The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/29684.
A mixture of easy clues and not so easy, with the result perhaps benign for Soup, and which I found enjoyable. The references cast a wide net.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | MONKEY |
£500 (double the amount in cash) (6)
|
| An envelope (‘in’) of K (‘double the amount’ – that is, £1000, perhaps more commonly rendered as G, rather than K) in MONEY (‘cash’). | ||
| 4 | ISLAND |
Man is one (except according to Donne!) (6)
|
| A reference to the quote from John Donne “No man is an island”. | ||
| 8 | PSYCHIC |
Mystical style of Gangnam artist? (7)
|
| PSY CHIC (”style of Gangnam artst’ – the South Korean singer Psy produced a hugely popular video of his song “Gangnam Style”). | ||
| 9 | PIRATES |
After work, a priest knocks off (7)
|
| An anagram (‘after work’) of ‘a priest’. | ||
| 11 | ORANG-UTANS |
Island natives spooked Argonauts and, ultimately, Jason (5-5)
|
| An anagram (‘spooked’) of ‘Argonauts’ plus N (‘ultimately, JasoN‘). Orangutans (with or without the hyphen) are now found in the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. | ||
| 12 | USED |
Employed setters and someone more senior (4)
|
| A charade of US (‘setters’) plus ED (editor, ‘someone more senior’). | ||
| 13 | GHOST |
German publican’s spirit (5)
|
| A charade of G (‘German’) plus HOST (‘publican’). | ||
| 14 | MEAT HOOK |
One suspends cuts, recounting encounter with leader of 9 (4,4)
|
| Sounds like (‘recounting’) MEET HOOK (‘encounter with leader of 9’ – Captain Hook in Peter Pan). | ||
| 16 | ROOT BEER |
Spooner’s ‘kick in the pants’ drink (4,4)
|
| A Spoonerism of BOOT REAR (‘kick in the pants’). | ||
| 18 | AURAL |
From the mouth, heard by the ear (5)
|
| Sounds like (‘heard’) ORAL ( |
||
| 20 | GEMS |
Rocks back, kisses me, gently content (4)
|
| A hidden (‘content’) reversed (‘back’) answer in ‘kisseS ME Gently’. | ||
| 21 | BEEKEEPERS |
Might those they work with be stingy? (10)
|
| Cryptic definition, with play on ‘sting-y’. | ||
| 23 | WISE GUY |
Ernie and Ritchie meet Alec, perhaps (4,3)
|
| A charade of WISE (‘Ernie’, comedian) and GUY (‘Ritchie’, NZ rugby plauer), identified by their first names in the clue, for a “Smart Alec”. | ||
| 24 | INSULTS |
Behaves badly – boorish tussling’s no good (7)
|
| An anagram (‘boorish’) of ‘tusslin[g]’ minus the G (‘no good’). | ||
| 25 | SWATHE |
Batman’s thus indicated cloak? (6)
|
| A charade of SWAT (‘bat’-) plus HE (-‘man’). | ||
| 26 | UNDEAD |
Like 13as, having no right to short notice (6)
|
| A charade of UNDE[r] (‘short’) minus the R (‘having no right’) plus AD (‘notice’). | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | MISER |
One doesn’t like spending time away from man (5)
|
| A subtraction: MIS[t]ER (‘man’) minus the T (‘time away’). | ||
| 2 | NO CAN DO |
Negative letters from company? Impossible! (2,3,2)
|
| A charade of NO (‘negative’) plsu C AND O (CO, ‘letters from company’). | ||
| 3 | ETIQUETTE |
Body of letter describes quite questionable manners (9)
|
| An envelope (‘describes’) of IQUET, an anagram (‘questionable’) of ‘quite’ in ETTE (‘body of lETTEr’). | ||
| 5 | SHIPS |
Heading for Sandwich in small craft (5)
|
| A charade of S (‘heading for Sandwich’) plus HIP (dated slang, ‘in’) plus S (‘small’). | ||
| 6 | AT A PUSH |
Looking to the sky, weighs up a task – it’s taken on if really necessary (2,1,4)
|
| A hidden (‘it’s taken on’) reversed (‘looking to the sky’) answer in ‘weigHS UP A TAsk’. | ||
| 7 | DIESEL OIL |
Passes Morlocks’ prey, left for fuel (6,3)
|
