Guardian 27,856 – Brendan

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A typically enjoyable puzzle from Brendan – not too difficult, but elegantly clued. Thanks to Brendan.

There’s an obvious mini-theme with the phrase at 17,19,20; there are a few more ERRORs in the answers – FAULT, BLUNDER, GOOF and BOOB – and at least one more TRIAL in ORDEAL, and perhaps ACTION, as in a court.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Across
9. OLIGARCHS They have become rich, goals being corrupted? (9)
(RICH GOALS)* – the first of two “anagram &lit” clues in the puzzle, where the whole clue gives the definition
10. OPERA As which, Othello is less hard (5)
Verdi’s opera based on the Shakespeare play is Otello, with no H (Hard)
11. FAULT Criticise bad service (5)
Double definition (the bad service is in tennis)
12. ISRAELITE One of OT people in one location holding unfortunate king back (9)
Reverse of [King] LEAR in 1 SITE
13. DRAWN ON Exploited, moving ahead — going west, then north (5,2)
ONWARD “going west”, or reversed, plus N
14. BLUNDER Line in book subject to typo, for example (7)
L in B + UNDER (subject to)
17, 19, 20. TRIAL AND ERROR 20 Method for solving equivalent of 27 + 25 or 26 + 21 (5,3,5)
27+25 and 26+21 are TEST+SLIP and PILOT+MISTAKE, both of which are kinds of TRIAL AND ERROR
21. MISTAKE Silly makes it (7)
(MAKES IT)* – another anagram &lit
22. ORATION Speech Horatio Nelson cut short at both ends (7)
Hidden in hORATIO Nelson
24. BRASS BAND Cheap alternative to gold ring for group of players (5,4)
Double definition
26. PILOT Fly back to edge (5)
Reverse of TO LIP
28. OBELI Marks on text visible in strobe lighting (5)
Hidden in strOBE Lighting. Obeli (Latin for “daggers”) are marks used to indicate footnotes etc, like this: †
29. DEANERIES They accommodate some in church, as needier after conversion (9)
(AS NEEDIER)*
Down
1. GOOF Almost stop working, stupid (4)
GO OF[F]. Goof can’t be used an an adjective, so we have to read it and “stupid” as nouns
2. FIBULA Part of skeleton is fit, but lab reaching no conclusions (6)
FI[t] BU[t] LA[b]
3. EAST ANGLIA Eg in atlas misplaced a part of Britain (4,6)
(EG IN ATLAS)* + A
4. ACTION Order to start shooting in battle (6)
Double definition, with the “shooting” being on a film set
5. ASCRIBED Assigned in form of overlapping places to sleep (8)
AS (in the form of) + CRIB and BED with the B overlapping
6. BORE Put up with irritating person (4)
Double definition
7. BEWILDER Show less restraint in puzzle (8)
BE WILDER
8. CAGE Modern composer‘s arrangement of bars (4)
Double definition – John Cage (1912-1992) was an avant-garde composer, perhaps most famous for his “silent” piece 4′ 33”; and of curse a cage is made of bars
13. DATUM Bring about current stoppage without union, in fact (5)
TU (Trade Union) in DAM (to stop a river current)
15. UNEXAMPLED Without precedent, appealed after a French test (10)
UN (French “a”) + EXAM (test) + PLED (appealed)
16. RERUN Last parts of earlier game later you can show again (5)
Last letters of earlieR gamE lateR yoU caN
18. IN SPADES Emphatically at home with tools (2,6)
IN (at home) + SPADES (tools)
19. ADELAIDE A European called up city down under (8)
A + reverse of (E DIALED)* , using the US spelling of “dialled”
22. ORDEAL Harrowing experience in gold trade (6)
OR (gold) + DEAL (trade)
23. INLAID Like decorative work that’s not outstanding (6)
A (not particularly) cryptic definition (or possibly a double definition)
24. BOOB Critically react to bishop making awful move, say (4)
BOO (critically react) + B[ishop]
25. SLIP Cutting undergarment (4)
Double definition – I thought the first was a slip of paper, as a newspaper cutting, but the word can also mean a cutting taken from a plant
27. TEST Evacuate the street in dry run (4)
T[h]E S[tree]T

47 comments on “Guardian 27,856 – Brendan”

  1. Thanks Brendan and Andrew

    Although all the solutions were easy to get, some were rather harder to parse. TRIAL AND ERROR was obvious from the definition and letter count, and allowed me to confirm SLIP and TEST, both of which I had doubts about.

