Thanks to Maskarade for the puzzle, with nice clues and a very helpful grid. Happy New Year, all.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | ROOM TEMPERATURE |
Paddy in sensible jumper at first gets a degree of comfort (4,11)
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in the definition, "degree" can refer to a unit of temperature (e.g. degrees Celsius) TEMPER="Paddy" (a fit of anger/temper), inside MATURE="sensible"; with ROO (kangaroo, jumping animal, "jumper") going first |
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| 9 | CREATE AN OPENING |
Make a break-through and exploit an opportunity (6,2,7)
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"Make a break-through" and "exploit an opportunity" could mean CREATE AN OPENING as in establishing or taking an opportunity; or "Make a break-through" could also mean creating a physical hole/opening e.g. in a wall |
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| 10 | EMAIL ATTACHMENT |
Online extra involving ten mathematical characters (5,10)
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anagram/["involving" the "characters"/letters] of (ten mathematical)* |
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| 13 | SWIMMING COSTUME |
Attire for the Lido with roughly two GCSEs, minimum (8,7)
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anagram/"roughly" of (two GCSEs minimum)* |
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| 16 | HIGH-PROTEIN DIET |
Drunk professional taking note at popular conference for body-building regime (4-7,4)
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HIGH="Drunk" + PRO (professional) + TE (musical "note" in the sol-fa scale) + IN="popular" + DIET=a legislative assembly="conference" |
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| 17 | FLAMENCO DANCING |
Former girl-friend with soldier taking steps in Spanish art form (8,7)
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FLAME (as in an old flame)="Former girl-friend" + NCO (Non-Commissioned Officer, "soldier") + DANCING="taking steps" |
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| 20 | E CLASS SUBMARINE |
WW1 vessel made from scale bus remains (1,5,9)
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definition: a British submarine used in WW1 anagram of/"made from": (scale bus remains)* |
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| 23 | DISPLACED PERSON |
Dined out with Applecross refugee (9,6)
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anagram/"out" of (Dined Applecross)* |
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| DOWN | ||
| 1 | RACHEL SCHOFIELD |
Former BBC newsreader who is Jeremy Vine’s wife disturbed old Cheshire calf (6,9)
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anagram/"disturbed" of (old Cheshire calf)* |
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| 2 | OPERATING TABLES |
Surgical surfaces somehow obliterate pangs (9,6)
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anagram/"somehow" of (obliterate pangs)* |
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| 3 | TOTAL |
Complete ruin of tenor and alto transcription (5)
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to TOTAL is to damage something beyond repair, to complete its ruin / to completely ruin it T (for Tenor) plus anagram/"transcription" of (alto)* |
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| 4 | MOA |
Originally massive old avian NZ resident once (3)
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definition: extinct large birds from New Zealand first letters (Originally) of M-[assive] O-[ld] A-[vian] |
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| 5 | EVORA |
A wander up to historic Portuguese city (5)
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definition: a Portuguese city that is a World Heritage Site with many historical buildings and monuments A ROVE="A wander", reversed/"up" |
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| 6 | ACE |
It’s a winner during matches regularly (3)
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definition: an ACE is a winning serve in a tennis match ACE appears "regularly" as alternate letters from [m]-A-[t]-C-[h]-E-[s] |
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| 7 | UNITED UTILITIES |
Club name on pick-up trucks for water board in northern England (6,9)
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UNITED (e.g. Manchester United football club)="Club name"; plus UTILITIES="pick-up trucks" |
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| 8 | EIGHTEENTH GREEN |
Conclusion – of course! (10,5)
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cryptic definition: "of course!" could be read as 'certainly!', and can instead be read as '[the conclusion / last green] …of a golf course' |
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| 11 | TANGO |
Brown and green phonetic letter (5)
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definition: TANGO indicates the letter T in the NATO phonetic alphabet TAN="Brown" + GO="green" (as in a 'green light' meaning go) |
