The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/28406.
I made slow (but steady) progress of this, mainly because of a lot of disguised, even cryptic definitions. There are two &lit-ish clues, one (14A) which I thought did not quite make it, but the other (26A) very definitely did. Many thanks to Paul.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | CON GAME |
Paul’s online flimflam (3,4)
|
| A charade of CONGA (-‘line’) plus ME (‘Paul’). The ‘(i)s on’- just gives the order of the particles. | ||
| 5 | MERCURY |
Heavy metal band’s flamboyant front man (7)
|
| Double definition. | ||
| 10, 8 | SELF-RAISING |
As fine white powder may be initially snorted, lifting spirits? (4-7)
|
| A charade of S (‘initially Snorted’) plus ELF RAISING (‘lifting spirits’ – as a phrase, to justify the plural). The definition refers to flour; do not try to inhale. | ||
| 11 | GHOST TRAIN |
Juggling not right, as entertainment frightening children (5,5)
|
| An anagram (‘juggling’) of ‘not right as’. | ||
| 12 | FLORIN |
Pirate almost stealing gold coin (6)
|
| An envelope (‘stealing’) of |
||
| 13 | THIS IS IT |
The moment has arrived where winger tackles relative after greeting (4,2,2)
|
| An envelope (‘tackles’) of HI (‘greeting’) plus SIS (‘relative’) in TIT (bird, ‘winger’). | ||
| 14 | EYESHADOW |
Show a dye liberally applied to lid in essence — here? (9)
|
| A charade of E (‘lid in Essence’) plus YESHADOW, an anagram (‘liberally’) of ‘show a dye’. I think the definition is problematical: the intent is surely somewhere in the extended definition/&lit range, but ‘show’ and ‘- here’ do not sit comfortably as an &lit. ‘- here’ in particular follows a construction which Paul has used before, but it refers back to ‘lid’, and is not a definition to be extended. I would rate this a nice try, but no cigar. | ||
| 16 | MANGO |
Hollowed out, nothing inside old red fruit (5)
|
| An envelope (‘inside’) of NG (‘hollowed out, NothinG‘) in MAO (‘old red’). | ||
| 17 | SPLAT |
Impact, by the sound of it, reversed in experimental psychology (5)
|
| A hidden reversed answer in ‘experimenTAL PSychology’. | ||
| 19 | DENTISTRY |
Work on set is requiring effort after evidence of blow (9)
|
| A charade of DENT (‘evidence of blow’) plus ‘is’ plus TRY (‘effort’). | ||
| 23 | PAGEANTS |
Spectacles in time slipped into Bill Gates’s trousers? (8)
|
| An envelope (‘slipped into’) of AGE (‘time’) in PANTS (‘Bill Gates’s trousers’ – as an Americanism). | ||
| 24 | NERUDA |
Underperforming? A poet (6)
|
| A charade of NERUD, an anagram (-‘performing’) of ‘under’-; plus ‘a’. | ||
| 26 | NEW ORLEANS |
Capital of Louisiana in answer, one gathered? This isn’t! (3,7)
|
| An envelope (‘in’) of L (‘capital of Louisiana’) in NEWOREANS, an anagram (‘gathered’) of ‘answer one’. The capital of Louisiana is Baton Rouge. | ||
| 27 | BAIT |
Portion including a carrot (4)
|
| An envelope (‘including’) of ‘a’ in BIT (‘portion’). | ||
| 28 | ROCKERY |
Pop star back in country garden (7)
|
| A charade of ROCKER (‘pop star’) plus Y (‘back in countrY‘). | ||
| 29 | YANKEES |
Covering area, look for New York running back for New York team (7)
|
| A reversal (‘running back’) of SEEK (‘look for’) plus NAY, an envelope (‘covering’) of A (‘area’) in NY (‘New York’). | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 2 | OVERLAY |
Decorate article that’s boring too (7)
|
| An envelope (‘that’s boring’) of A (indefinite ‘article’) plus OVERLY (‘too’). | ||
| 3 | GO FAR |
Do well in filing of a report (2,3)
|
| A hidden answer in ‘filinG OF A Report’. | ||
| 4 | MAGENTA |
Progenitor concealing eye colour (7)
|
| An envelope (‘concealing’) of AGENT (private ‘eye’) in MA (progenitor’). | ||
| 6 | ENTAIL |
Need one in charge when head is sacked (6)
|
| An envelope (‘in’) of I (‘one’) in [r]ENTAL (‘charge’) minus the first letter (‘when head is sacked’). | ||
| 7 | CARDINALS |
Ultimately verboten to wear Speedos, say, for members of the clergy (9)
|
| An envelope (‘to wear’) of N (‘ultimately verboteN‘) in CAR DIALS (‘speedos, say – that is, speedometers; not a budgie smuggler in sight). | ||
