Paul is the setter this morning.
I'm glad I got up early this morning, because in my experience, Paul puzzles take a long time to solve and almost as long to blog. The former was definitely true, although the parsing was mainly OK. This has many Paul trademarks (references to POO and GUANO, answers split across two entries, clever and witty surfaces, etc). I think I managed to parse everything, although I'm not 100% convinced by TOWEL.
I wouldn't be able to pick a favourite clue from the puzzle, but if forced, I'd plump for either HANDBAGS AT TEN PACES, VEEP and BRAISE.
Thanks, Paul, although I now doubt whether I have any mental capacity left to see me through a day at work…
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | BABY-SIT |
Risky food passed round not later than end of Christmas – mind the sprouts! (4-3)
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BAIT ("risky food", if you are a fish, for example) passed round BY ("not later than") + [end of] (Christma)S |
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| 5 | COVFEFE |
Stupid effin’ old man’s twittering nonsense? (7)
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*(eff) [anag:stupid] in COVE (chap, or "old man") and semi &lit. Early in the morning of May 31, 2017, Donald Trump posted something on Twitter that included this obvious typo, which may have been intended to be "coverage". He removed the tweet a few hours later, but not before it had gone viral. |
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| 9 | AMIGO |
Could I be fit for comrade? (5)
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AM I GO ("could I be fit") |
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| 10 | WOLVERINE |
Gluttonous beast, cruciverbalist after missing starter opens booze (9)
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(s)OLVER ("cruciverbalist", after missing starter) opens (as in separates) WINE ("booze") |
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| 11 | SALADPLANT |
Fellow has blueprint written in day for rocket, say (5,5)
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LAD ("fellow") has PLAN ("blueprint") written in Sat. (Saturday, so "day") |
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| 12 | POOH |
Drop a log on head of hungry bear (4)
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POO ("drop a log") on [head of] H(ungry) |
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| 14 |
See 17 Down
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| 18 | ELASTOPLAST |
Possible requirement when cut in trade reversed, better finally (11)
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<=SALE ("trade", reversed) + TOP *"better") + LAST ("finally") |
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| 21 |
See 2 Down
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| 22, 16 | HANDBAGSAT TENPACES |
Steps taken after worker gets near figure in minor skirmish (8,2,3,5)
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PACES ("steps taken") after HAND ("worker") + BAGS ("gets") + AT ("near") + TEN ("figure") |
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| 25 | CHOPPED UP |
Tripped during competition – in bits (7,2)
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HOPPED ("tripped") during CUP ("competition") |
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| 26 | GUANO |
Initially gung-ho, unusually aggressive, now official is dropping matter (5)
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[initially] G(ung-ho) U(nusually) A(ggressive) N(ow) O(fficial) |
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| 27 | SHELTER |
Safeguard rank defending lieutenant (7)
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SHEER ("rank", as in "utter" or "absolute") defending Lt. (lieutenant) |
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| 28 |
See 24 Down
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| DOWN | ||
| 1 | BRAISE |
Cook sounds like an ass, did you say? (6)
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Homophone/pun/aural wordplay [did you say] of BRAYS ("sounds like an ass") |
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| 2, 21 | BRILLO PADS |
Great work and promotions for cleaners (6,4)
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BRILL ("great") + Op. (opus, so "work") + ADS ("promotions") |
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| 3 | SWORDSMITH |
Weapons manufacturer in cahoots in the end with writer (10)
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(cahoot)S [in the end] with WORDSMITH ("writer") |
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| 4 | TOWEL |
Where water might be taken, not quite drier (5)
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[not quite] TO WEL(l) ("where water may be taken") Water is taken FROM a well, but I suppose it could be argued that it is first taken to the well by an aquifer or spring? |
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| 5 | CALENDULA |
Nude dancing in ring with a marigold (9)
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*(nude) [anag:dancing] in CALL ("ring") with A |
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| 6 | VEEP |
Pence under vainglorious egomanic, evidently all kicking off – for him previously? (4)
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P (pence) under V(ainglorious) E(gomanic) E(vidently) [all kicking off] Mike Pence was the Vice-President in Trump's first stint as the US President. |
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| 7 | EPISODIC |
Serialised copies I’d adapted (8)
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*(copies id) [anag:adapted] |
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| 8 | ELEPHANT |
Charger where mobile finally rested, one having left phone plugged in (8)
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(mobil)E [finally] + LEANT ("rested"), with PH(one) ("phone" with ONE having left) plugged in |
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| 13 | ACUTE ANGLE |
A lovely fish – is that not quite right? (5,5)
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A + CUTE ("lovely") + ANGLE ("fish") |
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| 15 | LAPLANDER |
Nordic jewel’s back, and pearl lost (9)
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(jewe)L ['s back] + *(and pearl) [anag:lost] |
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| 16 |
See 22 Across
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| 17, 14 | WARDROBE MALFUNCTION |
Uncomfortable in bust after minor design failure (8,11)
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*(uncomfortable in) [anag:bust] after WARD ("minor") |
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| 19 | ASTANA |
A Kazakh__ capital in actuality? (6)
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A + (Kazakh)STAN + [capital in] A(ctually) and &lit. |
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| 20 | STROLL |
Constitutional guarantees ultimately something of a myth? (6)
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(guarantee)S [ultimately] + TROLL ("something of a myth?") |
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| 23 | DEPOT |
Store soaked up (5)
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<=TOPED ("soaked", up) |
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| 24, 28 | SPOT THEBALL |
Screwing originally, what snooker player would do in type of competition (4,3,4)
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S(crewing) [originally] + POT THE BALL ("what snooker player would do") "Spot the ball" competitions used to be a regular fixture in tabloid newspapers, but I can't recall seeing such a thing for quite a while? |
Three cheers for 17,14 .. to all intents, an &lit, although correctly split by our host, to whom, thanks, and to Paul for the workout.
