A typical Paul puzzle…
…or maybe a little gentler than normal? I haven’t solved a Paul puzzle in a while, and my memory of doing so is that it takes an inordinate amount of time for me to get onto his wavelength. I didn’t have as much trouble as usual this morning, at least not with the solutions. Parsing on the other hand… after I’d completed the grid, I had four answers where I could see bits of the parsing, but not all of it, then I saw BE could equal STAND, so TIBER was ticked off, then I abandoned my efforts to make INITIALLY an &lit. and the parsing became clear immmediately. That left me with OFFLOADING that came to me with fresh eyes, and GOO-GOO EYES, the last piece of the puzzle. There were some fantastic clues in here, especially those for HYMENOPTERA, the topical CONSPIRACY THEORIES, the very clever CHAPERONE and SOPHOCLES. I’m not convinced of “coloured” as an anagram indicator in the clue for GRACE NOTE, however.
Thanks Paul
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | DOGGONE |
Cursed setter has been sacked? (7)
|
| DOG (“setter?”) has GONE (“been sacked”) | ||
| 5 |
See 2 Down
|
|
| 9 | SERIF |
Line of text, one penned by hand (5)
|
| I (one) penned by SERF (“hand”) | ||
| 10 | GRACE NOTE |
Orange etc, coloured ornament (5,4)
|
| *(orange etc) [anag:coloured] | ||
| 11 | GOO-GOO EYES |
Love with sentimental parts melts away in amorous glance (3-3,4)
|
| O (love, in tennis) + GOOEY (“sentimental”) parts GOES (“melts away”) | ||
| 12 | PUPA |
Developing bug, a youngster recovered (4)
|
| <=(A PUP) (“a youngster”, recovered) | ||
| 14 | DISCORDANCE |
Awful noise, rear of car in bump, say? (11)
|
| [rear of] (ca)R in DISCO DANCE (“bump, say”) | ||
| 18 | HYMENOPTERA |
Workers choose time to stick on wings of honey bees, say (11)
|
| MEN (“workers”) + OPT (“choose”) + ERA (“time”) to stick on [wings of] H(one)Y | ||
| 21 | OMSK |
Old European capital’s forgotten in Russian city (4)
|
| O (old) + M(in)SK (“European capital” with IN forgotten) | ||
| 22, 16 | CONSPIRACYTHEORIES |
Trumped-up ideas he fed to right-wingers behind the very same crime (10,8)
|
| HE fed to TORIES (“right-wingers”) behind CONS (Conservatives, so “the very same” as Tories) + PIRACY (“crime”) | ||
| 25 | INITIALLY |
Therein I associate first (9)
|
| IN IT (“therin”) + I + ALLY (“associate”) | ||
| 26 | TIBER |
I stand on capital in Rome, passing Tuscany originally? (5)
|
| I + BE (“stand” as in “let it be”, maybe) on [capital in] R(ome), passing T(uscany) [originally] and &lit.
The Tiber does indeed pass through Tuscany on its way to Rome. |
||
| 27 | SIGNALS |
Clues where vernacular is reversed (7)
|
| <=(SLANG (“vernacular”) + IS, reversed) | ||
| 28 | ORCHARD |
Field where ring found by English king having lost one (7)
|
| O (ring) found by R(i)CHARD (“English king”, having lost I (one) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | DOSAGE |
Fix something herbal – how much of that? (6)
|
| DO (“fix”) + SAGE (“something herbal”) | ||
| 2, 5 | GIRTONCOLLEGE |
Cambridge institution let girl go, once trained (6,7)
|
| *(let girl go once) [anag:trained]
Girton College was the first all girls’ college in Cambridge. |
||
| 3 | OFFLOADING |
Removing cargo, and I stumbled in where it’s easy to fall? (10)
|
| *(and i) [anag:stumbled] in OFF LOG (“where it’s easy to fall”) | ||
| 4 | EAGLE |
Odds slashed in bet as golfer, result of chipping in, perhaps? (5)
|
| [odds slashed in] (b)E(t) A(s) G(o)L(f)E(r) | ||
| 5 | CHAPERONE |
Someone offering accompaniment – with soloist’s ‘Tea for Two’? (9)
|
| CHA PER ONE (“tea for one person”) might well be the “soloist’s ‘Tea for Two'” | ||
| 6 | LEEK |
Vegetable shiny, top rubbed off (4)
|
| [top rubbed off] (s)LEEK (“shiny”) | ||
| 7 | ELOQUENT |
Articulate what requires translation in note left out (8)
|
| QUE (“what” requires translation (to Spanish, eg) in *(note l) [anag:out] where L is left. | ||
| 8 | ELEVATED |
