Guardian Cryptic 27,783 by Vulcan

by

Quick and enjoyable solve – with smiles at 1ac, 10ac, 20ac, 2dn, 19dn, and 22dn/23dn. Thanks to Vulcan.

Across
1 HEBREWS What beer maker does by the book (7)
=book of the Bible
HE BREWS =”What beer maker does”
5 RECITED Delivered from appalling deceit by rector (7)
(deceit)* next to R (rector)
9 FRYING PAN Fire’s worse than this, they say (6,3)
referring to the phrase ‘out of the frying pan into the fire’
10 TWILL Briefly, it is going to make fabric (5)
‘TWILL=contraction of ‘it will’=”Briefly, it is going to”
11 SKIP Omit captain (4)
double definition
12 FLEA MARKET Where to buy a jumper? (4,6)
cryptic def, with FLEA=”jumper”
14 SENORA Foreigner‘s reason to travel (6)
(reason)*
15 IMPRESS Journalist’s self-introduction to make a stir (7)
I’M PRESS=”Journalist’s self-introduction”
16 PLANTED Fixed arrangement with Edward (7)
PLAN=”arrangement” + TED=”Edward”
I spent a little while trying to make this from PLANT + ED
18 GANTRY Good worker on railway platform (6)
=a supporting frame used in construction
G (Good) + ANT=”worker” + RY (RailwaY)
20 CHUCK BERRY Throw fruit at singer (5,5)
CHUCK=”Throw” + BERRY=”fruit”
21 GULL Fool of a fielder finally dropped (4)
GULL=”Fool” as a verb or noun – related to ‘gullible’
GULLy=fielding position in cricket=”fielder”, with the final letter dropped
24 LINER Old railway company acquires one ship (5)
LNER=London and North-Eastern Railway [wiki] around I=”one”
25 AMSTERDAM Flowing stream meets obstruction in its canals? (9)
Amsterdam is known for its canals
(stream)* + DAM=”obstruction”
26 DISBAND Contemptuously treat group going to break up (7)
DIS or ‘diss’=”Contemptuously treat” + BAND=”group”
27 SCUPPER Ruin meal, introducing a bit of controversy (7)
SUPPER=”meal” around Controversy
Down
1 HEFTS Lifts paper he’s holding (5)
FT (Financial Times)=”paper”, inside HE’S
2 BUY TIME Stall: obtain herb here, they say (3,4)
soukds like/”they say”: ‘buy thyme’=”obtain herb”
3 ERNE Concerned to trap seabird (4)
Hidden in concERNEd
4 SUPPLY AND DEMAND Law of give and take? (6,3,6)
cryptic definition referring to the economic ‘Laws’ of supply and demand
5 RING A RING O’ ROSES Agonising errors ruined children’s game (4-1-4,1,5)
(Agonising errors)*
6 CATNAPPING Stealing pet that’s briefly asleep? (10)
CAT-NAPPING might=”Stealing pet”, as in kidnapping
7 TRICKLE Cause to laugh about river becoming thin stream (7)
TICKLE=”Cause to laugh” around R (river)
8 DILUTES Wrong suit led is weakening (7)
(suit led)*
13 NORTH KOREA Country OK? No, rather bad (5,5)
(OK No rather)*
16 PICKLED The best came first, drunk (7)
PICK=”The best” + LED=”came first”
17 ALUMNUS Maul poor current students and one old one (7)
(Maul)* + NUS=National Union of Students=”current students”
19 ROUND UP Make conveniently bigger summary (5,2)
as in ’round up to the nearest 10′; or ’round up of the day’s news’
22 LEMUR Primate said to be capital (5)
homophone/”said to be” of: ‘Lima’, capital of of Peru…
23 PERU Exercise and sport in the country (4)
PE (Physical Education)=”Exercise” + RU (Rugby Union)=”sport”

39 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 27,783 by Vulcan”

  1. I enjoyed this puzzle. My favourites were HEBREW + CHUCK BERRY.

    Google helped me work out LNER (London NE Railway) and Folkestone.

    Thanks Vulcan and manehi.

  2. Thanks manehi – and to Vulcan for a pleasing Monday solve: straightforward, without insulting one’s intelligence, and extra brownie points for having at least six answers with ‘ER’ in them and not once resorting to ‘queen’ in the clues!

