A delight to find a Philistine puzzle on a Tuesday
… and a special treat for me, as I haven’t blogged one since March. Not Philistine at his most demanding but there’s all the customary deftness, wit and a bit of mischief that we’re used to, with lovely surfaces throughout.
As always, I have lots of ticks, including 18ac INCOGNITO, 20ac MANUFACTURE, 27ac PRECINCT, 1dn ALEXANDRIA, 4dn MACHINATIONS, 7dn POEM, 13dn DEVOLUTION and 14dn MY OTHER HAT.
Many thanks to Philistine for a most enjoyable puzzle.
Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 Approves current demands (8)
ACCLAIMS
AC (current) + CLAIMS (demands)
5 Bargain with Yorkshire Ripper, ultimately a killer (6)
SNIPER
SNIP (a bargain) + [yorkshir]E [rippe]R, ultimately
9 Half of headphones are broken with silence heard (8)
EARPIECE
An anagram (broken) of ARE + PIECE (sounds like – heard – ‘peace’ – silence)
10 Silver wind instrument is OK (6)
AGREED
AG (silver) + REED (wind instrument)
12 Play to suit solvers (2,3,4,2)
AS YOU LIKE IT
A delightful double definition
15 Medic in the morning facing a crisis (5)
DRAMA
DR (doctor – medic) + AM (in the morning) + A
17 Big guns vessel internally in poor condition (9)
ARTILLERY
ILL (in poor condition) in ARTERY (vessel)
18 Isn’t it commonly love that keeps gear hidden? (9)
INCOGNITO
INNIT (isn’t it, commonly) + O (love) round COG (gear)
19 Swell port? (5)
BLOAT
Not a simple double definition, as it appears at first sight, hence the question mark: I think this is one of those trademark Philistine clues where we have to separate B LOAT to arrive at L (left) in BOAT (= port) – I think
20 Muck about, you said, with reality in the making (11)
MANUFACTURE
MANURE (muck) round U (you said) FACT (reality)
24,26 Twisting truth, stand by copper in adversarial action (3,3,6)
CUT AND THRUST
CU (copper) + an anagram (twisting) of TRUTH STAND
25 Mischievous silence after seafood (8)
SCAMPISH
SCAMPI (seafood) + SH (silence)
27 District court in pursuit of wayward prince (8)
PRECINCT
CT (court) after an anagram (wayward) of PRINCE
Down
1 Port and beer by Adrian Turner (10)
ALEXANDRIA
ALE (beer) + X (times) + an anagram (turner) of ADRIAN
2 What goes with fish and chips in Epsom for Spooner? (5,5)
CURRY SAUCE
I’ve only recently come across this (to me) bizarre accompaniment to fish and chips: Spooner might say this for Surrey course (Epsom)
3 Gold-plated end is so long (5)
ADIEU
DIE (end) in AU (gold)
4 Countries following high speed intrigue (12)
MACHINATIONS
MACH 1 (high speed) + NATIONS (countries)
6 Cabaret near the centre of Luton found by driver? (9)
NIGHT CLUB
NIGH (near) + luTon + CLUB (driver)
7 If, say, Englishman kept his head … (4)
POEM
POM (Englishman) round E[nglishman] for the Kipling poem (quoted in the inscription above the players’ entrance to Wimbledon Centre Court:
“If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same …”)
My top favourite clue
8 … and in speech, regretted offensive … (4)
RUDE
Sounds like (in speech) ‘rued’ – regretted
11 … one in the Royal Navy might find nice workplace after right promotion (5,7)
PETTY OFFICER
If we ‘promote’ the R (right), we get PRETTY OFFICE (nice work place)
13 At first, Darwin and his theory got independent treatment (10)
DEVOLUTION
D[arwin] + EVOLUTION (his theory)
14 Hero myth at variance with Philistine’s alternative role (2,5,3)
MY OTHER HAT
An anagram (at variance) of HERO MYTH AT – the customary nod (along with 15 and 17ac) to Philistine’s day job
16 Squabbles are not about sticker beginning to stick (9)
ARGUMENTS
AREN’T (are not) + GUM (sticker) + S[tick]
21 Funny magazine (5)
COMIC
Double definition
22 Discothèque welcomes Billy Connolly? (4)
SCOT
Contained in diSCOThèque
23 Prison disturbance (4)
STIR
Double definition
Excellent puzzle with a few write-ins to make it a bit easier. My favourites were MANUFACTURE, CUT AND THRUST, PETTY OFFICER, MY OTHER HAT and the poignant PRECINCT. I will leave CURRY SAUCE to the homophone/pun enthusiasts. That’s the way I parsed BLOAT, but it seemed a bit weird.
