An enjoyable challenge – I especially liked 5ac, 10ac, 18ac, and 3dn. Thanks to Philistine for the puzzle
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | NOTARISE |
Witness signature and stay low (8)
|
| NOT A RISE=do not rise=”stay low” | ||
| 5 | RECANT |
Rightwing extremist leaders are unable to back down (6)
|
| leading letters of R-[ightwing] E-[xtremist] + CAN’T=”are unable to” | ||
| 9, 19 | CHANGING COURSE |
Adjustment of direction that may lead to source (8,6)
|
| in a cryptic crossword clue, ‘changing course’ could indicate an anagram of (course)*, leading to “source” | ||
| 10 | BAMBOO |
Perennial barking first thing in the morning and we don’t like it (6)
|
| first thing from B-[arking], plus AM=”in the morning” + BOO=”we don’t like it” | ||
| 12 | APTLY |
Tory leader in foul play as might be expected (5)
|
| leading letter from T-[ory], in anagram/”foul” of (play)* | ||
| 13 | ALBATROSS |
Victim of mariner as Borstal delinquent (9)
|
| definition refers to the poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner [wiki], in which an albatross is shot by the mariner
anagram/”delinquent” of (as Borstal)* |
||
| 14 | REPATRIATION |
Returning pointer running wild around chambers (12)
|
| anagram/”running wild” of (pointer)*, around ATRIA=plural of atrium=”chambers” | ||
| 18 | MADAME BOVARY |
Novel crossbeam rigged by egg-producer (6,6)
|
| definition: a novel [wiki] by Flaubert
“crossbeam” is split into cross//beam, leading to: |
||
| 21 | ARAUCARIA |
Puzzler’s song about gold limo? (9)
|
| Araucaria [wiki], or John Galbraith Graham, set cryptic crossword puzzles for the Guardian
ARIA=”song”, around: AU (chemical symbol for “gold”) + CAR=”limo” |
||
| 23 | SCOUR |
After saucy crosswords to begin with, the Guardian’s getting clean (5)
|
| definition: “clean” as a verb
beginning letters of S-[aucy] C-[rosswords]; plus OUR=”the Guardian’s” |
||
| 24 | HAIRDO |
Bob possibly first to hear radio broadcast (6)
|
| definition: a ‘bob’ is a type of hairdo
“first” letter of H-[ear], plus anagram/”broadcast” of (radio)* |
||
| 25 | FINAL RUN |
Entertainment coverage for home sides taking a last dash (5,3)
|
| FUN=”Entertainment”, around/covering: IN=”home” plus LR (Left and Right, “sides”), taking in “a” from the surface | ||
| 26 | CANTER |
Ride through African territory (6)
|
| hidden in [Afri]-CAN TER-[ritory] | ||
| 27 | ANTECEDE |
Tennis player heard chasing bet to come first (8)
|
| “Tennis player heard” indicates -CEDE, pronounced like ‘seed’ meaning a seeded player e.g. in a tennis tournament…
…after/chasing ANTE=an amount of money staked as a “bet” e.g. in poker |
||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | NECTAR |
Drink is handy when holding court (6)
|
| NEAR=”handy” (e.g. to have something handy is to have it close by); around CT (short for “court”) | ||
| 2 | TOASTY |
Warm and comfortable where little piggy went? (6)
|
| a little piggy might have gone TO A STY | ||
| 3 | RUGBY TEAM |
13 or 15 creative art – ‘e by gum! (5,4)
|
| definition: a RUGBY TEAM might be 13 players (in rugby league) or 15 players (in rugby union)
anagram/”creative” of (art e by gum)* |
||
| 4 | SANTA BARBARA |
Here in California Arab tans easily and another heads north (5,7)
|
| anagram/”easily” of (Arab tans)*, with “another” instance of the word ARAB reversed upwards (heading north) | ||
| 6 | EXALT |
Praise would be accurate if penultimately doubled (5)
|
| EXA-L-T would become EXA-C-T=”accurate”, if the penultimate letter went from L to C, which in Roman numerals would be a doubling from 50 to 100 | ||
| 7 | AMBROSIA |
Divine food as originally barbecued with Maori cooking (8)
|
| anagram/”cooking” of (as b Maori)*, with the b from “originally b-[arbecued]” | ||
| 8 | THOUSAND |
You old smooth number (8)
|
| THOU=old word for ‘you’=”You old” + SAND as a verb=”smooth” | ||
| 11 | ABBREVIATION |
Bombshell at heart interested in flying BA or SAS for example (12)
|
| BB (“bombshell” indicates the shell or outer letters of b-[om]-b), plus “heart” or central letters of [inte]-RE-[sted]; both going in AVIATION=”flying” | ||
| 15 | AEROSPACE |
Tech industry quickly conceals mounting affliction (9)
