Guardian Cryptic No. 26,305 by Brendan

by

The puzzle may be found at http://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/26305.

With the exception of 14D, which escapes me, Brendan has produced here a crossword which fits into the easy Monday slot without controversy, unless BANKSIA at 18D is unfamiliar (but it is clearly clued), and the Nina is perhaps unusual at this level.

 

Across
1. Film star no more, tragically (6)
MONROE An anagram (‘tragially’) of ‘no more’, with an etended definition.
4. A king badly hurt at the end (6)
ARTHUR A chaarade of ‘a’ plus R (‘king’) plus THUR, an anagram (‘badly’) of ‘hurt’ with an extended definition, this time a true &lit.
9. Injure player on side (4)
WING Double definition.
10. It’s as well flier has concealed British kind of moustache (10)
TOOTHBRUSH An envelope (has concealed’) of B (‘British’) in TOO (‘as well’) plus THRUSH (‘flier’).
11. Clean house again (6)
HOOVER A charade of HO (‘house’) plus OVER (‘again’). My first thought was HONEST.
12. Unusually irate, not otherwise disposed to attack (4,4)
TEAR INTO A charade of TEARI, an anagram (‘unusually’) of ‘irate’ plus NTO, another anagram (‘otherwise disposed’) of ‘not’.
13. Population of Ireland, say, is riven by malicious gossip (9)
ISLANDERS An envelope (‘riven by’) of SLANDER (‘malicious gossip’) in ‘is’.
15. Supporting diamonds as bridge alternative (4)
FORD A charade of FOR (‘supporting’) plus D (‘diamonds’).
16. Travel, in a way, hard in wild terrain (4)
BUSH A charade of BUS (‘travel, in a way’) plus H (‘hard’).
17. A letter or two, so to speak (6-3)
DOUBLE YOU It is surprising in how many languages the letter W is represented by its shape rather than its pronunciation – and that includes the archaic Greek digamma.
21. Continue singing, including one great number (8)
TRILLION An envelope (‘including’) of I (‘one’) in TRILL ON (‘continue singing’).
22. Men on board announced times for retirement (6)
NIGHTS A homophone (‘announced’) of KNIGHTS (chess, ‘men on board’).
24. Results from adding six one’s incorrectly divided by x (10)
EXTENSIONS An envelope (‘divided by’) of TEN (‘x’, Roman numeral) in EXSIONS, an anagram (‘incorrectly’) of ‘six ones’.
25. Arranger, oddly enough, a regular Prom contributor (4)
ARNE Odd letters (‘oddly enough’) of ArRaNgEr, for the composer of Rule Britannia, a staple of the last night of the Proms.
26. In front of mirror, taking advantage of reflection (6)
MUSING A charade of M (‘front of Mirror’) plus USING (‘taking advantage of’).
27. Driver‘s temperature taken by nurse, say (6)
CARTER An envlope (‘taken by’) of T (‘temperature’) in CARER (‘nurse, say’).

Down
1. Nice houses builders produced covering island (7)
MAISONS An envelope (‘covering’) of I (‘island’) in MASONS (‘builders’). Nice is the Frenh town, of course.
2. Desert, for example, in largely arid state (5)
NEGEV An envelope (“in’) of E.G. (‘for example’) in NEV (Nevada, ‘largely arid state’).
3. Mated with variation, exposed without bishop and queen (7)
OUTBRED An envelope (‘without’) of B (‘bishop’) plus R (‘queen’) in OUTED (‘exposed’).
5. Again try to get male parent outside (6)
REHEAR An envelope (‘to get … outside’) of HE (‘male’) in REAR (‘parent’)
6. Two chaps with ecstasy, one preferring grass (9)
HERBIVORE A charade of HERB plus IVOR (‘two chaps’) plus E (‘ecstasy’).
7. Put in new position, took a break around one (7)
RESITED An envelope (‘around’) of I (‘one’)  in RESTED (‘took a break’).
8. Treat Texan who lived in the margins here, noted literary figure (6,7)
DOCTOR JOHNSON A charade of DOCTOR (‘treat’) plus JOHNSON (LBJ, ‘Texan who lived in the margins here’; the left and right margins of this crossword read WHITE HOUSE).
14. They provide pardons, for instance, covering me, initially, then you (9)
ABSOLVERS I do not get this one: ‘you’ are SOLVERS (so live up to your name!), and B could be Brendan (‘me initially’), which leaves the A hanging.
16. Lawyers’ test to expose greatest upset (3,4)
BAR EXAM A charade of BARE (‘expose’) plus XAM, a reversal (‘upset’ in a down light’) of MAX (‘greatest’).
18. Rely on capital from Asia to produce growth in Australia (7)
BANKSIA A charade of BANK (‘rely’) plus ‘[a]SIA’ with its first letter removed (‘capital from’), for a group of Australian wildflowers and garden cultivars. Excellant surface.
19. Moderate losing head with ruler on more occasions (7)
OFTENER A charade of [s]OFTEN (‘moderate’) without its first letter (‘losing head’) plus ER (‘ruler’).
20. Former Labour leader slow in changing (6)
WILSON An anagram (‘changing’) of ‘slow in’.
23. Gift from relative coming on time (5)
GRANT A charade of GRAN (‘relative’) plus T (‘time’).

