Guardian Cryptic 28,339 by Vulcan

by

The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/28339.

I think Vulcan is now hitting the right notes for the Monday slot, after a shaky start as a Rufus tribute (and picking up on what I found as his less admirable traits). Not difficult by Guardian standards, but amusing and a pleasant solve.

ACROSS
4 SOMBRE Most of broad hat is dark (6)
A subtraction: SOMBRE[ro] (‘broad hat’) minus the last two letters (‘most of’). Of course, the two words are closely related.
6 SUNLIGHT Paper not serious, but it’s illuminating (8)
A charade of SUN (UK tabloid, ‘paper’) plus LIGHT (‘not serious’).
9 BARFED Given a pub meal, brought it all up (6)
BAR FED (‘given a pub meal’). I did not know that this synonym for “worshipped at the porcelain altar” had crossed the Atlantic.
10 FLIP-FLOP In light footwear, turn and throw oneself down (4-4)
A charade of FLIP (‘turn’) plus FLOP (‘throw oneself down’).
11 ROLLER-SKATE Waves to girl having to wheel herself along (6-5)
A charade of ROLLERS (‘waves’) plus KATE (‘girl’). ‘Herself’ is there just because of ‘girl’.
15 CONTACT Meeting man in prison with sensitivity (7)
A charade of CON (‘man in prison’) plus TACT (‘sensitivity’).
17 ANY MORE One army shattered: are there others? (3,4)
An anagram (‘shattered’) of ‘one army’.
18 DO ONE’S WORST Be thoroughly malicious and toss one word out (2,4,5)
An anagram (‘out’) of ‘toss one word’.
22 AQUARIUM Where to see all sorts, from angels to zebras? (8)
Cryptic definition, with ‘angel’ and ‘zebra’ being kinds of fish.
23 EXCISE XII, say, to cut out (6)
Sounds like (‘say’) ‘XII’, with II as plural Is.
24 HARD AT IT Insensitive, a singer working intensely (4,2,2)
A charade of HARD (‘insensitive’) plus ‘a’ plus TIT (bird, ‘singer’).
25 ANTRIM An orderly area of the UK (6)
A charade of ‘an’ plus TRIM (‘orderly’), for the County in Northern Ireland.
DOWN
1 BREEZE Sort of block an easy task (6)
Double definition (although the first is more an allusion).
2 PULLS A FACE Grimaces — does more than tweak a nose! (5,1,4)
Definition and – what? Something, anyway.
3 SLIPPERY Awkward to walk on, like a light shoe? (8)
Double definition.
4 SUBTRACT Take off in boat over region (8)
A charade of SUB (marine, ‘boat’) plus (‘over’, in a down light) TRACT (‘area’). Huge tracts of land.
5 MARBLING Spoil jewellery, adding mottled effect (8)
A charade of MAR (‘spoil’) plus BLING (‘jewellery’).
7 GALA Legal arguments shortened festival (4)
A hidden answer (‘shortened’ – unusual, but why should it not indicate shortening at both ends?) in ‘leGAL Arguments’.
8 TAPE Record that’s broken at end of race (4)
Double definition, the first as a verb.
12 SET TO MUSIC For singer, maybe, arrange costume — it’s to be altered (3,2,5)
An anagram (‘to be altered’) of ‘costume its’.
13 COURTIER Wooer captivates one lady-in-waiting (8)
An envelope (‘captivates’) of I (‘one’) on COURTER (‘wooer’).
14 LENT TERM Period when one learns fast? (4,4)
Cryptic definition. It translates as Hilary Term.
16 ALDERMAN Councillor alarmed has to change name (8)
A charade of ALDERMA, an anagram (‘has to change’) of ‘alarmed’; plus N (‘name’).
19 WAXING Getting larger waterproofing (6)
Double definition.
20 WASH Wife remains clean (4)
A charade of W (‘wife’) plus ASH (‘remains’).
21 PURR Sound pleased to turn up with expensive motor (4)
A charade of PU, a reversal (‘to turn’) of ‘up’ plus RR (Rolls Royce, ‘expensive motor’).

 

image of grid

73 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 28,339 by Vulcan”

  1. It was hard for me to get started on this one. On my first pass, I solved only three clues (one of which I could not parse) and was tempted to run away to the Quiptic!

    ‘Courter’ = wooer was new to me; also LENT TERM

    Did not parse TAPE, EXCISE.

