Cryptic crossword No 29,760 by Brummie

by

The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/29760.

I thought this a particularly good offering from Brummie, from the elaborate worplay, fitting into a smooth surface, of 1A PROPHETIC onward. He often uses a theme, but nothing registers with me here, beyond a vague feeling that there ought to be one.

ACROSS
1 PROPHETIC
Showing foresight, stay busy to get rid of a cold (9)
A charade of PROP (‘stay’) plus HE[a]T (‘busy’, both slang for the police) minus the A (‘to get rid of a’) plus C (‘cold’). HE[c]TIC (‘busy’) minus one C (‘to et rid of a cold’).

That accounts for the I.
6, 24 HIGH AND DRY
Drunk as well as teetotal, so abandoned (4,3,3)
Definition and literal interpretation.
8 FLAMENCO
Dance passion, sergeant? (8)
A charade of FLAME (‘passion’) plus NCO (non-commissioned officer, ‘sergeant? – with the question mark for the indication by example).
9 OCULAR
Visual colour mixing ring replaced by one (6)
An anagram (‘mixing’) of ‘colour’ with one O replaced by A (‘ring replaced by one’).
10 FROSTY
Very cold – about forty seconds to get inside (6)
An envelope (‘to get inside’) of S (‘seconds’) in FROTY, an anagram (‘about’) of ‘forty’.
11 GO STEADY
Out-of-date date? Take care (2,6)
Brummie seems to be saying that the expression GO STEADY has a currently used definition (‘take care’) and an obsolete (‘out-of-date’) one (‘date’). Perhaps he is right.
12 RAISED
Given a lift, Australian is hugged by Ruby? (6)
An envelope (‘hugged by’) of A (‘Australian’) plus ‘is’ in RED (‘ruby’).
15 TREE FROG
Lime, say, ornamental button for tiny jumper (4,4)
A charade of TREE (‘lime, say’) plus FROG (‘ornamental button’)
16 SHOWROOM
Space programme at first offers venue for prospective buyers (8)
A charade of SHOW (‘programme’) plus ROOM (‘space’), with ‘at first’ indicating the order of the particles.
19 TRAUMA
CRAFT CAPSIZED BY COUGAR – POWER LOST SHOCK! (6)
A charade of TRA, a reversal (‘capsized’) of ART (‘craft’) plus [p]UMA (‘cougar’) minus the P (‘power lost’). The screaming headline is just a crossword clue Ulysses style, or the ultimate in deceptive capitals. I like it.
21 ELLIPSIS
Mince pies still not tempting at first … (8)
An anagram (‘mince’) of ‘pies s[t]ill’ minus the T (‘not Tempting at first’), with the punctuation as definition.
22 CLIFFS
Richard’s coastal features? (6)
A reference to the pop singer Cliff Richard, but the necessity to include the possessive ‘s steers me away from the Double Definition description of the clue.
24
See 6
25 AERATION
Hospital quota for oxygen supply? (8)
AE RATION (‘hospital quota’ – specifically to the hospital department AE – generally A&E – accident and emergency). ‘Oxygen’ should probably be taken in the loose sense of air.
26
See 1 Down
27 REGISTRAR
Satire – grr, awful, that’s official! (9)
An anagram (‘awful’) of ‘satire grr’.
DOWN
1, 26 POLAR BEAR
Panda, originally arboreal, sadly an endangered species (5,4)
An anagram (‘sadly’) of P (‘Panda originally’) plus ‘arboreal’. Wikipedia lists the Polar Bear (and the Giant Panda) as vulnerable, not endangered, but that may be changing.
2 OSMOSIS
Boundless universe with short relative assimilation process (7)
A charade of [c]OSMO[s] (‘universe’) minus its outer letters (‘boundless’) plus SIS (sister, ‘short relative’).
3 HENRY
Scottish woman attached to railway unit (5)
A charade of HEN (‘Scottish woman’) plus RY (‘railway’), for the unit of electrical inductance.
4 THOUGHT
Considered unfinished article nothing unusual (7)
A charade of TH[e] (definite ‘article’) minus its last letter (‘unfinished’) plus OUGHT (‘nothing’ – ‘unusual’ as an uncommon meaning of the word).
5 CROW’S FEET
North American people’s plates showing signs of ageing (5-4)
A charade of CROW’S (‘North American people’s’) plus FEET (‘plates’ – rhyming slang “plates of meat”).
6, 22 HOUSE OF CARDS
Precarious organisation has, of course, new department introduced (5,2,5)
An envelope (‘introduced’) of D (‘department’) in HOUSEOFCARS, an anagram (‘new’) of ‘has of course’.
7 GUARDROOM
Shield fell over – offending soldier placed here (9)
A charade of GUARD (‘shield’) plus ROOM, a reversal (‘over’) of MOOR (‘fell’).
13 ASH-BLONDE
Nobles had to be trained for fair (3-6)
An anagram (‘to be trained’) of ‘nobles had’.
14 DOOMSAYER
One acting without love – male for instance, a pessimist (9)
An envelope (‘without’) of O (‘love’) plus M (‘male’) plus SAY (‘for instance’) in DOER (‘one acting’).
17 WEIRDER
Stranger’s bust wired (about to get uplift) (7)
A charade of WEIRD, an anagram (‘bust’) of ‘wired’ plus ER, which is a reversal (‘to get uplift’ in a down light) of RE (‘about’).
18 MUSTANG
Essential to have one good horse (7)
A charade of MUST (‘essential’ as a noun) plus (‘to have’) AN (‘one’) plus G (‘good’).
20 A-LISTER
Star American pioneering scientist (1-6)
A charace of A (‘American’) plus LISTER (Joseph, who revolutionised surgery by his insistance on antiseptics, ‘pioneering scientist’).
22
See 6
23 FLOUR
On-air bloomer often seen on Bake Off (5)
Sounds like (‘on-air’) FLOWER (‘bloomer’).