  3. This raised a few smiles and chuckles. For a very quick solve the cluing was actually really good in many places, with much better CDs and DDs than many we’ve seen in this slot – “flea market” for example, was spot on I thought. 1ac should’ve been “shebrews” given the preponderance of alewives in crossword-land, “twill” was lovely, as were so many others. “lemur” was a weak homophone, but being close to “Peru” helped.

    Thank you Vulcan for raising a smile or three, and manehi for the immaculate blog.

  4. Took as long remembering book as in of the Bible as the rest of the puzzle, a total d’oh given that it’s such a standard ploy. Twill was neat, and Chuck Berry a groan/grin, ditto disband. The ‘current’ in 17d caused a moment’s pause. Quick and fun, ta V and M.

  5. An easy Monday morning solve but nonetheless some of the clues were very good.  PERU, for example – so simple yet effective.

    I also liked SENORA and failed to see the anagram for ages.  And HEBREWS raised a smile.

    The long clues were, once again, particularly easy to solve.

    Nice start to the week.

    Thanks to Vulcan and manehi.

  6. I’m agreeing in spades – good fun. 20a CHUCK BERRY got three ticks from me once I saw it. I also liked 16d PICKLED, and several others aforementioned. Mini-themes of sorts – two capital cities with 25a AMSTERDAM and 22d LIMA/LEMUR, and two countries, 13d NORTH KOREA and 23d PERU. The link between 22d and 23d pleased me, though I would have seen the connection earlier if I had solved them consecutively (or maybe if there had been ellipses). For some reason 14a SENORA seemed a little loose to me.

    But many thanks must go to Vulcan and manehi for a good Monday solve.

  7. [Crossed with gif@4 and Anna@5. Meant to say the fodder for 24a LNER was unfamiliar, but what else could it be?]

  8. [gif@4 says The ‘current’ in 17d caused a moment’s pause. I actually don’t get why the NUS in ALUMNUS is referenced as  “current” learners, although I knew that acronym from previous crosswords and got the parse based on “students”. Sorry to post three times but maybe someone can tell me what I’m missing.]

  9. Thanks Vulcan and manehi

    I didn’t enjoy this as much as most previous posters. LEMUR as a homophone for “Lima” is a joke. “A bit of controversy” for C isn’t to my taste. GULL(y) is doubly obscure. How old does one have to be in order to recognise CHUCK BERRY?

    Perhaps I’m cross with myself at taking so long to see the HEBREWS/BUY TIME/SENORA corner!

  10. Julie @8 I read “current” simply to contrast with “old” – hence “current learners” being those studying now, and members of the NUS, versus one who used to study and, therefore, no longer is. For once “current” is not “I” or “in” etc, it’s just part of the surface to my reading.

    Muffin @9 Well Chuck Berry is before my time by quite some way, but the name is familiar, and not just from Back to the Future! He did only die 2 years ago, after all.

  11. Sounding a tad grouchy this morning, muffin?

    Homophone spats are nothing new here, but LIMA/LEMUR works for me.

    JinA @8:  Re NUS, I thought the same, and concluded that current was only there to justify the def of “old one”.  (BTW you can post as often as you like, always good to hear from you!)

    Thinking of 20a, I came across a little rock ban in Europe one called Jette Chapeau.  It was years later that I twigged the pun.

    A quick solve but good fun nonetheless, many thanks both.

    Nice week, all.

  13. Just couldn’t get one across for simply ages, meaning that NW corner was last to be filled in. A good work out for a Monday morning, nevertheless…

  14. William @12 or I crossed with you…I just hit “post” a tad sooner. There is no way to avoid it so no apology needed!

  15. What a delightful puzzle – and very welcome after the tussles of the last three days. I didn’t think there was a duff clue anywhere, and enjoyed LEMUR/LIMA with its juxtaposition to PERU. My favourites are the same as everyone else’s. On form like this Vulcan would make a good replacement for the Everyman puzzles which continue to provide unpredictable challenges since the regular setter left. Many thanks to him and manehi .

  16. Thanks to Vulcan and manehi. Mostly all been said, quite straightforward but no pushover, and very enjoyable. Church Berry raised a smile because I once saw him liv in Baltimore in the early nineties (in his eighties then). NW corner was last to fall and favourites were Hebrews, buy time and liner. Thanks again to Vulcan and manehi.

