Guardian Cryptic 26798 Crucible

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(Please click here for this same blog but with a picture quiz added. Please do NOT post hereinbelow any comment relating to the picture quiz. Thank you.)  A relatively easy and enjoyable puzzle (until the LOI). Thanks to Crucible. Definitions are underlined in the clues.

Across

1 A mother is in club with daughter, as is 6 (11)

MACADAMISED : [A + DAM(a female parent of an animal, especially a domesticated mammal) + IS ]contained in(in)MACE(an armour-crushing club from the Middle Ages) plus(with) D(abbrev. for “daughter”).

Defn: As is the surface of a dual carriageway, the answer to 6 down.

9 Nitrogen does spread over tops of underground lumps — these? (7)

NODULES : N(symbol for the chemical element, nitrogen) + anagram of(… spread) DOES containing(over) the 1st letters, respectively, of(tops of) “underground lumps “.

Defn: …, lumps, that is.

10 A Native American owns a good amount of land (7)

ACREAGE : A + CREE(a member of a Native American people) containing(owns) [A + G(abbrev. for “good”) ].

11 Western China hosts the Mexican firm, putting out the red carpet (9)

WELCOMING : W(abbrev. for “western”) + MING(relating to chinaware produced during the Ming Dynasty in China) containing(hosts) [ EL(Spanish for “the”, as is spoken in Mexico) + CO(abbrev. for “company”, a commercial firm) ].

12 Raleigh produced it to help make policy clear (5)

CYCLE : Hidden in(to help make) “policy clear “.

Defn: The “it” produced by the Raleigh Bicycle Company originally based in Nottingham, England.

13 Young Farmers’ leaders gather eggs for teenagers (4)

YOOF : The 1st letters, respectively, of(…s’ leaders) “Young Farmers ” containing(gather) OO(letters that resemble, almost, of two eggs, or, that resemble the family jewels;eggs if you like).

Answer: A humorous or facetious spelling of “youth”;teenagers.

14 Try getting a bit in Morecambe in vain (10)

EGOCENTRIC : [ GO(a try, as in “have a go at solving this”) plus(getting) CENT(a small coin;a bit) ] contained in(in) ERIC(Morecambe, half of the duo with Ernie Wise).

16 Got even on time, a trifle upset (10)

RETALIATED : RE(referring to;on, as in “to write on the subject of …”) + T(abbrev. for “time”) + A + reversal of(… upset) DETAIL(a trifle;a small bit of a whole).

19 Big wheels left No 10 clutching millions (4)

LIMO : L(abbrev. for “left”) + IO(letters resembling the number 10) containing(clutching) M(abbrev. for “millions”).

Defn: …, the latter as a slang for a “car”.

20 Female glowing about top-class trick cyclist (5)

FREUD : F(abbrev. for “female”) + RED(descriptive of something emitting heat or on fire;glowing, as in “red-hot”) containing(about) U(characteristic of the upper-class;top-class).

Defn: …, as slang for “psychiatrist”, from deliberate malapropism of the latter.

21 Woman’s guzzling Gold Label, when stocks are low (9)

SHORTAGES : SHE(third person pronoun for a woman)‘S containing(guzzling) [ OR(in heraldry, the colour of gold) + TAG(a label) ].

23 Working men in rage smelt this (4,3)

IRON ORE : [ ON(working, as with an electrical appliance, say) + OR(abbrev. for “other ranks”, non-commissioned men in the military) ] contained in(in) IRE(rage;anger).

Defn: The “this” that goes through smelting to retrieve pure metal.

24 Firm currently in recession secured by industry (4-3)

HARD-WON : HARD(firm;resolute) + reversal of(… in recession) NOW(currently;at this point in time).

Defn: … or hard work.

25 Desires simple advice for road users (5,6)

DRIVE SLOWLY : DRIVES(desires that serve to motivate) + LOWLY(simple;basic;unpretentious).

Down

1 Average hog’s infuriating position? (6-2-3-4)

MIDDLE-OF-THE-ROAD : Double defn: 2nd: … or a position taken up by a road hog, that is.

2 Instrument collector wraps one up (5)

CELLO : Hidden in(… wraps one) reversal of(… up, in a down clue) “collector “.

3 Dog nonetheless eats a bone with it (7)

DASHING : “Dog” minus(…-theless) “o”(letter signifying 0;none) containing(eats) [A + SHIN(a bone in your leg) ].

Defn: … or fashionable;trendy;stylish.

“-theless” as a deletion indicator didn’t help.

