Guardian Cryptic crossword No 29,816 by Brockwell

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Apologies – a delayed and slightly rushed blog after some tech issues. Enjoyed solving and parsing this, and especially liked 12ac and 16dn. Thanks to Brockwell…

…only after finishing the rest of the blog have I noticed that there seems to be a theme around WATER, with HOLY WATER / WATER PIPE in the middle of the grid, and WHITEWATER, WATERBOARD, WHITEWATER, DISHWATER, WATERPROOF… and more, I’m sure

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
7 GOGO-BOY
Erotic dancer moves body half-heartedly (2-2,3)
‘go’=’move’, so GO GO=”moves”; plus BO-[d]-Y with only half of its heart/inner letters
8 DEAD SEA
Federal agents repeatedly patrolling southern lake (4,3)
DEA DEA (Drug Enforcement Administation, US federal agents, repeatedly); around S (southern)
9 PASS
Succeed in amorous advance (4)
double definition: e.g. to pass an exam, or e.g. to make a pass at someone
10 ON THIN ICE
Vulnerable judge abruptly suspended cases (2,4,3)
THIN-[k]=”judge” (unfinished/abruptly); cased inside ON ICE=”suspended”
12 PROOF
Nothing stopping teacher demonstration (5)
O=zero=”Nothing” stopping/inside PROF (professor, teacher)
13 GUNSHOTS
Thugs struggling with the introduction to Sex On Fire (8)
anagram/”struggling” of (Thugs S-[ex] On)*
15 HOLY
Casualty scene not the first for Brian Blessed (4)
HOL-[b]-Y minus the first of B-[rian]

Holby City Hospital was the setting/scene for the UK TV drama Casualty
16 WATER
Spendthrift taking son out for a drink (5)
WA-[s]-TER=”Spendthrift”, minus ‘s’ for “son”
17 PIPE
Part of organ I covered in university course (4)
I (from surface), in PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics as a university course)
18 BOMB SITE
Smelly problem child drinking in rubbish tip (4,4)
definition: a place that is messy or in disorder

BO (Body Odour, “Smelly problem”); plus MITE=”child” around BS (bullshit, “rubbish”)
20 BOARD
Poet taking over committee (5)
BARD=”Poet” around O (over, cricket abbreviation)
21 THE JET SET
Gang confronting alien travellers who are loaded (3,3,3)
THE JETS=”Gang” in West Side Story; plus ET (extra-terrestrial, “alien”)
22 TAPE
Brown University released record (4)
TA-[u]-PE=”Brown”, with U (university) removed
24 BEELINE
Vacant Burmese cat not following most direct route (7)
B-[urmes]-E vacant of its inner letters; plus [f]-ELINE=”cat” without ‘f’ for “following”
25 DEVIANT
Pervert ultimately hid out around spa (7)
ultimate letters of [hi]-D [ou]-T; around EVIAN a spa town in France
DOWN
1 SODA
American’s drink troubles returning (4)
ADOS=plural of ado/trouble; reversed/returning
2 DOGSBODY
Menial person supporting Wolves? (8)
a DOGS BODY might be a group of people organised in support of dogs/wolves
3 LOGOFF
John bored by golf fellows making exit (3,3)
LOO=toilet=”John”, with G (golf, NATO alphabet) boring inside; plus F and F (fellow, twice)
4 DESIGNER
Architect is gender-fluid (8)
anagram/”fluid” of (is gender)*
5 ODDISH
Somewhat strange love on degree course (6)
O=zero=”love” in tennis; plus D (degree); plus DISH=”course” in a meal
6 BEDE
Saint in revolutionary piece from Claude Debussy (4)
the Venerable BEDE [wiki]

reversed (revolutionary) and hidden in (piece from): [Claud]-E DEB-[ussy]
11 TIGHTNESS
The Sting shot with special tension (9)
anagram/”shot” of (The Sting)*, plus S (special)
12 PHOTO
Still river with hidden current (5)
the river PO; around/hiding HOT=”current” e.g. ‘a hot topic of discussion’
14 TEPID
Luke Perry originally into climbing regime (5)
definition: ‘luke’ meaning ‘lukewarm’

