Guardian 28,866 – Soup

by

This is Soup’s first (solo) appearance in the Cryptic slot, though we have seen him a few times in the Genius. This was quite tricky, with some rather unusual constructions, including a couple of clues that don’t have a clear definition in the usual sense. So not your usual Monday crossword, but good fun anyway. Thanks and welcome to Soup.

 
Across
1 DODOS Odd shuffling very large old animals (5)
ODD* + OS (OutSize)
4 CASTANET One clicks what St Peter might have done (8)
St Peter was a fisherman, so he might have CAST A NET
8 VICIOUS CIRCLES I conquered, so cleric negotiated with us, leading to ever-worsening situations (7,7)
VICI (I conquered, as in Julius Caesar’s veni, vidi, vici) + (SO CLERIC US)*
10 NUTATION Nodding head at priestess before noon (8)
NUT (head) + AT + IO (mythological priestess) + N. Nutation is a “nodding” motion seen e.g. in the rotation of the earth
11 DIDDLE Hey __ __ swindle! (6)
Filling in the blanks gives us “Hey Diddle Diddle”, as in the nursery rhyme
12 BELITTLES Dismisses Let It Be: Beatles’ fifth and last hit (9)
Anagram of LET IT BE + the fifth and last letters of beatLeS
15 EXTOL Praise the guts of fiery boxer, beating stout fellows (5)
Central letters of fiEry boXer beaTing stOut felLows
17 ANNUL Set aside a returned Bath bun Sally’s not wanted (5)
A + reverse of LUNN: a Sally Lunn is a kind of bun
18 TRUST FUND Redcoat, before gaiety in Telford, spent money intended for someone else (5,4)
RUST (a “red coat”) + FUN in T[elfor]D, “spent” indicating that we should remove the inner letters
19 DAMSON Sour fruit contributed by mother and child (6)
DAM + SON
21 MISTAKEN Wrong to take over from 20 with a Scotsman (8)
MOIST (20d) less O[ver] + A KEN
24 WILD GOOSE CHASE In this you won’t find solutions for 21 down and 13 across (4,5,5)
Almost a literal definition, as 21 down and 13 across don’t exist in this puzzle. Both 21a, MISTAKEN, and 13d, TALL ORDER, might be relevant to the idea
25 STAR SIGN A string’s bent by the ninth one? (4,4)
(A STRING’S)* – the ninth zodiac sign is Sagittarius, the archer, who might bend a string on his bow
26 TILLS Registers works (5)
Double definition
Down
1 DIVING BOARDS Almost entirely foresee GB rower Redgrave’s third son jumping from these? (6,6)
DIVIN[e] (foresee) + GB + OAR (rower) + third letter of reDgrave + S[on] – I was hoping for an amazing &lit reading, but Sir Steve Redgrave only has one son, and he is a rugby player
2 DECATHLON Remove moggies, discharging a fire extinguisher — it’s all kinds of sport! (9)
DE-CAT (remove moggies) + HALON (gas used as a fire extinguisher) less A
3 SMOLT Swimming salmon mate — oddly, this is the result (5)
Anagram of odd letters of SaLmOn MaTe – smolt is a young salmon
4 CASSOULET Lost cause in preparation? Not if you’re hungry (9)
(LOST CAUSE)*
5 SNIP Fastens up slit (4)
Reverse of PINS – Chambers gives “a notch, slit or slash” as one definition of “snip”
6 ARCHITECT One plans development of the Arctic (9)
(THE ARCTIC)*
7 EMEND My boss accepts people to do what subeditors do (5)
MEN (people) in ED (editor, the setter’s boss)
9 BELLY DANCERS Showgirls (or Morris men?) (5,7)
Morris men have bells attached to their costumes, so they are BELL-Y DANCERS
13 TALL ORDER Difficult request: a bit of buttered roll? A toastie’s offered up (4,5)
Hidden in reverse of butteRED ROLL A Toastie’s
14 SAUCISSON French food ordered in Sanssouci (9)
SANSSOUCI*
16 TRUNK CALL Old long-distance communic­ation could be a trumpet (5,4)
A trumpet can be an elephant’s call, made by its trunk
20 MOIST First chases second, being tearful (5)
MO (second) + 1st
22 TACIT I engaged in diplomacy without speaking (5)
I in TACT
23 NORI Do you know what sushi rolls are wrapped in? Me neither! (4)
Me neither = NOR I

