Pasquale sets our Tuesday challenge
I think this must be one of the most straightforward Pasquale puzzles I’ve solved – vocabulary-wise, certainly, as the only totally unknown for me was the Ghanaian currency at 14ac. The rest was as we expect: meticulous cluing throughout, with a selection of neat anagrams, interesting constructions and apt definitions, along with meaningful, often witty, surfaces.
I had ticks for 9ac ERRANT, 18ac PROTOHUMAN, 1,3, PIET MONDRIAN, 2dn NERVOUS, 5dn MAISONNETTE (after serious initial misgivings – I should have known better), 12dn SUPERSCRIPT and 15dn CHENILLE.
Thanks to Pasquale for an entertaining and enjoyable puzzle.
Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 Dad, a fellow from the east country (6)
PANAMA
PA (Dad) + a reversal (from the east) of A MAN (a fellow)
4 Trader’s personal claim to be old-fashioned baggage-carrier (8)
IMPORTER
I’M PORTER (as an old-fashioned baggage-carrier might claim)
9 English bishop with a set of holy books misbehaving (6)
ERRANT
E (English) + RR (Right Reverend – bishop) + A + NT (New Testament – set of holy books)
10 Rafter collapsing around one – start to panic in dangerous building (8)
FIRETRAP
An anagram (collapsing) of RAFTER round I (one) + P[anic]
11 Conceder, person out to establish agreement (14)
CORRESPONDENCE
An anagram (out) of CONCEDER PERSON
13 Mum’s getting fish served with one type of cheese (10)
MASCARPONE
MA’S (Mum’s) + CARP (fish) + ONE
14 Money concealed by finance director (4)
CEDI
Hidden in finanCE DIrector – unit of currency in Ghana
16 Part of race said to be European (4)
LAPP
Sounds like ‘lap’ (part of race)
18 Oh no, a Trump, terrible – being not quite one of us! (10)
PROTOHUMAN
An anagram (terrible) of OH NO A TRUMP
21 Jump about, having inclination for housework? (6-8)
SPRING-CLEANING
SPRING (jump) + C (circa – about) + LEANING (an inclination)
23 Like stage performance with old piano – unpredictable, not right (8)
OPERATIC
O (old) + P (piano) + ER[r]atic (unpredictable) minus one r (right)
24 Birmingham’s first game, getting hammered (6)
BLOTTO
B[irmingham] + LOTTO (game)
25 Request put away in foyer? (8)
ENTREATY
EAT (put away) in ENTRY (foyer)
26 Home is hotel with land at the back (6)
HEARTH
H (hotel) + EARTH (land)
Down
1, 3 Dutch artist painted minor works (4,8)
PIET MONDRIAN
An anagram (works) of PAINTED MINOR
2 We in Paris, full of hesitation and very edgy (7)
NERVOUS
ER (hesitation) + V (very) in NOUS (French for ‘we’)
5 Chum accommodating one relation, not gross, in apartment (11)
MAISONNETTE
MATE (chum) round I SON (one relative) + NET (not gross) – I enjoyed piecing this together from the wordplay then found that I appeared to have an extra N – a misprint, surely? – but, such is my faith in the integrity of Pasquale’s cluing that I looked it up and found it in Chambers, as an alternative – but it still looks odd
6 Some food revoltingly served up – ham? (6)
OVERDO
Hidden reversal (served up) of foOD REVOltingly
7 Unconventional centre hosting European dramatist (7)
TERENCE
An anagram (unconventional) of CENTRE round E (European)
8 Agent revealed – around lunchtime? – possible reason for lack of appetite (9)
REPLETION
REP (agent) + LET ON (revealed) round I (lunchtime?)
