Guardian Cryptic 27,240 by Brummie

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The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/27240.

No great difficulty here – although it took me far longer than it ought to parse 2D BASELINE. I note the number of occasions that the clues include wording indication the order of the constituent particles.

Across
7 CANASTA Jail like Tijuana lacks interior for game (7)
A charade of CAN (‘jail’) plus AS (‘like’) plus TA (‘T[ijuan]A lacks interior’).
8 BRIOCHE I’ve run out of patience stuffing cheese roll (7)
An envelope (‘stuffing’) of OCH (‘I’ve runout of patience’ – a Scottish interjection) in BRIE (‘cheese’).
9 ASHE What was that about following a second US sportsman? (4)
A charade of ‘a’ plus S (‘second’) plus HE, a reversal (‘about’) of EH? (‘what was that’).
10 FLAGEOLET George Orwell and Colette finally breaking even, which produces a high note (9)
An envelope (‘breaking’) of GEO. (‘George’) plus LE (‘OrwelL and ColettE finally’) in FLAT (‘even’). A FLAGEOLET here is not a bean, but a small high-pitched flute, so the “definition” is allusive, or requires a preface “something which produces …” or the like, to make a true definition.
12 SLICE Whack southern pests (5)
A charade of S (‘southern’) plus LICE (‘pests’). I am not sure about the definition: the nearest I can think of is a pulled golf shot.
13 VINEYARD Drive any convertible — red, say, from here (8)
An anagram (‘convertible’) of ‘drive any’.
15 LOVE In full, oven-ready relish (4)
A hidden answer in ‘fulL OVEn-ready’.
16 BONUS Premium book about the country (5)
A charade of B (‘book’) plus ON (‘about’) plus US (A, ‘the country’).
17 CALL Name Will shortly after Bill’s rejected (4)
A charade of CA, a reversal (‘rejected’) of AC (‘bill’) plus ‘LL (‘will shortly’).
18 ALOPECIA Which comes as no shock to those who have it (8)
Cryptic definition.
20 PERRY Mason‘s fermented juice? (5)
Double definition: the fictional character Perry Mason created by Erle Stanley Gardner, and the counterpart of cider made with pears rather than apples.
21 CATCHMENT Water collection difficulty: pieces start to tear (9)
A charade of CATCH (‘difficulty’) plus MEN (‘pieces’ on a chess board, say) plus T (‘start to Tear’).
22 TAPE Before Elton’s first hit record (4)
A charade of TAP (‘hit’) plus E (‘Elton’s first’).
24 ASTOUND Texas to undergo housing shock (7)
A hidden answer (‘housing’) in ‘TexAS TO UNDergo’
25 SERVICE Cerise rocks without volume/mass? (7)
An envelope (‘without’) of V (‘volume’) in SERICE, an anagram (‘rocks’) of ‘cerise’.
Down
1 PASS Way through a predic­ament (4)
Double definition (“We have come to a pretty pass”probably does not mean admiring the view).
2 BASELINE Mean to cover the interior starting point, comparatively (8)
A charade of BASE (‘mean’) plus LINE (‘cover the interior’).
3 STIFLE Dessert not right after second scotch (6)
A charade of S (‘second’) plus T[r]IFLE (‘dessert’) minus the R (‘not right’).
4 ARDENNES Red shift within British queen’s range (8)
An envelope (‘within’) of RDE, an anagram (‘shift’) of ‘red’ in ANNE’S (‘British queen’s’), for the mountain range mostly in Belgium.
5 VOLLEY Very cowardly, not quite returning gunfire (6)
A charade of V (‘very’) plus OLLEY, a reversal (‘returning’) of YELLO[w] (‘cowardly’) minus its last letter (‘not quite’).
6 SHOT Hard drinker, extern­ally wrecked (4)
An envelope (‘externally’) of H (‘hard’) in SOT (‘drinker’).
11 ADVANTAGE Publicity vehicle takes time to get on edge (9)
A charade of AD (‘publicity’) plus VAN (‘vehicle’) plus T (‘time’) plus AGE (‘get on’).
12 SCOWL Hood’s after the sheriff’s head — look annoyed! (5)
A charade of S (‘Sheriff’s head’) plus COWL (‘hood’).
14 RALLY Sir Walter casually said: “Convention” (5)
Sounds something like (‘casually said’) RALEIGH (‘Sir Walter’).
16 BACKHAND Sloped writing support aid (8)
A charade of BACK (‘support’) plus HAND (‘aid’). Italics slope forward, backhand, back.
17 CURATIVE Dog has a temperature? Setter has remedy! (8)
A charade of CUR (‘dog’) plus ‘a’ plus T (‘temperature’) plus I’VE (‘setter has’). CURATIVE as a noun.
19 PATHOS Tragedy of trail map-making body (6)
A charade of PATH (‘trail’) plus OS (Ordnance Survey, the UK department – currently a government-owned company – charged with the production of maps, ‘map-making body’).
20 POTEEN Under river, youth finds illegal drink (6)
A charade of PO (‘river’ in Italy) plus TEEN (‘youth’).
21 CASH Johnny‘s ready? (4)
Double definition.
23 PACK Cram cards (4)
Double definition.
completed grid

