I am standing in for Eileen today, and was pleased to see Brendan’s name when I opened up the puzzle.
Brendan’s cryptics are always a delight, usually with something extra thrown in as part of the package. Today it’s a number of opposites: we have HEAVEN and HELL; PLUS and MINUS; NORTH and SOUTH; GAIN and LOSS; and LIFT and DUMP. In addition, across the central row, we have ABOVE and BELOW, which is a nod to the fact that the antonyms are arranged neatly in the top amd bottom halves of the grid.
Edit: Balfour has pointed out that ABSEILED and ASCENDED, and ESSENTIAL and ELECTIVES can also be added to the list.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
9 They attack nitwit introducing crazy serial
ASSAILERS
A charade of ASS and (SERIAL)* with ‘crazy’ as the anagrind.
10 Most fitting introduction to Trump’s cogito?
IDEAL
Cogito, Latin for ‘I think’, is best known as part of the Cartesian philosophy Cogito ergo sum, ‘I think therefore I am’, the principle establishing the existence of a being from the fact of its thinking or awareness. Whether the current POTUS is capable of any serious thinking or awareness is open to question, but if he had a first guiding principle, it might be I DEAL. Witness the ‘deals’ he has done in various parts of the world, or the deal he is soon going to offer Greenland …
11 Partner of 26, or just the opposite
NORTH
Brendan is referencing the fact that NORTH and SOUTH (26dn) can be partners in bridge, but opposites when it comes to geography.
12 Televise broadcast about cold courses for choosy types
ELECTIVES
An insertion of C in (TELEVISE)* The insertion indicator is ‘about’ and the anagrind is ‘broadcast’.
13 Takes in one lot of rubbish or another
ABSORBS
A charade of A BS OR BS, which if you take BS to mean ‘bullshit’ is one lot of rubbish, or another.
14 Protest less than polite, altogether fiendish
DEMONIC
A charade of DEMO and NIC[E].
17, 18, 19 Like others in hierarchy, a baron avowed noble must change
ABOVE AND BELOW
(A B AVOWED NOBLE)* with ‘must change’ as the anagrind. I took the definition to be ‘in hierarchy’ and the ‘like others’ to indicate that other antonyms were to be seen in the puzzle, arranged above and below the middle row. B for ‘baron’ is in Chambers.
21 Removes children, withdrawn over inadequate service
DELETES
An insertion of LET (think tennis) in SEED reversed. The insertion indicator is ‘over’ and the reversal indicator is ‘withdrawn’.
23 Slander university in peaceful US city
CALUMNY
An insertion of U in CALM, followed by NY. The insertion indicator is ‘in’.
24 Bad fine contributed to ruin for sinister school members
DEVILFISH
An insertion of EVIL and F in DISH. The insertion indicator is ‘contributed to’. A school of DEVILFISH might be considered ‘sinister’, but only because of their name. They eat mainly krill.
26 Partner of 11, or just the opposite
SOUTH
The same parsing as for 11ac.
28 It’s signed like this – that’s a disadvantage
MINUS
The en dash has to be included as part of the definition, since it’s also used as a minus sign.
29 Key line on senate is rewritten
ESSENTIAL
A charade of (SENATE IS)* and L. The anagrind is ‘rewritten’.
Down
1 Not for the first time, 20% is skimmed off top as profit
GAIN
[A]GAIN
2 Strong drink available in judge’s press office
ESPRESSO
Hidden in judgES PRESS Office.
3 Religious leader under intense pressure bungled rites
HIGH PRIEST
A charade of HIGH, P and (RITES)* with ‘bungled’ as the anagrind.
4 Rest of MPs are heard too much after vote’s cancelled
RECESS
A charade of R for ‘are’ said out loud (‘heard’) and E[X]CESS.
5 Rose, while initially cultivated, later destroyed
ASCENDED
A charade of AS, C for the initial letter of ‘cultivated’ and ENDED.
6 Raise temperature for last part of personal story
LIFT
Brendan is inviting you to replace the E in LIFE with a T.
