The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/29019.
A delightful offering from Paul – witty, inventive, and without some of his less than universally admired traits – the bizarre surfaces, the split answers, the schoolboy humour. On top of that, there is an Indian theme running through the clues, although not always what it seems – see 9A DIVAN in particular. I thought that and 12A BACK RUB my favourites, although there are others running them close. As ever, thanks Paul.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | ASTROPHYSICS |
Scientific study of scalp thus prodding nit (12)
|
| An envelope (‘prodding’) of TROPHY (‘scalp’) plus SIC (indicating an error copied from a source, not an error in the copying, ‘so’) in ASS (‘nit’). | ||
| 9 | DIVAN |
Item of furniture, very Indian? (5)
|
| An implied envelope: V (‘very’) ‘in’- -‘dian’. | ||
| 10 | BALTIMORE |
Indian dish greater in US city (9)
|
| A charade of BALTI (‘Indian dish’ even if it may be a Pakistani curry from the UK) plus MORE (‘greater’). | ||
| 11 | SECRETE |
Dry tree made for squirrel (7)
|
| A charade of SEC (‘dry’, of a wine) plus RETE, an anagram (‘made’) of ‘tree’. ‘Squirrel’ as a verb. | ||
| 12 | BACK RUB |
Soother, eg Assam? (4,3)
|
| A reversal (BACK) of ‘eg Assam’ is MASSAGE (RUB). | ||
| 13 | ANTICLIMAX |
Unsatisfying resolution where claimant I gathered has got cross (10)
|
| A charade of ANTICLIMA, an anagram (‘gathered’) of ‘claimant I’; plus (‘has got’) X (‘cross’). | ||
| 15 | AGRA |
Mean for name, say, to have an M removed in Indian city (4)
|
| [an]AGRA[m] (‘mean for name, say’) minus ANM (‘to have AN M removed’). | ||
| 18 | GASP |
Wheeze while visiting doctor (4)
|
| An envelope (‘visiting’) of AS (‘while’) in GP (General Practitioner, ‘doctor’). | ||
| 19 | HARD-BOILED |
New Delhi bad, or unsentimental (4-6)
|
| An anagram (‘new’) of ‘Delhi bad or’. | ||
| 22 | AMOROSO |
Recollection of passage from intermezzo, so romantically, tenderly played (7)
|
| A reversed (‘recollection’) hidden answer (‘passage from’) in ‘intermezzO SO ROMAntically’, for the instruction in a musical score. | ||
| 24 | GOURMET |
Connoisseur engaging US vice-president and British PM in conversation? (7)
|
| Sounding like (‘in conversation’) GORE (‘US vice-president’) plus MAY (‘British PM’). | ||
| 25 | AMERICANO |
Hot drink, case of cocoa fed to a sheep (9)
|
| An envelope (‘fed to’) of CA (‘case of CocoA‘) in ‘a’ plus MERINO (‘sheep’). | ||
| 26 | NUDGE |
Dig ground initially bare? (5)
|
| An implied envelope of G (‘Ground initially’) in NUDE (including the in, ‘bare’). | ||
| 27 | FASHION MODEL |
Twice make for poser (7,5)
|
| FASHION and MODEL both can mean ‘make’. A fashion model may walk on a runway or pose for a photographer. | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | ADVOCATES |
Supporters voted, as a Liberal stuffed by Conservative (9)
|
| An envelope (‘stuffed by’) of C (‘Conservative’) in ADVOATES, an anagram (‘liberal’) of ‘voted as a’. | ||
| 2 | TENDENCY |
Course: figure office has cancelled it in city (8)
|
| A charade of TEN (‘figure’) plus DEN (‘office’) plus ‘c[it]y’ minus IT (‘has cancelled it’). | ||
| 3 | OMBRE |
Ring doctor about card game (5)
|
| A charade of O (‘ring’) plus MB (‘doctor’) plus RE (‘about’). | ||
| 4 | HALF BOARD |
Wobbly flab in store where one’s fed breakfast and evening meal (4,5)
|
| An envelope (‘in’) of ALFB, an anagram (‘wobbly’) of ‘flab’ in HOARD (‘store’). | ||
| 5 | STITCH |
Darn pain! (6)
|
| Double definition. | ||
| 6 | CHOIR |
Voices heard in paper, reportedly? (5)
|
| Sounds like QUIRE (a quantity of ‘paper’). Just for the record, quire is also an obsolete spelling of choir. | ||
| 7 | ODISHA |
Cricketing format has transformed Indian state (6)
|
