It was only last week that I began my blog with ‘It was something of a surprise to see Brummie’s name for the third time in ten days’ – Brummie’s really working overtime!
I did go on to say ‘but no complaints here’ – and I could say the same again. The difference is that today we do have a theme and it’s a stellar one. There are some very nice clues – I had ticks for 9ac USE-BY DATE, 12ac SALVATION, 22,8 A STAR IS BORN, 28,27 BLACK HOLE, 3,13dn DYING OF THE LIGHT, 7dn STRING UP, 18dn AGRARIAN and 22dn AGEISM.
Thanks to Brummie for an enjoyable puzzle.
Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
9 Don’t eat after this Tuesday – be perverse! (3-2,4)
USE-BY DATE
An anagram (perverse) of TUESDAY BE
10 Unfashionable party cap (5)
OUTDO
OUT (unfashionable) + DO (party)
11 Grizzly, being initially bankrupt? (5)
BRUIN
B[eing] + RUIN (bankrupt)
12 Rescue tank one installed in exhibition room (9)
SALVATION
VAT (tank) + I (one) in SALON (exhibition room)
13 Start getting ill after toxic element (4,3)
LEAD OFF
LEAD (toxic element) + OFF (ill)
14 High road at last gets uneven (7)
DRUGGED
[roa]D + RUGGED (uneven)
19, 17 On director’s debut, Titanic offers possible star role (3,5)
RED GIANT
RE (on) + D[irector] + GIANT (Titanic)
20, 6 Great month to get a brilliant body transformation (9)
SUPERNOVA
SUPER (great) + NOV[ember] (month) + A
21 It’s wrong to bind hands, causing distress (7)
TORMENT
TORT (civil wrong) round MEN (hands)
22, 8 Classic film – when Jack is dropped (1,4,2,4)
A STAR IS BORN
AS TAR (Jack) IS BORN (dropped)
24 Shock absorber from wagon that is circling trail (9)
CARTILAGE
CART (wagon) + I E (id est – that is) round LAG (trail)
26 Latin ‘h’ (not ‘i’) equals ‘lock’ (5)
LATCH
L (Latin) + a[i]tch (h)
28, 27 Book shortage predicament: there’s no escaping it (5,4)
BLACK HOLE
B (book) + LACK(shortage) + HOLE (predicament)
29 Key European city: it’s about to get US city backing (9)
ESSENTIAL
ESSEN (European city) + a reversal (about) of IT + a reversal (backing) of LA (US CITY)
Down
1 Check roadside’s sound (4)
CURB
Sounds like ‘kerb’ (roadside) – this may cause some transatlantic confusion: Chambers gives ‘another spelling for kerb (chiefly N Am)’
2 Mounted a Grease production finally, in which, potentially, 22 ac./8 (6)
NEBULA
A reversal (mounted) of A LUBE (grease) + [productio]N
3, 13 ‘Journey’s end … night of drifting into bliss’, a poetic death (5,2,3,5)
DYING OFTHE LIGHT
An anagram (drifting) of [journe]Y NIGHT OF in DELIGHT (bliss) – a quotation from Dylan Thomas’ poem, ‘Do not go gentle into that good night‘
4 Mountain area service provided (6)
MASSIF
MASS (service) + IF (provided)
5 Private duel botched by duke after a brief time (8)
SECLUDED
An anagram (botched) of DUEL + D (duke) after SEC[ond] (brief time)
7 Way to call someone ‘Lynch’ (6,2)
STRING UP
ST[reet] (way) + RING UP (call {someone})
15 Tungsten’s unstable around lithium – troublesome (10)
UNSETTLING
An anagram (unstable) of TUNGSTEN round LI (lithium)
16 Flights requiring instrument’s rotation (5)
DARTS
A reversal of STRAD[ivarius] (instrument)
I think there’s synecdoche in the definition – for ‘flight’ Collins gives ‘ a feather or plastic attachment fitted to an arrow or dart to give it stability in flight’
18 Subcontinental city before rain spread about the land (8)
AGRARIAN
AGRA (subcontinental city) + an anagram (spread) of RAIN
19 Put off taking vehicle to north, went back the same way (8)
RETRACED
A reversal (to the north, in a down clue) of DETER (put off) round CAR (vehicle)
22 Discrimination shown by moving images (6)
AGEISM
An anagram (moving) of IMAGES
23 Bar hosts film marketing activity (6)
RETAIL
RAIL (bar) round ET (film)
24 One with little experience to lead a country (4)
CUBA
CUB (one with little experience) + A
25 Trendy state, 28 (4)
INKY
IN (trendy) – balancing OUT (unfashionable) in 10ac + KY (Kentucky (state)
Took me a while to get going. Saw the theme after solving a star is born, nebula, supernova, black hole, red giant etc.
