Very slow going…
…then I put in the theme word INSECT from some connected clues and crossers, and managed to finish the puzzle without ever parsing that clue. Having stared at it for a long while, I still don’t think I get it, but I’m sure someone will put me right.
Favourites were 25/11, 1dn, and 16dn. Thanks to Paul
| Across | ||
| 1 | BLOUSE | Habit of black 22 … (6) |
| B for black + LOUSE as the insect | ||
| 4 | BROACH | … the same to mention (6) |
| B for black again, this time + ROACH as the insect | ||
| 9 | BUNG | 22 gobbling last of saccharin, sweetener … (4) |
| =a bribe BUG=insect, around last of sacchariN |
||
| 10 | STOPPERING | … doing as one does, Carol securing hat (10) |
| =doing as a BUNG=cork=STOPPER does SING=”Carol” around TOPPER=”hat” |
||
| 11 | See 25 | |
| 12 | TRAINMAN | End of silent film for one on the railways (8) |
| end of silenT + RAIN MAN=”film” | ||
| 13 | BREASTPIN | Ornament in Paris bent, unfortunately (9) |
| (Paris bent)* | ||
| 15 | FLAY | 22 circling a strip (4) |
| FLY=insect around A | ||
| 16 | AGRA | Asian city, Jaipur ultimately in range (4) |
| ultimate letter of JaipuR in AGA=type of “range” cooker | ||
| 17 | MESSENGER | Litter with green rubbish on Mercury, perhaps (9) |
| Mercury as in the Roman messenger god MESS=”Litter” + (green)* |
||
| 21 | CATAPULT | Send flying 22 a bug? (8) |
| A TAP=a wiretap=”a bug”, in CULT – because “22”=>INSECT=>in ‘sect’=>in CULT | ||
| 22 | INSECT | Member of large class in brief learning, infants and maybe elders? (6) |
| Insects form the largest class in the animal kingdom
thanks to NeilW – insects are in “brieF LEArning”; in “infANTs”; in “mayBE Elders”
|
||
| 24 | IRRITATING | Tiresome Irish girl can start to grate (10) |
| IR (Irish) + RITA=”girl” + TIN=”can” + start to Grate | ||
| 25, 11 | BEER BOTTLE | Can alternative response be ostensibly triggered, all beginning to poke 22? (4,6) |
| a bottle is an alternative to a can of beer the beginning letters of Response Be Ostensibly Triggered, all inside BEETLE=insect |
||
| 26 | MOTHER | 22 I’m not sure is native (6) |
| as in ‘mother tongue’ MOTH=insect + ER=”I’m not sure” |
||
| 27 | ANNEXE | Add number, extracting one in sack (6) |
| NINE=”number”, with I=”one” removed/extracted; inside AXE=”sack” | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | BOUDOIR | Bone up about love before posh party in private quarters (7) |
| RIB=”Bone”, reversed/”up” and around O=”love” + U=”posh” + DO=”party” | ||
| 2 | OUGHT | Indicator of probability searched for, initially lost (5) |
| sOUGHT=”searched” for, losing its initial letter | ||
| 3 | SUSPECT | Believe seconds consumed by happy 22? (7) |
| S for seconds, inside UP=”happy”, and in/SECT | ||
| 5 | RIPSAW | Cutter cutting edge before 22 turns up (6) |
| I think this is RIm=”edge” with a bit cut off + WASP=insect reversed/”turns up” | ||
| 6 | ADRENALIN | Liquid I learn and hormonal secretion (9) |
| (I learn and)* | ||
| 7 | HUNGARY | Longing to tour a country (7) |
| HUNGRY=”Longing” around A | ||
| 8 | PORT WINE STAIN | Painter so upset about similar purplish mark (4,4,5) |
| (Painter so)* around TWIN=”similar” | ||
| 14 | AERIALIST | Balanced performer, close to immaculate in operatic record? (9) |
| closing letter of immaculatE, in ARIA LIST=”operatic record?” | ||
| 16 | ANAGRAM | Some part of poem’s art, perhaps? (7) |
| “Some part” is an ANAGRAM of “poem’s art” | ||
| 18 | SMIDGEN | In opposite directions, 22 bit (7) |
| in South and North=”opposite directions”, MIDGE=insect | ||
| 19 | EXCRETE | Pass old island (7) |
| EX=”old” + CRETE=”island” | ||
| 20 | CURARE | Metal, exquisite poison (6) |
| CU=copper=”Metal” + RARE=”exquisite” | ||
| 23 | SABLE | Black bag originally going cheap? (5) |
| original/first letter of Bag, in a SALE=”going cheap?” | ||
Slow going indeed – especially the top half – I couldn’t parse 22a satisfactorily either – wonder whether this would have been better in the Prize slot
Thanks to Paul and manehi
Thanks Paul and manehi
In contrast I had a good start – I got BUNG as FOI and thus guessed (though didn’t parse) INSECT – but slowed down from there. I was caught out by the clues that really did run on from the previous one, and held up by a partly parsed BLUE (BOTTLE).
