Guardian Cryptic 29,190 by Carpathian

October 2, 2023 at 1:07 am by manehi

An enjoyable solve – I especially liked 6ac, 3dn, 19dn, and 23dn. Thanks to Carpathian.

ACROSS
1	BACKWOODS	Support clubs in remote region (9)
		BACK="Support" + WOODS=[golf] "clubs"
6	BIAS	Snub I assume hides prejudice (4)
		hidden in [Snu]-B I AS-[sume]
10	ALIBI	A politician with one excuse for failure (5)
		A (from the surface) + LIB (liberal, "politician") + I="one"
11	TRADE-OFFS	Sad effort forming compromises (5-4)
		anagram/"forming" from (Sad effort)*
12	STEEPLE	Support place in south-east for church tower (7)
		TEE ("Support" for a golf ball) + PL (place); all in SE (South East)
13	INTRUDE	Gatecrash popular event finally getting bawdy (7)
		IN="popular" + final letter of [even]-T + RUDE="bawdy"
14	INTERROGATION	Examination of progress turning in quota by Bury (13)
		GO="progress" as a verb, reversed/"turning" in RATION="quota"; all after INTER="bury"
17	CONFECTIONERY	Candy caught working with ferocity travelling around Newcastle area (13)
		C (caught, cricket abbreviation) + ON="working" + anagram/"travelling" of (ferocity)* around NE (North East, "Newcastle area")
21	CHEAPER	Believe singer holding monkey is a better bargain (7)
		CHER, the singer of the song Believe [wiki], around APE="monkey" 'ape' and 'monkey' as verbs can mean 'mimic'
22	USURERS	Money lenders more certain to be found in America (7)
		SURER="more certain" inside US (United States, "America")
24	PIONEERED	Took the lead from sanctimonious individual left holding drug (9)
		PI (short for pious, "sanctimonious") + ONE="individual" + RED (as in socialist, "left"); around E (ecstasy, "drug")
25	SLING	Throw a loop (5)
		double definition: to throw, or a strap/loop
26	SAFE	Regularly snaffled cash box (4)
		regular letters from S-n-A-f-F-l-E-d
27	MARE’S NEST	Steersman sorted out disordered situation (5,4)
		anagram/"sorted out" of (Steersman)*
DOWN
1	BEARSKIN	Carries family hat worn on ceremonial occasions (8)
		BEARS="Carries" + KIN="family"
2	CHIVE	Plant initially consumed colony of bees (5)
		initial letter of C-onsumed + HIVE="colony of bees"
3	WHIPPERSNAPPER	Whiskey cooler photographer gives young rascal (14)
		W (Whiskey, NATO alphabet) + HIPPER="cooler" + SNAPPER="photographer"
4	ON THE GO	Active regarding getting article ready (2,3,2)
		ON="regarding" + THE (the definite "article") + GO (as an adjective meaning "ready" e.g. 'all systems go')
5	STAMINA	Turned over rugs in academy showing endurance (7)
		MATS="rugs" reversed/"Turned over"; plus IN (from surface) + A (academy)
7	INFLUENCE	Chimney in pub by church produces effect (9)
		FLUE="Chimney" in INN="pub", plus CE (Church of England)
8	SISTER	Son first to meet Virgin Queen and nun (6)
		S (Son) + IST=1st="first" + ER (Elizabeth Regina, Queen Elizabeth I the "Virgin Queen")
9	VENTRILOQUISTS	Novelist quits rewrite about Republican puppet masters, perhaps (14)
		anagram/"rewrite" of (Novelist quits)*, around R (Republican)
15	TICKED OFF	Reprimanded American’s annoyed (6,3)
		to 'tick off' is a British phrase meaning to reprimand, and an American phrase meaning to annoy
16	EYESIGHT	Agreement accepted by rowing team makes a kind of sense (8)
		YES="Agreement", accepted into EIGHT="rowing team"
18	EARDRUM	Facial hair (not black) on strange part of body (7)
		B-EARD="Facial hair" minus B for black, plus RUM="strange"
19	THUNDER	Middle of masthead below boom (7)
		middle letters of mas-TH-ead, plus UNDER="below"
20	SCOPES	Head of strategy manages fields (6)
		head letter of S-trategy, plus COPES="manages"
23	EXILE	Chuck out timeless fabric (5)
		t-EX-t-ILE="fabric", less the letters t for "time"

59 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 29,190 by Carpathian”

Geoff Down Under

#1 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 00:28

Is an alibi an excuse for failure? “I’m not a suspect as I have an alibi.”

