Guardian Cryptic 29,367 by Imogen

A tough solve with quite a few left to parse at the end. Favourites were 25ac, 1dn, and 2dn. Thanks to Imogen.

ACROSS
1 CHARACTER
Letter or card (9)

double definition: a letter of the alphabet as a written/printed symbol; or a person with an unusual personality

6 RUBIK
Polish king receives one Cubist (5)

definition: Ernő Rubik created the Rubik's Cube [wiki]

RUB="Polish" as a verb + K (king, chess abbreviation); around I="one"

9 ALTOS
Nothing in key signature at first for singers (5)

O="Nothing", inside: ALT="key" on a computer keyboard + first letter of S-[ignature]

10 PARTI PRIS
Preconceived view of special trip through capital (5,4)

definition: prejudice, from a French term meaning a decision that has already been made

anagram/"special" of (trip)* inside PARIS="capital"

11 MONTEVERDI
Claudio always on time through two days and one more (10)

definition: Claudio Monteverdi the composer [wiki]

EVER="always" after/"on" T (time) both going into/"through": MON (Monday) and D (day) i.e. "two days"; then I="one" added/"more"

12 ANKH
Cross, missing most of bank holiday (4)

definition: a symbol resembling a cross [wiki]

[b]-ANK H-[oliday] with most of the letters missing

14 CHABLIS
A white child of the upper classes is left behind (7)

definition: a white wine

I think the wordplay is: CH (child) + A and B + IS behind L (left)

…but not sure about "is left behind" giving IS after L

A and B are used in a variety of contexts to denote the first or top two classes/tiers/grades/categories, so "upper classes"

15 SIOBHAN
Irish girl in hospital in Bosnia with convulsions (7)

H (hospital) in anagram/"with convulsions" of (Bosnia)*

17 PLECTRA
They strum quietly before tragic heroine executed (7)

definition: a plectrum (e.g. a guitar pick) is used to strum the strings of an instrument

P (piano, quietly) + [E]-LECTRA=character from Greek tragedy [wiki], beheaded/executed so missing the first/head letter

19 HUMERUS
Army section sound busy – I agree to return (7)

definition: Arm-y section, a bone in one's upper arm

HUM=sound made by machinery that is running, or perhaps by busy bees="sound busy" + reversal/return of SURE="I agree"

20 NOSH
Apparently noisy food (4)

NO SH='no shush' / no instruction to be quiet="Apparently noisy"

22 JUST IN TIME
Archbishop given porridge not a moment too soon (4,2,4)

JUSTIN Welby is the Archbishop of Canterbury, plus TIME="porridge" (slang for prison time)

25 ARAUCARIA
It stumps our cousin: he did you? (9)

definition: former Guardian crossword setter, someone who would have stumped/puzzled many solvers of today's crossword

the araucaria tree is known as the 'monkey puzzle tree' and therefore might stump/puzzle a monkey ('our cousin' referring to humans and monkeys categorised closely together in biological classification)

26 QUADS
Courts large family all at once (5)

double definition: quad as in a quadrangle, an open space between buildings; and short for quadruplets, a "large family all [born] at once"

27 DEMUR
Not quite sober, show dissent (5)

not quite all the letters of DEMUR-[e]=reserved="sober"

28 PIECEMEAL
Sandwich and more substantial fare, a bit at a time (9)

PIECE=Scottish word for a "Sandwich" + MEAL="more substantial fare"

DOWN
1 CHARM
Quark cheese, hardly any remaining from the first minute (5)

definition: a type of quark in particle physics [wiki]

for the surface, quark can also mean a type of soft cheese

wordplay: "first" letters from C-[heese] H-[ardly] A-[ny] R-[emaining], plus M (minute)

2 ATTENUATE
You had a late dinner we hear, to get thin (9)

sounds like ("we hear"): 'at 10 you ate'="You had a late dinner [at 10pm]"

3 AUSTERLITZ
Ritual performed with zest in battle (10)

definition: a battle in the Napoleonic Wars [wiki]

anagram/"Performed" of (Ritual zest)*

4 TOPLESS
Exposed without a spinner (7)

TOP-LESS could mean lacking (less) a spinning top (as in the toy)

5 REREDOS
For the third time, decorate small screen? (7)

definition: an ornamental screen behind a church altar

if re-do means to decorate again, then RE-RE-DO means to decorate for the third time; plus S (small)

