The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/28002.
The puzzle came with Special Instructions:
An election puzzle: 12 solutions contain a word from a group, not further defined in their clues.
At least that part was easily solved: 1A was clearly THE DECAMERON, making the group Prime Ministers (of Great Britain and the UK). Then the hard part hit me. With over a third of the answers containing unclued portions, not only were those clues difficult, but many of the remaining clues were suspect of containing same. All in all, the puzzle would not have been out of place in the Genius slot (perhaps with a few of the easier clues given a little obfuscation – and, of course, the date justifies the weekday position). As for the PMs, many were reasonably well-known, but some were not, and I had to make good use of the Wikipedia list, and limit the search to probable names (there was now way that PITT would not appear, but Robert Gascoyne-Cecil probably not). The PMs are in red, and the dates are of their office.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | THE DECAMERON | Journalist cuts article and stories from Italy (3,9) |
| An envelope (‘cuts’) of ED (‘journalist’) in THE (definite ‘article’) ; plus CAMERON (David, 2010-16). |
||
| 9 | AGREE | Admit a lot of vice (5) |
| A charade of ‘a’ plus GREE[d] (‘vice’) minus the last letter (‘a lot of’). | ||
| 10 | PETTY CASH | Cent remains in fund for incidental expenses (5,4) |
| A charade of PETTY (William, 1782-83) plus C (‘cent’) plus ASH (‘remains’). | ||
| 11 | OPIATES | Narcotics, one ingested by Roundheads? (7) |
| An envelope (‘ingested by’) of I (‘one’) in O (’round’-) plus PATES (-‘heads’). | ||
| 12 | GREYING | Popular government’s leader is showing age (7) |
| A charade of GREY (Charles, 1830-34) plus IN (‘popular’) plus G (‘Government’s leader’). | ||
| 13 | SPORTS COAT | Wear a boring Briton’s garment (6,4) |
| A charade of SPORT (‘wear’) plus SCOAT, an envelope (‘boring’) of ‘a’ in SCOT (‘Briton’). | ||
| 15 | CLAN | Jailed Liberal group? (4) |
| An implied envelope: L (‘Liberal’) IN CAN (‘jailed’). | ||
| 18 | MAYO | Uncovered soy sauce (4) |
| A charade of MAY (Theresa, 2016-19) plus O (‘uncovered sOy’). | ||
| 19 | HASH BROWNS | Fried food is a pig’s ear — and then seconds! (4,6) |
| A charade of HASH (‘a pig’sear’, a mess) plus BROWN (Gordon, 2007-10) plus S (‘seconds’). | ||
| 22 | PROVERB | Saw media manipulation across Britain (7) |
| A charade of PR (‘media manipulation’) plus OVER (‘across’) plus B (‘Britain’). | ||
| 24 | SOMEONE | VIP discussed problem about English (7) |
| A charade of SOME, sounding like (‘discussed’) SUM (‘problem’; the second-order indication is a little naughty) plus ON (‘about’) plus E (‘English’). | ||
| 25 | TRUE NORTH | Direction to Pole back in quiet street abroad (4,5) |
| A charade of T (‘back in quieT‘) plus RUE (‘street abroad’, in French, to be precise) plus NORTH (Frederick, 1770-82). | ||
| 26 | EIGHT | Figure scoffed loudly (5) |
| Sounds like (‘loudly’) ATE (‘scoffed’). | ||
| 27 | PITTER-PATTER | Drops sound of glib talk after ruler (6-6) |
| A charade of PITT (they had to appear somewhere: William, the Elder 1766-78, and William, the Younger 1783-1801 and 1804-06) plus ER (Elizabeth Regina or Edward Rex, ‘ruler’) plus PATTER (‘glib talk’). | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | TERRITORY | Land‘s politician admitting slip before Congress (9) |
| An envelope (‘admitting’) of ERR (‘slip’) plus IT (sex, ‘congress’). in TORY (‘politician’). | ||
| 2 | EDENTATE | Country’s leader going to display sloth, say (8) |
| A charade of EDEN (Anthony, 1955-57) plus [s]TATE (‘country’) minus the first letter (‘leader going’). ‘To display’ is connective tissue, and ‘sloth’ is the animal. | ||
| 3 | EXPOS | Displays awkward pose capturing vote (5) |
| An envelope (‘capturing’) of X (‘vote’) in EPOS, an anagram (‘awkward’) of ‘pose’. | ||
| 4 | AUTOGRAPH | Sign that a group’s forgotten tango dancing (9) |
| An anagram (‘dancing’) of ‘[t]hat a group’ minus a T (‘forgotten tango’, using radio communication alphabet) | ||
