Guardian 28,026 – Picaroon

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I found this pretty easy going most of the time, though the SE corner held me up a little, but with all the wit and ingenuity we exapect from this setter. Thanks to Picaroon.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Across
1. PROCURER He obtains favours for doctor (8)
PRO (for) CURER
6. CARAFE In which to find a drop of red in eatery? (6)
A R[ed] in CAFE, &lit
9. BEDPAN What Syrinx refused to do, but Selene did, in hospital vessel (6)
In Greek mythology, Syrinx was amorously pursued by Pan, but was transformed into hollow reeds before he could catch her. On the other hand, Pan was one of Selene’s lovers, so she was happy to BED PAN
10. GYMKHANA Sports event‘s reportedly why MK Dons land in Africa (8)
Y (why) + MK in (“donning”) GHANA
11. SHORTFALL Lack forerunner of lengthy winter in New York? (9)
A long American winter might be preceded by a SHORT FALL
13. LAPSE Slip drug behind drinks (5)
LAPS (drinks) + E[cstasy]
15. PEDANT Quibbler longed to displace editor (6)
PANTED (longed) with the ED displaced
17. TISSUE Kids behind head of town crier may want one (6)
T[own] + ISSUE (children)
18. EMBLEM To some extent, resemble mathematical symbol (6)
Hidden in resEMBLE Mathematical
19. SKYLAB Old satellite TV company has party (6)
SKY (TV company) + LAB[our]
21. CATTY Bitchy? Yes and no (5)
Sort of of double definition: to be catty is to be bitchy, but a cat is not like a bitch (female dog). I wondered about RATTY here, which almost works, for the same reasons; rather an unsatisfactory clue, I think, with only _A_T_ as crossers to help
22. BRUTALIST Like the Barbican‘s kind of bubbly celebrities (9)
BRUT (type of champagne) + A-LIST (celebriries). The Barbican Centre in London is in the brutalist style
25. LIONISED Feted song keeps touching lives (8)
ON (touching) + IS (lives) in (kept by) LIED (song)
26. IAMBUS Foot in this person’s vehicle (6)
I AM (this person is) + BUS – the iambus is a metrical foot, as in e.g. iambic pentameter
28. ANNEXE Queen defends old extension (6)
EX (old) in ANNE
29. ROENTGEN Payment’s received over info for physicist (8)
O (over) in RENT (payment) + GEN (information). Wilhelm Roentgen gave his name to a unit of radiation
Down
2. RYE Port or whiskey (3)
Double definition – Rye is on of the Cinque Ports, and also a type of American whiskey
3. CAPER What Batman puts on Robin’s head in jest (5)
CAPE (what Batman puts on) + R[obin]
4. RING FINGER Digit between numbers three and five? (4,6)
Cryptic definition
5. REGALE Wine and dine with what’s on plate and beer (6)
REG (car registration, as on a numberplate) + ALE
6. COMB Doctor upholds firm means of treating shock (4)
CO (company, firm) + MB (doctor) – the “shock” is hair
7. REHEARSAL Tries to interrupt Spanish team’s practice (9)
HEARS in REAL (Real Madrid, football team)
8. FINES HERBES Lots of sweet powder in brandy’s flavouring (5,6)
SHERBE[t] (sweet powder) in FINE’S (Fine is a type of brandy)
12. HYPHENATION Adding a dash of PR puff about hot country (11)
H in HYPE + NATION
14. PICKET LINE Choose snippet of film dialogue for demo (6,4)
PICK (choose) + ET (film) + LINE (piece of dialogue)
16. DEBUTANTE One coming out of underground uprising captured by poet (9)
Reverse of TUBE (London Underground) in DANTE
20. TRADER City worker rejected socialist realism, say (6)
Reverse of RED ART
23. LIMIT Maybe borderline books with note written in (5)
MI (note, as in do re mi) in LIT. (literature)
24. ASHE Court winner remains for hearing (4)
Arthur Ashe, tennis champion, and a homophone of “ash” (remains)
27. USE Value of American English (3)
US + E

53 comments on “Guardian 28,026 – Picaroon”

  1. I too found the SE corner the trickiest area.    Took a long time to get IAMBUS despite BUS for vehicle being obvious from the crossers because I’m more used to the adjective IAMBIC.   21 also took a long time to see.    I did think this was generally  on the easy side for Picaroon.   I liked 15, 16 and 12.

  2. Thanks to Picaroon and Andrew

    It took me a little while to get onto Picaroon’s wavelength, but once I did this was a most enjoyable solve, with some clues that made me smile (9ac, 3dn, 6dn).

    I thought 21ac was fine: you are not like a dog (bitchy) if you are a cat (catty).

    As a fan of 22ac architecture, this was my favourite clue: as beautifully constructed as many of the buildings themselves. I am currently in the Punjab (hence the early contribution) and am spending this weekend in Chandigarh, where I shall have a 22ac feast.

  3. Superb puzzle – Picaroon on absolutely top form.

    I see I have ten ticks on my paper – and then I thought it was time to stop. Lots of wry smiles as the penny dropped and I laughed at the clue for PEDANT, which could be a comment on 15².

