Guardian 29,025 / Picaroon

94 comments on “Guardian 29,025 / Picaroon”

1. Thanks Picaroon and Eileen
   Very enjoyable. My favourite was SOFT TISSUE as I built it up from its parts.
   It took a while to see how 25 worked.
   In what context is rule R (in ARVO)?

2. muffin @1 – I wondered, too. Chambers says ‘abbr. rule (law)’

3. Plenty of smiles, some verging on chuckles, no groans but a few head scratchers. I got SINEW but couldn’t parse it, likewise ENSUE (why is sue appeal?) I’m pleased that I’m finally far enough up the cryptocruciverbalistic learning curve to have recognised the girl and boy swans in 1d. No idea at all for 4d. And HARISSA is new to my lexicon.

   I was the teeniest bit frustrated that there was a British place I’d never heard of in 9a, but all was forgiven when I found a good old Aussie contraction in ARVO (after wasting time scanning a list of Australian prime ministers)! (I’d have pronounced FURNESS with the accent on the second syllable, but judging by the wordplay I’d have been wrong, yes?)

   My favourite today was probably MOOD, which, along with ARVO, brought me closest to a chuckle.

   Thanks Picaróon & Eileen.

4. I’m chuffed to have got 25a from the available letters but I would never have worked it out from the word play. ELIA and ARVO are new to me.

5. What a fun crossword! Last one in was of course 23d, one of my favourites, and I only got 4d just before but could not parse it.
   So thanks Eileen, and thanks of course to Picaroon

6. Just the one name today (Mel) after yesterday’s plethora. I liked ADJUSTMENT and SOFT TISSUE, but had completely forgotten about ELIA.

7. GDU @3
   SUE – Collins: ‘to make suppliant requests of (someone for something)’
   Chambers: ‘to petition for; to entreat’.

   I chortled at the juxtaposition of BARROW -IN -FURNESS And ARVO!

8. Another toughie today, with lots of clever misdirections. I could see what was going with Peter and peer but took ages to come up with DISHEARTENINGLY. I trust our Oz friends are happy with ARVO after yesterday’s comments about UK bias. Lots of favourites inc BARROW-IN-FURNESS (UK biased), MELODIOUS, STIPPLES, NEHRU, SCRAP METAL and NEEDLES. Super stuff from the pirate.

   Ta Picaroon & Eileen.

9. This was a delight and I didn’t want it to end.

   I, too, wasted time trawling Aussie PMs as I didn’t know R as an abbreviation for rule.

   A dnf, I’m afraid, as I had to reveal ELIA due to time constraints.

   Many thanks, both.

10. Very good. Being unfamiliar with the spice girls and Australian slang I was grateful for the explanations.

11. This was a terrific puzzle. However, I haven’t previously encountered ELIA so needed your assistance.

    Loved his prize puzzle at the weekend, too.

12. The buccaneer never disappoints ! Smooth surfaces throughout and I loved the misdirection of “flick” in the final clue and “Aussie PM” trying to entice into brainstorming Oz leaders.

    As kids, we were always proposing and planning and, although “flick” was most definitely slang for “film”, we didn’t have the Aussie word “arvo” at our disposal. So it was “shall we go to see that Buster Crabbe flick this avvy ?”, “this avvy” being Northern slang for “this afternoon”.

    Thank you Picaroon and Eileen.

13. I really enjoyed this, digging up ELIA from somewhere as meaning Lamb somehow, but not remembering why.

    Thank you to Picaroon and Eileen.

14. Thanks Eileen for your enlightenment regarding Sue!

15. This was in the Cinderella zone for me, so thanks to Picaroon for that and to Eileen for a few details of parsing I missed. It’s worth remembering ELIA as it’s such a useful word for setters. There’s a bust of Charles Lamb in London that describes him as “Perhaps the best-loved name in English literature”. How times and tastes change!