Thanks, both.
Some very nice clues, but held up right at the very end by LEAD OFF and the intersecting NEBULA, which I couldn’t parse…”Do not go gentle…” one of my favourite Dylan Thomas’ poems, too. Lots to like and admire this morning, many thanks Brummie and Eileen, so frequently in tandem these days!
Thanks Brummie and Eileen
I saw a theme! No problems. I thought USE-BY DATE was very neat.
Saw the theme at the end. Great fun. Couldn’t parse DOTL.
Ta Brummie & Eileen.
Quite straightforward compared to my usual experience with Brummie, with lots to like. I even spotted the theme for once.
3/13D is excellent, 2D is very clever, lots of other ticks.
An enjoyable puzzle, which puzzled me at the end with DARTS. I noticed the theme and found it helpful for once.
This was fun! Though I spent much too long trying to come up with an Asian city as the solution for 18d, and only coming up with the unparseable Amritsar, finally knocked on the head when I got CARTILAGE. The theme – even for me, unmistakable – helped with BLACK HOLE.
The clue for the Dylan Thomas quotation is wonderfully misleading – drifting into bliss is the very opposite of what the poem advocates: Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
“cart” isn’t used again in 19d; the “t” is from “deter” so the vehicle is a car.
Spotted the theme at the exact moment when it was no longer useful! Luckily, no knowledge of astrology was required
Solid dependable stuff from Brownie as always. Star of the show for me was AGRARIAN
Cheers B&E
bdg @8 – quite right: my apologies to Brummie. I’ll amend the blog now.
I had it right when I solved it!)
Marvellous fun. My favourites were CUBA and CARTILAGE for their simplicity, but there were many more crackers. Even spotted the theme for once, and it helped with NEBULA, my LOI, a little bit I think. Thanks Brummie and Eileen.
Surely 19d is DETER around CAR not CART, or you’re doubling the T. Not a quibble, it’s just that it means it wasn’t a repetition of CART.
Anyway. I thought this was great fun, just at my level and doable without being straightforward. Needed help to get BRUIN which I don’t recall hearing before, but otherwise a good steady solve.
[edit] bdg @8 and Eileen @10 – sorry, didn’t see those comments before writing the first part of my comment.
Very good. Same favourites as Eileen.
I took DARTS slightly differently – ‘to fly’ and ‘to dart’ can both mean to move quickly, so a dart could perhaps = a flight. But this doesn’t work 100%, and IMO neither does Eileen’s construction – making this the only unsatisfactory clue.
Like several others above I rarely spot a theme, but did see this one.
Thanks Eileen and Brummie.
Really enjoyed this. I guessed A STAR IS BORN from the enumeration, and the crossers confirmed it, but it took a very long time for me to see what Jack had to do with it.
I thought exactly the same as beaulieu @13 for DARTS – not sure either option is quite right. Thanks Brummie and Eileen.
Marvellous fun. My favourites were CUBA and CARTILAGE for their simplicity, but there were many more crackers. Even spotted the theme for once, and it helped with NEBULA a little bit I think. Thanks Brummie and Eileen.
…and 3, 13 down reminded me of words from Philip Larkin’s wonderful poem Aubade, which I believe featured here in a Cryptic a while ago now: “Death is no different whined at than withstood…”
It’s always nice to complete a puzzle with a smile, and no “Huh?” list nor NHO list.
