Guardian Cryptic 27,349 by Arachne

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I’m always delighted to solve and blog an Arachne, and have been lucky enough to get two in a row. Loved 21ac, 5dn, 8dn, and 13dn.

Across
1 SHODDY Tawdry, casual fling is enthralling! (6)
ODD=”casual” as in occasional and unorganised; with SHY=throw=”fling” around it
4 AFFLUENT Extremely aloof, graceful and rich (8)
the extremes of A[loo]F; plus FLUENT=”graceful”
9 FUTSAL Confused, at heart, by most recent setback for game (6)
=a variant of football on a small pitch
the heart of [Con]FU[sed]; plus LAST=”most recent” reversed/”set back”
10 ARCTURUS Patrick oddly ignored constellation without a red giant (8)
=a red giant star
odd letters of [P]A[t]R[i]C[k] are ignored; plus TaURUS=”constellation without a“
11 AGGRANDISEMENT Enters damaging struggle for promotion (14)
(Enters damaging)*
13 MONUMENTAL Impressive intellectual ringing round miners (10)
MENTAL=”intellectual” around: O=”round” plus NUM=National Union of Mineworkers
14 STUB Hit thumb regularly on front of sill (4)
regular letters from T[h]U[m]B; after S[ill]
16 RAVE See world without borders and wax lyrical (4)
[t]RAVE[l]=”See world” without its border letters
18 LIBIDINOUS Lustful Liberal Democrat restrained by pair with common sense (10)
LIB[eral]; plus D[emocrat] in II=two=”pair”; plus NOUS=”common sense”
21 INTERPLANETARY Aren’t sorry to interrupt relations between Mars and Venus, perhaps (14)
(Aren’t)* inside INTERPLAY=”relations”
23 EXISTING Being sexist in guest house (8)
housed inside [s]EXIST IN G[uest]
24 MOJITO Jill and Tony half-cut after second cocktail (6)
JI[ll] and TO[ny] after MO[ment]=”second”
25 TALENTED Brilliant storybooks ultimately enhance childhood (8)
TALE=”story” plus N[ew] T[estament]=”books” plus the ultimate letters of [enhanc]E [childhoo]D
26 MISHAP Reverse right away from acid on motorway (6)
r[ight] removed from SHArP=”acid”; after MI=M1=”motorway”
Down
1 SAFE Remove papers from aforementioned iron strongbox (4)
remove ID=”papers” from SAid=”aforementioned”; plus FE=chemical symbol for “iron”
2 OCTAGON Start to fall off wagon after 31 days in shape (7)
[w]AGON after OCT[ober]=”31 days”
Of the other 31 day months [Jan/Mar/May/Jul/Aug/Dec], DECAGON would also give the name of a shape
3 DIAGRAMS Simplified drawings of clouds over Indian city (8)
DIMS=”clouds” around AGRA=”Indian city”
5 FORNICATION How’s your father, if air con not working? (11)
(if air con not)*
6 LATHER Female officer promoted to protect a state (6)
=an agitated state
HER=”Female”; after LT=lieutenant=”officer” promoted to the top of the word, and around A
7 EARNEST Serious student stripped on street (7)
[l]EARNE[r]=”student” stripped of its outer letters; plus ST[reet]
8 TESTTUBES Raised objection, piercing sex organs in experimental locations (4,5)
BUT=”objection” reversed/”Raised”; inside TESTES=”sex organs”
12 NONVIOLENCE Composition of Lennon, voice for pacifism (3-8)
(Lennon voice)*
13 MERRIMENT Legless chaps touring Rhode Island with time for fun (9)
MERMEN=”Legless chaps”, having fish-like lower halves; around R[hode] I[sland]; plus T[ime]
15 VIRTUOSI Some ascendant yogis outrival masters (8)
hidden reversed/”Some ascendant” in [yog]IS OUTRIV[al]
17 VITRIOL Bitter criticism of 6 musicians online (7)
VI=6 in Roman numerals; plus TRIO=”musicians”; “on/line”=> on L[ine]
19 OGREISH Fearful and upset, I therefore shut up (7)
reversal/”upset” of I ERGO=”I therefore”; plus SH=shhh!=”shut up”
20 CRETAN Chromium and bronze around east of Mediterranean island (6)
CR=chemical symbol for Chromium; plus TAN=”bronze”; around E[ast]
22 SOAP 6 foot of cantankerous pensioner (4)
=LATHER
the foot or end of [cantankerou]S; plus OAP=old age pensioner

49 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 27,349 by Arachne”

  1. I really enjoyed that. After completing about a third of the grid I was convinced I wasn’t going to get any further but it all reavealed itself slowly.