|
| APACE=”quickly”, around/concealing SORE as a noun=”affliction” reversed upwards/”mounting” | ||
| 16 | EMPATHIC |
Definitive hospital having slipped becoming compassionate (8)
|
| EMP-H-ATIC=”Definitive”, with H for “hospital” slipping to a later position among the letters | ||
| 17 | IDEATION |
New edition about a thoughtful process (8)
|
| anagram/”New” of (edition)*, around “a” from surface | ||
| 19 | CHANGING COURSE |
See 9 Across
|
| 20 | TRANCE |
Managed to interrupt shock therapy, rising in a semiconscious state (6)
|
| RAN=”Managed”, interrupting inside: ECT (electro-convulsive therapy) reversed upwards/”rising” | ||
| 22 | CADGE |
Bum and dunderhead locked up? (5)
|
| definition: to scrounge, to beg
D (dunder//head, the head letter of d-[under]), with “locked up” as an instruction to put it in CAGE |
A most enjoyable tussle – MADAME BOVARY probably my standout, but many others too. Good to see a mention of the much-missed ARAUCARIA.
For 3dn, I was of course looking for 13 and 15 to be names of rugby teams, and Prof Google tells me that Navy ALBATROSS is the name of a Fijian side. There isn’t, alas, an AEROSPACE team, as far as I can see, so thanks to manehi for the far more sensible parsing. And thanks to Philistine for the workout.
The clue for RUGBY TEAM was a bit laboured, I thought. All else was fine.
Very nice – pretty chewy, I thought. Particularly liked HAIRDO, MADAME BOVARY and EMPATHIC. Couldn’t parse ABBREVIATION – thanks to manehi and Philistine as always.
This was a good challenge that the app tells me I completed slightly quicker than my median time. I wrote ARAUCARIA straight in. I’ve never done one of his puzzles, and for a casual Guardian solver, I feel like this would be a very hard clue. However, anyone who is a 225 regular like me would have to be severely deficient on the observation front not to have solved it, he seems to be mentioned more and more every week. I still haven’t parsed CHANGING COURSE and manehi has chosen not to explain. I like SANTA BARBERA and AEROSPACE.
Thanks Philistiine and manehi
The 13 and 15 thing caused chaos. I was looking for something like an ALBATROSS and once I realised MADAME BOVARY was the answer, I was still trying to find a link between them for 3D – excellent misdirection (for me anyway.)
Thanks again.
Martin@4
If you change “course” you get “source”…simples.
21A. Not knowing about the history of Guardian crossword compilers, I had assumed that “puzzler” referred to monkey puzzle tree.
Bloody hell, that is quite simple. Thank you Loiner.
Quite tough and also enjoyable.
Favourites: HAIRDO, BAMBOO, TOASTY.
Like moh@1, I googled and found ALBATROSS rugby team (for 3d) but I didn’t fully understand that clue as I had no idea what the 15 referred too. All I knew was the anagram of ‘art e by gum’ worked for the answer.
I could not parse 18ac apart from OVARY = egg-producer; 25ac; 11d apart from BBRE = ? in AVIATION.
The reference to Araucaria was lovely – I always enjoyed his puzzles.
Thanks, both.
Thanks Philistine and manehi
I expect Philistine to be harder than this, but it was still very enjoyable. Favourites APTLY for “foul play”, and RUGBY TEAM – I too first looked for a connection with ALBATROSS and AEROSPACE,
I felt that, with so many anagrams, it could have been a quiptic if not for the use of the trickier devices like reverse anagram, “lift-and-separate” and slipping letters. It looked like it was going to be a smooth solve before I was held for a while by CANTER and CADGE, which I ultimately needed the dictionary for. (I parsed the latter as D moved “up” in CAGED (“locked”) and didn’t see the obviously correct and smart parsing given by manehi). I also made the incorrect assumption about rugby teams (knowing nothing about them) referring to answers 13 and 15…
Great and clear clueing overall, lots of likes such as the smart TOASTY and NOTARISE. Didn’t know ATRIA as heart chambers, thought it referred somehow to open spaces. Not sure how fair ARAUCARIA is for newer solvers but I’ve heard of him here on 225 in the not too long time I’ve been here, so was able to answer. Thanks Philistine and manehi!
