Paul is a prolific setter of Guardian puzzles, both standard daily and Saturday Prizes
I like the way Paul eschews using definitions lifted straight from dictionaries. Instead, he makes the solver think laterally to identify the definition of either the answer or a constituent part of the answer. In many cases, the surface of the clue provides a smooth misdirection away from the obvious definition. In this puzzle, examples were’bumper’ for ‘FIST‘ and Archer, where I think we were expected to think about the chequered life of the author Jeffrey Archer.
As ever, I learned something new from a crossword. I am not a cheese lover, so BEL PAESE was new to me.
I liked the clue for FIRING BLANKS with both its slightly risqué allusion and the link to the entry at 24 across.
I thought AT THE DOOR was a strange phrase, but perhaps it is used in dialect terms somewhere.
| No | Detail |
| Across | |
| 1 | Maiden in reverse initially denting bumper? (5)
FIRST (maiden, as in this was the player’s FIRST or maiden appearance for his/her country) R (letter one of [initially] Reverse) contained in (denting) FIST (you can bump someone with your FIST, so it could be described as a bumper) FI (R) ST |
| 4 | Italian food with taste of cheese a plebeian’s thrown about (3,5)
BEL PAESE (a mild Italian cheese; Italian food) BEL PAESE (reversed [thrown about] hidden word in [taste of] cheESE A PLEBeians’s) BEL PAESE< |
| 8 | Sticky stuff, something to fill squares alongside something to remove it? (6,8)
RUBBER SOLUTION (a sticky SOLUTION of RUBBER in naphtha or carbon disulphide, for repairing pneumatic tyres; sticky stuff) RUBBER (something to remove a crossword SOLUTION you have pencilled in) + SOLUTION (the answers with which you fill the cells [squared] of a crossword grid) – alongside could lead to either of RUBBER SOLUTION and SOLUTION RUBBER but only the first one makes sense and fits the format 6,8. RUBBER SOLUTION |
| 10 | Elastic on equipment in racket pulled back (3-5)
NON-RIGID (flexible; elastic) (ON + RIG [equipment]) contained in (in) DIN (racket) reversed (pulled back) N (ON RIG) ID< |
| 11 | Bait in hand? (6)
NEEDLE (annoy; bait) NEEDLE (any slender pointer for indicating the reading on the scale of a measuring instrument, such as the hand of a clock) double definition NEEDLE |
| 12 | Prize to catch shark detailed – one taking bets (9)
BOOKMAKER (person who accepts bets at racecourses, for example) BOOKER (reference the BOOKER prize for literature) containing (to catch) MAKo (one of several sharks of the genus Isurus) excluding the final letter (de-tailed) O BOOK (MAK) ER |
| 15 | Award unblemished? (5)
OSCAR (a gold-plated statuette awarded by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to a film writer, actor, director, etc, for the year’s best performance in his or her particular line; award) O (character representing zero) + SCAR (blemish) so zero scar means unblemished O SCAR |
| 17 | Sound German wheels round (5)
AUDIO (sound) AUDI (German brand of car [wheels]) + O (round-shaped character) AUDI O |
| 18 | Old plane flying right to me (5,4)
TIGER MOTH (a 1930s British bi-plane; old plane) Anagram of (flying) RIGHT TO ME TIGER MOTH* |
| 19 | Empty lounge behind warm fire (6)
KINDLE (set alight; fire) KIND (warm) + LE (letters remaining in LoungE when the central letters oung are removed [empty]) KIND LE |
| 21 | Was sad about having caged a parrot? So get a perch (4,1,3)
TAKE A PEW (sit down; get a perch) WEPT (was sad) reversed (about) containing (having caged) (A + KEA [large New Zealand parrot]) T (A KE A) PEW< |
| 24 | Shot down, completely unacceptable (4,3,2,5)
BANG OUT OF ORDER (slang phrase for ‘completely unacceptable’) BANG (shot, as in I heard a BANG / I heard a shot) + OUT OF ORDER (not working; down) BANG OUT OF ORDER |
| 25 | With flexible back in exercise, stretch out – slight stretch? (5,3)
WHITE LIE (a forgivable untruth; a slight stretch of truth) Anagram of (flexible) WITH + E (last letter of [bacl in] exercisE) + LIE (assume a horizontal poition; stretch out) WHIT E LIE |
| 26 | After returning, record filled in by unknown emigrant (5)