| 8 |
See 10
|
|
| 9 | CONTROVERSIAL |
Party hearing about delivery groups likely to provoke argument (13)
|
| An envelope (‘about’) of OVERS (cricket, ‘delivery groups’) in CON (Conservative, ‘party’) plus TRIAL (‘hearing’) | ||
| 15 | SPADEWORK |
Prep done by hybrid tool inspiring an early settler? (9)
|
| An envelope (‘inspiring’) of A DEW (‘an early settler’) in SPORK (‘hybrid tool’ – a portmanteau word for an eating utensil combining the functions of spoon and fork). | ||
| 18 | PLACEBO |
Dummy put on crate, briefly (7)
|
| A charade of PLACE (‘put’) plus BO[x] (‘crate’) minus the last letter (‘briefly’). | ||
| 20 | TUNISIA |
Country one visits while I head northwards (7)
|
| A reversal (‘northwards’ in a down light) of an envelope (‘visits’) of I (‘one’) in AS (‘while’) plus ‘I’ plus NUT (‘head’). | ||
| 21 | RED WINE |
Drink on top of wardrobe featured in feast (3,4)
|
| A charade of RE (‘on’) plus DWINE, an envelope (‘featured in’) of W (‘top of Wardrobe’) in DINE (‘feast’), | ||
| 22 | ANGLER |
Visitor to bank, perhaps, left in indignation (6)
|
| An envelope (‘in’) of L (‘left’) in ANGER (‘indignation’). | ||
| 25 | RUBIK |
Polish child almost flipped over puzzle setter (5)
|
| A charade of RUB (‘polish’) plus IK, a reversal (‘flipped over’) of KI[d] (‘child’) minus its last letter (‘almost’). The definition refers to Rubik’s cube. |
By chance, earlier today I happened to have tackled a Paul prize-cryptic from 18 years ago. Could have said lots of good things about that one. So … to be diplomatic, I’ll leave it at that.
This was a toughie. There were a large number of answers that I got from definitions and crossers but took me a considerable time to figure out the wordplay. I don’t think it was me being fuzzy but rather some unusual derivations. I smiled and groaned a lot when I finally got there.
Regarding the would-be &lits., I agree with PeterO re: 14a, but I’m not sure 26a NEW ORLEANS makes it either, since “This isn’t” doesn’t participate in the wordplay. Or am I missing something?
ENTAIL for need strikes me as a little peculiar. It is certainly true that something that is entailed is a necessary result, but I don’t know if entail and need are mutually subtitutable. Maybe I just can’t think of the right sentence.
Hooray, a red letter day for me with a Paul crossword, I solved seven answers, which is seven more than normal. Admittedly none from the wordplay which is stratospherically above my low intellect. A bit like doing the quick crossword.
A bit of a shame as that would have been 6 gridfills (or very near misses) on the trot, including Everyman and excluding last Saturday’s prize.
Thankyou Peter for heads up on the wordplay that will be as meaningless as normal.
12a I think you meant OR for gold
Slow start, then a steady job until the last two in the SW. Would never have thought of a dew for early settler, or spork for that matter, without the k in rockery, and couldn’t even click rocker for pop star, d’oh, before putting the y at the end and checking it. So not a great finish. Lots to enjoy on the way though, eg raising the elfs, the dye on the lid and the a in overly. Oh and I looked at cardials and went (speedos?, swimmers?) wot?..talk about thick! All good fun, thanks as ever to P and P.
I’m not sure what universe Paul inhabits in which ROCKER is a synonym for ‘pop star’ but it’s not one I inhabit
Found this very difficult and was tempted to give up halfway through as I was not on Paul’s wavelength. SE corner was hardest for me. Needed to google a search of New York teams.
Favourite: NERUDA.
DId not parse: SELF RAISING, MANGO, pants bit of PAGEANTS.
Thanks, P+P.
I agree with Toadfather @4 – 12ac OR in FLIN[t]
Like Peter and ginf, slow but steady. Liked the CARDINALS in speedos (scarlet ones, presumably, while bishops would wear purple?)
I’ve come across sporks but never knew they were called sporks. We had a discussion recently about Carrollisms as a possible new kind of clue; I wonder if this puzzle had its genesis around that time?
