Guardian 24,286 – Paul : Fizzy Pop

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A man notices a blonde sucking on the bottom of a Coke can. Curious, he asks her what she’s doing. “Duh! It says for best taste drink by date on the bottom.”  

ACROSS

9 <<left out on purpose>>  – simple cryptic definition (too simple?)

10 (r)OAST <<thanks to Paul for the correction>>

11 ORDER PAPER – Used in the UK Parliament (PREPAREDOR)*

12 K(OPEC)K

15 PALER-MO : Doctor is M.O, “more anaemic” is paler – thank heavens, the only thing I know about Sicily is there is a town called Palermo.

17 R-ECEIP-T : That’s “piece” reversed between R(uns) and T(ime)

20 MAKE ONES PRESENCE FELT : Not entirely convinced I’ve grasped the full meaning here <<“make ones present svelte” according to Rulei>>

22 DI(TH)ER : Wings of thrush =”th” is inspired

23 C(RY-P-TOG)RAM

25 <<left out of purpose>> – simple sound-alike

26 CON-FLI(C)T

DOWN

1 C-O-C-ACOL-A : clue of the month for me. Reading backwards we have A LOCA(l) with C(aught) O(ld) and C(onservative). It rots your teeth. Oh yes it does.

3 SH-TOOK  – <<Thanks to Paul for saving me>>

4 FR(I-D)AYS

5 A-PERT-URE : Runner-up in the Clue of the Month competition : “pert” is “fresh” (sort of) and Ure is a river

6 HARAS-S(MEN)T : “sarah” backwards

7 U-N(W)ELL : Little Nell from Dickens : reference to the play “Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell”

13 ELEVE(N PL-U)S – we’ve had this one a few times recently : “Eleves” is French for students, “Nepal regularly” is “N.P.L” and U for University. Must be something about the alternating letter E’s that makes it beloved of compilers.

16 M(AN-BO)OBS – As a middle-aged man of girth, this made me smile

19 (m)OST-RICH

21 A-BRU(P)T

22 DOM-IN-O – i.e “MOD” reversed

24 PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER – trad. joke. Now we all know what Paul got in his Christmas cracker.

19 comments on “Guardian 24,286 – Paul : Fizzy Pop”

  3. Spot on? Rotter for Coca Cola is distinctly unhelpful, as is ‘when’ in the RECEIPT clue (aiding the surface meaning but with no structural justification).

  6. Omigod – MAKE ONE’S PRESENT SVELTE… I don’t know whether to laugh, cry or gnash my teeth. I actually like strained puns in crosswords, but if it turns out to have passed too many of us by, then perhaps this one didn’t work. Well done Rulei.
    It seemed to me that for the crpytic reading, MAKE ONE’S PRESENCE MELT would be more apt.

  7. I was more than happy with “rotter” for Coca Cola also. It’s one of the strengths of the Guardian daily crosswords that the setters aren’t afraid sometimes to swap a bit of accuracy for poetry. Anyone who wants a predictable challenge should take up Sudoko.

    That said, 20ac. isn’t quite cricket.

  10. Thanks. Grandma Alice doesn’t seem to recognise this word but I’ve heard the phrase ‘in shtook’.

  12. Just to confirm the list the appearances of “ELEVEN PLUS” in recent Guardian crosswords :-

    19th November 2007 : RUFUS – (“team” + “advantage”)
    31st December 2007 : ENIGMATIST -(VENUES-PE-LL)*
    10th January 2008 : PASQUALE – >
    and today 16th January 2008 : PAUL – ELEVE(NPL U)S

    Yes, I’m a geek. No, I have no life.

  14. Indeed – the clue for PLAIN read to me as a straight definition, I was looking for something much more oblique.
    Thanks for the stats on ELEVEN-PLUS – I’ve certainly had the feeling recently that it’s more in use in crosswords than in schools!

  15. My latest puzzle was to have been tomorrow but I noticed ELEVEN PLUS in the previous day’s solution grid and suggested that mine be put back — the nice stand-in editor brought it forward!

  16. 9a I thought it was a homophone! I got it from the geometric term ‘plane’ indicating the face of a solid.

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