A fun start to the day from Io.
I had most of this parsed quite early this morning, and then, as usual, needed extra time to mull over some of the trickier clues. Many thanks to Io for the enjoyable challenge.
LET JAG (nice hire car, from Spooner)
END ASHES (what winning run will do in series down under, cricket reference)
P (dull, music) + OILING (exertion) that keeps OT, B (books, Old Testament, books) to the fore
There may be a more elegant parsing of this, so do comment if you have a different view
“ADZE” (something cutting, “from mike”)
O (nothing) in BAR (apart from)
REMINDERS (memoranda), + [memorand]A (the last of which) is penetrating
(SUBS (membership) accepting ALLY (associate))< (<reviewed)
[t]HE (principal leaves) + L (lecturer) with PER (an)
ON (about) + [th]E (last of) repeats (i.e. duplicate the solution)
SLY (surreptitious) stealing LIGHT (land)
Holding GEN< (information, <back); ABATING (decrease)
Double definition
A[l]C[a]T[r]A[z] (logged on and off)
(TA[x]I CROSSED)* (*barking, leaving X (by))
COEN (filmmaker) has GALL< (cheek, <on counter) to inject
([trawlerma]N IS HAD)* (*taking a beating)
E-CON (online fraud) + O[f] (taking half) + MY (the writer’s)
(BILL [of f]ARE)* (*ordered, OFF off (this))
HG< (mercury, <rising) + [spo]I[led] (essentially)
(MENSA GI[ft] (out of FT))* (*oddly make)
(G,G (two Germans) + FIND + HIT GO (22s clue))* (*complicated)
[di]SC AND AL[bum] (covers)
END [h]ORSE (the last [h]ack in the race)
(D[uke] (‘s head) + LOUNGE BAR)* (*moving) around B (barrels)
(OC (commander) + CUBAN (Castro perhaps))< (<upset)
[disc]OVER ALL[usions] (hiding)
TILT (list) extends SO (considerably) + [Pali]N (‘s close)
HE’S (this chap’s) + (SIN (wrong) about A)
NO 1< (what she wears, <from the ground); LESS (without) trousers
Hannah Hampton is the goalkeeper for the Lionesses, England’s female football team, traditionally wearing the ‘1’ jersey
DNA< (double helix, <up)
Tough! Only six questions this time (!), one being which particular Coen was intended in 26a: Ethan or Joel? I liked the clue though.
Some unknowns I could parse ( more used to ‘ghee’, for instance) but for a handful others (the goalkeeping Lioness, for instance), I had to come here.
Other picks included LIBERAL, DOGFIGHTING (for the extra layer) and RUBBED ALONG.
Always good to learn new things so thanks, Io, and Oriel for a much-needed blog.
POTBOILING – I took as PO TOILING keeping the first letter of Books .
Thanks for the blog , not an easy task but I have seen a lot worse from IO , perhaps quite an easy start for once and I think some of the definitions were pretty friendly .
9. Almost my PB for IO.
I can only have the deepest admiration for anyone solving this, including our blogger. Much too hard for me and, I suspect, many others; I managed just 7 clues. Best for mere mortals to leave Io alone.
Loved the puzzle. Superb blog.
Thanks Io and Oriel.
My top picks: JET LAG, LIONESS, POTBOILING, ADDS, ABNEGATING, STILTON,
OSTRACISED and ECONOMY.
POTBOILING
Had the same parse as Roz.
LIBERAL – I had as a compound anagram . Bill of fare = (ordered ) OFF LIBERAL ( this ) .
You may be saying this in the blog , I know you need to be brief .
I agree with Roz@2 on POTBOILER. I could not quite resolve STILTON, so thanks for explaining. (I got stuck on an anagram of LIST + ???, which does not work.) I found this relatively approachable, for an Io, with perhaps LIONESS requiring the most obscure extra knowledge to solve. No nina or theme?
I got 19 answers today, an unheard of feat where Io is concerned, but although I should feel pleased with myself, I can’t help finding his puzzles a terrible slog. I admire those who find them “fun” or “entertaining.”
