Guardian Cryptic 29260 Brendan

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Thank you to Brendan. Definitions are underlined in the clues.

There are numerous references to things Roman, Latin, and American, though I can’t come up with a connection for all three.

Across

8. Polish bilingual Brendan follows in US city (3,5)

SAN DIEGO : SAND(to polish/smoothen using sandpaper or a sander) placed before(… follows) I,EGO(the first person pronoun used by Brendan self-referentially, in 2 languages/bilingual viz. English and Latin respectively).

9. Name in hood for stadium (5)

ARENA : N(abbrev. for “name”) contained in(in) AREA(a hood, American slang for “neighbourhood”/a residential urban area).

10. God is object of American missions (4)

MARS : Double defn: 1st: Roman … of war; and 2nd: The planetary …, missions into outer space, that is.

11. Diva and demure megastar sharing male (5,5)

PRIMA DONNA : “prim”(demure/modest and shy) + “Madonna”(stage name of the megastar whose full name is Madonna Louise Ciccone) minus an(sharing) “m”(abbrev. for “male”).

12. Place for events in Rome, mainly about America (6)

CIRCUS : “circa”(about in reference to dates/years) minus its last letter(mainly …) + US(abbrev. for the United States of America).

Defn: In ancient Rome, a round or oval area with spectator seats for equestrian and other sports events.

14. Lone answer for New Orleans, more for Rome, for instance? (8)

ANAGRAMS : Examples of which/for instance are these: [“lone” + “answer”] for “New Orleans”, and “more” for “Rome”.

15. One bishop of Rome, like all associated with pride (7)

LEONINE : One of the succession of bishops of Rome, in this case, Pope Leo IX(Roman numeral for “nine”).

Defn: Describing all the members of a pride of lions.

17. Something created by senators, say, covering half of Utah (7)

STATUTE : STATE(to say/proclaim) containing(covering) 1st 2 letters of(half of) “Utah“.

Defn: A written law passed/created by the senators/members of the senate/legislative council of the ancient Roman Republic and Empire.

20. Musical politician in Latin home, mostly rebuilt (8)

HAMILTON : Anagram of(… rebuilt) [LATIN + “home” minus its last letter(…, mostly) ].

Defn: A stage musical based on the life of politician Alexander Hamilton, one of America’s Founding Fathers.

Made into a movie too:

22. Slangily eliminate Republican in company, a noted speaker (6)

CICERO : [ ICE(slang for to “eliminate”/kill) + R(abbrev. for “Republican”) ] contained in(in) CO(abbrev. for “company”).

Defn: …, one of Rome’s greatest orators.

23. I’ll be upset after start of conflict, since America is what produces it (5,5)

CASUS BELLI : Anagram of(… upset) I’LL BE placed after(after) [ 1st letter of(start of) “conflict” + AS(because/since) + US(abbrev. for “United States”/America) ].

Defn: An act or a situation that/what provokes/produces it/conflict/war.

24. Part of Star Wars character with little time for final notice (4)

OBIT : OBI(part of the name of the Star Wars character, Obi-Wan Kenobi) plus(with) 1st letter of(little) “time“.

Defn: Short for a …, announcing someone’s end of life.

25, 26. Reconstructed Incan material one found in Peru, say (5,8)

LATIN AMERICAN : Anagram of(Reconstructed) INCAN MATERIAL.

Defn: An example of which/say, is one found in Peru. And of course, the Incans were from Peru.

26. See 25

Down

1. Name for hill in Rome in a Latin exam, initially — under pressure (8)

PALATINE : [ A LATIN + 1st letter of(…, initially) “exam” ] placed below(under, in a down clue) P(symbol for “pressure” in physics).

Defn: …, specifically the centremost of the seven hills of Rome.

2. Fateful day in Senate that is ending early (4)

IDES : “id est”(Latin for “that is”) minus its last letter(ending early).

Defn: …, in particular, the 15th day of March in the Roman calendar, the day Julius Caesar was assassinated at a Senate meeting.

3. Measures section of totem, possibly (6)

TEMPOS : Hidden in(section of) “totem, possibly“.

Defn: …/speeds at which a piece of music is played.

4. Destruction of Capitol that’s newsworthy (7)

TOPICAL : Anagram of(Destruction of) CAPITOL.

Defn: …/currently in the news.

5. Leader in Congress introducing a law about cigarette problem in fall (8)

CATARACT : 1st letter of(Leader in) “Congress” plus(introducing) A + ACT(a written law) containing(about) TAR(the substance in cigarettes that causes medical problems … and stains teeth and fingers as well).

