Guardian 26,047 / Araucaria

Apologies for the slightly late post – I was just going to bed when I remember that I hadn’t written it this week… This is one of Araucaria’s alphabetical jigsaw puzzles, which we always look forward to very much. Update: bridgesong points out below that all the clues are in rhyming couplets, which I’m afraid I always miss until it’s pointed out to me (on the rare occasions when this comes up!) – it’s a quite extraordinary achievement on the part of the setter, I think.

This was very good fun to solve, but it was a really tough one, I think – lots of new words for me (BEEFALO, COHOE, FLARE STAR, HARMATTAN, IMPAVID, XANTHIPPE) and you need to figure out which of the symmetrical grid fillings is correct. The disambiguation is in the answer THE BOTTOM LINE, which needs to go along the bottom of the grid.

A “All ___ I’d shot the bird” — Hi, royal wine! (7)
AVERRED
AVE = “Hi” + R = “royal” + RED = “wine”
Definition: the completion of “All averred I’d shot the bird” which is similar to a line from “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, “Then all averred, I had killed the bird”

B1 Insect on flower gets round to cross-bred kine (7)
BEEFALO
BEE = “Insect” + FAL = “flower” + O = “round”
Definition: “cross-bred kine”

B2 Actor on edge (not quite) about some gammon (7)
BOGARDE
GA[mmon] = “some gammon” in BORDE[r] = “edge (not quite)”
Definition: Actor

C All gone from fuel entry, Eastern salmon (5)
COHOE
[al]COHO[l] = “All gone from fuel entry” + E = “Eastern” – I’m not sure what the “entry” is doing in the cryptic reading of the clue CO[al]HO[l]E = “All gone from fuel entry” Thanks to rhotician for this much better parsing – although alcohol could be a fuel, COAL HOLE for “fuel entry” works much better
Definition: “Eastern Salmon” (Chambers says the cohoe is a Pacific salmon)

D Those named for Eisenhower, five hundred men (7)
DWIGHTS
D = “five hundred” + WIGHTS = “men”
Definition: “Those named for Eisenhower”

E Keep out of here — clue 9 soon forged with Zen (9,4)
EXCLUSION ZONE
(CLUE IX SOON ZEN)*
Definition: “Keep out of here”

F A pound a pause in distant supernova? (5,4)
FLARE STAR
L = “A pound” + A + REST = “pause” all in FAR = “distant”
Definition: “supernova?”

G Grind teeth at beau, the last from coming over (5)
GNASH
[comin]G + NASH = “beau” (referring to Beau Nash)
Definition: “Grind teeth”

H Wind from Sahara, blight assailing leather (9)
HARMATTAN
HARM = “blight” + AT = “assailing” + TAN = “leather”
Definition: “Wind from Sahara”

I Fiend, greedy — with no fear when put together (7)
IMPAVID
IMP = “Fiend” + AVID = “greedy”
Definition: “with no fear”

J By Jingo! Dry one off, in motor gadding … (9)
JOYRIDING
(JINGO DRY I)*
Definition: “in motor gadding”

K … with which to enter, say, with army cladding? (5)
KHAKI
Sounds like “car key” (i.e. that which one might enter a car with in order to go joyriding)
Definition: “army cladding?”

L My feudal lord’s found midst the great war’s clangour (5)
LIEGE
Double definition: “My feudal lord” and “found midst the great war’s clangour”, referring to The Battle of Liège
Definition:

M So Spooner charges Yankee mum’s old banger (5,4)
MILLS BOMB
Spoonerism of “bills” (“charges”) + “mom” (“Yankee mum”)
Definition: old banger

N Marsh shows red light — inside, a Frenchman’s blithe (5)
NGAIO
NO = “red light” around GAI = “a Frenchman’s blithe”
Definition: “Marsh”, referring to the novellist Ngaio Marsh

O Exit of vanquished Florence, first to writhe (7)
OUTFLOW
OUT = “vanquished” + FLO = “Florence” + W[rithe] = “first to writh”
Definition: “Exit”

P Rehearsal keeps half singer king in play (9,4)
PRACTICAL JOKE
PRACTICE = “Rehearsal” around AL JO[lson] = “half singer” + K = “king”
Definition: “play”

Q1 Kill questions for some cloth (5)
QUELL
QU = (one of the) “questions” (?) + ELL = “some cloth” (an ell was a measure of cloth)
Definition: “Kill”

Q2 … and what’s in tray (5)
QUASH
QU = (the other one of the) “questions” (from the previous clue) + ASH = “what’s in tray” (an ash tray)
Definition: “Kill” (from the previous clue)

R Avoiding ladder, siren dressed in red (3-6)
RUN RESIST
RUST = “red” around (SIREN)*
Definition: “Avoiding ladder”

S Left out, milk’s off, in doc speak — lost its head? (7)
SKIMMED
(MI[l]K’S)* = “Left out, milk’s off” + MED = “doc” – not sure about the “in” or “speak” here
Definition: “lost its head?”

