Quite a tricky offering from Imogen today, with some obscurities in both answers and wordplay. My first breakthrough was the long answer at 26a, but there were still a few hurdles along the way. Last time I blogged an Imogen I missed the theme (West Indian cricketers): I looked more carefully this time but can’t see anything, though I’m happy to be enlightened. Thanks to Imogen for the challenge.
| Across | ||||||||
| 1. | ATOMIC PHYSICS | In scientific study trip miss coach; pity! (6,7) (MISS COACH PITY)* – this was obviously going to be an anagram, but I wasn’t sure whether “trip” or “pity” was the indicator |
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| 10. | RENT ROLLS | Engineers new fabulous figures for property lists (4,5) RE (Royal Engineers) + N + TROLLS (figure of fable) |
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| 11. | QUIPU | Old mnemonic device a joke at university (5) QUIP + U. The quipu is an Incan counting device made of knotted cords |
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| 12. | VETCH | Legume, very hot, to eat with the others … (5) ETC in VH |
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| 13. | MANGETOUT | … guy has a way to avoid legume (9) MAN + GET-OUT (a way to avoid..) |
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| 14. | TORQUAY | Force that turns English out at a yard in town (7) TORQUE less E + A + Y |
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| 16. | AUTOCUE | Where one may read the news, telling of traffic congestion (7) Homophone of “auto |
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| 18. | SEDUCED | Led astray and misused a month back (7) USED* (“mis-used”) + reverse of DEC[ember] |
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| 20. | BIRD FLU | Time went fast, they say; it’s sickening (4,3) BIRD (prison sentence, time) + “flew” |
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| 21. | CORPUSCLE | Cell for one on the staff, briefly, at Oxford college (9) CORPUS [Christi] CLE[F] (as found on a musical staff) |
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| 23. | GET AT | Needle, say, reversed to make lace (3,2) Reverse of EG (say) + TAT (make lace) |
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| 24. | ODIST | Hesiod is truly entertaining poet (5) Hidden in hesiOD IS Truly. Hesiod was an ancient Greek poet – I could not tell you whether he was entertaining |
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| 25. | MIDDLE EAR | Male deadlier when swinging the hammer here (6,3) |
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| 26. | MANDELBROT SET | Chap in key wager collapses complex mathematical construction (10,3) MAN + ROTS in DEL (computer key) BET. By coincidence (and for reasons too complicated to explain) I was thinking about the Mandelbrot set while lying in bed last night, and perhaps as a result this was one of my first entries. It’s a geometrical object of astonishing complexity and great beauty (and complex in another way, as its definition uses the so-called complex numbers) |
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| Down | ||||||||
| 2. | TINCTURED | Showing a slight tinge, metal smoked, keeping temperature well up (9) TIN + T in CURED. I suppose the “well up” just indicates that the T is near the beginning of CURED |
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| 3. | MORPH | Graphically transform most of pain relief (5) MORPH[ine] – where, rather unsatisfactorily I think, “most of” means “more than half”. I suppose it could also be a shortening of the more old-fashioned MORPHIA, but the same objection applies |
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| 4. | CALUMNY | Lying undisturbed at first in peaceful state (7) U in CALM + N[ew] Y[ork] |
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| 5. | HOSANNA | Cry of joy as overweight girl takes on husband (7) H + OS (outsize) ANNA |
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| 6. | SEQUESTER | Appropriate person looking for most prosperous area of the country? (9) The South-east is the most prosperous part of the UK, and someone looking for it might be an SE QUESTER |
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| 7. | CHINO | Punch hole in cloth (5) CHIN (to punch) + O (hole) |
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| 8. | PRIVATE SECTOR | Grunt, adjusting corset — it’s no business of the state! (7,6) PRIVATE (grunt is slang for a menial worker or low-ranking soldier) + CORSET* |
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| 9. | CUT THE MUSTARD | “Pooch! That sweet sauce!”, as Spooner might do well to say (3,3,7) Spoonerism of “Mutt! The Custard”. The wordplay and definition are rather mixed up together in this clue, but I think it works |
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| 15. | UNCOUNTED | So great a number deprived of noble title? (9) The nobleman deprived of his title might be UN-COUNT-ED |
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| 17. | CAFETIERE | This on table in diner on Level 5 (9) CAFE (diner) + TIER E (fifth in the sequence Tier A, B, etc). I think the use of CAFE in the wordplay is rather weak, as it has essentially the same meaning as in the answer |
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| 19. | DECIMAL | Top of loft in the morning frozen up: that’s beside the point (7) Reverse of L AM ICED |
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| 20. | BLENDER | During drinking bout, large mixer (7) L in BENDER (drinking bout) |
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| 22. | RAITA | India feeds pest with a cucumber preparation (5) I in RAT + A |
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| 23. | GILET | Sow chews end of one waistcoat (5) [on]E in GILT (new to me: a dialect word for “a young sow”) |
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There were quite a few new words here for me: VETCH, MANDELBROT SET, gilt=sow, bird=time, MANGETOUT.
