Guardian Cryptic 29,448 by Qaos

103 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 29,448 by Qaos”

1. The middle four letters spell STIG, as in Stig of the Dump.it would be a big coincidence if not meant.
   Thanks L&Q

2. I do like Qaos’s puzzles and the trademark number clues.

   I took me ages to see GRANGE, which would have been quicker if I’d spotted the theme.

   Thank you to loonapick and Qaos.

3. Not a good theme for non-Poms. We had our own version of PLAY SCHOOL, and I have heard of GRANGE HILL, but the others passed me by (I wondered whether the theme was PADDINGTON Bear for a while). Not do I know a BENN boxer, though I did recall Tony of that ilk. Unlike you, loonapick, CLANGERS was my LOI – not a fan of golf. Still, I managed to fill the grid, and loved the penny drop for MISTER. Thanks, Qaos and loonapick.

4. I’m pretty sure no kids’ TV program has SADIST in the title. A missed niche market? I enjoyed DESIGNER for the deceptive indicator “fluid”.

5. I was going to say you’ve missed MAGPIE, loonapick, but it’s highlighted in the grid if not in the preamble (which contains a small typo in Guardian but that might be intentional …) The TOMORROW PEOPLE was quite odd and is now very dated – we bought a boxed set for my youngsters and they found it hysterical. This was a nice trip back memory lane to the shows of my childhood.

   I found this quite smooth sailing though did not make the BENN connection, having never heard of the boxer and having completely forgotten about Hilary. His father also never crossed the mind – an MP for 47 years, he left Parliament in 2001 so would be a pretty tough solution to ‘Labour politician’. Likes include PADDINGTON, MISTER, SOJOURNING, DESIGNER, SADIST, TOMORROW and MAGPIE.

   ‘Doctors’ does not feel right as the anagrind in STAGEHANDS; the imperative ‘doctor’ seems more appropriate but that’s just a personal view.

   Thanks Qaos and loonapick

6. Thanks Qaos and loonapick
   A DNF – no idea on FLY or BENN. No theme, of course.
   I liked GRANGE.

7. I enjoyed this puzzle even though I failed to solve 24ac and 24d (I thought of BENN but could not work out why he is a fighter). Forgot to look for a theme till I had completed it but could not see it – I have no knowledge of children’s TV shows in the UK now or in the past.

   Favourites: SCHOOL, IVORY TOWER, MAGPIE, MISTER, SPORTS, GRANGE.

   New for me: German golfer Bernhard Langer (for 7ac).

   Thanks, both.

8. As for my countryman TassieTim, I completely missed this theme, and CLANGERS was my LOI, ‘German golfer’ being meaningless to me. Thanks Qaos and loonapick

9. Nice morning workout. Missed the theme (forgot to look). Why is DIS ‘hell’?

10. Defeated by the NW corner, and couldn’t quite parse SPORTS, which I had written in. Langer might be a bit obscure for non golfers, though he has been around for several decades, and playing on the Seniors Tour now. CLANGERS would have alerted me to the theme pretty much straight away if I had solved this clue early on. Lots to like, though…

11. Redrodney @9: straight from Chambers –

    Dis /dis or dēs/
    noun
    A name for the god Pluto, hence, the infernal world

12. Not being into golf, I put BLUNDERS in for 7A, once I had a few crossers; but was, of course, unable to parse it. I only got the theme once I completed the puzzle but it was fun seeing how many I could spot. Hilary Benn has recently been made minister of state for Northern Ireland. Thanks Qaos and loonapick.

    loonapick – in 13D, you’ve put ‘tower’ in brackets instead of ‘promise’.

13. Nigel Benn the boxer also has a son Conor Benn who has become a pugilist too, just like father and son MP’s Tony and Hilary pursued the same careers, but in politics…

14. It’s “Central” Intelligence Agency. Although ‘criminal’ might be more appropriate… 🙂

15. PostMark @11 ah, never knew. Thanks!

16. Made a few edits – thanks to the commenters who pointed them out. As I’ve said before, waking up early and doing a blog may not be the ideal mix…

17. Redrodney @15… it’s worth storing in the memory (cryptic section) as DIS is a common starter in a lot of words so setters use it a fair bit.

