Guardian Cryptic 28,563 by Paul

88 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 28,563 by Paul”

1. Thanks for explaining BOTHERATION PeterO as I just could not see it – got the word but little idea of exactly how.
   The rest fell into place nicely and this must be one of the most accessible Pauls for a while. Lots of smiles when things clicked. There was much to like here.
   Thanks Paul.

2. Finished top half first. I was not really on Paul’s wavelength – I am finding his surfaces hard to read lately and it makes my brain numb. I did not parse: 10ac, 14ac, 23ac, 24ac – I never would have managed to parse 24ac in a million years. (Obviously, I am not a fan of the ‘Rocky’ film series).

   Favourites: SKID ROW, REPROOF.

   New for me: HYMENOPTERA.

   3d brought back a bad memory of a film I walked out of as both my friend and I disliked it so much we could not bear to watch it to the end. Apologies to any Borat fans.

   Thanks, both.

3. A lot of smile-making here; I particularly liked INN.

   When I was writing in HYMENOPTERA I had a flash of Dr. Who. On checking, I see that the show featured bee-like creatures called Menopt(e)ra, all the way back in 1965. [And I can’t remember what I had for breakfast yesterday.] I wonder now if the BBC avoided the “Hy” because of the association with verboten body parts (at the time I was young and clueless).

4. Thanks PeterO for 24a and 3d. Also for HIC in MOHICAN, eventually, when I realized a boozer was a person and not a pub.

   I did check if 18d REPROME was a word.

   Thanks also Paul for an entertaining Xword

5. Dave@4
   the clue for 18d also made me think of Nero first 🙂

6. Thanks PeterO.

   I thought that BOTHERATION was much more than just the clever, and PC , wordplay. The answer is a kind of pun on bothering (women by pinching their bottoms) and a synonym of annoyance, as well as the definition.

   I also thought that REPROOF had a bit more to it, in a down clue, with question mark. ie (ON THE) ROOF.

7. A lovely crossword.Thank you Paul.

   HYMENOPTERA was a brilliant clue, perhaps my favourite, although the HIC in MOHICAN was inspired.

   I needed your help, PeterO, to parse BOTHERATION, so thank you for that. There are so many sexists in films I failed to spot the chosen one.. Similarly, I needed the crossers to help me get the wonderful Ian Rankin having tried many other writers of detective novels.

   Great fun.

8. I question the definition of both ELM TREE and CONIFER: one elm tree or conifer is not a wood: the timber kind of wood is just elm, and there is no timber called conifer.

9. Botheration, I couldn’t parse BOTHERATION, since Borat didn’t spring to mind. But a thoroughly enjoyable solve – even all the little ones were good, particularly INN and NIL. Favourites ENTRANCE FEE and COLD TAP for their definitions, SKID ROW, NASTY, HYMENOPTERA – and an appreciative OUCH for FORTNIGHT.

10. I had similar thoughts to gladys @8 about the trees, but decided it was OK, in the same way as WINDERMERE could be clued as ‘water’. ELM TREE and CONIFER are two possible configurations of the substance ‘wood’, just as Windermere is one possible configuration of the substance ‘water’.

    And yes, yesyes (as someone said yesterday) – Christie, Sayers, Dexter, Simenon… why won’t any of them fit?… and who was the creep who got his comeuppance from Dolly Parton in 9 to 5?

    Thanks Paul, especially for putting the HIC in MOHICAN, and PeterO.

11. Thanks Paul and PeterO. Some nice clues here – although for the second day running, the purists will be throwing their copy of the Guardian across the room in disgust. Favourites for me were HYMENOPTERA, COMBINATION LOCKS, BOTHERATION, LIGHTEN UP.

    Thanks PeterO for explaining “going in tin” – crafty. I was thinking of dropping your entrance fee in a tin on your way in but wasn’t at all satisfied by that, and your explanation is much better!

    Not so much of the usual filth today, though I can’t help wondering what type of plug Paul had in mind for 10a…

12. Widdersbel @11: I share the concern voiced in your closing line – and wasn’t planning on explicitly referring to the clue. Not so much of the usual, indeed!

    I’m another fan of (a not fully parsed) BOTHERATION and confess to turning to external sources to arrive at HYMENOPTERA, having worked out the correct fodder. I also failed to make the Rocky connection in CANAL BOAT. As others have observed, not much in the way of great surfaces – the aforementioned BOTHERATION, NASTY, the neat homophone in FORTNIGHT and the brilliant ‘Brilliant books’ being the stand outs. Although less smooth, ENTRANCE FEE takes the biscuit for me for the delightful definition.

