A typically elegant puzzle from Philistine, featuring his trademarks of medical references and lift-and-separate clues. Thanks to Phlistine.
| Across | ||||||||
| 1,5 | FRANCIS POULENC | Playing piano, uncle with FRCS is an accomplished pianist (7,7) (PIANO UNCLE FRCS)* |
||||||
| 9 | URBAN | Top African city describing its environment (5) [d]URBAN |
||||||
| 10 | LANCASTER | Castle at first repaired and newly restored here (9) Anagram of CASTLE R[epaired] A[nd] N[ewly]. Lancaster Castle is currently undergoing a large-scale refurbishment, so maybe this is an &lit |
||||||
| 11 | PROMETHEUS | He was bound to catch fire? (10) In Greek mythology, Prometheus stole fire from the gods and was punished by being bound to a rock and having an eagle eternally eat his liver |
||||||
| 12 | WREN | Architect and writer entertain on vacation (4) W[rite]R E[ntertai[N |
||||||
| 14 | BEACHCOMBER | One looks for treasure cache, possibly among 10? (11) CACHE* in BOMBER (Lancaster, WW2 bombing plane) |
||||||
| 18 | CAMARADERIE | Dare to break with America’s ‘special relationship’ (11) (DARE AMERICA)* |
||||||
| 21 | EWER | Not as many start off as pitcher (4) [f]EWER |
||||||
| 22 | FOUR-POSTER | Nursery doctor coming across outpour in bed (4-6) POUR* in FOSTER (as in the nursery rhyme: Doctor Foster went to Gloucester..) |
||||||
| 25 | THINK FAST | Use one’s head swiftly when skinny kids start to abstain from food (5,4) THIN + K[ids] + FAST (abstain from food) |
||||||
| 26 | AGAPE | Open space in Casualty (5) GAP in A [and] E |
||||||
| 27 | PACKAGE HOLIDAY | Had a go like crazy in swift mode of travel, etc (7,7) (HAD A GO)* in PACY |
||||||
| Down | ||||||||
| 1 | FRUMPY | Badly dressed bum in funny clothing (6) RUMP in F[unn]Y |
||||||
| 2 | ALBION | Britain draping its leader in part of its coat of arms (6) B[ritain] in A LION (part of the UK’s coat of arms, which is flanked by a lion and a unicorn) |
||||||
| 3 | CANTERBURY | Run Intercity (10) CANTER (run) + INTER (bury) |
||||||
| 4 | SYLPH | Graceful woman is quiet about work-up (5) Reverse of PLY (work) in SH |
||||||
| 5 | PENPUSHER | Bureaucrat in prison with drug dealer (9) PEN (prison) + PUSHER |
||||||
| 6 | UTAH | Some without a happy state (4) Hidden in withoUT A Happy |
||||||
| 7 | E J THRIBB | Poet in residence seeing difficult birth in early James Bond premieres (1,1,6) BIRTH* in E[arly] J[ames] B[ond].. E. J. THRIBB is the eternally 17½-year-old “poet” in Private Eye who writes tributes to the recently-deceased, usually beginning “So. Farewell then..” |
||||||
| 8 | CORONARY ARTERY | My love, never try ear bursting, it’s a delicate body part (8,6) COR (exclamation, my!) + O (love) + NARY (never) + (TRY EAR)* |
||||||
| 13 | NOSE TO TAIL | Stuck in traffic with no toilets? A disaster (4-2-4) (NO TOILETS A)* |
||||||
| 15 | AUDIOTAPE | Gold disc half lost, oddly no copy of recording (9) AU (gold) + DI[sc] + the even letters of lOsT + APE (copy) |
||||||
| 16 | SCREWTOP | During break, workers like some bottles of wine (8) CREW (workers) in STOP (break) |
||||||
| 17 | AMNESIAC | In the morning, perhaps, in case one forgets (8) AM + (IN CASE)* |
||||||
| 19 | STRAND | Maroon fibre (6) Double definition |
||||||
| 23 | RETCH | Feel sick and so forth, must be admitted to right hospital (5) ETC (and so forth) in R H – retching is perhaps more than just feeling sick… |
||||||
| 24 | OKRA | Fine and even slices of bread and vegetable (4) OK (fine) + even letters of bReAd |
||||||
This seemed easier than the typical Philistine, and my only puzzlement was defining Poulenc as a pianist, when these days he is far better known as a composer. Thanks P & andrew.
