Great puzzle. I really enjoy getting Paul to solve and blog. His puzzles are always entertaining and have the extra dimension that I’m never quite sure what to expect. The clues might be serious or flippant, hard or easy, traditional or outrageously libertarian. Thanks for them all.
| Across | ||
| 9 | ALICE BAND | Something in girl’s hair, daughter after an order designed to keep nits away? (5,4) |
| D (daughter) follows A LICE BAN (an order to keep nits away) | ||
| 10 | UNAPT | Not suitable to sleep in tutu, skirts removed (5) |
| NAP (to sleep) in tUTu (missing outside letters, skirts removed) | ||
| 11 | See 22 | |
| 12 | REPLICA | Pudding-head in antiquity, a dummy (7) |
| Pudding (head of, first letter) in RELIC (antiquity) then A | ||
| 13 | See 17 | |
| 14 | VANDERBILT | Shipping magnate playing blinder aboard vessel (10) |
| anagram (playing) of BLINDER inside VAT (vessel) | ||
| 16 | RETREAD | Tyre on, classic surrounds fine in the end (7) |
| RE (regarding, on) then TRAD (classic) contains (surrounds) finE (end letter of) | ||
| 17, 13 | A FACT OF LIFE | True, a singular teaching on the workings of Congress? (1,4,2,4) |
| definition and cryptic definition – life results from sex (congress)
“A Fact of Life” (singular) versus “The Facts of Life” (plural) – thanks to Sil and others for the better explanation |
||
| 19 | FOUR O’CLOCK | Sheep penning the Guardian’s business, back in time (4,6) |
| FLOCK (sheep) contains (penning) OUR (the Guardian) CO (company, business) reversed (back) | ||
| 22, 11 | MAKE HISTORY | Achieve something extraordinary in Spooner’s fishy puzzle? (4,7) |
| a Spoonerism of “hake mystery” (fishy puzzle) | ||
| 24 | UPSILON | Greek character for all to see left working alongside another? (7) |
| U (for all to see, film rating) then L (left) ON (working) following (alongside) PSI (another Greek character) | ||
| 25 | SUNLESS | Stimulating originally, if not dull (7) |
| Stimulating (first letter, originally) then UNLESS (if not) | ||
| 26 | ICING | Topping, terrific in game shows? (5) |
| found inside (showed by) terrifIC IN Game | ||
| 27 | CARNELIAN | Stone in rain, clean after a pummelling (9) |
| anagram (after a pummelling) of RAIN CLEAN | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | BACHELOR OF MUSIC | Of course, I’m learner originally trained under master of composition! (8,2,5) |
| anagram (trained) of OF COURSE I’M with Learner (first letter of, originally) all following (under) BACH (a master of composition) – definition is &lit | ||
| 2 | HISSY FIT | In a tizzy, is this fury in the extreme? (5,3) |
| anagram (in a tizzy) of IS THIS and FurY (extreme letters of) | ||
| 3 | TENON | Joint group of musicians set up (5) |
| NONET (group of musicians) reversed (set up) | ||
| 4 | MARYLAND | Travelling north, one US state consumed by another, in short — here’s a third! (8) |
| a reversal (travelling north, up the grid) of AL (Alabama, one US state) inside (consumed by) NY (New York, another) all inside (in) DRAM (a short) – a third US state | ||
| 5 | ADORED | Song and dance and wine fancied a lot! (6) |
| ADO (song and dance) then RED (wine) | ||
| 6 | BUMPER CAR | Huge tailless fish, one of those seen at funfair (6,3) |
| BUMPER (huge) CARp (fish, tailless) | ||
| 7 | TAHINI | Middle Eastern paste I see in container, spicy at heart (6) |
| AH (I see) inside TIN (container) then spIcy (middle letter, at heart) | ||
| 8 | STRAIT OF MESSINA | Footballer’s quality in game ultimately missing, what’s on the end of famous boot? (6,2,7) |
| TRAIT OF MESSI (of Lionel Messi, footballer’s quality) in SNAp (card game, missing ultimate letter) – mainland Italy is known for being in the shape of a boot | ||
| 15 | SEX ON LEGS | Dreamboat with cross to bear, gone less delusional (3,2,4) |
| anagram (delusional) of GONE LESS contains (with…to bear) X (cross) | ||
