The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/29827.
There is some intricate wordplay here (although in places made easier by a guess at the answer from a few crossers,with parsing as an afterthought), and a sheaf of envelopes, variously indicated. The long answers were a great help, particularly the splendid 25, 9,12A. I found it a very satisfying solve.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | PIT BULL TERRIER |
Dog lead restraining it? No lead to pull – tire out bagging mess up (3,4,7)
|
| A charade of PITB, an envelope (‘restraining’) of ‘it’ in PB (chemical symbol, ‘lead’) plus ‘[p]ull’ minus its first letter (‘no lead’ – different pronounciation) plus TERRIER, an envelope (‘bagging’) of ERR (‘ness up’) in TIER, an anagram (‘pout’) of ‘tire’. | ||
| 8 | APART |
Secretary after answer right away (5)
|
| A charade of A (‘answer’) plus PA (personal assistant, ‘secretary’) plus RT (‘right’). | ||
| 9 |
See 25
|
|
| 11 | TEA TRAY |
Provider of milk and bit of light refreshment served with this? (3,4)
|
| A charade of TEAT (‘provider of milk’) plus RAY (‘bit of light’), with an extended definition. | ||
| 12 |
See 25
|
|
| 13 | REHAB |
On heroin? Injection doesn’t start on this? (5)
|
| A charade of RE (‘on’) plus H (‘heroin’) plus [j]AB (‘injection’) minus its first letter (‘doesn’t start’). | ||
| 15 | CASSEROLE |
Aces out of hand with loser getting pot (9)
|
| An anagram (‘out of hand’) of ‘aces’ plus ‘loser’. | ||
| 17 | AUTHENTIC |
Real gold next to endless cut diamonds (9)
|
| A charade of AU (chemical symbol, ‘gold’) plus THEN (‘next’) plus T (‘To endless’) plus IC[e] (‘diamonds’) minus its last letter (‘cut’). | ||
| 20 | TOAST |
Warm up baby bottles equally (5)
|
| An envelope (‘bottles’) of AS (‘equally’) in TOT (‘baby’). | ||
| 21 | TROLLOP |
Untidy individual in wind wearing cap (7)
|
| An envelope (‘wearing’) of ROLL (‘wind’, verb) in TOP (‘cap’, also verb). | ||
| 23 | RUN-DOWN |
Pen not working for outline (3-4)
|
| A charade of RUN (‘pen’, an enclosure for eg a dog) plus DOWN (‘not working’). | ||
| 25, 9, 12 | NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY |
Mostly old art, royal painting later moved here? (8,8,7)
|
| An anagram (‘moved’) of ‘ol[d]’ minus its last letter (mostly’) plus ‘art royal painting later’, with an extended definition. | ||
| 26 | ELEMI |
Smelly substance found in diesel emissions (5)
|
| A hidden answer (‘found in’) in ‘diesEL EMIssions’. A fragrant resin obtained from a tree of the same name. | ||
| 27 | HOUSEMAID’S KNEE |
He kissed a mum, briefly – one is swinging for joint tenderness (10,4)
|
| An anagram (‘is swinging’) of ‘he kissed a’ plus ‘mu[m]’ minud its last letter (‘briefly’) plus ‘one’. | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | PLASTER CASTS |
Dressing groups of actors and models (7,5)
|
| A charade of PLASTER (‘dressing’ of a wound) plus CASTS (‘groups of actors’). | ||
| 2 | TIARA |
I’m going to hug the first fancy piece seen at wedding? (5)
|
| An envelope (‘to hug’) of I (‘the first’ word or letter in the clue) in TARA (or tata, colloquial for goodbye, ‘I’m going’). | ||
| 3 | UTTERABLE |
Complete item of furniture, not initially suitable for delivery (9)
|
| A charade of UTTER (‘complete’) plus [t]ABLE (‘item of furniture’) minus its first letter (‘not initially’). | ||
| 4 | LIP-SYNC |
One cutting album to go down for broadcast and mime (3-4)
|
| A charade of LIP, an envelope (‘cutting’) of I (‘one’) in LP (‘album’); plus SYNC, sounding like (‘for broadcast’) SINK (‘go down’). | ||
| 5 | ENRAGES |
Winds up clock the wrong way, gran breaking parts (7)
|
