Guardian Cryptic 28,043 by Picaroon

by

Quite tricky, and an enjoyable solve with some very neat surfaces. Favourites 1ac, 5ac, 10ac, 11ac, 14ac, and 7dn. Thanks to Picaroon.

Across
1 BUSTIER Top alternative to taxi rank? (7)
BUS=”alternative to taxi” + TIER=”rank”
5 SPOUSAL English to abandon championing of marriage (7)
e[nglish] abandoning [e]SPOUSAL=”championing”
9 IVIED One competed with climbers (5)
=with ivy, a climbing plant
I VIED=”One competed”
10 VARIEGATE Create difference, namely in refereeing scandal? (9)
I.E.=that is=”namely” inside VAR-GATE=”refereeing scandal” as VAR=’video assistant referee’ and -GATE is a suffix associated with scandal
11 FRENCH LOAF Following sprain, wife’s left with head pain (6,4)
‘pain’ is FRENCH for ‘bread’ or LOAF
F (following) + [w]RENCH=”sprain” minus w[ife] + LOAF=”head”
12 RUE Piaf’s way to feel regret (3)
‘rue’ in French means ‘street’ or “way”, and Edith Piaf was a French singer
14 STEEPLECHASE Run both taps, overwhelmed by high rent (12)
C+H (Cold + Hot)=”both taps”, inside STEEP LEASE=”high rent”
18 ASSEVERATING Jenny and Jack defend sinner making statement (12)
=making a solemn declaration
“Jenny”=female donkey=ASS + “Jack”=sailor=RATING, around EVE=”sinner” in the Garden of Eden
21 EAT Take in some Venice attractions (3)
hidden inside [Venic]E AT[tractions]
22 CHECKMATED Frustrated European loudly had sex (10)
CHECK is a homophone for ‘Czech’=”European loudly” + MATED=”had sex”
25 EXPENSIVE The writer’s twice following old dear (9)
PEN’S=”writer’s” + I’VE=”writer [of this crossword has]”; following EX-=”old”
26 STASI Current tests pushed back repressive force (5)
=East German state security service
I=scientific abbreviation for electric “Current” + SATS (Standard Attainment TestS); all reversed/”pushed back”
27 RESTING Police leader to pursue about lying (7)
STING=singer or “leader” in the band The Police; after RE=”about”
28 YORKIST Solver’s received affection, speaking out for English partisan (7)
=a supporter of the House of York in the War of the Roses
sounds like/”speaking out”: ‘you’re kissed’=”Solver’s received affection”
Down
1 BRIEFS Item put on behind silks? (6)
double definition: =underwear; and BRIEFS and “silks” are both slang for ‘barristers’
2 SKIVER I’m going downhill, entertaining very lazy so-and-so (6)
SKIER=”I’m going downhill”, around V (very)
3 INDICATIVE Reduced charge cheers up setter’s mood (10)
=a grammatical mood
INDIC[t]=”charge”, reduced by a letter; plus TA=thanks=”cheers” reversed/”up” + I’VE=the setter of this crossword has=”setter’s”
4 RAVEL Composer, techno fan, finally changes direction (5)
RAVE[r]=”techno fan”, with the final r(ight) changing direction to L[eft]
5 STREAMLET A little current rattles me, given a shock (9)
(rattles me)*
6 OPEN Competition in sport, with running around (4)
PE (PHysical Education)=”sport” with ON=”running” around it
7 STAIRWAY Flight route on a flight route (8)
ST=street=”route” + AIRWAY=”flight route”t
8 LIEGEMEN Landholders who could be Belgians? (8)
LIEGE MEN could mean ‘men of Liège”, a city in Belgium
13 ECONOMISER Will one husband like the environmentalists and not like Scrooge? (10)
“husband”=to conserve=economise
ECO=”like the environmentalists” + NO MISER=”not like Scrooge”
15 EARTHLING Person left inside doing electrical work (9)
L (left) inside EARTHING=to connect electrical systems to earth for safety=”doing electrical work”
16 CAMELEER Rider turned up with suggestive look (8)
=a camel rider
CAME=”turned up” + LEER=”suggestive look”
17 ISOTOPES One then drinks different forms from table (8)
=different forms of elements from the Periodic table
I=”One” + SO=”then” + TOPES=”drinks” heavily
19 STRATI Clouds artist rendered innovatively (6)
(artist)*
20 ADDICT Person who’ll use and provide further modern tech (6)
ADD ICT=”provide further modern tech”, with ICT=Information and Communication Technology
23 CHEVY Chase after this car? (5)
=a Chevrolet car
“Chase” goes after CHEVY to make Chevy Chase, a US actor and comedian
24 ANTI Averse to one praying to cast off M&S clothing (4)
[m]ANTI[s]=”one praying” minus the outer M&S

58 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 28,043 by Picaroon”

  2. Thanks Picaroon and manehi

    Great fun. Favourites BUSTIER and ECONOMISER. I didn’t parse RESTING (though I should have), or INDICATIVE, where I had little idea.

