Guardian 28,903 – Tramp

82 comments on “Guardian 28,903 – Tramp”

1. Not as difficult as I’ve found Tramp’s in the past. Quite a few smiles. Only one groan, 22d. The only one I couldn’t parse was NAPKINS. I don’t remember seeing this particular wordplay (as in “couples covering”) before.

2. I really enjoyed this with lots of humour. I particularly liked CHAIN SMOKE, THREADBARE and LANDSLIDE. I had START for 1d to begin with.

   Ta Tramp & Andrew.

3. GDU @1: I think you mean NAPPIES.

4. Yes, I did!

5. I enjoyed this and finished it (save for one clue) more quickly than usual for a Tramp puzzle tho’ couldn’t quite parse a few.

   Liked the mix of clues.

   Favourites included: VICIOUS, MARTINI, SHAGGED, CONTRAVENE, TOMBOLA, CHAINSMOKE

   Thanks Tramp and Andrew

6. Thanks Andrew. Glad you found this to be gentle. Like a lot of solvers here, there are some setters that make the heart sink – Tramp is one of mine. Often bung in answers while thinking “Huh?” This isn’t a whinge, just a view. Waiting to see if there are any martin / swallow comments.

7. A thoroughly enjoyable romp with Tramp this morning with ANNUS HORRIBILIS being my favourite. According to Tramp’s tweet, this puzzle was written in August 2020 but the clue still seems highly relevant.

   I enjoyed the Frenchifying of both ‘here’ and ‘you’ in VICIOUS; the deceptively hidden def/wp combo in TIPSTER; THREADBARE and LANDSLIDE both of which have that same 2020/2022 relevance; OOPS and SHAGGED both of which made me laugh; the witty def for CHAIN SMOKE and NAPPIES where I rather like the creative indicator for the outside pairs. DRAWERS did feel like a bit of a chestnut and, just like Johnson, TRUMP doesn’t seem to want to go away either …

   Thanks Tramp and Andrew

8. So much to like here, apart from the blasphemy. VICIOUS was great and allowed me to recall my schoolboy French. THREADBARE also good. I also enjoyed OOPS for the Paulism (I’ve just been reading his biographical details in Jonathan Crowther’s book), and CHAIN SMOKE for the definition.
   NAPPIES reminded me of the saying that they are like politicians, and need changing often for the same reason.

9. Well I was stumped by SPEND until the penny dropped just now. Otherwise I agree with PM @7 and others who loved the humour (slightly shocked at the Paulism of OOPS!).
   Thanks Tramp and Andrew

10. I commented on the Graun about some of the delicious almost Pauline word combos that would also be worthy of a Cyclops. Shagged, oh my God and faking raised a particular smile, and many of us I’m sure can identify with “pair threadbare drawers”… there’s also loose drawers, loose trump (grim) and an even more vulgar “exposed opening 3d!” Not an image I needed this early in the day. Or indeed at any other time.

11. Like Andrew I found the SW the trickiest today but I thoroughly enjoyed the puzzle. Thought I’d failed when I read GDU@1 having only parsed the start of nappies but luckily it was a typo! I liked the Paulism at 3d. The 2 long anagrams were a good challenge. Thanks A and T.

12. Crispy@6: no, I don’t think a martin is a swallow, but it isn’t far enough away to spoil the clue. It’s a while since I saw MOKE for donkey – wasted lots of time trying to fit an ASS in, as no doubt I was meant to.

    Nice steady progress through this, with the SW holding out longest. Enjoyed the big anagrams, and the smaller one at UNRIPENED for the golfing surface. OOPS made me smile.

13. Thanks, Tramp. Cracking puzzle, very satisfying to solve. I agree the long anagrams are superb and I also particularly liked CHAIN SMOKE. SW was also the stickiest corner for me, PERSONA and LOOSE being my last two in – but as is so often the case, looking back at them now, I can’t see why they gave me so much trouble.

    GDU @4 – nappy is, of course, a contraction of napkin, so you were partially right.

    Crispy @6 – I’m the opposite of you, I always find I get on well with Tramp, while setters who others find easy, I often struggle with. It’s a wavelength thing. Don’t be disheartened by what others do and don’t find gentle, it’s not a competition and the most important thing is that you get some enjoyment from it.

    Tim C @8 – interesting comment about the “blasphemy” – a concept I have no truck with. I was thinking while solving that there were several clues here that wouldn’t get past the Telegraph crossword editor (chiefly 8a and 15d), but as comments so far show, Guardian readers on the whole have more of a taste for that kind of thing.

