Guardian Cryptic 27,415 by Crucible

by

Some lovely cluing and tough at the beginning

…with a theme around the long solution IT’S ALL GREEK TO ME, with Greek places and words with Greek origins – HOI POLLOI, BOEOTIA, AGAPE as in ‘love’, TELESCOPE, SYNAPSE, PHARMACIST, DIAGRAMS, IODINE, ALOE, ASTERISK, FETA, HYGROMETER, PHENOMENAL, LESBIANS, OLYMPIAN, LYCEUM, SYNDIC, and ACME.

Favourites were 22ac, 6dn, and 23dn. Thanks to Crucible.

Across
9 HOI POLLOI Masses of hot oil sprinkled twice over river (3,6)
  as in ‘the masses’
H[ot]; plus (oil oil)* around PO=”river” in Italy
10 SPADE Literary Dick, one in a black suit (5)
  double definition: Sam SPADE [wiki] is a fictional private investigator=”Literary [private] Dick”; and a SPADE is in a black playing card suit
11 RAGTIME Music paper accompanying magazine (7)
  RAG=”paper”; plus TIME=name of a “magazine”
12 BOEOTIA Greek region once booted out rival every so often (7)
  =a region of ancient Greece
every other letter from B[o]O[t]E[d] O[u]T [r]I[v]A[l]
13 AGAPE Wide open space in hospital department (5)
  GAP=”space” in A&E=”hospital department”
14 HOLDING UP Land in the saddle? That’s Turpin’s job (7,2)
  Dick Turpin [wiki] was an English highwayman, making money HOLDING UP travellers
HOLDING=property=”Land”; plus UP=on horseback=”in the saddle”
16 IT’S ALL GREEK TO ME It galls terribly to smell book that I can’t grasp (3,3,5,2,2)
  or =’I can’t grasp that’
(It galls)*; plus REEK=”smell”; plus TOME=”book”
19 TELESCOPE With which to see stars become smaller (9)
  double definition: the optical instrument; and its ability to collapse and shorten into itself
21 SAY-SO Authority keeps quiet (3-2)
  SAYS O=>says zero/nothing=>”keeps quiet”
22 ARCHIVE Expert writer’s record collection (7)
  =a collection of [public] records
ARCH=accomplished, pre-eminent=”Expert”; plus I’VE=the setter has=”writer’s”
23 SYNAPSE Gap in head painlessly fixed, I’ll set out (7)
  =a link between neurons in the head
(painlessly)*, minus the letter’s I‘ll
24 MOURN Wear black uniform during early hours (5)
  U[niform] in MORN=”early hours”
25 ENCHILADA Father abandons French car carrying one dish (9)
  F[athe]r taken from [Fr]ENCH; plus LADA=”car”; around I=”one”
Down
1 PHARMACIST Drug dealer and pacifist? Not if nursing wound (10)
  PAC[if]IST minus “if“; around HARM=”wound”
2 DIAGRAMS Plans day writing about one Asian city (8)
  D[ay] plus MS=manuscript=”writing”; around I=”one” and AGRA=”Asian city”
3 IODINE What’s applied during period in ER (6)
  =used as a disinfectant
Hidden in [per]IOD IN E[R]
4 ALOE Plant on its own, name missing (4)
  ALO[n]E=”on its own”; with n[ame] missing
5 DISBELIEVE What infidels do beside evil rebels (10)
  (beside evil)*
6 ASTERISK Ringmaster is keen to employ star (8)
  Hidden in [Ringm]ASTER IS K[een]
7 RAGTAG Scruffy artillerymen joke about origin of tanks (6)
  R[oyal] A[rtillery]; plus GAG=”joke” around T[anks]
8 FETA It’s on board primarily for everyone to appreciate (4)
  =on a cheese board, specifically
first letters from F[or] E[veryone] T[o] A[ppreciate]
14 HYGROMETER He got merry playing instrument in greenhouse, maybe (10)
  =an instrument to measure humidity
(He got merry)*
15 PHENOMENAL Amazing chap with Roman name visits friend (10)
  HE=”chap” plus NOMEN=”Roman [Latin for] name”, in PAL=”friend”
17 LESBIANS Paisley goes in to bless worried Aegean islanders (8)
  =inhabitants of Lesbos
IAN Paisley [wiki]; in (bless)*
18 OLYMPIAN Godlike, round, soft-spoken Scotsman (8)
  O=”round”; plus LYMP=homophone of ‘limp’=”soft-spoken”; plus [another] IAN=”Scotsman”
20 LYCEUM Where Lucy did the twist with me? (6)
  =a college
(Lucy me)*
21 SYNDIC Indy’s edited by Conservative business agent (6)
  (Indy’s)* plus C[onservative]
22 ACME Expert goes over minutes for summit (4)
  ACE=”Expert” around M[inutes]
23 SECT Cryptic concerning Shed faction (4)
  SECRET=”Cryptic”, minus or ‘shedding’ RE=”concerning”

