A puzzle full of poets from Paul this week – very enjoyable, and a pretty good difficulty level for a prize puzzle, I thought. Many thanks, Paul!
Across
1. Poet feeding rats to damsel in distress (9)
MASEFIELD
FIE = “rats” in (DAMSEL)*
Definition: “Poet”, referring to John Masefield (In our house he’s most famous for “A Box of Delights”, which had a wonderful BBC adaptation in 1984 which we watch every year at Christmas…)
6. 3 reciting poem? (4)
RIME
Sounds like (“reciting”) “rhyme” (“poem”)
Definition: “[FROST]”
8. Target for lion, perhaps, little creature has run off with another (8)
ANTELOPE
ANT = “little creature” + ELOPE = “run off with another”
Definition: “Target for lion, perhaps”
9. Some words nippers read out? (6)
CLAUSE
Sounds like (“read out”) “claws” (“nippers”)
Definition: “Some words”
10. John Betjeman’s third poet recalled (6)
TOILET
[be]T[jeman] = “Betjeman’s third” + ELIOT = “poet” all reversed
Definition: “John”
11. Agree to protect tease — in the family way? (8)
TRIBALLY
TALLY = “Agree” around RIB = “tease”
Definition: “in the family way?”
12. Work late? Male hasn’t finished, certainly (4,2)
STAY UP
STA[g] = “Male hasn’t finished” + YUP = “certainly”
Definition: “Work late?”
15. Poet ready to break Swiss dish (8)
ROSSETTI
My favourite clue in this crossword: SET = “ready” in RÖSTI = “Swiss dish”. (I highly recommend this method for authentic rösti.)
Definition: “Poet”, referring to Dante Gabriel Rossetti
16. Direction taken by writer in contribution to discussion? (8)
PENNORTH
NORTH = “Direction” by PEN = “writer”
Definition: “contribution to discussion?” as in “to add my penn’orth …” – an abbreviation of “pennyworth”. I got stuck on this for a while, thinking it was spelt “pen’worth”. (Maybe it is sometimes – the dictionaries suggest lots of alternatives.)
19. Bum touring new French city (6)
NANTES
NATES = “Bum” (a new one to me, but “nates” meaning “buttocks” is in Chambers) around N = “new”
Definition: “French city”
21. A new rake in motion, stir again (8)
REAWAKEN
(A NEW RAKE)
Definition: “stir again”
22. Remain with server in shop (6)
BETRAY
BE = “Remain” + TRAY = “server”
Definition: “shop” (meaning “to inform against someone to the police”)
24. Poet, Tennyson’s subject under discussion? (6)
BROOKE
Sounds like “Brook”, which is “Tennyson’s subject” (referring to his poem, “The Brook”)
Definition: “Poet”, referring to Rupert Brooke
25. Poet in denial reviewing retrospective (8)
VERLAINE
Hidden reversed in “[d]ENIAL REV[iewing]”
Definition: “Poet”, referring to Paul Verlaine
26. Issue: point overturned (4)
EMIT
TIME = “point” (as in “at some point” / “at some time”) reversed
Definition: “Issue”
27. Demanding different results, serious failings initially concealed (9)
STRESSFUL
(RESULTS)* around S[erious] F[ailings] = “serious failings initially” – “concealed” indicates the inclusion
Definition: “Demanding”
Down
1. Poet in squalor, number coming up (5)
MUNRO
Hidden reversed in “[sqal]OR NUM[ber]”
Definition: “Poet”, I’m not totally sure who this refers to, but probably John Munro. (My first thought was Hector Hugh Munro / Saki, but I don’t think he’s known for poetry?)
