Guardian Cryptic 29,581 by Ludwig

91 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 29,581 by Ludwig”

1. For once, I spotted the theme. And it even helped with a couple of the clues. Well done Ludwig and thank you Oriel.

2. When I read the clue for 1 down and realised that the answer couldn’t be anything to do with a man with untidy hair, I reckoned I might be in for a treat; and I was right.
   I wasn’t entirely convinced by whistled = swished, but that is a very minor cavil indeed about what I entirely agree is a superb crossword. As I know from having attempted it a few times, getting a lot of thematic references into a crossword is a difficult task, and Ludwig achieves it brilliantly.
   An excellent start to the New Year.
   Thanks to Ludwig and Oriel.

3. Thanks Ludwig and Oriel (is this your first blog? Good one if it is!)
   Great fun. Lots of inventive clues. Favourites EXPAT (though this may puzzle overseas solvers), ALSO for the misdirection, and TREE for the construction (I spent some time trying to remove RAT rather than HAS).
   I didn’t see how “thus” gave THE in 25a, and I’m still not convinced.
   Only slight quibble – the “remove the insides” from words is perhaps a touch overused.

4. I loved this too, and found it a straightforward solve, solving MILTON late, so not relying on the theme to get this.

   There were a few moments, like writing in SATAN and wondering if the linked clue would work with it, that I dithered, but it all came together when I checked at the end.

   NeilH @2 – I justified SWISHED as in the car whistled/swished past.

   Thank you to Oriel and Ludwig.

5. Ludwig has Regained any respect he may have Lost with his earlier paired puzzles. Lovely puzzle.

6. Why is 24d ETAIL “trade online”?

7. I liked the paired puzzles – so that puts me in a minority. I really liked this one too. You could almost highlight Areal as a soundslike for Ariel too

   Thanks Ludwig and Oriel

   John – to e-tail is to “electronically retail; a kinda reductive portmanteau

8. John Wells @6 – because if you Google it (or DuckDuckGo) ETAIL is an abbreviated portmanteau from e(lectronic)-(re)tail that is used.

9. Thus = then as in ‘in that case’. E-tailer is in the BRB as an online seller, so someone’s verbed it.

   Likely to be less controversial than previous efforts, I quite liked this. It was a good grid-fill whatever, though I found the ‘well done’ a little condescending. Perhaps I’m being a little oversensitive.

   Thanks window.

10. matthew newell @7
    I too enjoyed the paired puzzles much more than the general opinion!

11. Have not got on well with Ludwig in the past (although I enjoyed the TV show) but thought that I would give them another go today and am glad that I did. I’m not a fan of the linked clues, but several others were a delight, including EDEN (very neat), PARADISE, ADAM AND EVE, ASTUTE and the well-hidden TREE. Raised an eyebrow over M being substituted for the Golden Arches as McDonald’s logo. Yes, it’s also an M, but I expected something more from the clue. Thanks Ludwig and Oriel for the parsing of GUIDE DOG which eluded me. NHO “guyed” and look forward to finding out about its usage.

12. Somehow I was blind to the theme, despite solving the clues. And I missed the nina at the end as well. Of course, it’s obvious now. So I have to agree with the others that this was a virtuoso piece, even if I failed to appreciate it at the time. Held up by HELLS ANGEL and GUIDE DOG, on the former because I thought the biker would be Chris Hoy and the second because I fell for the misdirection and tried to get a B in. Thanks to Ludwig and to Oriel.

13. At last – one I can do! Had to reveal a couple of answers but at least feel that I’m not completely wasting my time on this.

14. Enjoyed this – spotted the theme about half way through – and it did help.

    (I didn’t try the first of the paired crosswords but did enjoy the second one very much.)

    Favourites included: THE FALL (FOI), ADAM AND EVE, UPS-A-DAISY, ASTUTE, MILTON

    Thanks Ludwig and Oriel

15. I did not correctly parse 4d as I thought it was GUIDE = hom of guyed/teased + D (Democrat) + O (over) + G = goal. Forgot about the own goal thing. Football, soccer and rugby not my forte 😉

    New for me: THE FALL (British band); Cockney slang ADAM AND EVE = believe.

