Thanks to Paul for the puzzle…
…with a theme in most of the surfaces relating to teeth and dentistry. I’m not certain of the parsing for 14ac, and my favourites were 1ac, 18ac, and 13dn.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | LUMMOX |
Brute has wiped mouth on floor (6)
|
| the “mouth” or opening letter has been “wiped” away from [F]-LUMMOX=”floor” (as in to floor someone, to astound them) | ||
| 4 | ETON CROP |
Cut top off crown, not probing cavity from the back (4,4)
|
| definition: the name of a type of hair cut
the first/”top” of C-[rown], plus NOT (from surface); both probing inside PORE=”cavity” reversed/”from the back” |
||
| 9 | CARIES |
Pith in decay, sign – it’s this? (6)
|
| definition: CARIES as in tooth decay
central letter (“Pith”) of [de]-C-[ay], plus ARIES (Zodiac “sign”) |
||
| 10 | HABSBURG |
Food’s black I see, scraped back in house (8)
|
| GRUB’S=”Food’s” plus B (black) plus AH-[a]=interjection expressing understanding=”I see”, scraped short; all reversed/”back” | ||
| 11 | FILLING STATION |
Dentist’s chair, where gas supplied in the US (7,7)
|
| definition: a US term for a petrol station
FILLING STATION might also describe a place where fillings are done i.e. a “Dentist’s chair” |
||
| 13 | THE GIGGLES |
Show girl disheartened, bandaged by loose sheet – what would nitrous oxide have given her? (3,7)
|
| definition: nitrous oxide as in laughing gas
GIG=”Show” + G-[ir]-L disheartened (central letters removed); inside anagram/”loose” of (sheet)* |
||
| 14 | SEXT |
Send erotic message with kiss where flossing teeth? (4)
|
| not sure of the parsing, maybe:
X=”kiss” symbol, in SET, with ‘in set’=”where flossing teeth” as in a flossing one’s ‘set’ of teeth |
||
| 16 | AXLE |
Pivot end of utensil into chopper (4)
|
| end of [utensi]-L, inside AXE=”chopper” | ||
| 18 | NEWFANGLED |
Contemporary guided by dental implant? (10)
|
| LED=”guided”, after/”by”: NEW FANG=a possible “dental implant?” | ||
| 21 | DOWN IN THE MOUTH |
Where dentist looks miserable (4,2,3,5)
|
| a dentist will look down into someone’s mouth | ||
| 23 | CHOW-CHOW |
Canine eats and eats (4-4)
|
| definition: a breed of dog
CHOW=food=”eats”, and CHOW=”eats” again |
||
| 24 | BITING |
Nippy dental ability? (6)
|
| double definition: nippy can mean BITING as in cold; or BITING with teeth | ||
| 25 | SUNDRESS |
Something worn, in under three seconds chewed up (8)
|
| anagram/”chewed up” of (under s s s)*, with three letters ‘s’ for ‘second’ | ||
| 26 | ETCHER |
Anaesthetic around root of canine – and incisor? (6)
|
| for the definition, ‘etch’=’cut’=’make an incision’, so ETCHER=”incisor”
ETHER=”Anaesthetic” around “root” (first letter) of C-[anine] |
||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | LOCK |
Hair clip (4)
|
| double definition: a lock of hair; or clip=fasten=lock | ||
| 2 | MARMITE |
Not everyone’s cup of tea in pot? (7)
|
| definition: a marmite is a type of cooking vessel
reference to the savoury spread Marmite having a taste that people either love or hate i.e. “Not everyone’s cup of tea” |
||
| 3 | OVERLAIN |
Love French poet briefly covered (8)
|
| O=zero in tennis=”Love” + VERLAIN-[e]=name of a French poet, one letter short i.e. “briefly” | ||
| 5 | TRANSFER FEE |
Cash for moving Whistler held up by wonky fastener (8,3)
|
| REF=sports referee with a whistle=”Whistler”, reversed inside (held up by) an anagram/”wonky” of (fastener)* | ||
| 6 | NASDAQ |
Nothing about swap, initially, question exchange (6)
|
| definition: the name of a stock exchange
