This is the bumper Guardian Christmas crossword from Maskarade, which did provide us a good few days of various family members poring over it and suggesting answers, so definitely ticked the “fun holiday crossword” boxes for us. Thank-you, Maskarade!
There was a theme mentioned in the rubric:
Sixteen across and 15 down clues lead to the heart of their solutions. Their required entries in the grid all display a common feature.
This turned out to mean that the answers to these clues began and ended with the same two letters, e.g. AMSTERDAM, and the wordplay only gave you the heart of the clue, not the whole answer. This was quite a nice theme, I thought – it didn’t make things too difficult, but did lead to some nicely parsimonious clues.
Across
1. In a specific year of one’s age, tense and in dispute, endlessly (7,4)
* AE(TATIS SU)AE
T = “tense” (from dictionary abbreviations) + AT ISSU[e] = “in dispute, endlessly”
Definition: “In a specific year of one’s age” – I’ve never heard of this before, but Wikipedia explains:
The word aetatis means “aged” or “of age” (e.g. “aetatis 36” denotes being “of age 36” or “aged 36 years old.”) Appears on portraits, gravestones, monuments, etc. Usually preceded by anno (AAS), “in the year # [of his age/life].” Frequently combined with Anno Domini, giving a date as both the age of Jesus Christ and the age of the decedent. Example: “Obiit anno Domini MDCXXXVIo (tricensimo sexto), [anno] aetatis suae XXVo (vicensimo quinto)” (“he died in the 1636th year of the Lord, [being] the 25th [year] of his age[/life]”).
7. Hair colour Lord N. Bowman developed (6,5)
ALMOND BROWN
(LORD N BOWMAN)*
Definition: “Hair colour”
13. Many kept following pigeon homes (5)
LOFTS
LOTS = “Many” around F = “following”
Definition: “pigeon homes”
14. Now and again setter rode to capital (9)
* AM(STERD)AM
S[e]T[t]E[r] R[o]D[e] = “Now and again setter rode”
Definition: “capital”
15. Rice dish with bit of thyme added on one’s knee (7)
PATELLA
PAELLA = “Rice dish” with T[hyme] = “bit of thyme added”
Definition: “on one’s knee”
16. Dieting, he eschewed some butter (4)
GHEE
[dietin]G HE E[schewed] – the hidden indicator is “some”
Definition: “butter”
17. Golden salmon, raw, then cut (6)
* DO(RA)DO
RA[w] = “raw, then cut”
Definition: Golden salmon
18. Let go and finish fresh direct view (4,2,5)
LINE OF SIGHT
(LET GO FINISH)* – the anagram indicator is “fresh”
Definition: “direct view”
20. Have second thoughts about liner crossing stormy seas (8)
REASSESS
RE = “about” followed by SS = “liner” in (SEAS)*
Definition: “Have second thoughts”
21. Appreciation of wines at heart (5)
* SE(N)SE
[wi]N[es] = “wines at heart”
Definition: “Appreciation” (Chambers gives “Awareness, perception” as one of the definitions of APPRECIATION)
22. Disturbed lone daughter of Icarius (8)
* PE(NELO)PE
(LONE)*
Definition: “daughter of Icarius”
26. Just the place for the wine vendor, we’re told (6)
CELLAR
Sounds like (“we’re told”) “vendor”, or “seller”
Definition: “Just the place for the wine”
28. Remove religious influence of Christian Union liar roughly (10)
* SE(CULARI)SE
CU = “Christian Union” + (LIAR)*
Definition: “Remove religious influence”
30. Maori pigment brought back from remote Wanganui (5)
AWETO
Hidden reversed in [rem]OTE WA[nganui] – this is a nice way to clue quite an obscure word, and the surface works very nicely since Wanganui is a town in New Zealand
Definition: “Maori pigment” (Chambers says AWETO is “The so-called vegetable caterpillar, the body of the caterpillar filled with a parasitic fungus, used to obtain a pigment”)
32. Plate of meat eaten leisurely for starters (7)
* LA(MEL)LA
