Guardian 27,115 – Paul

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There’s nothing particularly wrong with this, but somehow it didn’t entertain me as much as Paul’s puzzles usually do. Nevertheless there was some good stuff here – thanks to Paul.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Across
4. ALBION A hero netting brave header for England (6)
B[rave] in A LION. Albion originally referred to the island of Great Britain, but is sometimes used for just England
6. NARRATOR Decay on Scottish isle to the west, one can tell (8)
ROT ARRAN, reversed
10. NATURIST Holidaymaker in Canada, say, with nothing to lose? One stripping off (8)
N[orth] A[merican] TOURIST less O
11. SONOFABITCH American oath, therefore, lacking wonderful irritating thing? (11)
SO (therefore) + NO (lacking) + FAB (wonderful) + ITCH (irritating thing). You might expect this to be separate words or hyphenated, but Chambers and others give it as a single word
15. INTRUDE Trespass where Canadian voters had faith, when short of gold (7)
IN TRUDEAU less AU – referring either to Pierre Trudeau (Prime Minister of Cananda 1968–1979 and 1980–1984) or his son Justin (2015–)
17,18. LAY IT ON WITH A TROWEL What to do with mortar, so flatter to a great extent? (3,2,2,4,1,6)
Double definition
22. HOVERFLY Insect, horse too biting rear of wolf (8)
H (horse) + [wol]F in OVERLY
23. BIGWIG Notable cat reclining on rug (6)
Reverse of GIB (a tomcat) +WIG (rug). I didn’t know this meaning of GIB, but BIGWIG was the only possible answer
24. TANGOIST One of two in Buenos Aires toasting a bloomer? (8)
TOASTING* – the tango originated, and is still popular, in Argentina, and of course it takes two to tango. I don’t particularly like ‘a bloomer’ as the anagram indicator
25. RE-TYPE Key again removing both sides of lockbox before expertly rattled (2-4)
Anagram of EXPERTLY less the outer letters of LockboX
Down
1. SORT OF Not exactly like that, rise to one’s feet at every entrance (4,2)
SO (like that) + initial letters of Rise To One’s Feer
2. TARANTELLA Every step up an Italian mountain the bounder has to climb — that’s some trip! (10)
Reverse of ALL ETNA RAT (I suppose ALL ETNA is ‘Every step up an Italian mountain’). The tarantella (supposed to have originated from the convulsive reaction to a spider’s bite) is an energetic dance, or ‘trip’
3. DRAUGHTY Anything within like desert allowing for passage of wind? (8)
AUGHT in DRY
4. ASSASSIN One’s paid to take out another two nitwits with it (8)
ASS + ASS (two nitwits) + IN (with it, fashionable)
5. BANKNOTE No change with this, as bird beset by plague (8)
KNOT in BANE
7,9. TRIO SONATA Musical composition a strain, too baroque? (4,6)
(A STRAIN TOO)*
8. RUTH Book‘s accuracy needing no introduction (4)
[T]RUTH. I originally thought it might be [F]ACTS, but this works much better. Ruth is the eighth book of the Old Testament
12. BREATHLESS Still excited? (10)
Double definition
13. STOWAWAY Clandestine boarder observed circling tug, always (8)
TOW in SAW (observed) + AY (always)
14. ANALOGUE Fit dresses on a model’s back, designed for a similar model (8)
Anagram of ON A [mode]L in AGUE
16. UPWARD OF Foreign Office suggesting this at least? (6,2)
In a down clue, FO is UPWARD OF
19. RAILED Criticised, flaming shackles hurt (6)
AIL (hurt) in RED (flaming)
20. SHOT Stab, an injection (4)
Double definition – shot=stab=attempt
21. AVON Rising star, Shakespeare’s local flower (4)
Reverse of NOVA – a very easy one to finish on

34 comments on “Guardian 27,115 – Paul”

  3. Couldn’t get BANKNOTE for some reason, but enjoyed TANGOIST, UPWARD OF, INTRUDE and TARANTELLA. Thanks to Paul and Andrew.

  4. Well, Tuesdays are brighter with Paul. Sure, quite a bit went straight in, beginning with 4A and 6A, ut there was a lot of laterdevilry. Especially liked 1D, the American oath and the Argentinian.

  7. I had Acts at 8d with the f off facts so that held me up putting loi 6a. Not a great Paul but then that’s the peril of having such a high standard. His, I mean, not mine. Thanks Paul and Andrew.

  9. I liked this, though the solve was not easy.

    My favourite film of the moment, “Lion”, as in “hero” was in 1a. My favourite Hebrew Scriptures book, Ruth, was in 8d. What was there not to like?

    Other clues I enjoyed were 11a SONOFABITCH (all the better for being an “all at once” phrase), the mortar phrase at 17 and 18a, LAY IT ON WITH A TROWEL, 2d TARANTELLA, and 3D DRAUGHTY.

    Thanks to Paul and Andrew.

  13. I enjoyed this one, found it pretty tough going in places but the tricky ones were all find in retrospect, with TANGOIST last in and best.

