Brendan invariably provides a theme, and here it’s in clues, with every single one referring to university activities in one way or another. There’s a little bit of repetition of some elements, but otherwise a typically entertaining puzzle. Thanks to Brendan.
| Across | ||||||||
| 1 | BACHELOR | Single fellow who’s qualified in Arts or Science? (8) Double definition: an unmarried man, and a BA or BSc |
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| 5 | TAUGHT | Gave instruction in rigid pronouncement (6) Sounds like “taut” |
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| 9 | CORPUSES | Writings on specific subjects soldier demolishing exam exploits (8) CORPORAL less ORAL (exam) + USES (exploits) |
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| 10 | DOCTOR | Highly trained person, not necessarily in medicine (6) Just an extended definition: a doctor could be highly trained in medicine, or in another subject for a PhD |
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| 12 | TEMPERATURE | Level of tension that rises by degrees (11) Double definition: the first being a metaphorical usage |
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| 15 | BASIC | Not advanced degree, as recorded (5) BA (degree) + SIC (“as recorded” in quoted material) |
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| 17 | UNITARIAN | Type that’s rejected Trinity coming to university in a train, oddly (9) U + (IN A TRAIN)* |
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| 18 | CAMBRIDGE | Its teams are a shade lighter than opponents (9) Cambridge sports teams play in light blue, their Oxford opponents in dark |
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| 19 | DUCAT | Part of education that could be spent in the past (5) Hidden in eDUCATion |
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| 20 | NANOSCIENCE | Innocence as misrepresented in small-scale theory and research (11) (INNOCENCE AS)* |
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| 24 | AT ONCE | Immediately in agreement about first in Classics (2,4) C[lassics] in AT ONE (in agreement) |
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| 25 | CABARETS | Graduate, note, below me in musical club performances (8) BA (that degree again) + RE (the note below me) in CATS (musical) |
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| 26 | MASTER | Part of one’s old college, including second teacher (6) S[econd] in MATER (part of Alma Mater, one’s old college) |
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| 27 | EDUCATED | Learned university craft with editor after editor (8) ED + U + CAT[amaran] + ED |
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| Down | ||||||||
| 1 | BACK TO BACK | Like term after term without vacation? Sponsor closed fund (4-2-4) BACK (to sponsor) + TO (closed) + BACK (to fund) |
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| 2 | CHROMOSOME | Rooms arranged in cold institution for term of biology (10) ROOMS in C HOME |
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| 3 | ETUDE | Ignoring the odds, best buddies study abroad (5) The even letters of bEsT bUdDiEs – “study abroad” because it’s the French word for “study” |
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| 4 | OVERABUNDANT | Excessively rich nut a brave don demolished (12) (NUT A BRAVE DON)* |
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| 6 | AFORESAID | As assistant, inserting warning on course already mentioned (9) FORE (warning on a golf course) in AS AID |
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| 7 | GATE | Announced step to punish student (4) Sounds like “gait” (step) – gating is a punishment in which a student is not allowed to leave his college, except for lectures etc |
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| 8 | TERM | A quarter of Americans, say, stored in computer memory (4) Hidden in compuTER Memory, Quarter is a US (and formerly UK) word for a part of the academic year. |
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| 11 | BUSINESS CARD | Stiff paper, the passing of which facilitates working relationship (8,4) Cryptic definition |
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| 13 | DISCONTENT | Recording what’s in syllabus – overlapping, hence irritation (10) DISC (recording) + CONTENT (what’s in a syllabus), with the two Cs overlapping |
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| 14 | UNSTRESSED | Not subject to pressure, like bridge in 18 (10) Double definition: |
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| 16 | CHRONICLE | History professor finally working in funny cliche (9) [professo]R + ON (working) in CLICHE* |
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| 21 | ISAAC | Patriarch who, to his friends, explained the gravity of the situation? (5) Double definition: Abraham’s son in Genesis, and Newton of gravity fame |
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| 22 | MA’AM | Polite form of address reflected academic achievement (4) MA (degree) + its reverse |
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| 23 | DONS | Assumes they should be experts in their fields (4) Double definition: “assumes” in the sense of “puts on” |
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I saw things academic in the answers, too. For example, CAMBRIDGE, CORPUS (christie), TERM and so on.
Thanks Brendan and Andrew
A reasonably straightforward solve, with an obvious educational theme. I liked the subtraction in CORPUSES, the UNSTRESSED CAMBRIDGE, BUSINESS CARD and the overlapping DISCONTENT.
I thought it was a bit strange that ‘term’ was used in 1 & 2d and was then the answer to 8d on the same row.
Ta Brendan & Andrew.