Yes, I thought water would be taken from a well, but a brave attempt to justify, loonapick! WARDROBE MALFUNCTION elicited a smile.
That’s it, no more attempts at Paul puzzles for me. I threw it away after third solution, TOWEL.
Excellent imo. Clever. Needed the blog to clear up a few parsings, the check button to confirm, or not, rather too regularly and the reveal button for the Trump meme which I read on Google is some kind of acronym and that ‘a small group of people’ know exactly what he means. Well, you could say that about anything he says. But I enjoyed this puzzle very much. A big thank you to Paul. ACUTE ANGLE, the ‘minor skirmish’, and 17/14 among my favourites. Many thanks to loonapick of course.
Many thanks to loonapick for a wonderful job. Generally a tough, but fair crossword, but with one exception. I’m sorry, 5a is just not acceptable. Why not the neologisms and onomatopoeias of James Joyce next time?
Czech Rod@5 It does fit the definition perfectly though – it is a bit of twittering nonsense by a stupid effin old man!
All I can do is echo the immortal words of Artemus Ward: for those who like this sort of thing, this is the sort of thing they like. Thanks anyway to Paul, and especially to loonapick.
“Good Day M,James Bond here.I’m afraid I can’t crack the code today.Maybe we could enlist the help of a Greek interpreter because that’s what it seems to me.”
40 minute wrestle ended up with all bar 5 ac in the grid, couldn’t think of anything for it at all or even see a way into it. Couldn’t parse 1ac but had to be the only possible answer. All makes sense now. Highlights for me: 17/14 and 3. Thanks Paul and loonapick.
And I thought that 5A was just an ordinary American crossword clue. Great puzzle by Paul. I got a chuckle out of HANDBAGS AT TEN PACES which I had to Google since that phrase has not yet made it to the parts of the States where I have lived. I will have that one in my back pocket next time the occasion for use arises. I also liked 20D STROLL. Thanks to Loonapick for a great blog which cleared up the parsing I missed on 1A.
Finally, something a bit more straightforward this week, back to a standard solving duration.
I liked ELASTOPLAST, WOLVERINE, LAPLANDER and SPOT THE BALL.
Thanks Paul and Loonapick
Not as tricky as it first seemed, I enjoyed this immensely with so many clever misdirections. POOH is obviously not to everyone’s taste but it did make me chuckle. I thought WARDROBE MALFUNCTION was quite brilliant along with ELASTOPLAST, GUANO, ACUTE ANGLE, SPOT THE BALL (I remember posting my entries to the Belfast Telegraph every Saturday evening as a teenager) and HANDBAGS AT TEN PACES. BRAISE was a nice homophone and COVFEFE a shrug.
Ta Paul & loonapick.
I liked HANDBAGS and ELEPHANT for the extended mobile phone surface. Shame about TOWEL, which I didn’t see the problem with, when I solved it. I had to remind myself to trust the wordplay for COVFEFE.
Never heard the expression HATP but I found it is common, and probably originated, in commentary on soccer/football and has also been used in politics and elsewhere. Apart from the obvious, and not uncommon, custom of denigrating men for acting like women, I think it’s just plain wrong.
Has anyone seen or felt what goes in some handbags? I’d rather take my chances that someone might miss with other weapons.
