Guardian Cryptic 29,098 by Paul

68 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 29,098 by Paul”

1. Well, what’s happened to Paul (or me)? Completed in one take
   Thank’s to Paul and Manehi

2. Thank’s = Thanks

3. Thanks for the blog, manehi. I liked this offering from Paul today. 11a ON ALL FOURS was very clever. I also really appreciated 22a QUEENSLAND (three ticks for the parochial appeal and the little pun in “Reigning”), and 2d ZEBRAS. Warm thanks to Paul for a challenge that gave a lot of satisfaction in the end. From Julie in pluvial Queensland, Australia! (Just to say yes, we do get a lot of rain and flooding here!)

4. Another great Friday puzzle from Paul. I liked OCCURRING from the cluing and from being reminded of the “what’s OCCURRING?” buzz phrase from Gavin and Stacey” – than reminder’s not BANG OUT OF ORDER.

   Also old enough to remember the many hits of the 60’s including this one

   https://youtu.be/u8uvLHnrqdU

   a ( Bobby ) BOBBY-DAZZLER of facial expressions.

   Thank you Paul and manehi.

5. I finished a Paul! I finished a Paul!
   I don’t care if, Guardian comments thread, it was “easy for this setter”.
   I finished a Paul, and you can’t take that away from me!

6. A pretty gentle stroll, by Paul’s standards, though I must confess to not fully parsing QUEENSLAND until I came here. If I’ve seen that use of “dogs” for “and” before, I’ve forgotten it. Loved the misdirection in ON ALL FOURS.
   Thanks to Paul and manehi.

7. I haven’t attempted one of Paul’s for a very long time, as he has occupied my “Don’t attempt” list (with a couple of extra words attached — that I won’t include here).

   But I glanced at it today and a few jumped out at me, so I threw caution to the wind and rather enjoyed myself. QUEENSLAND & ZEBRAS were the only two I couldn’t parse.

   Have this setter’s puzzles become easier? Should I put him in my “Good” list? (Incidentally, I’ve never had major problems with Mudd, his alter ego.)

   Thanks Paul & manehi.

8. Had to come here for the parsing of ON ALL FOURS. Wasn’t impressed.

   But, that aside, I very much enjoyed BANG OUT OF ORDER, EPSOM and STAMPEDE. Feared I would never get 2d until BOBBY-DAZZLER made it a lot easier!

9. Thought that was tough but the anagrams helped. Couldn’t quite parse a couple.

   For 18/5, once I got OCCURRING (which I liked) giving me the last letter of the second word, I realised that it must be an anagram of gabon without the o giving me BANG. Needed a few more crosses to get the rest and parse it – not often I get and parse clues like that.

   Also liked: ON ALL FOURS, NON-POISONOUS, ZEBRAS, EPSOM

   Thanks Paul and manehi

10. That was fun, not particularly taxing, but lots of smiles along the way. I’m not sure if anyone else heard Len Goodman saying she’s a right BOBBY DAZZLER, or that lift was BANG OUT OF ORDER? But those were definitely of his idiolect.

    (I empathise with the joy of those completing a Paul crossword for the first time. I finished and looked at the time, and blinked at the time.)

    Thank you to Paul and manehi.

11. Light-hearted and cheeky, a lot of fun. Thought 25 was a good spot.

12. Charles @6 “dogs” doesn’t mean “and” in QUEENSLAND but “and” dogs (follows) “L”. Maybe that’s what you meant.

13. I’m with ragged at 5: this was one of the rare occasions when I actually completed a Paul creation – and it’s made my day. If this really was an “easier” offering from him, then no wonder I crash and burn with so many of his others!
    I’m lost in respect for those who found this easy: ENTERAL was a new word for me (I guessed it from “enteritis”); I know & have often used “well out of order”, but have never ever encountered “bang out of order” so that one was pieced together at a glacial pace – and I wouldn’t have figured out the parsing to ON ALL FOURS in a million years.
    So grateful thanks to manehi for all the explanations, and a 21-gun salute to Paul.

