Guardian 27,724 / Arachne

by

It’s been a couple of months since the last Arachne puzzle and I count myself lucky to have landed my second blog in a row.

Without surprise, I find I can repeat my preamble from the last time:
Another super puzzle from the Spider Lady, brimming with clever clues and witty wordplay / definitions / surfaces  [this time with different examples – queen going ballistic, young swimmer taking to a pedalo, animal sanctuary, fruit machine, drunken Tories, shirty joiners, cuckoo’s first moult et al] – loads of fun and a laugh a minute.

Altogether, a bit of a 20ac, providing ample proof that a puzzle doesn’t need to be difficult to be enjoyable – many thanks to Arachne.

Definitions are underlined in the clues.

Across

1 Kid overcome by country smell (9)
FRAGRANCE
RAG [kid] in [overcome by] FRANCE [country]

6 Head of computing centre, British rival to Yale (5)
CHUBB
C[omputing] + HUB [centre] + B [British]

9 Musicians content to leave Egypt after 31 days (5)
OCTET
OCT[ober] [31 days] + E[gyp]T minus its content

10 Up in the air, nun and I react badly (9)
UNCERTAIN
An anagram [badly] of NUN + I REACT

11 Half the world is into cannabis at this point (10)
HEMISPHERE
IS in HEMP [cannabis] + HERE [at this point]

12 Spring meadow close to Adlestrop (4)
LEAP
LEA [meadow[ + [adlestro]P: lovely surface – see here

14 Where queen may go ballistic at terylene trousers (7)
CATTERY
Hidden in [trousered by] ballistiC AT TERYlene

15 Vehicle runs on rough tarmac (7)
TRAMCAR
An anagram [rough] of TARMAC + R [runs]

17 Is attracted to lover with timeless quotes (7)
FANCIES
FAN [lover] + CI[t]ES [quotes minus t – time]

19 Young swimmer beginning to tire, using pedalo (7)
TADPOLE
T[ire] + an anagram [using] of PEDALO

20 Frolic in animal sanctuary behind camel’s back (4)
LARK
[came]L + ARK [animal sanctuary]

22 Play with tender name, an expression of affection (10)
ENDEARMENT
An anagram [play with] of TENDER NAME

25 Architect run down in outskirts of Vientiane, country’s capital (9)
NASHVILLE
NASH [architect] + ILL [run down] in V[ientian]E – ‘country’ as in music

26 Enjoy song and dance and romance on vacation (5)
ADORE
ADO [song and dance] + R[omanc]E

27 Father Brown’s last warning (5)
SIREN
SIRE [father] + [brow]N

28 Doctrine of suffering adopted by tens, half-heartedly (9)
TEACHINGS
ACHING [suffering] in TE[n]S

Down

1 Nonsense filling extremely foolish head (5)
FROTH
ROT [nonsense] in F[oolis]H – think of the frothy head on a pint of beer

2 Gold coin finally found under fruit machine (9)
AUTOMATON
AU [gold] + TOMATO [fruit] + [coi]N

3 Drunken Tories rise and spit here (10)
ROTISSERIE
An anagram [drunken] of TORIES RISE

4 Refusal to accommodate thug, unruly and rude (7)
NAUGHTY
NAY [refusal] round an anagram [unruly] of THUG

5 Clip of Romeo in bar (7)
EXCERPT
R [Romeo – NATO alphabet] in EXCEPT [bar]

6 Short copper with raincoat inside out (4)
CURT
CU [copper] + R[aincoa]T

7 Wise person following universal custom (5)
USAGE
SAGE [wise person] following U [universal]

8 Corsican holding up a toff, left without diamonds (9)
BONAPARTE
A reversal [holding up] of A NOB [a toff] + PARTE[d] [left, minus d – diamonds]

