Found this tough and slow to solve…
…mostly because I didn’t see the theme/trick around 26 until late on: THANKS can be read as T HANKS, or Tom Hanks. Very enjoyable [likely more so because of the late PDM] – favourites outside of the theme were 24ac and 23dn. T HANKS to Paul.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | PLEASE |
Cheer when money added to contract … (6)
|
| definition: to please someone / to give them cheer
P (pence, “money”) + LEASE=”contract” |
||
| 4 | ASLEEP |
… that’s out dreaming? (6)
|
| ‘…that’ refers back to the answer to the previous clue, PLEASE
“out” indicates an anagram (PLEASE)* |
||
| 9 |
See 11
|
|
| 10 | APOPLECTIC |
Furious pace with pilot flying with the speed of light (10)
|
| anagram/”flying” of (pace pilot)*; plus C=”the speed of light” | ||
| 11, 7, 9 | SAVING PRIVATE RYAN |
A very suspicious type arriving in bearer of gifts: no 26 — this with 26? (6,7,4)
|
| one of the films with T[om] HANKS
A + V (very) + anagram/”suspicious” of (type arriving)*; all inside SAN-TA=”bearer of gifts’, but with “no” TA as ‘ta’=THANKS=”26″ |
||
| 12 | CAST AWAY |
Stage empty, this with 26? (4,4)
|
| another T[om] HANKS film
a theatre stage might be empty when the CAST is AWAY |
||
| 13 | GLYCERINE |
It’s sweet with celery and gin in a salad (9)
|
| anagram/”in a salad” of (celery gin)* | ||
| 15 |
See 16
|
|
| 16, 15 | CASE FILE |
CIA feels prepared where all evidence is gathered? (4,4)
|
| anagram/”prepared” of (CIA feels)* | ||
| 17 | PROFITEER |
Overcharge for it, free plastic (9)
|
| PRO=”for” + anagram/”plastic” of (it free)* – edit thanks to Shirl | ||
| 21 | BIGAMIST |
This with 26? A film criminal (8)
|
| BIG is a T[om] HANKS film + A + MIST=a thin layer=”film” | ||
| 22 | RABBIT |
Teacher content in the end, is one good at multiplication? (6)
|
| definition: multiplication as in sexual reproduction
RABBI=”Teacher” + conten-T |
||
| 24 | PALINDROME |
One’s never even right in head after left in agony (10)
|
| definition: “never even” is a PALINDROME
R (right) in DOME=”head” after L (left) in PAIN=”agony” |
||
| 25 |
See 18
|
|
| 26 | THANKS |
You shouldn’t have filled vessels with gas (6)
|
| TANKS=”vessels” filled with H (hydrogen “gas”) | ||
| 27 | STRESS |
Drive home last of nails on lock (6)
|
| definition: “Drive home” as in ’emphasise’
nail-S plus TRESS=”lock” of hair |
||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | PAYWALL |
Reversal of rule brought into play changed system for online subscribers (7)
|
| reversal of LAW=”rule” inside anagram/”changed” of (play)* | ||
| 2 | ENNUI |
Discontent as 9 rocks catching head of umpire (5)
|
| anagram/”rocks” of (nine)* around U-mpire | ||
| 3 | STAGGER |
Reel showing lead in Garbo embraced by old-timer (7)
|
| G-arbo in STAGER=an ‘old hand’ at something | ||
| 5 | SPLASH |
Sensation, this with 26? (6)
|
| to make a SPLASH / cause a sensation; and another T[om] HANKS film | ||
| 6 | EUCHARIST |
Use a rich kind of Merlot ultimately — when bread is served? (9)
|
| anagram/”kind of” of (Use a rich)* + merlo-T | ||
| 7 |
See 11
|
|
| 8 | CONCENTRATION |
Close thought with money helping to support criminal (13)
|
| CENT=”money” + RATION=a “helping”; after CON=convict=”criminal” | ||
| 14 | COSTA RICA |
Country in Chad regularly chasing leading actor (5,4)
|
| regular letters from I-n C-h-A-d, after CO-STAR=”leading actor” | ||
| 16 | CLIP ART |
Images in online gallery showing sauce guzzled by bear (4,3)
|
| LIP=insolence=”sauce” inside CART=carry=”bear” | ||
| 18, 25 | FORREST GUMP |
Saying something dense, common sense half gone, this with 26? (7,4)
|
| another T[om] HANKS film
homophone/”saying” of ‘forest’=”something dense” + GUMP-tion=”common sense half gone” |
||
| 19 | ENIGMAS |
Set up trap in matching puzzles (7)
|
| reversal/”Set up” of: GIN=”trap” in SAME=”matching” | ||
| 20 | DIK-DIK |
Antelope children lifted up (3-3)
|
| KID and KID=”children” reversed/”lifted up” | ||
| 23 | BUGLE |
Caller has prisoner finally freed from nick (5)
|
| prisone-R removed from BU-R-GLE=”nick” |
I think 17a is PRO + anagram of IT FREE
Best of the week, possibly best of the month. Thanks Paul. Despite 26ac being FOI, it took me ages to spot the alternative way of looking at Thanks. I got 21ac and thought it must be words that go with thanks ( seems stupid now I write that down!). When Forrest Gump proved to be the only answer to 18dn I stared at it for ages before the penny finally dropped. Great fun!
