Guardian Cryptic N° 26,183 by Orlando

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The puzzle may be found at http://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/26183.

I am coming off an unpleasant cold, and am not at my sharpest, which may explain my trouble with 11A.

 

Across
1. Do good with second language (7)
SHINDIG A charade of S (‘second’) plus HINDI (‘language’) plus G (‘good’).
5. Sauce, when cold, goes in sort of boat (7)
TABASCO An envelope (‘goes in’) of AS (‘when’) plus C (‘cold’) in TABO, an anagram (‘sort of’) of ‘boat’.
9. Guys possibly helping to make Europe secure (5)
ROPES An answer hidden (‘helping to make’) in ‘EuROPE Secure’.
10. A Greek city seen by Orlando that’s very sweet (9)
ASPARTAME A charade of ‘a’ plus SPARTA (‘Greek cty’) plus ME (‘Orlando’).
11. Animal twisted and turned without justification (10)
UNGROUNDED The ‘animal turned’ is GNU, but ROUNDED for ‘twisted’?
12. Visit Bath and Wells? (3)
SEE Double definition. The seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells is at Wells Cathedral – Bath has an Abbey.
14. Withdraw clobber with tears flowing (4,1,7)
BEAT A RETREAT A charade of BEAT (‘clobber’) plus ARETREAT, an anagram (‘flowing’) of TEAR TEAR (‘tears’).
18. Song written by Lennon for group (4,8)
COME TOGETHER Double definition.
21. It’s all right hugging a tree (3)
OAK An envleope (‘hugging’) of ‘a’ in OK (‘all right’).
22. Writer of Swedish series about doctor — originally British medical drama series (10)
STRINDBERG An envelope (‘about’) of D (‘Doctor originally’) plus B (‘British’) plus ER (‘medical drama series’) in STRING (‘series’).
25. Strange approach with yearbooks (9)
APOCRYPHA An anagram (‘strange’) of ‘approach’ plus Y (‘year’).
26. Tongue put right into bouquet (5)
NORSE An envelope (‘into’) of R (‘right’) in NOSE (‘bouquet’).
27. Additional empty chest in passage (7)
EXTRACT A charade of EXTRA (‘additional’) plus CT (’empty ChesT‘).
28. Anne’s place keeps last of banana splits (7)
CLEAVES An envelope (‘keeps’) of A (‘last of bananA‘) in CLEVES (‘Anne’s place’, referencing one of the wives of Henry VIII).

Down
1. Grow up with short story collection (6)
SPROUT An anagram (‘collection’) of ‘up’ plus ‘stor[y]’ without its last letter (‘short’).
2. Jumping Jack ignored fresh challenge (6)
IMPUGN An anagram of ‘[j]umping’ minus the J (‘Jack ignored’).
3. Frost, say, excelled with pen, revealing deceit (10)
DISHONESTY A charade of DI (‘Frost, say’, referencing fictional Detective Inspector Jack Frost) plus SHONE (‘excelled’) plus STY (‘pen’).
4. Show amusement about a tiny amount (5)
GRAIN An envelope (‘about’) of ‘a’ in GRIN (‘show amusement’).
5. With respect to novel, it’snot to be published (3,6)
TOP SECRET An anagram (‘novel’) of ‘respect to’.
6. Heading for Bristol on one vessel or another (4)
BARK A charade of B (‘heading for Bristol’) plus ARK (‘one vessel’).
7. Got cracking with poles not right for airport (8)
STANSTED A substitution: STA[r]TED (‘got cracking’) with the R (‘not right’) replaced by NS (‘poles’).
8. Show cuckoo a treetop (8)
OPERETTA An anagram (‘cuckoo’) of ‘a treetop’.
13. Showing up two hours before Cinderella’s ragtime ball (10)
ATTENDANCE A charade of AT TEN (‘two hours before Cinderella’s ragtime’; her finery reverted to rags at midnight) plus DANCE (‘ball’)
15. Jam jar under clothing (5,4)
TIGHT SPOT A charade of TIGHTS (‘clothing’) plus POT (‘jar’).
16. Cheerleader and old boy in wicked tribute (8)
ACCOLADE An envelope (‘in’) of C (‘Cheerleader’) plus O (‘old’) plus LAD (‘boy’) in ACE (‘wicked’)
17. Discover small donkey abroad (5,3)
SMOKE OUT A charade of S (‘small’) plus MOKE (‘donkey’) plus OUT (‘abroad’). I spent a little while working on an anagram of ‘donkey’.
19. Female rugby sides? See play (5,1)
HENRY V A charade of HEN (‘female’) plus RY (‘RugbY sides’) plus V (‘see’).
20. Go on without PR for scary female (6)
OGRESS A subtraction: [pr]OGRESS (‘go on’) ‘without PR’.
23. Patriarch — one with article in pouch (5)
ISAAC An envelope (‘in’) of ‘a’ in I (‘one’) plus SAC (‘pouch’).
24. Song about Republican in Alaska, primarily (4)
ARIA First letters (‘primarily’) of ‘About Republican In Alaska’.

