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A fun and often tricky solve – my favourites were 14ac, 24ac, 7dn, 8dn, and 18dn. Thanks to Fed
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | ROLLER-SKATING |
Waves card around at sport (6-7)
|
| ROLLERS=sea “Waves”, plus KING=playing “card” around AT (from surface) | ||
| 10 | ON THE BALL |
Aware of article following working party (2,3,4)
|
| THE=definite “article” following ON=”working”; plus BALL=”party” | ||
| 11 | LUNGE |
Thrust using energy after breather (5)
|
| E (energy) after LUNG=”breather” | ||
| 12 | IRONY |
Humorous style of club comedy at last (5)
|
| IRON=golf “club”; plus last of [comed]-Y | ||
| 13 | TIME SHEET |
Record of employment from phone company on network in Bristol (4,5)
|
| EE (Everything Everywhere, “phone company”) after MESH=”network”, both inside TIT=”Bristol”
“Bristol” is rhyming slang: ‘Bristol city’=’titty’ |
||
| 14 | EVENS |
Competition missing Tango – Strictly’s biggest character quits (5)
|
| definition as in ‘call it quits’ / ‘call it evens’
EVEN-[T]=”Competition” minus T (Tango, NATO alphabet); plus S-[trictly’s] “biggest character” i.e. capital letter |
||
| 16 | YET TO COME |
However, large book covering business is expected? (3,2,4)
|
| YET=”However”, plus TOME=”large book” around CO (company, “business”) | ||
| 17 | IMPORTUNE |
Press regularly film one in Provence drinking wine (9)
|
| definition: to pester, to make repeated requests
regular letters from [f]-I-[L]-M, and UNE=”one” in French (in the Provence region of France); both around PORT=”wine” |
||
| 19 | YIELD |
Give up in year contestants’ foxtrot’s censored (5)
|
| Y (year) + [F]-IELD=”contestants” with F (foxtrot, NATO alphabet) removed
‘the field’ can refer to the group of contestants in a given [sporting] competition |
||
| 21 | POUNDLAND |
Get bruise opening shop (9)
|
| definition: a British chain of shops
LAND=successfully obtain=”Get”; with POUND=batter=”bruise” |
||
| 23 | BUSTS |
Breaks statues (5)
|
| double definition | ||
| 24 | RABBI |
Teacher‘s tips for our orchestra before musical King and I (5)
|
| end letters (“tips”) of [ou]-R [orchestr]-A, plus BB (B.B. King, the musician) + I (directly from surface) | ||
| 25 | EXPATIATE |
Elaborate move abroad right away (9)
|
| definition: to describe in detail
EXPATRIATE=”move abroad”, with R (right) taken away |
||
| 26 | FRIGHTENINGLY |
Somehow gentrifying centre of Balham in an alarming way (13)
|
| anagram/”Somehow” of (gentrifying lh)*, with the lh taken from the centre of Ba-lh-am | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 2 | OUTVOTE |
Published five books on European defeat at the polls (7)
|
| OUT=”Published” (e.g. the news article is now out/published) + V=”five” in Roman numerals + OT (Old Testament, “books”) + E (European) | ||
| 3 | LIE BY |
Keep out of the way 6 times (3,2)
|
| LIE=”6″ down=TALL STORY; plus BY=”times” (multiplication e.g. ‘four by five’ / ‘four times five’) | ||
| 4 | ROAST |
Schedules with time diminishing for cook (5)
|
| ROTAS=”Schedules” with the T (time) moving down in the word (“diminishing”) | ||
| 5 | KILOMETRE |
Distance remote controlled oven nearly starts (9)
|
| anagram/”controlled” of (remote)*, with KIL-[n]=”oven nearly” placed at the start
“controlled” as anagram indicator, somewhat similar to ‘manipulated’ |
||
| 6 | TALL STORY |
Every way to penetrate politician’s falsehood (4,5)
|
| ALL=”Every” + ST (street, “way”); all inside TORY=”politician” | ||
| 7 | NON-ZERO |
Positive or negative news about old love (3-4)
|
| two ‘news’: N (new) + N (new), around O (old); plus ZERO=”love” [tennis scoring] | ||
| 8 | BODICE-RIPPERS |
Romances by Shakespeare, originally including moving period piece mostly involving Romeo (6-7)
|
| first letters (originally) of B-[y] S-[hakespeare]; around anagram/”moving” of (period piec)* and around R (Romeo, NATO alphabet)
piec in the anagram fodder is piec-[e], mostly |
||
| 9 | FEATHER DUSTER |
Abandoned feud – arrest the cleaner (7,6)
|
| anagram/”Abandoned” of (feud arrest the)* | ||
| 15 | SHREDDING |
Destroying protection from the sun – American becomes red (9)
|
| SHADING=”protection from the sun”, with the A for “American” becoming RED | ||
| 16 | YOU NAME IT |
I may tune out boxing ring – whatever! (3,4,2)
|
