scchua, the schedule blogger for today’s puzzle is unavailable, so I am substituting. Whenever I stand in for a Guardian blogger, I am always a bit nervous about which setter I am going to be faced with. Today, my nerves increased a bit when I saw the setter was Paul.
However, for me, the puzzle wasn’t quite as tough as some of Paul’s that I have solved in the past.
There are plenty of Paul’s trademark clue surfaces, definitions and wordplay in today’s puzzle which require a bit of lateral thinking to unravel. That’s part of the fun of solving a Paul crossword though.
I have struggled a bit with one of the definitions for COPPER and have plumped for describing COPPER as a coin that has [is a keeper of] a head and a tail. There may well be a better description of the wordplay.
For me, the entry into the puzzle was in the lower half with a gradual climb up the grid before finishing on CLEAR OUT at 1 down.
I’m not sure that Casanova could be described as a GIGOLO [23 down] in current terminology, as a GIGOLO is paid for his services. I think Casanova was simply someone who indulged in amorous adventures without expecting payment.
Paul likes to include up-to-date terminology in his clues and grids. Words like monster, eww, and plonker didn’t have some of the meanings they have today when I was a lad. Crosswords keep you young at heart.
The bottom row of unchecked letters spells out FORM OF A, but I think that is a coincidence ,as I can’t see anything else that suggests a longer message in the grid.
| . | |
| Across | |
| 8/9 | Series of worsening events of course at the Winter Olympics? (8,5)
SLIPPERY SLOPE (course of action that will lead to disaster or failure; a series of worsening events) SLIPPERY SLOPE ([descriptive of] a course at the Winter Olympics, such as the downhill skiing or slalom course) double definition SLIPPERY SLOPE |
| 10/5 | Knitting pattern, if real, is embroidered! (4,4)
FAIR ISLE (a type of design used in knitwear, named from an island that is administratively part of Shetland) Anagram of (is embroidered) IF REAL IS FAIR ISLE* |
| 11 | Folly, given comparatively close shave before race? (10)
BALDERDASH (rubbish; nonsense; folly) BALDER (comparatively descriptive of a closer shave of the head) + DASH (move hastily; run) BALDER DASH |
| 12 | Owner of head and tail in pig, if vulgar (6)
COPPER (pig is a slang [vulgar] term for a policeman) a COPPER is a coin that has a head and a tail [owner of head and tail] – double definition COPPER |
| 14 | Given outstanding, outstanding! (8)
BESTOWED (given) BEST (outstanding) + OWED (amount of money outstanding in a debt) BEST OWED |
| 16 | Argument’s beginning with auteur Paul in a row (2,1,4)
AT A TIME (in a row; in an unbroken sequence – as in ‘She took the steps three ‘at a time’ or took the steps ‘three in a row’) A (first letter of [beginning]) + TATI (reference Jacques TATI [1907 – 1982], French mime, filmmaker, actor and screenwriter. An auteur is a film director) + ME (Paul, the crossword setter) A T A TI ME |
| 18 | Take on other role that’s put in agreement (4-3)
PLAY-ACT (pretend or make-believe; take on another role) LAY (put) contained in (in) PACT (agreement) P (LAY) ACT |
| 21 | Threatening conditions in Malta, it being stormy behind you (8)
ULTIMATA (final or peremptory demands; threatening conditions) U (text speak for ‘you’) + an anagram of (being stormy) MALTA IT – I think ‘in’ is just a link word to improve the surface of the clue, as there is no containment in the wordplay. U LTIMATA* |
| 23 |
Genial at first, half of relations cranky (6) GRUMPY (bad-tempered; cranky) G (first letter of [at first] Genial) + RUMPY (half of the phrase RUMPY–PUMPY [sexual intercourse; relations]) G RUMPY |
| 24 | Monster with rubber legs? (10)
STAGGERING (huge; I think ‘monster’ is a slang or street term for something that is amazing, outstanding, mega, huge etc …) STAGGERING (moving or reeling about with what seems like rubber legs) double definition STAGGERING |
