Guardian Genius 159 / Jack

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Jack provides the puzzle for my biannual Genius blog

 

 

We were told that ten solutions contain a slice of 2, not included in the wordplay of their clues.

The first clue I solved was the gateway clue, PASTRAMI [2 down] but it really wasn’t too helpful to begin with.  Initially we didn’t know how many letters form a slice of PASTRAMI.  As the puzzle developed it became clear that it was always four consecutive letters from PASTRAMI that would be omitted from the wordplay of the thematic clues.   

With puzzles like this, I tend to solve the doctored clues from the crossing letters and the definitions and then start looking for the unclued bits and finally consider reverse engineering the wordplay from the residual letters.

When compiling a puzzle where great chunks of the letters in the entries are omitted from the wordplay, setters take delight in designing the puzzle such that there are very few letters left to clue for the amended entries.  In this case we had one clue leading to a single letter and two clues leading to two letters.

I thought this was a fairly gentle Genius but I enjoyed solving it.

Clues I liked were the one for W at 20 across with its simplicity in referring to a tube from Heathrow terminal and the one for DAVID BOWIE at 4 down for it’s constituent parts.

Across
No. Clue Wordplay Result Entry

7

 

Soldier and mistress almost say: "I always lie" (7)

 

PARA (paratrooper; soldier) + DOXY (mistress; woman of loose character) excluding the final letter (almost) Y

 

 

 

PARADOX (self-contradictory statement; I always lie)

 

8

 

Nationalist queen leading support for Clydesdale? (7)

 

ER (Elizabeth Regina) + N (nationalist)

 

ERN

 

PASTERN (any rope, strap, etc used to tie up a horse [Clydesdale] by the leg)

 

10

 

Last time to act having gone bust? (6)

 

STATUTE (law expressly enacted by the legislature; act) excluding the final occurrence [last] of the letter T (time)

 

 

 

STATUE (bust)

 

11

 

Incensed by liberal puritanism wanting sex (2,2,4)

 

Anagram of (liberal) PURITANISM excluding (wanting) IT (sex)

UP IN ARMS*

 

 

UP IN ARMS (incensed)

 

12

 

Women fish for compliments?  Not this one! (9)

 

BROADS (woman) + IDE (fish of the same family as the carp)

 

 

 

BROADSIDE (strongly critical verbal attack; certainly not a compliment)

 

13

 

Dummy’s not too bright we hear (5)

 

FEINT (sounds like [we hear] FAINT [dim; not too bright])

 

 

 

FEINT (pretence; dummy)

 

15

 

Bedroom action? (6,5)

 

PILLOW FIGHT (a game in which participant thump each other with PILLOWs)

 

 

 

PILLOW FIGHT (an event likely to take place in a bedroom; bedroom action)  cryptic definition

 

19

 

Tube from Heathrow terminal (5)

 

W (last letter of [terminal] HEATHROW)

 

W

 

STRAW (tube)

 

21

 

Have a great time turning 13 (9)

 

(MEGA [great] + T [time]) reversed (turning)

(T AGEM)<

TAGEM

 

STRATAGEM (plan for deceiving an enemy or gaining an advantage; any artifice generally; FEINT [13 across])

 

23

 

Move fast to make fast pony (8)

 

DART (move fast) + MOOR (to make fast a ship or boat)

 

 

 

DARTMOOR (breed of pony)

 

24

 

It’s symbolic when other people repeatedly take sides in brawl (6)

 

(‘EM [them; other people] + ‘EM [them; other people] – repeatedly) containing (take) BL (first and last letters of [sides in] BRAWL)

EM (BL) EM

 

 

EMBLEM (symbolic device or badge)

 

25

 

Conclusion of tale in small volume of Potter’s work (7)

 

E (last letter of [conclusion of] TALE) contained in CC (cubic centimetre; small volume]

C (E) C

CEC

 

CERAMIC (product that is first shaped and then hardened by means of heat, or the material from which it is formed [especially traditional potter’s clay]; potter’s work)

 

26

 

Though not even turned 18, he’s a famous scientist (7)

 

REVENUE (18 down) excluding (not) EVEN and then reversed (turned)

EUR<

EUR

 

PASTEUR (reference Louis PASTEUR [1822 – 1895], French chemist and microbiologist; famous scientist)

 
Down

1

 

