Guardian Cryptic 27,650 by Vlad

by

The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/27650.

On a day when I might have struggled with a Quiptic, I had a horrible feeling that I might be landed with an Enigmatist, whom we have not seen for quite a while. Instead, I got Vlad, who can be equally daunting. Fortunately, there were enough relatively easy clues to get a foothold, and there was even time to admire the trickery of the rest.

Across
1 DECIDED Settled without police action (7)
An envelope (‘without’) of CID (‘police’) in DEED (‘action’).
5 CHAGALL Artist having refreshing drink — it’s bitter (7)
Hands up those of us who reflexively thought RA for artist. It is a charade of CHA (tea, ‘refreshing drink’) plus GALL (‘it’s bitter’).
9 NGAIO Tree surgeon’s last journey across road (5)
An envelope (‘across’) of AI (A1, the old major ‘road’ between London and Edinburgh) in N (‘surgeoN‘s last’) plus GO (‘journey’).
10 FIRST-HAND Queen stops duke with Chinese delegation’s leader becoming personal (5-4)
An envelope (‘stops’) of R (regina, ‘queen’) in FIST (‘duke’) plus HAN (‘Chinese’) plus D (‘Delegation’s leader’).
11 UPPER CRUST Finished by topping aristocrats (5,5)
A charade of UP (‘finished’) plus PER (‘by’) plus CRUST (‘topping’ – on a pie, say).
12 SMUT Corporation’s rejected material unsuitable for Auntie? (4)
A reversal (‘rejected’) of TUM’S (tummy, ‘corporation’s’).
14 TALLAHASSEE Hard to believe that’s it — look round South American city (11)
An envelope (’round’) of S (‘south’) in TALL (‘hard to believe’) plus AHA! (‘that’s it’!) plus SEE (‘look’).
18   See 1 down
21 WONT Practice of few on Twitter (4)
A hidden answer (‘of’) in ‘feW ON Twitter’.
22 SCRUB NURSE Theatre worker getting axe — new cast sure to follow (5,5)
A charade of SCRUB (‘axe’ verb) plus N (‘new’) plus URSE, an anagram (‘cast’) of ‘sure’. Despite the surface, the ‘theatre’ is surgical.
25 ELEVATORS Solve and rate cryptic (they cater for different levels) (9)
An anagram (‘cryptic’) of ‘solve’ plus ‘rate’. The surface is playing our tune!
26 EAGER Enthusiastic but not sure about time (5)
AN envelope (‘about’) of AGE (‘time’) in ER (‘not sure’).
27 SOTTISH Drunken Glaswegian possibly caught out (7)
S[c]OTTISH (‘Glaswegian possibly’) minus the C (‘caught out’).
28 TESTERS Private parts Republican’s grabbed? They’ll make an examination (7)
An envelope (‘grabbed’) of R (‘Republican’) in TESTES (male ‘private parts’),
Down
1, 18 DONE UP LIKE A KIPPER  Bamboozled Irish politicians (one caught napping?) (4,2,4,1,6)
A charade of DONEUP, an envelope (‘caught’) of ‘one’ in DUP (Democratic Unionist Party, Northern ‘Irish politicians’) plus LIKE A KIPPER (‘napping’). Not an expression familiar to me, but it is in the Urban Dictionary.
2 CHAMPS Fellows with money invested the best (6)
An envelope (‘with … invested’) of M (‘money’) in CHAPS (‘fellows’).
3 DEO GRATIAS Could be a rise — ta, God … or words to that effect (3,7)
An anagram (‘could be’) of ‘a rise ta God’, with the definition referring back to ‘ta, God’.
4 DEFER Freed after treatment put back (5)
An anagram (‘after treatment’) of ‘freed’.
5 CARD SHARP Deck guy who’s cheating? (4,5)
Cryptic definition.
6 ARTY Do without leader becoming pretentious (4)
[p]ARTY (‘do’) minus its first letter (‘without leader’). A cunning way to hide the crossword staple ‘do’.
7 ALARMIST Top celebrities tooled up? One worries unduly (8)
An implied envelope: ARM (a weapon – ‘tooled up’: packing a weapon) in A-LIST (‘top celebrities’; a term that has had a few outings recently).
8 LADETTES Women like young men — dealt harshly with what I do when rampant (8)
A charade of LADET, an anagram (‘harshly’) of ‘dealt’ plus TES, a reversal (‘when rampant’, in a down light) of SET (‘what I do’ – Vlad SET this puzzle).
13 BARRENNESS Said what Thatcher finally became — no issue with it (10)
Sounds like (‘said’, if you do not linger on the n) BARONESS  (Thatcher of Kesteven, ‘what Thatcher finally became’).
15 LOINCLOTH Treat once penniless child — no fortune involved but it will cover the essentials (9)
An envelope (‘involved’) of LOT (‘fortune’) in LOINCH, an anagram (‘treat’) of ‘chil[d]’ minus the D (‘once penniless’ – without D for the old Sterling penny) plus ‘no’. After yesterday’s CODPIECE, the definition was less obscure than it might otherwise have been.
16 FLAWLESS Female criminal unmarked (8)
A charade of F (‘female’) plus LAWLESS (‘criminal’).
17 SKIN TEST Extremely poor way to determine allergy? (4,4)
SKINTEST (‘extremely poor’; superlative of SKINT).
19 BROGUE Britain’s self-inflicted error — review of Brussels way of talking … (6)
A charade of BR (‘Britain’) plus OG (own goal, ‘self-inflicted error’) plus UE, a reversal (‘review’) of EU (‘Brussels’).
20 DEBRIS … right? Border being set up is rubbish (6)
A charade of DEBR, a reversal (‘being set up’ in a down light) of R (‘right’) plus BED (‘border’; gardening); plus ‘is’.
23 UPSET Advocates publishing this, providing a surprising result (5)
A hidden (‘providing’) reversed (‘this’, referring to UPSET in a down light, kind of) answer in”advocaTES PUblishing’.
24 TAXI Make heavy demands on current vehicle (4)
A charade of TAX (‘make heavy demands’) plus I (electrical ‘current’).
completed grid