T This is what counts and where to be displayed (3,6,4)
THE BOTTOM LINE
Double definition: “This is what counts” and “where [what counts is] to be displayed”

U Lad of pure Dresden, doubly hard, is made (5-8)
UNDER-SHEPHERD
(PURE DRESDEN HH)*
Definition: “Lad”

V In cape, Monsieur, (his) here does wrigglies in (9)
VERMICIDE
VERDE = “cape” around M = “Monsieur” + ICI = “(his) here”
Definition: “does wrigglies in”

W Ring in where beast’s at (door) with lanolin (4,3)
WOOL FAT
O = “Ring” in WOLF = “beast” + AT – I’m not sure where the “(door)” fits in here rhotician explains below: “at door is added to help with the scansion and alludes to the expression ‘keep the wolf from the door’.”
Definition: “lanolin”

X A shrew from yellow mare? (9)
XANTHIPPE
Double definition: “A shrew” (Update: or more likely a reference to Xanthippe, Socrates wife) and “yellow mare?”, which is like the literal meaning of xanthippe in Greek – the latter Wikipedia page says: “Xanthippe means “yellow horse”, from the Greek “xanthos” (blonde) and “hippos” (horse).” Eileen’s comment below also links this clue to The Taming of the Shrew. Thanks to rhotician and Eileen for helping to clarify my muddled explanation of that clue!

Y Long time on pole (5)
YEARN
YEAR = “time” + N = “pole”
Definition: “Long”

Z Seed, fungal, last two — hawk at breathing hole (9)
ZYGOSPORE
ZY = “last two” + GOS = “hawk” + PORE = “breathing hole”
Definition: “Seed, fungal”

39 comments on “Guardian 26,047 / Araucaria”

  1. C – is ALL removed from COAL HOLE
    W – at door is added to help with the scansion and alludes to the expression ‘keep the wolf from the door’.
    X – Xanth- is a prefix in lots of unusual words and is from the Greek for yellow.
    Hippo is well known in hippopotamus and is from the Greek for horse. Presumable hippe is the feminine.

    Hence yellow mare? Very Araucarian. A sublime conceit.

  2. Many thanks mhl and also many thanks to Araucaria for a truly wonderful puzzle.

    EXCLUSION ZONE was the first of my 13-letter solutions which I slotted down the West Side when I discovered that all the intersecting letters were of the required length. How lucky!

    My last 13-letter entry was THE BOTTOM LINE which was my favorite clue.

    Also, very many thanks to Gaufrid for providing the necessary link when The Grauniad again lived up to its reputation. I shall now remember the technique for possible future use.

    More, please, Araucaria!

  3. Can I also point out that the clues are rhyming couplets, which may help to explain the slightly strained language in some of them, but which also deepens even further my respect for the compiler.

  4. Thanks mhl. I saw C rhotician’s way but it still perhaps leaves an E to be accounted for because the fish is not only to be found in eastern waters I find. With S I guess DOC and MED are both spoken abbreviations but it is rather obscure.

    IMPAVID was a new one for me but easily enough derivable. I lucked out with the grid and never noticed the import of the bottom line.

  5. Thanks for those comments. I’ve applied corrections and updates to the post. The rhyming couplets are incredible – huge kudos to Araucaria…

  6. Too hard for me. Only got two of the long clues and a few others.
    Thought it must be xanthippe but xanth is yellow, how is ippe mare?

  7. Thanks, mhl, for a great blog. What a joy to see an Araucaria Alphabetical again – and well up to standard. Many thanks to him.

    Re X: I took the first definition as your second Wiki entry [Collins: 1.’the wife of Socrates,, proverbial as scolding or quarrelsome; 2 any nagging, peevish or irritable woman’]
    From ‘The Taming of the Shrew’:

    ‘Be she as foul as was Florentius’ love.
    As old as Sibyl, and as curst and shrewd
    As Socrates’ Xanthippe, or a worse,
    She moves me not.’

    …and the second as an explanation of the derivation of the word , hence the question mark. [I didn’t know there was a Xanthippe’s shrew until this morning – thanks for that – which adds even more to the clue!]

