Guardian 28,891 / Pangakupu

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I have looked forward to Pangakupu’s next puzzle, having blogged  his / her last one and this one did not disappoint.

I had ticks for 8ac SKATE ON THIN ICE for the anagram and apt surface, 12ac TROOPSHIP and 24ac GREGORIAN CHANT, both for the construction, 6dn LANCINATE, a clever clue for a (for me) new word, 9dn OLD SCHOOL TIE and 20dn TURIN, both for the amusing surfaces and 16dn HERMITAGE, my favourite.

Thanks to Pangakupu for an enjoyable puzzle.

Definitions are underlined in the clues.

 

Across

1 Be rude about accepting college recordings (5)
DISCS
DISS (be rude about) round C (college)

4 Composer having suspicion about one? Deny cut (8)
SIBELIUS
SUS (suspicion) round I (one) + BELI[e] (deny, cut – minus its last letter)

8 Be in a dodgy situation — hesitation and neck may be broken (5,2,4,3)
SKATE ON THIN ICE
An anagram (may be broken) of HESITATION and NECK

10 Agreement about money held by bridge player being an obvious target (4,4)
EASY MEAT
YEA (agreement) round M (money) all inside EAST (bridge player) – this was a new expression for me: ‘a person or thing that is easy to beat, fool’

11 A great many retreating after appearance of very good weapon (6
PISTOL
A reversal (retreating) of LOTS (a great many) after PI (abbreviation of pious – very good)
Edit: I should have included ‘appearance of very good’ in the definition of PI – please see comments 39 and 44

12 Military transport heading for Tobruk reversed track with it (9)
TROOPSHIP
T([obruk] + a reversal (reversed) of SPOOR (track) + HIP (with it)

15 Contents of trophy idiot filled with inert gas (5)
ASHES
HE (helium – inert gas) in ASS (idiot) – referring to the cricket trophy

17 Food item not found in the first part of the dictionary? (5)
PASTA
PAST A

18 Metallic element, rather odd, gathering attention (4,5)
RARE EARTH
An anagram (odd) of RATHER round EAR (attention)

19 Individual with German backing for investment? Not subsequently (2,4)
ON TIME
ONE (individual) round a reversal (backing) of MIT (German for ‘with’)

21 City and I separately probing blue material (cheesy stuff) (8)
PECORINO
EC (City of London) and I (separately) in PORNO (blue material)

24 Arrangement of this music could leave creator hanging (9,5)
GREGORIAN CHANT
An anagram (arrangement) of CREATOR HANGING – here’s some to listen to

25 Informed about keeping several colleges together (2,6)
IN UNISON
IN ON (informed about) round UNIS (several colleges)

26 Strain is back with pioneering woman (5)
SIEVE
A reversal (back) of IS + EVE (pioneering – a change from ‘first’ – woman)

Down

1 No work, agitated, upset? It’s best suited for a later course (7,5)
DESSERT SPOON
A reversal (upset) of NO OP (no work) + STRESSED (agitated)

2 Pictures likely winners, enthusiastic, on board (9)
SNAPSHOTS
NAPS (likely winners, in a horse race) + HOT (enthusiastic) in SS (‘on board’)

3 Tense when investing in source of coal power? (5)
STEAM
T (tense) in SEAM (source of coal)

4 Newspaper beginning to blush at woman’s figure on the beach (9)
SUNBATHER
SUN (‘newspaper’) + B[lush] + AT + HER (woman’s)

5 Physicist, heating element up, runs (4)
BOHR
A reversal (up, in a down clue) of HOB (heating element) + R (runs) – here’s the physicist

6 Wound can entail cutting (9)
LANCINATE
An anagram (wound, to rhyme with ‘found’) of CAN ENTAIL

7 International group mostly attractive in its original form? (5)
UNCUT
UN (United Nations – international group) + CUT[e] (attractive, mostly)

9 Historic accessory for boy’s clothes? I’d look almost silly (3,6,3)
OLD SCHOOL TIE
An anagram (silly) of CLOTHES I’D LOO[k]

