Guardian Cryptic 29,641 by Paul

91 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 29,641 by Paul”

1. Ta for the prompt blog. I pronounce the S in 16D unvoiced, which discombobulates the Spoonerism. Am I alone in this?

2. Thanks S & P

   Incisor IN ((with it) and IS inserted (cutting) COR (well)

3. Thanks S & P

   Incisor IN ((with it) and IS inserted (cutting) COR (well)

4. You haven’t parsed INCISOR. I make it IN (with it) + IS inside (cutting) COR (well!)

   Sorry, @2 and @3, we crossed. Slow fingers.

5. Thanks for the early blog. I couldn’t parse INCISOR otherwise all straightforward. As a Northwesterner myself, I liked ALASKA

6. Yes Me @ 1: I have a different problem with FRUCTOSE – despite being a Southerner, I’ve always pronounced it with a long Northern U – frooctose – so the Spoonerism is a bit off for me, too, though I did get it.

   My head is still ringing from the almighty clang when the penny finally dropped on the def for PIGLETS. Also enjoyed SHRINK WRAPPED, INCOMING, RIVEN and WORKING MOTHER. Thanks Paul and Shanne.

7. Thanks Shanne. The double application of “oddly” in TRUE BLUE is indicated by “both” in the clue, not just the question mark.

8. Really enjoyed this. Had no problem with FRUCTOSE (though I myself would pronounce it “frook-toce”) or with ALASKA, which made me laugh rather more than is seemly over breakfast. Thanks Paul, and thanks Shanne

9. DuncT @7 My reading of 3D is that “both” is not performing any function in the wordplay that is not also performed by “and”, and that it is just padding for the surface. It seems to me that “oddly” is serving just as an alternate letters selector, and that the anagram indication is provided by the question mark. Minimalist, yes, but probably not without precedent.

10. 16d. For a non-Liverpudlian reference , I draw your attention to ‘Delaware’, sung by Peri Como (and myself as a lad).
    https://genius.com/Perry-como-delaware-lyrics
    Oh, where has Oregon, boy, where as Ora gone?
    If you want Alaska, I’ll ask her where she’s gone

11. Probably my fastest-ever solve of a Paul and a few giggles along the way – SHRINK WRAPPED and ALASKA for example. It was all over too soon! Thanks Paul and Shanne.

12. I enjoyed this. Too many favourites to list but PIGLETS made me laugh out loud when the penny dropped. Thanks to Paul and Shanne.

13. Perry Como.

14. Loved piglets. (Maybe unsurprisingly, I believe that’s the first time I’ve ever used that short phrase).

15. Yes i thought Alaska would cue that song, Myrvin @10. I went Why did Calla phone ya … Alaska.

16. Gleaming. Lots of laughs everywhere especially PIGLETS and SHRINK-WRAPPED. I parsed INCISOR as others, and thought there was a nice link between SCHOOL RUN and WORKING MOTHER. Myrvin @13: I noticed the reference to Perry Como on your entry on the G thread, without understanding it. Having googled it, that will be a song I will never play again 😉 Other favourites were TRUE BLUE, WANNABE, FRUCTOSE and AGAPANTHUS.

    Ta Paul & Shanne for a great blog.

17. Tricky, tough puzzle.

    I could not parse 6d – never heard of the Cavern Club; 9d.

    Favourites: MACCHIATO, NAIL, RIVEN.

    Myrvin@13 I have heard of Perry Como but I don’t know any of his songs. It’s a little bit before my time.

18. PIGLETS was brilliant, but all enjoyable.
    michelle@17 – the reason a 1960s Liverpool club is well-known to many people is that it is famously where the Beatles started their rise to global popularity.
    Thanks Paul and Shanne

19. I wish I had managed not to have a certain triumphant maga-cap wearer in my mind for 24 A.

20. beaulieu@18 – thanks for the info on Cavern Club. I know the Beatles but didn’t know that is where they played. I think that the first two records I ever bought were Let it Be and Abbey Road – I bought them in the mid-1970s after the group had already broken up.

21. I agree with DuncT@7 and thought the dual use of “oddly” indicated by “both” was brilliant. Also double-ticks for SHRINK WRAPPED, PIGLETS and RIVEN

    Cheers S&P

22. What did Delaware, boys? What did Delaware? She wore a brand New Jersey, etc

23. I think Paul was being generous in adding the question mark for 3d. “blues oddly and louse oddly” and “both blues and louse, oddly” say exactly the same thing. I might have left the comma out, maybe it is needed if a grammar purist. Or perhaps having a single word in a sentence meaning two things at the same time is ungrammatical? A clever clue.