2. Book Scottish island up for poet (7)
SHELLEY
SHE = “Book” – now somewhat obscure, I think, but common in crosswords, this refers to the novel by H. Rider Haggard, followed by YELL = “Scottish island” reversed
Definition:
3. Puncturing endless drivel, singular poet (5)
FROST
S = “singular” (as used in dictionaries) in FROT[h] = “endless drivel”
Definition: “Poet”, referring to Robert Frost
4. Person choosing a little carrot, celery going the wrong way (7)
ELECTOR
Hidden reversed in “[car]ROT CELE[ry]”
Definition: “Person choosing”
5. Eye issue limiting in poet (9)
DICKINSON
DICK = “Eye” (a private eye or detective) + SON = “issue” around IN (“limiting” is the inclusion indicator)
Definition: “Poet”, referring to Emily Dickinson
6. Local interest in airline a monarch set up (4,3)
REAL ALE
EL-AL = “airline” + A + ER = “monarch”, all reversed
Definition: “Local interest” (“local” in the sense of a pub)
7. Paul’s locked in 10s unfortunately — seasonal hang-up? (9)
MISTLETOE
ME = “Paul” (the setter) around (TOILETS)*
Definition: “seasonal hang-up?” – nice definition
13. Whistler carried by doddery mother out of that place (9)
THEREFROM
REF = “Whistler” in (MOTHER)*
Definition: “out of that place”
14. Birds hearing poet who jumps from planes? (9)
PARAKEETS
Sounds like PARA KEATS – “para” is short for “paratrooper”, hence “poet who jumps from planes?”
Definition: “Birds”
17. Novel closer for poet (7)
NEWBOLT
NEW = “Novel” + BOLT = “closer”
Definition: “Poet”, referring to Henry Newbolt
18. After U-turn, minister working well in house (7)
HANOVER
REV = “minister” + ON = “working” + AH = “well”, all reversed
Definition: “house” (as in a royal house)
20. Absolutely ludicrously hot inside pastry that’s flipped over (3,4)
NOT HALF
(HOT)* in FLAN = “pastry” reversed
Definition: “Absolutely”
22. Poet takes Browning too far? (5)
BURNS
A cryptic allusion to browning food (and going too far, so it burns) with a reference to Robert Browning in the surface reading
Definition: “Poet”, referring to Robert Burns
23. Classic year incomplete, end of April void (5)
ANNUL
ANN[o] = “Classic year incomplete” (some form of the Latin word for “year” is “anno”) + [apri]L = “end of April”
Definition: “void”
Thanks mhl. I’ve observed before that either Paul must be getting harder or I must be getting slower so I approached this with a certain amount of trepidation. It fell into place quite readily though and I was left wondering whether to be gratified or disappointed. The theme didn’t require a degree in English literature and the poets were all familiar even to me. 15a could also be Christina of course and must confess I never saw past Saki in 1d.
I thought this was Paul at his best, with an interesting ‘poets’ theme to cap what was a skilful and well-pitched puzzle. I like the way Paul is able to find different ways to define words as well as to manipulate them. My favourite clues were TOILET, PENN’ORTH, NANTES, DICKINSON, MISTLETOE, THEREFROM and BURNS.
Thanks to Paul and mhl.
Great fun. Thank you Paul, as ever. Loved “pennorth”
And thanks mhl, of course
Thanks to Paul and mhl. I enjoyed all the poets though I was not sure about MUNRO and NEWBOLT was new to me. I got the sense of PENNORTH but was confused by the the spelling.
Thanks mhl and Paul. Fun puzzle.
23 should have ANNU[s].
Yes gonzo, I too was thinking annus (horibilis or mirabilis). Nice puzzle. Had to be reminded that rostis are Swiss. Loved pennorth and mistletoe. Thanks Paul and mhl.
Bigglea A @ 1. The thing about Paul is that he greatly varies the level of difficulty he sets. I think that this is a pity as there is enough variety of setters without the need for a ‘varifocal’ one. As I finished this puzzle it must have been just about right for me, and what I do like about Paul is that I am not left with an answer that I cannot parse
I enjoyed the crossword and agree with everyone else that the difficulty level was spot on. An interesting collection of poets, mainly from late 19th, early 20th centuries which I suspected came from a school poetry anthology. Isn’t NATES in 19 a crossword regular? Or maybe just a Paul regular. It’s been featured before certainly. Thanks to Paul and Mhl.
Alan B sums it up perfectly @2. Some of these were nho – NEWBOLT and MUNRO in particular – but still solvable. Poor old Whistler’s mother – pretty ancient when she was painted and still being wheeled out! But contributing to a clever surface. Loved the homophone though someone almost certainly won’t. Both of the inevitable toilet jokes were good. “Bum touring” brought a laugh. Favourites REAL ALE, NOT HALF (they seem to go together) and the splendid ROSSETTI.
