The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/27247.
I found this a relatively easy offering from Philistine, and none the worse for that. There are a couple of quibbles noted in the blog.
| Across | ||
| 1 | MAYDAY | Help me to get a holiday (6) |
| Double definition, the first being the distress call. | ||
| 5 | CASTRATE | Actors’ fees take balls (8) |
| CAST RATE (‘actors’ fees’). | ||
| 9 | ON SCREEN | Showing resonance not a problem (2,6) |
| An anagram (‘problem’) of ‘reson[a]nce’ minus the A (‘not a’). | ||
| 10 | DISMAY | Apprehension in stock markets, initially within 24 hours (6) |
| An envelope (‘within’) of ISM (‘In Stock Market, initially’) in DAY (’24 hours’). | ||
| 11 | MIDDLEWEIGHT | Boxer‘s wee friend to Spooner (12) |
| A Spoonerism of WIDDLE MATE (‘wee friend’). | ||
| 13 | MAYO | Dressing from clinic (4) |
| Double definition: mayonnaise, and the Mayo Clinic based in Rochester, Minnesota. | ||
| 14 | MAYPOLES | Festive erections — symptom oddly not seen in men (8) |
| An envelope (‘in’) of YPO (‘sYmPtOm oddly not seen’) in MALES (‘men’). Give the surface, what did you expect? | ||
| 17 | LIFE PEER | Lord providing sword held in both hands (4,4) |
| An envelope (‘held in’) of IF (‘providing’) plus EPEE (‘sword’) in L R (left and right, ‘both hands’). | ||
| 18 | SOPS | Bribes storyteller to ignore casualty (4) |
| The first three letters derive from [ae]SOP (‘storyteller’) minus AE (A & E, accident and emergency hospital department, ‘casualty’). The final S seems to have just come along for the ride. | ||
| 20 | LONG-DISTANCE | Barking dog isn’t suppressed by weapon or trunk (4-8) |
| An envelope (‘suppressed by’) of ONGDIST, an anagram (‘barking’) of ‘dog isn’t’, in LANCE (‘weapon’). | ||
| 23 | UNISON | Sunni organisation welcomes ring of agreement (6) |
| An envelope (‘welcomes’) of O (‘ring’) in UNISN, an anagram (‘organisation’) of ‘Sunni’. | ||
| 24 | ORIGINAL | Built an oil rig that’s not been done before (8) |
| An anagram (‘built’) of ‘an oil rig’. | ||
| 25 | MAYORESS | Official service covers times gone by (8) |
| An envelope (‘covers’) of YORE (‘times gone by’) in MASS (‘service’). | ||
| 26 | MAYHEM | Is allowed to border chaos (6) |
| MAY HEM (‘is allowed to border’). | ||
| Down | ||
| 2 | ACNE | Isaac Newton’s teenage trouble (4) |
| A hidden answer in ‘IasAC NEwton”. | ||
| 3 | DECOMPOSE | Ask to support alternative comedy, mostly rot (9) |
| A charade of DECOM, an anagram (‘alternative’) of ‘comed[y]’ minus its last letter (‘mostly’), plus POSE (‘ask’). | ||
| 4 | YIELDS | Gives in return (6) |
| Double definition. Again, the S is questionable in the second definition. | ||
| 5 | CONGLOMERATIONS | Left to invade African country with armies, not revolutionary masses (15) |
| A charade of CONLO, an envelope (‘to invade’) of L (‘left’) in CONGO (‘African country’) plus MERATION, an anagram (‘revolutionary’) of ‘armies not’. | ||
| 6 | SIDEWAYS | Comments one drops in obliquely (8) |
| An envelope (‘in’) of I (‘one’) plus DEW (‘drops’) in SAYS (‘comments’). | ||
| 7 | ROSTI | Dish served by prostitute (5) |
| A hidden answer in ‘pROSTItute’. The original German dialect has an umlaut over the O; it is a dish of potato pancakes. | ||
| 8 | TRASH HEAPS | Piles of rubbish and rats scurrying by hospital in poor shape (5,5) |
| A charade of TRAS, an anagram (‘scurrying’) of ‘rats’ plus H (‘hospital’) plus HEAPS, an anagram (‘poor’) of ‘shape’. ‘in’ does not sit well in the cryptic interpretation. | ||