EXPAT (a person living abroad permanently for financial or other reasons; emigrant) (TAPE [record] containing (filled by] X [a letter frequently used to represent an unknown value in mathematics]) all reversed (after returning) E (X) PAT< |
| Down | |
| 1 | Doing this, not going to multiply 24? (6,6)
FIRING BLANKS (a description of the sexual activity of an infertile man) FIRING BLANKS (could be a description of a gun that is BANG OUT OF ORDER [entry at 24 across]) double definition FIRING BLANKS |
| 2 | Bird tough for Archer (5,4)
ROBIN HOOD (an archer of legend in Sherwood Forest) ROBIN (a bird) + HOOD (a violent criminal; a tough) ROBIN HOOD |
| 3 | One south of flipping green district of Rome (5)
TREVI (a district of Rome, where the TREVI fountain can be found) VERT (green colour) reversed (flipping) + I (Roman numeral for one) – this being a down entry, the letter I is located under, or south of, the letters in VERT TREV< I |
| 4 | It’s rolled over, in something to kick – and pass (3,6)
BUS TICKET (a pass) IT’S reversed (rolled over) contained in (in) BUCKET (reference the phrase ‘kick the BUCKET‘ [to die]) BU (S TI<) CKET |
| 5 | Opera, not entirely mirthful, ultimately uplifting (4)
LULU (
|
| 6 | Other toad in soup, here (2,3,4)
AT THE DOOR (a place, where a visitor might say ‘I am here’) Anagram of (in soup) OTHER TOAD AT THE DOOR* |
| 7 | Fight to draw up, through case in scabbard – this? (5)
SWORD (an item [this] that one might draw up through a scabbard [sheath for a SWORD]) ROW (fight) reversed (draw up) contained in (in) SD (outer letters of [case] of ScabbarD) S (WOR<) D |
| 9 | Planet in stew, for troubled – don’t expect it to get better! (4,3,5)
FEAR THE WORST (think something unpleasant might have happened, so don’t expect things to get better) EARTH (planet) contained in (in) an anagram of (troubled) STEW FOR F (EAR TH) E WORST* |
| 13 | Flash activated, faint shiner (9)
MOONLIGHT (sunlight reflected from the moon’s surface; shiner) MO (moment; flash) + ON (working; activated) + LIGHT (faint) MO ON LIGHT |
| 14 | Part played by Baltic capital investing millions in bureaucracy (9) 16
RIGMAROLE (a long, complicated series of actions, instructions, etc, often rather pointless, boring or irritating, which is a good description of bureaucracy) (RIGA [capital city of the Baltic state of Latvia] + ROLE (part played]) containing (investing) M (millions) RIG (M) A ROLE |
| 16 |
Tripped, breaking item of crockery – in little pieces? (7,2) CHOPPED UP (in little pieces) HOPPED (tripped, as in a quick trip/hop to Riga in the plane) contained in (breaking) CUP (an item of crockery) C (HOPPED) UP |
| 20 | Under orderly, hospital (5)
NEATH (under) NEAT (tidy; orderly) + H (hospital) NEAT H |
| 22 | Little bit topped with last of chocolate, lay it on thick (5)
EMOTE (show or express exaggerated emotion; lay it on thick) E (final letter of [last of] chocolatE) + MOTE (a speck; a little bit) E MOTE – as this is a down entry, the letter E is above (has topped) the letters in MOTE |
| 23 | Elephant in bunk? (4)
BULL (reference a BULL elephant) BULL (nonsense; bunk) double definition BULL |
I don’t think I can praise this highly enough, this is Paul at the top of his game without resorting to some of his more questionable devices. No point listing favourites as there wasn’t a dud in sight. Even the nho BEL PAESE was fairly clued, which helped me finish the sticky NE corner. At first I was confused with the parsing of TAKE A PEW, as I thought that parrot was to APE, I had to google KEA to confirm.
I would suggest Here needs underlined as the definition of AT THE DOOR
Ta Paul & duncanshiell.
Not bad. Enjoyed this though needed your help to understand 1d but I feel it is a bit of a stretch. Favorites were FIRST, OSCAR, BUS TICKET and ROBIN HOOD.
Duncan, your wonderful blogs appear twice like New York.
Thanks duncanshiell. A good workout which was satisfying to finish. Like AlanC I tried in vain to accommodate ‘ape’ in 21a and had never heard of BEL PAESE. Given some acquaintance with Paul I did wonder about a connection with moon and flash. I liked TIGER MOTH, took me back to my first solo flight.
