One for music fans…
…with songs and an album by Taylor Swift making up most of the down lights in the puzzle. I saw a comment on the Guardian site claiming that the theme was niche, but I don’t agree. Taylor Swift is one of the highest selling artists of all time, and even I (a 62-year-old who thinks music died in the early 90s) know some of her songs. All of the themed solutions could be worked out from wordplay, and there were more than enough crossers to work out THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT. I think SOLECISM was perhaps the most difficult solution to work out – CIS as in cisgender doesn’t appear in Chambers yet, but you’d have to be living under a rock not to have heard the term recently. I really enjoyed the challenge this morning, so…
…thanks Omnibus.
| ACROSS | ||
| 8 | SOLECISM |
Mistake to put ‘male’ after only matching gender observed at birth (8)
|
| Put M (male) after SOLE (“only”) matching CIS (“gender observed at birth”) | ||
| 9 |
See 17 Down
|
|
| 10 | OTHO |
Emperor having cameo in They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (4)
|
| Hidden [having cameo] in “”shoOT HOrses”
Marcus Salvius Otho was Roman emperor for a whole three months in 69CE. |
||
| 11 | HEADSTONES |
Teacher prepares fruit for markers (10)
|
| HEAD (teacher) + STONES (“prepares fruit”) | ||
| 12 | GRUDGE |
Dislike of despicable supervillain leads to dangerous game ending (6)
|
| GRU (“supervillain” in the Despicable Me movies) + [leads to] D(angerous) G(ame) E(nding) | ||
| 14 | LAYOVERS |
Brief stops Romeos taking forever (8)
|
| LOVERS (“Romeos”) taking AY (“forever”) | ||
| 16 | ADAPTTO |
Make provision for poison tentacle tips in a frisky toad (5,2)
|
| P(oison) T(entacle) [tips] in A + *(toad) [frisky] | ||
| 18 | QUICKIE |
Brief Encounter at start of quarantine: you said, ‘That’s horrible, that is’ (7)
|
| [start of] Q(uarantine) + U (homophone [said] of YOU) + ICK (“that’s horrible”) + i.e. (“that is”) | ||
| 21 | ABERDEEN |
Barking Scot has scraggly beard – even for a poet (8)
|
| *(beard) [anag:scraggly] + E’EN (“even” for a poet)
The Aberdeen terrier is another name for the Scottie dog. |
||
| 23 | TASSEL |
Source of Russian news takes on the Spanish threads (6)
|
| TASS (Russian news agency for more than a century, so “source of Russian news”) takes on EL (“the” in “Spanish”) | ||
| 24 | SLIMCHANCE |
Long shot, but here’s an opportunity to diet (4,6)
|
| SLIM CHANCE (“opportunity to slim”) | ||
| 26 | AGOG |
In suspense? Half excited? Try always turning round (4)
|
| [half] <=(GA)ga (“excited”) + <=GO (“try”) [always turning round] | ||
| 27 | NINES |
Canniness concealing squares (5)
|
| Hidden in [revaeling] “canNINESs” | ||
| 28 | SWIFTIES |
These knocked back by Westminster set if drunk (8)
|
| SW1 (postcode of “Westminster”) + *(set if) [anag:drunk]
Swifties are also fans of Taylor Swift, which is relevant to some of the down answers. |
||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 |
See 17
|
|
| 2 |
See 26
|
|
| 3 |
See 15
|
|
| 4 | AMIABLE |
Have I got it in me to be ‘nice’? (7)
|
| AM I ABLE (“have I got it in me”) | ||
| 5 | OPTS |
Chooses shady spot (4)
|
| *(spot) [anag:shady] | ||
| 6 | RECONVICTS |
Once more assigns blame for space to play on six courts (10)
|
| REC(reation ground) (“space to play”) + ON + VI (six, in Roman numerals) + Cts. (courts) | ||
| 7 | I SWEAR |
Honest to God, I burn within? (1,5)
|
| I + W (with) in SEAR (“burn”) | ||
| 13 |
See 17
|
|
| 15, 22, 3 | YOU BELONG WITH ME |
Elbowing youth aside, setter’s a hit among 28 (3,6,4,2)
|
| *(elbowing youth) [anag:aside] + ME (“setter”)
A song by Taylor Swift. |
||
| 17, 1, 9, 13 | THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT |
Where Angelou and Auden are put on the rack for collection favoured by 28? (3,8,5,10)
|
| An album by Taylor Swift, so “favoured by Swifties (28 ac)” | ||
| 19 | ICED OVER |
Reserve at port grew cold (4,4)
|
| ICE (“reserve”) + DOVER (“port”) | ||
| 20 | ONANISM |
Windy mansion that makes one go blind? (7)
|
| *(mansion) [anag:windy]
An urban myth/parental warning claims that onanism makes you go blind. |
||
| 22 |
See 15
|
|
| 23 | THESIS |
The spies’ line of argument (6)
|
| THE + SIS (Secret Intelligence Service, so “spies”) | ||
| 25 | HUSK |
Hong Kong accepts American protection (4)
|
| HK (Hong Komg) accepts US (American) | ||
| 26, 2 | ANTI -HERO |
‘Morally flawed protagonist’ for 28 is another I messed up (4-4)
|
| *(another i) [anag:messed up]
A song by Taylor Swift |
Interesting?