13 Bird to move across one’s view, interrupted by black jet fighter (9)
PTARMIGAN
PAN (to move across one’s view) round TAR (black) MIG (jet fighter)

14 Army without leader entering level ground? It has potential to crack (9)
PORCELAIN
[f]ORCE (army, without initial letter – leader) in PLAIN (level ground)

16 Museum, either end of which is filled with historic items? On the contrary (9)
HERMITAGE
HERITAGE (historic items) round M (either end of MuseuM) – on the contrary  here’s the museum

20 Go round capital of Italy — and you wouldn’t see this! (5)
TURIN
TURN (go) round I (capital of Italy – which is not Turin!)

22 A charitable saint saving her first marine creatures (5)
ORCAS
[d]ORCAS (charitable saint – see here) – I remember Dorcas as an apt brand name for bed linen

23 Soldier packing a small collection of weapons? (4)
ARMS
RM (Royal Marine – soldier) in A S (small)

68 comments on “Guardian 28,891 / Pangakupu”

  1. NAPS and LACINATE both new to me, but no real problems. Having got BOHR and RARE EARTH quickly, I htought we might have a science theme and then GREGORIAN CHANT and IN UNISON had me thinking music. Enjoyable without a theme anyway.
    Thanks Eileeen and Pangakupu

  2. Wow – I found it really hard to get going, but eventually got on Pangakupu’s wavelength. Lots to enjoy, including GREGORIAN CHANT, DESSERT SPOON and PASTA. Didn’t know St Dorcas nor LANCINATE. Many thanks to P and to Eileen.

  3. I found this tough going and struggled to tune into the wavelength for a while. But gradually a few new solutions came in each new pass, and then some very helpful crossers came to my rescue and the second half of this was a lot quicker than the first. As per yesterday there were a fair number I got via ‘guess which bit is the definition’ and either back-parsed or simply didn’t get until I got here for the expert analysis. I think the wordplay part of my brain is on a go-slow at the moment.

    One definition exercised my eyebrow: ‘not subsequently’ for ON TIME retrospectively makes some sense, I guess, but it’s somewhat tangental in my brain.

    I did rather like GREGORIAN CHANT for the subversion of the anagram clue syntax (‘arrangement of [solution] could leave [fodder]).

    Overall, now I understand all the wordplay I missed – I liked it!

    Thanks both.

  4. Mostly enjoyable with quite a few smiles. I couldn’t parse SNAPSHOTS, as I don’t know why NAPS are likely winners in a horse race. 10a was too convoluted for me to parse. I’d never heard of Dorcas nor Bohr. And I was confounded by RM for soldier and EC for a city (although I recall now that I’d encountered them before). LANCINATE was new to me.

  5. I have to agree, Eileen: this was an enjoyable offering from Pangkupu. I liked both the long ones you mentioned (8a SKATE ON THIN ICE and 24a GREGORIAN CHANT). I also thought 17a PASTA and 25a IN UNISON were clever. Both 6d LANCINATE and 13d PTARMIGAN were new learnings for me today (the former was solvable as I spotted the anagram, while latter I managed to get from checking Bradford’s book of lists under nine-letter words for birds starting with P. Many thanks to Pangakupu and Eileen.

  6. This was pretty challenging. I do struggle with some of these abbreviations PI for pious, B for blush and T for tense. It almost seems as if any clue word can be reduced to its first letter when convenient.
    Having said that, lots to enjoy here especially the longer solutions.
    Thanks P and E.

  7. I found this a tough solve, although when I saw most clues there was an almost audible penny drop moment.

    I only got SIBELIUS and TROOPSHIP from the crossers, but unable to fully parse them, although I really should remember spoor for tracking. Didn’t know the naps in SNAPSHOTS, one of my last in or DORCAS the very useful saint, my LOI.

    Thank you to Eileen and Pangakupu.

  8. [There were no comments when I started typing or I would have acknowledged some of the points made by others.]

  9. Like others, NAPS and LACINATE both new to me, Dorcas I knew. She’s also called Tabitha.
    Loved Pasta. Last one in and it really shouldn’t have been. Very satisfying when the penny finally dropped.

