Guardian Prize 29,560 by Brockwell

56 comments on “Guardian Prize 29,560 by Brockwell”

1. I could not parse TEMPERATE, (I thought it had something to do with “MP”), but the rest was clear enough. Nice job on the blog.

2. Thanks bridgesong. Missed the theme completely and was left wondering about SUB. Got there in the end but was a bit daunted at first by the proper names, few of which I recognized, and was never on quite the right wavelength. Looking back on it now I can see I overthought a lot of the clues which in retrospect were fair and reasonable but that marks good setting I’m sure. Masse was clear enough but I had to do some research to find out about the Crucible.
   I was able to finish with a sense of accomplishment which is always nice.

3. BUTEO BUTEO is the common buzzard.
   If ALTERNATE is intended to be the American usage, I think it should have been indicated as such, as was DEFENSE a few days ago. If not, it is wrong. The Guardian style guide warns against this mistake. British usage means ‘every other’. Thatcher did not say “There is no alternate.”

4. A SUBtle theme, and very cleverly done. I only spotted it fairly late on but it really helped with BUTEO which I’d not heard of and made me smile. MASSE was also new to me.

   My favourites were NECROPOLIS and GROUP.

   Thank you to Brockwell for yet another brilliant puzzle and to bridgesong for a thorough and interesting blog.

5. I had a similar experience to Biggles A@2 and Cineraria@1

   Thanks Brockwell and bridgesong

6. Ah well. Not only did I miss the theme, but I had DISEASE, BAD STEER (I even thought “isn’t it more commonly bum steer?) and READABLE for 25a,19d and 21d respectively. I couldn’t fully parse them, but I couldn’t think of any alternatives. Thanks, Brockwell and bridgesong.

7. Thanks Bridgesong and Timon. I had the parsing of SUB as a double definition..
   My fellow travellers can finish this , referring to all the across clues, and sandwich.
   We had something like this not long ago, where it was something to do with the orientation/direction of the other words the key clue was to precede.

   And just a tweak to the write-up for the clue for RAISABLE. It’s the last letter of Roswell that needs to be deleted, not Rockwell. Clearly Brockwell was on the brain. I liked that clue, very deserving of the question mark. The US Airforce needed more than radio to find the debris that led to the UFO conspiracy.
   BUM STEER/Misinformation, which I read as a reverse clue, could also be related to the Roswell clue.

8. me@7. I mean, it’s the last letter of Roswell that needs to be included in the fodder for the anagram for RAISABLE.

9. RAISABLE cont. Abandoned being the anagrind. As you can tell, I was misdirected by that clue, but loved it when I finally got it.

10. Liked TEMPERATE, MISSIVE, POLAR and ON FOOT.
    EQUAL and EFFECT
    The two defs in each case seem quite close to each other.
    BUM STEER
    paddymelon@7
    A reverse clue. Yes. I think bridgesong’s ‘self-referential’ means the same.

    Thanks Brockwell and bridgesong.

11. Yes – thanks to Brockwell, bridgesong and Timon. I liked the “SUB-plot” here! Other than the themed clues, I have to agree with others who liked 19d BUM STEER! I really enjoy Brockwell’s style of clue setting.

12. Mind you, it was jolly tough. I had to come here for full explanations of some parses. I did love reading about Greyfriars Bobby which tugged at my heartstrings! Yes paddymelon@7,8 and 9; that’s how I saw RAISABLE at 21d too.

13. Paddymelon @7,8: you’re right. The parsing of the clue for RAISABLE should read *((roswel)L AIR BASE). And I agree that “abandoned “ is the anagrind.

    Kva@10: I also agree with you about the two double definitions.

    Zoot @3: Chambers has ”a deputy, substitute “ as the first nounal meaning of ALTERNATE, so I don’t think there’s any need to indicate an American usage.

14. For non-UK solvers, I should perhaps have added an explanation of The Crucible in the clue for MASSE. It’s the venue (for the time being, anyway) of the annual World Snooker Championships.