Defn: …/a large waterfall.

6. Like some senators, protest 50% of Arctic being taken over (10)

DEMOCRATIC : DEMO(short for a “demonstration”/a public protest in the form or a meeting or march) + ARCTIC with reversal of(… being taken over, in a down clue) its 1st 3 letters(50% of …).

Defn: …, those in the US Senate belonging to the Democratic Party.

7. Bottle used as weapon by Clint Eastwood (6)

MAGNUM : Double defn: 1st: … of wine with a capacity of 1.5 litres; and 2nd: The make of gun used by cop Harry Callaghan played by Clint Eastwood in the Dirty Harry movies.

Big bottle and big gun:

   

13. Crazy outing in Rome or New York, say, in touching relationship (10)

CONTIGUITY : Anagram of(Crazy) OUTING contained in(in) CITY(an example of which/say, is Rome or New York).

Defn: …/state of being in contact with something.

16. Closely observe what’s cut in middle of Corn Belt (4,4)

NOTA BENE : That which is abbreviated to(what’s cut) middle 2 letters of(middle of) “Corn Belt“.

Defn: In written text, …/note well.

18. Dulles or JFK, for example, spoke for forum, finally, in broken Latin (8)

TERMINAL : Last letters, respectively, of(…, finally) “spoke for forum” contained in(in) anagram of(broken) LATIN.

Defn: An airport, which can be regarded as the last stop in a transportation route, and an example of which is Dulles Airport serving Washington, D.C. or JFK Airport serving New York City in the US.  And each airport will have its share of terminal buildings.

19. Sam, for example, a Republican? That’s iffy (7)

UNCLEAR : UNCLE(for example, “Uncle Sam”, the personification of the US Government) + A + R(abbrev. for for a member of the Republican Party).

21. Helps a number of Romans over troubles also engulfing part of US (6)

AVAILS : A + V(number of Romans/Roman numeral for 5) placed above(over, in a down clue) AILS(troubles/distresses). Alternatively/also AILS(troubles) containing(engulfing) VA(abbrev. for the State of Virginia, part of the US).

Defn:  …/benefits.

22. Grieves about middle of Louisiana and perilous times (6)

CRISES : CRIES(grieves/mourns) containing(about) middle letter of(middle of) “Louisiana“.

24. Sex in party set up for poet (4)

OVID : VI(Roman numeral for 6/”sex” in Latin) contained in(in) reversal of(… set up, in a down clue) DO(a party/a social function).

Defn: Roman ….

86 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 29260 Brendan”

  1. Great puzzle. Favourites were CICERO, PRIMADONNA, CASSUS BELLI, LATIN AMERICAN (super ANAGRAM) and CATARACT, but there were others. Was worried my O level Latin wouldn’t be up to snuff but I was familiar with the various words. Lovely end to an enjoyable week.

    Ta Brendan & scchua for the colourful blog.

  2. Great crossword, enjoyed the LATIN AMERICAN theme very much. Faves were LEONINE, ANAGRAMS and MARS. Thanks scchua and Brendan, festive greetings to all

  3. Amo, amas, amat…ah yes, I dimly remember my Latin. And I loved this delightful puzzle. Last one in the not so well remembered CASUS BELLI…

  7. Enjoyed this. Seems to be on the wavelength and was helped by the theme – bunging some in straightaway from the definition.

    My favourites were PRIMA DONNA and LEONINE both of which made me laugh.

    Also liked CICERO, DEMOCRATIC, UNCLEAR

    Thanks Brendan and scchua

  10. I think the overall connection is simply the term LATIN AMERICAN.
    Another great crossword from Brendan, and thanks for the helpful blog, scchua, with the nice pictures. (I liked the juxtaposition of the two magnums!)

  12. Latin in secular schools here ended before my time, but no problem today, nothing too obscure. Enjoyed it, thanks Brendan and scchua, and happy Season to all.

  13. A Happy Christmas to everyone and thanks scchua, kenmac and everyone for this great service. What a treat to have a Brendan just before Christmas. And what a beautiful puzzle, built on row 14 and so consistently maintained. I have never regretted choosing Latin when I was 11; just regret that it was set against Chemistry, which is equally fascinating. The ANAGRAMS clue is gorgeous, so are LEONINE, PRIMA DONNA, CASUS BELLI, CICERO… O tempora, O mores – which we recall, being translated, is ‘I’d like another helping of those tasty things’. The merriest of festivals to you, BG.

  14. Tough puzzle. NE corner was most difficult for me. Gave up on 14ac and 7d.

    Favourite: OVID.

