Guardian 29,605 – Picaroon

106 comments on “Guardian 29,605 – Picaroon”

1. This is the first Picaroon I have actually enjoyed – just as he leaves.

   Thanks Andrew and Picaroon

2. We don’t, as far as I know, use “lamp” for “punch”, but I’m getting used to seeing it in Crossword Land. Never heard of SATS exams — is that a UK thing? Never heard of “toke”. I enjoyed DEFLATE, which I’d never have got if I wasn’t a (retired) muso.

   I almost got teary-eyed when I did Picaroon’s recent quiptic, as I thought it was his swansong, but I was pleasantly surprised to encounter his puzzle today.

3. That makes two Italian poets I’ve never heard of .. che cosa terribile! But no, as you say Andrew, enjoyable as always from the pirate, he’ll be sadly missed from the setter pantheon. Thanks to him for the years of pleasure.

4. As our blogger says, smooth and witty.
   Nice placement of THOUGHT POLICE and STASIS.

   I dare say all of us solvers have a setter we might like to see a little less of.
   For me, the exact opposite applies to Picaroon.

   Tata and good luck, Mr P, and ta, too, Andrew

5. Liked THOUGHT POLICE, PUPIL and FEUDS.
   DEFLATE: Liked it before reading the blog. Andrew raises a technical issue in the blog. Now I am not sure If the wordplay is correct.
   Thanks Andrew and Picaroon.

6. GDU @2, SAT is an abbreviation for “Standard Assessment Task”. If you haven’t hear of a “toke” for a drag on a ciggy (especially a ‘funny’ one), you must have led a sheltered life.

7. Mini-theme: REFERENDA EXITED UNION LONELIEST and the surface of BULLET TRAINS.

8. ‘A smooth and witty set of clues’ indeed: Picaroon on top form, with a reminder – as if one were needed – of why he will be missed.

   The usual string of ticks from me, beginning with 1ac JUST SO, which was a brilliant start, followed by 9ac CONFITURE, for the ‘lift and separate’ traffic jam, 13,15 THOUGHT POLICE (super anagram), 22ac REFERENDA (characteristically apt surface, 4dn DREAM UP ) another ‘l and s’ in wrapping paper, 8,19 BULLET TRAINS for construction and surface and 16dn LONELIEST, for the use of one of my favourite anagram indicators ( to name but a few 😉 )

   Re the semitones in 4ac, I found this: https://www.musicianauthority.com/is-e-flat-the-same-as-d-sharp/ – which may help (or not).

   Huge thanks to Picaroon for this one and for all the others and to lucky Andrew.

9. 8,19 why are ‘;Europeans’ LETT?

10. Thanks Picaroon and Andrew

    Found this tough going – but all fair. Like deflate and thought police. But – Andrew is correct on Deflate – it’s three notes but only two intervals

11. Priscilla McHugh@9
    LETT is a Latvian

12. @priscilla

    Lett /let/
    noun
    A member of a people inhabiting Lett’land (now Latvia)
    A native or citizen of Latvia
    ORIGIN: Ger Lette, from Lettish latvis (now latvietis)

13. Thanks (and farewell?) Picaroon, and Andrew
    Mostly straightforward, though I didn’t parse GROUND STROKE. Favourite EXITED, for the neat link to RANDY.
    I agree about the semitones – they are intervals rather than notes.

14. Referenda versus referendums is not straightforward: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/ps-political-science-and-politics/article/referendum-conundrum-referenda-or-referendums/FF2D4AAE426D7FCB68FE0056A1D4C78E.
    Perhaps we should put it to a vote.

15. Enjoyed the puzzle. Liked OUT OF LINE and the link between RANDY and EXITED. Thanks.

16. A surprisingly quick finish for me, but that’s not any sort of boast as so much of it was unparsed. Quite a bit of it filled in from definitions and crossers. Satisfying and enjoyable though, but with much head scratching.

    LETT is new to me. I don’t think I’ve ever known MINCE PIES as rhyming slang either, but it was clearly implicit in the clueing.

    Can anyone explain why H = aspiration? Thanks in advance…

    [oh and I’ll add agreement: three notes, two semitones/intervals for DEFLATE]

17. I think the concern about 4A is that a semitone is not a note but the interval between two notes. So between 3 notes, such as D, E flat and E, there are only two semitones. On the other hand, the clue is much more accessible as written, and one can readily see what is meant, so I think pedantic accuracy can take a back sear here.

