Guardian Cryptic 28,495 by Pan

by

The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/28495.

An excellent Monday puzzle, with generally simple clue structures, but perhaps a vocabulary a little wider than usual (but, of course, that is a distinctly personal matter).

ACROSS
4 STREAK
Narrow stripe in piece of meat round end of skewer (6)
An envelope (’round’) of R (‘end of skeweR‘) in STEAK (‘piece of meat’).
6 TERRAPIN
Country conserving head of prehistoric freshwater creature (8)
An envelope (‘conserving’) of P (‘head of Prehistoric’) in TERRAIN (‘country’).
9 NADIRS
Lowest points in faulty drains (6)
An anagram (‘faulty’) of ‘drains’.
10 MEGASTAR
11, perhaps, fixed games with sailor (8)
A charade of MEGAS, an anagram (‘fixed’) of ‘games’; plus TAR (‘sailor’), for 11A ERIC CLAPTON.
11 ERIC CLAPTON
Musician playing clarinet with cop (4,7)
An anagram (‘playing’) of ‘clarinet’ plus ‘cop’.
15 COHABIT
Conservative and old Indepen­dent bath prepared to shack up together (7)
A charade of C (‘Conservative’) plus O (‘old’) plus HABIT, an anagram (‘prepared’) of I (‘Independent’) plus ‘bath’.
17 RECLINE
Record part of poem in lounge (7)
A charade of REC (‘record’) plus LINE (‘part of poem’).
18 COMESTIBLES
Food arrives on recycled black tiles (11)
A charade of COMES (‘arrives’) plus TIBLES, an anagram (‘recycled’) of B (‘black’) plus ’tiles’.
22 EMISSARY
Attention surrounding girl married to country’s ultimate diplomat (8)
A charade of EMISSAR, an envelope (‘surrounding’) of MISS (‘girl’) in EAR (‘attention’) plus (‘married to’) Y (‘countrY‘s ultimate’).
23 OPIATE
Drug setter took after surgery (6)
A charade of OP (operation, ‘surgery’) plus I ATE (‘setter took’).
24 TURNOVER
Money taken by business making a pastry dish (8)
Double definition.
25 FRIEND
Female diner rearranged china (6)
A charade of F (‘female’) plus RIEND, an anagram (‘rearranged’) of ‘diner’, for the rhyming slang ‘china’ (plate).
DOWN
1 FABRIC
Wonderful hospital leaving well-funded structure (6)
A charade of FAB (‘wonderful’) plus RIC[h] (‘well-funded’) minus the H (‘hospital leaving’).
2 DEBENTURES
Plates holding British (English) loan certificates (10)
An envelope (‘holding’) of B (‘British’) plus E (‘English’) in DENTURES (‘plates’).
3 ARMAGNAC
Beer enthusiasts about to drink a good new brandy (8)
An envelope (‘to drink’) of ‘a’ plus G (‘good’) plus N (‘new’) in ARMAC, a reversal (‘about’) of CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale, ‘beer enthusiasts’)
4 SENTENCE
Scene 10 rewritten as a punishment (8)
An anagram (‘rewritten’) of ‘scene’ plus TEN (’10’).
5 REDLIGHT
Warning issued by Conservatives infiltrated by far-right movement (8)
An envelope (‘infiltrated by’) of EDL( English – or European – Defence League, ‘far-right movement’) in RIGHT (‘Conservatives’).  REDLIGHT as one word is not common, and, like its two-word and hyphenated versions, more commonly means a prohibition rather than a warning. However, dictionary.com does give the latter meaning.
7 PITT
PM‘s meagre salary halved (4)
The first part (‘halved’) of PITT[ance] (‘meagre salary’), for William PITT the Elder or Younger.
8 NORM
Standard number assigned to soldiers (4)
A charade of NO (‘number’) plus RM (Royal Marines, ‘soldiers’).
12 ANTE MORTEM
Stake money on northbound Underground before departure (4,6)
A charade of ANTE (‘stake’) plus M (‘money’) plus ORTEM, a reversal (‘northbound’ in a down light) of METRO (‘Underground’).
13 MILLRACE
Staff drowning feeble king in watercourse (8)
An envelope (‘drowning’) of ILL (‘feeble’) plus R (Rex, ‘king’) in MACE (‘staff’).
14 BEDSTEAD
Ridiculous debates about base of solid frame in dormitory (8)
A envelope (‘about’) of D (‘base of soliD‘) in BESTEAD, an anagram (‘ridiculous’) of ‘debates’.
16 BUCKSHOT
Money found with stolen ammunition (8)
A charade of BUCKS (‘money’) plus HOT (‘stolen’).
19 IMPORT
Bring in setter’s drink! (6)
A charade of I’M (‘setter’s’ i.e. setter is) plus PORT (‘drink’).
20 WELT
Bottom of well covered by moist leather strip (4)
An envelope (‘covered by’) of L (‘bottom of welL‘) in WET (‘moist’).
21 TIER
Sporting fixture on river is level (4)
A charade of TIE (‘sporting fixture’) plus R (‘river’).