59 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 27,415 by Crucible”

  2. Hard work and dnf for me. Didn’t get SECT, but on reading the blog I see I should have persevered a bit longer. I think maybe having worked out 12a which I’d vaguely come across somewhere, my brain hurt. ARCHIVE felt a little bit clunky, but otherwise I really liked this.

    Lots of favourites including 1d, 19a, 23a, 6d and others.

    Thanks to Crucible and Manehi.

  3. Thanks Crucible and manehi

    When the first pass of across clues yielded nothing, I thought that this was going to be hard; however the downs were much easier, and it all went smoothly (a DNF, though, as I hadn’t noticed that I hadn’t filled in FETA until I came here). Favourites were SAY SO and the nice hidden IODINE. I wonder how Paul would have defined LESBIANS?

    I didn’t understand HOLDING or parse ENCHILADA.

    “in head” is superfluous in 23a as any nerve junction has a SYNAPSE.

  5. 18d reminded me of the old joke:
    “Have you heard about the new contraceptive pill for men?”
    “…”
    “It’s about two centimeters across and one centimeter thick.”
    “…”
    “You put it in your shoe.”
    …
    I occasionally tried it on French friends who claimed to be bilingual and, I’m happy to say, most of them twigged.

  9. I too thought it was going to be tough at first but Mrs W was on fire – first suggesting Rio Grande for 9a and when that didn’t parse coming up with HOI POLLOI which gave me 1d and we were off. Most went in steadily until we got to the SE corner, but PHENOMENAL led to SAY SO and loi was SECT which I couldn’t parse. I also didn’t see the land meaning of HOLDING. My ticks went to 9, 19 and 23a (muffin@3 – whilst “in head” might not be necessary it’s what lead me to the solution), and 1 and 6d.
    Thanks to Crucible for the puzzle and to manehi for the parsing and pointing out the overall theme which I didn’t notice – again.

  11. I also liked 3d. Does anyone else find it harder to spot hidden words in down clues? It must be something to do with the way I see words and their shapes. In fact, in contrast to a comment a few weeks ago, I generally find down clues harder and often have to write them out before solving them.

  13. I thought this was a tremendous puzzle (and not too difficult). Ticked loads of clues, including HOI POLLOI, PHARMACIST, ASTERISK and LYCEUM. Many thanks to Crucible and manehi.

  14. Thanks, manehi.

    What a super puzzle! I was enjoying it so much that I didn’t want to finish it. I could say, as so often, there were too many favourites to list but I must mention HOI POLLOI, ARCHIVE. ENCHILADA, PHARMACIST, ASTERISK, HYGROMETER, PHENOMENAL, LESBIANS and the brilliant SECT. [I don’t understand  your problem with the synonym, Stanyel @4.]

    Huge thanks to Crucible – I absolutely loved it!

  15. Without applying my mind, I filled in POT POURRI and VOX POPULI for 9A and then arrived at HOI POLLOI, going by the crosser ‘I’ at the end.  “twice over river” made me think of .. POURRI and masses led me to POPULI, of course wrongly.

  19. Thanks Crucible and manehi.

    My LOI was IODINE – well hidden. With IT’S ALL GREEK TO ME, the theme was fairly obvious, although it didn’t help that much with the solving.

