Guardian Cryptic N° 26,177 by Picaroon

by

The puzzle may be found at http://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/26177.

Perhaps I am getting more familiar with Picaroon, as this seemed less tricky than his previous offerings, but still was by no means a pushover.

 

Across
1. Enter horse in pet competition and stop dallying! (5,2)
CATCH UP An envelope (‘in’) of H (‘horse’, heroin) in CAT (‘pet’) plus CUP (‘competition’).
5. Driver about to pocket one million, back in taxi not keeping fare down (7)
BULIMIC An envelope (‘to pocket’) of I (‘one’) plus M (‘million’) plus I (‘back in taxI‘) in BULC, a reversal (‘about’) of CLUB (driver’).
9. Perhaps Indian‘s ornate canoe (5)
OCEAN An anagram (‘ornate’) of ‘canoe’.
10. See 2
– See 2
11. Folk gathering mostly jeered Mary Poppins? (10)
HOOTENANNY A charade of HOOTE[d] (‘jeered’) cut short (‘mostly’) plus NANNY (‘Mary Poppins?’, the question mark suggesting indication by example).
12. Tips from expert for floral screens, as accompaniment to blinds? (4)
EFFS First letters (‘tips’) of ‘Expert For Floral Screens’. To eff and blind is to use coarse language.
14. Tasteless fellows donning this scruffy bit of flannel (12)
BLANDISHMENT An envelope (‘donning’) of MEN (‘fellows’) in BLAND (‘tasteless’) plus ISHT, an anagram (‘scruffy’) of ‘this’.
18. Rock singer’s lost stone, adopting good recipe for veg (6,6)
SPRING GREENS An envelope (‘adopting’) of G (‘good’) plus R (‘recipe’) in SPRING[st]EEN’S)  (Bruce, ‘rock singer’s’) without ST (‘lost stone’).
21. Drunken fling is stupidity (4)
TOSH A ‘drunken’ pronunciation of TOSS (‘fling’).
22. Oh for a tale of adventure on the high seas! (8,2)
WESTWARD HO A reverse reverse: ‘oh’ is HO backwards (WESTWARD). Westward Ho! is a novel by Charles Kingsley.
25. Elder statesman in US (Republican) protecting computer data (9)
PRESBYTER An envelope (‘protecting’) of BYTE (‘computer data’) in PRES (president, ‘statesman in US’) plus R (‘Republican’).
26. Soak putting away litre in confession from one down? (5)
IMBUE A subtraction: I’M B[l]UE (‘confession from one down’ – nothing to do with Clotho) without the L (‘putting away litre’).
27. King stopped guards in need of evening out (7)
CREASED An envelope (‘guards’) of R (‘king’) in CEASED (‘stopped’). The word order does it work?
28. Analyse Rome’s Hell worshippers? (7)
DISSECT A charade of DIS (‘Rome’s Hell’) plus SECT (‘worshippers’).

Down
1. Antique Fate unwilling to interrupt business (6)
CLOTHO An envelope (‘to interrupt’) of LOTH (‘unwilling’) in CO (‘business’). Clotho and her sisters Lachesis and Atropos were the Fates of Greek mythology.
2,10. New ref took latitude, playing advantage for Eden Hazard (4,2,9)
TREE OF KNOWLEDGE A charade of TREEOFKNOWL, an anagram (‘playing’) of ‘new ref took’ plus L (‘latitude’); plus EDGE (‘advantage’).
3. Dash with antelope across river in remote region (10)
HINTERLAND An envelope (‘across’) of R (‘river’) HINT (‘dash’, as in a recipe) plus ELAND (‘antelope’).
4. Proper way to prepare for a snog, we’re told (5)
PUKKA A homophone (‘we’re told’) of PUCKER (‘way to prepare for a snog’).
5. Staple sticking right in head — charming! (5,4)
BROWN RICE Ann envelope (‘sticking … in’) of R (‘right’) in BROW (‘head’) plus NICE (‘charming’).
6. How amusing walls line lounge (4)
LOLL An envelope (‘walls’) of L (‘line’) in LOL (text “laugh out loud”, ‘how amusing’).
7. Adverb I repeatedly formed incorrectly (8)
MODIFIER An anagram (‘incorrectly’) of I I (‘I repeatedly’) plus ‘formed’.
8. Protector of wood that’s vast and old in part of Greece (8)
CREOSOTE An envelop (‘in’) of OS (outsize or oversize, ‘vast’) plus O (‘old’) in CRETE (‘part of Greece’).
13. Shatter a thespian’s illusions (10)
PHANTASIES An anagram (‘shatter’) of ‘a thespian’s’.
15. We’re told any government chosen leaves English without proper care (9)
NEGLECTED A charade of NE, a homophone (‘we’re told’) of ‘any’ plus G (‘government’) plus [e]LECTED (‘chosen’) without an E (‘leaves English’).
16. Sort of spin one thus put on an issue (8)
ISOTOPIC A charade of I (‘one’) plus SO (‘thus’) plus TOPIC (‘issue’). Isotopic spin, or isospin, is a concept of elementary particle physics.
17. XI said to give trouble for the spectator (5-3)
CROSS EYE A charade of CROSS (‘X’) plus EYE (‘I said)’.
19. Like food from Spain the Spanish offer up (6)
EDIBLE A reversal (‘up’) of EL (‘the Spanish’) plus BID (‘offer’) plus E (‘Spain’).
20. Part of Channel is indeed fast (6)
SOLENT A charade of SO (‘indeed’) plus LENT (fast’).
23. Sick, knocking back vermouth and wine (5)
TIRED A charade of TI, a reversal (‘knocking back’) of IT (‘vermouth’) plus RED (‘wine’)
24. Wader again following current (4)
IBIS A charade of I (‘current’, common physical symbol) plus BIS (‘again’).