    I could not parse 16d – I got stuck thinking of ‘not a bean’!

    Thanks, both.

  15. Re HAMILTON. Surely this is an anagram of LATIN + HOM (home minus its last letter, not all its inner letters).
    Thanks to Brendan and Scchua

  16. I hate to quibble (but what the heck, it’s almost Christmas and I’ve time on my hands), but MAGNUM is not a make of gun, but rather a (partial) description of a type of cartridge used as metonym for a weapon that uses it. Several arms manufacturers produce guns using magnum cartridges.

  21. Like Vegemarm @2, I took the theme as being indicated at 25/26 – and brilliantly executed throughout.

    My favourite clues were 8ac SAN DIEGO, 11ac PRIMA DONNA, 14ac ANAGRAMS, 15ac LEONINE, 20ac HAMILTON (which is surely an anagram of LATIN HOM[e]?), 22ac CICERO, 2dn IDES, 5dn CATARACT, 6dn DEMOCRATIC and 24dn OVID.

    Many thanks to Brendan for a real Christmas treat and to scchua for the blog.

  22. Lovely puzzle. Thanks Brendan and scchua for the blog. Happy Christmas everyone.
    (Re 7dn, in fact one of the Dirty Harry films was called Magnum Force.)

  23. I really enjoyed this. I was a bit worried when a saw all the Latin references, as my Latin knowledge is limited, but it all came together nicely eventually.
    Many thanks Brendan and scchua

  24. Thanks Brendan and scchua
    When my FOI was the barely cryptic MARS I nearly threw the puzzle away. The rest was better, though I didn’t parse ARENA – do they really say “hood” for “neighbourhood” (or “neighborhood”, I suppose)?
    Favourite PRIMA DONNA, though I’ve seen this trick recently. I also thought I had seen LEONINE clued like that recently, but the closest I’ve found is from a Crucible Prize 2 years ago:
    Catty old pontiff? (7)

  25. I took too long to type and therefore crossed with several others re the LATIN AMERICAN theme and the parsing of HAMILTON.

  27. Thankyou scchua. I’m not clear about the reading of the blog for PRIMA DONNA. I understand Prim Madonna where one m is deleted, or as Brendan has clued it, they share an m. This device came up recently. Was it Brendan?

  28. FrankieG@11: Also, ‘palace’ derives ultimately from the Palatine Hill where Roman emperors resided.

    Lovely puzzle from Brendan as usual. Even I could see the theme.

  29. IanSW3@16..but “Dirty” Harry is said to pack a “Magnum .45”, and one of Eastwood’s films is called Magnum Force (?)

  30. I found the theme a bit overpowering but with the exception of CASUS BELLI they were all reasonably familiar and impeccably clued. Some of these were stunningly good with top ticks for SAN DIEGO, OVID & AVAILS with at least another six that could have made the podium

    I guess it’s time to start searching the archives for a suitable Maskarade alternative 🙂

    Cheers B&S

  31. PS That said, it was one of two clues I didn’t get when my time ran out. I kicked myself on this one. The other was AVAILS…another kick, though not as hard. With thanks to Brendan and sccuha. PPS. A friend was recently chatting with some people in a pub who’d been to see HAMILTON. They all expressed surprise and delight that old Alexander was Black. They clearly meant the real Hamilton. I suspect this may be a common view, which is a bit worrying as it means a profound lack of understanding about how the new nation treated non Whites. Not that it was alone in that regard.

  33. Very clever theme. I believe Brendan is Irish born and resides in the USA. I liked the extent to which he executed the theme, down to cluing two letters eg UT in STATUTE as half of Utah and NB the middle letters of corn belt.

  35. Brilliant Brendan. Loved Leo IX. Was the bilingual in the first across clue a hint at the theme?
    Thanks both and a cool Yule to all.

  36. My Latin is O level in a different sense.
    Thanks for the enlightenment FrankieG and others!

    Thanks, Brendan for the lovely puzzle and scchua for the superb blog (as colourful and detailed as is always)!
    OVID
    In the Netflix series ‘Medici The Magnificent’, there was some reference to one of Ovid’s books (can’t recall the title). An Italian Kama Sutra.
    Not sure it deals with ‘doing in a do’.

  37. Thanks for the blog, I liked the shared m for PRIMA DONNA , the bilingual I/EGO is neat, MARS is very simple and effective. I have seen LEONINE far too many times.