6 RUIN
Make hasty tour of one archaeological site? (4)

RUN around I="one", with 'run around'="Make hasty tour of"

7 BARON
Peer round in store (5)

definition: "peer" as in a member of the nobility

O="round" in BARN=storage location="store"

8 KISS HANDS
Show love to workers, as some may on entering office (4,5)

definition: figuratively 'kissing hands' [wiki] of the monarch is done by UK prime ministers as they take office

KISS="Show love to" + HANDS="workers"

13 COMMUNIQUE
General dropping on unprecedented bulletin (10)

COMM-[on]="General" dropping "on" + UNIQUE="unprecedented"

14 CAP IN HAND
Better being dealt with humbly (3,2,4)

CAP=surpass="Better" + IN HAND="being dealt with"

16 HEROIC AGE
Hercules, say, one sent to prison in mythical time (6,3)

HERO="Hercules, say" + I="one" + CAGE="prison"

18 A BUM RAP
A smack on the bottom for false charge (1,3,3)

A BUM RAP read as 'a rap on the bum' could mean "A smack on the bottom"

19 HOT DATE
Hated to change potentially exciting meeting (3,4)

anagram/"change" of (Hated to)*

21 SHAWM
Ancient wood and a little metal in old instrument (5)

definition: a type of woodwind instrument [wiki]

SHAW=archaic/"Ancient" term for a "wood" or thicket; plus a little bit of M-[etal]

23 EASEL
Making a stand, wife deserts sly type (5)

W (wife) removed from [W]-EASEL="sly type"

"Making a…" in the surface to indicate that the definition "stand" is to be made from the wordplay

24 SCAR
Cliff is no end frightening (4)

definition: a steep cliff or rock outcrop

SCAR-[y]="frightening" without its end letter

91 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 29,367 by Imogen”

  1. Thanks Imogen and manehi
    Good puzzle. I had never heard of PARTI PRIS, but it was clearly clued. Favourites FOI RUBIK for the misleading “Cubist”, and ATTENUATE.

  2. I have a cryptic clues hall of fame, where I record over the years the clues that I thought were brilliant. It’s not very long, as I’m very demanding. “Letter or card” is in there. (I first encountered this clue over a decade ago.)

    PARTI PRIS was unknown to me, and I’m not on a first name basis with the Archbishop of Canterbury. Never heard a sandwich described as a piece … I see now that it’s Scottish. I’m afraid I groaned at “army”. If I’d been in the right frame of mind I probably would have chuckled at it.

    Good fun, thanks Imogen & Manehi.

  3. Loved that. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so much on sussing the parsing. And learned two new words, both from the same clue.

  4. RUBIK was my FOI and I initially wondered if he had some artistic talent I was unaware of 🙂

    Some classic Imogen trickery but also quite a few that felt more Vulcan

    Top ticks for PLECTRA, ATTENUATE & HUMERUS which I found amusing

    Cheers I&M

  5. “A piece” isn’t just Scottish – it was in common usage in the West Midlands when I was growing up (not so sure about amongst the younger generation these days though).

  6. GDU@2. I will be chuckling at that all day! I can even forgive the (for me) obscurities as a result.

    As you say – good fun.

    Thanks Imogen and Manehi

  7. No problem from me manehi with “is left behind” for “LIS” in CHABLIS. My only question mark was for piece=sandwich which I didn’t bother to look up as it couldn’t really be anything else. If Scottish, shouldn’t there be an indicator?
    Favourites ARAUCARIA for the reference to a master, NOSH for the ‘apparently noisy’ and RUBIK for the misleading definition as muffin @1 says.

  8. I think we’ve seen ATTENUATE and REREDOS before, but that’s to take nothing away from Imogen for a tough puzzle today. I’m sure I’m not the only one who had to check the ‘shaw’ in SHAWM in the dictionary. Took me a while to remember PARTI PRIS and not sure I was ever certain of the meaning. I agree with manehi about the parsing of CHABLIS, though it took me a long time to see it. Liked PLECTRA and HUMERUS (no groan from me at the Paulish use of ‘army’ GDU@2, I laughed after working my way through ‘brigade’ and ‘platoon’ and so on). Thanks of course to Imogen and manehi.

