Guardian 29,614 – Vulcan

78 comments on “Guardian 29,614 – Vulcan”

1. I parsed BLACK ECONOMY as BLACK (coal) + ECONOMY (jet plane). which I thought was clever.

   Sorry Andrew you’ve got a few typos – BERB tea in BREATHE AGAIN for example.

   Thank you to Vulcan and Andrew.

2. Thanks Vulcan and Andrew
   Quick, despite getting off on the wrong foot with BLACK MARKETS at 1a (only crossers could show it was wrong). Very enjoyable, though – favourites WELL-HEELED and OMEGA.
   I was tempted to quote the limerick about Titian and rose madder, but decided I had better not!
   (I don’t suppose it’s worth saying that BATTERSEA isn’t a bridge – Battersea Bridge is a bridge.)

3. Thank you, Vulcan, for a quick but fun solve, and especially for 13A, which reminded me of one of my favourite poems. W. S. Baring-Gould actually used it to explain the structure of that particular verse form in the second chapter of The Lure of the Limerick.
   While Titian was mixing ROSE MADDER
   His model reclined on a ladder.
   Her position to Titian
   Suggested coition.
   So he leapt up the ladder and had ‘er.
   [edit; PS. Didn’t see your post, Muffin, but I couldn’t resist it…]

4. muffin @2 I also went for BLACK MARKETS originally, whilst keeping in mind that it could well be ECONOMY.

   A nice start to the week.

5. That was fun – but over a little too quickly.

   I had BLACK MARKETS for 1ac, and ROYAL for 9ac until the crossers proved me wrong.

6. I’d not heard of COLD STEEL nor ROSE MADDER. Knowing nothing of rugby, I failed to parse WELL-HEELED. All else was fine, and I managed BATTERSEA without knowing the connection with London Bridge.

7. Thanks Andrew.
   I also had the ECONOMY/ jet plane reference as Shanne@1 did. It came up in another crossword not so long ago.

8. ‘Twas good and though I shouldn’t tempt fate by saying it took me considerably less time than most of my solves, I’m going out on that limb here.
   Similar “unfamiliars” as Geoff Down Under@6.
   Thanks for the poetry, muffin@2 and Blaise@3!
   I wasn’t fussed on the definition for 11a SLEDGES but enjoyed the rest.
   Thanks Vulcan and Andrew.

9. Enjoyable challenge.

   I could not parse 19ac – I know zilch about rugby obviously! As in not even enough to know that hookers and heels have anything to do with that sport.

   Favourites: SHOD, SLEDGES, VERTEBRA (loi).

   New for me: COLD STEEL = bayonet.

10. I am another whose knowledge of ROSE MADDER is entirely due to that limerick. The parsing of WELL-HEELED escaped me because I was sure that HOOKER was a fisherman, and I still don’t know why ECONOMY=JET PLANE. Thanks Vulcan and Andrew.

11. Ha michelle@9, we crossed, posting at exactly the same time. So isn’t it funny – you liked 11a SLEDGES, I didn’t, proving yet again that it’s different strokes for different folks.

12. GDU @6
    Battersea Bridge is one of the bridges in London, but it is some way away from London Bridge.

13. Wasn’t sure about the pigment and when
    I Googled it, couldn’t get past the Stephen King novel!

    Curious to see AWAY GAME and home games mentioned at 24d.

    Many thanks, both.

14. Thanks Andrew and Vulcan.

    I thought all pretty fair and easy. As a Londoner who watches rugby the more peculiar parsings were obvious. I liked cold steel

15. By the by – is there a mnemonic for the London Bridges? Might have to create one if not

16. Re #6: The COLD STEEL (bayonet warfare) was often mentioned by Cpl Jones in the sitcom ‘Dad’s Army’ followed by one of his catchphrases – “They don’t like it up ’em”.

17. [There’s an item in today’s Guardian about steampunks in Whitby, the home of jet jewellery.
    COLD STEEL reminds me of Corporal Jones in “Dads Army” – “They don’t like it up ’em!”
    We crossed, Jackkt!]

18. I smiled at the down clues being pretty much bookended by AWAY GAME and home games. WELL HEELED was my favourite as a nice play on the rugby position with OCCULT and PURSER making up the podium.

    Thanks Vulcan and Andrew

19. A real shame about the placement of 27a (the brewing bit), but otherwise very straightforward.

    I was another one with BLACK MARKET at first.

