Guardian Cryptic 27,924 by Philistine

by

Fun and funny – lots of favourites including 9ac, 14ac, 1dn, 5dn, 15dn, 18dn, and 22dn. Thanks to Philistine

Oh, and…

completed grid

Across
9 RABBINATE Talk covers an about-turn by the head of ecumenical religious office (9)
the position/office occupied by a rabbi
RABBIT=”Talk” around AN reversed; plus the head letter of Ecumenical
10 HORSE What’s in author’s envelope is fatal, if swallowed by an old lady (5)
the rhyme There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly [wiki] ends with a fatal swallowing of a horse
hidden in autHOR’S Envelope
11 SPINACH Leaves with story about making Cornish pasty (7)
I think this is SPIN=”story” + A (about) + C[ornis]H with “pasty” meaning thin i.e. emptied out
Thanks to TheZed: SPINACH “with story about” in a crossword clue would give (spinach + story)*, an anagram for “Cornish pasty”
12 OH MY GOD I am shocked with young and old extremists joining resistance unit (2,2,3)
extreme letters of YounG and OLD after OHM=unit of electrical resistance
13 THINE Slim figure at last is yours! (5)
THIN=”Slim” + last letter of figurE
14 NTH DEGREE High level of the gender problem (3,6)
(the gender)*
16 CINEMATOGRAPHER Open marriage initially helped to clean out film-maker (15)
(Open marriage h t c)*, where the last three letters are initials of Helped To Clean
19 SYCAMORES Talked about less healthy lands covered in heather, bracken and trees (9)
Homophone of: ‘sicker moors’=”less healthy lands covered in heather, bracken”
21 COLIC Stomach upset oddly not seen in school disco (5)
odd letters removed from sChOoL dIsCo
22 ARCHAIC Old broken chair engulfed by current (7)
(chair)* inside AC=alternating current
23 GUNROOM Brush round a French officers’ mess once (7)
=an officers’s mess on a naval vessel
GROOM=”Brush” around UN=”a [in] French”
24 E COLI What may be found in the gut in ulcerative colitis (1,4)
hidden in ulcerativE COLItis
25 ELEVEN MEN Jury may be missing one side (6,3)
=a side or team in e.g. football or cricket
a jury is twelve, so would be missing one at eleven
Down
1 BRASS TACKS Nitty-gritty of piles below underwear (5,5)
STACKS=”piles” after BRAS=”underwear”
2 OBLIVION Ignorance of Bach’s first violin playing (8)
first letters of Of Bach + (violin)*
3 LIGATE Academic abandons extravagant tie (6)
PROF=”Academic” leaving profLIGATE=”extravagant”
4 LASH Flog cash, reducing capital by 50% (4)
CASH, reducing C to L or 100 to 50 in Roman numerals
5 OESOPHAGUS A poo gushes out from this part of the digestive system (10)
(a poo gushes)*
6 CHIMAERA This man turned over region chasing ultimate in psychopathic monster (8)
HIM=”This man” + reversal/”turned over” of AREA=”region”; all chasing after the ultimate letter of psychopathiC
7 KRUGER Urge to break into the perimeter of Kashmir’s national park (6)
Kruger national park in South Africa
(urge)* inside the outer letters of KashmiR
8 SEED Grain yield report (4)
homophone/”report” of ‘cede’=”yield”
14 NUTCRACKER Something from Tchaikovsky for Brazil? (10)
Tchaikovsky wrote the music for the ballet The Nutcracker
“Brazil” as an example of a nut to be cracked
15 ENRICHMENT Rising affluence meant ‘China era’ not as planned (10)
(meant China era)*, minus all the “a-s” i.e. “not as”
17 MEMSAHIB Colonial address back in Nairobi has memories (8)
hidden reversed in NairoBI HAS MEMories
18 HALLOUMI One theologian upset over love for cheese (8)
I=”One” + MULLAH=”theologian” all reversed/”upset” around O=”love”
20 CUCKOO Copper and cook disrupted interloper (6)
CU=chemical symbol for “Copper” + (cook)*
21 CONVEX Curved kind of oven found in empty chateaux (6)
(oven)* in C[hateau]X
22 ABET Help N-Z? (4)
N-Z is the second half of the [alph]ABET
23 GLEE Delight at the start of ‘Gimme Shelter’ (4)
start of Gimme + LEE=”Shelter”

