I was rather surprised to see Paul’s name on the Prize puzzle, after he’d already filled the Tuesday slot last week. I think we’re used to a weekly appearance from him by now but I wouldn’t mind a bit wider variety of setters on Saturdays, especially since they regularly coincide with my monthly slot and, as I’ve said before, I run out of things to say, especially when, as with this one, there is no perceptible theme nor, for me, any stand-out clues.
I admit that I started this in a grumpy mood [for reasons stated above, having come back to solve it on Thursday evening after a lovely few days in the Yorkshire Dales without internet access] – but I’m sure many of you really enjoyed it.
I took a few minutes to get into this one but then got started with 16dn and the rest flowed pretty evenly after that. I seemed to have practically all the left hand side filled in before much on the right but I don’t think there was any particular reason for that.
Thanks, Paul – ‘It’s not you, it’s me’, this time. 😉
Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
9 Brutally honest person steals? Exactly! (2,3,4)
ON THE NOSE
ONE [person] round [steals] an anagram [brutally] of HONEST
10 Scrub cooker hard (5)
HEATH
HEAT [cooker? – I suppose, in the sense that a recipe might tell you to take a pan off the heat] + H [hard]
11, 23 I hope piano players passed (7,7)
FINGERS CROSSED
FINGERS [piano players] CROSSED [passed]
12 Come down after end of flight and what should I do? Land! (7)
TERRAIN
RAIN [come down] after [fligh]T and ER [what should I do?]
13 Range of tennis player on the backhand (4)
ALPS
Hidden reversal [on the backhand] in tenniS PLAyer
14 Wife after skirts in Kuwait, in precarious situation – don’t be hasty! (5,5)
THINK TWICE
W [wife] after K[uwai]T in THIN ICE [precarious situation]
15 All those marked for dispatch left inside this, it getting shifted (3,4)
HIT LIST
L [left] in an anagram [getting shifted] of THIS IT
17 Most important money reaches Arab League leaders (7)
CENTRAL
CENT [money] + first letters [leaders] of Reaches Arab League
19 Painting car seats green originally, I love blue (2,8)
LA GIOCONDA
LADA [car] round [seats – I looked sideways at this to begin with but Chambers has ‘to place in any situation, site or location’, which makes it a pretty good containment indicator] G[reen] + I O [I love]+ CON [blue] – I had a much posher car [Lagonda] to begin with but that didn’t work – and it would have been too easy, anyway: for Lada jokes, see here
24 Divine figure and character in audition? (7)
FORESEE
Sounds like [in audition] four [figure] + cee [the letter C – character]
26 Host Native American daughter (5)
CROWD
CROW [native American] + D [daughter] – rather spookily, Wanderer in today’s [Friday’s] FT had ‘American Indian daughter’s faith’ (5), which was the first thing that sprang to my mind here – but, of course, it didn’t fit the definition
27 Conductor waiting to take charge, got on (9)
ELECTRODE
ELECT [waiting to take charge] + RODE [got on]
Down
1 Mistake of huge proportions, a team in red wearing white start ill-prepared (2,3,2,4,4)
GO OFF AT HALF COCK
GOOF [mistake] + FAT [of huge proportions] + A LFC [Liverpool Football Club – a team in red] in [wearing] HOCK [white {wine}]
2 Offensive type first joins up (8)
STINKPOT
A reversal [up] of TOP [first] + KNITS [joins]
3 Give up source of life, did you say? (4)
CEDE
Sounds like [did you say?] ‘seed ‘ [source of life]
4 Wicket! Sussex opener trapped by bowler on fire – is he out? (4,4)
HOW’S THAT?
W [wicket] + S[urrey] in [trapped by] HOT HAT [bowler on fire] – I suppose the question mark at the end justifies the definition by example – neatly done!
