Guardian 26,662 by Paul

by

The puzzle may be found at http://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/26662.

Perhaps I am feeling a little dozy tonight, but this proceeded more slowly than usual for me for a Paul puzzle. There are some interesting wrinkles in the wordplay which held me up, so altogether a good workout. Thanks Paul. I think it is a fitting end to a good week at the Guardian.

Across
1 CATNAPPED
Beaten about at noon, took a brief rest (9)

An envelope (‘about’) of ‘at’ plus N (‘noon’) in CAPPED (‘beaten’).
6 RIDER
One’s up for an amendment (5)

Double definition.
9 TESCO
Corporate Scotland welcomes big business (5)

A hidden answer (‘welcomes’) in ‘corporaTE SCOtland’.
10 REDIVIVUS
Born again, I survived after a renaissance (9)

An anagram (‘after a renaissance’) of ‘I survived’.
11 HOP
Spring plant (3)

Double definition.
12,26 SIGNIFICANT OTHER
Wife — Sagittarius, for example, should I be able to count on her? (11,5)

A charade of SIGN (‘Sagittarius, for example’) plus IF I CAN TOT (‘should I be able to count’ – ‘should’ as in “should you see the right shade of meaning, it makes sense”) plus ‘her’.
14 POTTAGE
Even parts of soup turned over three times is soup (7)

A charade of PO, a reversal (‘turned over’) of OP (‘even parts of sOuP‘) plus T T AGE (‘three times’).
15 MUSETTE
Silent hiding place for pipe (7)

An envelope (‘hiding’) of SET (‘place’, verb) in MUTE (‘silent’).
16 SAPPHIC
Dope and heroin in film like Women In Love? (7)

A charade of SAP (‘dope’) plus an envelope (‘in’) of H (‘heroin’) in PIC (‘film’).
19 STIRRUP
Ultimately ear piercing to arouse a tiny part of the ear? (7)

An envelope (‘piercing’) of R (‘ultimately eaR‘) in STIR UP (‘arouse’).
22 FLOOR POLISH
Finish puzzle in another language? (5,6)

A charade of FLOOR (‘puzzle’) plus POLISH (‘in another language’).
23 ASP
Reptile like python, primarily (3)

A charade of AS (‘like’) plus P (‘Python initially’),
24 TAILBOARD
Back of a lorry, where dog and pig died (9)

A charade of TAIL (‘dog’, verb) plus BOAR (‘pig’) plus D (died’).
26  
See 12
27 POOCH
Dog caught in bear’s clutches (5)

An envelope (‘in …’s clutches’) of C (‘caught’) in POOH (‘bear’).
28 TWEENAGER
Twelve-year-old, say, short bird astride foal? (9)

An envelope (‘astride’) of WEE NAG (‘foal’) in TER[n] (‘bird’) without its last letter (‘short’).
Down
1 CATCH UP
Get the latest gossip from malicious woman, friend not entirely pleased, initially (5,2)

A charade of CAT (‘malicious woman’) plus CHU[m] (‘friend’) without its last letter (‘not entirely’) plus P (‘Pleased, initially’).
2 TOSSPOT
Throw prize in boozer (7)

A charade of TOSS (‘throw’) plus POT (‘prize’). ‘Boozer’ as a person, not a place.
3 ATOM SMASHER
Accelerator in order going into hamster as swerving (4,7)

An envelope (‘going into’) of OM (‘order’ of merit) in ATSMASHER, an anagram (‘swerving’) of ‘hamster as’.
4 PIROGUE
Bad man following good in canoe (7)

A charade of PI (‘good’) plus ROGUE (‘bad man’).
5 DADAISM
Stop welcoming platform for the art of incongruity (7)

An envelope (‘welcoming’) of DAIS (‘platform’) in DIM (‘stop’ – referencing the iris of a camera or a floodlight, I think) DAM (‘stop’; thanks molonglo for the correction).
6 REV
Vicar‘s cycle (3)

Double definition,
7 DEVIANT
Irregular green semicircle turns up on top of table (7)

A charade of DEVIAN, a reversal (‘turns up’ in a down light) of NAIVE (‘green’) plus D (‘semicircle’); plus T (‘top of Table’).
8 ROSETTE
Pinned up in epaulettes, ornate badge of honour (7)

A hidden reversed (‘pinned up in’) answer in ‘epaulETTES ORnate’.
13 IPSWICH TOWN
An 11-2 win ordered with chips? (7,4)

