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The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/28996.
Quite a difficult and inventive offering from Paul, with the keystone 6,22 being far from obvious for a Spoonerism (and with a definition as a stick, whereas the use of the answer elsewhere indicating a person). Altogether a good workout for me, so many thanks Paul (and many more of them!).
| ACROSS | ||
| 1, 12 | PLASTIC BOTTLE |
Artificial grit, target of 6 22? (7,6)
|
| A charade of PLASTIC (‘artificial’) plus BOTTLE (courage, ‘grit’). | ||
| 5 | PLACEBO |
Lead boxes contaminate oxygen, substance used in clinical trials (7)
|
| A charade of PLACEB, an envelope (‘boxes’) of LACE (‘contaminate’) in PB (chemical symbol, ‘lead’); plus O (chemical symbol, ‘oxygen’). | ||
| 10 | TWEE |
3 last seen in coat pocket (4)
|
| A charade of T (‘last seen in coaT‘) plus WEE (small, ‘pocket’). | ||
| 11 | BLISTERING |
Very hot — or very nippy? (10)
|
| Double cefinition – the second referring to speed. | ||
| 12 |
See 1
|
|
| 13 |
See 16
|
|
| 14 | IN THE DARK |
Unaware where the bulbs have gone? (2,3,4)
|
| Definition and literal interpretation. | ||
| 16, 13 | LATIN-AMERICAN |
Che Guevara perhaps in US city, revolutionary air around me in target of 6 22? (5-8)
|
| A charade of LA (Los Angeles, ‘US city’) plus TINAMERICAN, a double envelope (‘around’ and ‘in’) of ‘me’ in ARI, an anagram (‘revolutionary’) of ‘air’ in TIN CAN (‘target of 6 22?’). | ||
| 17 |
See 27
|
|
| 19 | DELETE KEY |
Button done on the outside, silk finally threaded through eyelet casually (6,3)
|
| A charade of DE (‘DonE on the outside’) plus LETEKEY, an envelope (‘threaded through’) of K (‘silK finally’) in LETEEY, an anagram (‘casually’) of ‘eyelet’. | ||
| 23 | WOMANISE |
Country held hostage by learned cheat (8)
|
| An envelope (‘held hostage by’) of OMAN (‘country’) in WISE (‘learned’). | ||
| 24 |
See 25
|
|
| 26 | POND SKATER |
Aquatic insect in river starts to nudge drifting reeds around fish (4,6)
|
| A charade of PO (Italian ‘river’) plus NDSKATER, an envelope (‘around’) of SKATE (‘fish’) in NDR (‘starts to Nudge Drifting Reeds’). I spent a while trying to fit SPIDER into the second word. | ||
| 27, 17 | IRON HORSE |
Loco senior dancing around short nude (4,5)
|
| An envelope (‘around’) of HOR (‘sHORt nude’) in IRONSE, an anagram (‘dancing’) of ‘senior’. | ||
| 28 | BODY ART |
Daddy’s skin covered with pig and head of tiger — tattoos, say? (4,3)
|
| An envelope (‘covered with’) of DY (‘DaddY‘s skin’) in BOAR (‘pig’) plus T (‘head of Tiger’). | ||
| 29 |
See 3
|
|
| DOWN | ||
| 2 | LOW-DOWN |
Contemptible dope (3-4)
|
| Double definition, the second as information. | ||
| 3, 29 | SWEET WRAPPER |
Target of 6 22, M&M and Eminem by the sound of it? (5,7)
|
| A charade of SWEET (candy, ‘M&M’, for example) plus WRAPPER, sounding like (‘by the sound of it’) RAPPER (‘Eminem’, again an example, again justified by the question mark). | ||
| 4 | INBREED |
I want to squeeze brother, no other — keep it in the family? (7)
|
| An envelope (‘to squeeze’) of BR (‘BRother no other’) in I NEED (‘I want’). | ||
| 6, 22 | LITTER-PICKER |
Spooner’s taster of kind of bread stick grabbing butt, perhaps? (6-6)
|
| A Spoonerism of PITTA LICKER (‘taster of a kind of bread’). The ‘butt’ would be a cigarette end. | ||
| 7 | CARTILAGE |
Designed article stuffed with silver tissue (9)
