Guardian 29,444 / Tramp

87 comments on “Guardian 29,444 / Tramp”

1. Thanks Tramp and Eileen
   I wasn’t convinced by “they might be hurting” for STRAINERS. Otherwise, no problems. Favourite also CRESCENDO.

   “Uncategorized” at the moment, Eileen.

2. Yes, this was a relative breeze compared to the recent Vlad, and very enjoyable. SNOWSHOES was my favourite, cleverly disguised; and BITINGLY also good. Had to look up EOSIN. Many thanks to Tramp and Eileen.

3. You’re too quick for me, muffin: I fixed the ‘uncategorised’ immediately after posting! 😉

4. Thought this a box of delights this morning, with the generous long anagram at 1ac an excellent launching pad to unlocking a friendly grid. Wasn’t quite sure how GET INTO worked, and last one in perhaps the least convincing clue for me, BALL GAME. Many thanks Tramp and the ever enthusiastic Eileen…

5. Like muffin@1 I had to think about the STRAINERS definition, but I think it works OK if you think of people straining for various reasons (I’m afraid a toilet allusion is the first that comes to my mind). Agree with Eileen that this was a fun puzzle, not too easy, but all soluble with a little thought, and I agree with Eileen’s likes as well with a smile for 27, though can’t say it was always true for my kids back in the day. I have a habit of waiting for crossers before solving longer anagrams, but I took pen and paper to ACOUSTIC GUITAR straight away. Thanks to Eileen and Tramp.

6. Thank you Eileen. I had similar ticks. ALLEYWAYS took me a while, as I didn’t know ley.
   muffin@1. I don’t have a problem with STRAINERS, for a whole lot of reasons, some of which don’t need to be said.

7. This was fun – I usually like Tramp, but can find his crosswords a tussle, but this was relatively benign.

   EOSIN surfaced from somewhere, not sure if it’s from the Chemistry degree or it being used on me when wearing contact lenses (and blowing bright yellow out of my nose for the next few hours).

   Ley or lea for meadow is a familiar word – found on old maps or in place names.

   Thank you to Eileen and Tramp.

8. There is almost exactly the same clue for 6d here in today’s FT puzzle by Guy. Coincidence or conspiracy? You decide….

9. Lovely puzzle.
   I also appreciated the four around the perimeter

10. Shanne @7, yes, lea = meadow has been around for as long as I’ve been doing cryptics (used to be a lot more common) – but I haven’t seen this alternative spelling much in this context.

11. I thought that was superb. Everything was neatly clued and even though I’d never heard of EOSIN, it was solvable from the clue. There were a few chuckles because the surfaces were so smooth. FOOD CHAIN was splendid, and even smaller words like NOISE were so nicely clued.

    Thank you Tramp for a joyous Thursday puzzle and Eileen, as always, for the blog.

12. Would have been much more of a struggle without easy access 1 across and down; but even with all those first letters it was hard.

    Unconvinced by a few especially BALL GAME – but that looks like another ” it’s in Collins”. loved CRESCENDO and EOSIN ( the latter for teaching me a new word but cluing it well enough that I could get it).

    Thanks Tramp and Eileen

13. Rather a lot of bits-and-pieces anagrams today, but very enjoyable. I failed to parse MANKINI, didn’t really get the definition of BALL GAME, and didn’t know EOSIN (but it couldn’t be much else once the crossers were in). Favourites BEDTIME STORIES, SICKBED for the definition and CRESCENDO for the neat lift and separate on “soccer ground”. Thanks Tramp and Eileen.

14. Thanks Tramp and Eileen

    I think the wordplay for the V in NUREYEV is, as per the blog comment on regnal numbers, ‘the fifth’, not just ‘fifth’.

15. Thanks Eileen and Tramp.
    A fairly straightforward puzzle, made easier for me by getting both the two long anagrams at 1a and 1d on a first reading of their clues. This gave me the first letter for half the other clues. nho EOSIN but it was an obvious anagram and after getting the crossers that reduced the possible options to just two words.

