Guardian Cryptic 28,262 by Carpathian

57 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 28,262 by Carpathian”

1. Very enjoyable.

   Favourites: ESCARGOT, GIFT HORSE, TRICEPS.

   New: RAMP = swindle.

   Thanks, B+S

2. Pleasant. Though I must stop being irritated with unnecessary indefinite articles. I’m looking at YOU 21d…

3. Tank @2 – there are two wives, so I think you are being a bit harsh. The second marriage seems still to be flourishing.

4. Didn’t know IED = explosive, so couldn’t parse 3d but a good, clear Monday puzzle as manehi says. Liked YAWN and GIFT HORSE. Thanks to C & m.

5. I liked today’s puzzle from Carpathian. I agree with some favouirites already earmarked by manehi and michelle@1, and would like to add that I also enjoyed 8d Zeus. Thank you to both Carpathian and manehi.

6. Thanks, manehi. For what it’s worth, it’s a pangram.

7. Loved this and found it miles easier than the Quiptic: a write in, until the SE corner slowed me down. Much to enjoy but particularly liked TRESPASSED. Many thanks to Carpathian and Manehi.

8. Pangram!   Nice and quick one for a Monday and so good to stop the pangram. NW took longer to go in than the rest and COHERE was new for me but a gentle Monday diversion.

   Thanks Carpathian and manehi!

9. Didn’t know RAMP, but otherwise straightforward this morning. Thanks Carpathian and Manehi for enjoyable Monday fare.

10. The Pangram helped me with TAXIED which was my next to LOI. I was misdirected by the ‘Around’ in 7d (my LOI) so the parsing had puzzled me until getting to this blog. Thanks M and C. Enjoyed 2d and 15d especially.

11. Also did not know RAMP which I checked existed after finding it hidden. I thought that clue had a lovely surface.

12. Relatively straightforward with some nice clues. LOI was RAMP, giving cobro some amusement. I always miss hidden words!

    Favourites were SURFACE, OVATION and ALLOTMENT.

    Thanks Carpathian and manehi!

13. Another who didn’t know RAMP, but who bunged it in, googled then parsed. One to remember for at least 10 minutes.
    Very quiptic for me, unless I am getting better…
    I particularly liked 8d, but suspect it is an old chestnut.
    Thanks for the hints…

14. ADJOURNING, OVATION, TAXIED and YAWN and were the first ones I solved – so I reckoned a pangram was in the offing. Given that I was actively looking for those pesky high-scoring Scrabble letters, ZEUS and BOUTIQUE were pretty much write-ins.
    A very enjoyable crossword: a pleasing mix of write-ins and chewier clues – just perfect for cheering one up on a grey and cold Monday morning.
    Thanks Carpathian and Manehi.

15. Carpathian/Vigo often does pangrams, although it didn’t help me with the solve.

    Good, concise cluing for a Monday puzzle. I liked the ‘unusual foresight’ anagram – maybe it’s been done before. Mostly good surfaces, although I’m not sure what a ‘sea foam expert’ does – maybe it’s a surfer.

    Thanks Carpathian and manehi.

16. Quick and pleasant, until I hit a couple that took me ages – yes, RAMP was one of them. Cleverly hidden, but an obscure definition. Now back to the much chewier Quiptic. Thanks Carpathian and manehi.

17. Enjoyed this and it went in quite quickly for me – the three I couldn’t parse were three of manehi’s favourites 13a, 17d and 23d – thanks for the help.

    Liked ALLOTMENT (partly cause I have one and the clue made me smile) ZEUS, TRESPASSED, SWAN

    Thanks to Carpathian and manehi

18. I meant 4d not 23d

     

19. Robi @15 a question to be waived?

    Old chestnut at 8d but enjoyable coffee time solve.

20. Anyone know why Monday crosswords should be easier?

21. [Auriga @20 – On one of his Zoom sessions, Paul had Hugh Stephenson join and he explained how whilst he doesn’t manage the difficulty of the other days of the week, he does make sure that Monday is a “little” easier to give newcomers (like me!) a chance.]

22. Auriga: Traditionally, start of the week – Monday mornings – brains not fully in gear …

    Anyway, most seem to to like a gentle build up in difficulty leading to the prize on Sat (not that it always works like that).

23. Ditto to those who found the quiptic similar, both cruisy. And yes, did notice the pangram after someone on the G thread said ‘It’s one of those’. Didn’t parse triceps, d’oh, but liked esc argot, tax ied, and the memory of Henri T-L in Moulin Rouge shouting to the barman ‘Henri, un autre absinthe!’ All good fun, thanks both.

