After yesterday’s duffing-up by Enigmatist and friends, it was a bit of a relief to get this much gentler, but still enjoyable, offering from Philistine as the first puzzle of 2016. Thanks to him, and Happy New Year to all.
| Across | ||||||||
| 1. | AFGHAN | National articles (including a series of letters) (6) FGH (consecutive letters of the alphabet) in A + AN |
||||||
| 5. | MARITIME | Said to hitch up with the enemy of the sea (8) “Marry” + TIME (proverbially “the enemy”) |
||||||
| 9. | PUBLICAN | Bird has no energy to collect dole money for the landlord (8) U[nemployment] B[enefit] in PELICAN less E |
||||||
| 10. | STURDY | Read about redhead getting tough (6) R[ed] in STUDY |
||||||
| 11. | SATISFACTORY | Good or bad, sits a plant (12) (SITS A)* + FACTORY |
||||||
| 13. | ANTI | Not in favour of Ain’t Misbehavin’ (4) AIN’T* |
||||||
| 14. | RELOCATE | Porter back in speed move (8) Reverse of COLE (Porter, songwriter) in RATE |
||||||
| 17. | FOOLSCAP | The odds on awful scoop splashed out in the paper (8) Anagram of odd letters of AwFuL + SCOOP |
||||||
| 18. | EROS | God of generosity (4) Hidden in genEROSity |
||||||
| 20. | NAME-DROPPING | What makes Bunny buy into pretentious behaviour? (4-8) If you remove the “names” (Ns) from BUNNY you get BUY |
||||||
| 23. | KIMCHI | Not half kick, my chilli pickles (6) First halves of KIck My CHIlli. Kimchi is a very popular dish in Korea |
||||||
| 24. | PHARMACY | Fast harmful drugs here (8) HARM in PACY |
||||||
| 25. | ONE-LINER | A single ship? That’s a joke (3-5) ONE + LINER |
||||||
| 26. | DANISH | European leader to disappear a hundred times (6) VANISH with its ”leader” V (5) replaced by D (500) |
||||||
| Down | ||||||||
| 2,22. | FOUR ACES | What’s better than a full house as cause for reform? (4,4) (CAUSE FOR)* – reference to Poker hands |
||||||
| 3. | HOLD STILL | Keeps register to put a stop to motion (4,5) HOLDS TILL |
||||||
| 4. | NICETY | Fine point of Germanic etymology (6) Hidden in germaNIC ETYmology |
||||||
| 5. | MANUSCRIPT PAPER | Order to pen rap music part here (10,5) (PEN RAP MUSIC PART)* |
||||||
| 6. | RASCALLY | Roguish partner chasing roguish cars (8) CARS* + ALLY |
||||||
| 7. | TAUNT | Ultimately slept with family member to be provocative (5) [slep]T + AUNT |
||||||
| 8. | MODERATION | A communist uprising blocks proposal for temperance (10) Reverse of A RED in MOTION |
||||||
| 12. | INNOVATION | Hotel needs hand in development (10) INN + OVATION |
||||||
| 15. | CLERGYMAN | Perhaps bishop with cold mouth and nose first to catch dreaded disease (9) [The dreaded] LERGY in initial letters of Cold Mouth And Nose. Chambers only gives the spellings LURGY and LURGI for the disease (originally from the Goon Show). |
||||||
| 16. | SCORPION | Stinger capable of releasing poison? It’s often nasty to begin with (8) First letters of Stinger Capable Of Releasing Poison It’s Often Nasty, &lit |
||||||
| 19. | RIBALD | Vulgar criminal Blair indicted at last (6) BLAIR* + [indicte]D |
||||||
| 21. | EXCEL | Be good when 40, as they say (5) Homophone of XL (Roman numerals for 40) |
||||||
Thanks Philistine and Andrew
Only 3 across clues answered on first pass, but the downs were much easier (for me, anyway), and it didn’t last long. I laughed out loud at CLERGYMAN, but the spelling, as you say, is just wrong. I wonder if Philistine is trying to make “catch” do double-duty as a homophone indicator as well?
Thanks for the parse of NAME-DROPPING – I couldn’t see that.
For me SATISFACTORY isn’t as good as “good”; that might come from years of writing school reports, though!
Workarounds for FireFox (V39.0.03):
Print on single page: page set up > Format & options > scale 80%. Don’t forget to resetto 100% after crossword printed.
Online crossword: View > Zoom > Text Only.
Hope this helps.
Great start to the New Year, thanks Philistine. Ticks all the boxes for me: being just the right level to solve without resorting to Google.
Like muffin, I couldnt parse 20a. Thanks for that Andrew
Thanks, Andrew.
