Guardian Prize 27,633 / Boatman

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My first reaction on seeing the name on this puzzle was, ‘That’ll teach me to complain about having so many Paul Prize puzzles to blog!’.

The ‘Special instructions’ [which always make my heart sink] were: ‘Eleven solutions are of a kind, one of them collectively, not further defined’. On my first quick run through the clues, which at first sight seemed impenetrable, I searched for an anagram to give me a start. The first obvious one was 3,29, which, with the enumeration, was reasonably easy to work out and – Bingo! – it turned out to have no definition and was a ‘collective’. It was immediately followed by 11dn and I was on my way. I then realised that a number of the clues actually contained references to the 8ac theme.

Having serendipitously sussed the theme early on, I was expecting that there might be some unknown solutions, but, in fact, I knew all of them and I found the clues themselves remarkably more straightforward than usual for Boatman – 15dn, in fact, so straightforward that it was one of my last in. I do have a quibble or two – see below.

Thanks to Boatman for the puzzle.

Definitions are underlined in the clues.

[I shall not be around for long in the morning to field queries, objections, typos etc, as I’m off for a week’s walking in Mallorca – my apologies for any errors.]

Across

7 Two chessmen, one of which captures a third (4,5)
KING PRAWN
KING PAWN [two chessmen], the second round [capturing] R [queen] – a third – 0r rather, as PeterO comments @5, R [rook]

8 Motor racing, timid? Unlikely (5)
FISHY
FI [Formula 1 – motor racing] + SHY [timid]

9 One gathers pearls from margins of sandbank in river delta, instead of its head (4-5)
SKIN-DIVER
S[andban]K – margins of + IN [from the clue] + [r]IVER] with its first letter [head] replaced by D [Greek letter delta]

10 Pound backs dollar (5)
SQUID
QUID [pound] after [backs] S [dollar : I’ve never come across this ‘abbreviation’, which is surprising, if it’s common; I eventually found, after a nudge from Gaufrid, in Chambers,  under S symbol : ‘[in the form $] dollar]’ – but I can’t quite see how that clues ‘S’

12 Imposes the first of taxes to be extracted from Hebrews (6)
LEVIES
LEVI[t]ES [Hebrews] minus t[axes]

13 Diverge, argue, make up – friends at last, eternally (3,5)
FOR KEEPS
FORK [diverge] + last letters of arguE makE uP friendS

16 Coarse material to add fire to dance (7)
HOPSACK
HOP [dance] + SACK [fire]

19 Filthy lout, not unknown, witnessed speaking (7)
OBSCENE
[y]OB [lout] minus y [unknown] + SCENE [sounds like {speaking} ‘seen’ {witnessed}]

22 Perform B major composition, part of opening (4,4)
DOOR JAMB
DO [perform] + an anagram [composition] of  MAJOR B

25 “D’oh” sounds as if it could be “doe”, pre-Middle English (4,2)
DEAR ME
DEAR [sounds like ‘deer’, which could be a doe] before [pre] ME [Middle English] – when I say ‘Doh’ I mean something more like ‘Blow me’ or ‘Silly me’: I associate ‘Dear me’ with polite Victorian ladies expressing surprise or dismay – I’ve never heard anyone say it

27 Finding a place for octopus in gastronomic display (5)
USING
Hidden in octopUS IN Gastronomic

28 Freely flow with abuse to make Spooner go crazy (4,1,4)
BLOW A FUSE
I’ve looked at this for a long time: ‘freely’ is an anagram indicator for FLOW with ABUSE but if Spooner were to go crazy he would surely say FLOW ABUSE, not BLOW A FUSE? – it seems the wrong way round to me but I’m probably being dim

30 Bend, use handle and let go (9)
UNLEASHED
An anagram [bend] of USE HANDLE

Down

1 Get beast to go uphill (6)
WINKLE
WIN [get] + a reversal [to go uphill] of ELK [beast[

2 CIA, NCA etc, with powers to use silver to displace cannabis (8)
AGENCIES
[pot]ENCIES [powers] with AG [silver] displacing pot [cannabis]

3, 29  Ferret around: is mud involved? (6,2,3)
FRUITS DE MER
Anagrams of FERRET and IS MUD – the wordplay suggests to me that we’re looking for an anagram [around] of FERRET followed by an anagram [involved] of IS MUD, which is not what we have and so I think this is a weak clue – hardly redeemed by its surface 😉

4 Small shirt holds little to note, or nothing at all (5,2)
SWEET FA
S [small] + WEE [little] + T [example of shirt] + FA [note] – I think there may be some objections to the enumeration

5 It could be lobster pot (6)
BISQUE
Double definition: a shellfish soup, made typically of lobster and another term for ‘biscuit’ [porcelain or other pottery which has been fired but not glazed] – I think Cookie will like this 😉

6 Marines dispersed throughout vessel (6)
SHRIMP
RM [Royal Marines] separately in SHIP [vessel]

11 Cook rapidly and boil heads (4)
CRAB
Initial letters [heads] of Cook Rapidly And Boil

14 Boatman reported for watch (3)
EYE
Sounds like [reported] I [Boatman]

15 Female shellfish, easily caught (3)
SHE
Well, I was a female easily caught by this one, as confessed above: it’s hidden [caught] in shellfiSH Easily and also contained in SHEllfish  – incidentally, does anyone else remember when SHE was nearly always something like a Haggard heroine?

