Guardian Cryptic 28,276 by Brendan

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A fun puzzle – I particularly liked 9ac, 21ac, 22ac, 2dn, 18dn, and 22dn. Thanks to Brendan.

…hard to miss the theme around Shakespeare’s Othello, with extra links to theatre more generally and also to board games.

ACROSS
9 CHARACTER Ordered the two cars -— actor needs to get into one (9)
(the car car)*
10 AMIGO Run after one foreign friend or another (5)
definition: another foreign word for “friend”
GO=”Run”; after AMI=”foreign [French word for] friend”
11 SAKES Benefits from fermented drinks (5)
double definition: as in ‘for their sake’; and as in the Japanese alcoholic drink
12 GARROTTER Killer fish, nasty type (9)
GAR=”fish” + ROTTER=”nasty type”
13 THE BARD So-called dramatist‘s unusual breadth (3,4)
definition: referring to Shakespeare’s nickname
(breadth)*
14 TOLD OFF Section of regiment old officer reprimanded (4,3)
hidden in [regimen]T OLD OFF[icer]
17, 19, 20 BLACK AND WHITE Like tragic Shakespearean couple, they’re matched in 26 (5,3,5)
the Shakespearean couple is Othello and Desdemona, contrasted in the play e.g. as a ‘black ram’ and a ‘white ewe’
the connection to 26ac CHESS is in reference to the black and white pieces of the board game
19 See 17
 
20 See 17
 
21 ACTRESS Wrongly recasts one in role of Desdemona, say (7)
(recasts)*
22 OLIVIER Famous actor, one found in more demanding title role? (7)
the famous actor is Laurence Olivier [wiki] who played the title role in the National Theatre’s Othello
I=”one” inside OLIVER Twist [wiki] who famously asks for ‘more’ i.e. is “more-demanding”
24 DISCOURSE Record our scene, omitting everything within formal speech (9)
DISC=a CD or music “Record”; plus OUR; plus S[cen]E omitting everything within
26 CHESS Part of which, essentially, that’s like Othello in certain ways (5)
like the board game Othello, Chess is a two player game between ‘black’ and ‘white’
hidden inside [whi]CH ESS[entially]
28 VERDI He composed short part of speech I had misdirected (5)
VER[b]=”short part of speech”; plus I’D=”I had” reversed/misdirected
29 COLLEGIAL Officer, in short, not wrong about one sharing authority (9)
COL[onel]=”Officer, in short”; plus LEGAL=”not wrong” around I=”one”
DOWN
1 ACTS Both couples in cast switched parts of play (4)
both “couples” or pairs of letters C&A and then S&T are switched around/reversed
2 HANKIE Some yarn that is making small piece of cloth (6)
HANK=”Some yarn” + I.E.=”that is”
3 RAMSHACKLE Strike, subject to restraint, likely to collapse (10)
RAM=”Strike” + SHACKLE=”subject [someone] to restraint”
4 STAGED Person that’s good and mature presented in theatre (6)
ST (saint, “Person that’s good) + AGED=”mature”
5 PRORATED Pair delivered speech, appropriately shared (8)
PR (short for pair) + ORATED=”delivered speech”
6 IAGO One’s taken over a board game -— Othello he couldn’t stand (4)
Iago is the antagonist in Othello, plotting to destroy Othello
I=”one” + A + GO=another “board game” with black and white pieces
7 VIRTUOSI Top performers, some Adonis outrivalled, flipped (8)
hidden/”some” and reversed/”flipped” in [Adon]IS OUTRIV[alled]
8 MOOR Tie up one of the conquerors of 23 (4)
double definition: to moor a boat; and referring to Moors conquering the Iberian peninsula
Othello is referred to as “the Moor” by other characters in the play
13 TIBIA Part of leg the person speaking in a part raised (5)
I=”the person speaking”; inside A BIT=”a part” reversed/”raised”
15 LOW-PITCHED Bass wiped with cloth, cooked (3-7)
(wiped cloth)*
16 FREER French poet’s always less restrained (5)
FR (French) + E’ER=poetic form of ‘ever’=”poet’s always”
18 ARTISTRY Creative skill from excited star, I hear (8)
(star I)*; plus TRY=”hear” a case in court
19 ABSTRACT Some in crew translated play? That’s not realistic (8)
AB’S=sailors=”Some in crew” + TR (translated) + ACT=”play”
22 OTELLO Work of 28, or of 13 across, but less hard (6)
definition: Verdi’s opera
The Bard i.e. Shakespeare wrote OT[h]ELLO, minus the ‘h’ for “hard”
23 IBERIA Left initially from part of Africa for part of Europe (6)
L (left) removed from [L]IBERIA=”part of Africa”
24 DIVA Raised support without very noted portrayer of Desdemona, say (4)
definition: a well known or “noted” performer
AID=”support” reversed/”Raised”; around V (very)
25 OMIT Miss Shakespearean title role -— endlessly upset (4)
TIMO[n] of Athens is the “Shakespearean title role”, with its end letter removed, and reversed/”upset”
27 SILK Second type of material used in fateful 2 (4)
in Othello, a silk handkerchief is used by Iago to turn Othello against Desdemona
S (second) + ILK=”type”