| A charade of DIES (‘passes’) plus ELOI (‘Morlocks’ prey’ – eaten by Morlocks in H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine) plus L (‘left’). | ||
| 10 | PALM TREES |
Handy plants for sandy shade? (4,5)
|
| Punning definition, with PALM for ‘handy’, and the association of palms with Saharan oases | ||
| 13 | GROCERIES |
Ordered cigs, unopened beer, or household supplies (9)
|
| An anagram (‘ordered’) of ‘cigs’ plus ‘[b]eer’ minus its first letter (‘unopened’) plus ‘or’. | ||
| 15 | AGAMEMNON |
Trump’s slogan boosted men struggling against legendary warrior (9)
|
| A charade of AGAM, a reversal (‘boosted’) of MAGA (‘Trump’s slogan’) plus EMN, an anagram (‘struggling’) of ‘men’, plus ON (‘against” – leaning on). | ||
| 17 | TESSERA |
Teaching paper will be in Spanish as part of the bigger picture (7)
|
| A charade of TES (formerly Times Educational Supplement, ‘teaching paper’) plus SERA (‘will be in Spanish’), for a tile used in a mosaic. | ||
| 19 | RAPTURE |
Part exchange delivered: you are last to receive transport (7)
|
| A charade of RAPT, an anagram (‘exchange’) of ‘part’ plus UR, sounding like (‘delivered’) ‘you are’, plus E (‘last to receivE‘). | ||
| 21 | BRUSH |
Wild country with river running through shrubby area (5)
|
| An envelope (‘with … running through’) of R (‘river’) in BUSH (‘wild country’). I think that is the better interpretation of the clue structure, rather than taking ‘wild country’ as the definition. | ||
| 22 | RATED |
Scored and wore away missing veneer (5)
|
| A subtraction: [g]RATED (‘wore away’) minus its first letter (‘missing veneer’ – I was expecting the instruction to omit first and last letter). |
Fun puzzle, quite a few very nice surfaces.
I thought the Guy Ritchie in WISE GUY was the film director, one-time spouse of Madonna.
I solved the first two across answers on first reading, but I only noticed the possibility that they could be a theme after I had filled most of the grid. I can see PIRATES, GHOST, MEATHOOK ROOT BEER, INSULTS and SHIPS which all appear in the original game, and of course GUY/BRUSH is hidden in 23a and 21d.
I also had the director GUY Ritchie in 23a, and notice that the rugby player’s name is spelled Richie.
The heading for the blog doesn’t refer to the Guardian.
I should have read the blog more carefully and included this in my previous comment, but I think you have 18a the wrong way round: AURAL means ‘relating to the ear’ and ORAL ‘relating to the mouth’.
From previous encounters with Soup I was expecting this to be tough, so I was surprised to find it – not easy, but doable (and Everyman’s NO MAN IS AN ISLAND last Sunday certainly helped).
Matthew@2: what original game is this please? I noticed a few piratical references, but don’t know the theme if there is one.
gladys, the game is Monkey Island.
Thanks Peter O.
Agree with you on BRUSH. Bush is wild country here.
I had to look up British slang for £500, and found it is a MONKEY.
Agree with Matthew@4. As I read it, the punctuation of the clue for AURAL is misdirecting. The homophone indicator ”heard” follows From the mouth, and the def is by the ear..
I take it Matthew@2 that the theme is a computer game Monkey Island? Those 2 words seemed to stand out, and, on googling, a lot of the answers here seemed to fit.
I liked ETIQUETTE, SHIPS, PALM TREES, and MEAT HOOK.
I loved the puzzle. A time point though, I think in 5D craft should have been plural to match SHIPS. Otherwise, definitely fine soup—no Campbell’s tomato here. My favorites were AGAMEMNON AND PHYCHIC. Thanks Soup and thanks PeterO for a great blog.
