Guardian Prize 27,704 / Paul

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Owing to the seasonal intervention of Maskarade’s Jumbo puzzle, I find myself back again in sync with Paul’s customary fortnightly appearance in the Saturday Prize slot.

After some great puzzles over the Christmas period, I’m afraid I found this rather lacklustre. It was probably just me feeling a bit jaded but I have to say that the inclusion of the awful 7dn did absolutely nothing to endear this puzzle to  me. However, I did like 18 and 25ac and I’m sure there’s lots more here to please Paul’s fans.

Thanks, Paul – and a Happy Hew Year to you and everyone else.

Definitions are underlined in the clues.

[P.S. Friday, 4th. I wrote the above last weekend, immediately after solving the puzzle. I much preferred Paul’s offering today – vintage Paul, as the blogger, PeterO, said: it reminded me of when Paul was one of my top favourite setters.]

Across

1 Trouble recurring, discards rubbish (7)
GUBBINS
A reversal [recurring] of BUG [trouble] + BINS [discards] – I was surprised at the definition here but I’m afraid I can only say, yet again, ‘It’s in Chambers …’

5 Country bumpkin ultimately a state (7)
INDIANA
INDIA [country] + [bumpki]N + A

9 Urgent case in solving reference made public (5)
OUTED
U[rgen]T in OED [Oxford English Dictionary – solving reference]

10 Aggressive articulated lorry you hired out? (9)
TRUCULENT
Sounds like [articulated] ‘truck’ [lorry] ‘you lent’ [you hired out]

11 Misery, as booty left on ship (10)
SPOILSPORT
SPOILS [booty] + PORT [left on ship]

12 European providing rolling news (4)
FINN
A reversal [rolling] of IF [providing] + NN [news]

14 Radioactive element collected, about one in four bombs (11)
CALIFORNIUM
CALM [collected] round an anagram [bombs] of I IN FOUR

18 Weakness, when it comes to lifting a kilo, meant wimp finally collapsed (11)
KLEPTOMANIA
An anagram [collapsed] of A KILO MEANT [wim]P

21 Weapon — something sharp knocking head off (4)
PIKE
[s]PIKE [something sharp]

22 Private member almost totally bent, a genius behind bars? (5,5)
WILLY WONKA
WILLY [private member] + WONK[y] [almost totally bent] + A – the bars are made of chocolate, of course

25 Order lacking here, church is cutting 50% from extortionate cost? (9)
ANARCHISM
CH [church] IS in [cutting] AN ARM [50% of  ‘an arm and a leg’ – extortionate cost]

26 Prickle, however, with service (5)
THORN
THO’ [however] + R N [Royal Navy – service]

27 Going to seed, perhaps — like a tree? (7)
ELDERLY
ELDER-LY [like a tree?] – a typical Paul clue

28 Curse rock pieces on middle of patio (7)
TORMENT
[pa]T[io] + TOR [rock] + MEN [chess pieces]

Down

1 Protest, as bird shot (6)
GROUSE
Double definition – I tried for an anagram [shot] of AS BIRD but the only one – DISBAR – didn’t work, of course

3 Offensive show about the bowels of hell (10)
INDELICATE
INDICATE [show] round [h[EL[l] – the definition seems a little strong

4 Exercise position is elevated (3-2)
SIT-UP
A reversal [elevated] of PUT [position] + IS

5 Drug creating high in building of bonfire (9)
IBUPROFEN
UP [high] in an anagram [building] of BONFIRE

6 Knight covering a smear (4)
DAUB
DUB [knight] round A

7 A couple for eating, did yer say? Drink! (8)
APERITIF
I can’t bear to parse this one: several years ago, I took part in the parish production of ‘Me and My Girl’, a show abounding in excruciating puns – I’ve never forgotten this one, as being the worst, I think; I’ll leave you to read it for yourself, in the second paragraph here

8 Completely different words from boy on paper (8)
ANTONYMS
ANTONY [boy] + MS [manuscript – paper]

13 Get nowhere, seeing doctor possibly pocketing extraordinary wad (5,5)
TREAD WATER
TREATER [doctor, possibly] round an anagram [extraordinary] of WAD

15 Clarity, I imply: it is unlikely to inspire leader in democracy (9)
LIMPIDITY
An anagram [unlikely] of I IMPLY IT round D[emocracy]

16 Aircraft has to avoid route (3-5)
SKI-PLANE
SKIP [avoid] + LANE [route]

17 Jack in pack, set of cards (8)
DECKHAND
DECK [pack of cards] + HAND [set of cards]

19, 2 Stirring soon, beast with the hump time and time again activated this? (6,6)
SNOOZE BUTTON
An anagram [stirring] of SOON + ZEBU [beast with the hump]  + T T [time and time again] + ON [activated] – with an extended definition

20 Artist embodying good drawer? (6)
MAGNET
MANET [artist] round G [good]

23 Bound to find this writer’s into books (5)
LIMIT
I’M [this writer’s] in LIT[erature] [books]

24 Tree, one with canopy of red? (4)
ACER
ACE [one] + R[ed]

34 comments on “Guardian Prize 27,704 / Paul”

  1. Thanks Eileen. I never did explain 7d to myself satisfactorily so thanks for the enlightenment though I like it about as much as you do. I wasted a bit of time on 16d, convinced that the first word had to be sky, and rationalised 24d  away thinking that CER was the top half of CERISE.

