Guardian Cryptic 27,599 by Puck

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The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/27599.

A really first-class – divine? – puzzle, the solution of which required keeping all one’s wits about one. There is a definite theme: BLISS, SEVENTH HEAVEN, CLOUD NINE, EDEN, PARADISE, perhaps ASGARD (I hope we can exclude OPIUM DEN – although with FOOLS and LOST hovering about PARADISE, maybe the serpent is not so far away).

Across
7 WITHOUT Lacking humour, though mostly funny (7)
A charade of WIT (‘humour’) plus HOUT, an anagram (‘funny’) of ‘thou[gh]’ minus its last two letters (‘mostly’ – which mostly indicates dropping one letter from the end, but there is no good reason why it should not indicate two).
8 SEVERAL Doctor reveals more than 2 or 3? (7)
An anagram (‘doctor’) of ‘reveals’.
9 WEEP Keen to go quietly (4)
A charade of WEE (‘go’) plus P (‘quietly’).
10 PRIMAEVAL From earliest times, the odd vampire left behind one blood group (9)
A charade of PRIMAEV, an anagram (‘the odd’) of ‘vampire’ plus A (‘one blood group’) plus (indicated by ‘behind’) L (‘left’).
12 BLISS Not even Bale is Wales’ last scorer (5)
A charade of BL (‘not even BaLe’) plus ‘is’ plus S (‘WaleS last’). The definition is most likely the composer (‘scorer’) Arthur Bliss, and the surface is a reference to Gareth Bale.
13 PENKNIFE One writing grand, fine novel — one with cutting edge (8)
A charade of PEN (‘one writing’) plus K (‘grand’) plus NIFE, an anagram (‘novel’) of ‘fine’.
15 LOST Regularly looks at TV series (4)
Alternate letters (‘regularly’) of ‘LoOkS aT‘.
16 CLOUD Almost hit daughter coming out of one’s shower? (5)
A charade of CLOU[t] (‘hit’) minus its last letter (‘almost’) plus D (‘daughter’). Unless one is into cold showers, there will be a CLOUD of steam ‘coming out of one’s shower’.
17 OBOE Some wind from bared US bums (4)
[h]OBOE[s] (‘US bums’; the second E is optional) minus its outer letters (‘bared’).
18   See 14
20 SKIES Winter sportsmen not right as weather forecasters? (5)
SKIE[r]S (‘winter sportsmen’) minus the R (‘not right’).
21 EIGHTY-SIX Number 4 scores with a boundary (6-3)
A charade of EIGHTY (‘4 scores’) plus SIX (‘boundary’, cricket).
22 MATE Team playing in China (4)
An anagram (‘playing’) of ‘team’, for the rhyming slang ‘china’ plate.
24 TERRORS Tesla faults annoying children? (7)
A charade of T (‘Tesla’ as a unit of magnetic flux) plus ERRORS (‘faults’).
25 SEVENTH Interval drinks? Event has bottles (7)
A hidden answer (‘bottles’) in ‘drinkS EVENT Has’.
Down
1 NINE No talking in Hanover Square (4)
Ouch! In German (‘in Hanover’) ‘no’ is NEIN, which sound like (‘talking’) NINE, which is the ‘square’ of 3.
2 SHOPLIFT Steal from Polish characters drunk on flight after vacation (8)
A charade of SHOPLI, an anagram (‘drunk’) of ‘Polish’ (‘characters’ just indicates the letters of this word) [;us FT (‘FlighT after vacation’).
3 RUMPUS Commotion behind the Guardian (6)
A charade of RUMP (‘behind’) plus US (‘the Guardian’).
4 REGAINED Side finally leading game — having changed side, won again (8)
An anagram (‘game’) of E (‘sidE finally’) plus ‘leading’ with the L changed to R (left to right, ‘having changed side’).
5 HEAVEN Joy needs to pull a man (6)
A charade of HEAVE (‘pull’) plus N (knight, chess ‘man’).
6 HAIL Stones‘ No 1, covered by Prince (4)
An envelope (‘covered by’) of I (‘No 1’ – personal pronoun, in a different case: “looking out for No 1”) in HAL (‘Prince’). Nice surface.
11 IMPROVERS Politician into initially inept football team? They’re getting better (9)
An envelope (‘into’) of MP (‘politician’) in I (‘initially Inept’) plus ROVERS (‘football team’ – here are various such, including Blackburn Rovers – with apologies to supporters of other Rovers teams).
12 BIOTA Region’s flora and fauna in book by Greek character (5)
A charade of B (‘book’) plus IOTA (‘Greek character’).
14, 18 FOOL’S PARADISE Idiot box broadcast ideas for fantastic state of happiness (5,8)
A charade of FOOL (‘idiot’) plus SPAR (‘box’) plus ADISE, an anagram (‘broadcast’) of ‘ideas’.
16 CRITTERS Credit Leavers? No question, they’re animals to US (8)
A charade of CR (‘credit’) plus [qu]ITTERS (‘leavers’) minus the QU (‘no question’).
17 OPIUM DEN Wherein one gets stoned — awful dump, I gathered (5,3)
The definition also forms part of the wordplay (or, with a little licence, the clue may be regarded as an &lit, which is probably the intention). An envelope (‘wherein … gathered’) of PIUMD, an anagram (awful’) of ‘dump I’ in OEN, an anagram (‘gets stoned’) of ‘one’.
19 ASGARD Here Norse gods need a second pullover (6)
A charade of ‘a’ plus S (‘second’) plus GARD, a reversal (-‘over’) of DRAG (‘pull’-).
20 SEXTET Explicit communication by film group (6)
A charade of SEXT (‘explicit communication’) plus ET (‘film’).
21, 23 EDENTATE  Like anteaters and armadillos, say, heading off to back garden? (8)
A charade of EDEN (‘garden’) plus [s]TATE (‘say’) minus its first letter (‘heading off’). ‘Back’ indicates the order of the particles.
23   See 21
completed grid