NADA=”Nothing” around initial letter of S-[wap]; plus Q (question) |
||
| 7 | ROUTINE |
Debauchee gripping metal drill (7)
|
| ROUÉ=a profligate, a “Debauchee”; around TIN=”metal” | ||
| 8 | PAGINATED |
In having wrong date below space towards the top, numbered for reference (9)
|
| IN (from surface) plus anagram/”wrong” of (date)*, both after/”below”: GAP=”space” reversed upwards “towards the top” | ||
| 12 | NO GREAT LOSS |
Artless goon zonked, extraction causing little discomfort then? (2,5,4)
|
| for definition, NO GREAT LOSS could describe not feeling much discomfort when something is taken away (extracted)
anagram/”zonked” of (Artless goon)* |
||
| 13 | TEAR DUCTS |
Mushy crud bottled by baby feeders, little things activated when emotional? (4,5)
|
| anagram/”Mushy” of (crud)*, inside TEATS=”baby feeders” | ||
| 15 | UNIONIST |
One carrying on is supporter of working rights (8)
|
| UNIT=”One”, around/carrying ON IS (both from surface) | ||
| 17 | LOW-DOWN |
Very bad, the score (3-4)
|
| double definition: low-down can mean ‘dishonourable’; or e.g. ‘to give someone …the low-down / …the score / …the information’ | ||
| 19 | LETTISH |
Baltic, welcome this when shivering (7)
|
| definition: LETTISH can be used to describe Latvian people
LET=allow=”welcome”; plus anagram/”when shivering” of (this)* |
||
| 20 | PINCER |
Nipper, a little chap in cerise (6)
|
| definition: “Nipper” as in e.g. a crab’s claw or pincer
a little bit of [cha]-P IN CER-[ise] |
||
| 22 | AGAR |
Substance taking dental impression, pattern scaled up (4)
|
| definition: Agar is a material that can be used to make dental impressions
reversal/”up” of RAGA=a melodic “pattern” in Hindu music, with “scaled” as in musical scales |
On the gentler side of Paul, right?
I parsed 14ac just like you, manehi. And I failed to get how UNIONIST works, but now that I see, it’s a lovely clue. The “dental implant” gets a tick too. My new word for the day is roué.
Thanks to Paul and manehi!
DNF – could not get LUMMOX at all. Thanks blogger for the parse.
Guessed the French poet at 3d from the crossers and the ‘O’ start, but put in OVERLAID incorrectly (the clue says ‘covered’ so I assumed it was past tense).
Otherwise, a lot of teeth to this one – and some new words for me like LETTISH, HABSBURG, ETON CROP.
I had the same parsing as the blogger for 14a SEXT – a SET of teeth with a kiss (X) in it (flossing).
Agree re 14a
Thanks to S&B
I thought I was getting nowhere with this as the top half of across clues remained unsolved on a first pass but the bottom half started to give me some hope.
I took “flossing” as an amusing insertion indicator as you floss between teeth so the kiss goes between the letters of “set”. Top left was the last to fall – congrats to anyone who came up with “Verlaine” on the first pass!
Chewy but ultimately filling – thanks Paul and manehi.
Jack Of Few Trades @4, funnily enough I got Verlaine immediately, but that’s an occupational hazard (for my sins, I’m a poet).
But 14a is still unclear to me, as to the parsing, although the actual answer was obvious from the definition.
Definitely on the saner side of a Paul. No dodgy homophones or scattered, connected multi-parters. A bit more Muddish than a typical Paul. Favorites were UNIONIST, NEWFANGLED and NASDAQ (very clever!).
I hadn’t seen pith used as a middle-letter indicator before, but I decided that’s what it must be. I hadn’t heard of CARIES either, but decided that’s what that must be too!
I did get OVERLAIN quickly, but for balance, it took me ages to see PINCER was a hidden word and I didn’t parse AGAR.
