Guardian Cryptic 27,718 by Qaos

by

The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/27718.

I found this a pleasant, steady solve, and only on completion did I see the trademark ghost theme of bones, including the auditory ossicles – hammer, anvil and stirrup.

Across
7 HOT-HEADED Fiery, like Harry and Henry? (3-6)
Both names begin with H; also a reference to Sir Henry Percy, known as Harry Hotspur.
8 CHEEK Guerrilla starting to enrage king with insolence (5)
A charade of CHE (Guevara, ‘guerrilla’) plus E (‘starting to Enrage’) plus K (‘king’).
9 FLOUR MILL Factory made by (4 ÷ 50) + (1049 ÷ 50) (5,4)
Envelopes (‘÷’) of L (’50’) in FOUR (‘4′) and L (’50’ again’) in MIL (‘1049’, not following the canonical rules).
10 ANVIL Part of Roman villa block (5)
A hidden answer (‘part of’) in ‘RomAN VILla’.
12 TRADER Merchant recalled wine with skill (6)
A reversal (‘recalled’) of RED (‘wine’) plus ART (‘skill’).
13 ROSE RASH Youths are sorely upset, having caught German measles (4,4)
A hidden (‘having caught’) reversed (‘upset’ – which might be better suited for a down light) answer in ‘youtHS ARE SORely’).
16 JARRING Judge turning up to free 6? That’s annoying (7)
A charade of J (‘judge’) plus ARRI[vi]NG (‘turning up’) minus VI (‘to free 6’).
19 STIRRUP Supporter‘s prison triumph, ignoring the odds (7)
A charade of STIR (‘prison’) plus RUP (‘tRiUmPh ignoring the odds’).
22 WOBBLIER More shaky bowler, one spins … Catch! Bravo! (8)
An envelope (‘catch’) of B (‘bravo’) in WOBLIER, an anagram (‘spins’) of ‘bowler’ plus I (‘one’).
25 AFFIRM Ratify a company report (6)
Sounds like (‘report’) A FIRM (‘a company’).
27 JEWEL Sheep penned within limits of jail is highly rated (5)
An envelope (‘penned within’) of EWE (‘sheep’) in JL (‘limits of JeweL JaiL‘).
28 OVERHEADS Cryptically spot expenses? (9)
TOPS (HEADS) reversed (OVER) is ‘spot’.
29 COAST Price to reserve afternoon down by the sea (5)
An envelope (‘to reserve’) of A (‘afternoon’ – not in Chambers) in COST (‘price’). A little loose.
30 TRAPEZIUM Figure Trump a bum to hug his outspoken easy one (9)
An envelope (‘to hug’) of EZ, sounding like (‘outspoken’) ‘easy’ – with an American Z – plus I (‘one’) in TRAPUM, an anagram (‘bum’) of ‘Trump a’.
Down
1 COLLAR Arrest old learners breaking into vehicle (6)
An envelope (‘breaking into’) of O (‘old’) plus L L (‘learners’) in CAR (‘vehicle’).
2 SHOULDER Must regularly fear bear (8)
A charade of SHOULD (‘must’, a questionable synonym) plus ER (‘regularly fEaR‘).
3 HAMMER Horror film-maker‘s hit? (6)
Double definition.
4 CELLARS Vaults and nimbly clears end of pommel (7)
An anagram (‘nimbly’) of ‘clears’ plus L (‘end of pommeL‘).
5 SHINER Entire NHS in trouble, losing ten to bruise (6)
An anagram (‘in trouble’) of ‘[ent]ire NHS’ ‘losing ten’, for a black eye.
6 DEVILS Naughty people dress oddly around 6.50 (6)
An envelope (‘around’) of VI (‘6′) plus L (’50’) in DES (‘DrEsS oddly’).
11 PSST Can I have your attention? You sound drunk (4)
A homophone (‘you sound’) of PISSED (‘drunk’).
14 AIR Voice, 99% of which is N and O? (3)
Double definition: nitrogen (‘N’) and oxygen (‘O’) are the principal constituents of air, which, if dry, contains 78.09% of the former and 20.95% of the latter.
15 HIP In Houses of Parliament covering independence (3)
An envelope (‘covering’) of I (‘independence’) in HP (‘Houses of Parliament’).
16 JAW Scary film cuts finale to generate discussion (3)
JAW[s] (‘scary film’) minus the last letter (‘cuts finale’).
17 RIB Tease royal’s firstborn (3)
A charade of R (‘royal’) plus I (‘first’) plus B (‘born’).
18 NAIL One moving home throws out small pin (4)
[s]NAIL (‘one moving home’) minus the S (‘throws out small’).
20 REFREEZE Umpire: ‘It’s very simple after opener’s dismissed to get set again‘ (8)
A charade of REF (‘umpire’) plus [b]REEZE (‘very simple’) minus the first letter (‘after opener’s dismissed’).
21 DRIVERS Seen on course down waterways (7)
A charade of D (‘down’) plus RIVERS (‘waterways’). The ‘course’ might be golf, or a speedway.
23 OBERON Fairy king and queen embraced by retired aristocrat with love (6)
An envelope (’embraced by’) of ER (‘queen’) in OBON, a reversal (‘retired’) of NOB (‘aristocrat’) plus O (‘love’).
24 BREAST Bank’s peak rates tumbling? It’s a front (6)
A charade of B (‘Bank’s peak’) plus REAST, an anagram (‘tumbling’) of ‘rates’.
25 ABRUPT British Rail’s happy for heart­less worker to be outside — unexpected? (6)
An envelope (‘to be ourside’) of BR (‘British Rail’) plus UP (‘happy’) in A[n]T (‘worker’) minus the middle letter (‘heartless’).
26 RADIUS Leaders of research and development include Underground scheme for Circle line (6)
First letters (‘leaders’) of ‘Research And Development Include Underground Scheme’.
completed grid

