The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/28839.
At first glance, the key clue 15 looked decidedly non-location-like, but I very quickly stumbled on the reason: with the initial G, 1A GRAVES stood out, and 15 followed directly. The clue to 15 does not involve the county, but, apart from a little detour in 24A, the references all do. From there, the locations (mostly) in the county are, I think, mostly fairly well known – to me, at least, but solvers with no UK base may have had more trouble. Still, it is Paul, and apart from goegraphical difficulties, there is a good deal (ha, ha) of mischief to tease out.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | GRAVES |
15 location’s endless wine (6)
|
| A subtraction: GRAVES[end] (’15 location’) minus END (‘endless’). | ||
| 4 | USURER |
Shark that’s more confident behind you (6)
|
| A charade of U (‘you’) plus SURER (‘more confident’), with the ‘shark’ being of the loan variety. | ||
| 9 | DEAL |
Wood somewhere in 15 (4)
|
| Double definition. | ||
| 10 | SEA CAPTAIN |
Indian fitting in, by the sound of it, as commander of vessel (3,7)
|
| Sounds something like (‘by the sound of it’) SIKH APT IN. | ||
| 11 | BARRIE |
Cheese sandwiches are cut for author (6)
|
| An envelope (‘sandwiches’) of ‘ar[e]’ minus its last letter (‘cut’) in BRIE (‘cheese’), for J M Barrie, best known for Peter Pan. | ||
| 12 | SCREENED |
Extremes of emotion in tedious passage, put on (8)
|
| An envelope (‘in’) of EN (‘extremes of EmotioN‘) in SCREED (‘tedious passage’). | ||
| 13 | MAIDSTONE |
Junk dominates 15 location (9)
|
| An anagram (‘jumk’) of ‘dominates’. | ||
| 15 | KENT |
Sibling separated from dysfunctional parent, finally understood (4)
|
| A charade of [bro]KEN (‘dysfunctional’) minus BRO (brother, ‘sibling separated’); plus T (‘parenT finally’). | ||
| 16 | MEMO |
Note echoing in some music (4)
|
| A hidden (‘in’) reversed (‘echoing’) answer in ‘sOME Music’. | ||
| 17 | TETRAGRAM |
River in 15 location, centre of Luton to the west — 15 or Beds, for example? (9)
|
| A reversal (‘to the west’) of an envelope (‘in’) of R (the first one, ‘river’) in MARGATE (‘somewhere in 15’) plus T (‘centre of LuTon’). KENT (’15’) AND ‘Beds’ both have 4 letters. | ||
| 21 | ABDOMENS |
Worryingly bad signs for corporations? (8)
|
| A charade of ABD, an anagram (‘worryingly’) of ‘bad’ plus OMENS (‘signs’). | ||
| 22 | VESTAL |
Pure underwear, half with skirts off (6)
|
| A charade of VEST (‘underwear’) plus ‘[h]al[f]’ minus its outer letters (‘with skirts off’). | ||
| 24 | KRYPTONITE |
Immigration of unknown number into 15 port, I gathered — is that feared by 15? (10)
|
| An envelope (‘immigration … into’) of Y (‘unknown number’) in KRPTONITE, an anagram (‘gathered’) of KENT (’15’) plus ‘port I’. The ’15’ in the definition is, for a change, Clark KENT, Superman. | ||
| 25 |
See 26
|
|
| 26, 25 | KEELED OVER |
University somewhere in 15 collapsed (6,4)
|
| A charade of KEELE (‘university’) plus DOVER (‘somewhere in 15’). | ||
| 27 | CANTER |
Run somewhere in 15, not somewhere in Greater Manchester (6)
|
| A subtraction: CANTER[bury] (‘somewhere in 15’) minus (‘not’) BURY (‘somewhere in Greater Manchester’). | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | GRENADA |
Rock garden overlooking a Caribbean location (7)
|
| An envelope (‘overlooking’) of ‘a’ in GRENDA, an anagram (‘rock’) of ‘garden’. | ||
| 2 | ABLER |
