Guardian Cryptic 29,590 by Vulcan

72 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 29,590 by Vulcan”

1. I couldn’t parse 8down. Of course, if the clue had read: “Cockney says ‘e keeps out of sight…”

2. loonapick has summed up my feelings entirely. Must be difficult for Vulcan/Imogen to keep up his split personality, but he manages it majestically. Liked the surface of 18 and the anagram of 16. Thanks to Vulcan and loonapick.

3. Nice and gentle as per and always lovely to see a nod to my local river in 21d. Super anagrams for GRENADIER and OWNERSHIP. Clever to get in the four longer phrases across and down the grid. Even that apparently simple thing is quite tricky to manage.

   Thanks Vulcan and loonapick

4. I found this easier than yesterday’s Quiptic for what that’s worth, the answers positively flowed in. Loved the anagram for 16. But does anyone else have issues with the use of ‘current’ and ‘wind’ as synonyms in 23, my LOI? And yes, they may be so in Chambers (I haven’t looked) but that doesn’t make it right!
   Thanks to Vulcan & loonapick

5. PostMark @21, was my local river too growing up, as a Shrewsbury boy, so the answer went in real quick!

6. It took all the crossers to spot LATCHKEY, my last one in, but I find cryptic clues like that for me – either rarely straight in or ages to work out (and with that one, still not convinced until I did a check all to make sure I’d completed it correctly – a habit from blogging).

   I’d agree, more straightforward than yesterday’s Quiptic.

   Thank you to loonapick and Vulcan.

7. Graham @4: Chambers actually uses one to define the other. Wind is given as A current of air

8. PostMark@7, I guess I’ll just put it down to deliberate misdirection then… 🙂

9. Never heard of Buchan. There were too many in Wikipedia for me to wade through to find the writer of adventures, so I just assumed I had it right.

   Didn’t think much of the clue for WIND.

   All else fell into place and provided an enjoyable experience.

10. Thanks Vulcan and loonapick
    Very nice. Lots to like; favourite bit the “pullover” in GUARD. I’ve not seen “disputed” as an anagrind before, and am not totally convinced.
    Why is WIND a “problem for baby”? I had too much cabbage last night….
    GDU @9 – you must have kept your head down never to have come across “The thirty nine steps”.

11. How many babies have you had muffin @10. Adults at least know how to deal with it (fart). If you don’t know you scream and cry for someone else to help. 😉

12. Thanks Vulcan and loonapick

    Great Monday morning fare. Wind and Ides the weakest – and they were both quite acceptable. Some lovely anagrams and I have to applaud such a smooth surface as Through

13. Couldn’t have put it better than loonapick did. A lovely crossword for beginners to feel good about and move to the next step.

    LOI was LATCHKEY. The crossers led me to laughter and I did my best to shoehorn this in until the goat butted in.

    A delight, many thanks, Vulcan.

14. Enjoyable puzzle, neither too easy nor too difficult.

    Favourite: GUARD.

    I couldn’t parse 8d apart from IDES = a day in Rome.

15. Short but sweet. Top ticks for GUARD, WAVERER & PARALYMPIC GAMES

    I would be delighted if my sinuses were empty 🙂

    Cheers L&V

16. Tim C @11
    You obviously have a more relaxed attitude to farting in company!

17. [Bodycheetah @15 – I’m with you on the sinuses!]

18. Nice and gentle with a few linked clues across and down. GRENADIER GUARD, THROUGH VIEWERS, STATE OWNERSHIP, HIGH COMMISSION and PREVAILING WIND. PARALYMPIC GAMES was a great spot for the surface, I remember the ‘magic spray’ when playing football.

    Ta Vulcan & loonapick.

19. Someone on the Guardian site has pointed out a number of contiguous answers that could be read together – 9,10, for instance (there are more).

20. Thanks both for this crossword and explanation. They made me feel more confident in completing a cryptic. I needed the blog to appreciate the finer points, for example gard/drag or e.g. for ‘say’

21. It’s some super-power to be able to switch between Jekyll & Hyde at will, but Vulcan has it.
    Today’s puzzle was a new personal best time for me, so obviously I think it’s blooming wonderful!
    But I started with OVERALL in at 11(ac), so nothing to be smug about.
    Re John Buchan, and my favourite book as a kid ( 39 Steps), [ muffin@10]; I always thought that Ian Fleming nicked a bit of Richard Hannay when inventing James Bond, and a bit of Buchan’s style.

