Apologies for the lateness of this post; I’d missed the reminder in my calendar that it was my turn to post about the prize crossword. This is an impressively themed crossword with some excellent clues, although there’s one unfortunate mistake and a number of devices I personally dislike.
The theme here is “fish”, with most of the clues having a reference to fish either in the surface reading or the answer.
I’ve made a few small criticisms below, so can I attempt to pre-empt aggressive comments along the lines of “You’re wrong, that’s totally fine” by saying that everyone has different tastes in crosswords (particularly on how strict they like the cryptic grammar to be) and this is just an expression of the blogger’s preference? 🙂
Across
1. Fighting with knights’ page, as bad dream fades at last (3,6)
PAS D’ARMES
P = “page” + AS + (DREAM)* + [fade]S = “fades at last”
Definition: “Fighting with knights” – never heard of this, but Chambers says “A joust, a tilt or a tourney”
8. Fish beat up a lobster (8)
BLOATERS
(A LOBSTER)*
Definition: “Fish” (plural) – a bloater, according to Chambers, is “A herring partially dried in smoke, esp at Yarmouth.”
9, 6. Cold salmon prepared at home: commonplace now (3,3,4)
ALL MOD CONS
(COLD SALMON)*
Definition: “at home: commonplace now” – “mod cons” or “modern conveniences” are things like washing machines, dishwashers, etc. so they are commonplace the home now. (I really don’t like this kind of definition – it’s not a synonym and there’s no other indication that the answer is [things that are] “at home: commponplace now”, not even a question mark…)
10. Excitement from the person that announced defrosted fish (6)
HOOPLA
HOO sounds like “who” = “the person that” followed by PLA[ice] = “defrosted fish” (this made me smile)
Definition: “Excitement”
11. First mate’s boat in legend was used to get wife (5,3)
ADAM’S RIB
ADAM’S = “First mate’s” + RIB = “boat” (? I guess this is a Rigid-inflatable boat?)
Definition: “in legend was used to get wife” (I have a similar grumble about this definition.)
12. Some fish in need of bigger boats? (6)
SHARKS
Cryptic definition: I think this is just an allusion to the famous line in Jaws – “We’re gonna need a bigger boat” when Roy Schneider’s character first sees the shark, but maybe I’ve missed something.
Thanks to muffin and Julie in Australia who pointed out the setter’s explanation of this: [fi]SH = “Some fish” + ARKS = “bigger boats?”
Definition: the whole clue – a nice &lit referencing the line from Jaws
15. Vision of Boatman: a plot, they say (8)
EYESIGHT
Sounds like (“they say”): “I” (“Boatman”) + “site” (“plot”)
Definition: “Vision”
16. Hollow gemstone found in South Africa or, at first, in Brazil (3,5)
SAO PAOLO
S[outh] A[frica] O[r] = “South africa or, at first” around OPAOL, so “hollow gemstone” means putting O (“nothing”) in OPAL, it seems…
Definition: “in Brazil” – this is a mispelling – it should be SAO PAULO.
19. Smell fish on seafront (6)
STENCH
TENCH = “fish” on S[ea] = “sea front”
Definition: “Smell”
21. Sporting fish roe from theoretical hybrid (8)
ATHLETIC
(TH[eor]ETICAL)* – “fish roe from” means “remove the letters of ‘roe’ from”. “hybrid” wouldn’t be a great anagram indicator in other circumstances, but it’s OK for a compound anagram like this, I think.
Definition: “Sporting”
22. Bigger fish eaten by little fish with no resistance (6)
FREELY
EEL = “Bigger fish” around FRY = “little fish”. I love this clue.
Definition: “with no resistance”
24. Raw cod, flounders and yellow fish (6)
COWARD
(RAW COD)*
Definition: “yellow fish” – “yellow” means “cowardly”, so I guess “fish” here is just slang for a person (the example Chambers gives is somebody being “a queer fish”)
25. Fish definitely returning to land in the Irish Sea (8)
ANGLESEY
ANGLE = “Fish” + YES reversed = “definitely returning”
Definition: “land in the Irish Sea”
26. Report to reveal one may be in the soup (4)
LEEK
LEEK sounds like “leak” or “reveal” (as in “to leak information”)
Definition: “one may be in the soup” (With regard to my grumble about definitions above, I don’t mind this style so much, since “one may be” is a fairly clear signpost that the answer isn’t a standard synonym.
