Guardian 26,942 – Picaroon

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A topical puzzle from Picaroon…

…given the tone of some of the clues, it wasn’t surprising that the crucial 18d turned out to be EUROPEAN, with several parts of Europe turning up in the answers. Lots of nice clues, but rather a bittersweet experience for me, given the subject matter. Thanks to Picaroon.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Across
9. PRIVATISE Dispossess the people of power? Current duty is to enter revolt (9)
P (power) + I (symbol for electric current) + VAT (duty) in RISE (revolt). The “is” in the clue is a (deliberate?) red herring, not corresponding to the IS in the answer
10. AVOID Skip round, eager to go outside (5)
O (round) in AVID
11. CHINA Links with a displaced ally (5)
CHAIN with the A out of place. In rhyming slang, China = china plate = mate
12. AUSTRALIA 18 area protects a liberal country (9)
A L in AUSTRIA
13. ATHLETE He might run articles without hindrance (7)
LET (hindrance) in A + THE
14. ANGINAL Concerned with complaint from spirit-drinking obsessive (7)
GIN in ANAL
17. SWEDE 18 society forged union along with English (5)
S + WED + E
19. IRE 18 area, abandoned by country, shows 26 (3)
IRE[LAND]
20. OVERT Public love 18 environmentalist (5)
O + VERT (French “Green”). I see that the French equivalent of the Green Party is Europe Écologie – Les Verts, formed in 2010; an interesting reversal of the way the Ecology Party in Britain became the Green Party in 1985.
21. ERRATIC Unreliable British leader, scoundrel in charge (7)
ER (the Queen) + RAT + IC
22. FUSIBLE Terrible blues, if amenable to union? (7)
(BLUES IF)*
24. POPE’S NOSE Bird’s tail opens out in extravagant display (5,4)
OPENS* in POSE
26,3. ANGER MANAGEMENT A period to welcome 18 fellows, and time for emotional control (5,10)
GERMAN in AN AGE + MEN + T
28. LEAVE The 18 farewell? (5)
LE (French “the”) AVE (Latin “farewell), &lit
29. ESTONIANS Johnson and Cameron, say, bringing in sadness primarily for 18s (9)
S[adness] in ETONIANS (Boris Johnson and David Cameron were contemporaries at Eton)
Down
1. EPIC Apparently good to be in 18 community? That’s great (4)
PI (apparently good) in EC
2. FINISH End with 18 losing heart (6)
FIN[N]ISH
4. ZIDANE French legend unknown by one 18 (6)
Z (unknown) + I DANE – Zinedine Zidane, French footballer
5. MESSMATE Trouble, with divine Greek lady overwhelming married friend (8)
M in MESS (trouble) + ATE
6. FAIR Pretty loud shock in Hackney (4)
F + [h]AIR
7. HOLLANDE 18 area needing 18 state’s leader (8)
HOLLAND + E
8. IDEA What’s in your head, if not entirely wide awake (4)
Hidden in wIDE Awake
13. AISLE Man maybe following a walkway (5)
A + ISLE [of Man]
15. GLOSS PAINT Government failed about 18 area — what will brighten things up? (5,5)
G + SPAIN in LOST
16. LATTE Unfinished second drink (5)
LATTE[R]
18. EUROPEAN Back continental way: tolerant, embracing a unionist (8)
Reverse of RUE (French “street”) + A in OPEN. “European” is used here in the sense of one favourable to European institutions, especially the EU, hence a “unionist”
19. INCLOSED Cut off during oppressive days (8)
IN CLOSE D
22. FIESTA Losing vote, joins cheers for 18 party (6)
FIXES (joins) less X (vote) + TA (thanks, cheers)
23. BEGGAR Carry round goods for one who can’t afford them (6)
GG in BEAR
24. POLE 18 vote’s announced (4)
Homophone of “poll”
25. SUEZ God! Escalating crisis for Britain (4)
Reverse of ZEUS
27. RISK Quick to miss leader in uncertainty (4)
[B]RISK

46 comments on “Guardian 26,942 – Picaroon”

  1. Many thanks, Andrew.

    Bittersweet indeed – some brilliantly poignant surfaces, too many to list but they’re well worth going back for a second look.

    As ever, I’ve huge admiration for Picaroon’s cluing but the solve didn’t leave me the usual happy feeling – not his fault, of course.

    On a more trivial note – I’ve never met POPE’S NOSE: in our house it was the parson’s.

