Guardian 27,511 – Paul

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It’s been a while since I blogged a Paul puzzle; there’s nothing wrong with this one, and there’s plenty of good stuff, but somehow it didn’t seem to have quite his usual sparkle. Maybe it’s just me.. Anyway, thanks to Paul.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Across
9. OSMIC With lead removed, massive like a trace metal? (5)
[C]OSMIC – relating to the metallic element Osmium, which “is found as a trace element in alloys, mostly in platinum ores.”
10. UP AND OVER As may be an entrance at university, somewhere in Hampshire (2-3-4)
UP (at university) + ANDOVER (Hampshire town) – some garage doors are called “up and over”
11. KING ALFRED Nearest and dearest recollection of standard socialist leader once (4,6)
KIN (nearest and dearest) + reverse of FLAG + RED (socialist)
12,1,5. FAIR CRACK OF THE WHIP Party organiser’s pretty funny — a reasonable chance (4,5,2,3,4)
I think this is FAIR (pretty) CRACK (a joke, a funny) + OF THE WHIP (party organiser’s)
14. CONSPIRACIES Plots extremely pathetic and scenario is ludicrous (12)
Anagram of P[atheti]C + SCENARIO IS
18. UNORNAMENTED Simple switch turned on to receive call (12)
NAME (call) in (TURNED ON)*
22. CODSWALLOP Sham bribe to cross border, rubbish (10)
COD (sham) + WALL in SOP
25. BALLADEER Singer, a delicate creature, going after bouncer (9)
BALL (“bouncer”) + A DEER
27. EPSTEIN Record on piano, no way for music entrepreneur (7)
EP + STEIN[WAY] – Brian Epstein, manager of the Beatles
28,21. FORWARD PASS Saucy proposition that’s illegal for a hooker? (7,4)
FORWARD (saucy) + PASS (proposition, as in “making a pass”), with hooker being a player of Rugby, in which forward passes are not allowed
Down
1. CROAKY Call to hug tree, sounding rough (6)
OAK in CRY
2. ALMOND Seed that’s old removed from a loch (6)
A + LOMOND less its first I
3. KICK AROUND Quit a golf game to wander idly (4,6)
KICK (quit, as in “kick the habit”) + A ROUND (game of golf)
4. FLUFF Down to make an error (5)
Double definition
5. TRAGEDIAN Player, a giant with red dicky (9)
(A GIANT RED)*
6. EDDA Norse collection needed, say, regularly (4)
Alternate letters of nEeDeD sAy
7. HAVE A FIT Become angry: prayer causing breach of faith, unfortunately (4,1,3)
AVE in (“breaching”) FAITH*
8. PORTRESS Woman carrying pig lacking tail and hair (8)
POR[K] + TRESS. It’s strange how some -ess words seem relatively innocuous (e.g. waitress, actress, though even there things are changing), while others, such as this one, seem ludicrously contrived and dated
13. MALEFACTOR Flame flickering over Bela Lugosi say, villain (10)
FLAME* + ACTOR
16. CULPABLE Responsible, short advert written up in message (8)
Reverse of PLU[g] (advert) in CABLE (message)
17. CONSOLES Panels only entertained by fools (8)
SOLE in CONS
19. ALPACA Wool top pulled up in the manner of pockets (6)
Reverse of CAP (top) in A LA (in the manner of)
20. SPITED Saw catching top of thigh, hurt (6)
T[high] in SPIED
23. SERIF Slave branded by one, the mark of a printer (5)
I in SERF (slave)
24,15,26. HAVE SOMEONE ON TOAST Play totally dominant role, as might a cannibal at breakfast time? (4,7,2,5)
Double definition – the metaphorical meaning is clear, but it’s not an expression I was particularly familiar with. Not one of Paul’s greatest clues, I thought, but making the best of a rather clunky phrase, I suppose

35 comments on “Guardian 27,511 – Paul”

  1. Thanks Paul and Andrew

    For a while EDDA was my only entry, but then it all gave fairly easily. MALEFACTOR was my favourite.

  2. Good puzzle – it went in rather quickly to start with as I got FAIR CRACK OF THE WHIP straight away. Favourites were KING ALFRED, EPSTEIN and MALEFACTOR. Stared at PORTRESS clue for a long time . . . Many thanks to P & A.

  3. Managed to complete this without too much trouble, though on other occasions Paul has often left me stumped. CONSPIRACIES was FOI.

  4. I enjoyed this and thought it was rather less difficult than some of Paul’s recent offerings.  I take Andrew’s point that it was maybe a bit less sparkling but there were still some fine clues (I agree with muffin and drofle about KING ALFRED, EPSTEIN and MALEFACTOR, and also liked FORWARD PASS).  So thanks to Paul for the entertaining puzzle and Andrew for the excellent blog.

