What a treat to get a Puck puzzle for my first Prize blog of the new year!
I solved and blogged this the day after solving and blogging an uncharacteristically squeaky-clean Paul puzzle. Puck is not averse to the odd bit or two of ribaldry himself and he certainly made up for the previous day’s omissions in several of the clues here. There was plenty more typical Puckish mischief, as he led us up the garden path towards non-existent Forbidden Cities and Fantasy Islands, with many twists and turns on the way. I have searched the undergrowth for hidden armadillos or other strange crearures and found none but – how many times have I said this? – that doesn’t, of course, mean there aren’t any.
Many thanks to Puck for a witty, amusing, and highly enjoyable puzzle, which I was sorry to find I’d finished.
Across
1,9 Forbidden City artist’s a blank slate (6,4)
TABULA RASA
TABU [forbidden] + LA [Los Angeles – city] + RA’S [artist’s] + A
4 Tasty bit of flesh enthrals a couple of males in Turkish bath (6)
HAMMAM
HAM [tasty bit of flesh] round [enthrals] A MM [a couple of males] – a new word for me but very clearly clued
10 Go too far in clarifying heartless rule in case of one fiver being lost (4-6)
OVER-REFINE
R[ul]E [heartless] in [in case of] an anagram [lost] of ONE FIVER – this sounds like an intriguing story
11 Breakfast food starts to make us evacuate (some linseed involved) (6)
MUESLI
Initial letters [starts] of Make Us Evacuate Some Linseed Involved – I nearly did choke on my muesli, which I was actually chewing as I solved this
12 Got ring? Badly in debt again, at first (8)
OBTAINED
O [ring] + an anagram [badly] of IN DEBT A[gain]
13 Bore through getting to speak at length about France (9)
PERFORATE
PERORATE [to speak at length] round F [France]
[I used to get exercised about ‘perorate’ used in this way: the peroration is, strictly, the summing-up / ending of a speech but now it is used to mean a long formal speech.]
15 Lift people out of morass? I took over (4)
OTIS
Hidden reversal [over] in morasS I TOok – a clever surface and definition, evincing a wry smile, which my late husband would have grudgingly shared, having helped design lifts for a small local lift company
16 Person getting kiss from Douglas? (4)
MANX
MAN [person] + X [kiss]
I think we’re more used to MANX as wordplay, to indicate deletion of the last letter of a word in a clue, since Manx cats, from the Isle of Man, are tailless. In fact, Puck used this device in the last puzzle of his that I blogged, cluing INFIDEL as ‘Pagan with Manx feline, I’d suspect’.
It’s always difficult to judge how much information to supply for non-UK residents but Douglas is the capital of the Isle of Man. [Apologies if you already knew that.]
17 Minerals lads regularly put in iron boxes (9)
FELDSPARS
L[a[D[s] in FE [iron] SPARS [boxes]
All the ‘container’ antennae rise when I see boxes / walls / houses et al – and then I realise I’m halfway up the garden path: I didn’t know the word but it’s a fair cop
21 Almost go in prison in Split, due to bust? (8)
CLEAVAGE
LEAV[e] [almost go] in CAGE [prison]
This would have been a very nice clue already, without the last three words, but they do enhance it!
22,25 Fools one politician hired, working on board (10)
SIMPLETONS
I MP [one politician] + LET [hired] + ON [working] in SS steamship = on board
Puck seems to have assembled some of the most common crossword clichés to make fools of us all. 😉
24 Mushroom terrine starter coated with syrup, after top taken off container (10)
RECEPTACLE
CEP [mushroom] + T[errine] in [coated with] [t]REACLE [topless syrup]
It’s a great surface – but not something I’d choose from a menu!
26 Kind of brown-backed flower (6)
NATURE
Reversal [backed ] of TAN [brown] + URE [flower – I know it’s a crossword cliché but it’s the river that flows through my beloved Wensleydale
27 Remained sober, reportedly (6)
STAYED
Sounds [unequivocally] like ‘staid’
Down
1 Defame American beginning to dither during ceasefire (7)
TRADUCE
A [American] + D[ither] in TRUCE [ceasefire]
2,7 Freezing cold bum pinched by two brothers? Yes, in play (5,7)
BRASS MONKEYS
ASS [bum] in [pinched by] BR and MONK [two brothers] + an anagram [in play] of YES
3 Can one going there be said to be more idiotic? (7)
LOOPIER
The first thing that sprang to mind, with the crossers, was LOONIER, which didn’t quite work: it’s LOO [can] + PIER [sounds like [said to be] – how on earth do I write this? – ‘pee-er’ [one ‘going’ there – in the loo] Phew!
