Guardian Cryptic 28,038 by Paul

by

The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/28038.

Paul has served up mini-themes of London districts and Prime Ministers this time, with a mix of simple and convoluted wordplay. A fitting end to a good week of Guardian crosswords, apart from the disappointing Chifonie. Thanks Paul.

ACROSS
9, 10 ISLINGTON NORTH Seat: I offered support for member not returned PM (9,5)
A charade of ‘I’ plus (‘offered’) SLING (‘support for member‘) plus TON (‘not returned’) plus NORTH (‘PM’; Lord NORTH was Prime Minister of Great Britain 1770-1782). The House of Commons seat of the definition is held by Jeremy Corbin Corbyn.
10 See 9
11 See 20
12 HACKNEY London borough cut back foreign money (7)
A charade of HACK (‘cut’) plus NEY, a reversal (‘back’) of YEN (‘foreign money’, Japanese principally).
13 EYRIE Clifftop home creepy, we hear? (5)
Sounds like (‘we hear’) EERIE (‘creepy’). It’s for the birds – eagles, principally.
14 PERDITION Endless suffering: Boris’s heart consumed by power issue (9)
An envelope (‘consumed by’) of R (‘BoRis’s heart’) in P (‘power’) plus EDITION ( ‘issue’).
16, 22 down LIAR LIAR PANTS ON FIRE Backtrack twice and workers lit up by party leader? I don’t believe you! (4,4,5,2,4)
A charade of LIAR LIAR, a reversal (‘back’-) ‘twice’ of RAIL (-‘track’) plus P (‘Party leader’) plus ANTS (‘workers’) plus ON FILE FIRE (‘lit up’), with ‘by’ suggesting the order of the particles.
19 REASSUMES Are various small birds travelling west, after starling initially again takes over (9)
A charade of REA, an anagram (‘various’) of ‘are’ plus S (‘Starling initially’) plus SUMES, a reversal (‘travelling west’) of S (‘small’) plus EMUS (‘birds’).
21 SALUT Radioactive element in preservative for good health (5)
An envelope (‘in’) of U (chemical symbol for uranium ‘radioactive element’) in SALT (‘preservative’).
22 FREIGHT Middle 2 from 4 (x 2) for shipment (7)
A charade of FR (‘middle two from 4’ i.e. FouR with the middle two letters removed) plus EIGHT (‘4 (x2)’, with the ‘4’ doing double duty).
23 MAYFAIR Was PM unprejudiced, where only the elite accommodated? (7)
Was MAY (Theresa, ‘PM’) FAIR (‘unprejudiced’).
24 ROOTS Discuss roads home (5)
Sounds like (‘discuss’) ROUTES (‘roads’).
25 SQUARE ONE Back to basics here, as Conserv­ative taking drugs? (6,3)
A charade of SQUARE (‘Conservative’ – perhaps without the capital C) plus ON E (‘taking drugs?’).
DOWN
1 SIX-WHEELER Where lies circulating around famous Downing Street figure, might this have extra traction? (3-7)
An envelope (‘around’) of X (Roman numeral 10, ‘famous Downing Street figure’) in SIWHEELER, an anagram (‘circulating’) of ‘where lies’
2 PLANARIA Mastermind tune for worms (8)
A charade of PLAN (‘mastermind’; a better fit as a verb) plus ARIA (‘tune’).
3 ENTIRE Individual absorbed by course, virtually complete (6)
An envelope (‘absorbed by’) of I (‘individual’) in ENTRE[e] (meal ‘course’) minus the last letter (‘virtually’).
4 STAG Guns raised for quarry in glen? (4)
A reversal (‘raised’ in a down light) of GATS (‘guns’).
5 ON THE ROPES One sport he worked on, nearing defeat (2,3,5)
An anagram (‘worked on’) of ‘one sport he’.
6 INACTION Sloth near Ealing fed last of spaghetti (8)
An envelope (‘fed’) of I (‘last of spaghettI‘) in IN ACTON (‘near Ealing’, suburbs of London).
7 See 18
8 WHEY Report scale and method as liquid strained (4)
Sounds like WEIGH (‘scale’) and WAY (‘method’).
14 PRAGMATISM Boris, penning newspaper material that’s shabby, is for the practical approach (10)
An envelope (‘penning’) of RAG (‘newspaper’) plus MAT (‘material that’s shabby’?) plus ‘is’ in PM (‘Boris’ Johnson, Prime Minister).
15 NON-STARTER Stallion’s back on course — whereas this one isn’t (3-7)
A charade of N (‘stallioN‘s back’) plus ‘on’ plus STARTER (meal ‘course’).
17 LAST-GASP Final drink full of street talk (4-4)
An envelope (‘full of’) of ST (‘street’) plus GAS (‘talk’) in LAP (‘drink’).
18, 7 SULTAN OF BRUNEI In fun, absolute ruler’s beginning to splash out — he can certainly afford it! (6,2,6)
An anagram (‘to splash out’) of ‘in fun absolute’ plus R (‘Ruler’s beginning’), with an extended definition for one of the richest people in the world.
20, 11, 23 down ARE YOU WINDING ME UP Question put to liquidator by business, seriously? (3,3,7,2,2)
Definition and literal interpretation. Colloquially, the question asks whether you are just saying something to annoy me.
21 SAYERS Those speaking for author (6)
Double definition, the ‘author’ being Dorothy L Sayers.
22 See 16
23 See 20