    Reading “stupid” as a noun requires a stretch!

    Favourites were ISRAELITE and BEWILDER.

  2. I found this pretty hard in fact! I was thrown by the “bring about” in 13dn which seems unnecessary given “without” later in the clue – indeed it implied a reversal which was not there. “opera” was clever but tough and I put it in more in hope than certainty once the a and e were in place. I liked “israelites” too, and “blunder” was easier than it seemed at first. “Cage” was fun too – another where I needed a crosser to stop me thinking about impossible anagrams.

    Thank you Andrew, and Brendan for a tough Tuesday. If the week continues to get harder, Friday is going to be a long slog!

  3. I think test too may be added to TRIAL theme. And a pilot project is one which is used to test an idea before deciding if it can be done on a larger scale.

  5. A rather weak effort from freo today, first bunging in an unparsed loaf at 1d, then failing to parse both 10 and 13; completely forgot that Verdi’s opus is spelled sans h, and didn’t get dam as verb for ‘bring about current stoppage’, d’ohs all round. Enjoyed it nonetheless, nothing too tricky, just me being dense, more error than trial. Thanks Brendan and Andrew.

  7. Very enjoyable. My favourites were TRIAL AND ERROR, BEWILDER, BRASS BAND, CAGE.

    I saw CRIB + BED in 5d but was unable to parse it. I also did not know that SLIP = cutting / plant or otherwise.

    Thank you Brendan and blogger.

     

  9. I got oligarchs straight away and thought great start but then had to slowly chip away, with Cage my LOI- which of course was obvious once I had it. Thanks for the help with parsing- I also could not really think how slip was cutting, but forgot about the gardening meaning. Interesting re goof not being a verb, as one can in fact “goof off” at least you can in this neck of the woods. I can’t really see goof and stupid as equivalent – “you goof” and “you stupid” are not the same.
    I saw bewilder as loosely aligned with the theme- after all if one blunders, makes boobs and goofs and mistakes, one may well be bewildered.
    I did like the pun in bewilder; my other favs were cage and mistake. Thanks to Brendan and to Andrew

  10. ngaiolaurenson @9

    “Goof” can indeed be a noun or a verb; what it isn’t is an adjective. Your point about the non-equivalence of “you goof” and “you stupid” is thus valid.

  11. As you say, Andrew, very enjoyable. My thanks to you and Brendan. I am with andysmith@8, as I couldn’t quite see 10a OPERA, but otherwise the parsing was all good today. I particularly liked the use of King LEAR in 12a ISRAELITE. I echo some others with my favourites – 24a BRASS BAND, 4d ACTION, 7d BEWILDER and 2d ORDEAL. Of course, unashamed of my Australian parochialism, I did appreciate 19d ADELAIDE in particular. I must admit to not seeing the link between all the booboos – my 21a MISTAKE! I feel a real 1d GOOF!

  13. Absolutely zoomed through this, must have been on Brendan’s wavelength today. Lots to enjoy, helped by the theme. Favourite 24a, last in 6d.

    Thanks to Brendan and Andrew.

  14. Muffin @ 1 I’m not sure that I really want to fight its corner as a noun but how about as a derogatory label as in ‘I’m with stupid’ (which is also the only way in which ‘silly’ works for me in 21).

    Wasn’t entirely keen on the two &lit clues but otherwise very enjoyable.

    Thanks to Brendan and Andrew.

