Four weeks ago, I wrote in my preamble to a Paul Prize puzzle blog, “Because I blog the Prize puzzle every four weeks and Paul seems to occupy the Prize slot every two weeks, we tend to coincide rather often [and that’s without the weekly puzzles] except when there are five Saturdays in the month, as there are in March. This is only to say that I tend to run out of things to say in the preamble!”
Perhaps this fifth Saturday in March will break the routine for a while – we’ll see. In the meantime, I’m left with little to say about this puzzle, except that I found it pretty straightforward. Looking back at my notes, I can’t see that I awarded any ticks, so I’ll leave you to name your favourites.
Thanks to Paul for the puzzle.
Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 Promotion offering sex in the open air? (6,9)
PUBLIC RELATIONS
Double/cryptic definition
9 Puzzle only negative? (7)
NONPLUS
NON PLUS = only negative
10 Powerful beast, south-west Indian stream it’s suggested? (7)
GORILLA
RILL [stream] in GOA, which is in south-west India
11 Lighter materials under packages (3)
SUN
Contained in [packages] materialS UNder – an original definition: the sun gives light …
12 Genius doctor hugged by sweetie (5,6)
SMART COOKIE
COOK [doctor] in SMARTIE [sweetie] [interested transatlantic friends may like to google for comparisons between Smarties and M&Ms]
13 Bewildering debts cut, or stopped (10)
OBSTRUCTED
Anagram [bewildering] of DEBTS CUT OR
15 Drifter accommodated by millionaires? No way! (4)
SNOW
Contained in millionaireS NO Way
… and snow drifts and so we have a similar [identical?] type of clue in both wordplay and definition to 11ac [and both lighter and drifter just happen to be types of boat – nothing to do with the puzzle, though]
18 Hitch lacking success after film score (4)
ETCH
[hit]CH minus hit [success] after ET [the inevitable film]
20 Play about Genesis (10)
RECREATION
RE [about] CREATION [Genesis]
23 Live by chance (2,2,7)
AS IT HAPPENS
Double definition
26 Cuddle sweetheart 1002? (7)
EMBRACE
[sw]E[et] + M [100{0}] and [2] BRACE
27 City assuming footballer’s first to join club, perhaps? (7)
CARDIFF
CARD [club, perhaps] + IF [assuming] + F[ootballer]
28 John Lennon has one song left before dying (7,8)
AIRPORT TERMINAL
AIR [song] + PORT [left] + TERMINAL [dying] – this is a lovely surface but I don’t like TERMINAL = dying: Chambers has ‘suffering from a terminal illness’ as one definition but I’ve never heard it used that way – have you?
Down
1 Writer is character in Yorkshire market town (9)
PENISTONE
A simple charade of PEN IS [writer is] + TONE [character]
I had a wry smile at this one, imagining Paul saying, ‘Do you see what I didn’t do there?’
2 Hand up the pole (7)
BANANAS
Double definition – bananas grow in hands and BANANAS and ‘up the pole’ are both slang expressions for ‘crazy’
3 Imagined America in attack showing no leadership (8)
ILLUSORY
US [America] in [p]ILLORY [attack]
4 A celebrity finally reaching the top, Jamaican perhaps? (5)
RASTA
A STAR [a celebrity] with the last letter moved to the top
5 Extraordinary way gay Hitler minced (5,4)
LIGHT YEAR
Anagram [minced] of GAY HITLER
6 Supercharged time for swimmer (6)
TURBOT
TURBO [supercharged] + T [time]
7 Nicking case of liqueurs, pleb in raincoat (7)
OILSKIN
L[iqueur]S in OIK [pleb] + IN
Well, here’s one of one of those curious coincidences: Valentine’s comment on Paul’s own use of REDNECK as an answer just yesterday [Friday 30th]: “People who call other people rednecks are sneering at them. Would this puzzle ever contain the word “OIK”?” – sorry, Valentine
For the record:
REDNECK: Chambers: ‘derogatory’; Collins: ‘disparaging’;
OIK: Chambers: ‘slightly derogatory’; Collins: not listed in my rather old edition
8,25 Technologically advanced spring on base of hinge in prison (5-3)
SPACE-AGE
SPA [spring] + [hing]E in CAGE [prison]
14 Those baked on the plains of Manitoba? Temperature most disturbing (9)
CREEPIEST
CREE PIES [might be baked on the plains of Manitoba] + T [temperature]
16 Cracking whip lower down initially fun (9)
WONDERFUL
Anagram [whip] of LOWER D[own] FUN
17 Bum note concealed by West Midlands boomer (4,4)
BASS DRUM
ASS [bum] + D [note] in BRUM [West Midlands]
19 Originally cost flexible, one going up (7)
CLIMBER
C[ost] + LIMBER [flexible]
21 One overcoming queen, an Islamic republican (7)
IRANIAN
I [one] + RANI [Indian queen] + AN
22 Inferior company accepting lots (6)
CHEAPO
CO [company] round HEAP [lots]
23 Patch around surface of nose ring (5)
ARENA
AREA [patch] round N[ose]
24 Host ends in house from chronic fatigue syndrome (5)
EMCEE
Last letters [ends] of housE froM chroniC fatiguE syndromE
“Always look on the bright side of death
Just before you take your terminal breath”
Thanks Eric (and Eileen and Paul). I think it’s “before dying”.
