Guardian Cryptic 27,542 by Qaos

57 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 27,542 by Qaos”

1. Some stray text has crept into 11ac.

2. Not too hard for a Qaos. I liked ‘belt’ as anagrind in SURPLICE; favourites were NULLIFIES, NIECE, ONSET and CORK. Many thanks to Qaos and manehi. Missed the theme, of course!!

3. Thanks Qaos and manehi

   I didn’t see the theme, of course! Mostly good – favourites two late ones in NIECE and THEIR, and NEANDERTAL (though this, despite being given as an alternative spelling in Chambers, is technically wrong – Wikipedia tells me that, although the spelling of the valley was changed in 1901, the spelling of the species wasn’t as it was by then established).

   I don’t like the x% constructions, used twice here, and I can’t see what “stomach” contributes to 19 except for surface.

   Some general knowledge required. I did know Mama Cass and ALonSO, but not ALLI.

4. Forgot to ask – what are the colons doing in 24d?

5. Ah, “going by the numbers” means “ignore the colons”!

6. muffin @4

   Misdirecting people, I think

7. Thanks Qaos and manehi.

   First ones in were DALI and ALLEY, which put me in mind of Dele Alli, so 7d went in very nicely!  I thought CASSEROLE was great.  I couldn’t parse SURPLICE, and having seen the explanation I’m not sure the cryptic grammar quite works.

   TIN CAN reminded me that these objects were once universally called tins in Britain, before the more American “can” took over: we even used to refer to tins of beer.  Of course Australians still have tinnies – are they perhaps less susceptible to Americanisation?

   The theme completely passed me by as usual.

8. Thanks both,

   A pleasant and quick solve for a Friday. 3d held me up a bit – surprising how hard an anagram can be sometimes, even when you have all the crossers.

9. Thanks manehi; I’m with the theme-missers, as per… I did think the clue for 23 a bit weak, containing verbatim one of the words, ie CAN, that appears in the solution but I suspect I’m alone in this, so thanks Qaos for an ingenious puzzle.

10. Unusually, I spotted the theme fairly early on and it helped with the rest. A fairly gentle one-session solve. Thanks, Qaos and manehi.

11. lovely definition for nullifies, but isn’t neandertal spelled with an h?

12. mynollo @11

    See mine @3

13. Lord Jim@7, “tinny” is pretty rare these in Oz, especially in the inner city, and “store” has pretty much replaced “shop” as the noun.

    By far the easiest of the week; anything under an hour for me I expect for the veterans would be a quick solve.

    I dnk Alli, wondered about “doffs hat” in an across clue and the placement of the angrind “belt”, but nothing to spoil the enjoyment.

    Thanks Manehi and Qaos. [The film Qaos, of Pirandello stories, is an old favourite]

14. What a beautifully clued puzzle. A gem from start to finish. And, although it’s always a pleasure to read the blogger, no help needed with parsing, which for me always adds extra points. Many thanks to M and Q.

15. In 24ac I don’t think siege should be part of the definition, but rather an indicator that the first and final letters of Troy’s should be used.  They are  surrounding the word. Otherwise there is no justification for just using T and s.

    Many thanks to Q and M.

16. Thank you Qaos and manehi.

    Another who missed the theme!  24a, I thought the definition was just CATAPULTS, the ‘siege’ being needed for the T and S from Troy’s?

17. cookie @16

    Snap!

18. Jam @17, I have not seen that done before, had a quick look through blogs having entered ‘siege’  on Site Search.

19. Fairly gentle for a Qaos, I thought. Once I solved BOUNCY, I thought of CASTLE but forgot to look for others, doh!

    NEANDERTAL is given in Chambers as a general alternative spelling, so I guess the setter is let off the hook.

    It’s maybe pointless to say again that ‘first dog’ does not mean ‘D’; no doubt the Indy, FT etc would not allow it.

    A pleasant solve with largely excellent clues; I liked the surface of the clue for the simple ONSET.

    Thanks Qaos and manehi.

20. @16 and @17; I think Troy’s just means T’s using the abbreviation, and the clue is parsed as per manehi with siege weapons as the definition – see Chambers.

21. PS @18, ‘besieged’ comes up now and again in the Guardian crosswords , for instance, Picaroon 27,270,  Castle of Otranto’s walls besieged by kings (4)

22. Robi @20, not so sure, Qaos seems to want us to ignore punctuation etc. today – I do not have Chambers.

23. Another who missed the theme! Good weekend to all and thanks Qaos and manehi.

24. Robi @20,  a troy weight, t?

25. Well, that’s fame for you, Alli not even playing today and he creeps into our crossword, nevertheless!

26. …I meant on Sunday, of course…

27. Cookie@24 – Good point. I don’t think anyone else has thought of that.

28. Since January 12th 2012 the Guardian has published 64 Qaos puzzles.  Every single one of them has a ghost theme.  It boggles me slightly that so many regular solvers still don’t think to look out for one when his name appears.

