Guardian 27,729 – Vulcan

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A typical Vulcan puzzle, with a lot of easy clues and some less-than-inspiring cryptic puzzles. As you might guess from that faint praise, it’s not greatly to my taste, but those who like the traditional “gentle start to the week” should find it fits the bill. Thanks to Vulcan

 
 
 
 
 
 
Across
1. WHIPPET Dog or cat: favourite? (7)
WHIP (cat) + PET (favourite)
5. APROPOS Correct to travel from Sapporo (7)
SAPPORO*
9. LOSE ONE’S BALANCE Stagger, seeing bank account emptied? (4,4,7)
Double definition
10. ON CUE Chalk here as indicated (2,3)
Double definition, the first referring to the use of chalk on cues in snooker and billiards
11. DETECTIVE Sort of story for solver (9)
Just about a double definition, or possibly a cryptic def
12. FORSYTHIA Plant could be soft and hairy (9)
(SOFT HAIRY)*
14. PASTY Unhealthy-looking pie (5)
Double definition (with two different pronunciations)
15. APPLE A bit of cheap, pleasant fruit (5)
Hidden in cheAP PLEasant
16. AMERICANO Big country with no coffee (9)
AMERICA + NO – pretty weak if you ask me
18. COLLAPSED Newly sold place fell down (9)
(SOLD PLACE)*
21. EXPAT Old flame has stroke as worker abroad (5)
EX (old flame) + PAT (to stroke)
22. PRESS CONFERENCE At which to keep questioning Labour gathering? (5,10)
PRESS (to keep questioning) + CONFERENCE (gathering – all the parties have their conferences, but Labour use the word a lot in motions and speeches at theirs), &lit
23. PIT LANE Refuel here — it goes into aircraft (3,4)
IT in PLANE
24. REWORKS Scripture factory produces new draft (7)
RE (Religious Education, formerly called “scripture”) + WORKS (factory)
Down
1. WELL OFF Nasty fellow, from the first filthy rich (4,3)
FELLOW* + F[ilthy]
2. INSECT REPELLENT Debugging tool? (6,9)
Cryptic definition
3. PROSELYTE Convert badly-made polyester (9)
POLYESTER*, with “Convert” to be read as a noun for the definition
4. TREAD From surface of tyre, study this? (5)
T[yre] + READ with an &littish sort of definition
5. ARBITRATE Settle dispute with some little tart I brashly picked up (9)
Hidden in reverse of littlE TART I BRAshly
6. RELIC Survival is regarded with reverence (5)
Double definition (sort of – religious relics may be regarded with reverence, but that part of the clue is using the wrong part of speech)
7. PENCIL SHARPENER It gives more point to your writing (6,9)
Cryptic definition. This felt very familiar, and I see we’ve had similar clues recently in the FT from Redshank and Tees, and elsewhere
8. SCENERY Flats arranged for the cast (7)
Cryptic definition, referring to stage scenery
13. HEADSTONE Man donates freely for memorial (9)
(MAN DONATES)* oops! HE + DONATES
14. PRIZE DRAW Raffle highly esteemed and new (5,4)
PRIZED + RAW (new)
15. ALCOPOP Entering a large store, parking drink (7)
P[arking] in A L CO-OP
17. OUTLETS Allows to go free the wrong way round shops (7)
LETS OUT written “the wrong way round”
19. AT SEA Sailing east, moving over area (2,3)
EAST* + A
20. DO FOR Ruin portal, smashed by force (2,3)
F in DOOR

57 comments on “Guardian 27,729 – Vulcan”

  1. I posted a comment beneath Vulcan’s last puzzle which was critical of the setter’s use of the expression “old trout”. Today, I see we have a reference to “picking up a little tart” in a reverse embed. I wonder how these references make their way into the Guardian in 2019. How are we to attract and retain a new generation of solvers to our beloved pastime?

    (ps for clarification, I’m all for the use of earthy terms in cryptic crosswords; just not terribly keen on ones which have a negative connotation about women)

  2. Thank you, Vulcan and Andrew..

    I think that 6d is fine.if you read “is regarded with reverence” as the second part of the double definition, along the lines of ‘Weed is green’ for grass.

  3. Yes rather easy, but for me it was satisfying to be able to complete it at one sitting, since that rarely happens. Several I couldn’t be bothered to parse. Americano was one of the last in because I’m not a coffee fan.

  5. Thanks Vulcan and Andrew

    I think 13d is HE+DONATES*.

    I don’t understand the “Flats” in 8d, but I do like the clever 17d.

  6. Thanks, Vulcan. This and the quiptic were both a bit too easy, I thought, and the cryptic definitions here reminded me of Mondays with Rufus. A little error has crept into your parsing of 13d, Vulcan. It’s HE (man) + DONATES*.

  7. Ah, cross posted with both Geoff and Rullytully! “Flats” are the pieces of scenery that represent walls, generally, on a stage.

  8. I had trouble getting into this, but once I got going I enjoyed it (including the politically incorrect clue pointed out by baerchen@1, I must confess). Thanks to V & A.

