Guardian 26,105 – Chifonie

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A typically straightforward and well-crafted puzzle from Chifonie, with his usual generous helping of charades, but also a few rather nice anagrams.

 
 
 
 
   
 
Across
1. COWARD Film star departed after officer’s hostility (6)
CO (officer) + WAR + D
4. AGAR-AGAR Turkish commander runs with a fish in jelly (4-4)
AGA + R + A GAR. Not difficult, but I like the way the repeated word is split up in two different ways. Agar-agar jelly (also called just agar jelly) is used as a growth medium for bacteria etc in biological experiments, but also has some (mainly Asian) culinary uses
9. ON END Continually upright (2,3)
Double definition
10. TOTEM POLE Brave staff to measure Latin Quarter (5,4)
TO TEMPO (measure) L[atin] E[ast]
11. COCKROACH Mr Salmon gets fish for six-footer (9)
COCK (male salmon) + ROACH (fish)
12. UNTIE Relative gives away article free (5)
AUNTIE less A
13. SHETLAND PONY Let’s hand out £25 for a short ride (8,4)
(LETS HAND)* + PONY (slang for £25)
17. DROP A CURTSEY Bob produces arty design (4,1,7)
(PRODUCES ARTY)*
20. DREAM Imagine putting last of ice in a drop of Scotch (5)
[ic]E in DRAM
21. TRUSTIEST Commitments to curb corrosion by tenant at first are most reliable (9)
RUST in TIES (commitment) + T[enant]
23. PARTY LINE Alliance views shared link (5,4)
Double definition – the “shared link” refers to the old system where two households could share a single telephone line
24. OTTER Excessive hesitation of fish-eater (5)
OTT (excessive) + ER (hesitation)
25. STEERAGE Farm animal given time provides cheap fare (8)
STEER + AGE
26. SPARTA Creative work found in resort in Ancient Greece (6)
ART in SPA
Down
1. CHOICEST Oscar in charge in case? That’s best! (8)
O IC in CHEST
2. WRETCHED Wife was sick? Sorry! (8)
W + RETCHED
3. RIDER Control rare condition (5)
RIDE (control) + R[are]. Chambers doesn’t seem to give R=rare, but I dare say other sources may. (Added: I’ve just found that I queried this exact point in a previous Chifonie puzzle, so he must be convinced of it even if we’re not.)
5. GET THE PICTURE Acquire art and have one’s eyes opened (3,3,7)
Double definition
6. RUM-RUNNER Bootlegger‘s strange offshoot (3-6)
RUM (strange) + RUNNER (offshoot, e.g. on strawberry plants)
7. GROTTO King George’s German cavern (6)
GR + OTTO
8. REEFER Jacket for a smoker (6)
Double definition
10. TRAINSPOTTING Odd starting point for a hobby (13)
(STARTING POINT)*
14. LORD MAYOR Public official makes Mary drool (4,5)
(MARY DROOL)* Some might be tempted to make a tasteless joke about Boris Johnson here, but fortunately he isn’t the Lord Mayor of London, so I won’t..
15. ASSENTER One agreeing to make fool join (8)
ASS + ENTER
16. HYSTERIA Neurosis treated this year (8)
(THIS YEAR)* – the last of the anagram: none of them particularly difficult, but niceoy woven into the clues
18. ADAPTS Changes inclined to cut publicity (6)
APT (inclined) in ADS
19. GEORGE Wolf encircles English saint (6)
E in GORGE – perhaps made easier by the fact that the name appears a few clues up
22. TROOP Soldiers‘ miserable time is up (5)
Reverse of POOR T

25 comments on “Guardian 26,105 – Chifonie”

  2. Thank you, Andrew.

    All pretty straightforward this morning. Perhaps a few too many unchallenging anagrams but otherwise quite enjoyable.

    Does CURTSEY derive from COURTESY perhaps?

    Nice day everyone.

