Guardian 27,911 / Crucible

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It’s a while since I blogged a puzzle from Crucible, who has long been one of my top favourites, so it was good to find this one on another sunny morning.

The last time, I missed the theme and I have a nasty feeling there may be one lurking here. According to beery hiker’s statistics, this is Crucible’s 100th puzzle but I haven’t been able to spot any reference to that – but then I managed to miss Nutmeg’s hidden message in her centenary puzzle last month!

Anyway, here we have Crucible on customary form – meticulously precise and witty cluing, with lovely surfaces and a nice variety of clue types, producing a very enjoyable puzzle. Many thanks – and congratulations! – Crucible.

Definitions are underlined in the clues.

Across

1 Senior ministers start to carp somewhat about Tyneside (7)
CABINET
C[arp] + A BIT [somewhat] round NE [North East – Tyneside]

5 American city wife meets businessman for some action (7)
LAWSUIT
LA [Los Angeles – American city] + W [wife] + SUIT [businessman – for some?]

10 Hull husband abandons hunt (4)
CASE
C[h]ASE [hunt, minus h {husband}]

11 Dynamic, inspiring Conservative states case (10)
ACCUSATIVE
ACTIVE [dynamic] round C [Conservative] + USA [states]

12 A drink involving big cups makes sense (4,2)
ADDS UP
A SUP [drink] round DD [big {bra} cups]

13 Northern bloke invested in diamonds, for example (8)
INSTANCE
N [Northern] STAN [bloke] in ICE [diamonds] – Stan seems a nice blokey kind of name

14 After setback, English teacher made error at Rugby (7,2)
KNOCKED ON
KNOCK [setback] + E [English] DON [teacher]

16 Screen caller, picking out just what’s needed (5)
VISOR
VIS[it]OR [caller] minus ‘it’ – just what’s needed

17 Purpose at home? Cutting grass (5)
POINT
IN [at home] in POT [grass – both slang for cannabis]

19 Smart one from Peebles tracks fraud (9)
CHICANERY
CHIC [smart] + ANE [Scottish – ‘from Peebles‘ – for ‘one’] + RY [railway tracks]

23 E-number? Notice it in unpleasant joint (8)
ADDITIVE
AD [notice] + IT in DIVE [unpleasant joint]

24 Idea‘s impracticable without one (6)
NOTION
NOT ON [impracticable] round I [one]

26 Translate an edition about whiskey everywhere (10)
NATIONWIDE
An anagram [translate] of AN EDITION round W [whiskey – NATO alphabet]

27 Gang of backsliding yobs arrested, having broken this? (4)
ASBO
Another hidden reversal [backsliding] : yOBS Arrested : ASBO = Anti-Social Behaviour Order, which has become something of a crossword stand-by and each time it has appeared I have mentioned the late and still-lamented Linda Smith’s remark, which you can find in this amusing article

28 Dickens clink, ordinary version of it holding 500 (3,4)
OLD NICK
O [ordinary] + an anagram [version] of CLINK round D [500]
Dickens and OLD NICK are both names for the devil and a Dickens clink could be an old nick [prison] – clever clue

29 Check power in Beetle perhaps (7)
INSPECT
P [power] in INSECT [Beetle perhaps]

Down

2 A bishop with touching lack of restraint (7)
ABANDON
A B [a bishop] + AND [with] + ON [touching]

3 Upset friends met indoors, some of them couples (5)
ITEMS
A hidden reversal [upset]: friendS MET Indoors

4 13‘s old enough (7)
EXAMPLE
EX [old] + AMPLE [enough] – the answer to 13ac is INSTANCE

6 Judge Jenny? (6)
ASSESS
Jenny is the name for a female donkey, so, whimsically, an ASSESS

7 No one is controlling tense revolutionary state (9)
SITUATION
A reversal [revolutionary] of NO I [no one] IS round [controlling] TAUT [tense]

