Guardian Prize 27,902 by Vlad

by

This was one of those where I guessed most of the solutions from the definitions and then figured out the parsing later.  Thank you Vlad.

completed grid
Across
1 STOPGAP Go past building that’s quiet just for now (7)
anagram (building) of GO PAST with (that has) P (piano, quiet)
5 MINUTED Recorded in parts with little enthusiasm (7)
IN inside (parts) MUTED (with little enthusiasm)
9 ROTOR Old paintings lacking top grade frames — gold one’s a Turner (5)
O (old) inside (…frames) aRT (paintings) missing A (top grade) then OR (gold)
10 LANCASTER Old house in road actors initially rented (9)
LANE (road) contains (in…is…) CAST (actors) then Rented (first letter, initially)
11 FOOT FAULTS Court calls solely for judges (4,6)
cryptic definition?
12 CROC Invalid reported danger in river (4)
sounds like (reported) “crock” (invalid)
14   See 17
18 ENHANCEMENT Female lead at last — a new Bond producer’s change for the better? (11)
HEN (female) with leading letter moving to the back then A N (new) CEMENT (bond)
21 TOSS Fling books round ship (4)
OT (old Testament, books of Bible) reversed (round) then SS (steam ship)
22 CLAPPED-OUT Knackered, as Cook was before last Test innings? (7-3)
double definition
25 WHIPPER-IN Hounds manager that’s optimistic but not around during success (7-2)
cHIPPER (optimistic) missing C (circa, around) inside WIN (success)
26 MALAY Complaint Democrat ignored — language! (5)
MALAdY (complaint) missing (ignored) D (democrat)
27 SEE TO IT Sort that out, son! Most of college cuts Unite rejected (3,2,2)
S (son) then ETOn (college, most of) inside TIE (unite) reversed (rejected)
28 OBLIGED Thankful he’s left school (spread fake news about Head of Geography) (7)
OB (old boy, he’s left school) then LIED (spread fake news) containing Geography (first letter, head of)
Down
1 STRIFE Quarrelling in street commonplace (6)
ST (street) RIFE (commonplace)
2 OPTION Choice of brew after first love gets promoted (6)
POTION (brew) with the first O (love) moved to the front (gets promoted)
3 GIRLFRIEND Partner‘s life Grindr ruined (10)
anagram (ruined) of LIFE GRINDR – Grindr is a dating website
4 PILAU Flipping Dua Lipa’s eating what? (5)
found inside (eaten by) dUA LIPa reversed (flipping)
5 MONOTREME Mammal on metro upset me (9)
anagram (upset) of ON METRO then ME
6 NEAR Almost managed to climb over fence at back (4)
RAN (managed) reversed (to climb) contains (over) fencE (last letter, at back)
7 TUTORING Instruction to code-breaker on the outside (8)
TO inside (with…on the outside) TURING (code breaker)
8 DIRECTLY Urgently holding court right away (8)
DIRELY (urgently) contains (holding) CT (court)
13 ISOTHERMAL Bad storm and hail round east with temperature remaining constant (10)
anagram (bad) of STORM and HAIL containing (round) E (east)
15 SMELL A RAT Was suspicious — something fishy about Test cricketer (5,1,3)
SMELT (something fishy) contains (about) LARA (Brian Lara, Test cricketer) – the definition seems to have a present/past tense mismatch
16 NEW TOWNS Wives (not Vlad’s) went on about comparatively recent settlements (3,5)
WiveS missing I’VE (Vlad has) contains (about) anagram of WENT ON
17, 14 THIS TIME ITS PERSONAL Thirties’ simpleton as comic film cliche (4,4,3,8)
anagram (comic) of THIRTIES SIMPLETON AS – a reference to Jaws?
19 DOGLEG Con government has setter going round bend (6)
DO (con) G (government) with GEL (setter, something that sets) reversed (going round)
20 STAYED Stopped being unadventurous for audition (6)
sounds like (for audition) “staid” (unadventurous)
23 PINKO No! Ukip leader’s going to run as a Liberal? (5)
anagram (to run) of NO with uKIP missing first letter (leader’s going)
24 OPPO Colleague in work on left, not right (4)
OP (opus, work) on POrt (left) missing RT (right) – opposite number, colleague

definitions are underlined

I write these posts to help people get started with cryptic crosswords.  If there is something here you do not understand ask a question; there are probably others wondering the same thing.

