Guardian Cryptic 26619 Picaroon

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Thanks to Picaroon. Once I got going, it was an enjoyable solve. Definitions are underlined in the clues.

Across

1    Cloistered away, hiding name that is embarrassing (12)

INCONVENIENT : [IN CONVENT](where one would be cloistered away from the world) containing(hiding) [ N(abbrev. for “name”) + I.E.(abbrev. for “id est”;that is) ].

Defn: Awkward, if made known.

8    Cockney’s picked up booze and amplifier (7)

EARDRUM : ‘EARD(as a Cockney would say “heard”;picked up) + RUM(a sort of booze).

9    Golfer welcomes hit leaving one closer (7)

TIGHTER : TIGER(golfer Woods) containing(welcomes) “hit” minus(leaving) “I”(Roman numeral for “one”).

11    Love 100 lines that’s part of Gettysburg address? (3,4)

ZIP CODE : ZIP(zero;love in tennis scores) + C(Roman numeral for 100) + ODE(poetic lines).

Defn: Part of the full postal address for one in the USA, in Gettysburg, for example.

12    Emperor‘s house with entrance to palace past it (7)

LEOPOLD : LEO(one of the astrological houses) plus(with) the 1st letter of(entrance to) “palace” + OLD(past it, allegedly).

Defn: … of the Holy Roman Empire.

13    Family members back in part of church (5)

APSIS : Reversal of(… back) SIS,PA(short names respectively for father and sister;family members).

Answer: A term for the more familiar “apse”.

14    Frank has wrong number around radius (9)

OUTSPOKEN : [ OUT(wrong;away from what it should be) + N(abbrev. for “number”) ] containing(around) SPOKE(a radius, as in a wheel).

16    Feature of Oxford: quiet dons in the morning, working alone (9)

ASHMOLEAN : SH(an interjection requesting for quiet) contained in(dons) AM(abbrev. for “ante meridiem”;before noontime) + anagram of(working)ALONE.

Answer: … Museum, attached to Oxford University.

19    Power remains with American governor (5)

PASHA : P(symbol for “power”, in physics) + ASH(remains after burning) + A(abbrev. for “American”).

Defn: … in the Ottoman Empire.

21    Not a call girl’s problem (7)

DILEMMA : “dial”(to place a call on the phone) minus(Not) “a ” + EMMA(a girl’s name).

23    Boy inhaling grass is unpredictable (7)

ERRATIC : ERIC(a boy’s name) containing(inhaling) RAT(a grass;a betrayer).

24    Objects to exhibit, dropping first and second (7)

RESENTS : “present”(to exhibit) minus its 1st letter(dropping first) plus(and) S(abbrev. for “second” in time notation).

25    I really drink hard, needing elementary variety (7)

ISOTOPE : I SO(really, as in “you’re so right”) TOPE(to drink hard, excessively and habitually).

Answer: One of two or more forms of the same chemical element (with the same atomic number, but different mass).

26    Shop where sales enticed swarms (12)

DELICATESSEN : Anagram of(… swarms) SALES ENTICED.

Down

1    Storms into lead from inspired run, with game points (7)

IRRUPTS : The 1st letter of(lead from) “inspired” + R(abbrev. for “run”, in cricket scores) plus(with) RU(abbrev. for “Rugby Union”, the game) + PTS(abbrev. for “points”).

2    Wanting to know scoundrel’s keeping promise (7)

CURIOUS : CUR(a scoundrel)‘S containing(keeping) IOU(acronym from “I owe you”, a promise to pay).

3    Myself and I, when in Rome (6,3)

NUMBER ONE : Cryptic defn: Reference to “I” the Roman numeral for 1.

4    Sexy? It’s bold to strip off for acclaim (5)

EXTOL : “Sexy? It’s bold” minus the respective outer letters of each word(… to strip off).

5    Pouring shot for cliquey set (7)

INGROUP : Anagram of(… shot) POURING.

6    Time in the city, year off to make business contacts (7)

NETWORK : T(abbrev. for “time”) contained in(in) “New York”(the US city) minus(… off) “y”(abbrev. for “year”).

7    National fervour to interrupt heartless neoconservative ramble (3,9)

NEW ZEALANDER : ZEAL(fervour) contained in(to interrupt) [ “neoconservative” minus all its inner letters(heartless …) + WANDER(to ramble) ].

10    Manage to catch Ed Balls admitting current employment problems (12)

REDUNDANCIES : [ RUN(to manage, eg. a business) containing(to catch) ED ] + DANCES(balls;social occasions) containing(admitting) I(symbol for electrical current in physics).

15    Money is English pound, perhaps (9)

TENDERISE : TENDER(what’s offered as legal payment, especially money) + IS + E(abbrev. for “English”).

