Guardian 26,863 / Paul

42 comments on “Guardian 26,863 / Paul”

1. Paul is my favourite setter; sorry if that sounds a bit sycophantic, but I was thrilled to be able to solve one of Paul’s weekly puzzles. Usually I count myself lucky to get just a few of Paul’s clever clues.
   NE corner went well; then I had a breakthrough with WILDE 26a, at which point I breathed a sigh of relief that I know some of Oscar Wilde’s plays and characters.
   Politically incorrect warning: When I was travelling in Ireland in 2002, I heard someone refer to the Oscar Wilde statue of the great writer reclining on a rock in Merrion Square, Dublin, as the “fag on the shag”. Apologies if that is offensive or seriously cliched, but it seemed funny at the time.
   After that, the NE corner yielded.
   Sorry Eileen but I think I missed most of the additional Wilde allusions to which you refer, other than EARNEST 28a.
   Meanwhile I relished FALAFEL 1a, and 24 across, where DOES was a great distractor, seemingly used as an interrogative verb (is there such a thing?) instead of a plural noun.
   LOI was PALINDROMES – fantastic when I saw it – distracted by thoughts of Cerberus etc.
   A lot of fun and many thanks to both Paul and Eileen.

2. A nice puzzle. I had to work on the Wilde clues as I couldn’t remember the names: LOI was SIR ROBERT CHILTERN. Favourite clues were MICROCOSM, PALINDROMES and STET. Many thanks to Paul and Eileen.

3. Took me much too long to remember that you can spell 19d without an H! Thanks for FALAFE(W)L and (F)LYING – I”m useless at these missing-letter clues. Perhaps some of the other clues were easier because the Wilde characters weren’t that familiar – to me at least. Er – how does CORRUPTION fit with the Wilde theme?

   Favourites HORSEPOWER, PALINDROMES, FREE, NINE, DISHONOURED.

4. Hi Gladys @3

   How about this http://www.shmoop.com/an-ideal-husband/sir-robert-chiltern.html ?

5. Julie @1: Dubliners do have a caustic wit. Some other examples of city landmarks: The Hags With The Bags (statue of two women near the Halfpenny Bridge), and The Floozie in the Jacuzzi (a fountain with a water nymph). Furthermore, the LUAS urban rail system has two lines, known to some as the Jerry Lee LUAS (serving the Western suburbs), and the Daniel Day LUAS (to the more upmarket South Dublin).

   I enjoyed this. Thanks Paul and Eileen.

6. Not to mention the Dublin Spire known as the ‘Stiletto in the Ghetto’ and the statue of Molly Malone in Grafton Street known as the ‘Tart with the Cart’.

7. Thank you Paul and Eileen.

   That was fun, too many favourites to list, but WILDE, SIR ROBERT CHILTERN and HORSEPOWER stood out.

   I thought FALAFEL a strange entry, so googled…

   Oscar Wilde on falafel:
   ~ “I falafal after all that falafel”
   ~ “Falafel, feel awful. Get it? Get it? Ha!”

   Oscar Wilde on Oscar Wilde’s bad falafel joke:
   ~ “That’s not funny. Wait, am I schizophrenic?”

   ?

8. Thanks Paul & Eileen.

   Ground out this general knowledge puzzle. I’ve seen some of the plays but difficult to remember the characters.

   I did like the DISH ON OUR ED – made up for having to Google stuff about Wilde.

9. Thanks to Paul and Eileen. I did not get WILDE right away, but once that fell into place the rest came easily, though my memory of plays other than EARNEST is spotty. For a change I did not need help with the parsing. Much fun.

10. Initially writing in lungie instead of gillie completely obscured who the author was so I actually had to work with the wordplay which was spot on.Made it very interesting as sometimes when you spot a theme you are familiar with it can be a bit of a write-in (like To the Lighthouse and Mrs Dalloway etc)

    But I thought the theme was used in a subtle manner-especially in not connecting 28 to it.

    Hoping for a Knut tomorrow(Indy).

11. DISHONOURED wins clue of the day, for me.

    It’s one of those where the general knowledge, if not known, can perhaps be inferred from wordplay and checking letters. For me this was true of DARLINGTON and SIR ROBERT CHILTERN, although I’m not sure ALGERNON MONCRIEFF would have yielded as easily as those – thankfully I happen to know that play (despite that it was the last of the themed names I got – typical!). Nice clue for INVENT – “coin” misdirects wonderfully.

