Guardian Cryptic 27,963 by Vulcan

by

A quick and very pleasant solve – I really liked 18ac, 25ac, 29ac, 4dn, and 12dn. Thanks to Vulcan

Across
1 UNCLE SAM Using muscle, an active America (5,3)
(muscle an)*
6 LOCUST Plaguey creature not to be found when copper intervenes (6)
LOST=”not to be found”, with CU=chemical symbol for “copper” inside
9 STANZA Laurel’s speaking a bit of poetry (6)
STANZ=homophone of ‘Stan’s’=”Laurel’s” as in Stan Laurel the comedian; plus A
10 STOWAWAY One not having paid to travel, bailiffs finally take vehicle to pound (8)
final letter of [bailiff]S + TOW AWAY=”take vehicle to pound”
11 SEVENTEEN A number noticed, happening to enter (9)
SEEN=”noticed” with EVENT=”happening” entering inside
13 SAMEY Make statement about Vulcan being monotonous (5)
SAY=”Make statement” around ME=”Vulcan”
15 PLIGHT Pledge is quiet and frivolous (6)
“Pledge” is an archaic meaning of PLIGHT, as in ‘plight one’s troth’
P (Piano)=”quiet” + LIGHT=”frivolous”
17 TIP-TOP Recommend toy as excellent (3-3)
TIP=”Recommend” + spinning TOP=”toy”
18 RULING Judicial decision–making lines on page (6)
double definition, split across the hyphen – the second definition as in using a ruler to draw lines
19 SPARTA Greek state once displayed paintings in Bath, say (6)
ART=”paintings” in SPA=”Bath, say”
21 CROOK Criminal‘s held by bishop (5)
double definition – the second definition as in a bishop’s staff resembling a shepherd’s crook
22 CROSSOVER Angry about a style of music (9)
e.g. ‘classical crossover’ music
CROSS=”Angry” + OVER=”about”
25 FORMALLY Classmate, in official style (8)
FORM ALLY=”Class mate”
26 BRIEFS Issues instructions for underwear (6)
double definition
28 SHANTY Nervous about insect in hut (6)
SHY=”Nervous” about ANT=”insect”
29 DEEPENED Got lower in part of pool, conserving energy (8)
DEEP END=”part of pool”, around E (energy)
Down
2 NUT Crazy type, one going to bolt (3)
double definition – the second as in threaded nuts and bolts that attach together
3 LANCE Weapon held up by a corporal? (5)
a ‘lance corporal’ is a military rank
4 SMARTPHONE Snap mother cleverly with this? (10)
(Snap mother)* – a smartphone can be used to ‘Snap’ either meaning ‘take a photo of someone’ or ‘send someone a pic/message through SnapChat’
5 MISTER Sprayer‘s title? (6)
double definition
6 LOOM Where to go miles and appear out of the fog (4)
LOO=”Where to go” + M (miles)
7 CHARACTER Eccentric testimonial (9)
double definition – =’Eccentric’ as a noun; and =what might more often be called a ‘character reference’
8 SHAKESPEARE As poet, seek a phrase to fit (11)
(Seek a phrase)*
12 EMPEROR MOTH Fly-by-night, showing more mph, tore off (7,4)
(more mph tore)*
14 DISPOSABLE Such income not permanent? (10)
and referring to the phrase ‘disposable income’
16 ISLE OF MAN Life so turbulent to staff here? (4,2,3)
(Life so)* + MAN=”staff”
20 BRAYED Mentioning hair band, sounded like an ass (6)
homophone/”Mentioning” of ‘braid’=”hair band”
23 ON ICE Where skaters are suspended (2,3)
and ON ICE would be “Where skaters are”
24 CLAY Clubs put down surface for tennis (4)
C (Clubs) as in playing cards; LAY=”put down”
27 FOE Enemy of international environmental group (3)
as in Friends Of the Earth

31 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 27,963 by Vulcan”

  1. Thanks Vulcan and manehi

    Very nice – one of Vulcan’s best.

    A tip, though – I think Matilda’s Quiptic today is superb (and harder than this one!)

  2. An excellent Monday puzzle. I liked SEVENTEEN (because the solution was a number rather than a number!) and CROOK (because I was looking for a word beginning with B). Thanks to Vulcan and manehi – and muffin – I’ll have a look at Matilda.

  5. Thanks, manehi.

    Starting to feel that this setter is honing his art.  Not been over-keen on some previous offerings but this was very enjoyable.

    Wrongly parsed LANCE, thinking the def was simply weapon and the “held up” part was related to corporal  in a down light.  I like your parsing better.

    Many thanks, Vulcan, nice week, all.

  6. Add me to the list of people who enjoyed this fun, perfect for a Monday, crossword

    Thanks to Vulcan and muffin

  9. Several clues induced groans, just like the very best (worst?) puns. Very quick to complete but no less fun for all that. 29a was a particular favourite.

    Thanks Vulcan and manehi.

  10. Yes, this was finished in no time at all, but doesn’t there seem to be something missing from 7d? Given testimonial = character reference, can character be used in stand-alone fashion to mean testimonial?