    Thanks Qaos – enjoyed today’s very much.

29. I started this much earlier than I usually manage and, unusually, had some uninterrupted time in which to complete it.

    I knew Cass, Alli and Alonso but didn’t know TROLLER or NEANDERTAL.  I am well aware of the alternative to ‘-thal’ (meaning ‘valley’) in certain placenames but have never seen it with ‘Neanderthal’.

    I didn’t spot the theme until this was close to completion, but that was probably a good thing.  (I appreciate ghost themes anyway, whenever they come to light.)

    Thanks to Qaos and manehi.

30. Alan B @29

    Again, see my link @3. The valley is called -TAL (as have all in German since 1901, apparently), but the species is Homo neanderthalensis as that was the established name by the rules of nomenclature when the spelling of T(h)AL was changed. The museum retains the H too.

31. Mitz@28: I don’t tend to think about themes or ghost themes. It’s a nice surprise every time I discover I’ve missed one!

32. Thanks ti Qaos and manehi. Enjoyed this puzzle a lot, though it was probably the easiest we have had this week. A nice steady solve for me and spotted the theme (I have learned that Qaos usually has a theme and to look for them). I liked get lucky and not much else to say about a very nice puzzle. Thanks again to Qaos and manehi.

33. muffin @30

    Thank you.  I had read your earlier comment but should have taken more notice of it.  As you say, -TAL is now the standard speliing for names like this in general, but Neanderthal is one grand exception, that being the only way I would spell it.

34. Mitz @28

    It’s true though – I’m rather like drofle.  I started this, as I do all puzzles except those with explicit themes, with no notion that there would be a theme.  In fact, the setter’s name on a puzzle tends to evoke only a general impression I might have of recent puzzles by that setter – not any theme or even the fact that they definitely had themes.

    I prefer ghost themes (as today’s), but I also like explicit themes if they are well executed.

35. Found most of this pretty straightforward, but there were a couple that took me longer. TROLLER was new to me and I couldn’t think of the right F1 driver, so couldn’t parse ALSO. Missed the theme too, but didn;t spend very long looking for it.

    Thanks to Qaos and manehi

36. Not difficult. But, for me, the most enjoyable puzzle this week.

37. Enjoyed this. Anyone else get BUTT for 27d? Kind of works!

38. Thanks to Qaos and manehi. Despite Mitz’s comment @28 I’m not surprised I missed the ghost theme because I’m not familiar with UK fairground games (or with quiz shows or other groups of items). I did fare unusually well with this setter, though I did not know Alli or Alonso.

39. I really enjoyed this despite missing the theme and not knowing the F1 driver- and, by heaven, I’ve forgotten him already- and having some problems with COASTER. One meaning of the latter seems to be TOBOGGAN- who knew? I liked NULLIFIES and CASSEROLE. Both splendid clues, I thought.
    The first puzzle to put a smile on my face this week!
    Thanks Qaos.

40. An enjoyable puzzle that I only made more difficult once by putting CHAIN in for RANGE which worked just as well before the crossers went in. Mrs W spotted the theme, but we’d got all the theme clues by then. Favourites were TROLLER, CALENDARS and SHOOTING, and unparsed were ALLIANCE and SURPLICE. Thanks to Qaos and manehi.

41. I am surprised no one has commented on the ellipses … in 13, 15, 16 d, or are they so obvious I am missing their point? The three phrases from each of the clues run together don’t make a lot of sense. Do they suggest putting THEIR in GHOST – can’t see anything there. I though perhaps they referred to the crossword containing the theme, but I can’t see anything there either.

     

    Great Xword otherwise; thanks to Qaos and manehi

42. Great 1dn!!  It’s Friday and today’s setter is Qaos — what a fantastic combination!  I love this setter and his 13dn themes (at least when they are about something I have familiarity with), and today’s theme, once it revealed itself, was great fun.  Plus, it put this great song solidly into my head as an earworm for the last couple of hours, and I’m not complaining.

    My favorites included pretty much the same list provided by drofle @2, and among those I would list NULLIFIES and CORK as my co-CotDs.

    I enjoyed the discussions above, regarding CATAPULTS and “siege”, NEANDERTAL (-thal), and TIN CAN/”tinny” with the last of those topics being immediately reminiscent of this.

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

43. Some very nice clues, I really liked NULLIFIES, NINJA, GET LUCKY, AYES, CASTLE. these were excellent. I’m with Lord Jim, for SURPLICE the cryptic grammar combination of wears and the imperative belt doesn’t quite work for me.

    I don’t understand the confusion about siege, manehi clearly labelled “siege weapons” as the definition, T is the abbreviation for Troy weight. Not all catapults are siege weapons, but here there is a nice allusion to Troy and the definition is fine, since siege weapons can include catapults.

