This is now three Paul puzzles in a row on my blogging days this month…
…and with a different kind of theme this time: "sandwiches" appearing in every across clue as a containment indicator (and in one down clue but not indicating containment).
My favourites were 1ac, 5dn, and 7dn. Thanks to Paul.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | GARDENER |
Fish sandwiches Frenchman scoffing heading for Dieppe – worker at Versailles, perhaps? (8)
|
|
definition refers to a possible worker at the Gardens of Versailles GAR="Fish" around RENE=René="Frenchman" which itself goes around ("scoffing") the head letter of D-[ieppe] |
||
| 6 | ENAMEL |
Fish sandwiches geezer rejected – for the hard stuff! (6)
|
|
EEL="Fish" around MAN="geezer" reversed/"rejected" |
||
| 9 | CALLOW |
Raw beef sandwiches the lot of them! (6)
|
|
definition: "Raw" meaning 'inexperienced' COW="beef" around ALL="the lot of them" |
||
| 10 | COST CARD |
Fish sandwiches brilliant, a hundred bagged in record of US expenditure (4,4)
|
|
definition: a US term for a record of costs of production COD="Fish" around STAR="brilliant", with C=Roman numeral for "a hundred" bagged inside |
||
| 11 | MUTTERING |
Turkey sandwiches interchanged with starter of tofu, complaining under one’s breath (9)
|
|
MUG=a stupid person, a fool="Turkey", around (inter t)* "interchanged" becomes 'inter' changed (indicating an anagram) with the starting letter of t-[ofu] |
||
| 13 | BRINE |
Cheese sandwiches new for pickler (5)
|
|
BRIE="Cheese" around N (new) |
||
| 15 | DULLED |
Lacklustre turkey sandwiches left, loathsome in the extreme (6)
|
|
DUD="turkey" around: L (left) + the extreme/outer letters of L-[oathesom]-E |
||
| 17 | WIDGET |
Chicken sandwiches in deli glimpsed, first of all, in small device (6)
|
|
WET=ineffectual, lacking strength of character="Chicken" in the sense of 'cowardly'; around "first" letters "of all" of I-[n] D-[eli] G-[limpsed] |
||
| 19 | DOTING |
Tender sausage sandwiches put in container (6)
|
|
DOG as in 'hot dog'="sausage", around TIN as a verb="put [food] in container" |
||
| 20 | NICEST |
Most delicious egg sandwiches dry when turned over (6)
|
|
NIT="egg" of a louse, around SEC="dry" (describing wine) reversed/"turned over" |
||
| 22 | RANGY |
Thin fish sandwiches no good (5)
|
|
RAY="fish" around NG (short for "no good", e.g. describing a bad take while filming) |
||
| 24 | PAPILLARY |
Bacon sandwiches upright on nipples (9)
|
|
definition: relating to ("on") nipples PAY="Bacon" (as in 'to bring home the bacon'='to earn pay'), around PILLAR="upright" as a noun |
||
| 27 | MONTANAN |
Beef sandwiches ending in bin, brown – in some state (8)
|
|
definition refers to the US "state" of Montana MOAN="Beef" meaning a complaint, around: ending of [bi]-N + TAN="brown" |
||
| 28 | HAPPEN |
Chicken sandwiches program – result! (6)
|
|
HEN="Chicken" around APP (application, on digital devices)="program" |
||
| 30 | POWDER |
Grind beef sandwiches down, initially (6)
|
|
definition: POWDER as a verb meaning to pulverise, to reduce to powder POWER="beef" around initial letter of D-[own] |
||
| 31 | PIDDLING |
Tiny ham sandwiches demolished on vacation, nothing brought back (8)
|
|
PIG="ham" around: D-[emolishe]-D vacated of its inner letters ("on vacation") + NIL="nothing" reversed/"brought back" |
||
| DOWN | ||
| 2 | AGA |
Lid off epic cooker (3)
|
|
[s]-AGA="epic" with its top letter ("lid") taken "off" |
||
| 3 | DELFT |
Fifty pocketed in masterful pots (5)
|
|
definition refers to Delft pottery [wiki] L="Fifty" in Roman numerals, inside DEFT="masterful" |
||
| 4 | NEW ORLEANS |
Information about gold hard to come by in US city (3,7)
|
|
NEWS="Information" around: OR="gold" (in heraldry) + LEAN=lacking in quantity="hard to come by"t |
||
| 5 | RACINE |
Blood banks popular for tragedian (6)
|
|