14. First time ever I’ve managed to complete a Tramp in one sitting. A good start to the day!

15. I had a (very tentative) WALLETS for 26a, though I suppose the slang for ‘pound’ is properly ‘nicker’. It survived the ‘E’ crosser but no further. I particularly liked VICIOUS, the cleverly hidden OH MY GOD and ANNUS HORRIBILIS for the surface.Thanks, Tramp and Andrew.

16. That was fun with some great surfaces.

    I saw Tramp had set today’s crossword and thought: good job it’s miserable out as I may be some time, then raced through this, with my first in TOMBOLA, quicker than Anto yesterday. Love the anagrams and noted I had a lot of part clues entered early from the wordplay, needing crossers to confirm. CHAIN SMOKE was one of my last in as I too was trying to fit in ass, until I had the crossers that made the CHAIN clear, then saw that the K gave me moke.

    Thank you to Tramp and Andrew.

17. I found this easier than either of yesterday’s crosswords. You could almost say that I romped through it, but I would not go that far. All the ones I particularly liked have been mentioned above, but I did not that I could fault any.
    Thanks both.

18. Many people have a “gentle” setter they don’t get on with – in my case, the current Everyman and the late lamented Chifonie. It’s also worth remembering that the earliest Guardian comments on any puzzle will be from people who finished it quickly, and who will therefore be the likeliest to rate it gentle or too easy.

19. Widderbel@13, I’m not sure it’s a “taste” for the vulgar, perhaps a slightly more liberal embrace of the full package of what the English language can offer? To me at least, the human condition is messy, uneven, grubby and frequently less refined than many of us would hope it to be. As such, building that into crosswords is absolutely fine by me.

20. Gladys @ 18, we often have early comments due to the time difference. We often finish before you Brits are uo in the mornings.

21. Thanks Tramp and Andrew

    My “Birds of Britain and Europe”, which is my standard reference, lists martins and swallows on the same page, with the heading ‘Swallows’, so I’m OK with Tramp’s equivalence.

22. Thanks Tramp and Andrew
    I was baffled by TOTALED – I don’t see gow either spelling gives “made”. Also I’m not convinced by A for “afternoon”. Otherwise nice, with VICIOUS my favourite too.
    Gladys @12
    A martin may not be a swallow, but a swallow is a martin.

23. Muffin @ 22, “three on Sunday and two yesterday totalled/made five”.

    I agree re afternoon.

24. I enjoyed this immensely, for the cleverness and wit – the anagrams are superb and there are some ingenious constructions: I failed to see the device in NAPPIES – nice one, Tramp.

    I can’t list all my ticks but they’ve all been mentioned by others.

    I also failed to parse ASTOUNDING: I have never come across A for afternoon but it’s in Chambers, though I can’t think how it could be used.

    Many thanks to Tramp for lots of fun and Andrew for the blog.

25. GDU @23
    Thanks. I wouldn’t ever use that expression 🙂

26. What Eileen said and I also had a slight doubt about EX = Once, former,old, past, yes but once doesn’t seem to be the right part of speech for me.

27. Enjoyable puzzle. Loved the briiliant clue for ANNUS HORRIBILIS. Also liked VICIOUS, OOPS.

    New: TOMBOLA.

    Thanks, both.

28. Tramp at his most gentle – and elegant! Having checked out ‘Attitude’, PERSONA put me in mind of a witty Indy puzzle (I think, but can’t recall setter) clue from a few years back… “Pretty boy said no to cock (6)”!
    Enjoyable – many thanks both and all

29. Thanks Widdersbel @13. I’ll always keep trying whoever the setter is. The sense of achievement when I solve aTramp or an Enigmatist is worth all the times when I don’t.

30. [@28 though, if going for cheeky, hard to beat Arachne’s “Unrelenting nymphomaniac (3,5,3,5)”!]

31. Yep some fun stuff here, the box office draw, the better’s guide, and the tethered donkey (anyone who cold-solved that … smart!). Plus a bit of shagging, some knickers and some poo … what’s not to like! Ta both.

32. I really enjoyed this. I thought OOPS was very clever. “Knocked over small stool, silly me.” Loved the surface. I don’t see this as a Paulism, and I think it’s not giving Tramp credit, a) for his originality and ingenuity and b) for his total lack of any possible smutty connotation or offensiveness. It was just a great clue, all Tramp’s.