47 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 27,718 by Qaos”

  1. This was a fun puzzle to solve. My favourites were 9a and 16a as well as PSST.

    New for me was ROSE RASH, and I was unable to parse 14d AIR.

    Thank you Qaos and Peter.

  2. I think the “envelope” operation in 9a is best explained as “divided by”, since that is what is happening, in the non-mathematical sense. I like this innovation (at least I think it’s new), but I’m not sure it can be used again in a hurry! What I didn’t like so much was “nimbly” to indicate an anagram in 4d. Usually anything that indicates movement can do that, but “nimbly” is one step removed.
    Thanks P&Q.

  3. Yep quite fun, tho had to consult my Crouch End sister and bro-in-law, visiting us here in Oz, to confirm Hammer the production co, a dnk. Also bunged in rosy red, so a dnf. Liked psst too, and trap ee zee 1 um. Wondered about the ‘for’ in 25d, but a mere quiblet. And the blog text disappears to the right, but hey ho, it happens sometimes.

    Thanks PeterO and Qaos who, as I think I’ve said before, always brings to mind the film Qaos, of four delightful Pirandello stories.

  4. Thanks Qaos and PeterO.

    The theme helped with several of the later ones, such as TRAPEZIUM, although I had thought it was parts of the body rather than just bones – then NAIL and possibly CELLARS, and HEAD would be included. However, on reflection perhaps these are bonuses; I think “bones” is neater. On the way, I also noted the connection between HAMMER and NAIL; “WOBBLiEr” and “afFIRM”; and “JARring” and “STIRrUP”, but they surely must just be serendipity.

  6. Thanks PeterO – especially for parsing the likes of TRAPEZIUM, JARRING and ROSE RASH which I correctly guessed but couldn’t completely fathom. Otherwise, more like a Monday puzzle than yesterday’s tricky Brendan, so restored some of my crossword confidence which has taken a knock in recent days.

  7. We have enjoyed the week so far now back on track with the dailies after the distractions of Genius last week.
    Liked the misdirection of vaults/CELLARS and RADIUS.
    For once the theme helped, but needed the blog to spot the three ear bones.
    Really liked the FLOUR MILL numbers and AIR.
    Needed help to parse TRAPEZIUM.
    Thanks, Qaos and PeterO.

  9. Thanks Qaos and PeterO

    I didn’t see the theme, of course, and I didn’t parse JARRING or TRAPEZIUM. Favourite was ANVIL, which is so neat that I’m surprised I haven’t seen it before.

  10. paddymelon@8: no Q. also no X and – unusually – no Y. Nearest to a pangram this year I think is Nutmeg on 10 Jan, missing only Q and X.

  11. Of course, quenbarrow @10.. I’ll blame it on the heat. 43 degrees C when I came home today. And you’ve got that Q so must be perceptive. I still wonder if Qaos is having a go at us. No Q and the unknowns (bar one).

