Guardian 28,153 / Paul

45 comments on “Guardian 28,153 / Paul”

1. Thanks to Paul and mhl. I did not parse FORELOCK but caught the theme early on though I took forever before spotting Utah.

2. Thanks mhl. Another jewel from Paul, I really have to marvel at how he continues to produce them. This is both a challenge and a tribute.

   When one is in danger of over confidence in these things it is a salutary lesson to be brought down to earth with a bump. I had T-B- in 24d for LOI and stared at it blankly for ages. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons I keep coming back, to retain some humility.

3. I agree with mhl completely, a very fine puzzle.  When you have multiple cross references like in this one there is the danger that you end up getting none of the clues, but here the key clue 28 as well as some of those that referred to it were gettable, or at least guessable, on their own.  You also didn’t need to remember all the beach names to get going.  A great job!

4. Paul is sometimes criticised for his ungainly surfaces, but each one here has been carefully thought out. I can remember solving 20a LIKEN quite quickly, by going “beneath the surface”, but when you stop and read it again, in retrospect, it’s actually quite shocking. 26a NOISE is another, with its suggestion of shell shock.

   Thanks to Paul for a fitting remembrance, and to mhl for a thorough blog.

5. Paul often cues first and last letters with ‘initially’ ‘ultimately’ etc and so after breaking Bach in 28A it remained only to recall the five famous beaches. First and last single-word definitions also nice here in This (29A), Weapon (7D) and Set (15D). Thanks setter and blogger.

6. Quite a change from Paul’s usual style, but absolutely fitting on a day to be solemnly remembered on both sides of the pond, with several poignant surfaces. After seeing the names of four of the Normandy beaches in the answers, I was on the lookout for the fifth, which helped with CROSSWORD. A heartfelt thanks to Paul for this skillfully set tribute, and thanks also to mhl.

7. Moving, says mhl, and how! Not greatly into war commemoration as a rule, this one got right under my guard. As I started solving, up rose memories of Mrs ginf’s being aware as a child of the terrible news of the Blitz, and of having air-raid trenches at her primary school, and of the swastikas marching west across Europe on the front page of the Daily. Then, as the beaches emerged, more recent memories of being there, visiting the Normandy beaches, together. So by the time I got to The Fallen I was sobbing.

   Terrific puzzle Paul, thanks for the catharsis, it was great! And thanks mhl for the fitting intro.

8. Thanks to Paul and mhl

   I do not think that the references to First World War poems are accidental – or out of place. Directly, there is Lawrence Binyon’s For the Fallen, with the well-known line

   They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old

   and 23D immediately speaks to me of Wilfred Owen’s Anthem for Doomed youth

   Only the stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle
   Can patter out their hasty orisons.

9. Wikipedia tells me that the was a tentative sixth beach, code-named BAND, which comes into a couple of the clues.

10. Interesting theme. I had to refer to google for the beaches of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword.

    Thanks B+S

11. I would not normally comment on a Saturday puzzle, for I cannot usually remember enough about what happened seven days before. But I can remember this, in particular a little pause in remembrance at the end. The very Guernica of crosswords.

12. Agreed. A great puzzle and I really liked the interplay between the clues, particularly for CROSSWORD. I started this midweek and it took a while to think back and realise just which day it must have come out on. I thought Paul worked the theme brilliantly, with the fallen themselves always at the heart of it. I was slow to get BEACH, getting JUNIOR first and remembering where Juno came in. I could remember Juno, Omaha and Sword, but not Utah and Gold until they finally popped up in the answers. I was pleased I managed to parse everything apart from FORELOCK; thanks for explaining that, mhl. And thanks, Paul.

13. Yes, I agree, thanks Paul and mhl.  Not too difficult, in fact, as once one of the five was recognised, 28a was not hard to solve, which helped the other four.

    FLOCK=’army’ is a poetic image, going back to Homer (Try Googling ‘Flock Army Iliad’ as separate words for examples).  There are many poems here, and like PeterO@8 I was remined of Owen. 3d of course refers to ‘They shall not grow old’ in Binyon’s poem 19,24.

    GELATINISE was a new one to me, though not hard to work out, and DJINNI is an unusual spelling.

    Did anyone feel SPINNER was not a real double definition, but just a single word repeated?

14. PeterO. Yes it all brings back memories. Of course we all worshipped Wilfrid Owen and there is another poem alluded to;

    The Ballad Of Many Thorns

    And moans: ‘The wanton bramble, / It is the keenest thorn.’

    Thanks both

15. We really enjoyed this puzzle, thank you Paul and mhl.

    We needed help to parse 19,24 so thanks for that.

    We spent a bit of time trying to parse GELATINOUS for 15d, but CROSSWORD soon put that to bed.

16. It was a satisfying solve, but I don’t know if I’d go as far as to call it a masterpiece: some clues (I’m looking at you, REVOLVER) tended towards the trivial. The poignant theme was present through, though, which was lovely.

    Funnily enough, just minutes before I had been reading Stefan Fatsis’ excellent Scrabble book ‘Word Freak’ and particularly a page where he lists all the variants of the word ‘genie’, so DJINNI leapt off the page as my FOI.