18. Really liked 16d ‘“jam” TOMORROW‘
    15a SPORTS took a while to parse, with “over and over” giving two different instructions. Clever.
    17a GRANGE: the dehyphenation of “laid-back” looks like a cross between a Playtex and a ‘lift and separate’. Wunderbar.

19. 22d: The MAGPIE theme cuts out after “Seven for a secret never to be told”, but you can find eight to thirteen here.

20. We didn’t have reception when I was young, but I watched the Clangers in my 20s, but I missed the theme. Told myself Was always has a theme, then forgot all about it.
    Thanks both.

21. I so enjoyed this and with CLANGERS foi, I clicked the theme about halfway through, which in turn helped with BENN. A real throwback to childhood TV, this was right up my street. I had to google TOMORROW with Jam to understand the reference and that became my favourite clue.

    Ta Qaos & loonapick.

22. Thanks Qaos & loonapick. A few little quibbles – as noted by PostMark @5 “doctors”, loonapick spotted repetition of “first” for I and there’s also “over” for containment in both 15a & 16d. And how is “clubs” CS? But all forgiven for lovely theming – just wish 26a had been EPIZOITE … perhaps a tad obscure but enabling 24d BOOK to go with [ivory] TOWER … maybe that one’s not so well remembered though? Thanks again!

23. Loved Grange and Designer. Everything else tough but fair.

    Thanks Qaos and Loonapick

24. Thanks, Qaos and loonapick.
    Particularly liked SOJOURNING & TOMORROW.

    STAGE HANDS
    While solving I didn’t notice the cryptic grammar point PostMark has highlighted @5. Agree with him.

25. There is a bizarre and unpleasant post on the Graun to the effect that anyone claiming to have completed this without seeing the theme is a liar. Shame on you loonapick! Loved the puzzle, missed the theme.

26. Cranberryfez@22: Clubs clue as Cs because, in Bridge, the suit Clubs regularly abbreviates to C (setters will similarly exploit Hearts, Diamonds and Spades).

27. Sagittarius@26 – yes, Clubs is C … so why is it CS?

28. cranberryfez@26 – maybe you can think of ‘club’ as a singular noun, abbreviated to C, as in Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), and then the plural could be Cs?

29. Laid back, indeed! 17 made my day, or tomorrow… I knew there must be a theme and guessed Paddington and the Clangers were part of it, but I EMIGRATEd to France too soon to recognise the others, although with hindsight IVOR the ENGINE rings a vague bell. Or should that be blows a whistle?

30. Ronald @10 I admit to a tendency to find some specialist knowledge too obscure (for example that Italian artist recently whose name I have already forgotten again) but as someone with little interest in golf I have at least heard of Langer, even if I did fail to remember him before I gave up on my last clue.

31. MarkGrew@28 – hmm, does that make “cricket” OK as an indicator for C (or “football” for F, say)? I’m not sure you can fairly use ‘bits’ of abbreviations else pretty much anything would be possible.

32. Some nice anagrams but the double definitions fell on the weak side and yes, none too general knowledge and abbreviations in play.

33. Many’s the time I would rush home from school to watch ‘Designer Sadist’. Great days.

34. Clubs = Cs? Nah. Not having that.

35. Put me down as another alleged liar – what a nasty comment.

    Of course, since it’s Qaos, I was looking for a theme from the start but I didn’t see the giveaway CLANGERS until nearly the end: I was bamboozled by ‘German golfer’ meaning ‘German golfer’ and trying to fit in an initial G.
    ENGINE got me looking for ‘tank’ – I’d forgotten about Ivor, not a favourite in our house, apparently, and I don’t think I ever heard of The Tomorrow People. Otherwise, all old favourites and lovely to be reminded of them.

    I share others’ quibbles, summarised by cranberryfez @22 but had ticks for 17ac GRANGE for the ‘lift and separate’, 25ac CICERO (I love Q’s ‘mathematical’ clues and this one was right up my street), 4dn DESIGNER, for the indicator, 6dn SCHOOLS for the taps and 13dn IVORY TOWER,19dn INVITE and 21dn ATOMIC, all three for construction and surface.