12 Wonderful piece of writing showing power? (11)
SUPERSCRIPT
SUPER (wonderful) + SCRIPT (piece of writing) – for example, 10² indicates 10 to the power of 2
13 Maiden not well, holy person with one unwanted burden (9)
MILLSTONE
M (maiden – in cricket) + ILL (not well) + ST (saint, holy person) + ONE (again)
15 Material bad – hence lousy for covering (8)
CHENILLE
ILL (bad) in an anagram (lousy) of HENCE – an amusing surface, because chenille is used for upholstery and tablecloths
17 Sign left includes X (7)
PORTENT
PORT (left) round TEN (X)
19 Lizard in open country impeded by idiot (7)
MONITOR
NIT (idiot) in MOOR (open country)
20 Male occupying home, troublemaker who should not be let loose? (6)
INMATE
M (male) in IN (home) + ATE (Greek goddess of mischief – troublemaker)
22 Invader, giant somewhat heartless (4)
GOTH
GO[lia]TH (giant)
I am always reluctant to say it, but that really was a write-in, which says a lot for the masterful formation of the clues. PIET MONDRIAN, SPRING-CLEANING and SUPERSCRIPT were my favourites. I did wonder about the extra N in MAISONNETTE as well.
Ta Pasquale & Eileen.
Thanks Pasquale and Eileen
Perfectly nice puzzle, but in the wrong slot – it should have been a Quiptic. The only check I needed was CEDI, but it was obvious enough from the clue. I did occur to me that to clue SETI (search for extraterrestrial intelligence) would be a good challenge.
Favourites: PORTENT, INMATE (loi).
New for me: CEDI.
I could not parse 12d – the ‘showing power’ bit; and 22d GOTH apart from the def = invader.
Having now read the comments above, I should add that this was not a write-in for me, but maybe I am not very intelligent!
A straightforward solve.
Is LAPP an acceptable term today? I thought it was regarded as insulting by the people themselves, they prefer their own term – Sami.
Not a write in for me, either. I liked SUPERSCRIPT and SPRING-CLEANING.
I look forward to the day when I’m the person who experiences a ‘write-in’! Not today anyway. I finished it but with some guessing and checking here and there. I didn’t know Ate was the goddess of mischief or that CEDI is the currency in Ghana – would anyone know the latter?
I’d forgotten the Greek goddess, so couldn’t parse INMATE. Unfamiliar with the artist and dramatist along with Ghana money. Otherwise plain sailing and enjoyable.
Me too re ATE, and had to use an anagram solver for PROTOHUMAN. Otherwise quite benign for The Don.
Really admired SPRING-CLEANING for the neatly concealed C for about.
Many thanks, both.
Friendlier on the vocabulary side from Pasquale but still found this a tricky Tuesday. Just CEDI added (but probably soon forgotten) to my brain today.
GOTH last one in. Spending too long thinking of a 5 letter giant.
My favourite today by a bit was SUPERSCRIPT.
Thanks Eileen and Pasquale
Doubt I’ll ever find a crossword a “write in “ but thoroughly enjoy Pasquale’s elegant clues. Thanks too to Eileen for explaining.
Very obliging of Pasquale to make the only word I hadn’t heard of before (there’s normally several in his puzzles) CEDI, a hidden word. Last one for completion today was REPLETION…
The setter’s aim should be to challenge, but not defeat, the solver, offering the solver plenty of “A-ha!” moments when the penny drops. And Pasquale triumphantly achieves that aim.
Personal favourites PROTOHUMAN for the glorious surface, PIET MONDRIAN for its elegant and precise brevity, SUPERSCRIPT for one of the neater double meanings I’ve seen.
Didn’t know CEDI and couldn’t parse INMATE so thanks also to Eileen for the customarily careful explanations
A great crossword with some clever surfaces – Trump reference made me laugh out loud. Only slight quibble, the use of ‘one’ in both wordplay and definition for 13 ac Mascarpone AND 13d Millstone.
Thanks to Eileen, as ever v clear parsing (bur in 5d didn’t you mean an extra ‘t’ rather than ‘n’?)
Whoops, sorry, strike last comment out, the ‘t’ is already there in wordplay. I see now that Eileen was referring to spelling of maisonnette with double n
Fairly straightforward, except for the CEDI jorum. I liked the good anagrams for CORRESPONDENCE and PIET MONDRIAN, the obligatory Trump reference in PROTOHUMAN, OVERDO for the ham, and the SUPERSCRIPT. I didn’t parse the ATE in INMATE.
Thanks Pasquale and Eileen.
