The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/27300.
Thank you, Arachne, for a puzzle squarely in my Goldilocks zone: witty, amusing, thoroughly enjoyable and enough of a challenge to satisfy me without having to work overtime on the blog.
| Across | ||
| 1 | PANACHE | Sleep around with desire and brio (7) |
| A charade of PAN, a reversal (‘around’) of NAP (‘sleep’) plus ACHE (‘desire’). | ||
| 5 | CONDOM | Way to stop issue of May’s leadership dogging Tory Party (6) |
| A charade of CON (‘Tory’) plus DO (‘party’) plus M (‘May’s leadership’). | ||
| 9 | LAUDANUM | Numbers following inverse of a binary number (8) |
| A charade pf LAUDA, a reversal (‘inverse’) of ‘a’ plus DUAL (‘binary’); plus NUM (‘numbers’). | ||
| 10 | VIRGIN | Never touched alcohol after six, right? (6) |
| A charade of VI (Roman numeral, ‘six’) plus R (‘right’) plus GIN (‘alcohol’). | ||
| 12 | STEPBROTHERS | Herbert’s post about marital relations (12) |
| An anagram (‘about’) of ‘Herbert’s post’. | ||
| 15 | ASSISTANCE | Help fool individual with attitude (10) |
| A charade of ASS (‘fool’) plus I (one, ‘individual’) plus STANCE (‘attitude’). | ||
| 17 | NOR | Neither of half-cut dons nursed regrets at first (3) |
| A charade of NO, an anagram (‘nursed’?) of NO (‘half-cut dONs’) plus R (‘Regrets at first’). | ||
| 19 | TAR | Viscous liquid from tea urn regularly discarded (3) |
| Alternate letters (‘regularly discarded’) of ‘TeA uRn’. | ||
| 20 | CODSWALLOP | Fake concession over Trump pledge is nonsense (10) |
| An envelope (‘over’) of WALL (between the US and Mexico, ‘Trump pledge’) in COD (‘fake’) plus SOP (‘concession’). | ||
| 22 | INCANDESCENT | Dazzling South American pedigree (12) |
| A charade of INCAN DESCENT (‘South American pedigree’). | ||
| 26 | UPSHOT | Harry Hotspur runs away in sequel (6) |
| An anagram (‘harry’) of ‘Hotspu[r]’ minus the R (‘runs away’). | ||
| 27 | JET BLACK | Fly home over lake the colour of coal (3,5) |
| An envelope (‘over’) of L (‘lake’) in JET BACK (‘fly home’). | ||
| 28 | ENDING | Putting a stop to what dog and pig do? (6) |
| ‘DoG‘ and ‘piG‘ both END IN G. | ||
| 29 | SLEIGHT | Cunning in emptying small cube (7) |
| A charade of SL (’emptying SmalL‘) plus EIGHT (‘cube’ of two). | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | PALS | Chums from make-up counter (4) |
| A reversal (‘counter’) of SLAP (‘make-up’ originally theatrical). | ||
| 2 | NOUS | Students possessing zero common sense (4) |
| An envelope (‘possessing’) of O (‘zero’) in NUS (National Union of ‘Students’). | ||
| 3 | CHASTISE | Carpet is covered in 10 (8) |
| An envelope (‘covered in’) of ‘is’ in CHASTE (’10’ VIRGIN). | ||
| 4 | EQUIP | Fit of pique when teased (5) |
| An anagram (‘when teased’) of ‘pique’. Simple and very effective. | ||
| 6 | OPIATE | It makes dull dystopia temporarily entertaining (6) |
| A hidden answer (‘entertaining’) in ‘distOPIA TEmporarily’, perhaps with an extended definition? | ||
| 7 | DOG KENNELS | Accommodation for best friends of daughter with freakishly long knees (3,7) |
| A charade of D (‘daughter’) plus OGKENNELS, an anagram (‘freakishly’) of ‘long knees’. | ||
| 8 | MANUSCRIPT | Handwritten letter in old lady’s vault read out loud (10) |
| An envelope (‘in’) of NU (Greek ‘letter’) in MA’S (‘old lady’s’) plus CRIPT, which sounds like (‘read out loud’) CRYPT (‘vault’). | ||
| 11 | FRACAS | Barney initially astonished to be constricted by revolting boa? (6) |