|
| An envelope (‘stuffed with’) of AG (chemical symbol, ‘silver’) in CARTILE, an anagram (‘designed’) of ‘article’. | ||
| 8 | BENGALI |
Girl entering country detailed language (7)
|
| An envelope (‘entering’) of GAL (‘girl’) in BENI[n] (‘country’) minus its last letter (‘de-tailed’). | ||
| 9 | DISAGREEMENTS |
More than one difference emerges and it’s not right (13)
|
| An anagram (‘not right’) of ’emerges and its’. | ||
| 15 | HUSBANDRY |
Union member on railway conservation (9)
|
| A charade of HUSBAND (‘union member’) plus RY (‘railway’). | ||
| 18 | OLOROSO |
Sherry sadly unopened (7)
|
| A subtraction: [d]OLOROSO (instruction in musical score, ‘sadly’) minus the first letter (‘unopened’). | ||
| 20 | EMPEROR |
European politician, sovereign or ruler (7)
|
| A charade of E (‘European’) plus MP (‘politician’) plus ER (Elizabeth Regina or Eduardus Rex, onetime ‘soverieign’) plus ‘or’. | ||
| 21 | EYESORE |
Abomination observed by me, reportedly (7)
|
| Sounds like (‘reportedly’) I SAW (‘observed by me’). | ||
| 22 |
See 6
|
|
| 25, 24 | CRISP PACKET |
Sharp mint, target of 6 22? (5,6)
|
| A charade of CRISP (‘sharp’) plus PACKET (a large sum of money, ‘mint’). |
Well at first I thought it was rubbish but it there in the end, albeit with TWEE unparsed, and not seeing how PACKET= mint and BLISTERING=nippy. Of course much easier once I unpicked the”stick” from the”bread” and worked out LITTER PICKER. For me, a nice penny drop in the HUSBAND in 15d. Plenty of pleasing (but fair) misdirection, and low on the plodding, bitsy charades. Thanks to Paul for the pleasure, and to the big O for enlightenment.
I didn’t like this much, but I want to give Paul credit for the cleverness therein. I thought the cross-referencing was a bit overdone with no easy way to break in, and it was only a flash of inspiration that allowed me to crack it. Kudos for an unusual theme, and for making the thematic element of LATIN AMERICAN be part of the answer, not the whole thing as it first looked.
I was stuck for a long time taking “short nude” in 27,17 the wrong way (nak, disrobe, undresse etc.)
Contaminate=LACE is a typical Paulism – they are not close enough synonyms that you’d find the pair in a thesaurus (I checked), but you can’t fault the usage. Couldn’t figure out the coat pocket part of TWEE, though.
Thanks P&P
Thank you Peter O, and agree with bonangman@1. Liked the themesters. Not usually a fan of Paul’s but enjoyed this.
IRON HORSE exceptional.
Liked LATIN-AMERICAN, SWEET WRAPPER, LITTER-PICKER and CRISP PACKET.
Thanks, Paul and PeterO!
I couldn’t parse TWEE, U thought T was lasi letter of coat but WEE and POCKET and then I saw it and gave myself a POCKET ROCKET,
I thought this was very clever, It took a long time to get LITTER PICKER, I was edging towards LITTER and had the TIN CAN from 16,13, so could be LITTER but maybe something to do with shooting? So I looked at other half of the clue which I thought might be licker in it’s spoonerised version and heard the clang of the penny dropping.
Like others, U still don’t get Mint = Packet
Many thanks Paul & PeterO
T is the last letter of coat!
T is the last letter of coat ****!
Elon Musk has made a mint/made a packet nicbach @5
LOI TWEE. Was unable to parse.
Only arrived at LITTER PICKER through the Spoonerism. ‘butt’ completely escaped me.
Thanks to PeterO for elucidation.