| A charade of ODI (One Day International, ‘cricketing format’) plus SHA, an anagram (‘transformed’) of ‘has’. | ||
| 8 | SERBIA |
Country in India surrounded by wild bears (6)
|
| An envelope (‘surrounded by’) of I (NATO alphabet, ‘India’) in SERBA, an anagram (‘wild’) of ‘bears’. | ||
| 14 | INAMORATO |
Lover tickling Maria, not Oscar (9)
|
| An anagram (‘tickling’) of ‘Maria not’ plus O (NATO alphabet, ‘Oscar’). | ||
| 16 | GOLD MEDAL |
Honour girl crossing over the hill and sea (4,5)
|
| An envelope (‘crossing’) of OLD (‘over the hill’) plus MED (Mediterranean, ‘sea’) in GAL (‘girl’). | ||
| 17 | COLUMNED |
Inhospitable housing union men built with pillars (8)
|
| An envelope (‘housing’) of U (‘union’) plus MNE, an anagram (‘built’) of ‘men’ in COLD (‘inhospitable’). | ||
| 18 | GO AWAY |
Custom of south-west India beat it! (2,4)
|
| GOA WAY (‘custom of south-west India’). I had a feeling that GOA would crop up somewhere. | ||
| 20 | DITHER |
Finish off muck guzzling the stew (6)
|
| An envelope (‘guzzling’) of ‘the’ in DIR[t] (‘muck’) minus its last letter (‘finish off’). | ||
| 21 | MODISH |
Popular Indian leader, shut your face! (6)
|
| A charade of MODI (Narendra, ‘Indian leader’) in SH (instruction to be quiet, ‘shut your face’). | ||
| 23 | OMEGA |
The end of my eight gates ajar, all opening (5)
|
| First letters (‘all opening’) of ‘Of My Eight Gates Ajar’. | ||
| 24 | GROOM |
Good capacity for curry (5)
|
| A charade of G (‘good’) plus ROOM (‘capacity’). |
Yes, v in dian, and back rub were pretty cute. Needed all crossers for 1ac; did anyone cold-solve trophy + sic inside ass? If so, chapeau! Can’t quite equate tendency with course, but no doubt someone will. And dnk half board was a thing [tho it’s just what this Oz boy had in West Cromwell Rd, ‘Roo Valley, ’67!]. Enjoyed the Indian flavour, but 21d … if only he would! Thanks PnP, don’t fly away 🙂
[ … ten bob a day it was, four beds to a room, cooked breakfast, dinner …]
One of the best offering from Paul in a long time, with reminiscences of Araucaria in his wit. Lots of “Ahah” moments creating chuckles. 9ac – DIVAN was my favorite.
Yes, BACK RUB a perfect clue; and DIVAN a close second. But why “an implied envelope”; isn’t it direct, V IN DIAN, as you have said, Peter?
Thanks, both
Gratinfreo@1 I thought 1a was an anagram, so I put ICS at the end, then I saw HALF-BOARD, stuck a P in front because it was scientific, like the ICS, and saw PHYSICS so Istuck an ASTRO in front because it fitted and is one word and then parsed the ASS and TROPHY but could not think why SIC= THUS. Not very elegant, but then, I’m always tripping over my own feet.
Ifound this easier than yesterday,which I struggled with but by no means easy. I too liked the Indian flavour & think 22d is good advise.
Thanks to the Pees,
A good, solid, workmanlike puzzle, unlike some of the odd recent offerings. COD for me was BACK RUB.
Thanks Paul and PeterO
Very much in agreement with Colin Lewis @3. We seem to have had quite a few Pauls of late and going through PeterO’s notes hammers home what a huge amount of invention has gone into this one. The theme is very much there but not as intrusive as surface themes can be; he’s used it in plenty of imaginative ways and the variety of devices and indicators made for a delightful solve.
Too many favourites to list today – others have, rightly, highlighted the remarkable eg. Assam reversal and the cheeky ‘In … dian’ construction and I’ll happily go with those.
Thanks Paul and PeterO
Very good and, for Paul, not too difficult. I liked the ‘in’ device for DIVAN and (indirectly for) NUDGE but am kicking myself for not seeing the reversed hidden in BACK RUB, the best of the lot. Needless to say, I only solved ASTROPHYSICS with the full complement of crossers.
