Guardian 26,680 – Tramp

by

[If you’re attending York S&B please see comments 32&33] - here

Well, that was fun! Another of Tramp’s puzzles where many of the clues are related to a theme, but almost no knowledge of the theme is needed to solve them.

The theme of course is the long-running TV series Doctor Who, and I say “almost” because there are a couple of clues – 11a and 22a – where some basic knowledge is needed. But surely everyone knows that Dr Who’s vessel is the Tardis, and Peter Capaldi’s taking over of the role in 2014 was all over the news at the time. Many thanks to Tramp for an entertaining and cleverly-worked puzzle, which includes the names of all the actors who have played The Doctor in the series.

 
 
 
 
Across
9. OVERSLEEP Kinky lovers quietly swallow tablets and lie in
E E (Ecstasy tablets) in LOVERS* + P
10. AVISO Remove 22 down from Davison or dispatch vessel … (5)
Peter DAVISON, 5th Doctor, less his “coat” or outer letters. An Aviso is a naval dispatch boat.
11. TARDIVE … appearing behind time, Doctor Who’s vehicle docked with velocity and energy (7)
TARDI[S] + V + E. Tardive means late in (biological) development – new word for me, but easily guessable from words such as “tardy”, and very helpfully clued.
12. SHOWMAN Doctor Who: McGann hollow as performer (7)
Anagram of WHO + M[cGan]N + AS. Paul McGann was the 8th Doctor
13. LISZT Catching heel of scorer (5)
Homophone of “list”, mean to lean over or “heel” (as used in sailing, for example). Scorer = composer
14. CHORISTER Singer and saviour for some taking over series (9)
O[ver] in CHRIST + E.R (TV series)
16. STATE DEPARTMENT Leave report outside US government office (5,10)
DEPART (leave) in STATEMENT (report)
19. DEMOCRACY McCoy read novel, The Common People (9)
(MCCOY READ)* – Sylvester McCoy, 7th Doctor
21. FUTON Pleasurable tying up to bed (5)
TO in FUN
22. CAPALDI Who currently is in Top Shop? (7)
CAP (top) + ALDI (supermarket) – Peter Capaldi is the 12th and current Doctor, formerly known as the sweary Malcolm Tucker in the political series “The Thick of It”
23. FORERUN Anticipate turning over of repeat (7)
OF reversed + RERUN
24. ACUTE Sharp clue for Pertwee? (5)
“A cute” could be a clue for PER + TWEE. Jon Pertwee, 3rd Doctor
25. ENFEEBLES Wears out wingers from Everton — Bill with disheartened Blues (9)
E[verto]N +FEE (bill) + BL[U]ES
Down
1. MORTALISE As Time Lord is regenerated and made human? (10)
(AS TIME LORD)*
2. NEBRASKA Bakers working in North America, here? (8)
BAKERS* in NA. Two Bakers have played the Doctor – Tom Baker, 4th (and longest serving) and Colin Baker, 6th
3. ASSIST Second behind first (6)
ASS (behind) + 1ST
4. HERE Christopher Eccleston’s at this point (4)
Hidden in christopHER Eccleston (with the ‘s as hidden indicator). CE was the 9th Doctor, and first of the revived series in 2005
5. EPISTOLARY English piece having advanced lines in the form of letters (10)
E + PISTOL (“piece” is slang for a gun) + A[davanced] + RY (railway, lines)
6. PARODIST One copying Patrick Troughton, initially a gun is held (8)
A ROD (another slang word a for gun) IS in the initials of Patrick Troughton (2nd Doctor)
7. KISMET Lot of love from some wearing clothing (6)
SOME less O (love) in KIT. Kismet = fate or lot.
8. NOON Acting to support Number 12 (4)
NO (number) + ON (acting)
14. CLEMATISES Endless sex with model? A Spice Girl pulled up bloomers (10)
Reverse of SE[X} + SIT + A + MEL C (Melanie Chisolm, one of the Spice Girls)
15. ROTUNDNESS State of the stout? Head under bar drinking barrel (10)
TUN in ROD (again!) + NESS
17. EXCELLED Beat old set with education (8)
EX + CELL + ED
18. ENTHRALL Hartnell’s cast for entrance in US (8)
HARTNELL* – William Hartnell was the series’ first Doctor, and mine
20. MAP OUT Draw purse to support mother (3,3)
MA + POUT
21. FORGET Drop Smith, Tennant’s back (6)
FORGE + [Tennan]T – Matt Smith and David Tennant were the 11th and 10th Doctors respectively
22. COAT Cruise missing small film (4)
COAST (cruise) less S
23. FIFA Detailed healthy, large sporting body (4)
FI[T] + FA[T]

45 comments on “Guardian 26,680 – Tramp”

  2. Thanks for the blog, Andrew.

    Sparkling stuff, as ever, from Tramp. So clever to get all the actors in, especially the Bakers and Smith and Tennant, so precisely.