I agree on SEXT.
I liked NEWFANGLED, DOWN IN THE MOUTH, TEAR DUCTS and NASDAQ
LUMMOX is a good word.
Thanks, Paul and Manehi.
Didn’t find this gentle at all. Needed the check button eventually. A rather sobre Paul I thought. Well I guess going to the dentist isn’t a whole barrel of laughs. CoD to NEWFANGLED.
I agree with Calabar Bean @1 that this was one of Paul’s more accessible puzzles. Very enjoyable, mercifully free from randomly placed split entries, full of his characteristically inventive constructions and bizarre surfaces – eg HABSBURG and THE GIGGLES. I particularly liked UNIONIST and NEWFANGLED (pity about the surface!).
I wondered if SUNDRESS could be a female sunder…
Thanks to Paul and manehi
I know very few poets in general, and even less French ones, but Verlaine was a write-in for me because of his importance to the D-Day landings in WW2. Famously, the BBC was transmitting coded messages to various underground groups throughout the war. In the run-up to D-Day, they sent two messages to the French underground to prepare them for the upcoming attack. They were the opening lines of Verlaine’s poem Chanson d’Automne – the first message a few days before the attack was ‘the long sobs of violins in autumn’, which was followed by ‘wound my heart with a monotonous languor’ on the night of the assault, which was the message for them to begin their planned sabotage attacks.
Thanks to Paul and Manehi. We had ‘Lick’ for 1D, which is kind of acceptable, I think. ‘clip’ and ‘lick’ can both mean ‘pace’, and a little curl of hair on the front is a cow lick. Obviously, ‘lock’ is better, but I’m not calling this one a DNF!
A most enjoyable Paul as usual. Took a long time for the penny to drop for CARIES. Loved NEWFANGLED.
Going against the crowd with this one but found this a tough one even by Paul’s standards. Always worth the admission price though for clues such NEWFANGLED and NASDAQ.
Also a bit confused by SEXT. I would have been a lot more confident if the X was checked. Had similar thinking to others but not fully convinced.
Came up with multiple answers for 1d all of which I could justify (lock, crop, trim etc) so had to wait for the checking letters
Thanks Paul and manehi
Like JOFT @4, the bottom half was my salvation. A superb theme, exploited to the full, with the usual left of centre humour. I laughed at LUMMOX, FILLING STATION, THE GIGGLES, DOWN IN THE MOUTH and NEWFANGLED. Genius.
Ta Paul & manehi.
I found this tougher than the usual Paul, but got there eventually. Not heard of AGAR in either sense, but guessed and googled. LETTISH also new, and NHO Verlaine.
OTOH, I got SEXT easily, parsing it as X inside (flossing) SET [of teeth] and not worrying about it any further because it’s Paul.
I’d have thought a roué was a debaucher and his victim a debauchee …
Like others, I began this halfway down with SEXT, AXLE and DOWN IN THE MOUTH, and gradually worked my way upwards – but was finally defeated in the NW corner by LOCK, LUMMOX, MARMITE and CARIES. Oh, and NASDAQ. I thought marmite=pot was purely French (there’s a picture of one on the Marmite jar), but apparently not.
Unlike a visit to the dentist’s FILLING STATION, this was a lot of fun. Particularly liked NEWFANGLED, THE GIGGLES and TRANSFER FEE, and was pleased with myself for working out LETTISH and HABSBURG.
I only know of Verlaine because of the film “The Longest Day”, which featured the messages explained by Andy in Durham at 10 above.
GiF@16: I guess if a visitee is someone who is visited then a debauchee must be someone who is debauched? Or maybe only in the world of Paul…
Gladys@17: I had also only come across “marmite” in that sense in France – memories of a bistro somewhere in the 5th, with a marmite pot on its hanging sign.
And thank you to all those for whom Vervaine was a write-in. A reminder, to me, that general knowledge is as general as common sense is common!
I also had LICK for 1d parsed as Davey@11
Thanks Paul and manehi.