There’s also another reference to India lurking in the grid, though it’s probably serendipitous (and nothing to do with Sri Lanka).
Thanks to Paul and PeterO
I thought this was an excellent puzzle. The veil slowly lifted after a first pass produced only a few answers. Lots to admire in the construction. I liked 12a when I saw it, but I needed PeterO to parse 9a for me. Now feel really stupid at not seeing it, of course. Thanks to blogger and setter.
Lovely stuff. Thanks both.
“Implied envelope”? I got the one in DIVAN because it’s express (“in”), not implied (though it was hidden). But the “G” in “NUDGE” I don’t get. Paul gunned us the G and the NUDE, and you can work out it must be NUDGE. But if there a positive implication?
Really nice. Not too difficult. Had to check ODISHA, but how it had to work was clear. Like PeterO I liked BACK RUB. And ASTROPHYSICS was superb, I thought, though I needed the crossers. Thanks both.
Thanks Paul and PeterO
Too many unparsed for me to be satisfied with my solve. I liked BACK RUB when the penny dropped, and GROOM for the misleading “curry”.
I don’t like unnecessary words in clues, and “hot” in 25a was an example.
Really enjoyed this and the lovely tricks others mentioned. I saw that eg Assam was massage reversed but took longer than I should have to spot the BACK RUB.
Thank you to PeterO and Paul.
Superb puzzle, so much fun, thanks Paul. BACK RUB and GROOM were my faves. Thanks for the blog, PeterO
Concur with PeterO’s intro comments and picks. I’d given up on Paul for those reasons his less than universally admired traits – the bizarre surfaces, the split answers, the schoolboy humour. I couldn’t understand his following, but then I wasn’t following him in earlier years which other solvers remember fondly. Quite enjoyed several clues today.
muffin@13. ”Hot” in AMERICANO is the least of my concerns with that clue. It harks back to PeterO’s comment about bizarre surfaces. Why would anyone feed a case of cocoa to sheep?
Bonangman@11: the G, being bare, is “in the nude”, and hence an implied envelope. Cursing my time spent down the rabbit hole of trying to make “massa” somehow equivalent to an imaginary word “bur”, which would be a South African variant of “baas” or master, or a type of tea…
Solid and workmanlike seems a little harsh to me Auriga@6. I thought this was great fun with a number of superbly constructed clues as explained by PeterO and lauded by others above. 12ac probably COTW not just COTD.
Thanks P and P.
bonangman@11. NUDGE . Implied envelope G in the NUDE (g initially bare).
I really enjoyed this. So much inventiveness.
I did question Course for TENDENCY as well but if it’s in the Big C I tend to be satisfied as those professionals know a shed load more stuff about words than what I do.
[West Cromwell Road grantinfreo @1… my old stamping ground in the 70s where I met my future Aussie wife who was living in Earls Court at the time). Never had full board when there, let alone full board. ]
Lots of favourites today including BACK RUB (clever), AGRA, AMERICANO (I do wonder whether that name was invented to avoid asking for a long black which is what I do) (and no muffin @13, hot is not unnecessary as it rules out a a lot of cold drink answers), NUDGE for in the nude and GO AWAY for the SW Indian custom.
The sort of puzzle that I can only hope to aspire to and one which will keep me coming back for more.
Sorry, Sagittarius @17 has already given us the picture of the G string in the raw.
Lovely, clever crossword. Thank you Paul & PeterO.
[And just to make it even better INAMORATO made me think of inamorata and the much missed Flanders and Swann. The rhyming in the Hippopotamus song is priceless. Listen here. ]
Crossbar – yes, that word will forever be associated with F&S for me too. Loved that song since childhood, still love it now.
A really fun one. Despite some loose clues earlier in the week this is what keeps me coming back to the Guardian. Paul’s grammar is tight but he’s stretching conventions nearly but not quite beyond fairness. I was pleased to parse BACK RUB and NUDGE, but DIVAN eluded me, so thanks PeterO (and thanks Paul!)
Tim C @20
“and no muffin @13, hot is not unnecessary as it rules out a a lot of cold drink answers”
When was Paul ever concerned about ruling out possible answers? The wordplay can only give AMERICANO, hot or cold!
