Guardian 26,157 – Qaos

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This was a puzzle of two halves for me: at one point I found I’d done all of the left-hand side, with the right side almost completely empty. Fortunately I got there in the end, after battling with some ingenious clueing. Thanks to Qaos.

The last time I blogged a Qaos puzzle I completely missed a “ghost” theme, so I had a closer look this time, and noticed the FLYING SPAGHETTI MONSTER, the INVISIBLE PINK UNICORN and RUSSELL’s TEAPOT, which are all parodies of religious belief. Perhaps to put the other side of the argument we also have OPUS DEI, and I suspect COSMIC must be involved somehow, though I can’t see where.

 
Across
1. PRESUME Expect super puzzle by Qaos! (7)
SUPER* + ME. We did, and we got one.
5. OPUS DEI Perhaps miracle ball reversing direction with side spin? (4,3)
O (ball) + reverse of UP (direction) + SIDE* – literally “the work of God”, hence “perhaps miracle”, but perhaps better known recently as the Roman Catholic organisation
10. OSLO Capital offences should loosen offending heads (4)
Initial letters of Offences Should Loosen Heads. A nice change from the old chestnut “Capital of Czechoslovakia”
11. NEWSREADER “Red Sea storms follow fresh onset of rain”, he announces (10)
NEW (fresh) + (RED SEA)* + R[ain]
12. TEAPOT Mashed potatoes not so much used for brewing (6)
POTATOES* less SO
13. RATCHETS Start getting excited about revolutionary mechanical devices (8)
CHE [Guevara] in START*
14. OLIGARCHS Rough school expelled Oscar, taking back paper first and rulers (9)
Reverse of (RAG I) in SCHOOL* less (one) O
16. STUNT Hit for 6? Time to stop (5)
STUN (hit for six) + T. “Stop” as in “stunt your growth”
17. AUDEN Poet, one you reportedly study (5)
A (one) + U (you, reportedly) + DEN (study). W. H. Auden is the poet, as I probably don’t need to say
19. INVISIBLE Like the prime number eluding da Vinci, extremely hidden (9)
INDIVISIBLE (like a, or indeed the, prime number) less D[a vinc]I
23. KINGSLEY Actor likes improvising to mask no good play’s finale (8)
NG in LIKES* + Y. I assume this refers to Ben Kingsley, famous for his role as Gandhi in Richard Attenborough’s film, but no doubt there are otyher acting Kingsleys.
24. COSMIC Huge, funny man disguises the end of punchlines (6)
[punchline]S in COMIC
26. HOME VIDEOS Husband does movie reels and family films (4,6)
H + (DOES MOVIE)*
27. PINK Colour page with stationery (4)
P + INK
28. UNDERGO Short on game experience (7)
UNDER (short) + GO (game)
29. ORGANZA South Africa follows newspaper material (7)
ORGAN (newspaper) + ZA (code for South Africa)
Down
2. RUSSELL Brand market drops 25% after collapse of USSR (7)
USSR* + [s]ELL (market). Those that haven’t heard of this character can find out here.
3. SLOOP Vessel gathers liquids up (5)
Reverse of POOLS
4. MONSTER Scary figure in gym on steroids (7)
Hidden in gyM ON STERoids
6. PIRATE I tape record criminally? (6)
(I TAPE R)* &lit. R=record isn’t in Chambers, but I suppose you might see R for Record on audio equipment
7. SPAGHETTI Western food? (9)
Double definition
8. EVERTON 11 over, 10 over? (7)
(TEN OVER)* – there are 11 in a football team. Nothing to do with Oslo or newsreaders
9. DWARF HONEY BEE When body shakes with fear, sitting on European insect (5,5,3)
(WHEN BODY FEAR)* +E. This bee is found in Asia
15. GREY GEESE Birds from Spooner’s happy country? (4,5)
Spoonerism of “gay Greece” – using “gay” in the old sense, of course
18. UNICORN Motherless, unromantic savage lifts hem of skirt, the horny beast (7)
UNROMANTIC* less MA and [skir]T
20. INCISOR Cold is muffled by fashion, otherwise it can bite (7)
C IS in IN OR. “In”=”fashionable” is familiar, but “in”=”fashion”?
21. LEIBNIZ German mathematician raises variable in book that’s the origin of logic (7)
Reverse of Z (variable) IN B I.E. (that is) L[ogic]. Among other things, Leibniz is famous for the dispute with Isaac Newton over who invented calculus.
22. FLYING Catapult over its frame to get airborne (6)
Y (the shape of a catapult) in FLING (to catapult)
25. SEPIA Brown‘s record? Invading Afghanistan, initially (5)
S (from “Brown’s”)+ EP (record) + I[nvading] + A[fghanistan]. I spent some time trying to prove that SIA was a code for Afghanistan..

