Guardian Prize 29,255 by Boatman

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This is my inaugural blog in the Guardian Prize slot, so I hope that my parsing does this very fine puzzle justice.

I believe Boatman always has some theme in play, and this time I count at least sixteen clues and/or solutions having some connection to a “dance” theme, or perhaps more specifically, relating to the TV series Strictly Come Dancing, see 15D. I do see that references to the current judges and presenters appear in the puzzle, see 6D, 22D, and 27D, but since I have never seen this show, if there are any more oblique references involved, they are unfortunately going right over my head.

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
9 CHA-CHA-CHA
Repeat of tea dance (3,3,3)
Repeat (3X) of CHA (tea)
10 CONGA
State follows Conservative line, taking steps (5)
CON (Conservative) + GA (state, i.e., Georgia), referring to the original(?) line dance
11 SCREW
One’s driven by double-cross (5)
Double definition
12 UNDAMAGED
Showing extract, found a mage dancing with sound (9)
Hidden in (showing extract) [FO]UND A MAGE D[ANCING]
13 FOXTROT
Dance: it’s located a couple in front of hotel (7)
Double definition, the second a reference to the NATO phonetic alphabet equivalents for F and H, with F appearing two letters before (a couple in front of) H
14 OSCULAR
As colour is applied, wiping a circle about the mouth (7)
Anagram of (is applied) AS COL[O]UR minus (wiping) one O (a circle)
17 AT SEA
Puzzled? Boatman might be (2,3)
Double/cryptic definition
19 DAD
Tot cycling with guardian (3)
ADD (tot), with the last letter “cycling” to the front
20 MADAM
Either way, one keeps house (5)
Cryptic definition, with “either way” indicating a palindrome
21 CLOTHES
Ran out of funny Charleston costume (7)
Anagram of (funny) CH[AR]LESTO[N] minus (out of) RAN
22 CELESTA
It’s used by a keyboardist to select a partial inversion (7)
Anagram of SELECT A, or, more specifically, Boatman indicates that only the A and C swap places (thus, “partial inversion”). I don’t know whether this has a technical meaning in music theory, such as transposition of keys?  See KVa@2 and Boatman@41.
24 PLACE MATS
Settings for plates of say fish, pork and beef but not sheep’s heart (5,4)
Homophone of (say) PLAICE (fish) + M[E]ATS (pork and beef) minus (but not) middle letter of (heart) [SH]E[EP]
26 TILES
Equalises score: taking on Latin, they cover the floor (5)
TIES (equalises score) around (taking on) L (Latin)
28 SUAVE
Uncovered belly-button on return of American Smooth (5)
US (American) reversed (return of) + middle letters of (uncovered) [N]AVE[L] (belly-button), with a capitalization misdirection
29 CONFLUENT
Uniting against virus: hospital department (9)
CON (against) + FLU (virus) + ENT (hospital department)
DOWN
1 ACTS
Performs in musical with key lifted (4)
CATS (musical) with A (key [in music]) moved up to the first position (lifted)
2 MATRIX
Table of maxima – their index, not their contents (6)
Exterior letters of (not their contents) M[AXIM]A + T[HEI]R + I[NDE]X
3 SHOWER BATH
It’s taken before dressing with mixed herb – so what? (6,4)
Anagram of (mixed) HERB SO WHAT
4 OCCULT
Secret order caught copper over limit, initially getting time (6)
O (order) + C (caught) + CU (copper) + first letter of (initially) L[IMIT] + T (time). I do not see a separate listing in Chambers for “O” meaning “order,” but of course, it appears in such abbreviations as “OBE.”
5 LANDLORD
Rock ‘n’ Roll dad, housekeeper (8)
Anagram of (rock) ‘N’ ROLL DAD
6 SCAM
Ballas, Revel Horwood, Du Beke and Mabuse initially make a racket! (4)
First letters of the first names of (initially) S[HIRLEY] (Ballas) + C[RAIG] (Revel Horwood) + A[NTON] (Du Beke) + M[OTSI] (Mabuse)
7 SNUGGLED
Showed cold symptoms and, having displaced fever initially by force, got cosy (8)
SNU[FF]LED (showed cold symptoms), with each F (first letter of [initially] F[EVER]) displaced by G (force, i.e., referring [I think] to gravitational acceleration)
8 LAID
Clap kids with no limits set (4)
Interior letters of (with no limits) [C]LA[P] + [K]ID[S]
13 FRANC
Foreign capital in candid report (5)
Homophone of (report) FRANK (candid), referring to currency
15 COMPLETELY
Strictly Come Dancing, with first of personalities on telly (10)
I think this parses as: Anagram of (dancing) {COME + first [letter] of P[ERSONALITIES] + TELLY}
16 RUMBA
Spooner’s last to show sign of hesitation: Boatman lifted in dance (5)
Last [letter of] [SPOONE]R + UM (sign of hesitation) + AB (boatman) inverted (lifted)
18 STOWAWAY
One hiding on board tug, one overwhelmed by wave (8)
{TOW (tug) + A (one)} inside (overwhelmed by) SWAY (wave)
19 DISTANCE
Separation is central to posture in Foxtrot, perhaps (8)
{IS + middle letter of [central to] [POS]T[URE]} inside (in) DANCE (foxtrot, perhaps)
22 CASINO
Claudia gutted over error: no risks taken here (6)
Outside letters of (gutted) C[LAUDI]A + SIN (error) + O (no, i.e., zero), with a nod to Claudia Winkleman
23 SILVER
Argentine Tango: even parts of it can be read symbolically (6)
Reading the even letters (even parts) of [T]A[N]G[O] renders Ag, the chemical symbol for silver on the periodic table of elements. Placing the definition at the beginning provides a capitalization misdirection on this clue.
24 PASO
Plans hop-skip steps for dance (4)
Every other letter of (skip-steps) P[L]A[N]S + [H]O[P], referring, I assume, to the paso doble
25 EVES
Some achieve Samba days before (4)
Hidden in (some) [ACHI]EVE S[AMBA]
27 SETS
Tess represented series (4)
Anagram of (represented) TESS, with a nod to Tess Daly

