A fun puzzle for a chilly Monday from Philistine, with a couple of his trademark lift-and-separate clues, two nice &lits (aka clue-as-definition or all-in one), and one whose definition may prove controversial. (Or maybe not – it’s been changed.) Thanks to Philistine.
| Across | ||||||||
| 8 | HEADBUTT | Strike top and bottom (8) HEAD (top) + BUTT (bottom) |
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| 9 | AROMA | Bouquet in Rome, as they say there (5) “In Rome” is “a Roma” in Italian |
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| 10 | BEVY | Gathering for a drink by the sound of it (4) Homophone of “bevvy” |
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| 11 | DOLLAR SIGN | $500 loan girl’s arranged (6,4) D (500) + (LOAN GIRL’S)* |
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| 12 | STUPOR | New edition of Proust causing bewilderment (6) PROUST* |
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| 14 | CLERIHEW | So-called Philistine (another name of mine) likes a little smut? Cut minister, cut! (8) CLERI[c] (a “cut minister”) + HEW (to cut). Edmund Clerihew Bentley, inventor of the eponymous humorous verse style, was (I learn) described by his son as “cultivated . . . widely read, but in most matters of taste . . . a Philistine.” The whole clue could (just about) be read as a Clerihew |
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| 15 | DRASTIC | Radical start of divisive racist movement (7) D[ivisive] + RACIST* |
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| 17 | THE ARMY | Weapon kept by those people (3,4) ARM (weapon) in THEY (those people), &lit |
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| 20 | INTIMATE | Personal hint (8) Double definition |
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| 22 | COYEST | In bed, agreed to be most reserved (6) YES (agreed!) in COT |
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| 23 | PARLIAMENT | Standard message returned to nearest vacant house (10) PAR (standard) + reverse of EMAIL + N[eares]T |
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| 24 | SOHO | Ask cop why not get naked in this part of London (4) We need to strip, or remove the outer letters of, aSk cOp wHy nOt |
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| 25 | BROOD | Mope having prepared tea, say? (5) Homophone of “brewed” |
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| 26 | VANISHED | I got rid of vehicle first and disappeared (8) VAN + I SHED |
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| Down | ||||||||
| 1 | DEFECTOR | Traitor getting fed up with East End bully (8) Reverse of FED + [h]ECTOR (bully, as pronounced in a Cockney accent) |
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| 2 | IDLY | Going through vapid lyrics without enthusiasm (4) Hidden in vapID LYrics |
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| 3 | MURDER | Rising repercussion of crime (6) Reverse of RE + DRUM |
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| 4 | ITALICS | It’s about a leaning in characters, primarily (7) A + first letters of Leaning In Characters in IT’S, and another &lit |
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| 5 | NAZARETH | Tarzan? He abandoned noted childhood home (8) (TARZAN HE)*. This clue was edited while I was writing the blog: “childhood home” originally read “birthplace”. In fact it’s widely accepted among scholars that Jesus was actually born in Nazareth, with the Bethlehem stories made up by the writers of Matthew and Luke for theological reasons |
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| 6 | CONSPIRACY | Disadvantages seen with crime plot (10) CONS + PIRACY |
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| 7 | GAGGLE | Group of flyers finding something funny with broken leg (6) GAG (joke, something funny) + LEG*, with the “flyers” being a gaggle of geese |
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| 13 | POSTILLION | Horse rider and bike rider’s location: touring the East of Germany (10) OST (German “east”) in PILLION (back seat of a motorbike) |
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| 16 | IN A PADDY | Upset as an agricultural worker may be (2,1,5) Double definition |
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| 18 | MISCHIEF | Trouble for spy boss? (8) MI’S CHIEF: where MI = Military Intelligence, usually followed by 5 or 6 |
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| 19 | RESERVE | Booklet and what follows (7) A let in tennis is followed by a RE-SERVE |
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| 21 | NEARBY | Mounting desire to steal underwear in this neighbourhood (6) BRA in YEN, reversed |
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| 22 | CITING | Alluding to glimpse when caught (6) Homophone of “sighting” |
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| 24 | SO-SO | Therefore very mediocre (2-2) SO (therefore) + SO (very) |
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Pretty straightforward apart from CLERIHEW, which it had to be because of the crossers and HEW at the end. Like DOLLAR SIGN and NEARBY. Many thanks to P & A.
