with one clue! Ta lots all.
Breakfast was postponed to brunch today as this puzzle required two large mugs of morning tea! As with Gazza, the SW corner held out longest and I spent ages trying to dock a second “rampant cat” before getting the 18a checker and settling for an alternative construction. That said, parsing 14a was the PDM required to complete the puzzle – “not One Direction” being a nice bit of wordplay. I enjoyed the challenge of this somewhat quirky puzzle, some of the definitions being as cryptic as the wordplay rather than ‘just’ obscure synonyms. The nice thing about the NTSPP slot is the wide range of setter’s styles we encounter! There was quite a spectrum of surface readings, with my favourites being the smooth 10, 12 & 27 in the Across clues and 13, 17 & 22 in the Down clues. The Spoonerism also brought a smile once I’d figured it out!
Thanks to ALP for the tussle, and to CS for the review and confirming my 19d construction.
Thanks for the review Sue. I should have remembered how I started my comment on ALP’s first NTSPP:
‘ALP you nearly made it into the same category that I use for Radler – NTSPPs to be avoided.’
Many thanks for the review, CS, which brought back all the missteps I made whilst trying to solve this one!
Many thanks to CS for explanations. We definitely struggled with this puzzle and had to reveal many letters and even then we couldn’t always find the answer. Thanks all the same to Alp – we tried our best!