Guardian 26,608 / Picaroon

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Once again I get to blog a Picaroon puzzle – and I’m still not complaining! Lots of innovative and witty clues, as usual, with lovely surfaces throughout, making a most enjoyable and amusing solve. I’ll leave you to highlight favourites – there are too many for me.

Many thanks, Picaroon.

Across

1 Content of buggy fits in express (7)
SATISFY
Anagram [‘buggy’] of  FITS in SAY [express]

5 Criminal not close to Batman and Joker (7)
GAGSTER
GA[n]GSTER [criminal] minus last letter [close] of batmaN

9 Bohemian heroine touring a US resort (5)
MIAMI
MIMI [heroine of ‘La Bohème] round [touring] A

10 Vehicles in cold conditions avoid roads (3-6)
SKI-PLANES
SKIP LANES [avoid roads]

11 Disturbing people leading us (9)
UPSETTERS
UP [leading] + SETTERS [us]

12 Daft game, programme and tune end thus (5)
INANE
Game, programme and tune all end IN AN E

13 Noon? That’s correct (5)
AMEND
Noon is when AM ENDs

15 Journalist withdrawn before amazing action — it’s terrible he’s resigned (9)
DEFEATIST
Reversal [withdrawn] of ED [journalist] before FEAT [amazing action] + an anagram [terrible] of IT’S

18 Behaved like Luis Suarez? He’s no star! (3,6)
BIT PLAYER
Apparently, Suarez bit three players!

19 Write off to leader of legion about soldiers once held in reserve (5)
TOTAL
TO + L[egion] round TA [soldiers once held in reserve]

21 Admission from person turned on by men and women’s feet (5)
IAMBI
I AM BI – admission from person turned on by men and women – hilariously unexpected definition!

23 Abstinence accepted by useless English lover (9)
VALENTINE
LENT [abstinence] in [accepted by] VAIN [useless] + E [English]

25 Spooner’s curious admirer provides kitchenware (6,3)
FRYING PAN
Prying fan – curious admirer

26 How South American promotes growth in Nicaraguan oil (5)
GUANO
Hidden in nicaraGUAN Oil

27 Performer in Paris, in street, twirling (7)
DANSEUR
DANS [in Paris, in] + reversal [twirling] of RUE [in Paris, street] – ‘in Paris’ is also part of the definition – nice one

28 Thus ringing, press number for operator (7)
SURGEON
SO [thus] round [ringing] URGE [press] + N [number]

Down

1 A young mother’s knocked back liqueur (7)
SAMBUCA
Reversal [knocked back]of A CUB [a young] + MA’S [mother’s]

2 Passing tennis shot after cunning returns (9)
TRANSIENT
Anagram [shot] of TENNIS after a reversal [returns] of ART [cunning] – super surface

3 Slope behind South Pole (5)
STILT
S [South] + TILT [slope]

4 OK, exchange rate divided by 500 and unknown number in the sixties (9)
YESTERDAY
YES [OK] + D [500] in [dividing] an anagram [exchange] of RATE +Y [unknown]

5 Problem about admitting current profit (5)
GAINS
Reversal [about] of SNAG [problem] round [admitting[ I [current]

6 Germany’s leader: “My sole desire” (in stereotypical German accent) “is to go pleasure-seeking” (9)
GALLIVANT
G [Germany’s leader] + ALL I VANT  [my sole desire – All I want, in a stereotypical German accent] – a lovely word

7 Asian monarchy running government amid cheers (5)
TONGA
ON [running – like a tap] + G [government] in TA [cheers] a reminder again of Queen Salote of Tonga, who delighted the crowds at the 1953 Coronation by riding in an open carriage, despite the rain

8 Honour and spirit elevating sappers (7)
RESPECT
SPECTRE [spirit] with RE [Sappers] moved to the beginning [elevated]

14 Flirtation with date followed by coupling (9)
DALLIANCE
D [date] + ALLIANCE [coupling]

16 Outstanding features, in the main beneficial to antelopes (9)
FORELANDS
FOR ELANDS [beneficial to antelopes]

17 Involved in scam? Back out, along with mischievous Greek (9)
INTRICATE
IN TRIC[k] [scam, minus its last letter  – back out] + ATE [Greek goddess of mischief]

18 Informed dairy product gets scoffed (7)
BRIEFED
BRIE [dairy product] + FED scoffed]

20 Rest of song now animato (3,4)
LIE DOWN
LIED [song] + an anagram [animato] of NOW

22 Old American‘s vote not to put up dam to the north (5)
MAYAN
Reversal [put up] of NAY [vote not] with MA [dam] first – to the north in a down clue

23 Reptile‘s big noise, touching back (5)
VIPER
VIP [big noise] + reversal [back] of RE [touching]

24 UKIP man not quite right in foreign country (5)
NIGER
NIGE[l] [Farage, UKIP man, minus his final letter – not quite] + R [right]

78 comments on “Guardian 26,608 / Picaroon”

  1. Thanks Picaroon and Eileen

    I enjoyed this, though not as much as his superb Prize of May 23rd (download it if you haven’t done it!)