I lie. I hadn’t heard of BRUIN, but that was all.
A perfect level of difficulty, lots of fun and no grumbles! Thanks Brummie, and Eileen for the blog.
Good enjoyable crossword; nice to have a science theme for a change.
I liked the good anagram for USE-BY-DATE, the wordplay of ESSENTIAL, and the surfaces for CARTILAGE, CUBA and DARTS. For the latter, I think the whole clue can serve as a definition since the darts revolve when thrown. Interesting also that tungsten is in the previous clue, since darts are made with a high percentage of this metal. Often tungsten in a crossword gives the symbol W (not this time, though).
Thanks Brummie and Eileen.
As usual, Eileen has anticipated my thoughts. I tried to fit ‘stair’ in at 16d, thinking that it could almost be ‘sitar’ cycling (it is an anagram after all) but eventually reached the correct answer.
Lovely blog for a lovely puzzle and, yes, a theme that even the theme-blind like me can spot. And a nice way of supplementing the theme with unusual entries like A STAR etc.
I missed the subtleties that make DARTS unsatisfactory; it worked fine for me at the time and I moved on. Favourites today include USE-BY-DATE, BRUIN, DRUGGED, BLACK HOLE, AGRARIAN and RETRACED.
Thanks Brummie and Eileen
I did wonder whether “classic” was needed in 22,8, but I suppose only the first of the four versions could be described as classic; without it, “films” rather than “film” would have been required!
I had DARTS as in “The blue tit made a series of darts to and from the lilac” I had the same ticks as Eileen.
Ditto others above re dart, doesn’t quite fly. Otherwise pretty smooth from the Brum, ta. Never saw the movie, but DOTL earworms from both himself”s own recitation, and the Gallagher song. Ta for the blog Eileen.
A very pleasant puzzle. I cheerfully entered DARTS without seeing any problem, but the comments have now got me wondering which meaning of “flight” was intended. Petert’s suggestion @22 seems to work ok.
The “Book shortage predicament” in 28, 27 reminded me of the famous headline about a crisis in the library service in Essex, “Book lack in Ongar”.
Many thanks Brummie and Eileen.
… and the fact that “shortage” gives us LACK makes me think that Brummie was thinking of that headline too.
I didn’t have a problem with DARTS, the bird feeder on my window is being enlivened by the darts, flights and flutterings of blue and great tits arriving and departing, accompanied by blue tit fledglings.
Theme without having to look was nice.
Thank you to Eileen and Brummie
Nice one. Very unusually for me I spotted the theme early, which helped a lot. I had nothing thematic on first pass, but I pieced together NEBULA from the fragments – et facta est lux.
USE-BY DATE, CARTILAGE and RED GIANT did it for me. DARTS flew in near the end, too quickly for me to quibble about the definition.
I liked the Dylan Thomas allusion, although as Sarah @7 points out, the clue is at odds with the sentiment of the poem.
SUPERNOVA is generally written as a single word, but both parts are valid in their own right, so the split is kosher.
Thanks to Brummie and Eileen
Thanks for that, Jim @24/25 – makes me think of the brilliant contributions of Frank Muir and Denis Norden at the end of episodes of ‘My word’.
Excellent. Couldn’t parse TORMENT but no complaints.
Gervase @27
Oops, my mistake: SUPERNOVA is given as one word in the puzzle. I’ll update the blog.
BTW, in her preamble Eileen lists, as a favourite, SELL-BY DATE, though the correct solution appears in her blog 🙂
Hard but fair. Definitely wouldn’t have finished if I’d missed the theme.
Thanks both
Gervase @31
Oh dear, more carelessness – my apologies. I wrote the preamble after the blog and didn’t check properly – amended now.
Lovely puzzle. Just a little out of reach to make me sweat a little and, hopefully, fitter for the next round! Thanks Brummie and Eileen
Thanks Eileen
Trouble with 19 was that after DWARF appeared in Grecian I absent-mindedly put it after RED
in spite of Titanic being in the clue!. Star-crossed I would say
Very nice
copster @35
Glad I’m not the only absent-minded one today. 😉
The poem quote was my bung-and-hope of the day. Never was a fan. I wonder if DT got the idea from President Thomas J. Whitmore’s speech in Independence Day?
