Guardian 26,181 by Tramp

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This was tough – I needed two sittings to finish it, and another to nail the parsing. Some lovely cluing – I especially liked 12ac, 2dn and 23dn.

Across

1 Blur in Country House, initially Oasis top it for urbanity (14)

SOPHISTICATION
=”urbanity”. (in C[ountry] H[ouse] Oasis top it)*

9 Dish, American, to make controversial issue (3,6)

HOT POTATO
=”controversial issue”. HOT POT=”Dish” plus A[merican] plus TO

10 A dirty woman turning up in city (5)

TULSA
=”city”. rev(A SLUT)

11 Time to second, reviewing watch? (5)

OMEGA
a brand of “watch”. AGE=”Time” plus MO=”second”, all reversed (“reviewing”)

12 Slight on Shadow Chancellor — “endlessly disgusting person” (9)

SLIMEBALL
=”disgusting person”. SLIM=”Slight”, plus E[d] BALL[s]=”Shadow Chancellor – endlessly”

13 12 mark papers almost on time (8)

MIDNIGHT
=”12″. M=”mark” (abbreviation for the old German currency), plus ID=”papers”, plus NIGH=”almost”, plus T[ime]

14 Service providing part of range (6)

MASSIF
=”part of range”. MASS=(church) “Service”, plus IF=”providing”

17 Press in fat mostly resting on back (6)

SUPINE
=”resting on back”. PIN=”Press”, in SUE[t]=”fat, mostly”

19 Composition of gold advanced where Ronnie Biggs escaped (8)

ORATORIO
=”Composition”. OR=”gold” plus A[dvanced] plus TO RIO=”where Ronnie Biggs escaped” [wiki]

22 Magnificent golfer avoiding extremes in drive over tree (5,4)

ROYAL PALM
=”tree”. ROYAL=”Magnificent”. (Arnold) PALM[er]=”golfer avoiding extremes in drive over”

24 School gate disheartened fat kid? (5)

PODGE
=”fat kid”. POD=”School” (of dolphins), plus G[at]E

25 Business language includes jargon (5)

SLANG
=”jargon”. Hidden in “BusinesS LANGuage”

26 Detailed member in supermarket training contract (9)

TELESCOPE
=”contract”. LE[g]=”Detailed member”, in TESCO=”supermarket”, plus PE=”training”

27 Idiot caught — arrest protects more skimpily dressed women inside (8,6)

CHINLESS WONDER
=”Idiot”. C[aught] (on a cricket scorecard), plus HINDER=”arrest”, around (“protects”) all of: LESS ON=”more skimpily dressed” with W[omen] “inside”

Down

1 Teacher around toilets catching two characters in bathroom having bit on the side? (14)

SCHOOLMISTRESS
=”Teacher”. rev(LOOS)=”around toilets”, around H[ot] & C[old]=”characters in bathroom”, plus MISTRESS=”bit on the side”

2 Primarily pointing out Tim Henman’s earlier answer: “Djokovich is grass lover” (7)

POTHEAD
=”grass lover”. P[ointing] O[ut] T[im] H[enman’s] E[arlier] A[nswer] D[jokovich]

3 Current loan is to get settled, making withdrawal (9)

ISOLATION
=”withdrawal”. I=”Current” (in physics equations), plus (loan is to)*

4,21,5,16 Almost how elite two became Starsky and Hutch in reorganisation — just accept it! (5,3,3,3,6,8)

THATS THE WAY THE COOKIE CRUMBLES
=”just accept it”. (ho[w] elite two became Starksy Hutch)*

5 See 4

THATSTHEWAYTHECOOKIECRUMBLES

6 Handle trophy (5)

TITLE
=”Handle”; =”trophy”

7 They help things run smoothly, setting up points on a Renault? (7)

OILCANS
=”They help things run smoothly”. S[outh] and N[orth] are “points”, plus A (Renault) CLIO – all reversed (“set up”)

8 Unsightly large one picking up hooker might have one (11,3)

CAULIFLOWER EAR
Cryptic def – CAULIFLOWER EAR is an “Unsightly large” ear=”one picking up”, and a rugby “hooker might have one”

15 Spread toast, left off plain starter (9)

ANTIPASTO
=”Starter”. (toast p[l]ain)*

16 See 4

THATSTHEWAYTHECOOKIECRUMBLES

18 Praise oddly covers half-hearted disco song — hard to use notes? (3,4)

PAY CASH
=”use notes”. P[r]A[i]S[e]=”Praise oddly”, around Y[m]CA=”half-hearted disco song” plus H[ard]

20 Actor’s description of Starsky and Hutch’s wheels? (7)

REDFORD
=”Actor”; RED FORD=”description of Starsky and Hutch’s wheels”

21 See 4

THATSTHEWAYTHECOOKIECRUMBLES

23 Sign name to enter (3,2)

LOG ON
=”enter”, or =&lit. LOGO=”Sign” plus N[ame]

40 comments on “Guardian 26,181 by Tramp”

  1. Thanks, manehi.

    I was off to a good start, but then really slowed down, finding it tough.

