Guardian Cryptic 29,608 by Brummie

58 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 29,608 by Brummie”

1. Favourites: TWEED, BLESSED.

   I was unsure how to parse CONSTITUTIONAL in 11ac.

   New for me: HEATER = gun; also FAN HEATER.

   Thanks, both.

2. Liked ROMANCE among others. Thanks for the blog. Couldn’t parse ‘summat commonly’ without your assistance. Good puzzle. Thanks Brummie.

3. Loved Satchmo and Saffron because they were obviously anagrams yet took some working out (for me at least)

   Thanks Brummie and Manehi

   Btw Io is also the name of one of the Galilean moons of Jupiter. Obviously named after mythological being

4. Very enjoyable. TWEED made me giggle, and WASSAIL was a neat misdirection from ‘keen’. Also ticks for TRIESTE, ELBOW and SATCHMO. I’m sure I’m not the only one who read AMENDMENT as pretty much a definition rather than a cryptic clue, with the other reading (as explained by Manehi) coming after. Thanks Brummie and Manehi

5. Thanks Brummie and manehi
   I read 24d as it was printing and immediately raised an eyebrow, as I would always spell something used to dry things – a towel, for instance – as DRYER (though Chambers does allow the other spelling).
   I also wondered about the equivalence of mark and TARGET.
   Favourite SATCHMO too = “churning” a wonderfully appropriate anagram indicator!

6. muffin @5 – “the archer found his mark/target”? Although that one I was reading as the third not I’ll.

   Thank you to Brummie for an entertaining puzzle and manehi for the blog.

7. My faves: ROMANCE and OPERATING TABLE.
   FIFTH AMENDMENT: Barely cryptic (as paul@4 mentions).
   SUMMATION
   Agree with Matthew Newell@3 on IO.
   I think the cryptic reading is ‘…SUMMAT associated with IO…’.
   Thanks Brummie and manehi.

8. 17ac IO is one of the Galilean moons of Jupiter

   Sorry Matthew@3 – obviously I didn’t read your comment properly

   Thanks Brummie and Manehi

9. Agree with others that FIFTH AMENDMENT was a bit weak but I really enjoyed the misdirections in some other clues. Favourites were WASSAIL, SATCHMO, OPERATING TABLE, TWEED, NARWHAL and GALLIPOLI. I’m glad Brummie has yet again dampened down his often tricky puzzles for the Monday challenge.

   Ta Brummie & manehi.

10. I read Summation as “something commonly”=summat, “associated with moon”= followed by io, and N. I was unaware that Io is associated with Earth’s moon. Either way you read it that’s a nice double meaning, whether intended or not.
    Otherwise, a nice Monday crossword with plenty of clever constructions but nothing difficult in hindsight.

11. I thought brat, which usually means unruly or disobedient, was a bit misleading for SPROG, which is just a baby or young child and is usually more benign, as in cute.

12. Does anyone know what happened to the February Genius puzzle?

13. Thanks Manehi for explaining (somewhat) why “fifth amendment” was slightly cryptic – it seemed too simple!

    Muffin @5: Re “target/mark” I thought of the target of a confidence trick who is often called a mark. It was sufficiently similar for me in that context.

    I found this tricky for a Monday, with the NW slow to fall. I am not a great fan of some of the anagrinds and their positioning e.g. “oil rich” or “tool criminal” which need to be read as “oil which is rich” etc. I can’t see a good justification for that as a modifier following a verb, for me, should be separated with a comma if there is no linking word. So “rich oil” or “oil, rich” work ok but “oil rich” did not. Just me being fussy I imagine.

    thanks to Brummie and to manehi for the blog.

14. Jay @12, it’s there now.

15. Nice one, Brummie, but all over too quickly, sadly.

    Personal favourite was BLESSED, but not the chap, whom I find a bore with all that bellowing.

16. Yes, Matthew @3, that’s how I read it, summat + Io (moon of Jupiter) + n. Moon = Io is a wordplay regular.

17. I agree with AlanC@11 that SPROG doesn’t have the badly behaved meaning that BRAT does, and took IO to be the moon rather than the mythological character. Otherwise, no particular problems and a nice Monday start from Brummie.

18. A nice start to the week from Brummie,

    I ticked 5ac SATCHMO (great anagram and indicator), 13ac TWEED, 17ac SUMMATION, which I parsed as Matthew, grantinfreo and gladys did, 19ac ELBOW 28ac REREDOS (it’s a while since we saw that, I think) and 20dn BLESSED (adding William’s reservation).
    I thought 11/12 OPERATING TABLE was rather weak.
    I interpreted ‘Mark’ at 15ac as Jack of Few Trades did: I learned that usage from watching ‘Hustle’.

    Thanks to Brummie for the puzzle and manehi for the blog.

19. Not the gentle experience for me that others are reporting. I’m perhaps not on the wavelength today, but also gun = HEATER and one or two other references are (or were) outside of my lexicon. Had to reveal LIANA: clued perfectly well but beyond me this morning.

20. Ditto re Hustle, Eileen (what a fun series!), but I’m sure I heard it earlier, maybe in The Sting.

21. I didn’t know HEATER for gun but I know the expression “packing heat” for carrying a gun, so that was close enough for me.
    And mark/target I got from “marksman”, a shooter that always hits the target.

