Guardian Cryptic 29611 Ludwig

by

Thank you to Ludwig.  Definitions are underlined in the clues.
And if there is a theme, I don’t see it.

Across
1. Marriage added to traditions that we recently abandoned (7,5)
CUSTOMS UNION : UNION(a match/marriage) placed after(added to) CUSTOMS(traditions/practices).
Defn: That with the EU that the UK has abandoned.

9. Fat blokes concealed signs of what’s to come (5)
OMENS : OS(abbrev. for “outsize”/large/fat) containing(… concealed) MEN(blokes/fellows).

10. Colourings? Yes, time to be put into puddings (9)
DYESTUFFS : [YES + T(abbrev. for “time”) ] contained in(to be put into) DUFFS(flour puddings boiled or steamed in a cloth bag).

11. Waste a sporting triumph (7)
ATROPHY : A + TROPHY(object signifying a win/a triumph in a sporting competition).
Defn: To … away, said of body tissue or organ.

12. Active type, welcoming party, flipping left: he seems bored (7)
DOODLER : DOER(an active type/a go-getter) containing(welcoming) [ reversal of(…, flipping) DO(a party/a social function) + L(abbrev. for “left”) ].
Defn: He whose boredom is signalled by drawing absent-mindedly.

13. Revolutionary party in thrall to curiously gauche Marxist (3,7)
CHE GUEVARA : Reversal of(Revolutionary) RAVE(a lively party with dancing and drinking) contained in(in thrall to) anagram of(curiously) GAUCHE.
Answer: …, Argentinian revolutionary/Marxist.

15. ‘Long-limbed?’ Scratching head … shaped like Humpty Dumpty! (4)
EGGY : “leggy”(long-limbed, specifically, having long legs) minus its 1st letter(Scratching head).
Defn: Term to describe a shape like that of Humpty Dumpty, the egg.

18. Major name in astronomy (4)
URSA : Cryptic defn: From the name of the constellation of stars, “Ursa Major” or the Great Bear; and also a Slovene feminine name.

19. Putin’s aim: to finally shatter belief in better world (10)
UTOPIANISM : Anagram of(… shatter) [ PUTIN’S AIM + last letter of(… finally) “to” ].

22. Flatbread taken from fellow at lunchtime? (7)
CHAPATI : CHAP(fellow/bloke) + AT + I(1 or one o’clock in the afternoon/lunchtime, with the Roman numeral substitution).

24. Principally, Achilles’ heel dipped in waterway somewhere in Greece (7)
ARCADIA : 1st letter of(Principally) “Achilles’” + [ CAD(heel/a no-gooder) contained in(dipped in) RIA(a waterway/a long narrow inlet of the sea coast).

25. Top biscuit (9)
GARIBALDI : Double defn: 1st: …/a garment for the upper body.

1st: … patterned after this: ; and 2nd:

26. French river a little Frenchman’s in (5)
SOMME : SOME(a little/small amount) containing(…’s in) M(abbrev. for “Monsieur”, form of address for a Frenchman).

27. To sum up: conservative puncturing diversity’s sister principle (2,10)
IN CONCLUSION : CON(abbrev. for a member of the Conservative Party) contained in(puncturing) INCLUSION(the principle that goes with/a sister to that of diversity).

Down
1. Grim mating activity including silly leer (9)
CHEERLESS : CHESS(the board game/activity involving mating, short for “checkmating”) containing(including) anagram of(silly) LEER.

2. Rolling Stone icon on perpetual comeback tour (8)
SISYPHUS : Cryptic defn: In Greek mythology, the legendary/iconic king who, as punishment, was condemned eternally to roll a heavy stone up a hill only to have it roll down and having to do it all over again/a perpetual comeback tour.

3. As mausoleum’s location is seen in Algeria? (5)
ODDLY : Reverse clue: 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th letters of(is ODDLY seen in) “Algeria” = AGRA, location of the mausoleum, the Taj Mahal.

4. Danger, by the way, for those over 70 (5,4)
SPEED TRAP : Cryptic defn: The device operated from the side of the motorway/by the way that poses the risk/danger of a penalty to drivers travelling over 70 mph, the speed limit.