    9ac, my first one in, reminded me of a favourite Shed clue: ‘What Syrinx did in 8? Yielded! (8)’ [the answer to 8 was MYTH.]

    Many thanks to both for excellent puzzle and blog.

  5. Managed to finish this quite quickly, though not convinced by some of the definitions, particularly CATTY. Loi was FINES HERBES, which I didn’t know, and didn’t feel guilty about googling, therefore…

  6. It took me quite a while to get onto Picaroon’s wavelength, and I was pleased to be able to finish this. I failed to parse the ROENT bit of 29ac although the answer was easily enough solved.

    Thanks B+S.

  7. Thanks Picaroon and Andrew

    I think 21 is fine: for me, anyway, bitchy and catty are pretty much synonymous, while ratty is more like tetchy or irritable.

  8. A brilliant crossword. Apart from a few starters, I didn’t find this easy, but I never got stuck for too long.

    Thanks to Andrew and Picaroon

  10. Thank you Picaroon for an enjoyable puzzle and Andrew for a helpful blog.

    I had NASTY at 21a…

    Lots of drinks in the clues, people seem to be getting desperate – Dry January probably won’t take on here in France, Macron does not consider wine to be “alcohol”.

  11. So close to my first ever completion, failing to get regale because i had put procureS instead of procureR! Fave was bedpan. Thx Picaroon and Andrrw

  12. Loved this. Thanks to Picaroon and Andrew. I ticked many enjoyable clues, each of which was a mini-delight of solving. I had to look up the Physicist at 29a: fortunately a dear friend gave me the gift of Anne Bradford’s Crossword Solver’s List for Christmas. Very handy!

  13. I’m not sure why 4d is between numbers three and five. Is it because of counting? When I count the ring finger is number three.
    In any case, many thanks to Picaroon and Andrew.

  16. I agree with Eileen that this was Picaroon on top form, although most of it wasn’t as tricky as he can be

    Many thanks to him and Andrew

  17. Fav was BEDPAN, also educational as was unaware of both syrinx and selene- answer came easily once i’d read the mythology.
    Interestingly we have a dry July rather than January- not sure why winter months are better for going dry.

    thanks to Picaroon for the fun and Andrew for the helpful blog

  20. Entertaining solve; some GK needed, but BEDPAN looked right and Arthur ASHE was luckily known.

    I particularly liked GYMKHANA, SHORTFALL and REGALE.

    Thanks Picaroon and Andrew.

  22. It was such a quick solve and so long ago, that I have almost forgotten this puzzle. California is a great place to start a puzzle (4pm) but the downside is that I’m usually long in dreamland when the blog commences.   The quality of the clues was typified by RYE and USE.  I hope this was only to give us a rest prior to a challenging weekend crossword.

  23. @b o l b…

    the X Ray was discovered by Wilhelm Röntgen by which name it is known in German-speaking countries. Since 90+ percent of world keyboards don’t have an umlaut, this is generally styled as Roentgen. Presumably the Indonesians didn’t bother with the umlaut.

    A bit like the founders of Uber and football journalists writing about Mesut Ozil

  24. So it looks like I’m the only one who held themselves up by putting FORE FINGER in for 3d – it sort of works but I wasn’t happy with it as two words. PROCURER came eventually to correct it which meant the excellent BEDPAN went in. As others have said it was a nice bit of GK to discover. Lots more to like with the definition and wordplay for HYPHENATION a favourite of mine. I didn’t find this easy but I did find it great fun – thanks to Picaroon and Andrew.

  25. So how do you measure easiness? Probably time to completion, but there is another angle too: how many clues you can get without reference to crossers, even if they required some thought, and that was a very high number for me for this one. Even CATTY. Didn’t detract from the enjoyment, though.
    To bear@19: the Dutch colonized Indonesia.

  26. I was slow to start and even slower to finish.  So I’m definitely not one of those who found it easy.

    But an excellent puzzle, thoroughly enjoyable and no complaints.

    Thanks Picaroon and Andrew.

  27. Thanks both,
    This didn’t seem easy, but I didn’t get an uninterrupted stab at it until now, which makes me think perceived level of difficulty may depend on the solver’s circumstances. There is a fine line between a clue that seems witty and fresh, 16ac, say, and one which is just a bit too obscure, 5d, say (because ‘reg’ is not much used as a standalone word). Where that line is, of course, depends on the solver. That said, there were many clues that were witty and fresh here, and it was on 5d and 21 that gave me pause (paws?).

  31. kenmac @ 30
    Depends on whether your hand is palm up or palm down. Then which hand do you use, and do you count from left to right or vice versa?

  32. Another fine puzzle.  What I like most is Picaroon’s ability to hide the definitions by combining them into a plausible phrase where possible, e.g. old satellite TV company, adding a dash of PR, one coming out of underground, feted song, etc.  Hence my favourites were HYPHENATED and DEBUTANTE.