8 Where there’s nothing to cook coq au vin? No question (2,5)
IN VACUO
An anagram [to cook] of CO[q] AU VIN, minus q [question]

9 He and I twice wrestled with NHS Prozac complaint (13)
SCHIZOPHRENIA
An anagram [wrestled] of HE + I I + NHS PROZAC

15 Proviso concerning speech about to take precedence (9)
CONDITION
ON [concerning] in DICTION [speech] with the C [about] moved to the beginning [to take precedence]

18 Weird old dance captivates daughters (7)
ODDBALL
O [old] + BALL [dance] round DD [daughers]

20 New place to start hole in jail’s cafeteria (7)
CANTEEN
N [new] + TEE [place to start hole, in golf] in CAN [jail]

21 Greek character, doctor in charge of lozenge (7)
RHOMBIC
RHO [Greek character] + MB [doctor] + IC [in charge]

22 Every so often pair can pinch a piece of cake (6)
PICNIC
Alternate letters [every so often] of PaIr CaN pInCh

25 March split up crossing mountain top (5)
TRAMP
A reversal [up] of PART [split] round M[ountain]

37 comments on “Guardian 27,911 / Crucible”

  2. Thanks Eileen. I thought there might be a legal theme, with LAWSUIT, CASE, ASBO and perhaps ASSESS, but there doesn’t seem to be much else.  (There’s also the grimly appropriate CABINET CHICANERY…)

    Odd that 11a has “case” in the clue, immediately having the same word as the answer to 10a. I’m surprised Crucible didn’t make it a cross-reference.

     

  4. Andrew @2 I also noted that and thought it was a bit disappointing as the rest of the puzzle was beautifully constructed. There were some lovely misdirections – a businessman being a “suit” but “diamonds” being “ice”, and even “for example” in that same clue. I wondered with “tramp” if there was something about the mass trespass at Kinderscout which eventually led to the founding of the National Parks 70 years ago, but nothing more came of that either!

    Thank you Eileen for the blog – as meticulous as Crucible’s puzzle, for which also my thanks.

  5. I’m thinking that CASE@11a links a lot of the answers, although some might be a bit of a stretch. LAWSUIT, ACCUSATIVE, EXAMPLE, SITUATION;  CANTEEN (case of cutlery); INSPECT & ASSESS (as in “case the joint”); an ODDBALL could be referred to as ” a bit of a case”; SCHIZOPHRENIA as a medical case; CABINET (bookcase).

    Thanks to Crucible & Eileen.

  8. I didn’t understand the Peebles reference either, but got CHICANERY at 19a from the crossers and seeing CHIC.

    Most likeable solves for me were 28a OLD NICK, 6d ASSESS and 9d SCHIZOPHRENIA.

    The CASES were well spotted, Niltac@5and 6.

    Thanks as ever to Crucible and Eileen.

  9. Yes Niltac, I knew there was something but couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Excellent puzzle. And great blog as always from Eileen.

  10. Andrew @ 2 As well as case appearing as clue and answer consecutively, we have example being given away in the cross referenced 4and 13. Otherwise great fun, though for me, not as much fun as yesterday’s 25 down 🙂

  11. Well sussed out Nitac, passed me by totally. Pretty smooth offering, no write-in but nothing too hot, from the Crucible. 1ac foi and the NW rattled in, then the SE, with the SW a bit slower and then the NE, visor loi. Didn’t know the ABSO acronym, and Dickens for the devil surfaced slowly although I’m sure he’s been around in the not-too-distant. Oddball took a while too, for some reason, whereas the Scots ane came straight to mind; brains have minds of their own! And I didn’t get the anagram bit of that Dickens clue, vaguely thinking ordinary as in colloquial, so Ol’ Nick around ‘d’; d for d’oh, nothing vague with this setter. So thanks and congrats to him and thanks to you Eileen.