definition refers to Jean Racine, the French tragedian [wiki] RACE="Blood" around/"banks" IN="popular" |
||
| 6 | EAST |
Sandwiches primarily in snack – way to go! (4)
|
|
first/primary letter of S-[andwiches] in EAT="snack" |
||
| 7 | ARCHROGUE |
Care taken with rough criminal, egregious scamp (9)
|
|
anagram/"criminal" of (Care rough)* |
||
| 8 | EFRON |
US actor somewhat sullen, or fed up (5)
|
|
definition refers to Zac Efron the American actor [wiki] hidden in ("somewhat"): [sulle]-N OR FE-[d], reversed/"up" |
||
| 12 | UNDID |
Unopened store I had opened (5)
|
|
definition: past tense of 'undo' which can mean to open [f]-UND="store" without its opening letter + I'D=contraction of "I had" |
||
| 14 | DIMINISHED |
At a lower level, dark in one ditch (10)
|
|
DIM="dark" + IN (direct from surface) + I="one" + SHED=discarded="ditched" |
||
| 16 | LITIGATED |
Was an arsonist I confined to school charged? (9)
|
|
LIT=started a fire="Was an arsonist" + I (direct from surface) + GATED="confined to school" ('gating' is used as a punishment for schoolchildren) |
||
| 18 | TATER |
Veggie given to Dick if a tyrant is heard? (5)
|
|
if combined with "Dick" to make 'dick-tater', would sound like 'dictator'="tyrant" |
||
| 21 | CATNAP |
Better clothes soldier sent over for the rest (6)
|
|
CAP=to surpass="Better" around/"clothes" ANT="soldier" reversed/"sent over" |
||
| 23 | A GO-GO |
A journey repeated plenty of times (1,2-2)
|
|
A (from surface) + GO="journey", repeated |
||
| 25 | LAPEL |
Part of shirt seen in mirror, two lines either side (5)
|
|
APE=copy, impersonate="mirror", with L (line) on either side |
||
| 26 | ONER |
The wrong way round, Queen on pound note (4)
|
|
definition: slang, also written as 'one-er' for a one-pound note ER (Elizabeth Regina)="Queen" and ON (from surface), but with ON going before ER (the wrong way round) |
||
| 29 | EON |
‘Time’ as ‘Tim’ turned up? (3)
|
|
reversal/"turned up" of NO E 'Tim' is 'Time' with no e |
I found these clues hard to read after yesterday’s puzzle by Arachne. Also I am rarely/never on Paul’s wavelength.
I failed to solve 6ac and 6,7d and I didn’t parse 20ac.
New for me: COST CARD, beef=POWER.
Thanks Paul and manehi
I often ask myself why I bother with Paul’s puzzles. I nearly threw this one away when I used a wordfinder for COST CARD, which was a NHO. Another one of his that was probably more fun to set than solve.
How does “result” equate with HAPPEN? They seem to be different parts of speech.
I did like ENAMEL.
I am not a great fan of making clues more difficult by using loose definitions like mug for turkey, pay for bacon and pots for Delft. Montana for in some state looked curious too. I enjoyed it all the same.
This was interesting, but once I got my head around the format of the clues and the shadow theme of meats various, it didn’t take me much longer than yesterday’s Arachne.
Michelle@1 – beef as in give it more beef / power / Welly.
Thank you to manehi and Paul.
Didn’t parse MUTTERING, but now find it one of the best. Most enjoyable with the reminders of the Christmas leftovers still cluttering the kitchen!
Thanks Paul and manehi
Muffin @2: result can be a verb, and I think the intended usage is as in “If you do that, you can’t be sure what will result”.
Muffin @2 I did equate result and happen, but to put them both in a sentence, I think you need the verb forms – it happened / resulted in a draw. And I struggle to get them in the present tense unless I go pure Yorkshire dialect.
And crossed with Quirister saying the same thing, but better.
I consumed Paul’s sandwiches with some relish – lots of fun to be had here. MUTTERING and LITIGATED were highlights.
Enjoyable puzzle which I found quite tricky – there are a lot of less obvious synonyms in the charades. Some very good surfaces here.
‘Worker at Versailles, perhaps’ is an extremely tangential definition for GARDENER (nice construction though).