Really enjoyed the “not quite as Indian as it looks” theme (curry=GROOM for instance), though I revealed ODISHA in the end and AGRA was a real twister which I failed to parse. I loved the other twisters like NUDGE, GOA WAY, DIVAN and BACK RUB. I had PHYSICS and MODEL for a while before I knew what kind.
An appreciative OUCH for Gore-May, though I expect the homophone police will find something to complain about.
Can anyone guess what Paul’s favourite coffee is? He never seems to clue latte or cappuccino…
A musical term and Asian food – it must be Paul. Didn’t parse 1a or 9a. 12a is a top clue.
Enormously enjoyable: clever and inventive deployment of a theme, with witty and clever devices – Paul at his best!
BACK RUB and DIVAN were my favourites, GOURMET, GO AWAY, BALTIMORE & AMERICANO all made me grin (the latter two with mental pictures of hardboiled urban americans tucking into baltis & merinos guzzling cocoa). CHOIR was pretty neat too.
Many thanks to Paul for an awesome creation, and to PeterO for the blog.
PS Knowing Paul’s brilliance, I assume the SARI nina in column 2 is deliberate…
As others have said, what a satisfying puzzle from Paul of all people! Needed help from my husband for the cricketing reference, and not sure why tendency is a course, but otherwise all good. Thanks Paul and PeterO
Oh I don’t know, muffin @25, it could have been the cold drink Ayahuasca, with that well known sheep breed, the Yahuas.
Before I got 10ac, I spent a long time wondering whether odite might be a card game (for 3d).
I always look forward to Paul at the end of the week. Loved BACK RUB and DIVAN.
The longest across lights reminded me of celebrity with another oblique tie to the puzzle. 1a ASTROPHYSICS – Brian ( not Theresa ) MAY’s degree subject and he was knighted this week by the king. Congrats, Brian ! 27a FASHION MODEL conjured up Christie Brinkley in my mind, Billy Joel’s Uptown GAL.
https://youtu.be/hCuMWrfXG4E
Thank you Paul and PeterO.
A S @32 et al : OMBRE was clued by NUTMEG on Dec 12 last year. PeterO : you did the blogging.
12a OMBRE
Spades cut in dull card game (5)
Some clever twists and turns but a theme that felt outside of our areas of expertise had us doubting ourselves. Some satisfying clues – especially liked AGRA and BACK RUB. Very pleased to get BALTIMORE…
Even with the explanation here it took a little while for the penny to drop on parsing 15A AGRA. Now that I see it I feel quite foolish!
I approached this with some trepidation, owing to Paul’s recent form, but this was much like his older crosswords and all the better for that. I failed on ODISHA, knowing neither the Indian state nor the (to me) obscure cricketing term, but the rest was very enjoyable.
Thanks to Sagittarius@17 for pointing me to the target—and to paddymelon@19 for sharing the fruits of his/her/their wisdom—on the “G in the nude”. Mind you, strictly that gives “THE NUDGE”, not just NUDGE; but I’ll let Paul shove the unwanted “the” up his sleeve while I enjoy the rest of the construction.
Wellbeck@29 – Well spotted! And I fully concur with yours @28 and with others who have praised this unconditionally.
NUDGE, MODISH, FASHION MODEL, AGRA, BACK RUB etc but DIVAN – I mean really…. This is what doing these things is all about ….
Paul never ceases to be fresh. I’ve said it before (often) and will no doubt keep on saying it … how does he do it?!
Many thanks both and all
ThanksPeterO as I failed to parse 1A (despite seeing SIC very recently), AGRA (very clever) and NUDGE (not entirely comfortable with that). Also learned that Orissa has a new name. Re 6D: there was a glam metal band called the Quireboys in the 80s, i thought it was just a ‘trademark’ spelling but maybe they were medievalists! Brilliant puzzle, thanks Paul.
INAMORATO also yanked my mind straight to Flanders and Swann, as did yesterday’s 1 across, AT THE DROP OF A HAT.
Some of those enamoured of the Hippopotamus Song may not be familiar with the postscript, Hippo Encore.
Thanks for the encore, bonangman. Nowhere do they mention that hippos kill more humans than any other mammal in Africa do – probably in the world!
muffin @13 and 25: it’s an interesting discussion as to when additional wordage is justified. Paul could have clued AMERICANO as ‘drink’ – it would have been a less friendly clue with the considerably larger range of possible solutions. Whilst there is some small potential for ‘hot’ to mislead, as you say the rest of the wordplay will soon rule that out. Is it not comparable to the inclusion of ‘US’ in the definition of BALTIMORE. By the same token Paul could have omitted that ‘filler’ and it would have been entirely fair – but far harder and I suspect some of us would have felt vaguely dissatisfied when we finally got there.