    Thanks Paul and PeterO

13. Thanks Paul and PeterO
    I agree with gladys about the wood – there is a word for conifer wood; it’s “deal”. Also a REPROOF is surely more a telling-off than an accusation.
    I didn’t parse CANAL BOAT or BOTHERATION either – I haven’t heard of either of the film characters.
    COLD TAP was my favourite type of clue – I built it up from its parts to get a surprise definition.

14. PM @12 – let us pretend we didn’t see it and speak no more of it.

15. I struggled with this for quite a while, but I’m glad I persisted. It was worthwhile in the end.

    Saw the anagram fodder in 22 and wondered about -phone, was there a word to do with the sound of bees? But the crossers saved me. Paul was very restrained with his clueing there. Have we perhaps found his pale?

    Another who couldn’t parse BOTHERATION, saw the ION, but am not a fan of Cohen, to the degree that I used to mute the TV or change channel if he came on.

    Thanks Paul and PeterO

16. I had guessed “entrance fee” early on but didn’t pencil it in because I couldn’t see the definition. It might all have gone a lot quicker if I had! Nice one Paul, and thanks to PeterO for the explanation.

17. Typical Paul offering (apart from the disappointing lack of oo er missus) with, as PeterO said, some inventive constructions and some really clunky surfaces – Paul is the successor to the blessed Araucaria in this respect. This time there are mercifully few split entry solutions, which are tiresome when solving via the Guardian app on a smartphone ( as I usually do).

    But there are some excellent clues which combine good construction and surface: HYMENOPTERA, BOTHERATION, COLD TAP and WALMART stood out for me.

    Bravo PeterO for spotting the cryptic definition in ENTRANCE FEE. I assumed the ‘tin’ was the money box for the takings. Very clever, pity about the surface!

    Thanks to S&B

18. I missed the subtlety of the entrance fee tin too being diverted by thoughts of village fetes and Jack Dee’s craft fair

    I’m not sure sexist really does Borat justice

19. Anyone else parse LIT as in it’s modern slang sense of excellent rather than illuminated?

20. I liked the little mini-theme of the US chains as well as learning the new word (for me) at 22a, HYMENOPTERA. Didn’t really get the definition of 12a ENTRANCE FEE or the reference in 15a ELM TREE. REPROOF at 18d was my favourite. Thanks Paul and PeterO.

21. Can someone explain 23a?
    I can’t see what “Americans” is doing there.

22. Getting to the point where I might have to discontinue slogging through Paul’s increasingly absent surfaces and strained definitions.

    This is sad as he was once among a very short list of my favourite setters. Perhaps he feels his longevity means he no longer has to bother?

    Hey-ho, always tomorrow.

23. I found this tough but persistence paid off. I don’t think there’s such a thing as a bad Paul, often it comes down to whether you can tune into his wavelength. I am now 3 for 3 this week so it can’t continue!
    Thanks to Paul and PeterO for clearing up a few mysteries.

24. Kenmac @ 21: our cousin’s use zip to convey “ nothing”.

25. kenmac @21 – it’s (originally) an American colloquialism, hence “for Americans”. People would have complained if he’d left out that qualifier, even though it’s well understood in the UK as well these days. (My first thought on reading the clue was to look for something to do with postcodes.)

26. Thanks, Both – pity about the two traps in 22 … second would have been better as e.g ‘ensnare’. Was the use of ‘corrupt’ in 8,9 meant to convey a hidden message?

27. Oh dear tilt meaning cant was new to me! Otherwise a great puzzle once I got going. Didn’t remember Balboa or Rocky so thanks for the parsing.

28. Agree with most of what’s been said, especially the brilliant HONEYTRAP anag.

    Seeing CANAL BOAT in a Paul, tried to do something with ANAL. Also thought there might be a second mini-theme when LOCKS went in – but no.

29. “Paul doesn’t do Quiptics, but if he did…”
    Completely failed to parse BOTHERATION and CANAL BOAT, loved COMBINATION LOCKS and MOHICAN and thought the surface, fodder and solution for HYMENOPTERA were superb. Thanks to Paul for the workout and PeterO for the illumination.

30. widdersbel @25: ditto for me re ‘zip’ and postcodes

31. I thought BOTHERATION was today’s stand-out clue – I didn’t get the sexist until I’d filled in the answer. I’ve never watched a Rocky film, so didn’t know his surname. Thanks for the explanation, PeterO, and for another enjoyable mental work-out, Paul.

