Guardian 27,078 – Vlad

by

Phew! A tough challenge from Vlad this morning, despite a few easy clues to get me started (including a couple of old chestnuts at 5a and 8d). I had quite a lot of trouble parsing a few of these, but I think I got there in the end. Thanks to Vlad.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Across
1. REASSESS Think again about Welshman lagging behind on bend (8)
I nearly had to give up on parsing this, but it’s obvious (-ish) when you see it: ASS (behind) in (“lagging”) REES (Welshman) + S (bend)
5. RANCID Foul what detective chief superintendent did (6)
He RAN the C.I.D.
9. BRING OFF Stop calling on British — that’s to do with success (5,3)
B + RING OFF
10. POETIC A lot of credit goes to a writer showing imagination (6)
[Edgar Allan] POE + TIC[K] (credit)
12. TONTO Cowboy’s mate a friend of Dorothy — point taken (5)
N[orth] in TOTO (Dorothy’s dog in ‘The Wizard of Oz’), giving the companion of the Lone Ranger (who wasn’t strictly speaking a cowboy…)
13. CHAPERONE Fellow, bird … nothing to stop them? She might have done (9)
O in CHAP + ERNE
14. MISALLIANCES Getting frisky with 2 — claims such relationships are unsuitable (12)
(ALIENS CLAIMS)*
18,24. THE BANK OF MUM AND DAD Issue payments from here (3,4,2,3,3,3)
Cryptic definition – where parents help out their issue (i.e. children) financially
21. MORATORIA Speaker’s rejected point about suspensions (9)
ORATOR in reverse of AIM (point)
23. EVENT Happening twice in 1770 (5)
It occurs twice in sEVENTeen-sEVENTy
25. SUPERMAN Crime-fighter flying to each country in turn, initially (8)
US (country) reversed + PER MAN (to each)
26. EXPAND Grow old (gran finally going into home) (6)
EX (old) + [gra]N in PAD
27. MENTORED Advised not to go swimming in lake, deep at one end (8)
NOT* in MERE + D[eep]
Down
1. RUBATO “Run about looking lively!” is instruction to players (6)
R + ABOUT* – Italian term referring to music that is not played in strict tempo. The literal meaning is “robbed”, meaning that time is “stolen” from one part of the music and restored elsewhere
2. ALIENS Life on other planets? One’s right to start off sceptical (6)
A + LIEN + S[ceptical]
3. SIGNORINA Miss cue on air — sorry! (9)
SIGN (cue) + (ON AIR)*
4. SAFE-CRACKERS They’re sure out of their minds, these criminals (4-8)
SAFE (sure) + CRACKERS (insane)
6. ALONE Unique all-rounder regularly missed (5)
Alternate letters of AlL-rOuNdEr
7. CUT NO ICE Showing off count’s diamonds failed to impress (3,2,3)
COUNT* + ICE (diamonds)
8. DECREASE Press reduction (8)
Double definition – to press or iron something is to de-crease it
11. CALL OF NATURE Need to go to France, you said? Maybe everyone requires accommodation (4,2,6)
ALL in (TO FRANCE U)*
15. AMUSEMENT Recreation ground — men’s team hosting United (9)
U in (MEN’S TEAM)*
16. STEMWARE Stop fighting egghead in glasses! (8)
STEM WAR + E[gg]
17. GEARED UP Ready? Most are told to hurry out (6,2)
Most [of] AR[E] in GEED UP
19. SEAMER Bowler‘s craft timeless (6)
STEAMER less T
20. STONED High area of mountainside not safe for climbing (6)
Hidden in reverse of mountainsiDE NOT Safe
22. TRAIN School evicting privileged lady from land (5)
TERRAIN less E.R.

38 comments on “Guardian 27,078 – Vlad”

  1. Thanks Vlad and Andrew

    Very entertaining, with THE BANK OF MUM AND DAD and CALL OF NATURE particular favourites. The only downside was the preponderance of “guess the answer, then try to parse” clues – POETIC (lots of writers to choose from), MENTORED, GEARED UP and TRAIN for example. In addition there were the “guess the answer, then fail to parse” ones – MORATORIA and SUPERMAN.

