Guardian 27,099 – Bonxie

by

I made a slow start on this, but after a while had filled the bottom half. The top half took rather longer…

For my taste there are rather too many inaccurate or ungrammatical indications (such as First Lady for L, middlemen for E), and some other niggles which I’ve noted below, with a bad ambiguity at 11a. Thanks to Bonxie.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Across
1. ADJUST Circular spot on square (6)
AD (advertistment, circular) + JUST (spot on)
4. SPITES Provokes party leader to stop plots (6)
P[arty] in SITES. I’m not sure that spite = provoke
9. BARK Bay with a sailing ship (4)
Double definition – the “bay” is a dog’s bark
10. FAMILY TREE A relatively complex document (6,4)
Cryptic definition
11. CENSER Examiner reported to be a smoker (6)
Homophone of “censor”. This could just as well work the other way round, and the crossing letters don’t help
12. ESCALATE Rocket, key one, behind time (8)
ESC[ape] (key) + A (one) + LATE
13. REPLENISH Assistant admits guilt, returns make up (9)
SIN in HELPER, all reversed
15. HAAR Fret about soldier’s surprised expression (4)
Reverse of RA + AH – I learned this word for a sea-mist or fret from my Scottish stepfather
16. BIFF Lie back, following strike (4)
Reverse of FIB + F[ollowing]
17. KNOWLEDGE Daughter in week-long struggle to get information (9)
D in (WEEKLONG)*
21. HEDONIST The Don is too much of a libertine (8)
(THE DON IS)* – “too much” as an anagram indicator? Ignore that – I saw when solving that it’s hidden in tHE DON IS Too, but forgot when writing up
22. SCRUBS Makes clean clothes for the theatre (6)
Double definition – scrubs are clothes worn by surgeons etc; the name presumably comes from “scrubbing up”, which makes this rather a weak DD
24. ADVENTURER Mercenary‘s arrival more certain, lacking capital (10)
ADVENT (arrival) + [S]URER
25. ARIA Librarian stifles vocal outburst (4)
Hidden in librARIAn
26. HASLET First Lady hates cooking meat loaf (6)
Anagram of L[ady] + HATES
27. CLIMBS Scales initially costing an arm and a leg? (6)
C[osting] + LIMBS
Down
1. ACADEME Scientists here made flexible card envelopes (7)
MADE* in ACE – often seen in the phrase “groves of Academe”, which I learn comes originally from Horace: silvas Academi
2. JAKES Boy’s toilet (5)
Double definition – old (Chambers says Shakepearian) slang for a toilet
3. SAFFRON Second slight reduction in expensive flavouring (7)
S + AFFRON[T]
5. POLICY Approach bar, wanting last bitter (6)
POL[E] (bar) + ICY – “approach” as in “My policy/approach is to…”
6. TITILLATE Shake it a little to create excitement (9)
(IT A LITTLE)*
7. SHELTER Put up security (7)
Double definition – put up as in accommodate, but again the two meanings are very close
8. IMPERSONATORS They take others off ropes in a storm at sea (13)
(ROPES IN A STORM)*
14. LEFTOVERS Balls follows Labour Party (remains thereof) (9)
LEFT (Labour) + OVERS (balls in cricket), with the surface referring to former MP Ed Balls
16. BREADTH French stick the majority on range (7)
BREAD (French stick – a definition-by-example) + TH[E]
18. WASTREL Left water spraying across sunlounger (7)
S[un] in (L WATER)*
19. GUBBINS Catch spy hanging up a device (7)
SNIB (a catch on e.g. a lock) + BUG (spy), all reversed
20. TIPTOE Advice given to middlemen — move quietly (6)
TIP (advice) + TO + E (middle letter of mEn)
23. REARM Raise millions to provide new tanks, say (5)
REAR + M

47 comments on “Guardian 27,099 – Bonxie”

  1. 21a. The letters HEDONIST appear consecutively in the clue, hence “much” as the indicator. A very tough puzzle and thanks to Andrew for help with parsing many which escaped me.

  2. Thanks Bonxie and Andrew

    Odd one for me. When I was about half done I was thinking “what an enjoyable crossword”, with favourites being BREADTH and TIPTOE (I did like “middlemen” for E). However finishing was less enjoyable. I agree about 11a – checking showed that O had actually entered the “wrong” spelling. I didn’t know “snib” (round here the term “sneck” is used). I wouldn’t primarily associate ACADEME with scientists – arts much more, especially in “groves of academe”.

    I had parsed BARK as B for bay with ARK, but I wasn’t happy with it; yours is much better, Andrew.

    Favourite in my second half was TITILLATE. It reminds me of the joke “How do you titllate an ocelot?” (The punchline will have to wait until much later!)

  4. Enjoyed this for the most part. Had to look up jakes, snib and haar, although gettable from the cluing. I think hedonist is a hidden word, which makes it a better clue, but I agree that some were a little questionable.Thanks to Bonxie for the challenge, and to Andrew for the corroboration.