49 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 27,599 by Puck”

  2. A very quick puck today.

    I concur with Flavia about including these others.

    Thanks puck and Peter.

  3. Not so quick for me, as for some reason I took ages to see seventh, which is totally dense as ‘bottles’ is a chestnut for hiddens. And ditto for edentate, an unparsed guess and look up. Also didn’t parse opium den, but that was laziness. Vaguely noticed the celestial refs but too busy head-scratching and muttering to enjoy, or to benefit from in solving, which I could have done with!

    I liked the er cheeky 17a, and the beaut surfaces of 7 and 14/18d.

    Thanks Puck for a fun challenge and PeterO as ever for a great blog.

  7. Lovely puzzle and great blog – many thanks to Puck and PeterO.

    It seemed that 21ac EIGHTY SIX should be significant and googling ’86, Happiness’ revealed that Hummel figurine number 86 [a girl playing a guitar] is entitled Happiness – see here

  8. I had 16a quite happily as CROWD. Wordplay the same – CROW(N) plus D, with a shower being a lot of something, i.e. a crowd.

  9. Thanks PeterO – especially for parsing REGAINED at 4. I’d never have guessed that ‘game’ was an anagrind. Shame, as most of the other clues were tough, but in a pleasing way, so thank you to Puck. Didn’t spot the theme, of course.

  10. Thanks Puck and PeterO

    A DNF for me as I had EDENTATA – “tata” = “I’m heading off”? I didn’t parse NINE or REGAINED.

    The “needs” looks a bit out of place in 5d.

    Favourite was WITHOUT.

  11. I think the Hummel figurine link is a bit of a stretch, more likely (and less happily) a reference to ’86 Floors from Heaven’.

  12. Missed the theme entirely, but have enjoyed catching up with all the references here.
    I had to cheat 19d ASGARD and 21/23d EDENTATE, so feeling very cross with myself. I also failed to fully understand the parsing of some solutions.
    Congratulations to Puck on defeating me, and thank you for the workout. I appreciated the blog too, so thanks to PeterO.

  13. Lovely puzzle, great blog. My favourites were WEEP, PENKNIFE, EIGHTY-SIX and OPIUM DEN. Couldn’t parse NINE or REGAINED, but no matter! Many thanks to Puck and PeterO. PS Missed the theme of course.

  15. Thanks Puck and PeterO.

    I revealed WITHOUT and SEVENTH, both of which I really should have got.

    Like Edward@8, I had CROWD for 16a. IMO this would be just as valid as CLOUD, albeit a tad less elegant; but the theme definitely points at CLOUD. So a rare example of where spotting a hidden theme would help with solving. For no logical reason I don’t like that much, but of course others will disagree. (I’m quite happy with crosswords, such as some prize puzzles, where the preamble tells you there’s a theme. It’s just hidden themes I dislike – as I said, it’s illogical.)