78 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 27,924 by Philistine”

  1. Thanks Philistine and manehi

    Very enjoyable, with the Nina the icing on the cake. I got off to a good start with ticks for my first two – BRASS TACKS (I always try ones which give me first letters) and OH MY GOD. HORSE was another favourite, much later on!

    I didn’t parse SPINACH or ABET (I tried ATOM first, without seeing a definition). I had an idea what was going on with ENRICHMENT, but couldn’t quite make that work either.

    Only weak point – E COLI, colitis and, indeed, COLIC all derive from the same root, “colon”.

  2. Some lovely clues from Philistine today. I particularly liked the “not as” device at 15d. So smooth I almost missed the Nina. I wonder if the crossword editor at the Grauniad did?

    Thnaks to Philistine and Manehi.

  3. An enjoyable and straightforward forward puzzle – apart from the two I didn’t parse – ENRICHMENT and ABET – both excellent clues now manehi has enlightened me. I also struggled to make SPINACH work and thought E COLI was a weak clue. Unlike muffin it took me a while to get BRASS TACKS which was one of several ticks. I didn’t see the nina – very clever. No excuses for not getting on with re-grouting the patio now! Thanks to Philistine and manehi.

  4. So many clever clues here – I love the discounted C to L, the N-Z, which hit me like a steam train, and the A-less anagram which was exceedingly neat. Like muffin @1, I thought the e-coli and colitis a little too close in etymology. If I were fussier about anagrinds, I’d say “kind of” for the oven was weak, but it’s all about the surface and the story for me so I really liked the clue.

    Many thanks Philistine, and manehi for the blog. I too struggled with spinach but then saw it is an anagram of “cornish pasty” minus “story”

  5. Quite tough but managed to finish with e-help. Loved 22. Not so keen on 24 because the ‘coli’ of ‘E coli’ means belonging to the colon – and colitis is inflammation of the colon, so double-dipping? I also wondered about 6 – I would have thought in a charade that if letters chased after another letter (the C) then the C should be at the end of the word? (I realise that ‘after’ is in there, so maybe that’s it?). Anyway, I’m being picky, and I might also get corrected by future posters! – good crossword – thanks Philistine and Manehi.

  7. to clarify re “spinach” @4 btw – the clues is saying that the answer, together with “story” and then anagrammed (“about”) gives “cornish pasty” if I wasn’t clear.

  8. Absolutely top notch.  Missed the nina but agree with muffin it was the icing on the gateaux or torta, for our European FRIENDS.  I loved the reverse hidden clue of MEMSAHIB and as ever marvelled at the setters skill at finding such things, but I think HALLOUMI and OESOPHAGUS were my favourites with a wince at the fodder of the latter!!  We are, you know, very fortunate to have setters of the calibre of Philistine, Arachne and the Don, all in the same week with probably Paul tomorrow or Saturday.  OK Imogen was not to everyone’s taste but it was still a damn good crossie.  My thanks to Philistine for a cracker and manehi for helping with several I could not entirely parse

  14. Thanks, manehi, for a great blog of a super puzzle. What SPanza says @8, really.

    I suppose you all know this Yorkshire joke – which I think Philistine must have heard. 😉 Huge thanks to him, as ever, for a brilliant start to the day.

     

  15. Pottered happily through, filled the grid, with half an ear listening to the politics, and looking forward to The Oval, and once again not casting an eye over and so missing the lovely and glaring nina, and some of the parsings. Vaguely thinking spin (story) a ch (a + crust of Cornish) d’oh; recoiling at the ghastly imagery of 5d, and somewhat less so at that of 1d. Very clever puzzle, thanks both, must pay more attention in class!

