I found this hardgoing; a question of not being on the setter’s wavelength, I think; but managed to finally sort it out. Thanks to Pasquale. Definitions are underlined in the clues. [[The pictures at the bottom have unidentified links to the puzzle. Please enclose any comments on them in double brackets. Thank you.]]
Across
1 Fall asleep in ditch by side of road? (4,3)
DROP OFF : Double defn: 2nd: A roadside ditch represents a steep descent;a drop off from road level.
5 Encourage paranormal communication sitting by river (7)
ESPOUSE : ESP(abbrev. for “extrasensory perception”;communication without using the normal senses, more imagined than fact) plus(sitting by) OUSE(any of a number of rivers with the same name in England).
10 Singer wanting peace – one of his names is a “bully” (4,2)
LEAN ON : “Lennon”(John, singer and peace activist) with an “n”(abrrev. for name) replaced by(is) “a”.
Answer: To bully;to use strong arm tactics.
11 See 15 across
12 Three at front of school bedroom finding beetle (3)
DOR : The 1st three letters of(Three at front of) “dormitory”(a school bedroom sleeping many).
Answer: Any of the European dung beetle.
13 After examination, church is found to be lively (6)
VIVACE : VIVA(British for an oral examination, from “viva voce”) placed after(After …) CE(abbrev. for the Church of England).
Answer: Musical direction to play in a brisk and lively manner.
14 At home in a country that is highly unstable (8)
ASTATINE : IN(at home) contained in(in) [ A + STATE(a country) ].
Answer: A highly unstable radioactive chemical element.
15,11 Bottom gear for some kids on bikes? (5,8)
SHORT TROUSERS : Cryptic defn: “trousers”(clothes;gear covering the bottom), and those worn by kids are of a short length. The “bottom gear … on bikes” is a misdirection to the lowest gearing on a bicycle, used when cycling up steep gradients. I wonder if there is something more, as this doesn’t seem to be sufficiently cryptic.
16 Imagined very wise person embracing one in death (9)
ENVISAGED : { [ V(abbrev. for “very”) + SAGE(a very wise person) ]containing(embracing) I(Roman numeral for “one”) } contained in(in) END(the ultimate end of life].
19 Inform the enemy when most are watching (5,4)
PRIME TIME : PRIME(to inform beforehand, in readiness) + TIME(from the phrase “Time is the enemy”, though I can’t find the phrase’s origin).
Answer: The time of the day when the most people are watching television.
21,25 down Hazel has these essayist’s stories read out (5-5)
LAMB’S TAILS : LAMB(Charles, English essayist) +‘S + homophone of(read out) “tales”.
Answer: The catkins;clusters of flowers of the hazel tree.
24 Religious reformer holds smart political meeting (8)
HUSTINGS : HUS(Jan, Czech religious reformer, burned at the stake for heresy against Catholic doctrines) containing(holds) STING(to smart, as from a bee sting).
Answer: The proceedings;campaigning at a parliamentary election.
26 Irritate man with the baton (6)
RATTLE : Double defn: 1st: To unnerve; and 2nd: Simon, English conductor.
27 Rubbish food with chips? (3)
COD : Double defn: 1st: British slang for “phony”, and hence rubbish; and 2nd: Common fish used for “fish and chips”.
28 Some wine is very, very dry – inadequate alongside the others (8)
VARIETAL : V(abbrev. for “very”) + “arid”(very dry) minus its last letter(inadequate) plus(alongside) ET AL(from the Latin, et alii/aliae/alia;the others).
Answer: Those wines that are made chiefly from one variety of grape and labelled with that name.
29 With no one else to help, call number back (3-3)
ONE-MAN : Reversal of(back) [ NAME(to call;to give a name to) + NO(abbrev. for “number”) ].
Answer: To act just by oneself, eg. “a one-man band”.
30 Stylish Italian account given in poetry (7)
VERSACE : AC(abbrev. for an account of moneys in and out) contained in(given in) VERSE(poetry).
Answer: The Italian fashion house, named after its founder.
31 Pottage offered with little hesitation – by one to another? (7)
BROTHER : BROTH(pottage;a thick soup) plus(with) ER(a verbal expression of a little hesitation).
Answer: A member of a religious order who call one another brothers, and who might very well offer his broth to another.
