Guardian 26,714 / Screw

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After Crucible’s toughie yesterday, today it’s the Turn of the Screw – another tough challenge.

I thoroughly enjoyed this puzzle, which is full of inventive cluing and really innovative definitions, with lots of wit, as usual, thrown in and lovely surfaces throughout.

I see that in the preamble of the two previous Screw puzzles that I have blogged, I said I’d failed to parse a couple of clues and I’m afraid I have to admit defeat again today, so I look forward to the help which I know is at hand.

Many thanks to Screw – great stuff!

Across

1 What open doors and often don’t close, shock horror! (5,4)
SPLIT ENDS
It’s mortifying to fall at the very first hurdle but I’ve stared at this for such a long time and I can’t hold the blog up any longer: I just can’t see beyond the definition, which made me laugh

6 Loud weapon that’s more than stable! (4)
FARM
F [loud] + ARM [weapon]

8 Help on the way (cases yet to be resolved) (8)
CATSEYES
Anagram [to be resolved] of CASES YET – I was surprised to see this as here in Collins: Chambers gives it both an apostrophe and a hyphen

9 Grabbing cloudy drinks each day for starters (6)
GREEDY
GREY [cloudy – like today here] round [drinks] initial letters [starters] of Each Day

10 Slump forward into bottle (6)
FLAGON
FLAG [slump] + ON [forward]

11,21 Relentless nympho? (3,5,3,5)
ONE AFTER THE OTHER
Witty double/cryptic definition

12 When bongs were used by day nurse (6)
ATTEND
AT TEN [reference to TV ‘News at Ten’, introduced by the ‘bongs’ of Big Ben [now at risk – see here] + D [day]

15 Green leaves, having pretended Brighton’s good (8)
SHAMROCK
SHAM [pretended] + ROCK [‘Brighton’s good’, which we don’t often see in the singular] – and perhaps a reference to Graham Greene’s novel, ‘Brighton Rock’

16,19 Craft enabled landfall short of France, the ultimate target (2-3,3,3-3)
BE-ALL AND END-ALL
Crafty anagram [craft] of ENABLED LAND[f]ALL minus [short of] F [France] – great surface

22 Trouble surrendering is a slight difference (6)
NUANCE
NU[is]ANCE [trouble] minus [surrendering] is

24 With empty menu, enjoys linguini for breakfast (6)
MUESLI
First and last letters [emptied] of M[en]U E[njoy]S L[inguin]I

25 With 11 21, it’d mean new wheels (2,6)
IN TANDEM
Anagram [wheels] of IT’D MEAN N[ew]
There aren’t many laughs in Latin text books but I remember being tickled when I first met TANDEM, which Collins has as ‘c18 whimsical use of L tandem, at length’. It originally applied to plough horses

26 Abandon future plant, possibly in speech (4)
CEDE
Sounds like [in speech] SEED [future plant, possibly]

27 Bloke’s weight is entertaining to chart (9)
HISTOGRAM
HIS [bloke’s] + TON [Edit: GRAM, of course] [weight] round [entertaining] TO

 

Down

1 Home supporter catches cycling (5)
SNAIL
NAILS [catches] with the last letter moved to the front [cycling]

2 Dip in road brings up food (7)
LASAGNE
SAG [dip] in LANE [road]

3 Test clothes, chance to go over line (3,2)
TRY ON
I think this is a rugby reference

4 They don’t make theatre bookings — and their excuse? (2-5)
NO-SHOWS
Cryptic definition

5 Split up and get grease monkeys around (9)
SEGREGATE
Anagram [monkeys around] of GET GREASE

6 Sympathise with price that’s hilarious in retrospect (4,3)
FEEL FOR
FEE [price] + a reversal [in retrospect] of ROFL [text-speak for Rolling On Floor Laughing – hilarious]

7 Correct parasol’s opening with drunk reclined outside (3-6)
RED-PENCIL
Anagram [drunk] of RECLINED outside P[arasol]

13 Unfortunately, these euro coins build up (4,5)
TREE HOUSE
Anagram [unfortunately] of THESE EURO – but I can’t see the significance of ‘coins’

14 Checking out will hide what’s wrong (5,4)
DEATH WISH
Anagram [wrong] of HIDE WHAT’S

17 Ladies, perhaps, kind to kick off date’s brief search (4-3)
LOOK-SEE
LOO [Ladies, perhaps] + initial letter [to kick off] of Kind + SEE [date]

18 Had mate coming up with ideas regularly for Spurs v Arsenal etc (7)
DERBIES
Reversal [coming up] of BRED [had mate] + I[d]E[a]S

20 In Berlin, the wet parts becoming drier (7)
DRAINER
RAIN [the wet] parts DER [in Berlin ‘the’] – the word order sounds fittingly German!

