Fifteensquared

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Archive for October 23rd, 2007

Independent 6558/Virgilius

Posted by neildubya on 23rd October 2007

neildubya.

Cryptic crossword setters often borrow terminology from the world of 2D so a bridge-themed puzzle seems very appropriate. This cleverly constructed grid contains NORTH SOUTH EAST WEST in the places you would expect them to be, as well as the four playing card 24A and NO TRUMPS.

Across
5 HEARTS - like this clue, a couple of other Across clues have a football-related surface reading.
7 NO TRUMPS - I’m a bit puzzled by this one and I may be missing something obvious. The full clue is “Three of these will do for game, as opposed to seats” so the wordplay is NOT RUMPS. Not sure about the definition though. I know a little bit about bridge so I know that 3NT (3 NO TRUMPS) is a bid that implies that a partnership thinks they can win the game but isn’t that a bit too specialised for a crossword clue?
9 DON in LONER
10 CLUBS - the second of the 24A to appear in the grid.
16/22/15/13/11 EAST IS EAST AND WEST IS WEST - “and never the twain shall meet”. From the Kipling poem “The Ballad of East and West”. When I solved this, I already had 7D filled in so this confirmed the theme.
20 DIAMONDS - double definition. Baseball is played on a diamond-shaped field.
25 UP,R in STEAM
27 (PASSED)* - SPADES. The surface reading this time has an auctioneering theme (appropriately enough for a bridge-themed puzzle)
 
Down
1 ONE in WASNT (going up) - TENON SAW was new to me but the wordplay couldn’t be more gentle.
3 STICKLE - “stick’ll”. Sort-of-new to me. I’d heard of stickler of course, so I guess it makes sense for a stickler to be someone who STICKLEs.
4 SUBURBIA - I think this must be a cryptic definition. The surface reading has you thinking about public schools but “dormitory SUBURBs” are (I think) areas that are purely residential (no shops, offices etc).
6 (STAY IN)* - SANITY.
7 NORTH AND SOUTH - the novel is by Elizabeth Gaskell.
14 SUM,IM< TRY - this was new too but easy enough from the wordplay.
17 STATE in SET (going up)
19 MISS,US
23 (ARE)*,WAX - a bit of a guess as I didn’t know that WAX could mean rage.

Posted in Independent | 4 Comments »

Guardian No 24,125/Puck - the good, the bad and the ugly?

Posted by loonapick on 23rd October 2007

loonapick.

In my opinion, a mixture of brilliant clues (5, 10, 20) and some of the things I don’t like so much in puzzles (14, 24) and a couple of clues where I’m not sure if they are good or not (13, 19)

ACROSS

1 STRA(TEG)Y

5 SPADES - quarter of a deck of cards, would have been easier if there wasn’t a typo in the online version (”round-breaking”?)

9 I’M-PUN-(p)ITY - (I think!) - this all seems a bit clumsy to me, unless I am missing something.  I also don’t like “execution” as an indication of removing the first letter.

10 S(o)U(n)D(w)O(r)K(o)U(t) - quite clever

12 FULL OF HOLES

15 (<=S-ED-ON) - good fun

17 WARMONGER - (Amer wrong)* - took me a while to get this one, even tho’ I agree with the opinion expressed

18 STEP DANCE - (speed can’t)* - a dance where the emphasis is on footwork rather than body position

19 TIT-US - Religion is not my strong point, as I am an atheist, but wasn’t Titus the name of the recipient of the letter and of the book in which it appeared rather than the letter itself?

20 T-RUES-TORIES - no lies

24 HEEHAW - (dodgy homophone of HE-WHORE)

25 HOMESPUN - (menu Posh)*

26 TRICK-Y(ogurt)

DOWN

1 (<=FIN’S)-FINESS(e)

2 ROPE LADDER - (pal rode)*-(<=RED)

4 GET THE WIND UP

6 PAUL’S-CO-T.T. - author of the Raj Quartet

8,22,7  SHUT THAT DOOR - (tout had short)* - Larry Grayson’s famous catchphrase, although I don’t know how famous it is to non-Brits or the younger generation?

11 BLARNEY STONE - (near Selby)* out of TON

13 E-GOT-RIP-PER - Another typo in the online version - “Crush” should be “rush”

14 DR-ESS SENSE - Is this the record for the number of “points” clued as vaguely as this?  Hate this kind of clue.

Posted in Guardian | 14 Comments »