We found this very tough, but looking back I’m not sure exactly why. There were a few words I struggled to recall (see the next paragraph) but that doesn’t quite explain it. It may be just that I’ve done very few of Vlad’s puzzles overall: since the Guardian has such a wide range of setting styles used by its different setters it really helps to know what kinds of clues or devices you might expect when starting a solve. Anyway, there were lots of nice clues here – thank-you, Vlad.
Things that I didn’t know, or were only vaguely aware of, that would have been useful in solving this puzzle were: roan, knout, churl, tin (as slang for money) and the Battle of Sedgemoor.
My favourite clue was BROUHAHA, but there were lots of other strong contenders for that
Across
9. New finish for race — it’s Green Park (9)
SERENGETI
(E ITS GREEN)* – “New” is the anagram indicator and the E in the anagram fodder is from “finish for [rac]E”
Definition: “Park” (the Serengeti National Park)
10. “Whip’s nothing”, said the Member for Rotherham (5)
KNOUT
KNOWT sounds like “nowt”, which someone from Rotherham might say to mean “nothing”. My preference would be to at least have a question mark at the end, since the “Member for Rotherham” is very particular example of someone who might use “nowt”, and it’s just there for the surface reading suggesting “party whip”. I think the answer here is relatively obscure, so I’d hope for a more straightforward cryptic part.
Definition: “whip”
11. Rake in money — the opposite is what normally happens (7)
ROUTINE
Not ROUÉ = “Rake” in TIN = “money”, but the opposite – TIN in ROUE.
Definition: “what normally happens”
12. One not very good picking up runs? Hardly (7)
BRADMAN
BAD MAN = “One not very good” around R = “run”
Definition: the whole clue (it’s a semi-&lit) – referring to Donald Bradman
13. Was sarcastic about shows lacking sensitivity (5)
CRASS
Hidden reversed in “[wa]S SARC[astic]”
Definition: “lacking sensitivity”
14. Fencing by side of grass a joke? (9)
SWORDPLAY
[gras]S = “side of grass” + WORDPLAY = “a joke?”
Definition: “Fencing”
16. Went home only occasionally — no fun at this lousy address (5,2,3,5)
STATE OF THE UNION
(ETOE NO FUN AT THIS)* – the anagram indicator is “lousy” and the ETOE in the anagram fodder is from [w]E[n]T [h]O[m]E = “Went home only occasionally”
Definition: “address”
19. Berks here groomed Rocky for battle (9)
SEDGEMOOR
SE (“south-east”) = “Berks here” (Berks being the abbreviation for Berkshire) + (GROOMED)*
Definition: “battle” referring to the Battle of Sedgemoor
21. River horse is caught (5)
RHONE
Sounds like (“is caught”) “roan” (a pattern of colour on some horses, which can also be used to refer to a horse with that pattern)
Definition: “River”
22. Bribe keeps old worker cheerful (7)
BUOYANT
BUY = “Bribe” (as in “to buy a politician”) around O = “old” followed by ANT = “worker”
Definition: “cheerful”
23. Stopped being right-on then? (4,3)
LEFT OFF
If someone is not “right-on” then they might be “left-off”…
Definition: “stopped”
24. Caught by shy rustic (5)
CHURL
C = “caught” (from cricket scorecards) + HURL = “shy” (as in “throw”)
Definition: “rustic”
25. At risk surfing? Time he stopped (2,3,4)
ON THE LINE
ONLINE = “surfing?” around T = “Time” + HE
Definition: “At risk”
Down
1. Costs are high — one’s introduced cuts (10)
OSTRACISES
(COSTS ARE)* around I = “one”
Definition: “cuts”
2. British mostly in error — invisible border causing fuss (8)
BROUHAHA
Nice topical surface reading. BR = “British” + OU[t] = “mostly in error” + HA HA = “invisible border”
Definition: “fuss”
3. Comes to life again in bra and panties! (6)
UNDIES
UN-DIES might be “comes to life again”
Definition: “bra and panties!” – I think this would be better with a question-mark or “, perhaps” at the end to better indicate the definition by example. Maybe other people understand an exclamation mark to do that too?
