Guardian 26,655 by Puck

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The puzzle may be found at http://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/26655.

I followed a red herring when my first entry was 1D TOP HAT – the dates of Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers and Irving Berlin did not fit the rubric. Eventually it became clear that the anniversary was of Paul Ehrlich. who died on 20 August, 1915. I have highlighted several answers which are associated with his work in immunology.

PeeDee’s utility, which I have come to rely on for preparing the blog, seems to have been sideswiped by a particularly virulent denial of service attack this evening, and it came back up at about the time I usually put the blog and myself to bed. Hearing the chimes at midnight for the first time in several years, I have managed to complete the blog , but proofreading will have to go by the board.

Across
1 TOUCANS
Those billed for Guinness ads? (7)
Cryptic definition. I recall the Guinness toucan from – when? – 1960? Wikipedia mentions it as originating in the 1940s. Has it made a comeback, or does Puck’s memory run on similar lines to mine?
5  
See 24
9 PROMO
Bit of publicity for doctor (5)

A charade of PRO (‘for’) plus MO (‘doctor’).
10 REHEARSER
One “trying out” sherry regularly, after gas found in bottom (9)

A charade of REHEAR, an envelope (‘found in’) of HE (chemical symbol for helium, ‘gas’) in REAR (‘bottom’) ; plus SER (‘ShErRy regularly’).
11 AUTOIMMUNE
Such a response is not wanted from setter’s in-car mobile menu (10)

An envelope (‘in’) of I’M (‘setter’s) in AUTO (‘car’) plus MUNE, an anagram (‘mobile’) of ‘menu’.
12,4 ANTISERUM
Immuniser isn’t administered in Casualty? Strange! (9)

An envelope (‘in’) of NTIS, an anagram (‘administered’) of ‘isn’t’ in AE (Accident and Emergency, ‘Casualty’. hospital department corresponding to ER) plus RUM (‘strange’).
14 MAGIC BULLET
Drug selectively targeting a soldier — initially Colonel Bogey — sporting ridiculous haircut (5,6)

An envelope (‘sporting’) of ‘a’ plus GI (‘soldier’) plus C B (‘initially Colonel Bogey’) in MULLET (‘ridiculous haircut’ – a reference to Chambers’ famous definition “a hairsyyle short at the front, long at the back, and ridiculous all round”).
18 ABYSSINIANS
Sweetheart’s heading off with wrong man’s cats? (11)

A charade of [b]ABY‘S ([‘sweetheart‘s‘) minus its first letter (‘heading off’) plus SIN (‘wrong’) plus IAN’S (‘man’s’).
21 JOHN
24’s predecessor in Vatican office (4)

Definition; Pope Paul VI followed John XXIII, the most recent of those names.
22 DIPHTHERIA
Complaint: “Doctor hit her with iPad” (10)

An anagram (‘doctor’) of ‘hit her’ plus ‘iPad’.
25 RELOADING
Putting back the burden on large roundabout in Berkshire town (9)

An envelope (‘in’) of L (‘large’) plus O (’roundabout’) in READING (‘Berkshire town’).
26 ULTRA
Letters from 24, translated for extremist (5)

A (devious) hidden answer (‘letters from’) in PAUL ‘TRAnslated’, with PAUL being taken from the answer to 24D.
27 MISPLAY
Error in game to show when first doubled (7)

DISPLAY (‘show’) with the D replaced by M (Roman numerals D is 500, M 1000 -‘when first doubled’).
28 STELLAR
When sick, all rest is excellent (7)

An anagram (‘when sick’) of ‘all rest’.
Down
1 TOP HAT
Perfectly keeping bar’s setting musical (3,3)

An envelope (‘keeping’) of PH (Public House, ‘bar’s setting’) in TO A T (‘perfectly’).
2 U BOLTS
Y Blake’s rival on spikes: “Ultimately they make things faster going round a bend” (1,5)

Yohan Blake is a Jamaican sprinter, unfortunate (perhaps) to playing second fiddle to the great Usiah Usain Bolt; the final S is ‘spikeS ultimately’. The definition is cryptic, with ‘faster’ to be interpreted as more secure, and ’round the bend’ indicating the bolt, and not necessarily the pipe being secured.
3 ATOMIC MASS
Measure dealing with small matter of a cat originally common in Siam’s stews (6,4)

