I haven’t solved a Puck puzzle in a while, so this was a pleasant reminder of why I like this setter: Puck’s crosswords are always witty and fun to solve. There’s a couple of clues I’m not sure I’ve parsed correctly, so as ever, any suggestions very welcome.
Update: As usual, I missed the Nina here, even though I actively checked for one! NeilW explains in a comment below: “You don’t mention the Nina/mini-theme of camels (anagrammatised in 24): this is the Puck “armadillo” grid and the centre square (plus a bit of more of 22) spells out CAMELOPARD – the old name for GIRAFFE. Then there’s the camel’s HUMPty crossing with SHIP OF THE DESERT.”
Across
1. Unlikely winners don’t cook enough eggs on a regular basis (9)
UNDERDOGS
UNDERDO = “don’t cook enough” + [e]G[g]S = “eggs on a regular basis”
Definition: “Unlikely winners”
9. Timid people include ‘hard left’ Frenchman (6)
MICHEL
MICE = “Timid people” around H = “hard” (as in pencils) + L = “left”
Definition: “Frenchman”
10. Credit must be taken by fast bowlers!! (9)
SCREAMERS
CR = “Credit” in SEAMERS = “fast bowlers”
Definition: “!!” – “screamer” can mean an exclamation mark
11, 4. For the Fallen, twice read: 28 rhyming words (6,6)
HUMPTY DUMPTY
“[NUMPTY] rhyming words” – both HUMPTY and DUMPTY rhyme with NUMPTY
Definition: “For the Fallen, twice read” – I assume? Beyond it being an allusive reference to the rhyme or Humpty’s appearance in “Through the Looking Glass”?
12. Badly stymied and frustrated, you initially make clear (9)
DEMYSTIFY
(STYMIED F Y)* (the F and Y are the inital letters of “frustrated, you”)
Definition: “make clear”
13. Unwilling to heed content of idea FT originated (4,2)
DEAF TO
Hidden in “[i]DEA FT O[riginated]”
Definition: “Unwilling to heed”
17. Honey Bee, say? (3)
MEL
“Bee, say?” – a homophonic reference to Mel B from the Spice Girls
Definition: “Honey”
19. Sloth’s a regret, when returning to large area of land (7)
EURASIA
AI’S = “Sloth’s” (the Scrabble player’s favourite) + A + RUE = “regret”, all reversed
Definition: “large area of land”
20. How one man composed capriciously (2,1,4)
ON A WHIM
(HOW I MAN)*
Definition: “capriciously”
21. Clarkson as presenter, originally for Top Gear (3)
CAP
Initial letters of “C[larkson] A[s] P[resenter]”
Definition: “Top Gear” – a nice definition 🙂
23. Spots royal being more reckless (6)
RASHER
RASH = “Spots” + ER = “royal”
Definition: “more reckless”
27. Promote short clue within contrary setting (9)
ADVERTISE
TI[p] = “short clue” in ADVERSE = “contrary”
Definition: “Promote”
28. Idiot that’s wrecked my punt (6)
NUMPTY
(MY PUNT)* – probably my favourite clue, this one, for it’s elegant simplicity
Definition: “Idiot”
29. Everybody in Hackney perhaps needs to instruct youth about love (9)
COACHLOAD
COACH = “to instruct” + LAD = “youth” around O = “love”
Definition: “Everybody in Hackney perhaps” – I guess an old Hackney cab was a coach, so the people in a Hackney would be a coachload of people
31. Surprisingly pleased about a new seaside amenity (9)
ESPLANADE
(PLEASED)* around A + N = “new”
Definition: “seaside amenity”
Down
2, 26. A scene with liberal drink supply? Virgin territory, in more ways than one (6,6)
NECKER ISLAND
Someone who necks their drinks might be a “necker”, I suppose, so NECKER ISLAND might be a “scene with liberal drink supply?” Thanks to Iroquois for explaining: (A SCENE L DRINK)* – I very often miss “supply” (from “supple” as an anagram indicator! The L is from “liberal”
Definition: “Virgin territory, in more ways than one” – I think the two senses are that it’s a relatively unspoiled island, and that it’s owned by Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin brand and group of companies. Update: NeilW adds: “It’s not just owned by Mr Branson but offered by Virgin Limited Edition holidays which I guess is the “more ways than one.””