I loved the puzzle. A time point though, I think in 5D craft should have been plural to match SHIPS. Otherwise, definitely fine soup—no Campbell’s tomato here. My favorites were AGAMEMNON AND PHYCHIC. Thanks Soup and thanks PeterO for a great blog.
Jay@9. But SHIPS are ”craft”, not crafts.
Thanks TimC@6: that’s certainly the theme, but the only Monkey Island I know is the one in the Thames at Maidenhead.
Yes, I expected the “veneer” to be on both sides of RATED, and I solved BRUSH the “wrong” way round (though both work).
Pdm @7, surprised you hadn’t come across that monkey, eg in Brit tv shows. What I struggled with was 25a and 17d in the SW. If I’d had the wit to get swat he, the ‘a’ might’ve triggered ‘sera’ for ‘will be’ and enabled a bung (wouldn’t have remembered rhe TES). Enjoyed it anyway, pretty smooth everywhere else, thanks Soup and PeterO.
Theme here is the following…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_Island
Multiple references to the games, content and ‘hero’
I too would have thought “veneer” referred to outer letters, not just the first. Apart from not knowing the Korean singer, Eloi, the Times Educational Supplement or the slang term for £500 it was mostly plain sailing and quite enjoyable.
On/against was a surprise.
Thanks Soup and PeterO
A found this a rather unsatisfactory mix of very easy and baffling clues. No idea of the theme, of course. Hands up everyone who has heard of PSY!
The fact that computer games and K-pop are no part of the world I inhabit did not prevent me from enjoying the puzzle and it all parsed satisfactorily.
Thanks to Soup and PeterO.
muffin @15 *puts hand up*
Found this relatively – with the accent very much on relatively – gentle compared to recent Fridays and midweek puzzles. Which meant that it wasn’t easy but a mix of accessible and chewy, and I was happy with that.
In RATED I too expected “missing veneer” to mean remove both outer letters, but Chambers says “veneer vt to OVERlay or face (coarse wood, etc) with a thin sheet of fine wood or other material” so that’s fine by me.
Hands up here too, muffin @15. For a time in 2012 ‘Gangnam Style’ was such a phenomenon internationally that, if you did not know of it, you were possibly clinically dead. Besides, my younger daughter was 15 at the time and treated us to it whenever she had control of the TV.
What Muffin @15 said.
What Auriga @ 16 said.
Muffin @6 *Hands up* At time of release, Psy’s video was the most streamed in history. It was so fiercely and charmingly entertaining that billions at least had a look.
This was a strange mix of write-ins and head scratchers for me. Even stranger when Peter opted for a leftfield choice of Ritchie in his blog, I very much appreciate the expertise though.
As is so often the case, the hiddens confused me the most, and I had a sinking feeling about floundering on the rocks, but I got them in the end. I have to protect this Achilles heel!
Thanks Soup and Peter.
Apologies to gladys@5 for not explicitly naming and posting a link to the theme, and thanks to Tim C@6 and Skinny@13 for doing so.
Haven’t seen orangutan written with a hyphen for a while
Re AURAL/ORAL. They’re not homophones in my dialect, but it seems they are in British English. How do you interpret the difference? That must cause confusion.
MONKEY
Took ‘double the amount’ as 1000 rather than 1000 pounds. K looked fine. Liked the clue.
BRUSH
I parsed it as the blogger and I agree with his views.
RATED
Seen ‘veneer’ clueing the first letter as well as the outer letters. So, didn’t find it a problem.
(Blaise@18 has cited the dictionary ref).
Liked ISLAND and UNDEAD as well.
Thanks Soup and PeterO.
nho the theme but had heard of the Korean from his 15 minutes of fame. And I’m another who 1) was looking for an outside veneer rather than a top one, 2) took Ritchie to be the director and 3) thinks AURAL is wrongly defined in the blog. MONKEY, PIRATES and ETIQUETTE my picks.
Thanks Soup and PeterO
Salaries are typically quoted in K so it seems OK for money
Top ticks for WISE GUY, SWATHE and PSYCHIC – didn’t Ed Balls once dance to it on TV? I can’t bear to look it up 🙂
Cheers S&P
I think you would only veneer one side of a piece of wood – say the top of a table. I had heard of Psy, but then forgotten. I liked MISER and ETIQUETTE.