M[eat] E[aten] L[eisurely] for starters
Definition: “Plate”
33. He won’t appreciate being by the fire (7)
INGRATE
If something is “by the fire” in might be IN [the] GRATE
Definition: “He won’t appreciate”
35. Soy beans with cheese and pheasant, say — no good! (7)
EDAMAME
EDAM = “cheese” + [g]AME = “pheasant, say” without G (“no good”)
Definition: “Soy beans”
37. Not Jumbo’s failing, apparently (7)
AMNESIA
Cryptic definition: alludes to the expression “Elephants never forget”
38. Sweden’s consular agent at opera house (2,5)
* LA (SCA)LA
S = “Sweden” + CA = “consular agent” (an abbreviation in Chambers)
Definition: “opera house”
39. One taking a running jump (7)
HURDLER
Cryptic definition: hurdlers jump over hurdles while running
41. Spike Milligan’s last seen in short transmission (5)
PRONG
[milliga]N = “Milligan’s last” in PROG = “short transmission” (short for “programme”)
Definition: “Spike”
43. Tailless antelope — one in filmic African city (10)
* CA(SABLAN)CA
SABL[e] = “Tailless antelope” + AN = “one”
Definition: “filmic African city”
45. Widely recognised and well-respected, performing (6)
* IC(ON)IC
ON = “performing”
Definition: “Widely recognised and well-respected”
47. Readies distributed at end of encore in Verdi’s Requiem (4,4)
DIES IRAE
(READIES)* followed by [encor]E
Definition: “in Verdi’s requiem” – Dies Irae is part of the Requiem Mass
48. Former Scottish border royal burgh’s name (5)
* AN(N)AN
N = “name”
Definition: “Former Scottish border royal burgh”
50. According to Spenser, write expansively of just half the generous gifts (8)
* EN(LARG)EN
LARG[esse] = “just half the generous gifts”
Definition: “According to Spenser, write expansively”
54. A fool swimming provided backing to group of swimmers (5,2,4)
* SH(OAL OF FI)SH
(A FOOL)* followed by IF = “provided” reversed
Definition: “group of swimmers”
56. Doesn’t rise to falsehood and evil (4,2)
LIES IN
LIES = “falsehood” + SIN = “evil”
Definition: “Doesn’t rise”
57. Daughter of Saturn backing union with love (4)
JUNO
NUJ = “union” reversed + O = “love”
Definition: “Daughter of Saturn”
59. Film produced from the heart of San Marino (4,3)
RAIN MAN
(AN MARIN)* – the anagram fodder is [s]AN MARIN[o] = “the heart of San Marino”
Definition: “Film”
60. Hearses wait regularly at that point (9)
* TH(EREWI)TH
[h]E[a]R[s]E[s]W[a]I[t] = “Hearses wait regularly”
Definition: “at that point”
61. Drunk, I’m arrested — over this? (5)
LIMIT
LIT = “Drunk” containing (“arrested”) I’M
Definition: “over this?” in the context of the clue – “over the limit”
62. Most flexible exchange of letters for director Guy (11)
* ST(RETCHIE)ST
“director Guy” is Guy RITCHIE, with an “exchange of letters” – replacing E with I
Definition: “Most flexible”
63. First of sea cadets around moated building in Kent (5,6)
* LE(EDS CAST)LE
(S CADETS)* – the S in the anagram fodder is from “First of sea”
Definition: “moated building in Kent”
Down
1. Symbolic representation of Eco with girl (11)
* AL(LEGORIC)AL
(ECO GIRL)* – the anagram indicator is “representation”
Definition: “Symbolic”
2. Small flute I dropped (7)
* TA(FFE)TA
F[i]FE = “flute” with “I dropped”
Definition: I guess the definition must be “small”, but I’ve no idea why – sorry!
3. That’s OK, oddly as work (4)
TASK
T[h]A[t]S [o]K
Definition: “work”
4. Marine creature seen in central Lahore (3,5)
* SE(AHOR)SE
[l]AHOR[e] = “central Lahore”
Definition: “Marine creature”
5. Oust from United States, sadly, lacking ID test (6)
UNSEAT
(UN ATES)* – the anagram fodder is UNITED STATUES without ID TEST
Definition: “Oust”
6. Poor Eeyore’s not nice to look at! (7)
EYESORE
(EEYORE’S)*
Definition: “not nice to look at!”
