Crossword roundup: the mystery of the googly

In the sample clues below, the links take you to explainers from our beginners series. The setter’s name often links to an interview with him or her, in case you feel like getting to know these people better.

The news in clues

If you like your puzzle to offer respite from the rest of the newspaper, look away now. Vlad pulls off something extraordinary in this clue …

8d Minister dealing with vulnerable refugees, migrants and asylum seekers from the start (6,9)
[ wordplay: anagram of (‘dealing with’) VULNERABLE and first letters of (‘from the start’) REFUGEES MIGRANTS AND ASYLUM SEEKERS ]
[ anagram of VULNERABLERMAAS ]
[ definition: minister ]

… for SUELLA BRAVERMAN.

We can now give the answer to a clue mentioned in our last roundup:

13d Blithe in case of faults, politico gives unlikely account (5,5)
[ wordplay: synonym for ‘blithe’ inside (‘in’) first & last letters (‘case’) of FAULTS, then name of a kind of politico ]
[ AIRY inside FS, then TORY ]
[ definition: unlikely account ]

So it was a timely image of a FAIRY STORY.

Latter patter

That same device of taking the first and last letters is used in a Times clue by Mara (known locally as Paul) which doesn’t appear to be timely (in fact, it appears to be about a luckless laboratory creature) …

16a Insect with wings on earlier, one in test? (9)
[ wordplay: name of an insect + first and first & last letters (‘wings’) of EARLIER ]
[ CRICKETER + ER ]
[ definition: one in test? ]

… when we’re really looking for a CRICKETER. (There’s also a whiff of willow and leather in recent puzzles from Tramp and Vulcan.) The subject of our next challenge is a mysterious word (and, to me, a mysterious thing).

There’s a similar word with an interesting story involving those who wanted to remove corruption from late 19th-century American municipal life. The “good government guys” rapidly became known by those involved in, or happy about the corruption as “the goo-goos”.

The same term is used by Whit in 1937’s Of Mice and Men – “Don’t let no goo-goos in, neither” – though he’s probably talking about silly or lovestruck young men, and both senses are helped by the centuries-old “goggle” conveying bobbing about or doing funny things with your eyes.

The cricketing term goes back to the turn of the same century; perhaps it is purely imitative – in any case, reader, how would you clue GOOGLY?

Cluing competition

Thanks for your clues for NIPPER and apologies for the late arrival of this word. The audacity award goes to Spickman for “One inhibited by snip, perhaps?” (which prompted a fruitful discussion of hidden indicators).

The runners-up are Nestingmachine’s “Baby bananas ripen around the third of September” and KeepLeftSign’s unbearably poignant “Child from prep pines to go back”; the winner is the mouth-watering “Minor setback prepping sandwiches”.

Kludos to GappyTooth. Please leave entries for the current competition – and especially non-print finds and picks that I may have missed from the broadsheet cryptics – in the comments.

Clue of the Fortnight

It’s always a pleasure to realise that in order to solve a clue, you have to stop mispronouncing one of its words. So it is with Carpathian …

25a Remove cream covering minute appetiser’s top (9)
[ wordplay: synonym for ‘cream’ around (‘covering’) abbrev. for ‘minute’ & first letter (‘top’) of APPETISER ]
[ ELITE containing MIN & A ]
[ definition: remove ]

… and her ELIMINATE. Bon appetit!

Find a collection of explainers, interviews and other helpful bits and bobs at alanconnor.com. The Shipping Forecast Puzzle Book by Alan Connor, which is partly but not predominantly cryptic, can be ordered from the Guardian Bookshop