    I disagree with the definition for SNOWSHOES. A snowshoe is a broad pad strapped to the bottom of one’s normal shoes, to ease walking on soft, unconsolidated snow by spreading your bodyweight over a larger area and therefore (hopefully) not sinking into the snowpack. It doesn’t provide any additional grip for the feet and could be potentially dangerous on descending steep, icy snow slopes. As a keen hillwalker, I would always use my crampons for that (my first suggestion on reading the clue!).

16. Thanks Tramp and Eileen!
    Liked the puzzle. Nice blog.

    COTD: BEDTIME STORIES. Nice extended def.

17. I think I’ve probably done enough Azeds by now so EOSIN went in fairly easily after surfacing from the subconscious. My struggle was with EXAMPLE as I fell into the thought rut of AMPLE = large and couldn’t work out how to get EX from “paper exercise” so thanks for the resolution Eileen. 🙂

18. I loved this. I was totally misled by the DJ spinning his decks, and I loved the bedtime stories and the guitar, the skilled champ and the forever walks. Eosin new to me and I’ll probably forget it. Couldn’t parse noise. Great fun, thanks Tramp and Eileen

19. I enjoyed this puzzle.

    New for me: EOSIN.

    I couldn’t parse 11ac, 5d and was unsure about the second def of 15ac.

    Thanks, both.

20. I knew EOSIN because of my dad dabbling with a microscope when I was about 10 or 11. When I noticed it was an anagram of NOISE I wasted time looking for other similar coincidences… but couldn’t find a TRACE.

21. Thanks, Simon S @14 – yes, I should have included the ‘the’! (I’ve done it now.)

22. For 25a I put TAIL GATE. In the US, a tailgate party is an outdoor party where the bar is the lowered tailgate of a station wagon. It seemed like the perfect answer except for being wrong 🙁

23. BEDTIME STORIES, BLINIS and CRESCENDO were my favourites today. Thanks to Tramp and Eileen.

24. I accepted the definition of STRAINERS a bit reluctantly, but I suppose it works. Had ‘tail gate’ for BALL GAME – it fits the crossers and definition of ‘informal situation of party’ (at least in USA) – but I was puzzled by thinking “surely it should be ‘down for it'”. Favourite FOOD CHAIN, for the two contrasting definitions.
    Thanks Eileen and Tramp.

    Yes Me@22 – beat me to it!

25. A lovely blog, Eileen, to accompany a typically well clued Tramp full of nice meaningful surfaces. A joy to solve. GET INTO was LOI and the only one where I struggled with the definition. EOSIN nho but I was only left with two options and that happened to be the first I checked in Chambers. Far too many good clues to list all those that appealed to me: CATER, MANKINI, FOOD CHAIN, BEDTIME STORIES, ACCOMPLISHED, IN BRIEF, CRESCENDO and SYSTEMS were my favourites.

    Thanks Tramp and Eileen

    [Thanks also to those kind souls who wished me well, yesterday, in my battles with the midges. Any airborne blighters would have been blown half way across the Atlantic by yesterday’s howling gale! We had a bit of a ceilidh last night accompanied by a roaring log burner – on 24th July! The joys of a Highland summer.]

26. Very pleasant. BEDTIME STORIES, EVENING DRESS and CRESCENDO favourites. After seeing EOSIN and NOISE below, I also looked for other anagrams.

    Ta Tramp & Eileen.

27. Thanks Tramp and Eileen.
    I was interested to read the blog because my approach to the anagram at 5d was different but gave the same result. I had TIE + NT (NOT wanting ultimately tO) + GO, with OUT as the indicator. Coincidence, or extremely clever setting?

28. Lovely – thanks for helping me to backfill some parsing, Eileen. FOOD CHAIN was delightful, and I thought OFTEN was a clever surface too. As a newbie this is my first exposure to Tramp, which I enjoyed immensely. Thanks!

29. DJ is one? Are you Brits still in the shackles of Edwardian priggishness?

30. Wrote in 1ac immediately then took a while to get going. OFTEN was clever. Wholeheartedly agree with Eileen about CRESCENDO – a pet hate when people refer to reaching a crescendo when they mean a peak in volume.

31. YesMe@22 et al: TAILGATE is one of those terms with very different meanings on opposite sides of the pond. I was initially puzzled by references on US messageboards to tailgating in the parking lot before a big match or concert: over here it means the unwelcome attentions of the sort of motorist who tries to drive within a yard of your tailgate to persuade you to speed up. Presumably there’s a different term for that in the USA?

