Guardian Cryptic 29,401 by Picaroon

by

The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/29401.

Picaroon in top form – but when is he not?

ACROSS
1 HASHISH
Dope in mess, to an extent (7)
A whimsical construction, using the suffix -ISH to connote ‘to an extent’, applied in this case to HASH (‘mess’).
5 FACTION
One running after calories consumed in fat camp (7)
A charade of FACT, an envelope (‘in’) of C (‘calories consumed’ – ‘consumed’ because the capital C used of food is a kilocalorie – 1000 calories as the old unit in physics) in ‘fat’; plus I (‘one’) plus ON (‘running’), with ‘after’ indicating the order of the particles.
9 DETRACTOR
Person knocking frame of durable vehicle (9)
A charade of DE (‘frame of DurablE‘) plus TRACTOR (‘vehicle’).
10 TAP-IN
How toccata starts with a lot of piano playing? It’s easy to score (3-2)
A charade of T (‘how Toccata starts’) plus APIN, an anagram (‘playing’) of ‘pian[o]’ minus the last letter (‘a lot of’).
11
See 24
12 FLOODGATES
It’s risky to open these tuck boxes left by mogul (10)
A charade of FLOOD, an envelope (‘boxes’) of L (‘left’) in FOOD (‘tuck’); plus GATES (Bill, ‘mogul’ as an influential businessman, magnate).
14 GLINKA
Russian who worked in bars walking unsteadily, putting away whiskey (6)
An anagram (‘unsteadily’) of ‘[w]alking’ minus the W (‘putting away whiskey’, whiskey being W in the NATO alphabet). for Mikhail GLINKA, the Russian composer.
15 DERIDER
Person scoffing articles in Gasthof around 1 (7)
An envelope (‘around’) of I (‘one’) in DER DER (‘articles in Gasthof’ – indicating German).
16 STIMULI
They get reactions from version of litmus paper (7)
A charade of STIMUL, an anagram (‘version’) of ‘litmus’; plus I (the British news ‘paper’).
18 EVER SO
Is it a page from an e-book, really? (4,2)
A whimsical construction E-VERSO (paired with E_RECTO).
20 AT THE WORST
If all else fails, ambassador cuts a dry sausage, as some say, (2,3,5)
An envelope (‘cuts’) of HE (His or Her Excellency, ‘ambassador’) in ‘a’ plus TT (‘dry’, abstaining from alcohol) plus WORST, sounding somewhat like (‘as some say’, particularly those who use an English W) WURST (‘sausage’).
21 SWIM
Do butterfly’s wings in shadow start to interest Mike? (4)
A charade of SW (‘wings in ShadoW‘) plus I (‘start to Interest’) plus M (‘Mike’, NATO alphabet), with the question mark for the indication by example.
24, 11 ARTIE SHAW
Jazz bandleader’s skill that is followed by playwright (5,4)
A charade of ART (‘skill’) plus I.E. (id est, ‘that is’) plus SHAW (George Bernard, ‘playwright’).
25 NEAR THING
Ultimately stubborn sod, ruler loses face in tragedy, almost (4,5)
A charade of N (‘ultimately stubborN‘) plus EARTH (‘sod’) plus [k]ING (‘ruler’) minus the first letter (‘loses face’).
26 GALATEA
Incredibly animated lady had meal during jamboree (7)
