Posted by linxit on 9th May 2007
Solving time: approx. 20 mins
Paul’s normally pretty tricky, but this one was quite easy and I should have finished much faster. A good percentage of the acrosses went in straight away, as did the two multi-word answers after a little thought. I got stuck on a few at the end though and was kicking myself when I worked them out.
Across
1 NUMB,AT - not the most well-known of Australian marsupials, but I had heard of it.
4 WAR,SAW (”was raw” rev) - I spent far too long thinking of words beginning with H (”Hitler’s first…”)
9,25 S(TOW,A)WAY
11 RU(GRA(n))T - remembered this from the cartoon series.
12 KEE(n),LOVER
17 BOX CLEVER - cryptic definition. This was one of those that caused me trouble, although I did know the phrase.
21 F(E)ATHERS - last one I got. I don’t see how “needed with” can indicate insertion, but my real problem was in working out that the definition was just “down”, not “worn down”. [But see comment from Xtian for a more convincing explanation.]
24 MINI,STRA(N)T (N = unspecified number, inside “tarts” rev.)
26 GAS,PER - this came straight away…
27 FA(GEN)D - …whereas this was the second last one I put in. Duh!
Down
1,3,16ac NOT JUST/A PRETTY/FACE - I got this thinking it was a pretty lame cryptic definition, but then realised it’s just a standard definition + wordplay clue, and a pretty clever one at that.
2 MOWER (”moa”) - one of those dodgy homophones, but I’m sure we’re all used to them by now…
6 SUFFOCATE (”Suffolk eight”) - much better homophone, even if the stress is on the wrong syllable. For non-Brits, Ipswich Town are a football team from Suffolk.
7 WITHERS - nice double definition
8 PARKI(N)SON’S LAW - (pla)N inside (”As work plan is”)* - Nicely phrased &lit. I didn’t see how the last letter of plan was added to the anagram fodder at first, but then realised that it’s “maintained”, i.e. put inside the anagram. The Law states that the amount of work expands to fill the time allocated to it, something like that…
18,13 COME TO A/STICKY END - nice cryptic def. but an instant solution for me.
19 (w)E(MER)ALD - Any clue with “Nice” in it makes me start looking for French words, in this case MER = sea. Others to look out for are “Nice boy” = (usually) RENE, “Nice one” = UN or UNE etc.
Posted in Guardian | 7 Comments »
Posted by Colin Blackburn on 9th May 2007
A puzzle of two halves for me today. About half of it went in very quickly indeed, then I stalled. Returning through the day whenever I had a few minutes I picked off one or two clues. Then I was left with the bottom right corner which with hindsight was easier than most of the rest of the puzzle. Usually I quality stuff from Dac and I haven’t looked for a theme.
| Across |
| 1 |
RACE — R+ACE — &lit |
| 3 |
EPISCOPATE — (TAPE COPIES)* — a group of bishops, ie a see group. Very nice definition playing to the surface well. |
| 9 |
LEANDER — A in LENDER |
| 11 |
CUTTING — double def. |
| 12 |
PUMPS — M in PUPS — the boxers here are dogs. |
| 13 |
BRIDEWELL — BRIDE+WELL — stir = prison |
| 14 |
LANCE SERGEANT — SERGE+AN in LANCET — The Lancet is the journal of the British Medical Association. |
| 17 |
RAPPROCHEMENT — RAP+PRO+C(HE-MEN)T — I was stuck here for a while when I convinced myself “macho types” formed part of an anagram rather than defining he-men. |
| 21 |
ARTICULAR — pARTICULARly — fantastic hidden clue, you just don’t think to look for such a long word in a word only three letters longer. “like a joint” is a great definition leading to a very good surface. I didn’t know the word but it is reasonably obvious once discovered. |
| 23 |
FOSSE — double def. — I’d not heard of Bob Fosse but then I’m not a fan of musical theatre. I do mean that, I’m not trying to affirm my sexuality! |
| 24 |
SKIFFLE — FF in LIKES* — Punk in its adjectival sense meaning rotten is being used here to form the anagram. |
| 25 |
INTERNS — “in turns” |
| 26 |
TYROLIENNE — LIEN in TYRONE — I’m not a dancer either but I assume this is a lively dance. The word play fits. |
| 27 |
CRUD — CRUD(e) |
|
| Down |
| 1 |
ROLY-POLY — double def. — I almost wrote in PLUM DUFF when I picked up the paper, luckily I thought again. |
| 2 |
COAL MINER — “Cole minor” |
| 4 |
PARABLE — PA+RAB(b)LE |
| 5 |
SACKING — S(t)ACKING |
| 6 |
ON THE FACE OF IT — (OFFICE THO’ NEAT)* |
| 7 |
ANISE — womANISEr — another nice hidden clue but not as good as the other one. |
| 8 |
ENGELS — N in (h)EGEL+S — This is a very nice &lit. Engels was a philosopher (at a stretch) who worked with and supported Marx, a socialist leader. Marx and Engels were at one time Young Hegelians, their first book being a critique of the movement. |
| 10 |
DISRESPECTFUL — (FIRST CLUE SP(e)ED)* — nice metaphysical surface. |
| 15 |
TREASURER — TREA(d)+SURER |
| 16 |
STRESSED — S+DESSERT< — trifle = dessert |
| 18 |
RELIEVE — “re leave” |
| 19 |
CARRION — CARRI(ed) ON — another excellent clue with very good word play and surface. |
| 20 |
BASSET — B+AS+SET — I saw a Basset hound yesterday. It was halfway through a dense hedge watching the traffic go by. I wish I’d had my camera on me. |
| 22 |
TRIER — double def. |
Posted in Independent | 3 Comments »