Guardian Cryptic 27,173 by Brendan

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The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/27173.

A surprise to see Brendan on a Monday, and I wonder how it fits with the general “easy start to the week”. The bulk of the clues are relatively simple in structure, but the cross-references are quite knotty. They depend on the interpretation of ‘see’ as diocese, and while there is not an Ely in sight, the solver needs to come up with several other English Dioceses. I was not the only one confused: PeeDee’s splendid utility, which I use to enter and format the blog, could not handle the elaborate cross-referencing; I will have to do a little massaging to make the blog read sensibly, and I do not know how to correct the errant grid, so there will not be one here.

Across
9 WELLS See (with 26 down) 5 (5)
With 26D, the ‘see’ – diocese – of BATH and WELLS; and the writer (‘5’) H G WELLS.
10 TORPEDOES Fish from port perturbed European cooks (9)
A charade of TORP, an anagram (‘perturbed’) of ‘port’ plus E (‘European’) plus DOES (‘cooks’). TORPEDOES are electric rays (after which the naval weapons were named).
11 PRESIDENT Top person now harbouring unconscious mass of primitive energies (9)
An envelope (‘harbouring’) of ID (‘unconscious mass of primitive urges’) in PRESENT (‘now’).
12 TODDY Get extremely tiddly, imbibing rum in this? (5)
An envelope (‘imbibing’) of ODD (‘rum’) in TY (‘extremely TiddlY‘), with an extended definition.
13 COLLEGE Pass on education, primarily, in this (7)
A charade of COL (‘pass’) plus LEG (‘on’ side in cricket) plus E (‘Education, primarily’), with an extended definition.
15 REIGNED Occupied regal office in foreign edifice (7)
A hidden answer in ‘foREIGN EDifice’.
17 SIGHT Good-heartedly backed this see (5)
An envelope (‘-heartedly’) of G (‘good’) in SIHT, a reversal (‘backed’) of ‘this’.
18 TUB Ungainly vessel nevertheless returned (3)
A reversal (‘returned’) of BUT (‘nevertheless’).
20 DERBY See 28 (5)
Double definition: the diocese and the horse race (’28’).
22 DIOCESE In place of bishop, I’d put back old chessmen, oddly (7)
A charade of DI (‘I’d put back’) plus O (‘old’) plus CESE (‘ChEsSmEn oddly’). ‘In’ does not sit very well.
25 LINCOLN See 23 13 across, or 11 (7)
Three definitions: the diocese, the Oxford college, and Abe.
26 BEFIT Minimal information about English fellow in suit (5)
An envelope (‘about’) of E (‘English’) plus F (‘fellow’) in BIT (‘minimal information’ in computing).
27 EMIGRATES Middle East airline introducing key moves to land elsewhere (9)
An envelope (‘introducing’) of G (musical ‘key’) in EMIRATES (‘Middle East airline’).
30 TERSENESS Otherwise stern, sees what’s lacking in long sentences (9)
An anagram (‘otherwise’) of ‘stern, sees’.
31 CANTO Piece of choral music in Anglican town (5)
A hidden answer in ‘AngliCAN TOwn’).
Down
1 SWAP Hands over in exchange (4)
A reversal (‘over’) of PAWS (‘hands’).
2 BLUE FLAG Award for seaside resort that’s sad and weary (4,4)
A charade of BLUE (‘sad’) plus FLAG (‘weary’). A BLUE FLAG is an award to a beach or the like which meets certain standards.
3 ASTI It’s a north-facing wine region (4)
A reversal (‘north-facing’ in a down light) of ‘its a’.
4 STEEPEST See step broken on end of flight most difficult to climb (8)
A charade of STEEPES, an anagram (‘broken’) of ‘see step’ plus T (‘end of flighT‘).
5 WRITER
 Dramatist, say, who corrects things that are wrong in speech? (6)
Sounds like (‘in speech’) RIGHTER (‘who corrects things that are wrong’)
6 BESTRIDDEN Spanned, it’s clear, in first study (10)
An envelope (‘in’) of RID (‘clear’) in BEST (‘first’) plus DEN (‘study’).
7 LONDON See 5 (6)
Double definition: the diocese, and Jack LONDON, writer (‘5’).
8 ESPY See getting regular letters from episcopacy (4)
A novelty: ‘regular letters’ indicating one in three, rather than two: ‘EpiScoPacY‘.
13 CASED Prepared to steal from box with diamonds (5)
A charade of CASE (‘box’) plus D (‘diamonds’); CASED, as in “cased the joint”.
14 ENTREATIES Prayers irritate when inserted in records (10)
An envelope (‘when inserted in’) of EAT (‘irritate’) in ENTRIES (‘records’).
16 DOYEN Academic accepting you once as leading figure in field (5)
An envelope (‘accepting’) of YE (‘you once’) in DON (‘academic’).
19 BULKIEST Bishop and I cutting version of St Luke that’s taking up most space (8)
A charade of B (‘bishop’) plus ULKIEST, an envelope (‘cutting’) of ‘I’ in ULKEST, an anagram (‘version’) of ‘St Luke’.
21 ROOSTING Applauding after son’s caught settling down to sleep (8)
An envelope (‘after … caught’) of S (‘son’) in ROOTING (‘applauding’).
23 OXFORD
 See 29 (6)
Double definition: OXFORD is a shoe (’29’) and a diocese.
24 EXETER See 23 13 across (6)
Double definition: the diocese and the Oxford college.
26 BATH See (with 9) 18 (4)
With 9A, the diocese of BATH and WELLS; and the tub (’18’).
28 RACE People care when the odds are switched (4)
‘care’ with the first and third letters exchanged (‘the odds are switched’).
29 SHOE From what we hear, drive away, partly brake (4)
Sounds like (‘from what we hear’) SHOO (‘drive away’). I think that ‘partly brake’ is a doubtful definition; a SHOE may be part of a car’s brakes.

