Guardian Cryptic crossword No 29,836 by Philistine

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The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/29836.

Maybe a notch above the general Monday fare, but I completed it in good time despite the loss of an hour with the end of UK DST. Altogether a witty offering from Philistine.

ACROSS
8 OTOSCOPE
Device that examines and controls croupier’s odds (8)
Alternate letters (‘odds’?) of ‘cOnTrOlS CrOuPiEr’.
9 EXODUS
Leaving the Guardian to follow old backwards party (6)
A charade of EX (‘old’) plus OD, a reversal (‘backwards’) of DO (‘party’) plus US (‘the Guardian’).
10 ACME
Top came off (4)
An anagram (‘off’) of ‘came’.
11 LOCOMOTION
Moving crazy shit (10)
A charade of LOCO (‘crazy’) plus MOTION (‘shit’)
12 HICCUP
Snag this Latin prize (6)
A charade of HIC (masculine nominative ‘this Latin’) plus CUP (‘prize’).
14 MONTREAL
My French later turned out to be useful here (8)
A charade of MON (masculine ‘my French’) plus TREAL, an anagram (turned out’) of ‘later’, with an extended definition.
15 IGUANAS
Native Americans sent back soldier to get sauna treatment … (7)
A charade of IG, a reversal (‘sent back’) of GI (‘soldier’) plus UANAS, an anagram (‘treatment’) of ‘sauna’.
17 PLACEBO
… one that doesn’t cure hygiene problem on set (7)
A charade of PLACE (‘set’) plus BO (‘hygiene problem’).
20
See 22 Down
22 SENTRY
Sway in to find guard (6)
‘Sway in’ must be split into S plus ENTRY (-‘way in’).
23 PLANETARIA
Sky shows song by Mercury? (10)
A charade of PLANET (‘Mercury’ for example – hence the question mark) plus ARIA (‘song’).
24, 24 BLAH BLAH
Hogwash in barrel, although emptied twice (4,4)
A charade of BLAH (‘BarreL AlthougH emptied’) and again (‘twice’).
25 REPAIR
Fix couple one more time (6)
A play on PAIR (‘couple’), with RE to do it again (‘one more time’).
26 EGOMANIA
Say Arab has a sense of self-importance (8)
A charade of EG (‘say’) plus OMANI (‘Arab’) plus ‘a’.
DOWN
1, 21 STOCKING FILLER
Present leg (8,6)
Double definition – a small gift, and what is notmally to be found in a stocking.
2 ISLE
‘Man or Dogs’ passage read out (4)
Sounds like (‘read out’) AISLE (‘passage’); the definition gives refrence to the Isle of Man and the Isle of Dogs, the latter being in London.
3 DOLLOP
Serving idiot regularly upset ballot (6)
A charade of DO (‘iDiOt regularly’) plus LLOP. a reversal (‘upset’ in a down light) of POLL (‘ballot’).
4 WELCOME
Appreciated little protection for Malcolm, orphaned and left out (7)
An envelope (‘protection for’) of LCOM, which is ‘[Ma]lco[l]m’ without MA (‘orphaned’) and without L (‘left out’), in WEE (‘little’).
5 TERMINAL
Change tramline’s last stop (8)
An anagram (‘change’) of ‘tramline’.
6 COSTA RICAN
American celebrity into abusing cocaine briefly (5,5)
An envelope (‘into’) of STAR (‘celebrity’) in COICAN, an anagram (‘abusing’) of ‘cocain[e]’ minus its last letter (‘briefly’).
7, 18 AURORA BOREALIS
As a rule, a biro or otherwise can show a spectacular vision (6,8)
An anagram (‘otherwise’) of ‘as a rule a biro or’.
13 CHARDONNAY
Wine and champagne to start erection? No! (10)
A charade of C (‘Champagne to start’) plus HARD ON (‘erection’) plus NAY (‘no’).
16 ADULTERY
Perhaps true lady is being untrue (8)
An anagram (‘perhaps’) of ‘true lady’.
18
See 7
19 STARMER
Politician marking time? Changing leaders would be smarter (7)
‘smarter’ with M and T (the leaders of ‘Marking Time’) exchanged.
21
See 1
22, 20 SHADOW OF A DOUBT
How to fob us off about a couple of advertisements causing little suspicion (6,2,1.5)
An envelope (‘about’) of AD AD (‘a couple of advertisements’) separately in SHOWOFOUBT, an anagram (‘off’) of ‘how to fob us’. For (6,2,1.5) read (6,2,1,5).
24
See 24 Across

picture of the completed grid

25 comments on “Guardian Cryptic crossword No 29,836 by Philistine”

  2. Fine puzzle, only holdup was (like with PeterO it seems) wondering why the odd letters of OTOSCOPE were the even ones.

