Guardian Cryptic 28,876 by Paul

by

The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/28876.

Theme? What theme? There is an impressive number of car marques of various nationalities, mostly included via envelopes. Paul at his sparkling best.

ACROSS
8 DIMINISH
Drop car into vessel (8)
An envelope (‘into’) of MINI (‘car’) in DISH (‘vessel’).
9 PORTIA
Shakespeare character in car, on the phone? (6)
Sounds like (‘on the phone’) PORSCHE (‘car’), for the character in The Merchant of Venice.
10 CAST
Throw son into Jaguar, for example (4)
An envelope (‘into’) of S (‘son’) in CAT (‘jaguar, for example’).
11 STATIONARY
Still writing equipment being discussed (10)
Sounds like (‘being discussed’) STATIONERY (‘writing equipment’).
12 AUSTIN
A metal-plated American car of old (6)
An envelope (-‘plated’) of US (‘American’) in ‘a’ plts TIN (‘metal’-).
14 HOPELESS
Awful car pinched by Nazi (8)
An envelope (‘pinched by’) of OPEL (‘car’) in HESS (Rudolf, ‘Nazi’).
15 NEUTRAL
Renault changed gear (7)
An anagram (‘changed’) of ‘Renault’. NEUTRAL is a position of a gear lever, but does that make it a ‘gear’?.
17 BANANAS
Carrying family member, car reversed round the bend (7)
An envelope (‘carrying’) of NAN (‘family member’) in BAAS, a reversal (‘reversed’) of SAAB (‘car’).
20 MASERATI
Car: a car keeping right entering motorway (8)
A double envelope (‘keeping’ and ‘entering’) of R (‘right’) in ‘a’ plus SEAT (Spanish ‘car’ manufacturer, now owned by Volkswagen) in MI (M1, ‘motorway’).
22 AGENDA
Revealed in Volkswagen data — something hidden? (6)
A hidden answer (‘revealed in’) in ‘VolkswAGEN DAta’.
23 FALSE TEETH
Backing car, around which walkers with torch finally set out at night? (5,5)
An envelope (‘around which’) of ALSET, a reversal (‘backing’) of TESLA (‘car’) in FEET (‘walkers’) plus H (‘torcH finally’).
24 LOTS
Car, not posh, a good deal (4)
A subtraction: LOT[u]S (‘car’) minus the U (‘not posh’).
25 STOLEN
Poached eggs first, no cereal, the bacon last of all (6)
Last letters (‘last of all’) of ‘eggS firsT nO cereaL thE bacoN‘.
26 STANDARD
Place on a road for old car (8)
A charade of STAND (‘place’) plus ‘a’ plus RD (‘road’).
DOWN
1 LIGATURE
Bond with gun breaking rule, I suspect (8)
An envelope (‘breaking’) of GAT (‘gun’) in LIURE, an anagram (‘suspect’) of ‘rule I’.
2 FIAT
Proper to impound a car (4)
An envelope (‘to impound’) of ‘a’ in FIT (‘proper’).
3 NISSAN
Car is not entirely all there after demolition, ultimately (6)
A charade of N (‘demolitioN ultimately’) plus ‘is’ plus SAN[e] (‘all there’) minus the last letter (‘not entirely’).
4 SHEATHE
Cover uncultivated land in middle of desert (7)
An envelope (‘in’) of HEATH (‘uncultivated land’) in SE (‘middle of deSErt’).
5 SPLIT PEA
Dried soup ingredient (se_ed?) (5,3)
PEA is ‘seed’ SPLIT (by the underscore’).
6 CRENELLATE
Build battlements when Norman’s head is found in basket, dead (10)
An envelope (‘is found in’) of N (‘Norman’s head’) in CREEL (‘basket’) plus LATE (‘dead’).
7 CITRUS
Fruit squash almost covers it (6)
An envelope (‘covers’) of ‘it’ in CRUS[h] (‘squash’) minus the last letter (‘almost’). CITRUS is a kind of fruit, or the trees that prodece them
13 TATTERSALL
Ragged clothes, the lot — check fabric (10)
A charade of TATTERS (‘ragged clothes’) plu ALL (‘the lot’).
16 ADAPTING
Notice giant panda initially confused, adjusting to environment (8)
A charade of AD (‘notice’) plus APTING, an anagram (‘confused’) of ‘giant’ plus P (‘Panda initially’).
18 AUDITORY
On hearing car, someone leaning to the right (8)
A charade of AUDI (car’) plus TORY (‘someone leaning to the right’).
19 DIVERSE
Various birds on roof of edifice (7)
A charade of DIVERS (‘birds’) plus E (‘roof of Edifice’ – although one might argue that either E is the ‘roof’ of ‘edifice’).
21 ABARTH
Car needing a wash, last of water brought in (6)
An envelope (‘brought in’) of R (‘last of wateR‘) in ‘a’ plus BATH (‘wash’), for the Italian racing and road car manufacturer.
22 ASHRAM
A quiet sheep in blessed retreat (6)
A charade of ‘a’ plus SH (‘quiet’!) plus RAM (‘sheep’).
24 LADA
Reportedly cool place for car (4)
Sounds like (‘reportedly’) LARDER (‘cool place’).

