Guardian Saturday Prize Crossword 28,955 by Philistine (31 December 2022)

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Philistine rings out the old, with the last Grauniad puzzle of 2022…a relatively gentle solve, compared to the mind-stretcher of the Christmas special the previous week!

No particular theme or Nina that I could see, although there were three CLANDESTINE sets of linked entries – which some people find AUTHENTIC, show ESTEEM for, and are AMUSED by; whereas NOW AND THEN some are IRATE and SCORNFUL, and GNASH their TEETH at the LICENCE being taken and INEPTITUDE being shown by the HEEL of a setter, who has a FAT CHANCE of pleasing everyone…

The clue for 5A ATHLETE was short and sweet – with a pithy surface read – as was 10 AUTHENTIC. And I enjoyed TERPSICHORE at 14A, as she always triggers memories of the Monty Python ‘Cheese Shop‘ sketch – ‘Eee, I like a nice tune, yer forced to!‘. The surface read of 16D SCORNFUL is unfortunately fairly topical, and I was AMUSED by 17D, with the idea of men maturing being an attractive scenario – doesn’t seem to be the case with me!

But my particular favourite was ESTEEM, with Estée Lauder and the top of Mascara as the wordplay – very nice!

 

 

A Happy Cruciverbal New Year to one and all, and my thanks to Philistine for this challenge.

(For the setter-spotters and statisticians amongst you – if you haven’t seen it already, Mitz had produced an interesting analysis of the frequency trends of the Grauniad setters – Cryptic, Prize Cryptic, Quiptic and Genius – for 2022.)

 

Across
Clue No Solution Clue (definition underlined)

Logic/parsing
1A IMAGING See 17 (7)

see 17D
5A ATHLETE The late tragic Jesse Owens? (7)

anag, i.e. tragic, of THE LATE
9A GAUZE Look to cover the centre of wound dressing (5)

GA_ZE (look) around (covering) U (central letter of woUnd)
10A AUTHENTIC Real gold, 24 ct, I fancy (9)

AU (Aurum, gold) + THENTIC (anag, i.e. fancy, of THEN, 24D, plus CT and I)

AU (Aurum, gold) + THEN (24D) + TIC (anag, i.e. fancy, of CT and I)
11A SWEATSHOPS Hapless fellow finally dines: terribly posh establishments with awful working conditions (10)

SWEAT (hapless fellow?) + S (final letter of dineS) + HOPS (anag, i.e. terribly, of POSH)

SW (final letters of haplesS felloW) + EATS (dines) + HOPS (anag, i.e. terribly, of POSH)
12A ONES See 4 (4)

see 4D
14A TERPSICHORE Unorthodox priest with job providing inspiration to dance (11)

TERPSI (anag, i.e. unorthodox, of PRIEST) + CHORE (job)
18A CLANDESTINE Secret family decree in advance (11)

CLAN (family) + DESTINE (decree in advance)
21A RING Call round (4)

double defn. to RING can be to call; and a RING is usually round
22A INITIATORS One egg and one roast cooked for starters (10)

I (one) + NIT (egg) + IATORS (anag, i.e. cooked, of I, one again, plus ROAST)

I (one) + NIT (egg) + I (one, again) + ATORS (anag, i.e. cooked, of ROAST)
25A FAT CHANCE Unlikely relief at chancellor’s contribution (3,6)

hidden word in, i.e. contribution to, ”relieF AT CHANCEllor’
26A IRATE Grumpy pirate’s not quiet (5)

(P)IRATE without P – piano, quiet
27A LICENCE Permission to take off uniform in misleading nice clue (7)

subtractive anagram, i.e. misleading, of NICE CL(U)E, taking off U – uniform
28A HASIDIM Jews initially hate allowing skirts to be pulled back (7)

HA (initial letters of Hate Allowing) + SIDIM (midis, or skirts, pulled back)
Down
Clue No Solution Clue (definition underlined)

Logic/parsing
1D INGEST Eat for a laugh, as they say (6)

homophone, i.e. as they say – INGEST (eat) can sound like IN JEST (for a laugh)
2D AMUSED Tickled by 14 for one in the current era (6)

A_D (Anno Domini, the current era) around MUSE (e.g. 14A – Terpsichore)
3D INEPTITUDE Nice small top slips — being embraced by one naked causes awkwardness (10)

