Guardian 26,958 – Imogen

by

Setters continue to be inspired by the UK political situation…

…specifically in this case mostly by Theresa May, and other meanings of her surname. I found this quite hard, with some tricky clueing (though I think 1ac is rather weak), a few obscure words and lots of proper nouns, all of which might cause problems for solvers. Thanks to Imogen.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Across
1. ENGLAND CAPTAIN May’s former position as the country’s leader (7,7)
Referring to the cricketer Peter May, who was captain of England from 1955 to 1961. I suppose this is a double definition, but it hardly qualifies in my opinion
9. DOODLEBUG Scribble leads to error in flyer — that’s dangerous (9)
DOODLE (scribble) + BUG (error) – nickname for the V1 flying bomb used by the Germans in WW2
10. MUFTI A figure of authority in plain clothes (5)
Double definition – “an expounder of Muslim law” and “plain clothes” , though the second meaning apparently derives from the first
11. RIGEL One of the stars in the state, begin to work (5)
RI (Rhode Island) + GEL (begin to work)
12. ROSINANTE Nag raved endlessly: nothing wrong in that (9)
O SIN in RANTE[D]. Rosinante (spelled Rocinante in the original) is Don Quixote’s horse, or by extension any worn-out nag
13. THATCHER May’s predecessor, the well-known revolutionary meeting resistance (8)
THAT (the well-known) + CHE + R. Theresa May’s predecessor, most specifically as a female PM
14. SPLASH In window frame place prominent slogan (6)
PL in SASH
17. TERESA May’s not hard: a saint? (6)
THERESA less H
19. HAWTHORN What’s wrong with a sort of “Right Hon” for May? (8)
WHAT* + (R HON)*
22. SUPERNOVA Marvellous exact opposite of May, perhaps — a bright star (9)
SUPER (marvellous) + NOV (6 months after May) + A
24. GRAVE Serious start on galvanising party (5)
G + RAVE
25. ADULT Blue and put in lead, ultimately (5)
Hidden in leAD ULTimately – as in “blue/adult film”
26. ESSENTIAL Critical of lateness, I blow up (9)
(LATENESS I)*
27. DEAN AND CHAPTER Assuming power, remarkably ardent, can head Westminster team (4,3,7)
P in (ARDENT CAN HEAD)* – the governing body of Westminster Abbey, rather than anything to do with the Palace of Westminster
Down
1. ELDER STATESMAN Bush, say (American chap) — and now Cameron? (5,9)
ELDER (bush, say) + STATES MAN (American chap)
2. GEORGIA On fast track up, Osborne finally failed the country (7)
GEORG[E] + reverse of A1 (road)
3. ALL BLACKS 15 seconds to get simple cocktail dress on? (3,6)
ALL BLACK (cocktail dress – “little black number”) + S[econds], with just “15” (Rugby team) as definition
4. DEBARRED Prevented plot arising: fought, while heading off (8)
Reverse of BED (plot) + [W]ARRED
5. AUGUST Impressive eventual successor to May (6)
Double definition – August “eventually” succeeds May
6. TIMON Athenian turmoil is May’s opportunity — new leaders wanted (5)
First letters of Turmoil Is May’s Opportunity New, and referring to Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens
7. INFANTA High-status woman elected, taking fizzy drink (7)
IN (elected) + FANTA (fizzy orange drink(
8. VICE-CHANCELLOR Failing opportunity, turn up to get university position (4-10)
VICE (failing) + CHANCE (opportunity) + reverse of ROLL
15. PATAGONIA Southern Region has a name for plunging in dagger? No way (9)
A TAG in PONIARD (a dagger, I find) less RD
16. BANAUSIC Veto our side employing a bitch, regularly vulgar (8)
A in (“employed by”) BAN (veto) + US (our side), + A [b]I[t]C[h]. A new word for me, from the Greek for an artisan
18. RAPTURE Put in new position in unexpected delight (7)
PUT* in RARE (unexpected)
20. ON A DIET Working with a parliament, making cuts (2,1,4)
ON (working) + A DIET (parliament)
21. GOVERN What May must do with naval leadership rival? (6)
Her (unsuccessful) rival, if in the navy, would be [Michael] GOVE RN
23. RAT ON Betray first sign of ruthlessness, a heavyweight (3,2)
R[uthlessness] + A TON

