Guardian 26,084 – Brendan

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Brendan is becoming quite a regular as an occasional stand-in for Rufus in the Monday slot, which is fine by me. This is a suitably accessible puzzle, with quite a few anagrams and other easy clues to get us going.

As always with Brendan there is a theme, this time of YES and NO, which appear in a number of clues and answers, interlinked in various ingenious ways. A nice start to the week – thanks to Brendan.

 
 
 
 
 
Across
9. SAILCLOTH What yachtsmen hoist, getting drunk in this local? (9)
(THIS LOCAL)*
10. NOSEY Back only positive part of 24 — that’s curious (5)
NOYES with the YES (the “positive part”) reversed
11. ROLLERS They’re used to create curls and waves (7)
Double definition: hair rollers and waves in the sea
12. MADNESS Aim the wrong way in total stupidity (7)
Reverse of END (aim) in MASS (total)
13. NOMEN First part of Julius Caesar, for example, as opposed to 21 down (5)
The opposite of YES-MEN. As well as just meaning “name” in Latin, nomen had the more specific meaning of a family name. See here for more details. In Gaius Julius Caeser, to give him his full name, Gaius is the praenomen, Julius the nomen and Caesar the cognomen. Here endeth the Latin lesson.
14. RESONATED Doctor read notes and responded sympathetically (9)
(READ NOTES)*
16. MINISTER OF STATE Government official‘s rewritten trite manifestos (8,2,5)
(TRITE MANIFESTOS)*
19. COALITION Partnership in company — a majority shareholder secures it (9)
CO + IT in A LION (the lion’s share is the majority)
21. YESES Conclusions of inquiry the press judge ridiculous, as opposed to 4 (5)
Last letters of inquirY thE presS judgE ridiculouS.
22. NEEDING Short of editor at work, cutting back information (7)
ED IN (at work) in reverse of GEN (information)
23. NASTASE Former tennis star, as seen repeatedly falling into net, oddly (7)
AS + AS in NET*, the tennis star being Ilie Nastase
24. NOYES Poet who might have written “Do I contradict myself?” (5)
NO/YES – Alfred Noyes is the poet.
25. FASTENERS Catches, say, in safer nets at sea (9)
(SAFER NETS)* – I don’t see why “say” is needed here
Down
1. ASTRONOMIC Like a great number that’s so romantic being ruined (10)
(SO ROMANTIC)*
2. RIFLEMAN Queen provided lover for soldier (8)
R (queen) + IF (provided) + LEMAN (lover)
3. SCREEN Show? Yes and no (6)
Double definition: to show, e.g. a film, or to cover with a screen, and so hide
4. NOES Having odd deficiencies, uncovers negatives (4)
Even letters of uNcOvErS
5. THUMBS DOWN How to say “no”, using digital signal? (6,4)
Cryptic definition
6. ANODYNES They avoid controversy? Yes and no, possibly (8)
(YES AND NO)*
7. ASSENT Saying “yes” in the form posted (6)
“In the form posted” = AS SENT
8. EYES Regards as English, indeed (4)
E + YES
14. REELING OFF Language used by female in bank, speaking rapidly (7,3)
LINGO + F in REEF
15. DRESS SENSE Fashionable judgment shown by doctor on a lot of points (5,5)
DR + lots of E, S and N
17. SHINIEST Extremely polished attempts written about in time (8)
IN in SHIES (attempts) + T
18. ASSUAGED Relieved when artist turned up outside university (8)
AS (when) + U in reverse of [Edgar] DEGAS
20. AYE-AYE Nocturnal animal, as opposed to 22 down? (3-3)
Opposite of NO-NO for this lemur
21. YES-MEN They never oppose head of state in republic (3-3)
S[tate[ in YEMEN
22. NO-NO 4, something to be avoided (2-2)
NO + NO makes NOES
23. NOSE As we hear, the opposite of 8 — it’s between them (4)
Homophones of “noes”, the opposite of “ayes”, and the nose is between the eyes

29 comments on “Guardian 26,084 – Brendan”

  1. Thanks, Andrew, and Brendan.

    I enjoyed this.

