Guardian Cryptic 27,947 by Picaroon

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A quick solve…

… helped by a theme in the across clues, which [other than 12ac itself] are all TRADEMARKS that are commonly used as generic names for items of that type e.g. Velcro for ‘hook and loop’ fastenings.

Favourites were 9ac, 11ac, 18ac, 3dn, 14dn, and 20dn. Thanks to Picaroon

Across
5 VELCRO Cover tailored clothing line in clingy material (6)
(Cover)* around L (line)
6 GOOGLE Look up and try salacious look (6)
GO=”try” + OGLE=”salacious look”
9 HOOVER Inhabitant of the White House is a sucker (6)
Herbert Hoover the US president; and the vacuum cleaner
10 TARGA TOP Engineer got a part for car’s roof (5,3)
=a removable roof section for convertible cars, originally seen in the Porsche 911 Targa
(got a part)*
11 BIRO Writer‘s life includes reading or writing (4)
“Writer” as in a pen
BIO=biography, “life”; around R as “reading” and “writing” are part of the ‘Three R’s’
12 TRADEMARKS Deal with old currency symbols that are put across here (10)
TRADE=”Deal” + MARKS=”old currency” as in Deutsche Marks
13 ELASTOPLAST Dressing earl, repeatedly endure dressing work (11)
=a dressing for a wound
E (earl) + LAST LAST=”repeated endure” around OP=”work”
18 TUPPERWARE Boxes for food or water spiked with drug in (10)
(water)* with UPPER=”drug” inside
21 COLT Two officers showing gun (4)
CO (Commanding Officer) + LT (Lieutenant)
22 CATSEYES Musical note fine for reflective pieces (8)
CATS= the Lloyd-Webber “Musical” + E=musical “note” + YES=”fine”
23 SKIDOO Small child loves snowmobile (6)
S (Small) + KID=”child” + O O=”loves”, as O=zero=”love” in tennis
24 TARMAC Rating coat as outdoor covering (6)
TAR=sailor=”Rating”, a class of sailor; plus MAC=macintosh “coat”
25 POST-IT Brief note after sex (4-2)
POST=”after” + IT=”sex”
Down
1 OLIVE OIL We’re told sailor’s girlfriend may be dressing (5,3)
sounds like ‘Olive Oyl’, Popeye the sailor’s girlfriend – per the [wiki] entry, “Not to be confused with Olive oil“
2 DRY ROT Decay of politician with spin doctor at first (3,3)
TORY=”politician” reversed/”with spin”; with DR (doctor) going first
3 DOORBELL Chicks raised wing as indicator of arrival (8)
BROOD=”Chickens” reversed/”raised” + ELL=a “wing” perpendicular to the rest of a building, creating an ‘L’ shape
4 IGUANA Lizard, one climbing in South American region (6)
GUIANA=”South American region”, with the I or “one” climbing to the top
5 VIOLIN Fiddle with stuffing for ravioli noodles (6)
Hidden in raVIOLI Noodles
7 E-BOOKS Caution entering covers of egregious texts (1-5)
BOOK=e.g. give a footballer a yellow card=”Caution”, inside the covering outer letters of EgregiouS
8 STRATOPAUSE Rock star to rest in atmospheric zone (11)
=the outer boundary of the statosphere
(Star)* with “Rock” as anagrind; plus TO PAUSE=”to rest”
14 SPRAY CAN Means of painting bridge, covering beam roughly (5,3)
SPAN=”bridge”, around: RAY=”beam” and C (circa)=”roughly”
15 SACRISTY Changing room is icy, star’s shivering (8)
(icy star’s)*
16 AU LAIT Outspoken Iberian’s approval for cafe style (2,4)
=meaning ‘with milk’
homophone/”Outspoken” of ‘Olé’=”Iberian’s approval”
17 ALL OUT Determined to find no one at home? (3-3)
as in an ‘all out effort’; with “no one at home” as a more indirect definition
19 PASTRY Raised energy, endeavour and turnover, say (6)
SAP=”energy” reversed/”raised”; plus TRY=”endeavour”
20 EUSTON Country club’s fashion stop in capital (6)
Euston is an Undergound “stop” in London=”capital”
EU’S=”Country club’s” + TON=French borrowing meaning ‘tone’, ‘taste’, “fashion”

*anagram

47 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 27,947 by Picaroon”

  1. Mostly straightforward but STRATOPAUSE and TARGA TOP were both new to me, and there are a few parsings that needed thought.