    Thanks, Vulcan and Peter

  2. The start of the blog often correlates to the ease of the puzzle, and this was a good example (can’t remember an earlier start, or an easier puzzle). As is also becoming the case, on to the quiptic now – for what is hopefully a more lasting and engaging experience. (michelle @1 … going courting was one of the nostalgic memories of my long-gone youth).

  3. Pecked away at this while watching the Indians gallantly attempting a record run chase, so by no mean a write-in here. And a hint in the g-thread helped end the head scratching over 14d…but is it Hilary at one and Lent at the other? Ho hum. Thanks both, now back to the cricket.

  4. In all fairness have to report back and admit the quiptic was just as easy this week – however some LOL clues, and well worth doing if just for 16D (as a real challenge, try solving it without the crossers !)

  5. Circumstances early this morning being co-operative, I did this puzzle. FOI was 7d GALA, the second 6a SUNLIGHT, the third 2d PULLS A FACE, the fourth 10a FLIP-FLOP and, hey Presto, 3d filled in even without reading the clue. Chappals always come in pairs!

  6. Myself@5
    Readers would realise that after getting all but one of the crossers for 7d in the top right segment, I had guessed and recklessly entered FLIP-FLOP without reading the clue. That delayed the progress until checking. I retraced the steps. Isn’t the willingness to go back. one of the lessons that solving crosswords teaches us?

  7. Thanks PeterO, and Vulcan for an enjoyable Xword. I found this slightly harder than usual, taking two sessions to complete it.

    BARF I first encountered when living in Canada, and it is seldom heard in the UK. GALA was one of my last ones in, and I was looking for a legal phrase to shorten. In 8d, I was convinced “the end of the race” was E, and consequently couldn’t explain TAP.

  8. Despite failing with BREEZE and ANTRIM I found this crossword quite enjoyable. BARFED, HARD AT IT, and PURR were favourites. Thanks Vulcan, and PeterO for the super early blog — those of us in the US who work these crosswords over dinner can comment before bedtime, a nice change to always being late for the party.

  9. Despite a slight stretch of the “rules” by having the definition of FLIP-FLOP not exactly at an end of the clue, a nice, straightforward solving experience. I thought “shortened” in GALA was a good misdirection, since it is usually applied differently (=detailed).

    Ditto Tony@8 re: timing.

  10. Thanks Peter O and Vulcan.

    I don’t think that DOING ONES WORST necessarily describes being malicious.It can simply means not trying.

  11. dantheman @10: Imagine ‘Do your worst!’ as an instruction/challenge, meaning ‘Inflict as much damage as you possibly can’. Paradoxically, ‘do one’s worst’ is actually synonymous with ‘do one’s best’, but in the service of the dark side.

    I agree with those who liked this, and who found it more challenging than often on a Monday (albeit not by comparison with last week’s puzzle from Vulcan’s alter ego). Favourite was EXCISE, for the long-delayed penny drop.

    Thanks Vulcan and PeterO.

  13. In a slightly grumpy mood this morning, so lost the plot a bit in the NW corner. Possibly because of racing through Everyman yesterday then getting stumped in the SW corner by two four letter horrors that I still don’t fully understand.
    Looking back, today’s offering was just about right for me being frankly, not very good at solving cryptic crosswords.
    Thanks Peter for the explanations, expecially BARFED which is a new word for me.

  15. EXCISE was also my favourite, but I thought BARFED was what essexboy did before he got dressed.

    Thanks to Vulcan and PeterO

  16. HoofIt @13 – I think it’s within the spirit of things to say apropos of one of the “four letter horrors” that if you thought the homophone perpetrated by Penfold @15 was bad, you should take another look at Everyman’s 22dn.
    A pleasant start to another week of listening to Ministers on the Today programme failing to answer questions. Thanks to V and P.

  17. [HID @13: I know for a fact you’ve been contributing to blogs such as these for some considerable time and generally from the perspective of either a full or a nearly full complete so don’t do yourself down. On the basis of avoiding spoilers, all I can say is your two stumbling blocks were my last two in as well – and neither is obvious though you may need tea trays to hand when you succeed!]

