Guardian Cryptic 26767 by Picaroon

by

The puzzle may be found at http://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/26767.

This looked rather formidable, with the numerous references to the key 22 down, but fortunately that clue yielded readily, which gave me a good leg up, although there were not many clues that solved themselves. I had to fight all the way, from the bottom up.

Across
9 AFORESAID
Already noted a warning’s given assistance (9)

A charade of ‘a’ plus FORE’S (‘warning’s’ on a golf course) plus AID (‘assistance’).
10 PROST
22 down cheers fast driver (5)

Double definition; the first, Prost or Prosit being the common German toast (‘cheers’), the second the former racing driver Alain Prost.
11 HOTEL
Loathe moving out of a place to sleep (5)

An anagram (‘moving’) of ‘lo[a]the’ minus A (‘out of a’).
12 UNCIVILLY
After endless meal, climber’s taken sick roughly (9)

An envelope (‘taken’) of ILL (‘sick’) in [l]UNC[h] (‘meal’) missing both ends (‘endless’) plus IVY (‘climber’).
13 MAE WEST
Pole protecting farm animal is a lifesaver (3,4)

An envelope (‘protecting’) of EWE (‘farm animal’) in MAST (‘pole’).
14 BICYCLE
It’s b___ freezing cold, with extremely lamentable transport (7)

A charade of ‘b’ plus ICY (‘freezing’) plus C (‘cold’) plus LE (‘extremely LamentablE‘).
17 RHEIN
22 down runner hard to keep in control (5)

An envelope (‘to keep in’ of H (‘hard’) in REIN (‘control’). The German ‘runner’ is of course the river Rhine.
19 VIE
Most of 4 in 22 down contest (3)

A subtraction: VIE[r] (‘4 in 22 down’, German for the numeral) minus its last letter (‘most of’).
20 ROPES
Moors with good way to speak English succeeded taking lead in Othello (5)

An envelope (‘taking’) of O (‘lead in Othello’) in RP (Received Pronunciation, ‘good way to speak’) plus E (‘English’) plus S (‘succeeded’).
21 SPOUSES
Mates from ship receiving employment on nocturnal vessel (7)

An envelope (‘receiving’) of PO (chamber pot, ‘nocturnal vessel’) plus USE (’employment’) in SS (‘ship’).
22 GAUGUIN
Artist losing way in part of summer, tucking into booze (7)

An envelope (‘tucking into’) of AUGU[st] (‘part of summer’) minus ST (‘losing way in’ – ‘way’ being street) in GIN (‘booze’).
24 HAMBURGER
Meat and egg in British or 22 down dish? (9)

A charade of HAM (‘meat’) plus BURGER, an envelope  (‘in’) of URGE (‘egg’) in BR (‘British’). Despite being named after the German city, I do not think of hamburger as a particularly German dish.
26 CELEB
Priest letting out rant, showing personality (5)

A subtraction: CELEB[rant] (‘priest’ in a mass) minus (‘letting out’) ‘rant’.
28 ROUTE
Path needs a rake — it takes time (5)

An envelope (‘it takes’) of T (‘time’) in ROUE (‘rake’).
29 TRANSMUTE
Change tutors, with dumb one retiring (9)

A charade of TRA[i]NS (‘tutors’) plus MUTE (‘dumb’) minus I (‘one retiring’).
Down
1 BACH
Sailor turned on taps for 22 down, working in bars (4)

A charade of BA, a reversal (‘turned’) of AB (‘sailor’) plus CH (cold and hot, ‘taps’), for the German composer (‘working in bars’) Johann Sebastian Bach (or another of his family).
2 GOETHE
Romantic 22 down love — catch man admitting it (6)

An envelope (‘admitting’) of O (‘love’, referenced by ‘it’) in GET (‘catch’) plus HE (‘man’).
3 REAL TENNIS
Sport concerning key Olympic champion (4,6)

