Guardian Cryptic 29,232 by Vulcan

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A typical Monday puzzle from Vulcan.

Vulcan once again proves that an easy puzzle can still be very well clued and cleverly constructed. The clues for FIRE ALARM, DEAD SEA SCROLLS, CREEPY-CRAWLIES etc were elegant and fun to solve.

Thanks Vulcan.

ACROSS
1 PRACTICAL JOKER
Trickster handy with a card (9,5)

PRACTICAL ("handy") with JOKER ("a card")
9 WASSAIL
Had been to take boat trip for Christmas cheer (7)

WAS ("had been") + SAIL ("to take boat trip")
10 NOISIER
More inquisitive about one getting extra rowdy (7)

NOSIER ("more inquisitive") about I (one)
11 RANKS
Arrangements one may be reduced to (5)

In the army, being "reduced to the ranks" is another term for being demoted.
12 INTENSIVE
How does the decimal system work? I have concentrated (9)

IN TENS ("how does the decimal system work") + I'VE ("I have")
13 REED ORGAN
Instrument made in red and orange, strangely (4,5)

*(red orange) [anag:strangely]
14 LANKY
Tall thin plank you cut down (5)

Hidden in [cut down] "pLANK You"
15 ABBOT
A pair of bishops at scripture, one wearing a mitre perhaps (5)

A + BB (pair of bishops) at OT (Old Testament. so "scripture")
17 SPHINCTER
Muscle that might make chins pert? Yes and no (9)

*(chins pert) [anag:that might make]
20 FIRE ALARM
Gangster carrying gun round, warning to get out (4,5)

AL (Capone, "gangster") carrying FIREARM ("gun") round
22 RENEW
Revive Frenchman with whiskey (5)

RENE ("Frenchman") with W (whiskey, in the NATO phonetic alphabet)
23 SHAMMED
Pretended son played badly (7)

S (son) + HAMMED (acted or "played badly")
24 RAVIOLI
Run a short fiddle in cases of meat (7)

R (run) + A + [short] VIOLI(n) ("fiddle")

I don't think ravioli is necessarily filled with meat, though.
25 DEAD SEA SCROLLS
Long lost texts found mixed up in local addresses (4,3,7)

*(local addresses) [anag:mixed up]
DOWN
1 POWER BREAKFAST
Electricity essential for this working meal? (5,9)

Cryptic definition
2 ABSENCE
Lack of two principal characters ruining scene (7)

A + B ("two principal characters") + *(scene) [anag:ruining]
3 TRANSPORT
After tea say took charge of games as coach perhaps (9)

After T (homophone [say] of TEA), RAN ("took charge of") + SPORT ("games")
4 CALLING
Coming to see one’s vocation (7)

Double definition
5 LONG TON
Pine not turning up: it’s worth thousands of pounds (4,3)

LONG ("pine") + <=NOT [turning up]
6 ONION
Bulb working – something positive, possibly (5)

ON ("working") + ION (a charged atom, so "something positive. possibly")
7 EDITION
Subversion headed off in issue of book (7)

(s)EDITION ("subversion") with its head off
8 CREEPY-CRAWLIES
Bugs a crew precisely dealt with (6-8)

*(a crew precisely) [anag:dealt with]
14 LAND ROVER
Secure dog perhaps in vehicle (4,5)

LAND ("secure") + ROVER ("dog, perhaps")
16 BARRAGE
Angry pub scene results in hail of missiles (7)

RAGE ("angry scene") at BAR ("pub")
17 SWADDLE
Wife on horse, as it were, has to wrap up (7)

W (wife) in the SADDLE ("on horse, as it were")
18 HUMERUS
Be very busy, certain to hitch up something off the shoulder (7)

HUM ("be very busy") + <=SURE ("certain", to hitch up)
19 TINFOIL
Thin wrapping can frustrate (7)

TIN ("can") + FOIL ("frustrate")
21 AIMED
Directed media to reform (5)

*(media) [anag:to reform]

51 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 29,232 by Vulcan”

  2. There were times when I’d fill most of Monday doing the cryptic in the Sydney Morning Herald, the two in the Guardian and the one in the Financial Times, but today I’d knocked over all four within an hour, leaving me wondering how I was going to spend the next several hours! This one by Vulcan was completed in near record time, with no head scratches, straightforward wordplay and nothing too obscure. The only one I hadn’t heard of was SPHINCTER but it was an easy anagram after a few intersecting clues.

    Today’s quiptic was pretty easy too, but I thought Vulcan’s was easier. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t enjoyable. It was. Thanks Vulcan & Loonapick.

  3. Thank you loonapick. I might have been out of sorts today, but while I may be impressed with the fodder and surface, anagrams don’t really float my boat. Agree with you about the RAVIOLI.