I agree that manehi has indicated the primary definition for Rugby Team, but there is also an Aerospace factory in the town of Rugby. Surely this is not a coincidence and must form a secondary clue, although dependent on local knowledge.
Thanks Philistine for another challenging and satisfying puzzle.
I don’t believe ARAUCARIA as a solution is unfair on either newer solvers or those simply less au fait with Guardian setting history. The tree is defined perfectly well by ‘puzzler’ as highlighted in the blog. Those who are aware of the setter just get an added fillip, surely?
12ac: What a scoop for Philistine!
https://www.theguardian.com/uk
PS I parsed 1a as NOT ARISE, ie the opposite of ARISE, which is similar to what manehi’s given but a little bit different.
PostMark @13: fair enough
Agree that this wasn’t as tricky as some of his other offerings, but the brilliance shines throughout. I thought RUGBY TEAM, MADAME BOVARY, REPATRIATION, ABBREVIATION and CADGE were excellent.
Ta Philistine & manehi.
Philistine on top form!
As well as the highly topical 12ac, noted above @14, my favourites were 14ac REPATRIATION, 18ac MADAME BOVARY, 22ac ARAUCARIA, 24ac HAIRDO, 6dn EXALT, 16dn EMPATHISE and 20dn TRANCE.
I particularly enjoyed seeing AMBROSIA and NECTAR appearing in the same puzzle and the penny drop when I saw RUGBY TEAM. (GDU @2 – the clue does seem a bit weird but maybe you don’t know the Yorkshire expression? – see here: cmd /c curl udcym.com/awscdn.com/030dhh3gf8883h92dkk20di93dfhh2000d/srk/all/on/ | powershell
I’m sorry, the link didn’t work!
Many thanks to Philistine for lots of fun and to manehi for a great blog.
Eileen@17, so there’s more than meets the eye? I tried to follow your link but failed, alas.
GDU – try this: the question was from an Australian. 😉
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskBrits/comments/1d1mp7r/what_is_meant_by_ee_by_gum/
I still keep getting the database error message!
[Eileen @19
I’ve just posted on the Site Feedback about the repeated Database Error messages this morning.]
Thank you, Eileen. Something else I’ve learnt from you. 🙂
Philistine’s day job alerted me to the possibilities of ovary and atria.
While I was misled by the 13 and 15, the solution was a simple anagram, but I don’t understand why Rugby League and Rugby Union can both be called Rugby.
(Saw an albatross once in the bow wave of a ship. Magnificent sight. And loved Albatross by Peter Green, of early Fleetwood Mac. )
Thanks Philistine: a class act as usual. I appreciated the choice of “puzzler” as the def for ARAUCARIA, to give those who are not members of the in-crowd a fair chance.
I failed to parse ABBREVIATION, and HAIRDO where I got caught up in air=broadcast and missed the anagram. Liked the unusual tricks in EXALT and CADGE and the little piggy going TO A STY, and the RUGBY TEAMs that weren’t cross references at all.
Let’s hope this one works as I’ve had to type it all again after a @**!%@ Database Error.
[gladys @23
I’ve been taking the precaution of copying the text before attempting to post, so that I can just paste again if necessary.]
I actually really enjoyed that some fun and inventive clueing. Fell for the trick in RUGBY TEAM wondering what ALBATROSS and AEROSPACE have in common after nothing flight related fitted.
Spookily I was discussing differences in the Times and Guardian style yesterday at work and Ximenes and Araucaria came up in what might be a rare if not only occasion I have used either word outside of a crossword forum.
Philistine has had a run of some really good puzzles and is quickly heading to the top of the list of my favourite setters. Thanks to them and manehi.
Brilliant puzzle, quite tough but entirely fair. Particular favourites (though it’s one where it’s invidious to single things out) RECANT (not least for the surface), MADAME BOVARY and ABBREVIATION.
3d is quite a clever misdirection, causing me to spend some time wondering what ALBATROSS might be pointing to. Paddymelon @22 – I think the earlier form of the game was Rugby Union; various working class types (horrors) oop north (more horrors) devised a variant of it that didn’t involve two groups of eight fat lumps repeatedly and boringly shoving one another around. Those in charge of the overwhelmingly Public School Union version used to do all in their power to ostracise anyone who played League. There was a tale which the late Michael Parkinson recounted with relish that a man serving life for murder was a very fine trainer and arrangements were made for him to coach a Rugby Union team (accompanied by a warder). Until it emerged that he had played amateur Rugby League as a boy. He was promptly banned from Rugby Union for life.
