Guardian Cryptic 27,049 by Paul

by

Got stuck near the beginning and then again about halfway through, but the last few fell very quickly. Favourites were 1ac, 15ac, 24ac/6dn, 3dn and 4dn. Thanks Paul.

Across
1 PETTICOAT Garment cherished, exactly fitting I see (9)
PET=”cherished”, plus TO A T=”exactly”, around I C=”I see”
6 SO-SO Help us to get round OK (2-2)
SOS=”Help us”, plus O=”round”
8 OPTATIVE Expressing desire, top kinky musical making a comeback (8)
a grammatical mood that expresses a desire. (top)*, plus EVITA=”musical” reversed/”making a comeback”
9 ROOTLE Burrow oft hollow in part (6)
O[f]T hollowed out, in ROLE=”part”
10 APATHY Start to yawn on a course, showing lack of interest (6)
Y[awn], after A PATH=”a course”
11 SKIN TEST Medical assessment most impoverished? (4,4)
SKINTEST=”most impoverished”
12 PIRRIP Tear back and forth as Dickensian protagonist (6)
Philip PIRRIP, better known as Pip in Great Expectations. RIP=”Tear”, first reversed/”back” and then “forth”
15 ECOFREAK Nutty green apple finally getting shredded for cake (8)
[appl]E, plus (for cake)*
16 SAN DIEGO Work on beach that is in US city (3,5)
GO=”Work”, after: SAND=”beach” plus I.E.=”that is”
19 YOICKS Duck I caught in the air recalled hunter’s cry (6)
a cry used to urge on hounds. O=zero=a “duck” in cricket, plus I, plus C[aught] the cricketing abbrevation; all inside SKY reversed=”air recalled”
21   See 20
22 BOW-WOW Sensation of the East End, Barking, is it? (3-3)
BOW is a district in the East End, plus WOW=a great success=”Sensation”
24, 6 down TALENT SPOTTER King Edward holds advanced position for scout (6,7)
TATER=”King Edward”=potato, around LENT=”advanced” and SPOT=”position”
25 ANTERIOR Soldier with fury moving to the back or to the front (8)
ANT=”Soldier”, plus IRE=”fury” reversed/”moving to the back”, plus OR
26 NEST Home in one’s tree (4)
Hidden in [o]NE’S T[ree]
27 REMINISCE Look back on nicer times, less hurt ultimately different (9)
(nicer times)*, minus [hur]t
Down
1, 2 POP-UP TOASTER Father standing, he offers a salutation, its elements warming (3-2,7)
POP=”Father”, plus UP=”standing”, plus TOASTER=”he offers a salutation”
2   See 1
3 ICILY Nursing cold, one doubled up lay disheartened, with very little warmth (5)
I=”one”, doubled up around C[old], plus L[a]Y disheartened
4 OVERSEE Manage some poetry in the middle of poem (7)
VERSE=”some poetry” in OE=”middle of poem”
5 TERRITORY Land — there’s failure to include it within the borders of Turkey (9)
ERROR=”failure”, around IT, all inside T[urke]Y
6   See 24
7 SALES TALK Necking drinks, pursue patter (5,4)
ALES=”drinks”, inside STALK=”pursue”
13 IN ANY CASE Silly saving last bit in doggy bag, upended regardless (2,3,4)
INANE=”Silly” around: the last bit of [dogg]Y, plus SAC=”bag” reversed/”upended”
14 PRESBYTER Patriarch John squeezing alongside Protestant elder (9)
PRESTER John is a legendary Christian patriarch [wiki], around BY=”alongside”
17 DILBERT Filth around capital in Louisiana, live American strip (7)
the famous American comic strip [dilbert.com]. DIRT=”Filth”, around L[ouisiana] and BE=”live”
18 OVERARM Red chevron with flash clothing turning up like this, style for a bowler (7)
a way of bowling in cricket. RARE=”Red” of a steak, plus V=”chevron”, inside MO[ment]=”flash”, all reversed/”turning up”
20, 23, 21 IN WORDS OF ONE SYLLABLE  In a plain way, said like this clue? (2,5,2,3,8)
22 BATON Wearing something black for Halloween? Give us a twirl! (5)
If you have a BAT ON, you may be “Wearing something black for Halloween”
23   See 20

18 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 27,049 by Paul”

  1. Thanks Manehi. I needed your help with 14d and 18d. Still not happy with 25a as I don’t read ‘moving to the back’ as synonymous with reversed.

