Guardian Cryptic 27,785 by Orlando

by

The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/27785.

A very occasional setter, Orlando has showered us with two other recent crosswords, last Monday’s Quiptic, and the Cryptic on March 11. He produces delightful crosswords at the easier end of the spectrum, and this one is no exception. I would say that there are only a couple of clues which might have caused mild protest in a Quiptic, but that is far from a criticism. Thank you, Orlando, for giving me an easy and enjoyable blog.

Across
1 PARDON What‘s to forgive? (6)
Double definition.
4 HARD UP Poor firm in a cheerful mood (4,2)
A charade of HARD (‘firm’) plus UP (‘in a cheerful mood’).
9 PROW Power line in front of boat (4)
A charade of P (‘power’) plus ROW (‘line’).
10 TELEVISION It’s one evil fuse box (10)
An anagram (‘fuse’) of ‘its one evil’.
11 BORNEO Island represented by Oberon (6)
An anagram (‘re-presented’) of ‘Oberon’. ‘By’ does not sit very comfortably in the clue.
12 ARCHIVES Record collection formed by shrewd American composer (8)
A charade of ARCH (‘shrewd’) plus IVES (Charles, ‘American composer’).
13 LARCENOUS Arson clue possibly revealing criminal (9)
An anagram (‘possibly’) of ‘arson clue’.
15 I SEE One spy that is now clear (1,3)
A charade of I (‘one’) plus SPY (‘see’).
16 SCOW Start to sink lower in boat (4)
A charade of S (‘start to Sink’) plus COW (‘lower’ Hard cheese, arib).
17 NEWSFLASH Brief report translated for Welsh fans (9)
Nine letters with only two vowels? It can’t possibly be an anagram. But an anagram (‘translated’) it is, of ‘Welsh fans’.
21 ENSCONCE Settle Beethoven’s concerto? Not entirely (8)
A hidden answer (‘not entirely’) in ‘BeethovEN’S CONCErto’).
22 TROUGH Area of low pressure in the Channel? (6)
Double definition.
24 FIVEPENCES I have lead for phone receivers — without change (10)
Some careful parsing needed here: an envelope (‘without’) of I’VE (‘I have’) plus P (‘lead for Phone’) in FENCES (‘receivers’ of stolen goods’).
25 SPOT Place for second prize (4)
A charade of S (‘second’) plus POT (‘prize’).
26 GUYANA Make fun of articles in this country (6)
A charade of GUY (‘make fun of’) plus AN A (indefinite ‘articles’).
27 MYRTLE Round shot in tree or shrub (6)
A reversal (’round’) of ELTRYM, an envelope (‘in’) of TRY (‘shot’) in ELM (‘tree’).
Down
1 PERGOLA Climbing frame formed by erecting a piece of wood? (7)
A charade of PER (‘by’) plus GOLA, a reversal (‘erecting’ in a down light) of A LOG (‘a piece of wood’). The frame is for climbing plants, such as roses
2 ROWAN Argument over a name for a tree (5)
A charade of ROW (‘argument’) plus ‘a’ plus N (‘name’).
3 OUTWORN Exhausted couple boarding old vessel (7)
An envelope (‘boarding’) of TWO (‘couple’) in O (‘old’) plus URN (‘vessel’).
5 ADVICE Notice failing to provide guidance (6)
A charade of AD (‘notice’) plus VICE (‘failing’).
6 DISMISSAL Is music centre occupying sad sack? (9)
An envelope (‘occupying’) of ‘is’ plus S (‘muSic centre’) in DISMAL (‘sad’).
7 PHONEME I want to hear from you in the linguistics unit (7)
PHONE ME (‘I want to hear from you’).
8 PLEASURE BEACH Blackpool attraction — cheap reusable rock (8,5)
An anagram (‘rock’ – awkward placement) of ‘cheap reusable’. It is an amusement park.
14 CROTCHETY Awkward note on 4th of July (9)
A charade of CROCHET CROTCHET (musical ‘note’ identified by duration) plus Y (‘4th of JulY‘)
16 SUN KING Louis XIV registered last in Strasbourg (3,4)
A charade of SUNK IN (‘registered’) plus G (‘last in StrasbourG‘).
18 SATISFY Content with shaking fist? Speak about it (7)
An envelope (‘about it’) of TISF, an anagram (‘shaking’) of ‘fist’ in SAY (‘speak’).
19 SIGNORE Gentleman of Verona taking end of clothes brush aside (7)
Just when you thought it was time to brush up your Shakespeare, we have a real Italian. A charade of S (‘end of clotheS‘) plus IGNORE (‘brush aside’). Note that SIGNORE is a variant of SIGNOR, single (the number, not necessarily the marital state); the plural would be SIGNORI.
20 ANDEAN A new cleric from South America (6)
A charade of ‘a’ plus N (‘new’) plus DEAN (‘cleric’).
23 ONSET Start filming here? (5)
ON SET (‘filming here’). Familiar.
completed grid