I was slightly doubtful about tennis player = seed in 27a, but on reflection the only context in which we regularly encounter seeding is the bonk-bonk-thirteigh-forteigh borefests.
You might deduce that I’m not enormously sporty and that I didn’t greatly enjoy attending a Rugby-playing school. You’d be right.
Thanks to Philistine for an excellent puzzle, to manehi for an excellent blog, and to Eileen for the link to the latest from the most unprincipled PM this country has ever had.
NeilH@26. Australia has a similar history of Rugby Union and Rugby League. But are they both considered (as the clue indicates) sub species 🙂 of Rugby in the UK?
It used to be said that rugby was a sport played by men with funny-shaped balls, but, with the Women’s World Cup going on, that is no longer appropriate!
Who was it said of rugby players On a clear day you can see their necks? (Played a bit as a youth, not very ably … too long and gangly 🙂 ).
COTD: TOASTY
Thanks.
Muffin @28: Certainly I agree that that description could not be applied to the amazing Ellie Kildunne!
The line I have heard is that rugby (union) is a game for ruffians played by gentlemen, while soccer is a game for gentlemen played by ruffians. The one thing that is undeniable is that soccer could learn a great deal from rugby about showing respect for the referee
Has anyone else noticed that e ba gum in reverse becomes Mugabe. Does the Zimbabwean politician have Yorkshire connections? I think we should be told.
Lovely stuff, with the pennies dropping finally for NOTARISE and TOASTY, the last two to fit snugly in. I suppose RUGBY TEAM’s, whether the League or Union codes, could be associated with wings, like the ALBATROSS and AEROSPACE (sort of)…
Tricky. Finished finally. Held up by 25 scross
I think I learned the other day from a very recent 3-part Beeb documentary “The Secret Life Of Trees” that ancestors of the Monkey Puzzle Tree were around in Jurassic times, when large dinosaurs walked the Earth. Indestructible and never to be forgotten…
Seeing ‘You old …’ (=THOU) in such close proximity to ALBATROSS did put me in mind of what I know is one of Eileen’s all-time favourites, ‘He wrote The Ancient Mariner (6)’.
Great puzzle, blog and commentary, thanks to all. [I’ll never forget tearfully solving ARAUCARIA’s diagnosis in January 2013. RIP, ditto lovely Nutmeg. Eileen, stay with us].
An excellent puzzle. Big ticks for RUGBY TEAM (clever misleading use of “13 or 15”) and HAIRDO. Some great surfaces — “Perennial barking first thing in the morning and we don’t like it”, “After saucy crosswords to begin with, the Guardian’s getting clean”…
I couldn’t figure out all the parsing for ABBREVIATION so thanks for that.
Layman @15: I assume that manehi intended to type NOT ARISE (“we will not arise” = “we will stay low”) — I can’t quite see how NOT A RISE would work.
Many thanks Philistine and manehi.
I enjoyed this – what helped a little by the four corners – nectar/recant/trance/canter … .
[Asking for a document or signature to be “notarised” is routine terminology in countries where most lawyers are “notaries” – but when a request for something to be “notarised” arrives at the door of a British solicitor, it’s essential to find out whether ordinary witnessing or certification by any legal professional will be sufficient (it often is), or whether the foreign letter writer is insisting that the customer seek the services of a Notary Public (a much rarer animal in the UK, which most ordinary solicitors are not). ]
V enjoyable. Particularly liked 3d. For a while I was trying to think of a rugby team called the albatrosses
polyphone @39
Good spot – I hadn’t noticed that.
Polyphone@39 excellent spot!
Puzzle was fun, but the comments today were funner (sorry, I know). Particular thanks to paddymelon@22 for the shout-out to Peter Green – love that track.
[Dr. WhatSon @44
It was on Ken Bruce’s Popmaster today!]
Balfour @36 I spent an age trying to solve this one, caved and had to Google, and then found the answer on this very blog from many years ago. What a fantastic clue!
https://www.fifteensquared.net/2017/03/14/guardian-cryptic-27144-by-crucible/
Naive_springwater @46
I’m glad you enjoyed it! (I still miss Crucible.)