Entertaining puzzle with good use of theme. The NEW FANG in NEWFANGLED was brilliant.
Verlaine also features in the Bob Dylan song “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go”:
Situations have ended sad
Relationships have all been bad
Mine have been like Verlaine’s and Rimbaud’s
grantinfreo @16: that might be logical, but “debauchee” = “a libertine” (Chambers).
Many thanks Paul and manehi.
PS I didn’t see LOCK as a double definition but as a cryptic definition (a clip of hair), with the surface trying to make you think of a clip that goes in the hair.
Loved it but flummoxed by lummox
Lord Jim @21 Re. ‘debauchee’, Chambers is, of course, correct. I am reminded of the poem ‘The Disabled Debauchee’ by John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, when he reflects ruefully to ‘Chloris’ on
… when my days of impotence approach,
And I’m by pox and wine’s unlucky chance
Forced from the pleasing billows of debauch
On the dull shore of lazy temperance, …
I thought I might manage this in two helpings, as I managed to fill the bottom half with some difficulty. But when I came back to it much later the top half I found almost impenetrable. Couldn’t parse PAGINATED, which I thought might answer 8d’s requirements and then rather petulantly threw in the towel. One of those rainy mornings where the mood wasn’t lifted by both the cleaner and the guys who were meant to finish building the summerhouse in the garden both crying off…
Some pleasurable solves, but a few frustrations along the way. We care not for CARIES.
If at first I was flummoxed, Paul (like a dentist) soon made me smile, if not quite giving me 13a.
Loved the ‘artless goon’, the ‘show girl’ and UNIONIST.
Thanks Paul & manehi
Lord Jim @21: As Dorothy Parker remarked, Verlaine was always chasing Rimbauds
Another one who solved from the bottom up and struggled in the NW corner. I liked the sign of CARIES, the NEWFANGLED dental implant, Whistler’s TRANSFER FEE, and the LETTISH Baltic shivering.
Thanks Paul and manehi.
Amusing as I went to dentist today!
Just to say that I thought this less challenging than Paul’s Prize last Saturday, but having had to adjust my mind appropriately, I reopened the Prize, where I had about eight unsolved, and polished it off. It is, as is often remarked, a wavelength thing.
I rather liked CARIES but I can see why some people may think Paul’s taking the pith
Ticks for TRANSFER FEE, NEWFANGLED & MARMITE
Fortunately Verlaine was the first, and possibly only, French poet I could think of
Cheers P&M
Good fun as always with Paul, without some of his groan-inducing clues. Sadly a dnf for me with the NE and SE corners holding out. Some tricky parsings too.
Cotd NEWFANGLED.
Thanks Paul and manehi
Like others, I had LICK rather than LOCK, and I didn’t like ‘pith’ as an indicator of the centre in CARIES, but otherwise was pretty fair.
I really like LETTISH and TRANSFER FEE, if only because I figured them out!
Very good crossword. Did a third of it (bottom left) in about 2 minutes then took me ages to finish! Really enjoyable, thanks.
Thanks Paul for a fun puzzle with some beautiful clues. Many smiles and no groans. Unlike the objectors, I really appreciate the innovation of PITH. Also thanks to manehi for confirming/clearing up a few parses
Imaginary Cerebellum #2. OVERLAIN – is the Past Participle of OVERLIE, the past tense of which is OVERLAY, whilst the past tense/past participle OVERLAID of the verb OVERLAY. Isn’t English a wonderful language? To those who didn’t know with VERLAINE, I’m surprised that Paul offered FRENCH in the clue!
Can’t help feeling PITH is an outer layer, core is more like what is meant? Thanks to Manehi and Paul,
Tricky but not as tough as he can be. Took way too long to figure out 6D NASDAQ. Thanks to M and P.
Jeremy Kahn@37 – the ‘pith’ of an argument is what you get left with if you strip away the rhetorical flourishes – though I agree, it originally read strangely to me (as do many of Paul’s surfaces :-)).