5 Add gaseous mixture to a tea drunk by the Queen (6)
AERATE
A + an anagram [drunk] of TEA after [by] ER [the queen] – misleading wordplay!
6 Fat spillage? Bungle and point rudely (6,3)
MUFFIN TOP
MUFF [bungle] + anagram [rudely] of POINT
A brilliant clue for a definition that I’ve learned only recently for a phenomenon with which I’m constantly confronted and totally appalled by
8 When stranded, how’s your father to get a cocktail? (3,2,3,5)
SEX ON THE BEACH
SEX [‘How’s your father?’] ON THE BEACH [when stranded – brilliant double definition]
[Not having heard of this cocktail, I was temporarily toying with GET ON THE….and getting nowhere.] What a wonderful surface!
14 Entertaining lady with extremely neat backside (9)
FUNDAMENT
FUN [as an adjective – entertaining] + DAME [lady] + N[ea]T – an extremely neat reminder of Shed’s fundamental problem = piles a couple of weeks ago
16 Scottish island with one foreign plant (7)
MULLEIN
MULL [Scottish island] + EIN [one German]
I didn’t know this plant but, again, the cluing was impeccable
18 Decline to remove odour? (7)
DESCENT
DE-SCENT – remove odour?
19 Given stripe in primary colour, as curtains may be (7)
RELINED
LINE [stripe] in RED [primary colour]
20,23 Creator of Fantasy Island comic, according to Spooner (6,5)
WALTER MITTY
Sounds, to many, Spoonerised, like MALTA [island] WITTY [comic]
Regular readers will know that I am not a fan of Spoonerisms, except when each component is a viable phrase, which is not really the case here – but, since it’s Puck… but mainly because ! like the definition – I’ll say no more: I know many of you will love it, anyway.
Thanks, Eileen for this blog, especially for pointing out the elegant surfaces which I often fail to appreciate in the solving process. And to Puck for an enjoyable puzzle, even if it was on the easy side for a prize.
Thanks Puck and Eileen.
I failed to solve 8d and 24a, and needed help to parse 13a and 3d.
New words for me were BRASS MONKEYS, HAMMAM, FUNDAMENT = backside.
Thanks Eileen, I enjoyed it too.
In 13 I thought per=through and orate=to speak at length and the definition just ‘bore’. That would spare you the mental exercise.
I was tempted by ‘loonier’ for a while too and added to my education with the first two answers.
1 and 4 across I mean.
Thanks Eileen. Didn’t know but guessed 8D; had to Wiki the cocktail. Having done that, the rest fell in. The Spooner first amused then irked: Walter himself would not have got it.
I mean guessed the fat spillage clue.
Thanks Eileen – I enjoyed this puzzle very much. Hadn’t come across the alternative spelling of taboo before, but as you say everything is very fairly clued.
Thanks Puck for a witty puzzle and enjoyable solve.
Thanks Eileen, I was LOONIER, scratching my head about it until I came here and found LOOPIER.
I did like the Split, and enjoyed the extra words. As you say, MUESLI was another cracker.
As to brass monkeys: ‘Some references say that the brass triangles that supported stacks of iron cannon-balls on sailing ships were called monkeys and that in cold weather the metal contracted, causing the balls to fall off. The derivation of this phrase is difficult enough to determine without such tosh, so let’s get that oft-repeated story out of the way first.’
P.S. Although I do like Spoonerisms when done well, I agree that the ‘Spoonerised’ clue should make a decent phrase. I thought there was a particularly horrible version in this week’s Pasquale puzzle.
Hi Robi
Yes, I did a bit of research into BRASS MONKEYS, too, and decided to let it rest. 😉
[And I agree about the horrible Pasquale Spoonerism.]
Found this entertaining but very much on the easier end of Puck’s spectrum. Only unfamiliar word was MULLEIN and that was pretty clear from wordplay and crossers.
