Enigmatist puzzles are rather few and far between these days, so this was a welcome return to the prize slot. On the whole, I didn’t find it quite so tortuous as his puzzles often are – maybe he’s saving himself for a fiendish birthday offering – but, as usual, parsing followed rather slowly on solving in several cases and in one, 5dn, I have to admit defeat.
Looking back on my latest blog of an Enigmatist Prize puzzle, I saw that Jan made a comment to the effect that E often prefers to send us round the ‘chaotic ring road’ when the route through town is clear – and I think I know what she means.
Enigmatist doesn’t really go in for the story-telling surfaces that I love – in fact I struggled to make sense of some of them [eg 11ac and the unfathomable 5dn] – but 15dn is an exception and an absolute gem. I liked 1ac, too, and and 16ac painted a jolly picture.
All in all, a challenging work-out, worthy of the Prize slot. Many thanks, Enigmatist.
Across
1 Got switched (7)
TWIGGED
Double definition
5 One mishandling gong lecturer’s pinned inside coat (7)
FUMBLER
MBE [medal – ‘gong’] + L [lecturer] in FUR [coat]
9 Admitting one for tests, writhing in severe pain — an indication of sportiness? (2-6,7)
GO-FASTER STRIPES
Anagram [writhing] of A [one] in FOR TESTS in GRIPES [severe pain]
10 Sussex train has stopped outside (5)
EXTRA
Hidden in [has stopped] sussEX TRAin
11 Sealing backing for aged teachers in charge, having got behind special lashings (9)
SHEDLOADS
Heads [teachers in charge] round [sealing] reversal [backing] of OLD [aged] after [behind] S [special]
Like many others, I’m sure, I associate ‘lashings = loads’ with ‘lashings of ginger beer’ in Enid Byton’s Famous Five books – but, according to Wikipedia, it never appeared – another illusion shattered
12 In short, the solution is to turn champion horse into one that gets beaten (5,4)
SNARE DRUM
Reversal [to turn] of ANS[wer] [in short, the solution] + RED RUM [champion horse]
Red Rum has, understandably, been exploited a number of times in crosswords as a reversal of MURDER but this is a nice new slant
14 Timeless scar, the beginning and the end for Socrates? (5)
SIGMA
S[t]IGMA [scar minus time]: sigma is the Greek letter S, the beginning and end of Socrates – I suppose this has to be my favourite clue!
15 Daughters in wage rage? (5)
PADDY
DD [daughters] in PAY [wages]
16 Gin-slinging in social gathering good for generating this? (9)
SINGALONG
Anagram [slinging] of GIN in SALON [social gathering] + G [good]
18 Unthinkingly used up cards (3,2,4)
OUT OF HAND
Double / cryptic definition
Surprisingly, I couldn’t find this in Chambers or Collins but to reject something out of hand is to do so without thinking
21 Lizard caught antagonist in Wall Street (5)
GECKO
Sounds like [caught] Gordon] Gekko – “the main antagonist of the 1987 film Wall Street” [Wikipedia]
22 Physical exercises in the morning? They attract attention at Westminster (5,3,7)
EARLY DAY MOTIONS
Cryptic definition
23 Nurse admitted Indian dish that’s hot dislodged canine (7)
BASENJI
SEN [State Enrolled Nurse in [admitted] B[h[AJI [Indian dish minus h – hot dislodged]: I have to admit to knowing this canine only through crosswords
24 Secretary’s not very much on, for example (7)
PARAGON
PA [Personal Assistant – secretary] + RAG [not very much] + ON
Down
1 One very fierce soldier held up in lock (7)
TIGRESS
Reversal [held up] of GI [soldier] in TRESS [lock]
2 Hip’s well-exercised, passing time with courtesans on and off (2,4,3,6)
IN FITS AND STARTS
IN [hip] + FIT [well-exercised] + SANDS [passing time] + TARTS [courtesans]
3 Flimsy bloody cases succeeded unchanged (9)
GOSSAMERY
GORY [bloody] round [cases] S [succeeded] SAME [unchanged]
4 Pharmacy business stocks ecstasy for you, on telephone deposit (5)
DREGS
E [ecstasy] replaces U [‘you on telephone’] in DR[u]GS [pharmacy business]
5 James or John? It’s doubtful which tank’s propelled skyward (9)
FISHERMAN
I have puzzled over this one all week, on and off, and still can’t make it out. The definition is ‘James or John’ and the construction has to be IF [‘it’s doubtful’ – hmm] and SHERMAN [tank]. For once, I remembered about the annotated solution, so waited all week for that before completing the blog: it gives simply ‘fisherman IF(rev)/SHERMAN’, which I found no help at all: the wordplay suggests to me that it’s the tank that’s reversed [propelled skyward], not the IF [which I think is ‘iffy’, anyway!
