Guardian Prize 29,087 by Brockwell

55 comments on “Guardian Prize 29,087 by Brockwell”

1. Being old and having a misspent youth probably helped with this one, given that I can name most of the post-war Derby winners and a fair few from the even more distant past. More particularly, Fred Titmus was bowling off spin for England when I was a boy and interested in cricket. This was the only clue that I thought bordered on the unfair, given that unlike, say, Bradman Titmus wasn’t so prominent as to have passed into more general knowledge, and was a long time ago. It was, however, clearly clued.
   Overall I thought this an excellent puzzle, because despite being themed to the point of saturation it will have been accessible even to those who have scarcely heard of a racehorse. Of all the solutions I could see only one, EMPERY, that might be problematic, and I could forgive the non racegoer for having tried EMPIRE in there.
   Lots of fun. Thanks to Brockwell and bridgesong.

2. DNF as didn’t get AREAL or BLUE – I sometimes find homophones difficult.

   Enjoyed the rest. Favourites included: PRETENDER, SKIMMER, MOSES, OSIRIS, STEER, RESIN

   Thanks Brockwell and bridgesong

   Found this much easier than last week’s puzzle and got all but two quite quickly.

   For 18d I thought homophone because of “broadcast” in the clue but could not see how that worked then wondered if it might refer to sowing seeds and SCATTER fitted the crossers. Since the Prize the day before had had types of music as a theme, I had types of music on my mind and I had a vague memory of SCAT being a type of music and wondered it Ella F had been a proponent. Checked google and there it was. I was quite pleased to get that.

   My LOI was BROWN BREAD. The “no longer with us” as definition held me up – but looking at supermarket websites it’s always “wholemeal” never “brown” bread. How in earth did Everyman think of that.

   Loved SCATTER ( of course), PLAIN SAILING, ALLY, CANDLESTICK, DENIGRATES

   Thanks Everyman and

3. Totally missed the theme but nothing new there. Found this a good workout although some clues like SIR PERCY B were a bit of a shrug without the theme

   Cheers B&B

4. Oooops

   Ignore the bits of my post after the Thanks to B & B

   (They were for a previous everyman)

5. Many thanks for standing in, bridgesong. You were very fortunate to have had the list provided!

   Given the theme, I’m surprised that I enjoyed this so much – a real achievement to have cleverly included so many winners in both clues and answers. I particularly liked DANTE, SKIMMER, EPSOM, ROSETTE and STEER. EMPERY was a classic jorum.

   Many thanks to Brockwell – I look forward to the next one – and again to the gallant bridgesong (and Timon).

6. Yes. Easier than last week’s, but no pushover. I usually forget to look for themes unless they are flagged, and so I missed this one. Intricate work by Brockwell. I might have linked EPSOM and ALSO RAN if had thought to look for a theme. I hesitated on EMPERY for a while (no such word?) but eventually looked it up. Took me a while to identify SIRI as PA even though I use it sometimes. Thanks B&B.

7. Thanks, bridgesong, for explaining the theme. I knew it was Derby Day, and picked up a few references, but did not grasp that so many answers were winning horses. I now understand the SIR PERCY BLAKENEY clue.
   I just managed to complete, with 3 and 9 being the last ones in with a struggle. I agree with Charles@1 that Fred Titmus is a bit obscure nowadays, though I do remember him. And I suspect PRET at 27 would defeat most non-UK solvers (comments from those in the US, OZ, etc, who will have to come in later?)
   So thanks to Brockwell for his cunning setting.

8. Well, I’m not a race goer, I didn’t spot the theme, I’d never heard of EMPERY, and I don’t think I’ve ever even come across eerie being spelled eery (and as I try to type that, I my spell checker agrees it doesn’t know it either) so I fell back on an unparsed Empire, which was at least a power. (I appreciate the forgiveness, Charles @1). So my LOI was wrong, and for quite a while so was my FOI, having cheerfully decided ALOFT was both airborne and a space at the top of a house. At.east I fixed that eventually. So, a very impressive construction, Brockwell, which I had to come here to appreciate properly. Thanks, bridgesong.

9. I didn’t spot the theme at all, so although I got SIR PERCY BLAKENEY I didn’t understand the classic duo bit.

   Favourite was STAIRS, very neat.

   Rather strange to have “gutted” and “prize” in both 22a and 7d. Was this deliberate?