  3. Well, they were the evens from controls then the odds of croupier … is there a trick … too smart for me if so …

  4. In 1a perhaps “controls” indicates the odd letters are under control in the sense of locked up or put aside, leaving the even ones for OTOSCOPE.

  5. Yes, I too queried the odds in OTOSCOPE. Enjoyable and a good level of difficulty for this solver.

  6. Liked PLANETARIA and SHADOW OF A DOUBT (tho there is nothing to instruct us to include a couple of ADs in separate places).

    OTOSCOPE
    Doesn’t seem to work. Maybe someone will come up with a better idea.

    Thanks Philistine and PeterO

  7. Very clever. Some of these clues, they first make you outraged and then delighted once you realise the answer; like STOCKING FILLER, WELCOME (“orphaned”!), SENTRY, BLAH BLAH. Plus many easier clues to make it a doable puzzle… My sense of self-importance went up after solving this 🙂 Thanks a lot Philistine and PeterO for some needed explanations!

  9. Odds in OTOSCOPE doesn’t trouble me, even though they are odds in one word and evens in the other. They’re still the odd letters, as in every other one.

    Liked the misdirection in IGUANAS , as “Native Americans” commonly defines (north) American First Nations People, but the iguana are reptiles from South and Central America and surrounding islands. After all these years I’ve just discovered that is where the Australian word ”goanna” comes from, when European settlers here likened them to the iguana.

    Similarly, the misleading American celebrity tickled me in COSTA RICAN.

    Loved the surface, fodder and definition in AURORA BOREALIS, and the tight and humorous clue for LOCOMOTION.

  10. I like paddymelon’s defence of 1a, although I have to be honest, I failed to spot the curio when I solved it.

    I wonder if we’re going to see raised eyebrows at the slightly racy language here and there.

    If you have to be awake at 4am, this was an enjoyable distraction.

    Many thanks, both.

  11. With “wee” (WELCOME), “shit” (LOCOMOTION) and a “hard on” (CHARDONNAY), I had to check that Paul’s name wasn’t at the top. That last one is going to haunt me when I hear the wine mentioned.
    Favourite was STARMER.

  12. thanks P and P! in particular for parsing WELCOME which was clever (and beyond me). I’m surprised that no one has noted the four-letter in the LOCOMOTION (great clue!) — I’ve never seen a broadsheet puzzle (or for matter elsewhere) using “such language”

  15. Quite tricky and enjoyable.

    Favourite: STOCKING FILLER, CHARDONNAY, COSTA RICAN.

    New for me: OTOSCOPE.

    I could not parse 22ac and 4d.

    paddymelon@3
    After all these years I’ve just discovered that is where the Australian word ”goanna” comes from, when European settlers here likened them to the iguana.
    Thanks for this! I had always assumed that goanna was an Aboriginal word.

    Thanks also to P&P.

  17. Great stuff with plenty of humour and quite a bit of naughtiness. Took longer than par for a Monday but worth the effort.

    Like LOCOMOTION, STARMER and CHARDONNAY (never going to be able to read that word again). Thanks PeterO and Philistine.

  19. A really nice puzzle. Took me some time to work out EGOMANIA and ISLE; loved SHADOW OF A DOUBT and COSTA RICAN. Many thanks to P & P.

  21. Michelle @15 and paddymelon @16, the other word people mistakenly think is indigenous is Nullarbor as in the Nullarbor Plain. It’s Latin for (nullus arbor) no trees.

  23. Philistine a sheer delight on a Monday. Didn’t see the clever STOCKING FILLER until almost the very end. Can’t say I’m quite in the Christmas mode just yet. Thought LOCOMOTION a hoot. Loi was OTOSCOPE, strangely, as I had pencilled in the Scope part of the clue very early on. Many thanks Philistine and PeterO today…

  25. [Tim C. I do know the Latin for Nullabor Plain. We’re not all that ignorant of older languages, but maybe not so old as Aboriginal languages. I studied Aboriginal linguistics and was simply saying that I didn’t know that ”goanna” was a borrowed word from IGUANA. I don’t know of any other word that’s been borrowed from a European language and ”Aboriginalised” ,)

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