Guardian Cryptic 29,424 by Brummie

by

The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/29424.

Perhaps I am in an ungenerous mood at the moment, but I thought that this puzzle was rather flat, which only served to highlight the apparent error in 11A ASPIDISTRA and some other niggles. Brummie often uses a theme, but nothing stands out here.

ACROSS
1 BICYCLE
Ely desperately after pen to house college transport (7)
An envelope (‘to house’) of C (‘college’) in BIC (‘pen’) plus YLE, an anagram (‘desperately’) of ‘Ely’.
5 ANGUISH
Scotsman broken by onset of injury and hard suffering (7)
A charade of ANGUIS, an envelope (‘broken by’) of I (‘onset of Injury’) in ANGUS (‘Scotsman’ – a welcome change from Ian); plus H (‘hard’).
9 RONDO
Musical piece produced by new department’s head in jumper (5)
An envelope (‘in’) of N (‘new’) plus D (‘Department’s jead’) in ROO (kanga, ‘jumper’).
10 UNBRIDLED
Burn wayward lazy daughter? Wild! (9)
A charade of UNBR, an anagram (‘waywared’) of ‘burn’; plus IDLE (‘lazy’) plus D (‘daughter’).
11 ASPIDISTRA
Sanctimonious little girl in car plant (10)
An envelope (‘in’) of PI (‘sanctimonious’) plus DI (‘little girl’ – with ‘little’ indicating an abbreviation of Diana) in ASTRA (‘car’ – any of various current and previous), which leaves an S hanging – an oversight somewhere?.
12
See 24 Down
14 UNWORTHINESS
Winner shouts out ‘There’s no merit in it!’ (12)
An anagram (‘out’) of ‘winner shouts’.
18 CHASTISEMENT
Admonition, it seems, about breaking into song (12)
An envelope (‘breaking into’) of STISEME, an anagram (‘about’) of ‘it seems’, in CHANT (‘song’).
21 ROTE
Mechanical routine giving balls energy (4)
A charade of ROT (‘balls’) plus E (‘energy’).
22 AUTHORSHIP
Maybe London’s joint originator of written work (10)
A charade of AUTHOR’S (‘maybe London’s’ – a reference to Jack London) plus HIP (‘joint’). The definition suggests to me AUTHOR rather than AUTHORSHIP.
25 CAREERIST
Dash, it’s rough being an ambitious type! (9)
A charade of CAREER (‘dash’) plus IST, an anagram (‘rough’) of ‘its’.
26 TWAIN
Mark 2? (5)
Samuel Clemens wrote under the pseudonym Mark Twain, chosen for the cry indicating a river’s depth of two fathoms, safe for a Missisippi steamboat. Hardly a cryptic clue.
27 ODYSSEY
Backing positive, steadfast youth leaders to undertake major journey (7)
A reversal (‘backing’) of YES (‘positive’) plus SY (‘Steadfast Youth leaders’) plus DO (‘undertake’).
28 STRATUM
Level of society needing pluck to restrain a totalitarian leader (7)
An envelope (‘to restrain’) of ‘a’ plus T (‘Totalitarian leader’) in STRUM (‘pluck’ – an obvious choice for the surface, but not a good synonym for a string player).
DOWN
1 BARSAC
Lawyers’ bill for drink (6)
A charade of BARS (‘lawyers’; The Bar is lawyers collectively, more or less, but I suppose one may consider BARS as the legal systems in various contries, say) plus AC (account, ‘bill’), for an appelaion in Bordeaux, which is also entitled to that of its neighbour, Sauternes.