I thought the theme would be incorrect clues when my first few included Nazareth as Jesus’ birthplace and a gaggle of flying geese.
Did like Headbutt, Soho and So So, though.
I wondered in 18d if “MI5 CHIEF” was the intention, but it doesn’t really matter.
Good fun, thanks to Philistine and Andrew.
The original def of 5d is still in the online puzzle I solved this morning and raised barely an eyebrow during the solve. I assumed the def that might have been changed was that for IN A PADDY, mention of which generally seems to prompt some solvers to hit the keyboard. I had no idea how the def of CLERIHEW was working and cannot pretend to understand it even with Andrew’s parse.
Thanks both
Great stuff from Philistine as always. CLERIHEW was last one in when the checking letters made it one of few options. No wonder I wasn’t getting anywhere with the wordplay when it only consisted of 3 words.
Liked DOLLAR SIGN, HEADBUTT and POSTILLION.
I see 5d has now been amended to ‘noted childhood home’ although I believe there is a growing number of religious scholars who believe the original clue is correct (as the blogger notes). But then cryptic crosswords aren’t the place for discussing controversies in religion.
Disappointed not to see a Nina given the grid shape and Philistine’s reputation. Unless it’s gone over my head.
Thanks Andrew and Philistine.
So-called Philistine won’t do for definition of Clerihew, since he wasn’t called that. Surely everything up to ‘…Cut’ can’t just be surplus verbiage?
PostMark @4 The whole of the clue for 14ac is a Clerihew: I had to look it up to understand.
No doubt the reference to “another name of mine” means something (perhaps Philistine writes other crosswords as Clerihew?) but you don’t need to know that to solve the clue.
So now I know what a clerihew is. And a postillion. Life keeps getting better. Never heard of that abbreviation for beverage, if that’s what it is.
COTD: CLERIHEW
Thanks Philistine and Andrew!
I think that Philistine gets away with “gaggle” as, although pedantically flying geese are a “skein” this is not universally applied by any means and dictionaries support “gaggle” as the collective noun for geese regardless of height above ground. Also geese on the ground are still “flyers”, just as a river is a “flower” even if frozen solid.
The “lift and separate” trick nearly caught me out twice – “reserve” was especially clever/fiendish. However, I still don’t get “clerihew” other than the wordplay. The reference to him being a Philistine is so obscure as to be useless and the parts about “another name of mine” and “likes a little smut” seem to be unexplained as yet. Perhaps someone can shed some light?
Many thanks Philistine – glad I was up early this morning! And thanks to Andrew for the clear blog.
KVa @9, Why do you like it? I think’s it’s junk. It would be impressive if a cryptic clue for clerihew were written in the form of a clerihew. But we don’t have that here (at least, not that anyone has so far explained). Let’s accept that this clue is in the form of a clerihew. But the small bit of it that forms the wordplay doesn’t seem to relate to the subject of the clerihew, and the rest of it is apparently just random, contributing nothing cryptically. It’s a botch.
Clerihew. Surprised this word was new to so many. Didnt like the clue though
The smut/cut gives the necessary rhyming complete
Given the error about Nazareth, is this another mistake- describing the apostle Paul as a Philistine , when in fact he was a Pharisee? And Paul is the setter known for his ‘smutty’ clues
I think there’s a collective noun theme, but I’m a bit of a duffer when it comes to some of the obscure versions of these.
Thinking of 14a.
Philistine’s other setter’s name is Goliath.
But can’t work out the little smut reference.
I think the theme is birds, GAGGLE, MURDER, PARLIAMENT, BROOD, BEVY and probably more obscure ones. Really enjoyed this, especially MISCHIEF and won’t even comment on IN A PADDY.
Ta Philistine & Andrew.
Thanks Niltac #13, I can see the theme now.
Murder of crows, parliament of owls, bevy of beauties, brood of (something I’ve momentarily forgotten, gaggle of course. I feel like army and conspiracy could also be in there. Possibly more?
The wikipedia entry for Clerihew makes it clear that the whole clue is a Clerihew. You might say it’s not a very good one, but good enough to get the answer.