More skilful old wife has escaped a quickie, say (5)
|
| A subtraction: A B[ow]LER (‘a quickie, say’, with to bowl in the sense of move quickly) minus OW (‘old wife has ecaped’). | ||
| 3 | EASIEST |
Development of son I see, at least challenging (7)
|
| An anagram (‘development’) of S (‘son’) plus ‘i see at’. | ||
| 5 | STAIRS |
Flight where American girl leaves 15 location (6)
|
| A subtraction: [broad]STAIRS (in Kent, ’15 location’) minus BROAD (‘American girl leqaves’). | ||
| 6 | ROTTEN EGG |
Carnivore on rocky hill climbing over head of gazelle that stinks (6,3)
|
| A charade of ROTTEN EG, a reversal (‘climbing’ in a down light) of GENET (‘carnivore’) plus TOR (‘rocky hill’); plus G (‘head of Gazelle’). | ||
| 7 | RAIMENT |
Object breaks damaged threads (7)
|
| An envelope (‘breaks’) of AIM (‘object’) in RENT (‘damaged’). | ||
| 8 | PASSENGER SHIP |
Vessel with greenish fluid in hand on top of palm (9,4)
|
| An envelope (‘in’) of ENGER SHI, an anagram (‘fluid’) of ‘greenish’ in PASS (‘hand on’) plus P (‘top of Palm’). | ||
| 14 | DAMSON PIE |
Fruity dish from 13 taking piano instead of trombone, originally (6,3)
|
| An anagram (‘from’) of MAIDSTONE (’13’) with the T replaced by P (‘taking Piano instead of Trombone initially’). | ||
| 16 | MUBARAK |
In uprising, king, a queen and a poor old African leader (7)
|
| A reversal (‘uprising’ in a down light) of K (‘king’) plus ‘a’ plus R (‘queen’) plus ‘a’ plus BUM (‘poor’). | ||
| 18 | RIVIERA |
Coastal area: Mexican artist touring one (7)
|
| An envelope (‘touring’) of I (‘one’) in RIVERA (‘Mexican artist’; various, but probably Diego, muralist husband of Frida Kahlo) | ||
| 19 | AMATEUR |
Under a colleague, unctuous reprobate initially lay (7)
|
| A charade of ‘a’ plus MATE (‘colleague’) plus UR (‘Unctuous Reprobate initially’). | ||
| 20 | DEMOTE |
Journalist holding book up, lower in rank (6)
|
| A reversal (‘up’ in a down light) of an envelope (‘holding’) of TOME (‘book’) in ED (‘journalist’). | ||
| 23 | SPORT |
Game put on (5)
|
| Double definition (“he sported a new coat”). |
“… solvers with no UK base may have had more trouble.”
You ain’t kidding.
Paul’s puzzles always instill fear in me at first: fear I won’t get the gateway clue and will be stuck with a puzzle only half-solved. In this case I got it directly, however, which helped with all those (many) clues that referenced it. CANTER for example would have been impossible otherwise. Phew!
TETRAGRAM might be unfamiliar to some, but back when I did NLP, bigrams and trigrams were the currency, so that helped here.
I thought SPORT meant have on, rather than put on, but since the one leads to the other directly it’s close enough.
Thank you Peter O.
I don’t mind looking up GK to confirm wordplays and guesses, especially with place names. It gives a bit more of an ‘aha’ …. so that’s where we Antipodeans copied that from! I used to live near a little town called Gravesend, and it really was out in the Styx, probably well and truly buried by now.
Liked the critter ‘genet’, which I didn’t know. Wordplay told me there was a G in ROTTEN EGG, but took me a while to figure out where to put it, wasn’t expecting two.
AMATEUR tickled me. ABDOMENS for corporations is becoming a bit overdone.
As soon as I got KENT I thought we might see something like KRYPTONITE. Was there a ‘particular’ link there to ‘greenish fluid’ in 8D? Can’t say I enjoyed this, but helped to pass the time.