picture of the completed grid

60 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 28,876 by Paul”

  1. Paul was kind to us with this one, none of those sometimes tortuous cross-references. Car brands having so many possibilities it was not fruitful to think of a brand and then go looking for it, but it turned out not to be necessary to attack the puzzle that way.

    Nho ABARTH, but it was gettable from the wordplay. RENAULT was neat because of the succinctness. Tx P&P

  2. I guess so – don’t like brand names ever in crosswords … is the language not quite rich enough to do without the celebration of technology which destroys the environment? Still, it was sort of fun.

  4. I’m (almost) always happy to see Paul’s name at the top and this was no exception. I guess knowing the cars helps, but that’s always the way with any theme. The porcelain one from a month or so ago was one of the very few I didn’t enjoy, just from not knowing any of them!

  5. Stopped at lights behind the famous name + trident only yesterday, and still tried to spell it with a ‘z’ … dim! Neutral needed crossers; learnt to drive with column shift but haven’t heard it qua(si) ‘gear’ for decades. And as for Abarth … che cosa ?! Lots of fun though, ta PnP.

  7. This was one of my favourite Paul puzzles in a long time. True, not at his most fiendish but I don’t always want my brain put through a mincer. The sheer breadth of theme coverage, the novel ways of utilising the various marques, delightful cross references in comparison with the usual repetition of a key clue number… PeterO makes the observation that many of the theme names are included in envelopes; I was impressed that Paul seems to have used them in connection with just about every device except a Spoonerism. Oh – and there was some neat cluing in the non-themers too: in particular, that def for FALSE TEETH. Too many favourites to select a podium today.

    Thanks Paul and PeterO

  8. Josh Rubin @ 3 – before fridges, meat and milk etc was stored in a cool room called a larder. Now it’s where we bung our tins and dried pasta.

  9. Josh Rubin @3: larders were pretty-well always put on the north, (i.e. cooler) side of houses, and often (glass) windowless, therefore no thermal gain. They may have had natural light from a gauze covered window space.

    That, plus a marble or concrete slab shelf, meant they were generally cooler than other living area rooms.

  10. Not quite up my street – too many wheels – but a fun solve. Last in were the four fours in the corners. LADA/larder? It’s all been said.
    Thanks to Paul and PeterO.

  11. Not too obscure and great fun, which is what I do crosswords for.
    [24 down reminded me of the old story about the guy who goes into a garage and asks “Have you got an exhaust pipe for a Lada?” The garageman thinks for a moment and then replies “OK. That sounds fair enough.”]

  13. Great puzzle! Like others I hadn’t heard of ABARTH (and it sounded unlikely); loved FALSE TEETH and BANANAS in particular. Many thanks to Paul; and PeterO.

  17. Lincolnite @9: what an appropriate moniker for this puzzle!

    I thought it might be fun – though probably unnecessary – to list the cars Paul’s managed to include:

    As solutions: Abarth, Austin, Fiat, Lada, Maserati, Nissan, Standard

    Named in clues: Jaguar (container), Renault (anagram), Volkswagen (hidden)

    Unnamed wordplay elements: Audi (charade), Lotus (deletion), Mini (insertion), Opel (insertion), Porsche (homophone), Saab (reversed container), Seat (insertion and container), Tesla (reversed insertion)

    18 in total – unless I’ve missed anything

  19. Quite mild by the standards of one or two we’ve had lately. Enjoyable, because the theme wasn’t allowed to distort the puzzle too horribly, the exception perhaps being ABARTH, an obscure maker of Italian pollution generating equipment of which I was unaware.
    Some ingenious stuff, the favourites for me being MASERATI, FALSE TEETH, STOLEN, CRENELLATE, TATTERSALL. Yes, strictly NEUTRAL is an absence of gear rather than a change of it, but as we talk of “putting it in neutral” it would be pedantic to crib too much about that.
    And although there’s a bit of mildly zany, there’s no Pauline smut. Possibly feeling singed from the reaction to another recent puzzle? Whatever. A pleasant start to the morning.
    Thanks to Paul and PeterO.