Thanks Philistine and Andrew
I had the most enjoyment from this puzzle that I’ve had for ages. So much to like, with stand-outs DOLLAR SIGN, PARLIAMENT (so clever I wonder why I haven’t seen it before), MISCHIEF, and NEARBY.
I didn’t get the Philistine reference in CLERIHEW, and I agree that, despite it being a Clerihew, the clue is a bit of a mess.
Naturally as a pedant I was going to make the point about geese that JOFT did @10. I agree, though, that they are “flyers” even if not actually flying.
MISCHIEF of Magpies as well. Julia C @16: I thought about and checked CONSPIRACY and ARMY as well but it seems not.
James@11
Surely the clue is written in the form of a clerihew
“Two rhyming couplets with uneven lines refering to a famous person”
I believe Philistine is famous enough in this context
I ,kind the clue
AlanC @15. Good spot.
Also a Conspiracy of Crows, I think.
“Conspiracy” is ravens, apparently. A theme that appropriately flew over my head, given how many are birds.
(and I only learned today about the precise distinction between skeins and gaggles)
I’ve found “a conspiracy of ravens”.
Crossed with gladys
Can we take the argument about “paddy” as read, since we already had it quite recently here in the comments for Maskarade’s puzzle of 31st December?
Looking for (and not finding) “beauty” as a collective noun for birds, I came across one I didn’t know for geese – if they are swimming, they are a “plump”.
A bit tricky in parts and enjoyable too.
Favourites: AROMA, MISCHIEF, RESERVE – so glad to have picked up that this was a lift and separate clue!
New for me: CLERIHEW and also Edmund Clerihew Bentley.
I guessed but could not parse 3d (murder – crime) and did not parse 24ac.
Gladys @25: agreed, that’s why I didn’t comment on it. There is also a Bouquet of hummingbirds from 8ac and perhaps RESERVE could be included at a stretch.
Parts of it were quite impenetrable for me; had no idea of CLERIHEW, IN A PADDY or POSTILLION (nor PILLION). Many of the clues are very smart, like RESERVE, DOLLAR SIGN, MURDER, AROMA. Thanks Philistine and Andrew
The whole clue for 14a is indeed a clerihew:
So-called Philistine
(another name of mine)
likes a little smut?
Cut, minister, cut!
I agree with Jeremy @17 that, as a clerihew, it’s not a particularly good one; and to make complete sense of the clue you need to know (which I didn’t) that Bentley’s son described him as a Philistine. But the clue is clever, and sound.
With some clues, and this is certainly one of them, the question is whether the setter is being clever or too-clever-by-half; and I can see arguments both ways. In particular, it’s not really a “Monday puzzle” clue, and neither is the extremely neat RESERVE.
As Gladys @25 reminds us, the consensus the last time PADDY appeared in a crossword was that, used to mean a display of bad temper, it was better avoided. That apart, I found this challenging and enjoyable. And the game of “hunt the collective” is a pleasant diversion.
Thanks to Philistine for the start to the day and to Andrew for the informative blog.
According to my trusty list of collective nouns the clue for 9 across also contains a themester: a BOUQUET of pheasants (when flushed).
FOG, DIP, DIM and DOT could be viewed as Ninas. Never heard of a “dot light” though.
MCourtney@22
I have seen a murder of crows and conspiracy of ravens, but they do seem to be fairly interchangeable
[Muffin @19: Are you calling me a pedant? I’m…honoured?!]
Good spot on the collective nouns though – I suspect it’s one of those themes like Rock Band names where almost anything can be made into one but by limiting it to birds it seems to be a genuine theme in this instance.
I was quite enjoying this until I came to 16d. As I think I mentioned in an earlier discussion, I once wrote to the Crosswords Editor about this (years ago) and he undertook to avoid it in future. Unfortunately that doesn’t seem to have been communicated to the new editor, or to some setters. It ruined the solving experience for me.
