Apologies – a delayed and slightly rushed blog after some tech issues. Enjoyed solving and parsing this, and especially liked 12ac and 16dn. Thanks to Brockwell…
…only after finishing the rest of the blog have I noticed that there seems to be a theme around WATER, with HOLY WATER / WATER PIPE in the middle of the grid, and WHITEWATER, WATERBOARD, WHITEWATER, DISHWATER, WATERPROOF… and more, I’m sure
| ACROSS | ||
| 7 | GOGO-BOY |
Erotic dancer moves body half-heartedly (2-2,3)
|
| ‘go’=’move’, so GO GO=”moves”; plus BO-[d]-Y with only half of its heart/inner letters | ||
| 8 | DEAD SEA |
Federal agents repeatedly patrolling southern lake (4,3)
|
| DEA DEA (Drug Enforcement Administation, US federal agents, repeatedly); around S (southern) | ||
| 9 | PASS |
Succeed in amorous advance (4)
|
| double definition: e.g. to pass an exam, or e.g. to make a pass at someone | ||
| 10 | ON THIN ICE |
Vulnerable judge abruptly suspended cases (2,4,3)
|
| THIN-[k]=”judge” (unfinished/abruptly); cased inside ON ICE=”suspended” | ||
| 12 | PROOF |
Nothing stopping teacher demonstration (5)
|
| O=zero=”Nothing” stopping/inside PROF (professor, teacher) | ||
| 13 | GUNSHOTS |
Thugs struggling with the introduction to Sex On Fire (8)
|
| anagram/”struggling” of (Thugs S-[ex] On)* | ||
| 15 | HOLY |
Casualty scene not the first for Brian Blessed (4)
|
| HOL-[b]-Y minus the first of B-[rian]
Holby City Hospital was the setting/scene for the UK TV drama Casualty |
||
| 16 | WATER |
Spendthrift taking son out for a drink (5)
|
| WA-[s]-TER=”Spendthrift”, minus ‘s’ for “son” | ||
| 17 | PIPE |
Part of organ I covered in university course (4)
|
| I (from surface), in PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics as a university course) | ||
| 18 | BOMB SITE |
Smelly problem child drinking in rubbish tip (4,4)
|
| definition: a place that is messy or in disorder
BO (Body Odour, “Smelly problem”); plus MITE=”child” around BS (bullshit, “rubbish”) |
||
| 20 | BOARD |
Poet taking over committee (5)
|
| BARD=”Poet” around O (over, cricket abbreviation) | ||
| 21 | THE JET SET |
Gang confronting alien travellers who are loaded (3,3,3)
|
| THE JETS=”Gang” in West Side Story; plus ET (extra-terrestrial, “alien”) | ||
| 22 | TAPE |
Brown University released record (4)
|
| TA-[u]-PE=”Brown”, with U (university) removed | ||
| 24 | BEELINE |
Vacant Burmese cat not following most direct route (7)
|
| B-[urmes]-E vacant of its inner letters; plus [f]-ELINE=”cat” without ‘f’ for “following” | ||
| 25 | DEVIANT |
Pervert ultimately hid out around spa (7)
|
| ultimate letters of [hi]-D [ou]-T; around EVIAN a spa town in France | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | SODA |
Americanβs drink troubles returning (4)
|
| ADOS=plural of ado/trouble; reversed/returning | ||
| 2 | DOGSBODY |
Menial person supporting Wolves? (8)
|
| a DOGS BODY might be a group of people organised in support of dogs/wolves | ||
| 3 | LOGOFF |
John bored by golf fellows making exit (3,3)
|
| LOO=toilet=”John”, with G (golf, NATO alphabet) boring inside; plus F and F (fellow, twice) | ||
| 4 | DESIGNER |
Architect is gender-fluid (8)
|
| anagram/”fluid” of (is gender)* | ||
| 5 | ODDISH |
Somewhat strange love on degree course (6)
|