35 comments on “Guardian Cryptic N° 26,177 by Picaroon”

  1. Thanks Peter. Not tricky but I needed you to reveal the I=back in taxi and the drunken ‘toss.’ The 27a word order works if you accept that setters can treat English as Latin, which they often do in such cases.

  2. Thanks, PeterO. Highly entertaining from Picaroon – as you say, perhaps not his most difficult but still plenty to chuckle at.

    Tiny criticism – is an adverb the only example of a MODIFIER?

  3. Good fun here. I had understood 21a as an anagram of shot, which in hindsight doesn’t really fit as a synonym for fling. Had to look up Clotho, Presbyter and It (abbr. for Italian vermouth) in the dictionary.

    I was surprised to find out that the village of Westward Ho! was named after the book.

  4. I’m not sure that the word order in 27a has much to do with Latin but I’ll leave that to Eileen.
    It’s poetical. But the first two words should be hyphenated, as for instance in “dab-filled sea” in Under Milk Wood.
    You might say that this kind of thing is poet-favoured but that ‘king’ and ‘stopped’ should be dash-joined.

  5. Thanks Picaroon and PeterO
    Not too difficult. Favourite was BULIMIC for the misdirection – I had the B and the C and spent some time trying to fit CAB (“taxi”) in.
    I was surprised to find CROSS EYE in Chambers – I thought it could only be plural, but apparently one eye can be “crossed” if it is turned in towards the nose.
    I didn’t like “ill” for “tired” or “pres” for “statesman in US” – the latter is rather lazy, surely?

  8. Rhotician @ 4

    I disagree. A hyphen would suggest that the ‘R’ stopped (i.e. had to be inserted into) a word meaning ‘guards’. I think the clue is parsed ‘King’ [R], ‘stopped’ (CEASED], with ‘guards’ being the indicator of an envelope.

  9. Thanks, PeterO.

    What a great puzzle – bursting with clever wordplay and super surfaces.

    And such brilliant misdirection – I was amazed to find that Eden Hazard actually exists! If pushed, I might choose 2,10 as my favourite [or 22ac, or 15dn] but there are many contenders.

    CROSS-EYE made me smile, after yesterday. I almost looked for a dotted T!

    Many thanks, Picaroon – it was great fun and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

    [Rhotician @4 – I think molonglo was referring to the fact that Latin usually [but not always] has the verb at the end of the clause. I’ve never learned German but I believe the same thing can happen there. For some unaccountable reason, I remember hearing Dennis the Dachshund in a Toytown tale on Children’s Hour saying, “A raft we will build and on it away float”. We might find that kind of construction in English poetry but I don’t see how your suggested hyphenation makes any sense of ‘guards’. The clue works for me as it is.]

  11. Thanks, PeterO.

    Like some others, I found this a bit easier than previous Picaroon puzzles. Highly enjoyable.

    I agree with Eileen that the combination of construction, surface and misdirection is particularly good. I especially liked the misdirections ‘not keeping fare down’, ‘accompaniment to blinds’, ‘in need of evening out’. CREASED was my LOI, in fact – and the first in was CLOTHO! (a simply constructed clue which is pretty easy if you know the word).

    Isn’t 27a an example of ‘hysteron-proteron’ – a figure of speech involving the reversal of usual word order? Common in pre-20th century poetry: e.g. ‘And all the air a solemn stillness holds’. Deviation from the usual English subject-verb-object makes the sentence ambiguous: it could be either SOV or OSV, although the latter is a very unusual pattern in any of the world’s languages. (And in the line from Gray’s ‘Elegy..’ it actually doesn’t change the sense much either way).

  12. Thanks PeterO. I enjoyed this very much too — very playful! Didn’t quite see all the wordplay. Like Alan R @3 I thought TOSH was an anagram of SHOT but the drunken explanation is much better.

    And I’m another one who doesn’t think ‘sick’ really equates with ‘tired’, although people are often both! Minor quibble, though.

    Thanks Picaroon!

  13. Very enjoyable. I will never think of Bruce Springsteen in the same way again.
    My initial thought was that 15d was a bit too convoluted, but I think that it’s o.k. as the checking letters make it easily accessible. I do agree with muffin that the clue for 23a is not the best but I would not want to gripe about such a good puzzle.

