Guardian Cryptic 27,705 by Qaos

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A themed offering from Qaos.

Qaos has managed to get at least eleven themed entry into the puzzle, which is quite an achievement.  There may be more, but I can see JUNO, VIKING, PIONEER, MESSENGER, VOYAGER, GAIA, MARINER, CASSINI(-Huygens), HELIOS, ROSETTA and ARGUS, all of which are spacecraft or space missions.

in striving to get these in, he has not had to use difficult words as crossers, which is also impressive.

However, I do have a couple of problems with the puzzle.  I don’t think that the clue grammar works in 17ac and, unless a music expert can convince me otherwise, my intital research indicates that 15d is simply incorrect.  I also found some of the other clues to be a bit clunky (13ac, 19ac, 6d, 9d, for example).

All things considered, this was an enjoyable solve, albeit those who look for a gentle start to the week may have sturggled with it.

Thanks Qaos

Across
1 EROSION Love’s fashionable, hiding nothing to wear (7)
EROS (“love”) + IN (“fashionable”) hiding O (“nothing”)
5 CHARMED Marched about, delighted (7)
*(marched)
10 JUNO They ask, are you acquainted with God’s wife? (4)
Homophone of [they ask] D’YOU KNOW (“are you acquainted with”)
11 TROGLODYTE Cave dweller to try lodge for a change (10)
*(to try lodge)
12 VIKING Scandinavian against topless skiing? Outrageous! (6)
V (versus, so “against”) + *(kiing)
13 PIONEERS 3.14 + 1 + 2.72, right? Initially simple for leaders (8)
PI (“3.14” – in maths, pi to 2 decimal places is 3.14) + ONE + e (“2.72” (in maths, “e”, the base of the natural logarithm, is 2.72 to two decimal places) + R (right) + [initially] S(imple)
14 MESSENGER Envoy has trouble with green movement (9)
MESS (“trouble”) with *(green)
16 WINDY Get extremely dizzy and nervous (5)
WIN (“get”) + [extremely] D(izz)Y
17 TEMPO Time to kidnap emperor? (5)
TO kidnapping EMP (emperor)

I don’t think the grammar works in this clue, as TO kidnapS the EMP
19 REPRISALS Salesman: 50% off ribs and salads, plus special paybacks (9)
REP (“salesman”) + [50% off] RI(bs) SAL(ads) plus S (special)
23 VOYAGERS Goa’s very annoyed with travellers (8)
*(goas very)
24 STARTS Origins of temperature in great balls of fire (6)
T (temperature) in STARS (“great balls of fire”)
26 RIDING BOOT Before overnight vacation, do I bring fancy footwear? (6,4)
Before O(vernigh)T [vacation], *(do i bring)
27 GAIA Earth, to make great again, improve atmosphere for starters (4)
Initial letters [starters] of G(reat) A(gain) I(mprove) A(tmosphere)
28 MARINER Salt and pepper ultimately remain to be shaken (7)
*(r remain), where the R is [ultimately] (peppe)R
29 CASSINI Mama from 1960s at home with Italian astronomer (7)
(Mama) CASS + IN (“at home”) with I (Italian)

Cass Elliot (aka Mama Cass) was a member of the 1960s band, the Mamas and the Papas
Down
2 ROUTINE Standard performance (7)
Double definition
3 SHOGI Japanese game is uplifting when astride pig (5)
<= IS [uplifting] astride HOG (“pig”)

Shogi is a japanese strategic board game, dating from the early 16th century. 
4 OCTAGON Shabby coat? Try new shape (7)
*(coat) + GO (“try”) + N (new)
6 HELIOS Sun god, he’s over 510 (6)
HE’S over LI (51) + O
7 RED DEVILS Display team seen at Old Trafford? (3,6)
Double definition, the first referring to the Parachute Regiment’s display team, the second to Manchester United.
8 ENTERED Key journalist walked in (7)
ENTER (“key” on a keyboard) + ED (editor, so “journalist”)
9 COMPREHENSION Company board retains maiden over her elevated understanding (13)
Co. (company) + PENSION (“board”) retains M (maiden) + <=HER [elevated], so Co.(M)P(REH)ENSION
15 SOPRANINI Singers in Spain or otherwise (9)
*(in spain or)

According to Chambers, Collins and the OED, a sopranino is a musical instrument, not a singer, so thsi clue is incorrect.
18 EXOTICA Foreign items and old books need art venue (7)
EX (“old”) + O.T. (Old Testament, so “books”) + I.C.A. (Institute of Contemporary Arts, so “art venue”)
20 ROSETTA Flower area’s dry, turning to stone (7)
ROSE (“flower) + <=A TT (area and “dry” (TT = teetotal))

The Rosetta Stone, rediscovered in 1799, is a 2nd century stele with inscriptions in three languages that allowed scholars to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics.
21 LATVIAN A vital translation by North European (7)
*(a vital) by N (north)
22 BEAGLE Dog or blackbird? (6)
B (black) + EAGLE (“bird”)
25 ARGUS Guardian‘s refined sugar (5)
*(sugar)

*anagram

36 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 27,705 by Qaos”

  1. Thanks, Qaos and loonapick.

     

    I was surprised to see Qaos in the Monday slot, but I also thought this was easier than the usual from Qaos. First in was PIONEERS and last WINDY. I spotted the theme quite early – quite enjoyable.

