Guardian 29,824 – Brummie

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Slightly tricky for a Monday puzzle, I thought, but with enough easy clues get going with. Thanks to Brummie.

 
Across
1 CAPE COD US tourist area’s carbon copy hoax (4,3)
C[arbon] + APE (copy) + COD (hoax)
5 MITHRAS Fun right to the end, like a god (7)
MIRTH with the R moved to the end, plus AS (like)
9 CLOUD Could rocks darken? (5)
COULD*
10 ENGROSSED Object about obscene gesture – finally arrested (9)
GROSS + [gestur]E in END (object)
11 DISHWASHER Fit type used to be female’s kitchen aid (10)
DISH (an attractive person, fit type) + WAS HER
12 ORCA A killer in the main section of motorcade (4)
Hidden in motORCAde
14 ELECTRIC FIRE Vital sack for heater (8,4)
ELECTRIC (exciting, vital) + FIRE (to sack)
18 SUBCONTINENT Bent on cuts in organisation, India? (12)
(BENT ON CUTS IN)*
22 ADONIS BLUE American academic feels sad for flighty thing (6,4)
A[merican] + DON (academic) + IS BLUE – the Adonis Blue is a butterfly
25 BAMBOOZLE Gull menagerie’s back in British promenade (9)
Reverse of ZOO in B + AMBLE
26 GEN UP Brief from short officer on horseback (3,2)
GEN[eral] + UP (on horseback)
27 DILATOR It expands crude oil trade endlessly (7)
Anagram of OIL TRAD[e]
28 YARDAGE Police force decline to give area in imperial terms (7)
YARD (Scotland Yard, the Metropolitan Police) + AGE (to decline)
Down
1 CICADA Agents interrupted by rogue, noisy male? (6)
CAD (rogue) in CIA (agents)
2 PROUST Specialist Guardian/Telegraph leader writer (6)
PRO (specialist) + US (The Guardian) + T[elegraph]
3 CODSWALLOP Junk and smack following fish south (10)
COD + S + WALLOP
4 DREGS Explosive red gas without a residue (5)
Anagram of RED GAS less A
5 MAGNETRON Microwave part (foreign – not German) (9)
(NOT GERMAN)*
6,21 TOOK ROOT Purloined jumper and tracksuit top came to be settled (4,4)
TOOK (purloined) + [kanga]ROO + T[racksuit]
7 RESTRAIN Check on stock (8)
RE (on) + STOCK (strain, I think as in a strain of cattle etc)
8 SAD-FACED Like Pagliacci touching female star on date (3-5)
SAD (touching) + F + ACE + D. Pagliacci is a sad-faced clown in the opera of the same name
13 ICING SUGAR On the radio, one croons ‘Darling’ which might be piped (5,5)
Homophone of “I sing” (one croons) + SUGAR (darling)
15 CÔTE D’AZUR Resort area lawyer’s overwhelmed by ‘pathetic zero cut’ (4,5)
DA (US lawyer) in (ZERO CUT)*
16 ASCRIBED Gave credit to a dead writer taking centre place (8)
SCRIBE (writer) in A D
17 ABNORMAL Wayward sailor working up marines a lot at first (8)
AB (sailor) + reverse of ON (working) + R[oyal] M[arines] + A L[ot]
19 GLINKA Bond in southern state – he scored! (6)
LINK in GA (Georgia)
20 KELPIE Like breaking outside power with English spirit (6)
P in LIKE* + E
23 NEEDY Poor Miss ‘Y’ (5)
NEED (to miss) + Y
24 DOLT Wally gets told off (4)
TOLD*

40 comments on “Guardian 29,824 – Brummie”

  1. Agree with the blogger that this was tougher than usual for a Monday and all the better for that. The NE corner held out the longest though also had to find out what an ADONIS BLUE is. Liked MITHRAS, GLINKA and KELPIE. Wondered if ICING SUGAR gets piped or if it’s the icing that may contain the sugar, but I appreciated the surface. Thanks to Brummie and Andrew.