Gentle by Philistine’s own standards, too, but, as you say, most enjoyable – a fine end to an excellent week of puzzles and a promising start to a new year.
A real pity about 15dn, which has a great surface. I’d love to buy muffin’s suggestion but just can’t, I’m afraid. [Actually, for years I thought that was the spelling – from ‘allergy’, I suppose.]
Many thanks, as ever, to Philistine.
Just right for the morning after. Like others we missed the role of Bunny. And our final write in was scorpion, without stopping to see why . We saw the anagram of poison, and failed to see the first letters. But a fun start to the day and the year .
My best wishes for a happy New Year to all setters, bloggers, solvers and comment-tators. At a young age of 88 I get so much fun here.
Dr. Gurmukh
PaulW @2: Thanks for the printing tip (presumably following on from pevious days comments).
Do you (or anyone) know of a way of viewing the whole grid AND all the clues at the same time on a laptop. [I’m finding it a pain trying to position the required area without moving too far up or down].
Thanks
Thank you, Andrew, fine blog.
I usually struggle with this setter but fairly romped through this one; I imagine Philistine felt merciful for the start of the year.
I thought the ANTI clue had a little &lit-ishness about it, with ‘good & bad’.
With 13 & 14a being so close I had a feeling we were into show tunes but that fizzled out soon enough.
Loved NAME DROPPING, PHARMACY, & DANISH in particular, and I do hope our setter will drop in to cure our lurgy/lergy problem.
If I may be indulged, I’ll take the opportunity to thank our excellent regular bloggers for their help through the year. It’s not an easy job, nor is it without stress with a self-imposed deadline looming and plenty of other time pressures to boot.
A very Happy New Year to all.
15d is interesting indeed.
1. There is no such )real) condition as lurgi or lurgy
and 2. Philistine is a surgeon.
Google allows either spelling, Chambers does not.My Chaambers does not list L’chaim(yesterday’s Indy)
We only heard it on the radio(Goon show) and an original script of one of those would be a rare find indeed.
I like the derivation)from “allergy”)
Hope the setter pops in either here or there (he has erred before but he is a busy man)
Very enjoyable puzzle – favourites were DANISH, NAME-DROPPING, AFGHAN and PHARMACY. Many thanks to Philistine and Andrew, and a Happy New Year to all, including Hedgehoggy.
pex @ 7 Try – (Control key and minus sign) to reduce the size of the displayed page.
Thanks Andrew and Philistine
By Jingers! That works a treat.
Thanks Dave Ellison
Thank you Philistine and Andrew.
A most enjoyable puzzle, especially after yesterday’s struggles.
NAME DROPPING was great, I would say the best of the year but that would not mean much today (I failed to parse it of course). KIMCHI was a new word but gettable from the crossers.
All the best for 2016 everyone.
Like everyone else I found this a very pleasant start to the new year. I like 9, 20 & 24ac particularly.
As to 15ac, I took “catch” to indicate a homophone and entered the the answer confidently. However, you had me thinking again, Eileen @4, and I realise now that it doesn’t work. That said, it didn’t spoil my enjoyment of the puzzle.
Many thanks to Philistine & Andrew. Best wishes to all.
This was a delightful solve. Many of the clues were perfect, I thought, in the way they combined sound wordplay with good surfaces – barely four clues could be called clunky today.
I was well taken in by (20D), though. Even after finding ‘name-dropping’ = ‘pretentious behaviour’, I failed to parse this clue and had to wait to look it up here.
15D was readily solvable but, like others, I feel it doesn’t work and would like to see an explanation.
Yes, a good start to the year. An enjoyable solve where no aids were needed, apart from the dictionary to check KIMCHI. Thanks, Philistine and Andrew.
Yesterday’s ridiculously hard Enigmatist puzzle got me musing (again) on the level of difficulty of Guardian cryptics. Of course, they vary a lot and this is, in general, a good thing – the range stretches us (to different extents) and gradually builds our skills. However, it’s my impression from years of solving that the overall level of difficulty has risen. I think one of the factors here is that setters have extended the variety of techniques and tricks they use. Again, this is generally a good thing. The snag, though, is that Guardian cryptics may often be just too hard for novices – those ‘Yes!’ moments are not frequent enough. Feedback from the young adult members of my family – all bright people with good vocabularies – is consistently along these lines, even with puzzles in the middle of the range. This leads me to suggest that the editor, if he wants cryptics to be taken up by healthy numbers of the next generation, ought to ensure the range of puzzles published is, on the whole, a little easier than it currently is.
Comments, anyone?
