Guardian Cryptic 28,119 by Pasquale

by

A quick start with the longer clues all falling early, then got stuck for a while in the North-West. Favourites were 13ac, 17ac, 1dn, 2dn, 15dn, and 18dn. Thanks Pasquale

Across
1 THATCH Topping stuff from J Trent’s collaborator? (6)
  reference to the collaboration beetwen Toni HATCH and Jackie Trent [wiki]
4 MAN-CHILD An honoured companion embraced by genial boy (3-5)
  AN + CH (Companion of Honour); all inside MILD=”genial”
9 RECON Military activity, trick by soldiers (5)
  CON=”trick” by RE (Royal Engineers)=”soldiers”
10 CELLARAGE A rave at back of room where wine is kept (9)
  A + RAGE=”rave”; after CELL=”room”
11 COLCANNON Officer with gun gets vegetarian dish (9)
  definition: an Irish dish of mashed potatoes with kale or cabbage
COL (Colonel)=”Officer” + CANNON=”gun”
12 PLUTO Funny dog in quiet Bedfordshire town devoid of tail (5)
  definition: the Disney cartoon dog
P (piano)=”quiet” + LUTO[n]=”Bedfordshire town” missing its tail letter
13 AIDES-MEMOIRE Dearie me, I’m so disorganised — reminders needed! (5-7)
  (Dearie me I’m so)*
17 BIRTHDAY SUIT Nothing actually to wear? I’d buy a T-shirt, possibly (8,4)
  (I’d buy a T shirt)*
20 BHANG Report about hospital drug (5)
  definition: a cannabis drink
BANG=”Report” around H (hospital)
21 A RIGHT ONE What’s excellent about politically conservative eccentric? (1,5,3)
  A ONE=A1=”excellent”, around RIGHT=”politically conservative”
23 ECONOMISE English company clamour about minimum of money in budget (9)
  E (English) + CO (company) + NOISE=”clamour” around M[oney]
24 DURER Artist gloomier after losing love (5)
  =a German painter
D[o]URER=”gloomier” minus O=”love”
25 LONESOME Maybe needing company to advance money, as you’d say (8)
  homophone/”as you’d say” of: ‘loan some’=”advance money”
26 LADDIE Tot in story is 4 (6)
  4 as in 4ac MAN-CHILD
ADD=”Tot” [up]; inside LIE=”story”
Down
1 TURNCOAT Rat to go off with puss catching nothing (8)
  TURN=”go off” + CAT=”puss” around O=”nothing”
2 ACCOLADE Star keeping very cool when collecting a pat on the back (8)
  ACE=”Star” around COLD=”very cool” around A
3 CANNA Plant with flowers — double the number in miraculous wedding location (5)
  water was miraculously turned into wine at the Wedding at CANA; with a double N=”number”
5 ALL IN GOOD TIME Exhausted, I get mood changing — you must wait a while (3,2,4,4)
  ALL IN=”Exhausted” + (I get mood)*
6 CHAMPERTY Illegal deal makes revolutionary type march (9)
  definition: an agreement to help fund a lawsuit in return for a share of the proceeds
(type march)*
7 ICARUS A cruise ending prematurely, sadly I drowned (6)
  Icarus fell into the sea after flying too close to the sun
(A cruis[e])*
8 DAEMON Revolutionary gnome admired, not entirely an evil spirit (6)
  Reversed/”Revolutionary” and hidden/”not entirely” inside [g]NOME AD[mired]
10 CONCEPTUALISM Philosophical theory misrep­resented in simple account (13)
  (simple account)*
14 SMIDGEONS Little bits of insect eaten by boys (9)
  MIDGE=”insect” inside SONS=”boys”
15 RUMOURED Spirit is shown by the Guardian boss, it’s alleged (8)
  RUM=”Spirit”+ OUR ED (editor)=”Guardian boss”
16 ST GEORGE Street stuff around England’s capital for national hero (2,6)
  ST (Street) + GORGE=”stuff” [oneself while eating] around E[ngland]
18 ABSEIL Mountaineer’s descent needs muscles — after which rest up (6)
  ABS=”muscles”; plus LIE=”rest” reversed/”up”
19 LAGOON Body of water in the past flooding half the capital (6)
  AGO=”in the past” inside half of LON[don]
22 HYDRA Monster in filthy drain (5)
  Hidden in [filt]HY DRA[in]

