Guardian Cryptic 26,984 by Brummie

by

The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/26984.

Not too difficult, a few quibbles, and a theme of the brain and memory (LAPSE might be added to the list; I think STREET MAP does not quite make it).

Across
1 AMNESIA Not what a good retriever would suffer from? (7)
Cryptic definition.
5 SOLIDUS Slash well-built American (7)
A charade of SOLID (‘well-built’) plus US (‘American’), for the / sign.
9 LAPSE Legs before energy gets to run out (5)
A charadeof LAPS (‘legs’? Chambers “a distinct part or stage of a course or journey” for leg is perhaps close) plus E (‘energy’).
10 STRONG MAN Angstrom bewitched women ultimately, pulling being his forte? (6,3)
A charade of STRONGMA, an anagram (‘bewitched’) of ‘Angstrom’ plus N (‘womeN ultimately’
11 UNEDUCATED Ignorant of one French old coin with English date (10)
A charade of UNE (‘one French’) plus DUCAT (‘old coin’) plus E (‘English’) plus D (‘date’).
12 SNIP Trim back legs (4)
A reversal (‘back’) of PINS (‘legs’). As often with this type of clue, one needs a crosser or a lucky guess to determine whether ‘back’ goes with ‘legs’ of ‘trim’.
14 AIDE-MEMOIRE Prompt idea for processing Maine silk (4-7)
A charade of AIDE, an anagram (‘for processing’) of ‘idea’ plus ME (‘Maine’, US Postal Service standard abbreviation) plus MOIRÉ (‘silk’). ‘Prompt’ as a noun.
18 HIPPOCAMPUS Cool river by college, where memorable items are preserved (11)
A charade of HIP (‘cool’) plus PO (‘river’ in Italy) plus CAMPUS (‘college’), for the parts of the brain associated with the processing of short-term to long-term memories.
21   See 6
22 INACCURATE Cain converted by a religious person? Wrong (10)
A charade of INAC, an anagram (‘converted’) of ‘Cain’ plus CURATE (‘a religious person’).
25 MORTAL SIN A mere man’s elected — that’s unpardonable! (6,3)
A charade of MORTAL’S (‘a mere man’s’) plus IN (‘elected’).
26 AUDIO Car provided with ring of sound (5)
A charade of AUDI (‘car’) plus O (‘ring’).
27 COBBLES Paving works at last (7)
Double definition: ‘last’ as the cobbler’s tool.
28 OVERLAY Indulge in too much sex, as printers might do? (7)
Definition and literal interpretation.
Down
1 ALLIUM Lithium put in a double sulphate to make garlic, say (6)
Heavy on the science. An envelope (‘put in’) of LI (chemical symbol, ‘lithium’) in ALUM (potassium aluminium sulphate, or other ‘double sulphate’), for the genus which includes ‘garlic’, leek and onion.
2 NEPHEW Relative bearing that’s a relief (6)
A charade of NE (‘bearing’) plus PHEW (‘that’s a relief’).
3 SPECULATOR Risky market trader, ponderous type (10)
Definition and cryptic definition; I suppose someone who ponders might be called a SPECULATOR,
4 AISHA Prophet’s wife, one splitting tree with axe’s leading edge (5)
An envelope (‘splitting’) of I (‘one’) in ASH (‘tree’) plus A (‘Axe’s leading edge’), for one of Muhammad’s wives.
5 STREET MAP Merest tap-dancing might get you round Nancy, say (6,3)
An anagram (‘dancing’) of ‘merest tap’). The suggestion of a French connection from the city Nancy is, of course, a red herring.
6, 21 LONG-TERM  Enduring, so it seems to jaded scholars (4-4)
Definition and cryptic reference.
7 DEMENTIA A failing of powers of matinee idol’s second cast? (8)
A anagram (‘cast’) of ‘matinee’ plus D (‘iDol’s second’).
8 SYNAPSES Cy soundly sleeps with drugs, forming mental connections (8)
A charade of SY, sounding like (‘soundly’) ‘Cy’ plus NAPS (‘sleeps’) plus ES (‘drugs’).
13 EMASCULATE Unsex poor Mae with loveless kiss (10)
A charade of EMA, an anagram (‘poor’) of ‘Mae’ plus [o]SCULATE (‘kiss’)  minus the O (‘loveless’).
15 DIAGNOSIS Possibly delivered by a GP doing as is ordered (9)
An anagram (‘ordered’) of ‘doing as is’.
16 RHYTHMIC Regular myth set in rich ground (8)
An envelope (‘in’) of YTHM, an anagram (‘set’) of ‘myth’ in RHIC, an anagram (‘ground’) of ‘rich’. Perhaps ‘ground’ might better be regarded as the anagrind for both parts, and ‘set in’ as the envelope indicator.
17 SPARE RIB Eve’s material contrib­ution to Chinese dish? (5,3)
Strange. The reference to Eve’s creation from Adam’s spare rib is obvious, but I would not have put spare rib down as a particularly Chinese dish; and ‘material’ seems a little odd – either that or I am missing something. On reflection, I think most of my objections fade if this is read as a double definition, as underlined. Thanks julie paradox.
19 SANDAL Footwear‘s the making of Sal (6)
S and AL together make ‘Sal’.
20 MEMORY Computer feature more suitably stuck in well! (6)
An envelope (‘stuck in’) of EMOR, an anagram (‘suitably’?) of ‘more’ in MY! (‘well!’).
23 CONDO Accommodation swindle presented in two ways (5)
CON an DO are two words which can mean ‘swindle’.
24 WAIL Keen women are sick (4)
A charade of W (‘women’) plus AIL (‘are sick’).
completed grid

