Guardian Cryptic 28,239 by Brendan

59 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 28,239 by Brendan”

1. Much of this went in easily, but there were enough chewy clues to keep me entertained for quite a while. GO-SLOW was slow to go, as I was expecting an unfamiliar cricket term, and I was completely turned upside-down by my loi TIMBERLINE, wondering about both “equivalent of money” and “upper limit of growth.” I liked both of those, along with ABACUS and CICADA. Couldn’t quite figure out the parsing of NAPALM, but it seems to be &litt-ish, so I’m okay with it. Thanks to Brendan and manehi.

2. I enjoyed this, in part because I twigged right at the start from half of the key clue (CITIES) and two others.  However, I was wondering whether Brendan had made this easier than other setters might because all the across clues now had 2 1/2 routes to an answer.  We’ve seen puzzles where if a number of answers all belonged to some category, eg flowers, then those clues lacked a definition.  Maybe because the inner cities did not cover every letter this approach might have seemed too severe.

   But on the subject of making things simple, I noted that “rule” in 11a LURE and “when” in 7d WHITEN did not need to be synonymized.  On second thoughts, you could say these were tricky because they unexpectedly didn’t need processing.

   In any case, I thought the theme was a neat idea.

   BTW Ulm was where Einstein was born, but also significant for Napoleon.

3. Phew, inner city helpers notwithstanding, that took me three hours! Stared for an age at the last half-dozen, go-slow, solidest (forgot id est), bougie (candle??), effing (great clue, congrats to anyone who clicked effigy without the e crosser), and a couple others. Looking back, nothing too diabolical really, just brain fog again. Scratchings was another that had me scratching, not at all unheard of, but not a household word at ours (cf crackling, which was). Hey ho, all part of the fun, bit of a slog but quite happy for the exercise. Thanks Brendan and manehi.

4. A rapid but enjoyable solve (as for yesterday), with many clues leading to smiles of appreciation. In fact, just the job for Tuesday. My entry point was ID (great clue), and last-one-in was 20D (least favorite clue). While on the journey, TIMBERLINE caused the most head-scratching. I never look for themes so never find them, knowing that others will enjoy pointing them out.  However in this case I must admit that 13A should have piqued my interest.

5. Brendan never disappoints — this was another tightly clued crossword with great surfaces. The simplicity of WHITEN floors me and I ticked AROMAS, SOLIDEST, CICADA, and NAPALM as favourites. New to me were FULMAR, BOUGIE, and SCRATCHINGS but the clarity of the wordplay made these obtainable. SCRATCHINGS are called pork rinds in the U.S. but either way they’re still the foulest of snacks in my opinion. Thanks Manehi for the blog and parsing FOURTEEN and EFFING, both beyond my grasp.

6. Given the 31 characters in Romeo and Juliet (the play), will one of our setters ever derive THIRTEEN from that by reversal?

7. In sacred, I read it as credo shortened..either works I guess..

8. Dr W @2, I agree in theory there were 2½ ways into all the across clues.  However there are so many cities in the world to choose from – and Brendan included an ancient one (UR), one I’d never heard of (ACRE), one so well hidden that I failed to see it even after I knew it had to be there (ADEN in TRADE NAMES), three abbreviated ones (NY, LA, RIO), and two Italian ones but one of them spelt in English and the other in Italian – that in effect the ½ was more like a ¼, or even less.

   In fact the only two which helped me in solving were BERLIN (where I already had a suspected B from an O-filled BUG at 19d, and a definite R from EARLIEST – funny how that appeared only a day after LATE RISER/RETAILERS) and RIO where it confirmed a hitherto unencountered ARIOSO.

   Apart from that I saw them all in retrospect – and a very nice round-the-world trip it was too.  Thanks Brendan and manehi.

9. That was a real pleasure, and an blog early enough for ne to comment on finishing, too. I got to the EFF part of EFFING via a very odd route but did then see and parse it. Is TIMBERLINE really one word? I was another who did not parse SOLIDEST, though I kbow idest; I was convinced the notes were so li (duh! I know they are not really…) Many thanks to Brendan and manehi.

10. Challenging but very enjoyable.

    Thanks to setter and blogger.

11. Where on earth is 9a ACRE?  Israel!

    Glad I never looked for, or saw,  a theme.  9a would have driven me mad, along with LA,NY (why not NO, New Orleans?),UR,and ULM.