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| 12 | HAS ON |
Takes in poor Shona wears (3,2)
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anagram/"poor" of (Shona)* |
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| 14 | MAPLE |
Tree that’s found on satnav on borders of Lancashire (5)
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MAP="that's found on satnav"; plus outer letters/"borders" of L-[ancashir]-E |
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| 15 | CREED |
Belief for which a Native American died (5)
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CREE="Native American" + D (died) |
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| 18 | COSEC |
Function at company – just a very short time (5)
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definition: a mathematical function in trigonometry CO (Company) + SEC (second, "a very short time") |
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| 19 | NUAGE |
Inhuman geek regularly at The Cloud over the channel (5)
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definition: French [as spoken 'over the Channel'] for 'cloud' regular letters taken from [i]-N-[h]-U-[m]-A-[n] G-[e]-E-[k] |
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| 21 | SOL |
The sun should even things out (3)
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the letters from S-[h]-O-[u]-L-[d], with the "even" letters taken "out" |
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| 22 | BED |
Hospital space available in the garden (3)
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double definition, referring to hospital beds or to garden beds |
Obviously struck by the strange grid but this turned out to be very straightforward with lots of fun clues like ROOM TEMPERATURE, EMAIL ATTACHMENT, FLAMENCO DANCING and EIGHTEENTH GREEN. I knew RACHEL SCHOFIELD’s husband so that was a write-in, although it seemed more like a quiz question than a cryptic clue, despite the anagram. UNITED UTILITIES was a guess from the helpful crossers. I had takes in as part of the solution in HAS ON. A quick solve but more time to get on with preparing the day’s festivities. HNY everyone and thanks for all the fun throughout the year.
Ta Maskarade & manehi.
‘Takes in’ as in having someone on, i.e. tricking them, therefore a double definition with ‘wears’.
Thanks Maskarade and manehi
I saw 3D as a double definition with wordplay: Complete as in total, then ruin as in total, followed by T + ALTO*.
A lot of generous long clues made for an easier if still enjoyable solve. Only Mr Vine’s wife (who I did not know) caused me any trouble.
Liked the long clues in this
Thanks Manehi and Maskarade.
Happy new year to all as well
New for me: RACHEL SCHOFIELD (found after googlng Jeremy Vine – never heard of these people); EVORA; E-CLASS SUBMARINE; COSEC; UNITED UTILITIES.
Thanks Maskarade and manehi
FOI was 1d, and I almost threw it away at that point – what a very odd clue; far too much information! I hadn’t heard of her, but the anagram was obvious, and Googling Jeremy Vine confirmed it. Several other pretty obvious answers too.
I thought something else – “light”, for example – was needed to make “green” GO.
At first I was a bit frightened by all the fifteen-letter clues, but I needn’t have been. Even the two UK-specific clues were achievable with online help. The abundance of anagrams made it quite easy, and I even learnt a new French word, which is bound to come in useful next time I visit France.
I suppose if they’d published this tomorrow we’d have had to wait a year to see if it was the easiest cryptic of the year 🙂
Last time PADDY was used to clue anger there were quite a few complaints that it was offensive but none as yet on the Guardian site so maybe everyone’s too full of festive spirit?
Cheers & HNY to one and all
Another nho RACHEL SCHOFIELD (being qualified by her husband is a bit non-Guardian?) but pretty simple as a credible name just from the crossers and checking the fodder.
Held up by putting in ‘bay’ for BED.
Today, seeing the setter’s name, and remembering the mauling I took from him last innings, I walked to the crease in trepidation and fearing the worst. But the 12 long entries went swiftly to the boundary, and shortly after, I realised it was all over.
This must be the most benign grid possible! Many thanks both, and a happy New Year to all!
I object to the use of paddy. Racially abusive terms are not welcome in a crossword.
I found the grid intimidating at first, but there were so many straighforward definitions – particularly 1d – that it all went into place without too much trouble. Thanks, Maskerade and manehi.
Alastair@11
What on earth are you talking about?
A paddy is a fit of temper, a pet, a wobbler. No racial connotations whatever.
Fairly straightforward, though I’ve never heard of the newsreader and am only vaguely aware of her husband.
1a left a bad taste in the mouth. I find that meaning of ‘paddy’ offensive. When it came up a few years ago I wrote to the Editor and he undertook to avoid it in future crosswords. Time for a reminder perhaps.
