Guardian Cryptic 28,722 by Vulcan

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It's Monday, it's the Guardian, it's Vulcan…

I'm not always a fan of the Monday Guardian puzzle as it often takes longer to find something to say in the blog than it does to complete the puzzle, but today's offering from Vulcan was good fun. At first, when I wrote in the first four across clues without having to tax the grey cells too much, I thought this was going to be over in a flash, but the bottom half was a bit more challenging. I gave ticks to several clues, including those for AN ARM AND A LEG, MAKE THE GRADE and ORIENT EXPRESS. I also learned a few things, such as GATING and PROTEA. I had never heard of WET ROT but it was obvious from the wordplay. I was disappointed with the lazy clueing for CHINA, but that apart, this puzzle definitely gets pass marks from this blogger.

Thanks, Vulcan.

ACROSS
1 PARADE
Trim round notice for procession (6)

PARE ("trim") round AD ("notice")
4 MASSACRE
Screams, mixed up with a slaughter (8)

*(screams a) [anag:mixed up]
9 ROWAN
To line, add a new tree (5)

Add A + N (new) to ROW ("line")
10 OSTEOPATH
Manipulator jerks toe in a very big way (9)

*(toe) [anag:jerks] in OS (outsized, so "very big") + PATH ("way")
11 GATHERING
House arrest restricts woman’s assembly (9)

GATING ("house arrest") restricts HER ("woman's")

Gating is a punishment at public schools, a bit like grounding.
12 COLIC
As medic, I locate some back pain (5)

Hidden backwards [some back] in "mediC I LOCate"
13 AN ARM AND A LEG
Even Shylock didn’t demand this extravagant payment (2,3,3,1,3)

In The Merchant of Venice, Shylock only requested a pound of flesh.
17 MAKE THE GRADE
Hedge a market, struggling to succeed (4,3,5)

*(hedge a market) [anag:struggling]
20 OGRES
Monsters making a lot of progress (5)

Hidden in [making a lot of] "prOGRESs"
21 PROSCRIBE
Prohibit giving publicity to old writer (9)

PR (public relations, so "publicity") to O (old) + SCRIBE ("writer")
23 IN THE NECK
One gets severe criticism here, where wine is corked (2,3,4)

"get it in the neck" means to be criticised.
24 CHINA
Feature on a country (5)

CHIN (facial "feature") on A

25 CHASTISE
Reprimand, as Conservative holds site for redevelopment (8)

C (Conservative) + HAS ("holds") *(site) [anag:for development]
26 WET ROT
Fungal infection beginning to weaken otter at sea (3,3)

[beginning to] W(eaken) + *(otter) [anag:at sea]
DOWN
1 PARAGUAY
Land soldier who’s dropped, not straight, clutching uniform (8)

PARA(trooper) ("soldier who's dropped") + GAY ("not straight") clutching U (uniform, in the phonetic alphabet)
2 RAW STEAK
Having drunk water, ask for bloody food (3,5)

*(water ask) [anag:drunk]
3 DONNE
Poet sounds exhausted (5)

Homophone [sounds] of DONE ("exhausted")
5 AUTOGRAPH BOOK
Album full of possibly illegible signs? (9,4)

Cryptic definition
6 SCOTCH EGG
But there is no whisky in this bar snack (6,3)

Cryptic definition
7 CRADLE
Baby’s bed, which is let down from top of building (6)

Double definition, the second referring to a gondola used by maintenance people and window cleaners on tall buildings.
8 ETHICS
Moral behaviour from the start in every true heart, it’s common sense (6)

[the start in] E(very) T(rue) H(eart) I(t's) C(ommon) S(ense)
10 ORIENT EXPRESS
Train expert in roses in a different way (6,7)

*(expert in roses) [anag:in a different way]
14 MEANS TEST
Statesmen changed limit on welfare (5,4)

*(statesmen) [anag:changed]
15 FAMILIAR
Witch’s cat perhaps may be very recognisable (8)

Double definition
16 RELEVANT
Appropriate vehicle hired again outside (8)

RELET ("hired again") outside VAN ("vehicle")
18 ZODIAC
Where a virgin is after a lion? (6)

Virgo follows Leo in the astrological calendar.
19 PROTEA
South African plant makes for refreshing drink (6)

PRO ("for") + TEA ("refreshing drink")
22 CYCLE
One saddled with a set of songs (5)

Double definition

48 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 28,722 by Vulcan”

  1. Loved SCOTCH EGG!
    [It reminded me of a bar in Athens, Georgia, that served them warm with the yolk still runny.]
    As usual, I made things harder by trying to fit “spotter” into 10 down, among other failings. 🙂

    Thank you, Vulcan, for the puzzle and loonapik for the blog.