I failed 16a AUTOCUE, having entered (unparsed) ‘article’.
My favourite was UNCOUNTED.
Thanks Imogen and Andrew.
I had a real struggle with this but battled away and got there eventually: dredged up MANDELBROT SET from somewhere deep in the memory after finding the crossers, and guessed that some other unfamiliar terms must be right, e.g. PRIVATE (for ‘grunt’) and QUIPU. Thanks to Andrew for complicated work, also Imogen for the (very fair) test.
My struggle must have come partly – as a hard-copy reader and solver – from remaining unsettled, on Day Two, by the new format, which may or may not be the kind of thing one soon gets used to and forgets was ever different… But (1) it will go on being a drag to have to start by separating out three sections of the paper, rather laboriously, every day, in contrast to the way G2 used to be separate already, and (2) the back page of the new G2 is a mess, with the Quick Crossword needlessly enlarged and with too much empty space – and above all we seem to have lost PIECEWORD, a far more distinctive and testing and enjoyable puzzle than the dreary Word wheel and Wordsearch that remain. I’m not even sure if Pieceword appeared in the online version, but we need a campaign to restore it! (they can save space by cutting out the adjacent, over-simple, ‘clues’ – hiding them always enhanced the challenge).
Thanks Imogen and Andrew
Like drawing teeth! After half an hour I had four (and a half) in, and had issues with three of them – “grunt” for PRIVATE is exclusively North American, so should have been indicated; “cucumber preparation” for RAITA is poor – it’s yogurt with other things in it, which might, but as easily might not, be cucumber; I also didn’t like the “well up” in TINCTURED. Later on I also questioned MORPH (from “morphia” in my case – more generally “pain relief” than “morphine”). “This on the table” a very odd definition for CAFETIERE (though it doesn’t mean the same as CAFE to me, Andrew). I wasn’t impressed by “collapses” for ROTS in 26a either.
On the other hand, I did like AUTOCUE (I toyed with “article” too), BIRD FLU, MIDDLE EAR (just M for “male”, Andrew), and CALUMNY.
…also the homophone for AUTOCUE is “auto queue”, rather than “auto cue”!
muffin (@3) just about covers all my gripes, main one being the convoluted 26a which does not even read right to parse.
It was a struggle to get on Imogen’s wavelength for me. I filled it all in and rushed here for some explanations. Thank you, Andrew.
QUIPU was new to me, but. It couldn’t be anything else with the crossers. But I put in ARTICLE instead of AUTOCUE. No wonder I couldn’t parse it.
Thanks to Imogen for a good workout.
Like quenbarrow @2 I think I’m a bit unsettled by the new format. Returning briefly to my theme from yesterday re doing it in pen, the ink comes through onto the other side of the page. This didn’t matter before as it was always an ad, but now it spoils an article. Might have to revert (reluctantly) to Biro.
Thanks for the blog Andrew – my thoughts were very much in line with yours. Thanks for the parsing of 21a – I didn’t make the musical staff connection. 1a and 8d (one of my favourites) went in early on which made a great start. I also liked 13a which came easily as we’d just been deciding our veg plan for this year, and last year’s notes said “more mangetout”.
26a was in there somewhere, and there are some great animations on line illustrating the sequence.
The iffy clues didn’t affect my enjoyment as there was lots more to like than query. Thank you Imogen.
With apologies in advance to anyone who has made related comments whilst I’ve been writing this!
This was rough going, and took ages to even get going. But PRIVATE SECTOR fell early, and that gave me a bunch of first letters. (This is unusual; normally I start with the shortest entries, since the wordplay in those is usually cleaner. Everyone has his or her own strategy, I guess.) I was another who said “article” instead of AUTOCUE, a device we call a teleprompter here.
