Guardian Prize 28,051 by Paul

by

Something of a political theme for this week’s prize puzzle.

My solving partner Timon correctly predicted that we were due for a Paul, and so it proved. There are some very clever clues and quite a few references to British politics (Boris, Gove, Truss), but nothing so obscure as to make it difficult for solvers abroad, I think. RAGGA and AARON’S ROD were new to us. I don’t know how Paul manages to produce so many puzzles and yet always comes up with new ways of disguising his meaning while still being entertaining.

image of grid
ACROSS
9 CARMELITE Brother smothering body part in 8 28 (9)
ARM in C(old) ELITE (cream).
10 PROMO Little publicity for doctor (5)
PRO (for) MO (medical officer, doctor).
11 RAGGA Jamaican music, pattern of notes around ghetto originally (5)
G(hetto) in RAGA (arrangement of notes).
12 AARONS ROD Bloomer on radar, so wrong (6,3)
*(ON RADAR SO). It’s a variant of the more familiar goldenrod.
13 GET BACK Work out second Beatles number (3,4)
A charade of GET (work out) and BACK (second). Timon got this immediately but it took us a while to parse it.
14 HAILING Nothing revolutionary in the Butcher of the Somme coming down hard (7)
NIL (nothing, reversed) in HAIG (Earl Haig, also known as Butcher Haig)
17 BORIS Flipping mug is our leader (5)
ROB (mug, reversed) IS.
19 FAR From a long way out, service returned (3)
RAF (reversed).
20 QUEUE File letter for audition? (5)
Double definition: the word “queue” (meaning “file”) sounds like the letter Q.
21 DOPPLER Premier League initially probing drugs cheat — some effect (7)
PL (Premier League) in DOPER.
22 BYE-BYES Lights out not later than beginning of evening — black, of course (3-4)
A charade of BY (not later than) E(vening) B(lack) YES (of course).
24 CHANTILLY Bug in 8 28, once whipped? (9)  Underlining under 8 now removed.
ANT (bug) in CHILLY (cold).
26 TRUSS Smalls shown by not entirely loyal supporter (5)
I think this is SS (smalls) after TRU(sty)(e). Also a reference perhaps to Liz Truss MP, who some reports suggest is scheduled for demotion from the Cabinet in this week’s reshuffle; the position should be clearer by the time this blog is published.
28 See 8
29 MISGOVERN Is leading Tory in Mr Johnson ultimately to fail in his duty? (9)
IS GOVE in MR (Johnso)N.
DOWN
1 ACER Tree competitor polled (4)
(r)ACER.
2 BRIGHT Book fair, fair! (6)
B(ook) RIGHT (fair).
3 METATARSAL Bone found in tart as stirred into dinner, say? (10)
*(AS TART) in MEAL.
4 HIJACK Take over a century to separate foursome following the leader of government (6)
A C(entury) in (G)HIJK. Very clever and reminiscent of the recent prize puzzle by Brendan in which all the across clues included three consecutive alphabetical groupings.
5 SEARCHER Cupid after lips of some looker (8)
S(om)E ARCHER (Cupid).
6 See 25
7 See 23
8, 28 COLD CREAM Cosmetic: measure of volume impressing wrinkly a lot (4,5)
OLD (wrinkly) in CC (measure of volume) REAM (a lot).
13 GO BAD Mouth commercial rot (2,3)
GOB AD.
15 IN QUESTION Top foreign figure is not surpris­ingly being discussed (2,8)
(C)INQUE *(ISNOT).
16 GUESS Imagine pub’s out of stout (5)
INN removed from GUINNESS.
18 REPEATER Rifle unloaded, safe to carry a gun (8)
R(ifl)E, A in PETER (safe).
19 FORELIMB Noted window cleaner almost catching priest’s member (8)
ELI (priest) in FORMB(Y). George Formby was the window cleaner.
22 BOYISH Fresh-faced youth is not out after bowled over (6)
B(owled) O(ver) Y(out IS)H. In other words, IS not OUT in the centre of YOUTH. Very clever.
23, 7 YOU BET YOUR LIFE Absolutely what happens in Russian roulette? (3,3,4,4)
No wordplay, just an excellent cryptic definition.
24 COCK Fifty having flown, see bird (4)
C(L)OCK.
25, 6 TIMESPAN Period I spent in the morning, initially wasted (8)
*(I SPENT A.M.). “Initially” must refer to the fact that “morning” is referred to as “A.M.”.
27 SONG Not all there, Johnson glibly lied (4)
Hidden (not all there) in “Johnson glibly”. “Lied” is the German word for song.

