Vigo has provided Tuesday’s thematic teaser for this week.
I found this puzzle to be a fairly straightforward solve, at the easier end of the Indy difficulty spectrum, but nonetheless an enjoyable puzzle. It was only upon completing the puzzle that I spotted the theme, with many grid entries (also) being imperial weights and measures: 2, 5, 6D, 7, 9, 15, 17A, 18, 21, 25, 27 and almost 20! There may be others that I either don’t know or haven’t noticed.
My favourite clues today were 19, for its unexpected definition; 20 and 28, both for surface; and, above all, 24, for its clever use of the place name.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 06 | CUE BALL | Label badly written by copper is something you shouldn’t pocket
CU (=copper, i.e. chemical symbol) + *(LABEL); “badly written” is anagram indicator; the cue ball shouldn’t be pocketed, i.e. potted, in e.g. snooker |
| 07 | QUART | Measure mineral endlessly
QUART<z> (=mineral); “endlessly” means last letter is dropped |
| 09 | YARD | Run during 24 hours around garden
R (=run, in cricket) in DAY (=24 hours); “around” indicates reversal |
| 10 | HIGH AND DRY | Helpless drunk also thirsty
HIGH (=drunk) + AND (=also) + DRY (=thirsty) |
| 11 | INFORMED | Told popular editor about class
FORM (=class, at school) in [IN (=popular) + ED. (=editor)] |
| 13 | BOBCAT | Feline in vessel eating black cod initially
[B (=black, as in HB) + C<od> (“initially” means first letter only)] in BOAT (=vessel); a bobcat |
| 15 | ACRE | Championing accepting right piece of land
R (=right) in ACE (=champion) |
| 17 | CABLE | Line caught by expert
C (=caught, on cricket scorecard) + ABLE (=expert, skilled) |
| 18 | ROOD | Verbally disrespectful and cross
Homophone (“verbally”) of “rude (=disrespectful)”; a rood is a religious cross |
| 19 | HOODIE | Top husband loves to pass
H (=husband) + O O (=loves, i.e. 2 x zero score in tennis) + DIE (=pass (away)); a hoodie is a kind of top with a hood |
| 20 | GALLEONS | Ships large volume across Spain
E (=Spain, in IVR) in GALLONS (=large volume) |
| 23 | CITRONELLA | Type of oil lines in strange creation
L L (=lines, i.e. 2 x L) in *(CREATION); “strange” is anagram indicator; citronella is a yellow oil used in perfumery |
| 26 | COVE | Group of witches getting rid of new man
COVE<n> (=group of witches); “getting rid of new (=N)” means letter “n” is dropped; colloquially, a cove is a man, a chap |
| 27 | OUNCE | Small amount of unpleasantness nobody could expect at every opening
O<f> U<npleasantness> N<obody> C<ould> E<xpect>; “at every opening” means first letters only are used |
| 28 | NEUTRAL | Indifferent about nerves over time
T (=time) in NEURAL (=about nerves) |
| Down | ||
| 01 | HEAD-TO-HEAD | Principal will lead to confrontation
HEAD (=principal) + <is> TO HEAD (=will lead, e.g. an inquiry) |
| 02 | FATHOM | Grasp plump, hot, old male
FAT (=plump) + H (=hot, e.g. on tap) + O (=old, as in OT) + M (=male); to fathom is to grasp, get to the bottom of |
| 03 | SLUG | Laggard // to strike
Double definition: a slug is a lazy person, a laggard AND a to slug is to deal a heavy blow, strike heavily |
| 04 | SQUABBLE | Queen separates baubles arranged in a row
Q (=queen, in cards) in *(BAUBLES); “arranged” is anagram indicator |
| 05 | HAND | Hour with worker
H (=hour) AND (=with) |
| 06 | CHAIN | Inch around about a range
A in *(CHIN); “around” is anagram indicator; a chain of mountains is a mountain range |
| 08 | TORNADO | Storm divided a party
TORN (=divided, riven) + A + DO (=party, function) |
| 12 | DEBUG | Fix faults in introduction taking time to get good
DEBU<t> (=introduction; “taking time (=T)” means letter “t” is dropped) + G (=good) |
| 14 | BARLEYCORN | Rob can rely on grinding grain
*(ROB CAN RELY); “on grinding” is anagram indicator |
| 16 | CHORIZO | Sausage has taste of chicken mostly, as far as I can see
C<hicken> (“taste of” means first letter only) + HORIZO<n> (=as far I can see; “mostly” means last letter is dropped) |
| 17 | CLEANSER | Washer is slanted to east constrained by limits of container
[LEANS (=is slanted to) + E (=east)] in C<ontaine>R (“limits of” means first and last letters only) |
| 21 | LEAGUE | The French fever for union
LE (=the French, i.e. a French word for the) + AGUE (=fever) |
| 22 | NOVEL | New verse in carol
V (=verse) in NOËL (=carol, i.e. Christmas song) |
| 24 | REND | Regatta’s start and finish is Split
R<egatta> (“start” means first letter only) + END (=finish); to split is to rend, tear |
| 25 | LINK | Bond returning nothing to king
LIN (NIL=nothing; “returning” indicates reversal) + K (=king, in cards) |
14D BARLEYCORN is an archaic measure, being about a third of an inch. Great fun, so thanks Vigo and RatkojaRiku
Light and great fun with a theme that even I could spot.
