Alan Connor finds whimsical poetry, harrowing cinema and the Brobdingnagian vocabulary of Robert Jay QC in his pick of the week's best - and most adventitious - cryptic clues
The news in clues
Since advent has started, this blog will now allow itself to wear a few baubles, perhaps even a sprig of holly or two. The Xmas x-wording began with Quixote (known locally as Pasquale) in Monday's Independent, hanging up...
8d Like some decorationsput on salewithsmalledging around (8)
...a clue for TINSELLY that is anything but.
Thursday's Times added to the ornamentation...
21ac Flimsy decorationdraped roundapoleissmart (5,5)
...with a dainty PAPER CHAIN.
And Friday's Telegraph was alluding not to traditional festive blocked drains...
20ac Diversion that could put the sewer temporarily out of action (4,3,7)
...but to a traditional game in a cryptic definition of HUNT THE THIMBLE.
Culture clue
Given his penchant for mangling words, the poet Ogden Nash is a perfect fit with cryptic crosswords. Paul tackled him full-on in a Guardian prize puzzle, with NASH clued via the architect namesake at six down and some non-standard spellings in entries, such as ADAM HAD 'EM at fifteen down (the entirety of the poem Fleas, attributed to Nash) and this startling clue at one across:
1ac/11ac Talkin whichgirlsayssherambles, as 6 complains about cooking ingredient (7,2,8)
It took me some time to dredge PARSLEYISGHARSLEY from memories of childhood reading, especially since I reject the charge: parsley should, in fact, never be used sparsely. The annotated solution to the Nash puzzle is now available.
Qaos took part in last week's Meet The Setter, and his sixth Guardian cryptic appeared on Tuesday. This pair of initially unrelated clues...
12ac ConservativebackingEuropeanUnion? Liberalbias, for starters (4)
19d 5+2/3 of 12: maths' corematerial (6)
...give a fine example of his style as well as proving an element of the unstated theme, BLUEVELVET being one of the David Lynch films hidden in the finished grid.
I won't offer any spoilers on Wednesday's FT by Gozo since it's worth approaching blind and its preamble...
All the Across and two Down solutions lack a thematic definition
...does not disappoint.
Latter patter
Friday's FT from Bradman (Pasquale again) asked for...
6d Jurisdiction bringing security to oneHighland town (9)
...BAILIWICK, a 15th-century word which now means "field of authority" and is enjoying a revival thanks to the efforts of the Leveson inquiry's Robert Jay QC.
Jay - whose grilling of Tony Blair was summarised by Pointless's Richard Osman as QCJVXPM - is almost willselfian in his love of language, while never resorting to making words up.
On Thursday, the Guardian even provided a video guide, Learn to Speak like Robert Jay QC, with clips and definitions of words including PROPINQUITY, PELLUCIDLY, ADVENTITIOUS and ADUMBRATE. To my sad knowledge, no setter has yet themed a puzzle around Jay's commodious vocabulary - although the Standard did try out Fifty Shades of Jay as an inevitable headline - and so our challenge this week is another jayism. Reader, how would you clue CONDIGN?
Cluing competition
Thanks for your clues for MEA CULPA. Two pleasingly topical entries were JollySwagman's "Guardianista: McAlpine not radiating sin - it was a mistake" and harlobarlo's "Head of moneyed elite appoints Canadian upstart, leaving pundit asking, 'Was I to blame?'" - but why not "Heads", Harlo?
Another fine acrostic was HipsterPriest's "My confession at the start of mass ensures all cardinals use Latin phrase accurately?" and two anagrams I especially enjoyed were Insidian's "Cross-examines a plea-cum-confession?" and SwamiPete's retro-geek "Paul Mace's new product is 'My Fault'".
The runner-up is the lovely surface of RolandDenison's "Guilt assumed on felling a fruit tree bearing peach kernel" and the winner is andyknott's terse, natural "The converted Paul came to admit his sin". Kudos to Andy - please leave this week's entries and your pick of the broadsheet cryptics below.
Clue of the week
A charmingly misleading clue in Tuesday's Times...
15ac Recklessteenrodeinfast, getting projected through lights (14)
...for a word that has not yet to my knowledge been used by Robert Jay, but we can only hope for some DEFENESTRATION.