Guardian Cryptic 26750 by Chifonie

by

A quick solve and very enjoyable – favourites were 6ac and 12dn.

Across
4 FACTOR
Agent is fine performer (6)

F[ine] plus ACTOR=”performer”
6 DESIGNER
An originator does, when about to endorse an agreement (8)

DEER=”does” i.e. more than one doe; around SIGN=”endorse an agreement”
9 LINTEL
Supporting member left technology company (6)

L[eft] plus INTEL=”technology company”
10 ADHERENT
A dimple absorbs her devotee (8)

A DENT=”dimple” around HER
11 CROSS SWORDS
Puzzles about son’s dispute (5,6)

CROSSWORDS=”puzzles” around S[on]
15 TENDRIL
Shoot several mostly training (7)

TEN=”several”, plus DRIL[L]=”mostly training”
17 SEDUCER
Doctor rescued flirt (7)

(rescued)*
18 SIERRA LEONE
Rosie Lee ran off into the country (6,5)

(Rosie Lee ran)*
22 TRAILERS
Prepared rare list of promotions (8)

(rare list)*
23 SPINET
Pluck model instrument (6)

a instrument similar to a small harpsichord. SPINE=courage=”Pluck”, plus the Ford “model” T
24 RADISHES
Soldier spoils vegetables (8)

R[oyal] A[rtillery]=”Soldier”, plus DISHES=”spoils” – ‘dish’ as a verb can mean ‘to ruin’
25 FRIEND
Degenerate pinches piece of china (6)

FRIEND=mate=china plate in rhyming slang. FIEND=”Degenerate”, around R[ook]=a chess “piece”
Down
1 DOZENS
Many practise religion on Sunday (6)

DO=”practise” plus ZEN=”religion” plus S[unday]
2 TENDERISER
Nurse takes in rebel found in the kitchen (10)

TENDER=”Nurse” around RISE=”rebel”
3 DISEASED
Sickly little girl’s made comfortable (8)

DI[ana]’S EASED
4 FELICITY
Happiness is allowable in whimsical surroundings (8)

LICIT=”allowable” in FEY=”whimsical”
5 CONFOUND
Prisoner came across puzzle (8)

CON[vict] FOUND
7 NOEL
House name put up for Christmas (4)

LEO=an astrological “House”, plus N[ame], all reversed (“put up”)
8 RATE
Judge to hold forth after scratching head (4)

[O]RATE=”hold forth” with its head removed
12 WELL EARNED
Setters gathered, drinking port? That’s deserved! (4-6)

WE=”Setters” plus LEARNED=”gathered” around L[eft]=”port”
13 SCROUNGE
Beg for rugs once accommodated (8)

(rugs once)*
14 ARRESTED
A monarch had a break and stopped (8)

A R[ex]/R[egina]=”monarch” plus RESTED=”had a break”
16 RUSTLESS
Take stock — ship is free of corrosion (8)

RUSTLE=”Take stock”, plus S[team]S[hip]
19 LEPERS
Smirks about power of social outcasts (6)

LEERS=”Smirks” around P[ower]
20 STIR
Uproar in jail (4)

double definition
21 LAID
Ring up and put down (4)

DIAL=”Ring”, reversed (“up”)

50 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 26750 by Chifonie”

  1. Thanks Chifonie and manehi. A nice gentle midweek for a change.
    For what it’s worth, I had 8 as [P]RATE rather than [O]RATE.

  2. Thanks manehi and chifonie.

    I found this mostly straightforward, though the last two LINTEL and DOZENS took a while. Couldn’t explain DOZENS but it is so obvious, now.

  3. Like Dave @2, I couldn’t parse DOZENS. I groaned aloud when I read the blog – best clue of the day for me.

  6. Thanks manehi and Chifonie

    Quick and enjoyable as noted.

    For 25ac I parsed ‘friend’ as ‘N’ (common chess abbreviation for knight) in ‘fried’ (slang for drunk, tired etc).

  7. Another good quality, enjoyable puzzle to follow yesterday’s – this one being just a bit easier. It’s nice to see some ingenuity in the clueing

    After trying BEGINNER I wrote in DESIGNER at 6A, albeit not quite getting how it was formed. I was taken in by the neat trick with the word ‘does’ (doe, a deer). I think this is the first time I have been taken in twice by the same trick – this one came up not long ago, and I fell for it then. I’m always on the look-out for ‘trick’ words (does, number, As, A and so on), and of course they are all fair. Well done, Chifonie.

    I too preferred ‘prate’ at first to ‘orate’ in 8D, having thought of both, but on looking them up in the dictionary I find that ‘orate’ is closer in meaning to ‘hold forth’, although I never use the word in life outside crosswords.

    Thanks to manehi for the blog.

