Imogen has set this morning’s puzzle.
It’s been a few weeks since an Imogen puzzle has graced the pages of the Guardian, but this was worth the weight. Some clever definitions and smooth surfaces and a bit of general knowledge, but nothing terribly obscure, so something for everyone.
Thanks, Imogen.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | HIGH FIVES |
Congratulations, having lofted sixes, almost? (4,5)
|
| HIGH (“lofted”) + FIVES (“sixes. almost”) | ||
| 6 | CHAFF |
Tease bird a small distance off (5)
|
| CHAFF(inch) (“bird”) with INCH (“a small distance”) off | ||
| 9 | BRUIN |
Disaster, going after black bear (5)
|
| RUIN (“disaster”) going after B (black) | ||
| 10 | GERMANDER |
Manipulate voting arrangement, cancelling all-out rally in plant (9)
|
| GER(ry)MANDER (“manipulate voting arrangement”) cancelling [ALL-out] R(all)Y | ||
| 11 | IDA |
Princess on stage may sound like a duck (3)
|
| Homophone/pun/aural wordplay [may sound like] EIDER (“a duck”)
Princess Ida is a Gilbert & Sullivan opera. |
||
| 12 | TRISYLLABLE |
Unfortunately still barely functioning as an example (11)
|
| *(still barely) [anag:unfortunately] | ||
| 14 | SCHLOSS |
Academy halved deficit in grand house (7)
|
| SCH(ool) (“academy”, halved) + LOSS (“deficit”)
Schloss is the German word for castle. |
||
| 15 | DISTEND |
Detectives are liable to exaggerate (7)
|
| DIs (“Detective” Inspectors) + TEND (“are liable”) | ||
| 16 | STARKER |
More grim to be nearly naked (7)
|
| [nearly] STARKER(s) (“naked”) | ||
| 19 | INNARDS |
Youngster with Guardian wanting whiskey in pubs shows guts (7)
|
| (w)ARD (“youngster with guardian”) wanting (i.e. missing) W (whiskey, in the NATO phonetic alphabet) in INNS (“pubs”) | ||
| 22 | EVELYN WAUGH |
Bizarrely we envy almost all that’s horrible in author (6,5)
|
| *(we envy al) [anag:bizarrely] where AL is [almost] AL(l) + UGH (“that’s horrible”) | ||
| 23 | VAR |
One checks whistleblower in French department (3)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 24 | PLAYHOUSE |
Wendy’s theatre? (9)
|
| A Wendy house is a small house used as a toy, so a PLAY HOUSE | ||
| 26 | AFOOT |
Under way a short distance (5)
|
| A + FOOT (“short distance”) | ||
| 27 | RHOMB |
Foreign character doctor found in shape (5)
|
| RHO (Greek letter, so “foreign character”) + MB (Bachelor of Medicine, so “doctor”) | ||
| 28 | DROITWICH |
Opposite of gauche, that missing husband in spa town (9)
|
| DROIT (“opposite of gauche”) + W(h)ICH (“that”, missing H (husband)) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | HOBBITS |
Ferret wounded small creatures in a hole (7)
|
| HOB (male “ferret”) + BIT (“wounded”) + S (small) | ||
| 2 | GOULASH |
Try united batter and stew (7)
|
| GO (“try”) + U (united) + LASH (“batter”) | ||
| 3 | FUNCTION KEY |
Social gathering vital for one usually on laptop (8,3)
|
| FUNCTION (“social gathering”) + KEY (“vital”) | ||
| 4 | VEGGIES |
Selective eaters may have struggles to eat this protein? (7)
|
| VIES (“struggles”) to eat EGG (“this protein?”) | ||
| 5 | STRAYED |
Had accommodation across river, then wandered off (7)
|
| STAYED (“had accommodation”) across R (river) | ||
| 6 | CIA |
Agency’s brief goodbye (3)
|
| [brief] CIA(o) (“goodbye”) | ||
| 7 | AUDIBLE |
Bail due to be reviewed in hearing (7)
|
| *(bail due) [anag:to be reviewed] | ||
| 8 | FOR DEAD |
Having crossed river, shot by arrow in the head, and left like this? (3,4)
|
| FORDED (“crossed river”) shot by A(rrow) [in the head] | ||
| 13 | LOSING HEART |
Despairing, how ‘miserable’ becomes me (6,5)
|
| M(iserabl)E becomes ME by LOSING its HEART | ||
| 16 | SLEEPER |
Spy’s simple earring (7)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 17 | AGES AGO |