    Many thanks manehi and qaos

    Many thanks qaos and thanks

44. Dutch @45, yes, but it is troy weight and the abbreviation is t, not that I object about capital letters being used or not, but it was confusing.

45. In defence of Dutch, T is given in both Chambers and Collins as “Troy (weight)”.  The brackets are not unimportant.  For me, it was clear straightaway but perhaps it’s different when you set puzzles yourself like Dutch and me (in a different setting), always looking for useful building stones.  Unusual abbreviations are quite often discussed on this site (like R for ‘rule’ and R for ‘take’ , to name two) but I always say ‘if it’s in one of the major dictionaries then it’s fine’ whether they’re used in everyday life or not.

    As to this Qaos crossword, all in all an enjoyable experience (one similar to Dutch’s verdict).

    Also, a crossword that contains the Dud of the Week: 6d.

    Many thanks to manehi & Qaos.

46. Wish I had had more time and energy for this one. Some great clues and fun! theme. But let myself down by using too many reference sources and even straight-out googled some answers as pressed for time last night (Oz time). Very enjoyable and interesting to come back and read the blog this morning. Thanks to Qaos, manehi and all posters. [DaveMc, loved the reminder about “Wall of Death” – I only knew the REM version – and what a great film clip!]

47. Muffin @3

    Wiki actually says the following:

    “The spelling Neandertal is occasionally seen in English, even in scientific publications. Since “Neanderthal”, or “Neandertal”, is a common name, there is no authoritative prescription on its spelling, unlike the spelling of the binominal name H. neanderthalensis, which is predicated by King 1864.”

    But does anybody actually trust what Wiki says anyway?!

    NEANDERTAL isn’t actually “wrong”. In fact the OED contains quotes in this context with the alternative/newer spelling.

     

     

48. lurkio @47

    Yes – the article I linked to actually uses “neandertal” to refer to the hominids several times later, thus lowering its credibility 🙂

    There is no question about the correct spelling of the scientific binomial name, though.

49. Sil @45, my Collins and COED both give ‘troy’, and the online Chambers gives ‘troy’ with the abbreviation t, as I said @45 not that it matters, but the blog was not explicit.

50. Cookie @49, I probably didn’t get your point but I see what you mean now.  End of story.

51. cookie et al –
    Sil (and manehi) are correct. I clearly see your confusion but T (no lower case in crossword grids of course) for troy, or Troy, is regularly invoked by setters – and has been for many decades.
    manehi’s blog is spot on, but he didn’t spell that point out clearly (no doubt because it’s so well known to experienced solvers) so your understandable confusion is useful to prompt explanation for learners. I’m not implying you are a learner, of course (I’ve been most impressed by your outstanding progress since you first came here – if my memory serves, you were relatively new to our game then) but you may not have seen this as often as manehi – or those as I who are fortunate (or unfortunate?) enough to have been filling in these little squares for longer than most people have been alive!
    HTH
    Wx

52. William F P @51, thank you, looking back Troy came up recently in 27,509 by Qaos, a puzzle I did not solve, but  I did meet the abbreviation T in February 2017, Crucible 27,123,  and remember now!

53. Just one more thing (sorry)  It looks like that perhaps, for some, ‘t‘ stands for ‘troy weight’ –  t written in lower case – and that this is a reason that it’s confusing. Am I right? If not, then I should really stop writing further comments. The ‘weight’ bit can be discarded as the dictionaries put brackets around it. For the grid entry it doesn’t matter whether t is lower case or upper case. In the clue Qaos uses ‘Troy’ (upper case) but if someone thinks that this should be lower case, then we have false capitalisation here, which is allowed unlike the other way round.

    Conclusion? Much ado about nothing.  That said, manehi could have been clearer in his blog, saying “T (Troy) ‘S” instead of “Troy’S“.  It’s surely what he meant. End of story (part 2) ….

     

     

54. Sil @53, all my fault, Qaos’s surface was so smooth that troy weight did not come to my mind – I had fun using siege to get the T and S,  I usually think of that sort of catapult as a siege engine. Apologies.

55. I enjoyed this Quiptic-like Qaos. I saw the theme after I finished solving so it did not help the solving process.

    My favourites were 3d and 12a.

    I could not parse 27d ALSO, and new person for me was the England midfielder Dele ALLI as part of 7d

    Thanks Qaos and manehi

56. Very late. Good fun, especially when the theme was revealed. Ended up not being able to get NEANDERTAL.

    Best for me was the &littish 27d. Poor old Fernando. He’s just qualified near the back of the grid for the French GP tonight, so his woes continue.

    Thanks to Qaos and manehi.

57. Sil @53,  your last two lines are very clear to me this morning,  “T (Troy) ‘S” would have been fine.

    Apologies yet again for the storm in a TEACUP.

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