Guardian 28,298 – Vulcan

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A very quick solve for me today, even by Monday standards. A few weak spots in the clues, but in general soundly constructed, so this would be a good puzzle for beginners. Thanks to Vulcan.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Across
1. OFF PAT Not eating a little butter? Well remembered (3,3)
OFF (not eating) + PAT (piece of butter)
5. TAR SANDS Source of petroleum as strand is developed (3,5)
(AS STRAND)* – also known as oil sands
9. PRESERVE In advance, dish out jam (8)
PRE- (in advance) + SERVE (dish out)
10. ALLOWS Permits expressions of pain, after all (6)
ALL+ OWS (cries of pain)
11. THE MOUSETRAP Mickey captivated by this play? (3,9)
Double/cryptic definition, referring to Mickey Mouse
13. BRAN Refuse to disallow capturing rook (4)
R (rook, chess peice) in BAN (disallow)
14. RAG TRADE A wearing sort of business (3,5)
A cryptic definition of this slang phrase for clothing industry
17. VIPERISH Venomous six of the Romans die (8)
VI (Roman 6) + PERISH (die)
18. BOUT Roughly losing head in a fight (4)
ABOUT (roughly) less its “head”
20. REPERCUSSION Concerned with part of the orchestra coming back (12)
RE (about, concerned with) + PERCUSSION
23. SHOUTS Calls loudly and turns to buy drinks? (6)
Double definition – for the second, as in “it’s my shout”
24. APPROVED This school once was sanctioned (8)
Double definition – approved schools were a form of what we now call young offenders’ institutions
25. OPULENCE Wealth from work uncle wasted at end of life (8)
OP (work) + UNCLE* + [lif]E
26. LADIES Women pine regularly for young men’s embrace (6)
Alternate letters of pInE in LADS’
Down
2. FORM Playing well in this class (4)
If you’re playing well then you’re in FORM, and form = class in a school
3. PAST TENSE No longer apprehensive of grammatical term (4,5)
PAST (no longer) + TENSE
4. TORIES Attempts to include old people in party (6)
O[ld] in TRIES
5. THE FOURTH ESTATE Press articles on country arrest­ing a small number (3,6,6)
FOUR (small number) in THE THE (articles) + STATE. This name for the press seems to have been invented by Thomas Carlyle
6. ROAD SIGN Dragon is ridiculously slow, for one (4,4)
(DRAGON IS)*, and SLOW is an example of a road sign
7. A FLAT A home key (1,4)
A + FLAT, and the musical key
8. DOWN-AND-OUT Destitute person‘s way of escape from top floor? (4-3-3)
Double definition
12. CRUISE SHIP Holiday vessel said to belong to its staff (6,4)
Homophone of “crew’s ship”
15. ROBIN HOOD Folk hero is to steal, wearing mask (5,4)
ROB + IN HOOD
16. DIOCESAN Bishop once said to be struggling (8)
(ONCE SAID)*
19. DISPEL Spied moving towards lake, scatter (6)
SPIED* + L[ake]
21. EQUAL Well-matched piece of pure quality (5)
Hidden in purE QUALity
22. MERE Only a stretch of water (4)
Double definition

77 comments on “Guardian 28,298 – Vulcan”

  1. Thanks Andrew, I needed your help with 24a, but it isn’t very satisfying.  Surely an “Approved” school was, er, approved.  So hardly a DD (esp. for those who didn’t attend one.). But that was a minor quibble in what was otherwise a very pleasant stroll.  Lots to like.

  2. New TAR SANDS.

    Liked DOWN AND OUT, VIPERISH.

    New APPROVED School = a residential institution for young offenders.

    Thanks B+S

  3. Like Andrew a v. quick solve even for a Monday, once I had got going. I enjoyed VIPERISH, REPERCUSSION and OFF PAT. Thanks to V & A.

  4. A pleasant Monday puzzle with a nice variety of clues.  I liked the “crew’s ship” at 12d.

    Quibble time: wouldn’t “only” be “merely” rather than (merely) MERE (22d)?

