Guardian 26,606 – Paul

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I romped through most of this fairly quickly, with just a few hold-ups at the end. One word that was new to me, though easy to guess from the cue and crossing letters, and a phrase that I think will be well known to some and totally obscure to others. Thanks to Paul.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Across
1. SEDATE With vacuous smile, see dope (6)
S[mil]E + DATE (to see)
4. ESSAYIST Lamb possibly filling pies, say, is tasty (8)
Hidden in piES SAY IS Tasty – Charles Lamb is the essayist, who used the pen name Elia
9. GOALIE A position to get behind shot? (6)
GO (a shot) + A LIE, &lit
10. MATCHBOX Strikers here in game: the penalty area (8)
MATCH (game) + BOX (penalty area in football)
11. APPENDECTOMIES Operations devised primarily to interrupt an explosion of impotence in gibbons, perhaps? (14)
D[evised] in IMPOTENCE in APES
13. BINARY STAR Arty with brains, terribly brilliant couple here? (6,4)
(ARTY BRAINS)*
14. OFFA Gone, a king long ago (4)
OFF (gone) + A. Offa (famous for his dyke) was king of Mercia 757-796
16. LOUD Vulgar couple beginning to lech from behind (4)
Reverse of DUO + L[ech]
18. RUBBER BAND One causing friction excluded in report of what’s binding? (6,4)
RUBBER (one causing friction) + homophone “banned” (excluded)
21. BOA CONSTRICTOR A Tory authoritarian in brute that may squeeze the life out of you? (3,11)
A CON STRICT in BOOR
23. AUDITION Car, one in a hundred for trial (8)
AUDI (car) + I in TON (slang for 100)
24. DASSIE Small mammal contracted disease, unfortunately (6)
Anagram of DISEAS[E] – a small rat-like mammal, also known as the Hyrax. Rather obscure, perhaps, but the clueing is clear, and there are surprisingly few words that fit the pattern _A_S_E: perhaps Paul didn’t fancy clueing HASSLE, LASSIE or even FALSIE..
25. DANDYISH Vain prince informally introduced to beauty (8)
ANDY (informal for Prince Andrew) in DISH (a beauty)
26. BERLIN Scorer for European city (6)
Double definition – the “scorer” is Irving Berlin
Down
1. SAGA Story with Ottoman commanders written up (4)
Reverse of AGAS
2. DEADPAN Evidently mortal god, communicating little (7)
DEAD + PAN (god)
3. TOILETRY Writer coming up with score for soap, perhaps? (8)
Reverse of ELIOT (T.S. or George) + TRY (score in rugby)
5. STAR CHAMBER Formality a warning sign, where justice was rarely served (4,7)
STARCH (formality) + AMBER (warning sign)
6. ANCHOR An unfinished assignment as a mainstay (6)
AN CHOR[E]
7. IN BRIEF Concisely written ultimately, French produce cracking poem (2,5)
[writte]N BRIE in IF (Kipling poem)
8. TAXI STAND Rank outsiders in Tunisia requiring some of the stadium to support team (4,5)
T[unisi]A + XI (team, e.g. in football) + STAND (part of a stadium)
13. BILLBOARD Hoarding? William Shakespeare hoards nothing! (9)
BILL (WIlliam) + O in BARD
15. CRUCIATE Odd bits to unclip in box, like a cross (8)
U[N]C[L]I[P] in CRATE
17,12. UGANDAN DISCUSSIONS Sex sounding as spurious, an event to be covered up (7,11)
AN DISCUS (athletic event) in (SOUNDING AS)* – Private Eye's euphemism for (usually illicit) sex: I wonder how familiar it is to Guardian solvers.
19. AROUSAL Excitement, seeing America in a shortlist? (7)
USA in A ROL[L]
20. PORTLY Left and left again, lorry finally gets round (6)
PORT + L + [lorr]Y
22. REIN Strap which comes down, by the sound of it? (4)
Homophone of “rain”

35 comments on “Guardian 26,606 – Paul”

  1. Thanks Andrew. I found this harder than you did, but got there in the end.

    I was glad of your parsing for UGANDAN DISCUSSIONS, but you have accidentally bracketed (SPURIOUS AN), rather than (SOUNDING AS).

