Guardian Cryptic 29552 Picaroon

by

Thank you to Picaroon. Definitions are underlined in the clues.

Across
1. Doing loads of laundry, holding one article for Americans (14)
WASHINGTONIANS : [WASHING(doing laundry) TONS(loads/very much of] containing(holding) [ I(Roman numeral for “one”) + AN(an article in grammar).
Defn: … from Washington State or D.C.

8. Fleece coat taken from tiny, caped figure (5)
ROBIN : ROB(to fleece/swindle) + 1st and last letters deleted from(coat taken from) “tiny”.
Defn: …, sidekick to Batman, the DC Comics superhero.

9. What The Guardian offers with bizarre glee, stifling a disapproving comment at first (8)
TUTELAGE : [ Anagram of(bizarre) GLEE containing(stifling) A ] placed after(… at first) TUT(or tut-tut, a disapproving comment/exclamation).
Defn: …, in this case, the guardian of a ward.

11. Improves image of new business that has succeeded later (5,2)
TARTS UP : START-UP(a new business venture/enterprise) with its “S”(abbrev. for “succeeded”) moved towards the end(that has … later).
Defn: … by decorating, and, commonly, resulting in a loud and flashy appearance.

12. Wine, dry white ultimately? It’s for one in the party (7)
ROSETTE : ROSÉ(a light pink wine) + TT(abbrev. for “teetotal/abstaining from alcohol/dry) + last letter of(… ultimately) “white”.
Defn: A decoration worn by a supporter or member of, say, a political party.

13. A little glower from subscriber losing face (5)
EMBER : “member”(a subscriber/someone making regular payments to access a service) minus its 1st letter(losing face).

15. Leader to lead with a venerable lady in the family (3,6)
TOP BANANA : TO + PB(symbol for the chemical element, lead) plus(with) A + NANA(an informal term for one’s grandmother, a venerable lady in the family).

17. Maybe retired proofreader picked up fund of money (9)
EXCHEQUER : EX-(prefix indicating “former”, maybe having retired) + homophone of(… picked up) “checker”(a proofreader/one reads text to note any errors).
Defn: …/national treasury.

20. Some work, not nothing, followed by soft drink (5)
JULEP : “Joule”(a unit of work, in physics) minus(not) “O”(letter representing 0/nothing) plus(followed by) P(abbrev. for “piano”, musical direction to play softly).

21. Mistreated male Arctic bears oddly ignored cupcake (7)
CUCKOLD : COLD(Arctic/like the weather in the Arctic regions) containing(bears) 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th letters deleted from(oddly ignored) “cupcake”.
Defn: …, by his wife being unfaithful.

23. High officials specifically given rise at work (7)
VIZIERS : VIZ(namely/specifically) + anagram of(… at work) RISE.
Defn: … in some Muslim countries.

25. Concerned with stance in job, in dropping off item for gents (8)
POSTURAL : POST(a job/a position of paid employment) + “in” deleted from(dropping off) “urinal”(an item for gents in their toilets).

26. Rating of chess games? Run off to arrange a match (5)
ELOPE : ELO(a system of rating the skill levels of competitive chess players) + PE(abbrev. for “physical education”, a school period of exercises and games).
Defn: …/marriage.

27. Doctor probing experimental chemistry and physics, of a sort (14)
THERMODYNAMICS : MO(abbrev. for “medical officer”, a doctor) contained in(probing) anagram of(experimental) [CHEMISTRY AND].
Defn: …/a branch of physics.

Down
1. Watch others play with e.g. gun before magistrates (4,3,5)
WARM THE BENCH : W(abbrev. for “with”) + ARM(an example of which/e.g. is a gun) placed above(before, in a down clue) [THE BENCH](collective term for magistrates in a court of law).
Defn: …/be a substitute player at a game, derived from where one sits and watches the game.

2. Dry batter Garry’s cut (5)
SOBER : Sobers(Garry, a legendary all-round cricketer, an aggressive batter/batsman as well as a skilled bowler) minus its last letter(…’s cut).

