This is my first ever blog of a Paul Grauniad Cryptic, although I did cover one of his Genius puzzles back in 2018…
…and in fact I first encountered him in person at my first ever Times Championships, back in 2008, when it was held in Cheltenham, as part of the literary festival there. I think he was selling a cruciverbal calendar with a charitable cause behind it. I was a wide-eyed novice at the event, although I managed a creditable 16th or 18th in my heat, earning a free entry for the following year – and preparing me for a decade of further near-misses and also-rans!
Anyway, back to this puzzle…it took a short while for the penny to drop, but once I’d got the idea things fell into place fairly quickly. As I was on my iPad in the early hours of Saturday morning, I started it in sequential clue order, so I solved 1A (SH_LOCK around Y) without pausing too long to wonder why it was only defined as a ‘character’.
I glossed over the ‘character’ in 13A, and then saw the three two-word clues at 16A, 17A and 24A – the ‘cheeky’ character must be BOTTOM, the ‘bowed’ one probably VIOLA (stretching my Shakespearean knowledge a bit) and the ‘blown’ one is probably a FLUTE, although I was even less sure on the Bardic connection there. All was finally confirmed with the PUCK at 27A being a ‘character’ put on ice!
So, we have a number of Shakespearean characters, either in the wordplay – like CONS(P)ORTIA, (D)IAGO(NAL), RE(A)GAN – or as entries – SHYLOCK, BOTTOM, PUCK, etc.
The mental image at 26A (FORTINBRAS) was a little Cyclops-ean (or maybe Philip-K-Dick-ian…’Do Androids Shop For Tin Bras?‘!), and I enjoyed the misdirection at 7D, using Spooner as an example of a DOG COLLAR wearer, but making the solver try to work a Spoonerism into the wordplay/enumeration! 15D SALTPETRE might have been a serendipitously topical surface read, given that the ‘contentious’ Sue Gray report had just (less-than-half) come out, and was being seen as potentially ‘explosive stuff’…and Paul himself gets a mention at 23A SAO PAULO.
I think my LOI (and LOP – last one parsed) was 13A DIAGONAL – took me a while to think outside the box there, or rather inside the chess set box:
There are only two entries that don’t cross at least one thematic entry, so once they started falling into place they supplied plenty of crossers. And if I had been solving from the printed ‘PDF version’ from the website, I would probably have scanned the clues first and seen all those ‘character’ references much earlier…
Many thanks to Paul for an entertaining and relatively gentle workout, and I hope all is clear below…
| Across | ||
|---|---|---|
| Clue No | Solution | Clue (definition underlined)
Logic/parsing |
| 1A | SHYLOCK | Shoddy stuff worn by unknown character (7)
SH_LOCK (shoddy stuff) around (worn by) Y (unknown value, maths) [Shylock – from Merchant of Venice] |
| 5A | PRODUCE | Craft for old dictator (7)
PRO (for) + DUCE (Il Duce – Benito Mussolini, old dictator) |
| 10A | TRAP | Kisser’s role reversal (4)
PART (role) reversed = TRAP (mouth, kisser) |
| 11A | AT A TANGENT | Delegate touring vale, heading north in a completely different direction (2,1,7)
A_GENT (delegate) around (touring) T AT A (‘ta ta’, goodbye, or ‘vale’ in Latin) plus N (compass point, heading North) |
| 12A | STREAM | Channel bringing king into power (6)
ST_EAM (power) around (bringing in) R (rex, king) |
| 13A | DIAGONAL | Character in country backing line taken by a bishop (8)
D_NAL (land, or country, backing) around IAGO (thematic character) [Iago – from Othello; the line being a bishop’s move in chess] |
| 14A | CONSORTIA | More than one business association defrauds character without capital (9)
CONS (defrauds) + ( [Portia – from Merchant of Venice] |
| 16A | FLUTE | Character blown? (5)