An anagram (‘ordered’) of TWO (‘2’) plus ‘win’ plus ‘chips’, for the soccer team.
16 SOFT TOP
Convertible, piano to piano (4,3)

A charade of SOFT (the first ‘piano’) plus ‘to’ plus P (the second ‘piano’).
17 PROVISO
Stipulation for and against one’s opinion, at first (7)

A charade of PRO (‘for’) plus V (versus, ‘against’) plus I’S (‘one’s’) plus O (‘Opinion at first’).
18 COOLANT
One leaving location shivering — what made the temperature drop? (7)

An anagram (‘shivering’) of ‘locat[i]on’ minus the I (‘one leaving’).
19 SWINDLE
Fiddle only, nothing less, eclipsing trumpets and flutes etc (7)

An envelope (‘eclipsing’) of WIND (‘trumpets and flutes etc’) in S[o]LE (‘only’) minus the O (‘nothing less’).
20 ROAD HOG
One driver blocking another, reportedly drove over corner (4,3)
A charade of ROAD, sounding like (‘reportedly’) RODE (‘drove’) plus HOG (‘corner’ the market).
21 PAPERER
Prepare cracks, one covering surface with fine material (7)

An anagram (‘cracks’) of ‘prepare’.
25 BAH
I’m disgusted by all hapless leaders (3)

First letters (‘leaders’) of ‘By All Hapless’.
completed grid

57 comments on “Guardian 26,662 by Paul”

  1. Thanks Peter. It’s DAM doing the stopping in 5D. All of this was delightful, and clean. Loved the wee nag in 28A. Slowed down for the final two, with 11= a football team and the 15A musical instrument which I then recalled from the French carol Il est ne’ le divin enfant.

  2. Thanks PeterO, and Paul. Didn’t enjoy this much, Ipswich Town being one reason; having worked out the anagram, I still had to come here to be sure that ‘An 11’ is a football team. Also needed parsing help for 16a.

    Liked some clues – 12-26a, 22a and 28a. The good thing about a week-day Paul puzzle means, we can look forward to a non-Paul weekend puzzle! I mean it in the nicest way possible. No offence to Paul and his fans!

  3. As a fan of Paul crosswords I have to say this one fell a little flat. He normally avoids using obscure words so finding two of them in one puzzle was a disappointment. And no Paulisms, either.

  4. Thanks Paul and PeterO

    I’m in the “didn’t enjoy this much” camp too, though Paul isn’t one of my favourite compliers anyway. A lot of the wordplay was very bitty and felt contrived (I know clues are always “contrived”, but better ones don’t seem to be), and some of the surfaces were nonsensical (what on Earth is 3d supposed to mean?).

    I did like FLOOR POLISH, SAPPHIC and DADAISM.

  5. I thought both Punk and this were excellent even by his standards.
    I disagree with all the negative stuff said about him.
    (I used attend games at Ipswich in the 70s when the great Bobby Robson was the boss.)
    And the cricket gaffe is a real sports classic.
    Cheer up you lot!

  6. Yes, it’s unusual to find rare words in a Paul puzzle, and I had to google REVIVIDUS only to find it was REDIVIVUS. But lots of enjoyable clues including IPSWICH TOWN, SAPPHIC (very clever), and SIGNIFICANT OTHER. Many thanks as always to Paul and PeterO.

  7. muffin @4, I don’t know about the hamsters, but the moles in my garden are not too happy at the moment, they are burrowing just above the Large Hadron Collider which is in full swing.

  8. Thanks Peter and Paul.

    I am in the “harder” camp today, too. REDIVIVUS, MUSETTE, PIROGUE were new to me. TWEENAGER and DADAISM took me a while, also.

  9. Could somebody tell me how ‘PI’ means ‘good’ in 4d? (Very embarrassed to ask, sure everyone else knows!)

  10. Thanks Paul and PeterO;

    I thought there might be a nina since there were several unusual words, but I do not see anything. New words for me were TOSSPOT (easily gettable from the crossers) and REDIVIVUS (the spell check will not recognize either of them).

    I did like SWINDLE, ROAD HOG, FLOOR POLISH and TWEENAGER.

  12. Hi Sbrych

    Pi, short for pious, is a rather dated expression implying self-satisfaction about one’s virtue…… but convenient for crosswords. I’d say ditch the embarrassment, given that few under 60 would use the word!!! Or do I mean 80?

  14. Sbrych @9 – and, to explain further, it used to be used in its own right – ‘he’s very pi!’ I wouldn’t be surprised to see it in E M Forster.

