Guardian 26,479 – Brendan

by

A very welcome return by Brendan after an absence of more than six months. I thought this was going to be a walkover after filling in the NW corner very quickly, but things got a little tougher after. Once again I am rather short of time, so please excuse the brief (and in one case incomplete) explanations below.

There’s always a theme with Brendan, and here, as the “central” answer at 17,20 hints, many of the answers (19 at my count) are first names, none of them (I think) directly clued as such, though a couple as surnames. I’ve marked the names with an asterisk. Thanks to Brendan, and welcome back.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Across
9. ANIMALISE Brutally affect as menial I maltreated (9)
(AS MENIAL I)*
10. OLIVE* Vice ring back in the shade (5)
Reverse of EVIL O
11. KITTY* Bit of litter in pool (5)
Double definition
12. REITERATE Keep stating price after backing European bank (9)
(E TIER)< + RATE
13. HEROINE She bravely fights one drug after another (7)
HEROIN + E
14. ITCHIER Start off showing more malice, becoming more irritating (7)
[B]ITCHIER
17,20. NAMES NAMES Identifies guilty people as men corrupted repeatedly (5,5)
(AS MEN)*, twice
19. RAY* Skate, perhaps, that’s a little light (3)
Double definition
21. RESISTS Doesn’t want vacations, is kept inside (7)
IS in RESTS
22. CLEARLY Conservative soon eclipsing left, without doubt (7)
L in C EARLY
24. JURYWOMAN She decides on suit, one of a dozen in box (9)
An extended cryptic definition
26. ROGER* Move back between rook and queen — got it! (5)
GO< in R + ER – "got it" as in radio communications
28. CAROL* Perform seasonally in clubs, a job for actor being cut (5)
C[lubs] + A ROL[E]
29. REACTANTS They combine in angry speeches about energy legislation (9)
E ACT in RANTS
Down
1. MARK* Note in outdated currency (4)
Double definition
2. VICTOR* Champion that’s found with whiskey in VW (6)
VW is “Victor Whiskey” in the NATO phonetic alphabet
3. SATYRIASIS Uncontrollable desire as I stray dreadfully in current state (10)
(I STRAY*) + AS IS (in current state) – this took me a while to parse: trying to use “as I stray” as the anagram fodder leads to a dead end
4. PIERCE* President called Franklin bore (6)
Double definition – Franklin Pierce was US president 1853-57.
5. FELICITY* Happiness permitted in eccentric (8)
LICIT in FEY
6. HOPE* Have some expectation of success in Scottish Open (4)
Hidden in scottisH OPEn
7. TITANIUM Tin contracted, then expanded as metal (8)
Not sure about this: TI[n] is “Tin contracted”, and TANIUM is in its Latin name of STANNIUM, less its abbreviation SN. Thanks to various commenters: TIN contracted is TI, which is the chemical symbol for TITANIUM
8. GENE* Conclusions from hearing — the children receive what parents pass on (4)
Last letters of hearinG thE childreN receivE
13. HONOR* Accolade for American taking part in marathon, originally (5)
Hidden on maratHON ORiginally
15. CONSECRATE Steers European jalopy set aside for religious purposes (10)
CONS E CRATE
16. RUSTY* Problem with eye after game, initially out of practice (5)
RU + STY
18. MISERERE Piece of religious music from mass is before scripture class (8)
M IS ERE RE
19. ROSEMARY* Shrub grew on river in a month (8)
ROSE + R in MAY
22. CONRAD* Author appearing in public, on radio (6)
Hidden in publiC ON RADio
23. REGINA* North American city‘s leading lady? (6)
Double definition
24. JACK* Honour weightlifter (4)
Double definition
25. WILL* It comprises primarily what is left, legally (4)
First letters of What Is Left Legally, &lit
27. ROSE* What’s got out of bed? (4)
A clever “double definition &lit”, i.e. the words of the clue define the answer in two different ways. Perhaps a slight inelegance in having this as an answer as well as ROSEMARY close by

38 comments on “Guardian 26,479 – Brendan”

  2. Thanks for the blog, Andrew – lucky you! ๐Ÿ™‚

    What a delight to see Brendan back – and on top form, too.

