Another toughie from this setter that kept me on my toes all the way through. Thanks to Paul.
| Across | ||||||||
| 1 | STATUTE | Still figure divided by three originally in document (7) T[hree] in STATUE |
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| 5 | EDIFICE | Boy on ward providing sheets and packs, say, for building (7) ED, boy’s name that is short for Edward + IF (providing) + ICE (which can be found in sheets and in packs) |
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| 11 | DRAGOONING | Daughter, a thug in gang being a bully (10) D + A GOON in RING (gang) |
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| 12 | INSTAL | Russian dictator’s elected to push west – 25? (6) STALIN with IN moved to the “west” – usually spelled “install”, but this version also exists |
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| 13 | EGOISTIC | Quote recalled about progress is vain (8) GO (progress) IS in reverse of CITE |
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| 14 | BRAVERMAN | Less spineless person required as old home secretary (9) BRAVER MAN – former Home Secretary Suella Braverman, sometimes known as Cruella because of her relish for the plan to deport refugees to Rwanda |
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| 16,3 | RIVER TRENT | Flower in rose originally held by pin, damaged (5,5) R[ose] in RIVET RENT |
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| 17 | BASIN | Bowl initially – meaning bowl! (5) B[owl] + AS IN (meaning) |
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| 19 | BAR MAGNET | Thing securing levering mechanism, catch for drawer (3,6) ARM (levering mechanism) in BAG (thing, as in “crosswords are my bag/thing”) + NET (to catch) |
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| 23 | COME TRUE | Happen to see brilliant streaker on road in Marseille? (4,4) COMET + RUE (French “street”) |
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| 24 | COPTIC | Catch second spoken language (6) COP (to catch) + TIC (“tick”, a second) |
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| 26 | LOVE ISLAND | Where vain dolls out to impress beefcake, ultimately? (4,6) [beefcak]E in (VAIN DOLLS)*, &lit, referring to the “reality” TV show |
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| 28,27 | CLOSING TIME | Hundred behind eleven, usually? (7,4) C (100) + LOSING TIME (behind) – 11pm is a typical closing time for pubs |
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| 29 | AMONGST | In second, worry about that (7) MO (another kind of second) in ANGST |
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| Down | ||||||||
| 2 | THINNER | Solvent, though having lost a few pounds? (7) Double definition |
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| 4 | TIDDLER | Cat cut tail off freshwater shrimp (7) A truncated (cut) TIDDLES (traditional name for a cat) + the tail of [freshwate]R |
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| 6 | DOO-DOO | Waste parties discussed? (3-3) Sounds like “do, do”, two parties |
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| 7 | FINISHING LINE | Home, with some cord to cross – here? (9,4) IN (home) in FISHING LINE |
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| 8 | CONFINE | 25 22, someone there doing well (7) The definition is “PUT IN PRISON” – CON (a prisoner) + FINE (doing well) |
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| 9 | CAPE CANAVERAL | A nut inside hole, bar missing one where missiles launched (4,9) A PECAN in CAVE + RAIL less I |
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| 15 | VOICELESS | Innocent banking leader in office, disenfranchised (9) O[ffice] in VICELESS |
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| 18 | AXOLOTL | Salamander often swallowing beef up and last of veal (7) Reverse of OX in A LOT (often) + [vea]L |
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| 20 | MACADAM | Surface, a block on which coat applied (7) MAC (coat) + A + DAM (block) |
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| 21 | ENIGMAS | Reversible trap in identical puzzles (7) Reverse of GIN (trap)in SAME |
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| 22 | PRISON | Can is in flat, not closed (6) IS in PRON[e] (lying flat) |
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| 25 | PUTIN | Autocrat, flipping idiot finished? (5) Reverse of NIT UP |
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This one took a while, but I got there… Lots to enjoy and think about while I wait for the inevitable objections to DOODOO!
Andrew, there’s a typo in 17ac – should be ‘AS IN’.
Thanks to Andrew and Paul
I thought the clue for LOVE ISLAND was brilliant.
Thank you Paul and Andrew
Small point: You missed the PUT IN aspect of 12 across.
