Guardian 26,439 by Chifonie

by

The puzzle may be found at http://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/26439.

I thought this at the easier end of the Guardian spectrum, but with some nice ideas, and just the kind I am happy to see when it is my turn to blog.

completed grid
Across
7 FRIGHTEN
Shock for Tory in Slough (8)
An envelope (‘in’) of RIGHT (‘Tory’) in FEN (‘slough’).
9 TEASER
Ridicule setter ultimately for puzzle (6)
A charade of TEASE (‘ridicule’) plus R (‘setteR ultimately’).
10 ACID
Sarcastic American detectives (4)
A charade of A (‘American’) plus CID (‘detectuves’).
11 EXTRACTION
Trace toxin circulating in blood (10)
An anagram (‘circulating’) of ‘trace toxin’. Good misleading surface.
12 REWARD
Embarrassed about battle for payoff (6)
An envelope (‘about’) of WAR (‘battle’) in RED (’embarrassed’).
14 REDCOATS
Old soldiers scared to regroup (8)
An anagram (‘regroup’) of ‘scared to’.
15 SCRAPE
Clean fight with oriental (6)
A charade of SCRAP (‘fight’) plus E (‘oriental’).
17 SMALLS
Arcade aboard ship supplies underwear (6)
An envelope (‘aboard’) of MALL (‘arcade’) in SS (‘ship’).
20 APPARENT
A president has cause to be clear (8)
A charade of ‘a’ plus P (‘president’) plus PARENT (’cause’).
22 SCREAM
Second-best comic (6)
A charade of S (‘second’) plus CREAM (‘best’).
23 GUESTIMATE
Judgement of visitor with current partner (10)
A charade of GUEST (‘visitor’) plus I (‘current’) plus MATE (‘partner’).
24 PITY
Ruth‘s heartless devotion (4)
A subtraction: PI[e]TY (‘devotion’) minus its middle letter (‘heartless’).
25 MENAGE
People mature in a family unit (6)
A charade of MEN (‘people’) plus AGE (‘mature’).
26 THE ASHES
She hates broken sporting trophy (3,5)
An anagram (‘broken’) of ‘she hates’.
Down
1 CRACKERS
Mad cyber criminals (8)
 Double definition; Chambers does give the second, I suppose as an alternative to hackers.
2 AGED
By no means all stage directors are old (4)
A hidden answer (‘by no means all’) in ‘stAGE Diretors’.
3 ATTEND
Go to listen (6)
Double definition.
4 AT RANDOM
Foreign money found in scrap by chance (2,6)
An envelope (‘found in’) of RAND (‘foreign money’) in ATOM (‘scrap’).
5 FAST BOWLER
Sportsman lent a hat (4,6)
A charade of FAST (‘lent’) plus BOWLER (‘a hat’).
6 RETORT
Soldier gets wrong answer (6)
A charade of RE (‘soldier’) plus TORT (wrong’).
8 NOTARY
Sailor in drama with youth leader and official (6)
An envelope (‘in’) pf TAR (‘sailor’) in NO (Japanese ‘drama’) plus Y (‘Youth leader’).
13 AIR MARSHAL
Flying officer‘s demeanour harms prince (3,7)
A charade od AIR (‘demeanour’) plus MARS (‘harms’) plus HAL (‘prince’).
16 PREMISES
Propositions made in place of business (8)
Double definition.
18 SCANTIES
Examine fastenings of women’s underwear (8)
A charade of SCAN (‘examine’) plus TIES (‘fastenings’).
19 STUART
Foolishly trust a royal house (6)
An anagram (‘foolishly’) of ‘trust a’.
21 PAUSES
Father takes advantage of breaks (6)
A charade of PA (‘father’) plus USES (‘takes advantage of’).
22 SKEWER
Transfix king found hiding in drain (6)
An envelope (‘found hiding in’) of K (‘king’) in SEWER (‘drain’).
24 POST
Pole position (4)
Double definition.
*anagram

46 comments on “Guardian 26,439 by Chifonie”

  1. Sweet and elegant as ever from Chifonie – his economical style seems a bit like that of Rufus (but without those single-entendre DDs!).

