This morning’s Guardian Cryptic comes from Dice and can be found here
I am covering for a regular blogger who is away without much internet access, so you’ve got me today …
Dice always does something extra in her puzzles, usually a theme, but I’ve blogged Ninas and pangrams in the Quick Cryptic, too. Today is no exception, lots of theme words based around the central word.
She started setting for the Quick Cryptic in the Guardian, but has expanded her range to set Quiptics and Cryptics and she also sets elsewhere.
| ACROSS | ||
| 7 | CARAVAN |
Rolling pad? (7)
|
| cryptic definition – possibly a thematic word, but CARAVAN sites are found in most coastal areas | ||
| 8 | PATRIOT |
Country lover in threesome caught by postman (7)
|
| insertion (caught by) of TRIO (threesome) in PAT (postman) – the other animated children’s series like this is Fireman Sam and that is set in Pontypandy.
As people may know, I’ve had rather too much of patriotism recently, so I’m going with Ambrose Bierce in The Devil’s Dictionary: âPatriotism, n. Combustible rubbish ready to the torch of any one ambitious to illuminate his name. In Dr. Johnson’s famous dictionary patriotism is defined as the last resort of a scoundrel. With all due respect to an enlightened but inferior lexicographer I beg to submit it is the first.â |
||
| 9 | SELF |
Will the author flog incomplete bit of fiction? (4)
|
| charade of SEL[L] (flog incomplete) + F (bit of Fiction) – cryptic convention is “bit of” means the first letter – for this author | ||
| 10 | LAMPLIGHT |
Artificial glow in hole, naked flame ahead (9)
|
| ordered charade – [f]LAM[e] (naked flame) ahead of PLIGHT (in hole) | ||
| 12 | CADDY |
Backs off homeward rapidly after scoundrel leaves box? (5)
|
| charade of CAD (scoundrel) + (after) D + Y where they are the final letters (backs off) of homewarD and rapidlY – and a leaves box as they are often used for tea leaves. | ||
| 13 | MARINARA |
Ran over, captivated by Tonyâs forbidden sweetheart, saucy thing! (8)
|
| insertion (captivated by) – RAN < (over, reversed) to give NAR inside (captivated by) MARIA (Tony’s forbidden sweetheart – in West Side Story) | ||
| 15 | HAUL |
Draw is as much as bowler can take, perhaps, losing heart (4)
|
| deletion – as much as a bowler can take is a HATFUL … thematic as haul is Welsh for sun, so is used a lot in Welsh names. | ||
| 16 | WALES |
Nation with beer â ultimately Brains (5)
|
| charade of W (with) + ALE (beer) + S (ultimately BrainS) – capital B as Brains is a Cardiff brewery – for the central clue and the theme | ||
| 17 | CAGE |
Hutch, partner to Lacey, leaving New York (4)
|
| deletion of NY (leaving New York) from CAG[n]E[y] (partner to Lacey) | ||
| 18 | STEP DOWN |
Resign, depressed after returning beloved animals (4,4)
|
| charade of DOWN (depressed) after PETS< (reversed) – to give STEP. PETS are beloved animals, returning = reversed | ||
| 20 | CORNY |
ClichÃĐd rabbit straddling loverâs rear (5)
|
| insertion (straddling) of R (loveR’s rear) in CONY (rabbit) – I’ve seen the coney spelling more often. | ||
| 21 | RURALISTS |
Those out-of-town rush trails â rambling but not hard (9)
|
| anagram (rambling) of (RUS[h] TRAILS)* the H is removed (not hard) | ||
| 22 | ISLE |
Maybe Skye lies elaborately (4)
|
| anagram (elaborately) of (LIES)* – quite a few Welsh islands to choose too | ||
| 24 | BEACONS |
Warnings of danger from almost defeated Tories (7)
|
| charade of BEA[t] (almost defeated) + CONS (Tories) – for a thematic word, although Brecon Beacons is now officially Bannau Brycheiniog | ||
| 25 | BLEATED |
Sounded like a sheep audible at Edgbaston trapped inside somewhere? (7)
|
| hidden (trapped inside somewhere) in audiBLE AT EDgbaston – lots of sheep in Wales. | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | CAKE |
It could be rock, marble or maybe even mud?! (4)
|
| cryptic definition – rock, marble and mud, or even Welsh | ||
| 2 | DAFFODIL |