  2. I wouldn’t try piping ICING SUGAR, piping is hard enough with icing. The CÔTE D’AZUR needs the circumflex accent for the checker to work.

    Thank you to Andrew and Brummie.

  3. Thanks Brummie and Andrew
    I couldn’t see where the R came from in ABNORMAL, and don’t think it;s fair now it’s explained. A DNF in fact, as I had to reveal GEN – gen up not an expression I’ve ever heard.

  4. There were several synonyms that had me scratching my head — dish/fit type ; electric/vital ; cod/hoax (British?) ; gull/bamboozle. I was introduced to a butterfly, kelpie as a spirit (I thought it was a dog), and GEN UP was not familiar. So plenty of broadening of my horizons, I guess.

    I don’t always finish Brummie’s, but did today, which was nice.

  5. I liked the neat construction of 22ac but had to google to explain it.

    I enjoyed the carbon copy in 1ac – other ticks were for 5ac MITHRAS, 18ac SUBCONTINENT, 25ac BAMBOOZLE (a favourite word of mine), 2dn PROUST and 3dn CODSWALLOP (neat surface and another favourite word).

    Thanks to Brummie and Andrew.

  6. Like Tomsdad @1, I really struggled with the NE but got there in the end. ADONIS BLUE (nho) is one of those clues, where if you follow the instructions methodically, you will solve the clue. As I’ve said before, The Yard is only a small component of the Met, but it seems to get a pass in crossword land. Liked the tourist areas and CODSWALLOP. Great workout from one of my favourites.

    Ta Brummie & Andrew.

  7. Geoff @ 8.59 am (I am going to use time rather than post number from now on, since that can’t be retrospectively changed). I on the other hand discovered that kelpies are Australian sheep dogs! I also hadn’t heard of GEN UP, though it’s easily gettable. COD meaning fake is an adjective in my (British) vocabulary while hoax is usually a noun – but then there are hoax calls, so I suppose it works. I agree that there are some stretchy equivalences today (ENGROSSED=arrested was another) and I had to scratch about a bit to remember GLINKA, PROUST, MITHRAS and the ADONIS BLUE, but I enjoyed the slightly harder Monday.

    The enumeration and punctuation of COTE D’AZUR caused some confusion with its unindicated apostrophe and the circumflex that the Guardian’s check button insists on, even though most people solving online have no way of inserting one. Oh well, it wasn’t a Prize so no harm done.

    Thanks Brummie and Andrew.

  10. There is an apostrophe in the COTE D’AZUR clue after zero cut — perhaps it was intended to be part of the anagram fodder? But yes, it probably would have been better as (4,1’4).

  11. gladys @9:23 am on 13 Oct 2025… so am I. 🙂
    KELPIE also caused me to pause as I knew it as more of a dog (Aussie) than a spirit. The dog that came with us when I came to Aus was described by the Australian vet as a kelpie cross although when she was gifted to my schoolteacher partner in England she was supposedly a German Shepherd/Labrador cross.
    You can see Kelpies in action on ABC Iview, or find it on youtube searching for “abc kelpie muster dogs”

  12. Is Côte the first time an accent was actually mandatory? Got quite a surprise when I did Check All, for typos, and the plain o in Cote disappeared!

  13. simonc @9:31am on 13 Oct 2025….. No, no, no, no, no, no!!!! Chambers begs to differ…

    yardage noun

    1. The aggregate number of yards
    2. The length, area or volume measured or estimated in linear, square or cubic yards
    3. The cutting of coal at so much a yard

  14. Geoff down Under @557 Kelpies are the Scottish equivalent of bunyips – and there’s also this pair in Falkirk. Kelpies are also one of the names Brownie (Girlguiding) sixes can use.

    gladys and Eileen – you’ll probably find time doesn’t work. It shows the BST for us in the UK now, but I will bet good money that those in the US and Australia are seeing the time in their time zones. That’s certainly been my experience on other boards. Us Brits can use it to talk among ourselves, but it will make no sense to anyone else elsewhere.