DENTISTRY was helped along by having listened recently to Kirsty Young’s interview with Araucaria on Desert Island Discs (I think someone here posted the link): Correcting sets in the North? O don’t! I can’t bear it (11)
Thanks P & P
What Dr. WhatsOn @2 said, about having to get answers from the definitions and then work out what was going on with the rest of the clue.
Slow going, not helped by my not ignorance of Chilean poets. I knew that flimflam was twaddle, but didn’t know that it could also mean swindle.
Bill Gates recently said something about wearing a face mask being like wearing trousers, so I was trying to get ‘mask’ into 23ac.
I enjoyed ELF RAISING, CARDINALS and NEW ORLEANS.
Thanks Paul and PeterO
Got to 26 before I saw an answer. Unusually difficult to parse, so thanks to PeterO and thanks to Paul.
Does anyone know if Paul is doing a zoom om this tonight? I usually get an e mail a couple days before. But not for this. Thanks to Peter O and John H.
Thanks Paul and PeterO
Some nice clues, but several unparsed, and a DNF, as I gave up on CON GAME. Favourite THIS IS IT, as I built it up from its parts.
In Treasure Island, Captain Flint was Long John Silver’s parrot, of course, but I think he explains that it was named after a pirate captain he had previously served under.
Dr W @2, re ENTAIL – maybe the clue for 19ac could help – “Work on set is requiring/needing/entailing effort…”?
Like others, found this rather tough going and missing the usual scatological Paulism other than as with PeterO I went straight to budgie smugglers for Speedos wondering if there was a Cardinal budgerigar.
Helped by the fact I started it at midnight whilst still on a conference call with my team in California (they didn’t notice – they’ve learnt to ignore me) but finished with a LOT of help this morning.
FOI was GO FAR, followed quickly by NEW ORLEANS and MERCURY.
[Penfold @9: There is a good collection of Neruda’s poetry in English here https://www.poemhunter.com/i/ebooks/pdf/pablo_neruda_2011_3.pdf ]
Thanks Paul and PeterO
[Phil @11: No – I was on one of his “Create a Crossword” events on Sunday and he mentioned that he needed to miss this evening.]
Nice theme… Half expect Susan Sarandon and Richard O’Brien to jump out.. (to the left?)
One of those crosswords that I can only appreciate after the blog. Too clever for me. Is it mean-spirited to question whether Mercury is a heavy metal?
Petert @17
Mercury is definitely a heavy metal. Its density is 13.5 g/cm3. I used to surprise students by letting them pick up a bottle of mercury (with my hands underneath, just in case). The bottle was much heavier than they expected.
[MB @14 Thanks a million for the works of the Chilean.
I’ve just been reading the first few. Sad about his dog. One of them starts ‘Out of the lemon flowers’, but that just made me think of Ivor Cutler, so now I need to get the Scottish poet out of my head before I return to South America.]
Got through this quite swiftly before I was held up by the final intersecting pair, ROCKERY and SPADEWORK. Lots of the usual Paul fun and games, especially his introductory CON GAME…
Like others I found this tough, although the bottom half was easier. I liked SELF RAISING, MAGENTA and CARDINALS. Couldn’t parse PAGEANTS. A couple of US sports teams, YANKEES and CARDINALS but that was it.
Ta Paul & PeterO for the excellent blog
I filled in half of this pretty quickly and had to worry away at the rest. Lots of great sets, as to be expected from Paul (I said a very rude word when I equated Speedos with CAR DIALS). MANGO was a great clue and I also enjoyed CON GAME, especially because I’m in the middle of working on a games-related crossword.
Peter always seems to get Paul puzzles – is it in order for us to say ‘Thanks, Peter and Paul’?
Very slow start on this one (I saw nothing at first until the anagram for GHOST TRAIN leapt out) but once I had a bit of a purchase it all fell out steadily.
The puzzle is lacking in Paul’s characteristic ribaldry but makes up for this with some beautiful constructions and great surfaces. Like Penfold @9 I particularly enjoyed SELF RAISING, NEW ORLEANS and the wonderful CARDINALS.
Many thanks to John H and PeterO.
Tough, but got there in the end. Simply couldn’t parse 6dn and struggled to equate need with entail but it was the only thing that really fit. Thanks to Peter, Paul (and Mary?).
Found this very tough for the reasons already mentioned.
[muffin @18, a chemistry teacher at school would float a lead cube in a small cup of mercury to make the same point. I have remembered the relative densities ever since.]
