Guardian Cryptic 26566 Picaroon

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(Please click here for this same blog but with a picture quiz added. Please do NOT post hereinbelow any comment relating to the picture quiz. Thank you.)   An enjoyable puzzle, tricky in some parts. Thanks to Picaroon. Definitions are underlined in the clues.

Across

1    It’s round 17 (8)

CIRCULAR : Double defn: 2nd: A kind of advertising material, answer to 17 down.

5    King interrupts subject to give some latitude (6)

TROPIC : R(abbrev. for for the Latin “Rex”;king) contained in(interrupts) TOPIC(the subject being discussed, written, etc).

Defn: … , geographically, either one of two.

9    Diviner love cherished by men dancing with grace (9)

GEOMANCER : O(letter signifying 0;love in tennis scores) contained in(cherished by) anagram of(… dancing with …) [ MEN + GRACE].

11    Kid with special trick taking one in (5)

SCION : S(abbrev. for “special”) + CON(short for “confidence trick”) containing(taking … in) I(Roman numeral for “one”).

12    Investment in capital? Add in scavenging for riches here (8,4)

ALADDIN’S CAVE : Hidden in(Investment in) “capital? Add in scavenging “. Well and truly hidden.

15    Writer‘s love movie (4)

OVID : O(letter signifying 0;love in tennis scores) + VID(short for “video”;a movie).

16    Pound forged after Poles provided assistance for coppers (7,3)

SNIFFER DOG : Anagram of(Pound) FORGED placed after(after, in an across clue) [ S,N(abbrev. for the South and North Poles, respectively) + IF(provided;conditional on).

18    They seize someone‘s genetic material to implant in swimmers once (10)

KIDNAPPERS : DNA(abbrev. for “deoxyribonucleic acid”, the chemical compound that carries your genetic information) contained in(to implant in) KIPPERS(which were once fish;swimmers, before being cured).

19    Country where Picaroon tried to get elected (4)

IRAN : I(pronoun for the setter, Picaroon, self-referentially) + RAN(stood for election).

21    One taking cap off batsman following balls (6,6)

BOTTLE OPENER : OPENER(in cricket, the player who starts the batting for his team) placed after(following) BOTTLE(courage, slang for which is “balls”, as in “Does he – Ed? – have the balls to do it”).

24    Curl shot by goalposts for rugby pitch (5)

LURCH : Anagram of(… shot) CURL plus(by) H(the capital letter that describes rugby goalposts).

25    Excite one female – pick extremely racy clothing (9)

ELECTRIFY : [ I(Roman numeral for “one”) + F(abbrev. for “female”) ] contained in(… clothing) [ ELECT(to pick;to choose via the majority vote) + the 1st letter and the last letter of(extremely) “racy ” ] .

26    French girl, back from Normandy, almost given the once-over (6)

YVETTE : The last letter of(back from) “Normandy ” + “vetted”(given the once-over;screened) minus its last letter(almost …)

27    Way of playing with pets round – and another pet round (8)

STACCATO : Reversal of(… round) CATS(pets, perhaps) + CAT(another one those pets) + O(letter signifying a round shape).

Defn: … a, or part of a, musical piece.

Down

1    Overheard two thirds of security service is guarded (4)

CAGY : Homophone of(Overheard) the 1st two letters of(two thirds of) KGB(abbrev. for the security service of the former USSR).

Defn: Being cautious and wary – an alternative spelling.

2    Accommodation‘s low rent initially raised (4)

ROOM : Reversal of(… raised, in a down clue) [ MOO(to low, as a cow does) + the 1st letter of(… initially) “rent “].

3    American president takes line that’s practical (6)

USABLE : US(abbrev. for things American) + ABE(short for Abraham Lincoln, former US President) containing(takes) L(abbrev. for “line”).

4    High percent, on acid, likely to have a bad trip (8-5)

ACCIDENT-PRONE : Anagram of(High) PERCENT, ON ACID.

6    Touching a celibate woman, one who’ll fight back (8)

RESISTER : RE(touching on;with reference to) + SISTER(a celibate woman in a religious order).

7    Royal couple’s courts (10)

PHILANDERS : [ PHIL AND ER ](short for Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh and abbrev. for “Elizabeth Regina”, the royal first couple)‘S.

8    Member of coalition getting near to forming a coalition? (10)

CONVERGING : CON(abbrev. for “Conservative”, a member of the last British Government coalition) + VERGING(getting near to, as in “… verging on anarchy”).