92 comments on “Guardian 28,866 – Soup”

  1. A nice mix of clues, though I gave up due to lack of time on 5d (easy enough in retrospect) and 23d (the thought of eating raw fish makes me shudder, so never heard of it) though the wordplay is simple. Favourite 16d I think, though younger solvers might be unfamiliar with the term.
    Thanks Soup and Andrew

  2. Actually my second solo outing, and third if you count the one I set with Enigmatist for Araucaria’s centenary, though from the mauling I got there I think most people would prefer to forget that one 🙂 Thanks for the review; hope the puzzle provides some diversion on an unusual day. H/S

  3. An interesting solve. Yes, I agree, a little different from the more usual Monday fare.
    I have to say I was a little disappointed as I’d expected something topical today, of all days. But then, the crossword editor has only had a week and a half to find one of our many great setters to compile something fitting.
    Perhaps it was a political decision (the dear Grauniad wouldn’t wish to offend by even the slightest hint of monarchical approbation?!) A wasted opportunity. And a shame?
    Many thanks, Soup and Andrew

  4. William@3: It would certainly have been possible to produce something topical in time, but even with the G’s leanings I think it would probably have not been a good idea. For people who don’t mind, they just won’t mind; for people who do mind, it would probably have been seen as inappropriate to quite a high level. Best to play it very safe! (For what it’s worth, I set this one about a year ago.)

  5. A very pleasant change for a Monday and I found the rather unique clueing style (eg WGC) very refreshing. STAR SIGN was clever, as was the almost &lit SMOLT. It took far too long for the Bell-Y to be understood in BELLY DANCERS but it was worth it when the penny dropped. Favourite was CASTANET for the rough as guts fisherman.

  6. I found this difficult to get into, with few entries until I got to the last few downs. With that toehold, ther rest gradually fell into place. A new(ish) setter makes it harder to hit the wavelength? I liked being sent on a WILD GOOSE CHASE – had all the crossers before I saw it. And a Scot who wasn’t Ian (or Iain). Is something special happening today? Thanks, Soup and Andrew.

  7. Thanks Andrew for the blog, and thanks Hamish / Soup for the puzzle, and for contributing here – I wish more compilers would. Always assumed that puzzles were written well in advance, so finding someone to write a topical one would prove difficult.

  8. Thanks Andrew and Soup, on your 2 and 1/2 (th, rd, nd?) appearance.

    Like Ravenrider@1 I gave up on the two short down ones. CASTANET my favourite.

  9. Crispy@7 – should also say that I was only scheduled in last week, so doing something at short notice is possible. Less than a week would be pushing it, but maybe feasible in exceptional circumstances, with a good, fast setter, and light-touch editing.

  10. Knew the earth wobbled a bit but dnk it was called that. Saucisson and cassoulet gave some transmanche flavour.
    [Reminded me of Elizabeth David’s cassoulet, with the bit in French about the restaurant whose sole ‘plat’ is a cassoulet … mais quel plat!]
    And tasty to have a Soup on Monday, thanks, and thanks Andrew.

  11. Took me a little while to get going with this; but very enjoyable. I especially liked CASTANET and TRUST FUND. With thanks to both.

  12. Nice to see Soup appearing both as today’s setter and in the blog. I agree with Crispy @7: lovely when setters drop in and participate in the discussion. Really lovely.

