Jason is the setter in this morning’s FT.
I usually solve a crossword by doing a pass of the across clues, then the down ones, and use crossing letters to complete the rest, but this morning I solved the puzzle clockwise, starting in the NE corner and ending with SHOWERS in the north west corner. I learned that a HAFT is a handle (or possibly re-learned that) and spent a second or two debating whether or not to use cowpat rather than pat of butter as an example of a PAT in the parsing of PATRIOT, but all in all, the answers came fairly quickly to mind. Given I live in Glasgow, the roads of which are always being dug up, 1 across should have come immediately to mind, but held out for a wee bit until I had a few crossers.
Thanks, Jason
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | ROADWORKS |
Sad dark sorrow? One right to leave a necessary nuisance (9)
|
| *(dark sorow) [anag:sad] where SOROW is SOR(r)OW with one R (right) leaving | ||
| 6 | ALL IN |
Exhausted from endless ringing (3,2)
|
| [endless] (c)ALLIN(g) (“ringing”) | ||
| 9 | BARGE |
Lighter but for half of gear (5)
|
| BAR (“but for”) + [half of] GE(ar) | ||
| 10 | SPORTS CAR |
E-type perhaps shown by blemish after use in public (6,3)
|
| SCAR (“blemish”) after SPORT (“use in public”) | ||
| 11 | STEPLADDER |
One gets you up to walk then run (10)
|
| STEP (“to walk”) then LADDER (“run”, in tights or stockings) | ||
| 12 | KEPI |
Headgear mostly cared for by one (4)
|
| [mostly] KEP(t) (“cared for”) by I (one) | ||
| 14 | A LEVELS |
Exams could be smooth since outside (1,6)
|
| LEVEL (“smooth”) with AS (“since”) outside | ||
| 15 | SURPASS |
Better gent heard to be successful (7)
|
| Homophone/pun/aural wordplay [heard] of SIR (“gent”) + PASS (“to be successful”) | ||
| 17 | PATRIOT |
Loyal devotee of mass involving Trinity (7)
|
| PAT (“mass”, as in a pat of butter) involving TRIO (“Trinity”) | ||
| 19 | CANAPES |
Drop parrot’s nibbles (7)
|
| CAN (“drop”) + APES (“parrots”) | ||
| 20 | ALAS |
A stroke of satire that doesn’t quite finish sadly (4)
|
| A + LAS(h) (“stroke of satire”, that doesn’t quite finish) | ||
| 22 | STEAMSHIPS |
18 and the like in a healthy way cooks joints (10)
|
| STEAMS (“cooks in a healthy way”) + HIPS (“joints”)
The 18 in the clue refers to 18dn (TITANIC) |
||
| 25 | INSURANCE |
Security given by a type of hedge? (9)
|
| Double definition, although both are very similar? | ||
| 26 | ANTIC |
French will abandon desperate stunt (5)
|
| Fr. (French) will abandon (fr)ANTIC (“desperate”) | ||
| 27 | GENUS |
One’ll leave expert group (5)
|
| I (one) will leave GENI(i)US (“expert”) | ||
| 28 | COUNTLESS |
Legion to matter not so much (9)
|
| COUNT (“to matter”) + LESS (“not so much”) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | REBUS |
Puzzle concerning coach (5)
|
| RE (“concerning”) + BUS (“coach”) | ||
| 2 | AGREEMENT |
Harmony blokes found in a welcome (9)
|
| MEN (“blokes”) found in A + GREET (“welcome”) | ||
| 3 | WHEELIE BIN |
Wide blighter that’s backing bill — one’s full of rubbish (7,3)
|
| W (wide) + HEEL (“blighter”) + i.e. (id est, so “that’s”) + [backing] <=NIB (“bill”) | ||
| 4 | RESIDES |
Stays on channels (7)
|
| RE (“on”) + SIDES (“channels”, as in TV channels) | ||
| 5 | SHOWERS |
Such as point to groups of deplorables? (7)
|
| Double definition, the second referring to a group such as a “shower of thieves” | ||
| 6 | ASTI |
Drink that seen in the course of Christmas time (4)
|
| Hidden in [seen in the course of] “ChristmAS TIme” | ||
| 7 | LUCRE |
This could be filthy and it could also be cruel (5)