10    Bridle because setter provides stress (13)

REINFORCEMENT : REIN(to bridle;to restrain) + FOR(because;since, as in “He was devastated for he was not elected”) + CEMENT(the substance that sets when dry).

Defn: That which gives emphasis to.

13    A poster plugging weak musical style (10)

ROCKABILLY : [ A + BILL(an advertising poster) ] contained in(plugging) ROCKY(weak;uncertain as in “a rocky relationship”).

Answer: A popular music style combining features of rock and hillbilly music.

14    Property of fruit topped with pastry – go wrong with turnover (4-1-5)

PIED-À-TERRE : [ DATE(a fruit) placed below(topped with) PIE(a pastry) ] + reversal of(… with turnover, in a down clue) ERR(to go wrong).

Defn: A flat, house or other lodging for temporary or occasional use.

17    Newspaper’s erotic advertising (8)

MAILSHOT : MAIL(Daily, British newspaper)‘S + HOT(erotic).

Defn: … material sent through the post.

20    Muscle spasm produces acid sort (6)

PECTIC : PEC(slang for the pectoral muscle) + TIC(a muscular spasm or twitch).

Defn: … chemically derived from the carbohydrate, pectin.

22    In China, millions wanting return for capital (4)

LIMA : Hidden in(In) reversal of(… wanting return) “China, millions “.

Defn: … city of Peru.

23    Mistake, the 15th kind from reporter (4)

TYPO : Homophone of(… from reporter) [ “type”(kind;sort) “o”(the 15th letter of the English alphabet) ].

(Please do NOT post hereinbelow any comment relating to the picture quiz. Thank you.)

46 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 26566 Picaroon”

  1. Very hard work to start with, but I eventually got there. ALADDIN’S CAVE was very clever, and there were some other excellent clues including KIDNAPPERS, BOTTLE OPENERS and PHILANDERS. Many thanks to Picaroon and scchua.

  2. Thanks Picaroon and scchua

    I found this quite difficult (especially in the NW), but satisfying. I particularly liked 16a (nice misdirection – I thought “forged” would be the anagram indicator), 18a, 21a and the straightforward but well-constructed 10d.

    Slight question mark over the definition “philanders” = “courts”. I think a philanderer has a rather more dubious reputation that a “courter”!

  3. Thanks Picaroon and scchua;

    Like muffin I found the NW corner the most difficult; I did not help myself by hastliy writing in roof, bairn and reindorsement for ROOM, SCION and REINFORCEMENT before realising they would not parse, but did not fall into the trap at 21a of ED for balls seeing that he has not been re-elected.

    ALADDIN’S CAVE was really well hidden, ane I did like SNIFFER DOG and KIDNAPPERS. 20d, was it necessary to add ‘sort’?

  4. ‘Philanders’ made me groan. Not many comments as yet. Are we all suffering from a late night?

    Thanks to Picaroon and scchua.

  5. I really enjoyed this puzzle, and not for the first time I struggled to get on Picaroon’s wavelength. Once I was there most of the clues were cracked relatively quickly, but my last two, the crossing 12ac/7dn, took considerably longer. I finally saw the excellently hidden ALADDINS CAVE, and then the penny finally dropped for PHILANDERS, although you can count me as another who doesn’t normally associate courting with philandering. A tip of the hat to Picaroon nonetheless.

  6. scchua: the ‘racy’ is missing from the clue in 25a [Sorry Mike P – I’ll change my moniker]

  7. Thanks MikeP. Blog amended – blame it on a dodgy keyboard that did a cut and paste instead of a copy and paste.

  8. Thanks all
    Very tough and I failed to complete the NE corner.
    I could not parse Yvette even when she started at 4am appearing all over the media.

  9. Thanks all
    Very tough and I failed to complete the NE corner.
    I could not parse Yvette even when she started at 4am appearing all over the media

  10. I thought I would never smile again after the nightmare and lack of sleep from last night, but Picaroon came to the rescue on a long journey north. SNIFFER DOG, ALADDINS CAVE, KIDNAPPERS and the magnificent PHILANDERS were among those which made life worth living once more. Thank you, Picaroon.

  11. I wholly concur with Trailman. There are few things other than a good crossword that can offer consolation immediately after a disaster. Food lacks relish, the arts seem futile, but a clue such as PHILANDERS allows for a little spark of pleasure nevertheless.

