Guardian Cryptic 27,613 by Pasquale

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The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/27613.

A typical Pasquale, with relatively simple constructions, and occasional forays into less familiar areas of the dictionary. An appropriately gentle follow-up to yesterday’s Vlad.

Across
1 BROIDERED Decorated old woman at match embarrassed about nothing (9)
An envelope (‘about’) of O (‘nothing’) in BRIDE (‘woman at match’) plus RED (’embarrassed’).
6 MODES No time for homely fashions (5)
A subtraction: MODES[t] (‘homely’) minus the T (‘no time’).
9 NEEDS Demands pounds in speech (5)
A homophone (‘in speech’) of KNEADS (‘pounds’).
10 POMPADOUR Humourless politician with a stern style a bit like Trump’s? (9)
A charade of PO (-faced, ‘humourless’) plus MP (‘politician’) plus ‘a’ plus DOUR (‘stern’). The reference in the definition is to the fellow’s hair.
11 FEDERALIST Politician and tennis player, without hesitation the top celebrities (10)
A charade of FEDER[er] (‘tennis player’) minus the ER (‘without hesitation’) plus A-LIST (‘the top celebrities’).
12 SEEP Water’s about to ooze (4)
A reversal (‘about’) of PEE’S (‘water’s’).
14 STATURE Height certain to collect rubbish (7)
An envelope (‘to collect’) of TAT (‘rubbish’) in SURE (‘certain’).
15 EPHEDRA Untidy heap containing red, decomposing shrub (7)
An envelope (‘containing’) of EDR, an anagram (‘decomposing’) of ‘red’ in EPHA, another anagram (‘untidy’) of ‘heap’.
17 CATCHUP Work extra hard after holiday to produce something old and saucy? (7)
CATCH UP (‘work extra hard after holiday’), for a variant (‘old’?) spelling of ketchup.
19 DOMINGO Singer is good in loose cloak (7)
An envelope (‘in’) of G (‘good’) in DOMINO (‘loose cloak’), for Plácido.
20 SLAY Knowing about a murder (4)
An envelope (‘about’) of ‘a’ in SLY (‘knowing’).
22 CABRIOLETS Their horses are in front, running a bit closer (10)
An anagram (‘running’) of ‘a bit closer’. The answer now refers to a convertible car, but is – or was – also a horse-drawn carriage.
25 INDICATED Shown to be exonerated, five released (9)
[v]INDICATED (‘exonerated’) minus the V (Roman numeral ‘five released’).
26 IZMIR Turkish community is said to adjoin old Russian community (5)
A charade of IZ, sounding like (‘said’) ‘is’ plus MIR (‘old Russian community’, a pre-revolutionary peasant farming commune).
27 NISAN Month in which car manufacturer lays off workers, finally (5)
NIS[s]AN (Japanese ‘car manufacturer’) minus the S (‘lays off workerS, finally’), for the month in the Jewish calendar.
28 COREGENTS Vital chaps who help rulers (9)
A charade of CORE (‘vital’) plus GENTS (‘chaps’); a REGENT might be someone who helps a king, perhaps during his minority (altbough “help” may not always be the right word), and COREGENTS would be a pair of them (probably for each to counter the ambitions of the other).
Down
1 BANFF Prohibition on very loud Canadian resort (5)
A charade of BAN (‘prohibition’) plus FF (fortissimo, musically ‘very loud’).
2 OVERDRAFT Port’s beginning to drop floating structure, causing a financial problem (9)
DOVER (‘port’) with the first letter moved to the end (‘beginning to drop’) to give OVERD; plus RAFT (‘floating structure’)
3 DISTRAUGHT Drug that is suspect makes one deeply agitated (10)
An anagram (‘suspect’) of ‘drug that is’.
4 REPULSE Check made by engineers on regular beat? (7)
A charade of RE (Royal ‘Engineers’) plus PULSE (‘regular beat’).
5 DEMESNE Valley outside the borders of my French estate (7)
An envelope (‘outside the borders of’) of MES (‘my French’, for plural possessions) in DENE (‘valley’). I have put ‘the borders of’ in the envelope indictor for want of any better place to put it.
6 MOAT One has ditchwater? There’s nothing that’s dull about it! (4)
An envelope (‘about it’) of O (‘nothing’) in MAT (or matt, ‘dull’).
7 DIODE Girl with poem in the tube (5)
A charade of DI (‘girl’) plus ODE (‘poem’). A diode could be a vacuum ‘tube’, but now would be a solid state device.
8 STRAPPADO Modern music on sound system in street party, a form of torture (9)
An envelope (‘in’) of RAP (‘modern music’) plus PA (Public Address, ‘sound system’) in ST (‘street’) plus DO (‘party’).
13 SHAMPOOING Cleaning mess — what’s humiliating about that? (10)
An envelope (‘about that’) of POO (‘mess’) in SHAMING (‘humiliating’).
14 SECESSION Breakaway meeting involving London’s financial district? (9)
An envelope (‘involving’) of EC (postal codes, ‘London’s financial district’) inSESSION (‘meeting’).
16 DANGER MAN Poser of threat, desperate fellow? Foreigner no longer our enemy (6,3)
A charade of DAN (‘desperate fellow’, for the cartoon character in The Dandy) plus GERMAN (‘foreigner no longer our enemy’).
18 PLASTIC Malleable president finally in charge (7)
A charade of P (‘president’; an abbreviation not given in Chambers, but it appears in the combination POTUS) plus LAST (‘finally’?) plus IC (‘in charge’).
19 DERIDER One enthralled by left-winger repeatedly turning up as a mocker (7)
A reversal(‘turning up’ in a down light) of an envelope (‘enthralled by’) of I (‘one’) in RED RED (‘left-winger repeatedly’).
21 ANDES Conductors with no love for the mountains (5)
AN[o]DES (‘conductors’) minus the O (‘with no love’).
23 SOROS Rich man making appeal for help, having hoarded gold (5)
An envelope (‘having hoarded’) of OR (‘gold’) in SOS (‘appeal for help’), for György.
24 SCAN Examination less than barely adequate (4)
SCAN[t] (‘barely adequate’) minus its last letter (‘less than’)
completed grid