| An envelope (‘to be constricted by’) of A (the second one, ‘initially Astonished’) in FRACS, a reversal (‘revolting’) of SCARF (‘boa’). | ||
| 13 | LAST-MINUTE | Abusing stimulant drug just before deadline (4-6) |
| An anagram (‘abusing’) of ‘stimulant’ plus E (‘drug’). | ||
| 14 | OSTRACISED | Nearly all bigotry, regardless of masses, edited or cut (10) |
| [m]OST RACIS[m] (‘nearly all bigotry’) minus MM (‘regardless of masses’) plus ED (‘edited’). | ||
| 16 | AWOKEN | Stirred pan in tavern every so often (6) |
| An envelope (‘in’) of WOK (‘pan’) in AEN (‘tAvErN every so often’). | ||
| 18 | WANNABEE | Aspirant wife Annabel Lee cutting cloth (8) |
| A charade of W (‘wife’) plus ‘Annab[el L]ee’ minus ELL (‘cutting cloth’; an ell is a length of cloth). | ||
| 21 | UNBORN | Letters from Bruno sorted before noon and awaiting delivery (6) |
| A charade of UNBOR, an anagram (‘letters from … sorted’) of ‘Bruno’ plus N (‘noon’). | ||
| 23 | CHESS | The Mating Game in black and white (5) |
| Cryptic definition. | ||
| 24 | TANG | Pungent smell from flyover (4) |
| A reversal (‘-over’) of GNAT (‘fly-‘). | ||
| 25 | SKIT | Start to stow gear for take-off (4) |
| A charade of S (‘start to Stow’) plus KIT (‘gear’). | ||
Loved it. Lots of fun. So many favourites. 5a CONDOM, 10a VIRGIN, 3D CHASTISE, and the “marital relations” at 12a all raised a smile. Clever little linksbuilt into this puzzle.
LOI 9a LAUDANUM (linking to 6d OPIATE?) took me forever to see, even though I have been caught out time and again by the old anaesthetise/Number trick.
Is there a hint of a LAP being a counter in 1d or am I barking up the wrong tree? I understand the link with SLAPstick but just don’t get the counter bit.
Huge thanks to Arachne and PeterO.
Doh; just as I pressed Submit Comment, I twigged that “counter” is the reversal indicator in 1d!
I loved this puzzle. My favourites were CODSWALLOP, INCANDESCENT, DOG KENNELS, CONDOM, FRACAS.
Needed some help to fully parse MANUSCRIPT (only understood the “crypt” bit) as well as 1d and 29a (could not see 2 cubed = 8), as well as 28a.
Thanks Arachne and PeterO.
I believe 17 is O (“of” half-cut) inside (dons) NR (“nursed regrets” at first).
Thanks Arachne and PeterO!
I parsed it as Peter had but I think you are absolutely right Steve. But what a puzzle eh?
The very topical humour of 5a and the incredible disguise of 4d and just so many other 5star clues are gems to treasure. Arachne, Chapeau !
Possibly the easiest Arachne yet, but as always a very nice puzzle – my favourite was CHESS, which would have been a write-in in a Rufus puzzle but caught me out because I was looking for something more complicated.
Thanks to Arachne and PeterO
7a brilliant. clue of the month for me.
Thanks, PeterO.
Lovely puzzle! So many great clues but, if I had my arm twisted for top three, I think I’d go for 5 and 10 ac and 21dn.
Many thanks, as ever, to Arachne for a 22ac start to the day. [And the sun’s shining, too. 😉 ]
Not too difficult, but a very pleasing solve this morning. Thanks, Arachne!
I’m with Beery Hiker above. I’m always pleased to see Arachne but this was a little too undemanding this time. Over too quickly. Good clues though.
Great puzzle – although, as Beery Hiker and Rewolf say, possibly the easiest Arachne ever! All over too quickly. Favourites were LAUDANUM, CODSWALLOP, WANNABEE and FRACAS. Many thanks to Arachne and PeterO.