I see from the comments that Paul continues to be the Marmite of setters. Personally, I always enjoy his puzzles, though I know I’ll have a struggle and need some lateral thinking. I’m not always familiar with some of the usages either, I’ve never heard ‘drop a log’ as a euphemism, but the answer brought a smile when I finally saw it. Had almost forgotten about COVFEFE so that was my LOI (perhaps more obviously nonsense than his other nonsensical utterances). BRILLO PADS was a blast from the past for me, though I suppose they still exist. Liked WARDROBE MALFUNCTION for the anagram. Thanks to Paul and loonapick.
It’s a Paul – slightly dodgy equivalences (“at” for “near”?), scatological references, something which doesn’t quite work (I’m looking at you “towel”) and a very British expression (“handbags…”). All we are lacking is a dodgy homophone because, “braise” was lovely.
If it were a Ximenes puzzle I’d enter into debates about whether something is &lit, but this is Paul who more often supplies clues where the wordplay and definition divide fairly but the wordplay also encompasses something of the answer. “Astana” and “Wardrobe Malfunction” (and “covfefe” for those who had heard of it) were superb examples.
Many thanks Paul and loonapick.
Czech Rod @5 I am sure that TATTARRATTAT featured somewhere a while ago. I think both are fine personally.
Oh, so that’s how WARDROBE MALFUNCTION parses. Thanks loonapick! Daunting at first sight, but not as impossible as it looked, though I haven’t met HANDBAGS AT TEN PACES before and struggled to identify the weapon. Favourites SPOT THE BALL, ASTANA, CALENDULA, ACUTE ANGLE and my last in, ELASTOPLAST. I agree that you don’t take water TO a well!
Is he saying a well is a place you take water to? Isn’t he just saying it’s a place where you take water?
Gladys@18 (and others): no, you don’t take water to a well but from a well water may be taken. Don’t know what all the fuss is about. Fabulous crossword as usual from Paul. Only got 5ac from doing a word search so consider myself beaten – especially when I finally saw the anagram indicator. I got the COVE ok and guessed I should separate EFF from IN, so silly me. Thanks all round.
Funny, I had the idea that that nonsense tweet was a Bojoism: easy wires to get crossed I guess.
I wasn’t quick; only the two poohs, amigo and chopped up after first scan of the acrosses. Downs a bit quicker, and it latticed together. Some nice obliquities — sheer for rank; not quite right for acute. Fun. Thanks Paul and loona.
Paul on sparkling form again, entertaining clues, especially ‘charger’, ‘minor skirmish’ and ‘minor design failure’.
No need to throw in the towel.
Thanks to him and loonapick
A Paul day is a good day in this household.
I never complain about obscure nods to church liturgies, classical composers or, worst of all, cricket.
But I do enjoy a groaning pun, a bit of crass humour and popular culture references.
So three cheers for Paul I say!
I suspect the HANDBAGS AT TEN PACES (also ‘handbags at dawn’ and other variants) derive from the Thatcher years and the supposed threat of her ‘handbagging’ opponents.
COVFEFE was a meme 8 years ago. Is it still even remembered?
And of course water is taken FROM a well.
5a a bit unfair IMHO, but a lovely puzzle otherwise. POOH is classic Paul. As my niece would say, “Eeewh!”
Thanks both.
Very enjoyable. Still don’t understand towel but seems that puts me in good company! After a brief lull, Paul is one of my favourites again. Though thinking about that makes me miss Picaroon all the more!
Paul again, oh well. Can I point out the expression is handbags at dawn? At ten paces doesn’t make sense. And the POOH clue was just unpleasant, not funny or clever.
TOWEL: first definition of where in Chambers is ‘at or to which place’. Taking it as ‘to which place’ solves the problem. I.e. if one goes ‘where water may be taken’, one might go ‘to well’.
The usual Paul challenge/struggle for me. Though this morning I did quite well personally, with only STROLL, ELEPHANT, VEEP and (never would have got this is a million years) COVFEFE unsolved. Several of those I managed to insert were unparsed, however. Not exactly a STROLL in the park by any means, but I have to admit my eyes do always light up in anticipation whenever a Paul puzzle pops up…
Thanks Loonapick, Paul and Henty@23. Fully agree with your household!
It’s Paul, it’s difficult but lots of humour. Despite the valiant attempts to justify the clue for TOWEL, I don’t think it really works. Adding ‘going’ at the front or some such might have helped. I liked the sprouts in BABY-SIT, the bust WARDROBE MALFUNCTION, ELASTOPLAST for cuts, the ELEPHANT charger, the ASTANA capital of Kazakhstan, and the Nordic jewel and lost pearl for LAPLANDER.