32. blaise @20: vey good. Can’t CATER to everyone.

33. Only grumble ix BALLGAME which could have been anything from the crossers. Still think it’s rather woolly.
    Thanks Tramp and Eileen.

34. 1A went into immediately for me, and was then the only across clue I got on the first pass. Fortunately the down clues were a little kinder to me, although I was a lot slower to 1D than most here, it seems. I had no issue with 3D, though.

    Thank you Eileen for the blog and a couple of parsings that eluded me, and to Tramp for the puzzle.

35. Completely missed the second definition for 15ac but bunged it in from the first. Now that I see it, what a superb clue!

36. When I had the F in 15a I was sure that the first word would be FARM – after all, (Old) McDonald had one (though was he “MacDonald”?)
    I agree that the actual answer makes it a very good clue.

37. Really good stuff all round, a pleasure to solve.

    Just one thing though – re FOOD CHAIN, I can’t see the first definition of the two (McDonald’s to take one). Am I missing something totally obvious?

38. @37 scraggs

    As in Mcdonald’s being a chain of food outlets. And in this case, one of many (“to take one”)

39. Great fun, though I didn’t find it as straightforward as some of you. Lovely surfaces, as Tramp usually supplies.

    Horses for courses – EOSIN was one of the first ones in for this chemist 🙂 . BALL GAME was my LOI, but I don’t have a problem with it.

    Lots of ticks here, but a mention for ‘soccer ground’ and bravo Tramp for treating BLINI properly as a plural (no paninis here!). Favourite was BEDTIME STORIES for its clever construction and extended definition.

    scraggs @37: ‘to take one’ = ‘for example’.

    Thanks to Neil and Eileen

40. Perfidious @38 thank you. On solving it I did get the McD’s reference but then was unsure whether I was missing something with the ‘to take one’ bit, thus throwing some needless doubt into my thought process.

    Thanks also Gervase @39

41. When I saw ‘fretted’ in the 1A clue, I immediately thought of guitar, so that was an early triumph. I liked the surface for EOSIN and the good anagrams for BEDTIME STORIES and ACCOMPLISHED. I also enjoyed the wordplays for CRESCENDO and SYSTEMS.

    Thanks Tramp and Eileen.

42. Thanks Eileen, as always, for the super blog. Thanks to all for the kind comments.

    I wrote this in October 2023 but I don’t remember much about it.

    Neil

43. Quite enjoyable, plenty of smiles. Noise/talk was a surprise. Never heard of EOSIN or “ley”. Interesting that one clue in today’s was also in the FT crossword, with almost identical wordplay.

44. Tramp @42 – that makes it sound like the height of decadence…

45. If you can remember writing crosswords*, you weren’t there

    * i.e. spending hours filling a grid and then wondering how the hell you’re going to clue half of the entries.

    Neil

46. Enjoyable puzzle. My favorite outcome — some words left unsolved last night, but then working out in the morning. Once I got BITINGLY, the rest of the NE corner filled in. The SW corner was trickier.

    gladys@31 “Tailgate” also refers to the irritating behavior of drivers in the US. Context will tell you quite easily which of the two meanings is relevant in any particular case. I’m trying to come up with an example where you wouldn’t know which was meant, but I can’t.

    Thanks to Tramp for the puzzle and to Eileen for the comments and for staying with us, coming back when called for.

47. Andy @20 Modern snowshoes usually come with small spikes to provide traction (“purchase”).

    See e.g. https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/reviews/snow-sports/snowshoes/msr-lightning-ascent#traction

48. I was baffled at the abbreviation in 10 down but this provides a clever explanation: https://storm-djs.com/djs-dinner-jackets-or-disc-jockeys/

49. Roger GS @48 – and Tramp’s clue cleverly exploits both.

50. As pointed out by Steven@7, there is an almost identical clue to 6D in the FT today. That seems very unlikely to be simple coincidence, so is Guy the same person as Tramp?

51. In doing this, I was thinking, “Either Tramp has changed or I have”. General consensus here is that the puzzle was kinder and gentler than some in the past.