  3. I certainly did not romp through this puzzle (limped? hobbled?), and eventually ran out of time, failing to solve 24a, 26a, 3d, 22d. I solved 17/12 with the help of some comments @ the Guardian comments section which led me to google Richard West and Mary Kenny – neither of whom I had ever heard of before, and I do not read Private Eye so UGANDAN DISCUSSIONS was a new phrase for me – plus I did not parse the answer.

    STAR CHAMBER was also new for me.

    I liked 13d, 19d, 25a, 18a, 4a, 2d.

    Thanks Paul and Andrew

  5. American here. I had never heard of UGANDAN DISCUSSIONS, though I am delighted to learn the story. Over here we say “hike the Appalachian trail” in (dis)honor of one of our politicians.

    I have not heard of “hoarding” as referring to a BILLBOARD, nor do I know anything of a DASSIE. I am not complaining; learning new terms is part of my motivation for doing crosswords in the first place.

    Good puzzle, Paul, and thanks Andrew for the explanations.

  6. Thanks, Andrew.

    I had to dig a bit to find UGANDAN DISCUSSIONS [more nice euphemisms here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22470691 ] and DASSIE.

    I liked the Shakespeare clue. It seems a long time since we saw essayist Lamb / Elia, who used to crop up fairly frequently

    I think you have a typo in 19dn – A ROL[l]?

  8. Lovely puzzle. Favourites were BILLBOARD (wonderful clue), GOALIE, APPENDECTOMIES, BINARY STAR . . . I also hadn’t heard of DASSIE but it was easily gettable. Many thanks to Paul and Andrew.

  9. Thanks Paul and Andrew.

    STAR CHAMBER and UGANDAN DISCUSSIONS were new to me, as was DASSIE, although I have seen hyraxes in Uganda.

    I did like ESSAYIST, BILLBOARD, TAXI STAND, GOALIE and DEADPAN among others.

  10. Was familiar with the phrase Ugandan Discussions as a regular Eye reader. Dassie was knew to me, googled and was surprised to learn that despite looking like an overgrown gerbil “They are often mistaken for rodents, but are more closely related to elephants”. Something new everyday in the Guardian crossword.

    Liked BILLBOARD but many here that were too much for me.

    Thanks to Paul and Andrew

  11. Thank you Andrew for explaining this tough but enjoyable puzzle.

    Never heard the obscure euphemism before but for me that makes the clear cluing even more admirable.

    Eileen @6 Thanks for the reminder – I had quite forgotten George Brown’s “tired and emotional” episode…can’t believe it was as long ago as 1957!

    Some super surfaces here; loved PORTLY, DEADPAN and TOILETRY.

    Didn’t know about binary star but enjoyed looking it up.

    Top job, Paul, many thanks.

  13. Count me as another who found this on the tricky side, but it was another Paul puzzle I really enjoyed. Despite having been a Private Eye subscriber for many years I still needed all the checkers before I saw UGANDAN DISCUSSIONS, although in my defence I don’t think I have seen it in PE for a while. DASSIE was my LOI after I decided it was much more likely than “sadsie”.

  14. Excellent puzzle.

    I first came across the phrase Ugandan discussions being used by Alan Clark – it was in a book by Simon Hoggart who, despite his own Ugandan discussions having been uncovered by the NOTW continued to make hay from those of others.

    It has come to imply illicit sex although AFAIK poor Mary Kenny’s actions which led to its coining were not at all illicit – just bold – ie she was not married at that time.

    She subsequently married the journalist Richard West who sadly died just recently after a fairly long illness.

    I wonder if that’s what brought it to the setter’s attention, as I have come across it otherwise for a good while now.

    I must say that answer held me up for a while the answer – I wanted it to be EXPULSIONS – but of course that wouldn’t work. Only after the wordplay and crossers gave me the answer did I recall the expression itself.