| O=zero=”love” in tennis; plus D (degree); plus DISH=”course” in a meal | ||
| 6 | BEDE |
Saint in revolutionary piece from Claude Debussy (4)
|
| the Venerable BEDE [wiki]
reversed (revolutionary) and hidden in (piece from): [Claud]-E DEB-[ussy] |
||
| 11 | TIGHTNESS |
The Sting shot with special tension (9)
|
| anagram/”shot” of (The Sting)*, plus S (special) | ||
| 12 | PHOTO |
Still river with hidden current (5)
|
| the river PO; around/hiding HOT=”current” e.g. ‘a hot topic of discussion’ | ||
| 14 | TEPID |
Luke Perry originally into climbing regime (5)
|
| definition: ‘luke’ meaning ‘lukewarm’
P-[erry] inside DIET=”regime” reversed upwards/climbing |
||
| 16 | WHITE ANT |
I want the kinky six-footer (5,3)
|
| definition: a six-legged insect
anagram/”kinky” of (I want the)* |
||
| 17 | PLANTAIN |
Anna Frielβs latest tip for cooking fruit (8)
|
| anagram/”cooking” of (Anna [Frie]-L tip)* | ||
| 19 | BEETLE |
Wurzel reversing the Spanish car (6)
|
| definition: the Volkswagen Beetle
BEET=root vegetable, “Wurzel”; plus reversal of EL=”the [in] Spanish” |
||
| 20 | BUTTER |
Queen providing support for bottom fat! (6)
|
| ER (Elizabeth Regina, “Queen”) after BUTT=”bottom” | ||
| 21 | TEES |
Flower boxes left out (4)
|
| definition: the river or flow-er Tees
‘teles’=televisions=”boxes”, so TE-[L]-ES with L-[eft] removed |
||
| 23 | POND |
Whales crossing North Atlantic (4)
|
| definition as in ‘across the pond’ meaning across the Atlantic
POD=group of “Whales”, around N (North) |
I noted β¦
Water –
Proof, Gun, Pipe, Bomb, Board, Jet, Line, Log, Bed, Tight, Beetle, Butt
– Water
Sea, Pass, Ice, Holy, Tap, Hot, Evian, Soda, Body (of), Dish, White, Pond, Tepid, Tees (Teeswater is a breed of sheep)
Thatβs an impressive 26 theme entries, plus WATER itself. There may be more.
Thanks to Dan and manehi
I might be stretching the theme a bit, but for what it’s worth I can see hidden around the grid.
Words found before water:
BODY (of), DEAD (in the), DESIGNER, DISH, EVIAN, HOLY, HOT, ICE, JET (of), PASS, POND, SEA, SODA, TAP, TEPID, WHITE.
Words after water:
BED, BEETLE, BOARD, BOMB, BOY, BUTT, DOG, GUN, LINE, LOG, PIPE, PLANT, PROOF, TIGHT.
Also: Loch NESS, River TEES
Incidentally, according to Wikipedia, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner was first published on October 4th 1798. The crossword editor seems to have been slightly hasty in publishing this on October 3rd.
Thanks Brockwell and manehi
Several not parsed – DEAD SEA (I guessed DEA must stand for something, but no idea what), ON THIN ICE, HOLY (nho Holby City), and TEES, which I don’t think works – TVs would be “tellies”, not “teles”.
I’ve never heard of a GO GO BOY, but I suppose gender equality means there’s no reason why there shouldn’t be an opening!
Favourites BEELINE and DEVIANT.
No theme, of course.
Great puzzle & theme. One of my favourite setters.
Ta Brockwell & manehi.
I think the only solutions I could not wring some WATER out of (pun intended) were DEVIANT and DESIGNER. Bet someone else can find something in those? Really good Friday morning. Thanks so much.
TerriBlislow – not in the answer, but we have ‘fluid’ and ‘spa’ in the clues…
@5 TerriBlislow… EVIAN and Designer Water, e.g. Water with added health benefits.