    Definitely a different Monday experience and very enjoyable with some testing ideas right across the puzzle. Favourites included: BELITTLES, MISTAKEN, STAR SIGN, DECATHLON, SMOLT, ARCHITECT and MOIST. Special mention to SAUCISSON which was a write in but a lovely spot. I owe an apology to the Morris men who also participate in crosswording (the Venn diagram for that overlap surely exists!): I didn’t twig the ‘BELL-Y’ reference and assumed it was hinting at the propensity of the dancers to enjoy their beer and, consequently, develop something of a tum!

    Thanks Soup and Andrew

  13. Re Soup’s previous solo outing, see here (I found it by googling “Bloody monkeys!” 🙂 )

    ginf @10, I wondered about a CASSOULET theme. It’s traditionally cooked in a CASSEROLE (earthenware pot), and we have GOOSE and SAUCISSON, although SAUCISSE de Toulouse is more likely for a cassoulet. And who knows, some people might put BELLY of WILD BOAR in there – and DODOS if they were still around.

    Thanks Soup & Andrew.

  14. [essexboy@1 – you can also find past crosswords by any setter by entering their name in the Site Search box at the top of this page]

  17. Thanks for the blog, really enjoyed this , a lot of originality, variety and imagination. Many favourites , see MrPostMark@12 and I will add VICIOUS CIRCLES.

    MrEssexBoy@13 the last Soup was July 28th last year, I found it using my Digital Interactive
    Archive Recording Yearly.

  18. Thanks Soup and Andrew
    I took some time to get into this one – for some time I just had EXTOL – but it finally came together. I didn’t enjoy it all that much, but it was worth it for the BELLY DANCERS!
    I parsed 8a OK retrospectively, but I think we could have had a pointer towards Caesar or Latin for the VICI bit.

  19. Thanks Soup, this was an excellent challenge for a Monday, especially a bank holiday. More difficult than normal but not offputtingly so. Like PM@12, I had assumed 9dn was a bit of a dig at Morris Men and missed the subtle reference to bells. The day is going to be dominated by you know what so it was nice to have a page of the Guardian without a reference to it.
    Thanks Andrew for the blog.

  20. PostMark @12 me too on the BELLY DANCERS ?. From casual observation, they do seem to be a bunch of blokes who show up in a pub garden, dance for around 5 minutes then hit the bar. Seemed a slightly weak and cruel clue, and the bells is a much better parsing!

  22. Very enjoyable. Thought the BELLY reference to Morris men must be to do with portly chaps (we had a convention of them in town on Saturday); WILD GOOSE CHASE was LOI and took some time; I liked the unusual cluing, and DIVING BOARDS and VICIOUS CIRCLES in particular. Many thanks to Soup/Hamish and Andrew.

  23. As someone who will be hiding from the telly and all news outlets all day, I’m thankful it wasn’t themed! Enjoyable crossword with some lovely clues, particularly Let It Be, St Peter and removing moggies! Back to back-to-back Man albums all day now!

  24. I found this more than challenging enough for a Monday and failed on the never heard of NUTATION. Spent a long time trying to parse BELLY DANCERS and in the end went for PostMark @12’s version, though seeing it explained here, BELL-Y is clearly correct.

    I liked WILD GOOSE CHASE (which, like TT @6, I obligingly set out on for a few minutes!) and TRUNK CALL, even if, as mentioned by ravenrider @1, it’s almost an archaic term these days.

    Thanks and welcome back to Soup and to Andrew for the usual clear blog

  25. A CASTANET clicking is like one hand clapping!
    I enjoyed this and was so glad that no special theme was foorced upon us.
    Thank you Soup and Andrew.

  27. Hamish @
    Thanks for popping in .It certainly was different to the usual
    Monday but its nice to not have a usual Monday
    If I’d had 5 pints of mad cider I probably would have collapsed laughing at BELLY DANCERS
    But alas it was a cup of tea.
    Maybe a puzzle based on the Cloggies including Penalty Knee.(‘E makes it look so easy”)

  28. Lots of interesting and original clues, too many favourites to list!
    Nicely challenging to start the week
    Thanks to Soup, and Andrew.