I (one) + N_UDE (naked) around EPTIT (petit, French, i.e. from Nice, for small, with the top letter slipping down a place)
4D GNASH (ONES TEETH) & 12 & 23 Show anger in a different way: he’s a gent, sincere at heart (5,4,5)

GNAS EETH (anag, i.e. in a different way, of HES A GENT) around H ONES T (sincere)
5D ANTIPASTI Perhaps it’s a pain having to eat trout’s head for starters (9)

ANTIPAS_I (anag, i.e. perhaps, of ITS A PAIN) around (eating) T (head, or first letter, of Trout)
6D HEEL What’s up with the Spanish setter’s instruction? (4)

HE (eh?, interjection, what?, up) + EL (definite article, the, in Spanish)

[The setter here being a dog, of course!]
7D EXTENSOR Start of exercise with 10, repeated thus on right muscle (8)

E (start of Exercise) + X (ten, Roman numeral) + TEN (repeated!) + SO (thus) + R (right)
8D ENCASHED In finale, Johnny at last became monetised (8)

EN_D (finale) around CASH (Johnny Cash, country music singer) + E (last of becamE)
13D SCHEMATICS Outlines school team playing pieces regularly (10)

SCH (school) + EMAT (anag, i.e. playing, of TEAM) + ICS (regular letters from pIeCeS)
15D RESONANCE See 17 (9)

see 17D
16D SCORNFUL Sneering at origins of severe cases of rampant new flu variant (8)

SCORN (origins, or first letters, of ‘Severe Cases Of Rampant New*’) + FLU (anag, i.e. variant, of FLU)

[* or New just = N?]
17D MAGNETIC (RESONANCE IMAGING) & 15 & 1A Way to test attractive and unusual scenario: men becoming mature! (8,9,7)

MAGNETIC (attractive) + RESONANCE IM (anag, i.e. unusual, of SCENARIO MEN) + AGING (becoming mature)
19D NOW AND (THEN) & 24 Occasionally in the present, as well as in the past (3,3,4)

NOW (in the present) + AND (as well as) + THEN (in the past)
20D ESTEEM Lauder mascara’s top value (6)

ESTEE (Estée Lauder) + M (top letter of Mascara)
23D TEETH See 4 (5)

see 4D
24D THEN See 19 (4)

see 19D

37 comments on “Guardian Saturday Prize Crossword 28,955 by Philistine (31 December 2022)”

  1. An enjoyable solve. MRI was excellent, also EXTENSOR for the double ten, INGEST a nice PDM, as for ATHLETE. Thanks, mcrapper and Philistine.

  2. Thanks mc_rapper67.Most of this went in quite readily but there were a few that needed a quite a lot more time. LOI was 13a I’m ashamed to say, even with all the crossers I had failed to interpret the composition of the clue correctly, looking at one stage for a word beginning with ‘screw’. ‘Decree in advance’ also eluded me for a while and Hasidim was new to me. Still not sure about sweat = hapless fellow.

  3. I stand in awe of the work it must take for our setters to compose such delicious surfaces, Philistine in top form here. I particularly liked the one egg and one roast for INITIATORS. Nice to see a muse other than Erato in play (this one triggers the Cheese Shop memory for me also).

    For 11A, the “finally” should go with haplesS felloW, and dines = EATS

    Thanks to mc_ and Phil

  4. I was hoping for an explanation of SWEAT=”hapless fellow,” but apparently it’s as much a mystery to you as to me. The ATHLETE clue was nice, since Jesse Owens did have a fairly tragic post-Olympic career (and I imagine that’s why that particular athlete was chosen).

  5. Yehudi @3, yes–tired of both Erato and Clio in crosswords, and you’d think that Terpsichore would be among the more difficult to clue!

    Also, thanks–that parsing works better.

  6. Also failed on 7D as I had EXTENDOR, reasoning DO (ditto) = repeated thus, never bothering to confirm the “wordiness” of my answer

  7. Ah yes yehudi, that’s much better. I have heard someone being called a (something) sweat, but it didn’t mean hapless.

  8. Thanks Philistine for an excellent crossword that I enjoyed from start to finish with my top choices being GAUZE, FAT CHANCE, LICENCE, ANTIPASTI, and SCORNFUL, the latter for its surface. Add me to those who were unfamiliar with “sweat” meaning “hapless fellow”. Thanks mc_rapper67 for the blog.