22. Enjoyable puzzle. SATCHMO was clever – I agree that “churning” was an appropriate anagram indicator to go with “stomach”. Like others I couldn’t see any cryptic element to FIFTH AMENDMENT, and even with the “I assume” reading it’s still not very cryptic!

    I took it that “on” was part of the definition for DEATH WISH, ie “Inclination to pass on”.

    Thanks Brummie and manehi.

23. 8d OVEREAT: I had the EA as a common abbreviation for each – “ea.”. And 14d DEATH WISH as “Inclination to pass on“. {Edit: as Lord Jim@22}

24. NHO REREDOS, and had to look up a few more. Not the easiest start to the week.

25. I got off to a very slow start, but got there in the end apart from the parsing of 17A, of which I got only the N for new! Lots of favorites, but I particularly liked the construction of 4D and the misdirection of 11A which had me trying to do something with COURT for the second word for a while.

    Heater for gun was very familiar to me as a fan of 1940s/1950s detective stories, and 22A came easily as a resident of the US.

26. I didn’t find this as easy as some above with the top half fairly bare at the start (that’s the puzzle, not me!). In retrospect, FIFTH AMENDMENT looks obvious, but I thought it was some type of medicine, so didn’t see it until I had a few crossers. I agree with others above that SPROG and brat are not really synonymous, although they both refer to children. I liked BOOTLEG for the tool concealed by a criminal, the summat in SUMMATION, the LIANA that Tarzan swung on, and the definition of the anagram for DEATH WISH.

    Thanks Brummie and manehi.

27. Enjoyable puzzle. I agree with Io = Jovian moon, and Lord Jim and FrankieG’s parsings for OVEREAT and DEATH WISH.

    Not for the first time, I’ll second Eileen’s choice @18.

    As a LIANA is a climbing plant, rooted in the soil, which grows up towards the light, rather than downwards from the canopy, swinging on one is more or less guaranteed to bring you crashing down to earth. Sorry, Hollywood 🙂

    Thanks to Brummie and manehi

28. REREDOS is a word that turns up much more frequently in crosswords than it does in real life! Worth remembering.

29. I liked this puzzle a lot, with similar favourites as others have mentioned. I quite liked 7d HANDBAG as well.
    We liked that clever show “Hustle” here in Australia too, Eileen and others.
    Thanks very much to Brummie and manehi.

30. Like scraggs@19 I didn’t think this was gentle and I drew a complete blank with my l.o.i LIANA: in the end I had to reveal it, and was none the wiser.
    I agree with AlanC@11 regarding SPROG and, like Gladys@17, saw IO as the moon not the mythological being.
    Two Americanisms briefly threw me: I’ve heard of ‘packing heat’ but not HEATER – and I’m pretty sure the FIFTH AMENDMENT only applies in US law; then again, perhaps Brummie didn’t bother because the latter clue was barely cryptic.
    On the plus-side, I really liked the surfaces to REREDOS and BOOTLEG and I grinned at BLESSED (a man of many talents, fortissimo thesping aside, and – as his attempt to recreate Malory’s 1924 ascent of Everest in period costume proved – also rather courageous).
    Thanks Brummie & manehi

31. Definitely not a Monday write-in for this Neddy. Got there eventually, much enjoyed, LIANA LOI, BLESSED favourite. Thank you Brummie and manehi.

32. [A “constitutional” (11a, 12a) mini-theme: AMENDMENTs (23a). The 2nd is for 16d HEATER FANs. The 18th introduced 1a BOOTLEGging. Trump is trashing the 14th.
    Next comes the 22nd. (The clue number of FIFTH is 22a – Coincidence?)]

33. Good puzzle, a few tricky little bits but the definitions were generally loudly signalled. LIANA and REREDOS are both words I only ever meet in crosswords (and we also had our favourite port TRIESTE too). I’m sure the Penguin Jazz Guide once told me that aficionados refer to Louis Armstrong as “Pops” rather than SATCHMO, but it’s a great clue. Faves were BLESSED and NARWHAL.

34. Very tough for a Monday, I thought. NHO: REREDOS, LIANA. Bunged in a few from definitions. COTD: TWEED.
    Thanks Brummie and manehi.

35. Nice Monday fare. A few where I needed the experts at 225 (solemn = owl & Neddy = ass we’re new to me but probably standard cryptic usage). Favourite by far was BLESSED for the great surface and light bulb moment as I finally got it.
    Thanks to Brummie and manehi

36. Nice Monday fare. A few where I needed the experts at 225 (solemn = owl & Neddy = ass were new to me but probably standard cryptic usage). Favourite by far was BLESSED for the great surface and light bulb moment as I finally got it.
    Thanks to Brummie and manehi

37. For those who don’t know REREDOS, I’ve walked on top of the one in the local church, taking photos of a statue high on the organ case. They are definitely real things and in church circles known words. That church also features an aumbry and a triptych altarpiece that can close for Lent.