54 comments on “Guardian 26,958 – Imogen”

  1. Thanks for the great blog Andrew! I too found this quite hard and I needed your help to parse 3 down (the answer was clear from the crossers and I got the “15” bit but somehow the “little black number” escaped me!). However I thought the puzzle was entirely fair and very enjoyable – many thanks to Imogen!

    One minor point: I took 1 across as a (slightly) cryptic (rather than a double) definition. I take your point but, if you think of it that way, then perhaps it’s perhaps a little more convincing?

  2. In-depth knowledge of the current UK political scene not required thank goodness. I liked the various uses of ‘May’ (including the Peter variety in 1a) and the mis-direction of other clues such as 27. BANAUSIC was also new for me – I wasn’t sure if the ‘Veto’ was ‘ban’, ‘bar’ or ‘can’ and ended up guessing the wrong one. My two favourites were the non-theme clues DOODLEBUG (def is ‘flyer – that’s dangerous’ by the way) and ROSINANTE.

    Thanks to Imogen and Andrew.

  3. Yep, thumbs up from me too. Very satisfying as virtually none were write-ins (for me) so I had to put some thought into each one.

    Thanks to Imogen and Andrew.

  4. Thanks Imogen and Andrew. Quite a few of these were a bit tricky for me so I stumbled after a week of doing well and being pretty pleased with myself! I didn’t enjoy it greatly. I couldn’t parse 3d or 15d and I’m not too sure about gel as begin to work in 11a – but maybe this is a usage well known to others?

  6. Thanks for the blog which I needed to understand several clues. A clever puzzle- thank you Imogen -yet for me not enough humour to encourage me to work through the unknown words. Probably sour grapes as I had to use ´reveal’, but not my fave today.

  7. Oh dear…

    Really appreciated the blog as I was absolutely flummoxed by the puzzle.

    Just could not get on the UK-themed wavelength.

    That’s okay – I continue to learn!

    Thanks to setter, blogger and commentators. The overall story was of interest, despite my failure in getting any more than a few of the component parts.

    But as the wise Alan Browne said to me when we so fortunately met up on his recent visit to Australia, I am now hooked on cryptics, so no doubt I will keep on trying!

  8. Oh dear from me too… Peter May was an OPENING BATSMAN also. It fitted both letter count and wordplay so I pounced! I then developed severe contusions of the scalp until the dawned.

  9. Julie in Oz @7 This was tough for UK-based solvers so goodness knows how folks like yourself could be expected to cope. You sound like a fighter, though, and I hope it doesn’t deter you.

    I have to say I enjoyed this but must confess to a fair amount of checking – ROSINANTE, MUFTI (2nd meaning), PATAGONIA, (poniard), BANAUSIC, SPLASH, to name a few.

    This was a toughie for sure but, unlike some crosswords where the derivations seem so contrived that one loses confidence and gives up, I thought the quality of Imogen’s clueing was good enough to keep me believing that I might ‘get there’.

    Too many fine clues to single any out, and generally loved the different uses of ‘May’.

    Many thanks for the blog, Andrew.

    Nice week, all.

  10. Rick@5: Thank you but I’m still not quite convinced, sorry. I get gel (verb) = set and ‘it just gelled” = I just understood something, but I can’t put ‘gel’ in a sentence where it means ‘begin to work’. I may well be having a slow day, as I did struggle with a few of today’s solutions.

  11. Rather missing Brian in this one. I had seconds as BACKS -it gave me the answer but couldnt fit the letters of ALLL arounf=d it.