I too got fixated on the insect being a something spider, and needed all the crossers for the penny to drop. 9d DISAGREEMENTS LOI as I didn’t spot the hidden anagram. Did spot the theme early, though which definitely made for a quicker solve. Liked 5 and 18. Thanks to Peter and Paul.
Quickly picked up the SWEET WRAPPER, once I got to that clue, and 6,22 became clear. The rest was fun – thanks Paul, and PeterO for mint=packet, which I had missed.
[Re mint/packet – mint in the money sense comes from the temple of Juno Moneta, where Roman coins were made (the word ‘money’, and the German Münze = coin, are from the same root).
‘Packet’ I’ve most often come across in ‘cost a packet’ – or if you’re a PG Tips chimp, Costa Packet 🙂 ]
This slipped down like a nice cuppa – the (w)rapper came to me in a flash and I was away. Still stuck on yesterday’s though. Ta P & P.
On the wavelength today and this came together surprisingly quickly for a Friday Paul. As always the multi-referenced key solution looked quite impenetrable at first – it’s not a surface I found easy to get my head around. So I got on with the other stuff – but, for some reason, had a sense that 6/22 might have been an environmentalist or eco-warrior; PLASTIC BOTTLE was the solution that convinced me and there were enough crossers after the first pass through to see the solution. At which point the others collapsed. HUSBANDRY, CARTILAGE, CRISP PACKET and LATIN AMERICAN were favourites along with the brilliantly defined INBREED – whilst acknowledging, of course, that the subject is no laughing matter etc etc.
Thanks Paul and PeterO
As often happens for me with Paul, got a lot of answers without parsing them, so thanks for that PeterO. Thanks to Paul, too.
PostMark @13 sums it up nicely for me – I often have wavelength issues with Paul but really clicked with him today. So despite thinking it looked impenetrable at first, it proved to be a delightfully breezy solve for me with many smiles along the way. Unlike DrW, I *loved* it. Especially the sheer glorious daftness of the Spoonerism.
Thanks, Paul, and thanks for the blog, PeterO.
Definitely seems to be a wavelength thing – this was my fastest solve for a Guardian cryptic in months. With Paul I find the key is just to buckle in and enjoy the ride – you know about half the clues will be completely unsolveable on the first pass but there will be enough easy ways in if you’re patient.
Massively helped by getting SWEET WRAPPER pretty early which allowed me to guess the tricky LITTER-PICKER. As with many TWEE was LOI and took a full alphabet trawl plus a good think to parse. I thought LATIN-AMERICAN was excellent, as of course my first instinct was to go through all the types of rubbish I hadn’t yet used to no avail.
As I recall, Paul’s last offering lacked any dodgy homophones so LITTER-PICKER and EYESORE were much appreciated today.
Thanks Paul and PeterO.
Brilliant, as ever, from Paul. And such fun to solve…
I’ve said it before and I’ll carry on saying it ……. how does he keep doing it? Never not fresh….
Many thanks both and all
Another one whose way in to the linked clues was SWEET WRAPPER, albeit after DELETE KEY, INBREED and IN THE DARK, which then gave me the groan-worthy pun of LITTER PICKER. My last in was DISAGREEMENTS, as I needed the crossers to spot the anagram.
I had TWEE in, although I hadn’t fully parsed it. I should have linked pocket and small, but it’s not used much: being on the small side I’ve heard most of the epiphets.
Thank you PeterO and Paul.
Loved it. Left the LITTER PICKER until it could no longer be avoided and the all the themers fell like dominoes
Last in WOMANISER – I was convinced the country was MALI
I’m sure Paul sold his soul to the devil for a magic thesaurus containing only synonyms that exist nowhere else 🙂
Earworm? PLACEBO – not for the faint-hearted!!
Cheers Postage & Packaging
Thanks PeterO as I couldn’t see the wee pocket either, wasn’t sure about 18d wordplay and failed to spot the short nude. Lots of clever misdirection and while I thought 14a was a little weak I appreciated it as an entry to a difficult puzzle. The theme did lead to a rush of entries a few others held out resolutely including the excellent 16/13. Thanks Paul.
