Guardian 27,138 – Brummie

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I started off rather slowly with this, but speeded up as things fell into place. There were a couple of rather obscure words, but all clearly clued.

There’s a theme of cinema genres, from a FILM STUDIO – ROMANCE, SCIENCE FICTION, CRIME, HORROR, WESTERN, NORDIC NOIR, SURREAL. Thanks to Brummie.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Across
1. ROMANCE In part from ancestral court (7)
Hidden fROM ANCEstral
5. FICTION Lie about providing effervescent tonic (7)
Reverse of IF (‘providing’) + TONIC*
9. BARRISTER Advocate of trade holding back title (9)
Reverse of SIR (title) in BARTER (trade)
10. CRIME Focus of Detective Frost? (5)
Middle letter (‘focus’) of [dete]C[tive] + RIME (frost), &lit, with reference to the fictional and TV character Inspector Frost
11. TALE Porky‘s tip on the radio (4)
Homophone of ‘tail’ (tip) – porky = pork pie = lie (rhyming sang)
12. RECTRICIAL R-rendition of Celtic air (Like a Long Tail Feather) (10)
R + (CELTIC AIR)* – from ‘rectrix’, a bir’s tail feather. My LOI, guessed from what seemed the most plausible arrangement of the anagram
14. HORROR Revulsion of empty hangar filled with gold, ornate ring tops (6)
OR in H[anga]R, + first letters of Ornate Ring
15. RATTLED Conductor wants date put off (7)
[Sir Simon] RATTLE + D[ate]
16. WESTERN Use a needle to wind back bird film? (7)
Reverse of SEW + TERN
18. NORDIC Notch almost circling rod, used in a certain style of walking (6)
ROD* in NIC[k]
20. FILM STUDIO Universal misfit with loud mobile? (4,6)
(MISFIT LOUD)* – this is a definition-by-example, so really needs a ‘maybe’ or something; the question mark might qualify, but it’s a bit far from the ‘definition’
21. UGLI “Broadcast not fair!”: sweet, wrinkly thing (4)
Homophone of ‘ugly’ (which is actually the source of the name of the fruit)
24. LOGIA Gallery not good for Christ’s sayings (5)
LOGGIA less G – another unfamiliar word, meaning sayings generally, especially those of Jesus. I’m not keen on the use of ‘not good’ to mean removing one of the two Gs
25. ILLUSIONS Fancies cultivated US soil in Louisiana’s capital (9)
Anagram of US SOIL IN L[ouisiana]
26. SURREAL United, king and queen stamp about — bizarre (7)
U + R + R in SEAL
27. SCIENCE Moral sense against lost discipline (7)
CONSCIENCE less CON (against)
Down
1. ROBOT Android‘s radical with boron implant? (5)
B in ROOT
2. MORELLO Look after extra large fruit (7)
MORE (extra) + L + LO
3. NOIR Rather bleak form of iron (4)
IRON* – as in film noir etc
4. ENTREPRENEURIAL Go-getting internee, Pearl, tearing around the city (15)
UR (ancient city) in (INTERNEE PEARL)*
5. FIRST PRINCIPLES Basics of brewing Pilsner (cf spirit) (5,10)
(PILSNER CF SPIRIT)*
6. CACCIATORE Account on agency model in essence is prepared Italian-style (10)
AC + CIA + [model] T in CORE
7. INITIAL “First in Latin, almost”, I swaggered (7)
Anagram of IN LATI[n] I
8. NEEDLED Wound up like a compass? (7)
Double definition
13. CRUEL SHAME Appeared to gobble, er, lush spread — such a pity! (5,5)
(ER LUSH)* in CAME (appeared)
16. WAFFLES Pads out batter cakes (7)
Double definition
17. ST LEGER Last leg, erecting housing for three-year-old event (2,5)
Hidden in laST LEG ERecting – the St Leger is a race for three-year-olds (horses, that is..)
19. INGROWN Might describe toenail wax with local protection (7)
GROW (to wax) in INN (pub, local)
22. ISSUE Baby problem? (5)
Double definition
23. ASCI Like the Channel Islands, having cells for spores (4)
AS C.I. Asci are fungal cells containing spores

40 comments on “Guardian 27,138 – Brummie”

  1. A busy day for my trusty old dictionary – I had to look up RECTRICIAL, LOGIA, CACCIATORE and ASCI, having “got” them from the clues.

