Guardian Cryptic 27,210 by Tramp

by

The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/27210.

Tramp puts out around one Guardian crossword a month, and they are generally worth waiting for, including this one. I filled the top half before making any headway on the bottom.

Across
1, 8 MORNING SICKNESS Trains in King’s Cross, men expecting disorder (7,8)
An anagram (‘trains’ – the s seems a little dubious) of ‘in King’s Cross men’.
5 COLUMNS Prisoners holding on to chimney stacks (7)
An envelope (‘holding on to’) of LUM (‘chimney’) in CONS (‘prisoners’).
9 ISSUE Lives with woman and children (5)
A charade of IS (‘lives’) plus SUE (‘woman’).
10 ENERGETIC Vital foreign talks to begin in Greece (9)
An anagram (‘foreign’) of T (‘Talks to begin’) plus ‘in Greece’. The last clue for me to parse, and I cannot say that I am wild about it.
11 EURYTHMICS Duo (English) playing intro to Miley Cyrus hit (10)
A charade of E (‘English’) plus URYTHMICS, an anagram (‘playing’) of M (‘intro to Miley’) plus ‘Cyrus hit’. The duo was English, but I do not think the definition extends beyond that.
12 CHIN Friend throwing a punch (4)
CHIN[a] (plate, rhyming slang, mate, ‘friend’) minus the A (‘throwing a’).
14 TERMINATIONS Running on time, trains making stops (12)
An anagram (‘running’) of ‘on time trains’.
18 IRONING BOARD Decreasing support in front of ground, club directors admit (7,5)
An envelope (‘admit’) of ‘in’ plus G (‘front of Ground’) in IRON (golf ‘club’) plus BOARD (‘directors’), with a cryptic definition.
21 EASE No Conservative to stop slide (4)
[c]EASE (‘stop’) minus the C (‘no Conservative’).
22 RESTAURANT Subway, perhaps, to let street atmosphere enter (10)
An envelope (‘to enter’) of ST (‘street’) plus AURA (‘atmosphere’) in RENT (‘let’).
25 ARGENTINA Male entering Iran, flying to a country (9)
A charade of ARGENTIN, an envelope (‘enterning’) of GENT (‘male’) in ARIN, an anagram (‘flying’) of ‘Iran’; plus ‘a’
26 COACH Train carriage (5)
Double definition.
27 LEGROOM Space for pins on back to fasten (7)
A charade of LEG (‘pins’ -plural? ‘on‘) plus ROOM, a reversal (‘on back’) of MOOR (‘to fasten’).
28 YUPPIES Right good drugs for pushy ’80s people (7)
A charade of YUP (‘right’ as an expression of agreement) plus PI (‘good’) plus ES (‘drugs’).
Down
1 MAIDEN Virgin crew help on board (6)
An envelope (‘on board’) of AID (‘help’) in MEN (‘crew’).
2 RESORT Spa break without men (6)
An envelope (‘without’) of OR (‘men’) in REST (‘break’).
3 IN EXTREMIS One following on motorway is nearly late (2,8)
A charade of I (‘one’) plus NEXT (‘following’) plus RE (‘on’) plus M (‘motorway’) plus ‘is’.
4 GLEAM Ray Winstone’s back into ’70s style (5)
An envelope (‘into’) of E (”WinstonE‘s back’) in GLAM (’70s style’). Ray Winstone is an actor, although I do not think that information is of much relevance to the clue.
5 CRESCENDO Climax from short clip describing key motive (9)
An envelope (‘describing’) of ESC (‘key’ on a computer keyboard) plus END (‘motive’) in CRO[p] (‘clip’) minus its last letter (‘short’).
6 LOGO Look fit for image (4)
A charade of LO (‘look’) plus GO (‘fit’).
7 MATCHBOX Where strikers go in game to strike? (8)
A charade of MATCH (‘game’) plus BOX (‘to strike’).
8   See 1 across
13 STIRRUP CUP Leaving drink in can to one side: winning prize (7,3)
A charade  of STIR (prison, ‘can’) plus R (right, ‘to one side’) plus UP (‘winning’) plus CUP (‘prize’).
15 MAGNESIUM Bottle containing tablets (iodine or another element) (9)
An envelope (‘containing’) of ES (‘tablets’ this time) plus I (chemical symbol, ‘iodine’) in MAGNUM (‘bottle’, a wine bottle size containing about 1.5l.)
16 FIREWALL Stimulate women with complete protection from infection (8)
A charade of FIRE (‘stimulate’) plus W (‘women’) plus ALL (‘complete’), for the computer software term.
17 GOOSEGOG Bird mostly sitting on egg, eating round berry (8)
A charade of GOOS[e] (‘bird’) minus its last letter (‘mostly’; of course, there follows a E in the answer, but that is clued separately) plus EGOG, an envelope (‘eating’) of O (’round’) in ‘egg’, for the common name for a gooseberry.
19 HAWAII Hot area to west — American islands? (6)
A charade of H (‘hot’) plus A (‘area’) plus W (‘west’) plus A (‘American’) plus I I (‘Islands’ -two of them to be precise), with an &lit definition.
20 ETCHES Is sick? Right going for cuts (6)
[r]ETCHES (‘is sick’) minus the R (‘right going’).
23 TEARY Upset with leaves on line (5)
A charade of TEA (‘leaves’) plus RY (railway ‘lines’).
24 INFO Current following old news (4)
A charade of IN (‘current’) plus F (‘following’) plus O (‘old’).
completed grid