More question marks than ticks.
Thanks, manehi.
Insects are in brieFLEArning and mayBEElders!
Well done, NeilW – also in infANTs!
Thanks NeilW. Also in infANTS
Sorry muffin – too slow!
Yes, NeilW – and ants in infants…
Sorry, Neil – you must feel pummelled! If I hadn’t had to sign in all over again (why?) I would have left well alone. Fab crossword. Thanks for blog Manehi
I thought I would not be able to solve this puzzle, but I got started with SUSPECT and FLAY and then guessed that 22a was INSECT although I could not parse it. I also solved but could not parse 10a (forgot about how one clue can lead to another, eg 9a to 10a), 25/11 (I thought the insect there was BEE not BEETLE so I could not get it to work), 27a, 21a and 16d.
Very clever puzzle!
My favourites were PORT WINE STAIN + SUSPECT.
Thank you manehi and Paul
Thanks manehi, and NeilW/muffin for all the many necessary explanations. Unusually for a Paul, I finished this feeling less than satisfied, mainly due the irrational rage that fills me when I see so many clues dependent on the answer to one other. But respect due to Paul for great cleverness nevertheless.
21a contains a spoiler in BUG.
Otherwise a good workout
This was a real struggle, though 18 down was cleverly disguised.
Superb. Ripsaw did for me though. Thanks to Paul and manehi
Sorry, not my sort of puzzle, got there in the end but found it a grind and lacking elegance. Surfaces, or lack of, in clues like Liquid I learn and hormonal secretion leave me cold.
Still don’t really understand STOPPERING, perhaps someone will explain.
I was moved to look up BOUDOIR to find its root and enjoyed learning that it’s from the French bouder = to sulk. Creates a nice image of spoiled Madame sweeping off to her private quarters to pout.
Thank you manehi, don’t envy you this task.
Nice weekend, all.
Hi William
That caught me out too. It refers back t the answer to the previous clue, BUNG, which “stoppers”.
Ditto most of the above, lots of dnps, SW corner last in with, as per muffin, more ?s than ticks overall. Agree w crypticsue, pretty much prize level cleverness; well it is Friday so no complaints. Lots of distractions too: visiting rels, tennis, cricket, son’s birthday. How many times has Aga been range, Mercury messenger, exquisite rare…that sort of thing, neurons slow to fire. Pass/excrete politely Pauline.
Great workout Paul and thanks Manehi.
Thanks very much for the helpful blog. A DNF for me, gave up in the SW – aerialist? Guessed the list bit. I spell smidegeon like that, although guessed the alternative, couldn’t be anything else. Also misparsed insect – I had C (children) in INSET (IN SErvicE Traing – teacher training acronym (brief)), which worked I thought. But NeilW’s parsing is clearly what Paul had in mind.
