Guardian Cryptic 26713 by Crucible

by

Found this very tough all the way through, but with plenty to enjoy – my favourite was 9dn. Thanks, Crucible.

Across
1 APPRISE
Notify primate about capital abbot originally left (7)

APE=”primate”, around P[a]RIS=”capital” minus a[bbot]
5 ONWARDS
Let’s continue now round the bend to peninsula in Northern Ireland (7)

(now)* plus ARDS=”peninsula in Northern Ireland” [wiki]
10 FEED
Nurse let go right away (4)

F[r]EED=”let go”, with r[ight] taken away
11 ENORMOUSLY
A lot see round new and refurbished rooms opened by university (10)

ELY=”see”, around N[ew] plus (rooms) around U[niversity]
12 REPORT
Boom‘s touching harbour (6)

RE=concerning=”touching”, plus PORT=”harbour”
13 GOOD EGGS
Merchandise comprises, say, German bricks … (4,4)

=people who are helpful and kind. GOODS=”Merchandise”, around EG=”say” and G[erman]
14 STRETCHER
… one set lengthwise by stone cutter king brought in (9)

=a brick or stone laid horizontally. ST[one], plus ETCHER=”cutter”, with R[ex]=”king” brought in
16 REITH
Director general‘s hotline withdrawn (5)

Lord Reith was Director-General of the BBC [wiki]. “hot/line” => H[ot] plus TIER=”line”, then all reversed (“withdrawn”)
17 ROUSE
Wake in river as marked on map? (5)

The River OUSE might be marked as R. OUSE on a map.
19 ENTERTAIN
English playhouse sure to lose leader Brook (9)

=to put up with, as in “he will brook no argument”. E[nglish], plus N[ational] T[heatre]=”playhouse”, plus [c]ERTAIN=”sure to lose leader”
23 RETRENCH
Trim garden centre in outskirts of Redditch (8)

(centre)* in R[edditc]H
24 UNTIDY
Unity Mitford ultimately wound up in mess (6)

(Unity [Mitfor]D)*.
26 GRAND OPERA
£1,000 for each adult to catch opening of Otello or suchlike (5,5)

Otello is a Verdi opera. GRAND=”£1,000″, PER=”for each”, plus A[dult], around O[tello]
27 TELL
They’ve excavated core of smallest artificial mound (4)

=an archeological mound [wiki]. T[hey’v]E, where “excavated” means to remove the insides; plus the core of [sma]LL[est]
28 ACADEMY
Schoolgirl inspiring rebellious Jack (7)

AMY=”girl”, taking in [i.e. “inspiring”] Jack CADE [wiki] who led a revolt in England
29 LEARNER
Trainee lyricist secures a large job (7)

I think this is L[yricist] plus EARNER=”large job”
Down
2 PRECEPT
Priest at bar ignoring tenth commandment (7)

PR[iest] plus E[x]CEPT=”bar”, ignoring x=ten in Roman numerals
3 RADIO
Station royal detective in big paper (5)

R for royal [rex/regina], plus D[etective] I[nspector] inside AO or A0, one paper size larger than A1.
4 SCEPTIC
Monk doesn’t start tackling piano like Thomas (7)

=a doubting Thomas. [a]SCETIC=”Monk” without the start, around P[iano]
6 NEM CON
No one is against light, entertaining host (3,3)

=with no one dissenting. NEON=”light’, around MC=”host”
7 AMUSEMENT
Americans and French kidnap crew for fun (9)

AM[erican] and US=two “Americans”, plus ET=”and French”, around MEN=”crew”
8 DELIGHT
Dig the ground hiding lost entrance (7)

(Dig the)* around L[ost]
9 TONGUE IN CHEEK
Echt, genuine, OK? Possibly not (6,2,5)

&lit =Possibly not Echt or genuine. (Echt, genuine, OK)*
15 ENSHRINED
Entrenched bridge adversaries scrap over inches (9)

E[ast] and N[orth] are “bridge adversaries”, plus SHRED=”scrap” around IN[ches]
18 ONEIRIC
Dreamy individuals get wealth he’s forfeited (7)