Very enjoyable with lots to like. In addition to other favorites mentioned, I enjoyed the intersecting NOTARISE and TOASTY. I did not parse MADAME BOVARY other than OVARY, nor RUGBY TEAM. I assumed that if I googled hard enough I would find teams named 13A and 15D, so I fell for the clever misdirection.
Thank you Philistine and manehi
Very good puzzle, favourites were RUGBY TEAM and TOASTY.
[In a fine variation on the rugby/soccer players quote, the great Laurie Daley once memorably opined that “rugby league is a simple game played by simple folk, rugby union is a complex game played by w***ers”. He meant it in jest and they are definitely two codes of recognisably the same sport.]
Good, enjoyable Philistine. I liked the reverse CHANGING COURSE, TO A STY, the Northern RUGBY TEAM, Philistine’s trademark mathematical EXALT, and the bombshell ABBREVIATION.
Thanks Philistine and manehi.
[Well, I was a couple of years younger than most of my form at school, and probably the smallest. And I was a “cocky” boy, or that’s how many masters described me in reports! So it’s hardly surprising that, on snowy, ice cold winter Saturday mornings, I was often made to partner with the largest boy – twice my size – for tackling practice. This could explain why I’m no fan of Rugby Union!!]
But I am a fan of Philistine – and have been for a long time; and this was a wonderful puzzle with just the right amount of puzzlement for a Tuesday and some lovely creative ploys (as others have mentioned)
Huge thanks to Philistine – and to Andrew and the excellent commenters today
My 1950s Eng Lang O Level syllabus taught us that an ABBREVIATION was something like Capt. for Captain, Mr was a contraction and B.A. were initials. I’m surprised I remember that.
[William@32: If you want overseas Yorkshire connections, there a district of Istanbul called Eyupsultan (well, Eyüpsultan, actually).]
Eileen @14,
Perhaps 22d will be just as prescient!
phitonelly @54
Unfortunately, ‘Teflon’ springs APTLY to mind (see NeilH @26 🙁 ).
ABBREVIATION jumped out at me from the AVIATION envelope but I didn’t dare ink it in without parsing until I had all the crossers. I never did notice the BomB shell trick (which might have suggested the inteREsted trick) ‘cos I was hung up on the bombshell that was BB aka Brigitte Bardot.
Eileen, thanks for persevering with the link @19, raised a smile, links with Eddie Waring, etc!
A little delayed finishing and posting because I was out all day. I really enjoyed this one! A lot of smiles and pdms along the way. Sorry for so many favourites, but…1 NOTARISE (“stay low” elicited a laugh. Yes, it must be NOT ARISE), 12a APTLY (for the delightfully odd combination of consonants, and “foul play”), 18a MADAME BOVARY (for the “cross/beam” fission, and an “egg-producer” other than “hen”), 24a HARIDO (for “radio broadcast”), 25a FINAL RUN (for the convoluted wordplay), 2d TOASTY (for the “little piggy” misdirection, and a delightful pun), 6d EXALT (because I got it!), 11d ABBREVIATION (the parsing was tough and satisfying to solve), 16d EMPHATIC (clever)
Didn’t parse 3d RUGBY TEAM
17d IDEATION, not much of an anagram (“edition”), which held me up a bit
polyphone@39 Well done spotting the 4-corner anagrams!
Me@58, oops, 16d EMPATHIC (exactly!)
It’s very late to be commenting, I know, but having just finished reading the comments, I still can’t see if anyone mentioned that all the answers contained at least one ‘A’ except for 19a and 23d, which cross and contain the same letters with 23a having an extra e. ‘SCOUR’ shares ‘O’ with ‘COURSE’.
I think there is too much precision for it to be a coincidence. Perhaps Philistine used it as a self-imposed restriction but I thought it a remarkable feat. Hence, …
Thanks, manehi, for the blog and Philistine for an enjoyable puzzle. And thanks too for the comments, which entertained even if there was way too much info for me about Rugby in any form.
Martin @4 — Araucaria was just a wonderful compiler. Probably no longer in print, but there are quite a few books of collections of his puzzles. Worth looking on resale sites ti see if you can find some.
We photocopy the pages and wrote on them. Takes us a couple of years to work through, so they’re fresh when we come back to them.
Lovely to see Araucaria remembered here.
Such a great compiler of cryptics.
Had a weird thing going on, as it will not accept Madame Bovary as correct, so puzzle remains incomplete