Guardian Cryptic 27165 Picaroon

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Thanks to Picaroon for another enjoyable and cleverly crafted puzzble. Definitions are underlined in the clues.

The crossword’s theme is the answer to 12 across.

Across

1 Maybe shame-faced politician defends borders (7)

CRIMSON : CON(abbrev. for a British Conservative politician) containing(defends) RIMS(borders;edges).

Defn:  To blush, from the possible;maybe, colour of your face when you’re ashamed or embarrassed.

5 Hair from bears covering bear’s tail (7)

STRANDS : STANDS(bears;tolerates) containing(covering) the last letter of(…’s tail) “bear“.

10 Fiddle with computers the wrong way (4)

SCAM : Reversal of(… the wrong way) MACS(brand name for Macintoshes, the series of personal computers made by Apple Inc.).

Defn: …;a swindle.

11 In Paris, a setback preceding current government’s undoing (10)

UNHITCHING : UN(“a” as spoken in Paris, France) + HITCH(a setback;a snag) plus(preceding) IN(current;in fashion or in power) + G(abbrev. for “government”).

12 Seductress not changing welcoming look (6)

SALOME : SAME(not changing;remaining constant) containing(welcoming) LO(look, as in “lo and behold”).

13 Tailor has place for putting leather (8)

SHAGREEN : Anagram of(Tailor) HAS + GREEN(a place for putting on a golf course).

14 It describes judge, given shocking treatment in a seedy spot (9)

ADJECTIVE : [ J(abbrev. for “judge”) plus(given) ECT(abbrev. for “electroconvulsive therapy”, electric shock treatment for mental disorders) ] contained in(in) [A + DIVE(a seedy spot;a sleazy establishment for drinking, etc.) ].

16 Two insects, not large but strongly built (5)

BEEFY : [BEE & “fly”](two insects) minus(not) “l”(abbrev. for “large”).

17 Son backing intense expedition (5)

SPEED : S(abbrev. for “son”) + reversal of(backing) DEEP(intense, as in “a deep sleep”).

Defn: …;promptness in doing something, as in “your complaints will be looked into with expedition”.

19 Name in Irish, but oddly not befitting these isles (2-7)

UN-BRITISH : N(abbrev. for “name”) contained in(in) anagram of(… oddly) IRISH, BUT.

23 National rate cut by operator finally without penalty (4-4)

SCOT-FREE : SCOT(a national;citizen of Scotland) + FEE(a rate;charge to be paid for a service rendered) containing(cut by) the last letter of(… finally) “operator“.

24 Perhaps nun‘s to change entertaining scripture (6)

VOTARY : VARY(to change) containing(entertaining) OT(abbrev. for the Old Testament, a collection of religious writings;scripture).

Defn: An example;perhaps is a nun, one who has taken vows of dedication to religious service.

26 Wit lacking restraint has nothing to worry about (5,5)

OSCAR WILDE : WILD(lacking restraint) contained in(… about) [O SCARE]( letter signifying 0;nothing + something to worry;be frightful about).

Defn: … who was a playwright, poet, essayist, novelist in the late 1800s.

 A Wilde play.

27 Ahead after business takeover (4)

COUP : UP(ahead in points score in a competitive match) placed after(after) CO(abbrev. for “company”, a commercial business).

28, 29 Gents drunkenly tip hat, with best man losing head (4,3,7)

JOHN THE BAPTIST : JOHN(slang for a toilet, the public one for men being the “gents”) + anagram of(drunkenly) [TIP HAT plus(with) BEST].

Defn: …, the latter being the prize demanded for the display in 8,9 down.

  … there’s the lost head on a plate, according to Picasso.

29 See 28

Down

2, 21 Rock star’s acid rush, following right musician (7,7)

RICHARD STRAUSS : Anagram of(Rock) STAR’S ACID RUSH placed after(following) R(abbrev. for “right”).

Defn: …, or a composer of music, known for his operas.

Strauss’s operatic version:

3 Doctor prods Communist leader to take rhythmic steps (5)

MAMBO : MB(abbrev. for Medicinae Baccalaureus, a graduate of medical school; a doctor) contained in(prods) MAO(Ze Dong, former Communist China’s leader).

Another attractive display…and they can dance too.

4 Mostly work fast to get wealthy (7)

OPULENT : “opus”(a literary or musical work;composition) minus its last letter(Mostly …) + LENT(a period of fasting for Christians before Easter).

6 Painter‘s current giant frames (6)

TITIAN : I(symbol for electrical current in physics) contained in(… frames) TITAN(one of the group of gigantic deities in Greek mythology).

