Guardian Cryptic 29,253 by Pangakupu

60 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 29,253 by Pangakupu”

1. Thanks for standing in kenmac. I’m always happy to see this setter, as I know I’m in for a tough but fair challenge. There was a French tinge with SON ET LUMIÈRE, CARTE BLANCHE, GRANDIOSE, ROUGE and maybe others. The trademark Maori word, TARAWIA (drive/driver) appeared in a nina in the second top row. MAGIC REALISM was a neat anagram. Favourites were CHORISTER, SCISSORS and the intersecting MAHARAJAH and CONJUROR.

   Ta Pangakupu & kenmac

2. 23a was ambiguous — could have been ROUGE or ROGUE — and I needed to solve QUARTO before I could determine which.

   Didn’t know SON ET LUMIÈRE or DERRIS, and couldn’t parse ROLLING STOCK. All else fell into place and brought a good number of smiles. Thanks Pangakupu & Kenmac.

3. Looking forward to seeing whether someone can parse ROLLING STOCK.

4. Enjoyed this, though wasn’t entirely certain about the parsing of CHORISTER, MAHARAJAH or SCISSORS. Last one in ROUGE. Whenever I see the expression SON ET LUMIERE I think of Thunder and Lightning, except the sequence is the other way round, flash followed by boom. “Cancer the lab” a rather strange introductory expression in 18ac to provide the anagram there…

5. I’d never heard of DERRIS, so that was a Jorum for me. Apart from that most of the solutions went in fairly smoothly. ROLLING STOCK went in unparsed, though. Stock is ok, as in a stock answer from a spokesperson such as “our thoughts are with the family at this difficult time”. But I don’t get ‘under review’ for rolling.

   I remembered to look for the Maori Nina, but I’m equally as useless as our blogger at spotting themes.

   Thanks to Pangakupu and Kenmac.

6. ROLLINGSTOCK
   The explanation in the blog seems all right.
   ROLLING —under review as in ‘a rolling plan’ (which is reviewed regularly).
   STOCK—as expected (usual) as in ‘her stock response’.

7. I found this but I’m not sure it works : A rolling review is an ad hoc procedure used in an emergency context to allow Europeans Médecines Agency to continuously assess the data for an upcoming highly promising application as they become available. STOCK as in the expected response maybe.

8. Pangakupu is growing on us, and his clues are generally more succinct than before.
   But why in 25A does there need to be a reference to Britains got talent?
   Why not just performer to trick panellist?
   We thought trains are made up of rolling stock which is the generic term for carriages and trucks, but perhaps there is something more to that clue?

9. Thanks Pangakupu and kenmac

   In 11 I think that ‘stock’ = ‘as expected’ is OK, eg if a politician gives a stock response they’re just trotting out what you expect to hear. I’m less convinced by ‘rolling’ = ‘under review’: something can be under a continuous / rolling review, but they can also be under a review that’s not rolling.

   I posted on the g thread that I couldn’t quite put my finger on why this puzzle didn’t click the way Pangakupu’s usually do, and this clue was one of the things that I thought didn’t quite work.

10. Collins has subject to regular review and updating for “rolling”

11. We have the traditional Maori word in row 2: TARAIWA = to drive, or a driver. There are usually (at least) two but I can’t find another – the symmetrically-placed REMCATI doesn’t seem to work.

12. NHO DERRIS but got there from the word play and crossers before confirming its existence with a dictionary check.

    As baffled as everybody else by ROLLING.

    Otherwise a very fair and enjoyable puzzle.

13. Thanks Pangakupu and kenmac
    I found this a lot easier than previous puzzles from this setter, and mainly very good. I was happy with ROLLING STOCK, but you have to look at “giving extra time” in 14a rather cockeyed to make it mean “take a T out of the anagram fodder”.
    Favourite CHORISTER.

14. Happy to make a good start today, but always grind to a halt with Pangakupu with a few “hit and hope” entries too. Never feel inclined to look for a traditional M?ori word after these workouts. I THINK I’m improving….

15. I’ve only heard of magical realism but I suppose the magic version makes sense too. Overall this just felt a bit flat. CONJUROR made me smile 🙂

    ROGUE could have been improved by indicating the direction of the U movement

    Cheers P&K

16. muffin @13: I agree. Taking rather than giving would have been more straightforward.

17. Was happy with ROLLING meaning ‘under review’, how about ‘a rolling average’ which seems to fit? Found this as tricky as I usually find this setter so it was a slow fill today, starting with the NW corner. I liked CHORISTER and CONJUROR and even spotted at least part of the nina, without knowing what it meant. Thanks to Kenmac and Pangakupu.