3. Two short names for a man or woman (6)
EVELYN
The two short names are EVE and LYN
Definition: “a man or a woman”
5. One that’s spotted if Nigel Farage is upset, not representing Ealing (7)
GIRAFFE
An anagram of NIGEL FARAGE after removing the letters of EALING
Definition: “One that’s spotted”
6. Very small chap, one that goes ballistic (9)
MINUTEMAN
MINUTE = “Very small” + CHAP = “man”
Definition: “one that goes ballistic” referring to the Minuteman ICBM
7, 30. Ring newspaper editor about home with trees damaged by loose, uneven bits of Sopwith Camel (4,2,3,6)
SHIP OF THE DESERT
O = “Ring” + FT = “newspaper” + ED = “editor” around H = home, all beside an anagram (loose) of odd (uneven) letters of S[o]P[w]I[t]H
Definition: “Camel”
8. Where kids have fun seeing Mary’s polo game (9)
PLAYROOMS
(MARY’S POLO)*
Definition: “Where kids have fun”
14. Daughter being sinful with the same bold action (7-2)
DERRING-DO
D = “Daughter” + ERRING = “being sinful” + DO (Ditto) = “the same”
Definition: “bold action”
15. Bloomer by model, eating hot carrageen (5,4)
IRISH MOSS
IRIS = “Bloomer” + [Kate] MOSS = “model” around H = “hot”
Definition: “carrageen”
16. Fool goes in to see yes-men? (9)
ASSENTERS
ASS = “Fool” + ENTERS = “goes in”
Definition: “yes-men?”
17. Computer’s current backup (3)
MAC
CAM = “current” (referring to the River Cam) reversed (“backup”)
Definition: “Computer”, referring to the Apple Mac
18. Cut off short run with a bounding stride (3)
LOP
LOP[e] = “short” “run with a bounding stride”
Definition: “Cut off”
22. Punishing a couple in Russia (7)
ARDUOUS
A followed by DUO = “couple” in RUS = “Russia”
Definition: “Arduous”
24. Camel’s broken spirit (6)
MESCAL
(CAMEL’S)*
Definition: “spirit”
25. Hot water off the south coast, after temperature rises by 4 degrees? (6)
STOLEN
SOLENT = “water off the south coast”, but with the letter T (“temperature”) raised 4 places (“rises by 4 degrees”)
Definition: “Hot”
2,26 is an anagram (“supply”) of A SCENE plus DRINK and L (“liberal”). And Necker Island is one of the Virgin Islands group.
Thanks to Puck and mhl. Tough going for me. Over the course of the week I managed to solve and even parse most of this puzzle including BECKER ISLAND though I did not know MEL B as spice girl and NUMPTY was new to me, but I failed with STOLEN-Solent and COACHLOAD.
Thanks mhl. I\’d go with your parsings. I did strain over the SCREAMERS definition; the Virgin island (Google helped); and the anomalous water quality in 25D – last and best. Excellent, Puck
Not too taxing for a Saturday, albeit with a few ?s. Dnk the ICBM, so a do what it says then look up. Ditto the Island, and dnk the Branson ref. Saw the !! in 10ac but dn really k its connection to screamer. Current for river is is current cw usage but it’s a bit of a hmmm imo, ditto Rus for Russia. Took far too long over the chestnut rash for spots, doh. All in all quite fun. Liked 12ac’s surface, among others. Thanks Puck and Mhl.
Thanks, mhl. Good fun – and interesting to explore NECKER ISLAND, although I don’t think I can afford it! It’s not just owned by Mr Branson but offered by Virgin Limited Edition holidays which I guess is the “more ways than one.”
You don’t mention the Nina/mini-theme of camels (anagrammatised in 24): this is the Puck “armadillo” grid and the centre square (plus a bit of more of 22) spells out CAMELOPARD – the old name for GIRAFFE. Then there’s the camel’s HUMPty crossing with SHIP OF THE DESERT.
Thanks mhl and well seen to NeilW@5. I enjoyed solving this last Saturday, finding the variety of clue types satisfying to crack. There was a lot of what grantinfreo called “do what it says” which doesn’t always work, but Puck’s directions are precise if not always straightforward. I usually miss themes but with a Puck Prize and this grid I should have been alert and am now kicking myself for missing the camelopard nestled in the armadillo’s lair. Would have added a bonus aha moment to the joy of solving.
Thanks MHL and Puck, the anagram fodder for 5d should be “if Nigel Farrage” minus the letters of Ealing and you missed off the anagram of trees at the end of 7d 30a.