   Many thanks Brockwell and bridgesong.

10. Tx to the blog for enlightening me as to the existence of a theme – utterly passed me by as so often – and thereby resolving the impenetrable mystery of the wordplay for SIR PERCY BLAKENEY. Had also failed to parse MOSES. Had to wait a whole week for this welcome relief!

11. Thanks, Brockwell – a great puzzle that was enjoyable whether you know the subject or not. I spotted what was going on but had to consult Wikipedia to appreciate just how many Derby winners had been crammed in to the grid and clues – I’ve heard of half of them at most. Very impressive.

    Thanks also bridgesong for stepping in at short notice and doing a sterling job on the blog.

12. Like Charles@1 I was well aware of FRED TITMUS – in fact more than aware as he was a bit of a hero for me when I was about 10, and I used to try to imitate his batting stance and bowling style. (A short boy needs a short hero, apparently.)

    And I was well aware too of nearly all the Derby winners in the clues and grid (though BLUE and GOWN for the 1868 Derby winner seems a little obscure – if I’d known it I wouldn’t have struggled so long with 3d). The theme was strongly hinted by 17a, and I had already seen Airborne and Sea Bird before getting that far.

    Having unsuccessfully dredged the memory banks for the name of that damned elusive pimpernel, I spotted SIR PERCY from the initial crosser and the enumeration, and the 1969 Derby winner soon made itself known at 19d. I thought when writing in EMPERY that non-racing types might struggle to avoid putting in EMPIRE, but that would have been ‘politician in Ireland’, of course.

    Thanks to Brockwell – and well done for fitting 24 themed items so seamlessly into clues and grid. And special thanks to bridgesong for filling in at short notice.

13. Like so many British cultural icons of the 20th century, Fred Titmus has had a song written about him by Half Man, Half Biscuit [warning: contains naughty words]

14. I had heard of a few of the more recent Derby winners: given the day and the inclusion of EPSOM and ALSO RAN, it seemed a likely theme, but I’m impressed at how many Brockwell managed to fit in.

    Spent ages trying to force WORE FROCK “in labour” to make a doctor… Oh well. I liked the lift and separate in SKIMMER, and MOSES. EMPERY and AREAL were new.

    [Sadly, there wasn’t room for my favourite Derby winner, Psidium. An outsider, and the tipster in the paper said that if it won, he’d be Psurprised (ha ha). It did, and my auntie had backed it at 66-1!]

15. Like others I finished with no idea of a theme, then thought to myself why was Sir Percy Blakeney so straightforward, and googled it with the the word champion, to discover a whole world of race horses, and then realised how clever Brockwell had been!

    I have three uncles all named after jockeys as a result of my grandparents being bookies, and I still didn’t spot anything!

16. As I live in EPSOM, I couldn’t really miss the theme. Well done Brockwell for getting so many references in there.

    I was another putting in empire, which didn’t really parse, but I thought could have been a racehorse (there are lots of * empires). I liked the Scarlett Pimpernel, STAIRS for Galileo’s study, and the good surface for GOWN.

    Thanks Brockwell and bridgesong.

17. Bravo Brockwell, this is truly a classic crossword. I too found 24 winners, but missed Wings of Eagles but CHAMPION was the winner in 1800.

18. 2d The abbreviation for Georgia the state is GA. Is GE the abbreviation for Georgia the country?

    4d Wouldn’t the winger be Daedalus’s son Icarus? Or is the point that Daedalus made the wings?

    24d EERY? Really?

    Even if I had thought to look for a theme, I’d never have spotted this one. I can sometimes name the occasional Kentucky Derby winner (my favorite name being Smarty Jones) but the Ascot one is well beyond me.

    Thanks to Brockwell and the gallant bridgesong.

19. Nho any of the Derby winners, so although the theme was fairly obvious it didn’t help me at all.

    Surely DAEDULUS can’t be described as a ‘winger’, as that epithet applies to the ill-fated Icarus?

    Not being a cricket fan is often a distinct handicap here. I struggled to remember Fred Titmus.

20. Daedalus and Icarus both flew to escape; Icarus flew too close to the sun, so the wax that held his wings together melted.

    Breughel’s painting of “The fall of Icarus” is amusing!

21. Valentine@18. EERY is in Chambers.

    Both DAEDALUS and his son Icarus used wings to escape captivity, but Icarus fell to his death after ignoring his father’s warning not to fly too near the sun.