24. MaidenBartok beat me to it with a better answer. Thanks for that clarification.

     

25. Pleasant enough but it all went in too quickly to be a challenge – and I frequently find Monday pzzles to be less simple than many commenters here do. COMPOSURE and SLUMP needed crossers before I saw them, but all the others were pretty clear. My quibble of the day was going to be that the TRICEPS (12a) is a muscle (singular), but Google says the plural can also be triceps (or tricepses), so the clue is actually fine. favourites ABSINTHE, TRESPASSED and especially GIFT HORSE.

    Thanks both.

26. Thanks Carpathian and manehi

    Very enjoyable. Favourites SURFACE and a new way of clueing ABSINTHE.

    I was going to make the point about TRICEPS that beaulieu has @25 (the same is true of biceps), but I’m stumped for what the word for more than one triceps would be! Tricepses perhaps? Chambers remained silent on the subject.

27. Thanks, manehi.

    Nothing wrong with any individual clue, but I counted 14 charades out of 28 clues (and a couple of others with charade elements). Not a very varied diet.

    muffin @26 – Chambers (iOS app) says “pl. tricepses or triceps,” which suggests the first is the more common. (I have often seen/heard people using bicep and tricep for the singular: I suppose those will end up in dictionaries sooner or later.)

28. Thanks Miche – “tricepses” was a good guess, then!

29. I also found this much easier that the Quiptic (did they get swapped by mistake?).  In fact since all the across clues were write-ins and solved in sequence, I decided also to tackle the down clues in sequence  …  and managed a first-ever in solving the entire puzzle in strict clue-sequence.  It is as though today’s puzzle and the gem of last Friday came from different crossword planets.

30. This can be filed in the “it doesn’t have to be hard to be fun” file. It went very quickly until the bottom–like others, I didn’t know RAMP for swindle, and I didn’t know comp for a type of school. [The main thing I see “comp” used for over here is “complimentary.” Usually a noun (“he helped the set build, so give him a comp for opening night”) but sometimes even a verb, as in, “the kitchen lost my order, so the bartender comped me a beer.”]

    And on the subject of Monday being easier, I’m surprised the editor doesn’t try to adjust the difficulty of days beyond Monday. [In the New York Times, the gold standard for American-style crosswords, there’s a fairly rigid progression through the week. M is smooth sailing, T sort of moderate, W and Th are a little harder, usually with a gimmick thrown in on one of the two days, F is tough, and Sat is devilish. The Sunday puzzle is 21×21 instead of 15×15, but it’s usually about Thursday-level difficulty.]

31. I’m another who liked ESCARGOT and ABSINTHE (a combo some might regard with ABHORRENCE).  Speaking of which I smiled at the surface of 14d for its nod to the (presumably) green credentials of most Graun readers.

    beaulieu, muffin, Miche @25-28: just as two biceps are forceps, perhaps two lots of TRICEPS are SEXCEPS?

    Thanks Carpathian and manehi.

32. essexboy @31

    🙂

33. Liked esp ALLOTMENT and FORESIGHT. RAMP as swindle also new to me. Thanks to Carpathian and Manehi.
    Essexboy @31 ?

34. Essexboy@31 🙂

35. Splendid Monday fare.

    Classical plural of TRICEPS would be ‘tricipites’, but I wouldn’t recommend using it unless you wish to be thought pedantic.

    Interesting that WAN is now used to mean pale; the original meaning was ‘without a predominant hue’ – so dark grey could also be ‘wan’. That’s why we use the expression ‘pale and wan’, which nowadays sounds like a tautology.

36. mrpenney @30. It must be hard enough to specify to setters that just one crossword per week is “easier”, but to grade six or seven…

    Robi @15. ” Mostly good surfaces, although I’m not sure what a ‘sea foam expert’ does – maybe it’s a surfer.” Are you being deliberately ironic when criticising the surface of a clue whose answer is SURFACE? If so, chapeau!

    I held myself up for quite a while in the NW by not thinking of the names of keyboard features in 2d and not seeing doctor=RIG in 13a. Otherwise there was a lot to like about this one from Carpathian, to whom many thanks.

