Guardian Cryptic 27,003 by Brendan

by

Loved this…

…there is a theme around ALBERT EINSTEIN: EMCEE SQUARED, SPEED [of] LIGHT[ER], MANHATTAN PROJECT, NOBEL PRIZE, PHYSICIST, SPACE, MASS, he was born GERMAN, he worked in a PATENT office in BERN, he was an EMIGRE to the US, and there are more references to the famous E=mc2 in 19, 21 and 22 across.

Outside of the theme, my favourite clue was 7dn. Thanks, Brendan

Across
9 ALLOTMENT Share everything the writer found in Bible (9)
ALL=”everything”, plus ME=”writer” found in O[ld] T[estament] plus N[ew] T[estament]=”Bible”
10 EMCEE Director of event’s initial announcement (5)
cryptic def – the phonetic representation of the initials ‘MC’ or Master of Ceremonies.
11 SPEED Dispatch drug (5)
double definition: =haste, or =amphetamine
12 MANHATTAN Servant that’s mixed a new cocktail (9)
MAN=”Servant”, plus (that)*, plus A N[ew]
13 PUT-DOWN Humiliating remark was repressive (3-4)
PUT DOWN could also =’repressed’=”was repressive”
14 SQUARED Agreed to include engineer in group (7)
=obtained agreement or approval for something. R[oyal] E[ngineer] in SQUAD=”group”
17 NOBEL Supporter of War and Peace (5)
Alfred NOBEL [wiki] was an arms manufacturer, and established the Nobel Prizes for Peace etc
19 EIN Pronouncement of 10 14 covered by 1 in 4 (3)
=”1=one in GERMAN”. E=EMCEE SQUARED, plus IN=”covered by”
20 STEIN American author that can hold a lot of beer (5)
double definition: =Gertrude STEIN [wiki]; or =beer mug
21 LIGHTER Fastest traveller ahead of monarch in boat (7)
=a large open boat used to load/unload ships. LIGHT=”Fastest traveller”, plus E[lizabeth] R[egina]=”monarch”
22 PROJECT Estimate for maximum possible speed in plane (7)
=verb, to make a prediction. PRO=”for”, plus C=speed of light=”maximum possible speed” in JET=”plane”
24 PHYSICIST Power his city’s arranged for scientific type (9)
P[ower] (his city’s)*
26 PRIZE Laboriously extract something captured in war (5)
double definition: =prise; =something taken by force
28 SPACE Put in crossword, it can produce expression of annoyance (5)
Put a SPACE in cross / word, and we produce “expression of annoyance”
29 CONUNDRUM Parody about religious female and odd puzzle (9)
COD=”Parody”, around NUN=”religious female”, plus RUM=”odd”
Down
1 MASS Collect for service (4)
double definition: =gather together; =religious service
2 ALBERT Warning about start of Brexit — keep watch on it (6)
=a chain to keep a watch on. ALERT=”Warning” about B[rexit]
3 STUDIO FLAT Boss and I recently cut accommodation (6,4)
STUD=”Boss”, plus I, plus OF LAT[e]=”recently cut”
4 GERMAN Beginning article in English or other language (6)
GERM=”Beginning”, plus AN=”article in English”
5 STANDS IN One who’s good and evil becomes deputy (6,2)
ST=saint=”One who’s good”, plus AND, plus SIN=”evil”
6 BETA Part of alphabet Athenians used (4)
part of the greek alphabet, and hidden in [alpha]BET A[thenians]
7 SCOT-FREE Secret of getting drunk with no negative consequences (4-4)
(Secret of)*
8 BERN Line one’s taken from one European capital to another (4)
capital of Switzerland. BER[li]N=”one European capital”, with l[ine] and i=”one” taken away
13 PANEL Bound to screen name coming up for jury (5)
LEAP=”Bound”, around N[ame], all reversed/”coming up”
15 UNSTOPPING Removing what obstructs multinational organisation’s capital (10)
U[nited] N[ation]’S=”multinational organisation’s” plus TOPPING=”capital”=excellent
16 DONUT Party with loaf and cake, especially for Americans (5)
DO=”party”, plus NUT=”loaf”=slang for  the head
18 BOGEYMAN Crew led by colonel into something scary (8)
MAN=”Crew” led by Colonel BOGEY the imaginary golf opponent – see [wiki]
19 EARPIECE Call comes through here: note a revised recipe (8)
E=musical “note”, plus A, plus (recipe)*
22 PATENT Clear case, not egocentric? (6)
PAT[i]ENT=”case”, taking the I from the centre makes it “not egocentric”
23 EMIGRE Awful regime displaced person (6)
(regime)*
24 POST Proposer of scientific theories, initially in job (4)
Initial letters of P[roposer] O[f] S[cientific] T[heories]
25 ITEM Individual unit, or a couple (4)
double definition
27 EMMA Novel piece of theorem mathematician produced (4)
=Jane Austen’s “Novel”. Hidden in [theor]EM MA[thematician]