7. Sundial fixed in two areas in Spanish region (9)
ANDALUSIA
(SUNDIAL)* in A A = “two areas”
Definition: “Spanish region”
8. Brief period of importance (6)
MOMENT
Double definition: “Brief period” and “importance”
9. Foreigners drink by river joints, they say (9)
NIPPONESE
NIP = “drink” + PO = “river” + NESE (sounds like “knees”) from “joints, they say”
Definition: “Foreigners”
10. Leading the Hittites, she was Solomon’s mother (9)
* BA(THSHE)BA
T[he] H[ittites] = “Leading the Hittites” + SHE
Definition: “Solomon’s mother”
11. Old stone for German POW camp (5)
OFLAG
O = “Old” + FLAG = “stone”
Definition: “German POW camp”
12. Both are awfully risqué (4,3,4)
* NE(AR THE BO)NE
(BOTH ARE)*
Definition: “risqué”
19. Middle Easterners upset humorist (8)
* IS(RAEL)IS
LEAR = “humorist” (referring to Edward Lear
Definition: “Middle Easterners”
23. Measure villagers’ heart on the rebound (3,6)
* ON(E GALL)ON
[vi]LLAGE[rs] = “villagers’ heart” reversed (“on the rebound”)
Definition: “Measure”
24. Transmit week by week from island hideaway, on reflection (9)
* SE(RIALI)SE
I = “island” + LAIR = “hideaway” all reversed (“on reflection”)
Definition: “Transmit week by week”
25. Fierce and wild ritual movement in El Amor Brujo (4,5)
FIRE DANCE
Double definition: “Fierce and wild ritual” and “movement in El Amor Brujo“
27. Fish from Belgian city, love (5,4)
* LE(MON SO)LE
MONS = “Belgian city” + O = “love”
Definition: “Fish”
29. Strongly recommends rises, but capital is lacking (5)
URGES
[s]URGES = “rises, but capital is lacking”
Definition: “Strongly recommends”
31. 2’s unclued pairs for so long (2-2)
TATA
2 down is one of the thematic clues, where the unclued first two and last two letters are TA TA
Definition: “so long”
34. Lizard Vasco beheaded (5)
AGAMA
[d]A GAMA = “Vasco beheaded”
Definition: “Lizard”
35. Late Chopin piece: I Loved Narcissus (4)
ECHO
Hidden in [lat]E CHO[pin]
Definition: “I loved Narcissus”
36. Siege leaves prancing carriage horse in Scottish Highlands village (8)
*? AR(ROCH)AR
(CARRA HOR)* The anagram fodder is from CARRIAGE HORSE without SIEGE. Strangely this answer matches the pattern of the theme, but the wordplay clues the whole answer, not just the heart, like the others and as the rubric suggests. I think it’s only by including this one as one of the themed clues that I can get up to a the count of 15 themed Down clues mentioned in the rubric, though, so I’m including it.
Definition: “Scottish Highlands village”
37. Tiny bit of distilled spirit affected blooms (11)
* AS(PIDISTR)AS
(D SPIRIT)* – the D in the anagram fodder is from D[istilled] = “Tiny bit of distilled”
Definition: “blooms”
40. Carry out a search around Coot Inn (11)
* RE(CONNOIT)RE
(COOT INN)*
Definition: “Carry out a search”
42. Bird is sick with start of enteritis — doctor injected into intestine (9)
GUILLEMOT
ILL = “sick” + E[nteritis] = “start of enteritis” + MO (Medical Officer) = “doctor”, all in GUT = “intestine”
Definition: “Bird”
43. Bird’s relation out East (9)
* CH(AFFIN)CH
AFFINE = “relation” without E = “East”
Definition:
44. Pre-release production work of judges at big match (5,4)
BENCH TEST
BENCH = “judges” + TEST = “big match”
Definition: “Pre-release production work”
46. This sign represented psychic’s views (8)
INSIGHTS
(THIS SIGN)*
Definition: “psychic’s views”
49. Great valerian, with large mass of leaves half-cut (7)
* AL(LHE)AL
L = “large” + HE[ap] = “mass of leaves half-cut”
Definition: “Great valerian”
51. Most of the fruit satisfied epicure (7)
GOURMET
GOUR[d] = “Most of the fruit” + MET = “satisfied”
Definition: “epicure”
52. Oxfordshire market town said to provide brown pigment (6)
BISTRE
Sounds like Bicester
Definition: “brown pigment”
53. Guernsey lily from small state (6)
* NE(RI)NE
RI (Rhode Island) = “small state”
Definition: “Guernsey lily
55. Cockney trader’s willow (5)
OSIER
The trader might be a HOSIER, so a Cockney trader might be an ‘OSIER
Definition: “willow”
58. Not half charming claim (4)
PLEA
PLEA[sant]
Definition: “claim”
Thanks mhl and Maskarade.
Great piece of setting.
2d I thought FIFE is a small flute.
This was a grand puzzle, shame nobody at the Graun caught the error in 47 (whence the second i ?)
Perhaps ‘flute’ is doing double duty in 2d.
Thanks Maskarade and mhl.
Thanks, ilippu. If “Small flute” rather than just “flute” is the FIFE, I still don’t see where the definition is in the clue!
@3mhl. Sorry, I meant to add that leaves the clue without definition; perhaps, another (error?) (un)like 36d!
The site is terribly slow, took a while to add this.
Yes, ilippu, the site is being very slow indeed – I am glad it is nor just me. I concur with the bafflement over TAFFETA = small. Concerning 50 across, ENLARGEN, however, being an unmethodical solver, I was drawn early to the clue by the mention of Spenser, most of whose work I have at one time or another read and taught. Possibly it is Book I of The Faerie Queene that I have taught most often, and there, I knew, Spenser does use the word ENLARGEN to mean ‘liberate’ or ‘set at large’. It occurs in Canto viii, stanza 37. Here Prince Arthur, having slain the giant Orgoglio, goes to his castle, where the Red Cross Knight, the central figure of Book I, is being held captive:
Through every rowme he sought, and every bowr,
But no where could he find that woful thrall:
At last he came unto an yron doore,
That fast was lockt, but key found not at all
Emongst that bounch, to open it withall;
But in the same a little grate was pight,
Through which he sent his voyce, and lowd did call
With all his powre, to weet, if living wight
Were housed there within, whom he ENLARGEN might.
