Guardian 29,525 – Brendan

by

We haven’t had a Brendan puzzle since early June, so it was a pleasant surprise to see his name on this one. I started off thinking it was going to be a write-in, but things got a little stickier later on. There a couple of nice &lits, aka cads (clue as definition), noted below. Thanks to Brendan for the entertainment.

There’s a theme given by the 15-letter SELF-REFERENTIAL, with several answers related to in various ways (EGOCENTRIC and BRENDAN to name two), and other references in clues and wordplay (e.g. NARCISSIST).

 
Across
8 SUPEREGO See group, oddly, as source of self-criticism (8)
(SEE GROUP)*
9 OTHERS Not ourselves, and not herself – not entirely (6)
Hidden in nOT HERSelf
10 WORDLESS Puzzle followed by two seconds without speaking (8)
WORDLE (word-guessing puzzle, now published online by the New York Times) + S S
11 EATING For instance, consuming a container of food (6)
A TIN (food container) in EG , &lit
12 SELF-REFERENTIAL Errant life feels misrepresented, as is autobiography (4-11)
(ERRANT LIFE FEELS)*
15 MAJOR Important politician, one ranked moderately highly (5)
Three definitions, the last two being the former Prime Minister and the army rank
16 STUNT Inhibit action drawing attention to oneself (5)
Double definition
20 FOUR-LETTER WORDS Many folk find them foul (4-6,5)
All the words in the clue have four letters, &lit
21 MAOIST Left-winger that’s replaced extremes of Eastern philosopy (6)
TAOISM or DAOISM with the “extreme” letters changed. Note the typo in “philosopy”. As noted in the comments, this is more accurately TAOISM with the T and M “re-placed”
23 RUSSIANS Scattered in USSR as some of its people were (8)
(IN USSR AS)*
25 SOLIDI Thus cover the person writing in oblique symbols (6)
SO + LID (cover) + I (the person writing); plural of “solidus” or the slash mark
26 NARCISSI Flowers from self-absorbed type? No way, ultimately (8)
NARCISSIST less ST (street, way)
Down
1 FURORES They can be disorderly for sure (7)
(FOR SURE)* &lit
2 HEAD OF HAIR Point of Hamlet’s first appearance that could come as shock (4,2,4)
HEAD (point, e.g. as a geographical feature) + OF + H[amlet] + AIR (appearance)
3 MEME My repeated appeal for attention that rapidly spreads (4)
ME! ME!
4 BOASTED Sailed, having taken in small crew (7)
S in BOATED, with “crew” as past tense of “crow”, to boast
5 BONESETTER Key individual like me, who can help with dislocation? (10)
B (musical key) + ONE SETTER (individual like me, i.e. Brendan himself)
6 SHOT Finishes off this photograph to print another (4)
Last letters of thiS photograpH tO prinT, with “another” meaning another photograph
7 BRENDAN Conclude in British article who’s responsible for this? (7)
END in BR AN (indefinite article)
13 EGOCENTRIC For example, concert organized around one, considering nobody else (10)
EG (for example) + I in CONCERT*
14 TENDONITIS Muscle problem to continue nursing? That’s right (10)
TEND ON (continue nursing) + IT IS (that’s right); unfortunately muscles are not the same as tendons: something like “painful condition” would have worked better, I think
17 ROTATOR Revolutionary device that reproduces itself when up-ended (7)
ROTATOR is a palindrome
18 STORING Keeping stone circle around another (7)
O (a circle) in ST (stone, unit of weight) + RING (another circle)
19 ODDNESS Peculiarity exemplified in what comes before and after (7)
Not sure about this – my best guess is that it refers to the odd numbers 19 (clue number) and 7 (enumeration) that come before and after the clue
22 IRIS Like some setters, mostly kind of ornamental (4)
Some setters (dogs) are IRISH, which we use most of
24 SORE One selfie’s border making American angry (4)
The “border” of selfie is either S OR E

84 comments on “Guardian 29,525 – Brendan”

  1. thanks B and A! i very enjoyable (albeit gentle for Brendan and a bit self-involved :). I thought maoist was from taoism with the extremes exchanges but I can see that “replaced” doesn’t really indicate that.