  15. Fairly straightforward by recent Brendan standards, and an entertaining puzzle

    Thanks to Brendan and Andrew

  16. About half the grid went in on the first pass through the clues, but the last few were quite stubborn. I failed on OPERA (thanks Andrew for the parsing) and BOOB, where I couldn’t get past thinking that the bishop was the initial crossing B. I liked ISRAELITE, BEWILDER, and the clever 17-19-20. Unlike Robert@14, I thought the &lit clues were rather good, especially 21a. Different strokes for different folks, as some folks over here used to say. Thanks to Brendan and Andrew.

  17. Nice puzzle, I got most of the bottom 2/3 last night, had to fill in the top today.

    I’d call 24a a charade rather than a double definition, “cheap alternative to gold” + “band”, since “cheap alternative for gold ring” isn’t a definition for anything.

    8d typo – “of curse.”

  18. I meant to mention before that I took 23d as requiring a lift and separate of ‘outstanding’, that is, IN is ‘not out’ and LAID is ‘not standing.’

  20. Thanks to Brendan and. Andrew. I am with thezed @2 with this. I generally found this tough going. Maybe I just was not on Brendan’s wavelength today, because I an usually ok with this setter. The last few seemed to take ages, but I got there in the end. Last ones were opera, inlaid and in spades was last (this is a term which I am unfamiliar with in this context). I am another who like Cage and Israelite and thanks again to Brendan and Andrew.

  22. Loved all the intentional errors, but I think it is a bit of a stretch to treat “they have become” as part of the anagram in 9a.

    Anyone notice that you can also get a kismet out of 21a? “Kismet, Hardy” was believed by some to be the dying words of Nelson from the next clue – but that too is apparently a mistake (chronologically inappropriate).

    Thanks.

  23. I usually start crosswords in the bottom right corner, as setters (generally) have the most problems fitting in words into the grid there. So got off to a flying start with TEST PILOT INLAID and DEANERIES. After that a steady solve. LOI slip, had to look it up to confirm after Mrs R “twigged” the other meaning of the undergarment word. Thought the clues for OPERA and CAGE were excellently done, but my COD was 21a, make no mistake 🙂
    Thanks to Brendan and Andrew.

  24. Thanks to Brendan and Andrew. I got off to a flying start by spotting TRIAL AND ERROR from the enumeration but then struggled with DEANERIES and GOOF, though I did know Otello.

  25. I did OK with this, enjoyed it. DEPARTMENT OF NIT-PICKS: The film director’s call ACTION is for the actors to start doing what they do. By definition, the camera is already rolling.

    Perhaps the best ever advice for a film actor is Marlon Brando’s: “Just because they say “action”, it doesn’t mean you have to do anything”.

  26. Thanks both,

    Defeated by 10ac.

    Collins online gives ‘stupid’ as a noun in both US and Brit. English. I seem to recall hearing ‘(a) stupid’ as a noun from Dutch and German friends, and as their English is often more correct than mine, I expect they are right. There is also ‘goof’-ball’ where ‘goof’ seems to be used in an adjectival way and the word itself is derived from ‘goffe’ an adjective in Old French meaning clumsy. So I’m just about OK with goof=stupid.

  27. I’m pleased to say that I parsed OPERA although it took some time to get. Less pleased to have LOAF for 1dn. I sort of saw the theme but I didn’t connect with all the examples. ISRAELITES took some time too because I didn’t twig what OT stood for immediately.
    Liked ASCRIBED and CAGE.
    Thanks Brendan.

  28. Thanks Andrew and Brendan. I completed this surprisingly quickly despite some 17,19,20 at 8d, where a speculative Google had revealed Rob SBAR as a modern composer.

  30. Tyngewick

    ….I seem to recall hearing ‘(a) stupid’ as a noun from Dutch and German friends, and as their English is often more correct than mine….

    Now that really IS stupid.

  31. Alex @30,

    Possibly, I should have added a ‘tongue in cheek’ emoticon for the benefit of the tin-eared.

  32. Alas, I failed to get 10a and 8d. The rest was very pleasant, although not every clue seemed grammatically precise to me. The clues were, however, functionally precise, in the sense that there was no doubt about any of the answers to the clues that I solved.

