I found some of the clues here quite tricky, but luckily leavened by enough easier ones to help me over the line. Thanks to Brockwell.
There’s a double theme based around two meanings of 1 down, SOAP, which I only noticed the full extent of while writing the blog. There are numerous references in the clues and answers to cleaning products and to soap operas.
| Across | ||||||||
| 9 | OPERA | Car men possibly needing welding ring AA (5) O (ring) + PER (a) + A; if you weld “car” and “men” together you get the opera Carmen |
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| 10 | ULTRASOFT | Hardcore fans frequently very forgiving? (9) ULTRAS (extremists, hardcore fans) + OFT (frequently). Ultrasoft is a brand of fabric conditioner |
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| 11 | PATTY-CAKE | Misuse of tacky tape in Yankees’ game (5-4) (TACKY TAPE)* – US version of pat-a-cake |
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| 12 | TEDDY | Stuffed thing in underwear (5) Double definition |
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| 13 | TOBACCO | Explorer brought back oddly cool plant (7) Reverse of (John) CABOT + odd letters of CoOl, with an appropriate surface reading (for a different explorer) |
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| 15 | TANGRAM | Dynasty’s leading male produces puzzle (7) TANG (Chinese dynasty) + RAM (male) |
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| 17 | LUXOR | 1-0 by the end for Manchester City (5) LUX (brand of soap powder) + O + [Mancheste]R |
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| 18 | SUD | Comeback of Twilight mostly a bit of froth (3) Reverse of DUS[k] |
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| 20 | EVENS | Sinner’s broken by Norrie at the start and quits (5) N[orrie] in EVE’S |
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| 22 | Y-FRONTS | Father working in old juvenile training pants (1-6) FR (Father) ON (working) in YTS (Youth Training Scheme). I suppose you might see these on the line with a TEDDY on WASHDAY |
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| 25 | WASHDAY | Spooner’s cash balance when things may be on the line? (7) Spoonerism of “dosh weigh” |
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| 26 | JOUST | Nothing stops fair contest (5) O in JUST |
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| 27 | DISBARRED | Expelled inspectors embarrassed outside pub (9) BAR in DIS (Detective Inspectors) + RED (embarrassed) |
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| 30 | EMBROILED | Dorothy’s aunt and British drunk get involved (9) EM (Aunt Em from The Wizard of Oz) + BR[itish] + OILED (drunk) |
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| 31 | TIDES | Main movements of Mendelssohn’s 4th introduced by strings (5) The fourth letter of menDelssohn in TIES (strings). The soap powder TIDE is part of the answer |
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| Down | ||||||||
| 1 | SOAP | Block essentially tackled by drain cleaner (4) Middle letter of blOck in SAP (to drain) |
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| 2 | BENTO BOX | Packed lunch from dodgy old Spar (5,3) BENT (dodgy) + O + BOX (to spar) |
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| 3 | BABY | Honey bee swallowed by horse (4) B (bee) in BAY (horse) |
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| 4 | CURATORS | Aussie groundsmen stuck up schedule to feed dogs (8) Reverse of ROTA in CURS. Chambers doesn’t mention it, but according to the Wikipedia article “In Australia and New Zealand, the term also applies to a person who prepares a sports ground for use (especially a cricket ground). This job is equivalent to that of groundsman in some other cricketing nations.” |
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| 5 | STREET | Where you might see Neighbours actress not finishing on time (6) (Meryl) STREE[p] + T[ime] |
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| 6 | EASTENDERS | 1 tip to stop festival succeeded (10) END (tip) in EASTER (festival) + S[ucceeded] – EastEnders is BBC soap opera |
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| 7 | POWDER | Snow leopard finally cutting teeth (6) [leopar]D in POWER (teeth), and another soap-related word |
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| 8 | STAY | Supporter beginning to sing Flower of Scotland (4) S[ing] + TAY (Scottish river) |