44 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 26,984 by Brummie”

  3. Very enjoyable!! Thanks to Brummie and to PeterO!! I fear there IS a policy to make the Guardian Cryptic a tad easier since Yesterday’s Imogen and this by Brummie were the least difficult by either setter I can remember!! Mind you the Prize Masquerade was nigh on impossible so perhaps I am wrong!!
    I thought MORTAL SIN and NEPHEW rather fine.

  4. Thank you PeterO and Brummie.

    I think spare rib is a Chinese dish. I remember ordering it in many a Chinese restaurant. I struggle more with “contribute” as I think it means “Adam’s contribution to Eve” but can’t make that quite work grammatically.

    Really enjoyed the crossword though. Several “aha” moments and some new words – solidus and osculate being the ones I remember, even iPhone spell check doesn’t recognize them either I have just seen.

  5. Fun and doable. I couldn’t parse 14 so thanks for the explanation. I also had to dredge my own fading memory to recall what an / was called (5a) and the tool for fixing shoes (27).

  6. Thanks Brummie and PeterO

    OK, but not great. I thought “Cy” for “SY” was a bit feeble, and “ponderous” isn’t the same as “pondering”, however amusing the surface.

    I didn’t parse the MEMOIRE bit of 14a. COBBLES was my favourite, and I also appreciated the science content.

    I would associate “spare ribs” with Chinese meals, Peter – we don’t seem to have them any other way in Britain.

  7. I enjoyed 25a MORTAL SIN too, S Panza @ 3. I also had a smile at 28a OVERLAY, even though having sex being described as “getting laid” nowadays sounds a bit old-fashioned.

    Agree with PeterO that 12a SNIP/PINS could be placed either way; of course I chose the wrong way early on and so had trouble in the NE for a while.

    I liked the mini-theme about memory lapses, even though (sigh!) I didn’t like being reminded…Here’s hoping The Guardian Cryptic helps to stave off 7d for as long as possible!

    Thanks to Brummie for a not too hard and not too easy crossword (for me, anyway, it was just right). As ever, your helpful blogging was appreciated, PeterO.

  8. Fairly easy on the whole, though I did have to check on the double sulphate. MORTAL SIN would be good if it weren’t wrong. In Catholic theology (where the term comes from) it refers to a serious sin but is certainly not unpardonable.

  9. I agree with Anon@2, the theme is rather worrying, especially when the word “Diagnosis” pops up. Also “memory” alone isn’t really thematic – it needs “lapse” and “long term” to make it so, doesn’t it?

  10. Thank you Brummie and PeterO.

    I enjoyed the crossword since it is the short TERM MEMORY loss that I dread, I already use des AIDE-MÉMOIRE (no change in the plural according to Larousse, but Collins gives aides-memoire). Of course, DEMENTIA looms up in the future, as does MORTALity.

    SOLIDUS was a new word for me (but wonder if I will remember it).

    The clues for MORTAL SIN, COBBLES and NEPHEW were great!

  11. I agree with Peter O (thank you for the blog) on the matter of legs and laps. ‘I ran the first leg’ and ‘I ran the first lap’ are not really synonymous.

