Guardian Cryptic 27,187 by Qaos

by

The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/27187.

Plenty of subterfuge here, in addition to three &lits, and two cryptic definitions. There is an assortment of 24D MINTs here – PEPPER, BUTTER, IMPERIAL, GLACIER, POLO, EVERTON, SPEAR and HUMBUG. Sweet one, Qaos.

Across
1 PEBBLES “Pocket billions in sleep” (Rolling Stones) (7)
An envelope (‘pocket … in’) of BB (‘billions’ – two of them to be precise) in PELES, an anagram (‘rolling’) of ‘sleep’.
5 GLACIER Mostly large ice moving? (7)
An anagram (‘moving’) of ‘larg[e]’ minus its last letter (‘mostly’) plus ‘ice’, with an extended definition.
9 PITTA Old PM takes last slice of soda bread (5)
A charade of PITT (‘old PM’  – even the Younger is pretty old) plus A (‘last slice of sodA‘). I would spell the bread with one T, but two is an alternative.
10 EURYTOPIC EU photo captures Tory rebels being tolerant of different conditions (9)
An envelope (‘captures’) of RYTO, an anagram (‘rebels’) of ‘Tory’) in ‘EU’ plus PIC (‘photo’).
11 ELECTORATE Voters to create panic after conclusion of Article 50 (10)
A charade of E (‘conclusion of articlE‘) plus L (Roman numeral ’50’) plus ECTORATE, an anagram (‘panic’) of ‘to create’.
12 URGE Wish to drive out without parking (4)
[p]URGE (‘drive out’) minus the P (‘without parking’).
14 WEDGWOOD WARE Two clubs going East — mind the crockery (8,4)
A charade of WEDG[e] (‘club’) minus the E (‘going East’) plus WOOD (‘the second ‘club’) plus WARE (beware, ‘mind’).
18 ALPHABET SOUP Dish you might make “a meal” out of? (8,4)
Cryptic definition.
21 POLO Cut back on ball game (4)
A charade of POL. a reversal (‘back’) of LOP (‘cut’) plus O (‘ball’).
22 LOVESTRUCK Solve puzzle sharp — about 1,000 are infatuated (10)
A charade of LOVES, an anagram (‘puzzle’) of ‘solve’ plus TRUC, a reversal (‘about’) of CURT (‘sharp’) plus K (‘1,000’).
25 ALUMINIUM Around lunchtime, old students get university money for metal (9)
A  charade of ALUMINI, an envelope (‘around’) of I (one pm., ‘lunchtime’) in ALUMNI (‘old students’) plus U (‘university’) plus M (‘money’).
26 BIBLE Books left on Earth about upright character? (5)
An envelope (‘about’) of I (‘upright character’) in BB (‘books’) plus L (‘left’) plus E (‘earth’), with an extended definition.
27 EVERTON Some cannot reverse backwards in Liverpool (7)
A hidden (‘some’) reversed (‘backwards’) answer in ‘canNOT REVErse’.
28 SLEDGES Unsporting deliveries at Lord’s? (7)
Cryptic definition: in cricket, offensive remarks, as to an opposing batsman, to break his concentration. Definitely not cricket.
Down
1 PEPPER Aristocrat eats very soft fruit (6)
An envelope (‘eats’) of PP (‘very soft’) in PEER (‘aristocrat’).
2 BUTTER Oddballs undress under cover of bed spread (6)
A charade of B (‘cover of Bed’) plus [n]UTTER[s] (‘oddballs’) minus its outer letters (‘undress’).
3 LEAD THE WAY We had let Cook always go first (4,3,3)
A charade of LEADTHEW, an anagram (‘cook’  – out of place for an imperative anagrind?) of ‘we had let’ plus AY (‘always’).
4 SPEAR Fight over fishwife’s last pike (5)
An envelope (‘over’) of E (‘fishwifE‘s last’) in SPAR (‘fight’).
5 GYRATIONS Turns angry — it’s trouble over nothing (9)
An envelope (‘over’) of O (‘nothing’) in GYRATINS, an anagram (‘turns’‘trouble‘) of ‘angry its’.
6 ANTI Against bikini bottom covered in fake tan (4)
A charade  of ANT, an anagram (‘fake’) of ‘tan’ plus  I (‘bikinI bottom’).
7 IMPERIAL Supreme leader of Egypt supports a politician and outrageous liar (8)
A charade of I MP (‘a politician’) plus E (‘leader of Egypt’) plus RIAL, an anagram (‘outrageous’) of ‘liar’.
8 ROCKETED “Salad!”, Edward belted (8)
A charade of ROCKET (‘salad’, a salad plant also known – over here, anyway – as arugula) plus ED (‘Edward’). The definition is ‘belted’ in the sense of moved very fast.
13 ADJUSTABLE Bill and Jack begin to understand where to keep horses flexible (10)
A charade of AD (‘bill’) plus J (‘Jack’) plus U (‘begin to Understand’) plus STABLE (‘where to keep horses’).
15 GREGORIAN Calendar girl upset Federer and Scotsman (9)
A charafe of G (‘girl’) plus REGOR, a reversal (‘upset’) of ROGER (‘Federer’) plus IAN (‘Scotsman’).
16 WARPLANE Aircraft route the Starship Enterprise might use? (8)
WARP LANE (‘route the Starship Enterprise might use’).
17 APPLAUSE Both leave 18 plays clapping (8)
18A is ALPHABET SOUP, which forms an anagram (‘plays’) of BOTH APPLAUSE; remove BOTH (‘both leave’).
19 HUMBUG Spooner to cuddle vagrant? Nonsense! (6)
A Spoonerism of HUG BUM (‘cuddle vagrant’).
20 SKIERS Might they risk slaloming round the top of Everest on Sunday? (6)
A charade of SKIER, an envelope (’round’) of E (‘top of Everest’) in SKIR, an anagram (‘slaloming’) of ‘risk’ plus S (‘Sunday’), with a rather improbable extended definition.
23 EMMYS Yes production wins 2,000 awards (5)
An envelope (‘wins’) of MM (Roman numerals, ‘2,000’) in EYS, an anagram (‘production’) of ‘yes’, for the American television awards.
24 MINT Stamp time and time again (4)
A charade of MIN (minute, ‘time’) plus T (time’).
completed grid