62 comments on “Guardian Prize 29,255 by Boatman”

  1. One or two unparsed, like scam, but otherwise total ignorance of theme not a problem. Welcome and thanks, Cineraria, and ta Boatie.

  2. Congrats Cineraria on your excellent inaugural Guardian prize blog! Thanks Boatman!

    CELESTA
    (I read it a bit differently)
    SELEC TA
    partially invert (reverse only the first part leaving TA in place)
    CELES-TA.

    Maybe I am saying the same thing.

  3. KVa@2: That is slightly different from my parsing, but perhaps even closer to Boatman’s intention. As I said, one way or the other, it is a sort of anagram in which most of the parts do not move.

  4. Fantastic puzzle ? by Boatman. Thanks. The first many entries went in very quickly, looked like an easy puzzle. By the time SILVER went in it was a few hours past. Spooner was a great clue. Only niggle: Foxtrot showing up in both the clues and the solution. Ta Cineraria!

  5. Thank you Cineraria for your Prize-winning debut. Needed your help with CELESTA.

    I don’t want to be a grinch but I found this Boatman rather lacklustre, with some overwrought cluing.
    Don’t know SCD, which fortunately wasn’t necessary for the solve. The definition of SCAM was pretty obvious and some painstaking googling of the figures confirmed the wordplay.

    Liked the separation of hop-skip and the skip-step indicator for alternate letters in PASO.
    LANDLORD probably my pick, although I’d have preferred it without the comma.

  7. Favourites for me were FOXTROT and the nicely disguised definition for SILVER. SCREW was nice and so very nearly a DD &lit (if there is such a thing. If only as well as a Phillips (single cross) head there was also a double cross head!

  8. Liked SNUGGLED.
    Parsed it as in the blog.
    No complaints about the clueing. That the instruction to ‘replace
    f with g’ means ‘replace 2 f’s with 2 g’s’ is probably new to me.
    Liked COMPLETELY
    Agree with the blog.
    Loved SILVER.

