Guardian 29,262 – Paul

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Happy Boxing Day all: I hope you had a good Christmas. Paul starts the Guardian week with a puzzle containing a number of linked answers, as is quite common for him these days. Thanks and seasonal greetings to Paul.

The theme of the MOTOWN RECORD LABEL and some of its star performers is not exactly one of my core competences, but as it turned out I knew enough to be able finish this off without too much difficulty, and with some good entertainment along the way.

 
Across
1 ARTHROPOD Hour saved by spinner entering a shaft, spider perhaps (9)
A double inclusion: HR in TOP (spinner), in A ROD (shaft)
8 APRES-SKI A crush on youngster briefly socialising after a run? (5-3)
A PRESS + KI[d]
9 GOSSIP One page on pop singer that’s heard through the grapevine (6)
GOSS (Matt or Luke, from the boy band Bros) + 1 P
10 MOTOWN 1,002 on fantastic 24 22 down? (6)
Anagram of M (1000) + TWO + ON
11 TEAR INTO Organised riot, neat attack (4,4)
(RIOT NEAT)*
12 CITRIC Fruity authoritarian stripped on Guernsey etc (6)
CI (Channel Islands) + [s]TRIC[t]
15 RAINY DAY When one might spend savings always on the ultimate in Bobby Darin compilation (5,3)
Anagram of [bobb]Y DARIN, + AY (always)
16 MARSH TIT Singer ending in Detroit inspired by song that’s out of this world? (5,3)
[Detroi]T in MARS HIT – a different kind of singer
21 STRAINER Solver finally cracks nastier sort of riddle (8)
[solve]R in NASTIER*
22 LESSON By inference, more off message? (6)
LESS ON is the opposite of equivalent to “more off”
24,22 RECORD LABEL Island, say, where dog on lead has broken wind (6,5)
CORD (lead) + LAB (labrador) in REEL (to wind)
25 NOBLEMAN Piece by Le Bon savaged, might he ask for a little respect? (8)
(LE BON)* + MAN (piece, as in chess etc)
26 SPAY Doctor barks back (4)
Reverse of YAPS
27 GOOD LOSER Gold ore so useless, one happy with silver? (4,5)
(GOLD ORE SO)* – is a silver medallist really a loser?
Down
1 APPRO ‘A’ f-for agreement (5)
A + P-PRO – I only know this in the expression “on appro” for “on approval”, but no doubt it could also mean agreement
2,6 THE FOUR TOPS 10 outfit, shirt, cardigan, pullover and sweater? (3,4,4)
Shirt, cardigan, pullover and sweater are FOUR examples of TOPS
3 RESIN Again take forbidden fruit for frankincense, say (5)
Taking the forbidden fruit was the original sin of Adam and Eve, so to take it again would be to RE-SIN
4,20 POINTER SISTERS 10 group nursing dogs? (7,7)
POINTERs are dogs and SISTERS a grade of nurses
5 DOGMATISM Rubbish got said with extremes of Marxism, inflexible ideology (9)
Anagram of GOT SAID + M[arxis]M
6 TESTIFY Show still entertaining suits from the south (7)
Reverse of FITS (suits) in YET (still)
7 PAINTBALL Isn’t bee in jade a colourful stinger? (9)
AIN’T B in PALL – in the game/sport/activity of Paintball the pellets used are colourful and may sting when they hit you
13,19 I CAN’T HELP MYSELF So buffet closed for a number of 2 6 across? (1,4,4,6)
If the buffet is closed then you can no longer help yourself to food. It’s a song performed by the Four Tops
14 CAT-AND-DOG Vicious pair in shower? (3-3-3)
The “pair in shower” are what you might see when it’s raining cats and dogs
17 SHADOWY Dark trailer with ornate chassis? (7)
AD (e.g. trailer for a film) in SHOWY
18 TORONTO Moody Baby Love covers in North American city (7)
RON (Moody, actor) in TOT (baby) O (love)
23 ON AIR Live in Victorian office, taking lift? (2,3)
Hidden in reverse of victoRIAN Office

58 comments on “Guardian 29,262 – Paul”

  2. And Andrew for the blog. I enjoyed the Motown cross references and only really struggled on the SW where I was looking for an actual singer at 16ac.

