Guardian Cryptic 28,244 by Vulcan

57 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 28,244 by Vulcan”

1. I liked EXUBERANT.

   Did not parse TWENTY-ONE – seems a bit strange of it means ‘come of age’.

   Had to laugh at MOONSHOT.

   Thanks, B+S

2. Took a long time to get PRE-SEASON and SIGH, but otherwise very Mondayish. Like loonapick and michelle, I enjoyed EXUBERANT. Thanks to V & l.

3. Yep, twenty-one a bit of a shrug, foully as indicator a bit of a Xmas cracker chuckle. A quick bit of fun, ta both.

4. Yes, EXUBERANT was good, and the anagrams  for SHEEPSKIN, GODLINESS, NEEDS MUST and LOOSE ENDS were neat (Paul’s influence – I was actually surprised that this clue didn’t feature toilets).

   I’m another who was deeply unconvinced by 18ac; and I’m not very enthusiastic about NOEL, either.

   But a pleasant enough gentle start to the week; it’s as though Rufus was still going strong. Thanks to Vulcan and loonapick.

    

5. Similarly, I had questions marks beside 18a TWENTY-ONE and 5d NOEL. But I ticked 4a HEN-PECKS, 8a GO DOWN THE TUBES, 24a CONSTITUTIONAL and 22a ARIEL, and the afore-mentioned 6d EXUBERANT, all of which provided some balance in terms of my solving experience. The anagrind “itching” in 12a SHEEPSKIN was novel. Thank you to Vulcan and loonapick.

6. I’m in agreement with the quibbles raised by loonapick and early posters here.  ARIEL is so nearly there – maybe something like “…interrupted by one character from…” might have worked.  Likewise, BEGGARS OPERA, which did strike me as &littish.  To be fair to Vulcan, it’s not the first time ‘The’ has been dropped from a title in a puzzle.  Unlike NeilH and JinA, I’m fine with NOEL as a male friend.  Not that different from when lad or man is used to refer to any male name.  TWENTY-ONE is just poor.

   Criticisms over, I enjoyed the rest of the puzzle and, whilst the DD’s and anagrams were back in abundance, I liked them on the whole: LET’S GO, TOWER, CONSTITUTIONAL and DOUBLE DEALER all worked OK and AD-LIB, GODLINESS and NEEDS MUST all produced nice surfaces.  I had ticks for EXUBERANT like others above – lovely surface, HIT WICKET which made me smile and my two favourites – both DD’s today – KEEPS for the neat cross reference and PHOTO for the misleading surface.  Not quite the heights of his last which earned considerable praise but still a worthy contribution.

   Thanks Vulcan and loonapick, as ever.

    

7. Only a few queries here. NOEL seemed a bit of a stretch, when quite a few other words could have fitted the crossers. We had to go ‘Carol – suggests Christmas – boyfriend – suggests random man’s name (maybe) – hmm, Noel can do double duty for Christmas and a name – maybe that’s it – but maybe not – ah, well, bung it in and hope’. I have never used 8a in the plural – am I alone here? I thought PHOTO a bit weak. But I was happy with TWENTY-ONE. We were told to ‘take an age’ – and 21 is certainly an age, so I took it. I might have dropped the ‘a’ between ‘score’ and ‘single’, though – didn’t seem needed. But there were plenty of good clues, mentioned by others. Thanks, Vulcan and Pierre.

8. LET’S GO was a bit hey-ho and I was slightly disappointed not to find cleanliness next to godliness, but EXUBERANT raised a smile.
   Thanks Vulcan and loonapick.

9. I’m not sure I’ve ever done an easier cryptic. The only hold up was trying to fathom what (BOY)FRIEND? was doing and the answer seems to be nothing really. See also TWENTY ONE

   I did wonder if there was a sleb with a boyfriend called Noel but nothing came to light on google

   I’d put money on today’s Quick Crossword taking longer than this

   Cheers all

10. Thanks both. Not convinced by PHOTO as a double definition, since a photo finish involves … a picture

11. The blog sums it up perfectly for me. LOI was ACID RAIN because, stupidly, I was looking for pull-over/jumper synonyms, when the capital J should have made the CI jump out. I almost put HYMN for Carol’s boyfriend but quickly realised there was no homophone indicator.

    Thanks Vulcan and loonapick.

12. A very quick solve, and not that satisfying to boot.

13. Perfectly pitched for the Monday slot, which after all is supposed to be a welcoming gateway to the world of cryptics for beginners.

    I thought there was a wealth of lovely clues here, starting with BEGET, which was beautiful in its simplicity.  I don’t know if it’s original, but I don’t recall coming across it before.