| An envelope (‘parts’) of NRAG, an anagram (‘breaking’) of ‘gran’, in EES, a reversal (‘the wrong way’) of SEE (understand, ‘clock’). | ||
| 6 | RURAL |
Two types of game covering acre in country (5)
|
| An envelope (‘covering’) of A ([acre’) in RU RL (Rugby Union, Rugby League, ‘two types of game’). | ||
| 7 | EMILE ZOLA |
Writer of 26 when touring crossed lower city in America (5,4)
|
| A charade of EMILE, an anagram (‘when touring’) of ELEMI (the answer to ’26’ across) plus ZO (one of the spellings for a hybrid of a yak and a cow, ‘crossed lower’) plus LA (Los Angeles, ‘city in America’). | ||
| 10 | HYPERTENSIVE |
Fuss? Nerviest in a mess getting stressed? (12)
|
| A charade of HYPE (‘fuss’) plus RTENSIVE, an anagram (‘in a mess’) of ‘nerviest’. | ||
| 14 | HOT POTATO |
Improper photo at top? Prince avoided controversial subject (3,6)
|
| An anagram (‘improper’) of ‘[p]hoto at top’ minus the P (‘prince avoided’). | ||
| 16 | EXTENDERS |
They might pull out without bids (9)
|
| A charade of EX (abbreviation of excluding, ‘without’) plus TENDERS (‘bids’). | ||
| 18 | TOPONYM |
Maybe Las Vegas sex worker collecting £25 (7)
|
| An envelope (‘collecting’) of PONY (‘£25’) in TOM (‘sex worker’ – a male name for a female prostitute; dated slang). | ||
| 19 | CORELLI |
Violinist and string player with no way to grip on the other hand (7)
|
| An envelope (‘to grip’) of OR (‘on the other hand’) in CELLI[st] (‘string player’) minus ST (for street, ‘no way’). | ||
| 22 | LAIRS |
Discontented lads look to crack dens (5)
|
| An envelope (‘to crack’) os AIR (‘look’) in LS (‘discontented LadS‘). | ||
| 24 | ODEON |
Model appearing without clothes playing theatre (5)
|
| A charade of ‘[m]ode[l]’ minus its outer letters (‘without clothes’) plus ON (‘playing’). |
Nearly got quite trampled by this, but was able to see it through to the end. Some answers I would never have got in a million years without crossers, but then that’s why it’s a crossword and not a pub quiz or something. There were some clues, and I’m thinking here ENRAGES and EMILE ZOLA, which even when I’d fully worked them out I couldn’t see how Tramp came up with those surfaces – but then that’s why he’s a setter and I’m not!
[There was a movie (Captain) CORELLI’s Mandolin a number of years ago (different fellow), but the book was way better (imo).]
Tx T&P
Nice puzzle, just enough chew, thanks Tramp and Peter. Had to look up Las Vegas (The Meadows) to get why toponym. Very apt fodder — lots of painted royals — in that Gallery [the 91 bus from Crouch End drops you round the corner; hard to stop mrs ginf ‘popping’ in — half the day gone, sigh]. All good, now another coffee and a look at the other xwds.
PS agree about Corelli, Dr Wh, great read, movie ok-ish.
My top picks: PIT BULL TERRIER, NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY, HYPERTENSIVE (reads like an extended def)
and EXTENDERS.
TIARA
I took ‘the first’ as I (as in George I), but PeterO’s parse could well be the intended one.
Thanks Tramp and PeterO.
Thoroughly enjoyed this one. I probably made it a little harder than it should have been in a few places but finished with a feeling of great satisfaction. My favorites were CORELLI, AUTHENTIC and ÉMILE ZOLA (I could list plenty more). Thanks to Tramp for a wonderful evening solve. Also, thank you to PeterO for his usual outstanding blog.
Always a delight to start the day with a Tramp. Some cracking surfaces in this puzzle. TEA TRAY, AUTHENTIC, NPG, UTTERABLE, ENRAGES, HOT POTATO and TOPONYM were all faves with CASSEROLE my COTD for the lovely anagrind.
PeterO, I parsed TIARA differently with ‘the first’ giving me the I as in Elizabeth I being Elizabeth the First. Otherwise, you are asking ‘I’m’ to do double duty.