4. The Speaker’s top dog (4)
PEKE
Sounds like “peak” or “top”
Definition: “dog”
5. Programme in a lot of trouble, right? (3,7)
BIG BROTHER
R = “right” in BIG BOTHER = “a lot of trouble”
Definition: “Programme”
6. Had nukes prepared … or a less effective weapon (5,3)
SKEAN DHU
(HAD NUKES)* – nice clue, though this is quite a tough anagram to solve!
Definition: “a less effective weapon”
7. “I won’t!” Redhead on strike turned round, as expected (6)
NORMAL
NO = “I won’t!” + R = “Redhead” + LAM = “strike” reversed
Definition: “as expected”
8, 21. ’E’s crazy — First Noel a protest song! (4,6)
ETON RIFLES
Nice clue: E + (FIRST NOEL)*
Definition: “a protest song” referring to The Eton Rifles by The Jam
14. Readily accepts newspaper work — on reflection it’s an easy choice (4,6)
SOFT OPTION
SOON = “Readily” around FT = “newspaper” (the Financial Times) + OP = “work” (“opus”) +
TI = “on reflection it”
Definition: “an easy choice”
15. Made American define a key change (10)
YANKEEFIED
(DEFINE A KEY)*
Definition: “Made American”
17. Looks at the writer talking rubbish (8)
EYEBALLS
EYE sounds like (“talking”) “I” or “the writer” followed by BALLS = “rubbish”
Definition: “Looks at”
18. Like some drinks in one boozer kept cool endlessly (8)
ISOTONIC
I = “one” + SOT = “boozer” + ON IC[e] = “kept cool endlessly”
Definition: “Like some drinks”
20. Washington idiot is in our party (6)
DOOFUS
DO OF US = “our party”
Definition: “Washington idiot” (i.e. it’s American slang for “idiot”)
22. Champion’s dark side ignored (4)
BACK
BLACK = “dark” without L = “side”
Definition: “Champion” as in “to champion [something]”
23. Ex and others getting upset (4)
LATE
ET AL = “and others” reversed
Definition: “Ex”
don’t usually do the Prize, but this week I decided, why not? I’m also typically not on any 15^2 Guardian comments board before the 30s or 40s, so this is a rare pleasure indeed!
I enjoyed Vlad’s puzzle very much, and was impaled only once – on 14d, which I *incorrectlly* solved as “safe option” but, for the life of me could not manage to parse. Now I see why!! BTW, mhl, your explanation of the parsing of the *correct* answer, SOFT OPTION, is missing the explanation of the wordplay for the TI portion (“on reflection it”).
Many thanks to Vlad and mhl, and to the other commenters whose comments I have not yet read! Happy weekend to all!
Me @1
*I* don’t usually . . .
DaveMc@1 – nice to see there is an advantage of being a US solver! Like you we had SAFE for long enough but couldn’t parse it before coming up with SOFT.
I followed up on Crossbar’s comment on last week’s prize by agreeing that it’s nice to have a few clues left over to Sunday – and we certainly got what we wished for! We had about half still to do on Sunday and still had 6 or so going into Monday. Loi was DOOFUS – which you probably got easily enough DaveMc :-).
UNDIES was my favourite and there were lots of great clues – SEDGEMOOR and RHONE took ages to parse, I had a ? against CHURL until all the crossers went in, and despite having got the northern dialect idea the obscurity of KNOUT meant I needed Google’s help to confirm the whip – KNOWT was what I was working on. Unusually the long one across the middle held out well into day 2 and SKEAN DHU has taken the number one spot for the “earliest to identify the fodder, longest to solve the anagram” award.
All in all an excellent prize puzzle – many thanks to Vlad and to mhl for a great blog.
Thanks mhl. I found this rather harder than usual too though oddly enough I had no trouble with any of the things noted in your second paragraph. I needed Google confirmation for SERENGETI national park, BIG BROTHER, ETON RIFLES and DOOFUS. I
I rationalised 25a as a triple definition; on the line could be ‘at risk’, ‘surfing’ or ‘time he stopped’ as in the end of a race, but I like your explanation better.
WhiteKing @3 –
You are correct about the time difference – it’s only 9:40 pm here – and also about DOOFUS! I loved that one, and also STATE OF THE UNION — I only wish those two concepts were not so closely linked at this moment in this country’s history (and I wish “doofus-ness” was the only thing we had reason to be worried about).