A charade of RE (‘concerning’) plus ALT (‘key’ on a computer keyboard) plus ENNIS (‘Olympic champion’ Jessica Ennis-Hill).
4 KAPUTT
22 down’s bust given a stroke by king (6)

A charade of K (‘king’) plus ‘a’ plus PUTT (‘stroke’ on golf course).
5 EDUCABLE
Edited message about university receptive to learning (8)

A charade of ED (‘edited’) plus U (‘university’) plus CABLE (‘message’).
6 SPIV
Dodgy seller of big cheeses returned (4)

A reversal (‘returned’) of VIPs (‘big cheeses’).
7 WORLD CUP
Fight over large capital, winning a 22 down victory here? (5,3)

A charade of WOR, a reversal (‘over’) of ROW (‘fight’) plus L (‘large’) plus DC (Washington, ‘capital’ of USA) olus UP (‘winning’). Germany is the current holder of the FIFA World Cup.
8 STAY
Guy to play the field, heartlessly (4)

ST[r]AY (‘to play the field’ in the sense of being unfaithful) without its middle letter (‘heartlessly’).
13 MARKS
22 down philosopher speaking in old 22 down capital (5)

A homophone (‘speaking’) of Karl MARX (’22 down philosopher’), for the pre-Euro German currency.
15 CIRCUMCISE
Rock music welcomed by sorceress getting to perform a rite (10)

An envelope (‘welcomed by’) of UMCIS, an anagram (‘rock’) of ‘music’ in CIRCE (‘sorceress’ in The Odyssey).
16 ESSEN
Characters from tin-producing 22 down location (5)

A charade of ESS plus EN, for the letters SN, the chemical symbol for tin.
18 ENORMOUS
Obese individual turned up right before sumo wrestling (8)

A charade of ENO, a reversal (‘turned up’) of ONE (‘individual’) plus R (‘right’) plus MOUS, an anagram (‘wrestling’) of ‘sumo’.
19 VISIGOTH
Old 22 down‘s trip includes travel on horse (8)

An envelope (‘includes’) of GO (‘travel’) in VISIT (‘trip’) plus H (‘horse’).
22 GERMAN
Dope grasps reading mother tongue (6)

An envelope (‘grasps’) of R (‘reading’, one of the 3 Rs) plus MA (‘mother’) in GEN (‘dope’).
23 UMLAUT
Mutual exchanges that you reportedly may need in 22 down (6)

An anagram (‘exchange’) of ‘mutual’. My first thought was that the ‘you reported’ had strayed in from another clue to the answer, but it says that a U may take an umlaut in German.
24 HERR
Ambassador getting clergyman’s 22 down address (4)

A charade of HE (His Excellency, title of ‘ambassador’) plus RR (Right Reverend, ‘clergyman’).
25 ULEX
Universal law is a thorny thing (4)

A charade of U (‘universal’) plus LEX (‘law’). Ulex is the botanical name for the gorse genus.
27 BIER
Stand for the departed 22 down’s drink (4)

Double definition, the second being the Geman for beer.
completed grid

68 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 26767 by Picaroon”

  1. Bravo PeterO! Got there finally but not without aids. Needed parsing help for many…23d is favorite. Thanks Picaroon and PeterO.

  3. Although this was indeed a fight at times, it was actually much easier than I initially thought it would be. My lack of knowledge of the theme language didn’t matter as many of the definitions were words in everyday use and the clues were easily solvable. Found much to like; favourites were 14ac, 3 & 15d.

    Thank you Picaroon & PeterO.

  4. Thanks Picaroon and PeterO

    Picaroon is one of my favourite compilers, and there was much to enjoy here, but I found it slightly unsatisfying. 22d baffled me, so I spent a long time looking at a sparsely-filled grid, then I got RHEIN, guessed (and parsed) German, and the rest went in very quickly.

    Favourites were MAE WEST (FOI), BUCYCLE and REAL TENNIS. I wasted a bit of time finidng out what German taps would be labelled for 1d – good use of a comma for misdirection! I missed the “one retiring” part of TRANSMUTE, so didn’t fuly parse that one.

