An entertaining and a varied mix as usual. Thank you Paul.
Paul’s puzzles put a smile on my face.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | SHAMMY | Leather, fake I say (6) |
| SHAM (fake) and MY (I say, exclamation) | ||
| 4 | OOMPAH | Germany’s sound leader in Angela’s in 23 (6) |
| Angela (first letter, leader in) inside OOMPH (power, 23) | ||
| 9, 14 | WELL I NEVER DID | Good grades Paul was always unable to attain — who would have thought it! (4,1,5,3) |
| if Paul (I) never did well he did not get good grades | ||
| 10 | GOOF AROUND | Around middle of farm, muck encountered — mess about (4,6) |
| fARm (middle of) inside (around…is…) GOO (muck) FOUND (encountered) | ||
| 11 | CLINCH | Secure fifty picnic hampers (6) |
| L (fifty) inside (hampered by) CINCH (picnic, something easy) | ||
| 12 | THEREMIN | Mere hint about unusual instrument (8) |
| anagram (about) of MERE HINT | ||
| 13 | BRAINTREE | Growth of intellect in Essex? (9) |
| whimsical alternative definition – and a town in Essex | ||
| 15, 21 | HANG TOGETHER | Make sense, as might exhibits in gallery collection? (4,8) |
| double/cryptic definition | ||
| 16 | See 25 | |
| 17 | UNWELCOME | ‘Loose women’: clue de trop (9) |
| anagram (loose) of WOMEN CLUE | ||
| 21 | See 15 | |
| 22 | RAPTOR | Eagle, for example, hit rocky peak (6) |
| RAP (hit) TOR (rocky peak) | ||
| 24 | WINDOWLESS | Dark snake and lady of the night? (10) |
| WIND (snake, move erratically) then OWLESS cryptically a lady owl (a bird of the night) | ||
| 25, 16 | WASH OVER | Affect suddenly with strong push in sustained campaign (4,4) |
| SHOVE (strong push) inside WAR (sustained campaign) | ||
| 26 | ENDURE | Bear in river on purpose (6) |
| URE (Rive Ure) after (on) END (purpose) | ||
| 27 | PARROT | Bird: 22 out of one’s tree? (6) |
| anagram (out of one’s tree, mad) of RAPTOR (22) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | STELLAR | Cosmic light initially alters forms (7) |
| anagram (forms) of Light (first letter, initially) and ALTERS – definition might be more related to the figurative “spectacular, significant” than to the cosmos directly | ||
| 2 | ALL IN | Pooped nothing out then? (3,2) |
| if ALL is IN then nothing is out – slang for feeling very tired | ||
| 3 | MUGSHOT | Assaults exciting — still on police record? (7) |
| MUGS (assaults) and HOT (exciting) – a photo (still) on a police record | ||
| 5 | OKAYED | Authorised reference covering talk that’s come up (6) |
| OED (reference, book) contains (covering) YAK (talk) reversed (that’s come up) | ||
| 6 | PTOLEMAIC | Astronomical topic, male boobs (9) |
| anagram (boobs) of TOPIC MALE | ||
| 7 | HONKING | Whiffy — as a goose may be? (7) |
| double definition | ||
| 8 | SOUTHERN FRIED | This hen wouldn’t want to be turning her friends out (8,5) |
| anagram (turning) of HER FRIENDS OUT | ||
| 14 | See 9 | |
| 16 | ODORISE | Scent style in rose I gathered (7) |
| DO (style, eg hair style) inside anagram (gathered) of ROSE I – in the OED but not in Chambers, and surprisingly not marked as American | ||
| 18 | EURASIA | Every other one blocked off, set up roads in an enormous area of land (7) |
| every other letter (every other one blocked off) of sEt Up RoAdS In An | ||
| 19 | MOONSET | Descent of celestial body, twinkling before dawn (7) |
| MO (twinkling, a short time) before ONSET (dawn) | ||
| 20 | See 23 | |
| 23, 20 | POWER SHOWER | Might exhibitionist stand naked under this? (5,6) |
| POWER (might) SHOWER (exhibitionist) | ||
I thought 10ac was a rare lapse by Paul. The word “around” appears in the clue and in the answer, and there was nothing to indicate that it’s an Americanism. I did like WINDOWLESS, though.