With minimal use of the check button I was amazed that I could complete this crossword given that I know so little about KENT. I felt like I was flying blind but somehow things fell into place. Clues like USURER, ABDOMENS, RAIMENT, and ABLER were worth my effort. Thanks to both.
Re 2d, did you know there’s a place in Kent called Old Wives Lees? I bet Paul knew. Thanks both.
Re 2d. YesMe2@5. No I didn’t. But you piqued my interest, looked it up and supposed history of the name. Beautiful place.
You’ve also led me back to PeterO’s blog for ABLER.
PeterO, I believe you’re not in the UK, and maybe the bowler is not familiar. A ‘quickie’ is the term for a fast bowler in cricket.
Ashamed to say I missed the parsing of 15 KENT. I know ‘ken’ as in ‘beyond our ken’, but don’t remember seeing the past participle and couldn’t think of ‘broken’ to get the first part. Got distracted by thinking it was an &lit reference to the character in King Lear, but he wasn’t a sibling, of course. But I’d arrived at 15 by way of 1 and then needed to check a map of the county for the other place names. Laughed when I finally saw 24. Thanks to Paul and to PeterO for the exemplary elucidation.
Not much to say except I was familiar with the place names but still had a look at the map to prompt me. That led me to notice that the boundary of Kent (at least as shown on google maps) looked a bit weird because of the ‘missing’ bit west of the Isle of Sheppey, but apparently it’s Medway, a “unitary authority” “independent of Kent County Council but still part of the ceremonial county of Kent”. Who knew?
Great fun!
Thanks Paul and PeterO
A bit tedious – not sure why I bothered to finish. Quite a lot unparsed.
EASIEST is the dreaded indirect anagram (though pretty obvious).
I do dislike clues like 6d. You aren’t going to say “carnivore – that’ll be GENET, then”.
I did like ABDOMENS.
Great fun as Deegee says, especially enjoyed KRYPTONITE, BARRIE, KEELE DOVER and CANTER(bury). I thought GARDEN (of England) might be in there, but it’s in the clue for 1d.
Agree with pdm @6 about the quickie, and like her didn’t know GENET. I was confused by thinking of French genêt = broom (the plant), which is where Plantagenet comes from.
I had MIMI instead of MEMO, which I think just about works. ‘From’ as an anagrind in 14d?? Hmm. Thanks Paul and Peter.
[Sorry muffin, I didn’t deliberately contradict you – your post wasn’t there when I started typing. I seem to be the antimuffin again today 😉 ]
Forgot to say – Paul managed to get Sandwich in there as well.
Enjoyed this, thanks Paul and PeterO. I’m almost always happy to see a Paul puzzle, with the possible exception of the recent porcelain one which I found too obscure. Knew just enough Kent isms for it to be OK to this transplanted antipodean. Kryptonite was def my favourite, started at the fodder for too long before the penny dropped but worth it!
Recently we’ve heard from people unfamiliar with Philup Larkin, and people who didn’t know the word ‘aubade’. On Radio 4 today, at 13.45, Simon Armitage looks at Larkin’s poem, Aubade.
Right, now to tackle today’s crossword…
[TimC @8
The Medway in Kent delineated whether your were a Maid of Kent or a Kentish Maid.]
A DNF for me because I had spoof for 23 dn. (well it’s a game and you can spoof someone if you trick them or ‘put on’.) but I should have got 27 across as I was in Bury only this weekend!
I make no secret of my admiration for and enjoyment of Paul’s crosswords. For me, they provide the satisfaction of completing (or nearly completing!) something that initially looks difficult or even insurmountable. Thanks Paul and PeterO.
Lots of fun but took forever to get TETRAGRAM. Loved KRYPTONITE; didn’t know VESTAL meant virginal. So are vestal virgins tautologous, poor things? Many thanks to Paul and PeterO.
Two tough ones on the trot, after yesterday’s puzzle. The clues ABLER, PASSENGER SHIP and RAIMENT were difficult, I thought. Thanks to PeterO and Paul.
