Guardian Cryptic 28,975 by Brummie

by

The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/28975.

I found this a quite gentle Brummie, but none the worse for that. He often includes a theme, but all I can come up with depends on 7D SPLIT ENDS: all the answers have a detachable word or abbreviation at the end (but that covers most of the dictionary).

ACROSS
1 BOUNDLESS
Cut down on the jumping; it’s going on and on! (9)
Definition and literal interpretation (BOUND LESS).
6 SUSS
Gather undoctored author lacks English (4)
A subtraction: S[e]USS (Theodore Seuss Geisel, who wrote under the pen name Dr. Seuss – ‘undoctored’ because the “Dr.” is not in the answer, and also because he left Oxford without getting a D Phil – although he was later awarded an honory doctorate by Dartmouth, becoming, as he put it, Dr. Dr. Seuss) minus the E (‘lacks English’).
8 WAVERLEY
Story of western state with arable land (8)
A charade of W (‘western’) plus AVER (‘state’) plus LEY (a variant of lea, ‘arable land’), for the novel by Sir Walter Scott.
9 CRADLE
Chain reaction starts melting lead protection rocker? (6)
A charade of C R (‘Chain Reaction’) plus ADLE, an anagram (‘melting’) of ‘lead’.
10 CORSET
Well prepared for means of restraining corporation (6)
A charade of COR (‘well’ as an interjection) plus SET (‘prepared’). As frequently in crosswords, a ‘corporation’ is a belly, particularly a prominent one.
11 INUNDATE
One sister needs to go steady with flood (8)
A charade of I (‘one’, pronoun or Roman numeral) plus NUN (‘sister’) plus DATE (‘go steady’).
12 STILTS
Tip: on board ship, they help one look down on others (6)
An envelope (‘on board’) of TILT (‘tip’) in SS (steam ‘ship’).
15 NEEDLING
Annoying press broadcast on moorland plant (8)
A charade of NEED, sounding like (‘broadcast’) KNEAD (‘press’); plus LING (‘moorland plant’).
16 GROSS OUT
Dozens abroad show disgust (5,3)
A charade of GROSS (twelve ‘dozens’) plus OUT (‘abroad’).
19 THRASH
Within litter, hearts beat (6)
An envelope (‘within’) of H (‘hearts’, cards, particularly bridge) in TRASH (‘litter’).
21 RETRIEVE
Recover from unfinished excursion nursed by old official (8)
An envelope (‘nursed by’) of TRI[p] (‘excursion’) minus the last letter (‘unfinished’) in REEVE (‘old official’; a sheriff was a shire reeve)
22
See 4
24 PROTEA
Emblem of South Africa: river within a river with drink (6)
An envelope (‘within’) of R (the first ‘river’) in PO (‘a river’) plus TEA (‘drink’). The coat of arms of South Africa has a stylised Protea above the  crossed spear and knobkierrie, and merging into the secretary bird.