PeeDee, sorry, I should have thanked you for the blog and added that I agree with you about ODORISE. By the way, there’s a typo at 5 down: it should be OKAYED.
A leisurely unpick, my note says, but with lots of other margin scribble. Like ‘4ac bit unfair given Bach et al?’ (tho at a music evening, late ’60s, I once requested Die Freude, after which our host said ‘glad we won the war’, gave me a hug to say ‘bless’ and put on Deep Purple, the one with the demonic laugh). Hey ho. The long’un was familiar and easy. 12ac evoked E,L&P where I first heard one. Owl-ess earned a ‘der!’. The last 2 letters in Eurasia don’t seem to obey the same ‘every other’ rule, but 19 and 20d were both little gems. Most enjoyable, many thanks Paul and PeeDee.
If odorise was an Americanism,it would be spelled “odorize”
Good fun with Paul’s trademark silliness, like ‘lady of the night.’
At the beginning, I thought 23D was just a cd, so I tried April SHOWER, but that didn’t work once I got some crossers.’ I did especially like the picnic hampers and the ‘still on police record.’ Pity about the ‘around’ in 10A.
Thanks Paul and PeeDee.
Yep, two ‘around’s was a bit sub-par, but re odorise I just thought yes scent can be verb trans, as in ‘imbue with..’ and didn’t think about spelling (not in my dictionaries either, nor is odourise, but SOED has odorant, odorate (both rare), odoriferous and odorous).
This took us well into Saturday to finish. The PTOLEMAIC anagram took ages to crack which held up OOMPAH. Even with the solution some clues took time to parse, not because they were convoluted but because you need to see the world the way Paul sees it – the excellent MOONSET and WINDOWLESS were two of them. I figured out where POWER SHOWER was going but got fixated on trying to make POWER LIFTER parse until the crossers went in. I too had ??? against the 2 arounds in 10a. Many thanks for the challenge Paul and to PeeDee for the blog.
Who’d’ve thought (got that one at first glance) Paul would have ‘around’ in both clue and answer! But I’m not sure it was a lapse. His WINDOWLESS and MUGSHOT other examples of his oomph and ability to surprise..
DNF. Failed in the NW. I had FOOL AROUND (and was dubious given the ‘around’ in the clue), which stuffed up the rest. Also had OFFBEAT – The Police’s records had a reggae, using the off-beat feel. So my SHAMOY (lots of ways to misspell chamois, aren’t there?). Couldn’t find anything to go in 11a.
I had not noticed that “around” was in both the clue and the answer. Having had it pointed out it doesn’t seem to matter to me. Still, there are rules that say such things are bad, and if you are rule-oriented solver then the clue is indeed a bit duff.
BTW – I’m not suggesting Odorise/Odorize is American, I was just saying that I confidently (and erroneously) expected to find it listed as such in the dictionary. The word was harder to find than I expected and when I did locate it it turned out to be British-English all along!
Thanks for the correction bridgesong.
Thanks PeeDee. Yet another demanding test from Paul but one which was very satisfying to complete, even if I did despair from time to time. The NE corner held me up, I don’t think any of the clues were straightforward so there was a dearth of crossing letters. I didn’t expect ‘around’ to be in both the clue and the answer to 10a and 4a eluded me until the end. I hadn’t made it any easier by entering ‘come’ for 15a. I was torn between “ponging’ and ‘honking’ for 7d, I thought each fitted one definition but not the other. I now find honk = smell to be of Australian derivation but it’s new to me.
Collins online has ODORISE as an alternative to odorize. As James says, above, Americans wouldn’t use the -ise form. The OED gives primacy to -ize for all such words, with a note that -ise is a legitimate alternative for all of them.
