Guardian 27,877 – Brendan

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I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that Brendan has given us a themed puzzle today…

It soon became apparent that every clue refers to golf, as do some of the answers. As 14d tells (or reminds) us, the 2019 European Open began yesterday, in Brendan’s native Northern Ireland. It helped that I know a little golfing terminology, but there’s nothing too outlandish. Thanks to Brendan for the entertainment.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Across
9. LIE TO Deceive leaders of tournament on position of ball (3,2)
LIE (position of ball) + TO[urnament]
10. CROCODILE Source of unreal grief — water hazard? (9)
Double defintion, with a reference to crocodile tears, a sign of feigned grief
11. BROADSIDE Sad and bored, I muffed a lot of shots (9)
(SAD BORED I)*
12. CADDY Leaves container for player’s helper (5)
Double definition, the “leaves” being tea
13. TOP-HOLE Toy with one part of course that’s excellent (3-4)
TOP (toy) + HOLE (part of a golf course)
15. SHUT-EYE Shot they use as result of good lie? (4-3)
(THEY USE)* – one of a couple of examples of a golfing term (“lie” here) being used in both a clue and an answer (9a)
17. THREE Boxed in by obstacle on course, hard to get good score on hole (5)
H[ard] in TREE (possible obstacle in gold) – three would be at least a par score, and often better
18. TAD Partly mishit a drive — small slice, say (3)
Hidden in mishiT A Drive
20. SWING Golfing action from second player on side (5)
S + WING
22. PITCH IN Contribute way to save a stroke? (5,2)
I’m not entirely sure of my golfing terminology here – as far as I can see, a pitch is a relatively short shot, usually onto the green; I suppose you would save a shot if it happened to land “in” the hole. Perhaps a golfer could elucidate?
25. INSHORE Iron he’s blasted not far from sand? (7)
(IRON HE’S)*, with the sand being on a beach
26. GREEN Place for putting party member (5)
Double definition
27. ALBATROSS Undesirable neckwear having a bad result around club, right? (9)
BAT (club) + R in A LOSS; an albatross around one’s neck is an unwelcome burden, though in golf an albatross is a good thing, being a score of three under par
30. DRIVEABLE Wild bear lived within range of single shot (9)
(BEAR LIVED)*
31. AVERT Keep off a green (5)
A + VERT (green, in heraldry for example)
Down
1. CLUB Hit from youngster holding driver as beginner (4)
L (learner driver) in CUB
2. BELOW PAR Substandard, like three other solutions (5,3)
Reference to BIRDIE, EAGLE and ALBATROSS in other answers, all being under par scores; confusingly, being below par is good in golf and substandard elsewhere
3. WOOD US star endlessly in golf club (4)
[Tiger] WOOD[s]
4. ACCIDENT Stress I had internalised as result of driving badly? (8)
I’D in ACCENT (stress in speech or music)
5. BOGEYS Stupidly goes by bad parts of round (6)
(GOES BY)* – a bogey is one over par
6. CONCOURSES Crowds in clubs where golf is played (10)
C[lubs] + ON COURSES (where golf is played)
7. BIRDIE Two, perhaps, that you watch as shots are made (6)
“Watch the birdie”, as photographers say; a birdie is one under par, so I think the definition is a reference to 2 down, though a score of 2 would also be a birdie on a par-3 hole
8. DEFY Put iron within 3ft, rising to challenge (4)
Reverse of FE (iron) in YD (yard)
13. TOT UP Add final stroke, set up with nothing in it (3,2)
0 in reverse of PUTT (usually the final shot of a hole)
14. OPEN‑HANDED Charitable ongoing event he had also included (4-6)
OPEN (the current European Open started yesterday) + AND (also) in HE’D
16. EAGLE Head off one hunting creature or another (5)
[B]EAGLE – bird of prey and a score of two under par
19. DRIBBLED Skilfully manoeuvred ball, made holes around start of round (8)
R[ound] in DIBBLED (made holes, e.g. in gardening)
21. IRON ORES Suitably refined, they get into some golf clubs (4,4)
I think this is just a cryptic definition, as some golf clubs are made of steel, which requires the refining of iron ore, but it seems a bit weak to me so maybe there’s more to it
23. THE PIT Abysmal position — out of it he pitches (3,3)
Hidden in iT HE PITches
24. NEARBY Close finishes in Open absorb many, holding attention (6)
EAR (attention) in last letters of opeN absorB manY – another double use, echoing “Open” in 14d
26. GODS Golf crowds — taking sides in gallery (4)
The “sides” of GO[lf crow]DS – The Gods is the gallery in a theatre
28. TRAP Hazard making some upset (4)
Reverse of PART
29. SITE Location, something that helps with shot, we hear (4)
Homophone of “sight”, which helps when shooting a gun