49 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 27,613 by Pasquale”

  1. Thanks to PeterO and to Pasquale for yes a steady solve today, though with a few lessons. Dnk that domino is a cloak, or that Mir the spacestation derived from mir the community, and I had ‘or’ for the end of 26a until I registered the second community (read the question son!). And took ages to get cabriolets, even tho it’s familiar, along with landau etc. And the ‘mess’ in 13d has to be a verb I think, which makes it a bit erk, but all part of life so what the heck!

    Thanks again both.

  2. Not as enjoyable for me as the Picaroon and Vlad have been this week; this one just didn’t hold my interest for some reason. Like gif@1, I had trouble seeing 22a CABRIOLETS and also had to look up the Turkish and Russian references for 26a IZMIR (so technically a DNF as I cheated which made me feel very dissatisfied with myself). I really liked the Trump reference in 10a, POMPADOUR, but really disliked 17a CATCHUP. I also thought the mess/poo reference in 13d SHAMPOOING was a bit yucky. Interesting to have both DIODES and AN(o)DES used at 7d and 21d respectively. 8d STRAPPADO is a word we have encountered before in The Guardian cryptics and not so long ago, I feel.
    Thanks to Pasquale and PeterO.

  4. My Chambers online has CATCHUP as an alternative to KETCHUP, and Wilipedia has CATCHUP as an archaic version, with CATSUP as a synonym. So I concede to Pasquale – for me, a TILT!

  5. I don’t know how WIKIPEDIA became Willipedia but I did have to smile (always check your work, Julie!).

  6. Many thanks Pasquale and PeterO. An excellent crossword, so clearly and fairly clued that unfamiliar words were gettable (EPHEDRA, NISAN). Favourites were 20a SLAY (very neat) and 8d STRAPPADO (great surface).

    16d brought back two memories of childhood: both Desperate Dan, and Patrick McGoohan as DANGER MAN.

  7. Thanks PeterO and Pasquale, much more enjoyable than yesterday’s Vlad for me.

    Vlad 29 June 2018 : STRAPPADO: Catch Penny breaking down — love is torture (9)

    always check your work, Julie!  Indeed ( Willipedia)!