| 26 | Newspaper after proof losing heart, eww! (4)
PFFT (exclamation, similar to eww, where both terms express contempt, disgust or distaste) PF (letters remaining in ProoF after the central letters roo are removed [losing heart]) + FT (Financial Times, a newspaper) PF FT |
| 27 | What water did at 0C, 0F wrong? (5)
FROZE (what water did at 0°, the freezing point of water in the Celsius or centigrade scale) Anagram of (wrong) F and ZERO (0) FROZE* |
| 28 | Free soul, one misbehaving and ending in prison (8)
UNLOOSEN (let free) Anagram of (misbehaving) SOUL ONE + N UNLOOSE* N |
| Down | |
| 1 | Remove muscle pierced by spike (5,3)
CLEAR OUT (remove) (CLOUT (power; muscle) containing (pierced by) EAR (spike [EAR of corn]) CL (EAR) OUT |
| 2 | Box blows up (4)
SPAR (to box, or make the actions of boxing) RAPS (blows) reversed (up; down entry) SPAR< |
| 3 | Fellow plonker (6)
MEMBER (person who belongs to a society, club etc; a fellow is a MEMBER of a society) MEMBER (penis; plonker is also vulgar slang for the penis) double definition MEMBER |
| 4 | A book tucked inside silly novel student references (7)
SYLLABI (series of lectures; student references) (A + B [book]) contained in (tucked inside) an anagram of (novel) SILLY SYLL (A B) I* |
| 5 | See 10 Across (4)
[SLIPPERY] SLOPE |
| 6 | Healthy way to go! (4,3,3)
GOOD FOR YOU (descriptive of something that the speaker thinks is healthy) GOOD FOR YOU (well done!; ‘way to go’ is an American informal expression of praise or encouragement, similar to ‘well done’) double definition GOOD FOR YOU |
| 7 | Elusive monster surfacing in lake is sensed (6)
NESSIE (affectionate term for the elusive monster said by some to live in Loch Ness, Scotland) NESSIE (reversed [surfacing; coming up; down entry] hidden word in [in] lakE IS SENsed) NESSIE< |
| 13 | Where two kids might meet, love can end in schmaltz, consumed by sentimentality (7,3)
PETTING ZOO (A zoo, or a part of a larger zoo, where children may hold and stroke and sometimes feed small or young animals. Young goats [kids] are often found in PETTING ZOOs, so might meet there) PET (a term similar to ‘love’ to refer to a person who is a favourite) + TIN (can) + (Z [last letter of {end in} schmaltZ] contained in [consumed by] GOO [sentimental language or sentimentality]) PET TIN G (Z) OO |
| 15 | Warmer note (3)
SOL (sun; a warmer) SOL (note of the tonic sol-fa) double definition SOL |
| 17 | Old bird in watery trench shaking tail (3)
MOA (a gigantic extinct [old] bird) MOAt (deep trench round a castle or fortified place, sometimes filled with water) excluding the final letter (shaking tail) T MOA |
| 19 | Taste drink (3,2,3)
CUP OF TEA (a drink) CUP OF TEA (a phrase descriptive of something that is to my taste, as in that’s my CUP OF TEA) double definition CUP OF TEA |
| 20 | nth saying: ‘Let me think!’ (7)
MAXIMUM ([to the] nth [degree]) MAXIM (a saying) + UM (expression or hesitation indicating that I am thinking) MAXIM UM |
| 22 | Excused, Marquis de Lafayette, par example? (3,3)
LET OFF (excused) LE TOFF (Marquis de Lafayette [nobleman {TOFF}] might be described in Franglais as LE TOFF) LE T OFF |
| 23 | Casanova in old vehicle, roof off VW (6)
GIGOLO (a young man living at the expense of an older woman, especially one to whom he gives sexual favours in return; lover; Casanova) GIG (an old carriage [vehicle]),+ pOLO (reference a VW Polo car) excluding the first letter P (roof off) GIG OLO |
| 25 | Vessel someone with a needle hasn’t opened (4)
EWER (large jug or pitcher; vessel) sEWER (someone with a needle) excluding the first letter S (hasn’t opened) EWER |
| 26 | Paid fellow, academic (4)
PROF (PROFessor; academic) PRO (PROfessional [someone who is paid]) + F (fellow) PRO F |
Thanks Paul for a crossword I could solve (rare for me with him), and duncanshiell for the blog, which clarified some parsings that I was not 100% on. I read the possible Nina as “For Mofa”, wondering who Mofa might be, I doubt anything Paul does in a crossword is not deliberate!