  4. Thank you Andrew. Were there not two themes? The music ones and the ones that went to the dogs. SPAY (barks back), CAT-AND-DOG, DOGMATISM, TO(ro)NTO, POINTER (sisters), record LABel (in the clue).
    I was of the era of MOTOWN and a lot of the other music clues. Loved all the misdirections. Fav ISLAND (record label)

  6. Thanks to Paul and Andrew. Couldn’t parse TORONTO – I’d forgotten about that particular Moody. Curious, and, for me, disappointing that Paul had THE Four Tops, but not THE Pointer Sisters, which is their name.

  8. A rare finish for me and Paul but still needed some help with the parsing. Showy = ornate chassis still eludes me?
    I often log into this site yet rarely comment as I solve the puzzles later in the day but have done today to thank all the bloggers and admin team for their excellent work and companionship. Thank you!

  9. Liked CITRIC, MARSH TIT, RECORD LABEL and PAINTBALL.

    STRAINER
    Was wondering if the ‘sort of’ is the anagram indicator and the def is just ‘riddle’.
    paddymelon@4
    You are right there is a K9 theme as well.

  10. 9a, of coutse, has another TM hit as the definition. One of the few that I like. It never was my style of music.

  13. Although I mis-spent quite a lot of my youth listening to music, I wasn’t familiar with the POINTER SISTERS and although I knew of THE FOUR TOPS I didn’t know I CAN’T HELP MYSELF. None of that detracted from the enjoyment of a cleverly constructed puzzle. Knowing how difficult grid-filling can be, I’m not inclined to be too hard on Paul for missing the “The” for the Pointer Sisters, though of course Crispy @6 is correct.
    Some really neat cluing here, my favourites, I think, being MARSH TIT (with a pleasant image of Elon Musk listening to it, perhaps), PAINTBALL (Paul’s not wrong about the definition!) and TORONTO.
    Sometimes of late Paul’s surfaces have been a bit iffy, but today I thought he was on top form, 5 down being perhaps the neatest.
    Virtually no trademark Paul smut, apart from a mild chuckle at the farting dog in 24/22, and such a good puzzle that although I’m a fan of Paul’s rudery I didn’t miss it.
    Thanks to Paul and Andrew; and seasonal greetings to all.

  14. Many of these were guess-first, parse-later – and I gave up with the latter on quite a few. So heartfelt thanks to Andrew for all the explanations. (I agree with you about 27A, btw)
    On the whole, this was a gritted-teeth struggle. Crosswords where clue A refers to clue B, and clue B needs you to have solved clues D & E, and clue F also mentions B – and you can’t find a way into any of them – can be a little disheartening….
    But I got there in the end, which is something. Now for a calming cuppa and a choc biscuit. Better yet: it’s xmas – there’ll be a half-finished bottle of fizz in the fridge…
    Thank you to Paul for the challenge, and Andrew for the help.

  15. Not my music genre at all and I’m mainly aware of THE FOUR TOPS in connection with the phrase so regularly seen in e-mails, ‘reach out’. So the song title, whilst I recognised it when it finally came to me, was absolutely not front of mind. That solution was LOI and came word by painful word.

    KVa and paddymelon: I struggle slightly with either reading of the anagrind in STRAINER. ‘Sort of’ as an instruction following the fodder seems really odd but the alternative is ‘sort’ as an imperative which is, again, awkward when following the fodder to which it applies though I have seen that justified here before. But leaves us with ‘of’ as the linker to the solution.

    MARSH TIT, RECORD LABEL, SPAY and ON-AIR my faves today.

    Thanks Paul and Andrew

  17. Very minor addition to the blog. Raining cats and dogs is a deluge, so presumably a cat and a dog is just a shower? Otherwise thanks for the many parsings I didn’t get (TORONTO, MARSH TIT).

  18. A Supreme example of a Paul linked puzzle, which a South African on the radio might marvel at. There were a number of time where I had temptations to give up, but I felt quite gay at the end.

  19. For quite a while I hadn’t a clue (in a rather inappropriate way of putting it) about what was going on here, especially with all those Paulian interconnected pieces. But once I realised 10ac was MOTOWN things were fairly straightforward thereafter. Though I’ve never been a fan of this music – I’m more of a blues/rock and roll type – so the grid got filled without a great deal of enthusiasm on my part. The misdirection meant that MARSH TIT was my last one in…

  20. I got from THE FOUR TOPS to MOTOWN and hence to RECORD LABEL, rather than the other way around. A few too many bung and parse (or not, as the case may be) for my liking. Thanks, Paul and (especially) Andrew.