14. My goodness, these lift-and-separates get trickier and trickier! I’m looking at ON ALL FOURS – and the definition wasn’t much help. The dogs in QUEENSLAND also escaped me, and RECTO and ENTERAL were new. But a very enjoyable Paul – I liked the EMOTICONS and BANG OUT OF ORDER (though it took a while to identify the first word of the answer), and the poor old EDITOR.

15. Super stuff from Paul. LOL for the question mark after “guardian employee” / EDITOR

    Cheers P&M

16. Heart sank when the first view of the Across clues showed two cross references but I need not have worried. Yes, on the more approachable side for Paul and very satisfying to move smoothly through it. I didn’t spot the L&S in ON ALL FOURS; I’m getting too used to looking for exclamation marks to signal one of those so am often undone if the QM is used (or if there is no indication at all!). EMOTICONS my favourite by a country mile. Very neat in every respect.

    Thanks Paul and manehi

17. Thanks manehi, I plumped for the second of your suggested purposes of “Reigning”. Didn’t find this easy at all (only a couple of scattered entries from first read-through and NW especially unfolded very slowly) but some very neat sleight of hand on display that produced big smiles eg the MONSTER MASH, thanks Paul.

18. Lots to like here, even though I needed your parsings for 22A, 14A, and 28/21

19. At last a puzzle without any vocabulary THAT’S BANG OUT OF ORDER! 🙂

    Some great clues: the reverse anagram, the punning QUEENSLAND, the l&s of ‘unlawful’, the ‘plain lot’, great surface for LOYAL TOAST.

    INNIT is an interesting expression, originally South Asian I think, used as an absolute term to seek agreement, like the French ‘n’est-ce pas?’, unlike the standard English repetition of the copula or modal verb: ‘aren’t they?’, ‘couldn’t we?’ etc.

    BOBBY DAZZLER is a dated expression used only by folk even older than me..

    Thanks to S&B

20. And is the question mark for 20d a sly dig at the Grauniad’s notorious lack of editing?

21. As an Australian, it was easy enough to solve 22ac QUEENSLAND from the letter count but I couldn’t parse it apart from QUEENS = cats.

    Favourite: ON ALL FOURS.

    New for me: bobby-dazzler.

    Thanks, both.

22. I thought this was more straightforward than some of Paul’s output, and the better for it.

    For once, I did spot the lift-and-separate (l&s above) in unl-awful, which produced a smile. I also enjoyed THAT’S BANG OUT OF ORDER; I shall think of this next time I read about Gabon. EMOTICONS was a good anagram spot, even if it’s been seen before, and I thought the definition for ZEBRAS was great. The second time that my hometown, EPSOM, has appeared recently.

    Thanks Paul and manehi.

23. Totally convinced early on that the answer to 13d was En Absoluto, which was a perfect anagram of “so unable to”. And meaning “with some certainty”. This completely threw things out of kilter as I thought QUEENSLAND had to be the answer to 22ac. Several readjustments in course thereafter before I could properly settle down and enjoy this latest Paul offering…

24. Nick@12. Yes, that is what I meant. Sorry if I wasn’t clear.

25. Ronald @23; I also looked for an anagram of ‘so unable to’ but thought ‘answer’ was a strange anagrind, so gave up.

26. I got more than half of this one (though not all parsed), which I’m quite happy about for a Paul. Especially after crashing and burning in yesterday’s “easy” crossword.

    Got a good groan out of ON ALL FOURS once I did manage to parse it.

    It comes up often enough and yet I can never remebmer the link between cats and queens.

27. Favourite was ON ALL FOURS. I hadn’t parsed it, and assumed the definition was just “Searching”, with “on the ground” being somehow part of wordplay – which seemed vague and unsatisfactory. But having seen the explanation, I think it’s a great clue. Also liked EMOTICONS and ENTERAL among others. Less keen on “Reigning” in QUEENSLAND – yes it helps the surface and gives a nudge towards QUEENS but it doesn’t really fit properly into the wordplay and IMO makes the clue a bit clumsy, though easy enough.
    Thanks Paul and manehi.