Since it’s surprising to me that “grunt” for private is new to people, it’s probably an Americanism. I’m too young to remember the Vietnam War, but not too young to have absorbed ird cultural artifacts, and that particular bit of slang was common then, I believe.
Also not new to me was “gilt,” but that’s the fault of this farm in Indiana that’s set itself up as a tourist attraction. One of their many billboards on the highway (which I frequently travel) says, “Take a GILT trip,” next to a rather adorable picture of a baby pig.
*its; autocorrect got confused.
And muffin, I disagree that setters need an indication every time they use an Americanism. The silver is charged with knowing the language–all of it. And what you don’t know, the crossword teaches you (like QUIPU for me today).
American spellings are another story; the setter has an obligation to stop you from putting in “realise” when the answer is REALIZE, since that affects the play of the game.
*solver. I give up.
I always expect a battle with Imogen and this was no exception – I like to use his puzzles as ‘brain training’ in the weeks leading up to the Times Crossword Championships
Lots to enjoy so thank you to Imogen and to Andrew too – although I might raise a slight concern about someone whose bedtime thoughts turn to 26a 😉
Bravely blogged, Andrew.
I too thought I was being short-changed on MORPH/MORPHINE but when my wife who has has had more than her fair share of hospital visits said MORPHIA it didnt seem so bad.
I looked up GRUNT and couldnt understand a word of it-but answer couldnt be anything else.
Overall a very fine Tuesday toughie (for me anyway)
And thanks Imogen
Really tough and alas DNF. Thanks all the same Imogen and Andrew.
Thanks Imogen and Andrew; I know if the latter says it’s tricky, it must be difficult.
Quite a slog that I would never have solved with only pen and paper. Despite having the Guardian hard copy (I like the new size), I always solve on the computer so that I can look up things like QUIPU and Mandel
son’s bet. I didn’t much like the nonsensical Spoonerism and the superfluous, ‘well up’ (?) but I did enjoy the AUTOCUE (where I also flirted with article) and DECIMAL.Does anyone know why the setter adopted the moniker Imogen?
Thanks to Imogen and Andrew for parsings. There was a few I did not fully see. Found this really tough and nearly gave up a few times. However persevered to what I thought was completion. Elation turned to disappointment when I was another who fell for the unparsed article. Hey ho pleased to have nearly got there. Thanks again to Imogen and Andrew.
Imogen is usually my downfall but found this fairly straightforward until 9d and the two 23’s at the end, not being familiar with gilt, gilet or tat.
I agree about the Spoonerism. I wonder if Imogen could have done something with Roobarb and Custard, though Custard was the cat, of course.
My self-imposed rule for 2018 of not looking anything up was not the right policy for this crossword, so I gracefully gave in today after a short struggle (as they say).
1a ATOMIC PHYSICS went in ok, when I chose the right anagram fodder (one letter different from what I used at first), and having got 26a MANDELBROT SET with difficulty from a poor clue, I thought I would try the two long phrases going down (8d and 9d). I had not the slightest idea of how to unravel those clues, despite thinking tentatively of … SECTOR for 8d, and because I couldn’t make sense of a few other clues I thought the best thing to do was give up.
The blog up to this point has made interesting reading. I think I did well today, as regards my decision-making, as a number of iffy clues have been revealed. I should have got CAFETIERE, though, despite the needlessly vague indication (‘This on table’).
Of the four clues I solved, I liked 1a ATOMIC PHYSICS and 20a BIRD FLU best.
After a very slow start this got more accessible once a few crossers were in place, but I ended up with a number of 5-letter solutions to finish, with GILET last in. Plenty of entertainment but pretty tough for a Tuesday.
Thanks to Imogen and Andrew
I agree with most of the above. Just a few too many clues on the edge of acceptability for me. As a maths graduate 26a was new to me!
Whoops, I might be a maths graduate, but I can spell too! Should be acceptability. I should also have added that 26a was fairly clued so quite “gettable”.
Claret @21
In 26a does ‘rots’ mean ‘collapses’? I’ve now gone to the trouble of looking up both those words, and I cannot find any correspondence. What have I missed?
I’m a lifelong ‘student’ of maths, by the way, and fortunately I know what a Mandelbrot Set is.