    TRANSIENT was superb – I saw the ART straightaway, then spent some time thinking of all the names of tennis shots I could.

    1d and 3d would work better as across clues?

    6d a bit clumsy, and rude perhaps?

    20d was a challenge, as the version I printed out included HTML tags – even more confusing as I couldn’t see that the “span” ones would do anything. I thought that Picaroon had invented an entirely new sort of clue – until I checked in the actual paper!

  2. Thanks Eileen. I was staggered by 7D, last in – had to cheat then to confirm this was let through by the editor as “Asian.”. Hawaii qualifies better for that geographical description..

  3. Thanks Picaroon and Eileen.

    A most enjoyable crossword, as Eileen says too many favourites to list, so I will start with INANE, IAMBI, INTRICATE, TRANSIENT and stop at FRYING PAN!

    If TONGA is an Asian monarchy (Australasia) then so is the United Kingdom (Eurasia).

  4. Another excellent Picaroon puzzle, IMHO. I started slowly, most of it then fell into place at a decent rate, but my last four answers, the crossing DEFEATIST, FORELANDS, VALENTINE and INTRICATE, seemed to take an age. To be honest I didn’t even think about whether or not “Asian” was the correct geographical term for Tonga.

  6. I must be thick, as I still can’t parse 22d. How does the clue require the removal of the D from Dam?

  8. Thank you, Eileen, excellent blog to a fine puzzle.

    Needed you to parse TONGA. Still don’t quite understand why this is Asian or Asian Monarchy.

    Couldn’t quite see why ‘once’ was included in the TA reference of TOTAL but I see that the Territorial Army was renamed Army Reserve in 2012.

    I’m clearly not as PC as others and found GALLIVANT hilarious. It’s only rude if you mean it be – my German friends will love it I assure you.

    Had to read up about the biting striker – nice clue.

    Your mention of Queen Salote reminds me of the famous quote re her and her diminutive escort wrongly attributed to Noël Coward. He is alleged to have been sitting under cover from the heavy rain with Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent at the Coronation in London in 1953. Opposite them was the vast Queen Salote of Tonga. Princess Marina is supposed to have asked “Noel, who is that little man sheltering under Queen Salote’s umbrella?” Coward is said to have peered through the rain and said “Oh, her lunch, my dear.” In a later interview with Walter Harris, Coward revealed it had been said by someone at White’s Club and was immediately attributed to Coward. “It was very flattering of course, except that I had intended to visit Tonga the following winter, and after that of course it was quite impossible.”

    Nice weekend, all.

  11. Roddy and Cookie

    You’re not being asked to remove an M from Dam: it’s the other meaning of dam [ = mother = MA].

  12. Thanks to Picaroon for a splendid crossword and to lucky Eileen for the blog. Too many favourites to list as I am really supposed to be working.

  13. [William @8, my Dad was a marine engineer and checking out a friend’s large yacht one day in Wellington harbour barged into the saloon; a very large lady was sitting there with her feet up and she asked him to join her for lunch, it was Queen Salote.]

  16. This is very good. Only a small number of irritations not worth mentioning, over whelmed by the quality. I like this compiler very much.

  19. Thanks Eileen. I initially found it a bit of a struggle to secure a foothold, mainly I think because, unusually, there wasn’t a single complete Anagram in the whole puzzle (5 little Anagram fragments). But it was very much worth the exertion, as there are some delicious clues here – as ever with the wonderful Picaroon.

    I loved the little flurry of ‘read-out-loud’ clues, such as “I AM BI”, “IN AN E” and of course zee splendid “ALL I VANT” (childish but fun!).

    Great stuff – thanks to both.

  20. Great puzzle – and it gets the thumbs up from HH! Too many good clues to list. Many thanks to Picaroon and Eileen.

  21. My only objection is 7 down; Tonga is quite definitely not in Asia – it is in Oceania, and was probably formerly in Australasia. So, I suggest …
    Pacific monarchy running government amid cheers (5)

  22. Not too hard for us mortals. Tried to make two other words out of SONG NOW until the penny dropped, surely I can’t be the only one. Didn’t twig the parsing of RESPECT, so thanks Eileen.

    I’m sure I’ve seen IAMBI clued in something like this way a couple of times before. Or is it just my imagination?

  23. Hi Trailman

    I’ve found these –

    from Io:
    Feet the setter swings both ways? (5)

    and Brummie:
    Declaration of one’s sexual orientation used in a poem? (5)

    [IAMB, IAMBI, IAMBUSES and IAMBIC have all been clued in more sedate ways by other setters.]