Thanks Andrew – needed for BAR MAGNET parsing.
The 25 in 12a INSTAL again refers to PUT IN. I am surprised that Paul didn’t manage to work in a POO TIN somewhere!
For once I found this easier than my usual attempt at Paul, though the TL corner held me up for some time – I don’t know why , as it turned out to be relatively easy.
I agree with Shanne @2 about LOVE ISLAND.
Thanks Paul, too
I certainly found this a toughie even by this setter’s standard but only AXOLOTL was unheard of.
Liked DRAGOONING and the cross referencing to PUTIN.
I wasn’t entirely sure my reasoning for ED in EDIFICE was correct but glad I agreed with the blogger.
Thanks Paul and Andrew
CONFINE my top clue. I liked the way the link worked between 25/22 and the pun is funny although a con might not be too fine in a real Putin prison. Also liked THINNER (another pun) and COME TRUE for the def. Whimsical. Thanks both.
I always scan around for an easy start and with EGOISTIC being FOI, I thought I might be in for a struggle. BRAVERMAN was much easier, but I somehow missed that one for a while and, having tried to blank her from my memory, could see the heartless face long before the name came. However, as is usually the case with Paul, if you don’t flounce out at the sight of his name, the answers tend to come. In the end, it didn’t take that long and I had no quibbles.
I liked MACADAM, COME TRUE, CAPE CANAVERAL, BASIN and CLOSING TIME (my first reaction to “100 behind 11, usually” was England Team, which fits, and was presumably Paul’s dastardly plan).
Very good, thanks Paul and Andrew
Brilliant! LOVE ISLAND might be my favourite for the year. It took me a while to figure out how CONFINE worked, but it was very satisfying when I realised. A great start to the day – thanks Paul and Andrew.
I thought this was Paul at his best. I liked all the clues mentioned above.
Bar magnet somewhat a bung as I didn’t twig bag for thing, despite its being so my era (Should’ve remembered that Fred Neil lyric: Same thing’s gonna happen again, cos that’s the bag I’m in). Otherwise, nothing too diabolical from the Paulster, ta to him and Andrew.
AXOLOTL was one of my first in as a friend of mine had one as a pet many years ago, but it wasn’t until I managed to get PUTIN that things began to fall into place. Aimlessly wondered for ages where or what PUTIN PRISON might be before the penny dropped about splitting Vladimir in two.
Personally found this a little less difficult than this setter sometimes is. BAR MAGNET was my last one in…
I thought “Where vain dolls out to impress beefcake, ultimately? (4,6)” was missing an “are” or perhaps “dolls” should be “doll’s” to improve the surface? Or maybe I’m not reading it correctly.
I always enjoy Paul’s crosswords.
Thanks Paul and Andrew.
“I’ve never met an axolotol
But Harvard has one in a bottle” etc. (Ogden Nash)
I didn’t like tIDDLES nor the missing ‘ward’ in 5a given that ED also works.
Tough, clever and enjoyable. Thanks Andrew for the finer bits of parsing that I missed.
I saw the definition of 7a FINISHING LINE as ‘cross – here’.
I loved the interrelated autocrat clues – PUTIN, INSTAL, PRISON, CONFINE. Nicely done, with some almost hidden definitions adding to the difficulty.
And I agree, LOVE ISLAND is brilliant and COME TRUE is lovely.
Thanks to Paul and Andrew.
#3 Martin- elected Put in
Very clever and great fun to solve. LOVE ISLAND was an inspired clue! The various references to 25d worked a treat too.
Thanks Paul and Andrew
I found this tough and needed some help checking letters to completely solve, but nevertheless enjoyable. As others, did not know axolotl, and I needed this site for parsing edifice and bar magnet. The second half of 23a was my foi, but needed a bit more time to get the brillant streaker. I only know install with two ‘l’s.
Thanks, Paul and Andrew
Chris @15 Yes, I thought I made it clear I knew that. I was just pointing out that the blogger hadn’t mentioned it.
Tough, but I think a shade easier than typical Paul. Agree with everyone re: LOVE ISLAND.
