An enjoyable bit-of-a-challenge puzzle from Puck, whom I haven’t blogged before. Some interesting and satisfying clues. Thanks to Puck. Definitions are underlined in the clues. [[The pictures at the bottom have unidentified links to the puzzle. Please enclose any comments on them in double brackets. Thank you.]]
Across
1 Pirate can’t do this with mermaid, as some may ‘ave said (11)
COUNTERFEIT : Homophone of(as some may ‘ave said) “count her feet”, dropping the “h” as in “‘ave”. Something you can’t do with a mermaid, with no feet but a tail.
Defn. and Answer: To make a copy without proper authorisation or legal right.
9 Wind up having sex in a way-out place? (7)
AGITATE : IT(having sex, as in “the couple were at it during the weekend”) contained in(in) [A GATE](a way out;a place to exit through). Appropriate surface if you didn’t want others to know what you were doing the abovementioned weekend.
Defn: To bring to a state of tension, as you literally would with a coil spring.
10 China possesses revolutionary weapon (7)
MACHETE : MATE(a pal;slang for which is “china”) containing(possesses) CHE(Guevara, a pet revolutionary amongst setters).
11 Proper pair treated a first-time mother (9)
PRIMIPARA : PRIM(formal, as in “prim and proper”) + anagram of(treated) PAIR + A.
Answer: In obstetrics, a woman who has borne only one child.
12 Active constituent of vodka or (tenuously) even rum, originally (5)
VOTER : First letters, respectively, of(originally) “vodka or (tenuously) even rum “.
Defn: A person in an electorate;a constituency being active in exercising his/her vote.
13 Drinks kid hasn’t finished (4)
TEAS : “tease”(to kid;to joke with) minus its last letter(hasn’t finished) .
14 Wife leaves grant aid outside of that detailed for lung disease (10)
ASBESTOSIS : “w”(abbrev. for “wife”) deleted from(leaves) “bestow”(to grant;to give to) contained in(… outside of that) “assist”(to aid) minus its last letter(detailed).
Answer: The reason why asbestos has been banned.
16,19 See 3
21 Endless failure not for everyone — the rest developed talent (5)
FLAIR : Anagram of(the rest developed) [ “failure” minus its last letter(Endless) and minus(not) “u”(film censors’ certificate for being suitable for everyone to watch) ].
22 Use of weapons in second part of clue? (9)
SWORDPLAY : S(abbrev. for “second”, in time notation) + WORDPLAY(usually, that part of a crossword clue besides the answer’s definition)
24 Fruit from Madeira is insect-ridden (7)
RAISINS : Hidden in(from) “Madeira is insect-ridden “. I was wondering if “-ridden” was part of the anagram indicator, or merely there for the surface.
25 I tucked into God-awful starter, something pungent (7)
AMMONIA : “i” contained in(tucked into) [ AMMON(classical name for the Egyptian god, Amen, the equivalent of the Greeks’ Zeus) + the first letter of(starter) “awful”].
Answer: The chemical compound of hydrogen and nitrogen which has a characteristic pungent smell.
26 Outstanding peer in Brussels? (8,3)
MANNEKEN PIS : Cryptic defn: The landmark statue(outstanding feature) in Brussels, loosely translated into English as “little man pee/piss” or a pee-r/piss-er.
Down
1 Philosophical approach, getting really ill before right email’s gone off (8,7)
CRITICAL REALISM : CRITICAL(in a really sick;ill condition) placed above(before, in a down clue) R(abbrev. for “right”) + anagram of(gone off) EMAIL’S.
2 Puma might have a savoury taste (5)
UMAMI : Hidden in(… have) “Puma might “.
Answer: The distinctive savoury taste of salts of glutamic acid, that gives a furry sensation on the tongue, found in meats, some vegetables and breast milk, and, of course, MSG.
3,16across,19 Song with (shh!) a million chords left out (3,4,2,8,4)
THE LASS OF RICHMOND HILL : Anagram of(out) (SHH!) A MILLION CHORDS LEFT.
