I think this is only the second Guardian puzzle from Otterden, who sets the New Statesman crossword. As prize crosswords go, this was on the easy side, we thought, apart from three crossing answers that were new to me (APPETENCY, TAPPA and JOHN BARLEYCORN). This was certainly an enjoyable solve, although there were a few where I thought the construction was a little too straightforward (e.g. the SI splitting on words in the answer in 1d).
Across
1. Interrogator about to request main first suspects to come in (8,6)
QUESTION MASTER
(TO REQUEST MAIN)* around S[uspects] T[o] = “first suspects to”
Definition: “Interrogator”
9. Obsolete remedy has laboratory extremely in the dark (9)
OBSCURELY
OBS = “Obsolete” + CURE = “remedy” + L[aborator]Y = “laboratory extremely”
Definition: “in the dark”
10. Greeting covers small island in the Caribbean (5)
HAITI
HI = “Greeting” around AIT = “small island”
Definition: “in the Carribean”
11. Black beginning with a word of regret (5)
ALACK
BLACK but “beginning with a”, i.e. replacing the first letter with A
Definition: “word of regret”
12. Intolerant one left party (9)
ILLIBERAL
I = “one” + L = “left” + LIBERAL = “party”
Definition: “Intolerant”
13. Repeats treatise after readjustment (8)
ITERATES
(TREATISE)*
Definition: “Repeats”
14. 1 across peace when war in the Far East is over (6)
PAXMAN
PAX = “peace” followed by ‘NAM = “war in the Far East” reversed
Definition: “[QUESTION MASTER]”
17. Cosy up to large food and drink company (6)
NESTLE
Double definition: “Cosy up to” and “large food and drink company” (Nestl)
19. 1 across carries a heavy load over a period of time at the beginning of the year (8)
HUMPHRYS
HUMPS = “carries a heavy load” around HR = “period of time” + Y = “the beginning of the year”
Definition: “[QUESTION MASTER]”
22. Candidate to plan pact reforms with independent in the centre (9)
APPLICANT
(PLAN PACT)* around I = “independent”
Definition: “Candidate”
24. Indian music he tries to eavesdrop in recital (5)
TAPPA
“he tries to eavesdrop” = a “tapper” (as in “phone-tapper”, say), which sounds like TAPPA
Definition: Indian music
25. Walks unsteadily on boats (5)
KEELS
Double definition: “Walks unsteadily” and “on boats”
26. It’s plain to see I get sneer anyway (9)
SERENGETI
(I GET SNEER)*
Definition: “plain” (or “It’s plain to see”?)
27. Rely on job at ranch to be drunk on hard liquor (4,10)
JOHN BARLEYCORN
(RELY ON JOB RANCH)*
Definition: “hard liquor” – I hadn’t heard of John Barleycorn, but Wikipedia explains that: “The character of John Barleycorn in the song is a personification of the important cereal crop barley and of the alcoholic beverages made from it, beer and whisky.”
Down
1. They go without saying to get estimate to large retailer (9,5)
QUOTATION MARKS
QUOTATION = “estimate” + MARKS = “retailer” (short for Marks and Spencer, I suppose?)
Definition: “They go without saying”, i.e. a saying, or quoted speech, would have quotation marks outside
2. Nurses near being manipulated into trap (7)
ENSNARE
ENS = “Nurses” (Enrolled Nurses) + (NEAR)*
Definition: trap
3. Elephantine facility needed an operator’s assistance (5,4)
TRUNK CALL
I can’t quite decide how to classify this – obviously the joke is on an elephant’s trunk, so I guess a double definition is most likely “Elephantine facility” and “needed an operator’s assistance”?