picture of the completed grid

69 comments on “Cryptic crossword No 29,760 by Brummie”

  5. Another here with ginf’s parsing for PROPHETIC.
    I couldn’t work out why the clue for TRAUMA was capitalised so thanks PeterO for an explanation. Given that a lot of cryptic clues read like a newspaperism, I’m struggling a bit to convince myself.
    Favourite was ELLIPSIS.

  6. Yes, that’s how I parsed PROPHETIC. My usual speed bumps — the rhyming slang, the Scottish woman — and I learnt a new meaning for frog and “AE”, along with a pioneering scientist. I don’t always complete Brummie’s but was pleased to do so today.

  7. Oh, I just realised I didn’t parse PROPHETIC (but did all of the others), the hectic version looks the more convincing.

    Good puzzle. I noticed mince pies weren’t rhyming slang but plates (of meat) were.

    For THOUGHT, I had TH[e] + [n]OUGHT where the N = normal or usual and unusual removes it. I thiught I was being clever; should have checked the dictionary!

    ELLIPSIS would probably have beaten me 6 months ago. Enjoyed DOOMSAYER and FLAMENCO, pleased to have seen past the traumatic caps lock at 19.

    Very good. Thanks Brummie and PeterO

  8. I enjoyed this Brummie – perhaps apart from ‘hospital’ = AE – and PROPHETIC and POLAR BEAR made for a very good opening combo. Having seen film of polar bears forced off the melting ice and into the sea, I should imagine the distinction between ‘vulnerable’ and ‘endangered’ is the last thing on their minds. TRAUMA, OSMOSIS, HENRY, HOUSE OF CARDS, ASH BLONDE and WEIRDER were my faves today.

    Thanks Brummie and PeterO

  9. Nice puzzle. Thanks both. I wondered if there was theme around A&E, trauma room (US equivalent), several ERs (emergency room), but I’m not convinced.

  10. Same as commenters above regarding PROPHETIC.

    A very enjoyable and satisfying solve, but am scratching my head as to ‘ornamental button’ = ‘FROG’ (in TREE FROG). Anyone?

  11. Collins has frog as “a decorative fastening of looped braid or cord, as on the front of a 19th-century military uniform”, which I assumed was near enough to a button.

  13. @11 GDU, thank you. New to me, but whether I retain the information for potential future solving (it took me long enough with e.g. U = posh) is another matter…

  14. Most enjoyable.

    Needed PeterO’s excellent blog for SHOWROOM which went in unparsed.

    I suspect you have to be of a similar vintage to me to immediately think of Cliff on seeing Richard.

