Guardian 24,195 (Sat 29 Sep)/Enigmatist - A tangled web
Posted by rightback on 6th October 2007
Solving time: 11:11
Lots of cryptic definitions today, a couple of which I don’t quite get, and a monster anagram at 2dn/7dn which I solved fairly late in proceedings.
Music (3dn): The Box by Orbital.
* = anagram, “X” = sounds like ‘X’.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | BEW (rev. of WEB) + ITCH - ‘plot’ = WEB as in Walter Scott’s couplet, “O what a tangled web we weave / When first we practise to deceive”. |
| 5 | L(OBSTE[trics])R |
| 9 | RE + EVE - simple when you know the answer, but I needed all three crossing letters before realising how to interpret “Female flying”. |
| 11 | STROKE OF GENIUS (cryptic definition) - is there more to this than just a cryptic reference to the hyphen (= ’stroke’)? W. Heath Robinson was a cartoonist best known for drawings of wacky machines. |
| 13/22dn | OVERSHOE (cryptic definition) - just a pun on ‘Oxford’ (a type of shoe), I think. |
| 14 | PEKINESE; (KEEPS E IN)* - one of those anagrams where one of the words has to be abbreviated, in this case ‘energy’ (giving the E). I’ve been caught out by a few of these recently. |
| 17 | DEAF EARS; (A + F) in (REDSEA)* - not sure how ‘across’ can mean ‘inside’. |
| 18/1dn | MINI + BARS |
| 21 | IT’S A SMALL WORLD (cryptic definition) |
| 23 | K(I + WIF[e] + RU)IT |
| 24 | RALPH - according to Chambers, “the imp of mischief in a printing house”. |
| 25 | ROYAL WE (cryptic definition) - ‘our number one’ being the Queen. |
| 26 | IN STY + LE - a sounder is a herd of pigs. |
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 2/7 | WHEN THE CAT’S AWAY THE MICE WILL PLAY; (WHY WE MEAN ATHLETIC CHEATS WILL PAY)*, &lit - the anagram reads very well, but I’m not quite convinced by the definition reading, which I guess is said from the point of view of straying husbands whose wives might misbehave in their absence. |
| 3 | THE BOX (cryptic definition) - perhaps someone with a telly can explain what The Box is? |
| 4/16 | HIDDEN TREASURE (cryptic definition) [amended; see comments] - ‘its closure’ being the X of ‘The Box’ which might mark the spot. |
| 6/20 | BULLET (= ‘part of round’) + INBOARDS (= ‘motors’) - a very slick clue, excellent wordplay and definition (’Here view the latest’). My last solve. |
| 8 | ROTISSERIE (cryptic definition) |
| 12 | HOO(D + WIN)KER - ‘pro’ = ‘prostitute’. |
| 15 | SENSEFUL; rev. of ESNES + (FLU)* |
| 19 | GLUTEI; GLUT + rev. of I.E. |
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