The puzzle may be found at http://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/26402.
On occasion, I have wondered if Brummie was beginning to run out of steam as a setter, but here he was back on form.
| Across | ||
| 1 | HECUBA |
Wife of a Trojan king, inspirational leader beheaded by his adopted country (6)
A charade of [c]HE (Guevara, ‘inspirational leader’) without the first letter (‘brheaded’) plud CUBA (‘his adopted country’).
|
| 4 | SHOW DOG |
Competing boxer‘s seconds question almighty setback? (4,3)
A charade of S (‘seconds’) plus HOW (‘question’) plus DOG, a reversal (‘setback’) of GOD (‘almighty’).
|
| 9 | DALAI LAMA |
Exiled leader overturned by advanced African country and American son (5,4)
A reversal (‘overturned’) of A (‘advanced’) plus MALI (‘African country’) plus A (‘American’) plus LAD (‘son’ cf. 1D).
|
| 10 | MUFFS |
Winter wear makes a dog’s dinner (5)
Double definition (dog’s dinner: a mess, a series of mistakes).
|
| 11 | LINED |
Scored, though visibly ageing? (5)
Double definiyion.
|
| 12 | GIFT HORSE |
Freebie (oral examination not recommended) (4,5)
Cryptic definition, referencing the maxim “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth”.
|
| 13 | ONSHORE |
Performing with belt up on rock at the beach? (7)
A charade of ON (‘performing’) plus SH (‘belt up’) plus ORE (‘rock’).
|
| 15 | ESSENE |
Old Jewish sect lessened without its extreme elements (6)
Just what it says: [l]ESSENE[d].
|
| 17 | GRUMPY |
Cross borne by gutless chap holding back (6)
An envelope (‘borne by’) of RUMP (‘back’) in G[u]Y (‘chap’) minus its inner letter (‘gutless’).
|
| 19 | ROLLERS |
Canaries ocean formations (7)
I suppose this is intended as a double definition: a roller is a bird, but quite different from the canary; and a roller is also a wave.
|
| 22 | PANEGYRIC |
Praise agency rip off (9)
An anagram (‘off’) of ‘agency rip’.
|
| 24 | MUTED |
Contrary corporation has media chief silenced (5)
A charade of MUT, a reversal (‘contrary’) of TUM (‘corporation’) plus ED (‘media chief’).
|
| 26 | CULET |
Body armour fashion around start of eighties (5)
An envelope (‘around’) of E (‘start of Eighties’) in CULT (‘fashion’).
|
| 27 | IMMENSITY |
Setter’s toilet has use of computers etc — yen for greatness! (9)
A charade of I’M (‘setter’s’) plus MENS (‘toilet’) plus IT (‘use of computers etc’) plus Y (‘yen’, Japanese currency).
|
| 28 | DORMANT |
“Resting” TV presenter’s after reduced student accommodation (7)
A charade of DORM[itory] (‘reduced student accommodation’) plus ANT (McPartlin, ‘TV presenter’).
|
| 29 | JAGGED |
Posh car, say, reversing at end of road that’s irregular? (6)
A charade of JAG (‘posh car’) plus GE, a reversal (‘reversing’) of E.G. (‘say’) plus D (‘end of roaD‘).
|
| Down | ||
| 1 | HIDALGO |
Foreign gent greeting son up on pass (7)
A charade of HI (‘greeting’) plus DAL, a reversal (‘up’, in a down light) of LAD (‘son’) plus GO (‘pass’).
|
| 2 | COLON |
Currency that might introduce a list (5)
Double definition.
|
| 3 | BLINDWORM |
Snake-like creature‘s undiscerning malignant software (9)
A charade of BLIND (‘undiscerning’) plus WORM (‘malignant software’).
|
| 4 | SNAFFLE |
A bit of rubbish Les cast outside (7)
An envelope (‘outside’) of NAFF (‘rubbish’) in SLE, a anagram (‘cast’) of ‘Les’.
|
| 5 | OOMPH |
Vigour of brass player’s sound not top grade (5)
A subtraction: OOMP[a]H (‘brassplayer’s sound’) without the A (‘not top grade’).
