Guardian Cryptic 28,287 by Philistine

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THe puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/28287.

Altogether a delightful crossword. I would say it is fair, but with enough quirky features to keep me on my toes. Thanks to Philistine.

ACROSS
8 FAREWELL In autumn, we’re suffering for so long! (8)
AN envelope (‘in”) of REWE, an anagram (‘suffering’) of ‘we’re’ in FALL (‘autumn’).
9 DANGER Dire peril (6)
A charade of D (‘d’-) plus ANGER (-‘ire’).
10, 11 PAST PARTICIPLE Former role here in Paris starts on picket line, extremely shaken, drunk or stoned (4,10)
A charade of PAST (‘former’) plus PART (‘role’) plus ICI (‘here in Paris’) plus PLE (‘starts on Picket Line Extremely’), with an unannounced indication by examples.
11 See 10
12 BOLSHY Throw back then throw forward, becoming combative (6)
A charade of BOL, a reversal (‘back’) of LOB (‘throw’) plus SHY (‘throw’, ‘forward’ this time).
14 ELICITED Brought out from the East: one in ten catching it (8)
An envelope (‘catching’) of ‘it’ in ELICED, a reversal (‘from the East’ in an across light) of DECILE (‘one in ten’).
15 SAVELOY Sausage served by the Spanish in a fancy hotel (7)
An envelope (‘in’) of EL (‘the Spanish’) in SAVOY (‘a fancy hotel’, particularly the one in London)
17 UNHAPPY They say you ultimately finish in incontinence pad, being miserable (7)
A charade of U (‘they say you’) plus NHAPPY, an envelope (‘in’) of H (‘ultimately finisH‘) in NAPPY (‘incontinence pad’). I will not touch the surface with a bargepole.
20 CRUCIFIX Key point about sci-fi is not to start getting cross (8)
An envelope (‘about’) of ‘[s]ci-fi’ minus its first letter (‘is not to start’)) in CRUX (‘key point’).
22 CRETAN Greek having drunk nectar goes into mysterious trance (6)
Two wordplays: an anagram (‘drunk’) of ‘nectar’, and another anagram (‘mysterious’) of ‘trance’. As nectar was the drink of the gods in Greek mythology, the clue has an outstanding surface.
23, 24 WELLINGTON BOOT Gushing in 5 about nice top footwear (10,4)
A charade of WELLING (‘gushing’) plus TONBOOT, an envelope (‘about’) of N (‘Nice top’) in TO BOOT (‘in 5’ i.e in ADDITION).
24 See 23
25 LESSEE Couple’s seeking to provide accommodation for tenant (6)
A hidden answer (‘to provide accommodation for’) in ‘coupLE’S SEEking’).
26 CONTEMPT Name the early Muslim leaders interrupting Christian child out of familiarity (8)
Here is a turn-up for the books: the wordplay is clear – an envelope (‘interrupting’) of NTEM (‘Name The Early Muslim leaders’) in COPT (‘Christian’) – but the difficulty is the definition. It is a reference to the saw “familiarity breeds contempt”.
DOWN
1 CASANOVA Womaniser, as no other, is into sparkling wine (8)
An envelope (‘is into’) of SANA SANO, an anagram (‘other’) of ‘as no’ in CAVA (Spanish ‘sparkling wine’).
2, 13 LEFT SPEECHLESS Gobsmacked when port’s said to be lacking fruit (4,10)
A charade of LEFT’S (‘port’s’) plus PEECHLESS, sounding like (‘said to be’) PEACHLESS (‘lacking fruit’).
3, 16 DEEPLY OFFENDED Yelped, getting wound up and most indignant (6,8)
A partial wordplay-in-the-answer: an anagram (OFF) of DEEPLY is ‘yelped’; plus ENDED (‘wound up’).
4 ALARMED Frightened by gangster with gun (7)
A charade of AL (Capone, ‘gangster’) plus ARMED (‘with gun’).
5 ADDITION Extra problem with drugs, when losing heart (8)
A subtraction: ADDI[c]TION (‘problem with drugs’) minus its middle letter (‘when losing heart’).
6 INTIMIDATE Bully gets personal after I’d left (10)
Take ‘I’d’ from INTIM[id]ATE, and you get INTIMATE (‘personal’). It is backwards from the usual clue construction, but that is what this clue says.
7 WELLIE 23 24 across in a good way, that is (6)
A charade of WELL (‘in a good way’) plus IE (‘that is’), for a common abbreviation for 23,24A WELLINGTON BOOT.
13 See 2
16 See 3
18 PEA-SOUPY Really thick to make poor start on simple acquisition of academic publisher (3-5)
An envelope (‘acquisition of’) of OUP (Oxford University Press, ‘academic publisher’) in P (‘Poor start’) plus EASY (‘simple’).
19 EXOTICA Essentially queasy about toxic compound and strange objects (7)
An envelope (‘about’) of XOTIC, an anagram (‘compound’) of ‘toxic’ in EA (‘essentially quEAsy’).
21 REEFER Referee nearly dislocated joint (6)
An anagram (‘dislocated’) of ‘refere[e]’ minus its last letter (‘nearly’).
22 CANINE Stick around at home for the dog (6)
An envelope (‘around’) of IN (‘at home’) in CANE (‘stick’).
24 BEEF Second charge raised, causing complaint (4)
A charade of B (‘second’ as in Plan B) plus EEF, a reversal (‘raised’ in a down light) of FEE (‘charge’).

