Guardian Saturday Prize Crossword 29,075 by Picaroon (20 May 2023)

by

A first glance at the clues shows that 11A is going to be the key to this puzzle…as it is cross-referenced in no fewer than fifteen other clues!

And so it proved…11A is MUSIC, and there are numerous musical genres spread around the grid, plus a couple of other references, in OBOE and AIRS.

(I’ve added RAG from RAGED, although I think technically that should be RAGTIME, which may be why it isn’t explicitly referenced in the clue. And at a stretch, (HOT) GOSSIP and (HOT) CHOCOLATE were respectively purveyors of Terpsichorean and Euterpean delights as well…)

And that was pretty much it, once the theme had been unlocked, although there was still a bit of work to do along the way, and plenty of time to enjoy some lovely surface readings, homophones and (double) definitions…

  • 9A CHOCOLATE with Charlie Brown in a cool hat and coat
  • Emma Raducanu at match-point, about to break her opponent’s serve at 13A RUPTURE
  • a teacher sporting a black eye in 5D HEADLAMP
  • Elon Musk as a ROCKETEER at 29A
  • prisoners being tormented in a gulag in PLAGUING
  • the INBRED/IN BREAD sandwich filling!
  • WRETCH/RETCH for the poor person’s ‘gag’ at 22D

I’m sure others will have had their own favourites.

(Maybe a slight DEARY-ME eyebrow-raise at HOUSEWIFE – maybe not a very politically correct term these days, especially for the Grauniad, but needs must when the grid and the crossers leave no other option, I guess?!)

Not quite as obscure a musical ‘theme’ as my last Grauniad blog (Brockwell’s ‘Catch a Fire‘ tribute, 20,051), and I suspect some may grumble below at the preponderance of cross-references/thematic material, maybe making it too ‘easy’ for a Prize slot?…

For my part, I found it a very enjoyable solve, and an impressive gridfill with all that material – my thanks to Picaroon…and I trust all is clear below.

 

Across
Clue No Solution Clue (definition underlined)

Logic/parsing
9A CHOCOLATE Awfully cool hat and coat for Charlie Brown (9)

anag, i.e. awfully, of COOL HAT + CE (coat, or outer letters, of CharliE)
10A BLUES People favouring the right kind of 11 (5)

double defn. – blue is traditionally the colour of right wing parties – so Tories, Republicans can be BLUES; and the BLUES is a kind of music, 11A)
11A MUSIC Spy university thus making notes on staff (5)

M (fictional spy, in James Bond books, films) + U (university) + SIC (thus)
12A ADDRESSEE Bill, exploding, sees red — he gets a talking-to (9)

AD (advert, bill) + DRESSEE (anag, i.e. exploding, of SEES RED)
13A RUPTURE Game point, Raducanu finally about to break (7)

RU (Rugby Union, game) + PT (point) + U (final letter of raducanU) + RE (about, regarding)
14A ASTRIDE American kind of 11 having two members around (7)

A (American) + STRIDE (kind of music, 11A, stride piano, jazz)
17A POP AT See 24 down (3,2)

see 24D
19A BOP Hit kind of 11 from the ’40s (3)

double defn. – to BOP someone can be to hit them; and BOP, or bebop, is a style of music (11A)

[my Chambers dates ‘bebop’ to the 1950s, but what’s a decade between friends?!]
20A RAGED Was violent Republican past it? (5)

R (Republican) + AGED (past it?)
21A DEARY ME I’m disappointed a remedy fails (5,2)

anag, i.e. fails, of A REMEDY
22A WINDIER More verbose kind of 11 in Wagner’s case (7)

W_R (outer letters, or case, of WagneR) around INDIE (another type of music – 11A)
24A HOUSEWIFE Kind of 11 provided in the Guardian for one working from home (9)

HOUSE (another type!) + W_E (the Guardian, from the setter’s point of view) around IF (provided)
26A DUBYA Ex-president’s kind of 11 always from the east (5)

DUB (another type of music) + YA (ay, always, reversed, or from the east)

[the ex-president being George W (Dubya) Bush]
28A DANCE Clubs plugging European kind of 11 for a 19? (5)

DAN_E (European) around (plugged by) C (clubs, cards)
29A ROCKETEER Kind of 11 and film always for poet or Elon Musk (9)

