Guardian 26,500 – Puck

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Some good Puckish fun today – nicely positioned in difficulty, but with a twist…

… as well as some cross-referencing between clues, there’s a theme of clues that are, or use, some of the old CHESTNUTs of crosswords. I can see ORCHESTRA as an anagram of CARTHORSE, MY for “gosh”, DETER GENTS, a charade of four chestnuts in PE NU MB RA, STRESSED as the reverse of DESSERTS, and the famous capital of czechOSLOvakia – there are probably some others as well. Thanks to Puck for the entertainment.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Across
9. ORCHESTRA Company for pitmen‘s frisky 6 11 (9)
(CART HORSE)* – this must count as one of the most famous anagrams used in crosswords, though probab;y too obvious to ever to be used seriously
10. ARENA In Harare, natural amphitheatre perhaps (5)
HIdden in harARE NAturally
11. HORSE Drug mule’s mother (5)
Double definition – slang for heroin; and a mule if a cross between a male donkey and a female horse
12. CHESTNUTS The stale and overfamiliar 22 across on Revolutionary Road (9)
CHE (revolutionary – a bit of a chestnut itself) + ST (street, road) + NUTS (bonkers, in the sense of “mad”)
13. RESIGNS Singer misbehaves — soprano quits (7)
SINGER* + S
14. NAMIBIA Land engulfed in tsunami, biannually (7)
HIddein in tsuNAMI BIAnually
17. ARSON Topless vicar? That’s flaming wrong! (5)
[P]ARSON
19. ROT Go off recipe books (3)
R + OT (Old Testament)
20. KRAAL Early riser takes turn protecting a village in Africa (5)
A in LARK< – a South African word for a village, or an enclosure (cf “corral”)
21. THRUSTS Songbirds with time for explosive lunges (7)
THRUSHES with HE replaced by T
22. BONKERS British 11 12 game — caught out those at it (7)
B + [C]ONKERS – from “bonk” meaning to have sex with (and “at it” also means having sex)
24. CASSOULET Dish thrown out as lost cause? (9)
(LOST CAUSE)*
26. SWEET Group has second number one hit, finally (5)
S + WEE (number one) + [HI]T
28. LYELL Initially, little young Einstein looked like a Victorian geologist (5)
First letters of Little Young Einstein Looked Like. Charles Lyell was indeed a Victorian geologist, and a proponent of uniformitarianism
29. REARRANGE Perhaps make an anagram out of the bottom row? (9)
REAR (bottom) + RANGE (row)
Down
1. GOSH My attempt to keep quiet (4)
GO (attempt) + SH – another chestnut, using “my” as an exclamation
2. ICARUS High-flyer is circling around Rugby (6)
CA RU in IS
3. DETERGENTS Put off toilet cleaners (10)
DETER GENTS
4. STACKS Library books stored here? Loads! (6)
Double definition
5. HAZELNUT Cob (small 11), one unknown to the Spanish teachers (8)
H (small horse) + A +Z (unknown) + EL NUT (National Union of Teachers) – a cob is indeed a small horse, as well a hazelnut
6. CART Barrow by rail, shortly to return (4)
TRAC[K]<
7. PENUMBRA Exercise with Greek character (doctor) and artist (one of the Shadows) (8)
PE + NU + MB + RA
8. BASS Voice in Bottom’s head — where did it come from? (4)
B[ottom] + ASS (what he was turned into, rather than a reference to “talking out of his ass”, I think) – Puck always (?) includes at least one Midsummer Night’s Dream reference
13. ROAST Pan right next to oven (5)
R + OAST
15. MAKING SURE Confirming 11 is outside college at university (6,4)
KING’S (college at Cambridge or London) + U in MARE
16. ATLAS Finally reduced map collection (5)
AT LAS[T]
18. STRESSED Under pressure to serve up 26s (8)
DESSERTS<
19. RUSTLERS Leaves, perhaps, as neat movers also lower knickers for the audience (8)
Leaves rustle, rustlers “move neats” (cattle) and also “nick lowers”, so three definitions
22. BATMAN Cricketer that’s second out — Wayne, the night watchman? (6)
BAT[S]MAN – Batman goes crime-busting at night, and Bruce Wayne is his secret identity
23. EXEUNT Flower given to a French model as they leave the stage (6)
EXE (river) +UN + T
24. COLD Capital of Czechoslovakia (not new or very fresh) (4)
C[zechoslovakia] + OLD
25. OSLO Capital of Czechoslovakia (this one’s also not new or very fresh!) (4)
Hidden in czechOSLOvakia – a very familiar old trick, nicely combined with the previous clue
27. TEEM Bucket down at start of 13th hole? (4)
On a golf course, hole 13 might be said to start at TEE M (after TEE A, TEE B, etc)