High up, European victory secured (8)
|
| ELATED (“up”) with E (European) + V (victory) secured | ||
| 13 | IDEALISTIC |
Panglossian contract is sealed by it, I see (10)
|
| DEAL (“contract”) + IS sealed by IT + I + C (see) | ||
| 15 | SOPHOCLES |
Tragedian chooses half of play for adaptation (9)
|
| *(chooses pl) [anag:for adaptation] where PL is [half of] PL(ay) | ||
| 16 |
See 22 Across
|
|
| 17 | SMASHING |
Make notes about crush, divine (8)
|
| SING (“make notes”) about MASH (“crush”) | ||
| 19 | LAMBDA |
Foreign character, meat certainly for Putin (6)
|
| LAMB (“meat”) + DA (yes in Russian, so “certainly for Putin”) | ||
| 20 | HYBRID |
Cross near top of hill erected, clear below (6)
|
| <=(BY (“near”) + [top of] H(ill), erected) + RID (“clear”) | ||
| 23 | SAY-SO |
For instance, very green light (3-2)
|
| SAY (“for instance”) + SO (“very”) | ||
| 24 | DIVA |
Princess, vain, in storming off? (4)
|
| (Princess) DI + VA(in) with IN stoming off and &lit. |
Thank you loonapick and Paul. I needed of help with parsing GOO-GOO EYES and TIBER. Some very ingenious cluing. I really liked OFFLOADING, CONSPIRACY, THEORIES, HYMENOPTERA, CHAPERONE INITIALLY, SLANG IS and SOPHOCLES.
Just one minor point, for HYBRID you need to add RID = clear to the definition
Me @1, that should have said SIGNALS.
At last, my Russian ‘O’ level is needed! Thanks for clearing a few things up, loonapick
DNF for me. My fault for being not very smart.
But loved chaperone.
@ loonapick, In 20d you forgot to add clear below = rid.
Pauline in Brum @1, we crossed. Sorry.
My top faves: DOGGONE, TIBER, OFFLOADING and DIVA.
Good puzzle as well as a neat blog.
Thanks Paul and loonapick.
Thank, Pauline in Brum@1
I’ve now amended the blog.
As usual with Paul, a long time starting (I didn’t get anything before EAGLE at 4d) and slow going, but rewarding.
I had problems parsing GOO-GOO EYES, and my political geography is out of date: I had forgotten that Minsk is now a European capital, so failed to parse OMSK. DIVA and the CONSPIRACY (though not the THEORIES) also gave me trouble, but I did eventually remember that the Bump was a DISCO(r)DANCE.
Likes: HYMENOPTERA, INITIALLY, ORCHARD for the deceptive way that “one” does not refer back to “ring”, OFFLOADING for the easy thing to fall from, CHAPERONE, DOSAGE (Paul does enjoy the many possible meanings of DO, doesn’t he).
Paul’s usually require a bit of extra stamina, but I managed today’s, albeit rather slowly. HYMENOPTERA was unknown, and there were a couple I had to come here to parse.
Very Pauly puzzle, in the best and worst senses. Some really lovely cluing, esp CONSPIRACY THEORIES, HYMENOPTERA and CHAPERONE. But I’m not entirely delighted by what appear to be some slightly iffy synonyms – not convinced by DIVA, for instance. And I agree with loonapick that ‘coloured’ is a perplexing anagrind. The only way I could make sense of it was if you extrapolate from ‘coloured’ to ‘mixed race’, which would be a deeply unpleasant connotation. But I trust that’s not the way Paul’s mind was working. Anyway, thanks to Paul for the challenge and to loonapick for expert unpicking.
GRACE NOTE
I vaguely remember that ‘biased’ and ‘prejudiced’ have been used as anagrinds in the past.
Coloured in this sense might as well work as an anagrind.
KVa@10, that’s a far preferable interpretation, thank you!
10A – Collins has for coloured ‘having a strong element of fiction or fantasy, distorted’ so, although I find it dodgy, too, it is justifiable as an anagram indicator. He has a highly coloured view of the situation, for example.
Loved it and disappointed when it was all over – didn’t want the fun to stop. Unlike some setters where the feeling is one of relief (yes I’m looking at you Enigmatist)
Top ticks for CONSPIRACY THEORIES, OFFLOADING & CHAPERONE
Less reverse-parsing than normal for me with Paul
BTW Chambers has “to disguise, misrepresent, distort” for colour so it seems fine as an anagrind?