16. Lovely combination of the Indian PM and the Aussie pm.

    GDU @3, yes, Furness has the stress on the first syllable, like happiness, but unlike Dungeness and Shoeburyness.

    Memories of the bubbles in Aero chocolate helped me with AERATION.

    Irresistabubble, thanks P & E.

17. Well, Petert @6, there was at least one other name – one I didn’t know: the Smith woman. Luckily for me, I did know the Charles Lamb/Elia connection, though it was my LOI. ARVO delighted this Aussie, and as I once played basketball in Barrow-in-Furness, it didn’t worry me (but you are right about the pronunciation, GDU @3). I liked Robert Frost’s poetry, CHARMLESS, FEUDALIST, INTEGER, ADJUSTMENT (I had AD…T, and when I spotted the males only, broke into a huge grin). I remebered the two Spices in time to correct an only part parsed ARRIVED (the ‘rival’ rather than Democrat = D was neat). Chewy, but a fairer test than the others this week, I thought. Thanks, Picaroon and Eileen.

18. Doh! I did of course mean the Goldilocks zone!

19. eb @16 – so my memory of BiF from all those years ago is wrong? Oh well.

20. The most recent two outings of Elia were Sep 9 2022 Maskarade and Mar 8 2022 Brendan, as far as I can see. I agree it doesn’t appear as often as it used to.

    Managed to finish today, which is rare for me for a Picaroon, to whom thanks; and to Eileen of course.

21. TT @19 – I’ve never played basketball there, in fact I think the closest I’ve been is the Lake District, but I’ve always said ‘furnace’.

22. esexboy@16 I would say there is no stress on either syllable in “Furness”, as pronounced locally.

23. Most enjoyable. Multiple ticks, for BARROW IN FURNESS, MELODIOUS, WASPS NEST, MANHANDLE, ADJUSTMENT, and RHYME to name just a few. Had to look up ARVO to confirm its place. NE corner last to yield. Bravo, Picaroon this morning…

24. Enjoyed this and found it easier than yesterday’s but still needed some help parsing a few.

    Some lovely clues including: FEUDALIST, GOLF COURSE, ADJUSTMENT, SOFT TISSUE

    Got ELIA from the crosses (and having Delia’s cookbook).

    Was misled by the misdirection in 8d – took me ages to spot it was an anagram and get WASPS NEST.

    Thanks both.

25. In 1 down, is “with pen” strictly necessary or a sort of distracter or the aid needed to indicate swan territory? Just asking. Enjoyed this. Many thanks Picaroon and Eileen.

26. DE @22, in all furness I’m not a local, but I still think the clue was fur.

27. I wouldn’t be surprised if the locals simply called it ‘Barrow’, like the village on the River Soar near here, where I spent my very early years.

28. eb @26 – not questioning the fairness (furiness?) – when I got this one, I thought it very clever, and gave not a thought to any subtle difference in stress. Close enough is good enough for me on homophones/ punny clues.

29. To further confuse the issue, I’ve generally heard the Furness area pronounced with the stress on the scond syllable, but the town without that stress.

30. Another treat from Picaroon – my particular favourites were 4d and 23d

    Many thanks to Picaroon and Eileen

31. The Venn diagram of Picaroon’s idea of general knowledge and my idea of it has only a small overlap. Never heard of “wen”, and Elia is something I may have come across once.

32. Ta, Dave @20, probly would’ve done that Brendan last year, but no Eliia bell rang, had to reveal. [Delia, otoh, I then saw immediately, as she’s loved in this family as a benefactor].

33. Hearing the ABC news in the background, our PM just this minute mentioned Barrow-in-Furness. How about that!

34. Like William @ 9, I didn’t want this to end. Lots of fun: ARVO, LEGO, CHARMLESS, BARROW IN F and FIRM all made me grin – and ADJUSTMENT was a delight. After the last 3 days, it was good to start the morning with an enjoyable crossword again.
    Big thanks to Picaroon for the pleasure, and to Eileen for a predictably classy blog.

