A tough challenge from the impaler today, with a political flavour to many of the clues.
I see ACE across the middle row – I don’t know if that’s significant. Despite the tricky solve, most of the parsings seems straightforward in retrospect: a sign of quality setting. Thanks to Vlad.
| Across | ||||||||
| 1,14. | I’M DOING A GREAT JOB | Poor Joe B getting totally disheartened? Admiration often expressed for his opponent (2,5,1,5,3) Anagram of JOE B G[ettin]G ADMIRATION. Often expressed by his opponent, surely, though of course, as in most cases, it’s about himself. This was almost my last one in, perhaps because there’s such a large collection of idiotic Trumpisms to choose from |
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| 5. | LOWDOWN | Intelligence but not at the top? (7) Double/cryptic definition |
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| 10. | TSAR | Government policy co-ordinator that’s arguably not all there (4) Hidden in thaT’S ARguably – as in “drugs tsar” and similar titles |
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| 11. | IDEALISING | Taking unrealistic view of claims by agent and Adele? (10) The agent might say I DEAL and Adele I SING |
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| 12. | RIGHTS | Scares female away, which one’s entitled to (6) FRIGHTS less F |
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| 13. | INSANITY | Elected idiot state’s accommodated — there’s no sense in it (8) IN (elected) + NIT (idiot) in SAY (state) |
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| 16. | STUNG | Pained by return of crazy government? (5) Reverse of NUTS + G |
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| 17. | OMEGA | The last time doctor’s coming round (5) Reverse of AGE M.O. |
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| 19. | BRIGADIER | Soldier‘s new bride touring capital (9) RIGA in BRIDE* |
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| 23. | UNIRONIC | Where you learn fellow in charge intended to be taken seriously (8) UNI[versity] + RON (man’s name) + I.C. |
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| 24. | MEMBER | Married before the end of three months — she’s in the club (6) M[arried] + EMBER (ending of Sept, Nov and Dec) |
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| 26. | FAR EASTERN | Could be Chinese food mainly at the back (3,7) FARE (food) + ASTERN (at the back of a ship, hence “mainly”= at sea) |
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| 27. | RUED | Lamented ignorant broadcast? (4) Homophone of “rude” |
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| 28. | PERSIST | Carry On Priests? Unlikely (7) PRIESTS* |
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| 29. | ISOLATE | Quarantine on island long overdue (7) I[sland] + SO LATE, with “Quarantine” as a verb for the definition |
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| Down | ||||||||
| 2. | MISSING | Is to talk to police after money’s disappeared (7) M[oney] + IS + SING (talk to police, e.g. to betray an accomplice) |
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| 3. | OPRAH | Wealthy American‘s brother keeping silent in turn (5) Reverse of HARPO (who was silent in the Marx Brothers’ films). Oprah Winfrey‘s wealth is close to $3 billion |
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| 4. | NAILSET | Punch American — listen to riot outside (7) A[merican] in LISTEN* |
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| 6. | OWLISH | Looking intelligent, like a Member of Parliament? (6) Double definition, referring to the collective term “a parliament of owls” |
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| 7. | DISUNITED | Having division speak badly of West Ham? (9) DIS (speak badly of) UNITED (West Ham United, football team) |
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| 8. | WINSTON | Inspirational leader isn’t now failing … (7) (ISN’T NOW)* |
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| 9. | MERITOCRACIES | … in short, that is correct — I’m as dynamic as the very best governments? (13) Anagram of I.E. (short for “that is”) + CORRECT + I’M AS. Is meritocracy the best form of government? Discuss.. See comments: meritocracy is “government by the very best” |
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| 15. | EAGERNESS | School agree head’s showing great enthusiasm (9) Anagram (“school”) of AGREE + NESS (headland) |
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| 18. | MANDATE | What gives couple authority? (7) A couple might consist of a MAN and his DATE. See comments: a better parsing is that M AND ATE gives “mate”, or couple |
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| 20. | GAMINES | Boyish young ladies wearing sports skirts (7) IN (wearing) “skirted by” GAMES |
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| 21. | EVEREST | Huge rear — about to slip into underwear, the biggest of its kind (7) [hug]E + RE (about) in VEST |
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| 22. | GNOSIS | Carol uplifted by one’s spiritual awareness? (6) Reverse of SONG (carol) + I’S |
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| 25. | MORAL | Man’s timeless lesson (5) MORTAL less T |
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Haha! What fun from Vlad. My LOIs were the long anagram 1ac/14ac, and finally OPRAH, which I thought was a great clue. Like Andrew, I thought that 1/14 was a bit off, and should be ‘by his opponent’. Also liked FAR EASTERN and EVEREST. Many thanks to Vlad and Andrew.