I enjoyed the crossword. Nice and straightforward.
Speaking as an occasional setter from elsewhere, I thought the most impressive thing of all was getting 12 full line lights to work in the grid. It’s tough getting any more than 2 acrosses and 2 downs to fit.
Thanks to M and M.
Agree with Alastair and poc, I was often called it when I first came to London in 1982, although those people were given short shrift. It is thought to have originated from English people claiming that Irish people were prone to fits of bad temper (I wonder why).
Not much new to bring to the party. Like others I found the grid a bit intimidating to begin with – I don’t really enjoy the grids with four 15 letter solutions around the outside and this had many more. That said I thought the cluing was fair although I had to double check when my general knowledge let me down with newsreaders, ships, water companies and Portuguese cities. 1a needed the editor’s intervention. Favourites were probably EIGHTEENTH GREEN and TANGO for the elegant simplicity of both.
Thank you to Maskerade and Manehi and I hope everyone has a Happy New Year.
Évora is home to a chapel of bones, a must-see for anyone with a prediliction for the macabre.
Predilection
Personally I always try to avoid racial stereotyping, but I’ve always understood that Paddy was a derivative of Patrick and was used informally and affectionately for Irishmen.
It never occurred to me that it was an offensive or racist term. Should rice fields now no longer be called paddy fields, I wonder, just in case…
“Paddy” is a recognised abbreviation for Patrick. Granted, referring to an Irishman as “a Paddy” is likely to give offence, but objecting to 1a here does feel a bit precious. Would you object to “Taffy” or “Jock” appearing in a clue?
According to a piece in the Indy:
“If you want a nickname for Ireland’s patron saint, the 5th-century British missionary who bought Christianity to Ireland and (supposedly) booted out the snakes, then use Paddy.
This originates from from the Irish Pádraig, and is an acceptable nickname for any Patricks in your life“.
I’ve done quite a bit of moaning about unfriendly Grauniad grids, so I think I should acknowledge this solver-friendly one. It takes quite a bit of skill to fill a grid with twelve 15-letter answers, but then Maskarade is, for my money, probably the most technically accomplished of all the Grauniad setters.
Neatly clued; quite a quick but enjoyable solve. Thanks, both.
There’s no need to take umbrage at ‘Paddy’ – it’s a common affectionate nickname for people christened Patrick, preferred by at least two Patricks of my acquaintance.
Yes, I was wondering whether being able to fit and fill a dozen 15-letter crossword clues into one 15 by 15 grid was some kind of record. EVORA the last one in, had to look that one up eventually.
A slip of the fingers yesterday meant that I posted a second time with a slightly incorrect username. Adding a bit of extra colour, but at least I learnt something new – the precise meaning of roan…
[I didn’t know the derivation of paddy for tantrum, but I’ve looked it up online, and it is racially derogatory. Apparently it started with Irish navvies, who were reckoned to get drunk and lose their temper too readily. I think there is a good argument for banning it.]
As already stated, there are people on here commenting that they find it offensive, surely that is enough. My name is not Patrick! I’m actually taken aback by commenters trying to justify it, that is not being precious.
I think some people are justifying “Paddy” as an affectionate term for someone called Patrick, and missing the point that in this instance it is being used in the “tantrum” sense, which is surely not acceptable, given its derivation.
GDU @18. Having lived in both Lisbon and Prague and having visited both EVORA and the Kutna Hora ossuary in the Czech Republic, I think the latter is by some distance the more impressive in a ghastly sort of way. Evora is an extremely attractive destination for many other reasons, though.
I seem to be out of step with most of the earlier comments, because I found this one didn’t really light my fire. Once (most of) the largely fairly easy short down clues were in, most of the long across clues were pretty much write-ins from the definitions and word-counts, without much need to engage with the wordplay except for checking (and seeing what letter was left over to determine the class of the submarine!). Once those were in, the long downs fell into place in much the same way. Even for the NHO RACHEL SCHOFIELD: that was about the only surname that would fit those crossers, and the remaining letters in the anagram then made the first name up. LOI was EVORA, which I’d never heard of; the wordplay here was a clear pointer, but a check was needed to be sure. Possibly it is twinned with Shepton Mallet?