6, 5 Actor in heap beginning to hurt during dance (8,6)
CHARLTON HESTON
TON [heap] + H[urt] in CHARLESTON [dance] – I’ve resisted posting an image 😉
Arab country after uprising has sealed fate when shelled (6)
QATARI
A reversal [uprising] of IRAQ [country] round [f]AT[e]
8, 22 Might Beelzebub get his skates on then? Never! (4,4,7,4)
WHEN HELL FREEZES OVER
Cryptic definition
16 Man who’s determined to cultivate derision (8)
IRONSIDE
An anagram [cultivated] of DERISION – think Edmund II or Oliver Cromwell rather than Raymond Burr
17 Put cryptically, made fishy? (8)
CODIFIED
COD-IFIED – made fishy
18 Further study in theology faculty (8)
REVISION
RE [theology] + VISION [faculty]
20 Huge figure has to travel into Yorkshire town, shortly (6)
GOOGOL
GO [travel] in GOOL[e] [Yorkshire town, shortly]
21 Top Chinese food, massive plateful? (6)
OODLES
[n]OODLES [Chinese food, ‘topped’]
25 Damn sunrises! (4)
RATS
A reversal [rises] of STAR [sun]
Nicely done, but need that extra a in parsing 1D…
Thanks Eileen. In most prize crosswords I find there is at least one answer that I know to be correct but that I can’t readily explain. This one surely sets a record for me; 9a, 12a, 13a, 19a, 1d and 18d all required some staring into space before enlightenment, though all of them are perfectly fair and only show my lack of lateral thinking. I couldn’t see past ‘Lagonda’ for the car in 19a either thinking that C=cold=blue but couldn’t account for the missing G. I toyed with CREED too. Another very enjoyable test from Paul.
I got ON THE NOSE and HELL FREEZES OVER so quickly upon commencing the puzzle last weekend that I thought this was going to be a breeze, but it turned out to be anything but! I carried it around with me and managed to pick off only a clue or two at a time, all throughout the week, and I’ll swear by the Goose that it wasn’t until about 45 minutes ago that the penny finally dropped on HOW’S THAT, my LOI (and I still don’t think I understand how “is he out?” is a dbe of the answer). I enjoyed FINGERS CROSSED, THINK TWICE, and CODIFIED, and topping them all, FORESEE, for its nice “divine figure” misdirection. Eileen, I enjoyed the Lada jokes!
Many thanks to Paul and Eileen and (mostly in anticipation) the other commenters.
Thanks to Paul and Eileen. I’m another who kept pecking away at this puzzle during the week. I got GOOGOL before looking up Goole to be sure and only yesterday got STINKPOT and ON THE NOSE but I failed on HOWS THAT; rather, thinking it might be a cricket term, I stumbled on cows shot.
Thanks Eileen. First-in 15A gave the 1down phrase with that single crosser, but its parsing (the red and white bits) was beyond me until now. LA GIOCONDA an early poser: even when discarding Lagonda for Lada, the con=blue was elusive. Big ticks for the long cold 8D and also the thin ice outside Kuwait.
Thanks Paul and Eileen: yes heat for cooker was a bit of a stretch. Managed eventually to put all the Lego together for 1d, was another who took ages to get the Lada bit for 19a and the con bit was a TIR(elearnt)T, as was googol at 20d; I should keep a little book of tropes and quirky synonyms but I’m lazy. Otoh, Ironside for other than a warship was a straight TILT (ta for the examples Eileen). An in this neck of the woods ‘on the nose’ means bad or off or dodgy, or betting to win rather than each-way.
An enjoyable workout overall, thanks again P and E.
I’m always pleased to see a Paul puzzle, although I agree with Eileen that greater variety on a Saturday would be a good thing. I enjoyed the challenge this particular puzzle gave. I thought ‘heat’ for something that cooks (i.e.cooker) is fine as it’s the heat that cooks rather than the stove itself. Many thanks to Paul and Eileen.
Why is the rear window of a Lada heated?……………To keep your hands warm when yours pushing it.
What do, you calla lada convertable?………………..A miniskip.