16 Caught fish with nowhere to leave boat! (3)
HAD
HAD[DOCK] [fish minus dock- where to leave boat]

17 Expert the right wing excluded from conclusive arguments (3)
PRO
PRO[ofs] [conclusive arguments] minus the right wing: I think some might query this, in a down clue, but we need to think of it as written in normal text, rather than in the grid

18 Oddly cold arms (4)
CLAM
Odd letters of CoLd ArMs

20 Factory ship processed missing parts of pot (8)
CRAYFISH
An anagram [processed] of FACtoRY SHIp minus pot

21 Boatman unequalled (7)
ABALONE
AB [Able-bodied seaman – Boatman] + ALONE [unequalled] – a frequent visitor to our Crosswordland [at least] shores

23 Funny story, having Enigmatist its lead character (6)
OYSTER
An anagram [funny] of STORY + E[nigmatist]

24 Melt tip and root of eggplant stuffed into razor shell (6)
RENDER
END [tip] + E[ggplant] in R[azo]R – my instinct was for E to be the last letter, especially in a down clue, but ‘root’ means ‘source’ or ‘origin’, so it does work

25 The way this clue’s solution goes, the editor might be drunk (6)
DOWNED
DOWN [the way this solution goes] + ed [editor]

26 Might put into speech (6)
MUSSEL
Sounds like [put into speech] muscle [might]

27 comments on “Guardian Prize 27,633 / Boatman”

  1. Thanks Eileen.  I don’t fish or go on water: but this went straight in.  Couldn’t parse AGENCIES or (like you) make good sense of the Spooner, but the answers were obvious.

  3. Thanks to Boatman and Eileen. I got started early with CRAB and CLAM so that most (but not all) of FRUITS DE MER followed. However, the NE corner held me up because I started with snail, not SQUID (thinking nail = pound) and therefore did not get BISQUE until I reconfigured. I also started with crawfish (which did not parse but I had in a recent meal) rather than CRAYFISH (which did). I too did not get the Spoonerism in BLOW A FUSE but thanks to previous puzzles I did get SWEET FA. All in all, some false starts but I did get to the finish line and enjoyed the process.

  4. Like you Eileen at first pass this looked impenetrable until I got to 11 and 18dn which were almost too obvious and after which it all pretty much fell into place. I got 2dn but couldn’t parse it either Mongolo. So thanks Eileen and thanks Boatman – I loved 25ac. Loi was 5dn which took a lot of head scratching – nice one!

  5. Thanks Eileen and Boatman

    The theme came to me also very quickly, although I cnnot remember the entry point – perhaps 7A KING PRAWN, for which the R is surely Rook, not Queen.

  6. Pretty much as everyone is saying, including ditto Eileen re special instructions. Not too much head-scratching once it started to unpick with fishy, squid and crab in the NW. Some beaut surfaces, e.g. 13 and 22ac, and 21d. Also went ‘que?’ at 28ac.

    Thanks Boatman and Eileen, have a great and blister-free walk.

  8. In most parts of the world CRAYFISH live in fresh water, so aren’t “fruits de mer”. However I suppose the Rock Lobster is called “crayfish” in enough places for Boatman to get away with it.

  9. I enjoyed all the theme elements though some were easier to see than others. I understand the quibbles as mentioned, but didn’t get too worried as it was quite a fun puzzle. Aside from a couple of the “fishy” solutions, of which 26d MUSSEL was my favourite, I ticked 12a LEVIES.
    Enjoy your walking trip to beautiful Mallorca, Eileen. Salud! Thanks for the blog, and thank you to Boatman for the puzzle.

  10. Pretty much what everyone else said. Easy enough to get into the theme – my entry point was KING PRAWN, although I needed SWEET FA first – and after that most of it fell into place. A few awkward clues, perhaps, particularly the spoonerism, but nothing to spoil the fun. Thanks, Boatman, thanks, Eileen, and do enjoy Mallorca!

  12. Thanks Eileen and Boatman.

     

    I took 3, 29 to be put FERRET around ISMUD and then find the anagram (involved); still not terrific.

