Guardian 26915, Tramp

by

Lovely, tricky stuff. Favourites 16ac, 20dn/6ac/12ac and 21dn. Thanks Tramp

Across
1   See 24
6   See 20
9 IMPEL Urge forward — without a goal, player doesn’t finish (5)
[a]IM=”goal” “without a“, plus PEL[e]=”player doesn’t finish”
10 TRANSPIRE Happen to bring up Italy going top (9)
TRA[I]N=”bring up”, with I[taly] going away, plus SPIRE=”top”
11 NON-ALIGNED Breaking one’s heart, 1-0, England out (3-7)
(n I O England)*, where n=”one’s heart”, and I O=”1-0″
12   See 20
14 DITTANY Plant penning a new song (7)
=a herb. DITTY=”song” around A N[ew]
15 EARFLAP Feature for cap? Shortly get wag (7)
EAR[n]=”Shortly get”, plus FLAP=”wag”
16 BIRDIED Shot one under keeper’s back with pass attempt blocked (7)
gone one shot under par in golf. [keepe]R’s back letter, plus DIE=”pass”, all inside (blocked by) BID=”attempt”
19 BRANCHY Description of tree in farm next to fences? (7)
RANCH=”farm”, fenced by BY=”next to”
22 UNSEGMENTED In one section, needs nutmeg for cooking (11)
(needs nutmeg)*
23 BRA Supporter of national side, not half (3)
BRA[zil]
24,1 JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE Cruel: Joe Hart makes one silly bloomer (9,9)
(Cruel Joe Hart makes I)*, where the I=”one”
26 ELAND Being from Africa, wanting English win (5)
=an antelope. E[nglish] plus LAND=”win”
27 YEMEN Nation to watch players, missing start (5)
[e]YE MEN=”watch players”, missing its starting letter
28 RENASCENT Becoming active again, finally striker offside: Spain moving up (9)
[strike]R [offsid]E [Spai]N plus ASCENT=”moving up”
Down
1   See 11
2 TOPKNOT Ball on head to turn cup tie (7)
POT=”cup”, reversed/”to turn”, plus KNOT=”tie”
3 CELEBRATING Out on the town: certain half of Belgians drunk (11)
(certain Belg[ians])*
4 OUTSTAY Stop longer than away supporter (7)
OUT=”away”, plus STAY=”supporter”
5 ETAGERE Stand extra time? Add time on (7)
E[xtra] T[ime] plus AGE=”time”, plus RE=”on” the subject of
6 WAS Used to be what in Germany? (3)
WAS=”what” in German
7 INITIAL First home international to divide most of country (7)
IN=”home”, plus I[nternational] dividing most of ITAL[y]
8 EVENS UP Equalises against Spain — topless men drink outside (5,2)
V[ersus] E[spana]=”against Spain”, inside [m]EN plus SUP=”drink”
13 FORWARDNESS Struggle to stop cross going over head, showing audacity (11)
WAR=”Struggle”, stopping inside FORD=”cross”, both going over NESS=”head”
16 BLUE JAY Bird with Chelsea player? John initially? (4,3)
BLUE=”Chelsea player”, plus JAY=J=J[ohn]
17 ROSTRUM Stage to run out and play (7)
R[un] O[ut], plus STRUM=”play” a guitar
18 DUELLER Stones handled by him? Caught one in fight (7)
Sounds (“Caught”, as ‘catch’=’hear’) like ‘jeweller’=”Stones handled by him”
19 BATSMAN Go over to fellow player (7)
STAB=”Go”=attempt, reversed/”over”, plus MAN=”fellow”
20,6across,12 CABBAGE WHITE BUTTERFLIES Be sub twice — Gareth Bale fit to swap wingers? (7,5,11)
(Be sub twice Gareth Bale fit)*
21 YEAR DOT Beginning? Ready to get knocked out? (4,3)
(Ready to)*
25 SEN Not very old England manager making money abroad (3)
a hundredth of a yen. S[v]EN Goran Eriksson=”old England manager”, without the v[ery]

48 comments on “Guardian 26915, Tramp”

  1. Too clever for me by far. Only managed about two thirds. Thanks Tramp and manehi.

    18d – not a homophone for me, one clearly starts with a ‘J’ sound, the other with a ‘D’.