Ta Philistine & Eileen.
Thanks, Philistine and Eileen. A lot of fun! I didn’t quite parse everything but I was so pleased with myself to have worked out BLOAT – exactly as you did – that I’m taking the rest of the day off.
I agree about BLOAT. But enjoyed puzzles. Thanks Eileen
Re 19ac; I did the usual googling and came across a medical device used to allow gas etc to escape from some areas of the body. That seemed to fit for Philistine so I settled for that. But I like your go at it, Eileen. Found 7d the most challenging and left it until last. Then one of those “doh!” moments, This was a fun crossword and as someone said – in the Goldilocks zone. Thanks all round.
Great puzzle. Despite comments on the Guardian website, I thought 19a very clever. Thanks both.
Eileen, slight typo, it’s 15 & 17d referring to his other hat. Curried chips were very popular in Belfast in my teenage years.
I made somewhat heavy weather of this, but I enjoyed it. It took ages for POEM and BLOAT to sink in. Both are great clues, though. I spent ages thinking of synonyms for chateau, prison film, conjunction.
AlanC @6 – I don’t think so! 😉
Just keeping you on your toes, haven’t had my coffee yet! 🤣
An enjoyable diversion when I couldn’t get to sleep around 3am. First time I’ve seen INNIT rather than AIN’T as a colloquial ISN’T. The Yorkshire Ripper reference felt a bit uncomfortable- a little too recent perhaps. I hadn’t spotted the very neat device used in POEM, thinking it was a straightforward reference to the text in “If” – very neat! A tip of MY OTHER HAT and my thanks to Philistine and Eileen.
A great puzzle throughout, not too easy and not too difficult. I particularly liked POEM, EARPIECE, MACHINATIONS and PETTY OFFICER (LOI); didn’t parse BLOAT. Thanks Philistine and Eileen!
BLOAT was my last one in: had to be that but I couldn’t parse it. So thanks, Eileen, for clearing that up. I did look up definitions of bloat and found that a bloat port is a medical device for relieving pressure from fluid build up in a swelling and thought “well, maybe, but…” so it was pleasing to be shown the light.
Delightful puzzle. Favourites MY OTHER HAT and the outstanding POEM.
Derek @9 INNIT seems to have come into British English via the South Asian community and the comedy show Goodness Gracious Me! Some folks get stuffy about it, but I think it fills a gap where French has ‘n’est-ce pas?’. Similarly with CURRY SAUCE, which I think became a popular accompaniment when S Asians started running chip shops. It’s more common in the North of England, I think, and definitely unusual down here in London, or presumably in posh Epsom. (I’m willing to be corrected on these topics!)
A treat indeed, though this yielded rather too soon to my efforts in the early hours, if it’s OK to say this. The rather ugly word BLOAT held me up most of all. Though both ALEXANDRA and CURRY SAUCE were wonderful clues, I thought . No problems with that perfect Spoonerism – Paul take note – though it’s not actually what I prefer on my fish and chips, Southern Softie or not…
I suppose that in 5a, “the Ripper” (referencing Jack thereof, who was nearly 140 years ago) would have worked just as well.
That said, as others have observed, a very well-judged puzzle, not too easy and not too Vlad-like. Lots of first-rate clues including the very clever POEM and a splendidly awful Spoonerism.