  17. I’m one of Paul’s fans – although my co-solver is of the other school! This puzzle seemed harder than it was but in the end most enjoyable.
    No-one has commented on the prevalence of repeated letters and syllables [as in DADA(ism) and red(IVIV)us] in the puzzle – an extra which I didn’t notice until the end!

  18. Hi Cookie. Though not quite as venerable as thee, my spring chicken is now a tough old capon…. How can we infect younger people with this delightful disease?

  19. Thanks Paul and PeterO – struggled in the same place as many others – 4 and 10 – but enjoyed the rest, especially 13, 22 & 28.

    Cookie & Togo. If it helps, I’m only 43 3/4, and some of the best setters around (Picaroon, Qaos, eXternal to name but 3) are disGUSTingly young. Don’t think this game is going to die out any time soon.

  20. ChrisS @17, you have a point. I was stuck for a while at POTTAGE because I live in France where it is spelled potage. Perhaps that is why the puzzle is a little peculiar, Paul having fun? Or is there more to it?

    Togo @18, perhaps with these new formats allowing people to solve on their iPads etc., cryptic crosswords will become more accessible. I only started last year, although I have subscribed to the Guardian Weekly for over fifty years and looked longingly at the cryptic each week, but just could not begin without help.

  21. Thank you, PeterO.

    I’m in the pro side of the Marmite debate. The only thing I was a bit queasy about was the inclusion of trumpets in the wind section. One would normally group them with the brass.

    Molonglo @1 Note sure how ‘divin’ the ‘enfant’ would feel if he was woken up by a musette.

    Enjoyed DEVIANT, SOFT TOP & SIGNIFICANT OTHER.

    Top end to a top week for me.

    Thank you, Paul, nice weekend, all.

  22. Thanks Paul and PeterO

    Put me in the ‘enjoyed it’ camp, though once I’d broken in it didn’t seem to last long.

    ChrisS @ 17: well spotted. I make it 15 double letters or pairs of letters,plus a further 5 alliterative words – quite an achievement in 32 clues.

    Bank holiday special by Maskarade tomorrow?

  23. Oh, and is it me or is Paul developing a penchant for themes? Seemed to start with the one on the Armenian massacre, there was the cricket-related Punk this week, pairs today, and I remember mentioning to my Significant Other recently that another of his was themed.

  24. Hello all,

    I’m definitely a lurker rather than a regular contributor, but I just thought I’d weigh in on this subject being (possibly?) at the younger end of the solver spectrum – 37. I’ve been doing crosswords since I was 19 because I was lucky enough to go to a University where the student newspaper had a cryptic that had been written in-house, and I know they were home-grown, because for my final 2 years that writer was me!

    Obviously we had no real training (or much experience) so the puzzles were probably not terribly Ximenean, which has led be to find some of our more… traditional commenters (HH?) almost astonishingly specific, but that is a different conversation! If you want strict Ximenes avoid the Guardian, I say.

    However, the point of all this is that I’m sure many of you have had a go at writing your own puzzles and there are still plenty of student newspapers who love filling up print space, and there are still (despite fees, etc) plenty of students who want to sit at the back of the lecture theatre and do anything other than learn. Surely it shouldn’t be too hard to bridge that gap? The quality would clearly not need to be Guardian/Times high, since it would be a free service, and our puzzles would be seen, and enjoyed, and could even spark a life-long passion in the younger generation as it did me.

    I know Paul himself is a passionate advocate of this sort of thing, so would probably be happy to lend his name to the project if we needed some clout.

    So does anyone think this might be a good idea? The only reason I don’t just get on with it myself is that I’m positively Oblomovian when it comes to getting things done! (This essay alone will necessitate a lie down…)

    Thank you for reading,

    Will.

  25. Will @24 – thanks very much for this. I too started looking at cryptics regularly when I was about 19, but influenced by my late Grandmother it’s always been the Grauniad for me!

    Feel free to follow the link in my name, and to get in touch.

  26. William @21, 19d did not specify ‘woodwind’ instruments, WIND instruments include woodwind instruments and brass instruments, in fact any musical instrument sounded by the breath.

  28. I am giving slightly positive review to this one,
    enjoyed SIGNIFICANT OTHER, ATOM SMASHER, REDIVIVUS (my latin studies helped on this one), SOFT TOP. FLOOR POLISH was a bit anticlimatic

    I liked DEVIANT as well, I spotted the NAIVE reversed but I did not associate immediately this to green, I did not know this meaning and I find it funny/offensive at the same time when thinking of green parties in politics, wonder how/when that meaning came about..

