It’s unusual these days to see Paul on a Tuesday, but being earlier in the week didn’t mean (at least for me) an easier puzzle: I found this quite hard by Paul’s standards, and wasn’t helped by putting in a plausible but incorrect answer early on. Thanks to Paul.
| Across | ||||||||
| 1. | TABASCO | Pill getting cold in a very hot sauce (7) TAB (Pill) + C in A SO |
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| 5. | STRATUS | Meteorological formation right in position (7) R in STATUS – Stratus is a type of cloud |
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| 9. | ICIER | I drink when disheartened, as more aloof (5) I + CI[D]ER |
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| 10. | FOREBRAIN | Some thinker, supporter kept in check by government department (9) FO (Foreign Office) + BRA in REIN (check) |
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| 11. | BIKINI LINE | Vehicle tours doubly popular around the middle of Basildon, area untouched by the sun (6,4) [bas]IL[don] in IN IN, all in BIKE |
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| 12. | FAIR | Pretty light (4) Double definition – I confidently put VERY here as one of my first entries (a Very light is a distress flare), causing myself some trouble later |
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| 14. | IT’S BEYOND ME | I don’t know how I make money with debts (3,6,2) (I MONEY DEBTS)* |
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| 18. | PALESTINIAN | Middle Eastern nirvana in it’s elapsed, somewhat in recession (11) Hiden in reverse of nirvaNA IN IT’S ELAPsed |
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| 21. | CASH | US singer-songwriter‘s notes, perhaps? (4) Double definition – the singer being Johnny Cash |
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| 22. | INEPTITUDE | I end up struggling to catch winger, beginning to exhibit lack of skill (10) TIT (bird, winger) in (I END UP)* + E[xhibit] |
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| 25. | BOW WINDOW | Dog kennels in Germany, an architectural feature (3,6) IN D in BOWWOW |
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| 26. | MOIST | Wet second and first (5) MO + 1ST |
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| 27. | ROSEHIP | Fruit grew hot (7) ROSE (grew) + HIP (fashionable, hot) |
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| 28. | RED DEER | Animal studied and highly-valued, it’s said (3,4) Homophone of “read + dear” |
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| Down | ||||||||
| 1. | TRILBY | Short tweet getting through, it’s felt (6) TRIL[L] + BY (through) |
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| 3. | SPRINGIEST | Elastic persisting, most flexible (10) PERSISTING* |
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| 4. | OFFAL | King Lear’s opening, rubbish (5) OFFA + L[ear] |
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| 5. | SERENGETI | Jaguar ultimately has spotted coat? Grab one that’s plain (9) [jagua]R in SEEN + GET I |
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| 6. | RUBY | Centre dismissed in game — red! (4) RU[G]BY |
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| 7. | TEA CADDY | Trapped by bear, a tiger briefly leaves container (3,5) A CA[T] in TEDDY |
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| 8,2. | SUN-DRIED BRICKS | Start to dig the salt of the earth, among other things, as possible building material (3-5,6) D[ig] + BRICK (salt of the earth) in SUNDRIES |
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| 13. | HORN-RIMMED | Hot fashion in order around 2000, describing spectacles, perhaps (4-6) H + MM in (IN ORDER)* |
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| 15. | SKINNY-DIP | Low-fat mayo, perhaps — dive in naked! (6-3) Double definition |
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| 16. | SPACE BAR | Counter, on top of which room key (5,3) SPACE (room) + BAR (counter) |
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| 17. | PLUS TWOS | Swop tailored clothing passion for sporty trousers (4,4) LUST (passion) in SWOP* – like plus fours, only less so |
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| 19. | MURINE | Head in miniature, wee like a mouse (6) M[iniature] + URINE |
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| 20,23. | PESTER POWER | Unrelenting influence of children, affectedly proper and sweet (6,5) (PROPER SWEET)* – as Chambers puts it, “the ability of children to influence their parents’ behaviour by making frequent requests” |
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| 24. | HIGH | Flying off (4) Double definition – “off” as in food that has gone bad or “high” |
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Thanks, Andrew. Just 1d needed explanation.
Unlike yourself, I found this on the easier end of the Paul spectrum; answers just seemed to pop out today.
I thought 5a might be STREETS, but quickly changed it as I could see no explanation.