Geoff @8 – bevvy is British slang for a drink, usually beer or lager. Usually implies relatively moderate consumption rather than a major drinking session… A few bevvies after work…
Re. the collective nouns nonsense: could someone out there who has access to the full OED (which presumably you are paying a subscription for) please look up a few of the lesser-known ones (e.g. BOUQUET, MISCHIEF, BEVY) and see whether they are attested at all by OED citations? I think that most items of the extensive list of collective nouns (Blaise@31) are complete fictions, not real language at all, never used in real language except as a sort of word game. They are in the same category of non-words as “floccinaucinihilipilification” — words coined as a linguistic amusement.
Anyone else put RELEASE for 19 down?…was happy to have spotted the lift and separate but thought release was nearly as good…book being a release, and re- lease being what happens after the first let.
Vanished eventually corrected it
The fact that the use of paddy to mean temper has been debated before is no reason not to challenge it again. I’d suggest those who refuse to believe it is a racist term ask themselves why the New York police call the vans that pick up drunks ‘paddy wagons’. This was pointed out to me by my Anglo-Irish daughter-in-law and I feel duty bound to challenge use of the word when used to mean temper or tantrum. The Guardian should be better than this.
Brilliant stuff as always from Philistine.
As someone with an Irish passport, not at all bothered by 16D and neither is my uncle Paddy. Maybe just an age thing but some people are just unreasonably sensitive.
Thanks too to Andrew.
I was hoping for this Nina when I got parliament. We have just had the rspb great British birdwatch weekend.
pserve @ 37
floccinaucinihilipilification was used by Jacob Rees-Mogg in the UK House of Commons.
Isn’t bevvy derived from beverage?
Bayleaf@39: I agree. When Hugh Stephenson (the then editor) relied to my email in 2022 he noted that the term ‘welsh’ (in reference to non-payment of debts) was frowned upon, and that although ‘paddy’ hadn’t been regarded in the same light he agreed that it should be avoided. I’ve now written to the new editor to remind them of this.
Surely M IS CHIEF?
Dave @ 42 – Do we have to be reminded of Mr Ree-Smogg, the archetypal lying politician?
Yes, brilliant! And a welcome surprise on a dreary wintry Monday
I disagree with those who find the clue for CLERIHEW to not itself be a particularly good example. For myself, any apparent clunkiness of metre or flippant irrelevance of meaning is precisely what makes it such a wonderful, and clever, example
KVa@9 is right!
Many thanks, both and all
[William FP @46: Edmund Clerihew Bentley,
managed his scansion quite gently.
Lesser poets of course,
have to use force.]
Whenever I come across the word POSTILLION (not very often, I must admit) the “my postillion has been struck by lightning” comes immediately to mind. Not at all sure where that comes from, either. And I couldn’t parse it. Another thing, I find it remarkable that a word in the English language can have two completely different meanings. INTIMATE in this case today. There are probably plenty more.
Two helpings of Philistine’s splendid offering today, though I didn’t quite manage to successfully complete…
TILT: a POSTILLION actually rode one of the carriage horses. I always though he was the person who stood outside on the back of the coach.
Ronald – I think the phrase is from an ancient French/English phrase book.
…and of course the two different meanings of INTIMATE require different pronunciations, with the stress on the first syllable when it means deeply personal, and on the last one when it means suggesting. These things fascinate me.
Top ticks for $, PARLIAMENT & RESERVE and chuckles when the CLERIHEW penny finally dropped
I hesitated to put BEVY in as bevy is an alternative spelling of “bevvy” (according to the big red book). So it could have been a DD without “by the sound of it”?
Cheers P&A
Thanks for the blog , three quality fission clues , we are being spoilt . ITALICS a very neat &Lit and POSTILLION flows very nicely , many other fine clues but should have been later in the week .
pserve_p2 @37: I am on the same page as you about collective nouns. Most of them have no real provenance, are completely arbitrary, and seem to exist purely so pedants can prove their cleverness.
Also in the camp of those who thought that clerihew was too clever by half. Other than the clue-as-definition, and the last line (which escaped me anyway), its a mess.
RESERVE and POSTILLION I also failed to pass, but are fair enough in hindsight.
[ Prynhawn da AlunC@15 – Arbenigwr ar themau unwaith eto .
I was on for a one-station finish but needed added time for two late entries to reach victory . ]
Didn’t know what Clerihew 14a was.
Apart from that, finished it in 20 minutes
@Ronald #48.