  2. Agree with Andrew’s quibble about TENDONITIS not being a muscle problem, and had a similar experience to him in writing in the first across answers until reaching 12, and then having to tease out the answers. Didn’t notice the typo in 21, thankfully, as I would have spent time looking for the significance. The blog doesn’t complete the parsing of 2d with ‘AIR’ being appearance, but I imagine others have pointed that out whilst I’m typing this. Thought 20 was clever and funny. Thanks to Brendan and Andrew.

  3. Is Brendan perhaps telling us that the reason for their recent absence has been involvement with a BONESETTER to treat SORE-ness of the ROTATOR cuff owing to TENDONITIS? A bit of a FURORE, I would imagine, and possibly some choice FOUR-LETTER-WORDS have been employed.
    I’m probably reading things where things are not, but if correct I hope things are progressing well.
    As to the puzzle, I had a similar experience to Andrew with plain sailing interrupted by a few shallow reefs, and FWIW it’s worth had the same parsing as ilan@1.
    Thank you to Brendan, and Andrew for the blog.

  5. I couldn’t work out whether Brendan composed this with Monday in mind or not. On the one hand, a classic bit of Brendan theming whilst, on the other, relatively approachable in terms of difficulty. For once, I noticed the theme as I solved and there are some nice tangential references to it if one includes words such as BOASTED and IRIS which surely refers in WP to the compiler as well as the breed of hound.

    WORDLESS and HEAD OF HAIR were the two that made me smile the most and I liked the STORE device. RUSSIANS is also a nice spot. I couldn’t parse ODDNESS, finding that one, well, odd.

    Thanks Brendan and Andrew

  7. I couldn’t parse ODDNESS. Your proposal, Andrew, seems plausible. But I don’t much like the clue.

    I initially thought the clue for FOUR-LETTER WORDS wasn’t cryptic, but when the penny dropped, it elicited a smile.

    Never heard of SOLIDI. Didn’t get IRIS.

    All else tickety-boo.

  8. I had a touch of brendanitis with ODDNESS and SORE, but thanks to Andrew for explaining them both.
    Nice idea for a setter to parody the use of self-references in clues. At least….I hope it’s a parody!
    I did not know SOLIDI, but went gunga-din for it, and it’s a fair enough wordplay.
    A nicely balanced puzzle – a lot to like.

  9. I’m glad everyone else is struggling with ODDNESS, I couldn’t parse it either. I’m with the MAOIST Taoism parsers.

    Thank you to Andrew and Brendan.

  12. I don’t mind TENDONITIS being a muscle problem: Tendons are the ends of muscles, joining them to bones, so I think it’s fair if they’re inflamed to call it a muscle problem.
    Thanks Brendan and Andrew.

  13. Tiny typo in 2d, Andrew: you’ve missed out AIR (appearance) from the fodder.
    Wonderful concise blog. Love it, thank you

  14. A nice surprise to see Brendan’s name associated with the Monday slot. All very smooth in the top half for me, but the bottom took much longer. Loi was IRIS, but I needed Andrew to explain the exact parsing of SORE, ODDNESS, and MAOIST. Though ODDNESS does perhaps need further clarification, I see from the subsequent comments. Thanks both…

  15. A relief as well as a nice surprise to see Brendan’s name this morning: I’d been quite concerned about him. A lovely trademark themed puzzle – a reminder of what we’ve been missing.

    Ticks galore, as usual: examples WORDLESS, SELF-REFERENTIAL, STUNT, FOUR-LETTER WORDS, MAOIST, RUSSIANS and BONESETTER.

    Many thanks to Brendan (I hope you’re back to stay) and to Andrew for a great blog – a super start to the week.

  16. I think Andrew is right about ODDNESS and PostMark about IRIS. I enjoyed the puzzle as I always do with Brendan.

  17. Some very fine work by setter and blogger.
    I thought BOASTED was a thing of beauty, extremely concise, utterly precise, and with the neat twist that “crew” turns out not to be a bunch of people losing Jim Ratcliffe a lot of money.
    I’m sure that Andrew correctly explains ODDNESS – a piece of wordplay which teeters on the line between clever and too-clever-by-half, but I think comes down on the right side.
    Like James G @12 I don’t mind TENDONITIS being described as a muscle problem; but I did think “of” cluing “of” in HEAD OF HAIR was a bit of a let-down. Very observant of Andrew to spot the inconspicuous piece of Grauniadery in 21a.
    Thanks, both.

