Guardian Cryptic 26709 Paul

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(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.)  Encountered a few speed bumps along the way, with a couple of new terms for me. Thanks to Paul. Definitions are underlined in the clues.

Across

1    Fairy tale starts to unravel, lecherous animal showing a bit of leg (6)

FIBULA : FIB(a fairy tale;a lie) + the 1st letters, respectively, of(starts to) “unravel, lecherous animal “.

4    Finished attempt to get result (6)

UPSHOT : UP(finished;over, as in “your time is up”) + SHOT(an attempt at doing something).

9    Dig right inside capsule (4)

PROD : R(abbrev. for “right”) contained in(inside) POD(a capsule, eg. in a spacecraft).

10    Collective elements of a party elite fighting to infiltrate extremists in tribe (10)

TUPPERWARE : [ UPPER(the elite) + WAR(fighting) ] contained in(to infiltrate) the 1st and last letters of(extremists in) “tribe “.

Defn: Collectively, the items sold at “parties” described by the trademark brand.

11    Supporter of women once in ferment (6)

BUSTLE : Double defn: 1st: A cushion or frame to support and expand the back of skirts used by;of women in the 19th century, and 2nd: Energetic and noisy activity.

12    Last of shag filling inhaler adapted as smoking pipe (8)

NARGHILE : The last letter of(Last of) “shag ” contained in(filling) anagram of(… adapted) INHALER.  An apt surface.

 … I wonder what’s she’s smoking (shag maybe?).

13,27 Recently married man, outfit in black and white (9,6)

NEWCASTLE UNITED : NEW…UNITED(recently married) CASTLE(a man;a piece in a chess game).

Defn: Soccer team;outfit whose traditional kit consists of black and white striped shirts, black shorts and black socks.

15    Nip round back of boozer, showing some pace (4)

TROT : TOT(a nip;a small amount of liquor) containing(round) the last letter of(back of) “boozer “.

16    Colours fade (4)

FLAG : Double defn: 1st: …, of a military unit, say; and 2nd: To lose vigour and strength.

17    Is old, old tennis player (about a hundred) descriptive of some figure? (9)

ISOSCELES : IS + O(abbrev. for “old”) + SELES(Monica, former tennis player) containing(about) C(Roman numeral for a hundred).

Defn: …, viz. a triangle with 2 equal sides.

21    Trouble resting in mansion, I supposed (8)

INSOMNIA : Anagram of(… supposed) MANSION, I.

22    House in the shade (6)

ORANGE : Double defn: Royal house currently ruling the Netherlands; and 2nd: … of colour.

24    Where cheap goods sold, scrap metal and fake Rolexes, primarily? (4,6)

FLEA MARKET : Anagram of(scrap) [METAL plus(and) FAKE + the 1st letter of(…, primarily) “Rolexes “].

25    Mythical vessel written about in biography (4)

ARGO : Reversal of(about) and hidden in(in) “biography “.

26    Country welcoming first of slimy sycophants (3-3)

YES-MEN : YEMEN(the country in the south-western Arabian peninsula) containing(welcoming) the 1st letter of(first of) “slimy “.

27    See 13

Down

1    Sounds like one number plus another number is a lot (7)

FORTUNE : Homophone of(Sounds like) “four”(a number) plus TUNE(another type of number, a musical one).

2    On which a squatter may be counting back two from 6 June 1944, fancifully speaking? (5)

BIDET : Homophone of(… speaking) “B-Day”( fancifully, D-Day, 6th of June 1944, the day of the Normandy landings, counting back two letters in the English alphabet from “D”).

3    Learning Gaelic in Latvia? Not entirely! (7)

LETTERS : “Lett Erse”(cryptically, the Gaelic language spoken by a Lett of Latvia) minus its last letter (Not entirely).

Defn: … or knowledge, especially of literature, as in “a man of letters”.

5    US author has to hear literary work (6)

POETRY : POE(Edgar Allan, US author) plus(has) TRY(to hear;to conduct a case in court).

6    US author, another with heartless novel (9)

HAWTHORNE : Anagram of(… novel) [ANOTHER + “with” minus its inner letters(heartless) ].

7    Cook three times, real pastry (7)

TARTLET : Anagram of(Cook) [ T,T,T(three x abbrev. of “time”) + REAL].

8    Turn handles on the rack over King Stephen’s head – he’s tall and thin! (13)

SPINDLESHANKS : SPIN(to turn round an axis) + anagram of(… on the rack;tortured;tormented) HANDLES placed above(over, in a down clue) K(abbrev. for “king”) + the 1st letter of(…’s head) “Stephen“.

14    Fish oil as horrid for beef (9)

CHAROLAIS : CHAR(any of various troutlike fishes) + anagram of(… horrid) OIL AS.

Defn: A breed of beef cattle.

16    At last, a supporter of the steering mechanism? (7)

FINALLY : ALLY(a supporter, in a cause or conflict) of a FIN(the steering mechanism used by underwater swimmers, aircraft, and watercraft).

18    Shaved round fringes in tonsure, so cut (7)

SHORTEN : SHORN(shaved, eg. fleece from a sheep) containing(round) the 1st and last letters of(fringes in) “tonsure “.