Well worth doing. I found three-quarters of this one went in reasonably quickly (for me), though the little three letter words took me a while until I eventually saw Jeremy Clarkson’s cap and then managed to plough my way through the SE. I did notice the two camels in 7 and 24d, but thought no more of it, so really loved reading of NeilW@5’s discovery, which added to my admiration for Puck’s puzzling (and indeed, Neil’s solving!). I had trouble with some parsing , so many thanks to manehi for explaining (a) why 10a was SCREAMERS (b) the cryptic aspect of 17a as I didn’t think of The Spice Girls link, and (c) the full sense of 29a COACHLOAD (I sort of got the latter). Grateful also to Iroquois@1 for 2, 26d. Like GiF@4, the Richard Branson bit eluded me.
“Carrageen” meaning IRISH MOSS (15d) was a new one on me and I only got it from crossers and wordplay. I had never heard of a CAMELOPARD either, so really appreciated this NTILTW (New Thing I Learned This Week)
I really liked the reference to the Laurence Binyon poem in the HUMPTY DUMPTY clue (11,4), and relished the echo rhyme with NUMPTY(28d). My other favourite was 31a ESPLANADE. Interesting that we have had a coincidental recent use of “Solent” (fodder for 25d STOLEN) – and even more so given I did the coincidental puzzle before this one this week.
Thanks to Puck.
We enjoyed this, particularly STOLEN and the NUMPTY, HUMPTY, DUMPTY. Missed the camel leopard theme completely so thanks NeilW@5. Indeed, we didn’t really see camels as being spotted, more blotchy.
Couldn’t see the definition for SCREAMERS.
Thanks, Puck and Mhl.
Surely the definition for SCREAMERS is simply “an extremely fast ball”
A really nice puzzle to look back on although last Saturday I wrote it seemed straightforward for a prize as I solved it more quickly than the preceding weekday puzzles.
I didn’t get the AI’S bit of EURASIA nor the !! definition for SCREAMERS nor the CAMELOPARD nina so I now see it as a much better puzzle than I first thought. Thanks to Puck, mhl for the blog and others (especially NeilW) for highlighting what I missed.
Thanks for the blog, mhl and genuine commiserations on not spotting the ungulate in the middle – just like me and the armadillo seven [!] years ago and it still comes back to haunt me, as Puck has set several puzzles since then with a theme of edentates. Newer commenters might like to have a look at it here
I was kicking myself all over again last week, as I got as far as seeing CAMEL in the middle but it was a day or so later that the OPARD emerged when I remembered the animal that I’d learned from crosswords. And still I didn’t notice the HUMP [thanks, NeilW]: so often it turns out that Puck has one more trick up his sleeve.
A lovely puzzle altogether. I think my top favourites were MEL and CAP – both little gems – and I also particularly liked 5dn, for its surface and 7,30 and 25dn for their construction but there wasn’t a dud clue to be seen.
Many thanks, Puck, for a gift which went on giving.
A very pleasant solving experience, even with ignorance of the CAMELOPARD wrapped around the base of the GIRAFFE.
Thanks Puck, mhl and other erudite and insightful commentators. Good weekend all.
Woody: thanks very much for spotting those errors, which I’ve corrected in the post now.
Thanks for the write up! I think the “more ways than one” for Necker Island are it’s owned by Branson/Virgin and it’s part of the Virgin Isles.
It all went in fairly easily and I thought that 28 ac, although elegant, was a tad easy. Also HUMPTY DUMPTY. BUT I now understand why! Completely failed to spot the camelopard.
Didn’t know that meaning of screamer.
Liked CAP and SOLENT.
Thanks Puck and mhl.
I was a bit underwhelmed to be honest. 6 write-ins on the first pass is rare for me and a bit disappointing. Didn’t parse 10 or 25 but it was not hard to see what they should be. Having never heard of the definition of screamer I was thrown by 10 appearing to have no definition. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the solve – thank you Puck – but it was over too quickly. And, having said all that, I hate this “4 little crosswords” grid, despite the Nina
Thanks to Puck and mhl. A nice steady solve for me with last ones in Necker Island (in spite of having been to the Virgin Islands long before Mr Branson’s time) and coachload. Missed the giraffe bit completely, but did not know the old name anyway. A couple of new words for me today (e.g. Irish moss), however all fairly clued and gettable. I am with Eileen on the short word favourites, and thanks again to Puck and mhl.
Thank you to Puck and mhl
I found this more straightforward than the usual weekday Puck, but still most enjoyable with some broad smiles on the way – 11,4 and 28. I did so hope that there would be a fourth word for 24dn which rhymed.
Despite the two camels in the clues, I completely missed the theme.