  12. Re LAPSE, Collins’ entry for ‘LEG’ has “a single stage, lap, length, etc, in a relay race”, so it’s fine.

  13. Perhaps 17 is a “contribution to Chinese dish”? ie just one of the ingredients. Then you have a (sort of) double definition.

    Can’t help thinking this is telling us something 🙁

  14. I also thought LONG TERM MEMORY LAPSE and DIAGNOSIS were part of the theme and like Anon@2 and Ian Payne@9, I was worried that this was a confession by Brummie. I hope he or she is alright. Clearly still capable of producing this excellent puzzle, though I was annoyed at the ambiguity in 12a (I got it wrong, of course).

    It did seem easier than most Brummies.

    many thanks Brummie and PeterO

  17. After Araucaria’s famous valedictory crossword one is a touch worried by this offering, so perhaps Brummie (Eddie James) might pop in here, as he sometimes does I think, and put our minds to rest!!!

  18. I think any time a setter uses a disease theme from now on I am going to worry that they are following Araucaria’s example. It would be nice if they would leave us a “don’t worry” in the special instructions — although I suppose that would be too much of a giveaway.

  19. Thanks to PeterO for a good blog and Brummie for an entertaining puzzle.

    No doubt I’m now in MORTAL SIN because I can’t find it in Chambers or my ODE… Wordnet gives ‘an unpardonable sin entailing a total loss of grace’ but I won’t argue with those what know about these things.

    Luckily I already had the second letter for SNIP so got it the right way round. Yes, it’s age-related loss of short-term memory that’s the problem; LONG-TERM MEMORY gets relatively preserved unless you are really suffering from DEMENTIA.

  21. S Panza @20 yes! But NEPHEW killed that idea.

    Sorry to duplicate your comment @17 — hadn’t seen it when I posted.

  22. Thanks to Brummie and PeterO. Very enjoyable. ALLIUM, my last in, was new to me (especially the alum component), and I paused over the lay in OVERLAY. In the US, especially in the South, I don’t associate spare ribs with Chinese cuisine (barbecue would be a more likely candidate).

  23. julie paradox @13

    Thanks for your suggestion. Read as a double definition, the oddities I found in the clue make more sense. Certainly spare ribs are used in Chinese cooking, but they can also be used, for example, on the barbecue (Larousse Gastronomique says that this is primarily US, which fits).

  24. Thanks both,

    I managed this, but struggled with yesterday’s, for some reason. We cook spare ribs using a recipe from Kenneth Lo’s ‘Chinese Food’, so I think of them as a Chinese dish. ACD @22 – I thought American ribs were usually beef, but random googling seems to suggest pork is equally common. Is that the case?

  25. Yes, I hope this isn’t what we think Brummie may be saying – I was hoping somebody might have scotched that theory by now. By his standards this puzzle was pretty straightforward, with a few nice clues.

    Thanks to Brummie and PeterO

  26. Yes, here in the US ribs are barbecue — I don’t recall seeing them in Chinese restaurants. And I’d say they are more commonly pork than beef. My favorite barbecue place sells both — you can get one (very large) beef rib or a rack or half rack of pork ones. “Ribs” unspecified means pork, if it’s beef they add that information.

    We had almost the same clue for “synapse” in a recent Brummie (8/5, 6955).

  27. Thanks Brummie and Peter0. As others have commented, gentle fare for Brummie.

    I see curate returning to its rightful condition of noun, after yesterday’s outing as a verb.

    One of my neighbours makes his living selling pork spare ribs to France.

  28. Tyngewick @24 etc.

    Consulting a couple of local (Long Island, NY) Chinese takeout menus, I see spare ribs under Appetizers. Both Larousse and Wikipedia say spare ribs mean pork, full stop, although googling “beef spare ribs” gives plenty of hits. Wikipedia suggests short ribs for the corresponding part of a cow. Beef ribs in the US are more likely to be a roast (with a sizeable chunk of meat attached) or braise.

  29. Following my successful finishing of today’s offering from Brummie (for which, thanks), I find myself in something of a quandary.

    Although my completion rate for Guardian crosswords must be well below 5%, I had no sympathy for those who wrote to the newspaper recently complaining about their difficulty. Over the years, when I have embarked on a crossword, I’ve never really expected to finish it and am pleasantly surprised on the odd occasion when I do.

    Having successfully completed three of this week’s four puzzles, however, I must say that it is quite a pleasant feeling.