  8. Thanks to mhl for the blog. You explained N for me. I had N-A-O plus Marsh so the answer was obvious but the parsing eluded me.

    I had totally failed to spot the rhyming couplet clues 🙁

    Quite a few years ago A had an araubetical with a symmetric grid. His instruction said something like “the solutions could go in either direction but the correct one will be obvious”. I picked one orientation at random. As I put my answers in I saw the right hand edge spelling out BOTTOM. I started again the correct way round. When I had finished I saw the top row had ZENITHG as well. A is marvellous 🙂

  9. Thanks mhl, a really terrific puzzle with great depth. I think Xanthippe (Eileen@8 et al) demonstrate this very well.

    I think this was much more of a challenge to solve than the bank holiday special – I wonder if this puzzle was the originally intended for then?

    I failed to parse COHOE having cheated to get the solution – I got as far as COal, but couldn’t see the HOlE. I think Pacific salmon = eastern Salmon is fine. I took Eastern to be a play on the word Pacific rather than a literal definition of the fish’s habitat.

  10. As soon as i saw your solution for U I got a lovely image in my head of a little Dresden figurine shepherd! Thank you. I’d never even heard of a flare star before, either, despite having read a number of astronomy and cosmology books… that man really is well-read

  11. e townsend@12 – re UNDERSHEPHERD: of course, how could have I had missed this connection! My mother used to have rows of porcelain shepherd boys on her mantelpiece, I doubt they were Dresden china though.

  12. Splendid stuff. I too missed the rhyming couplets. The highlight has to be the very helpful THE BOTTOM LINE. The whole thing was a joy from start to finish (and I don’t usually enjoy alphabetical jigsaws). Thanks to Araucaria and mhl.

  13. Brilliant to have Araucaria again .. plus jigsaw.. plus rhymes. I solved it, but the penny never dropped about THE BOTTOM LINE until I’d filled in a dummy grid the wrong way. Some solutions a bit esoteric – e.g. RUN-RESIST, DWIGHTS (which I couldn’t really parse). Nor a few others – e.g. NGAIO, XANTHIPPE. New words: HARMATTAN; IMPAVID. Not complaining though, I really enjoyed it.

  14. Thanks A for a brilliant crossword and mhl for the blog. My favourite clue was Under Shepherd for the Dresden figure reference but all were great fun & the rhymes impressed.

  15. Thanks Araucaria and mhl. Thanks also to all those above who noted so many things I’d missed. Filling in the grid in this puzzle was only the beginning! What a tour de force from A. Thanks again.

  16. Hi Biggles A – geographically much of the Pacific certainly is more west than east of the UK. I took Eastern to mean from the Orient, historically part of the Eastern trade route which extended to the Pacific in general, the ‘West’ stopping somewhere around the Eastern seaboard of the US. Much the same as many fifteensquareders seem to consider the forthcoming Sloggers and Betters gathering in Sheffield to be in the ‘north’ of the country. Look on a map and it is clearly in the south.

  17. Really PeeDee @ 20

    Sheffield is in Yorkshire and it’s definitely in the North!

    Believe me: I’m a Northener born and bred.

  18. Re X I’m sure just the name of the shrew, which is called in full Xanthippe’s Shrew (named around 1910), and the etymology of the Greek name, yellow plus mare. Whether Socrates’ wife really was a shrew in the Shakespearean sense is controversial, and St A seems to have nodded at the issue, rather than confronted it, here.

    Annoying and brilliant as ever, what a piece from the top man.

  19. Hi Paul B@20 – I am playing devil’s advocate, I was brought up in Manchester and lived in Sheffield as an adult. I certainly considered myself a Northerner at the time and Sheffield to be in the North.

    However, Sheffield is actually only one third the way up Britain and not much over half the way up England. Geographically I should have considered myself to be from the midlands as an Englander and as a virtual southerner as British. Culturally I considered myself a Northerner on both counts.

    Just trying to show how geographical and cultural definitions of Noth/South and East/West can differ. Cruciverbally the word ‘Pacific’ (home of China and Japan, the Far East etc) can be equated with ‘Eastern’ even though half of it is geographically to the west.

  20. Paul B @22

    I’m just as sure that Araucaria meant Socrates’ wife as the first definition. I know it’s controversial but she’s invariably referred to as ‘Xanthippe the shrew’ and would be far more familiar to A, of all people, than a little animal which doesn’t even get a mention in Chambers or SOED, where Xanthippe appears as ‘a scolding or bad-tempered woman [Xanthippe the wife of Socrates]’ and ‘The wife of Socrates; allus., a shrewish wife’, respectively.