| anagram/”out” of (I may tune)*, around (“boxing”) O=”ring” | ||
| 18 | PLUMBER |
Perhaps Mario Balotelli’s header, excellent at first, goes over the bar ultimately (7)
|
| definition: Mario the Nintendo video game character is a plumber
(and for the surface reading, Mario Balotelli is a footballer) first letter (header) of B-[alotelli]; with PLUM=”excellent” going first”; all going over last letters (ultimately) of [th]-E [ba]-R |
||
| 20 | ENSNARL |
Tangle as some girl ran sneakily uphill (7)
|
| hidden (“some”) reversed (“uphill”) in [gir]-L RAN SNE-[akily] | ||
| 22 | DIP IN |
Detectives number sample (3,2)
|
| definition: “sample” as a verb, to try or take a bit of something
edit: a better parsing thanks to KVa in the comments: DI (Detective Inspector) + PI (Private Investigator) as the “Detectives”; plus N (number)
|
||
| 23 | BATON |
Staff stay in? (5)
|
| in cricket, to “stay in” when batting would be to BAT ON |
DIP IN
I took DI and PI as detectives. N as number.
Thanks Fed and manehi.
Top faves: RABBI, SHREDDING and PLUMBER.
Over all a great puzzle. Lovely blog as usual.
Thanks manehi: needed you for BODICE RIPPERS SHREDDING.
Started out quite straightforward, but reduced to a check button crawl in the SW corner at the finish.
Thanks, also, Fed.
That was a lovely way to round off the week. I parsed DIP IN the same as KVa@1, but some lovely clues there.
Favourites were TIME SHEET, PLUMBER and IMPORTUNE.
Thanks Fed and manehi – and 225 for going above and beyond the call of duty with the Guardian cryptics this week.
Thanks Fed and manehi
I also needed you for BODICE RIPPERS and SHREDDING.
Not too keen on “tips” for last letters, though I suppose they are.
TIME SHEET my favourite too.
That was fun, I needed this to parse SHREDDING, one of my last ones in.
I parsed DIP IN as DI plus PIN, but agree DI & PI & N is better.
Thank you to manehi and Fed.
Very satisfying to piece this all together; very clearly and fairly clued throughout. BODICE RIPPERS made me laugh and, whilst I have never heard of the footballer, the surface and construction for PLUMBER are both nice. SHREDDING, ROLLER-SKATING and FRIGHTENINGLY also earned ticks. I was pleased to work out IMPORTUNE as it made me realise I had inadvertently gone for the US spelling of kilometer.
Thanks Fed and manehi
muffin @5: I did wonder about that. ‘Tipped’ is often used to indicate initial letter deletion with the tip equating to the top which is generally the front. That said, Chambers gives three relevant definitions for tip, two of which are neutral with regard to which end bears the tip but the third is ‘The furthest part’ which surprised me – and would actually seem to support last letters more than first letters in an acrostic.
I had one of those rare wavelength occasions, where I had this completed in 20 minutes last night and was first to post on the the G thread, for the first time ever. Very enjoyable and all my favourites already mentioned above, to which I would add TALL STORY.
Ta Fed & manehi.
Shredding took me far too long – spent time switching R for A. Some great clues with great misdirection; I love idea of Shakespeare’s Bodice Rippers.
Thanks Setter and Blogger
I had Manehi’s parsing of Dip In. But KVA’s is correct now I think about it
@8 Postmark. Interesting about tips. I now understand why, in the US, the golf tee markers farthest away from the hole are referred to as ‘the tips’.
I go for FRIGHTENINGLY as my clue of the day for the combination of clever anagram and apposite surface. As I stare out at my garden the tips of the branches are furthest away from the trunk.
Strictly’s biggest character was a trick I hadn’t seen before.
So happy to solve this. Some clues really tricky but interesting. Liked all the long perimeter ones, and Mario. Came here for some parsing – would never have understood 13a or 24 so many thanks Manehi and Fed.
Greatly entertained by this, though one or two were solve than parse after (ah, Bristol = Tit appears again). Took a while to accept LIE BY, and last one in was the fiddly DIP IN. Had to check NON-ZERO as a thing. IMPORTUNE not much in common use these days, I’d have thought, though it used to appear frequently in not very good poetry, I remember. And I did recollect Mario The PLUMBER in my very brief playing days on the games console.