  39. [ AlanC @1 , I knew it , I was not going to say anything but this is effectively the Christmas Number 1. 25 point bonus plus double December so 52 points. It is now 65- 44 , I think I am safe. ]

  40. An excellent blog of an excellent crossword IMHO.

    Rusty school Latin not much help but enough to throw a dim light on these well constructed clues.

    Many thanks, both

  41. Really fun crossword cleverly making an unmissable theme.

    Loved PRIMA DONNA and CASUS BELLI

    Thanks Brendan and scchua

  42. muffin @24: Yes, “hood” is commonplace slang for neighborhood [sic] in the US, for example in the movie Boyz n the Hood, and the parody of the genre that movie sparked, Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood.

  43. Very enjoyable for a Friday. I particularly enjoyed 14A, 11A, and 21D now that scchua has elucidated the parsing for me. I also failed to parse IEGO, of which I am quite ashamed in hindsight. Otherwise, a delightful end to the week.

    Thank you scchua and Brendan.

  44. Jacob @42
    Thanks – that’s explained a film title ‘I’ve always found grammatically puzzling! (I’ve never seen the film. I assumed it was about gangsters.)

  45. One of the advantages of a failing memory is that you can enjoy a clue like LEONINE every time it appears. I was amused by the idea of a Prim Madonna.

  46. Lovely puzzle. My favorites have already been mentioned. It didn’t feel to me like you needed much Latin for this–most of the phrases needed are reasonably common in English discourse as well. But hey, I admit I did study Latin in school, so maybe that helped.

    Muffin @24: “the hood” for “the neighborhood” is specifically African American slang, and has connotations accordingly. If I called my own neighborhood “the hood,” it’d be hard to pull off without either being jokey or sounding awkward. (I’m white; I live in Uptown, which is multiethnic but getting whiter as it gentrifies. But I’m not sure those details about the area even matter. Fact is, I’m white.)

    I took HAMILTON to have two definitions followed by wordplay. “Musical politician” isn’t quite right as a definition–it’s a musical, and the politician portrayed therein, so that’s two definitions. We have no evidence that Hamilton was himself musical in any way.

  47. For future reference the British (or maybe London) equivalent of hood is “ends” which may at some point crop up

    N@29 it’s the .44 MAGNUM Clint employs in the Dirty Harry movies with catchphrase “Do you feel luck punk”

    M@46 HAMILTON is the politician who’s in the musical (or it’s about) so musical is an adjective rather than a noun?

  49. @33 indeed Brian Greer does live in the States. A while back he was live from his home in the US on John Halpern’s (Paul) zoom session. A fascinating session between two of the finest setters for the Grauniad. As to this puzzle brilliant. Brought back memories of being 11 and learning to conjugate Latin verbs. Once learned never forgotten: surgo/surgas/surgat et al! Thanks for a great crossword and blog

  50. scchua, is that photo Iguacu Falls in Argentine? I was there once, and it’s an amazing place, like a whole planet of waterfalls.

    I enjoyed the puzzle. My two years of Latin helped, but some of these phrases were ones I’ve encountered since that time, regardless of Latin class. But then, I did know how to parse them.

    Thanks, Brendan and scchua.

  51. Great puzzle. Though my first degree and doctorate are in chemistry I studied Latin at state grammar school (which shows my age) – that probably helped a bit, but most of the expressions are well known as others have remarked.

    Lots of great clues – my pick would be SAN DIEGO, PRIMA DONNA and OVID (nice to see ‘sex’ not indicating IT for a change).

    LEONINE might not be original, but the clue is well phrased here. A tiny quibble, though, is that regnal numbers in English (and Latin and Italian but not French, curiously) are ordinals rather than cardinals. In fact Pope Leo IX was never a cardinal :). [A German pope, born Bruno von Egisheim-Dagsburg, his short reign at the beginning of the 11th century is notable for the Great Schism – the permanent separation of the Roman and Orthodox churches]

    Thanks to S&B

  52. Bodycheetah @47 and mrpenney @46: I would parse ‘musical’ not as an adjective or as a separate definition but as a noun used attributively, as in ‘the England team’. HAMILTON is the politician of the musical.

  54. @34 – while Latin may have those verbs, I imagine the Greek noun krisis (a turning point or judgment, from the verb krino – I judge) was the Classical reference Brendan had in mind.

    The word ‘continguity’ comes from the Latin verb contingo (con- + tango – I touch).

  55. Too late to add anything meaningful other than my thanks to Brendan for a splendid puzzle and scchua for a clear and precise blog.

  57. Thanks Brendan for a real gem. My top picks were PRIMA DONNA, the very clever ANAGRAMS, LEONINE, STATUTE, LATIN AMERICAN, IDES, DEMOCRATIC, CONTINUITY, TERMINAL, and UNCLEAR. I missed MAGNUM and couldn’t fully parse OVID.Thanks scchua for the blog.