 

image of grid

73 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 28,287 by Philistine”

  1. Lots of clues that provided just enough resistance to give a sense of accomplishment when they yielded. I finished it, but I’ll confess to going to a thesaurus to wake up my brain in the NE corner. Couldn’t see the clever parsing of DANGER (thanks for that, PeterO, along with a couple of others), and only parsed ELICITED after solving it. I didn’t know either BOLSHY or SAVELOY, but both were gettable from wordplay.

  2. I think PeterO summed it up perfectly for me.  I have to admit I didn’t see the d’ire in 9a, although I have seen the construction before.  I don’t remember if on those previous occasions (they’re impossible to search for if you don’t remember the words concerned) whether there was some indicator of the trick, or you just had to see it.   Kudos to those who did this time.

  3. Liked LEFT SPEECHLESS, DEEPLY OFFENDED, PAST PARTICIPLE, CONTEMPT (loi).

    Did not parse ELICITED – never heard of DECILE, and DANGER – oh, that is clever!

    Thanks, P+P.

  4. Agree re 17ac, PeterO, grim and all too probable, enough to make one reach for a 21d or similar. Otherwise a harmonious stroll from the Phil, easier than yesterday’s, though I bifd contempt..should have re-looked and seen the Copt, quite neat. Both past participle and Wellington boot turn up occasionally, though a while since for the latter I suspect. [Canine reminiscent of the 80s, nightly family ritual watching Dr Who before dinner; don’t mind the occasional few eps, even now..is that sad?]. All part of the tapestry, thanks P and P and all.

  5. Much to like in this well-clued puzzle, with some favorites as mainly listed above by Michelle @3.  I’ve not been enjoying these puzzles recently, and have not joined the blog (don’t like to spoil the obvious fun of others).  More such as this one, and I’ll keep my pencil sharpened …

  6. Enjoyed this — favourites were UNHAPPY and FAREWELL — great surfaces even though they were a bit grim. Could not solve BOLSHY or SAVELOY and could not parse DANGER (very clever) or PEA-SOUPY. Thanks to both.

  7. A lovely crossword from Philistine, for which many thanks. I’m always on the lookout for clues like 9a when I see his name above the puzzle and I often wonder generally how my approach to solving would change if Guardian crosswords were anonymous like, say, The Times. Thanks to PeterO for the blog.

    [I used to work for Citibank in The Strand and I and several colleagues were desperate to watch the 1992 World Cup cricket final between England & Pakistan from the MCG. Pubs weren’t open 24 hours in those days, so ten of us chipped in 30 quid to take a room at The Savoy for the night, having established that they had SkySport in every room. England lost…]

  8. Excellent crossword and helpful pre-dawn blog explaining the one I didn’t parse (the very neat 9 across)

    Thanks to Philistine and PeterO

  9. PeterO: Typo in 1d blog; should say “… of SANO” not “… of SANA”.

    Stumped by BOLSHY & SAVELOY… a couple Britishisms too far for this USian, and unlike DinNC, they just didn’t click fr/wplay. But did manage to solve/parse the rest and had great at it so no BEEF here 🙂 Many fine clues, and hard to pick a fav; if pressed, COTD would be DANGER for its graceful simplicity/creativity.

    Cheers to our setter/blogger/commenters!

  10. Another one to have missed the parsing of DANGER and I also bunged in CONTEMPT with no idea about the ‘child out of familiarity’ def. Very clever.