Seeing the theme for once helped me fill out the NW corner.
Thanks Brummie and Eileen.
I have struggled with some of Brummie’s puzzles in the past, but this was wonderful. I loved the theme, DYING OF THE LIGHT was a beautifully crafted clue. I have no quibbles at all today. It took me a while to get going and I failed to parse A STAR IS BORN like Quirister@14, but overall it was a really enjoyable puzzle.
Thanks Brummie & Eileen
Thanks Eileen. Great blog – and a thorough follow-up. I really liked this offering from Brummie though it was a slow start from me before everything started to fall into place. No point in adding my favourites which have been thoroughly canvassed. Suffice to say, a high star rating for Brummie today – it ended up being a really amusing puzzle!
Excellent blog, as usual. Loving the extra zero in the puzzle number 29,4000 indeed!
Oh heck!
Thanks to Brummie for the fun workout. Spotted the theme early on, which was helpful in the later stages.
Lots of favourites but a particular shout out for 24ac CARTILAGE and its lovely misdirection. Thanks also to Eileen for the blog.
Nice puzzle from Brummie, as usual, nice blog from Eileen, as usual.
Toxic element brings immediately to mind LEAD, mercury and arsenic, but interestingly (to me at least) even oxygen can be toxic in the right circumstances.
I apparently retain my championship in theme-missing, since everybody else seems to have spotted it. Enjoyed the puzzle anyway, especially USE-BY DATE. Did Brummie request to have it printed in a Tuesday, I wonder? And did anybody else think that “don’t eat after this” might clue either FAST or MARDI GRAS? (Well, it did fit the enumeration.)
Thanks to Brummie and Eileen.
Nice theme especially the reference to Dylan’s wonderful poem. I’ve read it at a few funerals and it always gets me going. Much better than “and death shall have no dominion”. Thanks Brummie for jogging the memories and as always Eileen for the blog
Muffin @21: I did wonder which version of A STAR IS BORN he had in mind. The best-known is surely the second one (Judy Garland and James Mason), which can definitely be described as a classic film at this point. (From which I’d be remiss in not linking to Judy at her absolute best. ) The earlier, non-musical Janet Gaynor/Fredric March version is also a classic, of course, but for some reason has taken a bit of a back seat now. The other two, um, aren’t classics: the Barbra Streisand / Kris Kristofferson one can best be described as a mistake, and the Lady Gaga / Bradley Cooper one is, what, less than five years old? Anyway, like you, I did find the wording of the clue a bit odd.
Valentine @44: yeah, I thought of Mardi Gras too, maybe because we did see it in a recent puzzle.
I haven’t read the other comments as I won’t be doing the puzzle till later, but did anyone else find 7d tasteless? Perhaps I’ve listened to Strange Fruit too often.
[ > but interestingly (to me at least) even oxygen can be toxic in the right circumstances. – or wrong Dr. WhatsOn@43? 😉 ]
Dr WhatsOn @43: Too much of a good thing, what? Actually there is some evidence that arsenic might even be an essential element, albeit in trace amounts.
I’m another who wondered about DARTS, but Petert @22 has convinced me it works.
As an American, I can confirm that 1dn wouldn’t work in our version of English: for us, both words are spelled the same, so the homophone indicator wouldn’t make sense. But of course I know that these puzzles are written in UK English, so that’s not a complaint. And I have read enough writing from over there to know about the spelling difference, so the clue made sense to me.
Ted @50
To be honest, I did expect 1dn to raise more discussion than it did – I’m glad you weren’t fazed. 😉
Thanks Brummie, I enjoyed that quite a bit with an accessible theme and clever clues making this worthwhile. My top picks were BRUIN, DRUGGED, SUPERNOVA, SECLUDED, CUBA, and DYING OF THE LIGHT. [The latter, along with other Dylan Thomas poems, was set to music in 1989 by John Cale in his record ‘Words for the Dying’.] Thanks Eileen for the blog.
