Guardian Cryptic 26720 by Arachne

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I’m always excited to see Arachne’s name at the top of the puzzle, and as usual she provides an entertaining challenge full of misdirection. Many lovely clues, but favourites were 10ac, 21ac, 27ac and 28ac.

Across
1 PERFECT
Polish model, downright tense (7)

=Polish as a verb, =model and =downright as an adjective, =a form of past tense.
5 SUPREME
Crowning the young Diana R.? (7)

as in “crowning achievement”. Diana Ross was a member of the SUPREME[s] [wiki], before her solo career.
9 AKITA
Self-help group cuddling cat and dog (5)

a Japanese dog [wiki]. A[lcoholics] A[nonymous] is the “Self-help group”, around KIT=”cat”
10 OCTOPUSES
Part of autumn operation employs army swimmers (9)

“army” as in having many arms. OCT[ober]=”Part of autumn”, plus OP[eration], plus USES=”employs”
11 GOING SPARE
Seeing red blood around home, gasp fearfully (5,5)

GORE=”blood”, around all of: IN=”home” plus (gasp)*
12 BRAN
Health food bargains offered regularly (4)

letters taken regularly from B[a]R[g[A[i]N[s]
14 BLANK CHEQUES
Born with limp, Eastern European’s heard these offer complete freedom? (5,7)

B[orn], plus LANK=”limp”, plus CHEQUES sounds like ‘Czech’s’ i.e. “Eastern European’s heard”
18 HARD SHOULDER
Edge along road, closely pursued by bear (4,8)

HARD=”closely” as in ‘hard by’, plus SHOULDER=”bear”
21 ARID
Dry, cold deserts stinging nose (4)

A[c]RID=”stinging nose”, with c[old] leaving/deserting
22 COASTGUARD
They rescue you, reportedly trapped by retired bore on cruise (10)

U=”you, reportedly”, inside DRAG reversed=”retired bore”, all after COAST=”cruise” as in ‘coasting along’
25 DAMNATION
Curses mother country (9)

DAM=”mother”, plus NATION=”country”
26 NYMAN
English scorer scores, moving yard forward after Nasri’s header (5)

Michael Nyman [wiki] is an English composer of scores, i.e. a scorer. MANY=”scores”, with Y[ards] moving forward, and all after N[asri] (the name of a footballer)
27 MAXIMUM
Most saying, “I can’t think what to say” (7)

MAXIM=”saying”, plus UM=”I can’t think of what to say”
28 ARSENIC
As nice as ever, First Lady ignored straying (7)

As is the chemical symbol for Arsenic. (nice as ever)*, ignoring Eve=”First lady”
Down
1 PRANGS
Called with afterthought about accidents (6)

RANG=”Called”, with PS=”afterthought” around it
2 RAISIN
Water is assumed to be ingredient in fruit cake? (6)

RAIN=”Water”, with IS “assumed” or taken in
3 EVANGELISE
Try to convert Senegal? I’ve failed (10)

(Senegal I’ve)*
4 TROOP
March is bad time, on reflection (5)

POOR=”bad”, plus T[ime], all reversed=”on reflection”
5 SATIRICAL
Mocking idiotic racialist (9)

(racialist)*
6 PAPA
Feature of mum first to attract dad (4)

PAP=nipple or breast=”Feature of mum”, plus A[ttract]
7 ENSHROUD
Veil females head to toe, uniformity primarily secured by lash (8)

HENS=”females”, with the “head” H moved to the end or “toe”, plus U[niformity] inside ROD=”lash”
8 EASINESS
Function central to each empty sports facility (8)

SINE=”Function”, in the centre of EA[ch], plus S[port]S emptied out
13 DETERGENTS
Prevent gains being split by nucleus of money launderers (10)

DETER=”Prevent”, plus GETS=”gains” split by [mo]N[ey]
15 NEOLOGISM
Manspreading, perhaps, blighting men’s igloo? (9)

“Manspreading” [wiki] is a neologism. (men’s igloo)*
16 THRALDOM
Slavery in the real Spain twice dismissed by Catholic dignitary (8)

TH[e] R[e]AL, with E[spana]=”Spain” twice dismissed, plus DOM, a Catholic title
17 TRAIL MIX
Scoff when rambling confession of perjurer retracted in Texas (5,3)