  6. Thank you Andrew – couldn’t have finished this without you! I agree with your niggles. Thought that 21ac was simply an envelope but, having read the blog, now have doubts about it.

    Did enjoy some of the clues, though, so thanks to Bonxie.

  7. I failed to solve HAAR, and needed help to parse 5d, 19d.

    My favourites were LEFTOVERS, ESCALATE, TIPTOE

    New words for me were GUBBINS, HASLET, JAKES.

    Thanks Andrew and Bonxie.

  8. I found this a bit tough. NW corner held me up. I agree with the niggles, especially spite for provoke. Thanks Andrew for parsing help, and Bonxie for … some enjoyable moments.

  9. I enjoyed this. Bonxie was very clear with his/her clueing which helped somewhat to mitigate the unfamiliar words. The one exception is that I agree that CENSER could have been censOr but, even here, the way the clue is written made it seem more likely to me that smoker was the definition.

    I didn’t, however, complete the puzzle – failing on HAAR. I knew I was looking for a reversal of a soldier and an expression but I failed because (a) I didn’t know HAAR and (b) I failed to pick up on the fret=seamist definition. I kicked myself when I revealed the answer because I recall we’ve seen this meaning of fret quite recently in another Guardian cryptic.

    Thanks to Andrew and Bonxie.

  11. I don’t get what the problem is with middlemen or First Lady. I liked both indications. I enjoyed this if a few niggles. Does escalate mean rocket? Seem quite different to me. Escalate has pace to it. Something that rockets whooshes away. Thanks to Bonxie and Andrew

  12. I’m another who has to admit defeat this morning. I’m annoyed to have ‘mist’ the solution to 15a: I know HAAR and, as matrixmania @9 points out, we had ‘sea fret’ only the other day. The NW corner was particularly difficult and I bailed out with CENSER, ACADEME and REPLENISH unsolved so it was a poor showing by self today.

    Did anyone else suspect a pangram? I think we’re short of the usual three – Q, X and Z – but, at one point, I started looking at my unsolved clues to see if there was room for the Q and only gave up the hunt near the end. I began to wonder quite early on when JAKES and FAMILY TREE, my first ones in, threw up J,K,F and M.

    I’m sure 21a is an envelope/lurker and the anagram a coincidence. I can’t believe the word is spelled out by coincidence and ‘too much’ would be a poor anagram indicator. I parsed as scouserjohn@1.

    Plenty to like, though, with several favourites already mentioned: ESCALATE, TITILLATE, TIPTOE, LEFTOVERS and BREADTH. I also thought FAMILY TREE and KNOWLEDGE were excellent but give clue of the day to the very smooth IMPERSONATORS.

    Many thanks to Bonxie for stretching my mind this morning and to Andrew for putting it back into place.

  13. Thanks Bonxie and Andrew.

    I ground this one out eventually, so not particularly enjoyable although there were a few good clues.

    I can’t see why the setter would want to use HAAR when hair would have been available. Presumably, he just liked ‘fret.’ I don’t think many people would use the word ACADEME any more; the modern version is academia, and muffin @2, this is the same place that scientists and ‘artists’ go to! Collins gives JAKES as archaic, so maybe ‘old boy’s toilet’ could have been used.

    I enjoyed TIPTOE and LEFTOVERS.

  14. 2D. If Chambers attributes the coinage of Jakes to Shakespeare they are wrong: it was in common usage in Tudor times. The etymology is unknown. When, as a schoolboy I studied As You Like It, we knew that he punned it with Jacques (which was pronounced the same). We joked that the English with their love of the French coined the word similarly to French letter.

  15. Thank you Bonxie and Andrew.

    I enjoyed this puzzle, but mostly because of the controversies it has raised. I entered CENSOR at 11a, but had no problem with SPITE = provoke, the COED gives v.tr. thwart, mortify, annoy (does it to spite me).

    For me HAAR, HASLET and SNIB were new words, whereas JAKES is current slang and GUBBINS means a foolish person, both archaic usages apparently (as one of my sons kindly pointed out, I past the three-quarter century mark the other day).

  17. I’m glad some of you enjoyed this – I didn’t. I completed the bottom half with only a few doubts and niggles (with BREADTH, HEDONIST and SCRUBS), but when I thought of possible answers in the top half and found they were right (SPITES, FAMILY TREE and CENSOR), I decided to call it a day. I didn’t get as far as solving (or attempting) ACADEME, JAKES or SHELTER.

    I looked back to see if I had ever tried a Bonxie puzzle before. In fact I tackled one last September, and I noted at the time that I enjoyed it. I hope another one comes along more like that one.

    Thanks Andrew.

  19. Found this very tough, and I have to admit I used the check button a few times. REPLENISH was last in. All quite enjoyable…

    Thanks to Bonxie and Andrew

  20. Thanks to Bonxie and Andrew. I too had a slow start but did manage to finish. New to me were HASLET, GUBBINS, and HAAR (but, as already pointed out, the recent appearance of FRET made the latter more accessible). As to JAKES, Jaques, and As You Like It, the clown Touchstone addresses Jaques as “good Master What-ye-call-it” but elsewhere in the play the name seems to be two syllables.

