Thanks to Turnstone for today’s puzzle – I think this is their first Guardian Cryptic. I particularly liked 6ac, 15ac, 2dn, and 8dn.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | PEACEFUL |
Still pace fuel supply (8)
|
| anagram of (pace fuel)*
“supply” as anagram indicator: think ‘supple’, ‘supple-y’ |
||
| 6 | GOTHIC |
Understood this Roman style of architecture (6)
|
| GOT=”Understood” + HIC=”this” in Latin i.e. “Roman” | ||
| 9 | GROUSE |
Bird in Greek river (6)
|
| GR (Greek) + OUSE=name of a “river” | ||
| 10 | COMPOSED |
Calm company man initially sat for artist (8)
|
| CO (company) + M-[an] + POSED=”sat for artist” | ||
| 11 | VICTORIES |
Leader in Cambridge blues after six wins (9)
|
| leading letter in C-[ambridge] + TORIES=Conservative Party politicians=”blues”; all after VI=”six” in Roman numerals | ||
| 13 | CHECK |
Pick up European vet (5)
|
| definition: to “vet” is to examine, to check
sounds like (“Pick up”): ‘Czech’ = “European” |
||
| 15 | TICKET |
Mark it right in report card (6)
|
| sounds like (“in report”): ‘tick it’ = “Mark it right’, as in ticking/marking a student’s correct answer | ||
| 17 | TOECAP |
One returning in jumper, say – it’s for protection (6)
|
| ACE=”One” reversed/”returning”, inside TOP=”jumper” as in clothing | ||
| 18 | RELAID |
Section of sundial erroneously rotated and put down again (6)
|
| reversed (“rotated”) and hidden in (“Section of”): [sun]-DIAL ER-[rroneously] | ||
| 19 | ADVERB |
Perhaps surprisingly, notice very short book (6)
|
| definition: “surprisingly” is an example of an adverb
AD (advertisement, “notice”) + VER-[y] cut short + B (book) |
||
| 21 | BRAND |
Stamp grain product with date (5)
|
| BRAN=”grain product” + D (date) | ||
| 22 | UNDERLIES |
Is the cause of stories behind two foreign articles (9)
|
| LIES=”stories” after/”behind”: UN (indefinite article in French) + DER (definite article in German) = “two foreign articles” | ||
| 25 | STEAMING |
Chef’s team in grey trousers getting very hot (8)
|
| hidden in (trousered by): [Chef]-S TEAM IN G-[rey] | ||
| 26 | SONATA |
Boy attending a musical performance (6)
|
| SON=”Boy” + AT=”attending” + A (from surface) | ||
| 28 | CRESTS |
Charlie takes a break in mountain-tops (6)
|
| C (Charlie, NATO alphabet) + RESTS=”takes a break” | ||
| 29 | ANYWHERE |
A New Year with present in whichever location (8)
|
| A (from surface) + N (new) + Y (year) + W (with) + HERE=”present” | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 2 | EAR |
Finally tune dulciana for organ (3)
|
| final letters of [tun]-E [dulcian]-A + [fo]-R
for the surface, a dulciana is a type of stop for a musical organ |
||
| 3 | COURT |
Sovereign’s palace captured, we hear? (5)
|
| sounds like (we hear): ‘caught’=”captured” | ||
| 4 | FLEUR-DE-LIS |
Engineer used filler for heraldic design (5-2-3)
|
| anagram/”Engineer” of (used filler)* | ||
| 5 | LICHEN |
Crusty growth in part of metallic henneries (6)
|
| hidden in (part of): [metal]-LIC HEN-[neries] | ||
| 6 | GAME |
Up for tennis? (4)
|
| double definition: to be ‘game for’ or ‘up for’ taking an opportunity; or “tennis” as an example of a game | ||
| 7 | TOOTHACHE |
Part of cog starts to aggravate cyclist’s healthy exercise – such a pain (9)
|
| TOOTH=”Part of cog” as in a gear tooth; plus starting letters to A-[ggravate] C-[yclist’s] H-[ealthy] E-[xercise] | ||
| 8 | INESCAPABLE |
Cook special bean? Sure! (11)
|
| definition: “Sure” as in certain, inevitable
anagram/”Cook” of (special bean)* |
||
| 12 | INTERPRETER |
Translator to bury Peter Rabbit’s introduction inside (11)
|
| INTER=”bury”, plus PETER with the introduction to R-[abbit] inside | ||
| 14 | WORDLESSLY |
Recklessly sells dowry without a sound (10)
|
| anagram/”Recklessly” of (sells dowry)* | ||
| 16 | CALENDARS |
Doctor: send Clara for lists of appointments (9)
|
| anagram/”Doctor” of (send Clara)* | ||
| 20 | ENIGMA |
Missing first letter, imagine resolved riddle (6)
|
| anagram/”resolved” of ( i magine )* minus its first letter i | ||
| 23 | LUNCH |
Send off without a meal (5)
|
| L-[a]-UNCH=”Send off”, without a | ||
| 24 | MISS |
Overshoot M1 service station’s entrances (4)
|
| MI=”M1″ + first letters (“entrances”) to S-[ervice] S-[tation] | ||
| 27 | TOR |
Heads off to outlying rock-strewn mountain (3)
|
| first letters (“Heads”) from T-[o] O-[utlying] R-[ock-strewn] |
Very enjoyable.