 

image of grid

60 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 28,038 by Paul”

  1. Another very enjoyable puzzle. Consistent clues, many aha moments, all solutions readily parsed and a feeling of satisfaction at last-one-in (21A: favorite clue).

  2. I found this at the easier end of Paul’s spectrum. The only one I couldn’t parse was FREIGHT, so thanks PeterO, and, of course, Paul.

  3. Typo in parsing of 22d: FILE should be FIRE. Thanks to PeterO for lucid early analysis. And to Paul for a very classy crossword. 6d perhaps too reliant on London knowledge. But 9/10 is brilliant.

  4. I agree with PeterO’s judgment of the week’s puzzles. I managed to get all the UK-centric clues but got tripped up by an alternate spelling (AERIE) at 13a … sigh. Anyway, thanks to Paul for the challenge and to PeterO for the blog.

  5. I liked this one a lot, didn’t find it too difficult, but have one minor quibble. The substitution of X for 10, while not uncommon in crosswords, seems kind of out of character in 1d since “Number 10” is so iconic.

    I agree with PeterO about the 4 doing double-duty in 22a, and normally I would think of this as a no-no, but somehow in a way I can’t explain the use of parentheses seems to excuse it.

  6. Great blog from PeterO coming in early from the US but still not fazed by the al the British references to PMs and place names here. I thought Paul’s wordplay was very helpful to the non-UK solvers tackling this puzzle. Fortunately memories of Monopoly helped me with 9a ISLINGTON and 23a MAYFAIR, while the NORTH part of 9/10a was a guess from the enumeration and a couple of crossers. I only realised Acton must be near Ealing when I saw INACTION as a synonym for “sloth” in 6d.

    My favourite was 16/22a LIAR LIAR PANTS ON FIRE which could apply to so many pollies past and present and certainly not just in Britain! But I also really liked 25a SQUARE ONE, 8d WHEY for the two different homophones, and 21d SAYERS for reminding me of all those Lord Peter Wimsey books I once read avidly.

    Thanks to Paul whose prolific puzzles perpetually please, and to PeterO for the helpful explanatory blog.

  7. Thanks PeterO.
    Don’t understand why middle two of FOUR should be removed.
    9a definition should be: Seat for member not returned? Otherwise ‘member’ is unused in parsing?!

  8. This puzzle was fun. My favourites were SQUARE ONE, FREIGHT, SULTAN OF BRUNEI.

    Thanks Paul and Peter

     

    ilippu@7

    Re 9,10 – I parsed SLING as ‘support for member” as in an arm sling. Definition is ‘seat’.

  10. Agree with ilippu about 22a — middle 4 -> middle four -> ou, no?

    As for 9a, I think SLING=’support for member’ (arm) — seems Ok to me.

  13. The near-universal custom of matily referring to a certain unprincipled person as “Boris” grates on me a lot. Characteristic of Paul that both the uses of the name have a certain edge to them – the CUP having started his career penning some very shabby newspaper material, and having his heart consumed by power.

    And 9, 10 is beautifully economical, the “PM” actually being Lord North but the seat of the definition being that of “the member not returned PM”.

    First rate piece of work by Paul.

  14. Lots of fun here with some very crafty clues – I thought it was a Private Eye crossword at first! “Islington North” was a masterpiece (though typo in the blog..Corbyn not Corbin) and the various other surfaces delightful. I was also thrown by “X” for “10”, as the obvious anagram fodder was not the right length and “six-wheeler” not a common term. Several of these came together bit by bit – “reassumes”, for example, saw me write in “re” from the definition, then the “s” and slowly add “AS” and then the “emu”. Only drawback was that it was over too soon and a few of the solutions went in from the enumeration and a couple of crossers before I had a chance to enjoy parsing them!

