Guardian Cryptic 27,449 by Imogen

by

The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/27449.

The early comments on the Guardian site suggest a Quiptic-level puzzle, but, despite some easy clues like the familiar 22A TIGHT, I did not find it so, in large part because of unconventional clue structure (some may read this as Breaking the Rules). I found plenty to enjoy, particularly 1A FIGURINE.

Across
1 FIGURINE Its leaf on wee statuette? (8)
A charade of FIG (‘leaf’, referring to its use to hide the genitals) plus URINE (‘wee’), with an extended definition.
5 GOTHIC Like many cathedrals, become almost intimate (6)
A charade of GO (‘become’) plus THIC[k] (‘inanimate’?‘intimate’) minus its last letter (‘almost’).
9 MANSION Opera is back in the big house (7)
Awkward word order: an envelope (‘in’) of SI, a reversal (‘back’) of ‘is’, in MANON (‘opera’ by Jules Massenet; the version by Puccini, based on the same novel, is titled Manon Lescaut).
10 WRAPPER Cover popular artist’s sound (7)
A homophone (‘sound’) of RAPPER (‘popular artist’).
11 SOMME Wine waiters lose half the battle (5)
SOMME[liers] (‘wine waiters’) minus the last five letters (‘lose half’), for the WWI battle.
12 CASTELLAN For one running keep tin of beer? (9)
An implied envelope: STELLA (proprietary ‘beer’) in CAN (‘tin’ – STELLA in CAN = ‘tin of beer’), with a cryptic definition – a CASTELLAN is a person in charge of a castle.
13 FACE THE MUSIC Bravely handle consequences of awful cafe and what’s piped into it? (4,3,5)
A charade of FACE, an anagram (‘awful’) of ‘cafe’ plus THE MUSIC (‘what’s piped into it?’ – that is, into the ‘awful café’)
17 HEREDITAMENT Passable property of woman to change, possessing boring name (12)
A charade of HER (‘woman’) plus EDITAMENT, an envelope (‘possessing’) of TAME (‘boring’) plus N (‘name’) in EDIT (‘change’).
20 PARTHENON Perhaps chicken wing and leg found on top of Capital Hill (9)
A charade of PART HEN (read HEN PART – ‘perhaps chicken wing’!) plus ON (‘leg’ in cricket); the ‘Capital’ being Athens.
22 TIGHT Mean to get drunk (5)
Double definition.
23 AS A RULE Usually like beer, which sport interferes with (2,1,4)
An envelope (‘interferes with’) of RU (Rugby Union, ‘sport’) in AS (‘like’) plus ALE (‘beer’). I thought that work, not sport, was the curse of the drinking class.
24 TEMPURA King left upmarket version of fried fish (7)
An anagram (‘version’) of ‘upmar[k]et’ minus the K (‘king left’). TEMPURA is fried, but not necessarily fish, so this is an indication by example.
25 DAHLIA Hard to impress surrealist with a flower (6)
An envelope (‘to impress’) of H (‘hard’) in DALI (Salvador, ‘surrealist’) plus ‘a’.
26 IDENTITY I had existence as a distinct personality (8)
A charade of I’D (‘I had’) plus ENTITY (‘existence’).
Down
1 FAMISH Frequency with which US sect starve (6)
A charade of F (‘frequency’) plus (‘with which’) AMISH (‘US sect’).
2 GENOME Swiss banker invests energy in complete set of personal make-up (6)
An envelope (‘invests’) of E (‘energy’) in GNOME (‘Swiss banker’; it is a long time since I last heard of the Gnomes of Zurich, but it seems they are still around).
3 RHINELAND Big beast’s tail bitten off by antelope in demilitarised zone once (9)
A charade of RHIN[o] (‘big beast’) minus its last letter (‘tail bitten off’) plus ELAND (‘antelope’). The RHINELAND was off limits to the German military after WWI, until German forces re-entered in 1936.
4 NONACCEPTANCE Dismissal of cop — canteen can go wild (3-10)
An anagram (‘go wild’) of ‘cop canteen can’.
6 O’HARE Please speed to airport (5)
O, HARE! (poetically ‘please speed’), for Chicago’s ‘airport’.
7 HIP FLASK Joint request to include fluid in this? (3,5)
An envelope (‘to include’) of FL (‘fluid’) in HIP (‘joint’) plus ASK (‘request’), with ‘fluid’ doing double duty.
8 CORONACH Crown and Church join in dirge (8)
A charade of CORONA (‘crown’) plus CH (‘church’).
10 WEST HAM UNITED Point at which inexpert actor joined players (4,3,6)
A charade of WEST (‘point’) plus (‘at which’) HAM (‘inexpert actor’) plus UNITED (‘joined’), for the soccer team.
14 MINUTEMAN Pygmy militia member? (9)
MINUTE MAN (‘pigmy’).
15 WHIP HAND Party official meets Leader of House with advantage (4,4)
A charade of WHIP (‘party official’) plus H (‘leader of House’) plus AND (‘with’).
16 ARBROATH Raised support to translate Torah for Scots community (8)
A charade of ARB, a reversal (‘raised’ in a down light) of BRA (‘support’) plus ROATH, an anagram (‘translate’) of ‘Torah’.
18 AGOUTI A condition causing swelling on one rodent (6)
A charade of ‘a’ plus GOUT (‘condition causing swelling’) plus I (‘one’).
19 STEAMY Erotic, like a Turkish bath (6)
Double definition.
21 HOURI Bird of paradise? (5)
Cryptic definition.
completed grid

