Guardian Prize 29,368 by Maskarade

56 comments on “Guardian Prize 29,368 by Maskarade”

1. Well it was straightforward, except perhaps MAESTRI, my LOI, but did mean I had the rest of the weekend to relax!

2. Easier than usual maybe, but there have been several easy Prize puzzles in the last few months, and this was, in my opinion, not the easiest of them. For example, RITORDANDO was something you admit to having looked up, and it took several tries before it came back to my memory despite the obvious fodder; and IN ARMS was a bit tricky in both parts of the double definition – it’s not really an idiom either way: a babe is IN ARMS while the mother is holding it, but the phrase doesn’t stand alone, and as you point out, soldiers are either “under arms”, or as occurred to me are “men at arms”. (Perhaps they’re in Chambers?)

   I solved MAESTRI from simply knowing that all three were knighted, so if ‘rattle’ is an anagrind and ‘sir team’ the anagrist – despite staning at opposite ends of the clue (justified by the question mark?) – but it’s also solvable without reference to either of those, what is your categorisation of this clue now? Is it just an &lit or something more clever? 🙂

   Not so simple now, is it!?

   I enjoyed the ones that held me up before I put the puzzle down last weekend. On Friday I got the well hidden CHEROKEE, having previously thought that a CREE might have been hiding something else, and I thought URGENCY was quite clever too.

   Thanks to maskarade and bridgesong.

   Can I please repeat the plea for people to refrain from commenting on the current puzzle while the blog refers to the previous one – as happened last weekend with regard to this one. Thanks.

3. Thanks bridgesong. You’re right of course it was easier than usual but I didn’t mind that for a change, after battling with more difficult and sometimes abstruse examples it was a bit of a relief to reach the finish line more quickly. LOI was STYLISED; if someone had asked me I would have said the word was styalised” so have now learned the error of my ways. I didn’t have any trouble with 3d, a body of soldiers could indeed be referred to as comrades in arms.

4. I had a week to think that I had mastered crosswords, before seeing the inevitable “easy” statements.

   I admit that I agree it was not as tough as many, but I found it very enjoyable – another demonstration that a puzzle does not have to be crazily difficult to be gratifying. So saying, I also agree with sheffield hatter@2 that some thought and research was required along the way. Favourites were STOA, MEDALLISTS and AT ODDS

   Thanks Muskarade and birdsong

5. IN ARMS
   sheffield hatter@2
   You are right. Chambers says IN ARMS is ‘carried as a child’.
   If we consider the ‘nursed’ as an adjective and link the rest of the clue to the
   phrase ‘babe IN ARMS’, it seems to make sense. No?

   MAESTRI
   I didn’t consider the ‘rattle’ as the anagrind. MAESTRI (comes) ‘from the’ SIR TEAM.
   Thought there was no routine anagrind except to indicate that the solution was coming
   from ‘those’ letters.

   Thanks Maskarade and bridgesong!

6. me@5 contd
   MAESTRI
   The whole clue could be considered the def but the wordplay doesn’t seem to engage all words of the clue.

7. I read the MAESTRI clue as indicating the anagram with “from the” too, it’s not the most obscure anagram indicator.

   I too found this very straightforward.

   Thank you to bridgesong and Maskerade.

8. I also thought it easier than usual, but enjoyable nonetheless.

   MAESTRI a good clue but definitely not an &lit., as KVa@5,6 and Shanne@7 explain.

9. bridgesong
   Perhaps you need a better dictionary. 11A is RITARDANDO – which even fits the anagram.

10. Thanks Maskarade and bridgesong.

    The perimeter nina is the icing on a splendid puzzle.

11. PeterO @9: there’s nothing wrong with my dictionary, but perhaps I need new glasses! Thanks for pointing out the typo, now corrected (except in the grid).

12. I guess Shap is a town? Is its significance to the road network a well-known fact in the UK?

13. sheffield hatter, KVa and others: perhaps I was over-generous in characterising MAESTRI as an & lit, but I like to give setters the benefit of the doubt where possible (it helps to compensate for the occasional criticism of a clue that I consider weak). But the fact that parsing one or two of the answers was a little tricky does not detract from the fact that filling the grid was relatively straightforward, for the reasons given in the introduction to this blog.