22 Explosive start (I must be delayed) (5)
NITRO
INTRO [start] with the I ‘delayed’

23 Best sheets about to be put on (5)
CREAM
REAM [sheets] with C [about] put on top

58 comments on “Guardian 26,714 / Screw”

  1. Couldn’t get SHAMROCK, but a wonderful puzzle. Favourites were CATSEYES, CEDE, SPLIT ENDS (like Eileen I couldn’t parse this, nor TREE HOUSE) and DEATH WISH (brilliant clue). Many thanks to S and E.

  2. Hello Eileen,
    The best I can do with 1a is that open doors’ and ‘often don’t’ both enclose the word ‘end’ – giving split ends, but there. ay be more to it.
    I’m not sure I really understand ‘cycling’ in 1d.
    Thanks for parsing ‘feel for’, which eluded me.

  3. Thanks Screw and Eileen
    Lots to enjoy, as you say, Eileen, but some odd ones too. 1a I can neither parse nor make sense of the non-definition part of the surface. I even looked at the actual paper to see if it was a misprint on the website.
    I was going to ask about “coins” in 13d too – presumably it’s just for the surface, but it makes the clue clumsy. Also why “brings up” in 2d?
    Towards the end of my teaching career we were encouraged to mark work with green pens, as red was considered “too aggressive”!

  4. Thanks, Eileen. Two toughies in a row! But both wonderful challenges.

    George is right – the two EN Ds are split. I assumed that the coins were as in “to coin a phrase”.

    You’ve got a “typo” with the wrong weight in your explanation of HISTOGRAM, by the way.

  6. Thanks Eileen. I agree with George re splt ends. Also confused by the coin reference in 13D, seems redundant. I would also point out the typo in your 27A solution, GRAM, not TON is the weight.

  8. Well done, George and NeilW – I don’t think I’d have got there.

    And thanks, Neil – that’s the time lag between solving and writing the blog: it’s so often TON!

  9. NeilW @4 and sw @6
    I see that Neil has managed to break the near-universal rule that any post pointing out a typo will include a typo!

  12. Thanks for explaining ROFL in 6d. Even with a youngish daughter, I am lacking in ‘text speak’!

    Are ‘coins’ and ‘brings up’ possible synonyms for ‘produces’?

    A very enjoyable puzzle, nevertheless.

  16. Thanks Eileen and Screw.

    I thought this was much easier than yesterday’s. I managed to finish it with no aids, albeit I didn’t understand 1ac

  17. Thanks Screw and Eileen.

    Off to a bad start with 1a and thought I might have to give up like I did yesterday (not enough time). However, got there in the end but with some not parsed, extra thanks to Eileen and George Clements.

    Last in was CREAM, ‘Best sheets about to be put on’ made me laugh as I am rushing round making up beds for my eldest son and his family who arrive today.

  18. Thanks Screw & Eileen.

    Characteristically humorous and clever stuff. Like most, I couldn’t parse 1a, but like Eileen, I enjoyed the definition.

    Lots of good clues, the nympho made me laugh!

  19. 1a: I thought split here meant open and ends could at a pinch be doors? And as every long-haired girl knows, split ends really don’t close no matter how much conditioner you use …

  20. Right, please allow me a minute. Let me talk 1 across through to myself.
    The wordplay should be read as – What “open doors” and “often don’t” (en)close. That gives me “end” in both cases, or “split ends”.
    And the definition should be read as – Shock (of hair) horror. Or “split ends”.
    Phew! That’s brilliant!
    Thanks to Eileen and to all the contributors above for all their help. And thanks to Screw for a terrific crossword.
    It must be a coincidence, but 1 across perfectly reminded me of a quote from Sam, the barman in Cheers.
    “Good looks open doors. Good hair blows ’em off their hinges.”

  21. This was a curious puzzle for me: it went quickly enough (probably about a half-hour total), but the parsing of several of the clues eluded me. When I was done, I looked at the thing and thought, “I can’t believe I actually finished this thing.”

