Guardian Cryptic 27,445 by Pan

56 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 27,445 by Pan”

1. Thanks Pan and manehi.

   Manehi, you have left extra pate at 11a, 18a and 22a.

2. Thanks Pan and manehi

   About 2/3 was a write-in, but the last third a different proposition altogether. I knew LUSH as a drinker rather than a drink, and had a blind spot towards GEN as a book in DIOGENES. I also knew MORRIS as a designer, but not as a poet and writer.

   POMEGRANATE favourite. I also liked SLUGFEST as I built it up from its parts. Not too keen on “difficult” = ILL in ILLUSORY.

3. Had to Google for the money and the shelter to parse 1d.

4. btw several commentators on the Guardian site were unfamiliar with PULA (or possibly COTE) – obviously not fans of Number Ladies’ Detective Agency!

5. We crossed, NNI 🙂

6. New words for me were MASTIC and PULA.

   My favourites were DIOGENES, CLEVER DICK & POMEGRANATE.

   Thanks Pan and manehi.

7. Initially it seemed as though I might be on course for a first – solving a puzzle straight through but Pan had a few googlies to hold me up, not helped by me misspelling GENDARMERIE and struggling with 3d as a consequence. I needed to look up the Botswanan currency and took some time to parse DIOGENES and failed to parse POMEGRANATE – although it’s obvious with hindsight, which is the mark of a good clue I guess.
   Loi was Morris which I got from the wordplay and had to check he wrote poetry – it was helpful of Pan to include crafty to give reassurance that this was the person to check out.
   As Manehi said a nice mix of clues – thanks to him and Pan.

8. @beaulieu – thank you, it was on my clipboard and I must have hit ctrl+v a few times while using ctrl+b to bold the letters 🙂
   [have edited out the extra pâté]

9. Never heard of PULA but I must try a pint oF LUSH

10. Is there a French connection with PROUST, GENDARMERIE CHARDONNAY TOUPEE SORBET CHALET RAGOUT and PATE in POMEGRANATE?

11. I initially thought 24a (FOI and wrong) was mousse = mou($$)e …

    Thanks for the blog.

12. I think this was my first Pan puzzle, but I hope there’ll be more to come because this was lots of fun from start to finish, with the explanations for the ones I didn’t get above adding to my appreciation. OCCUPANT, CLEVER DICK and SORBET were my favourites. Some lovely surfaces throughout. DIOGENES was a satisfying one to parse. I confess I couldn’t work out COPULATE (thought CONSULATE was involved somehow) or MORRIS, but as I said, the blog has since enlightened me.

    Many thanks to Pan and Manehi

13. Entertaining crossword with some straightforward clues and some more challenging.

    mrpenney can get his own back as my dictionaries tell me that LUSH = drink is N. Amer. slang.

    I got a bit stuck in the SE corner, forgetting (or not knowing) Iris = Orris as well as flag. I had to check PULA as well.

    Most likeable the same as michelle @6; thanks to Pan and manehi.

14. An enjoyable offering from this relative newcomer.

    Nice surfaces generally but over too quickly.

    Not wild about ILL = difficult but that’s only a minor thing.

    Stay warm, everyone.

15. William @14

    Pan is a newcomer to the main crossword, but has regularly been setting Quiptics for some time.

16. Surely 24ac is an anagram (about) of POUT + EE?.  Areversal of POUT would be TUOP.

     

    Thanks manehi and Pan.

17. ARNICA was a DNK for me but once I’d worked out the word play there wasn’t much else it could be given the crossers.  Nicely constructed clues.  The real Frankie the cat is huddled by the radiator and won’t be venturing out until the sun shows itself.

18. Sorry to hear about the big freeze all the UK contributors are experiencing. It must be scary to have to venture out, and for motorists who get stuck in it.

    An enjoyable puzzle from Pan, but I had a weird experience reading the forum, as almost everything I was going to post was already said.

    muffin@2, michelle@6: 8d POMEGRANATE and 12a CLEVER DICK were ticked as my favourites

    WhiteKing@7, 25a MORRIS was also my LOI, though had to google to see that he was a poet

    copmus@9, Robi@13, neither had I heard of PULA, and like muffin and copmus I queried 21a LUSH – thought it was a drunk not a drink – so thanks Robi for the N. Amer. slang reference

    andysmith@11, I also started with “MOUE” for “Pout” at 24a, thought SS must be an abbreviation for super something (extremely expensive), giving me MOUSSE. and so had to rethink when I got CHALET at 16d and then saw TOUPEE

    resonated with your post, Meph@12

    Frankie the cat@17, 7d ARNICA was also unfamiliar to me, but gettable from the wordplay/anagram

    Sorry to be such a copycat, Everyone!!!