    Lovely stuff, many thanks.

  16. A very nice puzzle from Brummie. I enjoyed it.

    My favourites today were FROSTY, TRAUMA, AERATION, OSMOSIS and WEIRDER.

    I hope that those who have found the previous two days’ puzzles to their liking will have coped with the slight step up today. I thought the precise cluing made it largely a case of ‘Do what it says on the tin’.

    scraggs @13 – here are some pictures to help you remember:
    https://www.etsy.com/uk/market/frog_closure_button …
    …but I don’t think you’ll see it as often as U = posh. 😉

    Many thanks to Brummie and to PeterO.

  17. @eileen

    ive enjoyed the gentler clueing.

    today was the first time ive had a hattrick of completed grids

  18. @16 Eileen. Thank you – clearly this is something that’s previously completely passed me by…

  19. Can anyone elaborate more on the Ulysses style used as a deception for TRAUMA? I’ve never seen it before.

  20. Top marks for ELLIPSIS

    What letters do you need to substitute for hospital? A & E so AE

    Cheers B&E

  21. Very enjoyable and a pleasant step up. Smooth as ever. HENRY and FROG were new.

    Ta Brummie & PeterO.

  22. J9 @19 In the seventh episode of Joyce’s novel (the ‘Aeolus’ episode, so named for the god of the winds) Leopold Bloom visits the offices of the Freeman’s Journal, and Joyce punctuates the prose with increasingly parodic, ‘over-windy’ newspaper headlines in upper-case summing up moments and conversations occurring during the episode.

  23. Nice to see Henry promoted from wordplay to definition. ELLIPSIS and OSMOSIS among my favourites.

  24. Fab crossword.
    I’m okay with CLIFFS, I think the question mark allows the double definition.

  25. A very enjoyable solve. Particularly enjoyed ELLIPSIS (even though we’ve had a similar clue quite recently), TREE-FROG, PROPHETIC, HIGH AND DRY and A-LISTER. We seem to have had a fairly gentle couple of weeks in the Guardian – cryptics and prize puzzles – and I’m quite sure it’s not me getting better, so I’m reckoning we’ll be in for some stinkers to puncture the hubris very soon!

  26. Lovely stuff – I was a bit slow to get going but once I did it went smoothly enough, with some excellent clues. Particularly liked OSMOSIS and TRAUMA.
    Agree with Ginf et al about parsing of PROPHETIC – the HE[a]T parsing, though clever, fails to account for the I.
    Many thanks to Brummie and PeterO.

  27. I came here to check the parse of 5d FEET = ‘plates of meat’ which I found in my dictionary and is new to me. I see I was on the right track 🙂

    I parsed PROPHETIC in the same way as grantinfreo@1 and others.

  28. It might just be me being thick, but PeterO’s parsing of PROPHETIC doesn’t work for me anyway – where does the I come from? Like several today (ELLIPSIS, GUARDROOM, OSMOSIS, HOUSE OF CARDS…), I got the answer from the definition and didn’t try to parse it until later – and I now realise that I didn’t get around to PROPHETIC – I think the hectic version is the intended one.

    It took me a disgracefully long time to work out the obvious anagram for ASH BLONDE, and Cliff Richard didn’t come to mind for ages even though I am of the appropriate vintage – I was looking for the surnames of famous Richards…

    Edit: I see miserableoldhack@26 can’t find the I either.

  29. A few I wasn’t able to parse but still a really enjoyable puzzle. ELLIPSIS and CLIFFS were definitely my favourites.

    Haven’t done this well throughout a week in a long time, hopefully tomorrow and Friday go down as nicely as the rest of this week’s puzzles have.

  30. 5d was clearly CROWS FEET so I followed my usual policy by assuming that ‘plates’ must be rhyming slang despite never having heard of it. That aside, this was a pleasant and well-constructed puzzle.

  31. A slow start led to a rapid finish. Lots to like here. FROG is one of those words that in hindsight I’m not sure whether I knew it and forgot it, but it feels vaguely familiar.

  33. Balfour @22, interesting GK about Ulysses but what’s it got to do with the clue? Or can any crossword clue be put in capitals without it actually indicating anything?