    Cat’s eyes (the kind in the road) probably aren’t called that here, and bongs at ten are of course meaningless to me. Thanks to the surface of the clue, I was picturing nurses taking marijuana hits on their coffee break! But both clues were clear enough to solve anyway.

    Like almost everyone else, I was mystified by SPLIT ENDS. SNAIL and NITRO both also went in unparsed (not coincidentally, both use the same type of cluing device–must keep that one in mind). Thanks to Eileen for explaining those (and the rest).

  22. I’ve never been on Screw’s wavelength, so a lot of this was still empty at the end of lunch break, but those I did manage to get I thought were great. I think TREE HOUSE could have been written without the “unfortunately” – “coins” would be a valid anagram indicator (IMHO).

  23. I enjoyed that, so thanks Screw and Eileen. I got there without aids but I couldnt parse everything. Still unconvinced about “coins” but tha’s me.

    But my 14 year old daughter says that ROFL is “so last decade”. And id never heard of it! (I had heard of LMFAO But she says that’s so 2012 so completely uncool…) . Blimey I sound like Cameron on “lol”. Ho hum…

  24. Very enjoyable, and much easier than yesterday’s Crucible, apart from a couple of tricky parsings. Last in was TANDEM, favourite FEEL FOR.

    Thanks to Screw and Eileen

  25. Hi SeanDimly @20

    “That gives me “end” in both cases, or “split ends”.”

    Or – both ‘EN Ds’ are split, as well as split from each other. Whichever way you read it, a really great clue – I now see. 🙁

  26. Thanks to Screw and Eileen. I had the same difficulties as those already noted (e.g., SPLIT ENDS, CATSEYES, ROFL), but also new to me were DERBIES and HISTOGRAM. Still, I did struggle to the finish line with some help from Google.

  27. Thanks to Eileen for the blog. You (and George) gave me the parsings I had missed.

    It’s odd how different people see things. Some people here said this puzzle was as difficult as yesterday’s. Others said this one was easier. I’m with the second school.

  28. Thank you, Eileen, and also for X as a regnal number yesterday (got back too late from ping-pong to reply).

    Failed in the NW corner as I couldn’t find CATSEYES as a single word.

    I sort of understand the SPLIT ENDS thing now but would not have got there on my own.

    Still don’t really understand ‘cycling’ but I see what he’s getting at.

    I parsed TRY ON with the rugby reference as you did.

    Another slow solve for me, second this week and it’s only Wednesday!

    Thank you Screw,

    Nice week, all.

  29. William @28
    I rationalised SNAIL by picturing writing the letters in a circle. If you start on the N you will get NAILS as a word, but if you “cycle” round to the S you’ll get SNAIL. A little unfair that you first had to decide that “catches” = “nails”, though.

  30. Much easier than yesterday’s puzzle,and, with the exception of SPLIT ENDS- which I now just about understand – most enjoyable.
    I’m not always on Screw’s wavelength but I was today. I liked SNAIL and many others. Oh, and I think CATSEYES is an alternative to CATS EYES although I would have opted for the latter if pressed.
    Thanks Screw.

  31. Muffin @29 Yes, thanks, I see what you’re getting at but, as you say, it’s a bit like a derived anagram in that you have to guess at a word first. Hey-ho, it’s only a small gripe in an otherwise excellent puzzle.

  35. It’s COINS as in ‘invents’ or ‘fabricates’, so you could argue that ‘unfortunately’ is the redundant element.

  36. Yes – it doesn’t need both anagram indicators, as far as I can see. Would work better without the “unfortunately”. I wonder what happened there?

  37. Once Neil @4 had suggested ‘to coin a phrase’, I took ‘coins’ as applying to the novel definition, ‘build up’, not an anagram indicator.

  38. Different strokes for different folks etc.

    I found this much more difficult than yesterdays brilliant offering.

    Although I finished this I didn’t enjoy it at all. I couldn’t parse 3 of the clues. It was like drawing teeth.

    I think they were just over contrived. I don’t usually agree when this criticism is levelled but in this case I feel it is justified.

    Firstly for a lot of the clues it was very difficult to see the parsing even when the answer had been guessed from the assumed definition.

    Secondly for at least 5 of the clues it was next to impossible to derive the answer from the wordplay.