15. Found this tough – took several goes and I never did get HEMP or GROUP. Didn’t spot the theme either.

    Favourites: NECROPOLIS (for the Scottish POLIS), SHANTY (took me ages to get but made me smile when I did), TEMPERATE, ON FOOT and of course BUM STEER

    Thanks brockwell and bridgesong

16. I had a very slow start with this, failing to get any across clues at all on my first pass. But then I solved a few of the downs, took a break and on coming back finished relatively quickly (by my slow standards). Unsurprisingly I missed the theme, but now I’m wondering if there was something about those themed across clues that led to my slow start. I have to say I can’t see anything. I now understand the rather odd way SUB was clued, though. I did like BUM STEER and a number of the concise clues like REEVE and PROGRAMMES. BUTEO and MASSE were new to me but very clearly clued. Thanks bridge song and Brockwell, and I’m sorry that as usual I failed to appreciate the theme.

17. Many thanks, Brockwell. A really good challenge which took me several sessions. Put SUB in reluctantly at the very end. And then the penny dropped! What a neatly constructed crossword.

18. Thanks bridgesong, not least for explaining the theme, and thus the odd wording of 18a. At 27a, where I agree ALTERNATE is not specifically American, I think the definition is just Substitute, and ‘maybe’ goes with ‘bitter’, as the type of ale may be bitter.

    Just the right level of difficulty for me, thanks Brockwell, it took me till Saturday evening. It did strike me there were a lot of particularly UK references, which might have puzzled solvers elsewhere, but I suppose that is part of what our friends overseas look for in choosing a British paper’s xword.

19. As always, I don’t recall the detail of the solve a week on but I do remember enjoying it. I did need a bit of gentle redirection from a pal having entered BAD STEER with some confidence and, as a result, finding myself struggling to solve – I think MISSIVE. Once that error was corrected the final few slipped into place. I think I spotted the theme only on solving SUB about half way through; a nice device and smoothly done as usual with this compiler. It was fun discovering that BUTEO is a Thing.

    Thanks Brockwell and bridgesong

20. I thought this was tough but enjoyable. I wasn’t quite sure about PEAT but decided I preferred “tap’ to ‘tah’ as some sort of allusion to/ synonym of ‘cock’, never mind heat being a form rather than source of energy. GROUP was my LOI, falling quickly when I finally sussed HEMP (lovely clue). My favourite was probably ISTHMI, simply because I like unusual plurals.

    Zoot@3. I had the same quibble re ALTERNATE, but am slowly becoming almost resigned to the effects of English being a lingua franca in a globalised world. Grammar and syntax go to pot and spelling is becoming as variable as it seems to have been in the early days of written English. Dearie me, turning into a curmudgeon and I’m barely 50!

21. Zoot, 3.

    I’m almost surprised that the American cognate of “alternative” isn’t “alternatization”, or some such.

22. This seemed of average difficulty to me, with some nice clues including NECROPOLIS, TEMPERATE. GROUP, BUCK, RAPT. Missed theme (and was therefore unable to parse SUB until I came here), which adds cleverness to the puzzle, though I don’t generally find themes of much interest.
    Agree with KVa that clues for EQUAL and EFFECT are basically the same definition twice but using different parts of speech.
    Surprised no-one has pointed out that a SLOE is botanically a drupe, not a berry – though Brockwell is excused by everyday usage.
    Thanks both.

23. I finished the puzzle last weekend but didn’t spot the theme until this morning, when SUB+EDITORS and SUB+MERGE sprang out, and I finally saw the wood for the trees. Several less than obvious examples, though.

    I liked HEMP, ON FOOT, BUM STEER and SHANTY. Re cock=tap: it took me ages to think of the stopcock that turns off the water.

24. bridgesong@13 sjshart@18 The Oxford, Cambridge and Collins online dictionaries all describe this usage as US or N American. I’ve seen Chambers described as a dictionary of British and international English. Perhaps that explains it.

