The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/27680.
I was slow getting into this, and, although I generally like Paul, I felt this was not one of his best; because of the awkwardness of typing bold capitals, I was well aware of the number of single-letter particles, and elsewhere the range of clue techniques seemed more limited than usual for him. Still, there was much to like, with 17D as perhaps my favourite.
| Across | ||
| 1 | SANDPIT | Where castles built with double fences in (7) |
| An envelope (‘fences in’) of AND (‘with’) in SPIT (‘double’ – generally in the expression “spitting image”, but SPIT by itself is known). | ||
| 5 | TRIADIC | One entering classic I see, striking a chord? (7) |
| An envelope (‘entering’) of I (‘one’) in TRAD (‘classic’) plus ‘I’ plus C (‘see’). The definition seems a little loose (and TRAD for that matter). | ||
| 9 | See 18 | |
| 10 | WARM FRONT | Friendly manner that’s displayed by weather presenter? (4,5) |
| Double definition – or one might take the first as a charade. | ||
| 11 | GOD WILLING | Off to collect daughter, drive perhaps? (3,7) |
| I think this must be a charade (even though ‘to collect’ suggests an envelope): GO (‘off’, particularly as an interjection) plus D (‘daughter’) plus WILLING (‘drive’?).
… but see Cofi @1 for the real wordplay. It is remarkable that I was able to pick up the pieces of the clue without seeing my way to putting them together correctly! |
||
| 12 | INCH | Island bird heading off (4) |
| [f]INCH (‘bird’) minus the first letter (‘heading off’). A generic island. | ||
| 14 | NICTITATION | Blinking incompetent, clueless trade initiatives, those primarily dividing Britain, say? (11) |
| An envelope (‘dividing’) of ICTIT (‘Incompetent Clueless Trade Inotoatives Those primarily’) in NATION (‘Britain, say’). | ||
| 18, 9 | THE STEPFORD WIVES | Witty opening in springboard, you might say, for novel (3,8,5) |
| An envelope (‘in’) of W (‘Witty opening’) in THE STEP FOR DIVES (‘springboard, you might say’), for the novel by Ira Levin. | ||
| 21 | AIRY | Open spirit, cap removed (4) |
| [f]AIRY (‘spirit’) minus the first letter (‘cap removed’). | ||
| 22 | SILHOUETTE | Outline location accommodating university in new hotel (10) |
| A double envelope (‘accommodating’ and ‘in’) of U (‘university’) in LHOET, an anagram (‘new’) of HOTEL, in SITE (‘location’). | ||
| 25 | DISPUTING | What Russians are ill-advised to do? Leader in general challenging (9) |
| A charade of DIS PUTIN (‘what Russians are ill-advised to do’) plus G (‘leader in General’). | ||
| 26 | See 8 | |
| 27 | MASONRY | Building which depicts how the baby Jesus was carried? (7) |
| An implied envelope: SON in MARY – before birth, I take it. | ||
| 28 | LADETTE | Shaking rear, character imbibing a shedload in the end — that’s her? (7) |
| An envelope (‘imbibing’) of ‘a’ plus D (‘shedloaD in the end’) in LETTE[r] (‘character’) without the last letter (‘shaking rear’), with an extended definition. | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | SEWAGE | What people get paid in the Home Counties? It stinks! (6) |
| A charade of SE (South-East, ‘home counties’) plus WAGE (‘what people get paid’), with the particles taken as a phrase to give the right order. | ||
| 2 | NEVADA | Nothing to drink here ultimately, very dry state (6) |
| An envelope (‘to drink’) of E (‘herE ultimately’) plus V (‘very’) in NADA (‘nothing’). ‘Dry’ as in desert, not alcohol-free. | ||
| 3 | PASSIONATE | Stick around southern island, very hot (10) |
| An envelope (‘around’) of S (‘southern’) plus IONA (‘island’) in PASTE (‘stick’). | ||
| 4 | TOWEL | Drag queen’s heart left drier (5) |
| A charade of TOW (‘drag’) plus E (‘quEen’s heart’) plus L (‘left’). | ||
