Guardian 26,898 – Brendan

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After a long break, Brendan seems to be making regular appearances again; a very welcome trend. As usual, this was not too hard – apart from the obscure (to me) 24d, but most enjoyable.

There’s a theme based around the phrase at 14a, with some CAKES and ALE appearing in various guises around the puzzle. Thanks to Brendan for the entertainment (and in particular for helping me to celebrate my 500th blog on Fifteensquared).

 
 
 
 
 
 
Across
1. MAUGHAM Writer‘s way to address monarch, hiding expression of distaste (7)
UGH in MA’AM
5. COURAGE Bottle, or something Dutchman can get from one (7)
Double definition – bottle is slang for courage, and Dutch courage is the kind you get from drinking
10. VALENTINO Old movie idol opposed to drink and to inn, oddly (9)
V (against) + ALE + (TO INN)*
11. EXIT PERMIT Prime text I revised for document someone going may need (4,6)
(PRIME TEXT I)*
12. TOBY Foremost of brews served in miniature beer mug (4)
B[rews] in TOY – reference to a Toby Jug
14. CAKES AND ALE Work of 1 across mentioned in speech of 12 26 (5,3,3)
A novel by Somerset Maugham, and a phrase from Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night: ‘Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale?’
18. SHAKESPEARE Chief’s equal, it’s said, as source of 14 (11)
Homophone of “Sheik’s peer”
21. RUSK Finishes off eclair, gateau, scones and rock cake (4)
Final letters of eclaiR gateaU sconeS and rocK – one of several cakes (of various kinds) in the puzzle
22. REMINISCES Has recollections about cars, not sweet in retrospect (10)
RE (about) MINIS (cars) + reverse of SEC (of wines, dry, not sweet)
25,9. NEWCASTLE BROWN Former PMs, choice of some at party gathering? (9,5)
Two widely-separated Prime Ministers: Lord Newcastle (1754-1756 and 1757-1762) and Gordon Brown (2007-2010) cobine to give a famous (some would say disgusting) brand of beer
26. BELCH Rude noise as part of rebel chant (5)
Hidden in reBEL CHant
27. SKY BLUE Source of Scotch — produced glass, we hear, in light colour (3,4)
Homophone of “Skye” (where some Scotch whisky is produced) + “blew” (made glass)
28. CHELSEA Kind of bun, besides, being dunked? (7)
ELSE “dunked in” CHA (tea)
Down
1. MOBBED Crowded around doctor going around old base (6)
O in MB (bachelor of medicine) + BED (base)
2. UTOPIA Most of drink I consumed in university area, ideal place (6)
TOP[e] (to drink) + I in U A
3. HAND-PICKED Passed over tool specially chosen (4-6)
PICK (tool) in HANDED (passed)
4. MOVER Person not keeping still after first of moonshine’s finished (5)
M[oonshine] + OVER
5. CELTIC SEA Part of Atlantic that’s cold, with ice least dispersed (6,3)
C + (ICE LEAST)* – part of the Atlantic to the west of the British Isles
6. URNS Makes, as we hear, containers with taps for serving drinks (4)
Another homophone, of “earns”
7. ARIZONAN Arid zone endlessly north of an inhabitant of state (8)
ARI[d] ZON[e] “to the north of” AN
8. ECOTYPES Novelist writes, in a way, for well-adapted groups (8)
[Umberto] ECO + TYPES
13. UNDENIABLE Drunkenly dine with bun and ale? Sure (10)
(DINE BUN ALE)*
15. KIPPER TIE Asian money that is securing saucy neckwear (6,3)
PERT in KIP (the currency unit of Laos, I learn) + IE
16. TSARINAS Frantically trains, for instance, group of top Russians (8)
TRAINS* + AS (for example)
17. CAUSEWAY With reason, soundly consider road that’s raised (8)
CAUSE + (yet another) homophone of “weigh” (consider)
19. ECCLES Kind of cake found in old book, cut by 50% (6)
First half of ECCLESIASTES
20. ASTHMA Inconclusively ask the man what’s problem with expiration? (6)
AS[k] TH[e] MA[n]
23. ILEAC Belonging to part of digestive system some bile activates (5)
Hidden in bILE ACtivates
24. FARL Oatmeal cake, to considerable extent, left (4)
FAR (to a considerable extent) + L – a new word for me: as far as I can tell farls are not necessarily made from oatmeal

46 comments on “Guardian 26,898 – Brendan”

  2. Thanks Brendan and Andrew

    I wait with interest to see the comments on this, as I found it considerably easier than yesterday’s Rufus, which generated such a difference of opinions. It was enjoyable, but all over too quickly.

