Guardian Prize 26,944 by Paul

by

Some of these clues were pretty damn tricky I thought.  Good fun all the way through, tricky or not.  Thanks Paul.

Note: I will on holiday riding along the South Downs way when this blog is published.  Hopefully I will be able to reply to comments on my phone. Please be patient as I hate typing on tiny screens with software that tries to change everything I write into something else. Update: Holiday departure is is now delayed until tomorrow evening.

completed grid
Across
1 SHEEP FARM Female on record wearing fleece, a large number — here? (5,4)
F (female) following (on) EP (Extended Play record) inside (wearing) SHEAR (fleece) then M (one thousand, a large number)
6 THONG Miles 14 to 26, heading for glory that’s brief! (5)
maraTHON (second half of, miles 14 to 26) then Glory (heading letter of)
9 CHEEP How a bird goes for a song that’s audible (5)
CHEEP sounds like (that’s audible) “cheap” (for a song)
10 COLORADAN Academy acting to separate two points, literarily, for American statesman (9)
RADA (acting academy, or maybe just academy?) inside (to separate, or acting to separate?) COLON ( : two points).  I think “literarily” is a general indication that the two points are to do with literature, but it is an adverb so what verb does it qualify? Also, are not colons more to do with the orthography of a language than its literature?
11   See 15
12 STANDOFFISH Cold seafood bedecked stall? (11)
a STAND OF FISH is a stall bedecked with seafood
14 TANTRUM Fit little time between function and drink (7)
T (time, little=abbrev) between TAN (function) and RUM (drink)
15, 11 CRICKET BAT Two animals, one taken to the middle (7,3)
CRICKET and BAT are two animals – something taken to the middle of the pitch
16 SQUELCH Don’t talk about cryptic clue that’s beyond question — sounds like that sucks? (7)
SH (don’t talk) contains (about) CLUE* anagram=cryptic following Q (question)
19 NOTICES Without family, around a hundred spies (7)
NO TIES (without family) contains C (a hundred)
22 PREDECESSOR Newspapers covering second of February, last month, or the one before (11)
PRESS (newspapers) contain (covering) fEbruary (second letter of) and DEC (December, the last month) then OR
23 EGO Conscious element ending in grudge match (3)
grudgE (ending of) then GO (match, a handbag might go with a dress)
24 EQUITABLE Just English left, island heading backwards (9)
E (English) QUIT (left) then ELBA (island) reversed (backwards)
26 WASPS 15 is no more, I should add (5)
WAS (is no more) and PS (I should add) – Wasps are a Rugby Union side, 15 players
27 TALLY Match score (5)
double definition
28 RUGBY BALL School prom that’s a throwback? (5,4)
RUGBY (an old school) BALL (prom) – in the game of rugby forward passes are not allowed
Down
1 SACKBUT Lute heard, however, as an old trombone (7)
SACK (loot, sounds like lute) and BUT (however)
2 EVERTON Tennis player and 15 side 11 (7)
Chris EVERT (tennis player) and ON (side of the field in cricket, leg side) – English football team, eleven players
3 PIPISTRELLE Source of fruit is lemon, say, with yellow centre to feed 11 (11)
PIP (source of fruit) IS TREE (lemon say) containing (with…to feed) yeLLow (centre of) – a type of bat
4 ACCLAIM Applaud a goal, hugging Celtic’s outside left (7)
A AIM (goal) contains (hugging) CeltiC (outside letters of) and L (left)
5 MELODIC Musical doctor covering ligatures and operatic overtures (7)
MEDIC (doctor) contains (covering) Ligatures and Operatic (opening letters of, overtures)
6 TAR Jack — knave put another way (3)
RAT (knave) reversed (put another way) – a Jack Tar is a sailor
7 OLD NICK Diabolical brute getting on collar (3,4)
OLD (getting on) and NICK (collar)
8 GUNSHOT Warm up, then cool bullet (7)
SNUG (warm) reversed (up) then HOT (cool, trendy) – I’m not convinced that “hot” and “cool” are really synonymous, but “close enough for jazz” as it were.
13 FRITTER AWAY Waste water redirected into river after a day (7,4)
WATER* anagram=redirected in TAY (river) following FRI (a day)
16 SAPIENT Sage in fancy panties (7)
anagram (fancy) of PANTIES
17 UNEQUAL Different passage of tune, quality (7)
found inside (passage of) tUNE QUALity
18 HEEL BAR After taking a spin, driver finally qualified — what? Cobblers! (4,3)
driveR (final letter of) and ABLE (fully qualified) then EH (what?) all reversed (after taking a spin)
19 NEST EGG Savings banked in the branches? (4,3)
cryptic definition
20 CHELSEA 11 more in the drink (7)
ELSE (more) in CHA (tea, a drink) – Chelsea football club, 11 players
21 SPOUSAL Marriage beginning to unravel, work to patch girl up (7)
Unravel (beginning of) and OP (opus, work) inside (to patch) LASS (girl) all reversed (up)
25 TRY Test score (3)
double definition, also &lit

