Guardian Cryptic 27823 Paul

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Thanks to Paul for a challenging puzzle, solving as well as parsing. There is one that I could only partially parse, so I’ll need someone to fill in the blanks please. Definitions are underlined in the clues.  Apologies for the late blog.

There is a theme of chocolate bars, plus references to some beer and wine and food.

Across

1 Bar where XXXX’s brewed Dutch settler drinks (6)

BOOZER : OZ(slang for Australia, country where XXXX brand is brewed) contained in(… drinks) BOER(a member of the Dutch population who settled in southern Africa).

4 More than one bound to get drink in bar (7)

MARGINS : GIN(an alcoholic drink) contained in(in) MARS(a variety of chocolate bar).

Defn: Bounds/boundaries.

9 Bar beginning to rock, joint almost back in mood (9)

TOBLERONE : Reversal of(… back) [ 1st letter of(beginning to) “rock” + “elbow”(the joint between forearm and upper arm) minus its last letter(almost) ] contained in(in) TONE(mood/a character of a place or situation).

10 Russian dish baked without filling, virtually inedible at first (5)

BLINI : “blind”(describing the baking of pastry before/without filling) minus its last letter(virtually) + 1st letter of(… at first) “inedible“.

Thanks Goujeers@1 for filling in the blanks.

11 Useless exercise by pioneer oddly forgotten (5)

INEPT : PT(abbrev. for “physical training”/exercise) placed after(by) “pioneer” minus
its 1st, 3rd and 5th letters(oddly forgotten).

12 Money returned by the way, covered by bill for meat (4,5)

BEEF STEAK : [ Reversal of(… returned) FEE(money charged for a service) plus(by) ST(abbrev. for “street”/a way/a thoroughfare) ] contained in(covered by) BEAK(the bill, of a bird, say)

13 Buttocks finally scratched by short Middle Eastern woman famous for modelling (7)

TUSSAUD : “tush”(buttocks/one’s rear end) minus its last letter(finally scratched) plus(by) “Saudi”(one from the Middle Eastern state of Saudi Arabia) minus its last letter(short …).

Defn: The woman who sculpted wax models and founded the famous wax museum in London.

15 Flipping dull, echoing gong (3-3)

TAM-TAM : Reversal of(Flipping) MAT(matt/matte/lustreless/dull) x 2(echoing).

17 Hat figure put on head, turned around (6)

BONNET : Reversal of(…, turned around) [ TEN(a figure/number) plus(put on) NOB(slang for a person’s head) ].

19 Old annalist understood everyone here (7)

TACITUS : TACIT(understood/without being stated) + US(collective pronoun for all who’s here).

22 In shelter, female with long fingernail given a wide berth (4,5)

LEFT ALONE : LEE(shelter/side away from the wind) containing(In …) [ F(abbrev. for “female”) plus(with) TALON(a long fingernail) ].

24 Name a character in the centre of big Gulf state (5)

DUBAI : DUB(to give a name to someone or something) + A + middle letter of(character in the centre of) “big“.

26 Wine bar frequented by sweet Fanny Adams (5)

SOAVE : SAVE(bar/except for, as in “all save the last”) containing(frequented by) O(letter representing 0/nothing/sweet Fanny Adams).

Defn: … produced in a region of northern Italy.

27 Elastic band found in small bar (9)

SCRUNCHIE : S(abbrev. for “small”) + CRUNCHIE(brand of chocolate bar made by Cadbury).

Defn: … used to tie one’s hair.

28 Supporter left in street, befuddled (7)

TRESTLE : L(abbrev. for “left”) contained in(in) anagram of(…, befuddled) STREET.

29 Jolly casual punches in bar (6)

GALAXY : GAY(jolly/happy) containing(… punches in) LAX(casual/not strict).

Defn: … of chocolate made by Mars.

Down

1 In bar, risk bottles (7)

BETWIXT : TWIX(chocolate bar made by Mars) contained in(… bottles) BET(to risk/gamble).

Defn: …/between two things.

2 Game of cards seldom breaking banks (5)

OMBRE : Hidden in(… banks) “seldom breaking“.

3 Trouble looking worse ultimately, certainly with retinue (9)

EYESTRAIN : Last letter of(… ultimately) “worse” + YES(certainly/for sure) + TRAIN(a retinue/a group of assistants and others accompanying/following an important person).

4 Old player, female in the field grabbed by supporter (3,4)

MAE WEST : EWE(a female sheep, often found in a field) contained in(grabbed by) MAST(a supporter, of a sail, say).

Defn: Former American actress.

5 Something to solve on double-decker (5)

REBUS : RE(on/with reference to) + BUS(a form of which is the double-decker).

Defn: …, ie. a puzzle.

6 Travelling, some fork taken in country, heading for town (9)

ITINERANT : TINE(a prong/some part of a fork) contained in(taken in) IRAN(a Middle Eastern country) + 1st letter of(heading for) “town“.