32. Thanks PeterO I had the same misunderstanding as widdersbel@11 re tin, your alt parsing of the US is STARBUCKS makes a lot of sense and your stitch-up is superior to my original parsing.
    I took a long time to get anywhere with this and unusually it was the shorter ones that gave me a toehold but once started it all slipped in fairly smoothly.
    Gladys@8 et al, while I also dislike ELM TREE for Wood it does at least allow for a nice surface meaning if we think of the ‘auteur’ Ed (maybe you have seen the Tim Burton biopic, almost certainly superior to anything from Ed’s actual oeuvre).
    madman@26, I agree re the otherwise sweet HYMENOPTERA but along with COLD TAPS and INN this still makes my top 3, thanks Paul.

33. Thanks Paul, & PeterO for great blog and much needed help with BOTHERATION & CANAL BOAT.
    Entertaining as ever, with a US flavour (Supreme Court / Skid Row in addition to brands).
    Loved the ‘honey trap’ and thought of the two traps as rhetorical.
    Also like STENTOR for ‘underway’ and ALUMNUS for ‘sunup’.

34. Gazzh@32: the wood business is just a petty quibble and didn’t stop me getting either answer, and I’m not sure how else you would clue ELM TREE given that you already have TREE in the answer. Yes, I have seen Ed Wood: good film.

35. Gazzh @32: I did wonder about the two ‘wood’s (Tiger?) and Ed W makes sense. There’s also the ‘American Gothic’ painter Grant Wood for 7d (presumably accidental as no surface reading).

36. Thanks for the blog. Paul at his very best, a stream of clues dripping with imagination , too many to list.
    I can’t find a single recycled clue to spoil things today.

37. An entertaining Paul, I thought. William @22, I thought most of the surfaces were fine, better than some in previous Paul crosswords.

    I liked COMBINATION LOCKS, SKID ROW, IBIZA and SIGNAGE. I failed to see Borat and Balboa, although I got the answer from the definitions and crossers.

    Thanks Paul and PeterO.

38. 28 ac. Jousted would have been better than jousting.

39. I guessed couldn’t parse 24, and looking at the solution I’m not surprised that I couldn’t, but the rest of it came with sufficient beating of my head against the clues.

40. Usual top class stuff from Mr H. Did wonder at one point about hymen then got the bees connection. Loved mohican

41. Robi @37: I suppose it depends on your definition of “surface”. For me it’s a fully complete sentence, ideally with a meaning oblique to the intended final definition and whose intention is to steer the solver away on a tangent.

    For me, Can with ten free nuts, last of those going in tin? fails completely to meet these criteria.

    But it’s all a matter of taste and Paul clearly has plenty of admirers for whom a coherent surface is less important than the cleverness and wit of the clue, and that’s fine by me. We enjoy a wide range of styles in The Graun and long may it continue.

42. Found the bottom right corner tricky, but overall a decent outing for a Paul puzzle.

43. Totally agree William, with your last sentences. I am in the camp that does not care at all how the clue reads, I just take the words apart as I read it. My favourite is clues like 16D , solved before I even reach the definition.

    [ Good to see Anna, from Finland ? , in the blog. Anna if you can access the Observer there is a very interesting article on “whistling” languages. It was in the Review section on Sunday just gone. ]

44. Delighted to finish a Paul the same day, and by 1pm, at that !
    For a while, when we only had two crossing letters, I wondered if 3d could be buggeration, but decided it was a step too far even for Paul 🙂

45. For me the surface is the icing on the cake however many cakes are delicious without icing. So as long as I’ve got cake I’m happy 🙂

46. A ‘Yanky Doodle’ day from Paul, with my cotd going to SUPREME COURT. I had some difficulty with the parsing on a number of the clues, so thanks to PeterO for his blog.

47. Roz(at)43
    (Sorry, I can’t remember how to do the (at) symbol. )

    The whistling languages sound fascinating. I’ll try to find that article. I had great fun with SiSwati when I was in Swaziland and got quite competent at some of the clicks.

    Have been busy carrying on with the Egyptian and have started learning Farsi (Persian) now. It’s not difficult.

48. Being Scottish I found 26 across difficult. How can ‘fort’ be a homophone of ‘fought’?!?

49. [La Gomera in the Canary Islands is dissected by deep valleys, so the inhabitants developed a whistling language to communicate across them. Originally this was in the native language, Guanche, but when the Spaniards took over, they had to learn to whistle in Spanish instead!
    See here ].

50. [Anna @ 47 – you must have an odd keyboard if it doesn’t have an @ symbol. Mine is Shift ‘ (inverted comma).]

51. Essexboy@10. As my old Granny used to say, you would find an excuse for the devil himself “;)”
    I really can’t buy that. So, wood equals elm tree, wood equals conifer? The answer might just as well have been my old rolling pin.