|
| 6 | DEFERENCE |
About to join Resistance? Respect! (9)
An envelope (‘to join’?) of RE (‘about’) in DEFENCE (‘Resistance’).
|
| 7 | GASKET |
Blow it, you must be mad! (6)
Cryptic definition (“blow a gasket”: to be highly annoyed).
|
| 8 | BARGEE |
Person with craft to aggressively push drug (6)
A charade of BARGE (‘aggressively push’) plus E (‘drug’).
|
| 14 | SPRINKLER |
Salt distributor used as fire extinguisher? (9)
Double definition.
|
| 16 | SALAMANCA |
Spanish town elevated since protecting translated almanac (9)
An envelope (‘protecting’) of ALAMANC, an anagram (‘translated’) of ‘almanac’ in SA, a reversal (‘elevated’ in a down light) of AS (‘since’).
|
| 18 | YORKIST |
House supporter one’s gently touched, it’s said (7)
A homophone (‘it’s said’) of YOU’RE KISSED (‘one’s gently touched’).
|
| 19 | RACEME |
Run with Brummie’s stalked cluster of flowers (6)
A charade of RACE (‘run’) plus ME (‘Brummie’).
|
| 20 | SAD-EYED |
Pierrot-like? Yes — dead sloppy! (3-4)
An anagram (‘sloppy’) of ‘yes dead’.
|
| 21 | SPACED |
Having a gap year off, Kevin, say, died (6)
A charade of SPACE[y] (‘Kevin, say’) without the Y (‘year off’) plus D (‘died’).
|
| 23 | GOTTA |
Must move with time: I appreciate that (5)
A charade of GO (‘move’) plus T (‘time’) plus TA (‘I appreciaste that’), “I gotta go”.
|
| 25 | THING |
Sound as a bell, having taken hard substance (5)
An envelope (‘having taken’) of H (‘hard’) in TING (‘sound as a bell’).
|
*anagram
More than the usual number of clues that just don’t work west of the Atlantic. So this was a surrender for me. How is “SH” “belt up,” by the way?
Not on Brummie’s wavelength today.
mrpenney @ 1 – ‘belt up’ means ‘shut up’ or ‘keep quiet’ over this side.
I’m also west of the Atlantic, but I have to take it for granted that there’s going to be a lot of British terms in British-set cryptics. Cryptics from this side of the pond just don’t do it for me. They lack the sparkle and ingenuity of their British counterparts, and as far as I’m concerned, Britishisms just add to the challenge, and I’m not disappointed at all when I look up a word and find that it’s a “strictly British” term for such-and-such. If anything, I derive more enjoyment because such instances afford me a lot more aha moments, and I learn something along the way 🙂
Thanks Brummie and PeterO
Very odd. I found the RHS really easy. ESSENE was barely cryptic, though 19a turned out not to be “islands”, my first thought – and a better answer than ROLLERS unless we’re missing something (as PeterO says, they are quite different birds – canaries are finches; rollers are related to bee-eaters and kingfishers).
The NW fell slowly, but I found the SW nearly incomprehensible and eventually gave up on the CULET/GOTTA crossers, though, to be fair, I saw all the parsings after getting the answers, except for YORKIST – thanks PeterO for that one.
There’s no problem with canary=roller in 19ac:
Chambers:
9. A kind of tumbler pigeon
10. A bird (genus Coracias) of a family related to the kingfishers, with a habit of flight like a tumbler pigeon (Ger Roller)
11. A kind of canary with a soft trilling song
Collins:
12. any of various Old World birds of the family Coraciidae, such as Coracias garrulus (European roller), that have a blue, green, and brown plumage, a slightly hooked bill, and an erratic flight: order Coraciiformes (kingfishers, etc)
13. (often capital) a variety of tumbler pigeon that performs characteristic backward somersaults in flight
14. a breed of canary that has a soft trilling song in which the notes are run together
Thanks Gaufrid @5
Steve @3: I like the learning aspect of doing British crosswords, too, and of course I expect several British idioms, slang terms, and cultural references in each puzzle. In my years of doing this, I’ve picked up quite a lot. But I’m one of these people who refuses to look anything up during solving…which means that I’m dependent on crossing letters and crisp cluing to get the ones I don’t know. Today there were simply too many.