64 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 27,210 by Tramp”

  1. Thanks to PeterO and to Tramp for another fun puzzle, with some wicked hidden definitions, which I solved after (finally) competing last Saturday’s prize!

    A couple of minor points: the definition for LEGROOM is “space for pins” with the LEG coming from “on”; the “winning” in STIRRUP CUP supplies the UP in the charade.

    I was held up for a while by entering “look” for 6dn, where OK seemed a better synonym for “fit”.

  2. I thought this was brilliant and very hard; largely because I struggled to determine which part of a couple of clues was the definition, so sneakily were they written!
    Putting in a lazy CHARY instead of TEARY didn’t help, either.
    Many thanks to Tramp and PeterO

  3. Thanks to PeterO for the (as usual) excellent blog and Tramp for a fun puzzle. I found it quite hard – probably due to attempting in quite early in the morning! On the other hand, there were several fine clues and “aha” moments! (-:

    I agree with NeilW about 27a and 13d. A minor point about 11a: Annie Lennox, one half of the Eurythmics is only “English” in the way that Andy Murray is “English”! (-; So you’re completely right that the “E” does not form part of the definition.

    With respect to 22a, I don’t often go into a Subway but I’m not sure I’d describe them as “restaurants”; I can’t see any other explanation, however, and so I’m sure your parsing is the intended one.

    A bit of a shame, perhaps, that Es had to be used twice (in 28a and 15d) but that’s probably me being unduly fussy.

    So a great start to the day; thanks again to blogger and setter!

  4. Thanks to PeterO. Re 5 down: a crescendo is not a climax but a process of getting louder, perhaps just from pianissimo to piano. The climax occurs when a crescendo, say to fortissimo or at least forte, has finished.

  5. On 7d, MATCHBOX: footballers generally go into the (penalty) BOX to strike, which adds a pleasing extra dimension. (They can strike from further out, but the ? at the end covers this.) As against this I had the same issue as Rick on 22ac – Subway hardly a ‘restaurant’ – and as Logomachist on 5d, crescendo not being definable as climax: this has surely come up before. And I’m always uneasy with the tactic noted by PeterO for 17d GOOSEGOG. Incomplete ‘goose’, but there it is in full nonetheless. The cluing does legitimise this, but it’s still awkward. Despite all this, it was a great puzzle overall, as often a nice Tuesday balance to Monday – thanks to both

  6. I think I got two answers on my first pass through the clues, so quite pleased to finish it without assistance of any kind.