  21. Took quite a plod round the grid to ferret these out
    Wouod havbe been nice to include Gordy Berry and James Jamerson
    “I’ll be there” next time around

  23. Thanks for the blog and all the others this year . Too much jumping around for my solving method. MARSH TIT was a good clue , beautiful bird but so hard to know if it is a Willow Tit instead.
    Quite happy with NASTIER sort of. People often say “sort of ” after the word they are referencing.
    Jerry@1 you can have triple points but the competition ends on Sunday.

  24. Excellent! Thanks to Paul for a great crossword and a couple of laugh-out-louds.
    I also have to say thanks for the Maskarade one on Christmas Eve eve. I know this isn’t the right thread, but I always forget about the prize ones by the time they’re legitimately discussable. I can hardly comprehend the cleverness of creating something as complex and neat as that.
    Thank you to all the setters for the daily dose of trickery and wit!

  26. I just can’t seem to get on Paul’s wavelength, so today I will have to take my pleasure vicariously from other solvers.

    Although I did eventually fill the grid, only a handful were parsed from the wordplay. Most were parsed in hindsight, and some not at all, so thanks to Andrew for the explanations.

    Oh well. On to the rest of the week.

  29. After trying for an hour and only managing to solve 10 clues (with a lot of checking involved too) I eventually gave up and revealed the puzzle.

    Even after the explanations here I’m not sure I fully understand the setter’s intentions. Think I need to add Paul to my list of setters to come back to once I get a bit better at crosswords, alongside Qaos.

    Not a fan of several clues requiring you to have solved RECORD LABEL – which I still don’t understand how it corresponds with ISLAND, SAY in the surface. GOSSIP requiring you to figure out it meant the Bros brothers from such a vague surface also felt a little bit mean. They’re a bit before my time though, so that’s maybe just an age thing!

    Of the ones I was able to solve though, NOBLEMAN and GOOD LOSER were my favourites. Hope the rest of the week goes better than today!

  31. I loved this puzzle and the MOTOWN theme, and even enjoyed the 13/19 ear worm – very upbeat.
    Thank you for the parsing of CITRIC and TORONTO.
    I liked PAINTBALL, MARSH TIT and RECORD LABEL, had a chuckle at THE FOUR TOPS and I CAN’T HELP MYSELF.
    Thank you Paul and Andrew

  32. [Hello again. To those who are feeling a little overwhelmed, or maybe a little underwhelmed – let’s just say whelmed – by this crossword, I would heartily recommend having a go at Grecian’s offering in today’s Independent.
    It’s enormous fun!]

  33. paddymelon @4
    I would hazard a guess that you were thinking of the dog TOTO, not TONTO.
    PostMark @15
    For 21A STRAINER, how about ‘sort’ as a noun: the result of an act of sorting?
    Thanks Paul and Andrew.

  35. Thanks to Paul, and to Andrew, the parsing of TORONTO was beyond me (didn’t think of Ron Moody!). Really enjoyed that, and the wonderful theme.

  36. Reasonably straight forward after spotting Record Label, although the Moody actor beat me. Re 27ac, if you’re into motor racing you’ll know coming second is the first of the losers, so they say.
    Thanks Paul and Andrew.

  37. Crispy @6 “I’m a POINTER SISTERS fan”?

    Indeed If you add THE it changes meaning such that they only have one fan, or perhaps you’re the most fervent one 🙂

    Made heavy weather of this until the record label gave the theme away and then it was a sprint finish.

    Top tick for THE FOUR TOPS

    Cheers P&A

  38. Anyone know why for a number, eg. 9a, 12a, we were supposed to put things in ‘reverse order’? I’d have thought the ‘on’ would mean that, e.g. IP was on GOSS, but things seem to be topsy-turvy for some reason?

  39. Bodycheetah @37. Fair enough, but my point was the use of THE with The Four Tops but not with The Pointer Sisters.

  41. PeterO @33: possibly – but that still leaves you with ‘WP of definition’ which is not a particularly comfortable construction. I think ‘sort of’ must be the intended anagrind and, clearly, most folk are happy with it.

