Guardian Cryptic 26,947 by Pan

by

The puzzle my be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/26947.

A graduate from the Quiptic, this is Pan’s first foray into the Cryptics.  I found it at the easier end of the spectrum, with a coupe of quibbles that I leave to you to grouse over or ignore at your choice. I expect more happy times in Pan’s company.

Across
1 MINUTE Tiny little child receiving letter from abroad (6)
An envelope (‘receiving’) of NU (Greek ‘letter from abroad”) in MITE (‘little child’).
4 SCRAPPED Priest in tricky situation died, abandoned (8)
An envelope (‘in’) of P (‘priest’) in SCRAPE (‘tricky situation’) plus D (‘died’).
9 ASKEW Amateur’s first stitch around bottom of smock is wonky (5)
An envelope (‘around’) of K (‘bottom of smocK‘) in A (‘Amateur’s first’) plus SEW (‘stitch’).
10 CHASTENED Conservative charged and humiliated (9)
A charade of C (‘Conservative’) plus HASTENED (‘charged’).
11 UNDERTOOK Promised to deal with nasty Kent odour (9)
An anagram (‘nasty’) of ‘Kent odour’.
12 PETAL Penny rejected dead part of flower (5)
A charade of P (‘Penny’) plus ETAL, a reversal (‘rejected’) of LATE (‘dead’).
13 PSYCHIATRIST Doctor arranged yacht trips round island (12)
An envelope (’round’) of IS (‘island’) in PSYCHIATRT, an anagram (‘arranged’)  of ‘yacht trips’.
17 GLADIATORIAL Pleased to get one lariat designed to catch old combatant (12)
An envelope (‘to catch’) of O (‘old’) in GLAD (‘pleased’) plus I (‘one’) plus ATRIAL, an anagram (‘designed’) of ‘lariat’. The definition ‘combatant’ is more commonly used as a noun, but it can be an adjective.
20 ROUGE Debauchee drinking good red stuff (5)
An envelope (‘drinking’) of G (‘good’) in ROUÉ (‘debauchee’).
21 HARD LINES Sympathetic words for inflexible soprano (4,5)
A charade of HARDLINE (‘inflexible’) plus S (‘soprano’).
23 PERSONNEL Retired salesman sacked Nelson’s workforce (9)
A charade of PER, a reversal (‘retired’) of REP (‘salesman’) plus SONNEL, an anagram (‘sacked’) of ‘Nelson’.
24 OUTDO Get the better of unfashionable party (5)
A charade of OUT (‘unfashionable’) plus DO (‘party’).
25 ESCHEWED Steered clear of wife tucking into cheese cooked by daughter (8)
An envelope (‘tucking into’) of W (‘wife’) in ESCHEE, an anagram (‘cooked’) of ‘cheese’ plus D (‘daughter’).
26 SELECT Ready to cover the French correspondent’s first exclusive (6)
An envelope (‘to cover’) of LE (‘the French’) plus C (‘Correspondent’s first’) in SET (‘ready’).
Down
1 MEA CULPA Admission of guilt got by copper during dinner with father (3,5)
An envelope (‘during’) of CU (chemical symbol, ‘copper’) in MEAL (‘dinner’) plus PA (‘father’).
2 NAKED EYE Badly need a key to one way of looking at things (5,3)
An anagram (‘badly’) of ‘need a key’.
3 TOWER Keep going in Felixtowe Road (5)
A hidden answer in ‘FelixTOWE Road’. Think castles.
5 CRACKER-BARREL Unsophisticated American joke by queen meeting drinks supplier (7-6)
A charade of CRACK (‘joke’) plus ER (‘queen’) plus BARREL (‘drinks supplier’, passively). The definition indicates the US provenance of the expression.
6 ANTIPASTO A tin exploded over old Italian starter (9)
A charade of ANTI, an anagram (‘exploded’) of ‘a tin’ plus PAST (‘over’) plus O (‘old’).
7 PINATA Fasten a turnip top to a sweet container (6)
A charade of PIN (‘fasten’) plus ‘a’ plus T (‘Turnip top’) plus ‘a’.
8 DODDLE Doctor maintained by benefit gets an easy ride (6)
An envelope (‘maintained by’) of DD (‘doctor’ of divinity) in DOLE (‘benefit’).
10 CHOP AND CHANGE Keep swapping joint of meat with coppers (4,3,6)
A charade of CHOP (‘joint of meat’) plus AND (‘with’) plus CHANGE (‘coppers’).
14 HELLEBORE Plant found in bottomless pit by European with drill (9)
A charade of HELL (‘bottomless pit’) plus E (‘European’) plus BORE (‘drill’).
15 VIGNETTE Revolutionary vetting Leonardo’s second sketch (8)
A charade of VIGNETT, an anagram (‘revolutionary’) of ‘vetting’ plus E (‘LEonardo’s second’).
16 GLASNOST Gorbachev’s first lass not affected by his policy (8)
A charade of G (‘Gorbachev’s first’) plis LASNOST, an anagram (‘affcted’) of ‘lass not’.
18 FRAPPE Female singer almost gets a milkshake (6)
A charade of F (‘female’) plus RAPPE[r] (‘singer’) minus its last letter (‘almost’).
19 RUBRIC Explanation of game with brother in charge (6)
A charade of RU (Rugby Union, ‘game’) plus BR (‘brother’) plus IC (‘in charge’).
22 LOOSE Free toilets for the Home Counties! (5)
A charade of LOO (‘toilets’) plus SE (‘Home Counties’).
completed grid