  2. [I meant to add that I was intrigued by the origin of the expression “cut no ice”. Google gives several conflicting ideas, the most convincing possibly being a reference to blunt ice-skates. Does anyone have a definitive answer?]

  3. Very tough, verging on too tough for me, though the frustrations were worth it in the end when it all came out. Some great clues once parsed and appreciated including the almost hidden anagram for CALL OF NATURE, STEMWARE (which I can’t recall having come across for ‘glasses’ before) and the excellent BANK OF MUM AND DAD – didn’t know the term – which was my COD.

    Thanks to Vlad and Andrew

  4. Thanks for a great blog, Andrew – and especially the parsing of SUPERMAN.

    Some lovely clues, as always from Vlad: lagging behind, to do with success, point taken, issue payments, grow old, miss cue, 11dn and 20dn.

    And I often say that some clues, like RANCID and DECREASE deserve a return now and then for the benefit of newer solvers.

    Many thanks, Vlad – it was tough but most enjoyable.

  5. Than you Vlad and Andrew.

    A super crossword, the clue for THE BANK OF MUM AND DAD would have stumped me if I had not remembered it from a while back…

    muffin @2, CUT NO ICE refers to failing to cut pieces of ice off a large block, the term predates refrigeration, for instance people had ice houses to store ice in over the warm seasons – and even today some bartenders prefer to cut ice off a block rather than use ice cubes.

  6. [Thanks Cookie
    Hits I found on Google mention that, but tend to discount it. Second favourite seems to be “ice” in the metaphorical sense – overcoming the “frost” of a meeting etc.]

  8. [muffin @2 & @6, skates do not cut ice, it is the film of water present on the surface of ice even at very low temperatures that causes slipping, and this is augmented by pressure melting and frictional melting caused by the skater’s weight and speed. As for the metaphorical sense, the idiom dates from the late 1800s. This post from Wordwizard is interesting.]

  9. [Hi Cookie
    I found the Patrick O’Brien one through Google – it was dismissed as pure fiction, intended as a joke!

    Have you ever seen the regelation demonstration, where a copper wire with weights on the ends “cuts through” a block of ice while leaving it intact? As ice is less dense than water, the pressure turns it into water ahead of it (as does an ice-skate); the water refreezes after the wire has passed through.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8t2WxP0PEt4
    ]

  10. [Hi muffin, yes, I know the Patrick O’Brian ref mentioned in Jim Light’s post is a joke, but the post by Ken Greenwald is interesting, and yes, I have seen blocks of ice being “cut through” by wire but remaining intact!]

  11. Since when did the English (as opposed to American) word “ass” mean “behind”. It’s “ARSE” here, isn’t it?
    Incidentally, if you are English (as opposed to American), and think, like Vlad, that “ass” means “behind”, how do you pronounce it? The same way as when you use it to refer to a donkey? Or the American way?

  12. As Eileen says, tough but most enjoyable. I particularly liked the Bank of Mum and Dad. Thanks to Vlad and Andrew

    Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (which I’ve been using to find out ‘why’ interesting things are what they are, long before Google etc was invented), says that cut no ice means ‘to be of no account, make no impression, possibly borrowed from figure skating’

  13. [Leo @11
    This limerick must be American, then!:

    There was a young girl of Madras,
    Who had a most marvellous ass,
    Not rounded and pink,
    As you might well think,
    But grey*, with long ears, and ate grass.

    *yes, should be “gray” if it’s American, but I couldn’t bring myself to type it]

  14. Thanks to Vlad and Andrew. Tough going for me with terms I have not met before (SEAMER, BANK OF MOM AND DAD) and items I could not parse (REASSESS, EVENT, GEARED UP). A challenge but enjoyable.

  15. Gosh – I almost feel I’m interrupting a conversation between Cookie and muffin today. Very amusing and I love the limerick.

    A real challenge today from Vlad – though the first Guardian crossword I attempted a couple of months ago was a Vlad and I only got two answers. Today I scrambled to the end eventually, only using electronic assistance to check meanings of RUBATO and STEMWARE and to verify that Dorothy’s dog was Toto. That said, I definitely needed Andrew’s help to understand why some of my answers were right (as per muffin @1). REASSESS, SUPERMAN, CALL OF NATURE and TRAIN all fell into that category. Even STONED solved – having spotted the sneaky definition, but with no idea there was a reverse lurker!