    I had several answers but couldn’t be bothered to work them out (1ac and d, and the long 4 – couldn’t the clue to that be shortened to CIEKOO?)

    Thanks, Tramp

  2. Thanks TRamp and manehi
    Well I finished it correctly, but not very satisfactorily, as several (including the long one) I got from a scattering of letters and the word counts. (I have complained previously about the “cleverness” of long clues – much more satisfying to the setter than the solver, I think.)
    Was TULSA originally intended as a down clue? That’s the only explanation I can think of for the inappropriate “up” in the clue.
    I don’t think TITLE and TROPHY are equivalent – if you win the title you get a trophy, but you couldn’t actually “pick up” a title.
    I remembered Starsky and Hutch’s wheels – I wonder how many other solvers did? (The car had a flame motif, I think.)
    I did like POTHEAD, ORATORIO and TELESCOPE.

  5. Yes, quite tricky! I knew nothing about Statsky and Hutch so I was apprehensive but in the end got everything except for REDFORD. If I were a politician I wouldn’t appreciate appearing in a clue for slimeball! I agree that long phrases are often a bit wasted. I don’t dislike them but I usually get them from a few cross letters and I don’t both checking the anagram.

  6. Thanks for the blog Manehi and thanks for the comments.

    I’m away with work at present so can’t really comment much. Not sure what happened with the ‘up’ in 10a; if it was in my original clue as submitted then it’s an oversight on my part. Sorry.

    Neil

  7. Eventually got there, but had to work out the clues from the answers rather more than I like. Even so, I failed to parse 12a fully, which is a shame as it’s a good clue. I also found 27a too convoluted to bother with once the answer became obvious.
    Looking at 11a, 7d and 26a, I think the puzzle should carry a warning about product placement. (Before anyone bawls me out, that’s not a serious suggestion).

  8. I liked this very much, but like you, Manehi, found it tough. Just had to chip away until some of the longer answers fell out. I’m not a big fan of 30-letter anagrams either, but every now and then they are okay. I never bother to parse them though.

    My favourites today were SLIMEBALL (although that could more accurately be applied to the actual Chancellor imho) and TELESCOPE, with its nicely disguised definition.

    Agree about TULSA – I think Tramp has picked a clue out of his ‘downs’ drawer rather than his ‘acrosses’. Small niggle in a fine crossword.

  9. Thanks, manehi.

    Enjoyable puzzle from Tramp. I didn’t find it too difficult, but the bottom half seemed harder than the top. I confess that I didn’t stop to parse the very long solution (which I got from COOKIE) or 8d.

    Some characteristically complex anagrams (it’s often tricky working out what exactly is the anagram fodder in Tramp’s clues) and charades leading to good surfaces here. My favourite was 1a, for its great surface (though suggesting that Oasis was more urbane than Blur is a bit contrarian).

    My only quibble (and a very slight and pedantic one) is that the great Serb racketeer is generally transliterated as Djokovic (no h at the end). Although the final letter is usually pronounced by English speakers as ‘ch’ (as in choose), it is more properly a palatalised consonant, like the t in the British RP pronunciation of ‘tune’ – represented in Croatian by c with an acute accent, rather than c with a ‘hacek’, which would be ‘ch’.

  10. Thanks manehi, including for explaining the ‘drive’ bit in the golf clue – I thought the ER bits to go were simply the extremities of Palmer. Got 1a at first glance and 3d at second and then things got tough: a hundred glances for the last two, 27a and PAY CASH. Found the clue to 8d pretty unsatisfactory.

  12. Thanks Tramp and Manehi. Enjoyed this puzzle a lot. I ally myself with those who rarely try to work out long anagrams; why bother when they usually fall into place once one has a few crossers?

    Muffin @ 2. I have an image in my mind of a car with flames in the paint job – but which show was that??

  13. S&H’s car was definitely a white stripe along the side then back up the rear quarter.

    I, too, have an image in my head of a red flame car but no amount of Googling finds me a famous one.

    Perhaps those with this image, like me, have children or grandchildren whose favourite toy car is enflamed!

  14. Thanks Tramp and manehi.

    My computer and I eventually cracked it although it was a bit of a slog. Unlike molonglo@10 I quite liked the clue for CAULIFLOWER EAR. I was a bit lost about the ends of Palmer in ROYAL PALM.

    Fancy describing our esteemed Shadow Chancellor as a SLIME BALL, whatever next?

  16. I found this a rewarding challenge, which seemed impenetrable until the long anagram occurred to me. Last in was CHINLESS WONDER. There were a few here I didn’t fully parse, but SOPHISTICATION is brilliant (Country House was not just any Blur song but the one which pipped Oasis to Number 1 in an over-hyped contest). Also liked ORATORIO and TELESCOPE.

    Thanks to Tramp and manehi

  17. Thanks to manehi for the blog. You explained several where I had the right answer without seeing the parsing.

    On 19a I see that manehi shows the A in the answer to be simply the first letter of ‘advanced’. I have noticed a trend in recent times of compilers just inserting a word in the clue and expecting solvers to use its first letter without any hint. This seems very lazy to me.

