Guardian Cryptic 28,499 by Paul

90 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 28,499 by Paul”

1. I thought at first that I wasn’t going to get any of it. But once I had a couple, they started arriving.

   Favourites were NOT AT ALL, NO END IN SIGHT (very clever!), SOHO, and ENGINE DRIVER.

   Many thanks Paul and manehi

2. Found this tough and very variable – some straightforward (thank goodness) and others I got with the help of aids and crosses but could not parse at all – especially in the SE.

   I never manage to get ones like HANDCART and ATHENS – one day.

   Favourites: THINKING and CANNON (made me laugh) CHASTENING, NOT AT ALL

   Thanks Paul and manehi

3. Yes – not the most difficult Paul puzzle, but it still took a bit of time. I had different favourites to those of yesyes @1: SPRINKLING, FOLDEROL and THE SHARD. Couldn’t get MAGNESIA. Many thanks to P & m.

4. Liked: NO END IN SIGHT, SPRINKLING, THE SHARD, HANDCART, MAGNESIA, ATHENS, NOT AT ALL, BARISTA (loi).

   New: PLUMBUM; C (the speed of light).

5. While you were held up in the SE, I was stuck in the SW, manehi. I liked it a lot – much appreciated, Paul. The blog helped with some I failed to parse. Merci beaucoup to manehi. I enjoyed 8a FOLDEROL, 11a VICTORIANA, 15a PLUMBUM, 24/10a SACK RACE, 1d NOT AT ALL, 18d HANDCART and 24d SOHO, some of which have already been mentioned in dispatches.

6. I liked this entry in the Merriam-Webster online:
   Hogwash. Claptrap. Hooey. Drivel. Malarkey. English is rife with words that mean “nonsense,” and “folderol” is one of the many. Though not the most common of the words for nonsense, it’s been around since 1820 and is still heard today. “Folderol” comes from “fol-de-rol” (or “fal-de-ral”), which used to be a nonsense refrain in songs, much like “tra-la-la.” The oldest recorded instance of someone “singing folderol” occurs in Irish dramatist George Farquhar’s 1701 play Sir Harry Wildair, in which a character sings, “Fal, al, deral!”

7. This was Paul on fine form.
   A little of the traditional Pauline lavatoriana – PLUMBUM, MAGNESIA…
   Some beautifully constructed surfaces, ENGINE DRIVER possibly being the best.
   Some neat misdirections – THE SHARD.
   And some original bits of cluing – ATHENS, THINKING.
   Good fun all round. Thanks to Paul and manehi.

8. The last couple of days have given me a chance to recover from the labours of earlier in the week. Yes, the most accessible Paul in a while. Slightly concerned when I saw a few linked solutions – some Pauls seem to be full of them – but it didn’t result in too convoluted a grid. Some overlaps in favourites with other posters: SPRINKLING, CHASTENING, ENGINE DRIVER, FOLDEROL. NO END IN SIGHT is brilliant and a big tick for THINKING where the ellipses really mean something.

   As an aside, ESTONIANs are certainly the most popular of the Baltic races. Four appearances in Guardian/Indy this year according to Site Search, whereas Latvians only appear once and Lithuanians have been a no show.

   Having – unsuccessfully – championed the Grateful Dead in yesterday’s blog, I shall try again with The Monkey and the Engineer inspired by 22,3. A cheerful little ditty.

   Thanks Paul and manehi

9. Folderol, delightful word, reminds me of ‘fol de riddle ido’ in old folk songs. Never thought of sepia as pigment, but iyss. The thin king (seen before) and the plum’s bum were fun, and the ‘no tat’ a grin/groan, as was ‘A then S. Not a quick solve, but then none of them are these days, I think it’s my brain. Fun though, thanks Paul and manehi.

10. Maybe not Paul at his most difficult but still hard enough. For (almost) once I thought the linking ellipses between 12a and 14a worked very well for THINKING.

    I liked the chemical element related clues and MAGNESIA. Had forgotten THE SHARD architect who I think has appeared before. Favourite word was the not very commonly used FOLDEROL – thanks for the further info, JinA @6.

    Thanks also to Paul and manehi

11. Snap re folderol, JinA.

12. [JinA @6: English is rife with words that mean “nonsense”: how else can we describe our politics without too much repetition?]