    Hard work but very enjoyable. THE BANK OF MUM AND DAD is my predictable favourite but, even though I didn’t correctly parse, CALL OF NATURE and STONED both get mentioned in despatches for their brilliantly hidden definitions.

    Thanks to Vlad and Andrew

  16. Just in case there are others that in the boat… I’ve been doing the Guardian crossword on and off, more on the last few years, for about four decades. I couldn’t get on Vlad’s wavelength today; have to admit often don’t. I enjoyed going through Andrews blog after I’d given up but I’m going to have to persist with Vlad or add him to the Rufus column of compilers I can’t crack.

  18. I found this on the easy side for Vlad with whose puzzles I usually struggle. It probably helped that some of the answers jumped off the page- THE BANK OF MUM AND DAD,CUT NO ICE, CALL OF NATURE and SAFE CRACKER- so I was off to a flying start. I did struggle with a couple especially MENTORED which was my LOI but all in all this was very enjoyable.
    Thanks Vlad.

  19. After breezing through Qaos yesterday, today my match was met (mostly while stuck in an M25 traffic jam). Several clues ‘solved’ with no idea what was going on, including REASSESS, SUPERMAN, CALL OF NATURE. A cheat led to CHAPERONE, which at least made retrospective sense (shouldn’t have tried to stuff in a RAVEN), but finally failed on MENTORED. One to put down to experience.

  20. Total blank at first until SAFE CRACKER popped up and from then on steady progress with solutions, lengthening list of parsing queries and defeat by MENTORED and STONED. Many thanks to Vlad and Andrew

  22. I found this a well constructed crossword but not too hard and brought some light relief following on from Masquerade’s Christmas offering, particularly, as my knowledge of the theme fades after the 70’s.

  24. Could you explain how to access the Indie crossword online, please, Eileen? The method I used to use stppoed working.

    I do the Guardian on a printout, but only so the rest of the family can read the paper.

  25. I am speaking up as one who didn’t make it – four clues only solved today. Even with revealing the answers on line, I still couldn’t understand a myriad of them. So, not enjoyable in the least.

    Thanks Andrew.

  26. muffin @24
    I’m not Eileen but I can explain how to access the Indy puzzles. Just click on ‘Independent’ under ‘Today’s Cryptics’ on the 15² home page (left-hand sidebar).

  31. I’m usually on Vlad’s wavelength but not today. It didn’t help that some of his clues were rather more contrived than usual, and although I was on the right lines for most of the answers in the bottom half of the grid I had to come gracefully to a stop.

    Most solvers will have got 18a (THE BANK OF MUM AND DAD), but unfortunately I’ve never heard that expression, so even getting the right sense of ‘issue’ didn’t get me there. Likewise, I’ve never heard of STEMWARE and therefore failed to get that as well despite seeing how it must be constructed.

    If I’d had references to hand I think I would have made good progress, but I’m resorting to aids less and less now as a way of enjoying the chellenges of these puzzles more, but with this one I didn’t get away with that approach!

    I particularly liked 13a CHAPERONE, 3d SIGNORINA and 4d SAFE-CRACKERS.

    Thanks to Vlad and Andrew.

  32. muffin @27
    “My adblocker (which I have no intention of disabling) seems to stop it working.”

    Just ignore the message regarding the adblocker and be patient. Cookie @29 says the ad lasts 30 seconds whilst the puzzle loads but I have measured it as one minute (it seems a lot longer!) but the puzzle does eventually appear.

  33. Gaufrid @32 and muffin @27, the ads now have a 30 sec count down at the top left hand corner – before they could take longer, but one was given a 5 sec option to skip the ad.

  34. Cookie @33
    I don’t wish to prolong this off-topic discussion but I timed the delay just before I posted my comment. From clicking on today’s puzzle and receiving the ‘adblocker’ message to the puzzle options page appearing was 59 seconds. (Note, I do not use an adblocker but I do have Tracking Protection enabled in IE11 which has a similar effect, though this could, I suppose, affect the length of the delay.)

  38. Couldn’t agree more with Xjpotter @16. Cant be donkeyed with persisting with this compiler. Too many over-convoluted parsings.

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