Guardian 29,465 – Dynamo

84 comments on “Guardian 29,465 – Dynamo”

1. Very smooth, just the thing for a Monday morning, if over a little too quickly…

2. Gentle and nice puzzle. Crisp and neat blog.
   Thanks Dynamo and Andrew!
   Welcome to Dynamo!

   A minor typo:
   OWING
   I in NOW*+G

3. Hi Andrew. I think for 25 it’s City coach = PEP (Guardiola) rather than PEP = Coach. Otherwise what is City doing? Ta for the blog and What Ho Dynamo!

4. That was a lovely Quiptic-ish crossword – with good clear cluing.

   I agree with Crispy @3

   Thank you to Andrew and Dynamo.

5. A gentle Monday puzzle.
   A couple of things missed in the blog, probably in the rush to get it out.
   PEPPERONI: I think PEP = PEP Guardiola, Manchester City coach. Pep = coach does not account for City. As a non UK solver, I needed to guess and check this GK
   NIGHTCLUBS: NIGHT, Anagram (wild) of *thing plus CLUBS, synonym of hits.
   Thanks Dynamo and Andrew

   I see Crispy@3 has already said what I did about Pepperoni.

6. [3d NIGHTCLUBS – THING* + CLUBS (hits)]

7. I would hope there would be no complaints from those who want an easy start to their week. I don’t think I have ever whizzed through a G so quickly. Very gentle indeed. Thanks both.

8. …I see SueM48@3 has already said what I did about NIGHTCLUBS.

9. {13d CASABLANCA – CAS[t] ABL[e] AN[d] CA[n]}
   [typo@8 SueM48@5]

10. Agree about the City coach because I had to look him up: I’d guess he’s sufficiently famous outside the UK if you’re into football (which I’m not). I liked CASABLANCA (and the film isn’t ET for once) NIGHTCLUBS and SCAR-LET, and I bet we haven’t seen the last of the STARMER/ARMREST anagram. Thanks Dynamo.

11. I’ve found that the last few times Vulcan has seemed to be getting more difficult than he used to be. Dynamo (nice spot about Monday Andrew) could be an easier alter ego and this was a very pleasant solve that lasted my mid-morning coffee with some very neat clues.

12. Lovely Monday crossword. Thanks Dynamo and Andrew.

    As mentioned above, I think the Setter could easily have tweaked this to make it more challenging but decided to leave in all the hints. I think 28a is the first of the clues which would work without the cryptic element – the rest are great synonyms / examples etc

    Casablanca was a lovely clue.

13. Thought this was just lovely. Not difficult, but a delight.

    I now fear for what the rest of the week might have in store.

14. Welcome, Dynamo. I look forward to welcoming new setter, A. A. Sturdy, to the prize slot.

15. The irony is that by changing Monday we revert to the tradition of a gentle Monday. I liked CASABLANCA and BATTALIONS.

16. Smoothly done. I liked CASABLANCA, MISHANDLE and CHEW THE FAT. PEP will be a happy bunny this morning.

    Ta Dynamo & Andrew.

17. Enjoyable puzzle. I think this is the first puzzle by Dynamo that I have seen. Welcome!

    I couldn’t parse 14ac – oh that is clever and amusing!

    Like gladys@10 I agree about the City coach because I had to look him up – have vaguely heard of him but did not know what team he coaches.

    Thanks, both.

18. Welcome, Dynamo. If I were a new setter, I’d certainly be looking here to see how my puzzle had been received. That was a lovely and enjoyable Monday puzzle. Everything was precisely (if, at times for me, a little obviously) clued. CASABLANCA and NIGHTCLUB were great, and I liked the concealment of MISHANDLE.

    I’m looking forward to seeing more from Dynamo. Thanks for a nice start to the week and to Andrew for the blog.

19. I agree that this was a traditional “Monday puzzle”, with some quite clever, but not too obscure, stuff thrown in. Particularly liked MISHANDLE and ACERBIC.
    PEPPERONI is neat, and it’s good that someone has come up with it before Citeh get docked 75 points or so and Guardiola goes off to manage Ipswich.
    Thanks and welcome to Dynamo, and thanks to Andrew.