P-[erry] inside DIET=”regime” reversed upwards/climbing
16 WHITE ANT
I want the kinky six-footer (5,3)
definition: a six-legged insect

anagram/”kinky” of (I want the)*
17 PLANTAIN
Anna Friel’s latest tip for cooking fruit (8)
anagram/”cooking” of (Anna [Frie]-L tip)*
19 BEETLE
Wurzel reversing the Spanish car (6)
definition: the Volkswagen Beetle

BEET=root vegetable, “Wurzel”; plus reversal of EL=”the [in] Spanish”
20 BUTTER
Queen providing support for bottom fat! (6)
ER (Elizabeth Regina, “Queen”) after BUTT=”bottom”
21 TEES
Flower boxes left out (4)
definition: the river or flow-er Tees

‘teles’=televisions=”boxes”, so TE-[L]-ES with L-[eft] removed
23 POND
Whales crossing North Atlantic (4)
definition as in ‘across the pond’ meaning across the Atlantic

POD=group of “Whales”, around N (North)

32 comments on “Guardian Cryptic crossword No 29,816 by Brockwell”

  1. I noted …

    Water –
    Proof, Gun, Pipe, Bomb, Board, Jet, Line, Log, Bed, Tight, Beetle, Butt

    – Water
    Sea, Pass, Ice, Holy, Tap, Hot, Evian, Soda, Body (of), Dish, White, Pond, Tepid, Tees (Teeswater is a breed of sheep)

    That’s an impressive 26 theme entries, plus WATER itself. There may be more.

    Thanks to Dan and manehi

  2. I might be stretching the theme a bit, but for what it’s worth I can see hidden around the grid.
    Words found before water:
    BODY (of), DEAD (in the), DESIGNER, DISH, EVIAN, HOLY, HOT, ICE, JET (of), PASS, POND, SEA, SODA, TAP, TEPID, WHITE.
    Words after water:
    BED, BEETLE, BOARD, BOMB, BOY, BUTT, DOG, GUN, LINE, LOG, PIPE, PLANT, PROOF, TIGHT.

    Also: Loch NESS, River TEES

    Incidentally, according to Wikipedia, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner was first published on October 4th 1798. The crossword editor seems to have been slightly hasty in publishing this on October 3rd.

  3. Thanks Brockwell and manehi
    Several not parsed – DEAD SEA (I guessed DEA must stand for something, but no idea what), ON THIN ICE, HOLY (nho Holby City), and TEES, which I don’t think works – TVs would be “tellies”, not “teles”.
    I’ve never heard of a GO GO BOY, but I suppose gender equality means there’s no reason why there shouldn’t be an opening!
    Favourites BEELINE and DEVIANT.
    No theme, of course.

  5. I think the only solutions I could not wring some WATER out of (pun intended) were DEVIANT and DESIGNER. Bet someone else can find something in those? Really good Friday morning. Thanks so much.

  8. Remarkable theme fill from Brock-well (water). I’m a little uneasy about the half-hearted body being boy as I don’t think I’ve ever seen this device except when the central letters were identical, so it did not matter which you chose. But maybe I am a little miffed at spending ages wondering about a 3 letter synonym for “woman” before the gender equality idea hit me right where it hurts.

    I was also struck by my prejudice that “Holby” was unfair as part of the wordplay, because, obviously it is fine to admit one has never watched some random soap opera/hospital drama. On the other hand every cultured person would be aware of The Jets and The Sharks. So I am twice caught out in my prejudices this morning and better for it I hope!

    thanks Brockwell and manehi

  10. DESIGNER water seems to be a thing these days too…
    Brilliant puzzle, excellent blog, thanks to both.
    [apols to bristle @7, who got there first!]

  11. Very tough. I failed to solve 22ac, 17d, 23d.

    Of the ones I solved, I could not parse 7ac apart from BO[d]Y; 15ac – never heard of Holby City Hospital or the UK TV drama Casualty.

    New for me: Wurzel = beet (for 19d); LUKE = lukewarm (14d); GO-GO BOY.

    I did not notice the theme.

  14. Splendidly done and, yes, every solution on theme which is a remarkable achievement. Brockwell is one of my absolute favourite compilers and so many of these clues were neatly constructed with elegant surfaces. A bit of a cop out but no specific favourite clues today – there were too many and the overall accomplishment is the thing. Despite my admiration, though, I do share JOAT @9’s raised eyebrows at the half-hearted ‘body’= BOY. I tried that once and was properly slapped for it so have only ever used it since when there are two identical letters in the middle of the fodder.