I mussed the parsing of OPRAH-so obvious now I see it.
I/14 held out for ages and I really got it from gut feeling and parsed it later.
I needed a second sitting for this but what seemed like a struggle at the time looks like a very fine puzzle now.
In Vlad I trust-and thanks Andrew
Completed, but more through stubbornness than pleasure. Some really good clues, but others stretched rather too far for me. I don’t feel that ‘Winston’ alone is satisfactory as a synonym for ‘inspirational leader’ and I don’t think that I have ever encountered ‘unironic’ as a word.
I keep trying to enjoy Vlad’s puzzles but, for some reason I cannot quite put my finger on, they often leave me feeling dissatisfied.
A bit of a struggle but got the LOWDOWN from Boz Scaggs. Liked FAR EASTERN. The definition should include Chinese.
Thanks Vlad and Andrew.
drofile@1 maybe by AND for his opponent!Naah.
I parsed 18 down as M (and) ATE. To mate = to couple.
Yep again, fun puzzle. I read 18d as m + (and) ate = mate/couple, maybe just my mind..
Snap, Andy.
A good fun work out. Thanks Vlad and Andrew
Well I’d be dishonest if I said I enjoyed this; just like GC @3. On the plus side, I completed it without any reveals, so I guess I am improving. First one in was 1,14 and last was STUNG I think. I found the SE quadrant easiest after completing the NW first. The NE was toughest for me. Quite a few from definitions and crossers and no particular favourites.
Thanks Vlad and especially Andrew for the blog.
I don’t want to say “What George Clements@3 said”, as it sounds like I am a bit of a copycat, but I am basically just using different words for the same sentiment. I often have trouble with Vlad puzzles and today was no exception. But I finished it which was something as it took me ages to get started and I seemed to spend a long time on it. However, I did find 1,14 I’M DOING A GREAT JOB amusing.
[And we crossed, Hmmm in Oz@10.] [And I feel very rude that I didn’t thank Vlad, Andrew and other contributors.]
3d was as cute as Harpo (I loved the one where he bashes the Bechstein until it falls apart so he can play harp with the innards…well I was young then…). 4d raised ?s on the G thread, but we’ve had it before. Yes, no doubt of Winston’s inspiration in 8d (nwst the Bengal famine etc). Glad 20d wasn’t ladette.. love those French words.. gamin/e, gosse, and Hugo’s Gavroche (anyone dine at Le P’tit Gavroche in the ’90s.. Mrs Ginf found it in Frommer…potage, fricassee’d something, fromage, carafe of rough rouge..?). Tasty, like this puzzle, thanks Vlad and Andrew.
Thanks Vlad and Andrew
A puzzle of two halves. The RHS went in surprisingly easily for a Vlad, but for a long time I only had PERSISTS left of centre. I slowly worked up, finishing very slowly in the NW.
I couldn’t put together the right anagram fodder for 1,14, so it was LOI. I too was puzzled by who was being praised.
OPRAH was nice, but it did require two separate bits of GK.
I;m not keen on “fellow” = RON in 23a – it seems a bit loose.
IDEALISING and OWLISH favourites.
Haven’t finished it yet (and probably won’t), but thought I’d drop by to say I’m thrilled to see HARPO turn up today.