  9. Imogen certainly in challenging mood today and I was beaten by the nho SHAWM and PARTI PRIS. ‘Claudio’ is one tough definition for MONTEVERDI. I did laugh at the definitions for HUMERUS, RUBIK and QUADS and, like GDU, admire the neat clue for CHARACTER. ANKH, BARON and COMMUNIQUE were very tightly clued and the anagram for AUSTERLITZ is magnificent.

    Thanks Imogen and manehi

  10. If I was the quibbling kind I might point out that my Mac keyboard does not have an alt key. But I am of course aware that other keyboards exist that do.

    Anybody else see a parallel with the “I don’t say it like that” style homophone complaints?

  11. Very tough but zero complaints. Some perfect surfaces. A few NHOs but clued enough to be gettable.

    Bottom half almost completed before top started!

    Thanks Imogen and Manehi

  12. I see I’m alone in not liking this. Far too “cosy crosswordland”, with old favourites aplenty and even a Guardian hero bunged in. Several googles and a few dubious definitions as well. What happened to inventive cluing of common words?

    There, my head’s above the parapet.

  13. Lots of place names around where I grew up in Yorkshire ended in -SHAW, so that was no problem. Favourites were RUBIK, CHARACTER, ANKH and BARON. I thought the clues for for HUMERUS and MONTEVERDI bordered on unfair, but that’s just my take. We saw a similar clue for REREDOS back in March in Philistine’s Monday puzzle (number 29,333).

    Overall, though, a good mental workout to end the week. Thanks Imogen and Manehi.

  14. Though I found this difficult, it seemed to me a masterpiece of the setter’s art. The brevity and elegance of the surfaces; the clever misdirections; the range of knowledge required and enough good-natured humour to keep it all enjoyable. Tough to parse in places though so sincere thanks and congratulations to both Imogen and Manehi.

  15. Thank you manehi.
    ATTENUATE . I know we’ve had before the names and times for meals in the different regions. Glad you said at 10pm. I don’t think anyone would say they eat dinner in the mornings, but “they” do say that you if you eat late at night you put on weight, you don’t get thin.

    CAP IN HAND I parsed differently. ”Being dealt with” I parsed as a hand dealt (in cards). But I see your parsing and that’s clearly better.
    I hesitated about PLECTRA strumming. I thought they picked, but I now learn they both pick and strum.
    SHAWM , no idea about either shaw or shawm. A bit of a challenge crossing ARAUCARIA.
    REREDOS my FOI. Philistine clued that similarly only last month (as Lechien said@15.).
    HUMERUS was very funny.

  16. Thank you Imogen and manehi. That was tough in places and nho PARTI PRIS, but I did enjoy the challenge.
    Particularly neat were RUBIK, BARON and AUSTERLITZ, reminding me of one of my favourite books (by W.G. Sebald).

  17. ‘Is left behind’ I parsed as ‘”is” with “left” behind it’, which seems ok.

    “Araucaria” seems almost unfair. I think it’s literally impossible to solve if you don’t know about the setter, which means anyone who started doing crosswords in the past decade would struggle.

  18. I generally prefer Imogen to Vulcan, and this was no exception. Quite a workout, but really good fun, particularly the satisfaction of piecing together MONTEVERDI.

    I wasn’t wild about ARAUCARIA, for the reason Loxali above me gives.

    My only other grumble was with SHAWM, with an answer & wordplay element that I think will both be new to many solvers. I guessed right for once, desperately hoping that there might be some link to the common surname, but even so. With available alternatives like SPASM or SWARM, or simpler wordplay like SHAM around W etc, it felt unnecessary!

    Thanks Imogen & Manehi.

  19. Never met a shawm, and tho familiar with names like eg Birkenshaw, never clicked that shaw meant wood. Also dnk that the Orfeo bloke was a Claudio, but the clue was a straight plug-snd-play. Like others, sandwich for piece was a… really? And it took me ages to wake up that the cousin was a monkey! So, it took an hour and a half, but I’m a cogitative old codger.with not much to do, so no complaints, ta Immy and manny.

  20. 20 is a prime example of the sort of clue which is certainly only solvable by guessing the answer and then using that to confirm what the clue means, so not my favourite type.

  21. All done, though I didn’t parse ‘chablis’ or the late and much missed ‘Araucaria’.

  22. Tough, and one or two clues requiring borderline unfair GK. Yes, ARAUCARIA is rightly beloved, but the clue requires you to be one of the in-crowd that knows him.
    And is “Claudio” a sufficient definition for MONTEVERDI, without any hint of a musical context?

