Posted by neildubya on 4th December 2006
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a compiler appear so soon after their previous appearance (we saw Phi just last Friday). Not that I’m complaining. I’ll add my name to list of Phi’s admirers and point out that a crossword at the easier end of the scale can still be fresh and interesting and does not have to rely on worn-out wordplay and definitions. What I really liked about this (and every Phi puzzle in fact) is that everywhere the balance is just right: not too hard but by no means a pushover, a good spread of clue types and a nice mix of familiar and contemporary language and references.
| Across |
| 1 |
APT,IS in BM |
| 5 |
AIRS,HOT - not a phrase I can recall hearing in sports commentary but it’s in the Concise Oxford and the wordplay is straightforward enough. “Hot” for “very skilled” has a nice contemporary feel to it. |
| 9 |
SPIRAL STAIRCASE - I “over thought” this one, assuming it was something to do with mountaineering or some other high activity. Should have thought more about “wind” I suppose. |
| 12 |
FEAT in DEIST - I though “believer in God” was going to be “theist”. Deceptive wordplay too as it can be interpreted in two ways. |
| 15 |
BLO(c)K,E |
| 16 |
(scar is)* in SUN< - great choice of words. |
| 18 |
PEAR in SHE, AD |
| 21 |
ERROR - liked RRR for “educational basics”. |
| 22 |
OU in (lemonade in pub)* [Edit: Thanks to nmsindy for pointing out that the university is "OU"] |
| |
| Down |
| 4 |
MUS(t)IC(e) - nice form of words to indicate two subtractions in two different ways. |
| 7 |
(H,ANNALS THE CURE I)* - a touch of indirectness here with H(ospital) but it’s such a widely accepted abbreviation it must surely be considered fair. |
| 8 |
THE,RE,BY - “for this reason” led me up the wrong garden path, thinking that the answer would be a word explaining why soldiers were at the limits of bravery. |
| 14 |
DERMA in SPIN - a rush of blood to the head led to me to put in EPIDERMIS once I saw “skin layer”. Obviously wrong, once you read the clue, as this is a well-constructed &lit.”Derma” is another word for dermis. |
| 15 |
E in BSIDES - this is your cue to point out records with b-sides that have proved more or equally popular than their A’s. A personal favourite is Oasis’ “Acquiesce”, which was the b-side to “Some Might Say”. |
| 17 |
A,RC in (MASS)* |
| 18 |
D(u)RESS |
|
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Posted in Independent | 5 Comments »
Posted by ilancaron on 4th December 2006
Solving time: 20’
I stared at this puzzle for a few minutes, scanning clues, until one of the long ones clicked: ALL OVER THE PLACE. From that point on things went rather more quickly. Like last week’s intersecting uses of DOWN in different phrases, Rufus has done it again with intersecting phrasal uses of ALL (5D, 9A). Who knows? Maybe there’s a theme here somewhere that I’m blind to.
One of the things I’ve noticed about Rufus is that he really really likes cryptic definitions – typically based on apparently contrasting meanings. Quite a few here as well.
Across
| 1 |
CLICHÉ – cryptic definition: cliché as saw. |
| 9 |
AFTER ALL – my first ALL |
| 10 |
RAMROD – another cryptic definition: charge here is the kind in a rifle not the kind in court. |
| 11 |
POLE-VAULTING – And another cryptic definition: surface misleads in direction of hiring plans for the upcoming season.. |
| 16 |
BACKLASH – double meaning &lit: the question mark indicating that there’s a little jokey thing going on since the whole clue can be read as what galley slaves fear more than not getting their next ration of Gatorade: namely the whip across the back to pick up the pace. |
| 18 |
A+LBS – This time a pound is the weight abbreviated LB. And ALBS are what priests might wear. |
| 20 |
MAIDEN SPEECH – (chap seemed in)*: one of the relatively few anagrams in this puzzle. |
| 24 |
ADVANCES – and another contrast-based cryptic definition |
| 25 |
UN+SETTLE – Not a bad clue actually: UN is our canonic international org and that’s what they’re there for: resolving troubles. |
| 26 |
LAY OFF – double meaning: 2nd to last clue for me to fill in. I was happy with the first meaning (temp firing) but I couldn’t convince myself of a way for LAY OFF and hedge to mean the same thing. I think the idea is that “to hedge” against a contingency is like putting something to one side, as in laying off (I’m more familiar with lay-by in that sense). |
Down
| 2 |
LEFT – cryptic definition for the opposite of starboard at sea. Misleading since there are many ports that are naval. |
| 3 |
CHEAP-JACK – double meaning &lit: the question mark indicating the jokiness since a CHEAP-JACK is a kind of disreputable salesman and what you’d expect him to sell are in fact cheap jacks. |
| 4 |
ENABLE – slightly misleading cryptic definition |
| 5 |
ALL OVER THE PLACE – double meaning: first clue I solved and our second ALL. Long answers are great since they jumpstart the whole process. Knowing letter count helps a lot in the long phrases since the list of common 2-letter and 3-letter words is pretty short – and in this case “everywhere’ pointed pretty quickly at ALL (as “everything” does often). |
| 8 |
CROWN DERBY – charade: I worked out each part separately and then discovered that CROWN DERBY indeed is a type of porcelain. |
| 15 |
SEA SHANTY – charade: a SHANTY is a kind of hut or shed as well as a song. |
| 16 |
GAUNTLET – double meaning. Not a bad clue: you “run the GAUNTLET” if you dare or you can pick it up to take on a fight. “Thing” refers to the answer. |
| 19 |
WEEVIL – cryptic definition: an insect that likes to eat your grain before you get a chance to harvest it. |
| 21 |
DUN(C)E – I guess men are the stupid gender (I have references if you care – from people who know me well!) |
| 22 |
BEEF – Last clue for me. As in joint of BEEF. The other common edible cryptic complaints are grouse and carp. |
Posted in Guardian | 3 Comments »