Thanks to Philistine for something entirely suitable for hungover New Year revellers. I think this is the first I have managed without aids since my recent return to cryptic crosswords. SCORPION was my LOI, made more difficult because FOOLSCAP was the penultimate: I couldn’t parse it even when I saw it. Also couldn’t parse NAME-DROPPING or DANISH, so special thanks for those, Andrew.
Happy New Year and many thanks to all setters, bloggers and commenters. I’d still be coming here if I could complete and parse every clue, it’s a great community.
Median@16 -Graun puzzles seem to me to have been pretty OK- wouldnt want them diluted at all. Enigmatist yesterday was at the difficult end of the scale but it was NYE. Whereas the same setter’s IO in the FT was very very tough. Philistine is usually much more challenging than this but hey- its new year’s day.I think the Graun is getting it right- and for anyone complaining there is always Rufus and Chifonie.
So-stet.
Median @ 16 – I find the average level of difficulty at the hard end for me, but usually manage to finish the puzzles (including Enigmatist yesterday). However, I agree with your general argument: that the current level makes it quite difficult for a novice to get into cryptics. What say you, Crossword Editor? I suppose we should be having this discussion on the General Discussion page, but that seems rather quiet.
CLERGYMAN was last in for all the aforesaid LERGY problems. Thanks Andrew for the DANISH parsing, which I didn’t get – thought there was something going on with Roman numerals but clearly the numerical part of my brain hasn’t had its 2016 upgrade yet.
I first became interested in cryptics more than 40 years ago when my father, a self-taught man, used to try them. I’m not sure if he ever completed one, nor did I for some time, but perseverance is the name of the game. I parse a clue to my son and his girlfriend from time to time in the hope they will give them a go one day. It’s worth remembering there are now plenty of aids to new solvers (while none in my father’s day), this site being one of course, and Hugh’s own book ‘Secrets of the Setters’ another – a prize to Guardian winners, who presumably don’t need it!
Median @ 16 – hear hear!
Clearly there are some on here who enjoy rediculously hard crosswords but I suggest the Graun is not the place for such.
During my 45+ years of attempting the G, I have learnt so many new words and facts but these have been through clues that are ‘getable’ from the criptic part. I think the problem nowadays is that certain compilers require the internet to be used too often and thus you cannot hope/expect to sit down your paper alone and have the confidence that with some thought and perseverance you might complete the crossword.
median @16 et al
There are entry level puzzles, such as the Guardian’s own Quiptic. Most of these I find very entertaining as well.
Interesting recent post on the graun site as regards ‘LERGY’…
A gentle start to 2016 although KIMCHI was new to me. I suppose I thought that “lergy” was OK because I wrote it in without a qualm but I see that there could be quibbles. The rest went in quite easily.
I think the level of difficulty in the Guardian puzzles is about right. I don’t think I’d want it to change. A more efficient editor wouldn’t go amiss though!
Thanks Philistine.
I always enjoy Philistine – this was not his most challenging but no complaints, since it was full of wit. Last in was DANISH, nothing too unfamiliar, liked NAME DROPPING and PHARMACY
Thanks to Philistine and Andrew
Happy New Year to all setters, bloggers and commenters here! Since some have worried that setters might feel put off or cowed by hedgehoggy’s analyses, I thought I’d give a setter’s perspective on this question.
Does “hedgehoggy” really exist as he implies? Let’s imagine that he does (although I don’t personally believe this – I’d say I know exacty who he is) and consider his pronouncements about crosswords as falling into three categories:
1. opinion, therefore neither correct nor incorrect,
2. incorrect statements, and
3. correct statements
Others regularly address category 2. I want to look at category 3, e.g. when he says that a definition is wrong because it’s “by example”, or an anagram indicator is wrong because it’s a noun not an adjective etc. At times, he’s quite right.
Or is he? Well, yes, if we apply the kind of ideas about clue-writing advocated by Ximenes. These ideas are a sensible attempt to ensure fairness through grammatical precision in clues. However, in many series like the Guardian, the Ximenean idiom isn’t taken as gospel. Setters can, say, use a noun as an anagram indicator, as long as the editor accepts it and solvers can solve it (according to this logic, “the law amendment” isn’t a “wrongly” indicated anagram of “wealth”; solvers will see it as meaning “amendment of the law” in the same way as they understand “cabinet reshuffle” as meaning “reshuffle of the cabinet”). Solvers may prefer one idiom or another, but calling clues “wrong” (or “Guardianisms”) because they’re written in a different idiom is about as meaningful as saying a French sentence is “wrong” (or, presumably, marred by “Frenchisms”) because it’s not in English.
