The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/28719.
Several answers in multiple parts scattered around the grid, which some find off-putting or difficult to manage on a small screen; however, it gives Paul the opportunity to include some fairly common expressions. As often with Paul, I found this daunting at first glance, but it fell out smoothly – perhaps more easily than some of his – in the end.
| ACROSS | ||
| 7, 23 | HONOURS EVEN |
Not all of eighteenth on our seventeenth level (7,4)
|
| A hidden answer (‘not all of’) in ‘eighteentH ON OUR SEVENteenth’. One of the more unlikely hidden answers. | ||
| 8 |
See 12
|
|
| 9, 25, 10 | LIKE GREASED LIGHTNING |
Perhaps describing bolts no longer stuck fast? (4,7,9)
|
| Cryptic definition. | ||
| 10 |
See 9
|
|
| 12, 8 | GREAT BRITAIN |
Country again bitter about quarantining rules, primarily (5,7)
|
| An envelope (‘quarantining’) of R (‘Rules, primarily’) in GREATBITAIN, an anagram (‘about’) of ‘again bitter’ – with an extended definition? | ||
| 13 |
See 19
|
|
| 15 |
See 20
|
|
| 16 | SALEM |
US city recalled Hindu festivals (5)
|
| A reversal (‘recalled’) of MELAS (‘Hindu festivals’ – the word is used for all sorts of gatherings). There are numerous places in the US with the name Salem, several having the designation ‘city’. The clue needs some help (I had the final M, which is enough) to determine to which end the ‘recalled’ refers. | ||
| 17 |
See 16 down
|
|
| 18 | ESCAPISM |
Avoidance of reality with Conservative in impasse, unfortunately (8)
|
| An envelope (‘in’) of C (‘Conservative’) in ESAPISM, an anagram (‘unfortunately’) of ‘impasse’. | ||
| 20, 15 | ALLEY CATS |
Every one of them as yet untamed, about a hundred feral animals (5,4)
|
| An envelope (‘about’) of C (Roman numeral, ‘a hundred’) in ALL (‘every one’) plus EYATS, an anagram (‘untamed’) of ‘as yet’. | ||
| 21 | BALD PATCH |
Group stealing jewel and cheap regalia finally unlocked crown? (4,5)
|
| An envelope (‘stealing’) of LDPA (‘jeweL anD cheaP regaliA finally’) in BATCH (‘group’). | ||
| 22 | PEEP |
Little sound that echoes just the same? (4)
|
| A palindrome. | ||
| 24 | CUISINE |
Food is popular: stick around (7)
|
| An envelope (‘around’) of ‘is’ plus IN (‘popular’) in CUE (‘stick’ eg billiards). | ||
| 25 |
See 9
|
|
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | GOBI |
Slough’s roundabout, one in desert (4)
|
| A charade of GOB, a reversal (’roundabout’) of BOG (‘slough’) plus I (‘one’). | ||
| 2 | HOPELESS |
Out of bounds, perhaps, drive ultimately hooked? Totally incompetent! (8)
|
| An envelope (‘hooked’) of E (‘drivE ultimately’) in HOP-LESS (‘out of bounds’) | ||
| 3 | ARMLET |
Thrash metal about right for band (6)
|
| An envelope (‘about’) of R (‘right’) in AMLET, an anagram (‘thrash’) of ‘metal’. | ||
| 4 | ART TATUM |
Music, say, rubbish? I’m not sure, for jazz pianist (3,5)
|
| A charade of ART (‘music, say’) plus TAT (‘rubbish’) plus UM (‘I’m not sure’). | ||
| 5, 20 | STRIKE A CHORD |
Ring a bell, or play the piano? (6,1,5)
|
| Double definition. | ||
| 6 | KING |
A little crack in gingerbread man (4)
|
| A hidden answer (‘a little’) in ‘cracK IN Gingerbread’; ‘man’ as a chess piece. | ||
| 11 | GUILLEMOT |
Volume turned up after seabird bites head of injured auk (9)
|
| An envelope (‘bites’) of I (‘head of Injured’) in GULL (‘seabird’) plus EMOT, a reversal (‘turned up’ in a down light) of TOME (‘volume’). | ||
| 12 |
See 21
|
|
| 14 | APPLY |
Put to practical use — like some fruit? (5)
|
| Or perhaps APPLE-Y (‘like some fruit’). | ||
| 16, 17 across | SKIPPING ROPE |
Equipment with long cord bound to catch fish (8,4)
|
| A charade of SKIP (‘bound’ – like 2D, in the sense of leap) plus PIN (‘catch’) plus GROPE (‘fish’ – to search for something). | ||
| 17 | ROLE PLAY |
Really poor (or not unorthodox) training method (4,4)
|
| An anagram (‘unorthodox’) of ‘really po[or]’ minus OR (‘or not’). | ||
| 19, 13 | A FLASH IN THE PAN |
Briefly hot, 9 25 10, is it? (1,5,2,3,3)
|
| Definition and literal interpretation. | ||
| 20 |
See 5
|
|
| 21, 12 | BLUEGRASS |
Depressed squealer’s country music (9)
|
| Definition and literal interpretation. | ||
| 23 |
See 7
|
|
I thought “strike a chord” meant more to bring about an agreement, not so much “ring a bell”. The latter I associate with jogging a memory.