    You seem to have missed the last three down clues, Andrew – I was going to question whether asthma was a problem of inspiration rather than expiration.

    The last time I saw Necastle Brown (“Nuclear brown”) at a party was in 1972!

  3. I enjoyed this puzzle by Brendan and was greatly helped by the theme of cakes and ale, as well as google for a list of British prime ministers and Somerset Maugham’s works. New words for me were FARL, NEWCASTLE BROWN ale, KIPPER TIE, the Laotian KIP and ILEAC.

    My favourites were ECOTYPES, REMINISCES, SHAKESPEARE.

    Thank you Brendan and Andrew.

  4. Thanks, Andrew. Mostly straightforward, although I managed to get myself in a knot over parsing the end of VALENTINO – taking the even(!) letters of aNd To InN and then wondering how to explain the final O. 🙁

    muffin @2: it’s a common misconception that asthma is a problem of inhalation – caused I suppose by the difficulty for actors trying to mimic it; the wheeze is expiratory.

  5. Thanks, Andrew – and congratulations!

    Brendan usually hides his themes more deviously but it was a lot of fun to see the various bits of this one, cleverly exploited and referred to in a number of clues as well as answers, steadily emerge. I enjoyed the ingenious use of the literary links.

    I knew that COURAGE and TOBY were brands of ale but found that CAUSEWAY is, too, and – a bit more obscurely – UTOPIA is brewed by Amber Ales.

    Favourite clues: MAUGHAM, CHELSEA and ECCLES – and the theme-related clue for UNDENIABLE is very clever.

    Many thanks to Brendan – great to be seeing more of you – for a very entertaining puzzle.

  6. NeilW @4
    Yes indeed, but isn’t the debilitating effect cuased by inability to breathe in sufficiently?

  7. Thanks Andrew and Brendan.

    Yes, muffin, I agree: much easier than yesterday’s Rufus but still very enjoyable. BTW – does anyone still read W Somerset Maugham? (or drink Newcastle Broon since it was moved down south?)

  9. Thank you, Andrew, fine blog (now!).

    Elegant stuff from Brendan this morning – a setter we don’t see enough of imho.

    Loved the ‘dunked’ CHELSEA bun, and the ECCLES cake.

    Didn’t know the kip or FARL but both perfectly derivable.

    Eileen @5 I didn’t spot all the beers, makes the puzzle all the more elegant. I learn that VALENTINO brewed by Night Shift is a beer in the US, as is SHAKESPEARE County.

    All very nicely laced together by this clever setter, many thanks, Brendan.

    Nice week, all.

  10. You haven’t lived until you’ve had an Ulster Fry with Soda farls and Potato farls.

    Thanks Brendan for an enjoyable puzzle and Andrew for the blog.

  12. It’s what a Full English aspires to be when it grows up. The potato bread (or farl), black pudding and white pudding make the difference. A heart attack on a plate.

  14. Thanks Brendan and Andrew. Most enjoyable. To my surprise I went quickly through this, solving each clue as I came to it until slowing down about three quarters of the way through. Just as well as I am supposed to be finishing off a piece of work and then packing to go on holiday tomorrow.

    cholecyst @7 – yes, my younger daughter is a great admirer of “Of Human Bondage”.

    poc @12 – it’s OK now: just don’t put sugar in your tea.

    15dn could be another referendum related clue (after plebiscite yesterday).

  15. Causeway Ale – you must be referring to the one brewed just up the road from me and served up in my favourite pub.

  17. Maugham is still read widely in India. Besides ‘Of Human Bondage,’ other novels such as ‘The Moon and Sixpence’ are favourites.

    Some of his short stories such as ‘Rain’ have great impact. I find ‘Mr. Know-All’ in school textbooks. It is a story with a sting in the tail but it’s far too subtle for schoolchildren who may need an ‘explanation’.

  18. What a lovely treat to brighten up a dark gloomy rainy Tuesday. Great from start to finish – too many ‘favourites’ to list – and I loved all the theme.