Thanks manehi.
@1 It is..
Presume this makes all thoughts on the subject “Terminal” as it were.
Not knowing his movies much, stumbled dumbly along muttering “Thanks? wtbleep” until getting Forrest Gump from crossers, after which I could happily shrug about the nhos, viz Big, Splash and Cast Away. So, not a lot of fun, but limped along to the end. Ta both.
A very clever and entertaining puzzle. I got 26a straight away and was then thinking “What goes with ‘thanks’? Maybe ‘giving’ or ‘very much’?” I even managed to get BIGAMIST, thinking, well I suppose you could say “big thanks” but it seems a bit tenuous. It wasn’t until crossers started to make 11,7,9 look like something familiar that the penny dropped with a resounding crash.
For all those who insist on looking at the clues in order – it must take a certain degree of, shall we say, single mindedness (I wouldn’t dream of saying pig-headedness 🙂 ) to try to solve several clues that refer to 26 without actually looking at 26!
Many thanks Paul and manehi.
Nice to see the ellipsis used to actually connect two clues at 1a&4a
PALINDROME made me chuckle. I’m not a big fan of this type of puzzle as once the penny drops it can turn into a bit of a write in if your familiar with the subject
Today’s earworm is thankfully not Chas & Dave 🙂
Another Paul puzzle where I got the answers but could not be bothered to parse the tortured clues. I would never have worked out 11,7,9 except by back-solving.
Thanks Paul and manehi. I suspect there will be a theme to the comments today – my experience was very similar to JerryG…
Favourite today by a country mile was PALINDROME. Agree that BUGLE is also very good.
Lord Jim @5 – yes, it’s hard to resist looking ahead. In these cases, I usually just skip over linked clues and come back to them later. I think pig-headed would probably be fair!
My thinking has been accurately described by Lord Jim @5: with BIGAMIST the first ‘post THANKS’ solution, I, too, wondered about ‘big thanks’ and then wondered if ‘Thanks, Forrest Gump’ featured in the movie… ‘Twas only when SAVING PRIVATE RYAN came to mind that the tea tray dropped for me.
I’d agree PALINDROME is the stand out clue (was I the only one to think there must be palindromes with an even number of letters before twigging?). I also ticked EUCHARIST, PROFITEER, GLYCERINE and APOPLECTIC. Nice to see PLEASE and THANKS juxtaposed on the left hand side.
Briefly dipping back into yesterday’s discussion of solving approaches, this is an example of where I do not try and go through in numerical order. Not with all those references to 26!
Thanks Paul and manehi
Great crossword! I solved 26 early, then thought: “Thanks for nothing”. Only when 9 could be nothing much but Ryan did it drop. Spent way too long looking to prove 24 wrong with an even example – another lovely clue. As I came in late to Brummie blog, I’ll repost my comment on solving strategy & a plug for John’s (Paul’s) zoom to which he has an open invitation – 7:30 this evening UK (Friday morning for us Kiwis).
Re solving strategies (or should that be tactics?) it appears some setters may be one step ahead of us. During his recent zoom, John Halpern (Paul) explained how he adjusts the difficulty of a clue according to its postioning on the grid. For instance he will make clues running along the top or down the left worth the reward, in contrast to a clue which doesn’t offer or receive much in terms of useful crossers. John’s zoom’s are always fun & interesting.
Thanks Manehi & Paul.