Thanks for blog Andrew. I think your fodder for 27a is missing LIKE?
Thanks Philistine and Andrew
I agree that this seemed easier than Philistine’s usually are. Favourite CANTER BURY.
Always pleased to find Philistine as the setter. I was surprised to find that M. Poulenc was Francis and not François – and yes, I’d have said he’s better known as a composer.
Liked BEACHCOMBER and FOUR POSTER (though it took a while to remember Doctor Foster), the sadly topical CAMARADERIE, Philistine’s trademark in CANTERBURY and the funny surface of NOSE TO TAIL.
As I’m a non-reader of Private Eye, E J THRIBB only rang the most distant of bells, but I suspect their readership overlaps with the Guardian’s to a large extent – if you are based in the UK.
I went around the puzzle clockwise from NW corner
I best liked STRAND, WREN, PROMETHEUS, and LOI SCREWTOP
Several NHOs and UKisms added to the challenge, but overall I agree that it was an approachable puzzle
Thanks Phillistine and Andrew
A pleasant experience. New to me E J THRIBB, Lancaster bomber. And of course, Prometheus was bound after “catching” fire, but that would ruin the surface, I guess.
I thoroughly enjoyed singing in Poulenc’s Gloria many moons ago.
I quickly warmed to this and patted myself on the back for completing it.
There is a nagging thought about a possible literary theme, maybe not enough to constitute a theme perhaps but we have three defunct magazines in ALBION, PENPUSHER and STRAND. Contributors BEACHCOMBER and E.J. THRIBB. Even some of the other entries sound like possible pseudonyms for writers.
Thank you Philistine and Andrew
There was a special feature on Francis Poulenc on France Musique this morning. Not a coincidence, it turns out: today is the 127th anniversary of his birth.
Maybe Express cartoonist Osbert LANCASTER might be another contributor?
Another delightful cracker of a puzzle from Philistine.
As usual, I had many ticks – today I’ll just highlight the characteristic CANTERBURY and CORONARY ARTERY. I also smiled at PROMETHEUS and SCREWTOP.
Many thanks to Philistine and Andrew.
Tremendous puzzle. I found it quite tough going, but with great clueing throughout. E J THRIBB will be a tough one for non-Brits. Many thanks to P & A.
Quite tough. I found the top half easier to do. Gave up on 13d (never heard this phrase before) and 26ac – ah, very clever!
22ac FOSTER = nursery doctor. I was thinking of the BBC TV series Doctor Foster which was excellent but she was a GP. And then somehow I remembered ‘Doctor Foster went to Gloucester’ 😉
Favourites: CANTERBURY, ALBION, SYLPH.
New for me: E J THRIBB (thanks, google).
I agree with gladys@4 re the sadly topical (and now extinct) CAMARADERIE. This clue actually made me groan 🙁
I came here to say I found this harder than a usual Philistine but after reading the first few comments that seems to go against the consensus.
Not heard of EJ THRIBB despite being an occasional Private Eye reader but managed to work it out.
Liked ALBION amongst many others.
Thanks Philistine and Andrew
Like others, I found this slightly easier than some of Philistine’s offerings, but perhaps that’s because most of the shortest ones fell in place readily to get me started, with RETCH being particularly key, providing the H for PACKAGE HOLIDAY which itself provided the Y for CORONARY ARTERY, both of which I enjoyed teasing out.
No stand-outs for me today, but I did appreciate NOSE-TO-TAIL for the surface and CANTERBURY for the divide and conquer. I had to reveal SYLPH (a nho, as was the Eye poet), and I needed the blog to understand the nursery doctor (d’oh!).