Nice puzzle, and good blog by PeterO, I think he said it very well.
I also get a bit frustrated by clues like SALEM’s of the form term-operator-term where you don’t know if the operator applies to the term on the left or right. I guessed here that the definition term was to be the more common of the two, and it worked here, but I don’t know if that always works.
I saw two definitions of 9,25,10. One was cryptic, the other was “fast” – not cryptic.
Nice puzzle. Thanks Paul and Peter!
thanks PO and P! I usually find Paul’s multipart answers quite challenging — this was no exception. I feel that often the surface readings are less satisfactory due to convoluted wp. Just sayin’
anyway, thanks for parsing the hidden HONOURS EVEN — the clue made no sense (perhaps that should have been a hint that it was hiding something).
PeterO is bang on the money in the preamble: like so many of Paul’s multi-word-solution puzzles, initially hard to find purchase but, at some point, it all unlocks. In my case GUILLEMOT was the key – with a choice of possible definitions between book and auk, with Paul it almost had to be the latter. Not easy to populate the grid with all those phrases and, whilst it does lead to a bit of convolution (and I know all about that!), there were some very neat tricks in here. True, 7/23 doesn’t have a sensible surface but it’s quite an ambitious hidden construction. I liked three in the middle of the acrosses – ESCAPISM for the anagram, BALD PATCH for the def and ALLEY CATS for the highly relevant surface. Finally, ART TATUM raised a smile.
Thanks Paul and PeterO
While I didn’t notice it was a hidden clue, doesn’t the Not all of indicate this?
The bolt in 9, 2, 10 refers to a lightning bolt (as well as to a fastening device), or is that what everyone is already hinting at?
Thanks Paul and PeterO
I’m another one who thought “fast” was the definition in 9, 2, 10 like AndyH @3 with the rest being a cryptic definition. I also didn’t make the connection to lightning bolts so thanks Dave Ellison @6.
Favourites were BALD PATCH for the definition (like PM @5) and HOPELESS for “out of bounds” which made me laugh.
Thanks Paul and PeterO
Well I have no complaints. Yes, on first pass it looked impossible. Yes, it woprked out smoothly in the end. While I dnk ART TATUM and I failed to parse SKIPPING ROPE (thanks PeterO) there were some real joys. I think my favourite was GUILLEMOT. Thanks Paul
How good was HONOURS EVEN? My last in, and a clanking great tea tray moment.
I do agree with Geoff Down Under @1 though – STRIKE A CHORD isn’t quite the same as ‘ring a bell’.
I’ll echo the plaudits for HOPELESS, ALLEY CATS, BALD PATCH and ART TATUM.
And somebody’s got to do the link for GREASED LIGHTNING.
Thanks Paul and PeterO.
Bunged in skipping rope with a lazy shrug … grope for fish is nicely oblique, and yes hop less for out of bounds was pretty cute. Easier than yesterday’s Nutmeg, I found, but still took me over an hour. Fun tho, thanks PnP.