19    In conclusion, crack cocaine ultimately taken (7)

ENGAGED : END(the conclusion) containing(In …, …) [GAG(a crack;a joke) + the last letter of(… ultimately) “cocaine ” ].

Defn: …, caught, or enmeshed as with mechanical gears.

20    If patient, batting is superior (2,4)

IN CASE : CASE(a patient in hospital) placed below(… is superior, in a down clue) IN(descriptive of the cricket side that is batting).

23    A bit to one side (5)

APART : A + PART(a bit, not the whole).

(Please do NOT post hereinbelow any comment relating to the picture quiz. Thank you.)

38 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 26709 Paul”

  1. Thanks scchua, including for explaining 20D, which I toiled over and abandoned, opting instead for ‘in care’ for its patient relevance (batting = in was obvious). Otherwise all good fun, notably the B-day, when the crossing letters revealed it.

  2. For 12 I first entered NARGILEH, which I think is also a valid spelling and anagram, but of course doesn’t fit the crossers.

  4. Thanks, scchua. Loved the BIDET!

    Jason @3, Chambers has meaning 9 of suppose: to substitute fraudulently (obsolete) 😉

  5. thanks scchua and Paul.

    Quite enjoyable, though I failed on 11a and 20d, the latter because I stupidly thought it was (4, 2)!

    I liked 2d now I know what the date was.

  8. Enjoyable but for me at least one of Paul’s toughest. Not helped by writing in an alternative spelling NARGILEH which has the same letters. Also took me far too long to see NEWCASTLE UNITED and my last in POETRY.

    Thanks to Paul and scchua

  9. I had problems with some of the clues. I couldn’t parse LETTERS at all, though it had to be the answer. I kept trying to put something for Gaelic inside something for Latvia. If I’d remembered that Gaelic is Erse I would probably have worked it out, but I didn’t. I had the N when I came to NARGHILE and vaguely remembered the word but was not sure of the spelling. I checked that online and found both versions, the one in the puzzle and the one mentioned by Flavia @2, so I had to wait until I got TARTLET before I could enter it.

    I wasn’t happy with UP = “finished” for UPSHOT, but scchua has explained that. NEW…UNITED for “recently married” jars. Shouldn’t it be NEW(LY)…UNITED or just “recent”? The first wouldn’t work and the second would spoil the surface, of course, but I still don’t like it. And for SHORTEN, wouldn’t “fringes of” be better for both the surface and the construction? As for ISOSCELES, while Seles is certainly a former tennis player, “old” is a bit harsh for a 31-year-old!

    There were a lot of nice clues too (including FLEA MARKET, TARTLET, SPINDLESHANKS), but I think my favourite was BIDET.

    Thanks to Paul and scchua.

  10. jenny @9 – by my reckoning, Monica Seles is nearly 42, but that doesn’t sound old to me either – I think Paul just means old=retired.

  13. Thanks Paul and scchua.

    Like BH @8, I thought this was pretty tough with three unknown words.

    I failed to parse LETTERS. I liked B-DAY, FLEA MARKET and FINALLY.

  14. hh @11
    They are fair if the crossing letters resolve them. If all crossword clues could be solved without reference to crossing letters, there would be no point in having a grid at all.

  16. Great puzzle – like beery hiker I found it quite hard, but perhaps I’m just getting old. BIDET was hilarious, also loved TUPPERWARE, ISOSCELES, FLEA MARKET (for some reason I couldn’t see FLEA for some time, and was googling a LEAF MARKET without much success) and TARTLET. Many thanks to Paul and scchua.

  17. Thanks to Paul and sschua. I missed the parsing for BIDET, and CHAROLAIS and NAGHILE were new to me, but I did manage to piece out NEWCASTLE UNITED (after I failed to squeeze in the more familiar Manchester). Great fun.

  18. Thank you, scchua.

    I had a really slow start with this one but it bloomed out eventually and satisfyingly.

    LETTERS had to be BIFD I’m afraid but loved the rest.

    Thanks for the fun, John.

    Nice week, all.

  19. I don’t often contribute to the discussion – well, only once before as I recall – but I should like to say this time that I think 2d the best and wittiest clue I have seen for years!

  20. I wonder will Bill Shorten, leader of the opposition in the Australian government, as well as son-in-law of the former Governor-General, appreciate his name appearing here.

  21. Regarding crossing letters, fair enough, there has to be a ‘point in having a grid at all’, but, since we are always at the start faced with a blank grid, which clues should be soluble without reference to crossing letters? Some? One? Which?

    I think we should be told.

  22. I found this rather hard but,as usual with Paul, quite satisfying on the whole. The exception was IN CASE which was my LOI. I did parse this but I thought it rather clumsy to this setter. NARGHILE was new to me but I thought quite easy to get, especially,if,like me,you didn’t know there was an alternative spelling.
    I loved NEWCASTLE UNITED, which took an age to get as my knowledge of football is negligible, and I thought BIDET was lovely.
    As usual, thanks Paul.