12. There’s something about Paul’s recent puzzles, this no exception, that makes me just hold back a bit from the highest praise: surfaces just a bit clunky, cueing a bit over-elaborate. It’s all very good and clever, and there are plenty of good clues – who else could come up with DISHONOURED – but I long for a bit of lightness of touch.

    Still, mustn’t complain. I knew little about the theme, just the ALGERNON but not his surname, but everything worked out, so bravo for that.

13. This was a very entertaining challenge, and quite tricky in places, particularly for those of us with limited knowledge of the theme. SIR ROBERT CHILTERN was unfamiliar to me and INVENT was last in. Liked PALINDROME, INVENT, FREE and DISHONOURED

    Thanks to Paul, thanks and welcome back to Eileen – glad you had a good holiday

14. Like Trailman (@12) I thought this was not quite Paul at his best, but this was still a well-crafted and enjoyable puzzle. My favourite clues were almost the same as Gladys’s (@3) – I would just nominate 15/7D (SIR ROBERT CHILTERN) in place of 24D (FREE). Paul is still one of my top few favourite setters.

    I also enjoyed the many references to Dublin landmarks. It’s a city I have never visited but wish I had. (Many years ago I booked a holiday in Ireland but had to cancel it.)

    Many thanks to Paul and Eileen

15. … and welcome back, Eileen.

16. Thanks Paul and Eileen

    I know the names of very few Wilde characters, so had to Google. Favourites NINE and FREE.

    I had INDENT instead as INVENT – nearly as good, as that’s what you do when you make a coin.

    Pedants’ corner: although you can field “in the covers”, the actual name of the fielding position is COVER POINT (or EXTRA COVER and variations); there isn’t a fielding position correctly termed “cover”.

17. Thanks Paul and Eileen.

    Really enjoyed PALINDROMES – hadn’t seen “ten animals etc..” before, possibly home-grown? If so Paul has too much time on his hands, which doesn’t seem possible in view of his output.

    Julie in Australia@1: re Oscar’s statue, “shag” seems, I don’t know, incongruous in the context of other “Doublinisms” – unless the word means a rock of some sort. Typo for “slag”? “Flag”? Thanks to poc@5 for the Luas definitions, which raised a smile.

18. I’m in two minds about this. It was quite easy to get WILDE but far less so to get the names of the characters despite having seen most of the plays. Thus Mr Google came in to play if only as a check. I got DARLINGTON from the clue but SIR ROBERT CHILTERN was much harder. These sort of clues are a bit too close to quizword territory for my liking.
    Still,there were some goodies- PALINDROMES, DISHONOURED and LIVERY spring to mind- so it was mostly enjoyable.
    Thanks Paul.

19. There are some lovely Wildean quotes on the plinth beside the Merrion Sq statue. ‘I find it harder and harder every day to live up to my blue china’ is one among several favourites.

    Also, if you search out the statue make sure to view Wilde’s facial profile from both left and right. It’s quite cleverly done.

20. Thanks Eileen, and Paul.

    Got WILDE early on, and DARLINGTON by wordplay, but did not enjoy Googling for other characters.

    That said, liked DISHONOURED, PALINDROMES and MICROCOSM.

21. Alphalpha @17; see here for lots of palindromes, including the one in the puzzle.

22. Fag on the crag. Although his statue lies appraising an attractive nude lady which puts the other closer as if ‘on the pull’ 😉
    See notesofnomads.com for many more Dublin names…trollop with the scallops etc.
    Enjoyed the xword too.

23. Hi Julie in Austrralia @ 1, poc @ 5 and Es @ 6,

    The Floozie in the Jacuzzi also answers to the Whore (pronounced Hooer by echt Dubliners) in the Sewer. And up above in Belfast there’s a statue of what might be a rhythmic gymnast. We call her “Nuala with the Hula”.

    And Alan Browne @ 14,

    Do try to make it to Dublin, the craic is ninety and if you start in Bowes Lounge or the Palace Bar in Fleet Street on a Friday evening you’ll be off to a flyer. And try to work in a visit to Belfast too: céad míle fáilte applies on both sides of the border.

24. Robi@21

    Ta for that, great fun.