Thanks to Philistine for a pleasant start to the day and to Eileen particularly for the explanation of BLOAT.
With all the crossers I had BOOST for 19ac as it’s (search tells me) a type of port in an engine, but felt uncomfortable with BOOST for SWELL and when I tried other synonyms mentally and saw L in BOAT smiled happily.
A port is where a boat’s left — then ‘s awitches to has, ie possesses. Is that what we’re saying?
grantinfreo @19
‘Port’ is the left hand side of a boat.
Port=left side of a ship/boat
So L in BOAT.
That’s what the blog says, I think
Sorry Eileen. I should have waited a bit more.
Lovely puzzle, I like ‘muck about’, the hidden gear, and ‘Adrian Turner’.
I thought of BLOAT as being left on board (rather than in) a boat.
For 14d, I initially tried to make ../heart/… work.
Thanks to Philistine & Eileen
If it’s a boat shouldn’t the left be larboard?
I was getting CURRY SAUCE with chips in Mile End over 30 years ago. Not sure I’d have it with fish though
Top ticks for POEM, BLOAT & NIGHTCLUB for the drearily evocative surface 🙂
Cheers E&P
Couldn’t decide between BLOAT and BOOST, both of which fit and neither of which I could parse.
Otherwise very good, aside from 2d. I did get it, but combining a Spoonerism with a non-rhotic pronunciation made it harder on some of us.
I confess I thought BLOAT was another reference to the day job with a reference to a surgical instrument. Not entirely convinced by the ‘boat left in’ parsing, I’m afraid, despite its ingenuity, but the surgical instrument is a trochar, so I’m obviously wrong and plaudits to Eileen. Enjoyable as always from Philistine, even if I completed it in a wakeful spell in the early hours.
Thanks to Philistine and Eileen.
Hmm, yeah, I guess that’s what’s meant Eileen and KVa. I quite like mine tho …
[You can’t beat chips with brown sauce that you get in Edinburgh and the borders]
I romped through this like a pro then couldn’t get POEM.
Enjoyed the puzzle. I liked BLOAT.
Thanks to everyone.
Thanks Philistine and Eileen
Great fun. BLOAT was LOI (after trying BOOST); it took a while to see what was going on, but it then became favourite. Very sneaky!
Surely it should be Pushy Mease that accompanies chish and fips?
Great cw, ty Phili and Eileen for parsing of Bloat, but I think the medical route equally acceptable.
Fun but over too quickly.
Re INNIT: thought to come from the Hindi phrase “haina,” which means “is no?”. Dead common tho’ innit?
Thanks both.
Arjeyeski@31…I must admit, with a Y soon in place at 2d my first thoughts turned to the possibilities of a Spoonerism involving Mushy Peas(e)…
Thanks for the heads up on BLOAT, Eileen. I’m still not sure I get it.
Lovely puzzle. POEM was very good, I’m pleased to say I was not fooled by IF for a minute.
Two great crosswords so far this week.
Thanks both.
BLOAT was my last one in too, and when the penny dropped (like muffin @30) it became my favourite. Brilliant.
Mushy peas are definitely the right accompaniment for fish and chips here in Yorkshire. They seem to be everywhere now, but in the seventies when I came to university in these parts and returned down south to sing their praises, my parents wouldn’t believe me.
Derek @10 and Brian @15: INNIT has been Cockney for “isn’t it” since time immemorial. The South Asian community’s use of it is a bit wider and can include for example “won’t we” in “We’ll see you tomorrow, innit?”
Many thanks Philistine and Eileen.
A lovely Philistine, with one or two very easy ones to lay the groundwork for the pleasures to come, and some unusual tricks like the ingenious BLOAT. Other favourites were POEM, AS YOU LIKE IT, INCOGNITO, MANUFACTURE, MACHINATIONS and PETTY OFFICER. I didn’t realise that SCAMPISH, though easy enough to find, was an actual word.