| 17 | ANCESTRY | Bananas can rest on top of yellow branches of tree? (8) |
| anagram (bananas) of CAN REST on Yellow (first letter, top of) | ||
| 18 | TRAPEZIA | Flyer detailed every second part of final figures (8) |
| TRAPEZe (flyer, detailed) then fInAl (every second letter of) | ||
| 20 | UNSAID | Happy it’s inferred to hold information — not mentioned (6) |
| UN-SAD (happy, it’s inferred) contains I (information) | ||
| 21 | LUNACY | Punk shaved, fancy trousers folly (6) |
| pUNk (shaved, outside removed) inside (…trousers) LACY (fancy) | ||
| 23 | ENTER | Up in garret, needed key (5) |
| found reversed inside (up in) garRET NEeded – a key on a computer keyboard | ||
definitions are underlined
I write these posts to help people get started with cryptic crosswords. If there is something here you do not understand ask a question; there are probably others wondering the same thing.
An entertaining offering from Paul. Favorites were 17-13a, 1d, 8d, and 20d. My hat goes off to any non-American who was able to parse 4d. Thanks to Paul and PeeDee.
PeeDee, you omitted the A in the parsing of 9a.
Thanks to Paul and PeeDee. I made it through after several tries but did not parse A FACT OF LIFE or the DRAM in MARYLAND. Note: there are typos for “then” in both 12A and 25A.
Thanks PeeDee. I agree, I never know just what to expect from Paul and this was one of his more challenging I think, the first pass yielded very little and then the hard work started. On that first pass though the word count for 17a shouted out the answer but I discounted it, not being able to see any relevance and even now it still seems obscure to me.
Paul cranked up the “non-obvious” knob just enough to make this a great puzzle for prize day.
This is maybe just an aesthetic observation so ymmv: wouldn’t 1d work a smidge better without the “originally”? L is commonly used as an abbreviation for learner so the indication is superfluous, and the surface would have the same meaning and read more smoothly without it.
Thanks both.
PeeDee, perhaps you took 12/13 the same way as I did but Paul includes ‘singular’ because ‘the facts of life’ = ‘sex etc’, while ‘a fact of life’ is something that is true.
I couldn’t explain MARYLAND and needed my PinC for 7d’s TAHINI (too much focused on IC).
Dr. WhatsOn@4: In most cases I would agree that “originally” is superfluous, but since the L is part of the anagram fodder, omitting “originally” would arguably make it an indirect anagram.
Thanks PeeDee. On Paul’’s wavelength today so the Congress prompt came up trumps and the footballer showed what was on the end of the boot. Tougher for a while later trying to find the components for MARYLAND and resolve last-in TRAPEZIA.
Dr WhatsOn and DaveinNCarolina @ 4 and 6. Interesting. My printout has for 1d ‘What learner’s secured for: of course I’m trained under master of composition.’ so it must have been changed subsequently. I did think at the time that, like 17,13, it was rather obscure.
Sil @ 5. I like your explanation, I never did reconcile ‘singular’.
I didn’t know Messi, but I did know the STRAITS OF MESSINA at 8d. I liked 9a ALICE BAND, 14a VANDERBILT, 19a FOUR O’CLOCK and 15d SEX ON LEGS. (Even though the latter could have sounded a bit sexist, I thought “Dreamboat” was an amusing definition, and I don’t want to turn into a grumpy and humourless old woman, so it raised a smile.) My clue for 1d was the same as your print-out, Biggles A@8, and I couldn’t really see how it worked except for the definition. I remember thinking that it was unlike Paul to include a clumsy clue, though I also thought it might be that I was being a bit thick. That is also how I felt about 17/13a, A PART OF LIFE. I saw Alabama and New York in 4d MARYLAND, but echoing acd@2 and Sil@5, I didn’t get the DRAM part.