13. P.S. Sorry to keep coming back – but I loved finding out how 26a THE SHARD parsed (I had heard of it and worked out the answer from the anagram). I have to say the more I look at this puzzle the more I admire it. For instance, I knew Milk of MAGNESIA was a laxative, but I didn’t see the two girls until manehi pointed them out – I just vaguely thought one name might be MARIA (totally not in the solution), and moved on with it unparsed.

14. Worth it for Piano piece.
    Afternoon tea there $52 (without the Veuve)

15. Steady solve and brought back the dreadful memory of having to stomach milk of MAGNESIA. Smiled at LARDER and THINKING and thought VICTORIANA and THE SHARD were excellent. PLUMBUM was new; my lack of interest in Chemistry at school obviously never led me to find out why lead could possibly be Pb.

    Ta Paul & manehi

16. [gif@11, I often find we are on a similar wavelength. Must be an Aussie thing.
    PM@12, you don’t have that problem (with finding enough words for “nonsense” in terms of your politics) on your own. It’s shared here. I am currently thinking “Horsefeathers!” to a lot of the political posturing I hear after hearing that one from a friend, I think in relation to the last POTUS.]

17. A nice reminder of why Paul used to be one of my top favourite setters.

    As usual, I shared manehi’s favourites, with the addition of 12ac (meaningful ellipsis) 20ac MAGNESIA, for the neat insertion of AGNES, 16dn UNSTEADY (for the surface, with a nod to dizzy Gillespie}, and 19dn, again for the surface. I also liked MINI SHE in 13dn, for ‘little girl’, as a change from an abbreviation of a girl’s name.

    Renzo Piano has been a gift to setters: I’ve seen some really good clues exploiting his name and Paul’s was another fine one.

    Many thanks to Paul for an enjoyable puzzle and manehi for a great blog.

18. As usual, I agree with Eileen (see @17).
    In my view, this was the best Paul puzzle for a long time.

19. Thanks Paul and manehi
    In contrast to many previous posters, I found this very difficult. First pass yielded nothing at all – first time for ages – then I just had IDLE for some time. I did enjoy it once I got going, though.
    Baffled by the definition for THE SHARD!

20. I am with Eileen and George Clements

21. Paul in good form. My favourite, as yet unmentioned was UNSTEADY. LOI was MAGNESIA, I think because it’s filed under “milk of…” in my cranial RAM.
    (Much easier than Paul’s Prize offering last Saturday!)
    Thanks to Paul and manehi.

22. grantinfreo@9 You are right, sepia isn’t a pigment. Pigments are solid particles suspended in water, while dyes are soluble in water. Chambers may say they are the same thing, but he clearly didn’t paint watercolours.

23. Eileen@17 – we crossed.

24. It’s been a tricky week, hasn’t it?

    Apart from my lack of GK on THE SHARD, this was probably the easiest one since Monday, and still no pushover at that. LARDER/THINKING was a lovely double clue.

25. I agree with Togs@22 and gif@9 about the distinction between pigments and dyes. To be pedantic I would add that the solvent need not be water.

26. Had to look up C for the speed of light: didn’t know the SHARD’s architect or that MAGNESIA was a laxative: failed to parse EAGLET. But a much more approachable Paul than some of his recent ones, and I enjoyed it, particularly the fat queen/THIN KING pairing, HANDCART, NO END IN SIGHT, PLUMBUM, ATHENS.
    You can weed without a hoe, and a hoe is also used for other things… I’m sure it will be in the Holy Chambers and therefore above criticism, but not an obvious synonym.

27. 7D: Cannon/canon reminded me of the time, many years ago, when the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament was led by the very moderate ecclesiastic Canon Collins. Some of the more radical elements proposed the slogan: “Ban the bomb and fire the canon”.

28. Loved this. Particularly the two clues using a similar device, H and C for 18d and A then S for 21d. EAGLET brought back mixed memories of me, as a 12 year old boy, having to play the part of Empress Marie Louise in Edmond Rostand’s 1900 play L’Aiglon, in an all boys Prep School in the late 1950’s…

29. Nice fairly easy (for a Paul that is) solve.

    LOI was ATHENS, which I couldn’t parse at all, tho obvious from the crossing letters. Thank goodness for the bloggers for explanations. It would have bugged me all day otherwise.