  2. I’m in agreement with loonapick – a really nice Monday offering from Vulcan. Not difficult but very nicely crafted throughout. It felt slightly cd/dd heavy at one point – three in a row in the Downs – but I did smile at the cd for AN ARM AND A LEG: very nice. I also thought the setter excelled himself with his anagrams today: those for RAW STEAK, MAKE THE GRADE, MEANS TEST and, particularly, ORIENT EXPRESS, were delightful.

    Thanks Vulcan and loonapick

  3. I can’t add much to loonapick’s and other comments so far. I like a gentle, but not too gentle, start to the week and this was just right. Thanks to Vulcan and loonapick for a good start to a grey day.

  5. PostMark is on the mark as usual: there were some wonderful anagrams. Fairly straightforward and the one clue I failed to parse (PROSCRIBE, where I thought SCRIBE for old writer and couldn’t work out why PRO should mean publicity) now looks obvs (as the yoof say).

    Thanks Vulcan and loonapick

  6. PostMark’s has said exactly what I thought.

    Will just add IN THE NECK and OSTEOPATH as other favourites.

    Thanks Vulcan and loonapick

  7. On a Monday, I like a clue where the wordplay hints at the solution (&littish ish) so OSTEOPATH was my favourite. I agree with PostMark about ORIENT EXPRESS. I didn’t see the problem with CHINA. I always think of the fantasy alternative countries like Nosea and Browa.

  8. Wet rot is very familiar to those of us who live in old houses with wooden window frames. Very destructive but not so difficult to tackle as dry rot, which can eat up wood , plaster and brick.

  9. Very nice, as has been said several times already.

    I saw IN THE NECK as a double definition.

  10. Also agree with loonapick and PostMark and pleasing to finish after a two-week holiday break from Cryptics. OSTEOPATH was also my favourite.

    Ta Vulcan & loonapick.

  11. Agree with the general plaudits above. Not too tricky or difficult, but some very nice smooth surfaces today. Particularly liked OSTEOPATH, COLIC, OGRES (even though this was fairly obvious), ORIENT EXPRESS (lovely anagram), and the amusing ZODIAC. Thanks Vulcan and Loonapick…

  12. I’m not a fan of Guardian Mondays either. Yes there was the occasional pause for thought with this one, but not enough for my liking.

    At least OSTEOPATH raised a smile.

    Thanks Vulcan and loonapick

  14. Had to cheat with last one in PROTEA. Otherwise, a nice, gently sloping beach to get into the sea on a Monday morning.

    I wonder who first coined AN ARM AND A LEG?

    Many thanks both.

  15. Good puzzle from Vulcan today. I liked 10d ORIENT EXPRESS the most. Thanks to Vulcan and loonapick.

  16. Yep, v pleasant, ta both. [13ac reminded me of the one about God seeing Adam’s loneliness and giving him a long glowing description of the wife He’s going to make for him. When Adam asks “What will it cost?” and God says “An arm and a leg!”, Adam replies “What would I get for a rib?”]

  17. Nice to see a double usage of corked in IN THE NECK, as in where the cork goes and where the origin of a tainted (corked) wine is.
    I suspect William @14 that AN ARM AND A LEG has a military origin.
    Not sure Tank @13 that the “but” is superfluous. It’s not just there for the surface of the clue, but adds to the cryptic definition. Think of someone who has never heard of a Scotch Egg and is offered one by someone who explains “But a Scotch Egg doesn’t have any Scotch in it”.
    Otherwise a pleasant outing for me who is grappling with the Azed comp and the Genius at the beginning of the month.

  18. That was enjoyable – gentle Monday solve, but some neat amusing anagrams. Statesmen into MEANS TEST even raised a grin from my crossword phobic daughter.

    Thank you to Vulcan and loonapick.

  23. Bob M: One definition of FAMILIAR is “a demon supposedly attending and obeying a witch, often said to assume the form of an animal.”

  25. I fairly flew through most of this but then hit a brick wall on the last few. Being convinced 7d started with COT didn’t help, did it? Nor did thinking initially that 22d might be HORSE, if only I could see the wordplay, then not being able to refocus. Still, there were quite a few nice touches, as others have noted. Thanks, Vulcan and loonapick.

  26. This was perfect for me – Monday’s cryptics are the only ones in the week that I hope to complete. Even so, PROTEA was new….

    Thanks to Vulcan and loonapick.

  27. Very enjoyable start to the week.

    I also didn’t know the ‘witch’s cat’ definition of FAMILIAR. I did like GATHERING where I spent ages trying to think of a ‘house’ that began with G?T; MAKE THE GRADE, which was a pleasing anagram; and IN THE NECK (ha, ha, where the ‘wine is corked’). I got a bit stuck in the SE corner where ‘saddled’ led me for far too long to horses (for courses).