31 comments on “Guardian 26,157 – Qaos”

  1. Very nice, with a good variety of clues and some innovation (catapult frame in 22d). Challenging, but enjoyable for me.

  2. Thanks Andrew and Qaos. Good stuff but I missed the theme as usual. On R = record – I have seen it used this way many times when watching athletics on TV, WR, CR = world, championship record etc.

  3. Thanks for the blog, Andrew.

    Christmas isn’t over – Philistine followed by Qaos!

    The injunction at 1ac made me laugh – brilliant that it was the first clue! It’s one of those that are so good you think it must have been done before. I always do expect a super puzzle from Qaos and this was no disappointment.

    [On his website, Qaos says of this puzzle, “If you think there’s a ghost theme, you’ll have to prove it”. I think you have, Andrew, for which heartfelt thanks. I know we have to look for one in Qaos’ puzzles but I saw OPUS DEI and ‘da Vinci’ and knew I hadn’t a chance. But here’s another fine example of a puzzle that can be enjoyed in total ignorance of a theme.]

    It was a bit more challenging than some recent puzzles [the top right corner was most tricky] but really rewarding. There was a good variety of clue types and my favourites were 1, 11, 12, 23, 26 ac and 8, 22 and 25 [once I parsed it, having gone down the same route as Andrew] dn.

    Many thanks, Qaos, for a most entertaining puzzle.

  4. Thanks Andrew. I feel daft, spending more time on 16a than most of the rest of it, and despairng of stend/stink/stone/stung and a few other almost-possibles; and I saw no ghosts either. Apart from that it was good fast fun, with OPUS DEI the stand out. Thanks Qaos.

  5. Thanks, Andrew, especially for spotting the ghost theme – an interesting one. Being reminded of Russell’s teapot made me smile. It’s a very long time ago that I read his book Why I am not a Christian.

    I enjoyed this, but like others struggled in the NE corner. I thought FLYING, PIRATE and EVERTON were inventive.

    Well done, Qaos.

  6. Thanks, Andrew.

    Interesting puzzle. I missed the theme, of course. And I did myself no favours by misreading 1a as ‘Expert…’ to start with, so I began by confidently entering SUPREME.

    I enjoyed the spread of clues, which seemed to vary very widely in difficulty – and, like others, I found the NE proved trickiest.

    Favourites were EVERTON, LEIBNIZ and SEPIA. (Not hugely impressed by today’s Spooner, but it did make for a succinct clue).

    Nice one, Qaos.

  7. I’d not heard of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, but a quick Google reveals that pirates are venerated in this “religion”

  8. Thanks Andrew and Qaos

    An enjoyable solve. Like most others so far, I missed the theme.

    I liked many clues inclu(e)ding 1a, 1a, 12a, 28a, and the inventive 22d.

  9. Started well but got trapped in the NE corner by flying monsters.

    Thanks Andrew; I didn’t parse the IN(di)VISIBLE and failed to see the theme as I didn’t know any of these expressions.

    I wasn’t too keen on 11=Everton but I suppose that is why there is a QM at the end.

    I completely forgot RUSSELL Brand (which is probably the best thing to do about him,) thinking of RUSSELL Hobbs as a brand [I thought there was some more product placement here 🙁 ]

  10. Excellent puzzle. Missed the theme altogether.

    Maybe Leibniz links in – with his concept of “possible worlds”.

    I don’t think Everton is thematic. I was trying to squeeze Trevor (McDonald) in there for a while on account of 11.

  11. Hi Robi @9

    “I wasn’t too keen on 11=Everton but I suppose that is why there is a QM at the end.”

    I can’t resist quoting [again] what I called at the time one of the most obscure clues I’d ever seen, in both wordplay and definition, from Bannsider, for my home town / local team, LEICESTER:
    ‘Character accepting totals for the first time arrives at fifteen(9)’
    It was the first time I’d come across either ICES or ‘totals’ = ‘kills’ – and there wasn’t a question mark!

    [EVERTON was still one of my last in – but a favourite, as I said. 😉 ]

  12. The Pastafarians (‘adherents’ of the FLYING SPAGHETTI MONSTER) are notable opponents of the teaching of creationism/intelligent design in US schools. Charles KINGSLEY, Anglican cleric and author of ‘Hereward the Wake’ and ‘The Water Babies’, was a great friend of Darwin and an early convert to the concept of evolution by natural selection.