39 comments on “Guardian Cryptic No. 26,305 by Brendan”

  1. Thanks to Brendan and PeterO. Fine workout for a Monday (although Sunday here). Regarding
    14d – I parsed it B + SOLVER inside AS with the AS indicated by for instance in the clue.

    Cheers…

  2. Thanks Brendan and PeterO,

    A very nice puzzle.

    Presumably you spotted the Presidents as well as the Nina.

  3. I enjoyed this more than the usual Monday offerings as I had to think a bit harder. I didn’t see the connections until I had finished! But I doubt it would have helped much, if I had. I put a cross by 18d until I looked again. Thought 8d was clever.

    Thanks both!

  4. I’m more dense than ever this morning. I managed to solve the puzzle but failed to see the theme (which now sticks out like the proverbial sore thumb) or the nina.

  5. Just right for Monday, but I also didn’t see the clever nina. Hadn’t heard of BANKSIA. Thanks to Brendan and PeterO.

  7. Thanks, PeterO, for the blog, and Brendan for another great puzzle.

    I saw the theme fairly early on [should have had this one last Friday] but didn’t know that ARTHUR was one until I checked the list when I’d finished.

    Nice cluing throughout – I particularly liked MONROE, TRILLION, ARNE and HERBIVORE, for the surfaces, and ABSOLVERS, which I parsed, eventually, as grandpuzzler did. I tried, on the first run through, to make HANDLEBAR fit 10ac – well, there was AND [as well] and B [British]!

  8. Thanks, PeterO. Like Eileen I saw the theme early on which then allowed me to fill in the final letters of the SE across clues, when I got to 8. The only problem for me then was that the only Texan president I could think of was BUSH so the second half of 8 was, embarassingly, the last one in…

    I particularly liked the juxtaposition in the grid of BUSH and “Dubya”. 🙂

  10. Thanks Brendan and PeterO
    Quite challenging (especially for a Monday); SW last to fall.

    I was baffled by “who lived in the margins here” in 8d until well after I had finished, then a “Doh!”.

    Was the “largely arid” needed in 2d? I suppose it might have been intended as helping, but in fact it misdirected me (thus answering my question, perhaps?).

    I wouldn’t have spelled “double-you” like that, but it is given as an alternative (to “double-u”) in Chambers.

    Lots of favourites – ARTHUR, and MONROE stood out.

  11. Thanks Brendan for a neat puzzle.

    Thanks PeterO – I missed both NINA and theme. 🙁

    LOI was FORD – the theme would have helped considerably!

    Back to the Tour de Cambridge.

  12. Thank you PeterO, I really enjoyed this romp, although I must put my hand up and confess to blinding daftness over the missed Presidents.

    I also didn’t know that was how to spell out “W”.

    I wonder can anyone say what “produced” is doing in 1d.

    Lovely puzzle, thank you, Brendan.

  13. Thanks PeterO and Brendan. Brilliant stuff and not too taxing. I note Brendan has also managed to weave in part of Hoover’s first name (HERBert).

  14. Hi muffin @10 and William @12

    Surely ‘so to speak’ in the clue indicates that that *isn’t* [despite Chambers!] the way to spell ‘W’?

  15. I enjoyed this puzzle. I saw the theme midway through, and then I saw the possibility of the nina which helped me with DOUBLE-YOU, WING and HOOVER. BANKSIA was my LOI, and until I got CARTER I had been considering “banksen” because it fitted the wordplay (the sen is 1/100 of a yen) but it didn’t look likely.

  16. Hello Eileen @ 14.
    I agree that a homophone is suggested in the ‘double-you’ clue, but, surely, if it is not also accepted as a spelling for the letter (which I admit I have never met) the clue lacks a definition.

  17. I see what you mean, George. I can’t decide now whether it’s a very good or a rather weak clue – but the juxtaposition with BUSH makes it irresistible. 😉

  18. Thanks to PeterO for the blog. You explained a couple where I Had the answers but not the parsing.

    I missed the presidents. 🙁

    Please remind me: what is a nina? I thought it meant all the letters of the alphabet present but I cannot see Q.

  19. Chas, you’re thinking of a pangram. Nina (from the name of the artist’s daughter hidden in Hirschfeld caricatures) refers to any theme or Easter egg (e.g., a message spelled out by the initial letters of the Across answers) in the puzzle.

  20. Thanks all
    That’s two Mondays which have not disappointed.
    My last in was Carter in spite of spotting The White House. I thought 1d was quite witty but my favourite was ‘extensions’ because of the subtle misdirection of the double ‘x’.

  21. Thanks PeterO and Brendan

    A lovely puzzle and an especially nice surprise for a Monday, though I usually, though not always, enjoy Rufus’s offerings.