A charade of ‘a’ plus TOM (‘cat’) plus an envelope (‘in’) of C (‘originally Common’) in IMASS, an anagram (‘stews’) of ‘Siam’s’.
4  
See 12
5 ECHINACEA
Herbal remedy in tablet? Mate takes one (9)
A charade of E (the drug ecstasy, taken as a ‘tablet’) plus an envelope (‘takes’) of ACE (‘one’) in CHINA (‘mate’). Paul Ehrlich worked with echinacea, which affects the immune system, even if there is slight evidence that it is an effective remedy for colds, and less as a cancer treatment.
6 ROAR
Bellow “Right of admission reserved” (4)

All four letters are abbreviations for the four words in quotation marks.
7 INSANELY
Hospital to see after father ignored pain in senseless fashion (8)

A charade of ‘[pa]in’ without the PA (”father ignored’) plus SAN (‘hospital’) plus ELY (‘see’).
8 HARPISTS
Musicians getting drunk, we hear, during rash bender (8)

An envelope (‘during’) of PIST, sounding like (‘we hear’) PISSED (‘drunk’) in HARS, an anagram (‘bender’) of ‘rash’.
13 GUESTHOUSE
Portuguese host left out bubbly in place offering starters for 19 & 20? (10)

An anagram (‘bubbly’) of ‘[port]uguese host’ without PORT (‘left out’). The definition requires ‘starters for 19 & 20’ to be interpreted as B&B.
15 GENTILITY
Good breeding shown by male — one drunk before end of party (9)

A charade of GENT (‘male’) plus I (‘one’) plus LIT (‘drunk’) plus Y (‘end of partY‘).
16 MARJORAM
Herb little woman found in grass (8)

An envelope (‘found in’) of JO (‘little woman’) in MARRAM (‘grass’).
17 SYPHILIS
Awful lip and hissy fit? Not having this! (8)

An anagram (‘awful’) of ‘lip’ plus ‘hissy’. Paul Ehrlich’s laboratory discovered Salvarsan, the first effective treatment for syphilis.
19 BRUTAL
A goal at last, after save involving header from Robbie Savage (6)

An envelope (‘involving’) of R (‘header from Robbie’) in BUT (‘save’  “everyone arrived on time save/but one straggler”) plus ‘a’ plus L (‘goaL at last’).
20 BAZAAR
Arab hammered over state of US marketplace (6)

An envelope (‘over’) of AZ (Arizona, ‘state of US’) in BAAR, an anagram (‘hammered’) of ‘arab’.
23 HIGGS
Physicist showing fine weather systems good for hearts (5)

HIGHS (‘good weather systems’) with the second H replaced by G (‘good for hearts’).
24,5across PAUL EHRLICH
Ill chap, at first really unwell, expertly treated by hospital’s immunologist (4,7)

An anagram (‘treated’) of ‘ill chap’ plus RUE (‘at first Really Unwell Expertly’).
completed grid

 

50 comments on “Guardian 26,655 by Puck”

  1. Thanks Peter. I amazed myself by getting (and much liking) 1A: and at once felt this was a clue to winnow out the non-seniors and the non-British. By chance I was there then. But I made a mess still of the top left corner, notably with ‘anti-immune’ for 11A and ‘u-boats’ as a guess for 2D. I forgot about speedy Mr Blake, guessed he was a UK insider. But the 2D man is Usain not Usiah, and it’s two words, not hyphenated. In 18A, what cues the first S?

  2. Thanks Puck for an outstanding puzzle and Peter for the early blog – I needed your help for INSANELY.

    I remember the toucan ads from the 60’s (though the toucan made its first appearance in 1935, according to History House. Then there were some more animals but I only remember the ostrich and sea lion.

    John and Paul were straightforward with ‘Vatican’ given, but it got quite meaty after that with a lot of chewing. Favorites were AUTOIMMUNE, ABYSSINIANS and ECHINACEA

    In 18a, “Sweetheart’s heading off” becomes [b]ABY’S.