ROCK (another type of music) + ET (‘ET, the Extraterrestrial’, film) + EER (e’er, poetic, for ever)

[ET <-> film being an old chestnut of a cruciverbal abbreviation!]
Down
Clue No Solution Clue (definition underlined)

Logic/parsing
1D SCAM James Cameron screens The Sting (4)

hidden word in, i.e. screened by, ‘jameS CAMeron’
2D GOSSIP Gas from tap is so gently rising (6)

reversed hidden word, i.e. from and rising, in ‘taP IS SO Gently
3D LOW-COUNTRY Having the 10 kind of 11 from a flat region (3-7)

LOW (having the blues, 10A) + COUNTRY (another type of music – 11A)
4D GARAGE Jaguar may be kept here, getting kind of 11 (6)

double den – a Jaguar (car) may be kept in a GARAGE; and GARAGE is another genre of music – 11A)
5D HEADLAMP Shiner shown by teacher getting hit (8)

HEAD (teacher, headmaster) + LAMP (to thump, or hit)

[lamp -> thump appears as the third definition of lamp in one of my eChambers, but the other one only has 2 definitions…]
6D OBOE Honour to welcome old maker of 11 (4)

OB_E (Order of the British Empire, honour) around (welcoming) O (old)
7D OUTSWING For a ball, swerve unfashionable kind of 11 (8)

OUT (unfashionable) + SWING (yet another genre of music – 11A!)

[a cricketing term]
8D ISLE Man perhaps lies in a drunken state (4)

anag, i.e. in a drunken state, of LIES

[isle <-> Isle of Man <-> man being a fairly staple cruciverbal old chestnut as well!]
13D RAPID Kind of 11, one prelude from Debussy that’s allegro (5)

RAP (another kind of music, 11A) + I (one) + D (prelude, or first letter, of Debussy)
15D THRENODIES Lamentations I shortened in translation (10)

anag, i.e. in translation, of I SHORTENED

[I think I have only ever seen THRENODY/IES in crosswords!]
16D ELDER Foreign words for the respected figure in church (5)

EL and DER are both foreign words (from a UK perspective!) – definite articles from Spanish and German, respectively
18D PLAGUING Tormenting first of prisoners in gulag abroad (8)

P (first letter of Prisoners) + LAGUING (anag, i.e. abroad, of IN GULAG)
19D BREVIARY Great part of speech turning up on line in book (8)

BREVIA (A1, first rate, great, plus VERB, part of speech, all turning up) + RY (railway, line)
22D WRETCH Poor person’s gag when making a speech (6)

homophone, i.e. when making a speech – WRETCH (poor person) can sound like RETCH (gag, vomit)
23D INBRED Naturally possessed, like a sandwich filling, we hear (6)

homophone, i.e. we hear, sandwich filings are usually IN BREAD, which can sound like INBRED (innate, naturally possessed, as in ‘inbred talent’, not inbred as in bred from closely related parents!)
24D HAD A (POP AT) & 17 Laugh a tad oddly about kind of 11 getting attacked (3,1,3,2)

HA (laugh) + D A _ AT (anag, i.e. oddly, of A TAD) around POP (another kind of music – 11A)
25D EWER Right behind possible provider of milk jug (4)

EWE (female sheep, possible provider of milk) + R (right)
27D AIRS Pretentious behaviour in pieces of 11 (4)

double defn. – AIRS can be pretentious behaviour, ‘airs and graces’; and AIRS can be tunes or melodies – pieces of music (11A)

 

52 comments on “Guardian Saturday Prize Crossword 29,075 by Picaroon (20 May 2023)”

  1. I found this really enjoyable. The theme didn’t require any expert knowledge but gave smiles along the way.
    Thanks both

  2. Quite apart from whether HOUSEWIFE was “politically correct” or not, she (or he?) does not work from home. Those working *from* home have jobs that they could do in a regular place of work, but they have the option of doing it from home. Someone doing the work involved in looking after their own home can only do the work *at* home.

  3. Of course our solving community in the USA will quibble with both the clue and the blog with regard to “blue is traditionally the colour of right wing parties”! I imagine they’ll have been able to solve the clue OK, but it seemed a little clunky to me. Perhaps I’ve been following American politics too closely…

  4. Fortunately both 1d and 3d were relatively straightforward, making MUSIC easier to get. Thanks for explaining the P in HEADLAMP, rapper – NHO that meaning of lamp, but I did know ‘lam into’. And thanks to Picaroon, too.