With EDIFICE, was trying to parse the opening part as Ed is found “on” ward to form Edward, rather than merely short for it, but there seems to be something missing. Didn’t hold me up, though.
I think I’m getting better at cryptics, then come across something like this. I’m simply not on the same wavelength as this setter.
I struggled a bit on what I thought were a few over-convoluted clues, but they were more than outweighed by the brilliant LOVE ISLAND, and the superb connected INSTAL and PUTIN. How on earth did Paul manage to spot that cycling the letters of STALIN gives you a synonym for PUT IN which equals PUTIN?
(Martin @3 and 18: Andrew has underlined “25” as the definition which covers it, doesn’t it?)
Many thanks Paul and Andrew.
I found this much more difficult than even Paul’s usual, with a mix of clues that were brilliant, clues that were opaque to me, and clues that were both, and very few of the straightforward kind! INSTAL was one of the “boths,” very elegant and admirable conceptually, but I’ve never once seen that spelling. Also a couple of UKisms that escaped me–CLOSING TIME which I had to reveal (it’s never eleven here, and “time” seems strained), Tiddles/TIDDLER (maybe Fluffy or Mittens?), and even FINISHING LINE (no “ing” in the US). BRAVERMAN I know, alas.
On the other hand, many brilliant ones, like managing to assemble AXOLOTL, AMONGST (LOI) with the definition cleverly packed into a very small space, CONFINE, and I liked COME TRUE, RIVER TRENT, and CAPE CANAVERAL with their elements nicely spanning the words. BASIN also brilliant.
Thanks Paul and Andrew!
I never felt on the same wavelength as Paul today and found several clues difficult. Like Matt w@22 I struggled to understand several UKisms, and I add LOVE ISLAND to that list.
Thanks Paul and Andrew
Enjoyed this. I couldn’t work out 4D though because I thought cats were called TIBBLES, but I’m no expert.
Wonder if Labour are encouraging crossword setters to remind us about people like Braverman now and again.
LOI was BRAVERMAN, I’d forgotten all about her, which is for the best I think…
Martyn @23. LOVE ISLAND (my COD too) hardly counts as a UKism any more. The show may have originated here, but I am aware of copycat shows in NZ, Australia, the US, France, Germany and Italy, and I’m pretty sure there must be others. It is now an international franchise.
Only 26 comments at 18.35. Yesterday at this point 70. Is this the lowest comment count on a Guardian cryptic ever? Maybe people just threw their hands up and did not engage.
This was a rare almost-completion of a Paul for me: so much more approachable than many of his. I notice I appear to be in a minority, and the converse has often been the case too.
The usual caveats remain – a lot of clues unparsed, and it wasn’t easy by any means – but the fact that I was two short of completion (ENIGMAS and COPTIC) made for a satisfying hour, early this morning.
Way above my pay grade: had PUTIN, BRAVERMAN and TIDDLER quite early, but didn’t progress much when I came back to it
DNF
Scarcely even S’d.
I usually get on very well with Paul.
The exception proves the rule.
I clearly complicated things but I seriously thought I was so right in parsing 19 as – Bar Magnet being a thing that secures a levering mechanism (as in a door) – with Bar as a synonym for Catch (it does show up in a Thesaurus) and Magnet being a Drawer! Andrew’s parsing is much easier. Lovely puzzle, though -as always with Paul. Thanks Paul and Andrew.
Excellent puzzle. I got stuck in the SE with AMONGST, not seeing it despite the crossers.
Some great surfaces, INSTAL, THINNER and LOVE ISLAND being my faves.
Thanks, Paul and Andrew.
I tried this this morning, but after ten minutes of flailing, all I had was frustration at the multi-light entries, plus the lone answer DOO-DOO. Typical Paul, then. But I did come back and finish this afternoon. I agree with the general tenor of the comments above.
As Matt W said, 11:00 sounds ridiculously early for a closing time to American ears. Laws about such things are local here–the constitutional amendment that repealed prohibition actually spells that out–so you’ll find varying practices. Here in Chicago, bars can have 2am or 4am licenses. Most of the ones that close at 4 are still just getting going at 11pm! (Edit to add: 4am sounds ridiculously *late* to most Americans not from New Orleans or Las Vegas, where bars are not required to close at all.)