=belonging to dreams. ONE and I are “invididuals”, with RIC[hes]=”wealth” forfeiting “he’s“
20 EDUCATE
School cash once collected by no-frills Beeb (7)

DUCAT=”cash once”, an old European coin, inside [B]EE[b]
21 INDULGE
At home, 16 once devoured contents of full English (7)

I don’t see a definition here. IN=”home”; plus D[irector] G[eneral]=”16 once” around [f]UL[l]; plus E[nglish]
22 INFORM
Brief about to receive millions? (6)

IN FOR [e.g. a treat]=”about to receive”, plus M[illions]
25 TUTOR
Coach to cut short corner (5)

TO, cutting inside TUR[n]=”short corner”

59 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 26713 by Crucible”

  2. Too hard for me, gave up on it, so didn’t in the least enjoy it. Even with cheats, there were 13 I couldn’t decipher, so thanks manehi.

    Could INDULGE mean devour contents of full English? The tense isn’t correct, though.

  4. Thanks, manehi.

    Yes, this was tough but ultimately satisfying – almost: I can’t see a definition in 21 either. I suspect there’s something clever going on.

    I agree with copmus re LE[A]RNER but I think there ae two lots of wordplay: L [large] + EARNER [job].

    Some really super clues – too many to pick out on a busy day – but I’ll mention ONWARDS, because I lived in Bangor decades ago and it was a nice reminder.

    Many thanks to Crucible for the highly enjoyable challenge.

  5. Many thanks.
    A tough one, but just about got there in the end.
    My best guess for the definition in 21d is that “At” = INDULGE (possibly…)

  6. I think 29a is a triple clue:

    Lerner (lyricist) + a, l (large) earner (job) and trainee.

    Thanks for the help with other parsings. I struggled with several!

  7. Thanks, manehi. Given the mini-theme of the BBC charter and its mission to INFORM, EDUCATE and ENTERTAIN, is INDULGE some reference to the questions raised by that Tory minister? (Sorry, I’m a slightly out of touch expat.) Not that that explains in any way the absence of an identifiable definition…

  8. Struggled in the top left, but I think that bit was fair. Not so happy with the absence of a definition in 21D – I think it’s a mistake.

  9. Thanks crucible and manehi,

    Quite beyond me, at first I thought they had published the wrong clues. However, struggled to get a few answers, then enjoyed going through manehi’s parsings.

  10. Well done, NeilW @7!

    I thought there was something going on with the BBC but I’ve got people coming for lunch and didn’t have time to pursue it. I’m just glad I managed to squeeze enough time to finish solving.

  11. A DNF for me – I couldn’t make much sense of the SE corner at all. Had “indulge” pencilled in, but couldn’t see a definition; never heard of a “tell” mound so had an extremely doubtful “mall” there. Couldn’t see “tutor” because shouldn’t it strictly be “to CUTS/CUTTING short corner”? I do like 29ac a lot now that I see the answer but with so much else to worry about down there I never got close.

    Still, more puzzles this challenging in the Guardian please!

  13. Thanks Crucible and manehi

    I think there are several more clues which can, with a mild stretch, be linked to the BBC:

    It’s had to retrench over the last few years as it’s been cutting costs, it broadcasts radio, the licence fee is a form of precept, didn’t some politician say that funding via the licence fee isn’t enshrined, some of its wackier programmes could be called oneiric amusement, it has an internal training department called the BBC Academy which helps learners, some politicians are sceptic(al) about it…there are more.

    There are also several synonyms or words otherwise linked in meaning: inform/apprise/tutor, indulge/entertain/delight/amusement.

    And in row 14, isn’t William Tell also a Grand Opera?

  14. A wonderful puzzle, although it was really hard work. Glad that Crucible has now sorted out 21d – Grauniad error, it seems. Many excellent clues including GOOD EGGS, LEARNER (yes, I reckon it’s a triple), ONEIRIC, RETRENCH and ACADEMY (I hadn;t heard of Jack Cade). Many thanks to Crucible and manehi.

