Guardian 26,331 by Philistine

by

Found this slow going but not too tricky, and with lots to enjoy. I liked the little “theme” of linked clues, as well as 13ac, 16/22 and 25ac.

Across
1 BIPEDS Upstanding characters are as patent in the county (6)
=”Upstanding characters”. I[ntellectual] P[roperty]=”patent” in BEDS=Bedfordshire=”county”
4 INTERCOM Meantime, I make way for firm’s in-house phone system (8)
=”in-house phone system”. INTER[i]M=”Meantime”, with the I making way for CO[mpany]=”firm”
9 RESIGN Syrian leader in power to leave office (6)
=”leave office”. S[yrian] in REIGN=”power”
10 ESPOUSAL States accepted by Poles, perhaps, for adoption (8)
=”adoption”. USA=”States”, inside (Poles)*
11 LIVE AMMUNITION The French, about four in the morning, may start mating with it filling the blanks? Au contraire! (4,10)
=”blanks? Au contraire!”. LE=”The [in] French”, around IV=”four” in Roman numerals, plus AM=”in the morning”, plus M[ay], plus UNION=”mating” around IT
13 GENEROSITY Seeing Troy destroyed by donating a gift, for example (10)
=”donating a gift, for example”. (Seeing Troy)*
14 AGAR Greta Garbo’s agent? (4)
=a thickening “agent”. Contained in “Greta Garbo” – the ‘s is a contraction of ‘has’
16,22 OVERCOME Nearly all of very coy men get beaten (8)
=”beaten”. O[f] VER[y] CO[y] ME[n]
18 VACUUM TUBE Nothing underground is part of the circuit (6,4)
=”part of the circuit”, an electronic component. VACUUM=”nothing” plus TUBE=”underground” railway
21 BLIND MANS BLUFF Line taken by screen devotee about minist­erial residence, almost a game (5,4,5)
=”a game”. L[ine] inside BLIND=”screen” plus BUFF=”devotee”, around MANS[e]=”ministerial [i.e. clergyman’s] residence, almost”,
23 EDIFIERS Teachers’ fire dies out (8)
=”Teachers”. (fire dies)*
24 GIGOLO Escort’s performance at technological centre (6)
“Escort”. GIG=”performance” plus [techn]OLO[gical]
25 KNEES-UPS Joint drinks parties (5-3)
=”parties”. KNEE=”Joint” plus SUPS=”drinks”
26 ANNEXE Sound made by one old lover in the wing (6)
=”wing”. Sounds like ‘an ex’=”one old lover”
Down
1 BARS Chocolate soap? (4)
…BARS can be made either of Chocolate or Soap
2 PASSION Strong feeling includes animated extract from panel discussion (7)
=”Strong feeling”. (includes)*, removed from PA[nel discu]SSION
3 DOGBERRY Might he be 7 5 or 16 22 with 15? (8)
a character from Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, prone to misusing words – he might therefore be CASTING NASTURTIUMS [aspersions] or OVER COME with EMULSION [emotion]
5 NASTURTIUMS Plants possibly turn as one in rising filth (11)
=”Plants”. (turn as), plus I=”one” in reversal (“rising”) of SMUT=”filth”
6 EXOTIC Fancy that is no longer focused on the ear (6)
=”Fancy”. EX=”that is no longer”, plus OTIC=relating to/”focused on the ear”
7 CASTING Sing and act? Resulting in selection (7)
=”selection”. (Sing act)*
8 MALE NURSE Tender rules, almost meant to be broken (4,5)
=”Tender” to the unwell. (rules mean[t])*
12 MRS MALAPROP Might she be 7 5 or 16 22 with 15? (3,8)
like Dogberry, famous for the use of incorrect words
13 GAOLBREAK Escape from Olga? (9)
=”Escape”. GAOL BREAK in crossword-ese might mean (GAOL)*=>”Olga”
15 EMULSION Perhaps milk with muesli made available (8)
=”Perhaps milk’. (muesli)* plus ON=”available”
17 EDIFICE 23 church to replace Queen’s monument (7)
=”monument”. 23=”EDIFI[ERS]”, with C[hurch] of E[ngland] replacing E[lizabeth] R[egina]’S=”Queen’s”
19 UNFROZE Not just tuneless, with zero potential released (7)
=”released”. UNF[air]=”Not just”, less air=”tune”, plus (zero)*
20 ADMITS Gives access to passages round mountain top (6)
=”Gives access to”. ADITS=”passages”, around M[ountain]
22 OVERCOME See 16