  10. [Have to say I really appreciate the links you embed in your blogs, Eileen. For instance I had heard of St Dorcas, the “charitable saint” to give us 22d ORCAS, but then I really enjoyed reading more about her.]

  12. A lucky guess with the unchecked consonants in 6d, which was a new word for me too. I found the puzzle challenging but eventually got to the tape without aids.

  13. Yes lancinate was a nho, and the naps bit of snapshot was a mystery, never ever having placed a single bet [we did use to have a family sweep at Grandad’s for The Perth Cup at New Years. Such fun!].
    D/orcas rang the faintest of bells (willing Dickens character? No, that was Barkus. Turns out to be a Heinlein character … too long ago!). Pecorino is quite tasty. All good fun, ta PnE.

  15. Thanks Eileen and Pangakupu
    Entertaining and mostly straightforward, though I didn’t parse SIBELIUS or ORCAS. DESSERT SPOON was a great spot.
    I would prefer “noble” to “inert” in 15a – they haven’t been correctly called “inert gases” for 50 years!
    I wasn’t keen on the definition for PORCELAIN – rather loose.

  17. JerryG @6 pi isn’t used as an abbreviation of pious when I’ve heard it used, where it has a slang meaning of being sanctimonious (and is definition 3 in Chambers). It’s old slang but my mother used it and I’ve come across it maybe in Angela Brazil school stories.

    The B for blush is indicated by “beginning to blush”. T for tense is grammar usage.

  18. Challenging but hugely enjoyable. I didn’t know (that def. of) NAPS or LANCINATE. I liked the anagram fodder and indicators being neatly hidden in many of the clues. Too many goodies to highlight individuals and I look forward to Pangakupu’s next offering.

    Eileen – ‘Dorcas’ was also a brand of sewing cotton, the name now making sense to me. I was never sure what it had to do with ‘Valda, the barefoot runner’ from the Mandy.

    Many thanks to both.

  19. When I correctly rather guessed DESSERT SPOON through the definition rather than having the slightest idea about its parsing, this rather set the tone for me of writing the answers in then trying to see why they might be the correct ones this morning. Similar experience with SIBELIUS, and the last two in, HERMITAGE and PECORINO. Thought SKATE ON THIN ICE really clever. Thanks for the clarity Eileen, and for the setting, Pangakupu…

  21. This was a struggle for me but I did know Naps in SNAPSHOTS. It must be a dim and distant memory and from first glance seems to be linked to the card game Napoleon where a Nap (Napoleon) is a winning hand.
    Best was PASTA which produced a mile when the penny dropped.

  22. Quite a tough puzzle.

    Liked PASTA.

    New for me: physicist Niels BOHR; LANCINATE.

    I could not parse:
    4ac apart from I in SUS
    10ac apart from M = money
    2d apart from HOT = enthusiastic and SS = on board
    9d = anagram?
    16d

    Thanks, both.

  24. I had hornimans in for 16d for a while! It tied in with some crossers but ultimately held me up! Lancinate was new to me.

  25. I’m still getting used to Pangakupu and found this heavy going at first, particularly the Lego clues like PTARMIGAN and SNAPSHOTS and SIBELIUS. Getting DESSERT SPOON from the def was the breakthrough. But PASTA made me smile and the big anagrams were good. Didn’t know LANCINATE (so unfamiliar that I thought it meant “wound” and “cutting” was the anagrind!). Belie=deny is a well-I-suppose-so: certainly not the first synonym that springs to mind. I did know about Dorcas, but not the crucial fact that she is officially a saint.

  27. A similar experience to many others, such a change from yesterday! But as SHANNE @7 says, an almost audible gasp once I got them. However, I did not finish, as I had to reveal LANCINATE and RARE EARTH which I had never heard of. But I knew NAP as a sure bet, which along with DISCO and ASHES were my first ones in.
    Thanks for a real brain workout, Pangakupu, and thanks for the parsing and g the links, Eileen.