Defn: …, a piece of meat, say.

17    “Yes” to reform adopted by ugly place, a small state (4,3)

HOLY SEE : Anagram of(… to reform) YES contained in(adopted by) HOLE(an ugly place, like a dwelling or town).

Answer: State of the Vatican City, see of the Pope.

18    Old Turk‘s twist on Islam (7)

OSMANLI : Anagram of(twist) ON ISLAM.

Defn: … of the Ottoman Empire.

19    Dangerous, mean and almost rotten (7)

PARLOUS : PAR(mean;the average) plus(and) “lousy”(rotten) minus its last letter(almost …).

20    Park behind road’s end in city, after one’s reversed (3,4)

SIT DOWN : The last letter of(…’s end) “road” contained in(in) TOWN(a small city) placed below(after, in a down clue) reversal of(… reversed) [ I(Roman numeral for “one”)‘S ].

Defn: … or place your bottom on a seat.

22    Boatman may have you thus puzzled (2,3)

AT SEA : Cryptic defn: Where you may, literally, be with a boatman. Boatman is, of course, one of the crossword puzzle setters in the Guardian.

41 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 26619 Picaroon”

  1. I enjoyed this puzzle and proceeded smoothly. I needed help with the parsing of DILEMMA but otherwise found my way through. Thanks to Picaroon and scchua.

  2. Thanks Picaroon and scchua

    When my first entry was 22d and my second the obscure anagram OSMANLI, I thought that this would be hard work. However, even more than usual, letters placed made solutions of others much easier, so in the end it took about the normal length of time. I didn’t parse IRRUPTS, so thanks for that.

    Lots of lovely clues. Particular favourites were 1a, 11a, COTD 21a, and 10d (how will compilers manage without him?).

  3. An enjoyable puzzle, and thanks scchua for your help in parsing the ‘dial’ in 21a, and the ‘dances’ in 10d. In 20d, are ‘city’ and ‘town’ synonymous and thus interchangeable? I’m not entirely convinced.

  5. @MikeP raises an interesting question whether ‘city’ and ‘town’ are really synonymous.
    In speaking or writing we do keep nice distinctions in the use of synonyms.
    Some thesauruses have elaborate notes on the use of synonyms with illustrative sentences. Those nuances cannot be brushed away.
    However, in crossword clues we often see mere substututions of one word for another just on the strength that they are entered in the synonyms list.
    Preciseness in clue-writing may give the game away.
    It will be interesting to see what other Commenters think.

  7. Rishi @5, Collins defines “city” as a large town. In any event, it is only in the UK that “city” denotes a formal status distinct from other towns. I certainly think it is fine to clue “town” by saying “city,” even if not necessarily the other way round.

  9. Apart from being a fine craftsman of the satisfying clue, Picaroon has absolutely nailed the skill of pacing – which must be an even harder art to master.

    As scchua and muffin mention, his crosswords raise the pulse as you fear you might never get going (must be worse if you are the blogger!), but then there is that lovely exponential acceleration as the answers slowly start to emerge and then come rushing out towards completion. Very satisfying.

    And, for me, what makes the process enjoyable, rather than being merely ‘challenge by grim ordeal’, is that his definitions are accessible – which somehow allows you to enjoy the wordplay-solving more.

    {end of eulogy}   :)

    Many thanks to both.

  10. Thank you scchua and Picaroon

    There was so much to enjoy in this puzzle. I really liked ERRATIC, EARDRUM, DILEMMA, ASHMOLEAN & NEW ZEALANDER. These were some of the earlier clues that I solved and my enjoyment increased as I progressed through this puzzle, so I can add that my favourites were REDUNDANCIES, LEOPOLD, EXTOL, TENDERISE, ISOTOPE (LOI).

    New words for me were OSMANLI & APSIS, and I needed help to parse 3d.

    My only quibble would be that 5d might have been better clued with a hyphen (2-5) IN-GROUP rather than without (7).

  11. Overall a great puzzle. Thanks to Picaroon and scchua.

    At the risk of sounding too technical, I question eardrum as amplifier. I would think the internal parts (anvil etc.) were the amplifiers.

    While I know several persons of Turkish ancestry with the name Osman. 18d still gave me trouble. Eventually, it was a toss-up for the last 2 letters. (the joys of living in a multicultural country)

    25a is a great clue and it gave me a smile.

    I was going to echo Ian @4 until I saw scchua @6. scchua, all is forgiven. But I do enjoy your picture puzzles and strongly disagree with all those who waged a war against your going beyond the call of duty in providing them.

  12. PS

    Am I the only person who looks at both versions of scchua’s blogs (with and without picture puzzle)?