40 comments on “Guardian 26,331 by Philistine”

  1. Thanks manehi. At first glance and with nothing crossing I thought ‘blind man’s buff’ for 21A and the buff/screen-devotee indicated it, too. Bothered for a good while I assumed there was this other version, which checking reveals to be a card game, new to me. Otherwise fine, except the plural 1D is weak, and I guessed ‘barr’ as perhaps a TV show.

  3. Thanks Philistine and manehi

    New word for me was VACUUM TUBE and I needed help with the parsing of 20d, 21a, 26a and 2d (LOI).

    My favourites were 7,5 and 6d.

  4. Thoroughly enjoyable for me. Like molonglo, I hesitated over ‘Blind Man’s Bluff’ (rather than ‘buff’) but put it in as it had to be the answer didn’t it. I failed to parse the ‘ip’ element of ‘bipeds’, so thanks for the explanation manehi.

  5. Thanks manehi and Philistine

    I agree with Joseph : what an enjoyable challenge.

    I like to think that 23a and 17d are somehow linked to the theme (edifiers – edifice), as well as 21a (“The traditional name of the game is “blind man’s buff”, wherein the word buff is used in its older sense of a small push. The game later also became known as “blind man’s bluff”; it is possible that this name is a linguistic corruption.”, says Wikipedia).

  6. Yes I always knew it as Blind Man’s Buff as a child and that’s what I filled in till it wouldn’t fit. Had to assume that it is now Bluff.

  8. Thanks for a great blog, manehi.

    I thought this was a lot of fun. I failed to find either Dogberry or Mrs Malaprop funny when I studied them at school, so it’s nice to see them exploited so entertainingly here. [And, of course, our Shed amuses us from time to time as Dogberry in the FT.]

    Lots of nice clues, as always with Philistine. I liked INTERCOM, LIVE AMMUNITION, GIGOLO, GAOLBREAK and EMULSION but top favourite was the wonderfully allusive GENEROSITY.

    [I can’t see any problem with the plural in 1dn, since the clue refers to two kinds of bar.]

    Many thanks to Philistine for a most enjoyable start to the day.

  9. Thanks, manehi.

    i liked the theme, with its famous literary solecists, and (like Eileen) I singled out GAOLBREAK, EMULSION and GENEROSITY for particular commendation.

    However, I’m afraid I didn’t enjoy this as much as most of Philistine’s generally excellent crosswords: some rather clunky clues and meaningless surfaces. Sour grapes, perhaps, as I struggled a bit with the SE quadrant – BLIND MAN’S B(L)UFF was unknown to me (not in Chambers, BTW, but I suppose it might belong in the puzzle as a putative malapropism).

  10. Not bad but not up to yesterday’s standard; but then, that was exceptional.

    NE corner was a nightmare for me. Yes, 1d parses OK, but it’s still weak in my book. Much Ado is a Shakespearean blind spot, so DOGBERRY needed all the crossers and was last in. BIPEDS was just a matter of eventually hitting on the correct abbreviated county, then fitting in a couple of letters without knowing why – thanks for the explanation manehi.

  11. Thanks manehi and Philistine

    Enjoyable. Like George Clements et al. I was puzzled by ‘bluff’ in 21a and by ip in 1a. I liked the linked clues and several others including 6d. Anyone with half an ear knows what semiotic means.

  13. Mrs. Malaprop and Dogberry are certainly welcome after a steady diet of the Rev. Spooner! Thanks Manehi and Philistine.

