Guardian No 29,756 by Paul

62 comments on “Guardian No 29,756 by Paul”

1. This is the first Paul I’ve completed (bar two reveals, which were COWABUNGA and HEDONISM) for months, probably.

   Far from easy having said that – I relied heavily on the check button and Word Wizard throughout. But it made a very pleasant change from pressing ‘reveal all’ after getting no more than, say, 5 clues, and that being the right decision.

2. I relied heavily on the check button also, and only had to reveal one (fartlek).
   Fridays are usually beyond me so thought that this DNF was a good result.

3. Very enjoyable, for a Paul, complete with homophones no one can complain about. I’m not sure whether the theme helped or not, but I got there in the end. 26ac reminded me of a visit, many years ago, to a Birmingham curry house where a friend tried to order a PHAL, only to be refused by the waiter, who, very sensibly, said it would be far too hot. Many thanks to Paul and manehi.

4. Regarding PHAL, I noticed a comment or two on the other site about the spelling. In my experience (and at one time being a regular visitor to Birmingham curry houses) it can vary from menu to menu, so I had no quibbles about it.

5. Great fun, not to overuse the word. Kept coming back to this, wondering how many words ending in -ING might fit the theme. Defeated by FARTLEK and MAI TAI, however, that last concoction not one I have ever come across or tasted. Loved COWABUNGA…

6. Loved this puzzle. A cracking one-Great.
   And a great blog to match.

   Thanks Paul and manehi.

   Top faves:
   STICKLER, INITIALS, HIGHLIGHT, AFORESAID and UNLIT.

   INITIALS
   Reads like a CAD.

7. KVa@6 agree re INITIALS, “JS” being the two that Stalin would have scribbled.

8. CZECH – I took the homophone indication to be “for the audience for some” and the definition to be “language”.

9. I got a few in the SW, couldn’t find anything to fit 21a, revealed, then gave up in disgust. A good decision, it transpires!

10. Sorry Scraggs@1 if you revealed two you didn’t finish.

11. Jay @8 – I agree on CZECH (I did a quick blog on this to check for problems on the system as another blogger commented that there are issues, and that’s how I wrote it up – it doesn’t now exist as I’ve overwritten it with the start of tomorrow’s Quick Cryptic, also as a check as that uses different methods to build it). I’ve also seen PHAL spelled in a variety of ways, including FAAL so didn’t quibble with that version, but did comment on the variations in my putative blog.

    I thought there’d be more complaints about INITIALS on the basis that it’s an indirect anagram – you have to convert two to II to get the fodder. FARTLEK was new to me, but fairly clued.

    Thank you to manehi and Paul for an entertaining puzzle.

12. FARTLEK was a Jorum for me which I arrived at by simply following the instructions, while at the same time wondering if FART and LE(a)K were not in fact two distinct discharges of gas and if the subject ought to have been plural.

13. CZECK
    Jay@8
    Agree. Paul has taken ‘some’ cover!

14. CZECH*
    No edit option?

15. I go for a fartlek three mornings a week (it’s way more fun than boring old jogging).
    That familiarity, plus – being a Paul puzzle – those first four letters, made it the first I solved, though I readily agree it’s hardly a commonplace word in English. (I think it’s Norwegian in origin.)
    The rest was far less clear and, sorry, but less fun.
    Some of the synonyms for “great” meant nothing to me. (I thought “cowabunga” was a rallying-cry, like “geronimo”.) Like muffin @9, I failed to find anything that would work for 21A.
    Thank you manehi for the explanations.

16. Surely if one ‘reveals’ the one has failed! I seek challenge when decrypting puzzles, revealing is cheating, as is consulting ‘125’ for answers. Cheat no challenge, only surrender.
    So sorry if this comment is mis-interpretted, bit of a foul mood this morning, for an as yet unfathomable mitigation!

17. I think we can all set our own standards for what counts as “completing”, without incurring moral opprobrium. I fell short of my own, as I had to use the check button and a word finder, but I was still pleased to fill the grid.

18. Fartlek is one of those words that, heard once, will never be forgotten (so I remembered it). I’m sure that in the original Swedish it sounds perfectly normal, but no English speaker could say the word without sniggering. It is definitely a Paulish word.