74 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 27,650 by Vlad”

  1. Very minor correction:

    The anagram material in 15dn is “chil{d} on”.

    Second best of the week after Pasquale’s tour de force.

  2. Have been impaled before, but not today, nice and steady, albeit with a few ‘?’s. Eg, if deck=cards plural, what is harp? And border as a type of garden bed feels like the ? goes after it rather than ‘right’. And I forgot own goal so brogue was part biff. Dnk the tree (only Ngaio Marsh the kiwi crime writer, courtesy Mrs ginf’s library), or the expression scrub nurse, but both had clear wp. Got a chuckle from loincloth once I saw how ‘once’ worked, and loved how upper crust, Tallahassee and the kipper worked out.

    Great puzzle Vlad, many thanks PeterO.

  3. A tough solve from Vlad. Like ginf@2 I had trouble with 5d CARD SHARP and still can’t parse it properly – I thought a card sharp referred to someone who is very clever at cards but not necessarily a cheat. Identical thoughts to grant@2 on NGAIO – I had to look up whether it was a tree as well as a NZ first name.
    I liked the ones that took me a while to work out like 1d 18a DONE UP LIKE A KIPPER (intricate wordplay and I only got the “napper” from the crossers). Fortunately we have had “corporation” for tummy before, though I still took ages to get 12a SMUT. I enjoyed “following the directions” to come up with 14a TALLAHASSEE. Big ticks for 6d ARTY, 13d BARRENNESS and 13d LOINCLOTH. But my COD was 3d DEO GRATIAS.
    And thanks be to Vlad and PeterO. [And to Picaroon and Eileen for yesterday – was too late to comment on that one but it was a cracker too!]