I found this a steady solve which for me with Paul made me think this a easier offerring from him (or perhaps I’m improving). Then I thought perhaps he set this after a particularly hard night in Essex! 13ac, 15ac, 16ac, 17ac
Thanks PeeDee for the blog and Paul for rye and challenging entertainment as ever.
@Burnbake, you probably mean ‘wry’ rather than ‘rye’?
@Tony – he didn’t get his Essex hangover form drinking wry!
Failed on windowless. Not sure I like owless=lady of the night, but at least if you get the answer you know it’s correct.
I liked power shower, the surface was nicely misleading.
@Tony I probably do!
Agree about Around twice – we goofed around a lot before deciding it had to be
But why is OOMPAH Germany’s sound?
I thought this was Paul on top form again, about/around notwithstanding. MOONSET, WINDOWLESS, PTOLEMAIC… too many great clues to mention.
Failed on ODORISE. I guessed OBORINE was a parfumerie kind of word (‘scent style’), and why shouldn’t Peter have a rose named after him? 😉
Burnbake @13: well-spotted, I really should have seen that myself!
Coincidentally, I mentioned BRAINTREE quite recently, in the context of ‘upturned cups’ in HARBOUR. I think it was Paul many moons ago who clued the same location in an Essex-themed puzzle as ‘nesting cups’. Not sure which clue I prefer; they both have a little fun with Essex stereotypes. At least we haven’t had any white stilettos… yet.
Where are my manners?
Thank you Paul and PeeDee
Croc (18)
You’ll find the term ‘German Band’ well used in the past to categorise the oompah sort of sound
Small town brass bands in Germany were called oompah bands.
many thanks Caesario
Plenty to amuse Half Man Half Biscuit fans towards the NE corner, with fifteen minutes of mantra-filled oompah, 10A evoking Gazza in a Mozzer mask by the pool and everyone’s favourite unusual instrument. Thanks Paul and PeeDee.
There is a mistake in 18 down. Every other one blocked off would give you eurasna! Not eurasia
I put it in because that is what it had to be…
I looked at the parsed answers at The Guardian to see what it said about the error. The clue for 18d has been corrected for the archive. I tried to copy it to paste here, but it wouldn’t let me. I’ll paste the link instead.
btw the parsed answers have THEREMIN as “therimin” – obviously wrong as the anagram doesn’t work.
Please – no more Americanisms. I don’t want to hear anything more from America just now 🙁
I got there, but it was more of a struggle than I expected. After making a strong start with SHAMMY and WELL I NEVER DID and a few others, I just slowed to a crawl and never felt quite at home with this. I’m still not sure why; there were a couple of uncharacteristic slips like that ‘around’ in the 10a clue and the not-quite-right blocking for EURASIA, as already mentioned, but looking back there were some very good clues there so I think I was just having an off few days. Which did make it quite pleasing to finally get it finished! Thanks, Paul, and thanks, PeeDee.
The AR and FOUND convinced me that around had to be in the answer at 10a, but I had FOOL AROUND for a long time before the penny dropped. I liked the whimsicality of WINDOWLESS and the trademark Pauline ALL IN. Never did parse EURASIA, and thanks to grantinfreo @3 and Phyllida White @25, I now see why.
Thanks to Paul and PeeDee.
This seemed just the right level of challenge for a non-prize prize, some trickery but nothing outlandishly obscure, but I did have more than the normal amount of trouble with one clue, 24a WINDOWLESS, which I really wanted to like.
The female owl bit was a bit of a stretch, but excusable via the question-mark. However, I don’t buy the definition, dark. Well-lit interior rooms, as well as the grand outdoors, are windowless but not dark. Rooms with windows can be dark at night. Sorry, it just doesn’t work for me.
muffin @26. Followed your link but it didn’t lead me to a corrected version.
Like Robi @5 I initially thought that 23,20 was a cryptic definition, though I went for a LIGHT SHOWER, rather than his APRIL. But it just goes to show you should never write in a cd until you’ve got some crossers!
With the exception the error in 18d, and what I still think is a clumsiness with AROUND in 10a, I thought this was a very enjoyable solve. Especially liked OOMPAH, and THEREMIN was my first one in, because I’d been reading about the Beach Boys’ Good Vibrations before starting the crossword.