Hands up if you were trying to find a t’summat that fitted the Yorkshire clue? As for CURRY SAUCE, I know all the chippies seem to have it on tap these days – perhaps Philistine, being a philistine, likes the stuff – but I prefer MUSHY PEASE.
Tartar sauce for me with Fish and Chips
Chips with curry sauce from the Chinese takeaway in Clifton on the way back from the pub was a student staple 50 years ago, before fusion food had even been heard of. Not with fish though.
5a seemed a bit unnecessary given the number of words that end in an E and R. Maybe I’m being oversensitive.
Enjoyable, much easier than yesterday’s.Faves MACHINATIONS and PETTY OFFICER.And yes i love my fish n chips with tartar sauce too!
Nice Philistine puzzle, though it took longer than it should for the penny to drop for PETTY in 11d.
Came for the comments on curry sauce with fish and wasn’t disappointed (happy with it on chips). I’m more concerned when I see people with gravy on fish and chips…
Delightful puzzle where half of headphones wasn’t headp or hones. I liked INCOGNITO, where, like some others, I thought ain’t was involved, MANUFACTURE with muck about, the PETTY OFFICER’S nice workplace, Adrian Turner in ALEXANDRIA, the Epsom CURRY SAUCE, and my LOI, POEM. I also found that BLOAT could be a veterinary port but I like Eileen’s explanation for L in BOAT.
Thanks Philistine and Eileen.
Great puzzle with a good mix of easy and more challenging clues. My LOI and subsequent favourite was B(L)OAT, though PETTY OFFICER ran it close.
I agree with PeteHA3 @38 that the CURRY SAUCE goes with chips but not fish. Like gladys I prefer MUSHY PEASE – that original spelling reminds us that ‘pease’ was originally a mass noun like ‘rice’ and the singular ‘pea’ is a back formation.
Thanks to Philistine and Eileen
My first full completion without a single reveal. Absolutely chuffed.
Did have to come here to parse BLOAT, and spent far too long on 2d to trying to rationalise “Herby Dorce” as a solution!
I also thought that “demotion” in 11d would have revealed the solution more readily, but of course not as neat a surface.
Thanks Eileen and Philistine – glowing after this one!
… deep fried (mini) Wensleydale cheeses in a fish and chip shop in Leyburn I saw on offer a few years ago as I queued for my haddock and chips. But authentic enough, I suppose, as it was situated in the right Yorkshire Dale…
Curry and fish ‘n’ chips are two of my favorite foods, but I wouldn’t have thought of combining them in a million years, but as they say, you do you!
I wondered briefly if the visual similarity between BLOATed and portly was in play, but no.
Fun puzzle, nice blog, as expected from both perpetrators. Tx!
With reference to BLOAT. Google says a bloat port can refer to a specific brand of electronic devices such as car chargers and USB hubs. Just a witty alternative but I’m sure the way it is being parsed here is correct.
for those not in the know… what is Philistine’s day job?
bristle @47: Cardiac surgeon. He usually includes some medical references in his puzzles
bristle@48 I think he’s a heart surgeon.
Naive_springwater @43 (I hope!!) – Well done!!
I had to look it up, bristle@47. Would you believe heart surgeon?
I don’t order fish and chips, as I don’t much care for fish, and fried foods aren’t on my diet, but curry sauce sounds like a good addition to me. I might actually like the fish that way.
Protase@42 Thank you for that explanation of pease 😉
bristle @47
Apologies – I suppose it is a while since this was actually spelt out here. (I was out at a meeting this morning and am only just catching up.)
https://royalpapworth.nhs.uk/consultant-profiles/mr-samer-nashef
You can listen to an interview with Philistine about his book, ‘The Angina Monologues’ here:
https://www.google.com/search?q=Samer+Nashef%2C+interview&rlz=1C1VDKB_en-GBGB1151GB1151&oq=Samer+Nashef%2C+interview&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQIRigATIHCAIQIRigATIHCAMQIRigATIHCAQQIRiPAtIBCTE5NTMyajBqN6gCALACAA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:5f6b3851,vid:7SPpN38rksA,st:0
Eileen @53
I would have thought you would know how to insert a link more tidily!
