Guardian Cryptic 29,293 by Paul

82 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 29,293 by Paul”

1. Getting 19ac first made this very accessible and I immediately went searching for STIEG LARSSON, whose books (and film versions) I was familiar with and I also knew of JO NESBO. Lots of ticks with my favourites being WATER UNDER THE BRIDGE, DRAGON, EXOTHERMIC and STUPEFACTION for the rogue/upset choice of anagrinds, similar to a Brendan clue yesterday. Again on the easier side for Paul, this was highly enjoyable.

   Ta Paul & manehi.

2. Great puzzle even though the theme was not one I was familiar with.

   Some proper groans as expected and desired from Paul. But all good as far as I am concerned.

   Thanks Setter and Blogger

3. 19ac a perfect clue.

   Yes, done and dusted in a shortish time, though had to google for Jo Nesbo.

   Thanks Paul and manehi – EFFED parsing defeated me

4. Started brilliantly as I am very familiar with Scandi Noir, and then came to a halt. But reading the Guardian bloggers who knew nothing of the theme gave me hope and I persevered, only coming here to parse 17d, 21d and the poor little boy in 26a – how did I miss that one?
   Thanks so much to Paul, especially the theme, and manehi for explaining it all.

5. Am I right in thinking the Graun has a new crossword editor? If so I approve of the show so far, the variety and range in degree of difficulty seems to be improving.

   I imagine there’ll be the quotidian complaints about the general knowledge required for this one, but think Larsson and his Girl With The Dragon Tattoo must be both recent and famous enough to make it acceptably accessible. Full of clever stuff, of which JO NESBO and RECTORIAL were perhaps my favourites.

   Thanks to Paul and manehi.

6. After a harder-that-usual Brendan, an easier-than-usual Paul. Good thing that my solving partner is a fan of Scandi noir, though. I did look for Henning Mankell in vain, the only one I know. DARK RED and PSYCHE were very nice. I agree that SEVEN is the age for primary school in Scandinavia – it is younger than that in the Anglo world.
   Thanks, Paul and manehi.

7. I too had to Google Jo Nesbo, but all the rest were accessible. I agree that 19a is a clever clue (and &lit?). The linked clues didn’t prove too daunting once the theme was found, though I kicked myself for taking so long to twig ‘DRAGON’ and ‘TATTOO’ as the Stieg Larsson novels are the only ones in that genre that I’ve read. The usual groan-worthy homophones that you expect from Paul as well. Thanks to him and to manehi

8. The first themed one I found was JO NESBO – I don’t know a lot about SCANDI NOIR but was familiar with all the names and titles here: a nice original (and up to date) theme. Yes, I think the SEVEN year old is starting primary school in Scandinavia – it’s five in the UK.

   Failed to parse ADORING (how is “stamps” a containment indicator?) and needed the wordfinder for EXOTHERMIC.

9. Charles: yes you are right – Alan Connor took over from Hugh Stevenson last December: see here.

10. I note there were no FINNS involved 🙂

11. Getting 19a helped solve this steadily – albeit I came at it indirectly. I saw the anagram, nothing leapt out, so kept answering clues until I got to HIJACK in the downs, knew the crosser had to be JO NESBO, went back to SCANDI NOIR, and the rest fell in place.

    SCANDI NOIR is such a good clue.

    I checked, and the children of Iceland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway start school at 6. Of the Nordic countries, only in Finland does compulsory schooling start at 7, and they tend to start school at 6. (Other countries that start compulsory schooling at 7 are Russia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania).

    Thank you to Paul and manehi.

12. Great fun – fortunately the theme was familiar to me and the splendid clue for SCANDI NOIR came easily and helped a lot. Good variety of clues and some well-chosen anagrinds.

    Favourites were STUPEFACTION, EXOTHERMIC, JO NESBØ and the jolly little EFFED, DRAGON and HIJACK.

    AMERASIAN was new to me, but easily solved.

    Thanks to S&B

13. SCANDI NOIR was a lovely clue – I’d have got it sooner if I hadn’t thought I was looking for a book title.

14. Plenty to like. Very enjoyable. A high-standard blog from manehi (as a routine)!
    Thanks Paul and manehi!

    Top faves: The &lit SCANDI NOIR, STEIG LARSSON, SUPER BOWL and WATER UNDER THE BRIDGE.

