Independent 6301/Dac
Posted by Colin Blackburn on 27th December 2006
Solving time : A little over 10 minutes
A typical Dac puzzle and a delightful rest from the Listener-type puzzles I have been looking at over the Christmas holiday. The clues are precise and there are some nice touches and good surface readings. Most of the double definitions benefit from one of the definitions being cryptic.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | TAPAS — initial letters — a nice easy &lit to kick off the puzzle. |
| 4 | DECLINING — double definition — anyone who has studied Latin will have undertaken plenty of declining; I lasted a year before declining further declining. |
| 11 | RAISIN — RA(IS)IN — to get caught in rain could be ‘to be soaked’. |
| 18 | TYPO — hidden — a simple clue with an excellent surrounding phrase creating a nice surface. |
| 19 | CHECKED OUT — (czech tout)* — a lovely homophone. |
| 23 | GODWIT — DOG(rev)+WIT(h) |
| 27 | PHOENIX — double definition — the final checking X resolves any doubts about the bird but not everyone may have heard of the, now deceased, actor River Phoenix. He led a brilliant but brief life with a clean-cut image belied by the manner of his passing. |
| 28 | PATTERSON — PATTERS+ON — Floyd Patterson died in May this year. For some reason I was convinced he was “Pretty Boy Floyd” but that one turns out to have been a gangster. |
| Down | |
| 3 | SERVICES — double definition |
| 8 | GOES TO POT — double definition |
| 13 | ARCHIMEDES— ARCH+(I)+MEDES — the Medes established an empire centred on modern-day Iran. |
| 14 | BOTTOMS UP — double definition — buttered toast is said to always land butter side down when dropped; its bottom side up. More than one comedian has mused on what happens if you tie a slice of buttered toast, butter side up, onto the back of a cat and drop them. |
| 17 | JEROBOAM — JERO(BOA)M(e) — a bottle of champagne larger than a “bottle”. |
| 20 | AT-HOME — double definition — A gathering might be said to be at-home on the invitation. |
Posted in Independent | 1 Comment »
