Guardian Cryptic 28,379 by Picaroon

85 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 28,379 by Picaroon”

1. I don’t usually manage a Friday puzzle this fast. Must have been on the right wavelength for once.

2. Very enjoyable and mostly quite tough sums this up admirably.
   I also liked 8, 17, but 1, 21 and 5dn were favourites as well. But really, all the cluing was top-class and much of it very clever.
   Thanks to Picaroon and manehi

3. It felt like slow going at first but then came together. As manehi said, the outer clues helped; so often this type of grid falls into four quarters.

   Having got machine by filling in the gaps I went for sewing machine, having “e wing” for european runner and shine for outstanding, but if never felt right, and with all the crossers for 4ac something had to be wrong. I was lucky to get the w in the right place, because it led to throw, then the rest of the NE fell into place.

4. Thanks Picaroon and manehi
   Very much on Picaroon’s wavelength – quickest solve of the week. All fun, though. I loved “Cher may open this…”. ICENI another favourite.

5. I agree with enjoyable but quite tough. The ones around the outside were not gimmies.

   Obviously FRENCH LETTER was most chuckleworthy and SEDUCER was another favourite

   [Reminders of the Greenslade album with ‘BEDSIDE MANNERs Are Extra’ and of a proper Prime Minister in Clem Attlee.]

   NICHOLSON could have been ‘Bill who managed’.

   Thanks Picaroon and manehi.

6. I’m with NeilH @2: really enjoyable and excellent cluing as ever from Picaroon. Standout clues for me were BUMPER STICKER and IMAGE, but there were plenty more great ones. Many thanks to P & m.

7. Absolutely on Picaroon’s wavelength today after an initial trawl that didn’t look too promising. After the easy anagram for ENGLISH, BEDSIDE MANNER went in, followed by MANNA and the lovely construction for BUMPER STICKER and, as the blog says, we were away. manehi has indulged himself in plenty of ticks and I’d agree with every one. What was not to like? Even the one dnk, ANNUITANT, was gettable from the clue.

   AD HOC and MYTHIC made me smile and INTRO is a lovely spot by the setter. FRENCH LETTER was divine, once I’d got the singer out of my head. I’m struggling, though, to find an alternative earworm today. There are bits of bands I like in there – STONEs, GroundHOGs and Soft MACHINE are the closest I can get.

   Thanks Picaroon and manehi

8. More on my wavelength than others this week, enjoyable. Funny thing in my morning fog completely missed bumper for big and parsed b…sticker, googled umper – according to urban dictionary can mean unconditional love and that seemed enough with big possibly doing double duty to move on.

9. Really enjoyed this one. 25d HELOT was a Jorum for me.

10. What looked impenetrable gave away after carefully following the instructions. I’d buy more Ikea stuff if JB was part of their team but I understand he’s a bit busy for that/
    The Boss (Robson) managed Ipswich, Barcelona and England. What a difference a comma makes in a clue
    Chapeau

11. Lovely stuff – wasn’t familiar with ANNUITANT or DENATURED but the instructions were crystal clear
    Didn’t we have a debate about whether ROADHOGs speed quite recently?
    [Earworm of the day (EWOD?) “The King of BEDSIDE MANOR” from the Barenaked Ladies’ Gordon album]

12. [Careful Copmus @10, you’ll have the Toon Army after you, for omitting Newcastle United from your list. Not to mention Fulham, PSV (twice), Sporting Lisbon and Porto. Great manager, great man.]

13. Also on my wavelength after an initial trawl made me gulp. Lots of favourites already mentioned but my favourite was FRENCH LETTER. ANNUITANT was new but not difficult to spot.

    Penfold @7: you could also include the BOSS although he’s marmite for me, apart from his recent Western Stars, which was superb. Boss’s Novae?

    Great finish to a very enjoyable week. Ta Picaroon & manehi.

14. Sorry PostMark

15. Much appreciated, Picaroon and Tramp. I was unfamiliar with Bobby ROBSON at 15a and ICENI for the British rebels at 23d. So learning all the time. I liked the perimeter doubles. My favourites were 5d INTRO (already mentioned by others above) and 16d BOSSANOVA. For a while, ravenrider@3, I was another SEWING MACHINE (7/20d). I enjoyed this.