     

    I thought the theme became obvious quite quickly as there were so many hints in the clues themselves: PEARLS, OCTOPUS, LOBSTER, MARINES, SHELLFISH, FISH, FACTORY SHIP, RAZOR SHELL.

  13. Forgot to say, still not terrific because I would have expected the ISMUD letters to be consecutive in the answer

  14. Thanks Eileen and Boatman.

    Another who was lucky to spot the theme early, in my case with CRAB, which is one of the easier clues here, immediately followed by CLAM.  I thought the surfaces throughout were excellent.

    I share Eileen’s uneasiness about $ in SQUID.  I went with it but cannot pretend I like it.  Shilling might have done just as well in the clue.

  15. Many thanks Boatman and Eileen. An excellent puzzle. I loved the way the theme permeated so much of it, not just the eleven undefined ones. But my favourite was a non themer, the very clever FOR KEEPS.

    Great to see the traditional dual use of “Boatman”, once for I/me and once for an actual boatman.

  16. “Is mud and ferret involved?” would have been better in my opinion. I read it as put ferret around is mud, then anagram, which works in a clumsy sort of way.

  17. Thank you Boatman and Eileen.

    A very enjoyable puzzle. Like several others, CRAB followed by CLAM were my first in, so I looked for a FISHY theme, but I only got MUSSEL from the crossers, my last in.

    I agree with Eileen’s quibbles.  DEAR ME, the clue for BISQUE was my favourite but I have a horror of fish, however, I will pluck up courage to open a can of it for lunch that my neighbour has brought back from Marseilles  (I do like fresh fish, especially PRAWNS, but the fish of my school dinners was often off).

    Do hope you have a lovely walking holiday in Mallorca, Eileen.

  18. Thanks to Boatman and Eileen

    Like others, CRAB went in first. I toyed with astronomical references (as in the crab nebula), but KING PRAWN put me on the right path.

    Enjoy your walking Eileen. I hope the floods have subsided.

  19. Most enjoyable and on the more approachable end of Boatman puzzles. CRAB went in straight away and the others followed apace. Spoonerism usually amuse me and 28ac was no exception..HOPSACK was new but easy to get. Altogether a fun puzzle.
    Thanks Boatman.

  20. Good crossword, jive mix of easy and Hardish clues. Enjoyed the light hearted refs to the theme esp in the non-thematic clues.

    After cantering through most family quickly by my standards I shamefully missed USING (v nicely hidden though) and RENDER.

    Thanks to Boatman for the fun and Eileen for explaining it so well.

  21. Thanks Eileen and Boatman. I thought this was rather straightforward for Saturday Prize – getting into the theme early with 7ac and 3d obviously helped. This week’s daily offerings from Tuesday onwards soon brought me back to earth though !

  22. Was I the only one to put in SICKLE for 1D? “Sic” could be get and I did have to look up whether sickle fish was, in fact, a fish (it did show up in my Google machine, although a bait fish and not a mollusk) and I had not heard of winkle.

    Clam and crab got me started on this excellent puzzle. I was hung up on 4D, as I’d never heard of sweet fa. Enjoyed 22A; it’s rare to get an anagram with a J and the surface was smooth.

    Thanks to Eileen and Boatman for a fun mental workout.

  23. I took “freely” in 28 not as an anagram indicator (though I agree that it could be seen as such) but as a suggestion that Boatman was taking liberties with the usual format for Spoonerisms. Whatever, I thought both this and “ferret is mud” in 3, 29 worked well enough – the answers were obvious so a little obscurity in the clue is acceptable.

    S for dollar is not, though. The dollar sign $ derives from the short way of representing pieces of eight IIRC, so dollar cannot reasonably clue S. Perhaps Boatman thought that the conventional S = shilling would be too obvious.

     

  24. This was pretty dull for a prize crossword.  When is Boatman going to construct a challenging puzzle where each clue has to be solved without reference to a general theme?

  25. sheffield hatter @23 — how do you get $ from IIRC?  I was told once — I have no idea by whom, or whether I trust them — that the dollar sign was a superimposition of U and S, with the U very narrow and crossing the S twice, and that the  U later turned into two verticals.

  26. One more objection to dollar = s, bit that’s my only quibble. All in all a delightful puzzle, with too many favourites to list. With the theme easy to spot, it was on the gentler side for a Prize, but none the worse for that. Clue quality trumps difficulty in my books.

    I seem to be the only one who liked the spoonerism – I thought it was brilliant, and a nice surface to boot.

    Thanks, Boatman and Eileen for an excellent puzzle and blog.

  27. Valentine @25 – IIRC stands for “if I recall correctly”. See a fairly long winded explanation of the origin of the dollar sign here: https://observationdeck.kinja.com/why-is-the-dollar-sign-a-letter-s-1683940575. Definitely not an S – more an S with the remnant of a P through it.

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