62 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 27,003 by Brendan”

  1. Thanks Brendan and manehi

    Very clever, though a DNF for me – I didn’t understand SPACE even when I had “revealed” it! I parsed EIN as hidden in 1 (one) in, but yours is better.

    I’ve seen a pretty much identical clue for EMIGRE before, but in the Radio Times rather than the Guardian, I think – perhaps beeryhiker may know.

    Only one weak one for me – BETA, as “alphabet” derives from “alpha beta”.

  2. Unusually for me, I spotted the theme (couldn’t really miss it) – all very cleverly done. I also particularly liked SCOT-FREE, and STUDIO FLAT was good. Thanks to Brendan and manehi.

  3. Well, drofle@2, I missed the theme even though I solved the whole damned grid! How could I not have seen EIN STEIN 19 and 29a, when they were cheek by jowl? I am mortified! A case of not being able to see the wood for the trees!!!!

    Thanks for a great blog which made total sense of it all, manehi. A very clever puzzle, so I am indebted to Brendan too for my biggest “aha” moment of the week, albeit a shame-faced one! (BTW, I just realised as I typed that comment that I had “albeit” for 2d, never having heard of ALBERT as a watch chain! So I didn’t actually get a full solve at all.)

    In a small voice then, I will just add that I felt like muffin@1 that I had met 23d EMIGRE clued that way before, and 25d ITEM also felt a bit familiar.

  4. Thanks, manehi, for a super blog of a super puzzle.

    Even this non-scientist managed to twig the theme, fairly early on, which made the rest of the solve even more absorbing. Brilliant exploitation, as we expect from Brendan.

    As usual, too many favourite clues to mention [apart from the chortle at SCOT-FREE 😉 ] but, in any case, as so often with Brendan’s puzzles, the whole is much more than the sum of its parts.

    Many thanks to Brendan for providing [along with Redshank, our Crucible, in the FT]
    http://im.ft-static.com/content/images/eb51664a-7c26-11e6-b837-eb4b4333ee43.pdf
    a most enjoyable start to the day.

  5. A real tour de force……excellent! And thanks for the blog – there were a couple that I couldn’t parse (19 and 28). The only one that jarred a little for me was 26 where the two parts are spelled differently (unless it’s the US spelling) and there is no indication as such.

  7. Probably being thick. Can PRIZE = PRISE? I might have expected a homonym indicator. If not thick then maybe just picky, no-one else seems to have been concerned.

    Otherwise a cracking puzzle, stumped by 28.

    Thanks to Brendan and manehi

  8. I’m another non-scientist who really enjoyed this – very clever placing of the theme words & nothing too technical. Thank you very much, Brendan.

    Couldn’t parse “space”, so had to rely on your help, manehi – many thanks. What a brilliant clue!