| 5 | ELYSEE | English city, spot where head of state dwells (6) |
| A charade of ELY (‘English city’) plus SEE (‘spot’; I am sure that the Ely connection is intended), The Élysée Palace is the official residence of the French President. | ||
| 6 | OMANI | Statesman, something of an egomaniac (5) |
| A hidden answer (‘something of’) in ‘egOMNIac’., with a common, of slightly dubious, cryptic definition. | ||
| 7 | MAJORS | South Wimbledon and the like? (6) |
| A charade of MAJOR (John, 1990-97) plus S (‘south’). | ||
| 8 | SHO’GUN | Leader, a swine defended by right-wing tabloid (6) |
| An envelope (‘defended by’) of HOG (‘a swine’) in SUN (‘right-wing tabloid’). | ||
| 14 | CLAMBERER | Awful career, not a person heading for the top (9) |
| An envelope (implied, by the insertion of the Prime Minister) of LAMB (William, 1835-41) in CERER, an anagram (‘awful’) of ‘c[a]reer’ minus the A (‘not a’). | ||
| 16 | LAWMONGER | Many to quit country after day for poor counsel (9) |
| A charade of LAW (Andrew Bonar, 1922-23) plus MON (‘day’) plus GER[many] (‘country’) without the MANY (‘many to quit’). | ||
| 17 | DRUMBEAT | Wobbly tum bared to reveal tattoo (8) |
| The answer came more readily when I read ‘tum’ instead of ‘turn’. An anagram (‘wobbly’) of ‘tum bared’. | ||
| 18 | MAPUTO | Plan working out capital for Africans (6) |
| A charade of MAP (‘plan’) plus UTO, an anagram (‘working’) of ‘out’, for the capital city of Mozambique. | ||
| 20 | SHEATH | Lead in shoplifting case (6) |
| A charade of S (‘lead in S‘) plus HEATH (Edward, 1970-74). | ||
| 21 | PEANUT | Exercise fan consuming a snack (6) |
| An envelope (‘consuming’) of ‘a’ in PE (‘exercise’) plus NUT (‘fan’). | ||
| 23 | OCULI | Round openings with no actual fit, regularly (5) |
| Alternate letters (‘regularly’) of ‘nO aCtUaL fIt’. | ||
| 24 | SCHWA | WC has to be fixed and sound (5) |
| An anagram (‘to be fixed’) of ‘WC has’. | ||
Two PMs unknown, Petty and Law, but a bit surprised at PeterO’s reaction; pottered through this quite happily with no pain at all. The solutions were defined (unlike in some Genius clues) so the PMs being unclued didn’t seem to matter, with 1ac a write-in and it all unfolding from there. Good fun, thanks both, and good luck all, in the poll for the next one!
… all in UK, that is…
Not sure I agree either with PeterO’s comments about the difficulty. In fact I thought the leading part of the instructions, “An election puzzle” quite unnecessary, even detrimental to the enjoyment.
Three great cryptic puzzles in a row, almost like the good old days.
Especially liked 19A, and last-one-in was 18A — so ended with a good clue-laugh.
‘Petty’ and ‘Lamb’ slipped through a hole in my history classes, but lived through six of the rest.
I needed some help from the Wikipedia list of UK PMs but I enjoyed this puzzle immensely.
My favourites were CLAN, OPIATES, LAWMONGER, AUTOGRAPH, SPORTS COAT.
I now see that I had not parsed PROVERB properly.
Thanks Picaroon and Peter
Very clever – astonishing really to achieve this with so much grace and elegance in the cluing. Another who knew of “the decameron” which I suspect was Picaroon’s starting place too. Without it I might have struggled. I originally had “peeling” for “greying” which I think works just as well for displaying signs of age, so I’d have to put that down as an ambiguous clue.
Some glorious surfaces here as well – a masterpiece but too simple for a Genius (this month’s still has 2 clues defeating me). Many thanks for the colourful and well-researched blog PeterO.
Picaroon back on top form after his last puzzle, which I did not enjoy very much.
Like others, I did not find this too difficult, though, to my shame, I did mot recognise a couple of the older P.M.s – Petty and Lamb – but they were readily deduced.
Altogether a very enjoyable start to the day, which might go downhill rapidly depending on the outcome of the election.
Well done to PeterO and others above. I’m inclined to agree with the former regarding the level of difficulty.
