Found this very slow going, but ultimately rewarding…
…1 and 2 down were my last in, and despite knowing both the terms and their symbols, I’m not sure I’d have got them without a lot of crossers as well as the hint from the similarly clued 6 and 7. Having solved them, I do like all of the long clues – but 3dn was my favourite today.
| Across | ||
| 8 | OLD LATIN |
I don’t get upset with all language that’s well out of date (3,5)
=”language that’s well out of date”. (I don’t… all)*
|
| 9 | YAHWEH |
God, who’s flipping cut grass that’s already been cut and dried? (6)
=”God”. Reversal (“flipping”) of all of: HEW=”cut” as a verb, plus HAY=”grass that’s already been cut and dried”
|
| 10 | ICONIC |
One section of a symbolic representation (6)
=”of a symbolic representation”. I=”One”, plus CONIC=a type of “section” (where a solid [e.g. a cone] is cut by a plane) in mathematics
|
| 11 | CREOSOTE |
Oily liquid makes engine start in faulty scooter (8)
=”Oily liquid”. E[ngine] in (scooter)*
|
| 12 | ARAK |
Drink first of clarets stolen from a wine store (4)
=an Asian alcoholic “Drink”. c[larets] removed from A RA[c]K=”a wine store”.
|
| 13 | PERSEVERED |
A golfer, once embarrassed, struggled on (10)
=”struggled on”. PER=”A” (an apple a/per day), plus SEVE Ballesteros=”golfer, once“, plus RED=”
|
| 15 | ICE-COLD |
Frozen state I tick off (3-4)
=”Frozen”. Sounds like (“state” aloud) ‘I scold’=”I tick off”
|
| 16 | SEND-OFF |
Nurse at party, very loud gathering before one leaves (4-3)
=”gathering before one leaves”. S[tate] E[nrolled] N[urse], plus DO=”party”, plus FF=fortissimo=”very loud”
|
| 18 | FURNISHING |
Providing John’s partner with gin supply (10)
=”Providing”. [Elton] “John’s partner” is David FURNISH, plus (gin)* – “supply”=’in a supple way’ is the anagrind
|
| 19 | FORM |
Type of beef or mutton (4)
=”Type”. Hidden in [bee]F OR M[utton]
|
| 20 | CROTCHET |
Note body part getting extremely erect (8)
=”Note” in musical notation. CROTCH=”body part”, plus E[rec]T
|
| 22 | SKIVVY |
Broadcaster, about 45, servile type (6)
=”servile type”. SKY=”Broadcaster”, around IV and V=”4 / 5″ in Roman numerals
|
| 23 | ANANAS |
Fruit not soft as pineapple (6)
=”pineapple”. [b]ANANAS=”Fruit”, without B=”soft” when grading the hardness of pencils
|
| 24 | NON-WHITE |
Jittery win on the black? (3-5)
=”black?”. (win on the)*
|
| Down | ||
| 1 | ELECTRIC CURRENT |
I choose cereal after chopping dried fruit, say (8,7)
=”I”, the symbol for ELECTRIC CURRENT in physics. ELECT=”choose” plus RIC[e]=”cereal after chopping” plus CURRENT which sounds like ‘currant’ i.e. “dried fruit, say”
|
| 2 | PLANCK’S CONSTANT |
Middle of the piece of timber’s reportedly unbroken (7,8)
=[t]h[e]=”Middle of the” - h is the symbol for Planck’s constant [wiki]. PLANCK’S sounds like ‘plank’s’ i.e. “timber’s reportedly”, plus CONSTANT=”unbroken”.
|
| 3 | STOCKPILES |
Standard complaint involving “pain in the ass” large stores (10)
=”large stores”. STOCK=”Standard”, plus PILES=”complaint involving ‘pain in the ass'”
|
| 4 | UNICORN |
Scotland as part of UK, arms-wise, or ruin? No, Conservative vacillated (7)
the UNICORN is a symbol for Scotland on the UK coat of arms [wiki]. (ruin no C[onservative])*
|
| 5 | DYNE |
Trendy new housing unit (4)
=”unit” of force. Hidden in [Tren]DY NE[w]
|
| 6 | THE SPEED OF LIGHT |
Article by swimwear company on steps taken to make costume, initially (3,5,2,5)
=c[ostume]=”costume, initially”, the symbol for the speed of light. THE=definite “Article” plus SPEEDO=”swimwear company” plus FLIGHT=a series of “steps”.