I’ll admit to a degree of headscratching as a result of lack of attention to detail: without proper checking of the anagram fodder, I bunged in MANSFIELD for 1a, my FOI, which created some problems for SHELLEY at 2d, and, whilst I solved BROOKE, it was unparsed due to shameful ignorance of the works of Tennyson.
Thanks Paul and mhl
An very enjoyable puzzle but 26 ac seems very poor. Point = time?? and why over in overturned? it is a good principle that no word in the clue should be redundant. Three of us, who solved it all as we usually do, could not justify this answer.
Croc@11, I wondered about ‘point’ also, but among numerous definitions Webster’s gives ‘an exact moment … a time interval immediately before something indicated’ (‘at the point of death’), and Collins has ‘moment (at that point he left the room)’.
An interesting puzzle for those of us living near Ledbury in Herefordshire, the home town of MASEFIELD, which has its own Poetry Festival – visit us from 2 July onwards, if permitted. Elizabeth Barrett Browning lived nearby, as did the Dymock Poets, including FROST, whose most famous poem refers to ‘a yellow wood’ – I went there in daffodil time last month and saw what he meant.
Although MUNRO was easy to spot, I felt he was fairly obscure.
Thanks, Paul and mhl.
Croc @11 – I agree on the definition of 26ac being slightly dubious but overturned is fine as it makes more sense for the surface than turned.
And I agree with Alan B @2 that one of the joys of Paul is his novel definitions – ‘seasonal hang-ups’ and ‘local interest’ are both splendid. Also some lovely wordplay – particularly enjoyed the misdirection in 10ac, ‘para-Keats’, ‘Whistler’ and ‘takes Browning too far’.
Overall, thoroughly enjoyable. Thanks Paul, and mhl too.
PostMark @10 – I confess I looked up the words of Tennyson to confirm the solution for 24ac.
Croc@11, I meant to say also that I think ‘overturned’ is to support the surface meaning of a contentious issue where a point in dispute is disposed of (overturned, rather than turned). Of course, the actual clue and answer refer to a different meaning of ‘issue’ and ‘point’.
Yes, Goldilocks this one.
Only knew about half the poets but credit to Paul that the others were gettable from the wordplay.
My FOI was TOILET, and I couldn’t help but think if this was Paul’s starting point for the whole puzzle….
I could hear his brain thinking hmmmm, ELIOT backwards is nearly toilet and there it was, a poet themed puzzle!
….and a most enjoyable one.
This was enjoyable. I thought PARAKEETS (Para Keats!) was great. My one quibble was that MUNRO was surely very obscure, although I think it’s more likely intended to be Harold Munro, who was slightly better known than John. And I would agree with Biggles A that the ROSSETTI poet who springs to mind more readily is Christina, although I’m a bit surprised to see that she and her brother get about the same amount of space in my Penguin Book of English Verse.
They do a lovely rösti at Betty’s in Harrogate!
Many thanks Paul and mhl.
Ant @17. Well, it may have been a starting point for Paul, but I somehow solved this with completely the wrong poet: I began with a T and then reversed TELIO! Gets the right answer, anyway.
Well done widdersbel @14 for confessing a less than complete knowledge of the works of Tennyson; mine only extends to the Battle of Balaclava and Maud, and I couldn’t bring BROOKE to mind, so would have been grateful for some wordplay.
Also failed on DICKINSON (where I’m afraid that DICK in my vocabulary refers to a different part of the body) and NANTES (failed to recall both the body part and the city).
Re level of difficulty, this is a constant discussion on this site, but if I can just have my PENNORTH, I think it is usually in the eye of the beholder. Yes, there are deliberately easy puzzles, but even in those it is easy for the solver to fail to see the wood for the trees, missing something obvious while looking for something difficult. And at anything above beginner level it is possible to find yourself either in tune with the setter or on a different planet. Then there’s what for me is becoming a well-known phenomenon where the brain sets like concrete; or happier days when I just seem to be on the setter’s wavelength. Last Saturday was not one of those!
Thanks to Paul and mhl (btw, as Gonzo says @6, the wordplay in 23d should be ANNU(s) rather than ANN(o) 🙂 ).