20. I just took WELL-HEELED to refer to Hookers and stilettos. Down South had to yield to DEEP SOUTH eventually.
    Whenever I see BREWS I immediately think of Peter Kay.

21. Very suitably Monday puzzle, with a good variety of clue types. It takes skill to be able to produce crosswords with varying levels of difficulty.

    No standouts for me, but that’s just because of the even standard of the clues.

    SLEDGES was my LOI; ‘surfaces’ for LEDGES is not the most obvious match.

    Thanks to Vulcan and Andrew

22. Tim C@20
    I thoght a characteristic of a good cryptic clue was that when you’ve solved it you are in no doubt that you’ve got it right. So DEEP SOUTH/DOWN SOUTH as equally valid solutions for 14D seemed very weak in that regard.

23. Hi Julie in Oz@11
    I think the main reason I liked SLEDGES is because earlier I had entered STABLES but corrected it when I solved BATTERSEA. Sometimes (for me) it is the ‘struggle’ that is enjoyable with certain clues 😉

24. Can somebody expand on MINER, please? Did somebody called Miner invent them?

25. Crispy @24
    It’s an odd usage, but bitcoins are created by data miners (don’t ask me how!).

26. I liked SHOD. Michelle@23 I think STABLES is just as plausible as SLEDGES.

27. Such brief fun! I took the rugby reference in WELL HEELED as a former front rower myself.

    Thanks Vulcan and Andrew

28. Yes simonc @22, I think that is the ideal and I try to avoid such ambiguity when I’m setting, but others say it’s a “crossword” and as such are happy to resolve any possible alternatives with the ‘crossers’.

29. Crispy@24: bitcoins are created by an intensive process of computation, known as mining, which consumes prodigious amounts of electricity.

    I too had the perfectly valid BLACK MARKETS, so to my mind that indicates a poor clue. And 2d isn’t even slightly cryptic.

30. Thanks Muffin and poc.

31. Petert@26 – yes, I agree that STABLES makes total sense as an answer for that clue:
    Small surfaces where one sees runners and riders (7)

    but for another puzzle!

32. Matthew Newell @15: Not as far as I know, but I was once embarrassed by a bridge question in a pub quiz, so invented my own.

    {When recited, I find it comes out in a caricature native American-Indian accent}

    Da-To-Lo-So-Bla-Wa
    We-La-Va-Ch-Al
    Ba-Wa-Pu-Ha-Chi-Ke
    Twi-Ri-Ki-Ha

    This takes you to Hampton Court and is only the road bridges – there are many other rail and foot crossings of the Thames. (The Dartford Crossing was added in the early 90’s I think.)

33. poc@29: The clue for BLACK ECONOMY said ‘coal OR jet’, not ‘coal AND jet’, so that implied a singular rather than plural word. My first thought was ‘black market’, but that didn’t fit the letter count and a plural didn’t fit the definition, so I dismissed it and came up with black economy instead.

34. Same thing here with the dashed in at first BLACK Markets. ROSE MADDER had to be that, but wasn’t a familiar expression for me for Pink, so a while before I inserted that. Least precise clueing was with DEEP SOUTH, I thought Apart from that, lots to like, good Monday fare…

35. I was another BLACK markets at first. Good start to the week. I liked SHOD among others.

    Thanks Vulcan and Andrew.

36. simonc @22 I think that depends on where you live. In the UK, Deep South very clearly means the South of the USA, almost synonymous with the slave states, whereas Down South means anywhere significantly South of where you are: England to a Scot, Southern England to a Midlander.

37. I enjoyed that a lot, except black economy, which feels like it only works if the dealings is doing double duty, but even then could be black market.

38. Interesting thought Andy@33 but for me you could get coal at one market OR jet at another, so those are two markets (inclusive OR rather than exclusive). Different strokes for different folks but the alternative answers for 1ac, 11ac and the straight definition at 2dn were not to my taste. I am never much of a fan of DDs or CDs unless there’s something clever about them – the two words in a DD going together seamlessly, for example. Also, for me, they have to work such that, when you have the answer you are sure it’s right.

    I can’t recall the last time I saw a hooker heel the ball – these days the scrum half seems to feed it straight into the second row. But that’s not to take away from a neat clue by Vulcan!

    thanks Vulcan and Andrew

39. The customary bomber from Vulcan, no bummers in sight.
    Only one customer for my WHY LIST…….ROSE MADDER.

    Great Exhibition, V & A

40. If there are answers that give first letters I always try them first, so I had PURSER and wasn’t tempted by ROYAL, but I agree that it’s as good, if not actually better, than ULTRA.

