Guardian Cryptic 28,214 by Matilda

74 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 28,214 by Matilda”

1. What a strikingly different Monday experience.  Quite a test from Matilda – who I very much look forward to encountering again.  Two unknown words, one of which (CLYSTER) wasn’t difficult to find but the other (TERREPLEIN), especially since I hadn’t solved FELT TIPS, was a reveal.  A lovely range of clueing devices, some splendid misdirection and an engaging sense of humour throughout.

   Extra ticks went to ENGROSS which is very smooth; YOLK SAC where, although the device was obvious, the surface is delightful; GORES for its misdirection; CANINES for a beautiful conceal, the aforementioned FELT TIPS which had me floundering until a tea tray moment and LOSE ONE’S BALANCE which is a nice double definition. COTD is a combination of brilliant anagram and misdirect – ACUPUNCTURISTS.

   Like loonapick, I was a little thrown by ABET which I felt involved choosing the evens but it seemed the obvious solution.

   Thanks Matilda and loonapick

    

2. In the first run through I thought this was going to be tough, but then the RHS revealed itself and the LHS soon followed. As someone who very rarely completes a puzzle at one sitting this was quite a change, so either I was on Matilda’s wavelength of it was easier than usual.
   I have no problem with CATCAT for cats, it’s less tricky than some of the other devices we often see.
   It’s got my working week off to a positive start, just not sure the rest of it is going to go so smoothly.
   Thanks to M & L

3. Yes, much to enjoy here even though, as loonapick says, it wasn’t typical Monday fare. I rather liked the CAT CAT anagram in TOCCATA; never heard of TERREPLEIN but it emerged from the crossers. A lot of fun. Many thanks to M & l.

4. Lovely crossword – smack in the centre of my Goldilocks zone.

   Thanks to Matilda, and to Loonapick.

   Ii seems odd to select 4d, but not 14ac, for criticism on the grounds of archaism. I thought that the former was much more gettable – without knowing the word – than the latter.

5. Loads to admire here – some great surfaces, a good variety of clues and some excellent long anagrams as well as a Paul-like talent for spotting parts of words. I didn’t mind “cats” = “catcat” once i got it 🙂 “sloop” took me forever – too much O’Brian had taught me that a sloop is any ship under a master and commander rather than a post-captain and I had not picked up the more modern reference to the mast number. “lose ones balance” is one of those annoying ones that could equally be “lose your balance” until the right crossers are in. Not a lot you/one can do about it without cluing large parts of the answer in tedious ways. My only other gripe was the anagram for a very unusual word (“terreplein”) which is a bit unfair.

   I thought this top-notch however – many thanks Matilda, and loonapick for putting it all together.

6. I really enjoyed this – clever surfaces everywhere with ticks the same as loonapick as well as the neat run-through at CANINES and the lovely anagrind somersaults at DINGO.

   Never having had the need to spell acupuncture before, I would have gone for 2 C’s but I see that the etymology of acu is “with a needle”.

   The fly in the ointment for me, is the clunky YOLK SAC which is telegraphed and was my FOI.

   Many thanks, Matilda, very pleasant change from our normal Monday Fare.

    

7. Yes, I definitely found this quite tough, but enjoyable.

   I had trouble with TERREPLEIN: I thought it must end in REIN, as the clue doesn’t quite suggest REIN as part of the anagram. It was a case of guess a letter then check in the end.

   STICKS = GORES is as in a bull  attack, for example? I wasn’t sure. Similarly with SLOOP – it is a single masted ship? And WELTER – I didn’t know it was “toss”

   Thanks Matilda and loonapick

   Thanks

8. Thank you, Matilda and loonapick. was a I found this a little harder than expected in places but managed to work out the aforementioned 14a TERREPLEIN (lovely word!) and 4d CLYSTER (not such a lovely word!). I agree with loonapick regarding 1d DIGESTIVE TRACTS as a favourite, as I ticked that one too. I also enjoyed 6d LOSE ONE’S BALANCE, and like Mark@1, 8d ACUPUNCTURIST. HOGWASH at  17d was also fun.