An envelope (‘during’) of ATE (‘had meal’) in GALA (‘jamboree’); Galatea is the name often given to the statue of a woman created by Pygmaleon in Greek mythology, so beautiful that he fell in love with it, and which was brought to life by Aphrodite.
27 EXHALED
Perhaps made pants well worn by old daughter (7)
An envelope (‘worn by’) of HALE (‘well’) in EX (‘old’ as a prefix) plus D (‘daughter’).
DOWN
1 HADES
Underworld boss pleased a henchman keeps up (5)
A hidden (‘keeps’) reversed (‘up’) in pleaSED A Henchman’.
2 SET SAIL
Second criminal is late to leave dock (3,4)
A charade of S (‘second’) plus ETSAIL, an anagram (‘criminal’) of ‘is late’.
3 IMAM
Holy man in area with border of 0.1 cm (4)
An envelope (‘with border of’) of A (‘area’) in IMM (1mm., ‘0.1 cm’).
4 HOTEL CALIFORNIA
Eagles hit a lithe falcon or cuckoo, circling island (5,10)
An envelope (‘circling’) of I (‘island’) in HOTELCALFORNIA, an anagram (‘cuckoo’) of ‘a lithe falcon or’, for the crossword’s built-in earworm.
5 FOR GOODNESS SAKE
Nursing head, why I visited tip-top Japanese bar that’s exasperating (3,8,4)
An envelope (‘nursing’) of NESS (‘head’land) in FOR GOOD SAKE (‘why I visited tip-top Japanese bar’).
6 CATEGORIES
Classes about, say, boring politicians (10)
A charade of CA (circa, ‘about’) plus TAGORIES TEGORIES, an envelope (‘boring’) of E.G. (exempli gratia, for example, ‘say’) in TORIES (‘politicians’).
7 IMPUTED
Assigned current Express journalist to take minutes (7)
An envelope (‘to take’) of M (‘minutes’) in I (‘cuttent‘ ‘current’) plus PUT (‘express’) plus ED (‘journalist’).
8 NONUSER
Eschewer of responsibility jailed by loveless tyrant (7)
An envelope (‘jailed by’) of ONUS (‘responsibility’) in NER[o] (Roman ‘tyrant’) minus the O (‘loveless’).
13 INDUCEMENT
Wanting top, perhaps Indian setter used for building motivation (10)
A charade of [h]INDU (‘perhaps Indian’) minus the first letter (‘wanting top’) plus CEMENT (‘setter used for building’).
16 SIAMANG
Primate is upset by e.g. bishop wearing silver (7)
A cgarade of SI, a reversal (‘upset’) of ‘is’, plus AMANG, an envelope (‘wearing’) of MAN (‘e.g. bishop’, chess piece) in AG (chemical symbol, ‘silver’), for the black gibbon.
17 IN TOTAL
All told Greek character pens books on line (2,5)
A charade of INTOTA, an envelope (‘pens’) of NT (‘New Testament, ‘books’) in IOTA (‘Greek character’); plus L (‘line’).
19 SAWMILL
Understood philosopher’s works (7)
A charade of SAW (‘understood’) plus MILL (John Stuart, or other ‘philosopher’).
22 MY GOD
Crikey! Covers of Marley track turned up (2,3)
A charade of MY (‘covers of MarleY‘) plus GOD, a reversal (‘turned up’ in a down light) of DOG (‘track’, verb).
23 UTAH
You picked up capsized boater, possibly in a state (4)
A charade of U, sounding like (‘picked up’) ‘you’, plus TAH, a reversal (‘capsized’ in a down light) of HAT (‘boater possibly’).