There are a number of really good American setters of cryptics. Look for Henry Hook, Patrick Berry, and Emily Cox/Henry Rathvon (a team). Their work is getting harder to find, sadly. Games Magazine and Games World of Puzzles both publish 2 or 3 (respectively) cryptics a month; although their 15x15s are strictly Ximinean and therefore too easy, their variety puzzles are spicier.
mrpenney @7: I’m with you as far as not looking things up when I’m doing American (regular) crosswords, relying on crosses and good old-fashioned inference to get the answers I don’t know. I only make exceptions with British cryptics, until I’ve looked up something enough times that it starts to sink in. (I apologize if I implied an unwillingness to learn something new, as that was not my intent.)
All the names you mentioned are household names to me 😉 They are masters at what they do, and their regular crosswords (along with Peter Gordon’s Fireballs, Matt Gaffney’s metas, and Patrick Blindauer’s puzzles consistently raise the bar for what a crossword can be). I’ve done quite a few EC/HR cryptics in the weekend National Post, as the newspaper carries the Daily Telegraph cryptic through the rest of the week. They’re good for what they are, but relatively speaking, the DTs carry more of a punch imo, partially because they remind me that there will always be a British term for me to learn. I admit I have not done my fair share of variety cryptics, so I will have to give those a look-see. Thank you for the suggestion 🙂
Happy continued solving!
Thanks Brummie and PeterO.
The OCED much the same as Chambers and Collins, roller… a breed of canary with a trilling song.
However it does not give CULET, had to look it up on the web.
Checked for fun GOTTA, it gives it with a warning, “Gotta is non-standard and should generally be avoided in both speech and writing”.
Thanks, PeterO. Given the discussion above, all I can say about this crossword is: “Blimey Charley!”
I most admire a crossword when, having struggled through it, I look back and wonder what the fuss was about… Great misdirection in most of the clues with just a few gimmes to keep you encouraged. Thanks Brummie!
Since when does substance=thing?
gladys @11, I agree, but the OCED gives substance, the essential material, esp. solid, forming a thing.
Gaufrid @5
Thanks. I should have gone to Chambers for roller – Wikipedia only gave the two birds that I had come across before.
Good workout, thanks Brummie.
Thanks PeterO; a bit more information about rollers.
I particularly enjoyed YORKIST, (no complaints here about the homophone)IMMENSITY and COLON.
Thanks, PeterO.
A pleasant challenge from Brummie, with some rather recondite vocabulary to keep us on our toes. I have looked in vain for any hidden theme or Nina. Anyone else had any luck?
I found the SW quadrant rather sticky, though PANEGYRIC was a first-pass entry. CULET was new to me: I’m not well up on armour terminology, though is a piece to protect the ‘cul’ (Fr ‘arse’) strictly ‘body armour’? Wouldn’t just ‘armour’ have sufficed?
And isn’t an ESSENE a member of an old Jewish sect, rather than the name of the sect itself?
Thanks to PeterO for the blog.
In 12a I spent some time trying to make ‘mouth’ fit in – without success. Eventually the penny dropped. 🙁
I take issue with #7’s ‘strictly Ximinean (sic) and therefore too easy’: that is quite wrong, of course. For example all Times crosswords are Ximenean, or near as dammit, and only very occasionally is one of those ‘too easy’.
This puzzle has a slightly awkward set of surfaces, quite ‘crosswordese-ey’. Not too bad I suppose, although (again) this Guardian puzzle could have been tidier without much extra effort..
Re American cryptics: the ones in The Nation (by Joshua Kosman and Henri Picciotto) are on the easy side but fun.
Found this pretty difficult but got there in the end and enjoyed the challenge. Last in was GASKET which I should have seen earlier – apart from that the SW corner was tricky. CULET was new to me, RACEME only vaguely familiar from previous crossword, and missed the parsing of DEFERENCE. Liked HECUBA and SHOW DOG.
Thanks to PeterO and Brummie
Thank you PeterO.
Phew! Made a bit of a dog’s dinner of this.
Not sure I quite agree with you on GRUMPY (17a). Does one need both ‘borne by’ and ‘holding’ for the envelope?
Loved PANEGYRIC, GIFT HORSE, OOMPH & YORKIST.