    Thanks to Qaos, for the nostalgic fun and loonapick for a great blog.

36. Cs for “clubs” is an instruction to use multiple Cs in the answer rather than as a plural of the C abbreviation. You may not like it but it comes up quite frequently so you may have to lump it.

    For once I got the theme and even found it useful. Top marks for GRANGE, TOMORROW & CLANGERS

    5a works if you assume an implied person eg (one/she) doctors

    Cheers L&V

37. Of course the idiot on the Graun has full knowledge of everyone else’s experience and thoughts… pfft.

    I’m with cranberryfez at raising an eyebrow at clubs=CS.

38. I can remember, as a child, watching Mr Benn driving a clown car. My father quipped to my uncle “Mr Benn’s taken over British Leyland!”
    It was years before I realised why it was funny.

39. Nho of the fighter BENN (not what I would call GK) and of course missed the theme completely, but otherwise the clueing was very smooth, though unconvinced by ‘dance’=PLAY. GRANGE and TOMORROW were particularly good.

40. @36. I’m well aware of what the indication was (and in fact the way you’ve described it would logically lead to CC, not CS) but it’s absurd and frankly I have never seen it (for good reason). C = clubs, yes. CS – no way, sorry. You can’t just start using single letter abbreviations and adding s to it. Royals = RS? Associations = AS?? Nothing anyone will say will convince me it’s anything other than wrong

41. Tony Benn’s son Hilary is a member of the UK cabinet, as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. I assumed this was the BENN, along with the boxer of course. A fun puzzle. A few clues were quite chewy, but very fair. Agree that easier for UK solvers. With thanks to Qaos and loonalick.

42. [FrankieG @19: I recall that the Magpie theme ended with “8’s a wish, 9’s a kiss, 10 is a bird you must not miss”, but I can’t back that up.]

43. B@40 you’re right – I was multi-tasking and ended up saying the exact opposite of what I meant!

44. [The creator of MISTER BENN, David McKee, lived a few streets away from me in Putney, in Festing Road, which morphed into Festive Road, MB’s address. He passed away in France in 2022, aged 87.

    TheGreatArturo @42: yes that’s correct. I was singing it to myself this morning 🙂 ]

45. poc @39: Nigel BENN was world champion in two separate weight divisions, middleweight and super middleweight from 1987 to 1996.

46. Bingy@40 – I don’t disagree that clubs = CS was weak, but it is possible to get it via the slightly torturous route of assuming C = not “clubs” as in playing cards, but “club” as in MCC – Marylebone Cricket Club. so you can pluralise it, although it’s ungainly as hell.

47. I finished it without spotting a theme. But then, I didn’t look for one. I remember all the TV shows, though, from when my eldest daughter was little.

48. Thank you FrankieG@18 for the link about Jam TOMORROW. Brilliant definition.
    I’m in the wrong country and the wrong age to have got the theme, but still enjoyed the clues. Fun puzzle, great blog.
    Favourites included TOMORROW, SOJOURNERS, GRANGE, PEOPLE, CICERO.
    Thanks Qaos and loonapick.

49. I didn’t like CS = clubs, abbreviations tend to pass me by at the best of times. I’m another one who had never heard DIS = hell before, so I’m glad the question was asked (and equally to the point, answered) further up the thread.

    Kicking myself slightly as I didn’t get BENN and, unlike the assertion made in that unpleasant comment over there, I’d say it was within my solving power/GK to get it regardless of the theme. What’s the link between jam = TOMORROW? I filled it in so it must ring a bell for me somehow.

    A good solve, anyway.

50. Oh I’ve just seen SueM48’s post above mine referring to an earlier link re jam = TOMORROW. All good.

51. Very enjoyable today. MISTER BENN passed me by as a child, either before or after my time presumably, so once I’d spotted the theme (post-completion, not a word of a lie – fan of both MPs and boxer) I wondered whether 24d (clue) and 24a (solution) were referring obliquely to the flowerpot men. To TimC@4, maybe not, but a poorly-judged early evening TV comedy series from Frank Muir and Dennis Norden came close. To Redrodney@9, Dante’s Divine Comedy, I think.