    What am I missing with the Yes and No in the wordplay for SPHINCTER, or maybe I shouldn’t ask? Yes to pert, but no to chins?

    I liked the angry pub scene in BARRAGE.

  6. Crispy @ 1, I’d say in 17d that it makes “chins pert” as an anagram, but not as a factual definition?

  8. Re “sphincter” my understanding is that the setter is telling us that it might make chins pert by wordplay (“yes”) but not by definition (hence “no”) as sphincter muscles aren’t found in the right place. Consider if the anagram fodder had been for something like “stomach base”, then “yes” would’ve been appropriate on its own.

    Hope that makes sense – we’ve seen this sort of thing a few times recently, a sort of “Dang, I almost got an &lit there”.

  9. I agree with Geoff @6 for the explanation of the “yes and no” in SPHINCTER.

    Thanks to loonapick for the parsing of FIRE ALARM. I had “gangster” = FIRM and couldn’t make sense of the rest of it. Now I can see I was needlessly overcomplicating.

    All in all a good solid Monday puzzle, in which my favourites were INTENSIVE and RAVIOLI. Thanks Vulcan.

  10. GDU@6. That simple? 🙁 I wasn’t very impressed with today’s crossword overall and was holding out for something tantalising that I might have missed. You may well be right. Oh, well, bed time for me or I could wake up to something unexpected in the morning. Either way, win/win.

  12. I’m another who’s confused by the need for, or role of, ‘yes and no’ in the clue for SPHINCTER. I think that Jack@8 probably has it right, but I see no problem with dropping the extra words and prefer the clue that way. Otherwise, a straightforward and enjoyable puzzle, with INTENSIVE the highlight for me (with a little, impressed, groan). Thanks Vulcan and loonapick

  13. It didn’t help bunging in Light Breakfast instead of POWER BREAKFAST. I guess that’s the trouble with cryptic definitions. I also nearly bunged in Anion instead of ONION before the crosser put me right. Also Rabbi (RI (scripture lesson) about ABB) instead of ABBOT.
    Weakest COTD has to be RANKS.
    GDU @2, if you’re ever stuck for a crossword you can always have a go at my “jugular” crosswords on MyC.

  15. TimC @ 13, I have briefly looked at your creations, and one day may take the plunge. But four cryptics in one day is probably enough. Any more than that and I might need professional help.

  16. I would argue that this was the most Mondayish of puzzles since the days of much missed Rufus. Perfect for getting the week ( and brain) started. Like many, I now see what the Y and N do at the end of 17ac but I don’t think they add anything. Many thanks to Vulcan and loonapick.
    (GDU@2, a whole day doing cryptic crosswords!!)

  17. Managed to go through all the face cards and suits, and yet still forget the Joker 🙂

    Are there any other sphincters in the human body?

    Cheers V&L

  18. Bodycheetah @17: fittingly, the answer to your query could be ‘Yes and No’. There are sphincters other than the well known one, but I think they are all in the digestive/intestinal tract.

  19. Bodycheetah @17 there are a few sphincters apparently in the human body. Unlike other muscles they remain in a state of contraction until they relax. 🙂

  20. 50 sphincters apparently. This is the closest one I could get to chin and pert and maybe the yes and no?

    Wiki:
    In human anatomy, the orbicularis oris muscle is a complex of muscles in the lips that encircles the mouth. It is not a true sphincter, as was once thought, as it is actually composed of four independent quadrants that interlace and give only an appearance of circularity.

  21. I’m surprised at the lukewarm response to this. I thought it was one of Vulcan‘s smoother offerings with excellent anagrams such as CREEPY CRAWLIES, SPHINCTER and DEAD SEA SCROLLS. I really enjoyed it, even if it was reasonably quick.

    Ta Vulcan & loonapick.

  23. Enjoyed this but still baffled by LONG TON (? Slang of some sort?) and HUMERUS. Still, a nice start to the week.

  24. Great puzzle IMHO. I liked the long solutions most of all – 1a PRACTICAL JOKER, 25a DEAD SEA SCROLLS, 1d POWER BREAKFAST and 8d CREEPY-CRAWLIES. Thanks to Vulcan and loonapick. And thank you for some of the helpful explanatory posts, fellow travellers.

  25. SinCam @23, a LONG TON is a measure of weight equal to 20 cwt (hundredweight) or 2,240 pounds, as opposed to a short ton of 2000 pounds. Both are close to a metric tonne of 1000 kg.