Nevertheless, my overall experience was that it was a great puzzle so thanks to Paul, and also to PeeDee for the enthusiastic blog.
Thanks PeeDee. As usual, I had to come here to get a couple of parsings explained – I didn’t know Messi, although I did know what was at the end of the boot (although I always think of it as the straits, plural, apparently like Julie@8) and didn’t think of DRAM in Maryland. But none of that got in the way of an enjoyable puzzle, and I learned one new word, CARNELIAN. Thanks, Paul.
Another non-dram here, as short was a didn’t know. Did remember carnelian vaguely, enough to recall from crossers, and yes by now I do know who Messi is. So not too much head-scratching in an enjoyable slowish stroll. The i in unsad was cute. Thanks both.
Oh and, JinA, I’ve always thought dreamboat was gender-generic…
I don’t think 17,13 is either obscure or a cryptic definition. We teach children “the facts of life”, so a singular teaching on sex (congress) is “a fact of life”.
Thanks for the parsing of 4d. I thought it might have something to do with MY LAND (from the song This land is your land, this land is my land, which I vaguely remember some American visitors to it school singing in the 1970s) AR but that didn’t feel with the”Travelling north”, and the “in short” was in the wrong place.
Wonderful crossword though – so many great distractions and then penny-dropping moments.
Sorry for the typos – gesture typing defeated me. “my school” not “it school”, missing “and” before AR, and “fit” not “feel”. And I even thought I’d proofread it!
As usual, a very good puzzle from Paul with some examples of excellent word-play. Lots of ticks, my favourites being ALICE BAND, MAKE HISTORY, SUNLESS, TRAPEZIA.
I liked ‘bananas’ as an anagram indicator; I also liked the use of ‘skirts removed’ and ‘shaved’ to indicate removal of the first and last letters of the word.
‘Key’ now seems to be firmly established to indicate computer keys – nice to see it indicating ENTER for a change. I think I have hitherto always seen ALT.
My only moan would be with the rather odd surfaces in some of the clues. Thinking in particular of 27 ac and 21 dn. To what extent does the quality of the word-play absolve the setter from writing clues which have at least some semblance of surface meaning?
Nonetheless, my thanks to Paul and PeeDee.
8d was excellent and I didn’t quite get enough crossers to fill in the gaps.
Such a joy after Picaroon last week whom I often find impenetrable. I don’t find Paul easy but I usually get through them. So thank you Paul and PeeDee. I too suffered from a fixation on IC in 7 so it was my LOI but a real pleasure all round.
Thanks for the corrections and improvements.
Julie @9 – I briefly wondered about if 15dn was sexist (interesting as an editorial issue) but actually there is nothing gender specific anywhere in the solution or the clue. As an aside, I see you are in Australia and I wonder how much the connotations attached to phrases such as this vary in from country to country. The Guardian Cryptic is becoming more of an international puzzle and it must be a nightmare for the editor to keep track of what is and is not Guardian-friendly material.
Tomof2Fishes @15 – you have my sympathy regarding typos. I can proof-read my blogs over and over and still only see what I meant to say. Somebody else has to look at it for the typos to become glaringly obvious.
DaveinNCarolina @1 – from reading the comments it seems to be the non-Scottish who struggled with MARYLAND!
Thank you Paul end PeeDee.
A very enjoyable Prize puzzle but I needed the blog for “dram”.
Anna @16, as regards 27ac, the limestone rocks in my garden, which had turned a dull grey, became a lovely cream colour again after having been pummelled by the rain this spring.
Cookie Re 27ac – I can imagine
Stone in rain, Clean after a pummelling
being a translation of a Japanese poem, it sounds rather beautiful. But as a piece of English prose, well… no!