7 Barry, it could be said, appears difficult (6)

STICKY : STICK-Y(like a stick, it could be said, as “bar-ry” is like a bar/stick).

8 Bar supporting bridge venture? (6)

FORBID : FOR(supporting/in favour of) + BID(in the card game of contract bridge, a venture/an undertaking to make a certain number of tricks).

14 Drifter on bar, overly sensitive type (9)

SNOWFLAKE : SNOW(precipitation that could be blown by wind to form drifts/heaps/piles) placed above(on, in a down clue) FLAKE(a brand of chocolate bar made by Cadbury).

Answer: … was also a chocolate bar made by Cadbury but since discontinued.

16 Staff party in a new part of Greece (9)

MACEDONIA : MACE(a ceremonial staff/rod) + DO(a party/a social function) + anagram of(… new) IN A.

18 Foot I test out, trapping two balls? (7)

TOOTSIE : Anagram of(… out) I TEST containing(trapping) OO(representing 2 circular or spherical objects/balls).

Defn: … as might be refered to by a child.

19 Tentative insight as to why crack is filled with two gases (6)

THEORY : TRY(a crack/an attempt at) containing(is filled with) HE,O(symbols for the 2 gaseous chemical elements, helium and oxygen, respectively).

20 Queen Mary, say, getting bottom scrubbed, so cold (7)

SHIVERY : “ship”(an example of which/say, is the retired British ocean liner, the RMS Queen Mary) minus its last letter(getting bottom scrubbed, in a down clue) + VERY(so/to a great extent).

21 Private sector’s heart broken by waste (6)

CLOSET : Middle 2 letters of(…’s heart) “sector” containing(broken by) LOSE(to waste/to fail to take advantage of, as in “he wasted the opportunity of …”).

Defn: … as an adjective/covert/hidden.

23 Head off alien, green head off! (5)

AVERT : 1st letter of(Head off) “alien” + VERT(green, the colour as used in heraldry).

25 State of Brazil‘s sheepish comment about greeting (5)

BAHIA : BAA(noise made by sheep/sheepish comment) containing(about) HI!(a greeting/hello!).

42 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 27823 Paul”

  2. Thanks Paul and scchua

    I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I was going to when I started. FOI was TAM-TAM, and I immediatley thought “you don’t spell “mat” like that to mean dull”. Chambers proved me only partically correct (as you point out, scchua!)

    Favourites were SOAVE and FORBID.

    “Baking blind” means cooking the pastry without the other ingredients in the case.

  4. I struggled with 10a. Decided on a different parsing to Goujeers@1. I went with an anagram (baked) of INediBL(e) (virtually denoting loss of last letter) with final I from “at first”. Bit of a stretch perhaps?

  7. Thanks for parsing of BLINI and TUSSAUD . Rather ironic that there is a tim tam bar in the land where the dreaded XXXX is btrewed

    But it didnt parse and doesnt  make the right sound.

    Great fun

  8. Most went in steadily but then I took ages for the last few including SOAVE, SNOWFLAKE and my last in GALAXY. I couldn’t parse BLINI so thanks to those who have explained this. I liked the “simple” def for the not so simple BETWIXT.

    Is MACEDONIA really seen as being ‘part of Greece’ these days?

    Thanks to Paul and scchua

  9. Well wordplodder, I was thinking they might be offended.

    Paul has taken a bit of STICK lately but this was a treat for me, even if I couldn’t parse everything.

  12. I loved this one. We could include several more clues under the theme by just saying it involves the many meanings of bar (reminded me of Boatman) – but of course the edible kind predominated. I’m really tempted to head off now to the shops.

    Thanks Paul and scchua.

  13. British candy brands escape me, so I had to cheat on several of these. Sorry, Paul, but that made it not much fun for me.

    [WordPlodder: there was a years-long kerfuffle between Greece and Macedonia over just that–there is also a region of Greece called Macedonia, and Greece refused to allow the country to join the international community under that name. They finally reached a compromise last year (or maybe the year before–surprisingly recently anyway).]

  14. A real tussle and it would have been a good one for a prize. I think I set a new record for the number of ? or unparsed clues I came here with. I didn’t get the TUSH in TUSSAUD; never heard of TAM-TAM and didn’t like MAT(t); didn’t see IN as the definition; didn’t get the EYES bit; and hadn’t a clue on STICKY. Much use of the check button to check out if I was off down a rabbit hole as well, so whilst I finished it was definitely Paul’s day – thanks to him for an excellent puzzle (MARGINS was my pick of the bunch); to scchua for the much needed blog and to others for their contributions – especially muffin’s reprise of the stick joke.

  15. Tough but more entertaining than a lot of Paul’s recent puzzles. The NW was last to crack, with TOBLERONE and OMBRE last two in.

    Thanks to Paul and manehi

  16. This was fun. “Barry” a fantastic pen drop moment of a clue. ELASTIC BAND was also a great one when it finally fell into place. I also thought ITINERANT wass very neat.