|
| *(cruel) [anag:could also be] | ||
| 8 | NARCISSUS |
Jonquil who only contemplates himself? (9)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 13 | CRANKSHAFT |
Idiots grip part of transmission (10)
|
| CRANKS (“idiots”) + HAFT (“grip” as in “handle”) | ||
| 14 | APPEALING |
Echoing round sound of bells is attractive (9)
|
| APING (“echoing”) round PEAL (“sound of bells”) | ||
| 16 | APPOINTEE |
A poet, I pen vibrantly for someone who’s posted (9)
|
| *(a poet I pen) [anag:vibrantly] | ||
| 18 | TITANIC |
Huge drop of colour on refurbished Titian (7)
|
| [drop of] C(olour) on *(Titian) [anag:refurbished] | ||
| 19 | CHATEAU |
Foreign estate prattle over Perrier, perhaps (7)
|
| CHAT (“prattle”) over EAU (water in French, of which “Perrier” may be an example) | ||
| 21 | ARSON |
Priest relinquishing power would be a burning issue (5)
|
| (p)ARSON (“priest”) relinquishing P (power) | ||
| 23 | SACKS |
Plunders old white wines (5)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 24 | EROS |
God of aerospace? (4)
|
| Hidden in [of] “aEROSpace” |
I also got a foothold in the NE corner and went anti-clockwise. Overall, there were too many remote references for my liking, making for a difficult crossword.
I ticked SURPASS, REBUS, STEPLADDER
I have looked up all the synonyms that were mysteries, and I still do not understand why
mass = PAT – my dictionary says PAT is a small flattish substance. Is that a mass?
channels = SIDES
such as point = SHOWERS
Transmission = CRANKSHAFT – the references I looked at say the CRANKSHAFT is part of the engine, not part of the transmission
I hope someone can help
Thanks Jason and loonapick
I’d add drop = CAN to the list.
I confidently entered REMAINS for 4d (water mains, water channels, yes?), which stuffed things up somewhat. Some synonyms didn’t work for me, such as lash/stroke of satire, bill/nib, pat/mass, drop/can. I still don’t understand SHOWERS.
On showers I don’t see the definition. I thought there was some sort of homophone from point to group of deplorables being SHOW WHORES. Otherwise, I thought it was pretty straightforward.
I had the idea that SHOWers, things that point, might be said to be ‘such as point’ but not a use of phrase that I’ve ever used.
For ‘channels’ cluing SIDES, think TV channels, as in ‘turn over to the other side’ (admittedly, this sounds rather quaint these days!)
To ‘can’/’drop’ someone from a football side (ha, that word again).
But I’m unconvinced about ‘mass’/’pat’.
PAT =a lump or mass (seen it used in this sense before and this has dictionary support)
lash=a stroke of satire (I think it works in a figurative sense)
nib=bill (or a beak of a bird)
can=drop (as in ‘can the project?’)
SHOWERS: Hovis@5 has given a plausible explanation. I am not familiar with the usage “such as point”.
Side=channel
Gemini
Television Broadcasting (Older/Regional Slang): In some older or British English contexts, people used the word “side” to mean a television channel (originating from the days when there were only a couple of main choices, like the BBC or ITV).
Thanks for the explanation for ‘can’.
Regarding some of the remote references, I try not to assume that people don’t know things as I don’t want to appear patronising, so apologies if some of my explanations fall short, but in my defence I did mention PAT in the preamble and SIDES in the parsing of RESIDES, although I maybe could have expanded a bit on that. I thought SHOWERS was obvious to seasoned solvers in the same way as LAYER = hen (that which lays) or RUNNER = river (that which runs).