  11. Quick and straightforward solve here. Last ones were Isle of Man and formally. The latter, deepened and samey were my favourites, and thanks to both Vulcan and manehi

  12. Keith @4 – where was the other one? Not in the Guardian cryptic as far as I can tell – the last one there was a Pasquale in April (27803) which is not that recent…

  13. Easy and pleasant. I couldn’t parse CROOK – I assumed it had something to do with ROOK and BISHOP being chess pieces (even though they’re not placed by each other.) CROSSOVER was last in because I hadn’t heard of the style of music. Thanks, Manehi and Vulcan.

  14. Robin@13. To be said in church with a very straight face. “The bishop is the shepherd of his flock. The archdeacon is the crook on his staff”

  15. Apologies, but I did Friday’s Xword over the weekend. Can anyone explain how ‘is’ = ‘be’ or give an example showing how one can be substituted for the other, please?

  18. Hate to be picky- because I liked the puzzle- but CROSSOVER isn’t a style of music. It’s music in a particular specialised style that becomes popular in the mainstream. A jazz record that becomes a pop bit say.
    I liked FORMALLY.
    Thanks Vulcan.

  19. Mike @17

    I took it as just a place, so one of many possible “heres”, but specifically the one referred to in this clue.

  20. Don Geraldos @15 – I recall one of the historical Blackadders berating a yokel for saying “That it be” repeatedly instead of “Yes it is” – maybe someone else has the specific reference to confirm this?

    I enjoyed this for the most part. a nice start to the week – thanks Vulcan and thanks for blogging manehi – however I am not happy with “Crossover” as a style of music, to me it refers to subsets of many genres that have achieved mainstream fame/success – so a “crossover hit” could be anything from classical to jazz or country perhaps rather than a distinct style in itself. Struggling for an analogy but maybe in the same way I would not define “fusion” as a type of cuisine (not that I can cook anything beyond beans on toast). But of course I might be wrong and I suppose I need to be prepared to stretch a little in crosswordland, even on a Monday!

    Liked 28A because I see and read about “shanty towns” without ever having given thought to what a shanty actually is- i must have assumed that shanty was some adjective for run-down or something. I also liked CROOK because I was trying to do some fancy insertion thing and then it just leapt out at me.

    And thanks muffin for the tip re the Quiptic which was great.

  22. Dr WhatsOn@10
    I thought the same thing about CHARACTER but Collins online has it as synonymous with testimonial as a noun. A new usage to me.
    Typically Mondayish. Held up by CROOK and SAMEY. Otherwise, quite straightforward.
    Thanks, V and M

  23. I, too, thought this was great fun! I loved the succinctness (is that a word? “Brevity” doesn’t feel right in this context) of SPARTA, NUT and FOE – with STANZA, DEEPENED and FORMALLY making me grin. Thanks to Manehi & Vulcan for an enjoyable start to the week.

  24. Gazzh@20
    That sounds very Walter Gabriel!
    I don’t remember The Beatles singing ‘Let it is’, do you?
    But surely you know:
    ‘It’s only a shanty in old shanty town,
    It’s roof is so slanted, it touches the ground

  25. “That it be” wouldn’t give rise to any comment whatsoever in North Devon, where I was born and brought up!

    Around here (East Lancs) “I were” and “you was” are much more common than the “correct” way round.

  27. Over on the blog for today’s Quiptic, someone sighed that a clue would have been much easier to solve if they’d remembered who the setter was. I laughed because that has happened to me frequently in the past. Then I came over to today’s cryptic, and it happened again: I failed to solve 13a, because I couldn’t figure out how “Vulcan” could be used as part of the wordplay. As soon as I revealed the answer, I looked up at the setter’s name at the top of the puzzle and realized what an idiot I’d been.

    I enjoyed this puzzle, with a few exceptions, with the above (which is of course 100% my fault) being one of them. The others were definitions that seemed dodgy to me. I don’t like “fly-by-night” as a definition for a moth, and I especially don’t like “here” as a definition for Isle of Man. (I guess I’m with Mike @17 on this one.)

  29. Peter @ 18 and Gazzh @ 20 – while that’s some uses of crossover in relation to music there is also the genre crossover (short for crossover thrash, which people don’t call it). Early 80s hardcore punk bands getting faster, more proficient and more tied in with thrash metal.

  30. Following on from Ted@27, I can’t find where the setter’s name is on the re-vamped ipad version; had no idea this was set by Vulcan so failed to solve 13A.

  31. anceps@29 – i used to listen to a lot of metal/hardcore/etc in my youth and while I remember a ridiculous number of ill-defined subgenres I don’t recall crossover at all, but admittedly my increasingly unreliable memory may be to blame. The wikipedia entry almost goes as far as to say it is an arbitrarily drawn section taken from a far-from-clear ‘continuum’ linking metal to punk. But yes, I think this is the definition intended and while obscure it is a breath of fresh air compared to the usual “high culture” references so thanks for pointing it out and well done Vulcan! No doubt it is also definition 17 for “crossover” in the 1987 edition of Chambers which should make everyone happy.

    Don Geraldos@24 – The Beatles may not have sung “Let it is” but a few centuries earlier another English genius did write “If music BE the food of love…” and while an example of the high culture I think this is enough for me to link IS = BE for crossword purposes! (It may have been this particular reference that another poster used earlier, I can’t find the blog.) And I did not know that song – have had a look and while Ted Lewis is possibly a bit croony/big band for my tastes his earlier work imitating ODJB may be more up my street so will have a dig around – thanks.

     

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