Protea cynaroides, King Protea. Photo Bernard Spragg
25 MORTUARY
Place for those who are no longer represented by mayor — true? Not quite (8)
An anagram (‘re-presented’) of ‘mayor tru[e]’ minus the last letter (‘not quite’).
26 GNUS
Animals vocalised on the way back (4)
A reversal (‘on the way back’) of SUNG (‘vocalised’). Cue Flanders and Swann.
27 LOSSMAKER
Low-cost airline once involving Moss — surprisingly, it’s unprofitable (9)
An envelope (‘involving’) of OSSM, an anagram (‘surprisingly’) of ‘Moss’ in LAKER (‘low cost airline once’).
DOWN
1 BEANO
Do live on a wreck! (5)
A charade of BE (‘live’) plus ANO, an anagram (‘wreck’) of ‘on a’. ‘Do’ as a party or feast.
2 UTENSIL
Playing iTunes on large device (7)
A charade of UTENSI, an anagram (‘playing’) of ‘iTunes’; plus L (‘large’).
3 DELFT
Dutch city was the first to get up a newspaper (5)
A charade of DEL, a reversal (‘to get up’ in a down light) of LED (‘was the first’) plus FT (Financial Times, ‘a newspaper’).
4, 22 across ELYSIAN FIELDS
Fantastic island life — yes, one would be dead blessed here! (7,6)
An anagram (‘fantastic’) of ‘island life yes’.
5 SUCCULENT
Uncle’s cut off a cactus? (9)
An anagram (‘off’) of ‘uncles cut’, with a question mark for the indication by example (most cacti are succulents, in that they are adapted for storage of water, but, horticulturally, the word succulent is often used specifically to exclude cacti).
6 SCANDAL
Malicious gossip when Charlie appears in casual wear (7)
An envelope (‘appears in’) of C (‘Charlie’, radio code) in SANDAL (‘casual wear’).
7 SPLIT ENDS
Shock problem arising from acrobatic manoeuvre over object (5,4)
An envelope (‘over’) of END (‘object’) in SPLITS (‘acrobatic manoeuvre’).
13 THREE IRON
Golf club about to be engulfed by the press (5,4)
An envelope (‘to be engulfed by’) of RE (‘about’) in ‘the’ plus IRON (‘press’).
14 STONEWALL
Obstruct a film director with everything (9)
A charade of STONE (Oliver, ‘film director’ of many films, including Platoon) plus W (‘with’) plus ALL (‘everything’).
17 STRATUS
Cloud‘s position hiding rook (7)
An envelope (‘hiding’) of R (‘rook’, chess notation) in STATUS (‘position’).
18 THERMOS
In fact, her most insulated soup holder? (7)
A hidden answer ‘in’ ‘facT HER MOSt’.
20 ROEBUCK
Woodland dweller‘s bank, said to have not much money (7)
A charade of ROE, sounding like (‘said’) ROW (‘bank’) plus (‘to have’) BUCK (‘not much money’. The other day, with Vlad, it was a POUND – not much different).
22 FORUM
Public meeting wanting tramp beheaded (5)
A charade of FOR (‘wanting’ in the sense of wishing to have) plus [b]UM (‘tramp’) minus the first letter (‘beheaded’).
23 DURER
Old city captured by the Germanic artist (5)
An envelope (‘captured by’) of UR (the perennial ‘old city’) in DER (‘the Germanic’, if masculine). Albrecht DURER was German, but the wordplay has precedence.

picture of the completed grid

68 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 28,975 by Brummie”

  1. Vaguely remembered that a gross was a dozen dozen (and wasn’t there a saying, something about a gross of spectacles …?). Dnk that lea could be ley (remembered ley lines, from reading the odd bit of eso-lit in the ’60s). But, yes, a nice gentle stroll from the Brum, and thx Peter.

  2. I’m back after an unavoidable absence, and find a puzzle right in the Goldilocks zone. Fave was SPLIT ENDS.

    [I want to apologize if I’ve appeared too critical in past weeks. The world recently lost the wonderful Mrs. Dr. W. after a long illness, and it has taken its toll. I might still be a grumpy old fart, but I’ll try to be less grumpy from now on.]

    Thanks B&P

  3. Thanks Brummie, it’s always fun. I liked many clues including SPLIT ENDS, DURER, and MORTUARY. I only guessed at WAVERLEY as I hadn’t known about the novel and was also slowed down by BOUNDLESS which I overthought until I realized how simple it was. Thanks PeterO for the blog.

  4. [Dr WhatsOn: Welcome back after such a heart wrenching ordeal. I always liked reading your posts and never thought they were unduly critical.]

  6. Enjoyable with a few head scratchers. I dIdn’t know enough about Scott to know that Waverley is a novel, and I couldn’t account for the “ley”. New to me: beano — Collins says it’s British slang? A few loose definitions, such as utensil/device and knead/press, but I’m probably being overly picky. Favourite clue was probably INUNDATE.

    Thanks Brummie & PeterO.