  10. Apologies to Aoxomoxoa who also picked up on the spelling. I must have had my screen sitting unrefreshed for some time…

  13. Great puzzle.
    Despite having a physics degree and having set a Listener puzzle donkeys’ years ago based on E=MCC I missed the theme altogther, so extra thanks to Manehi for the blog!

  14. PS @12, on the other hand, I did check synonyms, but did not find “cod” = “parody”, my COED tells me it is slang – I would be interested to know if other people had a problem with this?

  18. Lovely puzzle, thanks Brendan and manehi.

    Great setting to get so many theme words put in.

    Luckily I remembered the ALBERT watch chain from some previous crossword. I got PHYSICIST and NOBEL early on, so thought there would be a number of them until I solved some more.

    LOI was SPACE, which was a cracker, and many more super clues.

  20. The “especially for Americans” at 16 is to clue the spelling as opposed to doughnut, right? I am American and don’t know if “donut” has made it over there yet.

    I only knew Colonel Bogey from the march, not as an imaginary golf opponent.

    And no theme is so obvious that I can’t miss it.

  22. Thanks to Brendan and manehi. I too knew ALBERT from a previous puzzle but did not know “cod” = “parody” and did not parse PATENT (I missed the “i” in “egocentric”) though i did finally see SPACE, my last in. Great fun.

  25. I think I was having an off-day this morning as this one seemed much trickier than Brenda usually is, took me quite a while to see the theme and SPACE, my last in, took ages. A lovely puzzle as always.

    Thanks to Brendan and manehi

  26. Lovely! 19a gave me the theme as well as the answer to 14a. The theme then helped with quite a few other clues, e.g. 21a, 22a, 17/26, 24 etc.

    Made life harder than it needed to be by entering CUT DOWN for 13a, soon rectified.

    23a (EMIGRE) is seen the other way around in Giovanni’s back-page telegraph today.

    I liked ‘writer found in bible’, ‘Brexit – keep watch on it’, ‘secret of getting drunk’

    Got briefly stuck trying to remove LI’s from LISBON to get BONN – which apart from not working isn’t a capital anymore, doh.

    Great fun, many thanks Brendan and thank you mane hi

  27. Thank you Brendan and Manehi.

    Loved this. I remember when I started doing these crosswords regularly 8 years ago that all the themes seemed to be about Shakespeare or the Ring Cycle and I longed for a sciencey one!

    I like to think that SPACE and ITEM intersecting is an allusion to the bending of SPACETIME which underpins the model of gravity in General Relativity.

    Did I mention that I loved this?

  28. Thanks, Brendan for a terrific puzzle and manehi for a fine and helpful blog.

    I got stuck on SCOWL for the expression of annoyance at 28. When I couldn’t force that into S_A_E I worked out all the words it could possibly be and couldn’t see a justification for any of them. Proof that Brendan and manehi are smarter than me.

    I did spot the theme after a few of the words, having light as the fastest traveller in the back of my mind as I solved the first few theme words.

    This was great fun! But I solved the whole thing last night except for 28, so I had nothing to do this morning.

  29. I saw the theme just before finishing this (that’s par for me!). I didn’t enjoy the puzzle as much as most of you evidently did, but I enjoyed my late discovery of the theme, and some of the clues were excellent, notably:

    3d STUDIO FLAT, 7d SCOT-FREE, 13d PANEL and 22a PROJECT.

    In fact, in my hurry, I didn’t see the anagram of SCOT-FREE even after filling it in (so strictly speaking I guessed it rather than solved it). I love being fooled in this way and misled in other ways, which happened a few times today.

    I didn’t enjoy all the clues, however, and thought a few were a bit weak, clumsy or contrived. By contrast, 24d POST, 27d EMMA and 6d BETA I can only describe as easy, and I like to give credit to a setter who makes some clues more accessible than others.

    Thanks Brendan and manehi.