52. You do see the C, D, H plus NT (for clubs, diamonds, hearts and No Trumps) – in bridge commentary – and in that sense it’s covered in Chambers under the second list for c. d for diamonds under the second d, and hearts under H, having just bothered to check. (Interestingly, I couldn’t find S for spades, but I’ve never seen that in a crossword)

53. I missed the theme, but maybe in a sense it missed me. I knew Paddington, but not from TV. When I was a youngster, the offerings were Andy Pandy, the Flower Pot Men, Rag Tag and Bobtail, and the Woodentops, each on a different day (don’t remember the fifth).

54. I too was not that keen on Ivor the Engine, but having been forced to learn the bassoon it did mean I could tell aunts and great aunts what it sounded like: one of the few known bassoon pieces

55. Much fun here and not too demanding. The theme soon emerged though I didn’t spot all of them – not my generation alas, for us it was Crackerjack, Blue Peter, Sooty, The Lone Ranger, Lenny the Lion, etc. etc. But most of the themers were familiar.

    I don’t have a problem with repetitions so using ‘first’ for ‘I’ twice doesn’t bother me – but with IVORY TOWER I feel we ought not to go on using ‘queen’ for ER. After all the lady in question hasn’t been queen for nearly two years now. If anything it should be CR for ‘Camilla’.

    ENTICE – does this amount to an indirect anagram, since the fodder TEN isn’t in the clue?

    Likes for SOJOURNING (very topical, considering the weather they’ve been having!), MAGPIE, MISTER, SCHOOL, TOMORROW, SADIST.

    [Re TOMORROW, is anyone else familiar with the supposed basis for Lewis Carroll’s quote “Jam tomorrow and jam yesterday, but never jam today”? According to Martin Gardner, it’s because the Latin word JAM or IAM (‘now’) should never be used with the present tense, only past and future. Having forgotten all my school Latin, I don’t know if that’s correct, I have to take his word for it…]

    Thanks to Qaos and Loonapick.

56. That was chewy. I completely missed the theme until loonapick pointed it out, although all of the show’s names (if not the shows) are familiar. One of these days I will remember to look for a theme with Qaos.

    DIS came up quite recently, I think, so I was happy to recall it. 1D defeated me, the other definition of FLY being new to me.

57. Not sure what the fuss about “clubs = CS” is.

    First and last letters of clubs. Not abbreviations at all in any meaningful sense..

58. Dr.W@53: according to a vintage copy of the Radio Times, the fifth was something called Picture Book. I have to admit that, although I’m of that generation too, I’m none the wiser – though I remember the other four. 🙂

59. B@57 or just lift & separate (sorry Roz) the club and the s to get C S

60. Laccaria@55 I’ve forgotten my school Latin too but that sounds completely plausible. Reminds me of our master who, when we committed the crime of using “dico … non” instead of “nego” in a sentence, would have us standing up chanting ”We are the dico non boys; we need our heads exam-in-ing!” He no doubt also explained that ‘examining’ in that sentence is a gerund or a gerundive, but I can’t remember which.

61. Well, I completed the puzzle and I looked for a theme (it’s Qaos!) but I’ve never heard of any of the shows (along with a lot of folks on this blog), so I must be lying. I’ve never heard of the golfing German or the boxing Benn either.

    But it was a fun puzzle. Thanks, Qaos and loonapick.

62. I do actually remember watching The Tomorrow People and rather enjoyed it – though I would have been very young at the time.
    I didn’t spot the theme until after getting PADDINGTON, and MISTER BENN (I now have the latter’s utterly delightful theme tune running around in my head!).
    Oliver Postgate was my landlord at University – so having both CLANGERS and IVOR the ENGINE in this crossword really made my day.
    (We lucky four students lived in the cottage next to Oliver’s house, and the original Pogles’ Wood was on the far side of the field behind us; when Oliver and his wife were having their bathroom decorated, various Clangers came and stayed on our bathroom window for a while – it was a real wrench giving them back afterwards!)
    Thanks to loonapick for the blog – and a warm and heartfelt Psshh-ti-koff to Qaos!