4. Unequal match so denied surprising result (3-5)
ONE-SIDED
(SO DENIED)*
Definition: “Unequal match”
5. Insect might get up in the air (6)
MAYFLY
MAY = “might” + FLY = “get up in the air”
Definition: “Insect”
6. Indian’s term of respect starts straight after he is born (5)
SAHIB
Initial letters of “straight after he is born”
Definition: “Indian’s term of respect”
7. Witticism coming three times from George Orwell’s farm animals (7)
EPIGRAM
E = “coming three times from George Orwell” (the letter E appears 3 times in “George Orwell” + PIG and RAM = “farm animals”
Definition: “Witticism”
8. A dental surgery’s role as gas supplier? (7,7)
FILLING STATION
Double definition: “A dental surgery’s role” and “gas supplier?” (in the US sense of “gas” = “petrol”
15. Longing for a quiet canoodle in French country surroundings (9)
APPETENCY
A + P = “quiet” + PET = “canoodle” + EN = “in French” + C[ountr]Y = “country surroundings”
Definition: “Longing” (a new word for me)
16. Artistic sect’s mural a non-starter (8)
CULTURAL
CULT = “sect” + [m]URAL = “mural a non-starter”
Definition: “Artistic”
18. Boss getting to eat out more (7)
SUPREMO
SUP = “eat” + (MORE)*
Definition: “Boss”
20. Supplementary tax somehow to be deducted from expiration otherwise (7)
RIPIENO
(E[x]PIR[at]ION)* – the anagram fodder is “expiration” without “tax”
Definition: “Supplementary” – in music, “ripieno” indicates the full orchestra rather than just soloists – so in some sense the orchestra is “supplementary”, I suppose, but really “in full” is more accurate
21. It produces purge of fool employed in big agency (6)
CASSIA
ASS = “fool” in CIA = “big agency”
Definition: “It produces purge” – there is a type of cassia that produces a purging effect: Cassia fistula
23. Playwright in the same place makes a lot of sense (5)
IBSEN
IB (short of “Ibid”) means “in the same place” + SEN = “a lot of sense”
Definition: “Playwright”
In the days before STD (subscriber trunk dialling) trunk (or long distance) calls had to be connected by the operator.
Thanks to Otterden and mhl. Enjoyed this puzzle but was slowed down in the SE because APPETENCY, TAPPA, RIPIENO were new to me. Not a problem because I like to learn new words.
Cheers…
M&S was indeed commonly known as ‘Marks’ in the past – maybe still is.
I’ve never seen ‘ib’ used as a short form of ‘ibid’ – which is already short for ibidem.
Many thanks mhl & Otterden.
This was very enjoyable but I guess that some of The Grauniad’s overseas following would not know either PAXMAN or HUMPHRYS.
????????
Every week I save my Prize crossword solution on the Guardian website and press the button Check All every following Saturday. Confident with my grid, I did so this morning…
And it appeared my answers for 24ac and 20d were wrong, and instead of TAPPA and RIPIENO, I should have entered TALPA and RELIEVO. Then I realised they’d changed the clues for both these definitions during the week.
Is it only me? Did I dream 24ac and 20d as TAPPA and RIPIENO? Is it a bad joke?
And the annotated solutions confirm it should be TAPPA and RIPIENO, while the online version of the crossword now has “Mid-West city thanks having a mountain at its centre” as a clue for 24ac (TALPA) and “Overlie rebuilding with surface carving” for 20d (RELIEVO). What kind of sorcery is this? 😀
I had exactly the same experience as Manu@5 this morning. The Grauniad strikes again, although as I have commented before maybe I shouldn’t moan too much as seeing as the online puzzles are free.
When I did this puzzle on Monday evening it felt like the SE had been put together by a different setter, although I wasn’t helped by taking what seemed like an age to see HUMPHRYS. APPETENCY, RIPIENO and TAPPA were my last three in.
Good point Andy@7. I forgot to mention that I’m just pointing out something that appeared strange to me. I wouldn’t dream of moaning, given that I can access all these crosswords for free here in France.
I saw PAXMAN straight away, University Challenge being one of my favourite game shows. I had to look Mastermind up to see who’s in charge right now. What I enjoyed the most about this research is the link to the two Ronnies’ Mastermind parody. Priceless.
Largely entertaining puzzle, rather spoiled by the 24, 20 fiasco.
Thanks mhl; the annotated solution does give TAPPA and RIPIENO, although the ‘solution’ gives TALPA and RELIEVO. 🙁 I didn’t understand TALPA anyway. Unless I am missing something, Wiki gives TALPA as a village in Texas, and thus neither a city nor in the Mid-West. 🙁 There is a city in Mexico?? I tried to put TULSA in, which at least is a city, although not in what is normally called the Mid-West, but ULS=mountain eluded me! My guess is that TALPA was in the original puzzle, but was changed to TAPPA later. Why the clues were then the wrong way round is a mystery.