I have been called a lot of things in my time but never a SWIFTIE. I could not name one song of hers before today so knew this was going to be a challenge with both related answers going in last missing out on a lot of checking letters. Fingers crossed for the TTPD which I was glad to see was correct.
Bit confused by YOU BELONG WITH ME with me having YOUTH around the side of an anagram of elbowing and was wondering what the anagrind was. Don’t think I have seen aside used in that way before.
Liked SOLECISM. Thankfully I only know one word for gender observed at birth.
Thanks Loonapick and Omnibus
Puzzles like this are a different type of challenge. I rallied my forces in the South East, trying to get a foothold on 28 and once it fell, so did everything else, with some help from Spotify.
I liked SOLECISM, ONANISM, SLIM CHANCE and NINES.
Thanks Omnibus (team?) and Loonapick
Not being a fan of multiple, long interconnected clues (especially when see a long clue such as 17/1 etc that then refers to another clue 28) I struggled with this puzzle. My feeling was similar to one of the btl comments – ‘doable, but not enjoyable’. Was mildly helped by the theme.
I couldn’t parse 7d.
New for me: villain GRU for 12d; SIS = spies.
A tour de force! Many thanks Omnibus and loonapick.
oops, I was cut off @1…
I’d add that SOLECISM was my FOI and, unlike our blogger, I found some solutions singularly recondite!
Many thanks
Ho hum. I guess opinions will differ about whether Taylor Swift’s oeuvre is GK. Not for me so had to look her up on Wikipedia and bung in the obvious answers. Not much fun there, but take the point made by loonapick.
I enjoyed the rest which was made a lot easier by the long TS clues. Couldn’t parse I SWEAR or AGOG.
Liked AMIABLE and SLIM CHANCE.
Thanks to Omnibus and loonapick.
Some nice clues but a bit of a struggle, not knowing anything about Ms Swift’s oeuvre. Couldn’t get TORTURED; hadn’t heard of GRU but worked it out. Curate’s egg. Thanks to O & L.
Dry and dusty.
Google did a good job of solving this one.
Could start a flame war about when music died, but decided not to :)))))
A refreshing change. I didn’t know most of the songs but, as loonapick said, they were all solvable from the wordplay and crossers.
I don’t normally do the Omnibus puzzles as I’ve too often found the clueing substandard – however, I thought this was pretty good. My favourite was AMIABLE, a lovely clue (though a nagging sense I’ve seen it before).
[Taylor Swift is no more a niche subject area than crossword regulars like The Beatles or Bob Dylan, albeit that TTPD is not one of her best albums. My favourite is Speak Now, a high point of indelible songcraft all the more remarkable because she was barely out of her teens when she wrote it. The curious might want to start with 1989, which has a lot of “the hits” on it.]
SOLECISM was my FOI. Limited knowledge of Swift got me there in the end. However, I don’t understand AY=Forever in LAYOVERS (solved without parsing). Can someone explain?
Liked SWIFTIES
Also liked SOLECISM, LAYOVERS, AMIABLE, I SWEAR and ANTI-HERO.
Thanks Omnibus and loonapick.