    Thanks Paul and Manehi

30. I worked with a guy whose nickname was plumbum because his initials were PB, so I was pleased to see that in the crossword.

31. There was very little evidence today of this setter’s habitual strained definitions and dodgy surfaces and it made the whole solve a very enjoyable one.

    Had to Google THE SHARD to realise what a clever clue it was.

    Failed to take notice of the elipses between 12 & 14 which was therefore the only ‘?’ in the grid.

    Was anyone else forced to take Milk of Magnesia for everything stomach-related? Groo!!

32. After an initial fairly unsuccessful first run through, I thought: “Oh dear; Paul on a Friday – this will be tough.” However, in the end, it all came together much more easily than I had feared it might.

    The misdirection with SHARD was really neat and I was happy to be reminded of the existence of the lovely word FOLDEROL. However, even after persistent staring at ATHENS, I needed Manehi to tell me how to parse it. Doh!

    A really enjoyable start to the day.

    Thanks, Paul (John) and Manehi

33. Plenty to like including THE SHARD, MAGNESIA, ATHENS NO END IN SIGHT, the fat queen and the THIN KING, and (ain’t no SNAFU, no) FOLDERO.

    PLUMBUM carbonicum rang a bell fro chemisty lessons .

    Thanks Paul and manehi

34. A really entertaining puzzle. Particularly good were the LARDER and THINKING pair and the very clever THE SHARD.

    I wondered if anyone was going to kick up a fuss about the “on” in 22, 3, ENGINE DRIVER, as the second half is a down clue and the RIVER comes after the rest. I think it’s absolutely fine but some people don’t. (There was quite a heated debate about it the other week on Everyman 3,897 – for what it’s worth my view is @43.)

    Many thanks Paul and manehi.

35. Like others I started off thinking ‘here we go – I’ve been impaled and now I’m going to be Pauled this week’ but after a slow start most fell in quite easily.

    [copmus @14: the way to get round the prices at The Shard is to get yourself invited to one of the corporate/government events – I’ve been three times and provided you can stand the corporate claptrap or the public-sector nonsense for 45 minutes, you get to wander round and gaze out in wonder. I’m told there is a ‘loo with a view’ on the 68th floor…]

    GiF @9: There is the Dutch children’s song ‘Alle eendjes zwemmen in het water, Falderalderiere, falderalderare’ which we know as ‘All the ducks are swimming in the water’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7bYh3UcwQ4 Ear-worm time!

    Thanks to Paul and manehi!

36. Lovely puzzle as always from Paul. I wonder if he remembers The Folderols? As we both live nearby at the seaside I remember a show at Worthing Brighton and Eastbourne Piers in the Fifties -all very light hearted afternoon musical “nonsense.

37. Delightful puzzle – solving flowed smoothly from an easy start (IDLE) to a bewildering finish (THE SHARD) – at least bewildering for anyone not familiar with modern London architecture, and yet solvable from the clue and confirmed with Mr G.
    Much to relish in between (MAGNESIA, TRAIN DRIVER, etc), and especially enjoyed the interplay between LARDER and THINKING.
    Thanks Paul, for a fairly brief but first-class if challenge.

38. Thank you manehi as any understanding of ATHENS was beyond me (despite getting H and C elsewhere) but am happy not to be alone there, nor in quibbling SEPIA and finding this pretty tough going from a very slow start.
    Lord Jim@34, that “on” did slow me up for a while but I don’t see it as unfair – after all, things can be stuck on the end of other things as well as on top of them.
    I liked many and THE SHARD most, thanks Paul.
    [William@31 yes MoM is a particularly unfond memory from childhood, despite this it was one of the last in for the same reason as Auriga@21 – I too liked UNSTEADY for another nice surface]

39. Quirky vid, MB @35, ta.

40. Thanks for the blog. I could be repeating some people’s favourites here.
    Nice to see 12 and 14AC connected in a meaningful way for once.
    Good to see ESTONIAN clued without using etonian.
    I thought 24D was simple but very neat.
    ATHENS has been clued like this very recently , it is an old Azed trick.

41. I forgot my one minor quibble. It is not formula for poison it is symbol. Sorry if someone has said this, I will read the comments later when I have time.