    Thanks Paul, and PeterO for all the explanations.

  15. Don’t understand what problem people are having with 22a. It says “Middle 2 from” with “from” denoting the removal. Seems straightforward to me.

  16. JinA has mentioned my favourites – the LIAR LIAR solution is Paul at his inventive best working in an unlikely contemporary phrase, especially with the political references elsewhere. I also liked SIX WHEELER – it got the NE corner going. Thanks to PeterO for the parsing of NON-STARTER which eluded me and the rest of the blog. I’d never come across PLANARIA but it was clearly clued. Thanks to Paul on top form.

  18. Oh dear, a DNF for me today. I was defeated by PLANARIA, a new word for, that I should have got with a bit more thought.

    That apart, I really enjoyed this solve – no help needed from Mr pvb today. Lots of favourites including ISLINGTON NORTH, MAYFAIR, SQUARE ONE and ROOTS.

    Thanks Paul and PeterO.

  20. Probably the quickest I’ve ever solved one from Paul. The worms took me back to A-level Zoology, long ago.

    I have to agree with NeilH @ 13.

    Thanks to Paul and PeterO.

  21. The Chifonie was rather well compensated by the excellent Pan on Monday, so bearing that in mind, a good week

  22. Yes, a very enjoyable end to the week. All the more so for being ‘at the easier end of Paul’s spectrum’, as Dave E (@2) says.

  23. Very enjoyable with lots of smiles and laughs along the way. Held myself up by putting WINDING US UP until I arrived at MAYFAIR and realised my error. Inevitably I felt US was better than ME given that it’s a business asking the question. I added the downing Street figure was just a bit of misdirection. Thanks to all

  25. Thanks both,
    Considered googling the name of the Downing Street cat until the penny dropped.

    I enjoyed the Chifonie.

  26. I can’t quite come to terms with ‘mat’ == ‘shabby material’. Is the assumption that a (door)mat would be worn out and dirty. I have a mat that is most definitely not shabby. Any thoughts?

  29. andy @26:  Your post just stopped me typing – I was going to question mat – shabby material.

    Much to like here with the excellent FREIGHT and LIAR LIAR getting ticks.

    However, I wonder if Mt Halpern ever re-reads his clues and questions the sense of some of them.  Mastermind tune for worms????  Wot?  Such a shame as this was otherwise a really enjoyable crossword.

    Nice weekend, all.

  31. Thank you Paul and PeterO.

    re 14d, the first definition for ‘mat’ in the COED is “a piece of coarse material for wiping shoes on, esp. a doormat.”

    I took 22a to be a mathematical operation, in which case 4 would not be doing double duty.

  34. “Six-wheeler” reminded me of Flanders & Swan’s Transport of Delight….. Nowadays it’s likely to be a few more for extra traction.

  35. Paul is my favouite setter. He got ‘mixed’ reviews for his last contribution but everyone seems to agree this was pretty good. Lots of beautiful clueing with subtle humour(non-lavatorial kind). Is paul the most prolific setter? It feels to me like he is.

  36. A delight from beginning to end.

    Tyngewick @ 25

    I was another one who vainly tried to fit Larry the cat (who, I have just discovered, has his own diligently researched wikipedia entry) into 1d.

    Thanks be to the two apostles.

  37. Cookie @21. Yes that makes sense.

    James @ 27 . Yes very witty, but do you really have to walk all over me like that!!

  38. Great fun. In answer to Nitsuj, yes Paul is the most prolific current compiler – this month he’s has 2 Cryptics and a Prize. Qaos and Chifonie had 2 Cryptics and 14 others set one crossword each.

  39. Were we alone in trying to get PRAGMATIST (rather than – ISM) to work? This on the basis that the enveloping Boris was a PRAT? And not sure how material that’s shabby = MAT.

    But apart from that, a very enjoyable puzzle – ARE YOU WINDING ME UP a special favourite, and agree with others above as to the cleverness of the ISLINGTON NORTH clue. Having got just the A at the end of 2d, I was rooting for ANNELIDA or NEMATODA – are all Latin worms the same length, I wonder? Eileen would know!

    Many thanks to Paul and PeterO

     

     

  40. Hovis@14

    Don’t understand what problem people are having with 22a. It says “Middle 2 from” with “from” denoting the removal. Seems straightforward to me.