Wot, no schoolboy jokes? I’ll repeat what I once committed to the Guardian comments…
If you can’t stomach humour that’s bald,
And smut doesn’t hold you enthralled,
I think that you’d better
Keep away from this setter:
You might very well be appauled.
grantinfreo @10. I failed to parse SKIPPING ROPE too, although definition and crossers meant that it had to be. What messed my head up was remembering that a groper is a kind of fish…
A welcome bit of ESCAPISM this morning, for which thanks Paul & PeterO.
I liked ‘again bitter’ as anagram for GB, the ‘unlocked crown’ in 21a, and the topical 18a.
The grid cleverly contained a LIGHTNING FLASH, a GREASED PAN and TATUM striking a chord.
SALEM led me to think there might be a Stephen KING thing, or with ROPE a witch trial, but nothing else I can see to corroborate either notion.
Re Geoff at 1 and Essexboy at 9, I certainly do use the phrase “strike a chord” to mean remember. Perhaps I’m using it wrong (!), but I might see someone who looks familiar and say the face certainly strikes a chord.
That was fun, and much less daunting than at first sight, and read through, especially starting with the across clues.
Another one who saw FAST as the definition of LIKE GREASED LIGHTNING, and had to come here for the parsing of SKIPPING ROPE. Like others my last one in was HONOURS EVEN – having seen the EVEN I then saw the rest of the hidden words.
The BALD PATCH definition and the groan inducing HOP-LESS both raised grins.
I know some will complain about the multiple word solutions, but this made for a very different puzzle to the rest of the week and very enjoyable as a result. Paul is probably my favourite setter and this lived up to his high standard. Difficult to get going, then a rush as the long clues emerged and then some deep thought to get the last few. I needed to borrow esexboy@9’s tea tray for 7/23 and 6dn. Thanks Paul and PeterO.
I find this setter quite variable. Some very good clues (GREAT BRITAIN, LIKE GREASED LIGHTNING, etc) together with some, such as Depressed squealer’s country music which make no sense.
Failed to parse SKIPPING ROPE so many thanks PeterO.
Fairly rapid solve after a daunting start, many thanks, Paul.
Thanks Peter O as I too hadn’t parsed SKIPPING ROPE (very nice) and shamefully failed to see HOP LESS in arriving at my LOI (great surface), having spent a long time fathoming how I might shoehorn a Q (our 17th) in amongst the crossers of 7a/23d – lovely hidden answer and the surface is cryptic rather than nonsensical I reckon.
I might grumble that Great Britain isn’t a country any more but I suppose it is as far as the Olympics are concerned and used to be when England and Scotland first got together.
Know 4d by name but not his music so time for some research, loved 24a especially, thanks Paul.
PS William@17 I quite liked the surface for BLUEGRASS, bearing in mind the often gloomy subject matter of such songs, and with apologies to her fans as I know there are some here, it brought Janis Joplin to mind.
Sorry meant to thank PeterO and Paul for the blog and puzzle.
Gazzh @19, how dare you sir. But I take the point about country music. If there’s an overlap between squealing and yodelling, William @17 could check out some Hank.
Geoff@1, essexboy@9 & JamesG@14
I think STRIKE A CHORD (as emotional resonance) could suggest something percussive (piano/ bells) as well as something plucked (ie heart strings). A harpsichord to tick both boxes?
Bells are certainly resonant but you would need more than one for a chord.
I welcome multi-part answers because the enumeration itself is another hint. It also helps to get purchase across different parts of the grid. I would use STRIKE A CHORD and “ring a bell” indiscriminately.
Thanks to P and PO.
This all fell into place pretty quickly for me, but I have a real, if irrational, aversion to multi-part clues, particularly when the layout in the grid doesn’t follow the word order, such as 21d,12d and 15, 20a. They just feel uncomfortable – Scratchy and Itchy perhaps. Does anyone else feels this? It spoils a lot of Pauls for me.
The actual clues were OK and pretty soluble but I find this continual grid hopping ow you say
“ennuyeux comme la pluie”
It never occurred to me that ring a bell and strike a chord weren’t close enough in meaning. At the risk of quoting a dictionary, “ring a bell” is “to begin to arouse a memory” and “strike a chord” is “to prompt a feeling of recognition, familiarity, empathy, etc.”