25. “ALTERNATE” is used to mean a substitute in the theatre. From London Theatre: “An alternate is someone that’s cast in a show in a specific role, but will not perform every date. Typically, alternates are guaranteed at least one show per week.”

    Thanks to Brockwell for a fun puzzle and bridgesong for an enlightening commentary.

26. An excellent puzzle for the Prize slot, from one of my favourite setters.

    My way in to the ingenious device was, not immediately but fairly early on, 26ac BUTEO: my two boys were great fans of the football game back in the ’70s and I was intrigued to learn of how it came by its odd-sounding name. I like that kind of story.

    I really enjoyed the clever use of so many proper nouns, particularly Paddy Ashdown, Kirsty Young and Trent Alexander-Arnold. (I smiled when he turned up in Grecian’s (!) puzzle to clue ‘river’ just a couple of days ago – it took a minute or two to remember where I’d seen it recently.)
    I also loved the use of Greyfriars Bobby to indicate the Scottish use of ‘polis’.

    So many lovely clues – other favourites were SONIC, EDITORS, DUMMY RUN, HEMP, MASSE and MISSIVE.

    Many thanks to Brockwell for a real treat and to bridgesong and Timon for a fine blog.

27. This took me the whole week, with REEVE my LOI only coming to me this morning. Nho of the word, so had to check it in a dictionary after I constructed it.

    Also nho BUTEO or MASSÉ, but both were gettable with the clueing and crossers – although I needed the blog for the parsing of the latter.

    My penultimate entry was RAISABLE, and I’m still not convinced with ‘abandoned’ as an anagram indicator – are we meant to read it as ‘with abandon’? Or maybe ‘abandoned’ suggesting ‘decaying’? (Although things can be abandoned without falling apart.) It was a lovely clue, regardless.

    The theme completely passed me by, but is very clever now that I see it.

    Ticks for those that others have mentioned, but the biggest smiles for me were BUM STEER and PROGRAMMES.

    I really enjoyed returning to this over the course of the week and making gradual progress, so huge thanks to Brockwell, and to bridgesong for the clear blog.

28. What a wonderful thematic puzzle, which has not been found substandard or subprize! As a mathematician, tractor and group stood out. However, buteo gets my nostalgic vote since a cherished possession, bought in the mid-fifties, is the table football game under its original name of Newfooty, as endorsed by Nat Lofthouse and Stanley Matthews, (who could forget the 1953 FA cup final?)

    Thanks for the memory by Eileen@26 and, of course, to Brockwell and Bridgesong.

29. ALTERNATE as a noun is US terminology in my book but ALTERNATE as a verb is English and I also took the “maybe” as connected to “bitter” and not “substitute”

30. I finally got all the answers just before catching my train on Thursday for my holiday in the Lake District. The weekend had left me with six or eight reluctant ones, but I don’t think recognising a theme would have helped. The clue for SUB was certainly odd, but with S_B and ‘sandwich’ in the clue, I didn’t even bother with a shrug.

    Thanks to Brockwell for the challenge, and to Bridgesong for spotting the theme.

31. I had a smile when I wrote in LEVEL for 9a. I thought “evenly balanced” was a clever way of indicating a palindrome, but then…..
    Thanks to Bro for the fun puzzle and clever theme – and thanks to bri for shining a light on said theme.

32. This was almost a good puzzle, though I missed the theme.

    However the whole thing is ruined for me because of 11a. I’ve had occasion to complain before about the racist term ‘paddy’, and even wrote to the editor several years ago, receiving the assurance that it would be avoided in future. To those who don’t think it racist, I can only ask where they think it comes from and what is the implied meaning.

33. Genuine question – can there ever come a time when the problematic derivation of a word or phrase is no longer relevant and the word/phrase is no longer problematic ?

34. We struggled to get anywhere with this one 🙁
    Re 3d: my pedant at home assures me a sloe is not a berry but is a droop

35. Wrh @ 34

    The pedant here says you mean drupe.