15. I wouldn’t call this easy but, because 19a was my first one in, the themed clues went in quickly. Some of the others were guess first, parse later. I was very pleased that I finished it with no assists from google. I struggled to get SUPER BOWL, even though it’s happening this weekend. Thanks Paul and manehi.

16. An unfamiliar theme, but I struggled through. Never heard of “deffo” (British?), and was unaware that Jones was Welsh. Good old ET gets rolled out again …

17. I’m also not familiar with the genre, but once SCANDI NOIR was in, the rest fell into place quite easily. DRAGON, RECTORIAL and JO NESBO were particular favourites. There was plenty of good humour in there too.

    Crosswords like this give the the real setsunai feeling – the idea of holding both sorrow and joy at the same time. Happiness looking at a completed grid, but sorrow at it ending so soon.

    Thanks S&B.

18. Really enjoyed this. Only familiar with the Dragon Tattoo film, but that was enough for spot of wider research into the genre.

    Bravo, Paul!

19. What a treat after yesterday! I absolutely loved this. Having read all Stig and Jo’s books, I did get a head start once I solved the lovely19ac. (Nobody’s mentioned Nesbo’s cop Harry Hole at 18ac!)
    Thanks Paul and manehi.

20. Thanks Paul for so many enjoyable clues and manehi for explaining those I couldn’t quite justify.
    SCANDI NOIR is an excellent clue, even if I don’t enjoy the genre.

21. gladys@8 – I thought back to my school days when infants started at five and juniors started around seven. Long, long before year this and year that took over.

    A nice palate refresher after yesterday’s (for me) two hard to get into puzzles.

    Thank you, both.

22. I loved this, and look forward to telling Paul so at his Zoom tomorrow. What really impressed me was his gridfill: in a 158-cell odd-odd grid, to get all those thematics and references in was a great achievement. And the neatness of AMERASIAN and NONET is the sort of thing I love. Thank you manehi, though fortunately I didn’t need a leg-up today!

23. I thought Paul was very restrained with RECTORIAL with its fecund scope for back passage homophonery 🙂

    Top ticks for puff the magic DRAGON, SUPERBOWL and WATER UNDER THE BRIDGE

    cheers P&M

24. So much fun – one of my favourite crime genres (although I’m also quite fond of tartan noir). A clever puzzle from Paul (to whom much thanks)- the theme clues were very enjoyable to solve, and I particularly liked the reference to “The Bridge” in 24,2,7d (that was one of the best TV series ever!).
    [So sorry I missed the subtle reference to Harry Hole with HOLEY/HOLY at 18a, JerryG@19.]
    Thanks also to manehi for some helpful explanations.
    [And to Lechien@17 for letting me know about the “setsunai” – it must resemble Kahlil Gibran’s notion as explained in his “Joy and Sorrow” reading in “The Prophet”.]

25. Very enjoyable solve being a fan of the Scandi Noir genre – much more on my wavelength than yesterday. Exothermic probably my favourite.

26. Zipped through in Quiptic time, despite not being ScandiNoir-cognoscent (although I have a small collection of first editions of hard-boiled detective novels of the 30s and thereabouts that later became noir movies). Thanks Paul and manehi.

27. I am not familiar with the books of Jo Nesbo but I have seen the name in the crime section of the Oxfam bookshops where I volunteer. I solved 22ac JO NESBO by doing a google search of ‘writer jo’ as I had already solved 18d, which then allowed me to solved 19ac SCANDI NOIR and 27ac as well as 5d.

    25ac is very timely considering that the possibility of conscription into the armed forces has been in the news this week in the UK.

    Favourites: RECTORIAL; DIONYSUS.

    New for me: OBAN = Scottish town; EXOTHERMIC.

    I could not parse 3d apart from what I guessed was DEF = certainly, 16d apart from EVE = girl.

    Thanks, both.

28. I definitely did not find this easy, as the theme is not one I know much about. I read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo many years ago and eventually managed to dig up Stieg Larsson’s name, but Jo Nesbo and The Bridge were completely unknown. But I managed to push through.