I’m a fan of Tom Hanks movies, bit still not a fan of themed crosswords. And this was no exception. Like Lord Jim @5 I was also thinking BIG THANKS, and it wasn’t until 9a could only be RYAN that the penny dropped.
As for being pig-headed, I do look at, but not necessarily solve, the clues in a particular order. Anything referencing a subsequent clue I obviously leave until a second pass.
I didn’t notice any of Paul’s trademark humour in this. Am I missing something?
All that said, I did enjoy the non-themed bits, and solved it fairly quickly.
Thanks Paul and manehi.
A nice polite crossword, this, with PLEASE and THANKS topping and tailing it. Like JerryG, I was looking for hypothetical words that went with thanks in some way (though I couldn’t think of any), and I didn’t work out the T HANKS connection until I had filled in most of the non themers and it became obvious that 11/7/9 must be SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (and it took quite a while to parse it after that).
I fell for the misdirection involved in using NINE rather than RYAN to make ENNUI. Nice to see an ellipsis link used properly. Favourites RABBIT, EUCHARIST, PALINDROME.
I got 26 very early and then felt very smug that all the references to it were different ways of saying thank you …doh!!!! Also spent time trying to make ryan and u fit 2D. Brilliant misdirections here. Always enjoy Paul’s puzzles.
I got lucky on guessing PRIVATE and then coming up with possible options either side and so I got the theme early, which helped a lot. I’m a big fan and familiar with most of his work. I seem to remember that this THANKS device was used by a setter (maybe Paul) in the last couple of years. Had the same ticks as PM @ 10. I enjoy themes, so I thought that this was brilliant.
Ta Paul & manehi
I’m one for whom the theme didn’t collapse as soon as I solved and deciphered THANKS (in order!) as, like grantinfreo @, I’m not well up on Tom Hanks movies and didn’t want to resort to a list. I did know that SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and FORREST GUMP were two, which helped a lot. (I was fortunate in having a sudden flash of a reminder of seeing THANKS parsed as T. HANKS some time ago.)
I thought this was a very clever puzzle and I enjoyed solving it. I particularly liked APOPLECTIC, RABBIT, PALINDROME, STRESS and EUCHARIST.
Many thanks to Paul and to manehi.
AlanC @15 – I missed your comment while typing mine. I’ve had a bit of a search for the clue I was thinking of but there were rather too many instances of thanks in blogs, so I gave up!
Eileen @15: I’m pleased you remembered that as well and T.HANKS for trying 😉
Eileen/Alan C – it was October last year –
Independent on Sunday 1,599 by Tees
Haven’t enjoyed a puzzle this much for ages! I emitted a groan when the penny finally dropped. Brilliant! Thanks Paul and manehi.
12a was my PDM, and I didn’t have as much heavy weather with this one as some by this setter, although I was slightly annoyed by ‘something dense’ = ‘forest’. Dry Australian forests can be quite sparse in places.
Also in July 2018: Guardian 27,571 by Picaroon
As Abraham Lincoln was supposed to have said (but almost certainly the quip was made up by an American humorist): people who like this sort of thing will find this the sort of thing they like.
Count me out, but the puzzle was not without enjoyment for me. THANKS went in easily, I spotted SAVING PRIVATE RYAN from the enumeration and a few crossers, though I didn’t even stop to parse it, and the rest fell out fairly easily.
APOPLECTIC and PALINDROME were standouts for me – good constructions and surfaces. I also liked RABBIT and EUCHARIST for their constructions and definitions, though the surfaces are not quite so smooth.
Another demure crossword from naughty Paul. I was amused that he resisted the temptation for 20dn…
Thanks to Paul and manehi
Paul 7/9/19 – 20, 14. Unpaid Hollywood actor? I don’t care much for that! (6,3,7) THANKS FOR NOTHING. T. HANKS (Tom Hanks) FOR NOTHING might be an “Unpaid Hollywood actor”
Definition: “I don’t care much for that!”
And all the way back in 2013 from Mr Halpern himself: Independent 8388 by Punk
And that exhausts the fifteensquared archive as far as I can tell. You’d have to use other sources to find an earlier example.
maarvarq @21 – some UK forest likewise (eg Ashdown Forest, which includes large areas of heathland)
Thanks widdersbel
Many thanks, widdersbel @19/22 and AlanC @24 – I can relax now. 😉
Thanks AlanC too – my search didn’t turn up the one you found, so there may well be more… (manehi, sorry for spamming your inbox with notifications, I’ll shut up now)
Rather spoilt the T. HANKS penny-drop by looking at the comments below the line on the Guardian website, which rather gave the game away. Didn’t help much though – films are a lamentable gap in my GK…
Also got stumped for a while by RABBIT – having go the R and B and half expecting a bit of smut, I’d parsed the clue as a double definition and assumed “rubber” was also an old nickname for a teacher, akin to ‘chalkie’… I’ll now go and wash my mind out with soap.