    Thanks to manehi and Picaroon

  2. The theme helped with ELASTOPLAST and TARGA TOP (new to me also) as was STRATOPAUSE where I gave up without getting the PAUSE bit so a dnf by half a clue.
    Good fun – and I wonder whether it was compiled in response to comments in the past about he use of brand names?
    Thanks to Picaroon and manehi.

  3. Thanks Picaroon and manehi

    I didn’t see the theme, of course – TRADEMARKS was LOI, with the definition puzzling me. My excuse is that I did it in two sittings, interrupted by a fruitless attempt to play golf.

    I didn’t know GUIANA (I only know GUYANA, from WI cricket) or SAP for “energy” (still a bit puzzled – it seems to mean “drain of energy”?), and I didn’t spot “Country’s club” to give the EU in EUSTON.

    Favourites were CATSEYES for the misdirection, and AU LAIT for an amusing homophone that actually works!.

  4. I wonder if anyone here had heard of TARGA TOP before. Certainly not me.There’s probably not a huge intersection between Porsche owners and crossword solvers. Good fun, so thanks Picaroon & manehi.

  7. I too hadn’t heard of a Targa top or a stratopause but the clues were helpful.

    Thanks to Picaroon for an otherwise fairly easy brain workout, given that the theme became obvious even before solving 12a, and to manehi for the blog

  8. This was so enjoyable to solve. I had many favourites: POST-IT (will always think of Post-it notes in this way from now on!), ELASTOPLAST, CATSEYES, SPRAY CAN, TARMAC, AU LAIT, TUPPERWARE (ah, the good old days before single-use plastic containers appeared), and EUSTON (loi).

    New for me was ELL = wing.
    Thank you Picaroon and manehi.

  9. muffin @3. Sap as a verb means “drain of sap” where sap can mean “energy”. My Chambers only gives the EL spelling for the wing.

  10. muffin@3:SAP here refers to that of a plant, used figuratively. I guess that it’s used as a verb in the same way as ‘bone’ means remove bones.

  12. Thanks for the blog, manehi. I’d add 22ac and 15 and 16dn to your favourites, but, as usual with this setter, there was not a dud clue to be seen.

    I hadn’t heard of TARGA TOP or STRATOPAUSE, either.

    muffin @3 [and Hovis and PeterM @9 and 10] I had the same thought about ‘sap’ but both Collins and Chambers give two distinct meanings of it: I. ‘vital fluid’, hence ‘energy or vigour’; 2. ‘noun a deep and narrow trench*, used to approach or undermine an enemy position and verb to undermine [a fortification etc] by digging saps’ – which is what sappers do!

    Many thanks to Picaroon for the fun.

  14. I liked it all but couldn’t get 8d STRATOPHASE – kept trying to fit in STRATOSPHERE! So like WK@2, I missed out on finishing by a smidgen.
    My faves have been mentioned – like michelle@8, I thought 25a POST-IT was very memorable! I also liked 23a SKIDOO. I was like muffin@6, as I got 10a TARGA TOP as my first one – not that I knew Targa other than as the name of a road race here in Tasmania – but I solved it just from the anagram.
    Thanks to Picaroon for his “trademark” entertainment, and to manehi for the blog.

  15. Way off the pace today. Had no trouble about sap as energy but still stared dumbly at the last five in the SW, with no idea of the theme, despite a fleeting ‘surely that’s a brand’ at skidoo; talk about slow! Ole (can’t do accents) is cute for au lait, as was upper in water*, and rayc for beam roughly. Skull and Crossbones had the better of me, and thanks Manehi.

  16. Like others, new terms for me too in STRATOPAUSE and TARGA TOP, but wordplay helped with both. I took a while to twig to the theme, although in retrospect it’s obvious.