  18. For my LOi, and the last clue in the puzzle, 24d SORE, oed.com has ‘2 results for “selfie”
    2002– selfie, n. A photograph that one has taken of oneself, esp. one taken with a smartphone or webcam and shared via social media.
    1643– selfie, variant of selfy, adj. Self-centred; selfish.’

  20. I got there in the end, with the same shrug of the shoulders as many others over ‘oddness’. I always enjoy Brendan’s puzzles and, for once, I spotted the theme quite quickly.

  21. I enjoyed this. My question about ODDNESS seems to have been dealt with, but what’s the One at the beginning of the clue for SORE? No one else seems to have had a problem with this. What am I missing?

  23. [pdm @22: funny how often it is the act of pressing Post Comment on a query that somehow triggers the subconscious to answer the very question one has raised. Not immediately, though. But just after the window for editing one’s comment has closed.]

  26. A pleasure to see Brendan again with a beautifully introspective puzzle. Like others I found it mostly straightforward but with a few knottier bits. I didn’t parse ODDNESS, but Andrew has explained it well – as a themed clue, in fact. (And I didn’t spot the typo- but we often read what we expect to see).

    I enjoyed the &lits, RUSSIANS and SELF-REFERENTIAL, inter alia, but I agree with NeilH that BOASTED is a perfect clue.

    LOI for me was the clever re-placement for MAOIST.

    paddymelon @22: There’s a nice French expression for that: ‘l’esprit de l’escalier’ (the spirit of the stairs) – the clever riposte that comes to you just too late.

    Thanks to Brendan and Andrew

  27. Paddymelon@21 I have the same challenge with 24D…

    …and as I type that I see your post @22, and then finally the penny dropped.

    I wonder if Andrew could be prevailed upon to add that clarification to the blog?

    Other than that, much to like here. LOI was BOASTED, which is a very clever bit of misdirection.

  29. Very tough. Almost gave up after solving only 3 clues on my first pass. Sadly, I was not on the setter’s wavelength today.

    I failed to solve 16ac, 22d, 24d and I did not parse the BONE part of 5d; 19d ODDNESS; 21ac MAOIST.

    New for me: SOLIDI=curves in a graph or slash mark.

    I had forgotten about Wordle – thanks for the reminder! I used to do them and will start doing them again 🙂

  30. Lovely. Yes I also liked those SELF-REFERENTIAL clues. Thanks to contributors for naming the ones I saw and some I didn’t, like 19d ODDNESS. Heaps of my favourites have been mentioned already but I also quite liked 3d MEME. 7d BRENDAN a top favourite in more ways than one!

  31. l liked Jackkt’s explication@25 for ODDNESS. That makes sense. (apologies if this is a duplicate post. We now have an 11 hour time difference here, past my bedtime)

  32. [I would counsel against going back to Wordle, Michelle @29. It is a tyrant. I left almost two years ago when, on my birthday, I was too busy and preoccupied to do it, and when I opened it the next day I found that my ongoing streak of 230-odd had been wiped as a penalty for my act of desertion. I renounced it on the spot and have since felt a certain liberation from having done so.]

  33. Agree Balfour@32, forgetting to do it one day and so losing one’s streak is like a sudden escape from a relationship that is becoming too demanding.

  34. Very nice puzzle. For a bit I thought “philosopy” was an indication to remove an H, but no. I was wondering about ODDNESS – the generally accepted explanation leads to a philosophical question of whether the clue number and enumeration are part of or external to the clue, but not a problem.

    I looked up several definitions of MEME to be sure – rapidly is not mentioned, so the clue might be a touch better without it.

    The WORDLE app is very popular, written by a Mr. Wardle no less, but back in the day (the 1970’s if not before) it was a pencil-and-paper game known as MOO. Anybody else remember that?