NUAGE raised a smile with its evocation of “Asterix in Britain”: the ancient Brits drinking hot water with “un petit nuage” of milk, as tea had not yet been discovered.
Re “Paddy”: It’s not being a short form for Patrick that’s the issue, but its being used as meaning (loss of) temper being stereotypically Irish. I’m not quite sure where I stand on that, as the meaning has by now drifted away from its origin, but I can see why some might find it problematic. (edit: I see others have got in on that while I was typing!)
A technical tour de force, to be sure: “chapeau” to Maskerade for that! Despite my grumblings, it accompanied nicely a glass or two of Jura’s finest last night. Thank you. Thanks also to manehi for a good blog, as always.
vicktim@20: Paddy field, with reference to rice growing, has an etymology derived from a Malay word and so has nothing at all to do with vile racial stereotyping of all of the inhabitants of a country as (a) sharing a single name and (b) being foul-tempered/lazy/fit only for simple manual labour for various meanings of “paddy” as derived from the diminutive of “Patrick”. I think we are probably big enough to move on from such things along with “watermelon smiles” and women “looking like letterboxes” (to cite recent examples from a recent ex-PM).
A nice grid-fill from Maskerade but, along with others, I found that the clearly signalled anagrams and definitions made the answers come too easily for it to require much sideways thought. Thanks to Maskerade and to manehi for the blog.
Sadly a dnf for me, as my answer for 10a was missing (though I could almost swear I had written something there).
Thanks for the puzzle and blog.
Nice friendly crossword. I usually approach from Maskarade’s puzzles with some trepidation.
Whilst I admire the erudition of those who object to the use of paddy, I expect that if you asked 100 English people 99 of them would not appreciate the derivation in this usage. I am a well-educated 70+ year-old and until I read this blog, the use of paddy to mean a tantrum being associated with Irishness had never occurred to me!
None of the several major dictionaries I checked had any etymological attributions for the temper meaning of paddy that suggested any connection to anything irish.
The fact that a very few people here have objected to it is not sufficient to ascribe unacceptability to it.
I read of a woman who took a group of young men in a pub to task for calling one of their number Jock. When asked why she said it is a derogatory name for a scotsman.
They all laughed and pointed out that the lad in question was a racehorse rider, and suggested she should butt out.
What fun! Thanks both.
I couldn’t parse ROOM TEMPERATURE because ‘paddy’ is a term for a tantrum I’ve only ever encountered in this crossword environment, and it hasn’t stuck with me. Perhaps that’s because it doesn’t have much currency in the outside world for whatever reason. For me it evokes that little dance that a child does when insisting on being upset – a padding up and down with the feet. But if people assure me that it’s racially offensive then there’s no defence – yank it out!
@poc14
Are you seriously saying the meaning of paddy, temper, is offensive.
Go back to bed
From what someone commented the other day it seems we’re having some unusual grids this week, and this one certainly fitted that bill. Twelve 15-letter answers — is that a record? I thought it made for a very entertaining puzzle.
1d was certainly a rather odd clue, with too much information in the definition. But I decided it would be more satisfying not to google it, and it soon became gettable from several crossers and the anagram.
On the “paddy” issue, I had known the word meaning a fit of temper (usually a child’s) all my life, but until it came up in a crossword a couple of years ago and people commented, it had never crossed my mind that it had anything to do with the term for an Irishman.
(It’s interesting how an old flame is a former girlfriend or boyfriend but you never hear of a new flame.)
Many thanks Maskarade and manehi.
