Fifteensquared

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Archive for July, 2007

Independent 6486 by Virgilius - how does he do it?

Posted by nmsindy on 31st July 2007

nmsindy.

Another wonderful thematic puzzle from Virgilius.    All the across entries are synonyms, as explained in the last down clue (26 down).

Solving time: 24 mins

* = anagram

ACROSS

7 GAMMON   Double definition, with an excellent surface.

9 E YEW ASH

22 FLAPDOODLE   (paddle fool)*

25NO N(o)SE (twice = repeatedly)

28 BUNK UM

DOWN

1 EAGLE OWL

3 KEEP   Double definition with excellent surface.

5 PARIETAL   (a pirate)* l    “Like” telling us it’s an adjective.

6 CHEERS  Double definition.

8 M(OP)ES(s)

13 (I)ago    From Shakespeare’s play, Othello, the Moor   (”on stage”)

14 L U CIA   I liked “people of intelligence” for CIA.

17 APPEALED    Double definition.

18 BID    “One diamond, say” is an example of a bid from bridge, I think.   I’ve never played it.

21 RHOMBI   (Rob him)*   Diamond shapes.

22 FIR(THe)S

25 N ER O   Because of the context, here, I think we’re getting King Edward VII (d.1910) as ER  rather than the Queen.

26 NO BS (bullshit)

Posted in Independent | 4 Comments »

FT 12,525/Highlander

Posted by smiffy on 31st July 2007

smiffy.

An extremely accessible today, to the extent that it could well be the fastest I’ve ever solved a broadsheet puzzle in my life. Anagram fiends should be pleased, as the letter-scrambling comes thick and fast throughout, especially the latter down clues.

Across
1 OTHERWISE (”Where to?” is)*
9 CO,M,IC - M, as an abbreviation for “Man”.  Question for lexicographers: Does a three letter word really need an abbreviation?
10 PASTOR,ALE - I’m not a big fan of the mathematical format here, which smacks a little of laziness.  Aren’t the symbols +,=,etc the shorthand province of us bloggers, rather than setters?
12 F(EA)T - “everyone”=EAch in “your paper”=FT
14 CR(E)ATES
22 SUS(TEN)AN,CE
25 RUM,RUNNER - Didn’t get the surface reading.
28 DEMITASSE (missed tea)* - best clue of the day.

Down
2 HOME,STEAD (dates)*
4 IMPETUS (up - it’s me)* - I think the anagrind here should really be adjectival (i.e. “doctored“) to be grammatically correct.  Alternatively, could an exclamation mark have been used to indicate an imperative instruction as a verb?
7 LE,(h)AVE
13 MISS,IN,GOUT
19 INTERIM (merit in)*
23 EN,SUE - Back by popular demand, “Susan” makes her second appearance in today’s clues.
24 RUB,Y
 

Posted in FT | No Comments »

Guardian 24143: Paul — multiformity

Posted by jetdoc on 31st July 2007

jetdoc.

Some very characteristic Paulian clues today — 26ac, 8d and (especially) 23d are the sort we have learnt to expect from him and no-one else!

Across
   
1 LAID BACK — ‘Dial’ (face) is ‘laid’ backwards.
5 SHADOW — As in parliamentary opposition. HAD in SOW
9 See 7d
10 ZIDANE — ZI (centre of ‘oozing’) followed by DANE (a European). I guessed this from the wordplay, and Wikipedia confirmed that ‘Zidane’s career ended in controversy as he was dismissed in extra-time of the 2006 Final for headbutting Italian defender Marco Materazzi’. But I’m sure you all knew that already.
12,13 SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION — I got this first from checking letters, then worked backwards. For some reason, the puzzle as printed from the website featured a row of four empty squares (as shown when a character is missing from a font) followed by a hyphen in front of ‘amount’, and I thought maybe this was one of those mystery clues (like the phenomenon itself, perhaps). However, I checked on-screen, and they weren’t there (though, Guardian compositors please note, the hyphen should be an em dash!). Anyway, the wordplay is *(is on cost’s up amount no be).
15 ABASH
17 MULTIFORM — O = old, RM = Royal Marines, following *(mufti). And ‘mufti’ means ‘non-uniform’ (sort of).
18 OIL TANKER — LTA = Lawn Tennis Association, in OINKER.
19 TIBIA — ‘I bit’ reversed, followed by A.
20 BANGLADESHI — *(Had Belgians) or *(Had Bengalis).
24 CRAVAT — *(car), VAT. And cravats tend to look ludicrous.
25 INACTION — ‘Action’ = ‘deed’.
26 MALADY — ‘Ma’ and ‘lady’, two females, next to each other.
27 ESTRANGE — *(set), RANGE = one meaning of compass. ‘Distance’ is used as a verb here.
Down
1 LEGISLATOR — LEG = stage, IS L[eft] A TO R[ussian].
2 INVIOLABLE — VIOLA in *(bin), LE (the even-numbered letters of ‘glue’).
3 BEAST — ‘Lick’ used here in the sense of ‘defeat’.
4 CHAIN SMOKING — If one were to cycle frantically enough, perhaps the chain would smoke.
6 HAIR SHIRT — *(Irish hat r).
7,9 DEAD GIVEAWAY — Double meaning.
8 WEED — Past tense of ‘wee’; also cannabis.
11 ROLLER BLIND — A Silver Shadow is a Rolls Royce. BINDS, about L = 50.
14 IMPATIENCE — Ref. the G&S opera, Patience.
16 HEADBOARD — Mild double entendre. HEAD, BARD about O = love.
21 DECOR
22 SCAM — Letters from ‘Tosca mainly’.
23 FALL — ‘F___ all’. I can’t imagine any setter other than Paul even trying to get away with this one.