A Paul and an Imogen finished in the same week. That’s a first for me.
Thanks duncan. Excellent summary. I agree about COPPER, STAGGERING and that this puzzle is not one of Paul’s toughest. I liked CUP OF TEA(taste), PFFT and SLIPPERY SLOPE. Thanks Paul.
The Big Balderdash is what one of our journos calls our 20-over cricket series (I think it got its real name, Big Bash League, in the same way the origin of the universe got its 🙂 ).
I totally forgot about copper coins, and wondered, too, about gigolo, so a shrug or two but quite a fun Paul, so tas to him and duncan.
FAIR ISLE, BESTOWED and SYLLABI were my favourites in an approachable Paul. I struggled with COPPER: not only did I not see the first def but, whilst the police force does not always cover itself in glory and individuals occasionally let it down, I do not like the ‘pig’ definition and am disappointed to encounter it here.
Thanks both
Thanks for the great explanations, duncan. I missed the policeman aspect of pig. Though I saw Tati, I did not know the meaning of auteur.
I am not convinced to the nth degree means maximum; extremely isn’t necessarily a maximum.
I thought perhaps two kids meant a child and a young goat.
Thanks Paul for some great clues, GRUMPY amongst them
A Paul finished well below par time for this setter even with confidently writing in downhill as the first word of 1a.
Parsed COPPER as the blogger did but needed all the checking letters.
GIGOLO last one in with the double G just not letting me get the VW Golf out of my head even if in hindsight we it was clear we were decapitating it.
Liked LET OFF, COPPER and PETTING ZOO
Thanks Paul and Duncan for stepping in.
According to an AI in google,
Rumpy pumpy” is jocular British slang for sexual intercourse, originating in the late 1960s from the reduplication of “rump” (buttocks), with potential influence from characters like Rambling Syd Rumpo on BBC radio. It’s a playful, informal term that implies a “rump” and the “pumping” action, not meant for romantic settings”
My faves: CUP OF TEA, BESTOWED, BALDERDASH, CLEAR OUT and PROF.
COPPER: The ‘pig’ bit should have been avoided.
Thanks Paul and duncan.
Thank you for stepping in Duncan. Clear explanations. Like many others, I struggled to parse copper!
That was quite fun, and, unlike the last outing, not a plethora of new words. Although UNLOOSENING was new to me. I groaned at ‘rumpy pumpy’, but, hey-ho, it’s Paul. KVa@8 I agree that it is a term that one should avoid using, but I’m ok with it’s use in fiction, puzzles etc. with a clear indication that it is a vulgar term and therefore not for general use. Or did I misunderstand your comment? Thanks Paul and Duncan.
I usually skip Paul’s puzzles but I enjoyed this one.
I couldn’t parse 27ac.
Favourites: BALDERDASH, CUP OF TEA, ULTIMATA, BESTOWED.
New for me: plonker = penis.
I agree with Duncan re copper = coin and policeman, and also re Casanova/gigolo.
Not as hard as some recent Paul puzzles, with some great clues – my favourites included BESTOWED for its conciseness, and PETTING ZOO which was not at all concise; I don’t normally like wordy clues but this one turned out to be satisfyingly straightforward – just follow the instructions as given.
I don’t share the doubts about pig=COPPER; it seems to me that “if vulgar” shows Paul is acknowledging the term is unpleasant, but it is used (maybe not so much nowadays?) so IMO it’s OK here. (I see paul@10 was quicker than me.)
Thanks Paul and duncanshiell.
Got a bit chewy in the NW (last part to fall) but, as always with Paul, clues which apparently are utterly incomprehensible finally click, often with a smile. “Bestowed” was the pick of the bunch for me.
I’ve got to say that I am not a fan of the plural “syllabi” – the word is not originally a second declension Latin noun so the fake Latin plural (like “octopi”) is a classic example of Pope’s maxim that “A little learning is a dangerous thing, drink deep or taste not the Pierian spring”. I know dictionaries give it as a valid plural, but that is because they reflect usage. I’m just saying I don’t like the word! I am still convinced that schools changed from syllabuses to “specifications” in exams because no-one could agree on the correct plural…
Thanks Paul and Duncanshiell for the clear and comprehensive blog.
Pleased with myself for finishing this one; I often give up on Paul. I could parse most but was bemused by a few so thanks duncanshiell for providing such clear and helpful explanations.