20. I agree with Lechien @18
    .
    STOIC was neatly hidden, too and I thought CHAT and CODE were little gems.
    I’m delighted to see that Dynamo cares about surfaces. 😉

    Thanks to setter and blogger.

21. With Sue@5 and gladys @10. re Pep, the (Manchester) City coach which I also had to take a stab at and look up to confirm. But no complaints. I really like DYNAMO’s style and versatility in clue types.
    Yes, as Matthew N says@12, 28a SIGNALMAN hardly needs the cryptic element, neither did 23d, the SHEENs, père et fils. But I don’t want to be picky about a couple of clues in a crossword that I enjoyed. It is Monday, but I didn’t feel it was dumbed down. Ticks for NEOLOGISM, CHAT, MISHANDLE, STOIC, NIGHTCLUBS, DIPSO,

22. This was indeed gentle, but with such economical and delightful clues there are certainly no complaints from me. Too many favourites to name them all, but MISHANDLE was a great hidden, and CODE was lovely and neat.

    I was pondering over whether 2d should have said “former queen” for ER, and on reflection I don’t think so. After all we often have gangster = AL, revolutionary = CHE, general = LEE and so on, without feeling the need to specify that those individuals are no longer current.

    Many thanks Dynamo and Andrew.

23. HURRAH!! A crossword that is completely do-able by those of us who are not experts. (I can’t remember when I last completed one by myself – my wife usually finishes them after I get about half done.)
    Welcome Dynamo – and can I express the hope that Monday’s puzzle remains at this level whoever is the setter.

24. Thanks Dynamo and Andrew
    Very nice. Worth the entry fee for the hidden MISHANDLE alone – it took me too long to see it!

25. Ideal Monday puzzle – straightforward but stylish. I echo Lord Jim’s choice @22 but there are many good clues here.

    Thanks to Dynamo and Andrew

26. After this gentle start, I’m sure the week will become trickier.
    Ticks from me for ACERBIC, CASABLANCA, NEOLOGISM, SHRINKAGE, MISHANDLE.
    Thanks D&A

27. I disagree with Lechien @18 – if I were a new Monday setter this is the last place I would come for feedback. The Monday puzzle has traditionally been the safe haven for those who buy the newspaper and like to give the crossword a go after finishing their read. This is how I started, without an ambition to become an expert solver but just to maximise the enjoyment derived from my (now) £3. This community of dabblers don’t appear to be regular contributors to this site, in contrast to the contribution made towards financing the activity.

28. Excellent, nice and gentle but everything raised a smile and I was particularly taken by CASABLANCA which was a fine use of a device I’d otherwise not seen before. ACERBIC also put a big grin on my face.

    (In the blog, Andrew, you’ve missed out the AN[d] part of the Casablanca explanation) (Edit: I see this was already mentioned @9, apologies!) – thanks for helping me work out the parsing of the last few! And thanks Dynamo.

29. How would you know Van Winkle @27. Pffft

30. I think that might be my first completed cryptic. Checked a few early on but probably would have managed without and parsed everything. Thanks Dynamo, one happy novice here.

31. On 21d I think the bagel is what you get when you lose a set of tennis 6-0.
    Thanks to both

32. Good Monday stuff. I don’t do online puzzles so don’t care if it’s a bit Quipticish. Everyman’s been a bit harder recently so swings and roundabouts etc
    Thanks both

33. Thanks for the blog, perfect puzzle for the Monday slot and it would be nice to have two at this level every week.
    Good to see some pleased comments from newer solvers and hoping for many more.

34. A nicely constructed puzzle that would have made an ideal Quiptic, but I have absolutely no objection to a more accessible puzzle appearing occasionally in the Cryptic slot for those Grauniad readers who do not solve online.

35. A very likeable puzzle and one I will recommend to some friends who are wanting to get into the more accessible Guardian puzzles. I really liked 1a SHRINKAGE! Thanks to DYNAMO on a MONDAY and Andrew. Thanks also to BaldyB@31 for the bagel explanation for 21d DIPSO which I hadn’t parsed in full.
    [I try so hard to be positive whenever I come here, but I have to say I am offended by the term Van Winkle @27 used so dismissively, “dabblers”, and the incorrect assumption that people like me don’t pay a subscription to support the Guardian for their provision of the crosswords online to those who can’t (or don’t) access the print version.]