25. Thanks for the tip, Stanyel (@23). Dublin is on a very short list of European cities that I haven’t visited and want to visit. My capacity for drink is limited, but I like good company and a good atmosphere.

26. Had to Google some of the Wilde characters, which for me detracted from it a bit. But DISHONOURED was a great clue.

    Do I recall correctly that there was a Guardian crossword not too long ago featuring characters from The Portrait of Dorian Gray?

27. JimS @26
    Yes – see:
    http://www.fifteensquared.net/2015/10/03/guardian-prize-26687-by-qaos/

28. Thanks muffin. You found that very quickly!

29. I put “Dorian” into the search box.

30. I’m another Paul fan, and I enjoyed this one too, though I found it quite hard to get started. I couldn’t fully parse FALAFEL (missed A FEw). I didn’t know SIR ROBERT CHILTERN, but I guessed SIR ROBERT from the crossers and knowing the kind of characters in Wilde’s plays, then googled to get the last name. My favourites are NINE, HORSEPOWER and DEER. I also liked that EARNEST didn’t refer to 26a.

    Thanks, Paul and Eileen.

31. I did remember it, though, as I spent ages trying to find another character for my last entry, due to the ambiguous special instructions.

32. The Whore in the Sewer was also known as “Bidet Mulligan ” after a song about a ‘renowned’ character Biddy Mulligan

33. Thanks to Paul and manehi for an entertaining puzzle and helpful blog. I admit to having felt pleased with myself for solving the names of the Wilde charcters without recourse to Google, only having seen The Importance of Being 28a and having forgotten Algernon’s surname from that.
    I was last in Dublin in 1973 when it was still just possible to find a pint of unfrozen Guinness.

34. muffin @16

    I think you’ll find that there is a fielding position called “cover”. At least there was for the 30 years that I played cricket. (10 as captain)

    “Cover point is actually between “cover” and “point” whereas “extra cover” is between “cover” and “mid off”.

    “Cover” is the equivalent of “mid wicket” but on the off side.

    If you’re in any doubt ask Derek Randall where he fielded.

    I hope this clears things up for you non-cricketers

35. I think Muffin is technically correct and he did admit to being pedantic. Cover point is a position further from the bat than point and covering it in case point misses the ball or a point hasn’t been posted. BBNTW is also correct in that the abbreviation “cover” is now the common usage.

36. Sorry, BBNTO

37. Sorry to Eileen too and thanks for the blog. It’s past my bedtime and I had only just got round to yesterday’s blog by manehi before this one

38. Thank Eileen and Paul

    This was a fun puzzle! My favourites were DISHONOURED, PALINDROMES, EPIDEMIC.

    I could not parse 5a and 15/7.

39. 14a might be my favorite clue of all time.

40. Pino @35

    Sorry you are not correct. As I explained “Cover Point” is a different filed position than “Cover” as is “Extra Cover”. No abbreviations are involved.

    I did captain at a resonable league level and I would have been most annoyed if I instructed somebody to field at cover and they took up the cover point position. (Lots of runs would have ensued!) Cover is there to cut out an off drive and is also in a catching position to make the batsman careful his drive is to ground. Cover point does the same for usauly for the forwardish cut shot which would require the bowler to be pitching the bowl much shorter than for the drive.

    Here is a great diagram for your perusal and edification.

41. Thanks Paul and Eileen.

    This really hits the spot!

    No bad clues. A theme which you don’t need to know too much about because the quality of clues allows the uninitiated to solve with a little research, and not too many themed clues – otherwise the solve can turn to an unpleasant grind.

    Just very, very good.

42. Thanks Paul and Eileen

    Did this one the day after publication but only got to check it off tonight … and didn’t finish the parsing of MICROCOSM or the quite brilliant DISHONOURED.

    It was one of those puzzles that took most of an elapsed day to complete and I did need Google to help me with some of the characters – have only ever read ‘Dorian Gray’ from his works – I don’t know why … because I certainly enjoyed that !

    I’m another Paul fan and can forgive any of the clunkiness that might come across in his clues … just to get amongst his long anagrams or the clever wordplay such as DISHONOURED that he is able to produce on a regular basis.

    Finished in the NE corner with SIR ROBERT CHILTERN, MICROCOSM and a fixed up STET (rather than the pathetic EDIT that I originally had in there).

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