    Thanks Vulcan and Andrew.

  5. That was a quick start to the week. I wondered about the repeated A in the clue and answer in A-FLAT. I son’t think I had come across the press as THE FOURTH ESTATE before but the clue made it clear (plus the first article as YHE) once I had some crossers. Nice spot for the DIOCESAN anagram. Many thanks to Vulcan and Andrew.

  6. Lord Jim @4, mere can mean only: think of “it’s only luck” = “it’s mere luck”. (We had this quite recently, I seem to remember.)

  7. I’m not sure I’d heard of TAR SANDS before and APPROVED schools were definitely unknown, so enough to make me comfortably uncertain about a couple at least.

    Thanks for the link to the FOURTH ESTATE Wikipedia page; I was particularly interested by Oscar Wilde’s comments. Maybe we’re dominated by social media instead these days.

    Plenty of clues I enjoyed, my pick being VIPERISH – very descriptive.

    Thanks to Vulcan and Andrew

  8. Thanks Beobachterin @6.  Interesting.  Does “it’s mere luck” mean the same as “it’s merely luck”?  But ok, probably close enough.

  9. Cleverest surface was for ‘ladies’, I thought. Always thought dispel was more drive away than scatter, but my Collins does list it, last. Saw The Mousetrap with Mrs ginf in ’90, our first time in London together. [Saw Phantom too… things you ‘do’, like the Eye, later]. Approved school rang the faintest of bells. Put in diocesan as the only churchy thing that fitted the crossers, then went But how does it sound like struggling… Oh clunk! Talk about thick! Hey ho, how to enjoy Monday fun. Thanks V and A.

  10. Agree with Lord Jim’s initial quibble re MERE/only. In Beobachterin’s example, ”only” is an adv. modifying ”is” (from “it’s”), while “mere” is an adj. modifying “luck”; so while similar the phrases are saying two slightly different things, despite only/mere holding the same position. “Only” can be an adj. as well, but then indicates quantity, and isn’t equivalent to “mere”. But no doubt someone will find an example to show otherwise 🙂

  12. My very first write-in so thanks Vulcan; I feel I’ve arrived. I even got all the parsing; nevertheless, thanks Andrew.

    Lots of fun but my favourite was ROAD SIGN

  13. Lovely puzzle. As said above not too difficult which is good on a Monday morning and especially after the ones towards the end of last week

    Especially liked VIPERISH, REPERCUSSION, THE FOURTH ESTATE, SHOUTS

    Thanks to Vulcan and Andrew

  14. Apart from DIOCESAN, which I just couldn’t See, this was our quickest ever solve, so probably a bit on the easy side even for a Monday. Though given that we are all encouraged to eat more BRAN I’m not sure if it’s really refuse is it?

  15. HarpoSpeaks, shared your take on BRAN… but while lexico and Chambers online omit that usage, dead tree Chambers does include “refuse of grain”. Still, seems an obsolete me.

  17. I really enjoyed this relatively easy Monday offering, but I’m not sure I’ve ever said someone is “in form” – “on form” being the phrase I would use. A minor, personal quibble. Thank you, V and A.

  18. I managed this in 10 mins! A considerably shorter time than it took to sort out the Quiptic. I must be improving.
    Thanks to V&A

  19. HarpoSpeaks @14 and OddOtter @15 Can we say that some bran may be refuse, but not all bran? Muffin may find it acceptable.

  21. All over before the tea was finished this morning.

    One trivial quiblet:  Don’t see how “playing well” can be indicated simply by FORM.  One can be equally off form as on form.

    Many thanks, both.

  22. Thanks Vulcan and Andrew

    Nothing much to add. I have seen BRAN as refuse, but wouldn’t equate them myslef.

    William @21 the “in” is given in the clue – playing well in this – i.e. in form.