76 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 28,119 by Pasquale”

  2. Enjoyed this one – at the gentler end of Pasquale’s scale because the more obscure solutions were clearly signposted, but this still took a while to finish, with COLCANNON last in. Had to Google Jackie Trent, although both names were familiar I didn’t remember they were a couple…

    Thanks to Pasquale and manehi

  3. Thanks Pasquale and manehi

    Two unfamiliar words today were CHAMPERTY and CONCEPTUALISM, but helpfully they were both anagrams. I didn’t parse THATCH either – I wondered if it was an obscure reference to the Blessed Margaret.

    All great fun Favourites were COLCANNON, AIDES-MEMOIRE, and BIRTHDAY SUIT.

  4. A strange mixture – for me – today of obvious and impossible!  RECON, DURER, HYDRA , ST GEORGE and PLUTO were write ins for example.  CHAMPERTY would never have occurred to me, I tried to manipulate the 13 letters of 10ac in my head rather than on paper so didn’t arrive at CONCEPTUALISM, ACCOLADE wouldn’t come to mind and I’ve never heard of Toni Hatch so THATCH was a guess.  No complaints about the struggles – they were my failings (of course I should have heard of champerty!).  The straightforward didn’t seem quite up to Pasquale’s usual standards.  LONESOME made me smile – the word always reminds me of the Laurel & Hardy version of The Lonesome Pine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qApsAPnoH7c

    Thanks Pasquale and manehi

     

  6. Hovis @1 – At common law, maintenance and champerty were both crimes and civil wrongs; maintenance being intermeddling to encourage a lawsuit and champerty being the “maintenance” of a person in a lawsuit on condition that the subject matter of the action is to be shared with the maintainer – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champerty_and_maintenance.

    Nowadays, champerty has been rebranded Litigation Finance and is regarded as Enterprise, and A Good Thing.

    Not everyone connected with the law agrees.

  7. Thanks manehi and Pasquale.

    THATCH was my FOI: I had heard Sue McGregor’s The Reunion just yesterday so Hatch and Trent were fresh in my mind.

    CHAMPERTY was the only obscure one for me, though SMIDGEON took a long time to dawn.

  8. I had the opposite experience to Manehi – a very slow start, double espresso, accelerating nicely to a sprint finish. I thought there might be some brouhaha about the “illegal” CHAMPERTY but it couldn’t really be anything else given the fodder. I biffed CANNA so learned something there. Be well folks. Thanks to M&P

  9. [I love this painting of The fall of Icarus. Even standing in front of it (as I have) you have to look closely to see the two legs sticking out of the water! To be fair, the full title is Landscape with….]

  10. According to my Chambers CHAMPERTY, though not a criminal offence, is not legally enforceable. But can find no entry for RECON!
    A pleasant enough solve from the Don. The Hatch/Trent pairing (marriage too it seems) was ‘responsible’ for the Neighbours (an antipodean televisual offering) theme tune – which is understandably being coopted variously in these viral times. It’s often quite jolting to see the aged visage of someone (in this case Tony Hatch) whom one last saw in their forties. I blame Google!
    (Nice to have an April shower…)
    Many thanks, both and all.

  11. Like Mark @4 I found this a mix of write-ins and real head-scratchers. Nothing too impossible in the end, though asking us to dredge up the Crossroads composer and his second wife for 1ac was a bit harsh! All fairly clued and the philosophical anagram went together bit by bit. First I spotted “ism” and then added “ual” with a glimmer of hope and the rest came a bit later.

    “Man-child” was first in and I wondered if there was a Jungle Book theme, but that was “man-cub” so I led myself astray.

    All good fun – thank you Pasquale, and thank you manehi for the clear blog.

  12. muffin @9 that’s a lovely painting but I question the realism – the sun is setting on the horizon and yet Icarus is close to the shore. Assuming his fall from the edge of the earth’s atmosphere took 4-5 minutes (possibly longer due to drag from his wings) it’s hard to reconcile their relative positions

  13. Many thanks for the blog, manehi.  A dnf for me as I had no clue about the Trent/Hatch partnership and, not doing religion, had no chance with Cana.  (I have to work quite hard not to get ratty about these frequent biblical references.)

    muffin @9:  My goodness!  I’ve looked at that painting many times and never seen the legs!