35. Geoff Down Under @3, you must have missed the recent news where the new AUKUS subs are going to built in Barrow (and yes Eileen @7 it was an apposite juxtaposition with ARVO). I think I’ve been to Barrow once, but much preferred the hills and crags a bit further north.
    I don’t really like things like ELIA without a DBE for lamb.
    Lots of nice stuff with favourites ARVO (of course I might just have a sambo after going to the bottle-o before I hit the pillow), WASPS NEST (which anagram took me ages) and INTEGER (clever).

36. Indeed, Tim C @35, and hence our PM mentioning BinF on the national news just now. Not that I’m thrilled about spending untold hundreds of billions on military hardware.

37. Another excellent crossword from Picaroon.

    I liked the ‘male with a pen’, the ‘large old copper’, the surface and anagram for WASPS NEST, the just men in ADJUSTMENT, and the surface of LEGO. I did wonder for a while if NEEDLES really means ‘gets’ rather than ‘gets at’. However, I think if you say that something gets me, that can mean needles me.

    Thanks Picaroon for an enjoyable solve and Eileen for the usual comprehensive blog (and sorting out E-COMMERCE for me).

38. Enjoyed this a lot after the last couple of puzzles being a bit too tough for me. Failed to parse SINEW or DISHEARTENINGLY. Got ARVO and then did indeed check to see if that was an obscure Australian leader..! Thank you to Picaroon and Eileen.

39. Robi @37, the def for NEEDLES is ‘gets to’ (as per Eileen’s underlining), as in ‘it really got to me’.

    Martin W @25, your query got a bit lost in all the furness-ing. My answer would be yes, the ‘with pen’ is an ‘aid needed to indicate swan territory’, as well as being a neat piece of misdirection when coupled with ‘artist’ – great clue.

40. Robi @37 – re 7dn: it’s ‘gets to‘ (not at) in the clue, which I would certainly use to mean ‘needles’. I couldn’t find it in Collins or Chambers but found this online in the Macmillan dictionary:
    ‘(get to someone) to annoy or upset someone
    After a while his teasing started to get to me.’
    ‘Get at’ to me means to poke fun at or ridicule.

41. Sorry for the cross, eb @39!

42. Mostly enjoyable, but I felt that 6A, 10A, and 4D were borderline GK, although 4D apparently is well known to older hands.

    Thanks to Picaroon and to Eileen for several parsings that baffled me.

43. Aussie PM has been seen before and (D)ELIA is under LAMB in the CDD-almost standard fare.Poor old Delia
    They were the easy ones
    I loved the cunning stunt of LEGO-need a new tea tray now.
    Three good puzzles in a row in the Graun
    Thanks Pickers and Eileen

44. Robi @37 ‘gets to’ = ‘gets at’ in this context I think.

    Some brilliant clues here, SOFT TISSUE probably my favourite. Will look out for ELIAs in the future!

45. I guessed 6a then the ‘great wen’ bubbled up when I reversed the letters. I’ve probably never been near 9a, but it still rang a bell. Thanks Picaroon and Eileen.

46. Whoops, apols, Eileen and essexboy both explain this far better than me.

47. Martin W @25 and essex boy @39 – I’ve only just realised that I didn’t elaborate on ‘pen’ in 1dn in the blog: amended now.

48. Superb puzzle. I didn’t quite finish as I had not heard of ARVO, and wen in SINEW was buried far too deep within my old brain to retrieve. I had heard of ELIA and managed that without too much difficulty. Poor old Lamb had a hard life… Three days of rather challenging puzzles. I wonder what Friday will bring…With thanks to Picaroon and Eileen.

49. A really delightful crossword, another on the gentler side. I agree with Eileen’s comments but my favourite was FEUDALIST.

