Guardian 27,818 / Paul

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A fairly straightforward prize puzzle on the whole, I thought, though I had some trouble with 1d and 11a,2a. Lots to enjoy and appreciate here! Thanks, Paul.

Across

1. Sad feeling, Brexit dealer beyond hellish place (6)
DISMAY
MAY = “Brexit dealer” after DIS = “hellish place”
Definition: “Sad feeling”

4, 14. Sex in urinals once ordered for a pound, say? (6,9)
ANIMAL ENCLOSURE
MALE = “Sex” in (URINALS ONCE)*
Definition: “a pound, say?”

10. Part of series back on screen (6,4)
SECOND TEST
SECOND = “back” + TEST = “screen”
Definition: “Part of series” (as in a test series in cricket)

11, 2. Good houses giving poor boys food (4,2,5)
BUMS ON SEATS
BUM = “poor” + SONS = “boys” + EATS = “food” (slang, as in “there was good eats”)
Definition: “Good houses” – imagine a theatre manager saying, “we need good houses” / “we need bums on seats”

12. Dividing the country, is monarch Republican or Unionist? (8)
IRISHMAN
IS + HM (Her Majesty) = “monarch” in IRAN = “the country”
Definition: “Republican or Unionist?”

13. Sweet thing ending in harmony, some land slipping back into water (5,4)
LAYER CAKE
[harmon]Y = “ending in harmony” + ACRE = “some land” reversed (“slipping back”) in LAKE = “water”
Definition: “Sweet thing”

15, 9. Not quite finished opening a wine vessel (4,4)
VENA CAVA
VEN[t] = “Not quite finished opening” + A + CAVA = “wine”
Definition: “vessel” – as in a blood vessel: there are two venae cavae, which are large veins that return blood to the heart

16. Scottish town that may be lit (4)
WICK
A wick might be lit
Definition: “Scottish town”

17. Bit of a bloomer around setback for experienced politicians (9)
STATESMEN
STAMEN = “Bit of a bloomer” around SET reversed = “setback”
Definition: “experienced politicians”

21. One’s possessed coin made in error (8)
DEMONIAC
(COIN MADE)*
Definition: “One’s possessed”

22. Retired setter with head on stamp (6)
EMBOSS
ME reversed = “Retired setter” + BOSS = “head”
Definition: “stamp”

24. Doctor done with flu and visibly embarrassed, struggled (10)
FLOUNDERED
(DONE FLU)* + RED = “visibly embarrassed”
Definition: “struggled”

25. Song enjoyed, though disheartened (4)
LIED
LI[k]ED = “enjoyed, though disheartened”
Definition: “song”

26. Dull seeing bottom within limits of decency (6)
DREARY
REAR = “bottom” in D[ecenc]Y = “limits of decency”
Definition: “Dull”

27. African understanding why many avoiding the borders (6)
KENYAN
KEN = “understanding” (as in “beyond my ken”) + Y = “why” (in text messages, say, I guess?) + M[an]Y = “many avoiding the borders”
Definition: “African”

Down

1. Almost entirely posh character ascendant in novel (7)
DRACULA
AL[l] = “Almost entirely” + U = “posh” (as in “U and non-U”) + CARD = “character” all reversed
Definition: “novel”

3. As scenario briefly unfolding (7)

(SCENARI)* – “unfolding” is the anagram indicator
Definition: “As” – the chemical symbol for Arsenic in the periodic table

5. Sister taking so long to dismiss a church representative (6)
NUNCIO
NUN = “Sister” + CI[a]O = “so long” without A (“to dismiss a”)
Definition: “church representative”

6. Without rivals, unable to play? (9)
MATCHLESS
Double definition: “Without rivals” and “unable to play?”

7. Concert venue providing some basic singing, including opera, though not needing to (2,5)
LA SCALA
LA LA = “some basic singing” around [to]SCA = “opera, though not needing to”
Definition: “Concert venue”

8. Tons and tons in 10 across, perhaps? (1,7,5)
A CRICKET SCORE
Double definition: “Tons and tons” – a colloquial way of describing something as a large number (hundreds) is to refer to it as “a cricket score”, and “in [SECOND TEST], perhaps?”

16. Reportedly handle like a car, perhaps? (7)
WHEELED
Sounds like “wield” or “handle”
Definition: “like a car, perhaps?”

18. Has unruly lad gone climbing? Put one’s foot down here (7)
TREADLE
If an unruly lad (ADL) was gone climbing, they might be in a TREE
Definition: “Put one’s foot down here”

19. Near middle, back from Asia? (7)
EASTERN
[n]EA[r] = “Near middle” + STERN = “back”
Definition: “from Asia?”

23, 20. Film director: goat less domesticated (5,6)
BILLY WILDER
BILLY = “goat” + WILDER = “less domesticated”
Definition: “Film director” (director of many brilliant films, my favourite being The Apartment)

22 comments on “Guardian 27,818 / Paul”

  1. Found this quite a challenge after cleaning up the lower half very quickly. The top left corner proved a real challenge due to the pair of clues 11 and 15 across being intertwined. COD 1a and LOI Vena Cava. Thanks to setter and blogger.

  2. Thanks to Paul and mhl. I got through much of this puzzle fairly quickly, but I had trouble linking “tons and tons” to A CRICKET SCORE and then took several days before finally getting VENA CAVA (with all the crossers vowels). Note: in 3d the answer ARSENIC is missing or at least not in bold.

