Pop Up, Press On [May 16-21]

I had a dash at this over lunch and, apart from a couple in the top NE corner, just have most of the SW corner to go. If I can crack 14d I'm half a chance to solve this one.

Found this needlessly tricky - perhaps a case of Monday-brain. But the stoush has plenty of rewards.

Love the sleight of 9ac, 23ac and 21dn. And delighted in the cyclic nature of puzzles when I twigged that 10ac, my last due to vague doubts with clue, is a word that belongs in the haul/drag (huldra) club. (See the latest WoW forum.)

It's a tentative all clear from me. I think I'm suffering from Monday-brain too, or maybe Not-Enough-Sleep-brain.

20DN and 23AC were my last two, and I'm still not sure about them. 1AC had me worried, as I couldn't figure out the wordplay, but I've changed my second last letter and it makes a bit more sense now.

Favourites were 21DN, 25AC and 4DN. 3DN had a nicely disguised def.

I'm pretty sure I'll be back to square one tomorrow. Still have 17a 28a and 18d to complete. I'll whack in some letters based on the wordplay and hope for the best.
Pretty much in agreement with the "best of" selections.

I'm having a shocker. It took me until just now to persuade myself that 4dn wasn't asthma, despite having no clue how either defn or wordplay would support it. Groan.

Leaves me with 8 to go. Thank God 1ac is not among them.

I must be 8dn. Thought of the answer to 6ac straight up this morning, and then failed to notice either defn or wordplay so hadn't filled it in. I may yet avoid being 19ac-ed.

Conceded on this one. 18dn led me astray - and as I'd not heard of 17ac or 28ac, I wasn't able to correct it from Barrett. Which would probably have required 'one (or two)' to have a shot.

Oh well.

Think I'm thru. Enjoyable especially SW corner which had me stumped for a bit. Make that 2 in a row.

Back to zero for me. I was right to be worried about ARC LAMP and CAW. I was hoping there was a lamp named after some girl called AMY, perhaps a Florence Nightingale type or a member of the French Resistance. And CAW seems so bleeding obvious when I look at the clue now.

Oh well, at least I'm in good company. I almost choked on my Weet-Bix when I read about Anthony's close call with 'asthma'.

Let's hope today's is a little kinder.

I have not bought today's OZ. I don't get any satisfaction or enjoyment from guessing answers. My guesses from yesterday were Red Biddy, Durrell, and Eilat. Right or wrong, I think I'll quit while I'm behind.

Peta, if these were your three ifs, you've survived.

And so RK - an AMY LAMP? Sounds like Mattel's new line.

My huh was attached to PENANCE. Without the clue in front of me, I recall it was an oblique def of visible contrition. Didn't like it much, though penance is open/lance, which I love.

Initially I was going to keep mum about AMY because of the inevitable teasing that would follow. But then I figured we all needed a good chuckle after yesterday's brain strain.

9005 looks ok so far.

Pays to be honest, I guess. As soon as I fessed DEEFFIELD I felt much lighter.

RK, it would seem your knowledge of oxy-welding is the equal of my grasp of musical instructions.

Here be pirates, when Zorro's head is chopped, the sin is redeemed by this...

Erk! Got all the tricky ones except EILAT which I just didn't know. Yet another obscure proper noun my downfall... why couldn't they use ECLAT...sob...

As for PENANCE - nice to see this clued as something other than the standard Z deletion.

Back to 1AC with a humble and contrite heart.

... and only to find another tiny town featuring in today's... but solved. It's fairly straightforward, nothing sang to me.

I'd love to see a small Aussie town appear in these - let's say Yuendumu with 5 unches...

Off for a late lunch, with 9005 in my satchel. And thanks for the subtle warning about a town in waiting. Last time I went for the 100, a few years back, I stumbled on some jerkwater hamlet called DAVENTRY, with only the soft even letters as unches, and wan wordplay.

Prosaic puzzle, with a bona fide stinker at 25ac, as Boniface flagged.

Can't really tell you how it works either, in toto anyway, but I think I have it.

Another shrug-stab is 11ac. This guy should be put to pasture. There, I said it.

With 16D, I get the wordplay (x2) but the def could have been anywhere you could swim to, and the surface read sux. Put that on the Meh list too.