Brilliant puzzle. Especially liked the interplay of MAIDSTONE and DAMSON PIE. I’m Intrigued by your comment, eb @13?
Ta Paul & PeterO
Well. I like a themed puzzle where the theme is in the solutions and it unfolds gradually (or sometimes doesn’t) for an ‘Aha!’ moment. But a themed puzzle where the theme is in the clues – not so much. My Kent knowledge is minimal but I don’t like to be beaten, so armed with a Wikipedia page, a dictionary, a thesaurus and by almost wearing out the Check button, I got there in the end. Quite a few remained unparsed until I got here though.
Another reason I found it hard was a surprising number of subtractions of word chunks, something of a blind spot of mine. A specific, if pedantic, quibble: for the subtraction in [broad]STAIRS I was initially looking for a word to remove ‘gal’ from, as the word ‘girl’ is in the clue, but ‘broad’ is US slang for a woman, not a girl. Well, I did say it was a pedantic quibble…
On the plus side: I liked the groanworthy homophone in SEA CAPTAIN, and the clever clueing in BARRIE, VESTAL and KEELED OVER.
I know it’s already been mentioned but clueing GENET simply as ‘carnivore’ was pure evil. Good job I already had enough crossers and the definition to work with.
Thanks to Paul for the mental workout and to PeterO for deciphering it!
AlanC @20 – “cheese sandwiches” in 11ac – it’s one of the reasons I liked the clue. (Sandwich in KENT – home to Royal St George’s – gave its name, via the 4th Earl of Sandwich, to the sandwich – I’m sure you knew that, but ‘solvers with no UK base’ might not 😉 )
Excellent, great fun! Genet – a new word for me…
Oh yes, I was looking for a hidden answer in the grid. Ta.
Paul is (was?) my favourite setter and this is the first I’ve failed at. I struggled through the previous porcelain one with the wordplay, but this one required theme knowledge for the construction. Some good clues nonetheless. Favourites were the non-themed ABLER and PASSENGER SHIP.
Thanks PeterO and Paul.
A major problem with this was the Byzantine construction of the key clue for KENT. I made no attempt to parse it after guessing it from DEAL. I wonder how many people solved it before getting an indication from a linked clue?
muffin @26: it was my second after MAIDSTONE but I had to come here for parsing. I thought it was an anagram of parent (dysfunctional) but couldn’t see where the k came from to replace par.
I am with Deegee and essexboy in finding this great fun, even though I spent too long on the wrong Kents (Lear character, author Kent Haruf) before cottoning on to the clever KRYPTONITE.
Muffin @26 – funnily enough I got KENT before any of the linked clues but not from the tortuous wordplay but because (a) I was pretty sure it ended in T (parenT, finally), (b) it needed to be a place (from the linked clues) and (c) a very lucky guess-and-check.
But I then stared at the clue for a few minutes before I back-parsed the [bro]-KEN thing.
I too would be impressed if anyone got it just from the clue!
Thinking of migrating here permanently after the generally very negative reception this got from the Guardian page – though I’ll need yet another avatar. I loved this, mainly because wordplay is what we’re here (there) for. I’ve now understood how 2 works – I was never that quick myself, though opening, and was looking for Pauline smut instead of cricket. As for those VESTALs: fierce old creatures I suspect, the Vesta part of their title just showing which cult paid for their sausages and fish sauce, not their abstention from dodgy practices. This was a whole hour’s entertainment, very enjoyable, so thank you Paul. In answer to muffin (26): that had to be a tough one, didn’t it? I got it from DEAL, but I don’t mind that.
[muffin @16 Thanks for the extra information. Being a ‘cloth cap’ from ‘oop North originally, I didn’t know this stuff. I wonder who in Google decided to draw the boundary of Kent that didn’t include the ceremonial part as opposed to the administrative part.]
I’m a big Paul fan, but this felt more of a duty than a joy to complete, I’m afraid.
