The Guardian Prize puzzle for this week is set by Brendan.
There is a clear theme in the puzzle with features of the head being prevalent throughout the grid as highlighted in the graphic below.
We have
BROW
TEMPLES
EYE EYE (twice)
EAR EAR (twice)
CHEEK LIP [cheek] – giving two cheeks
NOSE
TRAP [mouth]
LIPS
TEETH
CHIN
SKIN and
FACE.
This gives us all the visible features of a head, although I suppose you could say we are lacking hair, but I suspect many solvers are like me and have very little of it anyway. You can make one EYEBROW from one of the EYEs and BROW.
It wasn’t necessary to be aware of the theme to solve the puzzle. Indeed, I didn’t spot the theme until I created the grid online and started to write the blog.
I liked the clue with HE being inserted in three different places [repeatedly] into an anagram of other words in the clue.
It took me a while to understand what was going on in the clue for UNWEARABLE where I thought the definition of ‘assume’ was being pushed to the limits. The definition for the abbreviation UP, (Uttar Pradesh, a State in India), used in the wordplay for THEREUPON, can be found in Collins Dictionary.
I have seen clues using ellipsis … before and tend to study them closely whenever I see the three dots.
Thanks to Brendan for the challenge.
| No | Detail |
| Across | |
| 1 | Scene of confusion, hearing organ accompanied by piano in piece (4,3)
BEAR PIT (a place, such as parliament or the stock market, where there are a lot of aggressive, argumentative and competitive people: scene of confusion) (EAR [hearing organ] + P [piano]) contained in (in) BIT (a piece) B (EAR P) IT |
| 5, | He repeatedly breaks into truck to rent out – don’t retaliate (4,3,5,5)
TURN THE OTHER CHEEK (accept harm, violence, etc without defending oneself; don’t retaliate) (HE, HE and HE [HE repeatedly]) contained in (breaks into) an anagram of (out) TRUCK TO RENT TURN T (HE) [OT (HE) R C (HE) EK*] |
| 9 | Fabric, only some of which I notice (5)
CHINO (a strong cloth of twilled cotton; fabric) CHINO (hidden word in [some of] whiCH I NOtice) CHINO |
| 10 | Basic conclusions of article reveal state of mind (9)
ELEMENTAL (basic) ELE (last letters of [conclusions of] each of articlE, reveaL and statE) + MENTAL (of or relating to the mind) E L E MENTAL |
| 11 | See 5
[TURN THE] OTHER CHEEK |
| 12 | Speaker’s role reversal? (4)
TRAP (slang term for the mouth; speaker) PART (role in a play) reversed (reversal) TRAP< |
| 14 | Damage finish installed by inferior furniture designer (11)
CHIPPENDALE (reference Thomas CHIPPENDALE, [17178- 1779], an 18th century cabinetmaker and furniture designer) CHIP (break small pieces of the surface; damage) + (END [finish] contained in [installed by] PALE [feeble; less impressive; inferior]) CHIP P (END) ALE |
| 18 | Second Coming? It’s concerning, church embracing person writing in odd genre (2-9)
RE-EMERGENCE (renewed appearance; second coming?) (RE [with reference to; concerning]+ CE [Church of England]) containing (embracing) (ME [the person writing] contained in [in] an anagram of [odd] GENRE) RE (E (ME) RGEN*) CE |
| 21 | Coverage for everyone in small family (4)
SKIN (the natural outer covering of tissue of a person or an animal; covering for everyone) S (small) + KIN (one’s relatives; family) double definition S KIN |
| 22 | A fury I once fomented, impossible to ignore (2-4-4)
IN YOUR FACE (direct and provocative; impossible to ignore) Anagram of (fomented) A FURY I ONCE IN YOUR FACE* |
| 25 | Option for better location for spectacles (2,3,4)
ON THE NOSE (in horse-race betting, to win only, not to come second or third; an option for [a] better) ON THE NOSE (where a pair of spectacles sit) double definition ON THE NOSE |
| 26 | Toast former PM (5)
BROWN (to toast) BROWN (reference Gordon BROWN [born 1951], former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom) double definition BROWN |
| 27 | Flat parts below domes in places of worship (7)
TEMPLES (the flat portions of each side of the head just below the skull [dome] and above the cheekbones) TEMPLES (places of worship) double definition TEMPLES |
| 28 |
Holes in European agreement about permit (7) EYELETS (small holes to receive a lace or cord, as in garments) E (European) + (YES [agreement] containing [about] LET [permit]) E YE (LET) S |
