Guardian 26,523 – Paul

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I thought I was in a for an easy ride when the first two acrosses were write-ins; things slowed down after that, but I made steady progress and found it a satisfying solve. Perhaps less humour than usual for this setter, but still a solid and enjoyable puzzle – thanks to Paul

 
 
 
 
 
 
Across
8. CON AMORE Lovingly played characters recalled during the Roman occupation (3,5)
Hidden in reverse of thE ROMAN OCcupation – Italian term used in music meaning “with love”
9. ABOARD A poet penning nothing on a ship (6)
A + O in BARD
10. STAG Deer with short leg (4)
STAG[E] (leg = stage as in sports tournament, for example)
11. FORMIDABLE A bid failing, last of coal seen in mine? That’s daunting (10)
(A BID)* + L in FOR ME (mine)
12. BOWYER Weapons manufacturer has cut hole around bent yew (6)
YEW* in BOR[E]
14. HANGOVER House arrests good for headbanger? (8)
G in [Royal house of] HANOVER
15. ADJUDGE Failure to impress Jack in time to get award (7)
J in DUD, all in AGE
17. SEGOVIA A US composer taken aback, about to leave Spanish guitarist (7)
GO in A [Charles] IVES; the guitarist is Andr้s Segovia
20. AIRBRUSH Bit of a fox on song as features editor (8)
AIR (song) + BRUSH (fox’s tail)
22,2. DEPUTY DAWG Sheriff once on telly in dereliction of duty, gawped (6,4)
(DUTY GAWPED)* – I used to watch Deputy Dawg as a child in the 1960s, but surely by definition he isn’t a sheriff?
23. POKER-FACED Expressionless seeing something red hot, tipped over coffee (5-5)
POKER (something red-hot) + DECAF<
24. KHAN Respectful title all leaders in Karachi have adopted naturally (4)
First letters of Karachi Have Adopted Naturally
25. PISTOL I start to panic over something drawn on the turn, duelling weapon? (6)
Revese of I P + reverse of LOTS (which can be drawn)
26. GREAT TIT Pluck around swallow and head of tropical bird (5,3)
EAT + T[ropical] in GRIT (courage, pluck)
Down
1,13. DON’T HOLD
YOUR BREATH		 It will probably never be finished in truth — hard one? Bloody impossible! (4,4,4,6)
(TRUTH HARD ONE BLOODY)*
3. HOOFER Lift someone with a whistle, I say, seeing dancer (6)
Reverse of REF (referee, who has a whistle) +OOH (I say!)
4. HEARTHS Try these hot surfaces, initially, as warm places (7)
HEAR (try) + T[hese] H[ot] S[urfaces]
5. PATIENCE Change around a short clue for the card game (8)
A TI[P] in PENCE
6. TOMATO SOUP Wearing jumper, mother has splashed out so to be warmer in winter? (6,4)
MA + (OUT SO)* in TOP
7. GRILLE Quiz game ultimately grating (6)
GRILL + E
16. GRUFFALO Girl securing collar on old beast popular with children (8)
RUFF (collar) in GAL + O – this children’s character, for those that don’t know of it
18. IS THAT IT? Somewhat minimalist hat? I think I expected more! (2,4,2)
Hidden in minimalIST HAT I Think
19. CHICAGO Looking good, back in US city (7)
CHIC (looking good) + AGO (back)
21. ICONIC Very famous rich blonde, intoxicating for every heart (6)
Middle letters (hearts) of rICh blONde intoxICating
22. DODDER Ken and Elizabeth tremble in old age (6)
DODD + ER
24. KITE High-flyer in gear change, finally (4)
KIT (gear) + [chang]E

37 comments on “Guardian 26,523 – Paul”

  1. Thanks for the blog, Andrew.

    As you say, none of Paul’s risqu้ humour but there are several witty and amusing clues, like 1,13 and and 18dn, which is a very clever hidden answer, with a nice surface, as is the reverse one at 8ac.

    I liked HANGOVER, too and I thought the &littish BOWYER was clever.

    Yes, I enjoyed it, too – thanks, Paul.

  2. Agreed – good fun, and somewhat less naughty than usual. Favourites were AIRBRUSH, GRUFFALO DODDER and TOMATO SOUP. Thanks to Paul and Andrew.

  3. Thank you Andrew.

    Liked CON AMORE and HOOFER (LOI) and (forever looking to find something positive about growing old) having grandkids helped with GRUFFALO.

    Thought IS THAT IT was nicely encapsulated.

    Re BOWYER and its &lit-ish clue, there’s a link here to churchyards if anyones’s interested. I only recently came across it in a novel.