Well, my own experience with this Paul puzzle was at variance with all the comments above (14 so far, as I write) of you early birds. Yes, there were some fairly straightforward successes at first, but I then found myself using the check button too many times as the parsing of several escaped me. AT A TIME, PLAY ACT, GRUMPY, FROZE, CLEAR OUT were examples of these. Then I rather threw in the towel.
Going against the crowd today, brain not fully engaged properly, obviously…
ronald@15 I think you apply stricter criteria for success than I do. As a relative newbie, I use the check button liberally, occasionally turn to Crossword Solver for possible answers, do what I can really to avoid resorting to the reveal button. It’s still a win for me. Two years ago I probably wouldn’t have got a single answer for today’s cryptic!
I was another who made heavier weather of this than I should have. BESTOWED is a gem. I share the quibbles.
I agree with the blogger’s reservations. Had no idea of that meaning of plonker, and will endeavour to forget it. I can’t see how PFFT is the same as eww, and nth does not mean MAXIMUM. On the plus side, I appreciate the absence of long linked clues and some surfaces were very good.
Does UNLOOSEN mean the same as LOOSEN? Rather like flammable/inflammable among others.
Thanks Duncanshiell for the easy to read table layout and Paul for what I felt was a very kind puzzle by usual standards. I could actually parse them all without recourse to the blog! I think is a first for me for a Paul puzzle. I nearly came a cropper, as my immediate response to the first clue at 8a. was DOWNHILL RACES. This could have led me badly astray, but fortunately the very next clue, 10/5 was a crosser of 8a. and a simple solve, so I was immediately shown the error of my ways (and no longer looking for a winter sports themed crossword!).
I didn’t find this easy. Like Amma@16, I use the check bottom (and google) to avoid revealing solutions. I needed to google “auteur Tati” to be able to parse 16A. Needed this blog for a few more parsings (maximum, rumpy). I liked the Scottish references (Fair Isle, Nessie). Thanks Paul for the nice puzzle and Duncanshiell for the very clear blog
GRUMPY made me hoot out loud. Good to see standards are being kept up!
Busy morning, back later…
One of Paul’s gentler offerings but still the same wit on display.
I particularly liked STAGGERING, GRUMPY and BESTOWED.
Thanks Paul and duncanshiell
A Paul with no major grumbles. Minor gripe about the ‘in pig’ joining the double definition.
Thanks both.
Not as technically difficult as many by Paul, but some lateral thinking required – I was another who missed the copper’s head and tail, and thought the SLIPPERY SLOPE was going to be a downhill something. I also missed the need to translate 0 into a word and then into anagram fodder for FROZE (bunged in from def).
I wouldn’t use PFFT where I would use “eww” – the one expresses contempt and the other disgust. Not the same at all.
I really liked the neat BESTOWED, CUP OF TEA, FAIR ISLE and LE TOFF.
Great fun!
Not quite a write in, but a jolly canter through a nice straighforward crossword.
I get on very well with Paul and this was nice after a run of struggles in recent days.
I don’t call policemen pigs either directly or in reference, but it is a well known epithet, if somewhat dated, so I have no problem with it being used here in that context. Same would go for rumpy-pumpy and plonker.
(Signs for ‘members area’ still make me smile.)
Like many others, I thought the clue for BESTOWED was, itself, outstanding.
I also particularly enjoyed the clue for PETTING ZOO. And – although in the wordplay the kids will be teenagers – I agree with Dave Ellison @5 that the “two kids” in the definition were perhaps intended to mean one child and one young goat.
Thanks to Paul and to duncanshiell.
#15Ronald I’m with you today re: the difficulty level (which is a fairly common experience). How anyone makes the leap from auteur to Tati is beyond me. The irony is not lost in that I spotted Nessie without taking to the water.
Too many dubious synonyms in definitions & wordplay.
E.g nth.
‘At a time’ means simultaneously; ‘in a row’ means consecutively. They are in no sense synonymous.
Hmmm, finished ok but struggled with a few defs.
Doesn’t UNLOOSEN simply mean tighten? And I can’t see how eww and PFFT can be interchanged.
Like others, disappointed to see the ‘pig’ reference to the police. I know it can be defended by evoking Animal Farm but I’d prefer not too see it in crosswords.