Which discussion gives me cause to link to your earworm today, one of the top one-hit wonders of the 1990s.
I’ve also never met a cat named Tiddles, and have never even heard of that name for one. Must be a Britishism.
Thanks to Andrew for a much-needed blog, by the time I’d filled the grid my brain refused to parse all the answers. Thanks to Paul for not too many ‘double’ clues, and for a gjggle with doo-doo. That places me, I think!
Balfour @27
Apart from a recent Prize, I’ve decided to give Paul puzzles a miss.
I’m only commenting to expand on axolotls. They are (or could be) salamanders, but are very interesting as they never complete their metamorphosis and reproduce while still in juvenile form (almost still tadpoles!) I think I have seen research that suggests that, if given the correct hormone, they do finish metamorphosis and turn into “adult” salamanders.
Phew, that was a bit of a tough one. Three bites at it needed today, before I just now crossed the FINISHING LINE. Hoopla!
I liked all the devious connections that were PUT IN, but for CotD I’ll join with the general vote for LOVE ISLAND.
[A very tangential aside about AXOTOTL. One of the bonuses of cave exploration, in which I have been involved, is that you get to name any previously undiscovered passages. We had a bit of a fad for naming especially constricted passages after amphibia. First was the Newt – originally “tight as”, and following enlargement “hammered as” – then the Axolotl, I think because of the contortions needed (?) , and also the Eft, because of what you felt like having gone through it.]
Thanks, Paul, for the mind stretch, and Andrew for the clarifications.
Why does one only spot speling errrors when theirs only 5 seconds to go on teh edit? *AXOLOTL*
Nope, could not get one clue.
muffin #35 I believe adding iodine to the water will do it.
Persistence, several sessions, and a healthy dose of DuckDuckGo got me to within five, further than I expected to go. Similar experience to some other commenters. Not a chance on 14 BRAVERMAN (who?), 4d TIDDLER (eh?), 28/27 CLOSING TIME (in UK). Should have solved 12a INSTAL, 15d VOICELESS. Otherwise good fun, especially 17a BASIN (funny), 26a LOVE ISLAND (surface tells a story), 7d FINISHING LINE (cohesive)
12a INSTAL is quite brilliant in its references to Putin and Stalin. Very clever and telling. I suppose you could also reverse the former — INPUT
9d CAPE CANAVERAL, almost didn’t bother retro-parsing
19a BAR MAGNET, we’ve seen the latter clued as “drawer” quite a lot lately — I’m on to it now!
I don’t think cats are actually called Tiddles in the UK these days, any more than dogs are called Rover (anybody met one of either?) It’s an outdated cliché.
I liked the PUT IN clues, but not the obscure spelling of INSTAL: I suppose in the context of the other clues the link to Stalin was too good to resist. This was hard work and took time to yield (Rivet rent? Really?) and not my favourite Paul ever, but worth the trouble for LOVE ISLAND and THINNER.
Mrs. E did the harder work on this one, but we did finish before lights out.
It took a worryingly long time to get another after DOO DOO, foi.
Thanks as usual to Paul for a tough but charming challenge.
Cheers all.
I seem to be a rarity in thinking of INSTAL with just the one L! Couldn’t get AMONGST, despite having a re-start this morning on the last half dozen and getting the other five pretty quickly. Even looking at the crossers and thinking of letters that could fit, I couldn’t recognise the word, nor think of a synonym for worry. Eventually I invented OMENISE, to spend too much time worrying about omens. Worrying times, indeed.
Thanks to Paul for an enjoyable tussle, and Andrew for helping with a couple of parsing.
SH, 43, like “appal” it didn’t bother me either.
Why do people put ST on “among” and “unbeknown”?
That was our LOI too.
Good one sh@43. OMENISE really deserves to be a word!
Mig 45
As do the verbs decivilise, disenlighten, nastify, and many more of late.