The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/28846.
For my money, a very enjoyable crossword, although I am often more admiring of Paul’s inventiveness than some commenters. Here, the treatment of the keystone clue 10A HAMLET might divide the sheep from the goats.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | SALES SLIP |
Receipt: reduced margin on it (5,4)
|
| A charade of SA (sex appeal, ‘it’) plus LESS (‘reduced’) plus LIP (‘margin’). ‘On’ suggests the order of the partcles; despite this, I toyed with the idea that the second word should be CHIT. | ||
| 6 |
See 11
|
|
| 8 | RUDIMENT |
Basic skill with money in 10? (8)
|
| An envelope (‘in’) of DIME (‘money’) in RUNT (’10?’; like 11/22/6 HAM-LET is, by synecdoche, a little pig, and there is another layer here, that a little pig is an example of a RUNT, which accounts for the question mark. | ||
| 9 | LATENT |
Concealed behind books (6)
|
| A charade of LATE (‘behind’) plus NT (‘books’ of the New Testament). | ||
| 10 | HAMLET |
Play well, trapping Middlesex’s opener before tea, say (6)
|
| An envelope (‘trapping’) of M (‘Middlesex’s opener’) in HALE (‘well’) plus T (‘tea, say’). | ||
| 11, 22, 6 | THE THREE LITTLE PIGS |
Grinding of her teeth prefaces 10’s moral tale (3,5,6,4)
|
| I think this is Paul being at his most outrageously / wittily (depending on your view) inventive: a charade of THETHREE, an anagram (‘grinding’) of ‘her teeth’ plus LITTLE PIG (HAM-LET, ’10’) plus S (the apostrophe s from the clue). | ||
| 12 | DRAWER |
Artist with prize for Turner? (6)
|
| A reversal (‘for turner’) of REWARD (‘prize’). | ||
| 15 | SATURDAY |
One of seven, for example, grabbing a stool (8)
|
| An envelope (‘grabbing’) of A TURD (‘a stool’) in SAY (‘for example’). | ||
| 16 | DIPLOMAT |
Official drop before mum cuts great deal (8)
|
| A charade of DIP (‘drop’) plus LOMAT, an envelope (‘cuts’) of MA (‘mum’) in LOT (‘great deal’). | ||
| 19 | RAPPER |
Rhythmic performer, one preparing for Christmas broadcast? (6)
|
| Sounds like (‘broadcast’) WRAPPER (‘one preparing for Christmas’). | ||
| 21 | SCOWLING |
Moody leader in Claudius in 10? (8)
|
| An envelope (‘in’, the second one) of C (‘leader in Claudius’) in SOW-LING (’10’ HAM-LET again). | ||
| 22 |
See 11
|
|
| 24 | SOMALI |
African country, accordingly at the forefront (6)
|
| A charade of SO (‘accordingly’) plus MALI (‘country’), with ‘at the forefront’ indicating the order of the particles. Note that ‘country’ is not part of the definition, and that MALI happens to be in Africa, but the clue does not depend on that. | ||
| 25 |
See 3
|
|
| 26 | ODDS |
Chance of doing deal slim, initially (4)
|
| First letters (‘initially’) of ‘Of Doing Deal Slim’. | ||
| 27 | GAS HEATER |
Warmer, one tucking into narrow fissure? (3,6)
|
| GASH EATER (as a bizarre phrase, ‘one tucking into narrow fissure’). | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | SAUNA |
Bath taken in Vaasa, unashamedly? (5)
|
| A hidden answer (‘taken in’) in ‘VaaSA UNAshamedly’. Vaasa is in Finland, so the clue has an extended definition. | ||
| 2 | LAID LOW |
Wall I’d built in which hole found, struck down (4,3)
|
| An envelope (in which … found’) of O (‘hole’) in LAIDLW, an anagram (‘built’) of ‘wall I’d’. | ||
| 3, 25 | SWEET NOTHINGS |
Romantic words with love hearts, say, inspiring love (5,8)
|
| An envelope (‘inspiring’) of NOTHING (‘love’, tennis) in SWEETS (‘love hearts’, a trade name for a kind of confectionary, so that, if Truth in Capitalisation were being observed, that should be ‘Love Hearts’). | ||
| 4 | LITOTES |
Small amount of drink mopped up by a tissue, falsely? That’s an understatement (7)
|
| An envelope (‘mopped up by’) of TOT (‘small amount of drink’) in LIES (‘a tissue, falsely’. I take this as a reference to courtroom dramas in which a witness is accused of uttering “a tissue of lies”). | ||
| 5 | POLYESTER |
Alkaline solution in something covered with glue – resin (9)