*anagram
definitions are underlined

32 comments on “Guardian Prize 26,944 by Paul”

  1. Thanks PeeDee. Another clever offering from Paul with misleading – well, I was misled – references to 11 and 15. The NE corner held me up for some time and I’m still rather bemused that COOL and HOT can mean the same thing but, looking at it now, I have only my own slowness to blame. I find that while the plural of SPOUSAL is a noun and synonymous with marriage the singular is an adjective while MARRIAGE can only be a noun.

    I can recommend the pub at Hooksway.

  2. Thanks Paul and PeeDee.

    I took the “literally” in 10a just to indicate that the points should be treated as dots rather than the usual cryptic compass points.

    Is there something more going on in the grid? The two halves are separated by ET, and there’s what looks like a Doctor Who monster lurking in row 4.

  3. This was a cracker and well worth the time taken while on holiday. I enjoyed the misdirections in the use of ’11’ and ’15’ in 26A, 2D and 20D.

    This was good fun, and clever with it, as has been said already. I had many favourite clues.

    However, I too would question the use of the word ‘literarily’ in 10A. Also, ‘Miles 14 to 26’ in 6A (THONG) nearly makes it (inserting ‘approx.’ would have been fairer), but the answer was gettable nevertheless.

    I’m grateful to my Australian friend Julie for printing off this puzzle for me.

    Thanks also to Paul and PeeDee.

  4. A pleasant gentle enough puzzle from Paul.

    I don’t see the problem with 10A. Literarily means 1† Pertaining to the letters of the alphabet. and relates to the the verb “separates”. So the letters of RADA (an acadamy) separate the letters of the two points (COLON in letters).

    Surely that’s very succinct!

  5. Good point BNTO @4. I was simply not aware that ‘literary’ or ‘literarily’ could refer in any way to the orthography of the language (like the letters of the alphabet), and I could and should have checked the dictionary.

    As you say, the adverb modifies ‘separates’, thus answering the question posed @10A in the blog.

  6. Thank you Paul and PeeDee.

    Hard going, but enjoyable. I stupidly failed to parse THONG and CHELSEA was the last in.

    The use of the noun SPOUSAL in the singular for marriage is archaic,

    As man and wife, being two, are one in love,
    So be there ‘twixt your kingdoms such a spousal.

    Not sure which work of Shakespeare this is from, but found it in the Encyclopaedia perthensis online, a marvellous site.

  7. BNTO @4 when writing the blog I looked up literary in Chambers and “relating to letters of the alphabet” is listed as obsolete. Out of interest – which dictionary are you using?

  8. Loved the wander up the garden path with 11 and 15 in 20 and 26. When the penny dropped I had to resort to google to confirm the teams. But the wordplay was very fair.
    I still don’t get miles to 14 to 26 in 10A. I was guessing that 26 miles was a marathon but couldn’t explain the dropping of ‘ara’.
    Seeking enlightenment.

  9. paddymelon – miles 1-13 are the first half of a marathon (mara) and miles 14-26 are the second half of a marathon (thon). The clue requires us to take the second half.

  12. Quite sneaky in places but a lot of fun. THONG,WASPS and CHELSEA kept me
    guessing for quite a long time but I thought the cluing excellent- and amusing
    once I’d sussed it. I liked SQUELCH.
    Thanks Paul.

  13. Is there some confusion between ‘literarily’ ‘literally’ and ‘literary’ in the blog? It is ‘literarily’ in the clue of course which may possibly be a mistake while it is ‘literal’ and ‘literary’ which can relate to letters of the alphabet. I see it DuncT’s way and think the word should have been ‘literally’.

  15. 21d SPOUSAL. I found the quotation on line — it’s from Henry V in the scene where he proposes to Princess Catherine of France (doh!) after he has just beaten her country at Agincourt. The speaker is Queen Isabella, the princess’s mother. Having found it I slapped myself upside the head for not thinking that of course that’s where it had to be from.

    There seems to be a themelet here of sports — tennis, cricket, football/soccer and rugby. (Aren’t the Celtics (part of the 4d clue) a team in Glasgow?)

    That plus the Agincourt connection reminds me of “The Battle of ‘Astings” in which the battle is a football game. I don’t know how to put in links, but copy and paste what’s below to get the song delivered by the incomparable Stanley Holloway.

    https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=stanley+holloway+battle+of+hastings

    I also don’t know how to find the Encyclopaedia Perthensis site, only wikipedia articles about the original book, which I’d never heard of.

    PeeDee, will you be riding a horse or a bicycle?