Many Guardian compilers write crosswords for Ximenean series (Times, Listener etc) which we admire. If or when we choose not to write in this idiom, it’s because we’re consciously producing something different. Guardian crosswords are traditionally an attempt at a complex alchemy of linguistic ingenuity, wit, creativity, and personality; there’s no set of rules. (According to hedgehoggy’s criteria, Araucaria has written thousands of dodgy puzzles because he often did d.b.e., non-Ximenean wordplay, “illogical” link words etc. Was he, perhaps, not bright enough to understand grammar and could have “improved” if a “hedgehoggy” had pointed out all his “errors”?)
Key fact: setters don’t feel threatened by hedgehoggy’s comments – they don’t reply because it seems neither worthwhile nor interesting. Their reaction is likely to be similar to that of a poet who’d chosen to write in free, blank verse being told by a curiously ardent fan of Elizabethan sonnets that her poems are “wrong” because they are “not in iambic pentameter, don’t have 14 lines, and don’t rhyme”.
Picaroon @26 – thanks very much for that – as I’ve said before the setter’s perspective is always interesting.
Re viewing comments abov. Keyboard shortcuts are wonderful when you know them, but are not necessarily obvious to guess at in general. Much easier is to have the old fashioned Menu Bar displayed. Sadly, that in itself isn’t obvious either, but once you’ve got it, much else becomes blindingly obvious. Which do you want? Blindingly obvious or a modern look?
If you can’t see the menu bar then (for IE, but any halfway decent browser will work similarly) …..
1. If you have the Command Bar visible, the one with the little icons and drop down menus, then click on the down arrow next to Tools, on the sub-menu which pops up, hover over the Toolbars option and on the next pop up menu click on Menu Bar
or
2. Right click on any unused part of the top of the window, on the sub-menu which pops up, click Menu Bar.
Now it becomes easy to find how to do things! For example, the question above might trigger the following thoughts, “I need to change the look of this page, oh look there is a View option on the menu, that sounds promising, so I’ll click on that, and oh look, a pop-up menu which has an option Zoom, I know about Zoom, it’s how cameras change picture sizes, so I’ll try that, oh look just hovering over Zoom brings up a menu which tells me about the keyboard shortcuts and also shows the current Zoom is 100%, oh look there is also 75%, I’ll click on that and see what happens”
And lo, you have what you wanted!
So I’ll ask again, what do want, a modern look, or enough information to be able to work things out for yourself?
Happy New Year everyone. Re: difficulty – very grateful to Philistine for a fun puzzle at the easier end of the scale (and to the editor for choosing to publish it on a day when many will be feeling the effects of the night before). Thanks also to Enigmatist for yesterday’s stern test, and to all setters for the wonderful variety that we get from day to day. And Picaroon: should have known that you could be counted on to put the truth down in black and white with such elegance and economy.
Picaroon @ 26 – Thanks very much for the clear explanation of the setter’s perspective. I have a funny feeling that it won’t deter hoggy one iota, but I for one think his comments are all part of the rich tapestry of this forum (even though at times I have given weary line-by-line rebuttals to some of them).
Your saying that there is more to HH than meets the eye is tantalising! Perhaps he could be a shared login for all the other setters to post critical comments about the current setter’s puzzle!!
. . . but I’m sure that’s not the case.
This was a relief after yesterday, but I would still have enjoyed it even without that. I couldn’t parse NAME-DROPPING, though I like it now Andrew has explained it. I got close to parsing DANISH, seeing the need to change the V of (v)ANISH but missed the Roman numeral connection between V and D. I’m still not sure it works completely. I feel it needs something more to indicate the replacement – perhaps something like “European leader to disappear[, replaced] a hundred times”? The spelling of LERGY surprised me, as did HARM being clued by “harmful”.
ONE-LINER made me smile. Other favourites include SCORPION and EXCEL.
Thanks to Philistine and Andrew.
Thanks to Philistine and Andrew. After yesterday’s struggle I much enjoyed this puzzle. I got PUBLICAN but did not know the UB for “unemployment benefit” and like others needed help parsing CLERGYMAN and NAME-DROPPING. I found Picaroon’s comments very interesting (e.g., the Times vs. Guardian approach). As to HH, as a retired professor I have viewed his comments as comparable to those of many former colleagues, a stance best summed up in a quote attributed to H. G. Wells: “No passion in the world is equal to the passion to alter someone else’s draft.”
I thoroughly enjoyed this, but couldn’t parse 20a so thanks for that, Andrew, and thanks for the puzzle Philistine!
Re the Hedgehoggy debate, I can’t even be bothered to read his comments since I figure it’s not for solvers to tell setters how to do their excellent job. I’ve always found the quickest way to get rid of a thorn in the side is to ignore it – if nobody rose to his bait, I’m sure he’d go off and find a site where he could get a reaction.