|
| An envelope (‘in’) of LYE (‘alkaline solution’) in POSTER (‘something covered with glue’). | ||
| 6 | PITCHER |
Vessel, one that suddenly goes up and down? (7)
|
| Double definition. | ||
| 7 | GINGER ALE |
Drink alcoholic beverage, 23 brewed with care, ultimately (6,3)
|
| A charade of GIN (‘alcoholic beverage’) plus GERAL, an anagram (‘brewed’) of LAGER (’23’) plus E (‘carE ultimately’). | ||
| 13 | RAIN CLOUD |
Black suspension in stirred cauldron, eye reportedly dropped in? (4,5)
|
| An anagram (‘stirred’) of ‘cauldron’ plus I (‘eye reportedly’). | ||
| 14 | REMAINING |
Group embracing first of evangelists, cardinal left (9)
|
| An envelope (’embracing’) of E (‘first of Evangelists’) plus MAIN (‘cardinal’) in RING (‘group’; mathematically, an indication by example, but more generally a synonym). | ||
| 17 | LOW MASS |
Service, first of all, wayward: miles away in defeat (3,4)
|
| An envelope (‘in’) of WMA (‘first of all, Wayward Miles Away’) in LOSS (‘defeat’). | ||
| 18 | TAGINES |
Stews: a tiny bit of gristle stuck in teeth (7)
|
| An envelope (‘stuck in’) of ‘a’ plus G (‘tiny bit of Gristle’) in TINES (‘teeth’). | ||
| 20 | PATRIOT |
Country’s defender, 3 smothered in a bit of butter (7)
|
| An envelope (‘smothered in’) of TRIO (‘3’) in PAT (‘a bit of butter’). | ||
| 22 | LITHE |
Burning gas able to move easily (5)
|
| A charade of LIT (‘burning’) plus HE (helium, noble ‘gas’). | ||
| 23 | LAGER |
Drink for a sovereign served up (5)
|
| A reversal (‘served up’ in a down light) of REGAL (‘for a sovereign’). |
Wow, that was harder than a typical weekday Paul. I got HAMLET fairly readily, but not so fast the references to ’10’. I liked the misdirection of ‘3’ in PATRIOT.
Today we have SOMALI/MALI; earlier this month, from Paul again, we had MALAWI/MALI. Just sayin’!
[Remember the word LITOTES from the Monty Python Piranha Bros. sketch? “Doug … used sarcasm. He knew all the tricks, dramatic irony, metaphor, pathos, puns, parody, litotes and… satire. He was vicious.”]
Thank you PeterO for your very helpful blog.
I thought I didn’t know the Love Hearts, but looking them up I remember them from childhood. And one brand has renamed them Kind Hearts with positive messages for youth mental health.
With Dr. WhatsOn@1 for the misdirection in PATRIOT, and another ‘3’.
I liked all the diminutive pigs.
I’d challenge the def ‘black suspension’ for RAIN CLOUD but there is a question mark and it’s apt for the surface and wordplay using ‘cauldron’.
RUDIMENT favourite.
I was a fan of the diminutive pigs too, once I’d worked out what was going on of course. Of the rest, I liked working out the correct parsing of SOMALI, and the concept of the GASH EATER. I wouldn’t have thought of POLYESTER as a ‘resin’ but apparently this is one form it can take. TAGINES held out until non-dental ‘teeth’ finally sprang to mind.
Thanks to PeterO, both for the blog and for expanding my vocabulary by one word, and to Paul
27 sounds like it belongs in a Cyclops puzzle.
Nup, too clever for this old brain. Biffed TTLP, then needed guess-and-check to get rudiment, then stared at them thinking What’ve runt and ttlp got to do with 10? Dim! Ham-let indeed! Oh well, ta PnP(neb)
[… and we used to holiday in Rockinham, aka Swinging Pig … ]
14D – REMAINING – Group of friends=Ring of friends? In maths, a Group is a set along with a binary function which satisfies certain conditions. A Ring is a set along with TWO binary functions which satisfy certain conditions. The “addition” function of a Ring is indeed a Group, but a Group is not a Ring…
Kicking myself for not twigging the ‘HAM-LET’ key, though I saw the piggy references elsewhere, and stopped looking for characters from the play after seeing the 11, 22, 6 combo. A lot of solving from the definition and crossers and then prising out the parsing afterwards for me so I think I have to concede to Paul today. Thanks to PeterO for the early blog.