Not keen on substance = THING I have to say, but Cookie’s explanation makes it fair game.
Tough but fair, Brummie, many thanks.
Gervase @15
Agreed, in 26A just ‘armour would have sufficed, but the culet protected the buttocks and the small of the back – parts of the torso rather than the extremities – I see nothing wrong in including the extra detail of ‘body armour’.
William @20
Indeed ‘holding’ is the envelope indicator, and ‘borne by’ just a link from the definition to the wordplay.
I found this quite hard to get into but(mostly) satisfying once I did. I did puzzle about ROLLERS and, like Muffin,originally had ISLANDS. I did wonder if ROLLERS was an alternative nickname for Norwich City FC who are known as Canaries. I know absolutely nothing about football I should add. But some great clues. I loved HECUBA,COLON,MUTED and YORKIST-so thanks BRUMMIE.
Much too hard for me, by and large. That’s not to say I don’t have a grid filled out with all the right letters in all the right places; I do, but that’s by resorting on-line to the check button, so I could see whether wild stabs like GOTTA and ROLLERS were in fact correct. And once or twice finding they weren’t, the resulting information then leading to an answer.
Did like YORKIST though, helpfully following on from last weekend.
At 10a I thank the 2nd definition should be “makes a dog’s dinner”. Surely muff is more of a verb than a noun.
Couldn’t even start this one. Ridiculously hard. Just how many cryptic crossword regulars are there in this country that can even make significant inroads into something like this. Guardian wake up and Fire this turkey.
Steve @ 25
It’s horses for courses / individual opinions. I like Brummie a lot, the clueing is very fair, though sometimes libertarian in the graun style, even when what it points to is obscure.
I actually completed this faster than most Brummies, and although a lot of the comments on the graun’s site thought this one was tricky no one has condemned it out of hand.
I’d sooner have a stiff challenge fairly often than a regular diet of Rufus and Chifonie (both of whom I enjoy in their own way). And if you think Brummie in the graun is tricky you should check him out as Cyclops in Private Eye!
Just who is the Guardian cryptic crissword for – it’s shrinking circulation or a few ascetics who probably don’t even buy the paper every day.
I buy the Guardian every day, found this a perfectly acceptable offering, not too hard to get into but with some definite food for thought on the way to the completed grid. If everything was of a Rufus/Chifonie difficulty level I’d jump ship to a different paper.
Well, I buy it every day Steve in StA, but then I’m a confirmed Guardianista. Even if I didn’t, I think I would turn to the Guardian crossword precisely because of its variety. And because, over many many years, I have learnt some tricks of the trade, to get to a position when I can solve it more often than not, and even in times of great struggle learn something for the future.
Btw, I probably prefer Brummie in Private Eye Cyclops mode; it’s a bit easier, I find, plus I’ve got a mind like a sewer, and they dangle a hundred quid at you too.
Steve @ 27
It’s certainly for me and I guess other people like me who enjoy doing cryptic crosswords.
I buy the Guardian 5 days a week. I find Rufus and one or two other setters a bit easy and not particularly to my taste but happy for them to be part of the diet – and I do smile from time to time at an elegant clue. I am far from being an expert. Today I completed all bar about 5 clues but it wasn’t easy, and there were a few unsatisfactory ones (Rollers, Snaffles …) that stopped it being a real joy. But on about two days out of five I’ll get great satisfaction from the crossword and the other days it’s an good mental diversion as I try to let the effects of a day’s teaching wash away.
I’m a confirmed Guardian reader. It is a happy coincidenceto find an excellent cryptic crossword in my paper of choice.
Steve in St A @25, like Trailman @ 23, I have to resort to the online check button. I manage to fill the grid, but occasionally, when really stuck, I put the vowels in to try and deduce the answer, then work back over the parsing. I have only once completed a crossword without these aids, that was this week’s Everyman (think I might have made two errors though, have to wait until Sunday to see). I just do not have the time in the week to mull over difficult clues.
However, I really enjoy the Guardian Cryptic Crossword. Have taken the Weekly Guardian for fifty years, but until I found Fifteensquared got nowhere with the it.