 

72 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 28,276 by Brendan”

  1. I enjoyed the theme.

    Liked the humour of OLIVIER.

    I solved but did not parse the ‘tie up’ bit of MOOR. For 1D I did not see what ‘both couples’ was doing there. I thought it was simply an anagram of CAST, but I see now that it is very clever.

    New PRORATED.

    Thanks, B+M.

  2. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I felt that there may have been too many theme clues – but YMMV of course.

  3. Very enjoyable, mainly challenging clues, last-one-in was OMIT and then only parsed by reading the above (thanks) — I always seem to forget old Timon. Much to like, including SAKES, PRORATED and HANKIE (not heard that good old word in ages …)

  4. Despite the theme, no more than a casual acquaintance with 13a was required here, to my great relief as his works are not my forte. I enjoyed all of it, but I’ll single out BLACK AND WHITE, OLIVIER, and OTHELLO as especially clever. Couldn’t parse DISCOURSE, so thanks to manehi for that, and of course thanks to Brendan.

  5. Thanks Brendan — it’s always a delight when you’re the setter. FREER was my favourite — clues that simply need “repunctuation” always satisfy me. Other gems were DISCOURSE, VERDI, IAGO, OTELLO, and IBERIA. Actually the entire crossword sparkled. Thanks Manehi for the write-up.

  6. I parsed 23ac as the “initial left” rather than L for left as there is no removal indicator.

    Brendan always pleases, and this time 9ac was my fave.

    Thanks B&m

  7. Brain like treacle this morning, nothing diabolical in the puzzle but after a couple of hours was still staring dumbly at the last few in both NW and SW. So, a bit of trial and check to finish. No excuse, as there were in fact plenty gimmies to go on with: amigo, garrotter, the bard, told off and actress could hardly be easier. Hey ho. Nice Shakespearean job anyway thanks Brendan, and thanks Manehi.

  9. LOI was MOOR, due to a lack of GK and trying for ages to reverse a synonym for tie to get something that looked like a name – until cobro finally clicked!

    HANKIE and ACTRESS were favourites because of their surfaces.

    Thanks to Brendan and Manehi!

  10. REALLY enjoyed this one! A fine puzzle, very clean and clear, with a good amount of challenge and creativity but still quite doable… hats off to Brendan! And thanks also to Manehi for a solid blog to go with it.

    Curious to see solvers mention PRORATED as DNK, as it’s quite familiar to me here in the US, so did some checking. Sure enough, lexico says “prorate” usage is primarily North American, while free Chambers 21st online doesn’t list it at all (but traditional Chambers 20th does include it under “pro rata” so it’s kosher for the purists 🙂 ).

    Adriana, re 23d, I saw “from” as the removal indicator, along the lines of “2 from 5 is 3”, thus “(L=’left initially’) from (LIBERIA=’part of Africa’) is IBERIA”.

  11. Terrific puzzle! Thanks Brendan and manehi. Loved the literary theme along with the added extras referencing theatres and board games. I think RAMSHACKLE at 2d is such a lovely word. I also ticked the very clever hidden that, when flipped, gave 7d VIRTUOSI.

