Harder than usual for Paul, it took me a long while to get going on this one – until the theme was uncovered. A typically inventive and varied puzzle from Paul, and (mostly) very entertaining.
As is often the case with puzzles on a narrow theme if you know the subject well then once the theme is discovered the entries become write-ins from the letter counts, hardly needing to look at the clues. Conversely, if you don’t happen to be conversant with the theme then the puzzle becomes a case of guesswork or else an exercise in Googleing.
I guess for a few the puzzle will be in the Goldilocks zone (just right): the knowledge is in there somewhere but the recollection so dim that it only surfaces once the cryptic element of the clues have been solved. My personal feeling is that this will not be the majority of solvers.
I seem to have landed a whole bunch of themed puzzles recently – I’m starting to get theme-fatigue. Thanks Paul, and all the other setters, I really do enjoy your puzzles very much but can I have some plain old crosswords again please?
| Across | ||
| 1,27 | A ROOM OF ONES OWN |
23’s work broadcast by name, for love trebly complicated (1,4,2,4,3)
SOWN (broadcast)
|
| 5 | ORLANDO |
23’s work for setter (7)
Orlando is another Guardian cryptic crossword setter
|
| 9 |
See 12
|
|
| 10 | LASSITUDE |
Languor shown by celebrity dog around the house, or not (9)
LASSIE (celebrity dog) contains (around) TUDor (royal house) missing (not) OR
|
| 11 |
See 26
|
|
| 12,9 | BOAT TRAIN |
Rolling stock with old tat possibly kept in mind (4,5)
O (old) TAT* anagram=possibly kept in BRAIN (mind)
|
| 14 | ANGLICANISM |
Abomination of clans aiming for Sassenach religious principles? (11)
(CLANS AIMING)* anagram=abomination
|
| 18 | PAUL CEZANNE |
Artist filling glass with contrived clue, not entirely funny (4,7)
PANE (glass) filled with CLUE* anagram=contrived ZANy (funny, not entirely)
|
| 21 | CUTE |
Crafty hint involving a minimum of tact (4)
CUE (hint) contains (involving) Tact (first letter, a minimum of)
|
| 22 | CLAW HAMMER |
Tool hit me, breaking instrument in half (4,6)
WHAM (hit) ME inside (breaking) CLARinet (instrument, half of)
|
| 25 | ALTISSIMO |
Very high ground is almost covering island (9)
(IS ALMOST)* anagram=ground containing (covering) I (island)
|
| 26,11 | TO THE LIGHTHOUSE |
23’s work, little one: entering climax, conclusion of novel hard to follow, where 23 ended (2,3,10)
TOT (little one) with noveL (conclusion of) entering HEIGHT (climax) with H (hard) following, then the River OUSE, where Virginia Woolf committed suicide
|
| 27 |
See 1
|
|
| 28 | FORAYED |
Cross about assent of parliament, went briefly on the attack (7)
FORD (cross) contains (about) AYE (assent of parliament)
|
| Down | ||
| 1 | ATTILA |
Old king is a real help on the water, say? (6)
sounds like (say) “a tiller” (a real help on the water)
|
| 2 | ORANGE |
Second of colours on the spectrum (6)
cOlours (second letter of) om RANGE (the spectrum) – definition is &lit. Very nice!
