This collection of clues from Tramp required plenty of lateral thinking, but they had me chuckling nonetheless.
I could not see any special theme this time. The two Spice Girls references did have me wondering whether a 30th-anniversary reunion tour was in the offing, though. (Apparently not.)
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | SOUP KITCHENS |
Ultimately, Katie Hopkins cuts off support for the poor (4,8)
|
| Anagram of (off) {last letter of (ultimately) [KATI]E + HOPKINS CUTS} | ||
| 9 | GORED |
Pierced from stab and stained with blood (5)
|
| 10 | ROUNDHAND |
Way to write cards after game of golf (9)
|
| ROUND (game of golf) + HAND (cards), referring to a fancy, calligraphic style, with “after” indicating the order of the wordplay | ||
| 11 | CHEVRON |
Check – moving over knight, one might give away rank (7)
|
| CH. (check, in chess) + anagram of (moving) OVER + N (knight, also in chess), as an indication on a military uniform | ||
| 12 | HUNCHES |
Hotel food around midday, that’s left out, curls up (7)
|
| H (Hotel) + [L]UNCHES (food around midday) minus (that’s [i.e., that has] . . . out) L (left) | ||
| 13 | PHOTOSHOOT |
A Spice Girl over making comeback around fiery studio session (10)
|
| {POSH (a Spice Girl, aka Victoria Beckham) + TOO (over) reversed (making comeback)} around HOT (fiery) | ||
| 15 | CHIN |
Restrain having thrown a punch (4)
|
| CH[A]IN (restrain) minus (having thrown) A | ||
| 18 | JUTS |
Saucy thing admits backside in miniskirt sticks out (4)
|
| JUS (saucy thing) around (admits) last letter of (backside in) [MINISKIR]T | ||
| 19 | FANNY ADAMS |
Nothing from lover, as many desperate to pick up date (5,5)
|
| FAN (lover) + [anagram of (desperate) {AS MANY} around (to pick up) D (date)}] | ||
| 22 | SOD’S LAW |
Typical bits of grass, garden getting trimmed (4,3)
|
| SODS (bits of grass) + LAW[N] (garden) minus last letter (getting trimmed). I can hear Basil Fawlty saying, “This is typical! Absolutely typical!” | ||
| 24 | MONITOR |
Check dipstick in car? No time (7)
|
| NIT (dipstick) inside (in) MO[T]OR (car) minus (no) T (time) | ||
| 25 | POSTNATAL |
Last panto rearranged after infant pulled out (9)
|
| Anagram of (rearranged) LAST PANTO | ||
| 26 | INEPT |
Awkward to write about boring sex (5)
|
| PEN (to write) reversed (about) and inside (boring) IT (sex) | ||
| 27 | FOSTER PARENT |
Guardian fellow sent a report for editing (6-6)
|
| Anagram of (for editing) {F (fellow) + SENT A REPORT} | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | SCREEN OUT |
Filter air – not at home (6,3)
|
| SCREEN (air) + OUT (not at home) | ||
| 2 | UNDERDOG |
Fail to warm up sufficiently before start of game – one’s likely to lose (8)
|
| UNDERDO (fail to warm up sufficiently) + first letter of (start of) G[AME] | ||
| 3 | KORAN |
Before artist put on the canvas new religious work (5)
|
| KO (put on the canvas, i.e., in boxing) + RA (artist) + N (new), with “before” indicating the order of the wordplay | ||
| 4 | TOUCH DOWN |
Feel sad? Come in (5,4)
|
| TOUCH (feel) + DOWN (sad), as with a passenger jet | ||
| 5 | HIDING |
Beating from punch, getting cut before sound of the bell (6)
|
| HI[T] (punch) minus last letter (getting cut) + DING (sound of the bell) | ||
| 6 | NEATH |
Rugby Union club having straight rugby posts? (5)
|
| NEAT (straight, as with whisky) + H ([the image of] rugby posts?) | ||
| 7 | EGGCUP |
Perhaps copper maintains good power – it might retain output from battery for consumer (6)
|
| [{E.G. (perhaps) + CU (copper)} around (maintains) G (good)] + P (power), referring to its holding the contents of the eggshell after the top has been struck off with a knife or spoon. Update: See comments suggesting that “battery” here refers to hens in battery cages. OK, that sounds more like what Tramp was getting at, but I think my reading also works, oddly enough. | ||
| 8 | ODDS-ON |
Pretty certain con is set-up – sucker not Yankee (4-2)
|
| DO (con) inverted (is set up) + D[Y]SON (sucker, i.e., vacuum cleaner) minus (not) Y (Yankee) | ||
| 14 | HEADWATER |
Not initially bad weather for swimming in spring? (9)
|
| Anagram of (for swimming) {[B]AD minus first letter (not initially) + WEATHER} | ||
| 16 | HEARTBEAT |
Romeo during passion done in a flash (9)
|
| {R (Romeo) inside (during) HEAT (passion)} + BEAT (done). Update: Or, perhaps better: BEAT (done in), see KVa@9. | ||
| 17 | MAINLINE |
Ocean vessel docked for a major route (8)
|
| MAIN (ocean) + LINE[R] minus last letter (docked) | ||
| 18 | JOSEPH |
Biblical figure formed from rib inspiring epistle (6)
|
| JOSH (rib) around (inspiring) EP. (epistle) | ||
| 20 | SCROTA |
They hold balls in opening of Royal Ascot racing (6)
|
| Anagram of (racing) {first letter of (opening of) R[OYAL] + ASCOT} | ||
| 21 | PLANET |
Body in zone for running during training (6)
|
| LANE (zone for running) inside (during) PT (training) | ||
| 23 | DISCO |
Criticise old following Conservative Party (5)
|
| DIS (criticise) + C (Conservative) + O (old), with “following” indicating the order of the wordplay, with a capitalization misdirection | ||
| 24 | MELBA |
Old singer, ace, supporting Spice Girl (5)
|
| MEL B (Spice Girl, aka Melanie Janine Brown) + A (ace), with “supporting” indicating the order of the wordplay, referring to Nellie Melba |
I had 9 across with “stab” meaning having a GO at with RED, “stained with blood”, giving GORED, but it was my Last One IN, with Chevron a close second to last.