Way back, wise guy’s first to drop a board game (4,3)
|
| (s)AGE’S (“wise guy’s” with its first (letter) to drop) + A + GO (“board game”) | ||
| 18 | REWOUND |
Turned back, taking opposite directions in circle (7)
|
| E + W (east and west, so “opposite directions”) in ROUND (“circle”) | ||
| 19 | IN UTERO |
Happening before delivery to change routine (2,5)
|
| *(routine) [anag:to change] | ||
| 20 | RAVIOLI |
Run a brief fiddle making pasta (7)
|
| R (run) + A + [brief] VIOLI(n) (“fiddle”) | ||
| 21 | STRETCH |
A way to heave and strain (7)
|
| St. (street, so “a way”) + RETCH (“to heave”) | ||
| 25 | HUB |
Partner dropping by in centre of activity (3)
|
| HUB(by) (“partner”, dropping BY) |
Good to see Imogen again – tricky in places, as always. A fair amount of foreign words in this crossword: ciao, ravioli, rho, schloss. However, the opposite of ‘gauche’ is ‘droite’ not ‘droit’. Droit can mean right but only in the sense of to be right/ correct or have the right/permission. In neither case is ‘gauche’ the opposite. Thanks to Imogen and loonapick.
Apologies for my error in comment one. I was thinking of the noun – ‘droit’ can be, of course, the opposite of ‘gauche’ as a masculine adjective. Mea culpa!
Thanks Imogen and loonapick! Some great clues here (like LOSING HEART or TRISYLLABLE) but also lots of words I NHO. I needed help with quite some parsing; failed on IDA, which I’ve put in as Iwa, thinking that it resembles a quacking sound…
Tidy and enjoyable puzzle and blog. thanks I and L. I spent too much time researching Peter Pan in the Wendy clue thinking this an allusion to the first theatre it was staged.
I found the puzzle to be a very enjoyable challenge. My favorites were Germander and Chaff. A big thank you to Imogen for a job well done, and of course a thank you to Loonapick for the usual great work.
Loonapick – ‘this was worth the weight’. I saw what you did there 😉. Thank you for the blog. Super cross word, Imogen.
I was on the right wavelength and this was very easy for me. A rare occurrence. I couldn’t precisely parse EVELYN WAUGH, never knew a hob was a ferret, and spent too much time staring at the TRISYLLABLE anagram. But I had heard of GERMANDER.
More pasta today, and got STRETCH after remembering retch from yesterday.
Btw does anyone still use the function keys on a laptop keyboard?
I liked LOSING HEART, INNARDS and STARKER.
Thanks Imogen and loonapick.
PS weight instead of wait in blog.
PhilB at 7: yes, I do, all the time. F5 refresh, F11 for crosswords (makes more available space) and F12 occasionally – try it!
Thanks Loonapick and Imogen
Beautiful puzzle with good variety of constructions and vocabulary – and no need for any meretricious themes or Ninas (Ninae? 🙂 )!
Lots to like, but special mention for TRISYLLABLE, LOSING HEART and IN UTERO (so pleased the ‘delivery’ wasn’t a cricketing reference).
Many thanks to Imogen and loonapick
Thanks Imogen and loonapick
Slow but steady progress. Are Wendy Houses international? Is VAR being used in the World Cup? They may stump overseas solvers.
Favourite LOSING HEART – very clever.
Tx all. Needed help parsing HOBBITS and DROITWICH. Liked VAR and the misdirection in TRISYLLABLE.
My heart leaps when I see Imogen’s name on the puzzle, and this was great fun as always. Loved TRISYLLABLE, INNARDS and EVELYN WAUGH in particular; like Fuddleduddly@11 I couldn’t parse HOBBITS. Many thanks to Imogen and loonapick.
Ooops – my name somehow became ars (could have been worse, I suppose).
Didn’t understand the particular reference to ‘laptop’ in 3D. All computer keyboards I have used have the row of function keys along the top.
