Guardian Cryptic 27,741 by Pan

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The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/27741.

Lots of well varied envelopes, and maybe a notch above many a Monday offering, but nothing too daunting (although 4D took me longer than it should have), with good surfaces throughout, and some cunning misdirection.

Across
5 SECTOR Part of store rebuilt outside centre of Lincoln (6)
An envelopoe (‘outside’) of C (‘centre of LinColn’) in SETOR, an anagram (‘rebuilt’) of ‘store’.
6 RIBALD Coarse knitting stitch used by a beginner finally unravelled (6)
A charade of RIB (‘knitting stitch’) plus ‘a’ plus L (learner driver, ‘beginner’) plus D (‘finally unravelleD‘).
9 TABARD Stripe essential to shade of garment (6)
An envelope (‘essential to’) of BAR (‘stripe’) in TAD (‘shade’ as in “the batsman had a good innings, but was bowled a shade short of his century’)
10 HANNIBAL Lecter or one of his ilk exchanging drugs (8)
[c]ANNIBAL (‘one of his ilk’ – Hannibal Lecter was dubbed “the cannibal’, as indicated by his most famous line) with the C replaced by H (‘exchanging drugs’ – heroin for cocaine). Hannibal Lecter is the leading character in a series of novels by Thomas Harris, best known for the portrayal by Anthony Hopkins in the film of Silence of the Lambs.
11 BLOB Hair arrangement hiding large lump (4)
An envelope (‘hiding’) of L (‘large’) in BOB (‘hair arrangement’).
12 DEPRECIATE Time to stockpile drug before trading price leads to fall in value (10)
An envelope (‘to stockpile’) of E (‘drug’) plus PRECI, an anagram (‘trading’) of ‘price’ in DATE (‘time’). ‘Leads to’ here is just a link between wordplay and definition, not an indication of the first letters of anything.
13 LEGAL TENDER Good money for registered nurse? (5,6)
Definition and literal interpretation.
18 IVORY TOWER Woman hoarding gold wrote badly in place of academic (5,5)
A charade of IVORY, an envelope (‘hoarding’) of OR (heraldic ‘gold’) in IVY (‘woman’) plus TOWER, an anagram (‘badly’) of ‘wrote’.
21 ELAN Style of space outside city (4)
An envelope (‘outside’) of LA (‘Los Angeles, ‘city’) in EN (printer’s ‘space’).
22 SILENCER License crazy Republican to manufacture device for a gun (8)
A charade of SILENCE, an anagram (‘crazy’) of ‘license’; plus R (‘Republican’).
23 MASSES Lots of money given to fools (6)
A charade of M (‘money’) plus ASSES (‘fools’).
24 SKEWER Asymmetrical sides of eager cook’s equipment (6)
A charade of SKEW (‘asymmetrical’) plus ER (‘sides of EageR‘).
25 HORNET Insect moving north-east (6)
An anagram (‘moving’) of ‘north’ plus E (‘east’).
Down
1 SCRABBLE Game played from scratch (8)
Double definition.
2 FOLDED Crumpled antique impounded by US agent (6)
An envelope (‘impounded by’) of OLD (‘antique’)in FED (‘US agent’). My first impression of FOLDED is of neatness and deliberation, but geologically FOLDED is closer to ‘crumpled’.
3 SINN FEIN Small pub organised fine party (8)
A charade of S (‘small’) plus INN (‘pub’) plus FEIN, an anagram (‘organised’) of ‘fine’. As far as I can tell, both in origin and general usage, this is (4,4).
4 PANINI Find fault with small, not medium, snacks (6)
A charade of PAN (‘find fault with’) plus [m]INI (‘small’) minus the M (‘not medium’).
5 STABLE Roosters standing on large unoccupied farm building (6)
A charade of STAB, a reversal (‘standing’ in a down light) of BATS (‘roosters’ – many of the flying mammals roost during the day) plus ‘l[arg]e’ minus its interion letters (‘unoccupied’).
7 DRAFTS Sketches of Dutch boats (6)
A charade of D (‘Dutch’) plus RAFTS (‘boats’. I have always thought of a raft as flat and a boat as concave or covex, depending on how you looked at it).
8 SHOP STEWARD Two reps had relaxed, following introduction to Scottish union official (4,7)
A charade of S (‘introduction to Scottish’) plus HOPSTEWARD, an anagram (‘relaxed’) of ‘two reps had’.
14 ATTACKED Went for alternative date to bury change of direction (8)
An envelope (‘to bury’) of TACK (‘change of direction’) in ATED, an angram (‘alternative’) of ‘date’.
15 EVENSONG Calm child going first for church service (8)
A charade of EVEN (‘calm’) plus SON (‘child’) plus G (‘Going first’).
16 AVOIDS Steers clear of second drama queen turning up to accept Oscar (6)
An envelope (‘to accept’) of O (‘Oscar’, radio code) in AVIDS, a reversal (‘turning up’ in a down light) of S (‘second’) plus DIVA (‘drama queen’).
17 TALENT Natural ability shown by experimental entertainer (6)
A hidden answer ‘shown by’ ‘experimenTAL ENTertainer’.
19 REEFER Jacket worn for smoking? (6)
A reference to a REEFER as a marijuana cigarette.
20 ROMCOM Space to accommodate host in Notting Hill, say (6)
An envelope (‘to accommodate’) of MC (Master of Ceremonies, ‘host’) in ROOM (‘space’). The indication by example (‘say’) is to the 1999 film, a romantic comedy, starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant.
completed grid

