Preambles of blogs on Shed puzzles often include the words ‘welcome return’ or some such expression. It’s six months since we had Shed in the Prize slot. I remember how years [and I mean twenty or so – Guardian archives don’t go back that far] ago, he seemed to appear there about once a month. I would go into college on Monday morning, to compare notes with my cruciverbiphile colleague, who’d be chuntering about this ‘grumpy old man sitting in his shed’, dreaming up delightfully devilish clues. Much later, of course, through S and B gatherings, I discovered that I could just about be the mother of this ‘grumpy old man’ who had meanwhile mellowed considerably – or, rather, I’d long ago got more on his wavelength. He still continues to delight – and I still say we don’t see enough of him, in either slot.
As I’ve said before, I’m not over-impressed by pangrams [partly because I often fail to spot them] but this was a lovely exploitation. For once, having got ZORBA, DRAMA QUEEN and AXE HEAD, I could see we were well on the way but still 1ac was one of my last in – touché, Shed!
Lovely clues and surfaces throughout, as always – too many to pick out as favourites, I think, so I’ll leave it to you.
Many thanks, Shed – I loved it!
Across
1 Something painful with which to batter this, for example (7)
PANGRAM
PANG [something painful] + RAM [with which to batter]
It would be interesting to know how many of you got this first off and therefore had the key to the puzzle immediately.
[Newer solvers sometimes ask what is meant by a PANGRAM. Chambers: ‘a sentence* containing all the letters of the alphabet’ – * in this case, of course, a crossword: I still remember how impressed I was, aged about seven, when my father introduced me to the classic, ‘The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog’.]
5 Giggle about women’s social medium (7)
TWITTER
TITTER [giggle] round W [women]
10 Challenge to make God heartless (4)
DEFY
DE[i]FY [to make god] – I really liked this clue, for the amount of time I spent looking for a heartless god – nice one, Shed
11 Stood around lancing blister, evidence of injury (10)
BLOODSTAIN
Anagram [around] of STOOD in BLAIN [blister: for me a new word, from which chilblain is derived – but they’re not blisters, are they?]
12 What to do with straight hair? Pass (6)
PERMIT
PERM IT! – pass and permit as nouns
13 Report of headless chicken in waste disposal unit (8)
BULLETIN
[p]ULLET [headless chicken] in BIN [waste disposal unit]
14 Sketch fetching a silly price (9)
ADUMBRATE
A DUMB RATE [a silly price] – a lovely word
16 Apply kneecap to part of face, causing breach (5)
CHINK
CHIN [part of face] + K [first letter – cap – of Knee]
I always associate this word with ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’:
“That I, one Snout by name, present a wall.
And such a wall, as I would have you think,
That had in it a crannied hole, or chink,
Through which the lovers, Pyramus and Thisbe,
Did whisper often very secretly.”
17 What’s said to audience on A11? (5)
ASIDE
A + SIDE [11 – in soccer, hockey, cricket] – for once, like ‘report’ in 13ac, ‘to audience’ does not indicate a homophone
19 Will‘s offensive sexual organ intruded (9)
TESTAMENT
STAMEN [sexual organ] in TET [offensive] – great clue, referring to the birds and the bees!
23 Baddy, at any point in time, receiving unopened sex aid (8)
EVILDOER
EVER [at any point in time] round [receiving] [d]ILDO [sex aid minus its first letter – unopened] – Chambers gives this word a hyphen but Collins doesn’t and that’s good enough for me, being a Collins ‘girl’!
24 Dependable nonsense about public transport (6)
ROBUST
ROT [nonsense] round BUS [public transport]
26 Histrionic sort of monkey, shaking off a cold in Arden, perhaps (5,5)
DRAMA QUEEN
M[ac]AQUE [monkey minus a c {cold}] in an anagram [perhaps] of ARDEN
27 Man in the street on line to prophet (4)
JOEL
JOE [{Bloggs} – proverbial man in the street] + L [line] for the Old Testament prophet
28 Female students absorbing princess’s hypocritical utterances (7)
FLANNEL
F [female] + LL [students] round [absorbing] ANNE [princess – a refreshing change from Di]
29 About to go to Spain and return the sentiment (7)
REQUITE
RE [about] + QUIT [go] + E [Spain]
Down
2 Part of weapon in front holding divorcee up (3,4)
AXE HEAD
AHEAD [in front] round [holding] a reversal [up] of EX [divorcee]
3 Infidels love one intermittently interrupting work-out (5)
GOYIM
O [love] and I [one] intermittently in GYM [work-out]
A new word for me – a Jewish word for non-Jews – which made me look rather askance at the definition [‘someone who rejects a religion, esp Christianity or Islam’ – Chambers]
4 A snack eaten by bishop and judge (7)
ARBITER
A + BITE [snack] in [eaten by] RR [Right Reverend – bishop]
6 Go unsteadily west — go off (6)
WADDLE
W [West] + ADDLE [go off]
7 Infant the man lost in part of London (9)
TOTTENHAM
TOT [infant] + anagram [lost] of THE MAN
8 Raised no single current issue (7)
EDITION
REversal [raised] of NO + I [single] TIDE [current]
9 Film old Albanian monarch securing right to cleanse smell (5,3,5)
ZORBA THE GREEK
ZOG [old Albanian monarch: a real giveaway – how many of those do you know?] round [securing] R [right] + BATHE [cleanse] + REEK [smell]
15 Note to buxom former lover’s agent (9)
MIDDLEMAN
MI [note] + DD [buxom – referring to bra size] + LEMAN [old name for lover: if you haven’t come across this before, file it away – it quite often comes up in crosswords, where I first learned it]
18 Many cut a left (7)
SEVERAL
SEVER [cut] + A L [left] – I remember asking you here before how many ‘several’ meant to you: it still doesn’t mean ‘many’ to me but I’m not looking to open another can of worms!
