A holiday jumbo by Picaroon

18 comments on “A holiday jumbo by Picaroon”

1. Hi Bridgesong, Moaljad posted the PDF for Picaroon’s Jumbo in the Comments on the Guardian blog for Qaos 20 July. See 5th most recent comment. Haven’t done this yet so not peeking. Just finished today’s Picaroon Prize. Looking forward to this.

2. Correction: The link posted by Moaljad is interactive. The shaded squares didn’t come out when I tried to print it.
   Have since read your full intro Bridgesong. Appreciate your efforts, especially in the heat. Grateful for the opportunity, for those of us who don’t get the printed paper. Now for the puzzle.

3. Done. Playing solo here. Thank you bridgesong for the parsing of REAGAN, knew neither the airport nor the Shakespeare reference, and UTOPIAN, didn’t know ut.

   I think the ‘once’ in CORGI (I’ve had 2 of the beautiful little mutts) was because the last of the Queen’s corgis has died and she only has a couple of crossbreeds now. I think I remember her saying she didn’t want them to outlive her.

   Gentle fun, not requiring too much northern hemisphere GK which is what I expected. Found myself overthinking to start with , and came up with SEASIDE after trying to think of what holiday areas I don’t know. The crossie would have been good for the whole family to do on holiday, away or at home, and encourage a new generation of solvers.

   TRAVEL BROADENS THE MIND was my LOI for several reasons. 1) My go-to anagram tool didn’t come up with it. 2)’struggling’ gave me a sense that the answer was going to be a reason not to travel. 3) As ‘mind’ was in the fodder I wasn’t expecting it in the answer and thought the last 4 letter word might be ‘land’.

   IMBIBED was a good misdirection with II as other clues were cross-referenced.

   I also liked OUSEL, STERILISES, DRIVE, and DOLOMITES, SUNBATHING and RESPLENDENT for the images in the surface reading.

4. Paddymelon @1: some fellow bloggers were kind enough to provide a pdf (courtesy, I believe, of an app called Press Reader), but by then I’d written the blog!

5. It being a long time since reading 80 Days ATW, I called him Phineas, who is a cartoon character, or a prof in Harry Potter, or someone in the Hebrew Bible … no excuse, don’t know any of ’em!
   Ta for reminding about Moaljad’s link, paddymelon. I did it on my elderly Samsung … bit of a hassle scrolling, but hey ho. passed a couple of hours. Ta as well to Pickers and bridgesong.

6. Thank you to Picaroon for an excellent themed Holiday Jumbo and to bridgesong for the blog prepared under ‘extreme’ conditions

7. Thanks to Picaroon for an extra, special sized crossword which I thoroughly enjoyed : favourites were HANGDOG and UTOPIAN. I was another silver beaten by the parsing of REAGAN. Like paddymelon@3, was not aware of the airport but in hindsight probably should have guessed that there would be one. There’s bound to be one for most presidents but hopefully not the last one ever!

   Well done for all your efforts too bridgesong: that was quite a lot more than you signed up for no doubt.

8. This puzzle was a delightful bonus last weekend, made all the more welcome because I didn’t actually open the supplement until sorting the recycling (I didn’t realise there were some of that kind of puzzle), so, like bridgesong, I had something to do when it was far too hot to do anything else.

   I had exactly the same thought as paddymelon @3 – that it would be a fun thing to do as a family and, together with the ‘Beginner’s cryptic’ by Carpathian and the ‘How to solve a cryptic crossword’, might be just the thing to encourage a new generation to have a go.

   I enjoyed the puzzle from start to finish: it unravelled at a steady pace, with nothing too taxing but showing Picaroon’s customary ingenuity and wit.

   As usual,, I tackled the clues in order. When I reached 14ac, i immediately thought of Bottom’s song in AMND, ‘The ousel cock, so black of hue’ – and laughed out loud when I solved the very next clue – what a clever anagram. PHLEBOTOMY was another – and, of course, TRAVEL BROADENS THE MIND. I liked the clues for both airports (‘Will’s ungrateful child’) and smiled at the thought of the determined setter climbing mountains on an empty stomach – certainly this one’s not past it!

   Like Ed the Ball, I liked HANGDOG and UTOPIAN and also PASTEBOARD – and lots more.

   Huge thanks to Picaroon for the holiday treat and to bridgesong for the blog.

9. [ Apologies for mispelling Moaljodad, a stalwart of the Guardian blog.]

10. paddymelon @2. If the problem ever crops up again, turning on “background graphics” in the print options menu solved it for me. (AFTER filling in the blanks with a big fat marker and thinking “this is really ugly”)

11. …oh, and I’d solved the lot but failed to parse UNCONGENIAL. Later, I was strolling down to the shops when the penny dropped for UN=country club. LOL in public… But luckily, none of the passers-by recommended me for psychiatric treatment

12. Here’s Moaljodad’s link. I haven’t been able to find a pdf or easily printable version yet, sadly. Perhaps I will be forced to do the online version but I much prefer paper+pen.

    http://crossword.info/MitzCrosswords/Guardian_Summer_Holiday_Jumbo

13. [khayyam@12. See blaise@10. That worked. Thanks blaise.]

14. Failed to see the ‘country club’, and I was torn between TINKERS (who are ‘people on the road’) and TANNERS, having misread 32 for 37. (Memo to self: time for some new glasses!)

    I had DRIFT at 43d, and didn’t rethink until I was unable to fill O_T_T at 49. Even then I didn’t see the parsing (C)OVERT! (Doh! – or perhaps UT, which I *did* know from French classical record sleeves!)

    As well as ‘minded’ in the fodder for 42a (pdm @3) there was ‘starlet’ @19a, but these are very minor blemishes, if indeed that is what they are.

    Thanks to Picaroon for a most enjoyable crossword, and to bridgesong for a very thorough blog in difficult circumstances.

15. Many thanks to Picaroon for a great Holiday Jumbo and to bridgesong for efforts above and beyond. I too remembered his name as Phineas – fortunately the anagram got me to the correct solution. Like Eileen, I didn’t expect to find Cryptics in the summer special. I think the maze on the cover made me think the puzzles were aimed at a younger audience until I looked inside… My favourite was SKINNY DIP. Could not parse SEASIDE but it had to be the answer so I was grateful for the explanation, bridgesong (have always wondered how the highly appreciated bloggers know it’s their turn?)

16. PaulineinBrum @15: normally we bloggers have a rota, and there is a Google Calendar showing who is down to blog the scheduled puzzles. This puzzle being unscheduled, there was nobody down to blog it, so kenmac called for volunteers. As I had already solved it, I put myself forward.

17. (Thank you very much for the explanation and for kindly volunteering bridgesong 🙂 )

18. Phileas Fogg, from ‘Around the world in 80 days’, is easily confused with Phineas Finn in Trollope’s parliamentary novels. Hence confusion over l or r?

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