“Scoff” as a noun meaning food. I’M LIAR=”confession of perjurer”, reversed/retracted in TX=”Texas”
19 MAMMON
M-m-member for T-t-t-tatton, personification of greed (6)

I think this is: M, M and M[ember] for T, T and T in “tatton”. George Osborne is the Member of Parliament for Tatton.
20 EDENIC
Unspoilt daughter and niece flourished (6)

=like Eden. (D[aughter] niece)*
23 SANTA
Upset when admitting social worker is annual visitor (5)

AS=”when”, reversed or “Upset”, around ANT=”social worker”
24 WARM
Ardent crowds removing clothes (4)

[s]WARM[s]=”crowds”, with the outer letters/clothes removed

46 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 26720 by Arachne”

  1. Thanks manehi and Arachne.

    I started this on line without noticing the setter’s name, finding it quite easy at first, so I was surprised to find it was Arachne. The last few were much harder, and there were several unknowns for me today: AKITA, NYMAN, EDENIC.

    I still don’t understand Manspreading?

    Enjoyable.

  3. Thanks manehi, and hurrah for the Spider Lady, back to ensnare us once more.

    FWIW Nyman’s school of composing, minimalism, was memorably described by a colleague in a music department I taught in, as the only music which takes longer to play than to write.

  4. Thanks, manehi, for a great blog.

    as usual, I agree with all your favourites and would add 15, 17 – and 19dn: I didn’t know who the present member was – I was remembering Neil Hamilton – so thanks for that.

    Lovely cluing throughout, as expected: good to see a change from DETER GENTS! And a great quadruple definition, with a surface that makes sense.

    Many thanks, as ever to Arachne, for a sparkling start to a very dull day.

    [

  5. Yes, it’s always a thrill to see Arachne’s name on a puzzle. I found this a bit easier than many of hers, but most enjoyable. Favourites included OCTOPUSES, ARSENIC, PAPA and ENSHROUD. Many thanks to A and m.

  8. Is 19 an anagram of MMM plus AON (Tatton -t -t -t = aon)? The only way I can parse it.

    George Osborne as the personification of greed raised a smile here!

  9. Thanks manehi. Ignorance of NYMAN and 19D references didn’t matter, it all went in pleasantly. TRAIL MIX, which the setter had in February as a Spoonerism, was a brief hiccup. Much to like including the 4-way 1A. Thanks Arachne.

  12. Thanks, manehi. Lovely as usual. I was getting near the end and thinking it surprisingly non-political but then the wonderful MAMMON appeared!

    Is ardent really synonymous with WARM, though? [Amusing after my discussion with muffin yesterday. 😉 ]

    Bembo @10, in countries where the barbaric practice exists, lashes are normally delivered with a cane so I think it’s fair enough.

  15. Thanks Arachne, sparkling form ‘as ever.’

    Thanks manehi; I wasn’t sure about the parsing of mm-Mammon. Van Winkle @14; I also noticed that although it would make more sense in a down clue.

    Lots to like; OCTOPUSES and ARSENIC particularly appealed.

  16. Thanks Arachne and manehi.

    A lovely puzzle, favourites were OCTOPUSES, MAXIMUM, ARSENIC, ENSHROUD, DETERGENTS and NEOLOGISM.

    ROD = ‘lash’, I remember as a girl dropping some wet seaweed from the promenade onto a man sleeping on the beach below, he chased me in anger shouting “I’ll gie ye the rod!”, I certainly deserved a beating, but some Teddy Boys came to my rescue.

  17. Thanks Arachne and manehi. I needed your parsing of MAMMON.

    [I was hoping for some ignorami arguing for the plural of octupus to be octopi!]

  18. AA is not a ‘self-help’ group according to my Uncle Nathan, who tried it for a while. It is ‘God reliance’.

  19. Thanks Arachne and manehi

    Shirl @ 17: the plural of octopus is technically OCTOPODES, as (I believe) it derives from Greek not Latin.

    Now, where did I put my copy of the Pedant’s Dictionary…? 😉

  20. The clues here are very good. I don’t know ‘manspreading’ or what it is, so that took a while.

    Isn’t it odd how some Guradian puzzle are written correctly, whilst some are SO not.