Down
2 Special shrine stores the ultimate in church wine (7)
RHENISH : Anagram of(Special) SHRINE containing(stores) the last letter of(the ultimate in) “church “.
Answer: Dry white wines produced in the Rhine Valley.
3 Manger apt to be shown transformed by star (9)
PENTAGRAM : Anagram of(to be shown transformed) MANGER APT.
Answer: A star shaped two-dimensional figure.
4 It’s better to lock up daughter, one discovers (6)
FINDER : FINER(it’s better) containing(to lock up) D(abbrev. for “daughter”).
6 After end of tedious debate, hurry for a drink (8)
SMOOTHIE : The last letter of(end of) “tedious ” placed above(After …, in a down clue) MOOT(a debate of a hypothetical case or point as an academic exercise) + HIE(to go quickly).
7 Offensive while filming (5)
ONSET : ON SET(descriptive of those involved in making a film.
Answer: A raid;an attack.
8 Dog Rex finally escaping from snare (7)
SPRINGE : “springer”(a breed of spaniels) minus(escaping from) its last (finally) “r”(abbrev. for “Rex”).
Answer: A snare to catch small wild animals and birds. Simple and deadly.
9 Performing masculine arts, do oneself an injury (6,1,6)
STRAIN A MUSCLE : Anagram of(Performing) MASCULINE ARTS. An apt surface
17 Not everything intended to be heard in residence (9)
APARTMENT : A PART(not everything) + homophone of(to be heard) “meant”(intended to mean).
18 Insect to suffer as the result of being constricted (8)
STENOTIC : Anagram of(suffer) INSECT TO.
Answer: Descriptive of a body canal or passage that has been stenosed;constricted.
20 Boy entertained by womaniser’s musical embellishment (7)
ROULADE : LAD(a boy) contained in(entertained by) ROUE(a womaniser)
Answer: An embellishment in vocal music consisting of a rapid succession of notes sung to a single syllable.
22 Matador’s fruit? (7)
BULLACE : Cryptic defn: Reference to a successful matador who would be a bull ace;expert.
Answer: A plum-like fruit.
23 Report of Cockney’s tougher passion (6)
ARDOUR : Homophone of(Report of) “‘arder”(the Cockney pronunciation of “harder”).
25 See 21 across
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Thanks for the blog. I found this tricky but really enjoyable. Isn’t 31a a reference to the story of Jacob and Esau? To quote wikipedia: “In Genesis, Esau returned to his brother Jacob being famished from the fields. He begged his twin brother to give him some “red pottage”. (paralleling his nickname, Hebrew: ????? (`Edom, meaning “Red”).) Jacob offered to give Esau a bowl of stew in exchange for his birthright (the right to be recognized as firstborn) and Esau agreed.”
Thanks scchua and Pasquale. As usual, I learned some new words – but I did remember Polonius’s ‘springes to catch woodcocks’.
I have a different interpretation of the second definition in 1ac: if you drop someone off, after giving them a lift, you could be said to have ditched them by the side of the road. It made me laugh.
Like you Scchua, we struggled a bit. Especially in the north west corner. We totally failed to understand “Lean on”, which seemed the best answer we could find. “Drop off” we reasoned like you – but it seemed feeble. And we wrote in “Short Trousers” and still fail to accept the cycling connection. But there were some fun ones – we hadn’t heard of “Hus” and we enjoyed the Lambs Tails/Tales – and the Cockney’s tougher passion!
In 1 ac ‘ditch’ could mean ‘discard’ or ‘drop off’; at the side of a road you would be fly-tipping if you did this.
Thanks, scchua and Pasquale. A mix of challenging and obvious.
I only just got the cycling link, looking down at my insufficiently rolled-up trousers, stained by bicycle chain oil and gunk. Wish I’d worn short trousers today.
[[#1 is a Singer sewing machine, of course, from 10a. I’ll have to think about the rest, though I don’t seem able to begin to identify any of them.]]
[[Oh, and the last one is of course a ROULADE. #7 is Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity, I assume. Both were also TV stars in PRIME TIME (unusual for film stars in those days)– for My Three Sons (who were therefore BROTHERS?) and The Big Valley, respectively. I’m sure that’s too much of a stretch, though.]]
[[And the light bulb in #3 is no doubt a halogen, as is ASTATINE. #5 looks like someone’s idea of stylish Italians, but I couldn’t say whether they’re VERSACEs or not.]]