42 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 27,187 by Qaos”

  1. I did not pick up on the theme at all, and failed to solve the WARE in 14a – I got WEDGWOOD but could not parse the “two clubs” and I gave up on the second word. I also failed 28a SLEDGES (never heard of this term) and 2d BUTTER – clever, but it was too clever for me!

    My favourite was HUMBUG & ALPHABET SOUP.

    I needed help to parse 26a (could only parse the LE) and 17d, and new word for today was EURYTOPIC.

    Thanks Qaos and PeterO.

    * 25a there is a typo – I think it should read as “A  charade of ALUMINI, an envelope (‘around’) of I (one pm., ‘lunchtime’) in ALUMNI (‘old students’) plus U (‘university’) plus M (‘money’).

  2. Apart from WEDGWOOD WARE where I’m unsure that “going East” is a fair indicator to remove the ‘e’, the rest of this was a delight. I missed the minty theme (of course) but that didn’t lessen the enjoyment.

  3. Duh! Like michelle@1 and matrixmania@2, the theme went right over my head too. However I have only heard of PEPPERMINT, POLO, SPEARMINT and HUMBUG as kinds of mints, so clearly the others are British types. No excuse though, as four linked words should have been enough for me to spot a theme!

    EURYTOPIC at 10a was a guess from the crossers. It could have easily been EUROTYPIC as I don’t know either word. I also biffed in WARE to 14a WEDGWOOD WARE without getting the “mind/beware” idea. One p.m. (1) as lunchtime in 15a ALUMINIUM also went over my head but fortunately I had enough to solve that one. Similarly I missed the significance of the upright character “I” in BIBLE, 26a.