  15. Very difficult puzzle. Solved it very slowly, NE corner last where I was surprised to see COD in both 1ac and 3d.

    Favourites: TOOK ROOT, PROUST.

    New for me: ADONIS BLUE butterfly; MAGNETRON; GEN UP = inform (is that archaic? I never heard anyone say that); ELECTRIC FIRE (is this also archaic?). No problem with archaisms, just wondering!

  16. Liked SUBCONTINENT, TOOK ROOT, ICING SUGAR and ABNORMAL.

    CAPE COD
    hoax=COD (both interchangeable as nouns as well as verbs, I think)
    DREGS
    (a nano point)
    RED*+GAS less A

    Thanks Brummie and Andrew.

  17. No, Shanne, we see London times. In our winter we in eastern Australia are nine hours ahead, in our summer eleven hours, but right now, when both of us are in daylight saving, ten hours. So a bit of maths is required of us Antipodeans.

    Thanks for the kelpie edification!

  18. I was defeated right at the end by the intersecting MITHRAS – whom I have heard of but it did not come to mind – and SAD-FACED. Not heard of the opera or the character so really didn’t know what I was aiming for. I agree with Eileen in nominating BAMBOOZLE and CODSWALLOP but not SUBCONTINENT: a splendid spot for the fodder but, for me, let down by simply shoving in ‘organisation’ afterwards. I know there will be folk for whom it is sufficient but I’d prefer to see ‘organisation of’ or ‘with organisation’ if that word is going to do the job. It would have been easy to use a different anagrind: even ‘organising’ would have sufficed at a pinch.

    Thanks Brummie and Andrew

  19. Another who struggled ultimately with the NE corner, with the likes of the interconnected MITHRAS, MAGNETRON and ENGROSSED. Had to Google Pagliacci as I am by no means an opera buff. But generally a satisfying solve with SUBCONTINENT and BAMBOOZLE the picks for me this morning…

  22. Shanne @9:45am on 13 Oct 2005, as GDU says time works fine. It’s coming up to 8:05 pm AEST which is 10:05 am UK time. I suspect the site uses UTC.
    Can I take the bet? 🙂

  23. [Less so in the West. GDU @9.50, where we have survived three daylight saving referenda (evening is what we need after a baking hot, blinding bright Perth day, not yet another baking hot blinding bright hour!)]

  24. I didn’t need the circumflex. Has the Grauniad changed it since the complaints?

    I can recall once before seeing an accented letter but I can’t remember the details.

  25. Interesting that a number of folk are unfamiliar with “gen up” but I am sure I’ve seen “gen” = “knowledge” pretty often.

    Definitely chewier than expected for a Monday. I also did not like “yardage” for area in spite of Chambers. And AlanC @#561 as always has useful inside knowledge on the Met – my only justification for this would be that the usage is a synechdoche, like using “Number 10” for “government”, however technically inaccurate that might be. A big “however” though – I know I get riled when people tell me that some incorrectly used physics term is “close enough for them” so please tell me if this won’t do!

    Many thanks Brummie and Andrew

  26. Yes, the Guardian check is now accepting my un-accented O where it wasn’t before.

    I know gen=knowledge, but not that particular phrase.

  27. I didn’t see the circumflex either, so I assume they did change it Lyssian @10.11.

    This was more than slightly tricky for a Monday puzzle, so – albeit with a bit of help with a handful – it was satisfying to complete. I’m yet to go through some of the parsings that escaped me, but the only thing I didn’t particularly like was the repetition of COD: it held me up for a while on CODSWALLOP as I didn’t think it would be duplicated so close to CAPE COD.

    Really liked SUBCONTINENT.

  28. I need an espresso on a Monday morning not a sledgehammer!A lot of obscurities like Adonis Blue,Glinka,Mithras etc.Not enjoyable!