    Like baerchen @2 I had a dalliance with CHARY instead of TEARY which slowed me down a bit. And I must get it into my thick skull that “men” can mean “other ranks” to give OR (for RESORT).

    Loved “decreasing support” as a definition for IRONING BOARD.

    Thanks Tramp and PeterO.

  7. Thanks, PeterO, for the blog and Tramp for another fun puzzle – great stuff! I echo baerchen’s first sentence.

    My particular favourite today was 1,8 – the clue, not the answer. 😉

  8. What an excellent puzzle, and thanks for the blog, PeterO.
    Logomachist@4 is absolutely right in distinguishing a crescendo from a climax, though I fear the battle is lost. However, it’s perhaps not quite so irritating if we think of both words as verbs. Musicians say ‘we crescendo at this point’, and ‘to climax’ can include the build-up process of getting there.
    Well, it soothes my inner pedant a bit, anyway.

  9. Yes, a great puzzle! I particularly enjoyed IRONING BOARD, MORNING SICKNESS, TEARY and LEGROOM. Oh, and EURYTHMICS (which I misspelt when I put it in, resulting in trouble with 3d). Many thanks to Tramp and PeterO.

  10. Some lovely clueing but I was totally flummoxed by the SW, missing 21a, 27a, 16d, 17d and 24d. I also failed to get TEARY at 23d – so obvious now!

    I agree with NeilW@1 – I thought LOOK might be the answer for 6d in a kind of double bluff – but then, entering LOOK for the answer when the same word was in the clue proved totally counter-intuitive.

    I have the same reservations as Rick@3 and quenbarrow@5 regarding the notion of Subway being a restaurant (22d).

    While I entered CUP quite confidently for 13d, STIRRUP was a total guess from the crossers and I still don’t get this clue. Would appreciate any enlightenment.

    Meanwhile I enjoyed solving 11a EURYTHMICS (so much talent which Miley Cyrus lacks!), 18a IRONING BOARD (as did Chris in France@6), and MATCHBOX 7d (with thanks to quenbarrow@5 for further elucidation).

    Thanks to Tramp and PeterO.

  11. Sorry, crossed posts with several others. And yes meant to say, now echoing Eileen@7 and drofle@9, that 1a, 8d MORNING SICKNESS, was great!

  12. Julie@10:

    I sympathize – I found 13d a tough one to crack.

    A “stirrup cup” is a “a cup of wine or other alcoholic drink offered to a person on horseback who is about to depart on a journey”; so the “Leaving drink” part of the clue is the definition.

    We then have STIR-R-UP-CUP.

    “Can” is another word for prison – as is “Stir”.

    “R” for “right” is “one side”.

    “Up” is “winning”.

    A “cup” is a “prize”.

    Hope that helps! (-:

  13. Thanks for the leg-up, Rick@12 (sorry trying to pun on stirrup). Your detailed explanation was very much appreciated.

  14. [I have communicated this sentiment to other UK friends, but I just want to say how much I have thought of all of you on the forum who will have been shocked and dismayed by the dreadful terrorist attack in Manchester. We have had a lot of coverage of this in Australia and despite my horror and disbelief, I have been so heartened by the stories of courage and support around the explosion, and the resilience of Mancunians and indeed all in Britain in its aftermath. I send you my sympathies as you struggle with the deep sadness and insecurity evoked by this terrible happening.]

  15. Super puzzle with excellent surfaces. Especially liked ‘expecting disorder’, ‘decreasing support’ and ‘space for pins’.

  16. Hi Julie. Yes, I forgot to add that I felt pretty stupid when I went back to 6dn for another “look”! Also sorry for my typo in my first comment (although it did feel like competing, I suppose!)

  17. Thanks Tramp and PeterO. I had the same experience of completing the top half with most of the bottom unsolved at first.

    Some lovely definitions as in MORNING SICKNESS, IRONING BOARD and LEGROOM.

