Guardian Cryptic 27,982 by Pasquale

by

HAY, what do I know?

The commenters on the Guardian website seemed to like this puzzle, but I found it a bit of a slog. Perhaps it was too early in the morning for me.

The surfaces were generally good, and apart from a minor quibble at 21ac, (that may just be a personal one) and the obscure HAY in 1across (it's not in my Chambers, so I had to confirm online that HAY was a dance), the wordplay was fair.

I also wasn't sure about Franklin as a tale-teller (23ac) because I couldn't get Benjamin Franklin out of my mind, having recently visited the states. It is only as I type this that I realise that it was the Franklin's tale from the Canterbury Tales that Pasquale was referring to.

I did like 13dn once I had worked out the parsing.

Thanks Pasquale.

ACROSS
1 CATHAY Old country jazz fan coming to dance (6)
 

CAT ("old jazz fan") coming to HAY (a type of old "dance")
4 FIREARMS Anger in rural establishments — they may kill people (8)
 

IRE ("anger") in FARMS ("rural establishments")
9 MANURE Fellow clean, having removed soft muck (6)
 

MAN ("fellow") + (p)URE ("clean" having removed P (piano, so "soft")
10 STOPOVER Break in street with work finished (8)
 

ST. (street) with Op. ("work") + OVER ("finished")
11 AT ONE FELL SWOOP A lone wolf poet’s destroyed in a single fierce move (2,3,4,5)
 

*(a lone wolf poets) [anag: destroyed]
13 TOMFOOLERY What’s sweet in big book, lines offering nonsense (10)
 

FOOL ("sweet") in TOME ("big book") + Ry. (railway, so "lines")
14 BIER Stand at front of church? Very cold, not dry (4)
 

BI(tt)ER ("very cold", not TT (teetotal, so "dry"))
16 RIME What’s in title of poem by Coleridge or Frost (4)
 

The RIME of the Ancient Mariner is a poem by Coleridge.
18 STONEMASON Mum entertained by Jagger et al performing — one getting into rock? (10)
 

MA ("mother") entertained by (Rolling) STONES ("Jagger et al") + ON ("performing")
21 WHORTLEBERRIES Fruit ruined by terrible shower (14)
 

*(terrible shower") [anag: ruined]

If I'm being picky, this clue doesn't quite work, as the clue indicates that "by" is part of the anagram fodder.
23 FRANKLIN Tale-teller is candid, love being rejected (8)
 

FRANK ("candid") + <=NIL ("love", being rejected)
24 ANGELA A new hair product possibly needed by a lady (6)
 

A + N (new) + GEL ("hair product possibly") by A
25 THESSALY Part of Greece has style that’s unusual (8)
 

*(has style) [anag: that's unusual]
26 SHARON Batty woman returning to quiet plain in Israel (6)
 

<=NORA (Batty (a character in The Last of the Summer Wine) returning) to SH ("quiet")

The Sharon is a valley in Israel from which the sharon fruit gets its name.
DOWN
1 COMB Thoroughly search most of the valley (4)
 

[most of the] COMB(e) ("valley")
2 TINY TIM Small boy can finally slay the enemy, expending minimal energy (4,3)
 

TIN ("can") + [finally] (sla)Y + TIM(e) ["the enemy" figuratively, expending E [minimal] E(nergy))
3 AT RANDOM A dormant drunk in a disorderly state (2,6)
 

*(a dormant) [anag: drunk]
5 INTOLERANCE Enthusiastic about the French and their country — female lacking bigotry (11)
 

INTO ("enthusiastic about") + LE ("the" in "French") and (f)RANCE ("their country" with F (female) lacking)
6 EXPOSE Show up with old lover’s model (6)
 

EX ("old lover") + POSE ("model")
7 RAVIOLI Recipe with mayonnaise — very little in that Italian food (7)
 

R (recipe) with AIOLI ("mayonnaise") with V (very little) in
8 SCRAP IRON Fight over one fellow getting stuff for recycling? (5,4)
 

SCRAP ("fight") over I ('one") + RON ("fellow")
12 FILL THE BILL Be good enough to satisfy hungry pelican? (4,3,4)
 