MuddyThinking@14
Ay means always/ever. Appears often in Crosswordostan.
Worth remembering.
Heard of TS of course but that’s about all, so a bit of a slog. And I forgot about Westminster being SW1 — neat! Ta both.
Well that was fun in the end. Not an expert on the songs of Miss Swift so a little googling was required. MT@14 ay is a poetic / archaic word for forever.
Thanks to the O team and to loonapick.
I liked SOLECISM and AMIABLE, and appreciated the hint at the theme in QUICKIE.
Thanks KVa and SimoninBxl. Had not come across it before and will inevitably forget it the next time….
Really struggled to make initial inroads and eyebrows raised when eventually my first two in were ONANISM and QUICKIE. So, what are we being offered today, I thought, and as usual with no idea about the theme as I laboured through this. I must be becoming quickly old hat and out of date these days as SWIFTIES does not yet register as a “thing” with me. Must get out more, obviously.
Just a half dozen unsolved at the end, however…
The theme (which I only noticed after having to reveal SWIFTIES), was beyond me, and given that the key and longest solution is a title I’ve never heard of, does not correspond to any common expression in English, and has virtually no cryptic element other than GK, I can’t say I liked this much, or indeed at all.
‘Nuff said.
I mean, I’m not overly keen on references to Taylor Swift and Despicable Me, but I will absolutely encourage it in a world where setters still love referencing the Wombles.
You’d better come up with a good crossword if you’re going to have four of the top five clues instruct you to a see another longer clue that reference yet another clue. Really not engratiating yourself with the solver there. Don’t know how that gets past multiple setters…
Gratified to have finished despite not knowing a single TS song. Not sure if that’s shameful or not. I’m pretty good on Cream and Stevie Wonder.
Thanks Omnibus and loonapick.
Got it finished from the crossers, except for 28 ac.
I have never heard of Taylor Swift except for one previous occasion on this site, when I recall saying that I had never heard of her.
Yes, it’s definitely ‘niche.’
MuddyThinking@14: ‘ay’ is an old-fashioned (obsolete?) word meaning “always, forever” — like many old-fashioned words, it persists in poetic diction.
Comment #26
No chance of me getting it, not knowing a thing about TS creative work. POETS and DEPARTMENT one can deduce from the clue but there are about a dozen words that would fit the crossers for TORTURED. By the way, – apologies for not knowing, – were Auden and Angelou actually tortured? By whom?
A curate’s egg I would say; I liked SOLECISM and HEADSTONES. Thanks Omnibus and loonapick
I wonder if Omnibus is the same committee each time? Anyway, besides all the Swiftiness (none of which I knew, but I have no objection) there were more up to date references in CIS gender and the villain GRU, and some rather older ones in ONANISM and TASS. Never met SIS=spies before, either. I found this a bit of a slog, with some Googling needed to identify the author of YOU BELONG WITH ME and the TORTURED bit of the album title. Favourites SOLECISM – and SLIM CHANCE. Now there is a band I do know about…
Surprisingly enjoyable given that I dont know a single Taylor Swift song, though 63 year old men are hardly in her fans’ demographic. Genuinely puzzled as to why anyone should consider her niche. The Fall are niche; an artist who sells out arenas around the world is not.
I enjoyed this much more than I initially expected, having seen the two long multipart clues, and having found this setter a bit variable in the past, but it turned out to be a treat. I can’t believe some people haven’t heard of Taylor Swift; she is a huge cultural phenomenon throughout the world. I don’t really know her work but I did recognise the tortured poets reference, which opened up a lot of the puzzle. Thanks, ‘bus and loonapick.
CIS is “matching gender assigned at birth”, not just “gender assigned at birth”.
As a proud swiftie in my sixties, I loved the TS references. I only wish there were more.
Me@27: got the torture bit now; thought of the wrong rack
Definitely one for the tortured solvers department. My knowledge of music stops around 1979. We oldies must hope a new generation replaces us, but not just yet.
I wouldn’t class the titles of TS songs and albums as general knowledge, but I don’t really care as long as the wordplay is accessible, and if I’m in a hurry, as I usually am, if I know that I won’t know the answer and need it to make progress, I have no problem with looking it up. I only regret doing so if I find that I should have known the answer after all.