41. Also in the BLACK MARKETS club but was quickly corrected once I started working on the downs. Not too much trouble other than that. The less familiar words were very fairly clued.

    Liked ULTRA and WELL-HEELED

    I found this on par with yesterday’s Quiptic if anyone is thinking of moving on up from that.

    Thanks Vulcan and Andrew

42. Ravender@26: In Northern Ireland the South often means the ROI, despite some parts of Donegal being further north than anywhere in NI. My daughter-in-law in Dublin rolls her eyes at this.

43. Yet another BLACK Markets bunged in at the very start here. ROSE MADDER dimly remembered as a term for Pink, so a while before that went confidently in. DEEP SOUTH I thought was the only one today with less than precise clueing. But other than that, good wholesome Monday fare…

44. Another lovely Monday runout from Vulcan. Favourites were SHOD (wonderfully simple but took me ages to see), ASCEND, and SLEDGES (had to think hard about various versions of the definition before the penny dropped). Many thanks Vulcan and Andrew.

45. …oops, distracted by a phone call, thought my original effort had disappeared. Two helpings of the same this morning, I’m afraid…

46. WELL-HEELED. My first thought was BEST for the first four letters (as in George. Was he a hooker? Nuh, wrong sport. Don’t know much about football of any variety.) My second thought was a prostitute. Anyone else?

    WEEL

47. WELL-HEELED. My first thought was BEST for the first four letters (as in George. Was he a hooker? Nuh, wrong sport. Don’t know much about football of any variety.) My second thought was a prostitute. Anyone else?

    No probs with DEEP SOUTH, if you get both references. Really liked that clue. So very different in their reference

48. oops. past my bedtime

49. According to Chambers a Black Market is “Buying and selling (esp of scarce products) that is against the law or official regulations”
    The BLACK ECONOMY is “Economic activity involving payment in kind or cash not declared for tax purposes”

    So being untaxed is a defining characteristic of the black economy

    Cheers V&A

50. Another here with BLACK MARKETS and STABLES initially.

    nho ROSE MADDER, so it needed all the crossers, and even now I’m none the wiser as Google just gives references to a Stephen King novel!

    I didn’t find that as easy as some over on the G site are saying, but it was very enjoyable. I think SHOD was my favourite when the penny dropped.

    Thanks Vulcan and Andrew.

51. As a learner it was a nice bonus to have a very doable Monday cryptic. A lot more enjoyable than reading one or two pearl-clutching comments in the Guardian complaining that it was criminally too easy. Thanks Vulcan and Andrew.

52. paddymelon@47 – alas, your second thought was my first, esp. since there is a phrase that almost justifies it. Sigh – my bad, I just put it down to a pauline outbreak from the vulcan. I feel much more at home with the correct parsing.

53. Battersea is a bridge in London. Ergo a London Bridge.

54. muffin@3 I too thought of that limerick. Probably the reason I know of the pigment Rose Madder.

55. I initially entered a couple of wrong answers due to overconfidence, with a quite clearly incorrect LAMINA at 24d and an equally dodgy PETER at 9a. I also liked STABLES for 11a (as others have mentioned) but I already had the obviously correct BATTERSEA. I avoided the MARKETS slip up at 1a by checking the down clues before writing anything in, which confirmed ECONOMY. And AWAY TEAM almost works for 2d – they’ve all travelled, haven’t they. 🤔

    It’s almost as though Vulcan had been deliberately setting up ambiguous clues for answers that would (almost) fit, but this is surely too devious for this setter?

    Like Tim C@20 I was thinking of stilettos rather than scrums, so needed Andrew’s help with the parsing, even though I almost certainly know more about rugby than about sex workers.

    Thanks to Vulcan and Andrew.

56. For 3 down, I took E from ‘The ultimate’ and put it in Kats (as in kit-kats). Which I thought was a stretch as a snack food

57. Reading the blog and the comments took me longer than solving the puzzle!

    No one’s pointed out yet that this puzzle features both HALLOWEEN and ALL SAINTS, consecutive days on the calendar. (The former is, in full, All Hallows Eve. November 2nd is All Souls, an even broader brush than All Saints, and better known in North America as Dia de los Muertos. Together, the three days look an awful lot like a pagan harvest festival sandwiching a church service.)

