Guardian Cryptic 29,304 by Paul

by

The puzzle may be found at https::www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/29304.

As I feared, the puzzle has been replaced with a new one after I blogged the one first offered. I have solved it as quickly as I could given the time difference.

ACROSS
1
See 25
6 ARMY
Large group out to lunch, starter unavailable (4)
A subtraction: [b]ARMY (‘out to lunch’) minus its first letter (‘starter unavailable’).
8, 10, 11 IN ONE EAR AND OUT THE OTHER
A rude Etonian struggling to maintain working relations, promptly dismissed (2,3,3,3,3,3,5)
A charade of INONEEARANDOUT, an envelope (‘to maintain’) of ON (‘working’) in INEEARANDOUT, an anagram (‘struggling’) of ‘a rude Etonian’; plus THE OTHER (sexual ‘relations’).
9 ABOARD
On ship heading for Africa, in the doldrums reportedly? (6)
A charade of A (‘heading for Africa’) plus BOARD, sounding like (‘reportedly’) BORED (‘in the doldrums’).
10
See 8
11
See 8
12 SPADES
Cook passed quarterdeck? (6)
An anagram (‘cook’) of ‘passed’, with a cryptic definition for the card suit.
15 DURATION
Comparative amount fed to horse all the time (8)
An envelope (‘fed to’) of RATIO (‘comparative amount’) in DUN (‘horse’).
16 QUOTIENT
Allotment 21 gone to seed (8)
An anagram (‘gone to seed’) of NOT QUITE (the answer to ’21’ across).
19
See 22 Down
21 NOT QUITE
Letter about surrender, as near as dammit? (3,5)
An envelope (‘about’) of QUIT (‘surrender’) in NOTE (‘letter’).
22 QUINSY
Abscess: one in five say, drained (6)
A charade of QUIN (‘one of five’ children) plus ‘s[a]y’ minus its middle letter (‘drained’).
24 RIMINI
No frills on trip west of small Italian port (6)
A charade of ‘[t]ri[p]’ minus first and last letters (‘no frills’); plus (‘west of’) MINI (‘small’).
25, 1, 6 THERE ARE NO TWO WAYS ABOUT IT
What can’t be said of a palindrome, for sure (5,3,2,3,4,5,2)
Definition and literal interpretation.
26 EMMA
Book horrifying production company, extremes trimmed back (4)
[h]AMME[r] (‘horrifying production company’ known for its films) minus first and last letters (‘extremes trimmed’) and reversed (‘back’), for the novel by Jane Austen.
27 STEINBECK
American author in German vessel on water (9)
A charade of STEIN (‘German vessel’ for beer) plus BECK (a stream, ‘water’).
DOWN
1 NINON
6.75 + 0.6 recurring for silky fabric (5)
NIN[e] is three-quarters of 9, as, arithmetically, is ‘6.75’; ON[e] is two-thirds of 1, as ‘.6 recurring’ is.
2 TANGOED
Spice added to reference book was passionately expressive? (7)
A charade of TANG (‘spice’) plus (‘added to” – but that might suggest more the reverse order) OED (Oxford English Dictionary, ‘reference book’).
3 OVETT
Coe rival, yet often fastest, always showing heart? (5)
Middle letters (‘always showing heart’) of ‘cOe riVal yEt ofTen fasTest’, with an &lit definition.
4 AERATED
Sparkling hospital department, highly thought of (7)
A charade of AE (Accident and Emergency, ‘hospital department’) plus RATED (‘highly thought of’).
5 SNARE DRUM
Piece of kit, coat on seen with a ’70s jumper (5,4)
A charade of SN (‘coat on SeeN‘) plus ‘a’ plus RED RUM (thoroughbred horse, triple Grand National winner, ’70s jumper’), with a cryptic definition, the k’it’ being percussion instruments.
6
See 25 Across
7 MORSE CODE
Tom dashed here? (5,4)
Cryptic definition: Tom’ in Morse is all dashes: – — –.