16. The bruises from my blogging encounters with Ludwig’s previous two regular puzzles have now faded but my heart did sink when I saw that name this morning, wondering what we were in for this time.

    I needed have worried: from my first few entries, I was hooked – a theme right up my street, brilliantly executed, with excellent clues throughout. And a lovely unmissable Nina at the end.

    Lots of wit – I loved the misdirection in the clue for MILTON – 10ac UPS-A-DAISY (haven’t heard that for a long time), 20ac EXPAT, 4dn GUIDE DOGS (I always love ‘barking’ as an anagrind – today I grinned because it wasn’t), 6dn ADAM AND EVE (I’d practically forgotten DV, a star from my youth), 14dn HELLS ANGEL, 21dn PLACEMAN, 23dn ASTUTE and 24dn DETAIL.

    Huge thanks to Ludwig – I’ll look forward to the next one! – and to (lucky) Oriel.

17. I spotted the theme too late to help, and only saw the message after finishing, but I enjoyed this. Some nice clues and will pick PARADISE, TREE, SHAME and HELLS ANGEL as my ticks for today.

    Thank you to Oriel for the great blog and also to Ludwig (whoever you are)…

18. It took all the crossers to convince me that whistled=SWISHED, and AREAL and E-TAIL were new, but I enjoyed this. Didn’t really cotton on to the theme in time for it to help, until LOST pulled it all together.

19. Appropriate redemption for Ludwig whose first two offerings were not to my taste at all (eschewing moral and crossword absolutes) but not only is there nothing to complain about here, it’s was a fun linked solve where the theme helped with a couple but did not cause total collapse like some do.

    I had doubts about “organising” as an anagrind in 11ac as it does not appear to tell either the solver or the letters to rearrange themselves as, say, “organise + fodder” or “fodder + organised” would. However I then thought of it as a present participle (possibly a gerundive?) in the sense of “organising themselves”.

    Many thanks Oriel and Ludwig and happy year 45². Probably the only square number year I shall live through.

20. ‘needn’t’ have worried’, of course.

21. [Eileen @16
    I think Hugh Grant says “ups-a-daisy” to Julia Roberts in Notting Hill, when they are trying to climb into the private square garden! She says something like “nobody has said that for years”.]

22. Thanks to Ludwig, all of whose offerings I have enjoyed.
    Thanks to Oriel for the window onto some obscure (to me) parsings.
    LOI was TREE because it took me so long to separate May from Theresa.

23. I enjoyed this a lot more than the previous (rather contrived) Ludwigs and I spotted the theme too – well, for a while I had the theme simply as the Adam & Eve story but towards the end the trio of MILTON, PARADISE and LOST came into view. As to the WELL DONE nina, rather than a simple ‘congrats for finishing’ I presumed it has some deeper significance? But having not read PL I can’t be sure…

    Thanks Ludwig and Oriel.

24. Yes, there were quite a few Etonians who led Britain to choose from.

    Seems to be some disagreement on the Guardian site as to whether it should be UPS, OOPS or WHOOPS-A-DAISY. I’ve seen all of those.

25. Excellent.
    I saw there was some sort of biblical theme, but it did not help.
    Question for the experts…is ROGUE strictly necessary in 29d? Does the clue not tell you just to take the letters of HAS from THERESA, FLOUNDERING being the anagram indicator?
    The Asia Sea was a NHO.
    Thanks both…

26. Aha yes, e-retail becomes etail, naturally. Think I’ve got streaming-addle or cricket-surfeit syndrome … vaguely noticed Milton and his epic, but didn’t much bother. Enjoyed though, ta and hello to Ludwig and Oriel.

27. Already the overall message seems fairly clear; this is a Ludwig that has gone down well with solvers. I’m another who enjoyed it a lot with the theme becoming clear about a third of the way in and certainly helping to fill in the clues I had left to one side early on. A very impressive grid fill and some delightful cluing along the way. NEAP TIDES, GOD, ON THE SIDE, ADAM AND EVE, PARADISE, GUIDE DOG and ASTUTE were my bigger ticks today.

