Guardian 27,228 – Arachne

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I was planning to start this blog by saying “it’s been a while since I blogged an Arachne puzzle”, and then found that that was exactly what I said when I last did so just over a year ago. I can also repeat the second part of my preamble: ‘but this was worth the wait, with clever clueing and characteristic wit’.

Copper and coppers appear in various guises in many of the clues, but there doesn’t seem to be any particular theme beyond that. Thanks to Arachne. Now, how can I get out of this heat?

 
 
 
 
Across
1. CORNCOB Pipe band’s leader chasing sailors, wearing Chanel (7)
RN in COCO (Chanel) + B[and]
5. TWIDDLE Rotate teepee (7)
Lift-and-separate: teepee = tee + pee = T + WIDDLE
9. UNPEN Nancy’s one swan is set free (5)
UN (‘one’ in French, e.g. in Nancy) + PEN (female swan)
10. BOULEVARD Bouncy, half-cut barman turns and departs for walk (9)
BOU[ncy] + reverse of RAVEL (composer or ‘bar-man’) + D[eparts]
11. BETA RHYTHM Gamble with a contraceptive method? A brainwave! (4,6)
BET + A + RHYTHM [method, as recommended by the Catholic church for contraception]
12. ORZO Every so often go crazy over pasta (4)
Alternate letters of gO cRaZy, plus O. Orzo (Italian for barley) is a kind of pasta that looks like grains of rice
14. RADIOCARBON Cairo-born criminal ringing commercial dating agency (11)
AD in (CAIRO BORN)*
18. SMALL CHANGE Coppers slam heartless order to leave train (5,6)
S[la]M + ALL CHANGE (order to leave a train)
21. TACT One ignored unspoken diplomacy (4)
TACIT less I – I think I’ve seen this contruction a few times
22. ADULTEROUS Cheating outrageously at ludo, Sue is probed by copper at last (10)
[coppe]R in (AT LUDO SUE)*
25. REDUNDANT Twisted and turned more than needed (9)
(AND TURNED)*
26. AORTA Either end of ancient American vessel (5)
A OR T (either end of AncienT) + A
27. COSTIVE Struggling to evacuate county town of Cornwall, briefly (7)
CO[unty] + ST IVE[S] – it means ‘constipated’
28. OBSCENE Having lost perp stupidly, poor copper’s been blue (7)
(COPPER’S BEEN)* less PERP*
Down
1. CRUMBS Lord Copper edging closer to junior doctors (6)
Last letter or “closer” of junioR in CU + MBS (doctors), with Lord! as an interjection as the definition. Not that it’s relevant, but Lord Copper is the newspaper proprietor in Evelyn Waugh’s Scoop, whose flunkeys never dare say no to him, just “up to a point, Lord Copper”
2. REPUTE Standing on couch with foot in bandage (6)
RE (on) + PUT (couch, meaning to put in particular words) + [bandag]E
3. CONTRARILY Result of flying high over River Wye, reportedly in reverse direction (10)
R in CONTRAIL (condensation trail – the cloud-like lines left by aircrat, and the subject of some mad conspiracy theories about how the government is poisoning us) + Y (‘Wye’)
4. BOBBY Barnet lad discontented copper (5)
BOB (hairstyle – rhyming slang Barnet [Fair]) + B[o]Y
5. TOUCH DOWN Land or borough in Holland for Spooner (5,4)
Spoonerism of ‘Dutch town’
6. IBEX Regularly nibble and kiss horny mountaineer (4)
ALternate letters of nIbBlE + X
7. DIATRIBE Starts to denounce inequality and social division in rant (8)
D[enounce] I[nequality] A[nd] + TRIBE
8. END TO END In row D? (3,2,3)
D is the last letter or, or END TO, END
13. BASE METALS Group including copper and bishop run down hill backwards (4,6)
B + reverse of SLATE MESA
15. DEHYDRATE Dry-eyed husband angrily stifling curses (9)
Another lift-and-separate, though helped by the hyphen : DRAT (curses!) in (EYED H)*
16. ESOTERIC Obscure boozer between centre of Cleveleys and Morecambe? (8)
SOT (drunkard, boozer) in [Clev]e[leys] + ERIC (Morecambe, entertainer)
17. BARCODES Nipper picked up poems and scanned lines (8)
Reverse of CRAB (nipper) + ODES
19. COARSE Crude paddles in dugout canoe (6)
OARS in C[ano]E
20. ESTATE Test a Tesla stock car (6)
Hidden in (or part of the ‘stock’ of) tEST A TEsla
23. LOTTO Club finally lost extremely tight game (5)
BLOTTO (very drunk, ‘extremely tight’) less [clu]B
24. ANTI Opposed to social worker removing kids from Sid (4)
ANT (social worker – this used to be a very common indication, but I don’t remember seeing it lately) + SID less S[on] and D[aughter]

34 comments on “Guardian 27,228 – Arachne”

  2. I agree with copmus@1 (fellow Queenslander) and Andrew.

    This was a lovely puzzle which was hard in places but gave me a lot of satisfaction in the solve. I always feel I am going to be in the thrall of a great setter when I see it’s an Arachne puzzle, and my heart gives a little leap of anticipation as I begin.