I usually correct people regarding the pronunciation of ATE, which I believe should be ‘ET’. Surprised that a commonly used but incorrect pronunciation is allowed here.
I was in the ‘pottered happily’ club – I’d also agree that the ‘an election puzzle’ gave too much away – the second part of the instructions would have been enough. I had to check two of the PMs really were but apart from that, I didn’t have much trouble with the solve
Thanks to Picaroon and PeterO
Well not a walk in the park for me, but did complete steadily. Unlike many of you took a while to get THE DECAMERON, after which flowers more easily. Fav was HASH BROWNS. Unfamiliar with Petty, Law, Lamb and Grey which did not detract from solving. Still was fun. Thanks to Picaroon for the workout and PeterO for the helpful blog.
Flowed not flowers, bother autocorrect
The first clue I looked at yielded PETTY CASH-hm there werent 12 Heartbreakers-or Wilburys-then I saw THE DECAMERON ,TRUE NORTH and PITTER PATTER and I googled Mr PETTY so then it was out with the coloured pencils
Very neatly done, this as to be expected from Picaroon.Last in were MAJORS and AGREE.
Thanks everyone-huge fun
Pedro @ 8 (ate?):
The Oxfords have | ?t, e?t |.
Sorry … the phonetics didn’t paste.
In short, both “et” and “eight” are allowed.
As a relative newcomer to The Guardian’s cryptic crosswords I was floundering when attempting to compete this in the Guardian Daily app, which failed to include the special instructions!
Many thanks, PeterO and Picaroon – great stuff all round!
LOI was MAJORS, even though I realised I was a PM short of a dozen still, but somehow I associate the term “majors” with golf rather than tennis. Great fun, though…
Not knowing DECAMERON made life a little slow, but it eventually ground out.
Also, Chambers Crossword Dictionary fatally fails to include Law, Lamb, or Petty in the list of UK PMs, which sowed some doubt early on.
Great fun nonetheless. Thank you, Picaroon for the invention.
Nice week, all.
Got 1A , and therefore the theme, at first sight. Didn’t know PETTY, but the answer was obvious. Like TheZed’s my first thought was PEEL rather than GREY, but only a minor hold-up.
pedro @8 – I assume you are not Phi under one of his other cryptonyms – there’s no such thing as “correct” pronunciation in a language with as many regional accents and dialects as English has. either pronunciation of “ate” is equally good.
I hated this until about three quarters through when I read the special instructions! With hindsight I think it may have been easier that way! Albeit with much grumbling about sloppy clues which obviously I now take back and take my hat off to this masterful concoction
I think the reason that people may have struggled with Lamb and Petty, is that they are more commonly known as Viscount Melbourne, and the Earl of Shelburne respectively.
Also Grey is more commonly known as Earl Grey which might jog a few memories.
A great puzzle though.
Thanks Picaroon.
My experience was in the steadily unpacked camp after The Decameron. Last ones were schwa and someone (one of my favourites now) and the only PM I did not know was Petty. Thanks to Picaroon for the challenge and PeterO for the comprehensive blog.
An excellent crossword. I failed in NW – with no crossers I looked up 7 down then cursed myself and finished the rest. I also somehow failed to get 18 until the end. Petty and Lamb were both unknown to me but I dredged Bonar Law up from somewhere after getting all the crossers, and it was Grey who gave me the theme.
It is customary to give a hint with crosswords of this type and I personally would have struggled without it. If I wasn’t UK born and bred I think I would have felt justified in looking up the list.
PeterO, in 5d you also need S from “head of State.” It’s also included in the definition, which may make this clue an &lit.
I had the same misgivings about the pronunciation of “ate,” which nobody in the US pronounces “et” unless they’re illiterate and probably fictional. But I’d thought “et” was de rigueur over there.
I had no idea that anyone in the UK had heard of hash browns, a Western concoction that has come east. Used to be you couldn’t find them, now it’s easy. Good thing, I really like them.
Thanks to Picaroon and PeterO.
Yes, an excellent puzzle, but too tough for me. I’m actually pleased to have missed only half a dozen and to have parsed everything afterward. Glad to see that it was properly appreciated by others. Thanks to Picaroon and PeterO.
I also don’t 9a that this was particularly difficult. I found it the easiest of the week so far, despite being another PEELING (I was thinking particularly of paint).
Many thanks to Picaroon and PeterO.