|
| 7 | CENTRE OF GRAVITY |
Through which weight falls very little? (6,2,7)
=”Through which weight falls”; also =v[ery]=”very little” – v is the centre of GRAVITY
|
| 14 | ENERGISING |
Exciting if Frenchman turned up in wrong carriage? On the contrary (10)
=”Exciting”. RENE is the Frenchman, reversed (“turned up”), plus SIN=”wrong”, in GIG=”carriage” – ‘wrong[,] in carriage’ is “On the contrary” compared to “in wrong[,] carriage”
|
| 17 | DISTEND |
Managed to hide gun bulge (7)
=”bulge”. DID=”Managed to”, around STEN=”gun”
|
| 21 | HASH |
Pot made from hard wood (4)
=”Pot”, cannabis. H[ard] plus ASH=”wood
|
Loved it.
Not only did I get to enjoy four scientific clues (all of which had unconventional definitions and thus didn’t look to have anything at all to with science), but also a mathematical one at 10 and a rather lowbrow reference at 20. Good job covering the gamut Puck!
Thanks manehi. All those scientific single letters did need persevering with. The 2D constant revealed itself o/l when I tried out “planque”. 15A has no hint of ‘sounds like’ or ?, but it had to be that. 14D needs contortions to parse it: you were very gymnastic. Some quite nice, Puckish surfaces.
Thanks manehi. Needed parsing help with several clues: 9, 13, 18, and 23. Great puzzle, thanks Puck!
Thanks, manehi. Great puzzle with lovely misdirection all over the place.
I thought the “once” was associated with “golfer” rather than “embarrassed”.
Electric current, Planck’s constant, dyne, energising, centre of gravity, and, of course, the speed of light. Are we celebrating the birthday of some famous physicist?
Re Coochimundo @5 – a google gives today as Ampere’s birthday 20.01.1775, as with the I of 1d, which might be relevant, but not sure what he has to do with speed of light, Planck’s constant etc.
Nice puzzle, albeit a struggle for me – all very inventive cluing although some of the surfaces were a bit clunky. Thanks Manehi and Puck.
Really clever – I finished it, but until I read the comments above I just thought the long down answers lacked definitions, and that I had missed out on some instructions. I particularly liked ELECTRIC CURRENT and CROTCHET. Many thanks to Puck and manehi.
Thanks for a great blog, manehi. [I read 13ac as NeilW did, as the lovely Seve is sadly no longer with us.]
And what a great puzzle! As one much more at home with 8ac, I’m astonished that I could actually do it! I’m totally used now to seeing I clued as ‘current’ in crosswords but I was tickled to see it used the other way round and 1dn was a good hint to solving the other long ones. I had to research Planck’s constant when blogging a Crucible puzzle some time ago [‘He devised a constant sounding board (6)’] and I remember thinking that was a possible way of cluing H, though I don’t remember seeing it done – I have learned H = Henry through crosswords!].
The only unfamiliar word was ARAK, beautifully clued.
Hi molonglo @2
’15A has no hint of ‘sounds like’ or ?,’ – as manehi says in the blog, it’s ‘state’.
Many thanks to Puck for a very enjoyable and rewarding solve.
Thanks manehi and Puck. I finished this successfully, albeit without recognizing any of the scientific symbols – but now of course I appreciate what a delightful puzzle it is.
Thanks Puck and manehi. I finished this successfully, albeit without recognizing any of the scientific symbols – but now of course I appreciate what a delightful puzzle it is.
Super puzzle so thanks to Puck and also to Manehi for the blog. I had to use the cheat button on 12A and couldn’t think why the ‘B’ might mean ‘soft’ in 23A. Loved 1, 2, 6 and 7 – all very cleverly clued.
Thanks manehi.
Unusually, I found this rather easy today, and finished in quick time for a Puck, albeit I needed a couple of explanations (14d and 13a).
UNICORN last in, once I recognised “arms” as in heraldry.
A lovely solve from start to finish. Like drofle, I had completely missed the scientific symbols until manehi pointed them out. Many thanks to him and Puck.
