A fun solve with some tricky surfaces/definitions. My favourites were 4dn, 11dn, and 16/1. Thanks to Paul for the puzzle.
| ACROSS | ||
| 7 | MADE IN BRITAIN |
See 5 Down
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| 8 | BELARUS |
Autocracy with real subversion? (7)
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"real subversion" is split as: 'real sub // version' anagram/"version" of (real sub)* |
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| 9, 21 | SWAP SHOP |
Give-and-take retailer was ruined, old man keeping quiet (4,4)
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anagram/"ruined" of (was)*; plus POP=father="old man" around SH=sound used to tell someone to be "quiet" |
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| 10 | DETERRENT |
Obstacle in hollow filled with French earth (9)
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DENT="hollow" filled with TERRE="French" word for "earth" |
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| 12, 15 | SHOCK JOCK |
Stern, say, man with strap-on locks (5,4)
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definition refers to Howard Stern [wiki] the US radio personality and 'shock jock' JOCK=an athlete wearing a jockstrap="man with strap"; "on"/after SHOCK=a shock of hair="locks" |
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| 13 | ONE IN TWO |
Old, awful wine, not half! (3,2,3)
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O (Old) plus anagram/"awful" of (wine not)* |
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| 15 | SHOCK JOCK |
See 12
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| 16 | GREBE |
Olive briefly sheltering black bird (5)
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GREE-[n]="Olive" briefly, around B (black) |
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| 17 | BIDE |
Wait, old leader’s back’s gone! (4)
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BIDE-[n]=former US president="old leader" with the back/final letter gone |
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| 18 | TEA PLANT |
Where something latched onto about programme leaves producer? (3,5)
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definition: a producer of tea leaves TEAT=a place where something can latch onto; around PLAN="programme" |
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| 20 | THREW |
Cast done talking? (5)
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definition: past tense of cast as a verb meaning to throw sounds like (when "talking"): 'through'="done" as in e.g. 'I'm done with you' / 'I'm through with you' |
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| 21 | SAVILE ROW |
Bunfight that’s sickening ends it a fitting way? (6,3)
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definition: a street or "way", known for tailoring or "fitting" VILE ROW="Bunfight that's sickening" goes after ("ends"): SA (Sex Appeal, "it") |
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| 22 | HUGH |
Grant for example cut, according to dictator? (4)
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definition refers to Hugh Grant the actor sounds like (when dictated / "according to dictator"): 'hew'="cut" |
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| 24 | CORNISH |
As cream may be, grainy? (7)
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definition refers to CORNISH [clotted] cream CORN-ISH could mean 'like grains of corn' or 'grain-y' |
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| 25 | TREACLE |
Percentage of litre, a clear, sweet liquid (7)
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some part (a percentage) of: [li]-TRE A CLE-[ar] |
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| DOWN | ||
| 1 | GOALLESS DRAW |
See 16
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| 2 | STOPCOCK |
Copper ring in standard tap (8)
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PC (Police Constable, "Copper") + O=letter in shape of a "ring"; both in STOCK as an adjective="standard" |
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| 3 | DIK-DIK |
Antelope raising twin goats (3-3)
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upward reversal ("raising") of KID KID (twin i.e. two of the same word for 'goat') |
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| 4 | DERRIERE |
Cheeky thing south of London in song on the radio? (8)
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definition refers to cheeks as in buttocks if DERRIERE is added after (south of) 'London', then the combination sounds like (on the radio): 'Londonderry Air', the name of a song |
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| 5, 7 | MADE IN BRITAIN |
With article breaking, bear in mind it could be – ours? (4,2,7)
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anagram/("breaking") of (a bear in mind it)*, with one letter a=indefinite "article" [or perhaps the indefinite article a is breaking into an anagram/"could be" of (bear in mind it)*] |
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| 6 | BIRTHDAY SUIT |
See 17