36. Thoroughly enjoyed this one. I solved most of it via the wordplay, rather than the definition, which is always the most pleasurable way.

37. Yes, it makes a pleasant change to be able to do the crossword in a few minutes and not have it take up whole chunks of the day, or even intrude on my sleep. MISHANDLE was cleverly hidden, and what a refreshing change to have ‘illegal drug’ cluing the fully named ECSTASY rather than just an E.

    Well said, Julie@35, both about the “dabblers” and about supporting the Guardian online. I’m glad to hear that you do, and I hope others do too.

    Thanks to Dynamo and Andrew.

38. My interpretation of Van Winkle . By dabblers I think he meant people who just buy the paper and look at the crossword and never go online or use this site. I was in that community for many years and I will return when this site introduces registration.

39. Well said Julie in Oz @ 35 & Tim C@28 for the gentle expletive. VW seems to have chosen the wrong side of the bed this morning.
    A fine puzzle today – just right for Monday. Some very neat hideaways.
    Thanks to Dynamo and Andrew

40. Roz@38. Yes, but “dabblers” is an unnecessarily derogatory word to have used, I reckon. It implies a lack of seriousness and commitment, whereas those who buy the newspaper every day are making a serious contribution.

    And how does Van Winkle know that they don’t come here? You do, and so do I.

41. I do not find the term offensive at all , I was a dabbler for many years and VW is including himself in the term. He is simply saying this community of dabblers do not generally comment on here ( a few do) but they do support the Guardian . He is not implying that “online” people do not contribute financially .

42. I think his use of “this community” has caused a misunderstanding. He does not mean the community of this site. It is the community of paper buyers who dabble in the crossword and rarely comment on here.

43. I see no reason to object to ‘dabblers’. It’s surely fair enough to point up an informal ladder of progress/decline from tenderfoot to obsessive, and ‘dabblers’ is kinder than other words that might be used – beginners, the non-serious, mere mortals. It’s much too easy to take offence online, when one tends to take things a bit too seriously, not being able to see the friendly twinkle that may be in the author’s eye. Can’t we please lighten up. The world is cross enough.
    Oh, and I only got MISHANDLE when I had ALL the crossers, and only saw it was a hidden word when I came to this blog. There is a bit of dabbler in us all.

44. Just 2 2dn: A great Monday puzzle perfect for people like me – a beginner, buys the paper edition, hopes for at least one accessible puzzle a week and a Manchester City supporter! Will put a spring in my step for the rest of the week. Welcome Dynamo – hope to see more of you. Lovely elegant cluing.
    (I assume @19 is a Man U fan)

45. Yes I reread it Roz and your interpretation seems correct.

46. But why is this site the last plac a new setter should come to for feedback?

47. Thank you AlanC as always . Grant I think VW simply means that most solvers of a Monday puzzle will never comment on here , we get a very false impression on this site.
    I am the unofficial crossword hub at work , there are many dabblers who would never go online to do crosswords or talk about them. I get everything from the Metro to the Listener and I will help people as long as they show it to me on PAPER .

48. .. the last place ..

49. Thanks both. A very gentle solve. 17 and 22 were my favourites. Every Guardian cryptic seems to have some reference to illegal drugs. Today’s was 5d. Perhaps the home lives of setters are more exciting than I imagine.

50. Tyro @44 – There is life outside Manchester, even though the (Manchester) Guardian sports section often ignores the fact. A Villa fan is entitled to loathe Citeh, too 😉

51. I agree with Eileen @20 and Lechien @18. If I had never tried doing a crossword before and this was my first attempt, I would have become instantly hooked. There were some very pleasing surfaces – especially for ACERBIC and GLAMOUR – and a host of satisfying solves.
    Far too many to list them all, but FREE, CODE and CHAT were little beauties, MISHANDLE and STOIC were well-hidden and CASABLANCA made me grin. (Hooray – a film that wasn’t ET or Jaws!)
    It even included one of the half-dozen things I know about football. (My partner supports Man City.)
    So, thanks Andrew for the blog – and a warm welcome to Dynamo: I do hope our paths cross often in the future.