As Tomsdad @7 was the first to point out, this works far batter as a possessive BAR’S A/C.
2 CANOPY
Tester of prison work finally happy (6)
A charade of CAN (‘prison’) plus OP (opus, ‘work’) plus Y (‘finally happY‘); one of the meanings of a ‘tester’ is a canopy over a bed.
3 COORDINATE
Decoration designed for X? (10)
An anagram (‘designed’) of ‘decoration’, with an indication by example, hence the question mark.
4 EQUUS
Cast use Queen Ursula’s debut play (5)
An anagram (‘cast’) of ‘use’ plus Q (‘Queen’) plus U (‘Ursula’s debut’), for the theatre piece by Peter Schaffer.
5 ARBORETUM
True! Rambo’s swimming trunks to be seen here (9)
An anagram (‘swimming’) of ‘true Rambo’, with ‘trunks’ referring to trees.
6 GAIT
One’s fitted in gun carriage (4)
An envelope (‘fitted in’) of I (‘one’) in GAT (‘gun’).
7 ISLANDER
Denials about cigar butt being Cuban? (8)
A charade of ISLANDE, an anagram (‘about’) of ‘denials’; plus R (‘cigaR butt’), again with an indication by example.
8 HEDONIST
No puritan, involving fellow in theft (8)
An envelope (‘involving … in’) of DON (‘fellow’) in HEIST (‘theft’).
13 SIGN-WRITER
One who works over the shop? (4-6)
Cryptic definition
15 OBSCURITY
Book set in US city or miserable, dark state (9)
An envelope (‘set in’) of B (‘book’) in OSCURITY, an anagram (‘miserable’) of ‘US city or’.
16 SCIROCCO
Singular Côte d’Ivoire architectural style – O! is lost; quite a blow (8)
A charade of S (‘singular’) plus CI (‘Côte d’Ivoire’, IVR) plus ROC[o]CO (‘architectural style’) minus an O (‘O! is lost’), for a strong hot Mediterranean wind, also written sirocco.
17 LATTERLY
Drink associated with railway in recent times (8)
A charade of LATTE (‘drink’) plus RLY (‘railway’ – Chambers gives RY, RLY and RWY as abbreviations).
19
See 24
20 EPONYM
Brummie’s refusal to do a turn as the title character (6)
A reversal (‘to do a turn’) of MY (‘Brummie’s’) plus NOPE (‘refusal’).
23 HUTUS
Basic construction by American-Africans (5)
A charade of HUT (‘basic construction’) plus US (‘American’).
24, 12, 19 GETS IN ON THE ACT
Joins the performance of Tosca (teen night production) (4,2,2,3,3)
An anagram (‘production’) of ‘Tosca teen night’.

picture of the completed grid

74 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 29,424 by Brummie”

  1. I liked GET IN ON THE ACT and ROTE. Like PeterO I was left wondering how DIS was little girl. I was thinking SIS, but I think there is an is missing in the clue perhaps?

  2. nicbach @1
    I have discovered that there is a Swedish woman’s name Disa (from the heroine of a saga)., with ‘little’ justifying the dropped A. I would still put it down as an oversight.

  3. Re 11ac I imagine this could be an editing error and that Brummie’s clue should have read ‘Sanctimonious little girl’s in car plant.’

    Quite tough I found with 13d my LOI.

  4. I can’t say I noticed the problem with ASPIDISTRA at the time, but it does look wrong.
    I didn’t have a problem with TWAIN as a double definition, the first as the author as a DBE with the ? and secondly the word meaning two or a couple.
    Favourite was ARBORETUM for the deceptive ‘swimming trunks’.

  5. Yep, noticed the missing s (unless dis is shortened dish, a bit non-pc these days 🙂 ). And yes that pluck and strum are in fact guitar opposites. But otherwise, I pottered through this puzzle quite happily. Thanks to Brum n Peter.

  6. Unlikely that the extra S was both a setter’s error and an editor’s miss: more likely a typical G. typo, Steven@3’s proposal as good as any.

    Agree with PeterO’s other niggles too. Too bad, I normally enjoy Brummie’s puzzles more.

  7. Read 1d as BAR’S AC, with the s a possessive as in lawyers’. I admit I didn’t notice the extra S in ASPIDISTRA, but PeterO and others are obviously correct that there’s a mistake there. And the pluck/STRUM synonym gave my guitar-playing self pause for thought. But unlike PeterO I enjoyed the puzzle. 3d was my LOI as I was misdirected to think about X/Twitter rather than the COORDINATE, though I seem to remember seeing the anagram having made an appearance in the past. Thanks to Brummie and to PeterO.

  8. Plus side: really good long anagrams and 8d, 20d.
    Minus side: some forced or unusual abbreviations, plus already noted problems.
    Vocabulary building: barsac and tester

  9. Well, I had BARTAB for the lawyers’ bill for drinks – cryptic definition. Assuming you can make it one word, it seems to me to be a better answer than the NHO wine. I was happy enough with this crossie, though I did wonder about the S problem, and thought SIGN WRITER was weak (surely they wrote the sign then hang it?). And I looked in vain for a theme. Thanks, Brummie and PeterO.