GRUMPY & BALDERDASH were both good fun.
Thanks both.
I parsed PFFT as being the sound of a fart, eliciting the “eww” response.
GRUMPY elicited a snort, after a brief moment wondering whether GHANKY was a word meaning cranky.
COPPER was my loi, and I needed the blog for its parsing, along with LET OFF and EWER.
Thanks to Paul for the fun and duncanshiell for the clarity.
Unless it’s for Mo [Salah] FA! Enjoyed this and agree that nth is not maximum. And why did 3 down delay me when it’s a Paul puzzle!
I didn’t get off to a good start by confidently entering DOWNHILL SLOPE for the first one. After I managed to disentangle myself from that I enjoyed this. I particularly liked ULTIMATA for the surface, and have no problems with “in” as a link word here.
What, no complaints about FROZE yet? It’s definitely an indirect anagram! (But quite a good one, I thought.)
I do agree that AT A TIME and “in a row” are not the same, in fact they’re opposites.
May thanks Paul and duncanshiell.
Am I alone in disliking SYLLABI and ULTIMATA as plurals? Foreign words adopted into English take on English forms, like stadiums (not stadia) and circuses (not circi). I imagine both are in Websters, but I doubt any native English speaker uses those forms.
Also, same gripes as others about MAXIMUM, AT A TIME, and GIGOLO.
Me @33: no sooner had I typed that comment about AT A TIME and “in a row” than I started to have second thoughts. Could they both effectively mean “in the same session” — eg three pints of beer at a time / in a row?
Finished Imogen yesterday, but as ever, Paul’s crosswords totally beyond me.
Thanks for the hints.
The top spells out CSM SIGN if that might be something that goes with FORM OF A or FORM OFA or whatever!
DNF because I revealed MAXIMUM, and I share the reservations about that definition–also NHO the definition of PLONKER but guessed that Paul might well know some words for MEMBER that one would hate to hear at an intimate moment. Speaking of which I’m glad it didn’t take me too long to think of rumpy-pumpy this time.
The compact clues for PROF, FROZE, and especially BESTOWED were gems.
Thanks Paul and duncansheil!
Paul has a way of pulling your head in strange directions. Enjoyable and quirky. Favourites 14a BESTOWED (outstanding, outstanding), 19d CUP OF TEA (succinct). I too had quibbles about the definitions for 16a AT A TIME and 26d PFFT, but I think duncanshiell has resolved them for me, so thank you
28a Yes, it’s odd how UNLOOSEN means free! It should mean tighten! For “unloose” or “unloosen” Chambers has “to loosen, unfasten, detach; to set free”. Very strange!
Since when have PFFT and EWW been words? I’ve never come across either, and have no idea how to pronounce the latter. I failed to parse FROZE and didn’t know the alternative meaning of PLONKER, so thanks to the blogger for the explanation. Thanks, too, to Paul for the otherwise enjoyable solve.
George@34: See my comment @13 – it’s not even a correct plural of syllabus.
Lord Jim @35: don’t second-guess yourself – ‘at a time’ and ‘in a row’ are not the same thing. You may buy 3 pints of beer at a time, but you drink them in a row – unless you use 3 straws, which would be foolhardy.
For (Sir) Mo Fa(rrah)?
Stretching it!
I was surprised at the negative reactions to the clue for COPPER. Apparently, although “pig” for police had its origins in the London underworld of the 18th century, it didn’t really become popularly known until the 1960s here in the US, where in many situations the police were, shall we say, on the wrong side of history (arresting, beating, and gassing protesters of racial injustice and the Vietnam War, for example). In general, atitudes towards law officers over here are a fair bit less generous, often with good reason. The Black community in particular has a well-earned distrust of the police, who have (to put it mildly) a track record there of shooting first and asking questions later. Anyway, while I personally wouldn’t use the term pig, I certainly can’t argue that it is always unwarranted. But it feels American now.
As JoFT has pointed out, syllabus is not a real Latin word. It seems to be a common misconception that all Latin words ending in -us have a plural in – i. There are many 3rd and 4th declension nouns that don’t. Opus becomes opera, gradus remains gradus. Omnibus is already plural.
To those of you who don’t like ‘pig’ as a term for copper I would just say that you have been lucky in your experience of the police.
