Guardian Cryptic 28182 Picaroon

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A nice challenge. Thank you to Picaroon. Definitions are underlined in the clues.

Across

1 Act weakly to have debts seized by creditor (5)

COWER : OWE(to have debts outstanding) contained in(seized by) CR(abbrev. for “creditor”).

4 A short stretch of time criminal tries to reduce gradually (8)

AMORTISE : A + MO(short for “moment”/a short stretch of time, but not that in jail) + anagram of(criminal) TRIES.

Defn: In financial accounting, the reduction of the cost of an asset, gradually/over a number of accounting periods.

8 Bedlam, perhaps, in a little shop man’s running (6,8)

MENTAL HOSPITAL : Anagram of(…’s running) A LITTLE SHOP MAN.

Defn: An example of bedlam/utter chaos. Also, in archaic usage, an institution for the care of mentally ill people.

10 Jaguars welcoming care of species (8)

ECOTYPES : E-TYPES(iconic model of cars made by Jaguar Cars) containing(welcoming) C/O(abbrev. for “care of”, as used in the delivery of correspondence, etc.).

Defn: … living in an environment, the ecosystem.

11 Take on inspiring role in puzzle (6)

BEMUSE : BE(take on the role/act as) (a) MUSE(one of the goddesses, or a mortal who is a source of inspiration to a creative artist).

Defn: To ….

12 Camp role models for foreign gentleman (9)

CABALLERO : CABAL(a camp/a faction or group of politicians or other people that meet and plan secretly) + anagram of(… models) ROLE.

Defn: …, ie. a Spanish gentleman.

… and his gentlewoman.

15 Possessive person who’ll succeed on time (5)

THEIR : HEIR(a person who will succeed/inherit and take the place of the predecessor) placed after(on) T(abbrev. for “time”).

Defn: … pronoun.

17 Error from Messi’s header and team’s back in the lead (3-2)

MIX-UP : 1st letter of(…’s header) “Messi” plus(and) reversal of(…’s back) XI(Roman numeral for 11, used to refer to sporting teams with that number of players) + UP(in the lead in a competition, as in “the Rovers XI were 2 goals up on their opponents”).

Sounds like Lionel Messi made a boo-boo with his header.

18 Takes off bloomers after a day (9)

SATIRISES : IRISES(widely cultivated ornamental flowers/bloomers) placed after(after) SAT(abbrev. for “Saturday”, a day in the week).

19 Does one steal money? (6)

NICKER : NICK-ER(one who nicks/steals).

Defn: Nickname for a pound in British money.

21 Rings round? Rubbish! (4-4)

POOH-POOH : Reversal of(… round) [HOOP,HOOP](2 rings).

Defn: To dismiss an idea or suggestion as foolish/to rubbish.

24 Journalism in the Guardian, but not in Times or Sun? (7,7)

LEADING ARTICLE : What one could call “A”, alphabetically the first/leading article in grammar; and which is found in the spelling of “Guardian” but not in “Times” or “Sun”.

Defn: A piece of … which gives the editor’s opinion on an important news item.

25 Ditch soldiers, at first, to make savings (8)

Defn: … in an organisation by ditching/getting rid of employees.

RETRENCH : TRENCH(a ditch/a narrow dug channel) placed after(…, at first) RE(abbrev. for the Royal Engineers, a corps of soldiers in the British Army).

26 Spirits initially not seen — they may be here (5)

HADES : “shades”(the spirits of dead people/ghosts, in literary form) minus its 1st letter(initially not seen).

Defn: …/where spirits and ghosts may be found.

… as depicted by Jan Brueghel the Elder.

Down

1 Like in Le Monde, new setter makes a start (12)

COMMENCEMENT : COMME(“like”that”/such as, in the language of the French newspaper, Le Monde) + N(abbrev. for “new”) + CEMENT(a material that sets/a bonding agent).

2 Place to plant hit in stomach — it hurts to fight (6,3)

WINDOW BOX : WIND(to hit in the stomach, knocking the wind out of you) + OW!(an expression meaning “it hurts!”) + BOX(to fight, with one’s fists).

3 Prompt on day off (5)

READY : RE(on/with reference to) + anagram of(… off) DAY.

Defn: …/immediate, as in “to have ready access to the President”.

4 Winners the night before occupying high chairs (9)

ACHIEVERS : EVE(the night before the day an event occurs) contained in(occupying) anagram of(high) CHAIRS.

5 Removed head of pointless flower (4)

OUSE : 1st letter deleted from(Removed head of) “no use”(pointless/without any result).

Defn: A flow-er, something that flows/a river.