I also loved UNDIES. That sounds weird. I meant 3d!! I listened to ETON RIFLES on YouTube about 2 days before this puzzle came out, which was serendipitous. And I had the exact same experience described by you in solving SKEAN DHU.
I think I should make it a point to try the Prize more often!
Thanks for the blog, mhl. There are a couple of slips in the answers: 1ac SERENGETI (the ‘n’ has been missed) and 15d is YANKEEFIED rather than YANKIFIED. (I noticed that one because it was the spelling that had occurred to me before I realised I had an extra ‘i’ and was missing two ‘e’s!)
Thanks very much to Vlad and mhl. I found this hard as I didn’t know/couldn’t parse several answers on which mhl and others have already commented: 10a KNOUT (I had to google as well, WhiteKing, and had no idea about the MP), 11a TIN for money in ROUTINE, 24a CHURL and The Battle of SEDGEMOOR for 19a. Fortunately we also use the slang word DOOFUS (20d) in Oz. However I relished many clues including 12a BRADMAN, and the already lauded 2d BROUHAHA and 3d UNDIES.
[Good to see you on the forum, Gert Bycee@6. Greetings from the Sunshine Coast!]
Thanks JinA and greetings! Glad you’re here so I can reply to your nice words of ages ago. To answer your question: I’m in Melbourne. Prior to 2000 I was in Canberra. (Born and bred in the UK though.) This moniker is one I use for my very occasional forays onto The Age comments pages. I have a different one for The Guardian, where I tend to rant and rave from time to time on matters political and cultural.
Suprisingly for a Vlad , i didn’t find this all that difficult, although did need google’s help with knout, sedgemore, eton rifles, and skean dhu, but that added to the interest.
Thanks for the blog mhl. 17 down EYEBALLS also needs the explanation of ‘rubbish’, although it may been deliberately omitted for reasons of etiquette?
Love your moniker, Gert Bycee.
I got confused between the Gaelic and English(ish) spellings of SGIAN DUBH/SKEAN DHU and was convinced it had a G in it until I finally got KNOUT. Tough going as usual with Vlad – I was never sure about ON THE LINE, and took a long time to find SEDGEMOOR and ETON RIFLES.
Morning all! Enjoyable puzzle.
Yes, WhiteKing@3 this was, for me, about the right level of difficulty for a Saturday, and I had a few clues left over for Sunday. Can’t remember which ones they were exactly now, except for DOOFUS which held me up for a while even though I do know the word.
I couldn’t parse the OU part of BROUHAHA, and eventually settled for thinking that “mostly in error” was maybe f(OU)l.
SKEAN DHU is one of those items stashed away in my head for crosswords only. The homophones gave me no trouble this time.
Trivial quibble for 9a. I
think SERENGETI is more than just the park. It is a whole area.
Favourite was UNDIES. Made me smile.
Thanks to Vlad and Mhl.
Quite tough this one – tougher than some recent Prizes anyway – I’m sure I’d yielded up at least a pint of my blood to the Impaler by the time I was there. But on the whole pretty satisfying.
One that I don’t like much is ETON RIFLES. Apart from never having heard of the definition, I think that using “E’s” at the start to represent the letter E is a bit contrived – and the “‘s” part of it is superfluous.
Homophones, homophones – will we ever be all in agreement? Speaking for myself, I don’t think I’d pronounce ROAN and RHONE the same way – in the first word I’d utter the ghost of an ‘A’ sound – as if I was saying ROWAN (i.e. the tree/comedian/ex-archbishop) but curtailing the second syllable. Anyone else think likewise? Maybe I’m wrong about this…
YANKIFIED went in OK, but it’s not a word I’d ever use – and it seems a bit – well – un-PC shall we say – especially for the Grauniad?
BACK gave me plenty of trouble – was my LOI as it happens. I kept on wondering whether “backside” could be synonymous with “dark” – i.e. as in: a place where the Sun don’t shine 😮 . But I think that would have been a bit too crude even for another well-known Grauniad setter. Finally, thankfully, “black” minus “l” clicked for me.
Thanks to the Count and nhl.
“mhl”. Sorry!
Thanks to Vlad and mhl. Whenever I see Vlad’s I get very apprehensive having been impaled many times. However this went in quite steadily with the SW last to yield with doofus and churl. I half expected people to comment this was an easier than usual Vlad, but clearly not from the comments above, therefore even more pleased to crack this. I particularly liked undies and eyeballs and thanks again to Vlad and mhl.
