Guardian 28,707 – Picaroon

by

Another great puzzle from Picaroon. Not easy, with some tricky constructions and devious definitions, but well worth the effort and satisfying to finish. Thanks to Picaroon.

 
Across
1 DISCOMBOBULATE Throw party, performing Blue Moon on dropping tab (14)
DISCO (party) + anagram of (BLUE MOON less ON + TAB)
9 MARILYN Republican occupying post yes-man vacated for Monroe (7)
R in MAIL (post) + Y[es-ma]N
10 REINS IN Checks possibly amber clothing at home (5,2)
IN (at home) in RESIN
11 RAITA Indian side‘s air shot getting cheers (5)
AIR* + TA (thank you, cheers)
12 IDEOGRAPH Character from China is awful pig? Oh dear! (9)
(PIG OH DEAR)*.Contrary to popular belief, most Chinese characters are not purely ideographic
13 LARYNGEAL Might this be an allergy of the throat? (9)
(AN ALLERGY)*
14 SAY-SO Order for one sailor to make a U-turn (3-2)
SAY (for example, for one) + reverse of OS (Ordinary Seaman)
15 SITES Spots, or what’s said to be spots (5)
Homophone of “sights” (sees, spots)
17 SOURDOUGH It’s obtained from Baker Street’s west side with the cash we have (9)
S (the left or “west” side of Street) + OUR DOUGH
20 TRANSEPTS In backstreet, parent’s waving arms in sacred place (9)
PARENT’S* in reverse of ST. Transepts could be said to be the “arms” of a church
22 CABER One’s tossed kind of red net away (5)
CABERNET (red wine, though Chambers only defines it as the grape variety) less NET
23 OCEANIA Return of people keeping dry around cool, green region (7)
IN (cool) in AA (Alcoholics Anonymous – people keeping “dry”) + ECO (green), all reversed
24 ALI BABA The greatest dessert for a legendary caveman (3,4)
ALI (Muhammad Ali, “the greatest”) + BABA (dessert),and Ali Baba found treasure in a cave
25 KNOCK ON THE HEAD Scotch is a no-no for Rugby School’s leader (5,2,3,4)
KNOCK ON (forbidden move in Rugby) + THE HEAD (school’s leader)
Down
1 DEMORALISATION In ladies’ room at parties knocking down spirits? (14)
(IN LADIES’ ROOM AT)*
2 SURLIER Steadier lassoes left by one more likely to snap (7)
L + I in SURER
3 OIL PAINTS Colours of crude undies donned by this person (3,6)
OIL (crude) + I (this person) in PANTS
4 BONFIRE Twirling aristocrat let go of hot guy here! (7)
Reverse of NOB (aristocrat) + FIRE (sack, let go of) – reference to bonfires on Guy Fawkes night
5 BARBELL It augments strength of pub whisky no end (7)
BAR (pub) + BELL[s] (brand of whisky)
6 LYING Prone, racing, to go to topless (5)
FLYING (racing) less its first letter
7 TESTACY Possessing will, still, to gather animals up (7)
CATS in YET (still), reversed
8 ON THE OTHER HAND Ready to grasp intimacy from another perspective (2,3,5,4)
THE OTHER (sex, intimacy) in ON HAND (ready)
14 SEDUCTIVE Like a siren copper turned up, entering drug cutting area (9)
Reverse of CU in SEDATIVE less A[rea]
16 TRADE IN What you may do with old car of Parisian ploughing into coach (5,2)
DE (French “of”) in TRAIN (to coach)
17 SOPRANO Really gently, jogged round section of pitch (7)
SO (really) P (piano: softly, gently) + RAN + O (round) – the “pitch” is the musical variety
18 UPSTART Sup rum with pastry one disliked after rising (7)
SUP* + TART
19 UMBRAGE Offence of rum-running securing bishop a number of years (7)
B in RUM* + AGE (number of years)
21 SONIC Hedgehog thus keeps running (5)
ON (running) in SIC – the video game character

65 comments on “Guardian 28,707 – Picaroon”

  1. Well, that’s more like it. I enjoyed this a lot, though there are a couple I couldn’t fully parse (OS, THE OTHER – but I ought to have seen that). Some really lovely clues: DISCOM…, SITES, SOURDOUGH (fantastic), CABER (cabernet definitely a wine here, though often abbreviated – e.g. Cab Sav), ALI BABA, KNOCK ON… – and that’s just the acrosses. Thanks, Picaroon and Andrew for sorting out those few.