  10. Just another example of why Philistine is one of my favourite setters – clever wordplay and witty surfaces.

    I am in the second group with respect to linked clues, but only when it is done to excess (and when I have difficulty solving them, of course 🙂 ). So these ones were fine, and Philistine had to resort to one in order to create his COD, the magnificent MRI at 17d etc.

    Thanks Philistine for yet another gem, and mc_r for the engaging blog.

  11. KVa@9: Thanks. I somehow overlooked that explanation. The wordplay’s quite devious and very good.

  12. Thanks mc_rapper and nice narrative linking the clues but agree with Yehudi@3 on the sweat, and I worked up quite a sweat (metaphorically) parsing that and a few others eg 7and 8d. Indebted to another puzzle not long ago for 14a and took me an age to recall that a Nit is an egg. So no walkover for me but very enjoyable, thanks Philistine.

  13. Indeed, a gentle but elegant start to what I hope is a Happy New Year for everybody. Failed to parse HASIDIM – couldn’t see the skirts – and CLANDESTINE – saw the clan but not the decree. MRI was a particular favourite. Thanks for the set of very nicely constructed clues, Philistine, and thanks for the blog, mc-rapper.

  14. Thanks for the blog, a very neat set of clues, INEPTITUDE stood out for me.
    MRI should be called NuclearMRI but patients were put off by the word nuclear.
    FAT CHANCE is my favourite phrase when I am playing bridge with the students.

    Two very slightly different views on word play. 10Ac just CT I is fancy , makes no difference really.
    22AC l NIT I (ROAST) cooked avoids a frown for the indirect anagram .

  15. Lovely puzzle to end the year.

    Favourites included: INITIATORS, SWEATSHOPS, AMUSED, HEEL, EXTENSOR

    Thanks to Philistine and mc_rapper67

  16. Another who loved this, and who parsed SWEATSHOPS as SW (finally haplesS felloW), EATS (dines) (POSH)*. Reading the blog I realise forgot to double check the meaning of DESTINE just assumed it had to mean that. Amending that now.

    Thanks for the blog mc_rapper667 and to Philistine for the crossword.

  17. Thanks for all the comments and feedback so far, much appreciated as usual.
    In particular to yehudi at #3 for a much more sensible parsing of SWEATS. An ‘old sweat’ is someone who might have been doing something a long time, but would probably be thought of as experienced (if unambitious), rather than hapless!
    Also to Roz at #14 for a couple of tidy-ups in the parsing…all the above now amended accordingly…

    Otherwise the general feeling seems to be one of sweetness and light with the puzzle…

    That televised version of the Cheese Shop sketch I linked to is a bit tame – it has nothing on the tautness and edginess of the audio versions I used to listen to on my fathers vinyl albums – ‘Matching Tie & Handkerchief’, and ‘Live at the Hollywood Bowl’ (if my memory and Mr Go-Ogle serve me correctly…)

  20. A quality puzzle, pitched just right for me as it gave me plenty to chew on as well as those (like FAT CHANCE and IRATE) that I could fill in more quickly.

    I got INEPTITUDE when I had the two T’s but left the parsing to others (thanks!).

    The definition of MRI was very weak (‘way to test’), being broad and general in the extreme, but I am happy that good setters do this because (1) the definition is precise enough and (2) giving away anything about the nature of MRI scans would lower the pitch of (and spoil) an excellent clue.

    I loved ATHLETE, my first in.

    Thanks to Philistine and mc_rapper.

  21. Thanks Philistine and mc. Took me most of the week but at least I got there. I had “causing awkwardness” as the definition for INEPTITUDE, but of course it doesn’t really matter.

  22. Tough but enjoyable. Solved SE corner last.

    I did not parse 18ac apart from CLAN = family. I parsed SWEATSHOPS in the same way as yehudi at #3.

    Liked INEPTITUDE, INITIATORS.

    New: MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING; HASIDIM.

    Thanks, both.

    * The sets of linked entries were way over my head!

  23. [When having my first and so far only MRI scan three months ago, I just managed to listen to several music tracks that were played through my headphones and ear plugs. The penultimate track (I will always remember) was The Sound of Silence. I now think the ‘I’ in MRI stands for Irony.]