    Thanks Ludwig and Oriel

28. HIYD @25 – setters’ opinions differ but there is a school of thought in setting a subtractive anagram that if the letters you are asking the solver to remove are not in the same order as the word in the clue, one must instruct the solver to unjumble the subtracted portion – hence ‘rougue’ as the anagrind for the subtracted portion here.

29. @Jack of Few Trades – also (1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9)^2 and thus 1^3+2^3..+9^3 I am even more of a number nerd than I am a word nerd

30. Really enjoyed this – despite, unbelievably, not spotting the theme! Hadn’t heard of ETAIL nor DRACO, and failed to get the OG.

31. HIYD @25
    The Aral Sea has been in the news for several years because extraction of water for irrigation from the rivers flowing into it means that it has shrunk to a small fraction of its original size, a notorious ecological disaster. See here, for instance.

32. Was whistling in the dark for quite a while with 13ac before I inserted SWISHED last of all. Not a synonym I would have used. Didn’t know how key word MILTON was parsed, never heard of MIT for Cambridge University before. I’m a Townie rather than a Gownie here, relieved that all the work on Milton Road has finally been completed at great expense. Milton Rd leads to Milton Village to the north. Apart from those tiny quibbles, a tour de force from Ludwig today.

33. Muffin @16. As I recall, she goes on to say something like “and even then, it was only little girls in ringlets”.

    The phrase probably enjoys greater currency now (at least with the young) through the character Upsy Daisy in ‘In The Night Garden’. (My granddaughter is a great fan and has an Upsy Daisy doll.)

    Highly enjoyable puzzle – even for dullards like me who missed the theme until far too late. More like this please!

    Thanks to Ludwig and Oriel.

34. …though I will say, Oriel – and welcome, if it is indeed your first blog for us – that my grandpa attended the college of your name in Oxford, and some say that he named his daughter Auriol after his alma mater…

35. Ronald @32
    MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) is in the US Cambridge. Nice misdirection!

36. I’d frankly got a bit fed up with 15² after all the negativity about the previous Ludwig puzzles, and the Omnibus one about a month ago with all the “I hated it” and “I loathed it” comments. I don’t really think that hatred and loathing are appropriate responses to a crossword. I’m glad to see that today’s Ludwig has been much better received. I really enjoyed it and thought the theme was very well done.

    gladys @24: I think UPS-A-DAISY is what you say when helping a child up after a fall, whereas OOPS or WHOOPS-A-DAISY are comments on a mistake or accident.

    Many thanks Ludwig and Oriel.

37. A theme AND a nina- I agree with Tomsdad@12 that this was a virtuoso composition, bravo Ludwig! Re ‘whoops’ vs ‘ups’ a daisy.. this interesting site claims: “The first known printed record of any form of the term is in Clough Robinson’s The dialect of Leeds and its neighbourhood, 1862: ‘Upsa daesy! a common proclamation when a child, in play, is assisted in a spring-leap from the ground.’[…] ‘Ups-a-daisy’ is clearly also the direct source of ‘whoops-a-daisy’. This has a different meaning and is an exclamation made after a stumble or other mistake. It is usually said by the perpetrator of the error and the saying out loud is a public acknowledgement, somewhat like ‘mea culpa’. ‘Whoops-a-daisy’, and the shortened forms ‘whoops’ and ‘oops’, are all American in origin. The expression is first recorded, as ‘Whoopsie Daisy!’, in the New Yorker, in September 1925.” The plot thickens. Thank you Ludwig and Oriel!

38. …oh, gosh, the penny has dropped, the University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Really getting them in a twist this morning, what day of the week, what year are we in? Now I’m getting an insistent earworm of that Bee Gees song…😆

39. Let in an inward groan when I saw the setter’s name, like a good few of my fellow solvers I see. But all is now forgiven, dear Ludwig. Keep this up and you’ll be regarded as one of the top link setters. Missed the last-line nina until I came here, but what a bonus that was!

40. Haven’t looked through the comments yet, but this was a breeze compared to the last couple of puzzles this week. Which was a surprise given the previous fuss generated by Ludwig (I obscure the name of the setter until I’ve got a few clues in, to try and avoid preconceptions). I wonder if this is an olive branch of sorts, after all that.