3. You don’t pay for lodging in this lake location (9)
INNISFREE : INN(lodging/establishment where rooms are rented out) [IS FREE](no payment is required/you don’t pay).
Defn: Island located in a lake in Ireland.

4. Decline to say why snooker player picks up cue (2,2,3)
GO TO POT : “(To) GO TO POT” is what you might say is the reason a snooker player picks up his/her cue.

5. Some rock clubs plugging unhip Queen composition (7)
OUTCROP : C(abbrev. for “clubs”, the suit in a deck of playing cards) contained in(plugging) [ OUT(unhip/out of fashion) + R(abbrev. for “Regina”/Queen) + OP(abbrev. for “opus”, a literary or musical composition) ].

6. More than one key feature of supermarkets, we hear (5)
ISLES : Homophone of(…, we hear) “aisles”(a feature of supermarkets/passages between cabinets or shelves of goods in a supermarket).
Defn: …, ie. plural of key/a low-lying island.

7. Almost Biblical event he ignored in dark time (9)
NIGHTFALL : NIGH(almost/nearly) + “the Fall”(in the Bible, the Fall of Man, the event of Adam and Eve sinning against God) minus(… ignored) “he “.

10. Bags of pressure on dodgy dealers after dodgy deal (5,7)
PEDAL PUSHERS : P(symbol for “pressure” in physics) placed above(on, in a down clue) [ PUSHERS(dodgy dealers/sellers of illegal drugs) placed below(after, in a down clue) anagram of(dodgy) DEAL].
Defn: …/loose-fitting baggy trousers.

There are baggy pedal pushers:

… but many are not:

14. Nitwit poking second husband makes a bit of a scene (9)
BACKCLOTH : CLOT(a nitwit/fool) contained in(poking) [ BACK(to second/to support) + H(abbrev. for “husband”) ].
Defn: …, viz. a painted cloth hung at the back of a theatre stage as part of the scenery.

16. Inhaling joint, relax in swimming area, a channel of the Persian Gulf (2,7)
AL JAZEERA : J(abbrev. for “joint”, a rolled cannabis cigarette) contained in(Inhaling …) [ LAZE(to relax/to loll) contained in(in) anagram of(swimming) AREA ].
Defn: A TV channel headquartered in Doha, Qatar, a state on a peninsula in the Persian Gulf.

18. Suffer ruin, broken by Tory Brexiteers (7)
UNDERGO : UNDO(to ruin/destroy) containing(broken by) ERG(abbrev. for the European Research Group, a research support group for Tory Eurosceptics/Brexiteers).

19. Fun in bar after backing track (7)
REVELRY : Reversal of(… after backing) LEVER(a rigid bar resting on a pivot used to lift heaty loads) + RY(abbrev. for a railway track).

22. Furry beast right to leave pig, rat, snake or weasel? (5)
OTTER : “r”(abbrev. for “right”) deleted from(to leave) “rotter”(a scoundrel, variously called a pig, rat, snake or weasel).

24. Source of complaint that is about grasping officer (1,4)
E COLI : Reversal of(… about) IE(abbrev. for “id est”/that is) containing(grasping) COL(abbrev. for “colonel”, an officer in the military).
Defn: …, ie. food poisoning from bacterium.

73 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 29552 Picaroon”

  1. Solved 4 clues on my first pass and was tempted to give up but plodded on. So happy to have completed it 🙂

    Favourites: TOP BANANA, TARTS UP, CUCKOLD.

    New for me: ELO rating system for chess (for 26ac) which I found via google.

    I could not parse 16d but I got the def as I know the TV channel.

    Thanks, both.

    For 7d, we need to subtract HE from THE FALL -> night[he]fall

  2. Thanks Picaroon and scchua
    I got 1a and 1d straight away, and worked out from there, finishing with an unparsed UNDERGO. I also missed the parsing of TARTS UP.
    Favourite INNISFREE, but I wonder how well known the poem is?

  3. Good stuff from Picaroon as usual. Like michelle I had to google ELO for the chess rating system, but that was a great clue with the lift-and-separate of “chess games”.

