Guardian Cryptic 26704 by Pasquale

by

With apologies for lateness – I found this a little hard to get into in the morning but coming back, it all seemed clearly clued and very fun. Favourite was 14dn.

Across
4 FETISH
Undertaking is hard but not a thing to get excited about (6)

FE[a]T=”Undertaking”, plus IS H[ard], minus “a“
6 GAME PLAN
Scheme uses instrumental ensemble, including piano (4,4)

GAMELAN=”instrumental ensemble” around P[iano]
9 ERMINE
One enthroned — this person’s in winter coat (6)

E[lizabeth] R[egina]=”One enthroned”, plus ME=”this person” around IN
10 ENFILADE
End a life, sadly with discharge of gunfire (8)

(End a life)*
11 BITTER LEMON
Drink making miner with bottle sozzled (6,5)

(miner bottle)*
15 TANTRIC
Religious writing‘s bit of magic not totally engaging worker (7)

TRIC[k]=”bit of magic not totally”, around ANT=”worker”
17 PARSONS
Standard disciples — or those specially called? (7)

PAR=”Standard” plus SONS=”disciples”
18 PERESTROIKA
Nasty Tories digging into benefit with a particular economic policy (11)

(Tories)* inside PERK=”benefit”, plus “a”
22 FELICITY
Joy, female priest joining urban area (8)

F[emale], plus ELI=”priest”, plus CITY=”urban area”
23 FLYING
With intervention of hubby ultimately, affair is in the air (6)

FLING=”affair”, with [hubb]Y inside it
24 TURNED ON
What could indicate a limited number being really excited (6,2)

I think this is: TURNED ON could indicate ‘reversal of ON’=>NO=abbreviation for “number”=”limited number”
25 RUPERT
Fighting prince, game and jaunty (6)

Prince Rupert of the Rhine [wiki]. R[ugby] U[nion]=”game”, plus PERT=”jaunty”
Down
1 USANCE
Period of debt various ancestors would limit (6)

Hidden in [vario]US ANCE[stors]
2 MAGNUM OPUS
Arts graduate mugs up on new work rated very highly (6,4)

M[aster of] A[rts], plus (mugs up on)*
3 BEGINNER
Novice to seek charity — fallen one, no saint (8)

BEG=”seek charity”, plus [s]INNER=”fallen one”, minus S[aint]
4 FLEA BITE
Having bottled up somewhat, escape minor inconvenience (4,4)

FLEE=”escape” has A BIT=”somewhat” bottle up inside it
5 TEMPTING
Working for a while, covering brief time, is attractive (8)

TEMPING=”Working for a while”, around T[ime]
7 LOAD
Charge boy — nothing is admitted (4)

LAD=”boy”, with O=”nothing” inside
8 NEET
Unfortunate youngster totally concentrated, they say (4)

=N[ot in] E[mployment] E[ducation or] T[raining]. Sounds like ‘neat’=”totally concentrated”=undiluted
12 LACERATION
Fine material helping wound (10)

LACE=”Fine material” plus RATION=”helping”
13 POSITIVE
Assume I have to be encouraging (8)

POSIT=”Assume” plus I’VE=”I have”
14 ESCARGOT
Freight brought into madame’s is foreign food (8)

CARGO=”Freight”, EST=French third person singular of ‘to be’ = “madame’s is”
16 REPACKED
Agonised about record, being stuffed once more (8)

RACKED=”Agonised” around EP=”record”
19 ROLL UP
Come and attract men to the north (4,2)

PULL O[ther] R[anks]=”attract men”, reversed (“to the north”)
20 E-FIT
Aid to identification when one probes newt (1-3)

I=”one” inside EFT=”newt”
21 SLUR
To drink noisily, not quietly, is an insult (4)

SLUR[p]=”drink noisily”, without P[iano]=”not quietly”

34 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 26704 by Pasquale”

  1. Thanks Pasquale and manehi

    Very sound, if not particularly amusing. I didn’t see FE(a)T in 4a or PERK A in 18a, and was pleased when my guess of NEET turned out to have the right meaning.

    Favourite was GAME PLAN.

  3. Thanks Pasquale and manehi

    Very enjoyable, and not as tough as Pasquale often is.

    I saw 9 slightly differently, as I don’t think there’s an inclusion indicator: ER plus MINE = “this person’s”.

