A very Monday puzzle…
Not really my cup of tea, I’m afraid, but a gentle introduction to the week that did not require any particular general knowledge (other than for 27ac, but I’ll come back to that).
The norm for a Monday Guardian is to have a proliferation of simple anagrams and double definitions, so Vulcan has delivered on the spec. However, I felt that the two clues for hidden words (LASSIE and LYRIC) both had too many words in them (necessary for the surface, but normally seen as a no-no), and I’m afraid 27ac’s cluing just seemed lazy. The T(…)Y part of the solution is not indicated at all in the clue, and in a puzzle that relied entirely on vocabulary, the inclusion of Jack REACHER appeared out of place.
Just my tuppence worth.
Thanks Vulcan.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | PEAR TREES | Conferences in the garden (4,5) |
| Conference is a common type of pear. | ||
| 6 | GUTS | Tenacity: someone’s may be hated (4) |
| Double definition | ||
| 8 | CIRCULAR | Such poor reasoning in letter (8) |
| Double definition | ||
| 9 | EUNICE | Girl a good advertisement for Brussels? (6) |
| E.U. NICE may be a (poorly worded) approval of Brussels. | ||
| 10 | STRIPY | Tear into animal’s pen like a tiger (6) |
| RIP (“tear”) into STY (“animal’s pen”) | ||
| 11 | HALLOWED | Sacred chamber not yet paid for (8) |
| HALL (“chamber”) + OWED (“not yet paid for”) | ||
| 12 | BANNER | Censor a headline (6) |
| Double definition | ||
| 15 | TOREADOR | Reissued order to a fighter in the ring (8) |
| *(order to a) [anag: reissued] | ||
| 16 | LOLLIPOP | Sweet to laze around — I need a fizzy drink (8) |
| LOLL (“to laze around”) + I + POP (“a fizzy drink”) | ||
| 19 | TARIFF | Argument about a right scale of penalties (6) |
| TIFF (“argument”) about A R (right) | ||
| 21 | GET IDEAS | Be overambitious fixing side gate (3,5) |
| *(side gate) [anag: fixing] | ||
| 22 | LASSIE | Haile Selassie’s dog? (6) |
| Hidden in “seLASSIE“ | ||
| 24 | SINGLE | Rail ticket still on the shelf (6) |
| Double definition | ||
| 25 | AIREDALE | Dog brought up beer (8) |
| AIRED (“brought up”) on ALE (“beer”) | ||
| 26 | REIN | Strap that goes on a bit (4) |
| Mildly cryptic definition | ||
| 27 | TREACHERY | Child’s hero is at the centre of this double-dealing (9) |
| (Jack) REACHER (the hero of Lee Child’s series of books) is at the centre of (t)REACHER(y) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | POINT | Indicate drink is empty? (5) |
| PINT (“drink”) has O (nothing) in it, so “is empty”. | ||
| 2 | AUCTION | Lots here at a knock-down price (7) |
| Mildly cryptic definition | ||
| 3 | TALLY | Total time with colleague (5) |
| T (time) with ALLY (“colleague”) | ||
| 4 | EARSHOT | Result of being talked about in range? (7) |
| When one’s EARS tingle or get HOT, one sometimes imagines one is “being talked about”. | ||
| 5 | SMELL A RAT | Have suspicions, lets alarm off (5,1,3) |
| *(let alarms) [anag: off] | ||
| 6 | GONDOLA | Travelling on a gold canal boat (7) |
| *(on a gold) [anag: travelling] | ||
| 7 | TICKED OFF | Checked on list as being reprimanded (6,3) |
| Double defintion | ||
| 13 | AT ONE TIME | Once together on paper, briefly (2,3,4) |
| AT ONE (“together”) on TIME(s) (“paper”, briefly) | ||
| 14 | REPRESENT | Stand for exhibit again (9) |
| Double definition | ||
| 17 | LYING IN | Not up yet, extremely lazy at home with drink (5,2) |
| [extremely] L(yin)G + IN (“at home”) with GIN (“drink”) | ||
| 18 | PASSAGE | Step over wise guy in corridor (7) |
| PAS (“step” in dancing) + SAGE (“wise guy”) | ||
| 20 | RESIDUE | Regret about side being broken up: what’s left? (7) |
| RUE (“regret”) about *(side) [anag: being broken up] | ||
| 22 | LYRIC | Poem makes one fairly rich? Not entirely (5) |
| Hidden in “fairLY RICh” | ||
| 23 | ISLAY | Island murderer’s confession (5) |
| A murderer may confess by saying, “I SLAY“ | ||
Thanks loonapick and Vulcan.