Cleave has 2 very different meanings
pserve_p2@37 My OED has, for BEVY “the proper term for a company of maidens or ladies, of roes, of quails, or of larks” and for BOUQUET confirms pheasants breaking cover.
Great puzzle with some splendid clues, particularly the &lits and the wordsplittings. 14ac is clunky, but this isn’t the more refined of verse forms and any quatrain with an AABB rhyming scheme can be considered a CLERIHEW. Meatier than usual for a Monday (I agree with Roz @52).
pserve_p2 @37 & Cliff @53: I agree with you about the silliness of these collective nouns. It is true that they are (mostly) not recent inventions; they first appear in a couple of 15th century books, particularly the ‘Book of St Albans’, but as this also includes names for occupational groups (‘a poverty of pipers’) which are clearly whimsical, it does suggest that a lot of them are amusing coinages. Indeed, many seem to have no later citations until they were gleefully rediscovered in the 20th century.
Thanks to Philistine and Andrew
Roz at 54: to be strictly correct, it should be themâu, but I do admit that very few would actually write it that way!
It’s always good to see Philistine, although a bit tough for a Monday. I liked the DOLLAR SIGN, the re-percussion for MURDER, the MI’S CHIEF or M IS CHIEF, and the RE-SERVE after a let.
Thanks Philistine and Andrew.
Apart from providing a rhyme, I can’t see where ‘likes a little smut’ comes in. Are clerihews notably bawdy?
The clue is not “just about a” clerihew – it’s fine. EC Bentley’s clerihews often had a slightly smutty feel (as do mine) so the smut fits too. Brilliant clue. (I’ve recently re-read his crime book, Trent’s last case, which was described as the best ever by Dorothy L Sayers)
Araucaria
no one lairier
he clued hs own disease
and never followed Ximenes
[Ta Roz @54 and yes I got the reference. I’m still in shock and mourning as I’m sure your students explained].
I’m not saying 16 down isn’t racist or offensive, but wouldn’t the comments be more effective if posted on The Guardian site, as the only reference I can see on the comments there is paddymelon referencing this blog?
pserve_p2@37 Many collective nouns applied to birds are artificial confections for birds which wouldn’t be seen dead in a group larger than a family, and then only until the young have flown. I’ve never seen more than three owls together and they were fledglings.
There was an old man in a suit
Who liked to play Bach on his flute
His wife to relax
Played along on the sax
Then they both made a big pile of fruit (8)
I won’t keep you in suspense. The answer’s LIMERICK. It’s actually really clever, because the whole clue is a limerick. Pile of fruit is the wordplay.
Rich@57: Ah! Yes, I know that the OED will contain definitions for these non-words — but my questions was, does the OED provide any real examples of usage (what some call citations) for the use of these collective nouns. The OED was compiled over many decades using a methodology which involves amateur and paid “readers” making a note of the contextual sentence in which the word of interest has appeared (almost always in written, printed form). These citations were collated by the OED lexicographers and used to provide evidence of the words’ usage and date. I am doubtful that the OED lexicographers have ever been able to attest to these words having been used other than in self-referential discourse about the oddities of the English language.
I’m a bit late to the party, but I’d be grateful if someone could explain the inclusion of ‘likes a little smut’ in the clerihew clue. Is it just to provide a rhyme with cut?
James@66 – a brilliant clue, especially in light of the fact that, as we all know, one of James Galway’s wives once played a tune called “Limerick” on a saxophone.
I don’t know if someone keeps a track of appearance of words in cryptic crosswords, but I remember POSTILLION from a quite recent Guardian cryptic. I thought CLERIHEW was very good.
Defeated by this one. Spent far too long thinking 13d must be PESTILENCE, a notable horse rider. Obviously it doesn’t work, but POSTILLION was new to me.
I love Clerihews so was delighted to see 14a, though I agree that the rhyme is a bit clunky. So I would suggest:
Edmund Clerihew Bentley
Swore none too gently
“A thousand curses
On these terrible verses!“
For anyone interested, if you join a library in England ( don’t know about rest of uk) you get full free online access to the oed.
Frogman@70 exactly two months ago , setter was Paul .
Thanks Anna@59 , well beyond my typing skills , can just about use the shift key .