Thanks Paul and PeterO
I found this easier than it at first looked, though I didn’t parse SKIPPING ROPE. Favourites were GUILLEMOT and HOPELESS.
Before 7,23 was solved, 22 could just as easily have been POOP (remember Mr. Toad?).
14d doesn’t work, because, as PeterO hints, “like an apple” would be “appley”, and pronounced differently.
Thought it looked really tricky but managed to get the NE and then the SW quite quickly – helped by getting A FLASH IN THE PAN early on.
Took a lot longer for the rest and needed help of word finder but managed to parse most once I got them. I eventually revealed HONOURS EVEN and still couldn’t see why till I came here – brilliantly hidden – very annoyed not to have seen it.
Liked HOPELESS (made me laugh) ALLEY CATS, GUILLEMOT
Thanks Paul and PeterO (needed your help parsing a few)
Nice one Paul.
Thank you PeterO and Paul
Was totally on Paul’s wavelength today. Felt brave putting “like greased lightning” as FOI but it all seemed to fall into place quickly and enjoyably. Needed help to parse Skipping rope though.
Very happy too that none of the multi-part clues crossed themselves (pet hate of mine).
I’m usually a plodder, slowly grinding my way to success or failure, but today the answers kept flowing. My quickest ever completion of a Grauniad cryptic, and thus great fun.
I will have to have another look in order to parse everything satisfactorily …
Definitely easier than a Friday Paul. I’m impressed how the setter can calibrate the difficulty of his puzzles. COTD 7, 23A. Couldn’t believe it when the answer popped out.
Paul’s cross-linked clues do not really appeal to me, the reason being that reading a lot of clues that tell me to see 9 or see 19 or see 20 etc is okay when doing a puzzle in a newspaper but for me it gets tedious as I solve online. I tend to sigh a lot when trying to solve a Paul puzzle these days. Also, I rarely enjoy his clue surfaces.
Needed help from google for Art Tatum – never heard of him; also MELAS for 16ac; and 7/23 HONOURS (are) EVEN = equal or level.
Did not parse 16d/17ac.
LIked BALD PATCH.
Thanks, both.
As I have said (probably many times) before, I am not a fan of puzzles with a lot of multiple entries in the grid, particularly when the parts are not in numerical order, as they are tiresome on a smartphone. This crossword has only 21 clues, so there was also the feeling of being short changed.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed this, and mercifully I was able to parse everything. Some nice constructions and mostly good surfaces. Ticks for ESCAPISM, BALD PATCH, HOPELESS and ROLE PLAY but HONOURS EVEN takes the biscuit as one of the best hidden clues for a long time (the surface is rather mysterious but not actually nonsensical).
Like Gazzh @18 I would question GB’s status as a country; great surface, though – ‘quarantine’ serves well as a containment indicator. And like muffin @27 (and PeterO by implication) I would have spelled ‘like a fruit’ as ‘appley’ rather than APPLY, if only to disambiguate.
Thanks to S&B
Don’t think I’ve ever completed a Paul so quickly. LOI was 9,25,10 because I misread it as 9,10,25! Still an excellent crossword. Loved “unlocked crown”
Great puzzle with many favourites already mentioned. I’m another who missed the hidden & failed to parse SKIPPING ROPE. I think Paul gets away with APPLY by using ‘some’.
Thanks PeterO & Paul.
The multi words clues were quickly inserted today and this felt like the simplest Paul puzzle for some considerable time for me. All thoroughly enjoyable, though even with all the crossers in for SALEM it took me ages right at the end as I was looking at it the wrong way round, scratching my head for Hindu festivals. HONOURS EVEN must have taken a while to work out as a clue for a hidden expression, let alone just a single hidden word.
…that last sentence should be expressed the other way around of course…
Lots of fun and very enjoyable. Looked so daunting to start with, but it all fell into place steadily.
7,23 looked impossible until suddenly it dawned on me.
Lots of favourites but GREAT BRITAIN and HOPELESS topped my list.