    Many thanks to both – a very pleasant solve at five in the morning.

  2. Thank you Chifonie and PeterO. Every day is a school day, as they say. Japanese drama was a sadly neglected part of my school curriculum,
    I don’t want to be a fusspot but are no one else’s hackles in any way affected by Slough = slough / lent = Lent ?

  3. Thanks Chifonie and PeterO
    Some oddities here. I don’t see why “parent” = “cause”; I’ve never heard of CRACKERS as CYBER criminals (safe-crackers, yes); I don’t think the “in” in 8d is fair as the TAR isn’t “in” NO – it’s between the NO and the Y.
    I did like FRIGHTEN (I think capitalisation or not is fair game, Tom), PITY and AT RANDOM.

  4. @muffin

    Parent = Cause is definition 6 in Chambers (“A cause”). Although I agree, I’d never heard of it.
    Cracker – definition 7 in Chambers (“Someone who illegally breaks into a computer system“)
    8d – it’s “drama with youth leader” = NOY, with “Sailor in” NO tar Y.

  5. Thanks Limeni
    Obscure meanings, then – I think I’m excused!
    Still not convinced about 8, but I suppose your parsing does give some justification to the clue – though the normal spelling of the drama form is “noh”.

  7. Strangely unsatisfying, I think because of the briefness of the clueing – more like a “super quickie”. Don’t like the obscure definitions (eg parent) much either, but it did give the grey cells that essential early boost. Thanks to both.

  8. Thanks Chifonie & PeterO

    muffin @ 3 / Limeni @ 4

    In 20 I think PARENT is ’cause to be’, not simply ’cause’, so a simple biological verb!

  9. Thanks both. While “hacker” has been the more mainstream term for a cyber-criminal for a good while now, “cracker” has long been used (and often preferred) by members of the computer science community. Indeed, I’ve known at least one person who’d take umbrage, for some reason, at a cracker being referred to as a hacker.

    My last two in were the 24s, not helped by it being unclear if Ruth or the devotion was heartless, and in the end I had to resort to the Thesaurus. I don’t think that I’ve ever heard “ruth” in that context except as part of “ruthless” – one of those words which, like “gormless”, “feckless” or “reckless”, we rarely hear the root word. Perfectly fair, though, in my opinion.

    A quick solve but by no means unpleasant. I imagine this is one to please those new to cryptics.

  10. Thanks Chifonie and PeterO

    This boosted my confidence. Whizzed through it, so don’t feel so new to cryptics now.
    Like muffin, as regards Slough and lent, I think capitalization or not is fair game.
    I liked FRIGHTEN, NOTARY and EXTRACTION (this did hold me up for a little while).

  11. @John Appleton: hacker was indeed once a term of approval among computer people, with the original meaning of a talented programmer. In fact it goes back further, see Steven Levy’s book “Hackers”. Unfortunately it was subverted by clueless journalists (hard to believe I know) so the community came up with cracker as an attempt to label the criminal element. Unfortunately it hasn’t really caught on.

  12. Thanks Chifonie & PeterO.

    At the Quiptic end of the spectrum with a few obscure words. I note that Collins and Chambers both give ruth=pity as archaic.

    Tom @2; I think it is always allowable to add ‘false’ capitalisations. What is more of a no-no is to take away a capital from a proper noun (although I’ve seen that done also 🙁 )

  13. What others say, plus: boring. Well, it was for me.

    My main thought on it is, if you are going to be ‘easy’ then don’t spice up with obscurity – it grates for style, and smells of ‘difficult for difficulty’s sake’.

  14. Poc @11: Thanks for that explanation, the difference makes sense now. Perhaps a shame that language has gone with the way of the popular press, but against (what was presumably then) a niche community, hardly a surprise.