38. Let down by my geography as usual so had to reveal GALLIPOLI (never seen rich as an anagram indicator before) but an enjoyable start to the week with Brummies usual good humour.

    Liked SUMMATION and WETNESS

    Thanks both.

39. Enjoyable puzzle. Was a little surprised at the lack of a US indicator for FIFTH AMENDMENT since you can’t take it in the UK (but to be clear, there is the right to remain silent). Faves BLESSED and TWEED.

40. Thanks both and a grand entertainment (the barely cryptic FIFTH AMENDMENT aside).

    I quite often exercise my right to remain silent when reviewing these blogs, taking my cue (I think) from Bambi. But today’s was a fine puzzle, worthy of much praise. I am experiencing a heightened appreciation of Brummie in recent times and he is now, when he appears, the generator of some satisfied knuckle-cracking.

    For some reason WETNESS tickled my fancy, perhaps because I leapt on ‘witness’ as the obvious answer and then had to spend some time clearing space for the grey cells to defog.

41. Mandarin @33 Yes, it’s more the general public who use SATCHMO as Louis Armstrong’s nickname. He’s sometimes called Pops, but I and all the musicians I know call him Louis, (no surname needed) though there is sometimes disagreement about pronouncing the final s.

42. Enjoyed it. Thanks for “sprog” to Roz, whose comments are the only place I’ve ever seen the word.

    And thanks to Brummie and manehi for the fun.

43. This was very enjoyable. Perfect for a dreary Monday. My favourites today were BOOTLEG, NARWHAL, TWEED, SUMMATION and the lovely SATCHMO. I’m surprised no earworm this far, so I’ve included a link below.
    Thanks to Brummie and manehi, and a bonus mark to FrankieG for the suggested mini-theme.

    https://youtu.be/CaCSuzR4DwM?si=ai92Xxrzz8SP2v58

44. Thanks for the blog , it seemed very suitable for the Monday tradition, very friendly grid with a full set of first letters .
    SPROG is more affectionate than brat but most children are both .
    IO the most volcanic solar-system body , JUICE and Europa Clipper both on the way to visit and should get to sample some of the volcanic emissions .

45. A bit of a tough chew for a Monday imo, but quite enjoyable. Thanks to Brummie, and to manehi for help with parsing 17A. The Arctic Monkeys’ “That sticks around like summat in your teeth” will be my mnemonic for that till now nho N Britishism. Further to the ghost theme detected by FrankieG @32: the US Supreme Court has repeatedly held that the First Amendment’s free-speech guarantee does not apply to OBSCENE (2D) speech, and its operative (per 1973 ruling) definition of the latter is “prurient, offensive, and without serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value”. Exhibit A

46. Pauline in Brum @ 43. Thanks for the link. That is what the name SATCHMO means to most people. To understand how he changed jazz completely as a young man and why he’s so revered by musicians try West End Blues (1928) or Struttin with Some Barbecue (1938). Unfortunately I don’t know how to post these.
    (Also in Brum).

47. Well, more Paul than Brummie for me.

48. Coming to this very late and stumped with only 5a, 14d and 21d solved.

    Can I ask for help before looking at the answers please?

    13a….i have figured out T***D but I don’t know how to fill the middle 3 letters.

49. Steffen @48 – there are few more anagrams in 19A, 28A and 17D plus we were chatting about 13A on the Quick Cryptic blog over the weekend. 1A is part anagram, part insertion as is 10A.

50. Liked this and especially SUMMAT IO when I finally twigged, which is just now.
    Many thanks, Brummie and Manehi

51. Thank you Shanne @49.

52. Not Monday fare for me. Just couldn’t get on wavelength.

53. Looks like the Meatier Shower for Mondays continues.

    Thanks all.

54. [Zoot@46 – in case you see this, thank you, I’ll try those. For the link, if you find a video online you can click below to copy it and then paste it in. There’s a way to rename the link so it’s shorter but I haven’t been able to do that successfully…]

55. Hi Pauline, Zoot.

    I’m using a Mac.

    At the top left above the comment box are three options, bold, italic, and link.

    If you highlight the your word you want to make the link, and click link, then it invites you to paste the address into a form. That’s what I’ve done for the 1928 music here.

    NB, it only appears in the shortened version after you post your comment.

56. P in B @54, Etu@55 [ I hope you find this. Thanks for the advice. I’ll give it a go. I hope you enjoy what you find. I worry that Louis’s phenomenal achievement will be forgotten. I’ve met quite mature trumpet players in big bands who only know him from the Hello Dolly era.]

57. 3d. It seems Tarzan could not have used liana to move around, unless he used a machete to cut the trunk at ground level. All references I have found report that a liana is a rooted plant. Presumably it would die back and become brittle if it was chopped off.

    I have never had much success with Brummie, but this takes the cake for me.

58. Enjoyed completing this one

    REREDOS is in common usage in churchland

    BRAT can be a term of endearment, as in “how are your little brats doing?”

    DEATH WISH wasn’t much of an anagram — minimal displacement of letters from “wheat dish”

    For 18a MUFFLER I wanted CHOKER at first, but not enough letters. Or CHOKERS, but couldn’t make it work

    Nice to be reminded of the great Brian BLESSED!

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