  30. My sticky ones were 17a (never heard of that bun) & 9d (morris dance is new to me). Otherwise plain sailing and enjoyable, my favourite STAR SIGN.

  31. A very pleasant change for a Monday! I thoroughly enjoyed this and had several head scratching moments before the penny dropped.

    Favourites were NORI and MISTAKEN.

    Thanks Hamish/Soup for the puzzle and contributing, and to Andrew for the blog

  32. Loved Star Sign.
    Had to Google “what sushi is wrapped in” to find the answer before i could parse it. But the answer said I would have to, so can’t argue with that.

  33. While a Dodo (1A) is of course in the kingdom of Animalia, one would normally call it a bird, and the clue would work fine if it were described as such. Perfectly permissible for the setter to misdirect us, but genuinely curious whether anyone actually thinks “animal” when a dodo is mentioned.

    De-cat (2D) should be adopted as a truly useful new word. Thanks to setter and blogger.

  34. Sagittarius @33
    A phrase that really irritates me is “animals and birds”. I’m quite happy that a dodo was an animal.
    Presumably you had little difficulty with STAR SIGN 🙂

  35. I really enjoyed this one, detected quite a distinctive setting ‘voice’ and managed to tune into the wavelength for the most part. As usual for me, there were a couple I got but didn’t parse (TRUST FUND, DIVING BOARDS) and NUTATIONS was new to me, but NOTATIONS didn’t make sense so I bunged in a U and checked.

    I got the DANCERS but needed crossers to get to BELLY. The penny drop on that was lovely. ANNUL I got from definition then back-parsed… I know the Sally Lunn but wondered how well-known it is in the wider world? Loved WILD GOOSE CHASE for the lateral thinking and STAR SIGN for the double meaning.

    Great fun. Thank you Soup and Andrew.

  36. Took a while to get into the style of clueing but really enjoyed it. Another thinking of corpulent Morris dancers. Agree with PostMark @12’s favourites with DECATHLON and STAR SIGN at the top. SMOLT, NUTATION and NORI were new.

    Ta Soup & Andrew.

  37. I loved this, and that it wasn’t themed, as I’m another avoiding the wall to wall coverage. As a folky I saw BELL-S/E/Y and DANCERS on the first reading through. These days there are mixed sides and all female, so it’s not all men, and if you think it’s easy, try it. If you want interesting, check out Boss Morris.

    Lots of interesting twists and turns in the cluing that made it an interesting solve. Thank you to Hamish/Soup and Andrew.

    (I’m very grateful to the Queen that she held on for long enough to make sure BoJo had absolutely nothing to do with her funeral).

  38. [ Shanne@37 , your final sentence is the same in spirit to what I wrote this morning on the Cyclops blog. I was NUMBER 1 AlanC ].

    Sagittarius@33 congratulations on being an answer. No problems with DODO, many people equate animals to furry mammals, it is a huge kingdom and also contains the invertebrates of course.

  39. Put in BELLY DANCERS but have to admit I just didn’t get the Morris dancing connection. Thank heavens for blogs like this one. “Even if it had bells on” might be appropriate for my ignorance. Last one in was WILD GOOSE CHASE as I was beginning to wonder if there had been an editorial error with the clue. Some nice anagrams, and unusual to see the setter very early on explaining the provenance of his puzzle. Did enjoy the fifes and drums playing earlier in London before settling down to this fairly gentle solve this morning…

  40. De-cat is now going to be added to the household lexicon.

    (Yikes though, that was hard work for a Monday. I am not on Planet Soup.)

  41. More of a workout that I expected on a Monday, but good and inventive stuff. Glad I wasn’t trying to solve this on the commute! Just about knew TRUNK CALL, although Sally Lunn and smolt were new to me. Loved DE-CAT and the WILD GOOSE CHASE, less keen on 11A, which unless I’m missing something isn’t actually cryptic.