  29. Clever and enjoyable, though I needed Eileen to be sure about the parsing of SIBELIUS. Some very apt and pleasing surfaces; SKATE ON THIN ICE, TROOPSHIP, PASTA, GREGORIAN CHANT, OLD SCHOOL TIE, PTARMIGAN, HERMITAGE.
    I’d never heard of LANCINATE, but I don’t mind obscure words if the wordplay is as clear as it is here.
    A curiosity about Dorcas is that although she is actually mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles as one of the early disciples (Acts 9, 36) and plainly was a saintly individual (“…this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did”) she is seldom actually listed as a saint.
    Thanks to Pangakupu and to Eileen

  30. NeilH @29 – I’d never thought of Dorcas as a saint, either but the Wiki link I gave has ‘She is celebrated as a saint by the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, and some Protestant denominations.’

  33. It is a sign of my misspent youth that I am more familiar with betting terms than saints, though, like Salad, I remember the thread. ON TIME was one I constructed from the word play, but wondered about the definition.

  34. Some nice clues especially GREGORIAN CHANT. I had to reveal PECORINO, a new word to me, along with LANCINATE (which was gettable from the cluing). Not fond of ORCAS as there are too many saints and too many sea creatures to try to trawl (no pun intended) through all of them to find which one is the other minus its first letter; would have appreciated a tighter definition there. PI for pious is normal and acceptable, but it raises my hackles a little to equate ‘devoutly religious’ with ‘very good’ given the behaviour of many pious people. Thanks Pangakupu and Eileen.

  35. Hi copmus @31 – I’m not sure you’re parsed that right. ‘A’ is the first part of the dictionary, so “not found in the first part of the dictionary” is ‘PAST A’. The clue isn’t saying that the word “PASTA” is past A – it’s saying that a “food item” equates to the combination of letters PAST + A. I can’t see how other letters would come into it?

  36. Most enjoyable puzzle with some ingenious constructions. The long anagrams are good (especially SKATE…) and I particularly enjoyed DESSERT SPOON, TROOPSHIP and the amusing little PASTA and TURIN.

    Good to see a bit of science, with Niels BOHR, the lanthanides (18ac) and helium all getting a mention (muffin @15: I agree in general that the ‘inert gases’ as a group are better termed ‘noble’, but helium is as inert as they come, unlike the heavier ones).

    I agree with Shannne @17 and Paul @34 that PI means ‘sanctimonious’ rather than ‘very good’, but that is the nearest thing to a quibble that I had with this splendid crossword.

    Many thanks to Pangakupu and Eileen

  37. As some others, difficult to get started but an enjoyable solve.

    I knew EASY MEAT, but failed to parse it (I forgot about YEA). I liked TROOPSHIP and DESSERT SPOON for their wordplays, and the nicely found anagrams for GREGORIAN CHANT and OLD SCHOOL TIE.

    Many thanks to Pangakupu and Eileen.

  38. I’ve got some PECORINO in the fridge so that helped. Also PTARMIGAN is the name of an imaginary child I used to take to middle-class festivals

    I do find Pangakupu to be a bit verbose in his clueing and an analysis of average clue length by setter bears this out as he’s second only to a setter called Chandler who doesn’t seem to work for the Guardian anymore

    Author,Average Clue Length
    Chandler, 54
    Pangakupu,50
    Harpo,49
    Fed,49
    Bogus,48
    Fawley,48
    Enigmatist and Paul,48
    Enigmatist and Soup,47
    Mobo,47
    Enigmatist,46

    Full analysis here for anyone with too much time on their hands and a google account

  40. bodycheetah @38
    Very interesting – thanks for that!
    Why do some compilers appear on the list more than onc e? Enigmatist is there four times. Does it reflect joint efforts?

  42. M@40 Enigmatist seems to like collaborating. I think a couple of others are just typos in the Guardian’s data – hard to imagine I know 🙂

  43. Offspinner@26: Isn’t that a beauty… thanks for the reminder.

    Found this tough, getting bogged down once or twice but it yielded finally.