Laccaria@12 I agree that roan and RHONE doesn’t sound quite the same, but I’m of the “near enough” school when it comes to homophones.
Crossbar@15 – near enough is ok with me too. If I can get to the answer and understand that it is meant as a homophone then that seems to be all that’s needed.
Thanks Vlad, mhl
An all too rare chewy puzzle for a Saturday. I liked ETON RIFLES, STATE OF THE UNION and BRADMAN. I can’t remember which bits I found hard, but I do remember that since ‘had nukes’ didn’t offer anything plausible, I decided to solve a different clue:
Get nukes prepared … or a less effective weapon (5,3)
gives SKEET GUN, which fit so well I was sure there must be a printing error.
Thanks to everyone for pointing out the various mistakes or typos in the post – I think I’ve fixed them now!
Really enjoyed this puzzle and the blog so thanks to Vlad and NHL for explaining the whole thing so well..
Struggled with getting a start on paper on Sun afternoon., so fired up the online version on Mon at lunch break and suddenly the flood gates opened.
I lucked out in knowing many of the obscure words or references KNOUT was in a Guardian Quiz a few weeks ago, I am exactly the right age to have listened to The Jam with unbridled enthusiasm so ETON RIFLES no prob, as a cricket fan the BRADMAN clue was perfect, as an Irish person SKEAN DHU whip based on Scots Gaelic is quite comprehensible.
I struggled with parsing BROUHAHA but the definition and crossers left it in no doubt, such a beautiful word, shame it Indicates unpleasantness .
My LOI was the RHONE, like Crossbar @15 and others I am of the ‘near enough’School of Homophonic Identification, just it took me a while to realise ‘caught’ could be a pointer to a homophone.
No real favourites among the clues, but I liked CHURL, DOOFUS, NORMAL, ISOTONIC, BROUHAHA and BRADMAN best.
Well, for Vlad, I found this pretty straightforward, but then I was familiar with all the words with which mhl was unfamiliar. It just goes to show….
As a scout many years ago I carried a skean dhu in my stocking top. I think it was part of the uniform. It’s probably a criminal offence now; possessing an offensive weapon.
I agree that SKEAN DHU was a tough anagram – took me a while too! – but that’s part of the fun of the game! I reckon anyone (well, any blokes) who had difficulty here must have never worn a kilt! Oh all right, I never have, either (I’m not Scots). But I’ve been north of the border often enough, and met wearers of the Highland Dress often enough, that I knew at once what a SKEAN DHU is. Perhaps a slight advantage?
Rullytully@20 Laccaria@21. On cruises it is not uncommon for people to wear the full kilt ensemble (and very smart it is, too) for formal evenings. On one occasion a guest speaker was the Scottish celebrity chef Nick Nairn. He wasn’t allowed to have his Skean Dhu on board. I assume he was allowed to use chef’s knives for his cookery demos.
This was a joy to do with only RHONE causing a little head scratching. “Caught” caught me out as well! But some lovely clues with UNDIES being a particular favourite.
Thanks Vlad.
[Hi Gert Bycee: Coincidentally enough, I am flying to Melbourne tomorrow for a wedding on a boat (M.V Elizabeth Anne, Royal Barge) on the Yarra on Tuesday (I am a Civil Marriage Celebrant). Your weather is currently not the best but predicted to improve by Tuesday (I hope). The venue was changed from St Kilda Beach and I am just as glad.
Good to see you come on too, paddymelon. I also appreciated Gert Bycee’s pseudonym, though it took me a minute to see it.
In turn, where are you based, paddymelon?
When we get enough critical mass we could perhaps organise an Australian gathering for solvers…
At this stage I have noted up to ten of us in Oz..]
Crossbar @22. Some years ago an (English) colleague of mine was invited to a friend’s wedding in Scotland, and chose to hire full Highland dress for the occasion. He told me that the hire shop said, they weren’t allowed to supply him with a real Skean Dhu ‘for safety reasons’. They were willing to provide him with a fake plastic one instead.
That’s what the world’s come to…. 🙁
Laccaria@12 I had YANKIFIED too, which prevented my getting RHONE, and then 8d also.
Laccaria @25 Just NO! For children’s dressing up maybe.