  10. Agree that ASPIDISTRA needs either a plural or possessive S in the clue, though I didn’t spot it at the time. Read BARSAC like Tomsdad@7. Some nice long anagrams, particularly UNWORTHINESS and Rambo’s swimming trunks, and I liked UNBRIDLED. If there’s a theme I can’t see it.

  11. TassieTim @9, traditionally sign writers paint signs in situ, up ladders, with all sorts of interesting tools, including long rests called mahl sticks to hold their hands off the work.
    There’s specialist kit still available to buy. I have seen it done. New illuminated signs are made off site and installed, still up ladders

    I’ll agree with PeterO, I found this not as lively as Brummie can be. I wondered about a theme around different works, but with books, plays and music it didn’t hang together as theme for me, but I’m probably missing something.

    Thank you to PeterO and Brummie

  13. Agree about faults in ASPIDISTRA and STRATUM, and weakness of TWAIN. Otherwise some nice clues including BARSAC, COORDINATE, UNWORTHINESS, SIGN-WRITER. I did notice that the average length of answers seemed above normal – no 3-letter ones, and only two of 4 letters (plus two more as part of GIOTA). Maybe I’m imagining it – I haven’t done a statistical analysis of Graun crosswords.
    Thanks PeterO and Brummie.

  14. Quite gentle for Brummie. Apart from the ASPIDISTRA/STRATUM already mentioned, no real complaints. There may have been few short answers but two of them – ROTE and GAIT – earn ticks for simplicity. ANGUISH, COORDINATE and OBSCURITY were my other likes.

    Thanks Brummie and PeterO

  15. I carelessly entered BARTAB for 1d. Otherwise straightforward.
    As a guitarist, I don’t have a problem with strum/pluck. Discussion of picado, apoyando, alzapua and rasgueo techniques could fill pages!
    Thanks to Brummie and PeterO.

  16. Very tough. I agree with PeterO that it seemed flat.

    Failed 1d BARSAC – only got as far as BAR = lawyers. Re parsing I agree with Tomsdad@7 re BAR’S AC.

    11ac – only got as far as PI+DI in ASSTRA – is there an extra S there by mistake? I googled ASTRA and discovered it is/was a car model that I had never heard of.

    Favourite: AUTHORSHIP.

    New for me: RLY = railway (17d); tester = the CANOPY over a four-poster bed (3d).

    Thanks, both.

  17. Well it takes all sorts. I found this enjoyable and liked SIGN-WRITER as well as AUTHORSHIP and GET IN ON THE ACT. thanks Brummie and PeterO

  18. Enjoyable puzzle, with some nice constructions but some bizarre surfaces. Like Tomsdad @7 I parsed 1dn as the perfectly kosher BAR’S AC. I didn’t notice the pluck/STRUM disparity or the asp disaster…

    I particularly liked the two long anagrams, ISLANDER and EPONYM.

    Thanks to S&B

  19. Yes, I too struggled to account for an S in ASPIDISTRA. I also failed to parse AUTHORSHIP. Never heard of EQUUS or its playwright, and I’ve never seen SCIROCCO spelt thus. Tester/canopy was new to me.

  20. I thought the anagrams were very nicely done. Like michelle @16 & petero I found it a bit flat but I usually do with Brummie so wasn’t sure if that was just confirmation bias on my part

    I suppose TWAIN was easy if you didn’t fall for the misdirection of looking at 2d and you knew “twain” meant two

    Cheers B&P

  21. As well as the flaw in aspidistra, I think there is a strong case for retiring pi in the sense of sanctimonious. Once a word gets to a point where you only see it in crosswords, it’s perhaps time for retirement

    Mrs B’s birthday tonight and a half bottle of Ch Climens waiting to go, so while 1d is not exactly this setter at his best, it was at least topical for one solver.

    Enjoyed arboretum.

  22. By the time I realized ASPIDISTRA had to be the plant in the tricky NW corner with all the crossers in place I was beyond checking for the accuracy of its clueing. I thought too many of these this morning involved rather fiddly construction – ODYSSEY, BICYCYLE, to name but two. Didn’t much like ROTE with Rot for Balls or the clue for SIGN-WRITER, so it seems I’m rather swimming against the general tide of approval for Brummie’s offering today…

  24. Thanks to PeterO and Brummie.

    I saw the problem with ASPIDISTRA, and was also momentarily stumped by BARSAC, the I saw that the clue is written with an apostrophe, “lawyers'”. making the “s” the possessive.