24. After Dela in DELTA and ALASKA I searched in vain for more Perry Como references. The song is full of Paul type homophones.

25. Eventually defeated by the NW corner, as I couldn’t for the life of me get SHRINK WRAPPED, which would have unlocked things, if I’m not talking at cross purposes. But admired the deception of those I reluctantly had to reveal – THESPIAN in particular. I imagine there might have been groans amongst solvers at ALASKA, but it made me chuckle. Liked PIGLETS too, once I had realised how I was meant to pronounce S.O.W…

26. Perry Como’s ‘Delaware’ song was written in 1959 and marked the acquisition of Hawaii and Alaska as the 49th and 50th states, both of which get a mention. Is someone in Trumpton preparing an updated version which includes Canada and Greenland, I wonder… Some testing rhymes and soudalikes if so.

27. Ah, the joys of “sounds like”. To me – Lancastrian not Liverpudlian – Alaska is close enough to “I’ll ask her” that I was left wondering what the reference to the Cavern club was doing there.

28. Yes me @1 16D doesn’t work for me either as a Spoonerism, but for a different reason. Biochemists normally pronounce “fructose” with the first syllable rhyming with “rook” rather than with “ruck” so it doesn’t rhyme with tuck (unless you are in Yorkshire).

29. Thanks to Paul and Shanne.
    For 9D I parsed MOTHER as (Th (for Thousand) and More)*, with perhaps ‘for’ as the anagrind indicator.

30. Much to enjoy here, with a lot of entertaining wordplay. TRUE BLUE is clever, with the double meaning of ‘oddly’ (I also agree with DuncT @7). SHRINK-WRAPPED has an amusing construction but the surface could have been much less wordy. ALASKA is an very old chestnut, rather over-elaborated here. Why the Liverpool reference? The pun more or less works in any non-rhotic accent, without any characteristic Scouse vowels (Shugger Ploom Furry qv 🙂 ). On the other hand, I pronounce FRUCTOSE such that the Spoonerism works perfectly; this is the first pronunciation listed by Wiktionary for the UK but not the US, where it suggests the S Is unvoiced.

    I felt life was too short to parse WORKING MOTHER, but I liked the definition.

    I’ll also go for WANNABE, AGAPANTHUS, PIGLETS and RIVEN as my pick of the day.

    Thanks to Paul and Shanne

31. My first thought for ALASKA was NEVADA aka “never da(d)” – seemed plausible until it wasn’t 🙂

32. Hornbeam @29 – M is a thousand in Roman numerals, and checking Chambers for more, the definition gives: greater number or quantity; greater in size or importance (now rare); additional; other besides. Which gives justification for using more/other as equivalents: can you give me the other/more spices from the shelf?

33. Bodycheetah@31: I went the same way until I had to explore further north.

    All the talk of “oo” vs “u” in “fructose” reminds me of the (almost certainly apocryphal) story told by JE Littlewood in his Mathematician’s Miscellany which I quote here (pg 149):

    “The Lancashire dialect reverses the ‘u’ sounds in ‘put’ and ‘putt’.
    A Lancastrian gave a lecture to a large mixed class on the Antarctic
    expedition led by Sir Vivian Fuchs. He called him Fucks throughout. A
    colleague remonstrated after the lecture: ‘You know his name is Fuchs.’
    ‘Oh yes; but I didn’t like to say it with all those ladies present.’ ”

    Many thanks Paul and Shanne.

34. Thanks Paul for so much humour (if not the earworm although it made me cackle to remember many of the lyrics) and to Shanne for the blog.

35. Very slow start, but once the second cup of tea kicked in the usual Paul humour was much enjoyed. For some reason 6D reminded me of the theme from Liver Birds.
    Thx both.

36. Great fun from Paul today, setting a humorous tone throughout.

    PIGLETS was my first one in so I knew I was in for a laugh.

    I usually only do the Saturday Prize and this was just right as an amusing Thursday morning work-out.

37. Thanks to Shane for standing in for the blogger and doing a great job. I appreciated the explanation for 5d MACCHIATO along with a few other loose ends. An enjoyable puzzle. Lots that I liked already mentioned. PIGLETS at 23a was my Clue of the Day, but I also liked 26a EASTERNER. Thanks to Paul.

