Guardian Cryptic 27,544 by Chifonie

by

A gentler start to this week, with favourites 15ac and 18dn. Thanks to Chifonie

Across
7 CAMISOLE Old king keeps writer in clothing (8)
COLE=”Old king” from the nursery rhyme, around Kingsley/Martin AMIS=”writer”
9 TREMOR Quake in Turkey — capital taken aback (6)
TR=”Turkey” on a car license plate, plus ROME=”capital” reversed/”taken aback”
10 RAID Sally runs to help (4)
R[uns] cricketing abbreviation; plus AID=”help”
11 STRIP LIGHT Stumble in feeble illumination (5,5)
TRIP=”Stumble” in SLIGHT=”feeble”
12 CARTEL Association makes claret (6)
(claret)*
14 TEAR DOWN Drop feathers in trash (4,4)
TEAR=”Drop” of liquid from the eye, plus DOWN=”feathers”
15 TUNDRA Medic introduced to swimmer in wasteland (6)
DR=doctor=”Medic” inside TUNA fish=”swimmer”
17 REGARD Watch and respect (6)
double def
20 GENERATE Make teenager upset (8)
(teenager)*
22 DESIRE Lust of French father (6)
DE=”of [in] French”, plus SIRE=”father”
23 CONFISCATE Take away tonic cafe’s put out (10)
(tonic cafe’s)*
24 SACK Fire in bag (4)
double def
25 REPOSE Slumber for girl holding record (6)
ROSE=”girl” aroudn EP=music “record”
26 DARTMOOR Missile has reversing space in this part of Devon (8)
DART=”Missile” plus ROOM=”space” reversed
Down
1 CATARACT Visual impairment caused by falls (8)
double def – second def refers to waterfalls
2 DIED Stopped working and fixed when touring Spain (4)
DID=”fixed” around Espana=”Spain”
3 FOSSIL Relic of saints captured in defeat (6)
SaintS in FOIL=”defeat”
4 STOPPAGE Fret over servant’s strike (8)
STOP=”Fret” on e.g. a guitar, plus PAGE=”servant”
5 BEHIND BARS Where crooked landlords are, or should be (6,4)
referring to prison, or to a landlord standing behind the bar of a pub
6 NO SHOW Absentee gets meals with old women (2-4)
NOSH=”meals” plus Old Women
8 ERRATA In time, traitor makes mistakes (6)
ERA=”time” around RAT=”traitor”
13 TENDERFOOT Novice makes offer to pay (10)
TENDER=”offer”, plus FOOT a bill=”pay”
16 ROADSTER Repairs, or trades, sports car (8)
(or trades)*
18 DIRECTOR Clergyman supports detective being on board (8)
RECTOR=”Clergyman” after Detective Inspector
19 HERALD Considered entertaining painter and announcer (6)
HELD=”Considered” aroudn Royal Academician=”painter”
21 ERODED Worn down journalist travelled inside (6)
EDitor=”journalist” with RODE=”travelled” inside
22 DREARY Tedious wine type grabbing attention (6)
DRY=”wine type” around EAR=”attention”
24 SUMO Total love of sport (4)
SUM=”Total”, plus O=zero=”love”

 

30 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 27,544 by Chifonie”

  1. Many thanks, manehi.

    TEAR DOWN isn’t really ‘to trash’, is it?  My friends in the US use it for ‘dismantle’ as in an exhibition stand.  Is the setter referring to ‘to trash an argument’ perhaps?

    In STOPPAGE, I read stop as the verb.  ie to stop a string at the 5th fret.  Same sense as your noun I guess.

    Other than that, a pleasant start to the week, many thanks Chifonie.

    Nice week, all.

  3. Thanks Chifonie and manehi. I liked 7a CAMISOLE and 28a DARTMOOR, as well as the Amusing definition for 5d BEHIND BARS.

  5. Me @1:  The memsahib proffers “I’m going to trash/tear down your house”.

    Hmm…’spose.

  6. Thanks Chifonie and manehi

    I thought that this was a bit loose in places – “writer” for AMIS and “girl” for ROSE, for example. “in” in 24a looks odd. I didn’t like 5d – why should landlords behind bars of pubs be crooked?

    Favourite was STRIP LIGHT.

  7. muffin@6, I also circled “girl” as vague fodder for ROSE in 25a. But then again if it had been flower, I guess we would have been flip-flopping between flora and rivers.

  9. muffin @8, thank heavens you posted that, I used SS, I don’t think I could have come up with any ruse to empty ‘saints’…

  10. Re 5d: surely honest landlords should be behind (their) bars, and crooks should behind (prison) bars. The construction of the clue doesn’t work for me.

    Is a TUNDRA really a wasteland?