18a must be one of the longest reversed hiddens
I enjoyed this one. Unfamiliar words/terms such as 20/23 (which I liked) were possible from the wordplay and the clues for FOREBRAIN, BIKINI LINE, SKINNY-DIP and BOW WINDOW were fun, the latter helped by the appearance of BOW WOW for man’s best friend, either here or elsewhere, in the last few weeks.
Thanks to both Paul and Andrew.
Very enjoyable, though parsing the other things in 8,2 took longer than it should have. It must, I think, be one of Paul’s easier offerings, or it wouldn’t be done and dusted by this early hour! Thanks to S and B.
Thanks Paul and Andrew
Another VERY here, though I wasn’t entirely happy with the equivalence of pretty = very. I also “spotted” the dog in 25 as BOXER, so had a partially parsed BOX GIRDER for a while. Otherwise I would agree that it was a relatively easy Paul, with CASH not being out of place in a Quick crossword.
Not happy with OFFAL = “rubbish” – we eat it; or MOIST = “wet” (why didn’t he use “damp”?)
18a was a clever hidden, but it’s a pity that the surface is fairly nonsensical.
Like Dave up top I don’t get 1dn though it couldn’t have been anything else. Is Trilby a type of felt? Not a tough Paul otherwise, i thought.
Thanks Andrew
A mixture of easy and a few very difficult clues here. SUN DRIED BRICKS held me up the longest as not only was it new to me but the parsing was beyond me too. SERENGETI was also unparsed although guessed early on from the crossers. Favourite today was OFFAL for its simplicity and smooth surface.
Thanks, Andrew, another VERY here. Tragically, it was my first one in! I see Muffin’s point about ‘very’ as a synonym for ‘pretty’, though. “The stadium was pretty/very full” for example, isn’t quite the same thing, is it?
I found this nearer the easier end of Mr Halpern’s spectrum and enjoyed IT’S BEYOND ME, BIKINI LINE, & BOW WINDOW for its bow-wow content although for some reason I’ve always called it a bay window.
The only fly in the ointment for me was the bonkers reading of the clue for PALESTINIAN. Makes no sense to me.
Fun puzzle in general though, many thanks, Paul.
Nice week, all.
Muffin @4 Apologies, just read your final sentence and realised I made the same point.
Rewolf @5 I read “It’s felt” as “It’s made of felt”. Chambers gives Trilby – a soft felt hat with a narrow brim and indented crown.
Thanks Paul and Andrew
Fun as ever from Paul.
William @ 7: bow and bay windows are separate things, the difference being whether they curve out from the wall, or have straight sides and front, like a box.
hth
Simon S @9 Aah…often wondered about that. Thank you.
BIKINI LINE is perfectly solvable so no complaint just an observation; it’s not really an area untouched by the sun, is it? It’s the demarcation between the two areas, touched and untouched…
…I’ll get my coat.
Thank you Paul and Andrew.
I thought this was on the easy side for a Paul, not that I am adept enough to have solved it quickly. A shame the clue for PALESTINIAN was nonsensical, I am sure it could be improved, a really well hidden answer that had me trying to fit “Jannah” in somehow before I spotted it.
TRILBY, PLUS-TWOS and HORN-RIMMED conjured up images from the past!
Usually I find Paul to be at the right level for me, gettable but still a challenge, but one or two recently have left me a bit stumped. I thought this was a return to service as usual, and I enjoyed it.
I hadn’t heard of PESTER POWER but it was readily solvable.
I wonder if “King Lear’s opening, rubbish” was intended to be topical? I saw Antony Sher as Lear at the RSC last week (we were in the theatre as they were doing the live link to cinemas). At the beginning Sher enters in a glass box. I thought it was a great production but it did divide opinion.
This went pretty smoothly for me. PESTER POWER was a new phrase for me, but it went in easily enough.
I’m wondering, though, why U.S. is necessary in the definition of Johnny Cash. Either you know him or you don’t; telling you he’s an American isn’t going to be either helpful or needful. It’s unlike a situation in which you have an American spelling or usage that has to be indicated. (On the other hand, “singer-songwriter” is interesting in a good way. While yes, it’s true that he wrote many of his own songs, the term “singer-songwriter” usually suggests someone working quite different musical territory.)
My prediction is that we will see Paul again on Saturday, and that is why this one appeared so early in the week. As others have said this wasn’t one of his tougher ones, but as always there is plenty of wit and ingenuity. MURINE was last in and least familiar.