  23. Good Monday fare. I wondered about BRAN = refuse but Chambers has:

    The coarser part or refuse of anything, so that seems to be OK.

    William @21; I think the first definition is ‘playing well in this’ giving ‘in form.’

    Thanks Vulcan and Andrew.

  24. A pleasing and relatively straightforward solve, as I’ve come to expect from Vulcan.
    VIPERISH and OFF PAT were fun, LADIES was satisfying, RAG TRADE and CRUISE SHIP made me grin.
    As for BRAN: I have no problem with its being both the throw-away part of grain and something that’s good for us.
    Thanks to Andrew for the blog and to Vulcan for the fun

  26. Nice gentle start to Monday morning with a quick solve, delayed somewhat by sitting in the garage with a central locking system that had decided to become a central unlocking system.

    COTD was REPERCUSSION with a lovely surface.  THE FOURTH ESTATE was new but dropped in nicely so no worries there.

    Thank you Vulcan and Andrew for the fun start to the week.

  27. [Penfold took the first bite at this one, not me 😉 … and not sure what the hull-a-baloo about this bran of humor is anyway… seems perfectly healthy…]

  28. Nice and gentle, indeed. The only clue I failed to parse was DIOCESAN, having been cunningly ensnared into thinking I was looking for a homophone (or homoiophone, was it?). Thanks both.

  30. Gary Baum@17 – hmm, I think there is a subtle difference between “in form” and “on form”. To me, “on form” suggests a player is doing well at a given moment, but might play badly the next day, while “in form” is longer-term, suggesting a period of weeks or longer, during which they consistently play well.

    Regarding the crossword itself, I’ve nothing to add to what’s already been said. Thanks blogger and setter.

  31. Thanks to Vulcan and Andrew.

    More than a bit loose (which doesn’t help beginners) what with MERE=”only”, HOOD=”mask”, PRE=”in advance”, REPERCUSSION=”coming back” and (for me) DIOCESAN=”bishop”.  But these are mere kibbles quibbles and I enjoyed ROAD SIGN and LADIES.

    Happy Monday.

  32. Michelle @2

    Yesterday you said that the Guardian puzzles were not loading on to your laptop. I completed this one earlier and had just finished the Quiptic and gone to 225 to check something – and when I went back to the Quiptic it would not load – and now none of them will. I see you have completed today’s puzzle so are they loading again?

  33. Grantinfreo@9, went to see The Moustrap at the tiny Ambassadors theatre in about 1964, when it was enjoying its 5000th performance or so. I bet they’re impatient to extend its record breaking run. Enjoyed today’s challenge, particularly REPERCUSSION for some reason….

  35. Vulcan fulfilling his brief with the minimum of fuss – which is an approving comment, or meant to be. Wasn’t sure about DIOCESAN as I thought that was an adjective rather than noun but a quick Google has shown me that it’s both. RAG TRADE was quite clever, as it would be easy to look for an anagram of ‘a wearing’ with ‘sort of’ as the anagrind, but it’s just a cd! Would have fallen for that once…

  37. [OFF PAT reminded me of an experience I had when reading Saturday’s blog. PostMark had mentioned an Uncle Remus story about Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby. Having not thought about this story for more than half a century I was able to immediately write out a summary of the plot and could remember very clearly how I felt at age six or seven about the characters, and even the illustrations in the book I had been reading. See #41 & #43 if you’re interested.]

  39. A pleasant change of pace after Puck’s challenging masterpiece on Saturday — still, this was a DNF for me because I’m unfamiliar with OFF PAT — I use “down pat” for well remembered — and I did not know FORM as class. ALLOWS, LADIES (great surface), and ROAD SIGN were favourites. Thanks to both.

  40. Like Andrew, I thought this puzzle would be good for beginners, but on reflection there may be too many Britishisms (FORM, SHOUTS, OFF PAT, THE MOUSETRAP, maybe MERE) for it to go down well on the left side of the Atlantic.