    Thanks Soup & Andrew.

  42. I really enjoyed this, and hope we see more of Soup in the cryptic slot. I’m afraid I was another one in the tubby Morris dancer camp; the proper parsing is much better, and I should have seen it.

    [Shanne@37 and Roz@38: exactly so.]

  43. I briefly thought of MOLLY DANCERS before realising it was BELLY and assumed it was to do with (alleged) beerguts.
    I’m very glad there was no royal theme. I’m avoiding all the costly goings-on in London and have just completed an enjoyable crossword in my garden shed! Welcome to Soup!

  44. [Roz @38: watching my back now, well done. Going by some of the previous comments, not a good idea to mention Kings Park Rangers! 😉 ]

  46. Hamish @2 The one set with Enigmatist for Araucaria’s centenary was a brilliant tour de force and definitely not best forgotten. All those monkeys and puzzles! Perfectly ok that we had to look some of them up. I had an old book of Araucaria’s crosswords. He said in the intro that he expected his solvers to need reference works. The mauling was quite undeserved in my view. It bothered me at the time and since. Thankyou for today’s puzzle too.

  48. Loved this, brilliantly inventive and original, and very funny too. I echo Sarah @42 – more Soup, please! (Fwiw, I’m another who thought the mauling for the Emigmatist collab was unwarranted.)

    And of course thanks for the blog, Andrew.

    Rob T @35 – the Sally Lunn shop is on the tourist trail, and mentioned in all the guidebooks, so that makes it fair game for me. Been there once. Won’t bother again. Overrated – like a not very good brioche.

  49. Straightforward apart from belly dancers where my distant recollection of watching them outside my former house in the Cotswolds didn’t include the bells around the knees. Reminded of the advice to try anything in life except incest and folk dancing! Sir Thomas Beecham was it?

  50. I wasn’t familiar with NUTATION, but I never mind unfamiliar words where the wordplay is clear.
    Perhaps BELLY DANCERS should simply be accepted as a triple def. It was enjoyable enough even without thinking of the bells on the costumes.
    Lots of stuff to enjoy here, especially CASTANET, VICIOUS CIRCLES, BELITTLES, ANNUL, TRUST FUND, STAR SIGN, DIVING BOARDS, DECATHLON, ARCHITECT, NORI. I thought DIDDLE and SAUCISSON were a bit weak, but that’s mainly by comparison with the rest of it.
    Thanks to Soup and Andrew

  51. I remember Soup’s previous appearances and found this one every bit as enjoyable. Some deliciously original clueing – the 21 & 13 across & down malarkey was neat – and plenty of moments that raised a smile. My fave was CASTANET.
    [I share the sentiments expressed by Roz, JerryG, Auriga and various others about the pleasing lack of “topical” theme – and, like Panthes, am fortunately living in a different country, so we’ve managed to escape having the Official Line shoved down our throats 24/7.]
    Thank you very much, Soup, for the fun – here’s to the next time! Thanks also to Andrew for the lucid blog

  52. Good to see Soup again with an inventive puzzle. Hope to see you again soon.

    Interesting that he used NUTATION instead of notation; I suppose the ‘head’ in the clue was tempting, and I expect notation has been clued many times before. I liked TRUST FUND for the redcoat, MISTAKEN and DECATHLON for the wordplay, STAR SIGN for the extended definition, TALL ORDER, which was well-hidden, and TRUNK CALL for the definition.

    Thanks Soup and Andrew.

  53. Solved 5 clues on first pass including 25ac which I could not parse. I gave up on this puzzle as I don’t have time to devote to it it today. Decided to just come here to read the blog instead.

  54. I was reminded of the walking-on-the-water miracle (alternative version), when the reluctant disciples (of little faith) had their commitment upstaged by a more enthusiastic bailaora. The outcome is very poignantly painted by “CASTANETs upon the water”.

    That was great entertainment. Even with all the crossers I failed on WILD GOOSE CHASE but have to acknowledge a touché.

