The puzzle may be found at http://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/26708.
This was squarely in my Goldilocks zone – neither trivial nor too knotty, with plenty of wit and invention. Picaroon strikes again.
| Across | ||
| 1 | EMBASSY |
Catching fish is English setter’s mission (7)
An envelope (‘catching’) of BASS (‘fish’) in E (‘English’) plus MY (‘setter’s). |
| 5 | PERIWIG |
Perhaps Napoleon receives message to return old rug (7)
An envelope (‘receives’) of ERIW, a reversal (‘to return’) of WIRE (telegram, ‘message’) in PIG (‘perhaps Napoleon’ in George Orwell’s Animal Farm). |
| 9 | PARTHENOGENESIS |
Conception of retro music followed by old rock group (15)
A charade of PAR, a reversal (‘retro’) of RAP (‘music’) plus THEN (‘following’) plus G |
| 10 | REALM |
Land miles east of Brazilian capital (5)
A charade of REAL (‘Brazilian capital’ i.e. money) plus M (‘miles’), with ‘east of’ indicating the order of the particles. |
| 11 | SMALL BEER |
It indicates sale for trivial things (5,4)
A charade of SMALL (‘s’) plus BEER (‘ale’). |
| 12 | CONSTRICT |
Politicians reporter’s led astray in press (9)
A charade of CONS (Conservatives, ‘politicians’) plus TRICT, sounding like (‘reporter’s’) TRICKED (‘led astray’). |
| 14 | STOIC |
One in bed’s turned over, not easily excited (5)
An envelope (‘in’) of I (‘one’) in STOC, a reversal (‘turned over’) of COT’S (‘bed’s). |
| 15 | TONIC |
Drink tea loudly, almost chilled (5)
A charade of T, sounding like (‘loudly’) ‘tea’ plus ON IC[e] (‘chilled’) without its last letter (‘almost’). |
| 16 | MAYFLOWER |
Ship could move like water? I’m not sure (9)
A charade of MAY (‘could’) plus FLOW (‘move like water’) plus ER (‘I’m not sure’). |
| 18 | UNCOUPLED |
Divided international organisation was first to accept regime change (9)
Ao envelope (‘to accept’) of COUP (‘regime change’) in UN (‘international organisation’) plus LED (‘was first’). |
| 21 | TUNIS |
Withdrawn eccentric lives in capital (5)
A charade of TUN, a reversal (‘withdrawn’) of NUT (‘eccentric’, noun) plus IS (‘lives). |
| 22 | ALIMENTARY CANAL |
Unknown vessel in Malta, a liner at sea giving passage for fare (10,5)
An envelope (‘in’) of Y (‘unknown’) plus CAN (‘vessel’) in ALIMENTARAL, an anagram (‘at sea’) of ‘Malta a liner’, with a cyptic definition. |
| 23 | INSIDES |
Like team players getting part of 22 (7)
IN SIDES (‘like team player’), for the somewhat euphemistic term for bowels. |
| 24 | MUSETTE |
Bagpipe not heard around radio? (7)
An envelope (‘around’) of SET (‘radio’) in MUTE (‘not heard’) |
| Down | ||
| 1 | EMPIRIC |
Investigator probes organised crime using experience (7)
An envelope (‘probes’) of PI (private ‘investigator’) in EMRIC, an anagram (‘organised’) of ‘crime’. |
| 2 | BARGAINING CHIPS |
What negotiator wants, making profit in pub food (10,5)
An envelope (‘in’) of GAINING (‘making profit’) in BAR (‘pub’) plus CHIPS (‘food’). |
| 3 | SCHEMATIC |
Formal version of catechism (9)
An anagram (‘version’) of ‘catechism’. |
| 4 | YONKS |
After climbing, broadcaster screens running for ages (5)
An envelope (‘screens’) of ON (‘running’) in YKS, a reversal (‘after climbing’ in a down light) of SKY (‘broadcaster’). |
| 5 | PAGEANTRY |
Go after drug taken in polytheistic ceremony (9)
An envelope (‘taken in’) of E (setters’ favourite ‘drug’) in PAGAN (‘polytheistic’) plus TRY (‘go’). |
| 6 | RENAL |
Dealing with filtration mechanism that’s right way round (5)
A charade of R (‘right’) plus ENAL, a reversal (’round’) of LANE (‘way’). |
| 7 | WASTE NOT WANT NOT |
Dripping sweat, town worker raised many pounds in promotion of economy (5,3,4,3)
A charade of WASTENOTW, an anagram (‘dripping’) of ‘sweat town’ plus ANT (‘worker’) plus NOT, a reversal (‘raised’ in a down light) of TON (‘many pounds’). |
