Guardian Cryptic 26,786 by Screw

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Screw, as before, provides a tricky and inventive challenge.

A handful of clues were entered before fully parsing – but in many cases twigging even part of the misdirection such as “FA”, “60s” and “Did utter” raised a smile. 16dn my favourite, but 1ac produced the biggest (belated) ‘aha’.

Across
1 BACKBEAT Repeated rhythm: how to make par (and golf as well as pals!) (8)
BACK BEAT could be a cryptic instruction to reverse ‘beat’.

You can reverse ‘rap’=’beat’ to make “par”; OR reverse ‘flog’=’beat’ to make “golf”; OR reverse ‘slap’=’beat’ to make “pals”
5 CHUMPS Cold-shoulders wallies (6)
C[old] plus HUMPS=”shoulders”
9 INDIAMEN Headwind I am enduring to harbour ships (8)
Hidden in [Headw]IND I AM EN[during]
10 ANONYM Fictitious name soon to get Screw’s backing (6)
ANON=”soon”, plus MY=”Screw’s” reversed/backing
12 GO WITH A BANG Suit, black with silver border, to be carried off brilliantly (2,4,1,4)
GO WITH=”Suit”; plus BAN=”black”=slang for ‘boycott’ inside AG=chemical symbol of “silver”
15 LILAC I call mobile, getting tone (5)
(I call)*
17 DETRACTOR One critical of French farmer’s tower (9)
DE=”of [in] French”, plus TRACTOR=”farmer’s tower”, something that tows
18 NEOLITHIC Break into Chile, just like the old days? (9)
(into Chile)*
19 STILL Smooth, even now (5)
Double definition
20 DIDDLY SQUAT FA team in pub, possibly swapping tips! (6-5)
=F*** All. “team in pub” might = TIDDLY SQUAD with the “tips” T and D swapping around
24   See 7
25 MINOTAUR Unimportant that Greek character cuts monster (8)
MINOR=”Unimportant”, with TAU=”Greek character” cutting inside
26 ODDEST Who’d destroy housing out there more than others? (6)
Hidden in [Wh]O’D DEST[roy]
27 SELF HEAL An option as he fell ill? (4-4)
(as he fell)*
Down
1 BLING BLING Flashy stuff British swimmer’s cloned (5-5)
B[ritish] plus LING=”swimmer”=a fish of the cod family; repeated twice or “cloned”
2 CODSWALLOP Salt originally added to fish with batter on for cobblers (10)
S[alt] added after COD=”fish”, plus WALLOP=”batter”
3 BOAST Something fired up under black crow (5)
OAST=”Something fired up”=a type of kiln, under B[lack]
4 ACETALDEHYDE Chemical expert sits on the deadly liquid (12)
ACE=”expert” plus (the deadly)*
6 HAND GLASS Both sides of having girl — that makes things clearer! (4,5)
H AND G are the “Both sides of having“, plus LASS=”girl”
7, 24 MINDREADER 60s’ person who’s scared — I knew you’d say that! (4-6)
MIN[ute]=60 s[econds], plus DREADER=”person who’s scared”
8 SEMI Regularly sees main match before final (4)
regular letters taken from S[e]E[s] M[a]I[n]
11 NAUTICAL MILE Main distance from actual line I’m dancing (8,4)
“Main” as in the sea. (actual line I’m)*
13 STRIDULATE Change a result — it’d sound like cricket? (10)
to make a chirping or scraping sound. (a result it’d)*
14 TRILATERAL Having three sides after filling in test (10)
LATER=”after” inside TRIAL=”test”
16 CHILDLESS Battle between black and white bags Lidl supply without issue (9)
CHESS=”Battle between black and white”, around (Lidl)* where “supply”=’in a supple way’ is the anagrind
21 SPOOF Pilot Officer cuts short easy takeoff (5)
P[ilot] O[fficer] inside SOF[t]=”short easy”
22 OR SO Timeless body … ish! (2,2)
[t]ORSO=”body”, less the T[ime]
23 SAID Did utter sod ask it during openings? (4)
“openings” of S[od] A[sk] I[t] D[uring]

36 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 26,786 by Screw”

  1. Many thanks Screw and manehi. I thought this a brilliant crossword but found it hard!! Indeed I got a big aha from 1a but only after reading your explanation manehi. 16d was my favourite ahead of 20a simply because I could only partly parse the latter before coming here. 1d also raised a titter. One quibble chemical as a definition of acetaldehyde does not narrow it down much!!

  2. Thanks manehi and Screw.

    First time completing a Screw puzzle! Anagrams gave away quite a lot of the grid.

    Needed parsing help for many clues.
    Fav: 16d and 22d. 23d was my FOI

  4. Very enjoyable solve. Just how a midweek Guardian puzzle should be. Perhaps the term “Guardiany”, having been introduced in the past for other reasons, may now be used in a positive sense.

    I’m warming increasingly to these Screw puzzles. I think I may have said of one or more of the early ones that the pudding had a slightly over-egged feel to it. Not now – this has fluency and lightness of touch to match the crunchiness of the wordplays.