  24. Another pleasant solve from Philistine.
    My only small quibble was with 26a where GRUMPY is, I think, several degrees lower on the scale of annoyance than “irate”.
    I hadn’t come across DESTINE in the present tense before but of course it’s perfectly fair.
    At 20d my first thoughts were of Sir Harry Lauder or another word for eulogist but once I solved the clue from definition and crossers the parfumier came to mind. It shouldn’t have taken so long really so soon after Christmas when the ads for perfume in the papers have been unavoidable.
    Thanks to Philistine and mc_rapper67.

  25. Last week I got all except ENCASHED, which I’m reluctant to acknowledge as a word. What’s wrong with “cashed” without the pretentious EN- added on?

    17d and following I thought the British spelling was AGEING for “becoming mature.”

    Thanks for the puzzle, Philistine, and for the blog, mc_rapper.

  26. Loved this one as I usually just do Everyman and Quiptic and try a few of the prize crossword clues before being defeated. The satisfaction of finding the three word clues was huge.

  27. [Roz@14: As you must know MRI was once called NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance). I don’t know how many patients I had to convince that there was no radiation involved. ]

  28. [ Tony@27 it is still called NMR for the actual process , it has many uses , it is only for medical imaging that it has become MRI ]

  29. Valentine @25. Chambers has both aging and ageing without passing comment on who uses the variants where.

  30. This was fairly straight I thought though I needed all the crossers to get SCHEMATICS!
    Thanks both

  31. Valentine / sh @25/29 – here’s the Google Ngram viewer for aging/ageing, for British English and American English. In the US aging is clearly dominant; in the UK it’s a more complicated picture. The graphs confirm Valentine’s thought that, traditionally, ageing is the dominant British spelling – in 1940 it was about 15 to 1. However, in recent years aging has been catching up fast, and is now (2019) snapping at ageing’s heels. My guess is that this is partly US influence, but it may also have something to do with rationalisation/rationalization – after all, we don’t write cageing, engageing, pageing, rageing, stageing, wageing – or indeed imageing!

  32. essexboy @31. One factor may be that, for the reason stated in your last sentence, aging is so much more useful in cryptic crosswords. 🙂

  33. The clue for MRI was hilarious. Is that how you test for dementia and whether you can spell ag+/-e-ing, and understand the NOW AND THEN?
    SCORNFUL also very contemporary, with Covid connotations.
    Love Philistine’s surfaces.
    I seriously wouldn’t mind INGESTing trout’s head for starters in ANTIPASTI. I really like those juicy cheeky bits.

  34. 10ac AUTHENTIC: Au is the chemical symbol for the element gold, so no need to know any Latin.

    11ac SWEATSHOPS: I also looked forward to seeing the explanation for “hapless fellow” = SWEAT. Luckily, the definition made the answer obvious.

    14ac TERPSICHORE. What link, mc?

    26ac “pirate’s not quiet” for ‘pirate has not P’ is a bit lumpy, really. “‘s” only stands for ‘has’ when it’s used as a modal verb, doesn’t it?

    1dn INGEST was an amusing homophone, and accurate in all accents, I believe.

    3dn INEPTITUDE was very clever wordplay. Hard to visualize exactly the scene depicted, though.

    In 8dn, ENCASHED, you’ve accidentally underlined “became” The def is just “monetised”, of course

    19, 24dn, NOW AIND THEN: I thought this was neat, although not difficult.

  36. Ah, ok, I found the cheese shop link in the preamble, which I only skimmed, originally. I was looking for the link at the clue.

  37. Thanks all – looks like this one is drawing to a close…

    I would always use clueing and ageing, but then again, if I was a setter with a gap to fill, I would be flexible!

    Tony Collman – skimming my preamble? That’s usually the best bit! (;+>)

    Graham at #21 – I saw ’causes’ in 3D as a link word, rather than part of the definition…some bloggers go the extra mile and highlight link words in a different colour, but I don’t have that bandwidth!

    Bmo at #26 – glad to hear you enjoyed this one…with time, practice and experience the cryptics will become more manageable…and then you can move up to the barred puzzles – Azed, Mephisto – and the barred thematics – EV, IQ, Listener…there’s always another hit, another slightly stronger drug!…

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