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| 11 | TWO-SEATER |
Possible couch potato internalising variety of woes (3-6)
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TATER="potato" around anagram/"variety" of (woes)* |
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| 12 | PAVING STONE |
See 19
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| 14 | GOLF WIDOW |
See 23
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| 16, 1 | GOALLESS DRAW |
Some FO-OTBALL result? (8,4)
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"Some" used to indicate something hidden inside [F] O – O [TBALL], and the O-O or nil-nil would be a GOALLESS DRAW |
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| 17, 6 | BIRTHDAY SUIT |
Emperor’s new clothes, third stuffed into brown case (8,4)
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definition refers to the fable of the Emperor naked in his 'new clothes' anagram/"stuffed" of (third)* in BAY="brown" + SUIT=legal "case" |
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| 19, 12 | PAVING STONE |
Flag in Spain gone with TV broadcast (6,5)
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definition: 'flag' can mean a flat paving stone anagram/"broadcast" of (Spain gone TV)* |
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| 20 | TAWDRY |
Vulgar, a word that’s void in essay (6)
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A (from surface) + W-[or]-D void of its inner letters; both inside TRY="essay" |
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| 21 | SWAP SHOP |
See 9 Across
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| 23, 14 | GOLF WIDOW |
Might her inattentive husband be, reportedly, playing around? (4,5)
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"playing around" sounds like (reportedly): 'playing a round [of golf]' GOLF WIDOW is a phrase suggesting that a husband is always absent due to golf |
I just wonder whether with all the brickbats flung at Paul over his most recent offering this meant that this was a much more gentle affair. Or would that be down to the crossword editor? Found this remarkably straighforward and enjoyable today apart from the very last one, which was the unknown to me SHOCK JOCK, which sadly I had to reveal…
Thank for a super puzzle Paul, that got my birthday off to a cracking start! Even got in a birthday reference, how did he know…?
The only reason I still attempt Paul’s cryptics is to make sense out of it.Unfortunately,I’m just not and probably never will be at his wavelength.The crossovers?the solutions which go across a few squares doesn’t help either.Only for Paul loyalists.
Thanks manehi.
ronald@1. I get a feeling that it’s the boys’ club with Alan Connor/Editor and Paul. SHOCK JOCK also my LOI. But the rest was pretty cruisy.
I don’t know why the split entries put me off as much as they do. I think it’s just laziness on my part. I liked BELARUS and DERRIERE, but I can’t get the word order to work for SHOCK JOCK.
I know I’ll be in the minority, but I thought this was more difficult than Paul’s last offering. I enjoyed both, however.
Thanks to Paul and to manehi for explaining obscurities like Howard Stern.
Deliberate interference to show the difficulty of reverse engineering comment reference numbers.
This was originally unapproved.
Ronald@1 opposite experience for me, I’m afraid. With the last one I thought I was starting to “get” Paul, but this was back to square one for me. I filled in everything except 8A, but a number of parsings went over my head, and I did not get much joy from it.
Cocks, diks and derrieres – welcome back to the Paul we know and love 🙂
Podium places for BELARUS, SAVILE ROW & the football result whose parsing eluded me until the very end
CORNISH caused a chuckle when the penny finally dropped
Cheers M&P
Many thanks for the very helpful parsing. We enjoyed a number of Pauline lightbulb moments, and grins. Not to mention the usual Comment moans from Aussies about Paul being unapologetically Anglocentric!
Deliberate interference second of three comments.
Originally unapproved.
Another satisfying solve on the gentler side despite all the split clues. I thought DERRIÈRE was outstanding and I also enjoyed, DETERRENT, TWO-SEATER, GOALLESS DRAW, SHOCK JOCK (I thought he was reasonably well-known), TEA PLANT, CORNISH and TAWDRY.
Happy birthday Lockjaw @2.
Ta Paul & manehi.
Entertaining as ever, and I imagine ‘two-seater’ references all the two-part entries. Perhaps it’s a car with a DIK-DIK dickey seat in the ‘stern’ or DERRIÈRE?
I especially like the barely hidden 0-0 result, the ‘subversion’ and ‘playing around’.
Thanks to Paul and manehi.
Well – in the interest of supplying some balance, Paul is probably my favourite setter. I enjoyed this one because I could only see one answer – THREW – on my first pass, but then everything gradually revealed itself in a tricky, but pleasing way.
DERRIÈRE appeared very recently somewhere else. Brendan also clued it in the same way in 27967.
MADE IN BRITAIN – “in” appears in the clue as fodder and in the solution, so doesn’t really get “anagram-ised”.
All good fun, thanks to Paul and manehi.