Happy New Year one and all!
Picaroon @26
I’ve never thought that any but the most delicate of setters (are there really any that delicate?) would avoid this site because of hh’s persistent criticisms, but it’s good to have that confirmed.
I think the constant carping about his presence is more likely to deter setters and other readers as it gets so boring. Arguing with him at that level is pointless. It isn’t going to stop him visiting, change the way he posts or get him excluded from the site. Critiquing specific points on which he may be factually wrong is different as that is potentially informative (for others, if not for him) but repetitively moaning about his moaning is not.
I wonder who Picaroon suspects of being behind the ‘disguise’. Perhaps a strictly-Ximenean setter who has been rejected by the Guardian for not being sufficiently entertaining?
Picaroon @26 Many thanks for that – lucid and well-reasoned.
I think most regular contributors here have found their own ways to deal with HH’s posts and my feeling is that few now feel threatened or put off by them. I was pleased to read that you broadly felt the same way about setters. Some of us, like drofle, continue to make highly credit-worthy but (in my view) ultimately doomed attempts to put him (or her) right, while others have long since abandoned the effort and opt for the blind eye.
Personally, I’ve never understood why HH doesn’t just come along for the ride and enjoy the uniqueness of style which is the Graun; as others have rightly said, there are plenty of more Ximenean offerings to be had elsewhere if that is your preference.
Hey-ho, another year beckons and I, for one, look forward to this blog every day of it.
Happy New Year.
Many thanks to Picaroon@26 for the clear and sane analysis. I’ve been taking advantage of the Guardian’s excellent archive to revisit some old Araucarias and, as well as being reminded of just how good he was, I’ve been mildly amused to think how many “errors” we’d be getting listed here now.
Thanks to Philistine and Andrew for an appropriately gentle start to the New Year.
Enjoyed this start to 2016, thanks to Philistine and to Andrew for clearing up a couple of lingering mysteries. Blydhen Nowydh Da!
The question about crossword difficulty depends on what your requirements are. How long are you willing (or able) to spend on a crossword and where do you want to do it?
It seems to me the majority of contributors do it on a computer (and some are perhaps tempted by the check or cheat buttons) and start solving first thing in the morning (with those in the eastern hemisphere getting a head start). Perhaps it’s a challenge to be first to comment.
I do it the oldfashioned way in the paper (using margins and blank spaces for working out) and pick it up at odd times during the day. I like to sit in an armchair, not at the computer. My challenge is to finish by breakfast the following day before the next puzzle arrives. My impression is that the crosswords are getting harder but if that is because they are cleverer, that’s fine. I don’t like the ones that require a good knowledge of some specific subject. And yes, I do resort to one of those little crossword gadgets when all else fails.
jenny @35
A good, sensible addition and response to the pirate’s interesting contribution @26.
I’m hopeful we can soon restore the crossword as the main subject matter of the blogs in place of the life and works of a specific contributor.
Picaroon@26
Well said. Much obliged.
William @ 36 “Hey-ho, another year beckons and I, for one, look forward to this blog every day of it.”
My sentiments exactly. And regarding HH, I certainly don’t expect him to change his ways. I find it quite fun occasionally to go through one of his lists to see whether I think there’s any merit in his criticisms. I think Picaroon hit the nail on the head: he continues to apply Ximenean rules to non-Ximenean setters, which is a lost cause. Hey-ho!
Spent most of the afternoon on this and got all but five clues and enjoyed it all. no-one has commented on the satirical 19d which I cannot let go by without a wry smile.
happy new year to you all!!
As I have said from time to time, some thirteen years ago I kept records of how long it took me to do all the Guardian crosswords over a year. I have re-timed repeating some half dozen of them and without exception took much longer or even did not finish ones I had previously finished. So I would/could say these crossword are getting harder!
I had a completion rate of 0% for Enigmatist, which remains the same to this day. Gordius, Orlando and Pasquale were second to fourth on the list with ~10% completion rate , but my impression is that they all have got easier in recent years, in terms of completion rate. Janus was the easiest with 64%.
I recorded my time for the first, second and third attempts at each crossword. That is, I worked through all clues quickly from start to finish on the first attempt; then tried them all again; and the third was later in the day after several hours had elapsed. The average times for each of the attempts were 6 minutes, 19 and 14 for Enigmatist; and 4, 15, 6 minutes for Janus. And the average number of clues completed by each attempt were 1.5, 8, 12 for E. and 5, 23, 28 for J. My recent times for first attempts are certainly much higher.
So I would say I have slowed down in my ability to solve and at the same time some of the compilers are not setting such hard puzzles as they used to do.
