Guardian Cryptic 27,875 by Crucible

by

The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/27875.

I got to this very late, and at first run through, the clues seemed impenetrable; but once I found an entry, things began to fall into place satisfactorily. I have not had time to elaborate much in the parsing, so I hope that my brief explanations are enough. The grid is liberally scattered with Greek mythology.

Across
1 PERHAPS Hear out visiting minister’s political aide, maybe (7)
An envelope (‘visiting’) of ERHA, an anagram (‘out’) of ‘hear’ in PPS (Parliamentary Private Secretary, ‘minister’s political aide’)
5 EDIFICE Text manager providing rocks for building (7)
A charade of ED (‘text manager’) plus IF (‘providing’) plus ICE (‘rocks’, diamonds).
10 ZEUS God and Eden’s downfall rejected (4)
A reversal (‘rejected’) of SUEZ (‘Eden’s downfall‘).
11 ACUTE ANGLE A pretty old invader, one of four in VW? (5,5)
A charade of ‘a’ plus CUTE (‘pretty’) plus ANGLE (‘invader’ of England, a member of a Germanic tribe in the post-Roman period). V has one angle, W the other three, two facing up, one down.
12 STRAIT Sound’s singular feature (6)
A charade of S (‘singular’) plus TRAIT (‘feature’).
13 DIONYSUS Fan of wine, he and Bill may get indissolubly lashed (8)
DIONYSUS (‘he’) plus ‘bill’ form an anagram (‘lashed’) of ‘indissolubly’.
14 CASSANDRA She foresaw Conservative fool with gunmen (9)
A charade of C (‘Conservative’) plus ASS (‘fool’) plus AND (‘with’) plus RA (‘gunmen’).
16 SIREN Warning about wrong packaging (5)
An envelope (‘packaging’) of RE (‘about’) in SIN (‘wrong’).
17 HONEY Angel‘s using drugs kept in heavy case (5)
An envelope (‘kept in’) of ON E (‘using drugs’) in HY (‘HeavY case’).
19 PYGMALION Play golf with Olympian, getting thrashed (9)
An anagram (‘getting thrashed’) of G (‘golf’, radio code) plus ‘Olympian’. The play is by Shaw, and the basis for My Fair Lady.
23 GRADIENT Bank allowance limits to stop (8)
An envelope (‘limits’) of DIE (‘stop’) in GRANT (‘allowance’).
24 APOLLO NASA’s last head initially opted for lunar mission (6)
A charade of A (‘nasA‘s last’) plus POLL (‘head’) plus O (‘initially Opted’). We have the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 this week.
26 UNDERWORLD Dis the criminal fraternity (10)
Double definition.
27 TOKE Draw Roger opening note (4)
An envelope (opening’) of OK (‘Roger’) in TE (‘note’ of the sol-fa).
28 PSALTER Ancient mariner goes in for each song book (7)
An envelope (‘goes in’) of SALT (‘ancient mariner’) in PER (‘for each’).
29 ARACHNE A Romeo longing to hug new colleague here (7)
An envelope (‘to hug’) of N (‘new’) in ‘a’ plus R (‘Romeo’, radio code) plus ACHE (‘longing’).
Down
2 ELECTRA Some start celebrating upcoming Greek play (7)
A hidden (‘some’) reversed (‘upcoming’) answer in ‘stART CELEbrating’. Your choice of plays, by Sophocles or Euripedes.
3 HOSTA Landlord, one that’s found in bed (5)
A charade of HOST (‘landlord’) plus A (‘one’); the ‘bed’ being in the garden.
4 PHAETON Stanhope, minus front, rebuilt as another carriage (7)
An anagram (‘rebuilt’) of ‘[s]tanhope’ without the first letter (‘minus front’).
6 DAEMON No strong drink served up as Guardian spirit (6)
A reversal (‘served up’ in a down light) of ‘no’ plus MEAD (‘strong drink’).
7 FANNY HILL Novel finally edited, introducing knight and horse (5,4)
An anagram (‘edited’) of ‘finally’, with insertion of N (‘knight’, chess notation) and H (‘horse’). The novel was written by John Cleland.
8 CULTURE River sustaining sect’s traditional way of life (7)
A charade of CULT (‘sect’) plus URE (‘river’).
9 MURDER MYSTERY My tyres burst under ice — whodunnit? (6,7)
A charade if MURDER (‘ice’) plus MYSTERY, an anagram (‘burst’) of ‘my tyres’.
15 SPEEDWELL Veronica did a 22 in balloon (9)
An envelope (‘in’) of PEED (‘did a 22’ WEE-WEE) in SWELL (‘balloon’), for the wildflower.
18 OURANOS Open University charged very big boss of Sky (7)
A charade of OU (‘Open University’) plus RAN (‘charged’) plus OS (‘very big’).
20 MEANDER Repairman keeps a snake (7)
An envelope (‘keeps’) of ‘a’ in MENDER (‘repairman’).
21 OILSKIN Crude film that’s about a sailor (7)
A charade of OIL (‘crude’) plus SKIN (‘film’).
22 WEE-WEE Nancy’s repeated consent by phone to get rid of waste (3-3)
Sounds like (‘by phone’) the French (‘Nancy’s’) OUI (yes, ‘consent’), twice (‘repeated’).
25 OPTIC Eye Troy in old image (5)
An envelope (‘in’) of T (‘Troy’) in O (‘old’) plus PIC (‘image’).
completed grid