Defn: …, a great, if not the greatest, member of the 16C Venetian school).

Titian’s rendition:

7 Heading for Baghdad or Tehran, travelling’s awful (9)

ABHORRENT : Anagram of( …, travelling) [ the 1st letter of(Heading for) “Baghdad” + OR TEHRAN].

8, 9 Fancied velvet sheen, so moving in attractive display (5,2,3,5,5)

DANCE OF THE SEVEN VEILS : Anagram of(… moving) FANCIED VELVET SHEEN, SO.

Defn: … performed by the seductress in 12 across.

Hollywood’s rendition:

 4 down, 3 to go?

9 See 8

15 Problem for reader English tutor grasps OK (9)

EYESTRAIN : [ E(abbrev. for “English”) + TRAIN(to tutor;to instruct) ] containing(grasps) YES(OK;term indicating agreement).

18 Artist‘s images capturing area like that (7)

PICASSO : [ PICS(short for “pictures”;images) containing(capturing) A(abbrev. for “area”) ] + SO(like that;in the way described or demonstrated, as in “Walk like so”.

Answer: Pablo, Spanish artist, co-founder of the Cubist movement.

The cubic version:

20 Berlin quartet plugging song around holiday location (7)

RIVIERA : VIER(4 in number;quartet as spoken in Berlin, Germany) contained in(plugging) reversal of(… around) AIR(a song).

21 See 2

22 Escalating row throughout housing development (6)

GROWTH : Hidden in(… housing) “Escalating row throughout“.

25 Understood old historian’s left America (5)

TACIT : “Tacitus”(olden Roman historian of the Roman Empire) minus(…’s;has left…) “US”(abbrev. for America, the USA).  Does the deletion indicator seem reversed?

29 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 27165 Picaroon”

  2. Thanks Picaroon and scchua

    Slow start, but getting RICHARD STRAUSS allowed me to see DANCE OF THE SEVEN VEILS and hence SALOME and JOHN THE BAPTIST, and suddenly it was all done!

    SHAGREEN must be a contender for clue of the year.

  3. Thanks for identifying all the theme clues, Scchua; the illustrations are very welcome for this puzzle.

    Lovely clues and well utilized theme, thank, Picaroon.

  7. I did wonder if US has left TACITUS gave TACIT more precisely, but the surface doesn’t work, of course. I’ve seen worse examples than this one of the deletion apparently the wrong way round.

  8. Loved this- brilliant clueing-lots of “leading up the garden path” stuff. Thanks Picaroon- up to your usual high standard.

  9. Thank you Picaroon for a super puzzle and scchua for a great blog.

    RICHARD STRAUSS is one of my favourite composers, and after entering SALOME I expected more of his operas, but the solve was even more interesting.

    All I can add, probably fortuitous, is that OSCAR WILDE wrote the play in 1891, and that it was first performed in 1896 in Paris, 11a, having been banned in the UK – the ban was not lifted for nearly forty years, the first public performance being in London in 1931. RICHARD STRAUSS saw the play in Berlin, 20d, in 1902 and began composing his opera in 1903.

  10. Typical Picaroon- up there with the best. Lots of great clueing including a lot of legitimate mis-direction.Now for a lovely sunny weekend!

  11. I failed 28a JOHN THE BAPTIST even though I had all of the crossers 🙁

    New word for me was SHAGREEN.

    I could not parse 22d.

    My favourites were RIVIERA, ADJECTIVE, SHAGREEN.

    Thanks blogger and setter

  12. Brilliant puzzle; lovely blog.
    Just my opinion, but I think this is even better than the Berlin Wall job (same grid?).
    I twigged the theme early on, but had to Google to reveal its full extent and, during this research, I discovered that CRIMSON STRANDS is a story in the Sonic The Hedgehog series and just had to share this nugget…..
    Thanks to S&B and nice weekend to all

  13. Thanks to Picaroon and scchua. Very entertaining. I had to come back the morning after I started to get SHAGREEN and EYESTRAIN but much enjoyed the process.

  14. Thoroughly enjoyed this, Picaroon. Solved and parsed entirely unaided … without making the connections. Thankyou scchua for illustrating the thematic elements so beautifully in words and pictures, and Cookie for the extra enlightenment.

  15. As always from Picaroon, this was another high class puzzle. Seemed a little tough at first but the theme helped even though I didn’t see all of it. SHAGREEN was last in and least familiar. Too many favourites to mention.