[[D’oh. Fred MacMurray was of course in The APARTMENT. Rest too obscure, I’m afraid.]]
Brian-with-an-eye, I think you’re right, seeing as how Pasquale likes to use religious references in his puzzles. It went over my head, as I thought an order of brothers was a religious enough reference.
[[Ian SW3, ROULADE, ASTATINE and APARTMENT are right. No.1 is not a reference to a singer, Lennon or otherwise.]]
[[One last stab. On enlarging, #2 looks like Jane Fonda (in Barbarella?). Perhaps she is being dressed (or undressed?) by VERSACE, but she has surely worn Versace at some point.]]
[[Not the last feeble stab after all, though this one is unlikely to inflict mortal damage. #6 is Katharine Hepburn, but I don’t see the connection except that she and Fred MacMurray were both in Alice Adams, and she and Jane Fonda were both in On Golden Pond.]]
This gave me a lot of trouble too. On a point of surface and proof-reading, the clue for 21, 25 down should read ‘Hazel has these essayists’ stories read out’. The Tales from Shakespeare (1807) were written by brother and sister Charles and Mary Lamb (although not initially credited to both of them) – Charles wrote the tragedies and Mary the comedies!
Thanks to scchua for the blog. You explained where I was wrong in 2d: I had read ‘the ultimate’ as indicating E then I wondered where the H came from ðŸ™
[[I thought the first picture was a Singer machine but otherwise I have no clue]]
In 14, there’s an extra definition: At is the symbol for astatine.
[[The pfennig has dropped on #6. Katherine Hepburn and Paul Heinried are playing the Schumanns in Song of Love, and Robert of course composed the RHENISH Symphony.]]
Yes, quite difficult but I got there in the end.
Thanks scchua; in 14 the ‘At’ is the chemical symbol for Astatine.
I parsed 1 as DROP=ditch and OFF as the side of the road as in off wing/mirror on a car.
[[#1 is obviously an antique sewing machine; as Ian @5, I thought it looked like a Singer – can’t see another connection at present
2 is Jane Fonda & Roger Vadim from Barbarella, no doubt provoking ARDOUR, but I don’t think that is the connection
4 shows Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin – all members of the ’27 Club’ – maybe ‘Singers wanting peace?’
5 is Joan Collins in the film ‘Stud’ = WOMANISER
6 is Katherine Hepburn in ‘Song of Love’ about Schumann, connection to ARDOUR?? Otherwise someone musical will have to advise.]]
[[RATTLE noise from sewing machine???]]
Initially thought this was going to be a breeze, but finished up having to insert some unknown words on the basis of wordplay (astatine, varietal, bullace), fortunately all correct.
[[Jane Fonda’s PRIME TIME workout]]
Thanks scchua. Enjoyed this on the whole. My wife hated SHORT TROUSERS on the grounds that the clue needed a bit more to round it off properly. I’m made of less stern stuff and simply enjoyed the fun of it.
[[I think most have been done, but wonder if #1 relates to BROTHER who make those machines these days?]]
Thanks Don, fine offering.
[[William @20; yes, I think you might be right – see http://sewzen.me/2013/09/14/vintage-brother-sewing-machine-for-sale/%5D%5D
Thanks, scchua and Pasquale.
Nothing exciting in this today. I thought there were too many unknown words for comfort. Thanks to PeterM @ 14 about At; I missed that – yet again – so it raises my view of the crossword slightly.
Not a patch on yesterday (I wish I had been around to comment; a most enjoyable early-evening solve, having followed a SENIOR MOMENT with a car-park pass), but enjoyable all the same. A few unfamiliar / new words as to be expected, but fairly clued. The excellent ENVISAGED and SMOOTHIE were last in.
[[We’re making good progress: BROTHER Industries makes sewing machines (and printer etc.); Katherine Hepburn and Paul Heinreid played the Schumanns, the male half of which composed the RHENISH Symphony; Jane Fonda did have PRIME TIME workout, but there’s also a not so strenuous connection. Hint: Of the eight pictures, each of 2 pairs is linked to the same crossword answer.]]
Beat me! Got around 2/3, darn it!
So I can write “at the onset of the offensive…” as “at the offensive of the offensive…” then?
Thanks, scchua. I needed your help in parsing several today.