    Thanks, Brummie (and Andrew).

  2. Thanks Brummie and Andrew

    Disappointing from Brummie, I thought. The use of the theme is clever, but there are some pretty nonsensical surfaces (14a, 25a and 13d, for example). 12a is very clumsy, and also a word I needed electronic help for. (I had to look up LOGIA too, though this was easier to get.) “Swaggered” in 7d is an odd anagram indicator. Clumsy too to have “needle” in 16a and NEEDLED as the solution to 8d.

    CACCIATORE actually means “hunters’ style”, but it is in Italian, so I suppose it’s OK.

    I did like FICTION and SCIENCE.

  3. I also started slowly, and missed the theme of course. Favourites were WESTERN, FILM STUDIO, SURREAL and UGLI. Many thanks to Brummie and Andrew.

  4. Regarding themes: I keep on missing them because I’m not looking for them! But occasionally they are so obvious that even I can’t miss them.

  5. drofle @4
    I miss themes because I tend to solve clues in isolation; once I’ve written in a solution, I forget about it and go on to the next one. SCIENCE FICTION (my two favourite clues, as I said @2) leapt out at me today, though, so I found the others.

  6. Having breezed through the NW and got the long anagrams, I thought it was going to be easy. Not so.
    Anyone else get TECTRICIAL? Same meaning, funnily enough. Had I bothered to check the letters…

    Thanks to Brummie and Andrew.

  7. Thanks, Brummie and Andrew. Applause for the theme, of course, and some nice clues e.g. CRIME. But I’m with Muffin @2 about the surfaces. It can’t be easy to combine sound wordplay with a witty or even meaningful surface, but far too many were nonsense, and several (14, 18, 25, 1d, 6) were pure drivel. And as for ‘R-rendition of Celtic air (Like a Long Tail Feather)’ – pur-lease! We deserve better than that, surely.

  9. Thanks, both.

    I needed the blog to see how CRIME worked. Didn’t really see why focus is the centre of anything but I can see the allusion.

    Is an UGLI fruit wrinkly? Don’t think so. Hairy and a little rough perhaps but if Brummie’s are wrinkly, I suggest he eat them sooner.

    As others have commented, the more obscure words were fairly clued.

    My main problem was with some of the surfaces. Muffin has listed them but I’ll just single out “Revulsion of empty hangar filled with gold ornate ring tops”. Wot?

    Missed the theme entirely (usually do) which is a shame as it’s a nice one.

    INGROWN & TOENAIL received ticks.

    Many thanks, Brummie, nice week all.

  10. Thanks Brummie and Andrew.

    Good theme with a couple of difficult words to check (I knew asci from working with fungi.)

    I liked Detective Frost and the FILM STUDIO.

  12. Thanks to Brummie and Andrew.

    I must admit that did not really enjoy this puzzle. Can’t really identify why.

    Despite this, I thought the theme was clever.

    I didn’t get 12a RECTRICIAL, as I didn’t get the stammer in “R-rendition”, the surface or the anagram.

    I guessed 21d ASCI and had to confirm it via google.

    I haven’t circled any clues which is an indicator that I had no favourites and perhaps also indicative of a general lack of appreciation of the different elements of the puzzle.

    Sorry, it could be just a personal thing that the setter and I were not on the same wavelength.

  13. I think Brummie has a track record with a big % chance of a theme so I normally look for one .
    I agree that a point should be deducted for having needle in a clue and an answer.
    And I am not bonkers about R as use for king and queen when Lear was in the answer but not the right way round.
    But these are minor niggles. Didn’t stop it being an enjoyable puzzle.
    Thanks to Brummie and Andrew.

  14. Tough workout from Brummie today, just at the edge of what I can do. The E side was a mystery for some time until I posited whether CIAT might fit into something foody that was Italian.

    The theme alas passed me well and truly by, and I’ll confess to not twigging how many surfaces were deeply iffy, though now in retrospect I can see where the problems lie. They did at least enable some interesting constructions.

  15. Can someone please explain to a relative newbie why there’s a question mark in the clue for 22d? Baby problem? In general, question marks befuddle me.