Cheers P&L
Only solved a few in the top half last night, so approached this again, expecting to be soundly defeated. However, it wasn’t too bad once I worked out the nho HYMENOPTERA and went on from there. Pauline @1 has covered all my favourites and I would add DOGGONE, EAGLE and the lovely GIRTON COLLEGE. I had no problem with coloured as an anagrind. Another brilliant offering.
Ta Paul & loonapick.
Tough and tricky in parts. I had most trouble in the bottom half. Then again, I am never on Paul’s wavelength.
It was unpleasant to see both Putin and Trump referenced in this puzzle, not the setter’s fault of course, just a sad coincidence.
I could not parse 11ac, 21ac, 3d.
Favourite: ELOQUENT.
New for me: HYMENOPTERA, OMSK.
As is so often with Paul, the apparently impossible slowly becomes clear, though a few required some chewy parsing post hoc. Loved “signals”, “girton college” and “hymenoptera” (especially having just checked on my bees yesterday while mowing round the hives). Even when a clue is not fully &lit there’s often a hint at the solution within the wordplay, which I find highly admirable.
I find solving Paul’s puzzles a little like watching my South African astronomer friend observing the moon – she first turns her head sideways, then nearly fully upside down before making sense of it…
Many thanks Paul and loonapick.
Struggled my way through this – on reflection after completion – rather excellent Paul puzzle. With last one in HYBRID. As usual there were several I couldn’t parse, SAY-SO was one of these. Thought HYMENOPTERA particularly fine. (Looking forward to those bees fizzing in the flowerheads in my small back garden soon). Completed only the top half early this morning before returning after a good night’s sleep and spotting SOPHOCLES straight away. Remembering a quite awful, leaden version of the Orestes character in Electra I played when a student at college back in the very early Seventies.
Many thanks Paul and Loonapick today…
Great puzzle. I also thought there was a very nice nod to Bosworth Field in 28ac, whether intended or not, where Richard III did indeed lose one quite badly.
Crispy @3
Happily my classical Greek O-level comes in handy almost every time the word ‘character’ appears in a clue!
One of the most enjoyable Paul puzzles in a long time for me. Loonapick has identified the stand-out clues and Larry and others have convinced me that coloured is ok as an anagrind.
Very enjoyable and a few grins along the way, particularly with DISCORDANCE (showing my age perhaps) and CHAPERONE. I didn’t see a problem with ‘coloured’ as an anagrind.
After a poor Quiptic on Sunday it has been an excellent week, thanks to Ludwig, Philistine and Paul. More please!
Thanks to Paul and Loonapick
26a (TIBER) makes no sense to me as an &lit. Do rivers stand?
I thought this was Paul’s best puzzle in a long while. He does sail a bit close to the wind in a few places, as already mentioned, but I am happy to forgive this as there are some excellent constructions (as ever) and surfaces (not always his strong point!) here. And no cross-references or dubious homophones and mercifully few split entries 🙂
A lot of ticks for me, including GIRTON COLLEGE (great surface), DISCORDANCE (cleverly concise), CHAPERONE, HYMENOPTERA, TIBER, CONSPIRACY THEORIES (with the reference to He Who Must Not Be Named).
OMSK was my LOI – clever little clue, retro-parsed.
Thanks to Paul and loonapick
A Friday puzzle on Wednesday, but an enjoyable struggle.
I also ‘blanched’ somewhat at ‘coloured’ as an anagrind, although it looks like there is some justification above. I thought GIRTON COLLEGE was a good anagram with a relevant surface, DISCORDANCE, where awful was not an anagrind and CONSPIRACY THEORIES where ‘trumped-up’ was also not an anagrind. Additionally, I liked the wordplays of EAGLE, ELOQUENT with what translated, and IDEALISTIC. OMSK was also a clever one.
Thanks Paul and loonapick.
Cannot do this one as it does not appear on my Browser at all.
My first Paul completion for ages – it was so encouraging to find our blogger has been having the same trouble! OMSK was LOI and I thought it was a removal of T from TOMSK but that didn’t quite fit.
I’d love CONSPIRACY THEORIES to be reframed as CONSPIRACY MYTHS. The present formulation is unfair to the rigour of scientific practice. That said, myths often speak to eternal truths too, which a con theory has never done.
