Guardian 27,851 / Qaos

54 comments on “Guardian 27,851 / Qaos”

1. I was hoping for a stiffer challenge on a rainy day in Aldeburgh, but the answers went in without much pause for thought. Thanks Qaos and Eileen.

2. Thanks Qaos and Eileen

   I didn’t see the theme – not surprising, as most of them are unfamiliar to me even when pointed out (our daughter was possibly a smidge too old for the Mister Men).

   Favourites were CONUNDRUM and MISER. Unfortunate that “box” is in both clue and solution for 14d.

   I didn’t like the disappearing ‘s in 11a. This one can’t even be read as “has”, as for grammtical correctness the clue would need a “that” before “shows” (or possibly a semicolon after “place”).

3. This was fun, and a pretty undemanding romp. As usual, I missed the theme completely. But as soon as I see the word “low”, the alarm bells start ringing…

4. I didn’t see the theme until I finished the solve – but I was going so quickly there was no time to look 🙂 With Vlad on Tuesday and Qaos on Wednesday you wonder how hard the week will be but both were in generous form. I do enjoy the way Qaos teases us with numbers. “100 + 50” made me think of everything but the obvious, and “4,1,3” was brilliant misdirection. “lazy, impossible, aswirl”? it sounds like an address in what3words.

   Interesting to see so many theme clues appearing partially in words – the lead given by the downward “Mister Men(tions)” which made life a bit easier and a bit less forced I suspect.

   Thanks Qaos and thank you Eileen for the blog.

5. Thanks for the blog, needed it to parse hearing aid. Didn’t twig the theme at all but breezed through this like the easiest of Quiptics. Good surfaces, amusing.

   After 36 years of marriage I realise that Mr Hargreaves missed an important character, Little Miss Makework.

6. Keith Malin @3 “Alarm bells”? Shouldn’t that be cow bells?

   Muffin @2 Good point re “father’s” – I overlooked that and filled it in.

   On the Grauniad page someone has pointed out that Rushton is a tiny hamlet, not a town. Another editorial oversight.

7. I read most of these as a kid so once I had NOISY I was on the lookout for others. It helped with BUMP and TICKLE.

   21 across was a nifty device, and I really liked 6. The classic Qaos mathematical moment at 20 was fun too. Gentle but fun cluing, which seems to fit the theme well.

   Thanks to Mr Qaotic and Eileen for the blog, particularly for the parsing of MISER and HEARING AID.

8. I didn’t spot the theme, but I should have done! Easy but quite entertaining. Wondered about Rushton, which is surely a village, unlike the much larger Northamptonshire town Rushden…

   Thanks to Qaos and Eileen

9. @muffin 2 I always reason those disappearing S’s as playing on the headline convention of, say, JOHNSON LEAD CONTINUES, where there’s no apostrophe-S but where we know the meaning is that the lead belongs to Johnson. If A B can mean B belonging to A then it seems reasonable to me that A’S B in a clue can lead to entry AB.

10. Thanks, thezed and beery. I’ve actually been to both Rushton and Rushden – once – but I often confuse them and I didn’t notice this morning.

11. The theme went over my head; Mr Men registers vaguely, probably via others’ kids, but ours must have already been too old for it. A nice easy Tuesday offering, not much to chew on, tho omitting en from sensible took a minute to arrive at, as did getting tenor from 4,1,3. 22d was cute. Thanks Qaos and Eileen.

12. Charlie M @9

    I see what you mean, but I don’t think it works backwards. There’s an s in the clue that doesn’t appear in the solution.

13. …oops, Wednesday! Going a bit dotty..

14. [I’ve checked the dates and our daughter would have known them – perhaps she just didn’t like them!]

15. I loved every minute of this and for once found it a quick solve with many answers going in smoothly. I usually take a lot longer than this to complete a grid. Thanks to Qaos and Eileen. Another who couldn’t spot the theme but am now kicking myself. I probably needed to slow down and reflect on the possible links in a more leisurely way. As I have said so often, I know that Qaos always has a theme. My favourites were 10a NOISY and, like muffin@2, 14a CONUNDRUM. I also enjoyed the maths one as mentioned, 20d, CLUMSY. That reverse “hidden”, TENOR at 21a, was clever.