    And unlike others I have no quibbles at all.  As Mark says @6, dropping ‘The’ from a title is commonplace.  If Crucible can get away with Hay Wain with barely an eyebrow raised, I think Vulcan can be forgiven for BEGGAR’S OPERA.

    Re TWENTY-ONE, I agree with TassieTim @7.  ‘Take an age’ is an instruction to the solver, like ‘Take a card, any card’.  And if you are going to pick an age, then 21 seems like a significant one (or at least it used to be).

    For NOEL I was helped by familiarity with the French meaning of noël as Christmas carol (see here, fourth entry).  Although it doesn’t normally have that meaning in English, I wonder if there might be some dictionary support somewhere?

    Many thanks Vulcan and loonapick.

14. Thanks, loonapick.

    The Beggar’s Opera was “rewritten for the stage” by Brecht & Weill as The Threepenny Opera: I don’t think that makes the clue &Littish, but it’s a neat allusion in the surface. (The appearance of [The] Double Dealer made me think there might be an 18th-Century theatre theme, but no.)

    I wasn’t so keen on the definition in 12a SHEEPSKIN. There’s a key difference between a sheepskin and a fleece: one of them can be removed without killing the sheep.

15. essexboy @13: Oxford dictionary online for NOEL: 1.1 A Christmas carol.

    Good Monday crossword, I thought.

    I particularly liked EXUBERANT, which was my LOI thinking there must be an archaic name for a taxi or its driver, doh!

    Thanks Vulcan and loonapick.

16. Nice and quick this morning – MOONSHOT was a laugh out loud followed by that kind of crying that only can accompany utter incompetence…

    Yes it was easier than “usual” but as a newbie, 8 weeks ago I would not have been saying that so I appreciate the different challenges our wonderful setters give us.

    Thanks Vulcan and loonapick

17. Looking back, agree with essexboy re beget, superneat clue.

18. Am I the only one who parsed 17a as PATE (a ‘spread’) covering (over) S (Spain)?

19. This didn’t take an age. Very gentle. I too wondered about TWENTY-ONE as possibly meaning the ‘coming of age’ and I might be missing something. I even surmised that maybe the clue was not finalised before it was submitted to the editor.

    I also thought Noel must have a more significant meaning than ‘boyfriend’ otherwise it’s a fairly weak clue.

    A few of the double definitions 5,20,24 really would be just as effective as single definitions as they are so simple and not very impressive surfaces. TOWER at least was bit more cryptic.

    I though Vulcan was trying to suggest “Finnish picture” in “Sort of finish picture.” but it didn’t quite work.

    I liked EXUBERANT, ACID RAIN, LOOSE ENDS amongst others, for their surfaces even though they were straightforward solves.

20. @Mark/18.   I parsed it that way too; but it’s very unsatisfying, as it requires the “spread” to do double duty, and “pâte” (with the circumflex indicating a lost “s”) is essentially the same word as “paste”.  So I prefer loonapick’s parsing, now I’ve seen it.

21. Mark @18: this could be confusing – there are now two of us.  I’m the Mark who posted @6 but not @18.

22. Mark @18 again: an afterthought – if you end up getting roasted by Van Winkle, rather than me, then the doubling up might be a good thing!

23. Another new improved Vulcan, though maybe not quite as neat as his past two. The cd PRE-SEASON was very nearly last in, but once upon a time there might have been a few like that.
    My guess is that for new solvers this would have been much more in their sweet spot than the last two, which is fair enough.

24. Mark @18 & BiglyNifty @ 20. I too had pate.

25. “gentle … straightforward … too easy … and quick” – it’s good to hear just how very, very, clever loonapick is.

26. I’m another who enjoyed this – but then I also used to adore Rufus’ crosswords, and Vulcan does have a similar style at times. i liked EXUBERANT and ACID RAIN, was impressed by the economy of BEGET, giggled at GO DOWN THE TUBES and MOONSHOT.
    Tassie Tim, regarding the former: I’ve heard and used both singular and plural.
    Loonapick, regarding the latter: thanks for completing my semi-parsing – for I have a markedly different understanding of “moon” as a verb!!!
    Oh, and I have no problem with dropping “the” in 1d. Lots of popular plays get their titles abridged for convenience.
    Thanks for the blog – and thanks to Vulcan for a gentle and entertaining start to the week.

27. By now we know what to expect from Vulcan, whose puzzles are probably (as noted by essexboy) principally aimed at the less experienced solver. Moaning about it being too easy would be rather like getting annoyed at the slowness of a learner driver behind whom we’re stuck; we were all learners once. And there’s plenty more intellectual stimulation to come on radio and TV later today, including – hooray! – the return of Only Connect.