    I saw the theme direction in the margins quite quickly for a change, but missed a link between Bush and W, and didn’t see the parsing of 14d. I suspect the apparently easy nature of the puzzle led several of us into missing one or other of its subtleties – ars est celare artem.

    I solved Banksia from the clue and checked my vague memory of it as plant name.

  22. Thanks to Jon88 for the explanation. As it happened I missed the White House sidelines anyway.

  23. It is rather odd that double-you is in Chambers (and a stroke of luck for Brendan). Chambers names (and numbers) the consonants, with separate entries for B or b and bee, C or c and cee etc. The vowels, including u, are not so treated. It’s all a bit strange. Why would you want to spell out the word cee? (Collins has cee etc but neither doubles.)

    The French as I recall do not do this because they recite the alphabet sort of phonetically. Except of course for “dooblah-vey”, a letter rare in the romance languages. Then there’s “Veni, vidi, vici” and “One, Clavdivs”.

  24. I enjoyed this and even saw the theme (and the Dubya).

    I still can’t make ABSOLVERS work. If it’s B for Brendan inside AS, then we’ve got ABSSOLVERS, surely?

    Thanks Peter and Brendan.

  27. Absolvers 14d
    For instance = AS
    Covering me, initially = B for Brendan
    Then you = solver
    ABsolverS

  28. Well, what is the matter with us, having the same word for ‘you’ singular and ‘you’ plural? Makes for mischief in crosswords, though!

    Isn’t that what it’s all about? Funnily enough, I suppose it depends whether you are a solitaire solver or plural round a pub table. I prefer the latter but circumstances dictate the former (mostly).

    A rare admission of a mistake from Tramp the other day (ironically something to do with dubya I think) but in the few months looking at 15×15 recently I have to say that ultimately almost all clues are fair given there are no rules. Remember that, folks – there are NO rules!

  31. Sorry, Steve, didn’t finish the reply.

    Look at the words formed on the extreme left and right verticals on the completed grid; WHITE down the left and HOUSE down the right.

  32. Thanks, Peter. I enjoyed this Brendan, though I found it a little tougher than some other solvers.

    I realised quite quickly to look at the down letters at the edges, and guessing HOUSE helped me get a couple of clues; I had misremembered (Rita) MORONE (yes, I realise it should be MORENO, now) at 1ac, until I found it was MONROE and thought the ARTHUR referred to MILLER so was trying to fit Kennedy in somewhere. I hadn’t at this stage realised it was presidents, but things associated with The White House – WING, for example.

  33. Well, what a pleasant surprise. As the first two across clues were write-ins I thought we had Brendan doing his occasional dumbing down act for Monday. (Of course the Guardian “Easy Monday” editorial policy is sacrosanct.)

    However, this turned into a “real” Brendan. Some great cluing and a real treat for a Monday. I didn’t find this as easy as some solvers seem to have but it was very enjoyable.

    Naturally, as ever, I failed to see the Nina and the presidents. (I never look for these things!)

    Thanks to PeterO and Brendan

    More Mondays like this please Guardian

  34. I’ve been lurking on this site for a while, and appreciate the explanations of the clues where I can’t parse the solutions, either in part or completely.

    But I’m baffled by the number of vacuous postings which seem to me to be triggered by the poster’s love of the sound of their own voice. If you’ve nothing constructive to say, say nothing…

  35. Thanks Brendan and PeterO

    Another quality crossword presented by Brendan – they mightn’t be the hardest puzzles going around, but they are certainly one of the most entertaining!

    Sometimes ‘getting’ the nina can work against you! Confidently wrote in WHITE HORSE after seeing ARTHUR and thinking knights , etc. But not to be :).

    It wasn’t until I got DOCTOR JOHNSON as my second last in … that I could see that it was DOUBLE YOU (my last in) and the presidential theme.

    Quite brilliant … thanks again, Brendan.

  36. Oh dear I don’t think I’m tuned in like the majority of you. I struggled with this and once finished got it. However at times felt would not complete this puzzle. Perhaps a long weekend of good food and booze killed too many brain cells but… I needed a Rufus today. Too contrived for my taste and 14 d was pure guesswork as some other clues and I don’t like guesswork.

  37. What a super Monday surprise! I’d almost resolved to stop taking Monday’s offering, but addiction had the better of me and I stopped by the library to photocopy my daily trio (I love to have the puzzles on paper). And found this. Isn’t irony ironic?!
    As usual, I agree with Eileen though perhaps the clever “so to speak” in 17ac refers only to u=you rather than the whole clue (that way lies no uncertainties…) Indeed, only the House of Nina assured me of the ‘you’. Lovely, smart and elegant from Brendan to whom I convey my appreciation.

  38. Would have got further with this if I hadn’t put “Moreno” in as first solved clue. I notice that Rita Moreno is still alive…, oh well.

  39. I think Brendan has snuck another theme in here: ARTHUR, FORD, TRILLION…

    (presumably ZAPHOD would have been a bit trickier to sneak under the radar)

Comments are closed.