38. Well at least I managed to finish this – but, once again, found my sense of achievement somewhat deflated by the blog informing me this was Paul “at his most straightforward”. Oh. Right.
    I wholeheartedly agree with Togs @28 as to why the 16D soi-disant Spooner doesn’t work but, in fairness, many of these have a slightly-desperate air to them.
    I guessed 7D once I had enough crossers for SHRINK to be obvious. Grateful thanks therefore to Shanne for standing-in and for explaining the parsing: all that da boise & da crowd stuff didn’t sound like any rapper I’d heard…
    I thought CONDO was well-hidden, liked the deceptive simplicity of FITTING, NAIL and INCOMING, and was charmed by EASTERNER (good ol’ Sterne!)
    Thank you Paul.

39. Especially liked 3d TRUE BLUE (1986 by Madge) for the “both … oddly” double indicator.
    And my LOi, 14d PARALEGAL for the neat ‘Divide & Conquer’ of “Soldier on” to give an actual soldier and a cricket reference.
    [Clocktower@19 – my sentiments precisely about 24a TRiUMPh. Shame 🙁.]

40. I wasted time trying to make the coffee be AMERICANO, because up to now, when Paul clued coffee, it’s always been that. A MO around … er … ERIC is a dude … er … what’s the life force? I revealed MACCHIATO in the end.

41. Wow, two Paul puzzles solved in a row. Either he is getting softer or I am getting better.

    Funny how you get clues sometimes. Doing this over making the packed lunch for the little one, I thought “I will tell you what my twice-daily pain is- the SCHOOL RUN” only to then realise it was the answer.

    Bit of a hiccup with NEVADA (never da!?) rather than the more believable ALASKA.

    Odd mental images of Sigmund Freud Rapping makes SHRINK WRAPPED my clue of the day.

    Thanks Paul and thanks Shanne for stepping in.

42. Yes, I started more quickly than usual for a Paul crossword but at the bottom half and then worked upwards. I liked the neat AGLOW for the metallic blue element, the definitions for NAIL, WORKING MOTHER and, of course, the ‘sow seed’ for PIGLETS. I also liked the WANNABE showing a cop bedecked in a flag and the good anagram for ILLUMINATI. I’m a ruck FRUCTOSE.

    Thanks Paul and Shanne.

43. 6 reminded me of some very old and very bad jokes – my wife’s gone abroad, where? Dunno, I’ll ask her. Or Jamaica?, no she went of her own accord. There are more but they aren’t even groanworthy.

44. {oed.com gives four UK and six US pronunciations of 16d FRUCTOSE: ”
    British English – ˈfrʌktəʊz FRUCK-tohz – ˈfrʌktəʊs FRUCK-tohss – ˈfrʊktəʊz FRUUK-tohz – frʊktəʊs FRUUK-tohss
    U.S. English – ˈfrəkˌtoʊs FRUCK-tohss – ˈfrukˌtoʊs FROOK-tohss – ˈfrʊkˌtoʊs FRUUK-tohss – ˈfrəkˌtoʊz FRUCK-tohz – ˈfrukˌtoʊz FROOK-tohz – ˈfrʊkˌtoʊz FRUUK-tohz
    ” — [It’s fine in an Irish accent.]}

45. {‘Jakarta?’ ~ ‘No, she went by plane’ | ‘Chicago?’ ~ ‘No, she was a passenger’}

46. Paul shouldn’t do Scouse accents.

47. FrankieG @44: On the principle that the first pronunciation is the more ‘correct’/pervasive, it is interesting that the OED gives ˈfrʌktəʊz FRUCK-tohz first – the one I (as a chemist) use, and which works best for Paul’s clue

48. A very enjoyable puzzle from Paul. I loved the misdirections and humour.
    Thank you Shanne for your ILLUMINATIng blog which helped to clear up a couple of parsings including the ‘sow seeds’ in PIGLETS – I missed that!
    Favourites: WORKING MOTHER, SHRINK-WRAPPED, MACCHIATO, WANNABE, RIVEN.
    Thanks to Paul and Shanne.

49. jim @44 I didn’t think of “ALASKA” as a scouse accent (I’m a Yankee), more along the lines of the Perry Como song folks have mentioned above. As kids we used to joke: Where’s Missouri? Idaho, Alaska (”Where’s Miss Urie? I don’t know, I’ll ask her”).

    Question: Why does ILLUMINATI = “cream”?

50. Nice puzzle, got further than I usually do with Paul! One or two failed checks needed, though, and I couldn’t get ALASKA. I had confidently entered NORWAY (i.e. “No way!”) which seemed (and still does!) an equally reasonable response, although, not being British, I’m not sure that it qualifies as Scouse.