Thanks to Puck and Eileen
I’ve got the horrible Pasquale Spoonerism to come as I’ve still not started Thursday’s puzzle. As for Puck, I found this quite difficult to start but once I’d got the cocktail things quickly improved-as is often the case with alcohol I find. I liked a lot of this especially MUFFIN TOP and LOOPIER. HAMMAM and OVERREFINED slowed me down a little despite having visited one of the former while stranded in the earthquake town of Mars.
Overall most enjoyable.
Oops, sorry, Peter Aspinwall @12 – but no harm done, I think, as it’s clearly labelled as a Spoonerism.
Thanks Eileen. Great stuff from Puck as usual. My gripe with 20,23 is the supposed homophone rather than the Spoonerism. But I’m (almost) resigned to that now.
Thanks Puck and Eileen.
I enjoyed this crossword even though I could not quite finish it.
You did very well Eileen in your parsing of LOOPIER (I, of course, tried LOONIER).
I parsed 13a as Biggles A @3 did, but it is not correct since to PERFORATE is to bore through.
Did not know the innuendo in 8d, and had to google the cocktail!
I liked SIMPLETONS and NATURE among others.
[Eileen, my husband was from Yorkshire, and we spent our honeymoon based at the Rose and Crown in Bainbridge while we explored the Dales.]
[Happy memories, Cookie. 😉 ]
[Eileen, you will have more problems with a bulging waistline and a Spoonerism in this weeks Prize]
Lots to enjoy here, but I’m afraid the WALTER MITTY Spoonerism detracted from an otherwise fine puzzle. I don’t mind Spoonerisms per se, but combining one with a regional pronunciation is rather hard to swallow.
Thanks Eileen, I loved this. The only one that foxed me completely was loopier – I had loonier – thanks for the, ahem, explanation.
Great puzzle, but I also needed Eileen’s explanation of LOOPIER. I thought the Spoonerism was great (and don’t see where the regional pronunciation comes in – re poc@18). Thanks to both.
I am still intrigued by 8a …
In A Question of Upbringing by Anthony Powell, Uncle Giles visits Jenkins at his house at Eton…
‘He finished blowing his nose, pushed his handkerchief back up his sleeve, and, using without facetious implication a then popular catchword, said: “How’s your father?” ‘
I always thought the phrase was a cliché. Powell wrote this book at the end of the 1940’s (published 1951). I find on the web that the comedian Harry Tate in the 1930’s, playing up the British discomfort with all things sexual, confrontational or vulgar, would answer any crass statement with a stammered “I … er … well, how’s your father?” (This is probably not the first use of the phrase in this context.)
Didn’t have much time to do this one. (Usually need several hours). So did not get 1a or 1d also 8d and 6d. Otherwise quite enjoyed it.
Thanks Puck and Eileen
I was delayed by having the perfectly valid SEX ON THE ROCKS (also a cocktail) – valid, that is, apart from the technical problem that “rocks” prevented me from getting the crossing words!
There is also a BRASS MONKEY cocktail and a TABULA RASA cocktail, Puck seems to have been experimenting over the New Year.
Cookie @24 – impressive research. Going back to yesterday’s debate on themes – obscure cocktails would be the kind of ghost theme I would never spot…
…but doing the research must have been fun!
Thanks all
Although I considered loopier I did not enter it since unlike Eileen I missed the lavatorial. I found line equals stripe dubious but decided relined fitted the definition.
My favourite was 8 down.
Beery Hiker @25 and DuncT @26, yes, the research is fun, but only after the crossword is solved and the blog enjoyed. I did not spot the cocktail ‘theme’ until the evening here when I started playing around after muffin’s comment.
There are also Feldspar cocktails, but they are not ones you drink; the minerals in feldspar can differ making ‘stones’ of different colours that can be set into rings for example.
Just checked, there is also a Simpleton Cocktail.
I thought this a delight, although I was completely flummoxed by “how’s your father”–I’m glad someone explained it, because it was lost on me. I had heard of the cocktail, but the phrase just didn’t compute. So, I thought that -E- was “HE’S” to relate back to father somehow. Sigh.
And thanks, Eileen, for the update on Douglas. I didn’t know it before sitting down to tackle this.
FUNDAMENT was also new to me but so well clued I figured it out.
Thanks so much to Puck and Eileen and the responders, too, in helping me learn something every time.
Robi@8 – I imagine the cannonballs story was invented as a euphemistic explanation. If the margin was so small that the differential contraction of brass and iron in cold weather would have dislodged the balls, they’d never have stayed on in rough weather!