  10. Don: with the utmost respect, what on earth is the reference in the word-play in 16d doing in The Guardian in 2018?

  13. Lovely stuff from the Don. POMPADOUR and DANGER MAN are top drawer, while the surface for the STRAPPADO is a thing of beauty.

  15. Having failed to finish yesterday I was relieved to find an easier puzzle today.

    Had to look up NISAN though.  LOI was CABRIOLETS.

    Thanks Pasquale and PeterO.

  17. Quite often anagrams are accused of being the poor cousins of clue construction types. 22A and 3D are a masterclass in how to raise the status of anagrams to the top table. Thanks Pasquale for another brilliant crossword and PeterO of course for the blog.

  19. Following yesterday’s discussion about top down/bottom up solving, I started by keeping count of which were which for me. However, there were so many new definition words that needed working out from the cluing that that way won hands down today. I do find this more rewarding I think and it is always good to pick up new vocabulary, even if it is only likely to be useful in future crosswords. We too remembered strappado, for example.
    Thanks to P and P.

  20. What JinA said – apart from Willipedia! I also didn’t know DOMINO as a cloak nor NISAN, remembered STRAPPADO, struggled with CABRIOLET and liked POMPADOUR best. Thanks to Pasquale and PeterO.

  21. I wonder how long we’ll keep using RED as “left-wing.”  It doesn’t make sense in today’s political world, just to us who remember the Cold War.

  22. This is the second puzzle in a row to use “A-LIST” for celebrities, here in 11a, yesterday in 5d A(l)ISTER.  I wouldn’t have thought of it on this one if yesterday’s hadn’t reminded me of it.

  24. Hard going for me. The Don knows so many words that I don’t know. Much use of synonyms dictioary.
    I tried SATS for 24d vaguely justified as a shortening of satisfactory.
    But I did enjoy MOAT, FEDERALIST and CATCHUP. Thanks Pasqu ale and also Peter O for much needed explanations.

  25. Thanks to Pasquale and PeterO. I did not seem to find this as straightforward as some others. Just like the last two days, I found it white tough going. However, today was perhaps tough for a different reason (a lot of unfamiliar, or less familiar, words). Right hand side went in more readily than the left, and the NE was last to fall. Last ones were ephedra (which I thought was a plant rather than a shrub), strappado and demesne. I particularly liked pompadour and federalist and thanks again to Pasquale and PeterO.

  26. I leaned a few words/senses of words today – EPHEDRA, DOMINO, CATCHUP and POMPADOUR all needed checking, but as always this was a fair challenge. Following Picaroon and Vlad was always going to be a tough ask.

    Thanks to Pasquale and PeterO

  27. [GinF@1: Mir is a wonderful word. Means world, peace, and, as here, a community. “Peace to the world” is “Mir miru” (??? ????). But you probably already knew that.]

  29. I wasn’t going to comment today but: just to say that after reading ulaca@13 and @gsolphotog @17, I’ve had another look at those clues and appreciate how good they are now.

  30. Thanks to Pasquale and PeterO. Enjoyable as usual from this setter. I too struggled with some items new to me, especially the “mene” in DEMESNE and the “mir” in IZMIR (the space station did not seem to fit). Starting tomorrow, my part of central North Carolina will be getting at least some impact from Hurricane Florence (coastal areas will be devastated) so for us  power outages (and loss of internet connection) are likely.

  31. Another enjoyable solve after yesterday’s Vlad.  I echo @gsolphotog’s comment @17 about the quality of the anagrams at 22a CABRIOLETS and 3d DISTRAUGHT.

    I own up to remembering both Desperate Dan and Danger Man from my younger days – no need for Willipedia.  (Use your check-spiller, Julie!)

  32. Easier than the last two but no walk in the park. BROIDERED was all I could think of as an answer to 1ac but I didn’t manage to parse it. I knew MIR as a Russian peasant commune and I remembered that Karl Marx recommended that this should be a model for a Russian version of Socialism. This was long before 1917 and by the time this bit had been translated into Russian the revolution had happened! I didn’t know NISAN or STRAPPADO and I guessed DOMINO.
    Thanks Pasquale.

