Guardian Cryptic 29,473 by Brockwell

91 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 29,473 by Brockwell”

1. And The RELUCTANT DRAGON (1941 film or 1898 story)

2. IDRIS was the dragon from Ivor the Engine who lit his boiler.

3. Lots of fun – really enjoyed this, particularly SMAUG, KOMODO and CREAM PUFF. Very nice clueing. Many thanks to B & m.

4. Thanks Brockwell and manehi
   Even though I saw the theme for once, I didn’t enjoy this much. It was a DNF – I’ve never heard of KHURTA and was unable to construct it, and I had to use an anagram solver for DAENERYS (who she?). Several other question marks as well.
   I did enjoy constructing SLEEP ON.
   I wonder how many people remember Ron “Chopper” Harris, a feared Chelsea defender from the 60s?

5. In 13A manehi, it’s an anagram of both GETS and OGRE.

6. Ignore my comment@5, I misread the blog!

7. It’s very sexist, but a VIRAGO is the sort of lady who used to be described as a DRAGON.

8. TOOTHLESS DRAGON is in How to Train your Dragon. And aren’t there NORWEGIAN Blue dragons in Harry Potter (might be getting mixed up with Monty Python there)? Great fun – I got ST GEORGE before OGRE – just had to check it would be. Thanks, Brockwell and manehi.

9. @2 Idris was the name of the dragon in Ivor the Engine.
   And Idris is the Welsh word for dragon too.

10. Me@8: just checked – it is the Norwegian Ridgeback. The Norwegian Blue was (not any more!) a parrot.

11. A lot of fun, perfectly summed up by manehi. I loved the two footballer references, Peter Crouch as mentioned and Ron ‘Chopper’ Harris who was a notorious Chelsea right back, who never let his opponent past, either legally or not. Also tempted this morning by the CREAM PUFF and DANISH. Only quibble is DENSEST, which should be DENSE.

    Ta Brockwell & manehi.

12. ….DENSEST would be the most rather than extremely stupid surely.

13. For once a theme that didn’t drag on 🙂 Brockwell’s rapidly becoming on of my favourite setters. Loved CREAM PUFF, SILLY & REMOTELY for the sneaky definition

    Here’s IDRIS Elba with today’s earworm

    Cheers B&M

14. KOMODO led me to the solution of 1d and the dragon theme. Worked DAENERYS out with the help of a couple of crossers and the anagram and then Google to confirm, never having seen Game of Thrones. I also needed Google to confirm SMAUG despite reading The Hobbit fifty-odd years ago. I do concur with the general judgement here that this was an ingenious and fun puzzle from Brockwell. Thanks to him and to manehi for the blog.

15. Great fun. I had to construct ‘Daenerys’ and ‘Khurta’ from the wordplay, but I’m quite happy with that.

16. Nice themed crossword – with broad hint that the theme was important. Enjoyed finding all the dragons. Unfairly, I tend to roll my eyes at others claiming ignorance of pop culture references, but I had no idea who Daenerys was and the blog doesn’t make me any the wiser; time to Google

    I did spot Idris as the Dragon in Ivor the Engine – which I suppose shows my cultural level

    Thanks Brockwell and manehi

17. AlanC @12 this most=extremely thing seems to be popular with setters at the moment.
    I think the rationale is that if something is at the extreme then it is the most?

18. muffin @4: sorry I missed your reference to Chopper, but I obviously did in answer to your question 🙋‍♂️Did anyone else get a bit tied up with hornet for the insect before the pdm?
    bc @17: yes I tried to justify it that way but it just jarred with me. Thx.

19. A fairly obvious theme that helped with identifying the island as KOMODO: but never having been a fan of Game Of Thrones I couldn’t remember how to spell DANAERYS. Didn’t know KHURTA and didn’t get BEARDED at all. Many DOH moments from the sneaky wordplay: I liked the lift and separate for Hilary Mantel.

    Here’s a non-Hungarian HORNTAIL (or wood wasp) – an impressive insect that is far more harmless than it looks! That tail is not a sting, but used for laying eggs.

20. 16a – There’s a halitotic DRAGON in Sesame Street‘s Prince Elmo The Musical singing DRAGON Breath, with a voice like Johnny Cash. “Who’da Thunk?”