  12. This Londoner has never met PRORATED before, though it wasn’t that hard to get. Loved the more-demanding role.

  14. I love Brendan’s puzzles but yet again an answer (OTELLO) was already in clues (not Verdi’s spelling) Its been happening a lot lately.

    I think the Graun has a good squad. Shame about the editing

  15. I like the fact that half of the theme answers/clues are Shakespearian and the other half are Verdian (DIVA. VIRTUOSI, LOW-PITCHED, OTELLO). Very neatly done. [And to my taste: Otello is one of my four or five favorite operas, and I wrote a paper in grad school about Verdi’s transformation of Othello into Otello. Since Verdi and (librettist) Boito were seldom in the same city at the same time, their letters are a pretty rich trove of material about their creative process.]

    I also am surprised that folks haven’t heard of PRORATED. It’s pretty commonplace here.

    [Now to work on the problem of why I’m awake at 2:30 am, a more difficult puzzle I’m afraid.]

  16. As OddOtter has written, a REALLY enjoyable puzzle, and I also appreciate Penfold’s clever pun @10.

    [In happier times, I would be looking forward to meeting many setters, bloggers and contributors at the annual get together in York this weekend. I shall be thinking of you all and hope that it will be possible to see you next year].

  17. copmus, my objection to the clue for OTELLO was that the wordplay was rather a copout. Couldn’t he have done something that started someplace different? My first thought: Work of 28, with old Rossini character initially overcome (6) seems to work–I think William Tell is well enough known that this would be fair. And Rossini also wrote an Otello, now rarely performed, so even better.

  18. I loved this. Helped me feel intellectual while not actually being too hard or obscure. Brendan has turned out some of the best Guardian puzzles this year for me.

    OLIVIER, for sure, was a stand-out clue, but ABSTRACT was neat and TOLD OFF was well hidden. Thanks Brendan and Manehi.

  20. Of course! Missed the Silk reference in Othello in 27d, thanks for reminding me.
    Not too hard but a beautifully crafted crossword. Big fan of Brendan’s crosswords.
    Thanks both.

  21. Great puzzle, thanks Brendan and manchi. Prorated was new to me as well. For once, I had no problems parsing. Loved the theme. Favourite clues = 1dn and 19dn

  22. A diva is a singer in addition to being well known, so “noted performer” has a double meaning.

    One error for me; My last one one in was sakis because I couldn’t spell the drink, and obviously I couldn’t make sense of benefits.

     

  24. Another treat from Brendan – took me right back to A Level English Lit in (I’m not saying when!)

    Thanks to him and manehi

  26. Lovely puzzle this morning – at first glance impossible (I’m from Southend – “I know nothing about Othello”) but then it all comes back to me and I’m remembering my Desdedmonas, Roderigos, Brabantios and Iagos.  Still in there somewhere!

    But my COTD was AMIGO simply because I thought it was funny.

    [For those of you with small children (and those of you with the mind of a small child) may I introduce the “Yougo, Wego, Amigo!” catchphrase from The Roly Mo Show on CBeebies?  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5ogil4Je5g]

    Thanks Brendan and manehi!

  27. Another very clever grid-fill from Brendan – right up my street. Sheer delight from start to finish.

    Many thanks to Brendan for putting a big smile on my face and to manehi for a great blog.

    [George @16 – like you, I shall be very much missing seeing old friends (and I think there could have been a few new ones, as we’ve had a number of new contributors since the last gathering) this weekend. Very best wishes to all – here’s hoping for a meet-up next year.]

  28. Had a bit part in this play about a century ago and therefore have no excuse for my scant knowledge of it.  Seem to remember playing cribbage in the wings with a fellow actor and not paying much attention.

    Nevertheless, most enjoyable with some lovely clueing.

    Many thanks, Brendan and manehi for reminding me about the HANKIE.

  29. I also studied this at A-Level but I’m not sure how much it helped. Faves were ACTS, CHARACTER & OLIVIER

    Many thanks Manehi for the TR in ABSTRACT! Saved me spending an age wondering why TRACT was a translated play 🙂

  30. mrpenny@17-I just think it was so obvious when other words like OCELLI  or O’NEILL  would have fitted

    But I like your suggestion.

