Guardian 26,949 – Paul

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Paul is in cheeky mode today, with several clues using the word “randy”, and various words that rhyme with it. There’s another mini-theme – presumably unrelated – with links to 22a. Good fun – thanks to Paul.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Across
8. PASADENA Ebbing, a tide keeping down in California city (8)
SAD in reverse of A NEAP
9. RAMBO Male bodybuilder ostensibly starts to become a he-man (5)
RAM + B (first letter of “body”, hence “bodybuilder”) + O[stensibly] first letters of Bodybuilder Ostensibly
10. FLOP Dandy bagging large turkey (4)
L in FOP
11. RAISE ALOFT Ground-to-air, false lift (5,5)
(TO AIR FALSE)*
12. THORNY Tricky time getting randy (6)
T + HORNY
14. ALIGHTED Lad with eight shifts came to rest (8)
(LAD EIGHT)*
15. BOWSHOT Old firing range is bandy and randy (7)
BOWS (is bandy, as in legs) + HOT. Bowshot is “the distance to which a bow can send an arrow”
17. AROUSED A wine inspiring us beyond love to get randy (7)
O + US in A RED
20. SPIRACLE Parcel is forced in vent (8)
(PARCEL IS)* – spiracles are breathing holes found on some animals, including insects, so perhaps a missed opportunity to link to the next answer..
22. INSECT As a heretic, worshipping cricket, perhaps? (6)
A worshipping heretic might be IN [a] SECT
23. UNCONSUMED Condemn US complex with posh entrance that’s not been taken down (10)
U (posh) + (CONDEMN US)* – “entrance” tells us that the U comes first
25,24. MARCO POLO Nothing between brandy and candy for travel writer (5,4)
O between MARC (brandy) and POLO (mint)
26. TURNED ON Randy song about rear end of setter, Pasquale? (6-2)
[sette]R in TUNE + DON
Down
1. BALLYHOO Party overcoming brute without a fuss (8)
BALL + YAHOO less A
2. WASP 22 across, toothed thing soaring over head of prey (4)
Reverse of SAW + P[rey]
3. NEARBY Handy underwear, longing to hold it up (6)
BRA in YEN, all reversed
4. CAPITAL Dandy, Stanley or Douglas, perhaps? (7)
Double definition: “dandy” = “capital” as in “excellent”, and Stanley and Douglas are examples of capitals (of the Falklands and the Isle of Man, respectively)
5. CREEPIER Native American landing place, more scary (8)
CREE + PIER
6. SMALL HOURS Possibly one or two in hospital, or around university, in pants? (5,5)
H + U in OR, in SMALLS
7. TOFFEE English couple after dandy candy (6)
TOFF (a dandy) + E E
13. RESERVOIRS Ever so sorry I invested in odd parts of rarest funds (10)
(EVER SO)* + I in R[a]R[e]S[t]
16. OCCASION In company twice as exceptional, it’s a special event (8)
(IN CO CO AS)*
18. ESCALLOP Sit up to collect ring in dish (8)
CALL in reverse of POSE – a variant of “scallop”, or possibly of “escalope”
19. TERMITE 22 across, stratum ignoring one little bit (7)
TIER less I + MITE (little bit, as in the widow’s mite)
21. PANAMA A chart covering North America looking north — country further south? (6)
NA in A MAP, all reversed
22. INDIRA Nation about right for Gandhi (6)
R in INDIA. Indira Gandhi was Prime Minister of India from 1980 until her assassination in 1984
24. POET US author Frost ultimately — this? (4)
[Edgar Allan] Poe + T, referring to the poet Robert Frost

25 comments on “Guardian 26,949 – Paul”

  5. Thanks Andrew.

    I read 9ac simply as B[odybuilder] O[stensibly] starts – but it doesn’t make a deal of difference.

    As you say, good fun, with a lot of clever clues.

    Thanks to Paul for a lively start to the day.

  7. Thanks Eileen, your explanation of 9a is much better than mine.

    Note to Tramp fans – he makes his debut in the FT today as “Skitnica” (Croatian for “vagabond”, I learn).