  12. Thank you Crucuble for an intriguing puzzle, and congratulations on your 100th, and thank you Eileen for the blog.

    Well spotted Niltac @5 – I could not get the proroguing of Parliament out of my mind while solving.

  14. Thanks to Crucible and Eileen for the entertainment.

    Had to come buy for quite a bit of parsing, not least PICNIC which I couldn’t spot at all.  Nice one.

    29 clues in this one, X100 gives going on for 3,000 clues: much congratulations. Have only once essayed a crossword set; result: 1 down.

  17. I found this quite an unusual solve for me. At one point I had all the left hand side in, but nothing at all in the left. I do not know why now, because once I got stuck in it unpacked quite readily, with situation the last in (though I needed Eileen’s help with the parsing). Assess and adds up made me smile, and thanks to Crucible for a nice puzzle and Eileen for the blog.

    Ps I have started buying the new i paper which has historic Independent cryptics in it, and only costs 65p. Yesterday was Radian therefore two Crucibles in a row for me.

  18. I always have trouble on Scottish references. Peebles for me is Ann Peebles-firmly lodged in my excuse for a  brain with “I cant stand the rain” so no wonder I had trouble parsing it

    Got a bit of a legal flavour with this puzzle.

    Thanks all.

  19. I liked POINT.

    I could not parse:

    ANE in Chicanery

    TUAT in SITUATION

    ASSESS

    Thanks B+S.

     

    Gerald @16 – today’s news seems quite shocking.

  20. I hate the fact that 4d references 13a, but 13a clueing actually contains the answer to 4d. Sloppy IMHO.

  21. An enjoyable puzzle, probably at the easier end of Crucible’s range.

    Thanks to Crucible (and welcome to the 100 club) and Eileen

  22. Alphalpha @14 – not a bad estimate – the actual figure is 2844. The 3000-clue club is more exclusive, and its next member will almost certainly be Nutmeg (2940). She will join Rufus, Paul, Araucaria, Gordius, Chifonie, Shed, Pasquale, Brummie, Orlando, Brendan, Picaroon, Bunthorne, Puck, Arachne, Rover, Quantum and Taupi.

  24. Classy puzzle from a class act. Thoroughly enjoyable.
    Well done, Niltac, for cracking the “case”! I suppose we can add case in POINT as another theme reference.
    Thanks, Eileen and congrats, Crucible.

  25. An ODDBALL NOTION: NATIONWIDE CABINET CHICANERY ADDS UP to ACCUSATIVE LAWSUIT EXAMPLE. Or is that SCHIZOPHRENIA?

  26. I came to this so late that I wasn’t going to bother posting but I enjoyed this so much I thought I had to. That said, I didn’t see the theme but there were so many goodies here-especially ASSESS- that I can’t say I’m bothered..Great fun.
    Ah Copmus,I,too,thought of Ann Peebles when solving 19dn and ‘ I can’t stand the rain’ has become an agreeable earworm.
    Thanks Crucible.

  27. beery hiker@22: Thanks for that (if I may make so bold as to offer thanks in these strange times).  I’m not sure how you know these things, but I notice that you are a constant point of reference for all matters cross-worthy and should be given the opportunity to take the occasional bikkie from the barrel. Huzzah! I say.

  29. I have never heard of Ann Peebles. Some of the citizens of Peebles and, by extension, of the Scottish Borders have quite a strong accent. As well as “ane” for “one” they also say “twae” for “two” I think.

  30. Thanks to Eileen and Crucible

    What a smashing puzzle.

    I have only one query: is the def at 3d simply “couples”?

  32. Dansar @30

    I agree with you. Though “some of them” may possibly be read to qualify the answer (couples), the phrase is essential to the cryptic part of the clue.

  35. A late posting to say thanks for the blog Eileen. I also have Crucible as a favourite setter and was well beaten by this one yesterday – but looking at it here it is an excellent puzzle with nothing particularly tricky so I see it as great setting and not so great solving. Thanks to Crucible as well of course.

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