  17. Good, entertaining Monday puzzle. I got a bit stuck in the NW corner with HEBREWS LOI. That and FLEA MARKET were my picks.

    Thanks Vulcan and manehi.

  20. Thanks to manehi and Vulcan

    Very pleasant for a Monday, but I agree FOREIGNER was a little vague. I would have enjoyed ESPOUSE.

  22. Thanks to Vulcan and Manehi. I agree with thezed@3 about the quality of the CDs and DDs, many of which have been rather weak in recent offerings. I’ll add FRYING PAN as one that made me smile in addition to those mentioned above. Nicely clued throughout, although there’s no real definition in 25a, is there?

  23. Thanks to Vulcan and manehi.

    While I agree with Muffin@9 I’m inclined to allow a little elasticity on Monday in the cause of promulgating the faith and keep the tough theological questions for later in the week (but yes LEMUR/Lima is a bit of a stretch and, in conjunction with GULL, stalled me for some little while).  SENORA was one of those where all the mechanics were laid out, I knew how to get the answer – but nothing hatched; a tea-tray moment when LOI. Favourites were SUPPLY AND DEMAND (much tooth-sucking) and NORTH KOREA (why was that not a write-in?) because, well, N Korea is such a sad case and I like to see mention of it.

  25. All done in 40 minutes, a personal best for me!  Particularly liked ‘Hebrews’, ‘Flea Market’ and ‘Chuck Berry’.  Thanks Vulcan and manehi!

  26. My only temporary sticking point was having AMMAN for LEMUR in 22d. It’s not often that the wrong answer fits a different parsing of the clue just as well as the intended answer/parsing.

  27. thezed @14 – there is a way to avoid crossing – cut/refresh/paste before posting if there is a chance that things might have moved on since starting to type.

  28. Van Winkle @27 fair point…not sure I’m that bothered though!

    Dr WhatsOn @26 my first sticking point was putting “cove” for “gull”, being “cover (point)” less the “r” and a cove being an odd chap so a sort of fool. Always a problem with simpler clues – I find non-cryptic crosswords hard as there are too many possibilities.

  29. Surely everybody doing this crossword will have heard of CHUCK BERRY. I saw him a number of times: all in pre dingaling days and he was pretty good. He seemed to have less respect for his music than most of his audience did which was a shame given how influential he was.
    I enjoyed the puzzle very much despite finding it rather easy but in a Rufusian sort of way. Liked HEBREWS,GULL and TWILL.
    Thanks Vulcan.

  32. Thanks to Vulcan and manehi. Lots of fun. I did not parse GULLy and had to check LNER  and the UK spelling of RING A RING etc.

  33. Thezed: totally agree. Your example is another for collection, but that one is an instance of identical parsing, which I believe has to be more common.

  34. I am lending my support to muffin @ 13 and Alphalpha @ 23.

    HEBREWS, SKIP, SENORA, GULL and LEMUR, whilst in retrospect not being particularly difficult, must  have taken me as long as the rest of the crossword.

    Some fine clues as others have mentioned

    Thanks, manehi and Vulcan

  35. Thanks to Manehi and Vulcan Pretty standard Monday fare but none the worse for that, and some excellent clues/ answers e.g. LINER and CHUCK BERRY.

    Michelle@1 – Folkestone ???

  37. FRYING PAN and SUPPLY AND DEMAND were my first two in, and I was a tad disappointed as they didn’t feel particularly cryptic. However, a range of delicious clueing elsewhere more than made up for it. HEBREWS, LINER & TWILL were good fun – and CHUCK BERRY made me laugh out loud.
    Thanks to Vulcan and Manehi

  38. I enjoyed the crossword, was surprised to see so many “comments” about Chuck Berry, can’t quite work out if the commentators are too old or too young to know Berry. I have always loved him despite his colourful career. I have been learning to play the ukulele and my teacher is a big fan of Chuck Berry, it’s amazing how complex some of Berry’s songs are, it’s not the notes but the timing and emphasis of some phrases of the songs. Truly a great of Rock and Roll. Sorry to go off topic.

  39. With all due respect to Muffin, one might as well say “How old does one have to be to recognise Beethoven?”

Comments are closed.