AlanC@63 , my students eager to report in this morning .
Thanks Philistine for the Monday enjoyment. My top picks were HEADBUTT, STUPOR, SOHO, BROOD, and CONSPIRACY. I revealed the nho CLERIHEW and guessed but couldn’t parse POSTILLION. I didn’t like the definition ‘getting’ the wordplay in DEFECTOR (the clue would be fine without any link word) nor the wordplay ‘of’ definition in MURDER. Thanks Andrew for the blog.
Bobert@73: It’s good advice but not all libraries give you access – they have to pay the subscription. My county stopped providing access a few years ago to save money, alas.
Crispy@64 – you are absolute right but also on my phone I cannot access the Guardian blog however I try. I have however emailed my comment to the crossword editor.
TripleJumper@40. I don’t dispute your right NOT to feel offended, but I don’t think that makes the objectors overly sensitive – perhaps just less inclined to put up with casual racism. Your argument is the same in kind as I heard when growing up and women who objected to being called dolly birds or totty were deemed to be over sensitive.
Then as now I expected better from The Guardian ( and The Guardian was in the vanguard of challenging casual sexism)
Re Bayleaf@77. I meant ‘absolutely right but alas’. Apologies for my poor typing!
Re, the collective nouns, I think most of them come from a book by Dame Juliana Berners dating from aruond 600 years ago. Whether they were ever in general use, or it’s more a case of making some words up and seeing which catch on* is at this point probably impossible to determine. Some others from the same source: ‘a blast of hunters,’ ‘a subtlety of sergeants,’ and a ‘superfluity of nuns’ – you can make your own mind up.
*I had a friend who worked at an optician’s, who claimed that he and a friend made a point for a couple of weeks of saying whenever a pair of glasses suited a young customer “Hey man, they’re really nang!’ (nang being made up for the purpose). The idea apparently was to see how long it took for the word to circle round so they heard it from another source; he claimed the loop was closed when he heard it in a nearby pub three weeks after it was first launched into the sociolinguistic sea.
Alan@44: Indeed, I was off on the wrong path with that clue for a while because I ended up with M IS TAKEN – now that really would be “trouble for a spy chief”!
As Mondays conventionally provide a gentle start to the week, I shudder what is to come after Postillion and Clerihew. Setting and blogging much appreciated.
Defeated by the nho CLERIHEW – every day is a school day.
I thought we’d had a similar clue for COYEST recently, and the search shows it was just a week ago in Budmo’s Quiptic: https://www.fifteensquared.net/2026/01/18/guardian-quiptic-1365-budmo/?highlight=Coyest
Thanks to setter and blogger.
This is probably the most well-known Clerihew:
Sir Christopher Wren
Said, ‘I am going to dine with some men.
If anyone calls
Say I am designing St. Paul’s.’
I think I can recall a certain grumpy hostility to the whimsical collective nouns from the Book of St Albans last time they featured in a crossword. I may even have expressed surprise that people who play with words as a hobby didn’t find these things amusing.
I found this a tricky solve in places, partly due to distractions in the waiting room at A&E (nothing serious), but I always enjoy this setter’s wit and sense of humour.
Thanks to Philistine and Andrew.
I enjoyed the puzzle but amazingly, now I look back, missed the theme. Wiktionary has a list which includes an AROMA of bakers and an ARMY of caterpillars. What I particularly like about the site is the disclaimer at the top “Don’t trust this list; many of these entries are fanciful”. I do agree that seeing a parliament of owls is about as likely as needing to ask for assistance for your smoking postillion in Hungary 200 years ago.
Lots of fun. Wish 5d had been left as is, just for the furore. Thanks, Philistine and Andrew.
It still says noted birthplace in the paper . I just thought it could refer to the Little Donkey , “noted” meaning a song .
Roz @86
I wonder how you think the Guardian could have corrected the clue in all the printed papers?
I did like DOLLAR SIGN, and, when the penny finally dropped, RESERVE, which was my LOI. Completely missed the collective nouns theme, but nothing unusual about that for me.
Btw, my friend, who is also an actor, says that the collective noun for actors is ‘an embarrassment”, presumably because we’re always first to any food table that’s set before us!
Thanks both.