    However, I enjoyed it, and loved the Cubist. I revealed QUADS to break a logjam and immediately regretted it: it made me laugh, as did ATTENUATE and NO SH. Didn’t know the Scottish sandwich. Knew PARTI PRIS existed, but not what it meant.

    Last in was the Paulish HUMERUS.

  23. I enjoyed this. Lots of clever and witty clues, my favourite being PLECTRA for the beautiful operatic-sounding surface.

    When I entered CHABLIS, I was perfectly happy with the L being behind IS (like Loxali @19). But I see your point manehi: is the L in fact in front of IS? I suppose it depends what you mean by “behind” and “in front of” in a sequence of letters. I’m still not sure…

    Many thanks Imogen and manehi.

  24. One day I’ll remember how to spell AURUCARIA… ARACAURIA… ARACARIA… It ‘s bound to come in handy in a crossword!

  25. Found this jampacked with cute misdirections. Made a bad start by imagining something along the lines of Etiolate(d) might fit the bill for 2d. As a non scientist the appearance of Quark in the first down clue I read was a mite offputting. However, slowly made my way through, though PARTI PRIS and SHAWM were complete unknowns. Had no idea how old favourite ARAUCARIA was parsed, and took a while staring at HUMERUS before the Arm-y bit caused a belated humerous(?) chuckle. Thought I didn’t know any Claudio’s apart from football manager Ranieri, but with all crossers in place there was our composer.
    And how often does REREDOS pop up in these Cryptics. Not a common conversation filler but often causing perplexity for some solvers every time it appears.
    Big ticks for AUSTERLITZ and TOPLESS…

  26. Quite tough and enjoyable. I slowed down in the NW corner and was pleased to complete the puzzle.

    Favourites: RUBIK, ATTENUATE, TOPLESS, character.

    New for me: SHAW = a small group of trees; a thicket (for 21d); parti pris (well-clued); the CHARM quark.

    25ac – I enjoyed doing his puzzles in the past 🙂

    28ac – I did not realise that sandwich = piece in Scotland (or the West Midlands).
    14ac CH A B L IS – I also wondered the same as manehi.

    Thanks, both

  27. … oh and had absy no idea quark was a cheese, and always thought it was a property of something subatomic rather than a thing… but hey ho.

  28. HUMERUS was, well, humorous. I enjoyed discovering that MONTEVERDI was a Claudio, and ARAUCARIA was a very pardonable indulgence, given that the non-crossword definition was clear enough.

  29. Why does DO = decorate? I can’t see any justification in Chambers. For once! Do up would work but there is no up?

  30. GinF @33
    The first two quarks named were “up” and “down”. Then particles with strange properties were found that needed a “strange” quark. “Charm” quarks were next, then “top” and “bottom” (the heaviest ones). It is thought that there aren’t any more.

    See here for further explanation from Hawkwind.

  31. I really enjoyed this chewy Friday puzzle. Imogen – that was brilliant. 🎩. Manehi, thank you for explaining so well… SHAW for wood was obvious, but only when you said it.

    I echo what PM @9 said. I would add that PARTI PRIS (nho but gettable) and ARAUCARIA (hard to get if I didn’t know and love his work) were almost unfair. My favourites were CHARACTER and COMMUNIQUE, but it was hard to choose 😎.

    [Earworm alert, 1D CHARM reminds me of one of my favourite songs. It’s by Hawkwind but I lack the skill to add a link – sorry 🤣].

  32. Ah the memory from childhood in Belfast of being asked ‘Have you got your piece?’, before trundling off to school. I thought this was quite brilliant although I had to reveal SHAWM. REREDOS was easy because of the recent Philistine, as already mentioned. With all the references above to Paul, here is my dodgy homophonic ear worm (sorry I don’t know how to rename a link as muffin has mastered @34).
    https://youtu.be/zpGpu-pIVEk?si=Vczmto_vzsXSyUHc.

    Ta Imogen & manehi.

  33. Excellent and challenging puzzle, so no complaints. I was amused at PIECE. We used it regularly when I was growing up in Belfast and always thought it peculiarly Northern Irish. ‘Can I have a piece and jam?’ I dredged up SHAWM from the recesses of memory but couldn’t parse it.

