Comments on: Guardian 24,943 – Paul

By: maarvarq

maarvarq — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 07:05:48 +0000

Far too late for anyone not subscribed to this post to read this. I hope Paul enjoyed his self-indulgently obscure clues, because I sure as heck didn’t.

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 00:23:42 +0000

Gosh, Andrew, and then you instantly start solving the puzzle?
Even before having a sleep – that’s quite an achievement!

Anyway, see what tomorrow’s/today’s Bonxie will bring us.
[Not sure if I look forward to it]

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 23:46:12 +0000

Sil – by “late last night” I meant “after midnight”. As IanN14 says in #41, the next day’s crosswords become available on the web site at midnight.

By: hoffi

hoffi — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 23:10:59 +0000

I become more of a fan of Paul the more I see of him. I think he now is the best and has overtaken Araucaria which is some feat. Paul’s efforts always seem impossible at first viewing but slowly the light dawns and I invariably finish him as I did today.

I thought today’s puzzle was top class and I really enjoyed the struggle.

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 22:55:56 +0000

On the night that European football’s been freed from Dutch clubs (and Everton),
I needed something to cheer me up.
So why not write a post, after a couple of days’ absence.

Did this crossword cheer me up?
Yes it did.

Although I am not very keen on the implicite definition of 1ac, and though I (read: we) thought 10ac is not a particularly good clue (‘card’ has a lot in common with ‘char …’), there was a lot to admire.
However, just like Liz (#17), we had seen the idea of 28ac (NANKEEN) before.
For us, this was Paul in optima forma – as revolting as ever with his ‘smutty’ clues.
Even though the ‘pot’ of 18ac was just another kind of ‘pot’ (as Eileen explained).
Ever seen OBOE (21ac) being clued like this?
I know, there were a lot of words used (#16) to tell us to take the ‘n’ out of ‘one’,
but it was completely fair in the end.
Indeed, a lot of words in the anagrind of 6,12d too, making up half of the clue.
But you can hardly fault Paul on construction in the clues anyway.

I am a bit surprised that so may people didn’t like it.
In particular, I think that our friend Grumpy Andrew shouldn’t make a comment like
in #26.

I don’t have any problem with the definition problems that Dave Ellison came up with
in #42. Don’t get me wrong, I do understand his objections against ‘setter’ being the definition of ‘dog’, but look at the surface.
And ‘camp’ can be ‘tent’ as a verb (although in this clue it is a noun).
‘Chicken’ is not ‘hen’? That is going too far in Cryptic Land, I think.
And (not Dave’s words) a train’s not a vehicle. Well, for me a vehicle is a conveyance that transports people or objects, which can be a train.
All this criticism (right or wrong) takes us away from the overall feel of this crossword, which was in our opinion very veryPaul.
Maybe some people don’t like this (or his) style, but the (in)famous ingredients were
all there today – and we liked it.

Stand-out clues, perhaps 26ac (almost(?) an &Lit) and 20d (beautiful surface).

Andrew, thank you for the blog.
But how can it be that you solved this crossword late last night, when (according to information on this site) you live in the UK? Do bloggers get earlier access to crosswords?

By: Dave Ellison

Dave Ellison — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 21:53:47 +0000

I am with the didn’t like camp. Even though I had intercourse early today, I couldn’t find my way around the long one.

I didn’t get very far; 0 first time through, 4 second time and eventually about 8 or 9 altogether. I think what prevented my getting further were too many words that were off target. 1a SETTER for DOG (needs a perhaps); 22a CHICKEN is not HEN; 25a TENT is not CAMP; 3d MAT is not CARPET; 23d LIKE is not really ENJOY. And several surfaces that made no sense to me: 1a, 25a possibly, 23d, and 24d.

By: IanN14

IanN14 — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 19:25:55 +0000

About midnight, TC.

By: TC

TC — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 19:24:04 +0000

Over the course of the day I can say that I sent hours on this. And failed. When I read this blog, to say I ‘groaned’, a noise particular to the solver, is an understatement. But many thanks, Andrew.

Would never have got ‘Adrian’ for 20dn, or ‘Nankeen’ for 20 dn. Like another of the solvers above I had Weightings for 22 ac. As for ‘Male Grooming’, I thought, being Narcissus, it something to do with ‘Face’.

BTW, what time of night is the following day’s crossword released, anyone ?

By: John

John — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 19:06:11 +0000

Hear what you say Admin, but some of us wonder why some contributors need to boast about their solving times. Isn’t that also “off topic”?

By: Brian Harris

Brian Harris — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 19:06:11 +0000

Found this pretty difficult today, with some tricksy, complicated clues. Was quite pleased to finish with only two clues left – 24 down eluded me completely. Still, Paul is always enjoyable, albeit rather hard to get going sometimes. Agree about the spelling of GISMO too, but that didn’t detain me for too long.

BTW, I don’t wish to stir at all, but I thought comments 32 and 33 were light-hearted and completely inoffensive…. clearly intended (and taken) in jest.

I quite like this forum for the odd bit of cheekiness, irreverence and controversy. It would be a real shame to start moderating everybody and leave it po-faced. We’re all adults here. (Or maybe there are some kids too – would be nice to see some younger crossword-solvers out there).

Anyway, that’s my two cents.