  2. I was defeated by SAY-SO and SEDUCTIVE, giving up after trying to make LEE-HO and LIDOCAINE work.
    But there was a lot here to brighten the morning, particular favourites being REINS IN, SOURDOUGH, OCEANIA, DEMORALISATION, OIL PAINTS, BONFIRE, TRADE IN and UMBRAGE.
    Thanks to Picaroon for the work-out and to Andrew for the working out.

  3. Thanks Andrew for the Chinese character link. Am I right in thinking Picaroon taught/teaches Mandarin?

    Tricky as you say, with the parsing of OCEANIA trickissimo. I especially liked ALI BABA, ‘the greatest dessert’.

    I think there’s a stray ‘to’ in 6d.

    Thanks P & A

  4. A real challenge but good fun. Both 1a and 1d needed most checkers to solve and OCEANIA, SEDUCTIVE and my last in SOPRANO (def. not obvious) took a bit of working out as well.

    Highlight for me was the wordplay for ON THE OTHER HAND.

    Thanks to Picaroon and Andrew

  5. Well, I really enjoyed it, and got all the solutions correct, but cannot claim to have parsed all the clues. Top class challenge, as usual, from Picaroon.

  6. A good work out, thanks Picaroon and Andrew.
    Liked both 1d & 8d and BONFIRE was fun.

    Quite alcoholic with ‘rum’ appearing twice (thrice if you include BABA), a double scotch, cabernet and spirits.
    ‘Knock’ is another bountiful word (with a batsman’s innings appearing earlier this week?).

  7. Lovely clueing as always. Something makes me think DISCOMBOBULATE was the starting word for this gridfill: always brings a smile. I really enjoyed SOURDOUGH, TRANSEPTS, CABER, the brilliant anagram in DEMORALISATION, the surface of OIL PAINTS, BONFIRE, BARBELL and the forever running SONIC. I didn’t parse the SAY in SAY-SO and didn’t make sense of OCEANIA, being too fixated on people and dry as two separate elements, thus not spotting AA. Doh!

    Rum to see rum appear in two successive Down clues though one is anagrind and the other anagram fodder and, if I have the slightest quibble, it’s the KNOCK ON in rugby. It’s not forbidden or illegal, it’s an error that causes play to be stopped and a scrum to be given to t’other team. ‘No-no’ is used to mean unwanted, I guess, rather than forbidden but it sat slightly awkwardly.

    Thanks Picaroon and Andrew

  8. Didn’t make the parsing for SAYSO and OCEANIA (tricky). Liked LARYNGEAL, SOURDOUGH, KNOCKONTHEHEAD and CABER(net). As TassieTim says it’s usually referred to as Cab Sav here given the Australian propensity for shortening everything. I planted two in the garden last winter next to the Merlots. We’ll see how they go.

  10. Thanks Picaroon and Andrew
    Another one with too many unparsed for me to enjoy it much. Favourite RAITA.
    I had TESTATE @ 7d and SEE SO @ 14d so a DNF. I’ve never heard TESTACY; Collins gives it as exclusively US, though it is in Chambers.

  11. A lovely puzzle as always from Picaroon. I enjoyed DISCOMBOBULATE and DEMORALISATION, both of which took me a long time to see. Also SOPRANO was cleverly misdirected. Many thanks to P and A.