Answer: A love ballad from the late 18C.
4 Weird sorcerer’s ferret (7)
RUMMAGE : RUM(weird;odd) + MAGE(a sorcerer;archaic term for a magician).
Defn. and Answer: To search through and discover.
5 Dig up 12’s mark given to wine in summer abroad (8)
EXCAVATE : [ X(the mark the voter:answer to 12across makes) plus(given to) CAVA(a Spanish sparkling wine produced in similar manner to champagne) ] contained in(in) ETE(French for the season, summer).
6 Sum of money making lonely content once (6,9)
TWENTY SHILLINGS : Cryptic defn: Reference to former;once British currency of 20 shillings equivalent to £1 or “One L”;the 4 innermost letters(content) of “lonely”. Interesting clue.
7 Hindu magistrate at university in desert (6)
RAJPUT : [ JP(abbrev. for a Justice of the Peace;a magistrate) + U(abbrev. for “university”) ] contained in(in) RAT(to desert;to abandon, say, one’s friends).
Answer: One from a Hindu caste claiming descent from the original warrior caste.
8 Refuse rebid, changing to spades (6)
DEBRIS : Anagram of(changing) REBID plus(to) S(abbrev. for the spades suit, in bridge notation).
Defn: As a noun.
15 Whip yellow topping for pudding to be eaten by young family member (8)
SCORPION : [ OR(in heraldry, the colour yellow) + the first letter of(topping for) “pudding” ] contained in(to be eaten by) SCION(a young member of the family;an heir).
Answer: Any of the arachnids from tropical or warm temperate regions resembling a scorpion but with a long non-venomous tail;whip.
16 Dark blue shoe? (6)
OXFORD : Double defn: 1st: The university colour worn by Oxford University sportsperson representatives; and 2nd: A type of laced shoe.
17 Setter eating his first suet pudding is essential viewing (4-3)
MUST-SEE : ME(the self-referential pronoun setters use, in contrast to you the solvers) containing(eating) [ the first letter of(his first) “setter” + anagram of(pudding) SUET ].
18 What may be produced from ten plus one: a product of 11? (7)
NEONATE : Anagram of(What may be produced from) [TEN plus ONE + A].
Answer: A newborn child;a product of a primipara(answer to 11across).
20 Amateur given place on staff (6)
LAYMAN : LAY(to place;to put in a particular position) placed above(on, in a down clue) MAN(to staff;to provide workers for, say, an office). Some initial confusion as “lay” by itself also means “amateur” as an adjective.
23 Block cross, as a result (3,2)
DAM UP : A reverse clue(as a result). Reversal of(up) “dam” is “mad”(cross;angry). An interesting clue, the parsing of whose answer I had to ponder a bit, even though it was staring at me right in the face.
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Thanks scchua.
Nice one from that shrewd and knavish sprite.
Half went in easily for me, then I got stuck for a while until I cracked a few key clues and the rest fell out. RAJPUT was may last entry, as I was fixated on ‘at university’ being UP: -AUP-T being somewhat impenetrable.
1a raised a larf (as did 26a of course), the long anagram was rather good, 6d and 23d were clever. Good surfaces here.
Many thanks, Puck.
Thanks sschua. Lots of good things here, like 1a, and something brand new for me : PRIMIPARA. Aids needed only at the very end, to get 25a – last in was DAM UP with an Oh well, followed by aha. Thanks Puck.
Thanks, scchua, for the blog.
Another superb puzzle from Puck, with so many clever and witty clues, both for their constructions and surfaces, particularly 1ac, 9ac, 11ac,12ac, 26ac [hilarious!], 4dn, 6dn, 17dn and 18d.
I started solving this in bed, without a dictionary, and made out a pretty convincing case for PLICATE [wind up – cf implicate, complicate] at 9ac – well, it convinced me for a while, anyway: IT [sex] in anagram [way-out] of PLACE. OK, the I and the T were separated but it has been known! So it was a kind of double penny-drop when I saw what ‘way-out’ was doing – lovely!