  17. Another fine crossword as we expect from Paul. I remember finding parts of this a little tricky but got there in the end.

    Thanks to Paul and PeeDee

  18. Good puzzle, though not as difficult as some of Paul’s Prizes. It took me quite a while to parse EGO. I hsd a wrong psrsing for HEEL BAR, Andrew’s making much more sense.

    Thanks, Paul and PeeDee.

  19. I’ve just looked up the South Downs Way, it looks spectacular. Have a wonderful holiday, PeeDee!

    Valentine

  20. Despite going well with the Paul on Friday, the Prize Paul which I had saved up all week, failed to yield for me, but I did enjoy the blog.

    Well done to the clever solvers and thanks for teasing out the meanings and themes.

    I have to say I really liked 16d “Sage in fancy panties” for SAPIENT…

    Well Alan Browne, it’s clear that your holiday from cryptics has not affected your solving prowess.

    Wishing PeeDee well – the cycling sounds idyllic – and thank you for an interesting blog.

    And thanks as always to Paul for being such an entertaining setter.

  21. PeeDee @7

    I used the Shorter Oxford as below.

    literary ?l?t(?)r?ri ? adjective & noun. m17.

    A adjective.
    1† Pertaining to the letters of the alphabet. m17–l18.
    2 Of, pertaining to, or of the nature of literature; of or pertaining to books and written compositions; (of a word or idiom) used chiefly in books or by writers, not colloquial; esp. pertaining to or having the characteristics of that kind of written composition valued on account of its qualities of form or emotional effect. Formerly also, of or pertaining to the humanities or polite learning. m18.
    Ld Macaulay The parliamentary conflict on the great question of a standing army was preceded by a literary conflict. G. Greene The long pompous literary oath full of words too difficult for Taylor to pronounce. B. Emecheta She had already cultivated the taste for wide reading and…was always in the mood for literary talk. D. Halberstam He was not much interested in literary style and he did not care about good writing.
    3 Acquainted with or versed in literature; spec. engaged in literature as a profession, occupied in writing books. Of a society etc.: consisting of people engaged or interested in literature. l18.
    4 Of painting, sculpture, etc.: that depicts or represents a story. e20.

    I have now noticed the “†” next to the first definition which of course means “obsolete”. So of course you were correct.

    I now revert to my original idea which was that “literarily” was meant to be “literally” which indicates the same idea in a slightly more obtuse way.

    “My bad” or should I say “mea culpa” 😉

  22. Great puzzle thank you Paul and Peedee.

    We failed to parse 1a. Stuck on the SHE at the beginning being the female. We can’t be alone on that.

  23. BNTO@21. But @ 4 it was ‘literarily’ that you defined this way not ‘literary’.

    As I said @13 I agree with you that the word should have been ‘literally’ – in the sense of actually.

  24. Thanks all
    Favourites 6 ac and 4 d.I failed to parse 1ac and doubted rugby ball
    is throwback!

  26. Thanks PeeDee and Paul.

    Some terrific clues here including THONG, CHEEP and STANDOFFISH.

    And I was led up the garden path a good few times, particularly with SHEEP FARM (which I did eventually parse) and WASPS which I’m ashamed to say I didn’t (couldn’t understand what WASPS had to do with CRICKET – doh!)

    Great fun.

  27. Biggles @23

    BNTO@21. But @ 4 it was ‘literarily’ that you defined this way not ‘literary’.

    I know, that’s what I said in my last post! “My original idea!” was referring to the thought I had before I had looked up “literary” in the SOED not the one expressed in my first post.

  28. Sports are anathema to me so I didn’t stand a chance of solving this one. I can’t even be bothered to try to understand WASPS or EVERTON – or CRICKET BAT for that matter. But I thought THONG and STANDOFFISH were brilliant!

  29. Ridiculous. Why does the Guardian continue to employ this individual? Totally impenetrable once again. It’s time compilers were reminded this isn’t a platform for showing how’clever’ they are.

  30. Thanks Paul and PeeDee

    I mark the start and stop times on puzzles – starting this one at 12:39pm and finished it at 12:39am next morning (yesterday). Unlike Jamie@29 (yes, there are other latecomers), who I hope only got to this late and hasn’t been stewing on it since publication date :-o, I found it an intriguing contest between setter and solver. Thought the ruse with the 11 and 15 quite clever – with both reference to sports teams and the alternative meaning of the words in those lights. THONG was outstanding when the penny dropped to what was going on !

    Toyed with PENULTIMATE at 22a for a while. PIPISTRELLE and HEEL BAR were new terms.

    Finished in the SW corner with SPOUSAL (another newish term), WASPS (pleased to remember the rugger team finally to make sense of the definition) and RUGBY BALL (which took the longest – and needed to go through HALL and MALL to eventually land at the correct answer).

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