  19. Fantastic puzzle, 15 was excellent, not so keen on cASH for lASH and held myself up by entering a speculative ‘small’ at the start of 1d and leaving it there.

    Many thanks to Philistine and manehi.

    p.s. started at 16 and was half hoping for a Paul Simon theme, settled for having Graceland as the musical accompaniment.

  20. Great crossword. The device in 15 is ingenious, the hidden reverse in 17 with its surface reading charming, 1 down very funny and the Nina superb!

    Loved the joke too so thanks to Philistine, Manehi and Eileen

  21. Very enjoyable as it slowly unfolded, although I could not parse SPINACH  or ABET –  which I still do not understand. Can someone explain to me, please.

    I had many favourites: OESOPHAGUS, CINEMATOGRAPHER, NUTCRACKER, HALLOUMI, OH MY GOD, CHIMAERA, ENRICHMENT, LIGATE, NTH DEGREE.

    Thank you Philistine + manehi

    Note: I didn’t notice the phrase at top and botom of the grid!

  23. Thanks TheZed for the parsing of SPINACH

    @michelle: the letters from N to Z are the second half of the alphabet, so “N-Z” gives ‘the second half of the letters of [alph]ABET’… or ‘alphabet, with the first half removed’ in case that makes it clearer.

  24. michelle @22 “n-z” is the second half of the alphabet. The second half of the word “alphabet” is “abet”. Definition is “help”. Cunning!

  27. Thanks both. A truly excellent crossword. OESOPHAGUS was brilliant and I just had to tell my doctor when I saw him this morning. All these excellent clues plus a NINA as well!

  28. Completely missed the nina, which would definitely helped with the last few in the NW corner. A very enjoyable puzzle

    Thanks to Philistine and manehi

  29. When OESOPHAGUS followed hard on the heels of COLIC and E. COLI, I thought we might be in for a medical theme or – worse – a gross biological one (as grantinfreo @15 points out, the associated imagery for 5d can be ghastly). It reminded me, however, of the late, great Araucaria, so I went to see how he had clued it, and I was pleased to find that Philistine’s cluing was greatly original. One of my favourites today, anyway.

    Also failed to parse SPINACH, but TheZed @4 makes it appear obvious. And the nina went right past me.

    Thanks today are owed to Philistine for some fine clues, manehi and TheZed for the parsing, and Eileen for the jokes.

  30. Thanks especially for the NINA. 2dn OBLIVION of course means FORGETFULNESS and not IGNORANCE. OBLIVIOUS OF means HAVING FORGOTTEN.

  31. This was great – smiles all the way through.  Lots of ticks – the best was probably OESOPHAGUS, but a close second was the lovely 23d GLEE.  Eileen: yes I thought of that joke too when solving 13a!  I didn’t spot the nina but it just adds to the fun in retrospect.

    Crossbencher @30: Chambers includes “raptly or absent-mindedly unaware” for “oblivious”.

    Many thanks Philistine and manehi.

  34. As far as I thought I knew, OBLIVIOUS means “unaware”. So you can know something, but not be able to recall it right now. OBLIVION would be  a state of complete unawareness – eg sleep, or the condition brought on by anaesthetics or sedatives during surgery. During surgery, you don’t become ignorant, do you? But yeah, my braincells starting twitching when trying to process that one…

     

  35. The second time this week the Nina has come to the aid of the solver.

    A good work-out with some difficult parsing, especially ABET which went in from the def. Wish I’d seen it. I’m not usually a great fan of homophones, but I liked the “sicker moors” for 19a and the old ‘C’ to ‘L’ 50% capital reduction at 4d.

    Thanks to Philistine and manehi

  36. If you want something else to solve now, try the quiptic.  It is 20 years old today and one of the original setters Hectence has set a fine example for us.

  37. manehi, TheZed, and Dave Ellison

    thank you!

    I had entered ABET = help, but could not understand the parsing in the blog. I get it now.