picture of the completed grid

75 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 29,401 by Picaroon”

  1. Again, I’m reminded why Picaroon is my favourite setter. Just about every clue brought a smile: clever, with no dodgy synonyms or any other reasons to grumble. There was only one “lexicon expander”, the primate.

    Thanks Picaroon & PeterO.

  2. Finished in good time, with the clue construction helping with “Siamang” and “Glinka” which were new to me.

    A fair number of “Fill in and parse later”, liked 1a (got the parsing now), 21a and “Sawmill” all of which held me up for a short while.

    Thank you to Picaroon and PeterO

  3. Don’t know if there’s any more, and I’m not in the mood to go searching, but I can see the names of of a number of philosophers in the grid. Mill (obviously),Shaw, Hale and .. um .. Derrida.

  4. COTD: EVER SO
    Liked HASHISH (nice whimsy. Ish is used as a standalone slang term too), GLINKA for the brilliant surface and NONUSER (another great surface).
    IMAM
    ‘area with border of 0.1 cm’ IMAMette? 😉

    Thanks Picaroon and PeterO! Lovely puzzle and blog!

  5. Thank you PeterO. Lucky you to have this delight from Picaroon to blog today. Delightful blog as well, as always.

    Too many good clues to mention. Every one packed punch. Not a word wasted. Very clever disguises. The unknown (to me) GK , GLINKA and GALATEA I was able to work out from wordplay. To me, a perfect crossword, with chuckles galore.
    I stumbled on TAP-IN. Nice musical misdirection, but I was caught out by football again. Having the T and the 3-2 enumeration, I thought it might be the betting game of TWO-UP. At least you’ve got a 50-50 chance of getting heads or tails. That made it harder to get NONUSER, which was an after-parse.

    HOTEL CALIFORNIA was a gimmee, and FOR GOODNESS SAKE was kind. With those 2 central columns in an otherwise mostly split grid, except for 4 crossing clues, Picaroon opened the FLOODGATES to a successful solve.

    MY GOD and EXHALED made me laugh.

  6. Very satisfying. As already mentioned, too many good clues to give justice to them all, but EXHALED held out until the near end, along with SAWMILL, so I will name check those two. Like Andy Doyle@3 I had Derrida in mind while completing the puzzle, but DERIDED was clear enough. Did not parse INDUCEMENT – thanks PeterO for that and the excellent blog and thanks Picaroon for another high quality and enjoyable crossword, with some learning opportunities – SIAMANG, ARTIE SHAW and GLINKA – to boot.

  7. Liked the misdirection in 27 for ‘pants’ not being an anagram indicator for once. No trouble with GLINKA but it was quicker to check for the Eagles greatest hits than to work out the obviously signalled anagram. As everyone else has said, so much to admire once you’d managed to solve the clues. Found the East side tougher than the West and 8 took me ages to see for some reason. Thanks to Picaroon and to PeterO for the blog.

  8. Fabulous puzzle with delightful misdirections like ‘animated lady’ and the disguise of ‘Eagles hit’. All very cleanly clued as always. I’m another who found East far trickier than West.

    I have one query which I can’t quite get my head around: in the superbly defined EXHALED, how is well= HALE ‘worn by’ old daughter = EX-D when it’s put inside it? I read EXHALED as EX-D being worn by HALE which is completely the opposite.

    Thanks Picaroon and PeterO

  10. Thanks Picaroon and PeterO
    Most fun for ages. Loved GALATEA and HOTEL CALIFORNIA.
    In case anyone complains that ARTIE SHAW is rather dated, it was my FOI!

  11. Yep, loved the messy dope, the tuck boxing the l, the quirky cuckoo Eagles hit and lots more. Could you find even the slightest quibbletino? I thought SWIM might be one, needing startS to both Interest and Mike, but nope, I was forgetting about the Nato alphabet. All good and luvvly, thank heaps to Pickers and Peter.

  12. Yes, I dredged up ARTIE SHAW from who knows where, and got that in early. HOTEL CALIFORNIA was another write in.

    I needed the blog to parse NONUSER, but other than that as smooth as Picaroon usually is (his Quick Cryptics are much appreciated by new recruits to the dark arts too). I also completed west side in full, then east.

    Thank you to PeterO and Picaroon.

  14. PM@8. ”worn” in EXHALED. If you’re in a coat, you wear it. Or the coat is worn by you.
    and gif@13.

    I can’t think of examples, but don’t we have a lot of clues like this?

  15. Angry with myself for putting in a clumsy ‘even so’ instead of ‘ever so’ after doing the heavy lifting, but another superb puzzle from Picaroon.

  16. PM@8. worn cont.
    Here’s one by Picaroon himself, with both worn and pants in Prize 29,380 in March this year, blogged by Eileen.

    9 Measurements of pants, say, worn by Democrat (8)
    BREADTHS
    BREATHS (pants, say) round (worn by) D (Democrat) – nicely misleading use of the regular definition of ‘pants’ .

  17. PM@14. An example: the actress arrived in a Dior gown/a Dior gown worn by the actress.

    So “old daughter’ is in “well”

  18. pdm – thanks. I think my confusion is because, in the example you give, the D is wearing/is clad in the breaths. Works fine. In the clue for EXHALED, the well is worn by old daughter which just feels to me like the EX-D should be wearing/clad by HALE which it clearly isn’t. I am probably misreading something but I don’t think your example resolves it for me. Sorry.