    A rather depressing thought about what my lie in prospect for us, but clue of the day without doubt to UNHAPPY.

    Thanks to Philistine and PeterO

  13. One of those where first pass reveals relatively little and then. slowly but surely, pieces fall together.  The clues spread across two lights looked challenging but, after FAREWELL, CASANOVA and BOLSHY, DEEPLY OFFENDED offered itself and we were away.  I’m rather proud to have beaten the tricks and gimmicks today: got DANGER, BEEF, CONTEMPT and the brilliant CRETAN but couldn’t parse ELICITED for the life of me.  I got stuck on ‘decimate’ for taking a tenth and the brain stopped.

    A nice nod to Dr Who from gif @4.  Hard to believe that they built K9 into the story line for so long – not the most sophisticated bit of machinery!

    Thanks Philistine and PeterO

  14. Somebody else had a d’ire clue recently enough for me to remember and spot this one. Getting 19d before 20a meant that I spent ages misunderstanding the clue as cross=X and getting nowhere.
    Thoroughly enjoyable: thanks Philistine. Liked the double anagram in CRETAN, PAST PARTICIPLE, LEFT’S PEACHLESS (ouch) and CONTEMPT.

  16. Spotted the dire thing, but not the decile in ELICITED. Thanks to Philistine and PeterO.

    [If, on your way to the Savoy, someone greets you with “Cor blimey! It’s a right pea-souper and no mistake guvner!”, this means that it’s rather foggy this morning, which it is.
    If they were to say “Oi oi saveloy!”, this could mean ‘how lovely to see you again, old friend’ or ‘what have we here then?’.

    I’d much prefer to get my canines round a beef Wellington a saveloy.]

  17. Quicker solve for me this morning (awake at 3.30 for some strange reason) than yeseterday but I suppose that’s just how the saveloy (COTD) is munched.

    Found the NE hard but it gave eventually with a lovely clue on DANGER.

    [Aside – I spent an unhappy summer as a student on placement to Thames Water’s Deephams Sewage Treatment Works.  Yes, it was as bad as it sounds, but every lunchtime we all used to wander down Coppermill Lane to the local chippy for newspaper-wrapped Saveloy and Chips.  Somehow, the “extra” flavouring seemed to make it doubly delicious].

    Thanks Philistine and PeterO!

  18. DANGER was short and sweet as was ALARMED and REEFER. I also smiled at LEFT SPEECHLESS but needed PeterO, as others did, to parse ELICITED and CONTEMPT. Thanks both.

  19. A typically delightful Philistine puzzle, one to be really savoured, from start to finish.

    My favourites were FAREWELL, PAST PARTICIPLE, CRUCIFIX, CONTEMPT, LEFT SPEECHLESS, ADDICTION and the brilliant CRETAN.

    Re DANGER: Dr WhatsOn @2 – I did know which words to search for because I think the first time Philistine used this device was in a puzzle I blogged (I’ve just discovered it was seven years ago!) and it completely baffled me. ‘Games of shaven swine (5)’. He’s used it a number of times since and I do usually manage to spot it these days. 😉

    Many thanks to Philistine for the fun and PeterO for the blog.

  20. As others have said, this was a really great puzzle. I’d single out all of Eileen’s favourites and more! Many thanks to Philistine and PeterO.

  21. A very nice puzzle.  Several favourites but I think I must single out the clever definition “child out of familiarity” in 26a CONTEMPT.  Also liked the simple but neat 4d ALARMED with crossword-land’s favourite gangster.

    [MaidenBartok @17: 15a brought back memories for me too, saveloy and chips from the chippy in Orpington high street in the 70s after the pubs had closed.  Great days.]

    Many thanks Philistine and PeterO.

  22. Thanks Philistine and PeterO

    I saw the trick in DANGER (one of my favourites), but not the OFFENDED part of 3,16. My other favourite was LEFT SPEECHLESS.

  23. Some lovely clues here, even if the solving of them was not too difficult this morning. Which doesn’t detract from the pleasure, I thought. Couldn’t parse ELICITED, so thanks Peter O for clearing the slight pea souper there. Liked CRUCIFIX and FAREWELL…

  24. I wondered about the cryptic element of 9A for a little while till the penny dropped and thought CRETAN was amusing.  I liked the convoluted PAST PARTICIPLE as the operands of starts and the role of extremely could be interpreted in several ways, though, as PeterO flagged up, I think it should have had an indicator to the definition by example, to make it completely fair.