33. Great fun from Tramp today.

    The two long anagrams are excellent, as many have already remarked, and other favourites were the well hidden OMG and TIPSTER, TOTALED and PERSONA for constructions cleverly designed to give such smooth surfaces.

    Swallow and martin are terms which have no valid taxonomic distinction and I am comfortable with their being considered near synonyms for hirundinids. Like Petert @26 I felt ‘once modelled’ wasn’t quite EX POSED, but near enough and gives a fine surface.

    Many thanks to Tramp and Andrew

34. Somebody please explain why END is a margin (22d).
    The end of a page is not a margin, the margin are at the sides.

35. As many have already said, a gentler than usual Tramp towards a completed grid, though of course greatly admiring the excellent long anagrams at 4d and 5d along the way. TIPSTER the last one in, with the misdirection of “better” fooling me until the very end.

36. Smashing crossword from the vagrant this morning.

    OOPS was a little gem!

    Many thanks, both.

37. Absolutely top notch fun.
    Just shows it doesn’t have to be hard to be thoroughly entertaining.
    Couldn’t parse NAPPIES but otherwise plain sailing.
    Thanks all

38. Chambers or no Chambers, I think A for Afternoon is hokey. Then again, nobody else is objecting to A = Attitude, where’s that from?

    Well, I fell for it. Chuffed at remembering EN for “nurse” I forgot that “nurse” can be a verb.

    Widdersbel@13 Where are 8a and 15d?

    WilliamP@28/30 Will you reveal the answers?

    Thanks, Tramp and Andrew.

39. What Eileen said (more or less)

    Thanks to Tramp and Andrew

40. 17 felt like a stretch to me, and I failed to parse 19 despite getting the definition. Otherwise, very satisfactory.

41. Valentine @38: the A in 17d is the front of Attitude

42. Paddymelon @32 – I meant to make the same point. Tramp has a distinct style of his own, he’s not a Paul pastiche/tribute act. 3d is a superb clue, so neat and funny, and one I’m sure Paul would have been pleased to come up with himself.

43. Thanks to Andrew for the super blog, as usual.

    I wrote this puzzle in August 2020. I spotted COVID in video-conference and I had the Boris clue listed in my Excel file. I searched for words with CON and NE so that I could shoehorn a loose Dominic Cummings reference. I try not to use model = T in my recent puzzles but it is still in some of the older ones. Incidentally, I found a puzzle I wrote in October 2018 that still hasn’t appeared.

    The clues for SPEND and THREADBARE were late rewrites. I think end = margin is justifiable as in boundary; perhaps I could have chosen a better synonym. I’m not sure where A = afternoon appears. It is in Chambers, but, on reflection, is probably too esoteric for a daily puzzle and should only be used in barred-grid puzzles. I do hate it when there are abbreviations in Chambers and I can’t see where they are used in real life! I have used swallow = martin before. Collins says a martin is “any of various swallows”; it might not be taxonomically perfect but I think I’ll continue to use it.

    Last weekend, I met Vlad in Liverpool. He’s a legend. I’d like to thank him for testing all my puzzles. I also met some great people in York. I’m not that good at mingling, so, I apologise if people think I’m aloof. From a conversation there, I decided I will try to comment more on my puzzles and try to ignore any knockers, as it were. I also met Dave Gorman in Salford and saw his brilliant show, which I can highly recommend.

    Neil

44. Nice to hear from Tramp and get some background info.

    I really enjoyed the puzzle, and while I did indeed think it was easier than usual, I was wondering if it was maybe just me being “in the zone” instead. Apparently, from a number of comments here, it was very much not the latter!

    Tx.

45. Thank you Tramp, and Andrew for the blog.

    I enjoyed the puzzle, and parsed most of it. Didn’t get the ‘PIES’ part of NAPPIES. I think we’ve had a similar clueing for outer pairs of letters recently, possibly by Paul. But it didn’t help me this time. Perhaps next time I see a clue like this I’ll recognise it : )

46. Ordinarily I find Tramp’s oeuvres very tricky indeed: each clue is a real effort for me and so I’m always a tad intimidated when I see his name. Today’s, however, was a delight – with the long anagram at 4D leading to a host of other answers.
    And then the second word in Andrew’s blog explained things: this is Tramp being “gentle”. Ah. That’s me put in my place, then.
    Well I may be a second-ranker, but I still enjoyed it enormously. OOPS, SHAGGED, DRAWERS and NAPPIES made me giggle, VICIOUS was neat, and I have no ornithological problem with MARTINI.
    I don’t even mind seeing those two political excrescences getting a name-check – after all, they were both in office when this crossword was devised.
    So thank you very much Tramp for giving me an hour or two’s pleasure on a grey and damp morning, and thanks also to Andrew for the explanation of THREADBARE

47. Re Martin Vs swallow, the British Sand Martin is called a Bank Swallow in N America.

48. Enjoyed this a lot – didn’t fully parse NAPPIES, but it’s fair. SHAGGED and OOPS were my favourites of a lovely set.

    Thanks Tramp & Andrew.

