Got through about half of this quickly, then struggled to the end – just wasn’t on the right wavelength for 9ac and 5dn, had never heard of 22,20 and still can’t properly parse 1ac [Edit thanks to PeterO]. Favourites were 11ac, 12,16 and 24ac.
Across
1 Upset about wine, it gets sent back in place of posh nosh (6-3)
GASTRO-PUB
=”place of posh nosh”. BUG=”Upset”, about PORT=”wine” plus S[ex] A[ppeal]=”it”, all reversed (“sent back”)BUG=”Upset”, about PORT=”wine”, all reversed (“it gets sent back”). Not sure how to get the remaining AS / rev(SA)… there’s AS =”in place of”, but that doesn’t work with the rest of the clue for me.
6 Reportedly filthy bird (4)
FOWL
=”bird”. Sounds like ‘foul’=”filthy”
8 Lofty range of latest shifts (8)
FALSETTO
=”Lofty range”. (of latest)*
9 Censorship? (6)
CUTTER
=”Censor”; =”ship”
10 Something, nothing less — not yet, I suspect (6)
ENTITY
=”Something”. ‘o’=”nothing”, removed from (not yet I)*
11 Desperate when out of bounds to secure birdie, ultimately (8)
HOPELESS
=”Desperate”. HOP-LESS=”out of bounds”, around [birdi]E
12,16 Archer committing perjury, still held in secure place — or not? (6,8)
FLYING BUTTRESS
=”Archer”. LYING=”committing perjury” plus BUT=”still”, all held in F[or]TRESS=”secure place – or not”
15 Play written around current book showing youth in the ’50s (5,3)
TEDDY BOY
=”youth in the ’50s” [wiki]. TOY=”Play” around EDDY=”current” and B[ook]
16 See 12
19 One designed to climb — or run (6)
LADDER
=”One designed to climb”; =”run” [in stockings]
21 Covered with woven material, wigged (8)
CARPETED
=”Covered with woven material”; =”wigged” as in ‘scolded’
22,20 Nevadan died in Montana, dog buried there (6,7)
DANDIE DINMONT
=”dog”. Hidden in (“buried there”) “NevaDAN DIE/D IN MONTana”
24 Country reflected in outskirts of Brasilia, South American capital (6)
BOGOTA
capital of Colombia. rev(TOGO=”Country”) in B[rasili]A
25 Rank expert back in the pink (8)
CORPORAL
=”Rank”. rev(PRO=”expert”) in CORAL=”pink”
26 Colour yellow primarily recorded on film? (4)
CYAN
=”Colour”. Y[ellow]=”yellow primarily”, ‘in the CAN’ idiomatically= “recorded on film”
27 Seriously old walls in home (9)
EARNESTLY
=”Seriously”. EARLY=”old” around (“walls in”) NEST=”home”
Down
1 One getting into mature woman a little bit (5)
GRAIN
=”little bit”. I=”One” inside GRAN=”mature woman”
2 Tree-hugging monkey missing an Eastern dish (7)
SASHIMI
=”Eastern dish”. SIMI[an]=”monkey missing an” around ASH=”tree”
3 Cross road, avoiding the Tibetan yak heads (5)
RATTY
=”Cross”. R[oad] A[voiding] T[he] T[ibetan] Y[ak]
4 Seer gains by speaking aloud (7)
PROPHET
=”Seer”. Sounds like ‘profit’=”gains”
5 Revel? (9)
BACKPEDAL
is rev(LEVER), or BACK PEDAL in crosswordese
6 Very great friend so wounded for the last time? (7)
FATALLY
=”so wounded for the last time”. FAT=”Very great” plus ALLY=”friend”
7 Something for sharpening false teeth, shown leaving hospital (9)
WHETSTONE
=”Something for sharpening”. (teeth shown)* minus h[ospital]
13 Praising old racing driver, politician (9)
LAUDATORY
=”Praising”. Niki LAUDA=”old racing driver” [wiki] plus TORY=”politician”
14 Dog in stormy tea garden (5,4)
GREAT DANE
=”Dog”. (tea garden)*
17 Tea garden’s last storm (7)
TYPHOON
=”Storm”. TYPHOO=”Tea” plus [garde]N
18 Model secured for lothario (7)
SEDUCER
=”lothario”. (secured)*
20 See 22 across
22 Ultimately, rude crossword turned this air blue? (5)
DIRGE
=”air [that is] blue”. [rud]E plus GRID=”crossword”, all reversed
23 Nation, I reckon, disheartened (5)
ITALY
=”Nation”. I plus TA[L]LY=”reckon, disheartened”
In 1A, SA (sex appeal) is ‘it’.