    I thought GEN. was fair enough for “book” in 14d DIOGENES as it is the first in the Pentateuch/Bible, but perhaps I saw it more readily because I have taught sacred texts in comparative religions…

    I thought 6a SONATA might have had an indicator that the solution required the use of initial letters, but then maybe S, T and A are commonly accepted abbreviations when speaking about vocal tones??? And perhaps I also think A for Australian doesn’t really work – mind you, if I am quoting currency I do abbreviate our money as the A$.

    Thanks very much to Pan and manehi.

     

     

19. Thanks, manehi and Pan.

    Like Julie in Australia, I’m left with little to say. [I was hanging on the phone to Homeserve for almost an hour to report a plumbing emergency – it turns out not to be such an emergency, since the first available appointment is Saturday afternoon.]

    I ticked CLEVER DICK, ARNICA, POMEGRANATE and YARROW but it was all good fun.

20. I’m with Muffin @ 2 regarding Lush being a drinker rather than a drink. A good puzzle for a snowy day.

21. [PS I meant to say I did like the “French connection” that you came up with @10, WhiteKing. I would see that more as a set of linked words rather than calling it a theme per se…but then again, that is probably a reasonable definition of what a theme is? BTW, WhiteKing, I posted very late on the Picaroon last week so not sure if you saw my message?]

22. Thank you Pan and manehi.

    A very enjoyable puzzle.  Little to add, but I wonder if Pan has French connections? Apart from the suggestion of a theme by Whiteking @10, I would not consider WARD as a synonym for ‘minor’ if I were British, in France (and perhaps the rest of Europe?) you have to apply to the authorities for the guardianship of your child/children if your spouse dies.

23. Thanks to Pan and manehi. My experience sounds to be much like others. Started off quite quickly but then got held up by the last half a dozen or so. Last two in for me were Diogenes and Morris, the last being particularly irksome because I am familiar with the work of William Morris who was a leader in the last 19th century Arts and Crafts movement. Another who had to look up pula but was familiar with cote. I particularly liked charndonnay, slugfest and clever dick and thanks again to Pan and manehi.

24. WhiteKing @10. By Jove, it never occurred to me but perhaps so.

    Good to have so many clues that read well (is that what you call ‘surfaces’?)

    I thought it a bit naughty though to have 2 obscure (IMHO) words in one clue as in 1d which I failed to solve or parse.

25. Julie@18 Yes, S, A, T and B are common abbreviations for vocal ranges, or for vocal parts in scores.

    I’m surrounded by North Americans, and not a one of ’em says “lush” for drink.  A lush is a drunk as far as I’ve ever heard.

    I got stuck on 10a because I was hung up on Sn for tin.  I got stuck on harry for badger in 20d.

    But I did know about Morris as a poet from Ruddigore:

    As a poet, I’m tender and quaint, I’ve passion and fervour and grace,

    From Ovid and Horace to Swinburne and Morris, they all of ’em take a back place.

26. And thank you, Pan, and welcome to the cryptic scene.  This was a fine sample.  Thanks too to manehi for a very helpful blog.33

27. Normal service resumed after the convolutions of the last two days. Mind you, I soon realised that this was not going to be the walk in the park that I first thought. Spent far too long trying to think of an Italian woman’s name that went CHAR*****Y for that to be the case.

28. pex @ 24: one of the 2 words in 1D ain’t so obscure if you remember it’s often preceded by DOVE.

    hth

29. Nice to see Pan is capable of producing something more difficult and educational (somehow I never got round to learning obscure African currencies). Quite an entertaining challenge

    Thanks to Pan and manehi

     

30. I’m surprised. Am I the only Guardian solver who has read Alexander McCall Smith’s Botswana books?

31. Simon @28: Thanks, of course!

    BTW, I absolutely agree with your comment yesterday (66) regarding puns and DaveMc’s subsequent comment. I think puns are quite acceptable and often amusing in crosswords especially with additions such as ‘might you say’

     

32. A very pleasant mix of clues. Muffin @30: McCall Smith introduced me to redbush tea, for which I am moderately grateful.

33. I always thought lush was a drunk, not a drink.

34. I wasn’t expecting this to be as straightforward as it -mostly- proved to be. Minor problems in the SE corner. Can’t say I liked LUSH. It can’t be a drink, surely? I did like MORRIS though and it was the pick of the bunch for me.
    We seem to be getting off rather lightly for weather in North Devon, although I suppose I may regret saying that. My commiserations to those being treated less fortunately.
    Thanks Pan.

