[If you’re attending York S&B please see comments 32&33] - here
As ever a very entertaining crossword from Paul. This wasn’t a difficult solve, but great fun. My favourite clues were 23a,26a and 13a, which are both excellent. The only slight oddity here was having both DANCER and DANCE in the grid at the end, since there are several reasonable alternatives for D_N_E.
Across
1. Tongue spoken, cause of the slurring? (6)
LIQUOR
Your tongue might be described as a “licker” which sounds like LIQUOR
Definition: “cause of the slurring?”
4. Solid figure hard, during various periods (8)
SPHEROID
H = “hard” in (PERIODS)*
Definition: “Solid figure”
10. European conversion of Gaul accepted by reluctant Messiah (9)
BULGARIAN
(GAUL)* in BRIAN = “reluctant Messiah” (a nice reference to Monty Python’s Life of Brian)
Definition:
11. Hundreds initially stuck in toilet and half of them drunk, completely (2,3,4)
TO THE HILT
H[undreds] = “Hundreds initially” in (TOILET TH)* (the latter part of the anagram fodder is TH[em] = “half of them”)
Definition: “completely”
12. Bird black in colour, tail invisible (5)
GREBE
B = “black” in GREE[n] = “colour, tail invisible”
Definition: “Bird”
13. Young lady was a German viniculturist, I gathered (12)
MADEMOISELLE
This made us groan, in a good way 🙂 “MADE MOSELLE” = “was a German viniculturist” around I. It turns out I’ve been misspelling this as “Madamoiselle” all my life…
Definition: “Young lady”
17. Photographer’s subject so informed? (2,3,7)
IN THE PICTURE
Double definition: “Photographer’s subject so” and “informed?”
20. Explode, putting head in furnace by mistake (2,3)
GO OFF
F[urnace] = “head in furnace” beside GOOF = “mistake”
Definition: “Explode”
21,9. Female in the postal union? (4-5,5)
MAIL-ORDER BRIDE
Cryptic definition: a joke on “union” meaning “marriage”
23,26. Model like her, in secret, a contributor to the affairs of government? (9,6)
CHRISTINE KEELER
An excellent anagram and clue: (LIKE HER IN SECRET)* (“Model” is the anagram indicator)
Definition: “a contributor to the affairs of government?” – “affair” here referring to the Profumo affair
24. Crackhead invested in European trip (5)
DANCE
C[rack] = “Crackhead” in DANE = “European”
Definition: “trip” (as a verb)
25. Yellowish fluid gets to float in breeze (8)
PUSHOVER
PUS = “Yellowish fluid” + HOVER = “to float”
Definition: “breeze”
Down
1. Doctor by tool, holding second the wrong way for surgical procedure (8)
LOBOTOMY
(BY TOOL)* around MO = “second” reversed
Definition: “surgical procedure”
2. Calm study under which person at the Sorbonne? (8)
QUIETUDE
ETUDE = “study” after QUI = “which person at the Sorbonne?” (QUI is the French for “who” or “which person”)
Definition: “Calm”
3. Very large topless garments embarrassing, initially (5)
OBESE
[r]OBES = “topless garments” + E[mbarrassing] = “embarrassing, initially”
Definition: “Very large”
5. Shock of a chicken, say, getting award in America (8,5)
PULITZER PRIZE
Sounds like “pullet surprise” (or “Shock of a chicken”) – a “pullet” is a young hen
Definition: “award in America”
6. Leaving disarray within the Church, standing as a gospeller (9)
EVANGELIC
(LEAVING)* in CE = “Church” reversed
Definition: “as a gospeller”
7. Musical gilt-edged, as it happens (6)
OLIVER
OR means “gold”, so being “gilt-edged” might mean “with OR around the outside” – so, that’s OR around LIVE = “as it happens”
Definition: “Musical”
10. A power no longer, in French produce ’tis going to pot, I fear, in the end (7,6)
BRITISH EMPIRE
BRIE = “French produce” around TIS + HEMP = “pot” + I + [fea]R = “fear, in the end”
Definition:
14. Chap I decorate, that’s not on as a declaration of intent (9)
MANIFESTO
MAN = “Chap” + I + FESTO[on] = “decorate, that’s not on”
Definition: “a declaration of intent”
15. Wind unloaded from one’s guts (8)
DUODENAL
(UNLOADED)*
Definition: “from one’s guts”
16. I agree to try and try again (4,4)
HEAR HEAR
HEAR = “try” (as in “to try a case”) and HEAR = “try again”
Definition: “I agree”
18. Filled with goods, up-ended dark red food container (3,3)
EGG CUP
GG = “goods” in PUCE = “dark red”
Definition: “food container”
19,8. Santa’s reindeer attached to old motor, one with bells on? (6,6)
MORRIS DANCER
DANCER = “Santa’s reindeer” attached to MORRIS = “old motor”
Definition: “one with bells on?”
22. Veteran during apartheid, locked up (5)
OLDIE
Hidden reversed in “[aparth]EID LO[cked]”
Definition: “Veteran”
Thanks mhl. Entertaining yes, my only reservation is that the entertainment was over rather too quickly. Most of the answers just wrote themselves in.
Many thanks mhl & Paul.
This was a wonderful puzzle although I was disappointed to find a BRIAN and no BRYAN.
Maybe next time?