6 Period when expecting conclusion from beat poet (9)

TRIMESTER : Last letter of(conclusion from) “beat” + RIMESTER(a poet/one composing rimes/rhymes).

Defn: … a baby.

7 Problem for all to see inflames back (5)

SNAFU : Reversal of(… back) [U(representing “Universal”, suitable for all ages to see/watch, in the system of film certification in the UK) + FANS(inflames, as in “to fan the anger of the fans”)].

Answer: Acronym for the ironic “Situation Normal: All Fouled or F..ked Up”.

9 Rides boats, dropping ecstasy with miscreants (6,6)

FERRIS WHEELS : “ferries”(boats that take you across a river or channel) minus(dropping) “e”(abbrev. for the drug Ecstasy) + W(abbrev. for “with”) + HEELS(miscreants/unworthy persons).

Defn: … in an amusement park or fairground.

13 Boris welcoming newspaper spin? I see what you’re saying (3-6)

LIP-READER : LEADER(what you would call Boris Johnson, PM of the UK) containing(welcoming) [I(abbrev. for the Independent, the daily newspaper in the UK) + PR(abbrev. for “public relations”, publicity with a spin favourable to those putting it out)].

14 Soothe suffering, maintaining light touch? This therapist might (9)

OSTEOPATH : Anagram of(… suffering) SOOTHE containing(maintaining) PAT(a light touch with the flat of the hand).

… no pain, no gain!

16 Settled close around fort (9)

ENSCONCED : END(to close/to finish with) containing(around) SCONCE(a small fort guarding a crossing, a pass or a gate).

20 Wine merchant stocks up kind of liqueur (5)

CREME : Hidden in reversal of(… stocks up, in a down clue) “Wine merchant“.

Defn:  …, a sweet one, that is.

22 Problem badly affected taps (5)

HITCH : HIT(badly affected, as in “the tsunami hit Japan”) + C,H(letters indicating “cold” and “hot” on your water taps).

23 Unidentified composer of piano nocturne (4)

ANON : Hidden in(of) “piano nocturne“.

63 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 28182 Picaroon”

  1. I had a good time with today’s puzzle from Picaroon. My favourite clues were 15a THEIR, 18a SATIRISES (I love it when you get a clue that means you can never look at a word in the same way again because a setter has seen its component parts in a whole new way), 21a POOH-POOH, 1d COMMENCEMENT and 9d FERRIS WHEEL. So I did find a lot to like. A few parses e.g. LEADING ARTICLE at 24a eluded me, so I appreciated coming to the blog to satisfy a couple of niggling queries I had.

    Many thanks to Picaroon and scchua (and thanks, scchua for the pics)

  2. What fun on a Friday. Totally got onto Picaroon’s wavelength at the start with 1ac and 1dn and worked my way round anti-clockwise. It all fell pretty steadily. I did write (g)HOSTS in 26ac for two mins without much thought until ENSCONCED set me right. Lots of smiles raised and no complaints from me. Thanks both.

  3. Thanks, scchua. Isn’t it just that the name “The Guardian” is “led” by an article, the, whereas Times and Sun are not?

  5. I agree scchua – a very nice challenge from Picaroon. So many thanks to the setter (and to you for the excellent blog).

    I had a slightly different parsing for 24 across (although my initial thought was the same as yours with a’s in “Guardian” but not “Times” or “Sun”). In the clue we see “the Guardian” with a leading (definite) article but then “Times” and “Sun” not preceded by an article. I thought this might be Picaroon’s intention.

  6. Re. “Leading article”, I felt that the wording of the clue (in the Guardian…not Times or Sun”) points to “the” being the article, rather than “a”. Doesn’t make any difference to final answer of course.

  8. [And thanks to subsequent contributors for your further thoughts on 24a LEADING ARTICLE.]

  10. I also parsed the “the” as the leading article being referred to.

    Also newspaper-name-related I assumed the I in 13dn was for the i newspaper (the Indy’s little sister) rather than an abbreviation for the Independent itself, but again either version works as well.

  11. A very good crossword, I thought; hard to pick favourites, but HADES and TRIMESTER were partcularly neat. I hadn’t parsed the latter as I’d forgotten the variant spelling of rhyme.

    Maybe a micro-theme, with three more-or-less synonyms (HITCH, SNAFU, MIX-UP).

    scchua, in 13d, “i” is a newspapaer in its own right, rather than merely an abbreviation for Independent (though the two are /were under the same ownership – and the latter is now online only).

    Thanks scchua and Picaroon.

  12. I struggled with this. Found it harder than most of Picaroon’s Prize puzzles. Agree with the above interpretations of LEADING ARTICLE.