Fantastic fun and, not for the first time, I concur with everything KVa said. I liked “diminishing” to move the T in ROAST
Cheers M&F
I spent too long trying to open GET and BRUISE to make an anagram for a shop and also got hung up on YOU MEAN IT. Once those were sorted it all went in nicely, although the DI & PI trick evaded me.
Thanks Fed and manehi.
I liked the wotevs howevs twosome, EXPATIATE and DIP IN were pleasing, BAT ON and TIME SHEET made me grin.
Thank you manehi for explaining SHREDDING (I was wondering if “redding” was a US term for blushing) and ENSNARL which, now that I can see it, is rather neat.
And thank you very much, Fed, for repairing my shattered faith in the pleasure of crosswords. I found many of this week’s offerings decidedly trying and at one point seriously considered switching to some other intellectual entertainment. (The nadir being when I noticed I’d scrawled FFS beside three solutions in a Paul crossword. Clearly, the fun must have packed up and gone home.)
Perhaps it was just a bad patch. I’ll keep my fingers crossed…
Tricky but fun. I thought that DI and PI must both be detectives, but couldn’t think what PI was. Also failed to parse BODICE RIPPER and the fiddly RABBI, and I don’t think I have met LIE BY before.
Lots of good surfaces: favourites FRIGHTENINGLY, FEATHER DUSTER and TALL STORY.
Am I right in thinking that ‘plum’ in this context should be ‘plumb’, as it stems from plumb line, the builders’ technique of hanging a lump of lead (plumbum) from a piece of string in order to get eg a wall perfectly vertical. In which case, Balotelli is unnecessary (something I always thought when Liverpool signed him!).
Or are both spellings acceptable?
I could not parse 21ac (but I know the shop), 7d; 13ac (ironically my phone network sometimes switches to EE like right now and also I never heard that “Bristol” is rhyming slang: ‘Bristol city’=’titty’!
Favourites: BATON, FRIGHTENINGLY, RABBI, EVENS, SHREDDING (loi).
New for me: Mario Balotelli (soccer player) and Mario = plumber (for 18d).
Thanks, both.
[Really miss BB and those big old AfAm men. Taj is still with us, but he was a lad while the oldies were already cruising]
Another super offering from Fed. As ever fair and fun. Rabbi so obvious eventually but tied myself in knots trying to work Tut into the solution – and don’t ask me why!!
Wolf at 20. Plum here is used as something highly desirable – what a plum job he landed and so the B header is needed.
Thanks to Fed and Maheni.
I couldn’t help thinking that EVENS was a bit of a tribute to one of Strictly’s biggest characters the late Len Goodman, famous for his sayings and the way he awarded a “SEVEN” to the contestants. Google it if you don’t know what I’m talking about.
Thanks manehi, this was a great end to a strong week, I took a while over the shorter ones especially, as I’m not familiar with the expression LIE BY and would probably DIP IN+to something, but it all came good in the end after misleading myself many times, most notably with NON_ZERO, level with the PLUMBER as my favourite, thanks Fed.
Loved this but needed the blog for a few parsings.
Wellbeck @18: I FFS-ed a few of those clues, too. Do hang in there, that setter is several solvers bête-noire.
A challenging end to the week for me. NHO POUNDLAND nor EE as a phone service, neither having existed when I moved away.
Thank you manehi for some parsings that eluded me and Fed for the puzzle.
William @26: thank you for the support! It’s a comfort to know I wasn’t alone…
Thank you Fed & manehi.
This was for me a tricky treat, and I especially liked the scary gentrification of Balham (gateway to the south) at 26a, BB King at 24a, and the pairing of IMPORTUNE and YIELD framed by 8&9d!
I must have been on Fed’s wavelength (unusually) as this all went in smoothly.
Favourites were BODICE RIPPERS and PLUMBER.
Thanks Fed and manehi
I went straight to 23d and confidently entered ‘stick’ for ‘staff stay in’. Slowed me down a bit!
Phew, tough week. Completed with 4 unparsed. Missed BB even though I’ve seen that before. Also seen the Mario clue before.
Thanks both.
LIE BY must be what you use a lay-by to do?
I just couldn’t see BODDICE RIPPERS even with all the cross clues; but everything else fell into place: eventually. Favourites include IMPORTUNE, RABBI, and PLUMBER. With thanks to Tramp and manehi. P.S. Wellback@18 and William@26: agreed. I have completed a few of Paul’s puzzles in the past, but he is the only setter I tend to avoid these days as I find there are just too many FFS moments for comfort. With most setters you feel they are still willing you to get there in the end, but am not always so sure with Paul.