44 comments on “Guardian 26,500 – Puck”

  1. Nice puzzle from Puck and thanks for the blog Andrew.

    29a literally gives “oddments”.

    Really liked 19d.

  2. Thanks Puck and Andrew
    Mostly very enjoyable, with 22a and 26a “Pauline”. I didn’t parse TEEM, as I took the T from Thirteenth, leaving “eem” for the hole. BASS was LOI – very nice, though favourite was RUSTLERS (“lower knickers” indeed!) ROAST was another chestnut.

    Minor misprint, Andrew – THRUSTS is HE (high explosive) replaced by T, not just E.

  3. I got sidetracked (wife wanted to discuss shopping!), so forgot to explain “mostly”. Not really a complaint, but the “hiddens” weren’t, very.

  4. Thanks for the blog Andrew.

    Puck’s thumb to the nose for anyone who says that too many setters don’t innovate in their cluing. Lovely stuff.

    Having got the B and T of 22d I couldn’t get Botham out of my head, and even when I saw the answer I took a while trying to mangle the parsing. Felt a right Charlie when I saw it was yet another creakingly old chestnut.

    Thanks, Puck, for reminding us all of our rich heritage – to be celebrated not sneered at.

  6. Thanks, Andrew.

    What a hoot! And a different kind of PDM – from mild surprise that Puck had used several clichés to getting 12ac and the realisation that that was exactly his intention.

    How many of them are clichés depends, of course, on how long you have been doing cryptics and I often say that there are many devices that are too good to be used only once and bear repetition for the sake of newer solvers – with a new twist for those who have seen them before. – [p]ARSON, for instance, made me smile today.

    Although the components of PENUMBRA are all sturdy veterans, I thought it was a clever charade, with a great surface – likewise EXEUNT and the high-flying ICARUS.

    All in all, an excellent master-class for newer solvers with lots of fun to be had for the ‘older’ ones. My favourites today were BONKERS and RUSTLERS.

    Many thanks, as ever, to Puck, for putting me in such a good mood for the rest of the day.

  7. I wonder whether the “lower knickers” in 19D may also have intended an oblique reference to Keats’ “Eve of St. Agnes”, in which “Her rich attire creeps rustling to her knees” as Madeline undresses ready for bed.

  8. Most enjoyable solve of the week! Can usually rely on Puck, of all the Guardian setters, to provide surprises, grins, giggles, whistles and knowing nods in one puzzle. Thanks also to Andrew for an enjoyable and informative read.

    Can you imagine getting such fun out of the Times cryptic? Ingenuity, grins and nods out of the DT Toughie perhaps, but never all the above at once. Thanks again to Puck.

  9. Spectacular indeed! That’s an awful lot all crammed into one puzzle. I’d count “High-flyer” for ICARUS as another of the chestnuts.

    Also in the “was that intentional?” category, 26a is very nearly a clue for NONET, and “neat mover” in 19d could clue RUSTLER in a second meaning, “(US & Canadian, informal) an energetic or vigorous person”. Can we count that as a quadruple definition?

  10. I did enjoy this extremely Puckish puzzle – thanks to him and Andrew – also to 1@morphiamonet for pointing out the twisted Nina (Anni?)