Still not sure if I enjoyed it or not (though 24 worth the price of admission) – thanks Manehi for the parsings I’d only half got.
T.hanks Paul & manehi that was a big splash, loved never even.
I got THANKS early on, and even got CAST AWAY without twigging, doh! I got more and more frustrated (another ‘big thanks’) until the TTM sigh of relief.
So, I enjoyed it in a masochistic fashion. I thought PROFITEER contained another anagram mistake until I realised that for was PRO. I liked RABBIT and PALINDROME.
T(om)HANKS to Paul and manehi.
That was fun. Got THANKS straightaway but there was a delay before I saw it needed to become T Hanks
I had a wrong answer for PROFITEER which held me up-trying a direct anagrind-never looked right so I changed tack
I did like the variation on BIGAMIST
T hanks Paul and manehi
I lucked out on this, as I’ve always found it mildly amusing that T.Hanks can be read as ‘thanks’ and I got 26 early.
I had to search for Tom Hanks films though!
I managed to solve all of this without any idea of what was going on with THANKS until I wrote in my loi – BIGAMIST – and needed to link BIG to THANKS which is when the penny crashed – doh!
Took quite a while and use of aids though I did manage to parse all but two once I got them.
Favourites: CAST AWAY, ENIGMAS, ASLEEP, APOPLECTIC, PROFITEER
Thanks Paul and manehi
I’m neither a film fan nor a lover of themed crosswords but enjoyed this one nonetheless.
Loved 24A; can’t hear the word PALINDROME without thinking of Python and the dead parrot. (“A palindrome? The palindrome of Bolton would be Notlob! It don’t work!”).
Perhaps one day we’ll have a Python-themed puzzle, in which case PALINdrome might make a further appearance?
THanks to Paul and Manehi!
Eileen, AlanC & widdersbel passim: from November 2012 – Paul again and blogged by none other than Eileen
15. Toms Cruise, Selleck or Courtenay, but ___ I don’t want them! (2,6)
NO THANKS
NOT [Tom] HANKS – a laugh out loud clue
We’re going to end up with more THANKS clues than T. HANKS movies at this rate.
Rejoice with me, one and all, my first solve using the “across clues only first in order” method.
Didn’t help to spot the T Hanks gag but felt it gave a sort of overall view of the puzzle more clearly. Definitely worth pursuing.
Penny only clunked down when FORREST GUMP stared out of the crossers.
Nice one Paul.
Bravo William @38. A convert to the cause. 😉
I should have added that I did jump to the central 26a before starting again at the top.
Crossbar @39: thank you. Been solving for centuries and this has never occurred to me before!
Grizzlebeard: there have been quite a few Python-themed puzzles. I see that I once blogged one by Brendan that was about the Dead Parrot sketch, and Qaos did another one a few years later. I also found this and this.
Copmus @32: Was your wrong answer FORFEITER perchance?
Tough puzzle. Realised the Tom Hanks theme with 11/7/9 after solving 26ac. After that I looked up the actor’s list of films on wikipedia as I only know a few of his movies. I think some of the theme-related clues like FORREST GUMP were hard to solve unless one knows this actor’s work.
Favourites: PALINDROME, RABBIT (loi).
New for me: C – speed of light (If I knew this I had forgotten it), and some Hanks movies.
Thanks, both.
Should the answer to the question in 22ac be “no, but two are”?
As I have often said here I am not a fan of themed crosswords and this was no exception. The whole thing really depended on one solving THANKS and then twigging that this can be interpreted as Tom Hanks. Then you either know his films in which case it is a write in, or you don’t in which case you struggle or use google. Once in a while OK but IMHO we are just getting too many silly themes in the Guardian nowadays. As this was a Paul there were good clues in there so thanks Paul for that, and thanks manehi for teasing out the parsing of several!
Also, like inclusion of EUCHARIST (‘giving thanks’ or ‘thankful’) and the hidden TAs (eg CASTAWAY etc.)