  35. What crypticsue @19 said. And defeated in the end by the parsing of IRIS and ODDNESS. I enjoy a gentle Vulcan start to the week, but am very much on board with having Brendan offer chewier fare as well. Thanks Andrew and Brendan.

  36. I hadn’t parsed ODDNESS and I like Jackkt@25’s explanation as well.
    And I hadn’t seen the four letter words in the clue for FOUR-LETTER WORDS. Doh!
    However I did see the clever device in SORE, a favourite.
    Other favourites – MAOIST (Taoism), BOASTED for the unusual use of ‘crew’, MAJOR for the triple definition, WORDLESS for the contemporary reference and BRENDAN for making me laugh.
    I loved this puzzle from Brendan, especially the tongue in cheek SELF-REFERENTIAL theme and the lovely blog from Andrew. Thanks both.

  38. A couple of weeks ago a commenter here was objecting to SELF-REFERENTIAL clues, claiming that they were “incorrect” and “not within crossword etiquette”. A few of us disagreed. Could today’s puzzle possibly be a response to that? Ok, probably not – I imagine it was composed considerably earlier. But a nice coincidence.

    I’m always pleased to see Brendan’s name and I enjoyed this very much. His puzzles often seem to involve gentle connections between overlapping groups of clues and answers rather than hard-and-fast themes, and I find them very satisfying. My favourite was I think EGOCENTRIC with its clever suggestion of an extended definition.

    Many thanks Brendan and Andrew.

  41. Pleasant change for a Monday – highly enjoyable. Still scratching my head about ODDNESS though.

    FOUR-LETTER WORDS was my favourite.

    Thanks Brendan and Andrew

  42. Suzy@40. An IRIS is a kind of ornamental plant. I think it’s as simple as that.
    I agree with PostMark@5 that the clue also refers to the compiler as setter, who happens to be Irish. ☘️

  43. I enjoyed the puzzle, getting only three on first pass, like Michelle. But I slowly worked my way across — SELF-REFERNTIAL was a great help in crossing the rest of the grid.

    I always thought the word was TENDINITIS, not TENDONITIS — tendo, tendinis. But I see both are in use. Can we hear from our resident classicist? What say, Eileen?

    Is BOATED a word anyone would actually use? “In those days, I boated on the Orwell”? Doesn’t sound very real.

    Thanks, Brendan and Andrew — good job, both.

  44. I enjoyed the puzzle, getting only three on first pass, like Michelle. But I slowly worked my way across — SELF-REFERNTIAL was a great help in crossing the rest of the grid.

    I always thought the word was TENDINITIS, not TENDONITIS — tendo, tendinis. But I see both are in use. Can we hear from our resident classicist? What say, Eileen?

    Is BOATED a word anyone would actually use? “In those days, I boated on the Orwell”? Doesn’t sound very real.

    Thanks, Brendan and Andrew — excellent work, both.

  45. I am as puzzled as Suzydimple@40 about IRIS being defined by ‘kind of ornamental’. (Though I see Chambers supports #42 – “a plant grown for ornament or beauty”. Well I never!)

    Failed to finish, with STUNT not occurring to me – I put in ATONE, one of whose meanings is to appease, which would hopefully ‘inhibit action’ by an aggressor; ok, perhaps not. 🤔

    I found this kinda tough for a Monday, but no doubt that is because of a poor night’s sleep on my part rather than anything tricky by the setter.

    Favourite was FOUR LETTER WORDS, a potentially difficult cryptic definition but immediately confirmed as correct by looking again at the clue. Brilliant!

    Thanks to Brendan and Andrew.

  46. Valentine @44: I’m sure Eileen can explain further, but I think the spelling is because TENDONITIS is a hybrid word. The suffix -itis is Greek, and many of the inflammatory words are wholly Greek: hepatitis, nephritis etc, but ‘tendon’ has just had the Greek suffix stuck on to an English word. The fact that ‘tendon’ is from Latin is probably irrelevant.

  47. Suzy @40 Just to underline what SueM48 writes, ‘ornamental’ can be a noun rather than an adjective, in which sense, to quote Merriam-Webster, it means “a plant cultivated for its beauty rather than for use”.