Thanks both
I whizzed through about half the clues, and it was feeling like an Arachne puzzle, with loads of smooth, clever and allusive surfaces. Of those I loved PIT BULL TERRIER (an unusual longer FOI for me), NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY, TIARA and ENRAGES. Then I slowed down a bit and had to think awhile on the anagrams giving HYPERTENSIVE and HOUSEMAID’S KNEE (needed most of the checkers to see where to cram that K); I thought the latter was also classy, not least because I didn’t know right until the end whether we were looking for a medical condition or a measure of roast meal quality!
Penultimate one in was the short TOAST, and if I had to quibble about anything it would be that I don’t think that to toast is merely to warm up, either literally or figuratively, but it’s certainly not a hill which I’d die on, merely a roadbump – for which I needed the A from the the surmised LA city for EMILE ZOLA, who was the cause of my DNF today. I know the zo from scrabble but I didn’t know it was a hybrid, and so “crossed lower” remained out of reach and I’d not heard of the author.
[Captain Corelli’s Mandolin is one of my all-time favourite books, which brought Louis de Bernières to my attention and led me to his excellent Latin American trilogy, which was a joy because I was also exploring Gabriel García Márquez at the time.]
Brilliant puzzle, thanks Tramp and PeterO
Great puzzle as always from Tramp – I like his intricate, energetic clueing. Faves were REHAB, EMILE ZOLA – and TOAST was very clever. Many thanks to him and to PeterO.
thanks PO and Tramp (sounds like an ad for a shipping company). Anyway, maybe I’m just being surly/lazy but once I had figured the entry for many clues, I kind of couldn’t be bothered to reverse engineer the very intricate wordplay (i’m thinking of you CORELLI, NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY (though great surface reading!), PIT BULL TERRIER)
I think I prefer KVa’s suggestion for the I in TIARA. Doesn’t work for me otherwise.
I enjoyed this but there were several where I saw the gag but still couldn’t quite nail it. For example, TERRIER jumped out but PIT BULL took an age. Similarly with TEATray.
Many thanks, Tramp, fine crozzie.
So much to savour with many great surfaces, such as ‘bagging mess up’, the card game at 15, the NPG, TIARA, etc.
I also liked TOPONYM, the ‘improper photo’ and 11a which served up its own TEA TRAY moment when I realised it wasn’t a CD.
Thanks to Tramp and PeterO
I look at constructions like the very intricate PIT BULL TERRIER and NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY with their excellent and apposite surfaces, and just bow in admiration. “Crossed lower” in 7 down is very fine, too.
Just a first-rate puzzle from a first-rate setter. Good blog, too. Thanks, both.
(The only drawback is the feeling that the day has got to go downhill from here)
Lovely surfaces and many of my favourite kind of clue here – the sort where I look at it and think “I don’t even know what kind of clue that is…I hope I can solve some others and come back to it” only to find that, once I read it the right way the instructions were unambiguous and totally fair.
Oh, as as a shortcut for those saying “as in George I etc” the term is “regnal number”, which applies to any office, not just monarchs. Of course, George I was only ever called that once there was a George II. In his time he was just George…
Many thanks Tramp, PeterO
KVa@4: Apologies for not spotting that you had already made the point about the regnal ‘first’. I blame the early hour!
Really enjoyed this solve. It appears to me that Tramp usually provides some long, challenging clues in the grid, often involving intricate anagrams around the outside of the grid. Though the wonderful NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY did not quite conform to this today. Held up at the very end by not being able to equate a RUN to a Pen, and that meant CORELLI and EXTENDERS were last to fall. Many thanks Tramp and Peter O. And as this setter usually comes on here later on to make his comments, I’m interested to discover how long this particular puzzle has been lying on the crossword editor’s desk this time….
I did manage to finish this, with some working out and a great deal of help from crossers, guesses and checking. I’m full of admiration, Peter O, that you could actually parse everything – 1a, 7d and 19d in particular. In 7d I saw the anagram of elemi for EMILE but only got ZOLA because I know the writer.
I thought a TROLLOP was a prostitute. I’ve never come cross it as meaning an untidy person.
TOAST was my LOI – couldn’t figure that out at all.
Intricate clueing and great surfaces made this puzzle a very enjoyable workout.
Favourite was anagram and extended definition NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY.
HOT POTATO was quite cheeky – would it qualify as an extended definition as well?