53 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 27,240 by Brummie”

  1. Thanks PeterO and Brummie.

    Started with BALDNESS for 18..:-(

    Didn’t know OCH in 8, and GEO for George in 10; was struggling with GE+OL+E in FLAT…and OS for map-making body; Thanks for parsing those three.

    Liked ASHE, SHOT and VINEYARD.

  2. Thanks PeterO and Brummie.

    Started with BALDNESS for 18..:-(

    Didn’t know OCH in 8, and GEO for George in 10; was struggling with GE+OL+E in FLAT…and OS for map-making body; Thanks for parsing those three.

    Liked ASHE, SHOT and VINEYARD.

    The theme of Tennnis is now visible, which I missed.

  4. Pretty good effort to include all the tennis/Wimbledon related answers – by my count there are 15, or 16 if you include SCOWL (the default facial expression of many tennis players it seems to me) – without obvious hints to the theme in the clues. I was “stuck on the BASELINE” as my last in as well, and couldn’t get the (simple once explained of course) parsing. I’ll go with ARDENNES as my favourite for being an original ‘range’ in crossword land.

    Thanks to PeterO and Brummie.

  5. For once, I spotted the theme and that helped me with a couple. But it also hindered me at the end: last two in were ARDENNES and BRIOCHE, where I felt sure that one if not both would be tennis-related words. Naturally, once I got them, I was saying to myself “You can not be serious!”

    Thanks, Brummie and PeterO.

  6. 12A – I wonder if “whack” here means portion or share, as in “getting a fair whack”

  7. Thanks Brummie and PeterO

    I must confess that when I solve crosswords I generally focus on the mechanics of the clue rather than its surface reading. However as I did this one I couldn’t help notice how many of the surfaces were pretty nonsensical – 10a and 25a for example. Surely 18a would read better without the “Which”?

    Arthur Ashe seems to have achieved immortality through his continued appearance in crosswords!

    I liked the simplest ones best – SCOWL, PERRY and CASH, for instance.

  9. This was very enjoyable. Even I spotted the theme (but not until I was over half way through) and it helped in getting BASELINE, my last one in. I got the references to Fred PERRY and Pat CASH but I wonder if I’ve actually spotted all the tennis-related answers – is anyone going to go to the trouble of listing them all?

    Re 14d: I seem to remember we’ve had a long discussion (argument) on here before as to the pronunciation of Sir Walter’s surname. I suppose in this instance the clue does say “casually said” which maybe allows for slight variations.