PeterO: thanks. I have seen that before, just didn’t twig tonight… will edit the post.
Thanks manehi. The wretched dog in 22, 20 fouled this puzzle for me. I did like many of the surfaces though, including the Archer one.
Completed
Thanks manehi and Paul.
Lots to admire and amuse here. DANDIE DINMONT was particularly well hidden [especially in the paper version] and I smiled at 14 / 17dn, after Donk’s tour de force in the Indy last week. Jeffrey Archer continues to supply excellent fodder, too.
[On the first run through, I was led astray by Donald Duck’s nephew HUEY for 26a. 😉 ]
[Apologies for the weird grammar in the first sentence in my comment @5. I originally wrote, ‘Lots to admire and smile at’, then changed it, too hastily, after using ‘smiled at’ in the next sentence.]
Thanks, manehi.
A tougher struggle than usual for Paul, I found, though enjoyable.
I struggled with DANDIE DINMONT, though it did occur to me fairly early on. I went off on a tangent looking for famous Nevadians, including those in the film, but of course with no success. (Liberace and Agassi, in case you are struggling, followed by no one else of whom I have heard)
I liked CUTTER and FLYING BUTTRESS, once I had ruled out FLYING FORTRESS
Thanks Paul; the top of the puzzle went in quite smoothly but I got buried with the dog, which was nicely hidden. Too nicely as I hadn’t seen it before.
Thanks manehi; good clue for FLYING BUTTRESS, and I liked GASTRO-PUB and CYAN (didn’t parse that one!)
Yes, a tough one. I needed quite a bit of help to finish this. Even then, some of the parsing – eg GASTROPUB, HOPELESS and DIRGE – eluded me till I came here. As for 11, HOPELESS, before I turned to the computer I had convinced myself it must start with HE: [w]HE[n] “when out of bounds”. Grr!
Thanks, manehi and Paul.
I’ve been struggling with Paul recently but this one I found fairly straightforward. Just a question, as manehi says, of wavelengths; obviously I’m on the right one today.
Couldn’t parse CYAN though, having missed the ‘in the can’ link. Don’t do Japanese food so SASHIMI was new to me. With DANDIE DINMONT it’s the apparent deception of ‘buried there’ that makes the clue – very clever. Held up a bit in the NE by having FINALLY at 6d, convincing myself it was a ‘FIN(E) ALLY’, the ‘wounded’ lopping off the E, until reminding myself of Paul’s scurrilous tendency. 11 and 17 favourites.
I hadn’t heard of a Dandie Dinmont (not sure of capitalization on the word), but once I figured out the clue type, it went in okay. At first, I was trying to scramble “Nevadan” plus maybe some other letters and stuff them somehow in MT (which would be a Nevadan dying in Montana, of course).
British setters, though, don’t tend to use the two-letter abbreviations for states as much as American ones do, so I guess that wouldn’t have been all that likely in any case. (I’ve seen NY, CA, and (on one occasion) RI in British puzzles, but that’s pretty much it.) Some of those abbreviations are useful letter combos (e.g., PA, MA, FL, UT, IL, etc.) so it’s a bit of a surprise.
I found this quite hard – I’d never heard of DANDIE DINMONT but it looked plausible and Googling DANDIE reassured me – DIRGE was then last in. I took far too long over FOWL and FATALLY. BACKPEDAL was clever.
Thanks, manehi.
Entertaining puzzle from Paul, which I found harder than usual.
I completed the top half fairly easily and then got totally stuck. Had to resort to the old trick of putting it aside for an hour or so. Thereafter I suddenly spotted that 22,20 was a hidden clue (one of the very best I have ever encountered) and 18d an anagram (no idea why I didn’t see that immediately) and I motored to the end with renewed confidence (such an important factor in successful solving).
Some great clues with wonderful surfaces: I enjoyed 1a, 12,16, 22,20, 7d for their clever construction and surface readings. The contiguous tea gardens in 14d and 17d were a nice touch. Despite the clue for 22d, this was one of Paul’s least risqué crosswords…
Thanks Manehi (& PeterO), I needed you to parse 1ac. I always enjoy Paul’s puzzles and so it was today but I had a slow start and struggled on the last couple. I only know Gastropub and Teddy Boys from crosswords so they didn’t easily come to mind but they dropped eventually. Trailman didn’t know sashimi but despite living in Tokyo for 12 years I had to solve it from the wordplay because it isn’t a dish, any more than say charcuterie is. And I had to resort to a word search to find that bloody dog even though I knew I was looking for a hidden dog’s name. Stupid name for a dog!
