Guardian 29,373 – Tramp

69 comments on “Guardian 29,373 – Tramp”

1. Yet again today found this a trial. Couldn’t parse INFANCY, OPTIMISM or MOVIE STAR. Thought 26 ac overwordy, but it became my favourite clue once I had worked it out. Least favourite clue LOW GEAR and perhaps also TRIPTYCHS.

2. Like Andrew, I expected widgeon rather than WiGEON, and didn’t see EG as ‘perhaps’ or ON as ‘just after’, so failed to parse it fully. Still working those out, to be honest, but I think I see where Tramp was coming from. Otherwise, same experience as the blogger. Only a handful of clues solved on the first pass and then a slow fill as I got used to Tramp’s sideways view of some of the definitions. Liked HOUDINI and TORPEDOED in particular. Thanks to Tramp and Andrew

3. Thanks, Andrew. Several parsings escaped me, and had to reveal most of the top left corner (I tried the Y in —P–CHS, but the checker rejected it for some reason, so that held me up).

   Mostly enjoyable otherwise – thanks, Tramp

4. Also no idea what “to fill out” is doing in ABLATE and I struggled with parsing WIGEON. Favourite was FRENCH.

5. Satisfying workout today. Thanks both.

6. I loved swag for the surface. Very enjoyable. Thanks to Tramp and for the blog,

7. Started off well but then had to grind it out, although as Andrew says not as hard in retrospect. In ABLATE, I thought ‘to fill out‘ meant completing the word with LATE. I liked PLAUDIT, SMOOTH-TONGUED, TRIPTYCHS, OPTIMISM and the nod to Jack Nicholson in MOVIE STAR. There’s also a Nina of PSST in the first column, which might link to the Secret Society. Tough but ultimately satisfying.

   Ta Tramp & Andrew.

8. Thanks Tramp and Andrew
   Lots of question marks for me. Does “turned up” in 28a work for a reversal in an across clue? What does “surrounded” give in 4d?
   I didn’t see what was going on in ABLATE, or parse SEASON and FRENCH.
   BEEKEEPERS was a bit obvious.
   Favourite OPTIMISM.

9. On re-reading, I see the blog explains “surrounded”. Not sure I like it.

10. For me an interesting mix of reasonably straightforward and downright difficult.

    Daily comment until it doesn’t: Guardian Crossword Puzzle App still working.

11. Thanks for the super blog, Andrew.

    I used to set puzzles with ghost themes. I was struggling to get motivated when filling grids, so I thought I’d write a few themed ones, for a change. This is one: Dua Lipa’s album Radical Optimism (featuring Houdini, Training Season and French Exit) is released today. I know that’s lost on most solvers. I like setting these types of puzzle, even if the theme makes the clues a bit more bitty and contrived.

    The reversal indicator “turned up” in HOUDINI, I think, is an oversight. I can’t remember what I was thinking.

    Neil

12. Super tough in my eyes. A real struggle from first run through to last one in! It felt like a themed puzzle where I was missing the theme which would have made it simpler.
    Thanks Tramp and Andrew (lots of my parsing needed checking – a lot of hit and hope today for me)

    I see my missing theme has been confirmed

13. Thanks for the explanation of the theme, Tramp. I would never, ever, etc…. Amused by your fessing up about the use of “turned up” in Houdini. It didn’t phase me. I saw it meant turn “duo” around and would have been better phrased for a down clue. But it got me to the solution easily enough. Brilliant work by you and our reliable blogger.

14. I had pretty much the same experience as Tim C@4 regarding ABLATE and WIGEON, otherwise an enjoyable challenge.

15. Thanks Neil for popping in
    Ive never experienced Dua Lipa except in a puzzle (usually referring IPA)
    That didnt stop me from thoroughly enjoying this

16. I should add that the “fill out” in ABLATE is wrong. I had written two clues and this was a mish-mash of both. I never questioned it in the test solve. So sorry.

    Neil

17. Thanks Tramp and Andrew, a few beautifully disguised definitions made this a really satisfying solve.
    I especially liked TORPEDO, but also James Bond, George Best and SMOOTH TONGUED.

18. My Duolingo just popped up with this message ‘Don’t go all Houdini on me, have some Radical Optimism’. A bit late for me to have seen the theme. Thx for your various mea culpa entries, Tramp.