Thanks Paul and PeterO
I don’t know why I attempt Paul’s puzzles – I rarely enjoy them (though I suppose the odd good one does compensate). I had question marks against 9 clues. I’ll just mention two – PLASTIC doesn’t mean “artificial” (it means mouldable), and 14a the clue would be better with “when” rather than “where”.
I did like BODY ART.
bodycheetah@19 yes, that other most useful short country name kept me occupied for a while too. [ And I never knew the title to that Placebo song so thanks – here is something a little mellower in return: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjuvmU5747g ]
Enjoyed this, despite my last in, LATIN AMERICAN, being a twister worthy of Pangakupu yesterday. Like others, failed to parse TWEE, but I got SWEET WRAPPER and LITTER PICKER very early so the fun theme was revealed quickly. Favourites INBREED, PLACEBO, HUSBANDRY for the union member, and the aforesaid LATIN AMERICAN for complication plus misdirection – took me ages to see it.
I liked this a lot, especially IRON HORSE (took ages to see that loco was the definition) and LATIN AMERICAN (trying to fit some kind of litter in to the crossers). I’ve no objection to homophone clues even though neither of today’s work in my pronunciation. Slight quibbles – to me TWEE and sweet aren’t really the same, and a WOMANISEr isn’t necessarily a cheat – but these are very minor.
Thanks Paul and PeterO.
Haha bodycheetah @19. Do you know anywhere that sells that Thesaurus (apart from Belial)?
A lot of Paul’s annoying characteristics, but 3/29 was (were) worth the price of admission.
I hadn’t seen the second definition of BLISTERING – I just thought that if you nipped your finger it could lead to a blood blister.
DELETE KEY last one in, just to be contrary to most other solvers, it seems.
Thanks for the blog and explanation of the only one I couldn’t parse (TWEE, of course), PeterO. And thanks to Paul for a great puzzle, and unusual theme – who else would have used that!
Tough puzzle but I was helped by the theme.
Liked 27/17.
New for me: POND SKATER; OLOROSO sherry.
I could not parse 10ac TWEE.
Thanks, both.
muffin @21, re ‘plastic’ – plastic flowers, perhaps? And at the time of the London Olympics there was a (largely Daily Mail-fuelled) debate about “plastic Brits”.
I’m a big Paul fan so loved this, especially after yesterday which I found so fiddly I gave up. I found Plastic from Artificial in a Chambers thesaurus and that was my way in. 3/29 was a favourite but I was held up far too long on 16/13 not realising that 6/22 was not the definition.
Thanks to P and P.
eb @29
Artificial flowers may be made of plastic (or silk, paper etc.), but that doesn’t make the terms equivalent. By the same argument, silk would be artificial….
Strangely uneven puzzle, with some write-ins and some far more devious clues. It took me a while and quite a few crossers to get the keywords but then the rest flowed well. I’m not fond of all these split entry solutions, but they were imaginatively clued, especially the deception for LATIN AMERICAN.
LOI was TWEE, unparsed of course (I agree with beaulieu @24 that ‘sweet’ is not a good synonym).
Favourite for me was DISAGREEMENTS – a splendid anagram clue.
Thanks to S&B
@28 “theme” — what theme?
Thank you all for your kind comments, as ever. Do join me live an hour before sunset in India, 11am UK time for an extraordinary Zoom with Paul in a remote and wonderful location . Subscribe at Johnhalpern.co.uk for a Zoom link.
It’ll be a moving experience, I promise.
All the best,
J
John
I didn’t raise an eyebrow at ‘artificial’ = PLASTIC. muffin is quite right that the original meaning is ‘malleable’, though as a description of polymeric materials it is generally extended to those that are no longer mouldable in their final form. On reflection, however, ‘artificial’ is not the best representation of the metaphorical use – ‘substandard’ would be closer. And I say this as a plastic Scouser 🙂
Reading the comments I’m thinking Marmite. I was one who loved it. Paul always delivers for me. Great fun. Thanks for the blog.