  34. Good, fun crossword with some delightful clues. I particularly enjoyed the anagrams for POLAR BEAR and HOUSE OF CARDS (neat use of ‘of course’ in the fodder), the surfaces for FROSTY and ELLIPSIS, the GUARD ROOM that fell over, the bust wired in WEIRDER, and the people’s plates in CROWS FEET. I see my Chambers Crossword Dictionary gives capsize as a general reverse indicator but I would have thought that it makes more sense in Down clues (?)

    Thanks Brummie and PeterO.

  35. High and dry and house of cards are both Radiohead songs, brummie has excellent taste in music.

  36. Dwyster @33. It did not occur to me in solving, but PeterO in his blog seemed to think that Brummie’s use of capslock and headlinese in the clue for TRAUMA owed something to Joyce’s method in ‘Aeolus;. This is turn led to J9’s query, which I was endeavouring to answer.

  37. Unaware of the electrical unit, I took “railway’ in 3d to be doing double duty, and that the definition referred to one of the Thomas the tank engine characters.

  38. @35
    Yes… I saw High and Dry and immediately thought of Radiohead, but then couldn’t see any others, so dismissed it. I sort of gave up on them post-OK Computer!

  40. Very enjoyable! Favorites were ELLIPSIS (solved through the parsing and then couldn’t work out for a minute why there was no definition word!), PROPHETIC, ASH BLONDE and DOOMSAYER.
    nho HEN for Scottish woman.

    Thanks Brummie and PeterO

  41. Liked this smooth puzzle. GO STEADY and CLIFF took me back to the seventies. Very clean blog too!

    Thanks Brummie and PeterO

  42. Balfour @36. Excellent GK and I’m sure Dwyster knew why you were sharing. I have the same question he was trying to ask. I can’t remember seeing a fully capitalised clue before and assumed it would have some bearing on the solution. It didn’t, though.

    In your view, or PeterO’s, or Tim C’s or even Brummie himself. Is there any reason why it should be this particular clue that got the treatment? Is it just to make the surface seem more coherent by presenting it like a tabloid headline?

  43. Not happy with fell = moor. Experience tells me otherwise. My Chambers definition of moor doesn’t mention fell at all. Can anyone name an area of moorland that is called Something Fell which isn’t a hill?

  45. @43 Zoot. Not specifically, but Chambers Thesaurus has 4 entries for “moor” and “fell” is one of them. That’s normally qualification enough. I am not challenging your point. I see there are many differing opinions online and I am not qualified to comment.

  46. Zoot @43. I think the title of Anne Bronte’s novel, ‘The Tenant of Wildfell Hall’. comes close, given its setting,

  47. …then there’s Ilkley Moor, another area of high land.

    I’m not really clear what your point is, actually.

  48. Martin @42 I am no stranger to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, but I cannot claim ever to have experienced trauma. Is the slightly manic urgency imparted by the clue’s eccentric – possibly Joycean – method somehow intended to mimic a sense of trauma? It is not for me to say. I would be interested to see PeterO’s considered view on this and, of course, Brummie’s if he drops in.

  49. muffin @ 44 &47. Wainwright calls Grasmoor a fell. Ilkley Moor is a plateau. It doesn’t have a summit. In my experience a fell is something you climb, a moor is something you cross. That’s all. I’ve climbed and walked across many of them, including those you mentioned.

  50. Zoot @49
    Whinfell in the eastern Lakes is a ridge that you cross, rather than it having a single peak.

  51. Zoot@43, For “fell”, the online Chambers dictionary gives “fell noun (often fells) Scottish & Northern English 1 a hill or moor. 2 an upland tract of waste, pasture or moorland.”

    The OED’s second sense of the noun gives “moorland”, but its first sense is “hill or mountain”. It also acknowledges: “Not always clearly distinguishable from sense 2, but (now esp. in the context of hill walking) generally applied to a named prominence which may be distinguished from its surroundings, even in an upland area.”