    Many thanks, as ever, to Picaroon, for an excellent puzzle.

  3. Re LEAVE at 28 across: ‘ave’ isn’t a farewell but a hello, usually translated as ‘hail’. The farewell is ‘vale’.

  6. Logomachist @3
    AVE is more usually translated as ‘hail’ but it can also mean ‘farewell’, particularly to the dead. [Avere and valere both mean ‘to fare well’.]

  8. Not bad – but below par for a Picaroon puzzle. Leg-pull is fine – but political axe-grinding rarely works in crossword puzzles.

  9. Ave can also be bird, avenue and (according to google translate) happy birthday.

    Collins gives “welcome or farewell”.

  10. Thank you Picaroon and Andrew.

    What can I say, the UK is listed as the 28th member of the EUROPEAN Union, and at 28a it has voted to LEAVE…

  12. Enjoyable thank you Picaroon. Like Eileen the ‘tail’ is known as the parson’s nose in our house.

    Thanks to Andrew for the explanations.

  13. Bittersweet indeed. I’ve almost been waiting for the Guardian’s Brexit puzzle and here it is.

    While not quite the top of Picaroon’s form, this is still very good. And if not a puzzle with European sentiment in the Guardian, then where?

    I’m another who only knew of the parson’s nose, and INCLOSED was last in as it’s not as usual as ENCLOSED. But there’s plenty of clever stuff too, from the transmogrified Etonians to the China – Australia face-off. ZIDANE my favourite, remembering how his France team helped unify his nation back in 1998.

  14. Thanks Picaroon & Andrew.

    I’ve never heard of POPE’S NOSE and although Collins and the BRB just give it as an equivalent of parson’s nose, the ODE says it is American usage.

    I have my doubts that we will actually leave the EU. After the main players make a cock-up of the negotiations there may be a second referendum… Watch this space!

  15. Thanks to Picaroon and Andrew. As a non-Brexiter, I could enjoy this puzzle without any overtones, though I did find it difficult – at least until I finally got EUROPEANS. I got CHINA before remembered the China-mate connection (one of the few such slang terms in my toolbox) and resisted INCLOSED (a spelling new to me). Last in was LATTE.

  17. I don’t in general like puzzles with a lot of clues containing references to a particular one, so when saw how often 18 appeared I nearly abandoned this one. However, EUROPEAN turned out to be relatively easy, thanks to “Back continental way”. [I’m not happy with the definition, though. “European” does not mean being pro-EU.] Once that fell, the linked clues turned out to be mostly straightforward, and I did enjoy the puzzle.

    I dredged up ZIDANE from somewhere, but I too had never heard the term POPE’S NOSE (just the parson’s) and I don’t think of MESSMATE as referring specifically to friends rather than just colleagues with whom one shares meal times. I didn’t think of the slang meaning of CHINA so, that country is not usually being described as an ally, I was somewhat puzzled until I read the blog.

    Favourites include ATHLETE, IDEA, GLOSS PAINT, FIESTA and BEGGAR.

    Thanks, Picaroon and Andrew.

  21. Picaroon is one of my favourite compilers and this was one of his best – full of variety and despite the theme being quite accessible it was still a bit tricky to finish. POPES NOSE was unfamiliar and SUEZ (annoyingly) last in. Liked PRIVATISE, ESTONIANS, ZIDANE and FAIR

    Thanks to Picaroon and Andrew

  22. Being confirmed Madridistas, we are ashamed to admit that Zidane was last in. Great fun whilst coping with the calima.

  23. The telegraph (back page) also has a Brexit theme today. Is something going on?

    I enjoyed the puzzle, got 18d first, and missed 19d (foxed by the I) and 5d, which I hadn’t heard, not helped by having bunged in PRIVATION at 9a. Loved POPES NOSE and ANGINAL

    Many thanks Picaroon and Andrew

  24. David @2 (and others)

    “Pope’s nose” was the term used during my childhood in Aberdeen, Scotland, so I’d suggest it’s not exclusively a US usage.

  26. jennyk @17

    “[I’m not happy with the definition, though. “European” does not mean being pro-EU.]”
    I think Andrew has it right in the blog and Trailman @13, with his ‘European sentiment’ seems to agree. As he says, the Guardian is exactly the place for this puzzle – Bravo!

  28. Apparently in the lead-up to the vote, polls broke down proportions of Brexiteers and Remainers in various groups. “Guardian readers” was the group with by far the greatest majority of remainers.

