As is usual from Tyrus this was a pretty hard puzzle. Maybe not as hard as 8776 back in November which had me terribly stuck, but at the start of this one I only got a handful, literally – 5 on the first pass, and the rest took an age to grind out.
Is it a theme if it extends only to 2 or 3 (big) answers and is clearly mentioned in the clues?
Anyway the grid is topped and tailed with references to Iain Duncan Smith (IDS), his woeful policies and department, the DWP (Department of Work and Pensions), and his famous claim that nothing could shift him because when problems are found then “27/8”, and anyway “1A”. Sorry about the ranting but the odious IDS gets my goat.
Help need with 15D
| Across | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | I’M NOT A QUITTER | Time to stop? Tories‘ pointless ‘Quiet Man‘ (sadly) giving reason it’s unlikely (2,3,1,7) T[ime] inside (TORI[es] QUIET MAN)* AInd: sadly. The pointlessness of Tories here instructs us to remove the E and S. The definition here could be taken to be the whole clue, not just the last non-wordplay part. This refers to Iain Duncan Smith’s reaction to any of the multitudinous failures of his policies and his department. The “Quiet Man” is a nickname coined during his tenure as leader of the opposition. At the time Simon Hoggart made much mirth from the recurrent frog in IDS’s throat at Question Time. Sometime during his absurdly long stint running a significant chunk of the country he refused to stand aside with this phrase “I am not a quitter”. (There are probably a great many things he’s not, e.g. repentant. 1 min QT youtube clip) |
| 9 | ENTERTAINER | Board coach – take out comic perhaps (11) ENTER (board) T[r]AINER (coach) take=R from prescriptions (apparently) which I’ve only ever seen in crosswords, and which must be removed from trainer – removal indicator: out |
| 10 | SEE | Look for short twig (3) SEE[k] One of the few I did twig on the first pass |
| 11 | ADDLE | Confuse ‘field-days with ‘retirement’. That’s not all (5) Rev. Hidden in fiELD DAys |
| 12 | LOAF SUGAR | ‘A foul rag!’ used to describe Sun – it’s hardly sweet! (4,5) (A FOUL RAG)* AInd: used, around (describe) S[un]. I’m confused about the definition here. Is it just Sweet as I have shown with the “it’s hardly” referring to the shortening of the Sun, or is Sun enough to deliver an S (OK by me) thus the definition is ”it’s hardly sweet”? Except, loaf sugar is very very sweet! Am I missing a joke? |
| 13 | ECONOMIES | City working some fiddles – I invested savings (9) EC (city) ON (working) I in (invested) SOME* AInd: fiddles |
| 16/22 | SAINT-DENIS | Indians set out for capital (5-5) (INDIANS SET)* AInd: out. It’s in Paris – which is why I solved the clue early on – I find it is also capital of the French overseas department of Réunion |
| 17/26 | DO THE DECENT THING | Needing a little solace drop in tonight – he’d resolved to behave honourably (2,3,6,5) DE[s]CENT (drop – without S[olace]) inside (TONIGHT HE’D)* AInd: resolved |
| 18 | STAVANGER | Put on vehicle parked in river port abroad (9) VAN (vehicle) in STAGE (put on) R[iver] |
| 20 | BOTTLE-FED | Not drinking straight from jug? (6-3) Cryptic Def. My brain did a reverse ferret and I initially wrote in Breast Fed – what could I have been thinking of |
| 23 | HIT ON | Try to get off with Liberal away from hotel (3,2) HI[l]TON For such simple wordplay this clue had me fooled till the end |
| 25 | IDE | Fish being caught – watched closely (3) Homophone “Eyed” (watched closely) HInd: being caught |
| 27/8 | LESSONS WILL BE LEARNT | 7? Well, see no reason on the surface (it‘s all BS). However . . . (7,4,2,6) Last in, with 21D LADES (WELL SEE NO R[easo]N IT’S ALL BS)* AInd: However. Like 1A at the top of the puzzle the definition is really the whole clue not just the first “7? = Resigning?” and the last “…” I believe this is the standard response after each of the several deaths, typically alone and hungry, that have occurred after people have had their benefits stopped as part of DWP sanctions implemented via ATOS and other private providers paid by bonuses linked to how many people are pushed off benefits etc. Link to report of shocking example |
| Down | ||
| 1 | ITERATE | Repeat fee for the other egghead involved? (7) IT (the other, i.e. sex) E[gghead] RATE (fee) |