    With respect to CRESCENDO, Chambers gives: ‘a climax (fig),’ so I guess that’s OK then.

  18. Thanks PeterO.

    Loved this, taking almost as long over CHIN, & HAWAII as the rest of the puzzle.

    Echo baerchen’s comment @2, beautifully concealed defs.

    I know “evening” is an old gag, but I love the idea of an IRONING BOARD being ‘decreasing support’.

    When will I ever learn to look for keyboard keys?! (ESC/ALT etc)

    Of all the strained difinitions we have endured here, the concept of Subway as a restaurant is a very extreme example.

    Superb offering, Tramp, many thanks.

    Off to the US for a week now, do they have cryptics there?

    Nice week, all.

  20. Thank you Tramp for a challenging puzzle that was very enjoyable, and PeterO for a helpful blog.

    I had not heard the word GOOSEGOG since I was a girl, but it came back immediately, they say as one gets older it is relatively easier to remember things from the distant past than from more recent events.

    The duo EURYTHMICS was new to me, but gettable from the clue, though I did wonder what had happened to the missing H – googling sorted that out.

    The clues for IRONING BOARD, LEGROOM, IN EXTREMIS and STIRRUP CUP were my favourites.

  21. I found this difficult and was very pleased with myself when I finished it. 🙂

    I am another one who put in CHARY at first before having a rethink.

    I was unable to parse 27a, 13d, and new word for me today was GOOSEGOG.

    Thanks Tramp and PeterO.

  22. Thanks to Peter O for parsing5d -and I can certainly live with the def.
    Pretty much echo baerchen’s thoughts. Master setting.

  23. NeilW @1

    27A LEGROOM and 13D STIRRUP CUP corrected – thanks, I was nodding.

    I too raised an eyebrow at Subway as a RESTAURANT, but did not comment after seeing the Wikipedia link that Robi @19 also points out – and I think our local branch does have a table if you want to eat there.

  24. Another ‘look’ for LOGO and ‘chary’ for TEARY which held me up for ages before I realised my mistakes. Yes, ‘Decreasing’ is an old chestnut but I still fell for it and had to solve laboriously from the wordplay. Guessed GOOSEGOG, and STIRRUP CUP went in unparsed. MORNING SICKNESS and IN EXTREMIS were my picks from many good clues.

    Hard but fun and definitely repaid the effort.

    Thank you to Tramp and PeterO

  25. ‘climax’ is from the Latin klimax ‘ladder’, and the COED gives 3 Rhet. a a series arranged in order of increasing importance etc.,
    I think that that should cover CRESCENDO, as does Robi’s @17 quote from Chambers: ‘a climax (fig),’ – I do not have Chambers, but perhaps fig. is alluding to the ‘ladder’ ?

  26. Entertaining and innovative as Tramp usually is. I always find him tricky and if anything I found this easier than they usually are, but maybe I was just on the right wavelength this morning.

    Thanks to Tramp and PeterO

  27. Thanks Tramp and Peter0. Good fun with some beautifully witty cluing.

    As an amateur musician, I too was unhappy with crescendo as a climax. Interestingly my battered and treasured 1972 Chambers only has “increasing in loudness”: by 2014 the climax definition had crept in. So clearly, as Roger @8 says, the battle is lost, though I shall never let the phrase “rising to a crescendo” pass my lips.

  28. Thanks to Tramp and PeterO. I too found this puzzle difficult but enjoyable. GOOSEGOG and EURHYTHMICS were new to me and I took a while before seeing the “yup” in YUPPIES. My LOI was ETCHES. As already pointed out, Subway in the US lists itself as a restaurant and even in London the outlets have two or three token places to sit down. As to berry nomenclature, a local variety in my neighborhood is scuppernong (sometimes made into a wine which I have yet to taste) – perhaps a term obscure enough for a prize puzzle.

  29. Great fun this with much head-scratching. 1a 8d was wife’s favourite, too. Didn’t like matchbox but we got it anyway. Thank to everyone.