A great PDM when I spotted the breakdown of T HANKS at 26a which could only mean that 18d25a was FORREST GUMP. Many thanks to Paul for the fun. Echoing many contributors above, I liked 24a PALINDROME the best of the non-themed solutions. And appreciation for the blog too, manehi.
wynsum @45: yes, it should. Very good.
Andrew @42. Thank you. I thought there must have been Python-themed puzzles but couldn’t recall any (and was too lazy to look for them). As for all that Spam – wonderful! Thanks again!
I would never have got this theme in a million years. Glad I didn’t bother to try looking for one. I’m with Crossbar@12 on solving approaches.
I think of GUMPTION as less “common sense” than “courage” or “initiative.” Is that American? And are forests necessarily dense?
Thanks to Paul and manehi for a pleasant morning.
I thought this on the easier side from Paul, but probably only because I had the PDM (otherwise spelt “doh!”) about half-way through.
Regarding solving in order (I am one of those) I look at it as a practice, not a rule. It has the side benefit of showing you graphically after the first pass how hard the puzzle is/how well you’re doing. That benefit can easily be set aside if it seems worthwhile to jump ahead. Not that it helped in this particular case.
Another solver rather in via the back door today, as having solved PLEASE (not too obvious at first as a definition) and ENNUI, I had -Y-N for the 9ac part of what proved to be the key clue of 6,7,4. Only cyan or RYAN fitted the bill for that. I didn’t think computer ink would do, so was therefore onto T.HANKS
Last one in was BIGAMIST. Very much liked PALINDROME and EUCHARIST amongst several others…
I was a bit dim with the PALINDROME and didn’t spot the one in the clue (thanks manehi), and was thinking there must be palindromes with an even number of letters out there somewhere. It would obviously need a double letter in the middle. Anyone know one?
Got 26 but didn’t see the theme so I spent a long time thinking the last word in 9 must be HYMN. Thanks Paul and Manehi
Crossbar @54: noon is the most obvious I can think of, along with ABBA which might not be allowed. There are other four letter words with double vowels that would work. Not so many longer words – redder and a solution in a recent puzzle, marram.
…how about HANNAH?
Of course, PostMark and William above. I forgot to think about the short words, and was trying to come up with a phrase.
Also, borrowing somewhat from Paul today, NEVER ODD OR EVEN.
SPanza@46: I can’t agree with you about themes. I knew virtually nothing about Mr Hanks, but managed to solve the clues via the wordplay and realised that the ones referring to 26 were leading me to film titles. I still didn’t twig the connection until my last entry – BIGAMIST – where the wordplay left me having to explain a connection between BIG and THANKS. I realised then that BIG is also a film and from somewhere dredged up that it had starred Tom Hanks – so I got there in the end without knowing anything about the theme or using Google just by persevering with the clues and trusting the wordplay (which you can do with Paul). There’s more than one way to skin a cat!
My thanks to Paul and Manehi and apologies for not including them in my earlier post.
Ah yes. Thinking of integers does zero qualify as neither odd note even? My method is a bit rusty.
Me @ 61nor not note. Predictive text.
And also maths not method. I give up.
Haggis@55…I hadn’t considered Hymn as a possibility/variation for 9ac, perhaps would have slowed me down with getting the whole of the 6,7,4 T.HANKS film if I had…
Crossbar @61: My rule is that any integer which can be divided by 2 to leave another whole number is even. So, I guess zero is even.
OK I’ve thought and I’ve thought
What does PDM stand for please?
I’m guessing penny dropped moment, Fiona Anne @66
Fiona Anne @66; a few of the commoner abbreviations used here can be seen in the FAQ:
TTM is a tea tray moment (a bit louder when dropping than a penny!)
Thanks manehi as I got F GUMP from crossers before working out the neat T Hanks ‘device’ and didn’t parse it – for those doubting that forests are dense or wondering where the smut has gone, think not of trees but in a more Pauline way of a specifically located thatch that may be described thus. Really enjoyed this especially as the Eureka/penny drop moment came right before the end, leading immediately to my LOI BIGAMIST, and agree that PALINDROME is a cut above, thanks Paul.
Thanks for the blog, really enjoyed this. Agree with Bodycheetah @5 that it is a nice surprise when two linked clues actually are linked.
Lord Jim @ 5, I will accept the term pig-headed but I prefer stubborn. I always pass over clues referring to others until I get to the later one, It often occurs for answers spread across several clues.