  14. Lovely puzzle, with Qoas’s well-crafted clues as always. Didn’t get round to parsing JARRING, but it had to be the answer. Favourites were WOBBLIER and FLOUR MILL. Many thanks to PeterO and to Qaos.

  15. Thanks, PeterO for the blog and Qaos for the fun.

    It was the auditory ossicles that alerted me: I always think of those three together, as I remember being fascinated by the names when I first learned them.

    I hadn’t heard ROSE RASH for roseola / rubella before but it couldn’t be anything else and the clue made me smile, as did the Circle Line definition. In fact, as always with this setter, there were lovely surfaces throughout.

  17. grantinfreo@3, when the text disappears off to the right, I turn my phone round 90° from portrait to landscape.

  18. Many thanks, PeterO, needed your unraveling of OVERHEADS.

    All very pleasant except the somewhat clunky TRAPEZIUM.  Figure Trump a bum to hug his outspoken easy one.  That sentence should be taken outside and shot. (Who said that?)

    Otherwise, nice puzzle, many thanks, Qaos.

    Nice week, all.

  19. An enjoyable puzzle.  Completely missed the theme of course.  Needed help with a couple of parsings, so thanks PeterO.  I thought “must” = SHOULD in 2d was fine, as in “You must see this film” / “You should see this film” –  at any rate, close enough for jazz, as they say.

  20. Like michelle@1, I enjoyed 9a FLOUR MILL and 11d PSST. I also ticked 2d SHOULDER, 18d NAIL and 20d REFREEZE. I liked “picking out all the bones”, though I didn’t see the clever theme until about three quarters of the way through my solve. Well done for spotting the bonus one at 5d, NNI@16. I had also circled the two HEADS with a question mark, Dave E@4 and Pex@12. I liked your coincidental pairs too, Dave. Many thanks to Qaos and PeterO.

  21. Thanks Qaos; a good start to the week, very entertaining.

    Nice blog PeterO; I missed the ‘his’ in Trump’s clue to indicate the zee. I missed the theme, so no help there, but it didn’t affect my solving. I hadn’t heard of ROSE RASH before, just (like Eileen @15) roseola and rubella.

  22. Thanks to Qaos and PeterO. All good fun, but completely missed the theme even though I was looking for one. Most went in quite steadily but got held up with rose rash (last one) and in the SE corner, with drivers, overheads and trapezium. I also needed to come here to understand the parsing of overheads. I liked jarring and stirrup best, and thanks again to Qaos and PeterO.

  23. Like William and PetHay I needed PeterO’s parsing for OVERHEADS; I agree with William on the awkwardness of 30a and had nothing in the SE until it fell thanks to MrsW’s tentative suggestion for 28a. Other than that it was an unusually straightforward solve for a Qaos puzzle – and very enjoyable. Despite the two of us looking at the completed grid we didn’t spot the theme – we don’t do very well on the Only Connect walls either!
    Thanks to Qaos and PeterO.

  24. Thanks Qaos and PeterO – needed the tops/spot parsing but otherwise straightforward I thought. Good example of a theme not intruding too much and being neatly clued throughout. I read the “divided by” clues as “over” at first which stopped me seeing them until the crosser “m” dropped in, which suggested “mill” and the dark satanic clue opened up from there. Cunning and trademark and original – just the kind of thing to keep me coming back to a solver, like last week’s Boatman.

  25. How bizarre. Just came off the phone to a friend discussing his imminent chiroprac session. Many bones were touched upon, then low and behold half of them are in Qaos’s crunchy crossword. Nice stuff. I feel much better! Thanks Peter O

  26. Thanks both,

    Still not happy with the parsing of 1ac. Why does Hot = H? Otherwise a fairly quick solve for me. Is it not the case that if ‘should’ appears in legislation it means ‘must’?

  27. An entertaining puzzle, all quite straightforward in retrospect, and a theme that was apparent very early.

    Thanks to Qaos and PeterO

  29. rather than the given theme, which passed me by, I was carried along by expecting – and getting – several words with double-letters in the middle – jaRRing, woBBlier, etc. 11 in all.

  30. Delightful puzzle, especially once PeterO pointed out the theme, which as usual I missed.  (Note to self for the ‘leventy-fourth time — “with Qaos, look for a theme.”)

