Guardian Cryptic 27,838 by Pasquale

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The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/27838.

A fine puzzle from the Don, with plenty of literary references to form the theme – indeed, all the across answers relate to it.

Across
9 ANTHOLOGY Lots of stories? Maybe Burgess keeps record, releasing any number (9)
An envelope (‘keeps’) of LOG (‘record’) in ANTHO[n]Y (‘Burgess’, author of A Clockwork Orange) minus an N (‘releasing any number’).
10 ADAMS A mother’s one who wrote animal tales (5)
A charade of ‘a’ plus DAM’S (‘mother’s’), for Richard Adams, author of Watership Down, Shardik etc.
11 EMERSON American author being without power to engage me (7)
An envelope (‘to engage’) of ‘me’ in [p]ERSON (‘being’) minus P (‘without power’), perhaps for Ralph Waldo Emerson.
12 LITOTES Little child in stories making understatement (7)
An envelope (‘in’) of TOT (‘little child’) in LIES (‘stories’).
13 RIDER Haggard writer who is on a journey? (5)
Double definition (or other description), with a reference to Rider Haggard, author of King Solomon’s Mines.
14 LIBRARIES Two groups of stars putting out ace literary collections (9)
LIBRA ARIES (‘twp groups of stars’) minus one A – your choice – (‘putting out ace’).
16 SIR THOMAS BODLEY Mother’s boy is lad turning into an Oxford man of books (3,6,6)
An anagram (‘turning into’) of ‘mother’s boy is lad’, for the 16th – 17th century scholar who re-founded the Oxford library named the Bodleian in his honour.
19 SATIRISTS Authors rested with girl, having crossed street (9)
A charade of SAT (‘rested’) plus IRISTS, an envelope (‘having crossed’) of ST (‘street’) in IRIS (‘girl’).
21 HOSEA Book from those academics (5)
A hidden answer in ‘tHOSE Academics’, for the Old Testament book.
22 LARDNER American author presents fat emperor coming to premature end (7)
A charade of LARD (‘fat’) plus NER[o] (Roman ’emperor’) minus the last letter (‘coming to a premature end’) for Ring Lardner, or his son Jr.
23 ATLASES Books taking a time to get fantastic sales (7)
A charade of ‘a’ plus T (‘time’) plus LASES, an anagram (‘fantastic’) of ‘sales’.
24 WELLS SF author in small city (5)
Double definition, H G and Somerset.
25 EMILE ZOLA French author turning green, zeal destroyed — nothing penned (5,4)
A charade of EMIL, a reversal (‘turning’) of LIME (‘green’) plus EZOLA, an envelope (‘penned’) of O (‘nothing’) in EZLA, an anagram (‘destroyed’) of ‘zeal’.
Down
1 CAREERISTS Ambitious professionals air secrets freely (10)
An anagram (‘freely’) of ‘air secrets’.
2 ATTENDER A carer said to be one who listens (8)
Double definition. As pointed out by Eileen, ‘said to be’ points to a homophone A TENDER (‘a carer’).
3 MOUSER Cat, one in the doctor’s surgery? (6)
MO USER (‘one in the doctor’s surgery’).
4 COIN Firm concerned with making money (4)
A charade of CO (‘firm’) plus IN (‘concerned with’).
5 SYLLABUSES Friend’s travelling north, needing public transport schedules (10)
A charade of SYLLA, a reversal (‘travelling north’ in a down light) of ALLY’S (‘friend’s’) plus BUSES (‘public transport’).
6 SANTIAGO Capital city worker, one in the past undermining society (8)
A charade of S (‘society’) plus ANT (‘worker’) plus I (‘one’) plus AGO (‘in the past’), for the capital of Chile.
7 CANTHI Viewers’ angles taken on board by American thinkers (6)
A hidden answer (‘taken on board’) in ‘AmeriCAN THInkers’, for the corners of an eye.
8 ISIS Goddess is number one female (4)
A charade of I (‘number one’ – or perhaps ‘Is number one’) plus SIS (‘female’).
14 LAMASERIES Males arise to be trained for Buddhist institutions (10)
An anagram (‘to be trained’) of ‘males arise’.
15 SKY MARSHAL Shaky alarms repaired without a high-level security officer (3,7)
An anagram (‘repaired’) of ‘shaky [a]larms’ minus an A (‘without a’).
17 HARDNESS Difficulty of driver initially getting into gear (8)
An envelope (‘getting into’) of D (‘Driver initially’) in HARNESS (‘gear’).
18 LAST STOP Keeps going, getting to peak as the final destination (4,4)
A charade of LASTS (‘keeps going’) plus TOP (‘peak’).
20 THRALL Loveless Germanic god has everyone in bondage (6)
A charade of TH[o]R (‘Germanic god’) minus O (‘loveless’) plus ALL (‘everyone’).
21 HELMET Endless inferno encountered in protective headgear (6)
A charade of HEL[l] (‘inferno’) minus its last letter (‘endless’) plus MET (‘encountered’).
22 LAWN Grass as a rule needing nitrogen (4)
A charade of LAW (‘rule’) plus N (‘nitrogen’).
23 A BIT Not much attire, going topless (1,3)
A subtraction: [h]ABIT (‘attire’) minus its first letter (‘going topless’).
completed grid

43 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 27,838 by Pasquale”

  1. No disrespect meant, but I found this a bit of a snooze. The clues were fine, but did not stand out, except I did think the phrase “Viewer’s angles” was clever. The theme wasn’t hidden, and didn’t present any particular challenge.