  33. Thanks Pasquale and PeterO

    It wouldn’t be a Pasquale wihtout words I didn’t know. Today’s were IZMIR/MIR and EPHEDRA (though I wouuld count myself a gardener – appaently it’s banned in the USA). I did remember NISAN, probably from another crossword.

    Favourite was also DISTRAUGHT.

    NEEDS isn’t the same as “demands” for me as either verbs or nouns.

  34. Thanks to Pasquale and PeterO (especially for POMPADOUR).

    All a bit too obscure for me and I had to reveal many: SOROS, BROIDERED (with some misgivings and then much wiggling of eyebrows), IZMIR, NISAN, DANGER MAN – but I can live with myself. I enjoyed SEEP and SHAMPOOING, which reminded me of this (though it “espouses” an out-of-date(?) set of values it can still amuse), along with SLAY and PLASTIC for its misdirection.

    I’m not enjoying the week too much. Some quite stodgy offerings in the past couple of days imho, but maybe it’s just me. Probably just me….

    But thanks again to Pasquale and PeterO without whom etc.

     

  35. I think 17a sums up “the Don”. A loose definition and an even looser wordplay. Of course the Ed would disagree.;-)

  36. Following the discussion yesterday about whether some solvers are better at top-down clues and others bottom-up, and whether as a result will favour some setters over others, as a confirmed bottom-upper I found this Pasquale very much more approachable than the Vlad. Unknown words no obstacle to my way of solving (provided there is a dictionary for a quick check at the end of the cryptic unravelling).

  37. Thanks to Pasquale and PeterO. I’m with Alphalpha on this one, too many obscurities to enjoy this puzzle and no relief after Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s equally head-scratching offerings – I had to check I hadn’t accidentally picked up copies of The Times circa 1975 or so. Onwards and upwards !

  38. Van Winkle @36

    I have to agree with you that this was a different kind of puzzle to solve from yesterday’s for the reason you gave.  I didn’t do a post-analysis today, but I know that there was a greater need for a bottom-up approach in today’s puzzle compared to yesterday’s.  And as you say, one can more easily manage ‘obscure’ or unfamiliar words in this way (and learn a bit while you solve – a typical Pasquale experience!)

  39. I enjoyed this.  I had trouble parsing 2d, since I took beginning to drop to indicate D and was stuck trying to equate OVER with Port.  I liked MOAT very much because of the reference to the expression “dull as ditchwater” which I haven’t heard for years.

    I find 5d very odd.  I can’t see how it works as is.  Either Valley borders my French estate or Valley outside my French estate would seem to be better alternatives to my mind.  Was there a typesetting error I wonder?

    Thanks, Pasquale and PeterO

  41. JinA @ 2 and 3:  you’re absolutely right that we saw STRAPPADO recently. It’s the only reason I was able to get it.  And I may have wholly dreamed this up but I believe that “ts” is pronounced like “ch” in Indonesian which is where the odd spelling of catsup came from. (In modern Dutch, the “ch” sound is spelled “tsj”).  I remember as a kid that we had catsup bottles everywhere but I think you’ll only find ketchup bottles in the US. Either way, it’s the most depressing of condiments. I can only tolerate it on hamburgers or hotdogs and it’s not a requirement even then.

  42. muffin @40

    Thanks for the info – no surprise there.

    On another point entirely, I wonder if I could refer you to my use of the word ‘need’ in the middle of my comment @38.  If you substitute it with ‘demand’, would you agree it is a synonym?

  43. Alan B @42

    Yes, I suppose so. I think that there would be a slightly different shade of meaning if “demand” were substituted for “need”. Pretty close, though.

  46. [I thought it was Ogden Nash too, but incorrectly. Wiki tells me:

    (Richard) Armour wrote humorous poems—light verse—in a style reminiscent of Ogden Nash. These poems were often featured in newspaper Sunday supplements in a feature called Armour’s Armory. Many of Armour’s poems have been repeatedly and incorrectly attributed to Nash. Probably Armour’s most-quoted poem (often attributed to Nash) is the quatrain: “Shake and shake / the catsup bottle / none will come / and then a lot’ll.” ]

  47. I failed to solve IZMIR & CABRIOLETS, and there were some other new words for me as well – NISAN, CATCHUP, DEMESNE.

    I could not parse 16d and 19d.

    Thanks Peter and Pasquale

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