Favourites: ENAMEL, DULLED, MONTANAN, PIDDLING, NEW ORLEANS.
The revamped Guardian app no longer gives the pseudonym of the setter. I thought this might have been Brendan, given the pervasiveness of the theme and the better than usual (for Paul 🙂 ) surfaces….
Thanks to Paul and manehi
Papillary got me! I had mamillary, partly parsed from Mary (Bacon, the actress) as a sandwich, but the rest was a guess. Nice puzzle, I don’t understand the negativity towards Paul.
As someone on the G thread said, a good theme device for the post-Christmas leftovers. Glad there was a variety of fillings and not all fish, because there’s hundreds of the little buggers, and i only remember gar and eel. Watching the Test, didn’t linger long enough to get Dick tater, d’oh! Good fun though, ta Paul and manehi.
Thanks Quirister and Shanne
Shanne@4 – thanks for explaining, I had not thought of ‘beef as in give it more beef / power / Welly.‘ Your comment did make me smile because my father was often called Welly as his name was Wellington 🙂
I didn’t find the puzzle hard to complete, but I didn’t see the wordplay for 23D or 29D. Also, I’m from the states, spent a career in business, and never heard the expression Cost Card. Don’t blame that one on us. Otherwise, fun solve—thanks Paul!
Only POWDER and ONER held out until a revisit after a break for more sleep (I generally solve during an insomnia period between 3 and 4). I barely remembered ONER (as in fiver and tenner), perhaps not surprisingly given that we have had pound coins rather than notes for around 40 years. I enjoyed this once I had adjusted to Paul’s characteristically oblique thinking. Beef sandwiches here at Balfour Towers will not be available until January 2nd, reflecting the greater prominence generally afforded to New Year in Scottish culture.
Always happy to see Paul’s our puzzler for the day. I enjoyed this a lot (I like sandwiches).
I’m not sure about the LAPEL/shirt connection (more of a jacket feature I thought: shirts have collars) but I don’t mind.
Thanks for the jolly romp, Paul and manehi
What a wonderful, diverse range of setters we have. I enjoyed this partly because it was different from other crosswords. If we had ‘themes’ all the time, I would complain. Equally, if we didn’t get quirky crosswords, such as Paul’s today, our pastime would be more dull. Thanks Paul for the entertainment and thanks manehi for the clear explanations.
In the parallel universe of Crosswordland there are ARCHROGUES bluing ONERs on MONTANAN COST CARDS. It is always delightful to spend an hour in their confusing company if only for the opportunity to luxuriate in MUTTERING.
I’m another with a partially parsed mamillary!
I didn’t find the ‘sandwiches’ as irritating as some on the G’s own site. An amusing device as a one-off and certainly appropriate for the time of year. The def for GARDENER might be somewhat tangential as Gervase observes but it did give me my FOI and it was def the def that got me there. RANGY, PIDDLING and DIMINISHED were my podium today. LIT = ‘was an arsonist’ seems a tad harsh and I am surprised Paul chose to define LAPEL with reference to a shirt; I’m afraid I display my sartorial ineptitude in not having ever encountered that and I’m not finding Mr Google particularly helpful on the subject.
Thanks Paul and manehi
Simon Hingley@10. Funny about that; I don”t understand the positivity.
Nonetheless, best wishes to all.
I usually like Paul but today I feel like I just don’t understand anything.
Delightful. EON was very cute. COST CARD rang the vaguest of bells but was gettable from the wordplay
Took ages to get pay=bacon
Cheers M&P
Bodycheetah @22
You say that COST CARD was gettable from the wordplay, but surely “brilliant” has several more obvious meanings than STAR? It was impenetrable to me as I had never heard of the answer – as I said earlier, I needed a wordsearch.
Not my thing, this one. Good to see that others have enjoyed it but this side of Paul I just find very difficult to get on with.
No particular gripes here from me with regard to the cluing, but the theme wasn’t my thing. COST CARD was gettable from the crossers…I had no problem with STAR as brilliant.
At first, I thought this was going to be a write in. The north slotted into place very quickly, but the south took a lot more thought.
Thanks Paul & manehi.
I kept looking for sandwiches not being a containment indicator, subs or rolls maybe. I thought I was being very clever putting doner round the “d” for down to get “donder” which I discovered meant thrash, instead of POWDER, but then I remembered that the Turkish kebab is lamb rather than beef.