    This one came out in an hour with lots of trial and error (guesses and ‘check this’) but took me ages to get started.

    The clue for 3d suggested it ended EST which I tried and struck oil, 14d was clearly an anagram and then INNER CITIES set me on my way (though the reference to other horizontal clues meant nothing to me).

     

    Cannot say I enjoyed this one, but I lost track of the movie I was watching until midnight and only had EST after 2 hours when I came to bed knackered. At 3am, ready to sleep after seeing no posts here (the solution was already here) I realised I hadn’t put the bins out, so I was up again at 7am to do that. 4 hours sleep max – no wonder I’m grumpy.

12. Funny to see EFFING pop up again.  Together with its mate, either as clue or answer, we’ve seen it half a dozen times or so this summer.  And weren’t we visited by another ALPACA recently?  Very clever trick with the city names this morning though I, like DrW @2, twigged CITIES fairly early on (having got AROMAS, SACRED and LURE just before) so I knew what I was looking for.  I’m with Tony Santucci @4 on two points: WHITEN is stunningly good and SCRATCHINGS are abhorrent in concept, name, flavour… and even texture!

    I solved SACRED in the same way as gif – it was FOI and earned an immediate tick for elegance.  Other ticks for ANONYM, CICADA, ABACUS, NAPALM and BOUGIE.  SOLIDEST is fairly clued but a horrible word.  FULMAR remained hidden until almost at the end.

    Really enjoyable Brendan with a bit of a twist.  Thanks manehi for your helpful comments.

13. I’m with grantinfreo@3: this was far from a rapid solve for me, but most enjoyable nevertheless. I liked what essexboy@8 said about the trip around the world – virtual as it has to be right now with no overseas travel for us. The idea of the “inner cities” was clever and it did help me with a couple of the across answers. I included manehi’s 5d ABACUS as a favourite (as also noted by DaveinNCarolina@1), and also really liked ANTONYM at 25a. 19d BOUGIE was unfamiliar, so thank goodness for crossers which really assisted with that one. It took me ages to see 23a FULMAR as I missed the hidden, and I needed help from Bradford’s blue book of lists to find this previously unknown bird. I couldn’t parse some of the down clues fully: 1d FOURTEEN (which I actually misremembered as being Juliet’s age in the play, but that was wrong of course); 3d SOLIDEST (forgot the old ID EST trick as I could only fit in IE) and 20d EFFING (where I didn’t think of effigy). So particular thanks to manehi for teasing it all out here, and of course to Brendan for a tough but fair challenge.

14. Quick solve. First city identified in 12ac. Had to rely on wordplay for 18dn.

15. I meant 19dn (bougie). Wish there was an editing facility.

16. A Great Irish Setter(7)

17. [Sorry Mark@12, I should have mentioned the similarity between some parts of our solving experience too.]

18. Thanks for the blog, manehi.

    I was really quite stupid when solving this. I always (attempt to) solve the clues in order and, not quite awake, I took ‘the rest of the across answers’ in 13ac to apply to all the solutions after that clue. I had the temerity to feel rather short-changed, since Brendan’s themes are always so comprehensive.  It was only when I’d filled the  grid that I looked properly at the top half and saw the rest of the cities, which, of course, I hadn’t been looking for at the point of solving! Double Doh!

    My favourites, as so often, coincide with manehi’s (with 1dn FOURTEEN being top, and with the addition of 7dn WHITEN and 25 ANTONYM) – but, as usual, there wasn’t a dud clue to be seen.

    Many thanks, Brendan, for another super puzzle.

    [It’s fairly well known, I think, that Brendan lives in Portland, Oregon, so I’m sure you’ll be sharing my thoughts for him and the many thousands on the West Coast just now.]

     

19. Thanks Brendan and manehi. I enjoyed searching for cities.

    WHITEN intersecting with TRADE NAMES seems to point us towards HMHB’s Whiteness Thy Name Is Meltonian.

    NAPALM Death are a English grindcore outfit. Their song You Suffer (appropriately on the Earache label) is, at 1.316 seconds precisely, apparently the shortest recorded song.

20. [I didn’t know that about Brendan’s location, Eileen. Thinking of him and all in Oregon now, and indeed the entire West Coast of the US. Our friends in and near Seattle have sent photos of the smoke drift which has kept them confined to their homes. The loss of lives and property in California and Oregon has been dreadful to see.]