63. Jam for tea (tomorrow?)
    I’m reminded of the doggerel we bandied around – there were different versions:

    Caesar adsum jam forte
    Passus sum sed Antoni…
    (I can’t remember the rest of this one)

    Caesar adsum jam forte
    Brutus aderat
    Caesar sic in omnibus
    Brutus sic in at

64. Many thanks for the story, Wellbeck – I always really loved the CLANGERS!

65. [For me, Eileen, The Clangers and Bagpuss are joint favourites (the closing anno to Bagpuss still makes me teary-eyed) – with Noggin The Nog as honourable runner-up.]

66. Describing Cicero as a senator is a bit like saying Churchill was an M.P.
    Too old for anything in the theme, so another alleged liar. I had clinker for clanger, but I suppose that’s just a musical mistake.

67. Too late to add much today. No theme for me, of course, although I’m old enough to remember all of the programmes referenced.

    Sorry to be somewhat negative, but I didn’t enjoy this as much as I usually do when Qaos is serving. There seemed to be fewer clues that sparkled (and the quibbles already mentioned were niggling). It wasn’t without enjoyment though – DESIGNER and TOMORROW stood out for me.

    Laccaria @58: I do remember Picture Book, but it was replaced in the Monday slot in 1966 by Camberwick Green and then Pogles Wood – this may be why it doesn’t come to mind so readily.

    Thanks to S&B

68. Frankie G@18 &SueM@48 Have I misunderstood something? Horace Ode IX ‘nec iam sustineant onus silvae laborantes’.

69. Surely LADIES’ MAN must always refer like that to plural women? A LADY’S MAN suggests the opposite – the uxorious companion of one woman. I’ve never seen it written LADY’S.

70. Perhaps one specific meaning of the word?

71. Eileen @63, you might already know this, in similar vein…

    Un petit d’un petit
    S’Étonnent aux Halles
    Un petit d’un petit
    Ah! degrés te fallent

    Indolent qui ne sort cesse
    Indolent qui ne se mène
    Qu’importe un petit d’un petit
    Tout Gai de Reguennes

72. Crossbencher @69: I agree that LADIES’ MAN is the proper form

73. Can I take the opportunity of this theme once more to recommend that everyone watches the film of the century (so far), Paddington 2?

74. Struggled through about three quarters, didn’t get the theme although I’m the right age to. Have got a little black book for references like hell could be ist and test could be mot.
    Not enough of a 20a to need a little black book for anything else,

75. Zoot@68: I had CLINKERS too (after trying “Blunders”)–if not for “German” it might do, as “linker” for golfer is perhaps no more strained than some of the old chestnuts! That and BENN were two where the GK stumped me (I’ve heard of Tony and vaguely knew he had a son, but not of the boxers). Also not au courant with the theme which would’ve resolved them.

    Fun puzzle still, though, like many I especially enjoyed GRANGE. Thanks Qaos and loonapick!

76. I didn’t see the theme until I came on here despite being very familiar with all the programmes. I’m just very dense, not dishonest. Top left detained me for some time as neither angling nor golf are strong suits. Favourites today were SOJOURNING (lovely word) and SCHOOL (for the taps).

77. Not allowed to watch Magpie because it was on “commercial” tv. Have searched the grid for Blue Peter, in vain!

78. British children’s TV is a theme I had no chance of spotting. (I wonder why children’s TV doesn’t cross the Atlantic, in either direction, the way that comparable adult-oriented programs do.) But fortunately, this is Qaos, and you don’t need the theme to solve the puzzle. You did need other cultural references I didn’t have, though–German golfers and two (apparently actually four!) people named BENN that I hadn’t heard of.

79. Joffee @77
    I was about to respond that Blue Peter was there, but I realised it was in a different crossword!

80. Thanks Qaos. I had no chance with the theme because I never heard of any of the shows and I had no chance to solve BENN knowing neither person but otherwise I liked this with PADDINGTON, SANDHILL, GRANGE, and INVITE being my favourites. Thanks loonapick for the blog.