62 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 27,449 by Imogen”

  1. I enjoyed this puzzle.

    I was not sure how to parse the O in 6d until I found this in my dictionary (before reading the blog)

    archaic used before a name in the vocative: give peace in our time, O Lord.

    My favourites were FIGURINE & GENOME.

    New word for me was ARBROATH.

    Thanks Imogen and Peter.

  4. I wasn’t keen on the unconventional clue structure to which Petero refers. A couple of DNKs that needed checking once I’d got them – CORONACH and AGOUTI, although the latter was ringing bells.

  5. Thanks Imogen and PeterO

    A stop start experience for me. First pass of the across clues yielded only SOMME and DAHLIA (one of my favourites); lots of down ones went in fairly easily, leaving the NE empty. I was held up on WEST HAM UNITED by having entered a partly parsed PERCHANCE at 20a (“perhaps” with a Capital Hill inside something!) I also spent a lot of time trying to work “close” into 5a.

    I didn’t know CORONACH or (despite having a degree in genetics) HERIDITANEMENT. I’ve said before that I don’t lick words like O’HARE being given as (5) – this was thus my LOI.

    Other favourites were CASTELLAN and GENOME (my first thought for the latter was what Swiss rivers are there?)

  6. Not a particularly enjoyable puzzle for me, and I failed on 6d, assuming that there must be an obscure airport called ‘Orace’ or ‘Opace’ or even ‘Orate’. Without the numeration indicating an apostrophe, I don’t think that O’Hare would have occurred to me any time soon. Coincidentally, ‘coronach’ appeared in a puzzle in a book of collected Times crosswords I have beeen working through lately, otherwise that might have been a poser.

  7. Same experience as muffin with only SOMME and DAHLIA at first and at one point PERCHANCE.

    Also like others, we did not like the clueing at all.

     

  8. Fine puzzle and thanks for the necessary blog, PeterO.

    I wondered about the singular starve at 1d.  Isn’t sect a singular noun?

    Admired TEMPURA, MANSION, & SOMME.

    Like muffin @5, not a fan of the enumeration of words like O’HARE.  We had O’CLOCK the other day which also threw me.

    Many thanks, Imoden.  Nice week, all.

  9. Well, I thought it was a lovely puzzle – unusual clueing adds to the challenge. I was slow to start but worked my way into it, although I couldn’t parse HEREDITAMENT. Favourites were FIGURINE, TEMPURA, DAHLIA and WEST HAM UNITED. Many thanks to Imogen and PeterO.

  12. [baerchen @11  I’d have got there. When we used to drive to Italy, our route took us up the Rhine (or Rhein) to Basle (or Basel – confusing, all these languages in Switzerland!]

