Guardian Cryptic 29,455 by Paul

76 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 29,455 by Paul”

1. Clever but relatively straightforward for Paul. Thanks both.

2. Admirable ingenuity in the cluing from Paul as loonapick noted, but seemed to cramp his usual style somewhat. Certainly easier than Paul can be. I liked MOHICAN and the appearance of HAYDN and BARBER as composers. Thanks to Paul and loonapick.

3. I wasn’t sure about DIVA either – VA is valid for Victoria with Albert (the Quick Cryptic had the VA for the museum a few weeks ago and I was digging for justification, which I couldn’t find).

   Otherwise straightforward for Paul.

   Thank you to loonapick and Paul.

4. I took VI to be a reference to Victoria 1 (the first and only), a bit like George IV and Henry VIII, but then shouldn’t it be VR I?

5. NHO BARBER the scorer and needed google for Sindy. Didn’t parse BAPTISMAL despite knowing what a Bap is with my Northern upbringing.

6. 23d – Victoria Imperatrix, I think. This crossword might have been a bit easy peasy in places but it was fun. Particularly liked pachyderm. Thanks all round.

7. Probably one of Paul’s easiest offerings, especially after Saturday’s prize, but lots of fun along the way. Theme was obvious from the start and I especially liked MAMBO and DIVA.

   Ta Paul & loonapick.

8. Yes, I was yet another puzzled by how DIVA was constructed exactly. A benign Paul for a change, but none the less entertaining this morning. I’m glad I’ve had OTIC explained too. Last Of The MOHICANs one of my favourite films by the by…

9. Thanks Paul and loonapick
   DIOR is a much better solution to 23d, though it’s not thematic. A SEMITONE is an interval, not a note.
   [Jumbo the elephant wasn’t particularly large when named; the “large” meaning came from his later size. His rather sad story is here. ]

10. Just a thought, a semitone isn’t a note, it’s the interval between two notes. No complaints otherwise. Great fun. Now for a shampoo.

11. I wondered whether SEMITONE = NOTE. Can you say A# is a note / Semitone above A? I’ll leave that to the musicians. Thanks Paul and loonapick

12. I could not parse 21ac; 23d – never heard of DA hairstyle or VI = Queen Victoria.
    22ac I got INDY = organ/newspaper but was not sure what the [?]indy = doll was – never heard of a Sindy doll.

    Favourite: HOOLIGAN and it’s a timely clue considering the riots in England at the moment.

    New for me: 5d composer Samuel BARBER.

    Thanks, both.

13. She was Empress too. Not sure of Latin but not only Victoria Regina but Victoria Imperatrix (or some such word). Just an idea

    Thanks Paul and Loonapick

    Ps just seen I have been preempted by Terri.

14. [Tim C @5 and michelle @12 – you may recognise this piece of music by Samuel Barber:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVNhFMZP4NM
    I confess that it’s the only piece of his that I’m familiar with!]

15. [Eileen
    Try this – it’s lovely.]

16. Ingenious puzzle – not this setter at his trickiest. Paul seems fond of this grid, which seems to have more black squares than most, but this may be an illusion.

    I liked the constructions for CHAIRMAN, ETON CROP, MOHICAN, SPECIMEN and HOOLIGAN.

    I agree that a SEMITONE is not a ‘note’. DIVA puzzled me as well – I think TerryB @6 has the right interpretation, though VR was the formula on old pillar boxes.

    Thanks to S&B

17. [Thanks, muffin @15 – not my cup of tea. I’m afraid. I’m not even keen on the Adagio – just familiar with it!]

18. i’d never heard of a D.A., so I went with DIVO, which made just as much sense 🙂

19. I was getting on swimmingly with the top half, but found the bottom half much trickier (couldn’t shoehorn VR into DIVA) and ground to a halt in the SW corner with BOOB and MOHICAN. I don’t think I for 1st is usually used for the only monarch of that name: it’s just Queen Anne or King John. Victoria Imperatrix gets Paul off the hook.

    I couldn’t identify what had been cropped to make OTIC, and didn’t spot Sindy (both she and Barbie were after my time). I enjoyed PACHYDERM.

    If you put the def at the other end of the clue for ETON CROP, (and “do” works as an anagrind), you get a highly insulting political statement! I’m glad to find I parsed that wrong.