5. No, I sun myself up in the country (6)
NATION : Reversal of(… up, in a down clue) [ NO, I + TAN(to sun myself/bathe myself in sunlight) ].

6. Anglo-Saxon king, large, wanting the trimmings (5)
OFFAL : OFFA(King of Mercia, a kingdom of Anglo-Saxon England) + L(abbrev. for “large”).
Defn: …/small pieces cut off something, in this case, the internal organs of animals butchered for food. (And some offal is used in various forms as food.)

7. Fragmentary picture of ancient lawgiver (6)
MOSAIC : Double defn: 2nd: …/associated with Moses, the Biblical ancient lawgiver/deliverer of the Ten Commandments.

Fragmented Moses:

8. Leprosy not beginning to upset bird (6)
OSPREY : Anagram of(… to upset) [ “Leprosy” minus its 1st letter(not beginning) ].

14. Expressing ill-will, three engaged in civil unrest (9)
VITRIOLIC : TRIO(a group of three similar items) contained in(engaged in) anagram of(… unrest) CIVIL.

16. Lad musing about member of association (9)
GUILDSMAN : Anagram of(… about) LAD MUSING.
Defn: …, originally a medieval association of craftsmen or merchants.

17. Component of woven arc is sinuous flowers (8)
NARCISSI : Hidden in(Component of) “woven arc is sinuous”.

18. A French experimental composer’s release (6)
UNCAGE : UN(the article “a” in French) + CAGE(John, an experimental/avant-garde American composer).

20. Escaping from trap, Dracula’s prey increasingly beastly (6)
MEANER : Homophone of(Escaping from trap/coming out from one’s mouth) “Mina”(Wilhemina … Murray, Count Dracula’s prey in the gothic horror novel, Dracula).

21. In Bond, female bodyguard almost given licence to kill pandas like this? (6)
BAMBOO : “Bambi”(the female bodyguard character in the James Bond film, Diamonds Are Forever) minus its last letter(almost) plus(given) OO(or 00/Double O, signifying, in the James Bond novels, an MI6 agent with a licence to kill).
Defn: …, viz. the giant grass that together with its shoots is the main component of pandas’ diet.

23. ‘Ora pro nobis’ partly offering protection (5)
APRON : Hidden in(… partly) “Ora pro nobis”.
Defn: …, specifically a protective garment worn over the front of one’s body.

24. Sign-off that might end with an ‘x’? (5)
ADIEU : Cryptic defn: …/a goodbye that may be accompanied by a kiss, symbolised by ”x” in a letter or message. (And the plural of which is spelled with an “x” at the end.)

72 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 29611 Ludwig”

  1. Thanks Ludwig and scchua
    Curious puzzle. Mostly nice, if pretty easy, but a few completely baffling. I’m not sure ODDLY is fair – it seems rather ghostlike. The references in BAMBOO and MEANER were also completely unknown to me. No idea of the parsing of ARCADIA either.
    I tried GINGERNUT first at 25 – just as good as the answer!
    Nice to see CHE appearing in full for once.
    Favourites UTOPIANISM and FOI MOSAIC.

  2. Thank you, scchua, for the excellent explanatory blog and the great illustrations.
    I enjoyed this puzzle and had ticks for 15a CHE GUEVARA, 1d CHEERLESS, 2d SISYPHUS, 3d (my LOI) ODDLY and 23d APRON. I really liked the Achilles’ “heel” at 24a. I needed help parses to understand fully a couple of those clues muffin mentions: 20d MEANER (I’d forgotten that character’s name from the Bram Stoker novel – read it at University well over fifty years ago) and 21d BAMBOO (I was thinking “M” for the Bond character so couldn’t see it – now I think it’s a very clever clue indeed).
    With gratitude to Ludwig (or should that be “the Ludwigs”?) for a most satisfying challenge today.

  3. Really enjoyable puzzle and great blog. 3d and 21d my favourites for the intricate constructions and misdirections – surely no-one is going to kill pandas?