    😉

36. MIssed the theme here! Thanks Bridgesong for pointing it out. From the US, I’d say (as a few others have) that “Buteo” seems more Linnaean than American to me–I’ve never heard it and had to look it up once I’d guessed the anagram. Subbuteo isn’t particularly well known here either so that didn’t help with the theme! I’ve also seen complaints in the US about “alternate” for “alternative” but it is so well established here in phrases like “alternate juror” that the complaints are moot now. [For some reason it wouldn’t work in “There is no alternative,” though, unless you were specifically talking about the lack of an understudy for something; you’d have to say “There is no alternate course of action.”]

    Thanks for the explanation of The Crucible, and thanks overall Brockwell and bridgesong!

37. Hi Bridgesong, I think the explanation of 15ac should be ROT CART all rev.
    I really enjoyed this puzzle, just the right level of difficulty (I finished it on Friday evening). But I didn’t understand the fellow travellers; I see now what it refers to but I still don’t get why/how.
    Thanks to Brockwell and Bridgesong.

38. I did have a couple unparsed answers here (didn’t know polis for Scottish police or paddy for a temper) and missed the theme entirely (which meant that I was also confused by the clue for SUB). Thank you for the clarifications.

    In my experience here in the US, ALTERNATE to mean substitute is always a person, not an option–when you’re talking about possible routes for building a new railroad, say, those are always alternatives, not alternates. And I have seen the word alternate used as a noun in non-American contexts. Tennis, for example: the top eight players qualify for the tour finals, but the players who finished 9th and 10th also attend, in case of injury to one of the top 8; they’re called the alternates. Anyway, no use arguing over whether or not it’s American. My position has always been that the setter is under no obligation to flag American usages or terms for you. You are instead under an obligation to know them, or at least be able to find them in the dictionary. (American spellings are another matter–you deserve to be told when they want CENTER rather than CENTRE.)

39. Many thanks to bridgesong (&Timon) for the excellent blog and to everyone else for solving and commenting on the puzzle. I’m very happy that most of you enjoyed it. paddymelon @7 is correct – this was the companion piece to my SUPER- puzzle from earlier this year, which used the same device. Apologies to poc @32 for any offence caused – this was certainly not my intention and I will avoid this synonym in future. Happy Xmas and New Year to you all! B

40. Thanks for the explanation Bridgesong – had no idea there was any theme until I came on here today. Although at the time I did raise an eyebrow at the relatively obscure “BUTEO”… in retrospect Brockwell gave us a hint there!

41. Quite an enjoyable puzzle overall, but with a mysterious undertone because I didn’t look for (never do) or spot the theme. I got SUB for sandwich in 18ac, but I gave up on the rest of the clue. I finished with just one error. I couldn’t justify either GLOOP or GROUP, so I entered the former as it seemed a better fit for MASS until I was put right by bridgesong. I took a long time to see ‘shan’t’ in SHANTY, so a likable clue in the end.

42. I am another one who missed the theme, and I didn’t understand the fellow travellers part of SUB. It’s a shame because it was a clever theme.

    I was pretty sure ALTERNATE and RAISABLE were probably right but I didn’t put them in as I couldn’t figure out the parsing, so it was a DNF for me. It was a gratifying puzzle though, as on first pass I didn’t get a single across clue and thought I was going to get nowhere. Thank you to bridgesong for the explanations.

43. Grecian@39: If you are indeed Brockwell, thank you for the gracious apology. I reiterate that I did greatly enjoy the puzzle in other respects.

44. poc@32. All because ONE meaning is specifically derogatory to the Irish, why should all use of paddy be barred outside the rice field? There are losses as well as gains from eviscerating our language.

    This is wordplay in an optional puzzle: it’s not in a leader or a headline. Is Paddymelon @7, 8 and 9 to be rechristened Padymelon or Pademelon to avoid offence to those who don’t know their wallabies?