  4. Sailed through this then came to a grinding halt with BUMS ON SEATS: had to use a wildcard search to uncover it. “Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats … and put them on the chairs provided.”
    The blog was great, but the exclusion is reversed with “many” ([m]AN[y] I think) in 27a.

    Thanks Paul and mhl.

  5. Got thhere, but 11a,2d in last as a guess. Thanks MHL for the parsing of it. The intertwining of it reduced help that crossers might have given.

    3a arsenic well done, taking a step back to say that ‘As’ has to mean something more than as prop (?) for scenario allowed the unravelling of scenari.

    Note also that ‘cava’ not in Chambers, but it was found in the Compact Oxford Thes., which supported completion of 15,9. Found 4,14 a bit lacking in taste (the clue), despite innocent answer. Otherwise, good set of clues.

    More of a workout this weekend, thanks Paul, look forward to today’s new weekly.

  6. Tough! I chewed on the NW corner for days on and off and never did get VENA CAVA. I always think it’s a bit mean when a setter makes a two-parter interlock and BUMS ON SEATS was LOI. I didn’t know the expression A CRICKET SCORE and had A COLLEGE SCARF in there for a while as I’d decided the SECOND TERM is “part of a [mathematical] series” before I’d solved it properly.

    Favourites were IRISHMAN, LIED and ARSENIC. I’m sure a Scot will come on and say WHEELED and wield don’t sound the same, but it worked for me. Do people use Y for ‘why’ in SMS? Btw, @Mhl, I think you meant to write m(AN)y in the wordplay for that one (KENYAN).

  7. New for me was VENA CAVA (loi).

    My favourites were BUMS ON SEATS, ANIMAL ENCLOSURE, LAYER CAKE.

    I just noticed KEN/Y/AN – maybe it is an error. I have never seen anyone use Y for “why” in sms. I think now that I had haphazardly parsed it as the Y being WHY without borders, but it is not that way at all.

    Thanks Paul and mhl

  9. I failed utterly on 9A 2D BUMS ON SEATS, despite having almost the entire week to look at it. Good houses is a tricky definition esp as houses is os often a pointer to ‘contains’ wordplay.

    No problems with tons and tons leading to A CRICKET SCORE for me (domain knowledge – I think this would be challenging for non-cricket people?), and actually solving this one lead to the 10A SECOND TEST

    Favourite amongst several probably ARSENIC.

    I wouldn’t ever seek to say I could improve a clue especially not a Paul, but I wonder if people think that 4A 14D would have an even better surface reading by putting Unfair as the first word?

    Thanks to Paul, mhl and all learned contributors.

  10. Thoroughly enjoyable puzzle with lots of ticks.  Perhaps my favourites were BUMS ON SEATS and VENA CAVA.

    I would have thought that As for arsenic should be familiar by now.

    It had to be A CRICKET SCORE, though the expression was new to me.  It was my only doubtful answer.

    Thanks to Paul and mhl.

  11. Not as tricky as yesterday’s but suitably challenging for us nonetheless. Enjoyed BUMS ON SEATS and NUNCIO, and getting BILLY WILDER from the clue and then checking he was a film director.
    Thanks both.

  12. Thanks mhl. Like others I became stuck in the NW corner and the crossers didn’t help much so I had to seek assistance with ‘vena cava’. Can’t complain though, it is all perfectly fair and another good test.

  13. Muffin (re demoniac): [raises hand] yes.

    I failed to parse VENA CAVA (the opposite number to crosswordland’s favorite blood vessel, the aorta), and never did get BUMS ON SEATS. I could make the excuse that the phrase in this country is “butts in the seats,” but that’s a pretty feeble excuse. Otherwise, this went pretty quickly, if I recall.

  14. 11a,2d was a typical Paul clue, clever with the three elements needing an alteration in the word break and a slight element of smut but also typical in having a dodgy definition. BUMS ON SEATS is not a definition of a good house. The number can be high, a good house, middling, an average house, or low, a poor house. I doubt whether I was the only one who spent time looking for a word for “good” to envelope (house) something else to make an answer meaning boys’ food or food.
    Thanks to Paul and mhl

  15. Thanks to Paul and mhl. My experience sounds similar to many others. Generally it was tough going, with quite a bit of guess then parse. It began to unpack more readily once I got 10a and 8d, but then like others got stuck in the NW. Last ones bums on seats and vena cava(never heard of it) and I did like dismay, Dracula and second test. Thanks again to Paul and mhl.

  16. Thanks Paul and mhl

    Before BUMS ON SEATS came along I had PUSS IN BOOTS for no good reason, and then something ON TOAST as a food.

    Muffin, I had demonica briefly!

  19. I was surprised that a lot of folks did not know BUMS ON SEATS, but then I realized that theatre-land, like crossword-land, has its own vocabulary. What comes first to mind is the interval (UK) vs. intermission (US), but there are likely a lot more examples.

  21. Same same. I missed 11a 2d BUMS ON SEATS – even though it is a familiar phrase to me – and 15a 9a VENA CAVA. Selfishly, I was glad to see the latter gave some others similar strife. I agree with acd@2, chinoz@5 and Biggles A@ 12 on the latter two – it was the lack of significant crossers that meant I didn’t see them, even though I went back to the puzzle several times over this past week. They were clever clues. “Good on you” to those who got them.

    I liked 7d LA SCALA.

    Thanks Paul for the tussle and to mhl for the helpful blog.

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