27. Fishy substitute for universal part of theories of Flora, Fauna etc (9)
GODDESSES
ODD = “Fishy” substituted for U = “universal” in GUESSES = “theories” (as in “speculations”, loosely)
Definition: “Flora, Fauna, etc.” – Flora and Fauna are goddesses
Down
1. Proclaim on eradicating even this disorder (5)
POLIO
P[r]O[c]L[a]I[m] O[n] = “Proclaim” after removing the even letters (“on eradication even”). A very nice clue, I think.
Definition: “disorder”
2. Fish for small kipper? (7)
SNAPPER
S = “small” + NAPPER = “kipper?” (as in someone who kips)
Definition: Fish
3. Team loses a point, falling short at Wembley, perhaps (5)
ARENA
AR[s]ENA[l] = “Team” without S = “point” (of the compass) and “falling short” (without the last letter)
Definition: “Wembley, perhaps”
4. The fish that got away, you say? It’s a mix-up (7)
MISTAKE
MISTAKE sounds like “missed hake” or “the fish that got away”. I like this a lot 🙂
Definition: “mix-up”
5. Boatman & crew: visionaries covering a great distance (9)
SEAFARERS
SEERS = “visionaries” around A + FAR = “great distance”, I suppose, although really I think “a great distance” should be FAR, so the cryptic reading is missing an A.. I considered AFAR = “a great distance” (as Cookie and Biggles A suggested below) and for some reason thought that didn’t work; but I think it does, in fact: as in “they saw the ship from afar” / “they saw the ship from a great distance“
Definition: “Boatman & crew”
6. More than one heavyweight is alone, pulled up after initial concussion (7)
COLOSSI
IS SOLO = “is alone” reversed (“pulled up”) after C[oncussion] = “initial concussion”
Definition: “More than one heavyweight”
7. Part of old civilisation moving into Chile (9)
NEOLITHIC
(INTO CHILE)*
Definition: “Part of old civilisation”
13. Very sad indication for our planet (5-4)
HEART-SORE
A reverse clue: “Heart sore” could be a clue for EARTH
Definition: “Very sad”
14. Head of state crazy to execute guerrilla leader, one of 101? (6,3)
SPOTTY DOG
S[tate] = “Head of state” + POTTY = “crazy” + DO = “execute” + G[uerilla] = “guerilla leader”
Definition: “one of 101?” referring to the 101 Dalmatians by Dodie Smith. Is “spotty dog” a notable enough noun phrase to appear in a crossword? Is there a reference I’m missing, or is this just like having an answer answer like “green teapot”?
17. Fish shortage following cutback (7)
POLLACK
LACK = “shortage” after LOP = “cut” reversed
Definition: “Fish”
18. Goldfish with starter of dory and crab perhaps found here (7)
ORCHARD
OR = “Gold” + CHAR = “fish” + D[ory] = “starter of dory”
Definition: “crab perhaps found here” – a crab or crab-apple might be found in an orchard
20. Teams rely (after losing wingers) on a smaller number, their leader going down (“their leader going down”) (7)
ELEVENS
[r]EL[y] = “rely (after losing wingers)” + SEVEN = “smaller number” with the first letter (“S”) being moved to the end
Definition: “Teams”
22. Japanese fish: ultimate in “sole” music (5)
FUGUE
FUGU = “Japanese fish” (the blowfish famous partly for being used in sashimi with hopefully not too much neurotoxin) + [sol]E = “ultimate in sole”
Definition: “music”
23. Looks suggestively at au pair’s bottom in the grounds (5)
LEERS
LEES = “the grounds” around “[au pai]R” = “au pair’s bottom” Chambers says the “lees” are “Sediment that forms during the fermentation or aging of an alcoholic liquor, e.g. wine”. Although it’s not fermented, I guess this could also refer to coffee grounds at the bottom of a cafetière, say? Or I might have misunderstood completely.
Definition: LEERS
Thanks Boatman and mhl
There’s an admission in “Corrections and clarifications” today that SAO PAOLO is wrong, though I confess that I thought it was spelled like that! The annotated solutions indicates (fi)SH ARKS for 12a, but I don’t think that this really works; I thought it referred to the “Jaws” quote too.
LOI was HEART SORE, as I don’t think SORE is an anagram indicator. This would have been a great clue for HEART BROKEN.
