Guardian Cryptic 27667 Paul

by

A tough one for me. Thanks to Paul for the mental exercise. Definitions are underlined in the clues.

Across

1, 12 Position achieved in government, still I act a lunatic, Trump admits? (9,6)

POLITICAL STATUS : Anagram of(… lunatic) [STILL I ACT A] contained in(… admits) POTUS(abbrev. for “President of the US”, currently Donald Trump).

6 Load structure that floats (4)

RAFT : Double defn: 1st: A lot of/a large amount of something.

8 Uphold Pasternak’s first book (8)

PRESERVE : 1st letter of(…’s first) “Pasternak” + RESERVE(to book, as with a seat in a theatre).

9 Old European publication a little light, on reflection (6)

MAGYAR : MAG(short for “magazine”/a publication) + reversal of(…, on reflection) RAY(a beam of light/a little light).

Defn: A member of a people who migrated and settled long ago in what is now Hungary.

10 Indian city — that pains me? (6)

MYSORE : [MY SORE](something that would give me pain).

11 New in house, a medicinal drink (5,3)

SENNA TEA : N(abbrev. for “new”) contained in(in) SENATE(the House, short for the upper assembly/House of Representatives in the US) + A.

Defn: A herbal tea used as a medicine for constipation.

12 See 1

15 Cheating unrestrainedly, letters of sinner hidden before messing around (8)

ADULTERY : Anagram of(… messing around) [“unrestrainedly” minus(… hidden before) “n r e s i n”(letters of “sinner”) ].

16 A purpose in mind, disgusting (8)

NAUSEOUS : [A + USE(purpose/point as in “there’s no use in arguing”) ] contained in(in) NOUS(in philosophy, the mind/intellect).

19 Resolute having taken time out, workable at a stretch? (6)

DOUGHY : “doughty”(resolute/persistent) minus(having taken … out) “t”(abbrev. for “time”).

Defn: Descriptive of a substance that can be worked/manipulated by stretching.

21 Design came to include river and peak, as cartographer (8)

MERCATOR : Anagram of(Design) CAME containing(to include) R(abbrev. for “river”) ] plus(and) TOR(a hill/rocky peak).

Answer: Gerardus, famous for his map projection.

22 Inspiring effort, painting recalled showing passion (6)

LIBIDO : BID(an effort/a try, as in “a bid to stage the Olympics”) contained in(Inspiring …, …) reversal of(… recalled) OIL(a painting done in, well, oil paints).

24 Convincing businessman? (6)

COGENT : CO(abbrev. for “company”/a business concern) + GENT(a man).

Answer: As in “a cogent argument”.

25 Floater in Idaho, did you say? (8)

DUCKWEED : Homophone of(…, did you say) “dug weed”[what I might have done if “I had/I’d a hoe”, in turn homophone of(…, did you say) “Idaho”].

Defn:  A floating aquatic plant.

An unusual clue with homophones for both definition and wordplay.

26 Pale, like honey one has left (4)

ASHY : AS(like/similar to, as in “good as gold”) + “honey” minus(… has left) “one“.

27 Defensive posts, equerries we hear? (9)

PALISADES : Homophone of(… we hear) “palace aides”(equerries/officers who attend to/assist members of the British royal family).

Down

1, 23 Social habit pretentious drivel primarily, media accepts (5,5)

PARTY DRESS : [ ARTY(pretentious/making an affected display of being artistic or interested in the arts) + 1st letter of(… primarily) “drivel” ] contained in(… accepts) PRESS(a branch of the media/main means of mass communication).

Defn: What you would wear/habit to a party/a social.

2 Half of lads call for strike (4,3)

LASH OUT : 1st two letters of(Half of) “lads” + SHOUT(to call out loudly).

3 Short sleeves retained, partially turned up (5)

TERSE : Hidden in(…, partially) reversal of(… turned up, in a down clue) “sleeves retained“.

Defn: Sparing in the use of words/abrupt.

4 Drink to pass round, if not getting the blues (7)

CHELSEA : CHA(tea, the drink) containing(to pass round) ELSE(if not as in “do this or else you’ll be punished”).

Defn: Short for one of the many English football clubs whose nickname is The Blues, after the colour of their home games kit.