7 Drag higher on charts? It’s way up there
HEAVEN
A charade of HEAVE and N. ‘Higher on charts’ would be N or North.
8 Starts off puzzle like ultimate solver – that’s an advantage
PLUS
The initial letters of the third, fourth, fifth and sixth words of the clue.
13 Confer on area with room for improvement
AWARD
A charade of A and WARD.
15 I help police following gang I left, preparing for action
MOBILISING
A charade of MOB, I, L and I SING.
16 Concealing pained expression, call for old form of money
COWRY
An insertion of OW in CRY. Not a word I knew, but a case of when in doubt follow the instructions. My Chambers has:
cowry (n) a mollusc of a large genus of gastropods, the shells of which are used in certain primitive societies as money
18 Dropped from height, rests up in a part of hospital
ABSEILED
An insertion of LIES reversed in A BED. The insertion indicator is ‘in’ and the reversal indicator is ‘up’.
20 Bottom falling out of luxury vehicle in part of France once
LIMOUSIN
LIMOUSIN[E]. LIMOUSIN is a historic region of France, but the name lives on as a cattle breed.
22 Full of affection, experience desire, sex included
LOVING
An insertion of VI in LONG. The insertion indicator is ‘included’ and sex is Latin for ‘six’, whence VI.
23 House goes into what bill gives one party organizer
CO-HOST
An insertion of HO in COST. The insertion indicator is ‘goes into’
24 Put down as stupid, giving away bishop for pawn
DUMP
A replacement of the B for ‘bishop’ with P for ‘pawn’ in DUMB.
25 Part of Hollywood location ultimately doubled deficit
LOSS
Hollywood is in LOS ANGELES; the first part of that is LOS; double the last letter and you end up with LOSS.
27 It’s a long way down but it can be raised
HELL
A dd. The second element is referring to the expression ‘raising hell’.
Many thanks to Brendan for today’s puzzle.
Thanks very much to Brendan and thanks to Pierre for standing in for Eileen.
This was a terrific puzzle and I enjoyed how the solve unfolded for me. I was very unsure about my LOI which was 4d RECESS, so glad to see I was on the right track despite not being able to parse it fully. I really appreciated 13a ABSORBS (lol!), 14a DEMONIC, 2d ESPRESSO and 15d MOBILISING, but heck, I actually enjoyed the whole thing, including playing “Spotto” with all the opposites. Just to add, the very topical I DEAL (IDEAL) for 10a ended up being my top favourite.
Enjoyed this one which isn’t always the case with Brendan. I thought, in addition to some wonderful clues, it might be down to the absence of any clever conceit or theme – doh 🙂
Top marks for MINUS, the N&S poles, and DELETES
Raised half an eyebrow at the unindicated latin in LOVING
Cheers P&B
Thank you, Pierre. I think that ASCENDED and ABSEILED are definitely thematic, plus arguably ELECTIVES and ESSENTIAL. I suspect that at 10 across Vrendan is referring ti Trump’s ghost-written book, The Art of the Deal. I deal therefore I am is perhaps his proof of his existence in the absence of cogitation.
Me @3 Comment posted itself before I had proofread it, as is apparent, with no edit option. I don’t know why this happens from time to time.
Great puzzle. I didn’t know the shell currency but the instructions were clear.
I did wonder if there was a typo in LOVING but then the penny dropped. I guess the surface wouldn’t have made sense with six.
Liked the hidden for ESPRESSO amongst many others.
Thanks Pierre and Brendan
For 24a, how does “Dish” = “Ruin”? This seems to eb one step beyond me.
As was the “Sex” = “VI” manoeuvre. But I like it a lot now it’s been explained to me.
Thought 15d was very swish for the surface. Very clever.
According to Collins dictionary, dish (verb) is an informal British term meaning to ruin or spoil, eg she’s dished her chances of getting the job. I don’t recall having ever heard it.
Balfour@#3, good spot with the additional opposites. I will add them to the blog.
MCourtney@#6, ‘dish’ and ‘ruin’ are synonyms when the former is used as a slang word.