    Sorry, cookie, I know you do.

  13. Thanks Picaroon and scchua.

    Welcome back, scchua. I was getting rather worried about you, and on Tuesday was going to contact someone for news, but then saw that you had blogged the FT crossword. I don’t remember you saying you were going away.

    I had to struggle with parsing today, and needed help with some clues. PARLOUS (perilous) was a new word.

    ZIP CODE, TENDERISE, NUMBER ONE, ASHMOLEAN, EXTOL and so many others were enjoyable.

  14. Excellent clueing making for a very enjoyable puzzle. The favourites I marked were
    1a (cloistered away..),
    21a (not a call girl..), lovely
    3d (myself and I..),
    10d (Manage to catch Ed Balls) very clever
    15d (Money is english pound..)

    but I liked more, eg “picked up booze” in 8a and the reference to Boatman in 22d.

    pity about “swarms” in 26a, “cooks” or similar would have provided a semi&lit.

    Many thanks Picaroon and scchua for a great review

  15. Lovely stuff. EARDRUM and ISOTOPE reminded me of yesterday’s UTOPIA. Lawks.

    OSMANLI and APSIS were new to me, but well clued. As an irritable atheist, I slightly resent having to learn more than I do about churches, but I guess that is churlish. The “heartless neoconservative” in 7dn reminded me of the budget yesterday 🙁

    ASHMOLEAN was a clever clue with its “quiet dons in the morning” a great disguise; and for some reason I find it an attractive word anyway. NUMBER ONE (I, when in Rome) was another pleasing piece of trickery.

    Thanks to Picaroon and scchua.

  16. Thanks scchua and Picaroon
    An excellent puzzle as others have noted. A master of disguise! Very elegant clueing.

  17. Thanks Picaroon and scchua

    Another fine, fun puzzle. We do seem to be getting a lot at the monent, whatever the more curmudgeonly observers may say.

    1961Blanchflower @ 15: I too am a longstanding atheist, but I love to visit churches and other religious buildings to marvel at the mindset that built such marvellous edifices with relatively simple tools. And they built them in less time than it would take to get planning permission today. 😉

  18. Lovely puzzle, although I must admit I didn’t like EARDRUM – “Cockney” clues should imply something spoken, but the start of EARDRUM rhymes with “beer”, while ‘EARD rhymes with “bird”.

    Glad Ed Balls is still getting cruciverbal work! Truly, his name was a blessing to setters everywhere.

  19. Simon S @17
    Actually, I agree about churches, I was just being prickly for no good reason. Well someone on here has to do it.

    And some of those old religious centres like the Vatican, St Paul’s, Notre Dame etc are marvellous places, full of architectural and artistic delights, and a nice sense of history and tranquility. Caravaggios on the walls in small churches in Rome: incredible. Shame about the unproven supernatural stuff that inspired/paid for them.

    Your point about planning permission strikes a chord with us Spurs supporters: our new stadium (announced once more yesterday) is taking as long as the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona!

  20. This was quite enjoyable. Osmanli was a new word for me, and I had forgotten about the Ashmolean, though both words were clued unambiguously, so went in easily enough.

    For the record, the zip code for Gettysburg, PA, is 17325. It’s a little-known fact that ZIP is an acronym (Zone Improvement Plan, if I recall correctly). Americans, who have also mostly forgotten this fact, stopped capitalizing it almost immediately.

    On the city vs town thing: it’s true here too that “city,” technically, should refer to a municipality with a certain form of government (defined by state law, thus defined in various ways), whereas “town” is generic. It’s true also that town implies something smaller than city. But it’s also the case that “city” can be opposed to “country,” and thus can refer to all but the tiniest settlements. At the other end of the spectrum, think of Sinatra singing that Chicago was “my kind of town,” or the Stones telling us that “sleepy London town” is no place for a Street Fighting Man. In short, depending on context, the two words are (or can be) loosely synonymous.

  22. Kevin @12, as well as Ian SW3 and myself, muffin, Shirl, JollySwagman, cyborg, Robi and Freddy usually have a go at scchua’s Quiz.

  23. Thanks, scchua and Picaroon. I too enjoyed this, especially “Ashmolean.” New for me were apsis and Osmanli. Amazing that Muffin got that one right off!

    Ian SW @7, the UK is not alone in officially differentiating towns and cities. That happens in the US, too, probably varying by state. In Connecticut, at least, there are 169 towns, 20 of which are incorporated as cities (I just looked that up in Wikipedia). In New York, county maps designate every municipality as a “city” or a “village”, all of them being within an area of land called a “town.” I’m sure there are forty-eight other variations in the remaining states.