Thanks Paul and PeterO
GDU @1 I think you mean strike accord rather than 5,20
Paul, T@36: Surely the ‘some’ is because the setter is alluding to a particular fruit, rather than fruit in general. All the dictionaries (at least those that have it as an entry) give only the spelling ‘appley’ 🙂
…. but in Paul’s defence, the question mark excuses the iffiness.
…. or rather acknowledges it 🙂
Not a great fan of the technique whereby one clue fills in multiple lights, nor of linking multiple clues together. Paul, of course, is a fan of both, and, as a result, I generally pick up another paper when I see that Paul has contributed The Guardian’s crossword. Today, however, Paul’s offering fell comfortably to my efforts, so, as our blogger perhaps suggests in his comments, I think this was probably at the easier end of the scale for this setter. Thanks to our blogger and to Paul.
Gervase @41: does the question mark in the clue forgive APPLY, or mark it as a near-ish homophone? I did a mild eyebrow raise at this one, but bunged it in nevertheless and moved quickly on.
Gervase @41-43: I see it does!
Like seemingly half the planet, the parsing of SKIPPING ROPE defeated me – so many thanks to Peter O for the explanation. And for the rest of the blog.
I’ve never encountered the phrase HONOURS EVEN before, guessed it solely from the crossers – and tbh, still don’t really understand it. Mind you, it was beautifully-hidden in the clue!
“unlocked crown” made me grin, as did the topicality of 12,8 and 18.
Thank you to Paul – and also to Blaise at 11 for the clever limerick!
I read through the whole thing without a spark of inspiration, groaning at the sheer volume of See x’s and See y’s.
Eventually worked out ART TATUM, which gave me several in the NE, and after that they were suddenly dropping right left and centre. Failed to parse SKIPPING ROPE and I’m sorry to say I missed the hop-less one. I liked the unlocked crown and the brilliantly camouflaged HONOURS EVEN.
STRIKE A CHORD = RING A BELL for me. I wonder if those talking about a meaning related to agreement have the unrelated “accord” somewhere at the back of their minds? You can certainly strike an accord, but it’s not the same thing.
Seeing so many confess to failing to parse SKIPPING ROPE, I’m amazed that I managed to sort it out. Like others, I thought the crossword impenetrable at first, but finally got started with BLUEGRASS. I needed Google help to find the jazz pianist, who was new to me. I held myself up in believing A PLACE IN THE SUN was correct for 19 13, but eventually corrected myself. Thanks, Paul, and PeterO for parsing BALD PATCH, which I lazily entered on definition alone without working out the word play.
Great fun which struck a chord with me – been a while since I enjoyed a puzzle as much. Loved the surface for HOPELESS in particular. Much admiration also for the connection between A FLASH IN THE PAN and LIKE GREASED LIGHTNING – so clever.
Thanks Paul and PeterO (for the LDPA in BALD PATCH which I wasn’t prepared to linger on – things were going so well).
I still think that GREAT BRITAIN is an island but not a country, since the country in question includes Northern Ireland. If Scotland secedes it will be even less so.
I looked it up. There are 22 places called Salem in the US, the most famous being the one with the witch trials. It’s also the capital of Oregon and a small town in my own state (Connecticut) I didn’t even know how to find on a map.
How is HOP-LESS out of bounds?
Anybody else try to fit LOV into 11d?
I’m probably not the only Yank to say that bluegrass isn’t country music. They are separate genres and easily distinguishable. Janis Joplin performed neither (she sang blues, rock and soul, according to Google.)
I can’t believe I filled in this whole puzzle when I only got 4 and 6 down at the start. The first of those gave me THE in 13a and which with the word count gave me A _ _ _ _ _ (in?) THE _ _ _. which the wordplay helped with, and I inched on from there.
So thanks for that, Paul, and thanks to PeterO for the untangling that got away from me.
Valentine @50: a hop could be a bound, could it not?
Valentine @ 50
Great Britain is the trio of England, Scotland and Wales.
Over and above is the United Kingdom of GB & Northern ireland.