Dave Ellison @4
It occurred to me overnight that “implied envelope” was not a very good description for 9A DIVAN, in the way it is for 25A NUDGE.
[bonangman@41. Ah, yes. Hippotamus – the Sequel. There’s also “At the Drop of Another Hat”, I seem to recall.]
Wellbeck @29: what about the TAX BOO in column 10 (considering the budget was yesterday)?
I tend to find doing a Paul is like trying to eat a large tomato without your dentures – the main difficulty is getting started! Thereafter things get a lot easier and the reward is worth the effort. A succulent offering today so thanks both.
Thanks Paul and PeterO.
muffin @42. I would have thought that humans kill more humans than any other mammal in Africa do.
Nice one. I do enjoy Pauline ribaldry (absent here) but not all those split solutions (mercifully absent here).
Like others, my favourites were DIVAN, BACK RUB, AGRA, NUDGE – all playful constructions.
‘Indian’ is the general term used in the UK for restaurants and take-aways serving South Asian food, although many of them are run by Bangladeshis. More recently there have appeared some more upmarket establishments which offer regional cuisine from the subcontinent – South Indian particularly. Balti, as a style, seems to have originated in Birmingham, and probably takes its name from the metal dish in which it is prepared (also known as a karahi) rather than any connection with Baltistan.
Thanks to S&B
A homophone niggle — does anybody pronounce the first syllable of GOURMET to rhyme with “more” or “Gore” rather than with “moor”?
Didn’t know ODI for cricket.
I disagree with the frequent equating of “massage” and “rub.” To rub is to more your hand across something, to massage is to keep your hand in one place and knead. Massage comes to us from India.
Thanks to Paul and PeterO. (Did you get any snow on Long Island, Peter?)
Valentine @50: Most Englanders (but not Scots) pronounce ‘moor’ the same as ‘more’ – it’s another homoiophone trap like the rhotic one.
jvh @48
Fair point.
Valentine@50: Being from the east of England, I pronounce “more” and “moor” the same; but because I speak French, I pronounce “gourmet” as the French do, and therefore sympathise with your homophone niggle!
I am genuinely surprised how few people commented on Odisha. Though I know the geography of India quite well, I had no idea that the word existed and tried to fill in Orissa until I solved 9 across.
Didn’t much enjoy and didn’t finish. It didn’t help that I put REVER for 9A – embedded and I assumed it was a Nehru collar.
Was the late singer Eydie Gormé fond of her food? 🙂
vicktim @53
I wouldn’t pronounce GOURMET with GORE as the first syllable either, but I recognise that lots of people do.
Very clever, though parsing ASTROPHYSICS, DIVAN and BACK RUB were well beyond my ken. The theme-led misdirection in GOURMET (both current US VP and UK PM are of Indian heritage) was brilliant too. Thanks to both setter and blogger for an enjoyable morning.
vicktim@53: no, the GOURMET doesn’t work if you pronounce it as the French do (I do too) – but as this is a British crossword we are allowed to say it wrong and have fun.
What a great puzzle as many have said here! Just sad to see so many also decrying the very qualities of variety and unexpected challenge that make him for me the Guardian’s premier setter. Thanks Paul, long may you continue to find new ways to charm and outrage us!
Superb puzzle. Paul on blistering form. As Colin Lewis @3 says he’s our nearest to a modern day Araucaria and we should treasure him for his inventiveness, originality and humour. Agree that today’s highlights include DIVAN and BACK RUB, but there were so many more.
Thanks Paul and PeterO
[Incidentally re Americano being a hot drink. Well yes it’s become a version of coffee almost universally. But in Italy, where they know about these things, an Americano is a cocktail based on red vermouth.]
Coincidentally, there was a very similar clue for NUDGE in a Knut puzzle in the Independent a couple of days ago:
– Dig garden, initially with nothing on? (5)
Thought the theme would turn up as Mr H has just come back from India after visiting his charity. Details on his website. As usual a superb crossword probably one of his best in recent weeks .Many thanks to the two P’s
[ArkLark @61: Italians do use the term caffè americano for a well-diluted espresso, but just asking for an Americano might result in the provision of a cocktail, just as ordering a latte gets you a glass of milk 🙂 )
Thanks Peter and Paul
I came here for the parsing of 1 across which I don’t think I would have got. As soon as I see nit I think of baby fleas.
