Guardian 26,907 / Orlando

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It’s four months since Orlando last appeared in the Cryptic slot, so this was a welcome sight on a rather duller morning than we’ve become used to this week. Orlando’s fans will not have been disappointed, I think, by this typically elegant and  witty offering, laced with excellent surfaces throughout.

Those who find difficulty in recognising a theme should have found no problem with this one – which I hope we need not take too seriously. đŸ˜‰

Many thanks to Orlando for a delightful puzzle, as ever.

 

Across

1 A drink of claret is an exception (6)
TISANE
Hidden in clareT IS AN Exception

4 European seen by Mark O’Hara (8)
SCARLETT
LETT [European] after [by] SCAR [mark] for the heroine of ‘Gone with the Wind’

9 Distressing cutback Havana possibly rejected (6)
TRAGIC
T [back of cuT] + a reversal [rejected] of CIGAR [Havana possibly]

10 1 down also led astray over and over again (6-2)
TOODLE-OO
TOO [also] + an anagram [astray] of LED + O [over] + O [over again]

11 Music, say, Orlando nearly composed for regiment (5,3,6)
BLUES AND ROYALS
BLUES [music] + an anagram [composed] of SAY ORLAND[o] – I particularly loved the surface of this one

13 What Coleridge’s wedding guest did with South American bones (10)
METATARSUS
MET A TAR [what Coleridge’s wedding guest did in ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’] + S [South] + US [American]

14 Info about large valley (4)
GLEN
GEN [info] round L [large]

16 Bloody allied soldiers (4)
RARE
RA [Royal Artillery] allied with RE [Royal Engineers]

18 Left with an unfinished game after Gardner falls (10)
AVALANCHES
L[left] + CHES[s] [unfinished game] after AVA [Gardner]

21 We freshen adieu in translation (3,11)
AUF WIEDERSEHEN
Anagram [in translation] of WE FRESHEN ADIEU – &lit?

23 Was trade diverted to the Land of the Rising Sun? (8)
EASTWARD
Anagram [diverted] of WAS TRADE

24 Soviet leader’s first name for it during Allied withdrawal (6)
NIKITA
IT in [during] a reversal [withdrawal] of AKIN [allied]

25 Composer oddly overlooked Delian cow (8)
HOLSTEIN
HOLST [composer] + even letters of dElIaN

26 André Gide initially appears in quiet street in French capital (6)
PRAGUE
AG [AndrĂ© Gide initially] in P [quiet] RUE [street in French] – this could be my favourite clue

Down

1 Terriers repeatedly see you (2-2)
TA-TA
TA [Territorial Army – Terriers] repeatedly

2 Vegetable everyone put in picture (7)
SHALLOT
All [everyone] in SHOT [picture]

3 Sweet piece of meat (8)
NOISETTE
Double definition

5 Bird had short tower for popular event (5-6)
CROWD-PULLER
CROW [bird] + ‘D [had short – as in ‘I’d’] + PULLER [tower]

6 1 down after voyager finally sends message (6)
RADIOS
[voyage]R + ADIOS [1 down]

7 Look at pupil’s place (7)
EYEBALL
Double definition

8 Loads you found on beach? (9)
THOUSANDS
THOU [you] on SANDS [beach]

12 Elsewhere 21 came with cooked rice (11)
ARRIVEDERCI
ARRIVED [came] + an anagram [cooked] of RICE

13 Libertine in Slough or African city (9)
MARRAKESH
RAKE [libertine] in MARSH [slough]

15 Preceding or following tear in pants (8)
ANTERIOR
OR following an anagram [pants] of TEAR IN

17 Much ado in genuine case? No! (7)
REFUSAL
FUS[s] [much of ado] in REAL [genuine]

19 Attending to empty house, say, without commotion (7)
HEEDING
H[ous]E [empty house] + EG [say] round DIN [commotion]

20 Name one silly billy or another (6)
NITWIT
N [name] + I [one] + TWIT [silly billy]

22 1 down or 10 for Caesar ‘s low land (4)
VALE
Double definition – VALE is Latin [for Caesar] for TA-TA or TOODLE-OO

39 comments on “Guardian 26,907 / Orlando”

  1. Thanks Orlando and Eileen
    Very enjoyable, if a bit “Quipticish”. I loved SCARLETT. Not sure I liked “had short” to give the D in CROWD-PULLER.

  3. I hope this isn’t another valediction. Nobody is indispensable, but Orlando is irreplaceable, for all the reasons Eileen gives. Always at least one laugh out loud moment in an Orlando. Tremendous skill, lightly worn. Mes homages Monsieur.

  4. I agree with muffin’s succinct evaluation @1 (“very enjoyable, if a bit “Quipticish”). SCARLETT was one of a few favourites. I thought D for ‘had short’ in 5D was ok – in the way that Eileen indicated in her blog.

    The theme was accessible and fun – there are a lot of weird words and phrases for TA-TA besides the ‘normal’ ones, TOODLE-OO being one.

    Thanks Orlando and Eileen.

  5. It was so good to see Orlando again after such a long break. A gentle solve (just right for me at the start of a busy day) but, as usual, some lovely surfaces & clever clueing. Do hope that the theme isn’t signifying that this is his swan song!

    Thank you Orlando & Eileen..