  12. On a normal morning, this would have been a delight, but as it is it just cheered me up a bit – Picaroon on top form again. Last in was OVID, which I liked, along with ALADDIN’S CAVE, REINFORCEMENT and CONVERGING. PHILANDER is becoming something of a chestnut, but is just about forgivable.

    Thanks to Picaroon and scchua

  13. Okay one from Picaroon. Much better than yesterday’s Boatman 😀

    The letter ‘A’ is used when it is not needed two or three times, which I find annoying. 9a ‘cherished’ I don’t buy as a container ind; 11a the abbrev is not known to me; 18a the apostrophe indicates what exactly? I can’t make it parse; 1d splitting the homophone like that is rather bitty; 4d needs a QM IMHO.

    But not bad on this depressing day for our country.

  14. I think MikeP has precedence over Mike P as I’m only a sporadic commentator here. I’ll change my nom de net for this purpose.

  15. Is PHILANDER an oldie? Certainly a goody, and – as noted – a welcome chuckle on an otherwise chuckle-free morning. Terrific hidden answer at 12ac. Didn’t manage to parse YVETTE. And surely STACCATO is not a piece of music (nor part thereof) but a stylistic instruction, meaning separated, though usually understood simply as short?

  17. Thanks for the link BH. I see that the blogger on that occasion refers back to an even earlier use by Araucaria, so there’s a distinguished history!

  18. DP@15 – you are right: staccato is a way of playing, as the clue correctly indicates.

    Like others this cheered me after a depressing night – especially 7dn.

    Beery Hiker @16 – this reminded me that we haven’t seen Gordius for a while: he used to be quite regular.

  19. I had great difficulty getting started, but REINFORCEMENT, then ACCIDENT PRONE (though “high” for an anagram was new to me) got me going along with ALADDINS CAVE. Last in was MAILSHOT (not a term found in the US). Thanks to Picaroon and scchua.

  20. DP@15 & Marienkaefer, to clarify my comment: The ellipsis indicates a continuation of the definition. I know that staccato is not a (nor a part of a) musical piece, but a way of playing it.

  21. HIGH I’m not sure about. It can mean ‘off’ in the ‘rotten’ sense which I suppose is okay-ish. Yesterday’s had UP which is used to mean ‘wrong’ as in ‘what’s up with you?’ and again I’m not knocked out.

  22. Thank you scchua and Picaroon

    My favourites were 1d, 2d, 4d, 19a, 27a, 14d and especially 7a.

    I needed help to parse 23d

  23. I thought “high” was all right as an anagram indicator, as in “he was high;drunk on …..”

  24. Similarly with “cherished” as a containment indicator, as in “cherished;held dear”.

  25. I loved this–lots of cleverness. Got to it late this morning, having had a late night playing bridge and euchre at a friends’ home. I hadn’t seen the PHILANDERS construction before; great. The well-hidden ALADDIN’S CAVE, the misdirections all over the place in REINFORCEMENTS (an old charade, but with every part cleverly clued).

    Kind of surprised that no one’s pointed out that a rein and a bridle aren’t the same thing. But that’s the kind of quibble that, if made too often, makes a man turn into a mean curmudgeon, especially when the clue “bridle” appeared in in turned out so nicely.

    Hedgy @21 and ACD @19: I’m sure you’re okay with “drunk” as an anagrind, so why not “high”? Same concept.

  26. I found this difficult to begin with but I suspect that was partly as a result of the Tory horror that has been inflicted on us by a clearly deranged electorate. Also I managed to answer 13dn with ROCKSTEADY rather than the, obviously better, ROCKABILLY. But once I corrected that the rest came rather easily. So a rather satisfying crossword which cheered me up a little- although I may never smile again!
    Thanks Picaroon.

  27. Re “rein” and “bridle”: I (and I’m sure, the setter too) read them as verbs, not as nouns.

  28. P.S. So it’s true: most Guardian readers (and crossword solvers) are Labourites. A comment from an outsider

  30. scchua

    Thanks for the clarification: I missed the dots (a dd for staccato in themselves perhaps….

    I also forgot to thank you and Picaroon.

  31. Yeah, drunk, well it gets a lot of use. We know what it means, as some will always say.

  32. Thanks sschua @27. And sorry for making such a tack-y mistake; hope it didn’t stirrup too much trouble. Having saddled you with various puns, I’ll now ride off into the sunset (until tomorrow).