  38. Oh dear! We didn’t spot the nina – as usual – and so ended up with BASH instead of LASH. But very enjoyable otherwise. We parsed SPINACH as manehi did originally, but agree TheZed’s clever and economical improvement. OESOPHAGUS was a great Paul-y clue. Thanks to setter and blogger for a pleasant lunchtime solve.

  39. Thanks for sorting out SPINACH which I couldn’t parse and CINEMATOGRAPHER which was just too much like hard work! Very enjoyable, thanks Philistine.

  40. I made time for this one and was very glad that I did. I got off to a cracking start with the long one, and other long ones followed, but I had to think about them all.
    I didn’t parse SPINACH properly and was very interested to read the discussion above about that one.
    I got ABET because I have seen that device before, with both ABET and ATOM (as mentioned by muffin @1). Very neat, though.
    Overall, this was right up my canal, although I have probably had enough of ECOLI, COLIC and OESOPHAGUS for today.
    Many thanks to Philistine and manehi.

  41. Eileen @14…I’m sure all the Yorkshiremen l know (to whom l have sent these jokes to remind them of their heritage ?) will love this, e bah gum!

    Good puzzle from Philistine, shows his medical and other roots.

  42. Thanks manehi – I had missed the topical message as well as half the alph-ABET, having spent a while trying to get a-m in there somehow.
    Thanks to Philistine for a fun, ingenious, diverse and fair set of clues. I think the ‘not as’ device in 15, and the unusual NTH in 14 were my favourites, while E COLI wasn’t that well hidden. And yes, “B to B” indeed!

  43. Thank you to Philistine and Manehi.

    Nothing to add except to say this was enormous fun.

    Didn’t spot the Nina until I read this blog. Doubled the pleasure – really needed in these times.

  44. Brilliant.  Not particularly difficult, but a very satisfying solve with perfect parsing.  And no, I never saw the top line / bottom line message at all!!

  46. SPINACH was too hard for me. I thought SPIN was the story and I got two of the other three letters from the crossers so really a guess. LIGATE was brilliant but it took me a while.
    I echo the sentiments of the NINA but I didn’t see it sadly.
    Thanks Philistine.

  47. Have to say that the assumption that solvers will enjoy the nina is arrogant. I know it’s the Grauniad, but I’m not alone in being a long term reader of the paper who voted Leave, and find the constant attacks on Brexit tedious

  48. If memory serves this was my first Philistine.  But it comes after many Goliaths (in the FT).  I got ABET easily but needed help for GUNROOM and LASH.  A fine puzzle, I think.  Thank you Philistine and manehi.  And hear, hear to the Nina!

  49. Stupidly missed the Nina but saw it referenced on twitter. Excellent, made my day!!
    Many thanks philistine and manehi.

  50. Thanks to Philistine and manehi.

    Great fun at many levels. No complaints and many ticks with NTH DEGREE a favourite. Needed help with some parsings not least ABET, which made me blush a little.

  51. A glorious crossword – made even more so by a magnificent nina! A thousand hear-hears to the nina’s sentiments and a thousand thanks to Philistine!!

  52. Lots of fun.  I had TWELVE MEN at 25 initially, thinking it was a CD, before NUTCRACKER put me straight.  I had a very slightly different reading of 2 as O’ (poetic of) + B (Bach’s first) + (VIOLIN)*.  Favourites were SPINACH, HORSE, ENRICHMENT and LIGATE.

    Personally, I loved the Nina.  Pity I didn’t spot it while solving.

    Thanks, manehi and Phil

  53. As it’s late. I hope that I’ll be forgiven for mentioning the song which the word CINEMATOGRAPHER always evokes for me: Paul Simon’s “I Know What I Know'”, with amazing black backing singers.   I can’t remember which cinematographer he was referring to.

    See

    https://youtu.be/4w3CBdLfGqw

     

  54. COD MEMSAHIB as the surface is actually true here in Kenya. Most Indians have left Kenya and only a few remain. Thanks Philistine for a cracker of a puzzle.