It was nice to see KO clued a little differently for a change.
I thought GO RED = “stained with blood” but perhaps “stab” = GO works better (#1).
Was delayed for a while by having STRAIN OUT at 1d.
Also EGGCUP I presumed it was referring to the battery chicken’s output, e.g, an egg!
7 down – an egg can be an output from a battery (of hens)
Thanks for the blog, Cineraria.
I think in the clue for EGGCUP, “output from battery” refers to an egg from a battery hen.
And I think that the wordplay for GORED is GO from stab (as in “have a stab” or “have a go”) plus RED, for “stained with blood”.
Sorry to commenters above – I type too slowly!
I agree with egg from battery hens, thats how i read it. A DNF for me as I got sweet FA for FANNY ADAMS, even with all the crossers. Great crossword.
Fun puzzle. Like other commentators, took GO=stab.
Usually, repeated non-function-words in the same puzzle (e.g. punch, spice girl), if it’s not a theme, have different meanings each time. Not so here. I concluded it was either a clever kind of double-bluff, or Tramp doesn’t care about the “convention”.
There were some vocabulary differences from what I am familiar with – do for warm up in UNDERDOG, TOUCH DOWN for come in, but one can expect some stretchiness in a Prize puzzle.
I liked the output from battery.
SCREEN OUT was LOI, and took a minute or two to understand after entry, but now I really like it, although the surface seems a bit unnatural.
I was defeated in a couple of clues. But I might have overcome my problems if I hadn’t entered STRAIN OUT for 1D which meant I failed on CHEVRON. Good puzzle for a Saturday with things to get our teeth into!
Liked GORED< SODS LAW, UNDERDOG, HEARTBEAT, ODDS-ON and JOSEPH.
HEARTBEAT
I took 'done in' as BEAT (in the sense of exhausted as in 'I am beat/done in').
EGGCUP
Parsed it as the blogger did.
Thanks Tramp and Cineraria.
Thanks Tramp for a slow but satisfying solve. My top picks were JUTS, INEPT, HIDING, HEADWATER, and HEARTBEAT (COTD). I nho NEATH but nothing else fit the crossers. Like CanberraGirl @8 I initially had ‘strain out’ for 1d but 11a had to be CHEVRON so I managed to correct my error. Thanks Cineraria for the blog.
Also like CanberraGirl @8, I entered STRAIN OUT, pursuing the musical meaning of ‘air’ (“That strain again, it had a dying fall,” to quote Orsino in the opening speech of Twelfth Night), but like Tony S, I didn’t stick with it when CHEVRON became irresistible. I still rather prefer it as a solution to the clue.
Thanks for the blog , good set of neat clues . Clever use of the H for NEATH , FANNY ADAMS was well constructed . ROUNDHAND is a new term for me .
Using the correct method for solving gave me no trouble with SCREEN OUT .
KVa@9: “Done in” certainly also works, and was probably the intended parsing. I don’t know whether simply “done” and “beat” as synonyms are an Americanism.
Another initial STRAIN OUT here – it seemed a defensible, if not totally convincing answer, eventually forced out by CHEVRON. Getting the last few took me several attempts over a few days. I don’t know why HUNCHES took me so long, but at least that finally gave me NEATH, which got a tick when I saw how it worked. But my LOI was FANNY ADAMS. I wrote _A_N_ A_A_S out on a number of occasions to no avail, and then there was a moment when it suddenly clicked. Some clever clues in there. Thanks Tramp and Cineraria.
Found this tough – didn’t parse three of the down clues and failed to get HIDING. Lots of parsing after getting the answer.
Favourite was EGGCUP – which made me smile once I got the definition.
Thanks Tramp and Cineraria
Thank you Tramp for another fine puzzle. Many enjoyable clues, with enough challenges to take a few days. Favourites were 2d UNDERDOG and 4d TOUCH DOWN for their surfaces
10a ROUNDHAND, Edward Lear:
When he writes a copy in round-hand size,
Does he cross his T’s and finish his I’s
with a DOT,
The Akond of Swat?