42. A slow steady solve. Enjoyable. One that helps me see why so many rate Paul so highly, as I often struggle with his puzzles. Like others stared at ATHENS without parsing and then thought “d’oh” on reading the blog; should have got that one, it is indeed an old trick.

    Thanks to Paul and loonapick.
    (Roz, thanks for your reply to me yesterday)

43. Thanks Paul and Manehi.

    Great crossword. Very enjoyable. I particularly liked PLUMBUM and ATHENS.

44. Thanks Paul and Manehi.

    I mostly enjoyed this, with clever and not always easy clues – I think I found it harder than most posters above.

    Could someone put me out of my misery and explain how “ink” in 6d = “sign” – the blog says as in ‘sign a contract’, but I’ve never heard anyone say they need to ink a contract. What am I missing?

45. Roz@41. I had the same thought, but maybe one could argue that the formula for a chemical that contains only one element is effectively the element’s symbol. Probably in crossword land one could – and certainly in Paul land.

46. How upsetting!

    Managed to complete a Friday puzzle of Paul’s and then lots of you say how it was easier than usual. For me it was perfect. Took a while but nailed it.

47. Sourdough @44 Example headline from the Guardian when Nile Rogers signed a new contract: Chic ink deal with Warners for first new record in two decades.

48. My first completed Paul, so very pleased with my joint effort with Candidad54 and Eileen@17 is spot on.
    I’m with grantinfreo@9 and Togs@22 regarding SEPIA
    Thanks to Paul and manehi

49. Thank you Penfold. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before, but my mind is now at rest.

50. This was quite tough but a most enjoyable: delightful clues (as noted already above) included Piano’s Shard, A-then-s, endless sight, and the ENGINE DRIVER wordplay. I also thought the linked 12a and 14a worked really well and the surface was neat. Often, I feel, setters use the ellipsis dots but don’t actually link the clues at all — or only extremely tenuously.
    My thanks to our setter and blogger today!

51. PLUMBUM made me laugh aloud, and it’s a long time since any clue has done that!

52. [Eileen @17: If you haven’t already done so, give the Basilisk crossword in Thursday’s FT a go. I thought it was a real gem.]

53. I thought I was so smart biffing in PRUNELLA for the laxative but …
    FOLDEROL brought back memories of the fast show hikers

54. Unlike manehi, I filled in the SE and NW corners last night. The NE and SW were still empty.

    Isn’t it “milk of magnesia” for the laxative?

    Never heard of Renzo Piano, though I have heard of The Shard.

    Got HANDCART, totally missed ATHENS, which is a capital so I bunged it in.

    Lots of fun. Thanks, Paul and manehi.

55. I found this bursty: periods of inactivity then getting one triggered a bunch of others which all seemed much more straightforward with the new crossers.

    THE SHARD was a superb misdirection, causing a big struggle to make something out of g and upright. In all, a lot of fun.

56. Eileen@17 – Interesting. “Used to be” = me too.

    Though this was enjoyable, for a Paul. Who I think has become more obscure as the months roll by. Though I know many people here equate obscurity with enjoyment.

    Paul on his good days delivers a finishable crossword, even if it takes a while. Glad for manehi’s blog which was needed for some of the more obscure clues/definitions. And glad that I finished a Paul for the first time in about 3 months…

57. [ nga@42 my pleasure, I thought if you saw the first line you would want to track down the story. Possibly the best first line ever, or maybe The Trial – Someone had been telling lies about Josef k ……]

58. Gary Baum @ 45 I decided to check in Chambers – As SYMBOL Arsenic
    FORMULA – A set of symbols expressing the composition of a body ( chem ).
    Paul should have learnt from Araucaria and his flawless use of chemistry.

59. Hi DeepThought @56 – I’m with William @31 re ‘strained definitions and dodgy surfaces’. I thought this one showed more signs of care in honing the clues, as Paul used always to do, before he became so prolific.
    [I did (eventually) enjoy last week’s Prize, though – see tomorrow’s blog. ]

    [Tony Santucci @52 – thanks for the tip. I do sometimes attempt Basilisk (and Serpent) puzzles but I didn’t have time yesterday: I was off to see ‘The Comedy of Errors’ at the new Garden Theatre at Stratford – very highly recommended. I did read the blog, though, so I appreciate how clever it was.]