    Thanks.

  2. The theme was right up my alley as a lover of literature so I enjoyed this solve. I thought it was clever setting to have all the across clues fitting the theme. 14a LIBRARIES was my favourite, made a little easier once I stopped trying to fit in MONASTERIES at 14d! I got A BIT of fun from spotting the topless habit/attire at 23d, my LOI.
    Thanks to Pasquale and PeterO.

  3. Sorry (as a lover of literature) should have been bracketed when I added it after proofreading.

  4. It being many decades since reading Watership Down to the kids at bedtime (ah, such innocent times) I took too long to stop wondering what Aesop had to do with mothers. Slow, too, to deduce Bodley from his library. Litotes rang a faint bell, from a past xword no doubt. 25a brought back memories of a terrific miniseries version of Nana from aeons ago. Failed to parse mouser, vaguely thinking mo for doctor, u for one and ER for (place of) surgery, d’oh. So, thanks Don for the connotations and PeterO for the explanations.

  5. Thanks Pasquale and PeterO

    Unusually easy for a Pasquale, though I did need a wordsearch for LOI CANTHI (not a word I was familiar with). I didn’t parse ISIS.

    I didn’t count, but there seemed to be lots of anagrams today.

  6. Possibly one of those times I was right on the setter’s wavelength, or possibly just an easy one from the Don! Obscure words were dealt with very fairly – canth(us)i was new to me but clear once the crossers were in and it was easy to test the hypothesis. “Lardner” was also new and lamaseries was not a word I’d heard, but with the “l” in place, the clear anagram and the word lama, it had to be that. Cleverly done with the theme, and scrupulous cluing I thought.

    “lama” always puts me in mind of:
    The one-L lama, he’s a priest.
    The two-L llama, he’s a beast.
    And I will bet a silk pyjama
    There isn’t any three-L lllama.

    Alas for Ogden Nash, a three-alarmer is a fire requiring a large number of engines to be called out!

  7. Thanks, PeterO, for the blog and Pasquale for an interesting puzzle.

    Like JinA, I enjoyed the clever use of the theme – and the witty anagram for SIR THOMAS BODLEY. I especially liked the clue for LITOTES, one of my favourite words. I expect to learn at least one new word from a Paasquale puzzle: today it was CANTHI.

    I took 2dn as a homophone [said to be] of a tender [a carer].

  8. Thank you Peter and Pasquale.

    New words for me today were LITOTES, CANTHI, and the authors Rider Haggard and Lardner.

  9. There are certainly some early birds today (maybe less so for Julie in Australia where it’s late afternoon!). Definitely not a snooze for me. With several of the solutions, the authors especially, I had to work out a possible answer from the wordplay then check online to see if it was correct. CANTHI and LAMASERIES were new words for me, and my COD was MOUSER which raised a smile when the penny eventually dropped.

    Thanks to Pasquale and PeterO.

  11. Thanks both. Agree with Eileen & michelle about 2d
    I haven’t read LARDNER but remember him as Holden Caulfield’s favourite author (from The Catcher In The Rye, read nearly 50 years ago!)

  12. Mostly what Nitac says:

    I’m not a literature buff but had heard of most of these.

    The ones I didn’t know could be worked out and checked, which to me makes it more fun than knowing the author.

  14. Another one who parsed 2d as a homophone, along with Eileen et al. Though perhaps the Don deserves even more praise than usual, if he deliberately gave the clue two possible parsings?

    Also in agreement with Dr WhatsOn @1 and muffin @5 – I did wonder if it could still be Monday…

  15. I though the same as muffin@5 – took the same time on today’s as yesterday’s.

     

    Thanks Peter and pasquale

  16. It’s just occurred to me that, although I didn’t known the word CANTHI, I did know “epicanthic”. Doh!

  17. “Will there never come a season
    Which shall rid us from the curse
    Of a prose which knows no reason
    And an unmelodious verse

    …
    When the Rudyards cease from Kipling
    And the Haggards Ride no more.”

    (J K Stephen)

  18. Thanks to Pasquale and PeterO. Mostly all been said on this. I am not a literary buff and thought I was going to struggle, but it all unpacked quite readily with the NE (canthi and syllabuses) last to fall. No real outstanding clues for me but I did learn a few words (all been mentioned). Thanks again to Pasquale and PeterO.

  19. I thought this was a bit of an off day for Pasquale with some wordplay not as tight as it could have been, and some almost not cryptic at all. Finished before lunch – never happens with Pasquale normally.

  20. I also had 2d down as a homophone. CANTHI and HOSEA were both new to me, but easy to get from the definitions.
    A DNF for me, as I carelessly bunged in “lamisaries” for 14d, without checking the spelling – or, indeed, the anagram fodder.