A gentle Paul, I thought. I see NICEST reappeared, this time avoiding the controversy aroused by Imogen’s recent, rather ‘Paul-esque’ wordplay.
I really enjoyed the sandwiches! Perfect timing for post Christmas leftovers (my comment, so I can repeat it). The only one I hadn’t parsed was EON – it’s good.
Favourites in the buffet included GARDENER, MUTTERING, PAPILLARY, PIDDLING.
Of the down clues, RACINE and DIMINISHED.
Thanks Paul and manehi
I parsed EON the other way round (“turned up”), namely, “Tim” is “time” with NO E, though I wasn’t fully sure of it.
Well, I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Paul is my favourite setter. But that is perhaps because I have a fondness for cross-referential clues which he unusually didn’t employ today. He always raises a chuckle and today gave a few. Cheers Paul and Manehi.
The whole sandwiches thing completely confused me. I got 2d and 23d then started revealing answers which enabled me to guess some with crossers and definitions. However, I think this is the first cryptic since I started with the first Quick Cryptic, whenever that was, that I have failed to understand many of the answers without coming here for explanations. For me, horrible.
muffin @2 I’m very much of the same mind. At this point I should take my own advice and quietly pass by on the other side of the street when I see that Paul is the setter, leaving the game to those who love his style. Matters of taste etc.
As for COST CARD I have lived in the US for thirty years and have never come across this term, even though I worked in contexts where it should have come up.
muffin@2: I agree. A dispiriting and tedious repetition of the same device. I gave up after about a third of the way through, not because it was especially hard but because I couldn’t be bothered. Also nho COST CARD, whatever that is.
I didn’t like 25D at all.
Not only do I not associate lapels with a shirt, the phrase “two lines either side” is confusing. At first I thought this meant there were four lines, but I rejected this because it’s a 5-letter answer. What would one line either side mean? It surely can’t mean the same. Why not one line each side? Or a line on both sides? I thought it was a clumsy clue.
But with a few reservations about loose definitions, I enjoyed the puzzle.
Good clean, gentle fun, how could you not like it?
Ta Paul & manehi.
SomeoneNamedGeof @16 , et al: I guessed LAPEL for 25d, having worked out that it started and ended with L, but discounted it because I thought it referred to a jacket rather than a shirt. In the end, I revealed it and was a bit miffed to see I had been right all along! I should have seen the APE in the middle, meaning to copy or mirror.
Thanks Paul for the puzzle & manehi for the clear explanations
SomeoneNamedGeof @16 , et al: I guessed LAPEL for 25d, having worked out that it started and ended with L, but discounted it because I thought it referred to a jacket rather than a shirt. In the end, I revealed it and was a bit miffed to see I had been right all along! I should have seen the APE in the middle, meaning to copy or mirror.
Thanks Paul for the puzzle & manehi for the clear explanations
I always find a particular sense of satisfaction in solving a Paul, so I am definitely on the Paul-ophile side of this divide.
Had a few unparsed here–am I the only person who figured “upright is PI in Grauniad cryptics, so somehow bacon must be PALLARY”? Also tried to work out how “egg” could be TIN.
Like Jay@14 and Jacob@32 I am an American who’s never heard COST CARD; it seems as though “standard cost card” Is a technical term in accounting.
Enjoyed the sandwiches, thanks Paul and manehi!
I thought this was great fun. The post-Christmas sandwiches hit the right spot for me, if not to everyone’s taste. I rather liked GARDENER, UTTERING and TATER made me smile. My favourite was EON – a lovely clue.
I wonder if anyone has more familiarity with COST CARD than BC @22 ‘rang the vaguest of bells’?
Many thanks to Paul and manehi.
Paul … and I finished it! Yey!!!! That doesn’t happen often.
Enjoyed it – the best crosswords are the ones you can do (wink).
I love Paul’s crosswords, as I’ve said before his themes (today’s seasonal one being a perfect example) give the composition a symphonic feel, and the atonality in his surfaces is IMO a bonus, a welcome contrast to the smooth-surfaced tonal medleys we are used to. I’m guessing he’s a ‘setter’s setter’ and would be interested to hear from other setters if this is so
Did not enjoy this at all. Missed EON. COST CARD a fill in. Never heard of it, though I’ve lived in the States for fifty years. Too many tenuous definitions and I generally don’t like puzzles where I have to search my memory through the many names of fish, animals etc. to try to find the right one.