18. What a pleasant surprise to see another Picaroon! It’s a pity if DEFLATE isn’t quite right, as I thought it was very clever. Eileen has already listed my favourites.

19. scraggs@16
    THOUGHT POLICE
    …because the letter H is an aspirated one.

20. Favourite: SPILLAGES.

    New for me: poet TASSO, Torquato.

    I could not parse 4ac – apart from thinking of LA TE = two notes. Ah, of course very clever!

    New for me: mince pies = eyes (for 28ac); VALANCE (for 6d); LAMP = hit/punch; JACK = a small white ball in bowls.

    Thanks, both.

21. Best wishes to Mr P and thanks to Andrew. Having led a sheltered life, I had to have a think about ‘toke’ = ‘drag’.

22. Loved it. Thanks to those pointing out the error in note versus interval, which I overlooked, but otherwise I thought this full of witty surfaces and clever clues without being too clever. In fact I got most of the across clues on first pass so it can’t have been overly challenging.

    Scraggs@16: In phonetics, “h” is an aspirated sound, made by an outward breath when between vowels e.g. “behave”. Hence it is known as an aspiration.

23. Sagittarius @17
    I don’t think that it is being pedantic to point out that the clue is simply wrong!

24. Thanks KVa @19 and Jack of Few Trades @22.

25. Guardian and Observer style guide: R – “referendum – plural referendums, not referenda”…

26. …oed.com: “Notes The plural forms referendums and referenda are both found; in the early 21st cent. usage is fairly evenly divided between the two, as it was also in the late 20th cent. The form referenda is by analogy with memoranda, agenda, etc., and more generally with plurals in ‑a of Latin-derived words with singular in ‑um. This form is sometimes deprecated in usage guides, etc., on the grounds that a Latin plural gerundive referenda, meaning ‘things to be referred’, would necessarily connote a plurality of issues, but this view is unlikely to affect actual usage.”

27. @scraggs ‘h’ is an aspirated consonant, i.e. one formed with a burst of (voiceless) exhalation: an ‘aspiration’. Ref. phonetics.

28. Muffin@23: on the contrary, I think that’s exactly what it is! For me, Pedantry means being correct, but in a context where it doesn’t matter or is positively unhelpful, and on this occasion I think the clue would be harder to solve if it read “two consecutive semitones“, because we just don’t think like that (at least, I don’t). Can you honestly say that you would have said “Ah, of course”, if confronted by a two semitone clue?

29. I agree that a semitone is an interval and so the clue for deflate is technically wrong but personally it’s still my favourite clue.

    Out of curiosity I googled “how many semitones in an octave” and the first result was Merriam-Webster, which contradicted itself by saying a semitone is “the distance from a white key to a neighboring black key on the piano keyboard” (to my mind that is about 1mm), but going on to say “In an octave (from G to the next G above, for instance), there are twelve semitones”.

30. [KVa@19 “the letter H is an aspirated one”- yes, if you’re a Cockney: HAITCH.]

31. Couldn’t get any on my first pass, but gradually it came together with some wonderful clues. RH corner last but several d’oh moments when I finally got them. Many thanks to Picaroon, I will miss your contributions and hope the new job is on a higher pay grade! And thanks Andrew for the parsing, I got several from the crossers but then had a few more d’oh moments when all was made clear!

32. Sagitarrius @28 I would have even more of a problem if the definition was “two consecutive semitones” because the solution is a list of three notes not two intervals.
    Perhaps “Three consecutive notes” would have made the clue too easy, but that’s hard to judge after solving.

33. Fun puzzle from the Pirate, with the usual imaginative wording to produce good surfaces. Pity about DEFLATE, which is such a clever construction, but I liked it nevertheless.

    I also liked REFERENDA, THOUGHT POLICE and the small but perfectly formed JUST SO and LET GO. Good to see Lorraine instead of the usual Nancy.

    Italian poets have been getting an airing – we also had ARIOS(T)O recently. I look forward to seeing Salvatore QUASIMODO (Nobel Prize for Literature 1959) 🙂

    Thanks to Picaroon (arrivederci?) and Andrew

34. [FrankieG@30
    😊]

35. ravenrider @32: ‘… three consecutive notes’ would at least be capable of different interpretations. ‘Semitones’ pointed us very clearly in a musical direction.

36. I didn’t realise Picaroon was leaving the Guardian and I’m sorry to hear it. He has become one of my favourite setters.

