Guardian Cryptic 29,130 by Philistine

60 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 29,130 by Philistine”

1. Hadn’t heard of notaries public nor isogamy; otherwise smooth sailing and nothing to report. Thanks Philistine & manehi.

2. Thanks Philistine for a pleasant Monday surprise. There wasn’t a clue I didn’t like but my top choices were THEIRS, EATING DISORDER, NOTARIES PUBLIC, MISSPELT, TRAGEDY, BREEZE, IDOLATROUS, and TYPE. Thanks manehi for the blog.

3. Thanks, Philistine for an enjoyable puzzle and manehi for an excellent blog (as always is the case)!
   Liked LEGALITIES, NOTARIES PUBLIC, BOAT RACE and LETTER BOMB.

   THEIRS
   I think the def should be ‘what belongs to them’.

4. KVa @3 agree with you about the definition, otherwise the ‘what’ is not accounted for. Good to see Philistine in the Monday slot and lots to like, particularly LEGALITIES. Having to split words as in 8 and 13 is becoming a signature part of Philistine’s style. Thanks to manehi and Philistine.

5. Satisfying crossword and thanks so much for the timely blog.

6. Lots of nice tricks and a pleasant surprise to have this setter on a Monday. Agree with KVa @3 about THEIRS.

   Ta Philistine & manehi

7. A very nice Philistine puzzle that felt toned down for Monday, yet still contained a smorgasbord of devices. A really enjoyable ride. (Which, followed by Bluth in the Indy, has certainly got the brain cells going. I can recommend that one too).

   The L&S elements were very cleanly handled and I enjoyed the misdirections of verbs masquerading as nouns, vice versa and etcetera. Favourites amongst many include NOTARIES PUBLIC, MISSPELT, BOAT RACE, STYLISTS, BREEZE, IDOLATROUS and OYSTER. I wondered whether ISOGAMY might have been &littish but it seems to apply to organisms no more complex than yeasts or algae so I suspect not.

   Thanks Philistine and manehi

8. Really pleased to see Philistine’s name this morning, and the crossword didn’t disappoint. Too many favourites to list.

   Thank you to Philistine and manehi.

9. I’m currently, uh, having trouble with some African food (albeit Ethiopian rather than Moroccan) that I ate earlier, which is why I’m awake at this hour, so the EATING DISORDER clue has to win my award today. It took me quite a while to work that one out–food from a tagine generally also being called tagine, right?–but when the penny dropped, I thought it was brilliant.

   I didn’t correctly parse NOTARIES PUBLIC, taking it as a rather lame cryptic definition, but thanks to the blog, now I see that it’s a very elegant &lit.

10. Thanks to Philistine and Manehi. As has been said, lots to enjoy. My only minor gripe is START OFF. I’m of the view that if an answer is (5, 3), then that’s how it should be entered in the grid.

11. I put ‘triolets’ in at 16d which almost worked, but I should have parsed the clue more carefully.

12. Very pleasant surprise for a Monday, and a fine example of why a crossword doesn’t have to be difficult to be thoroughly enjoyable. It seems churlish to pick favourites from such a good set of clues, but I did particularly like THEIRS (I agree with earlier posters about the parsing), ASTOUND, NOTARIES PUBLIC and BOAT RACE.

    Many thanks to Philistine and manehi

13. Good fun. Like mrpenney@9 I thought NOTARIES PUBLIC a weak clue until I read the blog and thought it excellent. Had a bit of trouble parsing 8ac. Favourite clue EATING DISORDER. Lots to like.
    Thanks Philistine and manehi.

14. What a lovely start to the week! Thanks both.

15. Yes, a nice surprise to see Philistine on a Monday – so soon after his recent prize puzzle.

    I’m with manehi re his favourites – no surprise there – with the addition of 11ac LEGALITIES (I liked the garlanded girl) and 4dn TRAGEDY, for the surface.

    I’m surprised not to see any comments on 6dn LETTER BOMB. I liked the construction but am I the only one who can’t make any sense of the surface? Is this a case of PostMark’s ‘verbs masquerading as nouns, vice versa and etcetera’? If so, I can’t see what’s masquerading as what! (Perhaps KVa can explain, since s/he has marked it as a favourite?)

    Otherwise, all good fun, as usual. Thanks to Philistine and manehi

16. This was a nice start to a Monday morning. I particularly liked the ‘playtex’ aspects of COMPUTER and IDOLATROUS but then I would, having idolised computers for virtually a lifetime.

    Also, in their time, I have idolised these three and seen them live a few times :

    https://youtu.be/WJcozEOWgxI

    the demise to a single oldest brother being – as clued in 4d – a sad story.

    Funnily enough, it’s been announced in the last couple if days that the UK’s one ‘invasion STALAG’, that on Alderney in the Channel Islands, is being ‘deep researched’ for its records which seem to have been somewhat covered up.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/22/nazi-atrocities-jews-prisoners-war-alderney-channel-island-uk

    Thank you Philistine and manehi.

