Guardian 26,623 by Pasquale

by

An enjoyable struggle, with some tricky clues and a couple of new words for me. Favourite was 1dn.

Across
9 HARDINESS
Strength of princess sadly no longer in control (9)

DI[ana]=”princess sadly no longer”, in HARNESS=”control”
10 ATONE
Make up for lunch now? (5)

you might have lunch AT ONE 
11 NEAREST
Most miserly member in hiding place (7)

‘Near’ can mean stingy/parsimonious. EAR=”member”, in NEST=”hiding place”
12 ROAMERS
They can’t stop this person being overwhelmed by loud noises (7)

ME=”this person”, inside ROARS=”loud noises”
13 SUIT
Habit of admirer putting soldiers off (4)

Habit as in a garment. SUIT[or]=”admirer”, minus O[ther] R[anks]=”soldiers”
14 SEERSUCKER
Material obtained by dog not dry inside — one using straw? (10)

SE[tt]ER=”dog” without t[ee]t[otal]=”dry” inside; plus SUCKER=”one using straw”
15 WINKLED
Bat was first to get dug out (7)

WINK=”Bat” an eyelid; plus LED=”was first”
17 MISSIVE
Fail to notice this writer’s communication (7)

MISS=”Fail to notice”, plus I’VE=”this writer [has]”
19 INDICTMENT
Charge cent — mind, it gets worse (10)

(cent mind it)*
22 ETNA
Sweet nature masks this one liable to erupt (4)

Hidden in [Swe]ET NA[ture]
23 PARTNER
Colleague‘s role facing loveless persecutor (7)

PART=”role”; plus NER[o] who persecuted Christians, minus o i.e. “loveless”.
24 GARAGED
Tribe full of anger in building by house? (7)

GAD [wiki] was one of the twelve tribes of Israel, around RAGE=”anger”
26 REINS
Controls only half restored (5)

half of REINS[tated]=”restored”
27 LAMEBRAIN
Innocent person swallowing drug — wet person being stupid (9)

LAMB=”Innocent person”, swallowing E[cstasy]=”drug”, plus RAIN=”wet”
Down
1 CHINESE WHISPERS
Game when precise hiss can be tricky? (7,8)

also &lit. (when precise hiss)*
2 CROATIAN
European bird from a large land mass making itself heard (8)

Sounds like all of: ‘crow’=”bird”, plus ‘Asian’=”from a large land mass”
3 JIBE
Sneer makes you stop short, last thing Pasquale wants (4)

JIB=”stop short”=of a horse, to balk or shy; plus the last letter of [Pasqual]E
4 MEATHEAD
Wally has to take food that’s hard dunked in drink (8)

EAT=”take food”, plus H[ard], all inside MEAD=”drink”
5 USURER
Money handler certain to go into the city (as of old) (6)

SURE=”certain”, inside UR=”city (as of old)”
6 MAMAGUYS
West Indian tries to deceive mother and blokes (8)

a  West Indian word meaning to deceive. MAMA=”mother” plus GUYS=”blokes”
7 KOPECK
Decisive blow with a bit of a strike for money (6)

a hundredth part of the Russian rouble. K[nock]O[ut]=”Decisive blow”, plus PECK=”bit of a strike”
8 LESSER CELANDINE
Plant screens lie in various positions, concealing antelope (6,9)

an early spring flower. (screens lie)*, around ELAND=a South African antelope
16 LOCH NESS
See Urquhart Castle here and see church on headland (4,4)

Urquhart Castle [wiki] lies beside Loch Ness. LO=”see [over there!]”, plus CH[urch], plus NESS=”headland”
17 MONOGAMY
No good going between two little women in system requiring one only! (8)

NO G[ood], inside two “little women”: MO=short for Maureen, and AMY from Louisa May Alcott’s book Little Women
18 INTEGRAL
Like form of calculus working out triangle (8)

(triangle)*
20 DARWIN
Scientist given challenge, shortly meeting with success (6)

DAR[e]=”challenge, shortly”, plus WIN=”success”
21 MARBLE
Rock that upsets first half of country walk? (6)

RAMBLE=”country walk”, with its first half reversed to give MARBLE
25 RUBY
Game using stone (4)

R[ugby] U[nion]=”Game”, plus BY=”using”

38 comments on “Guardian 26,623 by Pasquale”

  1. Thanks manehi.

    This went quite rapidly at first for a Pasquale. Some very easy ones, I thought, like ETNA and 16d, and 1d and 8d. The last few were a bit of a struggle, for example MAMAGUYS, of which I had never heard, and MONOGAMY. MACAQUES would have sufficed in place of MAMAGUYS.