Favourites: UNDERLIES, ANYWHERE, TOECAP (loi).
Thanks Turnstone and manehi
Easy but enjoyable. It took me too long to see the hidden STEAMING – good misdirection. I also liked the construction of INTERPRETER, but the surface didn’t make a lot of sense.
I spent some time deciding between TICKET and ticker, but opted the right way.
Ticks for ADVERB, UNDERLIES and LAUNCH
The Guardian comment section is full of Quiptic comments so hopefully no need to replicate here 🙂
Cheers T&M
Some very nice anagrams here, INESCAPABLE and FLEUR DE LIS spring to mind. All in all, a very nicely wrought puzzle. Nothing too taxing, for sure, and hence I see much moaning on the G site about it being too easy, should have been a Quiptic, and so on. Utter nonsense. Many thanks to T & m.
All straightforward and gentle enough to make me think this might be Monday again. Didn’t care for the homophone at 3d but otherwise some clever and witty clues. Welcome to the Grauniad Turnstone and thanks for the clear blog manehi.
“Hic” in “Gothic” had me wondering whether “hoc” would be allowed for “this” (hic/haec/hoc)…
e.g. This Roman king’s joint?” (hock)
Thanks both.
The Guardian comments section is, frankly, pathetic…
Some new solvers will have been delighted by their first finished weekday cryptic.
People moaning that a crossword that is provided for free is “too easy”, “I come here for a challenge”.
Well bore off and and go and find a other free crossword to moan about.
Straightforward romp but nonetheless enjoyable.
Perhaps a little anagram heavy but I’m not complaining.
I ticked LUNCH for it’s smoothness.
I’m totally with miserableoldhack @4: an excellent puzzle to entice new solvers, with some witty chewier clues for older hands.
GOTHIC, TICKET, ADVERB, ANYWHERE, INTERPRETER and ENIGMA were among my favourites – great surfaces throughout.
Many thanks – and welcome to the cryptic slot to Turnstone! – and to manehi for a superb blog.
Good fun. No niggles and no “Huh?” list — which doesn’t often happen.
ENIGMA and LAUNCH were my favourites. I think it’s good to have a range of difficulty across the week.
Great surfaces here I thought. Only the surface for TOECAP which reads like it simply has to be a crossword clue. The only clunkiness. The clue I took longest over as well.
I enjoyed that. I did not know AT = ATTENDING, but I shall add it to my crossword lexicon.
[Also a Forest fan]
Unusually, I didn’t use so much as a pen and paper on the side to solve this. It was enjoyable. I think you can be pretty noisy without words but am fine with that clue and all the others. I didn’t know HIC but could see what the solution was. I shall remember that.
Thank you Turnstone and manehi.
Andrew Sceats @13: I might be misreading your comment, in which case, apologies. The ‘add it to my crossword lexicon’ made it sound as if you have discovered a new cruciverbal gimmick. Don’t take AT as some kind of accepted abbreviation for ATTENDING. I think it’s a simple as “I shall be at/attending a wedding on Saturday”
Martin@14
Maybe last Saturday soured the chant of Forest fans? (3,4)
As I said in my Guardian comment, I really enjoyed this puzzle apart from one clue. As I think I’ve said before, it’s past time for setters of all hues to retire the very restricted homophones like court/caught.