    I tried to make JOKER work in 3 for a while because of the Batman connection, but eventually saw the light.  I didn’t know FINES HERBES, so that was a guess helped out by the SHERBE(t) piece.  Also had to look up BRUTALIST to understand its connection to the Barbican.  Space stations seem to be popular lately with SKYLAB and MIR appearing recently.  Expect an ISS piece of wordplay any day now.

    Thanks, Picaroon and Andrew.

  33. So, today I learned that in Britain, “sherbet” doesn’t mean a  type of sorbet with milk or egg added (as it is in the US), but is instead a powder.  I’ve said here before that it seems (based on these puzzles) that nowhere do British and American English differ more sharply than in the realm of dessert.  Also, I had never heard of FINES HERBES, so that clue made this a DNF for me.  Also new to me was GYMKHANA, which I suppose I should be embarrassed about, but the clue got me there.

  34. A very slow start for me- I only had RYE on the first pass-but PROCURER,BEDPAN and SHORTFALL got me started and things picked up from there. Quite a nice puzzle,I thought with only ROENTGEN being new to me. Liked IAMBUS and RING FINGER,took a stroll down memory lane with ASHE,and wondered why GYMKHANA always looks wrong when written down?
    Thanks Picaroon.

  37. Peter Aspinwall @34:  In American-style crosswords, with every letter crossed, Arthur ASHE is in fact the most commonly-appearing tennis player thanks to having a short name with a useful vowel-consonant pattern.  In close second is his nemesis, ILIE Nastase.  We also see a lot of Chris EVERT, of course, but that’s true in Britain too.  It’s like tennis is stuck in the 70s on the crossword page.

    And your email address doesn’t appear in my browser, anyway.

  38. Kenmac@30 – thank you – great minds/fools seldom – good to know I wasn’t alone. I also saw the ? as indicating a play on FOUR.

  39. I didn’t find this easy, but worked my way slowly through it and each solution, when it appeared through the fog, was a joy. I enjoyed the misdirection in TISSUE and the neatness of IAMBUS – but my fave was BEDPAN. Thank you Picaroon and Andrew

  41. Late to finish and comment again – been busy with odd jobs and came back to this several times, which was great as the seemingly impossible became very easy with a fresh look. I would not say it was easy overall, though. I loved “hyphenation” and “brutalist” – what great words to fit in, and once again I will bash the two cultures drum. Roentgen discovered X-rays and, as a scientist, is certainly an “a-lister” so was a perfectly fair choice, and so neatly clued. Picaroon has been very neat and tidy today I’d say.

    I am still confused over “ring finger”. I also put “fore finger” first (not fastest finger first…). Putting the ring finger 4th requires me either to count right to left (it’s a long time since I read any Hebrew, I can’t do Arabic and my Japanese is very rusty…) or to have my hand palm-up. I am sure that when I proposed to my wife and put the ring on her finger it was palm down so that’s surely the natural way to count?

    It does remind me of a lovely story about the physicist Richard Feynman. At his army draft medical inspection he was asked to hold out his hands for inspection. As a bit of a joke he put them out one palm up one palm down to see what the doctor would say. Apparently the doctor just looked at his hands, said “thank you, now the other side please” and moved on.

  42. NNI @ 29

    In fact, it’s somewhat less than brilliant because the clue as cited would logically yield the nonsensical RETURNEDED. Nor would changing “did” to “does” help very much since that would lead to the equally silly RETURNSED.

  43. I would be interested to see some people’s hands. Counting right to left or vice versa, don’t we conventionally start with the thumb and get to the ring finger at number 4? If you google 4th finger you will find it is described as the ring finger.

  48. mrpenney @ 33:  I’ve come to the same conclusion as you from watching the Great British Bake Off. In the UK they seem to have dozens and dozens of specific cakes, buns, what-have-you, that everyone seems familiar with and that have very strict definitions/parameters. With a few exceptions, growing up in the US we had cakes and pies and pastries and those terms covered just about anything a baker might make.  I guess the flip side is that in the US a pudding can only mean the mousse-like concoction made with gelatin.

    I’m hoping one day to return to the UK so that I can sample Chelsea buns and Victoria sponges to see what they are all about. And of course I want to try the weird sounding stuff they call sherbet.

  49. BlueDot @ 48
    You could buy a sherbet fountain with a straw made of liquorice. You could suck the sherbet up through the straw, but you had to be careful or it would choke you.

  50. Another great crossword from Picaroon. It’s not often there’s a cryptic without any anagrams at all. Or have I missed something.

  51. copland smith @ 50

    You’re right, I hadn’t spotted that.

    I was going to say 15a PANTED / PEDANT comes close, but of course that would have made it a (non-kosher) indirect anagram, successfully avoided by the ‘ED’ displacement.

    I don’t mind a good anagram (in fact I probably got into cryptics that way), but variety is the spice of life.

  52. Clearly no pianists amongst you all. Anyone who has learnt will know that number fingering goes from thumb to little finger, 1 to 5.

  53. BlueDot @ 48

    I wouldn’t bother with our sherbet if I were you. It’s definitely an underage delight.

    On the other hand, Eccles cakes, ginger snaps, Battenberg, fruit loaf, macaroons, eclairs, Devon v. Cornish cream teas – bring ’em on…

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