Very frustrating puzzle. I’m clearly not on Vlad’s wavelength. (Member for Rotherham to mean from the north of England??) I don’t understand caught as the indicator for a homophone, can someone explain? To a Canadian without knowledge of Jam, ETON RIFLES is not even guessable as an anagram – I got the letters, but that was it.
Favourite was UNDIES. Also liked BROUHAHA and STATE OF THE UNION – great surfaces.
This site is fun to visit even when I fail badly with the puzzle. I loved the comments on the dangers of the SKEAN DHU, and JinA always has something interesting to say.
Thanks Vlad, mhl, and all the bloggers.
Hi cellomaniac – thanks for your kind remarks. “caught” indicates a homophone if you think about the sense of “catch” meaning “to hear”; e.g. “I didn’t catch that” or “I only caught what he said the second time”. I have to say this is an indicator that I consistently miss!
Thanks, mhl. I’ll probably continue to miss that indicator, too.
Thanks Vlad and mhl
Interesting set of comments above, especially re 6D. It was my FOI!
Many thanks to mhl for an excellent blog and to others who commented.
A real challenge, this one, but I got there in the end.
FOI was 16a, STATE OF THE UNION, which jumped out at me on sight for some reason.
6d SKEAN DHU bothered me till right near the end. So obviously an anag of ‘had nukes’ but seemingly impossible. Once I had the D*U, I thought it might be Arabic. Needed Chambers Word Wizard to get it in the end, but then recognised it (very vaguely). Incidentally,I’m not sure about now, but at one time a weapon which was part of a traditional costume was not illegal — but if the skean dhu came out of the stocking it would no longer be lawfully possessed in public.
Didn’t know 10a, KNOUT, but worked it out and confirmed with Chambers.
Failed to parse 22d, BACK, but BIFD anyway.
The recent discussion of ‘haha’ helped with 2d, BROUHAHA (great word that).
Finally sussed what 21a’s wp meant and thought I’d heard of a roan, so checked and found the pronunciation given in Chambers is perfectly homophonous with RHONE. Is it one of those words most of us know from reading, not ‘catching’, so pronounced in our heads howsoever? ‘River horse’ is, of course, the literal meaning of ‘hippopotamus’ in Greek, which misled me for quite a while.
I don’t understand what the s after E is doing at the beginning of 8,21, if anything. (@Laccaria: caught out by another ‘chune’? Suggest you start listening to Popmaster on R2, 10.30 weekdays. Haven’t got to your puzzle yet, btw, I’m afraid). Was going to protest that ETON RIFLES isn’t a protest song — till I twigged!
Loved 3d, UNDIES (like everyone else, it seems), but I agree with Mhl that a ‘?’ might have been better than a ‘!’ (which is generally for an &lit, I think?) Presumably, though, this was a ‘natural’ ‘!’ though?
Hello all, this is my first post re the Guardian cryptics and what a good, tougher-than-of-late Prize it turned out to be…I expect a tussle whenever I see Vlad’s monicker up top but I also expect to enjoy the encounter. I admit to being a Google customer for confirmation of KNOUT and SKEAN DHU but with crossers in place I think they were fairly gettable. RHONE elicited a groan; BRADMAN was simple but very neat (and I do like a cricket reference); BROUHAHA and ETON RIFLES were particular favourites and DOOFUS stimulated the chuckle muscles. A shame to highlight anything really though, as the puzzle was generally chock-a-block with good uns,
Thanks very much for a Prize worthy of the name and an excellent blog, Vlad and mhl (my spellchecker has just suggested you be converted to MHz!)
Welcome SB59. Congrats on choosing a Vlad for your first post.
The BRADMAN clue is very timely, as Australia is very much on the nose today, cricket-wise. The Don(not Pasquale) would be turning in his grave.
Julie in Oz @ 24 I’m in the Blue Mountains, NSW. There was a wonderful cryptic crossword fest in Melbourne last weekend. Would love to have been there. From what I can gather about contributors to this blog and the Guardian site, we are a far flung mob. Would so like to be able to join the Sloggers and Betters in the UK, as some Antipodeans have done, and I seem to remember that Arachne ( my favourite setter) has visited copmus in FNQ. I’m up for a gettogether. Name the place. Maybe some of the UK mob might like to come and join us?