    I couldn’t parse a few, but they’re all perfectly reasonable now that I see how it’s done. I’m unfamiliar with the expression DEFFO. In US English, DEF was at one point slang for “definitely” (especially among urban African Americans — you’ll hear “mos’ def” a lot if you watch The Wire, for instance), so I was left puzzling about how to get EF from the rest of the clue.

29. TassieTim@6
    I am, of course, grievously out of date but when I was starting school in England a distinction was made between infants’ school (ages five and six) and primary school, which was seven to 11.

30. I needed a more approachable puzzle after Brendan’s of yesterday (for which I only had limited time prior to a very long business day so I’m only half way through). Fortunately, I know this theme and was able to fill the grid today without too much difficulty. For which I am most grateful. (Mind you, having finished Paul, I took on Monk in the FT and came away with tail twixt legs again!)

    EXOTHERMIC, SCANDI NOIR and, although something in the wording niggles me ever so slightly, NONET are my podium today.

    Thanks Paul and manehi

31. This was enjoyable, but no walkover: I’m not that knowledgeable about Nordic crime fiction – although I enjoyed the telly versions of The Bridge & The Killing. However, even I had heard of Stieg L and the tattooed lass, which helped in the early stages.
    SCANDI NOIR was a neat anag, RECTORIAL, JO NESBO and HIJACK were little beauties. What larks, eh Pip!
    Tusen takk to Paul for the fun, to manehi for help with finishing the parsing to 10A, and to Lechien @ 17 for introducing me to “setsunai”: a glorious term which I shall treasure…

32. Much more in my comfort zone compared to Brendan yesterday. Loved the economy of HIJACK in particular. Also RECTORIAL, which reminded me that my grandfather named one of his daughters Auriol almost certainly because of the college of that name he attended at Oxford, rather than the window. Though perhaps there is a connection between the two…

33. JerryG @19: I also missed the Hole allusion – if indeed it was deliberate, as Nesbø’s protagonist is pronounced something like ‘hula’ (as in ‘hoop’) in Norwegian!

    [And thanks to Lechien @17 for the beautiful ‘setsunai’. Parting is such setsunai, as Juliet says….]

34. Thanks manehi as I couldn’t parse ADORING, having decided that A DO was a deed, never mind – and I didn’t know or recall why PYSCHE was a lover’s wife. Quick but fun and my scant scandi knowledge was just enough to finnish (sorry, especially after yesterday’s mild controversy).
    Geoff Down Under you are right in that (according to something online) only about 7% of the world’s Joneses are Welsh, but on the other hand it is a sufficiently common surname in Wales for this to be news:
    https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-66671368
    Lots of wit and some very smart clues, thanks Paul.

35. Started late after wrestling with a new printer but found this reasonably straightforward, although the only JO I could think of was Jo Brand. And, I thought STIEG was STIG LARSSON (not to be confused, apparently).

    I liked the anagram for EXOTHERMIC and the &lit SCANDI NOIR. I also enjoyed the wordplay of STIEG LARSSON. I never did fathom out THE BRIDGE part of the long ‘un. but the definition was fine.

    Thanks Paul and manehi.

36. Very enjoyable. Like Tassie Tim, I was looking for a chicken in Manchester underworld. Too many good clues to pick a favourite.

37. Thanks for the blog, TATTOO was my favourite though I had to leave it until last, very original Playtex for the STIEG LARSSON clue. AlanC@1 has stolen my point about upset/rogue for STUPEFACTION . Fortunately JO NESBO is on a lot of posters at railway stations. 24Ac should have had a KPR reference.

38. Small correction to 6d I think: OMANI is an adjective, so the definition should be “of sultanate”, not just “sultanate”.
    Top pick EXOTHERMIC.

39. Soz Roz @ 37 but I followed your lead from yesterday. 20d should DEFFO not have a KPR reference.

40. I find myself in the minority of having desperately struggled with this. I find Paul tough at the best of times (unlike many here, I am rarely on his wavelength). Add to that no knowledge of Scandi Noir books and authors – I have not even heard the term before, which made 19AC a bit of a bung.