  25. I don’t usually comment here but just want to admit to the error in ASPIDISTRA – a late ‘improvement’ of mine removed the apostrophe from ‘girl’s’.
    Recently I made a vow to avoid old-fashioned references that are off-putting to some solvers (particularly younger ones), so I’m sorry about the old author in 22 ac and the sanctimonius/pi use in the Aspidistra clue. (This puzzle was set about 6 months ago.)

  26. This was rather literary, wasn’t it? As well as EQUUS and TWAIN, EPONYM, AUTHORSHIP, ODYSSEY and sign WRITER, there was a hidden Huxley (ISLAND), CHATTERLEY from 18a/17d, perhaps Orwell’s Keep the APSIDISTRA Flying, (w)ROTE (??) – and there are probably others that I’ve missed…

  27. Pi for (excessively) good is or was public school slang: I’ve never heard it in the wild except in girls’ school fiction, but then I never went to public school. It probably ought to be retired, but it’s so useful!

    PS: this comment was written before I read Brummie’s.

  28. Thought that this was going to be very tough on the first run through, but it steadily came together with some lovely surfaces e.g. ANGUISH, UNBRIDLED. Like PeterO, I raised an eyebrow at ‘strum’ for ‘pluck’ – two words which are usually used in opposition to each other. My favourite was my LOI, GAIT. I couldn’t get BARSAC so a DNF today. And was also puzzled by ASPIDISTRA, so glad to see that it was not just me. Thanks Brummie and PeterO.

  29. I applaud your vow, Brummie @ 25, even though I’m not a “younger” solver. Just an ignorant one!

  30. Thanks for the blog,and to Brummie for owning up, I had just assumed the missing S was a Guardian misprint.
    I thought this was fine , neat wordplay throughout, perhaps CHASTISEMENT the best example and I liked the misleading London.
    For PI maybe setters could replace the sanctimonious idea by IRRATIONAL , it should work for most clues.
    The theme seems to be references to tracks from the album – Charlie Parker Plays Bossa Nova .

  31. I thought TWAIN was cryptic enough; it doesn’t immediately spring to mind for 2 (was it 2d – no; was Mark spot, stain or similar – no). So it took me some time to solve.

    I also, didn’t think the sign writer quite worked. And, I would have preferred x (as is more usual) rather than X in 3d for coordinate.

    Otherwise quite enjoyable, so thanks Brummie and PeterO

  32. I really enjoyed this puzzle, maybe because I could do it without turning myself inside out. I did notice the spare ‘s’ in ASPIDISTRA, but thought it was probably an editing error. (It was.) Some nice anagrams like ARBORETUM and UNWORTHINESS, as well as the long 24/12//19 helped to open up the puzzle.
    I saw TWAIN as did TimC@4.
    Hornbeam@26, I’ll go along with the literary theme.
    My favourites were BARSAC (Bar’s ac), HEDONIST, AUTHORSHIP, TWAIN and EPONYM.
    Thanks Brummie and PeterO

  33. I’m all for keeping things modern (see Brummie @25) and I agree there are some words and abbreviations which seem to be endemic to crosswordland. “pi” was one such and, if it was public school slang (gladys @27) it must’ve fallen out of use by 1997 when I started teaching in same. So Public school slang more than a quarter of a century old is probably a bit past it. By contrast, “prang” is RAF slang and much older but people do still say that they have pranged their car, so I would say is fair game.

    For authors, composers, musicians, I think older ones are fine. The issue is one of obscurity, not of age. If I walked into Waterstones now I could see thousands of current authors, most of whose work will be out of print (sadly) within a decade, but none of us would consider Dickens, Swift, Richardson or Shakespeare unfair. By using older authors, the winnowing has already been done for us. Also there is a world of difference between “London” cluing “author” (what else can it be but a capital city, the great wen, a type of clay etc?) and “author” taking us to “London” which would be challenging. It’s one of the reasons “boy” or “girl” for a name is so unhelpful, there being so many options.

    Anyhow, thank you to Brummie for the puzzle and to PeterO for the blog and asides.

  34. Andrew B’s point @21 (Once a word gets to a point where you only see it in crosswords, it’s perhaps time for retirement) is very good, and could apply to many abbreviations.

  35. PI for ‘sanctimonious’ remains a complete mystery to me. I like to think of myself as widely read, but I have never seen it in any context before, not even in a crossword clue! There are other ways to clue PI, most obviously ‘constant’.