    I did like the French car in 25; voiture or Peugeot didn’t seem to fit in.

  21. Thanks setter and blogger. Nice crossword. Liked ‘drug dealer’; I haven’t seen that definition for pharmacist before.

    Muffin – regarding synapses in the head – I think if the definition had merely been ‘gap’, it would have been criticised for being too vague. Like WhiteKing, I twigged the answer because of ‘in head’.

  23. Whiteking @ 11 – you are not alone. I frequently resort to using the anagram helper just to get the crossers displayed laterally. There is some brain pattern recognition system that relies on words being displayed laterally IMO.

     

    Liked the puzzle, all very clean and entertaining.

  25. Thanks to Crucuible and manehi. Found this tough at first but eventually unpacked and only spotted the theme after I had finished. After two one clue fails in a row it felt reassuring to solve this. That said never heard of Boeotia (though it had to be that) and a couple I could not parse including say-so and sect. Thanks again to Crucible for an entertaining puzzle and manehi for clearing up the parsing.

  27. Lots of fun, so thanks to Crucible and manehi. An enjoyable theme cleverly built upon from the long clue.

    All my favourites have been mentioned. I agree the hiddens, 3d IODINE and 6d ASTERISK, were particularly well executed today, but have to agree with WhiteKing@ and andysmith@23 regarding down clues – my puzzle is surrounded by jottings of crossers and dashes for down clues which I can often only solve if I write them out hirizontally. I had never really been conscious of my overwhelming preference for across clues before today though.

  28. Wouldn’t ARCHIVE also be a theme word?  (Says I, who totally missed the theme until manehi pointed it out.)

  29. I enjoyed this (Lyceum one of my favourites); and thought I had finished (with a bit of aid) … except that I didn’t as I had ASCRIBE for 22ac. It seemed to work, sort of. A = ace = expert, SCRIBE = writer. ASCRIBE = report [verb] collection, i.e. attribute descriptions etc to a collection of artefacts. Oh well, never mind.

    Thanks to Crucible and manehi.

  31. Thanks both,

    I found it a fairly quick solve and for once I spotted the theme early on with ‘hoi polloi’. But I needed a wildcard search for ‘archive’ and ‘enchilada’. The definition in 21 of a syndic as a business agent is off the mark as syndics are generally authorities in public bodies, according to OED. I’ve only ever cross the term in relation to the University of Cambridge.

  32. Thanks for the blog, Manehi.
    I really enjoyed this. I got all but 2dn inside 50 mins.
    I normally do the FT, but as today’s was set by Mudd (aka Paul), I thought I’d try the Guardian instead. I made a good choice.
    Thank you Crucible.

  33. An enjoyable crossword. Guessed the theme early which helped with ITS ALL GREEK TO ME. Crucible used a similar theme in 26491 but that was nearly three years ago. SYNDIC was new to me.

    Thanks to Crucible and manehi

     

     

  34. Tyngewick@31 – the online search I did for SYNDIC came up with “(in the UK) a business agent of certain universities and corporations, especially a member of a senate committee at Cambridge University.” So the definition seems ok to me and matches with your Cambridge connection.

  35. This was most enjoyable. I only saw the theme at the very end but I didn’t need it to crack this. I liked PHARMACIST and SPADE, the latter being FOI.
    Thanks Crucible.

  36. A good example of how to do a theme properly. I started looking for Greek phrases as soon as 16a went in – though much of the heavy lifting had been done by then, with HOI POLLOI and BOEOTIA (another word I would not have been able to spell without the Guardian cryptic to help me).

    The theme nearly tripped me up at the end though – I was convinced the dish of 25a was going to be a relative of moussaka…

  37. This was great fun — I enjoyed the theme provided by 16ac.  Many great clues, as noted by others.  I think my favorite was ARCHIVE (and I agree with Valentine @28 — I had that one circled as a word with Greek origins).  I had the same LOI as Robi @19.

  38. Did anyone else have “beta” for 8?  It sort of worked, with B as “Board primarily”, the whole meaning the beta version of a program,. which is there for all to appreciate (i.e.evaluate).  Admittedly it doesn’t account for the letters e t a, although it does fit the Greek theme, being a Greek letter.  I admit that “feta” works better in that respect, but “on board” is a pretty weak definition for cheese, or anything else except the usual shipping reference.