 

45 comments on “Guardian Prize 28,051 by Paul”

  1. 26a: I saw ‘not entirely loyal’ as leading to TRU(E). It would be a bit clumsy for a setter to equate ‘not entirely’ with ‘half of’.

    Thanks to bridgesong for the positive intro remarks, and of course for the rest as well.. Some people have been saying negative things about Paul, but for me he comes out on balance very much on the credit side. So thanks to him too, once again.

  2. We all often get the answers without understanding the parsing. 16d and 19d completely threw me though I loved 16 after I understood it.

  3. Now that’s what I call a prize puzzle! Having said in the week that I tend to see the clunky clues in Paul’s puzzles  I thought this was him at his inventive and misleading best with elegant clues and smooth surfaces. I had ticks aplenty. I’m not sure I would have got 1d as readily if the “poll” in the sense of “lop” hadn’t come up during the preceding week. Loi was my cotd – SONG – great surface that made me forget that lied can = song in crosswordland – how can a hidden word be an loi? Many thanks to Paul, bridgesong and Timon.

  4. As bridgesong says, it is remarkable that Paul is able to set so many puzzles and still provide such original clues. It took me a long time to see the parsing of HIJACK, and I don’t think I could have parsed BOYISH if I had stared at it all week. I also admired the different ways that Paul managed to work COLD CREAM into two other clues. All in all a lot of fun, so thanks to Paul and to bridgesong for the blog.

  6. Thanks Bridgesong – in 24, the ‘8’ shouldn’t be underlined, only ‘cream’ being part of the def.
    Well done Paul. I nominate HIJACK for clue of the week.

  7. Thanks bridgesong. Another good, stern test from Paul which required some lateral thinking. 8,28 came easily enough but didn’t provide easy access to 9 and 24. I wasn’t sure about 26 but like quenbarrow’s explanation. LOI was 4d, the crossers made it obvious but I was slow to recognize the sequence. I never did come to terms with ‘initially’ in 25,6, and still can’t quite see why it should be that “morning” is referred to as “A.M.”

  9. My margin note says ‘took ages, til Sun am’, and yes there’s still a ? next to the unparsed boyish; youth [with] is, not out, very clever! Not a new device of course, but so neatly diguised. Chantilly as cream, not lace, was a tilt, as was ragga (as in reggae?). And forelimb was another that I stared blankly at, until George F’s song came to mind, another great clue. Thanks Paul and Bridgesong, now to print out today’s.

  10. I finished on Saturday, but massive credit to Paul for so many misdirections. I liked this more and more as I progressed through it, but on reflection that might just be me being pleased with myself, which is nothing to be proud of. I had conjectured the key 8, 28 COLD CREAM long before I finally twigged, having trouble with what exactly was “impressing” what. In the same clue, I think it should be noted that biological entities do indeed get wrinkly with age, but not necessarily so with geological ones.

  11. As others have said, some very clever stuff from Paul. Nearly too clever for me. Now that I’ve seen the parsing for BOYISH it’s just so ingeniously obvious, but I’d not seen it (and justified it to myself with a parsing so weak I’m keeping it to myself). I was held up at the end mainly by being unable to see how either the tree or the brother fitted in — and had even toyed with ‘marmelise’ as a ‘cream’ synonym before finally realising how CARMELITE (which I’d rejected earlier – I feel silly about that) must work. After that, ACER was the only tree that would fit, but only now do I understand why. Thanks for the explanations, bridgesong, and thanks for such a great and varied set of clues, Paul.