22. muffin@19 PREVAILING WIND, HIGH COMMISSION. Any more?

23. Muffin @16, the older I get, the less I care…. 😉

24. LOi, as Shanne@6 and William@13, needing all the crossers, the 17d LATCHKEY kids.
    Liked 10a for the GUARD’s symmetrical Playtex pullover (© Roz – [Nice to have you back]), and the W+A+V+ER+ER at 23a.
    Also liked 23d WIND and 8d ‘IDES [Note that GeneratePress insists on getting the apostrophe the wrong way round.]

25. Crossbar @22 I’ve listed them at 18, directly above muffin’s comment, although THROUGH VIEWERS is probably a stretch.

26. Who is “© Roz” FrankieG @24?

27. I get all that’s been said about this type of puzzle but I don’t think 21A helps new solvers. Circling letters isn’t the same as reversing them, and who thinks of any part of the body as an empty space?

28. Colm@1: I did solve it, but with a frown. The elision of the initial H is highly uncommon around here. In other respects I thought this a rather better Vulcan than usual, with smoother surfaces than we sometimes get.

29. I enjoyed the themed answers ( is that the correct terminology?) GRENADIER GUARD , HIGH COMMISSION but wondered if BAD EGG MONARCHY was also one?

30. What about STATE OWNERSHIP?

    A fine puzzle for an easy Monday.

    Thanks Vulcan and loonapick

31. AlanC @18 had already pointed out the linked entries. Yes, LATCHKEY was a good cd but I needed some crossers to see it (did anyone solve it straight off?). I liked the good anagram for GRENADIER, the GUARD’s pullover, and PREVAILING, where there wasn’t an S in sight. I failed to see the ‘commonly’ ‘IDES.

    Thanks Vulcan and loonapick.

32. Postmark @3 Thank you for highlighting the linked entries, I had completely missed that.

    Kudos to Vulcan for a very Monday puzzle with some excellent surfaces, and thanks to loonapick for the blog.

33. Tim C@26, see here.

34. Is HEAR = TRY in the sense of a court case? Bit of a stretch…

35. Ricardo@34: it is, and it comes up pretty often, so much so that it’s my go-to translation when I see try/tries.

36. Must have been having a rough morning, as I actually found this pretty typical Monday fare, rather than being especially straightforward. Not helped by initially putting in CURLING UP, rather than COILING UP which meant I spent some time struggling with 5d. Also I don’t recall seeing REV for Priest before, in my mind they were two different things, so that’s something new learned today, and thanks to loonapick for parsing that one. LOI was HEAR HEAR, I agree with Ricardo @34 that the definition was a bit of a stretch (in this format).

37. Gentle indeed, but none the worse for that. I thought GARD for pullover was very elegant!
    IDES may be common in English, but it wasn’t in Latin – only once a month. Also tickled me that it’s an anagram of ‘dies’, or a day in Rome (Latin).

38. Bodycheetah@15: yes, empty sinuses are a blessing we don’t know we have – until we haven’t.

    LATCHKEY was my last in – and I was a “latchkey kid” back in the days when such children of working mothers were cited in all the papers as a serious social menace. Luckily I failed to become a juvenile delinquent, as predicted.

    Whitedevil @37: I considered DIES as a possible solution.

39. For me, a little trickier than for other solvers, probably because I’m on the other side of the pond. Not familiar with Railwayman = GUARD, and I don’t associate “commonly” with Cockney pronunciation. Also couldn’t come up with the SEVERN River, though the clue made it fairly clear — I’ll remember “N” as an abbreviation for noon for next time. CANUTE was one I did know, thanks to a very thorough history class I took over 40 years ago.

40. muffin@19: STATE OWNERSHIP is another pair.

41. Perfect for a Monday. Thought it was a bit tougher than Vulcan’s usual standard but I did have a late night yesterday.

    IDES, WIND and HEAR HEAR I didn’t fully comprehend and relied on the definitions and crossers so thanks for the blog Loonapick.

    I do think Vulcan is the next step up from Quiptic. Fun and challenging but not in an obscure word or convoluted clue kind of way.