    I did ask myself if a PEPPER (1d) is a fruit. I was momentarily distracted by APPLES here, not that it made sense. But when I realised the answer at 1a had nothing at all to do with the best rock’n’roll band ever, The Rolling Stones, I realised it must be PEPPER. The salad fodder at 8d for ROCKETED was a little easier, as that is what it’s called in Australia. I have to recall what arugula is (and what aubergines are) when I use my Yottam Ottolenghi recipe books!

    Favourites were 13d ADJUSTABLE (nice surface), 16d WARPLANE (funny) and 19d HUMBUG (for the cuddly vagrant).

    Thanks to PeterO for a good blog and to Qaos for a clever puzzle (from a not so clever solver).

  4. Damn, I forgot to look for the theme.Nice puzzle and blog. Thanks PeterO and Qaos-actually quite unchaotic.

  5. Very nice puzzle. I’m yet another who missed the theme. Couldn’t parse BUTTER, but otherwise was on Qaos’s wavelength today as it mostly went in fairly quickly. Favourites were SLEDGES, GYRATIONS, GLACIER and POLO. Many thanks to Q and P.

  6. Another lovely puzzle from Qaos, which yielded pretty quickly, though not without a couple that were a little tricky to parse. The theme was obvious after the first few solutions. favoutite was GREGORIAN.

    Thanks to Qaos and PeterO

  7. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so inclined to grumble about a crossword. Here’s a selection:
    12 anagrams
    8 first/last letter indicators
    Weird anagram indicators: cook following fodder, rebels, etc
    On used to put something before rather than after, twice
    Over as container (?) in two consecutive down clues
    going East
    cover of bed
    I’ll go back to bed and try getting out the other side.

  9. Thank you Qaos and PeterO.

    The only grumble I had was the ‘last’ slice of ‘soda’ bread, the O would be the first slice if one was cutting the loaf (unless one was left-handed), I cannot imagine either PITT taking slices of pre-cut bread out of a packet.

    I missed the mints, now I wonder where MURRAY is… All good fun.

  11. Thanks both. I found this slightly easier than some of the previous offerings from Qaos.
    Made life tricky at 12a by putting in HOE for drive out (as in weeding) around (without) P for parking, making HOPE. Made sense to me!
    James @8 – maybe it should be bum hug that becomes HUMBUG

  12. I disliked 28a (SLEDGES). This meaning is not in Chambers, the only clue is a cryptic definition, and the only way to get the answer is if you happen to know this particular piece of cricketing argot. Not cricket indeed.

  13. Shirl @11
    Yes, but that’s not clued. cuddle with vagrant would be ok for bum hug, but not cuddle vagrant

  14. poc @12
    To be fair to Qaos, ‘sledge’ is in Chambers, quote: “intransitive verb and transitive verb (cricket sl, orig Aust) To seek to upset the batsman’s concentration by making offensive remarks”. Similar, and more extensive, definitions are given in Collins and ODE.

  15. Thanks both,
    I found this fairly easy going until near the end when I needed to check that a ‘peela’ wasn’t a kind of soda bread and do a wild card search in the OED to get ‘sledges’. Favourites were 14 and 16, and 17 was clever.

  16. Gaufrid @14: yes, I see it now. I still think the clue should have given some alternate route to the answer, but de gustibus non est disputandum.

  17. I would dispute that sledging is unsporting – it often adds to the fun of the game unless it is taken to extremes.

  18. Thank you, PeterO, fine blog to a smooth puzzle.

    Enjoyed this a lot more than James @7 did, apparently. Odd how we have such differing tastes as to what constitutes a good/fair puzzle.

    I did raise eyebrows a little over hug bum/bum hug but it’s so getable as to let it slide for me.

    Some clever wheezes here including ALPHABET SOUP & GREGORIAN but very disappointed in myself to have missed yet another theme.

    Many thanks, Qaos, top job.

  19. I agree with James@ 7,8, and 13.
    The “over”s could equally have been “about”s, and the clues all the better for it.
    I would also add nonsensical surfaces to the list – 22ac, 8dn and worst of all 17dn.
    Other clues show that Qaos is capable of smooth surfaces, which make these stand out even more.