picture of the completed grid

73 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 28,495 by Pan”

  1. Some will complain that this was too easy – and it was probably easier than some recent Quiptics – but I thought it was very enjoyable and, I hope, reasonably accessible for relative newcomers. Thank you, Peter (and) Pan.

  2. New: CAMRA = Campaign for Real Ale; EDL = English Defence League; MILLRACE.
    Liked: FABRIC, BUCKSHOT.
    Did not parse TURNOVER – oh, it’s a DD, doh!

    Thank you, Peter + Pan.

  3. Newsflash – for once I found the crytpic slightly more challenging than the quiptic!
    Both were enjoyable, and this cryptic contained some nifty clues (DEBENTURES, PITT, COMESTIBLES, ANTE MORTEM etc).
    Thanks very much Pan, for an entertaining start to the week, and no quibbles from me..

  4. I initially put in an almost, but not quite, correct ‘para’ for 8d which stymied me for 6a at the very end. Finally saw the error of my ways and was able to stop a mental world map trawl for country names ending in a P.

    Learnt EDL and was reminded of CAMRA – was Rambling Syd Rumpo a member? I liked ANTE MORTEM and the non-textile sense of FABRIC at 1d.

    Thanks to Pan and PeterO

  5. Lovely start to the week. I found this easier than the Quiptic: I was on Pan’s wavelength this morning, and also parsed everyting. Thank you to Pan and to PeterO (also for the early blog).

  8. A nice gentle start to the week. A tiny quibble would be Red Light as one word. Thanks Pan and PeterO.

  9. Yes, good for Monday – thought it was going to be over in a flash but was slowed down by MILLRACE and a few others. Like JerryG @8, I was surprised by REDLIGHT as one word. Liked BUCKSHOT and ERIC CLAPTON! Many thanks to Pan and PeterO.

  10. Didn’t find this as easy as others which is a nice change for a Monday. Also nice to see (narcoleptic)* making an appearance.

  11. [Bodycheetah @6 Sound advice from Billy Ocean. We have much to learn from his teachings. You resisted the obvious ERIC CLAPTON and HMHB’s ‘CAMRA Man’ even though you can really taste the hops!

    Of course you could have chosen The Kinks, with their Autumn ARMAGNAC or Manfred Mann’s Earth Band and their blinding Brucie cover:

    And some bloodshot forget-me-not whispers daddy’s within earshot save the BUCKSHOT turn up the band and she was blinded by the light…]

    Thanks to Pan and to PeterO

  13. Thanks Pan and PeterO
    Nice puzzle. Rapid start, but slow finish in the SE.
    I discovered in a crossword somewhere recently that ERIC CLAPTON is an anagram of NARCOLEPTIC!

  14. Thanks for pointing that out Shirl @12. I guess we all knew they couldn’t hold out much longer.

    LP strangely brewed with cocaine? Empty inside, Rocket Man on guitar (11, oops 4,7)

    I already posted a Ray Stevens link last week, so despite being sorely tempted by 4a I’ll refrain from compounding the felony.

    Thanks P & P

  18. Like some others I found this more difficult than the quiptic.

    The top half went in quickly but some in the bottom half held me up a while. Also didn’t spot CAMRA.

    Liked the TURNOVER and PITT

    Thanks to Pan and PeterO

  19. Très agréable this morning, many thanks both.

    Would have sworn ANTEMORTEM was (12) not (4,6) but ’twas not the case.