| 8 | GASTRIC |
Recipe to stop jaw spasm affecting part of 22 (7)
An envelope (‘to stop’) of R (‘recipe’) in GAS (‘jaw’ “jaw-jaw is better than war-war”) plus TIC (‘spasm’). |
| 13 | IMMOLATES |
Makes an offering of current M&S clothing to male models (9)
An envelope (‘clothing’) of MOLATE, an anagram (‘models’) of ‘to male’ in I (‘current’, symbol in physics) plus M S. |
| 14 | SOLSTICES |
Drunkard scoffs extremely luscious desserts in biannual events (9)
An envelope (‘scoffs’) of LS (‘extreely LusciouS‘) in SOT (‘drunkard’) plus ICES (‘desserts’). |
| 15 | TSUNAMI |
Outside of Tours, a friend there gives a wave (7)
A charade of TS (‘outside of TourS‘) plus UN AMI (‘a friend’ in Tours). |
| 17 | RESOLVE |
Decide to do what you’re doing again (7)
RE-SOLVE (‘do what you are doing again’). |
| 19 | UPEND |
Winning back position the other way (5)
A charade of UP (‘winning’) plus END (‘back’). |
| 20 | DURUM |
In Berlin, you’ll get funny cereal (5)
A charade of DU (German second person singular pronoun, ‘in Berlin you’) plus RUM (‘funny’). A kind of wheat. |
I enjoyed this; too many good clues to list. Thank you Picaroon.
Thanks too to PeterO. Needed your help with 2d – couldn’t think of “chips” for some reason. Was highly amused by your definition at 9ac!
Re 9: PARTHENOGENESIS, “Giving birth to very large buildings.” Thanks for the new definition, PeterO, though I can think of only one example. And thanks Picaroon for a fun puzzle.
Thanks PeterO.
Like JuneG, I laughed at your joky definition of 9ac. 😉 [You’ve missed out the O [old] in the middle of the answer.]
Many thanks to Picaroon for a fun puzzle – I especially liked SMALL BEER.
Yes, I agree, neither too hard nor too easy and with plenty of enjoyable clues to solve, including some quite difficult anagrams eg 22. I couldn’t for the life of me work out the word play for SMALL BEER which was very clever and a setter’s ruse to remember for the future. MUSETTE and PERIWIG also new, or at least, unfamiliar words.
Thank you to setter and blogger.
Good.
9ac Parthenogenesis. How can this mean conception? I thought it meant reproduction without fertilisation.
But thanks PeterO and Picaroon.
@6
The “immaculate conception”.
@7
It occurs to me I may have my theology wrong there. But I think the virgin is meant to conceive parthenogenetically. Although cholecyst is right that it’s impossible to say how. Perhaps “Jane the Virgin” is a better example.
Thanks Peter. No worries here, except as to whether the percentage of pagans who believe in many gods (5D) is not very small.
Herb @7. I’m no Catholic but I think the immaculate conception was the doctrine that Mary Mother Of Jesus was herself conceived without original sin. This was to get round the difficulty that would arise if Jesus was born with original sin, inherited from his mother. Theologians who, no doubt, frequent this site will probably correct me.
Practically perfect daily cryptic. Thanks to Picaroon and to Peter for blogging.
Just enough tough stuff amongst some gimmes. I liked the nod to Animal Farm and to the ship that took the Pilgrim Fathers over the pond.
And I’m pleased to see that we haven’t confused the Immaculate Conception with the Virgin Birth. Otherwise we’re in trouble.
Thanks Picaroon and PeterO.
What fun. I liked the ‘rock group’ at 5a, and the Parthenon was conceived parthenogenetically, there was a Pre-Parthenon that gave birth to it. Last in, with another laugh, was RESOLVE.
Thanks Picaroon and PeterO
Absolutely brilliant. I must admit that I found it difficult and took far longer than usual to finish, but it was well worth it. Picaroon is now in my top two current compilers (no prizes for guessing the other.) Too many great clues to mention any particular ones.