  20. Thanks to Qaos and PeterO. I’m not a MINT fan, especially the UK brands, so that I’m not surprised I missed the theme (though POLO was familiar). Like Shirl@11 I started with Hope rather than URGE and also had trouble spelling EURYTOPIC. I needed help parsing BUTTER, APPLAUSE, and BIBLE and had to stare at the crossers for a while before getting ALPHABET SOUP. For me, a challenge.

  21. Re 15d. To repeat a question that arose a couple of weeks ago (Chifonie 27,171), why does “girl” = G? In the previous discussion no-one could find an authority for this being a standard abbreviation.

  22. Didn’t enjoy this as much as the previous Qaos, but it was still stimulating enough. Liked the WARP LANE, totally missed the theme.

  23. I was fine with “cuddle vagrant” becoming “bum hug” – that’s how you’d make a new name for the activity of vagrant-cuddling if you needed one, by putting the noun first and the verb second (in the same way you can “bear hug”, but don’t “hug bear”.

    If the clue started “Spooner’s to view avian” you’d guess at bird-watch rather watch-bird (which I’ve just realised completely coincidentally gets us “word botch” as a rather appropriate homophonic answer).

  24. Good fun this one if slightly easier than some of Qaos’ offerings. Didn’t spot the theme so thanks to Petero for the belated smile.

  25. I liked most of this. I didn’t even look for a theme but I’d got the mints before I got MINT. Oh,and I notice I’ve written in EUROTOPIC rather than EURYTOPIC. I got delayed as a result of having WEDGWOOD MARK rather than WARE until ROCKETED put me right. I liked WARPLANE and HUMBUG- and I don’t see the problem with the latter. Mind you,I do like Spoonerisms.
    Thanks Qaos

  26. JimS @ 21 G = girl, as in GB = Girl’s Brigade? A “Christian” organisation operating in more than 60 countries, Wiki informs me.

  27. michelle @1

    The missing L has found its way home.

    James @8

    I think that MarkN @23 has countered your point successfully. Further, your objection assumes that a Spoonerism is the exchange of initial elements; Chambers would agree with you, but Wikipedia is more inclusive, and gives some examples where elements other than initial are exchanged.

  28. Thanks both; a sweet yet piquant offering – and no I didn’t spot the theme either.

    Not a lot to offer (but I loved bumhug – everyone should get one for Xmas) and wouldn’t have cracked my knuckles other than to point out (for what it’s worth)(and it’s not worth a lot) that the anagram indicator in 5d GYRATIONS is “trouble” and not “turns”, which is busy being the definition.

    While I’m at it: I don’t quite get why, of all the words and phrases that ALPHABET SOUP can be used to conjure, “a meal” is considered sufficient to unveil the artifice. I’ve never eaten it (or have I seen somewhere that it’s now acceptable to drink soup?) and I’d say it would be a slow course for the acrostician, each spoonful posing an edible conundrum, or not…

  29. Nothing to add, really. The backwards Spoonerism didn’t bother me, for the reasons suggested at by Mark @23. I did think the clue for ALPHABET SOUP was a little unfairly vague for a cryptic definition. In my case, though, I got APPLAUSE first based on the definition, and then reverse-engineered ALPHABET SOUP from there.

    I had to come here to learn the parsing of SLEDGES; I was certain it was some cricket knowledge I wasn’t in on, and I was right.

    Alphalpha @28: I’ve only eaten canned alphabet soup; it’s not terribly tasty. Of course: it’s a processed food, as what home cook would take the trouble to make tiny letter-shaped noodles?

  30. Gasmanjack @26: I agree you could use “Girls’ Brigade” to indicate GB, for example:

    “Girls’ Brigade follows trade union to a ramshackle vessel (7)”, for TUGBOAT.

    But is it fair to take one word from a standard abbreviation and use it on its own?