  12. Dan@9. I should have pasted the URL earlier.
    https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/2023/dec/23/prize-crossword-no-29261

    It can be found under the Cryptic section, labelled as the Prize. Guardian cryptic crossword appears on the printout, but the URL has prize as you can see. They’ve done this before for some reason with Maskarade. And they’ve even spelt Christmas wrongly under the Special Instructions. Now they’ll need Special Instructions for the Special Instructions.

    I think the elves might be in need of some sleep.

  14. I have never seen SCD, but am slightly familiar with some of the personalities, but it didn’t seem to matter.

    I was a little disappointed by this one. I like Boatman in general, and this puzzle in particular, but I prefer something a bit chewier for the weekend.

    7 down SNUGGLED was another of those “This, do something, to get That” and you don’t know whether to plump for This or That. It’s not against the law, just a little unsatisfying. Having said that, SNUGGLED did seem to be the most likely choice.

    I wasn’t convinced guardian=DAD.

    Thanks Boatman and Cineraria

  15. [KVa@13. I’ll bet they’ll just creep in in the middle of the night and fix it and no one will know. 🙂 ]
    Happy days to all over the festive season!

  16. Thanks Boatman for a thoroughly enjoyable prize. This was challenging at times but ultimately attainable, just what I like in any crossword. My top choices included CONGA, FOXTROT, CLOTHES, PLACE MATS, and STOWAWAY. I had no hope of parsing SCAM but with an obvious definition and two crossers it couldn’t be anything else. Thanks Cineraria for the helpful blog.

  18. Got off to a good start with CHA CHA CHA but found this puzzle difficult – the theme didn’t really help. Came back to it a couple of times in the week but still DNF. Couldn’t get my last three

    Liked: MADAM, CONFLUENT, SNUGGLED, RUMBA

    Thanks Boatman and Cineraria

  19. Welcome, Cineraria, and thanks for the blog. Not playing to my strengths here, but an enjoyable puzzle. I could see FOXTROT from the crossers, but was reluctant to enter it given it was already in a clue. Once I saw the significance of ‘Hotel’ it was obviously right – and a very nice clue. I had to Google the SCD hosts, but they were easy enough to find, and in any case the answer did have to be SCAM. Liked SILVER, PLACE MATS, and a number of others. Thanks, Boatman.

  22. Thanks for the blog, fortunately the theme did not spoil it too much , I only had to guess SCAM where the names meant nothing to me. Unusual to have a double Boatman in the clues both being nautical, usually one refers to the setter.
    I agree with KVa@2 for CELESTA , seems slightly better for partial INVERSION.
    LANDLORD was very neat but I found COMPLETELY a bit clumsy with the “on” ,
    SILVER is very clever , I also thought of the even parts of the answer giving IVR but does not quite work.

  23. Thanks Cineraria. Rather a mixed bag I thought, quite a few wrote themselves in and others needed a lot more thought. I can see where paddymelon @ 5 is coming from but I could forgive all for SILVER, very clever.
    Btw and to be pedantic, the O in OBE stands for ‘Ófficer’ (of the order – cf M, C, K and G). OM, Order of Merit would have been a better example.

  24. Good fun I thought.
    Boatman could have chosen any dance by way of example in 19d, yet he chose FOXTROT which is the solution to 13a. A missed opportunity to include the Viennese waltz perhaps? I thought the lack of indication of a double replacement in 7d was curious and PASO on its own without “-doble” seemed dubious. I also queried O for “order” which has been mentioned in the blog, perhaps it’s given elsewhere?
    Thanks to Boatman and Cineraria.

  26. I also had SELEC< + T A. Wasn’t convinced by the ‘double’ in 11a. My screws have a single cross (unless you include the cross on the screwdriver ?).