When it’s Io I get a lot of answers from simply trying to find the definitions and ignoring the wordplay, but today that wasn’t helped by never having heard of Ms Hampton, ONE ONE or EN DASHES. I had guessed EX DASHES, (dash in exes) in the hope that it was the name of some unwatched and peculiarly-named Australian soap opera. I forgot my rule that if an explanation sounds ridiculous, the answer’s likely to be wrong.
I liked ENDORSE.
I got to LIONESS by thinking of the only Hampton I knew, Lionel, and then it dawned on me.
Babbler@8 I just find hard crosswords “fun” , it is good that the FT has such a range . These days the Guardian puzzles hardly vary in difficulty and it becomes very boring .
ONE-ONE is usually written like this but it is spoken as one-to-one .
You will have seen EN ( and EM ) in many crosswords as bits of wordplay , usually clued as dash or space or mark . They come from old style printing using bits of lead . Also called nut and mutton because type-setting rooms were very noisy .
Personally, I say “injective”.
Hovis@11 one-one correspondence is bijective , injective is not sufficient .
9ac: Add my name to those who agree with Roz@2 on this one. As a musical abbreviation, p specifically means “quiet” which in my view is not close enough to “dull”. On the other hand, Chambers 2016 pp 1195-96 gives po = po-faced = “stolid, humourless”.
3dn: Again I agree with Roz@6 that this works best as a compound (or extended) anagram: “bill of fare” is an anagram of LIBERAL + “off”. The blog seems to be going for a subtractive anagram, with “of f” removed from “bill of fare” to give (billare)* = LIBERAL. That requires “off” to do double duty as letters to be removed and the removal indicator. Letting a clue word do double duty within a single indication goes outside the range of legitimate expectation from FT setters.
I shuddered when I saw those two vowels this morning. IO. I ought to walk away. Glad I didn’t, though. I managed to solve and parse 16 clues, plus a unparsed COLLAGEN. Easily my PB with IO.
I’m under no illusions. Next time I will get the usual 3 correct and give up in a huff.
I thought this was much friendlier than usual for IO. He was very generous with his literals which is quite rare for him. A few long anagrams also helped a lot.
LIONESS last in as I didn’t know the England keeper.
Liked OSTRACISED and ECONOMY
Enjoyed the DOGFIGHTING trick. It must have been done before but it’s the first time I have seen it.
Thanks Oriel and IO
Po + toiling with a B inserted.
I got 12 clues on my first run-through (best start ever for an IO) and immediately thought “this’ll be too easy for Roz, she’ll be disappointed”.
It wasn’t too easy for me. I still DNF’d with 6 to go, three of which I should have got. But when I tackle an IO I expect to fail, and that inevitably becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Thanks IO and Oriel (and Roz for the parsing of POTBOILING) for the lesson in humility.
Cellomaniac@17 , I did find it easy to get started but certainly not easy to finish . You have diagnosed your own problem , you expect to fail .
Bunthorne used to give me severe beatings but I would always vow to get the b…… next time and eventually I did .
Next IO/Enigmatist be determined to finish even if it takes you a week .
Many thanks, as ever, Oriel. No-one seems yet to have spotted the quintet hiding in the grid.
I have found hidden AGENDA ( twice) , TALENT and DEPTH , not seeing a fifth unless hidden mass which is pretty obscure . My paper copy has been recycled and I am not so good using a screen .
There is light under bushel, and perhaps lover next to bed?
Yep, AGENDA x2, TALENT, DEPTHS and ONE’S LIGHT under A BUSHEL.
Of course, sorry. Promise to look harder next time! 🙂
No, Roz, one to one is injective. One to one and onto is bijective.
Personally I found the idea that censure is a synonym if scandal to be so inaccurate as to be offensive.
It seems like all of the words hiding in the puzzle can be prefacedwith “hidden” in fairly common usage such as hidden agenda, hidden depth, hidden talent, hidden bushel under ones light, etc.
Perhaps not.
Thank you Io and Oriel and everyone else for adding to my appreciation of this brain test
7dn: Chambers 2016 p 1389 has “opprobrious censure” as a definition for scandal.
Sorry. Hiding one’s light under a bushel. Got it backwards.