I assumed the pirate in12a was Errol FLINN with the second N omitted. Which was doubly wrong, as it’s actually FLYNN and he played Captain Blood in a pirate film, he wasn’t actually a pirate. Never mind, it got me to the answer.
Difficult to get going on this one, although I made it eventually in the end.
I thought the hybrid tool was an anagram of tool; I hadn’t come across spork before. I liked the CAR DIALS for Speedos – a typical Paul definition, and NEW ORLEANS.
Thanks Paul and PeterO.
This progressed like a typical Paul for me – only one clue completed on first reading, then a flood of answers came from somewhere and the final two or three took ages. Very enjoyable.
Hello all – many thanks for your comments. No Zoom tonight for once, but I’ll be back for the next one (date tbc soon). Do subscribe at https://www.johnhalpern.co.uk/ for news of Zooms, and wordplay community events, where you can get to meet me – and each other!
Post-lockdown, we can hopefully meet in person. Details to come….
I look forward to seeing you!
All the best,
John aka Paul
Dr What’s On, “This isn’t” because New Orleans is not the capital.
As a big fan of the lift-and-separate anagrind I enjoyed “underperforming” – luckily I once saw David Soul performing Neruda’s poetry at a festival otherwise I may have struggled. Quite a few “yes but why” moments in this one including CON GAME and CARDINALS with much chortling when the pennies finally dropped
[Today’s musical delights include Melba Moore’s THIS IS IT and emo rockers PLACEBO]
[The red Speedos, and their aka budgie thing, seem to have become a meme. They were the much-cartooned ‘TM’ of our ex-PM Tony Abott. Is that really the meme source…?]
Thank you PeterO, your usual very clear blog has helped me to understand several where parsing proved beyond me but luckily the lateral thinking required to guess from the definition + crossers was possible today.
EYESHADOW had me going for a while as I had decided it needed the essence of lid rather than vice versa in the mix. And why is that “here” at the end even necessary, surely it works just as well (ie not quite &lit as the “show” is superfluous to def) without?
Lots of other misdirection and cryptic definitions meant that this took several bites but I enjoyed it, was delighted to get Spadework early on ( marvellous Spork and Dew), and only the wonderful NEW ORLEANS can beat that, thanks Paul.
Muffin@18 Thanks for the enlightenment as it were.
I share the doubts about whether entail=need and especially whether rocker=pop star (that was my last in apart from the CON of CON GAME which just wouldn’t come although I knew it must be something along the lines of the three card trick).
[grantinfreo @32: I think they pre-date Tony Abbott by quite a long way. I had a quick Captain Cook in my 1982 copy of “Strine” by Afferbeck Launder and not there although Landger Ray is which doesn’t quite do it but made me laugh…
BTW, would you care to pop over and take Abbott back? We don’t want him.]
Thank you for the blog. Rather dull for a Paul but we cannot expect brilliance from our setters every time. Some of the longer answers had very stylish constructions.
A great puzzle, tough but very fair. I had no trouble with the nicely obscured defs in 14a and 26a. The parsing of 15d defeated me. Many thanks to Paul for the fun
[Sorry MB, no deal, we had quite enough of him. He’s got some sort of sinecure over there it seems, a reverse of the one-way ticket plus stipend that reprobate Brits used to be paid to go to the antopodes and stay there. If Maggie and Pinochet were still around Abbott would be taking tea, or GnT, with them]
[PS MB, dear old Afferbeck Lauder got a revival via the Consciousness era (once we escaped the Behaviorist jackboot, as one of my lecturers said). As in the piece entitled…
Adoowy:
Adoowy nofime reely reel
Adoowy nofime ear
Adoowy nofa tree makes anoisifairs
nowunair tooweer? ]
[PPS: been searching the school History memory banks for what those paid exiles were called…and up it popped, remittance man. Wiki: A remittance man is a historic term for an emigrant, often from Britain to a colony, supported by regular payments from home, on the expectation that he stay away. Settle in, Tony]
[But following Fichte, adoowy nofees reely ear? 😉 ]
Since I had no idea that flimflam could mean a confidence trick, I had no chance with 1a, so a dnf for me. And after all that effort.
Trailman – I actually looked up flimflam in Chambers, so got the idea of a trick but I still couldn’t get CON GAME; or OVERLAY for that matter. Felt like my brain was made of mush today after some very weird dreams last night, so I’m quite pleased to have got as close as that. Only got ‘Bill Gates’s trousers’ on first reading of the clues, had to check that MERCURY was really a heavy metal, and had the same doubts as others about ‘need’=ENTAIL and ‘pop star’=ROCKER. Thanks to essexboy @13 for help with the former; Chambers has “someone or something that rocks” for the latter, which could just about stretch to a pop star, I guess.