  17. Re the so-called ‘false capitalisation’.

    I have read somewhere that while a word (proper noun) that takes an initial capital letter must necessarily have it in the clue, but a word that doesn’t take a cap may be capped.

    In which case the term ‘false capitalisation’ means something.

    When a word loses its capital, is it not ‘decapitation’?

    Anyway, what is the well-accepted practice?

  18. Isn’t it as you say? Words that NECESSARILY have a capital MUST be left alone, while those that do not can be toyed with?

    I find it really annoying when the cap is removed where it shouldn’t be.

  19. Pretty much what we expect from a Chifonie – a straightforward puzzle (pule?) with smooth surfaces, so ideal for a Monday or a Quiptic. Last in was MENAGE. Failed to parse NOTARY but that had to be right once the crossers were in. Liked POST if only because of its conciseness.

    Thanks to PeterO and Chifonie

  20. Thanks to PeterO for the blog.

    On 12a I think the clue is weak: equating one battle with a war is wrong.

    On 8d it took me a long time to remember Japanese plays. I have seen both NO and NOH so I was happy with that one.

    On 24a I hate clues of the form (part1) heartless (part2) where you have to wait for the crossers to determine which part has the heartless operator applied to it. 🙁

  21. Rishi @17

    Firstly, thanks to hedgehoggy @18 for giving the “rule” – I have difficulty remembering which way is forbidden. As you might gather, I am in the camp which will take either way as fair misdirection. In any case, I think Chifonie is on firm ground in both examples here. I would certainly capitalize the Slough of Despond; and, among its definitions of ‘lent’, Chambers gives “any period of fasting” – and the OED gives examples of this usage without a capital.

    I did note in the blog the definition of CRACKERS because I found it unusual; thanks to John Appleton @9 and Poc @11 for providing some history on this. I thought ’cause’ for PARENT, although not perhaps everyday, was not sufficiently unusual to merit a comment.
    I will correct 19D. Since muffin @6 and logophile @15, to whom thanks, have indicated it clearly, I will bury the slip in an unmarked grave.

  22. beery hiker @19

    I spilt wine on my laptop keyboard, and have to remember to use a soft keyboard for z, x and c. Only I occasionally forget. That too will be corrected.

  23. I’m a little surprised that nobody has commented on the spelling of GUES(S)TIMATE – I had only ever seen it previously with a double S but a quick Google search confirms that the alternative is now common usage…

  24. Thanks Chifonie and PeterO.

    In my youth I dubbed my cousin Ruth, “Calamity <surname>” – which she was of course thrilled about. 😀

    PeterO @22
    Be advised that a laptop keyboard that’s suffered a spillage and has some keys not working can damage the motherboard. What causes those keys to stop working is almost certainly a short circuit, which needless to say is not desirable anywhere inside a computer. However, if you’re feeling adventurous and prepared to take the risk you may be able to recover it. I’ve done this twice and it worked both times. Strip the keyboard out of the laptop; soak & swish it in hot soapy water to try and dissolve any conductive deposits; rinse in clean water (preferably distilled, but at least filtered – especially if you’re in a hard water region); shake off the excess water then dry it with hot air using a hairdrier or fan heater; sit it on top of a hot radiator for a few hours (the longer the better) to allow any remaining moisture to evaporate; put it back in the laptop and away you go… hopefully!

  25. Ruth = pity was new to me, but got it from the crossers, Surely Lent does not = fast!

    Anyhow completed 3 days on the trot, a first for me.

  26. [Nancy Blackett, captain of the “Amazon” in the Arthur Ransome books, was christened “Ruth”, but changed her name on being told that Amazon pirates were ruthless.]