     

  25. Like gladys@14 I spent ages thinking cross = X.

    Was a bit quicker this morning than yesterday although the long down and across clues were off putting at first and I needed the crosses to put me on track. Managed to complete but couldn’t parse DEEPLY OFFENDED, WELLINGTON BOOT, ADDITION and realised reading the blog that I had mis parsed (ok guessed) DANGER – what a lovely clue. CRETAN  had me a bit puzzled because of the double wordplay – not seen that before.

    Thanks to PeterO and Philistine

  26. There’s great misdirection here, not just the X as per gladys @14 but 10,11 had me inking ‘last’ in lightly as a starter. And I discarded DANGER early on. Seeing the light on this and PAST PARTICIPLE brought great joy. If only I had seen the COPT and reversed the DECILE my morning would have been complete! But a fine puzzle pretty much throughout.

  27. Surprised by people who didn’t know BOLSHY. I suppose it reflects how historically remote Bolshevism has become. As an aspirant Bolshevik I always took the term as a compliment.

  28. Lots of INTIMATIONS of me heading towards the surface of 17ac. Spent ages trying to decide whether 22ac was going to be an anagram of nectar or trance, bunged in INDIVIDUAL for INTIMIDATE, because it looked right, tried to make a case for CENOTAPH instead of CONTEMPT (it’s topical. There’s CALIPH, early Muslim leader without ALI on the outside and it fitted all the crossers.) Heigh-ho.

  29. Grim and Dim @27: it seems odd that a word to describe a generic trait is derived from such a recent political movement.  All dictionaries simply ascribe the etymology to Bolshevism which was, indeed, rebellious, awkward and difficult (from a Tsarist perspective) but none that I’ve seen explain why the term arose when we already had plenty of appropriate synonyms.

  31. I thought BOLSHY clever, CRUCIFIX cleverer, CONTEMPT even cleverer (took me ages to see the definition) but DIRE brilliant.

    Couldn’t parse ELICITED so thanks PeterO.

    And, of course, thanks to Philistine.

  32. I was also thinking ‘bolshie’ and wondering how to squeeze it in.

    Philistine on enterprising, rule-bending form as usual. Can’t say I care for ‘D-ire’ or the definitions of CONTEMPT or PAST PARTICIPLE. But LEFT SPEECHLESS and CRUCIFIX were fun, and I like the double-anagram device in CRETAN which is becoming a bit of a Philistine hallmark. I also missed LESSEE until very near the end.

    Thanks Peter!

  33. Another absolute cracker from my favourite setter.  Not a dud clue here and several that were outstanding.  I enjoyed DANGER, ALARMED and the perfectly formed BOLSHY.  Philistine always seems to be at my Goldilocks level so I know I will finish but it will not be a walkover.  I would understand some top end solvers might say a Philistine puzzle is over too quickly, but no one can say he is not a thoroughbred. Many many thanks Philistine and I was very grateful as ever to PeterO for the early and informative blog!!

  35. The 9a clue is part of my favorite mnemonic: Tremble for dire peril walks, monstrous acrimony spurns mercy’s laws. During the metamorphism of siliceous magnesian limestone new minerals appear in the order: tremolite forsterite diopside periclase wollastonite monticellite akermanite spurrier merwinite lawsonite.

  36. I was trying to make 20a specific, based on “key point” and “sci-fi is not to start” for some time, so a very good clue complete with misdirection. Overall a very entertaining puzzle, none the worse for being fairly easy (that is, possible for me without resorting to cheats!).

    BOLSHIE to me would suggest an actual Bolshevik sympathiser, as compared with BOLSHY “argumentative”, but I expect dictionaries would differ.

  38. I finished this in bed last night with no electronic guides at all, a rare moment for me.  A bit of a disappointment, actually, since there’s nothing to chew on in the morning.

    I got stuck at 12a BOLSHY for a while (I think of it as ending in -ie too, muffin) because I thought it had to be the same throw twice, and LOBBOL isn’t a word.

    Thanks for parsing DANGER, PeterO, which I’ve now promoted from “more or less acceptable” to “brilliant.”

    Thanks, Philistine and PeterO.  Great fun.

  39. Monkey @36 & SPanza 237: me too.  The dictionaries give them as alternatives but I’d use the two spellings precisely as Monkey indicates.

  40. Dan @35, what a brilliant mnemonic!  It’s not just the first letters; whole chunks of seemingly unmemorisable terms are lifted-and-separated, then incorporated into a sentence which (just about!) makes sense.