    I’m not usually a fan of homophones, but I liked olé / AU LAIT, which tricked me until I had all the crossers. The surface for HOOVER was also very good, with the current incumbent coming to mind of course.

    Thanks to Picaroon and manehi

  17. Thanks both,
    Finished, without spotting the theme as per. Didn’t know ‘ell’ but the rest were familiar. 18 and 22 were very good.

  19. Missed the theme by solving too quickly and not looking back! Stratopause was LOI and new to me. I knew of the Porsche Targa so semi-guessed it must be right (2nd one in after Olive Oil). I thought “ell” might be a way of writing “l” as in “left wing” (a wing will be left or right) and found it a bit of a stretch, but the rest was immaculate.

    Thanks to manehi for the blog, and Picaroon for a most enjoyable puzzle…good to exercise the brain after a morning fixing things round the house and garden!

  20. Thank you Picaroon and manehi.

    I was another who finished without spotting the theme even though the TRADEMARKS had me wondering. Well spotted gladys @18, I had to google that, perhaps 13 for ELASTOPLAST was also intended.

  21. Chambers actually gives “same as el” as definition 2 of ELL. Clever bit of compiling. Very enjoyable.

     

  22. Fairly easy Picaroon this; due mainly to the rather silly theme which made all the across clues pretty much write-ins. That is except for SKIDOO which I had to guess.  Some lovely misdirection such as EUSTON, CATSEYES, and my favourite if all SACRISTY.  Many thanks Picaroon and manehi.

  23. Copland @21. My eChambers gives definition 2 of ELL as same as definition 1 of EL. Given that this is the well known “elevated railway”, I have to suspect that it is a mistake and should have referenced definition 2.

  24. An entertaining puzzle with great clues (not a dud one among them, as Eileen said). ELASTOPLAST was my first in, and GOOGLE and TARGA TOP soon followed. I wasn’t too impressed at first by seeing brand names going in, but TRADEMARKS was next, and that was not only an explanation but also a justification for what I was going to find in all the across answers. An excellent concept and a skilful execution.
    TARGA TOP, SKI-DOO, STRATOPAUSE and ELL (= EL?) were all new to me, but I’m all for learning a few things along the way.
    Thanks to both Picaroon and manehi.

  25. gladys @18: glad I’m not the only one to spot that. It’s also probably no accident that we have sap rising…

  26. Thanks to Picaroon and manehi.

    Yes, very enjoyable and I learnt that CATSEYES is a trademark – who’d have thought? Other stuff as well along the lines of prior offerings but STRATOPAUSE was familiar and I’m fairly sure that was from here or hereabouts.  Thumbs up for ELASTOPLAST, my loi, and SACRISTY was another  favourite.

    [What’s all this 23 SKIDOO biz? I’m lost]

  27. Alphalpha @26 apparently there was a town in Death Valley called Skidoo which had 23 taverns, so if you were 23 skidoo you were drunk. Not sure what the connection is with the snowmobile unless it weaves all over the place.

    Definitely not my favourite crossword, I am totally against the use of trademarks as words used this way, maybe just old-fashioned 🙂

  28. 23 skidoo is a phrase meaning “leave quickly” (for various reasons, including forcibly!), of uncertain origin. See here.

  29. Can’t find STRATOPAUSE in my (current) edition of Chambers. Interestingly the auto correct Apple function gets it!

  30. I didn’t see the theme until I had completed the puzzle so not a great help with the solving. AU LAIT was LOI and I’d never heard of TARGA TOP either- just as well it was an anagram. Very satisfying once it was done but I did struggle over a few clues.
    I only know 23 SKIDOO as a band!
    Thanks Picaroon.

  32. I failed to get IGUANA and EUSTON in the time I had available.  I only knew Guyana as the spelling and somehow failed to see the station despite the crossers.  I’d have thought the definition of the latter referred to the mainline terminus rather than the tube station, but either would do.

    I got TRADEMARKS early on, so the theme helped a lot for once.  Embarrassingly, GOOGLE was the last themer to go in, despite my liberal use thereof to confirm some of the others.  I liked DOORBELL, SACRISTY and STRATOPAUSE very much.

    Thanks to gladys for pointing out 23 SKIDOO.  I had never come across this before – quite fascinating Wiki article on it.

