Apologies for a delayed and slightly rushed blog today due to some internet issues. I think this is Dice’s first Guardian Cryptic, following a number of Quiptics and Quicks. Many thanks to Dice, this was good fun.
…there is a theme in the solutions around fairy tales and similar stories e.g. STORY, CINDERELLA, SNOW WHITE, WITCHES, BEANSTALK
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | WITCHES |
Wife desires charming women … (7)
|
| definition: ‘charming’ as in magic spells or charms
W (Wife) + ITCHES=”desires” |
||
| 5 | HEROISM |
… valour is boring her – ordinary and primarily ‘macho’ (7)
|
| IS (from surface) boring into: HER (from surface) plus first/primary letters of O-[rdinary] + M-[acho] | ||
| 10 | ECHO |
E–copy (4)
|
| double definition: ECHO is used for the letter “E” in the NATO alphabet; and an ECHO as a “copy” | ||
| 11 | CINDERELLA |
Tale of servitude recalled in reels (10)
|
| definition: in the fairy tale, Cinderella is made to do chores for her stepmother
anagram/”reels” of (recalled in)* |
||
| 12 | QUINOA |
One in five heading to Open are seeds (6)
|
| QUIN=a quintuplet=”One in five”; plus first letters/headings to O-[pen] A-[re] | ||
| 13 | WHITE LIE |
Remain on the right side of suspicious cook – porky but harmless? (5,3)
|
| definition: a white lie is a porky (porky pie, rhyming slang for lie) that is harmless
LIE=”Remain”, after [on the right side of]: WHITE (Mrs White the cook is one of the suspects in the board game Cluedo) |
||
| 14 | BEANSTALK |
Way to find a giant, live, and chat about man’s missing head? (9)
|
| definition: in the fairy tale, Jack climbs a beanstalk on his way to find a giant
BE=”live” + TALK=”chat”; around [m]-AN’S missing its first/head letter |
||
| 16 | STORY |
Censors essentially blue tale (5)
|
| the middle/essential letter of [Cen]-S-[ors]; plus TORY=Conservative Party=”blue” (e.g. versus Labour Party as red) | ||
| 17 | JUDGE |
Barnaby ousts Romeo and takes Juliet – he’s a trier! (5)
|
| definition as in trying a court case
[R]-UDGE minus R (Romeo, NATO alphabet) and replacing it with J (Juliet, NATO alphabet) Barnaby RUDGE is the name of a Charles Dickens character |
||
| 19 | INTENSIFY |
INXS provided Yates’s first shoot up (9)
|
| definition: ‘to shoot up’ = to intensify
INXS becomes IN + X + S, and the X becomes TEN (X in Roman numerals), giving IN+TEN+S …then IF=”provided” + Y-[ates’s] first letter |
||
| 23 | HUNTSMAN |
Barbarian, turning good guy, with trimmed locks – he’s chasing foxy type? (8)
|
| definition: a huntsman might hunt foxes
HUN=”Barbarian” + reversal/”turning” of ST (saint, “good guy”) + MAN-[e]=”trimmed locks” |
||
| 24 | CASTLE |
Move to try and cover King’s naked glee after fling (6)
|
| definition: in chess, a castle move or castling is often done to move the King piece to safety
[g]-LE-[e], naked without its outer letters; after CAST=throw=”fling” |
||
| 26 | BUSINESSES |
Ventures boundless flair inspired by coaches (10)
|
| [f]-INESS-[e]=”flair” without its outer letters or “bounds”; inside BUSES=”coaches” | ||
| 27 | IBEX |
Once partner is following, beginning to introduce glimpse of billy goat (4)
|
| EX=”Once [i.e. former] partner”, following after: beginning of I-[ntroduce] + a glimpse or small part of B-[illy] | ||
| 28 | SLEEPER |
One holding up the line returning skins again? (7)
|
| definition refers to the sleepers/supports under a railway track or line
reversal/returning of RE-PEELS=”skins again” |
||
| 29 | ADVERTS |
Trailers way back, after about 5½ days travelling west (7)
|
| ST (street, “way”) reversed/”back” and after: RE=”about” + V (5 in Roman numerals) + DA-[ys] (1/2 of “days”) all reversed/”travelling west” | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 2 | INCLUDE |
Add in what I did here, as stated (7)
|
| IN (from surface) + CLUDE sounds like (as stated) ‘clued’=”what I [the crossword setter] did here” | ||
| 3 | CROWN |
Summit’s within Worcester, centrally, elevated (5)
|
| hidden in the centre of [withi]-N WORC-[ester], reversed upwards/”elevated” | ||
| 4 | ENCHANT |
Use charm to control tendency to avoid pressure (7)
|
| [p]-ENCHANT=”tendency” minus ‘p’ for “pressure” | ||
| 6 | EYELID |
Barrier dropped to protect pupil (6)
|
| cryptic definition: a pupil of an eye, rather than a school pupil | ||
| 7 | OPERETTAS |
Toast peer performing in musical dramas (9)
|
| anagram/”performing” of (Toast peer)* | ||
| 8 | SOLDIER |
Rise up, capturing aged warrior (7)
|
| anagram/”up” of (rise)*, around OLD=”aged” | ||
| 9 | SNOW BLINDNESS |