I enjoyed this though progress was mostly slow. Last one in was VAR, thinking that’s a bit of obscure general knowledge, then realised that whistle blower meant referee and I’ve been watching football every night for the last three weeks!
An enjoyable challenge.
Favourites: DROITWICH, LOSING HEART, SCHLOSS.
New for me: Var = a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region of southeastern France; HOB = male ferret (for 1d); Princess IDA = opera by G&S.
Drofle/ars@13 – haha!
Amused at seeing Northern Ireland (NI) on the border between the North and South. I really enjoyed this, although I found it reasonably straightforward. Big ticks for CHAFF, GERMANDER, TRISYLLABLE, EVELYN WAUGH, DROITWICH and the delicious LOSING HEART. VAR did for Germany last night, who lost a penalty shootout for the first time ever. I can’t imagine that England fans got much pleasure from that😉
I enjoyed this, though it does seem to be another example of Roz’s idea that Guardian puzzles are tending to a uniform level of difficulty.
[I think this might be the first time I have seen DROITWICH in a puzzle: it is the town in which I spent the first 18/19 years of my life – and it seems very odd to have it staring at me from a crossword puzzle. No idea why. Droitwich brine, extracted from a slow moving stream beneath the town, is second only to the Dead Sea in terms of saltiness and purity, and was extracted by the Romans who named the town Salinae. End of brief lesson.]
Tricky but not as brain melting as I usually find this setter.
HOBBITS last to fall today with me not knowing that term for a male ferret.
Particularly enjoyed VEGGIES
Thanks Imogen and Loonapick
I had a bit of trouble with ‘this’ in 4d, as it’s not needed for the wordplay, but I suppose works as part of an extended definition, as eggs in particular are a tricky case for many vegetarians?
Loved it! First one in was Var..I live there! Needed help with hobbits as did not know the word for male ferret. Otherwise all parsed and good. Thanks to Imogen and all taking part in this blog, it is a daily pleasure.
I become fearful when I see Imogen’s name but this one was relatively straightforward, I thought. I liked the HIGH FIVES after lofted sixes, the functioning TRISYLLABLE, the youngster in pub showing guts or INNARDS, the good surface for FOR DEAD, and me LOSING HEART (what often happens with me when I attempt an Imogen puzzle).
Thanks Imogen and loonapick (especially for revealing the parsing of HOBBITS).
Not quite as hard as I was expecting an Imogen to be, but hard enough, and as Protase@9 says, it’s nice to have a good plain crossword with no extra bits for once. Plenty of GK with DROITWICH, VAR, GERMANDER, HOB ferrets and so on: the one that defeated me was RHOMB, and I failed to spot the WARD to parse INNARDS.
Favourites TRISYLLABLE, LOSING HEART, STARKER, FOR DEAD.
28a gives me an excuse to quote the Economist from many years ago: The Left in Canada is More Gauche Than Sinister.
Although ‘still barely’ has 3 syllables, I would have said that TRISYLLABLE has 4, but it seems that syllable is a somewhat fuzzy term.
Didn’t know the earring in 16d.
I had no idea whether this was actually difficult or not as I was passing a kidney stone while solving. Not an experience I’m keen to repeat 🙂
Was the “usually” in FUNCTION KEY a nod to the short-lived and much-maligned MacBook Magic Toolbar?
Thanks to Imogen for brightening up an otherwise painful morning
Cheers L&I
… and is “functioning” 3 syllables?
Xerxes@27: “functioning” seems like 3 syllables to me: [ˈfʌŋk.ʃən.ɪŋ] in IPA. Where are you thinking of a fourth?
NHO the plant as usual, but got there by construction and verified with internet search. Like some others, did not know HOB so 1D was a bung-and-shrug. And TIL Droitwich is a spa town.
Plenty to enjoy here from a setter I usually struggle with.
Xerces #27. … not to me. 4. Mind you I only noticed the discrepancy some time after solving the anagram.
Xerxes @27 and Graham @30
How do you make “functioning” 4 syllables. To me it’s “funk shun ing”.
bodycheetah @26. I can assure you that a Chromebook keyboard does not have an array of FUNCTION KEYS across the top, and I am prepared to venture that more current users have Chromebooks than have the rather arcane MacBook that you mention.
I read 12A as having two parsings, either “functioning” as an example (I say it with 3 syllables) or alternatively “still barely” functioning as an example.