  11. Lovely canter through for those learning the ropes, like me. Finished at a brisk trot. Favourite was the simple but elegant SUMO.

    Thanks to Chifonie and manehi.

     

  14. Good Monday fare, although a NINA grid without a NINA made some solves more difficult than they should have been.

    I quite liked BEHIND BARS, although I understand the above objections. Perhaps, something like: Where landlords are, or should be when crooked would have sufficed?

    Thanks Chifonie and manehi.

     

  15. Thank you Chifonie and manehi.

    A good Monday crossword solved quickly leaving time for the Quiptic.  Like Keyser @11, SUMO was my favourite.

  16. Thanks to Chifonie and manehi. I agree – a good Monday puzzle for which I’m grateful. We lost our electricity for 12 hours so are now just getting back to normal.

  17. Very Rufusian in places and I was held up with the same type of clue I would have been with his – REGARD being one. TEAR DOWN was my loi and favourite because I had DOWN and took ages to see drop as TEAR rather than fall or somesuch. It seemed ok as a version of trash. I didn’t see TUNDRA as a synonym for wasteland but I’m sure it will be defined as such somewhere.
    Thanks to Chifonie and manehi.

  18. A fun Monday puzzle – not devilishly difficult, but providing many nice (and concise) surfaces and amusing clues.  I liked BEHIND BARS and TEAR DOWN vey much, and in fact had the latter ticked as the CotD for me.  My interpretation of 5dn is that all landlords can be expected to be found behind the bars in their pubs, but crooked landlords are the only ones to which the entire clue applies, because they have a second type of bars that they belong behind.  As for TEAR DOWN, I think that term is interchangeable with (to) trash in the sense of making defamatory statements about someone or something, although, as William @1 notes, perhaps this is a predominantly American usage.  I also enjoyed DIRECTOR for its use of the word “being”, and I thought ROADSTER was elegantly clued.  Teenager and generate as anagrams of one another is an old chestnut at this point (like orchestra and carthorse) but I still enjoy solving these clues when they come around.

    Many thanks to Chifonie and manehi and the other commenters.

  19. Thanks to Chifonie and manehi. A gentle stroll for me giving me plenty of time to enjoy the sunshine. I am in the camp of liking behind bars, though agree with Robi about possible objections. A pleasant start to the week and thanks again to Chifonie and manehi.

  20. I had TAKE DOWN for 14ac for a while, going with the ‘trash’ element and trying to retro-fit the ‘take’ to ‘drop’.  Scuppered 4dn for a while, but got there in the end.

     

    Favourite clues today: 26ac and 13dn, and 17ac for its neatness.

  21. I agree that TEAR DOWN feels wrong, but didn’t mind BEHIND BARS. But shouldn’t the Cryptic be harder than the Quiptic?

     

  22. Thanks Chifonie and manehi

    Ref ‘tear down’ vs ‘trash’, at the end of The Trial in Pink Floyd’s The Wall, the final line is “Tear down the wall!”, at which point (live) the wall is collapsed. Sounds pretty much like trashing it to me.

  23. Nothing tricky here, but it still took me longer than Chifonie sometimes does, with HERALD last in.

    Thanks to Chifonie and manehi

  25. This took me longer than it should have and I can only think it was my being distracted by the guy fitting a new door in the kitchen. I liked TEAR DOWN and BEHIND BARS but I was delayed by CAMISOLE and DIED which were the last two in. Otherwise straightforward.
    Thanks Chifonie.

  26. People appear to make objections to clues for the hell of it and without recourse to a dictionary.

    A quick glance at the SOED will justify TEAR DOWN and TUNDRA

    All landlords are behind bars and “behind bars” can mean “in prison”

    How can “Old king keeps writer in clothing” be loose when “Old king” slaps one round the face with COLE! What can go in COLE to make clothing

    Sorry I forgot COKINGLE, COSHAWLE, COSNOWLE, COPOPEE, COPUZOLE and COOKRILE. Now I see just how loose this was!!!

    Sometimes there’s nothing to say about a puzzle except to indirectly suggest that one finished it which isn’t really very interesting. Better to say nowt. 😉

     

  27. This wasn’t plain sailing for me.  I slowed down in the top half, specifically with the clues to the connected answers CAMISOLE, DIED, ERRATA and TEAR DOWN, and I managed to unlock this chain eventually with TEAR DOWN.  I didn’t have to look up that phrase, as I know what it means, but I did look up ‘trash’ because I had no idea it had that meaning.  (‘Vandalise’, yes, but not ‘tear down’.)

    Not much else to say: I liked CAMISOLE, STRIP LIGHT and TENDERFOOT.

    Thanks Chifonie and manehi.

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