thematic double definition – a FLUTE is blown, or more correctly blown over, at a tangent?); and FLUTE is a thematic character [Flute – from MSND] |
| 17A | VIOLA | Character bowed? (5)
thematic double definition – a VIOLA can be bowed, or played with a bow; and VIOLA is a thematic character [Viola – from Twelfth Night] |
| 19A | CHARGRILL | Cook fish, part of which poked with end of skewer (9)
CHAR (fish) + G_ILL (part of a fish) around (poked with) R (end letter of skeweR) |
| 23A | SAO PAULO | South American city, it loves to entertain me (3,5)
SA (it, sex appeal) + O_O (zero, or love, plural = loves) around (entertaining) PAUL (me, the setter) |
| 24A | BOTTOM | Cheeky character? (6)
thematic double definition – a BOTTOM could be described as cheeky!; and BOTTOM is a thematic character [Bottom – from MSND] |
| 26A | FORTINBRAS | Character, are metal nipples ___ ? (10)
punning thematic double definition? – if a robot had metal nipples and wore a tin bra, then metal nipples could be described as FOR TIN BRAS (?!); and FORTINBRAS is a thematic character [Fortinbras – from Hamlet] |
| 27A | PUCK | Character put on ice? (4)
thematic double definition – a PUCK can be something that is put on ice, e.g. in an ice hockey game; and PUCK is a thematic character [Puck – from MSND] |
| 28A | INTEGER | 1 or 2, perhaps, greeting endless jerks (7)
anag, i.e. jerks, of GREETIN( |
| 29A | ASCRIBE | Put down to a bed in empty space (7)
A + S_E (empty S |
| Down | ||
| Clue No | Solution | Clue (definition underlined)
Logic/parsing |
| 2D | HORATIO | Character in house share (7)
HO (house) + RATIO (share) [Horatio – from Hamlet] |
| 3D | LAPSE | Drinks for the audience is a mistake (5)
homophone, i.e. for the audience – LAPSE (mistake) can sound like LAPS (drinks) |
| 4D | CRANMER | Character in public ran me ragged (7)
hidden word in ‘publiC RAN ME Ragged’ [Cranmer – from Henry VIII] |
| 6D | REAGAN | Character inspiring a former US actor (6)
RE_GAN (thematic character) around (inspiring) A [Regan – from King Lear; the former US actor also being a former US president!] |
| 7D | DOG COLLAR | Note about orator’s garbled comments originally something for Spooner, say? (3,6)
D_OLLAR (note, paper money) around OG C (first, or original, letters of ‘Orators Garbled Comments’) [Not a Spoonerism indication, but the fact that Spooner was a Rev, so would have worn one…] |
| 8D | CONTACT | Reach agreement, Republican having withdrawn (7)
CONT( |
| 9D | SANDWICH BOARD | Squeeze committee to produce mobile advertising (8,5)
SANDWICH (squeeze) + BOARD (committee) |
| 15D | SALTPETRE | Latest report not half contentious — explosive stuff! (9)
anag, i.e. contentious, of LATEST + REP( |
| 18D | IDAHOAN | American commercial turning up in Hanoi, embarrassingly (7)
I_HOAN (anag, i.e. embarrassingly, of HANOI) around DA (ad, or commercial, turning up) |
| 20D | REBUSES | Problems with respect to public transport? (7)
RE (with respect to) + BUSES (public transport) |
| 21D | LION CUB | Feline in rage biting unfortunate child, nipper initially rolling over (4,3)
B_OIL (rage) around (biting) UCN (initial letters of ‘Unfortunate Child Nipper’) = BUC NOIL, all rolling over = LION CUB! |
| 22D | QUINCE | Fruity character? (6)
thematic double definition – a QUINCE could be described as fruity!; and QUINCE is a thematic character [Quince – from MSND] |
| 25D | TOPER | Drunk concerned with vessel that’s tipped over (5)
RE (concerned with) + POT (vessel) = REPOT; tipped over = TOPER |
Thanks mc_rapper. Good that the top left came clear early, revealing the theme. It got harder after that but Paul’s fondness for first letters tagged by ‘initially’ and ‘originally’ etc showed the otherwise tricky OGC and NCU in DOG COLLAR and LION CUB.