19. How does Paul do this to me every time? I stare at an almost empty grid (only solved PHAL/OSTEOPATH) then gradually it all falls into place (apart from MAI TAI), so a NF (nearly finished). It means Paul’s doing his job!

20. Hold yourself to whatever rules you want, but I’m not here to rain disapproval on someone else’s satisfaction in having got further than they usually do, however they choose to describe it.

    I certainly didn’t “finish” this one by my own rules (I rarely do) since I revealed FARTLEK (nho) and WOOP WOOP (wot?) Several of the “greats” aren’t exclamations of delight or descriptions of greatness in my vocabulary (SPANKING? FAR OUT?COWABUNGA? ) but this is an area where usage varies enormously. I also didn’t parse MAI TAI (mother’s ruin was clever: I wish I’d seen it) or ASSONANCE. Lots to enjoy – HEDONISM, LOVELY, STICKLER, CORKING (another new synonym for COR, I see). Thanks Paul and manehi.

21. DNF for me, failing on the nho FARTLEK and the crossing STERLING, which I should have got. Also put SMACKING instead of SPANKING, so not a great day. Favourites were STICKLER, ASSONANCE and, my way into the theme, BRILL.

    Thanks Paul and manehi

22. The one I couldn’t parse was MAI TAI but (thanks, manehi!) it’s now my clue of the day.

23. Thanks manehi and Paul. I think this is one of the setter’s better puzzles in recent months, he’ll be too clever by half as a given but getting PHAL, OSTEOPATH and INITIALS on the board early helped. MAI TAI works very well too. NEMESIS and ASSONANCE were good for pushing the boundaries of syntax while still working well.

    I agree with Balfour @12 that fart and leak coming from the same singular phrase doesn’t work. Looks to me like it can be one or the other, but not both.

    Not keen on WOOP WOOP and WHOOPEE from a style perspective, particularly with different spellings, but hey, maybe it’s Friday and it’s meant to be disorienting. Not sure what ‘some’ is doing 1d either.

24. A long slog but well worth it and I was pleased to get the Swedish FARTLEK from the wordplay. My favourites were the clever MAI TAI and STICKLER. I have only sampled a PHAL once and that was once enough. Superb puzzle from the best.

    Ta Paul & manehi.

25. @17 Petert
    @20 gladys

    Thanks both, as I really don’t see what the issue is with saying I completed it bar two reveals.

26. Being Paul, I expected the sneaky fart, but was too dim to devise the rest. Unknown to me but not others, so a deserved defeat. Thanks both.

27. I got almost none of this last night. Liberal use of the check button this morning got me through it. Oh, and a few reveals — nho fartlek or woop woop.

    Cowabunga, though, I had heard. I remember it as an exclamation of some sort on Howdy Doody, the children’s TV show I watched at other kids’ houses (we didn’t have TV) in the fifties. On looking it up, I find that that’s where the word began. I had no idea before today that it had gone on anywhere since — they’re still saying it, apparently!

    Thanks, Paul and manehi.

28. scraggs @25: please don’t distress yourself. Some people on this site do occasionally get a bit worked up about what they perceive as the rules of crossword-solving.
    I say, go with whatever works for you!
    (As for me: I follow the Hays Code when tackling a crossword, endeavouring to keep one foot on the ground at all times.)

29. Another rip-snorter from Paul.
    Took ages to gain a toe-hold, but it was so worth the effort. As always.

    Big thanks to Paul (and manehi for the clarification and validation).

30. @28 Wellbeck. No distress here. Just mild puzzlement when I’d thought all the information in my comment @1 was clear. If I was trying to pretend I’d fully completed it I wouldn’t have added that I needed to reveal the two that I did.

    Anyway, I don’t see that there’s anything else worth saying on this, from my side at least. Have a good weekend!

31. Somehow, my computer and I managed to eventually solve this. It was GREAT in parts.

    I liked FLAB, HEDONISM and MAI TAI.

    Thanks Paul for the torment and manehi for the explanations.

32. Great!
    About 20 minutes in only had one clue completed (PHAL), then finally figured out OSTEOPATH then the SW corner filled out relatively quickly, and then the rest came very very slowly!
    No problem with parsing once they were in though, and the ‘great’ clues helped move things along in the middle once I’d got the hang of how they worked.
    Didn’t think I’d complete, so I’m pleased I got through it all. I’m not sure I’d say it was fun exactly!
    Favorites: OSTEOPATH (what a relief!), DUCKED (made me groan) and INITIALS.