  21. Orlando, Picaroon and now Arachne – this sets the bar very high for the rest of the week. As always there was plenty to enjoy – SUPREME, ARSENIC, EVANGELISE, PAPA, NEOLOGISE and MAMMON were my favourites. Last in was WARM, but last to parse was SUPREME…

    Thanks to Arachne and manehi

  22. Thanks to all. As usual, there was inventive stuff here, which meant it took me longer than usual. I cheated on MAMMON, and needed the parsing here to understand it.

    The expression “going spare” isn’t in my dialect, but it was clued fairly. Similarly, I didn’t know NYMAN, but once the crossing letters were in, there was only one plausible name that worked with the clue.

    About minimalist music there is only one joke, one joke, one joke, is only one joke, one joke, one joke, one joke….

  23. This was excellent. The most enjoyable puzzle for what seems like weeks. So many favourites but I’d single out MAXIMUM,NYMAN and MAMMON. The latter with its Osborne connection made me smile.
    A heartfelt thanks to Arachne.

  24. [Huh. So apparently Nyman writes primarily opera. Surprised I haven’t heard of him then, since I go to the opera pretty regularly here. I guess part of the issue is that the main local opera company (Lyric Opera of Chicago) squeezes just one modern or contemporary opera into a typical season (out of nine works), and it’s usually an American one. So the minimalists we usually see are Phillip Glass and John Adams. The other opera company (Chicago Opera Theater) is more adventurous in its programming, but I admit I pay less attention to what they’re doing. I can only afford so many opera tickets!]

  25. Simon S @ 19: Octopodes sounds lovely, but from some cursory online searches it seems that it’s not current English usage.

  26. mrpenney @ 24. I wouldn’t have had Nyman down as primarily an opera composer. I now see that he has written a few, but I wouldn’t say that any of them have really gained much traction. He threw a terrible fit about 3 years ago when the Royal Opera House decided against commissioning an opera from him, as this Telegraph piece (in my opinion rather biased towards him) makes clear. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/opera/9253374/Composer-threatens-to-withdraw-tax-after-latest-opera-rejected.html
    He’s probably best known generally as a composer for films (e.g. The Draughtsman’s Contract). I like his music in that genre, but I can’t imagine that it would bear the weight of a full-length opera. (But, then again, see Glass).

  27. drofle @ 25: Yes, I agree it’s not current usage, but this is what wikipedia has to say on the subject:

    “Etymology and pluralization
    The scientific Latin term octopus was derived from Ancient Greek ???????? (okt?pous), which literally translates to “eight-foot” (???? “eight” + ???? “foot”).[6][7][8] Related to the word “octopus” are the term “Octopoda” (the taxonomic order of cephalopod molluscs that comprises the octopuses) and the adjective “octopoid”.[9]

    The standard pluralized form of “octopus” in the English language is “octopuses” /??kt?p?s?z/,[10] although the Ancient Greek plural “octopodes” /?k?t?p?di?z/, has also been used historically.[9] The alternative plural “octopi” — which misguidedly assumes it is a Latin “-us”-word — is considered grammatically incorrect.[11][12][13][14] It is nevertheless used enough to make it notable, and was formally acknowledged by the descriptivist Merriam-Webster 11th Collegiate Dictionary and Webster’s New World College Dictionary. The Oxford English Dictionary (2008 Draft Revision)[15] lists “octopuses”, “octopi”, and “octopodes”, in that order, labelling “octopodes” as rare and noting that “octopi” derives from the misapprehension that oct?pus comes from Latin.[16] In contrast, New Oxford American Dictionary (3rd Edition 2010) lists “octopuses” as the only acceptable pluralization, with a usage note indicating “octopodes” as being still occasionally used but “octopi” as being incorrect.[17]”

    :-^)

  28. Thanks to Arachne and manehi. I had the same issues as mrpenney@22 with GOING SPARE, MAMMON, and NYMAN. PRANGS is my pet example to friends of UK vs. US usage. Last in was ENSHROUD where I was looking for an alternative noun for “veil,” obviously to no avail. Very enjoyable.

  31. Cyborg @30 – I nearly mentioned that one – the main theme uses a traditional melody, which is probably why it is so memorable..

  32. Thanks Arachne and manehi

    I came to this late and wasn’t able to give it the time it needed, so failed on AKITA and didn’t parse MAMMON. Favourites were PAPA, HARD SHOULDER and ARSENIC.

