Guardian Prize 27,830 by Paul

30 comments on “Guardian Prize 27,830 by Paul”

1. Thanks to Paul and PeeDee. I could not parse SCAB and failed to get MAYBOT.

2. Thanks PeeDee. Another very good test from Paul with an eclectic mix of difficulty. It wasn’t easy to get started and I spent quite a lot of time on it, needing Google to explain MAYBOT and PASANDA which were new to me. I knew 10a had to be LAMB but had made 17a hard for myself by entering ‘paramour’ for 5d, confident there had to be an obscure Italian sculptor named ‘Parur’ to fit round ‘a mo’. It wasn’t until I thought I’d better make sure that enlightenment dawned.

3. Brighter fare for this solver. Especially liked 18d drop dead – a leap required to find a very satisfying answer.

   Crossword notable also for its two letter-based (contra word-based) clues, 7d and 25a: it took a while to find the love in C-O-N, and to extract the (four)* from 104. If this trend continues, perhaps we should start calling them cross-letter puzzles.

   Thanks Paul and PD.

4. ThankPDee, and Paul.  Coinciding with Theresa’s exit, no surprise she made appearances here with MAYHEM and MAYBOT, the latter a total novelty, googled and poorly parsed.  New and googled, too, the 2D Bacs system.  Usual eye-rolling for the 8A wordchoice but it went in/on smoothly.

5. I too dnk pasanda, maybot or the bacs acronym, but all get-then-lookupable. And likewise raised a brief eyebrow about the bactrian’s stamping ground. Otherwise found this pretty cruisy for a Saturday, easier than Paul’s yesterday..probably just a brain-mood thing. Liked drift in rising pad over art, ace eclipsing ton, among others. Thanks Paul and PeeDee.

6. I started this rather late in the week and thought I might not have time to finish, but as people have said, this was on the easier side. I felt the ‘queasy’ in the MAYBOT clue was more commentary than clue, but wasn’t quite sure just what the comment was. Eventually I decided it worked the way you’ve said, PeeDee. (At least I read and enjoy John Crace enough to know the word itself.) Took a while to spot how the ‘104’ worked, but having got that the ‘CON’ was rather easier to understand. 3d seemed a rather elegant clue with a somewhat inelegant answer, but I did like the femme fatale.

   Thanks Paul and PeeDee.

    

7. Thanks Paul and PeeDee

   Easy (though CLOVEN was unparsed – very clever!), but irritating. How can he not be bothered to check where Bactrian camels come from? It woouldn’t affect the clue to put “Asian”….

8. [I meant to add that when I was little I had a ride on a Bactrian camel (two humps) at London Zoo. I wonder how many others here had the same experience?]

9. Thanks PeeDee and Paul

   A pleasant stroll as shown by the fact that I had it all done (even parsed!) and sent off in the post before the weekend was out.

   I liked SUN-CREAM (clever but fair def) and the mini Therese May theme (well-timed — a coincidence?). EMBASSY and I think my LOI was NILE which also raised a smile.

   Thanks again Paul, PeeDee and all learned contributors.

10. I failed 12a because I was sure that ‘object’ = END.
    New words for me were LAMB PASANDA + BACS for SCAB.
    I also noted that 20a – BACTRIA(n) camel is from Central Asia not Africa.
    Thanks Paul and peedee.

11. As others have said, it wasn’t too demanding on the whole and managed to get it all done in one sitting – except for the last clue, which I had to sleep on – that was SUN CREAM.

    My favourites were CORFU, CLOVEN and SUN CREAM.  I thought this last one was particularly clever in its misleading use of the word ‘rubber’ – what with the smut, I was thinking of all sorts of other ‘rubbers!’

    The lamb dish was new to me, but easy to get from the wordplay (the Greek character just had to me lambda) and the crossers.

    No moans at all and no queries.  An enjoyable crossword.

    Thanks to Paul and PeeDee.

12. Another Paul with his usual mix of inventive clues with some less inspiring ones. I did like SUN CREAM with its RUBBER definition, but didn’t like his invention of yet another new adjective – BASSY for FISHY – there has to be a limit on these faux words. CLOVEN was excellent and the puzzle worth doing for that alone. Lamb pasanda is a staple for our “Friday night is curry night” meals. Thanks to Paul and PeeDee.

13. All completed and parsed correctly unlike my miserable failure with his most recent weekday offering. (I have blotted the day out of my mind 🙂 ).