    I wonder what the future will hold?

  30. I was expecting this to be difficult but it proved to be quite approachable and very entertaining. The NE corner was the last to fall. Looking back at the puzzle,I’m not sure why. NEPHEW and AMNESIA were both excellent. My LOI was LAPSE. I loved HIPPOCAMPUS,COBBLES and INACCURATE. MEMORY made me smile as did RHYTHMIC
    I’m not sure the theme is one I want to think about though.
    Thanks Brummie

  31. Many thanks Brummie and Peter O. I agree with you Peter regarding 5d still haven’t a clue as to why Nancy. It didn’t make sense to me however as long as it’s not amnesia or dementia that’s fine

  32. S Paza @ 20. No, but I did enter AGNOSIA (which, among other things, can refer to loss of sense of smell, and, with the retriever as a dog, makes perfect sense)

    Thanks Peter and Brummie

  34. ezzie@31 — I think it’s Nancy just to name a city, but one which will distract you into thinking it’s a woman or that something must be French, since France is where the city of Nancy is.

  36. And then we wonder why our beloved language is something others find difficult! Doesn’t “double sulphate” just sound like it should mean two lots of sulphate? But no, double refers to the two metals attached to the sulphate.

    And as for the spelling of sulphate, what a can of worms that is! From Wikipedia……..

    Sulfur is the preferred spelling by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) and since 1992 by the UK’s Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). Sulphur is used by British and Irish scientists. However, sulfur has been actively taught in Chemistry in British schools since December 2000. It prevails in Canada and Australia, and it is also found in some American place names (e.g., Sulphur, Louisiana and White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia). American English usage guides suggest sulfur for technical usage, and both sulfur and sulphur in common usage and in literature. The variation between f and ph spellings is also found in the word’s ultimate source: Latin sulfur, sulphur.

  37. Thx to Brummie & Peter… Oh well – didn’t get memory loss theme – or maybe I did – can’t remember 🙂 (FWIW I didn’t!)Struggled more with this than general impression of posts – FOI was STRONG MAN and LOI was AIDE MEMOIRE – Suzee and I always have SPARE RIBs for starters when we go for Chinese so no problems there – had to cheat on ALLIUM as neither the word itself nor ALUM as a double sulphate were familiar to me – I too liked NEPHEW – also HIPPOCAMPUS – I would be happy to use STREET MAP to navigate around Nancy although I was initially thinking it would be a French phrase…

  38. Sulfur/Sulphur – well I’ll take guidance from The Big Bang Theory’s Periodic Table shower curtain. With an ‘f’. Get that reference?

  39. As usual I agree with muffin @6 about ponderous and I think that Cy for SY is not so much feeble as wrong. To me and Chambers the syn in SYNAPSES is pronounced as in sin, not sign. The name Cy on its own is always as in sigh and to expect us to pronounce it as in cynic (but not cynosure) is asking too much.
    Thanks to Brummie and PeterO. I enjoyed puzzle and blog.

  40. Oh! dear. I have always pronounced synapse with the first syllable as “sigh”. I now gather I’m wrong. In spite of my shame, I shall continue to do so.
    [I take some small comfort from my fellow ignoramus – the creator of Chambers’ entry for the word – who advises that it may be pronounced either way!]

    Smooth puzzle, but very ‘unThursdayish’; I don’t recall an easier Brummie. Thanks all.

  41. Thanks Peter and Brummie. Thought I’d venture into Guardian territory after a fairly easy FT, and found this one just as doable. Either I’m getting better or I’ve picked a few easy ones lately.

    Of course it helps that my gateway to cryptics was Private Eye (where Brummie is Cyclops, setting every crossword there). This was a bit like watching a blue comedian toning down their act for The One Show; barely any smut in it at all! (Not a criticism, just an observation about the familiarity yet strangeness…)

  42. Apologies to Brummie and anyone I may have misled. My 1988 Chambers says that synapsis, pl. synapses has a short i but in synapse, also pl. synapses, the y can be short or long.
    I still agree with Muffin that it is a bit feeble.3

  44. Thanks Brummie and PeterO

    Interesting and entertaining puzzle that went across a couple of short sessions with a few new terms in ALLIUM, HIPPOCAMPUS and AIDE-MEMOIRE. Didn’t pick up on the theme all the same.

    Finished all over the place with the last few in being MEMORY and two of the new terms for me in ALLIUM and then AIDE_MEMOIRE.

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