Comments on: Guardian (24,913), Paul

By: robc

robc — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 19:17:13 +0000

thank you very much diagacht ; this was far too difficult for me to complete despite being well acquainted with mr. de niro’s work.

however it has been very entertaining to read the blog – i would also recommend a trip to the dvd shop for those lucky enough to be unfamiliar with such a fine set of films.

By: Val

Val — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 06:53:10 +0000

May I add my voice to those complaining of circular references? To my mind it should never be allowed – it breaks the cardinal rule that a setter must say what he
means and just isn’t solvable from the clues alone without that flash of insight that gives the first in. It’s one of the reasons I hate Auracauria puzzles so much.

I gave up today, despite knowing 7′s work well, because with the 7/24 deadlock so many clues were completely useless to me.

By: stiofain

stiofain — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 01:24:22 +0000

Sticks is an english thing – celery is always known as celery sticks there.
Very much a staple of 1970s dinner parties they dipped them in fondues before scoffing the prawn cocktails personally I only ever use in soups

By: liz

liz — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 23:40:43 +0000

Sil — I agree that this was a great puzzle. But like you I thought ‘the sticks’ was the weak point as a def for celery.

Anyone who thinks the theme was obscure or unwarranted — get a copy of Goodfellas or Taxi Driver! Not just for film buffs…

By: Davy

Davy — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 23:24:08 +0000

Thanks Diagacht,

Managed to finish this after a couple of hours and it’s certainly typical Paul (Auri’s apprentice). The first seven-related clue I got was RAGING BULL which led me to De Niro although I was trying to fit in La Motta but for ANODES. Ah well, all’s well that ends well.

To Sil, I’m a big Focus fan but Golden Earring must have been performing the longest and Radar Love is still a great track.

By: G&D

G&D — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 23:22:14 +0000

Wholly agree with Andrew, although we could go far with The Clash as the theme.

Seriously, the linking of clues is getting excessive. Like many commentators tonight, knowledge of De Niro’s films was scarce and remains unmissed.

By: Dave Ellison

Dave Ellison — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 23:00:51 +0000

doctorb, flex and Ed H: I have put a commentary on how I tackled today’s Paul in the Chatroom General Crossword Discussion, as it is too long to include here, but I hope you may find it useful. It is intended to encourage you to perservere with the Grauniad.

(There also was a similar commentary by the winner of the Times Crossword Competition, which I found very intereting reading, but I unfortunately have lost the link to this – was it a link from Peter Biddlecombe?)

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 21:45:10 +0000

In the Eighties a Dutch pop critic stated that Richard Thompson (folkrock guitarist,
of Fairport Convention fame) was not able to play badly.
I had to think of these words when solving this crossword.
Paul is one of the few (?) setters who are not able to set a bad crossword, I think.

Even though I am in a ‘hunting for imprecise cluing mood’ – as readers (alas, not many) of yesterday’s Auster may have noticed -, I could hardly find anything that bothered me today.
I liked the ‘live or die’ association of 20ac, but was not sure whether the ‘or’ preceeding ‘otherwise’ should be there or not.
I am not very keen on what happens in 4d: [kitche]N and then ‘garish’ walls (it?).
It is defendable, and I did recently a thing like that myself on the Cryptica site, but if I could avoid it next time, I would.
Didn’t like the extensive anagrind of 18d. No alternatives?
I have a love/hate relationship with 22d (CELERY). Paul recently used ‘between the sticks’ in an brilliant football clue as Mudd (a diver backwards in goal, leading to GORE VIDAL), so I thought it had to be something similar. This this it was [p]ELE inside CRY to give ‘celery’, but I find the definition too minimal – the sticks = celery? – (= hate) even though I admire the surface reading of it as a whole (= love).

Apart from that, vintage Paul.
Not very special, just very Paul.

Like many of you, we found DE NIRO (re #35, Neil, I think I don’t mind to see 7′s as one of his achievements) after spotting TAXI DRIVER (as a result of the X in ASEXUAL).
And just like john (#37) “I can’t believe that so many people think De Niro and his oeuvre are obscure”. Even Bananarama had a hit (1984) referring to this actor (‘Robert de Niro’s waiting (talking Italian)’).
Anyway, splendid cluing of CORLEONE (26ac) and 24,10 (STARDUST).
And 25ac (GIVE IN) was good too (fine surface).
Very neat anagram in the CINERAMA of 1ac.
I think, 1d was a bit contrived, as if Paul absolutely had to include a bum/bottom clue to keep up his image.
And the definition of BRAZIL in 21d is, in my opinion, too simple (as the title of the movie refers to ‘Aquarelo de Brasil’, so the country).

But, all in all, good crossword.
[And Stiofain, a Coldplay theme wouldn't have been a problem either. They are boring nowadays, I agree, unlike at the start of the century. In Holland they call them "Radiohead light". But then, rightly so, that band is even more boring ... ]

By: Julia

Julia — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 21:39:48 +0000

Jerb, thank you.

That comment made us laugh out loud.

Good night everyone.

By: diagacht

diagacht — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 21:36:34 +0000

Some really good discussion here. From my point of view themes are always a bit more of a challenge. It doesn’t matter much if it is films, football teams, country houses or books by a particular author, you will either be familiar with the theme of not. The crux comes then with the clues. In this particular instance I thought the themed clues fair and well constructed. In fact, I had not known all the films straightaway but the code made the answer pretty clear, especially when some or all of the crossing letters had been completed.
Still, I fancy that themed crosswords will for some always remain something of a Quixall Crossett (never be a winner).