It is one of Spenser’s faux-archaisms, wherein he tacks a Germanic ‘-en’ verbal suffix onto a root derived from Old French. However, I could not reconcile this with Maskarade’s apparent definition, but maybe there is some corner of Spenser’s work where he used the word differently, to mean ‘write expansively’. (He does, however, use ‘enlarge’ in this sense.) In the end, within half a dozen solutions or so of completion, and with the crossers now confirming it, I stopped holding out and just bunged and shrugged. If someone can vindicate, or reinterpret, Maskarade’s definition, I would be delighted to know.
I guess Maskarade was going with Chambers, which gives enlargen as a variant of enlarge in all senses, one of which is ‘write expansively (on or upon)’.
Ignore my drivel re 2d – baffled. Perhaps just a deleted definition by mistake.
Well I never, Gonzo. Thank you for that. I do not have a Chambers (does it cite examples?), but I guess the lesson is that a little specialist knowledge can be a dangerous thing. It can lead to – Lord spare us! – pedantry, with which, that said, these blogs are not entirely unfamiliar. Happy Hogmanay!
I thought TAFFETA was small (underwear).
The introduction wrong footed me for a bit…
“Sixteen across and 15 down clues lead to the heart of their solutions” as I took it to refer to 16a which was GHEE and a further 15 down clues. Why is sixteen in letters but 15 in numerals?
Anyway easy enough once I passed that and a few new words for me.
Thanks both
Thanks Maskarade, I surprised myself and actually solved most of this masterpiece, failing at only the most arcane of words. LIES IN was my favourite due to its utter simplicity. Thanks mhl for the blog.
@Spooner’s catflap: No examples in Chambers, it just says “(Spenser)”. OED online only has a quote from Mandeville’s Travels c14 (for the more general sense).
@ Gonzo Hm …I detect a little lexicographical looseness here:
‘Enlarge’ can mean, among other things, ‘to set at liberty’ and also ‘to write expansively’ (there is a quotation from S’s A View of the Present State of Ireland, with which I will not trouble the commentariat, of him using the verb in this sense).
Spenser uses ‘enlargen’ as a one-off variant on the former meaning, although not on the latter.
A ‘harmless drudge’, to quote Dr Johnson, attributes ‘enlargen’ to Spenser, but also attributes to him the ‘-en’ variant as carrying both of these meanings of ‘enlarge’, although Spenser used it to convey only one of them.
Maskarade relies on Chambers, without any direct knowledge of Spenser, to pin on him the ‘write expansively’ meaning, even though S never used it in this sense.
A great puzzle. Thank you Maskarade. It was almost Araucarian in its inventiveness.
Thanks for such a comprehensive blog and all the others this year.
Really enjoyed this , a neat idea although the preamble could have been better – AMSTERDAM made it clear. I have 14 down clues for the theme so ARROCHAR is the mystery. Many fine, neat, elegant and concise clues.
Very few obscurities for a grid this size and they were fairly clued , AWETO for example as you note.
A few issues , Gonzo@2 mentions 47Ac , the missing i and extra e, I could not make it work with end of Verdi instead of encore.
TAFFETA – smalls are undies , possibly made of taffeta ???? clutching at straws, I think the definition is missing.
Fun puzzle and great write-up, thanks Maskarade and mhl.
But I believe 25 is not a double definition, but an anagram (“wild”) of FIERCEAND, giving FIRE DANCE.
Thanks mhl for the blog. 2d left me puzzled as well. I see that Collins online has taffeta = a petticoat made of taffeta, but ‘small’ = ‘smalls’
= ‘petticoat’ = ‘taffeta’ looks like several stretchy leaps too many. Have to confess I bunged in 47 without noticing that the fodder was wrong by one letter, and that 36 is one of the fifteen themed down clues even though it does not obey the rules. All in all, could have done with an edit!
I parsed FIRE DANCE as Steve B@14 did, and didn’t spot any of the errors apart from the missing or wrong def of TAFFETA.
I usually quail at the sight of Special Instructions, but this had a nice original conceit for the theme, which kept me happily occupied for hours.
I’m afraid that once the penny drops with the rubric, which didn’t take long at all with this, I find these bumper crosswords rather disappointing. The size of the puzzle doesn’t make up for the lack of subtlety in many of the clues, and the occasional inaccuracies mentioned above. Rather more groans than ”aha!”s
Still, it did keep self and Miss Crossbar occupied between mince pies, so thanks Maskarade, and mhl for working through the details.