19. I found this a hard slog when I started it in the early hours of the morning, but it all fell into place today. Bizarrely I got the ghost theme because I read a less than flattering review of the album in today’s Guardian. Thank you very much for the challenge and for dropping in Tramp, and also for clarifying ABLATE. Thanks to Andrew for help with 🐝 KEEPERS and OPTIMISM. My favourite was HOUDINI. Overall, just perfect for a Friday 😎.

20. My son is a big Dua Lipa fan, so I got the theme from the PLAUDIT. A nice workout today, but a slow solve. First pass of the across clues only yielded a couple of answers, but the down clues went in more smoothly.

    Thanks very much Tramp and Andrew.

21. Good puzzle, albeit with a couple of rough edges – thanks for fessing up, Tramp!

    The top half went in fairly easily for me, but the bottom half required a bit of head scratching. Of course the theme escaped me completely, but probably wouldn’t have helped much.

    Some lovely surfaces and disguised definitions. Favourites: PLAUDIT, OPTIMISM, TRIPTYCHS, AGEISTS, TORPEDO, inter alia.

    Thanks to Neil and Andrew

22. Glad to have ‘fill out’ explained as an oversight. I thought 13a was excellent, but had more trouble with the NW corner than the rest of the grid for some reason. Not entirely convinced by the parsing of WIGEON (e.g. = ‘perhaps’ seems like a stretch).

23. Not as gnarly as Tramp can sometimes be. Loi was 13ac, no idea why I stared dumbly at the crossers, I mean it’s just optimum with is instead of the u, piece of cake. Hey ho, enjoyed it all anyway, thanks T & A.

24. Despite not knowing the theme musician, other than by name, or the album, I enjoyed the puzzle and was unaware that there was anything deeper. Good to see the setter dropping in with some clarification to put the couple of queries to bed. And add me to the list of folk who have an archaic view of widgeon which still seems the ‘right’ way to spell it.

    PLAUDIT, TICK, HOUDINI and TORPEDO were my faves, along with FAMILY TREE, the anagram for which is a lovely spot.

    Thanks Tramp and Andrew

25. Good, pleasing solve, slowly pieced together.

    I liked the good anagram for SMOOTH-TONGUED, the definition for AGEISTS, and the wordplays of OPTIMISM, MOVIE STAR, FRENCH, and TORPEDO.

    Thanks Tramp for the puzzle and popping in, and to Andrew.

26. I could not parse 22d apart from WI = west indies. Why does ON=just after?

    I agree with Tramp@11 that 28ac would have been better as a down clue with that reversal indicator.

    New for me: ABLATE.

    Thanks, both.

27. A lot of tough solves here, and a few that were left unanswered. Did enjoy some of the wordplay, with TRIPTYCHS and INFANCY standing out

28. Very nice, many excellently constructed clues here and clever surfaces! I had to use the check button liberally, especially because I had ABRASE for 6d figuring that it was B and A in ARSE. (Merriam-Webster has ABRASE as a synonym for abrade, which I thought might be a way to remove a mole, but maybe not!) And then I figured 13ac to be OUTsomething but it wasn’t–perfectly fair as it is though! Wasn’t fooled by the spelling of wigeon because I didn’t know them at all, had to look it up from WI and the crossers.

    Thanks Tramp and andrew!

29. Thought Dua Lipa was a quart of India Pale Ale!
    Not an easy one today

30. Thought Dua Lipa was probably faintly something, like a Browning poem maybe, but didn’t bother uplooking.

31. michelle@26 – how about ‘on turning 40, she went on a round the world trip’ – I’d read that as ‘just after turning 40 …’.

32. Finished this before I had finished pouring condensed milk into my coffee. My coffee comes with milk included, so that’s a load of bollocks! I did work out most of the clues, the Guardian app told me I took 1 hour 15 minutes or thereabouts, but I think it was longer. As usual, I had breakfast in between starting and finishing.
    I used a word finder FOR ABLATE, new to me, and post parsed. I don’t see this as very different from going through all the possibilities after ab. Some will see it as cheating, I say so what? If I had the aids that I have today when I started solving cryptics, I might have finished an Auricaria. I remember being pleased if I got ten of them and I would have been able to see the parsing.
    Sorry, off on a tangent, wonderful puzzle and good blog. Thankyou both.

33. I did it but struggled. Thanks for explaining MOVIE in MOVIE STAR…

34. I enjoyed this one and found it took me around my ‘average’ solve time on the Guardian app (reports of its death seem to be greatly exaggerated) so surprised to see that some people thought it tougher than normal. Particularly liked OPTIMISM, clever clue and a great surface! Thanks Tramp for popping in to say hello (and for fessing up to a couple of minor errors, you are forgiven). And thanks Andrew for the blog.