Didn’t know TICKED OFF had different meanings either side of the Atlantic. We use it for both.

I thought it unusual that Carpathian had set both this and the quiptic today. I got halfway into the latter before the sense of déjà vu hit.

An enjoyable start to the week, and worth waiting the extra hour. (Daylight saving has just begun here.) Thanks Carpathian & manehi.
KVa

#2 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 00:56

GDU@1
ALIBI
‘An excuse for failure(informal)’ is a meaning given in …
(do I need to mention the source?) 🙂
Dr. WhatsOn

#3 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 00:58

I agree with GDU@1’s comments about the puzzle, although for me it was an enjoyable end to the week.

Good thing monkey and ape can both be verbs – ’nuff said!
tim the toffee

#4 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 01:03

As Geoff@1 I wouldn’t agree with the ALIBI definition as it means somewhere else doesn’t it, hardly an excuse.
And didn’t know the American TICKED OFF
Thanks both
Geoff Down Under

#5 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 01:13

KVa @ 2, I’m in complete agreement that “alibi” can mean an excuse for failure, but just “excuse” would do. You wouldn’t clue “cat” as “feline pet with black fur“, would you?

The source? Let me see. Starts with C? (And not Collins.)
Geoff Down Under

#6 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 01:17

And as tim the toffee says, even “excuse” is an uncomfortable synonym. But if it’s in you-know-where, I don’t have a leg to stand on.
KVa

#7 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 02:12

ALIBI contd
GDU
Another C-dictionary (Chambers) says:
an excuse for something bad or for a failure:
After eight years in power, the government can no longer use the previous government’s policy as an alibi for its own failure.
Geoff Down Under

#8 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 02:23

Did you read my earlier posts?
KVa

#9 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 02:46

GDU@8
Yes. Yes. I did.

There was a typo in my post@7:
Another C-dictionary (Cambridge)*
Anne

#10 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 04:48

> ‘ape’ and ‘monkey’ as verbs can mean ‘mimic’

Stop monkeying me for stop copying me? That’s news to me.
To monkey about is to play the fool.
paddymelon

#11 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 05:06

Gotta say I’m speechless about 13+1 letter anagram VENTRILOQUISTS. Great anagrist, surface and def too.

ALIBI The dog ate my homework. I was elsewhere and didn’t see it. Not guilty.
KVa

#12 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 05:43

🙂
Willbar

#13 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 05:49

Doesn’t TICKED OFF in the American usage indicate that one is annoyed, rather than annoying?
TassieTim

#14 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 05:54

Didn’t know why ‘believe’ was needed in 21a, so thanks for the extra GK, manehi – and for the rest of the blog. I can’t see any Quiptic for today, by Carpathian or anyone – only last week’s, which was by Carpathian. Am I alone here? Thanks also to Carpathian.
KVa

#15 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 06:05

TassieTim@14
No Quiptic online so far this week. You are right.
paddymelon

#16 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 06:25

Pierre has put a placeholder on today’s Quiptic. He said he would post when he himself gets the crossword to blog.
SueB

#17 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 06:56

I thought a mare’s nest meant an illusion rather than disorder but I see that there are both meanings. Others enjoyable and straightforward. Thanks setter and blogger.
Bodycheetah

#18 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 06:59

Willbar @13 yes – does that conflict with the clue in someway?

I’d been stressing about spending too long on crosswords, so this hit the mark perfectly 🙂

Ticks for EXILE and BELIEVE as it’s on my guilty pleasures playlist

Cheers M&C
Crispy

#19 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 07:56

[As anyone who’s read Terry Pratchett will know, be VERY careful about using the word monkey!]

Thanks to Carpathian and manehi
Hovis

#20 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 07:58

I hadn’t come across MARE’S NEST before. I thought it unusual since, obviously, mares don’t nest. Looking at its derivation, it originally meant ‘A false discovery’ (since mare’s nests are not a thing) and, like many things in English, the meaning has changed over the years.
AlanC

#21 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 08:10

I thought the long clues were very good and agree with paddymelon @11 re VENTRILOQUISTS. I also liked PIONEERED.

