Paul continues the good crossword week with another fine puzzle, full of smiles and ‘aha’ moments and some really neat cluing – I really enjoyed it. Many thanks, Paul.
Across
1 Step down first of stairs to break rule (6)
RESIGN
S[tairs] in REIGN [rule]
4 Having turned back nearly half way across ocean, explorer leaves from the Americas (7)
TOBACCO
Reversal [turned back] of OC[ean] + CABOT [John, explorer, who sailed to America and is commemorated by the Cabot Tower in Bristol, of which I have very fond memories]
9 Where glasses sit precisely (2,3,4)
ON THE NOSE
Double definition
10 Thread attaching fringes of lungi and shawl to back of cape (5)
LISLE
First and last letters [fringes] of LungI and ShawL + E [last letter of capE]
I have less happy memories of the ghastly school stockings made from this thread
11 Shroud city featuring shrouds (5)
TURIN
Hidden in [shrouded by] feaTURINg
12 Islanders on Martinique not once seizing vessel (9)
JAMAICANS
Can [vessel] in [seized by] JAMAIS [French ‘never’ – like Crucible’s ‘Tours’, the other day, another clever change from ‘Nice’]
13 Snack, Spooner’s filth of the filth? (7)
POPCORN
Spoonerism of COP PORN, filth being derogatory slang for the police
17 Compassion some weeks after conflict (6)
WARMTH
MTH [month – some weeks] after WAR [conflict]
19 Some leaves to make cha? (7)
SPINACH
SPIN [make an anagram of] CHA: a typical Paul clue and a favourite of mine – great misdirecting surface!
22 Like viruses having a rest, lying back inside maple (9)
ACELLULAR
Reversal [lying back] of A LULL [a rest] in ACER [maple]
24 Tidy, maintained without muck for a start (5)
KEMPT
M[uck] in KEPT [maintained]
I think I’ve only seen this word in its negative form, unkempt: Colliins says it’s a 20th century back formation – but also says it’s from the dialect [Chambers says Old English] ‘kemb’, to comb
27,15 Fairy, perhaps, raised just over half a ton of cash to support tree strangled by branch (7-2,6)
WASHING-UP LIQUID
UP [raised] LI QUID [£51 – just over half a ton of cash] after [to support – I think I’ve ony seen it used this way in a down clue but it’s such a good clue that I’m not quibbling] ASH [tree] in WING [branch]
28 Stop propaganda happening (7)
PREVENT
PR [propaganda] + EVENT [happening]
29 The wrong way for TV presenters to pour wine (6)
DECANT
The TV presenters ANT and DEC the ‘wrong’ way round
Down
1 Upper house covering little Australian paperwork (7)
ROOFTOP
ROO [little Australian] + FT [paper] + OP [work]
2 Dog or worm is up an instrument (5)
SITAR
Reversal [up] of RAT [dog or worm, metaphorically] + IS
3 No thanks to Garbo, Monroe wandering in space backstage (5,4)
GREEN ROOM
GRE[ta] [no thanks] + anagram [wandering] of MONROE
4 Current king in approach to palace, scratching bottom (7)
THERMAL
R [king] in THE MAL[l] [approach to {Buckingham} palace] minus the last letter
5 Curry from Lithuania? Not quite! (5)
BALTI
BALTI[c] [from Lithuania?]
6 Nation supporting lead player in Chad every so often (5,4)
COSTA RICA
I[n] C[h]A[d] supporting [in a down clue!] COSTAR [lead player] Please see jkb_ing @8 for a better parsing
7 Port, after lid removed, passed round the wrong way (6)
ODESSA
Reversal [the wrong way] of [p]ASSED + O [round]
8 Thug eating up junket for starters — it’s coated in breadcrumbs (6)
GOUJON
GOON [American hired thug] round [eating] first letters [starters] of Up Junket
14 Earth, say, on English sycamore (5,4)
PLANE TREE
PLANET [earth, say] + RE [on] + E [English]
Chambers says the sycamore is called the plane tree in Scotland
16 Setter with water living on fruit (9)
QUICKLIME
QUICK [living – as in ‘the quick and the dead’] + LIME [fruit]
18 Fool Oscar but not Wilde? (7)
HALFWIT
Oscar is half the name of the wit, Oscar Wilde
19 Most painful? Then put your feet up (6)
SOREST
SO REST
20 Somewhere dangerous, exciting to see (3,4)
HOT SPOT
HOT [exciting] + SPOT [to see]
21 Rash appearing as potty put on head (6)
MADCAP
23 Contract required while in shelter (5)
LEASE
AS [while] in LEE [shelter]
25,26 Old document, Reform Act (anagram) (5,5)
MAGNA CARTA
Anagram [reform] of ACT + ANAGRAM
I thought Paul was running out of steam with the previous few clues but this is a real cracker to end on!
Thanks Paul and Eileen
I found this easier than a typical Paul, though I didn’t parse DECANT (can I take credit for that?)
I liked TOBACCO, TURIN, JAMAICANS, and especially, ROOFTOP for the misdirection of “covering”.
