Guardian Cryptic 27,931 by Paul

by

Found this tricky at the beginning, with plenty of smiles once I got going. Favourites were 6ac, 24ac, 2dn, 13dn and 23dn. Thanks to Paul

Across
1 MALACHITE Stone bloke found inscribed with a note (9)
MALE=”bloke” + with A CHIT=”a note” written inside
6 GOSH Turn pipe down well! (4)
as in ‘well I never!’
GO=”Turn” in e.g. a board game; SH=’be quiet!’=”pipe down”
8 ATROPINE A suspicious protein for poisoner (8)
a medication to treat poisoning
A + (protein)*
9 SPAWNY Jammy and eggy? (6)
double definition: =lucky i.e. “Jammy”; and =made up of spawn i.e. eggs
10, 22 down SOCIAL MEDIA In which one fuels spreading of cod malaise? (6,5)
(cod malaise)* around I=”one”
11 TIED DOWN Current broadcast not working, so restricted (4,4)
TIED is a homophone/broadcast of ‘tide’=”Current”; DOWN=”not working” e.g. referring to a website
12 TETRIS Wife escaping winding of twister, as bricks falling? (6)
=the video game of falling bricks
(twister)* minus W for “Wife”
15 ADELAIDE Queen saying poisoner behaved like a chicken (8)
=the wife of William IV
homophone/”saying” of ‘adder laid’=”poisoner behaved like a chicken”
16 DILATING Like to insert tongue, opening wide (8)
DIG=”Like” around LATIN=”tongue”
19 GOPHER Dogsbody, an active digger (6)
double definition: an employee given simple fetch/carry tasks; or the burrowing animal
21 NEAR MISS Part of one arm is stuck, almost a disaster (4,4)
hidden in oNE ARM IS Stuck
22 MOIETY Italy yet to be beaten after second half (6)
I (Italy) + (yet)* after MO=moment=”second”
24 TOMATO Something red marked for attention of the chairman, last of post collected (6)
TO MAO=”marked for attention of the chairman”, around last letter of posT
25 AUDITORY Car blue, in one sense? (8)
AUDI=”Car” make + BLUE=”Tory”
26   See 20
27 THEM AND US Those in opposition named jerks, accordingly on the periphery (4,3,2)
(named)*, with THUS=”accordingly” around it
Down
1 MOTTO Legend behind uprising needing no introduction (5)
[b]OTTOM=”behind”, reversed/”uprising”, and without its first letter/introduction
2 LOOPIER Little room on raised platform for more bananas (7)
LOO=”Little room” + PIER=”raised platform”
3 CHILL Companion suffering nip (5)
CH (Companion of Honour) + ILL=”suffering”
4 ICED TEA Deceit conjured up over a drink (4,3)
(Deceit)* + A
5 EASTER EGG Point-to-point on horse for young hunter’s quarry? (6,3)
definition referring to Easter Egg hunts
EAST=”Point” of the compass; E (East)=”Point” again; RE=”on” the topic of; GG=”horse for young” i.e. in kiddiespeak
6 GRANDPA Currency banked by doctor, a relative (7)
RAND=South African “Currency”, inside GP=”doctor” + A
7 SAND WEDGE Club that may follow club, loosely speaking? (4,5)
=a golf club
loosely sounds like ‘sandwich’, which follows “club” as in ‘club sandwich’
13 EMILE ZOLA Author‘s fictional land inspired by drink, something juicy written up (5,4)
OZ=”fictional land” as in Wizard of Oz, inside ALE=”drink”, plus LIME=”something juicy”; and all reversed/”written up”
14 SPIT IT OUT Do say that which has been identified repeatedly in rant (4,2,3)
IT=”that which has been identified”, repeated twice inside SPOUT=”rant”
17 ALREADY Queen snubbed by lay reader unfortunately before (7)
(lay reader)* ignoring the ER=Elizabeth Regina=”Queen”
18 GO SPARE Water supply in blood, lose it! (2,5)
as in lose your temper
SPA=”Water supply” in GORE=”blood”
20, 26 PAINTED LADY  Beautiful and delicate creature: Mona Lisa, perhaps (7,4)
a type of butterfly; or a description of da Vinci’s painting
22   See 10
23 TURPS Thinner sheep carrying fatter rump (5)
Turps or turpentine is used as a paint thinner
TUPS=”sheep” around the end/rump of fatteR

34 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 27,931 by Paul”

  1. Thanks Paul and manehi

    On the whole enjoyable. I liked the hidden NEAR MISS, and LOI DILATING. I didn’t parse EMILE ZOLA, or know SPAWNY as “jammy/lucky”.