|
| 3 | MONSTRANCE |
RC vessel taking RC’s name, not surprisingly (10)
(RC’S NAME NOT)* anagram=surprisingly –
|
| 4 | FOLIO |
Edge cut in 9″ sheet (5)
LIp (edge, cut short) in FOOt (three quarters of, 9 inches)
|
| 5 | OBSESSION |
Youngster not quite standing with sitting fetish (9)
BOy (youngster, not quite) reversed (standing) with SESSION (sitting)
|
| 6 | LAIR |
Retreat with ability, but no leadership (4)
flAIR (ability) missing leading letter
|
| 7 | NEUROSIS |
In the end, surgeon has treated serious 5 down (8)
surgeoN (in the end) has SERIOUS* anagram=treated
|
| 8 | OVERTIME |
Further work apparent, I’m heading for exit (8)
OVERT (apparent) I’M Exit (first letter, heading for)
|
| 13 | MALEFACTOR |
Y chromosome the culprit? (10)
MALE FACTOR – the Y chromosome
|
| 15 | GAZILLION |
Lookin’ to preserve fuel, petrol finally having gone up a huge amount (9)
GAZIN’ (lookin’) contains (to preserve) OIL (fuel) petroL (final letter of) reversed (having gone up)
|
| 16 | SPICCATO |
Image in jazz then nothing like notes from a bouncing violin bow (8)
PIC (image) in SCAT (jazz) then O (nothing)
|
| 17 | SUBTITLE |
Second name — delicate about it (8)
SUBTLE (delicate) contains (about) IT
|
| 19 | SMITHY |
Forger not wanting to be seen around university (6)
SHY (not wanting to be seen) around MIT (university)
|
| 20 | FRIEND |
Familiar nutcracker finally cracking nut (6)
nutcrackeR (final letter of) inside (cracking) FIEND (nut)
|
| 23 | WOOLF |
Observation from setter capturing heart of freelance author (5)
WOOF (a dog’s bark, observation from a setter) contains freeLance (heart, middle letter of)
|
| 24 | OSLO |
Capital card game, first couple twisting? (4)
SOLO (Solo Whist, card game) with S and O reversed (twisting)
|
*anagram
definitions underlined
Thanks, PeeDee. I’ve never read any of V Woolf’s works but they are, I think, well enough known so this puzzle was readily accessible nevertheless. I enjoyed this very much thank you, Paul.
There’s a little confusion in your parsing of A ROOM OF ONES OWN: no need for “name” to do double duty: “broadcast” is in the past tense: SOWN.
Thanks PeeDee, and Paul for an entertaining puzzle. I agree with NeilW that Virginia Woolf is sufficient well known for the puzzle to be in the Goldilocks zone for more people than you might think. I have read only Mrs. Dalloway, but the titles here were all familiar, and the keystone clue 23D devious enough to give a little hold-up.
I do not think that “bowl” quite fits as a description of MONSTRANCE – it is a container designed to show off the Eucharist wafer. Perhaps you were mislead by the chalice shown in the picture at the top of the Wikipedia article: if so, scroll down to see what they really look like.
Thanks PeeDee, including for explaining 4D. No trouble here, even with the novelties like MONSTRANCE. Got the author from the easy 2D’s G which crossed with the only one of hers I’d read, and has the distinctive 2,3,10 structure. Paul as good as ever.
I’ve read several of Woolf’s books. NeilW, I often describe To the Lighthouse as the best book I’ve ever read in which nothing whatsoever happens. (That’s meant to be tongue-in-cheek, of course; while there’s not much of a plot, there are definitely things happening.) Anyway, if you have any appreciation for writing as an art for its own sake, that’s one of those books that dazzles.
I agree that this was completely a write-in; as soon as you get WOOLF, the rest falls pretty well.
Oh, and a monstrance isn’t exactly a bowl; it’s a gilt cruciform sunburst-like doohickey in which a consecrated host is displayed for veneration. (In what feels like a former life, I was an altar boy, and for that matter a Catholic.)
Many thanks Paul for another wonderful Puzzle and PeeDee for another excellent Analysis.
11a LIGHTHOUSE was my way into the theme and I thought the clue for 23d WOOLF really delightful.
Thanks PeeDee. I think it was rather harder than usual from Paul but enjoyable for that. I might take mild issue with 19; a forger may work in a smithy and a smithy may be a forge but I don’t think forger and smithy are synonymous.
Thanks Paul and PeeDee
I agree with PeeDee’s reservations about this type of puzzle. I got MALEFACTOR early on. This meant that the long one couldn’t be “On the waterfront”, so I guessed “To the lighthouse”, parsed it, hence got Woolf and the other themed clues straight away. This meant that the whole thing fell out rather too quickly for a prize.
[Sally Potter’s film of “Orlando” is well worth watching – the cinematography is beautiful.]
Thank you all for the corrections. I did look up monstrance in Wikipedia at the time but was rather overwhelmed by the amount of information. PeterO @2 is exactly right, in the end I just took the lazy way out and described the picture at the top of the article.
This week’s is even more unsatisfactory!