16. Popped in to see how the Paris clue parsed. Tlought of Paris Hilton and of a Shakespeare character – did not know about Troy , but the clue is fine. Well done manehi!

    This has been a week of learning on the silly little word “ON” – today running!
    I feel so sorry for the folks who have been here so long they don’t get the enjoyment of learning. I’d lose interest if I ever got that point and take up something else.

    I’m looking at “Escape Rooms” but cannot find a site that is suitable for one person on his own to start from scratch. Has anyone tried this and got beyond the jigsaw stage?

    “N-north S-south E-east and W-west , no spaces, no capitals ” appears all over the shop and it is supposed to help? On a beginner’s page they wanted a 4 letter solution, but “news”, “swen” etc etc did not compute – si I have given up.

17. ROBSON GREEN theme anyone? He’s known for EXTREMe fishing, and caused a bit of a stir when he said 90% of fish that are THROWn back don’t survive. He also appeared in Age Bef… oops! OK it’s a bit thin.

    Theme or no theme, I agree with all the praise; thanks Picaroon and manehi.

18. How funny, I am invested in a company call TLOU (Tlou Energy) and predictive text has has made thought into tlought I guess? Or was it me?

19. essesboy@17

    My first two in were Manna and Bedside Manner – so I was convinced I’d got the theme too :O)

20. Brilliant!

    I’d add HOI POLLOI to manehi’s favourites.

    It was great to see Cher filling a different role from ‘singer’ and I loved the ‘patient approach’.

    Julie @15 – you’ve probably heard of Boudicca / Boadicea? She was queen of the ICENI and led the rebellion.

    Many thanks to Picaroon for another super puzzle and manehi for a blog that did it proud.

21. As with most of the Friday fare, very slow (2 cups of coffee) start with inital parsing yielding BEDSIDE MANNER (very nice clue) and little else. Couple of DNKs in there but HOI POLLOI popped out quite quickly and from there I had a base to start on. From there, it picked up speed and done in the hour but not without a little help today – yes, that’s right, I had another cup of coffee although I’m saving the Suggestive biscuits for the Paul tomorrow…

    Thank you to Picaroon and manehi!

22. FRENCH LETTER, BUMPER STICKER, ROBSON were stand outs for me. At first glance I thought that I would really struggle but came together wel Soooooo enjoyable. Thanks for a great start to the dayl

23. Very enjoyable. Thanks. My only query is whether hock is dry? I’d say more medium -certainly too sweet for my taste.

    But a great puzzle.

24. I found this very difficult to get started on, but was helped greatly when I solved BUMPER STICKER.
    Favourites: INTRO, ROWING MACHINE, ROADHOG, AD HOC, HOI POLLOI (loi).

    New for me: the ROBSON who managed Fulham F.C. and Ipswich Town F.C.. (thanks, google)

25. Completed, but my small brain was unable to parse a few. When Manehi explained the parsing, I could not understand why I could not see it.
    A number of new words for me which I surprisingly managed to glean from the wordplay.
    I liked 15a, he coached me many years ago, needless to say I am doing crosswords while Allan Shearer is on MOTD.
    Thanks both.

26. Geoff+Soul @23, I can think of a more appropriate word for hock…even without the anti-freeze.

27. Lovely to see that once again Eileen and I are in agreement

    Thanks to Picaroon and Manehi

28. [crypticsue @27 We didn’t see you yesterday.

    If you knew Cryptic Sue
    Then you’d know her favourite clue
    Oh Cryptic, our Cryptic Sue
    It’s what Eileen said
    Yeah, we love our Cryptic Sue

    With apologies to Sue and Buddy.]

29. A great puzzle for Friday although it took me a while to get going. Thank you Picaroon, and extra thanks to Manehi for parsing BUT I still can’t understand bedside manner, which I got early on from the definition and an ‘n’. How do you get ‘made’ from the clue?

