Guardian 26,512 by Imogen

by

The puzzle may be found at http://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/26512.

Two clues , 16A and 23D, have definitions ‘one of four here’, but refer to quite different foursomes. In 16A, they are regulars in the “Carry on” film series: in addition to 16A (Joan) SIMS, there are 12A SID JAMES, 21A (Kenneth) WILLIAMS and 19D (Barbara) WINDSOR (with a passing nod to a fifth, Hattie Jacques, in 20D, and CARRY ON appears at 3D). In 23D, they are castles: in addition to CORFE, we have 2D LEEDS, 7D HARLECH, and (again) 19D WINDSOR. If this sounds convoluted, that is how I found the puzzle as a whole, apart from these themes. So quite a struggle, but all the more satisfying to complete.

Across
1 MOLOCH
One taking children to walk idly round lake (6)

An envelope (’round’) of L (‘lake’) in MOOCH (‘walk idly’). MOLOCH was a god to whom children were sacrificed, often by fire.
4 MOOLAH
Low life’s initial expression of surprise, getting cash (6)

A charade of MOO (‘low’) plus L (‘Life’s initial’) plus AH (‘expression of surprise’).
9 URGE
Press “Clear”: it fails at first (4)

A subtraction: [p]URGE (‘clear’) without its first letter (‘it fails at first’).
10 REICHSMARK
Ready for Hitler to smash riches, note (10)

A charade of REICHS, an anagram (‘to smash’) of ‘riches’ plus MARK (‘note’).
11 KINSEY
Vital to stay home, son, for the other reporter (6)

An envelope (‘to stay’) of IN (‘home’) plus S (‘son’) in KEY (‘vital’); ‘the other’ being sex.
12 SID JAMES
3 man to stick in peripheral areas (3,5)

An envelope (‘in’) of JAM (‘stick’) in SIDES (‘peripheral areas’), for the actor who appeared in many of the “Carry on” films.
13 ARCH-ENEMY
One most hated female in church bites into host (4-5)

A double envelope (‘in’ and ‘bites into’) of HEN (‘female’) in CE (‘church’) in ARMY (‘host’).
15 ETCH
Eat … horse (4)

A charade of ETC (‘…’) plus H (‘horse’).
16 SIMS
Comic miss, one of four here (4)

An anagram (‘comic’) of ‘miss’.
17 KNOCK DOWN
Demolish Humpty-Dumpty’s so convincing argument (5,4)

Double definition; Humpty-Dumpty in Through the Looking Glass said “There’s glory for you”, explaining to Alice that it meant “There’s a nice knock-down argument for you”.
21 WILLIAMS
Rowan’s producing pears? (8)

Double definition: Rowan Willliams, the previous Archbishop of Canterbury (the question mark is needed here); and the Williams pear, also known as the Bartlett.
22 RACING
About to take a turn in the circuit — 21’s business (6)

An envelope (‘in’) of AC, a reversal (‘to take a turn’) of CA (‘about’) in RING (‘circuit’), with an extended definition referencing another Williams – there are several candidates, but probably Williams F1 racing team.
24 SOUP TUREEN
Poet unsure about its contents, for starters? (4,6)

An anagram (‘about’) of ‘poet unsure’
25 ROSE
Got up in pink (4)

Double definition.
26 FREEST
Extremely liberated Welshman breaks foot (6)

An envelope (‘breaks’) of REES (‘Welshman’) in FT (‘foot’).
27 OH DEAR
Poem being recited needs attention, alas (2,4)

A charade of OHD, a homophone (‘being recited’) of ODE (‘poem’), plus EAR (‘attention’).
Down
1 MERRIER
Result, they say, of being more and more drunk (7)

A reference to the saying “the more the merrier’.
2 LEEDS
City suffers vital loss as bishop retires (5)

A subtraction: [b]LEEDS (‘suffers vital loss’) without the B (‘bishop retires’).
3 CARRY-ON
Fuss with such luggage? (5-2)

Double definition.
5 OXHIDE
One tanned hard in compound … (6)

An envelope (‘in’) of H (‘hard’) in OXIDE (‘compound’).
6 LAMBASTED
… beaten, innocent creature endured being beheaded (9)

A charade of LAMB (‘innocent creature’) plus [l]ASTED (‘endured’) without its first letter (‘being beheaded’).
7 HARLECH
Its men sung, as king facing execution heartily went to church (7)

A charade of [c]HARLE[s]  (the First of England, ‘king facing execution’) without its exterior letters (‘heartily’) plus CH (‘church’), for the Welsh song  Men of Harlech.
8 FIRST MINISTER
Top politician starts to find issues mount up, seized by right and left (5,8)