  5. This felt very challenging at first, with only a few clues solved on first pass. But thereafter things fell into place very nicely. Though I struggled with the exact parsing of several – BAMBOO, MEANER , and ODDLY which became my clue of the day when I realized the craftiness involved. Many thanks Ludwig and Scchua for brightening up this misty morning in East Anglia with your illustrations…

  6. This was a pleasant challenge. I particularly liked the fact that “revolutionary”, which is usually CHE, was in fact the reversal indicator in the clue for CHE GUEVARA – very nice.

    Thanks Ludwig and scchua.

  7. For once I had the general knowledge to get the references; Bamboo and Meaner.
    Dracula, when clearly referenced, is a very well known book so I think that’s fair. Understand why an action movie from half a century ago may be a little tricky. But the surface was great.

    Even got Oddly from the crossers. Couldn’t parse it though. Just thought there must be a tomb of someone called ARGA and thought it may be a Khan. Whoops.

    Still, finishing a Thursday is not bad for me.

  9. It was pleasing that the setter could not be accused of plugging a TV series, although ausgirl on the G site, suggested a new Oz series? This was reasonably straightforward, although I struggled to parse MEANER. I knew it must be a homophone, as escaping from trap was used, as a device, only very recently by Arachne. I was also thinking of M in BAMBOO, like JinA @2, so parsed that incorrectly. I thought MOSAIC, ODDLY, SISYPHUS, CHE GUEVARA, EGGY and IN CONCLUSION were excellent.

    Ta Ludwig & scchua for the colourful blog.

  10. 3 took me a long time to work out with the crossers in place, but I think it’s fair. Agra isn’t the first mausoleum site I think of, though. Didn’t know the female bodyguard name in BAMBOO, though I saw the OO ending and the answer was obvious from the def. I too thought it was a reference to M. I vaguely remembered the Dracula character though. An enjoyable puzzle from Ludwig today with special mention for UTOPIANISM and SYSYPHUS. Thanks to schhua for the blog and Ludwig for the puzzle.

  11. I’m glad the initial associations with this setter didn’t come to mind – perhaps aided by the fact that the last puzzle under the Ludwig name was a standalone and enjoyable as I recall.

    Fun and chewy in places – I completed the grid with assistance from Word Wizard for a couple of answers – and I had to come here to find out what was going on with MEANER and one or two others.

  12. I found the bottom half easier than the top. Last in were ODDLY and SISYPHUS, both of which are really good clues. Also liked CHE for the same reason as Lord Jim @6 and IN CONCLUSION was my favourite. Thank you to Ludwig for a good challenge, very fairly clued, and to scchua for the blog.

  14. Top fun, actually laughed out loud (rare for this grouch) at the clue for SISYPHUS.

    Also ticked the inventive ODDLY.

    No chance parsing BAMBOO or MEANER, though. Felt these two strayed into slightly unfair waters where a bit of arcane GK was required.

    Excellent blog, scchua, many thanks.

  17. My first encounter with Ludwig so no baggage to contend with; I gather there’s some history regarding tie-ins with the (excellent) David Mitchell TV series? I really liked this; big ticks for 1, 2 (favourite) & 20. Glad to see others found 3, my LOI, tough as I couldn’t parse it at all. Halicarnassus was going nowhere & Agra didn’t occur.
    Thanks L & S

  18. A nice mix of clues. CHEERLESS and CHE GUEVARA among my favourites. Whenever I see As at the start of a clue, I think of arsenic, but not this time.

  19. I was looking forward to the next Ludwig puzzle, having thoroughly enjoyed the previous (Milton) one and I was in no way disappointed with today’s – a delight from start to finish.

    A long list of ticks, which I have cut down to 1ac CUSTOMS UNION, 13ac CHE GUEVARA (as for Lord Jim and Pauline in Brum), 19ac UTOPIANISM (great anagram and surface), 24ac ARCADIA (for the lift and separate, as for JinA), 2dn SISYPHUS, (brilliant surface), 3dn ODDLY, for ingenuity, 14dn (another great surface) and 21dn, for the fun in teasing it out and for the definition. Like AlanC, I immediately recalled Arachne’s ‘escaping trap’ (and smiled again) for 20dn.

    Many thanks to Ludwig – looking forward to the next one – and to scchua.

  20. A mix of fun and clever with some rather disappointing. I’d be amazed if anyone got “ursa” without the crossers – it’s not a name in astronomy, it’s an animal. Do we really think the clue references a name in Slovenian? I don’t, and think it would be absurd if it did.