Great fun, many thanks to Brendan, and also to Pierre for an enjoyable blog. Having spent much of my life in France, maybe “once” in 20d is superfluous. You could easily hear in France even today, “J’ai passé mes vacances dans le Limousin.”
Clocking the theme early, by guessing NORTH and SOUTH without parsing, made some of these a bit of a write-in, but that can’t be helped once you see what’s happening. It certainly helped with the fiendish MINUS. There’s also HIGH (P) and (BE)LOW and ABSEILED and ASCENDED as pointed out by Balfour @3. Fun puzzle.
Ta Brendan & Pierre.
I think ABSORBS and DELETEs can be added to the theme.
Enjoyed the puzzle, thanks B& P
Great fun. Witty and inventive. Trump once said “I do deals. All I know is deals”, which amounts to a cogito, I think. Disraeli claimed to have “dished the Whigs” by extending the franchise.
I have only seen COWRY spelt as COWRIE before, but it was obvious from the clue.
It’s been long since last Brendan, so I was delighted to see his name above the puzzle. I hate to say it, but it felt rather easier than usual. The theme helped a lot of course. LIMOUSIN seems hardly a wordplay, as the name for the car derives from the part of France.
To the list of opposites I would also add ABSORBS and DELETES (PeterS#11 beat me to it) as well as IDEAL and DEMONIC. The priest and the fish are also directly related to the theme, as well as probably RECESS, even though they don’t have their opposites.
Thanks a lot Brendan and Pierre!
It really didn’t help that I spotted that 12a was an insert of C in (TELEVISE)* and confidently entered SELECTIVE, which threw me out for a while. The opposites theme helped once I saw it, but I couldn’t quite work out the anagram fodder for ABOVE AND BELOW, and didn’t remember sex=VI though I have seen it once before.
PeterS @11, Layman @14: I did consider ABSORBS and DELETES as possibly thematic, but after I have ABSORBed a message, let’s say, I tend then to DELETE it, so I concluded, on balance, that the one action may precede the other rather than the two being mutually exclusive. Layman, IDEAL and DEMONIC, being both in the ‘ABOVE’ half of the grid, can’t count, I think.
Thanks Brendan and Pierre
Very clever puzzle. I needed the blog for the parsing of LOVING.
Andy @13
I had only seen COWRIE before too, but Wiki gives “COWRY (or cowrie)” in fact.
I think you confer on or upon but award to, but never mind; with ward = “room for improvement” it’s a very sly clue.
Loi recess and, as for JinA [Hi and HNY], I didn’t have a handle on it.
Brendan is always up there, and ta Pierre (hope ur ok Eileen).
Liked IDEAL, DELETES, RECESS, HEAVEN and HELL.
AWARD
Is ‘confer on=AWARD?’ not sure. Otherwise, doesn’t the ‘on’ seem redundant?
Thanks Brendan and Pierre.
Thank you to Alan R @#7, Pierre @#8 and Petert @#12.
Although I have never heard it. that does make some sense. ‘Dishing them’ sounds like a posh way to describe ‘dashing them’.
A mincing of a mince, perhaps.
They awarded him the Peace Prize = They conferred the Peace Prize on him?
Must try and remember the very cunning ‘sex’ = VI (22d). I was trying to fit IT into the answer for ages, since ‘sex’ often = IT.
Balfour #16: ABSORBing increases (makes bigger), whereas DELETing reduces. Overall, I think there are two types of thematic clues here: with and without their opposite (as an afterthought, IDEAL is not the exact opposite of DEMONIC, either, although it is close).
Thanks to Pierre for stepping in to do the blog for this one.
I really liked “room for improvement”=WARD, but like grantinfredo@18 I think the “on” in the surface is a bit clunky: Brendan wants the “confer on” to misdirect us towards a discussion/conference, but the definition (as Pierre records) is just “confer”=AWARD, so the “on” sits rather awkwardly there.
Lots of clever stuff here. I liked RECESS for the ‘rest of MPs’.
Trump ‘wrote’ a book called The Art of the Deal (which the ghostwriter thinks Donny has never actually read).