Lifted part of chrysalid off a dying flower (8)
|
| reverse hidden (lifted part of) chrysaLID OFF A Dying < – for one of the national symbols of Wales | ||
| 3 | VALLEY |
Cwm venue cleared out to welcome everyone back from Hay (6)
|
| charade of VE (VenuE cleared out) around (to welcome) ALL (everyone) + Y (back from haY) – Hay-on-Wye is a town on the Welsh borders, Cwm is the Welsh for valley. | ||
| 4 | MALLARDS |
After capsizing, criticise involving fat swimmers (8)
|
| insertion (involving) of LARD (fat) in SLAM (criticise) < reversed (after capsizing). It’s the most common duck in Wales, but they are pretty common all over England too. | ||
| 5 | DRAGON |
Doctor â in the past Neathâs top fire-breather (6)
|
| charade of DR (doctor) + AGO (in the past) + N (Neath’s top) – and another thematic word – found on the Welsh flag, as there are many traditional stories of Welsh dragons | ||
| 6 | PORT |
Drink and drugs masking onset of rheumatism (4)
|
| insertion (masking) – POT (drugs) around (masking) R (onset of Rheumatism) – lots of Welsh ports | ||
| 11 | MUMBLINGS |
Stifled complaints when flashy jewellery confiscated by parents (9)
|
| insertion (confiscated) – of BLING (flashy jewellery) inside (confiscated by) MUMS (parents) – Wales has The Mumbles | ||
| 12 | COAST |
Players receiving nothing for progress without much effort (5)
|
| insertion (receiving) of O (noting) inserted into (receiving) CAST (players) – rather a lot of coast in Wales too, having walked some of the Pembrokeshire Coast Path. | ||
| 14 | RUGBY |
Sport wig, covering for baldy (5)
|
| charade of RUG (wig) + BY (covering for BaldY) – for the Welsh national sport | ||
| 16 | WOODLAND |
Odd lawn cultivated around old group of trees (8)
|
| anagram (cultivated) of (ODD LAWN + O) where the last O comes from Old | ||
| 17 | CARDIGAN |
Dressing up Cain with drag clothing (8)
|
| anagram (dressing up) of (CAIN + DRAG)* for a piece of clothing named after the Earl of Cardigan – and Cardigan is a town in Wales (and CASTLE and bay), the Welsh County, in anglicised form, pre-reclamation of the Welsh language, was called Cardiganshire. | ||
| 19 | PIRACY |
Crime quick, taking in Inland Revenue (6)
|
| insertion (taking in) of IR (inland Revenue) into PACY (quick) – lots of Welsh pirates, Sir Henry Morgan was the model for Pirates of the Caribbean and Treasure Island | ||
| 20 | CASTLE |
Shy exhausted little rook? (6)
|
| charade of CAST (shy) + LittlE (little without the inside letters, so exhausted) – rook as in chess, CASTLE for the theme, as in take your pick. | ||
| 21 | RHEA |
Big Bird runs, hearty, but half-cut (4)
|
| charade of R (runs – cricket) + HEArty (half cut hearty) – for possibly this bird | ||
| 23 | LEEK |
National emblem in France, the âDisheartened Deerâ (4)
|
| charade of LE (in France, the) + ElK (disheartened deer) – for the other Welsh symbol |
Very straightforward solve and having rewatched How Green Was My Valley on Monday afternoon, the theme came early. I listed WALES, HAUL, RURALISTS, BEACONS, BLEATED (plenty of sheep), DAFFODIL, VALLEY, DRAGON, MUMBLINGS (similar to Mumbles), RUGBY, CARDIGAN CASTLE, RHEA (Welsh name) and LEEK. There were also more general geographical references like ISLE, PORT, COAST and WOODLAND, which may or not be linked. I liked PATRIOT, MARINARA and CAGE best.
Ta Dice & Shanne for stepping in with a great blog as usual.
Tricky and mostly enjoyable. I liked the theme as I spend about 3 months of the year in Wales.
Favourite: MUMBLINGS, HAUL.
Final two solved were 1d and 7ac.
Thanks both. Mumbles is in Swansea, so I guess Mumblings could be (young) residents.
Two themes spotted in a row which is a personal best ð
Initially thought AGON must be the old name for Neath until my own daftness became obvious
Ticks for PATRIOT, MUMBLINGS & BLEATED for the faux cricket reference
Cheers S&D
Rejoice with me…a double first… not only did I spot the theme (hardly ever) but actually used it to find a few answers!