I couldn’t see 27a. I was trying to fit Tracy (Beaker) in there, but of course couldn’t.
It’s a strange thing, I find with Vulcan, that, though quite often easy, the answers don’t always pop out at first. First time through I had so few, but second time many were obvious, but then I am left with a residue which take me ages.
I had a bit of fun of my own with this, thinking for ages that Vulcan had come up with a groanworthy pun at 1a, with “PEAS TALKS”/PEA-STALKS”/”peace talks” for “Conferences” – the “in the garden” bit seemed to me a perfect fit. However EARSHOT at 4d eventually put paid to that notion, and I then guessed PEAR TREES, none the wiser about the parse, never having heard of that type of pear – what a weird name for a piece of fruit!
I actually liked the puzzle as I didn’t need to use any reference sources to solve it. I “TICKED OFF” (though not in the sense it is used here at 7d) 10a STRIPY, 16a LOLLIPOP, 25a AIREDALE and 23d ISLAY as likeable clues.
Even though I am a big fan of Lee Child’s Jack REACHER, I couldn’t see the T——-Y part of the parse for 27a either. [Sidebar: just yesterday I finished the latest Reacher – it must have had one of the highest body-counts ever. Lee Child and Michael Connelly always seem to churn out at least one best-seller a year just in time for the Christmas market. I attended a Lee Child book talk once when he was on tour and was amazed when he began to speak with a very English – indeed Brummie – accent. I expected him to “speak American” just like Jack Reacher.)
Thanks to Vulcan and loonapick.
[Good use of RESIDUE in your post@1, Dave E]
@Julie #2, I thought it a weird name too. According to Google, the Conference pear gets its name from winning the prize at the National Pear Conference.
I agree with your 2d worth loonapick.
I have a conference pear tree on my allotment but still didn’t get it until there were some crossers.
On a horse, a rein is attached to a bit. See 26ac. My favourite clue. I agree some were weak but I had fun.
Mainly, some enjoyable Monday morning stuff, not too demanding. Some of it, e.g. 4dn, quite neat.
BUT…
22ac was one of the weakest clues I’ve seen for ages. What is the Haile doing, and where is it indicated that the answer is concealed in the clue?
As others have said, 27ac is a sloppy piece of cluing because there is nothing to point to T and Y. With a bit of effort, surely the fact that T and Y are a child’s plaything minus the centre could have been worked in.
And while I got 1ac, Julie’s idea @2 of PEA STALKS would have been so much better as a solution.
Thanks Loonapick and agreed. I put 27A in without any conviction and looked on here for the parsing ready to say ‘dohhhhh’ and instead feel irritation at such awful clueing.
I did consider Reacher in 27A but then thought it must have something to do with teacher (child’s hero.) This was a bad clue, which could have had something like … heartless, tawdry double-dealing.
I got the ‘Conference’ idea straight away but then thought it was ???? PEARS for a while. I think I would usually spell 10A as stripey but maybe that is just an idiosyncrasy. I liked EARSHOT.
Thanks Vulcan and loonapick.
Thanks Vulcan and loonapick
I agree that there were several rather weak clues here. I would add EARSHOT for “range” as a loose definition, and the discussed PEAR TREES as being straight GK.
A murderer has committed his crime, so his confession would be ISLEW, wouldn’t it (unless he was a serial killer, of course).
I did like GONDOLA.
btw the Quiptic is much harder, though I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it.
I thought this was a mixed bag. I had 3 quibbles when I finished this last night, but two have already been mentioned: the T…Y in 27a mentioned by many (although I thought the Child’s hero bit was good), and muffin@9 echoed my thoughts on ISLAY (assassin might have been a better choice).
16a employs the detestable “need”. I know it’s still used by some setters from time to time, but it just doesn’t have the meaning of adjoining its subject and object, and I wish it would go away.
Julie in Australia @2, like you I entered PEA STALKS for 1A at first – it seemed fine, apart from the enumeration.
