The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/27081.
I seem to get a healthy share of Paul’s crosswords to blog – including last week’s; but I have no complaint. I like his style, his degree of difficulty, and he generally comes up with some gems like 22D/16A here (and 12A provided a definite PDM as well).
| Across | ||
| 1 | CHEMIST | Film on revolutionary Lavoisier, perhaps? (7) |
| A charade of CHE (‘revolutionary’) plus MIST (‘film’). | ||
| 5 | SKEWING | London gardens, grass borders taking an oblique course (7) |
| An envelope (‘borders’) of KEW (‘London gardens’) in SING (‘grass’). | ||
| 10 | BRUT | Having wiped back, beast is dry (4) |
| BRUT[e] (‘beast’) minus its last letter (‘having wiped back’). | ||
| 11 | BOOBY PRIZE | Alongside particular short, drink bottles as reward for failure (5,5) |
| An envelope (‘bottles’) of BY (‘alongside’) plus PRI[m] (‘particular’) minus its last letter (‘short’) in BOOZE (‘drink’). | ||
| 12 | HOORAY | Joyful cry that may be 9? (6) |
| It may be preceded by HIP HIP (DOUBLE JOINTED, the answer to 9D). | ||
| 13 | BLENHEIM | Hard caught up in it, lie with men and bloody head wound in battle (8) |
| An envelope (‘caught up in it’) of H (‘hard’) in BLENEIM, an anagram (‘wound’) of ‘lie’ plus ‘men’ plus B (‘Bloody head’). | ||
| 14 | TRIPLE SEC | Assorted receipts, about fifty for drink (6,3) |
| An envelope (‘about’) of L (Roman numeral, ‘fifty’) in TRIPESEC, an anagram (‘assorted’) of ‘receipts’. | ||
| 16 | See 22 | |
| 17 | See 27 | |
| 19 | CONCIERGE | One entering contracted agreement, gate’s opening and closing for doorkeeper (9) |
| A charade of CONCIER, an envelope (‘entering’) of I (‘one’) in CONCER[t] (‘agreement’) minus its last letter (‘contracted’); plus GE (‘GatE‘s opening and closing’). | ||
| 23 | BLUE MOON | Rare moment related to rare occurrence (4,4) |
| A charade of BLUE (‘rare’ of meat, more common in French, bleu) plus MO (‘moment’) plus ON (‘related to). | ||
| 24, 6 | MILTON KEYNES | In horror, one left disheartened by unfinished home in new town (6,6) |
| I am puzzled here: it seems to be a charade of MILTONKEY, an envelope (‘in’) of I (‘one’) plus LT (‘LefT disheartened’) in MONKEY (‘horror’); plus NES[t] (‘home’) minus its last letter (‘unfinished’), but the connection between MONKEY and ‘horror’ seems tenuous at best – describing a child as a monkey seems much more indulgent than as a horror, but I cannot see anything closer. | ||
| 26 | VIETNAMESE | Asian film stars in contest (10) |
| An envelope (‘in’) of ET (‘film’) plus NAMES (‘stars’) in VIE (‘contest’). | ||
| 27, 17 | SINE PROLE | Duty beyond member in retirement, not having kids (4,5) |
| A charade of SINEP, a reversal (‘in retirement’ of PENIS (‘member’) plus ROLE (‘duty’), with ‘beyond’ indicating the order of the particles. | ||
| 28 | CHARADE | Sham, as boxer punched by Bill after beginning of count (7) |
| An envelope (‘punched by’) of AD (‘bill’) in C (‘beginning of Count’) plus HARE (‘boxer’, the males of the species which box each other in spring). | ||
| 29 | GESTAPO | Try to conceal evidence at first, with criminal past in state police (7) |
| An envelope (‘to conceal’) of E (‘Evidence at first’) plus STAP, an anagram (‘criminal’) of ‘past’ in GO (‘try’). | ||
| Down | ||
| 2 | HARBOUR | Hold cups up in time (7) |
| An envelope (‘in’) of ARB, a reversal (‘up’ in a down light) of BRA (‘cups’) in HOUR (‘time’). | ||
| 3 | MOTOR | In the end, nut goes in to secure wheels (5) |
| An envelope (‘goes in to’) of T (‘in the end nuT‘) in MOOR (‘secure’ a boat). | ||
| 4 | SUBTYPE | Model upset by small group with their own characteristics (7) |
| An anagram (‘model’) of ‘upset by’. | ||
| 6 | See 24 | |
| 7 | WORKHORSE | Trojan king captured by Greek character with less fine clothing (9) |
| A double envelope (‘captured by’ and ‘clothing’) of K (‘king’) in RHO (‘Greek character’) in WORSE (‘less fine’). | ||
| 8 | NAZIISM | Nationalist movement primarily welcoming extreme characters, one is — describing this? (7) |