With respect muffin @21 and 31, I think you’re committing the etymological fallacy, ie saying “The original meaning of this word is x, therefore that is its real meaning”. Words do acquire additional meanings, and Chambers includes for “plastic”: “unattractively synthetic or artificial”.
I was going to say something along the lines of yet another Paul where you get nowhere unless you get the crucial theme clue, but in retrospect all the themed clues are gettable without the theme. Possibly still too many multi light clues though.
Definitely on the tricky side, but all fairly clued. 9d was such a well hidden anagram.
Not my cup of tea. I still don’t understand TWEE (where is the definition?) and the Spoonerism doesn’t work for us rhotics, not to mention the appalling 21d. Is there such a thing as an earsore? There certainly seems to be.
Good theme well worked but all the grid-hopping just about doubled solving time
The Spooner was so awful that I couldnt help laughing.
thanks all.
When I looked at what I assumed to be the definition element of 6,22, I thought we were going to get a Me, Too theme. LATIN AMERICAN was my favourite, both for using the litter in the word play rather than the definition and Che Guevara in a different way to what we have come to expect.
Loved this, especially Che Guevara, but couldn’t for the life of me parse twee, despite it being the only possibility.
poc@39 : 3 (=Sweet) is the definition. Collins gives SWEET and TWEE as synonyms and expresses a bias towards American English.
I got LITTER PICKER ( what a Spoonerism ! ) when I had already solved SWEET WRAPPER and CRISP PACKET. Thought this puzzle was sweet and crisp and this was Paul at his best.
There’s been a lot or horsing around with the earworms. So, as a placebo, here’s mine :
https://youtu.be/AqoGHykp57M
Certainly a TIN CAN there and maybe a POND SKATER under the surface of part of the footage.
Thank you Paul and PeterO.
My heart sank when I saw Paul’s name this morning. I’m not a great fan of key clues, though I’ve a soft spot for spoonerisms. That said, around half way through I managed to work out LITTER PICKER, and I picked up speed after that. I especially like 28 A: BODY ART. With thanks to both.
I share many commentators’ views on the continuing brilliance of Paul’s xwords, even if one gets bamboozled by some of his clues! Many thanks to him and PeterO.
Not usually a fan of this setter with his habitually messy cross-referenced clues, but I enjoyed this a lot.
I thought the theme was unusual and inventive and cleverly concealed.
Got a bit fixated on _ _ _ _ spider instead of SKATER until the memsahib witheringly pointed out that spiders are not insects, but belong to a completely different class, der.
Thinking of IRON HORSE, a railway enthusiast friend tells me that some of his more pedantic colleagues eschew trainspotter and gricer, favouring the more elegant ferroequinologist which I find quite splendid.
Many thanks, both.
…apologies for italic nonsense!
My experience was much as Widdersbel @15: “looked impenetrable at first, proved to be a delightfully breezy solve”. My only hold ups were TWEE, as with several others above, and WOMANISE, which as beaulieu @24 points out, doesn’t necessarily involve cheating. Enjoyed the Spoonerism!
Thanks Paul and PeterO.
This has everything in it I dislike about Paul: a keystone clue, several multi-light answers, and two non-rhotic homophones, including one in the keystone clue! (The Spoonerism is doubly unsatisfying in American English, because here the bread is pita, pronounced PEETA. So we have to both change the vowel AND add a phantom R to make it work.) Despite all that, this was a lot of fun until the very end–I had to reveal on TWEE, which I still didn’t understand until I read the comments. I would agree that “twee” and “sweet” are not even ballpark synonyms–“twee” to me is judgmental, saying that something is too annoyingly cutesy, while “sweet” almost never goes there.
Lord Jim @37, I agree. I read it in the sense of “he’s just a plastic Man United fan” = he only started following them once they started being successful (and presumably therefore no longer does), so he’s not a real fan. I think it works just fine.
Otherwise, all very enjoyable. It’s all a matter of personal taste, but I do invariably enjoy Paul’s offerings.
Brilliant and funny, great start to the weekend, thanks Paul.