I got Verlaine partly from the Dylan song but mainly as the name adopted by the leader of the late 70s NY band Television
Jeremy K @37: Chambers gives the following definitions for ‘pith’:
The soft tissue within the ring of vascular bundles in the stems of dicotyledonous plants.
Similar material elsewhere, as the white inner skin of an orange.
The soft spongy interior of a feather.
Spinal marrow.
The innermost, central or most important part.
Only the ‘pith’ of a citrus fruit is not in the centre. Paul’s usage is fine.
Thanks for the blog , perfect timing . I think we have had a very lucky escape with LETTISH .
Put crop in first for 1d. As it was wrong held me up for ages.As always with Paul you have to do quite a bit of lateral thinking! On the whole found it quite difficult so ta for the blog .
By far the closest I’ve come to completing a Paul, but beaten by the top.
Couldn’t parse LUMMOX, nho an ETON CROP, nor a ROUE. LETTISH was a case of stick something in and hope for the best!
thanks manehi and Paul
for 2d i didn’t think the definition was pot. i had cup of tea being “t” in marmie (a pot).
Had to reveal 10ac as had inserted Nasdaq incorrectly as Nadsaq! So a dnf for me- bah.
HABSBURG defeated me, as did LUMMOX, though thanks to manehi I ended up loving the latter. TRANSFER FEE was the best fit for the wonky fastener, but I didn’t hear the ref as “Whistler” until I wrote in the answer (d’oh). MARMITE also written in as the only fit, rather than from familiarity through common exposure either to the pot or the spread. NEWFANGLED, OVERLAIN (knew the poet from my dad, who had the habit of reciting poetry as part of my wake-up routine—bothered the hell out of me as an teenager, but I miss it now) and TEAR DUCTS brilliant. Thanks to Paul and manehi.
Enjoyed this & found it easier than most Pauls, partly thanks to the well-worked theme. Familiar with Verlaine, less familiar with LETTISH. Somehow dredged ETON CROP up from memory.
Too much looseness in the cluing – I was another with LICK, which seems to fit; ‘I see, scraped’ for AH; ‘welcome’ for LET – and too many difficult clues in the top third. I had to reveal the last half dozen, which I don’t like doing.
The bottom two-thirds was so easy as to be disappointing, so the whole experience was hard to describe as enjoyable. Frustrating would be my word for it.
I did enjoy some of the surfaces, having had root canal treatment this week. 😁
I think Paul enjoyed setting this, so he doesn’t need my thanks. But thank you to Manehi for your efforts.
Agree with JOFT@4: chewy, and ultimately filling. To which I’d add: toothsome.
Now that it’s mentioned, I remember FILLING STATION from some long-gone decade. I haven’t heard it in years — it may have been American, but I don’t think it is any more. But I do remember by grandfather, on long trips when gas station’s bathrooms became important, referring to them as “unfilling stations”
I found this hard, and needed a crossings checker a few times, along with the check button for LOCK etc.
The setting was of Paul’s usual high standard, and everything parsed OK though.
I’m hoping for a more comforting theme next time.
Thanks one and all.
I’ve learned to persevere with Paul, so I gave this another day. Lots of empty lights, and then a word magically pops into my head, and I make some more progress. Just before giving up, the NE tumbled, bringing me to within three. Not too bad. After checking, I see I had 19d LETTISH wrong (LATVIAN), so four off
Thanks Paul for a puzzle I could really sink my teeth into, and manehi
Paul always seems to question a set semiotics of clueing. I agree with JT#4 “I took “flossing” as an amusing insertion indicator as you floss between teeth so the kiss goes between the letters of “set”. “ A kind of toothy awkward kiss by a probing dentist? 🙂
Srivats, 54.
I’m not sure whether you mean semiotics in the strict linguistic sense, but Dylan Thomas – I think it was – said of language “It is impossible to be too clear”. That’s not always true though, is it? A cryptic crossword setter exploits language’s capacity not to be clear, and to be metaphorical rather than literal. I too liked the flossing metaphor for wedging between, as I do any good invention. Paul makes plenty.