Definitely over far too quickly but what fun
Thanks to Arachne and PeterO
Chef d’oeuvre!
Absolutely wonderful – every clue a joy and some just brilliant! I had to do the puzzle when I saw it was Arachne.
Many thanks Arachne and PeterO for the early post, also thanks Steve B@4 – I was confused about NOR.
Thanks both. Great stuff, only NOR worried me (an anagram of just 2 letters?) but SteveB @4 has nailed that one for me
An object lesson in puzzle setting. And with a bit of sex and drugs thrown in, what’s not to like?
Arachne as good as ever – I agree with Trailman@16 – and thanks to SteveB@4 – that was the one I couldn’t see how to parse, either. I;d also biffed 13dn, so thanks PeterO for showing me the anagram.
I too agree with Trailman@16. The “over too quickly” comments from others strike me as slightly masochistic. It’s always a moment of achievement when I manage to finish one of these blighters, the puzzles I mean, not the setters, so if it’s done quickly for me it’s all the more satisfying.
Many thanks to Arachne and PeterO.
Thanks Arachne for another great puzzle.
Thanks PeterO for a good blog and Steve B for parsing NOR.
What a priceless clue for CONDOM! Many other excellent clues also. LAUDANUM was my LOI.
Isn’t ELL more of a cloth measure rather than the cloth itself?
Thank you Arachne and PeterO.
What a fun puzzle, so well clued, lovely surfaces. My favourites were EQUIP, PALS, TANG and SKIT, but I could make a very long list…
Thanks both,
This was most enjoyable. I had ‘laudamus’ for 9a parsed as ‘sum a dual’ reversed and definition as ‘number’ on the grounds that the laudamus is usually short for one of the numbers in a choral mass.
Thanks to Arachne and PeterO. I agree, great fun. I missed the “ell” removal in WANNABEE but for a change managed to parse everything else, though it took me a while to get FRACAS.
Good fun and definitely gentle for Arachne. Lots to like as have been cited – I’ll give my douze points to Incan descent. Did anyone else think 18d was a bit clunky? Unless Annabel Lee is someone I should have heard of it seems somewhat random to come up with this name take a bit of cloth out of to clue WANNABEE.
Nice to pass an hour in bright sunshine with a sparkling puzzle – thanks Arachne and PeterO.
I echo PeterO’s comments and those of nearly everyone else in saying what a top-class puzzle this was. I remember thinking (and commenting) on the last Arachne crossword I completed that it was technically excellent but felt like completing an exam paper. This one, however, had it all, and along with the exemplary clueing were the clever misdirections and the wit.
My first three in were my favourites: 5a CONDOM, 9a LAUDANUM and 22a INCANDESCENT; but I could highlight many more.
Many thanks to Arachne and PeterO.
Hi Whiteking @23 – how about this? https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44885/annabel-lee [No, I hadn’t either, but I always look up proper names when they appear in crosswords. 😉 ]
LAUDANUM was my out-and-out favorite for sheer stylishness. It was almost my LOI though. I also loved CODSWALLOP for the Trump pledge and UPSHOT for the Hotspur reference.
We probably read more Poe in school in the US, so I recognized Annabel Lee. I don’t recognize “ell” as cloth, though; I agree with Robi @19.
Oh — and I’ve never seen WANNABEE spelled with two E’s before.
Many thanks to Arachne and Peter0
As others have said, on the gentler end of Arachne’s spectrum, but nonetheless hugely enjoyable, and it meant I could get on with all the other things I had to do today.
Favourite was 6ac – May is proving to be a gift for setters, if not for the country.
22ac reminded me of one of my favourite Araucaria clues: “Furious about Peruvian ancestry”.
Had guessed 9ac as laudanum but don’t understand the numbers reference. Looks like this might be a common trick – can anyone enlighten?
‘Ell’ was new to me too, and I couldn’t quite parse the ‘Manus’ bit of 8d- as not much of a football fan, I wondered if Old Lady was some sort of nickname for Manchester United players/supporters …
Hugely enjoyable solve all round though
bobloblaw @ 29
When you see ‘number’ in a clue, more often that it refers to an anaesthetic or something that ‘numbs’ you. One to file away for future reference
FRACAS was LOI but nothing was especially difficult in this rather good puzzle. Hard to pick favourites but CONDOM made me smile.