| 12 | CALIFORNIA | Peeling paint, profit slack, upset, in a state (10) |
| ‘pAINt pROFIt sLACk’ minus the outer letters of each word (‘peeling’) and reversed (‘upset’ in a down light). | ||
| 15 | OBSCENITY | Naughty word shocked nicest boy (9) |
| An anagram (‘shocked’) of ‘nicest boy’. | ||
| 16 | DEFIANCE | Intended to underwrite duel odds in challenge (8) |
| A charade of DE (‘DuEl odds’) plus FIANCE (‘intended’). | ||
| 19 | INFIRM | Feeble in company (6) |
| A charade of ‘in’ plus FIRM (‘company’). | ||
| 21 | GISMO | Try to include philosophy device (5) |
| An envelope (‘to include’) of ISM (‘philosophy’) in GO (‘try’). | ||
| 22 | RARE | Not well done — extraordinary! (4) |
| Double definition. | ||
I can’t explain the extra S in 18, but “return” for YIELDS in 4 just about works for me. I can also explain the parsing for 8. The second H in TRASH HEAPS is the H which stands for “hospital” in an anagram of “shape”.
Thanks PeterO and Philistine, especially for 5 across and 14!
It’s all the MAY(s), or 6 of them anyway, for the across clues. Don’t know what the significance is, as I can’t see other references eg to the PM. Pleasant enough and not too difficult with WIDDLE MATE and the slightly naughty ‘take balls’ (I was thinking ‘ed + ed’ initially) and ‘Festive erections’ as my favourite three clues.
Thanks to PeterO and Philistine.
This would have been a perfect puzzle to publish two months ago. At least the theme would have had some relevance then.
I agree with Steve @1 about the parsing of 8dn. Pity about the two unaccounted for ‘S’s. I did enjoy the rude bits though.
A lot of fun, so thanks to Philistne.
Like Steve B.@1, I thought that I could explain YIELDS at 4d as synonymous with a dividend or return, but could not see why the random “s” was in 18a either as there was only one Aesop, and there is no suggestion of a possessive “s” either.
May is certainly in our news as she has been meeting with our gladhanding PM, but otherwise I could not account for all the recurring “Mays” – though I did wonder whether it was a puzzle originally intended to be published on May Day, as swatty@3 could be suggesting.
I liked all the naughty favourites already mentioned, but also appreciated 13a MAYO and 19d INFIRM.
Had not really heard of a LIFE PEER although our formerly republic-campaigning PM might be angling to become one, as he says it is okay to be an Elizabethan (a fan of the Queen) and still support Australia becoming a republic.
20a LONG-DISTANCE made me smile – in the age of mobile phones it now seems antiquated to think about making a trunk call…
We’ve just endured a year of Mrs May as PM in the UK, so there is a topicality to the puzzle. And a year of inertia and muddled leadership too, so the tone of the solutions such as dismay, mayhem, infirm seems perfectly to sum up where her leadership has got us in that year. A nice and brisk puzzle, Philistine, many thanks, and thanks for this blog and the blogger for the opportunity to comment.
No problem with YIELDS and the hiccup with 18 was addressed very politely.
Thanks Philistine and Peter O.
thanks dear PeterO for explaining why MAYO had to be MAYO. I can’t reconcile the surplus S in 18 either but I did wonder if it was an oblique thematic ref to the DUP deal.
I wondered about the credibility of the Spoonerism component but you never know, I suppose.
Easy enough though couldn’t parse Mayo or sops. But at least the clues were witty and read well. Mostly.