 

44 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 27,173 by Brendan”

  1. I thought this was wonderful for its interlacings rather than the toughness of particular clues.
    And of course an especial cheer for a non-Rufus Monday.

  2. Nice, especially for Easter Monday. I loved how the Guardian website also got confused, since any clue starting “See xxx” is assumed to be linked as part of the same clue, even though today they were not since the “See” were dioceses not instructions.

    I messed up SHOE though, putting SLOW (for “partlly break” without thinking too much about the rest of the clue which doesn’t work, obviously.

  3. 15, REIGNED, was very well hidden (at least for me). And 8, ESPY, was well done with the ‘regular letters’ clue. The website’s confusion in linking clues did not help, but this was not the setter’s fault.

    Thanks Brendan and PeterO.

  4. I had my suspicions about the “see”s that didn’t seem to cross-reference. Then TUB led to BATH and thereby WELLS. BESTRIDDEN was my LOI.

    Bravo to Brendan for trying something a bit different. Thanks also to PeterO.

  5. Absolutely agree with Flavia. An unexpected Monday delight – not a “cryptic definition” in sight!

  6. Thanks Brendan and PeterO

    Although this looked daunting at first sight, the links between clues actually made it much easier to solve than I thought it would be – it took no longer than a typical Rufus.

    This type of puzzle isn’t my favourite, so I’ll pick a non-theme clue as COD – PAWS.

  7. Very nice. At first I thought there must be some mistakes with all the odd cross-referencing, but fairly soon got the picture. Favourites were BESTRIDDEN, TODDY (clever clue), CASED and SIGHT. Many thanks to Brendan and PeterO.

  8. I loved it. And if Rufus gets a rest he’s normally on good form the next time. At his best he’s classic and its worth remembering that he was in part responsible for nurturing the brilliant Anax.

  9. I really enjoyed this. Many thanks, Brendan. Ingenious, but not difficult. I was greatly helped by getting Wells straight away and knowing it is paired with Bath, the meaning of the see opened up nicely.

    Still some sneaky misdirection, and thoroughly enjoyable

  10. I wasn’t happy with definition of 29 either and it was LOI. NE corner held me up because I wasn’t convinced by does for cooks, and I spent too long trying to find an obscure anagram of edifice.

  11. Unlike Paul @2, I did not love the fact that the online version got confused, because it also confused me no end. Very clever in the final assessment though.

    Like Howard @10, I too spent a long time mentally rearranging the letters of ‘edifice’ before the container finally leapt out at me. I liked PAWS and didn’t know the original meaning of TORPEDOES, so thanks PerterO for the enlightenment.

