(Please click here for this same blog but with a picture quiz added. Please do NOT post hereinbelow any comment relating to the picture quiz. Thank you.) An enjoyable puzzle that wasn’t much of a problem, thanks to Paul. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 502 shillings invested in plant covered the wound (7)
DRESSED : D(Roman numeral for 500) + [ S,S(2 x abbrev. for “shilling”) contained in(invested in) REED(a plant) ].
5 A flipping flat-bottomed vessel? (7)
TUMBLER : Cryptic defn: One that flips;rolls – which of course a flat bottomed vessel can’t do.
9 West Country town mine, its gold going west? (5)
FROME : [FOR ME](is given to me;mine) with reversal of(its … going west, in an across clue) “OR”(in heraldry, of the metal gold).
10 River, one in West Country town – yes, yes, yes! (9)
POSITIVES : PO(the Italian river) + [ I(Roman numeral for “one”) contained in(in) ST. IVES(seaside town in Cornwall in the West Country) ].
11 Hitter, jumper and flier (7,3)
CRICKET BAT : CRICKET(a jumping insect) + BAT(a flying mammal).
Defn: …, or what you might hit with.
12 Policeman left inside whales (4)
PLOD : L(abbrev. for “left”) contained in(inside) POD(collective noun for whales).
Defn: … from the Noddy children’s series.
14 See 22 across
18 Harmless drunk missing wife, figure touring the bogs (11)
INOFFENSIVE : “wino”(a drunk) minus(missing) “w”(abbrev. for “wife”) + [ FIVE(a number;a figure) containing(touring) FENS(bogs;marshes) ].
21 Advantage held by landed gentry (4)
EDGE : Hidden in(held by) ” landed gentry ”
22,14 Words from Hamlet confusing family with satyr in the West Country (7,3,4,2,5)
FRAILTY, THY NAME IS WOMAN! : Anagram of(confusing) [ FAMILY plus(with) SATYR IN THE] + W(abbrev. for “west”) + OMAN(a Middle-Eastern country).
Defn: …, speaking of his mother. In the same soliloquy, he contrasts his father to his stepfather uncle as “Hyperion to a satyr”, as suggested in the clue’s surface.
25 Cryptically, what might one do with a Cornish pasty and where? That’s bliss! (9)
BEATITUDE : [EAT IT](what one might do with a Cornish pasty) in (and where?) BUDE(a town in Cornwall, where one might well find a Cornish pasty). That sentence (without the parenthesised portions) could be a cryptic wordplay for the definition.
26 Abandoned ship’s first to enter West Country town (5)
LOOSE : The 1st letter of(…’s first) “ship” contained in(to enter) LOOE(a town in Cornwall in the West Country).
27 Draw away from Land’s End, England trailing rapidly away, Cornwall too, for starters (7)
DETRACT : The last letter of(…’s End) “Land” + the 1st letters, respectively, of(…, for starters) “England trailing rapidly away, Cornwall too “.
28 Greek character taking drug with the ability to say “sausages” backwards? (7)
EPSILON : E(slang abbrev. for the drug, Ecstasy) + reversal of(… backwards) [NO LISP](what you have if you’re able to pronounce “sausages” correctly).
Down
1 Imperfection in desert (6)
DEFECT : Double defn: 2nd: … to the enemy.
2 Aphrodisiac – it’s in the heart, rising (6)
EROTIC : Reversal of(…, rising, in a down clue) [IT contained in(…’s in) CORE(the heart;the centre).
3 Meat cutter that’s fast and keen I suspect, cook finally put away (5,5)
STEAK KNIFE : Anagram of(… suspect, … put away) [ FAST plus(and) + KEEN I + the last letter of(… finally) “cook “].
4 Point about record store (5)
DEPOT : DOT(a point) containing(about) EP(abbrev. for “extended play”, a vinyl record format).
5 Opera coming over in doubly twisted old maestro (9)
TOSCANINI : TOSCA(an opera by Puccini) placed above(coming over, in a down clue) reversal of(… twisted) 2 x(…doubly) IN.
Answer: Arturo, former Italian maestro.
6 Time in West China (4)
MATE : T(abbrev. for “time”) contained in(in) MAE(West, blonde bombshell who said she was very good when she was good, but better when she was bad).
Defn: Cockney rhyming slang for “mate” from “China plate”.
7 Retro lighter in the toilet resembling member (4,4)
LAVA LAMP : LAV(short for “lavatory”;toilet) + [A LA](from French, in the manner of;resembling) MP(abbrev. for a Member of Parliament).
Defn: … or a lamp invented in 1963.
8 Currently in office, office in further test (8)
RESIDENT : DEN(a quiet room which could serve as an office) contained in(in) RESIT(a repeat test if you failed the first time round).
13 In some parts of the plant, little troublemaker initially uses insincere praise (5,5)
SWEET TALKS : STALKS(some supporting parts of plant growth) containing(In …, …) [ WEE(little) + the 1st letter of(… initially) “troublemaker “].