For the remaining doubters – Here’s a handy video of how to make a LAPEL collar shirt
There do seem to be a lot of complaints about Paul not using the most obvious synonyms / definitions today. Isn’t that to be expected in a cryptic crossword?
Cost Card – you need to be ab accountant, preferably a management or cost accountant, to have come across cost cards. Before computers they were very common in manufacturing and service privision.
I thought this was well-balanced, in a peculiar sort of way. The help given by the repeated “sandwiches” device compensated for Pauls typical indirect-but-ultimately-just-fine synonyms.
Nho COST CARD. Onelook.com only finds 2 dictionaries that have it, as opposed to the usual dozens, so that should say something.
Great fun from Paul, not his trickiest or funniest, but an amusing theme and well constructed.
NEW ORLEANS was my favourite.
Thanks Paul and manehi
I was optimistic that I was now on Paul’s wavelength after finishing his last puzzle but after making a quick start (I seem to be one of the few who got COST CARD early – helped by cod being the first fish I try) I hit a brick wall. Enjoyed the clues I did get though.
Thanks to the blog which explained what I was missing. A DNF but since last month I found this setter impenetrable, I will take it as a small victory.
I’m another Paul fan. I usually finish, despite often finding few on initial pass of across clues. But bit by bit it falls into place, with ingenious clueing enjoyed en route. Thank you Paul and Manehi.
Paul is clearly a marmite setter. I find it very difficult to get onto his wavelength, the often tortuous and tangential parsing looks over contrived to me.
Thanks both and an enjoyable entertainment in the small hours last night.
I decided long ago that I had better tune in to Paul – he’s not going away (I hope). For those who don’t relish quirky invention there are lots of setters (and in this parish they would mostly be based in the FT) who are more ‘traditional’ while affording a splendid challenge. But for me life is enriched by the likes of Paul and Boatman who have a healthy disregard for well-trodden convention and discard the shoe-horn of linearity in favour of risk and riff. (That being said I am reconciled to being often beaten by Paul.)
MUTTERING was cute.
As I worked through this I thought this was not typical of Paul until I got to 31across. Then I knew it was Mr H! Bit of a struggle especially 1a gardener. As usual some very clever cluing. Thanks for a super blog.
On rereading, it’s a pretty clever gridfill to find all the required synonyms for sandwich fillers, but it left Paul backed into a corner with the COST CARD. But it’s findable in Collins, so OK by me.
Good fun. I concur with Alphalpha @51’s take on Paul. More outside the box than other setters and more enjoyable/challenging for that reason.
And a topical Nina for cricket fans down under??
Many thanks, Paul and manehi.
I read this most days if only to complete puzzles and understand solutions which have escaped me. I limit my solving to 30 minutes per day – other priorities. I too rejoice when I re the puzzle has been set by off- beat setters – Paul being the current mater in that respect. I try though to accept that the Guardian readership and solving community must be inclusive of all or at least many approaches to the crossword art/craft. Keep the variety and welcome it!!
I read this site most days if only to complete puzzles and understand solutions which have escaped me. I limit my solving to 30 minutes per day – other priorities. I too rejoice when I see the puzzle has been set by off- beat setters – Paul being the current master in that respect. I try though to accept that the Guardian readership and solving community must be inclusive of all or at least many approaches to the crossword art/craft. Keep the variety and welcome it!!
Bodycheetah @44: Quite right – that’s what cryptics are all about. I commented that the unusual synonyms made the puzzle somewhat harder than it might otherwise have been, but that wasn’t a complaint, and I enjoyed the challenge. Paul was ingenious in finding words for sandwich ingredients which had other connotations to fit the wordplay. And I relished the absence of split entries and cross-references!
Don’t do Paul puzzles, but always enjoy reading the blog with all the diverse opinions.
Didn’t much enjoy this, and struggled throughout. On revealing far too many I thought the tiddler EON was my favourite clue today…
Paul I begin to understand, does not humor us. His code is different. He plays chess, trying to push beyond tired cluing patterns. The laughter is more godlike, having fun about our puny efforts and challenging us to do more!
Doesn’t it drive people crazy that the Guardian Cryptic, Everman, Quiptic, and Prize, which all used to come at midnight (7pm here in New York), now come when somebody feels like it. It’s now 7:31 pm and no Prize. It used to be one of life’s joys, just below doing the puzzles, that the puzzles dependably came at the same time every time. Somebody new in charge? I don’t know, but could we get them back on schedule?