  8. Ithought LEY in WAVERLEY was clued as arable land, but a ley is sown grassland: eg a 1, 2 or 3 year ley and the old term LEA is a meadow. Otherwise I enjoyed this . Favourites were SPLIT ENDS and THREE IRON.
    Thanks Both,

  9. Dr Whatson, so sorry to hear of your loss. Much strength to you at this tough time. Long may you curmudgeon (verb??).

  10. So sorry for your loss Dr W. I look forward to your future grumps. This was on the easy side for Brummie, with lots of nice surfaces. However, I thought it lacked the usual sense of humour, with not many smiles. Favourites were THREE IRON and INUNDATE. DELFT holds many happy memories for me as a younger man.

    Ta Brummie & PeterO.

  11. Dr Whatson, my condolences. So sad. Please keep grumping. The world needs grumps.

    22d – I’m not quite getting FOR to mean wanting. Is it as in “I’m all for that” ? Any other examples?

    8a WAVERLEY somehow seems more than just a story.

    Otherwise no complaints, and nice start to the day. Thanks Brummie and PeterO

  14. Commiserations DrW. Your comments are always welcome and I hope that you find the crosswords a welcome distraction at a very difficult time.
    I enjoyed this challenge from Brummie.

  15. Thanks Brummie and PeterO
    Yes, mostly straightforward, though I was held up by entering FORESTALL at 14d (surely there must be a director called Forest?)

    [Condolences on your loss, DrW.]

  17. A good Brummie puzzle, that. Some very clever clues including LOSSMAKER, BOUNDLESS, MORTUARY, INUNDATE, SPLIT ENDS and CORSET.

    [My condolences to you, Dr W. By the way I never interpreted your comments as overly critical or grumpy, just insightful challenges, so don’t go changing]

    Thanks to Brummie and PeterO.

  18. Didn’t find this as gentle as some, failing on SUSS, the GROSS of GROSS OUT, and GNUS, for which I tried ANTS (it ends with a “way, back” after all…) Not sure about device=utensil or for=wanting. But I did enjoy it, particularly the smoothly disguised defs for MORTUARY, SPLIT ENDS and ELYSIAN FIELDS, and BOUND LESS made me smile.

    Somebody really needs to find a new way of cluing the syllable UR.

  19. Liked SPLIT ENDS, STONEWALL.

    New: PROTEA = emblem of South Africa (thanks, google).

    Thanks, both.

    DrWhatsOn – I don’t think you are a grumpy old fart. Condolences on your loss of Mrs. Dr. W.

  20. Inflation seems to have hit Crosswordland. Not much money used to be “cent” or “p” or “d”, not BUCK or POUND. I don’t think I would have remembered Laker airlines without the crossers. [Condolences on your loss Dr. W.]

  21. Rather a lot I guessed but couldn’t parse this time.
    I’m still confused by “shock problem” = “split ends”. Actually, I’ve never understood what split ends are or why they are a problem, though they obviously bother a lot of people.

  25. ravenrider @21 Split ends happen when the ends of long hair fray, causing tangles and rough looking hair. They need cutting away to protect what’s left. Should you want to grow your hair longer, as is currently de rigueur for young women, that’s obviously a problem; not so much for those who have their hair cut short, shaved, or are otherwise not attempting to keep their barnets long.

    Interesting puzzle and I did wonder about a Walter Scott theme when I solved Waverley, but couldn’t find anything else when I looked.

    Thank you to PeterO and Brummie.

  26. I’ve always enjoyed your erudite comments Dr Whatson, so please continue, and welcome back after your sad loss.
    Like some I did not find this crossword particularly easy and ended up revealing BEANO because I had PRESET instead of CORSET, forgetting the belly synonym. Ah well, can’t do them all but can keep on trying.
    Thanks Brummie and PeterO

  27. INUNDATE first one in, and dare I say it, but the other solutions flooded in thereafter, with eyebrows raised about the provenance of FORUM only. Last one in GROSS OUT after trying out multi other possibilities, and the only clue that I didn’t find particularly satisfying to solve. Many thanks Brummie and PeterO. It’s years since I read WAVERLEY, but the distant memory helped with this, one of my last to be inserted….