40 comments on “Guardian Cryptic N° 26,183 by Orlando”

  1. Thanks PeterO. Normally, when I’ve finished, I sit back and wonder why it was so hard but this week’s Orlando still seems quite tricky! Very good though.

    Sorry about your cold – UNG is gnu “twisted” and ROUNDED is “turned”.

  5. Thanks, Orlando and PeterO. That was hard! Took me ages and I still didn’t get bark – I was hoping a BURN might be a vessel!

  6. Thanks for the blog, PeterO – I hope you’re better soon.

    What a delight to see Orlando back – it’s been far too long! – with his usual quiet wit and deft cluing.

    I liked the constructions and / or surfaces of 1, 5, 12, 14 and 28ac and 2, 3 [with the misdirection towards Robert Frost] 7, 13 and 19dn and the little 12 and 21ac both raised a smile.

    Many thanks, Orlando, for a lovely end to the week – come back soon!

  7. Thanks Orlando and PeterO
    I found this the hardest for ages. The bottom went in slowly; the top even more so. I didn’t parse 11a, 14a (didn’t see “tears” as TEARTEAR – must watch out for that), 1d, 3d or 20d.
    In 5d I suppose “with” is necessary for the surface, but it confuses the wordplay.
    Favourite was CLEAVES.

  8. Don’t know why I made heavy weather of this as all the clues were fair and accessible, and there was nothing too obscure. At 6d, I am more familiar with the alternative ‘barque’, but ‘bark’ is absolutely kosher.
    Altogether a very satisfying puzzle, and I really enjoyed many of the clues, especially 13d. Some overseas solvers may have a problem parsing 3d if David Jason’s character, or the books on which the series is based, are not well known in their neck of the woods.

  9. Thanks PeterO and Orlando

    I too hope you can quickly say goodbye to your cold.

    A lovely puzzle from Orlando whose elegant and witty cluing and that all-important light touch make him one of my favourite setters. Fortunately I was on his wavelength today and did not find this too hard.

    Several clues seemed particularly good – I ticked 11a, 2d, 3d, and 15d but could easily have added others to the list.

  13. Neil: thank you! I haven’t finished the crossword yet so I came here to just look up the explanation of 19d, and was trying not to read the other explanations or comments. Generally really enjoying this blog as a place to look up answers I can guess but not parse – thanks, Fifteensquared!

  14. I found this fairly tough, with some examples of wordplay that was (for me) more ingenious than helpful. I was more aware than usual of writing words in based on crossing letters, then struggling slightly to parse the clue afterwards.

  15. Thanks, PeterO and Orlando. My COD has to be 17D; not for its degree of difficulty since the ‘s’ for small was clear, but for the use of the most obscure [to me} word for donkey. Now I learn it is English slang and I am doing an English puzzle after all, but where I am from, a moke is an entirely different thing. Hence my initial efforts at “mell” or “niff” for donkey! Interesting! May anyone here explain its origin? In Trinidad & Tobago, where I have lived, I know that there is an expression “mook” meaning a stupid person.

  16. NeilW @1

    Thanks. It’s remarkable how much easier things are when you follow what the clue actually says.

    Jeff Cumberbatch @15

    There seems to be general agreement that the origin of moke is uncertain. The OED makes the vague suggestion that it might be a personal name, like mog for a cat. Wherever it comes from, it looks as if your mook is the same word.

  18. Goodness, the hardest Orlando I think I’ve ever tackled. Got there in the end, but was struggling to parse many of them, so thank you to Peter.

    IMPUGN and APOCRYPHA my favourites today – lovely surfaces and cleverly constructed.