Was helped by the theme – guessed some and parsed later.
New: the poets Henry NEWBOLT & MUNRO but the clues were helpful.
Did not parse SHELLEY but the poet was obvious.
Favourites: HANOVER, TRIBALLY (loi).
RIME threw me for a moment as it’s also an archaic spelling for “rhyme”. In fact my son’s school were teaching it as valid modern usage – some sort of phonetic thing maybe? I was unfamiliar with a couple of the poets but they were all GFTW
Cheers
That was a good Prize, and a theme within my area of GK. The BROOK(E) is the sort of poem that was thought suitable for 1950s schoolchildren to learn by heart – and we did. I still remembered much of the poem, but not that Tennyson wrote it. Nho any of the MUNROs, and it needed the final crosser to convince me that the Swiss dish wasn’t an unparsable RACLETTE.
Liked BURNS and the seasonal hangup and the para-Keats (an easy one for me as the green ones are screeching in my apple tree every morning). NA(n)TES is a word I learned from Paul, and it shows up fairly regularly.
Enjoyable crossword with most of the poets mercifully well-known.
I particularly liked BETRAY and DICKINSON. A couple of quibbles – 24 was a Quick crossword clue with two pieces of GK and no wordplay. I had to look up Tennyson’s subject. I also thought ‘book’ was a bit vague for SHE, although I guess it’s a crossword staple. I also took the classic year as annus.
Thanks Paul and mhl.
Great fun. Ta Paul & mhl
I liked the idea of a crack team of romantic poets landing behind enemy lines (presumably after wandering as clouds) and the moment of realisation when you remember that fondue is not the only Swiss dish.
Enjoyed this, working through the list of poets in my head. I had to look up Newbolt as I’d never heard of him. I too thought of Christina Rossetti as the poet.
I must have missed the word NA(n)TES with Paul as I had left that unparsed.
I liked the clue to BURNS. Must admit when I saw TOILET I thought yes, this is definitely Paul; the mental picture generated by 7 down is something I would prefer to forget.
2d Has anyone here actually read “She” in the past
60 years? Perhaps setters should try to find an alternative to “book”.
16a I might have solved this more quickly if it had been numerated (4’4) but that horse has been dead for a long time.
17d Newbolt is famous for one line , “Play up! Play up! And play the game”.
Thanks to Paul for a puzzle with plenty of clever clues as usual and to mhl for the blog.
2d, again. I suspect that more people have seen the 1965 film with Ursula Andress. There have been other versions
Loved this – and the reminders to some wonderful poems, particularly Sea Fever by Masefield and Stopping by Woods by Frost.
Ta mhl and thanks go to Paul. I thought I had hit a brick wall. But with much googling of poets I finished, although it’s not really my subject at all.
By the way, anybody else consider RYAN AIR for 6 down momentarily?
PostMark@10,Michelle@20, Julia@26, Pino@27. Drakes Drum, The Fighting Temeraire? And yes, I have read She but admittedly not in the last 60 years. Brownphel@8 and sheffield hatter@19, points taken and I like the comment about the eye of the beholder. For me it was one of those days when I was lucky enough to be on the setter’s wavelength. I was speaking generally @1 and it was a long time ago but on first acquaintance with Paul I must have been on his wavelength more often.
I’m wholeheartedly with Alan B @2 – I’ll add MASEFIELD to his favourites (I loved the ‘rats’!).
And I’ll add ‘The road not taken’ to ‘Stopping by woods’ and ‘Cargoes’ (I loved reciting it in primary school) to ‘Sea Fever’, favourites of Malevole @29.
Like gladys @22, my first thought was RACLETTE for 15ac.
Many thanks to Paul for a most enjoyable puzzle and to mhl for a fine blog – I really enjoyed watching / listening to the rosti recipe! – and I remember that lovely ‘The Box of Delights, too.
To anybody who might be interested : Paul holds a forum on Zoom every evening of the day that his puzzle is in The Guardian. Well worth ‘attending’. Sign up at johnnhalpern.co.uk.