  3. Nice one, Puck. Managed the thematic clues without too much trouble, but came unstuck on 2d. Not being well up on athletes I’d never heard of Yohan Blake, so thank you for your help with that, Peter.

  7. Thanks Puck and PeterO

    Wide range of difficulty in clueing, from the very clever 13d to the non-cryptic 21a (Paul himself would have done better here, I think). Apart from 13, favourites were MAGIC BULLET and MARJORAM.

    TOUCANS was a write-in for me, but I raised an eyebrow. Apparently they were last used by GUINNESS in 1983, though non-official “memorabilia” is still made (come to think of it, I have a coffee mug with a Guinness toucan on it).

    I must confess that I Googled “August 20th 1915” before starting and noted Paul Ehrlich’s death. I did try to find somewhere to fit SALVARSAN in.

  9. Thanks, PeterO.

    So much to like here: clever, multi-layered clues making for most interesting parsing, along with intriguing story-telling surfaces throughout.

    Practically every clue is a gem but top favourites, I think, are MAGIC BULLET, PAUL EHRLICH and GUESTHOUSE. I also liked the hissy fit, Robbie Savage and the wrong man’s cats. And the cheeky hidden word in 26ac. The clue for HARPISTS made me laugh, too

    A lovely puzzle – many thanks to Puck, as ever.

  11. Thanks Puck and PeterO. This was more complicated than I like to have on a weekday, but I suppose 100th anniversaries can’t always be scheduled to fit my crossword preferences.

    I really liked the simple anagram in 24a. I was convinced that the surface of 25a was a cunning reference to Swindon’s Magic Roundabout, until I read the Wikipedia entry and discovered that Swindon is over the border in Wiltshire. 13d was a very nice idea, but “in place offering” seems redundant to me.

  13. I’m French and I was born in the 80s, and still Guinness and toucans are a natural association to me. Old posters, trays and mugs can still be found, so it wasn’t such a shocking clue even for younger generations. Though I couldn’t see how this was a cryptic clue until the penny dropped. “billed”. doh!

  14. Thanks PeterO, good blog despite your concerns about proofing.

    An excellent work-out, many thanks to the sprite.

    Failed to parse TOP HAT so put in TOP CAT which is also a musical.

    Many super clues but favourite was GUESTHOUSE with the clever B&B link.

    MISPLAY was neatly done also.

    For me, the difference between this and yesterday’s was enjoyment. This was plenty tough enough but had wit and could be solved with patience. I found yesterday’s unsatisfying.

    Nice week, all.

  16. Thanks Puck & PeterO.

    I didn’t notice the rubric until after I had put in PAUL EHRLICH and MAGIC BULLET. Nice to see some science in the crossword for a change!

    I didn’t get the B&B in GUESTHOUSE, nice clue. I got Yohan Blake after I put in U-BOLTS but failed to spot the hidden in ULTRA.

    I liked the clue for SYPHILIS and Robbie Savage’s header.

  17. Thanks Puck and PeterO,

    As Robi says, nice to see some science in the crossword. My mother was admitted to Great Ormond Street Hospital as a child, around 1910, with diphtheria.

    I think 21a, JOHN, is meant to be cryptic, ‘office’ was a common name for ‘toilet’ in the past, frequently used by Samuel Pepys, for instance, a little while after moving into his new home and starting his diary, “October 23, 1660. Going down into my cellar… I put my foot into a great heap of turds, by which I find Mr Turner’s house of office is full and comes into my cellar”.

  18. Yes, a very nice puzzle.

    But I am afraid we are missing a first letter indicator in 6d (ROAR).
    I cannot find any justification for A = admission and R = reserved.
    Not in Chambers nor in Oxford nor in my hard copy of Collins.
    They are also not in a rather comprehensive list of crossword abbreviations, on-line.

    Thanks Puck and PeterO.

  19. Horribly bitty clueing, with rather clunky definitions. However I don’t think Puck has made things easy for himself with so many tough words to work with.

    Some annoying things, but generally it’s just the style that irks today.

    HH

  20. Enjoyed this one a lot, despite a lack of knowledge of Paul Ehrlich and his work. Seemed difficult at first, but most of the edges gave way fairly easily and my last in ECHINACEA (which was unfamiliar) was guessable from wordplay and crossers. Liked MAGIC BULLET, MISPLAY, TOP HAT and HARPISTS. Fortunately (due to June Tabor) Abyssinians were familiar too.