45. All good fun and done in a day, though I didn’t see the SUB connection!

46. Chodunk2@44. LOL. Glad you know your wallabies. My moniker is a deliberate misspelling of the cute creature, and acknowledgement of my father, named Patrick, of Irish decent, who was very intelligent (melon/head) and taught me to read, and the love of words and humour, when he left school himself at 11.

    poc@43. Grecian in the Independent is Brockwell in the Guardian. I understand the offence. It’s more a term of endearment down here, amongst older people of Irish ancestry. However we do still have the word paddy waggon, which of course is offensive, if anyone knows its origin.. We don’t use the word paddy for temper.

    Grecian/Brockwell@39. Yes, I remember the SUPER puzzle. SUPER/SUB are indeed companions. I tried unsuccessfully to find it to link it here for those who missed it. I remember SUPER was one of my last two in. It was such a tease.

    GrahamH@37. Fellow travellers: SUB is an across clue. All the other across clues are travelling in the same direction.
    My fellow travellers can finish this means that you can put SUB first and finish with the across clue.

47. pod@32. The clue for 11ac has nothing at all to do with the Irish – Paddy Ashdown was a one-time leader of the Liberal Democratic Party in the UK, and paddy here means “temper” as in “rage”.

48. Paddymelon @46, the super puzzle blog is here

49. Tamarix @ 47: what you have to ask yourself is how the epithet Paddy came to mean a fit of rage. It’s clearly a racist trope and poc was right to challenge its use. By contrast, “paddy” meaning a rice field has a completely different etymology.

50. paddymelon@46. Many thanks for the interesting and gracious response.

    poc@32. After posting @44 … realising my wording could have been better … I dug further into the history and derivation of the racial slurs beginning with paddy: finding rather a detailed online book. There was a bit more than I knew. [Twenty odd years ago, I lived in Dublin for 6 months at the start of a long collaboration with an Irish agency. I learned new expressions and a few language differences to be careful with. But the steepest curve was to learn to follow rugby (union) much more closely.]

    The term paddy gets used to indicate a bit of a strop … eg in an unhappy baby … without any heavy reference intended. In that context, it seems a useful word. A bit gentler sounding and rhythmical than strop? Might it not be reasonable to let this USAGE pass when a racial slur is clearly not intended?

51. It would never have occurred to me that there was any connection with the racist use of the word. I’d be absolutely mortified if I thought I was causing offence by calling a temper a paddy.

52. Before I could consider whether so much time had passed to ignore the original derivation of the word, I would need to see some proof that the word used for a strop was derived from the racist connotation of the word as opposed to simply using the same 5 letters like the rice field does

53. Sugarbutties @52: that’s a fair point. All I can tell you is that the word for paddy fields comes from a Malay word, which is why I could say it has a different etymology. Chambers has the meaning used here under the same heading as the familiar or derogatory name for an Irishman, strongly suggesting that they are closely connected.

54. Thanks both.

    ‘Paddy’ in this context is a word I have only met in crosswords in this parish. I have justified it by imagining a child stamping it’s feet in a tantrum or ‘padding’ – hence ‘paddy’. But I don’t have any basis for this – it’s all padding, no substance. A bit paddy. A word that has an unfortunate co-inhabitant should not be taken to be transitively offensive imho – think ‘bleeding’.

55. I just finished this – not having started it until a couple of days ago. I am often left in total awe at the speed with which fellow-solvers on here complete the puzzles, but this time I do not feel alone in my incompetence bubble. Ironically, I wondered at first – after tentatively entering two potential solutions – if I was ever going to get to halfway with it. But eventually loved it! Managed to get on the setter’s brainlength, and then it was a downhill ride. Favourites were 28d, 16d,,7d. As an inveterate shanty-singer, I was, of course, narked by implications of 24d. Never spotted the sub-linkage. All in all, well worth the time spent.

56. Came late to this. Got there in the end, without twigging to the SUB theme, the application of which to some of the across clues was in any case unfamiliar to me. SONIC was a bit of a stretch for me. Assumed MASSE was a reverse hidden, though didn’t understand the reference to The Crucible. Got BUTEO through the Latin root mentioned in the dictionary for buzzard. I think this was my first Brockwell – enjoyable! Thanks B and bridgesong. A slightly belated Merry Christmas to all!

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