Best wishes to all
Enjoyed this, even if the poets are mostly the canon-heavy dead white males. The anagram of TS ELIOT and TOILETS has amused me since long ago university days, and the neat 10A was an early success here and a way in to the theme. Like Gladys @22 and Eileen @32 I was stuck on RACLETTE for the Swiss dish for ages, yes the ROSSETTI was a great resolution.
Especially enjoyed also the PARAKEETS PENNORTH and the painterly allusion in THEREFROM. VERLAINE also pretty impressive reverse-hidden construction.
The final one in was BROOKE, since I don’t know much Tennyson!
Thanks Paul for the challenge and the fun, mhl for blogging it all so helpfully and all the learned contributors to 625 !
I think MUNRO is the much more well-known poet Harold Monro spelt wrong. Otherwise, why wouldn’t Paul pick MONRO and clue that?
Eileen @32 and what great additions those two are – without googling ‘Cargoes’ if memory serves it is packed with crossword answers – quinquireme of Ninevah?
Malevole, I can’t resist doing the googling for you, just for the pleasure of reading it again – and you really do need to read it aloud.
‘Quinquireme of Nineveh from distant Ophir,
Rowing home to haven in sunny Palestine,
With a cargo of ivory,
And apes and peacocks,
Sandalwood, cedarwood, and sweet white wine.
Stately Spanish galleon coming from the Isthmus,
Dipping through the Tropics by the palm-green shores,
With a cargo of diamonds,
Emeralds, amythysts,
Topazes, and cinnamon, and gold moidores.
Dirty British coaster with a salt-caked smoke stack,
Butting through the Channel in the mad March days,
With a cargo of Tyne coal,
Road-rails, pig-lead,
Firewood, iron-ware, and cheap tin trays.’
I remember savouring the rhythm and the rich language in the first two verses, compared with the last. We found the salt-caked smoke stack quite a tongue-twister!
[ Araucaria double grid August Bank holiday special based on “Cargoes ” . Long time ago , possibly about 1997 ?? . ]
For those who (like me) tried RACETTE first: depending on how much poetic obscurity you allow, it does actually fit the wordplay, so no shame there.
[Eileen @37. My mother used to sing that at bedtime to me and my brothers when we were little, so I knew it by heart long before coming across it at school. Each verse had the same melody but slightly different rhythm and pace, to suit the subject matter and the words. The change between “cinnamon, and gold moidores” and “salt-caked smoke stack” was particularly evocative, and we boys used to join in with the final “cheap tin trays”, suitably clattering! Don’t know how we got to sleep after that one, though.]
Thanks sheffield hatter for that lovely story.
And thanks, Roz @38 – but I can’t see any way of retrieving the puzzle, obviously way before 15²’s time.
[EpeeSharkey @34. You seem to have promoted this site from Fifteen Squared to Twenty-five Squared! (625 is the number of lines in a TV picture, as I recall.)]
Paul can be difficult for me but this went in smoothly even though my knowledge of poets dates back to high school. The poets who were unfamiliar were obtainable through Paul’s usual meticulous clueing. I had many favourites including STRESSFUL (nice surface), REAL ALE, THEREFROM, PARAKEETS, HANOVER, and BURNS. Thanks to both.
Thoroughly enjoyed this. Thanks Paul and mhl.
Was surprised to find Newbolt in the Guardian (Shelley seemed more at home here).
Was less surprised that some had never heard of him though my wartime schooldays fitted his style and we must have heard his rousing phrases.. Though his Wikipaedia entry has some interesting revelations!
3d Froth = drivel? News to me, I had “rot” which left the F unaccounted for.
I’d heard of (and mostly read) all the poets except MUNRO and NEWBOLT.
sjhart @12 I thought “what’s a New England poet doing in the English countryside?”, so looked up the Dymock poets and found that Frost did indeed spend a significant amount of time in the UK, even establishing a relationship with British publishers.
Pino @27 I found the Newbolt poem — “won on the playing fields of
Eton,” what? Victorian manliness at its worst. I prefer Malevolo’s choices @29 and Eileen’s @32, and will add Frost’s “After Apple-Picking.” I hear the Frost’s poems in my mind in his voice, from a recording my parents had of him reading his poems. (Same goes for Dylan Thomas in his rich Welsh voice.)
I also enjoyed petert’s crack team of romantic poets @25.