  28. Quite a lot easier than it first appeared. I thought GUESTIMATE was misspelled too and it certainly looks wrong but I didn’t look it up.LOI was PITY which, incidentally, is described as archaic in the Oxford Concise. I didn’t parse FRIGHTEN or NOTARY. Both were obviously right but I never thought of NO = NOH and I have to admit the upper case S in SLOUGH did throw me. Fair enough though.
    Thanks Chifonie.

  29. Angstony @24

    Thanks for the warning. The laptop is a MacBook, which requires special tools just to get into it. I had been considering getting a set, and will certainly now look into it – although it may be that if I did get the thing open I would have to replace the keyboard altogether – possible but expensive and difficult.

    Hammer @25

    The uncapitalised sense of ‘lent’ that I gave @21 above surely fits the bill.

  30. Not my favourite kind of clues, I must confess, but Guardian Crosswordland has a rich and varied palette. Favourites were GUESTIMATE despite rather dodgy spelling, and SCANTIES.

  31. PeterO @22, one of my sons once spilt his gin and tonic over the keyboard. It seemed a hopeless case. Then I remembered Harvard once had a flood in its underground book stacks. They freeze dried the books. I put the key board in the deep freezer, and it has been fine ever since.

  34. Thanks Chifonie and PeterO

    An enjoyable, but not all that hard a puzzle. This is what you expect from Chifonie – a straightforward and neatly clued offering. Finished down in the SW with APPARENT and it’s unusual meaning of parent / cause the last one in.

    Didn’t parse FRIGHTEN properly …

  37. Yes, congratulations to BillingeRobbo! I suggest you try the Mondays’ Rufus if you haven’t done so. It might increase your hit rate. If it’s any consolation, I don’t complete most of them – but for some reason I do normally finish the Saturday Prize ones. I think that because they are prize crosswords they are probably vetted more carefully and dodgy clues don’t get through.

  38. PeterO @29
    Yes, Macbook keyboards are notoriously difficult to get out as you’ve got to remove just about every internal component to get at it and then it has gazillions of retaining screws. To be honest, if you have to go to all that trouble to get the keyboard out, it would probably make sense to replace it as a matter of course anyway.

    Cookie @31/32/33
    Hmm… I can understand how freezing wet books would be useful to inhibit mould growth and ink bleed prior to careful drying, but I don’t think it’s a particularly good idea for wet electronic devices. Water isn’t removed by freezing, it’s simply made into a solid, so it will still be there after thawing.

  39. Angstony @ 38, it works a dream. When I try to dry things in other ways, the water evaporates only to condense on the surface above. Just look at a breast of chicken kept in the deep freeze, the outside goes horribly white and dry after a time, even if wrapped in plastic. It is called freeze drying.

  41. An idea. Angstony gives a pretty dismal picture about removing the keyboard. If things get impossible, why not try just dipping the keyboard in distilled water keeping the laptop upright all the time. Then dry it by Angstony’s method. Probably not possible to freeze, or heat to too high a temperature, or the memory etc may be affected?

    Perhaps there are other computer parts under the keybord though, oh dear.

  43. Angstony & Cookie

    Thanks for the advice. Despite being a bit of a klutz, I enjoy playing Mr. Handyperson, and I may try replacing the keyboard sometime. However, I have enough alternatives to get on perfectly well without that laptop.

  46. Cookie @39
    There is a lot more to freeze-drying than just freezing. It’s a complex multi-phased process that requires temperatures typically 30-60° lower than that which any normal household chest freezer could achieve, and sophisticated equipment to control the process which makes the water content sublimate and condense away from the material being dried. Trust me, I’ve worked as an engineer in food processing plants, just popping something in your freezer at home is not going to remove water in anything like the quantities required for ‘drying’.

    Moreover, water expands as it freezes and that can cause serious structural damage to materials and components. The same can be said for water vapour produced by heating, which is why I recommended using a hairdrier or fan heater and the relatively low radiated heat emitted from the top of a radiator, rather than putting it in an oven. The idea is to simply promote gentle and steady evaporation using warm air streams.

Comments are closed.