| An envelope (‘welcoming’) of AZ (‘extreme chracters’) plus I (‘one’) plus ‘is’ in N M (‘Nationalist Movement primarily’), with an extended definition. | ||
| 9 | DOUBLE JOINTED | Luddite, one with job in peril, surprisingly flexible? (6-7) |
| An anagram (‘in peril’) of ‘luddite one’ plus ‘job’. | ||
| 15 | POLYESTER | Material girls in conversation? (9) |
| Sounds like (‘in conversation’) POLLY ESTHER (‘girls’). | ||
| 18 | RALEIGH | Elizabeth I’s favourite beer in curtailed privilege (7) |
| An envelope (‘in’) of ALE (‘beer’) in RIGH[t] (‘privilege’) minus its last letter (‘curtailed’). | ||
| 20 | COMPERE | For every income, a host (7) |
| An envelope (‘in-‘) of PER (‘for every’) in ‘-come’ | ||
| 21 | GROWN-UP | Over-eighteen set to drink wine regularly (5-2) |
| An envelope (‘to drink’) of WN (‘WiNe regularly’) in GROUP (‘set’). | ||
| 22, 16 | DONALD TRUMP | Tycoon requiring a wig, lacking leadership: a word of caution about this arse (6,5) |
| A charade of DONALDT, an envelope (‘about this’) of [b]ALD (‘requiring a wig’) minus its first letter (‘lacking leadership’) in DON’T (‘a word of caution’); plus RUMP (‘arse’), with an extended definition. | ||
| 25 | LISZT | Finally, ball is placed on spot (but not the centre) for scorer (5) |
| A charade of L (‘finally balL‘) plus ‘is’ plus Z[i]T (‘spot’) minus its middle letter (‘but not the centre’). | ||
Brilliant clue at 22,16. I got it from the surface alone.
22,17 was another solve first-parse later clue, and elicited a gasp and a a chuckle when the wordplay become clear.
There are a lot of proper nouns in the grid, but I can’t see a solid theme, apart from the obvious connection between NAZIISM and GESTAPO, or – just as strong a connection in my mind – DONALD TRUMP and BOOBY PRIZE.
Thanks Paul and PeterO.
Paul also came up with an appropriate clue for Melania Trump about month ago. I wonder if he’s going to do the same for Mike Pence (or any of Trump’s dubious picks for cabinet members) in the future.
I would not object if he did.
Arse, penis, rump, zit and Donald Trump. Paul is in fine form today! LISZT was my favourite among many highlights. Thanks to Paul and PeterO.
Just to be pedantic at 28ac, it is not the male hares which box with each other during the breeding season, but females fighting off the unwelcome attentions of amorous males. Which brings us nicely to 22,16. Thanks Peter O for much needed help with the parsing of several clues and to Paul for an excellent puzzle.
Thanks to Paul for a fine puzzle and to PeterO for the blog. What a great clue at 7d.
I had a coupe of theme false starts with NAZIISM/GESTAPO and BRUT/TRIPLE SEC
Only three-quarters complete before resorting to the blog, so beaten by the fiendish Paul again.
Nevertheless it gave me great pleasure to solve the clue for 22d 16a, as it clearly did for previous participants in the forum.
I also really relished solving 1d HARBOUR, 15d POLYESTER and 18d RALEIGH.
I have heard of John Maynard Keynes the economist, but not of MILTON KEYNES at 24a 6d. Still don’t really get this and I see PeterO has not been able to fully parse it, though Google now tells me it is a “new town” whatever that is (a conurbation?). I also did not know 13a BLENHEIM as a battle, nor the Latin phrase 27a 17a SINE PROLE. Putting in SKEWIFF at 5a did not help my cause (I thought SIFF was short for SPLIFF, a marijuana cigarette, with its borders taken off, as indicated by the clue, and I knew KEW Gardens, so was convinced I was right).
Despite all this tale of woe, I would like to thank Paul for a clever yet dastardly puzzle and PeterO for blogging it. Unfortunately I feel I don’t even deserve an 11a, having failed miserably.
PS Have never seen 8d NAZIISM with the double “i” but my online dictionary has it as an alternative spelling.
No, I haven’t seen the double I in NAZIISM before. I parsed BOOBY PRIZE the same way, and horror=monkey is a bit tenuous – maybe both of them are what Paul’s mum called him? After some of the things he said today, I can see why.