  19. Well, for once I parsed almost every answer before writing it in (didn’t bother checking the anagram at 4d, and for some reason couldn’t see how 5ac worked). Wonderful crossword, but I think PostMark is right about 27a.

    I liked the pairing of 1a and 27a,

    Typo in the blog for 6d, TAGORIES for TEGORIES.

    Thanks to Picaroon and PeterO

  20. PM@18 and gif@13. Ah, I see what you’re saying about who’s wearing what in EXHALED. I thought I was taking a chance in responding to you, with your greater perception of things cryptic.

  21. Thought I was well on my way when HOTEL CALIFORNIA slipped in straight away – with very happy memories of playing the LP over and over again as I got myself ready for a road trip through France in 1977. But this puzzle then seemed to get trappier and trappier. Had to look up both GLINKA and SIAMANG to confirm their right to be in the grid and struggled with the parsing of INDUCEMENT, SWIM and IMPUTED. And loi was STIMULI once I realised the newspaper required was the I.
    Found this a very tough solve in the end, but well worth the time spent on it…SAWMILL the cotd for me today.

  22. [pdm – pleeeeze! The only greater aptitude I have is that for putting my foot in it. Normally in full public view. Given the regard I have for Picaroon, I also feel I am taking a chance in quibbling and suspect someone will be able to explain the error of my interpretation]

  23. Listened to the wonderful ear worm whilst reading your super blog Peter. I am just in awe of this puzzle. GALATEA and SIAMANG were my nho and I thought SWIM was the clue of the week so far. I feel there is a theme in there somewhere, but I can’t quite finger it.

    Ta Picaroon & PeterO.

  24. Tough puzzle and I was pleased that I could immediately parse all of my answers except 26ac – I did not know why GALATEA = incredibly animated lady – found out thanks to google.

    Favourite: NONUSER, FOR GOODNESS SAKE, SET SAIL, CATEGORIES, GLOODGATES (loi).

    New for me: SIAMANG.

    Thanks, both.

  25. I see what you mean PostMark @22. For what it’s worth, Dr Clue has wearing as an insertion indicator and worn by as a containment indicator which would support what you are saying (to paraphrase it should be “well wearing old daughter”).

  27. Lovely fun puzzle (and blog). For those claiming unfamiliarity with Glinka, you may recognise his “Ruslan and Ludmilla overture” (here) from the theme music of the Radio 4 comedy Cabin Pressure.

    If you don’t know Cabin Pressure, all I can say is that there are 27 episodes of utter joy awaiting you with John Finnemore, Roger Allam, Stephanie Cole and Benedict Cumberbatch.

  28. EXHALED
    I didn’t notice the ‘problem’. Now that it’s pointed out, I think it needs some good explanation.
    TimC@25
    What is Dr Clue? Is it some crossword dictionary? Your paraphrasing somewhat works for me. Not fully.
    Found this in Collings under ‘wear’:
    Brit dialect
    to gather and herd (sheep or cattle) to a pen or pasture
    I am sure this is not the sense intended by the setter as it’s a dialect. Must be something else.

  29. KVa @28, Dr Clue is the author of the Clue Clinic website which regularly blogs the Azed Sunday Observer puzzle as well as having a lot of useful information for setters of crosswords. He also sets crosswords as ‘Phylax’ among other pseudonyms. He set the February puzzle for the Crossword Centre this year.

  31. “Picaroon in top form – but when is he not?” Absolutely!

    I’ve the usual long list of ticks but at the top are the incredibly animated lady and the Russian who worked in bars walking unsteadily. I loved 21ac SWIM, too. Such a lot of cunning definitions and wicked misdirection, leading to lots of smiles.

    Many thanks to both. Now for Goliath (Philistine) in the FT – it feels like my birthday come early.

    PS: I’m afraid that, like others, I bunged in EXHALED without thinking – like paddymelon, remembering the recent example – and had to read PostMark’s comment @18 several times to get my head round it.

  32. Great puzzle, full of clever constructions and misdirections (which didn’t always deceive me – HOTEL CALIFORNIA was a write-in from the enumeration, though I couldn’t name any other Eagles’ track 🙂 ).