I recently got involved in a discussion on another blog where there was a disagreement with those who think speed in finishing a crossword is the most important. This particular one shows how wrong that is. I savoured (?) every clue; whistled, giggled, aahhed as appropriate. Thanks again, Puck.
Well, this could have been very good, but is spoiled by compileritis at 2 6 & 7 down, which you cannot get from the definitions in the clues. Because there aren’t any. 10 and 11a I think have very difficult ‘bits’ in them, 11 is a grammatical, while the rest is pretty good. 1d is excellent actually, ut as I say, a flawed piece.
I can’t say I’m enamoured by ’45’ = IVV in 23a, is there a precedent for splitting and parsing individual digits like that? Only it seems rather unfair to me.
Apart from that I found it all very entertaining once I figured out what was going on with the long clues. I can’t quite make my mind up whether the indirectly defined ones were entirely fair either, but I understood them all eventually and I was pleased with myself when I did, so I guess I can’t complain too much.
Thanks Puck and manehi.
I thought this was a gem. Science in general isn’t my strong point but I was able to complete it without recourse to aids. I didn’t get 2dn until I’d got ARAK, and FURNISHING was my LOI from the definition, checkers, and a vague recollection of Elton John’s partner’s name.
Me @15: I meant ‘in 22a’, of course.
Thanks Puck and manehi,
A great puzzle and super blog!
1d was quickly solved and then 2d, 6d and 7d fell into place without being fully parsed.
Particle physicists often talk of “chasing the UNICORN” or “finding the UNICORN”.
I enjoyed this, thank you Puck, although I raised an eyebrow at “get” in 1a. How far is it legitimate to go in pursuit of the surface? Thank you also to manehi, in particular for explaining 18a.
Thanks Puck and manehi.
Re 5d: “dyne” was out of date 45 years ago when I started my engineering degree (replaced by newton). But so were feet and pounds….
Thanks Puck and manehi.
Always good to see a crossword get a bit more sciency than arty. Missed the exact link betwen the long answers but no less fun for that.
Angstony @15: I’ve seen VIVALDI clued as 5151505001 before – though that was in a Daily Express skeleton crossword; I’ll leave it up to you to determine if that’s a suitable authority.
‘Get’ is all right I think. There is no grammatical problem with it.
Hi hedgehoggy @ 14.
I’d disagree re 2, 6 and 7, all of which have definitions – being ‘middle of the’, ‘costume initially’ and ‘very little’, respectively. Admittedly they are all ‘hidden’ definitions but I thought that these three, plus 1d, were cracking clues which made for a very enjoyable crossword.
I enjoyed this a lot, and thought it was very inventive in places. The two long ones on the right hand side went in early, so it ended up as a fairly quick solve. Last in was DYNE after YAHWEH, and I needed to check UNICORN as the coat of arms was unfamiliar to me, so thanks for explaining that. STOCKPILES made me laugh…
Thanks to Puck and manehi
Angstony @ 15 – Re 45 = IVV: it can’t be much else because 45 in Roman numerals would be XXXXV, i.e. impossible. So it seems OK to me, by a process of elimination.
hedgehoggy @ 14 – “compileritis at 2 6 & 7 down, which you cannot get from the definitions in the clues. Because there aren’t any.” There are definitions (see manehi’s blog), but they are very well concealed. I didn’t spot them, but got the answers and thought the whole exercise was very clever.
One of the best puzzles for ages, well done Puck! Clever clueing across the piece and a potentially challenging, but very fair, unstated theme – scientific to boot! Almost too many favourites to list, but 10a, 3d, all four long clues, and the Cyclopean 20a have to be mentioned.
A = PER in 13a is the closest I can come to a gripe. Legit, I suppose, just about, though I’ve not seen it before.
Thanks all
Very enjoyable, especially the rare science references.
I liked 13, 18 ac.and 1,2(especially), 7 down.
I couldn’t parse 15 ac until I came here.
Trailman @27, first para: I agree entirely.
Thanks Puck and manehi.
I thought this was a gem and enjoyed every clue. I got off to a flying start with 10 and 11, but slowed down after that.
Hedgehoggy defends his attacks as personal views which it’s his right to express. I agree with him, so now when I see his name I move on to a contributor.
Bravo, Puck! (And thanks to manehi.) I thoroughly enjoyed this, liking the science theme and appreciating the cleverness of many of the clues. The only one I didn’t get unaided was ARAK.