There were some absolute gems this morning from Paul. Favourites: PONDSKAKER; LATIN AMERICAN; DELETEKEY and the key stone clue LITTERPICKER
Thx to Paul and PeterO for the blog.
Agree with SL – some real gems. I am a big fan of Paul’s work and today’s offering was no exception. Challenging, inventive and funny – what more do you want?
.. sorry meant to say agree with Shropshire:ass @ 52 ..
Thank you Candymandad54 @ 54 [I think you mean me!]
Thought this a proper Paul tour de force, once I’d forced my way to the finishing line. Though this could be classed a DNF as I wondered about TWEE as the only possible word that fitted 10ac but couldn’t see why it deserved to be there. So left the two blanks in place and came on here to be rescued.
Floundered initially, but first one in was HUSBANDRY, which got a big vote of approval from me. As did various other clues – WOMANISE and EMPEROR for two. Had a speculative Amoroso in for the sherry at 18d for a while, but the Rangers defender didn’t quite cut the mustard there, obviously enough, and he rather stymied things in the SW corner. I find Paul such a fun setter, still my favourite, despite all his sometimes quirkiness and rough edges…
PLASTIC Bertrand‘s real name is Roger François Jouret so clearly he’s a FAKE Bertrand
[Forgot to mention the fun fact that Eminem sounds like M&M on purpose: his real name is Marshall Mathers, so his stage name is just a spelled-out pronunciation of his initials. Of course, on that clue I failed to be sufficiently British, putting in CANDY WRAPPER at first before realizing my mistake.]
…should have said that I thought SWEET WRAPPER the clue of the day for me. Wonderful.
As usual, a good laugh with Paul, even when I failed to parse some clues. My favourite setter. Thanks, and to PeterO
Thrilled when I see Paul’s name – and he was at his very best today. One of my fastest solves in weeks. Loved EYESORE and CRISP PACKET. Thanks to blogger as well as setter.
Love a Paul normally, but this was above my pay grade. Still have no idea what’s going on with TWEE. I could parse it if I had a definition to aim at . . .
Thanks for the blog, great puzzle to follow an even better one yesterday , perhaps the lambing season has finished early for the Guardian. IRON HORSE is brilliant, LATIN AMERICAN a clever twist on the theme , SWEET WRAPPER is good on so many levels.
Aphid @61, the definition is 3 , meaning 3 Down = SWEET .
Bodycheetah@57 , Plastic Bertrand also an artificial singer, someone else sang Ca Plane Pour Moi , always great to hear it though when the students have a punk night.
21d an ABOMINATION indeed! There is no R on the end of “saw” and this is indicative of the insidious encroachment of Rs at the end of words where people are too lazy to separate words as in “I sawrit”, “I sawrim”. Aaargh! Rant over but I expect more from setters who are master manipulators of the English language and should know better.
Many thanks to Paul and Peter O.
AD @65
I agree with your sentiment, but for the opposite reason – from past form, I suspect Paul pronounces SORE without the R.
Atlanta Dave @65. That is almost exactly what you said July 26, 2022 @78 on 28818 by Boatman! I know I’m as likely to repeat myself as anyone else of a similar age, but I reckon this homophone ranting is getting pretty old.
‘I saw’ is so near to EYESORE that it’s pointless complaining about it. It’s a crossword puzzle, not an elocution lesson.
An alternative parse of TWEE using
TWEED = coat
and pocket = steal:
Then “last seen in coat pocket” could mean steal the last letter of TWEED giving TWEE.
I’ll get my coat.
FrankieG @68. I like it! 🙂
Enjoyed every moment spent on this – I rarely get through a Paul crossword without at least a grin. Today I particularly enjoyed the delightful clue for OLOROSO – succinct and funny.
Filled in lots of non-themed bits and stared at 6,22 for ages. The only phrase I could see was way too rude for a crossword. Came back to it and it all fell into place. Still didn’t see pitta!
Ta both.
Roz @64, yep, should have been Plastic Deprijck.