I liked the double use of ‘lead’ in PIT BULL TERRIER. Ticks also for CORELLI, AUTHENTIC, EMILE ZOLA.
I needed the blog to fully parse TOAST (AS=equally) and LIP SYNC (the homonym).
Thanks to Tramp and PeterO.
Lot of guess work but managed to finish. Liked toponym. Thanks.
Got nearly all of this by guessing and checking, but failed on TOPONYM as neither part of the cryptic fodder was known to me and I don’t understand the definition.
Newbie here, so please be nice!
I’m still ‘learning’, but had completed today’s grid, then came here to ‘understand’ and learn more
Loved 11a once I twigged it.
poc @19 A TOPONYM is a place-name that derives from some geographical feature or characteristics of the area. Thus, as ginf @2 points out, Las Vegas in Spanish means ‘The Meadows’ (presumably there were some at some time in the past), Oxford derives from a fording-place on the river across which oxen could be driven, and the infamous Welsh place-name, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, translates as ‘St. Mary’s Church in the hollow of the white hazel near the rapid whirlpool and the Church of St. Tysilio of the red cave’.
I found this on the chewier side with some tricky wordplay although few obscurities. A lot of it was guess first and parse later as with the blogger. Worked it all out though other than the ZOLA part of the writer.
Didn’t solve NPG but it was obvious from the crossers and could see both clue and answer had similar letters. Quite a neat anagram.
Thanks PeterO and Tramp
@20 Mesnilman don’t worry this is a very friendly place 99% of the time. And well done on completing it, I didn’t think that was on the easier side of the Guardian spectrum.
Agree with all the plaudits and I won’t repeat my favourites. TOPONYM is one to put away in the locker. Loved your comment @21 Balfour. Brilliant puzzle, especially the NPG.
Ta Tramp & PeterO.
I found this difficult and needed loads of checking. Some unknown slang (pony, tom, ….) and words (zo). Like Amma, I got Zola because I know the writer. Toast also LoI for me.
AP@7 Agree that Louis de Bernieres is a brilliant writer. Birds without Wings is my favourite, I think it should be compulsory reading for everyone, it brings home the divisiveness of religion and the evils of war.
Lovely puzzle again, thanks Tramp and PeterO for explaining some complex parsing.
Without hopefully sounding too prissy, Corelli was a baroque composer and violinist.
The Captain referred to was not a violinist.
Thanks Tramp for the most enjoyable puzzle, and PeterO for the blog
Like IlanCaron@9, I found myself biffing many of these and felt in a similar way that the effort of post-parsing these rococo clues might not be worth it. It’s a balance thing for me: if the solve is achieved too easily from the definition+enumeration (NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY, PIT BULL, HOUSEMAIDS KNEE, HOT POTATO et al.) then I miss the fun of unlocking the puzzle.
Much more satisfying were CORELLI, LIP-SYNC, TIARA, ODEON, RURAL.
Shirley@27: Oh, I think we can all be allowed a little prissiness, surely! Thank you for your corrective regarding the two – very different – Corellis.
Shirley@27, the captain was mentioned tangentially in the first comment and the conversation grew from there, but I don’t think anyone was confusing him for the violinist. (If I’d ever thought about it, though, I’d have supposed that LdB named the former after the latter.)
Mesnilman@20: I think you must be quite an advanced ‘learner’ to have been able to complete this grid. And do tell — what is it about the 11a clue that you found so appealing? People on this site frequently single out clues that they particularly enjoyed but rarely comment on why that clue/solution gave them a good feeling.
Gosh, Balfour@ 21, I’m incredibly impressed by your presentation of that Welsh place name, with not a single one of its 58(?) letters out of place! This forum is such a great source of extended knowledge for us all…
Arcangelo CORELLI is primarily known these days as a composer, so I thought it was a bit naughty of Tramp to clue him as a violinist. Good puzzle, though.
Ronald @32. Thank you, but CTRL+C and CTRL+V deserve the credit. I can always remember the first 8 and the last 8 letters, but what lies in between is entirely beyond this non-Welsh speaker.
Thanks for the blog and the comments.
I wrote this puzzle in September 2023. I don’t remember writing it. The clue for TROLLOP originally defined it as loose woman but I couldn’t use that.
I’ve no idea why I used “discontented” in 22d. It’s all opinion, but I don’t like that usage; I don’t think I’ve ever used that before.