  34. [I remember that up the back of our Barraclough’s Tables there was a section on subatomic particles, and there was already, early-mid ’60s, a zoo of them. I guess the intervening 60 years will have turned up one or two more 🙂 ]

  35. I’ll join Oofyprosser@12 on his parapet. Too hard for me, gave up after a third done and revealed most after that.

    Thanks manehi – much needed, and Imogen, though you beat me severely.

  36. AlanC@44: To paraphrase the late Terry Pratchett: million to one chances happen all the time. Actually I suspect a glitch in the website. It didn’t respond for several minutes so I’m guessing a number of posts were queued together.

  37. [poc @45
    I’m glad you said that. I’ve been finding it sluggish this morning, but thought it was my ageing computer!]

  38. [Pauline in Brum@35. Link away! But remember that more than a couple in a single post, might keep you in a moderation queue. From 15 squared FAQ:
    There are two ways, you can either simply copy and paste the relevant URL into your comment or you can select some text in your comment, click on the ‘link‘ button and then paste the URL into the box that will have appeared (useful if the URL is rather long) This will add the appropriate HTML tags into your comment. The former will be displayed thus: https://www.fifteensquared.net/ and the latter: Fifteensquared (or whatever text you chose). ]

  39. [Pauline in Brum@35. Link away! But remember that more than a couple in a single post, might keep you in a moderation queue. From 15 squared FAQ:
    There are two ways, you can either simply copy and paste the relevant URL into your comment or you can select some text in your comment, click on the ‘link‘ button and then paste the URL into the box that will have appeared (useful if the URL is rather long) This will add the appropriate HTML tags into your comment. The former will be displayed thus: https://www.fifteensquared.net/ and the latter: Fifteensquared (or whatever text you chose). ]

  40. No you’re not Oofyprosser@12. Not getting any of 6, 10, 11 and 14a’s made this a reveal and give up job for me today. Esp. 10. And the ritual at 8d – where’s the “shrug” emoji?
    Oh well, live to solve another day.

  41. Good Friday fare, which I pieced together in the end.

    I did like the definitions for HUMERUS and RUBIK, although unfortunately he was Hungarian rather than Polish. I also enjoyed the wordplays of NOSH, CHABLIS, and REREDOS (although it might have been redone!). AUSTERLITZ was a good anagram find.

    Thanks Imogen and manehi.

  42. [Woops, no idea how I was able to do multiple posts. Sorry to all those on mobile phones having to scroll down.]

  43. I’m obviously in the minority finding this not too challenging for Imogen.

    I wrote MONTEVERDI in on my first read through, took longer to realise HUMERUS was arm-y having thought for a while it had to be that, then parsed it straightforwardly. I knew both SHAW and SHAWM – I’m sure I’ve seen shawms played, but I’ve attempted to play some of the more unusual instruments which a friend owned. I’ve certainly seen them mentioned as part of the Mellstock Church Band in Hardy, and I’ dredged shaw meaning wood or copse from the depths when I had the H.

    I couldn’t parse CHABLIS, so thank you to manehi for the blog and Imogen for the challenge.

  44. This was a joy! I loved all the misdirection, especially arm-y 🤣 I also enjoyed NO SH, AT TEN U ATE, RUBIK and ARAUCARIA which leapt out despite being unable to parse it. One of my N&D is a Claudio so I wasted a lot of time searching my home for bugs 😉 Thank you so much Imogen, and manehi, for the blog. Have a lovely day.

  45. Is it me or have all the puzzles been a notch or two harder this week than last? But very enjoyable. Thanks Imogen and Manehi.

  46. Oofyprosser@12, you are not alone. I found some clues quite funny, but it was mostly hard work for me., even though I used to love Araucaria.

  47. I thought there were several tough clues here including some unfamiliar (to me) inclusions like the phrase PARTI PRIS at 10a, the type of Quark at 1d CHARM, the screen at 5d REREDOS (though that one did ring a bell) and the instrument at 21d SHAWM, most of which have been discussed above. But as others have said, all fairly clued and able to solved via word play and crossers, so good learnings. I loved ARAUCARIA!!! Most of my other ticks have already been cited in the preamble or by other contributors. Thanks Imogen and manehi.

  48. This is the type of crossword I think of that will deter anyone under the age of 50 from gaining an interest in cryptics.