  13. Organza – this was in The i crossword recently – might even have been yesterday.
    A similar clue, which I suppose it has to be.

    I believe The i crosswords are old Independent ones – unfortunate timing.

    I really enjoyed this crossword – well done Qaos.

  14. A very enjoyable puzzle. I didn’t see R=record so missed what was really going on at 6dn, and PIRATE was my next to last in when I decided it was a Rufus-like barely cryptic clue. Having said that, it would have been so much out of keeping with the rest of the puzzle and I should have given it some more thought. After that OPUS DEI was my LOI. The theme went completely over my head.

  16. Too right, Robi – I noted that Chambers had them down as ‘chiefly N Am sl’ and ‘US criminal sl’ repectively!

  18. Thanks Andrew – I couldn’t see 19a so cheated on that and managed to finish the rest.

    A great puzzle, and I found it easier than the ususal Qaos, except (unlike Eileen) for the BR corner. If my brain had been functioning, I would have had LEIBNIZ much earlier – there are not many well know German mathematicians – and probably then would have got INVISIBLE instead of struggling with UNDIVIDED and INDIVIS??.

  19. It’s interesting that there are different opinions on what was difficult here – maybe that’s just the range of subjects covered. Needless to say I missed the ghost theme too (top marks to Andrew for spotting it), but for me ORGANZA and LEIBNIZ were in early (there aren’t many famous mathematicians ending in Z) – DWARF HONEY BEE took a while and EVERTON and STUNTS were last in. I liked INVISIBLE, TEAPOT, EVERTON and PRESUME.

    Thanks to Qaos and Andrew.

  20. Noddy at 13 – I was sure I’d seen the ORGANZA clue somewhere recently as well, and you’re right – it was yesterday in the i. The i crosswords are indeed recycled Indy ones from four or five years ago. But it does only cost 20p. And for those interested, no, the setter doesn’t get paid twice.

  22. Qaos had ORGANZA as an answer in his Genius puzzle in February last year. The wordplay that time was “Zappa’s gutted after instrument”. (I also blogged that puzzle, but found it through searching on the word, not superhuman memory.)

  23. Thanks Qaos fro an excellent puzzle and Andrew for the blog.

    As others, I failed to spot the theme (nothing unusual there) and made a slow finish in the NE.

    Re Qaos’ website comment, which he also tweeted, I particularly liked the juxtaposition of “you’ll have to prove it” with parodies of religious belief. Very clever 🙂

  24. I’m thanking Mrs Trailman and her exhaustive knowledge of fabrics for ORGANZA. And me a subscriber to Private Eye, for which newspaper = organ is practically de rigueur.

    Theme lost on me I’m afraid but a most enjoyable puzzle full of clever invention. FLYING last in, after I’d worked out Y.

  26. Afternoon all.

    Thanks for the comments – they’re always appreciated – and well done to Andrew for spotting the ghost theme so quickly. I did think it was going to be a bit trickier to spot than usual. Some of the background reading on the ghost theme was hilarious (Pastafarians!). Unbelievable, you might say.

    Also, it was very nice to meet those of you who were able to attend the Crossword Centenary gathering in London last month.

    Best wishes,

    Qaos

  27. Forgot to say (nothing unusual there either)

    Andrew’s “In”=”fashionable” is familiar, but “in”=”fashion”?

    “it’s in”, “it’s the fashion” – seems OK to me

    And thanks too to Qaos for dropping by

  28. Many thanks, Qaos, again, for a super [sic] puzzle – and for dropping by, which is always a huge bonus.

    [It was very nice meeting you, too. 😉 ]

  29. I’m not that bothered, but to say “it’s in” equals “it’s the fashion”, so in equals fashion, is a bit like saying “it’s usual” equals “it’s the custom” so usual means custom, when it doesn’t. The parts of speech seem wrong to me.

    Thanks all.

  30. Gotta go with you there Martin: IN does not equal FASHION. When you add ‘the’, it changes the equation as you rightly say.

  31. Another enjoyable puzzle from Qaos and of course I missed the theme. (Although I never look for them!)

    Funny things these crosswords as I actually didn’t find this as difficult as some of Qaos’s offerings although certain clues were a little challenging.

    Strangely I found the NE corner the easiest barring STUNT which was my LOI.

    I’m surprised that nobody has pointed out that prime numbers aren’t indivisible. Of course they are all divisible by themselves and one.

    Thanks to Andrew and Qaos

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