I echo Eileen’s comments. Most enjoyable.
Ta Turnstone & manehi.
I liked this. The solution went in easily, practically a write-in which is unheard of for me.
Favourites CHECK, SONATA and TICKET.
Thanks Turnstone and manehi
[Forest Fan @16. Very neat! I tried not to let it sour me too much.]
Agree with the above. Hard/Easy is subjective anyway. I usually finish 2 or 3 a week so I’m a reasonably average solver, and thoroughly enjoyed this for its clever glueing. Thanks both.
Agree with the above. Hard/Easy is subjective anyway. I usually finish 2 or 3 a week so I’m a reasonably average solver, and thoroughly enjoyed this for its clever clueing. Thanks both.
Agree it was a tad easier then usual, but nothing here is ever a write in for me.
I take that as a positive – I always get my money’s worth on this free site
And not having the luxury of a classical education i completely failed to parse – or even understand the praise for – Gothic until I came here, so thanks manehi. I got the got, but that was all
As others often say a learning opportunity can only be a good thing
So thanks and welcome Turnstone. Look forward to our next meeting
Mild but there are some very elegant clues, like GOTHIC, GAME and SONATA. Thanks Turnstone and manehi
@7 Totally, a cesspool of smugness.
Certainly the most straightforward Guardian I can remember for a while. Which isn’t a bad thing, if every puzzle was an Enigmatist the hobby will soon die off. I wish there was a way to tell those who have settled on the Quiptic and Quick to give this a go.
Liked TOECAP, TICKET, ADVERB and VICTORIES.
Thanks Turnstone and Manehi
Very enjoyable. I liked the range of clue types – good practice for those of us less proficient. I couldn’t finish yesterday’s Vulcan so this one cheered me up.
I do find it odd that commenters here on 15squared are so earnest in their desire not to denigrate or in any way be rude in discussion of today’s crossword and yet are quite free with their disparagement and abuse of people posting comments on the Grauniad website.
But then, I feel so glad that I am not part of a cesspool of smugness.
15a had to be TICKET or TICKER, but I couldn’t decide and guessed wrong.
I took quite a while to get the ‘sound-alike’ in 3d as the two words are quite different to my Belfast ear, not just because of the non-rhoticity but for having quite distinct vowel sounds.
Otherwise, a fairly smooth if rather quiptish puzzle (is that a word? It is now).
Definitely more dulciana than diapason on the difficulty front but beautifully composed and I for one welcome a day when I’m not spending hours going through the alphabet in my head, thank you Turnstone and manehi
Thanks for the blog , very good clues with ADVERB the pick for me . I would have loved this when I was learning , just like Custos or Janus . There should be two like this every single week to encourage newer solvers . I just hope the range will be stretched in both directions .
I am also a Forest Fan but only Broadleaf .
Very entertaining. I liked the very subtle anagram for PEACEFUL (you only have to move one letter), the clever misdirection in COMPOSED (the clue initially reads as if the definition is going to be “artist”), and plenty of others.
Many thanks Turnstone (please leave no stone unturned in order to make a comeback) and manehi.
Welcome Turnstone – great clueing throughout – knew there would be moans about COURT/CAUGHT – but I think as long as it’s possible – i.e a homophone in some accents, then it’s fine – I’d like you to step up the difficulty a bit for the future. I need to get more value out of what I pay for the print version every day!
A pedant writes …. Interpreters and translators are not the same thing at all.
Elwyn@34 maybe not in a strict language sense but certainly in an artistic sense , music and plays etc . In Particle Physics I interpret SU(3) for my students by translating it to the Eightfold Way which they can easily visualise .
Peter@33 , try the FT , good puzzles and no ownership issues and I suspect it is very easy to find online . I swap the back page of G2 for my friend’s FT crossword and we are both happy .
Pleasant solve with some good clues. My picks were: the VICTORIES of Cambridge blues, the ADVERB, surprisingly, and the well-hidden STEAMING by the chef.
Thanks Turnstone and manehi.
Roz @35, yes indeed. Also Chambers has, for “interpreter”, “A person who translates orally..”. So an interpreter is quite literally a translator.