    Also found “DEFFO” a bit of a stretch. I got “DEF” and “O” and was left with a dangling F.

    I did enjoy 23A which was extremely clever.

41. 1a – I thought “upset” was the anagram indicator for SHOCK AND AWE + R from rogue.

    It all went downhill after that.

    18a, 4d and 6 d were the clues I managed to solve.

42. [AlanC@39 , is it true that teams must sack their manager if they do not beat KPR ?
    Seems a touch harsh. Perhaps you should dig up Blanco’s “treasure” and use it to buy some new players. ]

43. [GDU @16: Jones is the commonest surname in Wales, where it is certainly native, and the second commonest in England – sometimes indicating Welsh ancestry, but it is also a genuine English name.

    The Welsh traditionally used patronymics rather than fixed surnames but after Wales was formally annexed in the 16th century and English became the official legal language these were variously anglicised and became fossilised into hereditary surnames. John in Welsh is either Ifan or Sion, so ‘ab Ifan’ or ‘ap Sion’ (son of John) morphed into Jones, Evans and even Upjohn]

44. [Steffen @41 – we probably need to take this to Genetal Discussion, but what would help with crosswords look like?]

45. Thanks to Paul for so many inventive and enjoyable clues. All my family are great fans of SCANDI NOIR so this has to be my clue of the day.
    Thanks to manehi for the blog.

46. Remembered the Dragon Tattoo girl’s author, and surprised not to know Nesbo, given his star status. (Last in London ’08, so before his Tube posters as per Roz @37). Would’ve thought to have heard of him via Nikki Bedi or other radio reviewers, but hey ho. Enjoyed this, ta both.

47. Thanks to Paul for a lovely challenge. Even though the theme was clearly indicated, and I am a fan of the genre, it was not simply matter of listing authors and book titles, with some clues – 11A, 5D, 8D, 24/2/7 – calling for wider interpretation. Thanks to manehi for the blog and for parsing the two I couldn’t.

48. Had read some of the books, but had not heard of the genre. Was playing around with the letters, saw NOIR which looked promising, played a bit more and thought: Wouldn’t it be nice if SCANDI NOIR was a thing? And apparently it is! How nice!

49. Full marks to Paul in theming my favourite type of telly. After getting scandi noir I looked for Borgen, the Killing, Sara and her jumpers etc but at least we got the Bridge-imo the best of a great bunch and the very best of BBC4 output. Also a great blog. Should be an interesting discussion on Mr Halpern’s zoom tomorrow .

50. @44….a miracle?

51. That was a relief after yesterday’s (and fun). Thanks.

52. [Shanne @44: A Genetal Discussion is something we sometimes do have after a Paul puzzle 🙂 ]

53. First in was BROKE UNAN. I was able to parse 3d but I DEFO didn’t like it.

54. Thanks Paul and manehi
    I got SCANDI NOIR straight away, but it was of little help as I know virtually nothing about it. (I don’t read or watch anything “noir”!) I had 5 goes and checks before I spelled 27a correctly, though I had heard of him.
    Despite this, this was a surprisingly enjoyable solve. No chance of parsing EFFED, though.

55. Well – it’s a Paul so we should come to expect tricky parsings. Besides that, I found this one a bit GK-heavy and had to resort to Wiki.

    Never heard of SCANDI NOIR nor one of its exponents JO NESBO (should really be “Jo Nesbø” according to Wiki). Yes the name STIEG LARSSON rang a bell, though I failed to link it with DRAGON TATTOO and needed all the crossers – especially since the parsing is far from straightforward with a lift-and-separate.

    My bad because Girl with a Dragon Tattoo is actually on our bookshelves – just that I haven’t read it…

    Also, for same reasons, didn’t finish parsing WATER UNDER THE BRIDGE although once I got WATER UNDER the rest was obvious.

    But much to like. EFFED and HIJACK are typically Paul-ine humour, I guess. And RECTORIAL as a homophone (OK: ‘sounds like’) that really works for me. BROKE EVEN, HOLY, OBAN, DIONYSUS, CONSCRIPT, and SUPER BOWL also raised a smile.

