Guardian Prize 28,291 by Brendan

52 comments on “Guardian Prize 28,291 by Brendan”

1. The Georgia writer is Joel Chandler Harris, author of the Uncle Remus stories. With a reference also to Kamala Harris, vice president elect.

2. Thanks bridgesong. This was a stroll in the park after last week’s marathon effort and I enjoyed it much more. The only slight irregularity along the way was of my own making when I confidently entered TOM (Tommy Atkins and TOM[E]) for 19a.

   The Harris in 4d is surely Joel Chandler Harris of the Uncle Remus stories, and of Georgia.

    

    

3. As I now see you noted  when discussing the specific clue, Bradman.

4. Bridgesong. Sorry and thanks, Bradman.

5. Thanks to Brendan and bridgesong. Great fun – and much appreciated here in the US. I slowed myself down by starting with juncture rather than JUNCTION. I parsed KATY, but had to look up the novelist in question, and parsed sirrah-HARRIS because I was looking for Kamala (one of the few times spotting the obvious theme helped me get to the finish line).

6. It makes no difference but I thought 11a was (WEE+T) after T.

7. Agree with your parsing of TWEET, Biggles A.

8. A superb puzzle, which can hardly have been more topical. The thematic material developed very nicely throughout, but it was only hours later that I saw ‘Joe’ in the ‘White House’ (which of course is not true yet for reasons of due process – and for other reasons, it seems).

   Of several excellent clues I liked 5d DELAWARE best. The theme can be found in 20 clues/answers that I counted, and there may have been more.

   Thanks to Brendan and bridgesong.

9. Thanks, bridgesong

   I intended the parsing for TWEET suggested by Biggles A at 6 and sheffield hatter at 7.

   “Bigly” is added in 4 down to enhance the definition, and to use a Trumpism.

   This was part of my therapy after a few days made more anxious by poor analysis in the media.

   And now we have to slog through the interregnum.

10. bridgesong: 15d EXHILARATE  I’m puzzled by “bigly” in the definition. Isn’t this just a Trumpism? Some people thought he’d made it up, but apparently it’s in Far From The Madding Crowd. I agree, it doesn’t seem to add anything meaningful to the clue. (And it may have been a mis-hearing of ‘big league’ anyway.)

11. A lot of fun, over too quickly, but sometimes that’s not so bad.

    I read “bigly” as an intensifier, since otherwise cheer up doesn’t quite mean exhilarate.  Plus it’s there because it just has to go somewhere!

12. I second Biggles A… a delightfully breezy stroll after last week. Also concur re TWEET.

    Re HARRIS, agree, Joel C most likely, given the sirrah ref. But also of note:

    – Julia Collier Harris, JC’s daughter-in-law and Pulitzer winning journalist/writer, who’s in the GA writer’s hall of fame; known in part for writings against racist violence.

    – On the flip side, Cora Mae Harris, quite famous in her day but notorious for writings endorsing racial violence.

    Re AMERICA, would myself be inclined to underlined “state” as well (a disjunct defn by description/allusion), as “all of them” seems inadequate by itself… but then that should surprise no one after the past week 😉

    “Bigly” puzzled me as well… think sheffield hatter @10 likely correct.

    Tip o’ the hat to our setter, blogger, and commenters!

13. I was puzzled for ages because I had Tom for 19ac, as in Tom, Dick and Harry, plus abb for Tome. (Also got sidetracked by Rita Coolidge!!) But finally loved Joe in the White House and Overtrump

14. That was fun. I think it was also one of my quickest ‘prize’ solves; I remember having the impression Brendan wasn’t as interested in making this a challenge as he was in getting the message out: JOE’s name in the WHITE HOUSE all up in lights in the middle row. I too had TOM(E) for the ordinary guy at first, but then I got DELAWARE and saw where this was all going (it says something for how hypnotic the whole business has been that I knew Biden’s home state). OVERTRUMP was great. Trump’s very name seems to have been something of a boon to compilers; he’s turned up a lot over the last years. Let’s hope things will soon settle down and there won’t be too many more White House cross words. But this was a good one – thanks, Brendan. Bigly.

15. Liked CANDIDATE.

    Guessed 3d HARRIS because if the theme but could not parse it.

16. Thanks to VinnyD and others for reminding me that Joel Chandler Harris wrote the uncle Remus stories – I should have remembered that.

    And a special thank-you to our setter at 9 for dropping by and clarifying a couple of points.

17. I really enjoyed the whole experence of this puzzle. [I kept thinking as it unfolded how relieved our family members who live in Brooklyn are about the election result – they (and we) were definitely 29a OVER TRUMP! – and despite some ongoing issues in their adoptive country, they now have had some of their faith in the American people restored.]