    “Active” in 19a and “and delicate” in 20,26 seemed superfluous.

    I didn’t like the “homophone” ADE in 15a, and he’s used the wrong term anyway – adders are venomous, not poisonous.

  2. muffin@1 adders not poisonous?-try telling that to a large dog in the tropics where we have death adders. A lot didnt like thIs clue but I did.And I am wary of what sort of puzzle Mr Halpern will deliver but I thoiught he was on top form today. “Author’s fictional land had me grasping at Terry Pratchtt and then I saw it-one of my all-time favourites.I put “Us and them” on while I was completing this.

    Full marks Paul and thanks for excellent blog, manehi.

  3. copmus @2

    A poison is a toxic substance ingested (such as atropine); a toxic substance injected from a bite is a venom. See here, for instance.

  4. I don’t mind the odd groanworthy Xmas cracker homophone like adder layed or sicker moor, though only the odd one or two. Loi spawny, the only thing eggy that fitted, but I’d never heard of it as slang for lucky, and jammy for same rings only the faintest of bells. Lots else to like, like moiety, auditory, Easter egg, but nohing too taxingly Fridayish, although Tetris was another guess and look up. All good fun, thanks Paul and Manehi.

  6. [Trovatore, re yesterday, yes I’ve had a loaf or two from Il Panino, and yes the article tips the balance, Il Panini would be decidedly off]

  7. Had to look up SPAWNY and found that it means lucky in a golfing context – so that’s all of us non-golfers foiled. As if SAND WEDGE wasn’t bad enough!

  9. Thanks to both. First Paul I’ve enjoyed in a while. Re SPAWNY meaning ‘lucky’, a phrase we used in our early teens was to call someone a ‘spawny b*stard’ (or sometimes ‘dead jammy’) if they were lucky. I’m not a golfer but we kids obviously picked it up from somewhere.

  10. Is the spelling of the dogsbody meaning of 19a the usual one in the UK? Here in the US, I’ve never seen anything other than “gofer,” reflecting its etymology.

  11. As muffin @3 says, ATROPINE is a ‘poisoner’ so no need to underline the ‘for.’ Although he is correct about venomous, I think poisonous is in common usage, viz [Oxford] A small venomous Eurasian snake which has a dark zigzag pattern on its back and bears live young. It is the only poisonous snake in Britain.’

    I liked THEM AND US, EASTER EGG and TURPS.

    Thanks Paul and manehi.

     

  12. Iroquois @ 10; ‘gopher’ is given as a variant of gofer in Oxford dictionaries, although as (usually) N. American slang it should probably be spelled as gofer. BTW, the BRB gives these alternative spellings for gofer in the sense of ‘waffle’: gopher, gaufer or gaufre.

  13. I put STAINS at 9a, as nothing else relevant seemed ti fit: knew ‘jammy’ as ‘lucky’, but not ‘spawny’ – apparently it’s Scottish low-life slang as I’ve found it turns up in Walsh’s Trainspotting (which I’ve not read).

    I’m familiar with ‘gopher’ spelt thus, as volunteers at SF cons are based in the ‘Gopher Hole’.

  15. In crosswords, legend is sometimes foot, but as a leg has two ends it could also perhaps be bottom. Or does it only work if you regard a foot as part of a leg?

     

  16. Muffin @ 1 You are right that adders are venomous not poisonous but the clue states ‘poisoner’ so is accurate (adders administer their poison in the form of venom, I’m not sure that the ingested/injected distinction would hold up in court).

    Much happier with this than with yesterdays offering, tough but fair with an eyebrow raised at gopher (expecting gofer – as in ‘go for this’ rather than the animal).

    Thanks to Paul and manehi.