    Loved “Cloven”. Very clever.

    I also query the correctness of “African” for the camel.

    Many thanks all.

14. I often find that my ignorance assists me with solving clues, eg Bactrian. It always amuses me when solvers say they struggled with some solution because the clue was not precise enough, usually science based, as my limited knowledge of most subjects allows me to not get bogged down in the minutiae. Genus/class/sort/kind/type : it’s all the same to me. Thanks Paul and PeeDee.

15. Anna @11 – me too!  When I saw “sloppy stuff requiring a rubber” I thought “here we go – Paul being smutty again” and proceeded to run through all the smuttiest ideas I could think of.  When I finally got the solution I was left feeling very sheepish indeed.

16. This Paul was rather more to my taste than yesterday’s but I suspect it isn’t as good. I agree with most of the comments above. I did like MAYBOT- take a bow Mr Crace-and PASANDA was new to me.
    Thanks Paul.
    Ps I’ve only ever ridden the standard one humped camel.

17. Neil @14 – I think so too, if a clue works for someone then it works for them.  I doesn’t that much to me if it is technically correct or not.

    Ironically, the only reason I know that a Bactian Camel is Asian is because I had never heard of one: it was just a string of letters I figured out from the wordplay.  If I had heard of a Bactian Camel then I would almost certainly not bothered to look it up in Wikipedia and would not now know that it is Asian.  Ignorance leading to knowledge (with the accidental help of Paul).  It saddens me the number of random, unconnected and utterly useless “facts” I now know from solving and blogging crosswords.  They must by now outweigh my actual first-hand experience of life.

18. A rare prize crossword in that I managed to finish it (or maybe I’m just improving).  DROP DEAD GORGEOUS gave me the U for CORFU, which in turn helped me approach CLOVEN the right way… like many here I enjoyed those clues along with SUN CREAM.  The Bactrian geography not an issue as I put in BACTERIA because it fitted but entirly failed to parse it.  Thanks for the discussion all who participate – it adds to my enjoyment and understanding.

19. Shame about bactrian. Otherwise a neat clue and the error was obvious. All the same.

    I thought maybot was a cracking clue. A phrase coined in the guardian but one which has spread.

    Clues like wee wee really aren’t as funny as this setwe thinks, but there we are.

20. I also worked BACTERIA out quickly, but then had to check if the Bactrian camel was African . The clue went wrong, but ‘dromedary’ would hardly have helped it. I spelt GORGEOUS wrong, with I instead of E, and so decided 23 was COMPLICITY, and of course failed to parse it. Generally a well-designed puzzle.

21. Neil@14 I don’t think it’s all that odd to prefer the clue to be accurate. “Asian” for “African”; all sorted, and it’s a nice clue.

22. Andrew B at 21, you’ve misunderstood what I am saying. The reason it amuses me is not due to a distain for the pedantry of others rather that I sometimes see my ignorance as a help rather than a hindrance.

23. The Camel

    One day whilst walking down the track,

    I saw Michael P. on his camel, called “Emac”.

    No, not the Bactrilump;

    I could tell by the single hump.

    And anyway, that one’s the one he calls “Nellie”.

    No, camel Emac’s a Palindromedary.

24. Ben’ trovato, @Trovatore!

25. @24 Tony:

    Grazie! Grazie!

    Tutto il mio lavoro.

    Questo è ciò che fa un trovatore.

     

26. Great blog and further comments, PeeDee. All up, the forum made for an enjoyable read despite the fact that during my solve, I foundered on some parsing (similar experiences to several others), and eventually it was a DNF for me. I enjoyed the puzzle though couldn’t get PASANDA or MAYBOT. Learning new words always pleases me too, PeeDee.
    Thanks a million, Paul, for the challenging grid, the fun of PDMs like 8a SUN CREAM and 3d WEE-WEE, your wonderful sense of humour and your clever mind.

27. Biggles A @2 – I did exactly the same with paramour – it fitted so well it didn’t seem worth parsing properly. Possibly a planned trap.

28. Nothing much to say except regarding Bactrian camels – 15 across, obviously the setter’s imp. Thanks to setter and blogger.

29. @25Trovatore,

    [Bravissimo! Non avevo capito bene il nome. CCHIO*

     

    *Cosa che ho imperato oggi]

30. Didn’t find a lot of time to comment yesterday but now I’m back here I’d just like to say that DROP-DEAD GORGEOUS was a beaut.

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