35. JinA@21 – I hadn’t seen your Picaroon post and lovely welcome back – thank you. It’s nice to be part of a community that sees people behind the posts.

36. Excellent puzzle except for a few quibbles:

    I gave up parsing COPULATE (for a moment I thought I was doing one of Paul’s 🙂 ) after dismissing COULATE or COPUATE as neither of them being words, let alone anything to do with ‘shelter’…  I wouldn’t have known PULA anyway, and COTE I think only occurs in ‘dovecote’?

    LOI – surprisingly perhaps considering the number of crossers – was POMEGRANATE.  I thought of every possible historical German, including all the Holy Roman Emperors I could think of, but none of them fit – then I tried every possible fruit dish; ditto – then …. but I ramble on.  I must have suffered a mental block.

    And I have a bit of a gripe about SONATA.  OK I understand that to expect initial-letter indicators is now passé – but when I see Soprano, Australian, Tenor and Alto, none of which leads to an obvious abbreviation (except perhaps in musical scores) I throw up the paper in despair.  Am I alone!

    OK.  What’s to like?  Many very nice and fair clues, so I look at the surfaces for that extra bit … I think SLUGFEST deserves a Special Mention…

    Thanks Pan and Manehi

37. Muffin – I’ve read the books but clearly don’t retain information like you do. It was some time ago and probably after my grey cells started their decline.

38. The unexpected (it’s March already!) need to hunker down in my urban igloo at least brought the chance to solve on the day of issue rather than the evening or later as is my wont. Being a Thursday I hoped for a smart Tramp or Philistine, perhaps one of Arachne’s tricksier ones. Maybe a Screw (he never disappoints) or a nice chewy Vlad. I wouldn’t have minded one of Boatman’s more elegant works – indeed, an Enigmatist would have been suitably amusing. Since I’d allowed myself such possibilities, I seem to be the only contributor to confess to being disappointed. I really didn’t feel this had the level of difficulty I’d normally associate with a Thursday. Apart from some lesser known vocabulary (pula, the meaning here of lush) giving pause for thought à la the Don (should that be au Don?), I found this a tragically quick solve. Sorry, guys, I didn’t want to be contrary – but this is an honest tale of woe. That said, I thought CHALET was a most elegant clue – even if served on the wrong day for me!
    Thanks all.

39. (…it may have been even quicker to solve than the easy (described as ‘medium’) killer sudoku above it! That can’t be right for a Thursday surely? Editor…… wherefore art thou?….)

40. Haven’t contributed for a while – been away and down with a cold – but it’s good to be back with mostly like-minded smart solvers. I hope you can get your plumbing problem fixed before damage occurs, Eileen.

    I found this relatively easy as long as I didn’t try to parse absolutely everything, even if that is what one is meant to do.

    Many thanks Pan, manehi and all other contributors.

41. [A heads-up: I saw on the Guardian site that the FT crossword is now interactive online, and it’s true! I’m just about to have a go (still snowed in)]

42. @Laccaria and JinA (sorry for the lack of numerical reference – l’m doing this on my phone): I agree that A as a single letter abbreviation of nationality would usually stand for Austria rather than Australia. (Und ich bin auch in Australien.)

43. @Julie in Australia. As a fellow antipodean I also wondered at A=Australian but then I remembered the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, ANZAC.

    Thanks to Pan for a puzzle with a good mix of challenges and manehi for explaining two that I’d not been able to parse (DIOGENES, POMEGRANATE).

44. This week (especially Tuesday) has seen some rather dyspeptic commentary here on 15^2 on the puzzles and/or setters of the day.  I am happy to see that, for the most part, nobody came here today to pan Pan.

    I enjoyed this puzzle, as I always try to do.  Like Laccaria @36, POMEGRANATE was my LOI.  It was also, in retrospect, my favorite.

    Like Valentine @25, I have been surrounded by North Americans all my life and I have never heard anyone use LUSH, even slangily, to mean a drink, rather than the person who enjoys one or two (or ten) too many of them.  [But then there was that time when I was in Botswana and I spent my last pula on a brimming jorum of lush.]

    Speaking of PULA, and of slang, Google those two terms and see what comes up.  Let’s just say, it is perhaps fitting that a certain Guardian setter who is known for occasionally injecting a bit of ribaldry into his clueing, can be anagrammed as PULA.