49. This side of the Atlantic, swallows are in the genus Hirundo; martins aren’t. So, ornithologically and taxonomically, the clue is wrong. But they’re both in the family of martins and swallows, so it’s all right for people that don’t mind being imprecise.

50. First read through yielded little, but getting one of the long ones down the middle got me off and running.
    SWALLOW/MARTIN, for a crossword, they are close enough, I would say.
    Thanks both.

51. copland+smith @49 – Chambers gives a third sense of “Extended to various unrelated birds of similar forms or habits”, so it’s justified imprecision!

52. Very enjoyable romp. Quick (perhaps a helpful grid, or one those days when the crossers aren’t all ‘a’ or ‘e’) but not easy; I needed enlightenment from Andrew on several. Favourites were TOMBOLA, VICIOUS and VIDEO CONFERENCE and especially the delicious surface for UNRIPENED. Thanks Andrew and thanks Tramp for the fun and for joining in the critique afterwards.

53. Linnaeus originally put House Martin in the genus Hirundo along with Barn Swallow.

54. Speaking of the York S and B (as Tramp was @43), you might enjoy Egbert’s themed crossword, which he wrote for the occasion:
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kV5gXzz3wr3sA4uhBmfCD8v4mf37Oc2t/view

    Kenmac blogged it here: http://www.fifteensquared.net/2022/10/31/225-30-by-egbert/

55. Swallow and martin are not precise taxonomic terms and their usage overlaps to cover a variety of closely related species in the family Hirundinidae, so complaining about their equivalence seem to me to be nit-picking – but Is that Pedicularis or Pthirus? 🙂

56. Thanks Tramp, that was fun. After a slow start VIDEO CONFERENCE got things going for a quick finish. I couldn’t parse the “A” of ASTOUNDING or the PIES of NAPPIES but all else made sense. My top picks included VICIOUS because it’s always rewarding to use what I learned in high school; the nicely hidden OH MY GOD; EXPOSED for its economy; OOPS for its humour; and CHAIN-SMOKE because I learned the word MOKE. Thanks Andrew for the blog.

57. Well said paddymelon @32 & RK0000 @19. The frequent references to Pauline smut are getting a little worn – THREADBARE LOOSE DRAWERS: EXPOSED. Does this constitute a mini-theme? – along with the even more frequent use of gentle. As I mentioned in comments a few days ago, it’s my experience that a lot of the difference between hard and gentle is down to the individual’s state of mind rather than the setter’s deviousness. I do find a lot of Tramp’s synonyms particularly difficult, but this is not always his fault!

    I got about three or four on the first pass through the clues, but applying myself to the long anagrams helped me gain a foothold. I liked V(ICI)OUS and it was interesting to find OPENING a day after it had formed the wordplay for OPINING.

    My solving of TIPSTER came a few minutes after a friend had texted to suggest I should back a horse whose name included my own (not Hatter) – it was unplaced, but luckily I hadn’t taken his advice.

    Thanks to Tramp & Andrew (It was good to meet both of you at York last Saturday, and I’m glad Tramp heeded my encouragement to re-engage on this site. It’s much appreciated.)

58. [Gervase @55 Thanks for “Pedicularis or Pthirus” (link here for those who are not squeamish). I had never heard of the common lousewort before, but it appears that its name refers to its parasitic lifestyle. I’ll have a look for it next time I’m out and about in its habitat. Pedicularis, that is, not Pthirus. (Apparently the latter is actually a spelling mistake – not your fault, I hasten to add – and it should be Phthirus, from Ancient Greek phtheír, “louse”.)

    BTW It was good to catch up with you at York, too.]

59. A = Afternoon? A number 11 bus goes up my road in the morning. In the afternoon its circular route is reversed and it goes down my road as an 11A. QED!

60. sh@58: I meant Pediculus and not Pedicularis (that’s what comes of not checking your taxonomic nomenclature) but the flower is much more appealing than the insect 🙂

61. I must have had a wavelength match today as I found definitely more approachable than previous Tramp puzzles. Like may others I loved OOPS and SHAGGED. I’m so glad I don’t do crosswords in one of those prudish newspapers!