    Thanks Picaroon and Eileen

50. Not often I have to admit, DNF with two 4-letter lights unfilled. I did guess at both ARVO and ELIA but had to google them. Perhaps I ought to have remembered ELIA as Charles Lamb’s nom-de-plume, but the GK escaped me. And ARVO? Must I go and live in Oz for several years to pick up all the necessary slang? When I tried Wiki all I got was Arvo as a Finnish name.

    I won’t cry ‘unfair’ because I guess many Australian solvers feel aggrieved about obscure British slang. So it’s sort of tit-for-tat…

    Loved BARROW-IN-FURNESS. Nice misdirection with me at first taking ‘heated’ for an anagrind. But I suppose, once again, sympathy with non-Brits who’ve never heard of the place.

    Thanks to Pickers and Eileen.

51. Relatively benign offering from the Pirate today. Some lovely cryptic definitions and constructions, as already noted by our colleagues.

    ARVO was unknown to me, but the clue pointed directly at it, and my LOI was ELIA as I kept looking at it the wrong way (L removed from a celeb = chef), though I’m familiar with the unfortunate essayist and St Delia of Norwich.

    SOFT TISSUE, SCRAP METAL and WASPS NEST were favourites, amongst others.

    ‘Seaside town’ usually indicates a resort, which BARROW (and that’s what they usually call it) emphatically is not, being very much a working town, so this falls into the category of slightly cryptic definitions 🙂

    Thanks to Picaroon and Eileen

52. I was annoyed to have missed ELIA which I had come across and even entered as a correct answer several times before. My only excuse is that I didn’t think of DELIA Smith as a ‘celebrity chef’; what would I know but I thought her ordinariness was the key to her charm. I did remember “The Great Wen” as part of SINEW and liked INTEGER.

    Interesting to hear of the conjunction of the reality of the world out there and crossword land with the news of the ‘Aussie PM’ and BARROW-IN-FURNESS.

    Thanks to Picaroon and Eileen

53. Did know good old Elia, but not Delia the cook or the Spice Girls. I do know “odious” but didn’t think of it.

    I got as far as BAR*O*-in-Furness. What was that missing 3-letter word meaning fight? Surely it isn’t BARBOX? Took me a while.

    LEGO may be cunning, but the surface doesn’t make sense –“What may make models flipping love haircare product,” means just what, then?

    Enjoyed it last night, finished the last few (with the check button) this morning. Thanks to Picaroon and Eileen.

54. Pretty good but the bar had been raised pretty high by Imogen and Vlad this week so in comparison it felt a bit tame
    Pangakupu clued the great wen earlier this year which must have lodged in the memory banks
    Loved 25a – I could see what needed to be done to Peter (not a safe for once) but it took me a DISHEARTENINGLY long time to get the word

    Cheers P&E

    ps: How do all the people who thought Tim Henman was too old a reference for younger solvers feel about ELIA?

55. pps: 25a Is Peter an oblique reference to the enoblement of one of Bojo’s croneys Peter Cruddas ?

56. Was anyone else disappointed that the Aussie PM was ARVO, not ALBO?

57. Valentine@53.
    Flipping is not to be taken literally, perhaps try a different transitive that begins with f.

58. Valentine @53, does it help to recall that “flipping” can be an intensifier (standing in for “f…ing”)?

59. Thanks Eileen as I forgot to look up ELIA, which needed both crossers and a rummage in the lumber-room, I had decided it was a reference to some biblical sacrifice.
    Another wonderful collection of misdirection, wit and creativity, thanks Picaroon.

60. Thanks eb@39 & Eileen@40; I should have looked more closely at the blog!

61. Didn’t know ARVO and forgot ELIA.
    Thanks both

62. Thanks Picaroon & Eileen
    It’s only two Picaroon puzzles since the discussion on whether ‘what tennis player does after a let’ indicates RESERVE (as was the actual solution) or RESERVES, and here the opposite approach is taken with ‘something painter does’ for STIPPLES. Whatever the merits of either point of view (i.e. lots on the side of RESERVE, none on the other ; ) ), the inconsistency can’t be a good thing.
    I was surprised when the s/he in 2d did not turn out to be part of the wordplay. It doesn’t add anything to the clue, and is only partially inclusive from a gender point of view. I wondered if it was left for a decision and forgotten.