  12. PostMark @7: surely a KNOCK ON is against the laws of rugby and therefore illegal. Not sure about your quibble.

  13. [me @10 SEE TO, not SEE SO (not that it matters). I know that neither of my wrong ones parses properly, but neither did about half a dozen others, as far as I ws concerned!]

  15. Glad to have managed to complete this challenging puzzle. Guessed rather a lot from the crossers so couldn’t parse them. Thanks to Picaroon and Andrew for the solve – quite satisfying in the end!

  17. AlanC @12: where’s Nigel Owens when we need him? 😀 I’ve tried to look at the Laws but it’s not clear. Knock-ons are defined clearly but whether they’re breaking a Law is not so clear to me. A deliberate knock-on is clearly against the Laws and receives a penalty. An accidental knock-on is an error and not punished; it merely results in turnover of possession. It’s a minor quibble and it’s entirely possible it’s my interpretation.

  18. Loved the misdirection in REINS IN and the surface of 1D. But failed to parse 23 (hung up expecting a longer definition) so thanks Andrew.
    SOURDOUGH perhaps my favourite [Totally off topic, but when my son phoned up to tell me his new address was 221 Rue de C???????n, I asked if it was in building B. “How did you guess?” said he… And, joy, there are at least four boulangeries in the street.]

  19. Lovely to have DISCOMBOBULATE in the mix today, one of my favourite words. A steady tricky solve with lots to enjoy. PostMark@7: I agree with AlanC@12, if a KNOCK ON causes play to stop and advantage given to the other team it must be more than merely an error ie it is a play that is not allowed? I am no rugby expert but that seems logical to me.

  20. A superb crossword especially with such a splendid word to start us off

    Many thanks to Picaroon and Andrew

  21. A knock-on is contrary to the Laws of rugby, but a “no-no” suggests something much more serious, such as a tackle to the head.

  22. I was a bit discombobulated and almost demoralised by this, but got there in the end (with a little bit of help) I was tempted by LAY-BY for SAY-SO. I, too, started off with an unparsed TESTATE, but as I wrote it down the upside-down CATS came into view.

  23. Really fine setting by this clever setter.

    Like others, defeated by the parsing of SAY-SO and OCEANIA but otherwise all fair.

    For me, no-no is fine for the infringement of a knock-on in rugby. The fine distinction of deliberate has become something of a bone of contention with players and referees alike. Some are simply penalised with a penalty; some with a yellow card; some with a yellow card plus a penalty try.

  25. Superb in every way! An absolute delight to solve with just enough difficulty and loads of humour and misdirection.

    DISCOMBOBULATE, LARYNGEAL, SOURDOUGH, RAITA, BONFIRE and SOPRANO all brilliant, and many more too.

    Thanks Picaroon and Andrew

  27. Solved 5 clues and gave up. It is a lovely sunny day so I was itching to go for a walk in Sherwood Forest rather than stay home and do a puzzle.
    I enjoyed reading the blog.
    Thanks, both.

  28. Fantastic.1a surface had me in fits.
    I thought OCEANIA was a superb clue
    Reason to live!
    Thanks JB and Andrew

  29. Well, those who are always crying Too Easy should be better pleased today, but it certainly discombobulated me.
    Failed to parse the aforesaid DISCOMBOBULATE, SAY-SO or OCEANIA properly, and it took a while to convince me that “possessing will” wasn’t TESTATE – I’m still not sure why it’s TESTACY except that the wordplay says so.

    Liked the cave man and the hot guy (well, I would, wouldn’t I, while all the boys are sniggering behind the bike sheds over on THE OTHER hand!)

  30. Found this hard to crack at first before I realised that DEMORALISATION was a very cleverly disguised anagram, and an excellent clue to boot. This provided the way in, if not quite the Open Sesame of 24ac. Thought LARYNGEAL was very good too. Another, like Muffin@10 who had rather bunged in Testate instead of TESTACY, so was scratching my head over loi SAY-SO, and needed Andrew to explain the parsing there. A proper challenge, enjoyed it….