I am surprised to say that I did manage to parse all of the clue for 1d GO OFF AT HALF COCK, although I would be more inclined to say “go off half-cocked” if I use this phrase. (These crosswords have at last taught me something about the colours of various English Football Clubs, in this case the team in red, LFC!!!)
However, I really needed the blog, Eileen, as there were many others that I failed to parse. For example, I didn’t think of LADA for “car” in 19a so that was a guess, as I had heard of the name of the Mona Lisa as LA GIOCONDA which fitted the crossers. (I also loved the associated Lada jokes, Eileen and copmus@8; somehow I knew that the Lada has a very bad reputation.) I did like OOODLES at 21d, but now a week on I see that is my only tick, so I am thinking I can’t have enjoyed it at the time as much as I usually enjoy my Pauls. However, now, in reading the comments, I must say I have to agree with others’ positives, including 14a THINK TWICE, 24a FORESEE, 5d HOW’S THAT, 8d WHEN HELL FREEZES OVER and 20d GOOGOL (I think I remember Goole from following the map when I travelled to Yorkshire in 2010 – lucky you to have just been there for a lovely few days, Eileen).
So hindsight is a good thing and I now recall it was a challenging brain work-out, so thanks to Paul, and to you, Eileen, for a helpful blog.
Thanks Paul and Eileen.
As usual with Paul, this was the kind of puzzle I enjoy, especially the misleading definitions.
DaveMc, ACD: HOWS THAT is indeed a cricket term. If a bowler believes he has got the batsman out, he asks the umpire “how’s that?”, which just means “is he out?”. (So Eileen, it’s not a dbe, but a straight definition.) (And of course “she” could be substituted for “he” in my explanation.)
I beg to differ. It’s not ‘Hows that?’ – it’s HOWWWZZZZATTT!!!
Hi beaulieu @10 – by ‘definition by example’ I was referring to bowler = HAT but, on reflection, I think I was thinking of it the wrong way round. 😉
Actually it’s ‘Owzat’.
Like many here I struggled with this on and off all week. I spent about an hour at lunch on Wednesday with it half done and didn’t manage to solve a single extra clue. Finally finished it half an hour ago. In the meantime I’ve finished all the dailies (except Pasquale, of course). Not sure that level of obscurity and dodgy synonyms make it a good crossword. Sheer bloody-mindedness kept me going. However I blame myself for thinking a few weeks ago how the prize crosswords were always easier than most of those that went before.
What’s the difference between a golf ball and a Lada? You can drive a golf ball 300 yards. Boom boom.
Back after a crosswordless week away and realised we didn’t finish this last weekend. Having CRUCIAL (surely you’ve heard of the CRUCI currency) instead of CENTRAL was a bit of a hindrance. 🙁 . Like Eileen I’d like to see more variety in the prize setters. I’m working my way through the week’s puzzles and did Tuesday’s Arachne last night – now that was a puzzle to savour and definitely worthy of the Saturday slot. It’s good to be back reading the blogs.
Thanks to P&E.
Hi Whiteking @15 – I started off with CRUCIAL, too. [And I missed Arachne and Crucible.]
But I’m feeling happier this morning – especially as there’s also Goliath [Philistine] in the FT. 😉
Thank you Paul and Eileen.
I was another who could not get beyond LAGONDA, my favourite car in the past, nor could I relate HEAT to cooker and GOOGOL was new to me. However, I enjoyed the puzzle, the clue for WHEN HELL FREEZES OVER made me smile when I finally got the answer.
Thanks to Paul and Eileen. I enjoyed this a lot. Not too easy but also not impossible to work out. Last one was Qatari, because I spent a long time trying to work something around Iran. Lots of nice clues but I was another fan of when hell freezes over. Thanks again to Paul and Eileen.
Another week on holiday and another guest bedroom. This puzzle kept me going a day or two.
Didn’t like (and still don’t) 9ac but ticks for 14 and 24ac and 17d.
Not much internet here. See you next Saturday!