14. Cineraria @ 12: I think (without researching it) that Shap is a fell, or hill. It is well known to those who drive along the M6 motorway as there is a sign marking it as the highest point on the road (which is very scenic at that point). I expect that someone who lives locally will be able to give more detailed information.

15. nho SHAP – obscure UK Geographical GK – “It’s the wrong way to tickle Mary…”

16. Lovely puzzle from Maskarade.

    Liked: OSIRIS, FATALIST, YESTERYEAR, STOA

    Thanks Maskarade and bridgesong

17. Shap Summit is the high point on a the West Coast main rail line, and appears in books for that reason. I learned about it in Malcolm Saville’s Strangers at Snowfall

18. Cineraria@12, bridgesong@14 (to whom thanks), etc – yes, Shap is a small town in Cumbria, in the NW of England, the most mountainous part of the country, which gives its name to a fell (a high moorland tract), over which the M6 motorway climbs and descends. And the railway, as Shanne@17 says. When working on the puzzle, I thought this might be obscure to non-UK solvers, but the Guardian is aimed at a British audience, so we need to expect a few of these.
    I had no problem with ‘IN ARMS’. It occurs in ‘brothers in arms’ (“We’re fools to make war on our brothers in arms”, to quote Dire Straits – in which the World is now).
    Thanks to Maskerade for a puzzle which did not take too long.

19. Thanks for the blog, SHAP is a village , just about , and a fell but not very high really. It is the highest point on the M6 with a sign but lost the record in England to the M62 . More “famous” is the nearby Tebay services, renowned as the best motorway service station in the UK .

20. Shanne@ 17 I never click on links but Shap not as high as Beattock summit in Scotland , famous from the GPO film ” The Night Mail ” .

21. Good spot Ilippu@10, I noticed the sticklebrick grid but did not look for messages.

22. There is also an acrostic of more Irish counties (CLARE, MEATH, MONAGHAN and CARLOW) in the first letters of the clues (plus WERT: was it supposed to be WEST MEATH?)

23. Brilliant Gladys @22 , perhaps Sargent should have been first for 17Ac .

24. A nina and an acrostic – so clever!
    I only spotted the former.

    MEATH and WESTMEATH are both Irish counties, but I suspect WESTMEATH was intended (and perhaps someone edited the clue for 17Ac without realising).

25. I was initially delighted that it wasn’t a jigsaw and there were no special instructions. With hindsight, maybe there should have been

    Cheers B(&T) & M

26. Agree it was v. easy for a Saturday puzzle (a bit too easy IMO). I think the only clues I didn’t solve on first pass were RITARDANDO, STOA and CHEROKEE – for no particular reason, though I did check the first two in a dictionary.
    I agree Shap may be a bit obscure for non-Brits; I’m old enough to remember being driven over it years before the M6 motorway was built in 1970 – the old road (A6) is almost 100m higher at the summit and was famous as a slow climb for goods vehicles on this important trunk route. Depending on the route chosen, Land’s End to John O’Groats cyclists still enjoy the climb (or at least remember it)!
    Thanks both.

27. Shap used to be well known (but obviously not outside the UK) as the usual point where the route over the Pennines would become impassable due to snow, and featured regularly on weather and traffic reports.

28. Congratulations to Gladys for spotting the acrostic; I agree that it seems as though someone must have edited the clue for MAESTRI. And kudos to Maskarade for the (unsignalled) achievement! If you’re reading this, Tom, do please drop in and tell us more.

29. I usually look for Ninas but the perimeter evaded me – let alone the acrostics.
    Congratulations to Maskarade.
    [ Apologies for a further contribution to the SHAP fest. SHAP, now, is a lovely village and a great base for walking in a quieter part of the Lake District. It will, however, be etched in the memory of anyone who drove up to Scotland, in the winter, before the motorway opened. ]

30. Hats off to Maskarade for the Irish counties round the edge.

    Lovely to see MISHAP. A delightful if obscure clue helped by knowledge of the M6.