     

     

  3. 6d is actually incorrect- the Roman numeral for 500 is D, not L. Not that it makes much of a difference!

    Surprisingly hard for a Monday, but an abundance of anagrams still makes this a relatively easy puzzle.

  5. An enjoyable end to the year. Thanks Qaos and Loonapick.

    n.b In 6D it’s HE’S over LI (51) + O (a bit naughty on Qaos’ part).

  8. Thanks loonapick. We too thought 510 was wrong until coming here. I do like your added bits of info such as in 3d and 15d

  9. Thanks Qaos and loonapick

    I didn’t see the theme, of course, though CASSINI should have given it. I didn’t know ICA in EXOTICA, of the game SHOGI. I also put RED ARROWS first for 7d, without understanding it – but I didn’t understand the answer either, as I hadn’t heard of RED DEVILS in either context.

    I raised an eyebrow at SOPRANINI too, knowing only the instrumental use.

    LOI and favourite was BEAGLE.

  11. Having thought Greek Gods was the theme, with Helios and Juno and Messenger, I kept looking for others and completely missed the ( now obvious) theme! I struggled with ‘erosion’ ( couldn’t see ‘wear’ for the def so had ‘passion’ for a long while) or exotica ‘cos I was lookong for an art venue! Doh! Dnf for me as I ended up cheating on a couple but I did get the two number clues quite quickly after googling what 2.72 represented.. lots to enjoy here…Thanks Qaos and Loonapick and a Happy New Year to everyone!

  12. Thank you, loonapick, your soubriquet sounds like it should be part of the theme!

    Can someone explain how “to” is working in 1a?  Is it just there for the surface?

    Also failed to find any reference to singers in SOPRANINI but it still sounds right.

    Totally oblivious to the theme which makes me 100% theme-blind through 2018 – quite an achievement, I feel.

    Many thanks, Qaos.

  13. A little more difficult than the normal Monday slot, but an enjoyable puzzle.

    No complaints 🙂

    Thanks to Qaos and loonapick.

  14. An enjoyable puzzle to end the year. Got the theme about halfway through and it helped me to see JUNO. Wikipedia has an article entitled “Sopranino singers” which I thought was sufficient evidence that the term exists.
    Thanks to Qaos and loonapick.

  15. Thanks both,
    A good puzzle to end a good year of puzzles that have distracted us from the current political chaos. May 2019 not be worse than 2018 but better than 2020.

  16. Thanks to Qaos and loonapick for an enjoyable end to the year.

    I first wandered into 225 on foot of debate in the letter pages about the perceived increase in difficulty of cryptic crosswords. I feel that things have improved and that is somewhat exemplified by this puzzle: eminently accessible while maintaining the challenge.

  17. Good fun. Reading about the probe New Horizons reachine Ultima Thule tomorrow put me in the right frame of mind for the theme. My only query is why “Origins” rather than “Origin” in 24 ac.

     

  18. Thanks to Qaos and loonapick. I’m another who kept looking for classical gods after getting JUNO and HELIOS. LIKE Muffin I did not know SHOGI or ICA as art venue, just assumed that SOPRANINI somewhere was associated with singers, and linked RED DEVILS to Man United but not the display team.

  19. In Italian the term ‘sopranino’ can refer to a voice higher than a soprano or to a musical instrument.
    Thanks for the blog and thanks to Qaos for a very enjoyable puzzle.
    Best wishes to everyone for 2019. Julie aka giulina.

  20. Time to venture into the 225 world again after irregular puzzling over the festive period when we were grateful for Nutmeg and Vlad to occupy us on on journeys between Oxfordshire and Preston but out of sync with the posts. Vlad’s AUSTERITY must be a coty candidate.
    I set off at a gallop with today’s but ended up with a dnf as TEMPO and EXOTICA beat me and the NW corner resisted as even with the theme VIKING took me some time. I didn’t query SOPRANINI as I just assumed it was yet another musical term I wasn’t familiar with. Why is MARINER salt – and as I was typing this I answered my own question and enjoyed a doh! pdm.
    Thanks to Qaos and loonapick.

  21. I, too, wasn’t wild about SOPRANINI – but clearly nothing else fitted so I bunged it in. I didn’t spot the theme and am now kicking myself. I enjoyed the economy of the clueing to CHARMED and PIONEERS, whilst JUNO and VIKING made me grin. Yes this was a tad tricky for a Monday, but for once I was spending a Monday at home with a roaring fire, a pot of cider mulling away, and lots of treats to nibble. Thanks to Qaos for a very pleasant couple of hours, and to Loonapick for explaining the parsing bits that went over my head! Happy New Year to all FS regulars!!