    Thanks Andrew for helping me parse 2d REPUTE (did not see that meaning of “couch”), 3D CONTRARILY (have not heard the term “contrail” for the condensation phenomenon before) and 4d BOBBY (although I think I have seen that rhyming slang for “Barnet fair”/”hair”before). I also think we have had 27a COSTIVE in a puzzle not so long ago, but that was ceertainly a clever clue in this one.

    Favourites among many were 5a TWIDDLE, 22a ADULTEROUS, 1d CRUMBS, 7d DIATRIBE, and 13d BASE METALS (for its additional allusion to the copper theme).

    Many thanks to Arachne for her delicate touch with the theme and in the exquisite clueing.

    [Heat? What heat? 26 degrees here in Oz, and it’s winter!]

  4. Thanks Arachne and Andrew

    Not difficult, but a sheer delight to solve. I needed your parsings for REPUTE, CONTRARILY and LOTTO, though ( I was trying to construct the latter from extremely TighT etc. but it wouldn’t come!)

    So many favourites I’ll just list the numbers: 5a, 18a, 26a, 27a, 4d, 5d, 15d, 16d, 17d and 18d. (Special mention for TOUCH DOWN – I don’t generally like Spooner clues, but this was delightful!)

    I thought 28a was a bit clumsy for an Arachne; does “perp” actually mean anything?

    “Group” has a specialist meaning in the elements, and “base metals” aren’t one.

  6. Muffin: ‘perp’ is a fairly common (mainly American, I think) abbreviation of ‘perpetrator’, i.e. criminal, suspect etc, so it fits well with the theme (though ‘copper’, as opposed to ‘cop’, is mostly a British usage).

    ‘Group’ may have a specialist meaning, but it also has a non-technical one (which came first), so I don’t see any objection to its use.

  8. Thanks, Andrew.

    What a delight! – I chortled all the way through. Wonderfully witty misdirection in the definitions [dating agency, horny mountaineer, scanned lines etc…] and lovely story-telling surfaces throughout, as always, with too many favourites to list.

    Arachne on top form – many thanks!

  9. Totally agree with you, Eileen. Arachne is sheer delight. However difficult she may be at times, there is always that touch of levity and impish humour to lift the spirits.

  10. Simply the best. As Copmus @1 says, “a masterclass in setting”.

    Too many ticks to itemise but perhaps END TO END takes top spot.

    The mental image of a bishop and a policeman running backwards downhill still has me chuckling.

    Failed to parse a few including REPUTE & ANTI but who can preempt Arachne’s wiles and guile.

    Brava, Spider-Lady, more please.

    Nice week, all.

  11. Just echoing what others have said, I think.

    So much to enjoy: TWIDDLE, RADIOCARBON, TOUCH-DOWN, END-TO-END, ESOTERIC and BARCODES were the highlights.

    LOI was BASE-METALS once I finally twigged what the definition was.

    Thanks, Arachne and Andrew.

  12. She’s the best but doesn’t appear often enough. Don’t see what stupidly is doing in 28a though.

  13. rewolf@12 stupidly is an anagram indicator for perp, since the letters don’t appear in that order

    Absolutely delightful!

    Thanks Andrew for PUT and CONTRAIL and the parsing of LOTTO

    stand out clues for me were TWIDDLE, COSTIVE (which I had to look up), ORZO, IBEX, END TO END but the whole thing was brilliant.

    Many thanks Arachne

  14. I thoroughly enjoyed this. It was, as others have said, an excellent puzzle. There were many witty clues and it wasn’t too difficult.

    For me, though, there was a very personal dimension that added to the fun. I was born and brought up in Cleveleys (see 16) and was known as BOBBY (see 4) as a child. Spookily, (see 4 again) my wife was born in Barnet.

    Thanks a lot, Arachne. A great start to the day!

  15. What can I add?! Couldn’t parse a couple, but so many brilliant clues: ESOTERIC, BETA RHYTHM, RADIOCARBON, TWIDDLE, etc etc. Many thanks to A and A.

  16. A superb puzzle, even though – very frustratingly – I failed to solve COSTIVE and BASE METALS despite having all the crossers. Too many excellent clues to list but my personal favourites were SMALL CHANGE, TWIDDLE and END-TO-END. TOUCH DOWN also made me smilee. Thanks to Arachne and Andrew.