I kept looking for the secondary Peter Pan theme (BARRIE, SEA CAPTAIN, KEELED)…
I did like ABDOMENS and classic Pauline wordplay at 2d though.
Thanks Paul and PeterO
Thanks for the blog, second great puzzle in a row , we are blessed. I skipped the clues with 15 in until I got to 15. Sibling is invariably bro or sis , so the word play gave me KENT. (sorry Muffin).
Dr. WhatsOn@2 SPORT in the sense of wear means to put on, I had SPOOF in mind until I came to put it in.
SCREED was in Azed recently so I had looked up that meaning.
DAMSON PIE my favourite of course, second only to whinberry pie normally.
[ AlanC @20 , congratulations on being the theme yesterday, maybe an Essex theme soon, lots of prisons no doubt ]
Roz @33
Congratulations on that!
I was determined to get the gateway clue early on. After getting ROTTEN EGG and RAIMENT, that left ?E?T with some suggestion in other clues of a place. I immediately thought of bro and sis for siblings, so I eventually put it all together.
The dodgy Sikh apt in gave me a smile. In 2d, I was thinking of blower for a long time, only seeing bowler (cricketer) towards the end.
Thanks Paul and PeterO.
[Roz @33: I knew you’d spot it 😉 ]
Not my cup of tea. Was tempted to walk away from this puzzle what with the interconnected clues 13 and 15 which is tedious rather than fun for me, especially not knowing much about places in Kent. Unlike many others, I did not find this enjoyable or fun.
Got 15ac KENT after solving/guessing 1ac GRAVES[end]. Opened a map of Kent on google to help with the rest.
Failed 27ac, 23d and I did not parse 2d apart from OW = old wife, 6d, 8d.
Liked ABDOMENS.
New: KEELE University, [broad]STAIRS for 5d.
Thanks, both.
This really was one of the very best daily cryptics I’ve seen in months, if not years. Many thanks! The only doubt is what it might have been like for a non-Brit, I suppose. In general, though, I think trying to be all things to all solvers can be more trouble than it’s worth. Araucaria often used to drag us into unfamiliar territory with themes he thought should interest us (Bunyan – and not just Pilgrim’s Progress! -was one that caused ructions, I remember.) It was nearly always worth the effort.
I think it was fair enough for non-Brits to refer to a map of KENT (15a was a tough clue but it was great when I cracked it!) 1a GRAVES and 27a CANTER were my favourite themed clues, although I did like the way Paul reinvented 13a MAIDSTONE into 14d DAMSON PIE (as AlanC@20 said). 21a ABDOMENS was also a lot of fun. I didn’t understand 10a SEA CAPTAIN OR 26/25a KEELED OVER, so I needed the blog. Thanks to Paul and PeterO.
Thanks to Peter and Paul: the saintly pair.
I rarely comment but always read others’ input; it’s a great forum.
My longest solving time for months – over 2hrs without straying from my seat. Also my favourite puzzle for a long time.
Every single struggle ended with a groan; but all were at myself for being dull rather than the setter. Brilliant crossword.
[Roz @33, re Essex-themed puzzles – does 31 May 2011 feature in your extensive records?]
Not wild about Indian = SIKH – was this jarring for anyone else?
[eb @41
I searched for it – the blog is here. Before I found this site!]
MrEssexboy I will check my diary later, I vaguely remember , think it was Paul , possibly the BRA IN TREE clue ????
27a my LOI, which required geographical knowledge of both Kent and Greater Manchester – *groan*. Yes, for a non-resident of the UK, this was very obscure.
[muffin/Roz – yes, that’s the fella. The puzzle is here, if anyone would like to give it a go before revealing the answers. Looking through the blog, I see that one commenter thought the BRA IN… device was getting a bit ‘old hat’! They preferred the &lit ‘Bust down reason?’ (9) ]
9a gave me the clue to KENT, then apart from the various towns that were all familiar to me, I was on the lookout for Clark of the same surname…
Not too tricky and welcome after yesterday’s mind bender.
