Posted by Colin Blackburn on 15th June 2007
Good fare from Phi with some excellent clues but with a couple of gaps in the word play and one clue not solved until I check in TEA just before submitting this!
| Across |
| 5 |
ALWAYS — W(in) in A+LAYS — “on every occasion” stood out as a definition of ALWAYS here before I even read the clue fully. There are some words that aren’t that easy to define without making it obvious. |
| 11 |
ATLANTIS — ATLA(s) + (ISNT)* — atlas = maps plural. The surface reading augments the definition here very well. |
| 18 |
IN STITCHES — cryptic def. — a good cryptic definition, think operating theatres. |
| 22 |
OMERTA — A TREMO(r) < — omerta is, I believe, the mafia’s code of silence. |
| 23 |
IRANGATE — (REAGAN+IT)* — this is a superb anagram (as good as yesterday’s LIFE ON MARS). Irangate was a weapons scandal during Reagan’s presidency involving Oliver North. |
| 25 |
SENTENCE — double def. — life = prison sentence. |
| 26 |
TANKER — N in TAKER |
|
| Down |
| 1 |
PROZAC — PR+OZ+AC — however, I’m not certain how team fits into the word play. |
| 2 |
SEEMLY — (gir)L in SEE+MY — nice reading providing an augmented definition. |
| 6 |
LA MANCHA — LA+MAN+CH+A — the man from… |
| 7 |
ABU DHABI — A+BUD+HABI(t) — I didn’t see the word play here until I was typing this, then China = mate = bud dawned on me. |
| 13 |
WAGE FREEZE — cryptic def. — I had to look this up in TEA. I had no idea WAGE = screw and was consequently flummoxed. This is, of course, the one big problem with cryptic definitions, just one route to the answer. |
| 16 |
ISLESMAN — S(cottish)M in IS+LEAN — Hebrides (inner and outer) are Scottish islands. |
| 19 |
ONE-TWO — double def. — a boxing move and the opening line from a nursery rhyme, “One, two, buckle my shoe,…” |
| 20 |
DAINTY — I+NT in DAY — DAY=24 hours, and think nursery rhymes again, “…a dainty dish to put before a king.” |
Posted in Independent | 7 Comments »
Posted by smiffy on 15th June 2007
Adamant seems to be a faithful adherent of the FT’s general style and tone, and this was solid enough fare . A couple of answers (2d, 28a) were new (for me at least) variants of familiar words, but neither really cause a major hold-up. My only gripe would be that the two “cryptic surface” clues (12a, 5d) were pretty transparent.
Across
1 RECIP(e) + ROCAL (carol)*
10 P+PEN in ADAGES
12 TEAMWORK - cryptic def. “A job at the Co-op?” is fair enough, but didn’t strike me as particularly misleading, ambiguous, or penny-dropping as a standalone cryptic surface.
17 UP (rev) + LP - Like the true 30-something I am, the word Pulp invariably catapults me back to 1995 for a few seconds. Whither Jarvis Cocker?
19 ISSUE in RED - Children=Issue is one of those oft-recurring indicators that should be more instinctive to me by now!
26 AM in GP - I’m a self-confessed lightweight on Shakespeare & Dickens, so have no idea how I managed to dredge up Mrs Gamp and her eponymous umbrella from the memory banks. Would never have guessed which book she eatured in though (Martin Chuzzlewit, apparently).
28 DERESTRICT - double def. Sounds suspiciously legalese to me, but no great problem once fully-checked by the downs.
Down
2 EBRIAT (a tribe)* + E(nergy) - Had never encountered ebriate without the prefix in- before. Akin to those other rarities, (dis)gruntle and (over)whelm, I suppose.
4 RE + ACT +I’VE - “Part in play” had me temporarily looking for role rather than act.
5 CAPITAL TRANSFER - Again, “Move funds from Mosocw to London, maybe” was something of a cryptic surface giveaway.
6 LAND + AU - A familiar and frequently used construction, but deftly handled.
7 ALW (law)* in STARTS - A nice alternative to that old “Last Straw” anagrammatic chestnut.
16 MIRACLES (reclaims)* - The linkword “what” seems justifiable only from the perspective of the surface reading.
20 END + EMIC (mice w/ last to first) - Clue of the day for me.
Posted in FT | 1 Comment »
Posted by nmsindy on 15th June 2007
This was a real fun puzzle, I thought.
Solving time: 3 hrs 45 mins
The preamble said (with words in capitals the unclued answers that appeared in the grid). 36 (SEXIST) 18 (LANGUAGE) is not tolerated here, so 7 (INAPPROPRIATE) forms of 30 (ADDRESS) are removed from seven answers, and two others are also changed. Corrected misprints in definitions to fourteen answers spell out a non-36(SEXIST) alternative to what could be described as nonsense.