  9. Just want to support Baerchen in his comments. Such clues are way out of line with the Guardian’s editorial stance.

  10. I couldn’t agree more with your comments Andrew.

    @5: The large scenery boards on stage are called FLATS I seem to recall

  11. An easyish puzzle to start the week.

    Thought PRESS CONFERENCE and DETECTIVE were rather weak clues.

    This meaning of ‘flats’ was new to me.

    Overall, nothing to moan about. Can’t see anything wrong with 5 dn.  Whether we like it or not, the word ‘tart’ is used in general speech and it is perfectly fair for the crossword compiler to include it in a clue.  All part and parcel of ones general knowledge.

    Thanks to Vulcan and to Andrew

  12. 1a was a nice opening to the puzzle and many others were ok but lacked challenge, even for a “gentle start”. I wonder what Katherine Viner makes of clues like 5d? Thanks to Vulcan and Andrew.

  13. Thanks Vulcan and Andrew

    Generally fine, but there were some weak clues. I thought the clue for DETECTIVE was particularly poor – it’s not a double definition, as it is really the same definition twice.

  16. Thanks Vulcan; entertaining start to the week.

    Thanks Andrew; tart doesn’t particularly bother me, although it’s in Chambers as offensive and the ODE as derog. I think the term can be used about men these days as well (?)

     

  17. @Anna and (@pex)

    One’s own general knowledge includes a fair few terms which shouldn’t be seen in a Guardian crossword, but you’re perfectly entitled to your opinion, of course! I myself use the word “tart” reasonably often, but not in its whore sense, and cetainly not in the rather unsavoury (honk!) way Vulcan has done

  18. Please let’s not make all setters go on a political correctness course and have the editor scan entries for “clues not in line with our editorial policy”.

  19. Re 5 down: My other half is not offended by “tart” being used in a crossword clue. She thinks tart is quite a good word for a woman, not a whore, who dresses rather garishly and inappropriately or … i could go on but that’ll do. Thanks Vulcan and Andrew.

  20. Thank you Vulcan and Andrew.

    I enjoyed this crossword.  AMERICANO, as for Howard March @3, was one of my last in even though I love coffee.  I liked the clue for LOSE ONE’S BALANCE!

    I think the clue for 5d demeans the man more than the woman – no complaints.

  21. Seven anagrams or partial anagrams. Is that a lot? It felt a lot to me (probably as I don’t like them). I completed it all OK but didn’t really enjoy it for some reason. Some good clues but some felt a bit… inelegant? I’m struggling to articulate what it was that prevented me from warming to it but I’m failing, badly.

    Anyway, thanks Vulcan, I always appreciate the effort to create a puzzle even when it’s not exactly to my personal taste. Thanks also to Andrew.

  22. Thanks to Vulcal and Andrew. As others have commented a pretty straightforward Monday offering, but nonetheless still enjoyable. I liked lose ones balance, and I am another who had no problem with 5d, which is a term I remember being used by my mother in a catty sense rather than my father. Thanks again to Vulcan and Andrew.

  23. Re the pc debate, I’ve no problem with coarseness or however we wish to dub the dodgier areas of our rich language. If there is wit and wonder attached I roll with everything. It’s blandness and predictability that irk me. Thanks Vulcan. Plain fair but pencil sharpener raised a smile. And thanks Andrew. Ever honest.

  24. Thanks Andrew, you hit the nail on the head. In addition, I think “resident” might have worked better than “worker” in 21a, as many EXPATs are retirees. Thanks Vulcan too.

  25. Having been on a diet for the whole of Jan I read tart as food! In my defence I was rattling through this at a fair rate of knots while pretending to work

  26. Thanks to Vulcan and Andrew. Easy but fun. Initially I missed “nasty” as an anagram indicator for WELL OFF, and my LOI was SCENERY even though I did know the link to flats.

  27. Thanks Andrew, and to Vulcan for a pleasing Monday stroll. Before ducking for cover, I’d just say that I too find derogatory terms about women distasteful, but objecting to their possible use in a crossword clue is like avoiding Scunthorpe in case one catches sight of a rude word hidden in the road signs.

  28. It long ago became a tiresome task to remind everyone that the Guardian Crossword is officially a PC crossword. As explained many times previously, the issue is that “tart” and similar terms have male counterparts that are not derogatory and they therefore encapsulate a misogynistic worldview. We delicate snowflakes are entitled to be free from their use in the Guardian.

  32. Cookie @29 – yes, too old, sadly, to be part of the Snowflake Generation, but never too old to be a snowflake.

  34. Thanks Cookie, I remember it well. It reminds me of huperoffspring, like detouring round Scunthorpe. I am, ntl, a devout feminist or, rather, I cheer for that swing of the pendulum. It has been about 25,000 years, I think, since the worship of the fertility figurines…a long swing.

