Guardian Prize Puzzle 26,232 by Paul

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This puzzle contained a combination of very easy clues with others which were really quite taxing.

There were some very nice surfaces and none of Paul’s trademark smut (unless there were some double entendres which have eluded me).  I was surprised by the number of cryptic definitions.

I wonder if we’ll have an Easter Bank Holiday special this year, and if so, who will set it?  By the time this blog appears, we should know the answer.

 

Across
1 BERMUDA SHORTS Beat other bass drum — these too loud? (7,6)
*(OTHER BASS DRUM).  Ironically, according to Wikipedia, the original Bermuda shorts were made from grey flannel and were designed as acceptable clothing for office use.  Later, more brightly coloured materials were used, which is presumably what Paul is referring to in this clue.
10 ARCHAIC Old seat almost in line (7)
CHAI(r) in ARC.
11 RATTLER Snake something disconcerting? (7)
Cryptic definition.
12 HAUNT Seek to secure a visit (5)
A in HUNT.  Took me a long time to work this one out.
13 FLOWERPOT Plant’s home oft cultivated to accommodate cow parsley, primarily (9)
LOWER P(arsley) in *OFT.  Pedants may object that the intransitive verb “to low” has no associated noun, but I think that the usage is justified by the elegantly misleading clue that is thus produced.
14 OPTIC Eye old Egyptian heading off (5)
(C)OPTIC.  I was surprised to discover that Chambers does give “optic” as a noun meaning an eye, if only in a facetious sense.
16 PESSIMISM Some retro films I miss, epitomised in negativity (9)
Hidden reverse in “films I miss, epitomised”.  Not many setters would try and hide a 9 letter word; unfortunately it leapt out for me from the give away word “some”.
18 VERBOSITY Logorrhea not entirely nonsense, in truth (9)
BOS(h) in VERITY.
19 GHOST Army after good spirit (5)
G, HOST.
20 COFFEE CUP Container for drink, short box with purple back (6,3)
COFFE(r), PUCE(rev).
23 LOGIC Reason smoke ring beginning to loom over (5)
CIG (smoke) O(ring) L(oom) (all rev).
24 ICEBOAT Means of transport I’m certain, essentially based on Arctic territory for starters (7)
Initial letters (“starters”) of “I’m certain, essentially based on Arctic territory”.
25 ANTENNA Insect should take queen from behind, one feels (7)
ANT, ANNE(rev).
26 PAIN IN THE NECK Torticollis — or a headache? (4,2,3,4)
Cryptic definition (barely cryptic, in fact).
Down
2 ENCOUNTER Come across contents of menu on bar (9)
(M)EN(u), COUNTER.
3 MEANT Deliberate straddling of pole by flesh (5)
N in MEAT.
4 DECAF Revolutionary looked at something less stimulating? (5)
FACED (rev).  I spent a long time looking for a word involving “red” or “che”.
5 SERIOUSLY Very honestly? (9)
Cryptic definition.  I eventually worked this out from the crossing letters; congratulations to anyone who solved it from the wordplay alone.
6 ON THE WING Flying down the touchline? (2,3,4)
Another cryptic definition.
7 TULIP Clue covering case of unusual plant (5)
U(nusua)L in TIP.  I hadn’t come across this usage of “case of” before, and in fact only worked it out on writing the blog.
8 FASHION VICTIM Tailor has info on two boys’ names, then one stuck on labels? (7,6)
*(HAS INFO), VIC TIM.  I missed the anagram when solving the clue, thinking that TAILOR = FASHION.  I like the definition (“one stuck on labels”) and indeed the whole clue has a lovely surface.
9 ARITHMETICIAN Certain I am unsure about it, hard I reckon? (13)
IT in *(CERTAIN I AM H(ard)).  Got misled by MATHEMATICIAN for a while, but couldn’t make it fit.
15 CLOSE DOWN Shut top of coop, then moult? (5,4)
C(oop), LOSE DOWN.  Another nice surface.
16 PRINCETON Harry not up for university (9)
PRINCE, TON(rev).
17 INORGANIC Spray can with origin that’s artificial (9)
*(CAN ORIGIN).  Chemists may raise their eyebrows at the definition, but I think that the meaning is clear.
21 FREYA Goddess in prayer, fed up (5)
Another hidden reverse, in “prayer, fed”.
22 POACH Take game or fish for cook (5)
Double definition, although I completely failed to see the first one (“take game or fish”) until I came to write the blog.
23 LATIN Words once spoken – about time rested (5)
T(ime) in LAIN.

*anagram

26 comments on “Guardian Prize Puzzle 26,232 by Paul”

  1. Thanks to Bridgesong and to Paul. Makes my day when there’s a ‘Paul’ to solve. Enjoyed this, though not one of his toughest.

  2. Thanks for the blog, Bridgesong. As a couple of people noted during the week, I thought this on the easy side for a prize. I presume that you give the description “cryptic definition” to four clues because they give two shades of meaning of a word or phrase etymologically the same – I would put them all down as double definitions, with 26A of the type I label as “definition and literal interpretation”.

  3. Less taxing than usual for a ‘Paul,’ I thought, but some entertaining clues. Maybe I’m just getting used to him.

  4. Thanks bridgesong. Pleasant and not too taxing though I made the NE corner more difficult by carelessly, and confidently, entering ‘mathematician’ too.