  12. Thanks Brendan and PeterO

    I parsed 6 BESTRIDDEN as ‘clear in first’ (alluding to showjumping) = BEST RIDDEN – no wonder ‘study’ seemed superfluous! I also completely failed to parse 13a COLLEGE, thinking it a rather woolly CD. I guess I was missing Rufus. 🙂

    My favourite clues were 15 REIGNED – excellent misdirection there – and 28 RACE – a lovely smooth surface with a clever wordplay device.

  13. A splendid Monday treat – thank you to Brendan and Peter O

    As Eileen hasn’t arrived yet, I’ll say that my other comments would exactly match Geoff Soul @9a

  14. Thank you Brendan and PeterO.

    I loved this, especially BATH and WELLS and the TUB! A DERBY is also a SHOE (John Lewis sells them, checked online, so not just an American shoe).

    I was another who spent time trying to think of an anagram of ‘edifice’ before spotting the well hidden REIGNED.

  15. Thanks Brendan for a very enjoyable crossword; nice setting to fit in all the theme words.

    Thanks PeterO; I started with TODDY and proceeded slowly from there. I liked the use of entries for records – I was trying to fit something into EPs.

    I guess it’s not ‘an easy start to the week’ because many people are on holiday.

  16. I’m with a few others on the iffy def for 29 which I couldn’t work out. Otherwise quite entertaining and the various uses of ‘see’ made things a bit harder. Word of the day and last in was BESTRIDDEN, not exactly one of those words that pops up very often, but I imagine a godsend to crossword setters.

    Thanks to Brendan and PeterO

  17. Hello, Sue @13 – yes, of course I’m with you and Geoff. 😉

    Thanks to PeterO and Brendan – very nice to see you back.

  18. Thanks to Brendan for a really enjoyable crossword and to Peter O. I look forward to Rufus on a Monday,and thought this might be too difficult for a beginner, but it was good fun to solve.

  19. This was delightful! The cross-references reminded me of Araucaria in the 80’s, when he would weave a complicated tangle of words referring to each other.

    I didn’t start with TODDY — Ispent my solving time last night trying to convince myself that TRUMY was a word.

    I’d never heard of this use of BLUE FLAG but the clue was clear. I couldn’t parse ENTREATIES.

    EPISCOPACY is not only an innovative every-third-letter device, but a nice nod to the theme.

  20. I still have some struggles with the Saturday Maskarade, so this gentle bank holiday offering went down very nicely. And nicely relevant to Easter too, for those to whom it matters. I must have been on the ball today, for BATH and WELLS were my first two in, though I’m glad that Brendan had some other uses of ‘see’ up his sleeve.

  21. I think it’s all been said so I will simply add my thanks to setter and blogger and add my name to those who were frustrated by – and in my case failed to solve – 29D

  22. Like Trailman, I’m still working through my lists of 13 from the weekend, so, again, was surprised not to find Rufus. On the first two passes, I struggled with the surfaces not really knowing this setter, and then the answers started flowing. Similar to Paul, I put in Show for 29d and took Shoe to be it’s homophone, for 23d.

    Failed totally on the regular count at 8d and in 26a. Terrible, really coming from an ex IT man.

    Thank you PeterO and Brendan. A good Monday start.

  23. I said earlier that the links actually made it easier. 29d was an instance of that. I had O????D for 23d, and thought “that looks like OXFORD, so 29d is probably SHOE”. The latter clue confirmed that, so two clues fell at one go, in effect.

  24. Thanks to Brendan and PeterO. I caught on early to the see-diocese connection but then needed help from Google when the usual Ely was not involved. Before I got RACE (my LOI along with SHOE) I had Derry rather than DERBY and I was stuck for a while on LONDON and the flag in BLUE FLAG though I did figure out ESPY. Very entertaining.

  25. An enjoyable change from the usual Monday fare – probably best done on paper. Mostly pretty straightforward but we’d expect that on a Monday.