I can’t see the characteristic Puck hidden theme / nina – but, as I’ve said so often before, that doesn’t mean there isn’t one.
Many thanks, Puck, as ever – loads of fun!
Thanks sschua [[although I am stuck on the pictures today]].
When I was in Copenhagen last week my Mum asked me if I would visit the statue of the little boy peeing. I had to tell her I had seen him already in Brussels, so 26ac was my first in.
I did get bogged down half way through trying to fit CUSTARD in to 15d.
Like yesterday there were a lot of clues to like. 1ac COUNTERFEIT made me laugh.
Thanks Puck. Like Eileen @3 I can’t yet spot a theme.
Thanks Puck and scchua.
Loads of really clever, inventive stuff here, and at least three moral victories for Puck over me – I failed to parse ASBESTOSIS, TWENTY SHILLINGS and SCORPION properly, although I had written them in. Absolutely loved MANNEKEN PIS and the related PRIMIPARA and NEONATE, struggled for ages with and finally overcame the long song (which I hadn’t heard of before), but my favourite of all was the simple but brilliant RUMMAGE. Like molonglo I stared at DAM UP for ages, knowing it was right but not seeing why, before finally slapping my forehead.
Didn’t we see a very similar clue for SWORDPLAY just a few days ago?
I couldn’t spot any ninas or ghost themes either, but I’m fully prepared to slap my forehead again later on when someone does…
I can answer my own question – it was Pasquale last Tuesday who had “Solver’s beginning to face setter’s linguistic tricks in a duel?” for SWORDPLAY.
I like the wordplay in 1a but… doesn’t COUNTERFEIT rhyme with “fit”, not “feet”?
[[Had a brainwave – is it a SCORPION tank?]]
[[Yes it is, george.]]
[[Oh and the Burner Pad is made of ASBESTOS, just like the mats we used to put under the Bunsen burners when I was at school as a pupil. I am sure they used to be crumbling at the edges, so expect I have been exposed. Did asbestos form the centre of the wire gauzes that topped the tripods too? Nowadays the mats are ‘ceramic’.]]
Excellent! Setter in Puckish mood – very entertaining.
Thanks scchua; I loved TWENTY SHILLINGS, MANNEKEN PIS, VOTER, DAM UP and, of course, count-‘er-feet. I needed some help with the parsing of ASBESTOSIS. Good to see a few scientific words included.
I have been drinking recently at the LASS O’ RICHMOND HILL, although it took me a while to get the song.
[[#1 is ASBESTOS rope and #3 is an ASBESTOS cooking mat. #5 might refer to the fact that previously brake linings were made of ASBESTOS and gave toxic dust when replaced!
#2 is a SCORPION light tank and #6 is a SCORPION roadster
#4 is an OXFORD sheep, I think]]
[[Right I am going for my hat-trick. The lambs are from a breed of sheep called OXFORD.
Now I can be subbed and someone else can take over as I am off to hang out the washing and do some gardening in the sunshine.]]
George, we crossed………
[[Oh no I dallied too long taking my shot and you beat me to it with the sheep Robi! I will have to be satisfied with two today.]]
Spolied by some Guardian-isms, but some good ideas. Just a little tiday would have produced a much better result for a talented writer?
Cheers
Rowely.
Schroduck @7 – Chambers gives both pronunciations, covered by ‘as some may ’ave said’
[[Well done! George and Robi – all answered. That dangerous asbestos stuff was everywhere! including brake pads and linings.]]
Examples, Rowland? You make your “too many Guardianisms” complaint on a more-or-less daily basis – it would be much more interesting and provocative of debate if you would actually cite where you think a clue could have been improved.
This puzzle really felt like quite a slog. The wordplay was fair but my vocabulary and general knowledge were obviously lacking. New for me were ‘Manneken Pis’, ‘The Lass of Richmond Hill’, ‘asbestosis’, ‘primipara’, ‘Rajput’, ‘umami’ and ‘scorpion’ = ‘whip’.