  3. ECOFREAK was last in for me too. I had a slow start too but with Paul there are often enough generous crossers, though for me it was WORDS OF ONE SYLLABLE that really opened it up.

    Thanks to Paul and manehi

  4. Thanks manehi and Paul.

    More or less what beery hiker said @3.

    Mostly good clues but I thought 14dn was rather weak, as PRESTER is derived from [and an alternative for] PRESBYTER. I did enjoy John Buchan’s ‘Prester John’ when I was at school.

  5. Thanks, manhei, needed your parsing of OVERARM which had to be bifd.

    Much fun, as usual with this setter, particularly liked ECOFREAK, TALENT SETTER, & BOW-WOW, but every now and then, Paul slips in a tatty surface such as, “Look back on nicer times, less hurt ultimately different”

    Wot??

    Beery @3 have we not seen BOW-WOW clued somewhat differently recently?

    Missed the run-through in NEST unfairly accusing the poor thing as barely cryptic.

    Nice week, all.

  6. Great Pauline fun as always. Couldn’t parse OVERARM or ANTERIOR. Favourites were ECOFREAK, BOW-WOW, PETTICOAT and TALENT SPOTTER. Many thanks to Paul and manehi.

  7. Thank you Paul and manehi.

    I enjoyed this crossword but, like Gillian @1, was not happy with “moving to the back” as a reversal indicator in 25a, and I also needed help to parse OVERARM.

    The clues for ECOFREAK, APATHY, OVERARM, PIRRIP, TALENT SPOTTER and BOW-WOW were my favourites.

  8. There seems to be no limit to the number of times that I can forget that King Edward is a potato. I never think to make it anything other than ER.

    I’m not sure what usage justifies “necking” as a containment indicator. The only meaning I can find for “neck” as a verb is the amorous one, which doesn’t seem to fit.

  9. Ted @8 I believe that in “yoof-speak”, necking is synonymous with swallowing – eg “necking a few beers”.

  10. Got stuck for a while on 9ac as I had 7d as shops talk which didn’t seem right, and indeed wasn’t.
    Good challenge, left with ecofreak as LINS

  11. Thanks Paul and manehi

    Was about 2/3 done when I had to go out; on returning the rest became a write-in, though I needed a wordsearch for LOI ECOFREAK. BOW-WOW was my favourite.

    I had convinced myself that 18d was FRANCIS – “style” of Drake, the famous bowler, with SIC (like this) turning up at the end, so spent some fruitless time trying to make the rest of the clue give FRAN!

  12. We had ecofreak last, too. Optative was new to us and we really enjoyed pop up toaster. Thanks Paul and everyone.

  13. Thanks to Paul and manehi. I’m another who had ECOFREAK last in (I just couldn’t find the right combination of letters) and like others I needed help parsing OVERARM and TALENT SPOTTER (like Ted @8 I keep forgetting that King Edward = potato). Lots of fun here.

  14. I thought this rather good but I got sidetracked by Phillip Hammond
    -you wouldn’t think the sound of paint drying would be distracting but
    there it is.Lots of goodies here. I especially liked PIRRIP,YOICKS,
    WORDS OF ONE SYLLABLE,SKIN TEST and several more.
    I remain in awe of this setter’s output- and they’re usually excellent!
    Thanks Paul.

  15. Finally a use for all that Greek I took sixty years ago! I thought the OPTATIVE mood was pretty pointless then, but I see that all things in life have an ultimate purpose.

  17. Weird. Stared at it for about an hour and got about ten solutions. Put it down and went away for a few hours. Picked it up again and rattled the rest off in about twenty minutes, apart from ECOFREAK (too clever for me) but the rest all good fun… at the second time of asking…

    Thanks for blog and puzzle.

  18. I found this mainly quite straightforward, but as entertaining as I expect from Paul. I forgot until I read the blog that I hadn’t finished parsing TALENT SPOTTER (only got as far as TATER), and I couldn’t parse OVERARM. ANTERIOR was my LOI. I mentally ticked too many clues to pick favourites.

    Thanks, Paul and manehi.

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