    [Penfold @15: yesterday you said he had a SHAH! I’m ever so slightly concerned at your evident familiarity with essexboy’s ablutions]

    This was certainly a step up from normal Vulcan and, just like Michelle, only three on the first pass. But everything fell slowly into place. I’d agree with essexboy @11 that EXCISE is probably pick of the bunch. AQUARIUM held out til last but one when I Googled zebra fish to check they existed and LOI was SET TO MUSIC where I hadn’t made sense of the definition, though I’d worked out the wordplay. I have to agree with PeterO’s analysis of PULLS A FACE which is one of the weaker clues here. And BARFED is a gag too far.

    Thanks Vulcan and PeterO

  18. Another here who had few on first pass – no across answers at all, but the downs gradually came to the rescue. As the answers flowed more freely, I could not quite see why I had found it difficult. Laughed out loud at BAR-FED. EXCISE was also neat. Thanks, Vulcan and PeterO.

  19. An enjoyable start to the week. FOI was BARFED and LOI SUNLIGHT. I much enjoyed what seems on the surface to be a triple anagrind for 12dn which worked out beautifully once I’d identified the correct one. Favourites today were PURR and the wonderful EXCISE. Thanks to Vulcan and PeterO (although for once I needed no help with parsing).

  20. I liked this. Favourite probably BARFED – often we brits use more graphic descriptions than our American friends (e.g. toilet vs restroom) but here I think the usual UK phrase would be “was sick”.

    [Sorry to seem bad-tempered, but … I carefully avoid reading the crossword comments on the Guardian website as they are always full of hints, often unintentional, and I prefer to work things out for myself. Please don’t make any comments here about clues in the Everyman, or any crossword other than the one under discussion here.]

  21. On the tough side for Vulcan, so a longer Monday solve than usual. I liked ANTRIM, EXCISE and BARFED and my favourite was AQUARIUM, being misdirected towards alphabet, almanac etc. Ta Vulcan and PeterO

  22. Steady solve, moderately Mondayish as others have said. Enjoyed ROLLER-SKATE, FLIP-FLOP and EXCISE. Many thanks to Vulcan and PeterO.

  23. Thanks Vulcan and PeterO
    A couple of irritations. I dislike meaningless “ins” in clues, and the one in 10a is particularly egregious. I was held up by entering ALPHABET at 22a – arguably a better answer, as “all sorts” is hopelessly vague.
    EXCISE my favoruite too.

  24. I also tentatively popped in ALPHABET at 22a. Don’t really think the def passes muster.

    I am probably in the minority, but I quite enjoyed Vulcan when he was in ‘Rufus Tribute’ mode. As a relatively new solver, I am working my way through Rufus’ back catalogue and seeing how clever our former Monday setter really was, though – Vulcan really had his work cut out.

  25. Nice steady solve for a gentlish start to a Monday but with a few head-scratching moments. LOL on 9a – Vulcan must have eaten at the same pubs that I have!

    FOI SOMBRE and enjoyed the sentiment at 6a!

    Thank you to Vulcan and PeterO!

  26. Beaulieu @ 20 – You don’t seem bad-tempered at all; you make a perfectly sensible point, and I apologise for inadvertently spoiling your enjoyment.
    Stay safe and stay happy.

  27. Goldilocks zone for me.

    [don’t know why some people do Monday or the Quiptic and then complain that they were too easy]

  29. Some nice clues there. My only quibbles are that in 10ac “in” is not only superfluous but changes the meaning to “wearing flip-flops” or similar, and Lent Term is only used by a small number of educational institutions.

  31. [MaidenBartok ~28
    Barry Humphries, when writing as Barry McKenzie in Private Eye, introduced both those to Britain, I think. Another was “techicolour yawn”.]

  36. PeterO sums it up beautifully in his introduction.
    I feel that BARFED should have had an indicator that it was a foreign word.
    Apart from that, just the right Monday mixture of write-ins and meat.
    Thanks to Vulcan and to PeterO.

  39. [muffin @31, beaulieu @34, MB @37: the reason we have such a rich and diverse culture. Our ability to select and absorb the best of what other cultures have to offer!]

  40. A slow start for me, too, with the NW quadrant holding out until the end.

    Good Monday puzzle with BARFED my favourite. It’s a compiler-lite grid with only 26 clues to write, and largely four independent quadrants.

    Thanks Vulcan and PeterO.

  41. Anna @36, that’s understandable, but I’ve only once left Europe and am very (over-?) familiar with ‘barfed’.

    Some fine clues today, particularly for EXCISE. I was less keen on LENT TERM which is not used in my social circles and caused a groan when I saw why it was the answer. I quite liked PULLS A FACE, which may have been a bit loose but left no doubt that it was the correct answer.