  5. Thanks Vlad and PeterO

    Much easier than Vlad usually is. I had to check the tree (presumably the author was named after it) and couldn’t parse LOINCLOTH, but the rest was fairly straightfoward, though, like GinF and JinA, I was puzzled by the HARP in 5d.

    Favourites were ELEVATORS and BARRENNESS.

    The word order in the clue for DEBRIS seems a little perverse.

  7. Thanks PeterO.

    Trovatore @1:  That’s what I thought but what is “once” doing?

    I think CARD SHARP is just a gestalt clue with no lego going on at all.

    Good puzzle but it took more time than I really could spare and now the memsahib is on my case.

    Hey-ho, many thanks, Vlad, more fun than stacking logs.

    Nice weekend, all.

  9. Thanks for the blog,  PeterO.

    Another super puzzle to end the week. like JinA, I enjoyed following the directions for TALLAHASSEE [I didn’t know it was spelt that way] – and also FIRST-HAND, LADETTES and BROGUE.

    I smiled at the drunken Glaswegian and the material unsuitable for Auntie [very clever surface] but the brightest gem was DEO GRATIAS – one to treasure.

    Many thanks, Vlad – I loved it.

     

  10. At first I thought this was the Impaler auditioning for the Monday slot. Should have known better – got tangled up in Tallahassee (went to Lima and Sao Paulo) until I remembered the C&W song about the bridge. Does Vlad have a thing about US cities?

    Loved the kipper plus ladettes and first-hand.

    Thanks Vlad and PO.

  11. I had DONE UP LIKE A _____ and finally gave up and cheated. Never heard of the expression. However my annoyance was mollified by amusement at the DUP being called Irish politicians, an epithet they would surely reject (if any of them read the Grauniad).

  12. First time I’ve ever finished a Vlad, so feeling pretty good (even though I needed PeterO’s help with a few of the parsings). As with others, NGAIO was only known to me as the auther’s first name – but the clue-setting was so clear I was able to solve it, even without crossers. And again as others have said, DEO GRATIAS was so clever… Wonderful stuff. On 1D/18A – I regularly use the phrase ‘stitched up like a kipper’ and I am also familiar with the DONE UP variant (but it was one where I needed help with the parsing).

    Many thanks to Vlad and PeterO – I will float through the rest of the day. 🙂

  13. Thanks for the blog. Great puzzle if a bit above my pay grade – gave up prematurely in the SE corner. I had put in “rash test” originally, which I thought worked too…

  14. Found this very challenging, as always with Vlad, and of course DNF but admired the artistry! Thanks a lot, Vlad, and for the parsings, PeterO. Have a great weekend, evrybody.

  15. Pedants corner here, but to work doesn’t ‘like a kipper’ correspond to ‘one caught napping?’, ie with the question mark? Or am I missing something. I usually am. I struggled today. Thanks to Vlad and PeterO.

  17. Have to add that the brilliance of deo gratias went right over my head, heathen that I am! everybody in @14, not evry…

  18. Echo William’s thanks to muffin for that link, haunting harmonies. [Our mate J-P, ex-Normandy, has an abiding resentment about Agincourt, something about a wet day with cavalry stuck in mud being mown down by longbows–v unsporting; c’est la guerre!]

  19. Thanks to Vlad and PeterO. I’m another who knew NGAIO as author, not tree and struggled with DONE-UP LIKE A ____, but I knew LADETTE from a previous puzzle.

  20. Thank you Vlad for a gentle crossword and PeterO for a helpful blog.

    9a was my first in, I had a swing between two NGAIO trees when a child.

    Yes, I searched for a word with RA in at 5a, then having got the C wondered about CYANIDE, the taste of ‘bitter’ almonds, finally CHA and GALL came to my mind.

    Entered BREXIT at 19d, changed to BROGUE later but could not fully parse it…

    Have a great weekend in York everybody who is going to the S&B get together.