21. Here be dragons, indeed. With my first two in being DRAGON and DAENERYS, I feared we were in for a Game of Thrones theme. There are lots of odd names in there. But it was, fortunately, not to be. I agree with gladys @7 that VIRAGO is probably intended as a themer and dragon is listed by Chambers as a synonym.

    Very nice as ever with SILLY, KOMODO, SMAUG, FLYING, REMOTELY and SLEEP ON being my faves.

    Thanks Brockwell and manehi

22. (Me@19: I see I still can’t remember how to spell the Game of Thrones lady correctly!)

23. AlanC at @18 – yes, I went down the path of the hornet too.

24. AlanC @18: you were not the only one to be lured by hornet. And bodycheetah beat me to a reply re DENSEST. I am sure this debate has occurred here before and, yes, it is the ‘extremely’ implies ‘the most’ argument that appears to provide justification.

25. I really enjoyed this, particularly the theme. Had to reveal the last few – couldn’t get virago or magic and have never heard of the golfer or the footballers . To my shame I failed on Daenerys, even though I liked GoT and the answer was so obvious. I found it difficult in an enjoyably challenging rather than a head banging way though. If I was the crossword queen I’d ban all references to sporting terms and heroes and have more dragons. Just as well I’m not I think!

26. Me too AlanC@18, Rog@23, and PostMark@24. I didn’t know HORNTAIL but it seems we were very close.

    The giant horntail is a black-and-yellow-banded insect that looks like a large wasp, so may be confused with the hornet or hornet robberfly. The female has a long ovipositor at the end of her body, which looks like a stinger.

27. [AlanC@18, Rog@23, and PostMark@24 – Me too with HORNets (Watford) for 22a
    30a TOOTHLESS – Remember the Leeds equivalent of Chelsea’s “Chopper”?: Norman “bites your legs” Hunter]

28. Muffin @ 4 Re Daenerys. I sympathise with not knowing who Daenerys is – I do and still failed to get the clue. I have absolutely no idea who the golfer or the footballers were and am completely bamboozled by almost all clues about sport. We all have different pools of general knowledge and I appreciate it when setters diversify.

29. Echoing others regarding DENSEST – gettable enough but ‘the most’ or wording more to that effect would sit better with me. Also, I see I’m (perhaps unsurprisingly) in company regarding KHURTA and DAENERYS, and spent a few minutes trying to make HORSEFLY fit in 22.

    Not my wavelength in a lot of respects, which meant leaning on Word Wizard for help with a handful of clues, but still good fun.

30. Never felt totally in control with this, even with me wondering why the PUFF part of the pastry at 7ac should be so for my foi. Until I solved DRAGON and then MAGIC. The 3 letter tiddlers all helped in their own way, but the theme still rather passed me by. Though once I’d sorted out the anagram for DAENERYS I did look her up. Struggled to see exactly how HORNTAIL worked and least impressed by SNAP. But nevertheless some excellent clues. My last brush strokes saw INGRES in to complete the picture this morning…

31. I might not have got 21 if Ernie Els hadn’t appeared in at least two recent crosswords.
    I was pleased to spot the theme about halfway through, and surprised myself by spotting that Idris was in Ivor the Engine. Although I’ve seen a few episodes, its not a cartoon I was particularly into.
    Khurta is new to me, and was my last clue after I discovered that Kydita and Kneata are not in fact types of shirt.

32. Also on the theme, the National Gallery has a classic Ingres painting, Angelica saved by Ruggiero, in which the knight is seen lancing a sea monster with distinctly dragon-like qualities.

    Lots of clever cluing here of the “I don’t understand a word of that…[ten minutes later]…oh I see” variety. Challenging, but fun and many excellent surfaces – thanks Brockwell, and manehi.

33. DEN is there too.

34. Halfway through I saw the theme of dragons which was very enjoyable.

    New for me: HORNTAIL = a large sawfly resembling a wasp. The only horntail I knew of was the Hungarian Horntail dragon from Harry Potter books which would fit with this puzzle’s theme 😉

    Favourites: SNAP, KOMODO, TOOTHLESS (loi).

    I could not parse 8ac.

    Thanks, both.

35. Who’d have thought there were so many dragons? So cleverly put together in a fun puzzle by one of my favourite setters.