    Excellent offering, as usual, from the Don – many thanks.

  15. 13ac:  In French the plural of aide-memoire is aide-memoire (invariable) or aide-memoires. Aide is part of a verb and so cannot take the plural s. But I gather some English dictionaries give the plural as here.

  16. William @13

    It’s no use getting ratty about the Don’s constant Biblical references: it’s what he does, and I have just learned to sigh, shrug and get on with it.

    I thought that this puzzle was better than most, and I even recalled the somewhat obscure ‘champerty’, though I doubt that it’s a word I shall have occasion to use in the near future.

  17. William @ 13.  The Bible is a well-known work of literature and it seems to me reasonable to refer to it. The turning of water to wine at Cana (which enormously embarrassed the Methodists who reared me) is an episode in the story of the boy-wizard Jesus. I put Jesus and Harry Potter on the same level as legitimate references to works of fiction.

  18. muffin @9:  Sorry to go on about this but, having read your link, I see that the version which I know is a copy, not the original.  This explains why the shepherd appears to be gazing at nothing in the sky – apparently the original included a flying Daedalus (Icarus’s father), and this is the version that hangs in the Van Buuren museum.

    Fascinating.

  19. Ian Birchall @17:  You’re quite right, of course.  I griped about this clue to the Memsahib who sneered at my ignorance claiming that this must surely be one of the best known parables in the Bible!  And, yes, it’s perfectly legitimate to refer to this tome; perhaps I should read it and get less ratty.

  20. Hadn’t hear of CHAMPERTY – thought at first it might be CHEMPARTY for some illegal rave. Great anagrams for AIDES-MEMOIRE and BIRTHDAY SUIT. Many thanks to Pasquale and manehi.

  21. That took hours, brain very sluggish, with a few nhos as well, viz J Trent, the vege dish and the illegal thingy. And biblical ignorance meant that I didn’t know it was at a wedding where the water became wine. Just as well there was the odd gimme like economise, lonesome and the nice long 5d, or I’d still be at it. Enjoyed it though, lovely sunny autumn day, no need to rush. Thanks Pasquale and Andrew.

  22. Thanks for the blog, manehi. Once again, I share your favourites, especially the first two [super anagrams] and 15dn RUMOURED, for not being a homophone.

    I’ll also add 7dn ICARUS and offer, in addition to muffin’s painting, Carol Ann Duffy’s short poem ‘Mrs Icarus’, from ‘The World’s Wife” [recommended].

    I’m not the first or the last

    To stand on a hillock,

    watching the man she married

    prove to the world

    he’s a total, utter, absolute, Grade A pillock.’

    Thanks to Pasquale for an enjoyable puzzle.

  23. [I love the poem, Eileen. I Googled some others – Mrs Darwin is funny, and I appreciated Mrs Midas’s concern for her cat! When at a loose end (when might that be?) I’ll try to find some others – any particular recommendations?]

  25. Exactly what you expect when you solve a puzzle by one of Mr Manley’s many alter egos.  Not that difficult either, just a brief moment wondering whether there really was such a thing as 6d

    Thanks to him for the enjoyable crossword, manehi for the blog, and Eileen for reminding us of the Duffy poem

  26. I thought this was excellent.

    The two anagrams for AIDES-MEMOIRE and BIRTHDAY SUIT are first-class clues. I also really liked LONESOME, RUMOURED, ABSEIL and SMIDGEONS.

    Also never heard of J Trent, nor the unfamiliar CANNA or CHAMPERTY, but still a most enjoyable solve.

  27. Thank you for all the appreciative feedback. My original clue for CANNA was in fact non-biblical and related to obsolete Indian currency. It was deemed too difficult by the editor, so I had to look for an alternative approach. References to the Bible, science. mathematics, art, sport, entertainment  — they all come up now and then. All part of our culture!

  28. Muffin @9, Landscape with the Fall of Icarus is a favourite of aeronautical engineers.  Brilliant product, arrogant pilot.