60. [Eileen – how intriguing to see you almost spoiling – but not quite. 😀 If you’re blogging, you can probably get away with it. I shall look forward to tomorrow – but already suspect we had similar experiences/reaction.]

61. Roz@58 as you surely know, a set can contain just one element. I think formula may not be ideal, but it isn’t wrong.

62. [I have finally managed to complete last week’s prize – except for 23d – lots and lots of use of aids and took me ages. The special instructions helped but still can’t parse a few

    On a happier note I have completed last Sunday’s Everyman without any use of aids – though I still can’t parse two of them which I think are homophones – always my bete noire. I know others found it a write-in – I didn’t.]

63. [Bodycheetah @53: ‘The Happy Wanderer’ was the unofficial anthem of the Caravan Club where MasterBella once worked. I remember being ‘serenaded’ by the Caravan Club Singers at a national rally once. The outcome in the clip is one I’d have loved to enact… (I hate camping of any kind – if it doesn’t have solid walls, roof, floor, air conditioning, room-service, a mini-bar and daily over-supply of crisp, white towels, I don’t stay in it…)]

64. Dr WhatsOn of course it can have one element , as in this case, and hence it becomes a SYMBOL expressing the composition of a body, hence no formula.

65. Well done Fiona Anne , it was not a write-in , just a typical Everyman. It used to take me all week as well.

66. Roz @64
    As is the symbol for an atom of arsenic, but the formula for a lump of the stuff. Similarly, if you define “molecule” as the smallest part of a substance to have an independent existence, molecules of the noble gases contain only one atom.

67. As is only the symbol for an atom of arsenic when used in a FORMULA , by itself As is the SYMBOL for the element arsenic . I never use the internet but I can find you library references on Monday that will confirm this.

68. Roz @67
    This is from BBC Bitesize:
    Formulae of elements

    A chemical formula represents an element or compound in balanced equations . The formulae for most elements is just their symbol. Some non-metal elements exist as simple molecules with two atoms joined together. We say that these elements are diatomic .

69. Nice enough puzzle, but my ignorance of architects didn’t help.

70. Easier than many recent Pauls, the upper half went in steadily until I struggled on MAGNESIA, ATHENS( the only capital that fitted but unparsed) and THE SHARD down South.

    Favourite was 16 d UNSTEADY with a brilliant nod to Mr Gillespie as Eileen @17 mentioned.

    Thank manehi for the parsing, and thanks to Paul for a fun puzzle

71. Thanks Muffin @68 but I am not going to read BBC Bitesize, I will ask in the chemistry faculty on Monday. Our garden needs me now.

72. Thoroughly enjoyable after a slow start. I loved VICTORIANA and the wittily presented LARDER and THINKING. I always enjoy Paul’s puzzles, even if I don’t always manage to finish them. Today’s was one of the easier ones, I would say.

73. Thanks Paul (& Manehi) for another humorous outing. I was confused by a few (eg not sure I understand the need for ‘both grand and upright’ in THE SHARD?) but they soon fell into place like ‘at’ in 4d. And I had no problem with SEPIA (from cuttlefish) being a pigment …

74. Phew! I was determined to crack this one and I finally did it. Took me a long time to get started this morning – several clues where I could see the wordplay but couldn’t dig out the correct synonym from the recesses of my brain… coming back to it this afternoon, I managed to fill in the blanks with a series of very satisfying penny-dropping moments. Perhaps my mind has been working on it subconsciously throughout the day.

    Just a couple I didn’t manage to parse – 7dn, didn’t pick up on “preacher’s” as the homophone indicator, for which I’m now kicking myself; and 21dn, the wordplay defeated me, though the solution was evident (I’m going to use Roz’s “not a formula” argument to justify not seeing it – I certainly wasn’t looking for a chemical symbol). Thanks manehi for the blog, especially for tidying up these loose ends. I think I’m pretty much in agreement with you on the highlights, but would also pick out, as others have done, 8ac FOLDEROL, and 16dn UNSTEADY (which was also my FOI). But there really isn’t a single duff clue here. Thanks Paul for an excellent puzzle – perfectly balanced for difficulty, in my view, with some relatively easy ones to provide a way in, plus some fiendishly clever ones to really savour.