  2. Thanks Eileen for the blog and elucidating the parsing on some that defeated us e.g Californium and Finn. We missed ON for activate in 19,2d and unsprisingly could mot find a beast called an onzebu or any combination of those letters. Like you we enjoyed 25a a lot and also 10 and 22a and 12d so thanks to Paul. We only do the Saturday cryptic so not as many opportunities to get jaded! From seeing Me and My Girl over 30 years ago that is the only line that stays with me and still makes me laugh. However feel quite strongly about the definition of Gubbins as rubbish and I imagine others will too. We had that as an answer from the crossers but discarded it. For some reason Mr K and I always have a blind spot to chess references so 28a our last in and felt curse and torment not quite analogous. Still several new anagram indicators for us to learn and overall a good experience.

  3. Thanks to Paul and Eileen. I struggled with GUBBINS (a term new to me) but otherwise proceeded more smoothly than usual for me with a prize puzzle.

  4. Would someone please enlighten me about GUBBINS? As an American, I’d never heard the term; I see a number of definitions, but I have no idea how it’s generally used, or why its meaning as “rubbish” is a problem.

  5. Thanks Eileen.  APERITIF got bunged in: didn’t fathom it then or in much after-musing, and even with your musical review am not much wiser.  But I did like 25A’s 50% and was happy wrestling for quite a while with the private member answer and the beast with the hump.

  6. Needed that link to erase my ? next to a pair o’ teef, thanks Eileen. I don’t mind the odd groanworthy, a la music hall and Christmas cracker, bi’ of a larf or a nudge nudge. Otoh, got 1ac wrong, bunging in goblins unparsed, can’t remember why, vaguely thinking ‘gremlins’ = trouble, maybe. Otherwise yes, pottered through the rest in pedestrian fashion. Quite liked ut in OED, a in dub, Jack the deckhand, zebu tt in soon*, and the g in Manet reminded me of one of Frank Muir’s in My Word: There’s Manet asleep twixt carp and leap. So, a bit of amusement one way and another. Thanks Eileen and Paul.

  7. PS We’ve questioned bound=limit sometime last year; there are upper and lower bounds in maths, but I don’t know where else limit and bound are equatable.

  9. I also found this puzzle rather dull, though I was able to parse all the answers so I suppose I shouldn’t complain too much!

    I got FINN immediately, but then, living in Finland, it would have been inexcusable if I hadn’t.

    Especially liked 1, 10 (articulated), 25 ac and 20 dn.  The ‘urgent case’ for UT was also well thought out.  But felt APERITIF was very poor.

    Thanks to Paul and to Eileen.

  10. GUBBINS to me evokes the image of the sort of things you might find in the famous Man Tin: odd leads, electrical bits and pieces, miscellaneous nuts and bolts and other “pointless stuff that I need to keep”. I think it also means the incomprehensible “works” of some device. (I am reminded of the Engineering Officer in the Navy Lark, who didn’t understand all these mechanical gubbins, and had to rely on the expertise of the Lad Who Knew About These Things.)

    So no, not exactly rubbish.

  11. Biggles A@8, in plural yes, beyond the bounds/limits of … (endurance, belief), but I can’t think of a singular example.

  12. Hi Gladys @10 – thank you for that: it sums up just what I’ve always thought of as GUBBINS [especially the incomprehensible “works” of some device]. However, there’s plenty of authority for the ‘rubbish’ definition.

    grantinfreo @7 and 11 – as you say, bound = limit has caused discussion in the past [which is why I didn’t mention it 😉 ]. Chambers gives ‘a limit’ as the first definition of ‘bound’ and, along with Collins, gives both bound and limit as a verb.

  13. We did find this quite hard work, but I’ve no objection to APERITIF – just the sort of infantile humour we enjoy in Paul’s offerings!

  14. Thank you for the blog Eileen and thank you Paul.

    It is about time Charles stopped using the ‘French set of dentures’ joke. In fact he should have stopped 30 years ago.

    Did the puzzle and the blog.

  15. Whoops sorry.  I meant enjoyed the puzzle and blog, not did.

    Always read before posting the send button.