  29. Outstanding puzzle as always – nice mix of easier clues to help with the obscure vocab.

    1A was an outrageous bit of GK which I had to go and Google, being under 50 years of age.

    I also think it’s a bit rich referring to ‘Guardian Boss’ as ‘OUR ED’ given the number of papers than Don peddles his wares for. 🙂

    Light-hearted jests aside, I loved ACCOLADE and LONESOME

  30. A likeable puzzle – thanks to Pasquale and manehi.

    Yes I had to use the fodder and the crossers to get the unfamiliar 6d CHAMPERTY. Some of my favourites have already been mentioned, but I actually liked being reminded of the songs of Jackie Trent and Tony Hatch at 1a THATCH. I also liked DURER (sorry no umlaut), 3d CANNA, 14s SMIDGEON (what a lovely word!) and 16d ST GEORGE.

    Agree that the poem was fun – thanks Eileen@

    I like the Biblical references myself and agree with the first part of the comment from Ian Burchall@17. I think stories like the Wedding Feast at Cana are part of our cultural heritage in countries like the UK and Australia. Even thought I have divorced myself from institutionalised religion in recent times, I still appreciate the literary and historical importance of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures.

    [Hope everyone is staying well. I am very conscious of COVID challenges in many places, and particularly concerned for our crossword family in the UK and the US, as well as for family members in the latter.]

  31. I’m with bodycheetah@8 – despite seeing the fodder for the long anagrams I got to 8d before entering anything in the grid, then 18d and it started to unravel steadily. I did know J Trent’s partner and this was the key to unlocking the NW corner which was the last to yield with TURNCOAT being the final entry. I enjoy Pasquale’s puzzles and know there will always be a tilt as well as the odd classical reference, and that everything will be precisely clued. As well as those already mentioned I liked BHANG. Thanks to Pasquale and manehi, especially for the parsing of ACCOLADE where for some reason I failed to see ACE for star. Also thanks to muffin for starting the Icarus thread.

  32. Didn’t know J Trent, but it could only be THATCH with the crossers, and confirmed by Google.

    I also thought the anagrams for AIDES-MEMOIRE and BIRTHDAY SUIT were very good. I also liked the simple LADDIE. I think some references to the bible are OK, particularly relatively well-known stories such as the wedding at Cana.

    Thanks Pasquale and manehi [and to Muffin with the nice link and pointing out the legs! – William @18; if you read to the bottom of the article, it suggests the painting is probably an original.]

  33. Pasquale@27 – thanks for joining the conversation – for me the obsolete Indian currency would have come to mind more readily than the Biblical wedding.

  34. Thanks, Pasquale and Manehi, this was very enjoyable. However, it struck me for the first time that after falling from too close to the sun and hitting the water at presumably a very high speed, surely Icarus would have died of his injuries, rather than drowning.

  35. JinA@30, if I  indulge myself by entering DÜRER (as I have both keyboards and it’s not a crosser) then the anagram doesn’t really work. Umlauts and other diacritics, like homophones, have to be given some slack.

    I think it was Andrew Motion who complained that students’ lack of biblical knowledge these days is making the teaching of English literature more difficult.

    Enjoyable puzzle. LOI for no good reason was ICARUS.

    My thanks to Pasquale and manehi.

  36. Brian @ 34. I believe terminal velocity for a human body is about 120 mph. Depending how you hit the water, this is survivable. Icarus’s velocity would have been slower, given the wings, etc.

  37. Re the Icarus discussion, Musee des Beaux Arts by Auden always moves me. Thanks to all for the entertaining comments.

  38. I enjoyed this puzzle.

    I needed some help from wikpiedia to work out 1ac.

    New for me was CHAMPERTY.

    Thanks B+S

  39. Never heard of the musical couple, and CHAMPERTY is not illegal, as has been pointed out.

    I knew of the wedding feast, but not the plant, so that was a guess (I actually thought the feast was at CANNA and couldn’t work out the parsing). Aside from that, a fun puzzle, though I find it ironic that some people didn’t like the biblical reference but apparently have no problem with ICARUS. We all have our bugbears I suppose. In my case it’s the frequent cricketing references and (to my ear) false homophones, both of which were mercifully absent this time around.