  11. Thanks, Andrew.

    Great to see so many crossword cliches used with such wit and a pleasant dash of lavatorial humour.

    19d was the standout clue for me, just ahead of 26a, 8d and 27d.

    I have never come across the nice anagram for CASSOULET or the perfect charade for REARRANGE, but given the theme of the puzzle I suppose I must just have missed them before!

    Bravo Mr Goodfellow.

  13. Thanks to the merry wanderer and Andrew for the blog.

    Great fun and just the tonic after a visit to the dentist!
    I particularly liked BONKERS, BATMAN and RUSTLERS.

    Looking forward to the next one.

    Giovanna xx

  14. Thanks Andrew and Puck. My newsagent had no Grauns today, so I had to make do with failing the Indie crossword on the commute and doing ths crossword at lunch – but well worth the wait.

    For 27d I had TEAR (T[hirtheenth] EAR; “It’s tearing it down out there”), but that was the only one I really got stuck on.

    I’m probably not the only one to have put OSLO for 24d before seeing 25.

  15. I haven’t been doing these long enough to recognise many of the chestnuts, though even I know ORCHESTRA, STRESSED and DETERGENTS. A nice reminder from Puck that ultimately, every work in English is put together from the same boring old 26 letters. Loved 29a, both 22s and especially 19d – and took forever to spot why TEEM was TEEM. Thank you Puck and Andrew for the blog.

  16. Thanks Puck and Andrew.

    Great fun. Like gladys, I was held up by TEEM. RUSTLERS was my favourite…
    The ODDMENTS, morphiamonet @1, put me in mind of the ‘bottom drawer’.

  17. R+OAST is definitely another of those old chestnuts (Google finds 19 different versions of the clue on fifteensquared.net alone!), and probably one that should join the carthorse at the knackers yard…

  18. What a pleasure . This was such fun . Thank you so much Puck and Andrew. I loved bonkers and batman teem had me confused for ages.

  19. So is “Sweet,” defined as “group,” a reference to the band (“Ballroom Blitz” beimg their best-known song over here)? Or am I missing something else?

  20. I found this mildly unpleasant due to all the chestnuts actually, which unfortunately MAY remind us of certain other Guardian compilers. Disagree re Times not functioning to producing wit, invention etc, that’s just not true. ‘Eccles45’ should get stuck in maybe.

    However, I was surprised not to have any problems with Puck, who usually manages to rub my spines up the wrong way. 12a the sense is a bit weird; 1d ‘to’ must be a link word, or perhaps it’s wrong (SH doesn’t mean TO shut up); 5d ‘to’ as link again I guess; 6d ‘by’ would appear to be a link word of some kind denoting ‘how you get it’, or I’m stumped for why it’s there.

    Hoggie.

  21. mrpenney @19
    I read SWEET as the group (definition by example). The rest of the clue pointed us towards apop group, so I thought it was fair enough.

  22. I made pretty heavy weather of this, but found it fairly enjoyable nonetheless. Last in was BATMAN, mostly because I’d carelessly written CONKERS. Liked ARSON, OSLO, STRESSED, CASSOULET and REARRANGE.

    Thanks to Puck and Andrew

  23. MrP@19. I had SWEET before doing any parsing. See blog for explanation. Nice puzzle. Took me a while to see what was going on but very amusing once the penny dropped. Took LYELL on trust because it seemed obvious and I couldn’t be bothered look it up. Clue for GOSH fooled me for some time but made me smile when it became my LOI.
    Thanks Puck.

  25. Very entertaining puzzle. Like beery hiker @22, my last in was BATMAN, as I had made exactly the same careless mistake!

  26. I got SWEET for 26a with help from 18d. I assume the def is GROUP. I can see where the S and the T come from, but can someone explain where the WEE comes from, please.

  29. Very enjoyable. I still don’t understand the third definition for rustlers. I put in teem but without knowing why; I am not a golfer but I have never heard the holes referred to as tee A, tee B etc..