So basically if anyone dares to state the obvious – which is that the Guardian cryptic is no longer challenging other than very rare exceptions – it’s smug?
The Quiptic’s very existence is to entice new solvers. There are, believe it or not, solvers who would actually like a challenge most days. The Guardian used to offer that. It no longer does. This should not be a controversial thing to state.
PS – there is absolutely no criticism of this puzzle or the setter.
Very straightforward.
Easy anagrams
T
Seven days in a row , beat that AlanC .
Thank you, Turnstone and Manehi, most enjoyable crossword and blog. As a teacher, I liked ticket, I was also glad that my O level Latin helped with Gothic, which I liked too. Underlies and Sonata were also fun. Am I alone in enjoying the homophones? I find them useful for devising sentences to test spelling for my English as a second language courses, eg “I caught a glimpse of the sovereign at court.”
Nice puzzle – nothing wrong with the occasional smooth experience. LUNCH a good example – straightforward but a very clean surface. COURT took the longest, but no complaints.
Time to write a clue for “cesspool of smugness”.
This was an odd (and enjoyable) experience for me. My first pass through the across clues yielded very little, but then the down clues started going in steadily and with the crossers, the across clues also yielded. Perhaps it took me that first pass to find Turnstone’s wavelength?
Anyway, dulciana was new to me and when I looked it up, it made for a fine surface in 2D. INTERPRETER was another favorite.
Welcome, Turnstone and thank you Manehi.
Tim S. @43: Four years of Latin and an A at O Level, and just about all I retain is “hic, haec, hoc” and a couple of lines of the Aeneid.
Bingy @38 I think you are right to challenge the derision and downright odium being directed at those who declared this Tuesday puzzle excessively easy, Above, Roz @31 has repeated her mantra of ‘there should be two like this every week’.. However, before we even get to Monday, there have been two – the Quick Cryptic on Saturday and the Quiptic on Sunday, which Roz does not see because she does not go online. If, then, both Mo/day and Tuesday are entry-level, that leaves only four other crosswords. including Saturday’s Prize, to offer a greater level of challenge. Again, this is not a criticism of Turnstone, whose puzzle here many have clearly enjoyed.,
Blimey, I felt guilty for thinking the Guardian was the home of the humblebrag 🙂
Bingy@38 you need to understand that many people who post in forums are blessed with extraordinary cognitive capabilities that allow them to read the minds, and infer the motives of people they’ve never met
Thank you Turnstone, and welcome! Enjoyable debut
Good misdirections in 6a GOTHIC (“Roman style”), 15a TICKET (“report card”). Also liked 2d EAR (“dulciana” organ stop), 4d FLEUR-DE-LIS (symbol on the Quebec flag)
Billy Mills@17 agreed! I don’t mind variations in vowel sounds, but the non-rhotic soundalikes just annoy me…
Thanks both
Jacob@46.
I can’t say “hic haec, hoc” without also saying “hunc, hanc, hoc”.
A pleasant evening last night
Thanks, Turnstone (ane welcome!) and manehi.
Where is the edit button? I can’t fix the typo in my posting above!
Jacob @46 I too have hic haec hoc, Caesar’s first line about Omnia Gallia in three bits and the ablative absolute. For O level, we did a textbook entitled “50 Latin love poems”, just right for 16 year olds. I’ve trying to find the book for years without success.
muffin@2 poc@29
Can’t see how “ticker” would parse.
All fairly clued. Perhaps a little more misdirection or slightly harder to recall vocabulary might not go amiss? I’m around the bottom of the solving hierarchy I suspect, and these went in very easily.
I’m surprised to read that this is Turnstone’s first Grauniad crossword, for I could have sworn I’d encountered him/her before. It must have been Pierre blogging that day, because I also learned that a Turnstone is a bird…
Anyway, this one was fun and, as others have already said, it’s good to have a mix of difficulty-levels.
(I’ve stopped bothering to look at the Grauniad’s own comments. They made me harrumph too much.)
I have to confess, though, that I’m puzzled about the court/caught complaints: is it because of the R? (I’ve been trying to say the word with an audible R, and I still can’t see why it doesn’t work as an aural pun…).
Plenty of pleasing clues, and today’s rosette goes to GOTHIC (hic haec hoc hunc hanc…)
Thanks Turnstone and manehi
jeceris@54, i would say “tick R”, where R means “right” in an imaginary questionnaire.