Thanks to Imogen and Andrew. Very tough going for me. I did parse SEQUESTER (after some effort) but did not know QUIPU, RAITA, GILET (or gilt), CAFETIERE, and AUTOCUE (mrpenney explains why) or “chin” for punch (and four of those items were rejected by my spell-checker). Re VETCH: in my early days of US cross-wording a favorite three-letter answer was ERS with the definition “bitter vetch.” I confess I got to know the solution but never figured out what “vetch” actually was.
Too hard for me. Agree with several of the frustrations mentioned above not least Muffin’s comments. I don’t mind learning new words but I need a following wind to get to them.
Signora Maria didn’t have a cauliflower yesterday, so I bought a romanesco; a bizarre vegetable. So within less than 12 hours I’d not only put a mandlebrot set in the grid, I’d put one in me.
I’m sure there’s a theme going on; vetch is closely related.
https://www.fourmilab.ch/images/Romanesco/
[Thanks for the fascinating link, il principe. A few years ago these were in our supermarkets up here in Lancashire, but I haven’t seen one here for ages. A pity, as they also taste better than standard cauliflower, I think!
I wrote the Sierpinski gasket program in BASIC on a BBC Micro years ago (having seen it on a Equinox programme). You define three points as vertices of an invisible equilateral triangle. Starting with a random point on one side, you move half way to one of the vertices at random and print a dot; repeat]
Thanks both,
Tough going this. Another ‘article’ person here. OED gives ‘mange-tout’ a hyphen – well that’s my excuse for resorting to a wild-card search. While not quibbling with 26a, the astonishing thing about the Mandelbrot set is that it simple to generate mathematically, but the object itself is infinitely intricate.
Alan B@22 – Roget’s has “collapse” and “rot” as synonyms for decay so there’s a connection, albeit quite a stretch in relation to the clue. Nevertheless any clue that leads to romanesco cauliflowers and their beautiful fractals is worth it’s place to me. Like always it seems to me that our evaluation of what’s “fair” is in the eye of the beholder. With regard to 8d I’m not particularly familiar with US phrases, nor have I any interest in things military, but for some reason PRIVATE MATTER occurred to me, and as soon as it did a smile came on my face as I saw the clever use of GRUNT which had nothing to do with my initial reading of the clue. I then spent a minute trying to see how MATTER worked with the clue before seeing the anagram fodder, finding SECTOR and putting a tick by the clue. Clearly several others feel differently – but isn’t that the joy of the deliberate ambiguity in crosswords?
[me @26
In case anyone is thinking of writing a program, I should make it clear that “repeat” means “move half way to a random vertex from where you just printed the dot”]
i almost enjoyed this but agree with the reservations expressed above. and the Quick is much too big!
Did rather poorly here. I also fell for ARTICLE instead of AUTOCUE, at least I’m not alone! And I tried to put in MONKEYNUT, unparsed, at 13a instead of MANGETOUT (Yes, the “monkeynut” or peanut is a legume, not a true nut, before anyone asks!). But once I hit (literaly) on CHIN-O, I realised it must be a different legume….
And I didn’t quite parse CORPUSCLE – got CORPUS (C. Christi in full) all right, but missed the CLE[f] bit. And I’m supposed to be a classical music buff!
“Grunt” = PRIVATE (as in army) was definitely a new one for me. QUIPU did however ring a bell – but only after I’d looked it up!
Definitely a “could do better, Laccaria” for me, this time. But thanks Imogen for a great offering – and Andrew for filling the gaps.
P.S. Mandelbrot Set. Now there’s a delight from a few years back! I used to leave my old computer for hours running a DOS-based program called FRACTINT, drawing the most amazing zoom-ins of this incredible figure, everyone of them stunningly beautiful and every one different! But I don’t know whether there’s a version of Fractint or similar that runs under modern versions of Windows. Can anyone help me out here?
Muffin@26 – I recall writing a Mandlebrot set program (in Assembler) to run on a Sirius, way back in the 1980s. For those who don’t know, the Sirius was a PC similar to the original IBM PC, with a monochrome-only green screen. Naturally the images were no great shakes and I couldn’t zoom very far in – but I did get it working. I wonder if I still have the source code, anywhere – not that it would interest modern-day programmers…
Muffin,
They taste great. I should put the remains in my minestrone tonight, but I’m beginning to think it’s too beautiful to eat.