    CHEVY was a bit GK-y. I had heard of him, but only remember seeing him in the video for Paul Simon’s You can call me Al.

  3. Phew, that was a workout. Thanks to Picaroon, and to manehi, especially for parsing 18.

    I had 23 as a double definition, with ‘chevy’ being an accepted alternative spelling of ‘chivvy’, to chase after.

  4. Thanks Picaroon and Manehi. A steady solve which was a bit of a workout for me but satisfying, even though a couple not completely parsed. Favs were BUSTIER, ECONOMISER, STEEPLECHASE (loi).

  5. Thanks, manehi.

    Well, this was just brilliant, even by Picaroon’s standards. I’ve got ticks all over the place – and a double one for FRENCH LOAF.

    I haven’t time to sing the praises of so many more clues but would just like to put in a word for the small but perfectly-formed ANTI and RUE – a reference of course, to Piaf’smost famous song: ‘Je ne regrette rien’.

    Huge thanks, Picaroon,  for putting a smile on my face for the rest ofhe day/

  7. I found this both challenging and enjoyable.

    My favourites were FRENCH LOAF, SKIVER, EARTHLING, STEEPLECHASE, ANTI.

    I failed to parse the VAR/IE bit of VARIEGATE.

    Thanks Picaroon and manehi

     

  8. My margin notes echo some others’ thoughts above – “Wow! That was hard! It took me a while to get a toehold, but it was ultimately very satisfying.”

    I agreed with favourites already mentioned – 1a BUSTIER, 11a FRENCH LOAF, 12a RUE, 14a STEEPLECHASE and 24d ANTI, to which I would like to add 27a RESTING for the band reference, 28a YORKIST for the homophone and 1d BRIEFS for the silky smooth surface. Last one in was 6d OPEN which given all the tennis on the TV at the moment is a tad embarrassing.

    [I still think EVE the “sinner” (in ASSEVERATING at 18a) has been unfairly maligned (the beginning of the tradition of “cherchez la femme?”), but I have stated my case on that before so I won’t go on about it again. Guess it’s a handy shorthand for crossword setters.]

    Lots of fun, so thanks to Picaroon and manehi.

  10. Just brilliant like Eileen@5 said. I had the same parsing failures as muffin@2 – and the same feeling when I saw manehi’s explanation for RESTING. I too had ticks galore. I particularly admire Picaroon’s ability to come up with perfectly fair but unexpected definitions and combine this with concise clues and smooth surfaces. The simple IVIED defined as “with climbers” and STEEPLECHASE as “run” are two of my favourites. VAR-gate is genius clueing – I could wax lyrical over most clues. I hadn’t come across ASSEVERATING before but again the clue was flawless (if you accept Eve as ok crossword shorthand for sinner as JinA@8 highlights) and took some teasing out.
    More like this please Picaroon with a blog to match – thanks manehi.

  11. JinA @ 8 Never mind Eve, what about apples, they’ve been properly stitched up!

    Hugely enjoyable today with many delights and epiphanies along the way, 8d was a bit of a coincidence after yesterday.

    Thanks to Picaroon and manehi.

  12. Is the “I’m” in 2d kosher?  It would work if the answer were skier rather than skiver, but if it merely indicates part of the cryptic fodder, should it not be “one who goes downhill” or some such?

  14. Steady solve, not all that hard, bottom half first then slowed in the NW by bunging in accusative in 3d (is that a mood, or a case? Formal grammar schooling stopped in the 60s here, more’s the pity). The def in 22a doesn’t quite match the solution, and there are a couple of ‘I’ve’s, but neat clues otherwise, as ever from the Pirate. Sad about 24d, haven’t seen a mantis here for decades and they were prevalent in my childhood. Mourn. Thanks both.

  15. Reading back, ditto JinA re Eve as sinner, it always raises my hackles and besides,as I’ve posted before, I bet it was him who bit it first then the (bloke) scribes did their usual edit!

