The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/29095.
Earlier today, while baarefoot, I tripped over a large glass jar, which shattered and cut my foot. Half a dozen stitches and a tetanus shot later, I got back home with precious little time to complete this blog. I hope I have done the puzzle justice.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | SKETCH |
Picture king amongst group of pieces leading to check (6)
|
| A charade of SKET, an envelope (‘amongst’) of K (‘king’) in SET (‘group’); plus CH (‘pieces leading to CHeck’). I think that is where ‘pieces’ belongs. | ||
| 4 | MANTRA |
Attractive woman’s detailed incantation (6)
|
| A subtraction: MANTRA[p] (‘attractive woman’) minus the last letter (‘de-tailed’). | ||
| 9 | TAUT |
Strained sound of rebuke muffling answer (4)
|
| An envelope (‘muffling’) of A (‘answer’) in TUT (‘sound of rebuke’). | ||
| 10 | AT ALL HOURS |
American trips taking in crumbling hall on an irregular basis (2,3,5)
|
| An envelope (‘taking in’) of ALLH, an anagram (‘crumbling’) of ‘hall’ in A (‘American’) plus TOURS (‘trips’). | ||
| 11 | UNMASK |
Reveal hesitation about nationalist question (6)
|
| A charade of UNM, an envelope (‘about’) of N (‘nationalist’) in |
||
| 12 | GREAT AUK |
Extinct bird mentioned in dreary lecture (5,3)
|
| Sounds like GREY TALK (‘dreary lecture’). | ||
| 13 | PRESIDENT |
Power gap filled by party leader (9)
|
| An envelope (‘filled by’) of SIDE (‘party’) in P (‘power’) plus RENT (‘gap’). | ||
| 15 | BRUT |
Rumour I ignored — it’s not sweet (4)
|
| A subtraction: BRU[i]T (‘rumour’ as noise) minus the I (‘I ignored’), for dry, particularly of champagne. | ||
| 16 | SKIN |
Large organ broke? Not quite (4)
|
| A subtraction: SKIN[t] (‘broke’) minus the last letter (‘not quite’), for the body’s largest organ. | ||
| 17 | CLERGYMEN |
Ministers not entirely caring about first one leaving wild party (9)
|
| An envelope (‘about’) of [o]RGY (‘wild party’) minus the first letter (‘first one leaving’) in CLEMEN[t] (‘caring’) minus the last letter (‘not entirely’). | ||
| 21 | FRUCTOSE |
Fine translation of ‘sucre’ to indicate this? (8)
|
| A charade of F (‘fine’) plus RUCTOSE, an anagram (‘translation’) of ‘sucre to’, with an extended definition. | ||
| 22 | SPROGS |
Children’s programme taking over core of series (6)
|
| A substitution: ‘series’ with its ‘core’ ERIE replaced by (‘taking over’) PROG (‘programme’). | ||
| 24 | DUMB WAITER |
It’s used for lifting things without tipping? (4,6)
|
| Cryptic definition, of sorts, but there are various possibilities for what Pangakupu has in mind for ‘without tipping’. | ||
| 25 | STEW |
Tack holding rear of carpet is a bother (4)
|
| An envelope (‘holding’) of T (‘rear of carpeT‘) in SEW (‘tack’). | ||
| 26 | SEXPOT |
Cracker show held in last third of August (6)
|
| An envelope (‘held in’) of EXPO (‘show’) in ST (‘last third of AuguST‘). | ||
| 27 | PERIOD |
Stop a party I backed (6)
|
| A charade of PER (‘a’ – two a penny) plus IOD, a reversal (‘backed’) of DO (‘party’) plus ‘I’. | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | SCANNER |
Sign of injury, with nobody removing ring when entering hospital device (7)
|
| An envelope (‘when entering’ – but referring to the preceding) of N[o]NE (‘nobody’) minus the O (‘removing ring’) in SCAR (‘sign of injury’). | ||
| 2 | EXTRA |
Congress heading off cheers about Republican addition? (5)
|
| A charadeof [s]EX (‘congress’) minus the first letter (‘heading off’) plus TRA, an envelope (‘about’) of R (‘Repuplican’) in TA (‘cheers’). | ||
| 3 | CRACKED |
College, stretched, failed (7)
|
