Guardian Cryptic crossword No 29,814 by Paul

40 comments on “Guardian Cryptic crossword No 29,814 by Paul”

1. Three cheers for 17,14 .. to all intents, an &lit, although correctly split by our host, to whom, thanks, and to Paul for the workout.

2. Yes, I thought water would be taken from a well, but a brave attempt to justify, loonapick! WARDROBE MALFUNCTION elicited a smile.

3. That’s it, no more attempts at Paul puzzles for me. I threw it away after third solution, TOWEL.

4. Excellent imo. Clever. Needed the blog to clear up a few parsings, the check button to confirm, or not, rather too regularly and the reveal button for the Trump meme which I read on Google is some kind of acronym and that ‘a small group of people’ know exactly what he means. Well, you could say that about anything he says. But I enjoyed this puzzle very much. A big thank you to Paul. ACUTE ANGLE, the ‘minor skirmish’, and 17/14 among my favourites. Many thanks to loonapick of course.

5. Many thanks to loonapick for a wonderful job. Generally a tough, but fair crossword, but with one exception. I’m sorry, 5a is just not acceptable. Why not the neologisms and onomatopoeias of James Joyce next time?

6. Czech Rod@5 It does fit the definition perfectly though – it is a bit of twittering nonsense by a stupid effin old man!

7. All I can do is echo the immortal words of Artemus Ward: for those who like this sort of thing, this is the sort of thing they like. Thanks anyway to Paul, and especially to loonapick.

8. “Good Day M,James Bond here.I’m afraid I can’t crack the code today.Maybe we could enlist the help of a Greek interpreter because that’s what it seems to me.”

9. 40 minute wrestle ended up with all bar 5 ac in the grid, couldn’t think of anything for it at all or even see a way into it. Couldn’t parse 1ac but had to be the only possible answer. All makes sense now. Highlights for me: 17/14 and 3. Thanks Paul and loonapick.

10. And I thought that 5A was just an ordinary American crossword clue. Great puzzle by Paul. I got a chuckle out of HANDBAGS AT TEN PACES which I had to Google since that phrase has not yet made it to the parts of the States where I have lived. I will have that one in my back pocket next time the occasion for use arises. I also liked 20D STROLL. Thanks to Loonapick for a great blog which cleared up the parsing I missed on 1A.

11. Finally, something a bit more straightforward this week, back to a standard solving duration.

    I liked ELASTOPLAST, WOLVERINE, LAPLANDER and SPOT THE BALL.

    Thanks Paul and Loonapick

12. Not as tricky as it first seemed, I enjoyed this immensely with so many clever misdirections. POOH is obviously not to everyone’s taste but it did make me chuckle. I thought WARDROBE MALFUNCTION was quite brilliant along with ELASTOPLAST, GUANO, ACUTE ANGLE, SPOT THE BALL (I remember posting my entries to the Belfast Telegraph every Saturday evening as a teenager) and HANDBAGS AT TEN PACES. BRAISE was a nice homophone and COVFEFE a shrug.

    Ta Paul & loonapick.

13. I liked HANDBAGS and ELEPHANT for the extended mobile phone surface. Shame about TOWEL, which I didn’t see the problem with, when I solved it. I had to remind myself to trust the wordplay for COVFEFE.

14. Never heard the expression HATP but I found it is common, and probably originated, in commentary on soccer/football and has also been used in politics and elsewhere. Apart from the obvious, and not uncommon, custom of denigrating men for acting like women, I think it’s just plain wrong.

    Has anyone seen or felt what goes in some handbags? I’d rather take my chances that someone might miss with other weapons.

15. I see from the comments that Paul continues to be the Marmite of setters. Personally, I always enjoy his puzzles, though I know I’ll have a struggle and need some lateral thinking. I’m not always familiar with some of the usages either, I’ve never heard ‘drop a log’ as a euphemism, but the answer brought a smile when I finally saw it. Had almost forgotten about COVFEFE so that was my LOI (perhaps more obviously nonsense than his other nonsensical utterances). BRILLO PADS was a blast from the past for me, though I suppose they still exist. Liked WARDROBE MALFUNCTION for the anagram. Thanks to Paul and loonapick.

16. It’s a Paul – slightly dodgy equivalences (“at” for “near”?), scatological references, something which doesn’t quite work (I’m looking at you “towel”) and a very British expression (“handbags…”). All we are lacking is a dodgy homophone because, “braise” was lovely.

    If it were a Ximenes puzzle I’d enter into debates about whether something is &lit, but this is Paul who more often supplies clues where the wordplay and definition divide fairly but the wordplay also encompasses something of the answer. “Astana” and “Wardrobe Malfunction” (and “covfefe” for those who had heard of it) were superb examples.

    Many thanks Paul and loonapick.

17. Czech Rod @5 I am sure that TATTARRATTAT featured somewhere a while ago. I think both are fine personally.

18. Oh, so that’s how WARDROBE MALFUNCTION parses. Thanks loonapick! Daunting at first sight, but not as impossible as it looked, though I haven’t met HANDBAGS AT TEN PACES before and struggled to identify the weapon. Favourites SPOT THE BALL, ASTANA, CALENDULA, ACUTE ANGLE and my last in, ELASTOPLAST. I agree that you don’t take water TO a well!

19. Is he saying a well is a place you take water to? Isn’t he just saying it’s a place where you take water?

20. Gladys@18 (and others): no, you don’t take water to a well but from a well water may be taken. Don’t know what all the fuss is about. Fabulous crossword as usual from Paul. Only got 5ac from doing a word search so consider myself beaten – especially when I finally saw the anagram indicator. I got the COVE ok and guessed I should separate EFF from IN, so silly me. Thanks all round.

