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Archive for May 29th, 2007

Independent 6432/Virgilius

Posted by Colin Blackburn on 29th May 2007

Colin Blackburn.

A very quick puzzle, for me, helped by the letter patterns of the long across answers and some obvious anagrams. Some very good cluing, as usual, but no noticeable theme.

cd = cryptic def.
dd = double def.

Across
6 BURN YOUR BRIDGES — cd — good cryptic def.
9 POINT OF NO RETURN — cd — ref. tennis point. This is one of those cryptic defs that might really be a double def depending on how loose a definition one expects for one part.
10 STAY THE COURSE — (SE ROUTES + YACHT)* —
15 AITCH — nowHere = aitch — a simple clue but very effective as I pencilled in HERET on my first pass assuming an unknown Hebrew character.
16 ICE — C in IE — namely = i.e.
17 PRESS — dd
19/25 KEEP RIGHT ON TO THE END OF THE ROAD — cd — air here refers to the song.
22 CROSS THE RUBICON — THE RUB in CROSS+ICON — ref 6 ac.
Down
1 TRAIN SET — TRAIN+SET
2 CYST — iCY STream
3 OUTFITTING — FIT+T in OUTING
4 EBRO — thE BROads — one of those classic crossword rivers but nicely hidden in a good surface.
5 PIPES OF PAN — (EP POP FAN IS)* — I thought they were the PAN PIPES but I guess both forms makes sense.
6 BOPS — dd
7 GLUER — G+(RULE)*
8 SIN — I in S+N — South and North make a bridge partnership.
11 APHORISING — A+P+HO+RISING — very good word play.
12 ELECTORATE — cd — excellent play on seats and standing.
13 EASY — E+(SAY)*
14 RACK — dd
18 ETON CROP — ETON+CROP — a short haircut
20 ELOPE — cd
21 ENID — I in END
22 CAT — dd — queen = cat. I don’t recall where the other half of the clue comes from, possibly a nursery rhyme or proverb.
23 HOOD — dd
24 BREW — BR+E+W — BR = British Railways.

Posted in Independent | 2 Comments »

Guardian 24,089, Araucaria: Hoary Potter

Posted by michod on 29th May 2007

michod.

As we approach the long-awaited publication of the latest instalment of the boy wizard’s adventures, it may be time for a moratorium on Potter-themed crosswords. I’d done quite a few clues before I turned to 5,25, but the minute I saw the number of letters and the word ‘boy’ in the clue, the theme leapt out. Not one of Araucaria’s best, lacking a bit of the the usual spark. Explanations welcomed for 3 and 7 down.

ACROSS:

 8. WEASLEY. Ref Ron, Harry’s friend, hom. ‘weasily’ - which I initially had as the answer, since the homonym could arguably go either way.

11. AUTHOR I(TY)FIGURE. Ref Ty(rone) Power.

12. A XI S. XI = side, as in cricket or football eleven.

13. RIB<MING HAM.

18. A GRA(in).

20. MA(R)XI(S)M NINE L< IS M. A pretty convoluted surface. 950 needs to be  as NINE L, rather than all in Roman numerals (LM?)

23. TO TALLY. Confused? This one refers to the old (and rather weak)  joke: “How do you tell a weasel from a stoat? One is weasily identifiable, the other is stoatally different”.

26. ERR AND. Nice, simple clue.

DOWN:

2. HE ALT(HI)ER.

3. TALLOW? But I can’t see why.

4. PHYSICIAN. ANY CHIPS I*. No anagram indicator, and I is needed for the anagram fodder and definition.

5. HARRY. Cross-country runners are often called harriers, think the question mark’s because it’s not normally used as a verb.

7. HAIKU. Another one I can’t explain. Q (elevated) R read aloud, with an I thrown in for good measure??

14. MUST E LINE.

15. HAGRID DEN.

19. SILVER. Ref 18 ac. Not RA, but AG.

Posted in Guardian | 3 Comments »