Not a difficult solve, but what an amazing achievement by the setter to fill such an unusual grid! I wonder if it would be possible to create a workable puzzle where all the solutions were 15 letters long, without resorting to completely obscure words and phrases. If anyone can, Maskarade can – I look forward to it 😊
I really enjoyed this impressive grid. Getting a long solution gave loads of crossers, so the grid filled more readily than expected, as experienced by others. A lot of great anagrams, including 10a EMAIL ATTACHMENT (ten mathematical), 20a E CLASS SUBMARINE (scale bus remains), 1d RACHEL SCHOFIELD (old Cheshire calf (even though I’d never heard of her)), 2d OPERATING TABLES (obliterate pangs). I also thought 6a ACE was a winner
15a CREED, this clue moved me somehow — beautiful, sad, and thought-provoking
21d SOL took a while to parse — the wordplay was very well hidden (“should even things out”)
7d UNITED UTILITIES? Great, now I have to know the names of all the UK utilities companies? Not to mention BBC newsreaders! 🙂
Re “Paddy”, if a few people (or many) object to its usage, stop using it! That’s the generous and empathetic thing to do. There are lots of other words available
Thanks both, and HNY All!
A welcome easy solve for my flu-addled head. Like others I read 12d as double definition plus anagram.
Mig#37. Very well said re “paddy”
I didn’t think “paddy” was offensive until I was told it was – not here, a while ago. Since then I’ve tried not to use it. It’s pretty easy to avoid.
My gut feeling is that as an Englishman I should probably defer to the Irish point of view here. Skimming the comments that seems to be AlanC in this case.
Re. the crossword I found it as simple as most, a refreshing change for the most part after the Boxing Day Massacre. Maybe 1d gave a bit too much away? Although I’ll own to immediately wikiing “Jeremy Vine wife” since I don’t like guessing at GK anagrams really.
Thanks to Maskerade and Manehi.
Not to pour cold water on the holiday spirit, but I found this one more to admire than enjoy.
As far as the paddy usage goes, several people have said they are offended, their reasoning is fair, and that should be enough to end the debate.
I never throw a paddy, I prefer to throw a benny ( slang term for Falkland Islanders by British Army during that war as they allegedly resembled Benny from Crossroads , a stupid dull witted person prone to temper.) Racist? Abelist? Derogatory?
When I saw Maskerade as the setter I thought we’re in for a stinker. However this was pretty easy and fun. I began to wonder if M had gone soft. No doubt his next one will revert to normal. Very sad to see his bank holiday epic was not a competition and the answer was just below it! Happy new year to the setters and our fab bloggers.
Enjoyed this, & only had to look up “Rachel S.” (I’m an American)
Thanks for the blog . Too many anagrams .
I think FLAME means girlfriend , not Former girlfriend , that is old flame .
Lord JIm @35 – and Marie’s the name , of his latest flame – seems new enough to me .
Cliveinfrance@42: someone in the forces once told me that they had been forbidden to use the term “bennies”, so instead “stills” became the term for the hard-of-thinking. As in “they’re still bennies”.
Tour de force of anagrams, this. I always thought the US term ‘Paddy Wagon’ was wonderfully ironic as the NYPD who were throwing the Irish into the police cars were largely Irish themselves ( and probably singing Galway Bay)
I’m probably the only one not happy about NUAGE. It’s not an English word. It’s not in the BRB. I can’t think of an everyday phrase in which it’s used. As an aside, the Django Reinhardt composition “Nuages” has the English title “It’s the bluest kind of blues my baby sings”
[MartinD @47
You are probably thinking of Fairytale of New York. In fact the NYPD weren’t singing Galway Bay! Wiki says this:
The chorus of the song includes the line “The boys of the NYPD choir were/still singing ‘Galway Bay'”. In reality, the NYPD (New York City Police Department) does not have a choir, the closest thing being the NYPD Pipes and Drums who are featured in the video for the song. The NYPD Pipes and Drums did not know “Galway Bay” and so sang a song that all of them knew the words to – the “Mickey Mouse March”, the theme tune for The Mickey Mouse Club television series.[8][22] The footage was then slowed down and shown in brief sections to disguise the fact the Pipes and Drums were singing a different song.[13] Murray recalled that the Pipes and Drums had been drinking on the coach that brought them to the video shoot, and by the time they arrived they were more drunk than the band, refusing to work unless they were supplied with more alcohol.]
Someone told me once that if a paddy is a rice field, rice paddy is a tautology.