28. Ground to a dreadful halt with three to go, which prevented it from being a super-speedy solve – DEBTOR (my clue of the day), and the DIOR and ENTERAL combo, which somehow eventually went in. But agree this was pretty accessible all told.

    Another fan here of the def for ZEBRAS.

    Thanks Paul & manehi.

29. I had never heard the expression BOBBY DAZZLER, and I failed to parse ZEBRAS, so that whole corner was slow to yield. But based on the crossing words, our dazzled bobby could not be anything else. Thanks for the explanations.

30. beaulieu @27: ‘Reigning cats’ seems to me a perfect cryptic definition for QUEENS and the surface reads smoothly, with the added amusement of a pun. What’s not to like?

31. mrpenney @29: BOBBY-DAZZLER is an old expression first recorded in Northern England in the 1800s. The ‘dazzler’ part is obvious but the origin of the first word is obscure. Unlike the equally dated American expression ‘bobby-soxer’, where the etymology refers to the characteristic wearing of bobby (bobbed, ie ankle-length) socks.

32. Gervase@30 – if the answer was just QUEENS, then “Reigning cats” would be fine as a simple crypric clue. But here QUEENS is only part of the answer, and “Reigning” seems to me redundant – just “cats” would be better, but of course that would spoil the surface. I’m well aware that tastes differ regarding clues – I don’t necessarily expect everyone, or even anyone, to agree!

33. RECTO loi, had all the crossers but just didn’t know the word.

    BANG OUT OF ORDER definitely a favourite

34. This was good fun, but I scuppered my chances by lazily entering ROYAL TOAST @ 3d so didn’t get 9,1ac. Must check anagrams more carefully!
    Thanks Paul and manehi

35. As has already been said, this is from the less taxing end of Paul’s oeuvre. Only quibble – as I look at our cocker spaniel, he isn’t small / little.
    Thanks to Paul and Manehi

36. Crispy @35: I was expecting some muttering over COCK-A-HOOP because it is one of Paul’s frequent non-rhotic homophone clues, but your objection is more innovative 🙂

37. To Julie in Australia.
    I loved Queensland when I was there in 1999, especially 4 Mile Beach in Port Douglas

38. This is why Paul is my number 1; the sense of fun, the smooth surfaces, the sheer variety of clue types. That and the first day of The Ashes on a sunny day makes for the perfect morning.

39. There’s a typo in 28/21 – it says “’6os” instead of “’60s”. But at least the apostrophe’s in the right place.

40. Great stuff from Paul. Favourites for me where 18/5 and 26.

41. Gervase @36: at this point, the non-rhotic homophones are just part of Paul’s shtick. Complaining about it would be sort of like complaining that King Lear was depressing: you knew that when you bought the ticket.

    I do, however, reserve the right to be annoyed by his habit of including so many multi-light answers, which can be a real PITA to solve on a phone, and also mean that you have that many fewer entrees into the grid.

42. Thanks for the blog , classic Playtex for ON ALL FOURS , very neat use of dog for QUEENSLAND .
    The cricket has invaded Radio 4 again, there is no room dark enough to lie down in.

43. Roz @42 coincidentally I’m lying in a darkened room watching the cricket right now

44. [ Bodycheetah @43 , I would watch it myself but I planted some grass seed last month and I need to check that it is growing properly. ]

45. Roz@42. Time to trade in the crystal set for something with FM or DAB, both of which have Radio 4 minus the cricket

46. Crispy @45 our kitchen radio only gets Long Wave and is the one we take into the garden. I need it for the Shipping Forecast.