    Thanks to Brendan and PeterO

  26. I got there in the end; as others have said, the difficulty lay in the intricate cross-referencing, not the clues themselves for the most part. Unsurprisingly for an American, I needed a list of Anglican dioceses as a cheat-sheet for the back half of this. I figured that most of the “sees” were bishoprics almost as soon as I saw how many times the word was used; EXETER was my first of the sees to go in (guessed randomly based on crossing letters and a vague knowledge of a few English cathedral towns). Unlike apparently everyone else, I hadn’t heard of BATH AND WELLS as a diocese.

  27. Incidentallly–since I had the cheat-sheet open–I noticed that all of the sees in this puzzle are in the Province of Canterbury. Nothing in the Province of York, and no Scottish, Welsh, or Irish dioceses either.

  28. I thought this quite excellent although I didn’t find it as easy as some seem to have done. Well worth it though. The cross referencing was quite brilliant!
    Thanks Brendan.

  29. Actually, I didn’t google myself a list of English bishoprics. I figured any of them must be places I’d heard of, and that plus the other definitions (shoe, writer, etc. got me there. Makes a change from the list of British names I’ve had to google lately.

    And Eileen, while I cringe at “access” and “impact” as verbs, somehow “google” and “fax” seem okay.

    I’m not still working on the big Maskarade, I think I’ve given up in despair. Its one redeeming feature is apparently that there aren’t two configurations you have to choose between.

  30. I hate Guardian crosswords. Cross referencing all over the shop. Utterly tiresome. Much prefer the Times cryptics. Worst clue was 17 across. Ugly and boring. Thought most were though.

  31. John @ 30. Thanks for visiting and sharing a little happiness on Easter Monday. I thoroughly enjoyed it and thought 17 was pretty good myself. Great crossword so thanks Brendan and PeterO.

  32. 17 was one of my favourites too. You have to admire John for his determination in finishing a crossword he was not enjoying; indeed a species of crossword he hates.

  33. I should point out that the John @30 is not the John who blogs the weekday Indy and Azed.

    John @30 – we have many Johns posting on this site, after all it is a common name, and so the norm is to add something that makes a username more identifiable, such as the first letter, or more, of your surname. Please do so for any future comments to avoid possible confusion.

  34. I found this an example of the setter showing his cleverness than providing a puzzle solvable from wordplay.
    BESTRIDDEN is not in fact “clear” in “first”, so how should it be parsed?

  38. Finished all correct. I usually enjoy Brendan’s crosswords, but this one I did not like at all. I desperately searched for an overall theme to confirm some of the ambiguities to linked clues (eg 7dn) but there does not seem to be one.

  39. Hi Valentine @29
    “And Eileen, while I cringe at “access” and “impact” as verbs, somehow “google” and “fax” seem okay.”

    I have no problem at all with either of these: they are both neologisms and both Collins and Chambers list them as both verbs [interestingly, first, in the case of ‘google’] and nouns.

    But please, if you’re still there, persevere with Maskarade! I made a start on Saturday, was out all day yesterday and came back today, determined to finish – and did, with great satisfaction. It is worth it, I promise, 😉

  40. I agree with all the positive reactions above: a brilliant and original concept, very neatly executed. I really enjoy puzzles with thematic answers and cross-referenced clues. Many thanks to Brendan and PeterO.

    I just think it’s a pity a couple of commenters decided to use this opportunity to take some cheap shots at Rufus. Obviously Brendan and Rufus have quite different clue-writing styles but both are excellent at what they do.

    On the other hand, about Saturday’s Maskarade the less said the better.

  41. I totally agree with Gofirstmate about the comments on Rufus. It is likely that those who post here are not representative of Guardian solvers as a whole. In order for new solvers to learn how to do it, it is appropriate to have a range of difficulty. The New York Times puzzle, for example, has a clear difficult gradient across the week, with a very straightforward puzzle on Monday.

  42. mrpenney @ 26: I’m sure most Brits who know BATH AND WELLS know it in the baby-eating sense from Blackadder II.

    Long time reader, first time commenter. Enjoyed this one immensely. BESTRIDDEN my LOI as others had – spent ages fruitlessly rearranging “spanned it’s”. Thanks Brendan and PeterO.

  44. I twigged to the theme very early, but struggled because I am not British. Most Guardian cryptics tend to be UK-centric, which is not usually a problem to me, but this one was positively opaque to anyone not born and bred in old Blighty. Or armed with a list of Anglican dioceses, which I would have preferred not to resort to.

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