Roz @45: thanks for the Elvis reminder — how could I forget that! (Chambers says “love or its object, esp in the phrase an old flame” 🙂 )
I eally enjoyed this as they say in Canada about the A&E and Comedy Channels, it was time well wasted, Happy New Year everyone!
Showaddydadito @32 – no less an authority than the OED derives paddy in this sense from Paddy as an often derogatory term for an Irishman, and quotes Eric Partridge’s Words, Words Words (1933): ‘Both Irish and the colloquial Paddy are used for anger’.
Crispy @48 – my son is gently moving on from the quick cryptic. quiptic, and Everyman, and he also was unhappy about ‘nuage’, since he had no idea about the French word for cloud.
Crispy at 48, I agree with you.
Sarah@53 Well, we have a regular poster who goes by that name and I would be interested to hear her take on it.
Lord Jim @35, Elvis did have a hit with “his latest flame” (Marie’s the name of). Not quite the same but fairly close😬
Found this a fun solve. Re Paddy I’ve never associated it with a racist slur but if it offends take it out.
Thanks to Maskerade and as always Manehi for the informative blog. HNY all.
Muffin #49 Interesting but my point was about the ‘Irishness’ of the situation. I believe Irish descent policemen still call it The Paddy Wagon, but I may be wrong.
Showaddydadito@13 et al: my objection to this specific use of ‘paddy’ is because of the implication that the Irish are bad-tempered by nature. That’s where this sense of the term comes from, and it is definitely racist. Those who implicitly accuse me (and AlanC etc.) of pearl-clutching are missing the point. I don’t particularly like Paddy as a term for ‘Irishman’, but that is not what annoyed me here.
We were promised experimental grids and this was an odd experience for me. I bunged in the long clues mostly from definitions – they kinda jumped out…. Also, it was my quickest solve ever!
[I’m Irish too and I won’t accept Paddy or Mick as generic terms. But I agree that the wordplay here was innocent even if the obscure term is potentially historically racist. It’s a slippery slope. Will our beleaguered setters be afraid to clue HOOLIGAN or SHILLELAGH after this?]
Happy New year to all the setters in all the papers, awesome bloggers here and this inspiring online community.
Peter B@31
Totally agree (though you are a mere stripling compared with me).
I suppose we must never again “yank” a stiff drawer out of a cabinet, in case someone thinks it’s offensive to Americans, or at least those north of the Mason-Dixon Line.
My Old Flame is a song that has become a jazz standard, recorded by Billie Holiday and Charlie Parker among others. The version by Spike Jones and his City Slickers is worth listening to as well. I’ll try to avoid the song created from Django’s composition. Putting lyrics to instrumental pieces seldom works well.
To expand, from Google:
“A “paddy” (or having a “paddy”) meaning a tantrum comes from a derogatory, xenophobic English slang term for an Irishman, stemming from the common name “Paddy” (short for Patrick), linking Irish people to drunken, unreasonable outbursts, though it’s now often used by English speakers as a childish term for a strop without fully realizing its offensive roots in anti-Irish sentiment. “
Unusual and jolly easy puzzle. RACHEL SCHOFIELD is a genuine oddity (as a clue, I’m sure she’s a lovely woman). I thought EIGHTEENTH GREEN was excellent.
Given the odd looking grid, I decided to solve this by doing the 3, then 5, then 15-letter lights in order and got ~80% on the first pass. Fairly easy to fill in the blanks that I’d never heard of after this, like RACHEL SCHOFIELD and UNITED UTILITIES. Last in: COSEC. NUAGE is not really acceptable, not being a common French word used in English, but it strongly suggests the setter was painted into a corner.
Had forgotten the racial connotations of PADDY and I agree it should be avoided for that reason.
Happy New Year, all! Here’s to a fully soluble 2026!
Thanks, Mask and manehi, and all the 225 bloggers for their continuing sterling efforts.
Really enjoyable – took me a while to get the first part of 1a for some reason, helped by figuring out the name of 1d from crossers and anagramming, thus getting the first letter. Which leads me to the gripes about 19d. Why? I had never heard of 1d, 7d or 20a and had forgotten 19d but it still didn’t stop me figuring it out then checking with Google for confirmation. That’s is the beauty of cryptics and what makes them so much more enjoyable than concise crosswords – you can work out an answer from a well written clue without ever having heard a word before.