  25. I really enjoyed this puzzle – so many clues to mention as favourites!

    My favourites were 25a, 1a, 27a, 13a, 18d, 21a, 28a – and my special favourites were 18a, 6d, 8d, 12a and 16d (LOI).

    I could not parse 10a.

    TONGA did not immediately spring to mind as being an Asian country, but the entire region is now often referred to as “Asia-Pacific” so it did not worry me either as an Australian nor as one who happens to live in Asia at the moment. I think that there are also several countries that are referred to as being both West Asia and Middle East in everyday usage. I’m not explaining this very well, but I guess you know what I mean!

    Thanks Picaroon and Eileen

  26. I found this rather a struggle, but a very enjoyable one which I finally managed to fully parse (with quite a few PDMs and TTMs along the way). As others have said, there are too many good clues to select just a few favourites.

    Thanks to Picaroon and manehi.

  27. Thanks Picaroon and Eileen

    Don’t think that he has set a bad puzzle since he joined the Guardian stable – continues to produce top quality and entertaining challenges There are some like that recent Prize one as muffin@1 that just get to an even higher state.

    Started in the bottom right with GUANO and finished down there when SURGEON went in. Had been thinking that the country down there was NIGER, but it took a while for the penny to finally drop that NIGEL FARAGE was the defining help that I needed.

    Many good clues …. although I had a shaky head with the Asian TONGA too.

  28. Top quality, from Picaroon: tough, with many delights such as inane, iambi, danseur, transient, respect et al

    First in was Miami (are there any other Bohemian heroines?); much later was Tonga (possibly affected by Continental drift?).

    Thanks to Picaroon and Eileen.

  29. Enjoyed this very much. Unlike with some other setters, I find I have to work at Picaroon’s puzzles from the beginning rather than having a few write ins to start me off. None the worse for that though. Too many favourites to list although GALLIVANT deserves a special mention. And surely this is quite inoffensive?
    Thanks Picaroon

  30. Peter @29 and William earlier.
    I am a little uncomfortable about making fun of anyone’s accent. Having said that, a German friend of ours (ex English as foreign language teacher) loves “Allo Allo”, and has the complete set on DVD.

  31. Thanks Eileen, apologies for delay, just got back from shopping. I thought there were others. Hope it doesn’t get to be too much of a hoary old chestnut.

  32. Regarding gallivant, I think the wordplay is funny enough to justify it, and including stereotypical in the clue should remove any lingering offence.

    I’m not German myself, but I am sure their fabled sense of humour would help them cope with any upset the clue might cause. In a wider context, I do believe offence is taken rather than given in most cases, and I’m not going to take offence on behalf of someone else; cf. Muffin’s friend, referred to in post 30.

  33. How does Song = Lied please?

    Does anyone have a decent website for beginners? The website I’m looking for would be great if it had a list of indicator words ??

  35. SO [thus] round [ringing] URGE [press] + N [number]

    Dont quite understand that either? Round [ringing] ?

  37. Yes – round = around = ringing (closely enough to work)

    I suppose that lied might need a knowledge of German, but on the other hand, “lieder” is a word often used in English – songs of Schubert, Mahler, Wolf etc. etc.

  38. Whether Tonga is Asian or not and whether ze Germans should be offended or not, I can only say: this is how you write crosswords.
    Some setters are just better than others – superb!

  40. @ 35 RedSoules

    All I can say is keep at it, and remember things like these: experience helps us get better at this, and intuition. I used not to know that lied meant song, and now I do, and there are dozens of other examples like this. I could have done with a website like this one when I was starting out. Or any website come to think of it!

  41. Fantastic replies thank you all.

    @1961 Blanchflower @40

    Really? how well are you now at Crosswords? Cam you tell me a litle bit about the experience you’ve have with them? Perhaps just copy and paste my Q’s with A’s?

    1. Whats the mean time you think it takes to to finish a crossword, and what is the difference from when you started? (in time)

    2. How did you manage to get better? (was it people on here, a training method you used, tips from books?)

    3. Do you think your clarity of thought, and overall knowledge has improved since doing cw’s?

    Anyone else feel free to use that question template, I’d love to hear your experiences so that I can use them to build my own.

  43. @42

    Hi Eileen!

    I’m currently at work so some parts of that website don’t actually work for me here! 🙁

    I do most of my crosswords at work as well; at my desk. I have a whiteboard, the internet, coffee and 5 hours to solve Cw’s.

    I will read up and learn as much as i need to in order to actually complete my first cryptic. It is very hard to do when you don’t actually know how to solve each clue. Thus, my training will begin.

    I don’t suppose anyone can actually do cryptics without fundemental knowledge of how they work? i.e anagrams, indicators, containers, reverse… etc..