   [I thought 22d DINGO might have been there just for you, grantinfreo, given the Azaria Chamberlain story you mentioned was being filmed near your place recently. And I know you will enjoy mention The Zed@5 of Patrick O’Brian, your late wife’s favoured author.]

9. Thanks both. I am often puzzled by clues like 6d, where I would say “lose YOUR balance” but setters nearly always go for “lose ONES balance”, which sounds a bit like our sovereign lady talking to me.

10. Morning loonapick, many thanks for your comprehensive blog. Sorry for the mistake at 19 – it should have been ignore the odds. Thanks to all for the kind comments too!

11. [Sorry about that random “was a” in my second sentence – did some cutting and pasting and failed to proof-read the result of that properly!]

    [William@6, I actually wasn’t so fussed on “somersaults” for the DINGO clue at 22d, as for me that implied turning the letters upside down. But no big deal. However, I also had the same hesitation as you did with the spelling of 8d ACCUPUNCTURIST.]

12. [See what I did there with that misspelling – now I see it, it looks so wrong!]

13. Dave@7 – I remembered the phrase “to stick a pig” (not that I have ever actually done that…) and that helped me see 20ac, eventually.  I thought this was a terrific crossword.  I did not at all mind the archaisms – one was plain to see and the other very gettable once the crossers were in; besides I love collecting new (or old) words.  The two cats in 23ac were spiffing.  It took me a while to see what was going on but I thought it was a good ploy and a good joke.  As for 19ac I failed to see that the even letters in “gambler to” spelt out “abet.”  I simply took it straightforwardly to mean help the gambler to do what gamblers do.  This was a lost opportunity maybe by the setter – either that or an amazing coincidence.  Anyway, heartfelt thanks to both setter and blogger for the good sport this morning.

14. Dave@7 – I remembered the phrase \”to stick a pig\” (not that I have ever actually done that…) and that helped me see 20ac, eventually.  I thought this was a terrific crossword.  I did not at all mind the archaisms – one was plain to see and the other very gettable once the crossers were in; besides I love collecting new (or old) words.  The two cats in 23ac were spiffing.  It took me a while to see what was going on but I thought it was a good ploy and a good joke.  As for 19ac I failed to see that the even letters in \”gambler to\” spelt out \”abet.\”  I simply took it straightforwardly to mean help the gambler to do what gamblers do.  This was a lost opportunity maybe by the setter – either that or an amazing coincidence.  Anyway, heartfelt thanks to both setter and blogger for the good sport this morning.

15. Maltilda@10

    Thanks for “dropping in”, and for clarifying 19ac.  I enjoyed your puzzle, as did those solvers who have taken the time to comment, so I hope to get to blog another Matilda very soon.

     

     

16. It took me so long to do my post – having been mistaken for a robot (not something that happens every day) that I failed to see Matilda come in and fess up.  I also managed to make a double posting.  Sorry everyone.

17. There were certainly more obscurities here than we tend to see on a Monday: 14a TERREPLEIN, 4d CLYSTER, WELTER meaning “toss” in 7d.  But these were all reasonably gettable from the wordplay and the crossers, and this was an enjoyable solve.

    On the “cats” anagram, I think it was Tramp who a while back expressed the view that the totally unfair sort of indirect anagram is the “think of a synonym and make an anagram of that” type.  I don’t think 23a fell into that category – I thought it was inventive but fair.

    I was wondering if in 19a “odd” could just mean “every other”, but I see Matilda @10 has now said it was a mistake!

    Many thanks Matilda and loonapick.

18. LordJim@17

    For clarity, I wasn’t saying that CATCAT was an indirect anagram, but that it could be classed in the same general category as an indirect anagram as both require the solver to take an additional step to get the anagram fodder.