    Two neat ‘lift and separates’ with Hilary Mantel and Chopper Harris. Other favourites, apart from those chosen by manehi, were IFFIEST, REMOTELY and SLEEP ON.

    It did hurt to write in OPUSES – I know it’s in Collins and Chambers but I don’t have to like it.

    AlanC @11 and 18 (and bodycheetah @17 and PostMark @24) – I’ve often wanted to say this before in previous discussions:
    (Latin) “Superlative adjectives can be translated as ‘most….’ or ‘-est’ such as ‘most beautiful’ or ‘easiest’
    When there is no point of reference, a superlative can also be translated as ‘very …’”
    See here: https://www.myclassicsportal.co.uk/latingcsecomparativesandsuperlatives

    Many thanks to Brockwell and manehi.

36. BobW@33 – Well spotted! 😉
    Jack of Few Trades@32 – Here’s The National Gallery’s (NG200, celebrating its bicentenary) Angelica saved by Ruggiero.
    She’s got those characteristic INGRES fingers.
    Eileen@35 – Me too on OPUSES.
    Thanks B&m

37. Totally on my wavelength this one – and so I sailed through this

    I also thought of DRAGON’s DENsest (because there’s a geocache puzzle which shows SMAUG, DAENERYS, Peter Jones (one of the Dragons on the Den) and a dragon from Futurama, that I’m failing to solve) and SNAP DRAGON, the flower – it’s how I got that one. I was wondering if/hoping we’d get a maiden or a reference to U A Fanthorpe’s Not My Best Side, referring to the Uccello of St George and the Dragon in the National Gallery.

    Sorry – crossed with Bob @ 33, slow typing (or finding links – your choice)

    Thank you to manehi and Brockwell.

38. Greyhound@28
    Ernie Els is rapidly becoming the Cher of the golfing world. Remember his name as it will probably crop up again on regular occasions. It is used for much the same reason as why Cher is always the singer. ELS (which ever way round it is spelt) is a common letter combination, used in many English words. It is therefore much easier to fit into the wordplay than e.g. Peter Oosterhuis. Els was the first name I thought of when I saw the clue (and I know nothing about golf either).

39. Greyhound @28. I’m hopeless with sports clues but I have learned from cryptics that a golfer may be ELS.

40. To those who say they haven’t seen Game of Thrones: better by far to read the Song of Ice and Fire (on which GoT is based). Provided you don’t mind that George Martin hasn’t yet finished it, that is.

41. I tend to dislike fantasy, so Game of Thrones and Hobbits are a bit of a mystery to me. That said, I remembered SMAUG from my school days (long long ago) and Google helped with the former. Incidentally, one of a number of inspirations for Game of Thrones is the series of historical novels by Maurice Druon (The Accursed Kings) which is concerned with 14th century France. Highly recommended, and all in translation on Kindle. Not quite the literary style of Hilary Mantel (I think SILLY was my favourite) but real page turners and very much based on actual historical events. With thanks to Brockwell (always a pleasure) and manehi.

42. Andy@38 and Paddymelon@39, thank you. Els is now committed to memory, along with Ashe.

43. Utterly battered, with reveals required. I twigged the theme and it actually helped me get DRAGON – I got SMAUG and KOMODO first! (And HORNTAIL, although I didn’t make that connection until later) – KHURTA new for me… I liked the ruse of NOR!

    Thanks both.

44. Thanks for the blog, very enjoyable puzzle and even I saw the theme after KOMODO , a few things obscure for me but the wordplay was very clear. I think there was a seven hour film about SMAUG . Crouch END misled me for a while .
    Was Chopper Harris named after Chopper Sophocles ?

45. Thanks Brockwell and manehi – so much to enjoy. It’s all been said, but just to flag the Welsh RED DRAGON and to note that IDRIS Gawr was a bit of an OGRE, at least in size. There’s also the dragonFLY.

46. Thx Eileen @35, I’ll remember that in future.
    Roz @44 🤣 there was a Socrates played for Brazil.

47. [ AlanC @46 , watch the Philosophers’ Football Match , the only game I have ever seen ]

48. A monster puzzle with some nice clues.

    I daener know DAENERYS though and KHURTA (but I liked the latter clue). A great clue for SILLY, which I failed to untangle. Another HORN(et) here but it turned out not to be a dog. I also liked NAIL UP.