21. Thank you, Brendan, for a pleasant distraction from the increasingly horrible problems facing the world just now.

    Eileen reminds me that you are in a particularly tricky part of the world – I’m sure I speak for all your crossword fans across the globe when I say we are thinking about you.

    Sending positive vibes.

22. Dr. WhatsOn @2 – for me, the 2 1/2 ways to every clue had me stumped and at the point of at least 2 1/2 answers per clue!  Missed the theme until my LOI which was 13ac (just the way it worked).

    FOI was 4d mostly as a lucky guess and because I love Lllamas and Alpacas.

    Otherwise not too slow but not too quick either – in fact, just right (appropriate as I eat my porridge).

    [I was on holiday in Oregon last year and went to visit the world’s smallest park, Mill End Park in Portland, Oregon. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mill_Ends_Park.  Great live music in the departures area at PDX as well – stay safe in this crazy world, Brendan]

    Thanks to Brendan for the fun, manehi for the blog!

23. Good setting to put in all the CITIES; I got ????? CITIES early on but failed to see ‘inner’ for a while (thought it might have been ‘major’).

    Eileen @18; although I usually start with the first few Across clues, as soon as I have an answer I look at crossing clues – this method has helped me to solve a bit faster (although still pretty pedestrian!)

    BOUGIE was new to me (which I’m very happy about). Lots of good clues.

    Thanks Brendan and manehi.

24. I thoroughly enjoyed this! I was halfway through before INNER CITIES leapt out at me – and looking back at already-solved ones, I saw OSLO, ROMA, NY and LA. Clever stuff – and it definitely helped with ARIOSO and TIMBERLINE.
    But Brendan being an Escoffier of setters, this wasn’t all: I grinned at the misdirection of ABACUS, thought FOURTEEN and ALAS were classy – and WHITEN is, quite frankly, a beautiful clue.
    Thanks to Manehi for help completing the parsing of 3d (those blasted Do-Ray-Mi ones always catch me out!). And thanks to Brendan, for the brilliance!
    [PS I agree commercial Pork-Scratchings are execrable, but if they’re freshly-made it’s completely different. There’s a pub in the Lake District that serves them as a treat on Sunday lunchtimes: hot, crunchy, and presented with a cinnamon-dusted apple sauce. I’m a very, very long way from the Lake District at the mo, but I can always dig out a Wainwright Guide, and dream…..]

25. Thank you for explaining quite a few things Manehi, particularly EFFING which I guessed and tried to concoct from various first letters, of course Brendan is more elegant than that and I think it is a fine clue. Also I didn’t understand SOLIDEST as per Beobachterin et al (there’s some Latin I do manage to remember).

    I didn’t much like SCRATCHINGS despite, unlike you Mark@12, loving the product: possibly because it took me far longer to solve than to consume a packet.  But I agree that WHITEN was superb (sometimes you simply have to do what it says) and lots of other goodies such as FOURTEEN and NAPALM. Also plenty of new words BUT here at least the wordplay made them solvable if tough.

    [Penfold@19 there was a promo single of that ND song with ElectroHippies “Mega Armageddon Death” on the other side (also a couple of seconds long), given away with the Grindcrusher compilation I think. Tunes you can whistle to! Online comments may amuse – “I washed my hands for the duration of this song AND NOW I HAVE COVID” or words to that effect. Digression over.]

    Thanks as usual Brendan for an enjoyable exercise and, as expressed above by others, I hope you are out of harm’s way.

26. I didn’t parse EFFING and though it was an &lit sort of clue given that the INITIAL letters of MOST of the clue are an anagram of the solution and “FORMED” was the anagrind:  Initially Formed Euphemism From Guy mostly concealing Name (6), but couldn’t quite make it work, unfortunately.

    Thanks Brendan and manehi.

     

27. Trickier than I was expecting from Brendan but as enjoyable as ever

    Thanks to him and Manehi

28. grantinfreo @3:  aren’t SCRATCHINGS and CRACKLING two different things?   Both are pork rind, but I thought the SCRATCHINGS were harder, chewier and typically now a pub snack whereas crackling is more crispy and a by-product of the traditional Sunday roast.

29. An almost perfect puzzle for me. I say ‘almost’ because I don’t see the role of ‘needed’ in 23a. It would have made more sense to have (for example) ‘consumed/eaten/surrounded by grateful mariners’.