15 Beneath top of mainmast, cast-iron case for the quarterdeck, perhaps? (5,4)
MINOR SUIT : The 1st letter of(top of, in a down clue) “mainmast ” placed above(Beneath …, …, in a down clue) anagram of(cast) IRON + SUIT(a case brought to a court of law).
Answer: In bridge, the diamond or club suit, each of which makes up a quarter of the full deck of cards.
16 Something dynamic, perhaps, in horribly dire wet bottom? (8)
RIVERBED : VERB(in grammar, this can be dynamic as opposed to stative – examples of the former are “to run”, and “to go”) contained in(in) anagram of(horribly) DIRE.
Defn: Neatly put.
17 Moving out of Paignton? (8)
POIGNANT : Anagram of(out of) PAIGNTON.
19 Street, then turn for promenade (6)
STROLL : ST(abbrev. for “street”) plus(then) ROLL(turn, as a wheel on the ground, say).
20 Mythical flier, wacky with vulture and raven wings (6)
WYVERN : The 1st and last letters, respectively, of(… wings) [ “wacky ” plus(with) “vulture ” plus(and) “raven ” ].
Defn: …, often used in coats of arms and badges, and in logos.
23 Byzantine empress turning up in Tenerife (5)
IRENE : Reversal of(turning up, in a down clue) and hidden in(in) “Tenerife “.
Answer: … of Athens, Byzantine empress 797-802.
24 Not entirely green, a South American capital (4)
LIMA : “lime”(a shade of green) minus its last letter(Not entirely …) + A.
Defn: … of Peru.
(Please do NOT post hereinbelow any comment relating to the picture quiz. Thank you.)
Thanks scchua, including to explaining 8D for me.. One of the things I like about this setter is that his clueing is so good that even those clueless about the theme can finish without resort to aids. Could there be places named Looe, Bude and Frome? Of course!
Great fun, this, with the only unknown, LAVA LAMP, going in last with a laugh. But not as big as the one that greeted BEATITUDE. Was I the only person who kept waiting for Bath to appear?
FROME will for ever be associated with Somerset bowler Colin Dredge, who was dubbed the Demon of Frome on account of the harmlessness of his deliveries, much as Ashley Giles was later affectionately known as the King Of Pain, among other things – Wheelie Bin to the fore among them.
Thanks for 16d – didn’t know about dynamic verbs, but I liked the definition!
Thanks Paul and scchua
My only dislike was another example of a long clue easily solvable from a hint (“Hamlet”) and letter pattern.
LOI and favourite was MATE.
[Ashley Giles had a set of mugs printed for his benefit year. They were supposed to have the legend “King of Spin” (what he hoped to be!), but the makers didn’t understand this and the consignment all read “King of Spain”.]
Thanks, scchua.
Found this quite straightforward and fun.
BEATITUDE last in.
I took TUMBLER to be a flat bottomed drinking vessel, so is it a cryptic?
Thanks for the correction, muffin. I need so much of it these days…It’s become the wife’s man job.
Intended more as expansion than correction, ulaca!
Thanks both. Great fun today, and I echo molonglo @1 regarding the quality of clueing. I’d heard of Frome and wasn’t sure about Looe or Bude, but there was nothing else they could be. Particularly liked 28a.
Lots of great clues as usual with Paul. He clearly enjoys his setting. I particularly liked BEATITUDE, INOFFENSIVE and POSITIVES.
Thanks scchua, needed this to parse RESIDENT.
I wondered if there wasn’t a bit more going on in FROME; could it also be “from E” meaning “going west”?
Good fun puzzle, Paul, many thanks. Particularly liked MINOR SUIT & POSITIVES.
PS I think this might explain the ? in the FROME clue. Otherwise it seems superfluous.
I have been a bit worried that familiarity might breed contempt with Paul, so frequently does he appear, but not with puzzles of this quality.
POSITIVES and LAVA LAMP my favourites. Tried for too long to have DEVON as the envelope in 22,14 until the quotation became clear. But all over in 30 very happy minutes.
Thanks Paul & scchua.
Is the ‘A flipping’ in 5a a reference to an acrobat [TUMBLER?]
I liked the RIVERBED and BEATITUDE. Enjoyable, but some weird surfaces – what does one make of: ‘502 shillings invested in plant covered the wound,’ for example?
Thanks Paul and scchua
Robi @ 13: it sounds like something Jon Anderson could have written around the time of Close To The Edge.
I loved POSITIVES and CRICKET BAT and especially PLOD!
4 on the bounce for me, yet another first!!
From Collins: ‘Originally, a tumbler had a round or pointed base and so could not stand upright.’
A most enjoyable puzzle again from Paul. Lots of humour, clever devices and a neat, unobtrusive theme – I believe I’ve stayed in all of the referenced west country towns at one time or another.