45 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 26,947 by Pan”

  2. Re 2d.
    For me’naked eye’ is ‘unaided vision’.
    ‘One way of looking at things’ may lead to WITH THE NAKED EYE or even WITH NAKED EYE or THROUGH SPECTACLES.
    I am wondering if the def as given in the clue is perfect.
    Am I alone in this thought?
    Of late, I have such doubts increasingly. I don’t know whether I should voice them at all.
    Am I, as a non-native speaker of English, out of step with current trends?

  3. Never thought I’d ever say this but I thought this one was ridiculously easy and not really worthy of The G.

  4. I enjoyed this, admittedly partly because it’s the first time I’ve managed to compete a non-Monday cryptic in the Guardian. I can see that those looking for a challenge may have been disappointed, but it did the trick for me!

  5. Thanks to Pan and PeterO. At my first look I thought the setter was Paul and then could not believe how quickly the puzzle was unraveling. My only problem arose from the two terms new to me, CHOP AND CHANGE and HARD LINES. Last in was VIGNETTE where I needed all the crossers. Easy but fun.

  6. Congratulations to Pan on making the step up from the Quiptic slot. As others have said this was very straightforward for a midweek puzzle, so fine for new and inexperienced solvers and a bit more entertaining than Chifonie (who seems the most obvious setter to compare it to). Let’s hope that Pan can produce something a little more challenging and follow Nutmeg’s footsteps – she is now one of the Guardian’s best…

    Thanks to Pan and PeterO

  7. rishi @2 – I agree with you. The clue doesn’t quite work.

    Never heard of PINATA -how about the rest of you?

    Apart from that, I agree this was pretty easy.

    Thanks to the two Ps.

  8. Thank you for the gentle blog, PeterO, and welcome, Pan.

    Enjoyed looking up CRACKER BARREL and PINATA was new to me and sounded like a hell of a lot of fun at a kid’s party!

    If I may be so presumptuous as to proffer a word of advice to our newcomer, he/she might consider better ways to conceal the definition within the clue. I just single out the GLASNOST clue at 16d as a case in point. All you needed was a G for the anagram construction you selected, but using Gorbachov reveals the answer far to simply.

    Another might be the blatantly telegraphed ESCHEWED at 25a. Rather to easy to spot the way the clue works.

    Just suggestions, you understand, please do not be deterred by anything negative you may read here, many compilers would blush at some of their earlier forays!

    Nice week, all.

  9. Rishi @2 I’m inclined to agree with you re 2d, there’s a lack of precision here I think. Some would argue that the answer jumps out at one so readily that it doesn’t matter, and they have a point. Personally, I enjoy the precision which some setters deploy and would rather clues worked in the way you have described.

  10. cholecyst @7 I came across the piñata in mexico. Kids are blindfolded and given a stick to bash a stuffed animal or other toy until it bursts open to deliver little gifts and sweets from within. It’s a riot!

  11. Thanks, Peter.

    I’ve enjoyed Pan’s puzzles in the Quiptic slot, so nice to see him/her in the main cryptic. I know what you mean about ‘graduating’, Peter, but as we’ve said on many previous occasions, it’s more difficult to compile an ‘easy’ puzzle than a difficult one.

    Was this too easy? We’ll have Enigmatist tomorrow. A good variety of setting styles and levels of difficulty is one thing I like about the Grauniad puzzles.

    And speaking of the Grauniad, in 3dn, Felixtowe is actually Felixstowe.

    Thanks to Pan – look forward to the next one, either here or in the Quiptic.

  12. I definitely found this at the easier end of the spectrum but good fun nonetheless. I know CRACKER-BARREL as a variety of cheese and wasn’t aware of the derivation of the name. Liked PINATA, a staple of many an American comedy over the years, as ‘sweet container’ and was grateful for the dreaded ‘plant’ clue being not too difficult.