Thanks Brummie and PeterO
Found this to be a fairly tough (especially this early in the week), but fair challenge. Like others, I finished in the SW corner as well with DORMANT, SPACED and CULET the last few in. Had a partially parsed BRUMBY in at 17a and forgot to mark it as ‘to be checked’ before coming here.
Found that it wasn’t all that hard to get a start – DALAI LAMA was nearly a write in with ‘exiled leader’ and the numeration although LINED was my first in.
A good mix of local knowledge (ANT, NAFF, BARGEE), general knowledge (HECUBA – cleverly interwoven cryptic part of the clue, SALAMANCA, PIERROT, etc) mixed with a couple of unusual words (HIDALGO, PANEGYRIC and CULET) to give a good balance.
Enjoyed it a lot … don’t buy the paper, but dunno whether I’d classify myself an ascetic though!
I didn’t find this too easy but I honestly don’t know what all the fuss is about. Although there weren’t many clues that were write-ins they were all solvable with close attention to the clues. I didn’t know of the “roller canary” but the “ocean formations” definition made ROLLERS a fair assumption once all the checkers were in place. Like quite a few others I finished in the SW with CULET after I finally saw SPRINKLER, and I was pleased to see culet existed when I checked it post-solve.
For those of you across the Atlantic, I really enjoy Merl Reagle’s Sunday puzzles, which I do online in the Washington Post.
Steve @25/27 – I wouldn’t normally react strongly to individual comments, but on this one I’m 100% on Brummie’s side – as others have said we have a variety of puzzles to satisfy the variety of solvers, and this was a lot easier than the Anax in today’s Independent. I have been buying the Guardian almost every day since 1985 (and reading my parents’ copy before that) and if anything I would welcome more challenging puzzles, not less.
Steve @25
I think you should believe the majority on here.
This was NOT a difficult puzzle.
Everything fairly clued and gettable.
It’s just takes technique and LOTS of practise. (Oh and patience 😉 )
Thanks to PeterO and Brummmie
Steve @ 25 – I sympathise with your views, but it’s clear that there are a lot of very quick and experienced solvers of cryptics (and they tend to populate sites like these). I’m by no means the fastest – today I got there bar a couple of answers, but it took quite a long time (like most others, it was the SW corner that foxed me).
So I think the problem is that with a wide range of solving ability around, the crossword editors have to plump for some average level, and the bar at the Guardian is set quite high. I find The Observer ‘cryptic ‘crossword quite unappealing because it has none of the charm of the Guardian’s cryptics and is pretty easy. Here, even if I can’t complete the puzzle I always find it fun and a challenge. The quality of the clue writing is generally excellent.
drofle @ 36
I do find your second paragraph very interesting in raising the question of where the crossword editor sets the bar. Many years ago it used to be the Times that was considered the toughest but as I don’t do it I don’t know whether that still applies.
Recently Pasquale, here or on the graun site, I can’t remember which, commented after a puzzle of his had drawn fairly negative comments about the level of difficulty and obscurity something along the lines of “if you want me to give you easier puzzles, go somewhere else” (apologies for the convolution of that sentence).
I certainly find him easier as Bradman than Pasquale (but not out-and-out easy, I hasten to add), and in a similar vein I used to find Cinephile easier than Araucaria.
So it does seem to me that the editors have some form of benchmark level, around which they let their puzzles float. And I do find the graun level to be acceptably high – we have Boatman to come on Friday…where are Enigmatist, Brendan (the one), Crucible, and Bonxie? We haven’t seen them in ages. The wonderful Arachne is missing in action for health reasons, nut there are other more occasional setters whom it would be nice to see more frequently (imo, of course!)
…the b key is next to the n key…but not nut!
Simon S @ 36 – Enigmatist due tomorrow (info gleaned from York S&B event).
Too hard for me today but I don’t mind that (been buying the paper daily since 1982). The Guardian caters for a wide range of solving abilities, quite rightly so in my opinion.
Thanks to PeterO for the elucidation & to Brummie for the drubbing.
Enjoyed this myself – I would echo PO’s comment at the head of the blog. Going back a long way I always looked forward to Brummie puzzles for high entertainment value – never quite Cyclops-lite but you sensed that the tongue was always in the cheek. I felt they had slipped of late – and this one and a few other recent ones are finding their way back on track.