43 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 27,741 by Pan”

  1. PeterO: I agree that SINN FEIN should be two words – doesn’t detract from the clue itself, just the length indication could be better. Also I agree “leads to” is a fine link phrase in 12a for obvious reasons. However, “manufacture” in 22a is not so fine imo – any justification I can come up with seems quite contrived.
    Thanks both.

  2. Agreed, not exactly a write-in, and also re Sinn Fein, my only ‘?’. Haven’t seen reefer qua jacket for years, and likewise a bit slow to get panini, and ditto LOI ribald. Wondered about trading as indicator, but as Dr W says, it works. Liked bats for roosters.

    Thanks P and P.

  5. Apart from what’s already been mentioned – SINNFEIN being one word, and “manufacture” being superfluous – this was a nice gentle start to the week. Thanks to Pan and PeterO.

  6. I’m not sure about standing as a reverser (?) Standing up would have read OK in the surface and might have been better.

    I liked the simple HORNET.

    Thanks Pan and PeterO.

  7. I failed to solve TABARD, and was slow to see the second meaning of SCRABBLE.

    My favourites were 13a and 20d.

    Thanks P+P.

  8. All pretty straightforward, as we’d expect on a Monday. STABLE was last in – took me a while to see the roosters…

    Thanks to Pan and PeterO

  10. Not that it takes away from this lovely Monday puzzle, but, any ideas on why they skipped the number 27,740?

  12. Savornin@10. 27,740 was the prize puzzle which was published on Saturday and won’t be blogged until after the date for entries has passed.

  13. Thanks Pan and PeterO

    DNF – didn’t get TABARD. A couple of very GK clues – HANNIBAL (I can’t see any way you could solve this without having seen on the film or read the book) and ROMCOM. I was also surprised by SINNFEIN – just a Grauniad mistake, I expect.

    Favourite was the lovely IVORY TOWER.

  14. For some reason I had to ‘start with the Downs’ with a crossword I found tricky for a Monday

    Lots to enjoy

    Thanks to Pan and PeterO

  15. I got PANINI and HORNET from the crossers but did not parse. The misdirection of NE was clever, I thought. Lots of fun. T.G.I.M.

    Thanks Pan and PeterO.

  16. A fairly easy start to the week.  Agree that Sinn Feinn should be two words, meaning, of course, ‘we ourselves’.  The ‘feinn’ bit is cognate with Welsh ‘hun’ (pronounced a bit like hin).

    Nothig much else to say, so I’ll just thank Pan and PeterO and be off.

  17. muffin@13 I haven’t seen the film or read the book, but I’ve heard or read Hannibal the Cannibal’s fava bean line so many times I’m sick of it, nice Chianti or not.  On following the link I found that in the book the nice Chianti is “a big Amarone.”  I guess that’s too recherché for the Great American movie-going Public.

    Enjoyable puzzle — thanks Pan, and thanks PeterO for the blog.  I got most of it last night and the rest this morning with a little help from the Check button.

    I liked HORNET too.

     

  18. I’m with crypticsue@14 in finding this trickier than many a Monday puzzle and thoroughly enjoyable. It was straightforward enough in that there were no convoluted clues but there was plenty to make me think to extract the solutions from the well constructed clues. A great example of crosswords not having to be hard to be fun.
    Thanks Pan and PeterO.