     

  31. I was lucky enough to see the 1964 NT production of Othello which Olivier dominated.

    I believe it was the last production where a white actor blacked up.

    Lovely puzzle. Thank you.

  32. Thanks manehi, saw the play once long ago and had completely forgotten the significance of a silk hankie, nor did I recall the B+W reference, thanks for these. And I had VER in Verdi as being a shortened form of Verse, somehow equating this to speech, your explanation is much better.

    I use “Pro rata” almost on a daily basis at work, usually lazily typing “Prorata” which the presumably US-calibrated spellchecker tries to amend to “Prorate” so 5D didn’t seem so unfamiliar (and I have used the verb form occasionally too).

    mrpenney@17, I think that is an excellent alternative clue – certainly harder but nothing wrong with that, and nicely multi-layered (I had to google OTELLO to check it was by Verdi so did note the Rossini alternative).

    Even with my only very basic knowledge of the theme everything was fair and gettable, with OLIVIER making me smile the most (and Low-Pitched a close second for misdirecting me, I now recall that the Othello I saw was among the bassiest of basses), thanks Brendan.

     

  33. Well, that was fun. I liked the board game link. As well as classic “Go”, there is also a very different “Go (the travel game) ” by Waddingtons. Still a family favourite, playing the same set I was given for Christmas over 50 years ago.
    Thank you, Brendan, for a very nice puzzle;and Manehi for the blog.

  34. [I’m getting an error message when I try to get onto this site. “Error 522 – connection timed out – host error”. About once in every six or seven goes I get here successfully, but then when I try to post I get the error message again. Is this something that affects others? I’m not getting it on any other websites that I use. I hope Gaufrid can fix it!]

  35. Thank you Brendan and manehi.

    As a lover of both 13 and 28 this was a treat, although over quite quickly.

    I sorely miss our regular visits to Stratford. Before lockdown, we saw an excellent Timon of Athens, with the title role played by a 21ac (I think that Timon is the only Shakespearean play with no female parts). 25 down therefore had a neat extra twist for me.

  37. Penfold@13 ‘The moor the merrier’ ? one of my favourite tragedies, but the clues were so gettable that knowledge of the play was immaterial really. Ta Manehi and one of my favourite setters, Brendan. Don’t see you enough…

  38. [Well the thing I learned today was the North American nature of prorated.  I’m normally careful with my lorries and trucks, depending on who I’m talking to and whether I want to make a point, but I didn’t have the slightest clue, no pun intended, that I should watch out for this one.]

    [And to Penfold @13, that’s actually my point – when you go looking for places to put in MOOR and IAGO, for example, and find them, it is ironically a bit disappointing.]

  40. Second and third in were IAGO and THE BARD, so even this solver thought there might be a theme going on. I needed confirmation about PRORATED but otherwise nothing much to hold me up. So much fun I wouldn’t have minded a longer solve.
    And a special shout out to BLACK AND WHITE across the middle.

  41. Thanks, Eileen. Coincidentally, it is working much better in the last few minutes! Hopefully back to normal.

  42. How would a new reader to this page know that the asterisks indicate anagrams ? If they are not defined somewhere then they shouldn’t be used – would have thought an editor would have picked up on this.

  44. I enjoyed this too, but guessed at ABSTRACT, and had to come on here to see its parsing. PRORATED another new word for me. Very much liked CHARACTER.

  45. What was so clever about this, I thought, was the use of Othello as play, opera and board game. This was the first time in my life that the theme actually helped, so I have no objection to it leading to some easier solves.

  47. Good use of the material and no need to know much about the play, apart from the silk handkerchief, which I thought was something to do with this.

    I liked the OTHELLO/CHESS linkages – it certainly helped solving BLACK AND WHITE.

    Thanks Brendan and manehi.

  51. Thanks Brendan, and manehi for elucidating the parsing of some clues I hadn’t seen right through.

    As IBERIA was the part of Europe which had been occupied by the Moors, it came to mind readily.

  52. Thanks both,
    As a U.K. accountant I’ve been using ‘prorate’ as a verb for forty years or more and have never thought it an Americanism.

    In 24 down, doesn’t ‘noted portrayer’ mean an opera singer rather than just a famous performer?