    Thanks to Brendan and thanks and congratulations on the 500th blog to Andrew.

    I’m off to Enniskillen towards the end of June and will think of you all while I enjoy a Full Irish.

  19. @Muffin and @NeilW as a sufferer myself I can assure you both that the problem is one of inspiration (which might have made a fractionally better clue incidentally). The wheezing is in both directions and is neither here nor
    there. All the best.

  20. Easier than I expect from Brendan, but very enjoyable. I missed the finer details of the theme (I don’t drink beer, though I do eat cake). I only got the earlier PM thanks to a recent puzzle, and I had to check online that KIP is a coin.

    Andrew is correct about FARL. In Northern Ireland, where I learned to bake it, a flat round scone (loaf) of soda bread indented to make it easy to break into wedges was also known as a farl. It could also refer to the individual wedges. They could be white, wheatmeal (85% extraction), wholemeal, yellow (includes some maize flour) or potato. My current favourite is one third each or white and wholemeal flour and medium oatmeal.

    Thanks, Brendan and Andrew.

  21. Thank you Brendan and Andrew, and congratulations to Andrew for his 500th blog.

    A most enjoyable puzzle, loved the theme – I wonder if, as Marienkaefer suggests @14, there are deeper depths to it related to the referendum, Twelfth Night’s references to ale versus beer, for example. For English audiences in Shakespeare’s time, “cakes and ale” held particular resonances, real ale being the traditional English drink which Sir Toby defends, and beer, a new-fangled drink brewed with hops introduced from the Netherlands, which was not really part of the traditional way of things in England.

  22. A good one, thank you Brendan. Enjoyed the clever use of the different themes & actually managed to spot them all, apart from the beers. Did get Newcastle Brown (or “Jorney (sic) Into Space” as the locals used to call it) very quickly, however! Ashamed to say that I took ages to solve 18ac, despite it’s being so well clued.

    Thank you for the blog Andrew.

  24. Congratulations on 500 Andrew. Cook’s 10,000 yesterday, and now this.

    ECOTYPES was a nightmare for me; my run through of novelists did not include the recently departed three-letter Italian maestro, so I was wondering if the def bit was a novelist. It was an online day today so the check button came into play before I worked out what was going on. FARL took some time too, but at least it was finally solved by conventional means.

    Otherwise quite straightforward if not quick, CHELSEA the tops, and a clever theme. I wonder if Brendan knew he had clued quite so many ales? With so many breweries these days (this is not a complaint), each with different naming conventions, I’d not be surprised to find myself asking for a pint of ECOTYPE one day.

  26. Very enjoyable though I confess to a couple of words needing the E-chambers and a Maugham Google.

  27. This was a lot tougher than the previous Brendan – admittedly quite a number of gentle ones but FARL was unfamiliar and needed checking

    Thanks to Brendan and Andrew (and congratulations on the landmark)

  28. Thanks to Brendan and Andrew. Several items new to me (NEWCASTLE BROWN, CELTIC SEA, ECOTYPES, FARL, KIPPER TIE) but all of them accessible from the clues (though I had to look up “kip”). Lots of fun.

  29. I think Marienkaefer @14 must be on the right track, as well as the 15d KIPPER TIE reference there is EXIT PERMIT plus URNS, and all the cakes are ones of the British Isles.

  30. I didn’t know FARL either but it had to be right. I liked this a lot and was only held up by COURAGE-not for the first time- as a result of having BALTIC instead of CELTIC for 5dn. NEWCASTLE BROWN brought back memories- and blanks- from my days at Hull University. Lots to like, but my favourite was MAUGHAM with KIPPER TIE being a close second. I regret to say that I once sported one of those!
    Thanks Brendan.

  31. Thanks, everyone. I learn so much from people who find things I didn’t know about — in this case several ales. Oregon is a good place for microbreweries, our favourite has a cup of espresso in every pint. Sadly, though, no chance of anything like an Ulster Fry (most of my life I lived in Belfast). Any reference to Brexit was subliminal.

  32. Brendan = elegance! Thanks, Brendan.

    Thanks Andrew and congratulations on the 500th!

    Learn so much from you, and the other bloggers. Keep ’em coming!