    Spent most of my time re-enacting Stephen Fry’s endearingly daft speech from Blackadder: “A whole regiment destroyed – by POOH POOH!”

  13. 11a: Picaroon can be relied on to BEMUSE and to “Take on inspiring role in puzzle”.  Very entertaining.  Thanks Picaroon and scchua.

  15. This took a fair bit of work, but it did come together in the end. I am also dubious about 24a – I had ARTICLE long before I got to LEADING, and am still not entirely convinced by either of the competing theories on its parsing. My FOI – MENTAL HOSPITAL, also gave me pause, as I wasn’t sure you could use the term ‘hospital’ about a notorious insane asylum – but some research showed me it still exists, with its act cleaned up considerably. I didn’t parse LIP READER, TRIMESTER, HITCH or OUSE (a full alphabet trawl did not reveal a word xOUSE that meant pointless – is it really OK to take the first letter off a phrase?). Thanks for all the parsing help, sschua, and to Picaroon for the mental gymnastics.

  17. Thoroughly enjoyed this. Was typing lots of witty stuff but then, watching footy with the other eye, pressed return twice and lost it, #*¿?. Might return later, meanwhile thanks both.

  18. Meanwhile (again), dnk sconce = fort .. my Collins says the root is bundle of brushwood, not v fortifying!

  19. Thanks for the blog, scchua.

    Another excellent puzzle from Picaroon, stuffed with great clues, of which my favourites today were COWER, THEIR, FERRIS WHEELS and OSTEOPATH.

    JinA @1 – re SATIRISES: I know just what you mean. There are some words which I now pronounce (in my head) totally differently – but I can’t think of an example just now!

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

    [And – an extra treat – there’s an amusing Wanderer (Puck) in the FT today.]

  20. FOI today was COMMENCEMENT – lovey clue!   Biggest laugh – FERRIS WHEEL.  Did not parse CABALLERO (new word of the day), always nice to see SNAFU ‘cos it seems kind of appropriate at the moment.  This was a lot of fun and second-fastest this week after Monday.

  21. My LOI was 9d. So many words fitted the crossers. FINALLY the penny dropped about rides. I’m in the ‘the’ camp for 24 a

    Thanks Picaroon for a fun puzzle. Thanks scchua for parsing trimester and Ouse.

  22. I too enjoyed this. I started very quickly but slowed inNE corner. It took a while to see FERRIS WHEELS which helped with BEMUSE and loi SNAFU. I parsed LEADING ARTICLE as many others did. I also had Nono for ANON at the start as he is a 20thc Italian composer and also hidden in the clue. When I finally saw RETRENCH I saw the error of my ways!

  24. This was a very slow start for me, getting nowhere after an initial reading of the clues.  Slowly ACHIEVERS, MENTAL HOSPITAL and AMORTISE slotted in. The pace improved with 1d, but each answer was hard won. I also had ARTICLE long before I had LEADING and am in the ‘the’ camp. MIX-UP and SATIRISES were my favourites. There were some I could not parse: OUSE, TRIMESTER, FERRIS WHEELS.

    Thanks Picaroon and sschua for the entertainment and blog.

    PS We recently had sconce meaning a candlestick holder. According to the OED, sconce as a fort is archaic.

  25. Aargh! Two tough (for me, anyway!) days in a row. I always struggle to get started with Picaroon and Nutmeg puzzles, but maybe I start with preconceptions of the difficulty. Once a few clues are solved I trundle along at a steady pace, and end up feeling quite chuffed that I wasn’t beaten!
    LOI was FERRIS WHEELS, which took a while, surprisingly.
    Agree with others on the parsing of 24a, and didn’t like 5d. Thought that was unfair.
    Thanks for the blog Scchua and Picaroon for the attempt at water torture. I came through unbeaten!

  26. At first it seemed bewildering but slowly it came together in the way I enjoy – each clue just helping nudge me along to the next.

    Can I just put in a shout about “mental hospital” – the definition is surely simply and *only* a reference to Bedlam having been a very famous example of the first mental hospital in England. I don’t see any reference to a modern mental hospital being a place of chaos – that seems a horribly outdated and prejudiced view! Obviously the etymology of our word “bedlam” comes from that hospital and the horrific treatment of the mentally ill in the past, including selling tickets to watch them.

  27. Finished this quite confidently though several I struggled to parse. AMORTISE one of the last in, as I hadn’t come across it before. Nor did I know the fort meaning for sconce. Not too bemused by this good puzzle, though.

  28. Like Munromad@22 I got out of the blocks quickly but slowed towards the end. Plenty of wonderful clues, particularly FERRIS WHEEL. Many thanks to P & s.