  29. This had more unusual words than Paul normally does, but was still fairly straightforward and entertaining. REDIVIVUS was the only unfamiliar word. Last in and possibly my favourite was IPSWICH TOWN, also liked SAPPHIC, SOFT TOP and TWEENAGER

    Thanks to Paul and PeterO

  30. Will @24, I think your idea is great, though I am not sure I could contribute myself. Is there a resource somewhere that supplies sensible grids?

    I liked this puzzle — personally I enjoy the odd unusual word or phrase, provided it’s fairly clued. Favorite in the last year was budgie smugglers (in another Paul puzzle).

  32. Will @ 24 – Not only are the posters here mostly of a certain age, but about half seem to have PhDs (or DPhils).

    I like the idea of composing crosswords for student newspapers. I scribble down the odd clue that I’ve worked out while lying in bed at night, but haven’t even got to one puzzlesworth* yet.

    * Mangle hot wurzels with tops of potted zucchini to get cruciverbalist’s requirement (12)

  33. I didn’t find this at all easy. REDIVIVUS, PIROGUE and MUSETTE were new words for me, and I couldn’t parse TWEENAGER or the “three times” part of POTTAGE.

    Yes, the clue for 3d is weird, but there were plenty of good ones too. My favourites include SAPPHIC, CATCH UP, DADAISM, IPSWICH TOWN, and SOFT TOP for its elegant simplicity. I also like the smooth surface of TESCO, but I don’t welcome the use of company names in crosswords.

    Thanks to Paul and PeterO.

  34. Potenza @28

    “Green” as “naive” or “young” is a well-established meaning. It comes from green wood, that is immature or unripened wood on the plant or unseasoned cut wood used for carpentry. There is no political slur involved.

  35. Thanks to Paul and PeterO. I had trouble parsing SIGNIFICANT OTHER, took a while getting ROAD HOG, and was initially misled by the “An 11-2” for IPSWICH TOWN but did manage to get through.

    Re the age issue, I started making two-week summer trips to the UK in 1980 and soon got hooked on Guardian cryptics. I was delighted when collections started appearing in book form, especially the Monkey Puzzles series from Araucaria (sheer delight) and only within the last two years stumbled on on-line access and this (very educational) blog (and I’m also working my way through Mitz’s collection). I’ve lost most of my contact with the younger generation (I retired from teaching undergraduates ten years ago – and cryptics are less popular in the US) but I much doubt that the genre will lose its aura.

    As a Shakespeare enthusiast (not a passion shared by all on this blog, I realize), if I ever set a puzzle of my own (which I will not) it would be centered on: “Gertrude’s lapdog” (9) – undoubtedly too mysterious even for Hamletophiles and Cumberbatchers (or Cumberbabes, the term used in one review).

  36. I like this very much – too many good things to itemise. Yes, some of the words were obscure, but, as usual with Paul, they were all easily gettable through the wordplay & I’ve enjoyed looking them up since.

    Many thanks to both Paul & PeterO.

    [My response to 15ac was the same as yours, molonglo – sang that carol at school over 50 years ago & still can’t get the words out of my head. It’s lovely, though, so I suppose things could be a lot worse!]

  37. jennyk @33

    I still don’t get the “three times” part of 14A.

    As for 3D, “atom smasher” is/used to be a popular term for a particle accelerator.

  38. realthog @ 37

    T for time (standard abbreviation) twice, plus age = time – Dickens could have written ‘it was the best of ages, it wass the worst of ages)

    hth

  40. What age did I start? Probably 14 or 15 – my Dad always bought the Guardian but never did the crosswords, and back then (early 80s) the paper was a lot smaller. Started on the quicks, but was introduced to the cryptics by my elder brother, who used to read the solutions and deduce “the rules” from those – we missed a lot of the subtleties of the parsings. I was a dabbler for over 20 years before I started doing the crossword every day. I’ve never tried setting but anything that would encourage the younger generation to have a go would be welcome.

  41. I’m very firmly in the ‘good puzzle’ camp, and I’m someone who thinks Paul has been off his game once or twice recently.

    The more obscure words were fairly clued, as they should be. I first googled STROGUE at 4d and when that did not appear PIROGUE was my second choice. No obvious Paulisms perhaps but TOSSPOT and SAPPHIC are close and there are some very elegant little clues too – like TAILBOARD, DEVIANT and SOFT TOP – which help identify it as Paul’s.

    If there is one thing I didn’t like it’s the grid, just two links between N and S.