Just entered my last answer - 25AC, of course. I get the wordplay, but haven't heard of the place. There were quite a few clues that didn't impress me for one reason or another - 9AC, 12AC, 13AC and 16DN.

I'm pretty confident with 11AC although I'm not sure what the word 'his' is doing there.

Overall, I found this puzzle irritating. Nothing sang to me either, Bon.

Busy day today, so not yet done. Have an answer for 11ac, with the wordplay working with or without 'his'.

Liked 22ac, though it was pretty easy. Picked 6dn quickly, but spent a while wondering why anyone would go inside with their horse...there's my confessional moment. Got 8dn when I only had one A in the second word to confirm, and was narked to see that didn't help me decide which word went first!

And just twigged to 19ac. I might as well be an arc welder, sometimes! Bon - was your reference to 1ac specific to yesterday's puzzle, or just a version of 'square one'?

Done, despite ignorance of both 24 and 25ac. With the former, I was desperately wanting to lower my resistance a little less, and throw in one of Liz's pooches. With the latter, I insisted on repronouncing row and was busily wondering what element on the periodic table was above/below aluminium. Perhaps a new idea to torture us with on Fridays, DA?

We're all in, so my read on the wordplay is A L(ge) D(the utility player, key, wearing #4 on his back today) E(din)BURGH - no din/row.

Of course, if your uncertainty was in other clues, that prob didn't help.

Oooh...there might be some howls of outrage tomorrow...check solutions carefully, friends - there's a two-answers-both-work clue again.

@Anthony - just a ref to square one.

That would have been a coincidence indeed, in such a small band! But with your name...

Anyway, include me in the outraged.

I was just puzzling over how Beef Wellington could possibly be a common link between yourself and Boniface, Anthony, when I realised you had been referring to 1AC in the previous puzzle.

9005 was all correct for me. Which one are you outraged over?

HOODY/HOOKY from (m)OODY/(k)OOKY. It's a real toss up, to my mind, which is the better fit for the clue.

At least today's is proceeding smoothly. 21ac wasn't tough, but nice to see the wordplay with those elements! 2dn was ridiculous, though - if ever the number of letters gave away the answer, this was it.

Put me out of my misery, Anthony. I'd plumped for HOODY... (Still can't tell you why, precisely.)

Good to hear we have a new setter in the chair today. Mr Tuesday was more beef than Wellington.

Well, Mr Tuesday thought HOODY should be the answer. YMMV.

No HOODYs today. All done. My tardiness with 7dn was almost deserving of 7dn, but got there in the end. 16dn was my last, and a very clever clue IMHO. 17ac seems a bit dodgy as a clue, so I'll have to see if I come up with a better answer.

In fact, I just did. Perhaps another HOODY moment tomorrow, though not so close a choice between answers.

I'm due to wrestle the beast this afternoon, Anthony. Though first I'm off to Nunawading Library to infect 50 people with the cryptic bug, and then it's solving time.

Meantime a solver asked me to parse one of those USA clues from The Nation comp, and I can't account for every fragment. The clue is below, and the answer is Mr 44 - BARACK OBAMA:

44-degree game in which we arrange the Cards against the Crimson Tide, briefly (6,5)

Any Samaritans?

DA, with the help of google I can offer the following:
Barack Obama is the 44th president - Mr 44?

BA - degree
Rack-O - board game involving the sorting of cards
Bama - from ALAbama Crimson Tide - the name of a sports team from Alabama University (briefly).

Sheesh!!

You're a godsend, Pete - gracias.

Rack-O my foot. That was my missing link.

Oops - that was meant to read, Peta. I wasn't trying to finagle your name.

Classy puzzle today, No 9006. Took me a cuppa, and adored 21ac. That's a candidate for COTY.

Thought 27ac managed to offend about two parties, as well as hit the funny bone. Which spells bravo in my lingo.

And you could argue that 14ac has two solutions, though the favoured one is apparent. Well worth the $1.50.

You've got me worried about 14AC now, DA. I hadn't thought of the other option, and now they both seem right to me. It's going to be HOODY vs HOOKY all over again.

This one was a breath of fresh air after yesterday. My favourites were 13DN, 17AC, 27AC and of course, 21AC.

Is this about No.30 for you, DA?

14 and 17ac both capable of multiple answers...the danger of a ? clue with only four letters, methinks. Now that it's been pointed out, 14's even more balanced than 17.