(Having lived in that fair country for more than 40 years and taken the tour of the Brains brewery in Cardiff, I’d have been ashamed to have missed it!)
I’m with Bodycheetah @4 (update: and William @5) in being on an unusual roll of spotting themes and it actually helping.
I thought the LAMPLIGHT might be mining-related.
I wouldn’t say I strolled through this. As is my wont, I thought of the correct word for a few clues immediately, then traipsed off around the houses before realising I’d had the solution all along (RHEA, CASTLE, VALLEY) but it didn’t take too long.
I liked STEP DOWN, LOI HAUL and PATRIOT (I thought Postman Pat might be Welsh but I was probably thinking of Fireman Sam – not something I make a habit of).
Thanks Dice and Shanne.
To get to MUMBLES, you just need to read down MUMBLINGS and take a 90 degree turn at L.
Martin @6 I had the same thought about Postman Pat, and in checking I realised that he was created by WOODLAND Animations. Probably coincidence.
A theme dear to my heart as well, and good to see the comments supportive of Cymru. 1d was my LOI, shamefully, as I’ve been eating picau ar y maen (Welsh CAKEs) this week. I agree with Shanne that PATRIOT has been misappropriated by thugs. Liked DRAGON and MUMBLINGS. Thanks to Dice and Shanne.
This just proves I can miss a theme even when itâs spelt out in the middle of the grid.
Friendlier stuff from Dice than the start of the week even if HAUL and CARAVAN took longer than the rest of the puzzle combined. Just not on wavelength with either of them.
A lot to like in this itâs hard to pick the standout clues.
Thanks Dice and Shanne
Both PATRIOT and RUGBY made me laugh out loud at their surfaces. Great puzzle.
Many thanks Shanne, and Dice, keep on rolling.
It seems 16 September is Owain GlyndÅĩr day. The last native Welshman to hold the title Prince of Wales.
Dice is rapidly becoming one of my favourite setters: so much wit, humour and inventiveness in those clues!
Before Iâd even started the thing I was struck by the image created by 8A – and the answer made me grin too.
I always relish a good surface, but some of these were especially delightful: Cain in drag, bald rugby players, a trapped sheep distracting a match at EdgbastonâĶ
LEEK had me giggling, partly for the misdirection but also because it reminded me of that brouhaha a while back on FS about elks and deers.
And DAFFODIL was a little cracker.
So, thank you Shanne for the blog, and a pint of Brains to Dice: diolch for a thoroughly enjoyable start to my day.
Lovely crossword and amazingly I got the theme again (I’ve missed far more obvious ones). Thanks, Dice and Shanne (thanks esp for the Bierce quotation. Spot on!)
Balfour @7: nice spot for MUMBLES, was on the right track but totally missed it.
Mostly straightforward but no harm in that as it’s smoothly done. Even I managed to spot the theme, appropriate on the day after Welshman Matthew Rhys became the first person ever to win two acting Emmys on the same night.
Even I got the theme today, although obviously I didn’t pick up on all the Welsh references. Thanks for the parsing of HAUL; I was nearly there but couldn’t join the dots. Thanks everyone. And thanks for the thoughts on patriotism, perhaps one of the most overrated ‘virtuous’ qualities.
Pretty breezy, this one, except for CAKE which I didn’t really attempt; as someone who’s not a pudding fan, I’ve never even heard of any of those! So a quick reveal there at the end; I don’t see much point in sweating over puzzles at the easier end of the scale, unless the clue in question seems particularly intriguing.
I enjoyed PATRIOT (and Shanne’s quote), DAFFODILS, and MALLARDS even though I was expecting the swimmers to be speedos or suchlike.
I thought CARAVAN a bit odd. I sensed it would be a CD and the A checkers gave it away, but is a rolling pad a particularly known thing? That it’s a thing at all is vaguely confirmed by Google, at least.
Thanks both
AP @17: I think itâs just a CD of somewhere to live on wheels, although as you say, thereâs something vague on there to do with smoothing lines while painting.
Apologies if this is taboo a day late. As one who does not often get much beyond Monday, I made great progress with yesterday’s enjoyable themed effort, but was well stumped by “Abrupt South American soprano…” How can South American on its own be sufficient to clue llama when thousands of other things or people may be South American? Is it just because once you spot that the answer is small that it is possible to reverse parse it? By analogy would the following be an acceptable clue
” Stir as Scot loses the heid (5)”
That seems a step too far to me but is it worse than the above clue for “small”
I am making progress with today’s having spotted a theme early for once.