    Well, not to me. It only says pick middle 2 from four, to include or remove needs an indicator. Removing leads to the answer is not good enough!

  41. Did anyone else think ‘Werewolves Of London’ when filling in 23a? It’s my only point of reference for the place. aaaaah-ooooo

  42. This is a late post as it took me three or four stabs to finish. “At the easier end of the scale for Paul?” – l think not! Beautifully constructed and a greatly enjoyable solve. A cup of tea and a lie down now!

  43. Quitte uncalled for comment on Chifonie. It’s enjoyable to have an easier puzzle on a Momday. Lots of us remember Rufus with regret!

  44. An entertaining crossword, with Paul showing both light and clever touches. My favourite was the popular ‘LIAR LIAR …’
    Thanks Peter and Paul.

  45. Middle 2 from 4… could just as easily mean keep the two middle letters as discard the two middle letters, so I find it a bit unsatisfactory. But I prefer the convention (?) that numeric symbols refer to clue numbers, not digits.

  46. Thanks to Paul and PeterO.

    It’s not every week I get to try all the offerings and I feel well entertained, not least by today’s puzzle.  SULTAN OF BRUNEI caught my eye along with ARE YOU WINDING ME UP.  But needed PeterO for FREIGHT and SQUARE ONE (silly me)(blush….).

  47. Agree with Belfryboy @42. I found this very difficult. A good puzzle no doubt but it took me ages even with help.
    Thanks Paul

  48. I guess it can’t have been one of Paul’s harder ones, as I did finish it. Most enjoyable, still smiling over 25a and getting the LIAR LIAR clue in a puzzle with so many PM references

  51. drhhmb @ 50

    You’re quite right – Marina, daughter of the late lamented Charles – although of course, due to separation, she never actually took up residence in Downing Street.  I wonder if that was deliberate?  I wouldn’t put it past Paul.

  52. Managed to finish this – as ever, blogging late but we started late ( that’s my permanent excuse and I’m sticking to it!). Enjoyed this a lot, especially all the political references. However, Hackney took ages to get – having gone through Harringey, Hounslow & Havering…… And there are a lot of places near Ealing – but the Hanger Lane Gyratory system seemed unlikely. Purgatory for Perdition held us up as well.
    thanks Paul and Peter O – it’s always satisfying to finish and blog too!

  53. Can anybody help me understand why exactly SALUT should equal good health? Except in French? Or Catalan?

  54. so late to the party @ 53

    Good question!  I did think of asking it myself, but thought I might be told it’s in Chambers or somewhere as an obscure English toast.  I can’t find it in any online dictionary.

    I suspect – and I may be doing Paul a disservice here – it’s because of a common misconception that when the French say “Salut!” they mean “Cheers!/Your good health!”  In fact they don’t, they mean Hi, or possibly bye. As a noun, “le salut” means salvation, not health.

    I’ve taught French, and it’s surprising how many English people carry on saying Salut! when they clink glasses, even after I’ve explained ad nauseam that it’s Santé!

    I think the confusion arises from the Spanish salud, and the Italian salute, both of which do mean Cheers!/health.

    The only language, as far as I know, in which ‘salut’ has that meaning is Catalan, and – with all respect to our Catalan friends – I think it’s a bit unfair to expect English-speaking crossword solvers to know that!

  55. @53 & 54

    From the ODE (it’s not in Chambers or Collins):

    salut
    exclamation used to express friendly feelings towards one’s companions before drinking.
    – origin French.

  57. Ah yes, thank you both Gaufrid and essexboy. Gosh, obscure definition for a neat little clue, eh?

  58. I doubt anyone will see this, but surely 14 Dn is PRAGMATIST? It’s PM around RAG, plus an anagram of TAT IS.

  59. I agree with John Hawthorn concerning 14d. Well done, sir.

    Hopefully John will see this comment and note that his doubt has been discredited.

    Which begs the question, who will read mine?

    I didn’t get to this crossword till 7pm on May 7th. We finished it by 9:30 pm. That’s about the same amount of time that Boris worked between his attack of Corona Virus and starting his parental leave of absence.

    What a 16, 22d of a 4d that 15d of a man he is.

  60. Denislaw @59 and John Hawthorn @58

    I will see it, as the blogger gets an email for every comment. I let pass the comment 58 as it is so clearly wrong: firstly, the definition, secondly the derived anagram, and thirdly the answer given on the Guardian website.

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