  4. Thanks Manehi and Pasquale. A bit ho- hum as Muffin said but I made it more amusing by deciding that 8d was an upset teen rather than the unknown and more prosaic reality. And any clue which reminds me of gamelan concerts in Ubud or Jogjakarta brings a smile to my face.

  6. I also found this a bit hard to get into but it turned out to be a good workout, with some nice clueing as usual from Pasquale. Favourites were FETISH, GAME PLAN and PERESTROIKA. Thanks to P and m.

  7. Pleasant. He did not dig into Chambers too deeply on this occasion, and how nice it is to have the clues done well. It has been not a bad week for proper clueing.

  8. Thanks, manehi and Pasquale.

    My favourite by a mile was PERESTROIKA – great surface!

    I thought the clue for MAGNUM OPUS was a bit weak, since OPUS means ‘work’ – but I did smile at Madame’s foreign food.

  9. I parsed TURNED ON as manehi shows above, and ERMINE as Simon S @3. I missed FE(a)T in FETISH. Favourites are GAME PLAN, ERMINE, PERESTROIKA, BEGINNER and ESCARGOT.

    Thanks to Pasquale and manehi.

  10. Thanks manehi and Pasquale.

    I agree with Eileen that 18A PERESTROIKA is a gem, and enough in itself to refute a charge of humourlessness. Continuing in an agreeable mood, I second Simon S in his parsing of 9A ERMINE. I do not have a dictionary to hand, but I only know 15A TANTRIC as an adjective, which suggests that the ‘s should be included in the definition.

  11. Thanks Pasquale and manehi,

    muffin @1 says “not particularly amusing”, the grid does rather have a funereal appearance with all those “croix de Lorraine”, then ‘undertaking’ in the first clue and ‘end of life’ at 10a, must have had an effect on him.

    GAMELAN and POSIT were new words.

    PERESTROIKA and ESCARGOT were fun.

  12. I enjoyed it. A couple of new words for me, but at least he didn’t make a 4a (good clue) of them.

    And yes, HH is right, it’s been a good week for clueing.

  13. Thanks to Pasquale and manehi. NEET and E-FIT were new to me but clear from the clues. I was surprised at getting through so quickly but enjoyed the process.

  14. Failed to parse FETISH and agree that PERESTROIKA is magnificent. At first glance, I thought the grid must offer a nina. And there it is…. In the bottom row. DNP – my initials! How did the Don know?
    Sorry. I’ll go now.

  15. ENFILADE, GAMELAN, USANCE
    Who is the target audience for this crossword ? – a few people who contribute to this blog, or the thousands of readers who actually buy the newspaper and enjoy attempting the crossword ?
    I think the crossword editor should consider this.

  16. kenj @15
    One of the joys of crosswords for me is coming across fairly-clued words that I didn’t know – NEET being a case in point in this puzzle. USANCE is not in common usage, I agree, but it is a fairly obvious hidden word, so eminently solvable. The other two aren’t as obvious unless you know them, but again fairly-clued.

  17. kenj @ 15 – Yes, I agree with muffin. If all the words in a puzzle are 100% common usage I feel a bit let down unless the clueing is absolutely brilliant.

    By the way, when are we going to have a ‘Like’ button on these pages?!! We could maybe also have a ‘Sympathy’ one, as tentatively proposed by Facebook, for poor souls who don’t enjoy that particular daily offering.

  18. My apologia for the benefit of kenj. In 1967 I solved my first Ximenes crossword — No. 1 in a Penguin book. I well remember working out MONTGOLFIER from the cryptic build-up with a huge sense of satisfaction. Still young and fairly ignorant, I had not heard of the original balloon pioneers, but was delighted to find the word verified in my new Chambers Dictionary. Many have shared this sort of learning experience when solving crosswords and I still like to think that one or two solvers will be able to have a Montgolfier moment, even in one of my 15 by 15 everyday puzzles. If this doesn’t fit with your philosophy, there are several alternative puzzles which you can access. Thanks, as ever, to all who fed back comments.

  19. All very honourable, but it is a weekday. I can’t speak for other solvers, but I’m unlikely to have a copy of Chambers handy for perusal on the train to work or over a furtive half in the boozer at lunchtime.