    Thanks both and can we have some more please.

  55. Unfortunately a puzzle by yet another of the Guardian team who pays scant, or at least insufficient, attention to providing clarity in the set of cryptic instructions solvers need to arrive at definitions. These inaccuracies, and a tendency to make a rather silly surface on occasion, make solving SO much harder, and so much less entertaining in my view.

  56. tlp@ 55 – I know it’s very subjective but my experience was pretty much the opposite – excellent, playful, sometimes headscratching but well-written clues, a distinctive setting voice and a dash of humour in the surfaces.

    For me the setter’s writing style made it easier to solve than most. I don’t consider quirks of wording to be ‘inaccurate’, but whimsical. Crosswords are word puzzles, not mathematical equations. And one person’s ‘silly’ is another’s ‘witty’.

    I found it to be the most entertaining and satisfying G puzzle I’ve done in a while.

  57. A very entertaining puzzle. At first I thought I wouldn’t get very far, but it actually fell out quite quickly by my standards – until the last one, the WGC, which took me on quite a tour of possible but unlikely individual words before the phrase entered my consciousness with an “ah, obviously”.

  59. Lots of fun, and despite having all the crossers just could not see WILD GOOSE CHASE. Which in retrospect is a brilliant clue.
    tlp@55 If you’re looking for a crossword where the clues always follow the approach you refer to you’re better off sticking with another newspaper. The Guardian plays fast and loose, and is all the better for it.

  60. Well that was different, and great fun. Thank you Soup. Never heard of the bun so another bit of information to try to cram into the ageing noggin. I didn’t understand BELLY DANCER until I got here and then it made me laugh out loud, so it’s now my favourite. Before that it was STAR SIGN for the unusual definition. Also thanks to Andrew for parsing VICIOUS CIRCLES and TRUST FUND. As others have said, perhaps a bit trickier than the average Monday, but the answers fell into place surprisingly quickly one a few crossers were in place, so I guess that it’s a friendly grid to counterbalance the more challenging clues. Thanks again Soup and Andrew.

  61. The world must be upside down when the Monday crossword presents a far greater challenge than a Prize by Paul. This took awhile to get started and I couldn’t parse a number of my answers but overall I found it worth my effort due to clues like BELITTLES, ARCHITECT, and NORI. Thanks to both.

  62. Well, that took a while. A lovely puzzle all in all, and I was thankful it wasn’t themed for the day that’s in it—we could all use a break I’m sure. I was out of tune with 9 down: was certain for far too long that POLEs played a part in it.

    Also, while I got 20d I’m not certain why second should indicate MO: can some one enlighten me?

  65. Another one who loved this, and would like to see more of Soup (also loved the Araucaria one too). Failed to parse Annul, but after reading the blog I do vaguely recall hearing of the bun. Also glad it wasn’t themed (after watching/listening to a moderate amount of sport over the last week or so I think I’m approaching 10 minutes of silence).

    Thanks setter and blogger.

  67. [People may be interested to hear that the topic-du-jour coverage in the US is wall-to-wall here too, but only if you’re in a fives court. Our CBS channel is opting out]

  68. Given the body habitus of the last bunch (troupe?) who visited us, I’d bunged in the correct answer for 9d as a dd, albeit with a raised eyebrow. A relief to see how it was intended to parse – fabulous.

  69. [Matt @68
    I had a friend who was a Morris Dancer, and once went on a Morris Tour as a supporter with his lot (though not as debilitating as a post earlier that now seems to have disappeared). I think they are called Morris “sides”, but I might be misremembering.]

  70. I’m surprised no-one has mentioned the gay Sally Lunn (associated as it is with the rollicking bun) from Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Sorcerer. It’s the first thing I think of.

    I didn’t much enjoy Soup’s earlier appearance but I really liked this one. It reminded me of doing a Philistine puzzle in the way it kept making me turn my brain a little bit sideways to work out what was going on. I spent some time planning for 24a to be an anagram (indicated by “mistaken” of “D” + “THIRTEEN ACROSS”, which would have been consistent with the crossers.