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| 13 | TELLY | Giveaway on the back of Monopoly set (5) TELL (a giveaway, e.g. in poker) + [Monopol]Y |
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| 14 | CORONATION | Businessmen making a return on people’s investment (10) CO (business) + reverse of OR (soldiers, men) + NATION (people). Combined with 5 this gives another soap opera (which you can watch on the TELLY) |
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| 16 | MESSY | Confused footballer on the radio (5) Homophone of (Lionel) MESSI |
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| 19 | DOWNSIDE | Negative director upset Sid Owen (8) D[irector] + (SID OWEN)*. Sid Owen is an actor who appeared in EastEnders |
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| 21 | ELDORADO | Jackie Corkhill finishes fish in fabulous place (8) Last letters (finishes) + jackiE corkhiLL + DORADO (fish). Jackie Corkhill was a character in the soap opera Brookside. Eldorado was a short-lived (and much-ridiculed) BBC soap. |
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| 23 | RHUMBA | Hamburg’s endless winding steps (6) Anagram of HAMBUR[g] |
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| 24 | SADDLE | Seat deals flying with Delta (6) Anagram of DEALS + D[elta] |
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| 26 | JOEY | Young Australian’s delight catching English opener (4) E[nglish] in JOY. Joey is a spin-off from the sitcom Friends; not a soap opera itself, but the title character is an actor in one |
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| 28 | ACTS | Defaced information book (4) [f]ACTS |
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| 29 | DISH | Prepared food for heart-throb (4) Double definition (and a word that goes with SOAP) |
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Definitely on the tougher side, but all good fun. No doubt many of the soap opera references will have our overseas colleagues scratching their heads. On which note, it was nice to see Jackie Corkhill from Brookside get a mention! Many thanks to Brockwell and Andrew.
It was one of those good days where it never seemed easy but all went in quite smoothly anyway. CURATORS was my last one in. I must have heard that usage before but I don’t remember. It parsed ok though, as did everything else.
I liked the mix of soap and soap opera references, including a welcome mention for Jackie Corkhill (without knowledge of her character being required) and clever use of Lux.
Thanks Brockwell and Andrew
28: RUTH had me hung up for a while…
OPERA, EVENS, CURATORS (In India, we use both groundsmen and curators in the same sense),
EASTENDERS and CORONATION were my faves.
moh@1
You are right. I have read about these soaps, but haven’t seen any of them.
No complaints. This is what I signed up for.
Thanks Brockwell and Andrew..
I found this tough, but a lot of it would have made more sense if I had spotted the theme! Last one in was EASTENDERS, a complete guess, but all very clear and clever after reading Andrew’s explanation. A new puppy is the reason for my recent early crossword completion!
Had to reveal BENTO BOX, otherwise all good. Dare I mention Spooner again?
Thanks Andrew especially for underwear TEDDY and dorado a fish.
Thanks B too
Great fun. As usual, I missed the theme(s). I also took far too long to see that coronation = investment (as in investiture).
Thanks to Brockwell and to Andrew
What’s a Bento box?
Sorry, but I still don’t understand the explanations for STREET (which I got because it had to be there to go with CORONATION) or what the 1-0 association with LUX may be?
[OK: i can see LUX= SOAP now]
Thanks Brockwell and Andrew
Not as enjoyable as Brockwell usually is. Very clever, but borderline unfair in places (LUXOR a good example).
I’ve never heard of a BENTO BOX either.
Gladys @9
1 refers to 1ac – LUX is a soap brand, then 0 gives O, and the end of manchesteR for the R.
“Neighbours” should be part of the definition for STREET – where you might meet them!
LUX O R 1d is soap and LUX is the name of a soap brand.
A rare case of the theme helping, especially with CORONATION. TEES seemed to fit the wordplay for STAY so well, that I didn’t stop to think about the geography.
Wonderful puzzle – really tricky but lots of fun. My wife is Japanese so BENTO BOXes are very familiar. Favourites were LUXOR and ULTRASOFT. Many thanks to B & A.
muffin @10 – I couldn’t disagree with you more! Brockwell on top of his form, I’d say, with LUXOR one of my top favourites.