  21. Thanks Araucaria and bridgesong. I had missed he rhyming couplets. I now realise I did it wrong, as in my grid I put THE BOTTOM LINE at the right hand side – all my answers fitted in fine that way too. Oh dear, it just proves that I am a beginner – I failed to see that there was more to an already difficult challenge! Anyway, I was happy to finish it, even if I placed it incorrectly in the grid.

    I particularly like ZYGOSPORE, SKIMMED, NGAIO, XANTHIPPE, AVERRED and my favourite was VERMICIDE (last in).

    New words for me were HARMATTAN, ZYGOSPORE, MILLS BOMB, BEEFALO, IMPAVID, VERMICIDE, COHOE.

    I couldn’t parse Quell and Quash, COHOE.

  22. Thanks, mhl and A.

    Very enjoyable. I plumped for the wrong way round and had BOTTOM LINE on the side, of course.

    I had heard of FLARE STARs as I did my MSc in 1966 on analysing data from radio observations of them; they are not supernova, so I think A. was using poetic licence here.

  23. PeeDee@28
    Zygospore was new to me, and yes I knew Ngaio Marsh though I have never read her books. Sorry that the way I wrote my post was a bit confusing with all those capital letters all over the place.

    I forgot to mention that XANTHIPPE was new to me also.

    [Back to POTTERMORE now to brew some potions – it’s a lot of fun and highly recommended for anyone who wants to attend Hogwarts!]

  24. Brilliant puzzle. I was critical of some of the surfaces until I noticed the rhyming couplets when all was forgiven.

    Thanks mhl, especially for the parsing of NGAIO. At the beginning, I had two grids and they both seemed to resolve until someone pointed out THE BOTTOM LINE.

    I find alphabeticals both amusing and challenging, and this one was no exception. A. still on top form, thank goodness.

  25. I think Eileen is right about Xanthippe.

    I learnt that xanth- meant yellow many years ago from one of A’s alphabeticals. I’d got as a candidate for X a word I didn’t know. It might have been xanthium, defined as plant. Anyway Chambers confirmed my answer. And the number of words I didn’t know beginning xanth made a lasting impresssion.

    Then from another jigsaw I learnt, in similar fashion, about the wife of Socrates. The answer might have been for Z or for X without the ‘h’ but I think the clue had ‘scold’ as the definition. In this puzzle then I “got” the X quickly. Though not familiar with Eileen’s quote I knew enough about the Shrew.

    It took me a while to work out ‘yellow mare’ but I thought that A was having a laugh. Hence my use of the word ‘conceit’ @1. Hence my comment @2 when I discovered that the ancient Greeks really did call people things like Yellow Mare. Rather like Sitting Bull. I still haven’t quite recovered.

    I am reminded of a clue of Araucaria’s in 25706. He did a CD for STEEPLECHASING based on ‘church crawling’. I raised a number of objections on the grounds that this was, even by his standards, too fanciful an idea to work. I realised my error after a few typically cryptic and slightly scathing remarks from Paul B.

    Quite educational, the Rev.

  26. Regarding SKIMMED, my take on “MED”. is that it is the abbreviation used in dictionaries for medical terminology, signified by ‘in doc speak’

  27. Disappointed at the misquote in ‘A’. We thought it might be from the Rime of the Ancient Mariner, so we looked it up online and searched for ‘shot’ – but found nothing.

  28. Rowland, I fear he isn’t. He can’t have searched far for ‘shot’. The mariner himself avers a few lines earlier “I shot the albatross”.

  29. I’m used to symmetrical aurabeticals being resolved by one clue having something like ‘rising’ to indicate a reversal and so to be entered down.

    Alphabeticals also usually employ a Rufus type of grid with a minimum of unchecked first letters. This eases the setter’s task slightly. See Maskarade’s recent double. And of course makes more of challenge for us.

    THE BOTTOM LINE, brilliant for the symmetry, also constrains the top line to be 13 letters with 6 alternate letters different. So PRACTICAL JOKE is – what can I say? (I think that it nearly works as a title is happenstance but thanks to David M @29.)

    Peerless.

  30. @rhotician, clarification needed: I didn’t find exactly “nothing”, but I didn’t find a quote with the answer. What I did find was “With my cross-bow I shot the ALBATROSS”, “Off shot the spectre-bark”, “Like waters shot from some high crag”, and “He loved the bird that loved the man Who shot him with his bow”. Obviously none of those fit the clue, so I decided it wasn’t the Rime after all.

    If the clue had got the quote right e.g. “Then all_______, I had killed the bird”, I wouldn’t have gone astray.

Comments are closed.