    Still, and as I mentioned over on the site, it genuinely made me smile to see a reference to one of my favourite bands – THE FALL – in the answer to 25, certainly a first in my years of solving.

41. I have never read Paradise Lost or Regained although I do know the theme. Anyway, even if I had I would not have spotted it; I still don’t expect themes in crosswords unless they are in the clues.
    I enjoyed this anyway, that’s two anyways in just over a paragraph, and while I didn’t join in the general condemnation of the first two, they didn’t really gel. This one, however, was a peach, despite my ignorance.
    I think today I have to say thanks to the three of you.

42. Lord Jim @36 – yes I’d agree about UPS A DAISY vs WH/OOPS A DAISY, I think the clueing here is absolutely fair.

43. Not a fan of Cockney slang in puzzles (or in general, to be honest), but I enjoyed this, as I did Ludwig’s previous outings, aside from some quibbles about whistling and ‘then’. The theme was very obvious even to me, though I missed the Nina.

44. MIT as ‘Cambridge University’ turned up fairly recently in an earlier crossword. It stumped me first time round but made that clue a write-in this time.

45. I was another who couldn’t fathom the vitriolic comments about the previous puzzles, which I really enjoyed. This was top notch with the theme and Nina beautifully done. Was bemused by Oriel’s highlighting of DRACO in the theme, so I now know about the dragon in Revelation. I did read MILTON at uni but I found it hard work. I also tried SNAPE for SNAKE, thinking there was sub Harry Potter theme.

    Ta Ludwig & Oriel

46. [25a has LOST its italics: Autumn In New York (1949) {“…It (mis)spells the thrill of first-Knighting”}]

47. Got to admire the construction and the inclusion of the theme words. And the Nina.

    But, for me, this was too straightforward and therefore over all too quickly.

    Thanks to Ludwig and Oriel

48. Idiotically, despite spotting the (fairly obvious IMO) theme pretty early, two of my last three in were PARADISE and LOST. I was held up by the misdirection that Nirvana is grunge. Oops.

    One of these days, the Cambridge university I actually attended–the one at the other end of Mass Ave–will figure in one of these things. But I still appreciate that device.

49. The giveaway is that it’s Cambridge university. If it was one of the many constituent colleges of the UK Cambridge university, it would have said so.

50. Good puzzle (BTW I didn’t share the opprobrium loaded on Ludwig’s previous offerings). I was aware of the theme, but I didn’t use it to solve the crossword – the clues were mainly self-explanatory. Missed the Nina, of course….

    I liked ‘Cambridge University’ and the subtractive anagram for TREE, also ADAM AND EVE, ASTUTE and EDEN (with an &littish flavour).

    [mrpenney @48: Did you ever park the car in the yard?]

    Thanks to Ludwig and Oriel

51. I’d welcome a new law to the effect that if you went to Eton you are disqualified from Cabinet membership, let alone the premiership. Having looked at the long list, there were far too many disasters: with the exception of Gladstone and (possibly) Macmillan. Anyway, a fun crossword with some excellent clues. With thanks to both.

52. [Nuntius@51: I think there are two important conditions for excluding people, as I am sure that not everyone who attended South Slough College is a total numpty. So to “1) Attended Eton” let me add “2) Believes they should run the country”. In fact, (2) on its own should be a disqualifying factor for anyone…]

    [Auriga @22: Oriel…window…I see what you did there]

53. [nuntius @51: Baldwin was the last Cambridge educated PM. Of the 20 subsequent holders of the office, 14 studied at Oxford, including all the more dreadful ones…]

54. I managed a new way of messing up today–missed the enumeration in 5d and confidently typed in HOUSES, as in “I housed Dylan’s burger.” That held me up in the NW (I’d say “whoopsie-daisy” myself) and somehow I talked myself out of Milton even though I spotted the theme from the beginning. Anyway, lovely puzzle and charming Nina which of course I missed. Thanks Ludwig and Oriel!