More please!
drofle @25, 45 would be XLV, not impossible, but it does not work for SKIVVY.
I thought this was a superb crossword that shone with inventiveness and creativity. It’s lovely to see Physics in a crossword, as Arts and Literature are more than well catered for, IMO.
I won’t comment on the Roman numerals, as I’m an unrepentant serial offender :-).
Qaos.
Thanks Puck and manehi
I loved this, after overcoming a slow start. Lots of terrific clues – too many to mention.
I didn’t like IVV = 45 much, and I wondered about the “costume” to give the c in 6d – at first sight it seemed to be a random word starting with c, but I suppose we are invited to think of “swimming costume”.
I have no complaint about the 45 in the clue to 22a, as far as I am concerned anything goes. Just love the VIVALDI clue cited by John Appleton @21 !
P.S. needless to say, I hadn’t heard of “John’s partner”
I can’t say I enjoyed this very much. It does seem rather clever now its complete and I’ve read the blog- quite excellent, by the way-but it was a slog. PLANCKS CONSTANT was my LOI accompanied by the penny dropping with a sickening thud. PERSEVERED was a guess- I’m about as good with golfers as I am with science- and some others were too.
Still, loved THE SPEED OF LIGHT and ICE COLD
A grudging thanks to Puck.
Lovely crossword, though I managed all the scientific answers without spotting the definitions. 20ac an absolute gem.
Perhaps the sum below should have been a scientific equation, to keep us all on our toes.
PDM with sickening thud says it well Peter!
The only one of ‘those’ definitions that’s good is 1dn because it actually IS the definition! It is also clever, because ‘I’ is the correct symbol for electric current. How are the others ‘well-concealed’? It really is compileritis to think that people can unravel all that jiggery-pokery.
In my opinion that is 😀
@hedgehoggy
I, and many others it seems, did unravel it. And I can’t be sure, but it looks like you did too. Once again you are conflating something that isn’t to your taste (perfectly fair to express) into something that is inherently wrong. The two are not the same!
@Puck – this was a beautifully constructed work of genius and I loved it. Thank you very much (and thanks to manehi too).
Hi Trailman @27
‘A = PER in 13a is the closest I can come to a gripe. Legit, I suppose, just about, though I’ve not seen it before.’
I’m a little bit surprised at this, since you’re a regular contributor but, on reflection, I’ve maybe come across it more in Indy puzzles, which you perhaps don’t do. It’s one that I constantly keep on the alert for but it still sometimes catches me out – certainly one worth filing away. 😉
John Appleton @21:
All I can say to that VIVALDI clue is, ‘Ugh!’
drofle @ 25:
As Cookie points out, 45 in Roman Numerals is XLV, but that’s also an improbable combination so your point still stands. I don’t know, I’m usually quite forgiving of liberties with Roman Numerals – you wouldn’t catch me complaining about technically incorrect subtractions such as ‘49’ = IL, for example – but this just seems like a step too far. Okay, so it just about works for this particular number because the conventional interpretation is improbable, but how far are you willing to go in allowing this device? Are 16, 41, or 151 all valid clues for ‘IVI’? How about 5110 for ‘VIX’? Where does it all end?
I enjoyed this, once I got the theme, though needing help with parsing some. I still don’t understand why per = A. I take my tablets once per day – how does that fit?
Thanks Puck an manehi
I think it is 4 and 5 pushed together, so IV plus V. Curiously, I did not mind that one!
JohnM I take them once a day/ once per day.
Mitz my point is that they are NOT definitions, and so are not clever at all. It’s just being difficult for the sake of it/ compileritis.
As a feeble Arts graduate I was pleased to complete this puzzle unaided. I found some clues challenging but that’s why I do crosswords so I for one shall not be prickly.
Thanks to Puck and to Manehi for explaining the scientific clues!
Despite loving Puck’s literary puzzles; I enjoyed this for a change. The clues were certainly fair – otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to solve
them, as my scientific knowledge is rather in the GK category.
Looking forward to the next Shakespeare, Puck.
Giovanna xx
Angstony @42, it has ended, that’s the point, we now use Hindu-Arabic numerals (such a shame there were not two extra ones so that 10 could in fact be equivalent to 12, and thus divisible by 2,3,4 and 6 instead of just 2 and 5). Guess anything goes now.