  40. I’m well over 50 and had absolutely no clue about J Trent. Or, indeed T Hatch.  LOI therefore after googling. Enjoyable puzzle though.

  41. For me, this one was more General-Knowledge-a-go-go, than a normal crossword. Thank heavens for google, wiki, etc. After a lot of online digging I eventually tracked down champerty and, with bhang, am now much better informed about iffy legal practices and cannabis drinks. I’d heard of water being turned into wine somewhere by somebody, figured it had to be biblical – but the bible being a hefty tome, it was quicker and easier to look up the plant instead. I guessed PLUTO, stared at it for an eternity, before wondering if perhaps Luton is in Bedfordshire. As for THATCH: from google I learned that J Trent assocs are a construction firm in North Carolina – and since thatch is a form of roofing, it seemed a good bet….
    On the plus side, BIRTHDAY SUIT is a cracking anagram, ABSEIL and RUMOURED made me grin. So thanks to Pasquale for the education and to Manehi for the explanations.
    The additional joy today has been all the delicious titbits and info from FS commenters: many thanks to NeilH for furthering my understanding of champerty, to Bodycheetah for the glorious deconstruction of the science of the Bruegel painting, to Eileen for the Carol Ann Duffy poem – and to Mark for reminding me of my favourite Michael Frayn novel. Alas, my much-thumbed copy of Headlong is stuck in London, whilst I’m in “le confinement” France…

  43. Just couldn’t see 1ac THATCH, nor therefore 3d CANNA. But lots of fun otherwise. Don’t know why, but PLUTO made me smile, as I suppose he was meant to when on our screens..

  45. Muffin@9 and others: for a more serious take on that picture see WH Auden’s Musee des Beaux Arts. A love of Auden’s poetry was the best thing that came out of O Level Eng Lit over 50 years ago.

    I thought this one of the Don’s best puzzles. When he doesn’t pollute them with CD clues he can be as good as anyone now setting.

  46. I really liked 1a and did a bit of googling and didnt realise how much Tony had done before he teamed up with Jackie.

    Thought CANNA was a bit obvious so waited for a crosser to confirm

    As others have said, not his toughest but top quality and thanks to him for popping in

  47. An enjoyable romp with both the Don and the poster diversions today. Best of the bunch were BIRTHDAY SUIT TURNCOAT and MAN-CHILD.

    There is so much going on in those Bruegels you could look at them for ages. The Poems were a hoot – very visual and a spectrum from gags to great eloquence. Why would anyone want to know the terminal velocity of a body unless contemplating a parachute jump or spousecide!

    Back to the voluntary housework. Apparently skirting boards require cleaning. Is this part of the new normal I keep hearing about? My assertion that Carol Ann Duffy wouldn’t do this was me with short shrift.

    Thanks one and all.

  48. I always enjoy the Don although I am often beaten by the obscure words he presents us with.  I did finish this, as while I did not know CHAMPERTY the anagram and the crossers made it quite clear.  LOI was THATCH which I got from the definition only.

    Favourites were SMIDGEONS, BIRTHDAY SUIT and BHANG – good to get another drug for a change.

    Thanks to Pasquale for a serious workout and manehi for confirmation of a number of things including THATCH and MAN-CHILD.

  49. I did this to fill my coffee break while resting from a tough weekend crossword. It was no walkover, though! I very much enjoyed the range of clues here, from the accessible ones to those that made me think.
    I had no idea who J Trent is, THATCH going in only because it is a ‘topping’, but it was a fair clue. I think I would have got CANNA (which is new to me) from Anna as well as Cana, both of which I know.
    AIDES-MEMOIRE was a surprise. I agree with Grim and Dim @15 about the French plural. Chambers does not give a plural, meaning, in the absence of an exceptional plural form, that it considers Aide-memoires to be correct, as I do. Collins, however, gives the plural as Aides-memoire, which Pasquale used here.
    Thanks to Pasquale and manehi, and to other contributors on arty and literary subjects in particular.

  50. Lots of easy – several virtually impossible. Three answers unknown to me – 20ac 3dn 6dn.
    I don’t think that Jackie Trent is well enough known to be in a crossword clue.

