Guardian Cryptic 29,169 by Tramp

by

The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/29169.

An amusing puzzle, with the left half giving me more trouble. I offer 16D STAKE OUT as clue of the day.

ACROSS
7 DETONATE
Set off from school during particular time (8)
An envelope (‘during’) of ETON (‘school’) in DATE (‘particular time’).
9 ANORAK
Waterproof ark Noah docked for repair (6)
An anagram (‘for repairs’) of ‘ark Noa[h]’ minus the last letter (‘docked’).
10 TIER
One drawing level? (4)
Double definition – or perhaps a sesquidef: ‘level’ and ‘one drawing level’.
11 BUCKETLOAD
Can charge a large amount (10)
A charade of BUCKET (‘can’) plus LOAD (‘charge’).
12 CADGED
Did bum shut up about duke? (6)
An envelope (‘about’) of D (‘duke’) in CAGED (‘shut up’).
14 PICKINGS
Spoils photo with royals (8)
A charade of PIC (‘photo’) plus KINGS (‘royals’).
15 CYPRESS
Caddy’s not put in iron or wood? (7)
A charade of CY, which is ‘c[add]y’ minus ADD (‘not put in’) plus PRESS (‘iron’).
17 ASSENTS
Name written in property agreements (7)
An envelope (‘written in’) of N (‘name’) in ASSETS (‘property’).
20 NOWADAYS
And you mostly saw broadcast today (8)
An anagram (‘broadcast’) of ‘and’ plus ‘yo[u]’ minus its last letter (‘mostly’) plus ‘saw’.
22 GUSHER
Well, could be one guy primarily with escort (6)
A charade of G (‘Guy primarily’) plus USHER (‘escort’).
23 HANDLEBARS
What rider uses to navigate traffic obstructions (10)
A charade of HANDLE (‘navigate’) plus BARS (‘traffic obstructions’), with an extended definition.

Jack of Few Trades @24 point out what I now see as a better parsing:

‘to navigate’ as part of the definition, and wordplay HANDLE (‘traffic’) plus BARS (‘obstructions’).
24 NOSE
Runner’s narrow winning margin (4)
Double definition: for the first “his nose runs and his feet smell”.
25 HONSHU
Island hotel concerned with getaway, according to reports (6)
A charade of H (‘hotel’) plus ON (‘concerned with’) plus SHU, sounding like SHOO (get away!, ‘getaway, according to reports’), for the largest island of Japan.
26 TRAILERS
They advertise tracks cut by Queen (8)
An envelope (‘cut by’) of ER (‘Queen’) in TRAILS (‘tracks’).
DOWN
1 CELIBACY
Not getting one’s leg over a bicycle in motion (8)
An anagram (‘in motion’) of ‘a bicycle’.
2 DOOR
Swinger to make love with Romeo (4)
A charade of DO (‘make’) plus O (‘love’) plus R (‘Romeo’).
3 BARBED
Cutting cover of tree mostly over border (6)
A charade of BAR[k] (‘cover of tree’) minus its last letter (‘mostly’) plus BED (‘border’, gardening).
4 CADENCES
Beats from clubs; dance away on ecstasy tablets (8)
A charade of C (‘clubs’, card suit) plus ADENC, an anagram (‘away’) of ‘dance’ plus ES (‘ecstasy tablets’).
5 WOOLLINESS
Lack of clarity as court brought up sinister point (10)
A charade of WOO (‘court’) plus LLI, a reversal (‘brought up’ in a down light) of ILL (‘sinister’) plus NESS (‘point’).
6 SATANG
Decline to eat brown bread in Thailand (6)
An envelope (‘to eat’) of TAN (‘brown’) in SAG (‘decline’). In Thai currency, 100 satang make 1 baht.
8 ESCAPE
Miss flight (6)
Double definition; the two are very close, but taken together have a cryptic misdirection.
13 GORMANDISE
Stuff dog? Remains getting scattered (10)
An anagram (‘getting scattered’) of ‘dog remains’. It is probably more common to insert a U, following the French.
16 STAKE OUT
Watch has seconds and date (5,3)
A charade of S (‘seconds’) plus TAKE OUT (‘date’).
18 TREASURE
Tramp virtually guaranteed prize (8)
A charade of TREA[d] (‘tramp’) minus its last letter (‘virtually’) plus SURE (‘guaranteed’).
19 ASKANT
Question on advanced books to one side (6)
A charade of ASK (‘question’) plus A (‘advanced’) plus NT (New Testament, ‘books’). Askant and askance are alternatives; perhaps the latter is more common.
21 ORATOR
Two men going round for deliverer with address (6)
An envelope (‘going round’) of AT (‘for’ – perhaps “you can buy two at/for a pound apiece”) in OR OR (‘men’, twice).
22 GASBAG
One goes on hot-air balloon and glows, primarily (6)
A charade of GAS (‘hot-air’ – or perhaps ‘hot’ might be shifted to the definition) plus BAG (‘Balloon And Glows primarily’).
24 NILE
Duck on English river (4)
A charade of NIL (zero, ‘duck’) plus E (‘English’).

