Guardian Cryptic 27,470 by Paul

by

The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/27470.

A puzzle revolving around the London Underground, mostly – but not entirely – in the clues rather than the answers. I was short of time , but I seemed to have a little more trouble with this one than I usually do with Paul. In particular, the wordplay of 7D DEFEAT took a while to sink in. In all, Paul’s inventiveness continues unabated.

Across
8 CAROLINE Girl finding Vauxhall, say, and Oval on the 26, perhaps? (8)
A charade of CAR (‘Vauxhall, say’) plus O (‘oval’) plus LINE (’26, perhaps’ 26A VICTORIA is a line on the London Underground).
9 OSAGE Native American, old and wise (5)
A charade of O (‘old’) plus SAGE (‘wise’).
10   See 2
11 BOND STREET Barking noted with terminus in Upminster, best Underground station (4,6)
An anagram (‘barking’) of ‘noted’ plus R (‘terminus in UpminsteR‘) plus ‘best’.
12 BEGGAR One asking Paddington, say, to eat horse (6)
An envelope (‘to eat’) of GG (‘horse’) in BEAR (‘Paddington, say’).
14 CREOSOTE Legendary bull’s home pumped with oxygen thus, as preservative (8)
An envelope (‘pumped with’) of O (chemical symbol, ‘oxygen’) plus SO (‘thus’) in CRETE (‘legendary bull’s home’ – the Minotaur)
15 STATUTE First of trains passing through Monument as a rule (7)
An envelope (‘passing through’) of T (‘first of Trains’) in STATUE (‘monument’).
17 GALUMPH Appear clumsy in golf with a wedge, ending in bush (7)
A charade of G (‘golf’) plus ‘a’ plus LUMP (‘wedge’) plus H (‘ending in busH‘).
20, 24 ROUND THE BEND Both end with Underground in Barking (5,3,4)
An anagram (‘-ground’) of ‘both end’ plus ‘under-‘
22 PAGODA Temple, a resident there is welcomed in by father (6)
An envelope (‘is welcomed in by’) of A GOD (‘a resident there’) in PA (‘father’).
23 ART TEACHER Master of creativity, heart rate around about a hundred (3,7)
An envelope (‘about’) of C (‘a hundred’) in ARTTEAHER, an anagram (‘around’) of ‘heart rate’.
24   See 20
25 SWEDE For example, Nobel Prizes we deigned to accept (5)
A hidden answer (‘to accept’) in ‘prizeS WE DEigned’.
26 VICTORIA Duke of Wellington at Waterloo, one ahead of a sovereign (8)
A charade  of VICTOR (‘Duke of Wellington at Waterloo’ – indication by example) plus I (‘one’) plus ‘a’.
Down
1 MANIFEST Plain, fine letters sent in the post (8)
An envelope (‘in’) of NIFE, an anagram (‘letters sent’) of ‘fine’ in MAST (‘post’).
2, 10 LOVEBITE Black eye initially violet, forming bruise on skin (4,4)
An anagram (‘forming’) of B E (‘Black Eye initially’) plus ‘violet’.
3 TIMBER Feller’s call to take leadership from merchant bankers in Bank (6)
An envelope (‘to take … in’) of MB (‘leadership from Merchant Bankers’) in TIER (‘bank’).
4 REDNECK Poor white American taking wine with spoon (7)
A charade of RED (‘wine’) plus NECK (‘spoon’, behave amourously).
5 MONSTERA Climber from Stanmore going down the tube (8)
An anagram (‘going down the tube’) of ‘Stanmore’. A genus including the Swiss Cheeese plant.
6 HARRISBURG Airbrush out borders in removing Pennsylvania city (10)
An charade of HARRISBU, an anagram (‘out’) of ‘airbrush’) plus RG (‘borders in RemovinG‘), for the capital city of Pennsylvania.
7 DEFEAT Bored, it’s suggested? Take down Waterloo (6)
A charade of DEF, which in a down light is FED UP (‘bored, it’s suggested?) plus EAT (‘take down’).
13 GET KNOTTED Might granny shove off? (3,7)
An allusion to the granny knot.
16 TITRATES Flyer values monitors and adjusts a chemical (8)
A charade of TIT (‘flyer’) plus RATES (‘values’).
18 PEDANTIC Particular doctor painted on canvas, primarily (8)
A charade of PEDANTI, an anagram (‘doctor’) of ‘painted’ plus C (‘Canvas, primarily’)
19 BEEHIVE Workers’s home in High Barnet? (7)
Double definition: the workers being bees, and barnet being Cockney rhyming slang – Barnet Fair, hair.
21 ONRUSH Flood is over the grass (6)
A charade of ON (‘over’) plus RUSH (‘grass’).
22 PIRACY Crime, good and exciting (6)
A charade of PI (‘good’) plus RACY (‘exciting’).
24 BOOB Error on the Tube, perhaps? (4)
This tube is not the Underground, but an allusion to the TV, “boob tube”.
completed grid

63 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 27,470 by Paul”

  1. I’ve been a fan of Paul but thought this terrible. Poor surfaces, obscure clues, didn’t enjoy it one bit. I did get there was a theme with the London underground but that doesn’t excuse the poor clueing.