    PS One minor typo in the blog: in 2d it’s the first O that is removed.

  5. I thought this was pretty impressive, with generally more plausible surfaces than usual. Forward pass reminded me of the joke where the bride says to her husband
    “Now that we’re married I have a confession to make. Before I met you I used to be a hooker…”
    “!!!!!”
    “In fact, before my operation, I once got selected for the All Blacks.”

  6. Well I thought this was great. Favourite probably KING ALFRED. (When I had the first letter K, and it was 4, 6, I assumed it must be KEIR HARDIE – socialist leader once – and spent some time scratching my head over it.)

    By coincidence I was listening to an old episode of Round the Horne yesterday in which exactly the same pun was made about FORWARD PASS, so that helped with 28, 21!

  7. A good workout from Paul. As ever, no matter how daunting it looks at first, just follow the wordplay without distraction and it all works out beautifully.

  8. Loi was 28,21 as could decide on Pose or Post before Pass hit me as the obvious second part of the solution, having dwelt too much on the other saucier and diversionary definition of a hooker.

  9. Thanks Paul and Andrew.

    Got there in the end, but an unparsed MALFEASANT at 13, and likewise FAULT at 4, messed up the cannibal, king and hooker, slowing the solve down drastically. I thought maybe 12 etc. was missing a word, eg ‘remark’, after ‘pretty funny’. It would make the parsing a bit more logical.

  10. I was sure of my answer for 9a as (c)OSMIC but could not find it in my online dictionary and did not know of Osmium. Also new for me was PORTRESS +  to “have someone on toast”.

    My favourite was KING ALFRED.

    Thanks Paul and Andrew.

     

  12. HAVE SOMEONE ON TOAST is not a phrase I’ve come across before now. I had a similar experience to muffin @1 with EDDA the only one in on the first pass.

    I particularly liked KING ALFRED.

    Thanks Paul and Andrew.

     

  13. Thank you Paul for an enjoyable puzzle  and Andrew for a helpful blog.

    Another KEIR HARDIE here, but the down clues soon put me right, and I did not understand FORWARD PASS!

  14. I had a vague recollection of having seen the phrase “HAVE SOMEONE ON TOAST” before but I couldn’t place it.  I had a quick search and found the following in “William Carries on” in the Just William series by Richmal Crompton:

    this cousin of mine was walkin’ out in the country one day an’ he looked up an’ saw a parachute comin’ sailin’ down from the sky. he ran up to where it landed an’ saw it was ole hitler, an’ hitler said he’d come over same as hess ’cause ole goering was after him, so this cousin of mine took him along an’ rang up churchill an’ churchill said: “well, let’s have ’em on toast for a bit wonderin’ what’s happened to him

    This wouldn’t be where I came across the expression it but it has the right sort of connotation for me.

  15. Very enjoyable, thanks Paul and Andrew for the blog. Favorites were those already mentioned by everyone else and I’d never heard of that toast phrase either.

    13d reminded me of another Paul clue – ‘Y chromosome the culprit?’

  17. Thanks to Paul and Andrew. I found it less easy than some other contributors. First pass yielded very little but gradually got going. I found the top half went in quite readily but then I was left with very little in the bottom, probably because I could not get 28a and 23a for ages. Eventually got there with spited and forward pass last ones. I liked King Alfred, unornamented and balladeer and thanks again to Paul and Andrew.

  18. Thanks both,

     

    As usual with Paul, I was on his wavelength until the final few clues. Unornamented passed me despite the wordplay being obvious in retrospect. I always enjoy a Paul.

  19. I always feel cheated when I find a better (in my opinion of course) answer to a clue than the actual solution; a clue should have only one plausible solution without looking at the crossers. I suggest that “walk around” is a better solution to 3.

  21. Enjoyed this – took me a while to get the two long ones but once they were in the rest fell pretty quickly. Plenty of entertainment as always from Paul.

    Thanks to Paul and Andrew

  22. I often see FOI in posts. Would someone tell me what it means? Google only returns freedom of information.

    Easier puzzle from Paul than some of his others of late. For which, many thanks!

     

  23. Like Howard March @19, I also wrote in “walk around”, but realized with the crossers in 1a that it wasn’t going to work.  It doesn’t bother me so much that it’s also a valid solution.  (Copmus @20 – “walk” is often used in the US to me quit, say, a deal.  Probably shortened form of “walk away”.)

    I found the southern half quite difficult to finish.  ALPACA, my last, took an age.  Not sure why “branded” indicates insertion of the I into SERF in 23.  Also found the description of DEER in BALLADEER as “delicate” a bit questionable.  They may look delicate, but they ain’t.