  12. Thank you Imogen and Andrew.

    Quite hard going and I had to parse several after “guessing” the answer; for 16d I searched in the dictionary, having BANA-, and found BANAUSIC, a new word for me, apparently derogatory.

  13. Gillian@10

    It’s often used in football to describe, say, a strike partnership that’s starting to work well together – eg “Biggins and Stein are really starting to gel”

  14. Gillian @10, Google gives gel 2, verb,

    (of a project or idea) take a definite form or begin to work well.
    “everything seemed to gel for the magazine”
    “they got the team they wanted and things started to gel”

    (of people) work well together.
    “during the tour they continued to gel as a band”

  16. Thanks, Andrew and Imogen.

    A clever puzzle, which I found quite hard going but very satisfying to solve.

    I smiled at CHE being clued as ‘the well-known revolutionary’ – that’s what we bloggers often call him! – but THATCHER? Lovely clue!

    Other favourites were ROSINANTE and HAWTHORN and the misdirection in 27ac.

  17. Thanks Andrew and Imogen for a tough test.

    I quite liked ALL BLACKS although 15 as a definition is pretty vague. I agree with Rick @1 that 1A reads better as a cd than a dd.

    Thanks Andrew for the parsing of PATAGONIA, which escaped me.

  18. Thanks Andrew but I am with Aussie Julie on this one. The combination of a UK-centric theme and obscurities (for me) did me in. I was never going to guess DEAN AND CHAPTER as just one example. Oh well, there was always the reveal button when I got bank from lunch with a half-completed puzzle and another offering tomorrow.

  19. bingybing@13 and cookie@14: thanks very much, I think I’ve got it now! By the way, is anyone else having trouble posting? I noticed a couple of mentions of ‘trouble with 225’ among the comments on the Guardian site. I keep getting strange messages about the connection being lost and then I’m told I’ve posted twice, so it’s taken as long to post something as it did to finish the puzzle!

  21. A tough one, and not entirely satisfying for me. I did get all the solutions, but a few were ‘guess and parse’ and I had to look online for the definition of the unfamiliar BANAUSIC to be sure “ban” wasn’t the equally plausible “bar”.

    I don’t like 1a – a cricketer from 45 years ago? Really? I did vaguely remember the name but anyone younger than me and with as little interest in that sport wouldn’t stand much chance of getting that reference. 17a (TERESA) is a weak clue, as is 3d (ALL BLACKS). I also don’t much like “in new position” as an anagram indicator for 18d. If anything, it should be “in new positions”, as two letters were reversed.

    Having said all that, there were some very enjoyable clues too so thanks, Imogen (and, of course, Andrew).

  22. Gillian @19
    Due to problems on the hosting company’s servers, the site was down from about 7am to 9:45 (BST). However, since its return everything should be working normally (whatever normal is!). I had no problems posting a comment a short while ago and no one else has mentioned any difficulty. If you continue to get an error message, email me at admin{at}fifteensquared{dot}net and I will investigate further (a screenshot or copy of the error message would be useful).

  23. I didn’t find this quite as tricky as some did, and very much enjoyed the May plays.

    My struggle was with BANAUSIC. Like most, this wasn’t a word I knew, so I was playing around with BANA or BARA starts and a SIC finish. What could possibly go wrong? Well, BARASSIC didn’t make sense, so it was just a case of guess a letter. ‘Our side’ = US completely passed me by.

    paulwaver @8, Peter May is in the furthest reaches of my cricketing memories, but I think he came in at number 3 or 4. Happy to be corrected though.

  24. bingybing @ 13 and Cookie @ 14: I’m as unconvinced as Gillian @ 10, despite one of the definitions given by Google. Your examples all confirm to me that ‘to gel’ means (in this sense) ‘to work (together)’. If it meant ‘to begin to work’ it would be tautological to say ‘begin to gel’.
    Given that RIGEL is hardly a familiar word (to me at least), I think this is at the very least unfair cluing.
    No complaints at all about the rest of the crossword though. Tough but enjoyable and fair.