I forgot that I had put this aside with still a dozen clues unsolved, and polished them off half an hour before midnight. Though I got my last one in wrong: 29a. I had anagram (jerk) of (g)REETIN(g) (both ends missing from ‘greeting’!) and then the S from ‘jerks’ (lift & separate?) at the end for ENTRIES – 1a and 2d are entries in the grid, n’est ce pas? It kinda works. No? Oh well, back to the drawing board.
I envy you your speedy solve of SHYLOCK, mc_rapper; shlock is not a word that comes readily from the recesses of my brain, even with the C from 4d in place, and I needed the H from 2d to help me.
I enjoyed the economically clued quartet, even though they were just about write-ins. Sometimes easy can be good, if there’s a bit of humour in the clue.
Thanks to Paul and our blogger.
Thanks mc_rapper67. Another good workout from Paul with clever misdirections. I stumbled on the Shakespearean theme quite early on thanks to CRANMER which was a help and which yielded useful crossing letters but FOI was the delightful 23a. I didn’t help myself though by entering ‘charbroil’ for 19a which made 21d difficult and had me flirting with ‘crab’ (nipper) for a while. Like you my LOI was DIAGONAL, a very subtle mix.
I’ll spare you the details of my path through this – I’ve forgotten most of it anyway – but what I do remember is that I was lucky enough that my first two “character clues” answered were different enough they could only have one context in common – Shakespeare! That helped a lot, quite early. After that it looked for a while that the characters were all from unique plays (remembering that Portia shows up in Julius Caesar as well as MoV) but MSND did that theory in completely.
In the end I quite enjoyed this, despite some trepidation at the outset.
Unlike molongo @1, the top left corner held out, until I had another stab yesterday. SHYLOCK was LOI, probably because I was thrown by the small ‘c’ in character, thereby being misdirected away from the theme, which came relatively early with VIOLA, PUCK, BOTTOM and FLUTE. I needed AT A TANGENT parsed, smiled/groaned at FORTINBRAS and liked DOG COLLAR for the alternative take on Spooner. A delightful bard-inspired puzzle.
Great blog again mc_rapper and thanks to Paul.
Once I got 24a BOTTOM and 27a PUCK the fogginess around the repetition of the word “character” in the clues resolved itself and I was on my way. It wasn’t an easy puzzle by any means but a little like a challenging treasure hunt. All made a little tougher when I filled in 17a as CUPID (another Shakespearean character with a bow!) but finally the bottom left yielded. FORTINBRAS at 26a was a key clue in unravelling that quadrant although it took me far too long to see it. I ticked all the themed clues but of the non-thematic clues I really liked 18d IDAHOAN.
The literary theme was right up my alley, so huge thanks to Paul for the clever grid. I needed help with parsing a few, e.g. 28a INTEGER, and why DOG COLLAR at 7d made sense for Spooner (not a Spoonerism – d’oh!), so many thanks as well to mc_rapper67 for the detailed and very helpful blog.
My Shakespearean knowledge being limited I needed to check that CRANMER was indeed in a play ( and reassure myself re the vaguely remembered QUINCE). I enjoyed this once the penny dropped re the ‘character’ motif and particularly liked DIAGONAL and FORTINBRAS (always a fan of a pun). Thanks to Paul and mc_rapper.
PS also liking the flashing grid.
My FOI was SANDWICH BOARD which was a help.
Not knowing / remembering much about Shakespeare’s plays, Google was helpful. I had never heard of QUINCE or FLUTE
My favourites were DIAGONAL, CONSORTIA, CHARGRILL, TOPER
Thanks Paul and mc_rapper67
DIAGONAL was my first character-related answer, and I wondered if maybe all the characters were from Othello. Then I realised Paul was casting a much wider net, and began to wonder just how many named Shakespearian characters there are (does anyone know?). In the end, most were pretty well known (although I wasn’t sure which play FLUTE was from), and the obscure CRANMER (I’ve never seen Henry VIII, or even known of a performance) was clearly clued. My LOI was INTEGER, which I left alone for a while having no idea how the clue worked, and even had my own tangential trip wondering about the letters I had and if SALTPETRE might be there in its American -ER guise. Then I spotted the anagram and that was an interesting romp finished. Thanks, Paul, and thanks for the entertaining blog, mc_rapper67/
Tin bras made me uncomfortable. And I probably could have said that better.