  23. jennyk @14 et al
    Crossing letters can help you towards a solution, but a clue should have a unique solution in its own right (if you are clever enough to see it).
    BIDET did amuse me, but it’s an awfully wordy clue for a 5-letter solution.

    btw thanks Paul and scchua – now to see if any pictures remain unsloved!

  24. Paul B @21
    I spy a straw man. I don’t think anyone would suggest that a crossword with only one clue which was soluble without crossing letters was a good one, or even one in which a only minority were, at least for a regular crossword in a daily newspaper.

    My own comment was in the context of a complaint about having any anagram clues which some solvers might need crossers to resolve. I don’t think any individual clue would be unfair because of that. A whole crossword would become unfair if, for instance, two such clues intersected in such a way that neither could be resolved without the crosser which should have been provided by the other.

  25. On this one I think Paul B has a fair point – it is quite an obscure word and it is entirely possible that only one of the two spellings will be known to a solver who may then enter it without looking it up. Maybe Paul (the setter) was unaware of the other spelling…

  26. A very tough but enjoyable challenge from Paul.

    Lots of good clues but I will mention 2D, 3D and 13,27 as among my favourites.

    I had never heard of NARGHILE but the anagram fodder was very obvious. Despite that there were 6 equally plausible “solutions” even when all the crossers were in place. This combined with the fact that I have found 8 variants of the spelling of this word in reputable dictionaries(SOED and Chambers) probably makes this particular clue a little unfair. However only 2 spellings match the fodder and only one of those matches the crossers so at least there is a unique solution.

    Thanks to scchua and Paul

  27. Hi JennyK

    I know what you mean, and I was being a little absurdly reductio, but … I have always been slightly twitchy about being generous (i.e. easy) with stuff that most people aren’t gonna know. All the same, in my book the grid (which should of itself be fair) just makes well-written, solvable clues easier – and, lest we forget, one of the best writers of such lovely stuff is Paul of the Guardian.

    No-one’s perfect though. He supports Brighton.

  30. Paul B @27
    I second your opinion of Paul. 🙂

    I also agree with your ideal of “well-written, solvable clues” with the crossers just helping out fallible solvers like me. On this particular point, though, I seem to be a little more tolerant.

  31. Can I offer a dissenting voice here: I thought that this was a shocker.

    2d is one of the worst clues that I have ever seen in a grown-up crossword; it’s the cruciverbal equivalent to beating you over the head with a hammer. 13/27 is so vague as to be almost laughable. 17a – “some figure” = isosceles???? 3d is ridiculous.

    In the language of film critics – I think that Paul phoned this one in.

  32. I always enjoy Paul’s puzzles but this was a little less enjoyable than most.

    It was hard for me today because I had no access to any reference sources and had never heard three of the answers (probably the same as Robi’s three @13). No complaints about that: I guessed SPINDLESHANKS, I asked some-one near me if NARGHILE was a word (she said yes), and I had to leave —-OLAIS (which I now see is CHAROLAIS).

    Unusually for a Paul puzzle, I found some clues weak and would have commented on them in this late post, but Jason (@3), jennyk (@9) and Peter Asplnwall (@22) have already done so.

  33. Dave in Spain @28 – sorry, Dave, BIFD = Bunged In From Definition, meaning “that’s probably the answer but I can’t really see why”.

  34. engineerb @31.

    I sympathise with your take on today’s puzzle, although I thought the majority of the clues were of a good standard in the sense that they provided an adequate clue or hint of the answer without actually defining it (defining it can sometimes be a giveaway and detract from the solver’s enjoyment).

    I thought Paul today, in the way that some other setters often do, was so afraid of giving us any whiff of the meaning of the answer in a few of his clues that he actually fell short of giving us the minimum hint that we needed: 17a and 13/27 could be two examples of this.

    I actually enjoyed 2D (BIDET) today. It was cleverly (and adequately) clued, I thought, I managed to work out the answer from the wordplay before going back to check the definition or hint, and it made me laugh.

  35. engineerb @31

    You were obviously having a bad day yesterday. My condolences.

    Just for the record the definition of ISOSCELES in 17A is “descriptive of some figure” which is absolutely fine for me.

    in fact all the clues, bar perhaps NARGHILE, were very fair.

    I think Paul got feedback a few months ago that he was getting known as one of the “easier” setter. His more recent puzzles have shown us that perhaps this was a rash judgement and this last puzzle confirmed it beyond doubt. 😉

  37. Thanks Paul and scchua

    Good challenge from Paul with some clever clues, that have been called out above, sprinkled in amongst his normal high quality offerings.

    Finished in the NE corner with LETTERS, BIDET and BUSTLE the last few in. IN CASE took an age to parse after it was all finished, but eventually twigged to the tricky use of ‘superior’.

    SPINDLESHANKS was a new term.

  38. Thanks scchua.

    I made my life difficult on this one by putting CURT as my FOI at 15 ac (CUT around R) which prevented me from seeing HAWTHORNE at 6dn.

    Some of the clueing seemed below Paul’ usual standard but then redeemed by excellent ones like BIDET and TUPPERWARE.

    His puzzles are never dull.

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