  28. Much fun. The only problem I had, was in trying to get the fax machine to respond at Grauniad Towers.
    I wonder if Boatman is giving us a clue towards his own dancing expertise in 19ac.
    Thanks B and C

  32. Sorry, but I still have no clues for today’s prize, even using paddymelon’s link. (And no “print” button but I can deal with that.)

  33. Welcome Cineraria, and thanks for a great blog. Due to geography I didn’t get any subtle references to the UK version of “Strictly Come Dancing”, but I did like the dance theme as well as Boatman’s characteristic nautical references. 9a CHA CHA CHA, 10a CONGA, 7d SNUGGLED and 16d RUMBA were my favourites, and I see they have mostly been mentioned by others above. I also had trouble with 22a CELESTA as it was unfamiliar, but a combination of crossers and wordplay helped my guess, which was then confirmed when I looked it up. Thanks Boatman for the fun.
    [And thanks to fellow solvers for enabling me to track down the elusive Prize puzzle for the holiday weekend.

  34. crosser @ 32

    There’s another link on the page you get tp after clicking Ppaddymelon’s ink.
    In ther special instructions paragraph there is a link to the PDF which has all the clues. You should be able to print the PDF.

  36. Tough but enjoyable puzzle. I could pick up the theme even though I do not watch Strictly Come Dancing.

    Favourite: STOWAWAY, PLACE MATS, SUAVE, SILVER (loi).

    Thanks, both.

  37. It’s always interesting seeing what other people find difficult. I do know Strictly Come Dancing, although I stopped watching it when Anton became a judge, so was on the right wavelength for this crossword, and didn’t find it any more challenging than most weekday cryptics. I didn’t solve it until Sunday, when I sailed through it in half the time the Everyman took me (which I found chewy enough to be the Prize).

    CELESTA gave me pause, as I know it as a CELESTE, so checked if both variations applied.

    American Smooth is another dance, used in the programme, hence its use in SUAVE. I also wondered about tge double use of FOXTROT.

    Thank you to Cineraria and Brendan.

  39. An excellent tricky puzzle with many innocent-looking misdirections in the clues. SILVER was a favourite, as was LANDLORD.

    I too was surprised at the use of Foxtrot as an example of a dance in DISTANCE.

    Thanks Boatman and Cineraria.

  40. Never seen z-listers come dancing, so no hope parsing SCAM. Parsing SILVER defeated me, but it’s a clever trick. Hopefully I’ll spot the device next time. I’m still none the wiser why Boatman = BA for RUMBA.
    Thanks Boatman and Cineraria.

  41. Thanks, Cineraria and all – and welcome, Cineraria!
    W Irving @4 and everyone else – Well spotted! I hadn’t noticed that, as the clue for DISTANCE was written months (possibly years) before the clue for FOXTROT. Jay @24 – Your suggestion of “Viennese Waltz” is an excellent alternative – it certainly needed to be an example of a ballroom style in order for the surface reading to make sense.
    KVa @2 – Yes, that’s what I had in mind, though Cineraria’s parsing reaches the same conclusion.

  44. With OCCULT, I took the definition to be ‘secret order’, and the O to be from the word ‘over’.
    Thanks for help parsing SILVER.
    I really liked this puzzle, looking for dance steps despite never having seen SCD. I liked FOXTROT, LANDLORD, COMPLETELY, SILVER, PASO.
    Thanks Boatman for the fun and Cineraria for the explanations.

  45. OCCULT again. Now I look at it, I agree with Cineraria that ‘secret’ is the definition, but think ‘order’ indicates an anagram. I think the O is more likely to come from ‘over’. There always does need to be a cricket reference somewhere.

  46. Thanks Boatman and Cineraria. I only got CELESTA because it featured recently somewhere else (keyboards theme, I think). Also didn’t notice the obvious references to SCD hosts. Sorry Claudia and Tess!

  47. Don’t really get on with Boatman’s, shall we say arcane cluing style, but it was a laugh to feature Auntie’s appalling SCD as the theme. Gawd I hate that show.