Another who spent quite a while thinking a Trio in PATRIOT must be a new UK sweet unlike the Love Hearts which the girls at Primary School used to use as a matchmaking tool.
Enjoyed the hamlets and sowlings so TTLP was a favourite. Also enjoyed DRAWER for the artist Turner and SATURDAY for the Paulism.
I loved this! Paul remains my favourite setter.
There actually is a UK biscuit called a Trio too.
Very witty and clever once HAMLET had been solved – Paul towards his cheekiest in terms of taking liberties but amusing. One or two where I did not connect – the tissue falsely (I wonder if he could have used porkies for lies somehow and tied it back to 10) – and I was thrown for a while once I realised how many famous 7’s there are: dwarves, samurai, magnificent, wonders, deadly sins … though I was not surprised when the turd floated to the surface.
SALES SLIP, THE THREE LITTLE PIGS, RAPPER, ODDS, PITCHER, RAIN CLOUD, TAGINES and LITHE got my bigger ticks today. GASH EATER my least favourite, followed by POLYESTER – something covered in glue is a pretty unkind def of a poster, but then it is a Friday.
Thanks Paul and PeterO
I enjoyed this; I enjoyed it even more when you explained HAM-LET.
Thanks PeterO and Paul
Like your porkies/lies alternative truths PM@12. A missed opportunity.
I was on the lookout for little piggies, as in the child’s rhyme to teach the digits, but like other nursery rhymes, it’s hardly material for the nursery. Scary stuff.
Loved all piglets. Twistedly Paulish in a good way…but, it being Paul, I wasted quite a lot of time in 9a trying to find to find a four letter bottom. Surely ARSENT isn’t a word? Ah, ok, ‘behind’ to be taken at face value. This time.
Lovely stuff as ever. Thanks to Paul and PeterO
Not sure what you mean PM@12 regarding the poster covered in glue, or is that ironic?
Maybe they don’t have posters covered in glue any more because Bill Posters was prosecuted? 🙂
I might be a goat, but I admired the sheepish 10
Thanks Paul and PeterO
FOI was THE THREE LITTLE PIGS, which immediately gave me HAMLET. I liked the HAMLET related clues.
I don’t get “something covered with glue” for POSTER. Even if it’s referring to a poster stuck up, there won’t be glue on the side you look at.
GASH EATER? Really? How can you eat something that’s not there?
You have to paste glue on to a POSTER whether the glue can then be seen or not. Not the most obvious definition but thought I’d ‘stick up’ for that one.
muffin@18. They used to paste posters from the front.
GASH EATER works from the surface. I can imagine that.
Find myself in the unusual position of defending Paul, not usually a fan.
Another lovely Paul, thank you as always. A real challenge but got there in the end. Hamlet arrived early and whilst I suspected that the related clues probably didn’t refer to the play it still took me a while to get the small pig references. Duh!
Muffin@18, I suspect 27 across is another example of delightful Paul smut which I’m too modest to explain here. Try an urban dictionary!
Thanks PeterO too.
JerryG @21
Ah!
I don’t want to offend any delicate sensibilities at this time in the morning but there is a rather vulgar slang interpretation for GAS HEATER. Would even Paul go that far?
Great fun and for me the opposite to my usual Paul experience of a slow start accelerating to a sprint finish
Many thanks P&P
JerryG @21 smutty minds think alike 🙂
Thanks bodycheetah! And to answer your question @23, of course he would!
Here, at least, GASH EATER would go beyond the bizarre to the highly salacious. Given that it’s Paul, maybe that is what is meant.
This blog is disintegrating appaulingly. Can the mods step in please?
appaulingly 🙂
I’m restraining myself paddymelon @27
Scores of ways to clue 15a but Mr Pottymouth could only think of one.
Love Hearts new to me, so I couldn’t parse 3/25
Besides the little piggies, I enjoyed the drinks — especially the GINGER ALE
ring = group (comment no 7) – maybe drug ring, betting ring – and ring leader?