    I could have ticked every clue but just want to thank Alan B@8 for alerting me to JOE (19a) being “IN” the 17a WHITE 20a HOUSE across the middle. Other ones I ticked that I don’t think have been mentioned as “goodies” so far were 21a TREASON, 8d FORD and 27d TYPO.

    Many thanks to Brendan for such a clever puzzle which was a delight to solve, and gratitude as well to bridgesong for such an explanatory blog.

18. As Biggles A observed, shortly after midnight my time, this was a complete contrast to the previous Prize which I had not enjoyed so I opened up the puzzle with a combination of relief and pleasure at seeing a normal grid and Brendan’s name.  And solving it was like sliding through honey.  Pure pleasure from 1 to 29.  No gimmicks, nothing tortuous but a lot of good clues to enjoy three times over: on first reading, whilst solving and then with hindsight.  It’s why I commended it to a new solver who appeared on Thursday and I hope he went back and gave it a try.  It’s nice to see the setter drop in so early and explain how such a topical puzzle was produced so swiftly after the (during the ongoing?) event.

    I did need Google to help identify the right Harris and the right Coolidge: I read Uncle Remus when too young to take particular note of authors and I’ve never read Coolidge.  I suspect Harris’s work is now blacklisted.  I had no problem with ‘bigly’: I agree with Dr WhatsOn @11 that perhaps EXHILARATE implies an amplification of ‘cheer up’ and bigly does that – awkwardly, yes, but isn’t that exactly what Trump does?

    Simply too many lovely clues to comment on them all: my double ticks last Saturday were for PARTIES, BALLOTS, SWEPT, OVERTRUMP, HARRIS, DELAWARE, BIDDEN and JUNCTION  with COTD going to TWEET which I parsed as Biggles and hatter.  Given how I feel about the odious current inhabitant of the WH, I rather enjoyed the surface for the aforementioned EXHILARATE too.

    OddOtter @12: I do feel for you.  Positively besieged by pronouns everywhere you turn.  Your usual criticism is valid but the clue was easily solvable and rather smooth.

    Thanks Brendan and bridgesong

19. Had left this half done and forgotten about, finished it this morning. Had to look up Harris to remember Uncle Remus, and didn’t click the author of What Katy Did (not in my reading arc, but the titles are gk) so, like Puntanelle, toyed with Rita before crossers arrived. Remembered scot the tax, no doubt from earlier cws. A nice solve, thanks both and all, and all the best to Joe.

20. What a brilliant puzzle. With a bit of creative thinking I was able to tie almost all the clues/solutions to the theme. Not just good therapy for Brian/Brendan but for us as well.
    With Arachne on hiatus (temporary I hope) Brendan is now my favourite setter. If I had ticked all the clues that tickled me, it would have come to over two dozen.
    Thanks B and B for the fun and blessed relief.

21. I just want to express my admiration for this puzzle. Rarely, in my experience, has a theme been so skilfully built into both clues and answers, without any seeming contrived or convoluted.

22. As the grouch-in-residence ….

    I know that I am out on a limb here, but I had to remind myself that the puzzle was free.  i would have been very annoyed, had I paid money to be insulted by this simplistic nonsense.  And yet more american politics.  For a Monday puzzle, perhaps.  But a Saturday prize?  What on earth was the Guardian thinking of?

    The only clues requiring more than 20 seconds thought were:  WHITE, FILTHINESS and PEWIT.

    And I don’t like the ‘do’ in the clue for PARTIES.  ‘Do OK’ is a verb.  Can PAR be a verb?

    Thanks, and sympathies, to bridgesong.

23. Anna @22: no sympathy required, as I enjoyed the puzzle (and was in sympathy with its theme).  Yes, it was not the hardest puzzle, although many of the clues did require substantially more than 20 seconds thought for me, at any rate.  As has been said many times, there is no rule that requires the Saturday puzzle to be the toughest of the week.

    I do agree that it is a bit of a stretch to use “par” as a verb, and certainly Chambers doesn’t give that sense, but I’m pretty sure I’ve heard golf commentators say “he’s parred that hole” so it is in use.

24. Anna @22: I can’t help you with your grouchiness of last Saturday (hopefully easing now?) but I can help with PAR which, yes, can be a verb.  To par the course is to complete it using the regulation number of strokes.  So Par meaning ‘do OK on links’ is fine.

    I can understand if someone doesn’t want a dose of politics, particularly in current times.  And Brendans are never the toughest technical challenges, which he acknowledges.  So can see why you found yourself in a bad place.  Rather as I did with Paul’s alphabet jigsaw the previous Saturday.  For me, Brendan provided the contrast I needed from a dismal Prize experience; hopefully you’re happier this morning with a rather different genre.