They’re a right shower of … whatevers …
An enjoyable puzzle, some excellent surfaces alongside some clunky ones.
Not particularly tough, except for some head-scratching conversions, as other posters have discussed.
SHOWERS: I just don’t quite get it. As Terry-Thomas used to say, “they’re an absolute shower”, ( though his posh version sounded more like “shire” )…meaning a useless bunch. OK, but how does “such as point (to)” equate?
I decided, “such, as point to” means “those that point to”, which covers the plural, and I suppose a pointer could be a shower.
PAT = MASS, I’m afraid, is not for me, whatever the dictionaries may allude to. The “pat” refers to the slapping, or patting, of butter, often into a decorative wooden mould, with the same-ish sound and result as the ” cow pat”, so a small mass of the substance is the outcome, but it doesn’t mean , a pat is a mass.
The “aping/apes” repetition is weak; 6(ac) should be “that’s”, not “that”; “stroke of satire” is too self-invented.
The setter is, obviously, accomplished in the art, but too many shots off target in this game, for me.
Thanks, loonapick
Thanks Jason and Loonapick.
5dn: shower as an agent noun from the verb show is explicitly in Chambers 2016 (p 1444) and it appears as a main entry in Collins 2023 p 1841 shower² n a person or thing that shows. To add to the list given by loonapick in comment 9, there is the time honoured “flower” for river.
17ac: Chambers 2016 p 1129 has pat¹ a small soft mass, esp of butter, such as might be moulded by patting. Again, Collins 2023 agrees, having pat¹ 8 a small mass of something: a pat of butter. I repeat the general points I have made on many previous occasions (1) I do not expect setters to overrule dictionaries, and (2) setters have access to dictionaries, not to the vocabularies of individual solvers.
6dn further to Ian@11: I agree that something appears to have gone wrong with the editing. Perhaps the clue should have started “Drink that is seen”, or it could just have started “Drink seen”: either would work.
My thinking on SHOWERS was that a road sign both points the way and shows the way to a destination. It was my last one in.
I had Pat as an Irishman….
Thanks for the blog , good set of clues . For SHOWERS I thought of museum guides who point things out .
Am still perturbed by the grammar of “such as point” meaning “people such as these, point(ie. show)” am I an example of “such as fret”?
Quite tough I thought. Loonapick, without wishing more work on you, patronise away!
I didn’t parse LOI SHOWERS, not with confidence anyway. STEAMSHIPS was probably my favourite.
Thanks Jason and Loonapick.
Angie@17: Chambers 2016 p 1554 gives such pronoun such a person, persons, thing, or things. Using this definition, “Such as point” expands to “Such people as point” which I am happy is equivalent to “The type of people who point”. I hope that helps.
“Such as” to mean “those who” seems to be archaic or literary ( but maybe also a bit Northern, akin to “them as”??). It fooled me anyway.
A few were parsed after the fact, SHOWERS being a case in point… familiar with “a shower of …” followed by anything degenerate, Scottish friends seemed to use it a lot, retrospectively saw “Such as point..” with the awful clarity of the penny-drop… the rest were all fun…
Thanks Jason n loonapick
loonapick et al – I would be interested to learn how many clues you parsed to get to the answer, and how many answers you got before you parsed. For me, this puzzle resulted in an unusual number where I found the answer first then parsed (or not) later.
Showers – shower = group of deplorable (shower of thieves), s = point?
Enjoyable xword
Thanks to Loonapick and Jason.
Macmorris@23: Since the clue at 5dn already has the plural “groups”, there is no need to use “point” to give the final S of the word SHOWERS rhyming with “powers”. On the other hand, the word “point” is needed for the definition of SHOWERS rhyming with (e.g. lawn) “mowers”. This has been discussed already in many previous comments, although I think this is the first one to give an explicit observation about the difference in pronunciation.