4 Mopes about, exiting Olympic Games racked with muscle pain (7)

MYALGIC : Anagram of(… racked) “Olympic Games ” minus(…, exiting) anagram of(… about) “Mopes“. Good surface.

5 London XV run in without Parisian (8)

SARACENS : RACE(to run) contained in(in) SANS(French for “without”, as a Parisian would say).

Defn: A particular London-based rugby team (of 15 players).

6 Artery severed with reservation (4,11)

DUAL CARRIAGEWAY : Cryptic defn: A major thoroughfare with a reservation;the strip of land separating traffic going in opposite directions.

7 Feature of 6 distracts a few in factory (3-3,7)

ONE-WAY TRAFFIC : Anagram of(distracts) A FEW IN FACTORY.

Defn: …, the answer to 6 down, that is.

8 Novelist tackles gripping stuff in Dangerous Junction (5,8)

LEVEL CROSSING : LESSING(Doris, English author) containing(tackles) VELCRO(the material that grips on to itself, used as a substitute for zippers, say).

Defn: Dangerous because that’s where rail and road traffic cross each other.

15 Boy employed by Joe on oil rig oddly blossoms (8)

GLADIOLI : LAD(a boy) contained in(employed by) GI(Joe;a US soldier) plus(on, in a down clue) the 1st, 3rd, and 5th letters of(… oddly) “oil rig“.

17 One American tree shattered grave (7)

AUSTERE : A(one of something) + US(descriptive of things American) + anagram of(… shattered) TREE.

18 English mate guards old church over many years (7)

EPOCHAL : E(abbrev. for “English”) + PAL(a friend;a mate) contained in(guards) [ O(abbrev. for “old”) + CH(abbrev. for “church”) ].

22 Launch brief article on line (5)

THROW : “the”(an article in grammar) minus its last letter(brief …) plus(on, in a down clue) ROW(a line of a series of arranged items).

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47 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 26798 Crucible”

  1. Thanks scchua and Crucible. One of the quickest solve for a C. crossword for me.

    I needed explanations for RETALIATION and the definition of FREUD. MYALGIA went in swiftly as I have polymyalgia rheumatica at the moment, but it took a while to see the explanation.

    Before I realised it was an anagram, I briefly contemplated ONE DAY WONDERS and ONE WAY STREETS for 7d

  2. Thanks scchua and Crucible. I wouldn’t have figured out “trick cyclist” in my lifetime. And I knew the word SARACENS from history, but had to hope there was a London football team by that name.

    Even I, the undisputed world champion of missing the theme, saw one here. Something about, um, roads?

  3. slipstream @2, obviously unlike me you didn’t waste some of your childhood years watching black-and-white war films. There were trick cyclists galore, and quite a few sky pilots (military chaplains), though I don’t think the latter is a malapropism.

  4. As already said, this was relatively easy for Crucible but nevertheless enjoyable. Favourites were Freud & myalgia; LOI was macadamised. Thank you Crucible & scchua.

    [slipstream @2: surprisingly, I also managed to see the theme fairly quickly and I think I can challenge your claim to the title!]

  5. Thanks scchua and Crucible.

    I wouldn’t have got 5d had I not lived down the road from them in my YOOF.

    4d also went in easily for me, as I’ve had fibromyalgia for 20 years now.

  6. Thank you, scchua, needed your parsing of DASHING, otherwise all super.

    Most enjoyable crozzie with an interesting theme, although I found I had to stare at the answers to a few before their parsing secrets revealed.

    This is an interesting grid as it has (I think) the fewest clues (26) of the generally found grids here, and this may have facilitated the relatively quick solve.

    Loved LEVEL CROSSING, EGOCENTRIC & MIDDLE OF THE ROAD.

    Nice one, Crucible, thank you.

  7. Have to admit that the solving preceded the parsing,mostly.A super puzzle,thank you Crucible.And also Scchua,for a super-clear analysis that revealed all the intricate plotting!

  9. JuneG and Dave Ellison. Did you really put in MYALGIA?

    If so, how did you complete the puzzle?

    (I had MYALGIA so couldn’t get EGOCENTRIC).

    Thanks scchua and Crucible

  10. Thanks, scchua.

    I agree that this was not Crucible at his toughest but it was as enjoyable as ever.

    I saw through ‘nonetheless’ immediately in 3dn but tried to be too clever and saw it as DING[o] – but then couldn’t find my ASH bone. 🙁

    I have a long list of ticks but will just make special mention of LEVEL CROSSING, an absolute gem.

    Many thanks to Crucible.

    [Nice to see you, Stella @5]

  11. This started as a write-in and got a bit tougher, but all in all it was a fine puzzle. Favourites were DASHING, EGOCENTRIC, LEVEL CROSSING and LIMO. Many thanks to Crucible and scchua.