  6. Not too stretching, though I forgot Khruschev for a while in my roll call of Soviet leaders, which didn’t help, but fun all the way through, which is what really matters. I’d agree with the sentiments so far – he’s far too good to be thinking of giving up.

  7. Thank you Orlando and Eileen.

    A most enjoyable puzzle, except for the worry as solving progressed that this might be the last one Michael Curl is going to set for the Guardian.

    SCARLETT had me fooled for a while and the parsing of METATARSUS and CROWD-PULLER was beyond me. MARRAKESH, PRAGUE and BLUES AND ROYALS were great.

  8. Regarding Orlando’s possible farewell, can we take encouragement from ARRIVEDERCI? This mean “until we see each other again”.

  10. Gloria the actress – Gloria’s first and last appearance?

    No, not a swansong. The theme “just growed” as I was setting the puzzle. Orlando will be back.

    Many thanks to Eileen for the excellent blog, and to all for appreciative comments.

  11. Very enjoyable puzzle. My favourites were METATARSUS, MARRAKESH, AVALANCHES, PRAGUE.

    New for me was BLUES AND ROYALS, and I failed to solve 24a and 22d.

    Thanks Eileen and Orlando

  15. Orlando @10 – thanks for that reassurance – some of us were wondering but you would undoubtedly have been missed. A lovely puzzle full of subtle misdirection and crafted surfaces. Mostly fairly straightforward, METATARSUS was last in

    Thanks to Orlando and Eileen

  16. Very enjoyable. I think my favourite is METATARSUS, for the sneaky clueing of SUS.

    Thanks, Orlando, and I am glad you are not leaving the Guardian. Thanks to Eileen too.

  17. I’ve been without internet access for an hour or so – good news to come back to! Huge thanks for setting minds at rest, Orlando. đŸ˜‰

  19. Thanks to Orlando and Eileen. As I proceed backwards through the Guardian archives (I’ve reached January 2011), Orlando remains one of my favorite setters – and this puzzle is no exception. As usual, several terms were new to me (BLUES AND ROYALS, NOISETTE) but I got TA-TA early on so that other items followed. “Pants” as an anagram indicator gave me pause and CROWD-PULLER was last in because I was looking for a “tower” that began with the letter D. Great fun.

  20. I liked this too. I got a bit stuck on the SE and had to guess VALE,which was my LOI, so thanks to the blogger for the explanation. Far too many favourites to list but I did like METATARSUS and AVALANCHES.
    Thanks Orlando.

  22. Auriga @21 – nice try, but see Chambers:

    metatarsus noun (metatarsi) anatomy 1 the set of five long bones (metatarsal bones) in the human foot between the ankle and the toes, or in the hindfoot of other vertebrates. 2 the part of the foot that contains these. See also tarsus. Compare metacarpus. metatarsal adj.
    ETYMOLOGY: 17c: from meta- + Greek tarsos instep.

  23. while we’re doing pointless pedantry the puzzle number has an extra 0 – it should be 26907

  25. beery hiker @22 – Thanks for the correction; I hadn’t realised that it referred to the set.
    (Not really trying anything, but still.)

  26. Thank you, Eileen, my Latin is so weak as to not include VALE.

    Orlando @10 Thank you both for the fun and for dropping in with the reassurance of your welcome return in the future.

    I, too, wondered about the apparently singular METATARSUS and had to look it up to check.

    Top puzzle, many thanks.

    Nice weekend, all.

  27. We’ve just come back from Italy. When you meet people walking in the mountains, they are more likely to say “Salve!” than “Buongiorno!”. I’ve never heard anyone say “Vale!”, though.

  34. Late to the blog, but just had to say thank you to Eileen and Orlando.

    Really enjoyed the puzzle. Jenny often commented on how nice the clue was.

    Glad it’s au revoir to Orlando not goodbye.

  35. Simon S @ 31 – Not the most helpful of comments. I would appreciate such obscure words to be defined in the blog.

  36. Bernie Doeser

    My apologies: I’m often conscious when blogging of the narrow line between helpfulness and condescension. I didn’t think of LETT as being obscure – it fairly often appears in crosswords – and so I thought it sufficient to say LETT [European]. I have just confirmed that it is in all my dictionaries

  37. Bernie Doeser, as Cole Porter so wisely taught us ‘Even Latvians and Letts do it, let’s do it…..’.

  38. Thanks Eileen and Orlando.

    I made short work of the top half but slowed to a near standstill by the time I got to my last two – NIKITA and VALE.

    Can’t see why on reflection. This was elegantly and precisely clued from start to finish.

    Thoroughly enjoyable. More like this please.

  39. Thanks Orlando and Eileen

    Really enjoyable puzzle, as per usual, from this setter … and nice to know that he will keep on delivering them !!! Did like the stick out theme which I picked up after the long German version. The puzzle solved quite quickly with only BLUES AND ROYALS, VALE and NIKITA putting up any resistance.

    VALE is most commonly used when saying goodbye to someone who has passed away down here – it was that and the valley definition that made me confident with writing it in. My Latin is non-existant and didn’t realise that it originated from there.

    Thought that CROW’D was OK at 5d – thought it was a tongue in cheek way of contracting the ‘bird had’ as one would with ‘he had’ to make HE’D.

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