17. Eileen@15!
    I liked LETTER BOMB for the wordplay.
    The surface was ok (nothing impressive). I read it as:
    Landlord home contents are in B&B.
    That (B&B) might blow up.

    ‘Landlord home contents’, I think, is an ‘insurance language’ (which otherwise seems to be bad English).

18. OYSTER always makes me think of Terry Pratchett’s liberated witch Nanny Ogg recounting that she ate a dozen oysters on her wedding night, “but they didn’t all work”

19. KVa @17 – thanks for the prompt response! I’d never heard of that expression before but the clue makes sense now and becomes one of my favourites.
    (I’m pretty sure I’ve never questioned one of Philistine’s surfaces before – my apologies to him. 😉 )

20. I agree with Crispy@10 re Start Off but that didn’t detract from an excellent Monday challenge. Thanks P and m.

21. I agree this was more interesting than most Monday puzzles. I thought EATING DISORDER was neat.
    Thanks to Philistine and manehi.

22. Didn’t know ISOGAMY, but gettable from wordplay. I now know a lot more about bacteria, yeasts and fungi.
    mrpenney@9. Hope you’re feeling better. I thought that Philistine, given his day job might have clued the ”gastro” part of ASTROLOGY differently.
    Not sure about the definition ”pagan” for IDOLATROUS. There are non pagan beliefs that are idolatrous according to other non pagan beliefs.
    Favs BOAT RACE, and EATING DISORDER.

23. Lovely fun puzzle. Thanks, Philistine and manehi. I’m the anti-Crispy – I really like the split clues. Please keep them coming, Philistine. Lots to enjoy but top favourites were the ever so neat REVOLTS and MISSPELT.

24. I’m with Widdersbel re the split clues.

25. Eileen@24 and Widdersbel@23. I don’t mind the split clues, but lately, when I’ve spent a lot of time solving on my phone while taking my husband to surgery and appointments, rather than at home with the paper print out, or desktop computer, I can see why it might be annoying to those who solve mostly from phones. It might be something that setters have to consider.
    There you go, can’t even split my sentence. 🙂

26. More interesting than most Mondays. I thought LEGALITIES and EATING DISORDER were very good.

    Thanks Philistine and manehi

27. Lovely stuff for a Monday, and I remembered Philistine’s fondness for lift & separates, which helped me along. The split clues were fun, I thought. I’ll add my name to those who shrugged at NOTARIES PUBLIC, and now think it’s excellent. ISOGAMY new to me, but with the crossers it was the only plausible-looking answer, and what a surface!

    Thanks Philistine and manehi.

28. Lovely! Tick after tick after tick. I was so glad I found time on a busy Monday to print off today’s puzzle and was over the moon when I saw that Philistine was the setter, as I really like his style and feel like I get onto his wavelength from the outset. Not to say that I find his puzzles easy; after an initial rush of blood to the head with some lucky solves, it took me quite some time to crack all of these clever clues. But (and I take this as a badge of personal achievement), I didn’t have to look anything up!!! (Sorry I lie – I did have to verify that ISOGAMY – which I filled in at 19d – had something to do with gametes.) Thanks to Philistine, our clever setter (my margin notes say “clever hidden”, “clever homophone” etc), and also to manehi for all the careful explanations.

29. Quite tough. Gave up / took a break halfway thorugh as I was struggling with this puzzle. Ran away to do the Quiptic 🙂

    Favourites: IDOLATROUS, EATING DISORDER.

    I did not parse of 8ac, 20ac, 2d.

    Thanks, both.

30. Eileen @24 – glad I’m not the only one! I like these clues best when the wordplay breaks down the solution in a third way, but they’re still fun as here when the wordplay matches the split in the grid.

    paddymelon @25 – I solve on my phone using the Guardian Puzzles app. On the whole, it’s great but the one major irritation is that clues aren’t numbered. This can indeed be a problem when the solution is spread over multiple lights… But that’s not Philistine’s fault and I don’t think he should change his clueing style to compensate for the app’s deficiencies.

31. Quality puzzle with some excellent clueing – liked eating disorder. Very enjoyable start to a Monday. Thank you both.

32. Thanks Philistine and manehi
    Very nice – lots of good clues. A DNF, in fact, as I had RESORTS at 15a – nearly works if “sorts” are units.

33. Very nice indeed. I think 11a is “LEI GAL”+TIES as I don’t see LEI defined as “garlanded”, just “garland”.

    Slight eyebrow raise for PUT=INSTALL, as it would properly be “put in”, in which case the “in” is doing double duty.