  8. Nice clear cluing (HH will be delighted – maybe). Favourites were LINTEL, TENDRIL, SIERRA LEONE (took some time to get that) and DOZENS (now manehi has explained it). Many thanks to Chifonie and manehi.

  9. Something held me back from entering BEGINNER; just as well. Yes, much was solved quickly, though not without respect for the ingenuity of the clueing: take a bow, CROSS SWORDS and eventually DESIGNER.

    Two clues held out, and I feared that it was going to be one of those days. But after counting through many possibilities, DOZENS dropped in, and soon after FRIEND – earlier discounted, there isn’t a piece of china called a friend – joined it.

  10. Thanks Chifonie and manehi.

    A lovely crossword, one I could finish. Perhaps some of us thought of ‘pate’ for head at 8d, whereupon pRATE came to mind.
    I was fooled by ‘does’ when trying to parse DESIGNER and DOZENS was the last in.
    I particularly liked RADISHES, TENDRIL, FRIEND, FELICITY and RUSTLESS.

  11. V. enjoyable and all going swimmingly until like Trailman @9 I met a bit of a road block with DOZENS and FRIEND, which I also parsed as did tupu @6.

    A nice way to fill in a break between work commitments.

    Thank you to Chifonie and manehi.

  12. Thanks Chifonie & manehi.

    Seemed very straightforward until the last few. I failed to parse FRIEND and, yes, I was misled again by ‘does.’

    I liked RUSTLESS, DOZENS and DESIGNER (I too flirted with beginner.)

  13. 20 minutes (which is lickety-split for me), although I didn’t parse FRIEND, missing only how “piece” could be R.

    Forgive me for indulging in a hedgehog moment, but I don’t like 10ac for a couple reasons: first, two of the three elements of the charade are given literally, and second, the clue surface is gobbledygook–unless I’m missing something. But that’s my only complain and there was a lot to like her DOZENS, FELICITY, CONFOUND (an oldie but goodie), etc.

  15. mrpenney@13 – Yes, I agree with HH: “A dimple absorbs her devotee” means her devotee found her dimple totally entrancing!

  17. HH (@14)

    Yes, but the surface is still a bit naff – the only weak clue in the whole crossword. A philosophy or a pursuit can have a devotee but not really a person. However, if the clue had ‘devoted follower’ instead of ‘devotee’ it would be better – just ‘devotee’ as used here is a somewhat facetious use of the word.

  18. One of Chifonie’s better ones – at least there were a few that required some thought, especially my last in DOZENS which took almost as long as the rest of the puzzle.

    Thanks to Chifonie and manehi

  19. The Oxford Dictionaries give as the first definition for devotee, “a person who is very interested in and enthusiastic about someone or something: ‘a devotee of Lewis Carroll’ “.

  20. Thanks all
    Enjoyable.
    AB @ 7 agree but I was not fooled this time since one of my all-time favourites is ” Does roam here too.” (4,4}
    Last in today was dozens.
    Like Roger @1, I had ,(p)rate.

  21. Thanks Chifonie and manehi
    Late to this, but found it very easy – even easier than Rufus on Monday – with the exception of FRIEND, which took some thought to parse.
    I enjoyed it, though, and particularly liked DESIGNER and SIERRA LEONE (as I’ve said before, I do like an unexpected anagram that actually makes sense as a surface).

  23. I had no problem with DOZENS but LINTEL took ages. I’m not sure why; it seems obvious now. I liked this overall. Nice to see CONFOUND and CROSS SWORDS again.
    Thanks Chifonie.

  24. Thanks to Chifonie and manehi. I too breezed through (and enjoyed) this puzzle. I had no trouble with DOZENS or FRIEND but did pause with RADISHES because I was dubious about “dishes” as spoils-ruins.

  27. Dictionaries differ! (Cookie @19)

    I checked the meaning(s) of devotee in both Collins and Chambers, and neither of them allow a devotee of a person – only of something (religion being an example). Interesting!

  28. It’s very common to hear that someone is ‘devoted’ to someone else so I can’t fault this clue as ‘naff’.

  29. Alan Browne @27, Chambers Universal Learners’ Dictionary gives devotee a keen follower; an enthusiast: a devotee of football; a devotee of Beethoven.

  30. No doubt flirting is step one in a seducer’s repertoire, but I always understood “a flirt” and “a seducer” to be rather different animals. A lot of people who liven up, for example, a boring party, by a bit of “harmless flirting” would be horrified to be thought of as “a seducer”. It seems to me a bit like equating a Smart Car with a double decker bus, the scale is all wrong.

  31. Thanks Cookie @29. I live and learn. That’s two authorities you’ve cited for devotee as a follower of something or somebody, and I can hardly argue with them. ‘The Chambers Dictionary’ (as opposed to the CULD) says only ‘something’ in its definition, not ‘something or somebody’.