Too many write-ins for me, and LASSIE was right there in front of you. Some clueing could have been refined without losing a “Monday” feel. 27ac was a great idea, but unfinished. One of my quickest solves ever.
4d and 8ac were my loi. Monday clues seem to be often the type of clue that you can stare at for ages, have a break, then they jump out at you.
I suppose I agree with the quibbles, but as I have often commented, if the clue leads to the correct answer it is a bit persnickety to complain, and I must say I was not held up much. Indeed TREACHERY jumped straight out. By the way JinA the estimable Lee Child while now living in the US, comes from Coventry, and my son who has lived many years in Melbourne thankfully has no Aussie accent. (Only joking). Favourites were TARIFF, AIREDALE, my grandparents preferred breed of dog, and the delightful LOLLIPOP.
Many thanks Vulcan for an enjoyable puzzle and loonapick for the blog.
I found this a very pleasant Monday puzzle with some really nice surfaces. I had ticks against 9a EUNICE, 11a HALLOWED, 25a AIREDALE and 23d ISLAY. (muffin @9 and Dr WhatsOn @10, if someone confesses “I slay” I think that does make them a murderer.)
Re 22a LASSIE and 22d LYRIC, the “no extra word rule” about inclusion clues is just a made-up rule made up by people who like to make up rules. To my mind if the answer is contained in a slightly longer phrase or name and the clue works smoothly and fairly, that’s fine. (NeilH @6: the apostrophe s indicates that the dog belongs to, ie is part of, HAILE SELASSIE.)
On the question of 27a TREACHERY, it’s certainly a bit of an unusual clue for a modern crossword. But I’ve recently been looking at the reissued “Armchair Crosswords” by Afrit (originally published 1949), and was interested to see several clues where the wordplay does not cover all the letters in the answer, eg “Mediterranean islanders who always end up with rows (8)” for CYPRIOTS.
Many thanks Vulcan and loonapick.
Lord Jim @15
A murderer would say “I have slain”. Dr WhatsOn’s suggestion of “assassin” (or “hitman”, perhaps?) would work much better.
I think I’ll just say that I enjoyed today’s quiptic, and leave it at that…
I thought Conference was a perfectly good indicator for PEAR TREES but some of the other clues were a bit desperate – LASSIE,EARSHOT etc. I didn’t parse TREACHERY, which was obvious with the crossers, and I may have heard of Lee Child but I’ve never read any of his books. I don’t intend to rectify that any time soon either!
Thanks Vulcan.
Loonapick – 17 down parsing should read [extremely] L(az)Y not L(yin)G
“point” was very good. Apart from that, well…as my mother used to say “if you’ve not got anything nice to say, keep shtum”.
The Quiptic today was more fun and more of a challenge, which doesn’t seem right.
I liked this because it only took half an hour instead of all day. I was a little bothered by ‘penalties’ in 19ac and I’ve never heard of Jack Reacher. For those far away from England, the shops here are currently filled with Conference pears.
I wonder whether the TY in 27 is the (more or less) middle letters of twenTYseven. Might that be it?
James G @27, you may be correct but I would never have got there!!
Thanks to loonapick and Vulcan
Very nice try @ 23 but “heart” can only really mean the dead centre in crosswordland.
There is a possible parsing assuming Vulcan is from Yorkshire and “at” can mean “in”:
REACHER in t‘ heart of twentY seven –
But I don’t believe a word of it.
Where are the clues to 27974
Caroline graham@26: please check under Guardian Prize Paul for 9th November!
My favourite is ‘smell a rat’.
I could not parse POINT, and still do not understand 27a TREACHERY. What is the TY?
Thanks B+S.
I’m not an arborist, so 1ac was a bit obscure, especially for a Monday, and yes, 27ac was flawed.
Much easier than the quiptic. Has restored my confidence as a solver of basic cryptics.
I keep forgetting that conferences are pears over there, so 1a was my next to LOI.
In the US, “ticked off” means (feeling) annoyed, rather than reprimanded. I’m ticked off that they reprimanded you like that.
By the way, “Toreador” is not the Spanish word for bullfighter, or for anything else. That word is “matador,” which means “killer.” If “toreador” were a word, it would mean “buller.” I think Bizer, or his lyricist, made it up.