Guardian Cryptic 27,026 by Picaroon

by

Some truly excellent clues here – a good majority of them were on my “shortlist” for favourites, but I’ll single out 9ac, 11ac, 13ac and 6dn. Thanks, Picaroon.

Across
1 COSTAR South American, but not Picaroon, can get a top billing (2-4)
COSTA R[ICAN]=”South American”, but minus I CAN=”but not Picaroon, can”
4 ICE CREAM Dish that is best to eat cold (3,5)
I.E.=”that is”, plus CREAM=”best” part of something, all around C[old]
9 TRICK Jiffy bags right for device (5)
TICK=short moment=”Jiffy”, around R[ight]
10 MENDACITY Carry out urban repairs with crooked quality (9)
MEND A CITY=”Carry out urban repairs”
11 CATHEDRAL Dancing act heard close to Torvill and Dean’s workplace (9)
(act heard)*, plus the close to [Torvil]L
12 LOCKE Philosopher that you can’t get in to, mostly (5)
LOCKE[d]=”that you can’t get in to, mostly”
13 MICROSURGERY Unclad Greek character to rush lines in small-scale theatre work (12)
definition refers to a surgical theatre. [o]MICRO[n]=”Unclad Greek character”, plus SURGE=”rush”, plus R[ailwa]Y=”lines”
17 PERSUASIVELY Convincingly repulsive, say, after makeover (12)
(repulsive, say)*
20 LOTUS American pursues good deal for sports car (5)
US=”American”, after LOT=a “good deal” of something
21 EPILOGIST Report is entered in record — it shows who has the last word (9)
the author/speaker of an epilogue. LOG=”Report”, plus IS, both entered into EP=music “record” plus IT
23 GROSGRAIN King George I dons sarong that’s shot silk (9)
G[eorge] R[ex]=”King George”, plus I inside (sarong)*
24 OILER Worker taking time off in vessel (5)
=a ship driven by or carrying oil. [t]OILER=”worker”, taking T[ime] off
25 TOGETHER Like an item obtained returning three rocks (8)
GOT=”obtained”, reversed/”returning”; plus (three)*
26 ODESSA Port amassed? Oenophile spun bottles (6)
Hidden, reversed in “[am]ASSED? O[enophile]”. An oenophile is an wine connoisseur.
Down
1 CATACOMB Animal on a hunt through tunnel (8)
CAT=”Animal”, plus A, plus COMB=”hunt through”
2 SCIATICA Special US agency receiving a jerk’s complaint (8)
S[pecial], plus CIA=”US agency” around A plus TIC=”jerk”
3 ANKLE Joint leader of Republicans dismissed in anger (5)
the leader of R[epublicans] dismissed from [R]ANKLE=”anger”
5 CONFLAGRATION Firefighter stops two prisoners helping (13)
F for “fighter” plane, in between CON and LAG=two words for prisoner; plus RATION=”helping”
6 CHARLEROI Burn Louis XIV, maybe, in Belgian city (9)
CHAR=”Burn”, plus LE ROI=French for “the king”=>”Louis XIV, maybe”
7 EVINCE Show sinner not quite welcomed by Anglican community (6)
EV[e]=”sinner not quite”, plus IN=”welcomed”, by C[hurch of] E[ngland]=”Anglican community”
8 MAYHEM Part of year with border chaos (6)
MAY=”Part of year”, plus HEM=”border”
10 MARQUIS DE SADE Dadaism’s queer founders presenting a controversial writer (7,2,4)
(Dadaism’s queer)* – the anagrind is “founder” in the sense of e.g. a building collapsing into ruin
14 OVERSIGHT Moan open dresses will show boob (9)
boob=mistake. SIGH=”Moan”, dressed in OVERT=”open”
15 PERICLES Greek statesman, caught in danger, gets tips from Eurocrats (8)
C[aught], the cricket abbreviation, inside PERIL=”danger”; plus the tips of E[urocrat]S
16 HYSTERIA Turmoil in Syria, the state having lost control (8)
=a state of having lost control. (Syria the)*
18 SLIGHT Small and delicate (6)
double definition
19 STRONG Heading for Sandown, crowd wants horse to leave stable (6)
the heading letter of S[andown], plus T[h]RONG=”crowd” wanting for a h[orse]; which leaves STRONG=”stable”
22 OVOID Poet pens nothing elliptical (5)
OVID=”Poet”, around O=”nothing”

51 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 27,026 by Picaroon”

  2. Thanks, manehi. A very pleasant solve. GROSGRAIN was new to me but very fairly clued.

    I thought there was a bit more to SLIGHT: S(mall) + LIGHT &lit. as well as your double definition.

  3. Fantastic crossword – 11 & 13 were outstanding clues. There seems to be one factual error, however. I think that Costa Ricans are North Americans, not South Americans.

  4. Costa Rica is generally regarded as being in Central America. But Wikipedia says Central America is the “isthmian portion of the North American continent”. So technically stuartr at #3 is right. And “isthmian” is a word that looks 100% ready for appearing in a crossword one day.