  31. muffin @1 – yes, it is an old chestnut:
    Araucaria 21813: Refugee from alien regime (6)
    Araucaria 22445: I left the country before the fighter came in (6)
    Chifonie 23654: Refugee from wicked regime (6)
    Brummie 24200: One fleeing his country before catching plane (6)
    Paul 24413: Russian fighter parting before one leaves the country (6)
    Araucaria 24528: One waiting abroad for a change of regime (6)
    Enigmatist 25226: One fled French regime after Revolution (6)
    Paul 25634: Muslim leader harbouring Greek leader, English one settling abroad (6)
    Gordius 26061: Recorder backing work for asylum seeker? (6)
    Picaroon 26643: Terrible regime, or its victim (6)
    Philistine 26919: Product of an evil regime? (6)
    Philistine 26541: When regime’s corrupt they seek a better life elsewhere (7)
    Rufus 26975: French aristos unable to adapt to new regimes? (7)

  33. The theme slowly dawned on me, as all the best themes do I think. Splitting the EIN/STEIN was very clever. But it was the non-theme SCOT-FREE that got top tick today, because of the wishful thinking in the surface reading.

    Like many others, my problem was with SPACE. I didn’t really get the clue, but had it on a short list of two (with SHAME) that needed PC access and hence the check button. The right answer had an Einsteinian link, which helped.

  34. Thanks Brendan and manehi

    Fun and quite gentle, though I got stuck on 10ac thinking 7dn was cost free

    Have you heard of the family Ein?
    There’s Gertrude, there’s Ep and there’s Ein.
    Gert’s prose is all bunk,
    Ep’s sculpture is junk,
    And no one can understand Ein!

    (Anon)

  35. Spotted the theme after noticing that the speed of light turned up in two different clues.

    For me, this all went very quickly (with lots of good fun; the theme helped) until the very end, when I got baffled a bit by NOBEL, BOGEYMAN, and SPACE, all of which went in unparsed.

    Vinny @20: Good to see you. And yes, it’s “especially for Americans” probably because the dictionary lists that spelling as “chiefly US.” Probably that means (and I’m guessing it’s thanks to Dunkin) that our lazy (and ugly) alternate spelling of that word has begun to trickle over there in dribs and drabs.

  36. That quite rare crossword word EMCEE appeared 6 months ago in a puzzle by Tramp, who clued it

    Announce Tramp to return with start of Crime? (5)

    (where Crime was a nod to the Supertramp theme in that puzzle).

    I thought Brendan’s clue for it today was very neat.

  37. SPACE was LOI for me and I thought it a bit weak. The rest of it was lovely though – and,yes, I did get the theme. Surely the stuff in here is general knowledge? I wouldn’t have thought one needed to be of a scientific bent to see this theme. I’m certainly not a scientist. Anyway, a lovely puzzle. Well up to this setter’s high standard.
    Thanks Brendan.

  38. MattWillD@27: Great spot for the bent Spacetime entry. I’m sure you’re right. I’m no physicist but I’m thinking that DONUT is also one of the themers, as in donut-shaped bits of spacetime.

    Great puzzle. Unusually for me, I spotted the theme early on (not so surprising, as it’s a rare day when Brendan doesn’t do a theme). This helped considerably with, among others, EIN and STEIN. The former confused me for a while until the covered by = IN equivalence emerged from the mist. Embarrassingly, I had all the crossers for 29 and still took an age to see the word!

    Thanks, Brendan and manehi.

  39. Hi Marienkaefer @34

    Lovely! Many thanks for that – it rang a bell but I’d forgotten it.

    [I think the first line must be ‘Have you heard of the family Stein?’.]

  40. @Cookie 14 and @Graham 24 I grew up using ‘cod’ as a verb (Northern UK) meaning ‘to make fun of’. And have heard it as an adjective too, as Graham points out. I still didn’t think of it for solving the clue though!

  43. From all of the above, I make it 19 of the solutions were in the theme, out of a total of 33, or 58% of them. Has any other compiler exceeded this?

  44. I know nobody cares anymore but I was away the past two days and didn’t get to weigh in on the Appalachian/appellation discussion.

