Guardian Cryptic 27,671 by Puck

58 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 27,671 by Puck”

1. Thanks Puck and manehi

   The odd surfaces are because Puck has done another Incredible String Band theme, this time based on WEE TAM in tWEET AMericans and The BIG HUGE (in lieBIG HUGEly). Several songs titles are referred to, either in clues or answers – see here.

2. I forgot to comment on the puzzle. I loved FRIEND – I think it’s “follower of Fox” (George, who founded the Quakers or “Society of Friends”) with the f coming from “frustrated”.

   JOSHUA would have been fairer as “prophet” rather than “boxer” – I tried JABBER for a while!

3. Gentle for a puck with the post pondering taking longer than the solving (does ‘cycling round’ work, shouldn’t the phrase be ‘sweet fanny adams’, ‘The’ Iron Stone?).

   Feel like I should learn the demonyms for all 50 states as the trend seems set to continue!

   Thanks Puck and manehi.

4. Well done, muffin, for spotting the theme.  Would not have benefited me one jot even if told of it in advance!

   Not too keen on boxer as the def for JOSHUA.  Bit too GK, for me.

   Strictly a dnf for me as I had SITTER (unparsed) instead of LITTER.

   Great puzzle as usual from Puck, many thanks.

   Nice week, all.

5. Thanks for the blog, manehi and Puck for the puzzle.

   I was sure there must be a theme – thanks muffin, for elucidating. I agree with you re ‘follower of Fox’.

   I’ll add TWEET to  manehi’s favourites.

6. robert @3;  Denonyms…love it, thanks.  Try this.

7. Hi William

   Absolutely a first for me to see a theme that the blogger has missed. Major advantage for me, though – The Big Huge is one of my favourite albums (though I’m not allowed to play it when my daughter is in the room!), and “The Iron Stone” and then “Maya” immediately suggested the theme.

8. Thanks for the theme Muffin – an area of total ignorance for me so would never have seen it. I had to keep reminding myself this was Puck so of course “to go” was “wee” and “bottom part” was the definition, not referring to a bit of the tree. The clue for “Leibig” could’ve been condenser (someone had to say it…). I too was working with “jab” for the boxer for a while. In that clue I’m amused the the U3A is considered common knowledge but I suspect it is given the expected age of solvers.

   Lots of ticks here – clues which misled but then just worked out somehow. Satisfying – thank you Puck and thanks manehi for the blog which clarified 14d for me.

   In 7dn I had “pipe” as being clued by “some wind” as pipes are parts of all wind instruments.

9. Thanks Muffin @1. That explains the odd ‘The’ – I didn’t get round to googling but guessed it might be a literary / film reference that I was unfamiliar with.

   Muffin & William – The definition in 6 was about the only aspect of it that didn’t offend me!

10. A splendid puzzle even without spotting the theme. Going through the ISB track list makes it even more impressive.

    For some reason I only have the big huge – can’t remember if it was a detachable double album or sold separately.

    Anyway thanks to Puck and Manehi and to Muffin you old hippy. Oh and Robert for denonym!

11. BlueCanary @10

    I only have the Big Huge too – it must have been sold separately on vinyl back then. I know it was separate on CD as I have that too!

12. I was another who totally missed the theme and can’t connect with it even when enlightened. This may be fanciful, but I had been wondering about another latent theme. Symmetrically placed 3d TWEET and 7d STOVEPIPE [iconic hat] evoke two contrasting 16d AMERICANS, one of them arguably 25a GREATEST, 14d THOUGHTFUL (and other good qualities elsewhere), the other 5d and accustomed to 18a.

13. Thank you Puck for an intriguing puzzle and manehi for a helpful blog…

    … and muffin for spotting the theme, not a band that I know anything about unfortunately.

14. William @6. Thanks for the link, some interesting journeys to be had following the more personal nicknames back to their sources (it’s always much more fun to find out why someone might be a badger or cheesehead than it is to learn that they’re a Wisconsinite).