  45. It took me longer to read the blog and the comments than it did to do the puzzle. But that’s not a bad thing–just because it was easy doesn’t mean it wasn’t fun.

    I should mention that the phrase OFF PAT is (I think) “down pat” in the US, or at least that’s the phrase I use and have heard. But it isn’t in Webster’s (although “down pat,” unlike “off pat,” can be constructed from existing definitions–if you know it down pat, you have it down (adj. sense 4 in Webster’s) to the point where it’s pat (adj. 2).)

  46. Too easy for the experts, I suspect, but I am nowhere near the level of a Paul puzzle, so this was good for me.
    Was confused by BRAN = REFUSE, as others were and also MERE = ONLY, would that be MERELY? As in he is merely/only a child?
    Enjoyable and thanks for the parsings and blog.

  47. Maybe we should stop making hay about the word ‘bran’ before it gets corny. I can barley think about it any more

  49. ‘Ear ‘ear for all the rich punning today.  Maybe you should all combine your output or does that go against the grain?

  51. Is it just me who is perplexed with the recent tendency for the Guardian blogs to descend into a witless avalanche of puns? What relevance does any of this clutter have to the puzzle under discussion?

  52. Regarding KLColin’s comment on 24a.
    From Collin’s

    Sanction: VERB
    If someone in authority sanctions an action or practice, they officially APPROVE of it and allow it to be done.

    I think the double definition works when sanction is used in that sense.

  53. [Indeed, they just seem to go awn and awn (or however it’s spelt); I reap what I sow, I guess. Had the germ of an idea for another myself… sorry, kernel… dang it, seed… oh dear. Anyway, out of pity I… uh… yield…]

  54. Van Winkle @51. I reckon about a dozen posts have either featured puns on grain-related matters, or have been about such posts (including yours of course, and now, mine). I thought the BRAN clue was interesting for its unusual use of the word refuse; Robi @23 quotes Chambers: The coarser part or refuse of anything, which was how I looked at it (though without being aware of the Chambers reference) in the few seconds it took me to solve the clue.

    Getting back to puns, I did take to threatening punsters with a firing squad, but got a little tired of that after a few mentions. I’m not sure if I can think of another way of stopping them. (Punning may or may not be a slight improvement on the Half Man Half Biscuit song titles that used to “clutter” the comments section for a few weeks over the summer.)

  56. Van Winkle @ 51 [I don’t see any harm myself. Maybe we should be more rigorous in using the [] convention for thes off-topic comments]

  58. Petert @15 of today’s Quiptic (which appears accidentally cross posted): As with Beobachterin’s example, yours has “only” as adv. & “mere” as adj. thus not truly synonyms (though I agree the over all meaning is very similar).

  59. [Van Winkle @51: If you’ll permit…. I for one have found that finding like-minded individuals a solace during this time of enforced restrictions.  The chance for some friendly banter, a few jokes and the opportunity to learn from those much wiser than I how to crack these damned cryptics has kept me sane.  Personally, I do think the comments could do with a change of layout, threaded responses, the ability to make a mark without leaving a wordy comment BUT BUT BUT I am SO grateful to Gaufrid and the team that however they want to run it is fine by me!

    Every day I learn one, two, three new words; every day my knowledge grows; every day I have a laugh – all thanks to this site and more importantly the people on it.

    PostMark @49: Are you saying we should harvest the results of our punning?]

  60. One of the only daily cryptics I’ve completed entirely unaided – totally satisfying!

    Thanks to V & A here.

    Now to see how Tuesday fares….