ANAGRAM was good, should have got that, but lost the will to live by that point.
me@17 – oh, and “elders?”=in sect for a cryptic + double def interpretation….
muffin @15: Thanks, muffin, missed the ellipsis. It was my LOI and I think, like andysmith above, I’d lost the will by then. Mr Halpern has gone from one of my favourites to well down the list.
As muffin says, ellipsis for real for once!
CATAPULT was too many stretches for me. But I enjoyed the theme, which I got to from FL(A)Y.
BUNG reminds me of Beetlebung Corner, a place in Chilmark, Mass., a small town on Martha’s Vineyard, where there is or was a grove of beetlebung trees. What are those, you ask? Well, a bung is the stopper in cask or barrel, common in many seaport towns, and a beetle is the hammer you pound it in with. The tradition grew that a bung would go in more firmly if the bung and the beetle were of the same kind of wood. So these trees, which have other names elsewhere, on the island are beetlebungs. Totally unrelated to this puzzle, but fun anyway.
Thanks to Paul and manehi. As usual with Paul I started off slowly, but eventually got going when I spotted the theme. However, a few inhe SW took longer than the rest put together. Eventually got there with last ones aerialist, anagram and catapult (unparsed). I did like port wine stain and beer bottle, and thanks again to Paul and manehi.
Got off to a flyer (apologies); bung suggested the theme and off I went, certain that 22 a.c. had to be insect but never with any idea why. Thanks to NeilW and Shirl for sorting that out between you! Rushed at 25 11 and stuck bluebottle in. Foolish of me as beer bottle is two words. Aerialist last to go in. Kind of appropriate as the grid is full of aerialists of a different kind ! Thanks Paul and Manehi.
Thanks to Paul and manehi. I had the same problems as listed above, so that I did a lot of guessing but failed with the parsing – and BUNG=bribe was new to me.
Yaffle: “…bung suggested the theme and off I went, certain that 22 a.c. had to be insect but never with any idea why…”
That was exactly my experience. Bung was the first word I got, so knowing the theme helped.
Failed to parse INSECT, CATAPULT, ANNEXE and BEER BOTTLE (I had BLUE BOTTLE for a long time, which really didn’t help: well, it is an insect..)
I must admit I gave up on this in the end, used the anagram-o-matic on 13 and cheated the last two or three. Sorry, Paul, too much like hard work today, though I did like 1/4 and 9/10.
This was Paul on top form and I enjoyed it immensely but,Blimey,it was hard! BUNG and FLAY gave me INSECT but I was another who didn’t parse it. STOPPERING I got from the wordplay and there were a few more like that. I also fell into the blueBOTTLE trap which slowed me down a touch.
Thanks Paul.
I normally skip the dailies and save my energy for Azed but this intrigued me and I struggled on but I find such clues as 21 across (in cult=in sect=insect=bug) several steps too far from proper use of language even in our game. Fun but really irritating.
I’ll tell you why it was hard, imo. There are at least a couple of instances of what I’ll call recursive cryptic. SUSPECT requires you to first substitute 22 with insect, then treat insect as a cryptic clue itself. CATAPULT requires you to do the same, but also substituting the sect with a synonym. This is not out of bounds, just unusual in a weekday Guardian. Then there’s ANAGRAM. Again seems fair enough, but doesn’t quite fit in to the usual categorization.
Phew ! Got there in the end but more through bloodymindedness than native wit.
Many thanks (I think ?) to Paul and Manehi and, particularly, Valentine for the wonderful Bettlebungs.
Another who got there in the end, starting with bung then biffing insect and taking it (slowly) on. Thought I’ve spent most of the day preparing a dinner party so I’ve dipped in and out of the puzzle. Some surfaces were a bit inelegant but I did like the use of ellipses actually to link two clues. Usually it ends up just meaning two clues are not complete sentences, but the join across 1/4 and 9/10 was clever and not one I’d seen before. New but guessable (eventually) is exactly how I like it! Trainman and breastpin were reaching a bit to my mind – filler words? Thank you manehi for the in sect solution to catapult (also biffed in) and suspect (I got the up and s parts so knew what it had to be).