I’m another who feels 1 & 14 ac should have included a ‘by’ rather than a ‘for’. That aside, I liked the overall clue which, as Andrew has observed, is one of many political sideswipes today. I shared Hmmm in Oz’s struggles in the NE: sounds as if you made more progress than me. With time running out, I had to resort to reveals for LOWDOWN, which simply never occurred to me, and IDEALISING, which was the only one I found myself disliking. OWLISH only dropped after I’d revealed 5 ac. And, finally, I live the rest of my life without thinking of OPRAH so it’s unsurprising that she didn’t come to mind this morning! Very clever clue, though.
Plenty to like with ticks for GAMINES and MANDATE which were very smooth (man + date for me though the alternative noted by gif and Andy certainly works), MEMBER – delightfully misleading surface, MISSING and OMEGA. FAR EASTERN was COTD: yet another case where the setter has noticed two words combining in a way that I’ve never noticed. The ‘astern’ element in particular was lovely.
Thanks Vlad (referencing yesterday’s blog, I don’t know if I was gored or stuck this morning) and, of course, Andrew for the helpful analysis.
HarpoSpeaks @15: I’d noticed your moniker pop up recently and couldn’t recall having seen it before. Or, at least, not recently. My apologies if you’ve been here for years and slipped beneath my radar. In the last couple of months we’ve seen muffin, Van Winkle and now yourself appear in solutions – though the other two were permitted to remain standing, as it were. Sorry bodycheetah, sheffieldhatter and one or two others who, I suspect, will be unlikely to feature in puzzles to come. At least in their completed forms. 😀
I only had time to solve half of this puzzle today. Quite a struggle to even complete half of it!
I enjoyed reading the blog in detail. Usually I just skim for the ones that I cannot parse.
For 26ac, I think the def is Could be Chinese
There is a typo for 7d - DISUNTED should be DISUNITED.
Thanks B+S
Thanks Vlad, Andrew and other commenters. Only RIGHTS on the first pass, added WINSTON, ISOLATE and a few more but even after revealing the rest couldn’t parse 6 of them. I see I had the right idea with a couple so could have persisted. No complaints though, Carry On Priests, Married in the club and the tragic Last time doctor are wonderful. Evocative sketches with so few lines.
Slow to get started but we got there in the end!
Parsed MANDATE a bit differently - what gives = MAN ( expression of exasperation) + couple = DATE, but I think Andrew’s parsing is better.
Favourites were IDEALISING and MEMBER.
Thanks Andrew and Vlad.
Favourites were 11a IDEALISING and 24a MEMBER – both very clever.
Whether or not MERITOCRACIES (9d) are the best from of government, they are of course supposed to be government by the best, hence the question mark at the end of the clue.
How interesting that 18d MANDATE seems to have two possible parsings (as noted by Andy @6 and grantinfreo @7) – both equally valid as far as I can see.
Many thanks Vlad and Andrew.
MERITOCRACIES was my FOI; I think it is government by those who believe themselves to be best. Otherwise, I expected not to be able to do much of this (Vlad…) and was surprised by how much I then managed. Thanks to Vlad for the challenge and to Andrew for the blog and especially for sorting the anagram fodder in in 1/14, which I had given up on. Otherwise I am pleased to say that I had parsed everything. UNIRONIC took me ages even when I had UNI-ONIC; I was too fixated on fellow = DON. But I got there in the end.
Best form (not from) of government!
We crossed brojo @20 – I see we had the same two favourites, and you’ve come up with a third possible parsing of 18d!
Thanks for a great blog, Andrew. A tough challenge, indeed – I didn’t envy you this one, though I enjoyed the solve as much as ever.
I managed to paint myself into the top left corner, which took as long as the rest put together. Vlad continues to milk Trump for all he’s worth (Vlad, I mean). OPRAH raised a smile when I finally saw it.
Other favourites – and today I will list them all – were 13ac INSANITY, 26ac FAR EASTERN, 6dn OWLISH (the surface made me laugh – I wonder which MP Vlad had in mind), 9dn MERITOCRACIES, 20dn GAMINES and 22dn GNOSIS.
Many thanks for the fun, Vlad.