  22. Like WhiteKing @20, I have also had some “irregular puzzling over the festive period”, but I’m glad to make it back here today to wrap up 2018.  Seeing that today’s setter was Qaos, I jumped right to it, even though I have not done Friday’s Vlad yet (although now I know one of the answers — haha!), and found it an enjoyable solve, as usual.  My first two in were GAIA and ARGUS, so I was all set for a Greek mythology theme, which (apart from HELIOS) did not materialize thereafter.  I only spotted the real theme when I was working on MARINER, my LOI.  I knew RED DEVILS was the, or at least *a*, team name for Man U (as well as being the name of my high school sports teams, as it so happens), but I had to Google to find the parachute display team – a TILT.  [For awhile, I was trying to see if “Dis” (god of the underworld) + play could be part of the parsing at the front of the clue.]  CotD for me was RIDING BOOT.

    Many thanks to Qaos and loonapick and the other commenters, and thanks also to all of the other setters and 15^2 bloggers and especially to Gaufrid for continuing to make this forum available and (echoing Tyngewick @15 here) providing an enjoyable, if temporary, refuge and respite from ongoing political turmoil and the other ups and downs of life.  Best wishes to all for a happy and healthy 2019 in whatever part of the world you inhabit, and a brilliant year in Crosswordland as well!

  24. Thanks Qaos and loonapick.
    A couple more possible theme references are EROS in 1ac (the NEAR mission visited asteroid Eros) and there is EXOMars ongoing (18d).

  25. Bit of a mixed bag for me.There were a number of guesses- SOPRANINOS, of course is the most obvious although it was an anagram, and WINDY for which I bunged in GIDDY. RED DEVILS was also a guess,and,like Muffin, I had RED ARROWS to start with. Also,like Muffin, I didn’t see the theme. Despite all the above, I did rather like this.
    Thanks Qaos, and a Happy New year to everyone.

  27. Thanks to everyone who sets, blogs and posts in the Guardian and on 15squared. I’ve loved my journey back through the Guardian x-word archive during 2018. At the beginning of this year I started in the present day and I’ve since travelled back in time to July 1st 2014. I still haven’t finished my parsing apprenticeship, but I’m certainly a whole lot better at this weird addictive pastime than I was a year ago. This Qaos puzzle was just about at my level and was a very enjoyable challenge. Thanks to Loonapick and Qaos. I didn’t spot the theme, didn’t know that ‘a’ indicated ‘area’, that 2.72 meant ‘r’, hadn’t heard of Mama Cass (despite being of that vintage) or the ICA – but now I am forearmed if they crop up again! Thanks heaps and a Happy New Year to everyone.

  28. My first solution was Helios and so I innocently believed we were going to have a Nielsen-themed puzzle! ….. maybe one day!

    Best wishes to all for 2019

    Maskarade

  31. HoofItYouDonkey @30 –

    Please see the top of loonapick’s blog (supplemented by comments from David Ellison @2 and Gonzo @24 – I hope I haven’t left anyone out), for the explanation of the theme.  Qaos and Brendan (and also Brummie if I recall correctly) are setters who almost always include a “ghost” theme (referred to as such because the theme is not obvious from a read-through of the list of clues, but only becomes apparent as the answers go into the grid and you start noticing that many of them are associated with a common topic), so, if you enjoy this added element of play, then put on your theme-spotting goggles whenever you see their names as setters.  There are some other setters who also do ghost themes at least some of the time.  Happy solving!

  32. Thanks DaveMc apologies, I have been a bit dim there. I don’t think I would have spotted the theme.

  33. Yes, curate ‘s egg for me too,with some dodgy definitions as mentioned above. I thought the clue for ROSETTA was clunky and would like to offer an alternative ‘Schedule set in stone ‘. Nevertheless I finished (without spotting the theme) and enjoyed a lot of it, my favourite being MARINER. Thanks to all concerned and a Good New Year to everyone. And so to bed before the dreaded song.

  34. Too tired to twig that there was a theme beyond references to some gods of ancient times…reassured that I was not alone there.

    DNF as RED DEVILS was an unfamiliar reference on both counts. Several unparsed, with SOPRANINI etc biffed in. Similar experiences to others’ recounted above.

    Like DaveMc, WhiteKing and others, my cryptic crossword engagement in the past few weeks has been a bit hit and miss, so I have yet to try to the Vlad and catch up on some other puzzles and blogs well after the event.

    Thanks Qaos for the NYE challenge via a very clever theme, to loonapick for the blog, and to all contributors, the “theme spotters” in particular. The New Year greetings from around the world are much appreciated and reciprocated. “Let’s hope it’s a good one, Without any fear…”

  36. Personally, never ever heard anybody use ‘windy’ to mean ‘nervous’ in life or on TV/radio/film.

    “How did you feel before your driving test?”

    “A bit windy.”

    “Yes it is, but how did you feel before your driving test?”

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