Thanks Paul and Peter.
essexboy @22 – overseas solvers may well be familiar with Sandwich as its the home of Royal St.Georges, a common venue for the Open Championship.
Oops sorry, just reread your post!
[EB@46 I have found it, how did you get it in the first place? It would have taken me a while to find this without the year. “Bust down reason” is an old Azed prize winning entry clue. We recently had BRA IN STORM . ]
HYD@47, on a winning streak now against Paul , perseverance is the key.
Thanks to Paul for his very entertaining puzzle, with creative cross references that kept us guessing all the way through. I now now much more knowledgeable about KENT than I was before.
Thx also to PeterO for his usual excellent blog.
Ah, Geoff Down Under @1, this U.K. solver found it tricky too!
At least I solved rather more than with yesterday’s. And I did like those I did.
As a Kentishman as opposed to a Man of Kent this was pretty straightforward. In case anyone doesn’t know the difference I was born at Tunbridge Wells West of the Medway. The other lot are Kentishmen. Thought the Superman diversion was excellent. Surprise Paul didn’t include Coxheath, Bat and Ball or Brasted. Thanks for an excellent blog
Greenish liquid in 1d led me to put in ABSINTHE! The -A-S-N-H fitted and led me to doubt my sanity and fail to recognise the normal (in this context) meaning of liquid . Paul at his most tortuous. Aussies must have found this hard.
Thought Ken (+parent finally) and Barbie were siblings. ……Hate these tricksy Paul puzzles (loathed his recent prize). Shame because there were some pretty clues (e.g 13a, 14d)
[Roz @50: the lingerie-related clue stuck in my mind for some reason. Then it was just a matter of googling “fifteensquared Braintree nesting cups” – though without the quotation marks of course.]
[Oleg @55: the real Ken and Barbie were siblings, but the dolls aren’t – or else this video would be even more disturbing than it already is. In 2004 it was announced that Barbie and Ken “feel the need to spend some quality time… apart”, but that they would “remain friends”. The break-up lasted 7 years.]
[ EB@56 I remembered the Braintree clue as well , but have just checked and it was the first clue. Paul’s first ever answer was KNICKERS, I remember it live on the day, quite unusual for the Guardian then. ]
Muffin@26 I was one of those, surprisingly, but I’ll “chalk” it up to a moment of inspiration rather than anything else.
Roz@33 it’s a very fine distinction I’ll admit, but I still think SPORT refers to what you do after the item has been put on. “Why don’t you sport the blue shirt?” doesn’t really work for me, but ymmv.
Sorry Dr.W I misinterpreted your earlier comment , I thought you were using ” have on ” in the sense of make fun of, not in the sense of wearing. It is because I initially was thinking of SPOOF in the sense of put on. ( spoof also a gambling game) .
Your distinction seems valid to me.
Roz n.p.
Roz @50 – thanks, all of a sudden Paul does not seem quite so scary, though getting KENT early made a big difference, especially as I used to live there.
Vlad on the other hand…
HYD@61, Vlad was much easier for a while, I said so and people were very sceptical saying I had just got used to him. His last three or four have seen him return to his earlier style and I am very glad. There should be room for the occasional very tough puzzle. If he defeats you it is good for the soul and one day you will get your revenge.
Hermano @63
I frequently get the impression that Paul had more fun setting a puzzle than I did solving it….
Hermano @63: I’m dumbfounded by your comment…
KENT was first one in, once I saw the references to 15. Still a difficult puzzle, I don’t know my Kent geography, been to only half the places. But also wordplay pretty hard. I don’t think 3d is an indirect anagram as mentioned above. All letters are clearly visible in the clue, so the abbreviation is legit. I worry more about including things like that is = ie in anagram fodder. I thought there were some nice surfaces today, despite the cross referencing
AlanC@65. I get Hermano, some find it frustrating to have a puzzle based on GK. is “15 location” an exciting thing to read in a clue? A valid opinion.