52. 😉

53. [muffin @49 and Roz @43: I understand the building trades – scaffolders, brickies, masons and the like – have historically been faced with the same problem of communicating from building to building and from roof to ground. They developed a sophisticated code of whistles and hand gestures. Few of these now remain, and the builders in question face possible prosecution if they use them…]

54. Muffin @ 49/50
    Worked it out! The keyboard is a Finnish one and things are not in the same place. And the situation is made more difficult by the fact that I’ve got the Russian letters stuck over them so the originals are a bit obscured.
    For Persian I’m using the virtual keyboard on the computer screen.

    Ah now you mention it, I do vaguely remember having read about the whistlers in the valley a long time ago. Thanks for the link, I’ll have a look at it.

55. [ Anna @ 47 I am sure Farsi is not difficult for you, for me on the other hand …….
    The article was actually in the Science bit, started with shepherds in the Pyrenees but around 80 in the world apparently along with “clicks ” , of course a danger of many dying out ]

56. Nice to see Paul being not too wilfully obscure. I’m rather with William @22 on his present approach to setting. But then, he can produce HYMENOPTERA!

57. [ PM@53 , never heard of that but it does make sense , saves people going up and down ladders all the time to communicate. Perhaps they use mobile phones these days. I have seen the betting people at racecourses use Tic-Tac I think ???? someone must know more. And the dreaded cricket of course. ]

58. The study some years ago of crossword solving strategies showed that the very skilled ‘rapid’ solvers tackle a clue rather as a formula in algebraic logic and are not distracted by the surface – perhaps they may not even register it. Roz’s description of her approach seems close to this.

    Although I am a scientist by training I have a love of words and language and I have always appreciated the surface of a clue, which I would always read in full before attempting to solve it. I can still get pleasure from solving a puzzle where the surfaces are cracked and broken in places – I enjoyed today’s Paul – but, particularly since dabbling in setting myself, I now find the surface to be as integral a part of the clue as its construction. Consequently I enjoyed yesterday’s Philistine a lot more.

59. Came to this later than usual, and took some time at the end for the penny to drop with the last two in, the interlocking NIL and RANKING. All the usual Paul fun and games along the way, however. MOHICAN was, glad to say, not the last one in, and it did raise a chuckle. Haven’t seen one of those atop a head hereabouts for a while, though.
    A few years ago my daughter had a 6ft 5 inch carer/PA with a blonde Mohican that added about another 6 inches to his stature. He certainly didn’t look one to mess with when they were out and about together…

60. Gervase @58: Pretty much my sentiments as well.

    In my book a good surface doesn’t of itself make the clue better, just a little more elegant. I find a sentence thrown together purely to meet the mechanical requirements of the wordplay a bit ugly and unsatisfying.

61. Gervase @58 when you try and solve Azed the word play is often all you have . The word(s) giving the definition is often very obscure and so is the answer , the word play is all we have. My favourite clues of all are where there is no definition at all , occurs in special crosswords sometimes.
    Yesterday the two long clues were recycled and I remember them so it gave everything away immediately , hence I had Monday, Monday playing in my head throughout the solve.
    The puzzle today is a different order of magnitude in terms of originality.

62. Roz @58: You have described perfectly why I rarely tackle barred puzzles. My approach, if the solution doesn’t leap out at me, is to identify the definition and, with the wordplay, work from both ends to the solution. Learning new words is interesting and I like to come across one or two in a puzzle occasionally (Pasquale often obliges). I suppose I must have a larger than average vocabulary because this doest happen that often with Guardian crosswords. But Azed is another matter and I find it tiresome to have to consult the dictionary for every other word.

    Horses for courses!

63. I find myself in both camps on this, a witty (or smutty in particular I’m afraid) surface such as yesterday’s wobbling boobs definitely adds to my enjoyment of a crossword. But I have also enjoyed the challenge of Azed recently, where as Roz says the surface is frequently irrelevant with the exception of an &lit.

64. [ Gervase @62 I always try to complete Azed without using Chambers , success rate about 3 in 5, I do check everything after and enjoy learning about the words. The beauty of Azed is that you can solve the clues without knowing the words you enter because the word play is so immaculate.
    Think of an Azed clue as the Dirac equation and a typical Guardian clue as the Navier-Stokes equation.]

65. [Roz @57: just in case you are ever tempted to share my story about builders’ whistles…it was tongue in cheek. 😉 They are possibly just better known for their whistling than the Canary Islanders]

66. Gervase @58 / William @60 – I’m broadly in agreement with you both (though I do also appreciate a good Azed every now and again). There was a Guardian blog on this subject recently, inspired by Joan Didion’s latest book:
    In Why I Write, an essay in her new collection, Let Me Tell You What I Mean, Didion says: “The arrangement of the words matters, and the arrangement you want can be found in the picture in your mind.” So it is with clues.