13 More straightforward career for cobblers (10)
BALDERDASH
BALDER [more straightforward] + DASH [career]

14 Shirty joiners hit feline, we hear (9)
CUFFLINKS
CUFF [hit] + LINKS [sounds like – we hear – lynx {feline}]

16 Stop broadcasting cuckoo’s first moult (5,4)
CLOSE DOWN
C[uckoo] + LOSE DOWN [moult]

18 Gilbert oddly putting on wrong vest (7)
SINGLET
SIN [wrong] + odd letters of GiLbErT

19 May cut dissent, amidst cheers (7)
THERESA
HERES[y] [dissent, cut] in TA [cheers] – our embattled PM provides another great surface

21 Irish hero removing clothes for part of flight (5)
RISER
[i]RIS[h] [h]ER[o]

23 Lock sons in turrets regularly (5)
TRESS
S [sons] in alternate letters of TuRrEtS

24 Russian leader out of bed (4)
IVAN
[d]IVAN [bed, minus its initial letter – leader]

55 comments on “Guardian 27,724 / Arachne”

  1. Lucky Eileen indeed – you forget how much you miss Arachne until she comes back again.

    Far too many clues to list them all as favourites so I’ll just specially mention one from each side – 6a and 14d – such splendid definitions

    Thanks to Arachne for the fun and to the aforementioned Lucky Blogger

  2. Thanks Arachne and Eileen

    Great fun. Favourites were the lovely hidden CATTERY, NASHVILLE for the “country’s capital” misdirection, and AUTOMATON.

    I didn’t understand the PARTE bit of BONAPARTE, and I don’t think you’ve got it either, Eileen! It might just be PARTE(d), but I don’t like that for “left”.

  5. Oops, thank you, Pex @3. I don’t know how  the rogue DE crept in – I’ll fix it now.

    muffin, we quite often get ‘part’ for ‘leave’.

  7. Thanks Eileen and Arachne.
    Pretty straightforward, with some nice surfaces.
    ENDEARMENT was in yesterday’s Quiptic, also as an anagram of ‘tender name’.
    I thought a couple of definitions were a bit vague (rude for NAUGHTY, stop broadcasting for CLOSE DOWN) but overall, enjoyable.
    I had unparsed STAIR for 21d, until I saw NASHVILLE (my favourite clue) and realised my error.

  8. This was a delight!  I found I had to keep telling myself to slow down so as to make it last.

    The Spider Lady knows a thing or two about clue-writing and this crossword should be retained and entered in The Crossword Setters’ Manual under the section “How to construct a good surface for a clue”.

    As Eileen says, crosswording does not have to be over-hard to be fun.

    Thank you, Arachne.

    Nice week, all.

  9. lovely fun – over too soon alas, but somehow not only are the surfaces smooth and fun, the definitions manage to be cryptic yet eminently fair. I get a bit annoyed with ambiguous words like “lake” and “play” which could be a million things, but somehow the Corsican, the shirty joiners (tick tick) and cobblers (oh was I mislead!) couldn’t be anything else. Chapeau, plaudits etc.

  10. Sorry Eileen, another query: at 6a, you have ‘British’ as part of the def. I thought that referred to the last B of CHUBB?

    As you say, another super puzzle from Arachne.

     

  12. I was delighted when I saw Arachne was the setter but less so as I solved the puzzle. Whilst each clue was perfect on its own there were far too many of the “close/back/content/removing clothes” etc type for my liking. It was almost as though Arachne had set herself a challenge to see how many clues like this she could incorporate. I enjoyed CUFFLINKS and BALDERDASH. I’m sorry to be grumpy but for me this was one where the whole was less than not more than the sum of the parts.
    I hope Arachne makes another appearance soon and I can restore my faith in her as an outstanding setter. Thanks to her and Eileen for the blog.

  13. I agree completely with Eileen (as usual). I can understand Whiteking’s reservations about the similarity in form of a number of the clues, but, to my mind, the sheer elegance of the puzzle more than outweighs any quibbles. For an experienced solver, it was pretty straightforward, and completed quite quickly, but it’s none the worse for that, and it made for a very cheerful start to the day for me. Better than many a Quiptic for newer solvers.
    Thanks to Arachne and Eileen.

  16. WhiteKing @ 12 too many of the “close/back/content/removing clothes”

    Yes, I noticed this, but assumed she had made it a “theme”, so I was disappointed not every clue was like that.