LOI was AGAPE which was ironic because the A and E were amongst my first letters pencilled in. I gave a hint of an eyebrow raise at PROMETHEUS as per GDU@6 but it screamed CD anyway.
Thanks both
Breezed through this delightful puzzle and enjoyed every minute of it. I could have saved the ink and just ticked the whole thing. But top ticks for my LOI FOUR POSTER, EJ THRIBB and the craftily concise CANTERBURY
Cheers P&A
Staticman1 @13: I too found this harder than the usual Philistine. In the end I had to reveal EJ THRIBB as no playing around with the letters made a name that was a sensible poet. Never heard of him (perhaps an indication of fictional would have helped non-UK solvers). Favourite is the elegantly concise CANTERBURY.
A clever puzzle! Well done and thank you to Philistine! Lots of ticks throughout my solve. Several of mine already mentioned, but I also liked 9a URBAN AND 6D UTAH. I always appreciate Philistine’s self-referential clues like the fodder FRCS in 1,5a and of course the wonderful 8,20d solution, CORONARY ARTERY. Thanks to Andrew as well.
I parsed AUDIOTAPE differently, Andrew. For me it meant you lost half the “disc”, using only the DI, then O meant nothing or “no” and TAPE then represents a verb synonym for copy. However, my effort does not take account of “oddly” in the wordplay. On the other hand, your version should direct solvers to use the odd letters of “lost” not the even ones…. Any road up, it’s a master setter at work and a master blogger setting us right. Thanks all round.
TerriB@18 It’s oddly no which gives you the even letters of lost. Typical Philistine fun.
A very enjoyable puzzle. It’s a while since I was a regular Private Eye reader but I’m pretty sure PENPUSHER and BEACHCOMBER, and possibly also WREN, are regular features as well as the poems of EJ THRIBB. Perhaps current PE readers can confirm those and point out other themesters?
Despite the many anagrams, this wasn’t easy; E J THRIBB (whom I had to google) and FRUMPY were jorums for me. LOI AGAPE (didn’t know A&E). Didn’t know maroon as STRAND. I particularly liked the smart lift-and-separate clues. Thanks Philistine and Andrew!
Pure class.
Thanks to blogger and good doctor.
Delightful. Thanks both. A pity Philistine couldn’t squeeze « deliver » into the clue for Prometheus.
Lots to like here. The trademark word-splitting clues were very well done (Intercity in 3d and outpour in 22a). 8d CORONARY ARTERY bore out my maxim that whenever you see the word “my” you should think COR! There were some great surfaces, especially “Stuck in traffic with no toilets? A disaster” for NOSE TO TAIL.
I do agree with Geoff Down Under @6 that sadly PROMETHEUS doesn’t quite seem to work. Unless someone can explain how it does?
Many thanks Philistine and Andrew.
Super puzzle. Thanks to Philistine and Andrew.
For the record E J THRIBB was my FOI, and almost a write-in. I hesitated, thinking ‘No! Surely not!
Layman @21
Read “maroon” as a verb. Maroon/strand both mean “leave behind” (on an island, perhaps, like Robinson Crusoe or Ben Gunn).
Andrew
I’ve just noticed that you have INTER (bury) rather than BURY (inter) for 3d
Petert@19, Thank you. I see what you mean. Churlishly I still prefer my parsing.
Loved this, with CANTERBURY particularly classy, I thought. However, strictly a dnf as I had absolutely no idea about E J THRIBB, so sadly I resorted to the Reveal button for him. And I suppose just as well that very precise indication of the anagram provided the identity of 1, 5 across, as I probably wouldn’t have got him either. Thought there were quite a few nods today to the other world of this setter’s day job…
Thanks for the blog , great puzzle .
E J THRIBB – the recent Private Eye Christmas Puzzle had a Dickie Bird theme and a poem by E J T hidden around the grid .
CANTERBURY very neat use of fission . LANCASTER castle mainly restored now and worth a visit . I liked the Nursery doctor in FOUR-POSTER .