Some fonts seem to run the dashes together, so to be a little clearer the code is da da-da-da da-da.
13 PLUTONIUM
More Italian mafiosi initially surrounding airport, dangerous element? (9)
An envelope (‘surrounding’) of LUTON (‘airport’ serving London) in PIU (‘more Italian’) plus M (‘Mafiosi initially’).
14 SPECIFIES
Names European Community provided filed by operatives (9)
An envelope (‘filled by’) of EC (‘European Community’) plus IF (‘provided’) in SPIES (‘operatives’).
17 TEQUILA
Alcoholic drink, beverage inspiring old writer briefly (7)
An envelope (‘inspiring’) of QUIL[l] (‘old writer’) minus its last letter (‘briefly’) in TEA (‘beverage’).
18 THEATRE
Case of Agincourt in place identified as scene of action (7)
An envelope (‘in’) of AT (‘case of AgincourT‘) in THERE (‘place identified’).
20 TRIREME
Flag featuring leader in Rome on me, old warship (7)
A charade of TRIRE, an envelope (‘featuring’) of R (‘leader in Rome’) in TIRE (‘flag’); plus ‘me’.
22, 19 QUEEN MOTHER
Consort, German essentially? (5,6)
RM (‘GeRMan essentially’) could be an abbreviation for regina mater, but I have not tracked down this usage. Of course, the QUEEN MOTHER must be a consort, or she would still be Queen while alive.

Better: ‘gERMAn essentially’ give ER MA, back when Elizabeth II and the Queen Mum were alive.
23 SHREK
Ogre: call to have one evicted (5)
SHRE[i]K (‘call’) minus the I (‘to have one evicted’).

picture of the completed grid

57 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 29,304 by Paul”

  1. Thanks Paul and PeterO
    QUEEN is (was) ER, then MA for mother.
    I liked the QUOTIENT/NOT QUITE pair.
    You’ve missed out the parsing of NINON (which I had never heard of), Peter – 3/4 of NINe and 2/3 of ONe.

  2. Something odd going on here. Why am I the first to comment?
    Anyway, I much enjoyed this one. Thanks to Paul and Peter.
    PS NOT QUITE sure why, but amused by the thought of Robert Plant singing about the mystery of the allotment.

  4. Wellcidered – they published a repeat crossword this am anfvonly replaced later on. So many of the breakfast time commenters are absent.

    Was a seriously tough crossword – not sure I would have been able to complete if not for the long multi word answers giving me lots of crossers.

    Thanks Paul for both today’s and Peter for a tough blog; SS PP

  5. @muffin #1. Can you expand on parsing for one down please?

    6.75 + 0.6 recurring for silky fabric (5)

    3/4 of NINe and 2/3 of ONe.

    I don’t see where you get the 9 nor the 1 from. 9.75 and 1.666 might make more sense to me – would still be a huge stretch tho.

    Ok . Although Jonathan said virtually same thing – this time it clicked. Thanks both.

  6. Great work in the circumstances PeterO, i agree with muffin on the ER MA but still didn’t see where NIN came from, thinking that it was a multiplicative dot rather than decimal, and if they can misprint an entire puzzle… anyway this was an excellent workout in my opinion, thanks Paul, and kudos to anyone getting MORSE CODE before crossers were in place!

  8. I downloaded the PDF to the original puzzle this morning and had no idea it had changed. Wasted plenty of time and have no energy left for the correct puzzle. Thanks to PeterO and Paul vfor their efforts anyway

  10. Thanks to muffin for the explanations of 22dn and 1dn. Like PeterO, I supposed that RM was the abbreviation for her Latin title, but ER + Ma is much better. I was completely baffled by 1dn, and I’m impressed by muffin and anyone else who spotted the parsing. To use such a devious construction to clue an obscure word seems a little cruel to me!

    I also didn’t understand 7dn before I came here, although I figured it had to do with Morse code. Now that I see how it works, I think it’s a great clue. My other favorite was 12ac (SPADES), for the tricky definition.

    Thanks to PeterO for getting the solution posted on short notice.

  11. muffin @1 etc
    In my rush to publish, I omitted the explanation for 1D NINON, and did not get the better parsing of 22D/19A QUEEN MOTHER. Now corrected.

  13. 3/4 x 9 = 6.75, and three quarters of nine are NIN

    0.666= 2/3 = 2 out of 3 letters of one are ON.

    First fabric in a crossword I haven’t heard of or handled.

    Thank to PeterO for double duty and Paul.

    [and apologies to muffin for crossing]

  14. A lot of fun in parts. I enjoyed SPECIFIES, the 70s runner (deceptive after finding OVETT!) and the allotment gone to seed, amongst others.

    I agree with muffin’s parsing of NINON – a trickily Qaotic clue for an unusual word. ER MA is the right parsing for QUEEN MOTHER – an odd clue, though, which looks like an attempt at an &lit, except that the Bowes-Lyons were of British extraction, unlike the Windsor bloodline.