    17,20 was one of my first in and the penny soon dropped – but that didn’t spoil the fun, by any means.

    I’m still rather puzzled by TITANIUM [the Latin is ‘stannum’].

    I don’t think I’d seen STY in that sense without an e before but I wasn’t surprised to find it in my dictionaries [in fact the only spelling in my SOED].

    Great surfaces throughout, as ever from Brendan.

    Favourite clue: 2dn.

    Many thanks, Brendan – and a very warm welcome back!

  4. Re 7d Might be worth rephrasing: you cut Tin to Ti, then expand Ti (abbreviation for Titanium) to Titanium (Sn not relevant)

  6. Thanks Andrew and welcome back Brendan.

    Found I was slow with this, not being used to Brendan’s excellent style, I imagine.

    VICTOR was a cracker but I failed to parse it (or TITANIUM for that matter).

    Not quite sure of the double sense of JACK. Is it perhaps as in ‘to jack someone up’ perhaps?

    Nice week all.

  7. A joy. Challenging but very fair. I too liked 27d. 18d has a number of distractions for those with a church background, especially if “before” is read as “preceding”.

  8. Thankyou for the welcomes back. I’ve been on a crossword sabbatical (apart from the Sunday Telegraph) on account of two major projects I’m working on, related to mathematics education, which will last till June.

  9. Nice to see Brendan back. I saw the theme very early on and had no problem parsing any of the answers so I must have been very much on his wavelength this morning. The JACK/JURYWOMAN crossers were my last ones in.

  11. Thanks Brendan and Andrew.

    I enjoyed this puzzle, my first by Brendan. Needed help with some parsing.

    Favourites were RAY, ROGER, FELICITY, CONSECRATE, MISERERE and ROSE.

    MISERERE is a surname.

  12. Thanks all.
    Yes, struggled to parse TITANIUM. And wasn’t sure about JACK, but I think “Honour” refers to the Jack as an honour card.

  15. 24d is a straightforward double definition. Jack = honour card and jack = thing for lifting car so you can change wheel. Does one or other of these meanings not exist in some parts of the world? The latter is very obvious to a UK English speaker but seems to have caused some difficulty.

  17. Quite right, and I shouldn’t have been spelling honour without a U in my comments on 24d — I was mixing u the two clues. Thanks to Brendan (and welcome back) and Andrew.

  18. @BG

    A very warm welcome back – you have been missed! Thanks for marking your return with a characteristically beautifully constructed puzzle – 21 themed lights out of 33, impressive! – and hope that the projects that have kept you away are progressing well. Don’t know if you can confirm or deny: someone suggested that Times 26,000 with its mathematical ninas might have been you?

    Thanks to Andrew for the blog.

  19. Thanks, Andrew.

    Great to see Brendan back (and thanks for dropping by, Brian) – and with such a satisfying puzzle.

    It didn’t take me very long to complete (less time, in fact, than yesterday’s Rufus), but I enjoyed it all the way.

    Excellent variety of clues. Favourites were TITANIUM (ingenious clue – I’m surprised others found this difficult to parse, though it did take a moment for me to see how it worked), MISERERE (great surface) and ROSE (clever ‘double definition &lit’, as Andrew put it).

  20. Thanks to those who explained TITANIUM, and to the setter for dropping by; and also to those who have expanded on some of my terse explanations.

    (And now back to work..)

  21. What a treat – so nice to have a Brendan to brighten up Tuesday morning. Thank you to him and lucky Andrew too.

  22. Thanks all
    I failed with victor and pierce but found the rest quite easy, without, as usual, any recognition or use of names names.

  23. Thanks Brendan for a good crossword and for popping in.

    Thanks to Andrew; I got my knickers in a twist for SATYRIASIS, ๐Ÿ˜‰ thinking ‘stasis’ was involved somehow.

    I didn’t see the expanded TITANIUM although I did see the expanded VW.

  24. My heart jumped to see Brendan’s name under the grid. Great puzzle, and welcome back. I look forward to June, and seeing more of your work.