47 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 27,785 by Orlando”

  1. Thanks PeterO and Orlando.

    Could not parse MYRTLE, thanks for that. Also, FENCES, I’VE were obvious, but P for phone, not so much. I thought PARDON and NEWSFLASH were both excellent. ENSCONSE was too snugly ensconsed to see first – well hidden!

  2. Easy enough, and solved before my bedtime. Aside from a raised eyebrow at the use of “rock” as an anagrind, nothing to complain about. Thanks, Orlando and PeterO (and btw, in the blog for 14d, the musical note should be CROTCHET.)

  3. Ditto ilippu re ensconce, tea tray after thinking Emperor, Archduke, Moonlight… der! I had ‘erk’ next to fivepences, wordplay is fine, but, well, erk. The SE last to fill, but no real holdups. Sunk in g was fun. Wondered if ‘formed by’ together could mean ‘per’ in 1d, but formed as just a linker is ok. And yes, was thinking ‘who was that other Veronese gentleman, not Antonio?’ until I woke up, d’oh. All good fun, thanks Orlando and PeterO.

  4. Thanks Orlando, and nice blog, PeterO. I’d take a slight issue with your calling SIGNORE the variant. It’s been a while I admit, but I think that SIGNORE is the direct equivalent of gentleman, while SIGNOR just means Mr.

    Keeping on my nitpicky hat, I think there is a slight problem with “formed by” in 1d. It would seem you have three choices for linking words between any definition and wordplay part: (1) nothing at all, imo the best choice, (2) some light function word such as “for”, or (3) some content word(s) with the actual semantics of the one side being equivalent to or producing the other. That is what “formed” does, but it needs “by” to go with it, but it can’t because it’s used in the wordplay. Without the passive sense, the forming is going in the wrong direction.

  6. I enjoyed this puzzle. My favourites were DISMISSAL, PHONEME, FIVEPENCES.

    Thanks Peter and Orlando.

  7. Not so sure this was Quiptic level – or I’ve not woken up yet…many lovely clues, beautifully hidden “ensconce” (like grantinfreo I was working through the obvious misdirections!), great anagrams and good variety. Fun toward the easier end of the spectrum. However, like Dr. WhatsOn @4 I was thrown by “by” having to do double duty in 1dn and could not see how to avoid parsing it that way.

    A good start to the day – thank you Orlando and Peter for the world’s fastest blog post.

  8. Thanks Orlando and PeterO

    Very nice. SUN KING favourite.

    Unsurprisingly, I didn’t like the “in” in 16a.

  9. Yes, 16a could have been “Start to sink: lower a boat!”

    Do you still use fivepences in phones in the UK? Idle thought.

  11. Not sure we use any coins now in phone boxes, veloaficionado @9, but it is a long time since I tried.
    Enjoyed this, though followed the same blind alleys of Beethoven and Shakespeare. So pleased to remember the names of the two gentlemen..from a recent crossword… And then it was no help.
    Struggled to parse MYRTLE and didn’t know SCOW although always pleased to see the lower again.
    Thanks, Orlando and PeterO.

  12. Re 8dn – blog has “awkward placement” for the anagrind “rock” but it did not seem so to me. It made me think immediately of blackpool rock, that hard, sticky sweet with words running through it, though the thought of reusable food is a little off-putting to be fair! So “rock” as a noun in the surface, a verb in the wordplay which as fun as a kid on a moke.