    Thanks Brockwell and manehi.

49. I found this very tough in places, with the wordplay sometimes a bit too advanced for me, and I didn’t have all the general knowledge that would have compensated. I did manage to dredge IDRIS Elba from some dark recess, and the theme gave me KOMODO.

    When I was not completely baffled, I enjoyed this – but I would never have got SILLY from the wordplay. Though I can see that sill and mantel are similar in concept, I would not use them interchangeably as they fit different contexts. All in all, without the check button (and some excessive use of it) I would have failed miserably! But it is a fine puzzle.

50. (Roz: Harris was called chopper because he always made it known to opponents as one who would chop yer legs off. Another famous defender was one Tommy Smith who was caught on a mike saying to an opposing forward “try to come past me and I’ll break your xxxxing legs”. All very nice gentlemen!)

51. Never seen game of thrones; only ever seen KURTA spelled without an H.
    How can you reference the legendary Chopper Harris without including Ron in the solution?

52. [Roz @47: I remember it well].

53. Eileen@35 Interesting about superlatives. Modern Italian also uses the -issimo ending just as an intensifier. And, in English, if someone says “I had the most amazing time”, they are probably not comparing to a number of other amazing times.

54. AlanC @46

    I should have added @35 that the same applies, not surprisingly, in Italian: ff = fortissimo = very loud.

55. [Roz @47: I remember it well].

    Cedric @50: He said it to Frank Worthingon after he nutmegged him and scored a goal. I had the pleasure of hearing Frank giving an after dinner speech, where he told this story. He asked the referee if he had heard Tommy’s comment and what was he going to do about it. The referee replied ‘Nothing, I’m afraid of him as well’ ]

56. Fun puzzle which I finished with some use of the check button. For once I got the theme early (by backforming from SMAUG) and it helped with some of the answers. KHURTA was new to me but got it from the crossers. Had to look up the spelling of Ms. Targaryen.

    [Andy@38: After dawn, bird who is noisy one on the green? (9) perhaps?]

57. Just as Idris means dragon, I wonder if Smaug is derived from a Slavic word for dragon. Polish for dragon is smok. (Insert your own no smok without fire joke here.)

58. I don’t know much about dragons or GOT but the theme became apparent early and that’s what the Internet’s for, right? A challenging puzzle but satisfying to finish. I liked the three-letterers.

59. Petert: most sources suggest Tolkien derived Smaug from the past tense of the German/Old English Smugan meaning to squeeze through a narrow hole. It’s rather nice that there is a real life lizard species out there that has been given the name ‘Smaug’ after Tolkien’s beast.

60. Petert @53 – I’ve only just seen your comment, which wasn’t there when I started typing mine.
    Interesting that you posted it over three hours after mine @35 and just snuck in to beat me to it. 😉

61. WHOF*
    [*Whole Heap of Fun]

    And a whole heap of thanks to Brockwell and manehi!

62. Fifteensquared is an extremely valuable (valuablest) site for expanding our general knowledge. Thanks to Roz@44 and 47, I now know from whom Chopper Sophocles got his nickname – or was it the other way around?

    Thanks to Brockwell for the fantastic puzzle, and manehi for unpuzzling the fantasy.

63. The Philosophers’ Football Match (1972), aka…

64. …Monty Python‘s International Philosophy

65. Many thanks to manehi for the excellent blog and to everyone else for solving and commenting on the puzzle. There were two superlatives in the grid, which is why I didn’t use “most” again in the clue for DENSEST. I do get the objections about “extremely”, but as has been pointed out, my fellow setters seem to be using the device more and more. So, let’s blame them 😉. Great spot by Jack of Few Trades @32 re the INGRES painting in the NG. I did actually look up his works, having put him in the grid and was hoping he’d done a DRAGON painting. I came across the example mentioned and decided it was definitely another thematic entry 😉. Hope to be back here soon. B

66. Thank you Cedric@50
    [ AlanC it was so good you remembered it twice. Is it true that Schopenhauer used to play in goal for KPR ? ]

67. [Roz @66
    I’m sure you know that Niels Bohr played goalie for his university side!]