20 Space in canonical hour for Roman funny man (7)
TERENCE
EN [space] in TERCE [canonical hour] for Publius Terentius Afer, the Roman writer of comedies, which I’m afraid I never found funny when I studied them
21 Incipient new way up (7)
NASCENT
N [new] + ASCENT [way up]
22 Force to remove tangerine rind from roquette salad (6)
TORQUE
Anagram [salad] of ROQUET[te] minus TE [‘rind’ of T{angerin}E
25 Pretty little girl, keen on Guys and Dolls and open to all? (5)
BIJOU
BI [keen on Guys and Dolls – brilliant!] + JO [girl] + U [open to all – film classification] – a great clue to end with [but I can’t quite make the order of the wordplay work!]
25d is Pretty as the definition, little girl [who is] keen on Guys and Dolls = Bi-Jo + u’
PANGRAM was my first in, didn’t make the puzzle any less enjoyable.
Thanks Shed and Eileen. 1ac last in for me as well. I read “Bi Jo” as a single element – a “girl keen on guys and dolls”
Sorry sidey – you got there before me.
I got PANGRAM easily enough from the cryptics, but then I was thoroughly confused because I thought “this, for example” had to refer to the clue. Well now I know — and I’m NOT PLEASED.
Thanks Eileen. Put me down as another whose LOI was 1ac.The NW corner held me up for a while but it was all an enjoyable challenge.
Thanks Shed and Eileen.
9D: It is hardlay surprising that not Kings of the Albaniansother than Zog come to mind, because there aren’t any (althought his son Prince Leka would surely have disagreed). After being booted out, Zog obtained an estate on Long Island, and had built a mansion; some of the buildings still stand. The estate, not so far from where I live, is now a public park, and I have hiked in the grounds. He never took up residence.
Touché, indeed.1a was my last one in. Thanks, Shed and Eileen.
Thank you Shed and Eileen
PANGRAM was my LOI – when the penny dropped it was a real “Aha!” moment for me.
I needed help to parse 15d and 25d. New words for me were ‘blain’ & ADUMBRATE.
My favourites were 9d, 14a, 23a, 17a.
Thanks Eileen. With the exception of the one you quote, pangrams have never interested me: don’t look for them or use them. This one popped up halfway through, with1A. The Zog answer had been an early one, and that opened the puzzle up nicely. It was all good, thanks Shed.
A disappointing puzzle from Shed.
As too many trivial clues to make this a challenge.
At least it justified looking for the pangram as we were told it was one. Unfortunately this was no help as all the letters were already in place when the clue was solved.
Not good enough for a Prize Puzzle for me.
Thanks to Eileen and Shed
Thanks Shed and Eileen
In fact the pangram helped me, as I still had the SE to finish when I solved 1ac and was missing a J.
Are the Guardian setters holding a private competition to see how many suggestive clues they can get past the editor?
I too didn’t spot the pangram until I solved 1ac as my LOI. I didn’t know that meaning of ADUMBRATE, but the word play is clear. TERENCE was the hardest for me. I knew he was a dramatist but I needed to check that he wrote comic plays, and TERCE wasn’t one of the canonical hours I knew so I had to check that too. It was nice to see TOTTENHAM (where I spent my first seven years) appearing in a crossword. I smiled at PERM IT. Other favourites were DRAMA QUEEN and FLANNEL.
Overall, I enjoyed it. Thanks Shed and Eileen,
Many thanks to Shed and Eileen for the blog. I enjoyed this puzzle. Eileen I think you have a minor typo in 20d – the canonical hour is TERCE, not TIERCE.
Tune in now to Saturday Live for a crossword experience!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/on-air
Thanks, Giudice: I don’t know how the I crept in – sorted now.