All very much at the gentler end of Philistine’s range, but still very entertaining. The clinic was new to me and last in – if I’d started this on paper rather than on the phone at the doctors while waiting for a routine blood test I would probably have seen that earlier. Favourite was MIDDLEWEIGHT…
Thanks to Philistine and PeterO
I suspect 18a is a misprint and should read ‘storyteller’s’. I know this has been said many times in the past but since when has ‘providing’ meant ‘if’ (17a). Provided or providing that means if, providing is pretty much the opposite.
Lots to like here. I read SIDEWAYS as a DD (a sideways comment) – didn’t see the envelope. Favourites were MAYORESS, LIFE PEER and DECOMPOSE. Many thanks to P and P.
Bothered by the extra “S”s, and also by the clinic, which I’ve never heard of. Should I have done?
How about SOPHIST (one who uses fallacious arguments–storyteller) minus HIT (victim of a hit man–casualty) for SOPS? Just a thought.
William F P’s comment on y’day’s Shed seems equally apt to today’s puzzle “a delightful confection of gentle fun which proves that a puzzle doesn’t have to be tricky to be enjoyable.”
I did wonder about the floating s, but let it go as I’d got the Aesop bit. My favourites were the same as others – 5a, 11a, 14a, 17a – and I also liked 16d for the play on intended and the duel odds device. I was held up in the SW by having pencilled in ESSAY for 21d until Mrs W came to the rescue with MAYORESS.
Good fun all round – thanks to Philistine and PeterO.
Jason@12: The Mayo Clinic is one of the most famous hospitals in the world, so I was OK with it, unlike the obscure Rampton we had recently, which I doubt more than 1% of the readership has ever heard of.
Thanks, PeterO, your blog was almost word for word what I would have written.
Pleasant solve with some fun rude bits.
I, too, was just about OK with YIELDS but it’s a little strained perhaps.
Failed to parse the MAYO clinic but guessed at it and Google did the rest.
WhiteKing @14 I was going to make the same comment re WFP’s entry of yesterday!
Good, solid puzzle, many thanks Philistine.
Nice week, all.
Thank you Philistine and PeterO.
Another fun puzzle today, apart from the MAY references, as RonMiller @5 points out this is the anniversary of her becoming PM.
I wonder if Aesop’s Fables should really be Aesops’ Fables, his name in Greek has an s at the end?
I am back to solving the Guardian puzzle most days. I agree this was was easy, but in general they seem easier than they used to be when I was solving them every day two years ago. Or maybe I’m getting better?
Curiously, I solved this whole puzzle without noticing the ‘May’ theme, which certainly would have helped. I had biffed ‘ago’ instead’ of ‘yore’ in my LOI, ‘mayoress’, and that would have helped there. But all correct after 30 minutes.
Hovis @10.
If it were “storyteller’s”, the surface would be ungrammatical and make no sense.
Also I see no problem with “provided” and IF, as in e.g. “I’ll see you at 9 provided I get up early enough”.
Forgot to thank PeterO for the informative blog.
[Also wanted to welcome you back, WhiteKing. I missed your regular comments. Glad to see you haven’t given up solving and contributing to the forum.]
Julie @4 – re LONG-DISTANCE, reminds me of the scene in that epic movie Murder On The Orient Express, in which the incomparable Hercule Poirot (splendidly played by Albert Finney) correctly deduces that one of the suspects is American, when she says “call long-distance” instead of “make a trunk call” as a British person would have said (at that time).
Ron @5 – other appropriate words to refer to Her Themeship, perhaps: DECOMPOSE, TRASH HEAPS, SOPS? The one word in the puzzle that doesn’t fit is UNISON, I think! 🙂
Re AESOP[S], I looked up in Wiki and the original Greek name is ??????? (“Aisopos”). This could have been transliterated as AESOPS perhaps – but I’ve never heard it rendered thus, in practice.
Cookie @17
Re Aesops. Really? Clever girl. That would explain the extra ‘S’. How on earth did you know that?
We saw the mini-theme after the last answer went in. A year, already! Phew! I have to admit to liking Spoonerisms so 11a was my LOL favourite. Thanks to everyone.