PeeDee, I wondered if Paul at first thought of CORNELIUS for 27 ac …
Messi, like Pele is becoming a must for even non sports fans to know-combination of legend and ease of fitting into a puzzle.
One of Paul’s better puzzles, definitely.
And thanks Pee dee.
Not so tough as usual for this setter. FOI ENTER LOI RETREAD COD the Spoonerism.
Remember Dodgem cars, is Bumper Car an American expression?
Alice Band stems from Tenniel’s illustrations for Alice Through the Looking Glass, doesn’t it?
Thanks Paul and PeeDee.
Just finished today’s prize so I thought I’d pop in. Liked this especially STRAITS OF MESSINA and VANDERBILT.
Thanks Paul.
Well it had me beat. I didn’t start until Tuesday because it’s impossible to get a hard copy of the guardian abroad. I finally gave in this afternoon and came here for the answers. Just too many obscure synonyms for me which meant I didn’t have another crossers to allow intelligent guesses. Most annoying that I was on a roll having completed 16 in row without external help. Last week’s Picaroon was a doddle in comparison.
I didn’t know CARNELIAN, but pencilled it in from wordplay and never bothered to check.
I parsed MARYLAND as NA (Nebraska) consumed by DL (Delaware), ‘going north’, but couldn’t work out where the MARY came from, so never filled it in. Tbh, I’m not really sure those are correct abbreviations anyway (and didn’t bother to check that either). Thanks Peedee for the explanation.
I find it interesting that the middle-eastern paste, known as ‘taHina’ in the original Arabic, is called by it’s adjectival form (‘taHini’) in English. For those who don’t know it, it’s a paste of pulped sesame seeds and is one of the main ingredients in hummous.
JinA @9, I’ve always heard both ‘sex on legs’ and ‘dreamboat’ exclusively applied to males. Is that why you thought it was sexist?
Roberto @25, I’m with Arrius at https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/dodgems-vs-dodgems-car-vs-bumper-car.1943554/ when he says “The fairground people who ran the bumper cars introduced the term dodgem cars over sixty years ago in the hope that their clientèle would concentrate on avoiding crashes rather than constantly ramming one another. I do not know to what extent it reduced wear and tear on their equipment. Both terms have survived.” They were ‘bumper cars’ for the first few years of my visiting funfairs, before starting to be described by the ride owners as ‘dodgems’.
As an occasional solver who usually only manages a handful of clues on anything other than Everyman and Rufus I was chuffed to complete all bar a few of these ( eventually…!) New maternity leave resolution: do more crosswords, get better, keep brain ticking!
Feeling dim for getting 8d and knowing Messi but still not twigging on ‘trait of’ to fully parse. Like others, also struggled to parse 4d: managed to get dram but couldn’t quite fathom the states. 1d totally flummoxed me, I would never have got there. Thanks for the explanation PeeDee!
Could anyone help with one solution I still don’t fully get please? 18d: why does ‘detailed’ remove the e from the end of trapeze?
Thanks!
Jen – detailed is to be read as de-tailed, removed the last letter (tail). Well done getting most of these. It wasn’t an easy puzzle!
Thanks PeeDee. Makes complete sense when you put it like that… I’ll try to remember that one!
[Tony@28 and PeeDee@19: Yes I thought “SEX ON LEGS” could have attracted an accusation of “reverse sexism” as it was once called – objectifying men in a sexual way, in this case, as I had only ever heard of “Dreamboat” being used to describe a good-looking man. Other circles than mine though seem to see it as gender non-specific. No big deal but thanks for your interest in my remark. JinA]
Excellent and enjoyable.
My favourites were ALICE BAND, BACHELOR OF MUSIC, UNSAID, MAKE HISTORY, VANDERBILT, ENTER, STRAIT OF MESSINA.
Thank you Paul and PeeDee.