White dominance troubling viewers (4,9)
|
| cryptic definition: the whiteness of snow can affect the sight of viewers | ||
| 15 | NIGHT-TIME |
Dark approaching, tenses, one male, alone at the end (5-4)
|
| NIGH=”approaching” + T and T (two ‘tenses’, with T for ‘tense’) + I=”one” + M (male) + end of [alon]-E | ||
| 18 | UNUSUAL |
Odd you twice caught group of students drawn in by unframed Dali (7)
|
| U U (letter heard/”caught” as ‘you’, twice) around NUS (National Union of Students); plus [D]-AL-[i] unframed without the outer letters | ||
| 20 | EXCUSED |
Overlooked, start off angry, swear endlessly inside (7)
|
| [v]-EXED=”angry” with the start taken off; plus CUS-[s]=”swear endlessly” inside | ||
| 21 | FULLEST |
Most rewarding transposing soprano flute line (7)
|
| anagram/transposing of (s flute L)*, with s for “soprano” and L for “line” | ||
| 22 | IMPEDE |
This setter’s regularly upset with contrary editor’s delay (6)
|
| I’M=I am=This setter is; plus regular letters from [u]-P-[s]-E-[t]; plus reversal/contrary of ED (editor) | ||
| 25 | SEIZE |
Catch spots orally (5)
|
| sounds like (orally) ‘sees’=”spots” |
I suspect the A at the end of QUINOA is the abbreviation for ‘are’, the metric measurement. To be generated by the initial letter indicator, ‘heading’ would need to be ‘headings’ as per the blog but not the clue.
Thanks Dice and manehi
This appeared very hard at first sight, but in fact it all went in quite smoothly (though I didn’t work out the significance of 5½ in 29a).
I didn’t know Mrs White was the cook in Cluedo. I thought it was a reference to Marco-Pierre White, though that would have been rather obscure, and not accounted for “suspicious”.
Favourite BEANSTALK.
INXS is of course a reference to the Australian band. Clever clue!
Really enjoyed this. Some slightly tricky but spotting the theme helped.
Re 8d, I thought ‘UP’ was a bit of a stretch for an anagrind. Ta both
Congrats to Dice on the debut. It’s also a pangram I noted post solve
PostMark@1 – thanks for the reminder about “Are” (the measurement); that makes sense of the “heading” rather than “headings” in the clue. A bit tricksy for a Monday, though!
Thanks manehi, for the blog, not least the reminder that Mrs White is the cook in Cluedo – like muffin@2, I wondered why Marco-Pierre White might be seen as suspicious (unless he’d been in Traitors, about which I know little!).
A steady and pleasant solve, with no especial standouts. Thanks Dice!
A good workout thanks Dice. It never felt easy but didn’t take a silly amount of time and there were no obscure solutions.
I wasn’t sure the clues for SOLDIER and QUINOA quite worked although there was no problem solving them. I’d forgotten about A =Are. “Up” in a down clue says reversal to me, but like I said, no problem.
I also had WHITE as the “suspicious cook” from Cluedo and wondered how many would parse that.
I felt like the theme might be Snow White and the Huntsman but I’m not sure a BEANSTALK or CINDERELLA featured in that so I may be wrong. The sense of a theme helped solve a couple of clues though.
I thought I’d found a crest backwards in the Worcester area which wasted some time. ECHO helped me SEIZE the CROWN.
I liked INTENSIFY, SLEEPER and BUSINESSES.
Thanks for the blog manehi
Did anyone else try CREST for 3d? The 5 central letters of WoRCESTer, “elevated” into an anagram?
Anyway, this was very enjoyable from Dice, though he does love the fiddly charades, doesn’t he. I didn’t ever sort out the 5 1/2 days from ADVERTS, which I finally sussed because I needed a V to complete the pangram. A fun theme as well, and neither of them dominating the puzzle. Looking forward to seeing more of Dice in the Cryptic slot.
(And as Martin@7 points out, CREST also appears reversed in the clue.)
Thanks Dice and manehi
A good Cryptic debut
gladys @ 8 Dice is a she
Thanks both. Originally had crest instead of crown have misread the letters backwards (sterc). Really enjoyed the lift and separate in 19a because of the INXS and Yates surface, but 29a felt like it was verging into the ridiculous.
Thanks for the blog , good set of clues , especially the bottom right corner .
I am not easily offended but I do think 19Ac is in bad taste , some families were very hurt .
Mr Jock , TV quiz PHD , bags few lynx .
Many thanks, Dice, that was excellent.
First of many, I hope.
After failing miserably with Fed’s prize, that restored a bit of confidence.
Thanks also to M.
Roz @11 – agree, just needed an alternative definition to SHOOT UP.
Thanks manehi for battling through your internet issues.
