Guardian 27,688 / Brendan

57 comments on “Guardian 27,688 / Brendan”

1. Enjoyable as one would expect from Brendan even though 2d isn’t one of my specialist subjects, the clues were very helpful.

   Thank you to both Brendan and Eileen

2. Thanks Brendan and Eileen

   Even I saw this theme, and it helped with PERSUASION and PREJUDICE – also SENSIBLE, though I don’t think that quite works.

   I didn’t know the expression VIA MEDIA, but liked the clue once I had worked it out. GRAND OPERA was another favourite.

   John E posted a link to this Dilbert cartoon the other day – 23d makes it worth repeating!

3. I took “hunting” as part of the definition for PRIDE – a pride of lions are a collection of hunting animals.

4. Thanks, Brendan and Eileen, this was right up my street too, although I had HEATH for a while at 16d (CLIFF being the missing partner). Tiny point: in 18d “upset” means reversed, rather than an anagram (which would be indirect and therefore illicit.)

5. Brian-with-an-eye @4 – quite right: that’s what I meant. I’ll amend it when I get back.

6. Ooh, one other point non-2d fans might be puzzled by: Sense and Sensibility was first published anonymously; the title page gave the author’s name as “A Lady”. (19d)

7. This was fun. I think the silver would be a bit peeved if he didn’t know the theme–the clues for EMMA and SENSIBLE, for example, assume you’ve caught on–but then, what avid crossword solver doesn’t know the novels of Jane Austen?

   I’m always impressed by complete themes, and this is one. All six of Austen’s completed novels put in an appearance.

   Thanks for explaining STATUARY, which I hadn’t parsed correctly.

   [I write at this locally ridiculous hour because I’m on vacation in the Yucatan–we have to be up early to catch a bus to Chichen Itza. My husband is snoring, and rather than roll over and risk missing the bus, I decided to let the crossword wake me.]

8. *solver, not silver. Autocorrect strikes again.

9. Well for a moment I thought I’d overslept and it was Friday already – or at the very least Wednesday. A much more taxing time than we’ve come to expect on a Monday, free of semi-cryptic definitions though aided by a theme even I spotted (eventually). I put a very decent sized dent in the tea tray having solved “park” as I then spent a while looking for a 9 letter solution to pop in “mansfield” without noticed I’d solved “field” right above “park” some minutes earlier. I fear the tea cups will never balance on that platter until I make it flatter…

   Thanks, Eileen, for the parsing of 29a and 2d which I had solved but not known properly what I was doing! Thank you Brendan for a delight of a puzzle. Ticks for me for “envoi” as a lovely example of a hidden solution, “title page” for the “d’oh” once I got there, “ruing” and “via media” for such cunning definitions and “prejudice” just because of the way is unfolded as I put letter and letter (and 2 and 2) together.

10. Thanks to Eileen and Brendan

    And thanks to Brian-with-an-eye @6 for that excellent piece of trivia – I for one did indeed think the clue was a little iffy, but that information transforms it.

    I saw YEA in 10a as “vote for” rather than simply “vote”

11. ‘Displaying’ could be the definition in 19d. If something is on show it can be sensed and so is SENSIBLE.

12. A very British puzzle from an Irish setter. I think I’d have gone for Vaughan Williams for accompanying music although I am always happy with Chieftains 5.

    Thanks Brendan & Eileen.

13. Copy and paste Eileen’s introduction:) Absolutely LOVED it!

    We really missed you Brendan!

14. We agree! Loved this – particularly the split answers. Thank you.

15. Dansar @10 – thanks, I agree: another oversight in my haste to get out – both amended now.

16. Thanks Brendan; good setting to get all the themed entries in, and nice MANSFIELD PARK split.

    Thanks Eileen; one for the LITERATI[m]; I didn’t know that word. Even I saw the theme fairly early on.

    I liked the ‘compromising position’ in 18; nothing in the Kama Sutra seemed to fit in!

17. A lovely puzzle with an unmissable theme, a little trickier than usual for a Monday morning of only due to deficiencies in my classical education. VIA MEDIA was last in. It is a shame we see so little of Brendan these days, but we should treasure the ones we get.

    Thanks to Brendan and Eileen

     

18. Brendan’s time away has certainly been put to good use. Superb puzzle from beginning to end. Eileen, this was right up my street too, but in the literal (though not literary) sense. I grew up on a road that had junctions with Austen, Bronte, Riley, Kipling and Blackwood avenues. Nostalgia rules.

    Thank you Brendan and Eileen, hugely entertaining.

19. Hi Robi @16 – I think it’s interesting that LITERATIM [‘letter for letter’] is so rarely seen, compared with the corresponding ‘verbatim’ [‘word for word’].

20. Thank you Brendan and Eileen.

    What a lovely surprise for a Monday morning, I do wish we had more puzzles by Brendan.  I always appreciate a theme, especially one like today’s.

    Brian-with-an-eye’s comment @6 is interesting, the Bronte sisters all used male names to start with so as to get their novels published.