  33. trenodia @32, see Oxford Dictionaries @19. Also, Cambridge Dictionaries, devotee a person who strongly admires a particular person or is extremely interested in a subject: he is a great devotee of the prime minister.

  34. I like Chifonie. Just about tickles my incapacities – delicious tea-trays as a result.

    As with others I had “prate” which made no difference, but I also had “Masses” for 1d, which made a considerable difference until tendril wended (went?) it’s way around to factor and I had to send for Jeeves.

  35. Quick and fun today! We don’t do “rhyming slang” over here in Canada so I entered “friend” without knowing why.

  38. To naswer your question, RA stands for “Royal Artillery”, but might it also stand for “Royal Artilleryman”?

  39. Thanks Chifonie and manehi

    Found this a bit more challenging than normal for this setter – possibly the grid or that it was done on the train after a vendor’s Christmas party !!

    Finished in the SE with TRAILERS, STIR and RADISHES (did not know the Brit slang meaning of DISH to ruin or fail).

    Thought that DESIGNER was very good

  40. I enjoyed this, even though I struggled with FRIEND. I initially considered FRIED around N (like tupu @6) and then FRIED around R, but I didn’t think of chess pieces for either the N or R, so it went in unparsed.

    Favourites include DESIGNER, CROSS SWORDS, DOZENS and WELL EARNED.

    Thanks to Chifonie and manehi.

  41. bruce (#39) – ‘dish’ isn’t British slang, at least, not all of Britain. I’ve never heard it and I’ve lived in Scotland all my life.

  42. brucew@aus @39, talking from 50 years ago, I am on a time warp, “that’s dished it” was common parlance for “that’s put paid to it”.

  43. Muffin @38

    I thought that the abbreviations used in clues were of the “well known” or “regularly used” variety.

    However it appears that you are now advocating the use of the “anything that fits” variety.

    So although I was aware that RA was commonly used for Royal Artillery I now have to consider “Really Awesome”, “Rented Accommodation” , “Rugged Antlers”, etc etc. This is going to be difficult. ;-

    I can’t find a source which suggests that RA is a common abbreviation for Royal Artilleryman but as everbone else seems to accept I suppose it must be.

    I suppose I must also accept the general opinion that this was a good but easy crossword. Unfortunately I can’t as I found it poorly clued and just a little dull. 🙂

  45. Brendan (@43), I agree with everything you say about RA – the idea that RA can suddenly mean Royal Artilleryman in a crossword in order not to spoil (or dish) the surface of the clue is nonsense.

    However, if RA is or can be used after some-one’s name to indicate that he/she is a member of the RA, I think ‘soldier’ is ok and the setter gets away with it. In this context, RA clearly indicates a soldier. I don’t know if the premise is true, though – do you?

  48. Cookie @46
    In the article you cited, his brother William is listed as “Colonel William Keith, Royal Engineers” just as John is listed as “Lieutenant John Keith, Royal Artillery”. The comma seems to be optional for RE and the fact that you haven’t found any examples with it omitted for RA doesn’t prove it is used in all cases. I think that to resolve this we’d need to find a single official source consistently using the comma for RA and not for RE.

    I think the comma issue is a red herring anyway. Use of RE or RM after people’s names indicate that they are members of those regiments. Doesn’t RA after someone’s name, with a comma or not, similarly indicate membership of the Royal Artillery, and therefore that the person is a soldier? The comma is just a stylistic choice, as is the inclusion of the full stops (“R.A.”).

    Alan Browne @45 expressed doubt as to whether or not RA is used that way. Does it have to be as the abbreviation RA? I don’t see why it has to be as surely whether it is written in full or abbreviated is also just a stylistic choice. If not, Cookie’s example certainly shows that it can be used to indicate membership and at least sometimes is.

  49. Thank you, jennyk (@48). I have no problem with the clue at 24A. I was just asking (not doubting) if RA is used like RE, MA, CH, etc, after an individual soldier’s name, because I didn’t know. As the answer is yes, RA can clearly indicate an individual soldier as well as a (large) number of soldiers.

    Also, of course, I was scoffing, like Brendan was, at the idea of making RA mean what you want it to mean rather than (strictly) ‘Royal Artillery’.

    Sorry if I’ve made heavy weather of a relatively small point.

  50. Thanks manehi and Chifonie.

    Not sure whether to like or loathe this puzzle.

    I thought DISH = SPOIL in 24ac and DEGENERATE = FIEND in 25 were a bit weak but really enjoyed FELICITY, SEDUCER, and SCROUNGE.

    On the easy side for the Guardian – is this a gentle run up to a Christmas stinker?

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