  29. Failed on COTE DAZUR (DA=’lawyer’ should perhaps indicate an Americanism).
    I frowned at ‘stock’=STRAIN, but I can just about see it (‘of what stock are those cattle?’).

  31. For Motown fans, pagliacci also gets a mention in Smokey Robinson’s “Tears of a clown”
    Great crossword for a Monday thanks all

  32. I heard that Kelpies, (Australian sheep dogs), were all descended from one collie bitch called Kelpie.
    You can be a Kelpie in the Brownies, they are Scottish fairies, I think.
    Very nice puzzle , thanks everyone. Had to Google Pagliacci, that one seems to have passed me by, although it seems it is a well-known opera

  33. Shirley@605 who can forget Smokey Robinson-he wrote it too.
    Putting accents in clues is opening a can of çwérms

  34. 1dn was a write-in for me since Pasquale used basically the same clue in #29,820. Apart from that, a nice challenging puzzle. Thank you Brummie and Andrew.

  35. Anyone who grew up reading Heros the Spartan in the Eagle comic will have been familiar with MITHRAS from a young age — Heros (who was born Spartan but was brought up as a Roman) was given to exclaiming “By Mithras!”. Comics can be educational!

    Very enjoyable puzzle. Many thanks Brummie and Andrew.

  36. Another here who found this harder than usual Monday fare, and who had most difficulty in the NE, with the crossing MITHRAS and SAD-FACED being my last ones in. (The former was a semi-jorum, and the latter could have been anything-FACED for me, and my cursory google of the opera name didn’t reveal there was a character of that name, and implied rather the opposite!)

    Omitting the apostrophe from the enumeration is Guardian style, IIRC.

    I most enjoyed the straightforward but sweet ORCA and ADONIS BLUE.

    Thanks both

  37. Never ever come across use of “gull” to mean bamboozle, and I wonder if I ever shall again? Some difficult ones for me, and as soon as I spotted “he scored” I knew this would be associated with the mysterious and fantastical world of sports, with much clicking of the check button.

  38. Eileen @10.57; Mithras is the reason that we celebrate Christmas on Dec 25th – it’s Mithras’s Day. But for a Roman emperor, we might all be praying to Mithras still. Yes, a little trickier than Vulcan. I liked MITHRAS, which was fun at the end, the MAGNETRON anagram spot, the piped darling for ICING SUGAR, and the wayward sailor who was ABNORMAL (not John Major’s wife this time).

    Thanks Brummie and Andrew.

  39. I start on the mobile app and migrate the the PC if time demands. The circumflex was required on the phone (just hold the “O” button and one is offered all possible accents) but not on the PC. I see from later comments the requirement was removed anyway.

    I had the same reaction as Tomsdad @1 to piping ICING SUGAR and the same as Eileen @5 to ADONIS BLUE.

    This was a good puzzle, not too hard but a decent workout. Google gave me an image of Pavarotti instead of a sad clown for Pagliacci, so I read a synopsis of the opera which did not provide much assistance. I had heard the term before and will remember from now on!

    Mithras is one of those gods whose story had some crossover with the nativity, although I won’t fall into the trap of saying any more than that. It is also the name of a tired looking brick building at Brighton University which I have visited on occasion. I jumped to MAGNETRON in a way I couldn’t have done without watching Professor Hannah Fry’s (mostly appropriate) Genius of Modern Life series with my son.

    Thanks Brummie, Andrew, Ken and fellow commenters.

  40. Tricky for a Monday. NHO ADONIS BLUE, although it was fairly clued, nor GLINKA, so the SE held me up. I feel like we have had KELPIE and CICADA recently in other puzzles?

    Dansk404 @12.06pm My (limited) experience is that in Guardian cryptics, any reference to score is an intentional misdirect and refers to a composer.

    Gladys @10.16am I usually see it in the form “gen up on”. It feels like “gen” comes up a lot in Guardian cryptics?

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