  2. Thanks manehi.

    Enjoyed this but a bit of a struggle to finish. LOI JIBE & CROATIAN.

    Dave Ellison @1…I suspect he thought of MONOGAMY instead of MAMAGUYS but he’d already used it at 17d.

    LAMEBRAIN & MEATHEAD went in early so wasted time looking for more of the theme.

    Favourite CHINESE WHISPERS.

    Another most enjoyable crossword , many thanks to The Don.

  3. Good stuff here! I see Chambers gives the deriv. of MAMAGUYS as:

    mamar el gallo = feed the cock.

    Thanks to manehi and the Don

  4. cholecyst @3 Interesting. OED gives ‘mamar gallo’ from the Spanish ‘make a monkey of’. Your gallo sounds more reasonable – I recall a marque of Rioja as Gallo Nero (Black Cockerel).

  5. As usual I had trouble with games (CHINESE WHISPERS) and plants (LESSER CELANDINE)and last in was MAMAGUYS (from the clues with the help of Google) and I needed help understanding the “jib” in JIBE (though the solution was clear). Thanks to Pasquale and to manehi for the parsing.

  6. Quite tough in places, but some nice things in there. Got there in the end but had to ‘cheat’ with MAMAGUYS (forgot that mother could be MAMA as well as MA!) – not a word I knew, but I’m glad he chose it, as it added colour and increased the vocabulary with an interesting new word.

    Thanks manehi.

  7. [William @4 – I think you may be recalling the official badge (Gallo Nero) of the Chianti Classico region]

  8. Tough for me also, but almost got there (except for MAMAGUYS and JIBE). Favourites were CHINESE WHISPERS, MONOGAMY (excellent clue), KOPECK and RUBY. Many thanks to Pasquale and manehi.

  9. Thanks Pasquale and manehi.

    I found this puzzle most enjoyable, and was surprised I could finish it without help, apart from looking up the meaning of MAMAGUYS, more literally “mamar el gallo” means “to suckle the cock”.

    I particularly liked SEERSUCKER, CROATIAN, KOPECK, LOCH NESS, MARBLE and CHINESE WHISPERS.

  11. Another enjoyable Don puzzle, although like others I struggled with some of the clues. It took me a while to see ROAMERS, it was only once I had it that I felt confident enough in the wordplay to enter the previously unknown MAMAGUYS, and JIBE was my LOI when I finally realised that “stop short” was “jib” because I had been trying to think of a four-letter word for “stop” that was shortened.

    By the way manehi, “mamaguy” can be both a verb meaning to deceive and a noun meaning a deception, and it is the noun that is needed here to justify the plural.

  12. Andy B @11 – I read it differently, Andy; isn’t the plural needed for ‘guys’? So the definition is the verb ‘tries to deceive’.

  13. Just to say 1d is not ‘&lit’ because there is a definition in addition to the wordplay, namely ‘game’. It would probably not be enough to just have the anagram, here.

    Some very difficult words again from Pasquale, but it is a mostly well-written puzzle for me.

  14. William@12 – I read “tries” as a noun, not a verb, which leads to a more whimsical definition, but I accept it could be either. I can’t see what point you were trying to make about “guys”.

  15. MAMAGUYS eh? Well what else could it be? First one in for the majority I expect. So, another learning day for me what with that and the LESSER CELANDINE, though that was clear from crossers and clueing. GAD, another reference to test my atheist ignorance of religious matters, though again the solution was pretty clear. EAR as a member — how exactly? Would this be one of the bits removed in dismemberment? Speak up.

    Otherwise lots of fun, in particular 1dn, as well as ROAMERS, MONOGAMY and MARBLE among others.

    All in all, thanks Pasquale for an enjoyable solve and manehi for a comprehensive guide.

  16. Count me among those who had to stop short (even if that is the last thing Pasquale wants…)

    Interesting that the word “control” appears twice in the puzzle, indicating a pair of near-synonyms (REINS and HARNESS)

  17. I enjoyed this too. But I must say it was a bit of a mixture of the obvious and the difficult. I worked out MAMAGUYS from the clue but I’ve never heard of it but it’s a lovely word for compilers to tease us with. ETNA is scraping the bottom of the barrel I think.
    Still, thanks Pasquale.

  18. I spent quite a lot of time trying to fit in LARA as a West Indian, instead of MAMA. Such is life.

  19. If I am to be completely honest, I never enjoy puzzles by Pasquale but I am always pleased if I am able to finish them. And I have also noticed that if it is something that hedgehoggy enjoys, I probably do not!