  16. Great puzzle. Crucible really in his own groove.

    Also on the Indy so that’ll do for tomorrow now that midnight UK time, when the puzzles come up, is 10:30am here.

    Many thanks S&B both.

  18. Thanks manehi & Crucible; nice to get 21 resolved.

    My computer and I ground this one out. Perhaps a bit too clever in parts, although maybe that’s just my lack of skills. What’s the point of using an obscure definition for TELL? I don’t really understand how RADIO is a synonym for station, I would have thought it is an example. Shame that RETRENCH and entrenched both appeared, although not in the same clue. In TUTOR shouldn’t the wordplay be ‘cuts?’ That would of course make a nonsensical surface.

    I liked GOOD EGGS & (thought Lego must have been in there at first) PRECEPT.

  19. Thanks to Crucible and manehi. I needed help parsing STRETCHER and RADIO (the AO was new to me). Also new to me were TELL, REITH, and NEM CON and the ARDS in ONWARDS. Quite a struggle but I did get through. Jack Cade plays a major role in Shakespeare’s 2 Henry VI (and his head is delivered onstage to the king, the fourth severed head in that play).

  20. This really made me feel like an ignorant novice – found it a real struggle and needed extensive use of Check to finish, with several unparsed. Probably the most difficult daily puzzle this year so far. An enjoyable challenge, so no complaints. Last in PRECEPT. Liked ENTERTAIN, NEM CON, TONGUE IN CHEEK and ACADEMY.

    Thanks to manehi and Crucible

  21. I seem to have a bit if a wavelength problem with Crucible and had to leave three clues unsolved, including the one that turned out to be at fault, and I wasn’t convinced about a couple of others. I wouldn’t use ‘over’ myself as a container indicator (15D), but I see that Crucible and some others do.

    These minor gripes, which detracted a bit from my enjoyment of today’s puzzle, were not enough to spoil my appreciation of the general quality of the clues, some of which were excellent. My favourite was 9D, which is clever and concise.

  22. Simon S @13, yes, I wasn’t implying that the three solutions I mentioned were the limits of the theme.

    copmus @15 yes, that’s why I called it a mini-theme – as they say on my favourite BBC podcast: other products are available! That said, I didn’t feel the flavour of the clues/solutions was telling us that we were supposed to be thinking of education – and Gove’s gone elsewhere. 🙂

  24. I eventually got all the answers, but with parsing either missing or uncertain for some of them (including, of course, 21d). I was puzzled by “large job” in the clue for 29a, but the third element explained above resolves that. I couldn’t parse TUTOR at all, though that had to be the answer, and I agree that “cut” is wrong. I wondered for a while why “radii” was apparently defined as “station” until I realised the clue was asking for an even bigger piece of paper – just as well or I might not have got REPORT. I missed the themes, as usual.

    It seems a bit strange to have REITH clued using “Director general”, then use that to clue DG in INDULGE.

  25. Hmmm .. the last part of my post disappeared. I intended to say:

    I found this too much of a struggle to be really enjoyable, but that was due mostly to my own limitations. Thanks to Crucible and manehi.

  26. Phew. Many thanks, manehi, don’t envy you this task.

    Got there in the end but found rather too many had to be BIFD to enjoy it – and that’s a shame because there are some smashing clues here.

    Thanks to Crucible for popping in to explain INDULGE (how did that creep through?) Still not happy with station = radio, perhaps the setter might pop in again to explain to this mere mortal.

    ‘Garden’ as an anagrind is bit much although the clue was getable so perhaps that’s fair enough.

    Although I BIFD it, I did not like PRECEPT – a step too convoluted for me I’m afraid. Why is X = tenth? X = 10 surely.

    Toughie, but thanks, Crucible.

  27. I completed INDULGE while on the tube, and when back home went to the Guardian site so I could see the clue as setter intended, ie with definition. Ah well! Thanks Crucible for coming here to tell us what should have happened.