  16. Really enjoyed this one despite sharing many of the reservations about some of the surfaces. I had CRIME as Focus of detective = Crime abbreviated to C (as in CSI, CID etc) + RIME with the whole thing then also being a (slightly) cryptic definition a la Rufus.

  17. The same 3 new words for me as I suspect for many others. I liked the theme, though the term NORDIC NOIR was unfamiliar. Most Nordic films I’ve seen have been ‘Rather bleak’ so I think the NOIR is superfluous. Sorry Charlie @15, can’t really help with your question mark question. I usually just ignore question marks, though I think here it indicates there are other meanings for ISSUE. Maybe?

    Thanks to Brummie and Andrew.

  18. Charlie @15

    Good question. I don’t think the ‘?’ is needed in 22d ISSUE, but as it’s there I think it might mean one of two things:
    (1) the setter is asking us “Is it a baby problem?”, to which the answer is “No – it is both a baby and a problem”;
    (2) ‘Baby’ is a definition-by example. One’s issue is one’s child (son or daughter), who is not necessarily a baby.

    On a similar topic, I thought the ‘?’ in 20a FILM STUDIO was absolutely fine. It applies to ‘universal’, as Andrew explained, and I think it’s quite in order for the DBE indicator (‘?’) to be at the end.

    I enjoyed this crossword very much. The clues to the words I had never heard of made them possible to solve, and I didn’t have to look anything up. (Like Andrew, though, I filled in ‘the most likely word’ at 12a RECTRICIAL.)

    I didn’t really get 10a CRIME properly. I got RIME for ‘frost’, and I thought ‘focus of detective’ would be CRIME, so where does the ‘C’ come from? It has been explained, but I don’t easily get ‘middle letter’ from ‘focus’.

    Some of the surfaces were a bit clunky, as noted already, but the clues were generally good, and I found myself fortunately on this setter’s wavelength.

    Thanks to Brummie and Andrew.

  19. Charlie @15
    Often a question mark will indicate that what you are looking for is an example of what is given in the clue. So Universal? is an example of a film studio
    Sometimes it will indicate suggestiveness/cryptic description, as in ‘like a compass?’ for needled.
    Sometimes it’s used unnecessarily, as in (I think) ‘Android’s radical with boron implant?’ where the clue is explicit enough without.
    I’d agree with Alan that it’s unnecessary in 22d. There’d be nothing wrong with the clue without the ?, but sometimes it’s just nicer to read when it’s included.

  20. Thank you Brummie and Andrew.

    I enjoyed the puzzle, managed to solve the new words, but checked in the dictionary to see if they were correct, namely LOGIA, RECTRICIAL and CACCIATORE – I thought there was a musical term that sounded like this, but cannot find one on googling (I am not thinking of Aram Khachaturian). ‘Focus’ did not bother me, it seemed logical – after I had ruled out C for ‘crime’!

  23. I forgot to say earlier that I appreciated the theme – once it was revealed on this page (I never spot themes) – even though I haven’t come across NORDIC NOIR before. The setter did well to sprinkle the theme around the grid (so to speak), and it wasn’t necessary to know about it to solve the puzzle.

  24. Thanks to Brummie and Andrew. Like others I struggled with ASCI, LOGIA, and RECTRICIAL (but not CACCIATORE – familiar from menus) along with the C in CRIME and did not know ST LEGER (my LOI) as a race for three-year-olds (a la the US Triple Crown with the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont)- and I agree with drofle@4 about themes (even I could not miss this one). Still, I much enjoyed this puzzle.

  25. [Well done, Cookie. I’ve not heard of that one, though the definition makes it not all that different – possibly a bit briefer. I wonder if it derives from “attack”?]

  26. [muffin, they are both grace notes, the acciaccatura is played as quickly as possible before the note that follows while the appoggiatura leans on the main note taking part of its value.]

  27. All fairly straightforward apart from a few unfamiliar words, which held me up a little.

    Thanks to Brummie and Andrew

  28. Just goes to show – you can’t please all of the people all of the time. We really enjoyed this one even with a few odd surfaces. Didn’t spot the theme until it was pointed out. Thanks to everyone.