Quite good setting to shoehorn the themed entries without other obscurities. A crossword editor once said that having lots of connected long answers was not very appropriate because if you knew the answers a lot of the puzzle was a write-in and if you didn’t it was a bit of a slog. I liked SLIM CHANCE, SOLECISM and AMIABLE.
Thanks Omnibus and loonapick.
Some excellent clues here – I’ll echo the plaudits for SOLECISM, LAYOVERS, AMIABLE and ONANISM. However, puzzles with interrelated split solutions randomly placed round the grid are a pain to solve on a smartphone. All I know of TS (in common with many regulars here, I imagine) is her phenomenal popularity. Consequently this wasn’t much fun for me, I’m afraid, though I’m not complaining about popular cultural themes as such. But what next? A Bridgerton themed puzzle? O tempora o mores 🙂
Thanks to Omnibus and loonapick
Thanks for the blog and I agree with you totally and just add that Taylor Swift has a massive positive impact for female students . Generally good clues and some very nice touches .
Not too keen on AGOG , far too many words .
I approve of this theme but it could have been moved , surely the the theme today should have been MILES DAVIS .
I’ve heard of Taylor Swift but I’ve no idea about any of her songs and couldn’t pick her out in an identity parade. Even so, the word play was helpful and overall I enjoyed the puzzle. GRUDGE went in with a shrug, as GRU is another unknown. Thanks to setter and blogger.
The story of Onan can be found in Genesis. Dorothy Parker is said to have called her canary Onan because he spilled his seed upon the ground.
I have heard of Taylor Swift ( who hasn’t), but I have never heard any of her music.
My taste is for 1970s. 80s. Metal. and Rock and Roll ( proper music ).
I really don’t care if I never do hear her music
Back in the sixties everybody of whatever age (except perhaps the occasional judge) was familiar with The Beatles. Unfortunately that’s not the case any more, and while being aware of Taylor Swift, I’ll admit to not knowing her songs or albums. From the crossers, and the mention of Angelou and Auden, 9a had to be POETS, and 13d looked likely to be DEPARTMENT, so I googled POETS DEPARTMENT which gave me the rest of that answer.
But despite having to cheat a bit, I found this entertaining. I liked the way that QUICKIE went with SWIFTIES.
I was expecting to have to defend OTHO from what I thought would be the inevitable criticisms, but as far as I can see there have been none! I know many people don’t like extra words in the containment fodder, but that’s just a matter of taste. I thought it was a good clue.
Many thanks Omnibus and loonapick.
Excellent! Something vaguely contemporary for a change! (I’m 68 but you really can’t avoid Taylor!)
Thanks Omnibus and loonapick
Please tell me that I wasn’t the only one to think that ‘Swifties’ could refer to readers of Jonathon Swift.
Like Roz@37 I felt that AGOG was too wordy. “Always” seems completely superfluous. Other than that an enjoyable but challenging puzzle, given that my knowledge of TS is nearly none.
Dunno about Jonathan, but some time ago we had a puzzle on Tom Swifities (“We’re adrift,” said Tom cantankerously.) Anybody remember that one?
I’ve never heard of GRU either.
How does GAGA mean “excited”?
How are the SWIFTIES “knocked back” in 28ac?
You might think that the opposite of SLIM CHANCE would be “fat chance,” but since it’s only ever used ironically, they actually mean the same thing.
This theme was less obscure than many of Qaos’s. I’ve at least heard of Taylor Swift and her poets, while Qaos too often evokes rock bands I’ve never heard of at all.
Thanks to Omnibus and loonapick, whose help was appreciated.
Congratulations to Google for solving most of this. No complaints, I happen to find the young lady’s music surprisingly pleasing considering, for me, music died when Bob Dylan went electric.
Agree with others re AGOG… what’s always there for.
Onanism raised a smile, thank goodness Paul had no part in this.