37. [Ravenrider @32: Could you explain why there is a contradiction in “an octave is 12 semitones”? That seems to me to be exactly right. I think some of the confusion here may be what is sometimes called a “fences and fencepost” problem e.g. how many fenceposts are needed to support n fence panels (answer n+1) – it depends on whether you are counting points or intervals.]

38. As a former professional pedant, I find myself in agreement with the comments on REFERENDA and semitones/intervals. I’d also point out that dough isn’t a baking ingredient so much as a mixture of baking ingredients. BUT, even for the pros there comes a point of judgment rather than an attempt to enforce rules, where you have to let pedantry go and be guided by usage, to ask what sense would the person on the Clapham omnibus/Fifteensquared make of it?
    Having got that off my chest, huge gratitude and admiration to Picaroon for giving us so much enjoyment (and so much to quibble over) – you will be very much missed in this household. And thanks also, of course, to Andrew for ever-expert parsing.

39. Can I ask a silly question please? Why does being the crossword editor of the Telegraph preclude Picaroon ( and his alter ego Buccaneer in the FT) from writing crosswords for the Guardian?

40. Jack of Few Trades @37 The contradiction is that in the example given, G-G, there are 12 notes but only 11 intervals.

41. GDU@2 Maybe you’ve heard The Joker, a Seventies hit for the Steve Miller Band? “I’m a joker, I’m a smoker, I’m a midnight toker”

42. I shall miss the air of anticipation which comes when seeing that Picaroon is the setter. I wish him well, but I’m not giving any of my cash to the Telegraph.

43. Shirley @39 – without knowing anything about the detail, then in principle one thing probably doesn’t preclude the other. But I’m guessing that in practice it would just be easier to focus on the new role in itself, at least for a while.

44. I think 4a does really need to be “notes” rather than “semitones”, as the interval doesn’t define the note.

45. Others above have already discussed the merits and demerits (if indeed there can ever be demerits in a Picaroon puzzle) of this particular offering so I will only say how sad I am that we shall now be deprived of such a talent in setting so soon after losing my other top favourite setter to the Times.
    At least I hope that The Telegraph does not have such a restrictive policy so as to prevent Robyn from contributing at least to his own paper.
    In the meantime, Thank you Picaroon Buccaneer Rodriguez and Robyn for all the joyous entertainment.

46. Enjoyable: I liked the Blair’s enforcers clue

47. A bit late to the party this morning, but it’s a shame that the inexactitude in the clue for DEFLATE has caused a fuss. Technically yes, it’s 3 notes with a semitone interval between each, but I know that in my case the word semitone immediately made me think of the ‘black notes’ so helped to the solution (with enjoyment and appreciation). ‘Three notes’ would have made the clue tougher. I knew that REFERENDA would provoke comments, however.
    Found myself very much on the setter’s wavelength this morning. LONELIEST being LOI. Thanks to Picaroon and Andrew.

48. Simply brilliant. Haven’t time for pedantry in crosswords, it’s for fun. JUST SO, DEFLATE, THOUGHT POLICE and GROUND STROKE, they don’t get any better. Will be sorely missed.

    Ta Picaroon & Andrew.

49. As always with Picaroon, a well-crafted puzzle to chew on. Thank you to Andrew for the blog.

    The announcement that Picaroon is taking up the Deputy Editor job at the Daily Telegraph was here, on 17th January, part way down the comments. When other setters have taken on roles as crossword editors, they have stopped setting for other publications, but part of their role seems to include setting for their own organ. (The same comments were made when Jack, in the Guardian, took up the Times crossword editor role.)

50. Great puzzle. Am I the only one who missed the Eric Blair reference and thought that THOUGHT POLICE was a reference to a former PM’s tight control of his party’s communications?

51. All good fun. It’s such a shame Picaroon is going.

    I really liked THOUGHT POLICE, REFERENDA, SPILLAGES and SYNCHED (brilliantly smooth surfaces).

    Thanks Picaroon and Andrew

52. The Guardian crossword is a much poorer offering without Picaroon. He is simply one of the best setters; I would say he’s irreplaceable.