    Thanks to Puck and PeterO

  21. Sil @18
    I was going to mention the lack of a first letter indicator in 6d, but I accepted PeterO’s explanation.

    [Great album from my favourite singer, BH!]

  22. Don’t know about A for admission but I do seem to remember big red Rs on train seats before it all got computerised.

  23. Surely R.O.A.R. is just a standard abbreviation for the complete phrase “right of admission reserved”?

    Enjoyed this puzzle. I didn’t know Paul Ehrlich from Adam beforehand, so I came away feeling like I’d learned something – and I prize that a lot in a crossword.

  24. Thanks to Puck and PeterO. Lots of items new to me here: e.g., the Guinness TOUCAN; AE as equivalent to ER; “marram” grass; SAN as hospital; and I needed help with the parsing of MISPLAY and GUESTHOUSE, but I enjoyed the process.

  25. Verlaine @23

    Right you are – for example the Free Dictionary.

    Thanks to copmus @6 and Cookie @17 for the added insights into 21A JOHN.

    Te errors in 2D U BOLTS and 18A arose because I started off writing the blog when when the utility was limping along; then it went away altogether, and it was not until the last minute that I discovered that these two entries had not been saved, and needed an (over-) hasty rewrite. I will at least correct Mr. Bolt’s name.

  26. TOUCAN was a write in but I can’t say anything else was. I know virtually nothing of PAUL EHRLICH so what with him and the sporting references I found this really difficult. Was there a reference to an anniversary in the paper? There wasn’t on the Kindle edition. Anyway,I got some of the references to Ehrlich before realizing there was a theme and then stumbled on his name from the crossers and then the penny dropped and I finally realized what a good puzzle it is.
    Thanks Puck.

  27. I visited my parents today, so we worked through this together. It was quite a grind, I have to say, but ultimately very satisfying to complete. My dad is good on things medical, and that helped a lot. Some very clever clues, and a setter’s triumph to accommodate so many elements of today’s theme. We liked U BOLTS once we worked it out (with help from Google for Y Blake), and ULTRA was clever. HARPISTS was a little Paul-like. I’m with the majority in finding a lot to like about this puzzle. Thanks Peter O and Puck

  28. Thanks Verlaine & PeterO re R.O.A.R.
    Get it now.
    I was somewhat confused by what the blog said (“All four letters are abbreviations for the four words in quotation marks”) which is strictly speaking not true.
    I didn’t look at it as a whole.
    And I just saw that the Oxford Dictionary gives it a mention.
    ‘Problem’ solved.

  29. I did get all the answers in the end, but I struggled with parsing some of them. I saw the need to substitute M for D to give MISPLAY, but didn’t think about Roman numerals. For INSANELY, I got (pa)IN but missed the rest of the parsing. I didn’t parse TOP HAT and GUESTHOUSE at all, though I did see both definitions.

    I’m not sure what to think of ULTRA, which is definitely clever but perhaps a little too devious? As an athletics fan, I knew of Yohan Blake so (after a brief sidetrack via Blake’s 7) I could parse U BOLTS, but I think perhaps that is too much of a general knowledge clue as Blake is much less widely known than Bolt. I was also going to complain that ROAR has no indicator for using initial letters, but Verlaine @23 explained that one.

    Even with those minor gripes, I enjoyed this puzzle. It was very nice to see so many science references, and not just ones directly related to the anniversary. Favourites include MAGIC BULLET, ATOMIC MASS and BRUTAL.

    Thanks to Puck and PeterO.

  30. Another crossword coincidence –

    Cookie @17 re ‘office’: 14dn in Morph’s Indy puzzle today: Old throne room perhaps raised above another seat of power (4,6).

  31. What an interesting puzzle! Many thanks, Puck, and thanks also to Peter O for clarifying a few of the solutions.

    I spent a bit of time looking for a possible clue to “Gram stain”, remembering student days in a lab.

    I failed on AUTOIMMUNE – tut, tut.