A charade of FI (‘starts toFind Issues’) plus an envelope (‘seized by’) of TM, a reversal (‘up’ in a down light) of MT (‘mount’) in R (‘right’) plus SINISTER (‘left’).
14 HUMBLE PIE
What’s eaten in a basement together? (6,3)

Eating HUMBE PIE is abasement (‘a basement together’).
16 SPIN-OFF
Incidental development from some bowling at a single stump (4-3)

A charade of SPIN (‘some bowling’) plus OFF (‘a single stump’).
18 CORINTH
International hotel supports my city (7)

A charade of COR (‘my’) plus INT (‘international’) plus H (‘hotel’).
19 WINDSOR
Barbara Castle (7)

An ingenious reference to Barbara Windsor, the actress who appeared in several “Carry on” films among others; Barbara Castle was a long-standing Labour MP.
20 JAQUES
The world his stage: filled with cold, he’d become a fifth here (6)

In As You Like It, Jaques begins the famous Seven Ages of Man speech with “All the world’s a stage”. Add a C (‘cold’) the name references Hattie Jacques, another “Carry on” regular.
23 CORFE
Following into the centre, one of four here (5)

An envelope (‘into’) of F (‘following’) in CORE (‘the centre’). Not to be confused with 16A, ‘one of four here’ refers to castles, the others being 7D HARLECH, 19D WINDSOR and 2D LEEDS (not in the city; Leeds Castle is in Kent).
completed grid

52 comments on “Guardian 26,512 by Imogen”

  1. Thanks Peter. Finished quite early but with so many ?? against clues (like 9A, 15A, 1D, 14D, 15D, 18D) that the HDumpty KNOCKDOWN quote seemed valid: “When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean.” Re 21&22A, it seems a racing driver shares a name with the former AB of C. But I did enjoy this, so thanks Imogen.

  2. Excellent blog for excellent puzzle- I was slow on the uptake as I wondered what Corfe had to do with the Carry On cast- that was my last in- thoroughly enjoyable but I fear I’ve been out of England too long!

  3. Enjoyed this & actually discovered the theme very early for a change! My last one in was 16ac; Googled it and realised that it’s a subject about which I know nothing (too old probably!)- will have to look into it further later in the day.

    Thank you Imogen, I really like your work. Thanks too to PeterO for the blog

  4. Have just realised that 16ac refers to another member of the team, as well as being one of the four!

  5. Ignore my comment at 4 and much of 3; have just read your preamble properly, PeterO! Thanks again.

    Memo to self: don’t comment before your second cup of coffee and always be selective with Google!

  6. Thanks Imogen and PeterO
    I was confused for quite some time by the overlapping self-references, so I found it difficult, though the lack of a castle did give a semi-parsed HARLECH and thus LOI MOOLAH. I didn’t parse 8d either, nor could I bring the Humpty-Dumpty quote to mind.
    Favourites were MOLOCH, KINSEY (the “other” reporter!) and WINDSOR.
    At the risk of being HHy, is the grammar of FREEST = “extremely liberated” correct?

  7. I forgot to say that, despite the difficulties experienced, I admired the cleverness of the construction.

  10. One of my first was 3d, thanks to a recent trip back from the UK, when one of the passengers was dragging a red case that (just) met the on-board dimensions, inscribed with the slogan “KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON”. Anyone know where I can get one?

  11. ……….and a Castle Williams defending New York. I don’t suppose that I’ll find a “Sid James Castle”, though.

  12. Thanks, PeterO.

    A really absorbing and ingenious puzzle, with themes which were not at all obtrusive but revealed themselves at a very satisfying rate. The clue for WINDSOR is excellent, as ‘castle’ appears to mislead, yet opens up the second [for me] theme, while Windsor straddles both themes.

    And finding two more definitions for CARRY ON was very neat. [I liked Blaise’s story! – if that was a serious question, if you google ‘Keep calm and carry on stickers, you’ll find loads of suppliers.]

    As so often, it’s invidious to pick out favourite clues – and, in any case, this puzzle is much more than the sum of its parts. Many thanks to Imogen for a most enjoyable solve.

  13. Thoroughly enjoyed this. For me it gave in slowly but consistently. Being of a certain age the theme appeared early, but I too was held up on 23d. I liked 19d as especially clever in definition and in that it related to both the themes of Castles and Carry on actors. Thank you Imogen and Peter O. Unusually that gives me a complete Monday to Friday set, all before 11am. Never before!