| A charade of C (‘college’) plus RACKED (‘stretched’ as the torture). | ||
| 5 | ASLEEP |
One suffers effects of sunburn, having rolled over in a doze (6)
|
| A charade of A (‘one’) plus SLEEP, a reversal (‘having rolled over’) of PEELS (‘effects of sunburn’). | ||
| 6 | TWO-STOREY |
Tense before translation of Wooster comedy finally displaying more elevated level? (3-6)
|
| A charade of T (‘tense’) plus WOSTORE, an anagram (‘translation’) of ‘Wooster’, plus Y (‘comedY finally’). | ||
| 7 | AIR DUCT |
Bovine material in test mostly upheld as source of ventilation (3,4)
|
| A reversal (‘upheld’ in a down light) of an envelope (‘in’) of CUD (‘bovine material’) in TRIA[l] (‘test’) minus the last letter (‘mostly’). | ||
| 8 | MARGINAL SEATS |
Remarkable gains least expected after damage in these constituencies (8,5)
|
| A charade of MAR (‘damage’, verb) plus GINALSEATS, an anagram (‘remarkable’) of ‘gains least’, with ‘expected after’ indicating the order of the particles; with an extended definition. | ||
| 14 | SWITCH BOX |
Electrical equipment linking birch and shrub (6,3)
|
| A charade of SWITCH (‘birch’ as cane) plus BOX (‘shrub’). | ||
| 16 | STRAUSS |
Small support for hosting a composer (7)
|
| An envelope (‘for hosting’ – ther does not seem to be anywhere else to put the ‘for’)) of ‘a’ in S (‘small’) plus TRUSS (‘support’ – for a hernia, for example); your choice of ‘composer’. | ||
| 18 | RESERVE |
Place for wild animals always keeping a lot of the other ones upset (7)
|
| A reversal (‘upset’ in a down light) of EVRESER, an envelope (‘keeping’) of RES[t] (‘the other ones’) minus the last letter (‘a lot of’) in EVER (‘always’). | ||
| 19 | EGGHEAD |
For one Guardian leader on top teacher, it’s intellectual (7)
|
| A charade of E.G. (‘for one’) plus G (‘Guardian leader’) plus HEAD (‘top teacher’). | ||
| 20 | TOMATO |
Married Australian brought in character not from Oz — the fruit of love? (6)
|
| An envelope (‘brought in’ – which could indicate an envelope either way) of M (‘married’) plus A (‘Australian’) in TOTO (‘character not from Oz’ – Dorothy’s dog from Kansas). The tomato is known as the love apple. | ||
| 23 | ROSTI |
Fried potato dish — it’s golden when turned over (5)
|
| A reversal (‘when turned over’) of ‘it’s’ plus OR (‘golden’). The O should have an umlaut. |
Dear me Peter, you’ve been in the wars as they say!
Last time we has bruit, I think it was a verb (as in Buit it about that the king is sick …), but here it’s a noun apparently. Unless rumour can be a verb … whatev. Nice puzzle, thanks PnP.
I thought this quite hard, but also quite fair, with many clues making me wonder what the hold-up was, after doing them, like so often happens.
Peter you certainly did do the puzzle justice, hope your foot is doing well. You wondered about “without tipping”; I read the surface as a reference to a lifting device getting off-balance, but the cryptic meaning was referring to tipping waiters in restaurants.
Thanks P&P
Top half was fine, but the bottom half just didn’t co-operate. Couldn’t parse TOMATO, SWITCH BOX, EXTRA (didn’t know congress/sex), BRUT (didn’t know bruit). Sew/tack? Not a fan of “ch” for “leading to check”.
Thanks Pangakupu & PeterO.
Dr. WhatsOn @2
With a little reflection before getting to sleep, I agree with your reading of 24A DUMB WAITER. As an inanimate object, I would think you are not expected to leave it a tip.
Thanks Peter! I couldn’t parse CLERGYMEN, but now I see it’s quite clever. Thanks Pangakupu!
BTW down the sides the puzzle says KUMEKUME RUAUMOTO, which seems to be not quite the Maori for “earthquake”.