Thanks Arachne.
Pleasure to agree with everyone and a sheer pleasure to solve. Brief, witty clues – accessible but not too easy – with glistening surfaces and no recourse to arcane knowledge.
And of course plenty of sex, a smattering of drugs and rock’n’roll available on the 23d label.
@29
I think Num. is the standard abbreviation for the book of the bible Numbers (so it can stand for Numbers but not for number – note how Arachne has also cleverly retained the capital N by having it at the beginning of the clue).
Thanks Eileen@25 and Valentine@26. As usual the deficiency is mine not the setter’s – although I still think it’s a bit clunky. And thanks to Marienkaefer@28 for reprising Araucaria’s version of incandescent – has everything been done before somewhere?
And I’m pleased that at last “number” has become a device I spot before going down the more obvious rabbit holes – progress :-).
Miss Annabell Lee was also the name of a song made popular by Frank Sinatra and others. It began ‘ who’s wonderful, who’s marvellous, Miss Annabelle Lee’ etc.
Buddy@32 – exactly!
Many thanks, Arachne, as always. And PeterO too of course.
Another delightful puzzle from Arachne! Sparkling surfaces, clever wordplay, and a few chuckle-inducing PDMs. Like Valentine @26 and @27, I had the same USA solver’s reaction of being familiar with Poe and Annabel Lee, but unfamiliar with the spelling of WANNABEE with two Es at the end. The definition in 26a seemed a bit loose to me, because I think of “sequel” as a continuation of a story, but “UPSHOT” as a consequence – usually the most salient consequence – of some event or circumstance. But that is just a minor quibble for an excellent puzzle. Among the many favorite clues that others have mentioned above, I also enjoyed the wordplay in OSTRACISED. Thank you, Arachne and PeterO.
DaveMc @ 37
For what it’s worth, Chambers eThesaurus has upshot as a synonym for sequel, but not vice versa, curiously. So I gueass Arachne’s sequence works OK by those lights.
And thanks to Arachne for a superb puzzle and PeterO for the blog.
Tupu@35
There are great song versions of the original Poe by Joan Baez and Stevie Nicks
Simon S @38
Thanks for enlightening me about “upshot” as a synonym for sequel. After reading your post, I looked up “upshot” in an online dictionary (not Chambers), and, while I did not see the “sequel” meaning, I did see that “upshot” is a term used for the final shot in an archery match. I am guessing that the most commonly understood meaning of the term today derives from the archery term, but I must say that my mental image of an “upshot” at an archery match is literally a shot up, i.e., the type of shot that would cause the spectators at the match to disperse quickly!
I learned some new meanings for words today — barney and cod in particular. I suppose my ignorance of them is because I’m from the other side of the Atlantic. But I was able to figure out the clues anyway, leading to an extra-satisfied feeling.
Annabel Lee may be somewhat better known in the US than the UK, although knowledge of it is far from useful. I don’t think I had ever read the Poe poem, but it is a major motif in Nabokov’s novel Lolita.
“useful” should be “universal”. What an odd typo.
What a delightful puzzle. Loved Condom and Incandescent. Thanks to all.
Cracking crossword, codswallop & condom!!
I loved this. Because of time zones these are lunch time problems for me and I get the blog at breakfast the next day.
I always tend to think if an upshot as being a consequence rather than a sequel, although a sequel may come about as a consequence. Obviously both come from the same root word with the “seque” in them.
Thanks for both the puzzle and the blog.
For us, this wasn’t just another great puzzle from Arachne.
It was perhaps her very best since her ‘gap year’ some time ago.
Wonderful crossword with trademark surfaces and the usual wit.
That’s not different from before?
OK then, with Trademark Surfaces and the Usual Wit.
We didn’t think this was a somewhat (too) easy puzzle on the scale of Arachne.
But that’s probably because we never find her crosswords too challenging.
It’s just like we experience Arachne’s classmates Picaroon and Nutmeg.
Everything’s very well pitched.
