Guardian Cryptic 27,512 by Crucible

by

A quick, fun, solve – favourites were 5ac and 2dn.

There are quite a few references in the solutions to rooms or places to stay – I haven’t spotted a deeper theme. Thanks, Crucible.

Across
1 COUNCIL Local government advice for auditors (7)
Homophone of ‘counsel’=”advice”
“for auditors”=’for listeners’ is the homophone indicator
5 SOJOURN Jack, our lad, comes round to stay (7)
Jack OUR, with SON=”lad” around them
9 BED AND BREAKFAST Briefly books guest house (3,3,9)
=B&B=>’bb’, which is an abbreviation for “books”
10 CORAL Pink radical wearing black stuff (5)
Radical inside COAL=”black stuff”
11 DRAG RACER He puts his foot down: “Haul tree across river!” (4,5)
DRAG=”Haul” plus ACER=a maple “tree”, both around River
12 EN FAMILLE Nice girl follows directions, hosting morning with her kin (2,7)
FILLE=”girl” in French, or in the French city of “Nice”; after East and North=”directions”, and around AM=before noon=”morning”
14 HOMES Weeds cover front of most houses (5)
HOES=”Weeds” around the front letter of Most Homes
15 CELLS They’re often barred in reception areas (5)
definition referring to prison cells, and
&lit cryptic definition referring to ‘bars’ on a cellphone indicating the strength of mobile network reception
16 DIRECTORS Board day is inspiring cleric (9)
Day plus IS; around RECTOR=”cleric”
18 PRECLUDED CD and EP ruled out? Yes (9)
(CD EP ruled)*
21 EVADE Sidestep first woman clasping her mate? Not half (5)
EVE=”first woman” around half of ADam=”her mate”
22 BOARD AND LODGING Male badger, escaping over ploughed land, digs (5,3,7)
BOAR=”Male badger”, plus DODGING=”escaping” around (land)*
23 ELEVATE Put up European tax shelter limits (7)
European, plus VAT=value added “tax” inside LEE=”shelter”
24 INSIGHT Understanding one thing’s problematic (7)
I=”one”, plus (thing’s)*
Down
1 CUBICLE Stall and hit rocks left nearer the bottom (7)
CLUB ICE=”hit rocks”, with the Left moving closer to the bottom
2 UNDER A FALSE NAME After articles in three countries a man flees abroad incognito (5,1,5,4)
UN, DER, and A are “articles” in French, German, and English; plus (a man flees)*
3 CANDLEMAS 150 identical tips for festival (9)
=Christian festival
C AND L are 100 and 50 in roman numerals; plus SAME=”identical” reversed/”tips”
4 LOBED Watch bottom with round bits protruding (5)
LO!=behold=”Watch”; plus BED=”bottom” e.g. of a river
5 SHED A TEAR Girlfriend cut sandwiches and cried (4,1,4)
DATE=”Girlfriend”, sandwiched inside SHEAR=”cut”
6 JOKER GI (Republican) palms king and another card (5)
GI JOE plus Republican, around King
7 UNACCOMMODATING Goad communicant after Reformation, unlike 9 and 22 (15)
(Goad communicant)*
8 NATURES Types behind keeping guard regularly (7)
NATES=buttocks=”behind”, around regular letters of gUaRd
13 LED A DANCE Given the runaround, English father boards cutter (3,1,5)
English DAD inside LANCE=”cutter”
14 HACIENDAS Estates in Spain misled, when recruiting 100 there (9)
HAD=”misled” as in ‘I’ve been had’, plus AS=”when”; all around CIEN=100 in Spanish
15 CAPABLE Competent party boss apparently taken in (7)
Vince CABLE is the leader of the Lib Dems, around APparently
17 SLEIGHT Cunning, extremely skilful rowers (7)
the extreme letters of SkilfuL, plus EIGHT=a team of “rowers”
19 LYDIA Austen girl fills in weekly diary (5)
Lydia Bennet is a character in Austen’s Pride and Prejudice
Hidden in weekLY DIAry
20 DELHI Penniless Greek city, one in Asia (5)
DELpHI=”Greek city”, losing penny

43 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 27,512 by Crucible”

  2. PS, I’d parse 15ac as a double definition. ‘They are often barred’ and (mobile phone) ‘reception areas’ with maybe an &lit, too.

  3. Didn’t last long for a Friday!

    Thanks to Crucible and manehi.

     

    I think it should be “front letter of most” in 14.

  4. Great fun – loved PRECLUDED, BED AND BREAKFAST and CANDLEMAS in particular. Many thanks to C & m.

  5. This one changed very quickly – I wasted a few minutes to spot an entry point, but BOARD AND LODGING was FOI, swiftly followed by BED AND BREAKFAST, and a combination of Crucible’s impeccable clueing and a few helpful crossers meant that the rest flew in very quickly. A very pleasant solve.