If something can FILL THE BILL of a hungry pelican it would satisfy it.
13 THROW A FIT Formula for getting fat — I lose it (5,1,3)
 

A FIT is an anagram of *(fat i), so the setter is giving us a formula to turn FAT I into A FIT (i.e. use "throw" as a an anagrind)
15 AMARANTH Plant amazing initially, suffering harm when penetrated by insect (8)
 

A(mazing) [initially] + *(harm) [anag: suffering] when penetrated by ANT ("insect")
17 MOORAGE For example, a space to the north where a boat may berth (7)
 

<=(E.G. A ROOM) ("for example, a space") [to the north: i.e. upwards)
19 SHE-BEAR Be covered in fleece as female animal (3-4)
 

BE covered in SHEAR ("fleece")
20 STOKES England’s all-rounder gets all fired up (6)
 

Double definition, the first relating to (Ben) STOKES, the England cricketer.
22 FAWN Flatter shade of brown (4)
 

Double definition

48 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 27,982 by Pasquale”

  1. Had the same queries as loonapick, hay, by, and the tale teller, my knowledge of Chaucer being minimal (there’s an author Tom Franklin in the US I found, thought it might have been him, but no, ‘tale’ makes it Chaucer). Saw a few eps of LotSW years ago, but Nora was a guess-in-situ as it were. Fawn really needs a preposition, eg upon’ to equate to flatter, but a mere quiblet. All else fine, thanks both.

  2. Thanks Pasquale and loonapick

    I enjoyed it, with INTOLERANCE and FRANKLIN my favourites. It did seem easy for a Pasquale, though (I did know HAY for dance, though “hey” is more common).

    [11a reminded me of, years ago, my mother-in-law telling me about a friend of hers who had climbed all the Lakeland 2000 footers. I asked her if it had taken him ages.

    “No” she said, quite innocently “he did them in one fell swoop”!]

  3. I’ve always used the phrase “fit the bill”, is it just a mondegreen on my part, or possibly Australian usage. Also, cricket based clues should be illegal. There, I’ve said it.

  6. Found this easier than yesterday’s which was a real struggle. Here I enjoyed unpicking the long ones from their parts: TOMFOOLERY INTOLERANCE and AMARANTH and STONEMASON. Yesterday I had to get the definition and then try to parse, which was much more challenging.
    Needed help to parse CATHAY, TIM and the TT of BIER so thanks Loonapick.
    Also liked RIME which suddenly came after going through the poems in my head to find a common title word..and there is lots of it about this morning.
    Thanks, Pasquale.

  8. Thanks Loonapick – I hadn’t quite parsed bier, trying to find a lost ‘d’ rather than ‘tt’. Am another fit the bill as usual usage. Also didn’t think of Chaucer. TILT Whortleberry. And hay as a dance.
    Quite enjoyed this. Fav was INTOLERANCE.
    thanks to Pasquale

  9. Thanks for the blog,  loonapick.

    Well, I’m with the Guardian commenters today.

    My first one in was 11ac, guessed from the enumeration – I enjoyed muffin’s story! – so that was a good start.

    Favourites were RIME and FRANKLIN and I also liked the construction of TINY TIM.

    HAY is in my [12th edition] Chambers  – 4th definition: ‘see hey²’ – and I’m with Shirl here!

    Many thanks, Pasquale – I enjoyed it.

  10. One of those rare days when I found myself totally aligned with the setter.  Everything fell into place and I parsed answers, I’m sure, exactly as Pasquale wanted me to.  So a very enjoyable solve.

    I couldn’t recall THESSALY but it came from the anagram, fortunately I have heard of WHORTLEBERRIES, but I showed my age by, at first, seeking to parse Botham as a possible answer to 20d.  I’m another for whom “fits the bill” would be the normal phrase and I would agree with loonapick’s quibble about ‘by’ in 21ac.

    Finally, I commented a short while ago on the occasional coincidental occurrence of the same answer in both the DT and the Guardian.  EXPOSE appears in both today – and very similarly clued to boot.