This was a Pasquale where the wordplay was fairly easy but the required GK and vocabulary – not so much. Had to Google the Ghanaian currency (which anyone with a connection to Ghana would know, but I didn’t) and I had forgotten the Greek troublemaker and the Roman dramatist (well, he might have been Rattigan…)
Certainly gentle for Pasquale. Some nice clues, the anagram for PIET MONDRIAN being very clever.
Yes there were a couple of repetitions — “one” = ONE in both the overlapping MASCARPONE and MILLSTONE, and also ILL (“not well” and “bad”) in both the latter clue and the following one, CHENILLE. I don’t think it’s a fault; presumably the setter has done it deliberately, maybe as a sort of double bluff?
Many thanks Pasquale and Eileen.
Lord Jim @17 (and Emcsquared @13) – I mentioned the repetition of ONE in the blog (but decided against doing the same in the case of ILL) – because I expected someone else would 😉 – but I don’t think it’s necessarily a ‘fault’, either, or, at least, it’s a venial one.
[ Which setter will have the honour of Guardian 30,000? I’m thinking Paul. It would nice if the Guardian could dig out 10,000 and 20,000 too … ]
Not a write-in here. I am ill and stressed, but it wouldn’t have been anyway.
My LOI was GOTH.
Liked PROTOHUMAN and SPRING CLEANING.
Thanks Pasquale and Eileen.
Benign from the Don, no complaint from me, though, as it was beautifully clued. A great example of the setter’s art.
HEARTH was my LOI and lots of ticks.
Thanks both…
Very straightforward for a pleasant change
Lovely set of clues from a real maestro on a de facto Monday (in the UK). I couldn’t sort out the parsing for MAISONNETTE either, in my case as I’d gone down the road of chum = mason (as in Freemasons all being chums with each other). Favourites today were ERRANT and PIET MONDRIAN.
Agree about cedi. “Oh no, a Trump”–love that one!
By no means a write-in, but straightforward enough in the end apart from CEDI, which borders on Bolivian poet territory for me. Like others I found it embedded, but guess-and-google lacks a certain amount of satisfaction.
Favorite SUPERSCRIPT for the cleverly misleading definition.
As always with the Don superbly put together. Fortunately I’ve worked in Ghana so that was a write-in. However had to look up the Dutch painter.
Regarding 30k. Could be a brute from John Henderson, a dreadful load of homophones and some smut from Paul, a complex one from Maskerade or Brian G or maybe Alan C himself. No chance of Biggles as the Rev passed away a long time ago. We shall see!!
A head-scratcher on the first pass but it subsequently fell into place smoothly. The artist was fresh in my mind having just read “The Burglar Who Painted Like Mondrian” by Lawrence Block. Had to check that CEDI was a thing and struggled with the definition in SUPERSCRIPT, but thanks to Pasquale’s customary level of precise cluing I entered both with confidence. Many thanks to him, and to Eileen for the enlightenment.
Great clueing and a puzzle that was almost Sunday-like, albeit high-end Sunday. Only real problems for me were in the NE corner and a major doh! moment when I saw the construction of 5d. My one quibble was the sameness of the wordplay of the 13s, but that’s minor. My favourite, which was also my first in, was PIET MONDRIAN whose work I love. Thanks Pasquale, and Eileen.
Jen
Cedí was my first entry having holidayed in Ghana. Would be wonderful to have an Araucaria for one of the thousands honours.
Pleasant romp from Pasquale. Toyed with TERRAH for 26a as a variant spelling of TERRA, but no go. Didn’t know 1/3 PIET MONDRIAN, but guessed right from the anagrist. I also initially misspelled 5d MAISONNETTE. 17d PORTENT, I thought we were due for “left” = PORT — I’ve been looking out for it!
22d GOTH I had MOTH (“invader”) from MO[noli]TH. Okay?
Like others, I couldn’t fully parse 20d INMATE, so thank you Eileen, and for a great blog
Favourites 12d SUPERSCRIPT (“showing power”), 15d CHENILLE (surface)
29,998, only two more sleeps to 30,000. Las Vegas bookmakers have Paul as the favourite
I’m another who found this to be mostly a write-in, with some pauses for thought in the NE. That said, beautifully clued as ever. PS another puzzle has appeared. Crispa. Was this intended for tomorrow I wonder (?)