    I was taught that the plural of “octopus” was “octopodes”, so felt firmly put in my place when Chambers listed it as “archaic”!

    I didn’t like COASTGUARD as standing for the plural “they”. Yes, it is a “plural organisation”, but if you need rescuing, it is coastguardS who will do the job.

  34. Once again, for me, a wonderful Arachne workout. Twice I thought I had ground to a halt, but reminded myself that my persistence has always been rewarded by her puzzles, and that my being stuck on a clue is usually a sign that I have allowed myself to be slyly misdirected. Thanks to both Arachne and Manehi.

  35. Good stuff, and nice to see Arachne back in the saddle, so to speak. (Can spiders ride horses? Discuss.)

    Couldn’t get NYMAN, but the Osborne reference made me smile. And ‘manspreading’ shows that the girl is up to date with yoof culture, and done good. Again.

    Thanks, both.

  36. Arachne back to her best.

    Lots of great clues and misdirection.

    I enjoyed this but failed to parse 19D although the answer was obviously MAMMON. Am I missing something or are we still awaiting a workable parsing for this clue. Neither of the suggestions seems to work for me? It does seem that Arachne wanted us to replace the “t”s in “tatton” with “m”s but how does the wordplay properly indicate this? Or do “ember” and “-” have some other meaning that I have yet to discover?

    What am I missing?

    Thanks to manehi and

  38. BNTO @36

    You surprise me. Your comments are usually – but not invariably – in tune with my thinking.

    I thought Brain – sorry Brian, a typo – @8 explained this perfectly. If you take the three Ts away from Tatton you are left with AON and add this to the three Ms and there you are.

    BUT I think you are all wrong here in that the personification applies not to Osborne but to Neil Hamilton.

    Great crossword but I just couldn’t get AKITA despite having the three crossers.

    18ac led me astray for a while in view of the famous stage direction from “The Winter’s Tale”. I thought the whole thing was brilliant – thanks Arachne!

  39. Many thanks to Manehi for the excellent blog, and to everyone for being kind enough to post comments. Sincere apologies to all for several months’ radio silence: all being well, normal service will be resumed shortly.

    Love & hugs,

    Arachne

  40. This was, as usual for Arachne’s puzzles, a very tough workout for me, but a fair one. The SE stayed empty for a very long time, apart from SANTA. Eventually DETERGENTS, then COASTGUARD, led to the remaining answers. It’s too late tonight for me to go back through the clues in order to list favourites, but ARSENIC stands out from those final few.

    Thanks to Arachne and manehi.

  41. Jovis @38

    It’s nice to hear that there is a like mind somewhere in the universe. There I was thinking that I was a sole curmudgeonly grump who just annoyed everyone 🙂 .

    Both manehi and Brian suggest in slightly different ways that your suggestion is the way to arrive at MAMMON. (I too suggested this)

    My question was can anyone explain how the wordplay indicated this? It would appear that no-one can! (Not even Arachne ventured a comment. Welcome back, by the way, you have been sorely missed. “You’re my favourite!” 🙂 )

  43. B(nto) @41 Yes, manehi parsed MAMMON exactly as I’d intended. (And thanks for your extremely kind words *blush*)

    PeterO @42 🙂 Not sure I’ve ever actually used PANTO as an answer – absolutely can’t stand the things!

  45. Thanks Arachne and manehi

    Enjoyable crossword that spilt across two days for me.

    The NE corner was the one to give trouble with TROOP, OCTOPUSES and PAPA being the last few in. Didn’t know that PAP was another term for a teat / nipple and took a while to see that it was what I was actually needing to look for.

    THRALDOM was new and liked the clever approach of deriving the THRAL bit. Was unaware of this meaning of ‘scoff’ and didn’t know the composer NYMAN. The satire in the surface reading of the MAMMON clue went over my head – doubly brilliant if said politician did happen to stutter !

    It’s good to see this setter presenting more regularly again – she always brings fun to the table.

  46. Thanks manehi and Arachne.

    There’s much to admire here but my own shortcomings made completion of the last few a bit of a slog.

    I got there in the end but needed your help to parse SUPREME, ARID, PAPA, and MAMMON – this last being particularly brilliant when you get it.

    I wasn’t sure about deter = prevent in 13dn but that’s just me.

    My favourite – when I got it – was ARSENIC.

    So all in all, like my school reports invariably said – I must try harder!

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