  48. Mostly pretty straight forward, though couldn’t see why ODDNESS was correct until coming here, and wasn’t completely sure about SORE either. IRIS was LOI, but still seems weak to me,
    Thanks to Brendan, and Andrew of course

  49. Gervase@46. I’m not sure that answers the point about why there are two different spellings of TENDINITIS? The O-spelling used here is dictated by the crosser, of course, but Chambers has “tendon” being from Greek tenon influenced by Latin tendere, with no hint about the I-spelling of the inflammation.

  50. 3d ME! ME! (that’s how some youngsters actually pronounce it!): ”
    1. 1976– A cultural element or behavioural trait whose transmission and consequent persistence in a population, although occurring by non-genetic means (esp. imitation), is considered as analogous to the inheritance of a gene.
    2. 1998– An image, video, piece of text, etc., typically humorous in nature, that is copied and spread rapidly by internet users, often with slight variations. Also with modifying word, as internet meme, etc.”

  51. Re tendonitis / tendinitis – my apologies for being late to this: I went out soon after posting my comment.

    I must admit to entering TENDONITIS without a thought – the O is there in the grid and so it doesn’t affect the crossword, anyway – but it’s interesting.
    I suppose that I’d always assumed it was, as Gervase @46 suggests, that “‘tendon’ has just had the Greek suffix stuck on to an English word” but it seems there’s more to it than that.

    Valentine @44 – where did you find ‘tendo – tendinis’ as Latin for ‘tendon’? I can’t find it in my 2,000-page Lewis and Short but, by analogy with virgo- virginis, that would give tendin as the root, suggesting ‘tendinitis’ as the ‘correct’ spelling. sheffield hatter has given Chambers’ suggested etymology (indirectly from the Latin verb tendere , ‘to stretch’ – but Collins has tendo as Mediaeval Latin for ‘tendon’.
    Although I did Mediaeval Latin as one of the special subjects for my degree, I don’t (still) have a Mediaeval Latin dictionary.

    As we’ve said, all this has no bearing on the puzzle – it seems, as both dictionaries suggest, that there is authority for both spellings – but I do love the rabbit holes we’re led down in our discussions. My Google research has suggested that, however the condition is spelt, it could be the cause of my SORE shoulder. 😉

  52. And I’d always believed the Radio Stars that there are no Russians in the USSR. But that was forty-seven years ago.

    I’m still hoping there’s a better explanation for ODDNESS, but maybe there isn’t.

    Thanks Brendan and Andrew.

  53. Thanks Andrew and all. Part of the reason for long gap is that I had a break when I went for a trip in the fall. That is to say, I tripped over something and fell, breaking my hip. Wonderful medical treatment, my wife, and a great support group of friends ensured that I recovered quickly and straightforwardly. Friday last was the best birthday I ever had (80).
    Not sure when the H fell out of “philosophy”. Just an error.

  54. Oed.com has TENDINITIS, with TENDONITIS as only a ‘Variant form’. Etymology: ‘A borrowing from Latin, combined with an English element.
    < medieval Latin tendin-em, tendōn-em tendon n. + ‑itis suffix.’ — [It’s not in Lewis & Short – maybe the Romans didn’t need a word for a tendon]

  59. I had MAYOR for 15a – MAY (important politician) + OR (one ranked) for the whole clue, but I get it now.
    Missed IRIS and STUNT.

  60. This is what Wiktionary says about the variant spelling;
    This spelling (tendonitis) is somewhat more commonly used in the UK (BNC).
    Tendinitis is much more common in the US (COCA).     So, maybe it’s just that easy.

  61. Total themenesia on my part but with hindsight the Irish setter clue was probably inevitable. Could have ticked almost every clue. Maybe not his toughest work but some classy constructions

    Cheers A&B

  63. This must have a disappointment for those seeking an ‘easy Monday’ but I loved this crossword — the perfect combo of straightforward and head-scratching clues in my opinion. I’ve missed Brendan — happy 80th! My top picks were OTHERS, FOUR-LETTER WORDS, NARCISSI, MEME (COTD), SHOT, and BRENDAN, of course. Thanks Andrew for the blog.