Alan Browne @40
Thanks! I very much share the hope in your final sentence.
Happy New Year all!
I thought I’d drop by to pass on seasonal greetings, but find myself thanking Picaroon for his well-written post @ 26. I’m very much in the “ignore HH” camp (and have been for a while) after my attempts at encouraging him/her to post more positively were ignored (here).
So many thanks to everyone for all the comments and feedback in 2015 and I look forward to another year of fun Guardian crosswords in 2016.
Best wishes,
Qaos.
I personally love the headmasterly tone hedgehoggy adopts when summoning these tiresome Guardian setters to his study for a dressing down.
Just think, Araucaria might have made something of himself if only he’d listened to his headmaster’s wise pronouncements!
A very happy setting and solving new year to everyone.
PS Wasn’t there someone else, now sadly no longer a 225 habitué, who used to entertain us by daily pointing out to assorted Guardian setters the error of their non-Ximenean ways? I’ve forgotten what he was called …
Picaroon @ 26
These French blighters would be all right if only they’d learn to speak English and stop mucking up their food by putting all that garlic in it 🙂
Thank you all for contributing so much to my enjoyment in 2015. Thank you too to all those who set. Something at which I suspect few of us would excel.
Real joy today after yesterday’s abysmal attempt. I liked 24ac. LOI was 12d.
I suppose I enjoy this site most when it is lively and slightly contentious but at the same time civilised and polite, as today.
Just a note to thank all the setters, bloggers and commenters for making this forum so enjoyable.
I wish you all a very happy 2016. sd
Ignore HH, he’s the silly troll? (4)
Dave Ellison @44: Interesting comments on the degree of difficulty of various setters over the years. I suppose they illustrate yet again the subjectivity of this subject. 🙂 In particular, you think Orlando has got easier. On the contrary, many (20?) years ago I used to rate him amongst the easiest, but for the last several years he has seemed to me to be in the middle of the pack as regards difficulty. Always meticulously clued though.
I wonder if Orlando is looking in and would care to comment.
Picaroon @26, thank you for the comments. As a lurker, for the most part, I find myself intrigued to find out what hh has to say, because I find it difficult to understand the mindset of someone who comes on and posts like that, so the suggestion he (she? surely not) may not be ‘real’ is interesting (although how a poster can not be real is not entirely clear).
I noticed that yesterday was the first time I have seen that hh posted that he had actually enjoyed a crossword. It seemed strange that someone would spent a significant amount of time on a hobby that gave no joy whatsoever, so I was pleased to see this. I also always thought it was bizarre that someone could complain about horrible Guardianisms in a Guardian puzzles. Picaroon has made an analogy too, and to me it was like going to a pool match and vocally complaining that the players weren’t potting a red, then a colour, red, then a colour.
Even if hh’s thoughts are only put up to provoke, the tone is overwhelmingly negative, and the points would be taken more seriously if there was some balance. Some clues must surely have amused, been clever but not too clever, or hit the spot in entirely the right way. I think positive comments among the negative (other than general comments such as ‘this wasn’t as dreadful as some’) would help greatly.
Anyway, thanks for the excellent work everyone on here does, and all the best to everyone for 2016
Thank you Philistine and Andrew. Managed all but DANISH. Favourite RIBALD with such an apt anagrind; come on Chilcot.
I liked 5D – made me laugh.
Happy New Year to Everyone!
A hopefully inspiring crossword year opened by Philistine in a most gentle way.
As others I did not understand the LERGY bit, I mean I really did not understand it.
Thought of a homophone and of ‘allergy’, but the solution was clear enough.
I also think NAME-DROPPING (20ac) just about works (one has to drop two Ns).
Not sure 26ac (DANISH) says what it does and/or does what it says but the idea is clear (and nice).
Apart from that, enjoyable stuff by a setter who has become one of the most adventurous in Crosswordland.
As to Picaroon’s post, he is absolutely right about the points 1.,2. and 3. in his second paragraph.
When I started writing comments on this site (8 years ago, as a real novice in Crosswordland), I tried to ask questions rather than to make statements.
That’s how I learned about crosswords, that’s why I am where I am now.
Of course, admittedly, I had some quarrels with the odd person here but I always tried to put things in perspective.
My ‘problem’ with a person like HH is this:
1. opinions are promoted to a matter of ‘wrong and right’, often leading to qualifications like ‘very poor’ or the like
2. HH does not learn from his mistakes (like in Picaroon’s puzzle ED = edited) or what other people think (in the same Picaroon puzzle, ROCK in front a fodder is fine as an anagram indicator. It’s the imperative form of the verb, just like DOCTOR in front of a fodder).