Thanks Philistine and PeterO
I found this hard! I did eventually finish, though. “Storytellers” (rather than “storyteller’s”) would have worked in 18a. I guessed MAYO from the dressing, but have never heard of the clinic (is it named after the dressing or the Irish county?). Favourite was DEFIANCE; I was also impressed by the construction of the clue for CALIFORNIA, but I’m not sure whether it was appropriate for a daily puzzle.
One quibble for me. I don’t think a MAYORESS is an “official”; she is just the wife of a mayor. If the mayor is female, she is still called “mayor”.
Re 15, awkward though I may sound, I’m more familiar with Rampton, while not yet having had the pleasure of residing there. Mayo I was reminded of by the clue.
SOPS is just sloppy. That’s harsh of course, but you’d like that sort of thing to be picked up.
[btw is anyone else finding today’s “medium” (!) Sudoku extremely difficult?]
I’m with crimper on MAYO v RAMPTON. The latter is familiar to UK solvers as it houses many of our most notorious criminals, whereas I know the name of precisely zero hospitals in the US. So 13a went in on the weight of the dressing and the may.
That apart, I enjoyed the puzzle a lot, especially when the penny dropped with the theme. MIDDLEWEIGHT got a tick and CASTRATE got an ouch.
Jeceris@19 you are making my point. I said provided means ‘if’ – but ‘providing’ does not. I could give the setter the benefit of doubt that it is a misprint and he meant to write ‘providing that’. Essentially ‘providing’ is ‘giving’ whereas provided is ‘given that’ – as I said practically opposites. I admit that storyteller’s (storyteller is) does not read well.
For once I got the theme and,being a politics nerd, I realised why it was here. Recently I wished political oblivion on Mrs M and,while it hasn’t happened yet,it can’t be long now.
I enjoyed the puzzle. I agree it was somewhat easier than this setter usually is but it was mostly pretty good. I didn’t like SHOPS but thought it had to be right owing to the Aesop connection. I’d heard of the clinic in 13 ac but only remembered it after getting the answer from a combination of the theme and “dressing”!
Thanks Philistine.
Muffin @27 – after seeing your query I had a quick look at today’s Sudoku, which I did earlier (as a rule I do the sudoku – and the other puzzles – before I touch the cryptic).
No problems in it as far as I can see – no crossings-out at any rate, so for me it was no worse than a ‘medium’. But how does one rank a sudoku? Usually the ones the Graun rank ‘easy’ are, indeed, fairly easy – but quite often the ones ranked ‘hard’ are not so hard, whilst the ones ranked ‘medium’ can be tough. I don’t know why this is.
If you want to have a bash at what must be the ‘toughest of the tough’, try this:
- - 5 3 - - - - -
8 - - - - - - 2 -
- 7 - - 1 - 5 - -
4 - - - - 5 3 - -
- 1 - - 7 - - - 6
- - 3 2 - - - 8 -
- 6 - 5 - - - - 9
- - 4 - - - - 3 -
- - - - - 9 7 - -
(you’ll have to draw your own grid lines)
I downloaded this months ago and still haven’t solved it!
Thanks Philistine & PeterO
Hovis @ 10/29
Chambers eThesaurus gives both PROVIDED and PROVIDING as synonyms for IF.
[Thanks firmlyDirac
I have finally finished it, though I thought it one of the hardest I’ve finished. I kept slowly adding more numbers and thinking “that’s the breakthrough”, but it really wasn’t until there were just a handful left.]
Simon@32. That’s interesting. Language and grammar are always changing – not always to my liking but that’s its nature. I remember at school being told off for using dice in the singular and that changed yonks ago. How long is a yonk? So now it’s action can be in either direction – who’d have thunk it.
Thanks to Philistine and PeterO. I needed help parsing SOPS and SIDEWAYS but still got through fairly quickly. Lots of fun. As to MAYO, the Wikipedia summary is: “The Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit medical practice and medical research group based in Rochester, Minnesota. It employs more than 4,500 physicians and scientists and 57,100 allied health staff.The practice specializes in treating difficult cases through tertiary care. It spends over $660 million a year on research.”