  64. Always delighted to see Brendan and his clever themes, he never ever disappoints. I understand the oddness of ODDNESS but I think it’s been covered satisfactorily. Happy birthday Brian and here’s to a speedy recovery and thanks Andrew for explaining why FOUR-LETTER WORDS was cryptic. BOASTED was also my favourite.

  66. Always delighted to see Brendan. Clever wordplay. FOUR-LETTER WORDS started it off for me, and the level was maintained with the beautiful clue exploiting the second meaning of crew. Maybe I am seeing devils everywhere at the moment (too much YouTube) but I did wonder if Brendan was raising his head above the parapet before next Tuesday’s crucial activities. I hope the IRISH SETTER doesn’t find himself pursued by Dakotan dog-shooters. But of course it’s just about egocentricity in general… isn’t it? Unlike Eileen, I do have a Medieval Latin dictionary (Latham – probably not the NZ captain, but equally to be congratulated) and it lists tendo as being used in 1634 and 1686. Medieval? Anyway, very happy birthday BG from one of your biggest debtors.

  67. I took the clue for ODDNESS as referring to every-other-ness in general. For a given element in a sequence, those elements are ODD which come “before and after”.

  68. Welcome back Brendan – you have been missed. Great to hear you are recovering and happy birthday.
    I must admit I had thoughts like Abulafia@3 when I looked at the whole crossword.

  69. It’s all been said already. I do want to express my thanks to Andrew for the blog, and to Brendan for a wonderful solving experience. Thanks for dropping in and I hope you continue to recover. Happy belated birthday 🎂🎇.

  70. Can’t quite claim to have finished – for BOASTED, given all the crossers I put down COASTED (sailed? shrug and ignore the wordplay) following which Check informed me I’d got a letter wrong, when the tea tray dropped.
    Re. BOATED for sailed, in rowing it’s not uncommon to hear e.g. ‘Cambridge boated upstream of Putney’ so I could imagine sailors might use similar terminology to indicate going afloat.

  71. Lovely to hear from the setter and like everyone, I’d wish Brian well in recovering from a nasty injury and happy birthday too… but he could have explained oddness, as I still don’t get it!

  72. I had to check it was Monday – I managed two! Guess it was the clocks changing or something, so it’s really Tuesday. 🙂

  73. Well, tendinitis is the spelling I was used to, so I just inferred tendo, tendinis. And when I was googling around to support my comments here I found the medieval tendo, which supported my unsupported inference. Now I learn it’s just because I’m a Yank.

    Congratulations on your recovery, Brendan, welcome back and happy birthday. I had a pretty wonderful 80th a few weeks ago, with a nice restaurant dinner for my brother and some friends. Looking forward to the next 80!

  76. … The same was true in the UK until 2010 when the graphs converged, and TENDONITIS holds a very slight lead since 2014.

  77. Completed over Monday and into Tuesday morning – my first ever completed cryptic (albeit with liberal use of the check tool)! Started on the quick cryptics a month or two ago and have been working on the quiptics for a few weeks, checking this blog for parsings I can’t work out.

    Embarrassingly for someone with two degrees in Soviet history, 23 was one of my last ones in. 20 confused me until I came here, but I like that clue a lot. “Solidus” is a new word for me.

    Thanks to Brandon and Andrew!

  78. Yes indeed; Very many happy returns, Brian, and thanks for your continued fine entertainment
    (that’s the trouble with old hippies – their old hippies!)

  80. That was very tough for me, but I managed most of it (not necessarily by parsing the clues).

    Thanks Brendan, and especially Andrew for explaining.

  81. Good to hear from you Brendan
    Recalls that chestnut

    “Enjoy your trip”

    “Be back next fall”

    Great puzzle

  83. To my favourite setter, Happy Birthday, and I’m delighted to hear that your recovery was quick and complete.

    In this puzzle I especially enjoyed the ornamentally self-referential clue at 22d IRIS. I will quaff a Guinness in your honour.

  84. Good puzzle and blog, thank you.

    I was baffled by 18d STORING for a while as I couldn’t work out what “around” was doing. I think the parsing above doesn’t quite get it right, and it should be

    ST (stone, unit of weight) + RING (a circle) around O (another circle)

Comments are closed.