Anyway, for what it’s worth, James and John were brothers, fishermen, two of the first four disciples called by Jesus and mentioned in Sidney Carter’s ‘Lord of the Dance’ [‘I danced for the fishermen, for James and John’] I look forward to someone explaining this one to me!
Many thanks to Paul B @5: ‘has’, not ‘is’- it’s so simple now! [And apologies to Enigmatist for doubting.]
6 On top of latke, 10 mushroom (5)
MOREL
MORE [extra – 10ac] + L [first letter – top – of Latke]
7 Waxed lyrical about reaction to pain, after having to drink tea (7,8)
LAPSANG SOUCHONG
SANG SONG [waxed lyrical] round OUCH [reaction to pain] after LAP [drink]
8 Extremely large arses kicked round part of Antarctica (4,3)
ROSS SEA
Anagram [kicked round] of ARSES round OS [extremely large]
13 One emperor giving lift to another’s a long way off one (3,6)
RAS TAFARI
Reversal [given lift] of TSAR [another emperor] AFAR [a long way off] + I [one]
14 Carnage puts end to games and merriment (9)
SLAUGHTER
S [end of gameS] + LAUGHTER [merriment]
15 Saw dog severing lead (7)
PROVERB
ROVER [dog] in [severing] PB [chemical symbol for lead is Pb]
17 Nothing too much inserted, snog silly old Scots relative (4-3)
GOOD-SON
O [nothing] OD [too much] in anagram [silly] of SNOG
Despite having had a Scottish husband, I didn’t know this expression and couldn’t find it in Chambers but googling revealed that, by analogy with the French beau-fils, it means son-in-law – or stepson. [I can never understand how the French don’t get confused: I happen to have a lovely French stepdaughter-in-law!] I eventually found it in SOED – but only as ‘son-in-law’.
19 Gathering of the air at the centre of lying (3-2)
FLY-IN
Hidden in the middle of oFLY INg
I couldn’t find this in my dictionaries, either, but it seemed to make sense and Wikipedia says it’s ‘a pre-arranged gathering of aircraft, pilots and passengers for recreational and social purposes’
20 Block apparently unhinged (3,2)
DAM UP
One of those reverse clues: reversal [up] of MAD [unhinged]
Thanks Eileen. I struggled with this and it took me quite a lot longer than usual. I wondered about some of the clues; I looked in vain for a less obvious explanation for 10 and although Google acquainted me with Gordon Gekko I failed to see the point of ‘caught’ in 21. And I thought 5 was itself doubtful, like you it seems to me that ‘if’ may be propelled skyward but the tank is not.
Thanks Enigmatist and Eileen. Started this at 4PM on Friday and completed it sometime on Wednesday but needed to come here to find out why PARAGON was right. Some day I will learn that PA = secretary. What a workout!
Cheers…
Indeed, Eileen, 15d (PROVERB) is an absolute gem.
Saw is not saw, lead is not lead.
I fear, I cannot help you with 5d.
It was our last entry and perhaps we could explain it a week ago (can’t remember that we couldn’t) but we can’t now. 🙁
Good puzzle.
I recently managed to solve three Nimrods in a row, and now this one too.
He’s clever, isn’t he?
Thanks Eileen.
As you say, not quite as tortuous as normal from this setter, but still a serious work-out. I find his clueing satisfyingly precise.
Good-son is in my 12 year old Chambers, under good-brother,along with the other -inlaws. Surprisingly, shedloads is not, and that was my last one in.