A nicely clued puzzle from Paul with some of his usual humour and a hint of naughtiness
This was enjoyable but was it hard enough for a prize? Not in my opinion 🙁
Thanks to mhl and “Paul”
And this week’s prize also seems to have been switched for a Quiptic — a rather annoying trend.
Even though I thought it was towards the easier end of Paul’s spectrum it was an enjoyable puzzle with some smiles along the way. As has already been said the “Brian” reference in 10ac was amusing, and the clue for CHRISTINE KEELER was excellent.
I’ve noticed that the difficulty level of the Times prize puzzle can also vary wildy, but the Indy seems to be able to maintain a high level of difficulty so it proves it can be done. Having said that, I always do the Guardian prize puzzle while I’m eating my dinner on a Monday evening so it doesn’t bother me if it isn’t a stinker.
Thanks mhl,
I really enjoyed this after starting it on Wednesday evening. I don’t seem to have the passion for crosswords that I used to have.
It must have been on the easy side if I finished it over two nights but hugely entertaining nevertheless. The clue for CHRISTINE KEELER was an absolute classic. Bravo to Paul. In fact, I struggled far more with Nutmeg’s quiptic last Monday but Paul will always win on entertainment value.
10d perhaps of interest EMPIRE in French can mean to go to pot
I was very pleased with myself when I finished this puzzle last Saturday and was able to parse all my answers. This probably proves that the puzzle is on the easy end of the spectrum.
My favourites were 5d and 10d.
Thanks Paul and mhl.
Thanks both Paul for a fun puzzle and mhl for settling any lingering parse doubts I had. I am interested in the point raised by a number of responders here. Does the Guardian have an editorial policy about the level of difficulty of Prize puzzles? Has the number of people submitting entries for the Prize dwindled to the point where the Editor has found it necessary to make the challenge easier. Perhaps the editor himself might like to grace us here on Fifteensquared with an answer to these questions.
Finally just like to say that 23, 26 was an absolute classic, up there with some of the best of the much missed Rev!!
By a weird coincidence, “Profumo Affair” was Wikipedia’s featured article on the day this was published, which made 23,26 nice and easy.
I too learnt from this puzzle that all my life I have spelt mademoiselle wrongly, with an a instead of an e in position four !
Coltranesax @9
I suspect that if the number of entries to the Prize Crossword has dwindled it will be due to the awful prizes which are offered.
Many posters have posted on here agreeing that the prizes are of no use whatsoever to an experienced solver. I guess hundreds of people solve the puzzle every week but never bother to enter. (Online entry would also be a boon).
As the prizes never change it does deter previous winners from entering as why should they want two more “crap” books for the bin?
I’m sure that if the Guardian offered a cash prize of even £20 pounds to 3 people say that the entry would quadruple at least.
Thanks for the blog, mhl.
This one didn’t take long to solve, but was still fun. I really liked CHRISTINE KEELER and MAIL-ORDER BRIDE. At the time I didn’t spot that we had both DANCE and DANCER… my lack of observation never ceases to amaze me. Also put me down as another lifelong miss-speller of MADEMOISELLE.
Thinking of the late Rev on a Saturday morning, I happened to spot this in the supermarket today: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/3/20/1395318906445/Wine-Araucaria-001.jpg
Enjoyable puzzle but perhaps a shade too easy. I wonder what the difference is between a prize puzzle and the bog standard daily one? I always assumed that the prize one would be the more difficult but that certainly hasn’t been the case recently-but perhaps I’m just missing Auraucaria!
Another enjoyable but not too challenging Paul. I think the “too easy for a prize” debate is getting very boring, and I hope I’m not the only one who felt that today’s has redressed that balance. Enjoyed MAIL-ORDER BRIDE, MADEMOISELLE and CHRISTINE KEELER (maybe I should reword that sentence but then again we are discussing a Paul crossword).
Thanks to mhl and Paul
Thanks Paul and mhl
Agree that this was on the easy side of difficulty but on the high side of entertainment.
I think that the clue at 13a will forever be the way to remember how to properly spell MADEMOISELLE henceforth.
23, 26a and 5d were my faves. PUSHOVER was my last in and for some reason took a long time for the penny to drop even after getting the PUS bit.
Houris dancer?
Brendan, regarding the prize, I never enter because it seems like a total waste of money.
A second class stamp costs 53p and the prize is worth 2899p. So unless there are less than 54 entries per week, or I get very lucky, I will lose on average.
Since it is so easy to find the prize answers on the Internet (sadly) I assume there are many more than 50 entries per week.
For the same reason I don’t see any “glory” in winning either.
Oops. It seems there are five prizes per week; I did say I wasn’t very observant 🙂
So you can “break even” if there are less than 274 entries each week. That seems more likely, but still unattractive.
I’m afraid there are way more entries than that – I seem to remember from Hugh Stephenson’s newsletter that there are between 1500 and 2500 entries per week. (Annoyingly I can’t find that reference right now.) Nonetheless, I’m long past the point where it’s statistically rather unlikely that I haven’t ever won a crossword prize, which is a source of ongoing grumpiness 🙂 I have all the prizes already, of course, but it’s the honour of it really (and something random to put on your CV)
It being a Paul crossword, I was working with an entirely different “yellowish fluid” for 25a.
Thanks all
I think Brendan is right in his thoughts on prizes. Many years ago in quite rapid sequence I won three copies of Chambers English dictionaries. That was one for me (to replace my old one) and one each for my daughters.
I have not entered since.
I particularly liked 10 across (Messiah indeed or just a very naughty boy.)