    In PEDAL PUSHERS, “bags” is old-fashioned slang for trousers generally, not just baggy ones.

    Many thanks Picaroon and scchua.

  5. This was a long but ultimately satisfying completion. Pangram but that didn’t help with the last few.
    The double r in Garry threw me just slightly as I have only seen the magical Sir Garfield St Aubrun Sobers‘ name shortened to Gary.

  6. I liked THERMODYNAMICS (as a clue, less as an area of study!) but I really wish Picaroon had used molybdenum rather than medical officer.
    Thanks to P and scchua.

  7. Heavy use of the check button and Word Wizard, both very much needed to get through this. Satisfying to complete (with the caveat that I had to reveal the last word in 1d, as well as CUCKOLD).

    Various other things smattered throughout the puzzle that were new or unfamiliar, e.g. Garry Sobers for SOBER, but that I was able to get from crossers.

    Very tough but I was glad to get just shy of finishing the grid.

  8. I enjoyed this very much. I really liked OTTER and INNISFREE because they made me smile, and THERMODYNAMICS for the excellent anagram. It took me ages to get AL JAZEERA, at which point I realised there is a pangram. I don’t usually spot them and it was too late to be of help. Many thanks to scchua and Picaroon.
    [Also to add my praise for the last two puzzles. Both wonderful in different ways, and for the detailed blogs, ditto…]

  9. Pangakupu used “Elo” in 29,468 not so long ago and I’m sure Azed had used him also. Not as common a chess expert as “Tal” of course.

  10. I was enjoying solving this crossword so much that it was really annoying when I had to stop solving when Mr CS’s post knee surgery check up took a lot less time than I was expecting

    Thanks to Picaroon and scchua

  11. Thanks for the explanation of the nho PEDAL PUSHERS which was the only one that raised an eyebrow. I was very amused by the construction for AL JAZEERA which I don’t think I’ve seen clued before. I wonder if I was the only one trying to recall the names of some of those middle eastern waterways of note. I very nearly missed the sneaky ‘with’ in WARM THE BENCH – I started off wondering if ‘gun’ was heat and got as far as checking out ‘heat the bench’ as a possible phrase. Top marks also to TUTELAGE for a very amusing surface and nice use of ‘The Guardian’.

    Thanks Picaroon and scchua

  12. Nho of PEDAL PUSHERS and will now try to forget them.

    I think scchua has omitted the C in parsing 5d. I assume CR is meant as Camilla Regina, but others may have a different opinion.

  13. StevethePirate@5 – I, on the other hand, got ‘sober’ right away because the only famous Garry with a double rr I could think of is one of my all-time favourite cricketers – one of the major reasons I fell in love with the sport in the 1960s. I’ve always seen it spelt that way, I think.

  14. Picaroon is surely “The Master of Disguise”, but like so many movies these days, the special effects sometimes come at the expense of the plot and the script, for me.

    I really enjoy the leftfield definitions, but not so much, some of the clue surfaces; and over-contrived (?) wordplays. [ e,g. 1 down]

    This started out as Mission Impossible, for me, but after completing, I can’t deny that there is a lot of very expert compiling going on here.
    I would have preferred “Garfield’s” to “Garry’s” in 2 (down), SOBER, but that’s nit-picking.

    A puzzle for the accomplished solvers,(i.e. not me), I think.

    P.S. I just hate “joint” = J.
    I can already hear the sound of both chambers being loaded to shoot me down.

    Thanks , to Picaroon + scchua

  15. I had a worse start than Michelle @1 —the first two passes I had nothing. I don’t think that has ever happened to me, but then I got one, then another, and after a long slog I finished. I find a battle like that very satisfying. My favorite was POSTURAL. Thanks Picaroon and Scchua!

  17. PostMark @11. I went so far as to google a map of the Persian Gulf. Only twigged my error when getting J from Joule for ‘work’.

    BTW, scchua, Thank you for the blog. Would never have understood ELO without you. But may I make a minor pedantic correction and point out that Robin is a DC Comics character, not Marvel.