  28. Not the knottiest of Brummies but full of well constructed clues and some nicely cryptic definitions.

    LOI for me was WAVERLEY – ‘story’ is not the most precise of definitions 🙂 . Congratulations to anyone who has actually read the novel. I find Scott completely indigestible.

    [Condolences to Dr WhatsOn. I have never found your interventions grumpy. There are other posters who are far more ill-tempered. I’m glad you’re back to contributing here and I hope you can find a little solace from the good wishes of all of us]

    Thanks to S&B

  29. A gentle solve today but plenty of fun along the way. UTENSIL was my fave. Such a simple, smooth surface.

    [Condolences Dr WhatsOn, such sad, sad news. I wish you strength and resilience, and feel free to be as grumpy as you like.]

    Thanks Brummie and PeterO

  30. Pleasant start to the week (after Monday).

    I never did sort out the wreck in BEANO. A nice anagram to get ELYSIAN FIELDS. I’m not sure if the definition of GROSS OUT is show disgust; I suppose it can be a noun as well as a verb.

    [Dr.Whatson @2; sorry for your loss. Keep solving and posting as a good distraction from all the stress.]

    Thanks Brummie and PeterO.

  31. [Condolences DrWatson. I went through the same about 10 years ago. It never goes away but it does subside with time]

  32. [Gervase@28 I haven’t read WAVERLEY, but we read Ivanhoe at school when I was about 12 or 13, and I seem to remember enjoying it. However recently I tried The Bride of Lammermoor, and that was hard work. Being a fan of the Donizetti operatic version I thought I’d give it a try. ]

  33. 23 dn : The German has embraced uplifting rugby ; such an artist ! ??

    I think there might be a Brummie theme to look at ‘lesser items from the film industry’ here.
    LOSSMAKER & GROSS OUT are opposite ends of the spectrum from the movies money obtained angle and I think there are films : 3 IRON, SCANDAL. the man from the ELYSIAN FIELDS, SPLIT ENDS … ( probably more but no time to look )

    Sorry to hear about your loss Dr. W. The same happened to me three years ago and I know it’s not easy. Keep on 15^2-ing. Funnily enough, as I type this, I look up at 3 Baby Birth Plates — DELFT pottery — which my late wife custom designed and which we picked up from the DELFT factory, living in The Netherlands at the time. Keep your memories precious.

    Thank you Brummie and PeterO — nice pics, once again.

  34. … a funny thing happened on the way to the FORUM. …
    ( once saw the original play in Liverpool — hilarious ! )

  35. [Just to add my condolences to Dr WhatsOn. Nice to see you back with the rest of us grumps]
    Thanks to Brummie and to PeterO, especially for explaining ‘on a wreck’ in BEANO. I was trying to make ‘wreck’ = ‘no’.

  36. BEANO 1D defeated me, but otherwise delightful and thanks to PeterO and Brummie.

    Re. the comment, “As frequently in crosswords, a ‘corporation’ is a belly, particularly a prominent one”, as a late-life newcomer to cryptics, I continue to learn things that are widely known to the more experienced solvers. Is there perhaps a resource where one can study up on these conventions?

  37. Dr Seuss

    PROTEA as a flower was new to me. I was wondering why single-celled organisms could be emblems of South Africa or anywhere else. LAKER Airways was also new.

    Gladys@13 I got hung up on the “way, back” too. Cats? Rats? Bats? They all vocalize, but that didn’t seem enough.

    Robi@30 I agree that GROSS OUT doesn’t mean “show disgust.” It means something more like “evoke disgust.” “That recipe grosses me out.”

    Dr W, It’s hard, hard, hard to adjust to a loss of someone wonderful. I hope your fifteensquared family can be among your sources of comfort.

    Thanks to Brummie and PeterO.