53. [Ravenrider @40: Correct me if I am wrong but going from G to G in semitones I get the sequence:
    G – G# – A – A# – B – C – C# – D – D# – E – F – F# – G
    Counting the ‘-‘ as the intervals I get 12 semitones. You could say that there are 13 notes as there is a G both ends to make an octave (G4 is one octave above G3 say) or you could equally argue (as a chemist counting atoms in unit cell would) that each G is shared with the octave above and below so is half a ‘note’. This then translates nicely into an infinite progression of notes and intervals, there being 12 complete ones of each in every octave. Sorry if that’s not clear – it’s hard to explain in words, much easier with diagrams!.]

54. Oh Joy! One more Picaroon when I thought we had seen the last of him in the Guardian. Wonderfully concise, precise, and witty as always. My favourites have all been ticked above. Many thanks Picaroon and Andrew.

55. Luckily [?] I’m tone deaf so DEFLATE didn’t discourage me. Did nobody else encounter the same difficulty parsing GROUND STROKE, where king so obviously cues the K? Marvellous bit of misdirection!

56. I simply gave up ticking clues today because there are so many excellent ones. How does someone look at the words GROUND STROKE and come up with such a superb surface as “Reason king wears drag – it’s a hit for the court”? Brilliant.

    Many thanks Picaroon and Andrew.

57. Enjoyed this, the only question marks for me being UMAMI, which I hadn’t come across before, and the much discussed DEFLATED. Last one in was EXITED, perhaps appropriately enough – stage left or right, take your pick – and thanks for the explanation of the parsing there, Andrew. Liked the humour in the way PUPIL was put together…

58. Failed to parse REFERENDA (wrongly thinking the official was just “ref” as usual) and GROUND STROKE. But I enjoyed this a lot.

    I had assumed the ban on setting for other publications was part of the crossword editor’s contract, but I might well be wrong.

    Blaise@55: for me, the king in GROUND STROKE quite obviously clued an R…

59. 100% agreement with Tramp @52. He’s peerless.

60. Reflecting more on 4A, I think the clue is simply justifiable as correct, without bothering about pedantry. If a conductor tells a band that a piece contains an ascending run of three semitones starting on D, the players will think of three notes, each a semitone higher than the last. It’s a concise and intuitive way to express the idea, and in this context “semitone” has therefore broadened its meaning, in a way that is pretty common in language (I think there’s a technical term for this, but don’t know it).

61. A benchmark in setting

62. Another great crossword. Lots of ticks: CONFITURE and LONELIEST for the definitions, the good anagram for THOUGHT POLICE, the DOE-EYED homophone (nobody yet has said: “I don’t say it like that”), the TOKE/drag in GROUND STROKE, and wordplays in BULLET TRAINS, OUTLINE and REFERENDA. Of course, Picaroon meant the semi in semitones to be read as an anagrind. 😉

    Thanks Picaroon and Andrew.

    PS Given Picaroon’s prolific output, there may yet be more in the pipeline.

63. Another sad at Picaroon’s departure here, he’s been my favourite setter for quite a few years now. Enjoyed this one immensely and wasn’t aware of the slight inaccuracies which seemed to have caused “a bit of a kerfuffle” above! One thing I did learn today was the meaning of Mr Sunak’s christian name, had been baffled by the parsing of that one until I came here – thanks Andrew!

64. Just when you thought everything that could be said about semitones had been said back in August when Paul caused a major quibblefest …

    Farewell Picaroon and as Dr Spooner might say: good luck with the gory tag

    Cheers P&A

65. Tramp @52 and Grecian @59 – thank Goodness we still have you two!

66. Enjoyable and satisfying all at once, as I’ve always found with Picaroon. Feeling like others that he will be much missed, but wishing him well in his new role. Warm thanks to him for all the fun I’ve had with his crosswords here and in his other guises. Thank to Andrew for today’s blog as well.

67. Sorry to be a complete musical ignoramus but is there any reason why the three semitones can’t be D-E, E-F, and LA-TE?

    Sometimes a bit of the ignorance comes in handy when solving 🙂

68. It was rather sinister to see the Stasi lurking under the thought police, with a bullet bearing down on them. Ciao, P, and thanks for all the fish. Ta, Andrew.

69. Am I wrong in thinking D to D sharp is one semitone, D sharp to E is another and E to F is the third. Therefore three semitones?

70. A brilliant (last?) crossword from Picaroon, but as he is heading for the Torygraph I’m afraid it is the most dishonourable of discharges.

71. ronald @47: “Last one in was EXITED, perhaps appropriately enough – stage left or right, take your pick.” Or, given yesterday’s theme from Qaos, ‘EXIT pursued by a bear’, as famously in The Winter’s Tale.