  17. gladys @ 7 A slang term for lucky that can be used in a golf (or any other) context rather than a golf term I think, I first encountered it in Viz (via the ‘Spawny Get’ comic strip) so I’m guessing it has northern origins and a quick google suggests that it derives from a Scottish game and local pronunciation of ‘span’.

  18. All quite entertaining, mostly fairly straightforward though the SW corner held me up for a while

    Thanks to Paul and manehi

  19. Very much enjoyed this today. Loved MOTTO when it finally clicked and NEAR MISS was cunning. AUDITORY nice clue too. Like others, I’ve never heard of SPAWNY for Jammy and MOIETY is new for me too. I knew TUP only from a recent book, A Shepherd’s Life by James Rebanks which I recommend.

    Well parsed manehi. Thanks both

  20. I was defeated by the NE corner. I agree that this was Paul on top form. Loved it even in defeat. Thanks for the blog manehi. I had loonier not loopier which would explain why I couldn’t parse it. And another here who didn’t know spawny in that sense.

  21. Enjoyed this a lot. I came here because I couldn’t parse 7D, and have fallen around both laughing and groaning now I’ve seen the explanation: many thanks to manehi for the explanation and Paul for the clue!

    I’ve only ever come across the spelling “gofer” for the employee in 19A; now expect to come across the “gopher” usage three times in the next week . . .

     

  22. I didn’t think I was going to enjoy this at first with several apparently non-sensical surfaces but it got better and better – I thought the &lit cod malaise clue was brilliant. I also liked the homonyms – how does he think of adder laid? I don’t care that you can argue whether it’s a true homonym or not – it amuses me. There were lots of other ticks amongst which TURPS stood out. The SE corner held out for some time with DILATING the loi. Many thanks to Paul and manehi.

  23. Like Xjpotter @20, I ran aground in the NE corner, partly due to unfamiliarity with spawny/lucky/jammy. Also had 6d parsed correctly, then inexplicably entered GRANDMA. Otherwise a rewarding effort over several visits, with many clues needing to present themselves from several angles before the correct view emerged. Didn’t know MOIETY or GO SPARE, but followed instructions to get there. I also liked GOSH and THEM AND US.

    Thanks to Paul and manehi.

  24. Regarding 15a, I’ve learned to approach homophones by thinking, “Insert or delete an r, and the intended words will sound more or less alike.”

  25. I always embark on a Paul puzzle with a bit of trepidation, but they never fail to reward the effort, and the satisfaction from finishing is greater than with most setters, I find. This was par for the course, a wonderful mixture of invention, twists and turns, bad puns and clever construction. EASTER EGG, THEM AND US, TOMATO probably my favourites; a groan for SAND WEDGE (par for the course, as I said). Thanks to both.

  26. Paul has been my favourite setter for years. Very often slow to break into (in this case not a single solution popped out on my first sweep of the clues) but always fair and satisfying to complete. I love his habit of linking different parts of the grid, avoiding ungettable corners.

    Those of you who’ve never heard SPAWNY = lucky clearly haven’t spent as much time playing pool with northerners as I have!

  27. I’ve never asked for a club sand wedge. Maybe I should move to the Home Counties. I’ll stick to sarnies and butties, I think.

    Adelaide was unforgiveable.

  29. Thanks to Paul and manehi. Enjoyed this one (Adelaide excepted).

    Anybody else use the Guardian mobile app? Sometimes, like today, the crossword isn’t available on it. Since the beginning of April there have been 11 missing – and six of them have been by Paul. Does he maybe submit his crosswords in a different way to other compilers?

  32. I enjoyed this even though several clues defeated me. SAND WEDGE was familiar to me as a fan of classic Simpsons: when Homer is learning to play golf, another golfer yells in exasperation: “Use an open-faced club, idiot! The sand wedge!”, prompting Homer to murmur “Mmm, open-faced club sandwich”.

    I read the definition for EASTER EGG as “young hunter’s quarry” – GG for horse is common enough that I don’t think it needs the age qualifier. Either works, of course.

    Cheers to Paul and Manehi.

  34. I’ve never heard of as Companion of Honour. Did anyone else wonder whether, in a less politically-correct era, “Companion suffering nip” could be “China”?

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