The seven forms of address that were removed, all leaving real words in the grid, were:
ACROSS 9 Si(DEAR)ms DOWN 1 Alistair (DARLING) 3 (DUCKS)hove 8 (CHUCK) wagon 32 p (LUV) ious 37 strum(PET) 41 w (HINNY) ing
The fourteen clues with misprints (with the correct letter shown in capitals) were : ACROSS 13 joHn 21 rOd 24 Worth 42 Sea 44 waY 48 mOral DOWN 12 pUdding 15 Rope 17 Proper 22 alloA 25 poRt 29 posE 35 oNe 39 cuT . This led to the hilarious, laugh-out-loud, had to tell everyone, HOW’S YOUR PARENT. This means (in its original form), among other things, NONSENSE (confirmed in dict)
Finally 27 Across imMANation became imPERSONation and 26 Down unMAN became unPERSON - again all real words, completing a great puzzle.
Posted in Inquisitor | 2 Comments »
Posted by ilancaron on 15th June 2007
Maybe it’s jet-lag but I found it pretty hard to get into this puzzle. I wonder whether the NINA in the first column of unches is intentional or just my feverish jet-lagged brain. The threefold set of clues at 13, 16, 24 is a bit confusing – perhaps due to an online glitch with highlighting or again my jet-slugged brain – but I think I’ve decoded the intent: (POT,ASH,ORE).
That said, once in, I enjoyed solving this Puck puzzle – a setter who we don’t see enough of. The two big down anagrams on the sides were my way in…
Across
| 1 |
ANY PORT IN A STORM – wordplay in the answer: ANY PORT=(pony, tra[p])* where “IN A STORM” is our anagrind. |
| 11 |
INS,PIRE=”inn’s pyre” – minor quibble: are pyres restricted to men? |
| 12 |
INTRO,IT – didn’t know this but discovered via the wordplay that INTROIT is a musical part of the Catholic mass – so I suppose anthem is close enough. Anyone care to illuminate? |
| 13 |
PO,TASH – it’s a chemical “base”. PO’s our Italian river (“banker”) and TASH must be a diminutive of mustache. |
| 14 |
EAGLETS – clever clue: if you remove the T (“tee”) you get EAGLES which are better than “birdies” in golf but are also “birdies” (little birds!) if you don’t. |
| 17 |
OARLESS – (loser as)* — looks like “game” is the anagrind and the loose cryptic definition is “unable to catch a crab” – I suspect there’s something else going on which would make this def tighter. But what? |
| 19 |
[s]HUTTING – what you’d use to build a hut or shed (not Shed our setter). |
| 22 |
CHA,T,EAU – “by teatime” yields CHA,T – and lots of CHATEAUx have vineyards. |
| 25 |
NE(E)D,LED – ref. NED Kelly. |
| 26 |
NIRVANA – nice double definition: made more poignant since NIRVANA’s leader (Kurt Cobain) has opted for his final release already. |
| 28 |
ENIAC – rev(Caine). I wonder how many non-computer professionals are familiar with the ENIAC which was one of the first electronic digital computers (vintage WWII). |
| 29 |
TH(RE=rev(ER))E,FOLD – def is “triple” and our “crown wearer” is ER who’s inside of “the”. Slick wordplay. |
| 30 |
RIGHTHANDEDNESS – Cryptic definition: ref. dexterity being the quality of using your right hand effectively. This would be an &lit I suppose if there were a famous right-handed cricketer named Dexter (perhaps Colin Dexter qualifies…). |
Down
| 1 |
AFFAIRE D’HONNEUR – (afraid of nun, here)* |
| 2 |
YA(N)KS – nice clue since YANKS also happen to be North Americans. |
| 3 |
ONE-TIME – I think this is a sort of double/cryptic def – where “past” is one definition and “it” can stand for ONE-TIME. |
| 4 |
T,RICE,P[ull]S – slick wordplay, slightly weak surface – Tim Rice is Andrew Lloyd Webber’s partner in musical crime. |
| 6 |
SWEATER – hidden in “extremiS WE ATE Required”. I assume you need to take a sudorific if you sweat too much. But I’m not a doctor. |
| 8 |
MUTATIS MUTANDIS – (at summit, a nudist)* — “disturbed” is the anagrind since “changed as required” is the definition. |
| 16 |
TIN |
| 18 |
ASH=has*,ORE – ref. 16 (TIN) which is contained in ORE – and ASHORE is where you can be “stranded”. |
| 20 |
ILL,ICI,T – in Brit puzzles ICI is the most popular “company”. I suppose if something (e.g. stolen) is “hot” it’s ILLICIT. |
| 21 |
GODETIA – (goat die)* — another esoteric plant. |
| 22 |
CENTRED – hidden in “magnifiCENT REDwood” (perhaps godetia grows there…) |
| 23 |
[f]AIRHEAD |
| 27 |
A,T ONE – A “major second” is a chord thus a produces A TONE. |
Posted in Guardian | 9 Comments »