  13. Very enjoyable, had 12 ac. just with the initial C, thought Candidate at first, but every time I solved a further down clue my idea of the possible solution changed. North-west corner last in…

  14. muffin@10
    As ‘heriditanement’ appears to be a word you have cleverly invented (a momble) I think that, like Humpty Dumpty, you are entitled to make it mean anything you want. ?

  16. Indeed, George. I even tried to correct it in my second post, but it still came out the same. It seems to have taken on a life of its own!

  18. Dunno about breaking the rules. I don’t know them. My rule is how many times I have to use the check button. Quite a few on this, so a good challenge. Thanks Imogen and PeterO

  19. Thanks Imogen and PeterO. Just a minor point, as Tim @2 and michelle @3 have ‘intimated’, you appear to have misread INTIMATE as INANIMATE, hence your questioning its equivalence to THICK.

    Nice to see a couple of ‘double bluffs’, with both BANKER and FLOWER used literally.

    Meanwhile, the smattering of alcohol-related clues/answers has made me thirsty…

    Cheers all.

  20. Thanks Imogen; I didn’t find it Quiptic level at all, perhaps because of a dearth of anagrams.

    Thanks PeterO; I enjoyed FIGURINE, GENOME and HIP FLASK, despite the double-duty.

  22. Dutchman@18: I also use the check button quite frequently and refuse to worry about it – still using brain cells more or less effectively!

  23. @5 Muffin and @8 William are unhappy with the cluing of words like O’HARE and O’CLOCK as 5 and 6 letters rather than acknowledging the apostrophe. The problem is that 1’4 or 1’5 makes it too easy: what other airport fits other than O’Hare? For me, it’s an easier cluing convention to accept and to keep in mind than Azed’s refusal on Sundays to allow for hyphens. As it happens, another recent airport clue involved ORLY, as part of the wordplay for, I think, ORLANDO – in mentally flicking through airport names, I had tried Chicago’s O’Hare, and that helped me to come up with it quickly this time. In contrast, I wrote in CORONACH and CASTELLAN, at the end, without knowing either word, but the cluing had been fair, and the puzzle was altogether satisfying. Thanks to Imogen and to PeterO.

  24. quenbarrow @23

    I’m not expecting it to be given as (1’4) – I agree that would be too easy – but I would prefer (1,4). However I know that this isn’t Guardian style.

  25. Difficult for me this morning. Easier to solve than to parse. So thank you Petero for your explanations. I didn’t know the opera in 9ac. I hadn’t heard of Sommerliers in 11ac or gnomes in 2d or o in 6d. And I’d never heard of houri. I enjoyed 1ac. But I got through it!!

  26. muffin@24

    you are always quick in monitoring the site and responding – one of many who keep this such an alive site, and one that so effectively draws in and encourages new contributors.

    On this issue, I can’t really see much distinction between 1’4 and 1.4. Except that the latter seems  inaccurate and misleading, in cases like O’Hare, as opposed to O.Hare. Or do others disagree?

  28. Thanks to Imogen and PeterO. I found this a slower than usual solve. Started off slowly and continued slowly. Like others I found this easier to solve than parse and needed to come here to check. I also toyed with orate and opace until O’Hare finally clicked, and have actually flown to and from there (doh). Last two in for me were O’Hare and houri and did like face the music, Thanks again to Imogen and especially PeterO.

  29. quenbarrow @26

    Yes, I see your point, and with the Guardian style I’ll have to live with it. However I do find (5) illogical as well as unfair, as the “o” part represents a different word (or words, in fact – “of the”) from the following word.

    [Waiting for the weather to improve so that we can take the dog out!]

  30. muffin@29

    Yes, I guess we all need to get out more. Me included, without even a dog for company. Cats are less happy to leave home.

  31. I enjoyed this puzzle a lot, so thanks to Imogen. Thanks also to PeterO for the blog, and in particular the parsing of HEREDITAMENT. Seeing EDIT in the middle I was then stuck on hoe the AMENT parsed.
    First one in was 9a MANSION which got me going on the left hand side, which I almost finish d before moving on to the right hand side.
    Like quenbarrow @23 ORLY came to mind for 6d which wasted time. O’HARE being my LOI.
    Favourites were FIGURINE, PARTHENON, AS A RULE and WEST HAM UNITED.

