Guardian 25,259 – Chifonie

21 comments on “Guardian 25,259 – Chifonie”

1. Thanks, Andrew.

   Unlucky Chifonie to come after yesterday’s Crucible, making this seem all the duller. As you say, more suited to the Quiptic section.

2. Thanks Chifonie and Andrew. As you say, not too difficult. Must remember that ON can mean LEG. T inadvertently missing from 21dn answer.

   Cheers…

3. Many thanks Andrew

   It was pleasing for me to unravel this puzzle over breakfast.

   Hurrah for no obscure words or Grauniad typos!

   Thanks Chifonie, you are certainly the Chief Phoney among lots of other pretenders.

4. Thanks, Andrew.

   Perfectly sound if easy puzzle. I liked INDOLENT. I wouldn’t want one of these every day, but – not mentioning any names – I’d rather this than a harder but poorly clued crossword.

5. Thanks Andrew and Chifonie

   A pleasant enough puzzle with some enjoyable clues inc. 11, 17, 24 (nice surface),7 (ditto).
   Took more effort than it should have to see ‘leg’ = ‘on’.

6. Thanks Andrew.

   Straightforward but a pleasant midweek breakfast diversion. I felt that there were rather a lot of ‘one letter + another word’ charades, but I have no complaints about the sound standard of the clues.

   Like others, I missed the ‘on’ = LEG allusion. Cricketing terminology used to be one of the staples of cryptic crosswords, perhaps because these puzzles were a traditional way for spectators to while away the many longeurs in county matches. The fashion does seem to have faded in recent years.

7. Thanks Chifonie and Andrew.

   Got a bit stuck on the SE corner; I’m not used to LIT=settled. For me, having a few anagrams is good to get things rolling.

8. Thanks Andrew … and Chifonie, for this gentle morning stroll. Wondered at 12a how the paths of a somewhat passive fallen and the rather more active surrendered crossed but maybe it’s simply that the latter is one way of becoming the former.

   Anyone else fall into the islet trap at 3d ?

9. Certainly did Roger, and as a cricket fanatic I’m ashamed to say I could not parse LEGAL without Andrew’s help.

10. Thanks Andrew.
    Pleasant,straightforward puzzle.As usual with this setter there were a lot of anagrams and charades.
    There were also 3 ‘kings’ in wordplay,but all leading to different letters/terms.I liked the use of Rex in 18 down.
    Favourite clue for me,21 down – I’m a sucker for corny puns!

11. On 3d I was not misled into islet because I had already solved 1a. However, I totally missed the cricket allusion so I was left with “It ought to be LEGAL but why???”.

    I also was tickled by the number of results coming from king in the clue.

12. Thanks Andrew

    Just here to say that I didn’t like the clue to 3d. Not logical in my opinion.

13. Thanks Andrew for explaining 3d LEGAL
    Geoff@6: I agree there were rather a lot of ‘one letter + another word’ charades

14. An extremely rare completion for me, so I thought I’d make a similarly rare posting under an individual crossword blog!

    I did have to use the re-assurance of the check facility a couple of times and had to resort to Google to confirm I was on the right track with 11A. So, hardly flawless and I don’t think I would have completed it with just the hard copy and a pencil but it was still much better than I usually do.

    I suppose a mix of difficulty is good for variety and new puzzlers. One might get disillusioned if only getting the odd few clues every day!

15. Yes this was pretty boring after the recent stuff around in the dailies, and it did all feel a bit too much ‘the same as’ other things by the same setter. Humdrum really, but a pleasanrt enough lunctime solve.

16. No, that would be hard for a Quiptic, but no harder than some under that label. Trust me, I’m the class dummy.

17. Quite straightforward,clues very reliable.
    I had doubts before writing in ‘stilted’ = ‘pompous’ but I was wrong.

18. Thanks Andrew,

    I enjoyed this and thought it quite similar to Everyman with well-constructed clues and smooth surfaces.
    The last one in was AMNESTY which I looked at for ages. I was convinced that the girl was our friend Emma but it turned out to be Amy. There were lots of good clues/ answers including INDOLENT, TREAD, VERANDA, WREXHAM, EXCERPT and AT REST.

    Strangely enough, I always thought that Chifonie was a lady but he is actually another John as follows :

    John Dawson, born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1946, is a regular setter of crosswords for The Guardian (as Chifonie), the Financial Times (as Armonie) and elsewhere as Symphonia.

    These pseudonyms indicate his love of early music, as they are all medieval names for the hurdy-gurdy.

    John lives in Kendal and, apart from crosswords and music, his main interest is walking in the Lake District.

19. There were good clues AND answers?

    There was a rumour going around not so long ago, Davy, that being called John helps enormously in getting a position on the Grauniad panel. What’s more, if I lived smack in the middle of the South Lakeland, I’d probably go out walking in it.

20. With no dictionary at hand I wondered about some of the definitions, but I needn`t have worried, Chifonie is a safe pair of hands (“too safe” say some of his/her detractors).

    If ever I get the itch to set a puzzle rather than just solve it, I could do worse (if I wanted it published) than adopt the guise of a Grauniad “Wimmin” and demand gender balance. Now,….let`s see….who might be my Avatar…..?

    Tremble in your beds…BOUDICCA is born!

21. Woke up in a cold sweat & realised that the penny for 3d had dropped.

    Coming from the north east of Scotland I am not well versed in cricket. Looks like the Irish are pretty good at it!

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