16. Completely missed the theme, but still have several of the booklets waiting for the grandchildren, great grandchildren who I’ve also missed.

    Qaos today like Vlad yesterday. Chaos and spikiness turned down, but no less enjoyable.

17. Just googled it to discover that an Ounce is indeed a cat. Is this one of those things that cruciverbalists generally know?

18. Yes, Deadhead @17. Worth filing away (like IDE for fish!)

19. Couldn’t solve 4 down, last one in, but the rest slipped in quite quickly. Lazy=slow? I suppose so…

20. Fairly non-quaotic but an enjoyable solve. I missed the theme although I know the books.

    I liked the simple BUMP and the HEARING AID.

    Thanks Qaos and Eileen.

21. Probably my favourite Qaos puzzle. Otherwise, I was going to write almost exactly what Eileen did in her preamble.

22. I find “Little Miss” as the companion to “Mister” very demeaning and be-little-ing . What a way to instil unconscious biases from an early age.

    I’m not sure I can find a good alternative though – the direct translation to “Ms Women” is clunky, and “Mistress Women” has too many adult connotations nowadays.

    Muffin @14 – maybe your daughter is a feminist and eschewed the canon!

23. Thanks both,

     

    Muffin @12. Think of somewhere congenial to old men (Bournemouth?). It could be an old father’s place. Wouldn’t it be reasonable to call it ‘Old Pa City’?

24. Thanks to Qaos and Eileen.
    More or less what JinA said, incl re theme – just what I want in a crossword.
    Am on bus journey today so enjoyed the pleasure of a pen and paper solve, and having alphalpha’d it passed it on to a couple of potential recruits (“you do the Hard One!?”). They seem to be making progress.
    [For illucidation, I save ink/energy by just filling in the crossers. Always hoping these exploded versions will lure potential converts to our w_n_e_f_l w_r_d.]

25. I’d say Mister Chancery was overlooked.

26. Theme blind as usual, sadly, but enjoyable nonetheless.

    Surprised at such an accomplished setter allowing himself O = second hotel. The Don would wince at such an indulgence.

    With LAZY, and CHATTERBOX early entries, was looking in vain for pangram.

    Thanks for the fun, Qaos, nice week all.

27. A fun reasonably fast solve, Qaos being kind. I looked and easily found the theme post-solve: it wouldn’t have necessarily helped me though as I am not familiar with all the titles. Great to come here and see all the titles identified. Thanks to Qaos and to Eileen for blog.

28. I didn’t find this quite as easy as some others, but did get there. My loi was RUSHTON, as my dictionary had to convince me that ton = 100 mph. Also never heard of the comedy duo, so missed the cleverness in the surface of 13a. And of course I missed the theme entirely, even though I’ve learned to look for one with Qaos. He continues to be one of my favorite setters, due partly to his ‘mathematical’ clues like 20d and especially 21a. Thanks to him and to Eileen.

29. Didn’t get the theme till after I’d filled it in – I was thinking it must be some ’60s radio show I’d never heard of and about to come and look it up here, then the penny dropped. Nice one, Qaos.

    Of the themed answers, I spotted Messrs. IMPOSSIBLE, LAZY, SMALL, BOUNCE(r), BUMP, TICKLE, CLUMSY, possibly TALL (in 2d), and Little Miss CHATTERBOX, plus MISTER MEN appearing in the 7/18 column. Did I miss any?

     

30. oh heck, I just noticed the use of red text to indicate the themed answers! I missed Mr Rush.

31. The most remarkable thing to me about this crossword was 14a, because literally 2 hours before this one opened I was doing an Araucaria in a G. collection from 2015 which had the clue:

    “Sister, being into fish, takes to drink, which is puzzling.”

    Not an identical clue, but exactly the same construction.

32. MrsW looked at the completed grid and said “I’m surprised you didn’t spot the theme” – so was I when she said it. I even came here with everything parsed so it must have been at the easier end of Qaos and still very enjoyable with lots of smiles along the way. Many thanks to Qaos and Eileen.

33. Yorkshire Lass and I completed in record time for us – completely missing the theme though. (Shameful: our children and grandchildren have loved them) Didn’t parse HEARING AID, so thanks to Eileen specially for that. Very much liked CONUNDRUM and MISTER – but still didn’t twig. Thank you Qaos.