    Thanks Brockwell and manehi

  17. I parsed DOGSBODY as BODY (person) supporting, in a down light DOGS (wolves), but I think the blog parse is better.

    Didn’t spot the theme, as usual.

    Lots of fantastic clues, but I think my favourites were PLANTAIN and GUNSHOTS (my loi).

    Thanks Brockwell and manehi.

  18. I’ve been out for most of the morning, so I missed the blog when it came out ( my sympathies, manehi – I’ve been there) but it means I’m spared the job of enumerating my examples. I’ve more than once commented on Brockwell’s ability to wring every drop from his thoroughgoing themes and it’s more apt than ever today – but TerriBlislow @5 beat me to it. I think that, for once, I did manage to get them all: at least I know by now to expect a reference in every clue / answer – yet still well enough hidden to trap the unwary (or forgetful).

    Apart from that impressive feat, my favourites (whittled down) were DEAD SEA, ON THIN ICE (great construction and surface), HOLY (ditto), THE JET SET, TAPE, DEVIANT, DESIGNER and PLANTAIN.

    Huge thanks to Brockwell on another splendid tour de force – Bravissimo! – and to manehi on a fine job in the face of difficulties.

  19. Fabulous fun from my favourite setter. Top ticks for DEAD SEA, THE JET SET & TEPID

    muffin@3 Chambers – TELE: informal term for television

    Cheers M&B

  20. Embarrassed to be first to admit that though I swam, whizzed and sailed through this I emerged totally dry. Oh well, enjoyed it anyway, super well done Brockers and ta manehi.

    Nope, TTP @17 got there before me.

  22. Pace muffin @3, I agree, cheetah @19; I’m giving ‘the tele’ the ok as a way to say ‘the box’, which makes 21d slyly neat and probably my cotd.

  23. Tedious plod for me, unlike other solvers who sound most enthusiastic. Admit I find the obsession with themes particularly irritating, probably because I rarely spot one.

  24. More or less the same list of quibbles as Muffin@3, though I did know about Holby (somewhat unfair to non-Brits, I thought). An impressively comprehensive theme that manages not to over-influence the puzzle itself: nicely done, Brockwell.

    The only example I can remember of “luke” being used on its own instead of the more usual “lukewarm” is Dylan Thomas’s uncles drinking “luke ale in tiger-striped marquees” in his lovely piece about childhood Bank Holidays on the beach in Wales.

  26. Thought the clues were concise and economical today. Managed to fill the grid steadily and with a great deal of teasing out. Though several unparsed – HOLY, BOMB SITE and ON THIN ICE. Didn’t realize that GO GO BOY was a thing/person. But the only possibility to be contorted/fitted into the available space with crossers in place. ODDISH made for a “somewhat strange” appearance, too…

  27. I completely missed the theme, didn’t think to look for one. Also, like most non-Brits, I assume, I’ve never heard of Holby or its hospital. And I didn’t think of “taupe”, one of the obscurer colors.

    A bomb site = rubbish?

    The use of “luke” by itself reminds me of the time I was living in France. Restaurants and other places sometimes had amusing translations of menus and other announcements for Anglophone visitors, and a popular word on the menus was “lukewarm.” Perhaps it sounded nicer to French folks than plain old “warm,” but of course it had the opposite effect to its intended one. There was also a warning notice at Mont Saint-Michel — “It’s dangerous to risk you in the rising tide. This can surprise you at each time.”

    Thanks, Brockwell and manehi.

  29. For those wondering, yes, certain gay bars do have GO-GO BOYS. Or at least they did–acceptance plus Grindr has changed the scene quite a bit since I first started going to them 30 years ago.

  30. …as little people my cousins and I used to overdose on Lucozade, which we always referred to as Luke…

  31. Very nice–a lot of clever clues that turned out to be fair. Needed a bit of help with HOLY/DOGSBODY and further help parsing, and ON THIN ICE was unparsed (got THIN but was looking for “suspended” as the envelope indicator). And then completely missed the theme. Thanks Brockwell and manehi!

  32. Many thanks to manehi for the excellent blog and to everyone else for the comments. I’m so pleased that the vast majority of you liked it. I was delighted to come up with a 100% themed grid (my HOLY grail!). The next challenge is to come up with one that is enjoyed by 100% of solvers. I suspect that this may be more challenging 😉. B

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