  14. Thanks Imogen for a great puzzle.

    Thanks also to PeterO; I was so keen on finding the Carry-ons that I forgot to count and wondered who C?R?E was. ðŸ™

    Many great clues but I particularly liked KINSEY and HUMBLE PIE. Will it pass the HH test?

    muffin @8; if you look here, you will find how to package long URLs with HTML tags.

  16. I don’t know what it says about me but I managed to muss both themes. Enjoyable puzzle notwithstanding my special needs status.

    Muffin, ‘freest’ is absolutely fine. On a related note, it is interesting that the superlative was used at least until the mid-nineteenth century to compare two people or things. Such usage pops up in two books I’ve read recently (put onto the them by CS Lewis): Cobbett’s Rural Rides and Borrow’s Lavengro.

  17. ulaca @16
    I was making a slightly different point. “Freest” involves a comparison, but “extremely liberated” doesn’t (or, at least, doesn’t have to).

  18. muffin @17 ah, I see your point. Perhaps “freest” approximates to an “absolute superlative” (rather than a “comparative superlative”) in a context such as “He was freest when he was obedient to his conscience”?

  19. Thanks Imogen and PeterO.

    I enjoyed this, ETCH fooled me, as did the COR in CORINTH.

    The castle theme makes one think. All those kings (and queens) sacrificing their ‘young’ in battles; MOLOCH is from the Semitic root m-l-k meaning king. The sacrifice in various forms still goes on.

    Is there a third theme of four? MOLOCH was regarded as the ARCH-ENEMY (the devil) by medieval Christian Jew haters, then we have Hitler and the REICHSMARK, MOOLAH (related to Mammon)…CORINTH could perhaps fit in with its underground bronze works where the slaves when they died were thrown on the fire, a sacrifice to MOLOCH and Mammon. Probably all a bit far fetched

  21. I found this hard work – most of the London – York bit of a journey to Edinburgh. Ultimately rewarding – particularly liked the two cash clues and Williams/Windsor. Thanks Imogen and PeterO.

  23. Some great clues in this one! My favourites were the inventive 15a, 24a and 14d, plus 1a for the neat surface. Like muffin @ 3, I missed the Carry On set and spent an embarrassingly long time searching for Sims Castle while trying to explain to Google that I’m not interested in the The Sims 3.

  24. Thanks PeterO and Imogen. Found this a struggle, and didn’t manage to get KINSEY or CORFE (I was trying to find another Carry On actor, despite already having four of them there). The Carry On theme suggested itself easily enough; castles didn’t and I missed it.

  26. I was led well up the garden path with this one. The early WILLIAMS and JAQUES (=> Jacques = James) had me thinking ‘kings’, then despite 19d’s glaring signpost, I was convinced that 23d was a Carry On star too, leading me to the full detail of the Wikipaedia list. Oh dear. Imogen must be chuckling at her successful misdirection.

    Last in KINSEY, despite twigging what ‘the other’ must signify. Couldn’t she just have clued PIGSTY?

  28. This maintained the very high standard we’ve had so far this week – another tough challenge but very nicely constructed, and never too daunting. Liked the double theme. Last in was CORFE, MOLOCH and JAQUES were only distantly familiar but were fairly clued. Liked ARCH ENEMY, SOUP TUREEN, OH DEAR and FIRST MINISTER.

    Thanks to Imogen and PeterO

  30. On the “freest” debate: I’d say that “extremely liberated” can’t, as a phrase, mean “freest.” But “liberated” means “free,” and you want the extreme version of that word, as “extremely” is standard crossword-ese for “we’re looking for a superlative.” So no, I don’t think it’s a problem.

    I had never seen, heard of, or contemplated the Carry On films, or any of their cast members, before doing this puzzle. (Wonder why. We foist all of our horrible movies on you; why do you not do the same to us?) Thus, the whole affair was more than a little bit baffling for me, and I had to hit the “cheat” button several times.

    The castles went in easily enough, though.

  31. Yes, this was very enjoyable. Thanks, PeterO and Imogen. I have struggled with recent Imogens but seemed to be on his wavelength today.

  32. Thanks, PeterO

    Excellent puzzle. I made very heavy weather of it, for some reason; on first cursory pass my only answer was OH DEAR, which described my feelings exactly!

    Lots of well constructed clues, many of which seemed straightforward, but only after I had eventually solved them. I particularly liked MOOLAH and FIRST MINISTER for their construction and surface, and RACING for its allusive surface and reference to a Williams that is not a pear, a former prelate or a comic actor (this does give another set of four).