  43. realthog @37
    The problem some of us have with 3d isn’t the definition of “atom-smasher” as “accelerator”. I think that meaning of “accelerator” is widely known. The problem is that the surface doesn’t make any sense either semantically or grammatically, even by the standards of Cryptic-crossword-land where convoluted surfaces are well known.

  44. Hmm. Not at all sure about this one. Paul is my favourite compiler and there was a lot to like in this but I think it’s by no means one of his best. The answers came much more slowly than is usual which, of course may be down to my being particularly dozy today. IPSWICH TOWN was my LOI and I stared at the clue for a long time without getting it even with the crossers in. With hindsight I think this was an excellent clue
    There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with the puzzle but somehow it disappointed me.
    However, thanks Paul.

  45. I think Paul (and Rufus) come in for more than their fair share of criticism. Both of them produce crosswords at a prolific rate, often with freshness, wit and invention. What seems unfair is to compare them with compilers who only produce a handful of puzzles a year, and therefore have much more time to polish the surfaces – this seems to me like comparing journalism with poetry. So it is inevitable that not every puzzle will sparkle, but Paul is still capable of surprising us – long may he continue.

  47. Thanks jennyk

    it makes sense of course, but unripe or immature has a slightly different meaning from naive, so did not know how commonly the usage with the latter meaning/acception was.
    Thanks for confirming that.

  48. Hi

    Also more a reader than contributor, but the previous posts remind me of the time after our finals, it took 5 of us a week to not-quite-complete a weekday Guardian cryptic.
    Incidentally, talking of ages, I finally “got it” at age 36 when I found this site. Now 42 I love the Guardian cryptics. No other paper will do!

    Also thought this was harder than usual for Paul, but like all Paul’s puzzles, getable.

    Thanks to both Paul and PeterO

  49. Enjoyed this – particularly liked IPSWICH TOWN. Thanks for adding some new words to my vocabulary.

    Other favourites are TESCO, SIGNIFICANT OTHER, DEVIANT, DADAISM, ASP, SAPPHIC and more. Puts me in the “good” camp.

  50. I enjoyed this despite the lack of Paul’s usual smut. If the checkers had been the even letters rather than the odd letters I would have gone for “revividus” at 10ac. I also needed to trust the wordplay for MUSETTE, and it took me a while to see DADAISM and DEVIANT. I thought the clues for IPSWICH TOWN and SAPPHIC were very good.

  51. Tried to win my 18ager granddaughter to the pursuit recently. She got the tricks – envelopes, anagram indicators etc – but had neither the vocabulary nor the spelling!to get far.
    Well remember getting a cryptic published in a Manchester University student mag c1949. Reward was a packet of cigarettes. Those were the days.

    I still never look at your wonderful blog until I finish it, however long it takes, hence the lateness of this contribution.

  52. Trailman (@41) criticizes the grid, which I wholeheartedly endorse. There have been ‘two-halves’ puzzles linked by only 2 or 3 words. They should NEVER be used! I want to do one puzzle each time not two small ones.

    Please Mr Crossword-editor, no row or column should have fewer than four white spaces.66si

  53. Paul at 3d might have a point. @7 I was joking with muffin, but it occurred to me this evening that we had had no trouble with moles the last three years. The accelerator is now in action again after a three year revision, and the moles are up again under our lawn. Usually the moles stay in the field that is more than 20 meters below us and directly over the accelerator. The magnets directing the circulation of particles are very strong, and at the moment the particles are circulating at a speed close to that of light.

  54. Thanks Paul and PeterO

    I’m a Paulophile and found this a good ‘un. Only did it today, so was able to have a couple of serious cracks at it and was able to finish it quite quickly notwithstanding the couple of unusual words. REDIVIDUS and PIROGUE were the new ones for me.

    Particularly like clues such as the one for IPSWICH TOWN – all the better because I got sucked into looking at what was going to be in 11a initially and couldn’t make sense of the HOP to a footy team. Liked the three times in POTTAGE.

    Ended in the NE with RIDER, REDIVIVUS and DEVIANT the last few in.

  56. Nice puzzle.

    PIROGUE is mentioned in the song Jambalaya.

    Goodbye Joe me gotta go me oh my oh.
    Me gotta go pole the pirogue down the bayou.

    A source of many mondegreens but a great song for beginners.

    It only needs two chords.

  57. Just checked further to post @53 – I think sound is the problem, the access point to the tunnel in the village is making a lot of noise now, especially noticeable at night, and many houses near it are up for sale. The noise is resounding through the tunnel and going into the moles ears, so 3d makes sense.

Comments are closed.