Needed the crossers to decide whether the “character blown” was FLUTE or SNOUT.
Thanks for a super blog, enjoyed this, I think Paul chose well known characters, even for me, perhaps many used frequently in other puzzles, MNSD ones do turn up a lot. CRAMNER was the only unknown for me and that was a hidden clue.
I also liked DIAGONAL and DOG COLLAR , also add AT A TANGENT for the misleading VALE.
Whereas Dr W @4 wondered if each character was unique to one play, I wondered if they were all from the same when I got a series of MSND solutions as my first themed ones. And it helped that I had two guinea pigs as a small child – FLUTE and QUINCE! FORTINBRAS was my last one in; did the surface put anyone else in mind of Madonna’s famous outfit?
As with some well-populated themes, once the idea got going, quite a few solutions fell rapidly into place. And I’ve had the experience before where the non-themed end up being the clues I nominate as favourites. On this occasion, two that I share with many others – DIAGONAL and DOG COLLAR – and two that I don’t – INTEGER for the mislead and PRODUCE for the economical clueing. LION CUB my least favourite with a surface that compares poorly with others.
Thanks Paul and mc (lovely blog today)
Thank you for the highlights of your career and your blog, mc_rapper67.
Fortunate that the only Shakespeare that was ever compulsory in my school years was MSND, so BOTTOM and PUCK were my in. Needed your help with vale, Dog Collar, Diagonal and Fortinbras.
[No, PostMark @13. I didn’t think of the Madonna’s outfit, although very memorable. Had to solve the clue first.
I only knew metal nipples as pieces of equipment/tools, and google led me down the same path.
I think you either know FORTINBRAS or you don’t. And if you had guinea pigs called FLUTE and QUINCE you had a head start.]
[Sadly, paddymelon@14, the naming was down to my parents. I’d have been a very precocious 5 year old (maybe I was!) to have come up with those two. And their replacement, in time, was Alexander McNeil and I’ve no idea where that came from!]
Was helped by the theme of Shakespearean characters.
Favourite: DIAGONAL.
Thanks, both.
Many thanks, Paul. Needed help but got there. Very entertaining. Great misdirections … not least for DOG COLLAR and INTEGER. All clues satisfied once parsed. I liked the simplicity of REBUSES. Very smart blog, mc_r.
An excellent puzzle. The first themed one I got was CRANMER, not the most obvious Shakespeare character, so I initially wondered if the theme was characters from Wolf Hall or something similar. Then a couple of others fell into place and I recalled that Cranmer was of course in Henry VIII, or All is True (an unusual title for a history play).
DOG COLLAR was very good, and reminded me a bit of Radler’s great puzzle here.
Many thanks Paul and mc.
Loved this….wrestled with the Spooner misdirection and INTEGER too. Mrs Smoz and I chuckled when we solved them. Very enjoyable.
[Lord Jim@18: thanks for the link. I’ve previously commended a Conto puzzle from MyCrossword which has some similarities, at least in appearance.]
LOI was INTEGER which took me far too long. I was looking at 1a and 2d instead of the numbers 1 and 2, just as Paul had intended me to!
It took about 4 Shakespearian characters to convince me that Paul wasn’t playing his usual trick of using a key word with different potential meanings. FORTINBRAS and DIAGONAL were my favourites.
One of Paul’s irritating sets of clues all referring to a key word: I thought at first they were all going to be MSND characters, until I saw VIOLA, and CRANMER, who I had to look up to verify that he did appear in Henry VIII (the only performance I know of is the one in 1613 that accidentally burned down the Globe Theatre).
Failed to parse AT A TANGENT, and crossed out LION CUB a couple of times before I finally sussed how it worked. I did like DIAGONAL and DOG COLLAR, SAO PAULO and SALTPETRE.