    My understanding of GOOF = STUPID is that they are mutually substitutable when regarded as vocatives (as suggested by the comma in the clue). The phrase “Hello, stupid!”, just like “Hello, beautiful!” has an adjective occupying the position of a vocative noun. So it’s not too terrible a stretch to think of the adjective as having temporarily become a noun. It is a bit of a stretch, but not so much as to obscure the intent of the clue.

  33. 1 down is just a very bad clue; apart from the fact that ‘goof’ does not mean ‘stupid’ by any stretch, ‘go off’ barely means ‘stop working’, if at all. Spoiled it for me; I also dislike self-referential clues like TRIAL AND ERROR, though some people like them, no doubt.

  34. Really enjoyed this late yesterday and (nearly) finished off this morning. I was defeated by Opera too, requiring crossers to complete. Minor quibbles with Goof and dialed but loved the clues for ASCRIBED, BEWILDER and FAULT especially.

    Thanks Brendan and Andrew for parsing the trickier elements.

  35. I doubt anyone’s listening at this point, but somehow (as of June 26) the online grid is completely messed up.  I assume it was fine on the day of publication.  The space for 29 across is gone, there are 2 22 acrosses in the grid, and 17, 19, 20 is now 17, 19, 29.  Many of the links between the clues and the grid positions are also scrambled.  I had to come here to work out what had happened, so thanks for saving me extra frustration!

  36. Online grid is completely screwed up, but I wonder if this was a deliberate mistake in keeping with the theme?

  37. My grid was faulty……there were two clues named as 22 across. Obeli comes up as 29 down……it’s all wrong.

  38. I had to give up as grid online completely screwed up! Shame as what I could get was most enjoyable.

  39. I’ve been chipping away at a papter copy for the last couple of days.  Having just gone to the site to check the answer for 8 down, I discovered the clue has changed to:

    8. Box, for instance

    Perhaps the solution discovered by DuncT @28 prompted this!

  40. The grid & clue list did not work in my browser (firefox).

    E.g.

    Grid: 22 appears twice; many across clues misnumbered; no 20; 17 & 19 won’t highlight; even letters of DEANERIES blacked out; etc.

    Clue list: 29 should I think be 20; etc

    WHAT A MESS!

  41. I assumed the mistakes in the online grid were part of the theme and managed to work out all the clues in the grid apart from 29ac which was missing as @40 pointed out. Interestingly the revised 8d clue (CASE) became the second ‘trial’ example in 17ac. All very odd…

  42. Wow! Grauniad, Guilty as Charged! Loved this trail of errors, on a Sunday evening, with my paper-based partner!

  43. My grid was also messed up, but I was proud of myself for correcting it by following the accepted rules of symmetrical construction. Quite a while later I managed to finish it. 17,19,20 (wrongly described as 29 in my version) helped greatly in this endeavour.

  44. I know it’s very late in the day, but I would love to hear from the esteemed Gaufrid as to what happened here.  I solved it (on the Turkish coast near Assos), marvelling at Brendan’s enhancing his usual wacky sense of humour by having a theme which  matches a messed up grid.  But the last few posters have been slagging off Brendan and the Grauniad.  So who is right?  Is this humour, or a mess-up?  Thanks to B and A. Cheers, Rob.  A regular reader and occasional poster.

  45. Robinistanbul @44

    I am not privy to the workings at the Guardian so cannot answer your question with any confidence. All I do know is that, having solved a downloaded ‘print’ version early morning on 25/6, when I accessed the interactive version to check that my solution was correct everything was fine. The following day people began to report problems with the interactive version so I suspect that there was an unintentional glitch, possibly caused when the clue/entry for 8dn was changed.

  46. Thank you so much for the swift reply Gaufrid.  If what you say actually happened, it is a remarkable turn of events!  That a puzzle about blunders, in our beloved Grauniad, should be the victim of gremlins is a kind of triple irony.

  47. This reminds me of the Two Ronnie’s sketch where Ron C, on Mastermind, answers the question before the last one. Except there was no place to put alternate letters of “deaneries” as squares blacked out. Took ages to work out… but not a whole year 🙂

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