34. What a complete delight to discover Philistine as the setter this Monday. So many ultra smooth clues, for me the pick being IDOLATROUS, with the cleverly disguised so ultra as the anagram fodder after the vow. Last one in NOTARIES PUBLIC which didn’t quite slip off the tongue as smoothly as the other solutions. Thoroughly enjoyable…

35. poc @33; leigalties? As it says in the blog the gal is garlanded i.e. the gal is in a lei.

    Good, entertaining start to the week; I love a Philistine crossword!

    I liked the incomer, the garlanded in LEGALITIES, the BOAT RACE for the ‘stole tiny amount’, and the lift-and-separate IDOLATROUS.

    Thanks Philistine and manehi.

36. Enjoyable and challenging for a Monday. Can someone explain what is wrong with 6D, as it seems a nice clue to me?

37. Thanks for the blog, super puzzle with a string of clever clues. I will agree for IDOLATROUS , pretty spectacular Playtex, although I do think Pagan as a definition gets a raw deal in crosswords. ASTOUND and BOAT RACE flow very nicely.
    Monday ? not really , I think I would have found this a bit much when I was learning.

38. Bill@36 LETTER BOMB works perfectly as explained in the blog.

39. EATING DISORDER is for me on the verge of The Guardian’s relatively distant boundary for taste, so to speak, and I’d say that the way it’s been clued deserves at least a qm. Fine puzzle nonetheless, as I’d expect from one of my favourite G compilers.

40. poc@33
    You seem to have a point in ‘INSTALL is not=PUT, but =PUT IN’.
    Let’s hear from others.

41. Good start to the week with a new word for us; ISOGAMY
    Ticks for THEIRS, EATING DISORDER, ASTROLOGER,
    NOTARIES PUBLIC and STYLISTS.
    Thank to Philistine and to manehi for a very helpful blog.

42. I did wonder about install but Chambers has – to place in a certain position .
    put – to place in such and such a position.

43. I liked the split clue. Added to the fun.

    Thanks, Philistine and manehi.

44. Lots to like here. Pleased with myself for spotting EATING DISORDER, even thought I needed all the crossers, as I often fail to spot those “reverse clues”.

45. Ui Imair @ 39
    Agree that I find it to be on the verge of distasteful (though I did like the clue). What is a “qm” in this context? Thanks.

46. 24d TYPE contains two carefully chosen synonyms to fool us into thinking that this is a hidden solution
    “Extremely thrifTY, PEnny-wise sort”

47. [paddymelon @25: When I’m out of town and can’t print out the crossword I solve on my phone. However, I always have a pencil and some paper with me to work out the longer anagrams. That might help with the split clues as well.]

48. Totally thrown by 11a for ages. Convinced for a long time this must have Judy (Garlanded) round it – not helped by the obvious judicially or judiciary aiding and abetting my thoughts. Ah well!!

49. What a great way to start the week! I had several laugh out loud moments. Philistine is giving Paul a run for his money!

50. COMPUTER, NOTARIES PUBLIC and IDOLATROUS defeated my parsing skill. Not really aware what NP do or did but phrase lurking in brain I guess.
    Nice Monday + so thanks Philistine and manehi

51. ariadne@45 qm = question mark

52. 8a I immediately thought Computer, but could not parse it. 3/4 of the way through I had the P and it all came together. A lot of this crossword was like that. Maybe DEMENTIA is setting in, it must be because that was a Quiptic solution (Light?).

53. mrpenney@9 – I’m afraid that NOTARIES PUBLIC is not an &lit since “at their office” is not part of the wordplay. Some may describe it as a ‘partial &lit’, or ‘&littish’ or ‘WIWD’ (wordplay intertwined with definition – Times for the Times I think?)

    As others, a lovely surprise to encounter Philistine today; I’ve stopped automatically sidestepping Monday puzzles now, as we also were treated to a Brummie, I think, recently….

    Thanks both and all

54. Eileen@15 and 19, KVa @17. I’m not at all sure that “Landlord home contents” is an insurance term. I can’t think what cover it might provide. I think it’s just a poor surface (rare for Philistine). Thanks to him and manehi.

55. what is “an & lit”?

56. A cracking crossword for us. We loved 10A and 7D. Thanks Philistine and Manehi

57. Steffen@55: From the site FAQ tab:

    CAD Clue-As-Definition. Also known as &lit – “and literally”. The full text of the clue should be read in two ways, one giving the wordplay and the other giving the definition.

58. 57 Alphalpha

    Thank you.

    6 clues solved today…the rest of the week is going to be interesting.

59. I have a couple of home insurance policies. One is ” home and contents”. The other is “landlord”, which in my case at least covers the building but NOT the contents.

60. BillB@36, Roz@38, GreginSyd@59.
    6d is a clever piece of wordplay. The complaint is that, unlike all the other clues in this puzzle, the words don’t make sense as a sentence, even if “landlord” and ” home and contents” are insurance terms. I may be wrong but I seem to remember Roz saying that she’s not too bothered about the surface of a clue if the wordplay works.

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