    Knew EOSIN from A-level chem, but not sure I’ve seen it since, outside of eosinophils (tested for in the blood). Another one whose fave was CRESCENDO. Thanks.

52. Nuntius @50 – no, he isn’t. You can see lists of setters and their other pseudonyms under ‘Setters’ at the top of the page.
    I’ve seen various similar clues for INNER in the past. A case of ‘great minds …’

53. Not much to add to all the above except thanks Neil NS EILEEN.

54. Nuntius @50: Short words consisting of common letters often get clued similarly by different setters, but for two to appear on the same day is obviously very unusual. It’s considered bad form for setters to reuse their clues, but the most prolific ones have had recourse to this sometimes. Though as Tramp’s comment @45 suggests, it may be because they have forgotten the original setting!

55. Apropos ley, Adrian Bell wrote Silver Ley. He was the first crossword compiler for The Times.

    I enjoyed this, after a slow start, but failed on BALL GAME.

    Thank you blogger and setter.

56. Thanks Tramp. I enjoyed this quite a bit despite failing with the nho MANKINI, BEDTIME STORIES, and STRAINERS with its odd definition. I had many favourites including NUREYEV, ACCOMPLISHED, INNER, CRESCENDO, SYSTEMS, and BLINI. Thanks Eileen for the blog.
    [BTW, your comment about INNER being clued multiple times similarly brings to mind the number of clues using ‘senator’ and ‘treason’ as anagrams over the years.]

57. Tailgate to me (and perhaps one or two others here) is a style of trombone playing originating in New Orleans. Jazz bands would drive round the streets on carts, playing to advertise their gigs. The trombonist had to sit on the tailgate to have room to operate the slide.

58. Thanks Eileen @ 52 and Gervase @54.. And I should have looked at the other comments before jumping in.

59. I might be wrong, but, I think Guy is Filbert from the Indy. I think he’s a superb setter so I’m glad to have had an Idea in common with him.

60. Tramp@42
    It’s always a pleasant surprise when the setter drops in for a chat. I have only just found the time to do this puzzle. Usually I struggle with your cryptic crosswords, but today I managed to follow your logic and I thoroughly enjoyed the process. Thank you, Neil, and thanks to Eileen for her excellent blog.

61. Shanne@7 and Eileen @10: a key is a sown grass crop, it is not a synonym for lea or meadow, which is a field of grass that has evolved over time to a mix of grass and other plants.

62. As usual, I agree with Eileen.

63. nicbac@61 just looked up ley farming in wikipedia and apparently the official term is “convertible husbandry”. Can’t wait for someone to use it in a crossie somewhere… Paul springs to mind

64. Having read all the comments below the blog it seems I am the only one not to have written EOSIN in. With the wordplay and the crossers I had a choice between that and EISON. How was everyone so sure of the right answer? (I excuse chemists of course.) A quick search of this site finds no previous uses in Guardian crosswords.

    Ah well. Other than that, I enjoyed this challenge as I do most – if not all – Tramp puzzles. BITINGLY and ALLEYWAYS took a long time to drop, but it was more to do with my mind getting stuck in a groove than anything particularly tricky about the clues. At least, that’s what I’m telling myself now. They both seemed darned tricky at the time.

    Thanks to Neil and Eileen.

65. SH @64
    As a chemist, I had heard of EOSIN, but I think it might be more familiar to biologists; it’s (they – there are several related forms) a commonly used microscopical stain.

66. Crackers @29 no we’re not, it’s just crosswordland that lives in the past and we recognise the references.

67. nicbach @61, thanks for that – that’s how I interpreted Collins’ ‘put down to grass’, which totally justified Tramp’s ‘grassland’, which was my only concern this morning. (As happens from time to time, I wish I’d just left it at that.)

    blaise @63, thanks for your contribution – and comment 😉

    sheffield hatter @64, hands up: I used a wordsearch – and the check button.

68. Thanks for owning up, Eileen!

    I feel better already. 😃

69. Sheffield hatter, you know I’m no scientist! 😉

70. Thanks both – great entertainment in the wee small hours of last night (when certain people were ceilidhing….(and neglecting their crosswords for sword crossing (as in the dance) no doubt)) and at such time as I could get back to it during the day.