52. Roz @47 – spot on summary of my position as a proud dabbler of 30 years and more. And all my friends and colleagues who do the Guardian crossword are dabblers too. Quite happy not to finish a puzzle, disappointed but accepting if occasionally we turn up a blank, but appreciative of some predictable approachability. I hold by my view that the setter is unlikely to get much feedback from this site from the intended audience.

    If this crossword was an attempt to return us to the Rufusian Monday traditions, it was a very welcome one. Just missing a couple of excruciating cryptic definitions.

53. Just came to say that I thought CASABLANCA was a gem of a clue

54. My very last point , promise . I am not in work this week but if I went in tomorrow I am sure there would quite a few dabblers very pleased to have finished this puzzle and telling me how good it was . The setter will never hear these comments which I think is the main point of VW @27.

    As well as Rufus we used to have Custos, Janus , Quantum , Mercury etc and usually a second puzzle each week of this standard .

55. A perfect Monday crossword for us. I am happy to be known as a dabbled. Thanks to Dynamo and Andrew

56. This was so much fun and I hope we see more of this setter. All the clues were my favourites and just in case anyone cares, I pay an annual subscription to read the Guardian on line. Thanks Dynamo and Andrew

57. 🙂Tyro@44 You don’t have to be a Man U fan to hope that City get their comeuppance.

58. Completely off topic, but is there a way to put letters in the grid while in anagram helper? Or even better, save the anagram to come back to later? And if not, could someone suggest it to the xword webmaster? Thanks

59. Very late in solving this as I usually prioritize the FT’s crossword and rarely have time for others. My interest was piqued, however, by the setter’s name and I was astonished to whip through it so quickly.
    I’ll add my voice to the appreciative throng and
    I’m unashamed to admit that, here at least, I’m a dabbler.

60. Welcome Dynamo and thanks for a thoroughly enjoyable crossword.
    Not tricky, but beautifully clued.

61. Adding my voice to the chorus–I guess I’m an experienced solver now and this was very smooth for me, but very elegant and smoothly clued. As was remarked a little while ago, Mondayish puzzles can be much more challenging for the setter than curate’s eggs, and I’d guess that’s especially true with so little reliance on DD/CDs, so very well done Dynamo! Particularly liked MISHANDLE and BATTALIONS, and the other day I was thinking that it’d be refreshing to see the drug as ECSTASY for once and here it is! Thanks Dynamo and Andrew.

    @58: Agreed! I’ve often wished for that!

    [1ac reminds me that the Freud Museum in Hampstead which I visited when I was in the UK in June, has a very nice cat who hangs out on the outside bench. The museum workers said it is one of the neighbors’ and they don’t know its real name but they call it Ziggy.]

62. DotInFrance @58
    I’ve never used the Guardian’s anagram helper – I use this one – but I was curious and had a look. I can’t even work out how to enter letters into it! How does it work?

63. Dotinfrance @58 As far as I know you have to return to the crossword to enter letters. When solving on the website I use my smartphone and the autocomplete helpfully records the anagram so I can re-enter it by entering usually 3-4 letters after which my phone gives the complete “word”. Some phones may behave differently.

64. I am a newer solver (8 months in and fear it will be a long road to crossword solving maturity) and really enjoyed this. Thank you Dynamo, and Andrew for the parsing check. It’s so nice to have clarity about which parts of the clue to do what with. I seem to spend inordinate amounts of time trying to work out anagrams of the wrong words, choosing the wrong regular letters and so on. So three quiptic type puzzle days in a row is very pleasing.

65. Thanks both and a warm welcome for Dynamo.

    This scored 2 (nearly a 3) on my new scale: it gave an amount of entertainment but was over too quickly – (it’s all very subjective of course). I think there is a general feeling of appreciation for the surface work. COD was MISHANDLE which was beautifully hidden.

    muffin@62: I’ve never been able to get any good of the ‘Anagram Helper’ button and am glad to know it’s not just me (which I assumed it was).

66. Muffin @62 I looked up your link and for me your Anagram Solver is a bit of a cheat – it gives answers!! The Guardian one just shuffles the letters. I simply highlight the clue and type in the letters. But for a 15 letter anagram when I think “Hmm, I’ll come back to that” it’s annoying to have to start again. Neither my phone nor my pad record the screen..So can someone ask someone who knows for an improvement please?

