Guardian Cryptic No 29,698 by Vulcan

42 comments on “Guardian Cryptic No 29,698 by Vulcan”

1. I thought FORM was a double def + WP: School class/shape/FOR + M

2. Thanks Vulcan and manehi. I had very little idea what was going on with OLD FATHER THAMES, despite getting it quite quickly. I checked to make sure it was a song, but even that seemed quite obscure. I don’t have much else to say, which makes my post even more pointless than usual. That’s social media for you!

3. TOFF defeated me, but there were only so many words I could have tried with T_F_ as the crossers, so I ought to have had a bit more patience. Lovely start to the week though.

4. Is it just me or has Vulcan become harder the last few months? I got there in the end and favourite was TOFF for a great surface.

5. Thanks v and manehi, found this fairly smooth apart from spending too long trying to make DEBRANCHED work for 13d!

6. If ff is ‘maximum volume’ I wonder what Vulcan would make of ffff (Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture).

7. Parsed FORM as PostMark @1.

8. Enjoyable Monday puzzle. My favourite was RESCUE BID for the surface and for “Movingly” as the anagram indicator.

   In SWINDLE, I think the inclusion indicator is “In a little” (meaning “in a part of”) rather than just “In”. If it isn’t we’ll have complaints about superfluous words!

   Many thanks Vulcan and manehi.

9. FORM. Agree with PostMark@1. It would be a poor hidden with one end exposed.

   Fortissimo (ff) means very loud.
   Fortississimo (fff) means as loud as possible.

10. A very accommodating grid this morning, I thought. A bit of a sluggish start, but enjoyed this in the end. Liked the straightforward definition dividing the apple kingdom neatly into two – an EATER as opposed to Cooker. Though I did used to like to bite into a nice ripe Bramley once upon a time…

11. PostMark is @1 everywhere today. 🙂

    Lord Jim@8
    SWINDLE
    It could be as you say or the ‘in’ could be a link word (In WP, def) and the hidden/inclusion indicator is ‘a little’.

    Liked the CD’s in general.
    CUBIT and FORM were other faves.

    Nice puzzle. Neat blog.
    Thanks Vulcan and manehi.

12. At first I thought FORM might be a triple def – school (as a verb, to train, etc)/class/shape, plus the hidden answer. But that puts “in” in the wrong place so on reflection, I agree with manehi. I enjoyed 2d for the misdirecting reference to Vulcan. Thanks to V & M.

13. Very enjoyable despite not feeling on wavelength which made the CDs a bit of a slog. Struggled in the SW quadrant but once UNDERSEAL dropped I breezed through it. Funny how one clue can suddenly open up so many.

    Didn’t know the lyrics to OLD FATHER THAMES so thanks for the explanation Manehi.

    Vulcan’s usual wit in this but I think he has been turning the difficulty level up a little bit in recent puzzles. Maybe they are trying (although possibly failing) to create some space between the Quiptic and the Monday puzzle.

    Liked GODSEND when the penny dropped about which Vulcan was needed. Many other good clues like UNDERSEAL, REVIVALIST and BAILOUT.

    Thanks Vulcan and Manehi.

14. Here’s today’s earworm: OLD FATHER THAMES. It says something for its datedness that the version on YouTube is from 1934! It used to be popular on the radio in my childhood, and the Thames has always been Father Thames quite independently of the song, though that’s where the clue gets the rolling from.

15. Nho the song OLD FATHER THAMES but bunged it in on spec. Couldn’t help thinking of Old Man River.

16. @TimC I’m not sure they’re harder but I think they’re less typically Vulcan of old and more conventional.

17. gladys & poc. My immediate reaction to “roller” in 25 was “it’s a river, innit?”. As it turns out first thoughts pointed to the wrong river but a marvellous earworm…

18. A good Monday crossword. I thought at the beginning 27 could have been ‘mineshaft’; that’s the trouble with cds – you need some crossers to arrive at the correct solution, which was DOWNWARDS. I liked the strange lad with his pet for ODDS-ON FAVOURITE, the good anagram for RESCUE BID, GODSEND because it took a while to connect Vulcan to his god, and a nice charade for REVIVALIST.

    Thanks Vulcan and manehi.

19. I found this very tractable – had KNITTING pencilled on first pass, but waited until I had crossers to confirm it. I needed the crossers for OLD FATHER THAMES – didn’t know the song, but do know the Rivers of London books by Ben Aaronovitch.

    Tim C @4 – and this just proves the conversation we were having on the Quiptic yesterday – I sailed through this in Quiptic time for me, a lot quicker than yesterday’s Quiptic, and slightly faster than it took me to solve the Harpo Quiptic of a week ago.