Nuntius #31 – yes I’m confused by the appearance of the Crispa puzzle too. It has today’s date but is numbered 20,001, so must be from some time ago…
Lovely puzzle and a great way to get started with an amazing clue for a Dutch painter (FOI); even if I had to remember it’s spelled Mondrian internationally (it’s Mondriaan in The Netherlands). Not too hard, certainly for a Pasquale, and a great joy.
Amusing to have had LOTTO from [b]LOTTO only Friday, and now the other way round! Definitely made it come readily to mind!
Thanks both!
Nuntius @31 and GrannyJP @32: yes that’s very strange. Crispa has sadly not been with us for a long time, and I think that puzzle would originally have been published in April 1994. Why is it re-published today? And why not choose 20,000 rather than 20,001, with 30,000 coming up?
Why have I just done the wrong one? The cryptic on the Guardian website is set by Crispa and is No 20,001.
Thanks Pasquale for a gentle but still masterful crossword. Favourites included SPRING CLEANING, BLOTTO, ENTREATY, PIET MONDRIAN (COTD), NERVOUS, and OVERDO. My only slip was GOTH. Thanks Eileen as always.
Pleasant and relaxing puzzle.
I’m relieved to see “repletion” as a reference to eating. All too often “replete with” is followed by something that has nothing to do with food, but just meaning “complete with.”
My fave was SUPERSCRIPT, I think.
Thanks, Pasquale and Eileen.
There were plenty unknown to me: MONDRIAN, BLOTTO, CHENILLE, CEDI, FIRETRAP. But all gettable due to clear clueing. I liked SUPERSCRIPT, GOTH (because of the “somewhat” indicating a larger “heart” than usual), MILLSTONE and HEARTH. Thanks Pasquale and Eileen!
Yes, 20,001 was certainly an oddity!
( Thank you!)
Had it been yesterday, we could appropriately have been offered Jedi in place of the esoteric Cedi.
Sir Henry (at Rawlinson End): “Our motto: ‘Omnes BLOTTO’ “; also: “If I had all the money I’ve spent on drink – I’d spend it on drink“.
I also liked SUPERSCRIPT for its fair but slightly misleading surface, PIET MONDRIAN for the great anagram & surface. NHO CEDI, but that’s what it had to be from the clue; and so it was.
Thanks Pasquale & Eileen, a top setter & blogger duo.
I am a slow solver and I make no bones about this but what a lovely crossword.
DerekTheSheep@41:.. and Trevor Howard could so easily have said this of his own life…
DerekTheSheep@41 … I used that Sir Henry quote often 😀
For once “troublemaker” wasn’t “imp.”
Today I learned that Ate was the Greek goddess of mischief.
Frogman @45
ATE as a mischief maker is definitely a “thing I learned from crosswords”!
I have to agree with Eileen about this one being straightforward. I think this is the first cryptic where I have ever solved all the across clues before starting on the down ones, and that’s going back some fifty years. But as almost everyone has pointed out, the clues and wordplay were up to Pasquale’s usual high standard. It was nice to see SUPERSCRIPT make an appearance, that might have taken me a while if I didn’t already have all the crossers ! Thanks to Eileen and to Pasquale.
[Saw the the comments and did the Crispa too. I hope there’s something else tomorrow!]
Crispa was the pseudonym of Ruth Crisp, who was born on January 1 1918 and died on January 22 2007. Thus, today does not seem a special date to publish a posthumous crossword by Crispa.
Mig @30: I just noticed your GOTH/MOTH comment, very OK.
AlanC@50 Thanks for the validation! I was inviting objections and haven’t received any. The only potential hitch is whether a MOTH could be defined as an “invader”. They certainly invade cottages in the evening. They, and other insects, are very hard to keep out!
DTS 41,
[Thanks for the welcome reminder of Sir Henry. I thought of the same thing.
According to AI, the series seems to feature about the only prominent use of the word “opsimath”, which I note recently is also the name of a crossword setter mentioned in this parish.]
I was another who wondered from where the ATE came. I thought that SUPERSCRIPT was tip top.