I admit TICKET is better though
Far too easy for this slot, I thought when I put this aside this morning. I found myself cringing at the sheer bloody obviousness of everything, and the potential humiliation of a newish setter. After pondering the comments, now I say happy solving to those early on in their journey, and only beginning to fall in love with cryptic crosswords. The Guardian doesn’t owe anyone a particular level of challenge each day, or even a warning that there will be no challenge today for regular solvers… the first few clues will be enough of a signal to look elsewhere.
While on the subject of hic, it also means here. I know it from grave slabs on the floor of churches as ‘hic jacet’ meaning ‘here lies’.
Dr.WhatsOn @ 44 Too many letters S to make brevity feasible, but what about
“Raised specs on noses fool mugs missing negative Guardian comments” (8,2,8)?
Wellbeck@56. Turnstone has set a few Quiptics and Quick Cryptics in the last year.
This felt Quiptic to me and was over far too quickly this morning. Still a good crossword and thanks to T and m.
I really don’t want to stir things up, but Wellbeck’s comment at 56 underlines the subjectivity of soundalike clues. To me, “court” is no closer to “caught” than it is to “cat” (“cart” would actually be closer). My complaint is always that it completely changes the degree of difficulty of the clue.
Thanks Turnstone for smooth, gentle crossword. It was perfect for a Monday which happens to be the day (evening) I solved it. My top picks were GOTHIC, ADVERB, the nicely hidden STEAMING, INTERPRETER, CALENDARS, and LUNCH. Caught and court don’t sound at all alike to me but Chambers says they do so here we are. Thanks manehi for the blog.
[hi DuncT
I’m intrigued! If “court” is closer to “cart” for you, how would you pronounce “caught”?
The differences in accents and dialects are endlessly fascinating.
Probably the safest thing would be for setters to avoid all aural puns – but I doubt that’ll ever happen.]
Many thanks to Turnstone and Manehi. I banged through caught/court and plunged, again, into Yorkshire rivers, and I thought it very nice to stand on the bottom rung of the week’s cryptics. Sometimes the wind will be at your back; but nevermind, you will still need to pedal back home.
DuncT @62:
As well as makes us think more broadly about our beautiful language and the many, many ways some words will / might be pronounced by people who grew up elsewhere?
While the intended answer was clear, a SONATA is a composition, whether performed or not. One might attend the performance of a sonata, but not the sonata itself.
I hope long-standing contributors to 15² will forgive me if I put in my twopenn’orth re ‘homophones’ (especially rhotic ones.) It’s some years since I mentioned it – honestly!
This same discussion was raging when I serendipitously found this site, back in 2008 and it wasn’t long before I started commenting on how my late Scottish husband would exclaim (exasperatedly – but good-naturedly), ‘Occchhhh!’ at the fairly frequent appearance of clues of the ‘caught / court’ variety. It was here that I learned the word ‘rhotic’ and I was highly amused to find this clue from the still much-missed Shed: Tenor in drunken choir fought for fort? Not in such a dialect (6)’ and, of course, I expressed my delight. Later in the day, Shed, as he often did, dropped in and said that it was this very discussion that had inspired the clue (and so, of course, it was among the first entries in my little book of classic clues.) What made it all the more delicious was that my husband was a tenor in a choir. 😉
I hope I may be forgiven for resurrecting the story once again. I promise to try never to do so again – but it seemed particularly apt today.
Comment #69
Eileen@68, thank you for resurrecting that delightful story. Its message bears repeating.
If only the complainers would think of the clue as a pun, and, in Shed fashion, a pun making fun of the different ways (rhotic/non-rhotic) that people speak our language, all would be well.
I blame the use of the overly restrictive word “homophone”, which should be banned from fifteensquared. I reiterate my plea for “aural wordplay”.
And here’s more rhotic ructions from The Proclaimers with Throw the R Away
I’m surprised anyone’s complaining about anything that injected a bit of extra difficulty into this puzzle 🙂
Well I for one forgive you Eileen, it’s a great story and I’ve never read it before, in spite of following this site for many years.