Thank you mc_rapper67, another fine blog and I prefer your Dickian alternative 26A to Paul’s – could also have used “bronze busts” perhaps – I had to cheat with a list but only for that one.
PostMark@13 I thought of another M: the Menschmachinen from Metropolis – apparently “gynoid” means female android but that would have been quite obscure.
After all that I shamefully have to admit failing to parse CRANMER because I thought the ANMER was “ran me”*ragged and had no idea why CR = public!
INTEGER was also my last one and I kicked myself when I saw it, nice to be in good company there and it was my favourite with DIAGONAL running it close, thanks Paul.
Just as well we did not get the fort/fought homophone for FORTINBRAS, there are still casualties from last time.
Thank you Paul & mc that was impish fun.
I misspelt saltpetre as saltpeter which held me up with integer.
Does Puck still set for the Guardian? I’ve missed him.
I must confess I got rather cross at the beginning when I saw clues like: ‘Character blown?’ and ‘Character bowed’. However, once I got going and realised that the theme was Shakespearean characters, I really enjoyed this. Although I’m not great on Shakespeare, I have seen MSND quite a few times, which was a great help.
Like some others, I had to check CRANMER, which was one of the first ones solved. I particularly liked FORTINBRAS and DOG COLLAR, with the un-Spoonerism.
Thanks Paul and mc.
Thanks for the blog and clear explanations mc_rapper67.
Sadly I didn’t get on with the theme. I spotted “cranmer” as a possible parsing early on but a Google of that name gave me no reference to the bard – just some obscure figure from Tudor times. Found my way in with Bottom but then was stuck for a while assuming they would all be MSND. Ah well.
I could not parse the TATA from 11A – I know of ‘vale’ used in its Spanish meaning of ‘ok’, but don’t speak Latin. I suppose you live and learn 🙂
Saaam@28: a bit of a harsh judgement on the historical Cranmer. As Archbishop of Canterbury at the time of Henry VIII he was fundamental to the establishment of the Church of England when Henry split from Rome and pretty crucial to the various disposals of queens surplus to requirements. Church figures don’t tend to be as well recognised as secular but, in religious terms, he left quite a legacy in the shape of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer.
Lovely puzzle reminiscent of some of Araucaria’s finest ( I recall a similar one from the master, based upon Milton’s shorter poems) taking you through various levels of understanding from mystification to completion as the pennies drop.
INTEGER and PRODUCE defeated me. I seem to be the only one to miss the latter.
Sorry, not knowing much about Shakespeare, I just got bored with this one and gave up.
wynsum @26. “I misspelt saltpetre as saltpeter …” Aha! That’s why I had ENTRIES instead of INTEGER (see #2). Doh!
Penfold @31: at least it wasn’t a barred crossword:D
US solvres must remembre to entre certain lettres in reverse ordre.
Very good PostMark… cue the flood of tortuous puns.
I didn’t mean my earlier comment to come across as harsh as it seems on re-reading. I think it’s one of the consequences of having so many different setters that we get such a wonderful variety of words, styles and areas of knowledge.
Nice pun MrPostMark @33 but I do not understand the relevance of the colon and the capital D ?
Roz@36: I think it’s a primitive ? emoji. Try looking at it sideways.
(and the question mark is because this board doesn’t do non-primitive emojis)
A puzzle of a particular kind for me (and others) – hard to make progress until you get the explicit theme, and then more like a romp when you do get it.
An excellent puzzle – well pitched, a well-chosen theme (not too broad or too narrow) and some good clues.
Thanks to Paul and mc_rapper67.
Roz@36: it was a smiley emoji but unfortunately PM forgot to leave a space after‘crossword’ (but you knew that) 😀
Thank you gladys and AlanC , a failed yellow face thing then.