  20. I don’t normally come back. The point is that I solved Montgolfier WITHOUT searching Chambers. The dictionary simply confirmed what the answer had to be. The clue was watertight and I was free to check up the meaning if I wished. My puzzles should be solvable without your having to carry a big dictionary on the train. The fact is that unusual words sometimes test ‘parsing ability’, an essential element of puzzle solving for crossworders, especially for those who rail against gimme definitions. Anyway, enough from me!

  21. I thought this rather good. GAME PLAN,ESCARGOT and PERESTROIKA were lovely. USANCE was new to me but, as Muffin says, eminently vegetable. LOI was NEET which I got as ‘awkward teen’ before looking it up and being very amused by the inventiveness of it.
    Thanks Pasquale.

  23. Re Pasquale’s comments, I started with UK cryptics in the 1980s (mainly in books) and for some time looked forward to Rufus (and Orlando) puzzles (along with the Sunday Times) where I could make headway. Thanks to this blog I’ve much improved my performance (and may occasionally have my equivalent to a MONTGOLFIER moment) but I expect to encounter some clues, whether linked to UK shows (e.g., Dad’s Army) or acronyms like NEET or other categories that are not on my mental list as a US reader-speaker. That’s part of the challenge and when I can “get it,” part of the fun. No complaints from me.

  25. A nice puzzle from Pasquale.

    All very fairly clued, as ever, and rather easier than usual. No particularly esoteric words either. (Perhaps “usance” was a little obscure but as it was a clearly indicated “hidden” word there can be no complaints.)

    So I must disagree with kenj @15. If you can’t solve this or think it is too difficult for a weekday Guardian puzzle I would take P’s advice and seek crossword gratification elsewhere for a while.

    Thanks to manehi and Pasquale

  26. I come to this late in the evening, having had a busy day, so haven’t been able to comment earlier. I cannot see anything wrong with usance, gamelan or enfilade. Admittedly, usance was a familiar term from my past work but the others were both words I had come across in general reading and,what is more, were deducible from the clue and the intersecting letters. I am certainly of the school that thinks that a pen and a brain should be all that are required to solve a crossword, and I have absolutely no complaints about this one.

  27. Well, I thought too that there were a bit too many weird words, and this detracted from the crossword, even though smart phones these days mean we don’t have to lug along the Chambers. I think the best crosswords are indeed composed of mostly familiar words, the more we have to kick ourselves with when we fail to see them!

  28. I liked this ‘tho I struggled in the SE corner. Made a good end to a week of completed puzzles for me which is rarer than hen’s teeth!

  29. I’m grateful for cookie’s post at 11. (The grid seemed distinctly ominous to my post-midnight eye, but I couldn’t have said why.) Thanks to Pasquale for his reply at 20. Both were a pleasure to read.

  31. I’m quite surprised. After a praiseworthy link to the puzzle from a Twitter colleague I checked the blog and read the clues.
    We all have individual crossword likes, of course, but for me this is everything a high quality puzzle should be. Lovely surfaces, tight and well-employed indicators, and enough humour to give it some sparkle. As for uncommon words, NEET was new but the others mentioned above are answers/elements I’d use without pause. Might have to check defs in the dictionary to be sure of them but they’re all familiar.
    Don’s output is far greater than mine – if I could consistently write puzzles of this quality at my lower output I’d be well happy.

  32. Thanks Pasquale and manehi

    Only got to this on the weekend and came down on the positive side on the puzzle. One of the pleasures of doing them is for expanded learning and for me here it was ENFILADE, NEET, USANCE and Prince RUPERT – all gettable from the cryptic part.

    Finished in the SE corner with POSITIVE (took a while to see the POSIT=assume), RUPERT and PARSONS (it had to be … but got stuck with the calling definition for ages).

    Did like PERESTROIKA a lot.

  33. Martin D @ 24 and manehi re 14d – is it that the answer is a food and madame’s is foreign is ‘est’?

  34. Thanks manehi for the blog, Pasquale for both the puzzle and his contribution above, and Simon for sorting out the parsing of 9 – which was before that my only questionable construction.

    It must be a wavelength thing because I raced through this on the train this morning.

    Thoroughly enjoyable though with 2 new words for me – GAMELAN in the construction of 6 and ENFILADE in the solution to 10.

    I particularly enjoyed FETISH, PERESTROIKA, FLYING, and NEET (which was pretty – um – neat!)

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