DZ@60 I know what you mean. Those who speak Unix will understand me if I say all it takes is a cron job. There must be equivalents for other platforms.
Daniel Z – I share your exasperation, but I have a feeling that we are not going to get a fresh Prize this weekend. Perhaps we are all supposed still to be tearing our hair out over Maskarade’s offering last Saturday, although personally, not being in possession of a printer, my coiffure has suffered no resultant damage.
Today’s pdf
Daniel Z @60 – this should be in General Discussion, but the current Maskarade prize is open until 6 January, so no blog until then.
Generally, Guardian bloggers don’t get the puzzles until midnight at this time of year when we’re on GMT, 1am in summer on BST. For us to get a blog up, we have to solve the puzzle and then blog it. If we’re in the UK, the earliest we can get them out is an hour after that assuming an easy puzzle and use of the utility. I solved the Quick Cryptic at midnight but it took me until 2am to get the blog up (not a long solve, but no utility program for that blog). And for bloggers in the UK, who are properly asleep in the wee small hours, who start when they wake up at say 7am and immediately blog gets a crossword blog published at 8am. Some bloggers are in different time zones, so publish earlier or later.
[Shanne@64, I believe Daniel Z is referring to the availability of the puzzles on the Guardian site rather than the appearance of the blogs. At least that’s how I read the comment. I’m sure no criticism of bloggers was intended to whom we are all grateful.]
[Jay @65 – then I’m not sure why Daniel Z is complaining here. I assumed the complaint had to be about the blogging as FifteenSquared has no jurisdiction over the Guardian – when and where it publishes its crossword puzzles or its editorial policy on crosswords. Fifteensquared can only deal with the blogs.
As I’m pretty sure that the Guardian crossword editor doesn’t read these blogs, surely complaints about the Guardian crosswords should go to the Guardian?]
Thank you to Jay @63! My Saturday morning is now complete.
This crossword provided some ideal diversionary activity, which was preferable to the list of chores. The sandwich theme took a bit of getting used to; it was helpful to read in the blog that they were ACROSS only. Managed to solve around three-quarters with a lot of guesswork and googling. The real tricky bit, and an education, was the use of some hitherto unknown slang or not!
I think my problem with some of these clues is not the complex word play but the lack of a plausible surface meaning. I mean “Veggie given to Dick if a tyrant is heard?” What image is that supposed to conjure up? A vegetable-hating ogre is approaching the group and and only Dick can hide the marrow in time? I mean, possible, but not your every day situation, I submit.
Jay@63: where did you get this, for future reference?
[poc@70, I changed the url from an earlier cryptic pdf to use today’s date. Simple trick but surprising how often it often works.]
Jay@71: Of course. Thanks.
Thanks Jay!
Old Quacksalver@69: See mine@51 – Paul has long since abandoned the stricture of coherent surfaces (although his surfaces are not uniformly opaque); it perhaps allows him the (welcome) capacity to be as prolific as he is. I think of it as akin to the difference between ‘applied’ and ‘pure’ maths. It’s always enjoyable to have clever surfaces but it’s not necessary for the composition of a good puzzle imho.
I don’t believe the braggers who said it was easy.
You can add me to the list of Americans who’ve never heard of the term COST CARD, but I managed to get the clue somehow.
I don’t think I know how to use the expression “a go-go” properly. Can anyone give an example where it’s used to mean “plenty of times”?
Ted@76 Collins has
à gogo
as much as one likes; galore
amusement arcades and fish-and-chip shops à gogo
I was getting ready to post my first ever completion of a Paul when the check button showed one letter wrong, the first of PAPILLARY. I had CAPILLARY, one definition of which is “A tube with a very small internal diameter.”, CAY as a spelling of the letter K, standing for Kevin (Bacon). Since no one will post after me and put me straight, I claim this as a valid answer to the clue, giving me a successful completion of the puzzle!
Unlike some others, I loved the sandwich trick, and loved the variety of meats Paul was able to use. Funny that the meat is usually inside the sandwich instead of outside!
Old Quacksalver@69 I also look for a good surface reading. My test is, if I were to read the clue aloud to someone, would they take it to be a good/clever/amusing/meaningful clue?