19. My mistake was entering STRAP for 2d which was PARTS reading up and S TRAP which I thought worked for single master. Then I was stumped for 9a. Silly as ENGROSS was clear for 9a but I failed to revisit 2d. also I’m currently rereading Patrick O’Brien! 14a I got very close to but resorted to an anagramming tool as I failed to recognise the word. All in all many thanks to Matilda for the puzzle and loonapick for the thoughtful blog. My favourite was everything. I also enjoyed learning welter was a synonym for toss.

20. Julie in Oz @12:  You’re right, seeing it written, it can’t be ‘CC’.

    Re somersaults, I think I’ve been permanently influenced by my Grandma who would sometimes come into my brother’s and my bedroom and remark, “Dear Lord, have you been turnin’ somersaults in here”?!

21. CanberraGirl @19:  How can your favourite be everything?  Ah – just seen it – you meant EVERYTHING.  I’ll get my coat…

22. Like others, terreplein did seem rather obscure, but I suppose it could still be used today by specialists whereas clyster would not be used at all. Terreplein did seem a reasonable guess if you assume it has french derivation (“empty area”?), but clyster just looks odd.

     

23. Maybe it is a bit of an unfair clue, but I enjoyed ‘catcat’ for ‘cats’, once cobro figured it out!

    Favourites were SLOOP and STETHOSCOPE.

    Thank you, Matilda and loonapick!

24. What a super puzzle!

    I had no reservations at all about the cats – in fact, i gave TOCCATA a tick. I’m sure I’ve seen ‘news’ cluing NN and ‘times’ for TT – this seemed like the same sot of thing, only cleverer.

    I had nine more ticks but that’s too many to list and they’ve probably all been mentioned, as I’m a bit late today.

    Many thanks to loonapick for the blog and to Matilda for the puzzle and for dropping in. Come back soon – on a Monday!

25. Was about to write what Eileen said about cats. In fact one of my favourites here. Excellent crossword. Thanks very much to Matilda. And thanks too Loonapick for the blog.

26. Yep, join the chorus of approval, with a few nhos and ?s. No memory of the pilot but easily gettable, and nho of terreplein, needing juggle and check. E + very thing is the kind of charade I like, and liked the cross-resonance in abet after ignoring the odd/even error. Thought ethos for code a bit hmmm..more like character. Thought sloop neat (ages since I’ve read Mrs ginf’s O’brians, JinA, so I didn’t have TheZed’s problem re single master [btw, she would have been 85 today..lots of texts, and even flowers; and yes, I immediately thought of your dingo ref! The doco, shot in this house, is on Ch 10 sometime in Sept]. In 7d, I don’t know how toss is welter. And I liked acupuncture, not least because it confounds medical orthodoxy and I’ve always been a bit of a stirrer. All good fun, thanks Matilda, and thanks loonapick (candour is always good…well, nearly always 🙂 .

27. That was lovely – thank you Matilda (and loonapick) for a fun start to the week.  This was one of those that didn’t give itself up until it did and then everything just fell into place.  FOI was RESOLVE and my spelling of TOCCATA really was a bit of a shambles (my word of 2020).  Good puzzle; fun solve!

28. We had a vaguely similar construct from Picaroon on 23 May this year for TOCCATA:

     

    Two acts composed, penning old baroque work (7)

29. A bit harder than previous Mondays, but much to enjoy. CLYSTER and TERREPLEIN were new to me. Latter must be of French origin, but then it should be TERREPLEINE (‘pleine’ meaning ‘full’, as in a full tank please, la pleine svp.) I thought GORES for sticks was a stretch. Google gives WELTER  as ‘move in a turbulent fashion’, so no problems there.

    Welcome Matilda and thanks loonapick.

30. I too, like Eileen had several ticks.I didnt mind the cats at all-I liked the surface and shurely an editor should pick up the odds clue.

    Matilda was very welcome this morning.