Thanks, Pangakupu and PeterO!
Liked AT ALL HOURS (for the def), GREAT AUK (sounds good-subject to audit), FRUCTOSE (sweet one this), DUMB WAITER (cryptic-tipped sharp one) and MARGINAL SEATS (Close contest, but to me the best).
SKETCH
The ‘to’ after ‘leading’ is troubling me a bit. Check if this parsing works (all chess):
K in SET (group of pieces) +CH (short form of ‘check’)
STRAUSS
‘for hosting’: I parsed it as PeterO did (though not ideal, it looks like there is no other way)
grantinfreo@1
Bruit and rumour: Noun or verb-both options seem to work.
Justin@5. That seems plausible. I would never have got those marginal letters. From what I can see it doesn’t appear to be an anniversary of the notable NZ earthquakes. I thought it was to do with the current political situation in NZ with upcoming elections from “wae” in row 8 and 8D.
Peter Oh! What dedication to your blog. Thank you for going above and beyond. Hope you’ve resting within your foot up now.
And forgive my errors. I’ve got no excuse.
I would have enjoyed this puzzle more without good looking women being described as MANTRAPs and SEXPOTs
Geoff Down Under @3, the sex/congress thing puts me in mind of a Patrick Cook cartoon where two aliens are looking at the ACTU Congress. “What are they doing?”. “They are in congress”. “No wonder there’s so few of them”.
Louise @11, I completely agree.
Crikey, PeterO! Above and beyond the call of duty to get the blog done at all after that kind of drama. Hope you heal soon. Glad you did manage it – needed your help to parse CLERGYMEN.
Thanks, Pangakupu, for a challenging and fun puzzle.
Bruit new to me.
Louise @11 – to be fair, the clue for SEXPOT doesn’t specify whether it’s referring to a man or a woman.
Agree too, Louise @11, but I do have to own up that I didn’t notice till you said …
I don’t know if it is a wavelength thing, Pangakupu has changed style, I’ve suddenly got better, or what, but I found this very accessible and most enjoyable. I had to work at a lot of it, but everything yielded in the end. Just the way I like it.
The Grey Talk set me giggling and that set the scene for the rest. I thought the setter showed a deftness of touch and a humour in almost all the clues. I took an age to be sure it was CLERGYMEN but really liked it when I got there. Others that I liked were BRUT, DUMBWAITER (I’m for gratuity not required), MARGINAL SEATS and STRAUSS. All in all a Cracker of a puzzle.
Thanks, Pangakupu, it was fun. PeterO, I do hope your poor foot doesn’t give you too much trouble and thank you for soldiering on so bravely.
Justin @ I have no idea but the google translate suggests that KUMEKUME RUAUMOTO is COMPUTER ATTACHMENT
Too tough for me, I had to reveal a few. Funny, back in the day of doing the crossword when I bought the paper, I’d have spent time looking things up in the dictionary, but the reveal makes it too easy to cheat. Progress?
George Clements@14, BRUIT was new to me too. Don’t you love learning new words?
Forgot to say thanks to Pangakupu and PeterO. Hope the foot heals quickly!
CUD (‘bovine material’). Limitless respect and admiration to anyone who got this before they got the answer to the clue. Thanks for the blog and best wishes for a speedy recovery.
1ac I think set is ‘group of pieces’ before (‘leading to’) ch for check
24ac I think the meaning is clearly a type of waiter that doesn’t need tipping
You need the central A for the earthquake, and indeed RUAUMOKO. I clearly decided I didn’t like the look of SKEW, and changed it without remembering my own hidden message. And then ignored all the bits of paper and computer files where I’d noted it down as reminders.
It wasn’t so big a quake – 5.8, I think – the day before I gridded the puzzle, but it seems the aftershocks weren’t enough. Sorry.
Pangakupu @25. Thanks for popping up here. It’s always good to hear from the setter.
It’s taken me a while, but I think I’m finally getting onto Pangakupu’s wavelength – which is pleasing, for his/her crosswords are fun!