Thanks to Imogen and to loonapick, who I totally agree with. “ Some clever definitions and smooth surfaces and a bit of general knowledge, but nothing terribly obscure, so something for everyone.”
Like others, I didn’t remember that a HOB was a male ferret but – despite my total disinterest – I did know that a HOBBIT was a small creature that lived down a hole. That was the only one I didn’t fully parse. I thought we’d had a recent RHOMB, but that was in the FT. The last Guardian example was from Anto in 2025. I didn’t know GERMANDER but loved piecing it together. Like IDA, it became unequivocal from the clue and crossers and didn’t need checking.
Other good ones included TRISYLLABLE, LOSING HEART, FUNCTION KEY (why does it always take me so long to spot keyboard-related clues?!!) and REWOUND.
Thanks Imogen and loonapick.
PS. On rereading my post, I guess I’ve contradicted myself on the fully parsing comment. Oh well.
PPS. Bodycheetah @26 Ouch!
Muffin @31 Funk shi on ing.
loonapick could I ask you (or an admin) to take a look at my comment awaiting moderation #28 and let me know if there is something wrong with it?
Leaving aside pronunciation I forgot to thank Imogen & loonapick. My apologies.
A very pleasing solve, not too arduous by Imogen’s standards as has already been mentioned. I found the parsing of EVELYN WAUGH the most difficult. And, if I may, can I mention the fact that although I had no idea he was buried there, I came across his grave in the little Somerset village of Combe Florey while on a week’s cottage holiday nearby. The same unexpected thing occurred a couple of years later when on another holiday in Cholsey in Oxfordshire, when I stumbled across Agatha Christie’s headstone in the churchyard there. Two very different kinds of writers…
Most enjoyable. That’s two in a row this week. How long will it last?
We noticed weight/wait in the introduction too but unlike chargehand #6 couldn’t see what was intended. Still don’t.
Did anyone toy with DISTORT for 15a?
Droitwich also in the news with the Long Wave transmitter having been shut down on Saturday after 90 years’ continuous operation. RIP
Thanks Imogen & Loonapick.
I didn’t realise that Droitwich was a spa either, so I looked it up. Its full name is actually Droitwich Spa. It isn’t a spa where people used to take the waters, though – they used to float in them instead! As PostMark said earlier, its waters are second only to the Dead Sea in natural saltiness.
Almost totally impenetrable when I did my first pass. Then managed to chip away at it. Got some traction via some of the anagrams and charades and then with crossers guessed quite a few. I can see some of the trickery at play but there were some that were still impenetrable but now clear after reading the blog. Thanks loonapick, and Imogen – quite the brain teaser for me.
[GrahamInSydney@#36 – Only if you’re Liam Gallagher 😁]
Thanks Imogen & Loonapick👍
Thanks for the blog , good set of clues but a bit of a Spock puzzle , perhaps the friendliest grid with each clue having the first letter checked and more than half overall . GERMANDER a clever subtraction and LOSING HEART was neat . DROITWICH also famous as the only modern place in Europe where the native language has not yet been deciphered . I like HOB and Jill for ferrets , very useful if you have a problem with mice .
Balfour@32 my Chromebook does not seem to have a FUNCTION KEY but I do not know how they are labelled , the one that annoys me is the ANY KEY , I can never find that .
Great to see Imogen return. Several interesting new words today, but all gettable with a bit of research. All except 23a, for which I wrongly guessed VIR instead of VAR. Many fine surfaces, too, especially 15a DISTEND, 19a INNARDS, 1d HOBBITS, 3d FUNCTION KEY, 7d AUDIBLE
Other favourites, 1a HIGH FIVES (somehow thought “lofted sixes” = IV, but no), 9a BRUIN (an actual bear), 10a GERMANDER (multiple steps in the wordplay), 12a TRISYLLABLE (misdirecting definition), 17a AGES AGO (“Way back” misdirection)
24a PLAYHOUSE, we happen to have a local cinema owned by…Wendy!
bodycheetah@26 Ouch! Hope the puzzle was a decent distraction
Thanks Imogen and loonapick. LOSING HEART made it all worthwhile.