    As we have discussed before on this site, the traditional pronunciation of the Shakespearian character JAQUES is ‘Jay-kwis’ rather than ‘Jakes’ (as in Hattie), but this doesn’t invalidate the clue in any way.

  34. As a verb, yes. But as an adjective, there’s some play. If you’re “sexually liberated,” for example, it doesn’t mean that your dominatrix has taken off the shackles and thus freed you. It means that you have a “free” (“liberated”) interpretation of sexual morality and mores.

    In other news, my cat does not want me to be typing this, based on his lying on the keyboard for a moment there. So I apologize in advance for any misspellings—they’re his, not mine.

  35. mrpenny – my cat regards that action as being helpful especially if she walks to and fro across it before settling down. The only remedy is an adjacent radiator which is even warmer.

  36. If you see me post entirely in lower case, it’s because my cat doesn’t like me using two hands at once, ruling out use of the Shift Key!

  39. Note to self : there are no such things as Atkinson pears! That held me up, I can tell you! Very satisfying once I overcame that little hurdle.

  40. Phew what a scorcher! Hard work but a lovely puzzle. I was fooled by the double theme until the very end where the penny dropped and CORFE went in as my last entry. Some nice clues. I loved MOLOCH and MOOLAH and a number of others. In fact,all told, a very satisfactory puzzle.
    Thanks Imogen.

  41. A tough ride for me, though I remained highly appreciative throughout. Was defeated by SIMS as I’d decided that a DAME was a comic miss, and surely there were 4 such honoured ladies within this grid; as such I also plumped for a baffled DRIP-OFF at 16D. I just assumed it all meant something somehow to aficionados of the arcane sport of cricket, as I so often have to…

  42. Thanks PeterO and Imogen
    Done in dribs and drabs between other things. Pretty hard but ultimately very satisfying with some very good clues, especially 14d. It seems there is also a Jacques castle albeit in France.

  43. What a delightful trip down memory lane. The Carry On films (especially the early ones) will always be in my heart. “Toy with your Dirk.” That aside, 14 d was a beautifully constructed clue. Thanks, Imogen.

  44. Muffin,
    Relax: it would only be HHy if
    a) it was an assertion and not a question
    b) you couldn’t accept the proposition that most signified a superlative.

    Well I thought this was a real work out. And very satisfying, despite having missed Kinsey: on a par with DT Toughies. Congrats to all.

  46. Again we have the nonsense that “ready” = “money”!

    Ready cash = money

    Sea port = harbour

    But “sea” is not “harbour” and “ready is not “money”.

    In the real world it’s “readies”. See Chambers on-line dictionary “… noun (readies) colloq short form of ready money

  47. don @46
    It’s not “nonsense”. The ‘proper’ Chambers has – “ready: 2. ready money (slang; also in pl)”.

    Collins and Oxford on-line both have “the ready or readies – available money; cash”, or similar.

  49. don @46

    Chambers online is not completely clear about ready/readies, although I think you are misreading it. The hard copy version, as Gaufrid says, gives both explicitly (in recent editions; my old copy from before 1960 only gives ready in this sense. Newer editions add the plural as as afterthought – I would say that the singular is far more common). Your second point about sea port/harbour does not seem to have any relevance to this puzzle, nor any other that I can recall. Did you have an example in mind, or was it a hypothetical illustration of a similar “error”?

  51. I just thought I’d register my belated approval to this puzzle.

    Last evening we were invited to “early evening drinks” by our boat neighbours. Consequently I was a little “tired and emotional” when I finally attempted this.

    Just finished this and found it a joy. Very difficult but very rewarding. Of course I missed the castle theme but did spot the Carry Oners. So I couldn’t parse Corfe. (Although I hadn’t heard of the castle anyway!)

    Thanks to PeterO and Imogen

    P.S. What planet does don hail from? 🙂

  52. Thanks Imogen and PeterO

    Had him on the bottom of the pile for a while … and when he surfaced he still took a couple of days to get done. Quite difficult but totally enjoyable and it was literally solved one clue at a time (and usually a fair amount of time per clue).

    Twigged to the “Carry On” theme quite early after getting CARRY-ON and then SID JAMES soon after. I didn’t know the other actors so missed ‘Kenneth WILLIAMS’ and was trying to fit CORFE in there – maybe the castle was used in one of the films. Didn’t spot the second 4-clue theme at all with the castles.

    Originally thought that he may have laid a red herring at 16a and toyed with SEMI (the last four in a tournament) with SEM (French caricaturist (comic artist)) and I (one). Finally settled on the correct SIMS thankfully!

    A very good challenge … and I’m glad that I finally got around to it.

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