  42. Enjoyed this Monday challenge from Vulcan, though 22 across brought back the painful teenage memory of my tropical fish tank with angel and zebra fish swimming in it in the winter of 1963, when the first of many long power cuts finished them off…

  43. [PostMark @39: “…absorb the best…” and in this case spew it all out again!

    I’m reminded of a school trip on a double-decker bus where the usual delicate child, who happened to be sitting upstairs, decided they needed to chuck.

    “Sir, sir, I feel sick!”

    “Quick!!! Down the stairs!”

    And so he did…]

  44. An enjoyable solve, but I must break my long silence on homophones by (very slightly and not terribly seriously) crticising EXCISE. My initial thought was that there are two S-sounds in the word, but Chambers has the “eks” of EX reduced to “ek”, followed by “size”. Whereas “X” followed by “II” is surely “eks-ize”. Is Vulcan by any chance Scottish? – I have noticed a tendency in some Scottish accents for consonants to be assigned to the “wrong” syllable in this way.

    Like Boffo @24 I was tempted by a possible ALPHABET at 22a, but that would have been a weak clue even for a Monday, and I thought that AQUARIUM (when it arrived at the same time as the crossing U) was cleverly clued. As was BARFED, which I am sure I have heard many times in the UK (and not just in films and TV from over the water).

  45. HoofItYouDonkey@13
    [Since that Comment is there.
    And without any spoilers.
    Curious, I looked up the slots you mention.
    I got those two four-letter words within seconds.
    Didn’t proceed with the puzzle, though. Decades ago I was an avid and regular solver of Everyman carried by a newspaper here in Chennai. My personal record was cold solving all but three in a puzzle.
    Putting the trumpet down.]

  46. [beaulieu @32-4, your postings weren’t meaningless. If you click on the ‘close square brackets’ sign in the first post, it gets you to the intended video. You may have started a trend for hiding links in unexpected places 😉 ]

    [I’m flattered by Penfold’s high opinion of standards of personal cleanliness in Essex. Chelmsford 123 took a slightly different view (although at 2:20 he “can’t get to the BARF for dead Romans”!)]

  47. I was held up by my unwillingness to think of the SUN as a newspaper.
    Sheffieldhatter @ 44; I’m not sure how the syllable the s belongs to affects the homophone??

  48. Found this harder than last Monday’s Imogen, though I didn’t help myself by entering ‘makes a face’ at 2d and so wondering whether ‘raglight’ was a thing. That sorted, all I had to do was unravel the cd nightmare that led to AQUARIUM.

  49. penfold @15 Neil @16…many thanks for the help…22d is a tea-tray moment, 21d seems a bit obscure, I can parse it (sort of), but I have moved on. Thanks again for the prod in the right direction.
    Rishi@45, well done, in the words of Kipling “you’re a better man than I am, Gunga Din”.

  50. Maidenbartok @28 I always knew the expression to be “talking to God on the great white telephone “

  53. I was a bit surprised to see that BARFED was somewhat unfamiliar in the UK, but living 40 yrs in the States will do that to you. On a related note, my first reaction to 2d was “makes a face”, but “pulls” is obviously a better intensifier of “tweaks”. I’m wondering if there is a US-UK difference here too, or it was just me? Tx.

  54. Like many above found this a bit tough – tho’ not nearly as hard as last Monday’s which I have yet to do.

    And this is not a spoiler but I also failed at 22d in Everyman. But did finish the prize – first time ever – and yes I know it was much easier than usual.
    .
    My favourite today also was EXCISE

    I didn’t get, and still don’t understand. LENT TERM. Where does Hilary come in please? Could someone explain. Thanks

    And thanks to Vulcan and PeterO

  55. Fiona Anne @54 – Lent Term, alias Hilary Term, is the name of one of the three academic terms at Oxford University.

  56. Fiona Anne @54: Oxford University terms have traditionally been Michaelmas, Hilary and Trinity whilst in Cambridge they are Michaelmas, Lent and Easter.

  57. Thoroughly enjoyed this – thanks Vulcan and PeterO.
    Kudos from us to 22a “aquarium” and 25a “Antrim”.

    [rodshaw@4

    Due to your recommendation we bustled off to the Quiptic and were glad we did – really enjoyed it.
    As suggested, we looked at 16d before getting any crossers and found it very easy. Must have just been on the wavelength. Lots of delighted “Ha!” noises at other clues though.]

