Guardian 24321/Paul

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Solving time 16:22

Another feast of libertarianism from Paul, but I thought the long answer starting at 17 was just brilliant. Some rather whimsical answers too today – 21D had me scratching my head for a while.

Across
8 T(H)AIL,AND
11 H(EALTHF)OOD – (flat he)* inside HOOD. For a while I wanted the gangster to be AL, but didn’t waste too much time on it.
12 CHOCCY – HO inside CCCY (“three seas – why”). Groan!
17,15,10,9 NOTHING TO WRITE HOME ABOUT – “Open”(O + PEN) = NOTHING TO WRITE, “in” = HOME, “a fight”= ABOUT.
23 CO-STAR,I CAN – San José is the capital of Costa Rica. I’d only heard of the Californian one, but it seemed reasonable when I got it from the wordplay.
24 YELL – One of the Shetland Islands, not far from Unst.
26 OUT,BU(R)ST

Down
1 C(HOOCH)OO – definition is “Only for baby, express”.
3 S(ASH)AY – I think “parade” is a bit loose for the definition though. A corruption of the French chassé, which is a gliding dance step.
4 A,D(V)ANCE – nice football surface reading, might have been better if Juventus were a team from Rome though (or it could have said “Juventus’s number 3” to indicate the 3rd letter).
5 CASTRATO – cryptic def.
6 CO,F,FEES,HOP
13 CARICATURE – (accurate,R,I)* – good &lit clue.
16 TART,RATE – not keen on “seeks” as a linking word.
18 NEEDLE,SS
21 P,HOOEY – needed all the checking letters to crack this one.
24,19,2 YOUR PLACE OR MINE – another clever &lit, which is formed from an anagram of (I pul ye, O, romance, r) – only one L because of the pound having been spent.

11 comments on “Guardian 24321/Paul”

  2. 4dn: Agree that ‘Juventus’s number 5’ is a bit off – V is a Roman (ie Latin) numeral, not an Italian one, although Juventus is a Latin word. ‘Juventus’s number 3’ or ‘Roma’s number 5’ would be better (Roma usefully being the Latin as well as the modern Italian name for the city).

    Mild quibble though, as I was happy with all the other clues. Some fun words (although TARTRATE pops up a bit too often in crosswords) and great &lits – I loved 24dn, 19, 2.

  4. Hello all,

    Further to the point that Muck was making about 17, I feel the same about 5, CASTRATO. Am I overthinking it?

  5. 5dn: After the operation he was in a higher register? So his number was up. Misleading suggestion of dead, typically Paul.

  6. 5D CASTRATO – a castrato was a choirboy who was castrated before his voice broke in order to preserve the soprano or alto pitch. Number in a cryptic usually means song, so it’s a cryptic way of saying that his voice is high, but disguised in a common phrase meaning something else entirely.

  8. 17 and 23 were both great, Paul is so very good sometimes. Excuse me for being a dunce, but what the heck is 22? I can only think MUPPET, but have no idea of the why…

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