  36. Thanks for fessing up Brummie. If we retire ‘sanctimonious’ we’ll have to resort to π 🙂

  38. …. although Private Investigator (itself a little old-fashioned?) gets an airing from time to time

  39. Amazing day for me. I completed the crossword!

    Only kidding. 😂

    I solved 3d and 5d. Clueless on everything else (literally).

    TWAIN: I continue to struggle with clues involving numbers!

  41. I was feeling quite pleased with myself knowing about pi from previous Guardian cryptics, (it pops up all the time) , and also twigged the Jack London ref…does that make me archaic? Didn’t need any apologies from Brummie, enjoyed this immensely and finished in time to join in the blog for once. And of course there should be a typo in a Graun crossword, it makes it all the more challenging! Thanks to all.

  42. I did mostly enjoy this with some nice misdirections–“US city” *not* turning out to be NY, “shouts” not a homophone–and some nice reversals with EPONYM and ODYSSEY. Didn’t notice the missing S in ASPIDISTRA but had to reveal BARSAC, nho the wine and “A/C” for bill is pretty obscure to me. Also never seen the extra “c” in “Sirocco” or “RLY” for railway. TWAIN seemed fine though–no less cryptic than many I’ve seen!

  44. [Maybe someone could come up with an omniclue that uses all the cliches e.g. PI, IT, SA …
    Then we could print it out and give it a fitting send off]

  45. I have seen pi clued as ‘a bit over three’ which fitted the clue (which I can’t, unfortunately, remember) very well. And I would be a regular at any establishment that served “endless pie”!

  46. Scirocco I knew from A-level Geography and, I think, it was also the name of a car in the dim and distant. So maybe not totally obscure.

    Thanks to setter and blogger, and good luck to the former with his resolution!

  47. I’m another one who thought this was great. So many raised a smile, particularly Sign Writer, Hutus, and Twain.

  48. TassieTim @9
    It must say something about me, but 1D BARSAC was my first entry; your comment contains the only objection I can make to your version, in that the clue says ‘drink’, not drinks. One glass of Pomeroy’s would not satisfy Rumpole, yet alone the entire legal profession..
    Tim C @4
    As I pointed out in the blog, the clue is not really a double definition, but the same one twice. Or twain.
    Roz @30
    We have complaints that, for example, ‘girl’ in a clue leaves too many possibilities. Irrational has an uncountable infinity. OK, some are better known than others.

  50. Jacobz@35 , it turns up in 50s novels , Angus Wilson for example.
    Dolly in Anglo-Saxon Attitudes – Then I got put on to the idea of the Alcoholics Anonymous. It sounded a bit pi , I thought . ( Page 312 ) .
    ISBN 0-14-01742-9

  51. Peter@48 , I suspect that at most 3 have known names , pi , e and phi , if you can call e a name.

  52. Well, I enjoyed it.

    Steffen, if you got COORDINATE and ARBORETUM cold, with no crossers, I’m impressed.

    Thanks, Brummie and PeterO.

  53. Thanks to Brummie for the puzzle and for dropping in and for Peter O, couldn’t get the parsing of ODYSSEY without your help. I tend to agree with Hornbeam @26 that the theme (if there is one) is literary works. Naughty Ros @30 has identified a splendid book as well as a spoof theme.

    I did like Rambo’s swimwear and CHASTISEMENT. Reading the last sentence again it sounds rather rude, but isn’t meant to be.

    Agree on PI, I’ve only ever read it in books, and those were when I was about 12, Billy Bunter, Mallory Towers etc. and have never encountered it used in speech, not even ironically, so bravo to Brummie. Thanks all 😎.

  55. I’ve heard pi used much more recently, it was part of my mother’s vocabulary, and I would have said it was current, except she died a month ago.

    I’ve also read Jack London, Call of the Wild and White Fang definitely, plus some others, which I can’t remember now. (I’ve also read more than one Walter Scott, which apparently makes me unusual.)

  56. ros @51 I was trying to recall more named irrationals. I think it depends on what you mean by a name. I would concede pi and e are names, but isn’t phi a symbol for the name golden ratio? If you allow ratio into a name then there are others, for example, plastic, supergolden; and if you allow root, then root two etc give you plenty more names for irrationals. Probably not much use in the crossword context, though.

  57. I’d describe my experience of this as a worthy slog. PI is one of those references like U for posh which feel obscure to me, and always seem to evade me when needed.

    That and ASPIDISTRA aside, I enjoyed TWAIN as a clue and thought it cryptic enough.