One very slight question mark – I may be wrong, but in 16a “could” for “may” didn’t sound quite right – “might” might be better? (I’m taking “could” as “was able to” – perhaps that’s my mistake?)
Wow – I was staring at an almost blank puzzle after half an hour, but got there in the end. Last in were MAYFLOWER and PAGEANTRY. Couldn’t parse SMALL BEER (very clever). Plenty of excellent clues, including EMBASSY, ALIMENTARY CANAL, GASTRIC and YONKS. Many thanks to Picaroon and Peter O.
I see it has received the highest praise from HH!
Hi muffin @13
Now there’s a can of worms! I don’t particularly want to open it, because I know what might happen, but there’s a detailed and interesting discussion here, http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/99957/what-is-the-difference-between-can-could-may-and-might, if you’ve the heart for it.
Although there are many differences, I think it’s OK in the clue: you could have substituted the ‘I may be wrong’, in your comment with ‘I could be wrong’. ‘Could’ is the conditional as well as the past tense.
Edit: I originally had ‘many subtle differences’ in my last paragraph @ 15 and meant to strike ‘many’ – then chose the wrong one!
Eileen @15
Thanks for that. I struggle with exactly that problem in my attempts to speak Italian too, as “could” in the “was able to” sense is expressed differently from “could” as “am able to” – as for “will be able to”………….
Thanks for SMALL BEER – too clever for me! I take INSIDES to refer to all the intestines, not specifically the bowels, so I had trouble with that one. But a very enjoyable solve.
Agree with PeterO – this was in my Goldilocks zone too, and very enjoyable. The SW corner held out longest with UPEND and INSIDES last in. Liked PERIWIG, PARTHENOGENESIS, MAYFLOWER, EMPIRIC and TSUMANI.
Thanks to Picaroon and PeterO
I don’t have much to say that hasn’t already been said. Like for many other I BIFD on SMALL BEER, so thanks for the explanation. These wordplay-in-the-answer clues often elude me.
YONKS is a new word for me, but it was clued in a way that it could hardly be anything else.
For a while I had “[blank]OGENESIS at 9, as parthenogenesis is not exactly an easily recalled word. Probably the correct band sprung to mind because—by sheer coincidence—my iTunes random shuffle picked a Genesis song to play while I was solving this! (“Dreaming While You Sleep,” from their last album that anybody much listened to, back in the early 90s. I prefer 70s Genesis personally, but random-shuffle computer programs have no taste whatsoever.)
Thanks to Picaroon and PeterO. DURUM and MUSETTE were new to me but accessible from the clues, and I needed help parsing WASTE NOT etc. but overall a very enjoyable solve.
Thanks to Picaroon and PeterO. Took a while but a satisfying workout along the way. YONK sounds
new to me also but I may have run into it in an AZED puzzle. LOI was UPEND. Favorites include
PERIWIG and SMALL BEER now that I have seen the correct parsing.
Cheers…
I liked “small beer” because it reverses the usual solution and clue: if “small beer” were the clue for “sale,” it would be unremarkable, but this way round it’s elegant.
Over here we don’t call those Mayflower folks “Pilgrim Fathers,” just “Pilgrims.” (There were rather a lot of mothers along for the ride too.) They didn’t call themselves either of those things, or it seems anything much else. The Pilgrim designation of them as a group began much later and became commonplace in the nineteenth century.
Another really good puzzle to keep me wanting more. I too was fooled by ‘sale’ meaning small beer in 11A because I am still not used to the extension of the ‘all punctuation can be misleading’ rule to ‘a space can be removed in order to mislead’.
I hasten to add that this is not a gripe but a recognition that I must learn this tricky device. In this instance it was easy to solve because the definition and the crossers made it so.
I winced a bit at ‘conception’ for parthenogenesis, but I see this has been picked up already.
[me @17
posso farlo – I can do it (I could do it)
potevo farlo – I was able to do it (I could do it)
avrei potuto farlo = I would have been able to do it (I could have done it)
potro farlo – I will be able to do it (I could do it)
potrei farlo – I would be able to do it (I could do it)
Also “you” translates into 16 different words in Italian, depending on context!]
Muffin: 16 different words is presumably because English has lost, for “you,” the singular/plural distinction, the T/V distinction, and most case declensions (preserving only the genitive), right?
Yes – also direct and indirect object uses are distinguished in some contexts.