  12. This was a lot of fun, but by far the standout for me, was the glaring message screaming at us across the middle of the puzzle – the message you get by concatenating 17a 19a and 20a.

    Cheeky!

    Thanks to Paul & Bridgesong

  15. Anther one with TRU(e) for 26a. In 24a, the “8” shouldn’t really be underlined. It is part of the wordplay rather than the definition.

  16. A puzzle full of great clues from my favourite setter.  How can anyone not like Paul?  Got it finished in a couple of hours but some clues needed a bit of thought to justify – all quite fair, though, so no quibbles.

    Favourite clues:  CHANTILLY, TRUSS, HIJACK, IN QUESTION, GUESS, BOYISH.

    Thanks to Paul and to bridgesong.

  17. Thanks for those comments: I’ve amended the two erroneous entries at 24 and 26 across.  I have resisted the temptation to add highlighting to the central horizontal line!

  18. Woo Hoo! We managed to finish a Prize Paul. TRUSS being the final PDM of many.

    I do think that despite the amusement of it, the Boris Bashing from several setters lately is getting a bit tedious (as is the US counterpart’s).

  19. Am I missing something? 24d was my LOI solely from the two crossers.  ‘Fifty’ and ‘bird’ are OK, presumably fitting together as ‘clock’.  I know I shall kick myself when told.

    Apart from that, what a great puzzle!  Thanks to all.

  20. Boris far queue! Hilarious. Great puzzle, most enjoyable. Last in ‘song’….forgot about German lied. Adored ‘hijack’

  21. A splendid crossword replete with clever, witty and (in part) thematic clues to spice up the solving process. I ticked eight of them as the ones I enjoyed most: CARMELITE and CHANTILLY (each for the clever use of COLD CREAM), BORIS, BYE-BYES, TRUSS, MISGOVERN, REPEATER and FORELIMB (for the way the name FORMBY was used).

    I also appreciate clues like GO BAD, in which the answer is not divided for its wordplay into its obvious components but into GOB and AD, in contrast to the straightforward GET BACK (which is still a perfectly good clue).

    Huge thanks to Paul. I rarely get time for the Saturday Prize – this one was a treat.

    The parsing of BOYISH can also lead to BOYHIS, so thanks to bridgesong for pointing out what Paul obviously intended – and for the blog as a whole.

  23. Or more specifically as I saw it, if you ‘clock’ something you spot it, (hence see it). An example of Paul’s use of slang words.

  25. Absolutely loved 16 and 23,7 – hugely impressed by 22dn which I failed to get. I did feel 24’s clue was incomplete: fifty having flown from – what? But all in all another excellent puzzle. Thank you Paul. And than you Bridgesong, I too would never have parsed 22 without your help

  27. What WhiteKing @3 said!

    Far more enjoyable, for me, than Paul’s Friday offering.  Yes, some answers that spread across several lights but less need for convoluted clues to get there.  Some (delightful) risque smut which one expects and generally enjoys.  Some clever topical references.  And, assuming that Skinny @12 is correct which s/he must be, a combination of the two in the middle.

    HIJACK is my COTD as well and tops a long list of those I admired. CARMELITE, BYE-BYES, CHANTILLY, FORELIMB, BOYISH and SONG all got ticks.  And YOU BET YOUR LIFE is a beaut of a definition.

    Peter was new to me.

    Thanks Paul and bridgesong.

  28. Thank you Bridgesong and Paul. And Skinny! Getting 24a prompted an entire rendition of the Big Bopper song by Mr K. A DNf for us on 15d and 20a. Of course with the latter we would have got the former. We thought of every meaning of file apart from that one! We don’t understand the parsing for 15d – what is cinque in this context?