5 Breakfast spread a disappointment, Middle Easterner said (5,4)

LEMON CURD : LEMON(a disappointment/a product you acquired which gives lots of problems when new) + homophone of(… said) “Kurd”(a member of the Iranian ethnic group, the Kurds, of the Middle East).

6 Head off meaningful ruling (7)

REGNANT : 1st letter deleted from(Head off) “pregnant”(meaningful/suggestive, as in “a pregnant pause”).

D0 … as an adjective.

7, 17 Unlikely story a cheat I felt, our world view is different (4,5,7)

FLAT EARTH SOCIETY : Anagram of(Unlikely) STORY A CHEAT I FELT.

Defn: The group whose members can declare: “our perception/view of the world/the earth is different from other believers”. Unbelievably, the Society is still in existence.

13 Moving accounts of composer stuck in wardrobe, it’s suggested (9)

TRAVELOGS : RAVEL(Maurice, French composer) contained in(stuck in) TOGS(clothes/what constitutes a person’s wardrobe/a person’s entire collection of clothes).

Defn: Narrations/accounts from a travelling/moving person.

Answer: Alternative spelling of “travelogues”/films, books, lectures about the experiences of a traveller.

14 American player in two garments (9)

SHORTSTOP : [SHORTS and TOP](two garments, for the lower and upper half of the body, respectively).

Answer: In the American sport of baseball, the player positioned between the second and third base.

17 See 7

18 Sweet, sweet skirts, commonly cut (7)

STRUDEL : 1st and last letters of(… skirts) “sweet” + “rudely”(commonly/in an unrefined/vulgar manner) minus its last letter(cut).

20 Model bound to keep Guardian readers triumphant (7)

UNBOWED : Anagram of(Model) BOUND containing(to keep) WE(pronoun for us Guardian readers).

22 Place where insect docked (5)

LOCUS : “locust”(an insect, specifically, a large grasshopper) minus its last letter(docked/tail cut off).

Defn: A particular place where something occurs or is situated.

23 See 1

46 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 27667 Paul”

  2. Sounds better to me Gazza. Otherwise there would be lots of debate about the homophonic interpretation.

    Couldn’t parse SENNA TEA, so thanks succha for that and the wonderful pics.

  4. So many good clues. Thanks Gazza @1 for the “Eider” tip – I had the method sorted (“I’d a hoe”) and “weed” in place so got to duck week but could not justify it. Loved so many of these – clever anagrams, the surface of “adultery”, but Mercator and Flat Earth gave me the biggest smiles I think. Classic and fair cluing but not overly easy somehow. Thanks Paul and scchua for the blog – and the pics.

  5. Entertaining crossword; thanks Paul.

    I like Gazza @1’s explanation of Idaho. Thanks scchua for the parsing of ADULTERY, which foxed me.

    I particularly liked the equerries and the DUCKWEED, now it’s been explained.

  6. It would be interesting to know how Paul intended DUCKWEED to work – several different ideas put forward already. I didn’t get there: I thought the O in Idaho might be the DUCK and the rest was a mystery.

  7. Thanks to both – I enjoyed the crossword and the blog (was stumped on Idaho).

    There’s an interesting ‘snap’ between 15a and 29a in Rosa Klebb’s last prize (16,006):Dissolute sinner excluded from unrestrainedly wild, illicit sex (8).

  8. At one point, the Flat Earth Society was down to one person, reported to be an anarchist bus driver from Hammersmith (Arthur Moyse?) who said he did not believe the Earth was really flat, but “these minority groups need to be supported”. More worryingly, the rise of conspiracy theorists who think the Apollo landings were faked has led to a rise in true believers.

  10. Some wicked puns here-Eider Hoe and Palace Aides good examples, typical of Paul.He seems tp be on good form of late especially doing so many puzzles. Everything parsed like clockwork,Loved DOUGHY.

    No complaints really

    Thanks scchua and Paul.