  31. Alphalpha @28

    I’m glad you queried “a meal” in 18a ALPHABET SOUP. My appreciation of this crossword started well with my first two (1a PEBBLES and 5a GLACIER), as they are the sort of clues that I strive to write in my own crosswords, but when I got to ALPHABET SOUP I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I’ve never seen such an arbitrary example of anything in my life! It works, because you might make “a meal” out of alphabet soup, but of course you might not: you might be served a dull helping with no vowels in it.

    Credit where it’s due, though: the surface reads well!

    There were many distinctive clues here, with cryptic grammar stretched more than I would be inclined to do, but I see the puzzle has generally gone down well, and I enjoyed it.

    Thanks to both Qaos and PeterO.

  32. As regards ALPHABET SOUP, one can buy the pasta and make the soup oneself. It is very unlikely that a normal serving for a child would not have enough vowels and consonants to make the words “a meal”, the letters are so tiny as mrpenney @29 points out.

  33. Enjoyable crossword as others said.
    Still, some debatable things here and there.
    Some mentioned G for ‘girl’ (which is not in my book of abbreviations but I will not start a discussion again on this topic) and the Spoonerism.
    Depends on what you mean by Spoonerism but I took it for granted after using my eyebrows.
    Personally, I don’t like ‘going East’ in 14ac, the order doesn’t really work for me but, true, it is justifiable.
    Similarly, I wasn’t keen on “Might they …” in 20d.
    I know what Qaos means and it was easy enough, however I think that ‘Might’ is somewhat out of place from a cryptic point of view.
    It could have been left out just as easily.
    It’s only there for the surface which for many solvers is a good enough reason.

    Lots of nice clues, though.
    With GLACIER and GYRATIONS heading the field, together with GREGORIAN (despite our ‘girl’).

    We all know that Qaos likes his ghost themes but today’s passed me/us by.

    Just one more thing, since nobody mentioned it.
    6d tells us that [bikin]I is covered in (TAN)* but I’m afraid that is not the case.
    It is covered by (TAN)* which doesn’t make sense in the surface, of course.
    Despite this [what I call ‘a mistake’] an all in all enjoyable puzzle, indeed somewhat easier than Qaos normally is.

    Many thanks to our setter and PeterO.

  34. Sil @33, I see what you mean about the bikini bottom, but “covered in” is correct, think of “covered in gravy”, it is quite likely that there will be no gravy under the meat.

  36. Well, what about “covered in paint”, one has blood inside – perhaps we are at cross-purposes? What about a cake “covered in icing”?

  37. Alphalpha @28

    It is at least worth my putting in the correction. Thanks for pointing it out.

    My capcha asks for seven x 6.

  38. I’m afraid that I agree with James at 8 and 9 except that I like anagrams. If the procedure suggested by MarkN at 23 is necessary I think it requires a step too far -first work out that “to cuddle vagrant” is to be interpreted as “vagrant-cuddle”, then to work out the Spoonerism. That said, until James pointed out the error this was one of my favourite clues. I doubt if anyone failed to solve it but that doesn’t excuse the error.
    Thanks to Qaos and PeterO

  39. Ah well, Cookie, I think I am pretty good in the English language nowadays.
    But at times there are things (like this) in which my intuition tells me something that, unfortunately, differs from how it is in real life.
    Mea culpa.
    However, my (English) crossword partner had the same feeling, actually straightaway.
    But let’s not make a huge point of it, it’s not worth it and certainly not my intention anyway.
    All fine by me now.

  40. Too late to add anything other than I enjoyed the puzzle, needed the blog to see the theme and parsing 2d and 26a and now need my sleep. Thank you Quos and PeterO.

  41. Pleasant enough puzzle.

    Just a late entry to point out that 19d appears to intend a Spoonerism of “BUM HUG” as opposed to “HUG BUM”. This does stretch the cryptic grammar a little as we have a noun phrase rather than the verb suggested by the wordplay. Obviously our illustrious Ed has deemed this OK in his meticulous checking of the puzzle! 😉

  42. Bit annoyed that the first one I was confident of turned out to be wrong. 21a – cut back had to be FLOG, reversed makes a ball game, GOLF. Ah well!

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