    Is DC OK for “capital”? Surely the capital is Washington, which is in District Columbia?

    I wonder why, if we have appropriated the German word, we spell “kaputt” as “kaput”?

  6. copmus @2
    Reminds me of JFK announcing “Ich bien ein Berliner” instead of “Ich bien Berliner” – his version translates as “I am a doughnut”………………

  7. Thanks to PeterO, and to Picaroon for another great puzzle.

    muffin – the idea that Kennedy said “I am a doughnut” is a misconception: see here or here

    I think DC is a fairly common shorthand for Washington DC, so no problem there for me.

  11. Not too bad once the gateway answer was in – easy to say now of course. Didn’t know PO for ‘chamber pot’ and ULEX was also new to me. MAE WEST and WORLD CUP were the clues I most enjoyed.

    Thanks to Picaroon and PeterO.

  12. Thanks Picaroon and PeterO

    muffin @ 4: KAPUT would be the normal spelling in German [in which I’m fluent]: Chambers gives KAPUTT as a variant, which I was surprised to see.

  13. Simon S @12
    When I decided that this had to be KAPUTT I did a very rapid (and not very thorough!) Google search, which suggested that the double T was common in German, but unknown in English. I will however bow to your knowledge – I know very little German.

  14. With RHEIN and BIER answered before 22d, initially I thought the theme might have had something to do with liquids, but BACH soon had me looking elsewhere.

    Relieved to see that DC = capital etc. I misparsed WORLD CUP with D-CUP at the end and was wondering how on earth that could mean capital, except in the very loosest sense. Didn’t know ULEX but the lex bit was my first guess for law, OK second after act.

  15. Thank you PeterO!

    I enjoyed this crossword. My rusty knowledge of German turned out to be useful. But, as a non-English native, can someone please confirm to me that GUY=STAY has something to do with ropes on ships? If that’s the case, I have to say this clue was a real stretch for me. Hats off, Picaroon!

  16. Thanks Picaroon and Peter00. Another treat after yesterday. It helped (a bit) that I’m a German speaker. 23dn the standout clue among many excellent ones.

  18. Thanks PeterO – interesting that you added “or prosit” to the blog for 10ac. I lived in Germany for a couple of years and never once heard anyone say this, but here in Britain it seems to be the more common translation of “cheers”.

    Thanks to Picaroon for an entertaining puzzle that wasn’t as hard as it looked at first (although Like Trailman I couldn’t see past the D-cup in 7dn).

  23. Thanks Picaroon and PeterO,

    Fun, but hard going. I also worked from the bottom up after solving 22d, which took time! Guessed GOETHE would turn up somewhere, but looked in vain for Wagner.

    KAPUTT is the correct German spelling, a Kaput in Swiss or Austrian ‘German’ is a soldier’s greatcoat.

  24. DuncT @ 18 – when I lived in Germany it was usually 10ac. And the person buying the drinks raised the glass first whereas in the UK you normally toast the person who has bought the round.

  26. Thanks Picaroon and PeterO

    Must have been right on Picaroon’s wavelength today and it helped that BACH was my first in which led to GERMAN being my second, so off to a flyer. Clue answers flew constantly after that – not so the parsing all of the time, in fact I was an unsatisfied D-CUP and although had the S and N for 15d didn’t, for some reason, come up with tin !!

    Lots of lovely clues throughout and only had to check a few of the German words:- VIER and KAPUTT.

    Listed SPOUSES (my last in), GAUGUIN and UMLAUT as my favourites.

  27. Picaroon is also one of my favourite setters and I very much enjoyed this, but it was quite a long drawn-out struggle. Favourites were BICYCLE, SPOUSES, VISIGOTH and CIRCUMCISE. Many thanks to Picaroon and PeterO.

  28. This is becoming an excellent week, and this was probably the best so far. Found it pretty challenging in places, particularly the unfamiliar ULEX, which was last in. Enjoyed the variety of GERMANs.

