Introduction
I found today's puzzle to have a moderate degree of difficulty with minimal unfamiliar vocabulary. I solved it completely and felt that I understood all the wordplay.
Today's Glossary
Some possibly unfamiliar place names, words and expressions used in today's puzzle
River Ouse - a river in England (actually, there are several rivers in England by this name)
biscuit - (Brit.) a cookie (you may remember that we saw this recently in another puzzle)
Today's Links
1. Crossword Ends in Violence (5) [DT 25836]: CEIV provides some solutions and explanations, but fewer than usual.
I found two questions on AnswerBank discussing today's puzzle.
2. AnswerBank [DT 25836]-a: 23d
3. AnswerBank [DT 25836]-b: 19ac, 20d
Revisiting Saturday's Puzzle
Before I get to today's puzzle, I still can't get a clue from Saturday's Cox and Rathvon puzzle out of my mind. For those of you who may have missed the blog on Saturday the clue was:
2d Hollywood actress split scrap in recession (7)
I did attempt to conjure up an explanation on Saturday, but the explanation seems to be so convoluted that I really must question its plausibility. Two other possibilities have since occurred to me:
1. The clue as published is incomplete or otherwise incorrect; or
2. It is an "& lit." clue which is described by Wikipedia as follows:
A rare clue type is the "& lit." clue, standing for "and literally so". In this case, the entire clue is both a definition and a cryptic clue. In some publications this is always indicated by an exclamation mark at the end of the clue.To fit this hypothesis, the clue when read one way would identify Ava Gardner and when read another way would be a cryptic clue leading to the solution GARDNER (e.g., using the wordplay concerning Teri Garr that I suggested on Saturday). However, I quickly hit a dead end when I tried to pursue this line of reasoning (or, maybe, I should say "unreasoning"). I don't think Ava Gardner split scrap in a recession.
Of course, maybe GARDNER is not the answer at all - which we will know when the solution is published this coming Saturday.
Commentary on Today's Puzzle
16ac Elegance about setter's face (6)
There is a fairly subtle point in the solution to this clue that I only fully appreciated after reading the posting on CEIV.
The clue parses as follows:
16ac Elegance [GR^ACE] about setter's [IM] /\ face [GR(IM)ACE] (6)
When "setter" appears in a clue, it usually transposes as "I" or "ME" (i.e., the setter of the puzzle referring to himself/herself in the first person). In this clue, "setter's" (meaning "setter is") transposes as "I'm" (meaning "I am").
Solution to Today's Puzzle
| Legend: | "CD" Cryptic Definition; "DD" Double Definition |
| "*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed | |
| "( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted |
Across
1ac BUT|TRESS_
5ac PROP|ER
9ac L|ANGUISH
10ac A|CROSS
12ac A|GREE(MEN)T
13ac PRIOR - DD
14ac C|LAD
16ac GR(IM)ACE - see discussion above
19ac A(CRONY)M
21ac _VENT - e[VENT]
24ac TUCKS~ - sounds like TUX
25ac CONS|TRAIN
27ac COOK|IE
28ac SABOT*|AGE - BOATS*
29ac LASHES - DD (with the second part being a cryptic definition)
30ac DE(MEN|T)ED
Down
1d BALL|AD
2d TUN(DR_)A - [DR]y
3d R|OUSE
4d S(US)PEND
6d RECEPTION* - {CREEP INTO}*
7d PROD|I|GAL
8d RESERVED - DD
11d STAG< - GATS< href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/gat">derived from the term "Gatling gun", the two weapons could hardly be more different. "Gat" is American gangster slang for a pistol which, of course, is a handgun, while a Gatling gun was a large carriage-mounted machine gun first used in the U.S. Civil War.
15d L|ANDSLIDE* - {IN SADDLE}*
17d NAUTICAL* - {A LUNATIC}*
18d PRECIOUS - DD
20d M|ACE
21d VIN|T|AGE
22d VA(CAN)T
The logic may be a bit fuzzy here - but that seems to be acceptable in cryptic crossword land. I think it runs thus: a bin is a container, a vat is a container, therefore a bin is a vat.
23d INTEND - jo[INT END]eavour
26d T|ROVE
Signing off for today - Falcon
GARDNER: I think you've got the right answer. I'm sure it's (REND = split + RAG = scrap), all reversed (= "in recession"). As you've got G?R?N?R from other answers, you'd be unlucky if there was another word to fit "Hollywood actress" or a totally different cryptic reading of the clue. This is the benefit for you of C&R always (AFAIK) using fairer grids than some of the DT setters.
ReplyDeleteI'm not convinced by bin = vat. Both being containers is not enough - by that kind of logic you can justify white=black! The dictionary defs seem vague enough to allow the possibility of a largish container that could be described by both words, but if there is one I don't know what it is. VAT and BIN are both containers for wine/other drinks (VAT 69 whisky anyone?), but different ones - VAT for the liquid itself, BIN for bottles of it. So that line is not really a justification either.
ReplyDelete