| 5 | TARANTINO | Basic principle of conduct broken by blusterin’ film director (9) |
| An envelope (‘broken by’) of RANTIN’ (‘blusterin’ ‘) in TAO (Confucian ‘basic principle of conduct’). | ||
| 6 | IFFY | Second, not first: it’s doubtful (4) |
| [j]IFFY (‘second’) minus the first letter (‘not first’). | ||
| 7 | DOORNAIL | Cross erected, love burying a stud, supposedly dead? (8) |
| A charade of DOOR, a reversal (‘erected’ in a down light’) plus NAIL, an envelope (‘burying’) of ‘a’ in NIL (‘love’). | ||
| 8, 26 | CATCHING FLIES | Jaw having dropped, getting zip stuck (8,5) |
| Double definition, kind of. | ||
| 13 | HANDCUFFED | Being restrained, worker smacked (10) |
| A charade of HAND (‘worker’) plus CUUFFED (‘smacked’). | ||
| 15 | CAPTIVITY | Hole, inside which pretty terrified inmate starts detention (9) |
| An envelope (‘inside which’) of PTI (‘Pretty Terrified Inmates starts’) in CAVITY (‘hole’). | ||
| 16 | AT RANDOM | In source of cash, nothing supports currency without a plan (2,6) |
| An envelope (‘in’) of RAND (‘currency’) plus O (‘nothing’) in ATM (‘source of cash’). | ||
| 17 | RED ROSES | Everything taken the wrong way, say “extremely sorry” initially, then send for — these? (3,5) |
| A reversal (‘everything taken the wrong way’) of SES (‘Say Extremely Sorry initially’) plus ORDER (‘send for’), with an extended definition outlining a lovers’ tiff. | ||
| 19 | STRICT | Regularly use Tory in City firm (6) |
| Alternate letters (‘regularly’) of ‘uSe ToRy In CiTy’. | ||
| 20 | LESSEE | Tenant becoming “tnant” on bottom of missive (6) |
| A charade of LESS E (‘tenant becoming “tnant”‘) plus E (‘bottom of missivE‘). | ||
| 23 | HEGEL | Philosopher brought up on what? (5) |
| A revrsal (‘brought up’ in a down light) of LEG (‘on’, cricket) plus EH (‘what?’). | ||
| 24 | BURN | Char in stream (4) |
| Double definition. | ||
God willing. Going (off) around d and will (drive)?
Yep, parsed 11a like Cofi.
We seem to have that line-wrapping prob again PeterO/Gaufrid.
…or non-wrapping, should I say (@2).
Meanwhile, a fun Paul I thought. Slow to get spit for double, tho an occasional regular, and ditto inch (once swam at Inch Beach in Ireland…brrr!), and ditto LOI silhouette (such a lovely word). Lord knows how the grey cells dug up nictitation (junior high school biology…membranes…rabbits?), but there you go. Masonry was a biff (groantray), as were red roses (lazy: read clue to the end, then think!).
Fun all in all, thanks P and P.
Thanks both. I agree with cofi @1 about 11a.
Wrapping seems ok now on iPad
Just finished boatman.
Easyish …. my elbow!!
Some trademark Paul (25ac and 8dn, 26ac in particular) though I would agree that it’s not one of his best.
Managed to finish over breakfast, having been delayed by mis-solving 12ac as IONA – an island with the heading off a “bird” named Fiona…
Thanks, PeterO, especially for explaining the reference to cricket (along with bridge and chess, the bane of my crosswording life). Other than that, all the reasons I usually like Paul, though I missed the smut; thankfully some of the other setters seem to have taken up the toilet humour challenge of late.
Oh, just remembered SEWAGE, so there is life in the old bog (sic) yet!
Bullhassocks, a propos nothing in particular, the last person I heard use that meaning of bog, as in “the boys’ bog is down there to the left”, was the late Rodney Cotterill, a neuroscientist who wrote a book entitled The Enchanted Loom. Life’s little counterpoints….
Very challenging and indeed, the roses defeated me but what a fine clue! There were two I couldn’t parse and so the blog was very welcome. 3d, 22a & 27a were highlights for me.