  16. Wow! That’s more like it. Yes Nutmeg’s clues yesterday were silky smooth but a tad on the easy side. Today was much more challenging. Unlike recent write in parse after, this was much more about parsing the answers first as with asseverating which I worked out even though i’d never heard the word before. Shame about the double setter=ive, but otherwise superb. Thanks Picaroon and Manehi.

  17. grantinfrero@15 I have my money on the serpent being the smooth talking bastard who seduced Eve so Abel was only a half brother.Could explain a lot

    Hows that for a conspiracy theory

    Btw I LOVE Freo

     

  18. Looks like it’s all been said, so I’ll just add my thanks to Picaroon for the entertaining challenge and to manehi for the helpful blog.

  19. Yep copmus, there’s certainly a reltilian streak in us, both deadly and deliciously sinuous. And yes, Freo is, well, not Paris or Venice, but yes pretty cool.

  21. Feeling a bit smug about how much of this I managed to figure out. A few gimmes, but otherwise hard. The UK slang of 1D eluded me (and I am a lawyer). The recent grid with the cricket theme was a completely baffling DNF.

  22. I needed a couple of good sessions to finish this, but as others have said, it was a great puzzle. Loved FRENCH LOAF and VARIEGATE in particular. Many thanks to P & m.

  24. I found this very tough but it was masterly setting.

    Many good clues; I particularly enjoyed BUSTIER, FRENCH LOAF, CHECKMATED, YORKIST and RESTING (where the ‘Sting’ PDM took far too long.)

    I’m not sure that PE really qualifies as sport, does it?

    Thanks Picaroon and manehi.

  26. My first ones in were SKIVER, IVIED, CHEVY, EXPENSIVE, RAVEL, and VARIEGATE, which made me wonder if all of the answers contained the letter V!

  27. I crashed and burned on this one with only 5 clues done before I gave up. Shame, because now I know the answers they all look good clues.

  28. Yes it was very good, mostly, but I thought there were a couple of iffy constructions.

    In 13d, “Will one husband” seemed a pretty daft question to use as the definition for ECONOMISER – of course he/she will husband, that’s what the word means! By asking the question, it kind of undoes the definition.

    “The writer’s” and “setter’s” both clueing IVE seemed a bit much in one puzzle.

    In 6d: sport is fun, PE never was. There, I’ve said it.

  29. I agree with others: a good challenge and blog. Unfortunately a DNf for me as I had SLIDER for 2d. It sort of works but not really!

  30. Very clever, and satisfying to finish. Lots of high points, but for me STEEPLECHASE and FRENCH LOAF get 10/10, with Joker played. Oh, and SKIVER. The bottom half went in fairly easily, and then it was a struggle to be working upwards, especially as BRIEFS and BUSTIER did not yield until nearly the end (I got hung up on “best” for “top”).
    Thank you both!

  31. CHEVY of course brought back memories of “American Pie”, sung in chorus in its entirety from memory on the coach on many a school outing.

  32. Definitely not my cup of tea, and I can only agree with those who decribed it as “a slog”.

    Is “VARGATE” in the dictionaries yet? I’ve never heard of it but of course neologisms do end up in dictionaries. I suspect it was made up for the purpose.

    And I thoroughly dislike “synonyms twice removed” – as in 18ac, where the word you are looking for is not just a synonym, but a synonym of a synonym (of a synonym? How “clever” – read “tedious” – can compilers get?). Or 12ac, where “French way” would be direct but “Piaf’s way” just adds obscurity. Why not “The way of one who regretted nothing”, just to add another level?

    Thanks Picaroon on behalf of those who find obscurity challenging – I know there are many. I’m just not one. And thanks manehi for your ability to guide me through the fog.

  33. Robi @24 and Dr. W @28, I had the same question regarding PE as sport, but Collins lists ‘exercise’ as a synonym for the latter, so I suppose that lets the Pirate off the hook, so to speak.

  35. Yes,Valentine@34,I did and it held me up no end! But Picaroon’s puzzles always take me ages so I suppose it doesn’t matter. This was hard but I can’t deny it was clever. I liked CAMELEER,BUSTIER and FRENCH LOAF.
    Thanks Picaroon.

  37. Thanks, Manehi and Picaroon.

    Needed parsing for STING.

    SAT, by the way, stands for Scholastic Aptitude Test, and it is a standardized test.

  39. An excellent crossword with some great clues.  As well as my clear favourites FRENCH LOAF and RUE I liked INDICATIVE, STAIRWAY and BRIEFS very much.  The Jenny and Jack combination in ASSEVERATING was very neat, although using ‘sinner’ to indicate EVE seemed somewhat arbitrary.