  25. Thanks to Andrew for the blog.

    In 5d I got stuck on permitted=let and got nowhere until all the crossers were in place. Then it had to be FELICITY but I was still scratching my head. ๐Ÿ™ Thanks to Andrew for the proper explanation.

  26. An unexpected but very welcome return – none of the Guardian’s other setters is quite like Brendan. This was one of his trickier ones, and very enjoyable. Have to admit that I wasn’t familiar with Franklin Pierce (my last in), but once the crossers were in that had to be right.

    Thanks to Brendan and Andrew

  27. I didn’t spot the theme until completing the puzzle which seems ridiculous now I look at it- especially given NAMES NAMES. However, mostly quite easy and enjoyable.
    Thanks Brendan.

  28. Hi there. Found titanium to be easy, but struggled with some of the others. Less than 50% in fact but, hey ho, its not live and death- its more serious than that. Thanks to Brendon , Andrew and all others.

  30. It’s nice to see an obscure American politician and a semi-obscure Canadian city for a change (as opposed to having to know obscurities of British geography and history).

    Franklin Pierce, by the way, is widely regarded as one of the four or five worst Presidents in U.S. history.

    Herb @15: For the record, “honor weightlifter” makes perfect sense in American English too—-assuming you’re a bridge player, of course; my point is that the jargon of the game is not different here (though the spelling, of course, is).

    “Honor” is a name? I’ve seen “Honore” with an e on the end, and pronounced as three syllables, which I think of as a 19th-century snooty woman’s name; never heard of a person named “Honor.”

    The other linguistic oddity for me was “kitty” as “bit of litter”; I don’t think I know that definition. Although my kitty does tend to use his kitty litter a lot, I don’t think that’s what Brendan had in mind, was it?

  31. mrpenney – from Chambers online: “litter noun 2 a number of animals born to the same mother at the same time • a litter of five grey kittens”

  34. Solving this crossword, with a cup of morning coffee in hand, was like seeing an old friend again after a long long time.
    Luckily, I hadn’t forgotten how it felt way back when.
    Warmth, elegance, lightheartedness.
    Unique!

    A sunny puzzle from one of my favourite setters.
    I hope Brendan will find the time in the next few months to give us some more treats like this.

    Thanks, Andrew, for the blog. I share your small reservation about ROSE/ROSEMARY but it’s not really important. Just like for others, my favourite has to be 2d (in a set that’s consistently good). I only wondered about the use of “initially” in 16d (RUSTY). Perhaps, the surface needs it but the wordplay doesn’t. Unless Brendan means ‘take the initial letters of Rugby Union’.

    17,20 was more or less my first one in and with RAY between a couple of NAMES, the penny quickly dropped. Knowing that there had to be a lot of names around, actually helped in finishing the puzzle.

    By the way, at one point this crossword reminded me of one of Bonxie’s a few years ago which was ‘girls, girls, girls’ themed.
    I always had trouble with Bonxie but from that marvellous puzzle onwards I really got into his style. And then he disappeared …

    Anyway, this Brendan crossword was like a hot bath with a lot of foam. Very relaxing!

  35. Thanks Brendan and Andrew

    Join the chorus of welcome back, Brendan. This was a delight – think that Sil sums it up perfectly !

    I had 17,20 and RAY quite early on too … and was on to the theme then … which certainly helped with some (e.g. PIERCE).

    At 3d was able to find (I STRAY AS) + I (current) and S (state) … Andrew’s way is more elegant though !

    Apart from the achievement of so many names in the grid – some lovely clue types, including the tricky hidden CONRAD which was my last in!

    Good to have you back ….

  36. I managed to do half of the clues today. My best result for a goodly while but everyone made me smile when I got it which must be a tribute to the skill of the setter.

  37. Couldn’t finish on the train, spotted the link but ultimately beaten by a master, welcome back Brendan and thanks Andrew.

  38. A meticulous puzzle from my setter namesake.

    I found this quite easy and was only held up briefly by the NW corner. (Of course some other poster found this the easiest corner)

    Very enjoyable nonetheless.

    Of course I didn’t notice the theme as I almost never do. In this case it was probably due to the fact that it was solved so quickly.

    Thanks to Andrew and Brendan

Comments are closed.