@hh
You say “not clever at all… being difficult for the sake of it”; I say “very cleverly being inventive for the sake of trying something unusual, and pulling it off with aplomb”.
You say “compileritis”; I roll my eyes.
JohnM @43
‘I take my tablets once per day’ – the instructions probably tell you to do that but do you honestly tell people that’s what you do?
[Any more than Mary Poppins sang, ‘Tuppence per bag: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHrRxQVUFN4 ] 😉 ]
Thanks Eileen @41. I see the Indie about twice a year, so maybe it’s just slipped by me. Certainly on my radar now.
Hi Mitz @48
Moi aussi. 😉
Mitz @ 48 & Eileen @ 51
Heatedcagreement here 🙂
Thanks to manehi for the blog, and to others for comments – all much appreciated.
hedgehoggy @44: Compileritis? Being difficult for the sake of it? Why I’m just a mischievous sprite, a trickster leading folk astray with a “Ho ho ho”. And that naturally includes pushing the old envelope a bit at times in the tradition of the crossword and its evolution, following the example of such setters as the genius Araucaria (RIP) – whilst (as he did) always endeavouring to be of assistance to the solver and to play fair by providing a route to a solution that then clearly is the one required.
I guess your remedy for “compileritis” would be for me to follow the rules. Well mostly I do, naturally. It’s just occasionally I sprinkle the love potion in the wrong place, with no harm intended of course. And I might well not do it elsewhere – this is the Grauniad after all.
Oops, that c must have sneaked in at the speed of light…
Hi Puck @53
Thanks for dropping in – keep sprinkling! 😉
Angstony @42, the only word of 6 letters I can find containing XLV is EXOLVE, not too much of a problem with longer words.
It is funny when someone says something like “It really is compileritis to think that people can unravel all that jiggery-pokery,” only to discover that everyone else can… To be fair hedgehoggy has made perfectly valid points in the past but I’ve come to the conclusion that the irksome neologism “compileritis” is his “tell” that he knows he hasn’t got a leg to stand on.
Herb @57, I could not unravel 1d, 2d, 6d and 7d see me @18.
An excellent and thoroughly enjoyable puzzle. A difficult but rewarding solve!
Cookie @ 47:
I clearly meant where will the concatenating of separately parsed digits end. I think perhaps with you loving and me hating the VIVALDI clue, we’re unlikely to agree on this.
Great puzzle, thanks Puck and manehi, and a pleasure to see scientific terms so cleverly clued (with 7 down more of a reverse clue). I suspect their inclusion had more to do with adding to 15 letters than the celebration of any particular physicist.
Of course we all come to think of it as Soft, but doesn’t the B in the pencil hardness grading system actually stand for BLACK?
Thanks manehi.
The most enjoyable, ingenious and innovative crossword I’ve done in a long time.
Keep up the pressure on that envelope Puck!
Loved it – especially 1d. 2d, 6d and 7d which were impeccably clued.
Thanks to Puck manehi.
Weirdly, although I figured out that c(ostume) was the speed of light, the other abbreviated definitions of the long down answers completely passed me by! Like Angstony @60 (and elsewhere) I wasn’t keen on 45 becoming IVV, but otherwise enjoyed the puzzle, though didn’t remember B was soft for pencils.
Thanks manehi for the blog, and thanks Puck for the puzzle
re43. I apologise, I am being most obtuse. Obviously ‘once per day’ and ‘once a day’; per = a. The clue was in my own post!
A brilliant crossword again from Puck.
On the first pass I had only 3 across answers but then got lucky with the “downs”. The “dried fruit” enabled me to see CURRENT as I had CROTCHET. I then saw 6 &7D almost immediately.
Amazingly I spotted the “mini theme” of single letter definitions in the long downs which lead me to 2D.
Sadly this gave me too many crossers so I could “reverse engineer” most of the remaning clues I couldn’t get from the clue. Great fun, though shorter than I would have liked.
Of course hedgehoggy had to be sniffy about the brilliant “long downs”. However today I think he shot himself in the foot as he was comprehensively disagreed with! (Of course they all have definitions as I’m fairly sure you actually always knew they did!)
If that is compileritis let’s have some more please.