  8. I was happy to solve this and enjoyed all the rhyming and the insects.

    Thanks to Paul for the fun and to Andrew for the extra depth of understanding provided in the blog.

    A good week for me with full solves including the Pan, though a bit late for the Pan blog due to my return to the part-time workforce. Less time for cryptic crosswords!

    Still to tackle the Prize from last weekend this evening.

    The blog adds such a different dimension to “the loneliness of the long distance solver”, so thanks, All.

    And what a delight to have met up with Alan Browne, a regular contributor, during his sojourn near me on the Sunshine Coast here in Queensland, Australia.

  11. Paul on absolute top form, and when he is there’s no one to beat him I say. The surfaces are so great, like a set of beautiful instructions in need of careful reading and translation. So many delights here. And thanks to Andrew for the blog.

  12. Thank you Paul and Andrew.

    Great fun as always. INSECT was my favourite clue – I like the NOT DDT running up the right-hand side unches, just chance I guess.

  13. I read 23a as meaning “anagram of ‘Condemn US’ which U enters”, meaning an insertion rather than an introduction. Both work, of course.

    “Soaring” in a down clue meaning “reversal”? I dunno.

    Is a toff a dandy or just somebody, probably a man, in the upper class? That’s the way I’ve thought of it.

    Delightful puzzle with its dandy motif. Thanks to Paul and Andrew.

  16. Made very heavy weather of this and almost gave up at one point, but in the end I was left feeling that I should have found it easier. RESERVOIRS was last in after BOWSHOT. Liked BALLYHOO and TURNED ON.

    Thanks to Paul and Andrew

  17. Usual goodie from Paul. I parsed UNCONSUMED as Valentine did and I was held
    up by having AMOROUS rather than AROUSED at 17 dn. Otherwise pretty straightforward
    and,of course, highly enjoyable. Liked TOFFEE.
    Thanks Paul.

  18. Good fun from Paul, still my favorite setter. Lots of his trademark sophomoric humor.

    One could quibble that based on the usual definition we use in North America, Panama is in North America. But there are so many varying definitions that that seems a bit unfair. (I’ve even seen it said that Panama is a transcontinental country, since the canal is a logical dividing point.)

  19. Lack of comment is presumably because this was a bit tough. It can’t be because this wasn’t worth comment. My excuse was that we had guests. They’ve gone now, and I’ve finished nearly – BOWSHOT needed a bit of a cheat, I got the HOT bit of course, but didn’t see BOWS = bandy without aid.

    Fantastically witty throughout though, it’s delightful to see a setter playing around with language in this manner.

  20. it’s the mix of wit, cheek and intellect that makes Paul my favourite setter & I really enjoyed this. 6d my favourite today

  21. A pleasure to be beaten by Paul today – I had BEDMITE for 19d, as well as having to wordsearch CAPITAL. I just knew that ‘Douglas’ was intended but couldn’t make the leap. new word MARC.
    Thanks Andrew also.

  22. I found this tough but very enjoyable challenge, getting less than half at my first attempt. When I returned to it just before bedtime, it seemed easier and I did complete it, but too late to want to post here. Like Valentine @13, for UNCONSUME, I took “entrance” as meaning that U for “posh” needed to be entered into result of the anagram.

    Thanks, Paul and Andrew.

  23. [Andrew – huge thanks for the FT Skitnika tip off – I don’t often do the FT but can’t resist a Tramp! Have just copied at library …. something to look forward to.]

  24. Thanks Paul and Andrew.

    Another fun puzzle from Paul with so much to like.

    As usual, this took a while to get going and I also struggled on the last few – indeed I was ultimately beaten by BOWSHOT.

    Favourite was BALLYHOO.

  25. Thanks Paul and Andrew

    Found this in Paul’s mid-range level of difficulty getting it done in three short sittings. Liked his play on the rhyming words (including Gandhi).

    SPIRACLE was the only new term for me and no other hold ups at all.

    Finished in the NW corner with PASADENA, BOWSHOT and NEARBY the last few in.

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