  44. Thanks, Picaroon and Eileen. Great fun and too many favorites to list! Needed parsing for Inane and Viper. Still don’t get why touching is RE

  47. I’ve been living in Germany for ten years, and am as close to certain as I can be that the wordplay in 6d would not cause offence at all. German humour (yes folks; it does exist) is very self-deprecating and Picaroon and Hugh needn’t get out the worry beads.
    Thanks for a great blog, and once again to Picaroon for another highly enjoyabe puzzle

  48. @43 recommend you buy Chambers Crossword Dictionary and read Don Manley’s “Crossword English” in the first few pages. Don is a famous setter himself with multiple avatars.

  50. @48

    Ok, i’ll take note of those and purchase them immediately. Are they guide books or do they contain guides + puzzles ?

  51. @Red Soules
    It’s good to see that you’re getting precisely the same advice as you were given a month or two ago on the Guardian site when you asked precisely the same questions; it shows admirable consistency on the part of people who want to help.

  52. @51

    Yes… The answers were not nearly comparable… If you say they are, then perhaps you could copy and paste the evidence here?

    No need to objectify me here, in fact, your comment really didn’t need posting, you could have kept those thoughts to yourself…

  53. @50 The dictionary itself will be useful to solve apart from the intro on Xwds by Don on various types of clues. Don’t buy a used one as the latest edition contains info on indicators like anagram, hidden, deletion etc. Best pastime in the universe. Enjoy!

  55. @53

    Thanks Ilippu, Sound advice – Hopefully I’ll be able to compete at a better speed in the future.

  56. @55. You are welcome! I don’t read comments in Guardian site, so I don’t know of your previous requests for help. It is equally important to look at answers the next day, read the blogs here and learn why you could not solve any clue.

  57. RedSoules @ 41 I kept records for a whole year 20/Feb/2003 – 20/Feb/2004; you can see the times I took and difficulty ranking of the various setters myweb.tiscali.co.uk/daves1/Xwords/XSummarysummarised.doc

  58. @56 For a while I’ve been looking at the answers on here and working backwards. I’d literally never done a crossword until a few months ago. Still learning much of it, and I don’t do them often enough, Although I do them at work everyday, I’ve only recently started Cryptics as opposed to synonym crosswords.

  59. @58
    I tend to find “Quicks” frustrating when compared with Cryptics – at least with the latter you can be fairly sure when you have the right answer; this is often not the case with the “Quicks”.

  60. @57 wow Dave.
    Fantastic. Just opened it and suprised at the data.

    I’ll make my own one starting next week. I can track my progress; Is this what you did too? How do you feel you are nowadays ?

    Did you use the tools and applications others have mentioned in previous posts?

  61. @59

    Good point! To be honest, I usually had a thesauras with me, and used basic logic to conclude a words syn. from the beginning letter and length. But quite right you are.

    Are the guardian the hardest CW or are independant/times/sun etc… harder?

  63. @61
    On the whole, of the dailies, the Guardian crossowrds are the most rigorous, so often not as difficult as, say, the Times (and the Telegraph you are often left thinking “can that really be the answer?”).

    However there are lots of considerably more difficult ones – usually weekly (e.g. Azed, Mephisto, Listener etc.).I don’t attempt those unless desperate (I did once finish a Mephisto).

  64. used loser @ 33, 35, 36, 41 (cont p94 passim)

    Are you going to take the piss on every site you turn up at?

  67. @65 I=E/R is an equation in Physics where I is current, E is voltage and R is resistance in a circuit.

  72. Hi Rosemary @71

    I put ‘buggy’ in inverted commas because I thought it wasn’t a real word but I’ve now found it in both Collins and Chambers as ‘infested with bugs; crazy, batty’.

  73. @71 & 72

    Also, if your computer was “buggy” it would probably scramble everything: it seems a pretty reasonable anagram indicator to me.

  74. @45 muffin
    Yes, I am a Spurs fan from the Double era as it happens. I’m not sure how I have two user IDs on this site (1961Blanchflower being the other). One or the other just appears when I start a reply.

    @64 Simon S
    Thanks for the tipoff. I was about to be hooked into wasting time responding to earlier questions. I’m no Araucaria but: “Internet nuisance found in patrol: loser.” [5]

  75. I’m very late to this one – didn’t have much of a lunch break yesterday and ended up doing most of this in the pub after work, so it’s not as fresh in the memory as it should be. As always with Picaroon, an entertaining challenge.

    Thanks to Picaroon and Eileen

  77. If Tonga is in Asia, Greece is in North America (probably wish they were).
    Ridiculous! Australia accepts being part of Asia, Tonga does not. The definition is patently wrong.

  78. I meant to mention that I saw feet->iambi immediately, since it is less than two months since Picaroon included this one in a prize puzzle:

    Concerned with feet pains, doc’s baffled (8)

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