I think this payback for yesterday’s puzzle. A bit of a slog! No objection whatsoever to using a Taylor Swift theme, niche – yes, but not obscure. I’m 70+ and don’t do pop music after the 70’s (my offer for when music ended). Don’t know where Anna #24 has been! My heart sank when I got 28 across, but I managed to solve it – albeit having to fill in the TS albums at the end from the crossers and checking them on Google and also discovering from the parse here that GRU is some kind of supervillain – thanks Loonapick
Niche theme OK. However as Tachi #22 says: four of the top five clues instruct you to a see another longer clue that reference yet another clue. That, together with the fact that the 2 multi-light TS Albums are not phrases otherwise in use in English, is where I think the compilers have really stretched (perhaps broken) the bounds of acceptability
Valentine @45 ‘Knocked back’ as in ‘drunk very quickly / at a gulp” – or ‘chugged’ in US parlance. That is, a Swifty’ in that sense is slang for a (very) quick drink.
There is also a topical reference to controversies surrounding the alleged drinking culture in Parliament stirred up by a recently-elected Green Party MP.
Valentine @45 – I think this https://fifteensquared.net/2025/06/05/guardian-29713-yank/#more-196522
is possibly the puzzle you mean – Swifties are not actually the theme but there are a number of examples and references in the comments.
Weary B@43, no you weren’t…
It seems I’m not only living under a rock loonapick, but the rock is at the back of a cave far from daylight.
LOVER and ANTI-HERO are also TS songs, as I discovered while searching today, to give myself a leg-up with the long answers.
There’s also ’22’, which I suppose appears in the clues.
Possibly more, as she has an extraordinary number of releases.
WearyB@43…and although I didn’t become an ornithologist, I supposed I might have been described as a Swiftie in the 1950’s as the Hulton published comic the Swift was part of my realm/reading material. I think I may possibly have graduated at some point from the Robin and on to the Eagle…
Is it me, or is a person who was assigned ‘girl’ at birth and identifies as a woman now, just a ‘woman’. What’s with ‘cisgender woman’?
I remember seeing ‘Tay Tay’ aged 16 on Jools Holland’s Later.. and thinking that girl’s got some talent, but don’t know any of her songs other than one of the album titles has something to with Poets, so thanks Google for your help.
I’m doubtless being dumb but are nines squares?
Dinsdale@54 the reference is to square numbers, of which nine is the square of three.
Dinsdale#54 only if you start with a 3
Wasn’t for me as I don’t know anything about TS, and, rather embarrassingly, never even thought about her for swiftie (looked it up online and got an Australian slang term!). Good to see younger references which might encourage younger people to start crosswords – can’t all be for us of the creaking bones
I would not know Taylor Swift if I stood next to her in a bus queue, so not for me.
Thanks to both.
I would not call Taylor Swift niche – but at the same time I would not consider her oeuvre to be GK _outside of her fan base_. Like many people, I am aware that she is a huge commercial and artistic success, I recognize her face on TV and magazine covers, yet I could not name a single one of her albums or singles.
I would draw a comparison to the controversy we had some weeks ago when the video gamers among us were surprised to discover that those of us who do not play were unaware of a specific long-running game franchise, despite the undoubted importance and awareness of video gaming in general. Those on the inside of the fandom hugely overestimated the cultural impact of its specific details outside of the fandom.
And I would contrast this with cultural elements that do not have such hard boundaries. For example, even though the Beatles disbanded over half a century ago, almost everybody exposed to Western culture knows roughly who they were, and can probably name a song or two.
FWIW, I would say that the fame of Taylor Swift, and possibly even the term SWIFTIE for her followers, could be considered GK, but the contents of her back catalog should not.
Not knowing the other definition of “swiftie” either, I bunged it in from the wordplay, shrugged, and moved on to not enjoying the rest of the crossword.
Thanks both for the puzzle and blog. Favourites were 5d OPTS and 25d HUSK for their surfaces. Like PhilB@7 Couldn’t fully parse 26a AGOG (why “always”?) or 7d I SWEAR (clever)
18a, Man in restaurant says to waitress: “I’d like a QUICKIE please.” Waitress rolls her eyes and says: “It’s pronounced “Quiche”
4d I first thought AMICABLE doesn’t fit. But then we also have AMIABLE, which means pretty much the same thing
Valentine@45, don’t get me started on Tom Swifties! (Eileen@49 was probably the only one to see my very late comment @71)
Even by some miracle getting the ‘theme’ clue was of negative help, since I then tried to frame the long clues into Tom Swifties (with a predictable level of success). My favourite BTW:
“Time for morning prayers,” said Tom tercely.