    Thanks both (special thanks to Tramp for popping in)

62. Thanks for the blog, [AlanC slipping down the charts. I am number 1 in Azed today, but that is obscure Belgian jazz compared to you dominating the hit parade ]

    Nice to see the moke again in a very good clue for CHAIN-SMOKE. THREADBARE and LANDSLIDE were very tidy, it is a shame they were not consecutive or they could have been linked.

63. Rather good long anags. I think I remember Tramp saying that on occasion his puzzles have been ‘in the loop’ for a while at The Guardian, which probably explains the NHS clue seeming a little dated, what with Truss and now Braverman hogging the limelight as Idiots-in-Chief. And indeed he popped in above to advise of that date. A strong puzzle.

64. Loved this. So many great clues, lovely surfaces, and super anagrams. Thanks to Tramp for commenting – I really enjoy reading your notes on the puzzles afterwards. I wish more setters would stop by. (I can understand why they wouldn’t too though… 😉 ).

65. All this talk about swallows and only Alastair @47 has come even close to acknowledging that there are both European and African swallows. And that, of course, is critical. Just ask King Arthur … 😉

    Thanks for popping in @43 Tramp. I love it when a setter engages with us and the story from the other side of the puzzle is always interesting.

66. [PostMark @65
    That rang a bell, so I’ve tracked down the quote. The African Swallow can carry coconuts, but it doesn’t migrate, so can’t have brought them to England!]

67. I too enjoyed this one.

68. Thanks Andrew, needed your help to parse a few (and I wasn’t alone, it appears) and agree that the SW required a change of gear. Great puzzle, of many fine clues will pick 16d as my favourite, thanks Tramp and enjoyed your “afterword” too so thanks sheffield hatter for your intervention!

69. The instruction in 16D to think like an American only slowed me down in the SW corner: for an American, TOTALED refers to an automobile that is completely wrecked in a car crash, so “unmade” rather than “made”…and one who places bets is a bettor not a better, which spoils the punning misdirection in the clue for TIPSTER. Can’t complain, though, since we are working under Rules Britannia not Pax Americana.

70. Andrew Tyndall @69
    Yes, that’s the only usage of TOTAL(L)ED I’ve ever come across in Britain. As I said earlier, I would never use it to mean “added up to”.

71. For those sceptical about 16D, the first example of “totalled” meaning “added up to” in the Collins online dictionary is from the Guardian. We don’t have to like it, though.

    Lovely puzzle, and great to see Tramp here to add background. Boris and his legacy still feels very much with us – I can’t see Truss appearing in future clues.

72. Seriously, people complaining about “totalled” meaning the final sum? Debts tend to total. The full list of his debts totalled ten thousand pounds. Death tolls also tend to total in the news (or from history programs).

73. MarkN @72: you talk about “people complaining”. May I quote myself: “Can’t complain, though…”

74. AndrewTyndall @ 73L Poor choice of words on my behalf. I apologise. Still, my point stands. “Totalled” is in fairly common use when things add up to a total, I think.

75. Mark N @74: no worries

76. After a quick scan I think the number of complaints for 15D only totalled three and they were very minor. I am just glad the nice and precise with the use of American.

77. MarkN
    I have no problem with TOTAL. It’s turning the noun (or adjective) into a verb that I think is ugly (I know it’s in Chambers). It’s like the horrible “medalled” so beloved of sports commentators.

78. Late entry from me but I just wanted to thank Tramp for an excellent puzzle. For me it was the NW that was the trickiest, but it all fell into place when I tackled it agian this morning after giving it away three-quarters done yesterday. Thanks also to Andrew and other participants on the blog for an interesting read.

79. Valentine@38: Arachne’s “Unrelenting nymphomaniac (3,5,3,5)” would be ONE AFTER THE OTHER.

    No idea what “Pretty boy said no to cock (6)” might be.

80. Valentine & Alphalpha @79: ADONIS 🙂

81. Some chestnuts in that one but have to agree about A = afternoon! Has anyone seen it used?
    Thanks Andrew and Tramp

82. I’m very much an Everyman, Quiptic and Monday Cryptic solver. The weekday ones are normally too difficult for me to complete and I tend not to have the time. But, holed up with Covid and a knee op recuperation, I attempted this and completed it bar PERSONA. Very satisfying. So if that’s gentle Tramp he can carry on being as gentle as he likes as far as I am concerned. Thanks all.

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