  5. Thanks Paul and bridgesong
    I didn’t parse VERBOSITY; otherwise a very easy Prize, I thought.

    I am a chemist whose eyebrows were raised at the definition for INORGANIC. I can’t find any justification for it. Most “artificial” compounds (“plastics”) are, in fact, organic. Even the organic farming movement doesn’t seem relevant.

  6. Surprisingly I found this difficult for a Paul. We did have visitors though so I had to do the puzzle piecemeal.

    It also seemed to me to be a little un-Paul-like and without the identifier I don’t think I would have attributed it to him. Perhaps this threw me?

    Anyway I finally polished it off when the guests departed.

    Thanks to bridgesong and Paul

  7. Thanks for the blog.

    I always enjoy a Paul. Thought there were quite a lot of good misdirections here with several common tricks used in uncommon ways.

    I had several of your cryptic defs down as double defs too. For example SERIOUSLY can be VERY or HONESTLY? The latter being a modern expression of exasperation.

  8. I second R_c_a_d at #7: I too saw “Very honestly” as a double definition – and got it because I had S in at the top and Y in at the bottom!

    I agree with bridgesong about the mix of very easy and difficult clues. Very enjoyable overall. Thanks to Paul and to bridgesong!

  9. Thanks Bridgesong and Paul,

    I actually thought there was plenty of ribaldry here in the surfaces, but if others have not noticed, this may mean that the demons are in my own mind, not the setter’s.

    (If you are wondering – 2, 3 and 25)

  10. A good puzzle; fun, varied and an appropriate way to pass spare time. It’s not compulsory, y’know!

  11. Another good Paul puzzle which, as others have already noted, was towards the easier end of his spectrum. It took me a while to see ARITHMETICIAN and that isn’t the first time I’ve had trouble with the word.

  12. Tim Phillips @10

    “It’s not compulsory..” !!!!

    Oh yes it is

    SOED

    compulsory
    …..
    B adjective.
    1 Produced by compulsion;

    😉

  13. Thanks bridgesong. Could you explain the grammatical problems with 13 across please?

    If something that sings (a bird) can be a singer, someone who talks ( a person) can be a talker, why can’t something that lows (a cow) be a lower?

  14. Nice puzzle. My first was arithmetician and my last antenna.
    Mathematicians do more than just calculate though many equate mathematics with arithmetic.
    I do not like queen to refer to Anne – it seems so arbitrary. Similarly the use of girl too refer to a girl’s name.

  15. Brianjp

    That reminds me of my university days. My degree is in Pure Mathematics.

    Often in those days I would play darts and people would comment on my dire subtraction skills when scoring with comments such as “Don’t you do Maths?”.

    Of course my reply was “I am a mathematician not an arithmetician.” 🙂

  17. Thanks to all for your comments, and apologies for the delay in responding, but I’ve been busy in the kitchen trying to recreate a Yottam Ottolenghi recipe from last week’s magazine. It’s in the oven now, so nothing more to do for 45 minutes.

    PeterO and others, I agree that it isn’t always easy to distinguish between a double definition and a cryptic one. A clue like 22 down is a clear example of a double definition: two definitions of a kind which could be found in a dictionary for two different meanings of the word. But the clue for RATTLER at 11a comprises a one word definition with a two word example, which I class for this purpose as a cryptic definition. Others may disagree. But on reflection the clue for SERIOUSLY probably does qualify as a double definition, so I accept what r_c_a_d @ 7 says in that case.

    Turning to PeeDee’s point at @13, it’s not so much a question of grammar as one of vocabulary. The word “lower” has only one meaning, and it’s not the one used in the clue. Yes, it would be an obvious formation, and we must be prepared to expect such usages from setters like Paul, but the Ximenean lurking in my subconscious mind felt it necessary to draw attention to it. Were Azed to use “cow” to mean “lower” he would qualify it in some way to draw attention to the unorthodox usage. Having said all that, as I said in the blog, I think that in this case the surface reading justifies Paul in taking that particular liberty.

  18. Hi bridgesong – thanks for the blog.

    Isn’t ‘lower’ for ‘cow’ the same as ‘butter’ for ‘goat’ or ‘ram’? – which has been around for as long as I’ve been doing crosswords, I think.

    Bon appetit! 😉

  20. bridgesong @17. Thanks for your reply. I see a relationship between your two points: in 11A, I read the second definition as something which rattles – i.e. disconcerts.

  21. Just a word of warning for anyone trying Maskarade’s Guardian Easter cryptic: the solution to one of the undefined clues appears to be misspelled in the grid. . .

  22. AdamH@21 – I didn’t notice anything untoward while solving it yesterday so I await the blog for it in a week or so with interest.

  23. Andy B — I’m going by my Folio Society copy of the relevant text (you’d have thought they’d get it right wouldn’t you?). Having Googled it, it’s clear that (what I imagine to be) ‘your’ spelling of it is very widespread, although ‘my’ spelling crops up too. Wonder which is right . . .

  24. AdamH
    Please do not discuss a current prize puzzle until after the closing date for entries and then do so in the relevant blog.

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