  58. PS Meant to say how impressed we are at Vulcan/Imogen being able to produce two such different types of crossword from the one (obviously impressive) brain.
    Our compliments:)

  59. PostMark@56
    When I was a schoolboy in the late Forties and early Fifties (after India won Independence), we had Michaelmas holidays after term exams. This I remembered after I read your Comment. Things changed later.

  60. Loved 3d as a “double definition”. Presumably one definition in Chambers and the other in the Uxbridge English Dictionary.

  61. At first, the only answer I got was ANY MORE. I worked everything connected to that until I got stuck, then noticed WASH on the other side of the puzzle and got most of the rest, though ANTRIM and LENT TERM had to wait till this morning.

    2d PULLS is more than “tweaks,” A FACE is more than a nose. I think it’s exclusively UK.

  62. [Rishi @59: interesting. I have read that the Indian education system was heavily influenced in its early days by the British system. Unsurprisingly, given the circumstances. With the strong Oxbridge influence in British administration, certainly up to the Second World War and the period immediately afterwards, I guess we shouldn’t be too surprised at the crossover.

    BTW, I am learning lots about India with your recent posts (as I’ve learned about Finland from Anna). Someone beat me to it the other day, in observing that they were left feeling ravenous after your descriptions of foodstuffs!]

  63. Glad the Technicolor yawn has other than solely Oz etymology, tho no thanks to Barries McKenzie and Humphries.

  64. I thought this would be a first for me: complete in one sitting without having to look anything up or use a word search, but no. I guessed LENT TERM but had never heard of it so had to Google it as it is not in my Chambers dictionary app.

  66. An enjoyable after lunch coffee helper. Thanks Vulcan. I had to goggle LENT TERM as such things are unknown out here, but it seemed to fit. Live and learn.
    Um, PeterO, I am not sure why you labelled the first part of 1a an allusion. Breeze blocks exist and are building blocks made by compressing furnace ash or breeze. Thanks for the explanations.

  67. A Q, X,K, and a Z had me thinking pangram, but it was not to be: if I’m not mistaken, we’re short a J and a V.

    A very enjoyable Monday puzzle. 23ac (EXCISE) in particular raised a smile.

  68. I appreciate PeterO’s comment at 2d. He doesn’t classify it as DD. It does not seem to be the usual kind of DD. There’s a definition, yes. And then a sort of hint leading to the answer.
    I stood before a mirror and tried to pull my face. I could move muscles here and there on my face but ‘tweak my nose’? That I could not do,
    Then I laughed. For I suddenly remembered the idiom ‘pull a long face’.
    That we do when we want to express disappointment or dissatisfaction and look sad.
    The free dictionary has: “{The expression] no doubt came from the elongated look resulting from the mouth being drawn down at the corners and the eyes downcast.”
    In Tamil we have an equally colourful idiom.

  69. Clearly the Aussies are the champs when it comes to upchucking euphemisms. I hadn’t associated BARFED with pub food before, but now I won’t be able to disassociate them, conjuring up delightful(?) thoughts of pickled onions, pickled eggs and, in my part of the world, poutine.

    I too started with MAKE A FACE at 2d, but agree that PULL works better. I also fell into the alphabet soup at 22a AQUARIUM, and wasn’t disabused until PURR at 21d produced the U crosser. (Actually my first thought was a London map, but that didn’t get me anywhere.)

    Nice puzzle Vulcan, and fine blog PeterO

  70. [cellomaniac @69: Am I alone in loving poutine? Craving a trip over – that Tim Horton’s coffee and maple donut… ]

  71. A few clever clues but I found this dreary and unimaginative as a whole. Light footwear and light shoe in clues – then light in an answer.

  72. Though I know the term, I still don’t understand how lent term is parsed. I started with term time till the crossers didn’t fit. I had Bath for 20 across, as in Chaucer….

  73. Jen @72. “I still don’t understand how lent term is parsed.” I’m not sure if anyone is likely to revisit, but in answer to your query: “Period when one learns fast?” It’s a cryptic definition, so it doesn’t really “parse” as such, you just have to “get it”. Lent is a period of fasting, so the school or college term in which one cryptically “learns [about the] fast” (in real life, the term in which Lent takes place) is LENT TERM. The trouble with cryptic definitions is that when you try to explain them they just seem to get more and more lame. Like jokes, I guess.

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