Thanks mhl for the blog and to Maskarade for the challenge which I enjoyed very much. My “in” to the special instructions was SECULARISE.
I had assumed that the common element to the themed omissions was that they were all Chemical symbols past or present but didn’t check each and every one and am not encyclopaedic in that area so could be wrong and based on the fact that nobody else said that, probably am.
Le as in LEEDS CASTLE does not seem to be a current symbol but I thought I’d also found reference to a previously used symbol no longer current.
Ah well, in the spirit of Christmas, someone’s got to be first to say ‘Bah, humbug’. There are some of us who don’t bubble with excitement when we see Maskarade’s name appear, along with Special Instructions, every single holiday. But it was all we had so I gave it a go and persevered to the end. Some of the clueing would have resulted in complaints of too easy if it had been produced by Vulcan on a Monday. On other occasions, I’d expect a few more complaints about Scottish Highland village being sufficient to define the tiny hamlet of ARROCHAR, or being expected to know AETATIS SUAE or AWETO. At the other end of the scale, LEEDS CASTLE being defined as Moated building in Kent or BATHSHEBA as Mother of Solomon. Daughter of Icarius? Daughter of Saturn? One result was that the Guardian solving community managed to ‘break the internet’ – or, at least, influence it: whatever word selection I entered, in search of a prompt, appeared to be ‘trending’: I got as far as “Oxf…” and it suggested “Oxfordshire market town…” and as far as “Guern…” and up came “Nerine or Guernsey Lily”. Clever theme concept, I’ll admit but I’d have happily solved a puzzle half the size but double the quality. Sorry Maskerade and thanks to mhl for the blog.
Sorry Postmark@19, but I beat you to it 😀
Crossbar @20: well, at least I’m not all on my lonesome! 😀
Postmark @19 – I wouldn’t say Arrochar is a tiny hamlet, but then again, I wouldn’t really classify it as ‘highland’. It’s on the road between Glasgow and Rest and Be Thankful, and I’ve spent many happy hours in and around Arrochar.
As for the puzzle, I enjoyed it very much, and it’s always nice to see how many similar clues can be crammed in.
Thanks to MHL and Maskarade
Crossbar and Postmark @20, 21
I felt the same way, so I didn’t even bother to start it. When Araucaria set the seasonal prizes, there was much more variety in the nature of the crosswords.
Sorry, Maskerade, I appreciate the enormous effort you must put into setting these.
@tim the toffee I think it’s just the Guardian’s house style – you can’t begin a sentence with numerals, hence ‘sixteen’. It threw me too!
Yes, apart from the ‘i’ in 47across, ‘small’ or missing definition in 2 down, the two clues (31 down and 36 down) which are needed to make up the 15 themed down clues but don’t conform to the instructions, it managed to stimulate a few brain cells.
Thanks Maskarade and mhl. I thought this was fun. My way in to the theme was the giveaways PostMark mentions – BATHSHEBA and LEEDS CASTLE – which I thought served nicely for that purpose. Otherwise I might have been left scratching my head for a lot longer than I was. Deducing the rest of the themed solutions was an enjoyable exercise, including the nho AETATIS SUAE.
Completely missed the mistake in DIES IRAE, half raised an eyebrow at TAFFETA, but didn’t dwell on it.
SC @11 – this is a common problem with Azed crosswords. However, Azed does always explicitly state that Chambers is the definitive source for solvers on matters of spelling and definition. Maskarade here seems to be treating it as a given.
PM @19 – your Google results will be tailored to you. People who don’t regularly use it to search for crossword solutions won’t get the same results.
Many thanks, Maskarade. It was a nice change to have a bumper puzzle that (for me) provided a good work-out but was do-able.
widdersbel @26: I think I found 31d a much easier way in – which also revealed the theme. 2’s unclued pairs for so long (2-2). There aren’t that many 2-2’s, ‘so long’ suggests Ta Ta and ‘2’s unclued pairs’ betrays the theme.
Postmark (19) summed this up for me. If so many of the crossword community simply don’t bother when they see a Maskarade, why does the editor keep presenting them? There is no consistency, with both ridiculously easy and annoyingly obscure in the same puzzle.
Sorry to be so negative when so much hard work has gone into the offering, but I think a different approach to the holiday puzzles is long overdue.
PM @28 – yes, good point, though I’d already cracked the theme by the time I got round to reading 31d, so that clue simply served as confirmation for me. “Filmic African city” was another giveaway.
It has just occurred to me on reading PostMark@28 that the TAFFETA lack of definition might have been signalled by 31 dn??? I found the whole puzzle a bit like Christmas festivities, a bit too long, too much to cope with at times and probably best enjoyed with family and friends.