I also found this on the tricky side for a Paul puzzle. I didn’t do myself any favours initially by thinking the writer was MILNE (L inside MINE, which turned out to be an observation from the wrong kind of setter) and I only got the correct WOOLF when I realised that 28ac had to be FORAYED. However, I wasn’t familiar enough with her works for the thematic answers to be a write-in, so rather than “guess” or “Google” (per PeeDee) I went a third way and worked the answers out from the clues.
As with Biggles A @7, my only real problem was with 19d. “Forger” does not define SMITHY. A forger in this sense is a smith, not a smithy, and a smithy is a forge, not a forger.
Thank you Paul and PeeDee, really enjoyed the puzzle and blog.
First tried Canute for 1d, but after getting WOOLF all fell into place. Can’t find any of Paul’s usual fun today.
I don’t completely understand FOLIO, where does foot come from?
Cookie @ 13
9 inches is 3/4 of a foot (12 inches), so this implies the FOO(t)
I hadn’t parsed this one either!
Cookie @13 – in imperial units 9″ means 9 inches, which is three quarters of a foot (12 inches). FOO is made from three quarters of the letters of foot.
Thank you PeeDee. I could see 9″ was three quarters of a FOOt, but am still no clearer as to where the word ‘foot’ comes from in the first place. Perhaps it is crosswordese, or more probably I am being a FOOl.
Think I get it now. One reads the clue, sees 9″ and says to ones self, ‘Ah! nine inches, that’s three quarters of a foot….’
Thanks all
I do so admire posters who have the utter confidence to say such as “I have never read any of V Woolf’s works but they are, I think, well enough known so this puzzle was readily accessible nevertheless. I enjoyed this very much thank you,”(Neil@1)
As though one’s own breadth of or narrowness of reading is of any concern or relevance to the compiler or anyone.
This was so memorable that I have forgotten everything about it except an admiration for “observation from setter” = woof!
Thanks Muffin @14. Did not see your post behind PeeDee’s.
Love mrpenney’s ‘doohickey’ @5, a term I have not heard since childhood.
Thanks PeeDee,
It took me all week to complete this crossword getting about three or four each day and finally getting the last three today of which CUTE was the last one in. I didn’t know much about VW but guessed A Room of Ones Own. I thought ‘Observation from setter’ was wonderful and funny too.
Not a great deal of humour from Paul today and I found some of the clues rather convoluted but I did enjoy it in the end so thanks Paul.
RCW @18, I’m glad to see you’re completely over your illness and back to your old self.
I enjoyed this one even though it wasn’t particularly challenging. Initially I thought 23DNA was MILNE but got A ROOM OF ONES OWN by some sort of osmosis-and WOOLF was brilliant. I didn’t know SPICCATO,ALTISSIMO or MONSTRANCE but all three went in easily enough.
Thanks Paul.
There seem to be some people who post on here who think the rest of us are interested in or want to read their ability to insult others, both posters and setters. We aren’t and we don’t. What we are interested in is others’ opinions about, and success or failure in solving, these puzzles.
When pointing one finger at others, remember there are three pointing back at you!
Biggles A @ 7
I had the same concern last week, but found an article (in wikipedia I think) which confirmed that a smithy can also be known as a forger, but unfortunately I can’t find it now, so can’t post a link, sorry!
I’m with muffin at 8 – and at 10.
Can’t remember too much about this one – no problems with the theme but then I have read quite a lot of Virginia Woolf’s novels. SPICCATO was new to me but fairly clued.
Thanks to Paul and PeeDee
Couldn’t a forger be “a facility that forges” rather than “a guy that forges”? In which case smithy works fine.
Thanks Paul and PeeDee
Did this one on the weekend that it came out, which has tended to be the exception these days. Can remember getting ORLANDO quite early and thought:
(i) that’s gunna p*ss off some posters who don’t like the in-house setter clues … wonder whether he did it on purpose; 🙂
(ii) I know that this was a book written by some English feminist writer, wonder what her name is!
Ended up getting 2-3 more of her works before her name eventually returned – hate those mental blocks!!
Enjoyed the challenge and nice to see a harder level Paul puzzle presented on a Saturday.