    Overall though, it took me a long time, and halfway in I put it aside for a while. Then on coming back to it afresh I was able to complete it (apart from 1d). So it was rather satisfying to exercise patience and then actually have it rewarded.

    NHO BARSAC, which I had to reveal the latter half of. CANOPY is new to me as regards that definition, though I did get that. Several others which had completely escaped me first time round were filled in relatively quickly on my return.

    Thanks Brummie and PeterO.

  58. Steven @3 13 was my LOI too – all I had for a while was ‘lion-grater’. Would definitely prefer to be a sign-writer.

  59. Lots of comments about getting rid of pi=sanctimonious and other oldies. I think JOFT@33 has said it well. I also think it is reasonable to expect younger solvers (however you define younger) to have some familiarity with their political and cultural heritage. It is sad if they don’t. I thought the Jack London misdirection was fine.

    Speaking of cultural heritage, Roz@30 identified the obvious theme. It is one of my favourite records, on my shelf next to “Glenn Gould plays Thelonious Monk”.

    Thanks Brummie for the fun puzzle and for your comments on this blog, and thanks PeterO for the lively blog.

  60. Dave@56 I was just thinking about what most people would know, including setters. Pi probably , e perhaps, phi doubtful. Phi is a symbol for a ratio but so is Pi so I think it is okay.
    The point about using irrational for Pi is that it would work in many clues using terms like sactimonious for Pi , like the one today.

    Pauline@53 , it is a really a spoof revtew of a fake album that does not exist – or does it ? People need to read it and decide for themselves.

  61. I enjoyed this puzzle though in addition to having to reveal BARSAC, I had to reveal SIGN-WRITER. I thought of sign-maker and sign-painter but writer sounds odd – as if someone is standing on a ladder by the door with a ballpoint pen.

  62. [ Cellomaniac @59 , you should not take such a linear view of time. If you have not read Murakami you should try him. He is mad on jazz and classical music. Nearly all of his stories and novels have a background musical theme. ]

  63. I’m a fan of this setter and enjoyed this. I think twain was OK, I like a variety of hard and more difficult clues in a crossword.

  64. In the spirit of mathematical laddism, how about:
    Irrational sexist backs into car plant?
    Fun puzzle. Ta, Brum and Peter

  65. Brummie @25 – thanks for owning up re ASPIDISTRA but I was going to let you off the hook by saying “little girl” was S for small and Di – hence no missing S. Ah well!

    Thanks also to Peter

  66. PeterO@48, although the irrationals are uncountable, there can only be a countable number of named ones (even if you allow “function name applied to argument name” or other expressions as suggested by DE@56). “Most” of them are literally indescribable. In practice, as Roz@50 says, there are very few with simple names – fairer than “girl” as an indicator.

  67. Defeated by SW corner and never heard of Hutus. Wouldn’t say a song is a chant but that’s my musician equivalent of scientists saying definitions aren’t strictly accurate. And didn’t know about original of Twain so a bit of a learning curve all round. Pi is 3.1415926 to me and shall remain so; I think of Julie not Jack when London comes to mind. I don’t think I’m good enough to comment on whether puzzles flow or excite or not but filling in nearly all the grid still gives one a sense of satisfaction during coffee breaks. Thank you Peter P and Brummie.

  68. TimSee @66
    Oh dear, I really should not have made that light-hearted remark @48. It did not deserve any kind of come-back.

  69. Pianoman@67, but do you tune your piano so that the frequency ratio of successive semitones is the 12th root of 2?

  70. [Roz and Cellomaniac. The disc never off my turntable at the moment is Sing Along with Cecil Taylor.
    Have you tried John Harvey’s novels featuring jazz-loving Insp Reznick? Much better than crossword solving Morse.]

  71. I was almost on the point of giving up with one unsolved, but then BARSAC popped unbidden into my mind. I didn’t let either the PI or the S in 11a bother me, but well done Brummie for taking the rap.

    And well done to Steffen for keeping a sense of humour and solving two anagrams without any crossers.

    Thanks to Brummie and PeterO.

  73. [ Thanks Zoot , I may look into this but I never seem to get on with any crime fiction. I did try Morse but could not stand it, also I lived in Oxford for seven years and I cannot recall a single murder. ]

  74. Thanks Steffen @72 for making the rest of us feel so much better. We think (wife & I) we’ve done well if we solve it within the week when it appears in the Guardian Weekly!

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