  55. I should have said “amazing black musicians (especially Ray Phiri), singers and dancers.  The cinematographer: Woody Allen?

  58. A work of art this one. I regret I missed so much of the magic, despite solving the grid. Particularly SPINACH, which I had as spin + a + ch, where pasty was some sort of ‘empty out’ flag for Cornish.

  59. @R P Dutt What’s arrogant is the assumption that there’s an assumption that you’ll enjoy the message. You’ve already caused a massive increase in hate crime, removed millions of people’s rights and wrecked an economy, can you just be satisfied with that and let the rest of us enjoy a crossword?

    Brilliant Nina and an enjoyable crossword – the only one I couldn’t parse was LASH but I guessed it. Thanks Philistine.

  61. I think Philistine is so creative and witty, while still remaining precise – really excellent

    Jellyroll – yes I googled bunroom to see if that was a thing! GLEE soon sorted that out though (great clue). Very smug at getting ABET, failed on SPINACH and still can’t think about the poo coming out without a childish grin

  62. R P Dutt@47 – Bravo!

    [Robin@59, Dan@60 – oh! dear…how unnecessarily aggressive, and rude. R P Dutt was neither. There is little as unedifying as a sore loser…]
    As for the Nina, it is wrong to insult over half the voters (as well as developing countries’ coffee growers, sugar growers &c – and the vast numbers of unemployed, homeless youth in southern Europe etc. I could understand the Duke of Westminster loving the Nina given all he trousers from the CAP. But would have thought there would be some more genuinely left wing commenters here who would find the Nina intolerable. I have to assume that Philistine is another more concerned about his own wishes than respecting democracy.

  63. ….Shame, because this was a very well crafted puzzle which I’d have found far more enjoyable without the unnecessary (and uncouth, in my view) injection of politics. Never come across such before; will it be religious zealotry next? To be kind, perhaps the crossword editor either missed it or was never taught the common courtesy of avoiding discussion of politics and religion in environments where decent people would avoid base provocations.

  64. If Philistine’s Nina is the first time you’ve seen political views expressed in a crossword, you must be very new to the hobby. Searching for “Trump” (or indeed “Boris” or “Brexit”) on this blog reveals any number of cheeky surfaces that are less than complimentary about world leaders.

    I’d also gently point out that there’s a difference between voting for Brexit in 2016, as around a third of the electorate did, and continuing to support it in 2019 now that the reality is known. If you have no issue with risking the scenario described in Operation Yellowhammer but find a mildly crude Nina intolerable, that says far more about you than about Philistine.

    Thanks to Philistine and Manehi.

  67. In July 2018, Tyrus’ crossword in The Independent had a clear dig at ‘our’ current PM and I think Philistine’s is only second nina (I’ve seen in the dailies – we’re not talking about Private Eye) in that sense that expressed a strong opinion.

    I do not disagree with Philistine as such but I don’t think I would ever use a crossword to tell the world my view of what’s happening at the moment in this country.
    While I do not side with R P Dutt @47 (and William F P in later posts) politically, I do agree with them that the nina is inappropriate, even knowing that this is The Guardian.

    When I am writing this it is almost time last Saturday’s Picaroon blog goes online.
    Picaroon is a brilliant setter and a favourite but I really think he shouldn’t have written 8d.
    From a cryptic POV excellent but the surface is over the top.
    I am sure, though, it will give many solvers lots of smiles.

    A few years ago, I wrote a clue (with a controversial non-political opinion in it) that I sent to Monk.
    It wasn’t a very good clue but he made clear to me that I should be careful with these things.
    I think he was right, I didn’t forget what he said and so, although the crosswords of my alter ego thus far often contain political surfaces, these are never far off the centre grounds of politics.

    ps, the crossword itself was nice. More a typical Philistine than a special one, we thought.