| Down | |
| 1 | Consider taking bishop instead of rook in attempt to draw (6)
BECKON (to nod or now usually make a summoning sign in an attempt to draw someone close) rECKON (consider) with B (bishop) replacing (instead of) R (rook) BECKON |
| 2 | Stop training or being coached, say, for a match? (6)
ALIGHT (get off the train or step out of the coach; cryptically, ‘stop training’ or ‘stop being coached’) A + LIGHT (something from which it [light] originates, e.g. a match) A LIGHT |
| 3 | Long for pamphlet on education cut (10)
PROTRACTED (drawn out in time; long) PRO (in favour of; for) + TRACT (pamphlet) + ED (short form of [cut] EDucation) PRO TRACT ED |
| 4 | Effective power used by moderate ethically (5)
TEETH (effective power) TEETH (hidden word in [used by] moderaTE ETHically) TEETH |
| 5 |
Article about state of India occurring immediately after that (9) THEREUPON (immediately [after that]) THE (the definite article) + RE (with reference to; about) + UP (Uttar Pradesh, a State in India — the abbreviation is in Collins Dictionary) + ON (in progress; occurring) THE RE UP ON |
| 6 | Part of sail that mariners steer clear of (4)
REEF (a portion of a sail that may be rolled or folded up) REEF (a chain of rocks at or near the surface of water; a feature that mariners steer clear of) double definition REEF |
| 7 | University closed in case this class has few students (8)
TUTORIAL (A period of intensive tuition given by a tutor to an individual student or to a small group of students; a class that has few students) (U [University] + TO [if a door is ‘to’, it is closed]) contained in (in) TRIAL (a court case) T (U TO) RIAL |
| 8 | Orbits … more than once (8)
ELLIPSES (the shapes of orbits) ELLIPSES (more than one occurrence of the mark […] indicating ellipsis [an omission in text]) ELLIPSES |
| 13 | Wrong to assume it’s hard to accept when chess player yields to opponent (10)
UNWEARABLE (wrong to assume [to put on; to adopt; to wear]) – perhaps pushing the definition of ‘assume’ a bit far UNBEARABLE (hard to accept) with the B (black) being replaced by (yields to) W (white) where black and white are terms for the players in a game of chess UNWEARABLE |
| 15 | Present information, evidence of problems with money originally gifted (9)
INGENIOUS (talented; gifted) IN (inside; resent) + GEN (information) + IOUS (signed slips of paper or other documents acknowledging a debt of money; evidence of problems with money) IN GEN IOUS |
| 16 | Aggrieved, having downed tools for strike (5,3)
CROSS OUT (strike) CROSS (annoyed; aggrieved) + OUT (on strike having downed tools) CROSS OUT |
| 17 | A nameless minister demolished, point by point (8)
SERIATIM (one after another, one by one; point by point) Anagram of (demolished) A and MInISTER excluding (-less) N (name) SERIATIM* |
| 19 | A character under pressure, temporarily free (6)
PAROLE (conditional release of a prisoner; temporarily released) P (pressure) + A + ROLE (character in a play) – as this is a down entry, the letters A ROLE are positioned under the letter P in the grid. P A ROLE |
| 20 | Succeeded, caught up in court action? (6)
TENNIS (a sport where the action takes place on a court) (S [succeeded] + IN NET [caught]) reversed (up; down entry) (TEN NI S)< |
| 23 | Love letter specifying location I announced for plant (5)
OXEYE (wild chrysanthemum; plant) O (character representing zero [love score in tennis]) + X (a letter indicating a location, as in ‘X marks the spot’) + EYE (sounds like [announced] I) O X EYE |
| 24 | Screen features as live broadcast (4)
VEIL (cover up; screen) Anagram of (broadcast) LIVE VEIL* |
Thanks duncanshiell for such a comprehensive analysis. I worked my way through this steadily enough and enjoyed the experience. Can’t quite remember if I completely identified the theme and all its examples but the relationship did register at least to some extent. One thing I did notice was the proliferation of that most unhelpful of crossing letters, E, 14 instances by my count.
Good blog on rather a hard solve. Would UNWEARABLE even be guessable without the crossers? Based upon the theme, I figured that an EAR was in there, but the clue is exceedingly cryptic, both in the definition and in the wordplay, IMHO.