  13. Good stuff,I liked fivepences and breakfast but could not parse myrtle, isn’t she a Harry Potter character? Could anyone solve 27a from the wordplay or was it a case of ‘think of a shrub that fits and parse later ‘?
    Glad to see that someone remembered my complaint about ‘lower ‘, Peter, my objection is that it’s an injoke -except not funny- easy for those familiar with it, opaque to outsiders

  14. On the Gentleman of Verona (great clue) – I always thought in Italian you say Signore without a following proper name and Signor with one e.g. Signor Orlando.  The Italian for single (unmarried) is SINGLE (inv.) or celibe (m), nubile(f).

     

    Thanks Orlando and PeterO

  16. The SE took longer than the rest of the puzzle where even the familiar ONSET wouldn’t come to the surface after TROUGH emerged. I didn’t parse MYRTLE and thought the parsing for FIVEPENCES was in a different league to most other clues. That, along with PHONEME were my favourites. It was nice to see Orlando again (another candidate for the Everyman slot?) and thanks to him and PeterO for the blog.

  17. Thanks, PeterO. I smiled at your comment on NEWSFLASH, since Welsh fans were involved!

    Delighted to see Orlando again so soon – hope it means he’s back for good.

    My favourites were FIVEPENCES, MYRTLE, DISMISSAL and the lovely SUN KING and SIGNORE [I’m with cholecyst there].

    Re the Blackpool rock: I have no shame in repeating again [no tautology]  one of my all-time classic clues [from Orlando with his Cincinnus hat on – ten years ago, I see from the archive!]: ‘A climber of rocks somewhere in Devon (10)’.

    arib @13 – I don’t understand such a strong objection to ‘lower’: it still raises a smile from me. As for ‘outsiders’, or beginners, it’s surely just one of those things, like flower = river, that’s part of the learning process.

    Many thanks, Orlando, for a lovely puzzle.

  19. Fair range of clues for mid-week diversion. Although straightforwardly anagrammatic, TV for 10a smiled most, since have lived without the beast for some years now. We do crosswords instead!

  20. I enjoyed this. As has been said already, elegant cluing throughout.
    I didn’t know ‘five pence’ had a plural, but I do now – a good clue. I liked PARDON and PHONEME even more – my two favourites.
    Thanks to Orlando and PeterO.

  21. Thanks for the blog. I had forgotten about decimal coinage – penny, tuppence, thruppence ,yes – five pence rings as odd as a nine bob note, sigh.

  22. More or less what Eileen said, including the bit about the ‘lower’

    Thanks to Orlando and PeterO

  24. I enjoyed the puzzle immensely.  My favourite is 4A HARD UP.  I could parse all the answers except MYRTLe.  Many thanks to Orlando and PeterO.

  25. Entertaining puzzle with some nice clues – I ticked SUN KING, PARDON, FIVEPENCES and ENSCONCES [very nicely hidden.]

    I wouldn’t say that all the cluing was elegant though, although some may feel I’m nitpicking. I thought ‘rock’ as an anagrind should be an imperative and ‘rocks’ would not have spoiled the surface but would have been IMHO an improvement. Likewise, in 10, fuse seems a somewhat peculiar anagrind, although in the sense of blend I guess it works; ‘fused’ would have been better. And in 17, I resisted ‘translated for’ as an anagrind for a while – ‘Brief report Welsh fans translated’ would have got round the issue without the redundant ‘for.’

    Thanks Orlando and PeterO, especially for the parsing of MYRTLE, which I failed to see.

  26. Thanks to Orlando and PeterO. This was a funny solve for me, and it sounds as though I had more difficulty than most. The top half went in very quickly, but I found the bottom half much trickier. At one point I had all the top in and virtually nothing in the bottom half. However eventually unpacked the SE and the SW was last to fall with crotchety, Sun King and fivepences. That said a very enjoyable solve and I liked myrtle, Guyana and Sun King. Thanks again to Orlando and PeterO.

  27. Great grid.  Couldn’t complete it, but still very enjoyable.  Loved ‘Phone Me’ when it eventually clicked, and kicking myself over ‘Larcenous’.

    Thanks Orlando and PeterO!