  17. Thank you Arachne and Andrew.

    A lovely puzzle, great fun, too many favourites to list. I thought “In row D” had something to do with “Death Row”, END TO END – perhaps I am being thick and that is what the blog implies?

  18. Thanks Arachne and Andrew.

    Very entertaining solve; I thought to rotate teepee one got PT., which slowed me for a while!

    Lots of great clues; I particularly liked TWIDDLE, END TO END and REPUTE as well as the splendid TOUCH DOWN Spoonerism – this type of clue is obviously much preferred when the Spooner’s phrase actually means something concrete.

  19. I’m not sure why the copper thing is bothered with here. Is there some significance to it? Seems rather peripheral, to say the least.

    I’m not a fan of things like ‘teepee’ equals T plus WIDDLE, but while The Guardian allows it we must put up with it. The rest of this was up to Arachne’s usual high standard. ‘In row D?’ is the stand-out one for me.

  20. Struggled with this one and failed in the end, but a great challenge with lots of “aha” moments reading this blog. However, with a “perfect-use” failure rate of about 10% per year, I would argue that the rhythm method is hardly synonymous with contraception.

  21. I always enjoy Arachne, but I found this one pretty tough, and must admit to using check a few times in order to finish it. BASE METALS was last in. Favourites were RADIOCARBON and TWIDDLE. BETA RHYTHM and ORZO were new to me.

    Thanks to Arachne and Andrew

  22. I thought I knew lots of varieties of pasta (I eat enough of it after all, as my waistline testifies!), but ORZO escaped me. I only know a few words of Italian, but perhaps if I’d remembered that the very similar word ORGE is French for ‘barley’ I might have got it in the end. Alas! I had to come here for the answer.

    The rest of the puzzle – a real humdinger from Arachne – fell into place in due course. But not after hours of head-scratching (has this affected my beta-rhythms?)

  23. Thanks to Arachne and Andrew. I needed help parsing CRUMBS, REPUTE, and BOBBY, but I did finish and much enjoyed the process.

  24. Thanks Arachne and Andrew

    Excellent puzzle

    muffin @ 4/5: in construction in the UK, ‘perp’ also refers to the vertical joint between bricks or blocks, which, instead of mortar, can also be filled by a ‘perp vent’ to allow the passage of air. Here endeth today’s contribution.

  25. Many thanks to Arachne for the usual delightfully witty and fun offering, and Andrew for the blog.

    I started my career as an archaeologist, so loved 14 across. And 5ac made me laugh out loud.

    FirmlyDirac @ 22 – orzo is an Ottolenghi favourite, which is how I knew it. I assume by the way that the second half of your name had particularly active 11ac’s …

    … which reminded me of the joke: “What do you call practitioners of the rhythm method? Parents”.

  26. What a treat – my remarks would be almost the same as Eileen’s (what’s new there?) but I just like to point out that I’ve never cheated at Ludo 😉

  27. All said, really. Favourites today were COSTIVE and RADIOCARBON, the latter being particularly misleading. Some good science-based clues elsewhere too, which I always appreciate from this setter.

    Brava, Spiderwoman, and thanks to Andrew for the blog (needed you for a couple of parsings).

  28. I agree very much with BH@21. BASE METALS took me ages partly,I suspect, because I got fixated by the “group” part of the clue and wanted the group to be FACES.Ah well!
    I thought this well up to Arachne’s high standard. Unfortunately I made the great mistake of taking my dog for a long walk this morning and returned absolutely frazzled. It may not be hot by Australian standards but it’s more than enough for me- and I think this affected my solving ability.
    Thanks Arachne

  29. A bit late, but just had to join with the rest in expressing appreciation for this. My favourites were “twiddle”, “radiocarbon” & “costive”.

    Many thanks to Arachne for the entertaining challenge & to Andrew for the blog.

  30. Tricksy wordplay and left-field definitions – these are things I love in a good crossword. Add some meaningful/witty surfaces and everyone’s happy!
    As usual, Arachne has provided the above….my heartfelt thanks.

    Many thanks to Andrew also – I was unable to find “orzo” postsolve (too hot to reach for larger, or Italian, dictionaries and it’s not in my “at hand” Chambers) so grateful for your confirmation.

  31. I once heard a recording of a music hall comedian making play with the expression “costive bound” which he was affecting to hear as “cost five pounds”. For the joke to have worked, the word “costive” must have been widely known and understood at that time. Those poor Victorians, subjected to a stodgy diet and martyrs to their bowels….

  32. [My wife does a lovely pasta salad with orzo, rocket and parmesan cheese. I do much of the cooking in this house, but that is one of her specialities….]

  33. In 28a why do we have two indicators – stupidly and poor – this just doesn’t make sense to me.

  34. Eric @33
    I think this was answered before, but it’s because an anagram of “perp” is removed from the anagram fodder, not “perp” itself.

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