picture of the completed grid

80 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 29,169 by Tramp”

  1. Never heard of SATANG, despite frequent visits to Thailand. Bed/border a bit iffy, I thought. I was expecting 9a to be either an adjective or verb. And I was unfamiliar with bum/cadge.

    Thanks Tramp & PeterO.

  2. Tough one I found. I had Neck instead of NOSE at first. If a nose is a ‘runner’ ten so can a river. I can’t say I’m a big fan of definitions like ‘runner’, or ‘swinger’ for DOOR.
    Favourites were ANORAK and STAKE OUT.

  3. Nice puzzle, agree with PeterO’s comments, would also nominate ESCAPE for its clever conciseness, and CELIBACY and DOOR for their surfaces.

    Thanks T&P

  4. Thanks PeterO. I think gas=hot-air and hot needs to be part of the wordplay, though not all gases are hot.
    Liked your coinage of sesquidef for TIER, but I thought it was a double def plus clue as definition.
    TIER = one drawing, ie tying knots, shoelaces, the curtain cord, plus level + the whole clue.

    Agree with GDU that bed/border is a bit iffy, but found it in online thesaurus. Didn’t know SATANG either but knew baht and spent some time trying to put it in the wordplay, rather than the answer.
    Like TimC also went for neck first rather than NOSE, for the same reason.
    I did like DOOR though and chuckled my way through the NW.
    Not too keen on NOWADAYS as it’s a bit too similar to today

    .

  6. Thanks, Tramp & PeterO!
    Quite drawn towards the two-tier TIER.

    NOSE
    Was looking for a river by this name. Couldn’t find one.
    (Tim C@2 Agree with you).
    NOSE has this meaning: an informer (slang)
    Runner has this meaning: A messenger.
    A person employed to collect information.
    Comparable?

    GASBAG
    The def as underlined in the blog seems fine (with hot-air=GAS in the sense of
    empty talk).

  9. KVa@7. I thought your def was the whole clue and then there was the one tying something, and the other level or row/rank.

  10. paddymelon@9
    I didn’t know this sense of ‘drawing/tying a knot’.
    For me, the clue worked as a 1.5 def as PeterO suggested
    elegantly.

  13. No idea why bed/border should be iffy: flower beds/borders works well for me. And if Paul clued ‘nose’ as a runner, we would be rolling in the aisles. A nose most certainly does run, even if it is not its primary function. Just like a door swings, opens, shuts. I don’t feel Tramp has a question to answer on those – and would be very surprised indeed if he was playing with the messenger/informer combo postulated by KVa @6.

    Some delightful surfaces hiding some – on occasion – deceptively simple devices. Real crackers like ANORAK, PICKINGS, CYPRUS, TRAILERS, STAKE OUT, TREASURE and COTD – what a spot – CELIBACY.

    Thanks Tramp and PeterO

  14. Like for pdm @5, around here cadge is old and well-worn, a bit like sponge, whereas e.g. blag feels more recent. Not sure I’ve seen askant before, but I like it, and yes wondered where the u went in gourmandise. All good tho, thanks Tramp and PeterO.

  16. thanks P and T!

    wp for 6d SATANG was pretty clear and I decided that it actually meant edible bread assuming it was related to satay. no matter!

  18. Jay @17 sums up my feelings. One day I’ll finish a Tramp puzzle AND be able to parse it all. But not today.
    Thanks Tramp and PeterO.
    By the way, what’s a sesquidef?