55. Enjoyed this, though I totally missed both the theme and the Nina. Thanks, Ludwig and Oriel.

56. Thought this was a very good puzzle with a very impressive number of linked answers AND a Nina earning it a gold star from me.

    That it was created by Ludwig (whose previous puzzles I thoroughly disliked) made it an especially pleasant surprise.

57. The definitive quote is: A gentleman would have said ups a daisy and not just groped. Said by Eth to Ron.

58. I absolutely loved this. It was fun to tease out each answer.
    I found Ludwigs previous crosswords fun and refreshing, and now Ludwig is my favourite Guardian setter. I like the clue constructions, particularly HELLS ANGEL.
    I even spotted the theme (though not the Nina). I’m in awe of all those theme entries and Nina, and yet not contrived. What a clever setter.

59. Enjoyed the puzzle, missed the theme except for the cross-linked clues.

    Only minor quibletissimo is that TUT (23d) is surely showing disapproval rather than having the sentiment (disapprove). But nobody else has mentioned it so it’s probably close enough.

60. I enjoyed attempting the previous Ludwig puzzles and this one too. Got the theme straight away (a first for me) and then solved all the linked clues plus a few more – including of course 8dn. Main reason for coming here was to see what on earth the apostrophe was doing in 4dn. Was the editor asleep? Now I know!

61. Superb offering. Hasn’t anyone else spotted the Paradise Lost quotation after Lucifer regained his composure:’ ups a daisy’ ?

62. [Gervase@50: no–parking anywhere near Harvard Square, let alone the Yard, is basically impossible. I learned, the one term when I had a car, that the student parking lot is across the river in Allston.]

63. I was congratulating myself for spotting the theme (for once!) and even using it to help solve a couple of the later clues…. until I came on here and discovered the theme wasn’t just the story of Adam and Eve, it was Paradise Lost…oops! Really enjoyed this, despite being a bit too easy, and loved the “Well Done” nina at the end too. All in all, this was quite a change from Ludwig’s previous outings.

64. This was my first experience of Ludwig’s work, and I must say that I am an instant convert. Lovely theme, great misdirections, excellent surfaces and ingenuity and wit aplenty. I put it up there with the best of Picaroon and Paul. I liked the mini themed music clues with Nirvana, Adam Ant, and The Fall rubbing shoulders with (here’s to his memory) Dickie Valentine, not only a fine crooner in his day but an accurate and funny impersonator of other singers.
    The theme reminded me of an Araucaria puzzle around Christmas many years ago, based upon Milton’s shorter poems in which one of the solutions was Ode on the Morning of Christ’s Nativity. Somehow the Master made it all very accessible.
    Hello to Tom Hutton @57 and thanks for the Eth to Ron quote. I hope there is a compendium somewhere on the internet of these weekly gems of wit and wisdom from Muir and Norden, and it’s good to be reminded of them.
    Many thanks to Ludwig. I wasn’t sold on the TV series, but he is a great new find, as is Oriel.
    I’m off now to seek out more of Eth’s ways of keeping Ron in order from an age when couples did their courting in their parents’ front room. An age to which we appear to be fast returning

65. Completely missed the theme, partly from never having read any Milton and partly from being distracted by seeing the world’s greatest rock and roll band in at 25. I found the parsing of the THE part to be as inpenetrable as Mark E Smith’s lyrics though, so thank you Oriel for that.

    Happy New Year to all.

66. Enjoyed that and had only today read a Guardian review of a new book on Paradise Lost.
    Having said that, before I noticed the theme my first thought for the biker was BARRY SHEEN.

67. me penny @62 – I believe Gervase is referring to the prototypical phrase of the Boston accent, where you “pawk your caw in Hawvard Yawd”. It is one of the few non-rhotic accents in the US.

68. Marvellous crossword and wonderful to see so many Fall fans on here. Thanks Ludwig and Oriel

69. Ludwig is refenestrated.
    Well done L and O.

70. Kandy@68: I think there must be some overlap in the brain quirks required to appreciate The Fall and cryptic crosswords 🙂

71. Nice to get one, after failing yesterday and the day before. Spotted the theme without using it. I do like to make life hard for myself …

72. Fiery Jack@70: years of trying to work out what Mark E. was on about is probably a good grounding for cryptics

73. I’m beginning to think that most crossword compilers are very thin, or small. Shirt sizes here go up to 6XL. That’s “enormous”. I take XL, as it happens, which is pretty normal, especially for certain imported shirts that are often smaller than they claim to be.