30. Ignore that! I’ve just got it. D’oh!

31. Geoff Soul @23 & HoofIt @26: I don’t particularly come across hock these days, outside crosswords, but it does take me back to that depressing range of wines my parents seemed to survive on in the 70’s – hock, liebfraumilch, Yugoslavian riesling, Don Cortez Spanish red, Mateus rose (which seems to have survived/recovered). Does anyone else remember Black Tower and Blue Nun?

32. Very enjoyable after a slow start. Dnk ROBSON not being a follower of soccer but clearly clued. Another who tried sewing machine first – it does have seine and mac but the rest did not parse, so it did not last. So wot Eileen and crypticsue said.
    Ta to P and m

33. Thanks for today’s earworm, Penfold @28.

    And no thanks at all for those dreadful reminders, PostMark @31.

34. Super super super super super.

    Favourite? ADHOC. And I don’t usually like homonyms.

    But lots of other goodies.

    Failed to parse SEDUCER and FRENCH LETTER (should have got the Cher!) so thanks manehi.

    And many thanks to Picaroon for a lovely end of the week.

35. PostMark @31: Oh Lord! What a reminder! The British public were certainly fed some bilge in those days. The only decent thing you could do with a bottle of Mateus Rosé was to make a table lamp out of it!

    Thank heavens for…am I allowed to say this? If not our esteemed regulator can purge it…Laithwaites.

36. A fine end to the week. Thanks Picaroon and Manehi. As a pedant I would describe a roadhog as someone who refuses to let you pass, the opposite of a speedster.
    (Lots of great music references today. Thank you bodycheetah@11 for the reminder of the brilliant BNL Gordon LP. Hoping to one day use my BNL tickets from last spring. )

37. Slowed myself down by thinking that “personnel” in 10a must be OR (other ranks) for some reason. Then HR came to mind (we always called them the Gestapo – anyone else?)

38. Lovely crossword; I particularly enjoyed the perimeter clues and those for KERBSTONE (I think we had a similar clue some time back) and FRENCH LETTER. Of course, cher = dear at the start of a letter but I was thinking of Cher as a department of central France, like Nice letter, doh! I put together ANNUITANT but had to check it was a real word.

    With ROBSON and NICHOLSON, I thought there must be a connected theme, but if there is, I can’t see it.

    Penfold @28; fun, seems just like yesterday.

    Thanks Picaroon and manehi.

39. PostMark @31 Yes, all those and more…the ‘star’ was a cheap plonk my Dad used to sell in his pub called ‘Carafino’. The white wine could take the paint off the doors and was known by the appropriate name of ‘Parafino’

40. Strange how some including our esteemed blogger manehi found this quite tough, whereas others found it a quick solve – no middle ground, apparently. It was quickest of the week for me, which means quickest for two weeks given what had happened before. But it’s Picaroon, so it’s fun all the way, so I don’t mind. Well, not all that much.

    [On the naff 70s wine thread started by PostMark @31 – anyone remember Hirondelle? I seem to remember they got done for adulterating their product, apologies in advance if that’s an unwarranted slur.]

41. [PM @31: you seem to be suggesting an alternative earworm (whoever was responsible for the sync-ing was chanleling hsi inner Dnio)]

    [Shirl @37: no Gestapo, but I do remember Internal Verifiers becoming Infernal Terrifiers]

42. The Mateus bottle with candle was the height of cool for a minute or so in the .. when was it…?

43. grantinfreo @42: Gosh, I remember those…mandatory in every Italian restaurant by law. Must have been late 70s?

44. William@35 I would add Hirondelle – especially Hirondelle red. Anyone remember distressing their liver with that? God, that was rough! But I think you are a bit hard on Mateus Rose, which I have always found perfectly palatable. I lived for three years in Portugal where it remains a popular brand – it was not just some crap that they fobbed off on the undiscerning British. However, don’t get me started on cheap chianti in a basket.

45. [Trailman @40: I do indeed remember Hirondelle. The other one that sticks in my mind is Le Piat d’Or. I believe that had the slogan “The French adore Le Piat d’Or”, which was possibly stretching the truth a bit…]

46. I really enjoyed this. For a moment I had ROBERT for ROBSON, almost convincing myself that ert was a little known opposite of inert. PostMark@31 and others. I’d like to say I had any discernment in drinking my parents’ wine, but I thought I was sophisticated just progressing from Dubonnet and lemonade.