Can't quite see the ambiguity of 17ac, Anthony, though 14ac is a niggle.

As for the tally, RK, 30 sounds about right, though I'm developing a superstition for counting. Instead, I'm throwing the completed grids on a shelf, slowly working up the courage to do the audit. (To paraphrase the footy players, I'm just cracking them one day at a time.)

Hmm, I haven't had the luxury of losing count yet. Hope I haven't jinxed you.

I can't think what else 17AC could be either, and perhaps I don't want to know...

I'd thought of MALE, using the ? to allow a homophone with MAIL. Perhaps that's giving it too much leeway.

I relented and bought today's Oz. Didn't think twice about 14a but am now worried. I'm sure I have the right answer for 25a but don't know why. I can see the books, but I can't reconcile the rest of the answer with the rest of the clue. Hopefully it's an obscure word that means what I think it means. The rest I'm happy with. Liked 10a and 13d.

I'm done. 21A my fave then 27A. Like large containers. NATES is an anatomical term for behind, Peta.

9007 the biggest doddle for ages - I was done before the school run. The only holdup really was wondering whether 15dn might be a previously unknown word ASILLASILL ;-)

11ac my favourite.

Iffy about 7d. I froze on reading 5d but am confident with the answer. Liked 2d 20a 11a.

Agreed. 9007 was a walk in the park.

Adored 2DN and marvel at the brain that comes up with such a clue. Also really enjoyed 5DN. Maybe I just like the musical ones.

Preferred your 15DN, DA. (Sheesh, what a crawler.)

No major snags as I merrily merrily went down today's stream. Thought the recycled notion in 13ac and 27ac more clumsy than clever, and gave a tick to 17ac: unusual word with slick wordplay.

Oh, and if I'm allowed, I'll iterate RK's postscript.

(BTW - if you haven't tangled with Paul 25324, then have fun. A little lewd (13dn and 17dn), and very clever: 12dn.)

Too easy today. A number I filled in on the basis of the givens and checked the clue after for confirmation. Couple of nice ones though, as noted. Potato salad was delectable.

I was left with nothing to work on over lunch, so dug around in the recycling for Monday's SMH. It wasn't too much strain, but here's the fun bit: COATI appeared in exactly the same grid location that it did in Tuesday's Oz. RM would have had a serious advantage in solving that one!

(and to think I thought the HOODY debate was the most interesting thing about that particular grid!)

Re the Paul - yes, I like that kind of clue in 12dn, but my favourite was 8dn.

I think I shall have to become a Paul groupie.

Loved all the ones mentioned already, especially 8DN. You couldn't get away with 13DN in many papers. Gotta love The Guardian. I was also wowed by 9AC and 13AC. The latter was my favourite, partly because of the intricacies involved but mainly for 'setter's comment'.

Join the club. I've loved Paul for years. He can play clean and clever in The Times, and clever/naughty in The G. His puzzles are a constant delight. (His alias in the FT is Mudd, and Punk in The Indy, if you chance upon any.)

I'd recommend diving into his Guardian backlist, as well as hunting down his collection: The Guardian Cryptic Crossword Series - Paul, edited by Hugh Stephenson. Weeks of fun.

9008 completed (after completing today's Canberra Times (Paul and Gemini) and DA's SMH offering - lol at "raised cups".) Haven't come across 15d before but pretty confident.

Thought 28a was nicely constructed & 4d rather clever.

Nothing too tricky today. 28AC was probably my pick.

I thought this one was going to be a pangram, with the Q and the Zs appearing early, but it wasn't to be. I did notice lots of double letters though. I often get the feeling there is far more going on beneath the surface in these puzzles than I realise.

Speaking of pangrams, DA's two puzzles combined today are a pangram. The Quick on its own is a lipogrammatic pangram (a new term I have just discovered) as it is just missing one letter (Q), while the Cryptic is missing Y and Z and I don't know if there's a word for that! This is assuming I have all the correct answers, of course.

Jeez Peta, sounds like your binging, and who can blame you? I know the urge well.

Unlike you and RK, I didn't find this a complete breeze, though I was solving this at a pavement table in a cold wind. The puzzle kept flipping up, and my shirt was never enough for the right Solver's Comfort Level.

Add to that, I had a different 'euphoric experience' in 7dn, which also satisfied the definition.