  17. It is a long time since we have given up on a prize, particularly a Paul, even if it takes us all week to complete. We failed completely on the top left corner, including SNOOZE BUTTON, but did quite like WILLY WONKA.
    Onwards and upwards to today’s offering and the genius to look forward to next week.
    Thanks Paul and Eileen.

  18. just wanted to add that while the puzzle overall was a bit variable in quality, there were a few gems.

    My favourite was KLEPTOMANIA just for the subtle misdirection of the the definition.

    I also liked the defs behind WILLY WONKA and SNOOZE BUTTON even if the word play a bit contrived tn those cases.

    Thanks Paul and Eileen for explaining it all. Happy new Year to all solvers and setters !

  19. Thanks to Paul and Eileen. Again a typical Paul solve for me. Slow at first but unpacked readily. I am another who hesitated with gubbins, always thought it was the workings of something you did not really understand, but it could not be anything else. The SE was last in for me, largely because I had tomes for 23d (also almost convinced myself of the parsing, i.e. to mes), however Willy Wonka put me back on track. Another fan of kleptomania and snooze button, and thanks again to Paul and Eileen.

  20. I haven’t looked back at how far I got – but I know it was considerably less than Hedgehog. I don’t know why I made such a dismal effort and agree with Eileen that his Friday offering was much more enjoyable. GUBBINS is a favourite word so I’m sorry I didn’t get it – and I would not associate with rubbish. Thanks to Eileen for filling in the many gaps and to Paul for the puzzle.
    Let’s see what Tramp has to offer.

  21. I couldn’t parse APERITIF and I still don’t understand it. The review didn’t help at all. I agree with those who criticized GUBBINS but it seemed Ok at the time. There seems to be no definition because RUBBISH is part of the wordplay. Liked the rest though with ANARCHISM being COD.
    Thanks Paul.

  22. Peter Aspinwall @21 – please see grantinfreo @6: APERITIF is a strangulation of ‘a pair o’ teef’= ‘a couple for eating’ [cockney slang /homophone indicated by ‘did yer say’].

    In 1ac, ‘rubbish’ is not part of the wordplay.

  23. Thanks both. Perfectly happy with this offering, even if the APERITIF gag is groanworthy.
    If you care to websearch for “any old gubbins” you will find plenty of modern citations.
    Another fan of WILLY WONKA (which was on the box over Christmas) and KLEPTOMANIA here.

  24. Eileen @22. Thanks for the enlightenment. I don’t think I’ve heard of ” Me and My Girl”. I hope to God I never see it. Talking of rubbish, I do see that it is the definition but I don’t think I did at the time. Anyway,that’s what I meant.
    Thanks again.

  25. Eileen@8 yes, dictionary evidence abundant, and no shortage of past participle usages (bounded by; limited by), but still, as I said…. ?

  27. Gladys@10
    It’s not only men. A friend’s mother had a box in the kitchen marked “bits of string too short to be used”.
    Disappointed with myself for failing to parse 7d.
    Thanks to Paul and Eileen

  28. Failed to parse TORMENT for some reason. Found it difficult to separate “rock” and “pieces”, and have never thought of a tor as a rock, though dictionary bears it out. Again, dictionary supports that definition, even though it’s usually a verbal thing these days, isn’t it?

    I enjoyed APERITIF, btw. Very punny.

  29. Hi Tony @28 ‘… and have never thought of a tor as a rock, though dictionary bears it out…’

    Absolutely. Chambers: ‘a hill, a rocky height’, so I let it go – but the only Tor I have experience of is Glastonbury, which I remember as grassy, when I climbed it half a century ago.

    As for APERITIF: no comment.

  30. Eileen,

    “the only Tor I have experience of is Glastonbury, which I remember as grassy, when I climbed it half a century ago.”

    Snap!

  31. I thought “gubbins” means something like “silly old me.”  The only person I ever heard use the word was a rather blimpish retired colonel who said things like, “and what does gubbins offer to do next?”

    The version of the string story I’ve heard is of the tin labeled “String to short to use but too long to throw away.”

    My French friends thought that “costing an arm and a leg” was gruesome.  And their expression was “costing the eyes out of your head!”

  32. I’m late, I know, but I just had to say I was astonished by Eileen’s “lacklustre” comment. I thought there was some vintage Paul in here (Willy Wonka, anarchism, kleptomania, truculent were my favourites). Absolutely brilliant.

  33. Thank you Paul and please ignore the miseryguts who complained about your offering and Eileen, very disingenuous methinks. Aperitif was fab. Happy 2019

  34. Though often mistakenly used in that sense (annoyingly, to me), ANARCHISM doesn’t mean ‘a lack of order’.  An anarchist society would be ordered, just not by a state.

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