67. What PostMark @7 said. I’ll add a list of favourites: the nicely hidden MISHANDLE, CODE, ARMREST, CHAT, and RELY. Thanks to both.

68. [A spectacular (super)Moonset tomorrow around 06.30 BST , in the UK. You need a Western horizon, the sea is best , swimming in the sea to view it is even better . ]

69. Quick Monday solve, but well-clued and with nice surfaces. Thanks!

70. Thanks for the many comments, and apologies for the errors. As some surmised, this was due to me being in a hurry to get the blog posted, and I don’t think anyone was too confused.

71. I enjoyed reading VW’s comment at 27 and the lively discussion that it generated. That’s one of the things I like about this site – people disagree and aren’t shy about expressing their opinions, but always cogently and in the spirit of friendship. How rare these days.

    I second Eileen@20’s praise of Dynamo’s attention to the surfaces of the clues. 13d CASABLANCA, my favourite, is a fine example of a clever construction and a great surface.

    Thanks Dynamo for the Monday merriment, and Andrew for the Wander-fully well done blog.

72. My daughter has just shown me her first completed cryptic crossword – this one!

73. muffin@72, Hurray, another recruit! Onwards and upwards – we need replacements for old farts like me.

74. Ridiculously simple!
    Just not good enough for the Guardian.
    No more at this level please !

75. echoing closely muffin@72: My son has just shown me his first completed cryptic crossword – this one! For both offspring, this may be the gateway to a career of happy solving. We can surely do without supercilious comments like those of Paul the Plumber @74. It’s not as if many crosswords as solver-friendly as this of Dynamo appear, and then only on Monday. It can only be good if these encourage the entry of newcomers, or does PtP prefer to keep it a closed shop? If so, we have to agree to disagree.

76. Thank you for this crossword and the answers/explanations.

    I managed 2/3 of this before having to give in, but it felt more “comfortable” for me; I felt as though I had a chance.

    I’m embarrassed to say I failed to solve 6/10/12/28a and 3/7/13/14/21/24d.

77. That’s my level of difficulty

78. Steffen @76 – looking at the things you didn’t get, mostly they are things that haven’t been covered in the Quick Cryptic crosswords, so far anyway. (I read your comment and thought, I hope he got CHAT, because we’ve covered that). We haven’t had the RE (it means with reference to, on, and any other version the setter can dream up) tricks yet – which is what was used in FREE. CASABLANCA was a new trick to most solvers.

    The blog isn’t right for NIGHTCLUBS (it’s an anagram of THING to get NIGHT, then hits = CLUBS) – which is a two stage puzzle as is SIGNALMAN – they are both an anagram then a charade. The bagel in DIPSO is a tennis term, meaning a set was won 6-0 – and you’d have to know DIPSO, short for dipsomaniac meaning a drunk. EIDER for duck is a regular – and they are amazing if you’ve never seen (or heard) them.

    If you look at the comments, lots of people saw MISHANDLE last of all, it was very well hidden – my last one in too.

79. You can always RELY on some CHEEP (sic) ACERBIC NOISE from some PRETENDER. Join the fun…

80. We used to get two a week at this level and they have been missing for quite a while, even Vulcan is a step up . They are perfect for newer solvers , note the comments for this including various sprogs . I hope this becomes a regular feature and just maybe two actual hard puzzles each week ??

81. @78 Shanne thank you.

    I had CHEAP (6a), FINE (12a), CRIMSON (14a).

    24d – I was trying to force ‘lb’ into the answer.

    I could go on…

82. Steffen @81, those aren’t bad errors – sound alike pair at 6a, CHEAP/CHEEP, we all get the wrong one sometimes, in instead of re in Fe for 12a. 14a, definition is right, wordplay didn’t parse – let here is like the y or ISH endings. 24d giving away is a subtraction indicator.

83. I’m late I know, but I just about managed to finish this, albeit with a couple of googles and dictionary lookups. LOI was RELY as I had mixed up pound in my head with pence and thought it could be abbreviated to D rather than L. A minor grumble from me for BAGEL=O, but other than that I found it all very fair. Favourite was PEPPERONI.

    Thanks Dynamo and Andrew.

84. Actually I’ve just checked and this is my first finish of a “proper” cryptic (all my other finishes have been Quiptics or Quick Cryptics)

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