    Thanks M and loonapick

31. Looked at the possibility of SLOOP for ages, unconvinced. The “single master” not indicating to this rather befuddled Monday brain that it pointed to the mast on a ship rather than a person in control. Clever enough to defeat me for a while. LOI therefore…

32. Took quite a while to get going – wasn’t on the right wavelength at first. But once I got stuck in I really enjoyed it. Like others did not know welter meant to toss and also had not heard of the terms mentioned above. Thanks to Matilda and loonapick.

33. [grantinfreo @26 – warm thoughts to you today: it’s lovely when other folk remember, isn’t it?]

34. Superb – what Mark@1 and Eileen@24 (I think) said – except that I had another 12 ticks as well as the two cats. My double tick went to GORES – a perfect clue. Loi was SLOOP which seems to have held others up – thanks to commenters for explaining it. Thanks to Matilda for the puzzle and acknowledging the error and to loonapick for the blog and introduction.

35. Chuck Yeager features in a brilliant film about test pilots and the space race called The Right Stuff

    Fabulous crossword – I had gold stars for TOCCATA, DISGRACEFUL and GORES and ticks by many others already mentioned

    Cheers all

     

36. Agreed that this was a tougher Monday puzzle, but lots to like. I struggled to see how SLOOP worked, even though I am well aware that a sloop has a single mast (I see them all the time from my window, on the River Derwent). Just didn’t split ‘mast-er’. LOI was the NHO TERREPLEIN, not helped by REIN being third last. I guessed it was part of the fodder, but didn’t have it. Not fazed by the two cats – I thought it was cute. Shirl @9, I agree about the ones/your confusion, but now work on the rule of thumb that Pommy setters always use ‘ones’, being Poms. Nice one, Matilda, and good blog, loonapick.

37. Matilda,  you’ve always been one of my favourite Quiptic setters, so it’s great to see you doing more Cryptics. Thanks for dropping in to explain 19ac, against all odds!

    I hadn’t heard of Chuck Yeager, but then a few seconds later I did. (I’ll get my coat!)

38. Hmmm @29: I thought the same as you regarding French origin of TERREPLEIN, and similarly wondered ‘Why isn’t it pleine, since terre is feminine?’

    However this explains it: it’s not ‘full earth’, it’s ‘earth-full’, derived from the Italian terrapieno.

    [Btw when you fill the car up it’s faire le plein; la pleine might be open to misinterpretation 😉 ]

    Thanks M and L, it was a great puzzle as we all agree, though spare a thought for less experienced solvers who’ve been advised to try the Monday crossword as a nice gentle introduction to cryptics!

39. [Thanks Eileen@33, yes it is a balm]

40. You’ve given me an earworm now, grant.  😉

41. Jeremy @37 (Sonic) boom boom.
    Enjoyable, though TERREPLEINE defeated me.
    Thanks Matilda and Loonapick.
    Musical accompaniment: Sloop John B from the Beach Boys in the 60s and from the terraces these days, and Toccata from ELP’s Brain Salad Surgery in the 70s, Sky in the 80s or Bach in the 18th century.

42. Liked TOCCATA , HEDONISM

    NEW words: CLYSTER, WELTER = toss, TERREPLEIN.

    Thanks to Matilda and loonapick.

    * I know of Chuck Yeager via the movie, The Right Stuff. Sam Shepard was excellent in it.

43. Jeremy Nicholas @37. When you say “get my coat”, did you mean your mach?

    Like many others I enjoyed the two cats performing a TOCCATA for love, but I do understand loonapick’s qualms about this sort of clue. More experienced solvers will have seen this sort of thing before, but it’s maybe a bit of a stretch for a Monday.

    I had a slight quibble about 16a: “exactly what’s needed” is the VERY THING, is it not?

    Things I learnt today: Chuck Yeager, TERREPLEIN, WELTER=toss, CLYSTER; the clues were explicit, so none of these gave me much pause for thought.

    Thanks to Matilda for showing up to confess to the error in 19a. But shouldn’t this have been picked up by the editor before it made it into the paper?