30. So I know BOUGIE as African-American slang (now no longer confined to that community, which you can tell from the fact that I know it) derived from “bourgeois,” for something usually tastelessly nouveau-riche. I haven’t tried, but I think if you use Google rather than a dictionary to look it up, that’s the sense of the word you’ll find. The medical instrument was new to me, but the wordplay was unambiguous, so no trouble getting that answer.

    I have little else to add about the crossword, which I enjoyed tremendously.

    My Facebook friends from San Francisco to Seattle and most places in between keep posting eerie pictures of orange skies. Hope Brendan is keeping safe and well.

31. Today’s offering really made me get (19) down and BOUGIE. It was 20D excellent. I worked my way down to 13 Across (and I can’t resist inserting HMHB’s ‘Where was the clue?’ here) before the sparkling penny dropped and the theme emerged in all its panoramic, global glory. The cleverness of Brendan’s achievement compensates for the rather excessive (40 per cent) blackness of the grid. As for individual clues, AROMAS is my favourite.

    Ulm was the birthplace not only of Einstein, but also of Monty Python’s criminally forgotten composer Johann Gambolputty… (I’d add a link here if I knew how to do it.)

32. Excellent puzzle, thanks all.

33. I was slow to start with only ALAS & ARIOSO on first pass, and thought I was going to have my usual Brendan struggle. But gradually I found myself getting on his wavelength, with AROMAS, LURE and the crossing FOURTEEN (superb clue) soon falling into place. I got BERLIN from the crossing R, and this helped me get the theme clue at 13a, but other than that the theme didn’t help my solve.

    I tend to agree with poc @29 about the role of ‘needed’ in 23a, but that aside this was an elegantly clued crossword, with too many really excellent clues for me to start listing them.

    Like Pentman @26 I thought there was something going on with initial letters in 20d, but when I saw EFFIG[y] I gave up on the idea. But it can’t be a coincidence (as my reading of numerous police procedurals has convinced me there’s no such thing), so this clue alone is a tour de force. Definition: ‘Initially formed euphemism’; wordplay: ‘guy mostly’ around N; alternative wordplay:  Initially Formed Euphemism From Guy mostly concealing Name, with initially and formed both doing triple duty by also acting as first letter indicator and anagrind respectively. Fantastic.

34. [2Scotcheggs @31 https://montypython.fandom.com/wiki/Johann_Gambolputty%5D

35. Thank you 2Scotcheggs for the reminder of the Monty Python sketch – I say reminder, but in fact I didn’t remember it at all. Here’s a link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYMRjnM6j6w

36. I usually find Brendan a swift solve which I’m sure is a reflection of his superb constructions. This was no exception, and another perfect example of how a puzzle needn’t be difficult to be enjoyable. I post less often these days but I found this to be such a brilliant creation (and enough time to post – a visit to 15² invariably takes up much more time than the solve itself especially with the high volume of commentators! And I read them all, including the increasing number of repeat points from those without the politeness to read others’ first). And, for once, spotted the theme as soon as 13ac was solved, though did not use it as an aid to solving.
    But his expert use of themes, as here, together with such clear clueing, makes Mr Brian Greer a very special craftsman. We are so fortunate.
    Many thanks, both and all.

37. 2Sotcheggs @31: I’ve just perused -and enjoyed – all the entries since I posted earlyish this morning and, until yours, no-one else (unless I missed it) seems to have picked up on the BOUGIE potential for musical references.  Nights, wonderland, fever, woogie bugle boy…and the impressively titled Aqua Boogie (A Psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop)

38. poc @29

    I too, initially questioned ‘needed’ but realised that ‘graceful mariners’ needs ‘fulmar’ otherwise it would be just be ‘grace iners’. Not sure ‘Seabird consumed by grateful mariners.’ works for me since ‘consumed by’ doesn’t equate to ‘in’.  Maybe ‘Seabird caught in harmful mariner’s net.’?

39. Meant ‘grateful mariners’  though they might be ‘graceful’ as well. As someone else stated, I wish there was a post-post editing facility.

40. Oh, I couldn’t solve this one and had to look up many (SCRATCHINGS, CLIMATIC, MATURING, EFFING, etc). No issues with Brendan (he is one of my favs and some days I must yield)

    I wonder if effigy meant guy as a bloke, or guy as in Guy Fawkes. In the latter case should not G be capitalized?

41. Very enjoyable and a clever theme. I had to check on BOUGIE in Chambers. ACRE was famously besieged in the Crusades – Richard the Lionheart, Saladin etc.