    Thanks to Crucible and manehi

  6. I’m not sure 7d really has a definition , other than as a kind of negative of other answers. Does that count? And 12 is oddly french and not a phrase we use i think.
    Nice and breezy otherwise.

  7. Failed on 15a, where I did not see the sublety of the clue and opted for ‘calls’ on the weak justification that telephone calls might be barred in hotel reception areas. Given the theme of types of accommodation, I thought that it might just stretch. One up to Crucible, to whom thanks, along with manehi for the explanation.

  8. On second thoughts en famille probably means home stay, in keeping with the theme, but still not a phrase we use.

  9. Rewolf@6/8: I think EN FAMILLE is fairly common in written English (usually italicised to indicate its foreign origin). It’s certainly familiar to many Brits, and the clue indicates it’s French – ‘with her kin’, where ‘her’ refers to the Nice (French) girl.

  10. A quick finish and clues to enjoy, especially EVADE, but I had misgivings about auditors for sounds like and ap for apparently. Not a clue how to parse CELLS. Thanks Crucible and Manehi.

  11. En famille used to be used when you were talking about someone and you didn’t want anyone to tell them. So “strictly en famille” she likes a drink would have been quite common when I was a child. Probably less so now

  12. I enjoyed this, completed over breakfast. I’m not great at spotting themes, but this one was unmissable, wasn’t it? I particularly liked BED AND BREAKFAST and CANDLEMAS.

    Nice one, Crucible. Thanks, manehi.

  13. Thanks, manehi.

    I’m entirely with beery hiker @5. No problems at all with EN FAMILLE and AP[parently] is in Chambers.

    Many thanks, as ever, to Crucible. [And I’d recommend the Goliath [Philistine] puzzle in the FT – it’s a good day today!]

  14. I did the same with 15a as George Clements @7, and with much the same stretching of logic! When I used the Check button at the end and found out it was CELLS, I couldn’t parse it without more stretching – did it refer t popular o police cells as reception areas for arrested miscreants? I wasn’t thinking of cellphones, probably because “mobile phone” is the more popular term in the UK (“cellphone” is more American usage, to my mind).

    Quite happy with 12a EN FAMILLE, though I’d agree with Shirley @11 that it was very common when I was younger and is probably less used nowadays.

    I did like the use of “nates” in 8d – nice to see less common words occasionally!

    And I couldn’t parse 9a “BED AND BREAKFAST” – thanks very much to manehi for showing what books had to do with it. Also for setting my other dodgy parsings right.

    I’d echo the comments of others that this was a very enjoyable puzzle, and thank Crucible for that.

  15. PS apologies for my computer garbling my post and inserting “popular” where it didn’t belong.

  16. Like George @7, I also had ‘calls’ for 15a. I think it’s just about justifiable, as the reception bars might be displayed during a mobile phone call. Still, not as good as the correct answer.

    Favourites were CANDLEMAS, and the French connection in 12a.

    Shirley @11. In my (original) part of the world, the phrase was ‘between you, me and the gatepost’, referring to the common occurrence of neighbours chatting over the garden gate.

    Thanks to Crucible and manehi.

  17. Not such a quick solve for me, but moved along faster after I solved UNACCOMMODATING.
    New for me were CIEN = 100 in Spanish, and NATES = buttocks.
    My favourites were 2d, 3d and 20d.
    I needed help to parse 1d, 9a.

    Thanks Crucible and manehi

     

     

  19. I initially had ADJOURN for 5a (well it does mean “to stay”). Next time, read ALL the clue!

    Likewise unfamiliar with APparently – but enough quibbles. Very enjoyable.

  20. Eileen @13 Thanks. If ‘ap’ is in Chambers then I suppose it is OK. OED only has ‘app.’ for apparently.

  21. Rewolf @ 18 – Shirley’s usage @11 is also unfamiliar to me, though I’m sure it works. We would do things “en famille”, such as go on holiday.

  22. Thanks to Crucible and manehi. Like other solved this pretty quickly. However generally found it much easier to solve than parse. The clues were fair but often the answer was quickly apparent and then I had to work out why. That said managed to parse them all and overall an enjoyable solve. Thanks again to Crucible and manehi.

  24. I, along with George Clements @7, Tismegistus @14, Greensward @16 and no doubt many others had “call” instead of CELL and was happy with it. I now see the error of my ways.

    Liked EN FAMILLE. Thought it parsed beautifully and it was a very familiar term.

    An enjoyable solve so thank you Crucible and thanks to manehi for the blog.

  25. 14A. HOES=”Weeds” around the front letter of Homes.  Is there a  mistake here please?  The first letter of homes is H and not M around which we have HOES.

  26. 21A.  Why “not half” in the clue?  Half of Adam is AD.  Could someone enlighten me please?

  27. VDS Prasad:

    14a – my mistake, now corrected. It’s HOES around Most

    21a – “not half” means the other half [-AM] has been removed

  28. Very enjoyable solve. LOI was LOBED as I forgot bed could mean bottom, doh!

    EN FAMILLE is in all the major dictionaries, so no problem there. Despite having lived in Spain for a year, I failed to see CIEN in HACIENDAS as I was nicely misled thinking of C = 100.