    Thanks to Paul and manehi.

56. [Gervase @52 (embarassed smiley, which didn’t work :blush:) – in my defence, it was on my phone and I did post in General Discussion immediately after.]

57. I would love to have seen Sjowall and Wahloo (sorry can’t do the accents), who started the whole genre. Some solvers would doubtless claim they are now too obscure, but their detective Martin Beck has been in recent TV series.

58. What Jacob@40 said in their first paragraph!

    Way beyond me, though – to be fair – I didn’t have much time today. I usually find Paul tough to get started with, though things often eventually fall into place – not today.

59. The theme was right up my street. Excellent, inventive puzzle.
    I parsed DARK RED slightly differently: dark because of the genre and red because of the blood, with “would you say” only meaning “would you agree”. Some support for this is that SCANDI NOIR isn’t necessarily read, as in Paul’s example, The Bridge (TV series).
    Lots of fun.
    Thanks, Paul and manehi.

60. Fun, fun, fun from the maestro! Brilliant.

61. 23d NONET – as well as a hidden – is Yoda teaching maths: 18/2=9

62. What MN@2 wrote.

63. After the tooth-extracting experience of yesterday’s Brendan that was just what I needed – a crossword that was great fun from start to finish. For once the theme was a great help, especially when 19ac went in on the first pass. I share the ‘hmmm’ about DEFFO though, so thanks to Manehi for parsing that one for me.

64. Loved this. 8d brilliant. Not easy but fun.

65. Very enjoyable. Had never heard of scandi noir !

66. Another fun Paul for me, aside from the theme clues of which I am ignorant. SCANDI NOIR however was a brilliant &lit. Thanks manehi and Paul.

67. I finally had to resort to an anagram solver to get SCANDI NOIR. Once I did, it was very enjoyable puzzle. However, I refuse to accept the notion that anyone in the world has ever uttered “deffo”.

68. Aren’t there three continents in Amerasia?

69. Thanks to manehi and Paul for the fun.

    BlueDot @67..visit the NW of England, and you will deffo here “deffo” at some point!

70. Maybe obvious in the blog, but with both being hidden, and described as a group of nine going twice into eighteen, NONET was brilliant. One of my all time favourites.

71. My favourite puzzle for ages, cleverly made yet accessible. 19 across and 24/2/7 my favourites.

72. Hadn’t got a Danny about the theme, so on to Thursday.
    Thanks both

73. Gervase @ 43, thank you.

74. Cupid = lover was new to me. I know of him as the embodiment of love, firing his arrows at lovers.
    I failed on this and the themed clues apart from 19a itself. I wasn ‘t sufficiently concerned to look things up but that’s my problem, not Paul’s.

75. Lots of fun; SCANDI NOIR was my first one in. I struggled with FREE TO AIR. Have never read Jo Nesbo so I have a new author to explore now! Once I have finished cloud atlas. I seem to read less since I began trying to do crosswords! Not enough time in the day.

76. Just brilliant – great theme, fantastic clues, and I was right on Paul’s wavelength so it all flowed beautifully today. Bravo!

77. GDU @16: I did my teacher training in Wales and soon found out, on my teaching prac at Lampeter, a bilingual school, that if there was too much noise in the class and I said “Jones, be quiet”, half the class looked up. Evans accounted for another quarter.

78. Always happy to see a Paul – love those groanworthy homophones and short witty surfaces eg 18down ‘Hello Sailor’ appropriate? Agree with FrankG @61 and Wellcidered @70 that 23down NONET is the standout – &lit? And thanks to manehi – couldn’t parse 3down never having heard DEFFO said by anyone!

79. Togs @57, couldn’t agree more! Martin Beck was the original.

    Had to google the names, and NHO “deffo” so couldn’t parse EFFING, but I was born in Effingham so couldn’t fail on that one.

80. “Saga Norén, Länskrim, Malmö“ – 38 – That’s the number of times Saga said her catchphrase during the first series of THE BRIDGE

81. HoofItYouDonkey@72 “Danny” La Rue? (CRS)

82. The actual Scandinavians call it ‘Nordic Noir’ of course; to include Finland.

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