This is your second one.
Thank you, muffin: I thought my lack of technical ability was legendary. 😉
Over 50 years since I first had curry sauce on chips — the famous Dunkirk chippy on the edge of Nottingham University’s campus.
[You do yourself an injustice, Eileen. It must be challenging to produce the blogs!
btw to insert a link, copy the URL (Ctrl+C), mark (select) the text you want it on, click the link button above the text box, paste the URL (Ctrl+V), then OK it.]
Thanks Philistine. It’s always satisfying seeing Philistine as the setter as I know the clues will be rewarding. Among my favourites — DRAMA, MANUFACTURE, PRECINCT, NIGHTCLUB, & PETTY OFFICER. I was beaten by ALEXANDRIA & couldn’t parse POEM (didn’t know pom) & BLOAT. I guessed CURRY SAUCE from the crossers because ‘sauce’ & ‘course’ sound nothing alike to my ears. Thanks Eileen for the parsing help.
Yes, this was a fun one. I agree with your preamble Eileen, and that 7d POEM stands out as the best of a great bunch. Deserves entry into your book of great clues. Pretty much every other clue was a favourite, but especially 1a ACCLAIMS, 9a EARPIECE (“half of headphones” misdirection), 15a DRAMA (smooth surface), 4d MACHINATIONS (interesting image), 14d MY OTHER HAT (great “hero myth” anagram). Even 19a BLOAT (delightfully odd). Shall I go on? The only down side was the annoying non-rhotic soundalike at 2d CURRY SAUCE
Way to go Naive_springwater @43!
Thanks both
I had BOOST for 19a, but unlike some, I was quite confident about it. Boost = increase = swell (How can we boost/swell our membership?) and boost = lift up = carry = port (He boosted/ported his son on his shoulders.) No? Anyway, nice lunchtime puzzle, thanks Philistine and Eileen.
Apologies if this has already been said.
My take on BLOAT was:
If you are in a boat, then port is the left = L; hence, you might paraphrase this as PORT = L in BOAT, and thus and also, B(L)OAT = L in BOAT.
(I am assuming you are looking at the bow)
Thanks Eileen and Philistine
Who is Adrian Turner? I assume he’s a real person, because the names in this blog usually are, but Google insists on taking me to Aidan Turner, the new Poldark. (We used to refer to him as Porklad.)
Fish and chips is findable in the US, but only on restaurant menus with other things. Chip shops with just fish and chips I’ve never seen here.
Dave@23 long ago, the left side of a ship was “larboard,” but it kept being confused with “starboard,” the side (=bord) with the steering oar, and it changed to “port,” which is what the left side faced.
muffin@57 I never can find that link button.
Thanks, Philistine and Eileen.
Dave Ellison @61 – re BLOAT
Apologies if it wasn’t clear but that’s exactly what I meant in the blog (expressed the other way round: L (left) in boat = port).
Valentine @62 – yes, Adrian Turner is a real person. As you say, names in the puzzles here usually are, so I checked, as usual and had no problem in finding this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Turner
[Valentine @62: Washington DC has Gordon Ramsay Fish & Chips which is mainly fish & chips but you can substitute shrimp or chicken for the fish. That’s as close as I could find to the many shops in England.]
[Valentine@62, when I lived in the small town of Brockville Ontario in the late 1980s I used to go to Don’s Fish and Chips from time to time. A search shows it’s still in operation, open for over 60 years]
Gravy on fish and chips definite no no. Heart surgeon? Where does he find the time? Top puzzle. Poem loi.
Favourite: POEM.
I could not parse 19ac BLOAT=port and could only understand why L in BOAT = port when I read eileen@20.
[muffin @57, Eileen @55; where a number of people seem to go wrong is that they place the cursor next to rather than on top of the http:// in the link box. After you have pasted, the original http:// in the box should not be there. Alternatively, just remove the original http:// before pasting.]