47. I struggled for ages with 2d, thinking I was following the instructions by having ‘guy’s’ = MENS stealing Nat(A)sha’s heart, but MENAS turned out to be almost meaningless. Forgetting that 27 was (3,6) held me up too. This is what lack of concentration does for you! Without those two hold ups I’d have been joining others is celebrating being on the setter’s wavelength.

    Thanks to Picaroon, manehi and Penfold @28 for a new version of one of my favourite songs; nice to be reminded of Buddy Holly two days running.

48. That was great, spoiled only by bunging in “matrix” (with a resignation that I would get the parsing here in 15^2) for LOI MYTHIC (irony or what?). A most enjoyable week for me anyway – thanks to all setters and bloggers.
    See you all in March.

49. Shirl @ 37 We used to call HR Human Remains

    And I second very strongly the recommendation for current Mateus Rosé *in Portugal*. It’s a very different drink from what was peddled over here in the 70s.

    And a treasured memory from the days of duty-free is seeing someone agonising over whether to buy a bottle of red or white Piat d’Or.

50. Further to the many comments on 70s wines, Hirondelle is of course French for “swallow” – was it meant as a pun? And in the Scottish vernacular “a swally” is a wee drink!

51. I agree with the consensus that this was an excellent crossword.

    akaRebornBeginner @16, second para: I don’t think you ever stop learning. It does of course help to be familiar with some of the more commonly-used devices, including running / working = on, a barman being a composer, the capital of a country being its currency rather than its main city, boss = stud (which we seem to have had rather a lot recently), and so on. Flower = river is so common that I’m a bit thrown on the odd occasions when it means an actual flower.

    But although I’ve been doing these puzzles for decades (I was possibly drinking a glass of Hirondelle when I attempted my first one) I still seem to learn new things all the time. And it’s not uncommon for someone to say on here, “That’s an old chestnut” about something I don’t remember ever having seen before.

    Many thanks Picaroon and manehi.

52. Another great crossword from Picaroon. Like manehi, and unlike most of today’s posters, I found this quite hard to get into, but once started it all fell out neatly.

    Some nice clueing here – I particularly enjoyed IMAGE and FRENCH LETTER, but perhaps it’s time to retire ‘six-footer’ for insect and the pervasive stud/boss pairing!

    I also smiled at AD HOC, though I agree that ‘dry’ is somewhat inappropriate [though a decent Spätlese has a place, generally with the dessert, I always maintain the the best German wines are made in France (ie in Alsace). And Lord Jim @45: Miles Kington in one of his ‘Franglais’ pieces remarked ‘Les Français export Piat d’Or’]

53. Excellent puzzle and blog – thanks both.
    [On the subject of wine, and leaving aside all those terrible memories of earlier years, my go-to place for lockdown survival potions is the Wine Society. I’ve tried others but nowhere beats the WS for quality and value.]

54. PostMark @31: in my day Black Tower was for the posh students but you couldn’t nor can’t beat a bottle of Buckie.

55. Great puzzle. Forgive my ignorance, but what do you mean by Jorum woodentree@9?

56. So I struggled to get BUMPER STICKER till almost the very end with this excellent, challenging, tricky puzzle today, and therefore spent some time trying to wrongly fit in Sewing Machine and Milestone, either of which of course didn’t quite cut the mustard. Lots of great clues today, however, very pleased to have got there in the end, after a slow, gradual start in the SE corner.

57. [PostMark @31 Thunderbird was another brand of student ‘milk of amnesia’, as referenced by Ian Dury in Sweet Gene Vincent:

    Shall I mourn you decline with some thunderbird wine…]

58. orcwood @55 – in case wooden_tree doesn’t come back – I’m responsible for the jorum.