I appreciate the double clues following in the grid , perhaps 1/16D too hard to fit in or maybe spontaneous symmetry-breaking .
Matt@20 I do not see any of these apart from the poet ? Maybe other publications , certainly BEACHCOMBER and Pen Pusher .
Good one, Philistine! And a fine blog as usual from Andrew.
Being a Private Eye subscriber, EJTHRIBB was an easy FOI for me. Thence onwards a steady solve with the SE corner holding me at bay until FOUR-POSTER came to mind, with the retroparsed memory of Dr Foster clinching the deal. The rest quickly followed.
Lots of great clues, but big ticks from me, as for others above, for CANTERBURY, NOSE-TO-TAIL, and BEACHCOMBER, especially for its LANCASTER reference.
My great-grandmother used to live a few miles away from Scampton air base: one of my earliest memories is of my dad taking me to see its Lancaster “gate guardian”, though I don’t know if it was one of the Dambusters raid ones.
I access the crosswords from the Puzzle section of the app. I can no longer see the setter’s name. Can anyone tell me where it is please?
What an excellent Crossword.
Favourites were CANTERBURY, NOSE TO TAIL, FOUR POSTER and BEACHCOMBER.
Parsed all clues with no head scratching.
Horses for courses but I, like a few others, found this more difficult than I usually do for a Philistine crossword. I’d never heard of E J THRIBB and didn’t know the FRANCIS of POULENC. Some super clues, especially for the unfortunately apt CAMARADERIE, Doctor Foster in his bed (no cot here), the BEACHCOMBER in LANCASTER, the AGAPE Casualty, the lion in ALBION, and the picture of no toilets in the NOSE-TO-TAIL jam.
Thanks Philistine and Andrew.
Madeleine@32 the only way I’ve found is to open the Journal section and go to the final page. I’m sure it isn’t beyond the developers to include this information in the crossword page, but it hasn’t happened yet.
Madeleine@32, ARhymerOinks@35: If you click on “archive”, at the foot of the “puzzles” page, you see see the setters listed alongside the crosswords, including today’s.
Annoying, isn’t it? It was fine before, going via the menu to “crosswords”, and ‘improvements’ to the app have made it worse. Gruaniad app coders – please fix it!
DerekTheSheep Thanks for your reply. I’ve been finding it so annoying and as you say, it should be easy to remedy.
A mixed bag for me. Loved CANTERBURY and PENPUSHER. Did not spot Doctor FOSTER nor LANCASTER bomber, and in hindsight should have. NHO Francis Poulenc, whom I arrived at by finding FRANCIS and then looking for a reasonable surname from the remainder. Also NH E.J. Thribb, and filled in the only remotely plausible ordering of the letters. A couple of others also went unparsed.
DerekTheSheep @36: On a related note, the Web version of the puzzle also has its annoyances. In particular the Anagram Helper is remarkably unhelpful.
ARhymerOinks
Thanks for replying. It’s so frustrating when they ” improve” the page.
I felt that grammar was stretched thin in a couple of clues, like “lost, oddly no” for LO, or “disaster” as an anagram indicator. I can see them, but a workout for the squinting muscles.
And I’m with Geoff Down Under @6 et al, Prometheus doesn’t quite work for me.
Combined with a few UKGK gaps (E. J. Thribb, the Lancaster bomber, Doctor Foster), this one was not the most satisfying solve for me.
Then again, beautiful puzzle and it introduced me to NHO Monsieur Poulenc, so that’s a good day all in all. Thanks Philistine and Andrew!