    Thanks

  2. A lovely treat – too many favourites to list – the only one I didn’t know was the game in 9a but the wordplay was so helpful that it had to be what it was

    Thanks to Arachne and Manehi too

  3. Very enjoyable, as usual with this setter, but a couple of minor gripes…

    What is ignored doing in 10a? Not just to make up the surface, surely?

    Felt that getting said from aforementioned was asking a bit.

    DECAGON also works (as manehi says) and I thought that was a bit loose.

    SOAP was brilliant but failed on the linked LATHER.

    Nice puzzle on the whole, many thanks, Spider Lady.

    Nice week, all.

  5. Having seen how SAfe is derived, I think it’s a bit of a stretch. But more than made up for by many others. Thanks Arachne and manehi.

  7. Another entertaining puzzle from Arachne, which in the way of a well-constructed cryptic, fell out nicely with a bit of application. Wouldn’t be the spiderwoman without a bit of fornication and sex organs, but there was plenty of wit and a light-hearted touch elsewhere too.

    Thanks to S&B.

  11. Thanks, manehi – again I agree with your favourites, with the addition of 12 and 22dn.

    Shirley @9 – and I think there’s more than a nod to ‘Go sober for October’.

    Huge thanks, Arachne, for another fun puzzle.

  12. Thanks Arachne for a very enjoyable puzzle, and manehi for the blog. A welcome relief after yesterday’s (for me) real toughie.
    I think its fair enough for a clue (2d) to have two equally valid answers, as long as only one fits in with the crossing answers.
    Which brings me back to a comment I made on Monday’s puzzle (@19), as to whether anyone had ever set a puzzle with pairs of identical clues, with different, equally valid, solutions. Robi (@21) replied that Donk/Screw had once done this. Does anyone know if it’s still available?
    Ta muchly.

  13. Very enjoyable and not overly tough. I didn’t know the game, I think it may get referred to as 5-a-side more often.

    I missed the parsing of RAVE – oh dear. Many thanks manehi

    I was very happy to be mentioned in 22d. I also really liked OCTAGON, DIAGRAMS, NON-VIOLENCE, and VIRTUOSI – though the whole puzzle was a joy.

    Greensward@12 I think there have been some Rookie puzzle on big Dave’s site who tried to do this with some clues – sometimes with very minor variations.

    Many thanks Arachne

  15. @Greensward.

    Unfortunately the Indy’s online archive only goes back to April 2015, and Donk’s double tour de force was published in January 2014. You can of course see the Fifteensquared blog here

  19. dutch@13. Thanks for that, but I’m not familiar with big Dave’s site. Would you enlighten me, please?

    Mitz@15. Ta for the link. I suppose solving without the grid, but knowing the definitions, could still be fun (provided I can block my peripheral vision.)

  21. A delightful puzzle – Arachne is one of the best. Almost every clue would be listed among my favorites. I had the exact same experience with and thoughts regarding FUTSAL as crypticsue @2. Many elegant and/or amusing surfaces as usual, including 7d, 8d, and 13d. Many thanks to Arachne and manehi and commenters.

  22. Thanks Arachne; super crossword, although I made fairly heavy weather of it. I got a bit stuck in the SW corner until I saw the legless chaps.

    Thanks manehi; I may have raised this before but should the container in 23 be houses? Seems more logical to me.

    Seeing Eileen @11’s comment; I think OCTAGON is brilliant, and DECAGON would not have fitted the clue so precisely. Ed @14; I think this is due to fearful having two opposite meanings; having fear and causing fear.

  26. Thanks to Arachne and manehi.

    No quibbles, an enjoyable chew as usual from the octopede. Favourite surface was for LIBIDINOUS, close run by quite a few others. Favourite clue was EXISTING; just liked its succinctness.

    So now, how to introduce “outrival” into a conversation…..

  27. Lovely puzzle, and mostly not too difficult. Great surfaces.

    Took me a while to parse SAID, and have never heard of FUTSAL which was LOI. My old Chambers, which was at hand, doesn’t have it, but the 2014 version has caught up.

    Favourite was 12d.

    Thanks to Arachne and Manehi.

  29. Another fine puzzle as Arachne’s always are. Found this quite tricky to finish, didn’t help myself by writing DECAGON in without considering the more obvious alternative. Also struggled with parsing SAFE – obvious in retrospect.

    Thanks to Arachne and manehi

  30. Thanks to Arachne and manehi. I had trouble getting started but did finally get going and, as usual, much enjoyed the process with this setter. I did parse FUTSAL but had never heard of it and needed help parsing SAFE (I missed the SA-said) and MERRIMENT (I missed MERMEN). LOI was OGREISH.

  31. Very nicely written as always, but the clueing was so helpful that the puzzle was not overly challenging, unlike Imogen’s yesterday. The only clue I didn’t like too much was 6. It feels a bit awkward somehow.
    I thought NON-VIOLENCE was a beautiful clue. I had SHODDY before getting to OCTAGON so DECAGON never occurred to me.

