Guardian Cryptic 28,080 by Paul

by

A slow solve with some tricky parsing. I especially liked 13ac, 27ac, and 1dn – other favourites were 25ac, 31ac, and 21dn. Thanks to Paul.

Across
9 XHOSA Tongue with hot kiss rolling around, love it! (5)
Definition: a language or “Tongue” in Southern Africa
H (hot) plus X=”kiss” reversed/”rolling around”; plus O=”love” in tennis + SA (Sex Appeal)=”it”
10 LONGITUDE Covering golf, broadcast outlined distance, one way or another (9)
G=”golf” in the phonetic alphabet, inside (outlined)* with “broadcast” as anagram indicator
11 SPAGHETTO One stranded in Italian restaurant in squalid area east of resort (9)
Definition: a single stand of spaghetti
GHETTO=”squalid area” to the right/east of SPA=”resort”
12 EFFED Each foot initially grazed, swore (5)
Definition: as in ‘said the F-word’
initial letters of E[ach] F[oot] + FED=”grazed”
13 COLOGNE What 18 never wore when singing aloud, in essence? (7)
Definition: “essence” as in a perfume
“when singing aloud” indicates a homophone for a song title: ‘YUL never wore COLOGNE’ sounds like ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone” [wiki]
15 MIRANDA Artificial satellite along with a — natural one? (7)
Definition: Miranda is a natural satellite i.e. a moon of Uranus
MIR=Soviet “Artificial satellite” + AND A=”along with A”
17   See 29
18 YUL Deborah’s king of cinema somewhat conciliatory, ultimately (3)
Definition: Deborah Kerr starred in the film The King and I [wiki] alongside YUL Brynner
hidden inside [conciliator]Y UL[timately]
20 AARGH Cry of frustration, Vulcan finally out of hangar, malfunctioning (5)
final letter of [Vulca]n taken out of (hangar)*
22 SALCHOW Endless condiment put on food, jump! (7)
Definition: a jump in figure skating
SAL[t]=”Endless condiment” + CHOW=”food”
25 TREASON Crime rate, regrettably, male issue (7)
(rate)* + SON=”male issue”
26 RAZOR Catching last of fuzz, howl when that’s pulled back? (5)
last letter of [fuz]Z caught inside ROAR=”howl” reversed/”pulled back”
27 ANGEL DUST Doctor in proctologist’s area of expertise has little time for hallucinogen (5,4)
Definition: a name for the drug PCP
“Doctor” can mean ‘to castrate’=GELD, inside ANUS=”proctologist’s area of expertise’ + T (time)
30   See 24
31 KRILL Prey dipped into by rorqual’s mouth, main diet? (5)
Definition: Krill are shrimplike creatures in the “main” i.e. the sea, eaten by whales, and rorquals are a type of whale
KILL=”Prey” with the opening/”mouth” of R[orqual] dipping inside
Down
1 AXES For example, x and y across primarily, the other going vertically? (4)
Definition can be read &lit given that the primary/first x-axis goes across and the other y-axis goes vertically
first letter/”primarily” of A[cross] + SEX=”the other” reversed/”going vertically”
2 SO-CALLED Guided after party, leaving I supposed (2-6)
LED=”Guided”, after SOC[I]AL=”party” with I leaving
3 DASH Ruin race (4)
double definition: as in ‘dash hopes’; and as a synonym for sprint or rush
4 FLATTERY Praise cook having nailed hot drink (8)
FRY=”cook” around LATTE=”hot drink”
5 INFORM Brief batting appearance (6)
IN=”batting” in cricket + FORM=”appearance”
6 GIVE OR TAKE Choice to make between altruism and greed — that’s about right (4,2,4)
the phrase can also be read as a choice between giving/altruism and taking/greed
7 MUFFIN Louse up in cake (6)
MUFF=make a mess of, bungle=”Louse up” + IN
8   See 23
13 CARBS Seats, say, with black padding — stuff those in to fill out? (5)
Definition: eating carbs could lead to gaining weight or ‘filling out’
SEAT is the name of a manufacturer of CARS, with B (black) inside
14 GEOTHERMAL Defended by judge, other malcontents causing things to bubble up? (10)
Definition: Geothermal energy can lead to water, magma etc to bubble up
hidden in [jud]GE OTHER MAL[contents]
16 ASHEN A sentry abandoning attempt to consume last bit of Cornish pasty (5)
A SEN[try] abandoning ‘try’=”attempt”; around last letter of [Cornis]H
19 LITIGANT Party fringes in torment, ailing badly (8)
Definition: “Party” as in one side of a lawsuit
(tt ailing)*, including the fringes of t[ormen]t in the anagram foddert
21 RASPUTIN Influential Russian beginning to rule presidentially? (8)
Definition referring to the Russian mystic [wiki] closely associated with the Romanov dynasty in late imperial Russia
beginning letter of R[ule]; plus AS PUTIN=”presidentially?”
23, 8 LIZARD HEAD Reptile in charge, Britain’s lowest point? (6,4)
Definition: Lizard Point [not Head?] is the most southern point of mainland Britain [wiki]
LIZARD HEAD could also mean “Reptile in charge”
24, 30 WHAT IN TARNATION Tin hat battered in conflict, people united, eh? (4,2,9)
Definition: an exclamation of confusion/surprise
(Tin hat)* inside WAR=”conflict”; plus NATION=”people united”
26 RUTH Book in fact unopened (4)
Definition: a book of the Bible
[t]RUTH=”fact” without its opening letter
28 LUKE Paul’s companion, spineless parasite blowing top (4)
Definition refers to the Christian figures Luke the Evangelist and Paul the Apostle
[f]LUKE=a parasitic worm, with its top/first letter removed
29, 17 TALK RADIO Contrary attention-seeker, brunette, after short story for broadcaster (4,5)
reverse/”Contrary” of OI=attention seeking exclamation + DARK=”brunette”; all after TAL[e]=”short story”