37 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 27,875 by Crucible”

  1. The classics, of which anything I know is by osmosis and rarely recallable at will, always have me looking for exotica even when there’s none, as in oilskin at 21d. Nonetheless, an enjoyable cogitate this, but with a couple of guess and look ups, eg hosta (with a ‘Well I never!’ in the margin) Ouranos and speedwell. Slow to remember Dis=hell, though it’s been around recently. Again, ‘Text manager’ in 5a had me muttering ‘some expletive IT acronym no doubt’, but no, it was just ‘ed’. Good workout and good fun, and a bit of education to boot, so thanks Crucible and PeterO.

  3. I enjoyed this puzzle.  I needed help from google plus my dictionary for the GK ones like FANNY HILL & SPEEDWELL, as well as POLL = head.

    I falied to solve HONEY, and could not parse 13a DIONYSUS. I had looked at ‘indissolubly’ but could not work out how they connected – that is very clever!

    My favourite was ACUTE ANGLE.

    Thanks Crucible and Peter.

  4. My knowledge of the classics is rudimentary, but most of the references here were thankfully well-known, with the exception of the variant spelling of ‘Uranus’. I missed the parsing for DIONYSUS too, thinking that the ‘lashed’ bit had something to do with a Greek myth involving his mate Bill. Ignorance to the fore.

    I liked DA(E)MON and (FANNY) HILL appearing next to each other, not far from SPEEDWELL.

    Thank you to Crucible and PeterO

  5. Peter, you can add SIREN to the list (cf. the Odyssey, amongst other places).

    Yesterday I missed the theme entirely, today it jumped out after the first two entries, and helped multiple times for a very quick finish. As it happens, I wrote part of the Wikipedia article for one of today’s subjects.

    Agree with Michelle @3: ACUTE ANGLE seems, well, more meta than normal. A cute clue.

    Probably just a coincidence, but the PHAETON was a model of VW.

    Thanks both.

  6. Yes ACUTE ANGLE was very cute.
    Enjoyed the gods, the literary references and WEE-WEE and SPEEDWELL.
    Thanks for help with parsing OURANOS and to Wordplodder @4 for letting the penny finally drop.
    Great week so far.
    Thank you Crucible and PeterO (always appreciate the early blog when we get a good start, which doesn’t often happen).