  3. Some great stuff here, but “transpire” means come to light, not happen, and I cannot accet 18D as a homophone

  4. Thanks Tramp and manehi

    The long anagrams fell out surprisingly easily, so gave me a good start, and I made steady progress, finishing in the SW with ROSTRUM, YEMEN and SEN (the only one that actually required football knowledge).

    I agree about the “homophone” in 18d.

    I didn’t like BLUE JAY – no indication of a foreign bird or that “John initially” should be written as JAY (really not convinced by this), and anyway, aren’t the Blues Manchester City?

  5. New Monday question – who will the compiler be today? And for online users when will the crossword arrive?

    Thank you manheni and Tramp.

    We were slightly worried about the theme, but glad we didn’t need to know much about football, although as a Brummy the blues are Birmingham City not Chelsea. Needed help to parse 12a, 7d and 28a, but they all make sense now.

    My favourite was 20, 6a, 12 Loved the anagram.

  6. Muffin @4. Manchester City also wear blue, but see my post above. My friend is a Coventry City fan, who gets annoyed when some commentators now refer to Man City as the Sky Blues. The Sky Blues always have been and always will be Coventry City.

    And I thought I knew nothing about football.

  7. Thanks for the blog and comments

    My original clue for BLUE JAY relied on jay being a word for idiot. I figured 95% of solvers would enter BLUE TIT and then complain that I’d used a rare synonym, so I changed it at the last minute. The homophone at 18d is a bit weak, on reflection. I’m happy with this though and I don’t normally say that about anything.

    Meic: according to Chambers, TRANSPIRE can mean “to happen” (loosely) which will do me.

    Neil

  8. Thanks, manehi, for the blog and Tramp for another super puzzle.

    My favourites were 11,1dn – what a surface! [Hope it’s not tempting fate, 😉 ] and 20,6,12 – very clever. I also liked the novel definition for the old favourite ELAND.

    Meic @3
    Chambers has TRANSPIRE as ‘[loosely] to happen’ and Collins has it as ‘informal’.

    muffin @
    I can’t see anything wrong with JAY, the spelling of the letter J, John’s initial.

    There are still ‘Backing the Blues’ posters all over Leicester. 😉

  10. A really good challenge for a Monday – but we made it. Needed manehi to fully explain earflap and renascent. We worried when we saw the theme was football, but our limited knowledge was ample. Thanks Tramp and Manehi

  11. Sorry, but anywhere north of Watford, a duel sounds exactly like a jewel. Perfectly acceptable for me!

  12. What a great crossword – just a shame the editor to saw fit to place it in the Rufus slot, since at least for me it was possibly the toughest Monday puzzle I can remember! By the time I finally saw CABBAGE WHITE BUTTERFLIES my brain was pretty addled, and annoyingly BIRDIED and DUELLED were the last two in, though neither should have caused too many problems.

    Thanks to Tramp and manehi

  13. ELAND may be an old favourite (12 appearances) but IMPEL, INITIAL and ROSTRUM have more. WAS was a first!

  14. Thanks manehi and Tramp.

    Mostly good fun, though I failed on 16a and 18d. I had thought of JEWELLER, but it certainly didn’t suggest DUELLER as they are distinct in Quernnmore; is there a Watford in Tenerife, possibly?

  15. muffin @ 4: I’d say that 16dn also required some football knowledge, as the above discussion (amusingly, from the point of view of this SW London Blues fan) demonstrates.

  18. Very clever to have a football theme that had scarcely anything to do with football in the answers.

    Still can’t sy I’m a fan of looking for half a word or words with various bits missing (it’s a bit like rhyming poetry that doesn’t rhyme – either blank verse or proper, clever rhymes for me).

    Thanks to setter and blogger, both.

  19. Brute force on the long anagrams eventually gave me a way in but BIRDIED / DUELLER failed to yield by any means. And I’d thought of JEWELLER for the stones handler too. Obvs not a homophone to me.

    I pity the poor sods who look to Mondays as the one day in the week that they can have a reasonable reversed-BATS at completion. I suppose the lure of a day when England plus Gareth Bale’s team are both playing was too much to resist.

