Posted by bensand on 20th June 2007
A fair and satisfying crossword but I’m still missing an explanation (25) which always niggles! No theme as far as I can see.
| Across |
| 1 |
RANSOM - RANSOM(E) refers to Arthur Ransome, famous for writing Swallows and Amazons and marrying Trotsky’s secretary |
| 5 |
SLOGGING - with letters 3, 5 and 7 in I briefly considered BLOGGING but it doesn’t really count as working hard let alone striking! |
| 9 |
PATERFAMILIAS - (TAPE + FILM ARIAS)* |
| 12 |
VLAD - V + L AD. Probably referring to Vlad the Impaler (Dracula), prince of Wallachia but possibly a matey abbreviation for Putin? |
| 14 |
APPARENTLY - A + P(PARENT)LY |
| 16 |
PROMOTIONS - MOTION in PROS(E) |
|
| 20 |
COMANCHE - CO + MAN + C(AMPAIGN) + HE |
| 24 |
DETERMINATION - DETER NATION around M1 |
| 25 |
FRANKLIN - My last answer. Actually I didn’t even get it, my ever-loving better half looked over my shoulder and nicked the last one. Bah! Anyway, neither of us can explain the second half, any offers? |
| 26 |
EXTENT - EX-TENT, wasn’t 100% convinced about extent as area at first so I didn’t put it in until I had all the letters |
| |
| Down |
| 2 |
APPAREL - (APPEAR)* + L. Not the most satisfying anagram with the first three letters the same |
| 4 |
MARCH PAST - Good thing the crossword appeared in June but perhaps the editor would just have changed the number to suit if it was in in July? |
| 5 |
STAND-UP COMEDIAN - (PUNS DOMINATE DAC)* |
| 6 |
ORIEL - hidden word reversed in simp(LE IRO)n |
| 8 |
NOSTRIL - SON <= + TRI(A)L |
| 13 |
DUMBARTON - DUMB (P)ARTON |
| 15 |
RESURFACE - double definition |
| 17 |
REORDER - tricky wordplay. Recorder (court official) with c for about taken out |
| 19 |
CHIGNON - Pleasing definition, I hope no-one more knowledgeable than I am about hairstyles (not difficult) objects to bun = chignon. G(ATEAU) in CHINON |
| 21 |
CAROL - CAR(O)L. A carl being something like a peasant, no offence to Jung and other Carls |
Posted in Independent | 2 Comments »
Posted by neildubya on 20th June 2007
Good fun, and reasonably easy although 15A and 4D held me up a bit for reasons explained below. I didn’t realise the FT had so many setters on their team; as well as those mentioned here (under their Guardian or Indie pseudonyms) we’ve also had Jason, Adamant, Highlander, Falcon and Gozo. I wonder how many more there are?
| Across |
| 1 |
R.EMI in PERES |
| 6 |
S,PROG - SPROG is British slang but probably well-known enough for overseas solvers. |
| 9 |
(ARTICLE)* - took me far too long that this was a simple anagram clue. |
| 15 |
A TURN in SALIAN - the last one to go in and something of a guess as I did not know that SALIAN meant “relating to a tribe of Franks, the Salii”. |
| 20 |
(GROMIT THE)* - Wallace and Gromit must be really famous if they’re appearing in crosswords. This is what a TIGER MOTH looks like, in case you were wondering. |
| 22 |
NO,TES - Nice clue. “Teachers’ weekly” is a reference to the Times Educational Supplement. |
| 26 |
ATISHOO - “a tissue”. |
| 28 |
HEARS in REAL |
| |
| Down |
| 1 |
hidden in “proPER ILlumination” |
| 2 |
EX,CLAIM - I filled this in without really understanding the bit about “miner’s right”; turns out that CLAIM can mean “a piece of land allotted to or taken by someone in order to be mined” (according to the COED) |
| 3 |
IN TRANSIT - a nod to the contemporary British phrase “white van man” (meaning a particular type of person driving a certain vehicle in an “assertive” way). Probably ok for overseas solvers as “en route” and the enumeration (2,7) make the clue fairly easy. |
| 4 |
RALLENTANDO - I wonder if there is a word missing from this clue? It reads “Slowing down has torn about everything, comes to nothing” which accounts for everything except AND (ALL in RENT,O). Maybe it should read “Slowing down has torn about everything and comes to nothing”, unless I’m not seeing something subtle going on? |
| 7 |
hidden reversed in “spaIN IS SORry” |
| 8 |
GINGER NUT - a personal favourite of mine (biscuit that is, although the clue is not bad). |
| 16 |
(ANGER)*,TINA |
| 18 |
(GET A MAT)* |
| 22 |
LOOPS (going up) |
Posted in FT | 7 Comments »