This was tough and I abandoned the effort about halfway through. I’m grateful to PeterO for the blog — things like “car dials” being “speedos” and “elf raising” as “lifting spirits” seem more absurd to me than clever. But being Paul I can count on some very satisfying clues like CON GAME, THIS IS IT, YANKEES, RED WINE, and my favourite, NEW ORLEANS. Thanks to both.
The clue for CARDINALS made me laugh when I read it. I’m now quite convinced that in the dress code for the clergy of some sect there are the minimum dimensions of swimming trunks!
Thanks for that and the rest of it to Paul and PeterO.
Re rocker – ‘from her home in deepest Essex’, I give you Suzi Quatro: I’ve always been a rocker at heart
essexboy: Hmm, maybe. But doesn’t she mean that she is the epitome of Chambers’ later definition: “a member of a teenage faction of the 1960s who wore leather jackets, rode motorcycles and were rivals of the Mods”? Or alternatively, she’s referring to the rock music that she plays, and she is only incidentally (rather than consequently or by definition) also a pop star.
Maybe this looks like quibbling, but if you take other examples of pop stars, such as Tom Jones or Kylie Minogue, the word rocker doesn’t come quite so readily to mind. Or turn it around, and if you had called Lemmy Kilmister, an archetypal rocker, a pop star, I reckon he’d have laid you out.
sh: I think what she meant was –
“Mickie (Most) wasn’t sure how to record me, but Mike Chapman got it,” Suzi says. “The reason Mickie couldn’t produce me was that he didn’t know how to use the raw energy that I have; I’m a rocker at heart. Mike saw that.
“If you listen to my first album all the songs are boogie style, and that’s what we were doing at gigs. Mike tapped into that.”
i.e. notwithstanding a ‘poppy’/ Happy Days feel, she’s claiming descent from boogie/blues lineage – and you could say the same of scores of pop acts from the 60s onwards.
(I’m not gonna mess with Lemmy though)
essexboy: Yes, I take your point. ROCKER only has to be an example of a type which Paul names ‘pop star’, there doesn’t have to be a direct equivalence.
I came to this late today, and I wish I’d had more time to savour it. I asked Paul/John on one of his Zoom meetings whether, when submitting puzzles, he flagged some as better for Saturdays or weekdays. He said no: he doesn’t find it easy to judge the difficulty level of his own puzzles, and leaves it to the editor to decide. If I were the editor, I’d have saved this for a weekend.
I wondered what Bill Gates was doing in 23 across. If he’s just there to signify an American usage, was he necessary? Pants for trousers is well established on both sides of the pond.
Lots to love, though: the misdirection of “Speedos” (yes, I was thinking of budgie smugglers), the wordplay for NERUDA, “early settler” for DEW at 15 down and, despite my aversion to cricket, “delivery groups” for OVERS in 9 down all get applause.
Definitely some tricky wordplay in a tough puzzle. I didn’t parse CAR DIALS but it is a great example of a CARDINAL rule of crossword solving – ignore the punctuation instead of trying to be clever and work in the recently learnt “budgie smugglers”! Thanks to Paul and PeterO.
I thought this was tough and I didn’t finish (missed CON GAME, PLACEBO and a couple more). However very entertaining and I liked those I didn’t get when explained. I also agree that EYE SHADOW didn’t quite work as is. But with a minor tweak, I think it’ll fly: A dye show created on lid in essence? perhaps.
I agree rocker and pop star and not normally considered synonymous, but with a more liberal interpretation, I reckon it’s fine. E.g. Steven Tyler’s a rocker and he’s certainly popular, so…
Faves were NEW ORLEANS and ANGLER, both beautifully crafted.
Thanks, Paul and PeterO
ENTAIL held me up so long I almost gave up. It jumped into my head this evening when I took a final look at the crossers. Like most others I found this pretty hard, but that’s par for the course with Paul. I liked SELF-RAISING, SPADEWORK and EYESHADOW. Many thanks to Paul and PeterO.
I also found this tough and couldn’t parse some until I read the blog. FOI was NEW ORLEANS and I think that was my favorite. I enjoyed the misdirection in YANKEES of “running back” implying American football but then it being a baseball team – I was trying to work in Giants or Jets at first. I’m embarrassed that GHOST TRAIN took me so long since I just read a book involving one a few days ago. Thanks, Paul and PeterO!