21. Superb.

22. Certainly more challenging than we usually expect on a Monday, but well worth it.  Great to see Brendan back, as others have said.  It was a particularly nice touch to have MANS, FIELD and PARK running down the left edge.  (Though I only noticed that after I’d finished.)

    Lord NORTH (16d) is often considered to have been the worst British prime minister ever, but perhaps he’s had some competition in recent times.  He was the minister referred to by Sherlock Holmes when he said: “I am one of those who believes that the folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes.”

23. Did anyone else try to make Sanditon the solution to 19d? I felt sure it ought to be until literatim at 29ac ruled it out.
    Thanks to Brendan and Eileen for a lovely start to the week.

24. Bayleaf @23

    Nice idea. The completion of Sanditon that I have is listed as being by “Jane Austen and another lady”, though!

25. errm, not impressed by 19d (makes no sense without the theme)  or 11 ac (could equally have been cites?) but good apart from that. I considered abrasing or ablating for 7d but didn’t find the answer but cant quibble with the clue.

26. I had CITES for 11a for a while.

27. muffin @3 – I’m sorry, I overlooked your comment, You’re right, of course – I’ve amended the blog.

    Re 11ac: I thought ‘these’ in the clue made the correct answer clear.

28. Thanks to Brendan and Eileen. I thought here we go it’s Monday morning and I may well be Christmas shopping soon. How wrong I was. I found this tough to get into despite seeing the theme, which is not my forte (though not complaining, I knew the books if nothing else). However it proved a somewhat challenging, but ultimately rewarding start to the week. Nothing to add about the quality of the puzzle, which was as people have said top notch. Too many good clues to pick out any in particular, but title page made me smile. Thanks again to Brendan for a great puzzle which will be hard to follow and of course Eileen for clarifying my some of my parsing inadequacies (e.g. Nin?)

29. Thank you, Eileen and Brendan, equally excellent crossword and blog.

    Failed on RECTOR through lack of JA GK, entering DEXTER as vaguely something to do with the right side.

    Wrongly parsed compromising in the def for VIA MEDIA so bifd.  Lovely clue in hindsight.

    Top fun for a Monday – more please.

    Nice week, all.

30. Thanks to Brendan and Eileen Great puzzle. Nothing to add other than I loved VIA MEDIA once I caught on.

31. I started to wonder about a theme after my first two in (ABBEY and JANE) and went looking for NORTHANGER which has to be two words and was nicely connected. Apart from the J.A. works I liked FUNFAIR MANS (for the clever use of it as a verb) and CREATE.
    Thanks to Brendan (more please) and Eileen – especially for the LITERATIM vs verbatim elucidation.

32. Yes! That’s better fare on a grey Monday. Playful use of the theme and some real gems among the surfaces. 18d and 19d my favourites. Where have you BEEN Brendan? Thanks Eileen!

33. Delightful puzzle!
    I know this is not really the place to brag, but I feel I must: failed to solve 1d, which in view of its position directly above FIELD and PARK, I think is positively heroic.
    I wonder what Jane Austen would make of Anais Nin?
    Thanks all.

34. Did anyone else think 19d could have been “sensiblY” and not just “sensible”. In fact, I think “sensibly” would be better, being an adverb describing HOW sense and/or sensibility is displayed. This my only grouse in an otherwise rewarding croggie.

35. It is only a few weeks ago since I was asking what had happened to Brendan, and what a delight today.

    I had the theme quickly PRIDE and EMMA suggesting it. A couple of other entries refer to novels, TITLE PAGE, of course, and the little used nowadays ENVOI.

     

    Thanks Eileen and Brendan – hope the next one isn’t another nine months

36. Welcome back Brian, superb puzzle. FOI SHY, LOI 19d. Once l got 2d, cottoned on on the theme.

37. Im a beginner, i want to get better at this but really miss the easy monday. I know all you brainboxes who can probably do the times cryptic in 5mins bemoaned his ease, but beginners have to start somewhere! Chuck us newbies a bone?
    ..this was impossible for me and im not totally stupid! 😉 maybe ive just got a long way to go
    …

38. Bill @37

    Have you tried the Quiptic? (Though I, for one, dodn’t think it was particualrly easy today!)

39. Right up my alley as well as Eileen’s, and for once I spotted the theme, though it took me longer than it should have.  But with PREJUDICE and PRIDE facing each other on the same line, even I couldn’t miss it.  At first I thought that ABBEY and PARK were there on their own, but when I found NORTH crossing ANGER, I looked for a MANS-shaped blank spot to go with FIELD.

    Why are ANGLIANs old?  (And was there ever a West Anglia?)

    Great fun.  Thanks Brandan and Eileen.

40. Looking back, I see that I neglected to say how clever and enjoyable I found it (very, for both, in fact!)

    I started with the ones that give me first letters, as is my habit, so FOI was FIELD. I then got JANE EYRE, which allowed me to guess an unparsed AUSTEN, then all went swimmingly.

41. Quite excellent although 19dn is a bit iffy. Unfortunately I was too distracted by the Brexit shenanigans to appreciate the puzzle properly. I was at the gym this morning and by the time I returned politics was in full swing which meant I spent a great deal of time shouting at the TV and assorted social media! A man’s got to do—.
    Thanks Brendan- come back soon.