44. Loonapick says …”no obvious theme or nina …” What’s a “nina” ?

45. Great fun! I fall into the “enjoyed cat cat” camp. [I read somewhere that a plural in Indonesian is simply the noun twice, thus: cat cat. I’ve never travelled that far east and so have not yet been able to test this for myself, but the idea is charming – and I often address our two cats as cat-cat.] I didn’t know “welter” could also mean toss, and I simply guessed that a sloop had only one mast. CANINES was so well-hidden that it was practically my last in. EYESHADE, HOGWASH and DINGO all made me grin. Many thanks to Loonapick for an informative and helpful blog, and to Matilda for a masterly crossword.

46. I liked the fact that it was less of a write-in then some Monday Cryptics. Once I’d got the crossers, I decided TERREPLEIN was the most likely word for 14a, though I’d never heard of it. There it was in Chambers, which I also used to confirm CLYSTER, another new word for me. I thought cats for CAT CAT was cheeky and Araucarian, rather than unfair. I agree with all that archaic terms should be indicated as such. And I don’t like “somersaults” as an anagram indicator. But this nit-picking suggests I didn’t enjoy it. I did. Good start to the week. Thanks loonapick and Matilda.

47. In an alternate universe (in which crosswords were more important), the setters would supply the editor with not only the solution but a one-line description of each answer.  That would not only cut down on these minor slip-ups, but provide the basis of a blog ready to go in the event that the official blogger du jour is held up by a hurricane or other misfortune.

48. Matilda’s crosswords are always good, even if the level of difficulty at times varies.
    This one was inch-perfect.
    William @6 loved the anagram indicator (somersaults) but I wasn’t sure whether it really indicates mixing up the letters.
    Perhaps, that’s the reason I couldn’t find it in any semi-official indicator list (like the Chambers Crossword Dictionary).
    Are we OK with “rooftop = R” in an across clue? (20ac)
    But a lovely puzzle – wonder what Everyman might have done with 10ac …. 🙂
    So, many thanks to Matilda, and Loonapick for explaining it all.

49. Sil @48. I’m personally happy with rooftop=R in an across clue, because it’s a natural indication in a real word. I think the direction of the lights in the grid is relevant for the placing of letters in the answer, but in the clue not so much. Though I dare say you’ll be able to find an example to prove me wrong!

    Anyway, isn’t top the same as first?

50. Steve @44. A nina is a word or phrase that is hidden in the grid and not usually identified in the clues (though there might be a hint somewhere). In this grid, you could imagine a nina in the line that is spaced out underneath DISGRACEFUL, and which reads W_I_L_E_L_E_O_A. Or there are grids where it is possible to do this all the way round the perimeter.

    I believe it comes from a setter who hid his wife’s or daughter’s name NINA in a grid, but I could be wrong.

51. sheffield hatter, I was only asking this to see what people think, I didn’t give my own view.
    Many years ago I asked a well-known and respected setter (Monk) exactly the same thing and we ‘decided’ that it was ultimately fine.

52. Thanks Matilda for an unexpected challenge; favourites included SLOOP,EYESHADE,STETHOSCOPE,and the clever TOCCATA. I had the same problems as others with CLYSTER and TERREPLEIN and needed a word finder for those. Failed at FELT TIPS and didn’t know “welter” was toss. Thanks Loonapick for the write-up — I enjoy bloggers who express their opinions as well as explaining the clues.

53. [Eileen @40, just as Gilead, sung by those magnificent women, had rendered me a complete sobbing mess, a dear friend lobbed in the door to commemorate. Recovered now, almost 🙂 ]

54. Misled by it being a Monday and it being Matilda, I confidently sauntered into the Cryptic and then found something much tougher than anticipated! Enjoyed it hugely though – Matilda’s wittiness and ability to misdirect always makes for pleasant company. Add me to the pile of people who were unconcerned by cats – thought that was quite smart when I saw it – and rooftop is also a lovely replacement for the ubiquitous ‘right’.