  32. Late to the party obviously, required more than one setting. In spite of having Paul Ehrlich and other theme answers, couldn’t tease out autoimmune. Dumb me!

    Didn’t tie the B&B to guesthouse either :-(.

    Liked too many clues to list.

    Thanks PeteO and Puck.

  35. I’m late to comment, so probably no one will see this. I solved this puzzle this morning, starting during my morning train and finishing while proctoring an exam. Since I was proctoring, I didn’t have the opportunity to post here.

    The other day, we had a puzzle that marked ER as an American usage. I wondered, naturally enough, “Whatever do the British call an emergency room?” Well, now I know, I guess. Thanks for explaining (since I’d sort of wondered why AE meant “casualty.”)

    I was wondering in what way the clue for JOHN was cryptic, but I like Cookie’s explanation of that. I still don’t much care for that clue, though.

    Other than that, everything I could have said has been said already more eloquently by others.

  36. ACD, MrPenney – the British usage is usually “A & E” standing for Accident and Emergency. Casualty is the older version.

  37. mrpenney @35 What is ‘proctoring’, please? Is it the same as we would say ‘invigilating’?

    Didn’t get a chance to thank you for your excellent post re countries that take the definite article the other day. Quite sure you’re right.

  38. But ‘Casualty’ signifies either ‘A&E’ or ‘Accident and Emergency’. It doesn’t signify ‘AE’, and so we get Puck’s QM. I don’t quite know what’s wrong with ‘isn’t used in A&E’. Maybe it’s a bit too obvious or summink.

  39. Thanks PeterO.

    Earlyish on I had only DIPHTHERIA from the theme, but also HIGGS and ATOMIC MASS, so wondered if there was a particle physics anniversary.

  40. Yes, proctoring is the same as invigilating, at least as it’s been explained to me. You sit at the front of the room in a posture that suggests you’re watching to see if anyone’s cheating. Every fifteen minutes or so, you walk around the room to enhance the illusion. In reality, you’re bored out of your wits.

  41. Another good puzzle from Puck.

    I’d never heard of Herr Ehrlich but my 9 years in Germany meant that once I’d finally seen the possible anagram fodder the surname came easily.

    I also came up with TOP CAT for 1D with managed to block one of the most famous musicals of all time for an unfeasibly long time. (TOP CAT was obviously wrong as it was unparseable)

    Thanks to PeterO and Puck

  42. Cookie @17
    Sorry – just noticed your post. I didn’t know that sense of “office” – I’ve learned something today. However the fact remains that as most, including myself, would interpret “Vatican office” as “Pope”, the clue is certainly less cryptic than the setter intended.

  44. Thanks Puck and PeterO

    I managed to finish this with help from google and the check button from time to time as I had never heard of Paul Ehrlich and his MAGIC BULLET nor did I know about TOUCAN in Guinness ads. MARRAM grass and U BOLT were new words for me.

    That said, I enjoyed this puzzle as it was fairly clued.

    My favourites were ABYSSINIANS, HARPISTS, ANTISERUM, PROMO.

    I needed help to parse 27a, 1d, 5d, 13d (got the anagram but could not see the definition – very clever!).

  46. Thanks all
    Very witty and enjoyable.
    Last in was echinacea.
    Is 28 ac correct, I thought halved would have fitted better than doubled?

  47. RCW @47 – the way I read it (27a not 28a), you take the first of DISPLAY, D and double it to get M, so I think the clue works as it is. So pretty much as PeterO explained it.

  49. Thanks Puck and PeterO

    Fabulous puzzle that I only looked at yesterday and managed to finish last night. Even though I got what the theme was about, it still took a while to understand the 1915 connection until I looked up Paul Ehrlich in Wiki.

    Didn’t parse 1d or 2d, so thanks for that. Most clues were very good – thought that the ones for MAGIC BULLET, ULTRA and U BOLTS were even better.

    Finished in the NW with U BOLTS, TOUCANS (which I got from ‘billed’ and had to Google Guiness toucans to discover the advertising campaign – was more familiar with that bird on Fruit Loops breakfast cereal) and TOP HAT.

  50. Surprised no one has mentioned the coincidence that this is the same grid as the day before and ANTI is in the same place.

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