  34. Thanks again Brendan, I guess any reference to Brexit would be subliminal for anyone living in the States at the moment…

  35. All has been said, really. But just wanted to drop in to say that it was a well-crafted puzzle with a delightful theme (well, the ales, anyway – I don’t do cakes).

    And congrats to Andrew on his 500th – looking forward to the 600th.

  36. Thank you Brendan and congratulations Andrew.

    My favourites were CHELSEA and COURAGE, both made us smile.

    A farl is an important part of breakfast at my local cafe in Birmingham.

  37. Does anyone on here remember a previous clue to KIPPER TIE which derived from a dialect pronunciation of ‘cup of tea’?

  38. Hate to be ‘that’ person but the Celtic Sea is off the South West coasts of the British Isles AND Ireland. Considering it makes up a huge chunk of our fishing waters I just thought I’d clarify that one.

  39. pyriform @37 – it was Tramp 25416: 70s’ clothing sounds like Noddy Holder’s cup of tea

  40. An enjoyable solve on an enjoyable theme. I’m off now to look up recipes for farls. And as a sufferer myself (fortunately only slightly and infrequently), thanks to Bendal@19 for putting the record straight re 20dn.

  41. Many thanks to Brendan and Andrew, we ‘improvers’ really enjoyed this one. Failed on ecotypes, a new word to us, kip too a stranger, otherwise managed to figure it out. Themes very engaging and clever. We hope Brendan will be back soon.

  42. Just echoing the congratulations to Andrew.

    NW yielded due to UGH in MAUGHAM 1a so I thought I was well on the way to solving when I found his CAKES AND ALE at 14a.

    SE also solved with my knowledge of English cakes from reading English novels. ASTHMA 20d here was clever.

    Then totally stumped for the rest except for VALENTINO in the NE.

    Despite Aussies supposedly knowing a lot about beer I missed all the references to ALES. Also while I knew BROWN 9a as PM I forgot there was one called NEWCASTLE 25a.

    So had to come here to get the whole picture. What a fascinating blog! I learned a lot about several cultural icons. Thanks to all contributors.

    Well done Brendan – you clearly gave a lot of people a lot of enjoyment in this puzzle and evoked many memories of relishing both “cakes and ale”.

  43. This wasn’t quite the write-in for me like it evidently was for muffin and cholecyst (well done, you two)! In the absence of any crossword aids I had to think hard over 8D (ECOTYPES) and 16D (TSARINAS) before they would yield, but I thoroughly enjoyed this puzzle, especially the well-executed theme, which, as Eileen said (@5), was “cleverly exploited and referred to in a number of clues as well as answers”.

    Thank you Brendan, and thanks and congratulations to Andrew.

  44. William @11. I had the pleasure of an Ulster Fry just last Saturday. It consisted of sausage, egg, bacon, soda bread (farl), potato bread (farl), mushrooms, black pudding and white pudding; washed down with two hefty cups of tea. As poc says, a heart attack on a plate.

  45. Thanks Brendan and Andrew (congrats – always enjoy your blogs)

    Did this one earlier in the week but only checked it off now. I don’t recall this one being as easy as a lot of others here – certainly not easier than the Rufus and maybe it was the busy week that was, didn’t really notice more than a few cakes and a couple of ales – but all very clever. Am another to be glad to see this setter regularly back on the payroll – usually find his puzzles on the easier side of average but the accompanying theme and his device variation (that is, apart from his three homophones today) always make them an enjoyable experience.

    I didn’t see the logic at all in CHELSEA (apart from remembering that there was a bun) until coming here – quite clever !

    Got CAKES AND ALE before I got MAUGHAM (which obviously was the very next one) – have it as a part of a collection of Penguin first editions, but haven’t read it as yet – and should !!

    Finished in the SW corner with CAUSEWAY, SKY BLUE (had to go looking to see what distilleries that might be there – Talisker … hmmm) and FARL (which I had not seen before) as the last few in.

  46. Thanks Andrew and Brendan.

    I was just about to give up on 24dn when I had a “what if” moment, checked FARL in the dictionary and there it was!

    But I did fail to parse 1dn. I was convinced it was an envelope of MD around O + BBE (maybe some obscure acronym?)

    I properly got and enjoyed CHELSEA. I’m sure that I’ve seen an almost identically clued ECCLES sometime this year in either the Guardian or FT.

    I did at least spot all the connected clues including TOBY BELCH.

    Good stuff.

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