MOO kicks off the week…
Sorry about this blog, my laptop is playing up and I’m stuck in the States. Fun puzzle.
Thanks MOO!
ACROSS
1. Union organiser? (10)
MATCHMAKER
6. Injured drunk taken into hospital? On the contrary (4)
SHOT
SOT (drunk) taken into H (hospital), on the contrary
10. Mature writer following lessons given by priest perhaps (5)
RIPEN
PEN (writer) following RI (lessons given by priest perhaps)
11. Jockey chose rare filly in the Derby? (9)
RACEHORSE
12. Fruit repeatedly said to cause disease (8)
BERI BERI
“berry berry” = BERI BERI (fruit, repeated “said”)
13. Spirit manifesting initially in city pub (5)
NYMPH
M[anifesting] (initially) in (NY (city) + PH (pub))
15. Words in Times defending king (7)
PHRASES
PHASES (times) defending R (king)
17. Buy Brazilian currency? Don’t be so foolish (3,4)
GET REAL
GET (buy) + REAL (Brazilian currency)
19. Has lunch at restaurant, finding seat thus? (4,3)
EATS OUT
SEAT being an anagram (out) of EATS
21. Joy of mother, maybe, when Republican booted out (7)
ELATION
[r]ELATION (mother, maybe, when R (republican) booted out)
22. Moo in bed, a heavenly sight (5)
COMET
24. One who kills when soldiers transgress (8)
ASSASSIN
AS (when) + SAS (soldiers) + SIN (transgress)
27. Upset Nile agent, a prickly customer (9)
EGLANTINE
28. Follow pilot, one moving to new place (5)
TRAIL
TRIAL (pilot, I (one) moving to new place)
29. Father wasting hours in county (4)
SIRE
S[h]IRE (county, wasting H (hours))
30. Is attorney possibly what writer needs? (10)
STATIONERY
(IS ATTORNEY)* (*possibly)
DOWN
1. Stuff to knock back (4)
MARC
(CRAM)< (stuff, <to knock back) &lit
2. Undercover street cop beaten up (3,6)
TOP SECRET
(STREET COP)* (*beaten up)
3. City hotel, an old one (5)
HANOI
H (hotel) + AN + O (old) + I (one)
4. Bald Cockney is so stuffy! (7)
AIRLESS
[h]AIRLESS (bald, cockney (missing the H))
5. Impression pretty female leaves (7)
ETCHING
[f]ETCHING (pretty, F (female) leaves)
7. Many concubines are kept by His Majesty (5)
HAREM
ARE kept by HM (His Majesty)
8. Follow the rules, as darts player must (3,3,4)
TOE THE LINE
Double (cryptic) definition
9. Drink friend had inside (5,3)
CHINA TEA
CHINA (friend, china plate = mate, rhyming slang), ATE (had) inside
14. Board members in race against time? (5,5)
SPEED CHESS
16. Parliament ordering Tory leader to be arrested (8)
STORTING
SORTING (ordering), T[ory] (leader) to be arrested
18. Get rid of silly alien item (9)
ELIMINATE
20. Arrests aristocrat sheltering enemy of the revolution (7)
TSARIST
[arre]ST ARIST[ocrat] (sheltering)
21. Point about 50pc of cities is extremely simple (7)
EASIEST
EAST (point) about [cit]IES (50pc of)
23. Runner abruptly sick in French waters (5)
MILER
IL[l] (sick, abruptly) in MER (French waters)
25. Ostentation occasionally producing argument (3-2)
SET-TO
[o]S[t]E[n]T[a]T[i]O[n] (occasionally)
26. Dispatch vehicle carrying presents, might one say? (4)
SLAY
“sleigh” = SLAY (vehicle carrying presents, “might one say”)
Moo certainly has a knack for natural surfaces. I found the crossword quite easy overall and progressed quickly anti-clockwise around the grid from the NE corner, but needed time to solve 1A and 1D.
I ticked HAREM, NYMPH, ASSASSIN, EATS OUT, TSARIST (cleverly hidden and great surface), and PHRASES.
I am not sure I understood MARC. Does it refer to MARC the brandy (a NHO for me)? Otherwise, all parsed.
Thanks Moo for another enjoyable crossword and Teacow for another great blog
Many crafty surfaces, and very fair wordplays.
Since I initially had CRAM as my solution for 1(d),
I’m not the one to ask… but MARC brandy is a fairly regular cryptic device. Here in Greece, it’s “tsipouro”, made from the leftovers in the winemaking process. Personally, I find it a bit rough!
Ditto, STORTING, 16(d), which left a sour taste.
11(ac), RACEHORSE, a nice clue, albeit fillies aren’t eligible for The Derby: 3-y-o colts only. Shame, because colt would work equally well.
A very enjoyable puzzle, so thumbs up to Moo & Teacow.
Rattled through this. Minor mistake in blog for 20d. Should say [arres]TS ARIST[ocrat].
Lots of fun although, as ever, I came up short on a few, I have to say COMET made me smile, as did the fairly straightforward anagrams.
Thanks to Moo and Teacow for a good start to the week.
Must brush up on my knowledge of Norway.
EBoll& @2.
Fillies are eligible to run in both the Epsom and Kentucky Derbies. It is rare that they enter but fillies have won both races.
Thanks Moon and Teacow . Fun puzzle and excellent blog.
EBoll& @2.
Fillies are eligible to run in both the Epsom and Kentucky Derbies. It is rare that they enter but fillies have won both races.
Thanks Moon and Teacow . Fun puzzle and excellent blog.
SM@6 (and7!). Thanks…a chasm in my knowledge there!
The Oaks is the “fillies Derby”, no colts allowed, and I cannot recall a filly running in the colts’ equivalent. Surprising nobody has a go with a filly, really. The colts record a faster time, though, so perhaps it would be an expensive exercise for no reward.
I thought the issue was, the running of fillies alongside the young colts ( geldings not eligible ) might create, shall we say, “a coltish reaction”, which can severely impair their performance.
I live and learn. Thanks again.
Ditto GDU @5. Sure I’ve come across Norway’s parliament but it had sunk in neural quicksand so, after an entire alphatest, gave up and revealed the t in stor…. Good puzzle though, ta MnT.
EBoll& @8
There were only six fillies who won the Epsom Derby, the last in 1916. One of my first pictures was a print of Shotover, winner in 1882. I guess fillies are rare in the Derby for the reasons you mention although the frisky nature of colts would also be present in other races. It is a long time since I last attended a race course.
I think fillies get a weight allowance if entered in the Derby, so that should even things up a bit.
I quibble with the definition “Stuff to knock back” for MARC. It tastes disgusting!
Well I never knew that about fillies in the Derby. It makes the surface better. I spent a moment wondering how “storing” could be equated to ordering, before I realised it was “sorting”