When I saw Paul was the setter, I nearly didn’t bother but actually I found it more approachable than usual. A fair few went in just from definitions; ‘Trumped-up ideas’ was enough in itself to give me CONSPIRACY THEORIES and I saw GIRTON COLLEGE, CHAPERONE and SOPHOCLES with no thoughts of the parsing. I didn’t finish but managed most of it with the help of crossers and figuring out parsing on some of the easier ones such as LEEK. There have been some Paul cryptics when I haven’t found a single answer so it’s progress.
Did it on Edge (horrible browser). A write in for me.
Agree with loonapick that this was typically Pauline – answers going in reasonably quickly with parsing to follow later (or not in the case of CONSPIRACY THEORIES where I just thought that conspiracy is a case where many are involved in the same crime). SOPHOCLES, HYBRID, ORCHARD and DISCORDANCE were my favourites among a large number of choice clues. Thanks Paul and loonapick
For those who enjoyed the recent Enigmatist there is an IO puzzle in the FT today . Not easy but much friendlier including the grid . It was 2/9 as hard for me .
I did O level Latin, and A level French and German but no Greek or Russian. I’ve learned a few words of those from doing crosswords but still get a bit peeved when foreign languages feature. It’s not quite General Knowledge when other languages seldom feature, except the occasional “el” in Spanish perhaps. There are very few English speakers who have studied Greek these days.
Usual gratitude to the blogger for enlightening me.
Norfolk Dumpling@31 – I did Latin and French ‘A’ level and, like Crispy@3, took Russian ‘O’ level (I remember almost nothing of the latter) but Greek and Spanish seem to feature often. I know nothing much of those beyond a few letter names in Greek so it can be a barrier.
The usual Paul for me: nothing but OMSK to show after the first pass through the Across clues. Then some friendly anagrams yielded (I never fret over the validity of an anagrind indicator). And then slowly, with the help of the crossers, the rest filled itself in, with lots of aid from a helpful grid.
As usual with Paul, I could not raise the will to go back and parse several of the clues, especially the long ones. And after reading the blog, I would not have figured out CONSPIRACY THEORIES if I had stared at it until Easter.
As far as foreign words go, I don’t feel it’s unfair GK to use common words for Yes, No, Of, or articles (el, la, le, der, die, das, etc.) nor words for one (ein, un, uno, …) in languages routinely taught in school or spoken by major neighboring countries. Knowing one word of Russian (“da”) is also not too steep an ask; I would aver that anybody who has ever watched a Hollywood movie with a Russian character has encountered this word.
And surely nobody of a certain age can be unfamiliar with the Spanish “¿que?”.
And since these words are largely used as a small part of a charade, they are not roadblocks in an otherwise well-clued definition.
It’s certainly no more unfair than the common usage of flora, fauna, or musical terminology, which are often unfamiliar answers to many of us, not merely part of the construction.
Norfolk Dumpling @31: You don’t have to be a Hellenist to recognise Greek letters. Practically all of them are used somewhere or other in mathematics and science. And ‘que’ may be familiar from Fawlty Towers 🙂 I would have thought that ‘da’ and ‘niet’ are reasonably well known.
Thank you to all who responded to my post. I now agree with you Ace@34 and Gervase@35. I am suitably ashamed.
Gervase@35: Exactly – I studied no Latin or Greek at school, and only French to O level. I learned all my Greek letters from science and maths and had to pick up smatterings of foreign languages later in life. I consider clues which include them perfectly fair, just are ones which require basic GCSE science knowledge, which often get complaints. I’m really grateful that our setters do not rely on knowledge of popular modern culture after about 1975 though – that would be beyond the pale!
At the age of twelve as preparation for sitting the entrance exam to a prestigious London day school I was force fed classical Greek for about a month by our Latin teacher. Despite this form of torture I only managed one mark out of fifty in that particular exam, but somehow still got a place. However, the Ancient Greek Alphabet is indelibly forever etched in my memory bank, and still gives me a head start with the Crytics whenever clues like 19d today appear…
Slow solve for me, unlike Gervase@23 OMSK was one of the few answers I actually managed to pro-parse (antero-parse?), the vast majority were retro-parsed, but I enjoyed it all the same. Did anyone else waste time removing ‘melts’ from ‘sentimental’ in 11ac? Thanks P&L
Thanks for the blog , at last no theme and very little little out of order , only 5 Ac .
Really good set of clues , DISCORDANCE and SOPHOCLES very neat .
Surely this meaning of coloured is just from quantum chromodynamics ?