Some very clever and well-constructed clues as usual from Fed. My favourite was RABBI for the brilliant “musical King and I”.
I’m a bit surprised that nobody’s queried “Every” = ALL in 6d. Fed has used this before (in 28,483, which I think might have been his first puzzle for the Guardian), and when someone objected he responded with the ingenious example of “Ensure all/every sheep can access the water facilities” (comment 72). You just have to ignore the fact that in one, “sheep” is plural, and in the other it’s singular 🙂 !
Many thanks Fed and manehi.
Apologies, I thanked Tramp rather than Fed, as I should have done. I was still in yesterday’s mind set (!)
A very nice crossword enjoyed it while having a coffee in bed, my favourite was 26a.
Stay safe and travel safely
Hadn’t heard of POUNDLAND. I assume it’s the equivalent of our Dollar Tree, where everything costs a dollar (or used to–inflation hit and it’s now $1.25, plus they added a $2/$3/$4 aisle, having discovered that even Dollar Tree shoppers want a few things that aren’t total junk). I also hadn’t heard of the phone company, and had forgotten that Bristol was rhyming slang for tit, so TIMESHEET went in unparsed.
Thanks for the blog, ROLLER-SKATING flowed well and was pleasingly concise, SHREDDING was a neat idea and ENSNARL cleverly hidden .
Thanks manehi and thanks all.
Lord Jim @35 I’d forgotten that ‘all/every sheep’ comment. But I really don’t think it at all controversial. I have every confidence that you’ll come round to it. Or should that be all confidence.
Re the ‘tips’ discussion started by muffin @5 I think that’s one of those indicators that means different things depending on if it’s an across or down clue. Personally, I think it fairest to use it to mean the last letter when it’s across and the first when it’s down although I’m sure I’ve seen it used to mean one or the other in both orientations. (In the plural, I’d use it to mean the first and last either way).
Cheers!
[ No apology from the Guardian for the fiasco on Tuesday , not even mentioned and no replacement puzzle. No theme for Bagpuss for his 50th birthday, I am not best pleased . ]
I’m with Jacob@27 on EE and POUNDLAND — never heard of either of ’em. Can somebody explain EE?
Wolf@20 PLUMBER = Plum (excellent) + B(alotelli) + thE baR with indications about which goes first.
Roz — who’s Bagpuss?
Thanks to Fed and manehi for a pleasant morning.
[Roz @41 – no new crossword on the Guardian online app either – *shrug* – no space for apologies there, but the duplicate Kite was replaced there, and a late Quiptic appeared later on in the week.
However, if you want a Bagpuss tribute, the Folk on Foot podcast met Sandra Kerr for the January edition (not the current one) – the musician who provided the music for Bagpuss – to hear her memories, sing some of the songs from the series and look at her collection of Bagpuss memorabilia – I don’t promise the entire episode is about Bagpuss because her daughter also got involved and she’s done other stuff.]
[ Bagpuss- the most important ….the most beautiful ….. the most magical……saggy old cloth cat in the whole wide world.
The greatest children’s TV show ever ]
[ Thanks Shanne , there was not even a mention in Corrections and Clarifications concerning the repeat puzzle . BBC4 has shown some Bagpuss this week and a special programme on Postgate and Firmin , Sandra Kerr was on that ]
Loved this, and the only one I fully solved all week, though still took some effort. Many thanks Fed, and thanks manehi for breaking down the couple I couldn’t parse. Favourite clue was PLUMBER for the amazing surface. Happy weekend all!
Wolf @20: PLUM came up earlier in the week in the quibbles as to whether it is the same color as magenta. In that discussion, I was corrected by Roz when I used the word to refer to a palpable LBW. She wanted to add the “b” to that (presumably as an extension of your definition of straight in line). However, she did not object to the b-less adjective referring to a choice assignment, or “excellent” as in this clue.
21a – where does OPENING fit into the clue?
16d – why does boxing = around?
Steffen @48
OPENING I think means the bruising comes first
boxing means surrounding
Thank you.
It’s the hardest week of puzzles I’ve encountered over the whole of the last year.
Another granny today.
I have never done crosswords on other newspaper sites – are any of them easier?
I always love Fed’s work. To my embarrassment as a mathematician of sorts it took a long time to get non zero. Very good.
[Steffen – several of the same setters appear in different newspapers – see the Setters page on this site. The Daily Telegraph used to be easier, but it’s not covered here and I haven’t looked at it for years, not since I used to finish it off for my mother when I was a teenager. I always solve the Guardian, usually solve the FT but not necessarily the same day and sometimes look at the Independent and they vary the way the Guardian does with different setters.