  21. Thanks to Vlad and PeterO. When I saw the name I knew I would be in for a struggle and I was not wrong. One thing about Vlad is he certainly makes you think outside the box. Struggled at first, but once I got a few in, it began to unpack quite steadily. I finished in the NE with Chagall and ladettes. I know the author for 9a (I am sure Ngaio Marsh has been an answer in a quite recent puzzle) and not a quantum leap for the tree. I knew the expression “stitched up like a kipper”, therefore again the answer came quite readily. I did like skin test and barrenness, but lots of other good clues. Thanks again to Vlad and PeterO.

  22. I too spent a while trying to find a word with RA in it for 5a

    Very enjoyable although I could do without the earworm I’ve been left with after solving 14a.

    Thanks to Vlad and PeterO

  24. Thanks both,

    Another amusing puzzle. I had a tentative ‘ngavo’ tree for 9. Google would have corrected me.

  25. Class act, this lad.No matter how many chillis he puts in, its always well balanced and tasty.

    Some gems here-loved the clue for Tallahassee-and the immortal A1-and deo gratias.

    Cracking puzzle, Vlad.

  26. Good bit of research Muffin. Did you have to listen to the song or have you got a karaoke machine?

    This should trigger a “I used to think the lyrics were” thread.

  27. Hi BlueCanary

    I played it over in my head (as crypticsue seems to have been doing), and remembered the “tch” sound.

  28. Vlad still not to my taste, struggled with all of this, so not a super puzzle.

     

    Thanks PeterO and Vlad.

  29. [They are called “mondegreens”, from the line in the Scots ballad “They have killed the Earl of Moray and Lady Mondegreen”.

    My favourite is “I’m a dreamer, Montreal”.]

  30. Another top class puzzle, quite a slow solve for me but very entertaining. BARRENNESS was last in.

    Thanks to Vlad and PeterO

  31. Definitely more accessible than some Vlads. Like other heathens I didn’t fully appreciate 3d. I did know the kipper expression which MrsW had never heard of and looked up NGAIO to confirm it is a tree. I scooted over CARD SHARP without noticing the parsing query. As well as those already mentioned I ticked DEFER – I like concise neat clues.
    Thanks to Vlad and PeterO.

  32. Yes muffin, I could hear the intro (da dum da dum da dum, and then, and ma brother was bailin’ hay) when BlueCanary mentioned it, and thought TallahaTCHee, not aSSee.

  33. Thanks PeterO  and cheers to Vlad for making my day (again).  This guy is good n’est-ce pas?

  34. Hadn’t come across “fist” for “duke” before, though this didn’t hold up solving 10 across. Bit of a challenge today, thanks Vlad.

  35. [That song again – when I looked up the lyrics, I discovered that the “Shocktower Ridge” that I’d always heard was “Choctaw Ridge”!]

  36. Conrad Cork @ 33 … depends what you like. This was the wade through treacle that I customarily find with Vlad. My solving style is predominantly reliant on the cryptic elements and I prefer a crossword with acceleration, where crossers gradually reveal the cryptic architecture of the clues.  Too many obscure charades mean the crossword had little momentum and the cleverness grated rather than cheered.  Doesn’t mean the crossword was bad; just not for me.

  37. Wasted ages convinced that the ‘female criminal’ was a 5-letter-word-ESS. Perhaps the ngaio tree was the wrong one I was barking up. Enjoyed myself anyway. Thanks Vlad.

  38. I know what Van Winkle means by ‘wading through treacle’, but, despite having to think more about nearly every clue compared to the other crosswords that have been served up this week, I enjoyed the rather tough going very much. I have some big favourites, DEO GRATIAS and TALLAHASSEE among them, but I felt let down by one clue: 1d/18a DONE UP LIKE A KIPPER. I’ve never heard of it, and there wasn’t really enough in the clue to lead me there. How are British politicians Irish?
    Thanks to Vlad and PeterO.

  39. Ha Ha Muffin thanks for those two posts. Presumably “laid him on the green”. Mondegreens will be used in conversation forthwith.

    GinF wasnt it da da dum ?