    “Bamboo” gets a tick from me as, although I had no hope of recalling a Bond bodyguard, the “oo” part was clear and the answer could be guessed and matched to the clever definition with a high degree of certainty. I am less sure about “Sisyphus” – if you did not know the Greek myth, how could you get this? So it must be assumed to be within everyone’s GK which seems a stretch to me. Luckily I knew it from the term “Sisyphus cooling” in quantum physics!

    I liked “mosaic” and “meaner” (I did recall the character, who is made much of in various film, book, comic book and TV spin-offs and she may be better know to some under her married name Mina Harker).

    Many thanks to Ludwig – each puzzle is an improvement, and I am sure this is not an easy road to walk so it is good to have new setters learning the trade. And thanks to scchua for the ever-colourful blog.

  21. Great puzzle and excellent blog especially the pictures! 3 d and 21 d my last ones in, guessed from crossers, both very clever. Thanks to Ludwig and scchua.

    PS Jack of Few Trades, I guessed URSA from the Great Bear star system, no crossers at the time.

  22. Fun puzzle. I failed to parse BAMBOO, apart from the OO, but I liked the disguised definition. MEANER, on the other hand, I recognised immediately from Stoker’s novel (rhotacism aside 🙂 ), which is surely far from ‘arcane’ and couldn’t be flagged up more clearly in the clue.

    Favourites: SISYPHUS, ODDLY, VITRIOLIC and the splendid UTOPIANISM.

    Thanks to Ludwig and scchua

  23. JofT@20

    Ursa Major is a constellation, so it is a ‘major’ name in astronomy. That seems perfectly fair to me.

  24. So nearly a Magnum Opus, but just a couple of bum notes, for me.
    (11ac), EGGY…a neat idea, but the wordplay lets it down a bit.
    (6d), OFFAL: I accept that “wanting” sometimes precedes the definition, but it jars a bit here. Why not simply “getting”?
    Splitting hairs, because this is the best puzzle I’ve tackled this week, out of 20+
    The Ludwig comeback is complete, I think.

    Thank you, Herr L. & Super work from scchua, as ever

  25. The Bond bodyguard allusion was much too oscure to be gettable, and I nho the Garibaldi top. The old joke is that the biscuit is named after the noted Italian patriot Giuseppe Biscuit.

    I strongly doubt that Dubliner Bram Stoker would have considered Mina and MEANER to be homophones.

  26. scchua: thanks for the pictures – they’re an excellent touch.
    I rather enjoyed this – ‘Mina’ made me groan.

  27. Jack of Few Trades @20 – I did get URSA without any crossers. I remember Ursa Major/Ursa Minor from being interested in astronomy as a child so the clue pointed very directly to that for me.

  28. It says a lot of society’s priorities when the “danger over 70” referred to in 4d of a SPEED TRAP is getting caught. We’d be better off thinking that the danger is killing someone or yourself and that a speed trap makes us safer.

  29. @JoFT 20: URSA was my second one in as it seemed obvious from the constellation (CHE G was my FoI). A rare completion for me. ODDLY was brilliant. Guessed MEANER and BAMBOO though the parsing escaped me entirely. Thanks scchua for the blog. Since I am completely unfamiliar with the setters I approach each one with naive optimism… not sure that’s a good thing as I frequently fail!

  30. Nice to have slightly more straightforward fare after two very tricky days. Lots to like, and I am now completely cured of my initial wariness of Ludwig puzzles. Failed to parse BAMBOO, SOMME and MEANER, so not a clear run, but enjoyed the definition in the first of these, which allowed me to get the answer without the arcane film knowledge (and this coming from a long-time film buff). LOI was DYESTUFFS, helped by the delightful penny-drop moment provided by ODDLY. Ticks for both of those, and also for , MOSAIC, CHEERLESS (have been listening to Tom Holland and playing online chess today, which no doubt helped) and IN CONCLUSION. Thanks Ludwig for an enjoyable challenge and thanks scchua for the blog, especially the bits that filled in my knowledge gaps.

  31. @poc 25: Being Irish I can attest that BS would not consider Mina and MEANER to be homophones. There’s no strong R in Mina!