42. Lovely to have a proper Monday puzzle again: Yorkshire Lass and I were beginning to wonder if we were going a bit ‘Flowers for Algernon’, so this has restored us.

    Thought the clue for LATCHKEY was quite excellent, and STATE raised a smile; seems a long time ago that one heard of people ‘being in a bit of a state’ – Frankie Howerd era maybe.

    Thanks to Vulcan for an excellent puzzle, and to loonapick for a clear and helpful blog.

43. Thanks Vulcan and loonapick

    Nakamova @ 39 ‘commonly’ doesn’t specifically refer to Cockney. It’s that historically people who thought themselves ‘upper class’ would always pronounce their Hs, while ‘common’ people wouldn’t.

44. Simon S @43
    I can’t remember whether the chauffeur in “Man and Superman”, Henry Straker, insists on ‘Enry or Henery! I know both were used, but which did he prefer?

45. Vulcan on a Monday makes my day, like Rufus used to do in the old days.

46. WhiteDevil@37 & Gladys @38 I actually wrote in DIES at first, before realising it didn’t fit the definition.

47. I also got briefly delayed by thinking the king at 3d was CNUT. ( I typed that very carefully.)

48. Zoot @47
    I nearly posted earlier that, although we all learned about Canute at school, it is now more correct to refer to him as Cnut. (Boudicca replacing the Boadicea that also we all learned about seems to have been a historic spelling mistake about the former!)

49. Good fun, though slower going than some Vulcan Mondays.
    VIEWERS was my favourite.
    LATCHKEY was last in.

50. Enjoyed this puzzle.
    Helped by namesake Severn River in Maryland.
    Sinuses are literally open spaces whether in the nose or in the heart.
    I’m told the story of Cnut commanding the tides to stop was an example of him telling his nobles to stop asking him to do the impossible (meet their every demand) rather than of him being stupidly arrogant

51. [Fellow sinus sufferers may find sinus irrigation with isotonic saline, such as NeilMed, helpful. Suggested by my ENT consultant as an alternative to prescription nasal sprays, but available OTC in the UK. Checking with your GP etc probably advisable before use, as with any medical suggestions on the net.]

52. muffin@48 [ It seems that ‘Boudica’ (sic) may just be an honorific meaning victorious, so perhaps we don’t know her real name. It was Tacitus who added the extra c.]

53. [Zoot @52
    Yes, thanks for that. This is an interesting article, especially about her name.]

54. Agree with the blog – superior Monday fare typical of the setter. Favourites were WAVERER and the lovely anagram spot for GRENADIER.

55. Just adding to the praise for this, excellent Monday fare. WIND somehow felt a bit nondescript, but the rest of it was very enjoyable.

56. [Good advice TimSee@51 but for anyone venturing out into the world after taking it, might I recommend a good shake of the head first – preferably inverted. Or you might end up like me – signing in at a client’s office and depositing a deluge of salinated sinus water on the guest book!]

57. A lovely solve although it took me quite a while. I really liked the four paired clues and was very pleased to notice them, although not in time to help solving anything. I wonder if anyone did get additional help from them?

    Lots of great anagrams too which others have mentioned already

    My favourite today was GUARD – I shall definitely remember “pullover” for the future.

    Many thanks to loonapick and Vulcan for a good start to the week.

58. Pauline@57, I suggest that rather than memorising pullover in particular (where even there “pull” could have as easily been “jerk” as “drag”) you instead increasingly be on the lookout for anything at all that could be a playtex/”lift-and-separate”. This device is definitely on the Libertarian side of the cryptic spectrum (such as in The Guardian), but where it can be found it will be found.

    Just the other day here on this site I was drawn into a blog post for an FT puzzle where even “unsplittable” words such as “spawn” could be cryptically divided as “s”:”pawn” with the reader expected to ‘translate’ pawn while leaving the ‘s’ alone… To me, that is an advanced device, but I’m slowly getting used to being on the lookout for two-part words such as pullover, to the point that when there’s anything so anything so obvious as a hyphenated word such as “ill-disguised” I don’t even ‘see’ the hyphen any more! [90% chance of that one translating to “lil” or similar!]

59. Agree with Frogman@45 – I so enjoy seeing Vulcan’s name, knowing I’m in for a classy, fair and relatively (I don’t know the feeling of a write-in!) straightforward challenge. Thank you V and L.