  4. All o.k. With the same uncertainty about ‘r’ as an abbreviation for rare: perhaps in the antiquarian book trade?

  5. William: yes, “curtsey” and “courtesy” are essentially two spellings of the same word, which have have diverged to specific modern meanings.

    George: I was thinking r=rare in lexicography, but you could well be right about books.

  6. Thanks all
    Pretty straightforward except it took me a while to convince myself that ‘on end’ did comply with both definitions.

  7. On the basis that I’m pressed for time today and I find Chifonie’s puzzles on the easy side I decided to leave Nimrod’s puzzle until this evening.

    I’m sure I made the right choice as I finished this puzzle fairly quickly, but I found it to be a much more enjoyable puzzle than some of Chifonie’s previous ones, and I particularly liked ” a short ride” as a definition for SHETLAND PONY and “brave staff” as a definition for TOTEM POLE. PARTY LINE could be a term that younger solvers may not be aware of but the fairly straightforward wordplay would have helped. I finished in the SW and GEORGE was my LOI.

  10. Thanks Chifonie and Andrew,

    Short and sweet – liked all four long solutions and several others. The very definition of a puzzle that is not difficult but still pleasurable.

    Collins gives “rare” as the first definition of “r.” (lower case) – abbreviation.

  11. Thanks Chifonie and Andrew.

    r.=rare is in Collins. I think we have had this conversation before when I suggested it might be used for coins. I doubt whether AGAR-AGAR is used much these days because the singular form is easily recognisable.

    I liked the little horse and the bob.

  12. Well, straighforward it maybe but I struggled for ages with NW corner before finally completing my first Guardian cryptic after months of failures!!! Thanks Chifonie and Andrew – I didn’t need you but thanks anyway.

  13. Thanks, Andrew.

    I also liked this more than most Chifonie crosswords.

    Favourites were as Robi lists @11. GEORGE was also my LOI: I suppose ‘English’ is doing double duty here, if only allusively.

    Some good surfaces here, but ‘Turkish commander runs with a fish in jelly’ is beyond parody.

  16. NW corner held me up today, the rest having come very quickly – other than GEORGE, which took me ages to see, but I thought very nice when I did.

    Didn’t know COCK = male salmon, specifically. It’s a long time since COWARD was a film star surely?

  17. Mitz @14
    But, anyway, “English” isn’t doing double duty in 19d. It is just the E in GEORGE, the definition being “saint”.

  19. Thanks to Andrew for the blog. You explained a couple that had me scratching my head “I’m sure the answer is xxx but why?”

    When I first looked at 11a I thought of Alex Salmond in Scotland – and this stopped me dead. As I came back to it after lunch I immediately thought of cock salmon!

  20. crosser @17: I did suggest the double duty was only allusive, and not essential to the parsing of the clue. But it can’t be coincidence that the words ‘English’ and ‘saint’ are consecutive, and that Chifonie chose ‘saint’ as the definition, rather than ‘king’ or just ‘boy’.

  21. R certainly means “rare” to diner waitresses, as in the temperature of steak as written on the order slip. (Of course, y’all don’t have diners over there, but you certainly DO have both rare beef and waitstaff who order it…so maybe?)

  22. AGAR-AGAR and 3 animals made this quite biological. I thought the clues for OTTER, COCKROACH and SHETLAND PONY were wonderful.

    All very enjoyable, apart from when I eventually solved 19d; my did I feel stupid that I hadn’t seen the answer straight away!

    Thanks Chifonie and Andrew.

  23. Having worked hard to complete Arachne and Gordius yesterday, thought this might be easier, and indeed it was (except the NW corner), partly due to having plenty of anagrams (e.g 17a, 10d). But plenty of nice clues too, making an enjoyable challenge.
    We filled in the correct answers at 9a and 3d but were unhappy about parsing them. And we thought Noel Coward’s fame rested on other than his acting appearances.

  24. As others did, I found the NW put up the main fight. Some say it’s because some setters start there and fiend fatigue hasn’t set in at that point.

    Generally enjoyable though, and nothing to get any of us going so far it seems.

    Thanks Chifonie and all.

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