Ah well, horses for courses. I’m sure there’ll be a brass band or bellringing themed one along soon.
My brain always seems to mix up the film Dead Poets Society with The Tortured Poets Department and come back with Departed Poets Society, so I struggled for a while with that before realising I’d made my usual mistake. As an apology to Ms Swift I’ll listen To Speak Now, at 62 I’m not a Swiftie, but am capable of seeing news headlines about incredibly successful concert tours in my country and remembering the artists’s name (and in fact liking the music).
Whilst I like it when I can assemble the whole crossword from the accumulated detritus of my brain without learning anything, I have no objection to glancing off into new areas. Enjoyed this one, not least because the aha moment after 28 – followed necessarily by Google – gave me so much to go on. Last in was AMIABLE followed by a self-administered kick.
Well, we need more younger solvers and this was aimed at them.
A pattern search led me to YOU BELONG WITH ME which in turn made SWIFTIES obvious, whence a quick search of the lady’s album titles provided the other long solution.
Like many others, Gru was NHO but a quick search confirmed my suspicions.
Popular music didn’t die after the 1970s but the good stuff started getting rarer and rarer. My 24 year old musician son agrees – his favourite album is Wish You Were Here.
TripleJumper@64 we watch a lot of old TOTPs and Sounds of the 60s/70s , the good stuff is great but there is a lot of rubbish although the 70s rubbish is usually funny . The good stuff survives , the rubbish gets filtered out , it is the same with albums and sit-coms .
Valentine/Mig et al – the Guardian on Saturday has Maslanka’s Puzzles next to the crossword , various things and sometimes Tom Swifties . I suspect it can be found online .
Boy, this comments thread makes depressing reading. Is there anyone at all under the age of 30 here? I’m no great fan of Taylor Swift but she’s absolutely a cultural phenomenon and that makes her quite suitable for a crossword theme. We need newer younger solvers to take an interest in cryptic puzzles, otherwise this hobby of ours is in serious trouble.
SOLECISM was well crafted. I thought the use of cameo in 10 was excellent since it implies a very brief appearance in the longer than usual fodder. I didn’t know OTHO myself. I SWEAR was my other favorite, as I like the within trick.
I think always in 26a across is an attempt to turn both GA and GO without swtching their clue order. Not sure it quite works, but otherwise the clue would lead to OGAG. Anyway, wordy or not, it got me the answer, so fair dos.
Thanks, Omni and loonapick.
Wolf@53 “Is it me, or is a person who was assigned ‘girl’ at birth and identifies as a woman now, just a ‘woman’. What’s with ‘cisgender woman’? ”
The term “cisgender woman” is in contrast to “transgender woman”. Both of which are women. You may go fight this in the Guardian’s comment section…
Any “young solver” attempting this puzzle won’t be coming back again any time soon.
I’m looking forward to Vlad’s next Gangsta-themed effort or, even better, a Musique Concrete offering from Paul.
As Jim Royle would no doubt say, “CIS gender, my arse”!
Better than the last Omnibus. I’ll leave it at that 🙂
Cheers L&O
I agree Phitonelly @66 (on the rare occasion I type your handle, I always want to put Phil on Telly). I guess with media being so diffuse and personalised now you can trundle along in your own bubbled off lane, almost completely oblivious to the global behemoth pulling alongside. Go back 25 years to 5 UK TV channels and a relatively static internet and the Z list equivalents were all household names. (I saw Tay Tay perform Trouble on the Brit Awards [our Grammy equivalent] many years ago. It was electrifying.) Many people are being quite reasonable in expressing that experience; some less so.
It’s one thing not to know the song names, but not to be aware of her or to write the subject off as niche is ludicrous. You’d think people here would like to be stretched.
20 down is simply offensive and shouldn’t be in a 2026 crossword. I’m deaf and have had the same cruel myth levelled at me. I’m astonished no-one else has commented on this (that I can see).
Considering last year we had Paul giving us a puzzle themed around 1800s dance hall songs, which went down a treat to many commenters here, I do find it funny how many here and on The Guardian’s site find Taylor Swift and Gru to be obscure/niche when she is one of the most popular musicians of the 21st century and he is from one of the most popular family films of the 21st century.