21. Funny, I had the idea that that nonsense tweet was a Bojoism: easy wires to get crossed I guess.
    I wasn’t quick; only the two poohs, amigo and chopped up after first scan of the acrosses. Downs a bit quicker, and it latticed together. Some nice obliquities — sheer for rank; not quite right for acute. Fun. Thanks Paul and loona.

22. Paul on sparkling form again, entertaining clues, especially ‘charger’, ‘minor skirmish’ and ‘minor design failure’.
    No need to throw in the towel.
    Thanks to him and loonapick

23. A Paul day is a good day in this household.

    I never complain about obscure nods to church liturgies, classical composers or, worst of all, cricket.

    But I do enjoy a groaning pun, a bit of crass humour and popular culture references.

    So three cheers for Paul I say!

24. I suspect the HANDBAGS AT TEN PACES (also ‘handbags at dawn’ and other variants) derive from the Thatcher years and the supposed threat of her ‘handbagging’ opponents.

    COVFEFE was a meme 8 years ago. Is it still even remembered?

    And of course water is taken FROM a well.

25. 5a a bit unfair IMHO, but a lovely puzzle otherwise. POOH is classic Paul. As my niece would say, “Eeewh!”
    Thanks both.

26. Very enjoyable. Still don’t understand towel but seems that puts me in good company! After a brief lull, Paul is one of my favourites again. Though thinking about that makes me miss Picaroon all the more!

27. Paul again, oh well. Can I point out the expression is handbags at dawn? At ten paces doesn’t make sense. And the POOH clue was just unpleasant, not funny or clever.

28. TOWEL: first definition of where in Chambers is ‘at or to which place’. Taking it as ‘to which place’ solves the problem. I.e. if one goes ‘where water may be taken’, one might go ‘to well’.

29. The usual Paul challenge/struggle for me. Though this morning I did quite well personally, with only STROLL, ELEPHANT, VEEP and (never would have got this is a million years) COVFEFE unsolved. Several of those I managed to insert were unparsed, however. Not exactly a STROLL in the park by any means, but I have to admit my eyes do always light up in anticipation whenever a Paul puzzle pops up…

30. Thanks Loonapick, Paul and Henty@23. Fully agree with your household!

31. It’s Paul, it’s difficult but lots of humour. Despite the valiant attempts to justify the clue for TOWEL, I don’t think it really works. Adding ‘going’ at the front or some such might have helped. I liked the sprouts in BABY-SIT, the bust WARDROBE MALFUNCTION, ELASTOPLAST for cuts, the ELEPHANT charger, the ASTANA capital of Kazakhstan, and the Nordic jewel and lost pearl for LAPLANDER.

    Thanks Paul and loonapick.

32. Forgot about COVFEFE but (given Paul’s trademark lift-and-separate) the clue’s totally fair.
    Some sources I’ve seen suggest that “handbags at ten paces” is used to refer to a peaceful compromise or resolution that prevents further escalation of a hostile situation. In other words, that women have the good sense not to be using pistols at ten paces. Granted, good sense and the peaceful use of handbags are not things one regularly associates with Mrs Thatcher.
    I think I can forgive Paul a great deal for the surface to 6d. 20d manages another pointed dig at the Orange Menace, as well.
    Nice try with the aquifer, but IMHO the clue for TOWEL, neatly constructed though it is, just doesn’t work.
    Thank you Paul, though, for the entertainment and loonapick for the usual conscientious blog.

33. As many, not convinced by TOWEL, but I thought COVFEFE was brilliant.

34. SWORDSMITH was my favourite today. A long solve as usual with Paul, mostly to work backward on the parsings rather than getting the answers. CALENDULA was that rare treat, a new word for me filled in from the wordplay. Thanks Paul and loonapick

35. 4D is easiest if one thinks of steam engines. A quote from a 1950s railway book: “The engines took water at Dingwall, the junction for the cross-country line to Kyle of Lochalsh, and again at Tain, 44 miles from Inverness.” That water could easily have come from a well. Meanwhile, grateful to Paul for introducing me to the weird phenomenon that is COVFEFE. Perhaps, like some bits of Shakespeare, it will appear in a dictionary 400 years from now as a word of unknown meaning, possibly a misprint, once used by Mr Trump in a tweet.

36. Defeated by COVFEFE but I think if someone wrote it in for me I would have deleted it. Obviously one of those things that passed me by.

    Slightly disappointed as I thought this was Paul at his best. Finding it hard to pick a favourite.

    I’m ok with TOWEL after some thought but my initial reaction was the same as Loonapick.

    Cheers Paul and Loonapick.

    Thanks

37. Sagittarius @35: but you wouldn’t talk of engines taking water TO a well, would you?

38. Fantastic crossword with some lovely wordplay in the likes of ELEPHANT, ELASTOPLAST & SPOT THE BALL
    Happy to admit defeat on COVFEFE which somehow seems to belong to a bygone age when he was inane rather than insane
    12a got a double guffaw given the circumstances under which I solved it 🙂

    Cheers L&P

39. It’s a Paul! The spirits lift and the loins are girded. Hooray! Il maestro brightens a gloomy day.

40. This is the third Paul in a row that I’ve deemed “easier than his usual difficulty”. Perhaps I’m finally getting the hang of him. I enjoyed the puzzle as it kept me occupied for a reasonable amount of time without infuriating me, which I think is what other contributors mean by a “Goldilocks” level of difficulty. Favourite was ACUTE ANGLE.

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