  32. I went down the same rabbit holes as others on 6 and 20 and had the same clues ticked. I found yesterday’s and today’s puzzles more of a challenge than many others. Mrs W romped away with today’s but came to a halt in the bottom half. Thanks to both yesterday’s and thanks today’s setters and bloggers.

  33. I’m also going to grumble about 6d.  OHARE is not an airport as far as I know.

    FIGURINE, CASTELLAN, and HOURI all really amusing clues.

  34. Tim @2

    As Greensward @19 points out, I misread the clue for 5A GOTHIC – not that I let a little thing like that slow me down. I have no problem with THICK for ‘intimate’.

    Perhaps there is no very good solution for the enumeration of 6D O’HARE; (1’4) is a bit of a give-away (and that applies to many other appearances of the apostrophe), and (1,4) worse for being inaccurate as well. I think that the Guardian convention of ignoring apostrophes – along with other diacritics – is the least worst solution, even if it is a trap for the unwary (and who says that cryptic crosswords should not have traps for the unwary?). Incidentally, muffin @29, I believe that O’ in surnames comes from the Irish, not the English “of the”.

  35. Imogen in fairly generous mood today, but one or two slight obscure-ish bits of general knowledge were enough to slow things down.

    Thanks to Imogen and PeterO

  36. Thanks to Imogen and PeterO. I knew CORONACH (from the “The Bonny Earl of Murray” ballad) and spotted OHARE early on, but struggled with ABROATH and HEREDITAMENT (my LOI), I did parse RHINELAND but had to look up the historical connection. Overall, a challenge for me but enjoyable.

  37. Muffin@29

    The O in O’Hare means grandson in Irish.

    ó2, m. (gs. ~, pl. óí; gs. uí used in surnames; npl. uí used in historical sept-names; gpl. ~& dpl. uíbh used in certain place-names).1. Grandson, grandchild; descendant. Mac agus ó, son and grandson.

  38. Surely the Guardian is the one place where we don’t expect women to be described as ‘birds’? (21d) Apart from that, a very enjoyable solve. Thank you Imogen and Peter O.

  40. No doubt the only only acceptable all-round satisfaction test would be to exclude any apostrophied answers in the first place, but that might be a bridge too far. Perhaps just better to avoid them when the answer itself may not be on the top [ten] candidates that would spring to mind for the rest of the clue with all checkers in place!

  41. Reasonably straightforward from Imogen – some entertaining moments.  I didn’t know CASTELLAN but once I got it down, I liked the clue!  The other unknown for me was CORONACH – I was fairly sure the word would be ‘coronach’ and not ‘coronace’ but I looked it up just to be sure.

    We had HOURI (as part of another word) a few days ago, didn’t we?  Coincidence probably.

    Regarding enumeration of O’HARE and the missing apostrophe – I think we just have to accept that this might occur – and live with it.  It’s not customary to enumerate as (1’4) – rather a giveaway!  As mentioned above, we had O’CLOCK (6) recently.  And enumeration, even without apostrophes, is a topic of debate in itself, anyway – there’s an argument running about “SWEET PEAS” versus “SWEETPEAS” on Big Dave at this moment…

    Thanks to Imogen and Peter.

  42. Thinking a bit more about O’HARE – in Irish surnames the O’ is in fact the Anglicised version of the patronymic Ó in Gaelic, which I think is written as a separate word – i.e. Ó HARE [possibly from Ó hAichir, Google says].  So perhaps the enumeration (1,4) would have been nearer the mark?

  43. Rather liked this,well most of it, but O’Hare defeated me. I managed to convince myself that ORATE was the answer despite never hearing of an airport of that name. WEST HAM UNITED took me some time and having plumped for PERCHANCE instead of PARTHENON, I probably deserved to be delayed. I certainly can’t fault puzzle or setter- the solver was a bit naff though.
    Thanks Imogen.