For a major portion of the 18th century GB and the UK were synonymous but not since 1800.. Nevertheless it is usual for UK athletes at, say, the Olympics to be identified as ‘GB’ and little offence seems to be taken (or intended). Would most UK citizens describe themselves as British? I think so. So it’s not too much of a stretch to describe Great Britain as a country imho.
Really enjoyed this – a tad easier than expected, but I don’t have a problem with that. I’m perfectly fine with the multi-part clues scattered around the grid. Quite like them when they help me get a foot in the door elsewhere. Didn’t parse “skipping rope” like so many others, but think it’s very clever in retrospect. A few chuckles too (hopeless springs to mind).
I think if you found the answer “Apply” then the clue clearly works. You got it – you don’t have to like it. (That might become my catchphrase – especially when people whinge about homophones… 😉 )
MarkN @54
I don’t think APPLY is intended as a homophone. It looks more like Paul thinks it’s the way to spell “like an apple”.
I thought “country” was fine in 12, 8. GREAT BRITAIN was and is frequently used as shorthand for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (or for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland before the 1920s, and so on).
btw I meant to say that A FLASH IN THE PAN probably derives from panning for gold. The flash suggests that there is some gold there, but the amount disappoints.
Simon S@52 my point is that Great Britain, though long three kingdoms, since the addition of Northern Ireland, is no longer a (whole) country. And I’m not sure that Scots or the Welsh refer to themselves as “British” either.
Not that I have anything against country music (I do but not admitting it) and, given that recently we have had “sing” as a definition for “grass”, did Paul miss a trick with 21, 12 and clued it as “Country Music depressed singer”?
Really enjoyed this crossword and that was reinforced by the excellent blog. Strangely the distance between clue and answer was greatest for me at 9ac since I was searching for a noun or adjective. Eventually got there. Thanks to both and everyone for the discussion.
Muffin@57 I thought A FLASH IN THE PAN came from muskets, flash of the gunpowder ? Happy to be corrected.
Roz @61
As ever, there are different explanations.
After some midweight use of the “Check” button, my first ever completed Paul (which tracks, since so many are saying they got through it quick-ish). As ever, the number of “See n” was offputting but I had a mind to persevere today and was duly rewarded.
Also failed to parse SKIPPING ROPE, and took a lot of reading through comments here before HOP-LESS properly twigged for me. Had to Google for TOME = volume to mean anything to me as well (though I knew both definitions, it just didn’t even occur to me)
Thanks Paul and PeterO, and maybe I won’t be so scared of a Paul Puzzle in future
muffin @53 – I would see ‘apply’ (with qm) as one of Paul’s whimsical adjectival constructs, like ‘jetty’ = ‘a bit like a jet’. Fwiw Wiktionary has apply as an alternative spelling of appley. And come to think of it, if stubble can be stubbly, and a bobble can be bobbly, why can’t an apple be apply?
Atlanta Dave @59 – I thought the same (and given your parenthetical remarks you might want to skip the rest of this post 😉 )
Valentine @50 – as a non-Yank I certainly don’t want to offend devotees of bluegrass, but I would say it was reasonable for Paul to clue it as ‘country music’. After all Bill Monroe, whose band the Blue Grass Boys gave the genre its name, came to prominence through his regular spot on the Grand Ole Opry. Artists such as Ricky Skaggs and Alison Krauss, generally reckoned as bluegrass, have been recipients of CMA awards. Ken Burns’ marathon eight-parter on the history of country music, which has been shown several times over here, devoted a good deal of attention to Monroe, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs. And on this side of the pond the UK’s biggest champion of country music, Bob Harris, often features bluegrass on his BBC show.
True, Janis was a different kettle of fish, although her biggest (posthumous) hit was penned by Kris Kristofferson – there’s a nice version by him and Rita Coolidge.
eb @64
If you have found that “like an apple” can be APPLY, I withdraw my objection.
[Like an apple?
No thanks, Eth, I’ve just had a banana.]
Valentine, I beg to differ about BLUEGRASS–it’s a subset of country. That is, all bluegrass is country, but by a long shot, not all country is bluegrass. If you decide to make a distinction, you’re left with the problem of what to call it when, say, a country-music legend does a classic rock song as bluegrass.