    Thanks Picaroon and manehi.

  40. I found this quite tough but satisfying, with tight parsing and well hidden definitions.  I never did fully parse STAIRWAY so the excellent blog came in handy for that one.  For 1a, I tried to make CAPTAIN work (with top = cap) but, of course, it wouldn’t.  At 8, I got sidetracked into looking for an anagram of Belgians for a while.

    Favourites were FRENCH LOAF, STEEPLECHASE, BRIEFS, INDICATIVE and ECONOMISER.  Wrt the latter, Dr Whatson@28, I see your point, but that wording makes for the good surface, and disguises the definition in the process, so it gets my tick.

    Re sport = PE:  these were both used as names of the relevant school period when I was a lad, so synonymous in that sense.

    Thanks, Picaroon and manehi.

  43. SATs are controversial progress exams in British schools too, often used to give schools rankings.

    Dashhouse @42

    A liegeman could be a feudal rank, in which he gets some land in return to service to his liegelord.

  44. Dashhouse @42

    A good point – which I overlooked when looking at that clue.  A ‘liege’ could be either the vassal or the lord.  The term ‘liege-lord’ makes it clear if the lord is being referred to, but ‘liegeman’, it seems, can only be a vassal, i.e. a person who owes allegiance.

  45. For me 11a is one of those close that looks clever but on closer consideration doesn’t work properly.  You have to enter the cryptic definition in the grid, with the answer sitting in the clue. “Pain”is the French for bread, but FRENCH LOAF is what the British call a type of bread. So “French loaf” would be a CD for “pain”, but “pain” would only provide a clue for “baguette” without an indicator that translation were needed.

    … unless I am behind the times and “pain” is now a standard term in English for “bread”, or less likely the French do now call baguettes “french loaves”.

  46. When the previous Picaroon puzzle , three weeks ago, got such rave reviews, we were slightly surprised.
    While some found it “Picaroon on absolutely top form” or simply “just brilliant” we were unusually underwhelmed.
    Perhaps, that one was also a tad too easy.
    Unlike today’s which was really one of Picaroon’s very best.
    Like Eileen we had ticks all over the place, from the first-one-in (7d, STAIRWAY) onwards.

    Beautifully written clues like 10ac, 11ac, 1ac or 15d made our cryptic heart beat faster.
    At the same time, many constructions were not complicated at all – that’s what makes a good setter very good.

    While I feel for Trismegistus @ 32, more than one thumb up from us, plus one extra (which makes it five).
    Many thanks to manehi and Picaroon.

  47. VW @45

    I follow your reasoning and agree with it, but I also have to say that in my view the payback in terms of wit and surprise was worth the bending or stretching of the rules.  Strictly, I suppose, the clue should have had a ‘?’ at the end, with the special meaning “Is this exactly right? No: think of a whimsical or witty, not a literal, interpretation of the clue/definition.”  This has been done before (although I can’t immediately give you an example), and some of the best clues, in my opinion, are ones that take liberties like this.

  48. Thank Manehi for your genius… As I read your blog for some of the parsings, I thought: “no wonder I didn’t get that!”

    The homophone device (28 Yorkist) is always a bit dicey, as where I come from, you’re is pronounced you-re not your. And in 22 checkmated, loudly being the homophone indicator is ridiculously obscure and a deliberate red-herring for “f”.

    Finally in 25 Expensive, writer is usually I or me, but I’ve? How on earth does the ‘s get translated to “have”?

     

  49. Toneyvr: ‘The writer has’ = ‘I have’.

    Alan B: perhaps you are thinking of ‘Heggs? (11)’.

    Very satisfying solve.

  52. muffin @51  I  don’t think it would have stumped Morse: I think it was the brilliant ‘Drop the dead donkey’.

  53. This was a tough one for me, so I’m dead chuffed at having completed it. I couldn’t completely parse ASSERVERATING and RESTING, so many thanks to Manehi, but I loved RUE, BRIEFS, ANTI and SPOUSAL. Thanks to Picaroon for the mental workout

  54. Particularly after Tuesday’s Brummie, this felt like a grind. I’m not imagining any relief today, given Paul is up.

  58. It might be a reference to:

    1969 Feyenoord player Piet Romeijn yelled “Hondelul” (dog’s prick) at Arie van Gemert, he denied it of course and said he had used the word “onbenul” (nitwit). The case became known in the media and thus a word to yell at referees was born. (the spelling of certain Dutch words have changed since then, hence the difference in spelling of the word “hondenlul”).

     

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