@12 Wallyzed I also love Paul’s puzzles, I don’t understand the negativity! Definitely a favourite along with Picaroon – which reminds me, I haven’t seen Picaroon for a while, has he gone elsewhere?
@10 AlanC – thank you!
A slow but satisfying solve, full marks from me for DERRIÈRE (which provoked a chuckle once the penny dropped) and DETERRENT Paul continues reliably to provide satisfaction and amusement.
Thanks manehi and Paul
Some good clues. STOPCOCK was very good. 8ac I didn’t like. I find that lazy clueing.
I passed on this one, though I did have a quick glance and got GOALLESS DRAW.
Lockjaw @14
Picaroon has become crossword editor at the Telegraph, so is no longer allowed to set for the Guardian.
Definitely nicer than Paul’s last showing but I agree with Petert @5 – the multi-line clues do put me off and I also don’t know why! Still though, lots of fun, and TWO-SEATER got a proper smile when I figured it out.
Rats @16 – I’ve seen this style of clue a lot more with modern cluers, definitely seems to be becoming increasingly popular. If you’ve seen Minute Cryptic before, their submitters often love to hide anagrinds like this.
And happy birthday Lockjaw @2!
@14 Lockjaw. Alas, James has taken up a post with the Telegraph as Editor and will not be setting puzzles. I miss his puzzles dearly 😭
Final interference post. Again, initially unapproved.
I imagine that all “@ref” style references to have gone haywire.
Now, who has a solution for this situation?
Due to lack of time had to reveal DERRIERE, and reach for the tea tray. Classic Paul – awful pun and body part in the same clue. Can’t understand the fuss about his puzzles. The Cambridge oddity apart, he is the most consistently inventive setter. Thanks both.
Love Paul precisely because he stirs up a bit of argy, and is as Oofy @20 says consistently inventive. Real sub, version of, is fine by me (lot of autocracy in the ex SRs; wonder if there’s any nostalgia for them).
Thanks to Paul and manehi.
For all the talk of negativity, nobody has overdone it today. So that’s a welcome change. Maybe the “never agains”, some of whom are clearly excellent solvers, have stuck to their word.
I found this rewarding, if not as easy as some have suggested. The dash in fo-otball was generous and that was one of my first in, it may have taken a while without it. I liked the PAVING STONE. My sister somehow wound up doing a brief assistant stint in the early days of Howard Stern whilst on a Camp America trip, so I had a slight advantage compared to most Brits there. Despite suspecting many lateral definitions from the outset, some solutions took a while. My last two in were BELARUS and DERRIÈRE.
Thanks Paul and manehi and fellow solvers.
Last week I posted rather unfavourably about this setter, and was mildly castigated for my negativity. For the sake of balance, therefore, I’m pleased to say I rather enjoyed this offering. Still with Paul’s trademark bonkers surfaces, but with sufficient wit and fun to get away with it.
Had to reveal SHOCK JOCK so a dnf, really. The Londonderry Air gag was my favourite.
Many thanks, both.
Paul is one of my favorite setters and this puzzle did not disappoint. Thanks for a fun solve!
Paul is my favourite setter too! Always a challenge mixed with plenty of smiles. So many enjoyable clues here but DERRIÈRE wins the prize today.
Thanks Paul and manehi
This was much more accessible for me than the Cambridge effort, but I usually find Paul hard work: sometimes rewarding, sometimes not. The way in was via HUGH and the GOALLESS DRAW, and then things gradually emerged, though I didn’t know which Stern was the SHOCK JOCK. With all the multi-light entries, I got confused and spent time wondering why STONE PAVING was a thing – I wish Paul wouldn’t do that so much.
The London Derriere pun dates back a long way – I think I’ve seen it in a Carry On film, but I can’t remember which one and there are lots of them. Thanks manehi for sorting out the “sickening bunfight” and the “man with strap” for me.
Will we get scolded again for complaing?
Marmite yet again. I struggled grudgingly through just to keep up my Grauniad streak.
Ever grateful to manehi for explaining clues I fail to get, and always find a Paul crossword a joy as he makes me smile. Sorry Picaroon has moved to the Telegraph.
@30
Not for “complaing” – maybe for lack of proofing.
Seriously though, you didn’t use any harmful or hateful language. Complaining is fine, though it’s preferable to include sensible reasons why.