    More of those split solutions scattered round the grid, which are not to my taste. I got them both from the crossers, though the cryptic def for the ‘palindrome’ was more accessible via the wordplay (though surely the characteristic of palindromes is that they can be read either way, so I’m not greatly taken with the definition).

    Thanks to Paul and the long-suffering PeterO

  16. Just popping in to thank PeterO for his double stint today – much appreciated. This site’s tagline ‘never knowingly undersolved’ still holds true !

  18. I finished it, but it took longer than usual. I think it is best summed up by a fleeting thought I had when idly looking at the links above the puzzle (I do it online). I saw the link “Accessible version”, and thought: What? There’s a version with easier clues? If only.

  19. I ground to a halt half way through with this one.

    I think there must be more to 22,19. As I understand it, the Queen Mother stopped being Queen Consort on the death of her husband, and subsequently became Queen Mother. They’re two distinct titles.

  20. Thought I was in some kind of weird parallel universe when I completed this particular puzzle online then came on Fifteen Squared Mark One to read about all the chaos…
    Couldn’t parse EMMA or OVETT, which was GK to me. QUINSY a new kind of abscess, and with “jumper” in the clue for 5d I was trying to force Roo into the solution with me thinking with the last word having the M crosser that it might be some kind of Room. The long wordy clues offered an initial way in, and all those Qs seemed to help a bit as well.
    Well done PeterO for holding on to your sanity and patience ultimately…

  23. Bravo Peter. Unfortunately the needs of solvers in general had to override those of the unsung Fifteensquared team; I hope you can one day forgive.

  24. Bravo, PeterO for going above and beyond the call of duty!
    I thought this was a fine puzzle with IN ONE EAR AND OUT THE OTHER being my favourite for its reference to Bodger in the surface. I also enjoyed the Palindrome clue, though I overlooked the subtle definition “for sure” at the end. I failed on NINON (hadn’t heard of this) – went for NINAN instead = 3/4 of NINE plus 2/3 of AND (synonyn of +). Close, but no banana!
    Thanks again, Peter, and Paul for the puzzle.
    Glad I came late to the party and missed the earlier kerfuffle.

  25. @surefire #19. That was my understanding too. Consort is spouse of Regnant h cannot be bothered Spouse and Mother. When a Prnce of Wales succeeds a deceased King the Princess of Wales becomes Queen Consort and dead King’s Wife becomes Queen Mother.

    But this is all fairly new isn’t it? Didn’t we have Dowager for centuries but recently ie Queen Mary the QM being the first so called – or am I imagining that?

  26. Makes perfect sense, phitonelly @24, though is it a material?
    I only got it by putting the crossers is OneLook with “material”. Parsing came much later!

  27. There are now two blogs named Guardian Cryptic 29,304 by Paul, (plus one named Placeholder for Guardian 29,304).
    Towards the end of the older blog, various clues in this puzzle were parsed: I saw OVETT and NINeONe, and stopped reading.
    I don’t know if I’d ever have parsed the latter. (Thanks Crucivercial@37)
    rEMMAh, gER MAn, and MORSE CODE followed – before kenmac shut it down.
    Thanks P&PO – Sterling work

  28. Many thanks to PeterO for doing unpaid overtime today!
    After solving the first Paul ( thinking hey, haven’t we had Be Careful What You Wish For before?) I couldn’t summon up much enthusiasm for another set of his marathon clues, but I did like EMMA, SPADES, OVETT, MORSE CODE and SNAREDRUM (once I stopped trying to make the 70s jumper be either a human or some sort of dated toy like a Space Hopper). I’m afraid NINON passed me by: couldn’t sort out the maths and never heard of the fabric.

  31. “As near as dammit” means “so close that the difference doesn’t matter”. I would say that it’s a bit closer than “not quite”!

  32. Agree, muffin@31, it’s “not quite” a synonym, is it? I think “not quite” means, you didn’t get there, where “as near as dammit” means you did. A subtle distinction but there is one.

    Although I’m not going to complain about this one specific piece of incomprehensibility – on the whole Paul is far too clever for me. Most other solvers I can get 70-80% of the crossword complete and feel proud of myself, but Paul makes me feel like an idiot beginner again!

  39. Thanks PeterO for the second blog.

    I enjoyed this Paul much more than the original.

    Still waiting for my paper version to magically update.

  41. Coming to this a bit late (from Australia) and glad I now have an explanation as to why, when I retrieved yesterday’s almost completed puzzle today, I found my saved answers turned into gibberish and scattered across a different grid.

  42. Paul at his best. The Q clues were superb as well as the long ones ones plus SPADES and EMMA.

    Well done PeterO and Crucivercial in another blog for sorting out the nho NINON.

