Guardian Cryptic 28,680 by Vulcan

69 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 28,680 by Vulcan”

1. Yes, this was enjoyable and not too demanding; traditional Monday morning fare. Like manehi, I thought CUPID was going to be the precursor of a theme, but apparently not (unless it be found in BIG BANG, ABANDONED, OUT OF BREATH and GRIMACE…).
   The slightly unusual SNOOT reminded me of Concorde, which was always described as having a “droop snoot”.
   8d is interesting; the position of the comma offers a gentle misdirection, because you spend a little time thinking it’s frivolous, rather than dance, which is to be heartless.
   Thanks to Vulcan and manehi.

2. Yes a lovely start to the week.

   Liked RED SETTER, DELIGHT, CUPID, CHIPOLATA, BRIGAND

   Thanks Vulcan and manehi

3. Thanks Vulcan and manehi. Much to enjoy here I think BRIGAND was my favourite – so neat. PARTITA is new to me, but very fairly clued.

4. An easy introduction to the week. I found the cryptic definitions a bit underwhelming – “one’s beaten by hostile tribe” could almost be a ‘Quick’ clue. Favourite has to be PARTITA if only for the sublime Johann Sebastian.

5. I also enjoyed the ones already mentioned, but my favourite was CALLIGRAPHY. I’m not familiar with cod = fake but it couldn’t be anything else. Clue 5 seemed unnecessarily 9y. Is that still common usage in UK? Agree with Tim C on the “cryptic” definitions.
   Thanks Manehi & Vulcan.

6. This took me longer than it should have on this wet, miserable Monday. But it was a good Monday puzzle and I think it was my brain that was the problem. 22ac and 12ac were my faves. Thanks Vulcan and manehi.

7. Still laughing at 22 ac!
   Thanks Vulcan and manehi

8. A gentle start to the week. I would add PARTITA to manehi’s favourites. I felt calligraphy was a bit too close to the fodder.

9. A pleasant one to start off the week, even if I had a sort-of-parsed “snout” for SNOOT at 9a. I liked the cryptic defs, especially my last in, RELAY RACE and the OUT OF BREATH reverse ANAGRAM.

   Thanks to Vulcan and manehi

10. Good Monday crossword. As for others above, CUPID made me think we were in for a Valentine theme, and I was quite happy to be proved wrong.
    Thanks Vulcan and manehi.

    Re 22a IRISH SETTER – this is a general comment, not just for this crossword. I always think that references to Guardian, or indeed any, crossword setter’s name in a clue or solution is a bit unfair to those who only very occasionally do a crossword. It’s not exactly general knowledge.

    Btw I recommend today’s Quiptic by Anto.

11. Enjoyable puzzle.
    I liked CHIPOLATA.
    I did not parse 12ac, 19d, 3d, 13d.
    New for me: COD = fake; SNOOT = nose (but was familiar with ‘snooty’).

    Thanks, both.

12. Another SNOUT here, I’m afraid. Sloppy solving, not setting.

    Stared at ABANDONED for ages until spotting the envelope band.

    Gentle but satisfying start to the week, many thanks both.

13. Re 22a. I think Brendan could be taken to be an Irish name, without reference to the crossword setter.

14. Clocktower @13 Yes but it’s not clued as an Irish name, just as Irish. I see what you’re saying but it doesn’t quite hang together for me. It’s not just this crossword though. The referencing of setters’ names seems to be fairly common.

    I quite like the idea of not giving the name of the setter with the crossword, but then giving it with the solution, to acknowledge their skill. That would add to the solving challenge. 😉

15. At 28a, when I had R…Y…E as crossers, I was hoping the fodder would lead to RUNNY NOSE.
    Thanks to Vulcan for gentle and neat puzzle, and to Manehi

16. Also SNOUT here. I think we’ve had dodgier parsings in the past so IMO either works. I get SNOOT is more satisfying though.