  18. As ever many thanks for the illustrated blog, scchua. I look forward to them. Sadly the mint JULEP link gives me the dreaded error 404. I expect it’s a Brit thing if you’re posting from elsewhere.

  20. Another good one from the Pirate.

    I didn’t know the chess significance of ELO, so this remained unparsed for me, but it’s an excellent clue.

    Like muffin, I solved WASHINGTONIANS and WARM THE BENCH immediately, which gave a head start. I ticked these clues, together with AL JAZEERA, JULEP, VIZIERS, INNISFREE and THERMODYNAMICS.

    poc @12: The C in OUTCROP Is from ‘clubs’, otherwise this word is redundant in the clue – no need to invoke the Queen Consort.

    Thanks to Picaroon and scchua

  24. I only got 3 on the first pass, but it slowly yielded, despite J for joint being unknown. I also missed the PB for lead in the clue for TOP BANANA.

    I liked TUTELAGE, TARTS UP, CUCKOLD, POSTURAL and AL JAZEERA.

    Thanks Picaroon and scchua.

  25. Found this very tough, but very glad I persevered. Eventually. When I got the grid unlocking (I thought) WASHINGTONIANS straight away I imagined I’d perhaps be quickly successful this morning. But only managed a further half dozen before I decided to take a long break. On resumption WARM THE BENCH gave an immediate surge forward. Thereafter plenty of ah, yes moments. Though I still had absolutely no idea why ELOPE deserved its place in the grid. So many thanks for the explanation Scchua, and to The Pirate of course for today’s most challenging puzzle…

  26. I do enjoy Picaroon, but although I ended up with correct answers in all the lights, there were quite a few missed parsings and General Ignorance along the way. Not familiar with the expression at 1d, though it was obviously something to do with the BENCH. Missed the sliding-letter parsing of TARTS UP and the urinal in POSTURAL (I’m not a Gent). Nho the chess rating system, which I looked up after hints in the Guardian comments that it was a bit of GK not everyone might know, and PEDAL PUSHERS are a garment name I’ve yet to meet.

    Anyway: loved the Americans washing tons of laundry, the poor CUCKOLDed bears, the bit of a scene and the channel of the Persian Gulf (which I bet had most of us thinking geography rather than broadcasting) and all those dirty rotten animals. And an apparently effortless pangram (though I bet it wasn’t, really).

    Thing I learned today: that INNISFREE is a real place, not just made up for the poem I learned at school.

    Thanks Picaroon and scchua.

  27. …and hadn’t realised/remembered that the late great Garry Sobers spelled his forename with two R’s. As a teenager I saw him play at the Oval, with one memorable violent stroke that sounded like a rifle shot echoing across the ground…

  30. NHO Innisfree, so failed to get that even with all the crossers. And I thought pedal pushers were a type of shoe until I looked it up and then got the relevance of ‘bags’. 16D was a clever misdirection.

    Not a fan of J for ‘joint’ although it was slang at one time (e.g. a Paul Simon song from 1980), nor S for ‘succeeded’ although as usual I am sure somebody will confirm it is in Chambers.

  31. I think I can forgive Picaroon a lot for the surface of 18d.
    Very clever, some very neat ideas. Like poc @12 I was unaware of PEDAL PUSHERS and am not greatly thrilled to have been made aware.
    I am always a bit irritated by PE = games, but that’s probably just a legacy of having been hopeless at both. I think Picaroon possibly overdid the chess, because I doubt that very many non-chessplayers will have heard of Arpad Elo or his rating system (which, in England, has replaced a clunky but straightforward and surprisingly effective one devised by Sir Richard Clarke, father of former Home Sec Charles); and I assume that the use of “Garry” to clue Garfield Sobers may have been prompted by thoughts of the great Kasparov.
    But those are very minor quibbles about another excellent puzzle, accompanied by a first-rate blog which sorted out those I couldn’t fully parse. Thanks to Picaroon and scchua.