Hi Eileen
I thought I knew the canonical hours, but I decided to check with Google, entering “canonical hours”. A summary box from something called “Infoplease” popped up, with “terce” listed as “tierce”.
I’ve just repeated, and got it again.
Eileen @14
Here is an article about the same compiler: Samer Nashef. I think that in the post which originally drew it to my attention (here or in the Guardian, I think), the pseudonyms were mentioned, but I can’t find that post.
Hi muffin
Well, well, it must have come from ‘the back of the mind’, as Bamber Gascoigne used to say. I’ve just looked and Collins gives tierce as a variation of terce.
Shed is one of my favourite setters, and while I found this one towards the easier end of his spectrum I still enjoyed it. I never bother to look for pangrams and I seem to remember 1ac might have been my LOI, but I still smiled when I got it.
jennyk @17
Many thanks for the link to the article, which I hadn’t seen. I love the answer to the last question!
[Are you saying that you don’t know who it is? The clue is in the pseudonyms, if you listened to the programme.]
An excellent puzzle from Shed with many totally misleading clues. I’ve always enjoyed Shed since way back when and like many, my last answer was PANGRAM. I never spot these things but was amused by the final answer. Just choosing three from a great collection of clues, I liked EVILDOER, DRAMA QUEEN and FLANNEL. Everyone seemed to like this puzzle apart from Mr Curmudgeon who is ever the sourpuss.
Many thanks to Eileen and Shed.
I did catch Saturday Live and I don’t know who the setter was. Enlightenment please!
As to the puzzle, I found it most enjoyable. Perhaps it was too easy for a Prize but I’m never sure what “too easy” means objectively.
I’m another whose LOI was PANGRAM and I didn’t spot that the puzzle was one. I’m not sure that knowing would have helped much. Indeed I can’t see the point of the anagram. No doubt a personal failing!
Still, most enjoyable.
Thanks Shed.
Thanks Shed and Eileen.
I did not get PANGRAM straight away, but completed the NW corner first, GOYIM went in after the Berber word ‘gauri’ for infidel was mostly rejected by check, the G remaining (it would not parse of course), then AXE HEAD and ARBITER were quickly solved. As for muffin, it helped by the time I was finishing at the SE corner since the J had still not been accounted for.
I cannot see why there is a fuss over BIJOU, ‘Pretty little’ must be the definition.
I could not fully parse BLOODSTAIN (remember chilblains after spending the 1946-47 winter in England, they were not like blisters).
Thought at first 5a referred to the WI, Women’s Institute, and got tied up trying to parse ARBITER.
I did like PERMIT, ADUMBRATE, BULLETIN, TORQUE, DRAMA QUEEN and ZORBA THE GREEK.
Peter Aspinwall @22
If you heard the programme, you know where the setter comes from. In his ‘Meet the setter’ interview with Alan Connor, when asked about his pseudonym, he said, ‘I am a …, literally.’.
Cookie, re BIJOU: I just couldn’t see the wood for the trees – or that BI JO was a single element, as DuncT says @2. Like you, I disagree with sidey @1: ‘little’ has to be part of the definition.
Eileen @22
Oh … [penny drops, I think] … but according to the setters page here, that setter does not set for the FT.
Hi jennyk @25
If you look at the list of FT setters, I think the name will jump out at you. 😉 [It doesn’t say there that he sets for the Guardian, either,]
Thanks to Shed and Eileen. I never spot pangrams and 1 across was one of my last in, but I enjoyed this puzzle. In case anyone is interested, very late in the blog for the previous Guardian pangram I discovered on-line a quadruple example, so here’s the link: http://www.crosswordunclued.com/2015/03/quadruple-pangram-in-thc.html
Also, the often cited “the quick brown fox” has 35 letters, but pangramists have done their best to whittle down that number:
32: Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs
31: Jackdaws love my big sphinx of quartz
30: How quickly daft jumping zebras vex
29: Bright vixens jump; dozy fowl quack
28: Waltz, bad nymph, for quick jigs vex!
27: Big fjords vex quick waltz nymph
I enjoyed this one a lot. Last one in by a long way was Pangram: I completely failed to spot it until late inspiration struck. Reading others’ posts, this appears to have been a common experience.
Many pleasures, but Tottenham was my favourite for some reason! (To respond to muffin’s question @45 on yesterday’s blog: yes, from the Double era). For similar reasons I also liked Waddle (thanks to Chris of that ilk). More objectively, Bijou was a most pleasing construction.
Least favourite was Terence. As an atheist, I make it my business not to know the canonical hours, particularly alternate spellings thereof. Further, I have a longstanding bugbear about “space” for “en”. This is because, not being a printer, I have never seen the word anywhere but in a crossword. So a solution based on en and terce really didn’t do it for me!