     

    Many thanks Paul and scchua

  17. This was tough but fair.

    I was unable to parse BLINI but the answer was obvious.

    Thanks Paul and scchua

  18. Thanks to Paul and scchua. I am another who found this extremely tough and slow going. However nearly got there in the end but failed on Tussaud, therefore a DNF here. Got held up in the NW for ages, but That said still an enjoyable challenge and ai liked Tacitus, toblerone and beefsteak. Thanks again to Paul and scchua.

  19. Did anyone else try ‘covert’ for 21d, as in “We used only four of the six tickets we bought, so there were two over?” The check button showed that it wasn’t what Paul had in mind, so a dnf for me. I missed two others as well and would have missed more if I hadn’t Googled a list of British candy bars. At least I salvaged some pride by parsing everything except BLINI. I usually enjoy my losing battles with Paul, and this was no exception. Thanks to him and Scchua.

  20. Having seen that they haven\’t been listed yet and for the benefit of overseas folk, here\’s what I\’ve got:

    As well as TOBLERONE, TWIX, MARS, GALAXY, CRUNCHIE and FLAKE in the answers, there is

    DOUBLE DECKER and DRIFTER in the clues.

     

     

  21. Enjoyed the puzzle, and (as always) scchua’s pictures.  Can you explain the boxes in the rebus picture, scchua?  I got some, missed some.

    How does “betwixt” mean “in”?  That’s not the same as “between.”

     

     

  24. Re the rebus puzzles – I got third time lucky, four leaf clover and there’s no I in team. Anybody know the others?

  25. Paul hits the sweet spot again.  Nothing Mars my enjoyment of this; it was no Picnic, but choc-full of delights, and deserves more than a Ripple of applause.  I actually logged on to add TOOTSIE to the list, but Bingybing has beaten me to it.  Thanks to the endlessly inventive Paul for a GALAXY of clever clues, and to Sschua for multi-media explanations (I hope there will be an explanation for the rebus illustration – I am stuck on the last two).

  26. @Suzydimple 24, there is also “Fish for compliments”, but no clue as to the last couple!

  30. Thanks for the explanation of 21D! I read “close” as “private” and the “t” as “sector’s heart,” so couldn’t understand where this talk about “waste” came from . . .

    Some of the “bars” were pretty obscure for this longtime US resident. Overall, although Paul’s probably my favorite setter, I wasn’t enthusiastic about this one: some of the definitions seemed a bit loose/strained.

  31. I don’t think it’s fair to say that Greece and Macedonia reached a compromise. I would say Greece bullied and badgered their neighbour into changing its name to North Macedonia. To me it would be similar to the US bullying Mexico into changing its name to Old Mexico just because there’s a State of New Mexico.

    At least it’s better than FYR Macedonia.

  33. Well, I worked out that the final rebus simplifies to i < 3u, but being older than 30 I had to resort to google to find out that this should be written i <3 u = “I love you”

  35. Found this quite tough too.  Owing to lack of time, I cheated the last few in the NW.

    The most surprising part for me was realising that the rest of the world thinks TOOTSIES are feet.  I’ve always thought of them as toes only.  I was also completely unfamiliar with “blind” being associated unfilled pastry baking, so BLINI went in unparsed.

    Another prize-like puzzle in a non-prize slot.  Thanks, Paul and scchua for the education.  (I also cheated the last rebus.  A darn sight more convoluted than the rest).

  36. You’re not alone phionelli @35; I too would have said TOOTSIES meant, if anything, toes rather than feet. Though, as I find the term so insufferably twee, I’ve always killed anyone I’ve heard uttering it, so have never stuck around long enough to ask them the definition. Thanks to Paul and Scchua.

  38. Thanks to Paul for an excellent defeat and to sschua for help with what I did get. Too clever for me but had to admire the invention. Loved BETWIXT.

    [I can offer as an excuse that most of the day was spent to-ing and fro-ing wrt Monaco/Monte Carlo so application time was somewhat limited, but I doubt I’d have finished even if it were a prize crossword]

  40. I’m with @phitonelly and @Bullhassocks on where on the body ‘tootsies’ are.  Am also v much in agreement as to the tweeness of the term.
    At first I put ‘Stretcher’ for 27A, thinking it might be a double def for elastic band and the bar between chair legs.  Then I cottoned on to the chocolate theme and realised it was scrunchie.
    I loved the puzzle – thanks Paul.  COD 7D.  Thanks to scchua for the blog.

  41. Thanks both,
    I was determined to finish this and it’s only taken me four days, on and off. Only a few cheats on the way but a grand original puzzle.

    To lower the tone of the sticky joke even more, with an even older one. ‘What’s brown steaming and comes out of cows, say, backwards?’ Ans ‘The Isle of Wight ferry’.

  42. What a lovely puzzle. Took two days but fun all the way. Thanks setter and assembled blogging team.

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