32 comments on “Guardian Prize 27,902 by Vlad”

  1. Thanks Peedee. I went through the same process as you by guessing the answers and seeking the reasoning afterwards but then I usually do so didn’t think anything of it. I couldn’t complete the process though with 25a no matter how long I stared at it so thanks for the enlightenment. I hope the reasoning will be of use in future encounters. I agree there is an anomaly of tenses in 15d and surprised it wasn’t picked up.

  2. I don’t understand either half of the double definition in 22A. Would someone kindly enlighten this American cricket ignoramus? Thank you kindly.

  3. Thanks to Vlad and PeeDee.  Like Biggles A I too (off and of for several days) got solutions followed by parsing. I did know Brian Lara from previous puzzles but struggled with CLAPPED-OUT and OPPO.

  4. Thank you PeeDee for confirming my suspicions about the tense in 15d. This was my only real hold up, making me feel it was a smidge unfair for the two clues that required you to know cricketers names to cross (15d & 22a) – especially as they crossed at the tense-determining letter of smell/smelt!

    Thanks to Vlad too for a lot of fun.

  5. Thanks to both I think 22a is a poor clue as I managed to decipher it from the first definition and realised the second part referred to the English captain. I can only surmise the crowd clapped him out on to the pitch after his double hundred in the first innings. That, Iriquois@2, is a very good score so would be appreciated . Knackered means tired or exhausted and clapped out means much the same.

    I did see bits of the games but it starts here at about 10 at night so I miss much of it.

  6. I’m inclined towards empathy with editorial staff, given the pressure traditional media are under in these days of disruption, so an ‘is’ that should be a ‘be’ as in 15d is no big deal.

    From the absence of margin comments, it seems this Vlad wasn’t as gnarly as he can be, although foi was 21a and second was 25ac, so they weren’t exactly jumping out, and he makes you work to piece the bits together, even small bits, as in 9 and 27ac. Worth the effort though, thanks Vlad and thanks PeeDee.

  7. Could not parse Minuted, Rotor, Obliged or New Towns so thanks Peedee. Struggled with audition being an alternative for heard in 24d so Stayed and also Pinko remained unsolved. Put in Smelt a Rat so that hindered getting Clapped out for a long time although enjoyed the clue when we twigged. Minor quibble with the quote from Jaws being a cliche; its an oft quoted line and, we discovered, has led to a crop of a lbum titles! But we thought a film cliche would be a more like the red shirts being guaranteed to die in Star Trek. Favourite was probably Enhancement for its clever and topical surface. Thanks to Vlad.

  8. I didn’t really enjoy this one despite completing the grid, due to unnecessarily tortuous definitions. ROTOR, I’m looking at you.
    Having said that, I just looked at this week’s from Masquerade and I don’t even understand the instructions, so I think I’ll pass on that and save myself the aggro. Have a good weekend everybody.

  9. Thanks Vlad for a good level of Prize this week and thanks PeeDee for all the help I needed to parse several clues. From this side of the pond may I say that 22a was a lovely tribute to Sir Alastair Cook our all time top run scorer in cricket. It is a tradition in our game that iconic players are applauded all the way from the pavilion to the crease often through the lines of opposition players when, having announced their retirement, they come out for their last innings. This happened to Cook in 2018 in the final test against India. He rewarded his fans with a score of 147 if memory serves. For a cricket fan it was my FOI, such that the error in tense of 15d, which Vlad took the blame for on the Guardian website was not an inconvenience.
    I enjoyed this crossie very much and for once was not totally impaled by Vlad

  10. At the time I wrote “easier end of Vlad and over too quickly – apart from 22a where I had an unparsed STEPPED OUT because I had SMELT A RAT for 15d.” There were plenty of good clues but I thought it lacked intrigue for a prize – but I still enjoyed it. Thanks to Vlad and PeeDee.