25. bridgesong @ 22

    Thank you for your answer and reaction.  I am well aware that there is no rule that the Saturday puzzle should be the most difficult.  I would have thought it was just common sense that the prize puzzle would be more difficult than the non-prize puzzles.  I do know that they are not actually giving prizes at the moment, though, so perhaps I can let them off.  Incidentally, I don’t really understand why they aren’t giving prizes at the moment?  Anyone know?

    It is just as well that we are all different and see things differently.  How boring if we were all the same.  I’m still smiling – but only just.

26. PostMark @ 24

    Thanks for your understanding comment, Mark.  Much appreciated.  Smiling a bit more now …

27. 14 ac seems to accept the USA’s typically imperialist claim to a whole continent

    But agreed, a fun and fair puzzle

    It will be great not to have Trump featuring so often

28. bridgesong @23: I’m quite surprised to find par is not acknowledged as a verb in Chambers.  An online search for par + verb threw up the appropriate definition in several of the usual online dictionaries (Merriam-Webster, lexico, Wiktionary and dictionary.com are the first to come up for me).  I don’t have easy access to the more authoritative sources and, you’re right, it’s not there in Chambers Online.  The first of those sources claims first use of the verb in 1950, albeit with no cited reference.  But that’s given 70 years for Chambers to notice it.

29. Anna@22,25,26
    I’m sorry to say that great minds don’t think alike on this occasion (see last week’s “Prize” @ around 80). I enjoyed this and was prepared to accept it as an exception to my view, shared by others, that crosswords and politics shouldn’t mix. What I liked about this was that the clues and answers were facts and not comments. I also think that in general we are expected to have too much obscure American GK but this election was of international interest and I for one managed with what GK I have. The reference at 4D was the only exception.

30. It is a verb in the OED

31. bridgesong @14  Trump won’t be the former president until January 20.  Currently he’s still president.

    I was surprised to see What Katy Did described as famous.  I had my mother’s old childhood copy, but thought of it as a Victorian goody-goody tale that nobody would care about now.  But apparently it’s been filmed and televised, more in the UK, where it must be better known than here.  I’ve never run across a mention of it in my life.

    Pino @29 I’m in the US and 4d (Harris in Georgia) mystified me too.  I further mystified myself by putting in sirrah instead, not noticing I now had CANDIDITE and being quite baffled by PAR_I_S.  Thanks, bridgesong for straightening me out.

    And thanks Brendan for an amusingly topical puzzle.

32. Anna, sympathies… was on the self proclaimed “grumpy bus” for 28,292 just a few days back… sometimes a puzzle just doesn’t sit well, and naught to be done (yet per different criteria for each of us). Fortunately the puzzles vary just as we do and happier solves no doubt lie just around the corner.

    Re PAR, lexico & Collins both list the usage as American/US english… so perhaps a bit of Pino’s obscure American GK, and a wee advantage to us USians, as no doubt were the various state refs. I’ll take it for a change 🙂

    PostMark, perhaps “blessed” rather than “besieged” as I’ve no problem with the clue/form itself (see me @75 of 28295-vlad).

33. Once again, I’ve mislaid my paper with the notes I made last Saturday. I do remember being sorry to finish the puzzle so soon but I often feel like that about puzzles I’ve enjoyed, however long they take, and, as PostMark said @18, clues can be enjoyed all over again in retrospect, savouring the surfaces, for one thing: there are some real gems here.

    Two special moments I remember were seeing the message in the middle row and realising, after I’d solved FORD and BUSH, that Coolidge at 25dn was not another president but the author of the Katy books that I absolutely loved as a child. (I remember being really intrigued, later, when I learned that there was an insect called a katydid, apparently because of the noise it makes when it rubs its wings together.)

    Many thanks to Brendan for the fun and for dropping in – all the best with the ‘slogging’ – and to bridgesong (and Timon).

     

     

34. Re PAR:  I used to think of myself as a Prescriptivist, but for everyday words like this, if I’ve heard them used in the same way the setter intends, or if I can even imagine them being used that way, then that’s usually good enough for me, regardless of Chambers or the OED.  [BTW I love my (Compact) OED, even though I can’t read it without the accompanying magnifying glass.]

35. This was interesting and enjoyable.  I wonder why some crosswords seem to spend ages finding the light of day whereas this one must have been composed just before publication.  Well done Brendan!!  And thanks also to bridgesong!

36. No new posts since mine at 4:42pm.  Id there a problem??

37. Nothing new to add, perhaps?

38. You must be correct bridgesong:  how refreshing!!!

39. [PostMark @18 says “I suspect Harris’s work is now blacklisted.” The Disney movie “Song of the South”, which was based on these stories, certainly is! Although the Disney corporation is not shy about re-issuing (and re-re-issuing, etc.) its old movies, you’ll search in vain for copies of this one. I remember liking it as a kid, but I’m sure it would make me cringe to see it now. A quick glance at Amazon seems to indicate that the Harris books are still in print, but they’re certainly not much talked about in my experience.]