    Thank you to Vulcan and manehi.

20. Thanks to Vulcan and manehi, but also to gladys@14. The link to the 1934 recording of Old Father Thames blew me away, as I don’t remember hearing it since my childhood in the nineteen fifties, but now recall singing it with older relatives. Small joys.

21. Yes – thank you gladys @14 for that redolent reminder of my childhood – and reminding me of that great Australian baritone Peter Dawson who seemed to be a constant on the radio when I was growing up in the 50s. Having googled him my earwig will probably be “On the Road to Mandalay.!”

22. * Sorry – earworm

23. After struggling with yesterday’s Quiptic, I found this a real pleasure to do, much more on my wavelength. I liked the cryptic definitions KNITTING and DOWNWARDS, the double definitions DRAW and EATER – and the boomer eating the large loaf was funny. For those of us learning, there was a good range of clue types and little involving the dread ‘envelope’ which always defeats me.

24. I haven’t tackled a Vulcan for ages, which is my loss: lovely stuff, and solver-friendly, in a good way.
    I enjoyed the double-bluff, using Vulcan as the god, not the setter:(GODSEND, 2d); same trick in 12d, too, where plastic is, well, plastic….and not the anagrind I expected.
    I cannot find fault anywhere, just the opposite, a joy to complete.
    Thumbs-up, hats off, V & manehi

25. Thanks to Vulcan for a great start to the week. There was a lovely range of clues, which suited the Monday setting, including some excellent surfaces. Favourites were GODSEND, KNITTING and BLOOMER. Thanks also to manehi for the usual excellent blog.

26. Thanks both,
    I don’t know if Vulcan is getting easier, but he seems to be using fewer Rufusian excruciating CDs, which is a good thing, IMHO.

27. @6 In the words of Nigel Tufnel, ffff is two louder isn’t it

28. SimonC@6, Jay@9 – agreed, Mahler uses fffff in his 7th Symphony, Ligeti uses ffffffffff in Le Grand Macabre, these are both standard rep so little old ff can hardly claim to be ”maximum”, at least that’s my excuse for TOFF being my LOI. I suppose it comes from the idea that a superlative should mean both ‘very’ and ‘most’. Anyhow, I’m another who sees the Vulcan/Imogen difference diminishing; whatever, he’s a great setter, thank you V&m

29. Very enjoyable and very quick, even for a Monday. But I don’t know what the words “and turning” are doing in 14down – they seem redundant and I thought every word should count.

30. Terry @29
    “Tossing and turning” is a common expression for lying sleepless in bed.

31. OLD FATHER THAMES took me back to primary school in 1950’s Queensland, sitting in a hot classroom (always hot), droning children murdering what was probably a fine song in some kind of music lesson. The ear-worm has remained with me all day. I enjoyed this clue, though not the ear-worm.
    I also liked the strange lad with pet in ODDS-ON FAVOURITE – lovely surface – and the misdirection about Vulcan in GODSEND.
    Lovely, fun puzzle and great blog and explanations. Thanks to Vulcan and manehi.

32. A Monday puzzle with neat clueing. Thank Vulcan and Manehi.

33. Thanks for the blog , very neat set of clues and seems just right for a Monday .
    The pairs of answers for rows and columns give the names of Indie bands .

34. My first ever completed non weekend cryptic crossword. Hurray

35. Well done Cherry. Keep at it.
    I kept looking for something more with EATER but there wasn’t. Enjoyed it all though.

36. Roz @33 I can’t see the indie bands. Can you give an example?

37. Martin @36
    I suspect that Roz has her tongue firmly in her cheek.

38. MOSES is at my level of biblical GK (c.f. ARARAT in Guardian Prize 29,691) but the clue felt more of a bluff than a cryptic definition, same with KNITTING.
    Having said that I think Tim C @4 is right in that there’s more ambiguity to Vulcan’s clues than earlier in the year.

39. Martin@36 you must have heard of Leek Aviators ? Staffordshire’s finest .

40. I didn’t complete, but very nearly. Parliament of owls defeated me. Thank you to Vulcan and Manehi.

41. I like clues which go across the = sign as in parse clue correctly = (solution). So my favourite was “Believe spade for one to be plastic” = CREDIT CARD.
    Also a generally enjoyable puzzle.

    Thanks Vulcan and Manehi

42. Difficulty level does seem random these days. Not an easy Vulcan. Only completed 2/3. I’ve been doing better with Paul puzzles!

    I enjoyed 20a KNITTING as it’s a perfect description of Mrs. Mig. We both raised an eyebrow at “domestic”

    22d MOSES elicited sustained laughter from me — very funny

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