    I was partial to EXUBERANT, MOONSHOT and LASER, and hey ho, LETS GO wasn’t anything special but at least got me singing Ramones songs. A few other clues were dreary. My main complaint is that (although I Ching might be The Book of Changes) I can’t accept “itching” as an anagrind, since it hardly suggests change.

28. To avoid any roasting!

29. Thanks Loonapick, largely agree with your comments ( I don’t mind the missing ‘the’ in 1d). Mark@18 and others, I initially parsed PASTE as,you did, but then I remembered Spain = E, reread the clue and saw the correct parsing. Like others, my fav was EXUBERANT.
    Thanks to Vulcan

30. MarkB @28: many thanks for that and, assuming you’re new/newish on here – only because I haven’t encountered you before, welcome.

31. Re (THE) BEGGAR’S OPERA: I had a moan last week about the loss of THE from HAY WAIN, but today’s example didn’t worry me one jot. Not sure why that should be, but if Constable hadn’t put the definite article, it feels to me that it would be a very different painting, whereas with the Gay I don’t believe it would be a different work at all.

32. I’m in the camp of those who didn’t care much for the definitions of TWENTY-ONE and NOEL, although the wordplay in each was at least mildly amusing. I had no problem with BEGGARS OPERA for reasons given above. Overall many more good clues than bad, with BEGET, KEEPS and ASSAMESE being favourites.

    In spite of the overall ease of the puzzle, it was a dnf for me. Staring at _I_K_T as the second word of 4d, all I could think of was TICKET, and neither HIT nor HOT fit the clue. (Note to self – when all else fails, think cricket!)

    Thanks to Vulcan and loonapick.

33. Re boyfriend and NOEL, we thought there was a reference to The Boyfriend by Noel Coward. As loonapic says, on the easy side but a pleasant start to the week. Thanks to setter and blogger.

34. Much of this was on the easy side but HIT WICKET and PRE-SEASON just wouldn’t come to me. Favourites included LETS GO, TWENTY-ONE, and EXUBERANT which seems to have been the popular clue today. Thanks to both.

35. Irishman @ 33 – wasn’t The Boyfriend by Sandy Wilson? I know Noel Coward had a few boyfriends though

36. Not knowing the cricket wicket rule, I biffed in “Hot ticket,” but wondered, thinking that a ticket is usually a way in, not a way out.  Dave@32, a hot ticket is a thing.

    Noel Coward didn’t write The Boyfriend, Sandy Wilson did.  (I was a generic crowd member in a summer stock production when I was 16.  I still know some of the songs.)

37. Valentine @36, I knew that ‘hot ticket’ would make sense as a phrase, so like you I entered it with a shrug, but as I said, it didn’t seem to fit the clue. Of course, after a check and a reveal I saw why!

38. Is there a term to describe two equally correct but different methods of parsing a clue which leads to uncertainty over which the compiler intended? In 17ac, I would say that is Mark@18’s solution of PATE (a ‘spread’) covering (over) S (Spain) is NEARLY as acceptable as PAST (“over”) + E (international vehicle identifier for “Spain”). It is only foiled by the convention that Spain in crosswords is traditionally E. In an English language crossword, though, ‘S for Spain’ might be deemed acceptable.

     

39. dantheman @38 and others: t’other Mark here (and I parsed PASTE as did loonapick).  I’m sorry but I’m not so sure the alternative parsing does work as you suggest.  On top of BiglyNifty’s two objections @20 – and your parsing still does require ‘spread’ to be used as both definition and part of the wordplay – I’m not aware of any system in which Spain is either represented by or abbreviated to S.  Occasionally a country name does translate to its initial letter (T for Thailand, P for Portugal) but that does follow the vehicle identifiers – where S is Sweden.  Spain is sometimes abbreviated to ‘Sp’ or, as you point out, it’s represented by E.  S, on its own, as far as I’m aware can certainly be second, sulphur, Sabbath, Saint, schilling/shilling, South or, to the frustration of some on here, Society but not Spain.

40. Valentine @36 – not being a sporting type of any measure I was quite pleased that both the cricket and football clues gave me no trouble but I am now concerned that this game-of-cryptics is starting to somehow corrupt me.

    [Miche @14 – there was once a Limerick round on ISIHAC when I think the great Willie Rushton finished the line “It was something by Brecht” with “which I didn’t expECHT.”]