Pleased to have completed this, albeit with some dodgy and incorrect parsing. MOONLIGHT for example – being Paul I just equated MOON and flash and shrugged at “activated”. Great puzzle and great blog.
Ditto MuddyThinking @5 re moon = flash. Duncan’s parse gives Paul’s clue its rightful quality. Smooth puzzle, thanks both.
Delightfully shadowy puzzle. Thank you, Paul! And thank you too, ds, for illuminating all the dark spots for us dimwits, especially MOONLIGHT, where I was not the only one to bung in ‘moon’ for ‘flash’ (although it’s possible Paul was cheekily having it both ways here). I don’t quibble though with AT THE DOOR, which is, I believe, standard English: “Uh oh, the bailiff’s coming. He’s at the door!”
Fun puzzle. Typical Pauline non-obvious equivalences like FI.ST = bumper. (Not the first thing you’d think of, but when you do, you can’t complain. Or maybe shouldn’t.)
There is an alternative meaning of BANG suggested by the referencing 1d (FIRING BLANKS). Say no more!
Great fun, almost as much as his midweek puzzle, which was my favourite of the week but which I had tempted too late to comment on. FIRING BLANKS was brilliant (indeed interpreted as per Dr. WhatsOn@8).
It was a technical failure though, as I too just assumed flash for MOON and didn’t give the parsing much more thought. I only got LULU because it too came up in the week already; funny how often that happens!
FEAR THE WORST and TAKE A PEW were my faves, while my shrug was for AT THE DOOR; a set phrase, yes – but why should a toad be there? I feel there must be more to it.
That NON-RIGID was clued cleanly was a nice touch😅 especially since it could so easily have been linked to 24 as well. Paul keeps us on his toes… or maybe we’re to blame, thinking back to MOON!
Thanks both
Fun puzzle, very Paul. Might have been able to Guess The Setter. Lots of multi-word solutions. Guessed my loi 11a NEEDLE. NHO 24a BANG OUT OF ORDER, which I didn’t find in Chambers. 8a RUBBER SOLUTION made me look in vain for a Beatles theme
Three favourites with good surfaces and wordplay, 18a TIGER MOTH, 25a WHITE LIE, 16d CHOPPED UP. Also 20d NEATH (concise), 23d BULL (interesting imagery!)
Thanks Paul, and duncanshiell for the comprehensive blog (especially the quick trip to Riga!)
Very enjoyable, very Paul. There were a few here, like MOONLIGHT and the two bang-related clues where, given enough crossers, I wrote in the answers and meant to come back and think more about the parsing, but then never did. So I never completely rationalised how 24a and 1d worked together but it was obviously fun. Nor did I see where ‘activated’ fitted in, since (yes, me too) ‘moon’ and ‘flash’ were close enough to match. I did like RIGMAROLE and FEAR THE WORST, and I thought finding a way to get BEL PAESE hidden in a clue was brilliant. Thanks to Paul and to duncanshiel for the explanations.
Thanks for the blogs , I agree with AlanC @1 , no jumping around or childish soundalikes just to provoke a reaction . Many very good precise and concise clues like BUS TICKET and TAKE A PEW . BEL PAESE was in Azed earlier this month , it does turn up fairly often .
It is usually the wolf AT THE DOOR and it sort of means in the soup but does not seem to quite work .
My faves: RUBBER SOLUTION, BOOKMAKER, BANG OUT OF ORDER, FIRING BLANKS,
AT THE DOOR and MOONLIGHT.
Thanks Paul and Duncan.
That was fun. Tough enough to be a challenge but not so tough as to make me give up. I used to find Paul puzzles impenetrable but now I’m used to his style I love them.
As usual with Paul, there were a couple of bung and hope must-be-right answers: the longer multi-word solutions 6d and 24a which I couldn’t parse to my satisfaction, but it seems like I was pretty much right. Like others I parsed MOONLIGHT incorrectly. Some I put in and parsed later after a pdm.
Nho the kea parrot which I twigged after trying to make ape work as a synonym for parrot. I keep thinking of clues like ‘a parrot in a furniture store’. Otherwise nothing obscure.
Lots of favourites but have to mention the well concealed LULU and BEL PAESE, BUS TICKET, ROBIN HOOD, SWORD and OSCAR (which has appeared recently, I think).
Thanks to Paul for a brilliant puzzle and to duncanshiell for enlightenment on the parsing.