  12. Thanks Crucible and scchua

    Finished easily enough, though with RETALIATED and LEVEL CROSSING unparsed.

    There’a another layer to 9ac – leguminous plants (peas, beans, clover etc.) are able to “fix” atmospheric NITROGEN in a usable form through the action of bacteria in root NODULES.

  13. Thanks scchua and Crucible. Enjoyed the theme. Silver wouldn’t fit for Raleigh. Loved the smelt in Iron Ore although didn’t know OR for men. I do find military and sport references overdone. Never heard the malapropism for psychiatrist. Found lots of references to cycling with Sigmund, but no athlete of the same name. Loved the Olympic feat in reducing the athlete to myalgia. How clever, far from myopic. Thought for a moment that there was an indirect anagram ‘detail’ in 16A, but on second look it might have been better for a down clue. And shouldn’t ‘yoof’ have a vernacular marking? Or am I chasing a toofless tiger?

  14. Thanks Crucible and scchua.

    Cryptic Definitions often get deserved flak for being too ambiguous, or on occasion not cryptic enough, but I would like to make special mention of 6, which I think is a very fine example of the genre.

  15. btw scchua – which was the LOI that you refer to? (Mine was 25a)

    Saracens are a Rugby Club (distinct from football, which would have an XI rather than a XV) that used to be based at Cockfosters, North London (I’ve played there, though against their Sixth XV!). The First XV now have a home at Allianz Park in Barnet – still London, just about.

  16. This was entertaining and second easiest of the week so far, though not without a couple of tricky parsings. FREUD was last in – I only vaguely remembered trick cyclist and had to get it from crossers and wordplay. Liked LEVEL CROSSING and SARACENS

    Thanks to Crucible and scchua

  17. All done fairly easily (but many unparsed) today.

    Favourite was LEVEL CROSSING – very clever!

    I’m not sure about BLOSSOMS as a synonym for flowers – I think of blossoms as flowers on trees (but maybe that was the idea).

    Thanks to Crucible & scchua

  20. Thanks Crucible & scchua.

    I didn’t manage to parse MYALGIC; I thought the exiting of Olympic Games meant ‘cs’ but there was no ‘s!’ There is the usual discussion about whether or not one needs two anagrinds for taking one from another. In this case, however, the ‘about’ followed naturally after ‘mopes’ anyway, so all is well in crosswordland.

    I particularly liked LEVEL CROSSING for the ‘gripping stuff.’

  21. muffin@15, my LOI was 3 down. I deduced the deletion indicator after getting the answer.
    [[Ian SW3@19, should work now.]]

  23. Thanks Crucible for a fun puzzle and scchua for a helpful blog.

    The subtraction clues for DASHING and MYALGIC were great, they fooled me for a long time.

  24. muffin @3 Impressed. I have a pal who used to like proclaiming that he had twice played at Cardiff Arms Park. When I asked what position he played, he replied, “2nd trombone”!

  25. LEVEL CROSSING got a tick from me as did DASHING. I often expect quite a tussle from Crucible – this one went in pretty quickly, aided by the enumeration of many of the linked clues. Guessed what FREUD might be about and I’m another of those who could not parse RETALIATED.

  26. This was quite easy; I even got SARACENS! I got delayed around the SE by filling in SAFELY instead of SLOWLY so those that crossed it were my LOI.
    Liked YOOF,LEVEL CROSSING and FREUD.
    Thanks Crucible.

  29. One other thought…does the clue for GLADIOLI really need ‘oddly’? I didn’t see the ‘every other letter’ ruse and just parsed it as LAD in GI plus then OIL* with ‘rig’ as the anagrind. Seems to me that ‘Boy employed by Joe on oil rig blossoms’ works fine. I should add that this is no criticism of an excellent puzzle.

  30. William @ 29: Very good point re oil rig: makes for a more economical clue! (and brevity is the soul of wit).

  32. Could not get SARACENS, FREUD and DASHING even with all the crossers 🙁

    Otherwise quite enjoyable; liked 11a, 4d and 8d.

    Thanks scchua and Crucible.

  34. At first I thought that this was going to be ridiculously easy as I was firing the answers in. Luckily this came to a halt and it turned out to be an entertaining solve with some very nice clues.

    Even so, as others have noted, this was fairly easy for a Crucible puzzle.

    My LOI was SARACENS which was amazing as I had deduced SANS was involved and that the def was a London rugby club. I think I had become obsessed with “run” indicating “r”. What a dummy! (In my defence, saying I am not the world’s greatest rugby fan would be a massive understatement.)