  25. With the more subdued voices on this one. Is the A1 really the fast track when there is the M1? Clue could have read slow road just as plausibly. Thanks Imogen and Andrew for excellent blog.

  26. Enjoyed this – but had to use a bit of guess and check to finish – last in and least familiar was BANAUSIC. Liked the varied use of the theme, and the whole thing was plasingly challenging.

    Thanks to Imogen and Andrew

  27. Thanks both.

    A very enjoyable puzzle. I was OK with 1ac, taking the cryptic part to be a charade of England (the country) and Captain (leader).

    I was less happy with 14ac. A ‘window frame’ is the bit in which the sashes move. A sash is a frame, but it is not a ‘window frame’.

  29. Thanks Imogen and Andrew

    Never one of my favourite setters, and I don’t like puzzles with lots of words in the clues repeated, even if they do have different meanings, although HAWTHORN was one of my favourites, in fact; the other was ROSINANTE.

    Is it now Guardian policy to allow product placement (FANTA)? – product placement came up in one of yesterday’s too.

    BANAUSIC was new to me, and, although I had heard of PONIARD (a thin dagger for penetrating chain mail, I think), its usage in the clue for PATAGONIA was a bit unfair, I thought.

  30. [When I started watching England cricket, the first four batsmen were always Pullar, Subba Row, Cowdrey and then May.]

  31. Most enjoyable and,while not easy,more approachable than I usually find this setter to be. BANAUSIC and ROSINANTE were new to me and I couldn’t parse RIGEL-on consideration, I think the GEL part is Ok- and now I could kick myself! I liked VICE CHANCELLOR and DOODLEBUG and was quite pleased with myself for getting ENGLAND CAPTAIN.
    Thanks Imogen.

  32. muffin: Do you remember this from Much Ado?
    “She speaks poniards, and every word stabs. If her breath were as terrible as her terminations, there were no living near her; she would infect to the north star. ” (Benedick)

    An enjoyable puzzle, even if I didn’t know BANAUSIC(not in my spell-checker, I notice).

    And muffin – thanks for reminding me about Subba Row!

    Thanks Imogen and Andrew

  33. Thanks to Imogen and Andrew. Like others I had to guess at BANAUSIC and needed Google to get ENGLAND CAPTAIN. I needed help parsing DEAN AND CHAPTER and ALL BLACKS. Still, I much enjoyed this puzzle.

  34. Thanks both. Agree that May was a middle-order batsman
    Anyone using the A1 in the rush hour might dispute the term “fast track”

  35. “Banausic” was one of Stephen Fry’s favourite show-off words – his newspaper articles and reviews were littered with it.

  37. Struggled all afternoon. I thought it might have been the distraction of the radio commentary on the women’s cricket, but thankfully I see from the above that it wasn’t that!

  38. Marguerite @ 36: as has been commented on here before, Imogen is (surprisingly) in fact a chap. I don’t know why he chose that particular name.

    I enjoyed this. The different uses of “May” were very clever. “Banausic” was my last one in. It was one of those occasions where you work it out, think that there can’t possibly be such a word but look in the dictionary on the off-chance, and there it is.

  39. I enjoyed this, and as cookie and cholecyst above suggest, I don’t think the setter is exactly hiding his feelings about the new PM. The vocabulary used in the cluing is almost entirely negative. Bitch, nag, plunging in knife, betray, new leaders wanted etc.

  40. Hi cholecyst @32

    “She speaks poniards, and every word stabs. If her breath were as terrible as her terminations, there were no living near her; she would infect to the north star.”

    Yes, of course: that’s how I knew it – A Level English again! And I saw the wonderful Iqbal Khan 2012 production at Stratford, with Meera Sayal.