    Thanks and welcome to Pan, and to PeterO.

  13. Always good to see a new setter but this first offering did not get my heart racing – but then again, up and down the land new or less confident solvers are saying “Wow! I finished!!” (cf matrixmania @4). PINATA I didn’t know, and with SCRAPPED (timing a tad unfortunate in the light of what happened yesterday in Normandy) formed my last in.

    Maybe the way of looking at things in 2d should be a hyphenated NAKED-EYE.

  14. Certainly straightforward and not much of a challenge, but a pleasant enough 20 minute romp. Could be my record!

  15. I don’t follow the Quiptic very closely, but do any of you know who Pan is? There are no clues in the who’s who the setters link takes you to

  17. Thanks Pan & PeterO.

    Pleasing puzzle where no word searches required although I didn’t know PIÑATA or CRACKER-BARREL.

    No idea about who Pan is although there is ‘The Pan Crossword Dictionary’ by Mike Grimshaw; maybe nothing to do with the Pan here?

  19. Good to see you over here, Pan, thank you for an enjoyable solve, and thank you PeterO for the blog.

    That sense of CRACKER BARREL was new to me, but I knew PINATA in its form of a bag of sweets hung up in the air. HARD LINES is an expression I have not heard since schooldays 60 years ago.

  20. I think it is elsewhere that someone has raised a query about how, in 22d, ‘toilets’ can give the singular LOO (as SE is from ‘Home Counties”).
    The dictionaries that I looked up don’t seem to support it. Any local usage that I am missing?
    PS: I am wondering if the ‘s’ lost in ‘Felixtowe’ has found a place in ‘toilets’.

  21. Nice and straightforward, thank you to Pan and Peter O

    The clue that made me smile most was 11a as I drove past several Kentish fields this morning where the farmer had made use extremely liberally of vast amounts of chicken manure.

  22. beery@15-I have a feeling it may be a gal and if so may she/he follow Nutmeg’s progress(she has turned into a great setter)
    But I was a bit disappointed that this didnt meet the cryptic Wednesday criterion.Maybe it was a recycled Quiptic.

  24. Thanks both,

    A pleasant enough lunchtime diversion.

    Rishi @20, a loo can contain several toilets. Asking for directions one could say, ‘Where is the gentlemen’s loo’ or ‘where are the gentlemen’s toilets’. I, personally, wouldn’t say, ‘Where are the gentlemen’s loos’. So, ‘loo’ = ‘toilets’ is fine with me.

  25. Rather patchy, I thought. I didn’t care much for ROUGE. Surely “route” would be the debaucher rather than the debauchee? Although,I suppose one who debauches has probably been debauched themselves. Is that the reasoning? I didn’t like GLADIATORIAL much either but I take the bloggers point.
    Perhaps I’m being over critical. I expect Enigmatist will sort me out tomorrow!
    Thanks Pan.

  26. A breath of fresh air after some of yesterday’s rather tortured clues. Nice to have something you can rattle off without having to remember the setters’ individual quirks

  27. Thanks Pan and PeterO
    Yes, a bit Quiptic, though I too didn’t know PINATA. I agree with rishi that 22d seems to clue LOOSSE rather than LOOSE. However (unusually) I will disagree with William @8 and say that I thought GLASNOST was the best clue here!

  29. I agree that this was at the easier end of the spectrum, but that’s OK with me. I’m a relatively inexperienced solver, and when I can complete a puzzle and parse all the clues, it’s a pleasant change.

    I didn’t know the expressions “hard lines” or “chop and change”. I’m an American, so perhaps that’s why.

    In the US, the word “frappe”, meaning “milkshake”, is a regionalism: it was common in Massachusetts when I was growing up there but I believe that it’s unknown in the rest of the country. Is it common in the UK?

    We pronounce it as one syllable and write it without the accent on the e. I’ve had a blended iced coffee drink of the same name in Greece, where it’s bisyllabic.

  30. As usual, those of us of lesser genius all suffering from ‘breezy stroll’ syndrome today.

    Thanks, Post & Packaging!

  31. cookie@19: A piñata is more than just a bag. It’s a deliberately loosely-constructed reinforced paper container, usually in the shape of some animal and brightly-coloured. At children’s birthday parties in Mexico, the piñata is hung up about two metres above ground. The birthday child is blindfolded and given a stick with which to clout the piñata and thus bring on a deluge of confectionery. As an additional hazard, an adult may make the game harder by swinging the piñata to avoid the stick.

  32. Not much to add except that this obviously wasn’t really enough of a challenge for the cryptic slot.

    I’m getting bored with increase in the number of posts on here which appear to be apologies for the setter.