    Thanks to Picaroon and PeterO

  29. Thanks for the blog. Did anyone else think of a different second word in 7d after getting the first two crossers?

  30. Picaroon is usually pretty good, one of Guardian’s stars, but this was a very poor effort.

    11a ‘out of a’ is weak I feel; 12a this ‘takes’ business I find unsatisfying for the inclusion, and the ‘endless’ is ambiguous; 19a not really fair to use VIER I feel; 20a contrived; 22a contrived; 24a as blogged, also ‘egg on’ is to urge really; 26a suggests something INSIDE is to be taken out I feel, not the end section; 28a ‘takes’ again; 4d a German word so not at all fair for an English crossword; 5d ‘ed’ is usually editor not edited; 7d DC for capital is very weak I feel; ‘to play the field’ could be anything, a very difficult clue; 13d ‘speaking’ as it is positioned I didn’t really like, and the currency is the MARK; 15d poor cryptic grammar with ‘rock’ and the def could be anything really; 16d the hyphen is a Guardianism; 22d reading is one of three Rs, so this clue uses dbe; 23d a bit of a mess all round really, with poor grammar again.

    HH

  32. A good challenge as part of a gooodd

    A good challenge as part of a good week of Xmas crosswords. We were a bit slow to get 22d, then the rest was easier. Lots of really fun clues. Thanks

  33. Thanks, PeterO, for the blog.

    Just back from an extremely windy and damp Christmas Walk, followed by an excellent pub lunch. I just had time to finish this before we set off but none to comment.

    What a good week we’re having – and it’s only Wednesday!

    Picaroon is one of my top favourites, too, but, having got the mercifully easy 22dn early on, I thought I was not going to enjoy it as much as usual, never having learned German. However, like others, I found that all the relevant words were familiar for some reason or other and it turned out to be just as enjoyable as ever.

    As so often, I’m struggling to list favourite clues but it really is, as I also say from time to time, well worth revisiting the clues to appreciate the witty surfaces that you may have missed in your haste to solve the clues.

    Many thanks to Picaroon, as ever, for all the fun.

  34. Thanks to Picaroon and PeterO. With a bit of a struggle I managed to to get not only the solutions but also all the parsing (unusual for me) with the exception of “po” for chamber pot in SPOUSES. Great fun.

  35. Several people have commented that the entry clue – for GERMAN – was “mercifully easy”. Not for me, it wasn’t – even when I guessed the answer it took me some time to parse it. “Dope” for “GEN” I found obscure at both ends!

  36. muffin @35, I failed to get the ‘dope’ at first, thought it might be E and put that in front of R MA which suggested GERMAN to me, then realised ‘dope’ was not embracing the possible answer and twigged it must be GEN.

  37. This was rather good despite looking very difficult on first glance. I got GERMAN fairly quickly- having got BACH first which didn’t help at all- so this yielded fairly easily. I did manage to misspell GAUGUIN which meant UMLAUT was LOI. Liked SPIV.
    Thanks Picaroon.

  38. I had AFOREHAND at 9ac, which works for parsing and fits crossers; definition slightly stretched though. Thanks to Picaroon & Peter O. Best wishes to all for 2016.

  39. HH, you just SO miss the point…

    There’s comment and there is dissection. All you do is take the fun out of it and punch the setters in the solar plexus.

    That’s a lot to do with why I have largely backed out of contributing to 225. Do you want to reduce it to the HH show?

  41. Tim Phillips @ 39

    Seconded. And I would add that if you’re going to comment on cryptic crosswords it helps to understand how cryptic crosswords work, a necessity of which is their being cryptic.

    Still, it’s almost interesting to watch narrowmindedness on parade.

    😉

  42. Tim Phillips @39 and Simon S @41
    hh usually makes one initial comment with his list of complaints (two in this case, as he forgot to mention one gripe). It only becomes “the HH show” if other commenters start carping about what he says. If you don’t want that to happen, the best way to achieve that is not to respond to his comments.