Also a distinction in some places between masculine and feminine “yous”
And impersonal “yous”. But despite all that, I find it much easier to speak and understand than French. BTW, didn’t parthenogenesis feature in Huxley’s Brave New World?
Certainly easier to understand than spoken French, in which I’m never sure where one word finishes and the next starts (of course I’m only sure sometimes in Italian!) Also, Italian manages without the horrible nasal noises of French – when I’m President of Earth, I’m going to ban singing in French (I wouldn’t go as far as to ban speaking it, perhaps……..)
Goldilocks zone it may have been for some but I thought the “hard” outweighed the “easy”. The NW corner went in very quickly including PARTHOGENESIS which I found very amusing. I wasn’t tempted to delve into the back catalogue of this truly awful group I’m pleased to say. But I digress- the rest I found rather hard going. I couldn’t parse SMALL BEER but it did lead me to WASTE NOT WANT NOT which seemed to unlock the whole thing but this was after quite a long time.
Still, I sometimes find the puzzles of this setter hard to get into so perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised.
Thanks Picaroon.
But doesn’t PARTHENO+GENESIS actually mean ‘virgin birth’? Oh, whatever.
And what about that Original Sin thingy? How did the dear baby Jesus avoid it? Did Mother Mary also avoid it? How? And where did it come from? If Adam sinned because Eve told him to, how did she know about it? And if the serpent encouraged her to encourage Adam, how did said low-crawling thingy know about it? And if the serpent was really a fallen angel, how did the fallen angel become fallen? And … (cont. p.94)
Hello all.
Thanks to Picaroon for what was an enjoyable and for me challenging puzzle. ‘Small Beer’ seemed inescapable, but I needed the aid of PeterO to lift the veil on the parsing.
Many thanks for both the puzzle and the blog.
Another great puzzle for Picaroon.
It was a good challenge but most of all it was a lot of fun.
Thanks to PeterO and Picaroon
Yes, partheno-genesis does mean virgin-birth NOT conception, which is why the 9ac clue is plain wrong. And in 6ac the kidney is an ORGAN not a mechanism, unlike a dialysis MACHINE.
crossbencher @35
I guess your hyphenated partheno-genesis might mean virgin birth. However Collins has
parthenogenesis
….
2. human conception without fertilization by a male; virgin birth
and the SOED has
parthenogenesis
Biology. Reproduction from a gamete without fertilization, esp. as a normal process in invertebrates and lower plants. Formerly also, asexual reproduction, as by fission or budding.
I guess they’re both plain wrong too.
However I feel they might defend their definitions by saying that not all words’ meanings are direct translations of their consistent parts from other languages. (I guess that would be plain wrong as well? )
A ‘conception’ is also in the head, be a bit more imaginative all of you gripers.
I always think that a good crossword flatters your intelligence a little (‘Wow! I saw parthenogenesis almost right away!’) only to bring you up against your limitations (too many to relate, but for instance I decided that 18 ac was ‘unmerged’, which wrecked the SW corner for far too long). Very satisfying, in that exasperating way! Thanks, both and all.
Thanks Picaroon for another stonker [or should that be syonker?]
Aways amusing when the nsoh brigade break cover, generally I just chortle into my sleeve.
According to 3 references I’ve looked at, parthenogenesis is ‘asexual reproduction’, for which conception seems a sine qua non.
Nothing more to add, though I’m tempted.
Very very enjoyable especially tsunami and small beer. Agree with Simon S.
Very very enjoyable especially tsunami and small beer. Agreed Simon S.
Oops sorry
Thanks PeterO and Picaroon.
Did you see that comment from HH? Praise indeed.
And I have to agree with him and the other bloggers.
Just about the right level of difficulty with a good mix of clue types and tricky words.
Amazing that I haven’t seen the clue mechanism for 15dn before. It’s so simple and elegant.
I did need your help to parse the front end of 9ac – and I’m still not 100% convinced – but that’s my problem.
Thanks Picaroon and PeterO
Enjoyed this a lot on a difficult day up in Brisbane. Lots of clever and witty clues that included the mini (seemingly relevant to my trip) theme of ‘internal organs’.
Was another who didn’t see S ALE which was very clever. Had heard of neither the proper nor the PeterO definition of 9a.
Finished in the SW corner with INSIDES, the what was tricker than it should be UNCOUPLED and IMMOLATES the last one in.