The IF has been propelled skyward by the SHERMAN. That’s the gag.
Great puzzle – and reasonably accessible.
No trouble parsing 5d – once you read ‘s as “has” you’re pretty well there. Business as usual really – the most obvious reading is not the required one.
OTOH I wondered if a trick had been missed. John and James are fishermen obviously (OMG – no DBE indication – shock horror – ximen***s tearing their hair out up and down the land) – then tank – well obviously that could be Thomas (the tank engine) – but hold on – Thomas (the doubtin gone) went fishing with the others (according to John) – but hold on again – James isn’t a tank engine – he’s a tender engine – and John and James were the sons of Zebedee, who’s in a completely different TV show anyway.
Only other quibble – the def in 7d. Tea! – that’s not tea – tea for poncing poseurs maybe. Apparently the Chinese don’t even drink it themselves.
Anyway lovely puzzle. Very enjoyable solve which unfolded nicely.
I found the NE corner the most difficult. I couldn’t parse 5a, 5d and 11a.
I particularly liked 14d, 15d, 12a and my favourites were 14 SIGMA, 20d DAM UP, 7d LAPSANG SOUCHONG & 2d IN FITS AND STARTS,
New words for me were GOOD-SON, BHAJI, PADDY = rage.
Thanks Enigmatist and Eileen. I think there is a typo @ 16a which should be anagram of GIN in SALON + G, and for 4d isn’t the definition “deposit”?
PaulB@5, thanks for clarifying the parsing gag of 5d.
Many thanks, Paul B @5. [As you see, I’ve lost sleep over this!] As g larsen says, the cluing is very precise: I should have known better.
And thanks, michelle. Typos corrected now.
Thanks for the blog, Eileen. Good-son is in Chambers under good-brother, and out of hand is there as well, buried deep in the entry for hand.
And thanks for explaining DREGS which had defeated me.
Well thanks for all the explanations, this took me all week and I still only had 3 answers completed. Note to self…buy The Sun…
Thanks, bridgesong and g larsen.
One of my irritations with Chambers is the apparent random nature of the entries. Since ‘out of character’, out of date / joint / place / sight / work, etc, etc are listed under ‘out’, why would ‘out of hand’ not be? And if I haven’t heard of ‘good-son’, am I likely to have heard of ‘good-brother’?
[Please, I am not seeking to reopen discussion on the merits of specific dictionaries: these are rhetorical questions. 😉 ]
I also found this easier than some of Enigmatist’s previous offerings. I usually struggle to get on the same wavelength as him because he’s one of the trickier setters and there aren’t enough Enigmatist/Nimrod puzzles for me to get used to his style.
I did the puzzle while I was eating on Monday evening and I can’t actually remember too much about it, although I do recall thinking that Enigmatist hadn’t hidden the definitions as cunningly as he sometimes does, and with some of the clues I’m sure I only checked the wordplay after being fairly certain of the answers. The four 15-letter answers fall into that category.
Definitely easy Enigmatist but as entertaining as ever. Thanks to PaulB for explaining 5d – so simple when you see it. The other major hold up was tracking down good-son in Chambers.
Thanks to E for the fun and the other E for the explanations.
Thanks Eileen and Enigmatist
A clever puzzle as usual and not quite as hard as expected.
‘Good son’ held me up but a hunt through Google eventually confirmed it via ‘guid sin’ in a Scottish dictionary. Thanks Eileen for the reminder re beau fils.
I too was flummoxed by the ‘skywards’ in 5d though the answer was clear enough.
I particularly liked 2d and 3d and smiled at 15d.
Tricky dicky crossword, which my computer obligingly finished for me. Usual masterly performance by Enigmatist.
Thanks Eileen; I liked (in a masochistic way) the use of ‘caught’ as a homophone indicator in 21 – very misleading.
I liked the EARLY DAY MOTIONS – very Paulian. GO-FASTER STRIPES also raised a smile when I eventually worked out what was going on.