I think there’s a typo in your explanation for 28 across: in “et al”, “al” is an abbreviation for “alii”, “other people” (or possibly “aliae” if they’re women?), “alibi” meaning “elsewhere”.
Derek Lazenby@25, no you can’t. In “at the onset of the offensive”, “onset” is used in the sense of “the start/the beginning”. It doesn’t necessarily mean that synonymity extends to each and every sense of either word. But you knew that already?
Thanks crosser@26. Correction made.
Sigh! Can’t a guy indulge his sense of humour around here?
Apologies. I didn’t take you for the humorous type – well now I know.
[[Well, seems a bit tenuous, but ASTATINE has recently been thought of as a metal, so ‘heavy metal’ perhaps for Hendrix, Morrison & Joplin??]]
I concede that the SHORT TROUSERS clue might have been better. The original version was Bottom gear for trainee cyclists? The idea being that boys learned to cycle when young and had short trousers around their bottom. The cycling context was dragged in to throw solvers off the scent of the true meaning of bottom gear — and maybe it was too much of a drag-in — and maybe short trousers are not worn much these days. Maybe a clue about a young whippersanpper boss might have been better but then the bottom gear wouldn’t have made much sense. In retrospect it wasn’t so easy to clue as I thought it was! But thanks for all the other stuff, and (despite what was said here and on GU) I can’t really think that there was that much obscure stuff for the well-educated Guardian types in this puzzle!
[[Well, I guess Hendrix & Morrison were WOMANISERS??]]
[[Robi, you’re not concentrating on the right one of the three.]]
[[OK, so I’ve read enough of the Wikipedia article on Janis Joplin to see that she had a bootleg album called the Typewriter Tapes, which links with BROTHER about as well as the non-Brother typewriter in #1.]]
Thanks Pasquale for an enjoyable puzzle and scchua for the blog.
14ac: “At” could indeed be a further definition, if “home” is taken as the full indication for IN. Otherwise “At” would be doing double duty, which is outside Pasquale’s normal rules.
28ac: I think “alongside” is needed as part of the indication for ET AL (“and the others”).
Sorry, but don’t really buy ‘espouse’ for ‘encourage’ .
I think I’m still missing something in 15, 11 as well, though I would add that bottom gear can be said to be a short one.
After the first couple of words that I didn’t know but had to guess at, I lost heart. With quite a lot of cheating, I eventually counted seven words I didn’t know. I’m not sure why I bothered completing this puzzle. And the cycling thing still doesn’t make sense.
Well, Pasquale can sure slip ’em in, but I found nothing in this one here that’s too weird or obscure.
15 11 I didn’t dig the reference to cycling at all, and I have been a cyclist all my life (and it really is a pity about what’s happening up in London just now on that score).
Anyhow, thanks to the setter for a real good workout, and the blogger who always provides extra entertainment.
I found this tricky but got there in the end. BULLACE was my LOI from the wordplay and with fingers crossed, as was SPRINGE and STENOTIC, the latter of which I chose over the less likely “stonetic” from the anagram fodder.
In 10ac I thought the “peace” reference was to the 1969 Plastic Ono Band song “Give Peace A Chance”, although scchua’s explanation works just as well.
Excellent crossword.
We got it all right (as ever far away from resources – so no ungettable solutions).
What I like about Don Manley’s crosswords (in his various disguises) is that he is (a) very precise, and (b) gives us surfaces that, for 99%, read like proper sentences.
Whether these surfaces raise a smile is a personal matter.
For me, quite a few do.
Sorry, but after a decent run of 3 “The Don” is back to his old tricks.
Finished this but without much fun.
Some poorly clued such as 15,11a & 19a and the trademark/lazy use of high vocabulary/obscure words. ( ASTATINE, MOOT, SPRINGE, DOR, BULLACE, STENOTIC!!!)
Also 29A seems to have ONE as a word in answer and clue. I didn’t think this was “good form” so discounted “ONE-MAN” for a while!!!
Thanks to scchua and Pasquale.
[[Ian SW3, Robi et al: Janis Joplin was lead singer for the group Big BROTHER and the Holding Company; Jane Fonda and Joan Collins each wrote a book called PRIME TIME.]]
Yes, as noted, a few “Alice” definitions here, but pretty interesting.
Several deductions which turned out to be real words after all. I quite like it when that happens.
Thanks all.