Great blog, Andrew but I completely agree with Andy@6 about parsing of mandate (a parsing that eluded me as I opted for your reasonable but rather unsatisfactory “man and his date” interpretation. Given Vlad’s challenging of the gender stereotypes at 3d and 24ac the latter did not sit well with me. I also agree with the view that the clue for 1/14 would have been more logical is the view was expressed “by” rather than “for.” Really good stuff and, like yesterday’s, a welcome early-week challenge. Thanks all round.
Re OPRAH (3d) (Winfrey). Did you know that she was supposed to be named ORPAH after Naomi’s other widowed daughter-in-law in the Book of Ruth, but her Dad got the spelling wrong when he registered her name?
Reading a few other comments, I remembered that, along the way to my solve, I also liked 6d OWLISH.
Thanks for all the comments so far. I think M AND ATE must be what Vlad intended for 18d: I was thinking when writing the blog that my version was a bit non-pc. Also a good point that meritocracy is government by the “best”.
Found this a real struggle. Eventually got going a bit once I had solved 1,14, but still a DNF today…
No kidding, it took be ages to find my nail punch this Sunday afternoon. And just as long to suss out the answer to the clue. OWLISH and OPRAH were my favourites.
JiA@26 Oprah’s parents should have given her a middle name that is an anagrind, but instead they went for Gail.
I wish I had parsed OPRAH. It seems obvious now, I couldn’t see how/why 8 and 9 down follow on, but I rarely can with this device. Thanks to Vlad for the challenge and to Andrew for the elucidation. I like the way that you get to realise that the only person who could express admiration for Trump was himself, so I don’t think that “for” should be replaced by “by”
Petert, that was exactly my interpretation as well and the reason why the answer induced a belly laugh when the penny dropped. One of many reasons why I loved this puzzle.
HarpoSpeaks @15 and self @17: just noticed my comment is self-contradictory in its use of ‘recently’. What I’d meant was I’d noticed you pop up over the last few weeks but not in the year or so before that which covers my time coming to this site. I’ve just checked and, indeed, see you first posted a month ago. Doubly gratifying to see yourself in the puzzle so soon after making your presence known!
What Eileen said – problems in the NW corner, favourites and all
Thanks to her, Vlad and Andrew
The first day of “Poor Joe B”‘s party’s convention happened to be on last night as I was tackling 1,14ac, so I might have been particularly attuned to the wording in this clue: it just has to be “by”.
The two readings of the wordplay for MANDATE suggest there may be a way to tweak the clue to capitalize on it, but I can’t quite see a way myself.
Like Julie in A I generally find Vlad’s puzzles a real struggle, and this was no exception. For an age all I had was PERSIST, and getting anywhere with the rest was like swimming through treacle. So I put it aside, kept returning to it, and slowly, e-v-e-r so slowly, it came together. Looking back there are some real gems: OPRAH, IDEALISING, OWLISH and OMEGA were little beauties, and dissing United made me grin. (That would be: “forever popping bubbles”, presumably…)
So I’m glad I persisted. Thanks to Andrew for the comprehensive blog and to Vlad for the workout.
We got there in the end but it was a struggle. Thank you Andrew and Vlad.
I spent the first five minutes of this solve wondering if Joe Bugner had ever fought Ali. I have no doubt that was deliberate on Vlad’s part.
I had just woken up, in my defence.
Superb puzzle, as ever.
Thank you Vlad – many great clues but 1/14 is worth a special mention. Laughed out loud at 3d too. And the Carry On Priests. I’m just imagining Sid, Kenneth and Bernard now … 🙂
Thanks, Andrew, and thanks to Andy @6 and grantinfreo @7 for MANDATE.
Like others, I found the NW tricky, mostly because of 1,14 (I did the puzzle on my iPad before getting up, and was too lazy to go and get pencil and paper – I can’t do long anagrams in my head).
My first thought for 9d was ARISTOCRACIES, which – etymologically, anyway – is a better fit for the definition (aristos, best; kratos, power).
petert @31 “The only person who could express admiration for Trump was himself” — I wish that were true, but there are millions of my compatriots who voted for him and are planning to do it again.