Alec Guinness used to have a Dandie Dinmont. His memoirs were the first and last time I’ve heard of the breed.
Thanks all
Top half quickly entered but failed with 20,22 and dirge. Never heard of Dandie Dimont which msde a hidden clue hard to spot. I liked the misleading South American in 24 ac.
What is the question mark doing in 12,16ac?
I thought the wordplay for 1ac was far too complex to be of any use in solving the clue.
I though Archer as a definition of flying buttress was a step too far even though it allowed Paul to have yet another kick at a popular shin.
Along with Tom Hutton @ 17 I baulk at “Archer” as a definition for FLYING BUTTRESS.
Perhaps someone who understands could explain?
In Gerald Durrell’s “My Family and other Animals”, his mother has a Dandie Dinmont for a while. We studied the book at the start of GCSE English, and that breed has always stayed in my mind. It was the last one in for me today, but hugely pleasing when I realised what it was.
Thanks manehi and Paul. Enjoyable as always. 22dn: Did anyone else try MERDE (knowing Paul potty-mouth)? I was searching for DREW = a cross word, in vain.
Jeceris: a flying buttress forms an arch. So you could say what it does is to arch. Therefore it arches. Therefore it is an archer.
OOPS! I meant DREM!
I found this another enjoyable Paul puzzle. I completed the LHS relatively quickly but the RHS, particularly the SE, took longer. DIRGE was my LOI after I finally saw the excellently hidden DANDIE DINMONT.
A FLYING BUTTRESS is an architectural feature that contains a segmental or quadrant arch, so I don’t think it is too much of a stretch to define it as an archer in a cryptic crossword.
Thanks manehi, defeated by Dandie Dinmont, never heard of it. Excellent hidden clue though, if you know what you are looking for.
One of Paul’s best in my opinion. Too many great clues to list.
I didn’t help myself by entering FINALLY at 6D, thinking I’ll parse that later. However BACKPEDAL showed me the error of my ways so all came good. I too couldn’t fully parse 1A. (I spent a long time trying to replace a U with TI but finally GASTRO PUB had to be the answer.)
I loved FLYING BUTTRESS (which definitely is an arch)! I was trying to get the Merrie Men’s leader in here somehow 🙂
Loved it.
Thanks to manehi and Paul
Thanks manehi and Paul
Mostly enjoyable but I was thwarted by the ‘dandie dinmont’ pairing which I was wrongly convinced must be an anagram (with the attendant problem of wondering how many and which letters to try to use) – plus I did not know the dog itself!
Lots of fun, but quite hard too, I found.
I had the same problems as most other posters, but was finally only left with being unable to parse 1a.
Ah teddy boys. They were were knocking on a bit in the 1970s: here’s a mention from the late 1960s:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI1BCAUhBlU
The late lamented man of many voices and instruments, Vivian Stanshall…
Thanks Paul and manehi
Good puzzle as others have noted with top left and bottom right toughest and ENTITY being the last one in. Got into trouble by writing BISTRO PUB (unparsed other than PORT) even though we refer to it more as a BISTRO PUB. Finally was able to find GASTRO-PUB (still unparsed other than PORT) to get back on track.
Didn’t know the little dog in what must be the longest ha that I’ve seen.
An enjoyable solve on our third day of 40+ temperature in a row – with one more to come!
PUB BISTRO I meant as the usual reference here – I’ll blame it on another uncomfortable night and that it is already over 30 before 9:00 🙁
‘Dandie Dinmont’ was so elegantly hidden. The entries making the shape of a crucifix, with ‘dog buried there’ completely hypnotised me into missing ‘buried’ being an (actually quite clear!) Hidden Word indicator. Well done John! (& thank you manehi).
I know a flying buttress is an arch. It’s just not an archer.
Jeceris @ 30
archer the noun from the verb arch in this sense
SOED
….
3 verb trans. Span like an arch. m17.
Southey The vine that arch’d His evening seat. R. W. Emerson The rude bridge that arched the flood.
I’m a bit surprised to find that none of you have read Scott: Dandie Dinmont was a character in the novel Guy Mannering who bred dogs and from whom the breed gets its name