I’m trying your triangle with ruler and compasses and getting very confused.
WhiteKing @28
You make very good points in a positive way as always.
I too am usually positive (and always try to be), but there were too many clues today that were iffy, more being revealed here than I discovered myself. I personally don’t enjoy getting an answer in spite of the clue, even if it’s something as beautiful as a Mandelbrot set.
I like ambiguity and I like misdirection. That’s why I liked a couple of clues here that I did manage to solve. But, including some that have been singled out by others on this page, I think up to seven clues today could and should have been improved before they became part of this crossword.
As well as 26a, which I have already mentioned, what about ‘get out’ meaning ‘avoid’ in 13a MANGETOUT? I understand ‘get out of’, but not ‘get out’. I have other queries too (I raised a question in my comment @22), but I’m not really looking for answers. Most setters are not as imprecise or vague as Imogen was today.
I didn’t understand ‘grunt’ in 8d at all, but I can’t really complain about that except to make a general point about there being too many obscurities in a crossword – which might or might not apply to this clue (or this crossword).
[I enjoyed the connection between fractals and romanesco cauliflowers more than anything else arising from this crossword and blog. The description of self-similarity taken to infinity or until it breaks down due to granularity, in the article to which il principe gave us a link, I thought was superb. I also happen to like romanesco cauliflowers, which we sometimes get from our local farm.]
[laccaria @31
There are lots of examples on YouTube, but not as much fun as being in charge oneself!]
[With a better defined search, I’ve found several. This one looks quite good.]
PS to my comment @34. Having ‘collapse’ and ‘rot’ near or next to each other in Roget, even if it is commas separating them rather then the firmer semicolons, doesn’t mean they are synonyms. I don’t think they are. The strong(ish) connection between the words is that something that rots might collapse; something that collapses might do so from any cause including rot. I wouldn’t try to get away with this in a clue – in fact as an amateur setter I don’t think I could!
I now have a triangle full of what look like random points.
What do I do with them now?
You have to keep going! A bit tedious by hand, I’d imagine. The gasket gradually emerges, but it takes several hundred points before anything recognisable can been seen.
[This will put you out of your misery, il principe!]
Going back, if I may, to my @2 post above.
First, a footnote. I had not noted the minor clumsiness of two starters beginning MAN: 13ac (‘guy’) and 26ac (‘chap’).
But more seriously: It seems that almost nobody here engages with the now-massively-changed hard-copy version of the paper. Fair enough if so, in these changed times, but I can’t help finding it sad, given the long history, and the anchoring of it all in the traditional paper, pending a descent (please not) into Independent-style limbo.
Of course it’s different for non-UK solvers, all seriously welcome – and where, today, is Julie from Oz when (as often) I look for her, in whichever state (?) of that great country? Apologies if you have revealed all in the past, when I wasn’t looking.
Most seriously of all, is there really no support for PIECEWORD? Such a great brain-testing intermediary between the Cryptic, and Quick/Codeword (as long as you hide the adjacent simplistic clues). Do we really have to give up on this?
Oh well, to quote the late great Raymond Robertson-Glasgow: ‘Thank you. I feel better now.’
Got a few today and by few I mean 3, to many words I did not know but strangely got the grunt ref. Better luck tomorrow.
quenbarrow @41
In part-answer to one of your questions, I expect Julie from Oz is at home in Queensland right now, and when she sees this blog no doubt she will explain all – at a civilised time of day in that great country!
Yes, this was hard work but I really like Imogen’s style and the time spent at the coal face was worthwhile. Hadn’t heard of QUIPU; last in was TORQUAY although it’s only round the corner – I was trying to fit in turbo rather than torque. Favourites were many, including BIRD FLU, MIDDLE EAR, CALUMNY and CAFETIERE. Many thanks to Imogen and Andrew.
Lest the setter should read this and get discouraged, I should like to say how enjoyable it was. We (Mrs D and I) had to think about some of the clues but we found them eminently fair, and some of them very amusing.
quenbarrow @41, I hope that those who do not take the daily Guardian are supporters, and am sure that many of us who live abroad take the Guardian Weekly, I have done so for more than 50 years (I am also a supporter).
I found this quite hard too, though a little more enjoyable than Imogen’s usual offerings.