Alan C @40, Roz et al: Indeed he did – when I am using my phone, rather than the laptop, I can’t see whether there’s a space or not 🙁 Should’ve left two to be sure 😉 At least it didn’t obscure the pun 😀
[You are worse than my students. I always get their messages printed out and circle these things in red saying incorrect punctuation. ]
Finding BOTTOM, PUCK, QUINCE in that order from crossers and FLUTE without them led me to assume that the characters were all from the same play (the opposite experience to DrW@4) and set me looking for more members of the Athenian Amateur Dramatic Society, and then VIOLA (the bowed one and the role I played in a college production) changed my mind.
For me the top right corner held out until this morning, with a touch of the check button.
Enjoyed the puzzle, thanks Paul and mc_rapper.
Very much in a minority, then, but (as a Paul fan) I found this distinctly tedious.
It starts off badly with an unfriendly grid, 8 lights having a majority of unchecked letters (one subject on which I think Ximenes was absolutely on the money).
It gets worse with SALTPETRE, which is an ingredient of gunpowder, but is not itself explosive.
And if you aren’t obsessively into Shakespeare, a great deal of it is hard slog (though I did get FLUTE straight away, despite the fact that, as DougV @11 points out, SNOUT would also work and would be a great deal more Pauline).
The straight-faced definition of REAGAN leaves me wondering when the first crossword will appear with JOHNSON defined simply as “Dishonest journo”. (There is a superb puzzle by Raider on the mycrossword site which includes the clue “Knob at the front of the cabinet (7)”. No 128, if you’re interested).
DOG COLLAR is a lovely misdirection. And (for those of us who like Paul’s sense of humour) FORTINBRAS is brilliant; but by the time I got there I’d got fed up.
But thanks anyway to Paul, and thanks to mc for the blog
The first character I got was CRANMER, but I didn’t recognise him as a Shakespearean character, so it didn’t help much and I didn’t even feel sure it was the right answer. Like Lord Jim@18, I wondered whether (and feared that) all the characters were going to come from Hilary Mantel’s trilogy, none of which I’ve read or seen the adaptations of.
The second was PUCK which immediately made me realize that the cheeky character was BOTTOM, but that misled me into believing that they were all MSND characters. Did get it all parsed and solved in the end, though and had heard of all the characters, even if Cranmer from actual history rather than Shakey.
To be finicky, the word “to” in the definition of ASCRIBE in 29ac is surplus, since that word is always followed by ‘to’ just as ‘put down’ is when used in that sense. It doesn’t belong in the wordplay either.
Interesting that SHYLOCK is a Yiddish word with a Y inserted. I wondered whether his Venetian merchandise might be comprised of shoddy goods, but it seems he was only in the business of lending money, afaict. Another example of what is primarily an Americanism unindicated in Paul’s cluing, btw.
Saaam@28, perhaps you know the word ‘valediction’ meaning ‘a saying goodbye’? You do now, anyway.
Roz@41, the first puzzle I ever set contained the clue “A sign of modern times? (5)”. I imagine you would (unusually) have failed to solve it, leaving your face with a distinct yellow cast?
Neil H@45, we crossed but you’ve mentioned a couple of things I thought to and forgot:
Saltpetre is, of course, the oxidizing agent in gunpowder and not, in itself, explosive. I’m surprised our resident scientist didn’t point that out. I did decide it wasn’t unreasonable in a crossword, though, being, as you say, an ingredient in an explosive.
Also the (very well made) point that Reagan was rather better known as a US Pres than an actor. I quailed at “former US actor” as that seemed such a wide field.
Paul has many vocal fans but I am not one of them and this displayed some of the reasons. Two typically smutty clues (24a and 26a). Not possible to hint provenance of characters in intro to puzzle? Convention is that Spooner reference introduces Spoonerism and in any case it is a dollar bill not a dollar note. Character names mangled (Reagan, Portia). Hands up everyone who knew Cranmer.
Oleg @48, I can understand you being grumpy – it’s something that I enjoy being. But to say that Spooner has to be used in the conventional way! Misdirecting us is a major part of the fun.