..
Fun (and educational) for this U.S. solver. I guessed at HAUL but the rest followed nicely from the cluing. Thanks to Shanne for explaining the less familiar connections to Wales, and to Dice for hitting the sweet spot in difficulty (for me, at least).
Well done Pat @11 – I meant to check if there was a link to Wales with today’s date.
Dior @19 – you can still post on yesterday’s crossword – PeterO blogged that one and I blogged today’s, so had to remember back to yesterday. I think I’d have muttered about the lack of a question mark, as it’s a definition by example – as you say, one of many South American residents. But it was a mixture of the answer matching the definition, that I could back parse it from the clue and that it tied into the theme that convinced me. And S for soprano comes from SATB choirs.
Really enjoyed this Dice puzzleâĶ
And have now realised for the first time, with reference to 3d – and after a little extra googling today – that Hay on Wye is in fact in Powys in Wales. I stayed a few days in Clyro a while ago, just opposite across the River Wye. Every time I crossed the bridge to spend time browsing in Hayâs many wonderful secondhand bookshops I assumed I was back across the border in England, HerefordshireâĶ
Thanks Shanne#21. I did wonder about posting late on yesterday’s crossword, but assumed no-one would read a very late post.
The intersecting 1D and 7A held me up for a while, and I came close to throwing in the towel, but once CAKE went in, CARAVAN followed immediately.
I completely missed the theme, as usual, despite the large number of related clues.
Thanks Dice and Shanne. (I think you meant ELK in the blog not EIK.)
Thanks for the blog and the grid and to Pat@11 for the little extra . My mother always insists that I am Welsh and I half agree with her . Good set of clues with PATRIOT being very neat , these days it seems to mean hater of other countries .
AlanC@1 back to the top of the charts , keep off the rock CAKE today .
Dior @19 I also thought the LLAMa a bit tough and maybe the setter could have given a bit more but – the setter sets and we try to solve – that is the only rule .
Shanne@21 , this does not need an example indicator , South American is by far the larger set . If the clue had llama to define South American then the convention would be to give some example indicator .
Dior @23 – the blogger gets an email when anyone comments, so I get emails for comments going back weeks on the Quick Cryptics.
jeceris @25 – lower case “L” lack of clarity strikes again. If you look all the missing letters I’ve indicated are in lower case. I just thought that people would spot that for elk, too.
Dior@19&23, I for one don’t mind a bit if people post questions like that about previous puzzles on the current page; as you say, most people other than the blogger won’t be reading the corresponding page any more.
I had exactly the same thoughts as you about (yesterday’s) SMALL. I thought it was a poor clue, but since I did the puzzle at the end of the day I wasn’t motivated to write anything; by that time it had all been said except precisely a grumble about that clue, and it seemed rather grumpy to post solely for that. I don’t much like clues that can only be parsed by back-parsing – and SMALL sits squarely in that category.
Great theme (of course) – I especially liked MUMBLINGS, RUGBY and the different uses of cast for COAST & CASTLE.
Thanks to Dice and Shanne.
Thanks Dice and Shanne
I saw the theme for once. RUGBY favourite.
Is there a singular/plural mismatch between POT and “drugs”?
Technically a CWM is a specific type of valley – what would be called a corrie in Scotland or a cirque in France.
[Brains Brewery used to sponsor the Welsh rugby team (I don’t know if they still do). The players had “BRAINS” on their shirts, except when the played in France, which doesn’t allow alcohol advertising, so they had “BRAWN” instead.]
Mallards dabble, paddle and fly, but are not known for swimming.
Cracking puzzle today, helped by the theme. I missed out on HAUL unfortunately.
Ronald @22: Most of Hay is in Wales, but part of the settlement is in England.
Dice@19 – the issue that those of us who are not lucky enough to have time to always do the crossword on the day it is published and catch up later is that posts on the wrong blog are potential spoilers. Others have commented in the past that even knowing one solution in advance can take the shine off a crossword. At least you didn’t commit the more grievous crime of revealing the theme from yesterday.
Re your comment on 8A.