    No problem here with DEEP SOUTH, as it’s a very specific name of a region. Namely, SC, GA, AL, MS, LA, and maybe north Florida and east Texas. (Florida from Orlando on south is culturally distinct; TN, NC, VA, and AR are in the South but not the Deep South; Texas is sui generis.)

58. Thanks for the confirmation of the distinction between the south and DEEP SOUTH, mrpenney. That one was a write in for me. Coincidentally, I was watching my old VHS tape of To Kill a Mockingbird last night, which of course is set in Alabama. You don’t get much deeper south than that. At least, I hope not.

59. I found this far easier than the Everyman or Quiptic from Sunday. Almost a write-in, and I’m far from brilliant, I guess I’m just a lot more on Vulcan’s wavelength than, for example, Paul, whose puzzles I never, ever complete.

60. I’ll go along with the general consensus that this was a gentle start to the week. I’d also like to recommend this weekend’s Prize crossword set by Brendan – eminently doable IMHO.

61. Well, I thought it was BLACK MARKETS and DOWN SOUTH: have no idea why jet should=economy or what those ellipses are doing between BATTERSEA and AWAY GAME. I liked SHOD.

62. gladys @61
    I think Shanne’s link between “jet” and ECONOMY is a bit of a red herring – Andrew’s parse is all it needs.

63. [mrpenny@57 and sheffield hatter @58: It seems reasonable to deduce that the depth of a place in the south is not related to its latitude…]

64. [JOFT @63
    “Yes, but not in the south” was Stephen Potter’s (Gamesmanship etc.) stock response when involved in a geographical discussion of which he had no knowledge.]

65. [JoFT @63: true. I used to post on a (now-defunct) board for giving and receiving travel advice; it was amazing how often people (usually, to be fair, people from continental Europe for whom English was a second language) said that they wanted to tour the southern United States and then started asking questions about Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, and the like. I mean, yes, the Southwest is closer to Mexico than Canada, but it is NOT the South! (p.s.: no, you shouldn’t do the Grand Canyon as a day trip from Vegas; the companies that offer such things are ripping you off.)]

66. I wanted an easy lunchtime solve and I got one. I figured well-heeled must have something to do with rugby, and bunged it in. I ended up being stuck for a while on away game – sometimes you can’t think of the obvious.

    Now I will attempt to finish this week’s Mephisto.

67. Very smooth stuff. I thought PATINA and DETEST particularly neat.

68. My fellow American mrpenney @57 has described the meaning of DEEP SOUTH as we use it here with admirable precision. Many would forget to include the enclaves of Florida and Texas, but he’s quite right about them.

    Like others, I struggle to see what’s cryptic about 2dn. Otherwise, I found this quite a solid Monday puzzle.

69. Very enjoyable.
    Nick and quick for a Monday.
    Had to look up Rose Madder though.

70. Thanks both and a fine entertainment.

    The eyebrows wiggled at WELL-HEELED because I was thinking of the wrong type of ‘hooker’ (not alone I see). Now I am left with an image of burly chaps wearing a no. 1 jersey and stilettos. Thanks all.

71. Alphalpha
    Mmm … no.2, I think!

72. [Muffin @64: I had a colleague who had an equivalent for any conversation involving atomic physics/quantum physics/spectroscopy which was handy when you had to ask something intelligent when chairing a session. “And could you say something about the effect of polarisation on that?”]

    [mrpenny @65 I am sure you were a much more reliable guide than tripadvisor! As one fellow traveller explained to me as we entered SC on our motorbikes: “You can tell you are in the South now – the diners have biscuits and gravy on the breakfast menu”.]

73. Thanks for the blog. Much needed for me.

    I solved 8 clues.

    One day….

74. Being from Georgia originally, it didn’t even occur to me that the answer might be DOWN SOUTH!

75. Alphalpha & Muffin: Yes, the hooker in rugby union normally wears 2, in rugby league it’s 9.

76. Pleasant and gentle. Nice relief from weekly effort. Made me happy.

    Thanks

77. JOFT @72 I am also reminded of the stock response Father Jack was instructed to give to a tricky question: “That would be an ecumenical matter”!

78. This was fun. Completed and parsed. ALL SAINTS was LOL

    Of course I had BLACK MARKETS at first, like everyone else. Bodycheetah@49, thanks for clarifying

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