68. [ Muffin@67 I know he played at some level and his brother played for Denmark. Camus also a goalkeeper. . The Guardian used to sell a lot of Philosophy Football T-Shirts . ]

69. [Schopenhauer was more an elusive forward – nobody could really get close to him, while Hegel was a false nein,]

70. Fun puzzle, fun theme. I was going to mention the Latin use of superlatives, but Eileen beat me to it (who better?).

    My only raised eyebrow was NOR for neither: they’re intimately related, but not mutually substitutable – or are they? (This time talking strictly English.)

    Thanks

71. News to me that ST GEORGE was a martyr, but I looked him up and he was.

    Eileen, I’m with you on OPUSES. I was hoping it would turn out not to be true, but it was. Do people actually say it? I’ve never seen it anywhere.

    I was another stuck on hornet, but I couldn’t make it have a dog. Had to use buttons to get HORNTAIL, which I’ve never heard of.

    Thanks to Brockwell and manehi.

72. Dr WhatsOn @70

    Well, it’s poetic but how about (from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner)
    ” Day after day, day after day,
    We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
    As idle as a painted ship
    Upon a painted ocean.” ?

73. Took ages to remember khurta, despite having worn one on the way home after gap year. Well,, it was ’67.

74. Fun puzzle and theme.
    Anyone else try PATHAN for 26?
    Thanks, Brockwell & manehi.

75. MCourtney @9: The Welsh for dragon is “draig”, as in Y Ddraig Goch (the Welsh flag). Not a typo – the double d is a mutation.
    Sorry that my first post on here should be to pick somebody up on something, but I couldn’t let that one go.

76. Fantastic to have Brockwell/Grecian @65 drop by for a post-match presser. Who said setters don’t come here for feedback?

77. Tamarix @75, Thank you for correcting me.
    It was something I had mis-learnt when in Wales once, and would have gone on mis-knowing it forever if you had not come to my aid.

78. Got the theme but ground to a halt after a dozen answers. Too obscure / niche cultural references. Waste of time.

79. […and don’t forget that it was Hume and then the Pissant who crossed to Schopenhauer on the wing …]

80. Most of this went over my head, as I didn’t spot the theme. Snap is a dragon that has appeared in mayoral processions in Norwich for over 600 years.

81. Many thanks to Brockwell/Grecian and manehi. Great theme, great execution, great blog, interesting comments. Enjoyed spotting some of the dragon references as I solved, but enriching to come here and learn of several more.

82. Ended up with a few reveals but liked the theme very much. I couldn’t believe I missed the leg=on in 1down as cricket is something I feel I do know about (unlike GofT)!

83. Eileen@35 and Valentine@71 re 3d, I don’t like any of the plural forms of OPUS, so where possible I use “Opus numbers…” as the plural.

84. MCourtney@77: Thanks, I’m relieved that you took it in good spirit. I didn’t want to appear critical but wanted to set the record straight for others 😊

85. Maybe someone was pulling your leg 😉

86. cellomaniac@83

87. There is a plant called SNAP DRAGON.

88. [PeterT@57: Apparently Tolkien stated in a letter to the editor of the Observer that Smaug comes from the past tense of Old Germanic smugan, to squeeze through a hole. Smeagol is derived from the same root.]

89. The guy complaining a few comments up about ‘too many niche general knowledge references’ totally exemplifies my problem with the cryptic community.

    Finally, finally, FINALLY, we got a puzzle incorporating some GK of things from this century, and I really enjoyed this crossword as a result. Harry Potter, Tolkein, Game of Thrones – THIS is what we consider ‘too niche’?? But the usual crossword fare of ‘Actresses who died in 1952’ or ‘the abbreviation that was used by one defunct university 309 years ago’ is totally acceptable? Absolutely outrageous comment.

90. Gladys @19: I struggled with 19a as well. I managed to guess the answer from “prickly” as the definition and I could see the “animal” as BEAR. After that I was stumped. I got hung up on “crossed” as indicating an insertion into RD as road. Of course it didn’t make sense because the R was already accounted for.
    Then it finally dawned on me. “ultimately” was the real indicator for the last letters of crosseD thE roaD.

91. An unusual instance occurred for me in solving 10a. I couldn’t see it at all but when I got the answer for 7a CREAMED PUFF partly by guesswork, the reference “10/1” enabled me see that PUFF was referring to the MAGIC dragon. So I got it by backward inference.

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