    The title of Didion’s book is also a reminder of Afrit’s injunction – to be fair, Paul does generally abide by this, after a fashion, even if he doesn’t always stick to the established conventions. I agree with Roz @61 that originality is to be celebrated (anything to avoid the tired crossword clichés, please!). I don’t care much for the schoolboy stuff, but then I don’t have a problem with it either. As long as the clue is sound, that’s what matters. I prefer it when he’s more subtle, as in today’s unmentionable clue, which has an almost perfect surface.

67. FredShedden@48: whereas a Londoner has to cudgel her brains to imagine how fort can not be a homophone of fought (or for a real Cockney, of thought….) We shall never agree.

68. [PM @ 65 Touche , I was taken in completely, it does sound plausible that someone on a roof may need to contact someone on the ground without moving. You obviously mean wolf whistles for girls etc…… This does seem to have died out somewhat. ]

69. trishincharente @51 – “the answer might just as well have been my old rolling pin”. Logically I’d have to concede. ‘Dreadful pong in Rill Wood? (7,3)’. I think there might be complaints. 😉

70. There were many I couldn’t parse, mostly mentioned above, so thanks to PeterO. But I really liked “honeytrap” for HYMENOPTERA.

    It seems to me that ZIP is “nil for Americans,” not the other way round.

    I thought the punk style was a Mohawk, not a Mohican. Are they different? (They’re both Northeastern tribes in the US.)

    Thanks, Paul and PeterO, for a pleasant session.

71. Valentine @70,

    Mohair and Mohican are the same hairstyle, it’s just a different term either side of the Atlantic, I remember this coming up on QI a panel show over here a few years ago.

    William, Gervase, et al, If you like smooth surfaces try Eccles in the Indy. Particularly well done today.

72. Sorry mohawk – damn autocorrupt.

73. The problem of “it’s not a homophone for me” seems to keep resurfacing, so I thought the Venn diagram approach might help. With synonyms in crosswords, they don’t have to always mean the same thing, just sometimes. Likewise for purported homophones – as long as the space of pronunciations of A overlaps with the space for B, the device will work. “You are here” is irrelevant.

74. essexboy @69 – Cavorting on girly millpond, getting wood. (2,3,7,3)

75. [widdersbel @74 – I’ll pretend I didn’t twig and speak no more of it 😉 ]

76. Channelling your inner Paul there Widdersbel? Thought you didn’t care for that 🙂

    Good point, DrW, homophones do seem to cause the most disagreements. An interesting solution.

77. When in Rome…

78. I think 28Ac could be – Verbally ,was jousting for some ….. definition = TIME
    I always prefer homophones which refer to SOME people hearing it , not necessarily everyone .

79. Good finking Roz. I can see you fort about that one.

80. You are getting as bad as Penfold, actually I fought about it.
    widdersbel @ 74 you are worse than Paul with your getting wood. Also” girly millpond ” is a bit much even for me even though it works.

81. EB, widdersbel and Roz. Thanks for the grin 😀

82. Roz@78 yes that was what I was thinking, even if I didn’t say it exactly. Each point in the space is a speaker+pronunciation.

83. Actually Dr.W it is your idea I have used really. Where the sets intersect = for some. As long as some people say it the way the setter intended the clue works.
    A clue will often say ” we hear ” , ” some hear ” would be much better.

84. It would be nice to have the occasional one that does work for rhotic Scots, who always seem to get the rough end of the stick.

85. gladys @84: the rrrrrrrrrrrrough end of the stick, indeed!

86. Prompted by Valentine @70. My take is that both orderings of ZIP & NIL at 23a say the same thing, but express it differently. The interpretation depends on what might be called the fixed point of our mindset.
    On the same vein, the interpretation of HAS in 26a is ambiguous. My first thought was that it implieds that the unknown character is to be the container of the broken bone etc, rather than vice-versa. (In fact, I think my first thought is the stromger interpretation).
    Thanks to Paul & PeterO

87. Mohican vs Mohawk always throws me. Mohican sounds so buttoned up and conservative.

    I was proud of myself. The only clues I could not parse were the two involving movies that I’ve never seen. Maybe someday I’ll watch Rocky, but Borat: never!

88. Re 28a FORTNIGHT, I am a rhotic speaker, and “fort” and “fought” sound quite different to me, but I think of indicators such as “verbally” as signalling homoiophones (thank you PostMark), so this clue was both OK and clever.

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