20. [Eileen @14, I know you’re another choir singer, so try this one. Originally a solo song but Barber later arranged it for choir and piano, and it’s gorgeous.]

21. Completely unconvinced by ‘Diva’.

22. Worth it just for HAYDN. For a moment I thought it might be a footballer I’d never heard of (that’s nearly all of them…). Yes, mostly easy for a Paul, with one or two more challenging clues thrown in. With thanks to Paul and loonapick.

23. 5d Samuel BARBER on his Adagio for Strings: “They always play that piece. I wish they’d play some of my other pieces.”
    L2i — 22a INDY & 23d DIVA
    Thanks P&L

24. Barber also wrote a very nice violin concerto.

25. Thank you, Quirister @20 – that one could perhaps grow on me, I think!

26. Agree with most others that this was a gentler Paul, perhaps constrained by the theme which he has contrived to get into every clue. I certainly felt a bit hairstyled out by the end but, on the whole, enjoyed this more than most Pauls. I was beaten by the nho ETON CROP and by DIVA and the interlinked INDY recognising neither the queen abbreviation nor the doll. Those apart, everything else solved. With references to hooligans, skinheads, the right and even ‘weird’ this felt a remarkably current puzzle.

    Thanks Paul and loonapick

27. A DNF for me with a complete misdirection in 24a. Was trying to use LATIN as part of the answer and once my neurons are misaligned they rarely get back on track.
    Thanks loonapick for a couple of parsings that eluded me.

28. Held up by putting BEARSKIN for SEMITONE. It almost works. As one scorer was a composer, I was expecting the other one to be something else.

29. For 5D I thought it should be Shearer but it didn’t fit.
    Also put DIVO first. CheckAll had me change it to DIVA but still didn’t really see why. Thanks for the explanations, Loonapick, and for the puzzle, Paul!

30. gladys@19 – Nice spot! 😀 I think it’s intentional (indicated by the “!”) that 15a,17a ETON CROP can be parsed with the definition at either end. COTD.
    I 9a [n]OTIC[e}d that all the other four-letter words were very 1d KNOTty, too.

31. Gladys@19 I parsed it that way too!

32. Crispy @11, re: semitone/note

    Your example is fairly plausible, but musicians tend to be a precise lot when it comes to things like this, and it wouldn’t feel natural to use a note when meaning an interval (excuse the pun)

33. Thank you Paul for the frizzy fun & loonapick for parsing DIVA.

34. DIVA and especially INDY were incomprehensible. Otherwise a fine puzzle reminding me of why Paul was once my favourite setter.

35. Thank you loonapick.. Needed you for the parsing of INDY and DIVA.

    as poc said@34.

36. I’m pretty sure Paul used this theme a few years ago. Does anyone remember it?

37. [Eileen @14, thank you, that’s beautiful, and I don’t care if he wishes people would play some of his other stuff. That one’s good enough for me.]

38. Queen Victoria was named Empress of India in 1876. Apparently to celebrate her return to public life. So Victoria Imperatrix.

39. Fun crossword. Thanks Paul and Loonapick.
    Kristi@29: shearer is a perfect solution for 5d!

40. I thought SHEARER first, but unfortunately it has too many letters.

41. I realize this is a very naughty, almost sacrilegious question, but as the Guardian Cryptic appears very soon after midnight online, with the Reveal All button in plain sight, are any of you outstandingly selfless bloggers, Eileen, PeterO, Manehi, Loonapick et al (and this isn’t your day job either) ever get tempted to click on it before trying to unravel the parsing? Because there just aren’t enough hours in the day that particular day. Or do you squeeze every bit as much pleasure out of gradually and painstakingly solving the whole shebang, as we mere mortals try to do each day?

42. I too parsed ETON CROP a la Gladys. I have only just sussed the DO, but still prefer the other.

43. Ronald@41 – I can’t talk for other bloggers, but I have never revealed any more than the occasional answer, and even then 90% of the time it’s to check the answer I have put in because the parsing isn’t obvious. I’ll also freely admit that on some occasions I have had to change an answer because my original thought was wrong. I always try to solve the puzzle first, although normally starting at some time between 5:30 and 6:30 in the morning, before or just after getting up to get ready for work. If I just hit reveal, I’d miss the solving experience and wouldn’t be able to comment on difficulty, which parts I solved first etc. I have never used reveal on an FT puzzle – my regular Thursday puzzle – because until recently I didn’t realise you could! Same applies to my Azed blogs as the option doesn’t exist!