I enjoyed this puzzle. Not too strenuous to finsh off the year. I usually find the short solutions more difficult to solve than the longer ones.
I’d quite like to see a 15² crossword where all the solutions are 15 long – so 8 across clues and 8 down clues. A tricky grid fill I guess, but surely not impossible?
Thank you Maskarade and manehi, and a Happy New Year to one and all.
When I was a student I worked in the Irish Guards’ NAAFI in Pirbright one summer. They called me McNab instead of Jock! They also sang a song that referred to Paddy Reilly.
Probably the earliest finish for me. I thought 10ac was a brilliant anagram.
Surprisingly straightforward for Maskarade. A little too easy but very enjoyable. I think 8d was my favorite.
Crossbar @66 This has been done – see Genius 223 on 3rd January 2022.
Ancient Nick@60: I assume you are being deliberately obtuse as the word “yank” meaning “pull” has no connection with the word “yankee”.
I am frequently dismayed by the number of people here who post without apparently having read what other posters have written, but still feel they can contribute. How many times have people such as AlanC and poc pointed out that their objection is the racial slur that the Irish are prone to fits of temper because many sources give that as the derivation? Before posting I checked many online sources, none of which was definitive but also none of which suggested any alternative derivation.
Frankly I give up – it’s like reading comments in the Daily Mail.
A quick solve, but like others here, I do admire the construction of the grid. That’s a helluva lot of 15 letter anagrams. Re ‘Paddy’, one could open a whole debate about unconscious bias. But I thank others here for now making me ‘conscious’ about the term. It’s interesting, I once heard criticism of the word ‘denigrate’ because it associates blackness (from the root of the word) with a negative quality. In reality, few people would be aware of the root and so they’re almost certainly not consciously being racist. Where do we go with ‘sinister’, ‘gauche’, as opposed to ‘right’, ‘adroit’? Do left-handed people object to them being…um… denigrated?
Me @69 I realise that it would have been helpful if I had included a link. But I don’t think the Guardian Genius was being blogged here at that stage:
https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/2022/jan/03/genius-crossword-223
[Balfour@69 & 72. Thank you for that. I remember that one now. I certainly attempted it. Can’t remember if I finished it.
It’s not quite what I was imagining, but very close. I was thinking of 8 across and 8 down solutions, all 15 long. So not a stickleback (if that’s what it’s called?) design.
There are Genius blogs way back to March 2007. I was just starting to look but you saved me the bother 🙂]
TomK @71
I remember a politician – I can’t remember which one – being roundly slated for using the term “niggardly”.
I agree with yonoloco@65. (And if you are a new commenter, welcome! If I’ve missed or forgotten previous comments, apologies.).
The setter gave oodles of info about 1d so what do we do as cryptic crossword solvers? Obviously we solve the anagram, using the crossers as guide.
Except those who look up “Jeremy Vine’s wife” online. Eh? What is the point? I think Maskarade should have left the definition at “newsreader” – I’d never heard of her, and I enjoyed solving the anagram. And no, I didn’t check Google afterwards either.
Thanks to setter and blogger for your efforts. And thanks to the editor for allowing such an odd grid as a one-off. I hope the comments about “paddy” are taken on board.
And yet we often see ‘pom’ (which the OED describes as ‘derogatory’) as an element of an answer without any suggestion of a racial slur.
I’m inclined to suggest we stick to solving crosswords; words exist and on that basis alone they are fair play for inclusion in word play, which is the point of the sport. Many words are offensive, some intentionally, some by association while others have offensiveness thrust upon them but it’s just a game, a diversion, a pastime. I would like to think that there is no word that could be included in a crossword which would give me palpitations – if it’s in the dictionary it should be fair game for a crossword. Unless you want to Bowdlerise the dictionaries…….
Crossbar@73 it is a sticklebrick grid , a 70s toy , rival to Lego , not very good .
Yonoloco @65. You’re missing the point, which is that it’s not an English word, nor has it come into usage as part of a phrase. Should compilers stick a foreign word in because they can’t fit an English one in?