I know embarrassingly little about NZ culture so the topical references and ninas will always sail past me unnoticed, but at least I can enjoy the clues. DUMB WAITER, EXTRA and SEXPOT were especially delightful (Louise at 11: I agree with Widdersbel – there’s no indication of the gender of the sexpot).
Many thanks to Pangakupu for the fun – and for taking the trouble to explain a couple of details. Thanks also to PeterO for the heroicly-filed blog; no doubt the doctors told you to keep your foot rested and elevated: a regular intake of medical alcohol might ease your pain – or at the very least, make you care less about it!
Widdersbel@15: in theory, you’re right, but have you ever heard it used to describe a man? I will just say both terms are rather old fashioned these days and leave it at that.
I smiled at the Grey Talk and the untippable waiter, and took a while to find the large organ. But I am having trouble getting used to Pangakupu, who might be on my Do Not Attempt list if I hadn’t decided not to have one. A DNF as usual, with a good few unparsed and CLERGYMAN and some others unsolved: just too many synonyms to be found, beheaded, detailed, turned upside down and inserted backwards into other similarly mangled synonyms. Glad some people enjoyed it.
Phew, I found this very tough but worth sticking with. I looked for the trademark Maori word and saw KUME KUME, which google translate gave as ‘pull pull’ which I thought was maybe referring to the crossing DUMB WAITER. Agree with Widdersbel @15 re SEXPOT but also Louise @11, which is more iffy. There are various definitions for MANTRAP, such as snare which might have been more preferable. I really enjoy this setter’s challenging puzzles.
Ta Pangakupu & PeterO.
Pick of the day for me
Brut was the worst smelling aftershave ever-didnt some boxer appear in TV ads for it (our “Enery maybe) Long time ago
Thanks Panga-loved MANTRA(P)
Gladys at 28: I’ve used sexpot to describe men (a few men, anyway) and for a while I worked with a woman who frequently also used crumpet and eye-candy – though she may have been reclaiming the terms for female use as well.
What we’re talking about here, however, is a crossword, a form of entertainment that uses all the tricks of language, grammar, syntax and vocabulary to create puzzles. It really isn’t meant to be taken too seriously…
I hope that your foot heals quickly, PeterO.
This was quite tough but enjoyable and I’m pleased that I could complete it.
Favourites: TOMATO, DUMB WAITER, MARGINAL SEATS, SPROGS, ASLEEP (loi).
New for me: BRUIT = rumour; SEXPOT = cracker; EGGHEAD = intellectual.
I found 18d quite depressing as an answer, considering that there is no longer much of the wild left for animals to live in.
Thanks, both.
Copmus at 30: Our Henry and Kevin Keegan no less – Go On, splash it all ovah!
Found this extremely frustrating – thanks anyway to setter and heroic PeterO
[My sympathies, PeterO. Many years ago I too had to have stitches in the sole of my left foot after a comparable misadventure, and I recall an indecently cheerful medic at the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford (it was still in Woodstock Road in those days) telling me that it was one of the most painful things known to medicine while he carried out the procedure. I was put on crutches till the stitches could be taken out.]
Good fun. Pangakupu keeps improving with each outing
I wondered if in STRAUSS the for=a and the def is “a composer”? There’s a similar envelope style in TOMATO
Copmus @30 BRUT had many dodgy celebs on their books – Kevin Keegan …
Cheers P&P
Well, I made it through this setter’s maze of dream up a word, reverse it, and maybe chop something off, and so on. Thought CLERGYMEN almost beyond belief, having to conjure up Orgy and Clement out of thin air before further surgery. But I suppose that’s my own personal opinion about the make up of Cryptic Crosswords. Last one in BRUT, yet another example, having to think of the word Bruit first of all. Harrumph. Thanks for the parsing of SPROGS and PERIOD, PeterO, and hope your unfortunate injury quickly heals…
PeterO well done, but beyond the call of duty; hope you are feeling OK now.
I found this hard going and got a bit stuck in the NW corner, especially LOI ?A?T with all the possibilities.
I liked the GREAT AUK hom., the CLERGYMEN with their wild parties, the children’s programme for SPROGS, and the non-tipping DUMB WAITER. DNK BRUIT, which the ODE gives as archaic.
Thanks Pang. and PeterO.
