Finally got this one done last night after looking on it on and off for a few weeks now!! Problem in the NW was entering KEATS instead of YEATS without properly considering the leech. This made it hard to find Ogden’s PARSLEY for a long time – but made the final entry of PELVIS very satisfying.

A tough prize puzzle with an ingenious theme which could only be appreciated on reflection rather than helping during the actual process.

Plenty of other delights on the way as well. Thanks again Paul – and finally this one can be put to bed!!

Whew, what a piece of work! If it weren’t for 12a (BEEF) I’d call this puzzle pure genius.

I finally got it done today, by going brute force on 1/11 and googling “Ogden Nash on food”. Which gave me PELVIS – and I was so close! I had broken it down to “P” + “king”…

Suffered for a long time with BOARD at 4 – seemed about right to me. I never wrote in BONKING in the grid, but I did “solve” it. Yes, it is Paul, after all. Thanks for the explanation of 18, I inked it in but never “understood” it.

Now let us talk about Paul. And the week that followed this puzzle in the Guardian. Between this puzzle, his Friday last, and the rest of the week, both seem to have hit a new height in deviousness. And I mean that in a good way! Paul seems to have decided to invent a few dozen new ways to clue words almost overnight, and the Tues, Weds, and Thurs puzzles were also intricately excellent. Ironically, after all that, I finished the recent (unblogged, of course) Prize of 1 Dec in one sitting (and even that was fun)! I must take my hat off to all involved, this has been one of the best weeks at the Guardian I think I have seen in my two or three years of addiction.

And let me close by thanking Paul for a wonderful treat.

I think I realise now that your criticisms were respectful, and fifty years of experience is a hefty enough credential.

Also, I liked your use of ‘resile’ (in your comment @15). It’s a word I’ve never come across before.

Lots of variation as well as a good laugh. Bonking is fun as a clue and as reality!

Elvis the pelvis made me smile.The king was wonderful!

Like others, I was misled as to Nash in 6d and not terribly helped by working out that it was Ogden Nash, as I am unfamiliar with his work. However, it is good to learn about new works.

Keep the fun coming please, Paul x

Giovanna x

A pedant might say that you were enjoying your partner

It did cross my mind for a moment that the answer might be a more literal definition of ‘enjoying oneself’ – but that would have been a step too far even for Paul – and the clue would have to have been ‘Pale man!’ or similar, which wouldn’t have worked ….

As for my comments to which you take such exception, they are mild in comparison to some you will find on other sites, such as the Guardian’s own crossword forum. I do not resile from my view that “to swallow” (“grouse” being the definition) is a pretty weak piece of wordplay, especially from a setter of Paul’s ability. And “parsley is gharsley” with its invented spelling raises a smile, but no more. Nash wrote many better poems (such as the one quoted by liz @ 17), but they would not have been so easy to include in a crossword – and I applaud Paul’s ingenuity in including three, short though they were.

The purpose of the blog is mainly to explain the answers, but also to provoke debate and discussion. Site policy does not allow for aggressive or ad hominem criticism and if I have crossed the line, doubtless Gaufrid (the site administrator) will step in and remove the offending comment.

I think some of you are being a little hard on Ogden Nash. He had the kind of fun with words that I can see appealing to a setter like Paul. He was also a great fan of Baltimore (where I was born). ‘I could have loved New York better, had I not loved Balti-more.’