  14. Thanks PeterO and Picaroon

    A lot of fun with good surfaces and misdirections, inc. 26a which had an obvious answer but left me puzzled and supidly looking for a song by a group called The Fates! 🙂

    Lots ticked – 5a, 12a, 21a, 22a, 15d, 17d.

  15. rhotician @4

    You did get in a muddle there. Though the order is poetical. Let us imagine a warder Sam Stopped and a miscreant Ken King and a prison where King Stopped guards, or, more prosaically, where Stopped guards King. King-stopped guards means something quite other.

  16. Re CREASED: I don’t see any problem if you think of it as “King (stopped guards)” i.e. stopped guards the king.

    Very nice surfaces and most enjoyable Picaroonery as ever.

  17. Re 23d: How about “I’m sick of this weather”/”I’m tired of this weather”? The meanings are surely very close.

  18. Very good puzzle although not at all easy for me (and my computer!)

    Thanks PeterO, especially for your taxi explanation in 5a. I can’t see what the problem is with ‘King stopped guards’ – it seems to make perfect sense to me, but then again I’m used to Yoda in Star Wars.

    I loved the XI. I’m ashamed to say that I missed ‘The Boss’ in 18 as I was playing with an anagram of ‘singer’s!’

  19. Thanks to PeterO for the blog.

    I found this puzzle hard work – which seems to set me aside from most of the people who have commented here. There were quite a few cases where I had the right answer without seeing the parsing e.g. in 5a I spent a lot of time trying to force CAB in there 🙁

  20. Probably my favourite of the week. The surface with Eden Hazard is among the best ever and there are plenty more nearly as good. Mind you I was nearly ready to use aid for 25 until I realised that data is a byte not a bite, then only one word worked.

    The only false note for me was pres = statesman – a bit weak.

  21. Not for the first time, I’m indebted to this site for explaining what my addled brain could not fathom. Waved the white flag on this puzze about half an hour ago – managed about 60% of it, but overall, just too clever for me.

  22. Eileen @9
    I didn’t realise that there is a person called Eden Hazard, but thanks to your post, I looked him up. He is even a footballer! That makes the clue totally brilliant.

  23. I found this a bit tricky but enjoyable – held up for a while in the SW corner (which makes me think of Cornish trains), and the PRESBYTER/ISOTOPIC crossers were the crux. Thought the TREE OF KNOWLEDGE was very clever, and enjoyed WESTWARD HO and HOOTENANNY.

    Thanks to Picaroon and PeterO

  26. I agree that this was easier than some of Picaroon’s previous puzzles but it was a very enjoyable solve.

    As a few of you have already pointed out, the Eden Hazard clue was particularly good. Count me as another who was trying to fit a reversal of “cab” into 5ac until the penny dropped. Even though they weren’t the most difficult of clues the OCEAN/HINTERLAND crossers were my last in.

  27. Haha – re 21a, I put in TOSS = fling, and (arguably) = stupidity (someone (not I, of course 😉 ) might say “That’s a lot of toss!” – if it was Paul setting, this would be less unlikely) – but I couldn’t see where ‘Drunken’ came into it.

  28. Yes, A little easy for the pirate but still very enjoyable.

    I couldn’t parse 27A satisfactorily until I decided that it was King “CR” stopped guards “EASED” as in “Stand at ease”

    And I agree “sick of”, “tired of” are close enough.

    Thanks to PeterO and Picaroon

  29. Brendan @ 28
    I agree that it’s a minor point in a good crossword (including one of the great clues). I would also agree that “sick of” and “tired of” are fairly close. However “of” doesn’t appear in the clue……..

  30. Thanks Picaroon and PeterO

    I’m in the minority that found this a bit of a battle early on at least – it did fall into place after I woke in the early hours 2-3am when the lateral part of my brain seems to kick in!

    Many clever clues as have been discussed – especially with the football connotation of 2,17. Still would mark the simple 22a (when it clicked) as my fave.

  31. King stopped guards.

    This is one my favourite cryptic constructions and you might be relieved to know it doesn’t rely on obscure or poetic grammar – it’s just informal English. You have to mentally insert ‘which’ = King (which) stopped guards.
    In every day speech we do it all the time. “It’s the sort of thing (which) people do all the time”.

  32. Yes, what Anax @31 said! There’s nothing strained about the word order of 27a. ‘Apples I bought’, ‘Girl Fred likes’, are examples of the same construction. ‘King sentry guards’ is, too – it’s plainly a king being guarded by some sentry, right? Well, this king is just the same, only being guarded by CEASED.

  33. The – to me – unknown footballer has scored a hat-trick today. Prescience from Picaroon, possibly? (Good alliteration, anyway.)

  35. Anax @31

    I don’t like the idea of having to mentally insert words into a clue. Requiring me to parse the clue “poetically” is perfectly fair.

    In everyday speech we don’t mentally insert ‘which’ into “things people do”. And “things people do” does not mean the same as “people do things” whereas “king stopped guards” and “stopped guards king” do. The clue would be as valid with the latter wording. Of course the surface would be banjaxed.

    So the next time I meet such a construction in one of your clues I will make no mental additions but rather mentally applaud its elegance.

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