    Bodycheetah @6: bless you for the reminder of that superb track.

    Nice week, all.

  20. muffin @13: I think I saw that, too. Wouldn’t you be bummed to discover that was your name anagram?

  22. [William @20: surely more than compensated for when discovering it’s also an anagram of Clacton Pier?]

  23. [PostMark @22: Harwich for the continent, Clacton for the inconti…. Fill the joke in yourself 🙂 ]

  24. Thanks for the blog. Chambers has RED LIGHT as a danger-signal hence a warning , but it is two words. The hyphenated red-light has a different meaning of course.
    Really did not like the actual grid, far too many black squares, I always prefer the across answers to start on the top line.

  26. Great start to the week… Thanks to PeterO and Pan. [Loving the many anagrams for ERIC, and many thanks Hovis@21 for the Britney Spears contribution]

  27. About level with the Quiptic in difficulty for me, which was good, but no particular standouts among the clues. RED LIGHT now corrected to 3, 5 by the Guardian online.

  28. William @20 (&muffin @13)

    [The ECnarcoleptic anagram you are recalling is almost certainly that featured in Everyman 3893 on May 23rd. In commenting on it the following Sunday, I pointed out that it replicated the method of a clue in an Everyman back in January which used Enid Blyton ‘tiny blonde’. I speculated then that Everyman may be sitting on a stash of these celebrity anagrams to unleash every four months or so, in which case Britney may appear in September some time. We are forearmed if so.]

  29. Thanks Pan & PeterO. Solid start to the week.

    Coincidentally, the other day I was looking through some old crosswords I created several years ago (mostly for my own amusement), and one of them has an almost identical clue & solution to 23ac, so that one went in very easily indeed. The wordplay is fairly obvious, to be fair – and I’m sure someone else has had the same idea before either me or Pan.

  30. Enjoyable puzzle.
    I’m curious about the use B for black as anagram fodder in 18a compared to Cu for copper in a recent Everyman. Neither bothered me, but Cu seemed to cause quite a stir, whereas today’s B is without mention. Is it that B is only one letter, or that TILES are not recycled? I’m still unclear on the ‘rules’ regarding indirect anagrams.

  31. Really liked the misleading “married” in “EMISSARY.” It was one I wrote in quickly on first reading and then took out as I thought “girl married” is not a “Miss” and I assumed that “married” gave the “M” etc. and could not parse it. When the penny finally dropped it was satisfying.

    Thank you Pan and PeterO

  32. Paul @ 30 it was mainly me moaning about CU for copper, many solvers and setters will have different views, I prefer to see the actual letters of the anagram in the clue. Today is okay because the B of Black ( usually from chess ) and the TILES form the letters of the anagram.
    For CU in the anagram , the letter U does not appear in the clue at all .
    Although the TILES are not actually recycled it is true that ” stibles ” is an anagram of B and TILES.

  34. Paul @30 /Roz @32 – In fact Pan’s done it twice: not only the B for black in 18a, but the I for Independent in 15a. In both cases they aren’t ‘inclusions’, or parts of charades – they’re just mixed in with the other anagram fodder.

    Tbh I don’t like it any more than the copper = CU example, but I know that many here take a different view. I think some people may be more inclined to forgive today’s examples because they only involve one letter each time, or as Roz suggests because that same letter appears in the unabbreviated word.

    Fwiw you may have noticed that I conscientiously tried to avoid ‘unsoundness’ in my suggested clue @14. The clue may not be your spoonful of cream, but I hope at least I’ve sidestepped indirect anagrammery 😉

  35. MrEssexboy I did frown at 15AC as well, I am more tolerant if it is a standard abbreviation, someone suggested ST for street the other day , at least the anagram letters are then in the clue. CU for copper is going to far in my view.
    As for your clue – empty inside is very good, misdirecting to i e .

  37. Regarding indirect anagrams, instead of rules we have standard practice. Standard practice seems to allow anagrams of abbreviations and other shortenings such as Roman numerals, NATO alphabet, chemical symbols and the like.

  38. Roz @ 32 and Essexboy @ 34

    How about 4dn: Scene 10 rewritten as a punishment (8)

    Does this count as an indirect anagram possibly? – although it was straightforward to work out.