While I read his comments, I tend to ignore them more and more while in fact I would like to make him think more multi-lateral.
However, the latter does not seem to work, so there you are.
Years ago, I questioned the use of UP as an anagram indicator.
(just because I did not understand it)
After a lively discussion (with Anax involved) I was happy to learn that it made sense.
The same with OUT OF as deletion indicator (again, in Picaroon’s puzzle).
The greengrocer ran out of bananas.
It’s all about learning from each other.
“So, shut up!(4)”
Thanks all
I didn’t get round to this until this evening but a pleasure worth waiting for.
Favourites were 9 across and especially 20 across.
Last in was excel.
Having recently returned to the Guardian after several years in the Times wilderness throuh no fault of my own,I can report that the Times crosswords are easier and more predictable but completely humourless and no fun at all. Unfortunately my husband, having always been a big Times fan, now likes the Guardian so much I never get my hands on it until midnight so have to do the crossword the following day, hence the lateness of my posts which probably nobody ever reads.
Happy new year to all. Thanks for the help in parsing. Thoughts regarding hh? He’s the Victor Meldrew of the site. Annoying, yet strangely entertaining.
Does anyone remember the Meldrew sketch where he was attempting a cryptic crossword? Hilarious.
Thanks Philistine and Andrew
Found this one of the less taxing puzzles that I have seen from this setter – sub 30 minutes today, which is an order of magnitude from the norm. Still it was very enjoyable – done the morning after the morning after!
The last couple in today were FOOLSCAP (nice misdirection) and NAME-DROPPING (which brought a silent chuckle when I saw what was going on – like these reverse extractions).
Was a little surprised at the number of folk who were not familiar with KIMCHI – there are many Korean restaurants in Melbourne, with kimchi as one of the standard components of the dishes and incorporated in many of the actual restaurant names.
Am heartened by the comments of Picaroon with regard to the view of the setters. It is so informative to get the behind the scenes thinking from the folk who set these crosswords. My observation yesterday was that there seemed to have been a drop of this in the latter part of last year. It is one of the key attractions of this site along with the robust discussion from we ‘mere mortals’.
Let’s look forward to these healthy discussions continuing throughout this year !!
Dave in Spain @ 60
Erm… ‘Elk’s ego gets my goat. Head of MI5 upset the French by reversing into Dad’s underpants. It’s a doddle.’
I’m sorry. I don’t seem to be able to do the crossword today as I appear to be temporarily out of mind-bending drugs!
Late to the party! After yesterday’s parting kick from Enigmatist – I meant it in a nice way, as I managed to solve most of it – Philistine for starting 2016 was pure fun!
As usual for me, learnt parsing for many clues, thanks to Andrew.
Re HH, I agree with Picaroon @26. I do see some of HH’s points, but I don’t have the time or inclination to fully read HH to sort them out.
Thanks to Philistine for a happy start to 2016.
Thanks to Gaufrid, the setters and bloggers! Without you folks it would be a boring world!
Happy New Year to all, from where it is just past midday!!
Re the difficulty debate – it’s a good thing IMO that it varies so much. I hated yesterday’s Enigmatist: much too hard and not enough fun for my liking, but I realise other solvers are better at it than me and relish a challenge. I had previously made a resolution to ignore Enigmateist’s offerings, but Mrs Beaver went and printed it out, so we had to have a go…
Today’s was much better :).
I’ve been attempting to solve Gaurdian cryptic since around 1960. When I began it was generally thought that using a dictionary was in some way cheating and I still try to stick that precept. Any way they don’t have dictionaries in the pub or on the train. It’s not the end of the world if I fail to complete a puzzle as result. When a word I don’t know is obviously the answer I may check in Chambers. There was no way that I was going to get THEANDRIC as it needed THEIC which I didn’t know either. INBREAKS was easy enough but I don’t think it means “rushes in”. If there is something in the waythat you have to break it will stop you rushing.
I’ve just been introduced to this site by my son, to whom I am grateful. He thinks that TEQUILA SLAMMER is only a cocktail if gin and tonic is too.
My theory is that once crosswords get too difficult they paradoxically become easier for a certain set of solvers – ie, those that are proficient at spotting the definitional element of clues and applying their thesauric mind, such that the cryptic element becomes an afterthought. I suspect that this is why for many “easier” crosswords are more enjoyable because a greater part of the cluing is active in the solving, rather than to be appreciated for its cleverness after the fact.
Interesting theory Van Winkle. I agree particularly with your last sentence.
Hi 15 Squared
Is it usual for setters to join in where exasperated posters are giving vent to their frustrations? I agree with the points made actually, but a some professional restraint might have been appropriate here.