I had to look up CASSIA, JOHN BARLEYCORN and APPETENCY.
Otterden seems to have had a bit of a baptism of fire. The first puzzle seemed to have a few loose clues and this latter will, unfortunately be remembered because of the 24/20 glitch.
The second disappointing Prize Puzzle in a row.
On the whole it was far too easy. The only vague challenge was the SE corner. However even this was disappointing as the only difficulty was that the setter had used several high vocabulary words as answers! (A lazy option IMHO)
All were fairly gettable from the wordplay except for RIPIENO (a common word indeed!) which although the anagram fodder was easy enough to establish was hard to determine without all the crossers.
Certainly not enough to occupy one for a weekend!
Thanks to mhl and Otterden.
P.S. In looking back, perhaps I was a little unfair in my comment @9 ‘The first puzzle seemed to have a few loose clues,’ as it was really only the NAIVE clue that was not very good.
P.P.S mhl, what does SI stand for in your introduction?
Subsidiary indication, I shouldn’t wonder.
Thanks Otterden – I have really enjoyed your two Guardian puzzles.
Last in were APPETENCY and TAPPA, both new words for me. It was a few hours later that the penny dropped for the homophonic connection between tappa and eavesdropping.
It seems that a lot of people on this blog do crosswords online at no cost and then complain when there are electronic glitches. There will be many other people, however, who take the Guardian for other reasons than the crossword. It’s a bonus for me to find a Guardian puzzle that is actually “do-able”. I have found some of the clues in two crosswords this past week unreasonably tortuous. Are you out there, Hugh Stephenson??
Jovis says:
“I have found some of the clues in two crosswords this past week unreasonably tortuous”
==
Hello Jovis:
It’s seemed to me of late (and you never know the extent of subjectivity) that perhaps some setters have been addressing the particular criticisms of several on this thread (who often want hard puzzles), rather than a general brief, as to setting for a wider Guardian readership/solver.
I’m inclined to agree, and my observation goes back a few months now.
The one that stands out is the eighty word clue, for a four letter solution.
Very enjoyable puzzle – thanks both.
RIPIENO was well-known to me. It’s not very commonly used in classical music but in (British style) Brass Band there is a part called “REPIANO cornet” (presumably a corruption of that term) which is the next one down from “Solo Cornet” (of which there are usually several. Unlike the orchestral term that part doesn’t duplicate the “solos” – it generally gets answering phrases, counter-melodies and the like.
So brass geeks generally know the derivation of that term.
@#14 and #15
Agree – at least in part. It has often been observed that it’s easier to write difficult clues than easy ones and I think that’s probably right. The challenge is maybe to write clues and puzzles that are accessible without being condescendingly easy, but rich and entertaining at the same time. Obviously one tactic is to balance up tricky clues with easier ones which will yield some useful cross-checking letters.
Some of the puzzles that are lauded for their difficulty and “correctness” are often no more than a dull slog to solve, “Aren’t I the clever one for doing that?” being the only reward. Frequently the setter wants you to think the same of them.
Jovis @14
Naturally you have your own opinion regarding the difficulty or tortuousness of Guardian puzzles.
However I am sure you appreciate that what is “tortuousness ” for one is entertaining for another. I personally found last week’s Guardian puzzles too easy on the whole and consequently not very entertaining. There are many out there who would probably agree as this site will surely testify.
Of course we must have some method to cater for different skill/experience levels but surely not one that is detrimental to one set of solvers! (I have suggested 2 crosswords per day of differing difficulty.)
The last 2 weekends “prize” puzzles were particularly disappointing as they were done and dusted in under an hour, I always hope that the “prize” is going to offer some kind of a challenge for the whole weekend!
Brendan (NTO)
The moving finger writes; and, having writ, moves on.
Plenty to discuss here but I suspect it is the nature of fifteen squared bloggers that they are now dissecting today’s puzzle and their attention has “moved on”…
The problem concerning the variation between the print version and the on-line version of my puzzle was due to an IT glitch at The Guardian. The site has now been corrected with an apology.