Thanks for the examples, Ace@34. I haven’t been doing crosswords long enough to have these words in mind but I’ll add them to my mental list along with the knowledge that cheese is always Brie and princesses are usually Di!
[JoFT @37: Unlike you, I did study Latin to O level. At least two years of it were obligatory at my (state) grammar school – a hangover from when the O level qualification was mandatory for Oxbridge entrance. No Greek, however. And like you, I have many lacunae (Latin 🙂 ) concerning modern popular culture]
After yesterday’s yawnfare, what a joy to encounter Paul today. Even better, as so unexpectedly on a Wednesday, which may explain the beginning of loonapick’s preamble. I hadn’t myself thought of it as gentler than usual; apart from SOPHOCLES (which was a write-in, I had the S!), there was much pen-sucking and pondering to enjoy…
OFFLOADING made me smile and DISCORDANCE was a delight, as was CHAPERONE. As for the semi&lit. CONSPIRACY THEORIES – well, just bloody lovely. Each one of these could vie for a place in Top Ten clues so far this year! And there were more – HYMENOPTERA, GIRTON COLLEGE. None has complained about his surfaces today! And so often they intertwine with the solution – and what about the stunning DIVA for an &lit to be relished…. my mouth waters still! As I repeatedly say here – how does he keep on doing it?!
Yup! Our Paul – what a crosswordsmith he is … we are truly fortunate to be solving in the age of Halpern!
So huge thanks as ever – and to the brilliant, generous loonapick for another perfect blog
Most solvers have learned at least some of the Greek alphabet one way or another – and it’s readily accessible in reference sources if you haven’t. Quantum chromodynamics, on the other hand…
I would agree with those who have been saying that you shouldn’t need O-level for the articles or some numbers in those few mentioned languages, or any letter in the Greek alphabet, or dare I say even the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet (aleph). They do crop up in cryptics, as well as technical fields and even everyday life.
I spent a few pleasant nights in GIRTON COLLEGE in the early 70’s, so that was fun. Also liked CHAPERONE, HYMENOPTERA, SOPHOCLES. Got OMSK from the enumeration; got but was puzzled by TIBER.
[Roz@30 – many thanks for the signposting; I’m a touch ambivalent when it comes to E, sometimes enjoying the solve and other times I’m as bodycheetah@13. But, come Sunday – should I feel the need – I’ll know exactly where to go …. while no doubt silently thanking you again!]
I usually save the quiptic for the day Paul is on. Finished that too soon so gave P a go. As expected, a bit of a struggle but unexpectedly finished. Not much fun and a lot unparsed.
Roz@40: How could I have forgotten quantum chromodynamics? 😉
Late to this. I actually started quickly and surprised myself by finishing the top half on the first run through. Second half was not as easy. Like loonapick, I completed the grid with some unparsed clues and then called it a day with a couple still to go
Liked FOI DOG GONE, DISCORDANCE, CONSPIRACY THEORIES, and SOPHOCLES. I really did not like one or two clues, but they have been covered well above
All in all, enjoyable with a couple of frowns. Thanks Paul and loonapick
10a – Chambers does give DISTORTED as a definition of COLOURED But strangely no Thesauri I could find had COLOURED in it. Though PIGMENTED,HUED etc are legitimate synonyms IMHO.
Very late today but just wanted to share my praise for some brilliant clueing.
OFFLOADING, DISCORDANCE, CONSPIRACY THEORIES, INITIALLY and SOPHOCLES were my favourites.
Thanks Paul and loonapick
Thanks for the hints. Stratospherically above my level.
This felt easier for me than I normally find Paul. Maybe because GIRTON COLLEGE was a bit of a gimme from the definition and enumeration which helped me off to a confident start. Loads of great clues here of which CHAPERONE and SOPHOCLES were my standouts.
As with every Paul puzzle; it was a mighty slog, and as always, I had to come here for the parsing even after I’d filled in everything (thanks, loonapick).
Too much for me; I just can’t get on the same wavelength…
If you do know Classical Greek, it can be a big help with obscure words. I can still manage to read Homer and Plato, and so I am not bamboozled by words like Hymenoptera.
This was the first Paul puzzle I’ve managed to complete in a while, and I’m glad he’s cut down on the crosss-references, which always make his puzzles annoying.
Roz@40 I rather doubt it. But thanks for letting us know that you know about it.
I solved 7 and a half clues, which is 6 and a half more than I’ve ever managed with a Paul puzzle. Solving just two made me ask “is this an easier Paul than usual, or am I just improving?” Sadly, judging by some of the comments, it appears to be the former.