Didn’t know SINE PROLE or the boxing hares (I assumed it was some bloke I hadn’t heard of) and the penny didn’t drop on HOORAY.
Nevertheless, very enjoyable – thanks to the two little dicky birds Peter and Paul.
To me, this was Paul at his best – devious, naughty and very funny! Out of many good ones I’d single out 27/18 & 22/16 as being the stars of the show today.
Milton Keynes was no problem to me and, I suspect, to many UK solvers, butt as it is of many jokes. Also, the words “monkey” and “horror” are synonymous for me, especially when prefixed by “You little …” when I address my young grandsons! Julie@6: the conurbation is based around an old, very pretty, village of that name and celebrates its fiftieth birthday next month.
Thank you very much for a highly entertaining challenge, Paul. Thanks too to PeterO for the blog.
28A: Knowing nothing of the habits of rodents, I took the hare reference to be to James Hare – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hare_(boxer) I’d never heard of him, but it’s the first entry if you google “hare boxer”.
At the risk of becoming repetitive, that’s three excellent puzzles in a row. Paul has been quite wicked today and the experience was all the more delightful for it. At one point, I thought we might be looking at a pangram: I think everything’s there but F, X and Q and, at one point, where I wondered if the ‘duty’ in 27,17 might turn out to be ‘tax’, I definitely thought we were heading there.
I’m afraid, though, this is a DNF as I couldn’t get SINE PROLE, even after I’d got ‘role’. I’d not heard the phrase and hadn’t spotted the (uncomfortable sounding) reversed ‘penis’. Brilliant clue though.
Amongst a host of excellent and funny clues today: HARBOUR is clever and cheeky, MOTOR, POLYESTER, BLUE MOON and LISZT were all very smooth. But clue of the day/year/decade/all time must be DONALD TRUMP. Absolutely brilliant wordplay, hysterically funny and surely an &lit to boot.
Thanks, Paul,for a splendid puzzle and to PeterO for helping me parse one or two that solved but without me knowing why.
7 a simply magnificent clue, with a misdirection that had me rootling around for ages at the wrong end of the garden path. But all pales before the stupendousness of 22,16. A late contender for clue of the year in the “witty topicality’ category.
Thanks to Paul and PeterO. I ended up filling in the grid without parsing more than the usual number of items. Along with hare-boxer and monkey-horror I missed the blue in BLUE MOON and the hip-hip for HOORAY. I did know MILTON KEYNES from my many train rides from London to Stratford. Very enjoyable.
Paul in top form today, especially with the “Duty beyond member in retirement”, and PeterO’s reference to “the particles”, which I misread – incidentally there is GELD across the penultimate row…
Lots of other super clues, the answers to many I parsed after solving.
Thanks to both.
People seem to have had trouble with SINE PROLE, apart from the clue being pauline, it is easy to remember if you think of proletarian or proliferate.
Like Mark@11 I thought this was going to be a pangram — only gave up expecting it once it became clear that there was nowhere for the Q to go. Lovely puzzle, although 22,16 led to a combined laugh and wince, since I’m trying to avoid thinking about him as much as possible. Thanks to Paul and PeterO.
Struggled but got there, partly by dint of gadgets and partly by solving as a Quick, i.e. finding the definitions only. Got some of the wordplays though. Having seen above what I missed I can’t complain.
One minor query, I thought Leicester, but later Essex, was Elizabeth I’s favourite? Unqualified “favourite” usually means the top of the pile, not just one of several.
Well, it had to be MILTON KEYNES-once I had the M and the K- but I couldn’t parse this. I didn’t know SINE PROLE and I, too, searched for a boxer called HARE – and immediately kicked myself once I’d written it down! Rather a good puzzle although I found it harder going than I usually do with Paul. DONALD TRUMP and HOORAY were worth the journey on their own.
Thanks Paul
A delightful puzzle, continuing a very good week.
I’ve nothing to add to the many expressions of delight and praise for this effort by Paul. I have several favourite clues corresponding (not surprisingly) with others’ favourites.
I stalled in the NW corner, and, as often happens, I had to get the trickier clues (HOORAY, HARBOUR and SUBTYPE) before finishing with what appear to be easier ones (CHEMIST, MOTOR and BRUT).
Commiserations, Julie (@6): Paul is a bit fiendish, and it helps us Brits to know about Milton Keynes and Blenheim when tackling a puzzle with proper names in it.
Thanks to Paul and PeterO.
Delayed response today. Only one reason, a long time over the LOI.
Oh that sort of member. Not an ARM or a LEG then. It’s Paul though. Why did I take so long … ?