18. The only thing resembling a theme – as far as I can see – is that there are several French terms among the answers.

19. Alana @16 but less cryptic?

20. Bodycheetah @15: nice idea for nailing the ROGUE/ROUGE problem. I happened to chose wrongly & had to wait for QUARTO to fix it.

    DERRIS was new but fairly clued. I enjoy making a stab from the cluing and then finding it’s OK in the dictionary.

    SYNTHESIS took a little convincing as I was glued to the more usual def relating to synthetic.

    Haven’t enjoyed this setter much in the past but I’m warming.

    Many thanks, kenmac, for stepping up. No need for apologies for lateness – gives we slackers a chance to catch up.

21. As a gardener, I remember DERRIS dust well from the days when we were less conscious of the dangers of insecticides. One of the easier answers for me.

22. Thank you Kenmac – for everything, of course, but especially for parsing SCISSORS for me. Score is a very useful word that often gets under my radar. Nice to see angels getting a mention: too many of the other sort around. I wonder if Pangakupu will come on to tell us what goes with TARAIWA. Surely something. Very nice puzzle.
    Seems like a good moment to mention that the C in N / RNIB 3D Calendar is still available from 3dcalendarpuzzles.co.uk, though there are not many hard copies left: great as a present.

23. I had the same issues as everyone else: given a T that should have been taken, picking the wrong one at first of ROGUE and ROUGE, and inability to explain the ROLLING half of ROLLING STOCK. DERRIS was unfamiliar, but the clue was unambiguous.

    Last one in was SON ET LUMIERE. Over here, we translate that phrase–it’s a sound and light show–but I did remember just in time that the French version was more common over there. [After all, it’s a French invention, and seemingly every town in France has one. I guess the idea is to get the tourists to come back downtown after dinner.]

24. Excellent, DERRIS new to me also.

25. Much like mrpenney @23, I allowed both ROGUE and ROUGE to go in at 23a, as either seemed valid. Obviously the middle crosser settled it. In AWAY GAME, I thought ‘one’ was not a good indicator of GAME, but the answer was my first guess, so I’m not complaining. I was temporarily stuck with the NE corner all but blank, but by taking time over AOILI and CHORISTER I cracked them, along with the remaining clues.

    A very enjoyable puzzle. Thanks Pangakupu and kenmac.

26. Another who’s never heard of DERRIS.

    Thanks to Pangakapu and to kenmac for stepping in. Good job, both.

27. Shirley @8
    Just a guess, but perhaps Pangakupu chose the reference to Britain’s Got Talent in 25A because it suggests that it might be part of the wordplay, perhaps giving the combination BART. Setters have been known to disguise the cryptic structure of clues.

28. This was a quicker solve than either the Jack or Picaroon of the last couple of days, unusually for this setter, who I usually find takes me as long if not longer than the others.

    I’ve come across ROLLING reviews, so wasn’t unhappy with ROLLING STOCK, but I also got the ROUGE/rogue pairing the wrong way around to start with. SON ET LUMIERE is in my idiolect, so went in fairly early. I only spotted Taraiwa that could be a Maori nina today.

    Thank you to kenmac and Pangakupu

29. I parsed ROLLING STOCK as ROLLING [a type of review] with STOCK placed under it. I don’t think it’s ‘under review’.

    I liked the non-rock singer as CHORISTER, and the wordplays in SON ET LUMIERE, MAHARAJAH and SCISSORS.

    Thanks Pan and kenmac.

30. Ref 14 ‘giving extra time’, I saw it in the sense of yielding, ie giving away.

31. Like bodycheetah @15, I only recall ever having heard the phrase “magical realism”. According to Google NGram, “magic realism” occurs only about half as often, but still plenty to convince me that it’s a valid expression.

    Like everyone else, it seems, I came here hoping for an explanation for 11dn. I think the consensus view is undoubtedly correct, although I can’t say I like this clue. I also would have preferred “taking” over “giving” in 14ac. Otherwise, a difficult but satisfying puzzle.

32. According to Google Translate, TARA IWA (two words, as the grid suggests) means “nine dollars”. Not saying that was what was intended, or why, just throwing it out there.

33. Neither ROGUE nor ROUGE for me at first: I had ROUSE (U in ROSE), meaning (almost) disruptive.

    I was another who found this one quit tough.

    Thank you to kenmac and Pangakupu

34. [“HAHA (laughter)+AJAR (open)+M[ic] (initially) all rev: upset” gives MRAJAAHAH] — H(AJAR)AHA+M -> M+AHA(RAJA)H

35. SCISSORS – Surely ‘aboard’ is not a synonym for ‘around’. To make the clue ‘work’ properly it should read ‘Spacecraft aboard large number ignoring European’ but, of course, then the surface doesn’t work.