    Too many good clues to single one out but I did enjoy the Spooner-style joke in 20a.

    Many thanks both – great start to the day.

  6. Further

    Of course the blog already says that. Are you asking what to make of the surface reading? Dunno. Use your imagination. There could be lots of possibilities.

    Looking more closely I personally wouldn’t have bothered with an apostrophe – the one on 60s’.

    It may mean “a person of the 60s” but they don’t own the 60s – they’re just connected with it; just as terms like “Railways Act” don’t have an apostrophe.

  7. Many good laughs today, which is always a welcome feature. Detractor and diddly squat particularly enjoyable.
    I puzzled over 25a, trying to make something of pnt – which is unimportant minus the letters of minotaur. Failed.

  9. Thanks Screw and manehi
    Finished quite quickly, but entered BACKBEAT, DIDDLY SQUAT and MIND READER from definitions only – too clever for me.

    Quite recently we had the “correct” name for ACETALDEHYDE (ETHANAL) clued. The former has theoretically been obsolete for 50 years or so, unfortuntaely many chemists don’t realise this!

  10. All good fun, although I couldn’t begin to parse BACKBEAT. Favourites were DIDDLY-SQUAT (great clue), CHUMPS, CODSWALLOP (‘sidewillow’ seemed to fit the bill until I googled it) and STRIDULATE (new word for me). Many thanks to Screw and manehi.

  11. Thanks manehi and Screw.

    Surprisingly I found this quite easy on the whole finishing most of it within 25 60s, with just a handful taking another 10 minutes. This is in contrast to all previous Screws.

    Like muffin, BACKBEAT, DIDDLY SQUAT and MIND READER from definitions only, but DIDDLY SQUAT favourite clue in retrospect.

  12. Thanks for the blog, manehi.

    Another super puzzle from Screw, with many laughs along the way. I loved the cold-shoulders*, FA team, 60s person – much better without the apostrophe, I think – and utter sod. Top favourite has to be 16dn – fantastic [fairly topical] surface – and I relished it particularly because it took me a while to solve, as I was struggling to work in SP [‘without issue’].

    [*Jolly Swagman, if you’re still around – Chambers says that this meaning of HUMPS is originally Australian and it reminded me of a hilarious Auster clue, soon after I found 15², which I think you’ll like:
    ‘What Aussie swagmen do to obey Jesus’ instruction? (John 5:8} {4,3,5]’, for an expression that most of us Poms had never heard of. See here: http://www.fifteensquared.net/2008/11/12/guardian-24544-auster/ – a rather different blogging style in those days! 😉 ]

    Huge thanks to Screw, as ever, for a brilliant start to the day – and there’s Redshank in the FT and Rorschach in the Indy, too!

  13. Loved this for the many chuckles. Even if backbeat isn’t really a repeated rhythm… I still wouldn’t have parsed that one :-(. I think the Paulish FA is my fav.

  14. Great puzzle and thanks for blog. Couldn’t parse 7,24 but, once I saw the explanation above, I realised what a great clue it is.

  15. Thanks Screw and manehi

    This was an uber-fun solve with some really classy clues. A lot of anagrams helped fill the grid although he did lay some red herrings with them – tried making something out of ‘FA team in pub’ for longer than I needed to.

    The bonus when understanding what was happening with BACKBEAT and DIDDLY SQUAT made it worth doing the puzzle just for them. The definition for CHESS was also very clever.

    HAND GLASS was my last one in and again a clue with excellent word play. Thought that the hidden answers were pretty well camouflaged.

    I liked this a lot !

  16. Another brilliant puzzle, and it has been another good week so far. Last in was MIND READER, though it took longer to see the parsing of the brilliant DIDDLY SQUAT.

    Thanks to Screw and manehi

  17. Thanks to Screw and manehi. I found this a little easier than some of Screw’s previous ones.

    A great puzzle; I got as far as the Spoonerism ‘Squiddly dot’ but of course the ‘tiddly squad’ is sublime. I was also ‘puzzled’ by go=suit, thinking the ‘with’ in the clue was the ‘with’ in the answer, doh!

    Nice to see some science creeping in. I remember ACETALDEHYDE and didn’t realise ‘they’ had changed its name, thanks muffin @9. The farmer’s tower may be a reference to this, as I think Screw lives in Surrey or thereabouts. I didn’t realise until I read the blog that supply was the adverb, not the noun, doh again!

  18. Thanks Screw and manehi.

    I also found this easier than other Screw crosswords, managing to finish, and found it most enjoyable. BACKBEAT, DIDDLY SQUAT and MIND READER were brilliant and INDIAMEN and ODDEST well hidden.

  19. Brilliant fun, despite being unable to parse 1a and 7/24. A real sense of joie de vivre in the setting. So thanks to Screw for that, and to manehi for sorting out the missing parses….

  20. Thanks Screw and manehi. Great puzzle from an ever improving setter. I hope he doesn’t set these at work, what will his charges get up to?

  21. Wow- this was a quick solve and not what I was expecting. I’ve struggled with this setter in the past but no struggles today. I admit some were parsed after the event but this was very PA-friendly.
    Thanks Screw.