  36. I may just be in tune, I suppose, but for me, a delight. Plenty of wit, ‘Aha’ moments, and never any chewy reverse-engineering of unfair word play. It’s lovely when a setter gives you the faith to hang on in there, trusting the answer will come. Thanks for this morning’s entertainment, Picarooon! Cheers also to scchua for the explication.

  37. We are so lucky! Another gem after yesterday’s superb puzzle.

    The misdirection in TOP BANANA was first class ; POSTURAL and AL JAZEERA were brilliant.

    Thanks Picaroon and scchua

  38. ronald@27 I’m pleased to say that Sir Garry, while undoubtedly great, isn’t ‘late’: still going (reasonably) strong at the age of 88.

  39. Another very good one, but I had to come here to work out whether my LOI PEDAL PUSHERS could be correct. Possibly the most inappropriate legwear to use on a bicycle, I would have thought.

  40. I know very little about cricket, but I was a student in Swansea in the late 60s and heard all about Gary Sobers’ perfect over, which happened at the St. Helens ground in Swansea. I learned to drive in all those little terraced streets around the ground, where at least one of the shots ended up.

  41. [gladys @40
    Another titbit – the bowler was Malcolm Nash, who won the prize that year for the most sixes hit in the Sunday League.]

  42. Lovely puzzle by Picaroon but I found it quite difficult and slow going, being misdirected all over the place, eg by arctic bears, the Persian Gulf, a dry batter, etc.
    New for me were the ELO rating system and ERG. I also missed the PB=lead in TOP BANANA and the parsing of TARTS UP. Thank you scchua for the explanations and for the pics. I’d swear that’s an Australian landscape in the photo of the OUTCROP. And those PEDAL PUSHERs! I remember the term from the 1960s – the tight ones but never baggy ones, which made me wonder about the definition.
    New for me also was the lovely Auden poem about INNISFREE. It was a delight to read. Somehow I knew the word but not its best known reference.
    Favourites included WASHINGTONIANS, INNISFREE, CUCKOLD, AL JAZEERA, JULEP, THERMODYNAMICS.
    Thanks to Picaroon and scchua

  44. Sarah@38…oh, gosh, careless me! But of course very glad to hear that possibly the greatest cricket allrounder of all time is still with us at such a venerable age…

  45. Sue@42. surely Yeats not Auden.
    It appears that despite a sixty-odd age gap Sir Garry Sobers is a friend and advisor to England’s latest cricket prodigy Jacob Bethell.
    Thanks to setter and blogger – this is an outstanding week so far.

  47. Great puzzle and blog, thanks to both. I’m sure I’m not the first to point out that Batman and Robin are DC characters, not Marvel.

  48. What a tour de force! The pirate on top form. Some great surfaces and tons of misdirection. Loved it and a great blog 😊

  49. Very enjoyable. ELO as related to chess is new to me, as is the expression ‘warm the bench’, but both gettable here. I always thought PEDAL PUSHERS were those trousers with a strap at the bottom of each leg which loops under the foot. Seems logical, but no-one ever accused me of sartorial expertise, so I’m happy to bow to our blogger on the matter. Thanks to him/her and setter.

  51. What a wonderful puzzle! Something for us Americans to be thankful for. And other solvers, but for us it’s Thanksgiving–happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate!

    A slow start as I couldn’t see any obvious parsings in the top corner to begin with, but arrived at ELOPE and E COLI and then AL JAZEERA and was able to circle round to everything else. Very many clever constructions; some of my favorites were TOP BANANA (great misdirection as I was trying for ages to put an L in), JULEP (great definition for JOULE), WASHINGTONIANS, AL JAZEERA, WARM THE BENCH, and UNDERGO–had to back parse that a little but I have heard of the ERG! Hadn’t heard of Garry Sobers but I’m glad to hear he’s still doing well. Nice pangram too–I imagine Picaroon doing Al Jazeera and exchequer and saying “right, that’s the hard part sorted.”

    Thanks to Picaroon and scchua! And again on Thanksgiving I’m thankful for the bloggers and community at 15^2, who have helped me so much with this hobby.