  20. I’d better not tell my Lada joke because someone’s bound to be triggered. TATTERSALL was new for me. I only know the word through gambling connections. I did like MASERATI for the surface.

  21. Thanks (?) Paul, and PeterO
    I nearly threw away this tedious puzzle with just half a dozen solved, but I’m laid up with COVID (mostly recovered) and had nothing better to do, so completed it. A good example of how not to do a theme.
    Speicifially, I agree with PeterO that NEUTRAL is precisely not a “gear”; it means that the gears are not engaged. I had only vaguely heard of ABARTH, and the clue doesn’t work – A BATH is “a wash”, not “needing a wash”; I spent some time trying to find a synonym for “dirty” to put the R in.
    I did have a sneaking appreciation of FALSE TEETH.

  23. Paul’s puzzles are rarely pedestrian and this was no exception. I found that I only got the cars after I had a tentative solution, which made it a little less satisfactory as a solving experience.

  24. btw MINI and (Ford) STANDARD are the only actual cars in the grid. All the rest are car manufacturers, though I accept that if I said “I have a Rolls” a) I would be lying, and b) everyone would understand that I meant a car made by Rolls-Royce. (Standard was also a manufacturer.)

  27. I think that “hidden” (in 22a) has a double meaning – not only indicating inclusion, but also as a qualifier, as in “a hidden agenda”.

    Thanks to Paul & PeterO, and get well soon, muffin

  29. Well like many in the Guardian comments I had to reveal ABARTH, but otherwise mostly OK. I always dread a Paul, as I am never on his wavelength, but this was somewhat easier because of the obvious theme and my age meaning I can remember most of the car manufacturers. I agree about neutral, it should have said Changed out of gear but that would be too easy. In fact it was so simple that I wasted time looking for types of clothing!
    A relief to get it out of the way, and a bit like the curate’s egg. Thanks Paul and PeterO

  31. muffin @21 I bet myself an extra slice of cheesecake that you’d quibble about NEUTRAL so I hold you responsible for my impending weight gain 🙂

    These days ABARTH is used by FIAT to denote their souped up versions eg the 500 Abarth

    Took me an age to see DIVERSE as, it being Paul, I was obsessed with TITS

    I sympathise with those who find the theme a bit pedestrian but that’s always a risk with a non-ghost theme. It can’t always be Wagner

    Cheers P&P

  33. Abarth was a motor manufacturer like Healey and Cooper — they were small companies producing cars for motor sport: these companies were courted (and eventually bought out) by volume manufacturers such as Fiat, Austin and Morris who wanted to add some specialist engine tuning to their product range. And so we had the Fiat Abarth, Austin Healey 3000, Mini Cooper, etc.

  35. I liked the fun of the puzzle but had to reveal ABARTH as I’d never heard of it and isnt it made by Fiat which was already in the grid. No word searcher could find it and I probably gave my Observer Book of cars to someone.

    Must get the 52 Packard out of the stables

  36. Pleasant enough end to the week after two days of struggles.

    I knew ABARTH from the FIAT ABARTH, so no problem there. I liked BANANAS for the surface and FALSE TEETH for the definition. It’s not that easy to weave themed words into clues, so congrats to Paul for that.

    Thanks Paul and PeterO.

  40. Thanks PeterO, i enjoyed this one too.
    Tim C@20 I used to own a Yugo and am sure you won’t trigger me – I may well have heard it before though!
    Loved 23a, 13d for self-induced misdirection trying more elaborate wordplay (dnk previously but nice to put a name to many a City gent’s weekend attire), and 6d as it’s a fantastic word, thanks Paul.

  41. Standard was also a make: Standard Vanguard, Standard 8, etc.
    Mini can now be regarded as a brand as many different cars bear that name.
    So it is all Makes

  42. Theme was not very appealing to me.
    Lost interest, gave up on 23, 24ac, 19, 24d.

    Liked BANANAS, STOLEN.