    From my blog of a Puck alphabetical puzzle five years ago:

    “J Endless task, getting drink for punchbowl? (5)
    JORUM
    JO[b] [task] + RUM [drink] – isn’t it satisfying to construct an unlikely-sounding word from the wordplay and then look it up and find out that it does exist? [Collins: ‘prob. after Jorum, who brought vessels of silver, gold and brass to King David [II Samuel 8:10]’”

    Someone commented that they would always think of such words as jorums and one or two other people have apparently done the same. 😉

59. Eileen @58 Don’t know if you’ve ever come across The Witch’s Frolic by English cleric, novelist and poet Richard Harris Barham (1788 – 1845). It goes on a bit, but in the 4th verse from the end, you’ll find:

    The end poked in his chest with a force makes him gasp,
    And, despite the decorum so due to the Quorum,
    His worship’s upset, and so too is his jorum;
    And Madge is astride on the broomstick before’em.
    ‘Hocus Pocus! Quick, Presto! and Hey Cockalorum!

60. (Happy memories of cheap disgusting wines of our youth. Of course Piat D’or was generally known more commonly as Pee at Door. I seem to recall that if you were really strapped for cash then Concorde wines were the absolute last resort.)

61. Hi Penfold @59 – I seem to have missed that epic somehow! Many thanks – it’s delightful.

    I’ve met jorum again more recently, in puzzles by Imogen and Picaroon.

62. Following some excellent puzzles this week, when I saw that Picaroon had set today’s, I had every expectation that the standard would be maintained, and it was.

    After initially wondering where I would get a break, everything flowed as smoothly as a glass of vintage wine (not Hirondelle).

    I wondered if English and French would be the start of a theme, but they weren’t. Loved the clues around the perimeter, IN TROy, ROBSON (national treasure) and NICHOLSON (great manager).

    Thanks to Picaroon for customary excellence, and manehi for blogging. No disrespect at all but I do like it when loonapick unpicks Picaroon: there must be a crossword clue in that!

63. [Penfold @59 and Eileen @60: Barham’s ‘Ingoldsby Legends’ are sadly neglected these days, and full of entertaining turns of phrase: ‘And the maids cried “Good gracious, how very tenacious “‘]

64. Enjoyed this no end, just the right difficulty. Got all but seven last night, leaving me just enough for the morning’s teatrays.

    I had no clue about parsing ROWING MACHINE. Thanks, manehi.

    I’m delighted that Jorum is becoming one of our community’s words — it’s a handy crosswording term. I think the commenter you refer to was me, Eileen.

65. Lord Jim@51: the river today was a “runner” which is probably why I failed to parse ROWING MACHINE. I guessed the right machine, but I can see why SEWING MACHINE also “makes fit”: mine spends all its time turning up hems on garments too long for my five-foot frame.
    Yes, yet another boss=stud.

66. Harder today than the rest of this week, and I struggled with Cher – I realised FRENCH LETTER fitted and prevented issue, but didn’t spot the translation. On the plus side, this is the first week I have ever completed 5 puzzles.

67. Thoroughly enjoyed this one – that’s two excellent puzzles in a row! All of the A/B combos were awesome!

68. Couto @68 Maria von Trapp would beg to differ.

69. Penfold @59, a propos nothing at all, that verse has shaken loose a nonsense line that goes

    Hey cockalorum jig jig jig
    Did you ever see a monkey riding on a pig.

    I have absy no idea where it comes from.

70. Thanks manehi, I couldn’t quite unravel the latter part of RUNNING BATTLE, nor justify the innards of MISTERM. Add my praise to that above, I found it a satisfyingly gradual solve, even my usual complaint that nothing is “up” when reversed in a clue didn’t really register (and I know I am flogging a dead horse there). But I did think the description of Hock could be better although it has led to some entertaining discussion above (also thanks everyone for reminding me of Jorum which will hopefully stick in my brain now) – and just to straighten the record somewhat, it was the Austrians who adulterated their plonk with antifreeze (and now produce very good wine, often organic) and my French boss is very happy to fill his boot with Riesling from Pfalz once a year when Alsace would be much nearer for him. I will have to be obvious and state FRENCH LETTER as my favourite, thanks Picaroon.

71. [Penfold @69 At first I think, “No that’s not the earworm I want.” Then the John Coltrane version emerges from my memory…

72. [ginf @70, there’s a similar one here (which, if your eyes are anything like mine, you’ll need to magnify to about 300%).

