The Guardian Cryptic by Philistine #26,331

Guardian setter for yesterday was Philistine and I think I did all right. I did use the check button which boosts my confidence to try risky answers. I still needed to cheat on six clues. A couple of the answers I got, I don't think I got them the way Philistine intended. I just had a go at the answer, which turned out right, I just don't know why it was right.

There is a theme running through some of the puzzle with 3D, 12D, 15D and 16A, 22D but it didn't help me in the solving, as I didn't notice until I was over half way through the puzzle. There is wordplay going on in the form of malapropisms. I had not heard of them, although I have a very dear friend who uses them a lot and they come more frequently when she's stressed. "It's bloody freezing! I'm turning into the abdominal snowman!" was a recent favourite.  I've been mixing malapropisms with eggcorns, which I'd also of learned of recently. So many ways to fudge about with words.

 Lots of notes today:

You can always click the picture to see it full size.

Looking at the main theme clues 7D, 5D, 16A, 22D and 15D:

7D -  Sing and act? Resulting in selection (7)

1. "Resulting in selection" is the definition and "Sing and act" is fodder to be mixed, but I don't see "and" as an anagrind. Mix them to get CASTING.

1. 5D -  Plants possibly turn as one in rising filth (11)
2. This is a partial anagram clue. We want "Plants" as an answer. "possibly turn as" is anagrind+fodder, "one in" = I to be included into a word for "rising filth" = SMUT but as it's a down clue, we want SMUT put at the bottom of the grid going upwards giving us: ASTURNSITUMS - wait; I into TUMS at the end with ASTURN mixed at the beginning: NASTUR(T(I)UMS)

1. 16A,22D -  Nearly all of very coy men get beaten (8)
2. I've not encountered a clue like this but I think it's a partial anagram. It seems like an anagram but we need to drop letters and add letters without much instruction to do so. The definition is thin and hard to see, too. Read the whole clue it's saying "nearly all of" the fodder "very coy men" get beaten. Our answer does have most of the letters of the fodder. Answer becomes OVER COME. We had to drop the two Ys and get an extra O. I made a guess and used the check button. How the answer works with a definition I'm not sure.

1. 15D -  Perhaps milk with muesli made available (8)
2. I had to cheat. Definition becomes "perhaps milk" and "with muesli" is saying MUESLI is fodder then "made available" = is ON (it is? well ok.) Answer become EMULSION. I guess they made emulsion with milk? Ah yes! With a comment from Gallerymouse in the comments section at the Guardian I realised it's not paint emulsion, but sauces and foodie emulsion. It works with the theme as a malapropism for "emotion"

When we encounter the clue for 3D it reads: Might he be 7 5 or 16 22 with 15? 

Then we get 12D: Might she be 7 5 or 16 22 with 15? (3,8)

We use the words from the numbered clue to get a phrase. Moving along if I haven't completely caused confusion.

1. 1A -  Upstanding characters are as patent in the county (6)

"Upstanding characters" is our definition. I did have cross letters and guessed at BIPEDS. Not sure about patents and county. I thought of  IP as "intellectual property" but where did "BEDS" fit then? I thought about county abbreviations, definition of county and could that be Bedfordshire? Is Bedfordshire a patent headquarters? Is patent meaning obvious and blatant? Does this info really need to be known for a crossword puzzle?

1. 4A -  Meantime, I make way for firm's in-house phone system (8)
2. "In-house phone system" is the definition and I got our answer from that. "Meantime" = INTERUM and "firm's" = CO for company. We need to drop the U and add the CO - only I'm not sure how that's instructed. "I make way for firm's in hoUse" could be telling us to drop the U to make way for the CO.

1. 9A -  Syrian leader in power to leave office (6)
2. Did I google the names of Syrian leaders? Yes I did. Did I have to? No! "Syrian leader" = S "in power" = REIGN or perhaps it was "leader in power" but what we need to do is take the S and put it "in" REIGN to get a word meaning "to leave office" = RESIGN. Bit confusing and yet not.

1. 10A -  States accepted by Poles, perhaps, for adoption (8)
2. "For adoption" is our definition and "states" = USA "accepted by Poles, perhaps" where the perhaps is anagrind and POLES the fodder that will also contain USA. It will look like this: ESPO(USA)L. A word I've used incorrectly for years. I thought it meant to profess beliefs but it means to adopt them and make them one's own. Guess that makes it my malapropism.

1. 11A -  The French, about four in the morning, may start mating with it filling the blanks? Au contraire! (4,10)
2. This was hard work, but very satisfying. There are notes in the pic if I garble my explanation. "French" = LE "about four" means LE goes either side of IV, the Roman numeral for four giving L(IV)E.  "in the morning " = AM "May start" = M, "mating" = UNION which only leaves us two letters short so next comes "with IT filling" looks like this: AM+M+UN(IT)ION. Full answer for "Blanks? Au contraire!" = LIVE AMMUNITION. 