Ta Carpathian & manehi.
gladys

#22 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 08:14

I agree with the quibbles about the ape and the ALIBI. Can I add another: this is the second recent crossword to clue CHIVE as a plant or herb, where I have always known it as CHIVES (is this actually a plural noun at all?). Haven’t seen MARES NEST for ages: yes, I thought it was a fanciful idea rather than a mess. I expect the Holy Book says otherwise in all the above cases.

WHIPPERSNAPPER made me laugh.
Mandarin

#23 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 08:25

Lovely neat and tidy Monday puzzle, with the clues for the long words particularly good and I also thought BEARSKIN and EYESIGHT very satisfying. By Carpathian’s high standards, I found PIONEERED a little clunky (not convinced by “pi” for “pious” or “red” for “left”).
michelle

#24 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 08:36

Favourites: WHIPPERSNAPPER, EARDRUM, EXILE.

New for me: MARE’S NEST = mess.

Liked Geoff@1, I didn’t know (or had forgotten) TICKED OFF had different meanings either side of the Atlantic.

Thanks, both.

KVa@7 – I liked your sample sentence for alibi but I would have changed it to thirteen years.
Petert

#25 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 08:37

I liked VENTRILOQUIST and EXILE. INFLUENCE was clued in a very similar way in Carpathian’s Quiptic last week, which also had a singular CHIVE in the clue for ARCHIVE.
FrankieG

#26 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 09:16

One of these words appears alibi today.
nuntius

#27 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 09:46

A very Mondayish puzzle, though none the worst for that. I was also pleased to see the increasingly rare expression: MARE’S NEST. Apparently it first appeared in a 16th century play. Perhaps now supplanted by the more common “dog’s breakfast”…With thanks to Carpathian and manehi.
ronald

#28 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 10:04

For a very brief moment or two when my first couple solved, BACKWOODS and STEEPLE, involved the golfing terms Woods (the clubs, not the player) and Tee I wondered whether this might be some kind of theme relating to that sport and the just completed Ryder Cup. With a certain caddie TICKED OFF. But no. Anyway, hats off to Carpathian for some extremely smooth clueing this morning…ha!
Redrodney

#29 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 10:19

Are there any singers other than Cher? 🙂
KateE

#30 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 10:33

Redrodney@29, not often in crossword land, although a clever setter could perhaps make use of Adele amongst others?
Julie in Australia

#31 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 10:39

I really liked this lovely little puzzle which all slotted together nicely for me. I didn’t have issues with any of the clues but maybe I’m easily pleased. Favourites I ticked have already been mentioned by manehi and previous contributors. Many thanks to Carpathian and manehi.
Eileen -

#32 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 10:44

Redrodney @29 and KateE @30

See 1dn here https://www.fifteensquared.net/2022/11/12/guardian-saturday-prize-crossword-28907-by-vlad-5-november-2022/

Male singer popular with English girl (9)

I agree with JinA @31
FrankieG

#33 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 11:06

Nuts a German added to the Spanish cake (9
WhiteDevil

#34 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 11:15

@23 Mandarin: the pi might be as in pi-jaw: ‘pious or moralizing talk or cant’.
Petert

#35 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 11:17

FrankieG @33 I thought I’d forgotten all about that until a taste and a smell brought the memories flooding back.
Meandme

#36 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 11:17

A certain feeling of déjà vu here: INFLUENCE was in a very similar position in last week’s Quiptic.
grantinfreo

#37 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 12:03

7 hours later, gotta say agree, pdm @11, (novelist quits)* around r is a ripper.
Robi

#38 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 12:25

Good start to the week with Carpathian’s crisp cluing style.

I liked CONFECTIONERY for the wordplay, USURERS and THUNDER for the wordplays, VENTRILOQUIST for the novelist fodder, and EARDRUM being a strange hairy part of the body.