  11. I was completely nutmegged by the possibility of a drink theme (ie VINEYARD, SHOT,PERRY) and missed the real theme until I’d finished.Very fine puzzle-re pronounciation see John Lennon’s “So tired”

  12. JimS@9 – I think there are 15 themed answers (which agrees with WordPlodder’s count):

    PASS, BASELINE, VOLLEY, SHOT, ASHE, ADVANTAGE, SLICE, RALLY, LOVE, BACKHAND, CALL, PERRY, CASH, TAPE, SERVICE

  13. Thanks Brummie and PeterO; I came here for the parsing of BASELINE, which seems obvious in retrospect.

    I think we have discussed RALEIGH before, and I probably said that RALEIGH bikes were always pronounced ‘rally.’

    Good theme, which despite my watching Wimbledon, I missed.

    I was a bit grumpy about ‘range’ as a definition of ARDENNES. It’s rather vague and not the sort of mountain range that one normally would consider, I think – it’s not in Wiki’s list of mountain ranges, for example.

  14. Thank you Brummie and PeterO.

    With Wimbledon now underway, I was on the lookout for a tennis theme – great fun, both puzzle and blog! If this were Paul I would assume that a FLAGEOLET might result in a high note after being eaten.

  15. Thanks both. Agree with Gareth @6 about WHACK.
    Another level to 20a – there are MASON bees.
    I got the theme! Wow! It must be simple!

  16. Shirl@15 : I don’t understand the connection between bees and perry. Can you explain, plse?

  17. Robi @13, the ARDENNES are given as a mountain range by Wikipedia, it was here that the aeroplane of Roland Garos was shot down in WWI, now the stadium named after him is the French equivalent of Wimbledon.

  18. [I’ve visited the highest point in Belgium, the Signal de Botrange, in the “High Fens”, part of the Ardennes. There are actually 3 or 4 “highest points in Belgium”; as the area is quite flat, successive rulers (including Napoleon and the Germans) competed to build ever higher mounds within a few yards of each other. I think the highest takes the altitude just over 700m.]

  19. @6 Gareth.. I always thought whack as in work was related to the doing of a job (e.g. giving it a good whack) rather than the remuneration?

    I think 12A is a very poor clue, the answer could equally be spike or shive based on poor synonyms for whack and I wonder how many people thought it might be smite with an error in the plural of pest?

  20. There are four Grand Slam tournaments

    Wimbledon

    The French Open, Roland Garos

    The US Open, the main court being the Arthur ASHE Stadium at Flushing Meadow.

    The Australian Open held at Flinders Park (now called Melbourne Park) – “Tragedy of trail map-making body”, that could refer to Matthew Flinders.

  21. Nice to have a good old Guardian disease chucked in for good measure, but this isn’t half bad really. And a tennis theme for Wimbledon! There’s the annual one in the FT too, from Courtier.

  24. Mrs Trailman went to Wimbledon yesterday. Was I therefore thinking all things tennis? Clearly not, or I would have spotted a theme. And, knowing there was a theme, I might not have spent forever staring at what finally became BASELINE.

    A shame, for I sometimes find Brummie a bit tricky, and but for the one clue this had otherwise gone OK.

  27. Hard to get into, then steady progress. LOI 2d because my Euclidian brain has difficulty coping with “point” as a definition for “line”.

    Thanks to PeterO and Brummie.

  28. As someone living in Belgium, i certainly think it’s a stretch to describe the Ardennes as a mountain range! As others have mentioned the highest point is 694m and is on one of the main roads.

  30. A pretty obvious theme given the timing and the fact that Wimbledon is unavoidable on the BBC. An odd solve – the NW and SE corners were easy but the diagonal across the middle took a little longer. Didn’t help myself by writing in SLAPHEAD (which did fit the first two crossers). BASELINE was last in.

    Thanks to Brummie and PeterO

  31. Cookie@26. Thanks. Yes I did realise that. I have noticed that the singular of a pest Is used sometimes when more than one is presen, eg ‘you have greenfly on your roses’ but of course ‘pests’ calls for a plural. And smite definitely isn’t a tennis stroke. Great word, though.