I love these coincidental clues – Mr T was amused by TOOTHACHE and APPOINTMENTS, having just returned from the dentist when he tackled the crossword (no treatment required this time, thankfully)
Is there a term for people who sound the h in rhotic ?
Cellomaniac@70 , your aural wordplay is my preferred term but I try to use soundalike on here . For the quick cryptic they use soundalike for these clues so if the newest solvers progress to here it is nice if they see the same term .
And what would you call one of Paul’s recent prize crossword clues where pinochle larder was a cocktail?
Thanks Eileen for the delightful contribution – as always. I’m off to the theatre in a minute so I read very pleased that this particular crossword being relatively straightforward means I’ve got plenty of time to get there!
Well it wasn’t so easy that I didn’t write the answers in. It was fun enough that I finished it. And TOECAP was loi by a few minutes. No complaints here!
TomK@75:
I like pinochle larders. And get in court in the reign…
🙂
Nice work Alton @77
[Cellomaniac @70, Tamarix @72 and TomK @75 – I’m grateful for your kindness in indulging me – thank you.
Tamarix – it was a very long time ago and there’s no reason why you or anyone but me should have remembered – but does anyone else recall the quaintness of the blogs in those far-off days?
https://fifteensquared.net/2009/07/09/guardian-24747-shed/?highlight=Guardian%2024%2C747 ]
Drophead @23 and Jacob @46. My level of expertise in Latin is similar to Jacob’s although I can’t remember if Scottish O-Levels were graded. He beats me in remembering some of the Aeneid. Whether O-Level Latin counts as a “classical education” is debatable.
An enjoyable romp with some very nicely constructed clues, misdirects etc. I usually skim through the clues looking for things that leap out and then use the crossers to tease the rest out. Didn’t get too many from the across but the downs helped a lot and soon it was over and the feeling was of pleasure rather than being cheated by a “Quiptic”.
On the Grauniad site, if you take the Recommendations sort option it’s a far healthier place as the comments offering praise have received far more upticks than those from the quibblers. There’s a minor rhotic riot in there too and this is from experienced solvers who surely know what’s expected of them by now. I’m certain that there must have been answers that discombobulate non-rhotic types too. Being Welsh and having lived in the south east for eons, I can don both hats.
Thanks very much to both Turnstone and manehi… and also Elieen for the battle of Chitor although that seems to be Chittor.
Bingy@38: maybe you have just become too good for the Guardian. Time to look elsewhere?
For what it’s worth (very late in the day) I would regard myself as a fairly average crossworder, with around 5 years or so of cryptic experience, but I can do the Guardian every day, often fairly easily, and I can usually also either solve completely or get within one or two clues of their Prize (after a fight). Then I go to the FT which I can often solve after a bit of a tussle, and sometimes it defeats me, and sometimes (especially when it’s an IO) I don’t even bother. As for this puzzle, well, for me it was pretty easy, and I’d go along with the Quiptic-ers, but yes, it is subjective, more or less. It’s not anything to get worked up about.
Wellbeck@64: Fwiw I pronounce ‘court’ to rhyme with ‘port’ and ‘caught’ to rhyme with ‘fought’. I’ve no idea if that makes me rhotic or non-rhotic.
[I now understand why my early poem ‘Love among the utilities’ was refused for publication. The first line ran: ‘We court each other by the waterworks…’]
I really enjoyed this grid. And yes I‘m still in that learning/improving group of people (took up the Quick Cryptic 2 years back after thinking I can’t do cryptic crosswords, moved on to Quiptic, and now make a stab at the weekday Cryptics). Yes maybe it’s more on the gentle scale of things, or maybe yes it should have landed in the Sunday slot. But come on (and I’m taking a shot here at some of the commentary on the Guardian page) it’s just a crossword. Sometimes they can be really difficult, sometimes not, and sometimes in between. And honestly that should just be fine. It’s not the end of civilisation if you find it a write in; tomorrow maybe more of a challenge. Hey ho, just get on with it. Thanks Turnstone, and manehi.
The moment I saw 3d I could already hear the lack-of-homophony complaints. (As I’ve said before I’m fine with considerable looseness in “aural wordplay”.) Regarding this instance, let me adduce the unimpeachable precedent from Lewis Carroll’s _Alice_ where “tortoise” and “taught us” are equated. I doubt TICKET is an exact match to “tick it” anywhere in the northern hemisphere—certainly not in my dialect—but that also works just fine AFAIC.