  39. The class dummy thought this was relatively easy, so I guess it must be!

    Add me to the list of those who think 20d was about dance halls and not a college, The Twist was a dance after all.

  40. A very enjoyable and interesting puzzle.  I first suspected the theme after getting the long phrase and AGAPE soon after – I don’t know why the Greekness of ‘agape’ occurred to me before FETA or other more obvious ones.

    When I first looked at 9a HOI POLLOI with just the last ‘I’ given, and with the helpful enumeration ‘(3,6)’, I thought of ‘pot pourri’, thinking of PO as the river (one of crosswordland’s favourite rivers).  That blind alley curiously led me to the correct answer: I just left PO there in my mind’s eye to start the second word, and ‘masses’ did the rest.  That reinforced the theme, of course, and it was interesting to follow it further.

    I wasn’t sure how HOLDING UP worked after I got it, but it does seem pretty obvious now.  I saw how SECT worked rather more easily, but I would never have got that one from the wordplay before the definition.

    I liked PHARMACIST and LESBIANS best today, and I’ve had an interesting education on synapses.

    Thanks to Crucible, manehi and other commenters.

  41. Incidentally, the previous one (26491) used exactly the same grid and also had ITS ALL GREEK TO ME across the middle, but nothing else appears in both.

  42. Thanks to Crucible and manehi. Nothing much to add, though like Derek L. I found this one more difficult than others. I got the long clue early on but the Greek connection did not really help me. I’ve encountered SAY-SO at least twice before with the same clue though maybe not in the Guardian.

  43. ACD @42 – these use the same device:

    Shed 25820: Authorisation expresses nothing (4-2)
    Philistine 26115: Keeps quiet authority (4-2)
    Nutmeg 26796: Is mum OK? (4-2)

  44. Whiteking @34 Despite what a web search brings up, a ‘business agent’ means to me someone who acts commercially whereas syndics do a lot of other things and sit on lots of different kinds of committee. They don’t seem to be acting as ‘agents’ but as directors or committee members. The term is all but obsolete except in specialist contexts, such as UoC. As I said, OED doesn’t use the term ‘business agent’. What do other dictionaries say?

  45. Tyngewick @44

    “As I said, OED doesn’t use the term ‘business agent’. What do other dictionaries say?”

    The three I have on my pc (they all seem to agree):

    Chambers
    1. A person chosen to transact business for others, esp the accredited legal representative of a corporation, society or company
    2. A member of a committee of the Senate of Cambridge University

    Collins
    1. Brit A business agent of some universities or other bodies

    ODE
    2. (in the UK) a business agent of certain universities and corporations, especially a member of a senate committee at Cambridge University.

  46. SYNDIC was new to me and it took the wordwizard to nail ENCHILADA. Missed the theme completely, of course.

    Yes, the Lyceum used to be a common name for the local palais-de-danse. Just the place for doing the Twist.

  47. A struggle but I got there in the end.  Not as hard as yesterday maybe.  It was only as I was putting some FETA on the cheeseboard that the theme really clicked – and I was still fixated merely on Greek places, names and culture, rather than words with Greek roots like TELESCOPE.  Hence I missed out a good half of the themers – which is a pity.  It must be really hard to squeeze all that lot into the grid, especially if you’ve got 16a to lodge first!

    BOEOTIA was the LOI – the name rang a bell but I certainly had to check the (transliterated) spelling!  Although the wordplay, once I spotted it, would have fixed that.

    A pity that ENCHILADA isn’t a Greek dish – it would have been great to slap a MOUSSAKA or something similar, in there- but that’s one letter short!

    No complaints.  Perhaps the long 16a was the best, for me.  Of course getting that in helped a lot!  Does the phrase (approximately) originate with Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, or was it earlier?

    Thanks as always to Crucible and Manehi.