Remarkable theme fill from Brock-well (water). I’m a little uneasy about the half-hearted body being boy as I don’t think I’ve ever seen this device except when the central letters were identical, so it did not matter which you chose. But maybe I am a little miffed at spending ages wondering about a 3 letter synonym for “woman” before the gender equality idea hit me right where it hurts.
I was also struck by my prejudice that “Holby” was unfair as part of the wordplay, because, obviously it is fine to admit one has never watched some random soap opera/hospital drama. On the other hand every cultured person would be aware of The Jets and The Sharks. So I am twice caught out in my prejudices this morning and better for it I hope!
thanks Brockwell and manehi
Fellow Pisceans may appreciate the WATER SIGN π
DESIGNER water seems to be a thing these days too…
Brilliant puzzle, excellent blog, thanks to both.
[apols to bristle @7, who got there first!]
Very tough. I failed to solve 22ac, 17d, 23d.
Of the ones I solved, I could not parse 7ac apart from BO[d]Y; 15ac – never heard of Holby City Hospital or the UK TV drama Casualty.
New for me: Wurzel = beet (for 19d); LUKE = lukewarm (14d); GO-GO BOY.
I did not notice the theme.
I can add the plant species: Water-plantain
Wurzels are more usually seen as mangelwurzels. They are beets, but used mostly as animal fodder.
Splendidly done and, yes, every solution on theme which is a remarkable achievement. Brockwell is one of my absolute favourite compilers and so many of these clues were neatly constructed with elegant surfaces. A bit of a cop out but no specific favourite clues today – there were too many and the overall accomplishment is the thing. Despite my admiration, though, I do share JOAT @9’s raised eyebrows at the half-hearted ‘body’= BOY. I tried that once and was properly slapped for it so have only ever used it since when there are two identical letters in the middle of the fodder.
Thanks Brockwell and manehi
Yet another themester from the last word of the clue for gunshots: FIREWATER
Water wonderful puzzle & theme!
Thanks to Brockwell and manehi
I parsed DOGSBODY as BODY (person) supporting, in a down light DOGS (wolves), but I think the blog parse is better.
Didn’t spot the theme, as usual.
Lots of fantastic clues, but I think my favourites were PLANTAIN and GUNSHOTS (my loi).
Thanks Brockwell and manehi.
I’ve been out for most of the morning, so I missed the blog when it came out ( my sympathies, manehi – I’ve been there) but it means I’m spared the job of enumerating my examples. I’ve more than once commented on Brockwell’s ability to wring every drop from his thoroughgoing themes and it’s more apt than ever today – but TerriBlislow @5 beat me to it. I think that, for once, I did manage to get them all: at least I know by now to expect a reference in every clue / answer – yet still well enough hidden to trap the unwary (or forgetful).
Apart from that impressive feat, my favourites (whittled down) were DEAD SEA, ON THIN ICE (great construction and surface), HOLY (ditto), THE JET SET, TAPE, DEVIANT, DESIGNER and PLANTAIN.
Huge thanks to Brockwell on another splendid tour de force – Bravissimo! – and to manehi on a fine job in the face of difficulties.
Fabulous fun from my favourite setter. Top ticks for DEAD SEA, THE JET SET & TEPID
muffin@3 Chambers – TELE: informal term for television
Cheers M&B
Embarrassed to be first to admit that though I swam, whizzed and sailed through this I emerged totally dry. Oh well, enjoyed it anyway, super well done Brockers and ta manehi.
Nope, TTP @17 got there before me.
Fantastically comprehensive theme-work by a reliably excellent setter.
Pace muffin @3, I agree, cheetah @19; I’m giving ‘the tele’ the ok as a way to say ‘the box’, which makes 21d slyly neat and probably my cotd.
Tedious plod for me, unlike other solvers who sound most enthusiastic. Admit I find the obsession with themes particularly irritating, probably because I rarely spot one.