Thanks for the fun puzzle, Boatman, and the thorough and interesting solve, mhl.
I thought that 12a was SH (last two letters of FISH – ie “some fish”) combined with ARK – a bigger boat. In my mind it was more about Noah than “Jaws”. Although rhyming slang for sharks is “Noahs” here in Australia eg “Don’t go surfing at dusk or the Noahs might eat you”.
Sorry muffin@1 – we crossed. Sorry meant “ARKS” as in bigger boatS in discussing 12a.
Ah, right, so SHARKS is a rather nice &lit, in fact 🙂 I’ve updated the post.
@mhl et al……
I had made peace with myself about SHARKS, but I don’t see the second explanation at all.
Surely “some fish” = ‘sh’ is a bit too, er, slippery even for the wide palette of dear Boatman?
Thank you Boatman and mhl.
A great puzzle, especially the clues for FREELY and MISTAKE.
As for COWARD, my mother would often used the term “a poor fish” for a person, usually me!
5d, SEAFARERS, I had AFAR to account for the “missing” A…
Some lovely clues and just the right level of difficulty (for me, anyway) for a weekend prize. Shame re São Paulo, it held me up for ages, esp as parsing a little unclear.
I enjoyed this. HOOPLA in particular made me smile.
There were two or three I couldn’t fully explain, so many thanks for the blog, mhl. I thought SPOTTY DOG was fine. I think it’s more of a normal phrase than “green teapot”. And it was the name of the dog in the Woodentops, if anyone remembers that far back!
A minor gripe: I think 1a should be numbered (3, 1’5) rather than (3,6).
[@JimS…
with his ears cut short and his tail cut long
Oh where o where could he beeeeee?]
SPOTTY DOG (“the very biggest spotty dog you ever did see”) was a delightful character in The Woodentops https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Woodentops_%28TV_series%29 from 6:20 here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEgg0h2FvFY
I’m still not convinced by SHARKS but the rest of puzzle more than made up for it.
Thanks MHL. I am glad you pointed out the howler and expressed your criticisms which I don’t think are out of place. Beyond that I will abide by the old adage of “if you don’t have anything good to say …” and say no more.
Thanks both!! Rather too many fish for my liking so I did not enjoy it that much. I lived in wonderful Brazil for several years and have visited SÃO PAULO many times so the misspelling really put me off!! Can’t really understand how Muffin @1 could say he thought it was spelled that way, I can’t find any reference work that suggests the O as an alternative. Never heard of RIB as a boat, but did enjoy SNAPPER!!
S Panza @12
I speak some Italian – it’s spelled that way in that language. I realise that is irrelevant to a Portuguese-speaking country, but it just “didn’t look wrong” to me.
Thanks to Boatman and mhl. I always have difficulty with this setter but for me this prize was easier than many of his weekday puzzles. I was held up by the spelling not only of SAO PAULO but also POLLOCK-POLLACK and needed help parsing HEART-SORE, GODDESSES (I missed the connection to “guesses”), and ADAMS RIB (“rib” as “boat” was new to me) though I did get the answers.
Re 4d: I initially wondered if there should have been an indication of the dropped “h”, like “says Eastender” or something. But after repeating “missed hake” aloud to myself for a rather inordinate amount of time, I decided it did sound like MISTAKE.
Muffin @13 fair enough!! I also felt it might be from the Italian, so I rang a friend in Belem do Para who told me “no way” SP is spelled with a U and there are no variations, so it must be an error!! It does seem a bit naughty that it got through the editorial process don’t you think.
I searched with Google. It did try to correct my SAO PAOLO spelling to SAO PAULO, but when I overrode this, I found a number of hits. Most referred to soccer sides, as I recall.
For example:
http://www.worldsoccer.com/tag/sao-paolo
…though the article refers to Sao Paulo throughout!
Just remembered the chorus to this Percy French song, Eileen Oge
Eileen Oge! me heart is growin’ grey
Ever since the day you wandered far away;
Eileen Oge! there’s good fish in the say,
But there’s no one like the Pride of Petravore.
I have to confess that I thought SAO PAOLO was correct even though a check revealed it wasn’t. I also googled and the incorrect version appeared more than once. Still SPOTTY DOG had to be right so I didn’t look further. I’d never heard of PAS D’ARMES and got it by a process of elimination. I liked FREELY,ORCHARD and FUGUE- lovely word-and generally enjoyed this.