    New ABARTH, STANDARD cars.

    Thanks, both.

  43. Looked at the possibility of ABARTH as last car past the chequered flag today, gave a shrug, bunged it in and came on here to confirm its four-wheeled existence. Not my favourite Paul puzzle, as cars not at all my thing, but got there in the end. Did like NEUTRAL, though…

  44. Like the others, never heard of ABARTH.

    I’m not quibbling the homophone, but I never thought of a larder as particularly cool, so thanks for the explanation, Shirl@8. It makes me think of a variation on that theme in Victorian flats in San Francisco, where I used to live. There would be a small cabinet let into the exterior wall of a kitchen where you could put things you wanted kept cool because it wouldn’t be heated in winter. I’m not sure what it wouldn’t be heated by, though, because like many older San Francisco buildings ours had no central heating. San Francisco has thousands of “Victorians,” 19-century buildings with lots of gingerbread trim, usually two-or three-story. They are often vividly painted –as they were in Victoria’s day, but often not in between. If you want to see a few, look at “Painted Ladies of Sand Francisco,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Painted_ladies.

  45. ABARTH? Read early comments up to #3 which was impenetrable apart from a bit in the middle.
    Like most crosswords, for me, I struggled at first then they drew in with crossers.
    Thanks Paul and PeterO

  46. I feel like I spent longer on ABARTH than all the rest of the puzzle! (Although I wasn’t impressed by the wordplay for such an obscure word, I don’t have a problem with ‘needing’ – it’s just a joining word.)

    I do though tend to agree with muffin @21 that this was tedious rather than scintillating – the constant repetition of the word ‘car’ could have had me joining Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and Sustrans if I hadn’t already been a member. Exceptions like FALSE TEETH, SHEATHE (I liked the ‘in the middle of desert’ gag) & CRENELLATE kept me going. Also the LADA and PORTIA homophones. (The last time I lived in a house with no fridge was in the hot summer of 1976 – it was remarkable how long the butter and cheese kept in the larder.)

    Some of Paul’s clues can be breath-takingly sharp, but occasionally he’ll have a real clunker, like ADAPTING, where the definition also begins with AD, or little things like ‘torch finally’ and ‘last of water’ that are so obvious cryptically and yet so un-smooth surface-wise. And then he’ll produce something like 25a STOLEN, where the ‘last of all’ is so well misdirected by the use of ‘first’ earlier in the clue.

    Thanks to Paul and to PeterO.

  49. Thanks for the blog, I was very reluctant to put ABARTH in but glad I did and never heard of it. Quite surprised that I actually knew all the names from MrPostMark’s list @17 except for STANDARD and that did sound likely so put it in straight away. CRENELLATE is a great word.

  50. I was so hoping that 17 would be CARACAS. Obviously theme-friendly and can use the same definition with an added “allegedly” for one of Paul’s trademark dodgy homophones!
    I enjoyed the theme and the Wikiing/Googling needed to make sense of ABARTH and STANDARD. Faves: FALSE TEETH and CRENELLATE.
    Thanks, Peter and Paul. Saintlily done.

  52. Ah. I see TATTERSALL is used for men’s shirts, which is probably why I’ve never met it but most of the other solvers have!

  53. Gladys @52. I’d never heard of it as a check pattern, but I knew the word from its betting connotations, and the wordplay and crossers made it irresistible.

  54. Not really my cup of brew: cars are not my thing (seriously, is there anything less interesting or more pointless than car racing?). Nonetheless some entertainment to be had – SPLIT PEA and SHEATHE tickled my palate and on cracking CRENELLATE I had occasion to ask myself how I came to know a word so very inapplicable to life in general, and gave myself a pat on the back.

    Thanks Paul and thanks PeterO.

    muffin@21: glad to hear you’re recovering. At this point I am about the only person I know who hasn’t had it.

  57. Probably the ONLY time I have been able to finish a Paul puzzle in one sitting – greatly enjoyed it. Thanks Paul and PeterO.

  58. The list of cars featured could also include Ram, which is a large pickup truck (or ute in this part of the world) made by GM/Dodge. Great puzzle, especially if you like cars.

  59. Pino@ 55 I agree. That’s what made 22ac my favourite among many great clues.
    Thanks PeterO and Paul.

  60. Got 7 down wrong by impetuously putting in PITRES, hoping it was some kind of fruit I’d never heard of. Thanks P & P.

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