  5. In my edition of Chambers BOP is described as both short for bebop and a development from it in the 1950s. I hate to argue with Chambers, but a quick Google search finds this: “Bebop, also known as rebop and bop, was birthed in the early to mid-1940s as a direct response to the swing-style music that had come before it.” Which makes the clue OK, and of course it was easy enough to see what the answer had to be. [“What’s a decade between friends?!” Paradoxically, perhaps, the time span seems shorter the older we get.]

    [Apologies for dominating the comments. I’ve just returned from watching an incredibly exciting game of rugby league in Leeds, and going straight to bed is not really an option while I’m still buzzing. I’ll try to restrain myself though.]

    Thanks to Picaroon and mc.

  6. Great fun. Almost every clue produced a smile, thanks Picaróon. Styles of music is of course a very rich resource — I couldn’t believe how many are listed on Wikipedia.

  7. Thanks Picaroon for an entertaining crossword. I had many favourites including CHOCOLATE (superb surface), OUTSWING, ISLE (another great surface), ELDER, and HOUSEWIFE. (I do think the clue for HOUSEWIFE would have been better with “working at home” rather than “from home” but I try to avoid the hair-splitting that seems so common these days.) Thanks mc_rapper67 for the blog.

  9. I really enjoyed this one for the amusement of finding so many musical styles in there, but even more for the neatness of the surfaces. (OK, housewives and househusbands work at home rather than from home, but that really is a quibble.) I skipped over 11ac at first, saw how crucial it was, went back, thought carefully and realised it must be MUSIC. After that it was fairly plain sailing for a prize, but that’s fine by me. I see Chambers says THRENODIES are songs as lamentation, so there’s a another musical reference, although I never think of an ode as something to be sung. Like SheffieldHatter @ 3, I wondered about the US political colours (colors, I suppose). I have to keep reminding myself that the Red states are Republican, which really doesn’t feel right. My LOI was GOSSIP; I was trying to overthink the wordplay and only saw the hidden letters after guessing it from the crossers. But the gently rising gas was just another of those elegantly flowing surfaces. Thanks, mc_rapper67 for catching the fun of it in the blog, and of course to Picaroon.

  11. Not a theme I am good at but once I got SCAM (FOI) got MUSIC and I was off.

    Liked: HOUSEWIFE, OUTSWING (even though it was a cricketing reference) ELDER, HAD A POP AT, WRETCH, BREVIARY ( my favourite)

    Thanks Picaroon and mc

  12. Loved this one with its clever music theme, but then I love music!!! I couldn’t parse 13a RUPTURE until a friend helped me to see how all the lego parts fitted together. The “lamp” part of HEADLAMP also didn’t seem to me to quite fit grammatically (acccording to the sense of it given in my Chambers online, so I appreciated coming here to see how that solution could work). I was unfamiliar with “stride” in 14a ASTRIDE as jazz is not my forté, so I learned something new. I liked 22a WINDIER and 27d AIRS.
    While I take on board what sheffield hatter@2 said, I tend to agree with what KeithS@9 posted about the clue for 24a HOUSEWIFE (“a quibble”): with the preponderance of “working from home” these days, I didn’t mind seeing through that misdirection with the preposition – and at least there was a suggestion there that it really is work, though it’s unpaid – and, as mentioned already, there are many more househusbands these days too.
    Thanks to Picaroon and mc_rapper67 – lots of fun and the usual great blog from the “rapper”.

  13. [Ugh – “to quite fit grammatically”!!! Sorry about that split infinitive, dear Readers! Oh the irony – and the shame!]

  14. Older generations than mine knew that RETCH was pronounced the same as REACH, but probably couldn’t spell it.
    Their descendants, only coming across the word in books, pronounced it the same as WRETCH.
    At some point the new pronunciation took over from the old.
    Collins gives both – down at “in British English” with the original pronunciation relegated to second place.
    https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/retch
    I usually like aural wordplay, but this one really jarred for me.

  15. Thanks for the blog and the coloured grid , I liked the VERB turning up in BREVIARY , that is as positive as I can be.

  16. I also enjoyed the VERB turning up, but unlike Roz, I enjoyed pretty much all of the rest of it too. Very well worked theme – I guess not everyone likes that kind of thing but it amused me greatly. Favourites were ASTRIDE, HAD A POP AT and WINDIER.