Great blog, Eileen. I thought this was super stuff with some brilliant constructions, as usual, from Enigmatist. I have to confess, I couldn’t parse FISHERMAN. My favourite was GO-FASTER STRIPES. 15d was an excellent variation on the “Saw dog wearing lead” which I’ve seen before.
Bless you, Tramp, for making me feel so much better to be in such good company. 😉
I don’t have Jolly Swagman’s problems with James or John. The question mark qualifies the DBE quite without a hitch!
Should have said too, what a good work-out. Enigmatist’s Guardian puzzles are always full of goodies, so it’s ALWAYS worth persevering when the going gets tough, and he’s never yet let this fan down.
Many thanks, John H and Eileen.
Thanks, Eileen. I honestly can’t remember if I had the parsing of FISHERMAN or not – I think it was one of those where, not having the shackles of a blogger around my ankles, I skipped past as it was clearly right and involved iffy Shermans…
For your woes with dictionaries, I have no idea which (if any) mobile phone you use but I have an iPhone with the Chambers dictionary app installed, which is regularly updated, free, to the latest version and is fully searchable – type in “outofhand” (spaces not required) and up comes the relevant entry. If memory serves, it’s cheaper than the version made from trees.
Two disclaimers: bit off topic but I think the bulk of posting is finished now; I have no pecuniary interest in the phone or Chambers! 😉
Thanks for the tip, Neil – you would laugh if you saw my mobile phone!
Sil@3 – if you want to see this setter being properly tricky, see if you can get hold of a copy of yesterday’s Telegraph Toughie.
Afternoon Eileen.
Glad to be of service, and thanks for the usual uber-work of bloggiosity.
Thanks, Eileen, needed for three clues in TR (FUMBLER and MOREL, both obvious now; and 11a)
I have managed to finish today’s double alphabetic (~3 hr 20 mins, which is shorter than for most prize doubles, for me); the only thing I haven’t solved: is this Araucaria – feels like it.
I have just found it is not A.
Thanks, Eileen
Sorry for late comment – I have just spent a couple of hours finishing today’s prize double…
As others have said, not the most difficult Enigmatist, but good fun, with some typically ingenious clues.
The parsing of 5d defeated me as well. I’ve commented before on my dislike of ‘has’ abbreviated to ‘apostrophe s’ in clues, but we won’t go into all that again!
Dave@24
how to print out today’s Prize in landscape? I printed it out but it seems to be so small portrait-wise, and takes up less than top half of an A4 page. Too small to read and work on for my liking. Is that the only way to print it out?
Hi Michele @27
You should be able to change the orientation in the print dialog box of whichever program you use to view a pdf file. The latest version of Adobe Reader does it automatically.
Michelle @ 27 / Gaufrid @ 28
Foxit Reader does it automatically too – and I believe it has a smaller footprint / uses a lot fewer system resources than Adobe Reader
hth
Simon ô¿ô
michelle @27 I don’t print it, as I buy the paper version everyday. The others have given you some suggestions, however.
Dave
Your printer quite possibly has an ‘auto rotate’ feature too. I’d be surprised if it didn’t.
@bootikins – I didn’t have the slightest problem with an unindicated DBE – I never do – it’s a stupid rule. It’s the ximmies who don’t like it. OTOH the idea that we can silence them by feeding them with QMs is greatly appealing.
5d – SHERMAN (tank) has (‘s) IF propelled skywards – OK there’s a smile in the allusion but the wordplay is straightforward.
@michelle #27. If you hit the printer-looking icon it goes straight to the printer using the default setting (of which yours must not be the one want).
If you go File-Print through the normal menus it will pass through a dialog where you can change the orientation.
At least that’s what I get under Firefox.
I’m pretty sure it used to do it automatically but Adobe gets updated five times for every once you use it so maybe they changed it.
Thanks all for the suggestions on how to print out the double Prize. I’ll try again now.
Wow, well done to those who have finished it already – hope you send in and win a prize – good luck!
I had a go at it yesterday and only managed to solve half of the clues so far.
Hi Jolly, thanks for getting back.
My point was that the DBE IS indicated, the QM usage as at 5D being standard AFAIK. Hear you on a general point, but I’m happier when the setters do indicate, just through fear really.