    SHRINK-WRAPPED very nice when I saw it. I feel there is an alternative homophone pun involving a RAPT audience to be made, but I can’t quite put it together.

    Thanks Paul and Shanne!

51. I was reminded of the words heard during the theme music of The Liver Birds:
    You dancin’?
    You askin’?
    I’m askin’
    I’m dancin’

52. The way I find to get the most success the most quickly with Paul puzzles is to tell myself to “lighten up” before I’ve even started. It worked here, as always. A lot of fun, and the “approximations” didn’t stop the enjoyment. Loved SHRINK WRAPPED.

53. I think Dr. WhatsOn @52 hits the nail on the head. Complaining that Paul’s clues require a little double duty, weird accents or bending the dictionary definitions is like complaining that Wile E. Coyote wouldn’t really hang there in space until he realised he should be falling.

54. JoFT @53: An odd analogy. And not all violations of physical or linguistic reality are equally humorous to everyone 🙂

55. Why did Calla phone ya? She phoned to say Ha wah ya (How are you?)
    Where has Oregon? She’s gone to pay her Texas.
    That’s how I remember it. I do remember the recorded song.

    I’m another frook-toce, Yank though I am.
    Thanks to Paul and to Shanne for stepping in.

56. Nakamova@49
    Illuminati is a face cream used to highlight skin tones and is said to be good in hiding wrinkles

57. Cliveinfrance @56 Thanks! I was trying to think if the Illuminati had ever been associated with self-flagellation. Face cream is a nicer image. 🙂

58. Nakamova and Adriaan: There isn’t anything specifically Scouse about ALASKA – an old joke familiar to most English speakers. I don’t know why Paul made it so, except perhaps to confuse (and make the clue 13 words long!). And I say this as a native Liverpolitan 🙂

59. [Thought 13a ILLUMINATI meant “cream” as in the élite, the crème de la crème. Happy to be put right by Google’s AI.] — {Suddenly everybody’s moni(c)ker is indented.}

60. …{Oh, it’s a space for 50×50 avatars, like these.}

61. Anybody else blushingly admit to knowing now more about female jugglers than they ever wanted to 🙄? There were à lot!

62. FrankieG @60: I don’t consider myself a total Luddite but I am wondering ‘what is the point?’

63. 14d was my LOI after a very long time spent staring, and as soon as it clicked it seemed obvious, my tea tray now has a visible dent.
    I also read the both in 3d as an instruction to treat both brute and louse oddly, and enjoyed oddly being used in two different ways.

64. FrankieG @59: that was my interpretation of ILLUMINATI. I can’t imagine that Paul would be promoting a skin cream product although as Cliveinfrance rightly states @56, it is indeed a thing. Maybe he meant both.

65. PostMark@62: I couldn’t agree more! 😉 — AlanC@64: My remark @60 about Google’s AI was meant to be tongue-in-cheek

66. … Google ILLUMINATI meaning “cream” -skincare and Merriam-Webster comes up, with a definition and synonyms:
    “The meaning of ILLUMINATI is any of various groups claiming special religious enlightenment … cream · crème de la crème · elect · elite · fat · flower · pick …”

67. Liked this, had the right amount of idiosyncracy and some of it was very funny (SHRINK-WRAPPED, PIGLETS). Favourites were the two hidden clues (TASSEL, CONDO) and the nicely constructed AGAPANTHUS. Not the hardest Paul puzzle I’ve ever seen, thankfully.

68. I found this tougher than Paul’s usual, but very entertaining. Like others, I laughed out loud when I finally understood the definition for 23ac (PIGLETS).

    A DNF for me, unfortunately, as I failed to get 2dn (CONDO). As is often the case with me, after revealing the answer I found it was not one of the more difficult clues and wondered why I couldn’t spot it.

69. Thanks for the blog, nice to have just a standard puzzle from Paul . I like clues such as THESPIAN and MACCHIATO , PIGLETS was clever .
    Why has the format changed ? Please no nerd speak .

70. The trouble is (re SCHOOL RUN) I think most kids LOVE getting driven to school. When my brother told his walk-shy 4-year-old ‘why do you think God gave you legs?’ he came straight back ‘why do you think God gave you a car?’ Great crossword , thank you P&S

71. [Roz@69 if you’re one of the cool kids with a gravatar account then your avatar will now be displayed next to your name. I’m sure the CSS could be tweaked to collapse the space if there’s no avatar found. This may qualify as geek speak]

72. Please tell me this is a joke , surely we do not get many 12 year-olds on here ? Makes me sad to be human .

73. Thanks Shanne, and a nice puzzle from Paul.

    These setters can’t win- they put in a homophone and get the usual “not when I say it!” moans and groans. So Paul qualifies with a scouse accent indicator- and as a born and bred Merseysider “Alaska” and “I’ll ask her” are indistinguishable when I speak- and he gets the “why Scouse?” comments!