I was nice to see some mathematics today (DECIMAL, TORQUE) and the, to me, very familiar MADNLEBROT SET which I programmed on the now defunct transputers many years ago.
Thanks Andrew and Imogen.
[Gaufrid: This is the second time I have typed this in; when I submitted it the first time it said I hadn’t filled in the captcha (which I believe I had), and to press the back-button. My message had disappeared, however. My memory says that in the past the message used to be there when pressing the back-button]
Oh! I forgot to retype my comment about TORQUE not being a force, though the “that turns” mitigated this somewhat.
Alan B – thanks for recognising the spirit of my contributions – whether we agree or not on the content is less important to me than the way we go about making them. As for get out, whilst it might not be good English I’ve certainly used the phrase “having a get out” which to me is equivalent to “having a way to avoid” – and as the MAN GET OUT way of seeing MANGETOUT appealed to me I put a tick without breaking down the clue further. I’m sure you’re right that experienced setters get away with things that setters who are establishing themselves couldn’t.
“Sugar Lace” is a new variety we’ve gone for this year :-). Let’s see if they live up to their name.
Thanks for the links muffin – that’s passed a happy half hour 🙂
Dave Ellison @47
“[Gaufrid: This is the second time I have typed this in; when I submitted it the first time it said I hadn’t filled in the captcha (which I believe I had), and to press the back-button. My message had disappeared, however. My memory says that in the past the message used to be there when pressing the back-button]”
The behaviour is browser dependant. When using IE11 or Chrome, the original text is still there after using the back button. With Edge and Firefox the text disappears and you have to start again. My advice when using the latter two browsers, particularly if the comment is fairly long, is to select all (Ctrl+A) and copy (Ctrl+C) before submitting the comment then if something does go wrong it is a simple case of pasting the text back in (Ctrl+V).
WhiteKing @49
Well said. Imogen must know he’s taking liberties, and I think it’s fair to point them out. Other setters don’t take such liberties, or only rarely or when they don’t mean to, and I would rather emulate them than him for my amateur efforts because they also produce challenging crosswords that are fun. I remember baerchen (a setter himself) named a couple of them only a few days ago.
Muffin@36 – thanks a lot for that link 🙂 – already had plenty of fun with it. Like this, for example!
Er,well I thought there was the makings of a good crossword here but the end product was a bit of a mess. I started this just after lunch and was delighted to get ODIST by just glancing at the puzzle. A couple more followed and then I came to a stop so I abandoned it until this evening and,by using every aid in the book, I completed it and I’m afraid it gave me no satisfaction whatever.
Tomorrow is another day!
I agree with David @45, and can’t quite understand the prevalent lack of enthusiasm here. Fair and very enjoyable. (Though like everyone else I succumbed to ARTICLE).
Things I didn’t know – MANDELBROT SET, grunt for PRIVATE, QUIPU.
GILET I got right by the wrong route. Here on the Isle of Wight there is an annual livestock fair called the Gilten Market. But it turns out that this has nothing to do with sows, and is only for cattle. The name refers to the other meaning of gilt – the best beast has its horns gilded.
I must admit, I only skimmed the comments above, but I loved this crossword.
While my solving partner had a solver’s block, I more or less raced through it. From the first one in (1ac) – a long one with a lot of starting letters, always handy – to 21ac (CORPUSCLE).
‘Misused’ ( 18ac) was a bit naughty, ‘well up’ in 2d was somewhat dubious and I didn’t like the semicolon in 1ac. But especially 20ac (BIRD FLU) and 19d (DECIMAL) [great definition] were splendid.
We couldn’t explain 26ac but we knew – we’re both mathematicians – that it had to be MANDELBROT SET, and left it there.
A big thank you to Imogen, and to Andrew as well.
Sil @55
I wondered if you would crack this one and comment on it. You must have skimmed the clues as well as the comments. If I had your intuition I might have glossed over the iffy bits instead of letting them hold me up. Well done to you, and my commiserations to your solving partner (hoping that’s an appropriate sentiment).
There was quite a lot to enjoy here but, as others have said, some clues that could be solved from the wordplay but did make me wince
Alan B @ 37 I agree with you. A case of what the logicians describe as an “undistributed middle” eg vetches are legumes and mangetouts are legumes but it is illogical to conclude that vetches are mangetouts.