  2. Thanks Peter. My only gripe was the early finish: got right on Paul’s wavelength. Loved the ‘fed up’ and even more the anagram indicator (ground) in 20,24 which you don’t mention. LOVE BITE last in.

  3. With respect to TonyDee, I quite enjoyed this.

    8ac: Vauxhall being on the Victoria Line is neat, if Oval is not.

    Any alt. here? Some kind of ref to Oxford Street perhaps?

    Liked the “Under|ground” lift-and-separate at 20,24.

  4. Oh frabjous day! What a joy to see GALLUMPH. Jaberwocky was the first poem I learned and can still recite the whole thing. I also enjoyed BEEHIVE.
    Not Paul’s hardest I thought but still a stretch in places for me. LOVE BITE was LOU.

  6. For me, this was a typically mixed bag from Paul – from the joy of 19 to the deflation of “defeat” which I needed PeterO’s help with to parse retrospectively. I suppose it’s one of the wonderful things about crosswords that I should find a clue like 7 so disappointing and yet others love it (molongo#2)! Perhaps if I’d been clever enough to realise the “fed-up” word-play I would feel differently.

  7. There was another tube station recently. was that Paul’s too?

    I thought tgis was mostly good-i didnt see DEF =FED UP but I didnt like “take down” for EAT.

    Otherwise fun.

  8. Thanks, PeterO.

    I thought this was fun and particularly liked CAROLINE, BEEHIVE and ROUND THE BEND. DEFEAT did take a while to sort out – I liked the idea but agree with copmus re ‘take down’.

    I didn’t know that boob tube was N.American [specified as such by both Collins and Chambers] slang for the TV. I only knew this definition, which I think is probably what Paul had in mind. 😉

    Thanks to Paul for an amusing start to the day.

  9. The other thing about 7 is the def.

    Its a UK puzzle and it certainly wasnt a defeat here(er there for me)

    But its an old expression-“he met his Waterloo”. Could have been better, though but he had to trot out a Mudd as well.

  10. Maybe not Paul’s finest and certainly not his hardest but there was plenty I enjoyed, including the way the theme was used. Like FtC@4 I relished GALUMPH both for the word and the clue. I also liked ROUND THE BEND, GET KNOTTED, PEDANTIC and BEEHIVE. I needed to come here for the parsing of BOND STREET and DEFEAT of course. Mrs W thinks Queen VICTORIA was named after the victory at Waterloo so maybe that’s another connection in the puzzle?
    Thanks to Paul and PeterO for making things clear for me.

  11. Like Eileen@8 I assumed BOOB tube was a reference to the garment and didn’t know about the American TV reference.

  12. Could not get on with this but still enjoyed what I could fill in and I agree with everything WhiteKing@10 said. Thanks Paul and PeterO.

    Happy Easter to all.

  13. Surprised at the mixed response here. I thought this was really enjoyable. 19d superb but maybe lost on our Oz and us cousins and possibly our friends in the north.

    For 1a I spent ages going up and down the Victoria line for a station with car in the middle!

    My only gripe is using an anagram rather than wordplay for a specialist knowledge clue (5d). Whilst getting stanmore in was clever, for me M N R T could have been in any order and sounded like a plant.

    Thanks to Paul and PeterO.

  15. Thank you Paul and PeterO.

    I really enjoyed this puzzle, even though I was defeated by the parsing for 7d.  Reading Eileen’s link @8 for 24d was interesting, the original tube tops were reportedly produced through a factory manufacturing error…

  16. Whiteking @10 Named after her mother I think (though I could have got that from a recent ‘boob tube’ dramatisation!).

     

    I liked this crossword, I got 7d from the definition but couldn’t parse it; which seems to tally with most other solver comments so the definition is fine in my book.

    I was also happy with ‘oval = o’ if only on the basis that ‘oval = 0 = o’.

    Thanks to Paul and PeterO.

  17. Re 7d
    I finally parsed this as a triple definition; BORED – BOARD (homophone) almost certainly defeat those boarded e.g. Cape St. Vincent, take down = defeat and Waterloo.