Malevolo @36 Without googling, the Cargoes line that comes to me is “cheap tin trays.” (Thanks for the google, Eileen.) I’m not sure quinquiremes would have been used for commerce — they would have been hugely expensive, and probably reserved for naval battles. I’m also sure the oars in the top bank would have been almost impossibly long. (I stand ready to be corrected.)
Enjoyed the puzzle and the conversation as well Thanks, Paul, mhl and commenters.
I hadn’t known “Drake’s Drum.” The line “Drake he’s in his hammock” is the first line of Tom Lewis’s “Marching Inland,” which makes fun of nautical heroism and presents Odysseus’s plan to carry an oar inland and not settle down until he met somebody who asked him what it was.
In a fit of Ontario (ONT or ON) parochialism, I thought of Alice Munro for 1d. (Yes, she also wrote poetry.)
Like Valentine, I loved Petert@25’s crack team of romantic poets landing behind enemy lines. It conjures up a sketch that Monty Python should have done.
And thanks, Eileen for reproducing Cargoes – a joy to read aloud, as sh@40 remembers delightfully.
I thought this was Paul at his inventive best, and thanks mhl for the excellent blog. (I too think the classic year at 23d is annus, as otherwise the U in ANNUL is unaccounted for).
I loved this. My quibble was with RÖSTI which in a German crossword would be ROESTI and not ROSTI. (Similarly Händel for German speakers is not Handel.) However I realise this is pernickety! Many thanks to Paul and to mhl
A perfect day!
Lovely blog and non-controversial comments on last week’s puzzle and a great Tramp puzzle today.
[And I’m not a huge follower of football, except when my local team are in the news, but they have just won the FA Cup, for the first time ever. It’s been a fantastic five years for them, after winning the Premier League, and for our city, including the reinterment of Richard III. I’m feeling (hic) euphoric. 😉 ]
Eileen @49: Lest – er – it go unremarked, I thought I’d pop in afore bed to congratulate you. I trust your euphoric state subsides gently rather than leave you with a price to pay in the morn 😀
@50 Seconded, PM!
Hi PostMark @50
Pun appreciated – I think I’ll make church tomorrow. 😉
[I meant to add a tribute to the owner, after the tragic death of his father (‘Forever in our hearts’, as the banners said) in the helicopter crash, who I was distressed to see sitting by himself throughout the match but then he was hugged by all the players. A really emotional evening.]
Great puzzle so thanks Paul and mhl. But I really popped in late to say as a Chelsea supporter, Grandfather, Father, man and boy comgrats to Eileen and all at Leicester for winning the FA Cup. The owners of Leicester City show by example how it should be done and their non participation in the ESL speaks volumes!! And wasn’t it great to have some real crowd noise. Maybe just maybe…………. no, let me not write it in case I spoil it!!
Valentine@45. You aroused my curiosity. Wikipedia confirms the quinquireme was indeed a warship and that it probably had only three banks of oars for the reason you postulate. The ‘five’ nomenclature is likely to relate to the number of rowers on each oar.
Very enjoyable. Thanks Paul and mhl.
It has only just occurred to me that “staying up” means “working” in the sense of a computer system being “up”, otherwise I couldn’t figure that clue.
Eileen @ 49
So pleased for you
Thanks mhl, I missed a few wordplay elements (eg STAY UP where I had an earthier Pauline/Cyclopsean take on it from the surface) and you (and Gonzo) have cleared these up.
Thanks also for your Rösti link (shame about the Google translation subtitling!) although my ha’PENNORTH (my opinions generally not worth the full 1p) is that he should be parboiling the spuds the day before and keeping them in the fridge overnight before grating. (While I sympathise, beobachterin@48, I think we have to allow English some sort of licence to butcher words from other languages in absorbing them, especially when an unfamiliar character or entire alphabet is involved.)
Thanks also to those above for fleshing out the poets and their works, many of whom were new to me – including Verlaine, and yet the next day I found a quote from him on a bottle of wine that we have had for a year or two.
I will add to the general praise for this, certainly chewy enough for me, clever and witty without being too out-there, thanks Paul.
A bit late in to say much, except I’d like to give Pino @27’s dead horse a kick, too. Aren’t apostrophes used in clue enumerations, or what?