More or less the same list of quibbles as Muffin@3, though I did know about Holby (somewhat unfair to non-Brits, I thought). An impressively comprehensive theme that manages not to over-influence the puzzle itself: nicely done, Brockwell.
The only example I can remember of “luke” being used on its own instead of the more usual “lukewarm” is Dylan Thomas’s uncles drinking “luke ale in tiger-striped marquees” in his lovely piece about childhood Bank Holidays on the beach in Wales.
Apart from “dead in the water”, I think deadwater might be a thing in sailing terminology …
Thought the clues were concise and economical today. Managed to fill the grid steadily and with a great deal of teasing out. Though several unparsed – HOLY, BOMB SITE and ON THIN ICE. Didn’t realize that GO GO BOY was a thing/person. But the only possibility to be contorted/fitted into the available space with crossers in place. ODDISH made for a “somewhat strange” appearance, too…
I completely missed the theme, didn’t think to look for one. Also, like most non-Brits, I assume, I’ve never heard of Holby or its hospital. And I didn’t think of “taupe”, one of the obscurer colors.
A bomb site = rubbish?
The use of “luke” by itself reminds me of the time I was living in France. Restaurants and other places sometimes had amusing translations of menus and other announcements for Anglophone visitors, and a popular word on the menus was “lukewarm.” Perhaps it sounded nicer to French folks than plain old “warm,” but of course it had the opposite effect to its intended one. There was also a warning notice at Mont Saint-Michel — “It’s dangerous to risk you in the rising tide. This can surprise you at each time.”
Thanks, Brockwell and manehi.
Valentine @27
I took BOMB SITE as a metaphorical description of a teenager’s bedroom, perhaps.
For those wondering, yes, certain gay bars do have GO-GO BOYS. Or at least they did–acceptance plus Grindr has changed the scene quite a bit since I first started going to them 30 years ago.
…as little people my cousins and I used to overdose on Lucozade, which we always referred to as Luke…
Very nice–a lot of clever clues that turned out to be fair. Needed a bit of help with HOLY/DOGSBODY and further help parsing, and ON THIN ICE was unparsed (got THIN but was looking for “suspended” as the envelope indicator). And then completely missed the theme. Thanks Brockwell and manehi!
Many thanks to manehi for the excellent blog and to everyone else for the comments. Iβm so pleased that the vast majority of you liked it. I was delighted to come up with a 100% themed grid (my HOLY grail!). The next challenge is to come up with one that is enjoyed by 100% of solvers. I suspect that this may be more challenging π. B
Grecian, youβll never please everyone, but for what itβs worth, I always look forward to your offerings and I was glad to direct people towards the theme on the G site last night, where a few missed the fun. A
Quite a gentle solve. Impressive β100%βthemed grid. Maybe even more impressive – not to have noticed before coming here? Kudos to DEAD SEA for the triply themed relevance – dead water, sea water and BODY of WATER.
Thanks, Brockwellwater and manehi.
Thank you, AlanC @33. I suspect you are right, but itβs a worthy ambition. Appreciate the support, as always.
Not in top form today and found this too hard to be enjoyable. I find clues – where we are expected to guess an intermediary word and manipulate that (often involving a subtraction) to get back to the answer – to be borderline unfair, so I didn’t enjoy ON THIN ICE, HOLY, WATER, TAPE, BEELINE or TEES (6 out of 30 clues). But then I’m a bit mental.
As always I am very appreciative of the entertainment offered and also impressed by the depth of the theme, so thanks both.
Valentine@27: The ‘rubbish’ in BOMB SITE is ‘bs’ as per the blog and the definition is ‘tip’ (see muffin@28)
A@36 my mum would often say my room looked like “a bomb’s hit it”
I was surprised that everyone was familiar the Kings of Leon’s SEX ON FIRE
Two reveals short of completion, and needed solving aids along the way, too. There are a lot of references in here which are unfamiliar to me, which explains to some degree why much of this was a parse-free zone.