Wait, it wasnât Oscar Wilde who said patriotism was the last refuge of the vicious? Sean Connery lied to me in The Rock?
Copland @32 “All the ducks are swimming in the water” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioudby-xooc
(NB. This is not intended to prove a point!)
VW @34: Dior made the comment @19.
Apologies to Dice and Dior for my confusion.
I parsed Haul as Handful (i.e. ten wickets) without the middle letters. Is hatful really a cricket term? My cricket knowledge is quite minimal but I cannot find any reference to this sense of the word.
My last three answers took as long as the rest of the puzzle, but when the penny finally dropped on Caravan I thought it a very clever clue. Spotted the theme, and yes it helped
Many thanks to Dice and to Shane for stepping in to explain all
Ginger Tom@39: The bowler in this case is a bowler hat…..?
#39 Not cricket – bowler hat
Perfect timing , yes a hat-trick of agreements for bowler hat .
VW@34: are you telling me there was theme in yesterday’s puzzle? ð
According to the letters page today – AI is rubbish at tackling the Guardian crossword .
I had brief thoughts of a Caravan theme today , they have some great song and album titles .
Do forgive me if this is obvious – it’s my first time ever posting. Loved the theme and all the comments. Can anyone tell me why a bit of the grid is coloured a light blue above? TIA.
PostMark@43 – because it was a Brockwell and therefore guaranteed to have a theme.
Mi-Eesha@45 , I do not see light blue ? Some entries are beige on my screen , these are the answers linked to the theme of WALES .
Always good to see new names here .
I can see it Mi-Eesha@45, it’s so faint it’s almost like an optical illusion on my PC, but it’s definitely there. Good question. I’m sure Shanne will explain soon.
M@45 I can see a very light blue tint to MUMB, PIRACY & RHEA – I don’t think it’s significant
Mi-eesha @45 definite and not so definite theme words. The obvious ones I coloured properly, the less definite in that very pale blue, so MUMBL .. because it didn’t really spell MUMBLES without borrowing from WALES
… and Dior had already revealed that the crossword was themed.
CONY in 20a is also theme related, of course, being the key ingredient in the famous Welsh Rabbit ð .
I stupidly put an E on the end of MARINAR, misremembering Tony’s forbidden lover and cheated the first letter of CARAVAN, which I simply could not see with those awkward crossers. I spent a while at 20d trying to recall what a baby rook’s called, to no avail.
Good puzzle. Thanks, Dice & Shanne, for stepping in.
Wellbeck@12 Elks and deers?
Not only was Cagney the partner of Lacey in 17ac CAGE. but Hutch in the same clue is the partner of Starsky in another TV series I haven’t watched. I dunno if this is a micro-theme. Maybe a micro-theme of rabbits, who live in hutches and are implied elsewhere I think.
muffin@32 … or a combe in England, where some place names end in “-combe,” such as Ilfracombe.
What’s Welsh about coasts? Lots of countries have them. We can’t all be Switzerland.
Coney Island (which I also spell with an E) is a famous amusement park in the New York City area. When my mother was little she thought the place was an island with a lot of pine cones on it. It isn’t an island any more, though it used to be.
Thanks to Dice and Shanne.
Valentine @53
Not exactly. Cwms, corries etc. are the hollows in a mountain which were the sources of glaciers. There were never any glaciers south of the Bristol Channel!
Muffin @54. There were, and still are, glaciers in New Zealand, which is well south of the Bristol Channel ð
Crispy @55 ð
I meant in England, of course.
Regarding late postings I’m one of those that trots to the newsagent to get my graunie every morning which means I do the crossword about 10 or 11 o’clock after I’ve read the paper By this time there’s often dozens of postings . So I read the blog which is very useful but very rarely post as I assume nobody will be reading any comments!
Van Winkle@34, that’s a very valid and reasonable point. Perhaps the etiquette should be to post in detail on the proper page and then merely post a notification on the current page asking if anyone would mind taking a look. I would be someone who typically would.
I don’t do the crossword until the evening so I’m always a latecomer here and usually find that anything I am inclined to say has already been said. I did however comment about LLAMA and South American yesterday because at that time nobody else seemed to have mentioned it.
Wales has lots of valleys but I will risk stating the obvious by saying that VALLEY is also a village (with an RAF station) near Holyhead.
Cedric@57: Always worth a late post, somebody might see it
âĶa late posting by me now, but many thanks for that info White Devil@33âĶ