And is 17dn's coating truly a vessel? That had me thrown as well. While I'm not fully hip to the cryptic dimension of 24dn, which reads like a Quick.

Re incomplete pangrams, RK - it's like being partly pregnant.

17d's vessel is an abbreviation.
I thought 24d was going to be "name" as in a brand is a Name and we have "Name brands". 25a caused me to rethink that and I'm not at all sure of the rationale behind the answer I have (other than it fits)

In 24DN, the last two letters are the name of a company, so I'm assuming the first two have something to do with 'brand' as well.

Yes, 'incomplete pangram' is obviously oxymoronic, but still a tease nonetheless. A bit like trying to fall pregnant, only to have your hopes dashed.

The paper's got nicked today (the whole town's supply!) so I'm late to this one...because I didn't DA7-dn to get it.

Lucky I'd done DA's SMH first, so that I already had 6ac to save me filling 7dn wrong too - thanks for that. (Nice effort today, DA, by no means one of the 9dn variety)

Done. Nothing too hard here, enjoyable for sub-hour solve. Make that 4 in a row.

I dunno - it's taking me a while. Can't get traction in the NW, and frankly, I'm disappointed that neither Beau nor Jeff fits in 12ac...

So close...not knowing 15dn, I had one letter incorrect. Sigh. Should have figured to change it.

DA: 24dn references 'brand' as meaning 'sword'. An archaic meaning, obviously, that's left us with brandish.

Meh Award for 11ac, and a Huh for 2dn. While two giants of poetry (the Pom of the pair among my all-time faves) create a dilemma in 5ac.

Otherwise, tick. (And 30 or so, if I can muster the courage to count.)

I counted: 33 [a third of the way...]

I'm fine with 2 down. 5a is a toss up.

Liked 8d,15a, 23 a&d

Stuck on 19d.

Busy day again...have just finished the bottom half (learning along the way about my namesake's heroism re 20ac), but still a long way to go. Could be 20ac today ;-)

I rather suspect I have a wrong stab in 1ac that's throwing me. Just need to crack one more and it could all tumble...

Failed. Couldn't get 8dn because I had BATTLER for 11ac. Which, to be honest, seems to me to be a more interesting answer than the obvious and correct one that eluded me.

Not sure how I'll go with this one. 20AC could be my undoing.

Favourites were 8DN, 23DN and 27AC. Thought the homophone was dodgy in 1DN.

I think I've chosen the right poet for 5AC. Even if I haven't, it prompted me to take his collection off the shelf and rediscover old favourites, while trying to decipher my high school scribblings.

Congratulations on the 33, DA. It's very impressive. The longest run I've had is 6.

Must have known the phrase, BELL THE CAT, without realising it. Feel lucky not to have lost a life with that one.

First glance at 9010 yielded nothing. That bodes well. 22DN though has prompted me to stop procrastinating and get on with an arrangement I'm supposed to be working on, with a deadline looming. The Times will have to wait.

Can't say BELL THE CAT is a phrase in my weekly vocab, but it's a lovely idea.

For me the crux is the terror of the practical. Just like the Mouse Committee, we all know how to fix a problem, but who has the courage to do it?

Just read Aesop's fable. (More procrastinating.) It seems so fitting for the times we live in, when so many people have armchair solutions to complex problems, safe in the knowledge that they don't have to implement them.

Yes. Somebody should do something about that, I think.

On 9009, I messed up Twelfths as well, falling in the same hole as Anthony with BATTLER which I thought was being used in an adjectival sense. Some might challenge the fairness of LITTER as a hypernym for crisp packets (like me!)

Done today's though. Looks like a solid knowledge of things musical, as well as obscure villages, is required for this setter. Quite enjoyable though, some smart clues eg 1A, 2D, 8D. So hoping 1/1.

I classified that LITTLER clue as meh, since crisp packet seems like, totally arbitrary. Why not a bottle cap or the cellophane off a duty-free cigarette carton?

PS - the new Times post is now up.

Wouldn't surprise me if the crisp packets reference was deliberately put there to trap feeble-minded individuals like me into thinking BATTER was the right solution to that part of the clue.

Ok, Bon, what did you shoehorn in to fit with BATTLER??!

@Anthony - I s#itcanned that grid in disgust, but I think it was something like SWABATTS, hoping it was some London theatre...

Glad to hear that there wasn't any real word found to fit the combo! ;-)