  18. I thought this was a good Paul puzzle.

    Thanks PeterO; I got the parsing of DEFEAT wrong, as I thought of D = down [clue] and effete homophone [this means tired out, which is close to bored]. I’m going to have to remember these Native Americans.

    I loved ROUND THE BEND and BOND STREET, among others.

  19. I love a Paul even when he’s not quite at the top of his game (or is it that he now has considerable competition). I had a question mark at 7d. Glad to see I am not alone. Well parsed PeterO but not surprised I couldn’t. My tiny beef was lump/wedge. A wedge has a particular shape and doesn’t even need to be a lump necessarily. Thanks Paul. Must it be Maskarade tomorrow? A change would be welcome here.

  20. Thanks to Paul and PeterO. Enjoyed this and most went in readily with top half taking longer than bottom half. A DNF for me and gave up on galumph (maybe should have given it a bit longer) and defeat last one in unparsed. Maybe just an off day for me because I am normally fine with Paul’s puzzles. I particularly liked round the bend and thanks again to Paul and PeterO.

  21. Thanks robert@16 – QV’s mother was also V and it seems more likely the WK theory is the product of the boob tube rendition.

  22. Thanks Paul and PeterO

    Xjp @ 19

    Your minor beef is fair enough, but I would say a lump or wedge of cheese aould be pretty synonymous. It’s also supported in both directions by Chambers eThesaurus, so, as in so many cases, we may not like the usage but the setter is on firm ground.

  23. Robi @18

    For 7D DEFEAT, I flirted with that (and even “bored to def”!) before hitting on what I am sure is the intended parsing.

  24. I was very much not on the required wavelength today so happy to have made it as far as I did (about 2/3). I thought LOVE BITE was a gem of a clue.

    On the other hand I don’t find neck = spoon in REDNECK very satisfactory – I accept that they are in the same broad field but they are quite different activities, surely?

    Two requests, if I may: (i) could someone please elaborate on pi = good in PIRACY and (ii) as it’s a long weekend and I’ll have a bit more time than usual, are there recommendations for a Saturday and/or Sunday crossword suitable for a novice solver?

  25. Thanks Paul and PeterO

    Chiaros @24

    PI is short for PIOUS or “good”. Quite common in crosswords.

    The Observer Everyman crossword (available from the Guardian site) is a superb crossword for  those who don’t want it too difficult.

  26. Chiaros@24

    If I had a £1 for every time someone asked about PI meaning good … it is an informal adjective meaning sanctimonious or good.  It is a short form of pious

    Remember it as you will meet it again and again.

  28. FED UP isn’t “bored,” it’s more like “exasperated.”  DEFEAT was my LOI too, for lack of parsing.

    Funny how we use Waterloo to mean “defeat,” when it was also, as in 24a, a victory.  The Duke of Wellington met his Waterloo too.

    I like puzzles that get very British, it stretches me.  Some Underground stations’ names are familiar to me from reading, others not.

    I don’t like the use of REDNECK.  It’s an insulting word, patronizing and classist, if that’s a word. People who call other people rednecks are sneering at them.  Would this puzzle ever contain the word “OIK”?

  29. And thank you to Paul for a puzzle with an enjoyable theme and to PeterO for putting me out of my misery.

  30. Chiaros @24

    I agree that NECK for ‘spoon’ owes more to the misleading surface than to precision. PI for ‘good’ rears its head frequently; it is short for pious, and generally used in the derogatory sense of apparently or ostentatiously good. As for crosswords for the novice, you might have a look at Everyman; while far from a pushover, the clues are seldom overelaborate, and are excellently constructed. Otherwise, go back to the previous Monday’s Quiptic, which, with severalsetters contributing, is more variable.

  31. Chiaros @ 24

    Sorry if I sound negative, but I’m not sure there are many Bank Holiday puzzles that are suitable for novices. The papers seem to assume that as people have more time on their hands a sterner challenge is more suitable.

    Countervailing, if you want to improve there’s nothing like practice, so don’t be afraid to start something tough and learn from the parsings when the blogs come out, even if you feel you haven’t done very well. That’s probably how quite a lot of us got from being novitiate to wherever we may be today.

    hth

  32. My first answer was Ironside for 26a so stumbled over SE corner for a while! It nearly worked well as you are ‘on side’ in football if there is one defender ahead of you (plus goalie)

  33. Thanks to Paul and PeterO. Not easy going for me. MONSTERA and GET KNOTTED were new to me as was the second meaning of BEEHIVE, and I needed help parsing CAROLINE and DEFEAT.