  21. Quite an easy one gor a Pasquale unlike his previous one which was a stinker. FOI RIDER, LOI CANTHI but unfortunately no COD for me.

  23. First time completing a Pasquale for me, so probably at the easy end of his range, although still a challenge for me. I thought the cluing was meticulous throughout, with the unfamiliar words CANTHI, LITOTES, and LAMASERIES accessible via the wordplay. The theme did what a good theme should do, adding to the enjoyment without affecting the solvability.

    Thanks to Pasquale and PeterO.

  24. Mostly straightforward, and the few that took longer shouldn’t have. CANTHI was the only unfamiliar solution, though I might not have remembered BODLEY’s forename without being prompted by the crossers.

    Thanks to Pasquale and PeterO

  25. Thanks to Pasquale and PeterO. Like others I struggled with CANTHI and the spelling of LAMASERIES but I did know LITOTES.

  26. Great fun, and it’s always nice to learn a few new words (especially when clued in a friendly way as they were here).

    It’s also nice to see LITOTES clued without the usual T.S. Eliot anagram.

    Many thanks to Pasquale.

  27. Thanks to the Don and PeterO.

    I really enjoyed this with its literary/bibliophile acrosses, particularly the tidy anagram for SIR THOMAS BODLEY. Checking it took me to my 1988 copy of Brewer (generally I abhor keyboard checks). Inside the copy I found have a treasured Azed prize-winner bookplate! Had forgotten those days when clue compiling was less of a struggle.

  28. Steady solve, DNK can this but it was the only answer. Only problem was I put in AIR Marshal which delayed me until I got Libraries. Thanks setter and bloggers.

  30. I didn’t know LARDNER but the cluing was spot on so I popped it in then Googled him. LITOTES I remember from Monthy Python’s Piranha Brothers. I mis-parsed 6D as S ANT IAGO (with Iago being ‘one in the past undermining’) – it fitted with the literary theme but it did jar that a fictious character should be referred to as if real… silly error on my part. Lots of fun and the only Pasquale I have completed thus far, which supports the view that it’s at the easy end of his range.

    Thanks Pasquale and PeterO.

  31. Definitely at the easier end of Pasquale’s range rather than me on sparkling form I think. I’m surprised CANTHI is new to so many because the only reason it could have rung any bells with me is from a previous crossword. I’ve just done a search here and it comes up as being in a prize puzzle by BOGUS on WORLD
    TOILET DAY – although not as one of the theme solutions! Similarly LITOTES was only (vaguely) familiar from previous puzzles. LAMASERIES was completely new to me and I’d never heard of LARDNER but both were very gettable from the clues. Having said it was relatively easy it was a dnf as I bunged in AMAIS and assumed it was another author I didn’t know rather than the very well known ADAMS. Doh!
    Thanks to Pasquale for the puzzle and PeterO for the blog and the parsing of MOUSER.

  32. The quickest Pasquale solve I can remember but none the worse for that. Thanks to him and Peter O.
    CANTHI was a new word and the theme wss so broad that I wssn’t sure that it was one.
    Having more time to spare than usual I tried thw Wordsearch. 14 words coonected woth breakfast and no muesli? In the Guardian?

  34. When we finally finished the last Pasquale (Chadwick Ongarar’s stinker) some two days after it was published, we were in a fairly murderous mood. So we’ll take today’s offering as a bunch of roses and a box of chocolates. Thank you, Pasquale.

  35. When we finally finished the last Pasquale (Chadwick Ongarar’s stinker) some two days after it was published, we were in a fairly murderous mood. So we’ll take today’s offering as a bunch of roses and a box of chocolates. Thank you, Pasquale.
    Except website won’t post this! It says I’ve already said it.

  37. We enjoyed it. Almost finished, ashamed to miss Adams and Mouser, but intrigued to know the punchline to Lautus’s joke…..involves Richard, the Third?

  38. CANTHI, LAMASERIES and LARDNER were new to me.  (Like muffin @16, perhaps I should have worked out CANTHI because I knew the word epicanthus.)  I knew LITOTES, though – a word I yearn to use one day just because I know what it means!

    I was interested in what grantinfreo (@4) said about “reading Watership Down to the kids at bedtime.”  Richard Adams became a full-time author after writing stories to read to his children at bedtime.  I know this from some-one who shared a flat with Adams when they were young men and who followed his career in the civil service until he made that career change – but of course you can read about this in Wikipedia too.

    I didn’t quite finish this puzzle, but I enjoyed it a lot, espcially all the literary references.

    Thanks to Pasquale and PeterO.

  40. As it was for many, canthi was my LOI- it took me forever to spot it, despite familiarity with epicanthic folds, d’oh. The remainder was a fun relatively easy romp. I enjoyed spotting the theme although did not need it for most of the clues (never heard of Lardner before). Thanks to the Don and to PeterO.

  41. Can someone explain the parsing of ‘mouser’. Medical Officer I get, but how is ‘user’ surgery?

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