  48. I had to think a while about TELESCOPE as a double def.  You see, I’m not used to telescopes ‘shutting’ up as mentioned in Alice in Wonderland.  I can assure folks, my 10″ Newtonian doesn’t go any smaller, and it’s a bummer to squeeze it in the car (it just fits across the back seats…)

    On the plus side, you can see a lot more besides stars, with it….. 🙂

  50. In addition to Gaufrid’s post @45, I can say that the SOED gives four definitions, one of which is:  A person deputed as a business agent for a corporation or a university; spec. in some universities, a member of a special committee of the senate.

    Rompiballe @38: my solving partner suggested ‘beta’ but I made her think otherwise. FETA was actually my first one in. I agree about the definition “It’s on board” being perhaps too vague but the idea was clear, wasn’t it?  That said, I’ve seen quite some cheese boards (with cheese on it) but I cannot remember any ‘feta’. Perhaps, in Greece? Or – who knows – it is a treat on Greek ships when doing some island hopping …. 🙂

    Wonderful crossword, with the same lightness of touch that makes Redshank’s puzzles in the FT so enjoyable.  As copmus said @26: Crucible/Redshank has been on great form of late.  Check ’em out!!

     

  51. This was a classic (heh heh) with a theme that even I spotted, and without a TELESCOPE at that (though I missed about half of the examples manehi listed above!).  BOEOTIA and SYNDIC were new to me, but fair, and among many pleasing clues, I think my favourites were FETA, IT’S ALL GREEK TO ME, MOURN, RAGTIME, ASTERISK and SAY SO (this answer featured recently as I recall, but this was a much better clue in my view).  Lovely stuff Crucible, and thanks manehi.

  52. Very enjoyable. Thanks to Crucible and manehi.
    “When I was king of the Boeotians” is a lovely tune from Offenbach’s “Orpheus in the Underworld”.

  53. Pino @52

    [Thanks for your enlightenment concerning the opera.  I saw a live broadcast of Orpheus fairly recently at a local cinema, and it was an unusual kind of opera, but tuneful and, in this case, well performed.  I don’t remember that name Boeotia (or the Boeotians), but I think I know the tune you mean, midway through the opera.  I agree with what you say about it.]

  54. Ok, once again I’m late to the party but only because I struggled so with Wednesday’s puzzle. This wasn’t so hard for me, although I still used the check button, and online dictionary and thesaurus. Also had to go to Wikipedia for Boeotia: missed the parsing and got it from the crossers, doh! Syndic was my other new word. I made heavy weather of lots of the others although some flew in so I feel encouraged.
    As always, missed the theme, and it is ridiculously obvious now! FOI was telescope, I do like a double definition to get me started. I spotted iodine yet only parsed asterisk once it went in from the crossers: I don’t know whether the verticality increases the challenge for me or I just forget to check for these hidden answers. I loved feta, synapse and ragtag. LOI was enchilada, took yonks to see it was French losing Fr. Ah well, I feel like I’m learning a little every day. Thanks to all, especially Crucible and Manehi. Also to Teacow and Blaise for a couple of good LOLs!

  55. Thanks to Crucible and Manehi and nothing to add to the commentary.  Just came on for someone to parse the “old joke” from Blaise@5 – I know I’m being spectacularly dense, Newby-Lurker?

  56. Hi Newby-Lurker (@54)

    I enjoy reading your posts and it’s good to witness a ‘newby’ settling into this forum and into the crosswords themselves.

    I nearly always miss themes unless they are announced or telegraphed, but I’m pleased today that I saw it today with the long phrase followed by AGAPE, OLYMPIAN and then the rest.

    Double definitions are among my least favourite clues, and I sometimes have trouble with them, but I thought today’s TELESCOPE was an easy one, with its first definition.

    I’m usually a late solver, and therefore a late poster when I do decide to comment.  I admit I’m addicted to Guardian cryptics (they are the only crosswords I tackle regularly), and I keep up with the forum even when I have no time for the crossword – which happens on some days.

    Keep going –  with the crosswords and the forum.

  59. Thanks for the encouragement, Alan B, and it’s nice to know someone is reading my late posts! I think I’m getting addicted to the Guardian cryptics too! And of course, the help and discussions here make it all the more fun. Now, I really must make a start on today’s puzzle!

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