  45. Thanks to Imogen and PeterO. I too thought of PERCHANCE but couldn’t parse it, so I let that one lie until I had all the crossers. Reasonably straightforward although requiring a little assistance from Chambers.Like others, I’m not a fan of the enumeration for O’HARE ! Favourites were ARBROATH and WEST HAM UNITED

  46. I didn’t know coronach or castellan, so my NE segment was pretty bare. Kicking myslef over FAMISH–I should have seen that easily. Oh well…

  47. 3 lights short of a chandelier today. Ohare houri and castellan. Stared at them a lot and gave up. I like quite a lot of the others. Identity, mansion, figurine, dahlia…

  48. I found this easier than the usual Imogen too.  I didn’t know HEREDITAMENT but appreciated the clue leading me to the answer.  While I’ve no quibbles about the enumeration (it’s long been the rule), I didn’t think 6’s clue was as generous.  I cheated it in the end.

    Initially had trouble with ARBROATH, but it turns out I can’t spell DAHLIA 🙂 .

    I liked CASTELLAN and PARTHENON very much (was going to question Capital Hill – it’s Capitol Hill in the US – but the Australian parliament is there, so no worries, mate).  I so wanted Bird of Paradise to be EVE, but I’m sure that must have been done elsewhere.

    Thanks, Imogen and PeterO

  49. Sorry to keep harping on about 6d, but, perhaps, the most aggravating thing for me is that the numeration issue could have been avoided by using one of the eminently suitable options that fit the crossing letters. Setter’s privilege, of course, but I would have preferred one of the options, and would have even accepted Ben Jonson’s famously ambiguous epitaph, albeit in Latin in one interpretation.

  50. Slightly puzzled by killerwhaletank’s comment @33 that “O’Hare is not an airport”. Am I missing something? Perhaps he wants it to be “Chicago O’Hare”? I do remember that it was (still is?) the busiest airport in the world.

  52. Finally got last few just now with return of partner from ceilidh practice. LOI coronach; hereditament also new to our vocab, and we needed the blog above to parse the latter (like at least one other above, I got stuck on AMENT, having leapt incontinently on EDIT which is what I do for a living). Castellan only very rustily and creakily came to the surface, followed rapidly by us both getting the joke. Should have got it sooner given it’s close to one of my nicknames. OHARE was one of our last (NE corner proving most difficult) – but we had no hesitation once one of us came up with it.

    Thanks Imogen for an enjoyable puzzle and PeterO for the parsing/explanations above!

  53. Trivia: Why is the 3-letter code for O’Hare ORD?

     

    Answer: Its original name, when it was a little baby aerodrome, was Orchard.

  54. Re HOURI and birds, normally of course one sees bird used, albeit in that sexist sense, in reference to an actual feathered flying creature. So the topic for discussion has always been, should compilers really do that nowadays, and other things like it, or instead find a workaround. Here, unfortunately, our compiler is referring directly to women as birds, which seems rather unfortunate.

    Still, there is much to admire here, and much that is non-Boatman, so I have decided not to write to my MP (silly cow that she is) 🙂

  58. Very late to the party today. But as a resident of the north side of Chicago, I suppose I have to comment when a puzzle features my nearest airport.

    It’s not our only airport; you can also fly into the friendlier and smaller Midway (MDW) if you prefer. More trivia: MDW, which was named in honor of the Battle of Midway, was briefly America’s busiest airport (in the years before ORD was built, and before jets that could fly cross-country without stopping were perfected).

    They just announced a new expansion plan at ORD; expect it to be a nightmare to transit through in 2019 and 2020.

  59. Also, in my earliest days living here, I did have several occasions cutting it real close getting to the airport in a cab. I could well have said, “O, hare to O’Hare!” But I’m not that clever.

    The best way to get there, most times of day, is the el. Cheaper, and you don’t get stuck in the ridiculous traffic on the Kennedy.

  60. A somewhat mis-spent youth helped with CORONACH, BobW, not I hasten to add on the racecourse, but beside the East Coast Main Line, as it was the name of Gresley Pacific locomotive no. 60093, named after the Derby-winning horse. Never knew what it meant though!

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