1 across was the most ‘unusual’ clue for me. I’m not sure how to feel about having to parse 502 and then envelope just part of it. My first instinct was to shake my head and grumble, but then I didn’t have any trouble getting it, so what’s the problem? I dunno, but it just seems wrong! 🙂
The only other grumble for me was with the answer to 26d, RIVERBED: isn’t that normally two words?
William @11/12
That’s exactly how I saw 9 across initially, but then I thought what is the purpose of “mine, its gold” and ended up parsing it just as scchua did. I thought maybe Paul had missed a trick there, but now that you’ve mentioned it, the question mark maybe suggests otherwise.
Thanks Paul and scchua.
Thanks Paul and scchua.
I really enjoyed this puzzle and managed to complete it. Needed help with the parsing of RESIDENT.
Like William @10 I had FROME ‘FROM E’, but scchua’s parsing accounts for the words in the clue.
Liked CRICKET BAT, DRESSED and INOFFENSIVE among others.
Thanks, scchua.
Very entertaining. I couldn’t quite remember the Hamlet quotation, apart from ‘..THY NAME IS..’, so it took a few crossers for me to recall it. I disagree with muffin @4 because the clue is clever, with its reference to ‘satyr’ and the unexpected usage of ‘West Country’.
I liked POSITIVES, MATE, MINOR SUIT and especially BEATITUDE.
Altogether a very Araucarian puzzle: 1a and 28a mirror the late master’s signature combination of ingenious construction and utterly bizarre surface!
Gervase @ 19
My point was that I didn’t actually need to read the clue – it seems that I missed some entertainment by forgetting to go back and read it after I finished.
This was one of Paul’s best – I enjoyed the way the long quote emerged from the crossers and the wordplay despite being unfamiliar to me – that was my last in. Plenty else to like, such as FROME, BEATITUDE, EPSILON, LAVA LAMP and POIGNANT.
Thanks to Paul and scchua
PS I presume Gervase is happy with alkaline bogs – I did wonder about that one after our discussion on moors a few weeks ago…
beery hiker @22
Good point.
Thanks to scchua for the blog. I’m another who needed you to explain RESIDENT.
I loved 25a when the penny finally dropped.
On 17d I thought anagram: then saw that the fodder contained ‘ign’ so obviously it ended with ING. After a while I found the right answer. Nice misleading from Paul.
As regulars will know I am a fan of Paul’s puzszles and I liked this despite having rather more trouble with it than usual. I couldn’t parse MINOR SUIT and I took ages to get RIVERBED. But I thought the clues very clever. I particularly liked BEATITUDE, LAVA LAMP and DRESSED.
Thanks Paul.
@17, or RIVER-BED according to Chambers Word Wizard
Angstony @17 – re DRESSED
If you read the clue aloud you get:
which is
…so everything is there in the right order. 🙂
I always enjoy Paul’s puzzle, because you can always complete them if you study the clues carefully – no obscure knowledge is required. I didn’t know Looe, and though Bude was a French collection of classical texts, but I still managed to finish.
I did struggle a long time with the Hamlet quote, before seeing the obvious.
This was fun for all the reasons given already, and I was lucky enough to finish with BEATITUDE quickly followed by MINOR SUIT and just cracked up!
Even with the explanations, I have absolutely no idea why Tumbler or Frome is correct.
Can someone explain them in simpler terms, please?
Alastair @31
Maybe not formal answers, but:
‘For me’, with its ‘or’ (gold) reversed seems ok, and
Tumbler = acrobat who flips / (now) flat-bottomed glass
I hadn’t heard of any of the towns. About 2/3 of the way through and having not had difficulties parsing, I realized that I was going to be able to do it without pulling up a map of the West Country, where I’ve never been. I was pleased as Punch, lemme tell ya.
Frome, to me, is familiar from the title (and titular character) of Edith Wharton’s uncharacteristically Hardy-esque classic, Ethan Frome. Hadn’t known it was a place.
Loved it – beatitude is a gem. And for the record, Frome is pronounced Froom – just another baffling example of pronunciation!
Thank-you, Ralph. The penny has now dropped.
Thanks Paul and scchua
Another who enjoyed this a lot … didn’t find it as easy going as some of you, though. Had no problems parsing RESIDENT, but didn’t get either of the FROME ones until coming here.
Agree with Trailman, that the quality of the puzzles set by Paul is not affected at all with the sheer volume – not just here but with his contributions as Mudd (which I do) and Punk (which I haven’t) in the other papers !! All credit to him.
Commenting 3 and a half years on, working through the back catalogue. I liked this a lot, mainly because I could finish it with my usual fairly liberal use of electronic aids (Crossword Solver, an online thesaurus, and researching Hamlet quotes). I know this is cheating but I still get the satisfaction of working things out and enjoying the aha moments, and I don’t want to spend endless hours on a crossword. I’m definitely improving steadily so maybe one day I’ll solve a crossword of this standard without aids, but if not – I don’t really mind.