63. Great stuff as usual from Pickers, only a couple of the parsings had me stumped – DISHEARTENININGLY (obvious when you know) and SINEW. Hadn’t come across “The Great Wen” as a term for London before, but how very apposite – if London was a “monstrous carbuncle” in the 1820’s due to its over-population and growth, what must it be now?!

64. Thanks Picaroon for an excellent crossword that hit the sweet spot for me. I was pleased to solve the unknown ARVO, BARROW-IN -FURNESS, and STIPPLES from the wordplay alone. I knew ELIA because I had done a high school English paper on Charles Lamb. I had many favourites including SOFT TISSUE, SCRAP METAL, WASPS NEST, ADJUSTMENT, MANHANDLE, INTEGER, and FIRM. I couldn’t parse 25a. Thanks Eileen for the help.

65. James @62: STIPPLES can describe a texture, thus a noun, not a verb.

66. ELIA is still a staple of American-style crosswords, due to the greater need for short words that soak up vowels. But even here, he’s started to ebb a bit, as most well-edited crosswords have striven to modernize their vocabulary. (More rap groups than long-dead essayists these days.)

    I also did know ARVO, and was pleased not to have to look up Australian prime ministers; great clue, BTW. I also appreciated MELODIOUS.

67. [Also, even clued as “Director Kazan”, it’s sort of gotten rarer, even though that reference puts you in the 20th century (and includes a lot of really great and influential films).]

68. mrpenney: It would be interesting to know how many people who tackle the Guardian cryptic on a daily basis could name even one rap group….I’m always willing to keep an open mind…just…

69. I suspect that many Guardian solvers were more familiar with Elia than Delia!

70. Melodious. Brilliant! Worth the admission fee alone!

71. [Nuntius @68 – it’s not long since we had M&M and Eminem by the sound of it (5,7) – straight outta Halpern.]

72. Another frisson today – it took me until 17d HARISSA before I broke in. It always tickles me that I can pass over so many clues and then solve them later once I’ve harnessed my, erm, resolve.

    GOLF COURSE was my favourite ‘LEGO’ clue (is that right?) among many with WASPS NEST getting special mention. But ELIA defeated me (although it shouldn’t have (apparently – not paying attention perhaps or just old dog syndrome?)).

    Thanks to Picaroon for being a continuous source of entertainment and to Eileen for an exemplary blog (and in particular for fully elaborating your favourites in the rubric (is that right?) giving both their numbers and their solutions and thereby obviating the (to me tedious) mooching back and forth otherwise required).

73. essexboy@71: After posting the above I looked at some lists for rap groups (it’s groups that mrpenney mentions). I only recognised two: The Beastie Boys was one…I’ve already forgotten the other (!).. M&M and Eminem I thought were the same (?) .. pardon my ignorance)…Eminem not listed presumably as he’s an individual rapper and not a group. I don’t know whether he also performs as part of a group.

74. I did not parse 6ac & 25ac and I failed to solve 4d ELIA. Never heard of Elia – but funnily enough, I am reading a book about Byron and the Shelleys and their circle and I think that Charles Lamb might have been mentioned in it.

    Favourites: EXACT, ADJUSTMENT, FIRM.

    Thanks, both.

75. I’ll give a SWEET WRAPPER of a ‘counter’ to James@62 / agreement with TT@65 :

    I was a complainant on the RESERVE/(S) issue and eventually came to be happy with RESERVE when I looked once more at the use of “what player does” within the clueing. He/she does RESERVE answering the “what?”. James wrote up the most compelling reasoning.