  11. Failed in the NE; forgot soccer (for the nth time, despite many FA finals with Freo pom mates, including Drogba’s first[?] goal for Chelsea), and forgot ‘else’ for ‘if not’, d’oh. So, despite having raft, Magyar (FOI), adultery, regnant and Flat Earth, still had to come here for senna tea. Lazy, really. Ditto adultery: in the end was forced into the legwork, i.e. subtract sinner from unrestrainedly, then shuffle; smart clue. Slow, too, to subtract t from locust. And only sussed bid for offer post-libido.

    Not a great effort; Paul’s well-constructed gridfill deserved better. And thanks Scchua for the terrific blog.

  12. Thanks Paul and scchua. I agree with copmus that the highlights were the palace aides and the eider hoe, the latter only unfortunately in retrospect as I couldn’t parse it.

    The words POLITICAL STATUS obviously can go together, but is it actually a known phrase? Is it, as they say, a “thing”?

  13. Thanks both. Couldn’t parse DUCKWEED so thanks Gazza @1. Isn’t TRAVELOG the US spelling? Shouldn’t that be in the clue?

  14. grantinfreo@11 I reckon 3 pints of IPA at the Sail and Anchor would have unloosened your brain for this.

    One of my favourite spots in Oz. even without the S&A

  19. Hi copmus, yes they still do a decent pint at the SandA. They originally (’84) enticed a retired master brewer out from Blighty, and have pretty much held the standard ever since. As for a three-pint solve, well maybe!

  20. Thanks to Paul and scchua. Well the week gets no easier for me. Again I found this very tough and failed in the SW again. Not been a great week here. Missed out on travelogs, ashy and cogent (should have got this one),and had to come here to get explanations of some parsing (e.g duckweed a guess). That said as ever with Paul an enjoyable challenge and I did like party dress, shortstop and libido. Thanks again to Paul and scchua.

  21. Thanks Paul and Scchua. Quite a tricky one. I couldn’t parse 25a – I confess I thought weed had a quite different connection (nice misdirection, Paul).

  22. Couldn’t parse the ‘eider hoe’ (despite Hob in the Indy today), the POTUS bit of the 1,12 anagram or CHELSEA, being stuck on SEA for ‘drink’. The recent Rosa Klebb prize FT helped with ADULTERY, as pointed out by geof@7.

    DOUGHY was my favourite, with the accompanying video being the icing on the cake – well sort of.

    Thanks to the prolific Paul and to scchua for the entertaining and colourful blog.

  25. Yes, this was another tough challenge – particularly the bottom half. Needed the check button a few times.

    Thanks to Paul and scchua

  26. Barbara T. @23

    I assume you are referring to the buttons on the comment editor’s toolbar. If you hover over them you should see the function of each one, ie Bold, Italics, Strikethrough, Add/edit a link and Remove a link.

  27. Thank you scchua, and to Gazza for sorting out 25. Eider hoe indeed! 15 I should have seen was a comp. anag. In answer to WordPlodder, POTUS is explained above. I wonder when that acronym was first used. Does it predate the present – h’m – incumbent?

  28. This was vintage Paul and a great blog (as always Scchua). Thank you both.

    I cannot help wondering what went through Mr. H’s mind before he settled on eider/hoe.

    The Russian literature and the Flat Earth Society reminded me of two Cambridge bus quips.
    Is there a communist party in this country ?
    Yes. They were both spotted on the C1 bus recently.
    Have you read War and Peace ?
    Yes. On Thursday afternoon; waiting for the C1.

  30. il principe @29 It doesn’t look like any strudel we’ve ever made – and our method was handed down from my wife’s family who were Czech/Austrian/wherever the boundaries were drawn back then*

    For a strudel you stretch the dough on a large surface – we use the whole kitchen table – until it is almost translucent. It’s very sociable as you can have multiple people working at once. You also need a sheet under it in order to be able to roll it. Worth the effort.

    *As Sir Tim Rice put it in “Merano” in the musical Chess:
    We’ll give you a welcome
    That’s typically Tyrol
    For then we are sure of our ground
    Right now we’re Italian
    We used to be German
    The border keeps shifting around

  31. Thanks Paul and scchua

    Well, I completed the grid, but there were several where I had no idea what was going on – thanks, scchua!

    Favourites were PARTY DRESS and PALISADES.