  31. Possessing will = TESTATE, obviously; [the] possessing [of a] will = TESTACY, a lot less obviously, at least to me, and that was the one that held me up for a while, no animals leaping out at me from the more obvious answer. I had to crack that before SAY-SO fell into place. OCEANIA is clue of the day for me, and quite possibly one of the best I’ve seen for ages. Thanks to Picaroon and our blogger for an entertaining morning coffee break today.

  32. Postmark @17: Maybe a KNOCK-ON is not against the laws of rugby, but I’m pretty convinced it’s a ‘no-no’. I’ve had a few team-mates point that out to me over the years.

  34. Thanks Andrew as I had failed to separate “Really gently” and wondered why that meant SOP (it is close to being plausible but not quite).
    At first I wondered if the whole of KNOCK ON THE HEAD might be the no-no, as the English lock found out last Saturday, but PostMark if you allow “no-no” to encompass misdemeanours as well as crimes I think it is fine. [BigNorm@32 agreed, who hasn’t thought of it that way having lifted their head after a hard scrum to find that they have to do it all again straight away thanks to some hapless back’s butterfingers?]
    Tough but so enjoyable from the opening BONFIRE to the high-pitched lady singing at the end but OCEANIA wins my Cordon Bleu today, thanks Picaroon.

  35. KNOCK ON was k-new to me. Forgot about THE OTHER.

    It seems to be Hedgehog Week. Haven’t we had Mrs. Tiggywinkle twice in recent days? (Sez I in a country where hedgehogs and badgers are unknown — we’ve got possums and raccoons.) And haven’t we had UMBRAGE recently too, not necessarily in a cryptic?

    Blaise@18 Can you put your son’s street in regular type, since apparently the algorithm won’t allow accents? I can’t think of a French word for baker that starts with C.

    Lots of fun. got all but a few last night, got the rest this morning without buttons. Thanks Picaroon and Andrew.

  36. [ Valentine@35. Don’t blame the algorithm! Maybe I’m paranoid but I didn’t want to give the real address away so I typed the interrogation marks directly. It’s just that as a Sherlock Holmes fan I’ve always associated the number 221 with the flat that he shared with Dr. J??n (or sometimes J???s ?) Watson at 221B Baker Street. It’s one of the longest streets in Paris and I’ve never walked the whole length in one stretch counting the bakers’ shops, but there are at least four and possibly even six. Unfortunately, what used to be the best (and one of the best I’ve ever queued in) is under new management and the products are nowhere as near as scrumptious. ]

  39. Lots of fun and a very alcoholic offering, perhaps reflecting that it is St Patrick’s Day which is traditionally a break from Lenten abstention in Ireland. There were a good few I would never have parsed so hats off to Andrew and thanks to Picaroon for the distraction.

  40. Petert @24
    So you are saying that a knock-on is an “oh no!” rather than a “no-no”? As far as England are concerned, I would agree 🙂

  41. Thanks both,
    Whenever I see the word ‘umbrage’ I get an earworm of the Archers’ theme tune.

  42. I’ve struggled this week with the puzzles, including Monday’s and with one of my favourites (Nutmeg). This, barring two clues that I couldn’t parse, was very doable for me and most enjoyable. Lovely to see DISCOMBOBULATE (a word I use more often than I should simply because I like saying it!). SOURDOUGH is brilliant — and not just because I learnt to bake it (using the “no-knead” method 😉 ) during lockdown 😀

    There’s an irony in this because I used to avoid Picaroon because I was never on his wavelength and now he’s one of my favourites.

    Thanks Picaroon for a cracking offering and Andrew for the helpful blog.