40. Hi SPanza @36 – yes, I was expecting a bit more discussion on ‘too easy’ puzzles but comments on Saturday puzzles tend to peter out rather earlier, as I noted above.

    So – interested to see Ted’s comment, just before posting. I resisted earlier (because I cringed, too) commenting on Joel Harris because I remember, at a very young age, being totally captivated at a children’s Saturday afternoon children’s showing of ‘Song of the ‘South’.

41. Ted @39 & Eileen @40: I can only recollect the haziest of details of two stories.  Brer Lion, I think, couldn’t eat his soup because there was a fly in it and the story began with him walking along swishing his cane to cut off flower tops beside the road “which, of course, was very wrong”.  And I vaguely recall a story about a Tar Baby which, I think, was Uncle Remus too.  I was certainly too young and too innocent at the time to take the stories other than at face value and loved them.

    SPanza @35 & 36: I, too, was a little surprised at the paucity of discussion of what I considered a very enjoyable puzzle.  I commented in my first post on the speed with which Brendan turned this around and, you’re right, quite often a setter pops in to advise that the puzzle was submitted quite some time beforehand.  I wonder if he received special dispensation on the grounds he needed to purge his feelings.  The US must be a very strange place in which to be living at the moment.  [I read a rather disturbing book recently – Vox by Christina Dalcher – which explores a Handmaid’s Tale type milieu set in a dystopian US clearly modelled on the extrapolation of recent experience.  And current events feel weirdly reminiscent.  Nothing any of us might have anticipated as little as 5 years ago.  End of political musings…]

42. The Guardian puzzles are no longer loading on my laptop. I already posted a query on the General Discussion thread, but nothing has been posted there in reply. Is anyone else having a problem with the Guardian site not loading puzzles?

43. [PostMark @41. The Tar Baby story is probably one of the earliest I can remember reading. Brer Fox – in the illustrations, he wore an old Civil War uniform: a blue one for the union, I reckon – catches Brer Rabbit with a dummy coated in tar, but the rabbit – being a quick thinker – talks his way out of being eaten (or worse – I think boiled alive is mentioned) by telling the fox, “You can do what you want, but don’t throw me into that briar patch”. Eventually Brer Fox decides that the best way to punish Brer Rabbit for all the tricks he’s played on him in the past is to do what he is now begging him not to do, so he pulls him off the tar baby and throws him into the underbrush, where (being a rabbit) he just sits there and taunts the fox. “Bred and born in a briar patch, Brer Fox, you oughta have known that.”

    Good grief, I read that story about 60 years ago and it just came out of my fingers and onto my keyboard like it was yesterday. ]

44. Michelle @42. Sorry you’ve been having problems. I don’t normally use the online crossword, being a Guardian newspaper reader, but I’ve just loaded Frdiay’s Paul and solved the first clue with no trouble. Just to be sure, I also loaded this week’s Puck not-a-prize-any-more too. Have you tried a different browser?

    Hope you get sorted out soon.

45. I loved this, especially TWEET, but so many other great clues too.

    I never notice ninas, but even I spotted JOE in the WHITE HOUSE, and I enjoyed seeing the election references unfurl as I solved.

    Lovely split for OVERTRUMP, perfectly deceptively implemented

    [Another way to use the same split, it occurs to me, might be ‘obvious arse’, a good way to refer to the soon-to-be-ex who refuses to go.]

    [“First to go” in 17ac reminded me that I once wrote a clue, “First to go without light”. It was for a puzzle in a go journal, and the answer was BLACK!]

46. Ted@39 and Eileen@30. I sometimes wonder what it is we do in all innocence today that will be viewed with horror in 100 years time – or earlier.

47. Yes. Very neat and extremely enjoyable as ever from Brendan. Many thanks, both and all.

48. OddOtter@32
    PAR wasn’t a problem. I played the last of half a dozen or so rounds of golf (Wentworth East Course, wearing a toga) more than 50 years ago but I take a bit of an interest and I’m sure that UK radio commentaries on the majors use PAR as a verb.

49. Yes, a very topical, well-set and blogged puzzle. Thanks to the Bs.

    For me, not on a … par … with Paul’s alphabetical. But maybe that’s because I favour a weekly (often exhausting) wrestle rather than a daily DNF.

50. A bit late in the day but re 4d, what about the writer, Georgia Harris?

51. Can’t find a Georgia Harris who’s a writer online.

52. Grace @50, you mean the Georgia Harris who has “no followers (yet)” on Goodreads? I’m pretty sure it was the other one that Brendan meant.

Comments are closed.