60. Thanks both for the entertainment (and enlightenment) and busy times means I’m not about this parish as much as heretofore so adopting a Bambi approach for the most part….but.

    LATCHKEY is not (imho) a cryptic clue. The surface can have no other meaning than the answer to the clue and there is no element of crypsis involved (that I can see). Surprised that no other commentator has questioned it. Isn’t it just a straightforward definition?

    Ah me, when one considers that a crossword such as this requires grid-filling and then setting of 29 clues it’s unfair to carp/cavel/prate about minutiae but there you have it – I like my cryptics to be cryptic (otherwise I get confused (and that’s starting from a fairly low plateau)).

61. Alphalpha@60, the misdirection for me at least was children having to admit/own up to misdeeds. It was LOI for Shanne@6, William@13, FrankieG@24, Gladys @38 and Woody@49, I think your plateau is higher than you’re admitting to 😊

62. Alphalpha @57 – a lot of the time when a setter uses the ‘pure cryptic’ device one or more solvers will find it to be a ‘barely cryptic’ / write-in answer while others remain baffled – it’s one of the hardest clue types to pull off well. You can’t arrive at the answer by parsing fragments of wordplay, or by identifying chunks of letters in plain sight – the only help you get it crossers. And you either get it or you don’t! So it’s fairly common that this type of clue gets a polarised response.

63. Adrian@61: Your observations show great generosity of spirit iimss.

64. Adrian@61: you can add me to that list of “last ones in” for LATCHKEY. Proud to join such a distinguished group of solvers. 🙂

    And Alphalpha@60: yes, “the surface can have no other meaning than the answer to the clue” but only once you have decided with certainty that there is no wordplay. The nature of pure cryptic clues is that they are not a straightforward definition – imagine if Chambers wrote “it may produce a child’s admission” as a definition; they would lose all credibility.

    And as Rob@62 says, you either get it or you don’t. Maybe some people’s minds are better at unpicking them than others, but perhaps the people who struggle are those that try to ignore the surface and look for a straightish definition and bits of wordplay to help pick the lock that is the clue.

65. I’m no doctor but for all you sinus sufferers (like me) I do recommend a Rhino Horn. Total washout (in a good way).

66. LATCHKEY wasn’t my LOI, but very close to it. I got stuck on the misdirection. As a Shropshire lad I was pleased to see the Severn (I remembered the “flower/to flow” trick later than I’d care to admit though). Also liked seeing Buchan – while I’m impartial to The 39 Steps, Greenmantle is one of my favourite books.

    Found this harder than usual for a Monday Vulcan, but I did do this while on the train home after a few cocktails, which probably didn’t help.

    “Commonly” to drop the H is a new one for me.

    Thanks loonapick and Vulcan

67. [ John BUCHAN (20d) was an easy clue for me, as he was not only a famous author but also the Governor-General of Canada. He created the GG literary awards, which are still given out each year. He died in office in 1940. His state funeral was held here in Ottawa, at St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church (where, a mere 8 years later, I was baptized). ]

    Thanks, Vulcan and loonapick, for the excellent puzzle and blog, and for prompting a pleasant wallow in the past.

68. I would say “two tries” is a little unfair for 2 down. Yes, ‘to try’ and ‘to hear’ are synonyms as verbs, but a hearing in court is a trial, not a try, and “two tries” con only be a plural noun.

69. Davio@68, think of it as items of wordplay. “Two tries” = “The word ‘try’ twice” = “try + try” = HEAR + HEAR.

    Or “two tries” = “two hears” = HEAR + HEAR

70. Cellomaniac@67 thanks for the background on John Buchan. Always good to see the occasional Canadian reference, especially if it isn’t a province or city!

71. Completed this one fairly handily, including LATCHKEY, which others struggled with

    LOI was WIND because I mistakenly had HAVERER at 23a (“hesitant couple of expressions” = HAVER + ER). Then I remembered to check for a theme, and wonder of wonders, it worked! I saw the linked entries, and saw PREVAILING _, which led to WIND, and the correction of WAVERER

    Delightful puzzle!

72. Me@68, hmmm, further, I wonder if Vulcan could even have just had “Tries: I liked that”, where “tries” = “hears” = HEAR + HEAR? Might have resulted in complaints I suppose…

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