Thanks to Paul and to Eileen.
beaulieu @10 – Thanks for explaining the cricket usage of HOW’S THAT. (And thanks also to Mike in Queensland @11 and Tc @13 for the “pronunciation” assistance!). I’ll try to add that to my mental “solver’s toolkit” for the future!
Lots of fun. Still had 9 to do when I got up this morning, and needed the check button to help, but it was a fair and enjoyable outing.
Failed on HOWS THAT, loved the explanation (thank you, beaulieu, MikeinQ and Tc for the linguistic demonstration).
I had LAGONDA too, Eileen, (feeling chuffed at even knowing about it) but I can’t be alone in never having heard of the LFC.
Thanks to Paul and Eileen.
I know opinions differ regarding how Ximenean clues need to be, but I really don’t like the “in” in “skirts in Kuwait”. Sorry to be a grump.
Nice tough one from Paul. WHEN HELL FREEZES OVER went in pretty quickly first, but plenty of chewing to do elsewhere.
I also got LA GIOCONDA from crossers and spent some time trying to work with Lagonda. Was that done on purpose, I wonder?
Loved 17d.Cod-ify, indeed!
I’m with Larry on coooker = that which cooks = heat.
I parsed “team in red” as Arsenal Ladies Football Club and thought it typically Guardian and typically misleading of Paul.
Another great puzzle from Paul, and I don’t mind saying I happen to like it whenever he’s set the Saturday puzzle. Nothing against the weekday ones, but I find it’s usually too easy to look up the answer the next day without actually having totally made the effort with the puzzle before giving up if I must. There’s just something better about having to wait a week(or two, with the Private Eye puzzle)rather than the next day. Really keeps me in suspense a little more. A few highlights of this one:
CODIFIED was my LOI. As one punster to another, Paul, I must say that was truly one of the cleverest/worst ones I’ve ever heard.(Don’t take the “worst” part of that personally. With puns, the worst are always the best!)
I also almost went the CREED route instead of CROWD.
WHEN HELL FREEZES OVER made me think of the first new album put out in fourteen years by the Eagles, in 1994. The title eliminated the WHEN, as the reunion was believed by many to be so unlikely that the reunion meant such a thing had actually happened in Hades!
Of course, there had to be the obligatory cricket and soccer references of which I was unaware. In this case it was HOW’S THAT? and GO OFF AT HALF COCK. We wouldn’t know the LFC here in Alabama. I also had to look up Goole for GOOGOL and Lada for LA GIOCONDA.
My favorite clue was “Damn sunrises!” I’ve also come up with a good clue for RATS just now:
Celebrity gets up and sings(4)
STAR reversed(Down clue; To “sing” in this case would mean to tell, as an informer would do)
I had always heard the phrase as “go off half-cocked”, not “AT HALF COCK”. Then again, my way would probably lead to a much more Cyclopsesque clue.(I won’t explain how, you probably already know.)
I also thought the THIN ICE/THINK TWICE wordplay was quite clever, as was that of CHARLTON HESTON. As an amateur setter myself, I’ve often considered CHARLES LAUGHTON to be perfect fodder for a cryptic clue(LAUGH inside CHARLESTON). Both actors’ names easily lend themselves to use of either the city(in SC or WV)or the dance popularized in the 1920s.
Finally, Eileen, you said the S in HOW’S THAT? stood for Surrey, not Sussex. Great job despite that. Great job Paul and Eileen!
PJB @ 25 (should you see this)
the reunion was believed by many to be so unlikely
The HELL FREEZES OVER Eagles album title came about because at the time of their acrimonious split in around 1980, someone asked a band member (I forget which) if a reunion was on the cards. His answer was “when hell freezes over”, so the title was their own acknowledgment.
Personally, I always wondered why people listened to them when Gram Parsons albums were available.
I was not at all surprised to see Paul’s name – in recent years his appearances on Tuesdays have tended to lead to two appearances in a week. I do agree that he gets too many of the prizes, if only because this deprives other fine setters, but I did enjoy this one, so I don’t want to be too harsh.
Thanks to Paul and Eileen