35. Michelle@26. It’s a direct lift from Chambers. Maybe something like: “start to run on hearing ‘go’”.

36. This was a great puzzle, I thought, though tricky, and a lovely clear blog, thanks Tramp and Andrew.
    poc@22, I needed the blog to parse wigeon but in crosswordland ‘perhaps’ often means eg (as in 2down here) so I could see that eg = perhaps.

37. polyphone@31 – thanks for the example phrase for ON=just after.

    Tramp@35 – thanks for the example for ON=just after. I hadn’t thought of that. Sadly, I don’t have access to Chambers dictionary online. I can get to the site but when I put a word in, nothing happens 🙁

38. Quite a few long cryptic definitions:
    4a TRIPTYCHS “Artists make these”, 26a BEEKEEPERS “they might smoke when taking out honey”, 28 HOUDINI “To escape, he picked”
    I liked 8d AGEISTS “They don’t like people getting on”
    10a SWAG was short and sweet, but the earworm is long: “shake”x7 your “booty“(1976)]
    Thanks T&A

39. Thanks for the blog , very neat set of clues , a couple of minor quibbles have now been cleared up.
    INFANCY a simple construction but very deceptive clue .
    I had a fake theme lined up for this one but now I see it is not needed.

40. Great crossword – lots of good ones this week. Favourites were 15 down, 26 across and 28 across. When entered, l parsed ablate as meaning surgically remove fat – and then AB as essentially bit of belly to fill out (as in bodybuilding) + late for behind. Thanks very much Tramp and Andrew

41. Best clue is clearly the Best clue.
    Has this appeared before? If not, much praise to Tramp.
    (Final thought though – Can anyone recall George`s substitution being cheered? Seems unlikely. )

42. [FrankieG @38 thanks for the earworm. A real blast from the past 🎶]
    [Ros @39, please tell us the fake theme… I’d love to know and I bet I’m not alone…]

43. Sorry Pauline@42 , I will keep this up my sleeve for another day when it is needed.

44. [Wellcidered @41: only if he substituted someone else. He went to the same grammar school as me in Belfast, but left after first year because it was chasing the the oval-shaped ball only. Needless to say, he was my hero].

45. [ AlanC@44 , if you mean rugby the the ball is ellipsoid rather than ovoid. ]

46. [Roz @45: chastened yet again! Saw a taxi yesterday with a KPR suffix, little chuckle followed. Hope your students told you how mesmerising we have been lately 🤣]

47. [ AlanC they told me KPR nearly made it to Hawaii , in their own favour for once. I found it hard to believe but had it checked and it was true, it was the Porridge derby . Relegation postponed for another year, it must be your influence. ]

48. [Roz and AlanC
    I missed the start of your KPR joke, but I assume you know that the Queen in Queen’s Park was Victoria rather than Elizabeth?]

49. Finished this, but with no sense of real accomplishment, after an average start was just bunging in words and getting lucky…several left unparsed.
    Was stuck in NW corner for some 5 minutes, but then got “Infancy” and everything fell into place.
    Liked “Swag” and “Infancy”, thought “Ageists” and “Torpedo” had good surfaces…
    Thank you to Tramp and Andrew

50. Hermano @50
    Baffled by your comment. Yes, ABLATE was a bit obscure, but any birdwatcher would know WIGEON (never “widgeon”!), and TRIPTYCHs are well known in the medieval art world.

51. Mad day today so didn’t get to this until this afternoon when I found it a fairly steady solve, clues mostly parsed in retrospect. I have not only heard of but also heard Dua Lipa, another result of youth work, but couldn’t tell you anything about her new album.

    Thank you Andrew and Tramp.

52. Dua Lipa is actually on the front page of the Guardian print edition today. Hermano @50 I’m not sure if you’re familiar with the site policy?

    I thought this was great with lots of trademark Tramp touches; left field definitions, distributed anagram fodder, the odd bit of Yoda grammar (more by accident than design today apparently)

    Cheers T&A

53. [Ros@47. Understood. I look forward to seeing it at some unspecified point. P.]