  43. NINON would be a classic if I’d ever heard of NINON. Awesome clue.

    Never had a chance on SNARE DRUM; wrong set of horses memorized.

  44. I appreciated the opportunity to do two Paul puzzles in one day, having found this late evening. I thought this one quite tough but managed to finish it without parsing all of it. Thanks to Peter O and commenters for the parsing of EMMA, QUEEN MOTHER, OVETT, SNARE DRUM and especially the very tricky NINON.
    I liked the long palindrome clue and thought MORSE CODE very clever and SPADES amusing. I also liked the pair, NOT QUITE and QUOTIENT.
    Many thanks Paul for the challenging puzzle and Peter O for doing double duty with the helpful blog.

  46. Thanks Peter for your double shift today. I only twigged when I got to ‘skew whiff’ in the earlier one. 22/19 Queen Mother my favourite clue here – knew it must be that but how? Thanks to Muffin @1 for setting me right.

  48. I don’t know whether anyone mentioned this, but as a regular purchaser of the printed Guardian I’ll just observe that the “wrong” version, the repeat of the old Prize crossword, was the one which appeared in the newspaper.

  49. Excellent puzzle, and blog – particularly seeing that there was an earlier mix up. Glad to see the official acknowledgement for PeterO at 23. I too enjoyed the Queen Mother’s appearance.

  50. Paul is a compiler who tends, IMHO, to hover between the clever and the too-clever-by-half. There was a lot of clever in this; IN ONE EAR AND OUT THE OTHER was a neat construction and an all too amusing surface. The cluing of QUEEN MOTHER was very clever though, as has been pointed out, she only became Queen Mother by virtue of having been consort (so perhaps it should have been “Former consort…”) and the Bowes-Lyons, unlike most of “British” royalty, actually weren’t German – that “?” is doing a fair bit of heavy lifting.
    NINON is a very clever clue, but I am with those who think that the combination of an obscure word and excessively ingenious wordplay is not fair on the solver.
    Why is EMMA fair? We’re always told that indirect anagrams are a no-no. How is “Think of the name of a horror film company, remove the first and last letters of that, then reverse what you’ve got left…” any fairer? I only ask.
    Thanks to Paul, though I ran out of steam for the second dose about half way through. Thanks to PeterO for going above and beyond the call of duty. And the Graun’s crossword editor needn’t feel ashamed. The Graun’s legendary capacity for misprints managed to give us, in the original version of Sunday’s Observer, the allegation that it was Starmer (not Kwarteng) who oversaw the ill-fated “mini-budget” under the shortlived government of Liz Truss. (They did manage to correct that before a libel writ arrived from Chateau Starmer).

  51. Sorry if I’m missing something but in 1dn with no reference too “nine” or “one” (though it is clue 1) you need to know the answer and backward engineer it. Great crossword apart from that.

  52. MatthewNewell@25: When both were alive Queen Mary was referred to as the Dowager Queen Mother as distinct from Elizabeth the Queen Mother – I don’t think anyone called her “Queen Grandmother”!

  53. I know this is a bit late, Peter O, but we do the crossword in the printed version. Clearly, we have the printed version. A few questions but no-one to answer them! Well done Grauniad!

  54. Wendy Seaton @53
    Admin shut down comments on the thread for that crossword. If you have questions about it, by all means post them here. As blogger, I will see them, and will try to answer them.

  55. Thanks, Peter. We managed to sort all bar 10a. “Biodiverse area with ground on fire:cover-up by right leaning despot?” Obviously, there’s an anagram of on fire, but why is tsar backwards? Is it just a mistake – surely it should be left leaning?

  56. Wendy Seaton @55
    Good point. I think ‘right-leaning’ owes more to the surface than the wordplay – but I do not see left-leaning as any improvement.

  57. No one will see this as it’s so late. I do the crossword in the Guardian Weekly, very late after the online version comes out. I’ve been known to complete a Paul crossword , but after three days I couldn’t crack a single clue, nor, generally, figure out what devices were used. When I came to 15^2, I was expecting a chorus of bewilderment. The news that puzzle 29304 had been replaced led me to the guess that the Guardian’s crossword editor had responded to universal complaint and withdrawn the offending device. And even seeing that regulars on this blog cruised through the substituted puzzle, I still reckon most of these clues are so tortured as to be unsolvable by normal humans.
    But I suppose we cryptic crossword triers aren’t really normal anyway. Well done to anyone who got any of these clues.

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