  7. Yesterday’s theme was staring me in the face but today, I had a bad connection somewhere and solved it on iphone.So only after looking at it, I  realised the bleedin obvious. Lovely puzzle and great ref to “colleague”. Thought the clue for ZEUS was superb.

    Thanks to Crucible and Peter O

     

  8. Yes, Copmus@7 – for me the clue for Zeus was the best of a very good lot.  Thanks to all, as per.

  9. A lot to like here for sure. As another whose knowledge of the Classics is encyclopaedic, in the sense that I’ve read a few encyclopaedia articles rather than having familiarity with the originals, this was not too bad. Actually, it was probably a case of knowing too much would make it harder (as it is with science clues for the likes of us from the other “culture”). I thought “toke” was weak, and I needed the crossers to get it, but I enjoyed recalling the variant spelling of “Ouranos” as god of the heavens.

    Another one who ticked “Zeus” thunderously, and I thought “pygmalion” and “dionysus” both super clues, as was “underworld” – simple but effective once you see it. I suspect the “acute angles” clue will bisect the population into lovers and haters. It may turn out to be a grave error (if that’s not too oblique a reference) but perhaps Crucible will come along and put us right. Sorry.

    Many thanks Crucible for a great run-around. I struggled to find much at all on the first pass but it gradually fell into place which is a sign of a very well set puzzle for me. And thank you PeterO for the blog.

  10. Thanks Crucible and PeterO

    I found this hard, not helped by entering OUI-OUI (which I think is more naturally the answer) for 22d, eventually corrected by UNDERWORLD (French people often emphasise agreement by repeating OUI – Si, si in Italian is even more common).

    The NE was last to fall. I didn’t parse DIONYSUS. SIREN was LOI.

    Favoruite was MEANDER; nice change from “the Queen and I”, or similar.

  11. First one in was Apollo followed by Cassandra so I thought they were going to be space missions (as is topical at the moment).

    Struggled through a lot of the rest and unable to get a few of the obscure names.

  12. I don’t normally find Crucible this tough, but thought 13 across a very clever clue, once I was into the Classical mode. Did seem quite impenetrable at first, as PeterO initially admits…

  13. Just lovely.

    Favourites were ZEUS [I’ve seen this device a number of times but this was the best clue yet], ACUTE ANGLE, DIONYSUS, PYGMALION and ELECTRA [I’ll take Sophocles’, thank you, Peter].

    Many thanks to Crucible for a real treat and to PeterO for a fine blog.

  14. I thought this was brilliant, particularly 10a ZEUS.  How have I managed to live for so long without ever noticing that Zeus is Suez backwards?

    (Pedro @11: was there a space mission called Cassandra?  I’m not sure it’s a very good name for one.)

    Many thanks Crucible and PeterO.

  15. A good one, solved at a steady pace. I needed the blog for the full parsing of DIONYSUS. Favourite was ACUTE ANGLE – very clever. Thanks to Crucible and PeterO.

  16. Pretty tough but hugely enjoyable. Loved ACUTE ANGLE, ZEUS and SPEEDWELL among others. Many thanks to C & P.

  17. I don’t know if there was a character in Greek mythology called ‘Meander’ – there was a swimmer called Leander though who drowned I think

  18. @steveb: the Meander was a river in Asia Minor.

    I thought ZEUS was superb, but have never heard of SPEEDWELL.

  20. I’m another with only sketchy knowledge of the classics, so there were several instances of getting the answer from the wordplay, then googling to confirm it. I regard the fact that I got them all as evidence of good cluing. In the end, less intimidating and more enjoyable than I expected at first. Thanks to Crucible and PeterO.

  22. Thanks Crucible and PeterO

    Bonnylass @ 21: if you combine the letters of DIONYSUS and BILL you get INDISSOLUBLY. Call it a split anagram, or reverse anagram, or something

  23. Thanks to Crucible and PeterO. Generally found this very tough going with only a sketchy knowledge of mythology. Got there in the end, but had to come here to clarify quite a bit of the parsing. Still a good tough work out with last ones Ouranos and perhaps. Another fan of Zeus and acute angle and thanks again to Crucible and particularly PeterO.