  29. [TheZed @26. Perhaps you misunderstand my comment, so please allow me to clarify. I only knew of Bedlam as a historical “lunatic asylum”, which I assumed had long been closed down (like, say, The Clink has been, though its name lives on). So my picture was of the horrific circumstances in the past to which you refer. That’s why I wondered at the word ‘hospital’. It was only an internet search that showed me, to my surprise, that the Bedlam Royal Hospital still exists, as a modern institution – not at all chaotic, I am sure.]

  30. Did anyone, like me, try to fit ‘LIAR’ into 13d?
    Thank you for an excellent puzzle (almost as good as yesterday’s Nutmeg) and blog.

  31. Is it just me and munromad @22 that had NONO instead of ANON? How clever of Picaroon, I thought, to slip in ‘unidentified’ in confirmation of a double negative! But the resulting nonsense down the bottom led to me getting the laptop out to use the check key.

    That just left me with the SNAFU / BEMUSE crossers. The U obvs had to be in position 2 or 4…

  33. Lovely puzzle.  FOI MENTAL HOSPITAL, LOI HADES.  I was another with “Hosts,” but it couldn’t coexist with “ensconced.”  One of them had to be wrong, and the check button told me which.  News to me that a sconce is a fort — I’d thought with Hmmm @24 that it held candles.

    I think my favorite is POOH-POOH.

  34. Enjoyable as always with some splendid clues, many of which have already been praised here.  Over and above concurring with previous posters, I’d add the clever use of E-Type in ECOTYPES and the misdirection in WINDOW BOX.

    One query/quibble: I’ve always associated SNAFU with a general state of affairs, a mess, chaos.  I see a problem as something more specific.  I’m not sure they are synonymous; Picaroon could easily have used an alternative definition without losing the sense of the clue.

    Thanks to Picaroon and scchua as always.

  35. First bite yielded very little, then other activities intervened and lo and behold, second bite remainder went in steadilt, each solve, as The Zed also noted, helping with the next. So much to enjoy. Favs similar to others, but particularly enjoyed OSTEOPATH.

    I parsed leading article as referring to’the’ along with others. Dnk that sconce was a fort, but this, of course, makes sense of ENSCONCED as mij has noted.
    Also dnk NICKER as slang for pound.

    JinA@1, yes I too have had that experience with new ways of seeing words.

    Thanks to Picaroon for the fun and scchua for the blog.

  36. Thought I was going to get through this one without aids until I had only two left, then had to use Collins to confirm ECOTYPES afer an alphabet trawl, and gave up on FERRIS WHEELS (head slap after revealing, as I had even connected rides with amusement parks). Oh, well, still lots of fun with favourites as mentioned above. Thanks to Picaroon and to scchua for sorting out a few that went in unparsed.

  37. I like this chap’s puzzles so much i even I bought his book.

    Of course that was good too (but be warned of grim subject matter)

    Thanks all.

  38. Was I the only one who wrote in lip-reader for 13d but tried to parse it as “lier” for Boris, as my first thought about him (closing my mind to the fact it’s usually spelt “liar”) around I for newspaper and PR for spin? I couldn’t work out how to accommodate the “ead” but put it in anyway! I see the real parsing now, although it is still hard to think of him as a leader.

  39. This, first, is a “just curious” type question.  Does anyone use CREME to refer to an established subclass of liqueurs, as red or white might do for wine, or is it simply the first word of a number of names, creme de menthe, creme de cacao etc?

    As payment for my question, an observation for those who might be interested.  CABALLERO is cognate with chevalier and cavalier (and chivalry) and literally means horseman/knight. Also, the Spanish form is commonly seen on the doors of men’s loos (n appropriate regions).

  40. Thanks Picaroon and scchua

    Who’d have thought it? Picaroon following Nutmeg, and the former far easier! (Though I didn’t parse the CEMENT part of 1d, or TRIMESTER.) I was another “lier” for 13d, David S.

    Favourite was THEIR, for the misleading “person who’ll succeed”.

  42. Enormous fun and welcome relief on a day when the hound and I were spat at by an irate motorist who narrowly failed to run us over on a zebra crossing!

    Loved MIX-UP for the surface, FERRIS-WHEELS for reminding me to re-watch “Ferriss Bueller’s Day Off” and SNAFU which, in the IT world at least, we do use to refer to specific problems.

    Muscial inspiration for today would have to BE MUSE

    Cheers all

  43. Yes, David S @38 the word I associate with our current prime minister is naturally liar rather than leader. Pity about the rest of the clue!

