Guardian 23981/Gordius
Posted by Colin Blackburn on 23rd January 2007
After two weeks away from the UK with no daily crosswords I found this one a real struggle after the halfway mark. A few obscure words and some weak devices left me having to check dictionaries to confirm answers and follow the word play. I usually only comment on around half the clues in a puzzle but in this case I’ve commented on all but a handful of straightforward clues.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | SAMUEL PLIMSOLL — cryptic def — Plimsoll devised the load lines drawn on the side of ships. |
| 10 | DAYTIME — (TIDE MAY)* — “When” seems to be the definition. |
| 11 | OBIIT — OBI+IT — Obi is a form or witchcraft, it also refers to a charm or amulet, I’m not sure it is a spell. |
| 12 | BRASENOSE — BRA+SEN(O)SE — Brasenose is an Oxford college. A supporter is a bra, a bit of a cliche. Faculty is SENSE and from that I guess a vacant faculty is a faculty with nothing in it. Unless I’m reading the clue wrong I don’t like this device at all. Incidentally, the best clue ever using BRA in the wordplay is, “Bust down reason? (9)” |
| 13 | LYME REGIS — (MERYL EG IS)* — “Here” is a weak definition unless Meryl is something that was once produced in Lyme Regis. |
| 14 | GUTTA — “GUTTER” — gutta is a medical term for a drop. |
| 15 | ARRAS — A+RR+AS — This clue has two definitions, “Hanging” and “in France”, where the tapestry hangings originated. |
| 17 | PUBLICANS — cryptic def — pins are barrels and so before time is called a publican might produce pints from pins, and pints = pin(t)s. |
| 20 | NEVER FEAR — (RAVEN FREE)* |
| 22 | SUPER — SUP(p)ER — Just realised that this is supper with “pea” taken out. |
| 23 | NAVY CUT — double def — ditching Trident might be a Navy cut, navy cut is a type of tobacco. |
| 25 | DROP IN THE OCEAN — double def, one cryptic. |
| Down | |
| 1 | SEAT OF LEARNING — cryptic def |
| 2 | MARXISM — MAR(XI)S+M — I’m not convinced that “which is to the left” is a good definition. |
| 3 | EASY TERMS — defined by “never never” (see 20 ac), the only cryptic element is hiding 20 as twenty. |
| 4 | POSTBAG — POST+BA+G |
| 5 | INDIANS — IN(AID(rev)NS — ref to publicans working in inns. |
| 6 | STYLE — double def — A style is something that (en)graves. |
| 7 | LAID OUT — “LAY DOUBT” |
| 8 | GENERAL SURGEON — GENERALS+URGE ON — being is a noun in the cryptic reading of the clue. |
| 16 | REVIVER — palindrome — brandy is a reviving drink supposedly carried by St Bernard dogs. I met a St Bernard last week in the Dolomites, he didn’t have a drop on him! |
| 17 | PRESTON — PREST+ON — prest is an obsolete word meaning advance (a loan to) or an advance. |
| 18 | BARDASH — BARD+ASH — bardash is an obsolete term for a gay man. |
| 19 | ASPERSE — AS+PER SE |
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