  58. Gervase@51: By chance I’ve just got to the Great Schism of 1054 in the late John Julius Norwich’s very readable History of the Popes (!) Highly recommended.

  59. What a good week – so many “old” compilers in action. And a thoroughly enjoyable Friday offering. 14ac was my favourite and very clever to fit in with the theme.
    Thank you to all the folks at Fifteensquared for their very helpful blogs throughout the year.

  60. Superb puzzle. Personal favourite was CONTIGUITY as, in my experience, one only ever hears of it in relation to American geography. (The “contiguous States” being all the states of the US other than Alaska and Hawaii.)

  62. Lovely theme and variations as usual from Brendan, thanks. Thanks also to scchua for clarifications. I was wondering if the terminalsmatDulles and JFK were laid out in a radial (‘spoke’) pattern, as the names usually denote the airport as a whole rather than the terminals I’d have thought?

  64. This is an absolutely brilliant crossword with contiguous cross-currents and deft layers of association. One of the very best of the year!

  65. MAGNUM – Latin nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular OR accusative masculine singular of magnus – big
    Dirty Harry(1971) :’I know what you’re thinking. “Did he fire six shots or only five?” Well to tell you the truth in all this excitement I kinda lost track myself. But being this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world and would blow your head clean off, you’ve gotta ask yourself one question: “Do I feel lucky?” Well, do ya, punk?

  66. [nuntius @58: I agree – a great read. Spending as much time in Rome, as I do, it’s good to learn some of the background of the personages who are depicted and commemorated in paintings, statues, inscriptions and street names all around the city]

  71. Thanks both,
    Did anyone else confidently enter ISIS for 10ac? Parsed as IS from the clue and IS for Islamic State. Rather better than the feeble DD of Mars, IMHO.

  72. Tyngewick @71
    I’m pleased that someone agrees that MARS was a weak clue. It’s barely even a double definition, as the planet was named after the god. The “American” was shoehorned in to be thematic; other nations have also sent missions to Mars.

  74. Wonderful puzzle. Although intimidated by the theme at first, my lack of Latin wasn’t really an issue. Clues for ANAGRAM get me every time. Hats of to those of you who can spot anagrams without being led. Thanks Brendan and scchua.

  76. I agree with Petert@45 that a less productive memory leads to more enjoyment of old chestnuts, though with the slight downside that the puzzle takes longer to solve.

    A very enjoyable one from Brendan. Last one in for me was AVAILS, belatedly realising that there was double the normal amount of wordplay (doh). I was pleased at getting ANAGRAMS without too much head scratching.

    Thanks to Brendan and scchua.

  77. Loved this. Thanks to the setter and blogger. Coincidentally, I was discussing the famous Novus Mundus clue yesterday with a crossword newbie. I spent rather too long looking for a Nina thereof once I’d finished this.

  78. Did anyone else put “ISIS” as the answer to 10A? Isis being both an (Egyptian) god, and the object of many American missions?
    We noted the Roman theme but not enough to worry.
    Then got palatine which forced a rethink!

  80. Took me back to early lessons of hic, haec, hoc, and that is about the extent of my Latin.
    Just ran aground in the SW corner.
    Lots to like today, thanks both.

  81. muffin @24, LEONINE was clued in 28,752 in May 2022 also by Brendan as “Like some big game one bungled in series” in a Pope themed crossword.

  82. An outstanding puzzle, with a list of favourites corresponding pretty closely with Eileen’s @21.

    I was amused by muffin’s (@24) account of how he started this puzzle – with the super-easy MARS. That was my LOI! I didn’t get any of the short answers in the two ‘small corners’ (the NW and SE) immediately, and I got OVID and OBIT before IDES and MARS to complete the puzzle.

    Thanks Brendan and scchua.

  83. Great puzzle but for all sorts of reasons I have taken a full night and day to finish it. Lots of fun and the warmth of the card-playing has really enhanced, actual experience fab

  84. That was a lovely Christmas present – both the puzzle and the illustrated blog. Favourite had to be Ovid for its concise clueing and the smile it brought. Its neatness reminded me of the half alphabet leading to “atom” from several years ago.

  85. @julie in Australia. It took me the same amount of time and even though I studied Latin in grammar school. I failed to get casus belli. Thanks Brendan and scchua.

  86. Some superb clueing, although I was tempted to put WARS for American Missions when I remember the old clue “Spoils of war?”

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