15. Great Tuesday crossword.  Just enough to get the teeth into without it being too much like hard work.

    I wasn’t able to parse JOSHUA.

    Remember Liebig and his condensor from school.

    Didn’t even suspect the theme!

    Thanks to Puck and to manehi (and muffin!)

16. I have a stack of old vinyl in the loft which includes Wee Tam & the BH, which is all but lost to memory – its terminal tweeness served to steer me away from the Incredible String Band.  But huge kudos to muffin!

17. Hangman’s Daughter was my last-loved it but this was a tad more obscure for me.ThE puzzle may havE suffered as a  result but I did like Strat and Dior used in clues.

    Maybe not Puck’s finest hour but good nonetheless.

18. Thank you manehi and especially muffin for revealing the theme – something I know nothing about. I had a slightly different way of parsing 6ac. I made it JOSH (tease) + UA, with the 3 removed by this method: ‘missing twee there*‘. I don’t know if ‘twee’ could really be an acceptable way of indicating an *; manehi’s solution makes more internal sense anyway.

19. 19 ac has an indirect anagram. I thought these were still off-limits.

20. mij@19; I don’t think it’s an anagram – it’s UGH with the H cycling round.

    Thanks Puck; I wondered if there was a theme but I didn’t see it or know of it.

    Good blog, manehi; for 28, I thought ‘Caterpillar leaves’ was the definition for a while, doh.

21. I remember playing “Certainly the children have seen them, in quiet places where the moss grows green” to my Dad: unmoved (a Schubert and Brahms lover), hey ho. Still have the vinyl somewhere. But no way did I pick the theme all these decades later, so well done muffin.

    Otherwise a nice Tuesday; slow to get Dior as the Christian, ditto penthouse (pretty routine) and oafish (trying to fit obtuse). Liked (Georgie) greatest, and friend. Stove for broke has popped up recently I seem to recall.

    Quite fun, thanks Puck and Manehi.

22. BlueCanary @ 10 I think it must have been sold separately, as I have The Big Huge on vinyl, but not Wee Tam. Despite having played it frequently, I hadn’t remembered any of it, so I didn’t get the theme, of course.

     

    Thanks manehi and Puck

23. Thanks Puck and manehi. Fairly steady solve, with some slight hiccoughs on he way, including JOSHUA, FIBROIDS, LITTER and finally STOVEPIPE, which I at first assumed was an anagram (wind) of BROKE SOME. I came up with SMOKEBORE, which, oddly enough, is exactly what a stovepipe is! What a coincidence.

24. Thanks to Puck and manehi.

    Not for this Goldilocks but I did like CASTRATO and UTAHAN for their surfaces.  But as usual I felt the shoehorning of the theme made the puzzle into something less than the sum of its parts. My problem, hands up.

    Muffin@1 The (hazy) image I had of you has had to be to be radically re-drawn in light of this arcane expertise. Congrats on spotting the theme – must have been a rush.

25. Just luck, Alphalpha! I’m usually one of the last to see a theme.

    [Totally off topic, I know, but does anyone here attempt the Guardian Suguru? Today’s starting grid has only two numbers, neither immediatley helpful. Is this a misprint, or is there really a way into it?]

26. Comeonyouspurs – unless it’s to be your kids’ inheritance get it down to your (presumably) North London Oxfam! We desperately need vinyl of that era. As long as the loft isn’t damp. You would be surprised how much it’s worth – especially obscure prog stuff

27. Missed the theme (yet again, and despite having a copy!) but enjoyed the solve

    Thanks to Puck and manehi

28. Thanks to Puck and manehi. I struggled here, though I did remember George Best from previous puzzles and did know the boxer JOSHUA but took a while piecing out FIBROIDS and LIEBIG.

29. I got 26ac from “Fox and Friends”, as broadcast on POTUS’s favourite “news” channel.

30. Thanks to Puck and manehi. For me quite slow going, and totally oblivious to the theme which I know nothing about anyway. Left hand apart from NW went in readily, but I found the right hand much trickier. Eventually got the breakthrough with thrill and hugely and then the rest fell readily. Last ones castrato and breech, and favourites castrato, fibroids and litter. Thanks again to Puck and manehi.