    I think PostMark is right about EXHALED, though I didn’t notice it myself. Well spotted.

    Lots to enjoy – I particularly liked ‘fat camp’, ‘tuck boxes left by mogul’, ‘person scoffing’, ‘really?’, and the reference to the philosopher and feminist neatly encapsulated in one of the original clerihews:

    John Stuart Mill
    By a mighty effort of will
    Overcame his natural bonhomie
    And wrote Principles of Political Economy

    Many thanks to the Pirate and PeterO

  33. PM@18 et al: maybe this would work « perhaps makes pants well taken in by old daughter »? To ‘take in’ a garment is to tighten it by altering its seams.

  34. JoFT @27: In the West, at least, GLINKA has become a one-hit wonder – the overture to ‘Ruslan and Ludmilla’ is the only work of his that gets a regular airing.

  35. I concur with the general admiration for this puzzle, but I do have a slight quibble about the increasing prevalence in crosswords of EX meaning ‘old’. It really means ‘former’, and so makes sense when applied to a spouse, cabinet minister etc. but not to a daughter. Is she no longer a daughter? How does that work?

  37. 20 reminds me of the Yes Prime Minister Christmas Special “Party Games” when Jim Hacker wants to wish the European Food Commissar “an offal Christmas and a wurst New Year” following a contratemps over the British sausage.

  38. poc@35: I spent a while trying to make O(ld) D fit into EXHALED before I realised it was EX, but I don’t have any quarrel with it.

    I liked the Eagles hit and the chap looking for good (ness) sake in Japan, just about remembered GLINKA and SIAMANG. I don’t think I usually say wurst like that, but that’s my fault for having learned German: it didn’t stop me getting it (and I had no problem with the articles in the Gasthof). Favourite, though, was FLOODGATES.

  39. Struggled through this. Some enjoyable clues but a few too many obscurities. I think SIAMANG has turned up before so maybe that doesn’t count. Had to Google several
    The possessive in “butterfly’s” blocked me for a while.
    Thanks both

  40. Isn’t that publication called i handy for setters! [I like its columnist Ian Dunt who does a weekly UK status report with Phillip Adams my fave Oz journo. (He did a great riff on Rishi In The Rain!)]

  43. Thanks for the blog, FLOODGATES flowed very nicely, CATEGORIES was a neat construction and I like AT THE WORST using “some say” .
    FACTION a bit clumsy with fat in clue and answer.
    GALATEA not used by Ovid , the statue did not have a name, a much later attribution but does not matter for the clue.

  45. Didn’t see the “problem” with wearing when I rushed through the puzzle last night. On reading the comments here I share the raised eyebrows of many.

    I do have an answer for poc@35. EX-D does not mean “old daughter” – rather, EX means old and D means daughter, if you get the difference. This is what some call lift-and-separate at the phrase level.

  47. PeterO, there are a couple of typos in your explanations:
    6d should say TEGORIES not TAGORIES, and 7d should say “current” not “cuttent”. Thank you for explaining the parsing of a couple of others.

    At first, I was mostly baffled, but I enjoyed gradually working my way round the puzzle, and there were plenty of rewarding moments as understanding of some clever clues dawned. I see in the Grauniad comments that HoofItYouDonkey found it very much to his liking – well done!

  48. Another good ‘un from Picaroon.

    I liked the good anagram for HOTEL CALIFORNIA, the surface for TAP-IN and GLINKA, and the wordplays for AT THE WORST, NEAR THING, HADES and CATEGORIES.

    Thanks Picaroon and Eileen.

  49. As Roz @44 points out, GALATEA was a name given much later to the ‘incredibly animated lady’. This confused me at first, because I associate the name more with the nymph beloved of the mortal Acis and the Cyclops Polyphemus. This latter myth was often given the operatic treatment, by Lully, Porpora and most notably Handel, amongst others.

  50. Good fun from Picaroon as usual. GALATEA, GLINKA, and SIAMANG were all new to me (but worked out by construction). 4D was the only GK I knew beforehand. I don’t know what all that says about my education…

  51. Thanks Picaroon & PeterO, another top-notch puzzle.
    Loved TAP-IN & GLINKA for their surfaces, EVER SO and GALATEA for the definitions.