  19. I’m another who was looking at NECK instead of NOSE. Then I remembered the Two Ronnies’ crossword sketch: “Four letters, Something OSE. It’s red, it smells, and it’s often picked in the garden. Ahh, nose!” “It’s rose, you fool!” …”Well, it could be nose.”

  20. Crispy @18 I guess one and a half definitions as sesqui means 1.5.

    I parsed TIER as one who ties in a race too, and my clue of the day was CELIBACY, like Postmark @13. I find getting back on a bicycle after a long break feels as if it should be cause for celibacy, but it’s probably my fault for cycling 8 – 10 miles every time I try.

    Thank you to PeterO and Tramp.

  21. I failed to solve 16d STAKE OUT. I did not realise I had not solved it before I came here to read the blog – whoops! That said, I doubt I would have gotten it.

    I could not parse 21d or 3d apart from BED = border.

    Favourite: NILE.

    New for me: SATANG (like others, I know Baht but never heard of SATANG.)

    Thanks, both.

  22. What PostMark said @ 13 re others’ quibbles and COTD, CELIBACY. I thought this was almost faultless, although I agree with paddymelon @4 that NOWADAYS and today are too similar.

    Ta Tramp & PeterO.

  24. An odd mix of some great clues which dented every tea tray in the house and some others which made me think “I guess that’s it”. I dismissed the possibility of an anagram of “a bicycle” as being absurd and thought there was some clever misdirection in the clue. That’ll larn me for trying to be too smart!

    I read “handlebars” a tad differently, with “handle” as “traffic” (as in dealing with stolen goods for example) rather than “navigate” and “bars” as obstructions. I can see it works either way but thought it worth offering up the option.

  26. Jack Of Few Trades@24
    HANDLEBARS
    Your parsing seems better.
    I think the def should include the ‘to navigate’
    ‘What rider uses to navigate’

  28. Jack of few Trades and KVa
    That’s how I read HANDLEBARS: both Collins and Chambers give to handle and to traffic as to trade or deal.

  29. Thanks Tramp and PeterO

    The reason that there isn’t a U in GORMANDISE is because U-included means to appreciate fine food, whereas U-excluded means to stuff one’s face.

  30. CELIBACY, STAKE OUT and CYPRESS were all excellent. I made this hard for myself by putting BRIDLEWAYS for HANDLEBARS.

  33. A highly enjoyable puzzle from Tramp.

    My favourites were (top) 1dn CELIBATE, 7ac DETONATE, 9ac ANORAK, 10ac TIER, 5ac CYPRESS, 25ac HONSHU, 6dn SATANG, 16dn STAKE OUT and 18dn TREASURE.

    Like PostMark @13, I can’t understand why there should be any problem with bed / border: to me they’re totally interchangeable. And, for me, nose as runner and door as swinger are far better than the frequent river as banker.

    Many thanks to Tramp for a fun puzzle and to PeterO for the blog. I was interested to read that the left half gave you more trouble: I found that I had the left half completed before entering anything on the right!

  34. Another entertaining one from Tramp.

    I liked the wordplay for ANORAK, the surface and wordplay for CYPRESS, and the good anagram for CELIBACY. I agree with JOFT @24 that the parsing seems better if navigate is included in the definition of HANDLEBARS with traffic = handle, as for drugs.

    Thanks Tramp and PeterO.

  35. Lovely puzzle from Tramp. Like PostMark @13 I could find nothing to quibble about here – all of the synonyms work perfectly well for me. I hadn’t come across that spelling of GORMANDISE – but that’s what the anagrist yielded – and SATANG was new to me also. but clearly clued.

    Lots of great clues but special mention for CELIBACY, ANORAK and CYPRESS – clever constructions with splendid surfaces.

    Many thanks to Tramp and PeterO

  36. I rather liked the surfaces in today’s offering from Tramp. Some were short, tight and neat (Miss flight, One drawing level) and others elegantly thematic (What riders use to navigate traffic obstructions, Runner’s narrow winning margin).
    In WOOLLINESS, is “ill” = “sinister” OK? I don’t think so.