    Surely the parsing for 1A which has been suggetsed requires a “do” before the defintion.

    Although the answer for 4D was clear the clue doesn’t actually make sense. A “no-show” doesn’t turn up for a performance either having bought or reserved a ticket. So “no shows” as an excuse is meaningless as why would the the ticket be booked/reserved in the first place.

    This puzzle needed the tender cares of an editor before being published.

    I’m glad that at least some of you seemed to enjoy it.

    Thanks to Eileen and Screw

  39. Despite the fact that I didn’t see the parsing, my main objection to 1ac is that the grammar of the clue seems to be cockeyed – as I said earlier, I thought that there must be a misprint in the clue.

  40. Am I the only one who finds clues like 22A annoying. First take a random synonym of a random word in the clue then take some letters out, form anagrams and see if they make sense. Isn’t that the sort of clue you can only parse once you know the answer? Seems to me that any clue ought to have the possibility of being the first one solved, which you could never do with this without, probably, all the crossing clues to give you the answer first.

  44. Eileen @42 – Yes, I did mean 22A. First you have to find a synonym of ‘trouble’, then remove ‘is’ then see if you can find an anagram that meets the rest of the clue. A decent cryptic crossword clue should lead directly to the answer, but this one doesn’t. At least, for me – as far as I can see, you can only really parse this once you know the answer.

  45. Alastair @44

    There is no anagram involved. The clue is perfectly straightforward: NU[is]ANCE. I thought it was one of the best, in fact.

  46. Alistair@44. No anagram involved. ‘Nuisance’ less ‘is’ equals ‘nuance’. My process was:

    1. Think of an 8-letter synonym for trouble that includes ‘is’.

    2. Remove the ‘is’ and see if what’s left is a word that means ‘small detail’.

    Nothing indirect about that for me.

  47. Well, OK, no anagram, but I still wouldn’t say it was a reasonable clue. But I have to bow to your much greater experience with crosswords.

  48. Enjoyed this- thanks for help in parsing. In 4d I understood the second definition as TRY (IT) ON i.e. Step over the line= push the boundary

  51. Brendan@38 – The “excuse” refers to an alternative meaning of “no shows”. If there are no shows then you cannot make a booking.

  52. HKrinner @51

    Exactly my point! The clue is flawed.

    The definition is “They don’t make theatre bookings”

    Answer “NO-SHOWS” and the “make” means don’t turn up if this is the definition.

    So “their excuse?” can’t logically be “NO SHOWS” as they have already made a booking according to the clue!!!

  53. B(NTO) @52
    An alternative interpretation, though admittedly a rather stretched one, is that the shows have been cancelled. Then the NO-SHOWS (not necessarily the same people who made the bookings) use the lack of shows as their excuse for not meeting the friends with whom they were going to watch those shows.

  54. I think the reason ‘coins’ is there in 13d is because otherwise they would have had to use the plural ‘euros’, and that would mess up the anagram. I suggest that ‘unfortunately’ applies to ‘these’ and ‘coins’ applies to ‘euro’, thus having an anagram indicator for each word.

  55. B@52

    The ‘they’ and ‘their’ are two different groups of people, which seems ok to me in crossword land. Not sure if this is what jennyk@52 means.

    I thought this was a fair and sparkling crossword. The clues had much smoother surfaces than some other recent puzzles.

  57. Thanks Eileen and Screw.

    Tough but thoroughly enjoyable.

    I shared the 3 common parsing difficulties above – SPLIT ENDS, ROFL, and ‘coins’ in TREE HOUSE – but all eloquently explained by contributors.

    So thanks again. Great stuff.

  58. Thanks Screw and Eileen

    Have taken to the crosswords of this setter very quickly – they are generally quite difficult, but always fair and unambiguous with some humour thrown in to boot !!

    Sort of half way got there with 1a – did notice the hidden ENDs, but couldn’t take the leap of faith to the full explanation – quite brilliant when you see it all.

    The reference to the News at Ten bongs was completely lost on me – I thought that AT TEN was some loose reference to when a drug taker would be ready for his / her bong … :-/.

    Liked NO SHOWS – thought that the reference to theatre bookings was just more help along the way for these people (the no-shows) to have seen no shows.

    Was one of those puzzles that gave a little bit more satisfaction when one finally got to the end.

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