Atlanta Dave, I can confirm muffin’s point @66. There’s no need to imagine an intrusive R (à la New England, I believe?). For most Southern English speakers, like me and Paul, not only are sore and saw perfect (/r/-less) homophones, but we pronounce paw, poor, pore and pour all exactly the same – and that’s the pronunciation that’s normally given first in UK dictionaries.
That said, I do have sympathy with those discombobulated by the sore/saw merger. It’s not just the presence or absence of an /r/, it’s the fact that the preceding vowel can sound completely different to many rhotic speakers. (Especially in those accents affected by the cot-caught merger, which includes much of Scotland, Ireland, Canada, the US and India. For many American English speakers, ‘saw’ rhymes (more or less) with ‘Shah’, while the vowel in ‘sore’ certainly doesn’t.)
[ShropshireLass @55: who imagined that the proximity of the L to the colon on the keyboard could produce such striking results? 🙂 ]
I couldn’t connect WEE and pocket and not heard of iron horse meaning anything. Like others found the key spoonerism hard to find but got there in the end.
Thanks Paul and PeterO
Great fun, lots of fine clues. I enjoyed IRON HORSE, PLACEBO and DISAGREEMENTS the best.
Thanks, Saints.
William @46, I’ve never heard ferroequinologist before. That’s brilliant! I must try to remember it. But I can see why Irvine Welsh went with Trainspotting instead 😉 .
I’m sure it must have been done, but I can’t recall a puzzle themed on euphemisms. I reckon I’d enjoy it.
A thoroughly enjoyable crossword that I found easier than usual for one of Paul’s. I got all but ‘iron horse’ and ‘crisp packet’. I agree with FrankieG @68 about ‘twee’, I parsed it that way too, though the other way might be better.
I should also add that ‘plastic’ for artificial is used in the phrases ‘plastic person/people’ and, of course, ‘plastic paddy’. Please see the following earworm by the always excellent Eric Bogle (https://youtu.be/mzoh0e_YOiI)
…can anyone explain iron horse? I looked it up and regret what I did find which wasn’t the answer.
@77 Tim the toffee: I have only ever heard this in Westerns – what the Native Americans called trains – locomotives
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_horse
77 and 78: Iron Horse was at one time a common term in both British and American literary articles. At least accordiing to Wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_horse
but as with CalMac, I have only heard it in the context of US Western films. During my early childhood in the 1960s there seemed to be one on most saturday nights: despite living in Chelsea London.
Ttt@77. In the old days locomotives were referred to as iron horses because they replaced the horses pulling carriages.
tim @77,
This was very familiar to me as it was the name of a pub in my hometown. Sadly no more, apparently.
A question concerning Spoonerisms generally speaking: some Spoonerisms include a homophone while others do not alter the spelling, merely changing initial consonants. In the former case should there be a homophone indicator? Or is the mention of Spooner taken to indicate that a homophone may (or may not) exist, without any additional clueing?
Cracking puzzle, sort of finished (a few checks needed).
A few parsings to check…
Thanks both.
Hi Andrew T @83, Spoonerisms are all about sounds, not spelling, because they are slip-ups made in speech, not writing. Hence no need for an (additional) homophone indicator.
Many of the famous ones attributed to the Rev involve spelling changes:
– Let us drink to the queer old Dean
– You have tasted two whole worms
– You have hissed all my mystery lectures
– You were caught fighting a liar in the quad
I’d like to thank Eminem for being my key to the reference stuff. Of course i tried candy wrapper for a while and had no idea what kind of bread could be referred to, though 6, 22 had to be what it was. I always appreciate Paul even when I’m working too hard to really chuckle.
Re my earlier question. Thanks for answers. The penny has dropped. I knew train but was looking for crazy. Oops
Like a couple of early commentators, a rare occasion when I was on Paul’s wavelength. DISAGREEMENTS was my LOI, IRON HORSE my favourite, and a novel theme/ key clue. Many thanks Paul and PeterO.
Thanks LongTimeLurker@76 for the Plastic Paddy earworm. Very funny!
Of course you’ll never see this, because it’s already Monday.
I really should get a life…