Thanks Eileen. More good Paul. CREEPIEST was very nice and gettable. The wording of 26A was creepy, but the airport sprang to mind. 16D was WONDERFUL with slippery anagramming. Grimace for bum=ass in 17D.
Thanks Eileen. Here’s what I wrote at the time.
Finished in one session but still plenty of challenging clues. SUN and SNOW were well hidden; EMBRACE was a favourite; in 2d I was convinced the S was the the pole reference; RASTA was a neat construction; CREEPIEST was a typical Paul clue 1d was very restrained for him (as per your comment Eileen); loi was WONDERFUL which resisted parsing for a while.
Interestingly I know Penistone quite well and have never thought of it as a market town, or even really a Yorkshire town, although I know it is. But then I guess any town that has a market is a market town – provided it’s not a city.
Thanks to Paul and Eileen for the blog with contemporaneous references.
Thanks Paul and Eileen
I found this straightforward (tempting fate -“easy”?) but also fun. As already mentioned CREEPIEST was my fav, though have to admit I didn’t solve it by knowing disposition of Native tribes in NA. It is always good when a crossword adds to your store of knowledge.
+1 for WhiteKing endorsement of EMBRACE as well.
Thanks again Paul and Eileen and Hapoy Easter to all
Thanks to Paul and Eileen. I did not get to this puzzle until Thursday and then started off very slowly, but then things fell into place. PENISTONE was new to me, and I needed help parsing OILSKIN and BASS DRUM. Very enjoyable.
I thought 28a and 14d were superb clues and the whole puzzle an excellent Saturday offering.
This querying of TERMINAL recalled to me a sad time many years ago: when the doctor first informed my sister and me that our mother’s condition was ‘terminal’, we had no doubt that this equated with ‘dying’. We even started to discuss funeral arrangements (she passed away two days later). But I suppose this doesn’t apply in all cases. Look at Stephen Hawking – he was advised by his doctors that he was ‘terminally’ ill, back in his twenties – and see how long he survived after that!
Anyway, I have no quibble over AIRPORT TERMINAL, I thought it was a good clue. Especially since it took me a while to remember that JOHN LENNON is the name of an airport – just as GEORGE BEST is.
Other than that – nicely well-pitched for a Saturday Prize, not especially tough but a good challenge. I thought Paul must have had the customary twinkle in his eye as he clued up BASS DRUM and PENISTONE! Reminds me of back in student days – the college library supplied a few notepads and ballpoint pens for students to take notes on, but the pens were of notoriously bad quality – so some wag would scrawl in the comments book: “THIS PEN IS RUNNING DRY” or similar. Not me – honest!
Thanks to Paul and Eileen.
Thanks to Paul and Eileen. Really enjoyed this and lots of witty clues. I started off quite slowly with only nonplus on first pass. However it then all unpacked quite readily. I agree with the nice clues mentioned above, but I also liked smart cookie. Thanks again to Paul and Eileen.
I liked this. Paul at his most approachable and none the worse for that. I liked AIRPORT TERMINAL and PUBLIC RELATIONS. WONDERFUL was LOI.
Thanks Paul.
Thanks to Eileen and Paul. Being pedantic, I thought JOHN LENNON was the name of the entire airport and not just the terminal building – maybe that’s taking splitting hairs too far. Like you Eileen, I thought the clue for PENISTONE was most un-Paul-like ! Ah well, on to Maskarade’s latest opus….
JohnB @10 re 28ac: the definition is ‘John Lennon [i.e. the airport] has one’.
I had a terrible time with this, filled in only a few until last night, when I returned to it and made free with the check button.
Yes, Eileen, I’m as disappointed to see OIK as I was to see REDNECK — or maybe slightly less, since it’s a component of the answer rather than the answer itself. They’re both words I wouldn’t use.
I read somewhere that when Smarties were brought over here there was already another candy of that name, so the Mars company renamed them M&Ms, with M for Mars. The Mars Bar is another of theirs, so named not because of outer space because the owner of the company actually was Mr. Mars. Who knew it was a real name?