    Thanks to scchua and Crucible

  35. [William @24
    Somewhat over 40 years ago! In the same season I rubbed shoulders with David Duckham (we were returning to the changing rooms after playing Bedford 6th XV; he was just coming out to play for Coventry against their Firsts.)]

  36. Another very enjoyable puzzle from Crucible. I couldn’t parse RETALIATED (missing “detail”) or IRON ORE (“other ranks”). I remembered that the Saracens were a rugby team, but I mistakenly thought it was an invitation team like the Barbarians, so I had to check that they are based in London. I parsed GLADIOLI in the same way as William @29, not even noticing the redundant “oddly”, but of course scchua’s parsing does account for all the clue elements. LEVEL CROSSING was my favourite of many good clues.

    Thanks, Crucible and scchua.

  37. Thanks to Crucible and scchua. I too saw the “road” them early on but as a US solver had trouble with LEVEL CROSSING (though I eventually did spot Lessing and velcro – I did know DUAL CARRIAGEWAY), had never encountered YOOF, and needed help parsing MYALGIC. Great fun.

  38. An enjoyable puzzle. 4D is very clever and a rare occasion where parsing mostly came first. “Nonetheless” as an indicator for omitting the O made me smile though I didn’t think that DASHING meant “with it”. Looking at Chambers I was wrong -as well as “spirited” and “showy” ,the meanings I associate with it, it can mean “ostentatiously fashionable”.

  39. I’m late to the party today, and I have a different view of this puzzle from most of you, I think, as I enjoyed it much less than those of the last two days or previous puzzles by Crucible.

    I’m with HipPriest @27, in that I had to get the answers first and parse afterwards. Not in every case, of course, but far more than in the previous two days. It’s a question of taste, but I find this sort of crossword much less satisfying.

    I loved both 6D (DUAL CARRIAGEWAY) and 8D (LEVEL CROSSING), especially the latter, even though I thought the definition a bit weak. Some clues, though, I thought were a bit clunky.

    Incidentally, although I nearly always solve the paper version, today I printed the puzzle from the website, and the clue for 24A (HARD-WON) is totally different:

    “Earned after much toil, rock-like currency from Seoul? (4-3)”

    This counted as one of my ‘clunky’ clues. The version in this blog is much neater.

  40. scchua @21

    3D (DASHING) was also my last one in. I just couldn’t think of a word for ‘with it’ going –S-ING. I had to get 1A first, and unfortunately I have never heard of MACADAMISED, so it was tough, not helped by a weak (some would say tough) definition for 1A. 3D itself, though, was an excellent clue, and solvable from the wordplay on a better day (for me).

    I have heard of ‘tarmacadamed’, by the way, but so has everybody, I expect.

    I agree with Mitz @14 that the clue for 6D (DUAL CARRIAGEWAY) is a super example of a cryptic definition – well nigh perfect, in fact.

    Thank you for your excellent blog, which made everything clear. Thanks also to Crucible.

  41. Alan Browne@40, glad to have company. Am I the only one to find “-theless” a strange deletion indicator? “-less” yes, but how does the “-the” fit in?

  42. scchua (@42)

    I agree ‘-theless’ is a strange deletion indicator for exactly the reason you gave. Superficially, though, it is neat and almost funny, and I guessed very quickly that a removal of a zero (the letter ‘O’, actually) was involved here. Eileen commented on it and seems to approve, but I wouldn’t use this device myself in a crossword.

  43. Re: 7down “Feature of 6 (dual carriage way), answer “one-way traffic”

    Doesn’t a dual carriageway have 2-way traffic ?

  44. Nregan @43
    Each carriageway is one-way (except for temporary contraflows), unlike ‘normal’ roads on which you are not separated from oncoming traffic.

  46. Thanks Crucible and scchua

    Late to check this one off … enjoyed it and managed to parse it all properly for a change. A good mix up of clue devices as expected and a few with a clever tricks as in 3d.

    DASHING was my last one in after having DOSHING for most of the journey, thinking that it was some quaint British term for having sex !!!

    Never heard of SARACENS as a rugby side and had to go looking after deducing it from the wordplay.

    Always enjoy this setter and this was no exception

  47. Thanks scchua and Crucible.

    Found this easier than Crucible’s usual offerings but suspect I was just on his wavelength today.

    Still needed your help to parse RETALIATED, so thanks for that.

    Got MYALGIC and saw that it was a subtractive anagram but it was only as I started to write this post that I realised that the clue says “exiting” – I had read it as “exciting”. Word blindness strikes again.

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