    [Lord Jim@3–I wondered about that, remembering Bertie Wooster’s horror that Roderick Spode’s Black Shorts go around in “footer bags.” “How perfectly foul,” he says.

    And I believe we sometimes call them knickers which leads to no end of confusion.]

  53. Very enjoyable. I’m familiar with the Elo system as I play a bot called Li on Chess.com on a regular basis. Speed chess. It says the Elo is 2000. Not sure how good that is for speed chess given I can beat her around 25% of the time. 25% is a draw and the rest she wins. Anyone know? I suspect it over states my abilities….

  54. muffin @42 [The unfortunate Malcolm Nash was also the bowler in the third highest scoring over. Frank Hayes took 34 off him on 1977.
    I thought it a bit unfair to describe cricket’s greatest all-rounder as just a batter.]

  58. Loved this. Rare for me to finish a crossword as tricky as this unaided, but the quality of the clueing made me persist.

  59. Like Michelle I started with just 4 solved on the first run through. That, coupled with the superb clueing made for a supremely satisfying solve.

    I also echo ArkLark@37 – Arachne yesterday and Picaroon today, how lucky we are.

    Thanks P & S for the fun and colourful parsing assistance.

  60. I had a big blank space in the SW corner, but those eight clues succumbed eventually for a surprising finish, as at one time most of this seemed impenetrable.

    The SOBER Garry was first one in – greatest cricketer of all time as an all-rounder. Made the highest Test Match score of 365 in 1958 (not exceeded for 36 years), was a great fast bowler, a more than useful spin bowler, and no slouch as a fielder too. Definitely two Rs in Garry, as Picaroon was careful to include in his economical clue.

  62. Back at ya, matt w @51. For me cryptics are more an addiction than a hobby, so today I Give Thanks to Picaroon, scchua, and 15^2 overall for saving me so many sleepless nights trying to work out a parse!

  65. This was a big DNF. I just wasn’t on the same wavelength as James on this one. I guess you can’t win them all.

  68. Steffen @67
    Honestly, I thought 1a was one of the easiest clues I’ve seen from some time. “Doing….laundry” had to be “washing”, surely?

  69. Is this a toughie or am I getting slower? I wrote in E COLI almost at once, then it took me hours to figure out what comes next…

    Once EXCHEQUER, VIZIER and JULEP (the four biggies in Scrabble) came to light, I realised we were on to a pangram – not that this helped me much!

    Anyway – we can depend on Pickers to produce too many excellent clues to rank ’em. So it’s hard to pick a fave. Perhaps TOP BANANA (lovely to get Pb=lead in there), CUCKOLD (even though the surface makes little sense), BACKCLOTH, AL JAZEERA. But this is little more than a random selection.

    The only non-parser was ELOPE – not being a chess player, I’d never heard of ELO other than the rock band. Just a write-in, although obvious enough.

    Thanks to Picaroon and scchua.

  70. Re TOP BANANA – it occurs to me that in French slang, NANA means nothing like ‘venerable lady’ – in fact rather the opposite!

  71. muffin@2
    Unfortunately I don’t know how to do links or I would post one for a brilliant poem that was written at the beginning of lockdown. It begins
    “I won’t arise and go now and go to Innisfree.
    I’ll sanitize the doorknob and make a cup of tea”.
    It’s worth googling and seeing how many other poems you can spot. My favourite is
    “About the woodland, just right now, I am not free to go
    To see the Keep Out posters and the cherry hung with snow”.

  72. Superb. Had to go away and come back again to finish this off, so clever were the misdirections. But very satisfying when all was done. Only one quibble was ‘joint’ = j, but forgivable as the rest of the clue was so neat. Thanks Picaroon and Eileen.

  73. I too only know J for joint because of the Paul Simon song, but that’s OK — it seems fine to me.

    I found this difficult and had to come here for quite a few parsings after I finished. As usual, some of the ones I failed to parse seem obvious now that I see how they work. Others depended on knowledge I just didn’t have (e.g., Garry Sobers, ERG).

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