    Eileen @17 – agreed on the MINI SHE – I spent a while going through mental lists of girls’ names until the penny dropped. Very good. Also agree with everything else you say in @17 for that matter.

    Lord Jim @34 – yes, I was slightly troubled by that “on” but since the second half of the clue is down, I think he just about gets away with it.

    wynsum @73 – I presume the ‘grand and upright’ are just there for extra misdirection – both are types of piano, but also accurate descriptions of The Shard.

75. wynsum @73 – I’m with widderspel @74. That’s one reason why I loved this clue: THE SHARD is the tallest building in the UK – and we hope it’s upright. 😉

76. widdersbel@74 leaving a crossword and going back to it later is massively under-rated, it really does work. Partly your theory and I think you look afresh and stop going down the same blind alleys of misdirection. When I get stuck on the Azed I put it away and look again much later.
    I am often surprised when people come on here fairly early and say they did not finish, they should try again later. I would look at a Prize all week when I was learning.
    Good for you for sticking at this one.

77. Nice crossword, but I must take exception to the praise for ATHENS as original (NielH @7). If you google:
    crossword clue “a then s”
    you’ll find numerous examples of essentially the same clue!!

78. ColinR @77 – absolutely – which is why I didn’t list it. I’ve been surprised at how many people hadn’t met it.

79. Utterly meaningless this was for me. No complaints though, if you don’t ‘get Paul’s cluing style the clues may as well be written in Chinese. I don’t.
    After a good solving week, back to earth with a bump.
    Thanks both.

80. Thanks for the encouragement, Roz!

    On the pigment vs dye debate, I was ignorant of the distinction until it was mentioned here, so I looked into it… As far as I can tell, pigment is correct when talking about the colouring in plant or animal tissue (like melanin in humans or chlorophyll in plants). So in this case, it is a pigment that is used to make a dye. HTH

81. Eileen@59
    I couldn’t agree more with eventually! I’ve dipped in daily for 3 or 4 days only to leave utterly frustrated on each attempt. Finally a few minutes ago a very large penny dropped a very long way.

    Paul was in capital form with that one.

82. Hi Blah – blog’s there just now!

83. Sorry – meant last week’s ‘Prize’.

84. I found this challenging & enjoyable. Missed a couple of the clever parses so great to read this blog. Many thanks.

85. Paul@84 I am glad you enjoyed this and if you only need help with a couple it is very impressive. In my judgement , this has been a much harder week in the Guardian. Much to my delight but not everybody agrees. I think you will find most weeks rather gentler overall.

86. After a few puzzles in a row I had to leave a few blanks, I enjoyed this one a lot and was glad to finish one—even if I needed manehi’s help to parse several.
    Always juvenile, PLUMBUM made me smile, and I thought MAGNESIA and NOT AT ALL were neat.
    Did others know SEPIA is named for its source, the cuttlefish…?

    Ftr I’m with @Roz on the formula question.

87. My FOI was 4d, which I smugly parsed as GELATIN (GEL as in vitreous HUMOUR of the eye, AT as intended, and then IN from the clue = SETTING agent).

    This seems to happen surprisingly often.

    Mrs.E corrected me.

88. Widdersbel@80 I was uncomfortable about sepia being a pigment and having researched it a bit I think I was right to be sceptical. As a formulating chemist in a past life I would say a dye is soluble in the medium in which it is used whilst a pigment is not. Sepia from cuttlefish ink is a form of melanin – eumelanin. It contains more carboxylic acid groups than the melanin in animal skin or hair and is thus distinctly water soluble. So whilst melanin is a pigment, eumelanin/sepia is a dye.

    I’m with you Roz@41 on formula/symbol.

    Here endeth pedantry corner.
    A lovely crossword though – thanks Paul and manehi.

89. This one fell into place pretty easily for a nice change. A couple unparsed but hey ho.

    Thanks Paul and manehi

90. I agree with Tim W’s comment at 88 re the nature of dyes and pigments. Setters often happily jumble terms like tint, shade, tone and hue but it’s more complicated than that. Then again, so do dictionaries. Marvellous helicopter shots of the ochre quarries at Roussillon on the Tour de France coverage: one of mankind’s earliest sources of pigment. Unusual not to get anywhere near finishing a crossword; just not on Paul’s wavelength, for once. However, many thanks to all the setters for making the last year and a quarter tolerable.

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