70 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 28,080 by Paul”

  1. Found this quite hard, with a couple of guesses, ultimately proven true.

    Like Manehi, I think the location in Cornwall is Lizard Point; Lizard Head is a mountain in Colorado. [Actually, the Southernmost point in Britain is in the Scilly Isles, so the exact lizard name is moot].

    I was vacillating between Axes and Axis for 1a, not understanding why sex = the other (is this an idiom?). I settled on Axes because it said “x and y”.

  2. Lizard Head was new for me. I found it in Collins Dictionary:

    Lizard Head in British English
    (?l?z?d h?d)
    NOUN a promontory in SW England, in SW Cornwall: the southernmost point in Great Britain

    Also new for me were SALCHOW, WHAT IN TARNATION, MIRANDA.

    My favourite was INFORM.

    I failed to parse 13a and 15a.

    Tough but mildy enjoyable.

    Thanks Paul and manehi.

  3. Lots of fun here, and more tightly clued than is often the case with Paul. I liked MIRANDA, RASPUTIN, XHOSA for its surface, and groaned at COLOGNE. I guessed LIZARD HEAD and confirmed it with the same dictionary entry as Michelle @2. But alas, Collins giveth and Collins taketh away, assuring me that SPAGHETTO was not a word in spite of the clear directions in the clue (should have waited to get INFORM before checking my spaghetti). Thanks to Paul and manehi.

  4. 13ac: straight from Adrian Henri’s “Football Poem/Goodbye Poem”.

    See “Short Poems”, p66 of New Volume, follow up to The Mersey Sound.

  5. Wasn’t the COLOGNE pun mentioned in these very august halls just a few days ago?

    As for spaghetto, when I looked it up to confirm that some authority somewhere thought it was a word, I found that there is an Italian expression “prendersi uno spaghetto” (lit. to take a spaghetto) meaning to have a fright. Who knew?