    [Also speaking of PULA, it is interesting to see a departure from the common practice of Guardian setters to use each other’s names in their clueing when the opportunity arises, given the ease with which the middle four letters of COPULATE could have been clued in reference to Paul (which, again, may have been fitting), instead of using a comparatively obscure (to everyone except muffin, it seems, based on the comments above) Botswanan unit of currency.]

    Many thanks to Pan and manehi and the other commenters.

45. A welcome to Pan in this slot And a good way to spend a bit of time.

    4The LUSH had me thinking of the person but Chambers has it as definition 3 for the drink. Live and learn they say.

    I also had a currency check problem but it could not be anything else.

    Would like to send you some of our warmth but most of that comes with a side dish of rain at present.

    Thanks to Pan & Manehi.

46. I very much enjoyed this offering and after a slow start I made my way to the end with only two clues left incomplete – 1d, which I should have got but wouldn’t have parsed, and 25a which I didn’t know.

    Of the rest I think I’d award the prize to SLUGFEST (a very satisfying example of building up the answer from its components) but there was a lot to like here.

     

     

47. Thanks to Pan and manehi. Lots of fun. Little to add. I did know Morris the poet and ward as minor (buying and selling wardships for profit was a scandal in Jacobean times so that the practice turns up in satiric comedies) but like others I needed help with COPULATE. Here in the US I had never come across LUSH as a drink.

48. I’m not too familiar with Pan, but solving this was a satisfying experience.  I noticed the setter’s likig for French here and there, and I also noticed the now highly fashionable method of indicating single letters (sometimes a letter pair) by subtracting lots of letters from words in the clue.  There were nine instances here, and what I liked about them was that they were all well suited to the clues’ surfaces.  Examples are T (actor’s third), CK (heartless clink), C (centre of democracy), T (tribal leader).

    I didn’t know LUSH (the drink), PULA, ORRIS or ARNICA, but I did know William Morris (and am quite proud of that now!).

    Thanks Pan and manehi.

49. Thanks to Pan and Manehi.

    Just a little too hot for this Goldilocks but, hands up, no foul called.  MASTIC, which I figured had to be a word I didn’t know, guarded entry to the NW and deprived me of its pleasures.

    But there were many elsewhere, all noted in the heretofore.  YARROW was a favourite – for me a very crosswordy word, it rang an old and pleasant bell, rather perhaps as did Proust’s madeleine’s (note to self: really? Proust?).

    DaveMc@44 LOL at your jorum of lush – I’m sure I have one around here somewhere. (You know nothing! about Proust)

    Mystogre@45 Fair play for defending Pan’s usage – needed to be done.

    Suddenly MASTIC rings a resounding clang.  DOH!

    (Tsk!)

50. Just thought I’d point out that Collins has ‘lush vb (N American slang) To drink to excess’.
    A nicely constructed crossword with some clever misfirection – I too went for MOUSSE initially.
    Thanks to setter and blogger.

51. [Thanks for making that point, and I think I agree, Gert Bycee@42 – love your moniker, by the way, though it took me a minute or two to twig to the reference and to realise that it indicated you live in Australia too! Where do you hail from in Oz? I am on the Sunshine Coast… thought you might be by the sea too??? from JinA]

52. Gonzo @50, the COED has for “lush  esp. N. Amer. slang n. 1 alcohol, liquor. 2 an alcoholic; a drunkard.”

53. Not sure why everyone has a pseudonym here, but I gave myself one to fit in. My real name is Tim. I’ll go that far heh heh. Amongst other things, I’m a blueberry farmer from Golden Bay, which is the bit of the South Island that the rest of NZ hangs off. I became fascinated by cryptics on my mum’s and dad’s knees back in the 70s; the Listener had a cryptic and me ole dad used to get the Grauniad weekly; the weekly was airmail and on onion skin paper back then. Araucaria was going strong in those days if i remember rightly, and I still miss his particular style of wicked and convoluted wit. I discovered this blog a few years ago and have used it to learn… and I’ve learnt a lot more than I would have by myself. The pomposity of some of the posts has done my head in a bit though. It’s a cryptic crossword, why should there be black-and-white rules? I have a go at solving cryptics because it makes me feel good. Someone recently pointed out that a homophone in a cryptic crossword is really just a pun, which – as they said – to paraphrase – is only the lowest form of wit if you are outwitted by it. I hope to post in the future but don’t really see what I have to add to the general blather. I do like the odd time where people’s real lives creep into the blog.

54. vaccinium@53. Please post on the Graun site. My daughter lives in Auckland and the Graun site could do with a Kiwi or three.

55. copmus@54 Ermm… do you mean I should post on the rambling blog under the online crossword?

56. copmus@54 Sorry, it took me a few days to respond,

    Tim.

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