    Also agree assuming knowledge of setters is unfair, but the crossers made this obvious. I do the crossword near enough every day but didn’t know Brendan was Irish. No offence, but I don’t care too much about the real lives of the setters. I just care about their output!

    This was fun though. Trickier than typical for a Monday – but I think Mondays aren’t as straightforward as they once were.

    Thank you Vulcan and Manehi

17. Very straightforward with favourites, CAS COW, BRIGAND and IRISH SETTER. I thought there might be a word ladder puzzle going on with ROD, COD, COL but DOT did for me. Quick solve and a nice amount of clever ANAGRAM(S).

    Ta Vulcan & manehi

18. ….although (CASH) COW would fit in as well with the three-letter words. Boring observation over.

19. 26a I think the whole clue is needed for the first definition. A Prior was “just a monk before” he became the Prior but he isn’t “just a monk” now

20. MattWillD @16 I don’t know if Brendan the setter is Irish, but the name Brendan I think is generally considered to be Irish

21. Some really nice economical clues, especially for BRIGAND and SALIENT. OUT OF BREATH was excellent. I was less happy with SNOOT; I couldn’t be sure of it.

22. Thanks Vulcan and manehi
    I did know that Brendan is an Irish setter, but I agree that the clue is rather parochial.
    I didn’t know “chippy” for quarrelsome, so 19a was LOI.
    Great spot of the graphically/calligraphy anagram.

23. Pretty straightforward, although I got held up in the SE because DNK PARTITA and I’ve never seen ‘chippy’ spelt with an -ie.

24. Imogen-lite today then, and a very good easy puzzle.

    I did notice a few extraneous words, like ‘the’, ‘is’ and ‘a’ that could have been blue-pencilled really, but no big deal. I felt ‘together’ though, in 23a, was a bit of an unwelcome guest at the party, and the in-joke at 22 possibly a stretch for the non-cognoscenti. (It is the anglicised Breandán, in turn derived from the earlier Old Irish Brénainn, however.)

    Favourite clue 3d but all in all neat stuff.

25. Pleasant start to the week.

    I tried SNOUT at first but it didn’t parse; SNOOT was lost somewhere in the recesses of my brain. I liked OUT OF BREATH and CITADEL. So, the takeaway shop wasn’t Chinese.

    Thanks Vulcan and manehi.

26. A first for me – finished a Guardian Cryptic unaided. Well, that’s a little fibby-poo as I had SNOUT but the smugness of completing has allowed me to overlook that minor indiscretion.

27. Yay, Smot @26. First of many!

28. Well done Smot, great feeling innit?

29. Thx to Vulcan for CUPID on Valentine’s day. A nice start to the week. A number of other fun favourites include AIRLESS, CALLIGRAPHY, BRIGAND,
    Thx also manehi for the blog.

30. A bit of a curate’s egg for me. Some of it was so easy that it was actually difficult, if you know what I mean.
    Thanks to Vulcan and to manehi for the blog.

31. Salopian Lass @ 29

    14 February is Ystävän päivä here – ie ‘Friend’s Day’ and is a day for all friends, not just the romantically involved.

32. Anna @ 31 Thx for the reminder about ‘Friend’s Day’ in Finland. Fortunate to have visited this lovely country on a number of occasions and can’t wait for my next trip.

33. Very enjoyable, but not so keen on “commonly” in 5D to indicate dropping the “h” from hairless. Isn’t that usually indicated by Cockney?

34. SL @ 32

    I think the same about Shropshire. My very first teaching post was in that county.

35. I agree with Anna@30. Some barely cryptic clues – but as it should be on Monday imho.

    Thanks both

36. Interesting that the same chap who went through a Marshall turned up to 11 last week scaled down to play a simple melody on a Spanish guitar today

37. Citadel sounds like sitter del, and it’s “common” to drop an H – I didn’t know Vulcan was really Margo Leadbetter.

38. Anna @30 ‘Some of it was so easy that it was actually difficult, if you know what I mean’. Yes I do, and you think ‘how could I be so slow?’ when the penny drops.