    Setters who read this site regularly shouldn’t be overly upset about one or two very negative comments when the majority of comments are appreciative with just a few minor niggles. They surely must know by now that hh produces these lists for almost all the Guardian Cryptics and Prize puzzles, so they should take that into account when reading them.

  44. Simon S @43
    From your own comments, either hh is an example of narrowmindedness and lack of understanding, therefore genuinely believing what he writes, or he is a troll posting things he doesn’t believe just to provoke an indignant response. He can’t really be both. If he is a troll, he is an incredibly persistent one, going on posting for so long with very little effect as most of his comments get very few responses.

  46. Tim Philips @39, that is very cowardly of you. I am certain that hedgehoggy is not a troll, he is doing what he thinks he should, and sometimes has has reason.

  47. Now to the crossword itself:
    I felt there was rather too much general knowledge required, though fortunately not a lot of German language skill. Nevertheless, I did enjoy it thanks to good clueing, favourites being BICYCLE and CIRCUMCISE. I was slow getting 22d, but I got BACH from the rest of the 1d clue and that gave me GERMAN, which HERR confirmed. I don’t think I’d ever seen KAPUT with the extra T, but the wordplay made it clear enough.

    Thanks to Picaroon and PeterO.

  49. I see a lot of praise heaped upon the setter today, but, remembering the last Picaroon I solved which was a superb puzzle, in this one it seems that some clarity and precision were sacrificed for good surfaces. (I see Eileen has praised the witty surfaces today, and rightly so.)

    I loved the theme and approached all the clues mentioning 22 down with relish, although I have to admit failing to get 24D (because I cannot remember seeing RR for a reverend before) and 4D (for no reason at all). I also failed to parse 7D, partly because I have never heard of any capital written or said as ‘DC’. I understand the parsing now I’ve seen it.

    The theme made this puzzle for me, and I enjoyed the challenge of Picaroon’s clues. I had only three left to solve when I decided to stop and read the blog instead of scratching my head all evening.

    Thank you, PeterO.

  50. Re the hh show, I have made my views known several times and would prefer to stay quiet, but it would be a shame if anybody sees it as a reason not to visit/contribute here.

    Happy New Year all.

  51. If my critics could respond with detailed comments about how THEY think the clues work (obviously I show clearly why I think some of them don’t) instead of abuse, it would be better. Trolling behaviour involves abusing others, and that’s something I NEVER consciously do. I’m just interested in how clues get written, and that’s it. I’m sure the setters don’t care what I say, or we’d have every clue written correctly!!!

  54. HH, I think the way you phrase some of your comments is abusive or at least rude and uncivil. Conversely I did not abuse you in my comment @39.

    You talk about how clues ‘work’ and how they should be ‘correct’. If I have solved a clue then it worked, regardless of your view, which is why I believe you miss the point. That’s just my opinion but it’s part of why I have largely backed out 225; it’s all a pastime yet you take much of the joy out of the subsequent discussion.

    However I agree you are not a troll by my understanding of the word and by definition you do not break the rules of this site, so I guess the problem is mine and I remain free to take part…or not.

  55. Tim Philips, I see now why you thought I was referring to the wrong comment, mine @46 reads rather as though I thought you were accusing hoggy of being a troll, sorry.

  57. I really don’t understand why anyone would leave a site they valued because of one commenter. If someone doesn’t value the site much, that’s different, but if they do, every comment is headed by the name of the poster and the convention here is that replies start with the name and number associated with the post concerned, so it is no real effort to skip past anything referring to that person.

    hh doesn’t post every day, and he (or she, but in the absence of evidence to the contrary I think of hh as a “he”) often doesn’t follow up on replies to his comments. He really doesn’t dominate the site except on those few days when people make a big fuss about his posts instead of ignoring them. I don’t see his posts as particularly abusive. He obviously thinks those of us who don’t agree with him are rather dense, but then other posters make it clear that they think the same about him – that isn’t really abuse, and hh isn’t the one suggesting that some people shouldn’t be allowed to post here. As for the setters, there are certainly other posters just as disparaging about those they dislike, or even more so.