  19. Thanks, PeterO

    Another excellent puzzle from Orlando: classic setting, without anything off-the-wall, but with well-constructed clues and good surface readings – light and witty, as tupu says.

    I’m surprised that so many found this tricky. I raced through three-quarters of it, only being held up for a while in the NW corner – though when I had finished I couldn’t really see what my problem had been. Though, like grandpuzzler, I couldn’t parse SPROUT, which didn’t help. (In fact, 1d and 2d are both anagrams of ‘something minus a letter’, so I should have seen 1d when I eventually got 2d).

    Favourites were 1a for its disguised definition and 5d for its well dovetailed anagrind. I also liked the ‘tears’ in 14a.

  21. Thanks all
    I hesitate to sound conceited but I thought this was somewhat easier than others this week.
    I failed to spot the anagram in 1d which was my last in. It was good to see someone finding a new version of ‘di’ (3 down).

  22. When I worked on a Pacific island (in the 70s) I imported an open top and sides vehicle from Australia which was known as a ‘mini-moke’ Presumably moke must mean something in Oz.

  23. RCW @ 22

    The mini moke was a converted mini that was around in the UK in the mid sixties. Its most ‘celebrated’ use was for ferrying people around The Village in The Prisoner.

  24. I was on Orlando’s wavelength so I didn’t have too much trouble with this puzzle. I thought it was excellently clued and an enjoyable solve.

    I had the most trouble in the NW and SPROUT was my LOI once I finally saw the anagram fodder, after DISHONESTY and SHINDIG.

  25. I can just picture all the blokes, singing round their mokes back then. No moke without choir…

    Thanks Orlando: some beauties.

    Cheers PeterO and posters.

  26. Many thanks Orlando, PeterO

    I took the V in 19D as viz = videlicet

    Moke was a new word for me too – now I know why the Mini Moke was so named.

    Cleave is a member of a small set of words that also means its opposite. Many years ago I read a detective story set on a narrow canal boat, and the detective’s hobby was finding as many words that had (generally) opposite meanings, such as ‘fast.’ Has anyone else read it? I’ve forgotten the title.

  28. 3 good puzzles in a row.

    I found this one challenging but fun. The usual ingenious but fair cluing from Orlando.

    I didn’t help myself by first tentatively entering DEAR PRUDENCE for 18A and PRONG for 26A. (They both kind of work. (Dear Prudence are a pop group!))

    Finally to make it harder I tried to justify BORE for 6D. The Severn Bore does head for Bristol but doesn’t get there, and it does have OR in it!!! Bizarrely my wife was considering names for a boat we may purchase and was considering “ARK” as a name for it. So my failure to instantly see this clue was lamentable.

    I got there in the end and even managed to parse everything.

    Thanks to PeterO and Orlando

  29. If there’s somebody still up, could they please explain the significance of the word “another” in 6dn? I thought the blue underlining indicated the clue definition and I can’t square BARK with “another”.

  30. Jovis: ‘Heading for Bristol’ (B) + one vessel (ARK) = BARK (another vessel)

    got this one ok, but failed to either solve or parse several others – I thought this was v diff !

  31. Many thanks, Mr Beaver!

    Clever clue, but difficult. I don’t think I would ever have got this one as I would always spell it as BARQUE.

  37. Agree with those who found this a little more difficult than some of Orlando’s (I finished it on the way to the pub after work, so I didn’t get a chance to comment yesterday). On the whole I agree that it was another good one. Last in was SPROUT and I’m kicking myself for not seeing the parsing of that – I was trying to convince myself that Prout was an anthologer.

    Thanks to PeterO and Orlando

  38. Thanks Orlando and PeterO
    Found this really tough finishing early hours of Saturday morning – busy weekend meant could only check it this morning.

    Got it all out but could not parse 1d and the DI part of 3d. Also took an age to settle with STANSTED an airport that I didn’t know and was trying to justify ‘slaister’ for an age.

    Three good and tough puzzles for the end of the week.

  39. referring to across no 5.(Sauce, when cold, goes in sort of boat (7))

    can you explain why is when abbreviated as ‘AS’?

    you see i am new to this

  40. UC @39

    AS is not an abbreviation of ‘when’, but a synonym – or near synonym – in the right context (“As I was going to St Ives…”).

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