34. Robin @29 – there’s also a Mr Chatterbox.

35. Thanks to Qaos and Eileen. Mostly all been said about this. For me a relatively straightforward solve , though of course the theme completely passed me by (even though I looked for one). Thanks again to Qaos and Eileen.

36. Am I alone (again) in having a little trouble with GENERALLY = ON BALANCE in 25a? The former addresses frequency “I generally choose red wine over white” while the latter a trade-off “Sugar is worse for you on balance than fat”. Sure there are some sentences where you can use either (think ergodicity), but to equate them would be like saying BIG = HEAVY.

    Thanks.

37. I missed the theme, despite looking (“Qaos always has a theme” is a refrain), because I hadn’t heard of it.

    I don’t understand the debate over whether Rushton is a town or a village. Can’t “town” also mean “a settlement of any size, from village to megalopolis”? It does here, where I live in a “town” of 2.7 million people (or 9.5 million if you count suburbs). Ask Sinatra.

38. As others have remarked, an uncharacteristically simple solve today. In my case also untroubled by spotting the theme. I can never remember which setters to look out for in this respect!
    It set me wondering, though, whether Qaos has inside information on unpublished titles in the series. Mr Balaclava Helmet, anyone?
    Thanks Qaos and Eileen

39. I enjoyed this hugely; the fact that it was gentle (compared with Qaos’ usual puzzles) didn’t matter. My children loved the books and also the TV versions voiced by the wonderful Arthur Lowe.

40. John Miller @39 – you can hear him on my link @34.

41. Fond memories, Eileen. Thanks for the link.

42. Nice to see my old favourite OUNCE in 22ac. I discovered the snow leopard in an encyclopedia when I was a child and was pleased to discover that nobody else seemed to know the word. I didn’t get the theme probably because I’ve got no kids. I suppose I’ve heard of Mr Men but that’s as far as it goes. I thought this an agreeable puzzle despite it being a bit on the easy side.
    Thanks Qaos.

43. I’m in awe of the bloggers and visitors here as I struggle to finish virtually every day but I absolutely love the themed puzzles, even though I miss them mostly (like today). Clues like yesterday’s Hip Alma tells, puzzles like the lipogram and alphabetical jigsaw are seriously rewarding/entertaining and years in the wilderness of Scrabble means I know so many words I’ve no idea of the meaning (skyr, omertà) (and loads more) it’s great to make their acquaintance in a true sense. I came by more or less to say the Rushton Triangular Lodge is one of my favourite as yet unvisited buildings. It’s probably a Pythagorean puzzle to boot. If I had any techno nous I’d include a link. Many thanks Soaq and Nee lie.

44. Excellent theme for a puzzle. I saw it after completing the grid. Bit more korma than vindaloo, but still very tasty.
    Thanks, Q and E.

45. Or if an omelette: more fines herbes than Spanish. Over too soon. Thanks to setter and blogger.

46. Thanks took Qaos and Eileen. My FOI were BUMP and NOISY so that I sat here saying “Hmm, I wonder what the theme could be ?” I had kids the right age – they’re 38 and 33 now ! My favourite I think was HEARING AID – possibly because I have two, although they’re rarely called upon.

47. This Kenyan did not get the theme but completed the puzzle. Though the theme is somewhat UK-centric, finishing the crossword is more important to me. FOI NOISY, LOI 18d.

48. Short but sweet, even though the theme as usual passed me by! Still it gives me plenty of time to google why Z is atomic number. Thanks to both.

49. Atomic number duly googled. Every day is a learning day. In fact, crosswords have taught me so much over the years.

50. Thanks to Eileen and Qaos

    First second third fourth fifth uproarious! Really! (4,2)

    I read these to my daughter at bedtime but the theme passed me by.

51. Greetings from Rushden, a town, about 20 miles from Rushton, a village. Both are in Northamptonshire.

52. I must live on a different planet.

    Lots of plaudits on here for a puzzle I thought terribly dull and far too easy. Where’s an editor when you need one?

    You’re very easily pleased down there on planet Earth.

53. I spotted the theme, but missed a huge number of allusions to it. Thanks Qaos and Eileen.

54. Wikipedia describes Rushton as “a small hamlet” (not even a village) population 432 and Rushden as a “town” population 29,272 (Census 2011).

Comments are closed.