Last one in was FRACAS (11d) and last one parsed NOR (17ac).
Thumbs up for Steve B @4 who parsed it like we did.
And to end this ‘glowing’ [ 🙂 ] review in minor key, CHESS (23d) left us completely cold.
Funny to see the beery man @6 mentioning this clue as his favourite.
Unfortunately, I cannot find a justification for ELL being ‘cloth’ but Arachne must have got it from somewhere.
Lovely crossword!
Thanks PeterO, glad you liked it too.
I really don’t understand the adulation for this puzzle. It was OK, but it was very easy – easier than the average Rufus. And the spelling of wannabe is, to be generous, unconventional (DaveMc – it’s not a matter of American vs British English spelling -it’s a matter of correct vs incorrect (to the extent that one can be prescriptive about slang words)). It didn’t spoil the crossword, because the answer was so obvious, but it was far from perfect.
… because for many of us difficulty is not one of the key criteria of a fine crossword. I personally get more pleasure from x minutes with Arachne [insert a number that would indicate a short time for you] than y minutes with (eg) Enigmatist [insert a number that would indicate an inordinately long time].
Oh! dear – I’m going to upset most of the commenters here as I was rather disappointed. Of course Van Winkle@48 is correct but I’m afraid I agree with David@47. Many of the surfaces were indeed delightful, witty and clever but this is supposed to be a puzzle after all – and puzzled I was not. My love affair with this great setter was fired by her tricksy constructions and the need for a little pencil-chewing which I found sadly lacking here (apart from ENDING perhaps) though I also ticked CODSWALLOP, CHESS and, faintly, CONDOM.
The trouble was that it was done and dusted in at most 10 minutes.
For me, it was a little like attending, say, “an evening with Peter Ustinov” and hearing a couple of great anecdotes only to watch him stand up after two minutes and leave the stage.
Sorry, folks – maybe I’m in a jaundiced mood but I really was disappointed.
Great blog (though agree with some commenters’ alternative parsing of NOR) and thanks to Arachne – I would definitely use this ‘puzzle’ to get beginners addicted!
Sil @46
For Ell OED has
ell
…
†3. long ell: a particular kind of cloth. Obs.
Although, as you see, this is marked as obsolete. The latest example of use was
1735 G. Berkeley Querist §520 Fine cloths in Somersetshire, long ells at Exeter.
Perhaps Arachne has a long memory? 😉
I loved this puzzle. As you say it was beautifully clued and possibly in the top 3 of this years puzzle. Sadly I completed this very quickly so I did find it very easy for an Arachne. I can only remember one easier one from her which was soon after her return from her illness.
I very much agree with Van Winkle @48 and PeterO in his summing up. I really enjoyed the surfaces and wit in this puzzle and will look out for Arachne puzzles in the future. I’m happy it didn’t take too long to solve but still had to come to this blog to understand some of the parsing.
Thanks to Arachne and PeterO.
William @49
I don’t think you need to worry about upsetting the majority of commenters here. I for one would expect an expert solver to complete this puzzle in 10 minutes. I never time myself, but I think it took me about 20 minutes.
As a rule of thumb, at a certain level above this one, if a champion can solve a puzzle in 10 minutes, an expert will take 20 minutes, and an experienced solver like me will take 30 to 40 minutes. (I tell myself, of course, that I get twice as much enjoyment out of this pastime as you do!)
I find all Guardian cryptics challenging to an extent – even Rufus’s. I usually complete them, and the time it takes me doesn’t vary very much. (I have, though, managed just two write-ins this year – both of them, as it happens, by Rufus.)
Today’s puzzle in the i reproduces a Dac from 2013 which includes WANNABEE.
I agree with William F P @49 – this was very much a write-in ‘puzzle’, even though I have only just written in the last clue (and by the way I’ve had little else to do since last Tuesday)… and disappointed I am not. Parsing 28ac was especially enjoyable because I was saying the words “they both end in g” over and over again with no realisation, but worry not – on day 3, something clicked. I thought 6d was the cleverest clue, and it took a personal best of 1 hour 12 minutes to parse. This stuff is getting too easy; I can only hope for the next one to be more challenging.