Posted in Guardian | 15 Comments »

Independent 6485/Mass

Posted by neildubya on 30th July 2007

neildubya.

Probably the easiest Mass puzzle I’ve solved (and definitely the easiest I’ve blogged). There were some really good clues in this but, again, I don’t think much of the cryptic definitions and I really don’t see how 3D can be justified.

Across
7 hidden in “acrOSS Aegean” - there are two apparently; one in Greece and another in Tasmania. I didn’t know about either of them but OSSA sounded convincing as a mountain so in it went.
8 RE,D,”current”
10 L in (ACCUSED)* - CUL-DE-SAC. Excellent clue: good anagram and a nice surface.
13 MET,ALL,I,C - misleading surface reading and “irony” might catch some people out as a definition.
15 (LANE IN VERMONT)* - for a long word, ENVIRONMENTAL leapt out at me surprisingly quickly.
18 ANACONDA - barely cryptic, I thought.
24 (I PRINTED)*
25 PORT in (CINEMA)*
26 CREE(p)
 
Down
1 CUT in (ONCE HES)* - I didn’t think I knew this word, until I got CUT=”share”, at which point ESCUTCHEON sprang to mind immediately. “Bearer of arms” is a punning definition as an escutcheon is a “shield decorated with a coat of arms”.
3 PRISONER - if this is just a cryptic definition then it’s not a very good one because being a prisoner doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with being convicted of anything. You could be a remand prisoner, or just be held by someone against your will.
4 RI in JUST
14 LAD in IL,(DIVES)* - nice clue. The surface reading would have worked better without “the” but then the clue wouldn’t have worked cryptically.
16 V,A in ACTION - filled this in without understanding why V=”see”. It’s in the dictionary as an abbreviation for “vide”, which is Latin for “see, refer to”. Must remember that.
17 QU,I in E,TIES
19 N,E,GATE - on my first reading of this clue I thought that “entry” was going to be definition.
21 R in TENCH
23 M in ACE

Posted in Independent | 1 Comment »

Guardian 24,142/Rufus - It’s Monday, so it must be…

Posted by loonapick on 30th July 2007

loonapick.

A Rufus puzzle with a few less of his trademark cryptic definitions than usual.  A quick blog today because it’s Monday morning, the puzzle wasn’t overly difficult, except for one clue I don’t have the time or energy to work out and I have some other deadlines to meet today (in the real world!)
ACROSS

8 S(IN)ECURE

9 IMAGES - (ageism)*

11 STATE-CRAFT - excellent surface

12 ?A?T?N - can’t get this one, although it is probably very obvious.  Anyone care to help?

14 TURNED TO - (tutor)* “accepted” (<=den) - definition here is a bit loose

15 NE(GAT)ED

17 E-SPOUSE - E=heart of “swEet” - clever, if not original

20 COMPARES - double def, although both meanings are very similar

22 A-STRAY - don’t think this is particularly cryptic

23 D-IS-LOCATED - liked this one

25 SEANCE - a not very cryptic definition

26 AIR-LINES
DOWN

1 MITIGATE - (<=I’m)-TI(GAT)E - GAT=gun for the second time in this puzzle? Sloppy!

3 CUTS IN - double def.

5 FIR(EAR)MS

6 CARRIED OUT

7 SEE FIT

13 TRAMPOLINE

16 EARACHES - (hear case)*

18 SCAN-TIES

21 O-LI-VER - as in Oliver Twist - “Please, sir, may I have some more?”

22 ADDERS - another clever, but not particularly original clue.

Posted in Guardian | 13 Comments »