Thanks to Paul & PeeDee.
sheffield hatter @31
That’s odd – it said it had been corrected here.
muffin: Looks like they’ve only corrected the annotation, with alternate letters of “vital” instead of the erroneous “in an”.
That’s a members-only page Muffin. The PDF hasn’t been corrected, certainly.
Still a fun puzzle – thanks Paul and PeeDee. I had SHAMMY as a whimsical coinage, so thanks gor the correct parsing.
Thank you to Paul and PeeDee.
Double thanks to Paul, because he hosted a Zoom meeting the same evening to discuss the crossword, and how he went about setting it. He admitted to the error in 18dn. A lot of people like the owless.
Following discussion of 11ac, he set us all a challenge to clue “picnic hamper” at the next session, which is when he is next published.
You can sign up to be invited to these sessions at Johnhalpern.co.uk
Tigress and lioness okay. Owless? Eagless, hawkess, thrushess? Carpess? Weaseless?
PeeDee Your blog on ENDURE would give UREEND, wouldn’t it?
Phyllida@25 Every other letter would give you Eurasnn.
muffin@26 I had the same problem with the link as sheffield hatter, but your new one works. For the record, the new clue is “set up roads vital,” which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense but does have letters that work.
Thank you, Paul for the fun and PeeDee for the explanations — in spite of my quibble it’s a good blog, PeeDee.
Probably should be ‘set up roads vital to…’ then.
ODORISE, no matter how you spell it, is not commonly used in America (but deodorize is.) Wouldn’t the proper British spelling be “odourise?”
[A tip: all “-ize” words can be spelled “-ise”, but not all “-ise” ones can be spelled “-ize”. Therefore spelling them all “-ise” saves having to remember which are which!]
Valentine @36. “Owless” is part of the wordplay, so it doesn’t have to exist as a real word. There’s a question mark at the end of the clue, to tell us that the setter is taking liberties. I think it’s fair enough.
Valentine @36 – yes, I mean after not before. Fixed now.
Typical Paul and very satisfying to solve because of this. SOUTHERN FRIED was my favourite. I also like the way POWER SHOWER was written like a CD but parses conventionally.
I think DrW @30 has a point re: 24 but I didn’t question it at the time. I didn’t notice the Aroundgate in 10 either, but I did see the problem with 18. Following on from Gonzo’s suggestion, maybe it was simply a typesetting error that missed the vital vital in between roads and in an in the clue.
Thanks for another fine Saturday solve, Paul, and PeeDee for the blog.
Was all set to feel pleased with myself for getting ones like ODORISE and WINDOWLESS but then realised I failed on OKAYED which I had as ORATED (RAT = talk in OED = authorised ref with something that had come up eg in a speech as having been “orated”). I don’t know if that is even a word and it never really felt as right as the others, I should have trusted my instincts and kept on at it. So thanks for putting me straight PeeDee and for explaining SHAMMY (I had it the other way round somehow but at least the answer was clear) and a couple of others. Thank you Paul for a crossword that was often challenging but never dull, my favourites 4A and 17A.
JayDee @ 27, it’s extremely rare for a crossword to have no reference to the US, what with American usages, personalities, state abbreviations, music, TV, etc.
Tony Santucci @ 38, cf humorous
\”Odorise\” is an awkward word, but no Americanism. If we have it–and I\’m not prepared to say we don\’t, Madison Avenue being what it is–it\’s spelled \”odorize.\” Yanks have very, very few \”causing\” verbs (if I may call the so) that end \”-ise.\” So let us all be gruntled, folks!
Failed to get odorise due to writing in 24ac as ‘sundowners’…’Dark Snake’ & ‘Lady of the Night’ sounding like such plausible late evening cocktails that I didn’t bother checking. Oh the shame of it!
Late as usual but I’ll give an example of “odorise”: adding a mercaptan or other chemical to natural gas so one can smell a gas leak or a pilot that’s gone out.