Shed@53 I also have fond memories from my student days fifty years ago. The “Chinese Chippy” in Moss Side Manchester served the very best curry sauce on chips. It was served from a permanently simmering vat in the corner. I wonder if it is still there?
Loved this puzzle, thanks Philistine, and also to Eileen for explaining 7d which defeated me.
A gem.
Obviously helped by a rare finish when solving on my own, I loved this. So many clever clues that I’m not picking any favourites.
My only gripe is … I have never felt that curry sauce goes with fish and chips! But each to their own.
Having learned about Philistine (enjoyed the puzzle greatly) try this:
Write two closely linked parts of the body one after the other. Transfer a set of three consecutive letters from the second word to the first and you’ll get the kind of surgeon you probably wouldn’t want to operate on you.
Great puzzle. Completed apart from POEM, but that one was no less well-clued than all the rest.
Brian Greer@72…I hope the answer isn’t Tree…must settle down and solve your puzzle now, more sensibly…
I was surprised and disappointed that there were only a few comments regarding 5a SNIPER. I don’t think you are being over-sensitive, PeteHA3 @38. It is trivialising horrific crimes well within living memory, even though there must be plenty of other options for the clue.
Otherwise a great crossword, though I failed on BLOAT (too clever for me!), I also went for “boost” though obviously I couldn’t parse it.
Pretty gentle for a Philistine, more Mondayish than yesterday’s by a distance, but highly enjoyable to come home to after work. There was no way I was going to parse BLOAT but I got it from half of what I thought was a DD. Gracias setter and blogger, both.
Newbie alert – managed the usual few but need help understanding ‘As you like it’. Play, yes, but suiting whom? Why solvers? Thanks all for the setting/comments as the challenge continues.
BG@72: Would he leave you in “stable” condition?
Many thanks, Brian @72 for the challenge, which I’ll have to leave for now (I’m in the midst of cooking!). Seems like others are working on it in the meantime. 😉
Drums_are_not_noise @77
Setters quite often address / refer to solvers as ‘you’ and ‘as you/we like it’ is what suits us – like this puzzle, considering most of the comments above, I think.
Dann @ 77: The setter, Philistine, is directly addressing us, the people solving the puzzle. So “As you like it” means “To suit you, the solvers” or “Just perfect for you solvers!” A great clue.
Sorry, Eileen, we crossed!
No problem, Mary @81 – we seem to totally agree! 🙂
Just reading the parsing in full. Eileen, oh Eileen, curry sauce a bizarre topping on fish ‘n chips? I feel sorry for anyone not familiar. English-style curry all over our national dish (albeit imported from a tradition of the Portuguese Sephardic Jews) has been a staple of mine since my initial taste, as a pre-teen in first year comp, back in the mid ’70s. The only other thing I used to add were as many batter scraps as I could get.
Curry sauce on chips, certainly (though what most chippies I’ve been to serve as curry sauce bears little relation to anything I’ve had in a curry house!), but surely not on fish?
There was even a Spike Milligan (?) sitcom series called “Curry and chips”!
Winston, oh Winston @84 – please, save your pity! (I wanted to say ‘abomination’ this morning.)
It’s not just the flavour but the textures. As a devotee of your ‘batter scraps’ (known to me as a child – even earlier – as ‘scratchings’, which came free), how could you tolerate an even moist overlay?
I’ll admit I’m quite partial to a portion of mushy peas (very strictly ‘on the side’), with as much tartare sauce as I can find space for but that’s it, absolutely.
Chacun à son goût – final answer 🙂
Fashionable company try circumventing twit in camouflage? (9) – Mog
Isn’t it commonly love that keeps gear hidden? (9) – Philistine
Who did it better?
(ps thanks Eileen and Philistine)
DaveJ @87
To be honest, neither surface makes a lot of sense.
I’m one who thought the bloat port was a surgical device, and as that could be one of Philistine’s “trademark” clues I went with that. But now, with Eileen’s parsing, I recognise one of Philistine’s other trademark devices, and am happy to go along with that.