  30. I agree with Logomachist et al about CRESCENDO. Chambers does include climax as a figurative definition, but just by prefixing “Approaching a”, Tramp could have stayed with the true meaning of the word.

  31. Thank you Tramp and thank you PeterO.

    Enjoyable puzzle with a few to make us smile. We were also guilty of putting CHARY in for 23d. That meant 22a was our LOI.

    Julie in Australia. Thanks for the comments about Manchester. We were in Manchester the day before which somehow makes it harder to understand.

  32. I liked this a lot. I didn’t-and don’t- object to Subway= RESTAURANT. I certainly had no trouble in getting the answer so I can’t say it’s a bad clue. I liked CHIN,EASE,LEGROOM,GOOSEGOG and MORNING SICKNESS.
    Most enjoyable.
    Thanks Tramp.

  33. A beginner writes – why does good = PI in 28a?
    Too tough for me, but did enjoy the dds when they were revealed!

  34. Ben @33

    One to remember, as it pops up quite often in cryptics: PI is short for pious – good, generally in a sneering sense.

  35. Pretty good puzzle here too. Agree on ‘crescendo’, but a small point that doesn’t distract much.

  36. I’ll be honest and admit I would never have completed this without Chambers’ most excellent assistance, and that some of the parsing escaped me, but very satisfying nonetheless. I particularly enjoyed EURYTHMICS – can there still be people out there to whom that was new ?

    I find myself wondering what some made of last Saturday’s offering, but we can’t discuss that yet !

  37. Will someone please explain the synonymy between “punch” and “chin”(12)? “Ease” and “slide”(21) are also a bit far-fetched. I say nothing about “yup” for “right”(28) because I got it from the crossers, but still…And I assume there is a restaurant called the Subway(22)?

    I’m all for clever and difficult clues, but they should be made difficult by clever wordplay, not dodgy definitions.

  38. Thanks PeterO for the super blog and thanks to others for the comments.

    I wrote this puzzle in December 2015.

    I agree with the comments about “crescendo”. However, I believe the figurative use of the term as a synonym for “climax” is supported by Chambers; as is the definition for “restaurant”. As I’ve said before, if it’s good enough for the lexicographers, it’s good enough for me.

    The double use of ES (tablets/drugs) was an oversight on my part. I rewrote the clue for YUPPIES at the last minute having forgotten that I’d already used this device in the clue for MAGNESIUM. It’s not a big deal though.

    Thanks

    Neil

  39. Eurythmics – Annie Lennox and David A. Stewart.

    As crossword fans you might feel that David A. Stewart was a Scottish Stewart, but being born in Sunderland he classifies as English. Lennox on the other hand is Scottish.

    Suggesting that they are English is 50% wrong – almost exactly the same percentage that wanted independence from Britain.

    The English don’t care either way about being called British or English. The Welsh and the Scottish are generally put out (and rightly so) for being called English.

    The clue is fine – but not simple – as the definition is Duo. English is used to parse into the solution.

    I saw the Eurythmics live in Bristol, almost the day after they had changed their name from The Tourist. They had potential and some of the set was excellent. And the rest is history.

  40. Unlike PeterO and Robi @17, I filled the bottom half before making any headway on the top.

    I live in the USA and occasionally eat at Subway, but I would not call Subway a restaurant. I would call it a sandwich shop.

    Thanks Tramp and PeterO/

  41. Rompiballe @37 – chin is slang – a verb meaning literally to punch someone on the chin. “He spilt my pint, so I chinned him”.

    As to ease and slide being synonyms – imagine you were a vet taking the temperature of a sick cat or dog. Either would describe the way you might carefully position your thermometer.

  42. After yesterday’s unexpected bonus of Pasquale and Rufus in the same edition of the paper, I found today’s a disappointment. Leaving aside the characteristically clunky surfaces which are a hallmark of this setter, there are just too many single-letter indicators. And this time there isn’t even the standard excuse available that it’s difficult to write elegant clues if the majority of them contain a common theme.