As others have said, for TIARA, I’m using “the first” to denote I as in regnal numbers. I’ve used that many times before. I would never used “I’m” to denote “the letter I” and I would not use “the first” to mean “the first letter of the clue”.
Neil
Extremely happy to have finished this. I managed 25/9/12 immediately, then spent 25 minutes scratching my head until the long crosses and downs suddenly fell into place and everything else was a write in
A very satisfying conclusion
Took a minute or five to get started, but it all fell into place in the end for an enjoyable diversion from what I ought to be doing. Only the Zo in ZOLA unparsed, so thanks to our blogger for that. And to our setter for the whole.
[Shirley@27 Note the phrase “different fellow” in me@1. Btw the parenthetical Captain was because for some reason it was dropped for the US release of the movie; figuring out cryptics is easier than figuring out moves like that.]
Another one I almost gave up on, but then the last few gradually yielded. Last two were the crossers in the NW: 2d TIARA then 8a APART. “Tara” for goodbye isn’t in Chambers, but I found it online. Ticks for 15a CASSEROLE (great misdirecting surface), 25/9/12 NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY (although the surface directed us toward the solution, rather than away from it), 26a ELEMI (great surface), 5d ENRAGES (“Winds up clock”), 16d EXTENDERS (“without bids”)
Thanks for dropping in Tramp@35, and for confirming “the first” — great to hear from you! And thanks for a wonderful puzzle, and PeterO for a wonderful blog!
Thanks Tramp for a challenging crossword. I had difficulty in the SW & used a word finder for TOPONYM (nho pony) and I eventually revealed CORELLI. The effort was worthwhile, however, for the splendid NPG. Thanks PeterO for the blog.
An entertaining workout, with some splendid clues and a splash of culture: music, literature and PORTRAITs. I haven’t read the mandolin book but have enjoyed several ZOLAs – highly recommended, like a French Dickens; not really a French TROLLOPe though.
Over the decades I have learned many things from crosswords; today it was TOPONYM and ZO the “crossed lower”.
I wasn’t sure about “untidy individual” as a definition of TROLLOP: my understanding is that an individual so described would be more in the sex worker line of business, possibly in Las Vegas, possibly elsewhere. “Tramp” on the other hand could refer to either, or in this case neither, but to a consistently good setter on fine form today.
Thanks to T and P.
I couldn’t finish this, but I had to comment today! Like many others, I was in total admiration of NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY; to make such a clever anagram from a relevant and smooth surface – wow! And PIT BULL TERRIER – again, self referential, and a brilliant construction.
Thanks to Tramp and PeterO, with an extra thanks to Tramp for contributing a comment.
wrt TROLLOP, Chambers provides a hint in that it also lists:
Trollopee noun (historical)
A woman’s loose dress worn in the 18c
and the etymology for trollop is suggested as possibly derived from the garment
Thanks PostMark@43 for the interesting and informative datapoint. (I too shrugged a little at Tramp’s “untidy” but also understood his rationale @35).
…perhaps I should have mentioned that I was another who after filling in EMILE at 7d, and with an O already in place underneath I immediately thought the four letter name had to be ZOLA. And only prompted straight there because there’s a lovely whippet bitch living next door to us called ZOLA. Had absolutely no idea about the ZO hybrid component of the clue. But did in fact know of the author. Different route, if not exactly the one I was supposed to travel down….
Late to the party today: I did solve the puzzle at the usual time but had to go out rather early this morning and had no time to write a comment before I went – and now so much of it has been said.
I was intrigued to find that a number of people had much the same experience as me: I found the puzzle rather more challenging than usual – it seemed to take me longer to get on the wavelength – but (and I should probably rather say ‘and so’) there was the usual very satisfying conclusion.
I echo many folks’ favourites – all the long ones, especially NPG – lovely surfaces all round, especially those which took a few moments longer for the penny to drop, like ENRAGES, for one. I grinned at the allusiveness of HOT POTATO, enjoyed the anagrind in CASSEROLE, along with the aptness of ELEMI – a good old crossword word, not seen for a while – which took me by the hand and led me to EMILE ZOLA, where I was chuffed that I did remember that ZO was a cross.