    This time the clueing starts “Something …” and I reckon STIPPLES can be justified either by noun or verb thoughts

    (noun) In your minds eye synomynize “does” with “makes” and answer with the noun that is something made

    A la “A welder does brazes”,
    A PAINTER DOES STIPPLES

    (verb) Something painter does -> he/she STIPPLES

    Our setters can sometimes have trouble with inventing the crossers and getting their right lengths sorted; we should give them some poetic licence.

    Anyone recall that stippled product Artex ? I know members of my family who paid the plasterer/painter to have the Artex stippled finish. Then, when the fashions changed, they paid, yet again, to have it all removed !

76. At last…after tu

77. Start again…at last after Tuesday and Wednesday a crossword I could actually do…a few to parse, 4d and 17d where new to me. 17d was gettable from the clue, 4d was too obscure.
    Nice reverse lurker in 16a…
    Thanks both…

78. Flea @75 – nasty stuff, Artex, then older versions had asbestos in them.

79. Nuntius @68, first rapper alarm was Eminem. Our kids were safe, born pre and matured post, but our younger mates were appalled at their kids’ attention to misogynenist rant.

80. Another cracker of a puzzle. Faves were BARROW-IN-FURNESS, SCRAP METAL and the Subbuteo clue. (Go, Real Falkirk!)
    Thanks, Pickers and Ei.

81. phitonelly @80
    I remember Playing for Real (I wonder how many others do?), but which is the Subbuteo clue?

82. Get to my age, and any 4-letter solution mentioning lamb or essayist means Elia, e.g. “OT priest a British essayist?” Likewise, those elderly enough to be familiar with the glorious vocabulary of Barrington Bradman Bing McKenzie will have had little difficulty with Arvo. Starve the lizards!

83. Flea @75, TassieTim @65, it being a noun I concede voids the argument on a technicality. Still, ‘painter does stipples (n)’ is barely less silly than ‘painter does stipples (v)’

84. I can only echo Alphalpha @72 – “Thanks to Picaroon for being a continuous source of entertainment and to Eileen for an exemplary blog.”

    I don’t think I’ve ever read any Charles Lamb but I did enjoy Peter Ackroyd’s novel, The Lambs of London. I’m also a fan of NWA and Public Enemy, among other exponents of the fine art of hip-hop. And I bought the first Spice Girls album when it came out. Not sure if I’ve ever been to Barrow-in-Furness but I do know that Chewits are even chewier than its bus depot.

    Flea @75 – you’re over-thinking it, it works fine as a verb, with or without the S.

85. muffin @81,
    24

86. p@85
    Of course!

87. I loved this – it was surprisingly easier than a usual Picaroon. Thanks for the parsing of dishearteningly – just couldn’t see it.
    I remember reading Lamb’s Tales of Shakespeare as a teenager. As far as I remember, in the preface Lamb stated this was written for girls who didn’t get the same access as boys to their father’s library.

88. DNF due to having “aerating” for 20a (rating of e.g. a plug can indicate a limit). Still can’t think of a context in which “making bubbly” can be replaced by “aeration”.

89. Oh, I suppose “Making bubbles causes your drink to become fizzy.”, but it feels forced. And in any case the clue is, at best, ambiguous

90. Note to self – must try harder with the parsing. Have had 4d before but had forgotten it & ought to have twigged the why with DISHEARTENINGLY.
    Lovely puzzle. Thanks to P&E

91. I enjoyed this. DISHEARTENINGLY was my LOI, which i got from the crossers. I stared at it for quite a while, unable to parse it. Once the penny dropped, I thought it was a truly great clue.

    Thanks to Eileen and Picaroon.

92. Because the most famous Arvo is Arvo Part, I wonder if parts and specifically body parts might not be a theme: arm, leg, hand, heart, sinew, all scattered throughout (actually armless, dishearten).

93. Everyone around here says Barrow. If they say the full name, they would rhyme furness with furnace.

    Great puzzle, as always.

    Neil

94. Sorry for late comment but moods are not necessarily morose. (3d)

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