    Some stuff here I took on faith, eg the ‘large job’ bit of LEARNER, whether station can be defined as RADIO, defn of TELL. But liked APPRISE, SCEPTIC, GOOD EGGS and the BBC thing that was going on, even if I didn’t twig the full charter. How incredible it must seem to readers from other nations (unless of the family Murdoch) that a public institution of the quality of the BBC can be seen as ripe for chopping down!

  28. William @26
    I had the same doubt about “tenth” for X, but googling suggests that the various Tenth Legions were known as “Legio X …” so I think that does justify the clue.

  29. Thanks Crucible and manehi
    I found this difficult too, and gave up on ONWARDS (I hadn’t heard of Ards). I failed to parse a couple of the others as well, but I enjoyed it for the inventive clueing.

    I had exactly the same thought as jennyk about LEARNER – what’s the large job got to do with it?

  30. Hi William @26 and jennyk

    Re X = tenth: think regnal numbers.

    + muffin @29 – as I said @4: L [large] + EARNER [job – ‘an activity or thing that produces income’ [Collins].

  33. JohnM @ 23: You have my sympathy. It took me a long time to get beyond a couple of answers, but I do enjoy the challenge of difficult puzzles – and have confidence that I will get there in the end (which I usually do, more or less). I’m sure I’m not as quick as a lot of people who post here, but fortunately I do have time to devote to each morning’s puzzle. I think it’s pretty clear that if one perseveres, one gets better.

  35. drofle @33. Yes – I’ve found that the only thing you get better at as you get older is crossword puzzles ( well – and complaining!)

  36. I really enjoyed this puzzle – mostly. Certainly, there is much Guardianesque licence here – but as I always think (particularly in response to any “prickly” nitpicking) what’s poetry without poetic licence? I can’t agree with beery hiker about this being the most difficult of the year; certainly tricky for this month, but we’ve had little challenging in my exceedingly humble opinion. I think there have been crosswords this year that have needed more than one stab but this all came out in half an hour or so while watching the news. Though I mostly thoroughly enjoyed it, I’d a big “?definition?” by INDULGE and was a little unhappy with nurse=FEED. My favourite (for such an extended misdirection) was DELIGHT. Two ticks. And LEARNER also had a tick for its double wordplay.
    BIG THANKS! x

  38. Muffin – no, that was my incorrect attempt to combine both parts of the wordplay into one. Thanks to everyone who pointed out the correct parsing.

    Crucible – thanks for the clarification, and again for the puzzle.

    Edit: and thanks NeilW and others for pointing out the BBC theme

  39. I’m still puzzled, though, manehi – if L for Lyricist isn’t right, how does the L EARNER (for “large job”) work – as I said before, the “large job” bit isn’t needed for A in LERNER>

  40. Very difficult. I did manage to finish this but it took quite a time, guesswork and the check button to do it. INDULGE,RADIO and GOOD EGGS were all guesses. INDULGE has now been cleared up but I can’t say I’m entirely happy with the other two. I’m sure the parsing in the blog is correct but I’m also sure that I wouldn’t have worked either of them out. REITH- my LOI-was another one I had difficulty with.
    I tend to agree with Beeryhiker on the level of difficulty.
    A very strenuous workout.
    Thanks Crucible.

  41. William @36 – I’m impressed that you finished it so quickly, and obviously I’m aware that difficulty is a personal thing. I might amend my comment to “one of the most difficult handful”, but there can’t have been many that compare…

  42. muffin @39
    As you know, “large” is a standard clue for L. “Job” for EARNER seems to be referring to the phrase “a nice little earner” beloved of the likes of Arthur Daly in Minder – a job which gets you a lot of money for no much work.

  43. muffin @ 39

    It’s misdirection by double wordplay.

    Definition = Trainee

    Wordplay

    1) “lyricist secures a” = LERNER around A

    2) “large job” = L EARNER

    Works well for me

    hth

  44. Best ever Crucible for me.

    Lots of really excellent cluing and a great challenge.