    Thanks Pasquale and loonapick.

  11. [Shirl, just heard Phillip Adams chatting to Di Morrissey; she has a film script of Grainger’s life that she’s trying to get made. (PA said Sorry not me, my producing days are long over)].

  12. I enjoyed this more than most of Pasquale’s puzzles: even ‘whortleberries’ in his usual obscurity corner was not unknown to me, though I had to delve in the memory bank.

  13. Great stuff from the Don today. Favourite was FRANKLIN as from my admittedly feeble memory the surface pretty much reflects the tale. Honourable mention to STONEMASON and TINY TIM (Dylan “time is a jet plane it moves too fast”.

    Thanks both.

  14. Unlike some I like being sent to the dictionary so that I can bag new words – so I rather missed that in today’s Pasquale.  His “hay” seems to have caused some head-scratching for some but I thought it was fairly well known (a hay-down, for e.g.?).  My favourite clue was 13d.  14ac took me a long time – but loved it when I saw it.  The whole thing did not take long but it was sweet,  I agree with you Loonapick in your v small quibble about 21ac.  Why not “terrible shower ruined fruit”??  All good stuff anyway and all much appreciated.

  16. [grantinfreo, Grainger’s personal life might still raise eyebrows today! And his political views were a bit questionable]

  17. Shirl@19 – all of which would make the film even more interesting.

    Found this easier than most of the Don’s output. Not complaining. FOI was 1ac, solved at sight. HAY was certainly in previous editions, but is more commonly encountered as HEY. It’s most often encountered as a figure-of-eight shaped movement in set country or Morris dances (a former enthusiasm when several stone lighter). Shepherd’s Hey is Grainger’s setting of a dance tune from Adderbury. As a child I used to pick whortleberries (“worts” or “hurts”) on Exmoor: vastly more flavourful than their cultivated US cousin the blueberry.

    Last in were SHE-BEAR (where ! got hung up on trying to base the answer on SKIN, and therefore SHARON, not having watched LOTSW.

  18. Goujeers @17

    I’ve picked whortleberries on Exmoor too, but I think they are equivalent to bilberries or whinberries, rather than blueberries – the latter grom on quite big bushes, rather than the heather-like plants of the former.

  19. I enjoyed this too – I knew about HAY as one of the people I test for is always putting it in crosswords to see if I remember it!!  I too would ‘fit’ the bill rather than filling it.

    Thanks to Pasquale  – a nice lack of obscurities today – and loonapick

  20. Thanks Pasquale for an entertaining solve.

    I put in ANNETA at first; it seemed to FILL THE BILL. One or two small quibbles: COMB is a variant of COMBE, so the ‘most of’ was unnecessary, and I’m not sure what ‘about’ is doing in 5D (apart from misleading.) I liked the SHE-BEAR, where I thought the second word was bound to be wool.

    Thanks loonapick for a good blog.

     

     

  23. Silly me, I didn’t use the anagram fodder properly for 11a and so I stuffed up the top right by putting “IN ONE FELL SWOOP”, as quoted by muffin in his mother-in-law story, so it took me ages to sort out 2d TINY TIM and 1a CATHAY. I am with those who liked 13a TOMFOOLERY, 18a STONEMASON, and 9d INTOLERANCE, and also ticked 24a ANGELA. Guessed the cricketer STOKES at 20d, while at 21a WHORTLEBERRIES were also unfamiliar but gettable. I am another solver who didn’t understand the “Batty woman…” part of 26a SHARON.

    Thanks to Pasquale, loonapick and other posters.

  24. Thank you Pasquale for an enjoyable puzzle and loonapick for a helpful blog.

    HAY is in my COED, and easy to remember from the title of Aldous Huxley’s book “Antic Hay”.

     

  26. A propos nothing in particular, but as we’re discussing the word HAY, when first listening to the words of the song Help, by the Beatles as a young teenager in the mid 1960’s, I thought I heard ….”losing my innocence in the hay”, when of course it was …”losing my independence in the haze”. Enjoyed this puzzle apart from not being able to fit in TOMFOOLERY because of rushing in FITS THE BILL.