  6. Yes Dr. Wh, the ‘Yul never wore’ joke appeared not too long ago, else I’d never have got it. Ditto salchow, though plainly clued. As it was, a slowish but steady solve, with angel dust, give and take, and geothermal pretty neat. Ages since I’ve come across ‘what in tarnation’ (in a Boys Own, maybe!). Seat the car maker was a nho, so carbs a bung and shrug. Nice workout, ta Paul and Manehi.

  7. Not having seen (heard?)  the Yul homophone before, I was suitably impressed! Likewise, when I finally solved the singleton spaghetti.

     

    Excellent puzzle and blog!

  8. I think i found a theme. Over 75% of the clues were really difficult! Loads of wonderful clues but i couldnt nut out spaghetto. Wasnt it muffin who posted the Yul Brynner pun. I think paul was making an acknowledgement. Used to watch skating in the days of torville and dean but had only ever heard the word salchow spoken. It’s pronounced salko so that was a surprise. Thanks you paul and manehi .

  9. Yes, I widely distributed the Yul Brynner Joke, that muffin passed on to us, to great delight from all recipients in my circle.  It is too much of a coincidence that Paul chose to recycle it, so I guess he wished to acknowledge muffin (at 7 down) and maybe 225 in general!

    I found this a bit above my pay grade, but enjoyed what I did manage to fill in, but was beaten by LIZARD HEAD, I was looking for the lowest point in altitude but clearly Whittlesey Mere could not fit the bill.  Doh!!  Had no idea that SPAGHETTO was a word, but very much enjoyed AXES and SALCHOW.  So thanks Paul, and manehi for putting me straight at the end.

  10. Great blog-thanks for parsing ANGEL DUST and TALK RADIO-I knew the story of YB refusing to take part in an aftershave ad but I’d forgotten the punchline-an oldie but goodie.

    Spaghetto reminds me of an old song about a man who only had 15c in his pocket-and all he could get was “One Meat Ball”

    With a payoff line “You gets no bread with one meat ball’on Ry Cooder’s first album

  11. Thanks Paul (and for the credit?) and manehi

    Lots to enjoy – SPAGHETTO (even if it isn’t a word, though I don’t see why it should’t be – I’ve been served a raviolo in posh restaurants), MIRANDA. AXES, RASPUTIN, and WHAT IN TARNATION (and COLOGNE, of course), were favourites.

    Why is LONGITUDE “distance, one way or another”?

    I questioned LIZARD HEAD. Google only found the US mountain.

    I know Paul is the setter, but Matthew, Mark, or John would be more natural “companions” to LUKE.

  12. I think the lowest altitude in Britain would be at the bottom of Loch Ness; in England it is certainly the bottom of Wastwater.

  14. muffin, I think “Paul’s companion” refers to one of the people who accompanied Paul on his missionary journeys – there were several (Silas, Barnabas, Mark and Luke come to mind).

  18. Loved the Yul clue as it reminded me of a Guardian crossword not so long ago that was full of mondegreens

  19. I back up gladys at 16 here: having lived in Cornwall for 12 years, I know that headlands tend to be called just ‘The …’ (Nare, Gribbin, Dodman, Lizard etc.) and if you look on a map it will say Lizard Point. Do we know factually that Yul Brynner never wore Cologne (the brilliant pun will only work properly if that version is true)? However, I must tip the hat to the cleverness, and there is a ?, so I bow the nut: Paul wins. In any case, yesterday there were complaints of “elitism” because the puzzle was classically-based; today there’s Hollywood name-dropping, which means nothing to me – though I like Rodgers and Hammerstein.

    Disagree with muffin (11) about Luke: he specifically accompanied Paul on some of his journeys, and there is one point where the Bible narrative changes from “he” to “we” (Acts 16:10) showing that L had joined him.

  20. Thanks gladys @14

    Google informs me that Loch Morar is the deepest in the UK, though Loch Ness is more consistently deep, so contains more water. Wastwater is correct for England.

    Odd comment @19.