    Thanks to Paul and Andrew

  14. Thanks both. Pretty quick solve with the exception of BREATHLESS which, as Rewolf (flower?) comments @1, is very Rufusian.

    ANALOGUE is one of those words for which one more modern usage has begun to dominate and rather hijack it. Gay, fit, cool etc.

    Neat anagram at TANGOIST and enjoyed SONOFABITCH for the clue but have always felt it an unpleasant little cuss.

    Nice week, all.

  15. Thanks to Paul and Andrew. I remember Gib from at least one, maybe two recent puzzles but as part of the clue (as here) not the solution. I could not parse TARANTELLA, had never come across HOVERFLY, and took a long time before spotting TANGOIST (though I finally dredged up “it takes two to tango”). Last in was UPWARD OF (a phrase new to me). A typical enjoyable contribution from this setter.

  16. It really helped when we got 17/18 across early doors. Like beeryhiker, tangoist was our last in. Never heard of a gib for cat but,as ever, we live and learn. Great puzzle, Paul, and thanks to everyone.

  17. for me as for beery hiker @13, TANGOIST was last in and (along with 3d DRAUGHTY) best. Nice subtle reference to ‘takes two to’, took a few minutes at the end to pick that up.

  18. Surely NA is not a standard or even frequent abbreviation for North America(n). Apart from the fact that it usually stands for “not applicable”. Another wrong abbreviation often encountered in clues is NY for New York City. NY is the official abbreviation for the state, not the city.

  20. @Rompiballe
    NA is in Chambers as North America (also Netherlands Antilles, for that matter).
    Not applicable is listed as “n/a”

  21. TANGOIST was LOI for me as well! I thought this Ok but not Paul at his best. Still, a mediocre Paul is still pretty good.Liked SONOFABITCH.
    Thanks Paul.

  22. I raised Rompiballe’s point @18 once about NY (the city is usually called NYC, don’t know if it’s official but it’s common) and people disagreed with me and cited reference books. I still say it’s not something I hear or see.

    Is TANGOIST a word? Is waltzist next? Seems to me the suffix is for people who play an instrument, not who do a dance.

    Is there a sentence where RAILED and criticised can both go in? One is transitive, the other isn’t.

    Okay, enough harrumphing. Overall it was a very enjoyable puzzle and I thank Picaroon and Andrew.

  24. NA for North American has also been in the news over recent weeks/months due to the would-be dictator’s disdain for NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement.

  25. Valentine @22 How about; “She had always been quick to point out bad grammar but railed/criticised pointlessly as none among her circle of friends seemed to share her concerns.”

    Any good?

  26. On the abbreviations: I often see NA for North America(n), for example in firm names here (usually, the U.S./Canada branches of larger conglomerates based elsewhere).

    As for NY for New York City (as opposed to State): that too is very common. Ever seen a Yankees cap? How about an I (heart) NY T-shirt? And both definitely mean the city: the I heart NY types are not talking about Niagara Falls, you know, and folks from Buffalo would hotly dispute that the New York Giants, at least, represent them. In short–in this country, anyway, which is the only country that matters in this case, since it’s our city–the C in NYC seems fully optional.

    As for the puzzle, I agree with the other commenters. Last in was TANGOIST. Still baffled as to how “a bloomer” is an anagrind in that one.

  28. I didn’t particularly care for this puzzle either but I think I’m just in a bit of a mood this week. I know “blooper” but I was unfamiliar that “bloomer” could mean a mistake so even after I put in TANGOIST, I couldn’t parse it.

    “Tangoist” also sounds vaguely obscene to me – I’ll stick to tangoer or tango dancer.

    I’ll also argue that if you are going with a single word, the spelling should be SONUVABITCH which is the only way I’ve seen it spelled.

    Mood aside, thanks to Paul for the challenge.

  29. I came here with 21/2 missing – 20d, 24ac and 16d. Of never occurred to me. And like others I’m not keen on a tangoIST and was trying to find a flower for what turned out to be the anagrind. For me doing a Paul crossword is more of a battle to see who can win than a joint expedition to have fun together – but I recognise that’s just how I choose to see it and it’s me who has to change if I want it to be different.
    Thanks to setter and blogger and contributors.

  30. I could not parse 16d or GIB in 23a. Also, I was not sure how to parse 17/18.

    New words for me were AY = always and HOVERFLY.

    Thanks Andrew and Paul.

  31. I suppose “criticised” can be intransitive, though it’s not what I’m used to.

    New to me were HOVERFLY and GIB. I’m always open to new words about cats.

    As a native speaker of American, I might comment that “sonofabitch” as a single word, and especially as an adjective, is often pronounced “sumbitch.”

  33. The feline GIB definitely has a pedigree: it appears in Shakespeare – Hamlet, no less, but in a context which suggests no more than that it is some animal (along with bat and paddock, which I learn is a toad) and Gammer Gurton’s Needle.

  34. An ague is a fever or a chill, surely, not a fit? I wasn’t keen on Tarantella either, and I disappointed myself not getting Breathless. “Tangoist” was good. Not keen on “NA” for “North America”.

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