    The background is all googlable and quite interesting.

    Thanks to Andrew for the blog.

  18. Thanks Paul and Andrew

    A late night at work, so this was mainly done on the train ride home and waiting for the fish & chips. A fair bit going on in here today with an excellent hidden answer in ESSAYIST (my second last in), a great &lit clue with GOALIE and a few new terms for me (UGANDAN DISCUSSIONS, DASSIE and STAR CHAMBER.

    Eventually got everything out, but couldn’t find the part other than AN DISCUS in the long one !

  19. We have seen the STARCH AMBER version of that clue more or less every time it gets done, and as for UGANDAN AFFAIRS (‘discussions’?) is old hat if you are or were a Private Eye reader. But generally we have here a superior puzzle, good stuff, and a solve that feels very satisfying as compared to yesterday’s, which was very tricksy and bittish.

    HH

  20. Found this quite tough for a Paul – DASSIE and UGANDAN DISCUSSIONS were unfamiliar, and there were a few others that took some teasing out. Liked BOA CONSTRICTOR and BILLBOARD.

    Thanks to Paul and Andrew

  21. Thanks Paul and Andrew
    This looked impenetrable on first reading, but I got BILLBOARD and BOA CONSTRICTOR as a foothold, and it went steadily from there. Didn’t know DASSIE (neither does the spellcheck!), but it couldn’t have been anything else.

    Favourites were TOILETRY and ESSAYIST.

    btw I am reliably informed (by an RSPB officer, no less!) that BOA CONSTRICTOR is the only living animal that has a common name that is also its scientific binomial.

  23. Like Andy B @13, I’m a long-time Eye subscriber who needed (nearly) all the crossers before UGANDAN DISCUSSIONS went in – or, strictly, the UGANDAN bit, DISCUSSIONS having gone in some time previously. I agree, can’t recall having seen it recently. The clueing is a bit recondite – I wonder if Paul assumed more familiarity with the term than Guardian readers actually have?

    Likewise in 3d, my last in, ‘poet’ instead of ‘writer’ would have called up the reversed ELIOT that bit quicker. Not that it’s the setter’s job to make it simple of course, just that the odd tweak here and there can make a big difference to the degree of difficulty.

  24. Thanks, Andrew.

    I was another who found it hard (after a fairly easy start), and not quite completing. UD I never heard of, also.

    1d I must remember AGAS, I must remember AGAS, I must….

  25. JS @22
    It’s possible to out a long link onto a word or two, using “a href=”. The method is explained in the FAQs (about half way down).

  27. @ Dave Ellison – haha…quite so, re AGAS

    But also SEE = DATE, which I wrote in my “Tricks to Remember” file only last week – but seem to forget as quickly as A = PER !   🙂

  28. Hard going for me. Add me to the list of not knowing 17,12, good old word gadgets to the rescue!

    Minor point, but the dassie (hyrax) is not a small rat. The observation (somewhat surprising from first glance at a picture) “They are often mistaken for rodents, but are more closely related to elephants.” comes from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dassie

  29. Tougher than usual for a Paul, I thought. UGANDAN DISCUSSIONS was quite easy for an old Private Eye reader but DASSIE was new and I found SEDATE quite tricky.
    But,despite taking longer than usual, this was as enjoyable as Paul usually is.
    Thanks Paul.

  31. Although I didn’t romp throug this it did progress at a pleasingly steady rate.

    BOA CONSTRICTOR and UGANDAN DISCUSSIONS (“affairs” HH ?) were soon in which gave me a good base to work on.

    I thoroughly enjoyed this. Lots of clever clues with elegant surfaces and precise definitions. (I suggest Screw looks at some Paul puzzles. “READ EM AND WEEP” 😉 )

    Thanks to Andrew and Paul

  35. No problen Jovis. The only acronym I can find is Birmingham Trust National Bank and I have been called worse things than that.

    I can’t imagine what “ignorance” Paul B is referring to. Unless of course he means “An offence or sin caused by lack of knowledge”. Which of course would be nonsense. 😉

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