    PeterO you have a mistake in 27a — it’s limits of “jail,” not “jewel,” which is the answer.

    Loved “divided by”!

    Tyngewick @ 26 — I think in legislation “must” = “shall,” not “should.”

  31. Without wishing to be seen to be picking only on the most recent contributors, the main problem I have with themed crosswords is that the blogs on this site then turn into a tedious parade of affirmations about whether the theme was spotted or not. I refresh a suggestion previously made that the blogs for a themed crossword are accompanied by a voting button. Perhaps there could also be a page where serial non-spotters could register their talent to spare them the job of having to remind us whenever a theme shows up.

  32. I rather liked this despite making heavy weather of it at the start. Quite a lot of retrospective parsing too. The most amusing being FLOUR MILL which became obvious once I’d written it in. I didn’t spot the theme as usual which, given how many examples there were, is a definite black mark for me!
    Thanks Qaos.

  33. Afternoon all. Just a quick hello today as work’s v busy, but thanks for all the comments – always appreciated. Anyone who wants a hint on any possible ghost theme can always follow me on Twitter (@qaos_xword) and look for #twint (a Portmanteau courtesy of my daughter).

    BCNU

    Qaos.

  35. Thanks Qaos and PeterO. Very enjoyable. I think anyone attempting a Qaos puzzle and not looking for a theme from FOI onwards can only be new to this setter – a bit like me with Brendan !

    Three seem to have been an awful lot of clues in recent months like the one for FLOUR MILL, consequently I’m coming to regard them as very easy where a year or two ago I would’ve been totally thrown. Progress !!

  37. Even more bizarre, Yaffle@25. Polished off the puzzle fairly early, but as usual with my tunnel vision I didn’t spot the (quite overwhelmingmy obvious) theme, then went to a quite painful session with my own chiropracter at noon. Very relieved not to discover later that I had missed “sacroiliac” in the grid, ‘cos that is the cause of my present discomfort…

  39. Had fun. It’s the first one I’ve gotten to the end of, albeit assisted by Peter’s blog solutions for nearly a third of the answers. I think my favourite was the 20d. cricketing reference; I then forfeited all the joy I got out of cracking that one (nearly) in stumbling over Wobblier 🙂

  40. Thanks Qaos for a very enjoyable puzzle and PeterO for the blog. I agree with you about COAST being ‘a little loose’.

    In spite of what Van Winkle @31 says, I will join others and say that I failed to spot the theme as well.
    Lots of favourites with FLOUR MILL heading the list.

    ROSE RASH brought to mind the nursery rhyme Ring a ring of Roses, but on reflection that was for the plague. Got the answer before seeing it was a reversed hidden.

  41. Thanks to Qaos and PeterO. ROSE RASH was new to me (though gettable ) but I took a while parsing HIP (I did not immediately supply HP as Houses of Parliament) and (S)NAIL.

  42. Qaos, thanks for dropping by

    acd @41

    There is a brand of British bottled brown sauce called HP with a picture of the Houses of Parliament on the label; I think I have sen it in US supermarkets, but obviously it would be more familiar the other side of the pond.

    Bloodysurgeon @ 39

    Welcome, and congratulations. I hope you will return to Fifteensquared as you hone your solving skills.

  44. I’ve often read the comments and found the answers to my queries, but not today – please can someone explain why 9a uses 1049 and not just 1000, which is more obviously ‘mil’?? And what does the bit about canonical rules mean?? Help! That aside, I agree it’s a great and original clue!

  45. chrisseville @44

    Qaos is suggesting that, in Roman numerals, 1000=M and 49=IL to give the required MIL part of the wordplay. However the latter is incorrect because 49 is XLIX, hence PeterO’s reference to the canonical rules.

  46. chrisseville @44

    Sorry, I should have made the explanation clearer. Gaufrid has already answered the main point, but there is a little more to be said. As far as I know, MIL means one thousandth, not one thousand; Qaos might have changed the arithmetic to use it. The standard rules of Roman arithmetical notation say that a “preceding I” means subtracting one only in the combinations IV (4) and IX (9). However, there have been discussions before in this forum just how strictly Romans, yet alone later users, followed the rules. My comment was intended to head off a rehash of that argument. It is all too easy to forget that some may not be aware of the backstory.

  47. AH! Now I see! Thanks to Gaufrid and PeterO!
    And I also see that I was too influenced by mil in Spanish being 1000 …

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