    Robi@22 & 24
    The use of “house” jarred a bit for me too. As you say, it can be thought of as “(these words or these letters) house”. What’s curious to me is that Arachne seems to prefer this alternative, since the clue “Being sexist in guest houses” works equally well, in my opinion.

    Thanks, Arachne and manehi.

  32. Thank you to Arachne and manehi.

    Arachne never fails to bring a smile. 5dn was wonderful. 18 across seems apposite in view of recent events.

  33. Enjoyed very much. Very nearly finished, failure due in part to not having heard of 10a but also, with the first and fifth of 6d in place, convinced myself the answer was ‘ladies’ as in seal (for the officer) reversed (promoted) and protecting ID (a state) … the things you convince yourself of….

  34. Lovely puzzle and a great relief after yesterday’s puzzle. Nothing like the spiderwoman for restoring ones faith in crossword compilers! Too many favourites to list but OCTAGON and MOJITO made me smile. FUTSAL was new to me. It had to be right but I still looked it up.
    Thanks Arachne.

  36. Thanks manehi, and also especially to Arachne, a joy throughout.

    Took me ages to get SAFE as I had “ibid”, less “id” for papers, stuck in my brain.

  37. Fearful can mean frightening, but then that’s still a step or two away from ogreish.

    Nevertheless a good puzzle — Arachne is one of those few Guardian writers whose style I like.

  38. Well, a veritable tarantula of an Arachne!

    I’m chuffed to have finally disentangled my way through this one, despite never having heard of FUTSAL or MOJITO (being neither a footballer nor a cocktail-drinker put me at a slight disadvantage!).

    I was wondering for a moment (donning my amateur astronomer’s hat for a moment) whether ARCTURUS really is categorised as a ‘Red Giant’. It’s an orange star of spectral type K0 which has ‘recently’ (i.e. in the past few million years) moved off the Main Sequence. But Wiki says it’s a Red Giant, so I’ll let that pass. Patrick would have known – clue notwithstanding! 🙂

    Really liked SOAP – classic bit of misdirection, me being a ‘cantankerous pensioner’ myself really helped – not!

    Excellent work from Arachne, thanks – and to manehi for de-webbing!

  39. 25’s “ultimately” referring to the end of two words to me is a bit of a cheat. The lovely surface aside, we really need a plural reference here.

  40. toneyvr @ 39

    I think you can see “ultimately enhance childhood” as referring to the next two words, whereas “enhance childhood ultimately” would only refer to the previous one. It’s on the devious side, but isn’t that what crosswords are supposed to be?

  41. I have to chime in just to praise Arachne for surfaces which are artistic enough to hang in a museum. VIRTUOSI, MERRIMENT and OGREISH – all superb!

  42. Arachne is one of only a few setters (in my opinion) who can write very good (natural) surfaces and, at the same time, is completely correct with regard to what is called ‘cryptic grammar’.
    (even if some solvers think there isn’t a thing like that)
    Hardly ever anything iffy.

    It’s not just the surfaces that I would like to hang in a museum, it’s the combination of the two that makes her a truly great setter.
    And she’s accessible too, even for those just starting.

  44. I’m still confused about 2 down,but not because of Oct rather than Dec. I read it as being “f” (start to fall) off wagon which clearly didnt work. Where then is the indication that “wagon” is missing the “w”??

  46. I do concur with phitonelly@31 – with such lovely clues as EXISTING, SAFE, TEST TUBES, MERRIMENT and the especially brilliant NON-VIOLENCE it does seem a shame to have what is, by A’s high standards, a poor clue (IMO) like LATHER. As though finding some iffy brush work in a favoured painter’s work. But, as ever, a brilliant crossword of the first order.
    I can’t help wondering if her puzzles are nowadays easier than in recent years. This was solved, parsed – and enjoyed – in fewer than ten minutes; rather like sitting down to tuck in to a favourite dish, only to find it taken away after a couple of mouthfuls! Probably my fault for having solved too many cryptics down the decades – and having too high hopes…?
    But still a brilliant puzzle – thanks Arachne, and manehi too.

  47. I am thrilled to have discovered this site, as no-one I know in real life does British crosswords. I know I’m late on this puzzle, but could someone please explain the definition in 5d to me? Fornication can lead to fatherhood, but I don’t see that it’s an answer to “How’s your father?” Thanks!

  48. Anne-Marie @47
    Welcome to 15², I hope you continue to enjoy the site. As administrator I will always see comments that are posted days, weeks or even years after the original post was published, as will the post author who will have received your comment in an email.

    To answer your query, ‘How’s your father’ is a British euphemism for sex or the act of fornication.

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