47. [Roz@64. The cricket on LW gets interrupted for the shipping forecast. That’s usually when wickets tumble]

48. [ At five to six I will switch my radio on, the only interesting 5 minutes in the whole day ‘s coverage . ]

49. [Playing with balls … lift and separate … shipping news … better than war I spose … ]

50. [Roz@46. Curious to know how much shipping you get in your garden]

51. [ It is nothing to do with actual shipping, simply the weather forecast for all the regions around the UK, I can recite the names in order. I need to know the forecast for “Irish Sea ” because of swimming each day . ]

52. Roz @ 48 I listen to the shipping forecast at 5:20 – lasts longer than 5 mins

    At five to six is the end of farming today and then tweet of the day.

    Why do you take the radio into the garden if there is nothing of interest.

53. [Fiona Anne I am talking about tea-time 17.55 , after the PM programme and before the 6 o’clock news. I also get it at 05.20 when it has more detail. I like to listen to Radio 4 in the garden when I get home in the afternoon, today it has been invaded by the flannelled fools. ]

54. Thanks Paul and manehi
    Thanks for the parsing of ON ALL FOURS.and QUEENSLAND. Favourite EDITOR.
    Although it’s the same thing, I;ve only seen PEANUT OIL sold as “groundnut oil”.

55. I enjoyed this puzzle (as expected) but I did not find this a quick solve at all since the top half contained so many unfamiliar terms: BANG OUT OF ORDER, COCK-A-HOOP, LOYAL TOAST and especially BOBBY DAZZLER. I managed to get all but that last one but whew!

56. Enjoyable Paul as usual.

    I would have had no hope of parsing ON ALL FOURS. “Unl awful” indeed!

    Never heard of BANG OUT OF ORDER or LOYAL TOAST.

    Crispy@35 Your cocker spaniel is smaller than somebody else’s Alsatian or Husky or St. Bernard — or even than my long-departed Labradorish mutt.

    Thanks to Paul and manehi.

57. Nice one Paul and thanks for parsing QUEENSLAND manehi.
    Re PASSPORT why is “in” in the clue? It’s not part of the parsing and threw me consequently.
    Following on from recent list of the vague alternative meanings of small words, we have some which are just padding.

58. [Roz – I had forgotten there was a shipping forecast then even though I sometimes listen to PM which I liked better when Eddie Mair was there]

59. tim @57
    I’ve given up complaining about inexplicable “ins”.

60. Muffin / Tim: I’d say “in” is an acceptable linking word only if the wordplay comes first. Think of the wordplay as the recipe for the word. Vodka and orange juice are in a screwdriver, just as “hand” and “left” are in PASSPORT. But this clue has it the wrong way round, so…FAIL.

61. Thanks for the explanation of the parsing, I solved the puzzle, but had six answers only partially parsed, and now I’ve seen your explanations, that’s not surprising, nor, I’d say, a disgrace.

62. Thanks manehi and Paul.

    I suppose the question mark forgives it, but I though Debtor = Poor Thing a bit lose given the old theory that the very rich often get and stay rich by rarely paying their debts on time, if at all- see Trump, D for example..

63. Gervase@31 the etymology of Bobby is generally linked to Robert Peel who introduced formal policing in the UK. Initially know as Peelers they were colloquially referred to as Bobbies, Bob being the diminutive of Robert

64. Mazzyg @63: That’s the well-known origin of ‘bobby’ as a nickname for a policeman – which is part of the wordplay – but not of the bobby in BOBBY DAZZLER, which is unknown

65. I loved this crossword though failed to completely parse a few already mentioned. Favourite was ZEBRAS. Was looking for an Olympic boxer who had knocked out their opponents.
    Thanks Manehi and Paul.

66. Possibly too late for people to see, but @57/59/60. In is a perfectly good linkword, and without it the surface makes no sense. Conventionally, it’s definition (found) in wordplay (although some setters use it either way around), wordplay makes definition, and definition (made) of wordplay.

67. Valentine – Probably too late, but the clue doesn’t say smaller. Compared to an Irish Wolfhound, everything’s small.

68. I didn’t find this as easy as some, partly because of various terms I’d never heard of, including bobby-dazzler, that’s bang out of order, and loyal toast. I got the latter after only briefly wondering if there was something called an “alloy toast”.

Comments are closed.