    Beats ‘no point letting your trousers slip half way’ into a cocked hat.

    Grim and Dim @27, I think the unfamiliarity with BOLSHY was more due to its being a Britishism.  On a PeterO day our North American friends get a rare chance to comment first!  As Post Mark @29 says it’s curious how ‘bolshy’ became so prevalent, at least in the UK, as a word to describe an attitude/personality trait which must have pre-dated Russian revolutionary politics.

    Perhaps part of the answer is that it sounds so right.  A sort of combination of being bold, punchy, barging your way into an argument, and possibly being gauche at the same time (in both senses!).  It’s not true onomatopoeia, but for me, I only have to say the word and I can taste the defiance.

    Thanks Philistine and PeterO, especially for the parsing of CONTEMPT.  I got as far as NTEM in COPT, but couldn’t for the life of me see how the definition worked.   Now that I see it I think it’s my favourite clue.

  41. Shot myself in the foot by not bothering to parse 10, 11 and consequently writing in a carelessly misspelt PAST PARTICIPAL (doh!) which left me unable to solve the ridiculously easy WELLIE (curses!). I struggled initially to remember SAVELOY and its associated hotel – baerchen’s story @7 will help me to remember it in future, though I rather doubt that Dan Milton’s fantastic mnemonic will be so easy to recall! ELICITED was also recalcitrant, with ‘one in ten’ suggesting TITHE and hindering DECILE being ‘brought out’ from the memory banks.

    I don’t think I’ve ever seen BOLSHY spelt that way before, but as with so many of Philistine’s clues, the wordplay was such that it was quite clearly the right answer. Like essexboy, I really appreciated ‘child out of familiarity’. Brilliant.

    The CRETAN trance nectar device has been used before – I can even remember a non-crossword occurance nearly 40 years ago when Leonard Bernstein was rehearsing with the BBC Symphony orchestra for a televised performance of the Enigma Variations and somehow managed to produce a sentence with large regal Elgar and lager all present.

    Thanks to Eileen for Philistine’s first use of the D/ANGER device – I’m going to tackle that next.

  42. [Totally off topic but this just popped up in my LinkedIn feed and I thought this community might appreciate it:

    According to Motorway Police, a truck loaded with thousands of copies of ROGET’S THESAURUS crashed yesterday losing its entire load.

    Witnesses were stunned, startled, aghast, taken aback, stupefied, confused, shocked, rattled, paralyzed, dazed, bewildered, mixed up, surprised, awed, dumbfounded, nonplussed, flabbergasted, astounded, amazed, confounded, astonished, overwhelmed, horrified, numbed, speechless, perplexed, fazed, disconcerted, perturbed, disturbed and breathtaken.]

  45. Really loved this. my favourite was DANGER, once I saw how good it was – also really like SHAVEN SWINE – thanks Eileen for remembering that. The mnemonic from Dan Milton was awesome, and had forgotton the one from essexbox. Many thanks to PeterO and Philistine.

  49. Super puzzle, sadly fell at the last as I was unable to sort out 6d, no excuses, just a brain freeze.
    Was often called BOLSHY by my mum when I was small, also called CONSHIE too. Words come and go.
    Enjoyed 9d, though 8t took me ages to parse.
    Thanks to both Philistine and PeterO.

  50. Were people BOLSHY before Bolshevism, without having a word to describe it? I suspect not. They may have been angry, surly, fiery, contentious or litigious, but I think it took a revolution and a counter-revolution to bring out a character trait that in the mind of the BOLSHY person is one of justified anger and in the mind of the user of the word is one prone to an excessive reaction, thus cleverly diminishing the impact of the anger. I think that’s why it’s only used this side of the Atlantic, where subtle patrician condescension to people insisting on their rights is more common.

  51. [Bet they were ALARMED too, not to mention UNHAPPY (perhaps even BOLSHY) re the resulting traffic stack-up. Poor driver may end up getting the BOOT? Or even booked on charges? Will they throw the… er… throw everything at ’em?]

    essexboy, re bolshy: Wonder if the onomatopoeish allure might in part stem from its homophonesque similarity to BS (i.e. “b..l s..t”)… which such ones might be prone to spout, yet would shout they’ll brook none of themselves. (Is there a word for “sounds *sorta* like”?… tautophonic – which I only just discovered – comes close, but perhaps isn’t quite the right sense)

  52. Parsed DANGER after a lightbulb moment, but would never have parsed ELICITED in a month of Sundays although it was obviously the correct solution. CRUCIFIX and ALARMED were rather cute too.  Thanks to PeterO and Philistine !