39. I suppose ‘commonly’ is an attempt to avoid the overused ‘Cockney’s’. I read somewhere that they (the compilers) were always on the lookout for variations on the Spooner theme, as it’s always so very obvious what’s going on with the standard indication. Anyway not sure I’m a fan of the ‘commonly’ one yet. Let it grow on me for a bit.

40. I had SNOUT as well, and as the disputable letter is not a crosser, I just shrugged and moved on. I think ‘Daisy’=COW is a little odd, but the answer is so obvious that’s it’s not even a minor grouse (grouselet?). (Will it be Ermintrude next, I wonder?) ‘Brendan’s dog’ seems fair enough to me, and ‘common’ for dropping an initial H was a pleasant change from ‘East Ender’.

    The SE corner was last to be completed, with two cryptic definitions always likely to hold me up. PRIOR, when it fell, was worthy of a smile – I imagine something similar will have been done before, but nevertheless, a short round of applause for Vulcan for this one.

41. This was perfect for a Monday – neither very easy nor taxing but satisfying when finished for me. Favourites already mentioned and I echo the delight of seeing two long words, who appear to be distant cousins, actually being anagrams of each other.

    Anna@30 – you reminded me of Boatman’s belated comment this weekend about the “ridiculously easy” clue for MELON. He said, “one of my usual checker’s last ones in – an example of hiding in plain sight, from his point of view.” You’re in good company 🙂

42. Daisy for cow reminded me of a Two Ronnies sketch, which I’ve not been able to find online. One of them is trying to buy a cup of tea at a stall. He is presented with a series of binary choices at each stage, finishing with the milk cow – “Daisy or Buttercup?”

43. I enjoyed 3d, the reverse anagram. I thought it was a particularly nice touch that the definition was also a common anagram indicator.
    Thanks Vulcan and manehi

44. Paradoxically 26ac was the last one we put in.

    Thanks to Vulcan for an enjoyable morning.

    This is the first time I have been able to make a comment and I have very little to say; whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must remain silent.

45. Thank you Vulcan, we enjoyed the puzzle. Paradoxically, 26ac was our last one in.

    This is the first time I have written a “thought” on the actual day. Sadly, I am not sure what to add.

    Whereof one cannot speak thereof one must remain silent.

46. It seems Ludwig can’t stop making comments!

    My apologies to all.

47. Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen.

48. Completed this swiftly, from which four conclusions are possible:
    1. I’m getting better at these;
    2. Monday Crosswords are getting easier;
    3. The clues were good;
    4. I was just lucky that the pennies dropped quickly.
    Doesn’t really need Ludwig’s help to lead me to conclusions 3 and 4.

49. tlp @24 – Once I see the definition and wordplay, I regard the rest as flotsam and jetsam. I assume they’re there to smoothen the surface and possibly a bit of misdirection but I don’t know the rules for including or excluding them. For 23A, do you think the “together” is redundant? In everyday speech, if you were asking someone to glue parts into a whole (I’m avoiding a certain word), would you say “can you stick the bits together” or something else?

    Wittgenstein @44-47 congratulations: despite having “very little to say”, you’ve turned into today’s top poster. What a debut! 😉

50. Thanks for the blog. pdp @49, there is only one rule – the setter sets and we try to solve, if we do not like clues we can grumble.
    For hidden words it is a matter of taste. Personally I think it is more elegant if the hidden word does not start or end when a word in the clue starts or ends, also I do prefer no extra words . Here , the together makes no actual contribution to the solve, I do not like it but it is not “wrong” .

51. Well done Smot. Buddy I am sure it is conclusion 1 which also leads to 4. The more you practice the luckier you get.

52. Yes I agree with the above. I like an easily solved on on Sunday night. But surprised to see CHIPOLATA is a snack. Who eats a small sausage as a snack?….. different worlds.