  40. TALLAHASSEE went in quite easily thanks to the memory of Freddy Cannon’s “Tallahassee Lassie”. A lousy song- written by his mother- but a great record.
    Quite difficult especially the parsing but entertaining enough. I liked DONE UP LIKE A KIPPER- crossword clues are the only thing the DUP is any good for- and BARRENESS. CHAGALL was a little cheeky but made me smile. I don’t think I’ve ever heard the term SCRUB NURSE before but it makes sense.
    Thanks Vlad.

  42. Is it just me or is there a Brexit theme here, with BROGUE of course, and the smelly (U)KIPPER, the DUP? It’s all DECIDED, I don’t want to be ALARMIST, the result was an UPSET, the UPPER CRUST will be ok but the rest of us will just inherit a LOINCLOTH, BARRENNESS and DEBRIS. Bitter GALL. And as for the NHS? Well, you can SCRUB NURSE.

  43. …and (that song) again, I remember it well via being a callow youth gently chastised, by my African American companion, for choosing it on a bar room jukebox; reference to cotton picking was still (’67) sensitive.

  46. My comment @45 may have added to the confusion.  The setter said ‘Irish’, not ‘British’.  The DUP are British, not Irish.

  47. Alan B @46 – I think you may have added even more to the confusion: the DUP are both British and Irish. 😉

  48. I thought the HARP of CARD SHARP was ‘harp on’ and therefore clued by ‘guy’=josh,ridicule but the synonymy is imperfect. Thanks PeterO for the very tricksy parsing of UPSET, and to Vlad for the workout.

  49. Eileen @47

    Vlad actually referred to the party through its members (‘politicians’).  Are they both British and Irish too?  If so, that is a TILT for me, so I must thank you and Peter for making a valid point, and the blemish in the clue simply isn’t there.  [Suitable emoji which I’ve forgotten how to insert on this device.]

  51. Eileen

    I really don’t want to prolong this, but I hope I can at least clear up my side.  I have always understood Irish to refer to the island of Ireland and the people who live on it.  (It also means ‘pertaining to the Irish Republic’, but that may not be relevant here.)  Until a few minutes ago, I thought the DUP was a British political party with its roots and interests in Northern Ireland and with all its constituencies there.  Peter’s comment didn’t actually help (Sorry Peter!) because he stated something I knew already.

    I hope this is the end of it.  The misunderstanding was all mine, and it’s best not to try and understand that question of mine that you highlighted.  It’s clear that Irish has an even wider meaning than I thought.

  52. Wonderful puzzle. Possibly Vlad’s most accessible yet, but good fun nonetheless. Particularly enjoyed TALLAHASSEE and TESTERS. FLAWLESS and WONT are as fluent and succinct as you could wish for. A remarkable compiler.
    Many thanks both and all.

  56. A struggle but worth the effort. A bit of a quibble over 8d as I thought that rampant meant “upright” from all those heraldic lions standing on one leg, not “upside down” as it does here.
    Thanks to Vlad and PeterO

  57. Standards are definitely plummeting if this dog’s dinner of a puzzle receives such plaudits.

    I suspect that it was puzzles such as this that inspired Ximenes to write the book. 😉

  60. I know I am prolonging this but this is a genuine question: I didn’t think Northern Ireland was part of Britain hence Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Isn’t it part of the United Kingdom instead ?

  61. Neil @60

    I don’t count myself an expert, especially with loose definitions of some of words that have arisen in this discussion, but I think I can state the following:

    The UK is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.  So that tells you where Great Britain and Northern Ireland fit in.

    I would say Britain is a widely used and widely accepted term for the UK.  In particular, ‘British’ means ‘of the UK’, and I’m sure that’s how the press use that word and how Europeans use it.

    The British Isles is something else and includes the mainland I live on and the island of Ireland.

    You didn’t mention ‘Irish’, but I don’t feel qualified to rule on the precise and loose meanings of that word at the moment!