Liked this a lot. The right level of difficulty to last the weekend and clever clues.
Had trouble with FANNY ADAMS but chuckled when the penny dropped. Looks like my parsings were good – a rare occurrence.
Thanks Tramp and Cineraria
A proper prize. Normally I’d object to any mention of Katie Hopkins but the surface made it my favourite of a fine bunch of clues
Cheers T&C
I was another strainer who corrected. FANNY ADAMS, EGG CUP and CHEVRON were late in. I liked SOUP KITCHENS, SCROTA and UNDERDOG.
Thanks all.
I was reminded of Welsh schools where, during the singing of hymns, the boys would shout the poetic use of the word NEATH – meaning “beneath” – in the manner of a crowd chanting for their rugby side.
All good stuff, thanks.
As has been said, just what a prize crossword should be.
HEARTBEAT (despite having all but one of the crossers) and CHIN took longer than the rest of the puzzle together, but got there on Wednesday.
A lovely puzzle. Much enjoyed, Tramp. My only “quiblet” was that PHOTOSHOOT was indicated as (10) rather than (5-5). It is (5,5) in my (2003) Chambers. Many thanks, Cineraria, for parsing ODDS-ON for me.
I appreciated the question mark in the clue for HEADWATER. A spring can support or define a headwater but not quite synonyms.
Another strainer here. Great crossword. 7D made me smile too. Finished just in time for this Saturday’s.
I also had STRAIN OUT which I was convinced was correct so failed on CHEVRON. Enjoyed the puzzle though.
I was held up for a while by having SHORTHAND in 10a – the interwebs convinced me that the “short game” was a thing in golf, and ROUNDHAND was new to me.
Even with that corrected it took me till Thursday to see EGGCUP, which then yielded enough to see PHOTOSHOOT – the over/comeback/around was bamboozling my tiny brain, and I just couldn’t see the over/too equivalence.
I needed the blog for the parsing of ODDS ON, having blocked the tax-avoiding James Dyson from memory.
Thanks to Tramp and Cineraria
Lots of good cryptic definitions. I liked the check after moving over knight for CHEVRON, the miniskirt-cladded woman with rear that JUTS out, nothing from lover for FANNY ADAMS, the MONITOR dipstick in car, the good anagram for FOSTER-PARENT, the religious work put on the canvas KORAN, the punch resulting in HIDING, the battery-powered EGGCUP, and the Royal Ascot SCROTA.
Thanks Tramp and Cineraria, especially for the Dyson parsing in ODDS-ON.
Always good to see Tramp’s name, particularly in the Prize slot.
A great anagram in SOUP KITCHENS for a kick-off and an equally good one in FOSTER PARENT – brilliant surfaces all round, as always.
My other ticks were for NEATH (I’m always a sucker for the rugby post device and, talking of suckers, I really liked ODDS ON when I saw it), CHEVRON, POSTNATAL, EGG CUP, MONITOR and JOSEPH. I was amused to see Nellie MELBA and a Spice Girl in the same clue.
Thanks to Tramp for the fun and to Cineraria for the blog.
Very entertaining. My favourites were POSTNATAL for the last panto being rearranged, and JOSEPH for the brilliant surface, “Biblical figure formed from rib inspiring epistle” — I think that might go in my personal hall of fame.
Many thanks Tramp and Cineraria.
[I’ve just added a very late comment on yesterday’s Brendan puzzle which is continuing to intrigue me.]
Wonderful crossword – we started with ROUNDWOOD (thanks to Mig@16 for the Edward Lear poem) and finished at NEATH (not literally under the posts), noting at least twelve excellent clues with EGGCUP the star.
Unfortunately, we have to record an unusual dnf, since we had SORTED OUT for 1d, but never really sorted out the parsing! Ta to T, C and, of course, all of you, for the pleasure and entertainment.
Thanks Tramp and Cineraria. Like several others above I had STRAIN OUT for 1d for a very long time, until about 2am Friday morning when the penny finally dropped. I slept well that night!
Made good progress initially, but got stuck in the bottom third. I gave it one last go this morning, getting FANNY ADAMS from the crossers in a wordfinder, then the rest of them. Three not fully understood until explained by cineraria – MONITOR (I didn’t figure slang Dipstick), ODDS ON (Dyson for Sucker) and JOSEPH (Josh for Rib). Satisfying puzzle. Ticks for SOD’S LAW, NEATH,
A very good crossword. Thanks to both setter and blogger. Lord Jim@28 I have posted a response to your question.
I loved this. Beautifully constructed clues, my favourites of which were PHOTOSHOOT, FANNY ADAMS and the brilliant EGGCUP. Many thanks to Tramp and Cineraria.
20d
When did anyone see the plural before?
Reminds me of the occasion when a friend of my wife told her that she was worried about her infant son because he had a chesty cough and kept swallowing his scrotum. Ouch.
Yes, #34, my wife and did wonder and in what circumstances one has to refer to a number of scrotums. Consequently it was LOI. Loved the use of rugby posts for H in Neath. Tough puzzle, took us several sittings, but very pleased to get there on the end.