Fodder providing last part of answer is concealed in second half of clue (7)

 

R (last letter of [last part of] ANSWER) contained in (concealed in) UE (letters 3 and 4 [second half] of CLUE)

U (R) E

URE

 

PASTURE (fodder)

 

2

 

History records agricultural methods introduced originally for beef production (8)

 

PAST (history) + RAMI (first letters of [originally] each of RECORDS AGRICULTURAL METHODS and INTRODUCED)

 

 

 

PASTRAMI (smoked, highly seasoned [especially shoulder] cut of beef; .beef product)

 

3

 

Does lover maybe represent a bit of a catch? (5,4)

 

Anagram of (maybe represent) DOES LOVER

DOVER SOLE*

 

 

DOVER SOLE (type of fish; bit of a catch)

 

4,22

 

Star is keen to play second fiddle perhaps in setting up of festival (5,5)

 

(AVID [keen] + BOW [play [second] fiddle]) contained in (in) (EID [reference the feast of EID-al-Adha [Muslim feast of sacrifice] or EID-al-Fitr [Muslim feast of breaking fast at the end of Ramadan] reversed [setting up [down clue])

D (AVID BOW) IE<

 

 

DAVID [BOWIE] (musical star)

 

5

 

 France’s wingers attack (6)

FE (first and last letters of [wingers] FRANCE)

 

FE

 

STRAFE (attack)

 

6

 

Revolutionary design for nurturing surrounding landscape? (7)

 

FNG (reversed [revolutionary] hidden word in  [nurturing] DESIGN FOR)

FNG<

FNG

 

FRAMING (something that may surround a painting or photograph such as a landscape)

 
9

 

 Fan confusion following loss of the guitarist (5,6)

 

MUDDY THE WATERS (confuse a situation by introducing complications; fan confusion) excluding (loss of) THE

 

  

 

 MUDDY WATERS (reference MUDDY WATERS, stage name of McKinley Morganfield [1913 – 1983], American blues singer and guitarist)

 

14

 

Dead soldiers described by short note covering two sides (9)

 

(LATE [dead] + RA [Royal Artillery; soldiers]) contained in (described by) BILL [note] excluding the final letter (short) L

BI (LATE RA) L

 

 

BILATERAL (affecting two parties; covering two sides()

 

16

 

Browbeating, nonetheless, contributes to unnatural death (8)

 

BUT (nonetheless)  contained in (contributes to) an anagram of (unnatural) DEATH

HEAD (BUT) T*

 

 

HEADBUTT (browbeating)

 

17

 

The old Democratic leader was unfaithful (7)

 

YE (an old for of ‘the’) + D (first letter of [leader] DEMOCRATIC)

 

YED

 

STRAYED (was unfaithful)

 

18

 

Amount of money made on site (7)

 

RE (with reference to; on) + VENUE (site)

 

 

 

REVENUE (income; money)

 
20 Walsall entertains a couple of stars (6)

 

 AL (hidden two letters [a couple] in [entertains] WALSALL) AL ASTRAL (of stars)
22 See 4

 

     BOWIE

3 comments on “Guardian Genius 159 / Jack”

  2. Thanks for the comprehensive blog. I also got 2d first, then a few others quite quickly, but found getting to the finish a struggle. It would have been easier had we known that all the ‘slices’ were 4 letters thick, as it was I spent a lot of time chasing red herrings looking for solutions with 2 or 3 letters missing.
    We weren’t able to parse 21a, 26a and 6d, so thanks for the explanations.

    I did wonder if the reference to 18 in 26a was actually a misprint for 1d, as PASTURE and PASTEUR are anagrams, but evidently not!

  3. I didn’t find time to look at this for the whole of September! So I sat down on the afternoon of October 1st and thought I’d have a crack and see how far I got.
    It’s a measure, in my opinion, of how easy this was that I was able to complete it (correctly!) in a matter of a few hours and submit it before the deadline. I rarely complete the Genius though usually get close.

    I too got PASTRAMI straight away, which helped a lot.

    I didn’t like EMBLEM – I guessed ‘EM was other people but didn’t like the absence of an indicator for the abbreviated form of ‘them’.
    The only one I put in without really getting why was 6D – I hadn’t noticed the nod towards the FNG in the wordplay though I was pretty sure the answer would be FRAMING.

    Thanks Duncan, and Jack.

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