Hermano @63: Don’t all setters show “witty cleverness?” Isn’t that what makes these crosswords worth doing?
Dutch @55
I SEE AT is visible, but then you have to get S from “son”. Not difficult, I agree, but still indirect.
I don’t know how 66 came out as 55 – fat fingers!
Sorry, but that was no fun for an American who has never set foot in Kent 🙁
I did get most of the clues not related to 15 but that didn’t cover a whole lot.
And PASSENGER SHIP was fiendishly good!
Muffin @69, Dutch @66 – this has made me doubt my own understanding of the definition of an indirect anagram! I didn’t really consider this ‘indirect’ for the addition on a single letter that was (albeit as an abbreviation) there in the clue itself.
On the other hand, I set a clue in a puzzle this week where an anagram required a C to be parsed from the word ‘about’, and someone raised the “indirect anagram!” yellow card. I conceded on that one because ‘about’ doesn’t contain the letter C. But the S in ‘son’ is there in plain sight.
Maybe my definition of where to draw the line is just mine! It’s complicated, isn’t it? 🙂
Rob T @72
It’s indirect because the ON of SON aren’t part of the anagram fodder. A pedantic quibble, and not difficult, but it still isn’t quite kosher.
@73 – fair point, I understand technically why it is indirect – although I do see this kind of anagram fodder now and again, especially with the tricksier Guardian setters. I guess I’m now differentiating between ‘fair’ and ‘unfair’ indirect anagrams! Which is, of course, entirely subjective…
A kind friend tipped me off to try this one, and at last, this evening, I found time to tackle it. I solved about eight clues before needing to crack 15a in order to make further progress.
As a Kent dweller (hence the tip-off), I enjoyed solving KENT itself and all except one of the clues that referred to it. I missed out (needlessly) on KEELED OVER.
I also left a few other clues unsolved at the end, and I regret now not having given more time and thought to ABDOMENS before giving up. It was a very good clue.
Thanks to Paul and PeterO.
I took 17A to be shout out to our friend the Sheffield Hatter. As for 19D I am not sure that “lay” for AMATEUR is ecclesiastically correct. And the 13A anagram is splendid: “dominates” for the unprepossessing MAIDSTONE.
Rob@74, see blog for Everyman 3898 for the beginning of the indirect anagram wars.
Even though I enjoyed the month of September as a young man in the late1960’s hop picking in a village close by 13across, 15across, there was too much Paul trickery for me to complete this today. Thought KEELED OVER was fun, amongst several others…
Thanks PeterO, though I agree with paddymelon@6 about the quickie- took me a while to get past the more salacious alternative, helped by events at Lord’s. I also spent time trying an anagram of “SONISEE” so I sympathise with the indirect objections though I think first letter substitutions appear fairly often. Oddthat while I have never visited any of the towns featured today it was Keele, where a few school friends studied, that took longest to click. Anyway some very clever and witty clues, thanks Paul.
Roz @77 – Aha! Interesting… My immediate reaction is (a) that particular one falls into the category of ‘unfair indirect’ for me, and (b) it definitely didn’t belong in an Everyman!
I do maintain however that a single, accessibly identifiable letter in an indirect anagram is fine in puzzles not specifically aimed at beginners / developers.
I took Ken to be the sibling of Barbie so didn’t understand the parsing!
Andrew Tyndall@76
You’re right about “lay”. It means lacking a qualification. Lay clerks in the C of E are lay because they haven’t taken holy orders but they are paid and so are not amateurs.
Rob T @80. I think most commenters on here would agree that “a single, accessibly identifiable letter in an indirect anagram is fine” – muffin is a standout exception, and even he has said (a couple of times) that the clue is easy enough to solve. His quibble seems to be that ‘son’=S added to the anagrist makes it against the rules. But the fact of the matter is that there are no rules. There is only an expectation among solvers that the setters will be fair, of which setters are well aware. I don’t think Paul was in the least bit unfair in his cluing of EASIEST.
