Posted by nmsindy on 4th October 2007
Built around a 41-letter anagram. Solving time: 52 mins.
* = anagram < = reversed
ACROSS
9 HISTORIAN (to an Irish)*
11/13/16 CANT GET AWAY TO MARRY YOU TODAY MY WIFE WONT LET ME left at the church song. * (first 41 letters of clue)
22 WINNING ON POINTS I think
DOWN
1 O (VISA) C
2 A T (TORN) EY Yet<
5 Saul BELLOW
6 ANTONY MY Antony and C
8 HA-HA A ditch
13 M OWN D OWN MD = managing director
14 RAF FLING
16 D (UTCH H) OE
21 HIGH NOON cf nigh Hoon
Posted in Independent | 6 Comments »
Posted by ilancaron on 4th October 2007
A good puzzle with consistently high quality defs and wordplay (the latter providing clear direction to answers in some cases even when the def was unknown to me). Incidentally had I not known it was by Orlando I would have guessed Paul given the slyness in some cases (e.g. 24A, 11A). Dick Emery is a name I’ve heard of though couldn’t begin to tell you what he’s been in. Mold, Manchester, Menton and Motown are four far-flung and different towns.
Across
| 1 |
RAM,IF,Y – First Paulianism: “playback” producing Y. Also my only quibble: “hard disk” defining RAM is rather loose, while it is true that a hard disk does provide random access services, you would never use RAM in place of “hard disk”. |
| 4 |
S(CUTTLE)D – the wordplay is clear, so I didn’t even bother confirming that there is indeed a fictional Captain CUTTLE (there is I hope). |
| 9 |
WALES,A – Ref. Lech. Sort of paired with its intersecting 2D. |
| 11 |
DOUBLE NEGATIVE – this as solvers say is a good clue. |
| 14 |
ERSE – hidden in “AlexandER SElkirk” who unfortunately is Scots (unless ERSE is more than Irish and includes the Scottish variant??). Incidentally the possessive “’s” is the minimal hidden operator here. |
| 18 |
PRE(BEND)ARY – BEND in prayer*. |
| 21 |
MANCHESTER CITY – (synthetic cream)* and it’s a football “side” too. |
| 23 |
TRIM,ARAN – ref. the ARAN islands, to which the ferries no longer run in October as I found out last Oct. |
| 24 |
MO(TO)WN – elegant economical clue, ref. the epicenter of late 60s soul music (Supremes et al) |
Down
| 2 |
MOLD,OVA – must be a MOLD in Wales: 9A’s twin. |
| 3 |
FAST,BACK – FAST as in to “hold FAST”. |
| 6 |
T(H)E WAR – H in water*: not to be mentioned especially when you have German guests at Fawlty Towers. |
| 7 |
LOO,PIER – LOO is a card game beloved of cryptic setters. |
| 8 |
DICK,EMERY – Brit TV personality – which is all I know. |
| 12 |
EMPIRE, STATE=”say” – but I do know that this is the nickname of New York (state) which is where I live now. Ref. the EMPIRE cinema (movie “theatre”) in London. |
| 15 |
KNOCKOUT – KO=rev(OK): nice clue. |
| 17 |
MENT(I)ON – ref. MENTON in the Riviera. |
| 19 |
AR(TWO,R)K |
Posted in Guardian | 6 Comments »
Posted by nmsindy on 4th October 2007
Fairly easy puzzle, I found. Solving time: 15 mins
Will post on a limited number of what seemed the trickier clues, but happy to explain any others if asked.
* = anagram
ACROSS
8 A(L)I “Boxer excellent when getting left in” l in A1 - an A1 clue (my favourite in the puzzle).
21 ROCAMBOLE (bloom care)*
DOWN
2 Jekyll and HYDE
5 BEATEN TO IT (Tito)*
6 PAP (A Y) A Y = yen = Japanese currency.
22 EAST
Posted in Independent | No Comments »
Posted by Pete Maclean on 4th October 2007
Across
1. VERBATIM - anagram (terribly) of BRAVE + TIM (little chap)
6. CUCKOO - double definition
9. SPRUCE - double definition
10. NO LONGER - anagram of GO ON LNER. LNER was the London and North-Eastern Railway, one of four big railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century. If memory serves you will see the letters LNER on many a train in old British movies. And what a truly splendid clue! A Cincinnus classic.
11. STUD - T (beginning to travel) in SUD (the south of France)
12. PHARMACIST - anagram (is painful) of HAS CRAMP IT. Some may think “is painful” makes a poor anagram indicator; I am okay with it.
14. WHERE AM I - anagram (about) of WE HEAR + MI (military intelligence)
16. EGGS - EG (for example) + G[unner]S. For those who may not know, Spurs and Gunners are nicknames for two football teams.
18. URDU - hidden word
19. OPPOSITE - OP (work) + PO (Post Office) + SITE (location)
21. HORSE DRAWN - HORSE (Arab possibly) + DRAWN (portrayed)
22. BONN - BON (good for Frenchman) + N (Pole)
24. WALTZING - WALT (Disney) + ZING (animation). This was the most difficult clue for me. I am not sure that the question mark belongs.
26. APACHE - PA backwards (old man retiring) + ACHE (long)
27. KENYAN - ENYA (Irish singer) in [dar]KN[ess]. This is the second or third clue I have come across recently that used Enya.
28. SIDE DRUM - SIDE (arrogance) + D (duke) + RUM (odd). I had to use my dictionary to confirm this as I did not know that “side” can mean arrogance.
Down
2. EXPAT - PA (Philadelphia) in EXT (extension). This is the first Cincinnus clue I have come across which I think may actually be faulty. I have never heard of PA used as an abbreviation of Philadelphia and, for what it’s worth, neither has Wikipedia. PA is a standard abbreviation for Pennsylvania (the state that encompasses Philadelphia) and that may well explain the oversight if there indeed is one.
3. BLUNDERBUSS - BLUNDER (foolish error) + BUSS (kiss). This easy clue got me a good start.
4. THESPIAN - A (leader of Americans) in THE (the) SPIN (revolution)
5. MANDARIN ORANGES - anagram of IN A ROMANS GARDEN
6. COLUMN - COLUM (Irishman’s name) + N (newpaper)
7. CON - double definition
8. OVERSIGHT - anagram of GIVE SHORT
13. CHEESE BOARD - anagram of COLD ABODES HERE. I bet Wallace got this one right off!
15. HARROGATE - HARRO[w] (school not closing) + GATE (opening)
17. SPANIARD - anagram of AND PARIS. Very easy.
20. ADRIAN - [h]ADRIAN (decapitated emperor). I am delighted that Adrian Mole has become enough of an cultural treasure that he can appear in crossword puzzles. For anyone who may not know, he is the fictional, very English anti-hero of a series of wildly funny books by Sue Townsend.
23. NEHRU - reversed hidden word
25. TAY - T (head of thistle) + AY (yes). Ay to this fine, fine clue!
Posted in FT | 2 Comments »