William @65 , zero is the MOST even of all numbers, It leaves an integer when divided by every POWER of 2.
Roz @70: Blimey, so it does. Ta.
Sourdough @60 fair enough. Each to his own! On this subject I have long realised that themes are popular here. I just wish there were fewer and of a less simplistic nature.
I didn’t get 26 till enumeration and some checkers gave me Saving Private Ryan – looked that up (I never remember cast) gave T.Hanks, and looking him up gave titles needed to resolve other references.
Thanks Crossbar @ 67 and Robi @ 68
I really like that whenever I ask a question here (usually about an answer I still don’t understand after the blog) someone always answers.
Thank you Paul for the fun and the challenge. A super crossword.
Tough but enjoyable grid once we had recognised the theme. Really great clues, my favourites were – PROFITEER, PALINDRONE, EUCHARIST DIK-DIK and BUGLE.
Thx Gladys @13 for the final smile of the day.
Happy to add my THANKS to Paul and manehi.
[Looking forward to joining Paul and others, online later this evening]
Very enjoyable, thanks S&B. Favourite was palindrome when the penny dropped.
[As a complete aside, I’m currently playing an online game that features loads of wordplay called Kingdom of Loathing (I’ve been dabbling with it for many years), but I’m coincidentally just about to visit the Palindome (sic) – a surreal arena location, where most of the adventures are palindrome related. So you can fight Bob Racecar and his brother Racecar Bob, a Drab Bard, an Evil Olive, a Taco Cat, and Stab-Bats. You can get your Denim Axes Examined and ponder the question Do Geese See God? It’s a very strange game…]
Roz @70: I note that you pass over clues that refer to later ones. I believe Eileen, for one, has said that she will actually attempt all the clues in strict order. (Forgive me Eileen if I’ve misremembered this.)
[By the way, Roz, re your comment @85 yesterday: intriguing theory that the difficulty of a puzzle depends on the setter’s father. Sounds a bit Freudian…]
Phew! Tough and slow for me today. I started with the anagrams and non-themers, then got THANKS and was disappointed it didn’t unlock the theme, until the penny dropped and it did. I’m moderately familiar with Tom Hanks’ films, so resisted googling a list. Not my favourite of the week but better than Tuesday’s. PALINDROME made the whole thing worthwhile, though. Thanks Paul and manehi.
A bit late joining in but I did enjoy this immensely
Though the clue to “SAVING PRIVATE RYAN” was typical Paul gobbledegook with no help from the “subsidiary indications” just the tortuous attempt to understand all the cobbled–together bits of “crossword speak”
Am sure I have met the T Hanks idea before. It may be Azed has used it.
Sorry that “Bridge of Spies” wasn’t included- Hanks out-performed by Mark Rylance. About the only film I’ve watched since lockdown began and should have loved to see it in a proper cinema.
Fiona Anne @74: not, of course, to be confused with pdm which might be paddymelon! Who has him(?)self admitted to PDM’s.
[ Lord Jim @ 78 , it is well known that Oedipus was a fearsome setter for the ” Thebes Paratiritis ” .
Who put that f so close to the r ? ]
PostMark @ 37 – sorry, I’ve only just seen your comment: I’ve been out since my post until now.
Lord Jim @78 – I’ve said it several times and discussion here yesterday revealed that I’m not the only one. 😉 Like Roz, I ignore referential clues (however many there are) in the meantime.
Great puzzle. I got stuck up a backwater by putting in PRAISE instead of PLEASE for 1ac: with money doing double duty it made some sort of sense, but it messed up ENNUI. Eventually realised the error of my ways.
With _Y_N for 9ac I got SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and eventually the T Hanks penny dropped, so got FORREST GUMP. Anyway, lots of fun. Thanks to Paul and to manehi.
Crossbar@67 and Robi@68, thank you! I was about to post my condolences about poor PDM’s demise.
A pleasant one for me. I did 26 as FOI and thought “Huh that could be T. Hanks.” Then I confirmed it quickly by doing the unthemed ones in the SW, guessing “BIGAMIST” from the crossers (partly by figuring 8d ended in -TION), and reverse-engineering the parsing. Since I sometimes carp about this, praise to Paul for an accessible theme answer that’s not crossed by anything that depends on it! Outside the theme I particularly liked 13ac, 24ac, and 14d.