My son’s experience of the Met police as a student in S E London ( white middle-class) meant that he thought this was a very accurate term for many of them . He reckoned to be stopped as he went into central London c 50% of the time based solely on the fact that he wore a hoody and had piercings. If his mate Jose was with him it would be Jose (black) who would be stopped virtually every time.
I roller-coasted through this without understanding a lot of the word play. Thank you Duncanshiell for the clear blog. Paul is great but tough.
Jenny Cant@45
Your son’s experience is truly shocking …
Many thanks to Paul, and to duncanshiell for the blog – I failed to parse COPPER. Agree with quibbles raised by others, but GRUMPY did make me laugh.
A lot of things to like in this one: the superb and concise BESTOWED (I needed all the crossers for this before the penny dropped); the cheerfully ooeer-missus GRUMPY and MEMBER; the straightforward but pleasing DDs of GOOD FOR YOU and CUP OF TEA.
A few things I wasn’t so keen on (as with many others posting above), and most of them were where I wasn’t sold on the definition part of the clues: I think it’s a bit of a stretch for COPPER to stand in for “coin”; I don’t see that SYLLABI could be defined, even loosely., as “student references”; “Monster” for STAGGERING seems a bit like someone trying a bit too hard to get down with the kids; PFFT I don’t see as being very close to “eeew!” – it’s more an expression of mild dismissal than one of disgust.
Gosh, I am whinging away here, aren’t I? *slaps own wrist*
It was an interesting and entertaining solve. Especially as the difficulty level, for me, was such as to give a decent number of early fairly easy hits in all parts of the board, providing enough crossers to be toe-holds for the next few in, and so forth. That meant that the grid got filled in steadily across the whole 15×15, rather than working from one side or corner outwards; I liked that.
Thanks to Paul for a good sleeves-rolled-up tussle and to duncanshiell for puzzling out all the parsings – there were several that escaped me.
How about “I’m taking things one day at a time”?
poc@18: nth / MAXIMUM: I think this is another of those cases where those for whom a term has precise usage in their expertise have to look the other way a bit and yield to popular usage. “To the nth degree” has taken on a general meaning of taking it up to the max (maybe even up to 11) , even if to those of a mathematical or scientific bent “nth” just means an unspecified position in a series.
So while I had my quibbles about some of Paul’s definitions (me@48), this wasn’t one of them; though I did twitch just a little bit…
Thanks Both,
JFT @13 I agree with you about ‘syllabi’ but I’ll rise, as I always do, to the suggestion that octopi is incorrect. ‘Octopus’ did not exist in classical Latin or Greek. It’s very likely a formation of scientific Latin in the seventeenth or eighteenth centuries, in which case the plural would have been ‘octopi’. Deprecation of it was probably subsequently introduced by the same C19 grammarians who mistakenly railed against split infinitives and ‘less than’ for countable collections.
While sharing many of the quibbles expressed above, BESTOWED has to be one of my all time favourite clues. So succinct, and so clearly correct when the copper finally dropped…
[Tyngewick@51 ; ” ‘less than’ for countable collections” – pistols at dawn! ]
That was fun. I share the love above of BESTOWED – very neatly done. I also agree with Lord Jim that FROZE is dangerously near an indirect anagram. But I can see that placing it next to OC in the clue is very tempting.
If Paul had gone with PROS in 26d, we could have had FORMOSA as the Nina, which along with FAIR ISLE could have been the start of a theme. I know Paul doesn’t generally do these though.
I’ve never heard ‘nth’ used alone, always nth degree, which seems ok for MAXIMUM to me. e.g. They exploited the situation to the nth degree/maximum.
Thanks, Paul and duncanshiell for stepping in with the very thorough blog.
I notice that ALANC is uncharacteristically absent from the comments today. Is it possible that he took umbrage at the definition for COPPER, having himself been one?
What I love about Paul’s definitions is that it becomes perfectly clear—after solving—exactly what he’s getting at. There’s always some context in which the definition and the thing defined line up almost exactly, like the moon over the sun. The “almost” means that we occasionally get to quibble with just cause. The miracle of the alignment means that we know he meant it.
Huge thanks to duncanshiell for a spectacularly well-formatted set of explanations. I appreciate the use of multiple colours to group letters in a solution word by the clue words they came from. It must have taken a lot of work. Please know that we notice and appreciate it.