74. That’s the second Fall reference I’ve noticed if you include Bend Sinister from a few weeks ago.

75. Pleasing to see yet another reference to The Fall. Although lead singer Mark E Smith did his best to antagonise ‘socialist’ Guardian readers, Guardian readers remained among The Fall’s most devoted listeners.

76. Nice to see a HELLS ANGEL in a grid. Very inclusive. And along with other baddies like DRACO and SATAN and EXPAT?

77. Thoroughly enjoyed this. Didn’t get the theme till after Milton and Paradise, when the problematic 3d became evident as LOST. Like others, unconvinced by LOI swished, but overall a delightful solve. Loved EXPAT, GUIDE DOG, UPS-A-DAISY and many others. Many thanks to Ludwig and Oriel.

78. Only lightly entertained but thanks both. I recently undertook to read Paradise Lost and was astonished at how engaging and graphic it was (until I put it down somewhere) – it would make a great film.

    Don’t understand why Ludwig re-appears with no TV show attendant. While that may remove the basis of the offence taken at a previous offering nothing seems to be gained. An effort at dilution perhaps? I could care less but the moniker ‘Ludwig’ will remain associated with a marketing ploy, and this feels a bit like product placement. But it’s a free (yet I do contribute) and welcome entertainment so I can survive an amount of my attention being mis-appropriated.

79. Very enjoyable.

80. Eileen@16
    I’m sure you know really that, no matter how lovely it is, some of us can be relied upon to miss a Nina.

81. Pino @80
    Me too, usually. 🙁

82. Brilliant crossword. For the first time ever when solving a) I saw the theme early, b) it helped me solve clues and c) I even saw the Nina! I mis-parsed 1 though, as usual I missed the read through and thought it was an excellently awful pun on the Suez Crisis when Britain was ‘de-Niled’.
    Thanks to Ludwig & Oriel.

83. @19 and @29

    Would I be stating the obvious to point out that it’s also, rather appropriately, 15^2 x 3^2

84. Kandy@72: very accurate, and the best laugh I’ve had in a long time, thanks!

85. Yes, entertaining, but with some UK quirks to slow us down. We knew the postman, but PLACEMAN was a new one. And it’s ironic that notably quiet guide dogs (except in emergencies) should be described as barking.

86. Pure magic
    Thinking of magic, “Upsadaisy” is a character in the Derek Jacobi narrated “In the night garden”
    I almost regret my grandchildren’s growing up as I miss watching that classic

87. Great fun despite only parsing 39% thus far, predominantly in top right of grid but chuffed at that as am newbie. Love the mix of clueing types, themes and cultural references in Ludwig’s puzzles as well as a sense of mischief.

88. I wonder what Roz would say about this puzzle? Perhaps “Themes are the work of the devil.” 😉

    Thanks, Ludwig and Oriel, for the bit of fun on the side. Well done.

89. Very enjoyable clueing and a theme obvious enough even for me! I enjoyed imagining GUIDE DOG into the thematic scene too. Didn’t spot the WELL DONE, so I guess I didn’t earn it.

90. I can’t help thinking that the Nina is the compiler’s (compilers’?) own comment on the puzzle, given the clear message some commenters (not me, I hasten to add – I reserved my judgement!) imparted on the previous two … that they weren’t well done…

    Well this one was assuredly ….. well done!

91. Things I must remember:

    – Cambridge University is usually MIT (which I did eventually get)

    – When I’m stuck on the last two clues, check the grid for themes/ninas/pangrams, in case they help. I did make the connection with MILTON, PARADISE, LOST, but I neglected to look further. If I had, the obvious theme might have helped with SNAKE (which I should have seen anyway), which might have then let to AREAL and a completed grid…

    …However, at 21d, for undeserving official, I had PLACEMAT, with an imagined on/at equivalence

    My next completed solve is proving elusive!

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