    New words for me were “jib” in JIBE and “Gad” in GARAGED as well as LESSER CELANDINE & MAMAGUYS (which I guessed and then confirmed via google etc.)

    My favourites were WINKLED & SEERSUCKER.

    Thanks manehi and Pasquale

  20. Thanks manehi and Pasquale
    A mixed bag of toughies and softies as others have said. Loi was mamaguys (guessed and checked in Chambers).
    Favourites were 14 and 15 across and 1 and 2 down.

  21. Another very enjoyable crossword. Many thanks to Manehi for the excellent blog and Pasquale for the great crossword.

    I threw myself (and my fellow solvers – it was a group effort) off course by putting in “AMEND” early on for 10 across. It seemed pretty convincing (at least to me) at the time. One could (just about) argue that “amend” (in the sense of “to change for the better”) could mean “make up for” and then say that one has lunch at the end of the morning , i.e. at “AM END”. Since no one else has mentioned it here, it seems like I was just on a different wavelength to the setter (and other solvers).

  25. Thanks Cookie @24 – I thought it was as you explain, but lacked the energy to check!

  26. That was a struggle – MAMAGUYS last in and least familiar (I did at least remember SEERSUCKER from a recent Picaroon prize). LESSER CELANDINE was guessed from the fodder so I was pleased that didn’t get wiped by Check. Didn’t help myself by writing ROOTLED at 15…

    Thanks to Pasquale and manehi

  27. Apart from JIBE, a late guess which I didn’t understand, the MAMAGUYS / ROAMERS crossers were my last in (I don’t believe 1961Blanchflower @15 when he suggests MAMAGUYS will be a write-in for many). ROAMERS still gets me scratching my head, owing to its def part – ‘They can’t stop’ – really? I roam the countryside, but look forward to my breaks. Perhaps I’m just a MEATHEAD or LAMEBRAIN and it serves me right.

  28. AndyB @14 – Ah, see what you’re saying. I agree, it can be taken both ways. Makes my ‘guys’ comment irrelevant.

  29. Well (1961Blanchflower et al) the wordplay for MAMAGUYS is obvious once you’ve seen it – my problem was that I didn’t realise where the definition ended, and was trying to fit something else before MA for mother…

  30. Trailman @27 and beery hiker @29
    I fear I need a sarcasm font for posts like my earlier one on MAMAGUYS: as obscure as they come, and I had exactly the same difficulty as you describe

  31. MAMAGUYS seems to be a Trinidadian Spanish corruption, yet, in spite of being at the Jamaica campus of the UWI with many students from Trinidad for six years, I never heard the ‘word’.

  32. Like several others, we got stuck on the Roamers/ Mamaguys crossing. We thought roamers was correct, but began to doubt it when we failed to get Mamaguys. We’ve had guests all day, and just got back to it and decided to check the blog for the answers. So we failed on one, but found it all good fun, despite the lack of time today. thanks Pasquale and Manehi

  33. I found this tough but rewarding – even enjoyed being defeated (deceived, this bloke) by mamaguys since it’s such an unusual and lovely word. Thanks, all.

  34. MAMAGUY is to ‘deceive’ or ‘tease’ says Collins, so who can possibly have had a problem, especially amongst the New Guardianistas, in identifying it from the generous clue. Not sure ‘tries to’ is really necessary, though noun and verb are suggested in either case, I would suggest.

    For Jolly Swagman and his New Guardianista friends, I would remind that Mama is a song recorded by a bunch of guys, and that this is clearly referenced in the (even more generous than you first thought) clue. And of course guys begins with the same letter as ‘Genesis’, which is therefore a total giveaway in my view.

    Reamalgamerge let me.

  35. Paul @34 – I agree that it is a fair clue – just one that it took a long time to see – typical Pasquale – obscure but fairly clued. As for Genesis, it all went downhill after 1975…

  38. Thanks Pasquale and manehi

    This was tough … started it a week after publication and it remained incomplete until a spurt of inspiration when picking it up again last night to finally see ROAMERS and then come up with MAMAGUYS which I surprisingly found as the WI word for deceives.

    Was disappointed to see that my GIBE was wrong at 3 – had G (last thing), I (Pasquale) and BE (thinking that he wanted to be a G, I guess 🙂 )

    Always enjoy the Pasquale challenge when he’s in this mood … and although he won this one, will look forward to the next.

    Very clever, Hamish !!!

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