    BTW a good question about that isthmian part of the world is “a ship is going from the Pacific to the Atlantic through the Panama canal. What direction is it going?” The answer is north-west, which is surprising to say the least.

  5. Brilliant crossword. I especially liked the lift and separate definition for CONFLAGRATION. I also liked CO-STAR and didn’t notice it had the wrong continent. Thanks to manehi and Picaroon.

  6. Thanks for a great blog, manehi.

    Like you, I had too long a list of favourites to name them all but, since you’ve listed half of them, I’ll take the opportunity to add 23ac – a wonderful picture! – and 5, 10 and 15dn.

    Lovely surfaces, throughout, as ever. Many thanks, Picaroon, for another super puzzle.

  7. Hardest this week for me. GROSGRAIN a new word. How could one not love MENDACITY!

    Thanks Picaroon and manehi.

  8. It’s always a pleasure when Picaroon’s name comes up. Like others I had lots of favourites, including OVERSIGHT and the brilliant MICROSURGERY. Couldn’t get EPILOGIST, despite much staring at all the crossers. Many thanks to Picaroon and manehi.

  9. Thanks to Picaroon and manehi. I still don’t see why in 25ac “Together” is “like an item”, though the very fair clueing meant I was able to fill it in correctly.
    Can anyone help, please?

  11. I found this challenging but rewarding to solve.

    Have to add a couple of my favourites to add to others’ – and I liked many of the ones already cited. CATACOMB 1d and MAYHEM 8d were on my list too.

    Thanks to Picaroon and manehi.

  14. I think Latin or Central America would have been ok for Costa Rica.

    North America might be “technically” correct in the isthmian sense (as Paul says at 4 above) – but would have been a bit of a stretch.

    (South America just ain’t right)

  15. Robi@12
    Thank you so much. It’s so long since I was an item for anyone, I’d forgotten the usage!
    Cheers

  17. Quite an easy solve with only GROSGRAIN being unfamiliar. Especially like Dr
    CHARLEROI!
    Thanks Picaroon.

  18. Thank you Picaroon and manehi.

    Great fun, especially the American mix-up: if American = US, as in 20a, then Latin America is south of it, South American. Picaroon has done something similar before in 26,608

    How South American promotes growth in Nicaraguan oil (5)

    So many good clues, but that for CHARLEROI was my favourite.

  19. Thanks to manehi for, as ever, an impeccable blog.

    I’m sorry about the error in 1 across. I hope it didn’t cause too much furrowing of brows and gnashing of teeth.

    Best wishes to everyone,

    Picaroon.

  20. A fine puzzle, a little easier than some of Picaroon’s. It did strike me that there are quite a lot of proper nouns. GROSGRAIN was unfamiliar but easy enough to guess and look up.

    Thanks to Picaroon and manehi

  21. Apart from the error in 1ac this was surely about as good as it gets. I loved it all. Thanks so much Picaroon, and to Manehi.

  22. Thanks Picaroon and manehi

    I raised an eyebrow at ICE CREAM, reading it as just a sub-Rufusian cryptic (?) definition – I should have known better with Picaroon!

    Lots to like. I agree it was a bit easier than usual. MENDACITY was my favourite too, with OVOID second.

  23. I agree that this was very good. 10a and 11a were great.

    It didn’t take me much longer than yesterday’s Pan, about which we had lots of moans about it being too easy. I thought both were enjoyable and well set.

  24. This was a great crossword. Apart from 7d EVINCE, in which I wasn’t convinced by either ‘sinner’ (EVE) or ‘welcomed’ (IN), and 18d SLIGHT, which remained tentative until all three crossers were there, I thought the clues were outstandingly good.

    What I enjoyed very much, as I usually find with this setter, was being able to rely on the quality of the clueing, so that if my first stab at a clue’s construction didn’t yield anything I could try another and be sure (eventually) of finding the answer. On browsing quickly down this page I think my many favourites correspond pretty closely with those of previous commenters.

    I’m grateful to Picaroon for coming here to tell us about the wrong indication in 1a CO-STAR.

    Many thanks to Picaroon, and to manehi for an excellent blog.

  25. Thanks to Picaroon and manehi. I had trouble parsing EVINCE, puzzled over the F = fighter in CONFLAGRATION, and paused over CO-STAR owing to the Central vs. South America question. GROSGRAIN was new to me as was EPILOGIST (I deal a lot with epilogues but have never come across the -ist term). As usual, I much enjoyed a contribution from this setter.

  26. Thanks, manehi and Picaroon.

    A very nice solve apart from the two boobs; not just an 14d then?

    I was delayed by running through the list of SA countries in 1a

    The other is 22d, OVOID, on two counts. OVOID is 3d while ellipse is 2d; and an ellipse is not an oval. Yes, I know, someone is going to give the dictionary references to contradict me.

  27. Full of good things, HYSTERIA probably the best, but I wonder how many bunged in ICE CREAM as a cd without seeing what else was going on? Well, me for one. Let’s hope it gave many solvers a quick way in.

    Just reading through the blog, I couldn’t help but notice that ilippu @1 knew nothing of MARQUIS DE SADE before alerted by Picaroon. Naughty Picaroon!