    And nice to see (G.B.) SHAW (who wrote Pygmalion) with GALATEA

  53. Interesting discussion about EXHALED. ‘I’m wearing a top’ would give IM inside ATOP but surely ‘A top worn by me’ would give ME outside ATOP, like EX D being outside HALE in the clue (?)

  55. A rare finish for this plonker, particularly a Picaroon puzzle. I feel I may be eligible for the “finished before I had stirred my first cup of coffee” brigade.
    It seemed to be one of those puzzles where you just had to follow the instructions and the answer popped out.
    I few HNO’s, the Russian composer and the bandleader the animated lady. All fairly clued though.
    Thanks for the blog, Peter, and Picaroon for the puzzle.
    Didn’t know the primate either.

  56. Many thanks to Picaroon for another brilliant Cryptic. PeterO, a great blog and a wonderful earworm. Rats@9 you made me smile. Not my thing, but each to their own 😎. So many favourites to choose from but FOR GOODNESS SAKE was lovely, as was HOTEL CALIFORNIA.
    [Roz@44, I thought that too…]

  57. PostMark @8 etc etc
    think this use of ‘worn by’ has come up before, and perhaps needs a little special pleading, along the lines of that, although clothes are on the outside, one may wear a pacemaker (if one needs to).
    poc @35
    Dr WhatsOn @45 has already given you an answer, but I would formulate it by saying that you are conflating the surface of the clue with its cryptic interpretation; even though ‘old’ refers to the daughter in the clue’s surface, for the cryptic reading, it is sufficient that ‘old’ in some sense answers to EX, even if not for a daughter (although even then you might stretch it to refer to an ex step-daughter).
    HoofitYouDonkey @55
    Congratulations! Now enjoy your coffee.

  58. PeterO@57 and DrWhatsOn@45: I take the point, but nevertheless I’m finding it hard to accept that EX can mean ‘old’ if separated from the following noun, other than when used as a noun in itself (‘my ex’ etc., but no-one would say ‘my old’ in that way). Chambers give it various meanings, and ‘old’ isn’t one of them other than in the sense of ‘former’.

  59. The usual box of delights from Picaroon. Particularly liked the use of “setter” in INDUCEMENT and both the long clues are classics.

  60. Gervase@49: The animated Galatea hasn’t entirely missed out on the operatic treatment enjoyed by her namesake. Franz von Suppé had a success with ‘Die schöne Galathée’ and, more obliquely, there’s ‘My Fair Lady’ via Shaw’s ‘Pygmalion’

  61. poc @58
    “…hard to accept that EX can mean old if separated from the following noun”: yes, but my point is that I think the following noun does not have to be the one fed to you in the clue’s surface – in this case the ‘daughter’. If EX answers to ‘old’ in some reasonable cases – such as ex-girlfriend – that is sufficient justification for the equivalence.

  62. Finished most of it last night, then woke up at 3am and did the rest. I’m paying for that now.

    Anybody else try NEAR DEATH for 25ac? That would be N+ EAR(DEA)TH.. But I couldn’t figure anything out about the DEA.

    poc@35 “old daughter” doesn’t have to mean “former daughter,” it’s just “former” + “daughter.” That’s how charades work.

    gladys@38 I’ve learned some German too, but that doesn’t affect how I pronounce Anglicized things. If I’m speaking English, I pronounce the W as in English, and (although I speak French) I do pronounce the S in “Paris.”

    HOTEL CALIFORNIA was far from a write-in for me. When the crossers finally made the solution the only possible one for the anagram fodder, I just thought, “What are eagles doing in a hotel? I guess I’ll have to wait for the blog to understand.” Eileen, are you saying you didn’t like the anagram?

    Thanks, Picaroon and PeterO.

  65. Can the posts at 44, 63 and 64 be removed please? For those of us who are not lucky enough to be able to do the crossword on the day of publication but catch up later in the week, they have ruined any pleasure from being able to catch up with yesterday’s puzzle. Site policy 3 refers.