Always find clues like 18d where you’re supposed to find anagrams of clued words (i.e. not in the text) to be most challenging, although the crossers eventually revealed the answer.
Hope you are okay, PeterO – sorry to hear about your accident. Thanks for completing the blog under trying circumstances. I enjoyed this, though thought a couple of the surfaces were a bit of a stretch (1a and 1d). I also needed the blog to help me understand 17a CLERGYMEN. My overall favourite was 16a SKIN (even though I think it was the inclusion of that one that impeded the setter’s original intention to include a hidden message in Maori). Thanks to Pangakupu and PeterO.
Jimbo@58. There is no anagram of “a clued word not in the text”. MAR is clued as ‘damage’ and then placed before the anagram, as explained in the blog. Perfectly fair clue in my opinion.
Pangakupu’s style takes a bit of getting used to but can lead to some interesting surfaces, like the (o)RGY taking place among the CLEMEN(t) men of the cloth.
Thanks to Pangakupu for the work out (and for dropping in) and especially to PeterO for not calling in sick!
Tricky puzzle (at least for me) which I enjoyed a lot. Many constructions involve less obvious synonyms of words in the clue, making this a non-trivial but ultimately satisfying exercise.
MARGINAL SEATS is a clever anagram clue, and I liked the topicality of the surface for CLERGYMEN (a good example of a charade of two synonyms which are unlikely to spring to mind immediately).
I appreciate that some of us are uncomfortable about sexist and misogynistic terms in crosswords but personally I don’t mind finding words in puzzles that I would never use myself. Such expressions exist – for me it is an opportunity to reflect on the attitudes of the past, rather than to concur with them.
ROSTI is listed thus in English dictionaries as a variant spelling without the umlaut, though it certainly has one in Schwiizertüütsch.
Thanks to S&B – and get well soon Peter
Thank you, PeterO. Had to come here for DUMB WAITER. I was looking for some sort of dust cart(er) to prevent fly tipping, but knew I couldn’t be right. Hope your foot heals quickly.
Thanks both.
I’m in the same camp as gladys@28 – far too much Bilbo (what have I got in my pocket?) for my comfort level (but much to enjoy among the rest in fairness – DUMB WAITER, PERIOD, I could go on…).
sh@40 – wrong end of stick I’m afraid: jimbo@58 is referring to 18d RESERVE not 8d MARGINAL SEATS. But (jimbo@58) the same argument applies – there is no anagram in play, just a reversal of ‘ever’ including a truncation of ‘rest’: just the type of clue that gladys is tutting at (and me).
(And PeterO – Ouch! Often the worst things about these events is the ongoing disabling effect, perhaps to be considered an opportunity to learn but hmmmph!).
[I’ve been dipping into some old blogs and I think I’m noticing a (‘n admirable) tendency among contributors these days to spell out the clue they are referencing rather than just quoting the clue number. It does make life easier.]
Alphalpha@43. Thanks for putting me right about 8d/18d!
Tough but fair. Loved some of the surfaces. Needed help parsing a couple. Thanks both Ps
Pangakupu@25 – I was about to speculate about a previous SKEW at 25a, to go with SKETCH and SKIN elsewhere.
Googling RUAUMOTO I found this in the University of Naples aka Fed.
Severino Orlando’s Doctoral Thesis – Tesi di Dottorato di Ricerca in Ingegneria delle Costruzioni ”XXIV ciclo” makes exactly the same slip as you
http://www.fedoa.unina.it/9368/1/Tesi%20Dottorato.pdf
On page 4 he has “7.4.1 Analisi con programma RUAUMOKO…134” – Ruaumoko must be engineering software
On page 136 he has “Figura 7.16: Modello di calcolo di RUAUMOTO” – explicable since the Italian for earthquake is terreMOTO.
Thanks P&P
This took me a while, and I had to use Check in one or two places to make sure I was on the right track. I wonder which Strauss Pangakupa had in mind at 16 D. By coincidence I was listening to a recent radio 3 performance of Richard’s Don Quixote when completing part of this. With thanks to both.