    Yes, GE is the international vehicle registration for the country, Georgia.

    The Derby is run at 17a, not at Ascot!

22. Valentine@18
    GENEROUS
    Yes. GE is the code for Georgia the country.
    DAEDALUS
    Daedalus was the one who winged Icarus. Isn’t it okay to call him a winger (legendary)?
    (not exactly related-A line from an ad by ‘Winger’
    “We are Winger, an exclusive brand playing wingmen to you and your most loved food – the chicken wings.” )

23. It’s funny how the subconscious works; mine told me not to enter empire and then it became clear that what had seemed a clever crossword was a real work of art.
    Like Ant, I had an unfair advantage; my paternal grandfather was a Newmarket doctor (human not horse) who lived next-door-but-one to one L.Piggott (Empery , or was it Eddery?), and grandma a magistrate – the scourge of the race-train cardsharps. On the other side Grandma Edith was the shrewd backer of Santa Claus – 50-1 I think she got – and Grandpa George the stable lad responsible for a savage that tried to kill him in the presence of HM The Queen and Princess Margaret. Alcide, which was the name of the savage, was favourite for the Derby of ’57 but didn’t run, due to an injury. But he won the St. Leger in a canter and beat Europe’s best in the King George the following year. I, almost inevitably, ended up an avid racegoer and punter and managed a number a betting shops.

    Thanks to Bridgesong for the blog, and many thanks and another bravo to Brockwell for bringing back so many happy memories.

24. Il Principe dell’Oscurita@23
    I do hope Grandpa George wasn’t responsible for Alcide’s broken rib…

25. Thanks Brockwell and bridgesong. And thanks for forgiveness Charles @1. I thought that was a funny way to spell eerie. I wouldn’t have got the theme if you told me there was one, and I wouldn’t have got the theme if you told me what the theme was. Enjoyable nonetheless.

26. Despite having worked long vacs in a bookies back in the 70s (which is why I never bet), the only winners in the solutions familiar to me without Googling were Dante, from the race at York named after him, and, for some reason, Blakeney. I knew Sir Ivor, but not Sir Percy!

27. Thanks Brockwell. Despite total ignorance of the theme I managed to solve this (except for SIR PERCY BLAKENEY) attesting to well-crafted clueing. I couldn’t parse PRETENDER or ALSO RAN but all else made sense. My top picks were DANTE, MOSES, NACHO, STAIRS. Thanks bridgesong for the blog.

28. I forgot that I hadn’t posted earlier – thanks Brockwell and bridgesong.

    [When we lived on the top of Dog Kennel Hill, Brockwell Park was our local park. We had a cat who lived in our flat. We decided to take him for a walk in the park. Dogs converged from all round, and the cat ran up me and stood on my head, hissing at the dogs!]

29. Thanks for stepping in with the blog, another fine puzzle from our new setter.
    I thought of empire for power, and checked eire for eerie , a few spellings in Chambers but not this , though I did find eery so checked EMPERY and there it was. I think this was the only clue a trifle unfair, the definition fairly obscure and the wordplay (spelling) unusual.
    I was surprised how many winners I knew, about half of the themed answers.
    SKIMMER perhaps a little dodgy , we need to split of the “sea” for the wordplay leaving just bird for the definion. Chambers gives seabird for skimmer but I suppose a seabird is a bird.
    Minor quibbles for a puzzle I really enjoyed.

30. I think I can be forgiven for missing the theme, as I hardly know any American racehorses, let alone British ones. And like all who didn’t see the theme, I was baffled by SIR PERCY BLAKENEY, and also a bit miffed at EMPERY (take an MP, insert him or her into an obscure alternate spelling of eerie, and arrive at an archaic word for empire–um, if I wanted to do the Azed I’d be doing it already, thanks). Thanks for the blog, which shed the remaining light necessary to un-baffle and un-miff me, respectively.

31. Mrpenney@30: I take your point about the obscurity of EMPERY, but of course it’s only in the grid because it was the name of a racehorse, not just for obscurity alone.

32. I had no idea there was a theme – even if I had spotted it, the subject is one I know zilch about!

    I enjoyed this puzzle apart from my failure at 24d which I had entered unparsed EMPIRE = power. Never heard of EMPERY or spelling of word eerie as eery.

    New for me: cricketer FRED TITMUS; SKIMMER bird.