Thanks Paul and loonapick.
Forgot about COVFEFE but (given Paul’s trademark lift-and-separate) the clue’s totally fair.
Some sources I’ve seen suggest that “handbags at ten paces” is used to refer to a peaceful compromise or resolution that prevents further escalation of a hostile situation. In other words, that women have the good sense not to be using pistols at ten paces. Granted, good sense and the peaceful use of handbags are not things one regularly associates with Mrs Thatcher.
I think I can forgive Paul a great deal for the surface to 6d. 20d manages another pointed dig at the Orange Menace, as well.
Nice try with the aquifer, but IMHO the clue for TOWEL, neatly constructed though it is, just doesn’t work.
Thank you Paul, though, for the entertainment and loonapick for the usual conscientious blog.
As many, not convinced by TOWEL, but I thought COVFEFE was brilliant.
SWORDSMITH was my favourite today. A long solve as usual with Paul, mostly to work backward on the parsings rather than getting the answers. CALENDULA was that rare treat, a new word for me filled in from the wordplay. Thanks Paul and loonapick
4D is easiest if one thinks of steam engines. A quote from a 1950s railway book: “The engines took water at Dingwall, the junction for the cross-country line to Kyle of Lochalsh, and again at Tain, 44 miles from Inverness.” That water could easily have come from a well. Meanwhile, grateful to Paul for introducing me to the weird phenomenon that is COVFEFE. Perhaps, like some bits of Shakespeare, it will appear in a dictionary 400 years from now as a word of unknown meaning, possibly a misprint, once used by Mr Trump in a tweet.
Defeated by COVFEFE but I think if someone wrote it in for me I would have deleted it. Obviously one of those things that passed me by.
Slightly disappointed as I thought this was Paul at his best. Finding it hard to pick a favourite.
I’m ok with TOWEL after some thought but my initial reaction was the same as Loonapick.
Cheers Paul and Loonapick.
Thanks
Sagittarius @35: but you wouldn’t talk of engines taking water TO a well, would you?
Fantastic crossword with some lovely wordplay in the likes of ELEPHANT, ELASTOPLAST & SPOT THE BALL
Happy to admit defeat on COVFEFE which somehow seems to belong to a bygone age when he was inane rather than insane
12a got a double guffaw given the circumstances under which I solved it 🙂
Cheers L&P
It’s a Paul! The spirits lift and the loins are girded. Hooray! Il maestro brightens a gloomy day.
This is the third Paul in a row that I’ve deemed “easier than his usual difficulty”. Perhaps I’m finally getting the hang of him. I enjoyed the puzzle as it kept me occupied for a reasonable amount of time without infuriating me, which I think is what other contributors mean by a “Goldilocks” level of difficulty. Favourite was ACUTE ANGLE.
Does 4d in the printed version have a rogue “to” that appears neither in the app nor online? I can’t understand the enduring confusion otherwise.
Martin@41 No, it doesn’t.
As far as Paul goes this was much gentler than usual for me – only five clues that I couldn’t solve!
Some very funny clues, though have never heard of the handbags phrase til today. Might be warming up to Paul’s wavelength finally!
Martin@41 – the clue asks the question “where do you take water?”, the solution requires the answer to be “to well”, which doesn’t work.
Otherwise I loved this puzzle, covfefe and all.
Always groan when I see ‘Paul’ at the top of the puzzle.
One man’s “witty and inventive” seems to be my “loose and strained”.
Hey-ho chacun à son goût.
So apparently it’s 8 years since covfefe and 21 years since the super bowl ‘wardrobe malfunction’. Time flies. I burnt some milk on the stove making lunch, and need to get to work with a 2, 21 (singular). Thanks for the blog and puzzle.
[Philinch @46 – top tip: boil up a dishwasher tablet in the pan, it shifts almost anything!]
Great crossword and blog. I love a good Pauling.
5a COVFEFE gets the nod as the marmite clue of the day. It was my favourite, for the brilliant surface. Wikipedia tells us of the COVFEFE Act, tabled in Congress shortly after the famous tweet.
[ As a sequel to his book about language, Simon Winchester’s next book should be “Covfefe and the Madman”. There is enough linguistic material in the tweets alone. ]
Thanks P&L for the Pleasing Puzzle and Looverly bLog.
DuncT @44, the clue may look like it is asking that question, but you are misled.
Consider this example:
I am going where I can get a Big Mac.
That would be:
I am going to McDonalds.
So ‘where’ = ‘to the place that’.
So, ‘where water might be taken’ could be written as ‘to the place that water can be taken’, which = ‘to well’.