  27. This was a very enjoyable puzzle. My favourites were FAWN, INTOLERANCE, FIREARMS (loi).

    New for me were WHORTLEBERRIES + Nora Batty.

    I could not parse 13d THROW A FIT.

    Thanks Pasquale and loona

    * For FRANKLIN, I was thinking of the Australian author, Miles Franklin.

  28. ‘Antic hay’ comes from Huxley’s source in Marlowe’s Edward II:

    My men like satyrs grazing on the lawns
    Shall with their goat feet dance the antic hay

    Those Eng Lit context questions in the 1950s left long trails!

    ‘Antic’ = antique

  29. The extra “by” seems particularly unfair to me because if you can’t find the right anagram fodder count, you think it can’t be an anagram.

    Sometimes I guess the wrong answer but it’s only when I know for certain that it’s wrong (by using the Grauniad checker) that the corrrect answer jumps out. In this case I guessed Pharon might be correct, which would mean it had to be Norah Batty which I was sure was wrong, but it was only when I knew P was incorrect that Sharon became obvious.

    I had to use a thesaurus to get Fawn because I couldn’t get it’s two crossers, which were then my last two in.

  30. I enjoyed this and found it a bit easier than usual for Pasquale.

    There are quite a few first names in the answers: TIM (2d), RON (8d), TOM (13a), FRANK(LIN) (23a), BILL (12d), ANGELA (24a), SHARON 26a).  Coincidence?

    Thanks Pasquale and loonapick.

  31. Thanks both,
    Hey down, ho down, Derry Derry down.
    There ought to be an acronym for the variety of TILT where one learns that something one thought one knew is incorrect.

  32. Thanks to Pasquale and loonapick.

    I enjoyed most of this with MANURE, RIME and INTOLERANCE the stand-outs for me.  I’m led to wonder what the “bill” is that may either be a fit for or filled by something – any offers?  I thought the “Batty” reference in SHARON was superfluous, strictly speaking and was both a dead giveaway for some while confusing the issue for others – I’d hazard that JinA@23 would have solved it promptly if “Batty” had been absent. (Yesterday, for the first time ever, I was treated to a taste of the Sharon fruit and today it’s in the crozzie, well, via loonapick.  Spooky or what?)

  33. The hey is not only a country dance in the UK but a figure in New England contra dances, in which three or four dancers (depending on whether it’s a hey for three or a hey for four) follow each other around a figure eight.  Contra dances were once called “country dances,” which they were, but the French Canadians borrowed them and Gallicized the name into “contre-danses,” because they’re danced in two facing lines of any length.  The name came back into English as “contra dance” and there it stays.

    Like Julie, the Batty woman was beyond me, since British television is one of my great big blank spots, so I looked her up and then looked up “The Last of the Summer Wine.”  Left me sure once again that you have better TV than we do.

    Goujeers @17 — The tiny wild blueberries of Maine are also more flavorful than their cultivated cousins.  mufin@18, the wild blueberries grow on ankle-high tough little plants, and you harvest them with a fork-like thing (called a rake, but not a rake) that you shove under the plant.  You can’t get these blueberries outside of Maine, as far as I know,  but in season you can buy them by the road.

    Julie, I put “in one fell swoop” too, till the anagram straightened me out.  I think that may be the way it’s commonly said.

  34. Like TerriBlislow @14, I expected to learn some new words today, but apart from WHORTLEBERRIES (either unknown to me or long forgotten), all was familiar. One of the Don’s easier ones, and I’m still enough of a novice to be generally grateful for easy.

    For most of my life I saw and heard only FILL THE BILL, and when I first heard ‘fit the bill’ I assumed that the latter was a corruption of the former. Apparently not, so at least one TILT for me.

    Thanks to Pasquale and loonapick.

  35. Thank you to Pasquale and loonapick.

    Like others, I found this easier than usual for Pasquale.