[BTW I can see all sorts of abusive / accurate clueing in the Guardian of DONALD TRUMP et al over the next four scary years. Will the Daily Mail cryptic have hero worship instead?]
First time in ages we couldn’t finish this without help. Paul at his fiendish best. Thanks to everyone.
22 16. Clue of the year. Obvious just from the surface but brilliant once parsed (which I struggled to do)
Another very enjoyable challenge from Paul. I struggled with some of the clues, particularly 28a and 24a/6d, but got there in the end. Favourites included DOUBLE-JOINTED, HOORAY and (of course) the ingenious, oh-so-appropriate clue for DONALD TRUMP.
Thanks, Paul and PeterO.
A right is the opposite of a privilege.
Thanks Paul and PeterO
Quite pleased, as my wife and I completed this totally without references – electronic or otherwise (I’m away, so have only infrequent access to the Internet, hence the late post).
I’ll forgive a lot for the DONALD TRUMP clue, but I’m afraid I found quite a lot of the rest of this Paul at his most irritating. In particular we were held up for ages by having HIPHIP for 12a – yes I know that it should be two words, but I thought Paul might be taking liberties with the HIPHIP HOORAY expression. When I eventually decided that it must be HOORAY, I thought that there must be an “after” or similar missing from the clue.
Re HOORAY I understood “maybe 9” as “often having two joints”.
I don’t quite get the “it” in 13 ac. It would read better as “Hard caught up in lie with men….”
And although there have been accolades for WORKHORSE, I don’t see how it relates to the word Trojan.
But I join in the applause for 22,16.
Happy New Year to all.
jeceris @ 26
It’s aligned with the phrase “work like a Trojan”, with one of Paul’s little jumps in there.
hth
@Julie in Australia
See Wikipedia for the specific meaning of “new towns”. Milton Keynes was the pinnacle of this project and there is no chance any British Guardian reader would not have heard of it. It wasn’t named for the economist, but a village contained within its boundary. Significantly for crossworders, it also encompasses the town of Bletchley, the centre of WWII code-cracking efforts, the location of which was chosen for its position halfway between the university towns of Oxford and Cambridge.
I didn’t do this puzzle, btw, just came to fiteensquared on Saturday by force of habit. I have to wait till Wed to see if I got the Christmas Prize Puzzle all right (pretty sure I did!).
[Thanks Tony@28 for the explanation and link. Interestingly I do know of Bletchley due to the film and TV series about the code-breakers. Much appreciated – hope you come back to read this. Julie in Oz]
For 7d, I parsed this as K inserted into the Greek character rho, as the Greek soldiers in the Trojan horse. Overthinking it? I’m new to cryptics, and an American to boot, so this isn’t my native crossword.
I didn’t know that English speakers used “blue” to refer to rare meat, but knowing the French usage I was able to work it out.
I didn’t know the phrase “sine prole” and was forced to Google “latin for without children”. Having “sine” and knowing that Paul was behind the clue, I should have been able to figure out what member was being referred to.
Put me down as another person awestruck by the Donald Trump clue.
[@Julie in Australia
Np, Julie. Glad you came back yourself so my explanation wasn’t wasted. I myself live in Stevenage*, first of the New Towns, and my dad spent most of his working life involved in the construction of both Stevenage and Milton Keynes and lived in both at different times.
Tony]
*You can try this one now:
https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/22319%5D
WinFly @30
Welcome. You will find that there are several US solvers contributing to this blog, and doing so quite successfully (I do not count myself, as I am British, even though I have lived in the US for the best part of 50 years). I am pleased to add you to the number. I agree that there is an allusion to the Trojan horse in 7D hovering somewhere between surface and wordplay; but it does not contribute directly to the wordplay, and there are cases where such an reference can lead you in the wrong direction altogether. Moral: solve the clue first, and then savour (or savor) the allusion.
Tony @31
Like you, for 23A I knew BLUE from the French, and hedged my bets with the phrasing I used in the blog. I have still not found an English dictionary listing this meaning; however there are references to the usage, such as https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steak#Cooking.
[@PeterO
I think you meant to address Ted about BLUE. As I said, I didn’t do this puzzle (I usually only do the Sat Prize these days). Glad I came here, though, and sorry I missed the fun of solving it.]
Btw, is there any way to get notifications when comments are posted to a particular blogpost?
It’s late, but I’ve only just got round to it and it cannot be allowed to pass without a call-out to the setter. Not hard, but perfectly formed.
I hope John does not forget dear old Hillary – I am sure there’s a clue out there somewhere to rival, if not trump, 22/16. Perhaps he can draw inspiration from 27/17 to come up with something a little bit racy to clue her marriage name…