     

     

  61. Really enjoyable. Favourites were ROAD SIGN, SHOUTS and REPERCUSSION. Thanks to Vulcan and Andrew. [SH@54 glad you abandoned the firing squad plan, wouldn’t like to think of you as a cereal killer]

  62. MaidenBartok @51: I totally agree with you. I come here often and even if I don’t often post, I’ve learnt a lot and, I think, improved my solving skills no end. Thank you all, setters, bloggers and contributors. Surely the regulars, who clearly have the time to do crosswords, post and read comments, also have the patience to skim over the comments they find less interesting? Dear me, such intolerance of witty banter!
    Anyway, it was a fast Monday solve and all parsed too with the exception of 24 across, although I did wonder about hood as a synonym for mask (15d)? The two seem very different in these strange new times.
    BTW I once gave a Vulcan puzzle to my class of 14 year olds and helped them through a clue a day. The majority loved it.
    Thanks to Vulcan, Andrew and all

  63. Johnnybgoode @52 re 24a and KLColin @1 – I think the original poster’s complaint was that the clue was a bit weak. Yes, sanctioned=APPROVED, as you quite rightly say, but the alternative definition depends on exactly the same meaning: “this school once was”=APPROVED, ok – but it was so called because it was approved by the authorities, ie sanctioned for use as a place to lock up young offenders, so it’s not much of a stretch. The whole clue reads “this school once was sanctioned”, for which we can substitute “this school once was approved”, so it’s hardly cryptic at all.

  64. [MaidenBartok @59. Your suggestion of “a change of layout, threaded responses, the ability to make a mark” – I’ve seen some comment forums with threaded responses, and they can quickly become completely messy; the ability to “like” a post might be useful though. For example, Pauline @61 made a comment about mine @54, and it would be nice to be able to acknowledge that without being prolix, or “leaving a wordy comment”, as you point out. So a “like” facility would sometimes be useful. (Likewise Karen @62: “…such intolerance of witty banter!” 🙂 )

    And thank you too, MaidenBartok, for your heartfelt gratitude for the help you’ve received from contributors here, not just with improving your cruciverbal skills, but in supporting you through some of the difficulties that this year has thrown in all of our paths. ]

  65. [Congrats, Smot! I fondly remember that sense of achievement upon the first few complete solves. Keep at and you’ll work your way up to Vlad the impaler! And then Paul the… uh… impauler? 🙂 ]

  66. [MB @59 / sh @64, I sympathise with the intention, but please, please, please, please, please, NOT A ‘LIKE’ BUTTON!  It’s such a blessed relief to come to this site, away from the likes/thumbs ups/hearts of so many social media platforms, where the comments section degenerates into a competition for ‘likes’, to the detriment of the discussion, and of the mental well-being of the participants.

    It’s the one thing that would stop me posting on this site.

    (At which point, I imagine, a few people are thinking ‘You know what, let’s have a like button…’) ]

  67. [Smot @60 & Otter @65: … and then, just when you’re feeling you’re on top of things and all’s well with the world, you’ll get Nutmegged!]

  71. Nick @70, yes, that was my thought too, but I was uncomfortable as I couldn’t use every word in the clue convincingly.

  72. [Re: MERE The Australian women’s magazine New Idea carried a fairly awful column called Mere Male for many years where readers sent in short anecdotes about the stupid things their male partners had done thus proving that females are superior.]

     

     

  73. 10a. Surely “everything” or “everyone” instead of “all” in the clue would have been better?

    Way too much of a giveaway…

  75. PostMark@57 – that is somewhat my point. I have nothing interesting to say about this crossword and neither it seems do many people. But if anyone does have anything interesting to say they will find they have to wade through a flood of what I now understand is highly witty banter and inanities about the order in which clues have been filled in in order to follow the ensuing discussion (if indeed their point has been noted by others). The Guardian blog has largely become just another social club for those who have done the crossword (a service already provided by the Guardian’s own comments threads) and no longer a site for discussion of the crossword.

    I gather from the lack of support for my comments @51 that the takeover is complete and I submit.

  76. PostMark et al and Van Winkle:

    For what its worth, you both have good points. I feel it is OK to lighten up the days with a couple of punny posts but I do think today it has gone too far and verging on inanities that detract from the puzzle.

    Essexboy @66: I agree whole-heartedly.

     

  77. Love a Vulcan puzzle. Grid complete and only had to come here to check my understanding of a couple of the constructions.

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