31. Loved the puzzle…didn’t even see the theme until we came here…when we did ?????? So brilliant!!! Think we loved the aftermath realising that more than the solving!!! Thanks Puck, Manehi – and, of course, Muffin!!!

32. Hey everyone! I wanted to write from the US to ask… does anyone here have enough pull with the powers that be at the Guardian to change to puzzle page layout back to how it was? I really hate not being able to see the whole grid and all the clues on one screen! This down-the-side-of-the-page banner ad business is bad. 🙁

33. [muffin @25 – yes, it’s doable, using logic rather than trial and error]

34. [Thanks VW – I’ll have another look]

35. It might not be obvious to everyone why STRAT is “a guitar” in CASTRATO. It short for (Fender) STRATOCASTER, the electric guitar of choice in the sixties in particular (Hank Marvin played one)

36. Chapeau, or maybe Big Tam, to Muffin for theme spotting. Thanks to Puck and Manehi for an entertaining puzzle, expertly blogged. I was in the Fox and Friends camp too

37. Thanks both,

    Couldn’t parse 12. Now I think it’a a very good clue. VW@33 – you’re right. Muffin @ 35 – does this mean we are going to see ‘tele’ also clued as guitar?

38. Slow going for me too, and we’ll worth persevering with. Then with the extra treat when coming here and following muffin’s link – brilliant setting to work all those references in. I feel the odd clunky surface was a small price to pay for such a bonus. Favourite was the delightfully misleading Christian. Thanks to Puck and manehi.

39. I’ve heard of the ISB of course but I only heard the “Layers of an onion” which someone lent me. I thought it pretty awful and extremely twee as comeonyouspurs remarks. Obviously I didn’t know any of the tracks in the puzzle. Anyway, I quite liked this and found it pretty easy going until the NW which held out for ages.CASTRATO and OAFISH ended up being my favourites of the day.
    I notice we had both WEE and PEE today. Just an observation!
    Thanks Puck.

40. I’ve never heard of the Incredible String Band or any of their music, let alone Wee Tam and Big Huge. Is this a Guardian Readers culture sort of thing? In my complete ignorance of the theme, I enjoyed the puzzle. Lots of nice wordplay. In the end I was undone by STOVEPIPE, not knowing that meaning of STAVE and, like Greensward @23 I was looking for an anagram of BROKE SOME. I was fooled by 13A thinking of alternate letters of the wrong words- ‘fairest rents’, but ARSET is not a word – even though it works with 25A. Woo! That confused me! I liked EQUILATERAL and LITTER, but COD to the unlikely-looking UTAHAN. I like your suggestion, on ‘demonyms’ Robert @3. Thanks Puck and manehi.

41. Three time lucky!

    After the two previous ISB puzzles from Puck, at last Wee Tam! (and, OK, the Big Huge too – not to be confused with the Big Hugh 🙂 ).

    This month exactly 50 years old, it was the only non-sampler from the ISB that I ever bought on vinyl.

    And I loved it (in particular Air, which I only truly understood after seeing it featured in Milos Forman’s rather obscure movie Taking Off).

    Some decades later I got the album (Wee Tam) on CD and to obtain its companion, I also bought a 5 CD box which makes that I have Wee Tam now even twice on CD …

    Anyway, great to have all these references fitted into the grid (and I did not even spot them all … !)

    And Johninterred @40: I’ve never heard of the Incredible String Band or any of their music, let alone Wee Tam and Big Huge. Is this a Guardian Readers culture sort of thing?

    Not everyone’s interested in the same thing and as long as it’s a ghost theme, as it is here, everything is perfectly all right. That said, glad you enjoyed the puzzle.

    As I/we did (and, yes, the theme was completely lost on my solving partner).

    Many thank to manehi & Puck.