Like William @8 I found it a bit anagram-heavy; I’m not generally keen on the longer ones but I must admit they were cleverly clued here, with fairly coherent surfaces. OTOH I found “metallic henneries” rather clunky, almost word-salady. (Not that I could do any better!)
Yes, this was definitely on the easy side, but far from a no-brainer for me, and I’d missed a couple of parsing details until coming here.
Eileen @79 – sorry for the late reply, I’ve only just seen these latest posts.
Thanks for the link, I knew the “rhotic” argument has been going for a long time, but I didn’t realise quite how long! I’m a bit more relaxed about it myself, but there again I’m non-rhotic (shrugs shoulders).
Eileen — i couldn’t untangle your tenor joke, and if it made it into your little book it must be a good ‘un. Could you translate?
Welcome to the madhouse, Turnstone. We’re lucky to have you, and I look forward to more of your aural wordplay and misdirection. 20 Down (Enigma) features a word that is loaded with anagrammatic potential, as I endeavoured to illustrate with this paean to one of Ed Elgar’s more mysterious works:
Seen with Ed, a gamine, just fourteen?
That’s ‘n image, I ‘magine, obscene.
Is my mea(n)ing unclear?
Soldier, join in game here!
What’s that thing Elgar wrote, GI, mean?
Valentine @88
RHOTIC (such a dialect): T (tenor) in an anagram (drunken) of CHOIR. (I’m going back to bed now. 😉 )
Thecronester@85 I agree entirely , if the Quick Cryptic and Quiptic are there to get people started then there needs to be some actual Cryptics to give them a chance . Out of six a week I think two like this is fair enough . When I was learning it would happen nearly every week giving me a lot of enjoyment and confidence .
The Guardian used to have a huge range of difficulty giving something for everyone and I hope this will return .
I found the clues nicely constructed, and so although quite easy (perhaps Mini Poppadoms on the PSRHS) I have no complaints at all about this puzzle, and welcome, Turnstone, if it’s your debut.
Cheers everyone.
Etu @92 , this one was Wotsits but well constructed so nothing wrong with that .
I hope you will need to add katsuobushi to your scale but I have my doubts .
Roz 93,
Do they sell that in Proper Pubs?
I’m with Eileen @68, Cellomaniac @70 and Roz @73. I don’t recall ever reading the word homophone in a clue. I did a search on the &lit website and it returned “The search in Clues for the keywords “homophone” returned no results.” That’s because those sorts of clues are puns/sounds like/aural wordplays.
Proper Pubs only sell Pork Scratchings , certainly not Mini Poppadoms .
Touché…touché…
This is probably too late for anyone to see, but my specific issue with rhotic/non-rhotic clues is that the bias is always in favour of the non-rhotic. I can’t think of a single example in which it has ever worked the other way. In other words, these clues provide an additional challenge for we rhotic speakers that the rest of you are presumably unaware of. It’s not that we can’t see the correspondence when pointed out, but it can be much harder to think of the correspondence before actually seeing it.
I am working my way up from the quicks and the quiptics, and this is the best I have ever done in a weekday cryptic! I had to reveal ADVERB but solved everything else without much trouble; easier than I expected and I understand it’s an outlier, but it’s still a nice feeling. The surfaces were lovely.
It struck me that a person who assumes any posture for an artist can be said to have POSED, and perhaps that’s a rich and potentially comic vein for setters to explore…
bat…99
I worked my way up on wood pulp from the, er, Telegraph, which I did, literally, only buy for the crossword twenty-odd years ago, but wouldn’t recommend anyone even to do that these days.
Yes, it’s a good, satisfying feeling, so keep at it. “Relaxed but stubborn” was the approach that worked for me.
Rusty@89: Applause. Of course Elgar is very anagram-able too.
Well done Bat..@99 , we need puzzles like this for people working their way up .
Stubborn , philosophical and vengeful was my attitude . It is fine to fail , learn something and fail better next time .
Etu@92 , your scale just says PubSRHS , katsuobushi is sold in Japanese bars so does qualify if we ever need it .
I suggested that my daughter, who is learning, try this, and she was delighted to finish it.
Exactly Muffin@104 , this could have been any one of us at some stage .