My favourites were COUNTERFEIT & MACHETE as well as 9a, 14a, 26a, 5d, 6d, 23d.
Thanks for the blog, scchua. I parsed 15d as SCORPION = “whip” in the sense of “(poetic/literary) a whip with metal points. [ORIGIN: with allusion to 1 Kings 12:11.]” Is that what you meant in the blog above? And in 18d, you have a typo in that “a” should not be underlined (definition is “product of 11”).
Thanks, michelle, I’ve corrected the typo. A whip scorpion, as illustrated, is a lookalike to that other arachnid, the scorpion, but with a thin whip-like non-venomous tail, hence its name.
The pioint about Guardianismsm, Mitz, is that they are TOLERATED by the Giuardian. It’s not my place to state an new editorial policy, though I WISH they would do that, just to say how those, to me ‘atrocitiess’ get under my skin!!
Cheers
Rowly.
Hi Rowland, might I suggest you proof-read your entries about Grauniadisms?
😉
Thanks scchua and Puck
I was not properly on Puck’s wavelength with this puzzle till a flurry of mental energy let me solve it. It is a cleverly clued and witty puzzle.
I had to check 2d and 26a. I realised the latter was ….pis but did not remember manneken.
I recognised swordplay and scorpion (barbed scourge with ref to Kings in Collins) from previous puzzles.
I liked 1a, 14a, and 6d particularly.
Thanks for coming back, Rowly. Look, I know we have very different views about what is acceptable in a crossword clue and what isn’t – that’s not what winds me up. As I have said on many different occasions: vive la difference. What does get under my skin a bit is when you say things like “Spolied by some Guardian-isms” (as at #15 today) but don’t elaborate. For example you might have commented about 12 – the use of “originally” in the clue to indicate that we need to take note of the initial letters of some of the words in the clue to find the answer. I’m guessing that this is a “Guardian-ism” that you don’t like. But I don’t know for sure, because you don’t say.
I presume that you like the Guardian crossword enough to try and solve it most days, and also to come here and comment – it would be a pretty strange kind of masochism to grit your teeth through something on a daily basis, hating every minute of it. So my question is really, why do your comments here almost invariably say nothing more than “not bad, but goodness I hate the Guardian house style, hey-ho – on to the next one”?
Rowland-
Please don’t just say there are things you don’t like; indicate what they are and why you don’t like them (see rule 2 of the site policy – link at the top of the page). I know you are not the only offender against this rule but at the moment you are the most frequent.
@ Rowly
Not only was the Guardian full of Guardianisms today but the Indy was full of Independence and the FT was chocka with Fiscalities. The Telegraph was telegraphic and the Times was positively temporal. As commentary on the puzzles this is a meaningless daily observation. To constantly accuse the setters of amateurishness and sloppiness really needs backing up with specific criticism. Cite which clues are wanting and allow others to defend them. The rather pompous vagueness is annoying me too.
I would like to comment re Guardianisms, but I am not sure how they are defined. If they are parts of clues that are original/unusual/ quirky/ humorous/ politically left of centre/refer to the paper’s misspellings, then I am all for them.
If you can’t have Guardianisms in the Guardian crossword then I for one will be very disappointed.
Manneken-Pis, surely?
Well, that was hard work. I can quite see how the resident clever so and sos would like this, but us somewhat less clever so and sos didn’t. It required far too much use of software gadgets for my taste (not to mention limited abilities).
Awful grid too, a real tale of two (unconnected) cities.
postrophe @28 – I think he was originally referred to in texts as: ‘t Menneken Pist. ‘t is short for the neuter article ‘het’ (rather than ‘de’ for masculine and feminine words). Handily all diminutive nouns in Dutch, denoted by -tje at their end in the modern version of the language are neuter. I don’t know when the hyphen crept in and he became Manneken-Pis. I apologise if you speak Flemish and know all this already.
