The news in clues

As each day begins, we approach the news with caution, unsure whether we will learn that the US and Russia are at war, or that their leaders have formalised some kind of kleptocratic pact.

It’s enough to make you yearn for the more consistent, dependable terror of the cold war. “Give me back the Berlin Wall,” as Leonard Cohen opened one of his most prescient songs, and that’s precisely what Picaroon did in Guardian 27,116. The “west” half of the puzzle had such things as ...

17ac Girl’s or French man’s clothes (5)
[ a UK female name + S, or a French male name + S ]

... JEANS, while over in the “east”, we found, say,

7d Very large revolutionary claim is constructed — by this theory? (9)
[ abbrev. for ‘outsize’ (‘very large’), spelled backwards (‘revolutionary’), then anagram (‘constructed’) of CLAIM IS ]
[ OS backwards, then CIALISM ]

... SOCIALISM, with the halves divided appropriately:

Latter patter

In the quiptic, the Guardian’s stepping-stone puzzle for the cryptic-curious, Hectence gave a pleasingly straightforward clue ...

23ac Left with an old length of cord (7)
[ abbrev. for ‘left’ + AN (‘an’) + old unit of length ]
[ L + AN + YARD ]

... for LANYARD. From the French lanière, this variously indicates a piece of rope, a strap, a thong and a lash. In the world of clerical rather than manual work, it’s most often used to denote the coloured cord that holds some kind of ID or swipecard. For a while now, I have suspected that LANYARD is also used to describe the ID or card itself, a hunch that I contest is borne out by searching Google for likely phrases and getting results such as: “You must also present your lanyard and have it punched by the Card Keeper”, “Failure to wear & present your lanyard at every game” and “Register by writing your name on your lanyard.”

I further suspect that this new sense of LANYARD is only used when the LANYARD (name card or whatever) is attached to a LANYARD (bit of silk or string or whatever) – but that it may soon be used for lanyard-less lanyards, such as library cards. Before I bother the good people at the Oxford English Dictionary with an official submission detailing my amateur ramblings, perhaps a sanity check is in order. Am I crackers?

Incidentally, LANYARD was not the first time that English adopted the French lanière; the previous time it ended up as LAINER. Such re-adoption can add to the jollity of the language: take the French gentil. In the 13th century, we imported it as GENTLE; in the 16th, as a different word, which is the subject of our next challenge.

It’s one of those words that some people pronounce a little bit French, originally to distinguish it from GENTILE. It’s also one of those words that means “posh”, but was eschewed by the posh, meaning that if you use it to sound posh, you’re not. Reader, how would you clue GENTEEL?

(And, if you can bear it, what do you think is generally meant by the related word JAUNTY, in the context “at a jaunty angle”?)

Cluing competition

Thanks for your clues for LORD, which lent itself to some charming “hidden answer” clues, among them DameSweeneyEggblast’s “Peer inside barrel – or don’t” and Middlebro’s “Title of earl or duke, essentially”.

I enjoyed the economy of Alberyalbery’s “A Lady’s man”, and while the audacity award goes to ID2155366 for “Archery?”, Schroduck, with a steer from SetterSoup, has introduced the welcome option of Printer’s Devilry (explained here) and the example “Bratwurst was purchased by Maier from Germany”.

The runners-up are Catarella’s smart “Choice of leads for Luke and Daisy Duke?” and ComedyPseudonym’s satisfying “Loudly praise God”; the winner is Lizard’s affectionate “Lizard having love for Azed, one on reflection seen as top bloke”. Kudos to Lizard; please leave this fortnight’s entries and your pick of the broadsheet cryptics below.

Clue of the fortnight

Last week, the Independent brought us a new setter. Dutch, whose identity is claimed by this Twitter account, had a cracking debut puzzle including a set of covert links among pairs of down answers (columns reading ABANDONING HOPE, DOUBLE EXPOSURE, CARRIAGE RETURN and WELL UNDERSTOOD) and a bunch of witty clues, including this timeless observation ...

18d He married in record time – these things never last! (8)
[ HE + abbrev. for ‘married’, both inside abbrev. for an extended-play ‘record’ + synonym for ‘time’ ]
[ HE + M, both inside EP + ERA ]

... to indicate EPHEMERA.

• Next week’s post will appear a little later than usual, on Tuesday evening.