  20. The fact that this was published on a Monday was due to a communication issue that was my fault. When I wrote this puzzle, some time shortly after the draw for the Euros, I’d asked for it to be used at the start of the competition. I then forgot I’d even written it and asked Hugh to use another one “next”. He scheduled that puzzle for last Wednesday. When I realised about the Euro puzzle, it was too late to use it last Wednesday so Hugh kindly scheduled this one to coincide with England’s last group game ie today; I presume the other puzzle will be used in July.

    Neil

  22. Also, “transpire” does NOT mean “happen”. It means “become known”. And I don`t care what the dictionaries say – if you say something wrong often enough, it ends up in the dictionary.

  23. This was an unexpectedly enjoyable solve for a Monday, and challenging in parts.

    The loose definitions/indications didn’t trouble me much (top for spire, ‘shortly get’ for ear, happen for transpire, being for animal). I was pleasantly deceived by 18D (DUELLER), the only clue I couldn’t parse properly. It’s not a homophone for me, but I can see it’s near enough.

    I was lucky to get the long anagrams quickly – they helped in many ways.

    I admired the theme running through the puzzle – it didn’t require any special knowledge, except perhaps for ‘Blue’ in 16D. Those in the know would understand something about ‘John’ in 16D and ‘Stones’ in 18D, but you didn’t need to know these. Incorporating Joe Hart and Gareth Bale in the long answers was brilliant.

    In 16D (BLUE JAY) I interpreted the first ‘?’ as ‘not necessarily a Chelsea player’ and the second as ‘not literally’ (say it, not write it).

    Many thanks to Tramp and manehi.

  24. Thank you Tramp and Manehi. Loved it. Everton are also known as the Blues as well as the Toffees. Come on Wales tonight. Hwyl !!!

  25. What a great start to the week. Thank you so much Tramp and Manehi. Everton are also known as the Blues as well as the Toffees. Come on Wales tonight. Hwyl !!!!

  26. Rompiballe @21 & 22

    I agree ‘than’ is part of the definition in 4D.

    I empathise fully with you concerning ‘transpire’ supposedly meaning ‘happen’. The same observation could be made concerning ‘refute’ for ‘deny’, which I saw very recently in a Guardian news article.

    As you say, what starts as an example of illiteracy then gets used so often that dictionaries have to recognise the diluted meaning, for which perfectly good words exist already (‘happen’ and ‘deny’ in the above examples). As others have indicated, good dictionaries sensibly add loose or informal to the definitions.

  27. Not a fan of this setter and I was somewhat put off by the football allusions-I couldn’t parse SEN for example and I imagine there were others which I haven’t seen. DUELLER and BIRDIED were the last ones in and, while I completed this, I can’t say I enjoyed it much.
    Anyone expecting a Rufus-style puzzle will have been a bit miffed!
    Thanks Tramp.

  29. Thanks Tramp and manehi. I got there in the end but it was a real tussle. Saturday’s alphabetical was a doddle by comparison.

    I do appreciate it when the setter drops by to comment.

  30. Eileen @8
    “John initially” is J, not JAY. To be a fairer clue, some indication of the need to spell out the letter should have been given. Mind you, it wasn’t very difficult to get the right answer 🙂

  31. muffin @30
    I think there was an indication: the final ‘?’, which I interpreted as “‘not literally’ (say it, not write it)” as I said in my comment @23. The ‘?’ has no function otherwise.

  32. Hi Alan
    Sorry, I’ve been out and I missed your post @ 23. I agree that the second ? doesn’t seem to have any other function (the first one warning of Definition by Example?). However it does seem a little like special pleading to interpret it as “spell the letter out” – or it did to me, anyway!

  33. muffin
    (1) Yes, the first ‘?’ is DbE – a common and accepted indication.
    (2) Yes, it is special pleading really. Here, the second ‘?’ is short for “Don’t take this literally – you’ll have to guess what I really mean.”

  34. I enjoyed this Monday offering instead of the usual easy Rufus. I thought “transpire”, “blue jay” and “duellist” were fairly clued.

  35. Tramp@7, Eileen @8
    OK, but it’s one of the misuses that most irritates me, along with flaunt for flout, and ultimate for latest.
    I’d certainly query it if Tramp put it ian a crossword for Significance!

  36. Meic @35

    I agree entirely: I often say how surprised / shocked I am to find such ‘misuses’ in the dictionary.

