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 |
Introductory text
Blog text
| 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. 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