I’m one of the people referred to in PeterO’s preamble who gets cross when there are more than about two answers split across multiple entries. Nevertheless, I persevered, and found this strangely easier than it seemed at first blush. But Paul, pleeeease don’t make a habit of this! I was unfamiliar with the phrase HONOURS EVEN, so that was the last one in.
essexboy @53: The reason most people would spell the adjective ‘appley’ (pace Wiktionary) is precisely to distinguish it from the verb ‘apply’! Similarly, it is more usual to use ‘supplely’ instead of ‘supply’ If the latter spelling were kosher, Paul wouldn’t have needed his question mark! 🙂
I found that the least enjoyable crossword I have done for ages. I don’t ‘get ‘ Paul’s clues, so even on a filled grid, I could parse virtually nothing. That always ruins the fun.
Purely down to me, not enough grey cells for Paul crosswords.
On to tomorrow.
essexboy@64 I yield to your greater knowledge of bluegrass.
I thought this was Paul in sparkling form. 7,23 was indeed brilliantly hidden and beautifully confusing. Also loved GREAT BRITAIN and ESCAPISM (for the surface of course!).
I understand the frustration that tablet/phone solvers have with multi-light answers, but it does allow longer phrases in a puzzle and the opportunity for some novel cluing that I think Paul does as well as any current setter. Araucaria used to produce amazing long anagrams where multi-light answers were the only option. Remember the Rose Red City?
Thoroughly entertaining.
Thanks, P’s.
@muffin and eb, … or a fruit crumble crumbly 🙂 .
Gervase @68,
appley… to distinguish it from the verb ‘apply’
That would indeed make sense, but when has English ever been logical?
[eb @64
Your link was strange – I have a recording of Kristofferson singing that, and yours sounded really quite different, not like him at all.
Do you know this? Similar sentiments!]
Thanks both,
I very much enjoyed this. Got stuck on 3D, but after a little nap it was obvious.
OED has ‘apply’ as a variant of ‘appley’ so what is the fuss about?
There’s a crossword clue to be had in Strike a Chord and Strike Accord
Many thanks to Paul and Peter O.
With everything going on in the world today, its reassuring to know that there are people who can still find time to argue on a public forum whether or not it is ok to use the word ‘apply’ to describe ‘like an apple’, without having to resort to including a letter ‘e’.
Such spectacular irrelevance brings a warm glow to the heart. Thank you/
Tyngewick @74: Not fuss, just a bit of banter between the prescriptivists and the descriptionists 🙂
Careful writers would always use ‘appley’ because it avoids a garden-path sentence (like ‘The horse raced past the barn fell’) which interrupts the reader’s parsing of the sentence.
[muffin @73 – thanks for the Richard Thompson link. Yes, there are echoes aren’t there:
Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose/ But maybe that’s just the price you pay for the chains you refuse
They were never going to live apply ever after.]
[eb @78
Although we had seen Fairport several times, we’ve only seen Richard twice. At the Bridgewater Hall he played for at least an hour before he fluffed a single note!]
I did enjoy the puzzle despite needing 4 explanations on the parsing front, one of which was for SKIPPING ROPE – great clue.
Thanks all.
I don’t think the surface of 7,23 is so bad. To me it described two golfers walking up the last fairway having tied at the 17th.
It seems my tentative parsing of SKIPPING ROPE was way off. I had the definition as “equipment” with ROPE being a long cord bound to SKIPPING, a method of catching fish.
Thanks to Paul and PeterO, and I am sorry I missed the boat in commenting on this puzzle yesterday. I really liked it and concur with those who appreciated those multi-word answers which I thought were a lot of fun to solve. I learned a new phrase “HONOURS EVEN” at 7a23d and was glad to come here and find I wasn’t the only poster not to know that one.
Like Greg@81 I took a golfing angle, always do for eighteenth. I took it to mean the height of the course, for the 18th you need to go partly uphill or downhill.
Flew through this! Very unusual to get a Thursday puzzle, so very pleased with myself. A couple of DNPs, but being on the same wavelength for all the multi-word clues helped enormously.
One question: is ‘echoes’ common usage for a palindrome?