  40. [Dear Dr W
    I’d noticed your absence, and am truly sorry to learn the reason for it.
    Please don’t go changing the tone of your comments: when I first found FS, yours were my favourites – sometimes witty and erudite, often funny, always sharp as a pin. It’s a pleasure reading them!
    My deepest condolences]

  41. Jacob @36 – since you’re obviously on the Guardian crossword page anyway, go to the Blog. They’ve been rolling out helpful hints for beginners for ages, so there are many you can cast your eye over that experienced buffs come to naturally.

  42. I had no hope with WAVERLEY, but other than that this was smooth sailing. (Of course “Western state” had me thinking at first of California, Utah, and the like, which I assume was meant to be the trick. I did also think of “state” as a verb, but I never quite arrived at the answer.) Laker as an airline is a new one for me; to me it’s either a basketball player in Los Angeles or a lake trout.

    We could clue UR as “original”–it’s used as a prefix with that meaning in German all the time, and enough English-language writers have picked up that habit from them that I think it’s fair.

    Sorry for your loss, Dr W. And no, you’re not grumpy that I can see.

  44. I have the same problem as Jacob@36. “Old city is obviously UR, well for cor is a cliche, corporation and stomach synonyms”
    Well not for me – but I’m learning – slowly.
    Only time for a quick look today – enjoyed Elysian fields and Mortuary. Thanks to all bloggers for their help.

  45. Liked MORTUARY but thought “story” a vague definition for WAVERLEY which I read a couple of years ago. Also “dozens” for GROSS ?
    Anyway good fun. Thanks both.

  46. [Thank you everybody for your very kind words of condolence and support. They brought tears to my eyes. I’ll still try to be more like Doc than Grumpy, but right now it’s more a case of Sneezy! I’ve always thought of this as a wonderful community to belong to and participate in, and your comments have demonstrated that admirably.]

  48. [Wow, I wondered what happened to that cut-and-paste operation – now I see it landed in my moniker field @46]

  49. Great stuff, very much enjoyed this. Thanks, Brummie & PeterO. MORTUARY was my favourite too. Well for COR might be a bit of a cliché these days but “Well prepared” is a really tidy charade for CORSET, and nicely misleading, so that was another favourite.

    mrpenney @42 – here’s one I made earlier:
    Put original in storage, arranged substitute (9)

    Condolences, DrW. You have a free pass to be as grumpy as you need to be right now.

  50. nicbach @8
    LEA/LEY: Chambers and the OED list three words with these (and other) spellings. The first is the meadow that you mention, and the second is arable land; the quote “The lowing herd winds slowly o’er the lea” more likely uses the first. Chambers gives different etymology for the two, but in view of the similarity of meaning, I would suspect that confusion is responsible for the convergence on the same group of spellings.

    Jacob @36 and Andy Luke @41
    As for a compilation of setters’ tricks, the problem is that most cryptic setters are constantly on the lookout for new ways to obfuscate; when a trick is particularly successful or useful, it is likely to be repeated to the point of cliché (here we have COR – enjoying a vogue at the moment – and UR). When that happens, setters will move on to something else, so that a compilation would be aiming at a moving target. The obvious solution is to solve more crosswords, and, of course, to follow fifteensquared.

    Robi @30 and Valentine @37
    16A GROSS OUT: that is why I underlined just ‘disgust (verb) as definition, leaving ‘show’ as a link word.

  52. Gervase @28 WAVERLEY was my LOI too, but only because the geography of my solving led me last to the NW corner. I am surprised you find Scott impossible: Waverley is a book in know inside out and back to front and taught for years, and when I lacked the internet for a week a few years ago after moving to my current address, it was the first book I sat in a sunny spot by the big front windows and reread. Lanark by Alasdair Gray was the second, so maybe it is a Scottish thing. I remember that the one Scottish student whom I taught it to in my southern English university instantly installed it as her favourite novel. It is certainly in my top 5.