  63. Alan B @61

    The DUP are the leading party in the Northern Irish Assembly so I struggle to see how they are not Irish.

  64. Neil @63

    If ‘Irish’ can apply to one (or any) party represented in the Northern Ireland Assembly, you are clearly correct.  That is the bit that was new to me in the above discussion, by the way.

  65. With clues such as Duke = FIST and the ‘tooled up’ for ARM, to name several I gave up trying to parse, I too am surprised to see so many plaudits and only one note of question.

    To balance the books ever so slightly, I think Alex @ 57 has a point.

  66. pex @65

    At least, unlike Alex @57, you give some reasons for your dislike of this puzzle. However, duke/fist and tooled up/carrying a weapon are in Chambers, the OED (tooled up in the supplement) and Collins (on line: I do not have a hard copy). It is hardly Vlad’s fault if you do nor know them.

  67. i take your point about duke Peter, but i still can’t get round how ”tooled up’ is ARM rather than ARMED

  68. pex@67
    As PeterO said in the blog it is an implied envelope – “tooled up” = “carrying an ARM”

  69. Can I try your patience with beginners questions? What do the dots mean between BROGUE and DEBRIS? How is TUMS anything to do with CORPORATION? And finally how does one identify the definition? I’ve read a few “how to solve cryptic crossword” books. They all say “find the definition”. But they don’t say how:( I love this blog thank you to everyone who helps make sense!

  70. DuncT @68 – but then the answer would be ALANARMIST – how does “tooled up” mean “carrying arm”?

    Rachel M @69 – dots between clues sometimes mean that the clues are linked in some way, particularly where the solution to the first clue would provide the first word of the second clue, solving the second clue relies on having sold the first.  However, most times the dots just link clues that have some common theme.  In this case, the second clue is a commentary on the first, relating to Brexit.  The clues themselves can be solved wholly independently.

    Corporation = tum is based on both words being synonyms for midriff, and is one of those tiresome equivalences that are only now to be found in crosswords. Usually the sign of a poor clue, because the aficionados will spot the equivalence straight away as a crossword cliche, whereas others will have no chance of guessing it.  You just have to build up your own library of these cliches through experience – eg, recipe = r, good = pi, men = OR, etc.

    In most cases, the definition is to be found at the beginning or end of the clue.  As you can see from PeterO’s underlinings in the blog.  As far as I am concerned, you either see them or you don’t.  There is no particular skill involved for most of them, meaning that you get close to completing the crossword by working out which bits of the clues to delete to turn it into a non-cryptic crossword.  Things get more interesting where the definitions themselves have a bit of mystery – eg, 25a.

  72. Managed to finish a Vlad (a better result than our team’s yesterday, but that was tragedy replayed as farce). Managed to get the bottom half quite quickly but took ages with 3d as I thought the tree might be “plane” but couldn’t parse it. Liked “brogue” , “barrenness” & “Tallahassee” though considered Milwaukee for a few moments ( not long, though). Thanks for the blog – and as we’ll be last again, I will make another comment on the DUP – I’d say they were an Irish party as they never stand in the rest of Britain – as Plaid Cymru are Welsh & Scots Nats are (clearly) Scots.
    Rachael @ 69 – Eileen’s advice is always to give up when learning and look at the blog to learn; and mine is – start with the Everyman and Monday’s crossword as those are easier. You also need a working classical & biblical knowledge, plus know all the counties, states and abbreviations for these. Lastly – “flower” can be a river and “lower” can be a cow…..

  73. Van Winkle @70, very kind of you. I am managing to get a few clues in each one and then following Wombles @72 advice. A bit discouraging when people say “this one was easy!!!” Good idea, to start with Everyman. Thank you kind people.

  74. Rachel @ 73

    A bit discouraging when people say “this one was easy!!!

    I couldn’t agree more. I have been doing the Guardian crossword for about 55 years and I still find such comments dispiriting. Don’t forget, there are many people who don’t comment here, and I imagine plenty among them found this Vlad particularly hard.

     

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