| 2 | NOTED | What some Labourites want is well-known (5) NOT ED. Wordplay alluding to the stories rife in the mainstream (i.e. partisan) press that elements of the Labour party are unhappy with their elected leader. |
| 3 | THREESOME | Union members traditionally getting fifty per cent extra (9) Cryptic Def. That kind of union – the kind that traditionally has two people – with 1 more. |
| 4 | QUAIL | Show fear but game (5) Double Def |
| 5 | IONIAN SEA | Noise awakened Scot inside a Corfu location (6,3) IAN (Scot, as standard) inside NOISE* AInd: awakened, then A |
| 6 | TARTS | Jumps topless women (that may be offensive) (5) [s]TARTS (jumps). Tyrus is right, that can only be offensive. |
| 7 | RESIGNING | Charles finally enters as his mum is throwing up (9) [charle]S inside REIGNING (as his mum is). ”Throwing up” as in throwing in the towel, giving up |
| 14 | OUT AT HEEL | Looking the worse for wear in public – could be the ale! (3,2,4) OUT (in public) (THE ALE)* AInd: could be |
| 15 | IPSO FACTO | Player’s joints extremely knackered because of that (4,5) I cannot see the wordplay at all here. Help! Sil puts us straight at Comment #1 [h]IPS OF ACT[r] |
| 16 | SPAGHETTI | Space filling up – it’s the fantastic food (9) GAP< (space) reversed (up) inside (IT’S THE)* AInd: fantastic. Top clue – best PDM |
| 17 | DEBRIS | Remains to toast brides (6) BRIDES* AInd: toast. This was the first clue I answered – pleased it delivered a clutch of first letters |
| 19 | RENEGUE | Right boy about to go back (7) R[ight], EUGENE< Beautifully terse clue |
| 21 | LADES | Loads of guys hiding on the internet (5) LOI with 27/8 LADS (guys) around (hiding) E. The E is from “on the internet” giving [n]E[t], i.e. inter-net With L_D__ all I could think of was LADEN, but there is a word LADES |
| 24 | TRIAL | Minor not against current case (5) TRI[v,i]AL Minor = Trivial against = v, current = i |
Thanks beermagnet for your comprehensive blog of an – in my opinion – not too fiendish Tyrus puzzle.
Perhaps, at last, I am getting used to his style.
I needed yourwise words for explaining the DECENT bit of 17/26, and also for the anagram fodder of anotherlong one (27/8).
Third one I couldn’t parse was 15d.
After seeing you also being in the dark, I had another look.
Eureka!
It’s [h]IPS OF ACTO[r].
Very clever, and perhaps now my CoD.
Thanks Tyrus.
Thanks to Tyrus for an entertaining but really tough puzzle! It was fun solving it. And thanks to beermagnet for a blog that answered pending queries on the parsing of many clues.
Re. 12a: since LOAF SUGAR is a hard block of sugar, I took the “hardly” bit to be a play on the fact of it being “hard”.
A tip of the hat to Sil van den Hoek@1: that parsing of 15d is masterly!
Another great Tyrus puzzle. I haven’t got the puzzle anymore but I remember there were lots of ticks next to clues. I too entered BREAST-FED and consequently struggled for ages.
Thanks to setter and blogger.
Congratulations on completing this, let alone blogging it! It completely defeated me – about a half left to do – even though I came back to it many times during the week. (Seemed a difficult weekend all over for Indie puzzles; only completed one of four.)
Thanks Tyrus and beermagnet.
21dn: I took the E as the prefix in email.
Sil, thanks for getting “Hips of actor” What a great clue that is!
Tramp, glad I’m not the only one obsessed with breasts – mind you I do like bottles too.
PB: I see what you mean about internet implying E-mail, E-commerce, E-whatever. Better than my inter-net idea.
I can’t remember solving this but looking at my handwriting, I would appear to have solved it ‘all in one go. Thanks to Tyrusand beermagnet too.
Even though the words “repugnant” and “odious” always spring to mind whenever IDS is mentioned I enjoyed this challenge. I’ve always thought the expression was “down at heel” so it took a while before I was convinced that OUT AT HEEL was right. THREESOME was my LOI after LADES.
Many thanks to beermagnet for the excellent blog and to others for their comments.
Bit of a late comment but I was defeated as I’d put QUAKE for 4 down which fits the clue perfectly (being a computer game) but left me with no reasonable sugar (I’d have liked to have put ALAN!).