    Thanks to Picaroon and scchua

  16. Great puzzle. I saw the basic theme but didn’t know enough to make all the thematic connections. I like Picaroon’s smooth clue constructions in general but 26 is a particularly nice example.
    I think the deletion indicator in 25 is fine. It’s “leave” as in “leave behind”.

    Thanks, Picaroon and scchua.

  17. Another piece of class from a classy setter. My own garden-path division was to think of rock stars named Richard, but on the penny dropping, SALOME led me to look for a theme and several clues followed quickly.

    I rather wondered whether TITIAN and PICASSO were theme words – thanks Scchua for taking the time to find the proof.

  18. We didn’t see the theme until the end but we got there. Shagreen was a cracking clue as was the misleading 14a. Thanks to everyone.

  19. Thanks for the excellent blog.

    Very slow start for me, but as soon as I had both SALOME and OSCAR WILDE, the other theme entries (minus the painters, who were both already in) fell like dominoes. SHAGREEN was a new word for me; I cheated on that one.

    Side note: The STRAUSS opera (unusually for an opera) simply took a German translation of the OSCAR WILDE play, made a few cuts, and otherwise set it to music word for word. A separate libretto was not written. Strauss did the same thing a couple years later with Elektra, though with Hoffmanstahl (whose play it was) participating and encouraging the effort; that began their long association through five more operas they wrote together.

    [Strauss is one of my favorites too. I had the opportunity to see Deborah Voigt sing Salome here in Chicago, during the period when they were cycling through all of the big Strauss operas, one per season. (She lost a lot of weight for the part, and did the Dance of the Seven Veils, uh, the right way. The next year, when she was the Empress in Die Frau ohne Schatten, it looked like she had put some of the weight back on… Sorry, this makes me sound like a bitchy opera queen. I’m not actually bitchy. Carry on.)]

  20. Quite a toughie! I’m not sure how the theme eluded me but I didn’t see it until everything was in-AND RICHARD STRAUSS was FOI. Cluing pretty good although everything that could mislead me did! LOI was CRIMSON which I was expecting to have a Trump connection. New to me was the VIER in RIVIERA so that went in unpaired.
    Nice puzzle.
    Thanks Picaroon.

  21. Thanks to Picaroon and and scchua. The usual enjoyable (and slightly gentler) fare from Picaroon.

    Having got Richard Strauss first of all, followed quickly by Salome and her dance, I took ridiculously long to get Oscar Wilde, and even more embarrassingly stared for ages at John the Baptist, my last one in, before it clicked.

    My mother was fond of “what did people say next” types of stories. Her one for this was “Oh, just put it in the fridge Salome dear”.

  22. Thanks, Picaroon, and ever so many thanks to scchua. What a lot of clever searching you must have done to find all those illustrations!

    Loved the puzzle and the theme, Salome and her several portrayals, on stage and on canvas.Loved SHAGREEN.

  23. Looks like everything’s already been said: excellent puzzle and excellent blog.

    Many thanks to Picaroon and scchua.

  24. I came to this very late but the extra pressure to complete it before dinner added to the enjoyment. I didn’t at any stage see the theme (nothing new there) but that didn’t stop me from solving the individual clues. Favourites were SHAGREEN, ADJECTIVE and OSCAR WILDE. Fine puzzle, excellent blog. Thanks to Picaroon and scchua.

  26. Splendid puzzle – thanks to Picaroon and Sschua.

    In the belief that the theme was Richard Strauss, I wasted a lot of time trying to get Elektra into 15dn, as the first 4 crossers lead you to expect that. I also looked in vain for Arabella and Ariadne!

    My memories of Salome go back to Josephine Barstow at the English National Opera in the 1970s. Unlike some singers who undertake the role, she had the figure to drop all 7 veils to very pleasing effect. Her singing was pretty stunning too.

  27. Happiest solve of the year for me, apart from an Enigmatist share in Tarragona and a birthday gift.
    Thank you for the `opulent` blog, scchua – and thank you, Gaufrid. (I bless you every day.)

  28. One of my better efforts at a Picaroon, but still a fair way off yet.”Shagreen” was a new one on me. I had wondered if the Communist leader in “Mambo” was “Bo” as in Bo Xilai of recent infamy, but this makes more sense. Many thanks scchua for an enlightening blog, and Picaroon for a marvellous puzzle.

  29. Well this took 2 days on and off but it was well worth persevering with flawless clues which have all the information to get the solution. And then coming here to this excellent blog which added further to the enjoyment. Picaroon confirms his top setter status (imho) and thank you scchua for the blog.

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