  43. Thanks Paul for a great Boxing Day puzzle and thanks Andrew for the blog.
    I just failed to fully parse 9a GOSSIP, as I wasn’t familiar enough with the music of Bros to know their names.
    Liked 12a as it always makes me smile to see reference to my home island in a clue. As an aside it did make me wonder about the abbreviate CI for Channel Islands – I can’t think of any real-world circumstances where this abbreviation is used; I wonder if it is one of those things that is only really seen in ‘Crossword Land’. Certainly not complaint though!

  44. I’m with Dynamite @29 and couldn’t finish it. NHO Goss singers, Island Records, Marshtit, Ron Moody, and couldn’t figure out arthropod. Otherwise it kept me entertained on this Boxing Day morning so thanks Paul and special thanks to Andrew for the parsing.

  45. As usual (for me) with Paul the answers flew in and parsing took a back seat. Highly enjoyable for this Motown fan. Thanks Paul and Andrew

  48. Entertaining puzzle that followed the usual pattern of stare blankly for 10 minutes and then gradually pick them off and wonder why it took you so long. Not a Motown aficionado but most thematic answers were clear enough from the word play although being of a certain age helped a lot. Highlight was the misdirection in 16ac, I thought. Never come across ‘appro’ before and hope it’s a while until I do so again. Thanks Paul & Andrew

  49. Paul in fairly approachable form today – and while I know little of Motown, I had enough about me to finish. Never heard of Ron Moody, so TORONTO went in with a shrug. The MARS HIT was typical appreciative groan territory, and one of the last pennies to drop.

    Dynamite @29 – Paul is definitely a setter with a particular wavelength, and usually one of the trickier ones, not least when there are cross-references in the grid, as there are fewer individual clues to get you a foothold. Keep at it, you’ll get there!

    Thanks Andrew & Paul.

  50. Thanks both ans many chuckles here, much appreciated.

    The only parsing I needed was for NOBLEMAN which reminded me of myself as a small child telling family the reason I couldn’t sleep was that I had a man up my nose. (They worked it out eventually.)

  52. Paul is on my do not attempt list but what else an I supposed to do on Boxing Day? Failed abysmally, lost in the circular cross references. Never again.

  53. Loved this puzzle, though I needed all the crossers for THE FOUR TOPS to crack the theme. With Paul I think it helps to expect the definitions to be cryptic (my favourite here being a colourful stinger).
    Thanks Andrew and Paul.

  54. I simply loved the MOTOWN sound this puzzle highlighted! Thanks heaps to Paul, Andrew and all contributors.

  55. Dynamite@29 come back to once I get a bit better at crosswords. There’s also personal preference, wavelength etc. Don’t necessarily think you need to get better at crosswords to appreciate a particular setter. Same goes for Qaos. You might get better at crosswords and gain more confidence in deciding why a particular setter doesn’t appeal to you! (When I first discovered this site, a lot of people were raving about Paul, but I just didn’t dig him. Still touch and go.

    Happy solving.

  56. Wonderful to see a Paul on Boxing Day – just perfect to relax with late at night when all is at peace and another Christmas passed….

    Greatly enjoyed, as always,

    Many, many thanks and best wishes to Paul, and Andrew of course…..

  57. I was too involved with watching my football team playing in my adopted home town yesterday [there are clues in my name] and so didn’t get around to even looking at the crossword until returning a little the worse for wear after some celebratory beers. It’s amazing I got as many as eight filled in last night. Did a little better today, but got stuck on thinking that MAJOR TOM would fit nicely in 16a, with no justification whatsoever, apart from ‘song that’s out of this world’. This made TORONTO more difficult than it needed to be – Paul had already made it totally obscure for me with ‘Moody Baby Love covers’ – and I never did get the ‘ornate chassis’ or the ‘singer’.

    Dynamite@29. The thing about having setters that you never even attempt is that you’ll never get better at them. Have a go, get stuck, come back a few times, then check the parsings of those you couldn’t solve. Most people who do that will improve. Everyone who ducks the challenge will remain at the same level.

    Thanks to Paul and Andrew.

  58. I loved this puzzle, particularly when I cracked “motown” and could use the theme for help.
    The parsing of toronto was far too obscure for me but I guessed it would be a Canadian city, and with two crossers found one that fit. Also didn’t see that a chassis could be a frame but got it eventually anyway,
    Appreciated the humour in “The Four Tops” and “I can’t help myself”

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