17. Thanks mhl – I too found a lot to like in this puzzle and enjoyed the history lesson that sprang from it.

    I know pride cometh before a fall and all that, but I didn’t find it as hard as I thought it might be when I began. as it unfolded, I really appreciated the clever D-Day theme. But I needed this blog to tell me about four of the beaches – I could only recall OMAHA which helped me with the wordplay for 7d TOMAHAWK.

    Do I have to state the obvious when I report that my favourite was 29a CROSSWORD?

    [Side note – I always recall that prayer means ORISON (23d) as my Senior English exam back in 1970 required us to define the word “orisons” used in a speech from “Hamlet”. Memory is such a quirky thing – that is fifty years ago! gif@7, I also misted up when I read about your much more important memories from the stories and experiences you shared with your late wife.]

    Thank you to previous contributors (as well as Paul) for reminders some incredibly poignant poetry. And as always, thanks to prolific Paul whose pleasurable puzzles are much prized.

    [And particular thanks to Biggles A@2 for your second paragraph incorporating today’s reminder about human frailty and humility in crosswording!]

18. Yes indeed re WWI, PeterO@8, and re the graphic impact of 20a, sheffield hatter@4. Hoping not to overindulge, but more memories there; my own dad returning from the Pacific weighing 6st; taking a rubbing from The Wall at Fromelle..a name..all that was left of Mrs ginf’s uncle who did not grow old… People will no doubt have similar, from the great wars and others..

19. Just for the record the lines from Binyon’s poem are:

    They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
    Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
    At the going down of the sun and in the morning
    We will remember them.

    The first line is nearly always misquoted.

    Many thanks to Paul and mhl. A superb crossword.

20. Thanks for that, JinA@17.

21. This is a rarity.  I finished a Paul puzzle.  Only the second in a long time, I think.

    I couldn’t parse 19dn, either.  Thanks for the explanations.

22. Gerardus@19 – and was misquoted by me!  Thanks for the correction.

23. I can only say thank you to both Paul for a gem of a puzzle, and to Mhl for the enlightenment – I finished this, after much staring and head scratching, but even then I simply could not parse 9 of the solutions. I’m not sure I ever would have without help. I fully agree with Biggles – much Respect and Thanks to both.

24. Thanks to Paul and mhl for an excellent puzzle and blog.

    John Halpern hosted a Zoom meeting that evening to talk about it. It arose from a suggestion by a neighbour, the comedian Simon Evans. He described setting it as an “emotional experience”.

25. I had various adjectives in my head after completing it last week. I don’t remember them now, but pretty close to the words used by mhl and DaveinC

    masterpiece; evocative; brilliant; moving and poignant.

26. I join the chorus in praising this gem. Many thanks to Paul and to mhl for the blog and setting the tone for the accolades.

    As so often happens with really well set crosswords, nothing fell out straight away but the linkage, both in terms of clues and crossing letters, seemed to guide us gently through the thought provoking theme. my penny dropping moment was seeing that the weapon at 7d had to be TOMAHAWK. The beaches then identified themselves gently.

27. Thanks everyone for the comments so far: I’ve updated the preamble to include the war poetry references and added notes on “flock” and “band” thanks to people’s notes here.

28. Some enjoyable clues here. Favourite was IGLOO followed by VAGRANT. I too had some doubts about 13a and Flock = army in 19d. 26a reminded me of a remark attributed to the actor, Ernest Thesiger. When asked his impression of life in the trenches in First World War he said to have replied, “The noise, my dear, and the people!”. (There are other versions and attributions). Perhaps Paul had this in mind.
    Thanks to Paul as ever and mhl.

29. I found this difficult. Indeed, I scribbled a note on my finished copy to that effect which I won’t quote for fear of contravening site policy. I think my difficulty began with my failure to solve BEACH until quite late in the proceedings. Things did pick up once I had done so.
    The puzzle was certainly clever but I didn’t enjoy it as much as others seem to have done.
    Thanks Paul.

30. Clever use of the theme I thought. Thanks Paul and mhl.Ah all those soldiers, how foolish they look now that we know freedom is not worth dying for.

31. Paul is unfailingly challenging and entertaining, a truly great setter in my view. As with Araucaria, I often approach his puzzles with trepidation and always feel a genuine sense of accomplishment when they are done.

    This puzzle was Paul at his best, a worthy tribute to some heroic people that we owe so much to, and a brilliant example of how to set around a theme without compromising the solving experience. Great variety and everything fair.

    Many thanks to Paul, and to Mhl for the blog, as well as other posters for highlighting even more elements that Paul had managed to include.

32. My only complaint about this puzzle was that it did not last long enough. Beautifully woven surfaces, excellent theme – and one where I solved a themester which lead to “beach” rather than the other way round. Often themes cause setters to use obscure words or torturous clues – there was not only no evidence of that here but quite the opposite. One of his best ever – thank you.

    And thank you all above for improving the puzzle still further – I’d spotted Binyon’s fourth (misquoted) verse and a couple of other war poetry references but the further erudite elucidations above were great to read. “orison” always puts me in mind of the end of Hamlet’s soliloquy “Nymph in thy orisons be all my sins remembered”.