Thank you so much Brummie and Eileen. A stellar effort indeed. Lord Jim @24/5 I’d not come across the headline before, thanks for sharing it. My favourites were DYING OF THE LIGHT and BLACK HOLE.
[Earworm follows… https://youtu.be/r8OipmKFDeM?si=seJ6gn1JT2Dl6Gb3 ]
Lord Jim@24: New to me. One to remember.
Zoot@47: Uncomfortable – rather than tasteless for me.
We had WHEN JACK for AS TAR not so long ago. Sadly, I again forgot, thinking that the JACK was the STAR shaped pick up toy thingy.
Thanks to the dynamic duo.
As we age, some of us contemplate our (sober) mortality more frequently. Thomas’s poem , and Larkin’s Aubade (thanks ronald@16) hit home. ginf@23, I agree, DT’s own reading goes right to the gut/heart/brain.
Valentine@44, yes, I thought of both FAST and MARDI GRAS before arriving at the correct answer.
This was a great puzzle, not a dud clue anywhere – and that includes 16d DARTS which, as others have said, works with the flights of small birds.
Thanks Brummie for the fun and Eileen for the excellent blog. And Eileen@28, thanks for the My Word recollection. One of my favourites was “The koala tree of Mersey is not sprained”.
What Lechien said@38
Thanks Brummie and Eileen
grant@23 and cellomaniac @55 – I hope you discovered that the link I gave for 3,13 was to DT’s own reading.
And thanks, cellomaniac, for the reminiscence. I was a great fan of those two.
Ooh! This was very nice thank you very much. All went in very quickly but this was an ideal crossword for me – testing clues with not too much staring and wondering. Big ticks for 10, 12, and 24 across, and 24 and 16 down. Thanks very much Brummie and Eileen. 16 down reminds me of one of my favourite lines from ‘The Trip’ series with Steve Coogan and Rob Bryson: “There’s only one word for that – magic darts!”
I tackled this one in reverse clue order, so confidently put in INCA for 25, fully expecting 28 to fall in line eventually. Turned out to be the other way around! That was my main hold-up.
Fun puzzle. I spotted the theme too, so it must have been one of the more prominent ones.
Thanks, Eileen and Brum.
Yes, Zoot @47, now that you mention it i did wince at the image it evoked. But should it be avoided? … hmm.
Or perhaps it’s the slangy casualness of ‘string up’ that’s inappropriate in such a grave context … ?
Some lovely clues – loved the Dylan Thomas poem, Thanks to Brummie and Eileen .
Grantinfreo@61. Yes, I thought the same on reflection. The slanginess makes it much worse. I nearly omitted that answer.
@Eileen
That was fine blog, thank you,
Super puzzle.
Enjoyed the puzzle very much except for 7d. The vile image kept coming back to me. And still hasn’t gone.
Does anyone know why over the last week the puzzles appear to be coming out later? I was always able to download a puzzle at midnight London time. Now it only is available 10 to 30 minutes later. Thanks!
I agree that 7d is pretty brutal. It distracted me enough that it’s taken me until this afternoon to get my solving cap back on and finish the crossword. Still feel slightly sick, though.
Thanks to setter and blogger.
Re the infamous 7d, I’m sorry, but I don’t think it’s a bad thing for a crossword clue to inspire us to go back and listen again to Billie Holliday singing Strange Fruit.
Jay@67, if you’re still around. I find that if I go in through my bookmark it can take some time, but if I go out and come in through the main Guardian site>More>Crosswords it’s up when it’s supposed to be.
First time in my life I think I’ve filled in 2 in a row. Another very good puzzle. Still not always parsing (DOTL,nebula) but I’ll settle for a full grid 😁 Thx brummie and Eileen.
Thanks Brummie. Have just done your puzzle in the Guardian Weekly Australia. Nearly had it too (my first ever) – except for BARRICADE and BABY instead of cartilage and Cuba. You don’t want to know how I got there. Drats! – or should I say DARTS.