  34. Chiaros @24 Re. your comments on neck =swan, a) yes you’re right, b) not necessarily as usage varies over time and/or location, c) the test these days is not what the words are generally accepted to mean but whether Chambers dictionary supports the usage.

    I would recommend any crossword from the Guardian back catalogue as perfect for a novice, give one a go and when you get stuck you have the hints to help you, if you get really stuck you have this site to explain things: it’s the perfect way to gain an understanding of the devices used.

  35. muffin @25, crypticsue@26, PeterO @30 – thanks for the explanation re ‘pi’, I shall try to store that one in the mental databank.

    Thanks also to those offering their crossword suggestions. It looks as though I shall be giving the Everyman a try!

  36. I was a bit slow starting, but loved it once I got going.

    BEEHIVE is brilliant (having sported such a hairdo in my youth), GALUMPH a great word. Had to come here (thanks PeterO) for the parsing of DEFEAT but like it now. Like Eileen @8 and WhiteKing @11 I only knew BOOB tube as the garment.

    Thanks to Paul and PeterO for brightening up a dreary soggy wet day.

  37. Valentine @28

    Chambers does give ‘bored’ as one definition of FED UP, and I can think of examples which are in the right area: “I am fed up with complaints that Guardian crosswords are too (easy/difficult, your choice)”. Just for the purpose of illustration.

  38. Hi Valentine @28

    It seems you didn’t do Paul’s Prize puzzle last Saturday. I’m afraid you’re in for a shock / disappointment with tomorrow’s blog.

  39. Thanks to PeterO and to Paul. Not as many “groan out loud when you see the parsing” moments as I’m used too with Paul, but still fun to complete. Just to be contrary, LOVE BITE was my FOI. Misspent youth coming to the fore again I’m afraid !

  40. I’m with those who say this was “not Paul’s finest”, or some such.  I nearly gave up, but I got lucky with a couple of clues, and I rather enjoyed the rest of the puzzle, meeting some excellent clues along the way.  My favourites were LOVE BITE, GALUMPH, ROUND THE BEND, BEE HIVE and BOOB.

    I solved DEFEAT from ‘Waterloo’ and nothing else.  I queried ‘O’ for ‘Oval’ in 8a CAROLINE.

    I thought the Undergound theme was well engineered and not too obtrusive.

    Thanks to Paul and PeterO.

  41. In what’s sort of the opposite of my usual type of post here, I just wanted to express my mild surprise that Brits are expected to have heard of HARRISBURG.

    Otherwise, nothing to add to what others have already said.

  42. I didn’t parse DEFEAT either but I think the parsing,now I know it, is pretty much spot on.
    I suppose this wasn’t Paul at his best but,as I’ve said before,a Paul is a Paul. I liked OSAGE- reading cowboy comics as A child has served me well-BEGGAR and ROUND THE BEND ( FOI).
    Thanks Paul.
    Ps I don’t see anything wrong with REDNECK,or OIK for that matter!

  43. mrpenney @41, HARRISBURG slowly surfaced after I managed to get “There’s a Pawn Shop on the Corner in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania”  out of my mind.

  44. I really enjoyed this but was defeated by DEFEAT. Loved BEEHIVE, ROUND THE BEND, and GALUMPH. Many thanks to P & P.

  46. I enjoyed this puzzle and the tube theme very much too.  Not much to add to previous comments:  I was defeated by parsing of DEFEAT, but I like it now; I don’t think necking and spooning are synonyms either.

    I thought this was Paul on very good form.  Favorites were BOND STREET, GALUMPH, ROUND THE BEND, BEEHIVE and HARRISBURG (quite local to me, so easy to spot).  I love that Barking is used both as definition and anagrind and that Waterloo is simultaneously portrayed as a victory and a defeat.

    Great stuff!  Thanks, Paul and PeterO (especially for untangling 7).

     

  47. mrpenney @41

    I’ve certainly heard of Harrisburg, and I think that must be because it is the state capital.  I had no hesitation in writing it in after I had already, and carelessly, bunged in Pittsburgh!

  48. [There’s a conversation in on of the early Len Deighton books. The “Harry Palmer” character (never so named in the books) and another are examining  a war game with soldier figures at the battle of Waterloo. “Harry Palmer” says something like “This is where Blucher arrived with the Prussians”. The other (a Russian spy, as I remember) says “If he hadn’t, Waterloo Station would have been in Paris. Would it have made so much difference, in the long run?” “It would to me – I live just behind Waterloo Station.”]

  51. I appear to be late coming on here – had an interrupted day.  Mostly very good stuff from Paul, but as always – a few criticisms.

    I was searching hard for MORNINGTON CRESCENT but it wasn’t there!  Shame!  How are we going to finish the game now?