    One question, though, at 1a (DISCS) are about and accepting both needed? Thought the clue worked fine with either.

  44. Paul@34 and Gervase@36: I understood the definition of PI in 11ac to be “appearance of very good” which I thought appropriate and rather cleverly woven into the surface.

    All in all a very interesting challenge! Thanks to P, and to E for clarifying HERMITAGE for me – though I still can’t quite see how M is “filled with” HERITAGE – shouldn’t that be the other way round?

  45. William @43 – ‘about’ is part of the definition of DISS (=’be rude about’), as indicated in the blog.

  47. AllyGally @44 I agree with you (and bodycheetah @39) about 16ac.

    Re 16dn: yes, in the clue, HERITAGE (historic items) is ‘filled with’ M – hence ‘on the contrary’.

  49. Took longer to figure out the parsing post-completion of a few clues that I got by definition only than to fill the grid in the first place. Not terribly proud of that since on retrospect all were reasonably straightforward, but I will mention one:

    I was trying to parse RARE EARTH as R – EARTH around ARE, rather than the correct RARE – TH around EAR. Sometimes when you’re almost there it’s very difficult to realise there is another way that works.

    I was held up for a short time trying to justify EASY MARK (for MEAT). I’ve heard the former a lot more, but it may be a regional thing.

    Tx E&P

  51. bodycheetah @38: I consider the average number of words, rather than letters, in the clues to be a fairer measure.

    Nevertheless, this one does come out at 8.5 by this reckoning, which is higher than the 7 which I consider the usual upper limit for a concisely clued puzzle.

    However, I can’t say I noticed the prolixity as I was solving the crossword , as the quality of the constructions was so high. There isn’t a lot of extraneous waffle in the clues.

  53. bodycheetah @39 & AllyGally @44: ‘appearance of very good’ is probably what the setter intended as the indication for PI, but this doesn’t quite work for me either. Someone who comes over as ‘pi’ is purporting to be very good, but their appearance is different 🙂

  54. [Rufus’s crosswords usually had a low average clue length, but then he used a lot of double defs and single cryptic defs]

  55. Like so many, I found this slow going to start and never expected to finish. But I did, and once I got going I found the clues fair and entertaining. Not heard of Dorcas before but it has to be orcas so…. I particularly liked the clues where I knew what the construction indicated but couldn’t find the answer until I had a few letters 4ac, 11,12, 21 etc.

  56. After a fairly rapid start in the NW, I began to slow down. It didn’t help that after quickly getting 5D: BOHR, I convinced myself (with some very convoluted parsing!) that the answer to 5A was ALBINONI…It took a while to recover. Anyway, with thanks to both.

  57. Alastair @52 – if it’s any consolation, which it probably isn’t, first time ever for me not to get a single clue.

  59. Gervase @51 I’m sure you’re right about word count being a better measure but clue length was lot easier to code 🙂

  60. [Dorcas is more familiar to me for flirting with Mopsa and Autolycus in The Winter’s Tale than for her charitable giving in the Acts of the Apostles]

    I tried as hard as I could to make Manchego the cheese instead of Pecorino — but to no avail. I had the “MAN C” for the “city” and the “EGO” for the “I” but could find no way to have the “H” stand for blue material. Then crossers intervened.

  62. Hi Andrew Tyndall @60 – Bravo for a gallant try!
    But, if you’re not a UK solver, you really should file away the crossword staple EC = City, which often crops up and – sorry! – I didn’t think to elaborate on re 21ac. See here

  67. Tried very hard to make the museum Hornimans for those who love this South East London jewel, especially the walrus

  68. This is a wonderful chat site. I struggled with this crossword and finally gave up and came here with a few words to go. I love the challenge of The Guardian cryptics, made even more difficult by the fact they are British (for example I was unaware of EC being a reference to London and had never heard of NAPS as favourites in a horse race), so wordplay can be hard to understand at times. That makes it all the more wonderful that detailed annotated solutions are given above. I’ve nearly got this month’s Genius by Pasquale out, but three answers totally elude me. I’ll wait for the solutions now. My brain has been twisted enough.

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