  37. Found this difficult, like PeterO I managed most of the right half of the puzzle, or at least I was left with the SW section, though wasn’t particularly impressed by the precision of the clueing for ESCAPE, TIER or BUCKETLOAD. The rest I rather guessed at, with GORMANDISE a nho, though the anagram meant it had to be that, and HANDLEBARS went in with a bit of a shrug. Wanted Aslant rather that ASKANT, another nho, and desperately needed PeterO’s parsing of ORATOR. Trickiest clue CYPRESS, neatest one I thought was NILE. I’ve rather gone on a bit, a litany of moans and groans, but that’s how my cookie crumbled this morning. NOSE, I think, tends to be a U.S rather than a British term for a distance won by a horse in a race…

  38. …oh, yes, and I too thought the word day in the clueing for NOWADAYS was a bit loose. That’s it, I’ve finished my harrumphing now…

  40. As much as I loved CYPRESS, the official rules of golf and other references show that Caddie is the proper spelling. From Collins, ‘We often run into two different spellings of the golf word for a person who carries the golf bag for a golfer: “caddie” and “caddy.” Which is correct? It’s “caddie.” The proper spelling, in a golf context, of this word is always with the “ie” on the end, never with the “y” on the end’. A Caddy is a container.

  42. Spent ages trying to parse SADDLEBAGS instead of HANDLEBARS, unsurprisingly without success. And I couldn’t parse ORATOR in spite of getting that one right.

    Thank you Tramp for the workout, and PeterO for the clarity.

  43. AlanC@40…this doesn’t really add anything to the debate, but our present wheelchair-adapted VW car is called a CADDY. No idea why, as it’s rather better than a tin can for getting around in…

  45. Can I say to Eileen, Post Mark and all, I did look up firstly Onelook and then thesauri, for synonyms for bed/border, and was satisfied, but maybe it’s not something that comes immediately to mind for those of us in harsher climes. But having said that, I’m always aware that we’re playing a game outside of our boundaries. 🙂

  48. Of course you can, paddymelon @45 – just another example of horses for courses.
    And many thanks for the earworm – loved it!

  52. Ditto re the earworm pdm, but I guessed Marty Robbins … wrong!! I get those early guys — Miller, Robbins, Jimmy Dean et al, mixed up. [Same with the ‘teen’ crooners, Bobbys Vee and Vinton et al]

  53. One of those examples where I read through all the clues three or four times and got none & considered giving up, but slowly pieced together some solutions. Like Shanne @20 I couldn’t believe celibacy came out of “a bicycle” until it did. I put in nose for 24a thinking it not very cryptic until I saw the double meaning. Also thought 23a had a redundant “traffic” in the clue as it would work without it (bars are not traffic obstructions, barriers are), but I am very much persuaded by JoFT@24 that it is actually part of the definition. Handle = navigate is less convincing than handle = traffic in my book.
    NHO gormandise, with or without a u.
    Thanks Tramp & PeterO

  56. Very entertaining puzzle, though on the easier side I’d say. Admirably succinct clueing!

    CELIBACY was a gem of a clue and I like the simplicity of TIER.

    Bed = border in gardening terms.

    Thanks Tramp and PeterO

  57. How is “away” an anagram signal in 4d?

    PeterO, thanks for parsing WOOLLINESS and ORATOR..

    I almost never reveal, but SATANG defeated me. With some trials I had __ATANG and trying all the letters at the front seemed ridiculous. I’ve heard of “baht” but not SATANG.

    Never seen GORMANDISE spelled without a U, but the anagram required it. Never seen ASKANT either, but guessed it from the wordplay and “askance.”

    How long has it been since anybody outside crosswords has called money “bread”? The 70s?

    SimonS@29 A gourmand, with or without the U, is a glutton. Someone who appreciates fine food os a gourmet.

    petert@30 I toyed with BRIDLEWAYS too.

    Thanks, Tramp and PeterO. (How hot are you on Long Island? It’s over 90 this week in Connecticut.

  59. I thought this was an excellent puzzle. CELIBACY went in quickly, but it then took me quite a while to get going. I agree with PeterO that the right half was perhaps a little easier. Favourites include CADGED, GUSHER, CYPRESS, NOSE and HONSHU. Not so keen on NOWADAYS for same reasons as mentioned above. With thanks to Tramp and PeterO.