  14. Thanks Philistine and manehi
    I wonder when a “vacuum tube” was last “part of a circuit”? Things have been “solid state” for at least 40 years, I would think.

  15. Thanks Philistine; nice setting although I can’t say that I really enjoyed the solve, largely due to ignorance on my part.

    Thanks manehi; I thought the ‘ministerial residence almost’ was going to be ‘Down in,’ but when that failed I just put in BLIND MANS BUFFS, although I couldn’t see where the last ‘s’ came from. I guess the correct entry is a malapropism as Gervase @9 says.

    I thought at first the ‘almost’ in 8 referred to rules rather than meant, so I had a bit of a tussle with the anagram. 🙁

  16. Glad I’m not the only one who knew the game as Blind Man’s Buff. I suppose it’s one of these phrases bordering on the tongue-twister that seems to force people into malapropisms, like the incorrect “Scalectrix” or “Klu Klux Klan”.

    A nice theme, however, in a puzzle that was tricky without being unfair. I felt the clue for BARS a little weak, as was the crossing of EDIFICE and EDIFIERS (though it might be, as Manu @5 suggests, linked to the theme), but no other issues.

  17. Thanks Philistine and manehi

    muffin @ 14

    In high end hi-fi there are a lot of (seriously expensive) products which use vacuum tubes, or valves as we know them, as part of their circuitry, including, believe it or not, digital devices such as CD players.

  18. I’m sorry to lower the tone of the discussion but when I saw “casting nasturtiums” and “overcome with emulsion” I didn’t think of Shakespeare or Sheridan. I thought instead of “Take It From Here” and of Mr Glum, played Jimmy Edwards.

    Should I get my coat?

  19. Thanks Philistine and manehi.

    I struggled with this. Not knowing Dogberry at all, and Mrs Malaprop only from Jasper Fforde books didn’t help.

    As to muffin’s comment, vacuum tubes are still used in amplifiers, especially guitar and bass tube/valve amps.

  20. Found this fairly straightforward but entertaining – last in was DOGBERRY (not being familiar with the play I only vaguely remembered it from a previous crossword – spent a while thinking about DAGUERRE, who would have fitted all the crossers but was clearly not going to work). No such problems with MRS MALAPROP, which I got from the last two crossers and the enumeration before I had any of the themed answers except CASTING. VACUUM TUBE was new to me too and I only saw that once I’d unpicked UNFROZE. Liked GAOLBREAK and GENEROSITY.

    Thanks to Philistine and manehi

  21. Thanks to Philistine for an enjoyable crossword, and to manehi for the blog.

    Manu @ 5

    I agree there’s a nod to Mrs Malaprop. There’s a condition known as ” edifice complex ” i.e the habit among those in authority to construct large buildings as a tangible reminder of their legacy.

  22. Quirky number this. I got into a right old Horlicks with the parlour game clue, chucking in ‘buff’, adding an ‘e’ in the hope it might be a Frenchified Italian version, and then (never a bad idea) going back to look at the clue and being unable to get past BUFF as a ‘screen devotee’.

    Funnily enough, just yesterday I settled down with the girl to watch Branagh’s Much Ado, before – but that’s another story…

  23. Did this yesterday evening (U.S. central time), but the blog wasn’t up yet.

    I agree with Eileen that Dogberry isn’t funny. I was in that show, while I was at university, as one of Dogberry’s sidekicks (whose name I forget at the moment)–I doubled as a stagehand, as back in those days I was mostly a backstage techie who occasionally acted (not the other way around). Actors who play Dogberry all seem to try to get the humor out of it via physical comedy.

    Incidentally, you danged Brits can’t spell “jailbreak” or “annex,” which means that those two held me up far longer than they should have.

  24. Apparently Blind Man’s Tower is one of those infantile management games designed to waste everybody’s time on training courses. They’d be better off doing crosswords.

  26. Nice one Philistine. It looked difficult initially but proved surprisingly straightforward. I had to guess DOGBERRY though!