Puzzle was tough but fair, really enjoyed ONANISM and AMIABLE as most here seemed to.
Martin@70 , I think it is Tone in Philly , I also think all names should be restricted to 3 letters starting with a capital , some of us iype with one finger .
Even after reading the blog, I was confused by “those knocked back,” until I finally realized it must be synonymous with QUICKIE. I had never heard it used as such, and I ca’t find it in my online Chambers. Like many, I thought of Tom Swifties, but, before I solved that one, the mention of Westminster and ABERDEEN had me looking for a possible dog theme.
I think Taylor Swift is a totally fair theme, even though I didn’t know any of the titles. Qaos has certainly used more obscure—at least to me—ones.
Brilliant puzzle
Ta Omnibus & loonapick.
I don’t normally comment as the dust has always settled by the time I’ve got home and finished off the puzzle. But thoroughly enjoyed this and like Martin @3 I enjoyed the tactics of defeating the SE corner to get the key word whereupon the the whole crossword word falls. And I do love a contemporary theme that expands by GK a bit
Roz@73 Agreed! 🙂
BTW, the original Despicable Me is a really delightful movie — recommended
Roz@73 and Mig@77, I agree with you 60%.
TamLin@71 – It always seemed so ridiculous an idea that I never thought of it being potentially offensive, so thanks for the insight. Even ridiculous suggestions can hurt when they are aimed at you personally.
Are there any blind solvers? I guess with a screen reader or a partner it would be possible.
So, as a young-ish solver (though still a few years over 30), I find it quite amusing to read that some people here seem to think that one of the best-selling artists of all time is niche, yet a guy who was emperor for a whole 3 months isn’t…
Anyway, this was actually my first full cryptic solve! I’ve only done the Guardian quick cryptics up until now – as a non-native speaker, I first had to come to grips with different clue types and indicators. I thought it was fairly doable, apart from some solutions I had to double check – I managed to parse 8A to get SOLECISM, but until half an hour ago, I had never heard of the word before…
I solved YOU BELONG WITH ME but didn’t know it was a Taylor Swift song. Unfortunately the similarity of the title to You Were Made For Me by Freddie and the Dreamers (1963) was enough to give me a persistent earworm.
And I was misled rather than helped by ‘put on the rack’ in the POETS clue, thinking of racks of LPs in a vinyl shop, or bookshelves at a pinch.
The only word I could think of for 28a was SKITTLES (though they’re knocked over rather than ‘back’!) so I had to resort to Google, which I hate having to do. That aside, I thought this was better than others from this setter, with ticks for I SWEAR and LAYOVERS, and queries about ‘always’ that others have mentioned.
Thanks to Omnibus and Loonapick.
Dutch @ 80
I hope you won’t take this amiss
As a youngish and recent poster you may not be aware that there was a highly respected and liked setter and poster named Richard Pauptit, who used the name Dutch.
He died, early, a few years ago.
I think it would be generous and appropriate if you were to reconsider your username.
Thank you
Very good although I didn’t quite finish. The music never died and never will, great records come out all the time, they’re just different to the records that used to come out. I’m 58.
Dutch@80, congratulations! Especially as a non-native speaker.
Dutch @80. Well done, and if you want to use that name, please do so
Agree with AP and Crispy , I have so much admiration for anyone who can do a crossword in a language that is not their first .
Dutch @80/ Simon S @82
The bloggers list says that Dutch only set in the Independent. I thought the name wasn’t familiar. Unlikely to confuse Guardian solvers?
Loved it! Great puzzle. 18 and 20 had a little Paul-esque naughtiness!
Roz @86 – It’s not just the fact that it’s a foreign language, but the way words and meanings get bent in a cryptic makes it even more impressive.
If anyone’s still here, has it been established whether Omnibus is a collaboration or an individual setter?
As for yesterday’s, I know a few things about TS by the sheer inescapability of news items about her on every platform, had a vague recollection of TTPD, got YBWM by only likely crossers, and didn’t need further knowledge on the theme to complete the grid. “Tay Tays” are what I understand posh people to call potatoes…
Yes, I thought of the poet Swift too.
Cheers one and all.