Just couldn’t see all the ham-lets even though I got the answers. Tried to find a village somewhere called Sowling. Gave up in the end and came here. I still think they’re great clues, even though they defeated me.
Keep it up, Paul, and thanks, PeterO for the enlightenment.
As I said previously, No Cigar(cue music)
Excellent crossword, really enjoyed that. Was about to come here to parse SOWLING when the penny dropped… lovely!
Thanks for the blog, think I have done every single Paul crossword in the Guardian since he started. This was by far the least enjoyable . Very weak theme word , lots of jumping around , some clues that barely work with a squint or extremely offensive and I am not easily offended. Paul probably my favourite setter but he has let himself down badly with this.
Very Pauline, although he said: ‘slightly easier than usual?’ – to which I reply that it was not for me, anyway.
HAM-LET was a nice idea, although a bit loose to give RUNT, I thought. Sourdough @33, I got very grumpy when I found this in Wiktionary for SOWLING: ‘(obsolete) A unit of land of 160 acres,’ which I thought might equate to a HAMLET, doh!.
I liked SATURDAY, where I couldn’t get the 7 dwarfs out of my head, SWEET NOTHINGS and REMAINING for the surfaces.
Thanks Paul and PeterO.
I suppose now that me thinking that Dancer was the answer to 19 ac, being one of Santa’s reindeer was a deliberate Paul red herring, if I’m not mixing up my creatures. So that held up things for a while. Other than that, very enjoyable. LOI was RUDIMENT…
Is hamlet commonly used to mean piglet, or is this just Pauline whimsy?
Whimsy! Of the highest/lowest order. Delete as appropriate.
Well there was I looking for a Shakespearean theme and all the while it was little piggies I needed! Unlike Muffin, THE THREE LITTLE PIGS was my last one in. It raised a smile when I finally got there!
Roz@36 Interesting to read your comment. I can’t understand why Paul is/has been the the ‘stable’ setter of the Guardian crosswords, but I put that down to coming here after he was in his prime, and now he’s over-committed. I’ve got to the point where I think twice before attempting a Paul crossword.
However a lot of solvers say he’s their favourite so I try to keep an open mind. From what I’ve read he seems like a nice bloke with good intentions. I suspect he has something akin to a kind of Tourette’s syndrome regarding bodily parts and functions, and that’s why the Guardian Crossword editor has protected him. But it seems that a range of solvers also appreciate that kind of ‘humour’. Like you I am not easily offended.
However, I take your points about this crossword on its own merits.
Thanks Salad@40. 🙂 I didn’t mind the piggies once I’d twigged, it’s the rest of the “schoolboy” humour that quickly gets tedious.
Thanks for the blog PeterO, and Paul for RAIN CLOUD in particular.
thank you for the blog. i had parsed the 10 for LITTLE PIGS as meaning the ten toes that go to market etc., but HAMLETs is much more satisfying (if a little groan-inducing!)
Very understanding PDM@42 , I just wonder if you realise how offensive the term gash is and how often it is used. Anyone who thinks it is amusing should try dealing with welfare issues for young female students.
Copmus has mentioned Cyclops which I love. Often very risque and lewd but not I think blatantly offensive.
I couldn’t agree more Roz @45. Even the C word can be used affectionately but gash has only violent or pejorative connotations. A good bit of filth yes but not this.
Roz@45 of course. I should have noticed for myself. It’s dreadful. Goes well beyond acceptable, never mind amusing. Where was the editor?
Apologies Roz, you make a very valid point. It’s not a word I think I’ve ever used (in its slang connotation) but I can see that it is offensive.
Thanks PeterO, I too enjoyed this despite somehow not being able to sink low enough to parse 27a. In fact, at first I wondered if the answer might be ” cat heater” with catheter having obscure meaning as a fissure, eating/containing a = one. Cats on laps do have a very warming effect. While I can’t claim to be massively offended I can sympathise with those who are and do think it is out of place in what was otherwise another very good puzzle full of twists and humour. So thanks but a wag of the finger today Paul.
Thanks both. On the basis HAM-LET and SOW-LING in the context intended do not exist, I’d say the setter was somewhat taking the PIGS(?) here, but high marks for invention. LOI was POLYESTER so thank whichever god you address we weren’t on a parrot journey here
Well I’m not offended, whether he meant it or not. Nor do I find Paul’s occasional smutty clues tedious when they have some wit. It’s only a crossword! And this was a good ‘un. Thanks both.