I assumed the unstressed bridge was the second syllable of “Cambridge”?
Great fun (especially for someone from Cambridge), thanks Brendan and Andrew. I think that 14d is a bit more mundane though, “bridge” being the unstressed syllable.
I took UNSTRESSED to be referring to the stress in Cambridge falling on the first syllable. Never heard of the Mathematical Bridge, which seems a little obscure (no posts when I started!). Great crossie, lots of fun. Thanks, Brendan and Andrew.
Re:1d,why is closed=to,your explanation for BACK TO BACK?
That was fun – thanks to both.
I thought the theme was specifically about Cambridge, with reference to the ‘mathematical’ bridge at 14 and the ‘backs’ at 1D.
I parsed it as Louise @3 but thanks for pointing out the Mathematical bridge Andrew. That would tie in nicely with ISAAC.
Ronnie B @8: when a door is pushed or pulled to, it means it is closed.
Ronnie @6 when a door is pulled “to”, it’s closed but not locked.
Quite tough – I solved/guessed quite a few answers and back parsed them but I failed to solve 9ac and 23d.
I did not fully parse 14d – never heard of the Mathematical Bridge at Cambridge. I like the way that Louise@3 and others have parsed the unstressed bridge bit.
New for me: UNITARIAN = a person who asserts the unity of God and rejects the doctrine of the Trinity.
I thought Brendan’s usual quality dipped a little in places to accommodate the theme, but it’s still quite a feat to get something thematic in every clue (and a dozen or so of the solutions). The shorties were the hardest for me, GATE and TERM together taking as long as the rest of the puzzle combined. Favourites CHROMOSOME and UNITARIAN.
Really liked a lot of the clueing. DUCAT was a favourite, though I originally thought it was going to be GRANT, and felt a bit sad.
Ronnie #7
I had the same question. Back could be ‘to fund’ so why ‘closed’
After thinking about it for a while I came up with: pull the door to = pull it closed
Completed three Guardian cryptics in a row unaided (except dictionary) for the first time (four with the quiptic). Granted, these were easier versions of Paul (Prize), Pasquale and Brendan, but still.
Didn’t parse all. Agree with Louise@3 and TassieTim@5 re: UNSTRESSED. Also agree with the quibble(t) re: repetitions. Liked DISCONTENT for the unusual clue, AFORESAID for the pretentiousness, and the playful if obvious double/extended definitions. Thanks Brendan and Andrew!
Enjoyable crossword.
Since when did taut mean rigid?
The strings on a musical instrument or a tennis racket are taut, as are cables on a suspension bridge, but they are still flexible not rigid.
Layman@14
3 in a row – Well done! Keep it up!
Nil illegitimo carborundum.
A pleasant start to the day. BACHELOR was a bit of a free gift to get things started. LOI was CORPUSES – a slightly more obscure word than most of the rest: USES for “exploits” was clear enough, but I had to go mentally through the alphabet forwards and backwards a few times for the remaining blank spaces to find a plausible solution, which I couldn’t fully parse even then. So thanks , Andrew for the enlightenment on that (and the Blog overall).
I’m an alumnus of Queens’, and so I assumed that UNSTRESSED referred to our bridge over the Cam, though I thought “unstressed” was a bit of a stretch (ahem). The various legends about it touched on by Andrew I knew about, but I can’t see that having some of its struts not being subject to bending loads makes them unstressed completely, let alone the whole bridge. So I think the “last syllable in Cambridge being unstressed” is the more likely explanation. Maybe Brendan, to whom many thanks for a nice puzzle triggering a touch of nostalgia, might drop by to let us know?
I imagine someone with a PhD might demur at being described as being “trained” to attain that qualification
My fastest of the year, probably. I found time to fumble an anagram but, having feared arcane Oxbridge knowledge, there was really no resistance at all. It barely felt cryptic at times.
This is neither complaint nor boast, just an honest report of my experience. I enjoyed it and liked that the theme was so clear and thoroughly applied.
Thanks Brendan and Andrew
Everyday is a school day both literally and figuratively with this puzzle.
GATE (in that context) was new to me and hesitated about TERM thinking semesters was what the Americans used.
Liked MAAM and CHRONICLES
Thanks Andrew and Brendan
Staticman1 @20 – yes, I was a little puzzled by the American reference in TERM, too, though that clearly was the intended solution. Cambridge and Oxford universities definitely have terms: Michaelmas, Lent/Hilary (Cambridge/Oxford) and Trinity.
Thanks Brendan and Andrew
Despite being a Cambridge graduate, I found this a bit tedious – repetitions, as you say, and some clues barely cryptic (DOCTOR?).