    KD @11

    … it’s more difficult to compile an ‘easy’ puzzle than a difficult one.

    This is patently untrue. I am sure there are hundreds of experienced setters and even solvers who could rattle off puzzles of this ilk at a fairly rapid rate.

    P.S. I’m impressed that you’re ITK! 😉 Although you have spoiled my early morning ritual of finding out which setter will provide my evening “entertainment”.

  33. How wonderful to have a new setter – hope for all aspiring setters. Thank you Pan.

    I was happy to complete this and found it enjoyable

    Thanks PeterO for parsing of HARD LINES, I got stuck thinking hard=inflexible

    You can buy PINATAs in Tesco’s around Xmas – my kids think they’re great.

    Very best wishes Pan and looking forward to your next puzzle

  34. Yes, this was fairly easy, but I still enjoyed it. As K’s D said @11, the variety of puzzles here is part of the pleasure.

    Thanks, Pan and PeterO.

  35. BNTO@32

    So apparently it’s not from personal experience that you think easier crosswords are easier to write.

    I agree with Kathryn’s Dad – there will be some people who are exceptions no doubt, but I think in general it does take discipline to refrain from making clues unnecessarily difficult – certainly so in my own modest efforts. To get the right balance of difficulty-level and fairness is a talent I admire.

  36. El Ingles @31, yes, I know the pinata is usually made of paper that can be broken quite easily, I only posted because William @10 did not indicate that the bag or “animal” was suspended; it was usually a bag when I lived in Jamaica.

    Thanks again, Pan, looking forward to the next one…

  38. He didn’t. He was just suggesting something that would be the opposite of this Pan. Something for the few rather than the many or something to really get your teeth into, depending on your view as to what a good crossword should be. The spectrum of Guardian setters is like a strangely inverted sandwich – bread in the middle, with Marmite spread on both sides.

  39. Thanks to Pan for the crossword and Peter O for the blog. As a relative newcomer to cryptic crosswords, I enjoyed this one and wasn’t disappointed that it was mostly straightforward. Just goes to show that you can’t please all of the people all of the time

  40. dutch @35 – well said! I get a little impatient with expert solvers who feel that the occasional easy crossword has no place in the schedule – we all had to start somewhere. I’d prefer the editorial policy to be more consistent in terms of when we should expect the easier ones to appear, but there has to be a succession plan for what happens on Mondays, since we can’t expect Rufus to go on for ever and he has legions of fans who never attempt the more difficult puzzles. Certain people seem to think they have a monopoly on good taste and the right to speak for everyone.

  41. Just for the record, everything I say is purely my own opinion. I am certainly entitled to this and nothing I have ever said is intended to “speak for everyone”.

    I personally don’t really care what anyone thinks about my comments and I’m sure this feeling is reciprocated by everyone else in respect to my posts.

    This is a messageboard after all and the fact that each entry is a personal contribution is clearly indicated in the first line of each entry by the ““Joe Bloggs says:” rubric.

  42. Some of us haven’t got time to spend all day on a crossword so I’m grateful for this and hope to see more of Pan.

    Thanks to Peter [O and] Pan

  43. Thanks PeterO and Pan, and welcome Pan.

    I had a little difficulty with plurals here.

    I originally put ANTIPASTI at 6dn – A + anagram of TIN + PAST (old) + I (Italian) before 17ac forced me to get it the way it was intended.

    But there remains an issue at 23dn where the clue has “toilets” which should be singular, I think, to make the clue work.

    At 18dn, surely a Rapper is not a singer – isn’t that the point?

    These are minor quibbles to show I’m paying attention.

    This was a nice and enjoyable maiden and I look forward to seeing more from Pan in the future.

  44. I’m trying to work up to the Cryptic from Quiptic so know and enjoy Pan and didn’t find it too easy. Although I know “Pinata” from games at my kids’ school it didn’t jump out at me. I’d never heard of “cracker barrel”, didn’t know “frappe” could be used for a milkshake and as I’d found “loos” for toilets I couldn’t find how to justify the final “e”

  45. Thanks Pan and PeterO

    Enjoyable solve for me with enough ‘difficult’ words to keep it interesting – HELLEBORE (which I hadn’t heard of before), PINATA (which I had to re-acquaint myself with) and the CRACKER-BARREL (US term – I’m also only familiar with the type of cheese).

    Always like seeing a new setter in the stable and hope that this one continues the excellent standard of puzzle that are published by the Guardian.

    Finished in the NE corner with CHASTENED, SCRAPPED and PINATA the last few in – not quite sure what made the first couple of those wait till near the end.

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