Thanks to manehi and Puck
Brendan @66: Agreed on the compileritis. As one who left the Times crossword in favour of the Guardian’s, due to its more liberal attitude to the “rules”, I’d rather have compileritis than complieritis.
Bravo Puck. I’m with Crossbencher in being another feeble arts graduate but got there in the end.
We know nothing about physics but thoroughly enjoyed the clever and inventive cluing. Three cheers for Puck! (And as for you-know-who, if he can’t understand the clues, then he should stop displaying his ignorance.)
Complieritis? Nice one John!
But therein lies the beauty, perhaps, of having a paper that sticks to its guns. In its way The Grauniad does this, and yet since the style varies so much from puzzle to puzzle it’s a little tricky to analyse as a whole (having said that, when cutting my teeth as a solver I didn’t really notice the variation in style all that much, whereas the level of difficulty seemed to me to change by an inordinate amount from, say, Janus to Bunthorne). The Times of course does ask its compilers to comply, to use John’s word, and possibly that’s why it’s a good thing to have a separate website for the analysis of that esteemed journal’s product. Indeed, thinking about it, all the dailies covered here have a broadish range, though Farringdon’s finest probably takes the rosette in that regard.
I really enjoyed Puck’s puzzle today, and ALL the comments that it has given rise to. Very amusing.
Angostony @60, vive la difference.
What a superb tour de force. Four terms from physics and no awkward words elsewhere as a result. Really enjoyed it, Puck.
I loved this. As a scientist by background I am sometimes annoyed when I am expected to know obscure poets or composers, but any scientist more obscure than Newton seems off-limits. I admit that if you have never come across quantum mechanics you probably don’t know that Planck’s constant is indicated by h but it is gettable anyway, and from the comments some people didn’t even realize there were definitions albeit single letters. I think most people know I and c for current and the speed of light (who hasn’t heard of E = mc2). More like that please.
14 d. Still don’t get it. Blog explanation doesn’t work for me. Didn’t enjoy puzzle at all. Not a fair battle. Too clever by half with little compensatory wit.
Puck @53 – thanks for dropping in. Judging from the comments here it appears that a small measure of libertarian sprinkling is popular, so long may it continue!
Mark @ 74 – hope this helps clarify…….
‘RENE’ is the Frenchman, reversed (“turned up”) – ‘ENER’
‘SIN’ = ”wrong” and ‘GIG’ = ”carriage”
“in wrong carriage” (i.e “carriage” in “wrong”) would give ‘SIN’ in ‘GIG’. However, “on the contrary”, gives “wrong” in “carriage”, i.e. GI SIN G
Well I did say it was my opinion: you’re welcome to yours, but you’re not welcome to throw insults.
Of course I understand the clues. I just choose to remark that some of them are unfair IN MY OPINION.
I didn’t finish much of this puzzle in the time available to me, but having seen the answers today, I think it is a brilliant one. It always amazes me how many phrases add up to 15 letters! Thanks to Puck and manehi.
I don’t see a problem with reading 45 as two separate numbers, i.e. 4,5 rather than forty-five.
However, I would have given the definition of 2d as ‘Middle of the”, of 6d as ‘costume initially’, and in 7d would not have underlined the ‘v’ of ‘very’. There is no need to underline the individual letters. In fact, the v in very is part of the cryptic clue, not the definition.
Re me @78, on re-reading I suppose that 7d is a double definition, so ‘very little’ should be underlined,as well as the other part of the clue.
An enjoyable constitutional with the RHS at a brisk pace but some of the LHS needing to be walked more leisurely. Thanks to Puck.
As for the trying hh (he does try, love him) I would prefer he go away but I wouldn’t say that as it would be impolite – I’ll simply think it!
Thanks Puck and manehi
What an excellent puzzle! Actually did it very late on the day (20th), but didn’t get around to going through the last parse walk through until today – when I saw the unusual and very clever use of long clues to answer short one character definitions.
Two clues that I parsed wrongly – didn’t get B=soft with pencil lead and missed RENE (had GENE) as the Frenchman, got SIN but couldn’t make sense of the RGI.
Really love the licence that some of the setters in the Guardian take in their quest to provide interesting and innovative ways for we addicts to complete the 15 x 15 grid – keep it going I say!
loved it