    Favourites: GRAIL, SKIMMER, TROY.

    Thanks, both.

33. Brockwell has done a grand job in so thoroughly exploiting a theme I know nothing about.

    26ac, GRAIL: G + LIAR reversed (not all, as stated)

    27ac, PRESIDENT: I’m never keen on being expected to know brand names, unless they’re as famous worldwide as, say, Coca Cola. Other sandwich shops are available, as they say on the BBC, but Pret might not be, where you live.

    2dn, GENEROUS: not Ga., the US state, then? Took me a while!

    21, 19 SIR PERCY BLAKENEY: “if we had heard of either of them, we might have understood the clue”. Ditto, but still wouldn’t have got the theme. Only got the name by googling Scarlet Pimpernel.

    24dn, EMPERY: nho this word and maybe its archaic status should have been indicated, for those who don’t know lists of Derby winners? Then I might not have just biffed EMPIRE, wondering if the setter might have made a mistake in the spelling of eerie. (Of course, when one thinks such things, it’s never actually the case).

    KeithS@8: I had ALOFT pencilled in for a while, too!

34. Our Phar Lap and your Red Rum are about the only horse names I know, but I pottered on through, except for the wrong Empire. Of course eb was right at home, and lovely family history from Il Principe (welcome back, btw). Thanks all.

35. Thanks both. An ingenious construction I suppose and a genius blog all things considered.

    I really enjoyed FRED TITMUS; I have no idea what recess of the brain he stepped out of, but step he did.

    Note to self: If there are things going on that you don’t understand (E-MP-IRE, ‘Champion duo’, AREAL) there is probably something afoot that you can’t see – a theme perhaps.

    Further note to self: You know nothing about horse-racing and should only ever bet with money that you find on the street.

36. Like others I had EMPIRE for 24d – unable to parse, wondering whether there was another meaning to EIRE. Other than that it went in smoothly.

    The “Derby” theme was obvious enough but I know nothing about horses; I guessed that several names must be in the puzzle. No problem! But oddly enough the name BLAKENEY stood out for a strange reason. It must have been that same year (1969) that I idled away my time, along with several fellow-students, an upturned class, and cards with letters on them around a table. You know the sort of thing – DIY Ouija. Anyway it was just before Derby day and someone asked the obvious question. The ‘spirits’ didn’t oblige – well, not with “Blakeney” at any rate, but they gave a clue to a rank outsider called “Shoemaker”. That horse came second at long odds. I’ve never been a gambling man (also I was skint in those days), otherwise I could have made a killing with an each-way bet!

    Enough of the personal anecdote stuff. I think LAPP rather tickled my fancy (and was hard to suss – until it occurred to me, how else does he get hold of all those reindeer?).

    Thanks all round to Brockwell and Bridgesong.

37. ….upturned glass, not class…

38. Rather sadly, Fred Titmus is probably more remembered for losing his toes in a swimming accident in the West Indies, than for his off spin bowling.

39. Bridgesong @31: that’s why I’m no longer miffed! Thanks again.

40. muffin@38. I wish to correct you there, for while I, as a long time fan, remember the incident in the West Indies well, he was more widely known for his skill as a bowler. He played first class cricket in five decades (1949-1982), the final occasion when he popped into Lord’s cricket ground to have a chat with his Middlesex mates and was asked by Mike Brearley if he fancied bowling for them, as the pitch looked likely to offer some spin. By then he was almost 50 and had been short of a few toes for 14 years.

    In a crossword related afterthought, I wonder if the setter was pondering using FREDERICK, the 1829 Derby winner, either in grid or clue, as that was TITMUS’s full first name, of course.

41. Minor quibble in that Santa Claus aka St. Nicholas was ethnic Greek born in Patara in what is now Turkey so not a Lapp.

42. Laccaria @36 I have a minor quibble in that Santa Claus aka St. Nicholas was ethnic Greek born in Patara in what is now Turkey so not a Lapp.

43. Mazzyg@41. Fair enough, but as Laccaria@36 has pointed out, if he doesn’t live in Lappland, how does he get hold of all those reindeer? It may not be accurate, but it raised a smile. 🙂

44. Mazzyg and SH
    Perhaps he used a forwarding address? I once used a forwarding address to Rovaniemi in Lappland – though no post arrived there!