    Thanks, Pickers and manehi

  33. I’d never heard of ‘targa top’ or ‘stratopause’ and couldn’t quite see how ‘euston’ fitted, but couldn’t think of an alternative.

  34. I hadn’t heard of “stratopause” either, but it was an easy guess from the more well-known “tropopause”.

  36. Gasmanjack@ 29 and Simon S @31,
    In case anyone is interested stratopause is in my edn. of Chambers 1998 it’s under stratum. Keep up the good work everyone.

  37. In colonial days, GUIANA referred to the British, Dutch and French settlements in northern South America. They subsequently became the independent Guyana and Suriname, and the overseas French département of Guyane respectively. So it can be argued that Guiana is a ‘South American region’.

  38. There are a few setters who seem to be incapable of writing an inferior crossword.
    Picaroon is surely one of them.
    Yes, this wasn’t too hard because of a helpful theme.
    But to call that theme ‘rather silly’ as someone above did, well, that is only one opinion out of many.

    The only thing that really made us think “wait a minute, is that right?” was the ‘Guiana’ bit of 4d.
    I 6d it and it is indeed exactly as sjshart @37 says.
    But I tend to give Picaroon the benefit of the doubt.

    One of manehi’s favourites was 9ac’s HOOVER.
    However, we were somewhat surprised to meet him again after Monday’s Brendan.
    Clues that, for us, stood out today were 2d (DRY ROT), 14d (SPRAY CAN) and 20d (EUSTON).
    Finesse is the word that springs to mind.
    Picaroon clueing EU with ‘Country club’ is a really nice and original find, one I/we haven’t seen before.

    All in all, a crossword that made us feel happy.
    Many thanks to manehi & Picaroon.

     

    ps, I wasn’t too happy with the preamble (“An obvious theme leading to a quick solve”).
    Unless a first glance at the clues makes clear that there is an obvious theme (which wasn’t the case here, having seen some of the comments above), there should be nothing in the preamble that gives anything away.
    Like on most days, I did The Indy and the FT first and subsequently went to Fifteensquared to see their blogs.
    Unfortunately, I then saw the preamble of the Picaroon crossword before I even had a chance to look at the puzzle itself.
    I do not want to make too much of a fuss about it and I appreciate the effort bloggers make to please us.
    But.

  39. Sil @ 38

    A good point tactfully made. I had a similar thought when I came onto the site, even though I had got the theme. I appreciate the blogger’s efforts but I thought it had been agreed that hints and comments would be kept out of the preamble?

     

    What is a quick solve, btw? Just a simple example: most people who have commented above had never heard of TARGA TOP, and would, like me, have worked on the anagram in complete ignorance; for others it was a write in. Easy or difficult?

  40. 23 skidoo. Superb band. Who was it who knew manticore from ELP. It’s nice having a kindred spirit in crosswordland. Excellent fun. Thanks both.

  41. @Sil, thanks for the comment. I think we agree that themes that are explicitly called out in ‘special instructions’ or in the clues themselves are fair game for a preamble.

    While solving I had mistakenly mentally filed this theme in that category and looking back I can see that it is alluded to but not obviously indicated by 12ac. My apologies for the spoiler – I’ll be more careful in future.

  42. Arthur two sheds jackson @40. You would have had me at 23 Skidoo, but you ruined it with ELP. Try Cabaret Voltaire or the Pop Group next time.

  43. This is my first comment on this excellent site – I’ve been reading for a few weeks. I’m still very much a quiptic / Monday Guardian solver, but learning more and more, all thanks to what I read here.

    I remember TARGA TOP from the old Fiat X19 in a top trumps pack.

    As a Spanish speaker, I was very amused by 16d

    Thanks to Picaroon and manehi, and to all.

  45. I’m probably too late to ask for an explanation as downloaded this puzzle on my return from a week away. I don’t understand ‘eus’as meaning country clubs. Can anyone explain?

  47. Very enjoyable. Got TRADEMARKS  fairly early on – a nice penny-dropping moment. Struggled with EUSTON – well-hidden definition. Slightly suprised to find that CATSEYES is a single word.

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