  19. I enjoyed this; not least as I managed to finish it without too much difficulty (for once!). That said, I had 9 across in last without parsing it fully. I agree that this was a bit more of a challenge for a Monday. Also pleased that there were no cross referencing clues i.e. where you have to solve one clue in order to get another: I am not a fan. I think 4 down was probably my favourite. My thanks to Pan and PeterO.

  20. Thanks both,

    Unlike muffin @13, Hannibal and romcom were well within my GK, but knitting stitches, oh dear.

    Valentine @17. if my Amarone wasn’t big I’d want my money back, so even the book is dumbing down a bit. (I’m not sure I’d choose an Amarone with liver. Berry Bros and Rudd recommend a new world shiraz, which I guess would work.)

    25a was my CotD.

  21. Thanks to Pan and PeterO. Enjoyable. I took a while before getting both ROMCOM and SKEWER (I needed all the crossers).

  22. Did anyone else think ‘blazer’ for 19d? The across clues soon ruled that out but it’s as good an answer as the correct one I thought.

  25. FOI the chestnutty REEFER, LOI TABARD. As for 5d, l was about to look up the various meanings of ‘roosters’ before the bell rang. ln fact as l was solving, those pesky bats were creating a racket in my rural home in Western Kenya where l am now.

  26. Surprised no-one has yet mentioned the use of the plural in 4d to clue a singular solution. Happy to be the first. 😉

  28. muffin @27

    I think VW means what I thought: that the clue says snacks but a panini is one item is it not? (snacks = paninis)

  31. Well, I’ll take your word for it muffin. I was going on this from Wiki:

    A panini or panino is a sandwich made with Italian bread, usually served warmed by grilling or toasting

  32. Actually I think its optional depending on whether you are speaking English or Italian (as Tyke does @29)

    I would argue that as the Guardian is an English language paper, then one would expect “In English-speaking countries, panini is widely used as the singular form” – again from wiki.

    Just a point.

     

  33. muffin @27 – I was more mischievously expecting to have seen comments praising the setter on the “correct” use of panini as a plural. But I am comfortable with words being imported into English being freed of their original linguistic constraints.  They are definitely paninis here in Cardiff.

  35. Only started this in late afternoon and I thought it hardish for the Monday slot. SINN FEIN did delay me owing to the incorrect word count in the paper- even though it could hardly be anything else. I didn’t parse STABLE but now I know I think the clue excellent. COD though was ROMCOM.
    Thanks Pan.

  36. A fun Monday puzzle.  Favorites were IVORY TOWER, ROMCOM and CotD for me, STABLE.  I thought there was a bit of a missed opportunity with the clueing of 10ac, because it began with “Lecter”.  One does not need to have watched the movies or read the books to have heard of “Hannibal the Cannibal” Lecter, and therefore letters 2 through 7 were probably an instant (and wordplay-less) write-in for most solvers, leaving only the question, assuming 8dn was not already solved in the grid, of whether the first letter should be H or C.  This puzzle may have contained overt references to The Silence of the Lambs and Notting Hill, but for me the clue that most enjoyably evoked a movie (3 Idiots) was SILENCER.  Ha ha!

    Many thanks to Pan and PeterO and the other commenters.

  37. I consider panini to be plural as well, although I’ll own up to being one of those insufferable people who cringes when people order “a biscotti”.  My only argument with the clue is that to me, a panino is much more than a snack, but perhaps that just comes down to the Herculean portion sizes in the United States of Obesity.

    PANINI and RIBALD made this a DNF for me but I enjoyed it. Faves were EVENSONG and IVORY TOWER.

  39. Apparently Lecter was admitting he was off his meds – you shouldn’t have alcohol, liver or beans with MAOI anti-psychotics.

    (Belated thanks to Pan and PeterO.)

  42. I thought this was very hard for a monday and grew ever more despondent as I ploughed doggedly on. Peter O, thank you so much for the explanations, as many of the parsings were beyond me – and I confess I still don’t understand why, in 12A, ‘stockpile’ is an envelope. I presumed it couldn’t be SINN FEIN as that’s two words, not one – and so struggled to make MANNIKIN fit. In In the end I switched to doing the crossword online, so I could use the check-key – found that it was SINN FEIN after all, and became thoroughly fed up with the thing! Not a good start to the week for me….

  43. Ah! re 4D – I was *wondering* why anybody would think that RAPINI could be construed as a snack…  sigh

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