  37. Alan @26 et al
    Dictionaries claim to reflect usage rather than prescribe it, but I wish that they would make more use of “informal” (or even “incorrect”). I need only mention “epicentre”!

  38. Thanks to Tramp and manehi. I got to this puzzle very late and found it tough going, so I much appreciated the blog (and have nothing to add to the discussion above.).

  39. Fun puzzle even for one largely baffled by the football, such as myself; I did feel like there was a lot of contortion and stuff that only barely worked, but I’d rather see that in the service of an interesting idea than a forgettably uncontroversial crossword. Thanks Tramp!

  40. Enjoyed this a lot – thought BIRDIED especially was a brilliant clue. TRANSPIRE and DUELLER seem fine to me.

  41. A lot of this was too difficult for me but I enjoyed the clues I solved and I enjoyed reading the explanation of the ones I couldn’t.

    The whole concept was very clever and I particularly appreciated BIRDIED and TOPKNOT (which is of course what Gareth Bale has on top of his head).

  42. Thank you Tramp for explaining why this puzzle appeared on a Monday. I’m at a level where I can slog through a quiptic but Rufus on a Monday is a real challenge. So this puzzle was miles above by ability level and I gave up after only getting one clue on the first run through (WAS). However I’ve enjoyed reading the blog and seeing how these clues are parsed – thanks for that, Manehi. In time perhaps I may feel brave enough to move beyond the Monday puzzles!

  43. I was looking forward to Rufus today! I decided to skip this Cryptic – I was not keen on doing it as a PDF and any puzzle with too many football allusions in the clues turns my brain into mush so it is better to skip it! This one is not for me.

  44. Tim (comment 17): Thanks for your deeply insightful, well-informed and intelligent commentary. We’ll all rest more easily now we have read your wise words. See you next Tuesday!

  45. Enjoyed this a lot… though couldn’t quite finish without cheating. And I quite like the Guardian playing the occasional googly by not always sticking to the easy Monday format.

    I do worry about some of the gripes above though… seem to lack self-awareness? e.g. no-one ever complains about specialist knowledge when it’s Shakespeare or classical mythology, but if it’s “popular” culture (e.g. football) that seems to bring out a bit of snobbery, (even if, as in this case, you don’t actually need to know anything about football).

    Similarly, are homophones not ok in working class accents? As for “incorrect” modern uses of words, surely English is an evolving not a static language, and so it “transpires” that very many words as used today would be “incorrectly” so to our ancestors

  46. Thanks Tramp and manehi

    Definitely wasn’t ready for one this hard for a Monday puzzle. Started it in the evening and finished it off early the next morning. Ended up ‘cheating’ with a word finder to help finish the last half dozen clues just to finish it off. Don’t know whether I would have ever found ETAGERE any other way though !

    A pity though there was a lot of the usual Tramp humour and clever device use – should’ve saved it for the weekend!

    Still couldn’t parse TRANSPIRE (where the component words were definitions that I found oblique) nor SEN (where I just didn’t know the chap – I did look up the list of English national managers and being focused on surnames only – still missed him!)

    DUELLER, the very clever BIRDIED and that ETAGERE were the last few in.

  47. Goodish puzzle, but without the fluency (fluidity?) I find increasingly with Tramp (one of my favourite) compilers.
    Yes, it was a shame the crossword editor hadn’t checked the difficulty level – and saved it for a Thursday (I appreciate T’s explanation – but why the editor didn’t have a look first beats me). I generally don’t bother with Monday’s puzzle unless it’s the one in four non-Rufuses; having recently had a Nutmeg, I would have missed it had not Eileen, luckily, mentioned it in a later blog.
    Thuswise, I was able to save it for some weekend fun (and a needed distraction from all the Neverendum fallout!).
    My favourites – the Butterfly and the Artichoke.
    Thanks both.

  48. Blimey, that was tough for a Monday – same day, just a week late.

    I failed to parse TRANSPIRE, RENASCENT and SEN and failed to spot the cleverly misdirected definition at 16 which left me with a howlingly wrong and unparsed BURRIED.

    So beaten! I’ll lick my wounds and get back to catching up!

    Thanks Tramp and manehi.

Comments are closed.