42. Thanks Brendan and Eileen

    PeeDiddy @v 34

    If you display SENSE, you are SENSIBLE (especially in the French/German – and possiby other – meanings of the words.

    If you display SENSIBILITY you are also SENSIBLE.

    So SENSIBLE displays either/both compnent(s) of Austen’s novel, the clue and solution are fine as they stand.

43. Bill @37 I sympathise, especially as today’s Quiptic was pretty chewy. It does seem reasonable to dish up a range of difficulties to allow everyone to have a go and to learn the art – no-one would learn to play snooker if their only opponent was Ronnie O’Sullivan as they’d never get to the table. All I can say is that you should not be afraid to keep at it – good clues have a way of misleading you or making you think you have no idea what is going on, but time away from them allows a new perspective. A lot of the time I have to walk the dog, cook a meal or do some work before clues I had thought utterly impenetrable somehow yield their beautiful secrets. If you really cannot make a start then use the “reveal” button to open up a couple of clues – perhaps key ones that everything else refers to, or ones which give lots of first letters. That then gives the practice at solving the remaining clues and even a pretty meaty puzzle always has some standard clues such as hidden words, anagrams and double definitions.

44. Valentine @39: as far as I know, modern East Anglians are not particularly noted for being elderly.  I think Brendan is referring to the original Anglians, ie Angles, people of these islands (“here”) from the 5th century, and therefore “old”.  (There is a College of West Anglia, though no county of that name.)

45. Simon S @42

    Yes, SENSIBLE does work on those terms, but, as Howard March says @25, it makes no sense whatsoever without the theme. This surely is against the “rules”? A themed clue should be solvable even if you haven’t discovered the theme?

46. Err Muffin, S&S, as mentioned above, was published under the nom de plume ‘A Lady’ – so you needed only (!?) to know that – and not have cracked the Austen code…

    Great puzzle and as always, a fine blog by Eileen.

47. Still pretty obscure without the theme, Togo!

48. I couldn’t agree more – but not a rule breaker, just another kind of breaker….

49. Thanks Eileen and Brendan.
    Good fun,that was.
    Eileen,you seem to catch all ‘Jude’puzzles…

50. My wife and I went round Jane Austen’s house at Chawton again on a wet and windy Thursday before last. Worth a visit. I think I would have picked up the references without but perhaps more slowly.
    Thanks to Brendan and Eileen.

51. Muffin@38
    I agree with you about today’s Quiptic. I rarely remember to look unless you comment on it here so thank you. Judging from the time of your entries today you do it first – perhaps flexing your cruciverbalist muscles so early in the morning.

52. Hi Bill @37 – I started solving cryptics with my brother years ago – either in person or over the phone as we now live in different cities. I tackle most on my own nowadays, though we will still call and or text if there is something we haven’t solved. I found cooperation like that a perfect way to learn cryptics, having someone to bounce ideas off of, (I know, off of whom to bounce ideas) and the ability to celebrate with someone when an answer clicked.  I started with the excellent puzzles of Cox and Rathvon in The Atlantic, little gems that had another puzzle built in to each – they are available free online.  The Atlantic also included an incredibly useful instruction set found here: https://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/puzzclue.htm That I found invaluable.  I must say that the conversations on here and the parsing provided by Eileen and others has been a tremendous help.  If you are looking for easier puzzles that you can solve online for practice … try the Globe and Mail, a Canadian Paper … the cryptic is here: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/puzzles-and-crosswords/cryptic-crossword/  I hope some of that was helpful.  Paul.

53. Forgot to mention – there is also a VERY easy cryptic daily found here: https://lovattspuzzles.com/online-puzzles-competitions/daily-cryptic-crossword/

    Can you tell I don’t have enough work at work?

54. It was time for a Brendan happy dance this morning!  It’s been too long since that happened.  The ghost theme was great fun, and I especially enjoyed the MANS-FIELD-PARK combo.  I think my favorite non-themed clues were SITES and FUNFAIR.

    Many thanks to Brendan (come back again soon!) and Eileen and the other commenters.

55. I found this quite difficult but I enjoyed the theme.

    I failed to solve 29a, 19a, 19d, 24d and 28a and could not parse 16d.

    Thanks Brummie and Eileen.

56. Gave up after four solutions in an hour, might have abandoned ship earlier if I had realised the theme. Not a “Monday” puzzle at all, editor asleep on the job IMHO.

57. I came to this a day late, got EMMA fairly swiftly, struggled thereafter for a bit – and then suddenly spotted the theme. Oh wow! This is the first time I’ve twigged a theme early enough for it to be a real help with the solutions, and what a beauty this puzzle turned out to be. In a host of inspired clues, the economy of TITLE PAGE and SHY stand out, and the placing of MANS, FIELD and PARK was delightful….
    Many thanks Brendan, for a masterly creation – do please come back soon!!! And grateful thanks also too to Eileen for clarifying some of the parsing.

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