    I know I’m going to regret asking this but I’m not proud (other than of my outstanding (and entirely appropriate) modesty) but why would STRAINERS be hurting? And I see a gentleman at the back who wants an example of sentences where ‘over’ and ‘concerned with’ are interchangeable.

    (And what is the singular of BLINI, in case I want just the one.)

71. Alphalpha @70
    I thought that both “”over” and “concerning” could equate to “about”, but I agree it’s a bit loose.
    I’m glad I’m not the only poster to worry about STRAINERS.

72. Alphalpha@70: as it’s a Russian word, the singular would be “blin”. If it were Italian (like the plural “panini”), it’d be “blino” which is what Gervase was jokingly referring to earlier @39. Either way you get a word imported into English in one format and then, if it is singular, we make it plural our way. If it’s plural, we do not change it in the singular. I can’t help with your other questions – though I imagine if I’d strained a muscle, I’d be hurting? It’s not great, but it passes.

    Thanks to Tramp and Eileen – with the first few going in quickly I thought it’d be a breeze but it turned out to be the opposite (is that no wind, or a storm?)…

73. JOFT @72: If it were Italian, the singular could also be ‘blinio’ or ‘bline’ 🙂

74. Gervase @73
    I hesitate to contradict, but if “blini” was an Italian plural, the singular would be “blino”.

    …as JOFT said.

75. Hi Alphalpha @70 – I will try to answer your queries in the spirit in which they were posed. 😉

    I’m not sure when your wee small hours are but I began solving this puzzle at around 5.30am (my wee small hours) – nothing else for it: couldn’t find a ceilidh and my sword dancing days are over, I’m afraid.

    I remember straining my wrist, neck, ankle on various occasions – and it hurt – but I could only whimsically (as setters sometimes do) blame a ‘strainer’ for that.

    Re BLINI: I refer you to Jack of Few Trades @72, who has mercifully sneaked in while I’ve been typing, saving me a lot of time – huge thanks for that, Jack!

    It’s been quite a long day and I don’t really feel up to continuing discussion or argument over / concerned with this lovely crossword, which I ‘m glad that you enjoyed, too. 🙂

76. Alphalpha @70,
    I have doubts over/concerned with my ability to parse cryptic clues, so I come to 225 a lot 🙂.

77. Norbrewer@27,
    You’re not alone, that’s the way I parsed it too! But the blog version is better, I think. Thanks, Eileen.
    Thanks to Tramp too. Faves ACCOMPLISHED and CRESCENDO. Awesome surfaces!

78. I have solved 1a and 1d.

    Now I am completely lost.

79. muffin @74: For example, the plural of ‘armadio’ is ‘armadi’. The plural of ‘barile’ is ‘barili’. If ‘blini’ was a real Italian word, the singular could have any one of these desinences.

80. Easy at first with several write-ins. Then surprisingly hard—time for a nap. [Was bed almost a mini-theme?] Then woke to a gradual but highly satisfying fall of dominos characteristic of a well-constructed puzzle. Thanks, Tramp!

    I know she’s offline now, but I always enjoy it when Eileen is blogging. Not only does she stay in the discussion, but a surprising amount of the real personality comes through.

81. Steffen@78: It is a hard one. 2d, 4d and 6d are accessible as are 16d and 22d.

82. 11a – how do you know to isolate ‘K’ from NAKED?

    27a – how do you know to use S from KIDS? Why doesn’t “ultimately” only refer to DOZE?

83. Steffen@82 — 11a: “Naked essentially” is cryptic-speak for only the very “essence” of naked — the very middle letter, which is “k”
    27a: Though “ultimately” could theoretically apply only to DOZE, there’s no requirement that it do so. Sometimes it can indicate taking the last letter of every word that precedes it. For me this was a case of guessing the answer and then figuring out how it was constructed.

84. Chambers: 14th definition of “over” is “concerning”.

85. Tramp @84: I don’t find that concerning at all! 🙂

86. Gervase @73: I bow to your Italian expertise – I am a “tourist level” speaker but should’ve remembered the -e ending as it is quite common (signore, pesce…). The -io ending becoming -i is new to me so thank you for that.

87. [Eileen@75 (and phitonelly@76 (and indeed Tramp@84)): Tvm. (Forgot my manners)]

    Gervase@85: Lol

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