    I put, without conviction, ASSERT at 7d, but clearly it should have been ASSENT.

  2. Thanks, Andrew and Brendan

    Harder than the usual Monday offering, I thought. I loved the anagram “trite manifestos” = MINISTER OF STATE.

    I am told by a Classical scholar that “thumbs down” was originally the sign of assent (the gladiator should live). Thumb hidden in fist meant “no”. Of course, not many people know that!

    I’m not totally happy about SHINIEST (i.e. shinier than more than one other thing) being defined as “extremely polished” – it lacks the sense of comparison. Very minor quibble, though, in an enjoyable crossword.

  4. Some clever stuff here and a nice start to Monday morning. REELING OFF and ASSUAGED among several favourites, as well as the witty use of the theme.

    I was less happy though about ANODYNES as a plural or, indeed, a noun, but I see from Chambers that it has such a medical usage so my knowledge is extended. And I’m at one with Muffin @2 re SHINIEST.

  5. I agree with the quibble about SHINIEST, but other than that it was a very enjoyable puzzle. The NW held me up the longest and RIFLEMAN was my LOI after SAILCLOTH and SCREEN.

    Yes, “trite manifestos” was an excellent spot by Brendan.

  6. Very enjoyable solve, thanks Brendan.

    Thanks Andrew; I couldn’t quite make out the parsing of SCREEN. I am another admiring the MINISTER OF STATE anagram.

    I think the SHINIEST comments are small quibbles. The SHINIEST shoes might be those that have been ‘extremely polished.’ I suppose the clue could have said ‘most polished,’ but that is a small point in a very good puzzle. 🙂

  7. Thanks to Brendan, and to Andrew. Many beautifully smooth surfaces, I thought, and some very clever variations on the theme. Held up on 14A for a bit by wanting to start with DR or MO… Thought equating “extremely” with a superlative was OK, really. Superlative is at one extreme, isn’t it?

  8. @2 & 5: I don’t think “SHINIEST” is a problem, if “extremely” is used in its strictly literal sense (i.e. at the extreme, so “most” or “least”). It’s a nice change from the usual way that would be clued, “Most polished…”, which is a bit obvious and gives -EST as an immediate write-in. Plus, in an otherwise straightforward puzzle, it’s nice to have something a misleading (despite my initial guess, “extremely polished” did not indicate P and D anywhere.

    The italics in 24a baffled me – I thought maybe it was a reference to some poem called “Might”, but I couldn’t find any Noyes poem with that title. Is there a deeper meaning, or is it just a stylistic choice on Brendan’s part?

  9. Schroduck @8; I thought the italics were just for extra emphasis that Noyes wouldn’t be expected to have written “Do I contradict myself?”

  10. No quibbles from me – loved it from start to finish – the dots by clues I liked give the piece of paper a look of an outbreak of measles. Thanks to Brendan and Andrew.

  11. I really enjoyed this, cheered me up a treat whilst suffering from sciatica! I spent a while trying to get P and D from extremely polished into 17d (shiniest) and needed to come here to parse RIFLEMAN as leman was a new word for me. COD Minister of State, laughed until my leg hurt!!

  12. Despite not taking too long (in my terms!) I still needed to come here for some of the wordplay so ta for that.

    muffin @2: re 5d, I heard that too but it was on the TV, can’t remember where, but it sounds like the sort of thing that would crop up on QI.

  13. Thanks to Andrew for the blog. You explained a couple of cases where I had the right answer without understanding why.

    I particularly liked 6d with its other use of YES AND NO.

    I was held up on 17d by trying to force ‘tries’ in there somehow 🙁

  14. Although anodyne(s)might be acceptable as a noun, I can’t find it anywhere with the meaning clued. If it means anything it means a palliative, not a person who avoids controversy.

  15. Hi jeceris@14. The meaning clued can be found in Chambers 2008: anodyne n [two other meanings, then] something that prevents, soothes or avoids argument, criticism or controversy.

  17. Thanks, Andrew.

    What a pleasant start to the week. For me, it was more straightforward than the average Rufus but a lot more fun (chacun à son goût, innit).