    I managed to parse all the answers bar the bizarre 21D although all the wordplay was there to get the answer. It was obvious that a definition was missing. Now we see Crucible’s intended clue it is hard to believe that this was a “typesetting” error. The only conclusion is that this is a failure by our illustrious ed. Surely it’s not too hard to ensure that the sub-editors responsible have a correct version of the clues at the time of going to press.

    I really enjoyed this and echo the sentiments of others in asking for more of the same. (Saturdays would be a good choice perhaps)

    Thanks to manehi and Crucible

  45. Peter Asplnwall @40
    As beery hiker said @21, “difficulty is a personal thing”. For me, GOOD EGGS was one of the easiest clues in this difficult puzzle.

  47. Dreadful crossword. I found araucaria easier! Too many contrived clues. Cryptics should challenge the solver – not show how “clever the setter is.

  48. There has only been one mention (William @26) of ‘garden’ being used as an anagrind. I have been waiting for a response – because I really don’t get it. Can anyone enlighten me?

    The clue in question (23A) was kind of crying out for ‘Trim off-centre … …’, followed by the original ‘in outskirts of Redditch’ or something like ‘(within rough limits)’. That would have been a fair clue, IMHO, but would the setter consider this to have made the clue even easier than it was already?

  49. cholecyst @ 35 – “I’ve found that the only thing you get better at as you get older is crossword puzzles ( well – and complaining!).” Definitely, up to a point . . . my mother’s solving ability at the age of 97 is weakening a little, although she said she managed to do the prize Saturday puzzle with a bit of help from one of my sisters!

  50. William F P @36, nurse = FEED, it can be traced from Middle English through Old French to late Latin to Latin … but easier to think of the French ‘nourrice’, a nursing mother or wet nurse.

  51. DiS @ 47: Whose ‘rules’ are you trying to apply? Isn’t the cleverness of the setter manifested in the degree of challenge to the solver? Araucaria had his own set of unrules, but once the solution was apparent the links between clue, definition, and wordplay opened up. Same principle with Crucible, whose unrules are different but no less valid. His lack of frequency, hence familiarity of style, relative to Big A may go some way towards explaining his apparent difficulty.

    It’s all down to personal viewpoints, as ever.

  52. Jennyk@45. Looking at this again it does look easy- of course I know how it works now- but it didn’t at the time. Perhaps I was shellshocked.

  55. What I got was fine but far too hard for a weekday. Should have been a Saturday crossword instead of the easy Shed we had this week.

  56. Thanks, Muffin (@53), and sorry this is so late. I thought of a hundred things the meaning of ‘garden’ (verb) could include (plant, dig, prune, weed, …, …) but never thought of ‘make alterations’.

  57. Thanks Crucible and manehi

    Toughie all right … and pleased to get it finished in the end. Was softened up too much to pick up the theme – and now notice that the BBC was actually founded on October 18, 1922 (so around it’s anniversary).

    Needed a fair bit of referential help with terms like ARDS (NI peninsula), Lord REITH, NEM CON and Alan LERNER. I was aware of TELL (stuck in the memory from the James A Michener novel “The Source” from many years ago), Jack CADE the rebel against Henry VI (from other crosswords) and the STRETCHER brick.

    Almost came to grief by having an unparsed TEND in at 10a and only whilst doing the final parsing run did the correct FEED present.

    Finished in the SW corner with TELL, the clever triple definition LEARNER and REITH the last one in.

    Hard, but enjoyable !

  58. Thanks manehi and Crucible.

    This was tough but I did complete with all the correct parsings including the triple at 29ac.

    It was a bit easier for me on 21dn because I printed this off after the correction on the 28th.

    NEM CON and ONEIRIC were new words for me but both deriveable from the clues.

    I also thought that TEL(L) only had the one L as in – AVIV – until a dictionary check confirmed the double was OK.

    I think it’s a wavelength thing because I always find the clueing clumsy at the time but when I re-read there’s nothing unclear or unfair.

    So thanks for the challenge which just needed perseverance.

  59. Yet another poor effort. Since when do “pr” equal priest, “am” equal American or “enormously” mean “a lot”? It’s pretty well pointless trying to solve puzzles where there is such a disregard for basic English.

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