  22. Huffed and puffed with this, unusual to find an X and a Z in the crossers. Threw in the towel with SPAGHETTO and DASH. Quite a lot of typical Paul fun and games on the way, though…

  24. Great stuff and lots to smile about  here in “martial law” Italy. With my 3000 page Devoto Oli dictionary on my knee, I can confirm that there is no entry for spaghetti, except for a rather huffy footnote; (used pejoratively to denote anything Italian, as in Spaghetti-western).

    Muffin: if anyone served one riviolo in this neck of the woods there would be a riot.

    Thanks to Paul and Manehi.

  28. “It” and “SA” used yet again (in 1a). Surely there must be other ways of cluing either of these pairs of letters, rather than early 20th century slang? And I share muffin’s doubt about LONGITUDE=distance. Otherwise very good. Among my favourites were SPAGHETTO and GIVE OR TAKE. Regarding LIZARD HEAD, even if the “official” name is Lizard Point, it’s still a headland, so could legitimately be called Lizard head (lower-case “h”).

    Thanks Paul and manehi.

  29. [muffin @26 and il principe @27 I have to confess to having served exactly that as part of a posh dinner party, a hand-made raviolo, about 10cm square, stuffed with lobster and served in a lobster-bisque sauce. Delicioso!]

    Re spaghetto, raviolo – these are, of course, Italian singulars of words we normally only see in the plural. Paparazzi is a slightly odder case, coming not from a simple noun but from a name, Paparazzo, in “La Dolce Vita”. Making a plural of it is slightly punny.

    I thought we might be on for a pangram with the Z and X but no, just a quirky, juicy puzzle. Not sure there was a definition in “razor” (not really an &lit) but the proctologist was classic Paul, the pun cologne had to be a nod to Muffin (kudos in the extreme!) and Rasputin was a laugh-out-loud moment.

    Paul back on top form – sometimes he can be a bit forced with such a high rate of output, but this was great fun, especially unpicking some of the chewier clues. Many thanks Manehi for the clear and elegant blog.

  30. Muffin @11 I took the longitude “one way or another” to refer to the fact that one has to specify east or west to know something’s position. The only sense in which longitude is a distance, however, is a distance from the mean line, in which case the east or west doesn’t matter. I’d call it a “near miss” clue – gettable but not quite perfectly defined.

  31. Nitsuj @17, there is a HMHB song (Mate of the Bloke) with the lines “I found myself being sued by the firm More O’Ferrell. I’d sprayed a graffito onto one of their hoardings”

  32. I’ve never seen The King and I, so assumed 13a referred to some incident therein, having also missed muffin’s previous reference to the pun.

    16a is given in Chambers in the derivation of the usual plural form, so no problem there – and I agree that the Collins entry isn’t quite right.

  34. Great fun – knotty in parts so many faves today. Thanks P+M.

    Worst day doing the SW Coast Path walking down the Lizard peninsula in torrential rain and a stiff breeze. Found out that rucksacks aren’t waterproof as the only dry clothes were dirties wrapped in a plastic bag. Still B&B airing cupboard, tea and cake on arrival, a fair few pints of Proper Job and a huge breakfast later ready to go again on the morrow.

    Scutter ha ha. All I want for Christmas is a Dukla Prague away kit. Where are they now?

  35. I think I said this at the time, but just in case, the pun isn’t mine; my daughter showed it to me on Facebook.

  36. @Spanza – I think you may be overestimating your, muffin and 225’s importance – I’ve been on the G thread and on here for many years and I’ve never seen one whit of evidence to suggest Paul reads either. Moreover, most G puzzles are picked from a very large back catalogue in Mr Stephenson’s metaphorical garage – I’d be surprised if this was les than a few months old at least

    As others have pointed out, it’s quite an old gag, and since Paul is not generally afraid to sprinkle some chestnuts ion his puzzles, I’d say it IS purely a coincidence

  38. English singulars of words imported from Italian in their plural form are a popular debate among the language nerds I hang out with. If you go to a place that serves panini, should one order “a panino”? I solve this problem by ordering “one of the panini.” See also biscotto, zucchino, broccolo, and, yes, spaghetto. But the clue for SPA GHETTO was brilliant and funny. I’m thinking of some of the dingier neighborhoods we saw in Puerto Vallarta on that one.