41. Here’s a challenge for those of you who weren’t challenged enough by this puzzle and want something more to chew on.  21a ASSAMESE is a fine clue, but it almost has a different answer.  An ounce is a cat (albeit not a small one) and ANNOUNCE means state.  So can you tweak the clue so that it admits both answers?  I’ve been trying but I’m not there yet.

42. Oops Shirl and Valentine! One of the joys of this site is the speed with which error is shot down ?

43. A lovely crypic for a Monday. In addtion to loonapick’s likes, I thought RAPPER and BEGET were simple but great. As a non-cricket person, I was ridiculously pleased to get HIT WICKET. Like the challenge Dr. WhatsOn@41 will ponder on it as i do the Quiptic.

     

    Many thanks to Loonapick & Vulcan

44. peter@25

    I was clear that this was “too easy” for my own personal taste. The comments by many others back up my comments about it being straightforward.

45. Well said loonapick@44

    You and fellow bloggers do a great job of getting timely parsing blogs written up with never (that I can recall) a hint of arrogance.

    This site and the blogs in particular, is a hugely valuable resource for improving solving ability at all levels and you are definitely entitled to hint gently when a puzzle is fairly easy for you to unpick. Keep up the good work and thanks to you and to Vulcan for today’s walk in the park 😉

46. loonapick @44 today’s “straightforward” for me was the “North Face of the Megapurna” in March and this is purely down to the amount of time and clarity of explanation given by you and your fellow bloggers for which I echo Ed The Ball @45 in saying thank you.

47. Light and fun!  Though w/quibbles here and there, mostly mentioned above.

    NOEL was least fav… I’m unconvinced by comparing “boyfriend” to use of “man” in clues elsewhere.  A typically male name is, of course, typically a man, but very rarely is any given person’s boyfriend… or is the implication that ANY male is typically at least SOMEONE’S boyfriend?  An idyllic notion… but still not a great assumption (nor clue) to me; I keep hoping there’s wordplay we’re missing.

    Re 22d, I thought “double duty” applied to playing two roles within wordplay, not simply overlap btw wordplay/defn, which is generally ok (e.g. cad/&lit… see recent discussion at end of Everyman 3857 blog).  Re “one” here, I think it’s not double duty (so no quibble from me), but what Quirister calls an extended definition?

    Similarly, the @18 alternate reading of 17a doesn’t have “spread” doing double duty (it’s only used once in wordplay), but would certainly be an example of a rare clue form (clue=wordplay, semi-clue=defn), similar to a semi-&lit or extended defn but without its own specific term.  Of course, that still leaves a question re Spain=S :^)

    Props to our setter/blogger/commenters!

48. 18a Twenty one and Twenty-one can both be considered as the solution or the source perhaps?

    If you reverse the logic to treat TWENTY (6) and ONE (3) as independent solutions from age 21 (9 or 6-3)  then maybe , “Take an age to” score a single ,  becomes more acceptable?

49. I class myself as a beginner, and this puzzle was at the boundary of my current ability. I don’t see any issue with those here who found it easy – I’m just glad there’s one easy one in a week!

    I failed to complete it as Noel simply wasn’t an answer that would ever have come to mind from the clue. But I enjoyed most of it (“hit wicket” doesn’t work for me – “hit the wicket” would be preferable) and enjoy these post-quiz discussions.

50. Smot @ 49: ‘Hit wicket’ is the official cricket term for that means of dismissal.

51. Simon S @50 as I’m sure David Bairstow CA confirm 🙂

52. Er, can confirm!

53. Bodycheetah@51 You meant to say Jonny Bairstow.

54. Decent Monday puzzle.  I agree with the quibbles about the wording of 18 and 5.  For the latter, simply “Carol’s boy” might be better.  Collins online (my go-to reference) lists NOEL as “rare” for a Christmas carol.

    Tried to figure out something for Dr WhatsOn’s challenge @41, but I can’t quite get any to work well for both.  Nearest I came – A cat’s one to sound initially of state (8).  You’d have to squint really hard to get ANNOUNCE from that, I think.

    Thanks, Vulcan and loonapick, for my Monday lunchtime entertainment.

55. Penfold @53 I so did mean Jonny but I like to think of David looking down from cricketing Valhalla and wincing at Jonny’s bail-dislodging pirouette

56. [Nothing to add on this diverting puzzle, just wanted to tell JinA re a previous exchange that I found in an Australian novel, re doing some plumbing, “We were not worth a plumber’s bootlace”.]

57. [Thanks, Gonzo@56. It seems my dearly departed Mum didn’t make it up! If you come back on, I would be interested in the title of that novel.]

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