None of which prevented me from enjoying it, it kept me engaged throughout until I yielded and revealed PIPE and TEPID.
Grecian/Brockwell@35, is it a worthy ambition to attempt the impossible? Alan@33 is unfortunately correct. If your puzzle is easy, some people will complain that it’s not hard enough. If it’s hard, some will complain that it’s not easy enough. And if you seek a goldilocks degree of difficulty, you will get complaints on both sides.
Now if only 100% of solvers could enjoy cleverly constructed puzzles with good surfaces, regardless of difficulty or lack thereof, you would surely succeed in your ambition. I, along with many others as this blog demonstrates, applaud your efforts.
Nice puzzle. I finished it happily but didn’t spot the theme as usual. Thanks.
Very pleased to have finished but like others didn’t spot the theme. Top crossword. Thanks.
I couldn’t parse TEES, though I wrote it in eventually, and despite Chambers having tele (as well as telly) for television, I’m uncomfortable with the plural form used in the wordplay. Those who don’t like ‘half-heartedly’ for taking either the O or the D out of BODY have my support, but it’s not really unfair as only one of the results is a word. π
My penultimate one in was DEVIANT. I really struggle with clues like this. It could be a spa or it could be a pervert. It could be the T from pervert with the letters of (hid out) anagramised or with a six letter word meaning hid out around it. It was only when a word meaning pervert popped into my head, which doesn’t happen all that often, that I saw the French spa town in the middle. And I’d thought of a lot of spa towns by that point, believe me.
Thanks to Brockwell and manehi.
Thanks Brockwell. I didn’t look for a theme so I never spotted it. No matter, the clues alone were worth the effort including DEAD SEA, TAPE, BEELINE, DESIGNER, TIGHTNESS, PHOTO, and POND. Thanks manehi for the blog.
My theme blindness is down to forgetting entries I have already put in. Is that common?
Hugely enjoyable, Brockwell is becoming one of my favourite setters. Some lovely misdirection and a terrific theme.
muffin@44
I don’t know it it’s common but it happens to me most of the time.
Me@46
I don’t know if not it. Missing typos is another form of blindness from which I suffer.
Very nice puzzle, quite enjoyable. The nice surface of 14 nearly makes Luke=tepid ok, but not quite in my book. Yes I imagine it might be in chambers but itβs not in any dictionary I quickly consulted before shrugging and bunging it in.
muffin & pino @44&46
Glad to hear that I’m not the only one.
Wonderful set of clues — too many to give favourites (except maybe I should single out 4a DESIGNER for “is gender-fluid”). I thoroughly enjoyed working on this one, even though I missed two — 15a HOLY (nho the Holby reference, but wonderful to be reminded of the great Brian Blessed!), 12d PHOTO. Missed the (now obvious) theme, brilliantly executed
2d I parsed DOGSBODY as TanTrumPet@17, surely the definition is “Menial”, with “Wolves” for DOGS and “person” for BODY (he has no tattoos on his person)
I also parsed DOGSBODY as per TanTrumpet@17 and Mig@50. Menial as a noun.
Thankyou Brockwell/Grecian for dropping in and for a fun puzzle. Congrats on your achievement with the theme.. So from your comment @9 was the inspiration your zodiac sign?
Thank you paddymelon @51&52 – yes, that was my intended parsing of DOGSBODY and no, I simply needed another WATER- word.
Fabulous. Oh the joy of coming to this site the next morning to experience the Duh moment. I’m not sure how many clues I would need before I recognise a theme!
Belatedly, overall I loved this puzzle. But slight complaint about Bede. He was not a saint. He reached only stage 2, which was to be venerable. He would have needed to reach ‘blessed’, which was stage three, then canonisation as a saint, which was stage four.
Janet@55, apparently the Venerable is also known as “Saint Bede”