This crossword was J U S T. T O O H A R D for us to find it fun. Instead, it became a dreary boring cheat fest (Andy’s Anagrams etc etc). There’s been a lot of correspondence on the Guardian Letters page about how the Guardisn crossword is getting too hard, one correspondent saying that her answer was to press REVEAL ALL on the App, and then spend the rest of the day trying to work out why. Come on Paul (miche @52) nobody but you could believe the Crossword Editor ever actually attempts to solve crosswords his esteemed selfness! Certainly if they’re going to be like this, somewhat above his pay grade, surely…
Lots to like in this unusually clean crossword from Paul. Cardinals wearing Speedos is an image I’ll try to forget asap. 2d OVERLAY was deceptively clued, and I liked 12a FLORIN. But the best were 24a NERUDA for its lift and separate anagrind, and 26a NEW ORLEANS for its clever construction and brilliant surface.
I had no problem with 28a ROCKERY, as I think of rock as a sub-genre of pop music (although I am not knowledgeable in these musical styles), and “she rocks” is a way of saying “she’s a star” in a non-musical context, so the clue works in all ways.
Thanks Paul and PeterO.
I just saw Caroline’s post @57. If some people complain that the puzzles are getting too hard, and others (mainly on this site) complain that they’re getting too easy, perhaps that’s a sign that the editor and setters are getting it just about right.
Sometimes I am in the mood for an easier challenge than the daily Cryptic offers here, and I turn to the FT and the archived Quiptics*. I like to think that there is something for everyone on these sites.
* For people looking for easier puzzles that are as entertaining and high-quality as the Guardian cryptics, I highly recommend the archived Quiptics by Matilda and Orlando. They are uniformly superb.
Well, I’m glad it’s not just me that found this impossible. Many of them were way beyond me and even here I had to read the explanation three or four times to understand. 1ac for example I wouldn’t have got in a million years.
[cellomaniac @59: Your timing in recommending the FT as an “easier challenge” couldn’t be more unfortunate — tomorrow’s FT setter is Io (Enigmatist) — I can’t think of anyone’s crosswords tougher than those.]
Tony@61, I totally agree – I actually don’t even attempt his. (I sometimes start them just to confirm that they’re still beyond me.) So Caroline@57 et al, wait until Thursday to try the FT puzzle.
…and I meant to add that tomorrow’s Guardian is by Brendan, whose puzzles are brilliant and always worth the effort.
Just to add a bit of balance, the people who find the crosswords too easy probably keep quiet to avoid showing off. I have a twenty minute train journey on my way home to do the crossword and for nearly three weeks I have finished far too early including this one.. I , for one, would appreciate a week of very tough crosswords which we did have fairly recently.
cellomaniac @59 and Roz @64 – adapting cellomaniac’s advice, why not take a shorter train journey that will be a better fit for your crossword solving time? A lot of people attempt the Guardian crossword because it is the one that comes attached to their newspaper. The balance is undoubtedly shifting but the voice of those who want an accessible crossword for their £2.20 will be a strong one for the Guardian.
Cellomaniac @ 59, we’ve been enjoying doing the Guardian crossword for many years, and until recently rare was the day we could not complete it. As Van Winkle, we too are paper solvers and we still succeed with the Saturday prize. Conclusion: the ease of the cheat buttons on the App is changing the nature of the crossword.
I have been doing the crossword every day since 1995 and only ever in the actual paper, I do not know even know what an App is. From my train journey home I can judge how easy the crosswords are and I am certain the last three weeks have been the easiest run we have ever had. In fact in the last three months we have had one single tough week.
Roz@67
Horses for courses. I’ve been doing the crossword in the paper for even longer than you and I can’t say that, with the exception of Saturdays no longer being more difficult than the rest, I have noticed them getting easier.
This one I DNF and Boatman’s last week I missed by a long way, by not spotting that CO was an abbreviation for Carry On and thus not having a definition for many of the clues.
Roz@64,67 – hear hear!
I echo Gervase@23 on this another superb, original and highly enjoyable from this great setter. Many thanks both and all…
Totally bamboozled. Had SHAWCROSS for 15d = H (as in PREParation H) within (done by) SAWCROSS (ie a hybrid tool) and guessed that Shawcross was some sort of explorer ! Had NORADA for 24ac (as in, if you are not a good performer that you are no RADA (and hoped Norada was a poet) ! When I grew up on the Wirral, pants were trousers so need for Bill Gates.
No need for Bill Gates