    [Incidentally, I love the fact that what Americans call zucchini, Brits call courgette, and that both words mean (in Italian and French respectively) “little squash.”)

  39. Thank you Paul for a fun puzzle and manehi for a helpful blog…

    … and thank you Michelle @2 and DaveinNCarolina @3, and especially Dave Ellison @15, for clearing up the LIZARD HEAD issue.

    13a fooled me, I was trying to find some sort of wig for the answer, I had forgotten the pun and muffin’s recent reference to it.

  40. Paul back on top form, I thought. Of course, he could have used SPAGHETTI and INFIRM, but then wouldn’t have had ‘ghetto’ to use in the wordplay.

    I thought GEOTHERMAL was beautifully hidden, although perhaps I should have seen it earlier.

    Typical Paulian anus, but I forgot the COLOGNE pun.

    Thanks Paul and manehi.

  41. Lizard Head is the name of the AONB on the Lizard Peninsula; it’s a perfectly valid solution. I really enjoyed this. I’d not heard the outrageous “Yul never wore cologne” pun, and despite being a Liverpool fan, couldn’t parse it! Lots of great tricks: the Italian singular ending in o; “party” not being DO, CON, LAB tc for a change; SEATS being cars. Great work by compiler and explainer. Thanks.

  42. Too many oddities for my liking. I find it hard to believe that spaghetto is a word in English, for example, and the reference to the King and I was vague and unspecific.

    Dr Whats on @1 I agree. The problem is that there is no such place as Britain. It is used as a synonym for Great Britain (of which Lizard Point is indeed the southernmost place) , the U.K., and the British Isles, and probably others.

     

  43. Paul does read 225 occasionally – I went to one of his Guardian crossword workshops and he said as much. Whether this puzzle was inspired by muffin’s mention of the Yul joke or not, I don’t know – the timing suggests coincidence, but…

    Incidentally that was my LOI with an audible “Oh for f…” at my desk.

    On first read through I thought this would be somewhat too stretching but it was fun. I liked SPAGHETTO (nice definition, and red herring anagrind ‘resort’), the cleverly-hidden GEOTHERMAL, CARBS, and of course the usual many lowbrow references.

  44. I remember Paul coming here to apologise for an incorrect definition of some insect or animal.  Also it seems a big coincidence that 7d appears in the same grid as YUL and the joke.  Who knows, but unless Paul says differently I reckon it was meant!!

  46. I thought PUBES parsed perfectly for 13D – “seats” = PEWS (say) = PU.ES around B(lack). I already had YUL, so flights of fancy had me seriously considering PACKAGE for 13A. Did Yul Brynner ever actually stuff a thick woolly sock down the front of his pants for enhanced “stage presence”? I dunno, but it certainly seemed like the kind of thing Paul would come up with.

  47. Thanks Muffin! I couldn’t resist, and you definitely are deserving of acknowledgment.

    I do glance through here sometimes. Forgive me if I’m not more prominent here but, rest assured, your feedback, positive and otherwise, is gratefully received.

    Do all keep well….

    John/Paul

  50. Lots to laugh out loud/groan at here – it was a lot of fun, and thanks Paul if you should look in here again, even though you are not easily forgiven for Seats which help us up for quite a while.

    As Manehi says, a lot of tricky parsing, and more smiles as his brilliant explanations were revealed, so thanks for that too.

    Never having come across the pun before, I thought that 16A was the clue of the year, and a little deflated to find that many had heard it all before.  Anyway Muffin, we often say ‘let’s see what Muffin thought’ so were very pleased to see Paul confirm his acknowledgement.

    Regarding SPAGHETTO, I once caused unintentional hilarity while visiting Mississippi:  Asked if I had ever eaten grits, my reply was no, could I try one?