    Nothing much to add to comments, except to note that “at one fell swoop” is the original Shakespeare, and “hay” appears in the ever reliable Bradford’s Crossword Solver’s Dictionary. And I now have “Hey down, hoe down, derry, derry down. Among the leaves so green-o” firmly stuck in my head – thanks grantinfreo @15!

  37. Alphalpha @32 I always thought the “bill” (which is either filled or into which an item fits) was a Bill of Quantities, used by surveyors and the like for costing construction projects in days gone by. A list of materials with their descriptions, essentially.

    “The Batty Woman” (as commentators seem to have named her) might have been a little too long ago to spring easily to mind were it not for the fact that an acquaintance currently has one leg bandaged, which she refers to as her “Norah Batty stocking”.

    I agree it was a relatively easy offering from the Don, but no less enjoyable for that. Thanks, and to loonapick for the blog.

  38. I’m another who started out with FITS THE BILL, till the crossers put me straight and I, too found this way easier than yesterday’s grind – and much much more fun.
    I simply assumed FRANKLIN was an author I’d not encountered, for I generally learn a thing or two with a Pasquale oeuvre. I sympathise with other commenters’ frustration about cricket-based clues – and I’m British! – but I have even more trouble with Baseball and US Football… My faves today were FIREARMS, FAWN, MOORAGE and STONEMASON. Many thanks to Pasquale for a pleasant hour or two, and Loonapick for the blog. I am now going to see if whistling the LotSW theme tune very loudly succeeds in getting rid of the Grainger earworm that’s plaguing me….

  40. Fill the bill may refer to the poster or Bill advertising the acts in a variety show. Once the big names were on there, other less well known acts would be hired if good enough to fill the bill – in a smaller typeface of course.

  41. Trismegistus@37 and Markfieldpete@40: Thanks for those – either would appear to make sense.  On the other hand the expression, to me at any rate, seems to suggest something that is just right and I don’t get quite that sense from either the surveyor’s list or the music-hall menu. But I may be slightly offside; often am.

  42. I had a slight problem with this because I managed to transpose the M and the R in AMARINTH thus making 18 and 21ac incomprehensible. I got CATHAY although I didn’t know the HAY part referred to a dance. Still, this was an entertaining puzzle -unlike yesterday’s which I abandoned-and relatively easy for this setter. Percy Grainger seems to have been rather an odd chap. I was surprised to learn, some years ago, that he did some pieces for the theremin.
    Thanks Pasquale.

  43. grantinfreo@15, I remember the chorus from The Hunter’s song at primary school many, many years ago – Hey down Ho down Derry derry down. Among the leaves so green-o. I’ve also seen it spelt Hay & Heigh. I wonder if children learn old folk songs at school nowadays, it was an intrinsic part of education back in the 50s.

  44. [Talking about odd composers, Malcolm Arnold – Radio 3’s composer of the week last week- seems to have been a rather unpleasant person, despite his light-hearted music – an alcoholic and a near-psychopath. Not quite up to Grainger, though!]

  45. muffin@44 (since you’re hovering): Enjoyed your mother-in-law anecdote – the unintentional ones are always the best don’t you find?

  46. Thanks alphalpha

    Yes, it was entirely unintentional, and had to be explained to her!

    I also like “overhearings”. My favourite is one a friend heard in a department store. A middle aged lady and an elderly lady were talking:

    “Look” said the elderly lady “that’s Lawrence”

    “No, mother, that’s Keith”

    “Oh well, I knew it was something of Arabia”…

  47. markfieldpete is correct, and “fills the bill” refers to a bill listing the acts in a vaudeville (thus music hall) show. It should perhaps be “fills out” the bill, or “fills the gaps” in the bill.

    As a Guardian Weekly subscriber, I got the puzzle on Friday, but didn’t look at the puzzle until Sunday. I was pleased to get 4 right away. Parsing the anagram in 11 was no fun — I ended up using brute force. At the end I was left with CATHAY and BIER to figure out.

    If I was going to make a quibble it would be 8 — to me “Fellow” indicates DON.

  48. “Fill the bill” didn’t fit the bill as far as the clue definition was concerned. And R for recipe I will never like no matter how many times someone says it’s in Chambers.

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