53 comments on “Guardian 27,877 – Brendan”

  1. Very entertaining with a theme even I could spot.  My particular favourites (from a very long list) are the source of unreal grief in 10a, the undesirable neckwear in 27d and 7d

    Thanks very much to Brendan and Andrew

  2. Even I couldn’t miss the theme today! Very well constructed, although the clue for BIRDIE seemed a bit iffy. Many thanks to B & A.

  3. Thanks Brendan and Andrew

    A tour de force to get all those golfing references in, but inevitably it became a bit repetitive. As a golfer, I found it pretty easy. I got 2d early so immediately looked to see where BIRDIE, EAGLE and ALBATROSS would go (a 2 is bound to be a birdie at least, Andrew, as there are no par 2 holes). A PITCH IN would save a shot, as it’s assumed that you would need at least one putt.

    12a needs a “sounds like” indicator, as a golfer’s helper is a CADDIE.

    Favourites were SHUT EYE and LOI IRON ORES (used to make “irons”).

    btw, Andrew, the torunament that I’m watching at the moment is “The Open” – not the “European Open” (a different torunament) or even, except for some Americans, the “British Open. The winner becomes “Champion Golfer of the year”.

  4. I’m not a big fan of themes generally, but Brendan has given us a tour de force based on The Open now being contested in NI. I enjoyed this greatly and marvelled at the ingenuity of the construction. Favourite CADDY but many other great clues. Thanks Brendan and Andrew.

  6. Exactly what crypticsue said.

    I wouldn’t have believed I could have been so entertained and amused by a theme that I have so little interest in – although I was surprised by how much I seemed to know about it.

    Many thanks o Brendan and Andrew.

  7. If I may quote S Panza ‘I enjoyed this greatly and marvelled at the ingenuity of the construction’

    Not a golf fan but no problems as most terms are familiar

    Well done Brendan

     

  8. As others have said, much more enjoyable than it first appeared to be to those of us not fans of golf. At first I dismissed my answer for 21d. A shame that such a weak clue got through. But otherwise loved it all. Thanks Brendan and Andrew.

  9. Thanks both,

    The ingenuity of filling the grid was enormous but made for a fairly easy puzzle. ‘Up’ appearing in both clue and answer for 13d gave me a moment’s pause.

  10. Some weak cluing rather spoiled the overall effort. TOP UP had the word UP in the clue, CADDY misspelled, But on the other hand ALBATROSS and GODS were really good and made up for it.
    Thanks Brendan and Andrew.

  11. Quite clear that we’re not ALL keen golfers, as caddy for caddie and European Open for THE Open indicate, but great fun nevertheless. At least par for the course, anyway…

  12. I am with Roberto @10 – the need to fit the theme meant that a number of clues were quite poor. To those mentioned, I would add “three” which was weak…a tree defined as a possible hazard on a golf course? Really? And top-hole was another where the possibilities were endless, and “hole” almost too obvious to be cryptic. I thought “avert” particularly good, and “concourses” and I was pleased to get there with very little golfing knowledge which is a good sign for such a heavily themed crossword. I am more reminded of the sort of puzzle where a setter uses the same word over and over in different ways. It’s clever and does not require much specialist knowledge. Nevertheless, I remain in the camp that says a theme should not be an excuse to weaken a puzzle, and I fear here it did in a few instances.

    Many thanks Brendan, and Andrew for the blog.

  13. All very straightforward but enjoyable, despite a theme that is far from being one of my favourite sports. Scots may not like it, but CADDY is an accepted variant spelling (look it up)..