Typographers will huff that a minus sign, a hyphen and an en dash are all different. I couldn’t possibly comment, and in the Grauniad no doubt the point is moot.
Spotting the theme early , which is unusual for me, definitely helped but regardless I am well pleased to have completed a clean sweep of the Guardian weekday puzzles for the first time ever.
Thanks to Brendan and Pierre for confirming my uncertain parsing of 22d.
I suppose the other angle from which to approach the Trump clue is to consider that his existential mantra might be I deal, therefore I am. Might be what Brendan was getting at.
As usual, Brendan was just out of my reach. VI for sex eluded me, as did the parsing of 4D. Also NHO DISH for ruin. The rest I managed, albeit with some parsing after the fact.
Despite getting 17/18/19A immediately and identifying that 11A and 26A had to be NORTH and SOUTH (order to be determined by crossers), the theme entirely eluded me – as is normal.
Thank you Brendan, and Pierre for stepping in (and up).
Classy offering from Brendan. Getting ABOVE AND BELOW early on certainly helped the solve. I liked the DEVILFISH school members, the MP’s RECESS, the ASCENDED cultivated rose, the MOBILISING gang I left, and the LOVING sex.
Thanks Brendan and Pierre
Balfour@16 and Layman@ 23 I think the opposites you are searching for are DEMONIC and LOVING, both in different sections of the grid.
Thanks Pierre and Brendan. Obviously I had no idea about a theme, as I literally never look for them! Brought up for too long on The Times, I’m afraid…
Delightful puzzle! Spotted the theme unusually early, knowing Brendan and with NORTH/SOUTH going in early.
I still needed help parsing a few, especially those mentioned above, the VI in LOVING and DISH=ruin. Thank you Brendan and Pierre!
CALUMNY is going in my little collection of beautiful words!
Andy Luke@30: worth looking for themes if Brendan is the setter: he always has at least one and sometimes more.
Surely the definition is “Like others in hierarchy”? If you are in a hierarchy, all others are ABOVE AND BELOW you. Unless you’re at the bottom or top, I suppose.
Surely MINUS is a double definition?
Like simonc and others, missed the VI=sex but otherwise very happy.
Great crossword and detailed blog. Thanks both
A fast start, spotting the theme for once, but then a very slow finish, with each of the last half dozen or so taking ages. I think I was just not quite on the setter’s wavelength, as they were all neat and fair clues.
LOVING: thank you, Pierre, for the blog on that (and others) . Well, OK, but it wouldn’t have spoilt the clue to have had “latin sex” or similar – I think that where non-English words (or readings of words) are being used, not having some kind of indication is a bit unfair.
ABSEILING: as a slightly superannuated caver, this took me an embarrassingly long time to get. PRUSSIKING, to those familiar with the dark art, would be its true opposite, but ASCENDING will stand well enough.
Lots to like, but I’ll go with CALUMNY as my CotD, not least because of its nice surface and (sad to say) topicaiity.
Many thanks B & P.
[DTS @35
Where did you go caving? I had a friend who was a keen caver, mainly in the Yorkshire Dales, but also further afield (including the deepest one in Europe in the Vercors). We often went hill-walking together, but he never got me down a cave!]
[muffin@36: Most of the UK and RoI regions, and a bit in Belgium & France; also about a dozen expeditions to the Picos de Europa in N. Spain, and once to Mexico. I have been down the Gouffre Berger in the Vercors, which I guess is the one your friend did. It’s no longer Europe’s deepest, though! I’d like to think I haven’t yet hung up my boots; but time rolls on, and there are quite a few places underground which are old friends I’m not likely to see again. The Yorkshire Dales is of course “God’s own country” for caving.]
I see I typed ABSEILING etc. instead of ABSEILED… consider this a too-late correction. I must have had Rod Stewart on the internal soundtrack.
[Thanks for getting back, DTS. Where is now the deepest in Europe? btw I’ve been to the Berger, but only the top!]