    I thought the clue for OUSE, that inevitable crossword river, was a little unfair. Can’t we have a different river from time to time? The Oise in France would fit nicely here.

  44. Thanks both,
    Needed a word search for 9 d, but otherwise a pleasant challenge. Since we have crème de menthe, de cassis etc I think crème on its own is probably OK although I wouldn’t offer someone a crème after dinner and expect to be understood.

  45. Good to know that not only my evil mind had its first thought of liar for Boris in LIP READER. Totally concur with David S @38 about our “dear leader” and his lack of veracity.

  46. Like some others, started slowly but then gradually accelerated.

    Lots to like; I particularly enjoyed ‘Takes off bloomers after a day’ and OSTEOPATH. I’d just learned from a previous puzzle that sconce meant candlestick, only to find it also meant a fort.

    Thanks Picaroon and scchua.

  47. What a neat puzzle! Lots of clues which I struggled to parse on a first reading, quite a few which I took a while to understand even when I thought I had the answer.

    SATIRISES made me smile, and pretty much sums up the whole thing – not overly complex in structure, but lots of subtle misdirection. Likewise THEIR.

    Sheffield hatter @43, I agree that OUSE was a little bit off, although I did eventually get it as (N)O USE. If you’re dropping letters from unclued words, I think it needs to be a fairly obvious clue to that word to be fair – “no use” is a bit too much of a stretch from “pointless” for my taste. By contrast, (S)HADES is hard but fair.

  48. [TassieTim @29 Apologies for the slow reply as I’ve been out. Sorry for the cross-purposes but it was not your comment I was picking up on, but the blogger’s. Specifically the answer (“mental hospital”) is taken to be “an example of bedlam/utter chaos” which shows, to my mind, quite a horrifying lack of understanding of the care of the mentally unwell. Surely the answer is intended only to refer to that historical use of Bedlam, relying on the relative obscurity of its origin to make the definition a little cryptic.]

  49. I failed to see NO USE – didn’t occur to me tolook for more than one word. A fine puzzle as Picaroon’s always are.

    Thanks to Picaroon and scchua

  50. Finished before the blog appeared and then went out on the chariot, so I have nothing to add except my appreciation.

    Thanks, all.

  51. I parsed OUSE as zero USE (= pointless) and wondered why we were told to remove head. I agree with NeilW et al re ‘the’ being the article. It all seemed straightforward with no strange words today. Thanks Picaroon and scchua

  52. “Bedlam” is a corruption of “Bethlem” or “Bethlehem” Originally it was in Bishopsgate. After a couple of moves it went to Lambeth, to a purpose-built building that now houses the Imperial War Museum. The Bethlehem Hospital institution is currently in Beckenham, South London.

  53. Brilliant puzzle

    like others, i don’t know what Picaroon was thinking equating Boris with leader. Bedlam, maybe

    I also parsed as THE guardian, with the article missing from Times and Sun in the clue, but felt dissatisfied since people do say THE times and THE sun. The leading letter in Article seems a bit of reverse clueing that isn’t really indicated, but maybe.

    many thanks

  54. I’ve encounter ‘snafu’ previously in puzzles, but never its variant ‘fubar’, at least not to my recognition.

  56. Mystarsngarters

    FUBAR is a term in geology, I believe!

    I had “the” as the leading article only shown in “the Guardian” too.

  57. Dear all – second post ever and the first was yesterday. Loved this one. Found it challenging but got there in the end. I think A or The works for me. Favourites were SATIRISED, POOH-POOH, AMORTISES and FERRIS WHEEL (which I got but could not parse. In common with many, I didn’t like OUSE and agree it features too often. Thanks for the warm welcome. What a lovely community you are.

    Many thanks to Picaroon and scchua.

  58. The Ouse isn’t here to speak up for itself, accused of being overused, so I’ll say — waddabout the Exe, the Ure and the Dee?  and sometimes the Test and the Tees?  (Haven’t seen much of the Fal or the Ribble.)

  61. One of the toughest puzzles in recent time – I freely admit to giving up about 75% of the way in!  Some very good clues but I also did not enjoy several (COMMENCEMENT, RETRENCH, BEMUSE…)

  62. My apologies to anyone connected with mental hospitals if I’ve given the wrong impression about the latter institutions.  Unfortunately I did not express myself clearly.  What I meant was that such a (not any specific one, and certainly not every) hospital could, exceptionally, be an example of “bedlam perhaps”, as the clue said.  I can imagine what a well-run institution will be like, but also what a mismanaged one could be.

  63. 13d, for a while I thought “Boris welcoming” referred to the first 2 and last 2 letters of the solution (li and er). Unfortunately that left ead unnacounted for.

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