     

    Thanks Eileen and Arachne

     

  17. Many thanks to Arachne for a fun puzzle, and to Eileen for the blog.

    I’m clearly missing the blindingly obvious … but why might a queen go to a cattery?

  19. Hi judygs – queen = cat crops up quite often in crosswords, so I didn’t comment this time. It’s worth making a note of.

  21. Thanks Arachne for another beautiful crossword; I echo Eileen’s comments.

    Many good clues but I ticked BALDERDASH, CLOSE DOWN, CUFFLINKS and THERESA (I wonder what she’ll be doing this time next year.)

    Thanks Eileen for a good blog and the link to Adlestrop – I didn’t know the significance of that.

  23. Enjoyable puzzle.

    Like some previous commentators, I thought Arachne went out of her way to include as many ways as possible of conveying ‘first and last letters’.  I counted four, at 9 and 26 ac and 6 and 21 dn.  All very clever, specially ‘inside out’.

    Wasn’t too happy with ‘rude’ for NAUGHTY or straightforward for BALD…

    Should it be ‘son’ in the singular in 23 dn?  (S in TRES) ?  Or is S OK for sons too?

    And I felt that ‘using’ is rather weak as an anagram indicator.

    But good puzzle overall.

    Thanks to Arachne and to Eileen.

     

  25. Many hanks to the blogger and to Arachne, but permit me to diverge from the popular view here. This puzzle, though nicely clued in parts, was as easy as any given Monday cryptic. Indeed, it would have not been misplaced in yesterday’s edition where 12AC was as elegantly clued as any may be in this one.

  26. Thanks to Arachne and Eileen. I agree with much of what has been said, at the easier end of the Arachne spectrum, but still good fun and very enjoyable. Last one was adore (which took ages to parse for some reason) and I am another fan of cattery, Chubb and cufflinks. Thanks again to Arachne and Eileen.

  27. Anna@23 – I count 14 of this type (6,9,12,19,20,25,26,27,28a and 1,2,6,16,24d) and another 7 (15,17a, 5,8,18,21,23d) which are similar so maybe instead of bemoaning it I should be admiring the inventiveness of Arachne.

  29. Yes, an easy one but highly enjoyable. As others have said, there were some lovely surfaces. I particularly liked FRAGRANCE, NASHVILLE and CUFFLINKS.

    Thanks to Arachne and Eileen.

  30. Thanks Arachne, Eileen

    WhiteKing @12, 27

    You’ve pointed out a common feature of Arachne puzzles, possibly exaggerated in this one.  The pay-off for using lots of ‘close to ..’, ‘ beginning to..’, ‘outskirts of ..’ type instructions is that you get less [sic] unindicated abbreviations, and better surfaces, since the setter’s free to pick from any word with the right initial/end letter.  Arachne does it possibly more & probably better than anyone.

  31. WhiteKing and Anna  – I was aware of the frequency of the device when writing the blog and nearly commented but, like James @30, I didn’t feel it detracted from the puzzle and agree with him about the opportunities it gives for more innovative surfaces – and I do accept that I lay more store by surfaces than some solvers do. Look at the ways in which Arachne has exploited the different meanings of the indicator words, e.g. ‘content to leave’ in 9ac, ‘close to Adlestrop’, 12ac, ‘on vacation’, 26ac, and ‘nonsense…extremely foolish’, 1dn.

    And I loved her ‘discontented rattlesnake’ to clue the ubiquitous RE in a recent Rosa Klebb puzzle. 😉

  32. There’s too much to like in this puzzle to single anything out. My personal favourite however,  for ‘leading one astray’, is Nashville (country’s capital!) Delightful stuff. Thank you Arachne and Eileen (‘C’mon Eileen’ – brings back memories of carefree teenage years)

  36. Thank you Arachne and Eileen.

    Just loved the puzzle, especially the nostalgic reference to Adlestrop.