Some great clues in there especially DIVAN and BACK RUB.
Seeing the answer SECRETE next to the squirrel makes me reminisce over Secret Squirrel.
I mostly enjoyed this, especially a typically ingenious Paul clue for BACK RUB. But couldn’t quite parse AGRA and TENDENCY. And the final one was DITHER, which defeated me…
DIVAN, BACK RUB and AGRA were fabulous. I got ASTROPHYSICS from def and crossers but would never have parsed it in a million years.
A couple of odd surfaces though. I don’t mind absurdity (such as giving cocoa to sheep) but there were a few clues here that just looked like collections of words (e.g. ‘Course: figure office has cancelled it in city’ and ‘Finish off muck guzzling the stew’.
But that’s a very minor observation in an excellent puzzle. Thanks both.
Liked MODISH.
I did not parse
1ac
9ac
12ac
15ac
New for me: DIG = nudge; curry = GROOM a horse; ODISHA.
Thanks, both.
Like Sagittarius@17 I went down a rabbit hole trying to parse BACK RUB, trying all combinations of Assam (tea)/Massa (Felipe) with rub (“there’s the…”)/bur (a dentist’s drill), unable to see the “eg ” being anything other than what it usually is. This is the reverse of a “lift-and-separate” – more of a “squeeze them together and let them drop on their heads”. A pdm for me – more of a “two old pre-decimalisation ha’pennies clinking together for ages before dropping on my head”.
It’s a brilliant clue. And there are others.
…I even tried translating “bur” into Assamese.
Caffè Americano was invented by Italian immigrants serving coffee in USA for non-Italians who found espresso too strong. Just added more water.
Not always a big Paul fan but this was a brilliant puzzle. Especially for someone like me who is of Indian origin.
And thanks, PeterO – even though the answers were obvious, I could not parse any of NUDGE, AGRA and BACK RUB!
Very fine puzzle. I loved the Indian flavour and the enlightenment obtained by researching the Indian states involved. Ashamed to say I’d never heard of Odisha, or its former name Orissa, but now I want to go!
Thanks, Paul and Peter.
As a response to the many comments about Paul using split clues, I’d like to point out that some of the best clues in the history of crosswords involved multi-light answers. Anyone remember:
The Old Vicarage, Grantchester
A rose-red city half as old as time
O hark the herald angels sing the boy’s descent which lifted up the world?
Just sayin’.
Late to the party again, so all has been said. My reaction to this puzzle (and my favourites, DIVAN and MASSAGE) is exactly as PostMark said@7, agreeing with ColinLewis@3 and PeterO’s excellent blog. This was Paul at his best.
My only addition is to respond to Valentine@50, Gervaise@51 et al, by noting that PeterO did not use the word homophone to describe 24a GOURMET, and the clue is an excellent and witty form of aural wordplay. That some say gore and others say goor is irrelevant to the merits of the clue.
Ark Lark@61: This is essential information! Some years ago with a license to kill time in Milan I treated myself to some breakfast pastries ‘con Americano’ – the counter staff never missed a beat as they served up cake and cocktail, which I felt obliged to enjoy. So I did.
I never posted before, because I never finish a puzzle on the same day it comes out… Did anyone else think in 6d, the paper was the Enquirer?
Welcome DutchGirl
Well done – may it be the first of many!
The choir/quire thing isn’t uncommon in crosswrods.
Yes welcome DutchGirl…I did finish same day too this time last night.
Nothing controversial and everyone seems to have enjoyed so I’m not arguing with that.
Thanks both
Thanks for the blog, too tired yesterday to read the comments. I have to agree with Nicole @59 , sometimes Paul does get unfair criticism and other setters get lavish praise for boring puzzles.
This was just brilliant , perhaps I was lucky with ASTROPHYSICS , scientific meant it had to end in physics and my first thought for words like “nit” is always “ass” , it does turn up so often .
I will join the praise for the Playtex DIVAN and Gossard BACK RUB, second time this week for both techniques , very rare. AGRA was very neat, Paul likes clues involving the idea of anagram.