Thankyou to Paul and PeterO
Thanks PeterO for the blog – a few I misparsed slightly and make more sense now I read your blog. A very slow start – I think 1 across clue went in first time round, and 1 or 2 downs. I have to say this one was not to my taste. Not because it was harder but I really did not like a lot of the elements or methods. 1ac makes no sense at all – is it missing something and should read “Where castles are built…”? Quite a few other surfaces seemed very forced and did not invite any reading in particular – more a collection of words and clue indicators. “Warm front” was weak as a DD or a charade and I had to check “Inch” was an island (I know of a Loch Inch but that’s in Scotland.) It didn’t jump out as a definition and from the clue I might equally have checked “Obin”, “Eron” or half a dozen other decapitated birds. The Stepford Wives made me groan out loud as it came to me over breakfast so ticks for that. Not convinced by “masonry” as a synonym for building though.
Sorry to be so negative – apart from the novel and a couple of others I didn’t find solving these particularly pleasing – I think because although there were some clever devices (such as “and” for “with” and other apparently unimportant clue parts turning out to be vital) they were housed in clunky surfaces so there was not really an invitation to read the clue a particular way. Not sure if that makes sense – everyone’s mileage may vary, as they say.
BTW Silhouette is named after a French politician and writer, though it’s not at all clear why. Étienne de Silhouette, was briefly a rather strict finance minister.
It’s interesting how these things are in the eye of the beholder – I enjoyed this more than I often do with a Paul and had plenty of ticks and three question marks – against SANDPIT (didn’t see SPIT although the usage as in “they’re the spit of ….” is familiar enough), LADETTE and RED ROSES – where I had an unparsed TEA ROSES. Amongst the ticks I’ll pick out DISPUTING and CATCHING FLIES for the smiles they brought and TOWEL for yet another inventive definition.
Many thanks to Paul and PeterO.
Thanks to Paul and PeterO for a fine puzzle and a comprehensive blog. I want to take issue though with the definition of 11a: surely God willing means just that, rather than the random perhaps?
Found this one pretty tough but enjoyed the challenge. Liked THE STEPFORD WIVES.
Thanks to Paul and PeterO
When did Paul become so difficult ?
I have completed all four cryptics this week, but I was unable to solve a single clue today.
Thanks to Paul and PeterO. Well I got there in the end, but found this very tough going, and needed to come here to clarify some parsing. I found it easy to solve than parse. Sandpit was the last one and I did like red roses and at random. Hegel made me smile, because if you ever want your head scrambled, read his short paper on the “meaning of nothing”. Thanks again to Paul and PeterO.
Took me a while. Came back after lunch and after doing the Telegraph Toughie to finish off the SW corner. 5a, 14a, and 23d all new to me and required googling.
Ken Jones: I also found this trickier than the usual Paul. In this case I think it’s down mainly to loose definitions. Not unfair, just harder. Thanks to S & B.
Thanks both,
A welcome workout after four days that were quite easy for me. LOI was 3D but it was obvious once the previous one (1a) went in. Lucy @13: For me ‘God willing’ is a translation of dei volentia, which being Latin might be any old god, so it’s more of a ritual, a bit like touching wood, to ward off the negative effects that voicing a hope might have on the probability of an outcome. (Saying, for example, that Joe Root is playing well and could go on to get a big score is almost certain to result in him being out in the next over.) All in all, I thought ‘perhaps’ was a reasonable synonym.
Tricksy but really enjoyed this. Nice to see nictitation again. God willing meaning perhaps was my favourite.
I didn’t think this as good as Paul usually is and I struggled a bit. I couldn’t fathom LADETTE. which was a guess from the crossers so I’m grateful to have the parsing explained. Needless to say I had to look up NICTITATATION which I do,sort of, remember. I liked SEWAGE and CATCHING FLIES. HEGEL took me back to labouring through PHILOSPHY OF RIGHT at University- and that is probably his most accessible text!
Thanks Paul.