    OSAGE is fair but I’d never heard of the word, I confess.  A look-up.  Likewise MONSTERA, though something rang a bell for that one.  Must get out to Kew Gardens a bit more, I reckon (actually Wakehurst would be nearer, for me).

    For GALUMPH I’m not sure I like the definition.  “Appear clumsy”?  The original coinage of the word comes from Lewis Carroll, in Jabberwocky, of course:

    “One, two! One, two! And through and through/The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!/He left it dead, and with its head/He went galumphing back.”

    That doesn’t sound like a clumsy return to base!  On the contrary, it’s a triumphal gallop – exactly as it ought to, seeing as it’s a portmanteau of “gallop” + “triumph”.

    ROUND THE BEND – this one almost drove me to that very place – took me ages to spot the lift-and-separate.  No wonder so many editors spurn this sort of clueing.  Whatever … I’ll give it a plus for being very Grauniad-ish!

    For HARRISBURG, it dawned on me that just about every other city in Pennsylvania seems to end in -BURG.  I toyed with PITTSBURGH until I realised the G was in the wrong place!  Then GETTYSBURG.  Finally homed in on HARRISBURG.  Not really a hard clue – I just wasn’t trying hard enough.

    Never got to parse DEFEAT – like many others on here.  The closest I got was D + EFFETE (homophone) but “Effete” doesn’t mean “bored” – at least not in my dictionaries.  Ah well – that was good enough for a write-in, to spare me the dreaded DNF…

    Thanks to Paul and Peter.

  52. Muffin @48 – I don’t think we need to commiserate over-much with our French neighbours, over the naming of “Waterloo Station” – after all they have their own “Gare d’Austerlitz”, which can scarcely appeal to any Austrian or Russian visitors!  If they had won Waterloo that would have just been OTT, in my view. 😮

    Anyway, the Eurostar terminal was relocated from Waterloo to St Pancras some years ago.  Whether this was to appease gripes from French travellers, I don’t know.

  53. SimonS I take your point but it all depends on whether usage or the Thesaurus is the best authority. A lump of cheese comes in any old shape, not so a wedge. The lump includes the wedge and that makes the clue ok but it doesn’t make it very precise. I would say the best crosswords have precision. I got to lump but I wasn’t very satisfied.

  54. Thanks to Paul and PeterO.

    Well I enjoyed it – a themed puzzle where for a change the theme didn’t get in the way of the clueing, well not too much. We seem to be getting a lot of BEEHIVEs recently. But as only an occasional visitor to London I was pleased to galumph my way through this.

    A merry Easter to all.  Being Easter Bunny (which means hiding eggs and leaving cryptic clues as to their whereabouts) is as near as I get to being a setter, and I always view it with horror at the possibility of failure – failure at so many levels: clues too dense, too light, can’t come up with a clue etc? Hasn’t happened yet, but who’d be a setter? 28 clues in today’s crossword (well, 26 if you must) – I’ll hide maybe 5 eggs. I will agonise over these clues for possibly several hours.

    Anybody got any used Easter Bunny clues I could re-cycle?

     

  55. But no Mornington Crescent (glad to see others noting that omission). Shame. Defeated by “defeat”, though I was sure it was right didn’t get FED up. Incidentally why does English say Waterloo means defeat. Surely not sympathy with the French?

  56. keith thomas @55

    Hoi Polloi English (as opposed to the upper classes) had great sympathy with Napoleon, as exemplified in many folk songs.

    (I tried to find youtube links, but they seemed to be blocked!)

  57. Some strange arguments here about the equivalence of “wedge” and “lump”.

    Do people not possess a dictionary. (I recommend the SOED or OED)

    It’s quite common where I live to hear the phrase “..a good wedge…”. Nobobody would expect this wedge to be of the tapering variety just a big lump!

    On the whole a disappointing Paul as people have commented. I finished but like many failed to parse DEFEAT correctly.

  58. Perhaps  “lump” is being used in one of its the verbal senses, “to throw carelessly” (lump together), and “wedge” in the verbal sense for pottery clay, “to throw down”?

  60. Just the right level for me.

    I thoroughly enjoyed it and a Paul with a theme is a bonus.

    Like most I’m .. ….. as PeeDee @ 49 says

    Thanks Peter & Paul

  62. Waterloo = defeat must come readily to anyone who’s heard the samenamed ABBA song.

    And that must be virtually everyone, surely?

  63. 17a.  We parsed as: every wedge is a particularly shaped lump.

    Thanks to all the bloggers.  We’d be lost without you.

    Jan and Tom, Toronto

     

     

     

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