Paul’s back, just a week after his last appearance.
We have some well-constructed, witty clues (especially the definitions in 18ac SEISMOGRAPH, 22ac FISHMONGER and 19dn AGREED, which make for really good surfaces), one or two expressions I’ve managed thus far without knowing or using, along with some of Paul’s schoolboy humour. One bit of parsing (23dn) was beyond me, so the usual thanks in advance for your help.
Thanks to Paul for the puzzle.
Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 Disappearance of Ganymede, say, short time before dawn (7)
MOONSET
MO (short time) + ONSET (dawn)
5 Lighter article from France entered into poetry competition by Penny (3-4)
SUN-LAMP
UN (article from France) in SLAM (poetry competition) + P (penny)
9 Colour I observed in ring given a twirl (5)
LILAC
I in a reversal (given a twirl) of CALL (ring)
10 Black then beat blue fluid for drink (6,3)
BUBBLE TEA
B (black) + an anagram (fluid) of BEAT BLUE
11 Wow, the snuff taker has snuffed it! (10)
RIPSNORTER
RIP (requiescat in pace – rest in peace, i.e. has snuffed it) + SNORTER (snuff taker)
12 Musical symbol split, briefly (4)
CLEF
CLEF[t] (split, briefly)
14 Anything but a high-flier for the guillotine, did you say? (11)
HEDGEHOPPER
‘Head chopper’ (guillotine), did you say? – one of Paul’s less outrageous sound-alikes: I rather liked it
18 First of musicians in parish goes crazy, shaking recorder (11)
SEISMOGRAPH
M[usicians] in an anagram (crazy) of PARISH GOES – a neat definition and amusing surface
21 Turning left, notices a superstore (4)
ASDA
A reversal (turning left) of ADS (notices) + A
22 Obscene gesture keeps quiet doctor in the gutter? (10)
FISHMONGER
FINGER (obscene gesture) round SH (quiet) MO (doctor) – an ingenious definition, one who guts fish
25 Bother, it having impeded vehicle – search for diversion? (9)
GALLIVANT
GALL (bother, as a verb) + IT in VAN (vehicle) – lovely word
27 Red, pace ahead of blue (7)
TROTSKY
TROT (horse’s pace) + SKY (blue)
28 Case on driveway packed into car, end of holiday celebration in March (4,3)
LADY DAY
D[rivewa]Y in LADA (car) + [holida]Y – March 25th, the Feast of the Annunciation
Down
1 Beer swilling if not noble (6)
MILORD
MILD (beer) round (swilling) OR (if not)
2 Plants kiss where kiss planted, love coming first (6)
OXLIPS
O (love) + X (kiss) + LIPS (where kiss planted)
3 Diabolical demon chose the other place? (6,4)
SECOND HOME
An anagram (diabolical) of DEMON CHOSE
4 Italian flower again chewed up? (5)
TIBER
A reversal (up, in a down clue) of RE-BIT (again chewed)
5 A grub seen wriggling in biology classes (9)
SUBGENERA
An anagram (wriggling) of A GRUB SEEN
6 Empty pan? You fill vessel, finally (4)
NULL
Last letters of paN yoU filL vesseL
7 Resident of nest, fly off graceful animal (8)
ANTELOPE
ANT (resident of nest) + ELOPE (fly off)
8, 26 Villains waiting to board train, perhaps, in ‘70s attire (8,5)
PLATFORM HEELS
HEELS (villains) on the PLATFORM – waiting to board train perhaps
13 Big jobs for a reporter journalist sniffed at (4-6)
POOH-POOHED
POOH + POOH (big jobs) + ED (journalist)
Edit: sounds like (for a reporter) POO POO (big jobs) – thank, Jack Of Few Trades @11
15 Big noise as good egg splits log (9)
DIGNITARY
G (good) + NIT (egg) in DIARY (log)
16 Slow mover races off before caught (8)
ESCARGOT
An anagram (off) of RACES + GOT (caught)
17 Lentils and duck in red or white dish that’s hot (8)
VINDALOO
DAL (lentils) + O (duck) in VINO (red or white)
19 You’re on peak of Annapurna, asking for a lot (6)
AGREED
A[nnapurna] + GREED (asking for a lot) – again, I liked the definition
20 Worthless wood fills crack (6)
TRASHY
ASH (wood) in TRY (crack)
23 Accommodation in which weed and grass picked up? (5)
HOTEL
Over to you – I suspect it must be to do with some of the plentiful slang for drugs
Edit:Please see first three comments – thanks to Andrew, KVa and Crispy
24 Beer bringing hiccup from below (4)
PILS
A reversal (from below, in a down clue) of SLIP (hiccup)
23d is “hoe” (to weed) + “tell” (to grass)
HOTEL
hoe (to weed) and tell (grass) —soundalike
HOTEL – “Picked up” Hoe (weed) and Tell (grass)
Many thanks, all – blog amended!