Oleg@48 – are you gong for this week’s Grumpy Award? Hands up here regarding Cranmer, but we all have our special areas on knowledge – I emailed a friend later last Saturday about this and said, ‘There will be complaints’. So step forward. As regards the dollar, I refer you to the old music hall song (later popularised by Val Doonican), ‘Paddy McGinty’s Goat’:
He sat by the fireside, he didn’t give a hang
He swallowed a spark and exploded with a bang
So if you go to heaven you can bet a dollar note
That the angel with the whiskers on is Paddy McGinty’s goat
Found this challenging but very enjoyable. Being unfamiliar with Shakespeare I was forced to solve from the wordplay & check the answers with google, but that for me is a sign of a good puzzle. Loved the Spooner & clue reference misdirections. Dollar note is a term used in NZ (though $5 is the smallest note now.) Thanks for the fun
MC & Paul.
Thanks for all the comments and feedback – much appreciated, as usual… apologies for the late response, but I was out early this morning for a very frosty game of golf, and then there were a couple of very disappointing rugby matches…
Anyway, there doesn’t seem to have been too much to come back on – a few grumps about the theme, the Spooner misdirection, the obscurity of Cranmer, the explosiveness of saltpetre/er…but it looks like the puzzle was generally well received.
My main takeaway is from paddymelon at #14 – that ‘metal nipples’ are a thing in engineering…much more prosaic than the Madonna bra, or my sci-fi fantasising!…
And top marks to Tim Lewis at #34 – I savoured the flavour and the colour of your contribution…
Loving Shakespeare I really enjoyed this. I cannot believe that Quince & Flute were unrecignised but took a while to remember Cranmer- though I do have the rare experience of seeing Henry VIII in VJ night in 1945- our youth club were camping in Stratford and had a bit of culture included. I have never heard the national anthem sung with more gusto as that night.
Tim Lewis @34, Hey don’t blame us, blame Webstre!
I forgot this one until now but solved pretty quickly with the help of the theme. Wondered if RATIO was “share” …got to it by ration which is definitely a share. Nicely misdirected by INTEGER clue looking to link SHYLOCK and HORATIO 1,2
Didn’t understand the parsing of SHYLOCK Why is SH_LOCK shoddy stuff?
Thanks both
Oh found SCHLOCK is shoddy but what about the C?
tim @56
Chambers has ‘schlock or shlock’ for ‘something of inferior quality, esp shoddy merchandise ‘.
I’m neither a fan of Paul nor a Paul hater (I find his quality variable), but lately he has put together a string of excellent puzzles, including this one. May the streak continue.
Having twigged to the theme I then was held up by 4d CRANMER, as I don’t think of Henry VIII as a real Shakespeare play. (I’m not challenging his authorship, I just think it’s a lousy play.)
I was also held up by 19a – I had entered CHARBROIL, never having heard of CHARGRILL, which I didn’t correct until I finally figured out that 21d had to be LION CUB.
Thanks Paul for the theatrical fun, and mc_rapper for the superb and colourful blog.
[ PS. I would not want to see PostMark barred from this site, but I think he should be pun-ished. Where are Frank Muir and Dennis Norden when we really need them? ]
mc @52 – as a cyclist who builds his own wheels, I can assure you that brass nipples are very much a real thing – they’re what attach the spokes to the rim.
Belated thanks for the blog, and of course to Paul – Shakespeare is not my bag but none of the characters were unknown to me, including CRANMER – I don’t know Henry VIII (and it sounds like I’m not missing much, according to cellomaniac) but I’m aware that Shakespeare did write such a play, and it would be an odd thing indeed if such a pivotal figure in history were not a character in it.
Just to add, my experience of solving this was very much in line with Valentine @44 – BOTTOM was the first “character” to fall, which quickly gave me PUCK, QUINCE and FLUTE… and then I spent far too long trying to work out where TITANIA, LYSANDER et al got in the grid before realising I’d been given a bum steer! CRANMER was actually one those that helped put me back on the right track.
Cellomaniac@58
“Where are Frank Muir and Dennis Norden when we really need them?”
Both beyond the web now, sadly, Muir these last twenty-odd years
A bit late to this Prize crossword but thank you @mc_rapper67 for a very clear explanation and the grids. Much appreciated.