    I grew up at the southern tip of the Appalachians and I pronounce the two words identically. Arachne gets full marks from me.

  47. Eileen you’re right. Don’t know how that mistake slipped past. I’m tempted to blame autocorrect…

  48. RCWhiting @42 – glad I wasn’t the only one who had COST-FREE at 7D. It was one of my first answers, easy anagram, long before the theme emerged. I only sorted it out when I got 19ac (although I still couldn’t parse that other than “1 in GERMAN”), but connecting 10 with 14 was enough to fix the error. Great puzzle, as always from Brendan.

  49. Thanks Brendan and manehi

    Ref COD = parody, it’s particularly appropriate in a graun crossword, as it was by using, in their words, a cod fax that they snared Jonathan Aitken and caused his libel action against them to collapse – nigh on 20 years ago!

  50. A very enjoyable puzzle! I didn’t see the theme until I was more than halfway through it, when I got first SQUARED and then EIN to add to EMCEE. Until then, I’d been thinking 10/14 was going to be a DJ’s name. I couldn’t parse ALLOTMENT. ALL was obvious but I missed ME, couldn’t make either OT or NT fit on their own for “”Bible” and didn’t think to use both. I’m definitely kicking myself over that one. It’s too late at night to try to pick favourites from so many good clues, so I’ll just say …

    Thanks, Brendan and manehi.

  51. Surprised its not been said already (sorry if I’ve missed it): There is/was a theory that the universe is DONUT shaped

  52. This is not to diss Brendan but to support certain other setters, but I can’t see much difference between the styling of the actual clues here and those that would have been devised by (eg) Rufus. Interesting what a difference putting a bit of effort into constructing a grid makes to the comments on this site.
    While I’m here, I better get with the mood and say that Brendan has also cleverly arranged a number of black holes around the grid.

  54. I know only one person will see this as it’s so late! I thought I would write to myself in reaction to the overwhelmingly positive comments on Brendan’s puzzle. My earlier comment, while mostly positive, mentioned ‘a few clues’ that could have been improved – which is exactly what I thought at the time, because they made the difference between a challenging task and a rewarding journey.

    Seeing the (obvious) theme much earlier than I did would have made a world of difference to my experience of the puzzle as a whole, and I now think it was a staggering composition by the setter. (Dave’s 58% stat @43 is very telling.) The theme would have become an input to further solving, the inclusion of a German word for ‘a’ or ‘one’ was fully justified, and my doubts about ‘a few clues’ (now fewer, by the way) would not have been worth mentioning.

  55. Very honest of you to come back and say so, Alan @ 54.

    [Just to prove at least one person has read it 🙂 ]

  56. Simon S @ 49
    I hadn’t come across “cod” except in fish or codpiece until The Guardian used it to describe the fax you mentioned so since then I’ve taken it to mean “fake”. As a result I thought Brendan was wrong to use it as meaning ‘parody” but Chambers gives “take-off” as a definition but not “counterfeit” so for me Brendan is right and The Guardian was wrong.
    Thanks to Brendan and manehi for the last in a week of excellent puzzles and blogs.

  57. Piano @ 56

    I knew it in the sense of imitation / fake, which isn’t so far from parody really. And Chambers in its fourth definition gives “A jest, a hoax” as a noun and “Mock, sham” as an adjective, so I think the graun was on safe ground.

    And from another root there’s codswallop, of course.

  60. Only attempted this today and I have to say that I found this relatively tough. I won’t bother you with which clues I had specific problems solving.

  61. Sorry for tardiness. Like the vast majority I loved the crossword. I only saw the theme relatively (sorry) late when I started entering the answers on the online version and Ein and Stein jumped out.

    Didn’t get near to 28 ac (Space) because I’d entered BogeymEn rather than BogeymAn (reasoning that crew = men). I don’t think I’d have got it even without my mistake.

    Re 26 across, I thought captured did double service as the homonym indicator and part of the definition.

    Thanks Brendan and all

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