36. Thanks for the blog , a good set of clues , I had no issue with rolling stock.
    SON ET LUMIERE is known as a compound anagram . merest outline = t + this show ( when edited )
    No mention of MATERIEL ? A new spelling for me , I just went with the wordplay.

37. Mr Hagget@35 – On the contrary tells us to switch it around.

38. [AlanC@1 yet again , the comeback is on . Score is now 65 v -10 .
    More meteors tonight , probably the peak ]

39. Thanks both.
    Roz @38. I too was puzzled by ‘materiel’ but both Collins and Chambers define it as the materials and equipment of an armed force. So not a variant of ‘material’?

40. Quite tough. I tend to find this setter a bit stolid. Not much whimsy.

41. Roz @36: I knew MATERIEL from military experience. I looked to the heavens last night on numerous occasions at KPR, but saw nothing but despair.

42. What is the function of “On the contrary…” in 16D?

43. Whoops, Roz @37 posted as I was typing. Thank you

44. 25a – I had MAGICIAN…you can guess how the rest of the puzzle went.

    7d – how do you know to take EA from EACH?

45. Steffen@44: EA is a recognised abbreviation for “each” (though it’s so short it hardly needs one). Widgets @ 25p ea. for instance.

46. 45 – thank you

47. 35 and 42: “aboard spacecraft? On the contrary” means the spacecraft (ISS) is “aboard” the rest of the clue

48. Surprised that no one has pointed out that there is no such thing as a “scissors kick”. It is a scissor kick. This, and the ambiguity of rouge/rogue, left a dissatisfied feeling at the end of an otherwise reasonably entertaining puzzle.

49. Also, the literary genre is magical realism, rather than magic realism.

50. Bogeyman@48. Chambers: SCISSORS or scissor kick a kick used in some swimming strokes (…); (in football) a type of kick in which the player jumps in the air (…).

    The clue for 23a is only ambiguous if you don’t solve 19d first. If it is ROUGE, then 19d has a U second letter; if it is ROGUE that letter is a G. Use these hints to help solve the clue. It begins with the word ‘question’, for which QU is a common abbreviation. The clue almost solves itself. If you wrote in ROGUE and got stuck, blame yourself, not Pangakupu.

51. Bogeyman@49. Britannica: MAGIC REALISM, chiefly Latin-American narrative strategy that is characterized by the matter-of-fact inclusion of fantastic or mythical …

52. Roz@36 Materiel is a word I try never to use (with success, except today) – it is specifically military arms and equipment. Cf the unfortunate https://www.army.mil/amc.

53. Alanc@41 – sorry I missed your earlier entry.

54. A “hook” or a riff is very often part of a catchy or hit song but it is not the whole song
    In the case of “Satisfaction” or”Smoke on the water” the “riffs” are the basis of the song but still not the whole song.
    A minor quibble from pedants corner -and the overall puzzle was good

55. Thank you Tyngewick, AlanC and Polyphone , Chambers gives it as French so it can be added to the others, It also has just “equipment” as one of the definitions so the setter has been very fair.
    I always say SCISSORS-kick when I am teaching the students to swim on the surface of the sea so they can look around. I also say MAGIC realism but the alternative also very common.
    ROUGE is just a bit careless in the setting , the fact it needs a crossing letter simply relegates it to being an inferior clue. ( Sorry AlanC for my choice of word there. ) .

56. I’ve only heard MAGIC REALISM. It makes slightly more sense (if anything does in this genre), as it’s realistic writing including magic taken at face value; it’s not necessarily “magical”.

57. oed.com dates MAGIC REALISM to 1933 – originally used about German painting,
    MAGICAL REALISM to 1937 – more often used about authors such as García Márquez, Allende, and Rushdie.
    There’s a marked UK/US difference between the two in the Ngram graphs.
    In the US MAGICAL overtook MAGIC in 1991; in the UK that didn’t happen till 2002.

58. Roz@55. I understand what you’re saying about the clue for ROGUE/ROUGE being “inferior”, because you like to be able to solve clues without reference to the grid. Those of us who don’t mind receiving help from crossing letters are perhaps better able to appreciate what Panagkupu did by making the clue at 19d helpful for deciding which was the correct answer at 23a. As I pointed out @50, this can be a useful tool in the crossword solver’s toolbox.

59. Ran out of time – gave up on 16d and 20d.

    Thanks, both.

60. Thanks Frankie@57 I did not know about the Art movement. The first major author must be Kafka but it was not named then, perhaps Murakami is the most important modern exponent.

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