  49. I do love the way Imogen’s mind works! Such classy, elegant clues – sprinkled with wit and honed to a pithy perfection.
    My printed-up copy rapidly became covered in ticks (just like one of our cats). My faves were the misdirection in RUBIK (I spent a while faffing about with “Klee” before the truth hit me) and in the arm-y of HUMERUS, and I also grinned at ANKH, BARON, TOPLESS, PARTI PRIS and A BUM RAP.
    And CHARM, of course. It was obvious “Ferengi” wouldn’t fit, so I knew we were in particle physics-land.
    Thank you manehi for the help completing the parsing to CHABLIS – and a 21-gun salute to the peerless Imogen…

  50. Imogen is one of my favourite setters, and I really enjoyed this (though it was hard work). The clue for HUMERUS was great; like others I put in SHAWM but had no idea about parsing; lots of others to like including PLECTRA, CHABLIS and JUST IN TIME. Come back soon, Imogen!

  51. I’m probably going to lower the general mood somewhat, but whenever I see the word QUADS I’m reminded of the time over thirty years ago when our daughter was born several weeks prematurely and she and my wife spent quite a while in our local maternity hospital intensive support ward. In the bed next to her came a mother who had just given birth to quadruplets of her own. Two pairs of pink woollen booties hung over the end of her bed, two blue booties, indicating two tiny baby girls, two baby boys. Then, tragically, one after the other, they failed to survive…

  52. Fru @58 – I’m under 50 & regularly complain about the lack of ‘on-ramps’ for newer solvers, as well as some of the more obscure/outdated references that pop up. But not every puzzle needs to be aimed at that group. A tough Friday Guardian for veterans seems a reasonable part of a balanced diet.

  53. Shanne @53, have you listened to a shawm being played? It’s one of those instruments best heard at a distance.

    This puzzle was a little too difficult for me to solve unaided, but I really enjoyed it. Only PARTI PRIS escaped my memory. I can see why those dedicated solvers who tackle every puzzle and remember clues and their solutions may be disappointed at REREDOS.

    A few of the clues were write-ins for me (A BUM RAP for example), but they gave me a foothold for much more challenging ones, so the gradual unfolding of the puzzle was quite satisfying, with a good number of amused recognitions of Imogen’s thinking.

  54. Excellent puzzle and a challenge for me. I finished with quite a few still to parse. So thank you for explaining the wordplay for ARAUCARIA and (new word) SHAWM, sandwich=PIECE and quark=CHARM. Nho PARTI PRIS but that could be worked out. With so many great clues, I liked the ones that elected a smile or a chuckle, especially ATTENUATE, REREDOS, RUBIK, HUMERUS, QUADS. And I admired the surface for AUSTERLITZ. Thank you Imogen and manehi.

  55. Re ‘Is left behind’ – I’m never sure which end of a word is behind or in front. Perhaps there is a crossword convention. I’m a sign language user and ‘behind’ would never be to the right of something. Perhaps that’s my natural blind spot.

  56. DNF as I had never heard of either SHAWM or ‘shaw’ as an ancient wood, so two learnings in one clue for me today; very efficient! I really enjoyed this. I don’t usually finish a Friday crossword on the day (so I’m not sure what I’m going to do with my Saturday morning now!) but steadily got through this (except SHAWM) and mostly – NOSH excepted as one person has noted above – by teasing out the wordplay, rather than guessing the answer first and parsing second. One or two commenters have suggested that the clues were too familiar, others that they were too obscure, which I suppose just goes to show that it is impossible to please everybody. For this solver, still quite new to the game as a COVID convert to cryptics, it fitted in just right as needing plenty of thought, with no sense of familiarity to previous crosswords, some new words – PARTI PRIS as well as SHAWM and ‘shaw’ – and teasingly close to a win but more than happy to concede a close and highly enjoyable match to Imogen. Just the kind of puzzle that makes me look forward to the next one. Thanks Imogen, and manehi for the explanations I missed.

  57. I often come here after failing to finish, and “tough” for me means I solved about five. Today, all completed in a single sitting, so I expected to find the crossword would generally be deemed very easy – but not so. It is intriguing how different folks experience different crosswords!
    I was solving with my husband. What worked today was that half of the clues were his type of thing (eg history, music, physics); and half were mine (eg psychology, Egypt, quirky clues). Teamwork ruled today!
    I loved JUST IN being clued as archbishop. Neat!
    Thanks to Imogen for a fun puzzle and manehi for a good blog.

  58. Quite the GK workout requiring first-name intimacy with a couple of church-related figures and a layer of meta-puzzle familiarity. But all the misdirections are fair, the arm-bone’s only sin being that it’s not as shopworn as those flowers or bankers. Satisfying end to the week!