  24. Possibly worth pointing out that the Stanhope was indeed a model of phaeton, according to Wikipedia.

     

  25. Well, ysterday I looked for a theme and would never have found it if I had.  Today I didn’t look for one and it was screaming at me.  How did I miss it?

    1a Didn’t know PPS, but PERHAPS was easy to bung in for “maybe.”

    13a DIONYSUS is an anagram by addition rather than the more common subtraction — don’t know I’ve seen that before.

    Loved SUEZ and Dis/UNDERWORLD.  Thanks, Crucible and PeterO.

  27. Dr. WhatsOn @5

    SIREN now added to the grid.

    steveb @17

    The River Meander is mentioned in the Iliad (which is what I had in mind), but it seems that there was an associated river god.

  28. The theme helped a lot. Found 11a very difficult, had A-U– and couldn’t get AQU out of my mind for a long time! (dogmatic old rule – when you see a U look for a Q).

    Old chestnut river URE appeared again, remembered some time back a whole blog full of river jokes ?
    Favourite clues STRAIT and ZEUS.

    Thanks Crucible and PeterO.

  29. Great puzzle, thanks PeterO and Crucible.
    Nice misdirection at 1ac, and OURANOS was new to me – surprised to see it isn’t in Chambers or Collins.
    A pleasure to see PHAETON bringing back memories of Latin translation.

  30. I’m with Eileen on this; a delight from beginning to end.
    15 down made me recall Quia Multum Amavi (this and
    Silentium Amoris), two of Oscar’s neglected (?) poems.

    I am most glad I loved thee – think of all
    The suns that go to make one speedwell blue!

    A rather more idyllic picture than Veronica’s
    outrageous party trick!
    Many thanks Crucible and Peter O.

  31. By Jove, this was a classic. Unusually for me I spotted the theme early, but I think DIONYSUS was the only one I bunged in as a result, then enjoyed the subtracting anagram that parsed it (I seem to recall a puzzle consisting of nothing but, some time ago, a Maskarade?). PYGMALION and TOKE among other favourites. Thanks for puzzle and blog. This was nearly all Greek to me.

  32. Very enjoyable. Like others I didn’t parse DIONYSUS, but I seem to be alone in failing to parse GRADIENT – and I ticked it for the definition. And thumbs up for PERHAPS ZEUS (the theme helped and then the pd’d with Eden) and ARACHNE of course – a lovely clue. I’d never heard of TOKE either. Thanks to Crucible and PeterO

  33. I enjoyed this even though it was mostly beyond me. Thought I was off to a good start with ELECTRA but a bit too much GK plus well hidden indicators meant I only got about 2/3 done. Been listening to Stephen Fry’s Mythos so was pleased to discover the theme and got a few just from that. COD Zeus and I liked the cute angles, I think it was a cunning definition with straightforward enough wordplay even though I did not get it. Thanks Crucible and PeterO – and particularly for the highlighted grid, a nice touch

  34. Very late to this but it was brilliant. Cassandra was FOI and Ouranus was LOI.
    Thanks Crucible.

  35. Forgot to comment on this because I was rather late finishing it. An enjoyable and tricky challenge, and Crucible’s 99th Guardian puzzle.

    Thanks to Crucible and PeterO

  36. In 29A, the use of “colleague here” to indicate that Arachne happens to be the pseudonym of another Guardian compiler (sorry, ‘setter’) is really weak and a sign that ‘we’ see ‘ourselves’ as an exclusive clique. Let’s avoid this in future or there may be fewer of ‘us’ in future. The world is bigger than this parochial inner circle.

  37. Lord Jim and PeterM: I don’t know where I got Cassandra from. Maybe I was thinking of Cassio.

    Anyway, I managed to convince the Mrs that it was a space probe.

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