    Thanks to Brendan and Andrew

  14. Thank you Brendan and Andrew.

    Great fun, even though I know virtually nothing about golf.  Cannot see the problem with 12a, the COED gives CADDY as an alternative for caddie.

    Do golf courses always have sand (25a) around the hole, the one in our village in France seems to – perhaps muffin can answer?

  15. 22a Pitch in – In golf, to pitch in would be to hole the ball from off the green thus saving you from having to putt and indeed reducing your score – saving a shot.

     

  16. Loved the undesirable neckwear but a bit ho hum about the theme, not my thing but it rattled in pretty painlessly. Thanks both.

  18. TheZed @12

    Trees were definitely a hazard on the course I was playing yesterday (Haydock Park)!

    BH @13

    I did look it up!

    Caddy vs. caddie

  21. I was helped by the golf theme. My late father was a golf addict, so I was thinking of him while I did this puzzle.

    My favourites were CROCODILE, BIRDIE, ALBATROSS, GREEN, TRAP, PUTT, GODS.

    Thank you Brendan and Andrew.

  22. I was fine with CADDY.

    I have just looked it up. Chambers online says:

    “caddie or caddy noun (caddies) 1 someone whose job is to carry the golf clubs around the course for a golf-player.”

  25. muffin @18 – if it is recognised by several reputable dictionaries as an alternative spelling, it is fair game for compilers.

  27. “Caddy” is a valid alternative spelling of “Caddie”.  I’ve found the first spelling in numerous British golfing books of the 19th and 20th centuries (including Hansard, 1953).

  28. Great fun; I enjoyed the theme and clues although I’m not a golfer. I like watching it occasionally though.

    I particularly liked CROCODILE, BROADSIDE, ALBATROSS, ACCIDENT and DRIBBLED.

    The EAGLE has landed (see tomorrow perhaps?)

  30. Some of the criticism of this puzzle seems a bit harsh to me. Yes, the clue for IRON ORES was weak, but in my opinion CADDY should have provoked no complaints. Overall I thought the quality of the cluing was at least as good as is found in most un-themed Guardian puzzles, and Brendan managed to avoid obscure terms and use the common ones repeatedly without becoming repetitive. I was especially impressed that “shot/shots” was used in the context of golf, guns, and photography and once as an anagrind.

    Howard @29, I wasn’t familiar with that meaning of concourses, but Collins supports it.

    Thanks to Brendan and Andrew.

  31. Thanks Brendan and Andrew

    howard @ 29: I was initially sceptical about crowd/concourse, but Chambers eThesaurus has “aa concourse of people” and gives ‘crowd’ as one of a number of synonyms.

    We may find it jarring, we may not like it, but in my view, if it’s supported it’s fair game for a setter.

  32. When is a theme not a theme? When knowing it doesn’t help! There was a bit of cross-reference via 2d, but that was a giveaway.

    I think IRON ORES was a cross between a failed CD and a failed &lit.

    I have never constructed a grid, so I have no first hand experience to draw on to say whether today’s puzzle was a great feat or not. I suspect that the greatest challenge is grid-filling, especially when you have a pile of answers ready to go, but there is software to help with that. Having to have clues fit a topic may actually be helpful, due to the otherwise enormous number of degrees of freedom.

    Thanks.

  33. This would seem to be the second albatross of the week, since in Tuesday’s Fleetwood Mac(k) puzzle there was a bit of albatross banter in the comments, including baerchen @1 saying to Eileen (the blogger that day) “theme a bit of an albatross around your neck?”  Eileen couldn’t find the theme and neither could I, knowing nothing beyond its name about Fleetwood Mac.

  34. Love golf but didn’t love this. The overpowering theme made it a bit mechanical to complete, if you understand what I mean. One that was probably more fun to set than to solve. Hats off for the effort though.

    Thanks to Brendan and Andrew

  36. I never spot themes. This one I spotted after my first clue (I had just been reading about the golf before starting, so I was ready for it).  Ten minutes or so, almost a write-in, but very entertaining nevertheless, and so skilfully assembled.

    This was the third theme of the week. Brendan joins the Club and proves to be one of the Masters. I can imagine setting this would Drive him Round the bend… oh that’s enough, I’m beginning to Flag.