37. As some have said, it was straightforward but enjoyable. Although an easy solve, I thought 23a was very subtle, with the allusion to Nuremberg etc. I spotted it was a pangram just as I entered my final answer, so a fat lot of use that was to me 🙂

38. Definitely one from the easy end of simple street but none the worse for that. Would have made a nice Quiptic

39. Very clear, quick and fun. Quicker than the convoluted Quiptic.

     

40. A gentle but enjoyable start to the week. Favourite was RAMP because my late father often used the word as a noun (rather than verb) meaning swindle. I’d never heard it used in that context anywhere since, so it brought a smile!

41. A Carpathian puzzle, whether Quiptic or cryptic, always brightens my day. Most of my favorites have been mentioned, but I’m surprised that no one has singled out INTERCHANGEABLE. Too long to type, perhaps? Anyway, thanks to Carpathian and to manehi for confirming that meaning of RAMP, which has eluded Collins online.

42. Feeling proud of myself – I solved this with a bit of help from the checker and anagram helper and only one visit to Morewords. (So I’m ignoring any comments about Monday puzzles being easier!)

    Caught out in 2d – I expected ‘key’ to be a musical clue.

    25a Nice to see a school that’s not Eton, Harrow, etc.

43. Like rodshaw my first ever write-in using strict order. A great start to the week. Loved SUEZ and had not come across it before. Off to try the Quiptic now and to find out what a pangram is. Many thanks to Carpathian and Manehi.

44. Pauline @ 43 – a pangram contains every letter of the alphabet.

45. Either I have become a genius overnight, or this was the easiest Guardian cryptic ever.  ((Nothing wrong with that, as far as I’m concerned). Ideal introduction for beginners.

46. Tank @2, no don’t stop being irritated by unnecessary indefinite articles! I spent time trying to make the bird in 21D a Macaw, Jackdaw, Hawfinch or various types of hawk so that I could remove an A as well as a W. And then Mrs K glanced at the clue, ignored the reduntant “a” and put in SALLOW straight away. Which makes it more irritating 🙂

47. Easiest crossword in quite some time for me but worthwhile nonetheless — I ticked OVATION, RIGID, ALLOTMENT, TRESSPASSED, and SWAN as favourites. Like many others RAMP as swindle was new to me — I like that use of the word and maybe I’ll even use it in conversation. Thanks to both.

48. I don’t see the “a” as being redundant in 21D. That “a” is telling you that the bird you need has more than one “w” in its name.

    I enjoyed this a lot – fairly easy, but fun.

49. Nice one, MarkN @48. It looks like Kingsley @46 has read Tank @2 and then just gone off on one, totally ignoring muffyword @3 ( “…there are two wives, so I think you are being a bit harsh. The second marriage seems still to be flourishing.”), whose witty explanation for the supposedly superfluous indefinite article has been there for all to see since 8:10 this morning!

50. Thanks to Manehi and to Carpathian – a new setter for me as I don’t usually try the quiptic.   Despite mentally noting J,Q and Z I completely failed to notice the puzzle is also a pangram – d’oh !   Too many favourites to list here really.  One minor quibble  – one does not usually TAXI along a runway except at airfields where there are  insuffiicent taxiways to enable access to the full length of the runway.  Plenty of those at holiday destinations of course; nearer to home, Luton springs to mind.

51. Thanks so much auriga @44. You have added to my store of Cryptic knowledge. I really appreciate it. Pauline

52. As others have said, an enjoyable solve. Favourite probably GIFT HORSE.

    I parsed the definition of 21d as “unhealthy looking” rather than just “unhealthy”.

    Can anyone enlighten me as the context for “square” = S, rather than SQ say? Not an abbreviation I’ve come across.

53. ContrapuntalAnt @52 – I think ms could be an abbreviation for ‘metres squared’, near enough, I’d say.

    Unlike others, I did know RAMP, I can remember my father using it for con or swindle, but that was many years ago, and it seemed very old-fashioned then.

54. [RAMP is a share market swindle where the price of a share is pushed upwards, typically by false good news, to encourage foolish investors so that the original holders can sell out at a profit. Also known as “pump and dump”.]

     

55. Tim @ 40 othereabouts: My experience of ‘ramp’ was similar to yours – though in my case it was via my late mother. Many ventures constituted a ramp to her. She would never have countenanced ‘rip-off’, say, even if she had heard of it, as to her ears it would have sounded far too American and hippy.

56. I simply cannot believe I made it to 2020 without realising that Suez is Zeus backwards.
    Very enjoyable crossword, with ESCARGOT being my favourite.

57. 6d: Drink drunk in haste containing bottle cap (8) – would work too?

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