Like wynsum @22 I also tried to enter heart in the answer for My OTHER HAT, and thought Philistine was going to be publicly revealing his day job. But the whole clue and answer was so much cleverer than that, and very funny. My favourite.
muffin@85
Back then, that curry – now known as English-style – was about as exotic as flavours got, along with the likes of Vesta Chop Suey. How times have changed, and for the better, no matter how many now national flag-wavers we see disagreeing. But no, it tastes nowt like Indian curry whatsoever.
Eileen @79
Thank you for this. One more for the convention notebook. P.s. curry sauce on chips is plainly wrong. There, I said it. Mushy peas and S&V only.
Nice puzzle. I guessed BLOAT in the end, not seeing the left in boat device, which I feel sure is the intended parse because of the question mark. Bodgel @60 makes a good case for Boost. There’s also a booster seat as a carrying seat for children as further support.
One slight adjustment to the blog, perhaps: in 1d, X = by (= times).
Thanks, Phil and Eileen.
PS apologies for the placeholder interruption at 71. I was testing muffin’s link method on my iPhone: it works but looks a bit odd prior to posting.
MW@80
I over thought this one, for neither the first nor I suspect the last time. I appreciate the steer.
I had a chuckle at Philistine’s use of the word vessel in ART -ILL -ERY and treatment in DEVOLUTION. I did wonder about CUT AND THRUST. Is that a surgeon’s in-joke?
Eileen@86
If you’ve never tried it…
Even before I had, I used to love dousing half of my fish in vinegar to make it a soggy mix’n’match.
But tartare sauce? You used the word ‘abomination’ but this reet owd norverner will throw that one right back at you there. Curry, beans, mushies or good thick, gloopy gravy are the only options worthy of consideration. And no slices of lemon on the side!
Sorry to go off on a side-issue not part of the general theme here. But c’mon…
Witty but relatively quick to solve today. I really liked POEM, and like others, couldn’t parse BLOAT, so thank you Eileen.
Fried fish and curry sauce: Japanese style curry is usually served with the protein breadcrumb or tempura-batter coated and it’s dead sophisticated. I thought curry was going to be GRAVY until I got the SAUCE.
Eat too much of our now famous Epsom spoonerism and you might need Philistine in both roles 🙂
Superb puzzle, plenty to like! Thanks!
Brendan on Monday, Philistine on Tuesday, all we needed was Arachne today for a perfect trifecta.
Like several others, e.g., paddymelon@89, I parsed BLOAT as the surgical device for releasing gas, and saw it as another reference to his OTHER HAT. Unless Philistine repudiates this, I’ll take it as correct.
Thanks P and lucky E for the terrific Tuesday treat.
Hi Cellomaniac @99 (and paddymelon @89) – if you’re still there
(I agree with your first sentence!)
I thought this had been put to bed but, as the blogger, I was alerted by email of your comment.
It’s unlikely that you or anyone else will see this but, for the record, I think I held my hands up in the blog. I didn’t think to look up another definition of BLOAT (but I now see it’s there, in both Collins and Chambers) because I’m used to looking for Philistine’s trickery with wordplay, so I went down that road. Others, to my mild surprise, quite readily agreed, and so I thought no more of it.
Your interpretation seems equally valid (I always appreciate comments from you both) and I think that, as you say, only Philistine can adjudicate. Failing that, can we agree on ‘Honours even’ on this one? 😉
Interesting further discussion on a lovely puzzle – thanks for that.
I am reminded of that scene from Far from the madding crowd, where Gabriel Oak relieves the sheep (or was it cows?) which had eaten bad forage from gas. X rated!
Thanks Eileen #100 for dropping back in. Glad I did too! 🙂
Me too, paddymelon#102. And Eileen, I’ll happily go with “Honours even”. And now at 103 comments, is this blog a little bloated? Maybe, but perhaps not too gassy.
🙂