    The genitive plural is probably the favouritest of all my favourite things. With a nod to Valentine, may I quote:

    Et complebat omne forum
    Copia Motorum Borum! ]

73. Domine defende mi, I’m out of my depth, with Coltrane’s Brubeck-ish Favourites laughing through his licorice stick…

74. [ps, essexboy, your link goes to a Not found…]

75. [ginf – it’s OK from my end, but I do get a ‘not secure’ warning so maybe the Bodleian is unsuitable for plate sarty 😉

    In the meantime here’s another cockalorum that should be acceptable for family viewing.]

76. We really enjoyed this crossword and want to contrast it with some of the toughies last week.
    It had an ‘easy’ grid (providing plenteous starts and ends to other clues) and high value crossers in profound contrast to last week’s interminable vowels.
    Also, very few instances of our own pet hate, the cropped synonyms device —THIC/k and TRO/Y, both perfectly reasonable here, but the overuse of which leads to the solver interminably having to guess an answer and then rack their brains as to which of a myriad uncropped candidates might fill the bill.
    And when you got an answer, you just KNEW it was the right one. No horrible loose meanings, no CHECK buttons needed here!
    Thank you Picaroon, we think you’ve given everyone an object lesson in how to make a toughie crossword great fun to do.

77. Some lovely clues – my FOI DENATURED stood out, as did FRENCH LETTER (and lots that others have mentioned) – but I got stuck in the East, where I entered ROWING MACHINE, MISTERM and THROW just because they fitted, with a part of the clue making vague sense. They turned out to be right – thanks for the parsing loonapick, and the puzzle, Picaroon. It has been a good week (unlike some weeks I can mention…).

    [Enjoyed the wine duscussion, most/all of which I endured at one stage or another. Definitely had a Mateus Rose bottle with candle drippings. When I was a little tacker, my Dad would give us hock and lemonade! Much later – the nineties – living in England, I was delighted to find the Poms didn’t rate the heavy Eastern European reds – similar to Aussie shiraz – and so much tasty wine could be bought for peanuts. The Poms are better on beer/ales, to be fair.]

78. [TassieTim, cut my teeth on those big, chewy reds, eg Wynn’s Coonawarra, Ingoldby’s McLaren Vale, with aftertaste that can outlast a burnt snag still left on the late-night barby plate, and I still love ’em ? ]

79. ..that ? should be a 😉

80. Tough but a real pleasure. 8/17 clue of the week for me.
    Thanks all.

81. Not quite sure how or why, but I raced through this after a couple of beers. I think, like others above, I must’ve on Picaroon’a wavelength this evening. In fact I seem to have been on my game all week, that’s five successive puzzles completed or six if you count Qaos last Saturday. Thanks to Picaroon and Manehi.

82. Similarly enjoyed crossword.
    Students here in Ireland still drinking Buckfast, amazingly….they tell us due to the price to alcohol content ratio

83. Penfold@57, I thought I’d share my mishearing of ‘Sweet Gene Vincent’, to go with the reworking of Buddy Holly songs in this blog. For years I thought Ian Dury was singing “I miss your sweet, but genial whisper” until, about 20 years later, I found it was “…sweet Virginia whisper”. I still quite like my version.

84. What an enjoyable puzzle. Certainly not easy, but I made steady progress and got there in the end. There were quite a few chuckles along the way, particularly 3dn, 5dn 8dn, 14dn.

    I confess that I don’t understand the definition for 24ac (AD HOC), but I’m sure I’m just being thickheaded.

    23dn (ICENI) was a new word for me. I have heard of Boadicea, but I couldn’t have told you her tribe.

    [Petert’s comment @46 about “ert” reminds me of a bit from James Thurber’s wonderful fairy tale “The Thirteen Clocks”, in which the king says, “I am no longer ert, for I have lost my ertia.” Thurber’s joyous wordplay throughout that book makes it likely that members of this crowd would enjoy it.]

85. Probably nobody will read this, though it would be nice if Ted would. I’ve loved The Thirteen Clocks for many years, and actually played the Golux in a high school musical made from the book. (“The only Golux in the world, and not a mere device.”) I even made myself an indescribable hat, as called for in the text. But my real Thurber love is The White Deer.

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