    Thanks Matilda and loonapick.

55. Sil @48 – you might be more nimble than most of us and able to finish a somersault in the position that you started from. I expect the commoner experience would involve some reorganisation of vital elements.

56. Very enjoyable. 4d will give me a new image whenever I think of Kim Clijsters. Thank you Matilda and Loonapick.

57. Sil van den Hoek @48. Chambers Crossword Companion gives ‘anagram indicator’ as the only entry for ‘somersault’ in its lists of synonyms.

58. steve@44, sheffield hatter @50
    NINA originated from Al Hirschfeld’s practice of hiding his daughters name in capitals in many of his drawings. See article http://www.alberichcrosswords.com/pages/ninas.html

59. Van Winkle @55 , me nimble and able to perform a full somersault? You’re joking, don’t think so.
    I’m OK with ‘somersault’ being used as an anagram indicator and 22dn was clear enough.

60. I found this surprisingly easy, but thoroughly enjoyable.  Some wonderful surfaces and very witty! SLOOP was my favorite.

61. Welbeck @45, a bit off-topic, but in Indian English (aka Indish…) it’s very common to use double adjectives to emphasize something (e.g., small-small things, hot-hot food, green-green grass,…). 🙂

     

62. Only terreplein left out (I just couldn’t get those letters into any sort of order!) – enjoyable puzzle though.

63. And yes – cat cat was fine by me too!

64. For those with good memories the CLYSTER answer should not be too difficult, it occurs in Othello:

    Yet again your fingers
    To your lips? would they were clyster-pipes for your sake!

    Iago describing Cassio’s behaviour towards Desdemona.

    Thanks to Matilda and Loonapick.

65. I find Matilda’s style to be fresh and fun, and thoroughly enjoyed today’s outing. I have to agree with Loonapick’s criticisms, though: TOCCATA and ABET were flawed, in my view.

    EYESHADE and LOSE ONES BALANCE were my favourites today.

66. Came to this very late thinking it’s Monday so it’ll be a quickie-if you see what I mean- but–
    Chewier than I expected and more time consuming, but not at all bad once I got into it. I didn’t know TERREPLEIN and,while CLYSTER was a hidden word, I still looked it up. Of course,if I’d thought of Othello it’d have been a breeze! GORES was LOI,while the answer was obvious from the wordplay,I took some time to reconcile it to the definition. Perhaps I should have consulted Othello?
    Thanks Matilda.

67. Well at least nobody’s mentioned Rufus yet. This was hugely superior to any of those

68. Picked up the Monday crossword with a sense of duty rather than anticipation – but really enjoyed this. I agree with most of the reservations expressed but am pleased to see so many others thought this was cracking. Thanks Matilda & Loonapick

69. Really nice crossword. Didn’t agree with any of the blogger’s nitpicks (except ABET, which would have been a really good clue as Matilda intended it).

70. Thanks to loonapick and Matilda

    Mostly very good but,

    if “cats” can mean “cat cat”

    ’tis a short step to “canines” = “dog dog”

    22 24 in somersaults (5)

71. Thanks loonapick and Matilda.
    Failed on TERREPLEIN in the end. Had LOSE ONE’S RESERVE for 6 for a while – different kind of ‘trip’.

72. Dansar @70. I know you were (mostly) tongue in cheek there, but clearly 24=canines=dogs=dog dog is a lot more than a short step from cats=cat cat. Especially when your first dog is acting as definition and your second one as part of the anagrist.

    I was hoping you would pop in, to give us your view on rooftop=R in an across clue (see Sil @48 – perhaps he was being a little tongue in cheek too: see mine @49 and his @51).

73. Thank you sheffield hatter and Cliveinfrance: both explanations sound plausible … so basically it’s a hidden word that’s not clued !?

74. I had 13a as rain – homophone for both command (reign) and control (rein), this forced 14a to terrAplein, which seems to be in use with the same meaning albeit possibly incorrectly.

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