54. [ Pauline@54 , do not expect too much , my last one was Fed April 12 th which did fool a few people .
    Muffin@ 48 it is just my way of teasing AlanC , serves him right for showing blind allegiance to 11 men diving around in silly coloured shirts ]

55. If only all setters would read the comments and pop in to explain anything that is mystifying the masses. Not to mention fessing up on the rare occasions it is called for. If I were the editor, I’d make this the price of entry. Kudos to Tramp!

56. I really enjoyed this puzzle, especially for the cleverly disguised definitions in 8dn (AGEISTS) and 21dn (AUCTION). I noted the two minor flaws that Tramp has now confessed to, but they certainly didn’t spoil the enjoyment. I appreciate Tramp coming along to acknowledge them.

57. Our resident troll. The same pattern every puzzle.

58. Too hard for me. Completed just over half of the answers.
    But I loved BEEKEEPERS …
    … Strictly speaking, I think the surface reading was awful. However, I had this image of a tiny drink of rum in a glass with legs, and arms reaching out to two people outside a pub. The two people had smoke issuing from their skin, and they were carrying a huge jar of honey between them. It made me laugh!
    I spent ages trying to get apiarists to fit the right number of letters and the clue – when sudddnly the penny dropped.
    (No, I wasn’t asleep and dreaming, and I was indeed fully sober.)

59. After slightly long but enjoyable battle, had all but the duck successfully worked out. Went with pigeon for some reason and no justification so foiled at the end. Thanks Tramp and Andrew.

60. Way above my abilities. I solved 10a.

    1a – how do you know it’s a reverse clue?
    5a – where does C come from?
    11a – how can you know to remove S from emirates?
    12a – NOSES = CREEPS UP…I don’t understand this. How does “retirement” fit into the clue?
    14a – where does AUDIENCE fit in/what is its function in the clue?

    I’m sorry. I could ask a question about every clue.

    Roll on the Quick Cryptic.

61. Hi Steffen
    1a “around” tells you that the dua lipa bit is backwards before the it
    5a c is short for clubs – suit in bridge
    11a “mainly” tells you to take an end off “emirates” – you need to experiment whether it’s the e or the s
    12a i thought this was a poor clue – noses is very loose for creeps up
    14 audience is a sounds like indicator

62. 62. Thank you.

    24a – I can never figure out the purpose of “‘s” in any clue. Is it always obsolete? Is S not the end of that particular word?

    I always seem to get put off by capital letters in clues. Are they always to be ignored?

63. Steffen @63 – those apostrophe s’s can be interpreted every which way, it depends on how the setter wants to use them – in that clue, it’s a possessive and can be ignored as it’s there for the surface (the clue wouldn’t make any sort of sense without it from the surface reading.)

    You can usually ignore punctuation including capital letters. It is usually there to make the surface make sense – unless, occasionally, it’s a definition. (Philistine has used punctuation as a definition before now). Sometimes capital letters are required as the meaning is a proper name, such as Nice being used as the place in France and a Nice man meaning a man from France, the setter often hides that at the front of the clue, so you don’t notice the capital letter.

    On 12A – retirement means reversing NOSES for creeps to get SESON, to which you insert an A to get SEASON and I back parsed that clue as one of my last in.

64. Quite a long slog, with some great clues and a few that were perhaps more (as Tramp has indicated) fun for the setter than the solver in order to fit the theme. Pity about the errors that crept in with HOUDINI and ABLATE clues; I guessed ABLATE from the definition, but considered and rejected the reversal indicator for HOUDINI which made it my last one in as a guess from the crossers. PLAUDIT, OPTIMISM (cotd), MOVIE STAR and TRIPTYCHS were my favourites. A good Friday (and Saturday for me!) workout. Thanks Fed and Andrew.

65. [Roz @47: Hawaii, Porridge – way too cryptic for me?]

66. [ AlanC this is a cryptic site and you are very smart , a further hint for Hawaii – Book ’em Danno .
    You must know the famous Porridge episode about Blanco’s loot buried in Leeds . Clever camerawork makes it seem like Elland Road but it was really Loftus Road in disguise. The BBC often used KPR for football scenes because it so close to the TV centre. ]

67. [Roz, cryptic to quiptic, love your humour and QPR sent Coventry to erm…today. I shall endeavour to take them back to the Premiership next season].

68. OK, I give up — how is RA = “artist”?

69. RA= Royal Academician , a member of the Royal Academy which is our main UK society for artists . It is surprisingly common in UK crosswords.
    [ AlanC I am sure that KPR will reach League 1 eventually. ]

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