  32. @28 Roger – the clue is clearly about the danger to the driver. It does not pretend to say anything about, or prioritise over, danger to others.

  33. Mixed bag for me. I needed to reveal 3d ODDLY and then needed scchua’s great blog to understand how to parse it. Still doesn’t feel fair even if it is a clever construction. Similar for 21d but at least I got that. Not sure even many 007 aficionados would remember that name.
    However 2d SISYPHUS was my outright favourite. Still makes me smile even now and will be used as an example of why I am trying to learn how to do these cryptics when my family are next shaking their heads as I mutter and gripe to myself at my own failings.
    Big thanks to Ludwig and scchua.

  34. Just realised that I forgot to parse ARCADIA, and not sure I would have succeeded if I’d tried. It took me some time to remember Mina from Dracula and Bambi from whichever Bond film it was, and SPEED TRAP depends on 70 being the speed limit in your neck of the woods, though I did like it.

    I also like “revolutionary” NOT being the def for CHE GUEVARA for once, and I enjoyed ODDLY. No problem with URSA, though I don’t think the Slovenian name is relevant: it works fine without it.

    Thanks scchua for the picture of the GARIBALDI blouse, a garment I hadn’t heard of. Last in was SISYPHUS – a funny surface, though the proposed Stones tour of Europe this summer has been cancelled, alas.

  35. Favourites: SISYPHUS; ODDLY.

    New for me: GARIBALDI = a woman’s or child’s loose blouse; BAMBI = female bodyguard in Bond movie (for 21d); DUFF = flour pudding (for 10ac).

  36. muffin@1 – surely your “ginger nut” would be a dbe and the clue would need a qm at least? (my adored father used to call my red-haired sister “ginger nut” – a heartwarming, and very distant memory; thanks, muffin)

    A lovely puzzle in my opinion (albeit straightforward) – I’m glad I’m one of those who didn’t rush to judgement when Ludwig first appeared!

    I only popped in to discover for whom “bamb” in bamboo was an abbreviation, but a great joy, as ever, to be greeted by Scchua’s colourful offering

    Many thanks to setter and blogger….

  37. I often find myself dawdling at bedtime in order to have a quick look at the next day’s crossword. I’ll scan through the clues and let them percolate overnight. But this one just fell into place and was done and dusted in the blink of an eye (less the parsings of CHE GUEVARA , ODDLY and SOMME (I was thinking “homme” for Frenchman). I thought it was quite Everymanish for a Thursday but enjoyable. COTD: MEANER

  39. Thanks for those who confirmed they *did* get “ursa” without crossers (I needed both!). Perhaps a case of knowing too much about a topic makes it harder to see the constellation for the stars!

    As has often been commented, there really is no such thing as truly general knowledge. For me, Agra was the first mausoleum to come to mind (in spite of a recent tour of Egypt) for example.

  40. The word “revolutionary” sets off my ché-dar, so I had 13a before realising it wasn’t part of the definition. I remembered Mina despite never reading the book, but didn’t remember Bambi despite seeing the film several times.

    Very enjoyable puzzle – thanks Ludwig and scchua

  41. Thanks for the blog. I guessed the parsing of MEANER and BAMBOO. I didn’t parse ODDLY, even though I thought of Agra as the most likely location and I was looking for odd letters, I failed to make the connection.
    The best Ludwig puzzle so far, so power to your elbow.

  42. LOi (and a big LOL 😀) 2d SISYPHUS, made even better with bodycheetah@16’s earworm! – Thanks. (Official version with lyrics here, BTW)
    [Knew 20d “MEANER” Murray from Alan Moore’s The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comics. She’s a lady (as is 18a URSA, !rish for doorjamb – TiLT).]

  43. Entertaining puzzle with a good variety of clues.

    I liked the surfaces for UTOPIANISM and SPEED TRAP, the wordplays for DYESTUFFS and CHEERLESS, and the oddly ODDLY. I didn’t know Mina, which provoked the usual rhotic moans. TILT was mina, Collins: An ancient unit of weight and money, used in Asia Minor, equal to one sixtieth of a talent. I must remember the ‘talent’ here for future use.