Brummie set up a website a while back in which, amongst other things, he criticises clues of other setters. Setters who do that sort of thing always seem to me to be setting themselves up for a downfall – if nothing else it must surely make them feel self-conscious as they write their own stuff and maybe detract from creativity. Plus – isn’t Brummie the brand-name for a ma and pa team effort – maybe ma does the gridfill – pa clues it. For me it’s the Brummie gridfills that have needed tickling up a bit – not the cluing. No ‘ffence intended if that’s you ma B.
As far as the discussion of difficulty goes, surely difficulty lies in two broad but quite different areas – 1: Have you heard of the word; 2: Can you crack the wordplay – quite different things – maybe some overlap in recognising words used as operators – esp if the word itself (or that particular meaning) is obscure.
Many thanks to both S&B.
Enjoyed doing about half of this – but I do think that ROLLERS and THING were stretttcchhing a little too far.
I found it hard to get on |Brummie’s wavelength today and failed with a couple in the end – rollers and raceme. But, with a couple of clues I think a bit dubious it all seemed fair enough in the Grauniad style and I certainly don’t want anything tamed down or duller.
I seem to remember the crossword editor (who has come into a bit of fairly justified criticism on this site recently for inadequate clue checking) writing a while ago that the aim is to have two relatively easy puzzles each week, two moderate ones, and two tough ones. It’s surprised me in recent months to find the Saturday prize puzzle often seeming amongst the easier ones. I do wonder whether the setters write to a brief as to level of difficulty, or just produce puzzles which then get slotted in more or less as per the policy. (Any setters ready to comment?)
Incidentally, I once complained to the crossword editor about a clue-checking failure in an Araucaria (of all things!) in a somewhaht ironic tone and got a very angry response. I didn’t bother again – a result for him I suppose.
Steve@27
I was very interested to read your comments. I started taking cryptics seriously about a year ago and posted comments very similar to yours – clues that were unreasonably tortuous, arrogant comments from people who probably didn’t even buy the Guardian, suggestions to the crossword editor that he revise his policy, etc
All I can say is keep trying and keep following the 15×15 blog and it gets easier. I eventually finished this crossword at 10:30pm having dipped in and out of it through the day. I didn’t find it easy but I am not embarrassed to use an electronic word finder when I’m stuck. A more recent discovery was the check button and that can be very helpful, too. I know purists will disapprove but I regard all these tools as educational and you find you need them less as time passes.
I’m amazed at the fuss about “rollers”. Surely it’s common knowledge? When I saw canary in the clue I thought a) sing like a (squealer, grass) b) Norwich City (The Canaries) c) roller. Admittedly there is the Roller related to the bee-eater and the hoopoe, but they are very rare vagrants in the UK. Many more roller canaries about – in cages, of course. Mind you, I do have the advantage of living near Norwich, which used to be the centre of British canary breeding.
… the Enigmatist has turned up as promised (I wouldn’t fancy having to blog one of his). If Simon S @37 is right and we’re due to get a Boatman on Friday, we’ll probably all welcome something easier tomorrow!
Well here’s my two-penn’orth for what it’s worth (not even a penny in your ‘new’ money!)….
William@20 – I agree with my namesake re GRUMPY (though I appreciate PeterO’s chivalrous defence).
Gervase@15 – you are quite right about ESSENE.
Gasman jack@24 – I agree; MUFFS is here as a verb and definition is “makes a dog’s dinner”.
Trailman@29 – I do agree with you about the enjoyably naughty but nice (and easier), Cyclops.
Steve in St A @25/27 – I don’t agree!
SimonS@37 – You say it all so well, particularly about Arachne(/Anarche); and just as she’d started to fill that very special cruciverbal space in my heart previously reserved for Araucaria….her artistry quite superb!
Also, I found the contributions from our American friends to be enlightening and enjoyable.
All the above helped to make 225 almost as entertaining as the puzzle itself!
As always, a beautifully presented blog from the inestimable PeterO.
And, of course, many thanks to Brummie
Gasman jack @24 & William F P @46
Perhaps I was being perverse in my choice, but in 10A MUFFS can be a noun as well as a verb in the sense of blunders (that one too).