Tickled pink that I got there without much help from the Google. I generally start with the shorter entries in a puzzle, and Crosswordland’s favorite Middle Easterners, the OMANI, were my entree into the puzzle. So my first PMs were its crossers, the semi-obscure Earl GREY, better known here as tea, and the quite obscure PETTY. So it wasn’t until the DECAMERON that I was certain what the theme was. I then had to go back and confirm the existence of a PM named Petty, who to be fair appears in all the lists as the Earl of Shelbourne, and it was off to the races. I didn’t look up LAMB–I took that one on faith.
Pedro @8: 300 million Americans would correct you right back. The first joke most kids here learn: Why is six afraid of seven? Because seven ate nine.
I’m following your election closely. I hope it goes well for you.
Thanks Trovatore (@14) and Goujeers (@19). I’ve since done some research and there’s plenty of debate.
In my defence, before posting I checked with Google who told me it was ‘et’. I guess I will never win the argument with my sister who, annoys me by sticking to ‘ait’.
Oh, and I’m not Phi, whoever that is.
Another steady solve with the same unknown PMs as many and thanks to Shirley for the enlightenment. Also MAJORS was loi as it had to be to get to 12 – and then the penny dropped. Very enjoyable and clever setting and clueing – thanks to Picaroon and PeterO for the blog.
Thanks to Picaroon and PeterO.
Is it the weather?; the onset of Christmas?; the election? Whatever, I’m not in form for this kind of offering. I didn’t make the leap from CAMERON to group=UK PMs and thought that the “word from a group” referred to random examples from random political groups; as a result I always felt like I was going up a down escalator. And gave up after a perfunctory scan. I’m quibbling with “word”=”name of UK PM” and won’t get much sympathy. I’ll just go over here and rock back and forth for a bit.
Brilliantly put together, as always from Picaroon. For some reason SHEATH held me up, but it all went in in one sitting.
Oh – I forgot to say, I had to look up LAWMONGER which was new to me.
Shirley @21: ah yes the bad old days when to be Prime Minister you had to come from the privileged elite upper classes. So glad we got past that era.
Bodycheetah @20: I am reminded of a video review of a mitre saw I was considering. The reviewer hated it and setting it up caused much cursing and lots of “What the &*^! is this piece for?”. Naturally he had not bothered opening the instruction manual until near the end. As we used to say when I was in research, it’s amazing how 3 months of lab time can easily save you an afternoon in the library.
Difficult, time-consuming, funny and very satisfying. What a delightful puzzle. Thank you Picaroon and PeterO.
I got the theme from PITT and GREY (not THE DECAMERON), and I rather enjoyed solving the incomplete clues not knowing which of them were incomplete. However, when I got PETTY CASH I thought I must have gone wrong. I had never heard of (William) Petty and couldn’t look anything up at the time.
I was not inclined to return to the puzzle later, but I had got far enough to appreciate how well this crossword was constructed round the theme. I also very much liked the clues to SHOGUN and DRUMBEAT.
Thanks to Picaroon and PeterO.
Tramp yesterday was harder than this. My only error was SAXONS at 7d, bah , as I remember the bespectacled John Major in the nineties.
Not what I needed on a day like this. Totally unfathomable!
Enjoyable puzzle, once I saw PITT.
I’ve noticed a number of setters using “problem” to mean “sum” in the wordplay. Is this a regional usage? As a former maths teacher & before that a maths pupil, I find it annoys me. Sums and problems are different things. With a sum, you are told what to do (add up the numbers). With a problem, you have to figure out for yourself the calculation(s) needed.
Subtractions aren’t sums; they’re differences. But I can accept informally using “sums” figuratively to include specified calculations that aren’t additions.
John McNeill @38. I remember that I was a bit miffed the first time I encountered the problematic sum, but it’s so common I’d given up worrying about it. However, your post prompted me to consult the big red book, which gives as sixth definition “a problem in addition, or in arithmetic generally.”
I liked it and not a BoJo in sight, which is just fine by me. Thanks to setter and blogger.
First in was PETTY CASH. So looked up Petty. Didn’t parse EDENTATE so put in EDENTATA, the order to which sloths belong.
For 7d, I had SEASON. S plus EASON. Eason was my mum’s maiden name and I know that it is Irish but I wondered if the group included Irish leaders; obviously not knowing whether there had been a leader with that name. I have a vague feeling that there is a social SEASON in England involving the tennis and probably horse racing and polo.
We were a bit unlucky in that the first two undefined words we got were GREY and BROWN, and spent a quite a while looking for other colours that might feature in election maps! Unlike PeterO, CAMERON was the last PM we found, having written him off straight away.