    Thanks Vulcan and manehi

53. Dismissed snout. Put scout instead. If you are scouting you may “look down” to follow a trail

54. Straightforward top-to-bottom solve to start the week. Thanks to setter and blogger, as always – but I’m left with some time to spare. It doesn’t often happen!

55. manehi, how do you get to the pages about the setters? The setter link at the top of this page doesn’t do it. I’d love to look up some of the others.

    20a I don’t think leave = part. They aren’t interchangeable. “I have to part now.” “Please part.” I can’t think of a sentence that works with both.

    I liked OUT OF BREATH, I usually enjoy reverse anagrams. But CALLIGRAPHY is barely an anagram — you just switch CALL and GRAPH in the word.

    muffin@22 I didn’t know chippy for quarrelsome either, but I knew the noun for the shop and the adjective looked plausible so I popped it in. Both are British usages, so I pat myself on the back for knowing at least one of them.

    pdp@49 and Roz@50 “Stick bits of biro delicately” doesn’t make sense. It needs “together” to be a sentence.

56. pdp11 @49 – there was some discussion of hidden word clues in General Discussion recently that you might find enlightening. Or at least relevant. Hopefully not annoying. I agree with Roz in not liking redundant words.

    Tim the toffee @52 – I had a similar reaction when Vulcan’s alter ego clued CHIPOLATA as “snack in the tube” not so very long ago. It must have stuck in my mind, because it came back to me instantly on reading the clue this morning.

    Smot @26 – well done!

57. Valentine @55
    Try the Crossword Who’s Who.

58. Re Chipolata as a snack, back in the 60s/70s it was fashionable to serve them on a cocktail stick as canapés at drinks parties.

59. Simon S @58
    Meanings might have changed since the 60s, but nowadays chipolatas are only slightly shorter than sausages, though thinner. The ones served on cocktail sticks are now, at least, called cocktail sausages; these are much shorter.

60. My dog, called Chippy, is very fond of chipolatas as a snack.

61. A col is a saddle point, not a depression: it’s a low point in one direction but a high point in the other.

62. Success! I managed at least half of the clues.
    Happy days.
    Thanks for the blog.

63. widdersbel @56 – thanks for the cross reference. Interesting reading. I can see why you and others would want to avoid redundant words. What puzzled me (and Valentine @55 echoed it) was that removing together would make the surface less coherent (or as Valentine put it: not a sentence). In this instance would you (and Roz @50) still remove the word or rephrase the clue? Roz is less concerned about surfaces so she would probably be fine removing the word altogether. However, generally, setters do seem to attempt to provide readable surfaces as opposed to a collection of words barely making sense!

64. Fastest I’ve completed. Ten minutes when it usually takes me up to an hour. The wordplay/pin structure really helped me today.

65. I found this a very pleasant and enjoyable solve, and I particularly liked the anagram for calligraphy.

    Did you know, that “Caligula” means “little boot” in Latin?

66. If you’re still reading, pdp11 @63 – as per the FLORIDANS debate, I think the primary requirement is that the cryptic grammar is sound. But I do agree with paul b that smooth, meaningful surfaces are important (and that’s one of the reasons I rate Tees so highly as a setter – he pretty much always ticks both boxes). In this instance, the clue could perhaps have been rewritten to avoid the redundant word, but it’s really no big deal – I barely noticed it while solving and wouldn’t have said anything if other commenters had not picked up on it.

67. A belated thanks, widdersbel, for your reply 🙂

68. SNOOT tripped me up, as it did others, but I agree the parsing works better than SNOUT. PARTITA was new to me and rescued me from putting in CHINESE for the takeaway! I’m not usually a fan of short words in crosswords, as it seems they take longer to solve than they should, but no complaints with the four today.

69. Knew snoot from the phrase to “cock a snoot.”
    A raising of the nose, looking down ones nose at, haughty, supercilious.

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