  40. I get a perverse pleasure from solving clues the wrong way round,like in this case MEGASTAR leading to ERIC CLAPTON rather than the reverse. Love the Presbyterian Britney Spears.

  41. Thanks Pan and PeterO, that was fun, mainly falling like Dominos.
    Talking of Clacton Pier, Ramsgate* is not so far away.

  42. A good question Fiona Anne, it is really on the borderline. The letters of 10 are not actually there but as you say it is easy to work out. That is the trouble with rules, there will always be examples that do not fit the cases the rules were designed for.

  43. essexboy @34 – same here, I don’t think it’s any better or worse than the CU example. But I’m not going to lose any sleep over it.

  44. Fiona Anne @38 – again, agreed – that’s also slightly questionable. But meh, whatever.

    To be perfectly honest, I’m more irritated by the use of the hoary old TAR in 10ac. It’s such an outdated reference – has anyone outside the world of crosswords used that term in the last 50 years?

    Re 5dn, it’s enumerated (3,5) on the website. Enjoying the tortured attempts to come up with a justification for (8), but I suspect it’s simply a typo.

  45. Roz@42

    When I managed to solve the clue with CU in it the other week, I immediately thought – that’s an indirect anagram.

    I had remembered that Tim Moorey in his book about how to solve cryptic crosswords was very clear that they were not good practice (I got his book in May a year ago when I started trying to solve cryptic crosswords. Very helpful.)

  46. Fiona Anne it is good that you spotted it. There are no actual rules really except perhaps for Azed and even he broke one this week. I do not like indirect anagrams but many solvers and setters do not mind at all. Some of the better setters , certainly in the past , would break all the rules but still get away with it .

  47. Roz @46: Spot on. Rules are there to be broken, especially in an arcane pastime such as this. Most of us will remember some of the outrageous liberties our dearly departed Araucaria took.

  48. Roz and Fiona Anne: yes, 10 is easy enough to convert into “ten”, but it might just as easily mean X, or the letters I O, so the indirect anagram fodder isn’t that unmistakable.

  49. As others have noted, MILLRACE was my last one in, and took me some time. This was because I had discarded the ‘feeble’=ILL equivalence. This led me to see ‘feeble king’=LEAR, and ending up with non-words such as PIKLEARE! (Nether Chambers nor my thesaurus give any support for the synonym, though if we take frail as an intermediary I suppose it works after a fashion.)

    Although easy enough to solve, I had a little internal query about NADIRS, having really only used or encountered it as a singular and perhaps uniquely low point. Like Petert @40 I got MEGASTAR before solving 11a, and didn’t think of ERIC until having failed to think of a sufficiently famous person called ERIN… 😉

  50. Spot on Gladys @48, that is why I like the actual letters in the clue for an anagram
    William@47 , classic example, I was also thinking of Bunthorne and Torquemada.

  51. Many years ago when the excellent Cambridge Beer Festival started out in the early 1970’s, I thought CAMRA had some kind of very local connotation, rather than one of national significance. One of the greatlymissedfortwoyearsnow local events in May. Very much part of the FABRIC (loi today, couldn’t see it for ages) of life here in early summer…

  52. Having taken forever to finish Saturday’s prize crossword, today’s was over well before my cup of tea.

    An enjoyable, light work-out.

    3d ARMAGNAC was today’s fave

    Thanks to Pan and to PeterO

  53. William @47 Rox @46 agree, rules, such as they are, are flexible and some of the very finest inc Araucaria and Bunthorne would happily disregard them

  54. Like sh@49 MILLRACE was my loi although I went down the PIPLEARE route before getting there. I liked the definition for ANTE MORTEM in particular amongst many satisfying clues. Thanks to P&P.

  55. Pleasant Monday fare.

    Like many non-Brits, I presume, I’ve never heard of CAMRA, though I have heard of Real Ale, whatever it is. I don’t think I’ve heard of EDL either. I have heard of the RM and didn’t think of them, shame on me.

    An ANTE MORTEM examination is to determine what you’re going to die of?