    I’m more familiar with ‘led a merry dance’ but I see the version without merry is in Chambers. Christmas fitted in nicely for 3d but of course didn’t parse.

    Thanks Crucible and manehi.

  29. Couldn’t parse CUBICLE, but guessed it and got everything except 14d. Kind of resent having to know another language to win. I hadn’t heard EN FAMILLE either, but I was able to build it up from the clue; not knowing the Spanish for 100 I couldn’t do the same for 14.

  31. Thank you Crucible and Manehi.
    For anyone who is still interested I’ve posted (@56) a justification for Puck’s 8a on Wednesday.

  32. Quite easy but a fun solve nonetheless. Nicely clued throughout with LOBED being LOI. That and DIRECTORS should have been obvious but weren’t until quite late in the proceedings. Good fun.
    Thanks Crucible.

  33. I didn’t parse CAPABLE, not knowing of Mr. Cable, so I can’t count this as a true finish.

    I don’t have an issue with EN FAMILLE, since the clue clearly indicated it was French. I mean, there’s an HACIENDA just the other side of the grid, and that word is probably more foreign in some ways. (It’s familiar here, but then we Americans are more familiar with Spanish. And on that note, dropping random French phrases like “en famille” into conversation here in the US generally makes you a pompous ass, so that phrase is not common here at all.)

  35. Thank you, manehi and Robin at 30.  While I could see AD as half of ADAM, it was “not” that made it difficult for me to parse.  Thanks once again.

  36. Thanks to Crucible and manehi. Lots of fun. For a change the long solutions came quickly but like mrpenney@33 I could not parse CAPABLE (Vince Cable was new to me) or CUBICLE.

  37. Thanks to Manehi and Crucible.   As others have said, a quick solve – which was unexpected on a Friday.  Also a nice firendly grid for once !   I have to admit I failed to parse 1d, 15d and 9a but it was obvious that those were the required solutions so I didn’t worry too much.  That’s a main reason I come to Fifteensquared, to understand the more impenetrable parsings !

  38. I always start with the longest solutions, if I can get them, and for once I was able to get all four of these before going down the scale to the next longest words.  (But they were not rapid solves – I had to work on them, getting 22a first, then the thematically related 9a, then the other two.)

    This was an excellent crossword with some stand-out clues that had clever constructions and great surfaces: COUNCIL, SOJOURN, EN FAMILLE, HOMES, EVADE and CUBICLE.  I liked the clues to all four long answers too.

    I parsed everything except CAPABLE, tripping up on AP = apparently, like many others, ap.

    Thanks to Crucible and Manehi.

  39. What a fun puzzle!  I thought there were some great surfaces (e.g., SHED A TEAR) and clever wordplay (e.g., CANDLEMAS, CUBICLE, BED AND BREAKFAST).  My co-favorites today were EN FAMILLE and UNDER A FALSE NAME.

    Like several other commenters, I had to come here to get the correct parsing for CAPABLE, being familiar with neither Vince Cable nor “ap.” as a standard abbreviation of “apparently”.  I did wonder if Cable might be a name clued by “party boss”, but I was evaluating that possibility as a way to get to ca-PA-ble instead of c-AP-able, because PA is “a parent” that is “taken in” (i.e., heard) in “apparent”[-ly], and the two letters PA would also be actually taken into cable.  But that attempted parsing left unexplained what to do with “-ly”, which was unsatisfying.

    And speaking of the homophone indicator “taken in”, my more outlandish attempt to parse that clue was to wonder whether “CAPER BULL”, a rough homophone of the answer, might be a possibility!  However, I could find no definition of caper that went beyond a mere prance (or prank) to be a credible synonym for a party, and bull would be a stretch, at best, for “boss, apparently”.

    There was literally a PDM with DELHI.

    Many thanks to Crucible and manehi and the other commenters.  Have a nice weekend all.

  41. Thanks Crucible and PeterO

    I’m sorry if this upsets anyone, but this went in so quickly that I convinced myself that I had done the same puzzle previously – I’m sure that I’ve seen that clue for CORAL before, at least! (Late post as I’ve been out all day…)

  42. Re the AP in CAPABLE: I wonder if ‘taking in’ might also be doing double duty – ‘taking the word in’ as well as ‘taking in the word’?

  43. Re: 15ac – A CELL is the area covered by one mobile tower (in older mobile phone carrier technologies), hence “reception area”. This is where the US term cellphone came from.

    I enjoyed this, despite being unable to parse BED AND BREAKFAST. Coming to the blog I see that it was as clearly clued as the rest, and I just missed it.

    It wasn’t as difficult as I expected on a Friday – I thought the difficulty was supposed to gradually increase from Monday through to the prize puzzle on Saturday, but lately this has not appeared to be the case.

    Thanks to Crucible and manehi.

Comments are closed.