I was going to question “lungi” in 10ac until I found this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lungi
Thanks Eileen, I needed your help on the parsing of several of these … costa rica & washing up liquid. Entertaining puzzle – Paul is one of my favourite setters.
Lots of nice stuff together with, knowing Paul, a deliberate attempt at writing the world’s easiest ever cryptic clue at 11ac. (MAGNA CARTA wasn’t far behind.) ROOFTOP made me chuckle, while the ‘Nanette Newman’ clue held me up as I searched for an unlikely configured spirit.
The Ant and Dec clue is even better as the lads always appear on stage or in photos with Ant on the (viewer’s) left and Dec on the right. I have my daughter to thank for this nugget. Honest.
Wonderful puzzle with so much to enjoy today. My pick would be POPCORN, DECANT and GOUJON.
From the chemistry I remember I don’t understand the clue for or parsing of QUICKLIME. It’s calcium oxide which has a violent exothermic reaction with water to produce slaked lime, calcium hydroxide. Can anyone help?
George @ 4
Yes, it’s really slaked lime that does the “setting”, by slowly reacting with carbon dioxide from the air to give hard, insoluble, calcium carbonate. I think Paul gets away with “setter with water”, though.
Hi george
I’m afraid I was rather lax in my research re QUICKLIME. I assumed that, combined with water, it made a cement. Perhaps Gervase will come to the rescue!
Sorry for the cross, muffin.
Many thanks Paul & Eileen. Great fun as ever.
Especially enjoyed JAMAICANS and SPINACH.
And I too couldn’t parse DECANT!
A slightly different parsing for COSTA RICA – I had CO-STAR as a “supporting lead player” but I guess it works either way.
Many thanks, jkb_ing – that makes much more sense! I’ll amend the blog.
Thanks Muffin. That makes sense. I had a recollection that calcium hydroxide was used in mortar. I am not going to quibble about the clue. It was a nice misdirection using setter as I looked for the crossword kind of course.
Thanks Eileen. Like Muffin@1 I was nonplussed by DECANT but got it and the rest readily enough. Wondered if there was a UK Oscar in 6 letters, for 18d, and am still a bit puzzled by the 50 per cent. Loved the Spoonerism, and in fact the whole thing. Tks Paul.
Eileen @ 9
I had COSTA RICA the same way as you did – ICA “supporting” CO-STAR. I dodn’t think it works quite as well the other way.
(No need to apologise for crossing!)
Thanks, Eileen.
Great fun, despite being one of Paul’s easier puzzles. (I disagree with ulaca @3 about the relative ease of some of the clues: I would vote for 9a as the most obvious, and 27,15 was a write-in from the enumeration).
My favourites were TOBACCO and ODESSA (great surfaces), TURIN (easy, but perfectly formed!), JAMAICANS (Nice!), SPINACH (I always like a reverse clue), DECANT (why has nobody spotted this before?).
muffin @4 has given an exemplary description of the chemistry of CaO. The ‘quick’ in QUICKLIME means ‘living’, of course, in reference to its vigorous reaction with water, unlike the relatively ‘dead’ slaked lime. The word ‘lime’ is cognate with the Latin ‘limus’, meaning mud or slime (another cognate), and alludes to its use as a mortar (similarly ‘birdlime’ – properly not faeces, but a sticky substance once smeared on twigs to trap birds). The two ‘lime’ trees (the linden and the citrus) are unrelated etymologically, either to calcium oxide or to each other. Liverpool’s Lime Street was named for the limekilns which used to stand there – though it’s easier to find a margarita than a sack of quicklime there these days.
Very enjoyable puzzle. I also admired the clueing of ‘rooftop’ and ‘Magna Carta’.
Good, enjoyable puzzle.
Thanks Eileen; especially for parsing WASHING-UP LIQUID for me. As muffin @5 says, the ‘setter with water’ is probably OK, although according to this, the carbonation can take over 100 years to complete!
I particularly liked the JAMAICANS and ROOFTOP.
Thanks all
The mot disparity between the halves (top and bottom)I have seen for a long time.
Still overall good, favourite was 27ac, last in was popcorn.
I usually don’t even TRY a Paul Crossword as PAUL equates for me as DIFFICULT.
Took a glimpse at Eileen’s first comments and decided to have a go.
(This site often gives me valuable clues as to the level of crossword so I know whether to try or not.
Imagine my delight that today I managed to get it well started before I sought help.
I finished it. A first!
It may have been an easy PAUL for some of you – but not for some of us others.
Another fun Paul puzzle even though, as some of you have noted, it was on the easy side by his usual standards.
I needed both “p” checkers before I saw POPCORN, but it certainly raised a smile. The only answer that was unfamiliar was ACELLULAR but it was easy enough to deduce from the definition and the wordplay. Once I had a few checkers I didn’t bother to parse WASHING-UP LIQUID, and that opened up the rest of the SE. DECANT was my LOI
Hi MAHatEZE – and welcome!