  51. Some days I really struggle when everyone else finds the puzzle easy. Today I seemed to breeze through. I have enough Italian to be unperturbed by a small string. Didn’t see the homophone until I came here, but it was a very good one for the rhotically challenged. COD – MIRANDA.

    Another gem from Paul ably blogged by manehi.

  55. [Muffin @53 I saw – sorry, tongue-in-cheek humour simply does not translate to the typewritten page!]

  57. I don’t often manage to finish a Paul creation so I’m feeling very pleased with myself for having completed today’s. Like everyone else, the Yul homophone was a delight to see, even though I probably wouldn’t have got it without having recently encountered Muffin’s daughter’s gag. I also enjoyed the cleverness of SPAGHETTO. I couldn’t parse GEOTHERMAL – but having read Manehi’s blog I now think it’s a delightful clue. Many thanks to Paul and Manehi

  59. I did the puzzle this morning whilst the grandchild was asleep, but he woke up before I had time to come here – and I’m glad I was delayed as the contributions here (including John Paul’s!) were as enjoyable as the puzzle and added much to the experience. And big kudos to muffin :-). In contrast to beaulieu somewhere above I was pleased to have SA for it on consecutive days – I remembered it! Paul at his best for me and manehi on form as always – thanks to both.

  60. Wasn’t going to post as I finished this so late,
    but I lived in Cornwall for the best part of twenty years and during that time did a lot of coastal walking. I have heard of the Lizard and Lizard Point but never Lizard Head!
    Still,nice puzzle.
    Thanks Paul.

  61. Cracking puzzle, as per.  I found the muffin/Yul/cologne combo delightful and rather heartwarming in an otherwise difficult week, so pleased that the scepticism @36 has been squashed.  Extra thanks to Paul, muffin & manehi.

  62. I’ve used the word SPAGHETTO myself for years, although usually only to be annoying, but I’m one of those insufferable types that orders a biscottO with my cappuccinO.

    I also feel compelled to defend muffin’s honor.  muffin, you are absolutetly not a louse, up or otherwise!

  63. Spaghetto users must rank with octopodes users in annoyance and pomposity but this is a crossie so fine. I interpreted X and Y in terms of chromosomes and got A + SEX reversed. Good fun otherwise. Salchow is new, I was stuck on saltate (which is a variant of saltitate to jump) but couldn’t parse it obviously. Lizard head returned the colorado location on googling but it fit so there’s that. Thanks Paul and manehi.

     

  64. Ref Muffin at 23: no offence meant or taken. I generally come on here only when something has really foxed me or if I want to find out if yet another gathering is set to take place when I am unavoidably elsewhere. But even if not guilty this time, indeed I do make odd comments sometimes… Great joke, great song… One of the biggest tear-jerkers (in whatever version), along with …, … and … (details on application, but presumably totally subjective)

  65. Kormornik @64

    There appeared a very strange comment from a poster whose handle looked like a foreign language anagram! (It was about spicing up the titles of the threads and adding animations etc.) I suspect Gaufrid must have seen it and deleted it.

  69. Those who recall Uncle Yap’s Tuesday “hash” runs – often mentioned here in his blogging days (c. 10 years ago – give or take) might have viewed “HASH” as a worthy solution to 3ac.
    That unusual oversight apart, this was Paul on song. How does he keep doing it?
    Many thanks, both and all.

  70. I’m late getting around to this puzzle, but I had to come here to check out the comments, to see if the latte police were up in arms about 4dn. Surely those who insist that it’s not OK to define LATTE as “coffee” should object just as much to “hot drink”. Or are they envisioning an Italian enjoying a glass of hot milk before bed at night?

    Although I can see a bunch of things to quibble about in this puzzle, Paul’s creativity and wit throughout make it seem churlish to complain about minor things. In addition to the well-deserved homage to muffin, my particular favorites were 9ac, 11ac, 21dn, although I could have listed many others.

     

     

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