44. Since when does I = Imperatrix? VR ok, VRI (Victoria Regina et imperatrix) ok, but is it ever VI without the Regina?
    Perhaps it’s V I&I as in the Rastafarian “Royal We”? 😉

45. EIIR = QEII. VR = QVI — QED.

46. FrankieG @45
    What happens to the Q, then?
    My solution was (princess) DI O(ld) R(egina), to give a style of couture.

47. That was fun. I completed it although with some parsing difficulties. Not as tough as some Pauls, but it was nice to see him back in the cryptic spot after what felt like a long time.

    Re. VI – it’s not in Chambers! But Wikipedia (make of that what you will) gives VI as an acceptable abbreviation for Victoria Imperatrix. It wouldn’t be a Paul puzzle if we didn’t have so much debate! Of course, my favourite use of vi is the Unix text editor, which I still use a lot!

    Overall, though, a lot of fun. Favourite, without a doubt, was MOHICAN. Lots to enjoy.

    Thanks Paul & loonapick

48. Loonapick@43…thanks so much for your swift response to my cautious/slightly irreverent query!
    Sometimes if I’m absolutely certain I’ve correctly solved a clue, and it’s a particularly long one, I become extremely lazy and instead of inserting each letter one at a time online I hit the Reveal button. Though once I clumsily hit the Reveal All button underneath instead and it quite ruined the rest of my day…

49. paddymelon @35: I tried to give you a steer on the G site last night, without giving spoilers, but I was probably not particularly helpful.

50. Thanks to Paul for an enjoyable romp through all things coiffure related. Lots to love esp HAYDN, PACHYDERM, BEEHIVE, MAMBO… Thanks also to loonalick for an excellent blog.

51. [Thanks AlanC@49 for your help on the G site. Wasn’t able to get back to that today. I was lacking in the GK of Sindy and DA.]

52. Thanks Dave J @32. I was trying to think of some justification for the solution, but I didn’t think it worked

53. I generally struggle mightily with Paul so I was grateful for a gentler one and a helpful theme. Still failed to parse several particularly 21A and, like everybody else, 23D. And 16D is the kind of construction that makes me despair of solving Paul.

    Thank you Paul and loonapick.

54. ronald @41 and 48

    I wasn’t sure whether your question was a serious one – but you seem to have answered it yourself in your last sentence @48. I do this ‘job’ because I love solving crosswords and enjoy sharing my thoughts with others. What on earth would be the point in using ‘Reveal all’ without even starting?

55. A more accessible and enjoyable Paul puzzle, still with a few tricky clues.
    ETON CROP was new for me, as was DA style and the Sindy doll.
    I hadn’t parsed OTIC, INDY, DIVA. It’s good to understand how they work.
    I liked HAYDN, HOOLIGAN, SEMITONE, BEEHIVE.
    Thanks Paul and loonapick

56. I enjoyed that! First 5 across answers in without a breath. Got a bit sluggish, but mainly in trying to back-parse the answers from the clues.
    Didn’t like DIVA; struggled with BAPTISMAL. Happy to put my Latin O-level to good use.

    LOI was ETON CROP (NHO)

    Thanks Paul and loonapick.

57. Another wholly unconvinced by DIVA. Can’t understand how an abbreviation(!) for a hairstyle of 70+ years ago can possibly be kosher, nor how VI is valid for ‘old queen’ – the two in a single clue is just laughable. The potential of DI to be the princess, O to be old, and DO to be the style added to the confusion, but in an irritating rather than enjoyable way.

    But it’s Paul, who seems to get a pass. The rest was quite fun, but it’s possible to mar a puzzle with a single poor clue.

58. Not such a hairy experience here, except for DIVA. Like a couple of others, toyed with DIOR. Also thought it might be DIDO (Dido was an old queen, Di was princess, Do was hairstyle, and according to Wilipedia, the Dido Flip a hairstyle). Couldn’t get the parsing to work, but it has a lot of very tempting ingredients, right?