I read the wordplay in HEROISM as O for ordinary and. primarily referring to only the first letter of “macho”.
I liked the 1/2 days in ADVERTS, the construction of IMPEDE and the surface of STORY.
Entertaining puzzle with a nice theme. I’m yet another who didn’t know Mrs White the cook — I’ll try to remember it (which probably means it will never come up again).
When I had the initial F for 21d, and the “most” indicated that it would end EST, I was sure it was going to be FAIREST (“Mirror, mirror, on the wall…”). But t’was not to be.
(Gosh, the linked clues for 1a and 5a have an interesting story-telling surface…)
Many thanks Dice and manehi.
I didn’t know, or had forgotten, that Mrs White in Cluedo/Clue is a cook, so that held me up a bit. Haven’t played that dreary game in a long time.
J is Juliett in the NATO alphabet, of course, but setters won’t be told.
My first Dice, I think. I enjoyed it.
I found this tricky but enjoyable – though I agree with Roz@11 and HoofItYouDonkey@13 that 19a was in poor taste.
But thanks to Dice for the crossword – the clue for CINDERELLA was excellent.
And thanks to manehi for the blog. I needed your help for the forgotten Mrs White.
Lord Jim @15. Thanks for drawing attention to the story in the linked clues 1 and 5 across. I totally missed that. Very good!
It took me a while to get any traction, but slowly I got on Dice’s wavelength. Mrs. White eluded me, I didn’t even realize that the suspects had professions!
Can anybody explain what “dominance” is doing in 9D?
Russthree @4 — ‘up’ works fine as an anagram indicator, in the sense of its meaning as ‘wrong’ or ‘amiss’ (in phrases such as “what’s up? / something is up”. Other dictionary definitions of ‘up’ include “in an excited state” and “in revolt”. Take your pick 😁
Ace@19 , we had a professor , doctor , reverend and colonel , all mansplainers .
Just to prettify things a Miss , and Mrs twice .
Ace @19 – just part of the cryptic def, I think. When white is the (pre)dominant colour, snow blindness may occur.
A grid of two halves for me. The bottom went in relatively easily, the top half much more tricky. 24a CASTLE was lovely but there was lots to like including the Cluedo reference which I got. Nice puzzle all in all thanks Dice, and nice to see you do weekday Cryptic having enjoyed your Quiptics and Quick Cryptics. And thanks manehi for the explanations.
Another victim of the CRETS here. I assumed it was Grauniad business, so shame on me (and an apology to Dice and the editor!).
My best guess at the White suspicious cook was Walter of Breaking Bad. Strained, but he definitely “cooks” and acts suspicious! No doubt Mrs was intended instead.
Thanks Dice and manehi!
5 1/2 days is close to 3/4 of a week, which by cryptic logic would be WEE or EEK. Not the right direction, today at least.
I suspected the pangram from QUINOA and JUDGE, my FOsI. When done, I noticed that all the rarest letters, Q,Z,J,X and even V and K, fell in non-crossed squares. Easier for the setter, of course, but a lost opportunity to help the solvers a bit more. [I never paid attention to this in prior pangrams, so don’t know if this is SOP.]
Still, nice debut. Tx.
CB@24: “…White suspicious cook was Walter of Breaking Bad…” Oh yes., indeedy; better than Cluedo any day (whatever the setter intended!).
Thanks SimonS@9 and apologies to Dice: there are few enough female setters around without me getting her pronouns wrong.
Very slow to start with but slowly got on the right wavelength and then it all went in quite easily.
Liked INTENSIFY as a clue. Also liked ADVERTS.
Like others I didn’t get the Mrs White reference.
Thanks Dice and manehi.
A pity about the INXS clue: the use of that to indicate INTENS… is brilliant, and I wasn’t aware of the other back history until today (which doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter).
As soon as read the clue for 19a I went from “oh, that’s clever” to “…but really poor taste”.
Ms. Yates was found dead with her 4 year old daughter beside her and to compound the tragedy, her second oldest daughter also died of an overdose years later.
Otherwise, an entertaining typical Grauniad crossword with a mixture of write-ins and more meaty Lego clues.
Great to see Dice in the weekday 15×15, I have almost found them amongst the best Quiptic and Quick setters. This was quite a step up from them.
Enjoyed HEROISM, INCLUDE and CASTLE
Thanks Dive and manehi
Quite a tough puzzle, perhaps because I am not so familiar with this setter. I only picked up on the theme after I finished the puzzle and it made me smile as I am reading The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly now.
Favourite: INTENSIFY, ECHO, and ADVERTS after I finally managed to parse it!
Good start to the week with some interesting clues. I liked recalled being part of the fodder for CINDERELLA, the definitions for CASTLE and SLEEPER, and the well-hidden CROWN.
Thanks Dice and manehi.
Comment #34
What a debut, so intricate. Thanks Dice and Manehi. ADVERTS a particular favorite, in hindsight to be sure.
I suspect the IBEX clue is referencing the Norwegian fairy tale of The Three Billy Goats Gruff.