    (Captcha 1 – 1 = 0!)

    Nice week, all.

  4. Thanks, Andrew. I normally make steady and uninterrupted progress through Paul’s puzzles but this one was hard going, with lots of long stares… That’s in no way a criticism – well, only of me. ๐Ÿ™‚

    As you say, the first two across clues were easyish but they gave almost all vowels for crossers. This grid should be reserved for Ninas!

    1,13 was a late entry, with me at one stage wondering if it wasn’t a good comment on my performance! (Great clue though.)

  5. Thanks Andrew and Paul
    An enjoyable solve which went pretty well till one or two held me up a little at the end. I ticked 14a, 23a, 1,13 and 21d which had nice penny-dropping moments for me.

  6. Thanks Paul and Andrew.

    I found this hard and had difficulty with some of the parsing, extra thanks Andrew.
    DON’T HOLD YOUR BREATH held me up for a long time, kept looking for a 4 letter word to start with.

    I did like CON AMORE and IS THAT IT, both nicely hidden, and also HANGOVER, DEPUTY DAWG, GRUFFALO and AIRBRUSH among others.

    PISTOL with ‘drawn on the turn’ was good, but a shame the word ‘duelling’ had to be used in the clue.

  8. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how niice it is to see my home town (CHICAGO, for those who haven’t been keeping track) in a British crossword.

    Some quite clever work here, as always; the long anagram at 1-13 was elegantly done, and I thought 18d was nice too.

    Is it standard, by the way, for something American (IVES and CHICAGO, here) to be signaled as such, even if it’s not necessary to the clue? I get the U.S. tag if you’re signaling a uniquely American spelling or usage. But for cities and composers, it seems unnecessary if helpful.

  9. I was wondering why we haven’t this week had………
    “….initially, horrid, obstreperous, generally groundless yap” on the site – then I remembered – we’re all having a well-deserved week’s holiday!

    ๐Ÿ™‚

  10. mrpenney@8 – I wouldn’t say such signposting is the norm or a required convention, although some solvers do get upset if something American isn’t clued as such. I’m not one of them. As far as this puzzle is concerned, and as has already been pointed out, it didn’t have any of Paul’s typically risque humour. Some solvers will say that’s all for the better. I’m not one of them.

  11. Like Andrew, this started off quickly, and with DEPUTY DAWG and GRUFFALO I could see a theme emerging. But no. Then I entered HOLD ONTO at 1d – the anagram still fits, but bad things started happening in the NW. Eventually, a rethink.

    Mrpenny @8, I think Paul was just holding our hand with the IVES indicator; he’s not the most familiar of composers (alas, for I think he’s tremendous). And it evens up the Spanish hint too.

  12. mrpenney@8 Didn’t realise you are a Chicagoan (do please correct me if that’s not right). I was in that fine city in January and froze half to death.

    You might be surprised at the gripes when such pointers are omitted from clues. Personally, I think it should be on an “as required” basis. There is not a vast number of 4-letter composers so perhaps it was unnecessarily helpful in this case.

    William F P – dear namesake, please do not even suggest his name – this week has been a blessed relief.

  13. Tricky and enjoyable – any crossword with Deputy Dawg in it has to be good. Thanks to Paul and Andrew too.

  14. Andrew, I think you are right about Deputy Dawg, my recollection was that the sheriff in the cartoon was thin, grey haired, and err human.

  15. Thanks Paul, I ground to a bit of a halt before eventually finishing.

    Thanks Andrew, I believe DEPUTY DAWG was a deputy sheriff, if that helps.

    I liked the hidden CON AMORE and IS THAT IT. I hesitated to put in GREAT TIT as I thought Paul would have clued this differently. ๐Ÿ˜‰

  16. I got beaten by the NW corner, never having heard of HOOFER, SEGOVIA or Ives. I was also stuck on 14a and 6d, but due to lack of talent rather than knowledge. It was fun overall, but I’m glad I gave up reasonably promptly at the finish.

  17. Thanks for the answers. “As required” certainly makes sense: if the city involved were, say, Spokane or even St. Louis, I’d see how a U.S. indicator would be a good thing; on the other hand, Chicago is not exactly obscure.

    (You could possibly also look at “U.S.” in a clue as possible misdirection, I guess—I’ve seen it literally mean the letters “US,” or even the letter “A” (for American).)

