Archive for June 10th, 2007

Guardian 24,093 (Sat 2 Jun)/Araucaria - Mosley harmless

Posted by rightback on 10th June 2007

Solving time: 28 minutes for all but 22ac; one other mistake (9ac).

I still can’t work out 9ac, for which I entered ‘anivorous’, but I should really have got 22ac, even though I didn’t know the place.

Apologies for posting this late.

* = anagram, “X” = sounds like ‘X’.

Across
9	AP (?) + IVOR (= ‘Welshman’) + O + US - Merops is a genus of bee-eaters. The name ‘Ivor’ comes from Old Norse according to Chambers, but seems to be common amongst Welshman, e.g. Ivor Novello. I can’t explain ’son of’. (The full clue is: “Merops is the son of a Welshman with love for America”.)
10	SANTA - refers to 20dn (”CLAUS”) and one of various Santa Barbaras (I don’t know which is most famous).
11	E + P(HES)US - this was a rare Shakespearean reference which I understood, having read A Comedy of Errors (for a Listener once, I think), but the definition is vague. The play is about two sets of twins, both separated at birth, with one of each pair being brought up in Ephesus and the other in Syracuse.
12	ADAM + ANT - not really sure why ‘one giving birth’ is ADAM.
13	OILS[kin]
14	HARD-BITTEN; (BIRTH TEN AD)*
17	SERVANT; VAN in SERT - The Servant was a film directed by Joseph Losey.
13	BACKGAMMON (cryptic definition)
22	ACE + H[eart(s)] - football surface readings are my Achilles heel. This is not the first time that I have kicked myself for failing to get a clue involving the words ‘red card’.
23	TH[e] [f]ATWAS - an old TV programme on the BBC.
24	CLUED UP
26	LOSE + Y - Joseph Losey - see 17ac and 18dn.

Down
1	TAKE + TOT + HE + BOTTLE
2	NICHOLAS; “KNICKERLESS”
3	LOIS; (OILS)*
4	COX’S WAIN - my favourite clue.
5	OSWALD MOSLEY; (S + WALD) in OM, + (LOSEY)* - founder of the British Union of Fascists. Does ‘worthy’ give OM as in ‘Order of Merit’?
6	ESPALIER; E,S (= ‘quarters’) + “PALLIER”
7	INF[ra] + ACT
8	WAITING TO HAPPEN; (WHITE PAINT ON GAP)*
17	SCORCHER; rev. of CROC in SHE, + R
18	ACC(I.D.)ENT - another film directed by Losey, based on a book by Nicholas Mosley.
20	CLAUSE; “CLAWS”
25	URGE (hidden) - Araucaria’s hidden words rarely have a ‘containment’ indicator.

Posted by neildubya on 10th June 2007

This would have been a pretty quick solve were it not for 5D; I also hesitated for a while over 19D as I didn’t fully understand the clue.

Across
1	AB,DUCT - “seaman” is usually going to be AB, “tar” or maybe “rating” (and a few others that I’ve forgotten)
2	W in SOON, (GIN)* - the surface reading (”Fainting quickly seizing wife having gin cocktail“) paints an amusing picture.
12	I’S in (ALERT)* - if I’ve read this one correctly, “high” is the anagrind but I’m not really sure that that works…
13	REP in ROME< - REP for “salesman” is another crossword staple.
14	M in (PETRODOLLARS)* - these people.
21	ARRAN,G(am)E
22	EX,AMPLE
24	L,INE,R - not sure I get this one. “Long” and “river” are fair enough but “narrow mark” seems to be INE. Is this something to do with the “-ine” suffix?
25	(FREUDIANS)* - not really convinced by the surface of this one.

Down
2	DRAM,A
3	U in CASSIS - CASSIS is apparently not just a blackcurrant liqueur.
5	ALTER,(sou)P in WIDGEON - never heard of him I’m afraid, so this was the last one to go in.
7	INTER, I in A LA
8	GENERA(l)
16	HE-MEN in VET
18	(ERODING)* - nice clue. Good surface reading and anagrind.
19	QUARREL - I filled this in without completely understanding the clue. “Find fault with” is straightforward enough but the bit about “one of 007’s allies” was lost on me. I’ve just looked it up though and apparently QUARREL was a character in Dr No.
23	PRIOR(y)