  59. Fans of Araucaria should look here, where a vintage Prize attempted by Douglas Adams, and an even older Scrabble Jigsaw are available. Thanks Shanne@53.

  60. Last Imogen I mentioned that I found the puzzle quite humorless. This, on the other hand, was quite witty. Coincidence?

  61. I think you can also take the whole clue in 14D as a definition, although it’s not an &lit. Imagine the keeper talking to the squire, cap in hand and probably tugging his forelock.
    The top and bottom quarks are sometimes known as truth and beauty. The standard model says there are only six, and predicted the top quark before it was found.

  62. Didn’t get “Charm”,”Shawm” or “Araucaria”, so a DNF for me. Didn’t know what Justin, Piece and “Kiss Hands” were referring to till I came here… Wouldn’t have got “Reredos” if I hadn’t seen it last month. “Rubik” was the first solved, ten seconds into the puzzle, so all efforts to misdirect me failed…this was hard for me in places, but fair, I liked it.
    Thank you to Imogen and to Manehi for the blog.

  63. Loxali@19 (supported by Amoeba@20) asserts that anyone who started doing crosswords in the last decade would struggle with 25a ARAUCARIA because they wouldn’t know about the setter. That surprises and saddens me. Anyone coming to fifteensquared in the last decade should know about that illustrious setter, who has been mentioned frequently in these pages. And anyone who hasn’t gone back to tackle his puzzles in the archive (many of which have been mentioned/linked here in the last decade – see FrankieG@71 above) has missed out on a great deal of cruciverbal pleasure.

    As others have noted, 5d REREDOS has appeared recently (Philistine last month) with the same wordplay, but it is such a good clue that it is well worth repeating, and it was my favourite in this puzzle. My other ticks were for 2d ATTENUATE (superb aural wordplay) and 19a HOT DATE (excellent surface).

    Thanks Imogen for the fun and manehi for the much-needed parsing help (14a CHABLIS, 20 NOSH and 28 PIECEMEAL).

  64. Thanks for the blog, pretty good overall, PLECTRA was very neat and I liked COMMUNIQUE because the ending sounds totally different to unique.
    I have been talking about quarks all day and too tired to give the quark history now, just mention that this is the only quark named after a person, me of course.

  65. The best clues were excellent. I’m surprised that there is so much praise for the clues for Araucaria and Humerus, both of which I thought weak. The arm-y reference doesn’t really work does it as the humerus is a bone in the arm not like a bone in the arm? And the definition part of the Araucaria clue, ‘He got you’ felt weak to me even when I got the answer. But given the general praise I’m willing to accept it’s just me.

  66. cellomaniac @78 – I only started doing cryptics a couple of years ago. I do know of Araucaria and was able to solve the clue, but the second definition didn’t apply to me. And I can quite imagine someone who is unaware of older setters (and why shouldn’t they be?) being completely stumped through no fault of their own. Not a good word to clue without wordplay, in my view.

  67. Isn’t the HEROIC AGE in myth the period when demigods existed — half divine, half human, like Achilles and Hercules? Therefore the “hero” in the wordplay is the same “hero” as in the definition, which is usually frowned on.

  68. Probably unfair as it came out a long time ago, but there’s a song called Penny Lane, which on or two of you might have heard, where the fireman eats his piece. So it would seem to be Liverpudlian too.

  69. Amoeba@81, but Araucaria was not just any older setter, he was one of the greats. It’s like someone saying I only got interested in baseball in the last few years so I shouldn’t be expected to know who Babe Ruth was.

  70. [Nicbach@8 – I shouldn’t reply to a comment about yesterday’s puzzle, but there is no reference to eating a piece in any version of Penny Lane I’ve ever heard. Nor is it in the published lyrics.]

  71. Just a quick word about yesterday’s puzzle. In Penny Lane, a song one or two of you might recall, the fireman eats his piece. So Liverpool too.

  72. n@87: Still no ‘piece’ in Penny Lane…. Perhaps you’re thinking of this?

    As to the crossword, I’m sitting on the parapet. (But always grateful for the entertainment.)

  73. Glad to read that many judged this to be difficult so although I didn’t finish I’m pleased at how much I did manage to do. Kicking myself for not getting Araucaria because the only time I won the Saturday puzzle prize, it was set by him. Thank you Imogen and manehi.

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