The postings of hedgehoggy I have come to admire and despise, since they are often funny, though I can’t work out if he’s being deliberately so. He’s even informative in some hair-splitting way. But I’m not a supporter, in fact I think I could live without him, if only due to the amount of extra posts he generates from other people. I agree that The Guardian Crossword does not support his rather stiff values, which I see as the main route to fairly criticizing him. HH why do you bother? seems the most persuasive thing to say.
Best for the New Year, I’m going back into anonymity.
John Malcolm
Scotland
Well, there has been the most horrible tirade of abuse against me here in the recent Philistine thread, which I did not even post in until now. I don’t know exactly what is going on there. I think a great percentage the posters are Philistines, or other so-called compilers, commenting under fictitious names. I have never seen them before.
If you would like to know, I am Ian Ransome, who lives in Kent, a sufferer of Asperger’s at the high end, crossword lover, and when I’m able to work which is not often I’m a freelance engineer. I didn’t ever think that anywhere I’d receive this kind of hatred.
I will never post here again due to this recent bile. All I wanted ever to do was share my understanding of clues, and yes of course I know that some of you do not get my take, or won’t, but that is not my fault, I’m not looking for converts. Anyway I only asked for your consideration not your HATE. You are so cruel.
I think it is a shame that some here have an uncritical acceptance of work that’s published just because it has The Guardian’s name pinned to it, but this material is quite often incorrect, and I really think it’s okay for me to point that out, even though, yes, I accept it does feed into my obsessive nature. As you know my posts are always or usually ‘lists’ and I like it that way for obvious reasons.
Anyway HNY to all of you even the horrible ones. I always try to grow, I’ve had to of course, but you who have an advantage just resort to HATE when you see someone trying, or so it seems, against the unforgiving tide that nature can give. You do not even know how much crosswords have meant to me as I have grown, and beaten back the difficulties.
Goodbye
HH
If you’re still there HH,I’d like to say that personally I agree with a lot of your comments but you do go over the top at times and that is what annoys some people.
I’m sure you will be missed by many as you do provoke debate.
Best wishes
Pete
This is dreadful, I feel like leaving too. Please, please don’t go hoggy.
HH-
tout comprendre, c’est tout pardonner
hh @69 – I know we don’t agree very often, but I would be sorry to see you go – as I’ve said before there is nothing personal in my criticism of your viewpoint, and certainly no hatred, just as I’m sure there is nothing personal in the way you criticise the setters.
Perhaps this site can now return to its primary business of discussing just how far Steven Hawking is behind certain setters in the stakes for greatest living genius and expressing outrage when someone misuses “crescendo” or allows Otterden to set a crossword.
hh @69
I too hope you won’t leave. My best friend’s two sons have Asperger’s so I have some understanding of the condition and the difficulties it can cause.
I’ve said repeatedly that the people who dislike your posts so much should simply ignore them. This isn’t ‘their’ site, and unless Gaufrid says otherwise, you have as much right to post as they have. The real ‘nuisance value’ comes from their repeated complaints, far more than from your posts.
hh
just remember: variety, etc . . .
Less variety leafs to tedium. Please don’t deprive those of us with less insight than yourself of some valuable views.
Sorry to be late to the party and I will understand if no one reads this.
While acknowledging BW’s comments @61 I’d like to add that kimchi is more than a popular dish in Korea, it is part of every meal.
I’ve always enjoyed hh’s input. Don’t go.
Re HH, I’m certainly not inclined to join the chorus of “Please don’t go”, more like “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out”.
26a DANISH. You are kidding aren’t you?
mikilad @ 80 – I don’t think he’s kidding! The clue for DANISH is a bit complicated, but it works.
I,too,hope that hedgehoggy’s won’t go. I, too, agreed with many of his criticisms. I think the problem is the bluntness with which some of them were expressed. It’s a proverbial problem with communication on the internet – you can’t “see” the other person who is commenting and therefore have no cues about their behaviour other than the face-value of their words. I would hope that, on this site no-one’s views are intrinsically more valuable than the rest. And nasty ad-hominem comments like those directed against hh (and a few by him) should be cut by a moderater.
drofle @81, I also questioned DANISH.
As it apparently works for you (and for others, as I didn’t read any objections), can you please tell me how you see this clue?
I see the idea but does the clue really lead to DANISH?
Thanks Andrew and Philistine.
I completed this rapidly with my only issue relating to DANISH – just does’ quite work for me either. Should it have read “….. to disappear leaves for a hundred times”? or some such?
Re the HH discussion above, whilst I may not always agree with his comments – especially those which are of a ‘don’t like’ nature – he does raise some valid questions.
I like to celebrate diversity – let’s keep it civil.