81. mrpenney @ 78 Sesame Street and The Muppet Show successfully crossed the Atlantic eastbound.

    Also The Partridge Family.

    I suppose the definition depends on where you draw the line between children’s and teens’.

82. [Wellbeck @62. I know the student house you mention, although I cannot for the moment remember its name. I knew a generation of students who lived there in the early 1980s. I don’t know whether you were before or after that time.]

83. mrpenney @78

    https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/jul/19/peppa-pig-american-kids-british-accents

84. Eventually finished after I saw the theme, which led to me solving ‘Play’ (which I think was otherwise a weak clue). This emboldened me to enter ‘only’.
    Despite my reservations, I enjoyed the puzzle.

85. GC @ 84

    A play is a show, natch, and how about “Look at the sunlight dance / play on the water”?

86. [Spooner@82: it was called Red Lion Cottage, just at the foot of Honey Hill – and Oliver’s home next door was called Red Lion House.
    I must have just missed your friends, for I was there end of 70s to beg of 80s.]

87. Simon S @85 – exactly the same image occurred to me!

    [I’ve just been watching the tennis!!]

88. This one took me ages to complete but I am glad I eventually did so. LOI ENGINE.Thanks Qaos and loonapick. Somebody help here in this Paul stinker.
    Netting in good shape, fail to catch odd fish(7) .i.f…
    Rock cakes get hard, each initially intact (8) ..g.t…

89. I is OK for first, isn’t it, as in Charles I and Elizabeth I?

90. Thanks loonapick as I had erroneously thought the end of CICERO came from 0 = love = EROS with somehow S being the unknown (it can be, of course, but not usually so in a crossword). Enjoyed a trip down memory lane like many others, I was too young for the TOMORROW PEOPLE but heard good things about it subsequently so interesting that it gets mixed reviews above. I am old enough to remember when Benn, Watson and Eubank (and then Steve Collins) were all big names in the middleishweight ring, and thank goodness Germany hasn’t produced a similar number of big name golfers! Thanks Qaos as this was quite a challenge and I needed the theme.

91. Ebbcourt@89 yes, I think it’s the repetition that is being questioned by loonapick.
    [Ong’ara@89, if i am in pretty good shape i am pretty xxx, and if i fail to catch a bus i xxxx it, now do what “netting” is telling you to do – does that help?]

92. [mrpenney@78: I feel like with streaming etc., some children’s programming crosses the Atlantic now, at least I’ve certainly been exposed to Fireman Sam and Postman Pat–though Fireman Sam eventually wound up with a horrible American-accented dub. It had to cross the Pacific rather than the Atlantic but Bluey is ubiquitous now.]

93. Thanks Gazzh, MISFITS, I am waiting for the other answer.

94. OiK@88

    TOR (“rock”) cakes GET + H(ard) E(ach) [initially] so TOGETHER

95. [Baggins@71 – I have the book, Mots d’Heures, Gousses, Rames by Luis d’Antin van Rooten – from which that quote comes 🙂

    Here is another gem from the book:
    “Et qui rit des curés d’Oc?
    De Meuse raines, houp! de cloques;
    De quelles loques ce turque ‘coin’,
    Et ne d’ânes ni rennes,
    Ecuries des curés d’Oc.”]

96. [Does anyone remember the French waltz king, Charles Louis d’Ince?]

97. [Here’s the Magpie Theme I remember – cutting out after 7.
    And here‘s the one I don’t remember – continuing on to 10. (Maybe it’s the closing credits, that I never hung around for.)]
    Thanks Q&L

98. Simón S@81: actually The Muppet Show crossed the Atlantic westward. The original was produced for ATV in the 1970s after several US stations had turned it down, which explains the preponderance of British guest stars.

99. [Here’s the Magpie Theme I remember – cutting out after 7…

100. …and here‘s the one I don’t remember – continuing on to 10. (Maybe it’s the closing credits, that I never hung around for.)]

101. Zoot@96 😀

102. Laccaria @95, thanks for that. They have their own parsing challenge!

103. Surprised no-one has commented yet on how weak a definition “Mr” is for 22ac.

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