  28. Lovely to see Orlando back – another fine puzzle. Nothing too difficult, and nothing out of place.

    Thanks to Orlando and PeterO

  29. I had trouble with FIVEPENCES too. There’s nothing wrong with it but it simply sounds wrong but I can remember farthing. It took me some time to clock I SEE for some reason and it was LOI. Liked PARDON and CROCHETY.
    Thanks Orlando.

  30. I know that the old shilling is five new pence, but are 5p coins called “fivepences”?  If not, it’s a plural of a plural, like catses.  Of course, I do say, “Hello, catses” to the feral family who live in my neighbor’s garage, and sometimes Zoe, the small calico person who shares her house with me, feels like the plural of a plural when it’s time to dash madly from room to room and back, but still …

  31. Valentine @ 30

    If you’re counting out your money by stacking it up, you could quite plausibly say “I made a stack of fivepences”.

  32. Thanks to PeterO and Orlando

    One or two minor quibbles that have already been covered but very nice overall.

    Perhaps Orlando considered HAS TO BE SPELLED OUT FOR WELSH FANS, but didn’t want letters.

    Mostly consonants.

  33. Good to see Orlando anytime, but twice in one week is a rare treat. I liked LARCENOUS, SUN KING and PLEASURE BEACH the best. The anagrind “rock” seems OK to me as singular or plural – you can either regard it as [these words] rock or as [this phrase] rocks. Arachne comes to mind as a setter who uses this subtlety too.
    To my shame, I failed to spot the anagram of “Welsh fans”, so a DNF for me today. I also toyed with BLOW for 9 for long enough, until PERGOLA finally emerged.
    Good fun. Thanks, Orlando and PeterO

  34. [Was there a definitive explanation to Brendan’s puzzle yesterday, other than than those given by Eileen in her summary?]

  36. Very easy for a midweek puzzle. (although no surprises there in these days of random puzzle placement)

    I’m surprised nobody pointed out the iffy definition of dismissal with sack! Rather loose. Although the answer was obvious the cryptic grammar is a little awry surely.

  37. Thanks to Orlando and PeterO. Lots of fun. I’m another who had trouble with MYRTLE and CROTCHETY.

  38. Dr.WhatsOn@4
    Could 4d be parsed as “Climbing frame formed – by = PER, erecting (reversing) A LOG” ? or ” Climbing frame formed? By etc.?
    A bit unfair but I’ve seen worse.
    Thanks to Orlando and PeterO

  39. Thanks both; great crossie and blog.  Alex @ 36 I agree and would add my slight dodgy definition of content = satisfy.  How is that possible?  But never-mind we all got them correct so no foul!!  What will tomorrow bring, can’t wait.

  42. Welcome back to Orlando! Perhaps any chance we’ll get Cincinnus back too?

    I think Orlando is the kind of setter who wouldn’t do double duty. And so, in 1d, I am pretty sure he meant ‘formed by’ to be PER.  The SOED might give some support as it gives “as laid down by (a judge) in a specified case” (Law).

    Also just about, for me, the use of “for” in 17dn’s NEWSFLASH.

    Just about? I’d wish I could say that about a handful of clues in last Sunday’s Everyman ….

    Many thanks Peter O & the other O.

  43. No problem with 17a.  As anagrams by definition have to work both ways, then NEWSFLASH is translated for WELSH FANS as much as WELSH FANS are translated for NEWSFLASH. The clue is then simply to find a word meaning “brief report” that can be shuffled to make WELSH FANS.

  44. In case anybody is still there, I thought I would pass on what I found out about ‘fivepence’, which is a word used with old UK money meaning how much something might cost – there was of course no fivepence coin. To the best of my knowledge, that word had no plural form. However, Wiktionary lists fivepence together with its plural fivepences. In other words, Wiktionary considers the word to be a countable noun. I don’t know any (other) dictionary that would tell you that.
    In modern money, by the way, we say and write five pence or 5p.

  46. A really enjoyable puzzle. Stretched me perfectly. Failed only to parse 26a. Great thanks to Orlando and the gentle debrief of PeterO. None of quibbles lower (!) down seemed warranted to me. Blackpool and rock stick together perfectly and the question mark after “sack” makes criticism of 6d a possible case for dismissal.

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