     

42. Mark @37 – this might be because most of the posters on this blog find the spotting of musical references at best irrelevant to discussion of the crossword and in most instances a matter of tedium.

43. Van Winkle @42: thanks and, of course, ouch.  But delighted I gave you cause to contribute.  Any observations on the crossword?

44. Adriana @40: I don’t think guy needs to be capitalised.  It’s surely one of those words – there is a term for them but it escapes me – that is based on a proper name – person, brand name etc – and then passes into the language.  Like wellingtons, boycott and hoover.

45. Adriana @40 – capitalisation of guy, in the effigy-of-Guy-Fawkes sense, seems to be optional. Chambers doesn’t cap it.

    [Mark @44 – eponym]

46. I have to say I enjoy gimmicks in crosswords, and this was a terrific one!

47. Miche @45: many thanks. Of course it is.

48. Agree with poc@29 and others that “needed” is a poor inclusion indicator – “Seabird captured by grateful mariner” is (I think) clearer although certainly easier (this clue took me far too long although not helped by grateful and mariner appearing on different rows of the text that I was looking at, which always slows me down with inclusions and their ilk).

49. Well, that was fun. Not just for the whole hidden city concept but also for superb clues such as SOLIDEST and GO SLOW.

    A really smart bit of compiling – this should be right up there when the ‘Best of 2020’ awards are debated.

50. Thanks both.

    A strange one for me as I solved it last night post-midnight and fairly flew through it, not without some stalling and flapping. Proves I’m just an old night-owl.

    Very enjoyable though.

    Since “eponym” has been raised I offer, with much hesitation, to underline ANONYM as the answer to 25A – an “ANTONYM” would perhaps be a clue to yesterday’s setter.

51. Thanks both,
    Lovely crossword and clever theme. The defoliant used by the Americans in the Vietnam War was Agent Orange. Napalm was mainly used to burn villages and their occupants.

52. Delightful puzzle, thanks to Brendan and best wishes for his well-being, and thanks as well to manehi.

    I also know mrpenney’s meaning for “bougie,” though didn’t know it was African American originally, but didn’t think of it for 19d.  In fact, I didn’t think of anything for 19d until the wordplay set me up with the French word for candle.  Had to look it up to find it’s also an instrument.

    MaidenBartok @22 Thanks for the park, I loved the article.  Portland is also the home of the Rimsky-Korsakoffee House, where you can have coffee, pastries and classical music.  Atlas Obscura describes its “casually threate1ning atmosphere with dessert and coffee to die for,” and its tables each named for a deceased composer.  I don’t know if Johann Gambolputty has one — the rest of his name would take up the rest of the room.  Link here: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/rimsky-korsakoffee-house-skb

    As to your typo:

    The one-l lama, he’s a priest.
    The two-l llama, he’s a beast.
    But I will bet a silk pajama
    There isn’t any three-l lllama.  (Ogden Nash)

    Did anybody else try to fit “a” and “the” into 11d for the articles before realizing that they are “things”?

    I talked last night with a friend in Oregon (Corvallis), who is somewhat north of the danger area but who says that the air is full of of ash flakes at all times.

53. Thanks so much to all who sent good wishes to me and Portland — my wife and I are fine, thanks. But where is not suffering now? Come November, the first step of the long road to recovery…

    Glad that people liked the clue for WHITEN. I think of this as the equivalent of the conjuror doing a trick under your nose. And I remember the old charade that begins “My first is what my second is not”

54. From your wish to God’s ear, Brian!

55. Valentine @54: fine phrase, fine sentiment.

56. well! the cities theme was retrospectively brilliant… but with the exception of 18ac there was no actual hint to a city in any of the clues so – in agreement with sheffield hatter – didnt help me in the least. on the other hand FULMAR leapt of the page without hesitation (or the help of ULM)! NAPALM was a nice present as was ANONYM – thanks Brendan!

    ps bougie is pronounced – as already mentioned – like the French candle rather than the hard G in boogie so its a step away from a musical clue but still a useful medical instrument.

57. Beautifully lucid but deceptive cluing.

58. Simply wonderful

59. I’m very late to this, but I thought Mark’s comment @43 was nicely judged, the kind of good nature and good humour  we all need just now

    Also, really enjoyed the crossword. I think “whiten”  was my favourite for its simplicity.

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