  27. Smooth and delightful. Slipped down without touching the sides. I agree with loonapick on all fronts. And no – ravioli AREN’T necessarily filled with meat 🙂

    Thanks to S&B

  28. Although I’ve never been involved in a POWER BREAKFAST or come across a LONG TON before, there were some good clues here, particularly the CREEPY CRAWLIES nicely concealed as bugs should be. Thanks Vulcan and Loonapick this morning…

  29. I hadn’t come across LONG TON either: I was trying to multiply TON, as in 100m.p.h., up to something or other until I gave up and consulted Wikipedia. There I learned that there is also a Short Ton, and that the long ton was standardised in the 13th. Century. It’s not in my Owbridge’s Book of Tables, primary school issue circa 1960, which is my usual reference for these things.
    I enjoyed the slow steady solve here, and smiled at a couple of old chestnuts (BAR RAGE for one). Thank you to Vulcan and Loonapick.

  31. LONG TON was new to me as well, but it could only have been that (or so I thought, and I was right). I liked HUMERUS and DEAD SEA SCROLLS. Yes, very much on the easy side, but nicely constructed, and it is Monday. With thanks to Vulcan and loonapick

  33. LONG TON was also new to me. I solved the bottom half before getting much filled in in the top half. I liked the anagrams for DEAD SEA SCROLLS and CREEPY CRAWLIES, INTENSIVE and TRANSPORT. I also nearly put in anion for 6D but it didn’t really parse.

    Thanks Vulcan and loonapick.

  37. I thought the anagram for DEAD SEA SCROLLS was well found. 5 down made me think of people with a yearning to be in the Five (or is it six?) Towns.

  39. It makes it a pretty silly clue, but VERSION just about fits for EDITION. Also, if it wasn’t for the mitre bit, you could almost get RABBI instead of ABBOT at 15a (RI= religious instruction) – maybe some clever reader can think of a single clue that works for both.

  40. I had RINGS for 11a. I reckoned it fitted the definition well enough, and one can be reduced to “o” by removing the “ne”. OK, perhaps not plural, but close enough for me to get the wrong answer 🙁

  41. My fastest ever solve. Not even half way down my cup of tea! Enjoyable, but all too brief.

    Not at all convinced by the “Yes and no” despite gallant attempts to explain them.

    Thanks Vulcan and loonapick

  42. I think ‘yes and no’ in the clue for SPHINCTER is just an attempt at humour. The clue would work nicely without it, and would actually be funnier too.

    My problem was with RANKS – as loonapick says in the blog, “reduced to the ranks” is a demotion, but the clue doesn’t quite work. I was thinking along the lines of penury, the gutter, destitution, begging etc, and it was only when I started thinking about what the 4th letter could be that I saw the answer. But it was not really a penny drop moment; it was more like a coin that got jammed in the slot.

    Thanks to Vulcan and loonapick.

  43. Meandme@29. I suspect long ton is is your 1960 Owbridge’s Book of Tables, as the ton, or Imperial ton of 2240lb. It wasn’t considered necessary for us schoolchildren to distinguish it from the American 2000lb (short) ton.

  44. Thanks for the blog, I thought this was just right for the Monday tradition , good clues with a lot of variety and very accessible.
    Petert@37 it is six towns, Longton is the major town plus five minor towns.

  46. Never heard of hum meaning busy. Long Ton new to me too. Only 11a beat me. Much more straightforward than the quiptic.

  47. Re yes and no in 17a SPHINCTER, I agree with sheffield hatter @ 42. Vulcan added it to hammer home the humour of the clue, but the clue was funnier without it. It was still one of my favourites.

    The two long anagrams at 8d and25a were also favourites, for having good surfaces, not always easy with such clues.

    Whenever I see “whiskey” in a clue (22a RENEW) I immediately think NATO alphabet, because when I think of god’s nectar I always think “whisky” – especially Islay of course. 🙂

    A hundred weight is 112 pounds, and so a ton is 2240 or 2000 depending on how tall you are. Only the British could invent and live with Imperial measures for so long.

    Thanks Vulcan and loonapick for an excellent start to the week.

  48. Cellomaniac @47: and the only other country that sticks with their own distorted version of Imperial measurements is… The USA.

  49. Thanks both,
    Mainly straight forward but entertaining nevertheless.

    Imperial measures had much to be said for them for practical purposes. Eg an acre is a chain by a furlong (10 chains) and is the shape and size of land a man could work in a day.

    Old fellows like me are still using hybrid systems. The blokes at the woodyard know perfectly well what I need when I ask for two metres 4×2.

  50. [ TassieTim@48, … and it really makes it difficult for us Canucks to get the measurements right when cooking with British or American recipes. ]

  51. A rarity indeed – finished without assistance. I had a brief stumble on 12 – I had INTENSELY – and LONG TON was new to me. Otherwise nothing to frighten the horses. I wonder if Vulcan is of a generation for whom the word “ravioli” is most immediately associated with Heinz (hence meat, of a fashion) rather than fine Italian dining?

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