Others include OPERA, TOBACCO (brilliant to get both explorers in), EVENS (wonderful surface), Y-FRONTS and STAY – but the whole is so much more than the sum of its individual clues.
I’m going back to it for a while to let it sink in. 😉
PeterT@12: Yes, I started with TEES, but I realised just in time that it wasn’t a “flower of Scotland”.
Eileen @14
Yes, LUXOR was very clever, but what if you had never heard of the soap?
A BENTO BOX was a real treat on long train journeys, travelling around Japan. I always enjoy Brockwell’s references to people whether real or fictional, as is the case in this dual theme. I have probably, at some stage, and without apology, watched all the SOAP OPERAS mentioned and I do remember the ridiculed ELDORADO. I thought LUXOR was brilliant and I’m with Eileen on the setter being on top of his form. Can’t please everyone I suppose, but for me he never disappoints.
Ta Brockwell & Andrew.
SOAP can also go with SUD, BABY and BOX. I’ll get off mine now 😉
An all-pervasive theme in its various guises. Besides the various SOAP OPERAS and soap brands, there is a soap DISH, SADDLE soap, soap POWDER, and soap may come in a CAKE or BAR. I expect there are more.
As can be seen from earlier posts, I found some of these very tricky, with all the fissions, fusions and disguised cross-references. I’m not sure if TIDE or LUX soapflakes are still sold in the UK, though I’m old enough to remember them, and I needed to look up Aunt Em and the TANGRAM. But this was one where the end of the process was usually an “A-ha!” rather than an “Oh, really?”. I liked the Car Men and the explorer’s TOBACCO.
Oops, missed the SOAPBOX.
Comment #20
Good spot, AlanC @18!
This was, for me, what the art of setting is all about. Lovely concealed defs all over the place, coupled with clever inventions such as OPERA, LUXOR and many others.
Love it when you think bento?? then look it up and find it.
Stared at _ A _T _ N _ E _ S for an age before it clicked with the theme.
Brilliant.
Had to look up that meaning of CURATORS and failed to find it in Chambers. RHUMBA is an unusual spelling, though Chambers has it as an alternative. I wonder where it came from, as Spanish would never have RH together like that.
I had BUTTY BOX for a while, till OPERA proved it wrong – but that’s probably because my family hails from Yorkshire, not Japan.
I’ve never seen RHUMBA spelled that way before, but figured it had to be that.
I enjoyed the surfaces for MESSY, JOUST, SOAP and STAY.
The theme whizzed past unnoticed, though I have heard of Tide and Lux (was it one of them or Persil that claimed to wash “whiter than white”?) and hoo boy did I need the blog today: heartfelt thanks and a virtual pint of bitter to Andrew!
Brilliant crossword and one where (a rarity for me) I spotted the theme(s) before completing and it helped. I’m part of the club who bunged in TEES forgetting that it hasn’t been in Scotland since Henry II pushed the border north in the 1150s. Loved OPERA: perhaps Brockwell is referencing Matthew Bourne’s reworking of Carmen as “The Car Man”.
Thanks Andrew.
Bit of a TIHI vibe to today’s puzzle, clever but dry imo. Got bored and because of reading the comments I got the theme and a lot fell into place that I don’t think would have otherwise. On the other hand, I’ve no idea how BENTO BOX has obliterated so many people; one of today’s best clues but such is life.
‘Carmen’ has been used as wordplay for AA or RAC several times before, so it was good to see it reverse engineered for a change.
I know nothing about Australian groundsmen, but CURATOR is used in Britain for a museum guardian and it fitted the wordplay so I guessed it had to be that.
Spotted the theme early on (unusual for me) and that helped me with some of the clues (Eastenders and Coronation Street HAD to be in there, and there were only two 10-letter solutions to fit them into).
Loved LUXOR when it finally clicked.