  31. muffin@30
    What about three things, viz “Of the three options available I prefer the latter”?

  33. Defined in Collins as denoting the second or second mentioned of two.

    Can I have a forme please, decaf.

  34. Eileen @26
    After checking with Chambers and Collins online, I concede that point. I should have checked before posting my earlier comment. I agree too that the Guardian is the right place for such a puzzle.

  35. Thanks to Picaroon and Andrew – very enjoyable
    Strangely the shape of the grid immediately led me to think something was going on in terms of a theme before I looked at the clues – I think compilers have to optimise the grid to maximise the theme words that can be accommodated – not a criticism though…
    Theme was welcome and loved the way it was worked in with nice surfaces that weren’t too cumbersome (hint there for other compilers :-)…
    FOI FUSIBLE (had to check spelling) LOI MESSMATE (had to check Greek mythology)
    Struggled with INCLOSED…
    Bamboozled by “is” red herring in 9ac
    Took too long to get ESTONIANS given have just been there and was wearing the T-shirt today 🙂
    Parson’s nose for me too…

  36. I thought I’d got the measure of this setter but I found this hard going. Nothing much wrong with it although POPES NOSE(LOI) was a bit naughty given that it is an American usage,and I recoil from INCLUSIVE.
    Theme didn’t upset me even though I was a (reluctant) remainer and a Brexit puzzle was a good idea surely?
    Thanks for the workout Picaroon.

  37. Although this was very poor for a Picaroon it certainly wasn’t bittersweet!

    Just where is the political axe-grinding? (Just some rather poor cluing for the Pirate IMHO)

    I personally whoop with delight every morning when I wake up and remember that we appear to be escaping from this dog’s dinner of a Fourth Reich! (Schade Deutschland, alles ist vorbei 🙂 )

  40. @Cookie #38

    I have a large bridge for sale that you might be interested in having a look at – freshly painted – buyer collects.

  41. Flunked entirely.

    I am with jennyk@17 in that I don’t like puzzles that are so dependent on one clue yielding. So didn’t get 18d EUROPEAN, only a few around the fringes. Although I should have twigged when I got FIN(n)ISH at 2d.

    But found the blog interesting even from my Antipodean distance. And from this perspective I am staying well away from responding to inflammatory political sniping.

    Thanks Picaroon and Andrew.

  42. JollySwagman @40,

    No thanks – one of my grandsons, 17 years old, has just bought a Hammond Organ on eBay for £30, it weighs 180 kg, that’s enough to fetch for now, it will be ready to play a requiem…

  43. Too late as usual, no doubt but I agree with BNTO on two points: there have been better Picaroons and the fact that it was about Europe didn’t mean that a casual reader would have known if Picaroon was a Remainer or a Leaver. Please don’t assume that this means that I’m a Leaver…. or a Remainer for that maater.

  44. Thanks Andrew and Picaroon.

    Not One of Picaroon’s best, but neither poor in any way.

    I saw the probable answers to 2 & 4 dn which helped me to crack 18 and all went fairly smoothly from there until the last 3 – PRIVATISE, ANGINAL and MESSMATE – which took a while to grind out.

    I can’t tell whether Picaroon is a Remainer or a Leaver. We all put our own spin.

    Anyway, I’ve moved on from my previous idea for the area inside the M25 to cede to an independent and European Scotland. How about England outside the M25 and Wales to leave the United Kingdom. That would work!

  45. DodgyProf says: I think compilers have to optimise the grid

    Except or bank holiday specials, compilers use one of the standard Guardian grids (I thnk there are about 40) so they haven’t any leeway for optimising. This is the one I call ZZ because of the 2 almost-Zs in the centre.

  46. Thanks Picaroon and Andrew

    A good challenge some time after the initial dust has settled on the theme. On seeing all of the references to 18, I headed straight to it and was surprised to be able to immediately crack it. Didn’t mean that the rest of the puzzle was any walk in the park and sad to say my unparsed GITANE at 4d obviously failed to pass muster. Also mucked up the parsing of FIESTA – thinking that FIES as exclamations of repugnance were losing votes … no harm done … but incorrect !

    Good variety of clue types throughout and a couple of terms that needed checking up – MESSMATE, INCLOSED and POPE’S NOSE. Finished with two of those (INCLOSED and MESSMATE) and HOLLANDE that took an additional elapsed day to finally get !!

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