  32. PS: Sorry for rubbish typing. Using my iPad and it’s well past my bedtime. (On eastern Australian time.)

  33. Thanks to Brummie and PeterO. Spotting the tennis theme made things a lot easier for me (e.g., with ASHE, CASH, SLICE, BASELINE, BACKHAND). FLAGEOLET was new to me and I did not know the OS=Ordinance Survey in PATHOS, but to my surprise I did dredge up ALOPECIA (though not the correct spelling) from an article I read long ago on Chaucer’s Pardoner. Very enjoyable.

  34. Spotted the theme about 2/3 of the way through but we still struggled to finish with baseline. Even so, we enjoyed the struggle.Thanks to everyone.

  36. Whack as a share (e.g. of thieves’ booty) was in fact my first reaction, and I think it’s the best reading. Has anybody mentioned that Perry (Fred) is also part of the theme?

    And Raleigh (Sir Walter) is definitely pronounced Rawley, regardless of the bicycle.

  38. If I’d pronounced Raleigh as Rawley when I was growing up in Liverpool, I expect I’d have got filled in! So 14 dn is ok with me. I didn’t spot the theme but I try to block Wimbledon out as far as possible.
    Despite the above, I quite enjoyed this. I liked SLICE-I thought that referred to golf- and FLAGEOLET. Even if I struggled with the parsing of the latter. BASELINE was LOI.
    Thanks Brummie.

  39. I took the “Rawley” line when this came up previously – there’ pretty strong evidence that it was what he called himself – but the “casually” this time gives lots of wiggle room, so I’m not objecting.

  40. I found the last Brummie I tried a bit hard-going, and in this one I also noticed that several clues followed the ‘charade’ formula (I think it’s called), whereby the parts are clued in order, which I often find wearing.

    However, this crossword was very enjoyable, and I even saw the theme (rare for me), although CASH and TAPE had to be pointed out.

    ‘Which’ in 10a FLAGEOLET and 18a ALOPECIA struck me (as it did others) as odd. It seems to stand for ‘that which’, but that wasn’t an option in 10a, although it could have been used to good effect in 18a.

    2d BASELINE was my last one in – a very popular tailender today.

    I thought Brummie was clever to use the phrase ‘casually said’ in 14d RALLY, in view of the debate seen here not long ago.

    Thanks to Brummie and PeterO.

  41. I couldn’t get BASELINE and was another who put in SMITE, which seemed a jolly good synonym for whack, and thought that pests should have been singular. Ho hum. Didn’t see the theme, of course. Thanks to B & P.

  42. Curiously, I never saw SMITE, I went in with SLICE first time – observing that ‘Pests’ can only be plural. But I was thinking of the golf shot – even though I don’t play either golf or tennis! (probably just as well I don’t 🙁 )

  43. I didn’t put BALDNESS for 18ac – I already had the L & P crossers – so at first I put in SLAPHEAD.

    Thanks to both setter & blogger.

  44. Tennis: should VINEYARD be considered part of the theme? Jack Krämer thought Ellsworth VINES one of the greatest players, comparable with Budge, superior to Perry.

  45. Yeah, fine challenge. Agree with jaceris@35 though. And I would throw in “Och” in BRIOCHE, quibbling with the equivalence with “roll” while I’m at it.

    Enjoyed nevertheless. Thanks to setter and blogger.

  46. Thanks both,

    I’m in the smite camp. Various species of mite are pests and mite as a collective for the species seems ok to me.

  47. Auriga ‘line’ is defined by ‘cover the interior’ not by ‘point’. Baseline is the ‘starting point’

  48. I in fact didn’t get baseline, mostly because was thrown by ‘comparatively’. Still don’t understand why its there. Can anyone explain?

  49. Phyllida @ 48

    The baseline is the starting point for a set of comparative data, for instance the change in price of a basket of goods, as used (among other methods) to measure inflation.

    hth

  50. Sorry but I don’t get the alopecia cryptic definition. Can someone explain that to me? Loved the tennis theme.

  52. Surprised no-one has mentioned SHARE as a possible answer for 12a along with all the other possibilities – slice, smite, shive, spike, slugs.

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