To insist, as everyone is doing here, that ‘where’ in this clue simply means ‘the place that’, when that interpretation is both unnecessary (because it is not the only meaning of ‘where’) and wrong (because it doesn’t match what is required by the solution) is perverse.
James @49 reminds me of the days when Rugby Union commentators on (black and white) TV always justified the referees’ decisions however right or wrong. A valid point he makes.
Always enjoy a Paul and this was no exception. Didn’t get COFEFE like many others. Thanks to Paul and loonspick.
Some lovely confluences, if that’s the word (”Brill Op Ads” in particular) made this a treat. And the hungry bear reminded me of one of my favourite jokes, which unfortunately won’t get past the censor. But I’ve only just noticed, after a hard day looking after the grandkids, that my FOI (1 down) is me swapping hands…
So ta, Paul, for the almost-mention…
Oh, what the hell, here goes…
The kindergarten teacher is working on expanding the inner-city kids’ vocabulary by getting them to identify pictures of animals…
“So, children, what’s this creature?”
All the kids shout out “Pussy!”
“Yes, but that’s the baby name. What’s the grown-up name?”
Little Emily sticks up her hand “Please, Miss, CAT.”
“Very good, Emily. And now, children, what’s this animal?”
Chorus of “Gee-gee! Gee-gee!”
“Yes, children. You call it a gee-gee. But what do the grown-ups call it?”
Little Emily strikes again “Please, Miss, it’s a HORSE?”
“Excellent, Emily. Quite right. And now, what’s this huge beast?”
“Jumbo! Jumbo!”
The teacher turns to Emily. “And the grown-up name?”
“It’s an ELEPHANT, Miss.”
“Well done, Emily. You certainly know your animals. How do you know all their names?”
“Well, my Mum reads lots of books to me. And of course she always uses the grown-up words. She has lots of books…”
“And what’s your favourite book… the one you like the best?”
“Um… er… um… Oh yes, it’s Winnie the S**t.”
(I’ll get my coat)
I’m a late starter again today, so 12 hours too late to give a round of applause to paddymelon@14 for ” I’d rather take my chances that someone might miss with other weapons.” Brilliant!
Very pleased to have finished this, with only five or six delaying me substantially. POOH the last one in, and before I read the blog I searched the page for “toilet humour” but there’s not a mention – the nearest was Jack@16 with “scatological references”, so a booby prize for him. Oops!
Super pleased to have CALENDULA pop into my head and COVFEFE too, though I worked out the parsing almost simultaneously with both.
Thanks to Paul for the challenge (tremendous spot for WARD + (uncomfortable in)* btw 🙂 ) and to loonapick for completing before the crack of dawn – a sterling effort.
I generally enjoy Paul but this left too many ‘ehs?’ even after your masterly blog, loonapic
I’ve been thinking as an alternative parsing for 4d water might be taken in the bowels of a ship. BOWEL could be ‘not quite’ TOWEL unfortunately I can’t find any reliable references to a ship’s bowel (singular).
I’ve never had to resort to AI before, but that was the only way I was going to get COVFEFE. Good clue though!
This one took three sittings, but I got there in the end. Loi 5a COVFEFE, preceded by 8d ELEPHANT and 12a POOH (which I solved once I allowed myself to go where I was avoiding). Paul’s puzzles tend to feel odd. When the penny drops, there’s a mighty shift that happens in my head. Very interesting to experience
Favourites maybe 1a BABY-SIT (“risky food” for bait, and “mind the sprouts”), 5d CALENDULA (a beautiful surface image), 8d ELEPHANT (excellent misdirection)
10a I didn’t think there was a creature called WETTERINE, so I figured it must be WOLVERINE
4d TOWEL, I think James@49 nails it
17/14 WARDROBE MALFUNCTION, does the definition “design failure” hold out the intriguing possibility that the famous “malfunction” was actually by design?
Most things written or uttered by Trump – and his admirers/apologists – go straight into the mental recycle bin for me, so I was defeated by 5a, even though I guessed that it was an insertion of an anagram of EFF into COVE somehow, but that’s my fault, not Paul’s.
Many thanks all.
5 ac. This obscurity was not helped by using ‘cove’ for old man. As far as I know it just means a fellow (see Chambers) and you’d have to specify ‘old cove’ for an old one.
Effin covfefe got me. Shouldn’t have done now I see the parsing. I too do not like the pooh clue.
All done bar the trade-marked sticking plaster and President Trump’s ramblings, neither of which, IMO, has any place in a crossword.
Delightful! And what a lovely way to build an ELEPHANT!!
Many thanks to Paul – you made my day!