Simply superb! All those piggies in all their forms! Favourites were POLYESTER, SATURDAY and LITHE. Surprised that 27 got through the editor…
Thanks Paul and PeterO
Oofyprosser@51 neither you nor I need to be personally offended for a word to be offensive. There are racially offensive words which would rightly never make it into the crossword. I don’t think this is any different. Perhaps fewer people are aware of this usage, but surely the Graun should be aware.
I did have a ‘surely not’ moment with 27 and still believe it may be the minds of the solvers jumping to conclusions, understandably, though I don’t usually solve the Guardian, so not familiar with setter….perhaps time for some honesty from that direction?
Too difficult for me, but enjoyable to check the hints.
Thanks both.
Now those more intelligent than I have spotted the the innuendo in 26a, all I can do is smile as I am not offended by this, but I understand that some are, so perhaps not really suitable.
Missed the ham-let completely…
Too clever for me and the Danish bacon thing annoyingly meta.
I can’t believe how long it took me to get SATURDAY, given that the setter was Paul.
I got the link from HAMLET to THE THREE LITTLE PIGS but missed RUDIMENT and SCOWLING. I think, having had them explained, they are extremely clever rather than TOO-CLEVER-BY-HALF.
There were some fine clues, for example SALES SLIP, LATENT, RAPPER, SWEET NOTHINGS, GINGER ALE, LITHE (a neat misdirection given that helium is something that won’t burn).
And then there was 27a. I wasn’t aware of the slang term; but given that it exists, this wordplay should never have seen the light of day, and if the Grauniad’s crossword editor was doing anything other than not replying to emails, this should have been picked up.
Thanks to PeterO. And thanks to Paul for everything except 27a.
I think that Paul will plead innocence. The word ‘gash’ has a meaning of it’s own and that is clearly what the clue intended. I’m reminded of the problem posed by lines: if they’re straight they’re phallic, if curved they’re mammarian so that in the eye of some beholders there is no winning. If I was certain what the word ‘woke’ meant I might reach for it. Poor Paul – his scatology may lead to his being consumed by incandescent bundles of sticks bound together as fuel.
Alphalpha @59
I don’t think so. I didn’t know the slang meaning, but, as I said @18, if the words are taken at face value they are meaningless together.
muffin@60: I don’t disagree, but meaningless conjunctions of words are all part of it. My point is that the (news to me) (and I’ve been around with my ears open for long enough) vulgar interpretation is probably one that may not be intended or indeed known to either setter or editor.
Precisely, muffin. And Paul has form here: 27,086, 5 January 2017, “Warming device one’s tucking into slit? (3,6)”. In the unlikely event that he didn’t know the slang meaning then, he would have found it out from the comments on that puzzle.
I’m afraid he has just misjudged the boundary between gentle Carry On style smut, which can be amusing, and something that is just coarse and offensive.
I missed the particular angle first time round. I like a Paul but often groan and cast eyes skywards at the schoolboy lavvie humour…and sometimes laugh…but. Much form indeed Lord Jim, and I agree. Too vagina-as-horrible-wound to be acceptable.
I did not know about the form…. so yuk.
27a is outrageously cunning…
I’m as entertained by Paul’s smut as I am by all aspects of his delight in language. I, personally, am not offended by references to genitalia or excretion: the terms used in these fields are often understandably crude. Words are not in themselves offensive (so are fair game for word play); the attitudes that the words reveal or propagate may well be.
As Davey@44 I had the RUNT as the 10 th little pig, ie your last toe. I didn’t think of HAM-LET as a little pig but I suppose.
Thanks Paul and blogger
Bullhassocks @66 – you seem to acknowledge in your last sentence that words can propagate, as well as reveal, offensive attitudes. For me, that’s exactly the point, and it’s why I support the views expressed by Roz and others here.
I hope we can agree that the use of certain racial terms can help to propagate racism, and can certainly trigger memories of threats and violent attacks in those who have suffered them. The same goes for terms which are offensive towards women.
I don’t think it would be acceptable on other pages of the Guardian. Perhaps a letter to the editor (not the crossword editor) could help raise awareness.
Found this one tough, and not very enjoyable. At first I thought 27a was just a meaningless phrase. The offensive meaning flitted across my mind but, like TFO@54 I thought “surely not”. I thought much the same thing when I realised that Hamlet = little pigs, but couldn’t dismiss it so readily.