Many thanks to Vigo and RR.
Very enjoyable. HOODIE was fun for the way it fitted together before I realised how it fitted the definition. Thanks, both.
Didn’t pick up on the theme but in my defence I wasn’t looking for one!
Always enjoy this setter’s puzzles and this one didn’t disappoint. Top three for me were HIGH AND DRY, ROOD and CHORIZO.
Thanks to Vigo (have a lovely Christmas) and to RR for the review.
Very pleasant way to start off the morning. Slow to pick up on the theme, initially thinking it may be a feline one with BOBCAT and OUNCE, but thanks mainly to the three answers across the centre of the grid, I eventually spotted most of the references except for the unlikely BARLEYCORN. I liked CHORIZO of the non-thematic clues.
Thanks to Vigo and RR
Enjoyable but over a bit too quickly. We didn’t spot the theme till we’d finished – probably because Q and Z set us off looking for a pangram, but in the end it was four letters short.
An initial thought for 7ac was ‘is there a mineral called cubite which would give us cubit?’ – but then, that measure is even older than the Imperial sytem.
Favourites were BARLEYCORN and CHORIZO.
Thanks, Vigo and RR.
As a novice, I greatly appreciated this puzzle—this is the first time I’ve finished an independent cryptic in under an hour without hints, and I beat that mark by a mile! Excellent theme and cluing. I thought CHORIZO was gorgeous. Thanks, Vigo and RR!
Quite light for an Indy puzzle but enjoyable enough. Must confess I didn’t notice the blindingly obvious theme but did do it very late after the midnight hour. Makes a pleasant change to have no parsing head scratches too.
Thanks both
Whizzed through this very enjoyable offering blissfully unaware of a theme.
Standout favourite for me was CHORIZO.
Many thanks Vigu and RR.
Yes, went in fairly quickly.
Incidentally, the SLUG is also a unit of measurement. Although in the system I was taught at school the pound was a unit of mass and the poundal a unit of force, Americans define the pound as a unit of force and the slug as a unit of mass, about 32 imperial pounds mass.
I did enjoy this; spotted the theme pretty quickly after CHAIN and YARD, then found myself asking “Is this one too?” after many of the answers. What a wonderful quaint system Imperial is. I still have a measuring cylinder showing fluid ounces and drachms. I use it for making cocktails. Thank you Vigo and RatkojaRiku
Big fan of Carpathian/Vigo here, so I very much enjoyed this – not too difficult but always fun and witty.
Didn’t think to look for a theme until after I’d finished, though BARLEYCORN did rather leap out at me while solving – it is 1/3 of an inch as Tatrasman @1 says, but what most people don’t realise is that the measure is the basis of UK shoe sizes.
In Dorset a ‘lug’ is a measure of land, usually with reference to a garden plot. Does ‘head’ count as a measure of a winning distance in horse racing?
Thanks to everyone who commented and to RatkojaRiku for the blog. The credit for CHORIZO has to go to Harold/Bobcat who came up with this elegant clue after test solving a weaker version. Thanks Bobcat!
Commenting well after the day of, but this was my first 100% solve and I’m feeling rather proud of myself!
Thanks to Vigo and RR.