Thanks Paul and PeterO
thezed @ 11: re MASONRY = BUILDING, I saw it as a technique rather than an edifice: “That’s a fine example of masonry/building [with stone]”. Any help?
Thanks to Paul and PeterO. I’m another who found this one tough going – e.g., I had trouble with “spit’ and RED ROSES while the expression CATCHING FLIES was new to me.
This being Paul toughie, failed to get AIRY and RED ROSES only so quite pleased with myself.
Tyngewick @ 19: may I suggest that “God willing” is usually considered to be a translation of “deo volente” [an ablative absolute with the present participle of the irregular but very common verb “volo”] rather than “dei volentia”, which does make sense [literally “by the will of god”, “volentia” being in the ablative] but is post-classical Latin.
I’ve read the differing experiences of this puzzle with great interest. This was not the bundle of fun I normally have with Paul. The characteristic wit and cleverness were there, but several times I bypassed the wordplay which would typically be my primary route to the answer, but here it seemed too contrived.
Some clues, however, stood out, GOD WILLING, CATCHING FLIES and SILHOUETTE being my favourites. I left a few clues unsolved in the bottom left, and I now wish I had given more attention to RED ROSES, which I think is an excellent clue.
Thanks to Paul and PeterO.
Every once in a while you come across clues with two different valid answers. This happens very rarely because of the tight constraints in the cryptic environment. This time, 25a ALMOST provides two different parses with the same answer. The key here is that “leader” can be both the operator (take first letter of) in the actual parse, and as a definition for Putin, along with the interpretation that DISPUTING (authority) is something Russians have been historically ill-advised to do. OK it doesn’t work as is, but maybe the clue can be tweaked to make it happen. I find this stuff fascinating.
We actually hesitated to enter INCH at 12 ac. Perhaps, there is a specific island that is the name of a bird with the first letter cut off, who knows. Apparently, there wasn’t one (after checking some crossword lists).
Anyway, thank you Peter O – agree with you on these single letter devices. Also, clues like 12ac, 21 ac [is ‘cap’ all right in an across clue – I think it is] and 4d are all similar, not what you expect from Paul.
Still, a setter who can still come up with a thing like 18,9 (or 27ac) deserves full praise, at least from us!
Many thanks once more to Peter, and to Paul too.
Thanks Paul and Peter! An enjoyable solve with just enough challenge to keep me happy. Too tired to solve more than a couple of clues last night, but it all fell into place this morning (Australian time). Like others, I needed the blog to help fully parse 1a SANDPIT, and for me it was the same with 18/9a THE STEPFORD WIVES. I agree with several previous comments in quite liking 11a GOD WILLING, and I also enjoyed the aforementioned 3d PASSIONATE, 4d TOWEL, 16d AT RANDOM, and 17d RED ROSES. But my favourite (as highlighted by WK@12, Peter A@21 and Alan B@26) was definitely 8d CATCHING FLIES.
Struggled through to the end, with the help of the “check” button, but found it all pretty unsatisfying and clunky fare. Also disliked (and was held up by) the use of words that were not proper English, such as nada, ladette and dis. Interesting that one comment above complains about the lack of toilet humour – the absence of that was for me it’s only only saving grace! Eye of the beholder and all that…
We found this really hard too- thought we’d post as others have posted today as well ( though, as ever, not as late as us!). Liked “disputing” lots; “sewage” as we needed a proper Paulism; and red roses as it’s so clever ( and it came to me as a whole clue). Team managed a win against lowly opposition as well.
Thanks Paul & Peter O & we hope for something simpler next Friday!
Very much liked 14a, 18/9a and 27a; also the Scottish island at 12a.
Also hoping to get this dated one day earlier than the last post by (southern hemisphere) Wombles!
Date failed.
Re: 12ac, I’m not sure whether the island in question being an obscure/parochial synonym or an actual island with an area of only 13 sq km and a population of less than 500 is worse, but pretty unfair in any case (“What’s a 5 letter bird name? What’s a 4 letter island name? You have got to be kidding me!”)
Re: 18/9, would anyone be able to correctly parse ‘springboard, you might say’ without knowing the answer to the clue? I very much doubt it.