Roz @77 I don’t know what you mean by “a 70s toy’. We have had a lot of stickleback (or stegasaurus) grids recently.as commented on frequently by NeilH. No, they are not great but seem to be beloved by setters.
Roz@77, of course. I remember those bricks. And I agree. They weren’t very good.
Balfour@79. These https://share.google/jXL7Hsebs9uO0AIlc are stickle bricks. (They’re advertised on e-bay as vintage toys.) They have stickles on all sides and look remarkably like the grids we are talking about. Sticklebacks https://share.google/ZUuOkK8Ww1j41fYfX not so much!
(Edit: sorry, link failure!)
Roz @45
lovely to see you back
endwether#55. I assume your comment was referring to me. I’d read the earlier posts and wasn’t going to get into the discussion of paddy meaning ”temper tantrum”, as I’d call it, and the derogatory sense that it is stereotyping Irish people. The points made by Alan C and similar have been made well here, and have come up before when this sense of paddy is clued. It’s not surprising, as I’m of Irish stock, that I didn’t know that meaning of paddy (before cryptics) as it wouldn’t have been used in my family, or amongst ”my tribe”, Irish-Australian people.
[Re my moniker, I’ve told my story before so I’ll try to make it brief. It derives from my early days reading 15 squared blogs, when I first encountered PDM (for penny drop moment), and I decided to use it as the basis for my nickname. ”paddymelon” is an incorrect, but often used, spelling of the cute Australian marsupial pademelon that occurred to me with PDM. (paddy melons are a toxic plant) The paddy part is that my father was named Patrick. He was self-educated but very clever (melon/head) and funny with words, a master of puns. )
I hope no setter ever uses Paddy to mean temper again. 41 comments is almost enough to put me off 15sq for good.
Like PeterB @31, I knew both meanings (Paddy=stage Irishman in the same class of generic names as Jock and Taffy, and paddy=fit of temper) but had never suspected that one might have been derived from the other. If it does actually offend real Irish people then it should be quietly dropped, but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of evidence for the prosecution.
I don’t do Maskarade’s Jumbo specials so I’m not that familiar with his style, and like others, I was initially daunted by the huge number of 15-letter solutions, but none were too difficult apart from the unknown RACHEL SCHOFIELD (more of a general knowledge question than a cryptic clue).
Balfour@79 , as a child there was Lego which was great and Stickle Bricks not so good , SH@81 has put a link , I have not looked but I hope it shows the square bricks which look exactly like certain grids . Often used to put a message around the perimeter .
Fiona@82 , thank you so much , great to see you too and PDM and Gladys . I was beginning to think the Boys Club had taken over even more .
Gladys@85: not to belabour the point, but (as paddymelon points out) most Irish people have never heard the word used in that sense. It is entirely unknown in Ireland and when I first came across it in a crossword a few years ago I was genuinely appalled.
When I saw the grid I was quite intimidated, but like others found it quite helpful after the first few long ones went in.
I have played around with clue-writing, but never grid-fill. If for some inexplicable I was faced with filling a grid such as this one, I would let the computer do that (might have to write a little code) and concentrate on the clue-writing. But that’s just me.
I suppose this is roo late for anyone to see but… Avoid using paddy to mean temper because it’s offensive by all means, but please don’t call it racist. The Irish are not a different race from other natives of the British Isles.
One more Irish person (who lurks here every week) adding my agreement with others that “Paddy” used to denote a temper is absolutely offensive and racist. It plays in to the very worst stereotypes that English (and often Americans) have about Irish people.
@Kingsley: the Irish are not a “different race” in the genetic sense but we are very much a distinct ethnic identity and therefore it is perfectly acceptable to use the word “racist” to describe derogatory language used against us.
The closest parallel I can think of to Paddy is gyp, as in to cheat or steal.
It’s not particularly offensive to call Roma people Gypsies, though it might not match any given newspaper’s style guide in 2026. But it is offensive to associate them with criminal behaviour like that, and I don’t think the Guardian would have printed a puzzle with gyp as part of the wordplay.
46 comments on one clue and mostly repetitive.