A quick word on grids:
Where there are four long answers (as in today’s case: across the top and bottom and connecting them down the sides) it is EXTREMELY difficult to construct a grid without resorting to some really obscure words. A big block across the middle, which Derek deftly describes as making the grid as a whole a “tale of two (unconnected) cities” makes things a whole lot easier. If you don’t believe me, give it a try: start a blank grid with the long answers in today’s shape, but construct the rest so that the north and south are connected by more than the two long down solutions – I promise you, it will be a real challenge.
If you have a look at the 100 or so different standard Guardian grids you will find that almost always there will be one of four types:
1) As today.
2) Fairly well connected throughout, but with long solutions that don’t cross.
3) No long solutions, and well connected throughout the grid.
4) Two grid designs that split the puzzle into four separate mini-puzzles – often the toughest to solve.
Thank you george @30. Well, I do have a smattering of Flemish but this wee chappie seems to have his roots in Marols or Marollien, a dialect spoken in Brussels.
Beg pardon … duff link. Marols
Thanks to scchua for the blog. You explained several where I had the right answer without understanding the reason. I gave myself a pat on the back for spotting in 6d that ‘lonely content’ meant discard the first and last letters leaving ‘one L’ or ‘one £’ 🙂
[[It looks to me as though the sheep are wearing some sort of boots. What’s going on here?]]
I was like george @4: on 15d I spent some time trying to force custard in there somewhere.
On grids, I would disagree about necessarily finding the production of a fill replete with well-known words difficult, let alone extremely so. With the aids people now have in construction there’s nary an excuse, bar themes (and even then, there’s usually a way around) and other constrictive ornaments such as, well, triple pangrams (and even then there’s usually a way around). If you don’t believe me, I’ll send you such a grid-set for your perusal.
Re Roeluyiw and his Guradiannismes, I think you GU lot are probably right to moan a bit, though were someone to opine for instance with a simple ‘this was very good’, I doubt you’d demand more back-up then. For that reason, despite his being annoying at times, he’s certainly no worse than RCW (bless) used to be in his attacks on ‘too easy’ Guardian puzzles, so, you know, live and let live.
FWIW, in this puzzle (which I enjoyed) I couldn’t spot the sorts of solecism Riwloy habitually complains about when he does mention individual clues, so shall we leave the floor open for his riposte?
Another good puzzle but for me it was spoiled slightly by MANNEKEN PIS. I knew the statue and the fact that the clue was referring to it, but I didn’t know its name and there was no other way to get to the answer. Yes, I know the Guardian doesn’t subscribe to strict Ximenean principles, and it makes a welcome change from the crosswords that do, so I’m probably only moaning because I couldn’t finish the puzzle unaided.
As far as Rowly is concerned, I seem to remember him apologising for his spelling recently, which he said was due to some kind of illness. So, controversial as he can sometimes be, taking the mickey out of his typos is probably a little unfair.
The answers yielded at at a satisfying rate; Puck excellent value as expected.
I was stumped by 26a, although I could see that the second word was ‘pis’, but this locked me into thinking of the its french meaning of ‘worse’, which sort of evokes ‘without peer’, so cul de sac resulted.
Thanks to sschua.
I found this hard but not that enjoyable. I got there though.
26a reminds me that there’s a lavatory in the House Of Lords which says on the door “”Peers Only”.
Rowland, At last you define your coinage ‘Guardianism’. It is a type of clue, or part thereof, that publications other than the Guardian disallow. Now, as Mitz has patiently explained, we would like examples, general and specific.
If you Google ‘clueing errors Listener’ you will find about a dozen types of ‘error’ that the editors of The Listener crossword disallow or correct. There is a succinct description of the error, some examples, and in some cases how the clue may be corrected.
So let’s have a list of your Guardianisms, examples from recent puzzles and suggestions for improvement. At this stage it would be best if you refrained from elaborating on why you find these Guardianisms objectionable. If anyone cares to debate your opinions then General Discussion may be the place.
In future then, when you comment here, if you identify clues and the type of -ism, we will know that you are not just trowling.