Very enjoyable
I failed to parse TESSERA, never having heard of TES, and WISE GUY defeated me entirely.
Otherwise, all good fun.
Had to google Psy and Eloi. But recognised that it was the S Korean popstar being referenced and that the Morlocks are in the Time Machine. So it seemed to me to be just the right level of general knowledge. Not so obscure that the question itself is baffling but really quite challenging to get the answer.
Loved the Monkey Island games from many years ago. But completely missed the theme. Those games come highly recommended by me.
And they are suitable for all ages because point-and-click doesn’t need the reflexes of a teenager.
First time poster here breaking cover to point out that we also have USED to go along with SHIPS – I assume a reference to Stan’s Previously Owned Vessels?
It’s a nice coincidence that this crossword came on my birthday. I am normally pretty bad at spotting themes – and while it sounds like this one wasn’t one known to quite a few people on here, it certainly brought back fond memories for me!
Surely GHOSTs are supposed to be dead, unlike the undead zombies or vampires.
Morning, folks – thanks for the kind words. Nice to be back in the G – hopefully more erelong, I’ve just been concentrating on research and teaching and moving house over the last year.
I’m surprised the theme was spotted so fast (well done, Matthew@2). I try to make any themes like this entirely incidental to the puzzle, so you don’t need to know anything about them – it’s more for my own enjoyment as a setter, and if solvers spot it, well, that’s a bonus. ChrisSh@33 – yes, USED was in there because of SHIPS; I *really* wanted to get STANS at the end of 11, but it didn’t work out. I think in an earlier draft of the grid, the U of ETIQUETTE was pencilled in as an S so STANS was there if you looked hard for it, but I couldn’t get the words to fit properly. Hey ho. If anyone wants, you can get Monkey Island for £9 at https://www.gog.com/en/game/the_secret_of_monkey_island_special_edition (and there is an option to turn on the original graphics rather than the nasty new-fangled ones).
As for references, I’ve been interested to follow some discussions about what’s ‘fair game’ in crosswords – too many ancient references and not much new stuff. I think PSY is definitely fair game – Gangnam Style was for many years the most-viewed video on YouTube (incidentally, it actually broke the YouTube counter, which didn’t go high enough), and the TES feels relatively fair GK.
As it was, I was aiming for ‘less painful than usual’ – I want people to enjoy my puzzles rather than groan when they see my name. Maybe normal service will be resumed soon 🙂
There were quite a few towards the completion of this I entered but was puzzled about how exactly they parsed – SAILS, SWATHE, AGAMEMNON, TESSERA, UNDEAD, PSYCHIC and loi RATED. Too many, therefore, to state that this was an overall enjoyable solve. Favourite clue today was WISE GUY. I knew MONKEY from betting parlance (with a Pony a much less hefty £25). Many thanks Soup and PeterO…
Thanks for the comprehensive entry Soup, which makes interesting reading. I thought PSY and the TES were fair, especially the former as it was a worldwide phenomenon. I didn’t know the theme and like gladys @11, the only MONKEY ISLAND I know is near Maidenhead (my friend celebrated his 40th birthday there many years ago). I was disappointed to discover that The BEEKEEPER with Jason Statham was not directed by Guy Ritchie, as they have worked on other films together. Great finish to the weekday cryptics.
Ta Hamish/Soup & PeterO.
I didn’t complete it. I couldn’t find the wise guys. I really liked BEEKEEPERS. It tickled me. I thought that the general knowledge was perfect. You could see that it involved knowing something, but you could work out what it is was that you had to look up, if you didn’t know. I confess to never having heard of Morlocks and not remembering who did Gangham style.
My perfuctionary research for WISE GUY led me to discover that there was an All Black at the turn of the 20th Century called ‘Ernie Ritchie’. Maybe he straddles Peter’s and the bloggers ‘Guy’.
A fun puzzle. Thanks Peter and Soup
In 15d I suppose that AGAMEMNON did go to war, so that makes him a warrior, but “legendary king” would have been more accurate. I wonder if Soup was confusing him with Achilles?