  51. LOI was THATCH from definition and crossers, as my Google search for J Trent unearthed the construction firm found by Wellbeck @41 but failed to find Jackie. Also had to use Google to confirm CAN(n)A and LUTO[n], as well as Collins to confirm AIDES-MEMOIRE and CHAMPERTY, but all were fair clues. My favourites have all been mentioned, so I’ll just add thanks to Pasquale and to manehi for a merciful explanation of THATCH. Thanks also to the many commenters who have extended the day’s pleasure with an even livelier than usual discussion. Stay well all.

  52. A lovely puzzle; I’d always recommend the Don as providing a classic example of a British crossword, just as his eponymous work, which kept me out of mischief recently, provides a classic example of an opera buffa.  Thanks too to Manehi et al for all the fun here; Muffin, it strikes me that your painting would be better titled Landsccape with the Fall Landing of Icarus.

    It seems to me that CHAMPERTY in certain societies has reached the status of a beloved national sport. If I have understood Neil H  and William F P correctly, if a bunch of unscrupulous corporate lawyers stir up some stooge to provoke a lawsuit with the promise of a share of the spoils and then this sap then asks for his share, he hasn’t got a leg to stand on and the vultures are in the clear ? If this is so (is it?), I can distinctly  hear Eeyore !

  53. Thanks to Pasquale and manehi.

    I spent last night in a virtual bar with some old mates swapping yarns and songs, tunes and speculation so I nearly crashed and burned this “morning”.  But fortunately the Don is nothing if not fair and I managed to struggle through albeit with a few bifs.  Highlight was the delicious BIRTHDAY SUIT.  I would buy that t-shirt.

     

  54. A word in defence of Jackie Trent (and, indeed, Tony Hatch). From the sixties onwards they were the quintessential show business couple, forever being photographed next to sports cars. Her star as a performer waned as their success as songwriters waxed. Tony had a lucrative sideline in theme tunes for popular TV series – Crossroads, Emmerdale, both were long running successes for him, as was Neighbours later, as someone has already noted. Tony was also a judge on popular 70s talent show New Faces, where he was “the man you love to hate”, unafraid to criticise acts which he thought weren’t up to scratch.

    Of course, it all died down and semi-retirement beckoned. But they were not forgotten. Although expatriates of many years’ standing, their acrimonious divorce hit the headlines in the UK, and, more recently, when Jackie died, the obituaries were kind to her, and recognised her talent.

    And if Tony Hatch is remembered for nothing else, he will be remembered as the man who wrote Downtown.

  55. Must have been easier than usual because I fair belted through this.I didn’t know CHAMPERTY and I didn’t know CANNA but I was aware of the wedding at CANA- well, water into wine is my sort of miracle!
    Everything else has been said.
    Thanks Pasquale.

  56. Whatever some dctionaries might say, maintenance and its subspecies champerty, are no longer unlawful in (at least) the UK and Australia, otherwise litigation funding agreements, which are now common, especially in connection with class actions, would be illegal.

  57. Can anyone throw light on why we have seen no Arachne (or her various other names) crosswords recently.  I do hope she is well and that she might resume compiling again.

  58. [Off topic – sorry – but I was going to suggest that anyone wanting to try an archive puzzle with a different flavour of clueing might like to try a Bunthorne. However I can’t find a way just to search for a compiler in the Guardian archive; a month must also be specified, so most searches are blank. I can get around that by searching on here to find a date to enter in the Guardian search, but surely there must be an easier way?]

  60. Many thanks pfr – I’ve bookmarked that!

    Bunthorne had a very distinctive flavour. I liked it – mind you, he came from Burnley, near where I live.

  61. No worries. I am from Hebden Bridge so not too far from you. 🙂

    It looks like you can find any setter using that URL and just changing the last bit appropriately.

    Arachne hasn’t had a puzzle yet this year by the looks of it, for whoever was asking.

  63. Working in South America in the 70’s we subscribed to the Guardian Weekly, a tissue paper compendium of news and articles from the previous week.  Bunthorne was often the setter of the chosen puzzle and it usually took much of the week to complete.  Your mention of him muffin, brought back great memories of Paraguay and an enjoyable ‘magazine’.  Is it still published?