Thanks Boatman.
I was sure SAO PAOLO had to be a mistake, but as the week wore on and no correction appeared on the Crossword page I began to think I was missing something. Would it be too much to ask that corrections to crosswords appear where the original crossword appeared? There still isn’t any indication on that page that the solution is wrong.
Boatman struggles to produce working clues, as usual, even after ignoring SAO ‘PAOLO’. Let’s take ‘some fish’ to mean SH, and ‘bigger boats’ to mean ARKS. If that is an &lit and not a lazy workaround, I am the Queen of Sheba.
It has all been said but I endorse Cookie’s observation @ 6 that afar = at or from a great distance.
Not quite all said, ARK has been used for five large ships of the Royal Navy, all named HMS ARK Royal – Wikipedia gives:
Ark Royal (1587), the flagship of the English fleet during the Spanish Armada campaign of 1588.
HMS Ark Royal (1914), merchant ship, converted to an aircraft carrier during the First World War
HMS Ark Royal (91), British aircraft carrier launched in 1937 that participated in the Second World War and was sunk by a U-boat in 1941.
HMS Ark Royal (R09), an Audacious-class fleet aircraft carrier launched in 1950, decommissioned in 1979
HMS Ark Royal (R07), an Invincible-class aircraft carrier, launched in 1981, decommissioned in 2011
Cookie / Biggles A: yep, I considered AFAR and thought it didn’t work, but I’m not sure why now! I’ve corrected that in the post. (The annotated solutions have “A/FAR”, but AFAR i clearly much better, I think.)
Arks are not Arks Royal, as if it needed saying.
SP especially, but everyone else as well – you are right: there’s definitely no justification for the spelling of PAOLO in this context, though you’ll find the same mistake in many otherwise reputable websites and on the cover of at least one guidebook (have a look on Amazon). Why is it so prevalent? Is it because we’re more used to the Italian spelling, or is the repetition of the AO combination too compelling? Either way, it seems to have rooted itself as firmly as DALMATION for DALMATIAN (and that one really is a pity, as the incorrect spelling would be an anagram for DOT ANIMAL). I’m embarrassed, and I’m sorry you had to endure even a moment of irritation over the mistake. I sincerely hope that you weren’t so annoyed by it that you refused to submit what would have been a correctly completed grid and thereby ruled yourself out of a prize!
On the subject of “some fish” as an indication for SH … This is probably my least favourite clueing technique, but I liked the end result here. There really has to be a strong justification for this sort of thing – the &Lit is the motivation in this case, obviously, and it helps that “some” indicates precisely half of the fodder. I’m sure I remember that Araucaria once got away with “some big beasts” for ELE, which I humbly suggest recalibrates the scale of outrageousness, with “some fish” rather less at its extreme edge …
Thanks Boatman and mhl. It’s good to be enlightened by the ultimate authorities.
I thought that said ‘some big breasts’. But never mind.
Thanks Boatman. I will put my hand up and go and join muffin and boatman in the naughty corner. I could not spell SAO PAULO properly either.
GODESSES defeated me, so well done boatman there.
PaulB @29 – HA! Put a smile on my face. And I’m only thixteen.
I’m coming to this puzzle months late, so probably nobody is looking at this thread, but just in case:
The clue for SAO PAOLO has now been amended to
An apostle in Rome alone, cut by a spear, even (3,5)
which to me makes even less sense. If the definition is “An apostle in Rome”, then surely it should be SAN PAOLO, but the “Check” button indicates SAO.
The wordplay doesn’t seem to work either. It must involve SOLO being cut by AOPA or APAO (or ANPA if the intent is to modify the answer from SAO to SAN), but I can’t get any of these from “a spear, even”.
Thanks Boatman and mhl
Enjoyed this but did find it a bit harder than a lot of the folk here taking a number of sessions to get it out.
I’m with Ted (and his late post with regard to the rejigged clue at 16a). I could only make it out to be SAN PAOLO (which I was able to find as the Italian translation for St Paul). S – AN P.A. – OLO – AN (a) and PA – the even letters from sPeAr inside SOLO (alone). Maybe the corrected clue is screwed up, but differently, as the first one !!
Still didn’t detract from a clever serving of fish throughout the clues and answers and his inventive if not always ‘completely kosher’ way of cryptic thinking.