  12. Croc – for pinko OED says Chiefly US, but also gives examples from the  Spectator, Times Literary Supplement and the Sunday Telegraph dating back to 1949, so it is in use over here too

  13. Thanks PeeDee. In 19d had DOG=setter and couldn’t parse the left over LE once the G(overnment) had been accounted for.

  14. Thanks to Vlad and PeeDee. WhiteKing @10, ditto, I did exactly the same thing, therefore also a DNF for me. That said, I always enjoy the challenge of a Vlad and still plenty of nice clues. Thanks again to Vlad and PeeDee.

  15. My favourites were MINUTED, ENHANCEMENT (loi).

    I could not parse:

    9a rotor

    11a foot faults unless it was a cd

    15d smell a rat

    16d new towns

    thank you Vlad and Pee Dee

  16. Thanks Vlad and PeeDee.

    As ever a great challenge from Vlad.

    There’s a striking coincidence in one of the clues here and one of Picaroon’s yesterday.

  17. As a political junkie, I knew WHIPPER IN. It’s the origin of the term WHIP as used for parliamentary heavies who keep back benchers in order ( or attempt to!),and the order paper given to parliamentary party members indicating the importance of of supporting votes. This is done by underlining. Hence three line whip etc. I didnt parse this until way after the event. I also had trouble with CLAPPED OUT owing to initially having SMELT A RAT for 15dn. Liked PINKO and DIRECTLY.
    Thanks Vlad.

  18. Thank you Vlad and PeeDee.

    Very enjoyable, but was held up for a while having SMELT in 15d.  I put the apostrophe in ITS at 17, 14.

    Tried to parse 11a – “trip the light fantastic” came to mind, which one would do on the soles of one’s feet, “solely” for FOOT and “judges” = FAULTS.

  20. Bodge @8 totally agree with you. Took a look at today’s prize from Maskerade and did not understand the preamble either. It’s just a total turnoff, far too difficult to be fun. Please editor tell him to ease up, our old brains will burn out 🙂 🙂

    I smelt a rat with 15d when I twigged “clapped out”. Apart from that the puzzle was well clued. COD Lancaster.

    Thanks setter and bloggers.

  22. Thanks to PeeDee and Vlad

    I don’t want to be the picky one but a couple of things haven’t been mentioned:

    18a “Bond producer” = “Cement”

    16d Anagrind is “about”, wswenton is fodder

    Apart from 11a which I thought was a sort of vague waft at a CD, reminiscent of a Jason Roy attempt at a cover drive, this was a fine crossword.

  26. Thanks Vlad for popping in. I got the lovely tribute to Sir Alastair Cook almost first one in, so was never hampered really on 15d. Anyway thanks for a proper prize puzzle.

  28. Great stuff. Shame about 16d, but even I, no cricket fan, had heard of Brian Lara and didn’t need to know who Cook was, so the error was obvious (and I had seen warnings of a possible mistake in a clue).

    18a was very clever indeed.

    I second Dansar’s corrections.

  29. Sorry – not fair! Smelt A Rat is the only answer to Was suspicious. No wonder I couldn’t get Clapped Out. Curious mix this of clever and bizarre clueing. And I always hate clues which rely on one knowing about sport – grrr I know nothing of cricket (or any other sport) and I care less. I WISH compilers wouldn’t continue to make this assumption. Just because you like it does not mean we all have to.

  31. Jaydee – presumably if we can’t have sport in a crossword because you don’t like it then we can’t have politics in there either because there are people who don’t like that.  Or classical music, or pop music, or history, or TV, or film…

    What would be left when everything that someone dislikes has been excluded?

  32. Oh no – I didn’t want any special rules for me. How silly would that be! It was just wishful thinking. Having said that, Sil van den Hoek, yes – but never the sports pages.

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