    (But not before saying this to the depressed: remember, it’s just five years. You’ll live. And hey–if it turns out badly, that’ll make it that much easier to win the next time around.)

  33. mrpenney, no apologies needed for your@25. The puns though, might be a different story. 🙂

  34. Presumably, UKIP is now consigned to the Far Age from whence it came? Incidentally, the Iron Lady is reported to have said “UKIP if you want to, this lady’s not for kipping”.

    But back to the crossword… I think Aladdin’s Cave is great – but has this never been spotted/used before?

  35. Terrific puzzle. Philander for court seems fine, if you take the latter as a euphemism for the process.

    Who needs an election when you have the BBC exit poll? That girl in Scotland makes Pitt looks geriatric.

  36. Thanks Sshua and Piccaroon for lifting the gloom today. But like the polls I thought I had got it right only to find three wrong answers! Off cycling across Europe next week crosswording and cycling. It will be a great escape. Oh and favourite was 7d.

  37. Thanks, scchua.

    Too sad to comment earlier or in more detail but, just for the record, the classic [or, at least, the first time I encountered it] clue was Araucaria’s, for PHILANDER: ‘Royal couple are fllrting’, which I remember vividly, as I laughed out loud on a coach trip as I solved it. I haven’t been able to find it in the archive, which perhaps means it’s even longer ago than I thought it was. Coincidentally, I’m going with the same group’s annual coach trip tomorrow.

    Thanks, as always, to Picaroon, for lifting the gloom at the loss of so many good people.

  38. I too enjoyed finding so many clever constructions on a day when I needed distractions. I particularly liked KIDNAPPERS, ACCIDENT PRONE, PHILANDERS, REINFORCEMENT and PIED-À-TERRE. It took me a long time to spot ALADDIN’S CAVE hiding there, and also to realise that the rugby goal posts were H (though that seems obvious in retrospect).

    scchua @28 – Labour for Westminster (failed), but Green for local council (succeeded) so some small consolation there.

    MrP @32 – some of us are concerned that in 5 years time there will have been so much damage that some cherished institutions will be near impossible to resuscitate, and that for some of the sick and disabled 5 more years of dealing with an unfair benefits system may be too much.

  40. Very nice clue construction and ALADDIN’S CAVE was a cut above,

    The NE section fooled me for the longest time. Good stuff though!

  41. I had CAROUSEL for 1a, having at the time got the first three crossers, but not the fourth (A). A carousel is round, and describes a stand we use for advertising, so that was ok. Then I got the letter A when I cracked 4d which left me changing to CAROUSAL, and wondering how to reconcile it all. CIRCULAR never occurred to me.
    Otherwise, a tough solve, I found
    Thanks to Picaroon and scchua

  42. I enjoyed this as ever with Picaroon.

    The acrosses looked forbidding on the first pass but when I reached the downs the answers came regularly and the puzzle was soon completed.

    Meticulous cluing and lots of great clues all of which have already been mentioned.

    I personally had a great night’s sleep and woke to a beautiful morning. Although the weather did deteriorate towards late afternoon my spirits remained high.

    This crossword was a bonus as well as the fact that we do have a government with a workable majority and thankfully we don’t have a buffoon as PM. 😉

    Happy days!

    Thanks to scchua and Picartoon

  43. For 1d, did anyone else go down the track of two thirds of A G E N C Y? I realise now that it ignores overheard.

  44. Kevin @ 43

    I went one better by semi ignoring “Overheard” and breaking the “rules” of partial words.

    It was obviously CAGY so my CA came from two thirds of CIA followed by GY which I assumed “sounded like” something relating to “is”!! *Perhaps “GY” was the Outer Mongolian word for “is” I surmised, 🙂

  46. Thanks Picaroon and scchua

    A backlog puzzle that for some reason I found a little easier than usual from this setter – maybe it was because it was done in the ‘witching hours’ after being awoken early by kookaburra laughter.

    Anyway, still a lot to like with it ! Nothing better than the extra well-hidden ALADDIN’S CAVE – I got this early on and saw that ADD IN was involved and then wasted ages trying to find a capital scavanger for ALSCAVE … it was only when I was focused on finishing the NE corner that the hidden run-on was discovered – superbly clued. Liked YVETTE as well.

    Finished with IRAN (don’t know why that was so hard to get earlier), SCION (the tricky definition did it) and the delightful PHILANDERS last in.

    A couple of new terms with PECTIC and MAILSHOT.

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