    Many thanks for that – it was bothering me. 😉

    Education

    About Us

    Iqbal Khan 2012 production

  41. Re my last comment: apologies for the last three lines – inadvertent copying from the Stratford website.

  42. Very enjoyable. No problem with the star or the captain.

    I put BAR for the beginning of 16dn -as the solution to 16dn is an unusual word, I would have preferred an anagram or a different clue which avoided the BAR/BAN dilemma.

  43. Tyngewick@27:
    I think ‘sash’=’window’ here, and ‘frame’ is part of the enclosure indicator.
    I thought I’d been foxed by this puzzle, but a break brought a better atunement. BANAUSIC new to me too. Thanks to setter and blogger.

  44. Thank you for the blog – I found this very hard and had to reveal about 10 of the clues.

    I’m at a stage where I’m becoming comfortable on Quiptic and Rufus and am looking to improve, but I was undone on a couple of fronts – first some clever clueing, and second some obscure words or requiring British knowledge. But then again, I did fail on ALL BLACKS, much to this kiwi’s mortification!

  46. Thanks Imogen and Andrew for the challenging puzzle and excellent blog.

    Muffin @45: veto = BAN; our side = US gives BANUS; employing a (a goes inside) BANAUS; bitch regularly = IC gives BANAUSIC.

  47. muffin @45
    I think it hinges on how “employing” is interpreted. (BAN + US) are doing the “employing”, which I think is intended to mean that the extra A needs to go between them rather than after them both.

  48. muffin @ 45

    I read it as “BAN US” employing = ‘making use of’ as a containment indicator for A.

    Any traction?

  49. muffin@45 – well, of course it could be either…but this is a CROSSword and only one alternative fits!! That’s part of the beauty. But then I know you know this – I think you’re just being muffin…… naughty muffin! 🙂
    Great crossword, as ever from Imogen (BTW I don’t think it wrong to refer to him as ‘she’ – he chose the monicker after all!).
    So nice to have a daily that you know will be a bit of a challenge. It allows me that same feeling of achievement I used to have when I completed a cryptic (far more rarely than nowadays) as a boy!
    I too had to check ‘banausic’ but as I considered there to be but two options – and so close together in an alphabetical Chambers (the only type I have!) – no complaints there.
    Thanks for the entertainment, Imogen. And to Andrew for his kind work.

  51. Thanks all. I think BANUSAIC is the more obvious product, but I accept that BANAUSIC can also be derived from the clue.

  52. I’m back to the Guardian after my long break in Australia (thanks for the mention, Julie @7), and I’m pleased to have finished this crossword after some puzzlement at some of the clueing. I’m very much with William @9 and jennyk @21 as far as my overall experience of this puzzle goes.

    I would just point out that ‘predecessor’ doesn’t necessarily mean immediate predecessor (see 13A), and nor does ‘successor’ necessarily mean immediate successor (see 5D). In 5D ‘eventual’ is meaningless.

    Thanks Imogen and Andrew.

  53. Thanks Imogen and Andrew.

    Tough! Took a long time to get going and quite a while to finish too.

    BANAUSIC was new to me but clearly clued. 15dn had to be PATAGONIA but I had no idea why and seeing the blog I could not have parsed it ever since I have not heard of a PONIARD (and neither has the spell-check on my phone).

    More work than play for me.

  54. Thanks Imogen and Andrew

    Found this tough going but enjoyed it a lot, notwithstanding the ‘local knowledge’ required. In fact, after doing these crosswords for the last 6-7 years, I probably know more about British politics, literature and geography (especially Scottish islands) than I do of Australia :-o.

    Had no issues with any structure of the clues and was able to battle my way to getting them all out eventually. Needed help parsing PATAGONIA though.

    Was another to confidently write in CRICKET CAPTAIN at 1a and had to unravel after getting GEORGIA.

    ELDER STATESMAN, ADULT and RAPTURE were my last few in.

Comments are closed.