  29. joleroi @28
    I didn’t spot that issue with 15d. I now think that ‘foreign figure’ is too weak an indication for that old French word cinque, which is still used for ‘5’ in card games. The ‘foreign figure’ (or ‘French number’, if you will) is really cinq.

  30. Can’t be enough BORIS bashing for me- and I hadn’t seen FAR QUEUE until I came here! Hard to miss the other political references but I wonder how non Brits fared with TRUSS? Do political nonentities travel?
    I thought this rather a good Paul, rather better than yesterday’s which took me ages to crack.
    I, too, took a stroll down memory lane with the Big Bopper AKA Jape Richardson thanks to 24 ac.
    Thanks Paul.

  31. joleroi & Alan B @ 28/29

    As far as I know, ‘cinque’ is still Italian for five, so the ‘foreign figure’ isn’t necessarily French.

  34. KeithS@14 … I’m not sure it’s accidental.  See the last two letters of the row before.

    Enjoyed this much – thanks both.

  35. Excellent puzzle. Although I wrote in the right answer, I couldn’t work out out the parsing for 22d, BOYISH, only managing to create, like AlanB @21, BOYHIS from it, so thanks for pointing out what should have been obvious, bridgesong.

    So many good clues but 22a, BYE-BYES; 4d, HIJACK; 19d FORELIMB and 23,7 YOU BET YOUR LIFE in particular stand out.

  36. Simon S @31

    Thank you for putting me right regarding ‘cinque’, the ‘foreign figure’, which as you pointed out is alive and well in Italy today.  I actually knew it and forgot it, my knowledge of Italian otherwise being generally appalling apart from musical terms.

  38. DrW @10 is perceptive as to solvers rating highly the puzzles that make them feel clever – as we certainly did when we parsed HIJACK. Needless to say, didn’t spot the middle line naughtiness – bravo to Skinny @12 and geof @34. And then the bonus here  at 15squared of the ‘actually, I think you will find’ exchanges regarding cinque quite made my day. Thanks to all.

  39. DuncT @37

    Yes, I’m familiar with the Cinquecento (and the Seicento, for that matter) – I admitted I knew ‘cinque’ but simply forgot it.  I hear much more spoken French than spoken Italian.

  40. As I see it, boris – far – queue is beyond acceptability in any serious newspaper. This is crass arrogance, surely?

  41. Super puzzle ! Thanks to Paul and Bridgesong. Dr. W and Irishman; good point, but I’d add that that shared conspiracy between the setter and solver of a great clue set and then solved is one of this pastime’s joys.

    I missed the naughtiness; well spotted Skinny. It’s funny how the mind works depending on the language the task requires; Cinque as in Cinque Ports (Hastings, Romney, Hythe, Dover, and Sandwich) was going through my mind despite sitting here in Italy, sort of.

    Dr.Whatson  (or any other geometers): I’m still trying to think of a way to send you my ‘proof puzzle’ but here is a link to the method I’m working on.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schema_for_horizontal_dials#Leybourn_(1669)

  42. Prince@41 so remind me, what is your objective – is it to prove the method correct? I think I saw the other day that someone asked the editor to relay emails.

  43. Dr. W if I could send you my theory via the ed. that would be great. The link below shows both of my theories: it’s a bit of a mess but one involves the purple tan circle and the green lines and the other users the red/blue similar triangles; for that I need to prove the vertical black line passes through the points of the triangles or the knots of the “bow-ties” as it were.

    https://www.desmos.com/calculator/rcybtv7yxr

  44. Dr W. I’ve sent my e-mail address to the admin people  @ 15^2 with a request to give it to “Dr. Whatson”.

  45. My favourites were CHANTILLY, COLD CREAM, BOYISH, HIJACK, GUINNESS, MISGOVERN, BYE-BYES.

    New word for me was RAGGA, and I could not parse FOR / ELI / MB (never heard of George Formby).

    Thanks Paul and blogger.

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