Thanks to Imogen and Andrew
Solved in the end in 2 or 3 sittings. Hard, but enjoyable. Early on, I entered COUNTLESS at 15d with some confidence, so was very surprised when a subsequent ‘Check’ rejected this. Feel this is pretty much an equally valid solution to the clue.
My worst effort in ages! 8 clues unsolved. Mostly those already mentioned. too tough in the end
I got maybe about half of these before giving up and coming here to find out how Imogen’s mind works .
Then again, as another dead-tree botherer, I am only really commenting here in order to pass the following message on to Crossbar @6:
Don’t revert to biro (ugh!) – the fountain pen is an elegant weapon, for a more-civilised age!
Those of us who can still use it need to keep the Light burning 😉
If you wish to minimise/avoid ink bleed-through, switch to using an iron-gall ink like R&K “Salix” instead!
Hi to anyone who might still read this – a bit of a dead rubber by now, but just for the record. It’s Wednesday morning here in Oz – had a big day yesterday so only got to the Imogen late in the (our) day. With a tired brain, I only managed to solve about three quarters of the grid, and having googled a few of the “unfamiliars” like 11a QUIPU, 26a MANDLEBROT SET and 23d GILET, I felt pretty disappointed in myself, as I am trying to reduce the number of times I resort to reference aids in solving. So rather than trying again today, I came here to find the answers to some of the arcane mysteries in the grid. Missed 10a RENT ROLLS and 7d CHINO, also unfamiliar to me, couldn’t see 20a BIRD FLU or 17d CAFETIERE, and failed to parse a whole lot more, especially in the top half of the grid. I did like 25a MIDDLE EAR, 5d HOSANNA,8d PRIVATE SECTOR and 9d CUT THE MUSTARD.
Bravo to all who did well on this one – too tough for me.
[Really enjoying being a “fly on the wall” reading all your comments here on the new Guardian print format – fors and againsts. (Sounds like you could break a window if you tried to swat a fly with it!!!) I am now lucky enough to be in contact with Alan B from this forum, having met him, his wife and their Aussie-based family in person when they have visited the Sunshine Coast here in Queensland, Australia. Alan B is kindly sending me a hard copy of the new G2 format (the rest weighing much more than it would be worth in international postage costs!]
[quenbarrow@41, you may or may not see this, but thanks for asking after me and always being welcoming to the overseas solvers. The Guardian online looks much the same to me, though I get The Guardian Australian version. When I click on the UK version, yes it does seem a little more colourful in places, with lots of pink on the links to the opinion columns.]
Thanks to Imogen, Andrew and my solving community.
Gem @60 Totally agree about biro. I have been using a gel pen which I quite like, though some are better than others and I can never get the same sort twice running. I’ll get my fountain pen out which has been dormant for a while and see what happens. That does run on cartridges though, so I’m afraid I have betrayed the true faith.
All those who chose ‘Article’ were closer than I was with ‘Attache’, clearly the wrong incorrect answer! Otherwise, QUIPU was completely unfamiliar (though fairly clued). I also missed the musical CLEf in CORPUSCLE (and what happened to ‘Christi’, the rest of the college?).
Grunt was not new to me, and personally I don’t think a relatively common Americanism is too obscure, or needs geographical indication, but that’s probably because I have heard of this one. On the other hand, TAT in GET AT, and GILT in GILET were new to me and are therefore unfairly obscure!
‘Mutt the custard’ was a cracking Spoonerism in my view; I know others don’t like them, but I do. Even the mix-up in the definition, ‘might do well to say’, is a sort of Spoonery variation on ‘might say for do well’)
TORQUAY was probably my favourite, but overall I found this tough and not a lot of fun. Will take it on the CHIN though.
Thanks to Imogen and Andrew, and to sundry other posters for demonstrating the depth of my ignorance in matters mathematical and computery.
Julie@61
Yes, your contribution has been seen, and enjoyred, by me at least. Best wishes from the U.K.
Oops, should read ‘enjoyed.’
[Dear George Clements@64, Thanks for your kindness in letting me know that I was not just a voice crying in the wilderness of cyberspace. With warm regards from Australia, Julie]
Working a day behind here. Found this tough, had to reveal five answers. Not helped by putting the answer for 20d into the grid as 20a! In view of current news – it’s not at all clear that the 8d does 9d …