You only have to look through any day’s comments to see how one person’s ‘easy’ might be quite different from someone else’s experience of a puzzle.
“(This site often gives me valuable clues as to the level of crossword so I know whether to try or not.]”
So that’s something of a caveat for bloggers! – I’d advise always to have a go and make up your own mind.
Anyway, congrats on finishing today and hope to hear more from you. 😉
An enjoyable crossword from Paul as ever. Not as easy as for me as some on here seem to think. Just average difficulty for Paul although some clues were very easy. (not 11A though!)
Just one thing. I don’t understand Eileen’s quibble about “supporting” in a down clue for 6D. In a down clue ending in ICA, ICA is “supporting” the letters above surely? No matter to me as I parsed it CO-STAR = supporting lead player.
Thanks to Eileen and Paul
BNTO @20
Eileen didn’t have a quibble about “‘supporting” in a down clue’. You need to read the whole blog. My ‘!’ was referring to my comment on 27,15.
Eileen @21
I couldn’t believe that you would be complaining about supporting in a down clue! Although I had read the whole blog.
But I think that you need to read the whole blog to see that you are 😉
Indeed, welcome MAHatEZE.
Great you finished this puzzle that many qualified as easy.
Very satisfying.
That said (so, don’t read any further), I also thought this was not a hard crossword by Paul.
Where I differ from others, is that I find most of Paul’s crosswords not that difficult nowadays.
Is it what they call a wavelength thing or was he really a lot harder some years ago? I tend to think the latter.
But, of course, it was another fun puzzle from the ever clever Mr H.
In 19ac I saw ‘spin’ not as a strict anagram indicator but as a device to tell us to treat ‘cha’ cyclic [like in yesterday’s KISS].
And Gervase @13: DECANT (why has nobody spotted this before?).
Well, this is the third time recently that I had to scrap things from my cryptic notebook after Nutmeg’s “Cloak and Dagger” and Tyrus’ “Coniston Water”.
Yet, I cannot imagine that it hasn’t been done before.
Many thanks, Eileen – hope to see on Saturday.
BNTO
Not for the first time, I fail to understand your comment. Time for bed now.
Hi Sil
Yes, looking forward to it!
[I’ve spent some time today [unsuccessfully] chasing up an Ant and Dec clue. I’m sure I’ve seen one. All I’ve come up with are a number of clues for ‘decanter’, along the lines of CAN in DETER or CAN’T in DEER. Frustrating!]
One more thing, if you see “to support” as “to back” then why not?
An Across clue of mine was criticised a while ago (at a Derby do) for the same reason: “Language school in support of second-rate writing, perhaps? (6)” which I re-wrote thereafter, replacing “in support of” by “backing”.
Not sure anymore whether I should have done that or not.
Good morning Eileen!
Just finished the puzzle…. thanks for parsing 18d. It wasn’t our favourite clue but the rest of the puzzle made up for it.
Thanks also to Paul.
Hi again Sil
“One more thing, if you see “to support” as “to back” then why not?”
Quite – I said I wasn’t quibbling, just saying I didn’t remember having seen it before!
[Now it really is time for bed.]
Hi B and J
It wasn’t my favourite clue, either. Night night 🙂
Re 21d, my daughter used to have a book of poems, of which her favourite was:
“Don’t put that potty on your head, Tim,
Don’t put that potty on your head.
It’s not very clean,
And you don’t know where it’s been,
So don’t put that potty on your head.”
I believe the author is Colin McNaughton.
Eileen , normally I wouldn’t labour a point as I don’t really care. However your curt replies have mildly amused me!
“COSTA RICA
I[n] C[h]A[d] supporting [in a down clue!] COSTAR [lead player] Please see jkb_ing @8 for a better parsing”
What could be clearer than that? The exclamation mark must be there for a reason. And I cant read it as a refer back.
I merely asked in case I was missing something.
Politeness costs nothing.
I hope you enjoy your “do” on Saturday where I’m sure due respect will be shown to one and all. 😉
Brendan @31 – if you’re still there –
My apologies fir the delay in replying: I’ve been out since before lunchtime.
The exclamation mark in my comment on COSTA RICA referred to my comment on WASHING-UP LIQUID, re ‘to support’:
“UP [raised] LI QUID [£51 – just over half a ton of cash] after [to support – I think I’ve ony seen it used this way in a down clue but it’s such a good clue that I’m not quibbling] ASH [tree] in WING [branch]”
Perhaps it would have been clearer if I’d said, ‘in a down clue *this time*!’
Thanks for your reply Eileen.
I really thought I might be missing something.
As regards the use of supporting I can only think that Paul thought that LIQUID was directly below WASHING-UP in the grid. (Perhaps it was at some point!)
I don’t go with support = back because it still doesn’t quite work for me. Does a word have a front and back? Start and end yes. Surely the back of a word is the bit touching the paper.
Sorry, Brendan, we still seem to be on different wavelengths. I’m quite happy with Sil’s ‘backing’ @26.
I just wanted to clear myself of the accusation of impoliteness.
My apologies again for lack of misunderstanding – my last word.