45. I knew a lot of the Derby winners but didn’t think to look for theme. Fred Titmus also famous for losing some toes in a boating incident but a little unfair on the non-cricket fans.
    Thanks both

46. Thank you to bridgesong for the blog and for all the comments. All of the criticisms made are totally fair and taken on board. My original aim was to get 12 Derby winners in the clues and 12 in the solutions, with the Derby being a 12 furlong race. However, ll Principe dell’Oscurità has added Champion to the list, to make it 25. I totally missed that one and not sure if I’m happy or sad about it. Appreciate all the positive comments.

47. Due to my own ignorance of the theme, I didn’t appreciate this puzzle enough when I did it last weekend, but now coming to the blog I can see how very clever it is. Congratulations to Brockwell/Grecian for including all those horse names – I am in awe! I am also very appreciative of bridgesong for stepping in to share the solve, to Timon for assistance with the blog, and to other contributors to the varying responses and interesting tangents. (Just to note that I too failed at the last hurdle – even though it’s not about steeplechases – by biffing EMPIRE at 24d.)

48. GRECIAN: Do I take it that you are the mysterious Brockwell ? If it’s any consolation, I am black and blue from kicking myself over missing Wings of Eagles. In any case, given that it’s been going since 1780 (or was that The Oaks) or 1781, it was almost inevitable that an unintended reference crept in.
    CHARLES: Over the years I’ve thought about that many times. George was a very naughty boy in his youth, and was disinherited by his father, a thoroughbred breeder in Ireland, hence his work. But he was Irish to the core and I saw him enough with horses and his worship of them, to believe he would never be capable of doing such a thing.
    (Bruised and swollen rib, but not broken).
    GRANT In FREO: Thank you for the kind thoughts. I’m back up off the canvas, boxing on, and might appear now and again.

49. Another thought for GRECIAN:
    It’s very easy to miss a Derby winner. I was at the Newmarket July Course in ’91. In the little copse that houses the pre-parade ring five bored two-year-olds for a listed race were plodding round. In the centre was a mad thing on it’s hind legs – the lad sensibly gave it the full length of the leading-rein and let him get on with it. “Good grief, that’s got some spirit!” I thought, and forgot to do anything about it. Less than 12 months later he won the Derby.
    Dr. Devious, by a strange quirk of fate, died at the grand old age of 28 in Arborea, Sardinia, a short drive from where I live.

50. Many thanks Brockwell, bridgesong and contributors. A really interesting puzzle and blog. It took me half the week to finish but that’s fine: much enjoyed. Eventually twigged the theme and thought “Blimey, that’s clever”.

    [Haven’t found an authoritative list but was aware as a child of some locomotives (including Deltics) named after famous racehorses. Sir Percy and Blakeney vaguely rang bells but I may have been confusing with Sir P with Sir Ivor. Classic Dunk not to remember the details.]

51. Did you know that there is such a thing as a Sir Percy Scarlet Pimpernel bracelet? I’m not kidding, and that’s why I failed on 19d BLAKENEY, while getting 21d SIR PERCY.

    Secretariat, Northern Dancer and Sea Biscuit are the only race-horses I know, so this theme didn’t help. I nevertheless marvel at Brockwell’s skill in working so many horses into this crossword, without resorting to weird surfaces or convoluted constructions.

    Thanks Brockwell for the fun, and bridgesong for showing me how brilliant the puzzle is.

52. Thanks for stepping in bridgesong and for highlighting the theme (and hence making sense of Sir P B), agree that it’s a remarkable effort to get these into place so neatly and a sign of a good puzzle that all made sense otherwise, I gave myself a smug point for not settling for EMPIRE but was helped by having seen that spelling of EERY before, while AREAL is a common enough word over here but pronounced unlike Aerial so that was my last one. I was surprised to encounter a type of bird completely unknown to me but maybe I dimly recall them as scissorbills (as i learned when googling to check – i used google a few times on this one). Thanks for a meaty challenge Brockwell.

53. Gazzh@52, I’m not sure that all those horses would have appreciated your last sentence.

54. I’m still waiting for your response to my response to your comment at @24 CHARLES.

55. Charles
    June 10, 2023 at 2:36 pm
    Il Principe dell’Oscurita@23
    I do hope Grandpa George wasn’t responsible for Alcide’s broken rib…

    Do you hope, do you really hope; or is this some pathetic attempt at humour?

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