    Thanks Paul and manehi.

33. I didn’t get more than a half a dozen answers – too difficult. I don’t see how HEM=skirt, and I did look up hem in Chambers. Trousers have hems, all sorts of things have hems. Paul is my NEMESIS, I think, unless he chooses to have a gentle day.

34. I see the pedants are out in force. Who decides what is cheating, since it’s a personal decision as to what help one seeks?
    It sounds as if some of you wouldn’t allow books, lists, let alone any online browsing. Fine, if that’s your choice, but for others we need some assistance.
    For this particular Paul crossword I needed a lot more help than usual and no, I didn’t finish it.

35. Bit tricky but enjoyable. I had to use reveal for COWABUNGA!!!!

36. Amma@33
    HEDONISM
    to skirt=to border/edge=to HEM

37. I like to think that these are all the words for great that Paul himself uses day-to-day. Totally far out, cowabunga crossword anyway.

    (Not sure where Paul’s rep for being especially difficult comes from. Sometimes you have to tune into his wavelength but he’s no Enigmatist and there were surely enough straightforward ones here for most people to get started?)

38. KVa@36 – OK, I get it. Thanks.

39. “Testing, testing, one, two three….testing, CZECH, CZECH.
    Good evening Prague!! Are you ready to rock??”

40. “Great” puzzle. Paul’s eclat is superb (great)! Learned a new one, PHAL. Didn’t know of it.

    Thanks both

41. Strong agree with Petert@17 about the standards for completing–surely we are all doing this for a pastime and can take whatever approach is most fulfilling for us. For me I used some check but managed to make it through with no actual reveals or wordfinders, not even LOI FARTLEK which I entered box by box with the check and then had to search up. Learn something new every day.

    The theme didn’t do it for me today, with the heavy emphasis on DDs with synonyms for “Great!” Many other excellent clues though, with some particularly strong homophones which (as miserableoldhack@3 says) even a Yank like me can’t quibble with. [I wonder if the “for some” for 1d refers to the old attempt to declare Czech and Slovak the same language?] Also particularly liked NEMESIS, MAI TAI, and (for the theme) WHOOPEE, the last two I had to bung before I saw the clever construction.

    [Valentine@27: The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have COWABUNGA as their catchphrase, I think that’s a lot of what’s kept it around. I thought it was more like “Geronimo!” than “Great!” but apparently I was wrong!]

42. Very tricky today, but nothing objectionable.

    When working through 11a STERLING, I was wondering why the “say” was there, since it is not a definition-by-example, but rather the other way around, the norm for cryptics. Could it be to indicate a homophone, namely Stirling, one-time capital of Scotland? That is probably a bridge too far (pun intended), but maybe makes the clue a kind of triple definition.

43. Paul is one of my favourite setters and I reckon I probably cut him a bit of slack on stretchy clues more than I do most setters, cos it’s Paul, innit? 😁 This was right in the sweet spot of difficulty for me, looked impenetrable at first glance but steadily yielded. Loved MAI TAI, HIGHLIGHT and WOOP WOOP.

    Thanks both

44. Some Aussie commenters on the Guardian site have pointed out that WOOP WOOP for them is slang for a hinterland, the back of beyond, so I wonder if it is deliberate that Paul has put it on the same row as 22 FAR-OUT.

45. The response to Monday’s Dynamo was heartwarming, because there was not one needless negative comment in sight. Unfortunately, the usual suspects remain lurking, to tell us how they’re much smarter than the setter and the rest of us. I simply ignore them now, unless it’s a proper healthy debate.

46. AlanC @45

    Thanks for that. I was particularly ‘heartwarmed’ by the response to Dynamo on Monday, especially after the drubbing Enigmatist got here last Friday. I like your use of the word ‘needless’. 😉

47. 26 PHAL awoke some uncomfortable memories. An Indian restaurant in Cambridge cca 1979 briefly offered their phal free of charge to students who could clear the plate. Of course, it had to be done, but the next morning we learned all about enteral transit time under stimulation and the non-digestibility of capsaicin.

48. An Indian restaurant in Cambridge cca 1979 offered their PHAL free of charge to students who could clear the plate. Of course, it had to be done, but the next morning we learned all about enteral transit time under stimulation and the non-digestibility of capsaicin.