    I won’t repeat the criticisms expressed above concerning individual items, except to add a note to the blogger’s comment on 1a/8d. Maybe for reasons known only to himself, the setter had decided to include three references to “train(s)” in this particular set of clues but, frankly speaking, it’s a pretty hopeless anagind. Why not use “shunting”, for example, if seeking an item from the same semantic field?

  43. MarkN @ 41: You have reminded me that when I was a child we had a series of Danish au pair girls. One of them was ill, and my mother came towards her brandishing a thermometer offering to take her temperature. The au pair promptly exited stage left – apparently they place their thermometers elsewhere in Denmark.

  44. Thanks PeterO and Tramp.

    I found this not too difficult apart from COACH and ETCHES, my LTI.

    I detected a mini theme based around pregnancy, but as no one else has mentioned it, it must be my imagination (MORNING SICKNESS, TERMINATION, ISSUE, MAIDEN?)

  45. I thought this was very good from Tramp. Some of his recent puzzles have been a little too “libertarian” even for my taste! This was a cracker!

    Quite a lot of nonsense on here about a new meaning for crescendo sneaking up on us recently. The OED gives the lie to this. (And you can’t only blame the Yanks 😉 )

    crescendo
    …

    e.(orig. U.S.). The peak of an increase in volume, force, or intensity; a climax. Esp. in phr. to reach a crescendo.

    1925 F. S. Fitzgerald Great Gatsby iii. 68 The caterwauling horns had reached a crescendo and I turned away and cut across the lawn toward home.
    1939 P. G. Wodehouse Uncle Fred in Springtime iv. 54 The babble at the bar had risen to a sudden crescendo.
    1946 R.A.F. Jrnl. May 170 The crescendo came when more than sixteen hundred bombers battered the coastal defences.

  46. Thank you for all the parsing, but as a tired intermediate beginner (who completed Rufus yesterday) can somone explain how men = OR in 2d?

    Really struggled with this, but although I did not solve 4d really liked the clue.

  47. Thanks to setter and blogger.

    Not for me – too carunculated, as we used to say, but it seems to mean something else in the dictionary. Anyway, not for me.

  48. Simon@46

    OR=other ranks, which is to say not officers or non-commissioned officers (NCOs(who show up occasionally in their own right)). I think. And so other ranks are “men” as in “call the men to order”. Quite obscure these days.

  50. We were pleased to finish a Tramp – and post before midnight! I was another top half done with little below. Favourites were the same as others with IRONING BOARD being the best for me and the great definition in 1,8. I was about to give up on 20d thinking I don’t know a word _T_H_S when ITCHES came to mind which led to ETCHES. Thanks to Tramp for the puzzle and blog contribution and to PeterO for the blog.
    Simon – OR = Other Ranks = men. It crops up quite frequently and took me about a year to get it into my brain!

  52. Sorry to correct you, Cookie, (this is my first post so you can tell I can’t let it pass) but “klimax” is a Greek word, not a Latin word. In fact the Romans didn’t have the letter K except in a tiny handful of words – Kalends (first day of the month) and Karthago (Carthage) is about it.

  53. Sorry, forgot to say: thanks, Tramp, for a brilliant though very hard puzzle. I finished it ok but not till this morning; I loved 1,8 and 18, amongst many others.

  54. God bless you, Mr T!

    I echo beeryhiker to the word (of all the 225 commenters, it’s usually beery with whom I most agree). Unlike others, I found this quite an easy solve and Tramp’s definitions, which some here consider convoluted, quite delightful. I disagree with all the negative comments, as I often do I’m afraid. The only inelegance was the repetition of ‘Es’, which T has explained, and the double “goos”. Were puzzles perfect (and this one wasn’t far off IMHO) we might think the setters weren’t trying…!
    (If CRESCENDO were defined literally, say with a foregoing “rising to”, or “approaching a” as copland smith @30 suggests, the clue would be a write-in; thank goodness the dictionaries have moved on! I’ve never visited a SUBWAY but have seen, and know, people who derive ‘restoration’ there. Chambers confirms that there’s no need of tables, just that food is available).