LOI 23d; I figured “caller” was BUGLER and “bugle” was some synonym for “nick” I hadn’t heard of! If you said “‘bugle call’ is rhyming slang for ‘prison wall’ and hence ‘prison'” I’d believe you.
Thanks to Paul and manehi!
Coincidentally, one of the rounds on last night’s House of Games involved – naming Tom Hanks films.
To Paul, manehi, and wynsum @47 for pointing out the Greek: Ευχαριστώ!
[Roz @82: Ευχαριστώ to you too for the Thebes Observer! 🙂 I recall a contributor here telling the story of how he regularly sent emails to the students in his tutor group, signing off ‘Regards’. In too much of a hurry on one occasion, he came to regret how close on the keyboard the g was to the t.]
[PM @81: I believe paddymelon is a herself (unless ‘butcher’s daughter’ has another meaning in Aussie slang?)]
Michelle (if you’re still reading), c as the speed of light is familiar from Einstein’s famous E = mc2
Format failure: that should of course be m c (squared)
Why should I have to be interested in Tom Hanks movies in order to solve a Guardian crossword? In any case I consider it is cheating for Paul to require the solvers to imagine a space and a full stop in the key clue (even if upper-case for the whole clue can be overlooked).
Sorry but T. Hanks was just too obscure. No thanks for this time waster.
Disappointing. If you don’t tumble T HANKS you may as well give up, which is what I did.
Thanks to Paul and well done Andrew.
That for SAVING PRIVATE RYAN ranks as about the most impenetrable surface ever. I would have (I think I would have) enjoyed this as a prize when I had the week to ponder as I sucked the marrow from my rack of lamb, toyed with my penne alla Puttanesca or craunched a marmoset but (with, it seems, some others) I wasn’t prepared to give it the usual steely glare once I had THANKS and nothing surfaced, came into focus, suggested itself, rang a vague bell.
I saw Forrest Gump once: a waste of celluloid imho. I realise as I write (contemplating the films I have seen) that I have no regard for Hanks as an actor. Poor Tom – he won’t sleep.
Just wondering if all the science purists wrote in the c in APOPLECTIc 🙂
And MULTIPLICATION – this just made me chuckle: 230 – 220 * 0.5 apparently the answer is 5!
Alphalpha@93, John (Paul) pointed out crossword number 28582 is a 24. That may explain the editor’s particular slot choice over the weekend Prize.
PostMark @ 56: Sex at noon taxes
Simon S @96: I defer, as always, to those with greater knowledge and experience!
Well done manehi!
I found getting the answers was easier than solving the clues.
Took ages to twig that Thanks could be viewed differently!
Luckily Cast Away, Gump and Ryan were incomplete so I benefitted from a theme for once.
Thanks Paul , and manehi – no reveals was an achievement for me!
Rompiballe @90. “Why should I have to be interested in Tom Hanks movies in order to solve a Guardian crossword?”
I am not interested in Tom Hanks movies but I solved the crossword and didn’t look up anything on Google or anywhere else. I did have the benefit of a few beers this afternoon and didn’t start the crossword until about 9pm. Maybe I’ll try this method again!
Valentine @41 – I had the same feeling about gumption, so yes maybe an American meaning? Unless I’ve been understanding people wrong all this time…
This one was a slog for me until I finally got the gimmick after I put in Forrest Gump, and then it became quick, tho several I failed to parse. I liked PROFITEER once I cracked it, having wasted a bunch of time trying to use the anagram of FOR IT. I liked the nice surface on APOPLECTIC a lot.
Thanks Paul and manehi.
Really annoyed with myself…to solve this quickly without understanding a lot of it. It didn’t help that I’ve got that name blindness thingy and couldn’t remember his surname. When was he ever called T Hanks?
Also couldn’t find the PALINDROME!
Thanks both.
[ MrEssexboy@87, I always tell my students that I am very good at spelling but very poor at typing, the one I have to watch out for is the LHC. ]
[ Bodycheeteah @94, I of course put APOPLEcTIC , c can be part of the anagram. C=Coulombs .
Your sum as written = 120, remember BODMAS the bear. ]
Roz@102, read the problem again, I don’t think you twigged it. The answer, surprisingly, is definitely 5!
BD, Roz and moana, I think the way the term has been presented is a little unfair. I think it only really works if you actually write the full equation. Then yes 5! is a correct answer.
230 – 220 * 0.5 = 5!
[Thanks Blah. That was bothering me too (exclamation mark).]
Genuine LOL there EB.