Thank you Vlad and Andrew. It’s a cheering note on the first evening of the Democratic “convention.” I listened to a bit of that, it was all platitudes, so I switched off and missed Bernie and Michelle, who apparently were worth listening to.
Just to say. I’ve just finished yesterday or rather dnf as I had to cheat on terreplein.
On with Vlad.
Wow – what a toughie that was. FOI was “I’M DOING A GREAT JOB” mostly cos I love the nonsense coming out of his mouth. 9d dropped in pretty quickly as well but that’s mostly because I’ve been boring anyone who’ll listen stupid for the past few months about how we don’t have one of those in thsi country any more… The rest was tough, tough, tough. NE just didn’t want to happen at all and needed three-cup-of-tea inspiration to happen.
Thanks Vlad and Andrew for the challenge!
I started with FAR EASTERN, which remained my favourite clue to the end, but some others are nearly up there too, IDEALISING and OPRAH being the most memorable. I didn’t know UNIRONIC was a word, but it is properly formed and its meaning is clear. (I had to tear myself away from SARDONIC, which I thought at first was the only word that would go there – a similar experience to Beobachterin’s.)
As ever, I loved the topical references.
Thanks to Vlad and Andrew.
As someone said previously: “It’s no good trying to solve a Vlad puzzle after lunch.” I got a few before falling asleep in front of the computer. No reflection on the setter or clues though.
On rereading the clues, there are many with a good old swipe at the POTUS. I particularly liked 8 and 9.
Thanks Vlad for the entertainment and to Andrew for making sense of it all.
Several people have suggested that 1,14 should be “by” rather than “of” Trump. But surely Vlad is having a go at Trump’s narcissism, while also distracting us from the realisation that the first word is the self-referential I’M. Clever cluing!
I couldn’t get UNIRONIC (and this also contributed to me failing to arrive at the intersecting MANDATE) because I rejected the central RON, thinking that Vlad would surely never have clued that with “fellow”. Well, how wrong can you be.
Like one or two others, I had the RHS completed but only one or two on the left for absolutely ages, mostly because of failing to identify the anagram fodder for 1, 14. Once I had convinced myself of the solution (though still without the anagrist, so thanks to andrew for that), a lot of others started to make sense, but it was a very slow and steady grind, with a lot of huffing and puffing (a bit like my recent ascent of Honister Pass) rather than a delightful series of penny drop moments.
Favourites were when TSAR leapt out from its hiding place and when HARPO somersaulted into view as OPRAH.
Thanks Vlad and andrew, and to Mark @17 for your commiseration on the unlikelihood of my pseudonym making an appearance in a grid any time soon.
Oof, that was a workout! Ended up getting a start in the SE, then slowly, steadily, sometimes painfully filling in until just the NW was left, where everything gave me problems one way or another. Even with all the crossers, I took a while to see OPRAH, and just as long to pick up on the reversal.
A lot of this was very clever, as I’d expect from Vlad, and there were some wonderful penny drop moments. But despite that, I found it a challenge more than a joy. Then again, my mood has been rather low all day, so I’m probably not a very good benchmark.
Ran out of time but it would have been a DNF anyway. But I got further than usual with Vlad and I really enjoyed both the ones I got and the blog explanations of the ones I didn’t. Some cracking clues.
Bingybing @38: Bugner did indeed fight the mighty Ali, losing to both him and then Smokin’ Joe in the same year.
Thanks to Vlad and Andrew and to many of the interesting contributions above.
I struggled with the last Vlad, but this one seemed to be not too bad, with quite a few hooks to latch onto. IDEALISING and MEMBER were both great fun but I also give credit for hiding TSAR so well
I found this one really tough. Favourites were HARPO and IDEALiSING followed by UNIRONIC (which made me groan when I got it), MERITOCRACIES and MANDATE (parsed the same way as Andy. Didn’t like NAILSET (hadn’t heard of it and think it should be two words?) or EVEREST.
Thanks to Vlad and Andrew and all who commented.