Sorry to disagree with Oofyprosser and others, but we really like Maskerade. It is just about the right level of difficulty for us and obviously Choldunk and others agree. I’m pleased the alphabeticals have gone though!
We are sadly not going to find another Auracaria, so comments about other setters not being like him are pointless.
Perhaps Ooofyprosser could let the editor know who is his preferred setter, and he could be asked to prepare an Easter crossword?
Happy New Year to all
MrPostMark @ 19 , you will be visited tomorrow morning when the clock strikes 1 by three spirits. The first will be the ghost of Rufus crosswords past.
This was the first time I have tried a Maskarade puzzle. I started on the Saturday and returned to it several times during the week up to Christmas. Eventually with a lot of use of aids I managed to get about three-quarters of the answers. However a lot were unparsed and I assumed they were the special clues. I meant to return and write out all the unparsed ones to see if I could discern a pattern but never got round to it – I wonder if I would have noticed the link.
Anyway having read the intro to mho’s blog to find out the theme, I am now working my way through my unparsed clues – which is fun.
Thanks Maskarade and mhl
I am normally daunted by the super-size puzzles but I had a go at this one and managed to complete it. So, generally thumbs-up. But, besides the points mentioned above, I do have a few quibbles just for the fun of it(!)
17a – Looks like a dorado is not technically a salmon!
62a – The hint of ‘exchange of letters’ is a bit vague for what was required.
52d – Does BISTRE really sound like Bicester?
MartinDH@35 52d yes that’s what it sounds like. And even more odd is Towcester/toaster. But not Cirencester. Love the way these place names can catch the unwary stranger.
I tend towards mixed feelings concerning Maskerade’s holiday puzzles. Admirable effort in the compilation, but rather prosaic in the completion. Nonetheless, I found this one satisfying to solve, and liked the theme. Having highlit the theme solutions, their preponderance is startling (and colourful).
One observation: I do find that Maskerade’s rubric always manages to be ambiguous or otherwise poorly expressed. Editor – please note.
Thanks to Maskerade and mhl – and Happy New Year to all our readers
Erm…. Don’t understand, there is not a 15 down!
John@38 Not quite sure if I’ve understood your query, but if you mean the rubric, then that refers to 16 OF the across clues and15 OF the down clues. That’s 31special clues altogether.
Just for the record, we enjoyed this – it took a little while for the penny to drop, but not too long, plenty of easy clues, but also some harder, or obscurities. For us it was just the right level of difficulty to be enjoyable without being a pushover.
nametab @37 – I think the ambiguity of the rubric is intentional in these ‘specials’ (also applies to the Genius) – if it was too explicit, it would lessen the challenge.
Shirley@32, it’s not a question of my proposing a setter, but that although Maskarade has his supporters it’s clear from many previous cases that lots of solvers simply don’t bother with his puzzles. I respectfully suggest that a change is due, perhaps varying the setters of holiday puzzles?
Very interesting device this time. The theme answers were missing wordplay for four of their letters, which hurt, but at the same time the first two were the same as the last two, which helped. So which was the bigger effect? For the first few entries, not having wordplay for the whole answer was a decided speed bump, but after the grid was half-filled I found the duplication really helped things along.
I wondered if there was any significance to the different representations of the across and down counts in the special instructions (alphabetic and numerical), but even on completion I don’t see any. The numbers themselves were helpful when I only had a handful of clues left to fill in.
After I conjectured ENLARGEN I looked it up. It was not in Chambers online (or any others) and the only Google hits (or rather hit) was Spenser. So I had to conclude that at best it is a nonce word, at worst not a word at all.
Anyway, this was a lot of fun and I was sorry when it was over.
Mr Beaver @20. By ‘ambiguity’ I wasn’t referring to the subtlety within the rubric – e.g. ‘heart ..’ (that’s fine). I was referring to, for example, a misleading mix of numerals and text (as per Tim the Toffee @8).
The fact is that Maskerade’s rubric often does not say what it means to say. If it were possible to dig out several from over the years, I would gladly provide other examples.
Dr. WhatsOn @42 ENLARGEN must depend on the Chambers edition. My hardcopy (version 13) 2014 has it defined exactly as in the clue and attributed to Spenser
for @20 read @40
Took a LOT of work but I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I didn’t notice the i problem in 47a as I (incorrectly) parsed it as coming from the end of ‘Verdi’ and saw the definition as just Requiem (didn’t other composers also write a Dies Irae requiem?).
Anyway thanks Maskarade and mhl and happy 2022 everyone!
Disappointing, pathetically simple ‘crossword’
Kept me going for at least 2 hours.
Was this supposed to be the Bumper Christmas puzzle?
When rubbish like this is served up, I have to remind myself that it’s free.