    Thanks, Picaroon – and mc for the super blog.

  17. Great thanks, Picaroon. All smiles here. Wit and enthusiasm a great combo, so thanks mc_rapper67 too. THRENODIES new to me.

    I rather like the “dated” feel that the theme brought/wrought. It’s all about the music really. [Guess that’s why I like some of the Oxford Lindy Hoppers videos.]

  18. I really enjoyed this, and I’ve come across threnodies outside crosswords, not just as its meaning as a song of lamentation, but there are quite a few musical pieces or albums called Threnody for… and although I can’t find it, I think I’ve heard/seen the sound of seals in the distance described as a threnody.

    Thank you mc_rapper667 and Picaroon, I really enjoyed this.

  21. I do not recall ever having seen so many brilliant surfaces in one puzzle, so this was an absolute delight for me, completed on a sunny Saturday afternoon in the garden. Perfection.
    ISLE was my LOI, so simple, so clever.
    I couldn’t disagree more with some of the sniffier comments.
    Thanks as ever to Picaroon, and how appropriate that rapper should be hosting the excellent blog.

  22. Thanks Picaroon and mc. Cheated on BREVIARY and THRENODIES which helped me. Would not have finished otherwise. Never heard of them before now. Unlikely to use them in the future!

  23. Bop was born in December 1939 in a club on Seventh Avenue when Charlie Parker played a new melody based on the chord structure of Cherokee, the music deliberately difficult to play so that it could not be copied by better known musicians.

  24. Tough but enjoyable, helped by the music theme.

    Favourites: DUBYA, ELDER.

    New for me: BREVIARY; STRIDE=style of jazz piano.

    Thanks, both.

  25. An enjoyable crossword incorporating an impressive range of music types (two of which I didn’t know). Parsing was a luxury I could not afford with three of the clues, needing the help of a friend to explain them (thank you!).

    And thanks to Picaroon and mc_rapper67.

  28. Agree with KeithS@9 that THRENODIES is part of the theme – in my head they are sad AIRS.

  29. Great crossword as always but when I solved 13a I took a screen grab on my phone to keep and wrote:
    Clues don’t get better than this. A perfect surface with step by step instructions that lead to the definition. Superb !

  30. Another cracker from Picaroon with an interesting theme.

    I didn’t take too long to get MUSIC, so plain sailing from then on. I did like ASTRIDE for the two members around, the well-hidden GOSSIP, and the verb in BREVIARY. Thanks to Nascotwoodfrog [now, there’s a handle] for the entertaining link.

    Thanks to Picaroon and the rapper.

  31. A very nice puzzle with a good theme and lots of great surfaces as always from Picaroon.

    I don’t agree with some of the comments about HOUSEWIFE. If the definition had been something like “woman’s normal role” that would have been objectionable, but it wasn’t anything like that; and it’s a perfectly valid word in English in all the dictionaries. As for “working from home” this was clearly a (very good) bit of misdirection! A house-person (husband or wife) doesn’t spend all their time in the house but goes out shopping etc.

    In 16d EL and DER are of course not just “foreign words” but “Foreign words for the” as the clue says. (Apologies if this is what you meant, mc – I wasn’t quite sure from your comment.)

    Many thanks both.

  33. Once I had 11a the rest was pretty run of the mill, I thought. 23d is more my sort of clue. A pity because I usually enjoy Picaroon a lot more.

  34. [ For fans of Arachne there is a Rosa Klebb jumbo cryptic in the FT today , I suspect it can be found online as well. The blog will be next Saturday . ]

  35. Nice puzzle. More kinds of music than I could have listed without help. Thanks for that to Picaroon, and for the guidance to mc_rapper67.

  37. 22ac, WINDIER: did spend some time trying to find a reference to ordie music.

    8dn, ISLE: you’re very unlikely to see “man” for ISLE (and it will likely be deprecated if you do), since it’s a proper name and needs a capital. That’s why it has to come at the beginning of the clue.

    18dn, PLAGUING: don’t think I’ve seen ‘abroad’ as an anagram indicator before, but I see that Collins Online has it (@5) as archaic for in error.