    Thanks Ludwig and scchua for the great pictorial blog.

  44. [Learned last month here from Enigmatist’s “Italian kid, a fifty-something on a Vespa! (7)”: Born-Again Middle-aged Biker – BAMBI? NO!]

  45. Jack of Few Trades@39 I am apparently among those who got Ursa readily by knowing very little astronomy, it being one of the few constellations I know by name. Very much a case of a little ignorance beating a lot of knowledge, much like yesterdays’ bay/roan controversy!

    That aside, this was tough going for me although mostly fair. The parsing of 20D defeated me, not being familiar with the book or any of its many movie interpretations. 3D was a complete bung based on the crossers, and seeing the parsing here I don’t feel too defeated by it. Dyestuffs was a jorum.

    Thank you sschua and Ludwig.

  46. If you return scchua, can you explain why you described ODDLY as a Reverse clue please, as AGRA is in sequence? I must be missing something. Thx.

  47. Very enjoyable, some lucky guesses with ODDLY and MEANER (thanks for the blog explaining). Reading the blog as well probably wouldn’t have got BAMBOO ‘the proper way’ but just saw the crossers and ‘pandas like’ and didn’t bother to parse.

    Interesting crossword, which Ludwig always seems to produce in both good and bad ways. Relatively easier than most the weekday offerings but just enough in there to make a completion an achievement.

    Thanks Sschua and Ludwig. Reminds me I still haven’t watched the BBC programme.

  48. A very enjoyable puzzle from Ludwig and a great illustrated blog from scchua . Thanks to both.
    Like Pauline in Brum, I found the top half chewier than the bottom.
    I didn’t know about the GARIBALDI top, though I did get the biscuit. But I remembered Bambi and found Mina after a Wiki search with a homonym in mind.
    My favourite was my last in, ODDLY, solved only after a long stare at Algeria.
    Ticks also to SISYPHUS (lol), CHE GUEVARA, UTOPIANISM, IN CONCLUSION.

  49. Very enjoyable. Checks for CHEERLESS (FOI), DYESTUFFS, and BAMBOO–especially like how that one stayed unified in the Bond lore. Did think LOI SISYPHUS could’ve used a question mark, I didn’t expect the whole thing to be a CD, but once I had the crossers it was pretty clear. Also spent a little while trying to work out some way to take the ends off a synonym for “large” and get an Anglo-Saxon king but eventually the penny dropped (I even had the L so I don’t have much excuse).

    Thanks Ludwig and scchua!

    AlanC@46: It’s “reverse” not in the sense of backwards letters but in that the answer is the cryptic indicator. That is, “Mausoleum location oddly in Algeria” would be a forward cryptic way of indicating AGRA, so “As mausoleum location is in Algeria” for ODDLY is a reverse cryptic. [AGRA was the first mausoleum location I thought of, except I thought of it as “uh, wherever the Taj Mahal is,” so that didn’t help until I had all the crossers!]

  51. DYESTUFFS is a curious word, very familiar to me as a chemist. ’Stuff’ isn’t used in such a specific way very often – ‘foodstuffs’ is the only other instance that comes to mind. However ‘Stoff’ is a common word for ‘substance’ in German, where the usual term for ‘dyestuffs’ is ‘Farbstoffe’. A lot of early work in synthetic dyes was carried out in Germany, where all its big chemical companies were involved in the trade. Perhaps the English word survives as partly a calque of the German term.

  52. [Gervase @51
    I used to show my chemistry students a video partly about the German rocket plane when we were studying bond energies. I recall that the propellants were a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine. One was called “C-stoff” and the other “something else-stoff”.]

  54. A curate’s egg… some clever cluing but also some that left a lot to be desired.

    Overall though, after his rocky start last year, Ludwig is becoming a setter I generally enjoy.

    Thanks also for the blog (as always)!

  55. Really pleased to parse ODDLY although I needed all the crossers to crack it. MEANER on the other hand was a complete nho.
    As with several others, the first pass through didn’t yield much but a patient second look was well rewarded.
    Enjoyed this and look forward to more.

  57. Gervase@51: thank you for introducing me to a new word: calque (n): a loan translation. The German “stoff” that I remember is “brennstoff” (stuff to burn) for fuel.