Just finished this enjoyable offering, which was at just the right level of difficulty for me. I wasn’t going to post anything but I couldn’t let Anna’s (@47) comments pass without providing a contrary view.
Clive @ 48
Don’t worry Clive. I tend to have contrary views to everyone else on here.
And I get fed up with the shallow level of ‘erudition’
And the pretence of camaraderie.
I’m not as forgiving as Roz.
There’s a history to this. I haven’t forgiven the perpetrators yet, nor Gaufrid for allowing what happened to happen.
It’s also getting more and more difficult to actually get the site on the internet – at least 70% of the time I get an ‘error’ message. Gaufrid’s revenge!! (Joke, yes, I know it isn’t really).
Perhaps I should write all this on the General thread.
It’s less than an hour to the new year so I’d best go and drink something.
Anna @49
??
We found no link to enlargen from Spencer the poet, but found Spencer the philosopher more likely to be the intended Spencer….
Are we alone?
Just to say I usually enjoy Maskerade puzzles, and this was no exception.
Happy New Year, everybody!
Really enjoyed this, with the exception of 48, which I had to come here to look up and I can’t imagine I ever would have managed otherwise. Maybe it’s just too obscure for us non-UKers. I do wish we didn’t have to wait so long for the blog on prizes! Mostly I forget to ever come back to them.
Anna @ 49 a belated Happy New Year , wish I could say it in Finnish but my language ( and internet ) skills are not sufficient, I do not even know how to look it up .
Thanks for the book recommendations . The sprogs have managed to find “The Limit” ( you said the border but different translator ) and ” My First Murder ” .
Good to see you on here even for a rant, nice to have a rant sometimes.
Traditional New Years Day swim soon once the light improves.
Enjoyable. First time I saw this type of clue. Spent about an hour and a half on it but I sailed to solve 1ac, 48ac, 50ac, 36d, 52d – mainly clues that seemed to need some GK?
Favourites: EDAMAME, LIES IN, STRETCHIEST, INGRATE
New for me: AWETO, the union NUJ (for 57ac); AGAMA lizard, LEEDS CASTLE; LAMELLA, OSIER = willow, NEAR THE BONE; ALLHEAL = valerian
I did not fully parse
2d TAFFETA = F[i]fe a small flute
31d TATA?
Thanks, both.
Dear All, I wrote to the Guardian Crossword Editor about the errors in 47ac and 2d and received an apology. “Maskarade is embarassed by the two errors and I am even more embarrassed, as the crossowrd [sic] editor, for not having spotted them.”
Thanks and happy new year Maskarade and mhl (and everyone else).
Well despite the glitches I got all the right answers, like sending a self corretcing garbled massage over the intrenet. After completing this I had to go back to the previous Saturday’s Brendan which was still only half finished. Did anyone else attempt to solve 16a as GOAT instead of GHEE?
Yes, this was enjoyable at a stressful time. Thanks to Maskarade & mhl.
Re 36 down I didn’t check- odd bits of geography- had to rely on travel memories. 35d CARROCHAR was a rare example outside Azed of a “compound anagram” which always ruffles some ultra-purist feathers. Nonetheless it was great.
Happy New Year.
Well I enjoyed it, warts and all. I have the impression that Maskerade is of a certain vintage and so allowances might be made, but notwithstanding that there is nothing compulsory about undertaking these pleasant offerings and if you don’t like the pot get yourself off to somewhere else.
Some of the negative offerings here reflect poorly on the contributors. But I am under no compulsion to read their offerings and henceforth I shan’t.
A Happy New Year to all of goodwill.
MartinDH@35, yes, that’s how you pronounce Bicester. Hence:
There was a young fellow from Bicester,
Who had the most beautiful sicester.
Now here’s the real story:
In spite of the law, he
Just couldn’t resicester and kicister
Emzi Zimiziyu
(Well l.4 works in my accent, dunno bout yours!).
PS We do like to mock the American tourists who ask for directions to “Lie-cess-ter Square”, but we shouldn’t. How would they know it should be “Lester Square”?
Me@60: Oops! Spoilt it! Should, of course, end with “kicester”.
mhl LIES IN is a combination of LIE SIN, not LIES SIN or you have too many S’s. The anagram fodder in 5d is UNITED STATES, not STATUES.
Never heard of OFLAG, just knew “stalag.” Never heard of AGAMA either, but what else could it be?
widdersbel@26 LEEDS CASTLE was anything but a giveaway for me, since I’d never heard of it but did know that Leeds is about as far from Kent as you can get!
Thanks to Maskarade for the big undertaking and to mhl for accompanying us on the way. Happy New Year to all!
I noticed the mistake in the fodder for DIES IRAE and wondered if it had maybe resulted from a last-minute edit to “Readies distributed at end of Verdi’s Requiem (4,4)”, to avoid having “Verdi” as apparently part of both the wordplay and definition?