  53. [OddOtter @51, good point.  Re ‘sounds sorta like’, if there isn’t a word we could invent one.  One of the theological controversies of the Early Church was over the word homoousios (from Greek homos = same) in the Nicene Creed, meaning the Son was held to be of the same substance as the Father.  The Semi-Arians preferred homoiousios (homoios = similar), i.e of similar substance but not identical.  Hence the whole disagreement over one iota.  So maybe we could call near-homophones homoiophones, with related adjectives homoiophonous or homoiophonic?  😉 ]

  54. OddOtter @51: thanks for the contribution of tautophonic.  Lovely.  Though I’m not sure about your theory re bolshy.  Chambers dates BS in its full glory to the 1940’s by which time Bolshies had become Commies and I’d suspect bolshy, therefore, pre-dates.  And I’d query whether a tendency to spout BS is something I’d immediately associate with the adjective.

  55. essexboy @53: to think you were recently featured in the wit column and others in the erudition column!  If the Semi-Arian approach were to be applied to parsing, we’d have far fewer arguments about homophones.  I’m all for the introduction of homoiophonic analysis in the future.

  56. Bolshie is one of my favourite historical errors: in fact the argumentative, difficult group were the Mensheviks (minority) rather than the Bolshevik (majority party) who prevailed and laid down party policy under Lenin.

  57. Alan Swale @56

    As I remember from my history lessons, there were two revolutions in 1917. The first put the Mensheviks in power; in the second the Bolsheviks displced them. How did the minority (moderate) party gain power initially?

  58. essexboy: Nice! And of course, must observe that someone feeling bolshy might prefer the Semi-Arian spelling (oi!)… one iota (oiota?!) indeed…

    PostMark: I don’t make (nor intend) any claim re etymology… just an observation that words/phrases of similar sounds (homoiophony?) can often impart similar or related moods/emotions. Re your final point, I was referring to the adjectivial sense (which I think has more latitude)… and also, that’s why I said “might” 🙂

    Re tautophonic, search on tautophone and things get even more delightfully esoteric!

  59. I noticed on Eileen’s link to a previous Philistine that 9a is also a very close companion of today’s 6d. Definitely a favoured device

  60. Muffin @57 I think the 1st 1917 revolution put a Provisional Government in power. They gave up in November and handed the reins to Lenin and his chums.
    Could be wrong, Modern History ‘A’ level was a long time ago.

  61. Thanks HIYD

    Actually, “not my period”! Most of what I now about the Russian revolution(s) comes from Eisenstein, who wasn’t necessarily an unbiased reporter.

  62. Thanks to PeterO for the parsings of OFFENDED and ELICITED in this lovely puzzle. Got DANGER –  clever device and nice to learn from Eileen that the setter has form for this.

    The only acronym I know was taught me as a child by my Dr mother: ‘On old Olympus’ towering tops a fat-armed girl sat eating hops’. Nerves of the face she told me. Only some years later did it occur to me that ‘armed’ might have been an amendment for little ears!

  64. [Years ago a student invented one for me – Many Elephants Paint Balls Pink Having Had Over Nine Drinks. I’ll leave you to work out what it’s for, though a hint is the “Nine” is apposite”.]

  66. @Paul and Alan
    That’s an odd comment given you have come to the place where clues and answers are explained ?

  67. Finished too late to join the party, but may I join PostMark@55 in casting an enthusiastic vote for the erudite essexboy’s proposal @53 to replace homophone with homoiophone in our analyses.

    This was one of Philistine’s gems, a delight from start to almost finish (I failed on the unknown-to-me saveloy sausage), as was the equally enlightening and entertaining blog and commentary. Thanks, all.

  70. Paul and Alan @65. Both of your queries are answered in the blog at the top of this page. You seem to have skipped the blog and the first 64 comments, where the way these two clues work has been discussed by several commenters. If you still need help after reading those, please come back and someone will try to help you. (Unless you are either a robot or a troll, of course!)

    roughtrade @68. This typo in the blog was pointed out at 7:28am BMT by OddOtter @9, but has not yet been corrected by the blogger.

  73. For a short period I thought the sausage at 15ac was CHORIZO and there was some homophone indicator that I couldn’t spot that meant the fancy hotel was The Ritz

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