[By coincidence, PSY and Gangnam Style (which I had someone managed totally to avoid hearing of) was one of the answers on today’s Ken Bruce’s Popmaster – unfortunately after I’d done the crossword!]
Hamish/Soup @35
“I’ve just been concentrating on research and teaching and moving house over the last year.”
Ok, but what’s your excuse? 😉
Muffin@40…I think I visited AGAMEMNON’s tomb at Mycenae in Greece many moons ago. According to the stories/myths he returned from the Trojan War and was done to death by his wife Clytemnestra and the usurper in the King’s absence, Aegisthus…not sure how much fighting/warring he was actually involved in though.
Enjoyed that. Saw Monkey Island but I don’t remember too much of the game unfortunately. Certainly not enough to get all the references.
All these years alive and I never knew ORANG-UTANS was hyphenated. I hope my old English teacher doesn’t see this.
Needed some help with the parsings (thanks Peter) but a steady if at times challenging solve.
Liked RAPTURE and AGAMEMNON (someone who appears often in crosswords)
Thanks setter and blogger.
muffin – I can’t agree about PSY. Even before Ed Balls danced to ‘Gangnam style’ on Strictly, it was almost impossible to avoid – it was everywhere! But I do agree about the wide disparity in clue type; very easy clues and quite tricky ones shared the grid
I did like the two primates’ clues – amongst others
(I’m saddened that a blogger might choose not to correct any of his errors, but perhaps not altogether surprised given my experience of this one)
Heartfelt thanks to Soup for the enjoyable entertainment
William F P @44
Almost impossible, but I managed it!
I think PeterO is located somewhere in the Far East, so might not have seen the comments yet.
I wondered about warrior for Agamemnon, but I suppose that, if we accept linesman for musician and statesman for a resident of an American state, we have to accept warrior for one who went to war.
I’d suggest UNDEAD and PALM TREES belong to the theme words too (and arguably PSYCHIC but maybe a bit of a stretch).
Staticman1@43 When it comes to orangutans, I would rather defer to Birute Galdikas than other sources!
I had finished the across clues and was looking at the grid before starting the downs when I spotted MONKEY ISLAND across the top. Alerted to the possible theme, I saw GUY and wrote in BRUSH with the intersecting U without even reading the clue – I was very pleased to see it was correct.
Thank you ChrisSh @33 for reminding me of Stan’s Previously Owned Vessels, and to Soup for dropping in to confirm the theme – a minor pity that Le Chuck didn’t make it into the grid.
I failed on PSYCHIC – couldn’t remember the name of the Gangnam musician – but enjoyed all the rest.
Thanks again to Soup and PeterO.
Is UNDEAD also a Monkey Island reference, for the same reason as GHOST? poc@34, I think ghosts are sometimes considered undead, at least in some role-playing games that have rules for undead they apply to ghosts as well. Which is probably the biggest use of “undead” in circulation right now.
I agree with the general sentiment that PSY has to be fair game! Didn’t know/forgot about TES but I figure that’s more widespread GK in the UK. On the other hand, “Alec” for “wise guy” made me grumpy (had to reveal that)–without “smart” it seems too indirect. Surely we wouldn’t let “little one, perhaps” be TOM just because Tom Thumb is proverbially little. (I hope.)
Fun puzzle anyway, I particularly seeing how I had got got by SWATHE. Thanks Soup/Hamish and PeterO!
I’ve never heard of Monkey Island, but on looking it up I find that one of the characters is UNDEAD, one more theme reference. I’ve also never heard of the SET papers or PSY, though the phrase “Gangnam style” in its particular tone of voice was everywhere on the radio for a while.
I’d forgotten that the morlocks ate the eloi, though I don’t remember how they caught them.
I was held up by thinking that 500 pounds was a pony, but I find now that that’s 25 pounds. Funny — a pony is much larger than a monkey.
Thanks, Soup and PeterO.
As a retired teacher, I can confidently say that most teachers only read the Times Educational Supplement for the job listings 🙂
muffin@39 Agamemnon rampages through hundreds of Trojans (he’s a “wildfire devouring a forest” to them) in his set-piece, prompts Zeus to warn Hector to wait until he’s wounded before fighting him, and he’s such a peerless javelinist that no lesser a figure than Achilles awards him victory in a contest without bothering to run it. I think he may fairly be called a warrior.