Valentine @ 62
There were two sorts of german POW camps in WW2: Oflag = Offizierlager for officers, and Stalag = Stablager for Other Ranks.
Simon S@64
I had heard of Oflag (maybe from a Round the Horne sketch?!) and Stalag but I did not know the difference until now. Thanks (to you and Maskarade).
I actually do know how to pronounce Bicester. It was BISTRE that I was wondering about, because I thought it might be like ‘genre’ with a rolled ‘r’. There are many nicely misleading tutorials on YouTube. But it seems that the correct pronunciation is in fact ‘bister’. So it does sound like Bicester.
MartinDH@66 I thought you probably did know how to pronounce Bicester, but I have met many folk not from UK who are unsurprisingly confused by all the ‘cesters. My Chambers gives bister as an alternative spelling to bistre.
I’d never heard of ARROCHAR until last year, when it featured in … the Maskarade Christmas special! (Tip missing from direction indicator for village on the Cowal peninsula (8), to give ARRO[w], with no wordplay for CHAR, the fish)
It must have been included on some word lists used by compiling software – does it have any notable features or history to account for that?
I didn’t know BISTRE and having misread/misinterpreted the clue, I’d been looking for a homophone of the pigment rather than the town; also missed the error in the fodder for DIES IRAE but the answer was obvious. Tony’s suggested version of the clue @63 looks like an improvement to me, though those who objected to the clues being too easy would probably complain anew.
I found this to be a mostly enjoyable and rewarding solve, with an unusual device to add interest. I fail to understand those who decide in advance that it will be crap, don’t even start to solve it and then come here to tell us about it.
Thanks Maskarade and mhl.
My slight moan is that publication in the 18 Dec paper is a bit premature. These holiday puzzles are nice things to fill a bit of time over the holiday itself. Christmas Eve would be better.
The puzzle itself I enjoyed, and the way it ranged from the very easy to the need to consult a reference work seems very appropriate
Andrew B @70. As I recall, it used to be in the paper on the 24th, but in recent years it was moved to the last Saturday before Christmas. I guess the Guardian can’t afford to give away two prizes in one week.
I thought it was good didn’t get all the answers some obscure words but a bit easier than some of Maskerades efforts!
I think Maskarade missed a trick with TA-TA, where it would have been nice to make it the last themer at 58d and end the puzzle with:
Goodbye! (2,2)
I enjoyed the holiday prize overall, despite the couple of errors.
Thanks, mhl and Mask.
SH@69, the version of the clue I thought might have been the original works ok, but the definition becomes simply “Requiem” — which is still correct, if less specific, while “last of Verdi” supplies the other I for the fodder (and the genitive “‘s” becomes a linking ‘is’).
Postmark@19,
It is not so very long since Araucaria’s name appeared alongside every Bank Holiday puzzle – invariably with special instructions which were often baffling at first sight – and back then no bugger complained.
.
Anyway, I invariably enjoy Maskarade’s offerings and this was no exception, although it was rather more of a slog than some past examples. I agree though that 18/12 was too early and I do wish the Guardian would go back to putting the puzzle in the Xmas Eve newspaper if possible. Printing the grid rather larger would help too !! Thanks to mhl (which name I always read as Matthew Harding Lower for some reason) and of course to Maskarade.
I think a number of posters here forget that there are very many people who do crosswords for general entertainment, blissfully unaware of 225 and its forensic analysis. While it is fair to point out actual mistakes, to criticise styles and specific setters – sometimes quite rudely – is, to me, unacceptable. Who here has done the research of ALL those who tackle Grauniad crosswords and their views/enjoyment ratings? I thought not …
Thewarrens
An enjoyable puzzle as so many others have commented before.
To those who say ‘too easy’ or any other remark to trivialise it, just remember that this may have been someone’s first go at a Guardian crossword. I remember my first, a Custos puzzle which took me a week to complete. That was 38 years ago.
Bless you Hazel!
Martin@66, of course! I’m afraid I don’t know any verse concerning bistre. I’d never even heard of it before this puzzle but assumed it was said like Bicester because the clue suggested that.
Re BICESTER/BISTRE- I have thought for while that some enterprising coach operator in non-Covid times might run a “See the Bad kings” tour to Gloucester (Edward II) John (Worcester) and Richard III (Leicester) as an alternative to the Three Choirs.
[Keith@81 … but not Cirencester!
James @68: there’s a significant range of mountains, including several Munros, known as the Arrochar Alps. That’s the only reason I’d heard of the village..
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrochar_Alps
Update. The errors in 47ac and 2d have been corrected online and the clues amended.
Adrian, thanks. I don’t know much about classical music and I don’t really understand what “at end of tutti in Verdi’s Requiem” would mean. I do know that ‘tutti’ means ‘everyone’ in Italian.