Were I to pen a letter to the Guardian editor about Paul it would be as thanks for the countless hours of pleasure his cleverness, ingenuity and wit have given me over many years . As one who finds “gentle Carry On style smut “, and the British taste for sexual innuendo puerile and painfully unfunny, I’ll take bawdy any day of the week.
essexboy@68. Good suggestion to contact the Editor of the Guardian. I often wonder how Paul gets away with some of his clues. Does he have test solvers who provide honest feedback, or would he pay heed? As a full-time setter how much contact does he have with the real and contemporary world. His pastimes seem to be mostly solitary. Does the crossword editor give him carte blanche? How does the crossword editor decide what is ‘smut’ and what is ‘offensive’, if he does at all.
I’m interested in what makes Paul tick and looked up Meet the Setter, the first one in Sept 2011, which also provided a link to Paul’s Weekly Cryptic Blog, April 2011, about ”smut”, some of which is unrepeatable here, but he did say:
“One must always make a judgement, but I don’t always get that right, I
think.
Still, I am told that solvers like this stuff – perhaps those who don’t
aren’t writing in, or have defected to other newspapers.”
lenmasterman@70 Well said! I initially took issue with Roz’s comment @36 but on reflection, and considering others’ later comments can now more clearly see her point of view. However, I do believe that none of the visitors to 15² is a fool. Furthermore, sticks and stones and all that….
That clue apart (which was actually a favourite and gave me a good chuckle when, as an innocent, I solved it) this was, in my book, Paul at his wonderful best. I loved it and its excruciatingly, and beautifully tenuous, stretching of whichever particular conceit takes his fancy. He really takes the bacon!
I’ve said it here a hundred times in the last ten years (though less often since the beginning of the covid period; I seem to have been doing nothing but fighting fires over last couple of years!) and hope I’ll carry on saying: “How does he keep on doing it?”!
Paul – a thousand thanks.
And Peter O – It has to be said; a really lovely blog. No surprise. I love your preamble; succint, (as I can’t be!), and today your choice of words just right.
Some people may not be aware that the modern usage of gash by young males is entirely derogatory and insulting. It is used for the vulva but also females in general.
” Was there much gash at the party last night ?”
“Lots of new gash in September when the Freshers arrive ” and so on.
A female who turns down a male is labelled a gash eater ( a lesbian ) . She will be called this to her face, on her phone and online.
Bawdy humour ??
Thank you, Roz. People need to know this. It is too easy to pass this off as just in bad taste.
I find it surprising that no-one on the Guardian site commented on the extreme bad taste of 27a.
….possibly because no-one there, like myself (and Paul no doubt) had such a use cross their mind; pity it wasn’t allowed to stay that way. Should we cancel words like “bomb” and “hitman” because of their dreadful, disgusting connotations (far more generally known, and obvious)? Deary, deary me!
Hmm, too late to join really, but yes one of my nieces works in student services at a London uni, and tells us that abuse and trolling of young women is a major issue.
American here – unfamiliar with this use of GASH. I got what it meant and didn’t think it offensive on its face. As for GASH EATER – to gender-flip a Lenny Bruce line, it didn’t occur to me that a gash-eater would necessarily be female.
quodlibet @78. “I got what it meant and didn’t think it offensive on its face.” Did you mean to discount the evidence from Roz and others that the term *is* used offensively, insultingly and in a derogatory manner, or was that just an oversight?
sheffield hatter @79: I am grateful to commenters here for pointing out the pejorative connotation of the word. I would have missed it otherwise.
@79 If I hit you over the head with a Bible (an offensive act, certainly) does that make the Bible offensive? Nobody on the Guardian site (and almost no-one here) noticed anything untoward. As so many who have commented on this site during the many years I’ve been a regular visitor, 15² is an unusually kind, thoughtful and welcoming corner of the Internet. I found Roz’s, almost gleeful, graphic explanations a little out of place. While there are matters about which it is right that we should be informed, particularly when it helps us to avoid offending others, given the fact that the clue made sense (Paul’s clues often make little sense!) using “gash” with its usual meaning to the vast majority, I have found this whole discussion – in this context – unnecessary. (Were we a cohort of adolescent boys and girls, there could well be a strong point to make. But we’re not!)