  27. Thanks all
    I was ready to claim this one as rather easy for Philistine, until I came to a rapid halt at the SE corner:15,19 down and 24/26 across.
    There were some delights (2 down, 13 down and especially the misdirection in 16/22 across).
    I did waste some time trying to convince myself that teachers are ‘deifiers’!

  28. I had the necessary GK for this puzzle so it was a straightforward solve for me, and one which I enjoyed. I knew the BLUFF/buff variants so didn’t have a problem putting that one in correctly first time, and DOGBERRY and MRS MALAPROP went in once I had two checkers for each of them even before I’d solved all the linked clues (EMULSION was one of my last answers). My last two in were BIPEDS and MALE NURSE, and both took longer than they should have done because of problems of my own making. I entered BIPEDS from the definition alone, mostly because I continually read “county” as “country”, and that despite wearing new reading glasses! At 8dn it me a long time to get the idea of “milk nurse” (as in wet-nurse) out of my mind and it was only when I parsed the clue properly that I saw the blindingly obvious.

  29. I enjoyed this greatly. It did perk things up as mentioned to have a change from Spooner.

    I’m a bit of a malaprop spotter, especially on BBC News. We’ve had burglars shimmying up drainpipes and all sorts, so thanks Philistine: I hope others pick up the baton.

    Many thanks all.

  30. I’m reminded of our RE teacher, one Rev. Whey, who always pronounced “adult” and “result” as “adote” and “resote”, so we surmised he would indeed pronounce “emulsion paint” as “emotion paint”, a thought with which to conjure, perhaps.

    Cheers all.

  31. A challenging solve which was meticulously clued.

    Nothing much else to be said which hasn’t been said already.

    Thanks to manehi and Philistine

  32. Thanks Philistine and manehi

    Enjoyable puzzle as per normal from this setter and maybe just a tad easier than most by him.

    Haven’t read “Much Ado..” and did not realise that Dogberry was also a malapropist (or should it be that Mrs Malaprop was indeed a Dogberriest”.

    A couple I didn’t parse – 2d (because I forgot to come back to it) and 19d (because for some reason I couldn’t count letters and thought I had to drop a letter from zero!)

    SE was the last section in for me as well.

  33. A really nice puzzle that was, after a flying start, not as easy as it looked at first sight.

    Some had their doubts about 1d.
    Well, ‘chocolate’ is BAR and ‘soap’ is too – here we have two of them, so BARS. With a question mark to indicate that this is not really a ‘double definition’.
    I’m fine with it, yet it’s not a clue I would like to write myself.

    We thought 2d (PASSION) was terrific as was 15d (EMULSION).

    Going back to 1d, having B?R? Philistine could have opted for better things including BURY.
    So what about “Intercity?”?
    Would have been fully in line with Philistine’s style.

  34. Struggled with 1a and 9a having confidently inserted emotion (e-motion)instead of passion at 2d. Thanks to Philistine for a good brainstorming session.

  36. Got stuck in the SE corner. Thought “perhaps milk” as a definition for emulsion was a bit tenuous, but no-one else seems to have been bothered by it! Really liked the gaolbreak clue.

  37. I very much enjoyed this (much preferred to yesterday’s, which I couldn’t get started on). Only unsolved clue was Dogberry, but no complaints.

  38. ulaca @35, Philistien is one of those setters who likes to split up things (in the non-Ximenean way).
    So, with that in mind, “Intercity?” can be seen as a double definition clue: BURY is indeed a “city”, but (as a verb) also a word for “inter”.

  39. On second thoughts, ulaca, I see what you mean.
    One of the definitions of “city” is “a large town usually having a cathedral”.
    Well, perhaps, Bury is not big enough.
    And doesn’t have a cathedral either 🙂

  40. Thanks manehi and philistine. I used all the heavy e-artillery to solve this crossword but solve it I did, with no mistakes. I enjoyed the male and female versions of the same clue and once I’d got the female version I knew there must be a male equivalent, with Shakespeare being the most likely culprit (never heard of Dogberry, so that involved a bit of ‘research’). Despite being a male nurse, I struggled a bit with that clue. What’s the anagrind in 15? Is it ‘made’?

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