My most enjoyable solve for a long while. As AlanC @1 says: not a dud in sight. Many thanks for bringing such cheer. Paul. The OSCAR and AUDIO pair were amongst many favourites. AT THE DOOR seems perfect to me, though is perhaps not heard as often as in my distant childhood.
Can’t find my paper version so can’t remember too well but I did manage to get all but a couple and parsed most which is pretty good for me with a prize by Paul.
Did like: OSCAR, TAKE A PEW, RIGMAROLE
Thanks Paul and duncanshiell
Choldunk@15, yeah but like I say, the “here” doesn’t make any sense for AT THE DOOR. A toad soup is ‘on the table’ or ‘in the pan’ or something; it’s unlikely to be sitting on the doorstep.
As Roz says, I’ve heard of a wolf at the door, so something like “Other toad in soup – wolf down here? (2,3,4)” would have been more pleasing.
[ The Maskarade Bank Holiday Special is in the main paper today on page 52 .
The answers are at the bottom so fold your paper carefully Fiona . ]
If the wolf is at the door, he’s here.
After struggling over the last couple of Saturday Prizes I was happy to see Paul as last week’s setter and not disappointed. I like the mixture of solutions that come without too much thought – EMOTE, BULL, RIGAMROLE – and the ones that take several tries/ days. I still didn’t understand TAKE A PEW even after putting it in until reading this blog and heartened that others got caught out with PARROT = APE. Good fun 😉. Now off out to get the paper to keep me quizzing during what looks to be typical Bank Holiday weekend weather 😏
Loved this. I have tried to solve so many of Paul’s puzzles over the years that I tend to interpret his definitions pretty quickly and worry about the parsing later. So I ‘solved’ this, to my delight, in double quick time but then found I couldn’t complete it.
I fluffed BUS TICKET, being happy enough with THE BUCKET to meet the definition of “…something to kick -and pass”, but consequently missed out on BEL PAESE, NONRIGID, and …SOLUTION.
Incidentally ‘It’s rolled over..” is quite appropriate as in my day bus tickets were delivered to you by a conductor from a roll.
Was NON RIGID related to FIRING BLANKS and BANG OUT OF ORDER? I FEAR THE WORST.
Tremendous puzzle. Thanks Paul, duncanshiell and duncanshiell
Lyssian@19 yes, yes; I’m not saying the clue doesn’t work. It does. But Paul missed a trick IMO because the overall surface isn’t coherent with the solution (or if you prefer, the surface is fairly meaningless on its own), which makes it less pleasing – a bit like a failed &lit.
BEL PAESE hasn’t crossed my mind since about 1980, when a colleague asked me to get him one when I got up to go to the counter in the staff canteen, and he had to explain what it was. Otherwise AlanC has said it all at 1.
Thanks everyone.
I found this difficult but that’s what a Prize Puzzle should be. I liked the FIRST maiden denting her bumper, the BEL PAESE thrown about, the parrot that TAKEs A PEW, the rolled-over BUS TICKET, and the NEATH hospital.
Thanks both.
Roz@18
Thanks. I had completely forgotten the Guardian had started doing this for jumbo puzzles.
So I took off my glasses before I went to the page thus ensuring I couldn’t accidentally read any answers. (I think someone suggested this last time)
Difficult puzzle, but I stuck at it. Took a while to explain NON-RIGID but it had to be the answer, so THE BUCKET had to be wrong. Finally figured BUS TICKET and the rest fell out. Grateful to Duncanshiel for explaining several other clues. Overall, a very satisfying experience.
Totally agree with AlanC@1 and with duncanshiell’s comments in the blog about how Paul makes you think out of the box with his definitions (such as ‘bumper’ for ‘fist’. That for me is why he is the best setter. Far too many brilliant clues to list them all – the whole crossword was excellent.
Completed in one session except for TAKE A PEW. It had to be that from the crossers, but I couldn’t parse it at all (I was also fixed on ape=parrot). Returned to it a couple of times later that day, but still couldn’t see the light. Eventually, after going to bed that night, it suddenly came to me as I was trying to get to sleep, so i can claim this one as a successful completion.
Not sure what the objection is to AT THE DOOR. A person who has just arrived may announce “I’m here” or “I’m at the door”.
AT THE DOOR: The OED has [To lay/be] AT THE DOOR [of]: to impute or be imputable or chargeable to. I think the clue implies ‘othering’ (treating negatively) a toad (wretched person) in trouble.