    No real favourites, but the b-EAGLE clue reminded me I wanted years ago to form a tribute band and call it The Beagles; we would play West Coast soft rock versions of Beatles songs, take lots of coke and split up when one of the members married someone who didn’t get on with the rest of the band.

    Thanks to Brendan and Andrew.

  37. This is the quickest that I’ve ever completed a Guardian cryptic which is definitely not a complaint. In fact it is a nice surprise for a Friday as in some recent weeks I have really struggled.

    For some reason I woke early and logged in to see Brendan as setter. Having a strong connection with the beautiful North coast of Ireland myself, the Open was in my head at least subliminally and I immediately recalled that Brendan is a native of that Island so I wondered how he was enjoying it. I actually thought he lived there but if the 15-squared bio is correct that is not the case.

    Anyway, the theme makes for an easier puzzle in this case but I am still chuffed with myself for completing in barely half an hour. I don’t generally time myself because I know I’m not always the quickest solver.

    Thanks very much Brendan for a very clever puzzle. I also smiled at the successful themed appearance of ALBATROSS after the fun involving Qaos, Eileen et al on Wednesday.

    Enjoy your weekends all!

  38. Forgot to explicitly thank you Andrew for the blog. Also just reading the post that I crossed with, 1961Blanchflower@36: you had me chuckling

  39. Um, no golfer. Loved the puzzle, but since when did it get renamed The European Open … as opposed to The Open? (not even British!!)

  40. Good puzzle to enjoy over my sand wedge 🙂 .
    Re: 23, I always thought the expression was “the pits” (plural).
    Great achievement to relate all the clues to the theme, even if a few were sitters (BIRDIE, EAGLE, ALBATROSS).
    Thanks, B and A.

  41. Not a golf fan but theme became obvious after a few clues.Thanks Brendan.COD ALBATROSS.

  42. I like Brendan as a setter but some of this was weak.Needless to say I know nothing about golf so I tended to bung in terms relating to it without knowing what they mean. That’s how I got ALBATROSS before realising how clever it was. THREE now, was poor and I wouldn’t have got it without all the crossers and ,even then,it was a guess. So mixed feelings from me!
    Thanks Brendan.

  43. I am not a golfer but just wanted to congratulate Brendan on a topical, ingenious, and enjoyable puzzle that raised several smiles (e.g. ALBATROSS). Thank you to him and Andrew.

  44. Not all of us have the good fortune to be able to do the crossword each day and will catch up later. Not such a pleasant enterprise when contributors reveal the hidden themes of other recent crosswords in the blog for a crossword from later in the week. Same also applies to discussion of clues from other crosswords, to a slightly lesser extent.

  45. VW @44 Z – if you had actually done Qaos’s Fleetwood Mac puzzle you would have known that unless you were a devotee of the band the so called spoiler would not have helped you at all..

  47. 21D

     

    Irons (some golf clubs) around ore. It’s a sort of circular CD/&lit I think. I quite liked it.

  48. phitonelly@40
    I think there are two expressions with different origins and meanings. “The pit” = hell, where the damned are sent, and “the pits” = something more generally unpleasant and derives from “armpits”.
    Thanks to Brendan for an entertaing puzzle and to Andrew for the blog.

  49. No such thing as a hazard or water hazard any longer. The official golf definition as of 1 January 2019 is a penalty area.

  50. I spotted the theme early on and, knowing (so I thought) next to nothing about golf, I was sure that I was going to struggle. As it turned out, it gave me very little trouble.

     

    I was held up for quite a while because I confidently entered ‘underpar’ at 2d – one of the hazards of DDs with no wordplay, I suppose.

     

    Thanks to Brendan for a thoroughly enjoyable puzzle, and to Andrew for the blog.

  51. Golf: isn’t that the one that’s a good walk spoiled by needing to hit a ball from time to time? Good job no-one’s going to see this post. Thanks to setter and blogger.

  52. I sometimes feel that Fifteensquared is a good crossword ruined, in that pedantic (and I can be pedantic to the point of OCD) carping is unnecessary; let’s just enjoy the good bits and be thankful that we don’t have to struggle to put the Crossword together in the first place.

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