1961Blanchflower @28
I knew the canonical hours from reading “Cadfael”!
Eileen @26
This is harder than today’s crossword! Nothing is “jumping out at me”. We aren’t at cross purposes, are we? I’m looking for the Guardian alias of Samer Nashef?
Eileen @26
It does now! A specific example of the general category indicated by his Guardian pseudonym. 🙂
muffin @29
Eileen’s response @22 was about his Guardian name, but @26 she was helping me find his FT name.
Thanks, jennyk – I was trying, unsuccessfully, to compose a cryptic reply to muffin.
I don’t like Spoonerisms but the best I ever saw was in one of his FT puzzles: ‘Like [pseudonym] Matilda’s good for Spooner (10)’.
Nope, still baffled! All the possibilities that seem to fit with Eileen’s clues seem to be identified with other people.
I’m going out now, muffin, but I’ll leave you with the Spoonerism for the moment and email you when I get back if you’re still struggling. [I think it’s time we got back to Shed!]
I had a happy time solving this with my father – separately, swapping answers when we were stuck. The day before we were wondering what had happened to Shed.
Spotted the pangram early – but didn’t solve 1ac until the end.
Thanks Shed and Eileen.
Hardly a ‘newer solver’ (I’ve been doing cryptic puzzles for nigh on 40 years) but I’ve never heard of a pangram. So thanks for the enlightenment Eileen. Less so to Shed for such a struggle.
Eileen, GOYIM is just the plural for goy (like cherubim), and it does not really mean ‘infidel’, it means ‘nation’ in Hebrew but, as you mention, is now used to signify non-Jews. I am surprised no-one has commented on it. My husband, whenever he happened to be in Tel Aviv on the Sabbath, would act as Shabbat-goy for friends, i.e. he would turn the lights on and off etc. for them.
Cookie, I realised that GOYIM was plural but I’m not sure that I knew GOY, which both Collins and Chambers give as a Jewish word for a non-Jew. I don’t think this equates to infidel and I wonder why Shed didn’t use ‘Gentile’.
Eileen, that is why I first tried ‘gauri’, even though I could not fully parse it, and next would have tried ‘kafir’, the Arabic word for infidel, had the G not remained after checking.
Found this one very enjoyable – Shed’s increasingly rare appearances are always worth savouring. Found it reasonably straightforward, and had all of the letters before getting PANGRAM, though I might well not have spotted the pangram without that.
Thanks to Shed and Eileen.
Many thanks, Eileen – great puzzle and blog.
I am still trying to get to grips with crossword grammar but I wondered if 4dn was a reverse anagram for RAREBIT?
Great spot, Jovis! It could well be – but I don’t see how the wordplay would work.
Jovis @40
Chambers 1974 edition “Welsh rabbit… melted cheese … poured over hot toast, sometimes known as Welsh rarebit by wiseacres”.
This definition disappeared from later editions. I wrote asking for its reinstatement, but to no avail.
Marienkaefer @42, OCED “Welsh rabbit n (also Welsh rarebit by folk etymology) a dish of melted cheese etc. on toast.
Why bother with Chambers ?
Cookie @43
Because it is a glorious put down.
Please, please, please will someone tell me the compiler’s pseudonyms! I can’t make anything of all the cryptic references.
Thanks, as always, Eileen and Shed.
Got it! Mr Google helped eventually. Harder workout than the crossword, as muffin @29 said 🙂
Good clueing apart from Force = torque. A moment’s thought could have avoided this. Enjoyed the rest of it very much, though didn’t get 1ac until two solutions to go. Even so, it gave me bijou, after which I worked out the clue. Thanks for an enjoyable puzzle.
Thanks Eileen for the blog and well done Shed for d fearing me.
I was on a loser from the start since ‘this’ is an anagram of 2 words – ‘hits’ + one other which was the first thing I said when I came here to find out why I couldn’t get 2 down starting with an ‘n’.
Oops!
That was of course meant to be ‘defeating’.
Sausage fingers and predictive text are never a good combination!
Thanks Shed and Eileen
Don’t know whether crosswords, like wine improve when they are put down to cellar for a while, but this had certainly lost none of its appeal from when it was set 9 months ago !
Did the first three quarters of it over breakfast this morning and finished the NW corner after a hit of golf on a brilliant autumn day in Melbourne when many others were focused on the buzzing gnats of Grand Prix racing in another part of town.
Found that I had to prise many of the answers out one by one with each taking their own sweet time to surrender – that is, didn’t seem to get a decent run with any part of the puzzle today. This just meant savouring many wins and appreciate the wit and clever crafting of clues. Almost Paulesque in a number of them, which I was slightly taken aback with from Shed.
Was another who had PANGRAM as the last in … and only then realised that all of the hard work getting the obscure letter words could have been helped along.
Enjoyable solve.