  21. 12ac ESCALATE means to increase in steps, like a staircase or ladder, so ‘rocket’ can surely not be right as a definition.

  22. @20. I didn’t want to push it too far because in these EU days it seemed such a delicious joke.

    As the Arden editor says “it is pronounced in the English way on one occasion when it is mentioned at Act 1 Scene 1” referring to the brother. She also writes “When he gave it a French accentuation, appropriate to the play, Shakespeare avoided an otherwise irresistible quibble. Touchstone does not resist it.”

  23. I found this tough going and had to resort to guesswork rather too often. I was really annoyed to have struggled so much over HAAR, given that FRET= sea mist has appeared recently in both the cryptic and quick crosswords. I liked POLICY and GUBBINS but some of the others were a bit clunky as others have pointed out.
    Not the most enjoyable puzzle I’ve done!
    Thanks Bonxie.

  24. I found this very hard and completed only half of it. But here’s a thought. Words that people find obscure are just the ones they’ve never come across. I don’t think I’d ever encountered”haar” or “snib” before, but I have now! And yet I’m sure that they’re familiar to some.It’s part of the pleasure of cruciverbalism (there’s another one for some) to learn new words. By the way, which of you good people has heard of the word “slobberchops” for a messy eater? Bill Bryson said it was a lovely word but now defunct. Not in my family, it isn’t. I enjoy this site very much. Thanks to everyone who contributes to it.

  25. Elaine @ 24

    Your point about obscurity is very well made. As at the graun crossword gathering in Brighton yesterday evening, where ‘obscure’ was defined, by Hugh I think, as “a word I don’t know”. SNIB was certainly familiar to me from NW England usage, and yesterday’s RENMINBI was also in the memory banks, though I had to check which way round the M & first N went.

    Slobberchops isn’t unknown either, though I can’t recall when I last heard it before today.

    Horses for courses and all that, eh?

  26. Like several others, I found this tough. However, after three sessions I’d managed all except ADJUST, BARK, CENSER and JAKES – too much was missing to make further headway. CENSER and JAKES were unknown to me.

    Thanks to Bonxie for the mental workout and to Andrew for the blog.

  33. @ baerchen
    I like First Aid = A.
    Middlesex = E doesn’t sit quite as well, somehow, but I can’t put my finger on quite why. I think I would probably accept it. I can see that anyone who doesn’t like First Lady = L won’t like any of these examples either, though.

  35. @muffin
    but then First footer=f First class=c First rate=r zzzzzzzzzz I’m even boring myself.
    As a novice setter, it suits me to have a blank canvas but the poor solver needs a few basic rules, shurely?
    (ps I laughed when I first heard it, in about 1964)

  36. baerchen @35

    Why not? First meaning “first letter” is fair enough, I think. However First Aid and First Lady seem to be even more clear-cut, as the letter referred to is usually written in upper case.

    Even though your MIDSHIPMAN = P was tongue-in-cheek, I thought that it was great, and I look forward to seeing it used!

  39. Baerchen @28, “midshipman” for P is fine for me, but I have not made my mind up about the definition “lounger” (sunlounger) at 18d in this puzzle.

  40. (Elaine @24, I don’t think you need worry about “slobberchops”, my family, and many of our acquaintances, often call their their dogs this from time to time.)

  42. @ baerchen, midsection = t is also fine for me, the thing is that these words are quite long, which makes the clue long, which makes one suspicious…

  44. baerchen, midnight here soon too, I will get worried if a setter starts to use, for example, the “drag” in “dragoman” as an anagram indicator to get “moan”…

  45. Cookie @39
    It’s interesting you should mention the ‘sunlounger’ clue (18d WASTREL). I found a lot not to like in this crossword, but I really liked this clue – it’s a neat trick, and a great surface.
    I’ve been following the debate started by ‘middlemen’, and I’m generally ok with this sort of device. It seems fair enough to me, although I wouldn’t like to see it overdone.

    muffin @34
    Thanks for satisfying my curiosity. it was new to me – as always, I’m afraid.

  46. Alan B @45, I did like the clue for WASTREL, but was not certain that it was fair having to split the definition off ‘sunlounger’, not the first time this has happened, and I am getting wise to the trick, so will probably change my mind…

  47. Goodness this one was tough – started on Friday night with a beer – what a mistake! Completed maybe two thirds but had to revisit this morning – I usually try to finish them without recourse to the Chambers iPhone app which provides a search facility for patterns of letters and an anagram solver – this morning I used everything I could short of revealing the answers – and it was still a struggle! Did manage to finish it in the end – FOI KNOWLEDGE and LOI CENSER (well I put CENSOR – both are solutions to the clue IMHO). I have no issue with First Lady and middlemen – I recognised that they could (and probably did) refer to L and E. I think I was actually familiar with all the words this time. I was impressed with the way Bonxie made use of non-obvious synonyms for words – I think it was a brilliantly compiled crossword – but I’m not sure that I particularly enjoyed the experience….

Comments are closed.