A curious thing…. Normally I work through the Cryptic with my morning cup of tea. Today I was late for my art group so skipped my routine. Started this Paul early afternoon and struggled, really struggled. Took some daylight before I broke through. Wondered about morning routine and so on. And wondered if others have had a similar experience.
Mind you, a good midweek from Paul, thank you, and to loonapick for helping to unravelling some things for my tired brain
I enjoyed this puzzle enormously. It was just the right level of difficulty for me: every so often, I would feel completely stuck, and then a clue would fall and open up new avenues.
I didn’t like “coloured” as an anagrind, but I guess you all have convinced me.
I am familiar with a fair number of Cambridge colleges, but not with GIRTON. But it seemed clear that the clue was an anagram and the second word was COLLEGE, so it had to be something like that.
There were lots of clues to like, such as DISCORDANCE, HYMENOPTERA, and OFFLOADING, but first place for me has to go to CONSPIRACY THEORIES.
10a re GRACE NOTE as ‘coloured ornament’: thinking of coloratura made ‘coloured’ seem more apt an anagrind. But I’m no musicologist, nor can I hold a candle to the many quantum chromodynamicists on here…
I usually enjoy Paul’s puzzles and this one was no different. I had no problem with Coloured as an anagram indicator in the sense of colouring your thinking meaning influencing your thinking.
I took my first look at this last night after preparing for Cyclone Alfred which is on its way slowly to Brisbane and couldn’t solve a single clue. Tried again this morning and did very much better. Spent longer than I should have with GIRTON COLLEGE and guessed COLLEGE quite quickly but didn’t think of GIRTON until much later. My excuse is that I went to Newnham – not exactly a good one.
Chargehand @57 , I agree about routine , it is the same for me in the week , on the train home holding a pen or I cannnot concentrate . It could be the time of day as well , I am much faster on the two days I finish earlier .
As Greg@59, saw 10a GRACE NOTE as one produced in Coloratura, making “coloured” the perfect anagram indicator.
[Saw the picture on Sunday in the RCM’s tiny museum.]
My usual level of success with Paul i.e. zero solved. 🙁
This my first post here so I hope the regulars will not hesitate to let me know if this is an appropriate comment or irrelevant nitpicking.
Re 12a: bug is used loosely and colloquially (especially in America) to refer to any insect, or indeed other arthropods. More precisely, it is the general term for insects of the order Hemiptera. The point here is that Hemiptera have incomplete metamorphosis: the nymph hatches from the egg looking a bit like the adult, and becomes more so with each successive moult. There is no pupal phase.
A more entomologicaly precise clue would have been to use a general term for an insect order with complete metamorphosis, and therefore a pupal stage. Examples would be fly, beetle, butterfly or, indeed, any of the Hymenoptera (wasps, bees, ants, sawflies), the latter of course allowing for a cross clue reference (is that the correct term?)
As I said may just be nitpicking. However it did hold me up as I think of and use ‘bug’ in the more precise sense outlined above, and therefore struggled to come up with pupa.
David. I don’t know if “nitpicking” was intentional or not. Generally speaking, we get a lot of nitpicking in the comments. In this specific instance “bug” is probably the best word to use as it allows the setter to try to mislead the solver by hinting at bug as a virus or disease. Besides, if, in general parlance, bug and insect are pretty much interchangeable, it’s fine by me.
Roz@40 was having fun with her reference to quantum chromodynamics, but some of those who reacted to that comment don’t seem to have realized this.
… (I ran out of time editing) I meant to add that my favourite clue was 2,5, Girton College for the very apposite surface. My wife liked it too, as she lived in Girton for ten years back in the last century.
Thanks Paul for the excellent puzzle, and Loonapick for the equally fine blog.
Nice Puzzle. Omsk from Minsk reminded me of Tom Lehrer’s ode (?) to where a verse goes::
When his work is done
Haha, begins the fun
From Dnepropetrovsk to Petropavlovsk
By way of Iliysk and Novorossiysk
To Alexandrovsk to Akmolinsk
To Tomsk to Omsk to Pinsk to Minsk
To me the new will run.
Thanks both
Ode to Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky
First completion of a Paul with no asterisk! All correct and parsed. About halfway through I was expecting to post that I got halfway through, but I persisted, and little by little the dominos fell. Very pleased with myself, even if it’s considered gentler!
I love a good dose of humour in clues, so my favourite was CHA PER ONE as a counterpart to “tea for two” — very funny!
I also like musical references, so GRACE NOTE also gets a tick