Thanks for explaining AS IT HAPPENS. Like others, probably, I was pronouncing “live” to rhyme with “give” as a verb, rather than an adjective rhyming with “strive,” so I couldn’t parse it.
Thank you, Eileen, for a welcoming blog, and Paul for a very challenging puzzle!
Yes, I’ve heard “she’s terminal” for “her illness is terminal.” Maybe it’s American.
I dunno that a smart cookie is a genius. A few more steps up needed.
Eileen @11 Ah yes, good point. Yet another case of me solving the puzzle without ever reading the clues properly !!
Thanks Paul & Eileen.
I’m with Gonzo@1. TERMINAL is “before dying” – the whole bit and not just the dying. If you are terminal, you are going to die at some unspecified time. Probably not the best topic for Easter.
On that, it is nice, now that daylight savings have sorted themselves worldwide, I now get the crossword before lunch and that improves my approach to the rest of the day. Hope you all have a niece Easter.
I found the whole crossword a good level of difficulty and it certainly had a few smile moments although it took me ages to get BANANAS as, I too, was looking for the S as the pole. Mutter, grumble.
I found I had to chew on this a bit more than of late. Not so much of Paul’s usual playfulness, but the mincing gay Hitler in 5d made me laugh. Hard to believe 1d was clued without reference to a member.
@Mystogre
The ultimate Easter clue was surely last week’s “Comes to life again in bra and panties” from Vlad? Maybe not, though..
Re 1d, I used to bypass this delightful town many moons ago when I worked at Midland Bank’s “Barnsley Bunker”. (Which is actually in Tankersley!)
There was a barbers in Penistone which was used by many male members 🙂 of staff. When giving directions to new customers the place was always referred to as “Penis Town”. Howver as I remember the locals always called in “Pen Is Tun”. Not syre which was the correct pronunciation?
Another great puzzle from Paul! The use of “lighter” for SUN and “drifter” for SNOW is quite ingenious, but you have to admire Paul’s restraint in the PENISTONE clue. He could’ve gone there, but he didn’t. And yet the answer still contains you-know-what, so we solvers all had to go there anyway! As for the use of ASS in BASSDRUM, I must say as an American I’m a little surprised he went with an American term for “bum” without even really alluding to it! You usually see “arse”, if the situation arises, in a British crossword. Whatever works, I guess. I only really got BANANAS from it revealing all but the A’s. Had to look up “hand” and “up the pole” after the fact to understand the clue. I also had never heard of “OIK” in OILSKIN as a term for “pleb”. We have been called “rednecks” here in Alabama, and sometimes far worse things, but I’ve never ever heard of “OIK”. I wasn’t bothered by the reference to John Lennon dying(too soon?), but I did get a kick out of CREE PIES in CREEPIEST. And “Gay Hitler” reminded me of Chris Kattan’s portrayal of him on SNL. Did you know someone actually portrayed a gay version of Hitler? I’m guessing Paul knew. Kattan even had a catchphrase: “Sprecken zie DICK?” Once again, many clever(and a little naughty)offerings from Paul! He certainly helps make the Prize Puzzle interesting and worth solving every week!
Pat,
It’s not surprising you’ve never heard the word “oik”. It’s a British public (ie private) school slang insult for the lesser species of schoolboy who goes to a state (public) school, or a peer thought of as being that “low”. Surprisingly, Urban Dictionary quotes the full OED entry.
I understand “redneck” as a term of abuse for someone in the southern States who is probably totally unschooled, which certainly wouldn’t seem to apply to you! An oik, by contrast, may be highly educated, but simply not one of thar privileged class of persons whose parents have the means and desire to send their children for private education.
I’m months behind, so there’s probably nobody reading this thread anymore, but just in case … how does “extraordinary way” define “light year”? As an astrophysicist, I’m quite familiar with the latter term as a unit of distance, but I can’t see how that helps. (It’s also always hyphenated, in my experience.)
Ted
I read every comment posted on 15², and the author of the blog receives an email copy of a comment, so normally at least two of us will have seen it, but Eileen is away at the moment so there is only me.
6×10^12 miles or 9.5×10^12 km is indeed a very long distance or an ‘extraordinary way’. Chambers has LIGHT YEAR as 5-4 but Collins and the ODE both give 5,4.
Thanks for the reply!
I’m quite prepared to believe that your explanation is the intended one (although that doesn’t mean I have to like it).
For completeness, here’s the reason I don’t like it. “Way” does not mean “distance” in any quantitative sense. You can say “It’s a long way to Tipperary”, but you can’t say “The way from Berlin to Paris is 1000 km”.