I missed the NINA although I didn’t look for one and I,sort of, saw the theme but I didn’t think there were enough CAMEL examples to constitute one. The only real difficulty I had was with SCREAMERS. I assumed it referred to a particularly fast ball in cricket and thought the clue was a bit naff. However, I discovered that !! was the definition and the I thought it COD. I had to look up NECKER to confirm it was part of the Virgin Islands and discovered the Branson connection.
Rather a better puzzle than I first thought!
Thanks Puck.
apologies in advance this isnt really to do with this one, but another of my “newbie’s” inquiries about accepted conventions and form. having been otherwise occupied yesterday I had a bash at Philistine’s from yesterday, today. I didnt like the amount of times “the” appeared in solutions, totalling 6 in the one puzzle. Are there no conventions or unwritten rules that frown upon that sort of thing? sure they were nice clues, but it did seem to show a lack of something to have the same word repeated so often. Or am I being over critical. while I’m here another thing cropped up. the solution RYA, was described in the clue as a 3 letter word, its not even an acronyn so surely it should be (1,1,1)?. this isnt the first occurrence that I’ve noticed- Again, too critical?
I noticed it was the ‘armadillo’ grid straight away (can that really be seven years ago?), but still didn’t spot CAMELOPARD, which I think I would have recognised as a word, even if not sure what it referred to. Thanks to NeilW@5 for the enlightenment.
Really enjoyed this and thought it was very clever to use ‘Sopwith Camel’ in cluing SHIP OF THE DESERT.
In 11,4, I understood “twice read:28 rhyming words” as saying there were two words which rhymed with NUMPTY and the def was simply “the Fallen”.
Bit of a dodgy ‘to’ in 19a?
“Top Gear” for ‘cap’ was excellent.
3d, EVELYN was LOI as I found the surface difficult to break down cryptically, even though it seems obvious now.
Using “carrageen” in 15d made it a bit easy. Obviously if you didn’t know what that meant (as I didn’t) you were going to look it up (well, I was anyway) and get the answer straight off.
grantinfreo@4, RUS is the 3-digit ISO code for Russia: https://countrycode.org/russia
PiesMcQ @21 Why don’t you make this comment on the post for the puzzle it refers to?
Tony: “Why don’t you make this comment on the post for the puzzle it refers to?” well first up its already yesterdays and everyone, bar me, has moved on, no-one is going to look at it if i post it there, Secondly, as a newbie, I am asking this as a general question to form and convention, it just happens that yesterdays proved a good example. I’m sorry that I have annoyed you and broken some other convention by either attempting the puzzle a day late or posting questions that do not specifically refer to the puzzle above, I am new here and dont know the rules,asking things and being informed I’m in the wrong place is the only way I can learn such rules I guess, So once again my apologies for posting on the wrong page.
The ‘armadillo’ puzzle is before my time but I did remember this one from last year: https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/prize/27549
So I figured there had to be something going with the central square but for the life of me I couldn’t see it despite having all four short answers and staring at it for some time…it was only when I got ARDUOUS as well that the Camelopard jumped out and things became clear!
So I was pleased to have spotted that but ultimately dnf by two letters, not knowing carrageen I only got as far as -R-SH MOSS before having to cheat
Thanks Puck, a pleasure as always
PiesMcQ @23,
The blogger gets an email whenever someone comments anyway and is likely to answer a question like that, especially to help a newbie. Comments on an interesting crossword may go on for days. I always take a feed from any post I’ve commented on, so I know if there have been further developments. I suggest you copy and paste your query into the appropriate post. I didn’t do the puzzle in question, but I had a quick look at the post to see what you were talking about and, at a glance, it seems all those instances of THE were part of phrases which use the word, so that was a bit of a theme which could have helped the solver.
nobby@24, I hardly think it can be considered “cheating” to find out what the words of the clue mean. If I’d had half those checkers I’d have known what the answer was, or even if Puck had written “popular Jamaican drink” instead of a botanical term. That’s because I haven’t studied Botany but have been in Jamaican clubs and takeaways. Can’t say I’d recommend the drink though.
RUS is also the accepted name for the early mediaeval state that both Muscovy (or Russia) and Ukraine claim as their ancestor before the Mongol Yoke.
I very much enjoyed this puzzle, realised there were a few references to camels but had no idea about the camelopard or the armadillo. Thank you very much for explaining all that. In 11, 4 does the ‘for the Fallen, twice read’ refer to one who is humped and dumped?
Just finished it (only a week after everyone else). I was hampered by confidently inserting Emilia at 3D as a name for a woman made up of two shortened men’s names: Emil(e) and Ia(n). It was “demystify” that eventually demystified me. I wanted to post because I thought the Sopwith Camel misdirection was utterly perfect…