Enjoyed that. All parsed as per loonapick except AGES AGO, where I saw “wise guy’s first to drop” as indicating the first letter of SAGE literally dropping down lower in the light. A minor alternative idea.
VEGGIES and EVELYN WAUGH seemed the trickiest to unravel. Before a few crossers went in, I spent a while trying to make BROOK work for 9a. TILTS today were DROITWICH as a spa and GERMANDER plants.
Thanks, I&l.
John & Di @40, I presumed it was a reference to the phrase “worth its weight in gold”.
Phitonelly@49: yes, I parsed AGES AGO like that: I hadn’t noticed until now that loonapick did it differently.
All went in pretty smoothly until the last half dozen, which needed a much later second (enjoyable) bite. Initially having RABBITS instead of HOBBITS didn’t help… I’d not heard of GERMANDER, but the wordplay was solid enough for it to go in with confidence. LOSING HEART was excellent (as a clue I mean…). The …UGH bit of the author went in straight away, but my mind got blocked for a while in “something like HUGHES” which couldn’t work at all, obviously, but stood in the way of better thinking. LOI was TRISYLLABLE, which was very neat indeed once I’d seen it; which is how it should be.
Thanks Imogen and loonapick.
Fun puzzle and equally enjoyable blog and comments.
Protase@9, I share your pleasure in the non-cricket delivery in 19d IN UTERO.
poc@25, thanks for the Economist quote. As a politically leftish Canadian who is also left-handed, I am accustomed to being accused of sinister behaviour.
Roz@46, I too never know which is the ANY KEY that I’m supposed to press. What happens if you touch the delete key?
My favourite clue is 16a STARKER. More grim indeed. The story goes that three cellists were seeking entry at St. Peter’s gate. He asked each one whom they studied with. The first said Rostropovich – Peter wouldn’t let him in. The second said Isserlis – the same result. The third cellist said he’d studied with Starker. “Come on in”, said St. Peter, “you’ve already been to Hell.”
(I heard that story told by Starker himself.)
Thanks to Imogen, Loonapick, Roz, poc, Protase et al for the great Tuesday fun.
[Cellomaniac @52
You’ve reminded me of another cello story. Paul Tortelier (I think, though it’s probably apochryphal, so it could be anyone) tells a female student
“You have God’s greatest gift to man between your legs, and all you can do is sit there scratching at it.”]
[Me @53
AI attributes it to Beecham – seems more likely.]
Thanks both and a reveal-fest for me that I wished on review I had had time to ponder. But the world cup is using up all available spare time.
I seem to recall an England-Germany match in VAR’s (very) early days when a commentator observed “they’ve been playing for 70 minutes now and there has been no reference to VAR…”
muffin@53 (and now 4@54): In my life that was Sir Thomas Beecham but as you say probably apocryphal. Another was when he (reportedly) asked a new oboe player for his name, and on receiving the reply “Ball” commented “How very singular!”.
[Meant to be posted AGES AGO]
[ muffin@53&54, 😁. Presumably he would have been addressing a female orchestra member. He wasn’t a cellist and wouldn’t have had a cello student. It’s the kind of thing he would say at an orchestra rehearsal. ]
nho GERMANDER, DROITWICH, LOFTED SIXES or the boy ferret.
Gerrymander began in New England, in Massachusetts. Here’s and article with (better yet) a picture of the original beast. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/where-did-term-gerrymander-come-180964118/C
Thanks,Imogen and loonapick.
Having slept fitfully both Sunday and Monday nights, I was in no state to be taking on Imogen. I managed the bottom half quite well, helped by the fairly obvious EVELYN WAUGH, but only had five answers in the top half when I called it a day. This morning I polished them all off over toast and coffee, with SCHLOSS and then FUNCTION KEY the last to fall. Coincidentally, although I rarely use them in general, I had just pressed ctrl+F5 on my lap top, not once but twice, just before picking up yesterday’s Guardian, and it still took me a couple of minutes to remember what the F stands for!
I enjoyed this, despite having concrete for a brain yesterday. DROITWICH was a nice penny drop moment, and I was pleased to recognise GERMANDER when the fairly topical gerrymander became apparent. I haven’t read the comments yet and am bracing myself to see lots of “easier end of the spectrum for Imogen”, but I can take it. Well done Loonapick for including a soundalike in your prelude! More please.