  29. re 4ac – cf 1dn in Tuesday’s Punk [Paul] Indy puzzle:
    Confection best to keep cold (4,3) – both great clues!

  30. Eileen @29
    Lovely clue. I can’t put my finger on exactly why – maybe because it is less likely to be confused with a cd – but I prefer it to Picaroon’s.

  31. Eileen @29 — where is the ie in Paul’s clue?

    Is there a piece of cruciverbal jargon for a pair of words that go together that are split between the definition and the cryptics, or between two pieces of the cryptic part of the clue? We have two here — “shot silk” where “shot” is the anagram signal and silk is the definition, and the beautiful “Torvill and Dean” in my favorite clue of today. Wonderful surface to that one.

  35. Eileen @29
    Same as muffin – what a great clue. Thanks for pointing it out (I don’t get time to enjoy these setters’ other offerings elsewhere).

  36. Oh, now I see. We don’t say CHOC ICE over here in the US, so that was a Britishism I didn’t think of, though of course I’ve come across it.

  38. I’m not sure what they are. We certainly have chocolate ice cream, which probably isn’t what you meant. If they’re chocolate-flavored ice lollies, we call them popsicles, chocolate or otherwise. Beyond that, you’ll have to educate me.

  39. Hi Valentine
    Our choc ices are basically a brick of ice cream coated in chocolate – fun to eat to start with, but messy to fin ish!

  40. We definitely have those, and they are tasty and they run down your arm. I’d forgotten about them, and I had to google to be reminded of what we call them (I seem to be losing my native language). Apparently we call them ice cream bars. The very best ones are Dove Bars, which are coated in a superior sort of dark chocolate, cost a bit more and are heavenly. They sell them in our local theater, where you can buy one during the intermission. (I’m talking plays, not movies.) Doesn’t fit the image of playgoing, somehow, but it keeps me happy.

  42. One of my most enjoyable solves in quite a while. CATHEDRAL was splendid, with a lovely bit of misdirection.

    I have a slight quibble with CHARLEROI since the ROI in the city name comes from the French word for king (it was originally Charles-Roi) which made the wordplay feel unsatisfying. But that’s a tiny quibble!

    Thanks to Picaroon and Manehi.

  43. [Hi valentine again
    Ours aren’t on a stck – there are “chocolate lollies” on a stick, but they aren’t as good (IMHO!)]

  44. Hi, Muffin —

    Perhaps your chocolate lollies are our fudgesicles — no ice cream inside, just chocolate-flavored ice. Not bad, but not nearly as good as ice cream bars/choc ices. Popsicles, I’m remembering, are fruit-flavored, grape or orange or the like. Fudgesicles are the chocolate ones and there were or are something called dreamsicles that I don’t know what they are.

    Aren’t linguistics wonderful?

  45. A very enjoyable puzzle. I failed to fully parse EVINCE because I didn’t think to split EVIN, so I was looking for a longer word related to “sinner” which contained that letter sequence. CHARLEROI was new to me but the wordplay was clear. My one (minor) quibble is with OILER. Since one meaning of that is a worker whose job is to oil machinery, the inclusion of “worker” in the clue itself as part of the wordplay seems to me to be less than ideal.

    Thanks, Picaroon and manehi.

  46. We finished this! In around 27 hours! So excited and pleased (and I only got the paper on the plane back from Geneva so didn’t start until 1800 on Thursday).
    However, I don’t suppose that anyone will read this now as we are so late doing the crossword.
    Thanks Picaroon – some of us need puzzles we can solve! And then we’ll move back to the backlog – our previous attempt was the puzzle from 23rd March so you can see how behind we are…..

    Really liked Charleroi ( though if Beery Hiker reads this, I’d be interested to know how often that’s come up).

  47. I’ve often made posts I was sure nobody would read, so =\let me assure you (odd punctuation courtesy of Zoe the cat jumping across the keyboard and as usual not quite clearing it) that I was checking in to see if anybody had any more to say about ice lollies, and am impressed with your crosswording schedule. I work backwards from when I started doing these on line, whenever that was, when I want an extra puzzle to divert myself, and am back to September of 2008.

  48. Congratulations, Wombles!

    Another here who still checks in to older posts sometimes to see if anything has been added. I also am gradually working backwards from when I came back to doing the Guardian cryptics regularly almost 2 years ago.

  49. JennyK and Valentine – I think you’ve highlighted our problem! We are working forward (so are 6 months behind) and me doing the crossword “on the day” was a break with tradition. Perhaps we need to adopt your approach – and save. The old crosswords for holidays.

  50. Wombles, one advantage of doing the current puzzle and leaving catching up to do when you have extra spare time is that you can ask questions about anything which is still puzzling you even after reading the blog. That speeds up the learning process. It’s also nice to be able to join in the general puzzle-related discussion sometimes.

  51. Far too late I’m sure. I’m about 3 weeks behind everyone else. Anyhow: when I sold ice cream at Wimbledon tennis back in the 1970s, we used to shout out “Eskimo pies” when approaching Americans, which I was told was the correct translation for the humble choc-ice across the pond. (almost certainly not pc these days). Just for the record.

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