Lots of people have commented this week has been tough – and found this one easier. I love Fed and will go find and solve his Bluth puzzles in the Independent too.
I was actually offering a Zoom call when I asked’]
Shanne @52… I didn’t think you were serious!
I would be more than keen.
[Steffen @53 – it’s planning a time that would work for you and me. Free Zoom account gives 40 mins.]
Steffen, try the Daily Telegraph and the 13 by 13 Evening Standard. This was the hardest crossword for me this week.
I too was trying to accept DI as ‘investigators’ + PIN, so was relieved to see the alternative here.
Thank you Fed – I enjoyed IRONY, NON-ZERO, RABBI and especially BATON.
Wellbeck@18 – yes, I’m sorry to say I am in the FFS brigade too with regard to a certain setter who used to be a favourite. Fed and Bluth are now two of the by-lines I look forward to seeing at the top of a puzzle.
Thanks also to manehi for the explanations.
[Never apologize :-). I don’t see the need for the Guardian crossword editor to apologize for the odd slip. The crosswords are a daily gift which I would pay more for than my desultory contributions to the website (more than the paper copy would cost but still not enough across the board). I enjoy the odd error – not picking out the Paul repeat till ‘Dai wrecked’ became ‘direct’ was sweet. There ain’t no perfection.]
Thanks both,
I found this quite tough, but a day with the grandchildren and a generous Edradour tend to dull the mind,
I love Fed’s style most of all the setters: no very specialist sports terminology or obscure general knowledge, but damn good fun, even when the parsing takes ages. A lovely treat after a tricky week. Thank you!
Didn’t get to this until Saturday morning, and I think that all my favourites have already been cited above so it just remains to say thank to Fed for a very enjoyable puzzle and to Manehi for parsing the ones I could not (NON ZERO, and the EE in TIME SHEET).
Steffen@50
Please try this if you feel like
https://games.dailymail.co.uk/games/daily-cryptic-crossword#!202110
Late to the game
Steffen @50 – we can recommend The Herald’s cryptic:
https://www.heraldscotland.com/puzzles/
Thanks Manehi and Fed for a brain-twister well explained
Sorry, the clue for TIME SHEET to this person in NZ is impossible to parse. So whilst I did complete, RABBI I couldn’t parse either. An enjoyable puzzle apart from that clue.
Chiding myself over not getting NON-ZERO — great clue. NHO “Poundland”, probably never will again. Extremely frustrated to have not sussed PLUMBER, despite being familiar with both Mario Brothers and Balotelli the somewhat hapless (at least in the EPL) footballer.
John M @63, I feel your pain. Rhyming slang (which most of us suspect is not actually used by anyone in real life any more) is an arbitrary set of rules to learn. I knew “Bristol” for female breast from various UK fiction of old; I didn’t know it was rhyming slang until recently.
loi 8d – BODICE-RIPPERS – the one with the knottiest parsing.
[21a – POUNDLAND – you can’t get much for £1 there anymore. Most things seem to be £1.50 or £2, since the Tories trashed the economy.]
18d – PLUMBER – “Mario Balotelli” – a trademark Fed/Bluth “lift-and-separate”, but last seen in the UK 9 years ago.
Especially liked 25a EXPAT[r]IATE, but appalled to find Wiktionary allowing ex-pat as an ‘Alternative form of expat’ 😯 – as if it were ex-patriot, or ex-Pat – someone who doesn’t want to be !rish anymore.
Googling “ex-pat” -expat site:www.theguardian.com returns 990 instances – in The Guardian, For Flip’s Sake! 😡
Guardian and Observer style guide: E: ‘expat, expatriate
not ex-pat or expatriot; this is “ex” meaning “out of” (as in export, extract), not “ex-” meaning “former” (as in ex-husband).
The term is redolent of the days of empire and used only to describe Brits abroad, who might more accurately be termed emigrants’
Fed@40 – “What a beautiful animal – from its head to the tip of its tail” – so “tip” always indicates the last letter, never the first, irrespective of orientation (though I agree with you that “tips” can mean both ends of a particular word)
[Anybody who denigrates Paul’s wonderful work with “FFS” comments has yet to realise the pure joy he offers – more than any other setter (just about!) Mind you, I’m jealous of such folk as it’s clear they will enjoy Paul far more when they have improved their solving skills, so have something to look forward to. I’m sure that had I attempted a Paul aged 13 say (when, as a schoolboy, even a Daily Telegraph puzzle could occasionally take more than 20 minutes to solve!) I too may have been moved to write FFS (had such vernacular existed back then!) – my advice to (the other, second) William and others is don’t give up; one day your solving skills may improve enough to enjoy Paul fully!]