1. 13A -  Seeing Troy destroyed by donating a gift, for example (10)
2. "Seeing Troy destroyed" is fodder + anagrind, mix them to get GENEROSITY which answers "by donating a gift, for example"

1. 14A -  Greta Garbo's agent? (4)
2. I had cross letters and couldn't see where this going. Four letters is a bit short for a reverse anagram. I looked at for hidden words and saw "gretA GARbo" and I know Agar-Agar is a gelling agent. I made a guess, checked and it was right.

1. 16A,22D -  (as above)

1. 18A -  Nothing underground is part of the circuit (6,4)
2. I figured "underground" and "circuit" was going to be a subway hint. Later with cross letters I guessed at TUBE being the four letter word. I needed to cheat to get the 6 letter word VACUUM. Not sure how this one works.

1. 21A -  Line taken by screen devotee about ministerial residence, almost a game (5,4,5)
2. I don't know how this is worked. I took a guess when cross letters came up and that "a game" was the definition.

1. 23A -  Teachers' fire dies out (8)
2. Back into comfortable territory: "Teachers" is our definition and "fire dies out" is fodder+anagrind. Mix the fodder to reveal EDIFIERS.

1. 24A -  Escort's performance at technological centre (6)
2. "Escort" is our definition and "performance" = GIG and "technOLOgical centre" means take the centre of technological to give us GIGOLO.

1. 25A -  Joint drinks parties (5-3)

I had to cheat. I've heard the term but not in the plural like this and as the clues aren't plural as well. "Joint" = KNEES (why not joints?) and "drinks parties" are KNEES-UPS but I've known them as a  Knees-up. Not ups. Guess I don't go to enough old fashioned dance and booze parties.

1. 26A -  Sound made by one old lover in the wing (6)
2. "Sound made" hints to a homophone for "one old lover" = AN EX which sounds like the word for a "wing" ANNEXE.
3. 
   

1. 1D -  Chocolate soap? (4)

I got this one first, double definition, we want a word used both with chocolate and soap: BARS. Although CAKE would work too. It's actually a classic clue that's been recycled.

1. 2D -  Strong feeling includes animated extract from panel discussion (7)
2. "Strong feeling" is the definition. I don't entirely know the wordplay here, but I honed in on "extract from panel discussion" and knew I had to take something out. I first though from inside, but there nothing made sense. Looking at extremes I saw "PAnel discuSSION" and used PASSION as the answer. Confirmed with check. There are no clues to hint to looking at extremes that I see, and "includes animated" eludes me.

1. 3D -  Might he be 7 5 or 16 22 with 15? (8)
2. Here's the first odd clue. I was delighted to find later it was not mathematical. Working with our theme this reads as "Might he be casting nasturtiums or overcome with emulsion?" and the clue wants us to know who has a history of making these sorts of comments. Sadly I'm not too up on my Shakespeare - shocking, I know - but it relates to a character in Much Ado About Nothing: DOGBERRY.

1. 5D -  (as above)

1. 
   
2. 6D -  Fancy that is no longer focused on the ear (6)
3. "Fancy" is our definition. I had cross letters and guessed "on the ear" = OTIC making "no longer" = EX for EXOTIC

1. 7D -  (as above)

1. 8D -  Tender rules, almost meant to be broken (4,5)
2. This one is another partial anagram but I wonder if it's also linked to the theme. I got this with cross letters then looking closer I thought "tender rules" was anagrind + fodder and "almost meant" was hinting to use most of those letters for our answer. I cannot see where the definition is for this clue. Drop the T from meant and then mix up "rules mean" to get MALE NURSE (I'm reminded of Scrubs and Ricky Schroeder being the "Murse" for a season) does this mean it's a theme clue? Murse is more a neologism, right?

1. 12D -  Might she be 7 5 or 16 22 with 15? (3,8)
2. Like 3D we want a character who is known for making these linguistic errors. As linked before, the word malapropism was named for MRS MALAPROP (or was it the other way round? I have no wifi just now)
3. 
   

13D -  Escape from Olga? (9)

This is a reverse anagram. We recently went over how to solve these in the Cryptic Learners Facebook group. The answer has to use fodder from the clue, but the anagrind is in the answer. Definition is "escape from" and OLGA is our fodder so we need an anagrind with five letters. GAOL BREAK. Gaol being an old word for jail and BREAK its anagrind. I'd never heard the word gaol before moving to Australia, where they have lots of "Old Gaol" tours. Making money off its criminal past? 

1. 15D -  (as above)

1. 17D -  23 church to replace Queen's monument (7)
2. 23A was EDIFIERS "church to replace Queen's" means we want to remove the ERS (Elizabeth Regina)  from the end and add CE (church of England) to get a word for a "monument" EDIFICE.

1. 19D -  Not just tuneless, with zero potential released (7)
2. I had to cheat. "Released" is our definition. I could guess the "zero" was fodder but couldn't see the other three letters. Still can't. UNFROZE.

1. 20D -  Gives access to passages round mountain top (6)
2. "Gives access" is the definition. I had cross letters and could see "Mountain top" was saying take the M. A word for "passages" was to go "round" the M, but I've never heard of ADITS. Answer is ADMITS.

1. 22D -  See 16

There! We are done. All prepped and ready for the DA tomorrow. I have printed off today's Tramp from the Guardian, but not had a chance to see it yet. I'll give it a look tonight.