    [Never heard of Rambling Syd Rumpo either, so I looked him up and recognized the type. He’s famouslt portrayed in the song, “I’m champion at driving them crazy,” derived in the age-old folk process form Ewan MacColl’s truck driver song — yes, there are English truck driver songs — “I’m champion at keeping them rolling,” based in turn on the tune “The Limerick Rake.”]

    Thanks to Pan and to PeterO on Long Island this rainy Monday. (Don’t know if it’s rainy for him.)

  57. As a veteran of the great CU debate a week or so ago (I was on the other side to Roz, but I like to think we respect each other’s views), I’ll just repeat roughly what I said then. The sort of indirect anagram that is totally frowned upon by nearly everybody is the “think of a synonym for this word and make an anagram of that” type. Don Manley gives an example in the Chambers Crossword Manual:

    Small pebbles possibly coming from the country (7)

    in which we’re supposed to think of “English” as an anagram of “shingle”. But lesser degrees of indirectness seem to be acceptable to lots of setters. It’s just a question of what seems fair and gettable. I had no problems with today’s examples.

  59. Valentine @55 – most people in the UK under 50 won’t have heard of Rambling Syd Rumpo either, unless their dad is a massive fan of Round The Horne, as mine is. (In the UK, you can catch repeats of Round The Horne on BBC Radio 4Extra – if you’re unlucky… It really hasn’t aged well.)

    WordPlodder @4 – CAMRA was founded in 1971, so it’s unlikely you’d have heard references to it in RTH, which ran from 1965-68.

  60. “Ah, Horne ! I’ve got Brown-Horrocks on my extension”.

    Comedy, like cryptic crosswords and the English language develops as time progresses, and not always for the better innit.

    Like others I took a while to spot MILLRACE, but it was fairly anodyne otherwise.

    I’ve got three ERIC CLAPTON gigs that I recorded from Sky Arts – I must get up earlier so I can watch one before my partner surfaces (she’s more Frank Sinatra).

  62. Aside from the obvious anagrams I found this tricky for a Monday. I couldn’t solve MILLRACE primarily because I never heard of one nor DEBENTURES because I didn’t associate plates with dentures. I thought ERIC CLAPTON was amusing and ARMAGNAC had a great surface. My favourite, however, was FRIEND because I finally solved a clue that had a rhyming slang element to it. Thanks to both.

  64. [widdersbel@59 Thanks. Recently something else referred me to a skit by Round the Horne, which I’d heard of but not heard, and you’re right, it hadn’t aged well.]

  67. Thanks for clarification on indirect anagrams. i appreciate the common principle around fairness which i think our peer @57 explained best. I’m no fundamentalist and see these examples as just part of the gymnastics we gladly perform, but one person’s ‘fair’ is not necessarily another’s. As a solely English speaker (aside from a smattering of Maori) I have much more difficulty with the use of apparently commonplace words in other European languages.

  68. Just ran aground in the SE corner, but to miss by three represents a success for me. Brain, perhaps still befogged by the alcohol needed to recover from the events at Wembley last night.
    Typically enjoyable fun though. I shall enjoy checking the blog.
    Thanks both.

  69. [ Paul @67 quite right about “fairness” we all have our own view and it s fine to disagree, in the end the setter can do what they like and we have to try and solve.
    You will find that Lord Jim@ 57 is very wise and I always enjoy reading his comments.
    Other European languages are my main weakness and certain things do turn up a lot.
    Maori words quite often appear in the Sunday Azed crossword which is my personal favourite but it did take me two years to learn how to do it , ]

  70. [Thanks for the lead Roz. I’m still getting over the weekend’s Prize by my namesake, but I’ll check it out in the future.]

  71. [ Paul@70 a lot of people seem to have found the Prize difficult, all will be revealed on Saturday. Perhaps I have a slight advantage having done many Paul puzzles before, in fact I have done every single crossword he has ever set in the Guardian. ]

  72. [That’s some achievement Roz if this weekend’s is anything to go by. I got there in the end (with help), but it was more relief than satisfaction – reminiscent of a really tough exam.]

  73. [ Paul@72 I should have said ATTEMPTED every Paul puzzle. I did not mean I had completed them all. He started in about 1995 I think, and I try the Guardian puzzle every single day without fail plus the Everyman and the Azed. ]

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