A general discussion point, but I find it interesting that Jay@9 saw craft as singular rather than plural. In the ever-evolving language that is English, are other plurals not ending with s in flux? Will we soon have deers and sheeps populating the land? No criticism implied here, just curiosity.
Criceto @54
The oddest one is one fish, some fishes, lots of fish!
(Don’t forget ‘gins and tonic’)
Thanks for the blog , very enjoyable set of clues , spectacular fission for SWATHE , even symmetrical .
Cellomaniac will like the aural wordplay for AURAL .
Muffin even I have heard of PSY and nobody ignores the internet more than me .
Valentine@51 , the Eloi are completely passive and just walk to their doom .
Muffin @55 [ Fishes is often used when speaking of different species, fish (pl) when numbers of single or unspecified species are involved. The New Naturalist books follow this practice.]
‘Unspecified species’. Hmmm. ‘Assorted species’? 🙂
Hamish/Soup @56. How could anyone forget a gin and tonic, let alone a plurality* of them…
PS thanks for the fun.
* An ex-colleague who had once been a patent inspector taught me that this was a good way of avoiding having to say “several” or “many” or “some” or, perhaps, “two or more”
Hamish/Soup @59. I’ve got one letter unaccounted for. 🙁 Will try another angle. 🙂
4 clues solved for me on a Friday is legendary.
muffin @45
Well yes, if you go far enough to the east you can eventually arrive in the USA, where I live; in Ronkonkoma, Long Island, NY to be precise.
William F P @44
Your use of “this one” is ambiguous: if you mean “this blog”, I have had a busy day and have only just finished reading through the comments *; if you mean “this blogger” I must protest – I try to correct errors, but, because of the time difference, it may be too late for many people to see.
* and spent a little time wondering if my original version of 18A AURAL was so far wrong; just as the clue says ‘From the mouth, heard by the ear’.
Steffen @62
I take it congratulations are due.
Good, solid, satisfying stuff, which ended my wakeful spell around 0400 today.
Thanks all.
I must now go and empty all the unspecified items from by recycling basket…
A good challenge but 25ac and 5dn were too tenuous.
I’m puzzled that muffin @39 balks at calling Agamemnon a warrior. He was the commander of one of the two sides in one of the most famous wars in (pre-)history.
I enjoyed this puzzle a lot. PSYCHIC was a particularly nice clue. (I’m perversely impressed that some of you managed to be unaware of Psy and “Gangnam Style” — I would have thought it unavoidable, but I’ve managed to avoid some things that others thought were unavoidable, so I’m certainly not judging.) ORANG-UTANS is a very nice anagram, and AT A PUSH seemed to me ingeniously well hidden.
Probably no-one will see this now, but i solved this all except Swathe. Took me a few days but I feel like I’m progressing now from Beginner to Intermediate level, over the past few months – but would appreciate some help on what the “thus indicated” means/adds in that clue? Would “Batman Cloak?” not have worked the same? Thanks to blogger and setter
HE isn’t the same as MAN – you wouldn’t say “My father is a he”, for example. ‘He’ is the way that you indicate a man, though – ‘the man I am indicating did it’ = ‘he did it’. Cryptic grammar has to be precise – for example, you could use ‘proceeds’ to mean ‘goes’ but you couldn’t use ‘proceeds’ to mean ‘go’.
As usual I’m late to the party. I completely failed to pick 26 – Like 13as …. As a typo (after all, this is the Grauniad), so I couldn’t see what this clue was about. Surprised no-one else commented- this blog and chat doesn’t usually leave many nits unpicked.
Well, 13a is GHOST, so ‘Like 13as’ is ‘Like ghosts’. No typo that I can see?
Thanks Soup @68 very clear
Fourth completion in a row, which I think is a record for me. Would have been five, but I missed one word in Carpathian’s Monday puzzle, of all places. Also, I needed a couple of corrections yesterday, so my streak has an asterisk
PIRATES and BEEKEEPERS again!