    27dn, AIRS; “Don’t put on any airs when you’re down on Rue Morgue Avenue / They got some hungry women there and they’ll really make a mess out of you”
    Bob Dylan, Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues

    Bob Dylan was 82 on Wednesday

  39. Thanks,Eileen. But I can’t figure out how to print the puzzle, or to save it as a PDF in case that’s what’s required.

  40. Julie@13, TonyC@38 is right. Bending over backwards to carefully avoid a split infinitive often results in more serious injury to the flow of a sentence.

    sheffield hatter@3 and KeithS@10, I keep the US political colors(!) straight by thinking Red stands for Redneck and they seem to have taken over the Republican Party, so it’s R = Right wing all the way. (Here in Canada the colours are still the same as in the UK.)

    I thought this theme would be right up my alley, but soon realised that I don’t listen to most of the musical styles referred to in this puzzle, so apart from BOP. SWING, and BLUES, I was out in the cold. The only concession to “classical” music (I hate that term but can’t think of a suitable alternative) was Debussy and Wagner – ironically two of the composers I like the least appearing as letter-fodder in a couple of clues.

    Still, I enjoyed the puzzle, so thanks Picaroon and mc_rapper for the fun and parsing help.

  41. Lord Jim@30. Thanks for your signposting of ‘the’ in the clue for 16d. I must admit to having solved it far too quickly to appreciate how accurate the clue was. I shall try to slow down in future – it’s a bit like carefully chewing each mouthful of food, I guess. (I don’t normally have to remember to slow down when solving cryptics as I’m pretty slow to start with.)

    Your point about ‘working from home ‘ is also well made. I must admit I had thought Picaroon had used the recently current WFH too loosely with the intention of deceiving, but obviously I should have known it was better than that.

  42. Eileen@36, thanks for the link to the Rosa Klebb. Is there an online version that doesn’t need downloading and printing?

  44. [Tony Collman @42: The FT Jumbo crosswords are not on the app. They must either be downloaded and printed or you need to buy the paper itself. In any event Rosa Klebb is worth the trouble.]

  45. I had never heard of STRIDE as a musical genre before, but thanks to Narcoswoodfrog, I now realise thhat I have heard much more ofit than, say, GARAGE

  46. [Tony @42 the FT has proper ownership so does not need to be avoided unlike nearly every other newspaper , I am lucky having a friend who swaps me the FT puzzle for some of the Guardian puzzles.
    I have been a bit slow with your creation, busy with students and exams, but worth the wait. I know you do not want me to say much but I will say it is such a clever idea and seems very tricky to carry out. I think I have only seen this for “anagram” answers. You could have used my indirect anagram clue , it is very unfair but fine in a puzzle of this sort.
    One minor possible quibble ( I have not looked it up) not sure “Petty” is right for 18D . ]

  47. Hi Valentine and Tony Collman – it’s no use asking me IT questions! I just scrolled down to ‘Download puzzle’ and clicked right to print.
    It’s well worth persevering. 😉

  48. [Tony@44, I agree a Rosa Klebb is worth considerable trouble, but without a printer, I feel it’s still too much.

    Roz@46, thanks for the compliments. “Petty” is used in the first definition of the answer word in Collins online. I’m away from my paper dictionaries at the mo.

    Eileen@47, see my reply to Tony Santucci, above.]

  49. [Roz@46, not sure what your criteria are for media ownership to be “proper”, but current FT owner, Nikkei, has been critically dubbed ‘Japan Inc.’]

  50. [Roz, back with my dictionaries, I see Chambers Dictionary (the real one, not the pale imitation you revere) uses the word “small-time”.]

  51. [ Tony@48etc as you probably know , The Chambers Dictionary 1993 is the first edition and definitive volume for all crosswords. It gives small-time criminal or gangster , so just about gives you cover. I think of petty crime as shoplifting , minor driving offences (not speeding) , using the wrong dictionary etc , I do not know if it is defined legally.

    The FT is owned by Nikkei , a holding company owned by the employees. “The Nikkei” newspaper is also owned and has been accused of being over friendly to the Japanese government , The FT has broken several stories that are embarrassing to the Japanese government. I do not care about the editorial policy of either, I can do the FT crossword because they are not owned by a billionaire , tax-dodging criminal ]

  52. [Roz, ‘petty’ doesn’t have a specific legal meaning in this country: it just means ‘less serious than other crimes’. Cf Oxford Concise Dictionary (2001): Petty: >LAW (of a crime) of lesser importance ]

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