Guardian Prize 30140 / Maskarade

11 comments on “Guardian Prize 30140 / Maskarade”

1. 

   AlanC

   #1 - Sat 24th Oct 26, 00:03

   
   

   As an intermittent visitor to prize puzzles I thought this was the most straightforward one I’ve solved but I so enjoyed it, especially the long border clues. STAND-UP COMEDIAN and the pretty obvious SWIMMING COSTUME were the first two in and it flowed smoothly from there. The subtraction clues in LORELEI, NEFERTITI and INSULATED were very clever and I liked the surfaces for IN THE PAST and ETHANOL. I had to google the tribe in NOMINEE to confirm my guess.

   Ta Maskarade & duncanshiell.

2. 

   Dr. WhatsOn

   #2 - Sat 24th Oct 26, 00:19

   
   

   Quite straightforward, nothing too tricky. No standouts for me, this time.

   I thought the aforementioned three subtractive word clues (setter’s prerogative I suppose) did make it a tiny bit easier, and less interesting.

3. 

   Greyhound

   #3 - Sat 24th Oct 26, 00:34

   
   

   A lovely puzzle – gentle and enjoyable

   Favourites were: MEANDER, MARGARINE, CORACLE, ICING

   Thanks Maskarade and duncanshiell

4. 

   Zed622

   #4 - Sat 24th Oct 26, 01:00

   
   

   No particular issues for me; anagram-heavy, perhaps, but that turns out to be something of a sweet spot for me, with or without subtractions. In this case, I found LORELEI and NEFERTITI particularly nice. ORTOLAN, which is not familiar here as a menu choice, I knew about through a friend who said that it was a sort of lark that in France was consumed in fine restaurants while one’s head is draped with a napkin (serviette?) so as to capture the subtle aromas while eating it essentially whole, because they’re tiny. Is this true? My friend, much missed, was known both to be a gourmand and a relentless teller of partial truths…

   Thanks to Maskarade—gentle, yes, but much enjoyed—and to duncanshiell for the ever-helpful color-coded dissection.

5. 

   Biggles A

   #5 - Sat 24th Oct 26, 01:32

   
   

   Thanks duncanshiell. As you have noted some GK helped in pencilling clues in and worrying why a bit later so it wasn’t too difficult. I enjoyed it.

6. 

   GrahamInSydney

   #6 - Sat 24th Oct 26, 01:40

   
   

   I found this the easiest Prize I’ve ever encountered; disappointingly so to be honest as I expect to occupy most of Saturday afternoon, and often into Sunday with solving (and sometimes all week without finishing, such as last week’s). So having knocked it off in 30 minutes left me feeling a bit flat. I’m very far from what I’d describe as an expert solver, and yet this was a Monday level crossword for me, in fact I’ve found some Quiptics harder. That’s not down to Maskerade of course, it’s an editors call.
   I found the clue for 1a wrong, frankly. Median and average are not synonyms, the correct synonym for average is mean. And before anyone chips in with “in Chambers” that doesn’t make it right, just commonly misused.
   Thanks Maskarade and duncanshiell

7. 

   TassieTim

   #7 - Sat 24th Oct 26, 03:22

   
   

   On the relatively quickly solved side for me, too, but none the less enjoyable for that. GiS@6: I have to disagree. When I was teaching Maths, we talked about three different averages (i.e. measures of central tendency): mean, median and mode. Mean is just the most commonly used. Thanks, Maskarade and duncanshiell.

8. 

   vinyl1

   #8 - Sat 24th Oct 26, 03:41

   
   

   As a Mephisto blogger, I am used to compound anagrams – I was just surprised to find them in a regular puzzle. The only thing I had doubt about was noddies – yes, I vaguely knew the bird. US solvers are not great at UK car models, but Astra seemed highly likely.

9. 

   grantinfreo

   #9 - Sat 24th Oct 26, 03:46

   
   

   Hmm. Mean, median and mode are defined as measures of central tendency. To call a median an average is to incorrectly afford the inclusive definitional status to the term ‘average’ which, as Graham @6 rightly says, is merely a lay term for mean. Het.

10. 

    Dave F

    #10 - Sat 24th Oct 26, 04:21

    
    

    As others have said, this was very enjoyable. I’m sure the setter was surprised to see it turn up as a Prize.

11. 

    Mig

    #11 - Sat 24th Oct 26, 04:23

    
    

    Superb puzzle. Wonderful clues with engaging surfaces throughout (maybe 1d excepted, as noted in the blog). Very entertaining — thank you Maskarade!

    All clues were favourites. Maybe single out 29a NEFERTITI (an ingenious bit of engineering), 5d ORTOLAN (cleverly hidden with “from…to”), 15d MARGARINE (“Spread” misdirection), and 20d CANTEEN (delightful)

    Couldn’t parse 14a NOMINEE. Thanks duncanshiell for clarifying, and for an impeccable blog

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