The top half was heavily populated with proper names (even 9a dURBAN), which made it tough to get a foothold. Eventually opened it up with 14a BEACHCOMBER, which led back to 10a LANCASTER, and beyond. Last in was 26a AGAPE, which eventually fell when I twigged to “Casualty” = AE (neither term used in NA). Great puzzle
Great political surface for 18a CAMARADERIE. 21a we’ve had a lot of EWERs lately! Couldn’t parse 22a FOUR-POSTER, not knowing the rhyme. 7d Fun to learn about the poet E.J. THRIBB. 13d NOSE TO TAIL great surface
Nice to see a Canadian reference at 14a, the old TV show “The BEACHCOMBERs”
15d AUDIOTAPE featured some odd syntax, i.e. “disc half” = DI, “lost, oddly no” = OT, which took a while to untangle
Thanks both
DerekTheSheep@36 thanks for the advice, but are we talking about the same app? I was referring to the Guardian Editions app, and I see no ‘archive’ link on the puzzles page, sadly!
It is still possible to access the crossword, with setter named, via Menu/Crosswords from the Guardian home page.
[ARhymerOinks@43 : maybe not.
I was referring to the Guardian app on Android. Apologies – I didn’t know that there were others!]
[Mig@42: if there is an external reference implied in BEACHCOMBER, it’s possibly more likely to be to the humourous columnist and man-about-town J. B. Morton (wiki) than a Canadian TV show… but who knows? Have two for the price of one!]
Very good mid-weeker. Some lovely surfaces, my favourites being CORONARY ARTERY and CAMARADERIE.
One looks for treasure cache, possibly among 10? (11)
CACHE* in BOMBER (Lancaster, WW2 bombing plane
How can you look among an aircraft? Anyway, not that it made any difference to how few clues I got today!
Derek @31, the Scampton gate guardian is now at East Kirby museum being restored to flight. You can go for a ride in it for a not insubstantial sum which will contribute towards its restoration!
Got thoroughly thribbed. Not surprising given my location but that is not a criticism. I expect UK-centric clues. But I am surprised no one has questioned the enumeration of 13d. Is it 4-2-4 or 4,2,4? I thought the latter and that added to my time occupied.
Thanks to both for the fun and explanations.
[JaMaNn@48 – Having made my comment @31, I had a look into it. Not surprisingly, there is a lot on the web. Turns out there were two successive Lancasters used as guardians; neither of them were 617 squadron aircraft. The one I saw in the 1960s is R5868 “S-Sugar”, now in the Hendon Museum (where I’ve seen it since); in 1970 it was followed by NX611 “Just Jane”, which is the East Kirkby one. I might drop in for a jolly next time I’m up that way.]
Go at a gentle pace by InterCity (10) is a clue from (literally) decades ago that for some reason sticks in my memory. Perhaps Bunthorne, but I’m not as sure about that.
As is often the case for me, it was only after coming to this site that I realised just how elegant this puzzle was. I paused for thought on CAMERADERIE, thinking about the scene in Love Actually when Hugh Grant as the prime minister stood up to the American president. What a shame it was a fantasy. FOI was POULENC, but that was only because I heard his name mentioned on a BBC radio program today. I do like a bit of synchronicity…
Enjoyed this alot, good to have Delibes and Poulenc in the same week though I agree with others that it’s odd to define Poulenc as a pianist, however accomplished. Andrew, great blog but please drop the ‘lift and separate’ description – it’s sexist, outdated, inaccurate (lift?), and unlike other terminology refers to the solver’s task rather than the setter’s craft. The craft is fusion, the solver’s task is fission.
DerekTheSheep@46, I’m pretty sure there’s not really any external reference in the clue. My comment was tongue in cheek. I take my Canadian references where I can get them! 🙂
THE BEACHCOMBERS was a venerable old TV show that ran for many years (1972-90), filmed in British Columbia
Did three-quarters then hit the wall.
As ever GK let me down Britain = Albion???
The World of Beachcomber was a TV and radio programme introduced by Richard Ingrams, then editor of Private Eye and responsible for introducing E.J. Thribb. Beachcomber was J.B. Morton’s long-running and hilarious spoof newspaper column, in the Daily Express in the 50s, I think.
HIYD @55
The French used to refer to England as “Perfidious Albion”!
Went to sleep with 5 to solve – but polished them off in 5 minutes this am. I wonder if part of the brain keeps working on it when we’re sleeping. Thaks for the puzzle and parsing.