  18. Thanks to Pick for the enjoyable start to the working week, and to PeterO for helping out with a couple of parsings.

    I read the definition of 16a a little differently: a cloud is something that a (rain) shower comes out of. I’m not sure now which was intended.

  19. Well, I think this is the first time I’ve managed to complete a Puck so very satisfying. Thanks Puck.

    But, I didn’t spot he theme (or even think to look for one).

    I agree with Flavia & Dave E (1&2) about the words to include.

    P.S. PeterO, I’m still trying to get my head round your analysis @46 yesterday (smilie if I could remember how to do one.)

  20. Jacob Steinberg’s match report said Abject Shower 0 Spurs 3.

    So i was in the in-crowd.

    Eileen is being kind to Puck methinks but its a nice idea

    I guess there wasnt room to shoe horn POSTPONED in the grid to complete a trio.

    Thanks all.

  21. I wasn’t being entirely serious, copmus – I just thought it was rather sweet. I’m sure Flavia’s right but I hadn’t heard of that song.

  22. “Primaeval bliss” is another themer, although the “ae” spelling didn’t seem popular in Victorian times.
    Robert Montgomery: “…and thus thy glorious aim, / Like true Religion’s, is to lead us back / From recreant darkness to primeval bliss.
    Joseph Thomas: “Thou hast obey’d thy wife’s inconstant voice, / And made th’ forbidden tree thy fatal choice; / Eternal wrath now blaze against this world, / And man from his primeval bliss be hurl’d.”
    ‘L.’: “And thou, destroyer of primeval bliss, / Be deeper plung’d into the dread abyss!”

  23. I thought NINE was a gem.  It put me in mind of…

    Q.  What’s the question to which the answer is 9W?

    A.  “Do you spell your name with a ‘V’, Herr Wagner?”

  24. I don’t think the cloud of steam as one comes out of the shower is the obvious reference. Surely a shower comes out of a cloud and that’s the definition?

  26. I am not convinced at either of the proposed connections for 21ac, EIGHTY SIX. But I can’t believe Puck chose a random number either. I have been expecting one of our US solvers to chime in with the connection that in the US, 86 is used as a slang verb with various meanings usually related to ejecting or denying service, or out of order. E.g., “He has been 86’d from the bar.” But that doesn’t fit the theme either. Great puzzle regardless, thanks to P & P.

  28. An excellent way to pass the time whilst waiting for an appointment (I was early rather than them running late). Out of chord, cloud and crowd I went for CLOUD (my loi) but didn’t parse it. 7 was lovely misdirection especially with the U from RUMPUS convincing me it was an adjective ending FUL and when the I and H went in I spent ages trying to make WISHFUL work. I also had ticks by 8,9,25,1 and 19. I didn’t know that the tesla was a scientific unit so that does away with my objection to Tesla as a t. And I didn’t spot the theme so once again there was even more to appreciate having read the blog – for which thanks to PeterO et al and to Puck for the puzzle.

  30. Robi@30: The ‘s could be “is” abbreviated. So “coming out of one is shower”, which by stretching the syntax a little (but no more than in many xword clues) could mean “something that a shower comes out of”.

  31. Thank you Puck for a heavenly crossword and PeterO for a super blog.

    When all the other theme words in the comments are taken into account, this was a fantastic feat of the setter. OPIUM is known as the milk of PARADISE, one has to remember its medical derivatives are very important for pain relief.

  32. Thanks to Puck and PeterO. As others have said a lovely puzzle, which was not overly easy but unpacked quite readily. For once I spotted the theme, which turned out to be useful. Last one was nine (another who could not fully parse it) which had to be the answer given the theme. New word for the day was biota and particularly liked fools paradise. Thanks again to Puck and PeterO.

  33. beaulieu @ 30

    Ingenious; that certainly absolves you of the charge of putting the carthorse before the orchestra. It would not be the first time that a clue has two interpretations leading to the answer.

  34. Robi, Perhaps a bit specialised but far from pedantic. Lynn Margulis fought the scientific establishment for decades around symbiosis in early evolution; she’s a hero of mine.

    Sorry for the rave, folks, but worth looking up if you’re into this kind of thing.

  35. Cloud was my third go at 16a after flood (floo[r]d – I could pretend I thought it was intended to go with eighty-six and heaven) and crowd.  I’m sure Beaulieu’s @30 version is the right one.  Enjoyed WEEP and NINE and hadn’t a clue how to get to REGAINED.

    Thanks Puck, PeterO

  38. As always from Puck, an entertaining challenge that required some thought, though not as much as it seemed at first glance.