72. Alan@69 the wordplay is D – E FLAT – E, so three notes and two semitones, the note F is not involved.

73. As someone relatively new to Guardian cryptics, sad to hear that Picaroon is leaving. Feeling a bit DEFLATED that he will no long be around to DREAM UP elegant head-scratchers. It will be lonelier once he has EXITED. JUST SO, time to LET GO.

74. After what I thought was a tough last week in the Guardian been finding this weeks much more crackable. I keep seeing goodbyes to Picaroon and then another puzzle pops up. Hopefully they have an ample number ready to go in advance as they are one of my favourites.

    Lots to enjoy here. Favourites: JACKPOT and THOUGHT POLICE. Liked DEFLATE as well which was last in and glad to have solved with the limited musical knowledge I have.

    Thanks Picaroon and Andrew

75. Shirley @39 thanks for asking a question that gave some intelligibility to the profuse expressions of affection and goodbyes to Picaroon. As a newcomer, I haven’t the faintest of the cruciverbal pantheon, their handles and what each of them does! Also different country, different newspapers, etc. No resentment, just saying…

76. Bodycheetah@67. D-E is a full tone, E-F is a semitone, LA-TE is another full tone.

77. So sad to see the pirate deflect to the Torygraph. Still their readers will get the benefit of a superb setter

78. Balfour@71😁

79. I took a while to get going and thought I’d probably abandon it.
    However, the answers gradually fell into place I had a laugh over quite a few. Very admirable misdirection from Blair, Rishi and Lorraine.
    Supply stumped me for ages too.
    Good quality solve overall.

80. Bodycheetah@67 Although everyone else is correct, I also solved the clue in that exact same way.
    Right for the wrong reasons is not acceptable in science, but it may be in puzzles.

81. Regarding the semitones debate, I’m absolutely with Sagittarius @60. I think the clue is 100% correct, and the semitones referred to are the NOTES themselves (separated by two intervals). I’m a professional musician, and I thought this was a brilliant clue, and I see no problem with it. I was, however, distraught to read that Piccaroon is leaving. My favourite setter by miles. A sad day.

82. Americans (at least of boomer age) will quickly recognize SATs (Scholastic Aptitude Tests) aka “College Boards”. I think the tests are still near-universal for high school students applying to college.

    Farewell to Picaroon. Will miss him no end. I thought REFERENDA and DEFLATE were brilliant today. Also appreciated the novel wordplay for the crossword chestnut STASIS.

83. Sad to see Picaroon leaving. A great loss.

84. The word “Lett” always make me think of this (Cole Porter):
    In Spain the best upper sets do it
    Lithuanians and Letts do it
    Let’s do it–let’s fall in love.

    In the US, the SAT is the Scholastic Aptitude Test (a university entrance exam) so it still works as “test” here.

85. A flag at half-mast day for me with Picaroon leaving. I’ll miss him greatly, a source of so much pleasure over the past few years.
    I wish him well, but won’t be following him to the Torygraph.
    Apropos ‘aspirants’, a clue from long ago, I think from Araucaria:
    “Heggs!” (11)
    Solution: exasperated

86. Very enjoyable puzzle.
    I’m in agreement with Sagittarius @60 and James G @81. I am a working musician and teacher and we often refer to notes which are a semitone apart as “semitones”. This was my favourite clue in the puzzle and I will be passing it on to other crossword loving musicians I know.

87. I enjoyed this puzzle quite a log. I understand the technical problem with 4ac (DEFLATE), but the idea is so clever that I can’t get too bothered by it. And the misleading use of Blair in the clue for 13ac (THOUGHT POLICE) was also quite clever. TASSO was a jorum for me.

    [I was going to quote the same Cole Porter lyric as mrpenney @84. Should have moved just a bit faster.]

88. If this really is goodbye, thanks again for all the fun Picaroon. too many favourites to mention and not one clue that I didn’t like today. Great blog Andrew.

89. Come back, Pirate, all is forgiven. This was a brilliant offering. A joy.

90. Picaroon’s departure to the Telegraph is an enormous loss to this community, but nor do I begrudge his taking up the opportunity. A clue of the quality of GROUND STROKE would be an annual highlight for most setters, but he seems to come up with two or three a week of such a standard. And there is no setter with a lower percentage of clunkers. Hopefully there’s a few final puzzles in the editor’s in tray.