74. I love a good Paul and this didn’t disappoint!

75. Thanks both, very enjoyable.
    PIGLETS was very funny.
    Even though solved, thanks for the explanation for the Spoonerism

76. DaveJ @73: I think you’ve missed the point here. Nobody has complained about the Scouse reference, only expressed puzzlement because it’s unnecessary, as it works just as well for all accents (and I’m a Merseysider too), and only serves to make the clue longer.

    Unlike FRUCTOSE, which has generated a lot of ‘I don’t say it like that’ comments ( though not from me, as I pronounce it properly 😉 ).

77. JoFT@33 The version I heard was Sir Vivian himself giving a talk in Yorkshire and being introduced by the mayor who called him Fucks. When he told him the correct pronunciation the mayor replied ” I know lad, but I couldn’t say that in pooblic, could I?”

78. [Zoot@77: That’s pretty much the version I first heard too (I think in a talk by Al Hinks at the Royal Geographical Society), delivered in his characteristic North Yorkshire accent just to add more confusion. The version I heard had the mayor saying “I cannae say that man, there’s ladies present”. The only written version I’ve seen is, bizarrely, in the mathematician’s memoir as a story in the Senior Combination Room, which seemed better to reference, albeit equally likely to be apocryphal.]

79. My quibbles about Paul today have faded into the background. Can barely read anyone’s comments, thanks to the big blue blobs. I don’t want to be forced to create an avatar. I don’t think they add anything of value and just take up space.
    I’ve enjoyed getting to know commenters’ personalities through their words, Think I’m going to have to leave you wonderful people.

80. Gervase@76 I believe it was a certain Gervase@30 who said “more or less works in any non-rhotic accent” . More or less is not the same as exactly, and not all accents are non-rhotic, so Paul has tightened up the clue by adding the Scouse bit, by your own words. And it made the surface arguably more fun. And who cares about the extra few words in a clue?

    Hence my “puzzlement” at your “puzzlement”.

81. paddymelon @79: I agree with you – unless this horrible defacement of the site disappears I’m out as well

82. There’s a discussion about the new avatar feature at https://www.fifteensquared.net/site-feedback/

83. This thread must be confusing for posters who’ve come in after the advent of the indent, and then the big blue blob, as I called it, a rotated G, and then randomly assigned avatars, and now back to the indent.

    If anyone wants to comment about these changes, go to https://www.fifteensquared.net/site-feedback/
    Admin has invited comment there.

84. It’s a joy to come here, and to find so many reincarnations of the late National Treasure, Brian Sewell.

    Bloody good puzzle, Paul.

    Many thanks to one and all.

85. Etu@84 😹

86. So if I wanted an avatar on this page (as if!) I’d have to set up an account (I hate and resent having to set up accounts), provide a picture (which I have no idea how to do), and then that picture would appear all over the internet every time I signed onto something. What’s to like? If some people want to have avatars let them, but can the rest of us be free of the blue blobs or anything proposed to take their place?

87. Am I the only one who took the wearing a cap in 24across to be Mr Trump?

88. Half the fun of puns and other aural wordplay is the approximation, and Paul is a master at this. I share Dr WhatsOn’s point of view @52.

    There was lots to laugh with in this puzzle, which makes it one of Paul’s best. Thanks also to Shanne for the excellent blog.

89. Phew! It’s now Friday evening, so a day later, and have only just managed to finish it. Seems to be just me who found it so hard! Normally I am at least vaguely on Paul’s wavelength, but not this time. As an aside, my LOI was WANNABE… I always hate it when setters resort to such “not real words” and not just because I tend to find them difficult to spot.

90. Just a late one, I thought that 11a, INCISOR was simply the whole clue, with Yoda-style syntax as the definition.

    The correct parsing is better, of course.

91. Got maybe half of these. Some very clever clues, with great surfaces. Too many of them were either nho, like SCHOOL RUN, AGAPANTHUS, MACCHIATO, or had wordplay that went over my head

    For 7d, I confidently put in PSYCHO-ANALYST, hoping to parse it (PSYCHO = film), but no. Then GERMAN-SPEAKER, but no. Ah, well!

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