  43. I perfected the “no-need” method for lockdown sourdough production. (What was that all about anyway?)

  45. Smashing puzzle. As a big gamer, lovely to see Sonic getting a name-check. I’d like to see videogames feature a bit more often, tbh. It’s an incredibly popular medium, and yet only features once in a blue moon. If I’m expected to know the names of operas and musicals (the latter of which I abhor with a passion), I don’t think it’s too much to expect other folk to know a little about the highest-grossing entertainment medium in the world.

  46. Thanks Picaroon. At times this crossword was a struggle but it was a satisfying struggle with many excellent clues. I liked MARILYN, ALI BABA, and TRADE-IN and I concur with PostMark @7 in describing DEMORALISATION as a “brilliant anagram;” additionally I thought the surface was a hoot. There were a number I couldn’t fully parse so I guessed then checked my answers. Thanks Andrew for explaining so much.

  47. Thx to Picaroon for a very clever puzzle with lots of ticks.
    Andrew is spot in his commentary and a big thank you for the blog.

  48. Another treat from Picaroon. What a gem Sourdough was.
    I lived just off Baker Street for the first 3 years after arriving in England. Bustling during the day but at night it was like a village where everybody knew everybody, socialising and partying. A great treat was always being let in to the Classic Cinema free by Jimmy the doorman as I was a “local”!
    Happy days

  49. “Another great puzzle from Picaroon.” Says it all. Too many great clues to pick a favourite. Took a while to get started but then it was PDM after PDM after PDM… very satisfying. Thanks Andrew.

  50. MarkN @45 – Bluth is in the Indy today. I’m sure I’ve seen clues referencing computer games in his puzzles before, though I’ve not looked at this one yet. He is pretty good at using more up-to-date cultural touchstones than the average setter – as is Picaroon, for that matter.

  51. Surprised to hear that rugby has any laws! Thought it was just 30 overweight men running about trying to barge each other over.

  52. Alan @51
    Note that, like all games for gentlemen (and ladies too), that it has laws rather than rules!

  53. Feeling a bit 1d this week having struggled so far. Today I missed 7 (guessed TESTARY as a possible alternative adjective to TESTATE – rats!) and SOPRANO (inexplicably). I liked LARYNGEAL and DEMORALISATION the best – great surfaces.
    Thanks, P and A.

  54. Cabernet is often used as the name of a deep shade of red, similar to the color of cabernet wine.
    As in clothing or paints.

  55. One small quibble: I was not impressed by “another” being in the clue and “other” being in the solution in 8D. And one unanswered question: what is the meaning of the second “to” in 6D. The parsing works fine if the clue reads “…to go topless” but “…to go to topless” left me mystified.

  57. widdersbel@50 – thank you. I will investigate. One of the things that really helped me get into cryptics (and this was well over twenty years ago) was finding setters who were on my wavelength a little more.

  58. Can’t understand why noone was tricked – as we were – into SOURBREAD and thus a confusing 20 minutes of no action.

  59. Andrew Tyndall@55 good point as that confused me when I first read the clue but then I found a plausible solution and forgot about it. Now I think it was just a typo.
    Purple@58 that didn’t trick me as I have never heard of sourbread.
    Alan@51 how dare you, I am not overweight but rather underheight.

  60. I agree with HoofItYouDonkey. I finished it but there were several I couldn’t parse. And even after reading the blog, the parsing didn’t have that satisfying “penny drop” feeling. Odd, because normally Picaroon is one of my favourite setters.

  61. Still a few to parse so I’ll leave the review until later but absolutely loved this & particularly the 4 peripheral clues. Only learnt from CrypticSue recently that Picaroon sets Toughies as Robyn in Telegraph & love those too.

  62. Found this a bit tricky and gave up too soon. Couldn’t parse OCEANIA but who cares.

    Thanks both

  64. AndrewTyndall@55: A Grauniadism I suspect….. (which is to say a misprint, for which the Guardian is famous apparently).

  65. a query over TRANSEPTS, which I believe come on the congregational end of the church separated from the altar end by the rood screen, so really sacred areas?

Comments are closed.