11ac PeterO, the sound of hesitation in UNMASK is UM, not UR. That said, thank you for BRUT — I’d never have thought of “bruit.” Same for CLERGYMEN and SPROGS, though thanks to Roz I did think of it, though couldn’t parse it. Just biffed in AIR DUCT, didn’t know why.
21dn Toto not being from Oz is stressed in the movie’s most famous line — “Toto, we’re not in Kansas any more.”
I found this very hard. Got maybe two words on first pass, and had to use CHECK a lot for the rest. Thanks to Pangakapu and PeterO, and Peter, wishing you a happy healing.
Thanks for the blog , good set of clues with the typical clever and precise wordplay from this setter. Cracker=SEXPOT is fine , being neutral, MANTRA(p) less so and I cannot find dictionary support for “attractive woman ” .
[AlanC @29 your Number 1 on Friday has been recorded, despite intense competition I managed Number 1 in Cyclops, current score 24-13.
Tonight BBC4 at 8 pm – Hancock ” The Blood donor” followed by WHTT Likely Lads “No Hiding Place” the football one. ]
Roz @49; MANTRAP, Chambers: A woman who takes a mischievous pleasure in attracting and acquiring men (informal); ODE: Informal, dated a seductive woman.
[Interesting that words like LOTHARIO and CASANOVA never cause complaints. Why should terms for unpleasantly predatory men be acceptable when those for women are taboo? All are, or at least should be, derogatory]
Robi @50 neither of those is the same as “atractive woman ” .
Would LOTHARIO or CASANOVA be clued as “attractive man” ?
Thanks Pangakupu. I guessed too many from definitions and crossers for me to be wholly satisfied but I did enjoy clues like FRUCTOSE, SEXPOT, TOMATO, and ROSTI. I know more than a few men who would love to be called a SEXPOT but, alas, it’s just not happening. MAN TRAP has been the name for more than one gay bar but that wouldn’t be the first thing most folks would guess. Thanks PeterO for a job above and beyond the call of duty.
Roz @50: Probably not, but such characters must have some appeal – their liaisons are mostly consensual. ‘Attractive woman/man’ is a reasonable definition for SEXPOT but very pejorative for MANTRAP, which nastily implies more than attractiveness.
Not one for me today. I struggled to find a way in, fought with a few clues and then made a dash for the way out. Didn’t enjoy it much and gave up to find something more entertaining to do. I can’t explain why – could just be my general mood today, though I can’t even say that that feels significantly different from normal. Maybe I just need a day off. FWIW, I was equally unenthused by today’s offering in The Times: no offence to setters or bloggers, to whom thanks go as ever.
Gervase@54 Cracker=SEXPOT is fine , both slang terms and completely neutral.
Attractive woman=MANTRAP could be better, I am not that bothered , it is only a crossword but this could have been avoided.
I stared at the grid for about 20 minutes, blankly. MARGINAL SEATS finally broke the silence, followed by GREAT AUK. Suddenly I was on Pangakupu’s wavelength. Oh joy – what a delight in wholly unnecessarily contrary clues: PRESIDENT, SEXPOT, MANTRA, TOMATO,SCANNER could all have been clued so much more obviously by a less twisted talent. There is delight in seeing a scallywag at play. I look forward to another Kiwi salad in the near future.
Alec@57. Possibly the first ever use of “twisted” as a compliment. I concur, and hope that the OED is watching.
I’m with you, Louise @11
[Roz @49: an hour of comedy genius. Is there ever a second comment on Cyclops? Asking for a friend facing constant relegation]…
[Had a quick look at the blog, Roz, out of courtesy . BANKING made me spit out my ginger beer].
[AlanC you should do the Cyclops, it is Brummie but a lot more political and a lot more smutty.
Perhaps you should avoid the KPR score for the whole of next season to save you from disappointment. Just make sure you do not see any newspaper headlines saying – KPR R….]
Louise@11 Yes
A weary reminder to all that this is not just a crossword; it is the Guardian crossword, and thereby a woke crossword. Or sometimes regrettably not.
Weary indeed.
Geoff Down Under @3 — one meaning of “tack” is “to sew with long loose temporary stitches” (Chambers). Definitely not a meaning that came to my mind immediately, but it did ring a bell vaguely, probably because Mrs. Ted does some sewing.