  30. Thanks Puck and Andrew

    JohnM @ 29: took me ages to see that one as well. Cows moo, or low. So they could be called lowers. People who steal nick things, so they are nickers, but to someone listening (for the audience) that could sound like knickers. So rusters, cow thieves, are ‘lower knickers’! Love it!

  31. Was puzzled and disappointed to start with to see so many familiar clues, and then got 12A… lots of laugh out loud here, very welcome as I was sitting grumpily waiting for my car to be fixed.

  32. Missed some of the felicities in this delightful puzzle (eg the third def in 19d went over my head….) The nina, which I failed to spot despite seeing the obvious steer in 29a, is a little touch of genius. Such fun, in fact, that dear old HH’s niggles fail to irritate, for once!

  33. Like some others I went for conkers rather than going bonkers, but I did appreciate the old-fashioned “chestnut” theme, especially the classic anagram of carthorse.

    However, having read through all of the excellent posts above, I am suddenly told by DP that there is a Nina. I often miss these and feel seriously disappointed, but here I really can’t see it. Please enlighten me, someone.

  34. I didn’t see it either, bob @33, and I’m not sure that it really counts. The bottom line (as indicated) is an anagram of “oddments”.

  35. Sometimes this blog is infuriating. Okay so there may be “chestnuts” in this puzzle – but if you haven’t seen them before, they’re not old or cliched but new and potentially exciting discoveries. If this blog is supposed to be for experts only then sorry to disturb you and I shall waste no more of your time. On the other hand if it is designed to encourage solvers of all abilities, then can we dial down some of the smugness at best and arrogance at worst because it is extremely off putting to the novice.

  36. Pilchards @ 35

    I think that Eileen has summed this crossword up pretty well:

    “How many of them are clichés depends, of course, on how long you have been doing cryptics and I often say that there are many devices that are too good to be used only once and bear repetition for the sake of newer solvers – with a new twist for those who have seen them before. – [p]ARSON, for instance, made me smile today.”

    I’m sorry that you found some of the posts “smug” – would you like to specify which ones in particular?

  37. Pilchards @35, I have been doing these cryptics for about 6 months now. When the word ‘chestnut’ came up I realised it was about ‘stale jokes’. Then I recognised ATLAS and ROAST, answers to clues that I had had problems with in the recent past. I think that there will soon be an answer to a clue where you will groan, saying to yourself ‘but I have seen that before’. Many of the clues here were new and exciting discoveries for me too.

    Sometimes I think we newcomers are the lucky ones, we are not jaded like the old hands.

  38. Whatever one may think of this crossword, for me it’s clear that Puck wrote this puzzle with a twinkle in his eyes.

    Every now and then this setter comes up with something very special, and today it was the 24/25 doublet.
    24d is a normal clue in which everything’s needed for construction + definition (including the (valid) link word ‘or’).
    But then writing a clue (25d), now including the ‘chestnutty’ first part (exact copy) plus being able to use similar words in brackets to make clear what’s going on today (more or less an exact copy), is in my opinion stunning cluemanship.

  40. Oh Pilchards, I think you have to accept that this site is going to be somewhat biaised towards the experts. You can’t expect to join a chat room on Opera and not expect people to use words like Leitmotif. Anyways, I doubt anyone is going to read your or my comments – the keenies have come and gone by mid afternoon…

  41. Morpheus and Pilchards – Well I have! (read your comments) Maybe the ‘keenies’ have been and gone but perhaps, as with so much in life, the best comes last?!

  42. Morpheus @40 – I always read the late comments, and welcome comments from newcomers and experts alike – I think the most important thing is not to take them too personally…

  44. An anagram is not a Nina, it is an accident.

    And what is all this about chestnuts? The puzzle is (supposed to be about) chestnuts, and it therefore relies on solvers knowing a few of them. Yes, if you do not know any then you won’t get it, but that’s not the fault of the blog surely?

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