    I ticked five (my most for 2017 I think) – MORNING SICKNESS, CHIN, MATCHBOX, TEARY and HAWAII.

    A joyful solve.

    God bless you, Mr T!

  55. Peter O – Apologies for oversight; thank you for your continued sterling work. I’m sure our bloggers are Crosswordland’s unsung heroes; how many beginners are helped along their way by them I wonder? If you help to make just one person addicted then your work has not been wasted – quite apart from all those put out of their mysteries!
    Though, with respect, I disagree with your view of 10ac – a fine clue in my opinion.

  56. William F P @54
    I find I often agree with your comments, but I cannot agree with your use of the label ‘negative’ to describe comments that you disagree with. Just saying you disagree with them would have been sufficient.
    I take it your paragraph in parentheses gave us an indication of where your disagreements lie. Looking back over some of the comments in question (seven of them, in fact, about the clue to CRESCENDO), there is not a negative commment in sight. The words ‘not’ and ‘never’ were used, but they were needed (in context) to express opinions that were opposite to yours but just as valid.
    I just think that describing opposing views as negative or nonsense is not helpful.

  57. William FP ‘ticks’ clues like a teacher! So funny. He has the authority, you see. So as you may guess I enjoyed the mild chastisement Alan B’s comment later offered.

    Just for ex 10A is not ‘a fine clue’ for me, I’ll say, as I don’t see how ‘talks to begin’ can mean T. It’s one of those convolutions allowed to get a surface. We could have had ‘Tsipras initially’ or something, for sure!

    He WAS in Greece, wasn’t he?

  58. Alan B @57
    I completely agree that the comments about CRESCENDO, and SUBWAY (mostly), were not negative. This is precisely why my thoughts on these words were in parentheses.
    I was referring to negative comments such as:
    “I’m all for clever and difficult clues, but they should be made difficult by clever wordplay not dodgy definitions”
    “characteristically clunky surfaces…”
    “too carunculated [sic]”
    “of all the strained definitions we have here…”

    I’m saddened that my comment was misunderstood by you. I tend to comment when I’ve particularly enjoyed a puzzle and will defend a setter against comments that I consider unfair.
    Selfishly, I am safeguarding my future enjoyment. I would hate Tramp to ‘simplify’ his definitions.

  59. NHS @57 (sorry Alan – you’re @56!)

    It is not unusual for commenters here to award ticks for clues they’ve particularly enjoyed; it is not a sign of approval as you describe. I hope you will now agree that there was nothing haughty about my comment whatsoever.
    If you read my response to Alan B, I hope you will also agree that support for a masterful setter (in my opinion) is not deserving of chastisement, mild or otherwise.
    Saddened, and hurt – unfairly.

  60. William F P @58

    I appreciate your measured and polite response to my earlier comment. I must admit I did associate your phrase ‘negative comments’ with specific comments on CRESCENDO and SUBWAY posted further up the page (all of which were positively written criticisms). On looking again at your comment @58 I feel justified in having made that association, but now that you have made it clear that you were actually referring to comments making general criticisms of the puzzle I am sorry that I misunderstood you.

    I didn’t post my own thoughts on this crossword as I found that it had all been said before I even started it. It was a cracker, and I enjoyed it. I have a view on CRESCENDO myself, having seen it used in the modern way much more in journalism than anywhere else, but, again, that view has been articulated very well already.

  62. I’m feeling uncharacteristically dogmatic about 5D. No musician would ever equate a crescendo with a climax. It would be like a climber equating an ascent with the peak itself.

  64. Ho,ho, well spotted pommiebob! I personally don’t have a problem with climax/crescendo, but all the discussion has been most amusing…
    I was surprised and delighted to see goosegog come up, having always believed it was one of my dad’s made-up words used only by my family. Was very surprised, when googling on it, to see that it is indeed a widely acknowledged genuine word! I too loved ironing board and morning sickness…

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