  58. hedgehoggy

    You have criticised 17 of the 33 clues in today’s puzzle. I think that’s too many! I’m not sure why you tolerate trying to solve the damn thing.

    In my post @49, however, I made the generalisation that, in my view, “some clarity and precision were sacrificed for good surfaces”, and you provided some of the detail that I would have had to provide if you had not. So thank you. Others provided more detail, so thanks to them as well.

    I think you go too far in some of your criticisms. For example, you say 20A is ‘contrived’. Well, yes, it is contrived: it is cryptic. Similarly 22A. Both of these are defensible in a cryptic crossword. Three clues are unfair in your opinion – good input and thanks. Your comment on 23D (“a bit of a mess all round really, with poor grammar again”) is gratuitously negative, if I may say so: I cannot see anything wrong with it.

    I interpret all your other comments as being critical of clues that are weak or dodgy in your opinion (but these are my labels, not yours). I disagree mostly, and I think you are making too many minor points that tend to swamp and detract from the important ones you want to make.

    I thought all clues today were solvable with an appreciation of all the fair cryptic devices, including misleading surfaces, that a setter can use, and contributors as usual have commented on those that fell short of the ideal (some did).

    Happy New Year to all.

  59. Contrived = there are too many bits, usually, in hh speak. Sorry.

    23d had incorrect cryptic grammar, the juxtaposition of the cryptic and definition elements do not link properly, and ‘exchanges’ is incorrect for grammar at the cryptic level anyway.

    As far as I know!

  61. HH (@59)

    Concerning 23D – yes, I didn’t spot that. If I had used the same construction for this clue I would have written ‘exchange’. But I think this is a minor point (perhaps even an understandable oversight by the mythical editor), and I would not change any of the sentiments I expressed in my post.

  62. 23d has a nounal indicator – grammatically correct (a “noun adjunct”) but still resisted by many setters. That was certainly my parsing, anyway.

  64. hh @51 and Alan Browne @58

    AB: “I think you are making too many minor points that tend to swamp and detract from the important ones you want to make.”

    I think what Alan says is very true, and perhaps hh should take note of it.

    hh tends to run many criticisms together in a single paragraph, which is then hard to read and often confusing because of that. They seem to be a random mix of minor niggles and personal taste with more major criticisms. I think the many people who currently just skip hh’s posts (that often includes me) would be more likely to read them and address them seriously if he clearly distinguished between those categories, listing the major ones first and more clearly separated, then bunching the others together at the end if he really feels he needs to mention them.

  65. Thanks PeterO and Picaroon.

    It must be a wavelength thing because I sailed through this starting with 9ac, then 1dn, jump to the simple 22dn and then on to the end only having to return for MAE WEST (who wouldn’t?), MARKS, KAPUTT and ROPES.

    My single gripe is the use of the German spelling of RHEIN in an English language puzzle. I’ve ranted about this in the past so won’t do so again.

    Otherwise, fine puzzle and great blog.

  66. Neither of us had ever heard of this use of Mae West, tho’ managed to guess it through parsing and googling, so BIG thanks, Picaroon, for giving us a good chortle!

  67. Designations of a city followed by a two-letter abbreviation usually imply that the city is in the state, as in “Philadelphia PA”, but Washington and the District of Columbia are coterminous. If you’re in one, you’re in the other. And yes, people do refer to the city as DC (though I have yet to hear anyone refer to New York City as “NY” — that’s a state.)

  68. “Stay” is a rope on a ship, though it would never be referred to as such. It’s a piece of standing rigging. Is it also a rope for a tent, as “guy” is?

    I don’t like “moors” for “ropes.” Surely “rope” is a verb only if you’re roping a steer, not if you’re tying up a boat.

    “RR” doesn’t stand for reverend, but for “Right Reverend”, the title of a bishop in the C of E. (But not an archbishop, who is a Most Reverend.)

    I’d never heard of “ulex” and got stuck on “ilex,” which is also prickly. But Hamburger corrected that.

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