  24. I never seem to have much of a quarrel with Picaroon puzzles, because they are well-written. To me this is a much better puzzle than yesterday’s jerking, lurching, spluttering thing with many technical issues. Mind you, a ‘Philistine’ excuses itself for being ignorant of such things I suppose.

    Well done Picaroon!

    hh 😀

  25. You can add my name to that list. I always have a go but don’t often get to contribute. Very enjoyable nevertheless.

  26. Valentine: New Jersey has cities, boroughs, and townships; each has a different definition, and all places in the state are part of one of those three. In Indiana, a municipality may choose to incorporate as either a city or a town, with cities having a more elaborate governing structure; the term “village” implies an unincorporated place under the default county government. Illinois has city, town, and village as possible types of local government, but village is less cumbersome than town, so more places opt for village government than the town format. This results in idiotic things like the Village of Schaumburg, a Chicago suburb with nearly 80,000 inhabitants. The fourth state where I’ve lived, Massachusetts, I never learned much about in terms of local government structure.

    So yes, state law varies widely. And all (with the possible exception of Hawaii, which is very odd in terms of local government) recognize a distinction between cities and other types of municipalities.

  27. Another polished and entertaining crossword from the ever-reliable Picaroon. First pass didn’t offer much but once a few helpful crossers were in place it gave way fairly smoothly with APSIS last in. OSMANLI was unfamiliar but guessable from the fodder. Liked EARRDUM, ZIP CODE, ASHMOLEAN, ISOTOPE and PARLOUS.

    Thanks to Picaroon and scchua (welcome back)

  28. Not nearly such an effort as the last two,and thank goodness for that. Not that I didn’t have my troubles; I decoded 3d as needing a response in Italian, so entered NUMERO UNO (I’d feel daft if it wasn’t even Italian). Eventually 14a set me on the right path.

    More favourite clues than Tuesday and Wednesday put together, ASHMOLEAN top of a big heap.

  29. Valentine @23
    OSMANLI was the only obvious anagram in the puzzle, and there weren’t all that many pronounceable words to look up!

  31. Well, I found this rather difficult. Certainly harder than yesterday. However,it all went in eventually.My parsing wasn’t all it might be I’m sorry to say. OSMANLI was my FOI. My LOI was PASHA-which seems quite apposite. I was amused by ZIP CODE and for that matter NEW ZEALANDER.
    Not the most enjoyable puzzle I’ve ever done.
    Still, thanks Picaroon.

  36. It’s been a stressful day. In the middle of packing for moving next week, the washing machine decided to stop mid-cycle, half full of water. That was eventually resolved, but it didn’t put me in the best frame of mind for successfully solving a tricky puzzle. That said, the clues were fair and solving them was satisfying.

    LOI was 13a. I saw the possible construction earlier, but I didn’t believe it as I only knew “apse”, not APSIS. Eventually I gave in, searched online and found it was a synonym. I couldn’t fully parse NEW ZEALANDER. The ZEAL part was obvious, the NE reasonably so, but for some reason I still didn’t recognise that WANDER was in there.

    It is hard to pick favourites from so many good clues, but they include INCONVENIENT, ZIP CODE, ASHMOLEAN, DILEMMA, REDUNDANCIES and SIT DOWN.

    Thanks to Picaroon and scchua.

  37. Limeni @9: quite agree about Picaroon’s style and pacing. Another very satisfying solve; failed on Leopold.
    Not the forum for other topics really, so (merely in order to maintain balance) here’s a voice for the believers.
    @19: there’s more than one thing that’s about glory, and I’m with you about Spurs. 🙂

    Thanks to scchua & Picaroon

  38. shroduck@18

    EARDRUM: I don’t think of Cockney as a homophone indicator, merely an H-deleter. Am I wrong? The clue is clever because “picked-up” misleadingly suggests a homophone indicator, but that is not its function in the cryptic reading.

  39. In 12 across Leo is not a house of the zodiac. Leo is a sign of the the zodiac. Houses and signs are two entirely different things.

  40. Thanks Picaroon and scchua

    Did finish this one on the day and enjoyed it as I do all the work of this setter. Couldn’t parse NEW ZEALANDER – had the ZEAL but unsuccessfully went down the track of splitting ‘neoconservative’ into two words to generate NEW and some other combination of ‘conservative ramble’.

    The last couple in were LEOPOLD (in which I still have trouble discerning what is a ‘house’ and what is a ‘sign’ in astrology) and REDUNDANCIES (which just didn’t come to me for ages, even with all of the crossing letters).

    OSMANLI was my second or third in – although I can’t recall why I would know that ! Hadn’t seen TOPE for ages in puzzles and here it appears in consecutive days after Philistine’s Cockney version.

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