  22. Thanks to Screw and manehi. To my surprise I got ACETALDEHYDE and STRIPULATE from the clues (both terms were unknown to me) but like others I needed help parsing a lot of items (e.g., BACKBEAT and MINDREADER) and took long time figuring out DIDDLY-SQUAT. Tough going for me but a good challenge.

  23. Just what I like in a puzzle, not over in a flash but rewarding steady concentration, with a variety of clever techniques and misdirections on show. I’d tried lots of variations with W I’M and so forth at 9a so when it was last in, and an ‘easy’ hidden answer to boot, the groan went all around the car. Thankfully I wasn’t driving.

    Doesn’t mean to say I could parse everything, just as with Arachne the other day. 60s’ person was well over my head.

  24. Thanks Screw and manehi. Like others I saw the setter and thought I’d be lucky to get more than a couple without recourse to Bradford, but the NW corner went in quickly and 4 and 11 down helped unlock the rest. I began my career studying archaeology, and completed a doctorate on the 18 across: lovely clue.

  25. Great puzzle today!
    I thought that 7,24 could be a miner (from the Gold Rushes of the 1860s – Idaho Gold Rush, also known as the Fort Colville Gold Rush, near Colville, Washington (1860); Holcomb Valley etc etc…) full of dread! Dates are right and seems a little more elegant than “dreader – he/she who is scared”!

    Telnix

  26. It’s quite astonishing how much bother apostrophes cause, even here, where you’d expect people to be up on their grammar. `Sixties’s person’ indeed! I see a few of the other clues flirt with this sort of thing, but these are largely fun, and I enjoyed solving this today. Thanks Screw!

  27. This was probably my most successful attempt yet at a Screw cryptic, with all solutions entered. I just needed help from the blog to understand the parsing of GO WITH A BANG and DIDDLY SQUAT (which I was trying unsuccessfully to make into a Spoonerism). Witty clues, well-disguised hidden answers, lots of misdirection – very enjoyable, but selecting favourites would be too much of a challenge.

    Thanks, Screw and manehi.

  29. Robi @17

    The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemists started to create a systematic method of nomenclature in (from memory) about 1960; certainly this method was required teaching by Examination Boards for Chemistry exams from the early seventies.

    The great advantage of this system in organic chemistry is that (if you know the rules), if you know the name, you can work out the structure; if you know the structure, you can work out the name.

    Unfortunately, despite over 50 years of this great system being in place, it has not been universally adopted; even prestigious publications such as New Scientist, often still use the obsolete names.

  30. Count me in with the others who found this easy for a Screw.

    Lots of nice clues and a decent challenge nonetheless.

    I must admit to being lazy with the parsing of 1A to the extent of not seeing the actual parsing. I assumed from the wordplay that this was a repeated word and as I had 1 and 2 D this gave B_C_B_C_. Solving 4D put paid to that idea and gave BACKBEAT. Unfortunately I equated this to PAT ON THE BACK for making pals and meant to come back to parse the golf etc. Mea Culpa!

    I did like TIDDLY SQUAD!

    Thanks to manehi and Screw

  31. I agree with most of the commenters above.
    Not much to add, really.

    I just wanted to say how much we enjoyed this crossword.
    Relatively easy on the scale of Screw/Donk, yes.
    Impeccably clued, also yes.

    If you can enter STRIDULATE (13d) with confidence without having seen this word before, then it must be a good clue.
    One of many!

    Thanks to setter & manehi.

  32. Eileen #12

    I didn’t know that was Australian – living here it’s not always obvious what is local usage (eg rort, wowser, Buckley’s, Furphy) and not universal until one uses a word back home and gets those wosseeonabout looks.

    It’s more commonly used here in the sense one above (#8) in Collins online – not rudely – more commonly to describe eg one’s pet dog getting too friendly with a guest’s leg.

    BTW – I only live here – I haven’t gone native – well not consciously so.

  33. JS @32

    I was really simply wanting to draw your attention to the lovely clue, which I thought you would appreciate, given your pseudonym – native or not. 😉

  34. E @33

    Re the linked clue (and thanks for bringing it to my attention).

    That’s probably archaic by now but most people would understand what it means. BLUEY itself used to have numerous meanings – the most recent one I came across (and that was 20 years ago) was “to cop a bluey” meaning (in the workplace – esp govt or railways) to get a “please explain” message from high up.

    Australian English nowadays is less colourful than it once was.

  35. … which would be a tautology.

    Re his various recent posts, what is there to be so scared of in crosswords? There’s no coven, no clique, no lodge, no apron, no secret tattoo behind the ear. All one needs is an understanding of two simple things: first, a reasonable grasp of how sentences work, and second an ability to distinguish between the surface and cryptic readings. It is so very straightforward.

    Thanks to Screw and Manehi for the entertainment.

  36. Thanks manehi.

    I do not a good Screw on the train.

    Great fun from start to finish and a few laugh out loud moments.

    Needed your help to parse DIDDLY SQUAT but otherwise made it!

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