Excrete appealed to me most I think. In the end I feel satisfactorily beaten – I completed the grid but did not spot the tricks being used a couple of times so the points go to Paul, and the thanks for the challenge.
A bit too clever for my liking, and not a puzzle that suited being ground out on the phone, and in the end I couldn’t avoid more guess and check than I’d have liked…
Thanks to Paul and manehi
A most enjoyable crossword (thanks, Paul!), though I had to come here for the parsing of RIPSAW (thanks, manehi!).
I enjoyed this a lot. I loved the amusing and devious but gettable ‘tricks’ employed in INSECT and SUSPECT. I last saw the device used in INSECT (hiding examples of the answer-word in the clue) in a puzzle by Paul several months ago. There were many excellent clues, and the puzzle was enhanced by the insect theme.
I couldn’t parse ANNEXE and still can’t. The word for add is ‘annex’, not ANNEXE.
Thanks to Paul and Manehi.
Alan B, Collins and Chambers online are with you.
il principe
When making my comment I checked the print editions of those two dictionaries.
Thanks to manehi and Paul
To me the wordplay at 22a yields INSECTS
At 5d I can’t see CUTTING EDGE giving RIM, CUT (truncate) EDGE yes, but not CUTTING.
I enjoyed the crossword though, but then I hadn’t much else to do today.
Another possibly superb puzzle in need of editor.
Like Alan B I failed to find ANNEXE as an alternative spelling for ANNEX as a verb (Checked Chambers, Collins and OED).
Dansar @ 36
You need to separate the two elements:
CUTTING / EDGE = truncating / rim > RI
It’s not a great clue, though, for that reason.
Thanks both,
The SW was challenging and I cheated a bit. OED allows ‘annexe’, as a verb and a noun, for ‘annex’.
Thanks to thezed for providing a term (filler words) to describe those annoying things like TRAINMAN which undoubtedly exist and Are In Chambers, but are not words ever used by real human beings for any purpose, except by crossword compilers needing to fill that awkward gap at 9a.
The Prize Crossword that appears online today Sat Jan 19 is of an almost Rufusian simplicity. I wonder whether the Friday ( murderously hard) and Saturday puzzles got mixed up? Also 225 gives ths answer to what it says is the Sat Jan 21 puzzle which it shouldn’t do as it is a prize: but it is an old puzzle dating back some days.
Odd.
Oleg @41
“Also 225 gives ths answer to what it says is the Sat Jan 21 puzzle which it shouldn’t do as it is a prize: but it is an old puzzle dating back some days.”
Sorry but I don’t understand what you are trying to say. Could you be more specific, please?
Difficult but enjoyed it once I got going by cheating with ‘insect’!! Didnt get port wine stain and couldnt parse catapult. Never heard of, ‘curare’ as a poison. My favourite too was 25/11
There were about half a dozen clues with which I really struggled – LOI RIPSAW and ANNEXE, and I only had Chambers to hand to check the definition of ANNEXE. I feel I should have liked 21ac more than I did.
I have the uncomfortable feeling that the reason I found this less enjoyable than I usually find Paul is that there weren’t any mildly rude double entendres…
Very clever and I gave up on a few. Like others I got INSECT (and some of the others) without being able to parse it. But much as I admire Paul, I’d contend that ‘suspect’ is not a synonym for ‘believe’, and that ‘annexe’ is the noun, ‘annex’ the verb.
MESSENGER was a probe that orbited Mercury & eventually crashed there.
Stop congratulating this charlatan. It’s ‘very difficult ‘ etc because the setter ignores not just best practice but pretty much all the rules of compilation. My solution is simple. Is the compiler Paul? Don’t bother with the crossword.