  19. Very enjoyable and very tough. I agree with all that has been said about long anagrams, though the holding up made it extra difficult to get into, which is an advantage if you are a masochist:) I parsed 12a incorrectly, took slime as s-lime, s-light, which doesn’t quite work. And for some reason just couldn’t get from Palmer to Palm no matter how hard I looked. So thanks manehi. And many thanks to Tramp.

  21. chas @ 17
    On the whole I agree with you about first letters – I thought there were far too many yesterday – but Advanced level exams are almost always called A levels.

    Tim Phillips @18
    Possibly it belonged to another character in the show? I don’t really remember.

  22. Or of course the Institute of Advanced Motorists is the IAM. I think this one passes muster, but I agree that there are other one-letter abbreviations that are less acceptable.

  23. In 18d, did anyone really get from “half-hearted disco song” to “YCA” before rather than after seeing “pay cash”?

  25. I didn’t mind the ‘up’ in 10ac at all, as it made sense and a good surface, so no inquest needed for me, Tramp @6. And isn’t it great when setters drop in for a chat. Thank you.

  26. Thanks manehi and Tramp

    A fine puzzle which I completed correctly but found very hard to parse in places and I did not properly get 8d, 18d and 24a (I forgot about ‘pod’ and wondered if it might be P(orter’s L)odge 🙂 !

  27. Thanks beery hiker. Until I had enough material to guess the answer I was trying to take letters out of disco and song!

  28. Wow – a real trip to Charade-land today!

    “half hearted disco song” was the laugh out loud moment for me. I liked that (but like David Mop, only got it from reverse-engineering).

    The Blur/Oasis clue had some nice stuff going on too…and “Service provided” = MASSIF was quite pleasing.

  29. I enjoyed this puzzle even though some of the answers, particularly the long one, went in without full parsing because the answers seemed obvious enough once some of the checkers were in place (although that approach caused me to come a cropper in today’s Indy puzzle).

    I finished off in the SW with the ROYAL PALM/PAY CASH/SUPINE crossers.

  30. I know it’s very late but I just wanted to celebrate putting all the right letters into the grid. I won’t say ‘solving’ as there were large amounts of guesswork involved, from the two long down clues to the almost-last-in PAY CASH. Still, a finish is a finish, eh?

  32. Thanks all.

    My experience was pretty typical I think: guessing definitions, or looking at possibles and then trying find the parsing.

    It kept me out of mischief for a while though…

  33. @ muffin: interesting re “Country House” by Blur. The singer’s family run/ran a B and B in such a place, in rural Lincolnshire, at which I stayed in another life.

    We keep getting these links through our pastime…

    Cheers, M

  34. Thanks all
    Rather difficlt. In fact I never wrote in 22ac although royal palm looked like the only possibility
    I liked19ac, Biggs reference very confusing.

  35. As expected, nobody on this forum objected to SLUT=a dirty woman. I’ve read plenty of comments here of the ‘sticks and stones’ type that depress me greatly. Is it too much to expect of crossword fans – we’re supposed to be knowledgeable, intellectually curious folk – a slightly more sophisticated understanding of gender politics? What am I talking about? Why is ‘slut’ associated only with women? A man who is promiscuous is a stud, a woman is a slut. Do you think I’m being too much of a Guardianista? Those who rely on the ‘sticks and stones’ defence, clearly have no understanding of psychology; you can beat me as many times as you want, but the insults you use have such greater power.

  36. One thing I forgot: if your pseudonym is ‘Tramp’ try using that in this context; it’s hardly perfect, but it would show a little more imagination. Also, it may be just a question of different ways of thinking, but it’s great that people have commented about this puzzle being tricky. I found it to be pedestrian, and yet there seem to be many crosswords that the consensus deem simple that’ll I find impossible to solve. That’s why we love it right?

  37. Sam @ 35. ‘ Slut ‘meant originally untidy, messy, unclean just as ‘sloven’ was the male equivalent. It did not have the sexually promiscuous connotation.

  38. Only just finished this as on Wednesday I was traveling South through the storms and the closed M6 !!!! to overnight nearer to a course I was attending.

    The mixture of the fine ales in the Helter Skelter in Frodsham and the difficulty of this puzzle was too much on the day.

    However now complete and finally parsed.

    I really enjoyed this. More please.

    Thanks to manehi and Tramp

  39. MartinD @ 37 Thank you. I think they should make the sum slightly more difficult; I may have been a little tired and emotional. Feeling rather sheepish now.

  40. Thanks Tramp and manehi

    Very late to finish this one … I’d started on the day, had put it down and only picked it up again yesterday. Like others, I found it pretty tough and in fact had LOG IN instead of LOG ON – which was careless!

    Also parsed a couple wrongly … going the S-LIME option rather than the better SLIM E(d) one. Didn’t have the HO[W] for the 4,21,5,16 one – hadn’t really bothered to go letter by letter to check it off.

    Left a little cold with 8d too … was looking for something more …

    Still enjoyable overall !

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