    As so often, too many favourite clues to list – I loved it all. Many thanks to Tramp: it was lots of fun.

  3. Thanks Tramp and Andrew

    Not one of Tramp’s best for me. I’m not interested in the theme (I had to ask my daughter who the current Doctor was for 22a). There were several new words – AVISO, TARDIVE and MORTALISED. Also some loose wordplay – 3d no indication of US spelling (behind is ARSE in the UK); 21d SMITH and FORGE are related, but not synonymous – a smith works in a forge or “smithy”; DEMOCRACY is (roughly) government by the common people, not “the common people” themselves.

    Having said that, there were several I liked – 9a, 13a, 16a, 25a (FOI), and 8d.

  4. Hi muffin @3

    I had the same reaction to smith / forge but was surprised to find that Chambers gives ‘smith; as a transitive verb, ‘to forge’.

  7. Thanks, Tramp and Andrew. Lots to admire and enjoy, but for me, like muffin @3, slightly spoiled by some sloppiness of meaning and grammar. In 25, ‘Bill’ and ‘fee’ are not synonymous – almost the reverse, a bill being what you send and a fee what you get. Also, in 17, ‘beat’ is transitive, ‘excelled’ intransitive. Still, it’s only a game, albeit a game for pedants!

  8. Thanks Andrew. The doctor stuff washed harmlessly over me until last in CAPALDI which I had to look up. Otherwise it was good and straightforward.

  10. Thanks Tramp and Andrew!

    For me WHO means World Health Organization… However LISZT and CHORISTER saved the day by reminding me that there would be a concert this evening, and the crossword in fact turned out to be fun.

    muffin @3, ‘smith’ can also be a verb, ‘to make or treat by forging’.

  13. Thanks Tramp for an entertaining puzzle, I loved it!

    Thanks Andrew, nice setting to get all the doctors in. There’s a ‘d’ missing in 1d. I liked the simple FUTON/FORGET combination among many others.

  14. Lovely stuff and not too tricky, thank you Tramp – just in time for the start of the new series tomorrow.

    Thanks to Andrew too

  16. As others have said, spoilt by sloppiness. 20dn POUT does not mean PURSE; to pout is to PURSE ONE’S LIPS. ‘Pout one’s lips’ is meaningless. Pedantry isn’t the issue. Surely a good clue and solution go together like the two sides of an equation, without redundancy or omission?

  17. I thought this was a cracker, especially as I’m a Doctor Who fan… but there was plenty to admire outside of the theme, including some delightful smut of which I am always fond. I gave a mixed review of Tramp’s last outing, so I’m delighted to give two thumbs up this time.

  18. Is forerun a word? (Yes, forerunner is a noun.) Is clamatises? (Does it really have a plural?) Is rotundness? (Isn’t the noun rotundity?) I have to agree with those who say the clueing is sloppy. The points are well taken about pout, excel, democracy and smith.

  19. Sloppy, and another shoehorn-in-the-theme puzzle. I don’t know why Tramp does his crosswords like this, it seems so forced. At what point did he decide to go for it I wonder. I agree with the comments above generally, except where Eileen has corrected errors.

    HH

  20. I’m surprised to see so many nit-picking comments – none of the issues raised held me up, but them my mind does seem to work in the same way as Tramp’s. I’d not heard of TARDIVE, but the derivation was pretty obvious.
    I thought this was a lovely crossword. Favourites 3D & 7D – I loved the way you were distracted from the actual definition in the latter.

  21. Thanks to Tramp. I have limited experience with Dr Who though I’ve read about Peter Capaldi (fortunately, for Aldi is not one of the UK supermarkets on my mental list). I had more than the usual difficulty here with parsing (so many thanks to Andrew). FIFA was clear from the clue but I did not catch fi[t]-fa[t]; we have clematis growing outside our house but I missed Mel C as Spice Girl. New to me were the A for “advanced” in EPISTOLARY and the A for “per” in acute – and I got CHORISTER without seeing ER as “series.” Still, great fun.

  22. Not one of Tramp’s hardest, all over quite quickly. This week seems to have veered from the straightforward to the very tough with nothing much in between. Clever clueing though, with CLEMATISES top of the list and OVERSLEEP a cracking way to get started. And anything that celebrates the return of Doctor Who can’t be all bad.

  23. I enjoyed this, despite not being a Whovian. The theme is fair enough, since unless you’ve been hiding behind the settee for the last fifty years, you must have heard of it. And CAPALDI? Read the Guardian TV section. ASS instead of ARSE? Not sure that distinction between British English and American English is still prominent.

    So yes, one or two quibbles, but a fun puzzle where I could arrive at the answers without that much trauma. I will just add that when Tramp first started setting for the Guardian (a few years ago now) he had some comments (including from me) about being a bit long-winded with his clues. I think that his clues now are much more concise and to the point.