  60. [Ta pdm, yes, and Westerns, and country music, sort of bleed into our own popular outback myths and music … ]

  61. Thanks Tramp for an entertaining crossword with many good surfaces. It took me two sittings to complete this with the SW the last to fall. I agree with Eileen’s favourites. Thanks PeterO for the blog.

  62. Thanks for the blog, very neat set of clues, only NOWADAYS a little bit clumsy with the definition. WOOLLINESS was well constructed , the double L always surprises me. No problem with DOOR, perhaps thinking of the saloon in the Western towns. Ronald@37 , NOSE is used in greyhoumd racing.

  63. [ AlanC@22 , not even in the top 20 , your Number 1 from yesterday is noted. I was Number 1 in the FT on Monday and Cyclops on Saturday. It is now 32 – 4 , if you want to take a logarithmic view it can be 5 – 2 .
    I think you will like 5D in the FT today . ]

  64. Thanks for the blog and the kind comments.

    I wrote this in March 2022. The TIER is a double definition clue; one drawing level (in a game, say, is a tier). The intended parsing is HANDLE (traffic) + BARS (obstacle). Also, I think the problem with BEDS/BORDER is because not all beds are borders so it’s a definition by example, I guess. This would have been resolved by a question mark at the end.

    I think it’s a decent puzzle. I know I was only in the paper recently, but, I don’t want to appear more than once every three weeks, on average, as I don’t want it be a chore having to write them as one appears. I have about 12 in the bank, but, my production has slowed down and I have a lot of other things going on.

    Neil

  67. My favourites were 15a CYPRESS, and 1&2d CELIBACY And DOOR, because they combined clever wordplay and brilliant surfaces – the ideal every setter should be striving for in each clue.

    Thanks, Tramp and PeterO, for the elegant puzzle and blog.

  68. Can any initial be used for any word in crosswords? I am not familiar with N = name.

    ORATOR – why does OR = men?

  69. Steffen @69
    No, but there are some one-letter abbreviations which are in fairly common use. N for name is one.
    OR – Other Ranks, militarily ‘men’ as opposed to officers.

  70. Steffen:

    Any abbreviation listed in Chambers can be used in advanced thematics. For standard cryptics, some papers have lists of allowable abbreviations. In general, you can’t use the more arcane ones. OR is other ranks and is used a lot in puzzles for “men” despite being uncommon. N = name is given in the dictionary but I’m not sure where you would see it.

  71. Great puzzle. As others have said, many fine surfaces but the one for NILE impressed me the most. Beautifully concise clue.
    I also had NECK for a long time (until I couldn’t get TREASURE). I like it when the occasional clue turns out to have two different parsable answers. I know some setters feel it’s a criticism of the clue, but crossers are there for a reason 😉 .
    Thanks, Tramp and Peter.

  73. travellingran @72
    From Chambers: cadence n the fall in pitch of the voice, as at the end of a sentence; rise and fall of sound, modulation or intonation; rhythm …

  76. Thanks PeterO and Jack@24 as that was, in the end, my only parsing gap, ORATOR having made sense just before coming here. After a decent start I worried that I would be stranded with half a dozen left but a couple of beers sorted that out a la Morse. Really enjoyed the variety and ingenuity in the clues, i did think that hot-air and maybe property in 17a could have had def by example indicators but my biggest problems were elsewhere, as others failing to shoehorn Baht and trying desperately to recall if I had ever eaten any bread in Thailand before googling SATANG for the surprising result. Thanks Tramp but how on earth did you know that this evening my son would be a 22a after (presumably) too many 24a 14a – luckily nowhere near an 11a of claret resulted, but still eerily prescient!

  77. Ran out of time to finish this, one of the more difficult puzzles of recent weeks (not a criticism). Favourites were NOSE and HANDLEBARS, both superb.

  79. Thanks to Tramp and PeterO. For the first time in a long time I got an answer wrong. I spent ages trying to think of a three letter word meaning “dead” (brown bread in Cockney rhyming slang). Then thought of NAN as a possible alternative for “naan” (brown bread), so investigated SANANG, which Mr Google told me was a place in various Asian countries, including Thailand. All that effort for a wrong answer! I also needed explanations for the parsing of ORATOR and CYPRESS. I can’t think of an occasion where ESCAPE and MISS are interchangeable.

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