    Thanks Vulcan and loonapick.

  28. I got sidetracked for a little by putting ‘on the rack’ for IN THE NECK – it parses just as well (well almost).

    Also thought that AUTOGRAPH BOOK was barely cryptic. Otherwise a smooth distraction – thanks to Vulcan and loonapick.

  29. There is a Giles cartoon of a surveyor holding up two rotten pieces of wood, saying NO, THIS ONE’S DRY ROT, THAT ONE’S WET ROT.

  30. Thanks Vulcan and loonapick, lots to like such as OSTEOPATH and the ‘expert in roses’

    FAMILIAR comes from ‘famulus’, latin for servant, & ‘familia’ the household servants.

    3d reminds me of John Donne’s poem “A Hymn to God the Father” where he seeks forgiveness, making good use of his name: ‘When thou hast done, thou hast not done, for I have more.”

  31. I did know the witch’s cat definition of FAMILIAR, but it still took me a long time to get it. Enjoyed AN ARM AND A LEG, OSTEOPATH, PARAGUAY, SCOTCH EGG. RAW STEAK, ORIENT EXPRESS.

    [ and ZODIAC…
    The Ram, the Bull, the Heavenly Twins
    And next the Crab, the Lion shines,
    The Virgin and the Scales,
    The Scorpion, Centaur and Goat
    The Man that holds the Water Pot
    The Fish with shining scales]

  32. I’m probably being thick (usually the case) but don’t understand Eileen’s reference to Gove in relation to SCOTCH EGG – I thought it was George Eustice who said it constituted a meal if with table service.
    Loved the puzzle & especially ARM AND A LEG, PARAGUAY & IN THE NECK
    Thanks all

  33. Thanks for the blog, agree that the anagrams were very neat today. Good to see Alan C return, I have missed your comments. No doubt a secret Special Branch mission, I will watch my step.
    Strange that the zodiac misses out Ophiucus , it does straddle the ecliptic.

  34. yesyes@5 How do the yoof pronounce obvs?

    William@14. My French friends thought “charging an arm and a leg” was gruesome. The French equivalent expression is “charging your eyes from your head.” Hardly gruesome at all …

    Thank you Vulcan for a pleasant Monday puzzle. Couldn’t get PROTEA, but the rest fell nicely. And thanks to loonapick too.

  36. Beaten by the unfamiliar FAMILIAR, the only obstacle in this otherwise straightforward Monday offering. Thanks to the contributor above for explaining the double definition.

  37. Thoroughly dismal performance today. I finished Brendan’s prize but could not finish this. I could not get 18d, yet I am a Virgo for heaven sake!
    All in all a feeble performance.
    Thanks for the blog.

  38. Huntsman @32 – you’re right, it was George Eustice who made the original assertion but, as the link I gave shows, Gove added a bit more to the story – and he’s better known. 😉

  39. Like Smot@26 I rely on Mondays to give me a chance and a very satisfying (and rare) solve today. Some lovely anagrams – thank you Vulcan. (An “easy cryptic crossword” is still an oxymoron for me)

  40. Roz @33: How lovely, Special Branch could never keep up with you! I was frying my fair Irish skin in the Caribbean 🙂

  41. [ Very lucky AlanC , I hope it wasn’t for the cricket, I have to make do with the Irish Sea. Or perhaps it is just a cover story ? ]

  43. [Roz @ 41: cricket ain’t my game but I like your ‘cover’ reference although it would be deep..]

  44. today is my birthday and i have eaten both a 6d and a 2d before completing so this puzzle seemed a bit like an unintentional gift (or at least an approbation of my dietary habits). many thanks to vulcan and loonapick!

  45. Took me a while, but got there in the end, apart from missing CYCLE – I had ‘cache’. A bit like the Quiptic, I only got a quarter on the first go, then once I saw RELEVANT they came in a flood. PARAGUAY was a bit of a headdesk and to my shame PROTEA was my LOI – after I was watching them play Bangladesh yesterday!

  46. Thanks to Vulcan and loonapick. All pretty straightforward, but very nicely put together and clued. Ashamed that ZODIAC took me far longer to spot than it should have, being both a Virgo and an erstwhile dabbler in (very) amateur astronomy.

  47. Best part of this puzzle for me today was that I had just two clues from Sunday’s Everyman that just wouldn’t yield to me: 8d and 12a. And as soon as I saw 1a here, the penny dropped for 12a, making 8d obvs (thanks yesyes@5), and it was done!
    But this was fun. ZODIAC and PROTEA were last in, for no obvious reason, as I know both words and the clueing is very clear.

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