  35. Didn’t care much for this particularly RELIC which was LOI. Couldn’t be anything other given the crossers but it really loose. I expected that some hackles would rise over the use of “tart” and I don’t want to enter into the debate save to say that I grew up on Merseyside where the term was used to refer to a wife or girlfriend and wasn’t offensive. When I first heard it referring to a prostitute I found it rather confusing. I’m sure it’s no longer used the way I remember it even in Liverpool and that this is a testament to my great age.
    Thanks Vulcan.

  36. Some , let’s say, original indicators:

    5ac: ‘(to) travel from’ (for an anagram),  1d: ‘from the first’ (for the first letter) , 20d: ‘smashed by’ (for an insertion).

    But at least, there were indicators unlike in some clues in yesterday’s Everyman …..

    Thanks Andrew & Vulcan (for an, on the whole, OK Monday puzzle)

  37. Glad to make it back here for the first time in weeks — it’s been a hectic end of year/first of year for me.  I enjoyed this puzzle (with the exception of RELIC; I had the exact same experience with/opinion of this clue described by Peter Aspinwall @35).  I thought Vulcan did a particularly good job creating so many concise surfaces that sound like plausible utterances in real life:  the clues for COLLAPSED, HEADSTONE, AT SEA are all great examples of this, but far from the only ones.  CotD for me was LOSE ONES BALANCE.  ON CUE also gave me a chuckle.  DETECTIVE was far from my CotD, but I didn’t think it was awful either.  Usually “solver” in a clue is a reliable indicator for YOU or some variant thereof in the answer, so I appreciated some playful misdirection by the setter there.

    Many thanks to Vulcan and Andrew and the other commenters.

  38. Agree with Dansar @14 WRT 22ac – “At which to keep questioning” is the definition, labour = PRESS and gathering = CONFERENCE

  39. I had a few too many niggles with this.

    “To travel from” isn’t an anagrind (the clue is clearly written for the surface but just doesn’t work for me); “stroke” and “pat” are not the same thing; “smashed” doesn’t indicate insertion; “from the first filthy” doesn’t indicate “take the first letter of filthy” (“from the first” alone could however indicate F).

    DETECTIVE and AMERICANO are both pretty weak.

    I do like SCENERY now I’ve reread it.  Also agree with the reinterpretation of PRESS CONFERENCE.  Quite good after this.

    Thanks anyway, Vulcan.  Thanks for the blog, Andrew.

  40. Thanks for the explanations, a couple confused me, particularly RELIC.
    Enjoyable, and not too taxing a challenge.

  41. Tart may once have referred only to women, but I know several men who dance with more than one Morris side and are affectionately referred to as Morris tarts!

  42. Personally I was more concerned about the loose cluing rather than the alleged misogyny. Surely one has to be looking to be offended to find problems with such trivia. I would have thought that one would be better employed railing against actions that actually might harm someone.

    Anyway the Ed obviously thought it was fine. 😉

  43. Perhaps setter should be restricted to an approved vocabulary, with extra credit for right-on references. I do hope not. Interesting that a white British immigrant is an expat, but any other type of immigrant is an immigrant. I wonder if it’s the same in other languages.

  44. Alex @42 – none of the commenters who found the use of “tart” unnecessary has claimed offence. Just sadness that it is a term that some people seem to think should still have currency.

  45. Thanks both. I liked WHIPPET, it could have been made more elegant as ‘Dog or cat, cat or dog’.
    Don’t like THOUGHT POLICE.

  47. grantinfreo @30/31 and Cookie @33 — Wow, thanks for this!  I just had a listen.  Very funny, a great mini-break here during the work day.

  48. David @43, there is a difference between an expat and an immigrant – an expat lives abroad, especially for a long period, an immigrant comes as a permanent resident to a country other then their native land.

  50. Cookie@48 so all those Polish workers coming to Britain were expats, were they? Funny, I never heard them referred to in that way.

  51. Van Winkle

    Your statement re the “currency” of “tart” seems to disregard how language works. One can’t decree how language develops. (Big Brother etc excepted)

    You also appear to be ignorant of the current meanings of the word.

  52. Alex @51 – apologies – I did mean to imply “currency in the Guardian crossword”. And nothing would please me more than to be educated in all the constructive and complimentary ways that “tart” is used in modern conversation.

  53. I enjoyed the humour of LOSE ONE’S BALANCE, COLLAPSED + OUTETS.

    New for me was ALCOPOP.

    Thanks Vulcan and Andrew.

  55. David @50, if they have not come to settle they are migrant workers, not immigrants, perhaps in Poland they are called something similar to expats?

  56. Sorry I’m late to the party. I didn’t read this solution until now. I understand that Garudian readers like to be shielded from words they find offensive, but some of the above comments are just risible. Tart is a word applied to both sexes, without inferring sex-worker. I even call my dog a tart as he shamelessly gives loving eyes to anyone in the family who holds a biscuit. And expat? Come on, stop being so precious, your world view is very blinkered (well, guided by your preferred media, let’s say):
    https://gulfnews.com/how-to/everything-we-know-about-the-mandatory-online-registration-for-indian-expats-in-18-countries-1.1543217830555

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