    William @12: if it was this January, we actually had a milder that usual January this year! (This February was quite frigid, though, and last year’s January hit historic levels of both cold and snow.) Anyway, it’s a wonderful city—eight months out of the year. Come back in September sometime…

  21. Quite entertaining, as always with Paul, and a little tricky to finish. Last in was ADJUDGE. Liked POKER FACED, GRUFFALO and DEPUTY DAWG (I’m the right age to remember that one). If TOMATO SOUP is a winter warmer, I’d rather be cold. Are we allowed to mention that CHICAGO’s state gets a mention in today’s quick crossword too?

    Thanks to Paul and Andrew

  22. William @ 12 –

    Sorry – you’re absolutely right of course.
    And, in the way you usually do (though only paraphrasing)

    Have a lovely weekend, all….

    William the Second (perhaps I should change my 225 moniker to this…?!)

  23. A little more difficult than usual for Paul but it gradually yielded. I couldn’t parse ICONIC so I was glad of the blog. I, too, paused over GREAT TIT given the setter and suspected a theme as a result of DEPUTY DAWG and GRUFFALO. I often miss themes so I was disappointed that there wasn’t one. Enjoyable enough but perhaps not vintage Paul.

  24. @9 … free of hedgehoggy, but not the personal abuse that some seem to think justified in throwing at him or her, which some of us find more offensive than anything that he or she posts to this site.

  25. It’s strange, because this was a breeze for me today – it’s funny how some days you just completely click into a setter’s thought processes (..trying to avoid using the word ‘wavelength’ here! ๐Ÿ˜‰ ).

    By the way, does anyone know if there is an official word for a Definition like “It will probably never be finished” = “Don’t hold your breath”, or “I expected more” = “Is that it?” ? They are not Definitions and they aren’t DBEs, so do they have their own special name? “Equivalents” maybe…”Definition by Equivalence”. ๐Ÿ™‚     Just wondering.

    Thank you Paul and Andrew (..bit apostolic today!).

  26. Personally, I look forward to the return of HH. I sometimes agree with the trenchantly expressed opinions, and often disagree, but I find that the debate about the validity of individual clues that they generate quite interesting and instructive.

  27. Thanks Paul and Andrew
    Late to this today, so not much to add. I thought that the hidden CON AMORE was a lovely clue – today’s highlight.

  28. William @3 is referring to longbows being made of yew wood, making the tree essential. As most of the tree is poisonous to stock, they were often grown in churchyards (no stock allowed). However there are massive yew woods without churches in parts of Sussex and Hampshire.

  29. Thanks, Andrew.

    Nice puzzle, pity about the smut!

    I rattled this off pretty quickly this morning but had to go out before I could comment here. Like Limeni @25, I must have been unusually well attuned to Paul’s wordplay today, as nothing held me up for long.

    1,13 is an excellent long anagram clue. I also liked CON AMORE, HANGOVER, ADJUDGE (great cryptic def), IS THAT IT – all of which raised smiles. It’s rare to have two such good ‘hidden’ clues in one crossword.

  30. Van Winkle @ 24 Hear hear! Those who post such comments are no better than they perceive him to be. I’ve said before and I say again they should be subject to moderation.

  31. A typically well put together puzzle from Paul.

    Some good clues and some very easy clues. I liked 20A but on the whole this seemed to lack the usual Paul humour. (Perhaps he’s busy ๐Ÿ˜‰ )

    Thanks to Andrew and Paul

  33. Jovis @32

    I suspect Cookie is suggesting that the word “duelling” turns the clue from a good one into a trivial write in. (Which it does!)

    The clue works very well without it or even better by replacing it with “as”.

  34. Muffin @28 ha-ha, spot on!

    The only thing that surprises me is, knowing how slowly that tree grows, where on earth did they find the tens of thousands that would have been necessary to arm the English archers of the day?

  35. Jovis @32, exactly, it made the answer a write in, ‘drawn on the turn’ was so good; rapier also has 6 letters, but I think PISTOL first comes to mind. However, I cannot find another way to write the clue.

  37. Thanks Paul and Andrew

    Started this on the day, but it spilled over to the next morning to get it finished – and yes, PISTOL was one of the last in for whatever reason – so I’m with jovis on this one. Funny because it did seem so straightforward when the penny dropped !

    1,13 was also late to fall – probably not helped with my wrong letter count of the fodder – using H for hard or I for one initially. The actual last one in was GRUFFALO which I had not previously known about. DEPUTY DAWG was my first in.

    Had originally written in GEISHA at 3 with some work left to see why A HS had anything to do with whistleblowers. Was unfortunate to have not seen the clever reverse hidden at 8 first.

    Did smile at the thought of Paul’s grin as he left 26a alone !

    Typical nice puzzle from him.

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