91. All done, but parsing was too complex to be enjoyable.
    Thanks both.

92. I just echo everyone else’s comments about Picaroon’s departure from the Grauniad slot, but wish him all the best in his new role. As usual, this puzzle was masterly.

93. Thanks Picaroon and Andrew

    As I understand it, JB at the DT is contractually prevented from setting for another publication, as he would in effect be moonlighting.

    That is the same reason that Jason Crampton (Jack / Basilisk / Serpent) can only set for the Times, that Micawber was retired when Mick Hodgkin became Puzzles Editor there, and that there was an 11 year gap between Imogen’s Guardian debut puzzle and his second (he was Crossword Editor at the Times in the interim).

94. Sad to see Picaroon exiting the Graun, he will be sorely missed.

95. As a professional musician also, I was delighted with DEFLATE, without even thinking that others might not agree. Mind you, I started with DE, and was saying to myself that that was a full tone, not a semitone. But when FLAT dropped into place, I uttered a satisfied squeal and asked no further.

96. Thanks Picaroon and Andrew.

    I enjoyed this very much until stuck in top right corner. I’m not a musician, so i Looked up semitone and assumed I was looking for three pairs of consecutive notes, not as it turns out three notes. Ho hum. I don’t understand why “Discourage three consecutive notes” wouldn’t have been both more accessible and musically accurate. It appears we were meant to a) have knowledge of musical notation and then b) ignore the precise answer and guess what the setter thought was amusing if a bit loose.

    Looks like I’ll never finish a Picaroon!

97. Like geeker@82 I thought DEFLATE and REFERENDA were brilliant (though I didn’t parse REFERENDA, and also GROUND STROKE because I thought “drag” had to be “stoke” somehow). Glad to get the professional musicians’ support for three semitones! Had SIESTA for 17 for a second, figuring that the ATSE must be a test, but deleted it because the crosser would’ve had to be OBI WAN something.

    Thanks and Godspeed to Picaroon, and thanks Andrew!

98. Thanks both,
    Eileen @8: it depends on your temperament.

99. Thanks both.

    RogerBear@95: Squeals here too.

    When a setter decamps I can cope if I think ‘It’s just another one down’… but this is Picaroon.

100. D to E is two semitones but D E flat and E are three ?

101. A day behind so no one will read this, but just wanted to say I enjoyed this more than any other Picaroon. Gutted to hear that it will be his last. Some of his crosswords have included, for me, quite a few clues that were beyond my reach cryptically, resulting in a “bung and shrug”, but today I parsed everything. Last in was the tricky EXITED, but only after I had convinced myself that DEFLATE had to be right. (Good to see some musicians joining in the praise for the semitones!)

     Thanks to Picaroon and Andrew.

102. Ok so is Picaroon really leaving or will we continue to get new crosswords? I’m hoping for the latter.

     This was another fine crossword. Too many enjoyable clues but THOUGHT POLICE was my pick. Scary 😱

103. How does “23”become “excited”?

104. My first completed Picaroon, and seemingly my last!

     Very satisfying regardless. My thanks to Andrew and Picaroon.

105. So the musicians – Sagittarius@60, JamesG@81 and RogerP@86 – have got it right wrt the semitones at 4a DEFLATE, which is such a brilliant clue. I reconciled the clue with muffin’s and others’ complaints this way: If D-EFLAT-E is only two semitones, then you can add E-F to make three (and as I have said elsewhere, there is nothing wrong with EF doing double- duty). But I agree that this convoluted approach was not necessary.

     I too wish Picaroon all the best in his new and well-earned position. My hope is that he will make enough money at it to be able to finish his term and return to the Guardian/FT fold while I’m still around to enjoy his superlative puzzles.

106. Great to see Picaroon one more time!

     Third completion in a row. Needed Andrew to parse BULLET TRAINS, and didn’t know who “Blair” was in THOUGHT POLICE…

     …and for the second day in a row, my eye went to 22a (REFERENDA) instead of 23d (RANDY) as the reference for another clue, in this case 7d EXITED. What is going on with me?? I was trying to make the BREXIT referendum work somehow (Note Dumbo@103)

     Imprecision aside, DEFLATE is a wonderful construction, and I loved it! I concur with the other musicians who commented on this one. I read it as “three notes separated by semitones”

     Very special and touching to see fellow-setters Tramp@52 and Grecian@59 offering tributes to Picaroon

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