  72. Once again, our Gilbert & Sullivan experience helped. A chorus song in SORCERER extols “the gay Sally Lunn” as part of the banquet.

  73. Thanks Soup!!

    24a is one of those addictive intriguing clues that glue you to the puzzle. I needed all the checkers!

    And thanks Andrew, of course

  74. Crikey that was tough. DECATHLON & WILD GOOSE CHASE my top two of those I managed. Eventually declared 5 shy of completion & revealed the answers.
    Great fun.
    Thanks both.

  75. Roz@38 et al: if you opted out of watching the service, it might be worth going back for the ABoC’s sermon, remembering that Boris, as ex-PM, was in the room.

  76. Thanks Soap, that was great. And thanks to Andrew for thr blog. My only beef is that good damsons aren’t sour, rather sweet and a little bit tangy, I would say

  77. [” … those who serve will be loved and remembered when those who cling to power and privileges will be long forgotten” … Was that the bit, TimSee?]

  78. [DeeGee @23. I may be the only one hear who also listens to Man albums. I’m a long way from my record player at the moment (coincidentally, in Wales), but it’s a rare day when one of their pieces doesn’t run through my head. Be Good To Yourself At Least Once A Day is not only a great album but sound advice too.]

  79. SH@78 – you may be surprised to know that I listened to Call Down the Moon extensively during writing up my PhD thesis, and played it through only last week!

  80. Andy H @76. I had the same thought about DAMSONs. Definitely not sour. But no doubt it’s in Chambers. 🙂

  83. Morris dancers do indeed perform as a side. I should know as I’ve been doing it since 1974. And I am slightly (ahem!) more portly than I once was. But, Fiery Jack @ 20, when we turn up we get the pints in first then perform for about half an hour, not 5 minutes! Loved the clue which I took to work both ways.

  84. [grantinfreo@77 – that was the specific jaw drop moment, but there was more truth to power among the homage than I was expecting.]

  85. Thanks Andrew for the rust and the bun, and others above for greater detail. I would have grumbled about double obscurity in 10a but friendly crossers were a huge help, and lots of wit and ingenuity led to me really enjoying this. I had to write each word of 24a on different lines with all crossers and stare for many minutes before it came to me. Thanks Soup and look forward to more.

  86. I echo TimSee @75 re ABoC’s piercing remarks (he who has ears to hear, let him hear), and also RobT’s rejoinder @56 re this entertaining puzzle.
    Thanks to Soup and Andrew

  89. Loved this puzzle though it took me ages to get my head around it. Lots of fun. Agree with favourites others have cited. Warm thanks to Soup and Andrew.

  91. [Thanks, TimSee and a few others for mentioning yesterday’s big event. Yes, the AB of C and some others did well on my behalf. I understand the mega irritation too, as the world fries.]

    Great thanks Soup and Andrew. I’m normally Saturday only, and would have missed this gem if I hadn’t thought “I wonder if it will be a special or themed puzzle?” DECATHLON and BELLY DANCERS amongst my favourites.

    [Have watched Morris many times. A typical interval act at ceilis. Apols for any inaccurate spelling. The penny drop moment made it all worthwhile.]

  92. Great puzzle! I’m another who is usually Saturday Prize only, but saw a tipoff in GD that there was a Soup puzzle up. I only finished it last night after being almost ready to give up, and now very glad I persevered.

    I didn’t realize how widely known the Sally Lunn was. I thought it was a regional speciality. I remember that, as a student in Bristol, whiling away part of a Saturday afternoon enjoying a pot of tea and a Sally Lunn at Splinters in Clifton was a splendid luxury, although it was said that their (delicious) Sally Lunns were different from the Bath originals.

    Lots of clever and original clues but BELLY DANCERS and TRUNK CALL were my favourites.

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