  68. I accept van Winkle’s point.

    Robin@59,66 – Actually, I’ve solved them all (save the 2018 Knut which passed me by, sadly) and taken no exception. It is true that I’ve been unfair to Philestine; I hope the many statements of praise and thanks I’ve made here before will help him to forgive me!
    In fact, I hadn’t expected to comment on this puzzle – until I saw your vicious onslaught. I’ve read all the Guardian threads here for most of the last decade and don’t recall an ad hominem attack – as yours @59 – more unworthy of (and irrelevant to) this site. What an appalling thing – to accuse someone of causing hate crime etc. simply because he has the temerity to express a (majority) view at odds to yours.
    In your scurrying to wrong assumptions, I fear you didn’t read my point correctly.
    But now I’ve taken another look, perhaps I should have been more forceful; I most certainly think you should apologise to R P Dutt for your disgraceful, baseless remarks – at the very least.

  69. Sil – many thanks for your support; I’ve been solving cryptics consistently for over fifty years and though I’ve encountered (and enjoyed) many clever politically based puzzles/clues (Arachne can be quite brilliant, even the dear Rev liked a little politicking) like you I’ve never encountered such egregious sloganeering before! Sil, dear Sil, please don’t presume to know my politics (which, as I’ve attempted to assiduously explain, is better kept out of this site!), though I found the referendum a much more ambivalent consideration than one would think from all the views expressed now. Indeed, the result might have saddened me – but I know the meaning of acceptance, and have subsequently been made even sadder by the inability of some to accept the result and so I make a point of playing Devil’s advocate whenever I can, as here.

    By the weirdest of coincidences (isn’t life funny that way?) just yesterday I printed off my first ever Dalibor!! (the one whose first clue mentions Burt Lancaster…)

  70. [Sil – on your other point (Picaroon’s prize of last week), I must confess I’ve been so busy that I rattled through it quickly and the surface of PASTERNAK didn’t really register. But a great clue (my favourite – BIOGRAPHER – but possibly not original?). But a specific political slogan highlighted Ninawise is less easy to miss. (It’s after midnight so I shan’t be told off by Sir Gaufrid for discussing the Picaroon, though he may not be looking in as I feel that on other occasions he might have moderated that nasty comment by Robin@59….)

    Being busy, I probably won’t look at your puzzle for a few days – I want to try it when I’ve time to take my time – if you see what I mean?!]

  72. Dan @71

    What an apt, good-humoured and all-embracing way of closing the debate – appreciated by this non-participant.

  73. I didn’t spot the nina either; I personally appreciated it when it popped up on my facebook page today(!), although I can understand the concerns expressed here.  (The app makes it almost impossible to see the whole grid at one time, thus making such nina very difficult to spot.)

    For 23d, I too reckoned the clue clearly gave “glee”, but the app was forcing me to have it as “ghee” which doesn’t fit at all.

  74. I’m not sure it’s wise to take issue with someone as seemingly powerful as @47.

    What prompted them to reek such carnage I wonder? Were they rebuffed by a young flamenco dancer, served a bad pint of Guinness or a dodgy kleftiko?

    I hope the local pizza parlour is up to scratch.

  75. Have you actually read Robin’s comment @59? Has one of you ever seen such a nasty personal attack on this site? And ‘Dan’ really liked it. Should not, for the sake of fifteensquared, such a personal be defended? Or is it wiser to attack that defender. I guess that’s disregarding decency as well as democracy. Or would you walk past someone receiving a beating in the street – just because they (a) had the bad luck to not be on the losing side and (b) made a polite statement to redress a balance? If that reflects the view of those who lost, I almost wish I’d voted with the winners!

    [Alan B@72 – the clue was not good humoured at all, and not original, though not unacceptable here. The comment I defended was unacceptable.

    “Primarily dim and nasty (3)”]

  76. WFP @75

    [I actually thought the wordplay in the ‘clue’ was crafted rather well, and it could have been addressed to anyone ‘for whom the cap fits’.  That’s what I meant by ‘all-embracing’, which was perhaps too succinct.  I also thought the debate had run its course.  Your clue was easier to solve, and as subtle as the original (i.e. not very!)]

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