    [To add to ShapFest, I knew the placename from joining NW Water Authority in Jan 1976. A relatively early environmental protest had forced Manchester Corporation Water Works to construct the “dualling” pipeline … needed to increase carrying capacity out of Haweswater … along a separate route over Shap. John Frederick La Trobe Bateman’s brilliant gravitational design for the Thirlmere Aqueduct had been mirrored in MCWW’s later Haweswater Aqueduct. Sadly, a pumping station was needed over Shap, making operations much more complicated and less energy efficient. I would have called it the (Mi)Shap Pumping Station had I thought of the pun at the time. With the mega drought of 1976 brewing, it was a thrilling time to join NWWA.]

31. I was waiting for the blog with anticipation because I thought I might have missed something. That was certainly true. I’d failed to see the wonderful Nina and acrostic. 🎩 to Ilippu@10 and Gladys@22 and, of course, to Maskarade. Many thanks Bridgesong for the very clear blog, especially the explanation of MISHAP – SHAP had passed me by. IN ARMS didn’t really work for me either, although sjshart@19 and others have persuaded me that it does. My favourites were MAESTRI and AT ODDS. I’ve not seen the latter before in which case it is superb. No doubt someone will know if it has ever been used previously. At least no one will say that it’s in Chambers 🤣.

32. D’oh! Cant believe we missed the Nina. Like Roz@21, i noticed the possiblity of the grid as soon as we sat down to start solving but never checked it on completion. Must try harder.
    Thanks Maskarade for a clever puzzle and to Bridgesong for the blog. (Now I know why he makes strong coffee – to be up before 5 am to reply to comments).

33. Enjoyable puzzle, very clearly clued.

    Favourite: FATALIST, AT ODDS, URGENCY (loi).

    I could not parse 22ac MISHAP apart from M (or M1) = motorway. Never heard of Shap village (or summit or whatever) – beaulieu@26 it’s more than a bit obscure for non-Brits LOL

    Thanks, both.

34. It must have been fairly easy! Even I got all but two.

35. Roz@19. I thought Tebay was a great name for motorway services, but I see it’s a village. Clever. How do you pronounce it?

36. I have tussled for days (not hours) with some of Maskarade’s Bank Holiday specials, so seeing his name at the top of this one made me think I’d have a lot of trouble. As a result, I really felt good when I solved so many clues on my first pass. It was very refreshing to have this Prize crossword unfold so smoothly.
    Like others, and sorry to be repetitive, but I also failed to solve the SHAP part of MISHAP at 22a …
    I didn’t see the Irish counties Nina/other references – how clever! Well spotted, fellow contributors! When I saw the “added extras”, it took the puzzle to a whole different level. So grateful to this 15² community for such insights which add so much to my appreciation of setters like Maskarade. Gratitude abounds.
    Thanks very much to Maskarade and bridgesong.

37. PDM@ 35 it is just TEE BAY , it is famous in the NW of England , actually 2 service stations , North and South bound. The North is older and possibly better and the views are certainly better. Most UK motorway service stations are a chamber of horrors.

38. Paddymellon@35: if you’re a local, it’s pronounced ‘teeba’

39. Easier than the Everyman or Quiptic from the same weekend. I like puzzles at this level, but I wish there was more consistency.

40. I wrote: ‘Pretty swift’, (and not Taylor).

    I missed the clever NINA and acrostic. I liked the slightly unconventional anagram for MAESTRI and the well-hidden CHEROKEE.

    Thanks Maskarade and bridgesong.

41. I spotted the nina but missed the acrostic. Shame someone put the composers in alphabetical order (and could Rattle work as the indicator, if it was last?)

    Roz@37 agree about Tebay north being better. We used to prefer Killington Lake (southbound only) for the view.

42. Nho SHAP, so that went unparsed. And I wondered if OP can mean works, plural? I suppose op. cit. is an example. Aside from that, very straightforward for a Maskerade, but of course I missed the clever nina.

43. me@41 “conductors” obvs.