  48. I have to agree with Ui Imair47. I’ve never watched the Dancing show on purpose, but when staying with one or other of my daughters and trying to do the Guardian crossword, it’s almost impossible not to see bits. And it is truly awful. Luckily, no knowledge of the show was required, as I bunged-and-shrugged 6d SCAM.

    As others have suggested, I also felt this lacked Boatman’s accustomed polish, though I did like the way CELESTA worked, with the ‘partial inversion’ of SELEC being very elegant.

    Thanks to Boatman and Cineraria.

  49. Yes, it’s the second CELESTA in recent weeks. It’s a musical instrument – a set of bells played by a keyboard. Very Christmassy.

  51. I’ve only just got around to looking at today’s blog for various reasons. I enjoyed the puzzle last Saturday as I usually do with Boatman. I’m a bit surprised that despite 50 comments, nobody (as far as I can see) has mentioned either of the two things that most struck me:

    Firstly, the puzzle very appropriately appeared on the day of the final of Strictly Come Dancing! No, I don’t like the show either SH @48, but it is sometimes on in our household, and it was very well timed either by Boatman himself or the crossword editor.

    Secondly, this is a bit of a complaint. We can usually rely on the word “Boatman” appearing twice in a Boatman puzzle, once to mean I/me and once to mean an actual boatman. This time they both mean the latter! Traditions are important, particularly at Christmas.

    Anyway, many thanks Boatman and Cineraria.

  52. In 20ac, that’s presumably a “house of ill repute”?

    3dn, SHOWER BATH: isn’t that a thing in which you take either a shower or a bath?

    4dn, OCCULT: normally, one can’t just pull one letter out of a multi-letter abbreviation, but Chambers gives F=fellow on the basis that it’s part of so many abbreviations of the form Fellow of (e.g. the Royal Society), so maybe O = order can be excused on the same basis, even though it’s not explicitly mention in Chambers? (Same for R = royal?). Actually, I think SueM48@45, who has posted since I wrote the above, is right.

    6dn, SCAM: don’t watch Strictly, so had to do some research to parse this. A bit unfair?

    7dn, SNUGGLED: acceleration is not force. ‘g’ (lower case) is the symbol for the acceleration due to gravity, but ‘G’ (upper case) is “a unit of measurement of the force resulting from acceleration. One G is equivalent to the force of the earth’s gravitational pull.” (Collins). Surprised Roz didn’t pick up on this!

    8dn LAID: didn’t get this. Biffed HAND (=clap). Thanks for explaining.

  54. Thank you Biggles@53 .
    Tony@52 I have given up on g/G = force , both g and G have very specific meanings , neither of which is force. The dictionaries get it wrong so hard to blame the setter or the blogger.

  55. Too late to add anything just wanted to say thanks Cineraria and well done on Blog Number One. You never forget your first time!

    Also big appreciation of the parsing for Silver the PDM for me came days after I biffed in the answer and was a nice example of sub-conscious solving.

    Bravo Boatman. Merry Christmas all at Fifteen Squared

  56. One is prepared to be tripped up by the occasional piece of GK, but I have no idea who any of the people in 6d are. Obscurity piled on obscurity. This is a ludicrous clue.

  60. Tony@59 G is the Universal constant in Newton’s law. G-force or g-force is the force PER UNIT MASS relative to being stationary on Earth, it is technically an acceleration ratio.

  61. Well done Cineraria on a fine debut.
    Enjoyed the puzzle as I always do with Boatman, not least because Strictly is one of my great guilty pleasures. Delighted to learn the esteemed setter is possibly a fellow tragic.
    Favourites here were SILVER and PLACE MATS.
    Fab-u-lous, dahling!

  62. A fun challenge from Boatman, as usual. And an excuse to submit a somewhat seasonal limerick, one of the first Ms. P submitted (and got cleared by) the Omnificent English Dictionary in Limerick Form (oedilf.com). Defining the word CELESTA:

    A celesta’s a keyboard with zing—
    Felted hammers strike steel plates and ping.
    It’s a musical treat
    In the Nutcracker Suite
    When the Sugar-Plum Fairy takes wing.

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