Having noticed MAY early on spoilt my enjoyment. Dressing had to be MAYO – but I’d never heard of the MAYO clinic
I enjoyed this puzzle. COD for me was CALIFORNIA (by a nose, over CASTRATE). I can see from the many comments above that MAYO proved to be a regionally specific answer that was far easier for solvers from the USA, where the Mayo Clinic is very well known (making 13 ac a write-in for me). Thanks Philistine and PeterO.
I am amazed that people haven’t heard of the Mayo Clinic. It has been the leading hospital in the USA for many years and also was the theme of a running joke in “Airplane”, one of the best films ever.
@38. At the risk of sounding churlishly parochial, perhaps because most of us don’t live in the US and are not – unlike Philistine – medical professionals
An overall good mid-week crossword from Philistine.
On the easy side, true, but is he usually much harder? Not so sure.
To my solving partner I said tonight: ‘there will always be someone trying to justify a mistake’.
Let’s just face it: 18ac is a mistake, not noticed by the editor.
Philistine probably gets away with 4d but letting the surface reading come before the cryptic grammar – mmm.
It was all very enjoyable.
muffin @25: I was also impressed by the construction of the clue for CALIFORNIA, but I’m not sure whether it was appropriate for a daily puzzle.
This is Philistine’s trademark device, multiple fodders.
He does it in every single one of his crosswords (and, therefore, I find it even kind of predictable).
Yesterday, Shed wowed many solvers with his clue for ‘proctology’.
Today, Philistine threw in quite a few body parts too.
5ac, 11ac, 14ac, to name three.
I just wonder, why is it that so many solvers think that, in general, these kind of (LOL?) clues can really enhance an ordinary crossword?
It is something that Alan Connor also mentioned in his centenary book.
I’m afraid, through the years, I drifted away from it.
That said, when Hoskins (Independent) shows his cheekiness, I like it.
The symptoms of a split personality, surely. 🙂
Meanwhile, no idea why May is featured here.
The great John Martyn once wrote a song, covered by Eric Clapton, called May you never.
Let’s put some punctuation in there.
May. You? Never!
Thanks to PeterO and Philistine.
Thanks all
I solved the RHS very quickly and wondered whether this was really a Philistine!
The LHS was much more of a struggle and sadly the mayoress remained unsolved.
I liked life peer and suggest Mrs May might do the country a favour by becoming one instantly!
Thanks all
I solved the RHS very quickly and wondered whether this was really a Philistine!
The LHS was much more of a struggle and sadly the mayoress remained unsolved.
I liked life peer and suggest Mrs May might do the country a favour by becoming one instantly.
Philistine is, mostly, no Philistine, it seems. A few niggles for me, others have them I see, and a mistake at SOPS, but overall pretty good.
I’m also not that impressed by the MAY theme. What was the point.
14a. In the spirit of today’s crossword readers may enjoy this, by Timothy Shy (D B Wyndham Lewis)
Tabourer beat your little drum
Things are looking decidedly rum
To poor Mr Merrythought dancing apart,
Bells on his trousers, hell in his heart.
While round the maypole dances Miss Prism
Quite unaware of its symbolism.
Anyone else spot the connection between the Spoonerism at 11a and the solution at 17a?
@39 Bingybing says:
I grew up in South India, live in USA, started reading English on my own in my 10th grade. Just imagine how hard it is for people like me. Minor river in Wales… station after Embankment in Elephant and Castle line …
I failed to parse 12d, not helped by thinking that NIA was cled by “upset, in a”. In the correct version “in” seems to be only there for the surface.
I assumed that the Mayo clinic was named after a Mr Mayo. The clinic’s website shows that it was a Doctor Mayo.
So, it seems, nothing to do with Mhaigh Eo* in Ireland.
*(as proclaimed on local car numberplates).
This is a little bit late but if you have ever seen Airplane you will have heard of the Mayo Hold the Mayo. If you haven’t seen it we recommend it.