[The deepest four (also world’s deepest) are in Georgia/Abkhazia: Kubera-Voronya is the deepest at 2267m; it involves some diving at around the 2000m mark, so it’s quite a toughie. If you don’t hold with that being in Europe, then Austria’s Lamprechtsofen, at 1727m, is top of the pots. The Berger, at 1271m, is well down the list; it’s a very fine cave, though.]
[Thanks again DTS]
Thanks Pierre and everyone. Pierre@27, exactly — “I deal, therefore I am” was what I had in mind. (For more thoughts on Trump, anyone is invited to go to my free blog (enter georgebriangreer.substack.com).
lol was it really necessary to remark that the insertion indicator in 23a is ‘in’?!..
Lovely puzzle, and probably our quickest solve ever of a Brendan. Had to check the parsing for DEVILFISH as, like others, we didn’t know dish is a synonym for ruin.
Favourites were the clever NORTH and SOUTH, ABSORBS, and MINUS. Thanks to Brendan and Pierre.
Thanks for the blog , I am hard to please after a busy Friday but this was just the job . Most clues had something interesting , for MINUS I always like a symbol , ASCENDED is very sneaky with the 5 letter “later” , RECESS was very neat and many more …..
sex=vi is better than six if you think about it .
Incompetent players will dish/ruin the chances of KPR making progress this year .
yonoloco @42 That’s all you took away from the puzzle and the blog? Really? It happens that it frequently falls to Pierre to blog Quiptics, so he has developed a habit of explaining painstakingly the mechanics of a clue for the benefit of less expert solvers.
Incidentally, I am a little miffed that Pierre @27 is getting the credit for ‘I deal therefore I am’, when I proposed this @3. But hey-ho …
Balfour@45 – Nope, but that’s all I chose to comment here.. OK with you?
I am happy to share the credit with you, Balfour ..
Thanks Brendan and Pierre! A slow start for me, but I got there in the end. I had to come here for a couple of parsings, and thanks to the commenters who explained how dish can mean ruin; a new one to me.
[ MCourtney@6, Alan R@7, Pierre@8 et al.: about “dish” = “ruin”. I’ve occasionally come across the usage, most recently AFAIR in one or other or the Aubrey-Maturin books by Patrick O’Brian, set in 1800-1816. P. O’B is pretty reliable on period slang. Anyway, I was curious enough to look it up in the full-fat OED, which gives, under “dish”:
v. transitive. slang. To ‘do for’, defeat completely, ruin; to cheat, circumvent. (the notion of food being done, and dished.)
Examples of its usage run from 1798 to 1880, including the splendid quote from Abeillard & Heloisa (1819):
“A consummation greatly wish’d / By nymphs who have been foully dish’d.”
I guess a modern equivalent is “having your arse served up on a plate”. ]
Thank you TDS. That is a detailed explanation of where the phrase comes from.
I’m glad that it wasn’t just me that had completely missed it.
But now it’s part of my vocab. Everyday I learn is a good one.
That was a lovely puzzle, which I only completed with my last eyelid-lifting efforts. I spent a lot of time trying to think of a low-down partner for the high priest. Thanks for the blog too!
Thank you Pierre. I needed you for several today, done over 2 sessions. I’d like to think it was due to the heatwave down here.
I was struck by the Chambers’ entry for COWRY/cowrie, cited in your blog.
cowry (n) a mollusc of a large genus of gastropods, the shells of which are used in certain primitive societies as money.
I don’t have Chambers and I think that’s very poor. Doesn’t give me any motivation to subscribe. Apart from the fact that there are communities who use ”shell money” today, the use of the word ”primitive” is no longer acceptable, even in an historical sense.
On this occasion, I would trust AI on the use of the word primitive :
The word “primitive” is no longer used in academic and respectful discourse to describe earlier or non-industrial cultures primarily because it is ethnocentric, inaccurate, and has historically been used to justify colonial oppression and racism. Modern anthropology has abandoned the term because the theory on which it was based—a single, linear path of social evolution with Western society at the pinnacle—is fundamentally false.
Regarding the unindicated sex for six in LOVING, it could equally have been a Kiwi soundalike. 🙂