This must have been tamer than usual for Paul as I woke up in a sweat at 3am and managed to solve all but 3 before managing to get back to sleep.
Quickly rattled through the remaining clues this morning.
Liked ESCARGOT and TROTSKY.
Thanks Paul and Eileen
Quite a tough challenge, mainly because I am rarely on this setter’s wavelength.
New for me: SLAM = poetry competition (for 5ac); LADY DAY, RIPSNORTER.
Favourites: FISHMONGER, ESCARGOT, DIGNITARY, HEDGE-HOPPER, LILAC.
I could not parse 1d.
All solved except 11a. ‘Wow’ is a strange definition for RIPSNORTER but I should have been able to achieve the solution through parsing.
Thanks Paul and Eileen
Several things I had never heard of, including a poetry SLAM and BUBBLE TEA. I didn’t parse FISHMONGER and don’t like it much. HEELS for villains is also rather weak – I toyed with SHOES first.
We had “garden” as a verb for HOE yesterday.
Favourite SEISMOGRAPH.
Must be the heat dulling the brain, but what does a SUN-LAMP have to do with lighter?
I would add SUBGENERA to the favourites already mentioned. I agree with William that “Lighter” is a bit loose for SUN LAMP. It’s a shame that Penny Tanner isn’t famous enough to make “Tanner” the definition.
Last one in was “pooh-poohed” and I thought “There’s the schoolboy humour we know and love/hate”. I had it as a homophone (“for reporter”) of “poo poo” however.
Very witty, clever definitions and one of those where half the clues left me thinking “no idea…I’ll come back to that” before moving to “is it possibly..?” followed by “Well that’s obvious now”.
Many thanks Paul and Eileen
I failed on the intersecting MILORD and RIPSNORTER but I don’t feel too bad about that, given that neither has a very obvious definition. I did like the wordplay in the latter (which I don’t think needs separating; it’s just “RIP, snorter” as a unit). I guess I also like the wordplay in the former, but goodness does the term “mild” for beer still exist? I haven’t heard it for donkey’s years!
It took me an age to think of the finger for the FISHMONGER and I confess to Checking my SHMO when I was running out of steam with it. Happily that unlocked the rather good AGREED and DIGNITARY, which at least saved some blushes by leaving me at only two unfinished.
Personally I rather liked PLATFORM HEELS and HOTEL (tho indeed yesterday’s hoe helped). But I’m another who doesn’t quite see that a sun-lamp is a lighter; that’s not quite its purpose – although that didn’t impede me.
Some surfaces could have been a bit smoother, but overall good fun and a good workout. Thanks both!
AP @12
After a round of golf, two of my playing partners always drink mild at the nineteenth. I stick to bitter, though.
I enjoyed this very much, especially the wonderful RIPSNORTER, POOH-POOHED, GALLIVANT and HEDGEHOPPER. I remember serving MILD (in halves usually) to elderly gents in the 80s, but wonder if it’s still available in pubs these days?
Ah, my question answered!
Jack Of Few Trades @11 – you’re right, of course: it is a homophone. I’d overlooked the reporter. I’ll amend the blog.
AP @12 – re RIPSNORTER (a new word for me): I didn’t make a very good job of that parsing – I was trying too hard to make the explanation clear. I agree that RIP SNORTER is a unit.
I think, with others, that 5ac is just a rather loose / weak clue – but there was nothing else for the definition.
AP@12…exactly my experience at the very end today, MILORD and RIPSNORTER taking an age to solve. That last one almost sounds like a word Roald Dahl might have used in his books. Good to see some of Paul’s groanworthy schoolboy humour and not quite Spoonerisms back in the same puzzle. I thought FISHMONGER for a Gutter a great misdirection, took me a while to see that too. Enjoyed the fun and games greatly this morning…
…and on the subject of Mild, years ago when I was a student in Norwich there used to be an old boy supping pint after pint of this in my local pub in the Earlham Road. His excuse was, “but it do feed yer…” Some said that his daily diet was as many as fourteen pints some evenings…