    Cannot think why people complain about Arachne sucking the contents out of things, its in her nature…

  37. Another beautifully crafted puzzle. Found it easier than Arachne sometimes is, and enjoyed it.

    Thanks to Arachne and Eileen

  40. Thanks to Arachne and Eileen – as ever a great combination. Nothing to add, on the easy side. but no less enjoyable for that. Loved cufflinks and the Adlestrop reference. Solved happily in the friends room at the British Museum.

    Super comment Cookie!

  41. Lovely, my kind of puzzle. A twist in every clue and natural surfaces throughout. Beautiful simple elegance that I aspire to.

    Many thanks Arachne and Eileen.

  42. Yes,very nice and enjoyable in the solving. One quibble though. I guessed ADORE but I don’t understand it. Why is ADO song and dance? I don’t get it.
    Thanks Arachne.

  43. Thanks to Arachne and Eileen.

    I’m with acd@39. (With special mention for the surface of HEMISPHERE)

    PA@42: Much ado about nothing? = a song and dance about zero.

  44. @Peter Aspinwall,

    I think it’s simply that ADO and song and dance are both synonymous with “fuss”

    Thanks to Arachne and Eileen, what a lovely puzzle ! CHUBB and CUFFLINKS also my favourites.

  45. Peter Aspinwall@ 42: Just to add to what JohnB says, if you make a ‘song and dance’ about something you make much ADO about nothing.

    Cookie@36: I keep chuckling about your last line. Indeed!

  46. Long old day being a travelling business jerk from Huddersfield to Redditch to Waltham Abbey. Get to the hotel, open the paper, and am delighted that it’s an Arachne. But that’s only the start. As others have commented, this was a masterclass of the concise, misleading, and icy, slippery surface.

    I particularly loved AUTOMATON (which I have in a work-in-progress, and will now have to abandon – no one does it better than Arachne), CUFFLINKS and especially 16d CLOSE DOWN.

    Not a duffer in sight, and a joy from start to finish. Arachne is a wonder.

  47. Hi

    26 across…

    I got “adore” and get “ado” but how is “re” “romance on vacation”?

    I can see that “re” is the start/end of “romance” but don’t get the rest.

    Enjoyed puzzle and blog. Thanks.

     

  48. passingby@42, on vacation, disembowelled, emptied, and eviscerated are all indicators that the contents of the relevant word are removed leaving the first and last letters only…

     

     

  49. I agreed initially with WhiteKing @12 – I felt the puzzle was clever but repetitive.  On reflection though, I agree with WhiteKing @27 – credit to Arachne for the sheer number and variety of the devices used.

    passingby@47 – if you vacate a house, you leave it empty, and “on vacation” has the same effect on a word, and is one of the many such devices Arachne used this time round.

    Thanks to Arachne and Eileen, who makes the great point that a puzzle doesn’t have to be difficult to be enjoyable: this was rattled through in the sort of time a (much-missed) Rufus puzzle would take, but still had plenty to admire.  CHUBB, CATTERY and CUFFLINKS were probably my favourites.

  50. Very much enjoyed this one. Im with passingby – whilst I know that ‘on vacation’ means take all the middle letters out, I’ve never understood why – unlike, say emptied or discontented which are more literal?

  51. Sorry – to complete – I guess I can see ‘vacated’ much more easily as ‘take everything out’ than ‘on vacation’

  52. A rapid but rewarding and hugely enjoyable puzzle, with the equivalent of great DVD extras in the set of comments it provoked on here. Thanks all!

  53. I understand the favourable comments. I just wish that if Arachne were going to exercise her considerable skill to use the same or similar devices in 21 out of 32 clues (thank you WhiteKing) she hadn’t picked my least favourites! As James suggested @ 30 they certainly make it easier for the setter which is perhaps why I’ve always considered them a bit of a cop out. I have a feeling that the empty/vacated device is relatively new.
    Thanks to Arachne and Eileen

  55.  

    I got “adore” (26 across) but wasn’t sure, since like others I couldn’t see how “re” was “romance on vacation”.  Thanks to 1961Blanchflower @ 49 I now realise that “on vacation” is equivalent to “after vacating” or “after emptying out”.   Seems obvious now, in retrospect.  Like so many things! 🙂

Comments are closed.