  55. Widdersbel @49: Good one!

    Rob / Muffin–it looks like Laker Airways’ main moneymaker was their Gatwick-JFK route, later also adding Gatwick-LAX, so they did serve this country. I’d still never heard of them! (I’m 48, for the record.)

  57. [May I add my condolences to Dr. W – sorry for your loss.]

    Not easy I thought, and thanks PeterO for explaining DELFT (I think that I have seen ‘led’ for ‘first’ before, but it hasn’t sunk in yet. Maybe after today.) My favourite was CRADLE – liked the definition and also the little misdirection as I look for pb as soon as see lead, and think ‘head’ for ‘rocker’. Thanks Brummie

  58. [Sorry to hear of your sad news Dr. W. Your comments have never seemed grumpy to me – only well-considered & pertinent. Time will take the sharp edges off your pain, but will never diminish the good memories you hold.]

    I agree that the meaning of the answer to 16a doesn’t sit with the definition, and the clue to 9a would be more succinct without the redundant “protection”.

  59. Thanks PeterO and Brummie. I always like clues that tease a bit by using experience solving against you, e.g. I got stuck on STILTS for a while because I was sure “tip” would mean trash now that I’ve finally learned that meaning, and I’ve seen “golf club” used to indicate “iron” somewhere in the wordplay enough that it took a while for it to occur it me it could be the definition.
    I was pleased to have finally remembered the crossword definition of “corporation”; sending encouragement to folks learning the quirky crossword building blocks. I stumbled on http://sphinx.mythic-beasts.com/~mark/random/indicators/ ages ago and still use it as a reference from time to time.

    [Thank you for sharing that, Dr W, and so sorry for your loss.]

  60. muffin@43: Perhaps you need to be of a certain age to know about Sir Freddie Laker and his airline. That said, it is important in that I believe it was the first of its kind in this country. Keenly fought by the Labour governments of the seventies. From memory I think the SoS was Peter Shore (very much a Bennite whose principal concern was workers rather than consumers per se). There was even a court case. A pity Laker’s company didn’t succeed, but it was a pathfinder. I recall when my mother went on a package holiday to Spain with a friend in the mid 70s it cost a month’s salary (at least) just for the fare. The likes of Easyjet have enabled ordinary people in much greater numbers to travel and broaden their minds. I, for one, am grateful to Sir Freddie.

  61. [Deepest Condolences Dr. W]

    Nuntius @60, my uncle worked with Sir Freddie, and as you say, he was ahead of his time. I think it’s fair to say that the established airlines closed ranks and Freddie was crushed. EasyJet et al had it easier, by comparison. Some info here:

  63. I was fooled by THERMOS since, as well as being hidden in the clue, it happens to be an anagram of “her most” as well…so I found myself in a most convoluted state trying to turn “In fact…” into an anagrind.

    I am with Nic Bach @8 and Didcotian @47 in objecting to the LEY not being a meadow — Chambers and Peter O @ 50 notwithstanding.

    [Allow me to join the whole thread in extending my condolences, Dr Watson]

  64. Got a lot further with this than I normally do with Brummie, defeated by WAVERLEY in the end, still, very enjoyable. Laughed at SUSS, spent far to long trying to the word “tureen” into 18ds “soup holder”, definitely sent the wrong way there. Thanks Brummie and PeterO (without wishing to seem too bold, as I don’t post here often, I should also like to join the rest of the thread in offering my condolences to Dr WhatsOn)

  65. My condolences too, Dr WhatsOn. Enjoy being grumpy — the right to be so is one of the very few advantages of getting old!

  66. Late in the day but heartfelt strength for you, Dr What’s On at what must be a very weird time for you. It seems you’re loved here just the way you are!

  67. Dr. WhatsOn, may I add my condolences on your loss. Your comment@46 reminds us of the wonderful sense of community on this site. It is comforting to know that there is this group that can feel like a family when one is faced with a time of grief. I hope we bring you a modicum of comfort. Take care of yourself, and rejoin us fully when you are ready.

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