Thanks Carpathian and manehi.
manhattan

#39 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 12:30

Gentle Monday write in, enjoyable
grantinfreo

#40 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 12:31

… temps perdu, deja vu, zut alors…
Mike Clarke

#41 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 13:02

Enjoyed this. Thanks C and m. Despite some quite elaborate wordplay, it seemed relatively easy. Straightforward definitions?
Jacob

#42 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 13:31

Very nice for a Monday. Some excellent surfaces especially 19D. NHO 27A.

I was not entirely happy with PI for “pious” in 24A, and think that could have been clued better. I see I am not alone in that.
Fru

#43 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 13:32

Nice and gettable crossword overall.

I think PIONEERED was a particularly weak construction though, not a fan of that one.
Kingsley

#44 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 13:43

The clue for ALIBI is correct and I couldn’t complain it was unfair. But that doesn’t mean I can’t say I don’t like it. It uses a sense of ALIBI that makes English less precise and it grates with me.

It’s like the difference between technical merit and presentation (in, I think, ice-skating scoring).

Thanks to C and m.
Willbar

#45 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 14:02

Bodycheetah @18: my concern was with the blog, not the clue.
Bodycheetah

#46 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 14:04

PI’s constantly popping up in crosswords. It’s dated but obviously very useful to setters. See also SA, IT etc.
Gazzh

#47 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 14:29

Thanks manehi, I enjoyed this too, as well as VENTRILOQUISTS I thought EXILE was very good: not too obvious definition with some early competition from eg Eject, and precise wordplay that took a long time for me to fathom ( subtractions I always find hard, double subtractions doubly so). Thanks Carpathian.
FrankieG

#48 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 14:36

Petert@35, grantinfreo@40 – 🙂
Tony Santucci

#49 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 15:11

Thanks Carpathian for a gentle start to the week. I found this enjoyable despite its ease. My top picks were BACKWOODS, USURERS, and EYESIGHT. Thanks manehi for the blog.
Tony Santucci

#50 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 15:22

[Redrodney @29: A singer in crosswords sometimes refers to a bird. A clue could read: “Singer left English property deed (5)”]
Irishman

#51 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 15:26

MARE’S NEST – a rarity now, as noted above – reminded me of a lovely Rupert book long long ago: he and Algy(?) did find one, I recall.

Thanks to Carpathian for an enjoyable puzzle and manehi for the informative blog.

And where is our Quiptic? Surely they’ve had time to sort it out by now!
Roz

#52 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 16:48

Thanks for the blog, very good puzzle in the Monday tradition , I would have loved this when I was learning.
Roz

#53 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 16:51

[AlanC@21 , against all odds I somehow managed to reach Number 1 for Cyclops on Saturday , it is now 34 – 10 , less than three months to go . ]
Rob T

#54 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 16:53

Meandme @36 — I noticed that too. INFLUENCE in same position in the grid as last week’s Quiptic, both set by Carpathian, and the clues are quite similar:

– Control in chimney originally needed on top of church
– Chimney in pub by church produces effect
AndrewTyndall

#55 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 19:00

I assume the “perhaps” in 9D indicates a definition by example, since a ventriloquist is only one type of puppet master, with a marionettist being another. I do not even know the name for those puppeteers who use rods from below. Nevertheless, did anyone else find the “perhaps” unnecessary, and a little pedantic?
Steve Uglow

#56 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 21:21

A church can have a very beautiful steeple. It’s not a tower. And vice versa – unless that bit of Latin has also been mangled like “alibi”.
Pino

#57 - Mon 2nd Oct 23, 21:43

As someone usually points out, and this time it’s me, ALIBI is Latin for “somewhere else” and as such shouldn’t be used as an excuse for someone doing something wrong but only as a reason why they couldn’t have done it. However its use in the former sense has (regrettably) become accepted.
Thanks to Carpathian and Peter O. I particularly liked 9d because my grandfather was a professional ventriloquist. It’s how he earned his gread and gutter.
vyšnia

#58 - Tue 3rd Oct 23, 08:50

On not being able to find the Quiptic I saw the main cryptic was Carpathian and thought I’d have a go. A fun quick solve. Any chance it was the Quiptic masquerading as a the day’s cryptic?
FrankieG

#59 - Tue 3rd Oct 23, 09:11

Pino@57 🙂 via Fairport’s https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gottle_O%27Geer I discovered this version of Sandy’s Song by Sandy Denny herself. Thanks for that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTgQiEp2iYA

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