    I liked MALEFACTOR and HAVE A FIT.

    Like Howard March @19, I also wrote in “walk around”, but realized with the crossers in 1a that it wasn’t going to work.  It doesn’t bother me so much that it’s also a valid solution.  (Copmus @20 – “walk” is often used in the US to me quit, say, a deal.  Probably shortened form of “walk away”.)

    I found the southern half quite difficult to finish.  ALPACA, my last, took an age.  Not sure why “branded” indicates insertion of the I into SERF in 23.  Also found the description of DEER in BALLADEER as “delicate” a bit questionable.  They may look delicate, but they ain’t.

    I liked MALEFACTOR, EPSTEIN and HAVE A FIT the most.  My learning for the day was EDDA.

    Tilloubill @22  FOI = “first one in”  as opposed to LOI

    Thanks, Paul and Andrew.

  25. Thanks to Paul and Andrew. I had no trouble with FORWARD PASS (though it has a totally different use in US football with no hookers) and parsed PORTRESS (though I stared at it for some time before getting the porter connection), but had trouble with the two phrases, both of them new to me, especially FAIR CRACK OF THE WHIP.

  26. The usual enjoyable struggle with Paul, which yielded bit by bit after a slow start. EDDA was my first in as well and then FORWARD PASS started to open things up.

    I agree 24,15,26 wasn’t instantly recognisable as a commonly used phrase but I have heard it before. I can’t say PORTRESS is my favourite word.

    I had no idea about the ‘As may be an entrance’ def so thanks for the explanation. My picks for the day were EPSTEIN and CODSWALLOP.

    Thanks to Paul and Andrew.

  28. Query. Over the last 2 weeks I’ve had 4 different captchas rejected. I admit that I’m a lousy typist and when bleary-eyed can mistake a + for a x or vice versa, but lately I’ve been checking very carefully (and my arithmetic skills are not that bad). I’m now copying my comment before hitting the send button to avoid reconstructing what I had written, but I’m wondering if anyone else has been having the same problem on this site.

  29. PetHay and phitonelly: it was exactly the opposite for me. The bottom half went in pretty easily, but it took me a fair while to get the political jester, so the northern half took a bit linger.

    Anyway, an enjoyable puzzle. Many thanks to Paul and Andrew.

  30. ACD @28

    During the last nine months there have been occasional reports of a valid Captcha being rejected but this is the first time anyone has reported 4 in 2 weeks. There is an alternative Captcha plugin (still maths based, I do not like the distorted text ones) that I could try or, as the amount of spam the site receives appears to have significantly decreased during the last 12 months or so, I might even see if we can manage without one.

  31. I rather agree with Andrew in that I didn’t enjoy this as much as I usually do with Paul. I’m not sure why though. Anyway, I made rather heavy weather with it. I didn’t get the long ones until quite late in the proceedings and this slowed things down a bit.
    Anyway, there were some goodies here- BALLADEER,EPSTEIN and CODSWALLOP. LOI was OSMIC.
    Thanks Paul

  32. Enjoyed this puzzle as is usual with a Paul. Couldn’t do 12,1,5 at first (although did think the final word might be WHIP, so started with the downs, making TRAGEDIAN my FOI.
    Like phitonelly, I queried ‘delicate’ for DEER and ‘branded’ to mean an insertion in SERIF.
    Favourites were FAIR CRACK OF THE WHIP; FORWARD PASS; UP-AND-OVER and KING ALFRED.

    Thanks Paul and Andrew.

  33. Gaufrid @30. Thanks for the response. The first of those 4 might have been my error, but the others were not. My experience may be an anomaly (so I’m not suggesting a change in the system), but I do plan to keep copying my message before hitting that post comment button.

    It just happened again with the message above. Maybe 9 – 6 is no longer 3?

  34. I’m usually the one who has problems no-one else seems to have but I’ve never had 225 sum gone wrong.

    Gaufrid @ 30:I think its quite fun having a simple Captcha as you do and it helps to make sure you’re awake before posting. I’m pleased you don’t like the distorted text ones and hope you keep it as is.

  35. Another busy day at work, and another late arrival here at 15^2.  I enjoyed this puzzle.  TRAGEDIAN gave me a chuckle, FORWARD PASS was also good, and EPSTEIN and MALEFACTOR were my co-favorites.  As for MALEFACTOR, I was impressed by the parsing that avoided the more obvious construction (to the naked eye) of male + factor.

    Count me among those who did not know the phrase HAVE SOMEONE ON TOAST (although it was certainly gettable once many of the crossers were in).  To me, it was as recognizable an idiomatic phrase as, say, CROAKY ALPACA might have been.

    Many thanks to Paul and Andrew and the other commenters.

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