  54. Gazzh @32.  Whilst your Othello may have been full of bass, Verdi’s is full of Tenor in one of the most demanding voice parts hitting both low and high pitches for a Tenor and had me searching for a connection to 15d for a while…

  56. bodycheetah @53: I have too high a regard for you so will resist the temptation to just post “moor on”, tempting though the pun might be!

  57. [Thank you MaidenBartok@52: I know even less about Opera than about Shakespeare, but in each case a little more now than I did this morning!]

  58. [No doubt bodycheetah would describe this puzzle as “moor to the point” 🙂 … to which pun lovers among us might reply “please, sir, may I have some moor?”… but clearly there are those thinking “no moor, I beg of you…” so I’ll stop there, having already gone a pun too far, “moor or less”…]

  59. The verb prorate and the adjective prorated used in Belfast. Though if I wanted an equivalent verb, I’d probably choose scale rather than share.

  61. What a brilliant cryptic – as of today the bar has been set even higher for this week. My favourite has to be OLIVIER, and many thanks to OddOtter@58 for making such a good pun about that clue. Also liked VIRTUOSI. Many thanks to Brendan and Manehi.

    [bodycheetah – what have you started???]

  62. trenodia 38

    Olivier wasn’t the last blacked-up Othello.

    I saw Donald Sinden at Stratford in the 70s. He was dreadful. When he fell in a  dramatic fainting fit, the audience laughed !

  63. Thanks Brendan and manehi

    Nothing to add on the excellent puzzle (except that I hadn’t heard of PRORATED either), but the silk hankie reminded me of a late Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane story – I forget which – where she comes across a plot problem in a book she is writing involving a silk hankie, and parallels with Othello are mentioned (from which I got it, rather than the play itself, which I have never seen nor read).

  64. [Actually, I think we can thank (blame?) Penfold @13 for igniting the punflagration. But thankfully the whirlwind has left me disoriented and I surely couldn’t think of another to subject you all to, having lost my… er… moorings?

    Why I’m feeling so silly today I couldn’t say… guess I just really liked this puzzle, so thx again to our setter, blogger, and commenters!]

  65. Fun puzzle, but OTELLO was a bit weak, I thought.  Enjoyed OLIVIER best, for the “more demanding title role”.  Embarrassment of the Day:  understanding that 7 was a hidden word clue, yet still failing to solve it on the first pass 🙁 .

    Thanks, Brendan and manehi (for the parsing of the TRACT part of ABSTRACT particularly).

    Kenneth Steward Jones @62, I saw one of those Donald Sinden performances too, on a school trip.  I seem to remember him overacting dreadfully.  One result of this was that he perspired so much that the blacking ran off his face on to his costume.  Which only served to enhance the comedy!

  67. GrahamH @66. It’s disapproved of in the Guardian’s style guide. Still exists as a word and it’s in Chambers!

  68. Loved this, especially VIRTUOSI.  The complexity of the linked Othello-related themes only struck me when I came here.  I kknow of prorataed, but prorated was new to me.  And I was another who could not access the blog earlier, and had soem problems yesterday too.  Gla it is working again now. Many thanks to Brendan and manehi.

  71. Argyle @42 and Gaufrid @46:  I, too, was unaware that * indicates an anagram and didn’t know of the existence of the “About Fifteensquared” page. Thanks to you both.

    Two other questions:

    (1) Why the necessity for “fateful” in the clue for 27 down? I should think “material used in [hankie]” would be sufficient, as hankies, fateful and nonfateful alike, are often made of silk.

    (2) A general-knowledge question:  What percentage of people, even in the UK, know so many (or any) details about either the play, the opera, or the board game? I respect Brendan’s (and others’) efforts to produce quality, challenging puzzles; I just wish they were accessible also to more ordinary people, who may not be fluent in Shakespeare and Verdi.

  72. Late reply but for hfowler at 71, the HANKIE was fateful because Desdemona’s silk hankie is a key plot point in Othello.

    I’m absolutely astounded at the number of people who don’t know PRORATED. I use it all the time at work, in London, but I usually just get stared at blankly. I’ve been getting so frustrated that my colleagues don’t know simple terms, we’ve had this comprehension impasse for years. I’ll try another way of saying it now!

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