Today has brought a rare Wednesday outing for Punk, and an even rarer occasion for me to blog a puzzle by one of my favourite setters.
I found this one not that difficult to get into, with a good few solutions revealing themselves to me on first perusal of the clues, e.g. 3, 7, 12/15, … but then I really had to work hard to complete the whole grid and even harder to parse the wordplay of the longer entries, of which there were quite a few. I think that I have managed to parse everything to my satisfaction apart from 12/15, where I suspect the wordplay is neater than I have suggested. Any help to clarify the parsing here would be greatly appreciated.
It is hard to pick out only a couple of favourites today, as there were so many clues that I enjoyed. However, if pressed I would select 5, for its deceptive wordplay around “breaking down”; 13, for its smooth surface; and 04/25, which has something of an & lit. quality about it in its reference to Marine Le Pen MEP; and 22, for the smoothest of transitions from definition to wordplay.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 07 | HOTEL SUITE | Number of connected rooms in silhouette?
*(SILHOUETTE); “?” appears to be the anagram indicator |
| 08 | HARP | Instrument in need of tuning, first off
<s>HARP (=in need of tuning); “first off” means the first letter is dropped |
| 11 | CROSSWORD SETTER | Odd bits of carbon, sulphur, steel and cement, possibly, for me?
C<a>R<b>O<n> (“odd bits” means odd letters only are used) + S (=sulphur, i.e. chemical formula) + SWORD (=steel, in literature) + SETTER (=cement, possibly, i.e. a setting agent); “me?” refers to Punk, the setter of this crossword |
| 12/15 | FOREWARNED IS FOREARMED | English invading, Ned has front limbs equipped for battle? You must be prepared!
E (=English) in [FOR WAR (= for battle) NED IS FOREARMED (=has front limbs)] |
| 16 | EROSION | No one annoyed about wear and tear
NO + 1 (=one) + SORE (=annoyed); “about” indicates reversal |
| 18 | EVENING DRESS | Still fashion designs about right for formal wear
EVEN (=still, yet) + [R (=right) in *(DESIGNS)]; “fashion” is anagram indicator |
| 22 | PARENTAL CONSENT | Permission for a minor change of plan, as centre not being rebuilt
*(PLAN AS CENTRE NOT); “being rebuilt” is anagram indicator |
| 24 | NOËL | Literary work losing focus for the present time
NO<v>EL (=literary work); “losing focus” means central letter is dropped: Noël is a time for giving presents, hence “the present time” |
| Down | ||
| 01 | WHACK | Fair amount? // Strike!
Double definition: “to get one’s whack” is “to get one’s fair share of something” + “to whack” is “to hit, strike” |
| 02/17A | STOOD AGAINST | Opposed in two ways, party hit back before elected
[OODAGA (AGADOO=party hit, i.e. 1984 novelty song by Black Lace; “back” indicates reversal) + IN (=elected)] in [ST + ST (=two ways, i.e. 2 x ST=street)] |
| 03 | PLUS | Not entirely luxurious benefit
PLUS<h> (=luxurious); “not entirely” means last letter is dropped |
| 04/25 | EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT | Political institution dispensing with French leader from afar, Marine Le Pen up to no good
*(A<f>AR MARINE LE PEN UP TO); “dispensing with F-rench leader (=first letter)” means letter “f” is dropped from anagram, indicated by “no good” |
| 05 | STADIA | Arenas in development finally breaking down, perfect when up
[<developmen>T (“finally” means last letter only is used) in SAD (=down, depressed)] + IA (A1=perfect; “when up” indicates vertical reversal) |
| 06 | MASTODONS | Huge beasts once beating toads in battle
*(TOADS) in MONS (=Battle, i.e. during WW1); “beating” is anagram indicator |
| 09 | PARASITE | Average place to host a tapeworm, say?
A in [PAR (=average, as in above par) + SITE (=place)] |
| 10 | BEANBAGS | Large cushions started to go in the middle – a lot!
BE<g>AN (=started; “to go in the middle” means middle letter is dropped) + BAGS (=a lot, as in bags of confidence) |
| 13 | OPINIONS | Those known by experts to hold sanctimonious views
PI (=sanctimonious, i.e. pious) in ONIONS (=those known by experts, i.e. “to know one’s onions”) |
| 14 | PETER PAN | Eternal youth has to fade – savage!
PETER (=to fade, i.e. peter out) + PAN (=savage, slate, as verb); the reference is to the character created by J.M. Barrie |
| 17 | AGRICOLA | Male leaving a horrible drink for Roman general
A + GRI<m> + COLA (=drink); “male (=M) leaving” means letter “m” is dropped; the reference is to Gnaeus Julius Agricola (40-93), Roman general responsible for much of the Roman conquest of Britain |
| 19 | GO AWAY | Get lost somewhere in India on the road
GOA (=somewhere in India) + WAY (=the road); “go away” here is “get lost, clear off, shove off” |
| 20 | REBEL | Rise in temperature believable
Hidden (“in”) in “temperatuRE BELievable”; “to rebel” is “to rise (up) against” |
| 21 | STATE | Time to fill bottles, say
T (=time) in SATE (=fill, satisfy) |
| 23 | NEAT | American’s excellent rendition, like a shot ends
<renditio>N <lik>E A <sho>T; “ends” means last letters only are used; “neat” can mean “excellent” in US English |
He doesnt do many on the Punk label but those he does are usually some of his best ones.This certainly werent bad-a bit like a Knut in places.
Re 22a, I had “Permission for a minor change” as the def with “being built” as the anagrind. Otherwise what are the words “being built” in the clue for?
Enjoyed this apart from 12/15, which I parsed as you did RR but didn’t care for it much. Perhaps a few too many long answers. If ‘change of’ is anagram indicator in 22a, what is ‘being rebuilt’ doing. I took the latter as anagrind and the former as part of the definition. (Note: in your blog you wrote ‘built’ rather than ‘rebuilt’.) Thanks to all.
Crossed with Higgins@2.
I was going to say that this was a bit like Marmite but that’s not quite the right simile; you either love or hate Marmite whereas there were bits of this we liked and others we struggled with – a curate’s egg, perhaps?
Once we’d struggled getting some of the shorter single word answers we found the long answers something of a doddle – we knew they couldn’t be anything else so bunged them in without bothering to parse them.
Slipped up on 1dn, though – we didn’t think of WHACK and put in SHOCK which we parsed as a whimsical double definition; an amount of hair could be a shock and might be fair (hence the ?) and to strike something might give a shock. Doh!
Plenty to like, though. Favourites were BEANBAGS (which we needed a wordfinder for) and AGRICOLA.
Thanks, Punk and RatkojaRiku.
I can’t remember a Paul puzzle I haven’t enjoyed vying with, and this was a lot of fun.
I really liked OPINIONS for the clever elegance of the surface, and the image it evoked of certain smug so-and-sos I know.
CROSSWORD SETTER was amusing – I wonder whether it would still be okay without the “possibly”, given that the question mark at the end might be enough to indicate cement is only one example of a setter? (I’m nowhere near experienced enough to know, but perhaps others might.)
Thank you to fellow solvers for the suggestions regarding the parsing of 22 – I have amended the blog accordingly. I have noted that no one has had any better ideas for the parsing of 12/15.
I think your interpretation of the pretty wacky 12/15 is right. Thank you for the blog.