44. I think that I solved this with less need for crossers than any cryptic I’ve ever attempted, Quiptics included. Attempting the clues in the order printed I’d reached 25a before I failed on one. All these crossers meant that the Down clues went in smoothly. No complaints. There were some nice clues.
    That done I thought there must be something else. I couldn’t spot a theme but SLIGO caught my eye and led to the others round the edge. Strange because I never spot NINAs. I didn’t see gladys’s acrostic.
    Tramp admitted that he had put a theme in yesterday’s to motivate himself when he was getting bored with simple grid filling. I wondered if Maskarade had been similarly motivated. The NINA and acrostic must be the reason why this puzzle is in the Prize slot, though there is nothing to say that you needed to spot them to win.
    Thanks to Maskarade, bridgesong and gladys.

45. I appreciated this rather easy Saturday puzzle (for a change!) – in fact I preferred it to the recent monster puzzle with all the villages and towns. I don’t mind admitting that CHEROKEE was my last in. I have known SHAP (on the A6) since I was a child, so MISHAP came pretty quickly.

    What I now appreciate most of all, of course, are the amazing hidden gems – the nina and the acrostic. Well done to those who spotted them.

    Congratulations to Maskarade, and thanks to bridgesong.

46. I’m another one who laboured over the road atlas for Maskarade’s Bank Holiday special. I was relieved not to have such a slog for this puzzle. I usually do the Prize puzzle in fits and starts over the week, but couldn’t avoid finishing this one by Sunday. It was enjoyable nonetheless. I noted the inquiry about SHAP from Cineraria@12, and answers that followed, referring to the M6. I had to get down to Wellcidered@29 to find reference to the A6 north and the perils in winter of Shap Fell. The Jungle cafe is also worth a mention, a far more memorable rest stop than Tebay Services.
    https://www.trucknetuk.com/t/recalling-memories-of-the-jungle-cafe-a6-shap-road/125715/4
    Readers of The Guardian will know that the village of Tebay features regularly in Country Diary. Have a read of Andrea Meanwell’s piece today.

47. JohnJB@46 – another memorable rest stop was the two old buses welded end to end in the A6 layby at the top of Shap.

48. Nametab@47 We didn’t stop at the two old buses, sadly. ‘Redwings’ according to a quick web search. Was it good?

49. Did this crossword this a.m. knowing a bit about its rep already, so I’d lined up an Araucaria to do as well – 22,509, which was not even a prize … and I recommend it.

50. Straightforward for a Prize, but now it seems I need to learn the highest point of motorways. Maybe I’ll revise the lowest points too, just to be prepared for future extremely niche knowledge clues. How about the most southerly point of the M4 or the busiest service station on the M5?
    Thanks Maskarade and bridgesong.

51. JohnJB@48 – sorry to say I can’t comment on the food, but I imagine it was fairly basic (which is fine in my opinion). We lived nearby, so the buses were more of a landmark on journeys (as was the Leyland Clock at Huck’s Brow at the bottom of Shap) rather than a stop-off. I used to bike to the Jungle Cafe for sweets, though.

52. Congratulations to Muskarade for creating an acrostic and a nina while avoiding obscure words and clues – so often the downfall of themed puzzles.

53. 3dn IN AR,MS I think this isn’t about soldiers but the likes of you and me, only without one of its words: if your up in arms you’re feeling truculent.

    Double definitions for “MARKER” mean “person who marks” and “thing that marks.” Barely double, I’d say.

    There’s a spot on the Massachusetts Turnpike that tells you it’s the highest spot till South Dakota, a prairie away. The Massachusetts spot isn’t all that high, the Berkshires are not all that tall a part of the Appalachian chain.

    Thanks Maskarade and bridgesong.

54. Further to my comment@12, I think that basically any word is fair game, and of course, the UK focus is part of the charm. (I blog the Azed, for heaven’s sake.) Shap just seemed obscure in my experience, but I was curious whether this was common knowledge for UK solvers (as is often the case). Fun puzzle, and I did spot the nina, but missed the acrostic. Thanks to bridgesong and all who commented in reply.

55. I took “from” as the anagram indicator for 17A.

56. Sadly, since 1 April 2023, Cumbria no longer exists as a local government entity. Both Shap and Tebay are now in Westmorland & Furness.

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