I’m afraid that I find Puck like many a gifted Jazz musician – technically excellent but unsatisfying. I just thought that today’s puzzle was a bit of a joyless slog – far too little wit or elegance in the clues.
If Rufus had tried the homophone in 1 across I think that he would have been slaughtered – surely the word is pronounced “counter-fit” rather than “counter-feet”.
Is 26 across actually a Cryptic clue at all? How would you arrive at the answer without actually having heard of the statue?
Re 37 AndyB that’s fine: my apologies to you, and especially to Rowland.
Thanks Puck and scchua
This was hard work, right from the get-go … the most difficult that I can recall from him.
Many words that I hadn’t seen before including the Brussels landmark and the old song – finally finished with another new word in RAJPUT after similarly going down the UP path.
Got AGITATE wrong thinking that (IN A) MATE = animate was good enough for stimulate / wind up – but see that the right clue is a very good use of ‘way-out’.
Cross with the error but think it was overall enjoyable with lots of new learning.
As the psoters above have, well, posted, a tough puzzle and then a difference of opinion as to the aesthetics and enjoyability of solution. Personally, I enjoyed the puzzle though found it a good afternoon’s effort, and had to yield to the precise name of the urinating statue- hold on, I know statues don’t really urinate, but I failed to recall from Blue Peter 40 odd years ago or the Holiday Programme when Cliff Mitchelmore ate his chips and ‘salad cream’ whilst admiring this municipal micturant. i agree with Andy B at @37 that this clue lacked the ‘two routes to the solution’ a cryptic demands. ‘Twenty Shillings’ was a cunning bugger though!
PaulB @36
The site policy rule I referred Rowly to is specifically about criticism and dissatisfaction, not about praise and satisfaction:
2. Any criticism of a puzzle or clue must be valid, constructive and presented in a polite manner. The reason for any dissatisfaction should be clearly indicated. Comments that do not comply with these criteria may be removed.
I think it’s pretty obvious why they feel they need such a rule about negative comments but not about positive ones.
Thanks for judging Rowly as an ‘offender’, Thomas! Not sure it’s really your place or job to do that, maybe you’re a member of the 15^2 team and we’ve all missed it, but if you’re so agitated by his remarks, there’s probably not all that much we can do for you. Personally, I’ve not been bothered.
In which connection, it seems you weren’t around for the thread and discussion on Araucaria’s Friday puzzle. Had you been, you might have read The Offender’s post, which went down pretty well with some of the other shipmates from slimmed-down GU.
The real point, of course, is please stop being so silly about absolutely nothing. Why on Earth people like Rowly, or Michelle, or indeed several others bother turning up is quite beyond most of us, I’m sure.
Paul B –
I was just noting that he’d broken their rule in order to ask him not to do it. Nobody has suggested that he hadn’t, not even you, so I wasn’t really trying to adjudicate anything as there wasn’t any controversy. I was making a request, one that other people have also made in different ways – and I did say please. As you indicate re his comments on Friday, the result, if there was one, seems to have been positive. I think it’s a pretty good rule, even if we probably all break it now and again, and he didn’t seem to mind. Sorry you did. I’d still rather you didn’t insult me. I wouldn’t actually say I was agitated by Rowly either, and made some effort not to give that impression, as I was trying to be polite and persuade him to do something.
Tough and not as much fun as some, though still a few gems.
But my main reason for posting is to mention the (very) mini-theme.
I was stuck with about 2/3 finished, and despairing over 26 M—E-E- P-S (and 1 –u-t—e-t). Especially P-S, which promised to not be an English word. Then I twigged the “point” of the clue and vaguely remembered some statue of a “peer”. I had no idea what it was called, but since Wikipedia would surely have an article on it, it would come up at OneLook. It did. Out of curiosity I went to the article.
The article mentions another iconic statue in Copenhagen (and someone here mentioned Copenhagen, so close!) of a mermaid. This statue is still under copyright so an unlicensed copy is a … COUNTERFEIT, and I solved 1a instantly.
Surely this counts?