Lovely stuff. I got tangled up trying to fit both “kick the bucket” and “pass the buck” into BUS TICKET, and had to take out the unparsed EXILE I had put into EXPAT’s space. I also got hung up on moon=flash: Paul cleverly using his reputation to mislead us. Loved the oo-er missus undertones of FIRING BLANKS and BANG OUT OF ORDER. Oddly enough I came to this crossword shortly after watching a film featuring the actor Mako (the go-to player for Japanese businessmen and Oriental villains for many years), so BOOKMAKER went in very quickly.
Isn’t it supposed to be polite among the younger generation to text AT THE DOOR to let their hosts know they have arrived, rather than scarily using the doorbell or knocker? My young neighbours have occasionally done this to me, texting when they are standing on my doorstep waiting to be let in.
Managed to finish it though never heard of the opera Lulu. Great crossword from my favourite compiler. Thanks both.
Fiona@26 , it caught me out the first time , read a few upside-down before I realized what it was . Last time I was wiser , fold the paper with my eyes out of focus .
Gladys@30 , a tribunal has recently been set up at The Hague to investigate this type of texting .
I found this really hard and it took me ages – but I did enjoy it. A few were unparsed so thank you, duncanshiell. I do have a problem with ‘bull’ on its own as a synonym for elephant. I’ve only ever heard it used in the phrase ‘bull elephant,’ which is like saying ‘male elephant.’
It’s taken me until this late time to realise that the blog showed the detailed table twice. I’ve taken out the second occurence.now.
On MOONLIGHT, MOON for flash never crossed my mind as I had decided that ON meant activated and MO thereforer had to be moment/flash. I can understand though, how solvers can link MOON to flash. Given that the setter was Paul, he probably had that meaning in mind himself.
ros@18, fiona@26
The numbering in the clue for 45,65 in today’s Maskarade Bank Holiday Special should read 3,4,3;5 not as printed/online
Thanks both, lovely puzzle and blog – I couldn’t parse MOONLIGHT with MOON as flash and think that the blog is correct – wasn’t familiar with RUBBER SOLUTION and despite it being a hidden word I had to look up a list of opera titles so the NE corner held me up.
Thanks Paul and Duncan. Self inflicted kicking for ignorantly entering LOLA instead of LULU for 5d. Martin @22 also RUBBER SOLUTION?
[This may be helpful to online solvers.
My son, who solves online, has emailed to ask about 12a in today’s Prize. Online there are four arrows between the 12 and (7). In the paper there are no arrows, just a gap where the wordplay would normally be.]
Pino @38; using a PC online I do not see any arrows between the 12 and (7).
I must have been on Paul’s wavelength as I sailed through this last Saturday. Like some others I was a little baffled by 6D AT THE DOOR, and I hope that Roz@32 is right about The Hague…..
Nothing between 12 and (7) on my laptop.
I’ve got all the crossers and there appears to be only one possible answer, but I can make no sense of it.
Perfect timing .
In the paper it is just a large gap and I think it is meant to be this with a valid answer . Say no more .
Thanks Urbanotterzpotter @35 .
Please don’t discuss next week’s Prize Crossword on this blog; Imogen’s prize crossword 30098 is active until entries close. I know the comment @41 hasn’t given an answer, but the fifteensquared policy is to avoid discussion of live crosswords, especially Prize ones, when there is no solution available.
Robi#39
I think my son prints the puzzle from a Google phone
Bel Paese is the fourth one mentioned in The Cheese Shop sketch.
Got most of the top, not much of the bottom, last night.
To me “rigmarole” means the first half of duncan’s definition but nothing to do with bureaucracy, just something cumbersome and maybe ostentatious.
I thought that “rubber solutions” might mean “rubber cement,”
which I haven’t used or thought of for years. Does it still exist?
Sorry for the break.
Thanks Paul and duncanshiell.
Thank you Paul (didn’t quite get there) and duncanshiell for your clear analysis and explanations. I’ll be saving this blog for reference.
I completed this on the day, but I didn’t know the MAK(o) for BOOKMAKER, though didn’t lose any sleep over it as the answer was as plain as the nose in my face.
As is traditional with this setter, I stared blankly at it for what seemed like an eternity, until starting to think in that slightly off-kilter way that is necessary to get on Paul’s wavelength. I knew the parrot but looked it up anyway. I was staying with my daughter who’s a bit of a moth enthusiast, so it was good to get TIGER MOTH before she did.
Thanks to Paul and Duncan.
Thanks roz@18 (v kind), and urbanotterspotter@35. I had to rescue it from the re-cycling. I do love a Maskerade jumbo and hadn’t spotted it.