    Thanks MHL for pulling all the thread together so neatly yoo.

33. I can only echo other’s praise for this puzzle. As I only did it a couple of days ago I took a while to get beach even after spotting Omaha and Juno. Very clever very clever clueing to get Utah and Gold in. Others might be interested that the Binyon poem For the Fallen was set by Elgar and of course the Wilfred Owen poems appear in Britten’s War Requiem.
    Thanks Paul and mhl

34. Thanks so much to Paul for this inspiring crossword, and to mhl for a thorough and thoughtful blog.

    I was a post-war baby so grew up with my parents’ experiences rather than my own, but I found this so moving, mainly because of the central poem but also because of all the ingenious and respectful clueing. IGLOO gave me a needed laugh too! I don’t comment often but felt moved to do so by this puzzle.  I’d love to have been at Paul’s zoom meeting to hear about creating it.

    JinA @17. lovely to have you back, I always enjoy your comments.

     

     

35. AllyGally

    You can sign up to be invited to Paul’s Zoom meetings at http://www.johnhalpern.co.uk. I have enjoyed them immensely.

36. A masterpiece. Thanks so much to Paul and mhl

37. Thank you for the link Marienkaefer, I’ve signed up now. I’ll look forward to Paul’s next Zoom!

38. I guessed it had to be BEACH quite early, but didn’t parse it till the end, by which time there couldn’t be any doubt anyway. I wanted to finish this and attend the Zoom meeting, but had stuff to do and hadn’t finished by 7.30. I did enter the meeting but didn’t want to hear the full story of its setting before finishing it and didn’t stay. Luckily I had already got the theme, so hearing that at the beginning was no spoiler. I rarely start the Prize till late Saturday evening (haven’t looked at this week’s yet,) so I rather wish Paul would talk about puzzles at a greater distance, once everyone has had a chance to finish them if they can. I was interested to know more about Simon Evans’ involvement, as I’ve been to a couple of his shows and he’s quite funny.

    I did feel similarly to sjshart@13 about the clue for 13d, SPINNER, although when I read the blog I could really put my finger on what felt wrong about it.

    Not sure if I managed to parse 19dn, FORELOCK, so thanks to mhl for explaining anyway. I don’t quite understand the instruction from sjshart@13, “Try Googling ‘Flock Army Iliad’ as separate words for examples” (as opposed to what?), but when I google “flock iliad”, all the hits on the first page seem to refer to sheep.

39. JinA @ 17. Thank you, it’s good to know there may be others who can sail smugly through the difficult ones and come to a grinding halt up against something childishly simple.

40. This was the first ‘prize’ I attempted ‘in real time’ and I enjoyed it immensely. Thanks Paul and mhl. Finally I now see the neighbour in the tuba! I only wish I was having as much fun this week – much trickier for a novice.

41. AllyGally@37 – see you then!

42. I am blown away by the industry, and generosity, of mhl’s blog. A blog that comprehends comprehensibility and comprehensiveness.

    I’ve said it here, about Paul, many times, but it’s worth repeating – “how does he (keep on) doing it?!” (Good to see Biggles A @2 echoing my mantra).

    Like Tony Collman, I’d also join the Paulzoom were it not for the timing. I rarely, if ever, look at the Prize on the day (this one first viewed this morning – though I usually solve the Prize the following day; I expect to tackle yesterday’s Enigmatist in the sun later today). So the zooming too soon for me.

    No problems with the solve itself. I agree with others that it felt a little unlike Paul – and SPINNER was atypically weak. That apart, I had no complaints. This is one I’ll likely return to in future years (published on 6 June, D-day will provide an easy reminder) and refer others thereto.

    Julie@17 – enjoyed the (unintentional?) alliteration in your, particularly pleasantly produced, poetic penultimate paragraph.

    Many thanks, both and all.

43. I want to add my voice to the chorus, both for praising the puzzle — I can’t add anything to the excellent comments already made — but also to mhl for the well-informed and respectful blog.  I often have the thought “I’m glad I’m not blogging this, I never would have found …”  I didn’t spot the theme, as usual.  I didn’t know the names of the five beaches or even that there were five.  I didn’t know many of the other references, though I did know Wilfred Owen.  But all of the bloggers have such a rich and wide field of knowledge to call on that I’m overawed.  Thank you, thank you, bloggers all.

44. Can I ask a favour of we posters here. For various reasons, I am a week or so behind doing the crosswords which is why I post so infrequently as everyone has long moved on by the time I read the threads. I completed Puck 28150 earlier this morning and read the posts for that when someone posted something about a word from “another day” which contained the letters T, R and P. I had no idea what they were talking about as I do the crossword every day and had not come across that word. I then did Maskarade 28151 and low and behold there was the word as a solution. For the benefit of those not up to date, can we please avoid referring to other crosswords in a thread for a different one. Thank you. Hopefully, I’ll catch up one day !

45. I really enjoyed this excellent puzzle, and what’s more, for once I finished it.

    I knew 28a had to be BEACH because of the themed answers, but couldn’t parse it until it twigged right at the end.

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