    Webster’s definition (5th sense) is “a high barren field or moor”

  52. the punctuation as definition may once have stumped me, but now an unaccompanied ellipsis is a write in. except i can never remember how to spell it >_<

  53. Quite fun, not too taxing again. Liked POLAR BEAR, ASH BLONDE and GUARDROOM for the surfaces. Used not to be a Brummie strongpoint, but times change.
    Looking again at the grid, I wonder whether WEIRD sisters (ends of OSMOSIS and ELLIPSIS) and PROPHETIC are more than just coincidence. There’s also a Scottish woman (HEN) and a cauldron ingredient (FROG). Any other Scottish play allusions?
    Thanks, Brum and Peter (you got a name check as a Nina!)

  54. In the week where the great Tom Lehrer died, I was pleased by the solution to 3d being Henry as it reminded me of this song introduction. “ I am reminded at this point of a fellow I used to know who’s name was Henry, only to give you an idea of what an individualist he was he spelt it HEN3RY. The 3 was silent, you see.”

  55. Well spotted Phitonelly!

    BTW, I always read your name as “Phil on Telly”, despite being essentially literate. I assume you’re not an incognito TV star.

  57. I was particularly charmed by “fell over” to mean moor/room.

    My brother ran across a mention of fell runs somehow, so when he was in the UK for work he asked his host to find him one. The host did, and my brother ran it, being struck by the community/party aspect of it and the number of children who participated. Any fell runners on here?

    Thanks, Brummie and PeterO.

  58. My phone AI says:

    “Go steady” is an outdated slang term from the mid-20th century, meaning to be exclusively dating one person. It implies a committed, long-term romantic relationship where a couple is not seeing other people. The phrase is less common in modern dating language but can still be found in older media.

    I did not know that. I solved the crossword but did not parse all the answers. I am not sure a good crossword is one where the expert blogger has difficulty parsing some of the answers.

  60. @17 Alan S. My first hat trick of completions too. I normally solve more clues on a Monday than the rest of the week combined!

  61. Never entered an actual fell run, but I’ve done plenty of triathlons where the final leg would qualify as one.

  62. I absolutely LOVED this – not a write-in, but not unreasonable either. Lots of fun surfaces and totally fair! I loved 17 dn. in particular.

  63. Further Scottish play references, some possibly rather tangential but anyway:

    FROSTY – Robert Frost’s poem ‘Out Out’ based on MacB.
    GUARDROOM – for the Guardroom Scene
    CROWS FEET – referential if not actually in the cauldron they should be
    GO STEADY – the play explores themes of commitment
    TRAUMA – need I say more?
    RAISE – MacB is raised in status twice, once to Thane and once to King
    HENRY MacBeth Rayburn was an artist
    THOUGHT – his thoughts did for him
    TREE, ASH – all those moving trees from Birnham
    FLOUR/FLOWER – Lady M calls M an ‘innocent flower’
    A-LISTER – Anne Lister wrote ‘A Song for Macbeth’
    NCO – the Bloody Sergeant who appears in Act 1 Scene 2
    ELLIPSIS – Shakespeare leaves out words endlessly, for dramatic effect“To be thus is nothing, but to be safely thus.”
    HOUSE OF CARDS – basically is a modern day MacBeth, with the rise to power, thrones, betrayal etc.
    DOOMSAYER – those sisters!
    FELL – “One Fell Swoop” was coined in this play
    HIGH AND DRY – “I’ll leave him dry as hay”
    HECTIC – Hecate?

    So I think with Phil that’s 24 clues ticked off. Good luck with POLAR BEAR, bloodthirsty as it is. Or AERATION – I suppose many bodies were aerated. OSMOSIS – Lady M washes her hands constantly. MUSTANG – lots of horses in the play, Duncan’s cannibalise each other.

    This leaves just OCULAR, CLIFFS, and SHOWROOM. Cliffs notes will help us out with our Shakespeare. The dagger before his eyes was an ocular disturbance and the Showroom Cinema in Sheffield regularly screens plays including Macbeth. (With thanks to Google for that.)

    Shame I had to reveal three clues, just short of my three-in-a-row.

    And even more of a shame that nobody will read my list of allusions as it’s now tomorrow!

  69. One-letter defeats are so annoying! Today it was 25a AIRATION (instead of AERATION). Couldn’t parse the former, and didn’t remember that AE is Britspeak for emergency department

    Everything else went in very nicely. An enjoyable puzzle, with 10a FROSTY, 17d WEIRDER, and 18d MUSTANG as favourites

    James@63 As did I (along with Brummie himself) — delightful!

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