  30. I started out quite well with this. The NE went in a treat and the anagrams were pretty straightforward, but I got very bogged down after that and the solving became like pulling teeth. I did like CACCIATORE- very well clued- but I really struggled. I guessed NORDIC and UGLI and didn’t get the’cruel’ in CRUEL SHAME. I didn’t get the theme and I’m not sure it would have helped if I had.
    I thought I was getting to grips with Brummie, but it seems I’m not!

  31. I came to this puzzle relatively late in the day and like others found it quite tough. Whilst I cannot disagree with the various complaints mentioned above they didn’t really affect my enjoyment. I solved CRIME and SCIENCE but needed the blog to parse them and RECTRICIAL, LOGIA and ASCI all had to be confirmed electronically. My personal favourites were INGROWN, MORELLO and CACCIATORE. Thanks to Brummie and Andrew

  32. We got there in the end with the SW corner being the last to fall. New words (12a and 24a) – set myself the challenge of introducing “rectricial’ into a conversation, but “look at that magpie’s rectricial feathers” seems a bit show-offy.
    Coming here and realising that there was a theme I’d (once again) missed brought a smile lacking during the solving for the reasons many have offered. Once again I’m with JinA – no circled clues today.
    Thank you Brummie (I’ll get your theme next time) and Andrew.

  33. Thanks Brummie and Andrew

    Themewise, I don’t think NORDIC and NOIR need to be connected: FILM NOIR is a term that’s been around for decades, and the TV productions are generally referred to as SCANDI NOIR. Is it possible that NORDIC isn’t intended as a themer? I make 8 themed solutions if you exclude it, 9 if you include SURREAL (Un Chien Andalou etc), which seems to reach the number that’s usually required for a theme to be acknowledged.

  34. Well, I am going to gloat a bit today. I knew remiges and rectrices from O level biology 60 years ago, and this is the first occasion I have come across them since (surely I can’t be the only one to know these words?). CNIDOCIL is another, remembered because of its peculiar spelling.

    I quite enjoyed Brummie’s contribution (though I agree about some of the surfaces) but the bottom left didn’t yield until I had sorted out the correct spelling of ENTREPRENEURIAL.

    I spotted the theme quite early, but it wasn’t of any use in completing the Xword.

    Thanks Andrew and Brummie

  35. Didn’t enjoy this very much, I’m afraid, and gave up with about a third of the grid still empty. As others have pointed out, there are too many clunky surface readings.

  36. So sorry this is so very late lots of stuff I had to deal with today but because I am a huge fan of Brummie felt I needed to respond. I found this so very tricky. I can usually do a Brummie but he made this very hard respect sir. However respect for Andrew’s blog well done sir and Brummie respect for today. Should have done better but not making excuses had so much else to deal with. Thank you both. Much respect

  37. Perhaps I should have said molte bene si but this was hard graft but you are a star Brummie and thank you so much Andrew difficult job today. You helped me Andrew. Gracias.

  38. I agree, unsurprisingly, with Alan B [not Andy B or Arthur B or Anyother B – sorry, Alan!] that the question mark in “Baby problem?” seems unnecessary.
    That apart I’d no quibbles with this pleasantly enjoyable puzzle – with some excellent fun (and original: “R-rendition…”, the C in CRIME…) constructions. My favourite was FILM STUDIO for its subtle, virtually implicit, misdirection. The question mark perfectly indicated the dbe in my opinion; the clue is a brief phrase so the QM not too far from definition.
    There you are – I seem to be, quite literally, egregious for I thought this a superb puzzle all ways round.
    Many thanks to Brummie and Andrew

  39. ….nor did the fraught matter of surfaces concern me – until I came here. None was nonsensical or clunky, or whatever, to my mind. Indeed, some were very good. I’m not one to favour sacrificing a clever, or elegant, construction on the aisle of good surfaces over the converse. In an ideal world every crossword would have both in every clue (and some get close – regularly – no namearachnes mentioned of course!). But for all our fabulous setters, given their individual styles, to achieve perfection in both departments in every clue could I imagine take many hours. Even with the gloriously seductive 57p an hour these artistic entertainers can lap up, they still might have better things to do with their time than fall out of love with crosswords!

  40. [Auriga@6: Tectricials are the short coverlet feathers that cover the Rectricials]
    I ran out of time for this due to picking the wrong anagrind in 20ac – and missed the theme!
    Thanks to setter and blogger.

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