[Andrew @76. A clue last week had my birthplace (Brighton) and now there’s one with my football team, as you kindly pointed out. I don’t think this constitutes a theme, though. 🙂 ]
I was enjoying the solve but my brain turned to concrete with half a dozen still to go. I put the Guardian down and read a book for an hour or two, picked up the crossword again and solved the last six (including GRAVES(end) and CANTER(bury)) in about two minutes. Isn’t it weird how the brain works?
Thanks to Paul and to PeterO.
For those who can’t find Friday’s offering yet, try this
https://crosswords-static.guim.co.uk/gdn.cryptic.20220819.pdf
Rob@80 a single or even double letter is fine as long as the letters for the anagram are actually in the clue. son=s king=k street=st helium=He…..
Bringing in new letters by substitution deserves a frown or even a Paddington stare
about=c one=i or a copper =cu …..
Provoked resistance (8,7)
If you’re looking for today’s cryptic which is nowhere to be seen on app or website, see my comment @163 in General Discussion
Well, I TRIED to persevere, since I enjoyed the last Paul, but have to have a life sometime. Finally did a reveal on 15, which helped a little bit, but not enough.
I parsed 2d as A BL[ow]ER, assuming a slang word for a quickie. Glad to know there was a cleaner version.
Enjoyed reading about Kent on Wikipedia — may try to visit if I get back to the UK.
I did know about the Duke of Sandwich, but not where Sandwich was.
roz — I had to look up whinberry,
which I see is a kind of blueberry and they do make delicious pies.
Never had a plum pie, however.
essexboy @22. We should be relieved that the original Earl, John Montagu, was unsuccessful in seeking his preferred title, the Earl of Portsmouth. We have Charles II to thank that we don’t eat Portsmouths.
[Thanks Claret @89.
“Why can’t you starve on the beach?”
“Because of the portsmouths there.”
Yep, doesn’t work. Good old Charlie.]
@84
The normal interactive online version is also now available: https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/28840#6-down
Can the placeholder post now be removed? It is now inapplicable and can’t be corrected as the comments are disabled. It would be a pity to put people off solving an excellent Brendan crossword!
khayyam @84 apologies I didn’t notice your post when I commented @86.
Herb@91 there is a post, kenmac @ 95, on Site Feedback re comments on placeholders.
MrEssexboy@90 it will take me a long time to get over that comment.
Calgal @88 the true whinberry is very small, very purple and very hard to pick with no commercial market, it does freeze well and we always have whinberry pie on Boxing Day.
It has many local names, probably bilberry is the most used , also whortleberry.
[Roz@93, if whinberries are what I know as bilberries, they are delicious. Much better than blueberries which I think are really bland in comparison]
[I think blueberries have been bred to be bigger and sweeter and easier to pick, they are grown commercially in large quantities. Whin bushes will only grow in very specific locations and the season is very short , no commercial potential so still in the wild. It is a bit like damsons, they are very small with a huge stone but delicious. Other plum varieties have been bred for commercial sale. ]
[In my youth when I lived in Sheffield we used to pick them on the hillsides in the Peak District]
[ They tend to grow high up, poor soil, acidic, peat based moorland is best. If you find a good patch do not tell anyone and visit every July ]
Another struggle for me. I got Kent but only from the definition, and had to use the check feature because I wasn’t convinced. Never seen Corporation for Abdomen
Very late here but as a storms whistles around here, this was fine entertainment.
I really must try more Pauline grids (I’m more familiar with Mudd) – this was an absolute corker.
SEA CAPTAIN, KRYPTONITE and, as Julie in Australia says, the reinterpretation of MAIDSTONE to give DAMSON PIE were my picks. [Roz, your whinberry pie sounds delicious].
No problem with ‘genet’ in the amusing ROTTEN EGG, nor with the Kent locations but spent an age on my LOI, TETRAGRAM which was a forehead-slapping moment.
Don’t understand why the volume of comments differs so much for Paul/Mudd but I appreciated this very much indeed.
Thanks too to PeterO.