    I was confused by a couple. Isn’t “The House” Congress rather than the Senate, and does anyone really eat LEMON CURD for breakfast?

  32. A high-quality, entertaining crossword. FLAT EARTH SOCIETY came first, followed soon after by POLITICAL STATUS. (And like Lord Jim I wondered whether the latter really is a recognised phrase.). I particularly liked PALISADES and DUCKWEED (which I saw as Eider Hoe). In 20d I enjoyed being made to realise that ‘Guardian readers’ means ‘we’ and not ‘you’.
    Thanks to Paul and Scchua.

  33. I forgot to say that, in desperation, I pulled up a Wiki list of cities in Idaho. It didn’t help, of course, but, for Paul’s future reference, there was one called “Paul”!

  34. muffin (31): I had an argument this morning about lemon curd. Wife said you would’t have it for breakfast, I said I’ve only known it to be had for breakfast. Normally in my view this would be on toast (so surprised to see scchua’s pic showing bread).

    Seems like I’ve lost the argument….

     

  35. Well, this wasn’t quite as ‘orrible as Pasquale’s offering yesterday so I finished eventually. If I can’t finish a Paul puzzle I feel I’m being deliberately thick, but this was hard going. Never managed to parse DUCKWEED so thank you all for the explanation, and it took me far too long to spot CHELSEA despite a) having seen it before in a Guardian puzzle and b) being a fan !! Favourite I think was MERCATOR. Thanks to Scchua and to Paul.

  36. Went through this Paul effort for over 20 mins without getting a single clue then when l cracked 8ac, completed it later. LOI STRUDEL. COD 2d.

  37. 27 across works as a homophone only if you mispronounce PALACE as PALLIS and 13 down should have been indicated as a US spelling.

  38. This was fun–tough to get on the right wavelength, but once I did it went easily enough.

    As a baseball fan, I have to object that only a minority of shortstops worldwide are American (unless you define American more broadly to include the entire Western Hemisphere, in which case the only baseball-mad countries you’re excluding are Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and to a lesser extent the Philippines.  It’s also a niche sport in China, Australia and the Netherlands, among a few other places.)  I should also object that the House and the Senate are two different chambers, although I guess you could take “house” generically:  the House and the Senate are sometimes called the two houses of Congress.  Lastly, “eider” doesn’t sound remotely like Ida in my dialect, although we’ve beaten that dead horse before.

    Crossbencher@37:  lazy pronunciation is common; all you have to do is lazily turn the second vowel in the word to a schwa and palisade does indeed sound like palace aide.

  40. Thanks Paul. It was difficult but I liked it a lot. [Trying to catch up on puzzles and the forum as I have been out of routine on a road trip.] Thanks Scchua for helpful parsing of the trickier ones, and others for interesting comments and points of view.

  41. Crossbencher @39 … but, as if usually the case, the clue doesn’t require the words to be homophones, just that they are similar enough to be potentially misheard.

    Also surprised that no-one has mentioned the hidden theme of fonts so soon after its last (non) appearance.

  43. The lateness of my contribution indicates the difficulty I had with this one, but I quite enjoyed it nevertheless. Thanks Paul and scchua.

     

    Muffin @ 31 – Yes, I have lemon curd on my toast for breakfast frequently.

  44. Another late finisher due to the difficulty of the puzzle, even with use of the check button. MrsW got the eider duckweed and my comment was “how on earth does he get to Idaho from duckweed?” It’s hard enough getting there when you’ve got the answer. His brain must have very interesting wiring!
    I’m glad I stuck with it as there was much to enjoy – the different world view being my favourite both for the anagram and the reminder of the existence of this group – almost as weird as having lemon curd for breakfast 🙂
    Many thanks to Paul and scchua.

  45. Took me 2 or 3 days (I was busy with other stuff) but I did finish the grid. I cheated by using the full complement of internet gizmos, but this is what i have to do with the harder setters. I parsed most of it but, like most other people, I was stumped by duckweed. I couldn’t parse Chelsea either. Thanks Paul & 225.

  46. 25ac was a few bridges too far, the most egregious being the fact that “dug” and “duck” are not homophones. 4dn was just annoying for someone who is neither a non-sports fan nor a resident of the UK.

Comments are closed.