     

     

42. l’m in my local U3A, I own an Incredible String Band LP and a Strat, all confirming, as thezed commented early on, the age profile of Guardian solvers.

43. I have played a Strat (not mine, unfortunately!)

44. Yo jellyroll and I bet You’re the only man bakes jelly
    And you keep it in your soul!

45. Three time lucky? Third time lucky, of course.

46. Looking in here rather late today, but I’m glad I did.  Thanks to Puck and manehi and to all for their contributions.  Muffin, you have distinguished yourself not only for spotting the theme but also for explaining 26a FRIEND which I had failed to parse properly.

    I liked STRAT in 1a, and yes Tyngewick @37, why not “tele” clued as guitar?  I am fond of telling people that I am the proud owner of a black and white Tele.  (It looks like the one Bob Dylan played on his 1966 tour of the UK.)

    BlueCanary @44, are you thinking of Lonnie Johnson or the (wonderful, sadly missed) John Martyn?

47. (In fairness to my daughter, I should say that when I showed an empty grid to her (I always do it on a printout) and said “there’s a theme”, she saw it straight away (despite her apparently hating the Big Huge!).)

48. 1a reminded me of the story that when the Pope asked Stravinsky what the Catholic Church could do for music he immediately replied ” Give us back castrati”.
    An enjoyable stroll. As others have said, we can’t complain about not spotting the theme if solving doesn’t depend on it. Thanks to Puck and manehi.

49. Hi Lord J – god it’s late to still be on 225 but it has been fun. For me -and to conform to Guardianista type – it has to be JM. Saw him every decade of my life from teens to 50s (just). But how did such a beautiful young man grow to be such an utter bastard who still made great music?

50. Completely off-topic, but BlueCanary @ 49, your last sentence sums it up perfectly. I’ve known people stop ever playing JM when they found out about his character.

51. BlueCanary, Simon S –  I know some people have made damning comments about JM’s character.  I’ve only known him through his records and concerts which I have loved all my adult life.  I’m in no position to judge him as a person.  Even if, as you suggest, he was a bad man, does that mean I shouldn’t like his music?  This leads into the huge question of whether we should judge art by the character of the artist.

    (Gaufrid – I’m sorry if we’ve gone a bit off topic.  Perhaps this issue is better suited to the general discussion page.)

52. A very late finish for me, but an interesting crossword experience. For the first time ever, I filled this in online (normally I print up a hard copy, fold it and pop it in a pocket, and dig it out from time to time – paper is more reliable than my mobile, when stuck in rush-hour tube tunnels!). This meant I could use the “check” facility – and frankly, I wouldn’t have been able to complete this without it. I couldn’t parse several and I’m sorry Manehi, but I still don’t understand your explanation to 6A. The U3A part eludes me. Also, I’ve never heard of Utahan, but am presuming (s)he is a politician? As for the theme, well, I’d heard of the band, but knew nothing more than their name, so the track titles etc are a closed book to me. All-in-all, a very tricky solve, and I’m left with the suspicion that I’m very far indeed from being anywhere near Puck’s wavelength… Thanks to Puck for keeping me intrigued and confused for well over 24hours, and to Manehi for helping me out afterwards.

53. Wellbeck @ 52 if you’re still here: Utahan is someone from the state of Utah: it’s that sort of statesman. Log it, as it comes up fairly often.

54. Thanks Simon S. I certainly wasn’t thinking along those kind of lines! Er…you wouldn’t happen to know what the U3A part of the JOSHUA parsing is, would you? I get that tease can be synonymous with josh, but as for the rest…. Is it a reference to old-style school-years? (Upper Thirds, Lower Fourths, Upper Sixths and so on)

55. Wellbeck@54 – it’s University of the Third Age.

56. Well beck

    …and TWEET is th answer to clue 3, so the 3 is removed

57. Thanks g larsen and muffin – i just spotted your helpful replies! Alas, it’s another reference that went clean over my head. Hey ho.

58. What’s ‘U3A’ supposed to be?

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