  65. SPanza @63 According to Wikipedia the Guardian Weekly is alive and well and still internationally circulated.  “The Guardian Weekly was re-designed in October 2018 as a glossy magazine. It was announced that the circulation of the magazine would increase, and three different editions would be published: International, North American, and Australian”.  There is citation of an article which appears to be from 2016 and shows a map of the world with profiles of various international users.  https://www.theguardian.com/global/ng-interactive/2016/aug/03/guardian-weekly-community-map.  I think I recall you are in Spain; by coincidence the profiled subscriber in Madrid remarks that the Guardian Weekly was “…my faithful companion, in Lima but also on travels to Cuzco, Iquitos on the Amazon, the Paracas desert …”

  66. Late to the party I know, but I just wanted to say that 1ac was my FOI, and pretty much a write-in, Jackie and Tony being the first names to pop into my mind as soon as I read the clue. Showing my age, I guess – or my teenage viewing habits!

  67. Mark @65 Thank you so much.  We received the Guardian Weekly from 75 to 79 when we were living and working in Asuncion Paraguay during the time of Stroessner.  This publication along with the World Service of the BBC kept us in touch with news from around the world and from back in the UK.  And the crossword was a wonderful diversion.  I think I remember Taupi from that time also but I may be mistaken.

  68. Like drofle, I also tried out CHEMPARTY but can’t see why that would be illegal (full disclosure – I’m a chemist 😀 ).  I don’t think I’ve ever seen the actual answer.  Doesn’t RECON deserve some indication of abbreviation?  I liked CONCEPTUALISM (nice tight anagram) and ICARUS (good storytelling surface) very much.  ALL IN GOOD TIME was also clever but I thought the Don missed a trick by not using “swings” as the anagrind.

    Fun, Don-lite puzzle, much enjoyed.  Thanks, Pazzer, for dropping in and manehi for blogging (think you must have meant “loan sum” in 25, as others have said).

  69. I vividly remember the ’tissue paper’ (as it has been descibed above) Guardian Weekly from my days working on projects in Germany and the Netherlands rather a long time ago.  It was a top quality publication, a ‘must read’, that I used to devour at weekends, having very little time to read news and such during the working week.  I think I used to tackle the crossword too, which I suppose would have been reprinted from one of the Guardian daily crosswords in that week, although I can’t remember.

    Thanks to those who jogged my memory.

  70. Had no problem remembering Jackie Trent and Tony Hatch. In fact, I’ve had “The Two Of Us” in my ear all day.

  71. I’m with JinA concerning appreciation of Bible references. Interesting that several contributors often make a point of their scepticism or otherwise, and rarely anyone appears to fly a more positive flag, so I will only say that something doesn’t have to be real to be true. Metaphorical historicity and all that.

    Thanks to Pasquale and Manehi

  72. Thanks to the Don for a very entertaining puzzle, and to Manehi for the blog.

    Enlightening discussion on Icarus.

    Stay free everyone.

  73. Thank you Pasquale for an enjoyable puzzle and manehi for a helpful blog.

    Many of those Bible stories probably have a natural explanation, wine was usually watered in the past, and pouring water into dried out stone or pottery wine containers would appear red (or blue if the water were alkaline – “wine-dark sea”) –  before the Aswan dam reduced the silt content of the Nile delta sea, rain containing small fish (probably sardines) sometimes fell Egypt, the same phenomenon could have happened near the Sea of Galilee etc. etc..

  75. I very much enjoyed this though T Hatch was not someone I had ever heard of and CHAMPERTY was also knew. I did a lot of putting in, checking and seeing why it worked and managed to parse most. The Guardian Weekly is a great magazine and I still receive it in Germany though these days I have often read a lot of it on line already (and at present it is only benefitting my husband sine I am in lockdown in the UK). I love the insights it gives into reporting from Le Monde and the Washington Post, though come to think of it there may be less of this since the revamp.

  76. What a wonderful crossword, but also a very interesting set of comments. It gave me the wonderful excuse to delve into YouTube and listen/watch lots of Jackie and Tony – so nostalgic. Re water into wine – check out “The pneumatics of Hero of Alexandra” where he shows a clever invention where a jug of wine/water can deliver either depending on the pourers placing of thumb. Clever hydraulics to block the intake air hole for either compartment.  I still take the The Guardian Weekly. V good journalism as always plus a crossword from the earlier week.

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