  66. Thanks Picaroon for a masterful crossword. Like others, I raced through the West but slowed considerably in the East. My favourites were FACTION, DETRACTOR, AT THE WORST, CATEGORIES, and MY GOD. I agree with PostMark about ‘worn’ in EXHALED. Thanks PeterO for the blog.

  67. I’m another for whom SIAMANG was a jorum — never heard of it, but was able to work it out from the wordplay + crossers, which is very satisfying.

    In 3dn, I parsed 0.1 cm as just mm, and got the I from “in” (which sometimes shows up in dialect as “i'”), but PeterO’s parsing is better and is doubtless what was intended.

    I’ll join the chorus in praise of this puzzle. My favorites stood out for the cleverly misleading definitions, namely 21ac (SWIM) and 27ac (EXHALED), but there were many others to like.

  68. Agree wholeheartedly with PeterO. Another gem from Picaroon with some superb misdirection. COTD for me was 5 down. LOI 16 down – very gettable from the clue but new to me. Picaroon is fast becoming one of my favourite setters. Thanks to Picaroon and PeterO

  69. 68 comments so far, and only one who didn’t like it (and that one was predictable). That says something about the quality of this puzzle and the esteem in which Picaroon is held.

    I rarely disagree with PostMark, but I have no problem with 27 EXHALED. My justification is not elaborate. The clue as written led me to the correct answer, and almost everyone who has commented on this has said the same, which suggests that most people read it as HALE inside EX and D and only thought about whether the other interpretation is better afterwards. To me, that makes the clue OK, ex post facto quibbles notwithstanding.

    Van Winkle@ 65, you make a very good point. If someone thinks of something they want to say about yesterday’s puzzle today, they could flag it without spoilers in today’s blog and make the spoiler-rich comment in General Discussion.
    I solve the problem this way: when I fall behind, I catch up by doing the puzzles in sequence and read the blogs in the same order, so I’m never reading a blog that might contain a spoiler.

    Thanks Picaroon, PeterO and all the commenters for a most enjoyable experience.

  70. Very well written, as always by Picaroon, but, dare I say it, pretty much a write-in, even the unknown (to me) SIAMANG and GLINKA.
    I saw PM’s EXHALED problem too and I don’t quite buy the justifications so far.
    Thanks, Picaroon and PeterO.
    I would rather like a higher percentage of tougher puzzles than of late, though. Just sayin’.

  71. Thanks both and I enjoyed it all the way.

    On EXHALED I am inclined to point towards piercings – ear-rings, erm, that kind of thing – whereby the wearer is around or outside the item worn. Earplugs is another example….

    Contact lenses!

  72. PostMark@8: “I read EXHALED as EX-D being worn by HALE” (and other commenters (with apologies, too many to x-reference).

    IMHO, it can just as readily be defined as EX-D wearing HALE

    My two-pennorth is that ‘worn’ as an operator in a clue is very, very often ambiguous. It’s just one of those words. In terms of clue construction, ‘[A worn by B]’ can be interpreted both ways. The literal sense doesn’t really come into it. Both A and B can be the wearer or the wearee (ugly, invented word, but you know what I mean).
    Excellent crossword Mr Picaroon. Thanks to PeterO too.

  73. I’m another rare case in that this wasn’t for me today. Partially circumstantial, with lots of work-related things being at the forefront, but I doubt I would have finished this even if I’d had the entire day free. But on first reading of the blog I was struggling to parse some of the explanations so it’s clearly not the day for it.

    I hope this doesn’t read as grouchy because that’s not the case: nice that the puzzle has gone down so well, and I did enjoy what I was able to solve, which was maybe just over half of it. So to tomorrow.

  74. GALATEA is also an animated cartoon character in one of these “super people “ type series that studios are churning out ad nauseum these days.
    Thanks for the fun and blog.

  75. Solved about as quickly as I ever can. SIAMANG new to me, couldn’t parse AT THE WORST or CATEGORIES. Only partly parsed FOR GOODNESS SAKE (since my brain refuses to internalize “ness” to mean “cape or headland”, much less merely “head”) — I got the “for saké” part but couldn’t figure out how “head” = “goodness”. EVER SO to mean “really” was new to me also. All were inevitable from the crossers and clues, though, so no harm.

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