    Most of the time Tramp is going to give you a themed puzzle of one sort or another. If that’s not your cup of tea …

    Thank you to S&B.

  24. I support there are some weaknesses although I was quite happy with the puzzle before I came here! I thought this a nice gentle solve appropriate for a sunny Friday afternoon. I had to look up AVISO although it was easy to get from the clue as was TARDIVE.
    Pretty good- Thanks Tramp.

  26. Could someone expand on the parsing of FIFA, please? I mean, the answer was clear enough, but I still don’t see why.

  29. Very enjoyable with some clever clueing – favourites were CLEMATISES, ASSIST and FIFA. Couldn’t parse FUTON, but can now see what I missed. Thanks to Tramp and Andrew.

  30. With reference to various ARSE-ASS comments, the Thursday New York Times puzzle has the definition “Oxford bottom” with the answer ARSE.

  31. I remember solving an anagram in (I think) Everyman a few years ago. It was coming out as “UP TO HIS ???? IN IT” and the letters I had left were ARSE……

    ….the answer was EARS.

  33. I loved this puzzle. I’m a Dr Who fan and I thought it was a great idea to publish it the day before the new season starts. I’m also a Bluenose like the setter and I thought the surface reading of 25ac was superb, especially its allusion to the Everton chairman Bill Kenwright. A tip of the hat to you Neil! Even though I don’t drop into the site much any more I see nothing much has changed.

  34. An enjoyable puzzle from Tramp which wasn’t too difficult.

    I thought the cluing was just the opposite of sloppy and didn’t understand the complaints. All bar one of these have been refuted. So ….

    Roger @7

    bill can refer to the actual amount requested in “the bill” so could be a fee.See the SOED entry

    bill

    …

    6 A note of charges for goods supplied or services rendered; the amount thus owed. lME.

    …

    Thanks to PeterO and Tramp

  37. BigRedBook:

    Pout [verb trans] To cause (esp the lips) to protrude

    Purse [verb trans] To contract (one’s lips) into a rounded puckered shape

    Democracy [noun] 2. The common people

  38. Sloppy, and another shoehorn-in-the-theme comment. I don’t know why HH does his comments like this, it seems so forced. At what point did he decide to go for it I wonder. I agree with the intelligent comments above generally, except where HH has made errors.

  39. I agree Andrew [and thanks for the blog], this was fun.
    I am not a Doctor Who aficionado but only one solution was really linked to the theme: 22ac (CAPALDI).
    For me, Peter Capaldi will always be remembered for his role in ‘Local Hero’, one of my favourite films.

    The puzzle was a typical Tramp work-out.
    But there was also a lightness of touch today that I really liked.

    I did this puzzle after work, sitting on a bench near Jeffrey Archer’s back garden in Grantchester.
    After helping a friend putting her kayak into the river Cam, I finished the crossword by the time she returned from her voyage to Cambridge – one hour later.

    Unlike muffin, I thought this was one of Tramp’s best.
    And hedgehoggy’s comments … ah well.

    Thanks Neil – that’s how I like them!

  40. Hi

    I don’t get 2d! Why is the word “here” in the clue? While I understand that NA for north america have been inserted into Bakers why does the clue mean “here”?

    Cheers

  41. Hi Tommy.
    Strictly speaking, ‘here’ is just indicating a location.
    But because it follows ‘in North America’ (which is used for the wordplay), it might suggest that it is ‘somewhere in North America’.
    The question mark then does the rest.
    That is all, I am afraid.

    Tramp is certainly not the first setter who does a thing like this.
    I am happy with it but whether you are is completely up to you.

  43. “Why should anyone remember Capaldi @22ac? Unless they’re Who fans. (Not me).”

    Why should anyone remember the names of cities, countries, political leaders, authors, scientists, or the meaning of words unless you’re a fan of them? Let’s have crosswords for people who revel in their ignorance! For example

    ACROSS
    1 No clue, as some people may not be fans
    2 Ditto
    3 Hope this puzzle’s not taxing your brain too much, Michael

    You wonder why people bother setting puzzles…

  44. A steady solve with 3 new words (for me) – AVISO, TARDIVE, and EPISTOLARY. Always good to stretch the vocabulary a bit.

    No complaints about the clueing which all seemed fair and not at all self-indulgent.

    My only improperly parsed solution was ACUTE – I focussed on the PERT side and couldn’t understand the WEE – doh!

    The reverse construction for CLEMATISES was cleverly conceived – so thanks to Tramp and Andrew.

  45. Thanks Tramp and Andrew

    Only did this one this evening after watching our footy grand final … and liked it. Doctor Who has been on the periphery of my interest … can remember watching it after school way back when … and the odd cameo appearance in crosswords has kept me abreast of TARDIS and other components. This adds all of the actors who have played the ‘doctor’ to my trivia bucket.

    Finished up in the NE corner with KISMET, AVISO (new to me) and the clever NOON as the last few in.

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