Thanks to Paul and Andrew
Mrpenny@14
Indeed, I had confidently put in KEYS (as in Alicia) who more closely fits the traditional singer-songwriter mould. It’s further complicated by both Cashes (Johnny and Roseanne) writing songs for him to sing.
This was at the easier end of Paul for me – hampered mostly by a handful of new words (10a, the 8d bit of 8d/2d, the ‘bow’ in 25a, 2a a bit of a distant memory). I guessed 1d would be something made of felt but had made the mistake of assuming short tweet = T or TW.
First one in was 15a, took a while to warm up but once a few clicked in, it was a very fair one.
gah, I meant June Carter Cash. Must have had his daughter on my mind…
Last in was fair because we had sun baked in 8dn. Couldn’t parse it of course so it had to be wrong. Thanks to everyone.
I was held up by VERY as well, and I agree with mrpenney about CASH. I doubt
you’d find his music filed under singer/song writer in record shops-remember
them? Cash is a tad too blue collar for that genre!
That said, I thought this one of Paul’s easier ones but no less enjoyable for that. I
particularly liked BOW WINDOW,SKINNY DIP and BIKINI LINE. RUBY was LOI.
Thanks Paul.
I had a slightly different interpretation of 14. Definition = “I don’t know how” from I + an anagram (make) of MONEY + DEBTS. Otherwise, it’s hard to see how “I” is included in the fodder.
I also thought of VERY for 12 and I think it would be OK, as Collins online has pretty = somewhat or very. Luckily I had a crosser to dispel the idea quickly.
An easier one from Paul, but very enjoyable. I liked the SKINNY DIP joke and the dog kennels most.
Thanks, Andrew and Paul
We tend to associate the singer-songwriter label with people like Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and James Taylor, but for cryptic crossword purposes anyone who sings and writes songs can be defined as a singer-songwriter. So, for example, Chuck Berry, Mick Jagger and Johnny Rotten would count.
In any case I would say Cash was much closer to the accepted singer-songwriter than many. He performed his own songs, often solo, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar. He appeared together with all the first three named above – have a look on YouTube!
Thanks to Paul, and to Andrew for help with parsing – I entered 8, 2 without knowing why, didn’t think of sundries. 19 was new to me.
A fairly gentle Paul. But of course a blessed relief after the usual Monday offal.
Muffin @4
Sorry you don’t like the fact that “offal” means rubbish. How very inconvenient! 😉
Like many others I liked 25a. It reminded me of the anecdote told on Countdown by the late Richard Whiteley. The story concerned a couple who noticed a sign outside a pet shop saying “Amsterdam cat for sale”. They debated for some time as to whether there was any such breed of cat before the husband was finally persuaded to go into the shop and ask “How Dutch is that moggy in the window?”
I had a fairly slow start, but then answers went in a reasonable pace, so I’d agree it was probably on the easier side for Paul. I too initially put “very” for 12a, which slowed me in the NE. I think perhaps “pretty” = “very” would have worked better in the UK than in, say, America because of the British tendency to understatement (though that may be changing). “Wow! That was pretty good!” often implies “very good”, not just “fairly good”.
Thanks, Paul and Andrew.
He’s a funny old cove, our Paul. Sometimes he serves up a treat: a bit of a tussle, some outstanding creativity and you can’t help thinking the man’s a genius. At other times – like this – it’s all rather easy and one can feel a little short changed. I guess that happens when he has to live up to his own high standards. It’s almost like a different setter, but such variety in level of difficulty (and enjoyment) only serves to demonstrate his ability. Still, for me this wasn’t a Paul to pickle my walnuts, I’m afraid (though I rather liked MURINE).
Perhaps I’m just a little irascible as I have a stinking cold – the sort that the stronger sex might describe as “man ‘flu'”!
Thanks to Paul and Andrew.
Thanks to Paul and Andrew. I’m late to the discussion because I lost my internet connection for 24 hours. I got FAIR early on and knew MURINE from previous puzzles but had trouble with the Pester in PESTER POWER. For me, a typical Paul offering that I enjoyed.
BNTO @23
Offal is the term for the bits of an animal that we eat that aren’t muscle tissue – liver, heart etc. You aren’t confusing it with “awful” are you? You must talk posh!
I’m not sure if Muffin and BNTO are just joking around, but just in case, “offal” has two meanings. According to Chambers:
1 the heart, brains, liver and kidneys, etc of an animal, used as food. 2 rubbish, waste or refuse.