My favourite was the simple hidden DUCAT too.
I assumed the bridge was the Mathematical one too, but I think the unstressed syllable works better.
With regard to DOCTOR, I meant to add that (when I was up, at least – I don’t know if it’s still the case) a medic had to actually have a doctorate (PhD or MD) to be allowed to call him- or herself “doctor”.
How very Guardian. This grammar school oik was defeated by CORPUSES, which even cheating failed to reveal despite half of it being obvious. Otherwise the theme was more of a hindrance than help, leading to an unusually patchy offering from this setter.
Thanks both.
I must admit to stifling a yawn at yet another university/oxbridge themed crossword. Delighted to see one of the few old coins I know DUCAT make another appearance. Given the theme I throught TRINITY was a neat bit of deception
Cheers B&A
I don’t know if Brendan works at Cambridge, but this one felt like one for the students. I flew through half of it, mainly on the LHS, but then noticeably slowed down. Like some other commenters I was left with the likes of CORPUSES – I did enjoy the PDM moment for how “oral” fits in (exam is always oral) – and TERM, which I’m embarrassed to say I ran out of time for. But it turns out to have been a lost cause anyway, because it appears I bunged in AFOREHAND anyway, for no good reason 🙈.
DTS@21 I think the point is that Americans have “quarters”, not that Brits don’t have terms… something which I didn’t know, and Brendan stitched me up proper with that hidden 😅 (as the best hiddens should be). My mind refused to recover from the fact that the checkers ruled out the use of ROM or RAM.
TILT: UNITARIAN – and like bodycheetah@25 I liked the mmisdirection, making this probably my favourite clue.
Thanks both
I liked the theme (only a few of the clues specifically refer to Cambridge) but hesitated on AFORESAID because AID=assistant didn’t quite convince. Chambers only has AIDE. Oddly enough, BACHELOR held me up for a while due to overthinking it.
I assume CORPUSES exists as a word in some dictionary or other. Chambers (my go to) only has CORPORA as the plural.
An entertaining and enjoyable puzzle from Brendan.
Lots of clever clues, raising a few smiles. I had about a dozen ticks but I’ll just highlight CORPUSES (I always enjoy that type of clue), DISCONTENT (and that one, too), UNITARIAN, AT ONCE (I allowed myself a slight smirk, although mine was from Bristol, not Cambridge) and CHRONICLE.
I’m with the consensus re the parsing of UNSTRESSED, never having heard of the Mathematical Bridge but I enjoyed learning about it, so many thanks for that, Andrew, especially the apocryphal story. 😉
We’ve had an ‘old coin’ two days running. (bodycheetah @25, did you first hear of DUCAT, like me, at school, in The Merchant of Venice – ‘O my ducats! O my daughter!’?)
Many thanks, as always, to Brendan for an interesting puzzle (I wouldn’t be surprised if someone were to find something more going on) and to Andrew for an enjoyable blog.
AP@26: You aren’t the only one to be infuriatingly defeated by TERM – a bit of USGK I didn’t know plus some very neat hiding. Never having visited Cambridge I had the syllable version of UNSTRESSED, but I spent my schooldays within shouting distance of the annual Varsity match at Twickenham, so light and dark blue for Oxford and Cambridge are familiar.
A mixture of the very easy (BACHELOR and DOCTOR) and the tricky (CORPUSES beat me) and perhaps one of the many scientists here can explain what NANOSCIENCE is – it’s new to me.
Thanks to Louise et al for pointing out a better explanation of 14d. I was obviously too keen to show off my local knowledge.
Gladys@30: “Nanoscience” means it’s to do with things on the nanometre length scale, a nanometre being a billionth (10^-9) of a metre. That’s pretty small – atomic spacings are typically a few tenths of a nanometre, so it’s the sort of length-scale at which quantum-mechanical effects can come into play.
Another connection in 1d – “The Backs” is a part of Cambridge, where the backs of some of the colleges go down to the River Cam.
I think the CAT in 27a EDUCATED is more likely the single-sailed light boat. ‘Catamaran’ works (and is sometimes abbreviated to cat), but this other type of boat makes for a neater parsing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catboat?wprov=sfti1
Thanks to Brendan for an enjoyable puzzle and to Andrew for the blog.
Didn’t Brendan recently say, either here or on a Graun thread, that his ambition was to set a puzzle in which every single clue was thematic? Fait accompli! Bravo!
As ever, Brendan’s cryptic clues are beyond me, a good theme though, unlike the nonsense Paul produced a few weeks back.
Thanks both.
Blaise @35 – you’re right: he did and I’m pretty sure it was here but I can’t find it! I’ll stop looking for anything more, anyway. 😉