I’ve enjoyed being reminded of ‘Captain Corelli’s mandarin’. My introduction to it was a spell of GCSE English invigilation, where the opening passage of it was the subject of the Comprehension question. I had plenty of time to read it (!) and ordered the book straightaway. I’ve just discovered that it’s in a list of Great opening lines in literature – which has detained me for an enjoyable little while: https://www.booktopia.com.au/blog/2014/09/05/great-opening-lines-in literature/#:~:text=The%20opening%20line%20of%20*Captain%20Corelli’s%20Mandolin*,patients%20had%20died%20or%20got%20any%20worse**.
Thanks for dropping in as usual, Tramp, if you’re still around. I’m wondering why you don’t like ‘discontented’ – it’s one of my favourites. I think the first time I met it was in an Arachne or Rosa Klebb puzzle – ‘discontented rattlesnake’ – which I thought was an ingenious alternative to the usual ‘re’ = ‘on’. Many thanks to you for the puzzle and to PeterO for the blog.
Eileen@46, curse you. Now I’m hooked too.
I also wanted to defend the wonderful “discontented” but didn’t want to post yet another comment for it. But you’ve made me… 😅. My all-time Arachne favourite – admittedly, my crossword exposure being much less than yours I imagine – continues to be “escapes trap” [soundalike]
AP @47 – glad to see you were tempted!
And, yes, I like that one, too. 🙂
This was one of those ‘guess the answer from the crossers, then check the wordplay’. 27a being a good example.
A couple left to check.
Thanks both, I always enjoy Tramp’s challenge.
Eileen @46
The list didn’t include the Anna Karenina one from yesterday!
[I have read Captain Corelli, and didn’t enjoy it. Apparently the most interesting part – the machinations of the various factions to take over Greece after the war – is almost completely incorrect. I also found Corelli’s behaviour after seeing the woman again (can’t remember her name) unbelievable.]
Loads to enjoy here, as always with Tramp. I thought TEA TRAY was absolutely brilliant.
Me @50
I didn’t thank Tramp and PeterO, or comment on the puzzle. It’s my fault, but I simply didn’t bother to parse several that were obvious from enumeration and crossers.
Favourite LIP SYNC.
Thanks for the heads up on ZO, the mind boggles at the product of a yak crossed with a cow!!
ZO turns up quite often in crosswords – worth remembering.
The long anagram at 25,9,12 (NPG) was one of my favourites. To get such an anagram and make a great surface at the same time is a sign of a great setter.
My other favourite, not surprisingly, was 19d CORELLI, for the reference to the other string player. Corelli was known in his day first as a great violinist, only secondarily as a composer of violin music.
I think TROLLOP, like its synonym slattern, originally meant slovenly, and only later acquired the sex trade connotation. So Tramp as usual is on solid ground with his clue at 21a (the untidy individual).
Thanks T&PO for the excellent puzzle and blog.
[muffin @50 – I wasn’t really aiming to open a new line of discussion but just to say that amazingly, since I blogged yesterday’s puzzle, I didn’t notice that omission!
Another one that has occurred to me is “The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there” (‘The Go-Between’) – which I confess to not having read, along with others on that list – and more. I’m afraid that time is running out for me now! I promise that this is my last word on this.]
Cellomaniac @55 – I remember TROLLOP from my innocent childhood!
Loved this. Thought we were going to struggle at first, then it all fell into place quickly (well quickly for us!). Favourite was NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY … fabulous in every way. Thanks Tramp and Peter O.
Muffin@50 – I so agree about CC’s M. Apart from anything else it’s just upmarket Mills and Boon! Awful book, great puzzle,
ZO: learn something every day!
Some very good clues though!
I found this quite hard which is why I’m writing this so late. I was pretty sure that
T?O?L?P was TROLLOP but did not know the “untidy” definition. I put it in my Chambers word search and there was no answer! However if you look up TROLLOP you get the answer including “an untidy person”. It really annoys me when Chambers is not bi-directional. To be fair, it doesn’t happen very often.
Not really my style, a bit tortuous on the wordplay in places. (Even more than Io in yesterday’s FT!). It’s obviously everyone else’s though, so well done all. I did finish and admired the anagrams and general cleverness.
The last Trollops we had had taken E (Kite Prize 4th Oct).
Thanks Tramp and well done PeterO.
jellyroll @ 60
Curious. I entered the same search term into Chambers and TROLLOP was the only return.