I also thought that 1/14 should have had “by his…”. I parsed MANDATE as Andrew did, but like the M and ATE version better. I stumbled on the last couple – GAMINES defeated me and I had MUMMER at 24 (M + (s)UMMER). Doesn’t really fit the definition though, which would have needed to have been “she was once in the club”!
Fine puzzle. I always enjoy untwisting Vlad’s carefully worded clues. Thanks to him and to Andrew for the blog.
As far as I know MUMMER is not an alternative version of mother, as phitonelly @51 implies (very inventive solution, btw!). Here are some meanings for this word from Wiki.
BingyBing@38 – I, too, thought Joe Bugner when I saw 1,14 but unlike yourself I couldn’t get the idea out of my head. Knowing that he had fought and lost twice to Ali (although he did go the distance both times) didn’t help when the crossers I had pointed to the word ‘great’ appearing in the solution.
So once again I was defeated by Vlad (albeit on this occasion with a little help from The Greatest).
Enjoyed the battle though so thanks to Vlad and Andrew.
A DNF for me today courtesy of the NW corner in general and 1,14A in particular. Having said that, a 75% completed grid is good going for me with a Vlad. Thanks to him for the challenge and Andrew for the blog.
sheffield hatter @52,
I did assume while solving that MUMMER could be a viable alternative to MAMA. All in all, not a good effort at this clue on my part.
Thanks for the link. I am aware of the Mummers Parade which happens on New Years Day in Philly and is very lively and colourful. It’s televised locally (possibly also nationally).
Pauline @50
A “nailset” isn’t a set of nails – it’s a single entity, used for knocking a nail head flush with the surrounding wood. As such, one word is perfectly acceptable (though two words are also seen).
It’s just dawned on me (at sunset) that Harpo Productions is the name of the company that produces all of Oprah’s stuff, owned by Oprah.
Thanks to Andrew and Vlad
Very good as always but I wasn’t keen on “Wealthy American” for “Oprah”.
11a I had “of” as part of the def
29a I take it we are to infer a comma after “island”
6d Chambers has “stupid” as one of the defs of “owlish”. Vlad can’t have known that, I assume.
8/9d There is no strict link calling for ellipses but :
No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time ..
provides a common thread of sorts.
Thanks to Andrew for the blog and to others who commented.
I’m a little bemused at some solvers’ preference for ‘by’ rather than ‘for’ in 1/14. As one or two have suggested, the whole point of the clue is Trump’s constantly misplaced and excessive self-regard – no-one quite admires this ‘very stable genius’ like the man himself. I think ‘by’ would also give a pretty meaningless surface.
The ellipses at 8 and 9 were intended to link two things that the President might say in expressing his admiration.
I think this is why some are confused:
Wordplay: Anagrind[poor] fodder [joe b gg admiration] def [often expressed for his opponent]
The def clearly cannot lead to “I’m doing a great job”
The solver has to reach back to various parts of the wordplay to make sense of the entry. Which parts they reach for are not explicitly defined, hence the confusion.
I thought it was a great clue, but I just happened to reach for the right bits.
Dansar@60. You make a good argument in terms of the normal writing of a crossword clue. But Vlad is making a political point about the narcissism of “his opponent”. If we know who Joe B’s opponent is, we can also recognise his narcissism. Therefore “I’m doing a great job” makes perfect sense. (I hesitated a long time before writing it in as I was confused by the potential anagrist – mostly because I’d run out of space around the edge of the grid!)
“The def clearly cannot lead to [the answer]”. But in fact is “admiration” doing double duty here? That was the other thing that held me up with the fodder: I was reading the definition as “admiration often expressed for his opponent”.
A great clue, no ifs, no buts.
Appreciate what you’re saying, Dansar. ‘Admiration’ is doing double duty but that’s not unknown in crosswords and I think it’s permissible if used sparingly.
Doesn’t relate to the ‘for/by’ choice though.
Very late but such a good crossword that I just had to say thanks to Vlad , and Andrew
8A. ‘Inspirational leader’ is rather subjective. Inspirational to Boris Johnson, the opposite to many others.
I meant 8D of course.