I am ungracious in defeat (like a bad dancer) eyeballing CLERIHEW in particular (although chapeau to MURDER). Crossword clues are somewhat like lasses are they not?:- some are winsome, others lissom.
Is there a collective term for collective nouns, especially given their artificial provenance? A padded cell perhaps…?
It bears repeating: the Guardian cryptic crossword is pure parse porn. Long live the Guardian cryptic crossword!
James@66: I too like both crosswords and limericks. So much so that I once compiled this crossword of limericks. Here’s 1A:
This madding crowd, Ross gives the boss word,
But to Chris, it’s an I’m-at-a-loss word:
“Goin’ out of my tree!”
Don’t get mad. Can’t you see,
It’s, cross Chris, cruciverbalist…
Here’s the whole grid:
https://www.oedilf.com/db/Lim.php?VerseId=537580
Jack of Few Trades @10 In 7d the definition is “group of flyers” – ie birds. It does not require they are actually flying!
Gosh! Muffin@87 – sense of humour failure or what? Perhaps I’ve failed to see your even subtler joke than that of Roz@86.
And I applaud the inventiveness of rusty@92, but the scansion of that “limerick” is worthy of a CLERIHEW (where it appears not to matter, but in a limerick it does).
The collective noun which I like, but which doesn’t make it into this crossword because it doesn’t describe a group of birds, is that for a group of bankers.
A wunch.
Thanks both,
Famously ‘falange’ was invented as the collective noun for a group of baboons in a sketch on Not the Nine O’clock News. It escaped into the wild and was even, I believe, taken up by naturalists.
That seemed hard for a Monday (IMO), well it did to me. The hardest of the Mondays that I’ve tried so far. CLERIHEW was new to me. Like Alan#44 I read 18d as M IS CHIEF. I liked DOLLAR SIGN. Didn’t spot the theme. Thanks Andrew and Philistine.
Cryptocyclist@93: Did you read my comment before replying to it? I made exactly that point at the end of my first paragraph.
Crispy@64: you may be right, though I never look at the Guardian comments, still less contribute to them. As stated above, I took the more direct route of writing to the editor.
14 across was last in. Utterly brilliant.
PS As the discussion of clerihews has drifted into Limericks I found this one inscribed on a plaque on a pub wall in Limerick City
The limerick is furtive and mean;
you must keep her in close quarantine,
or she sneaks up to the slums
and promptly becomes
disorderly drunk and obscene.
Straight from the fountainhead, as it were.
I never connected ‘in a paddy ‘ with Ireland.
However I don’t see how an agricultural worker can be in a paddy. They may be in a paddy field. You wouldn’t say someone was in a wheat or in a barley. Though you can be in a maze in a maize field.
Second completion in a row after some recent struggles. This was a delight, with lots of favourites. 8a HEADBUTT (“top and bottom”), 11a DOLLAR SIGN, 24a SOHO (a surface with a curious story), 26a VANISHED, 3d MURDER (“repercussion” = RE-DRUM), and many others. Last two in, 14a CLERIHEW and 19d RESERVE both had delightful pdm’s. The clue for the former is a perfectly good example
Roz@86 Keep checking — maybe they’ll finally fix it! 🙂
Haj@102 a paddy is not a grain like wheat or barley. A paddy is a field where rice is grown.
We enjoyed this, but agree it was tough for a Monday. RESERVE took thought, and CLERIHEW was belated, from the parse. As lifelong readers of Georgette Heyer we had no trouble with the POSTILLION. As usual we forgot to look for a theme, but happy to have it pointed out, and agree with Sheffield hatter@84 about the amusement such things as these comical collective nouns provide to word lovers.
Lots of fun clues. Thanks Philistine and Andrew.
Mig@103 , the paper had the new version in the Corrections and Clarifications column , I never worry too much about definitions as long as the wordplay works .
I should have said earlier that repercussion probably the best use of fission I have seen .
BazandCaz @104 Paddy is the crop. It is the word for rice before it is processed. Paddy is grown in paddy fields.
I won’t get in a paddy about it. The dictionaries give both meanings. The crop is the original meaning and is the usage in India. The word is originally from the Malay language.
HAJ@107, 108 thanks!
Roz@106 Wow, they really did fix it!