  58. [muffin @52: In German, hydrogen is Wasserstoff (water stuff), nitrogen is Stickstoff (choke stuff) and oxygen is Sauerstoff (acid stuff – blame Lavoisier for that one 🙂 )]

  59. [gladys @57: Wasserstoff and Sauerstoff are calques of hydrogen (water generator) and oxygen (acid generator), just as Fernsehen (far seeing) is a calque of television. The Germans are fond of this sort of thing]

  60. I seem to have been the only one to have originally thought of STAR for 18A. Luckily I wasn’t convinced and let it sit on the sidelines until I had the crossers to give me URSA. Seems an equally valid answer though.

  61. In Dutch, stof can also mean “substance” (zuurstof = oxygen = sour stuff), but it can also mean “dust”, leading to one of my favorite words: stofzuiger = vacuum cleaner = dust sucker.

    I was completely flummoxed by MEANER but both Dracula and Frankenstein are on my to-read list so maybe next time…

  62. Northeast was really tough. But very interesting! Thanks Ludwig and scchua, especially for the trouble of posting pictures.

  64. Thought this was good. A couple that I thought were completely naff on completing (eg GARIBALDI) turn out to be rather good. AGRA was cleverly done, but my favourite was UTOPIANISM for a great surface.

  65. Well, just about got there, with a few non-parsers.

    GARIBALDI: knew about the statesman and the biscuit (though we always called them ‘squashed fly’ biscuits 🙂 chez moi). But never heard of the item of clothing.
    MEANER: the only word that would fit the def., but the character in Dracula was new to me. And homophones (is that word still allowed, or taboo? Alright: ‘sounds-alike’) are risky because people’s accents vary.
    ARCADIA: another write-in. I was thinking of “Achilles’ heel” as denoting the S – clearly the wrong track!
    BAMBOO: I got the 00 part but my Bond experience stopped round about Goldfinger and Diamonds… BAMBI was a deer in my vocabulary!

    All the rest, fine; shame I couldn’t parse it completely. ODDLY very clever, must have foxed a lot of solvers, but I see how it works! NARCISSI is a splendid hidden word: so often they’re too easy! CHE GUEVARA also very clever wordplay, pity the word ‘Revolutionary’ puts one so quickly on the track…

    So we’ll be seeing more of Ludwig? Excellent! Thanks to him and scchua.

  66. My favourite crossword for a while. Lots of straightforward clues and answers, with a few clever clues to add spice to the mix. The only thing that I got stuck on was Mina, but it’s probably something I should know.

  67. I mentioned in the Guardian comments section how much I enjoyed this crossword. But I did not mention how brilliant I thought BAMBOO was as a clue. Lots of great misdirection. I did figure out the double OO part and having seen Diamonds Are Forever on the TV again about a month ago, I did remember that one of the girls was called Bambi so I thought that was a completely brilliant clue.
    A truly brilliant crossword.

  68. CHAPATI, UTOPIANISM & VITRIOLIC were my favourites. Managed to parse majority myself, but had to rely on the excellent blog for a few, particularly in the NE quadrant.

    Thanks for brightening up the week Ludwig.

  70. Even if I had known the name of Dracula’s victim it wouldn’t have helped. There were a number of (Wilhelm)Minas in my family all pronounced Mynah.

  71. The surface of 2d SISYPHUS is so brilliant that it is my clue of the week.

    Thanks, Ludwig for the fun puzzle and sschua for the beautifully illustrated and very useful blog.

  72. All but nine

    Disagree with the majority about ODDLY. There’s no definition in the clue! I don’t think it counts as a cryptic definition — wordplay only. Not fair

    Got MEANER, but I’ll always complain about non-rhotic homophones on principle, which most of them seem to be for some reason. Really annoying

    Otherwise a great puzzle, with some clever and amusing surfaces!

    GUILDSMAN evoked my late uncle, who had some prominent role in the Clothworkers Guild

    Gladys@34, re 4d I suspect 60 would be the speed limit, where you’re unlikely to get a ticket unless you’re going over 70

    CorsensidePete@60, For a while I also had STAR for 18a (instead of URSA). A fine answer!

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