Good fun from Monk this morning!
A few clues kept me pondering for a while, but overall a fun and accessible puzzle. The paired words on the grid’s edges form common terms when put together. Not sure if there is a further connection?
Many thanks to Monk!
A (area) + D (dies) + ULT (in the last month)
ULT is an abbreviation of ‘ultimo’, from Latin, used to mean ‘last month’
C (about) to cut (IN DUE TO)* (*false)
TD (Chad, country ISO code) imports E (European)
‘Ted’ in this context is a bit archaic – it is a verb meaning to spread/ted hay to dry it out
(REEL IN and CATCH)* (*fighting)
A rooster, originating in Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, becoming a popular literary character
GARB (clothing) + LED (went first)
(IN< (<back) + H (hotel, NATO alphabet)) having EVEN< (just, <gone round)
ANAL (obsessed); (EC (Executive Committee) + DOT (25, i.e. from the clue numbered 25 here)) stops
EAT (worry) occupies [ar]MY (host, in the second half)
HI[t] (struck, mainly) + [lon]G [beac]H [suburb]S (trains in)
EDGE (crest) buried in (S (southern) + MOOR (heath))
[dat]A [transmissio]N (ultimately) + (NA (not available) after TEN (10))
PIOUS (sanctimonious) about TE (note)
(RI[sk] (50% of) + DOUBLED BY)* (*daftly)
IBO< (boxing association, <withdraws)
IBO: International Boxing Association
Obi: Japanese belt usually worn with a kimono
In MAY (one month); TERN (bird) has IT (sex)
AV (17th century bible) found in LEE (shelter)
AV is the ‘authorised version’ or King James version of the bible
([dis]H (‘s culmination) + RAGOUT + A + P[arsley] (touch of))* (*mixed with)
UNDER (falling short) before W (week) + EIGHT (8)
T (tense) + ICKLE (little, childish) + D (daughter)
Cryptic definition
I think we are looking at E for East, Afghanistan being a country (presumably) East of us
(AND GLUTEN)* (*nuts)
ARM (weapon) hidden in (CAN (jail) + U (uniform)) – on the contrary (i.e. flip the clue instruction so CAN + U are hidden in ARM)
[go]I[ng] [un]D[er] [ke]E[els] (essentially)
[dissertatio]N OR TH[esis] (only partly considered)
(O (nothing) in (SALVADOR [Dal]I (‘s latest) + O (old))* (*rubbish)
The Via Dolorosa is the path Jesus walked to his crucifixion
(N (unspecified number) IN + I (Italy)) following TOSCA (opera)
YORE (long ago) hosting (K (king) + HIS* (*new) + R (queen, Regina))
S (spades) + AND (also) + BAR (rod)
EST (‘is’ in France, i.e. French) + OR (Oregon) + IL (Israel)
A (American) + L (left) + BUM (worthless)
POD (group of pilots perhaps) + G[reed]Y (extremely)
Referring to pilot whales, with POD being the collective noun
DO (party) + T (time)
The northeast quarter was my Waterloo. Having confidently entered EEL for 7d didn’t help. ARCANUM, ESTORIL, TED & SEDGEMOOR were all new to me. I was unsure of ELAND — not my favourite clue.
All else fell into place and was enjoyed.
I hadn’t heard of a CHANTICLEER or the battle, but was able to figure them out from crossers and a little help from Google. I got excited when I spotted the two word phrases around the edges, but I don’t see any theme related to them.
Couldn’t parse HIGHS but I knew it was right from my Geography lessons many years ago.
Good fun from Monk today. The three letter clues were the trickiest. Nho OBI nor TED although IDE is an old favourite in crossword land.
Thanks Monk and Oriel for a model blog.
In 4d, ‘about’ = CA.
According to Chambers, CHANTICLEER is from Reynard The Fox not The Canterbury Tales.
Did Canterbury Tales for O Level . Chanticleer was a central figure in one of the tales.i think the Nun’s Priest’s.
SM. You’re correct but Chaucer borrowed the name from Reynard the Fox.
Thanks Monk and Oriel
12ac: I think this works as IN< (Back in) + HEVEN< (hotel, just = HEVEN, "having gone round" as the reversal indicator).
4dn: I think we can just take the E as indicating "in the eastern hemisphere", and not worry about the position relative to any solvers.
Thanks again to Monk for the solver friendly grid.
I thought this was fun, though by no means easy. Some of the parsing took a bit of thought.
I still don’t understand ‘wrinkles’ found in a ‘sand bar’. Could someone explain for me please?
Thanks Monk and Oriel.
Sourdough @8 It’s winkles, as in periwinkles or sea snails.
Written on a birthday card I recently received: “Nobody gets to your age without any wrinkles… they must all be under your bum.”
19dn replying to Sourdough@8 and further to Funsize@9: the clue says “winkles”. Chambers 2016 gives us
p 1797 “winkle n a small edible snail-shaped shellfish, a periwinkle”; and
p 1379 “sand bar n a long sandbank in a river or the sea”, in which winkles could presumably be found.
Thanks PB@10
What has Chambers to say on the subject of age-related gluteal folds?
Aargh! Thank you Funsize@9 and Pelham Barton@10. I can’t believe how many times and for how long I looked at that clue and continued to misread it. Worse because I used to eat winkles a lot as a child in South Shields (6d a bag).
I suppose those two things are related – both attest to my advancing years and receding cognitive performance.
Thanks for the blog , very good clues , pretty tough but a very helpful grid , mainly white and all first letters checked . I have used a tedder to TED , this sense does turn up fairly often . Quinqereme of NINEVEH opens “Cargoes” by Masefield .
TED was a mystery to me, so thanks for clearing it up.
For ELAND, I would have used something such as Ethiopia, Eritrea, or Estonia, personally. Afghanistan seems rather random; if Monk really meant “east,” he should have picked somewhere that everyone thinks of as the East, like Japan or Korea. The whole thing is Eurocentric anyway; to get to Japan I would fly west.
Thanks Monk for an excellent set of clues with my top picks being MATERNITY, UNTANGLED, VIA DOLOROSO, and DOT. I failed to parse ELAND (not a big fan of this clue) and HIGHS (didn’t see but like ‘trains’ as a last letter indicator). Thanks Oriel for the blog.
Tricky, as Monk usually is, but all solvable. We knew TED as it’s a handy word for Scrabble and other word games, although TD for Chad puzzled us for a moment till we remembered it’s actually Tchad. We liked NINEVEH (a change from Ur as an ancient city) and TOSCANINI.
Thanks, Monk and Oriel.
Another challenging puzzle with solid, interesting clues and a few too many obscurities. I ticked AUTOGRAPH, CHANTICLEER, DOT and TICKLED. I had the same unparsed clues as Tony@15 and was about to write exactly the same comments, so I will simply point you to his second sentence.
Thank
Thanks S&B. Here’s another take on TED: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TED_spread
Beaten by Arcanum.
Too many NHOs for my liking
In late but agree with Moly. Didn’t like it at all. Finished but with many write in and checks
What’s an NHO?
Brian@21: It is supposed to stand for “never heard of”. Often, of course, the people who use it have heard the word before, but do not remember having done so.