49. I thought Mr Toad’s ‘Poop poop’ was better than WOOP WOOP, which I’ve never heard anyone say, but it didn’t fit the wordplay.
    Like Balfour @12 I thought fart was sufficient for discharge of gas. A ‘leak’ suggests releasing something else.

50. I really enjoyed this.
    A few answers begat a few more quite quickly which was satisfying. Very ker-plunk.
    We used to do fartlek triangles at Uni footy training but they were introduced as “fartlegs” by the captain.
    It was only recently that I found out that they were not supposed to be called this and that they were actually a thing and not something made up for a laugh.
    It was walk, jog and sprint over about 50 metres each if anyone’s feeling energetic.
    Thanks both.

51. Thanks Eileen @46: I’m sure you have lots of tiny little scars on your tongue😉

52. I’ve just completed with 21A my LOI, I assume nobody near me on the King’s Cross escalator was a Guardian crossword fan as I got a few blank looks for my exclamation of “Really Paul!!!” ion seeing the wordplay.
    I really enjoyed this, nice mental workout.

53. I seem to remember there was a phase on social media, where if someone thought they were having a particularly GREAT time in whatever far-flung, perhaps exotic corner of the world, they would post a picture of themselves with the caption Woo Hoo! or WOOP WOOP! ( look at me!) to make us all feel comparatively less pleased about our own present humdrum situations. Maybe those expressions are out of date now. However, I always seem to be a bit out of date at my venerable age in the modern fast changing world…

54. MAI TAI was one my earlier entries. The southern hemisphere didn’t take too long. The north did though! I think this was my slowest solve of the year. The hardest ones for me were LOVELY and AFORESAID but they they made sense (before coming here). I used to do the odd FARTLEK when my hamstrings were more robust. Annoyed I didn’t spot HEDONIST and CHAPEL earlier. They would have sped this process up a lot!

    Good challenge. None of it disgusted me (nor has any part of any crossword in my lifetime). I’m pleased I completed it.

    Thanks Paul and manehi.

55. Martin @54
    Not even WOOP WOOP?

56. Seemed pretty tough, this one. I tried hard to get Fed into 20 but no dice. I’m struggling to equate “in the hinterlands” with FAR OUT still.
    MAI TAI very good. Also liked UNLIT and INITIALS. I agree it’s a borderline indirect anagram. Setters continuing to push that envelope. Also agree with Dr WhatsOn questioning the need for “say” in the STERLING clue.
    Fun Friday fare. What more to ask for?
    Thanks, Paul and manehi for another fine blog.

57. I’ve just realised that we do FARTLEK training on our over 50s Walking Workout only I’d misheard it as Bartlett, who I assumed was some kind of fitness guru.

58. A great offering from Paul. A lot to enjoy, especially reminding myself of the very varied synonyms of ‘Great’. Only Lovely escaped me, probably because a day of kitchen prep has left me jaded.
    In Bangalore, I think the home of the Phal the chefs found it hard to temper their curries to my taste – and this from someone who enjoys cooking and eating a good authentic curry. So near the equator it covers a multitude of off flavours from ‘ripe’ meat.

59. I found this hard, and needed to check to eliminate alternative, good, sometimes better solutions, e.g WHACKING not SPANKING and RIOTING not RIPPING.

    I deduced the never-heard-of COWABUNGA from crossers, and Mrs. E had heard of FARTLEK.

    Thanks all.

60. Since the OED defines woop woop solely as a term for the unrefined outback I think its use at 21 across is wrong.

61. Abject failure doesn’t mean that a puzzle is no fun. I got three on the first go-round, then got four more before giving up. But, I then revealed a few and got some more with the help of the crossers, and repeated until the grid was filled. The fun was in enjoying the clever wordplay and the wit exhibited by many of the clues.

    It’s kind of like a sport. If you can’t enjoy it unless you win, you shouldn’t play at all.

    Thanks Paul for the pleasurable pasting, and manehi for the excellent blog.

62. A game of two halves. Completed the bottom half, but only three solutions in the top. For 3d I had WHITE instead of BRILL (as in Great White Shark). I thought of ASSONANCE for 7d but couldn’t parse it

    I continue to be amazed that even with all the experience I’ve gained, setters are still clever and creative enough to fool me on a regular basis

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.