    I think Schroduck @8 has nailed the use of ‘extremely’ to indicate a superlative: if the word is interpreted as ‘at the extreme’, rather than just ‘very’, the meaning becomes clear. I hadn’t come across this particular usage of ANODYNES but I wasn’t discombobulated by it.

    Lovely anagram at 16a and many other fine clues. My favourite today was the clever NOMEN – at first I was trying to start a word with ACT I.

  18. Although I look at the blog most days this is my first post. I usually really enjoy Brendan’s puzzles but I couldn’t believe how bad this one was. The theme was simplistic and a lot of clues very straightforward. And I can’t understand the deference in most of the posts. Sorry.

  19. Schroduck @8

    The italics in 24A are there because the line was actually written by Walt Whitmanm in Song of Myself.

  20. muffin @2

    Maybe I was taught by the same classical scholar because I heard that same story re: thumbs down. Strangely I couldn’t find any support for the theory online last night. It also begs the question: did the Romans use a thumbs up sign and what did that mean?

    Talking of classical scholarship, I was taught to translate Latin superlatives as “most, very or extremely…”. Perhaps that’s why Brendan worded it as he did.

    Fun puzzle. I did like 3D. Spent not a little time trying to equate scree with yes until the penny dropped.

    Thanks for the blog, Andrew.

  21. Loved the yes and no theme very clever indeed. Shiniest still bothers me though. Lovely to see Brendan on a Monday, not a huge fan of Rufus ( no offence Rufus)

  22. Thanks to Brendan and Andrew.
    Agree with Schroduck @8 about SHINIEST – and was pleasantly reminded of the time Bertie asked Jeeves to fetch him his “yellowest shoes”. Don’t think there’s much doubt those shoes were extremely yellow …

  23. SeanDimly @ 22
    But doesn’t it imply that Bertie had at least three pairs of shoes that could be described as “yellow”?

  24. A nice easy solve but no dodgy DDs or CDs. I found this enjoyable if brief. I had no qualms about SHINIEST (It is Monday after all so we are on “Rufusian” logic surely 😉 )

    Formby @18

    I understand your astonishment! However it is written in stone in the Guardian Crossword Policy Office that:

    “Thou shalt have an easy crossword on a Monday” (or so many on here would have us believe).

    So of late Brendan has occasionally “dumbed down” and provided an easy but “normal” crossword as opposed to the Rufus offering we usually get.

    Thanks to Brendan and Andrew

  26. Thanks to Brendan and Andrew. Very clever to have got so many references in to the theme.

    But I’m surprised no-one has pointed out that a Minister of State is not a government official (16).There is a clear distinction (at least to an ex-bureaucrat like me) between ministers, who are politicians, and officials, who do their bidding. And officials certainly don’t write manifestos, so the otherwise clever surface doesn’t work.

  27. g larsen @ 26

    Perhaps you should inform the government of this distinction. The government’s own website describes several elected MPs as “Ministers of State”. Perhaps they don’t realise that this means they cant take part in any manifesto writing 😮

    See for instance https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education
    where the Right Honourable David Laws MP among others is described as a “Minister of State”

  28. What a delight!

    I was lucky in that, due to my penchant to try the short answers first, I had seven of the themed clues before any non-themed ones.

    At that point I was already in love with this witty, light puzzle. Breezed through most of it yesterday, but came to a crashing halt in the SW corner. Worked at it again today and managed to wrap it up.

    Favourites – above and beyond, the clues for 21d and 13 paint such a marvelous picture of the downfall of Julius Caesar!

    3 has to be one of the best DDs I have ever seen. 14a delighted as well. 15 threatened high ambiguity, but I resolved it with only the “S” at the end of DRESS to work with. Charming.

    I count a total of 13 themed answers or clues, and such a lovely variety of ways to use two simple words and a conjunction.

    Thanks for the blog, Andrew, and super thanks to Brendan for a wonderful start to the week.

  29. Well said, Huw.

    Brendan clued SCREEN in a similar way in October 2007. He threw in a few more contradictory DDs in
    the across clues and summed the whole thing up with DOUBLE MEANING, also a DD, running down the centre.

    You can find it in the archive. It’s 24206.

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