59. Made the mistake of starting a Paul puzzle and was left frustrated with a very sparse grid. If you’re going to clue composers then at least make it one we might know. And I know scorer is a cryptic tradition but give it a rest.

60. A@59 Paul hosts regular online events so you could sign up and give him a list of all the composers you know

    It took me a while to get on the wavelength as with it being Paul I was somewhat over-thinking things. MULLET being a case in point

    Cheers P&L

61. I have never finished the Guardian Cryptic this early in the day. I did not finish it so the record remains unbroken. Stuck on INDY and DIVA. I thought of both words but could not explain them.

62. Like most non-Brits, I’ll guess, I’ve never heard of Sindy the doll. I have heard of Samuel Barber, thought don’t know his music.

    Lots of fun, Paul.

63. Wish I’d thought of ‘Dior’ – I was never going to get DIVA (=princess?). Thought of INDY but couldn’t imagine that such an affectionate abbreviation of a (perhaps not quite) defunct ‘organ’ would make the grade but what do I know?

    Thanks both and for the comments.

    (Was there never a Queen Violet?)

64. Alastair @59. As has been said here any times, general knowledge is a personal thing. It’s pretty clear that today lots of people have heard of Barber (like me, possibly, they’re only familiar with his Adagio for Strings, though some are more knowledgeable), so asking Paul to stick to composers that “we” have heard of is a bit harsh.

65. [On the topic of Sindy, can I mention that the film Barbie is far better than you might think possible? The opening scene is hilarious if you recognise the reference.]

66. I was dreading this after this week’s Prize, but it was a gentle Paul offering as others have said. The downside is it means I now have spare time to return to the Prize. I thought BEEHIVE was delightful.

67. I’m new to cryptics, didn’t spot the theme. How often would people say a cryptic would have a theme? Possibly no real answer to that.

68. A “diva” is either a great female opera singer (Callas, Sutherland, etc.) or a goddess, never a princess.

69. David Mansell @68 – Princess and Diva are both disparaging terms for an arrogant, self-obsessed woman.

70. Michael McD@67: It registers on the ‘not uncommon’ scale. There are setters (Qaos, Boatman) for whom it is self-imposed compulsory, while for others it might be more occasional, say 1 in 15 (to try to put a measure on it). I’m going to say you could expect a themed puzzle once a fortnight.

71. Di is a princess

72. Lovers of Samuel Barber’s music will know that the famous Adagio for strings was originally the slow movement of his string quartet. He later arranged it for string orchestra. In its original form it sounds a bit less schmalzy and therefore even more effective. (Just one person’s opinion.)

    My favourite clue was for 16a HAYDN. The image conjured up a possible Barnum and Bailey’s circus exhibit (c.f. 11d PACHYDERM).

    Unlike most of you, I didn’t find this one particularly easy. I was victimized by some UK-specific GK – e.g. the doll at 22a (S)INDY and the hairstyle at 23d DIVA – in Canada we called it (more politely) a ducktail. Not a complaint, however – “Fingers on buzzers, please, it’s time for
    General Ignorance.”

    Thanks Paul and Loonapick for the fun and parsing help.

73. [Cellomaniac @72
    He also made a choral arrangement, entitled “Agnus Dei”.]

74. I’m another who says a semitone is not a note. Has anyone consulted Chambers? [Cellomaniac@72 How much arranging is required to turn a quartet into a string orchestra piece, apart from giving out extra parts and finding something for the basses to do?]

75. I wrote in DIVA but couldn’t parse it (not the only one, I see). I’m not sure if a Princess is the same as a DIVA – out came the old Chambers and I could only see “great female singer …. operatic prima donna … demanding person esp. a woman” so I’m not convinced.

    Having let that go and once I sussed that the ‘Organ’ was a newspaper and not part of the body (or indeed a musical instrument) it all went in OK. Had to give a tick for the very topical (alas!) HOOLIGAN; and HAYDN, CATFIGHT, IMPAIR and a few others. But Paul, for all his skill – some of his surfaces don’t quite hit the spot.

    Yes SEMITONE would be a great clue if only the def. were correct. Another Paul-ism which isn’t quite there.

    Thanks to Paul and Loonapick.

76. Belated thanks to Eileen@14 for posting the link to Barber’s Adagio for Strings, it is very beautiful music

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