    Thanks to Puck and PeterO

  39. A great crossword – one of the most entertaining for a while.  Starting at the top left, I wondered how I was going to get WITHOUT and NINE, which were stuck in that corner with just the H, U and E filled in.  Like WhiteKing, I was drawn at first to the —-HFUL words that would fit at 7a, but when the light dawned, or the penny dropped, WITHOUT went in followed by NINE.  NINE was one of seven excellent clues that I marked as favourites, the others being SEVERAL, WEEP, BLISS, HAIL, ASGARD and SEXTET.

    Ximenean principles have had an airing on this and other pages recently.  For my part, I’m glad Puck was allowed to clue ASGARD in that way with ‘pullover’ ro indicate GARD.

    I noticed a few thenatically related words while solving but should have spent a few moments longer looking for others.  I saw PARADISE, HEAVEN and EDEN but missed PARADISE LOST and REGAINED and SEVENTH HEAVEN.  A great theme.

    Many thanks to Puck and PeterO.

  40. Didn’t do well with this. I had CROWD for 16ac with the same reasoning as Edward @8 and,as I didn’t see the theme, I couldn’t get NINE,brilliant clue as I now see it to be. SEVENTH took a while despite it being a hidden word, as did SEXTET. Still,I can’t fault the puzzle which was ingenious.
    Thanks Puck.

  41. Big fat Tuesday fail for me.  I’ve given up and revealed a bunch.  I need an easy ease out of the bank holiday.

  42. A Cloud shower is a type of shower head fixed to the wall or recessed into the ceiling, also known as a rain cloud head, common in US hotels. They are usually set just over the head of the user and are often large. Maybe coming out (of the wall) one’s a shower

  43. KLColin @ 26:  I immediately thought of the slang 86 as well and performed a few contortions to come up with a tenuous connection with the theme (which I noticed for the first time ever I think). Although I’m not seeing it defined as such, in my head, 86 something means to scrap it (plans, for example) or it can mean to kill someone.  Am I remembering that wrong?  Didn’t they say that in those old Edward G. Robinson movies?

    In any case, I figured that getting 86’ed would be a natural first step to entering Asgard, Paradise, etc.  The logic is so flawless that I’m sure we can all agree that that was exactly Puck’s intention.

  44. Thanks to Puck and PeterO. I knew ASGARD and EDENTATE but did not parse NINE and REGAINED. I am also familiar with 86 as a verb (to get rid of) but didn’t see how it fit with the definition.

  45. A bit of research on 86 came up with 2 possibilities from spiritualism. Sorry haven’t learned how to  do hyperlinks…….

    One was Angel Number 86. Supposedly if you see that number you know you have the protection of your guardian angel in the divine realm (and a lot of other things, depending on which site you go to).

    The other possibility was tarot :

    “The earliest Tarot decks varied widely in the numbers of cards they contained. A very unusual deck from Renaissance Italy contains not only four Queens and four Kings, but it contains eight Pages (instead of the usual four)—both a male and a femalePage of Cups, Page of Wands, Page of Pentacles, and Page of Swords—and eight Knights: a male and a female Knight of Cups, Knight of Wands, Knight of Pentacles, and Knight of Swords, bringing the total number of cards to 86.

  46. Thanks to PeterO for the blog, and to others for your comments.

    Very interesting to read all the possible thematic suggestions for EIGHTY-SIX, a solution not intended to be part of the theme at all.

    My intended parsing for CLOUD was as some have suggested, alluding to a (rain) shower coming out of a cloud. The CROWD possibility was never spotted, although ‘shower’ for a CROWD in general is rather too loose for me (a shower being essentially an incompetent group) and even if I had been happy with the shower=crowd definition, I would probably have shortened the clue to something more like “Almost hit daughter in shower”, the remainder of the present clue then only being unnecessary padding.

  47. lovely – and I missed the theme as usual. One nitpicky for the blog – the tesla is the unit of magnetic flux density, not magnetic flux (which is measured in weber). Thanks for the help parsing a few of these and a DNF for me as I had “peep” not “weep” thinking of the keening sound of the red kites above the park today.

  49. Lovely crossword whose theme passed over my head.  Thanks to other posters for explaining all the thematic connections.  Shame the 86 ideas were 86ed by the setter.  I was enjoying the conspiracy theories.  Is STREUTH! a coincidental Nina (tailing off in the fourth row from the bottom)?

    Thanks to Puck for the puzzle and for popping in, and thanks to PeterO for another fine blog.

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