Fifteensquared

Never knowingly undersolved.

Archive for November 23rd, 2007

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Guardian 24,242, Quantum: Better latte than never

Posted by michod on 23rd November 2007

michod.

ACROSS:

4. JAM PAN. A guess now confirmed - it’s a kind of sedan chair.

9. BRIE(f). More familiar as a cheese than a place.

11. STATIN (patients* - pe). Complicated wordplay here, requiring the subtraction of PE even though the two letters are separated.

12. NET< TA(C)LE.

13. OPTOMETRY. (TYPE + MOTOR*). ‘Tested’ is the anagrind - as in ‘this tests the limits of reasonable anagram indicators’?

16. LA(T)TE. Now, we’ve been here before, not so long ago. Instinctively I feel that ‘no time’ should indicate that there is no T in the word. I suppose you can justify it by saying that only the T that the compiler decides stands for time is affected, but it’s not as satisfactory as, say, ‘time out’ would be.

17. SINGLET ON. Nice concise clue.

27. WRIT HE. High Explosive.

DOWN:

3. ENHANCE. CHEE(r) ANN*.

6. PROPA GATE (hom. PROPER). Nice homonym, for those of us that like them.

7. NO(NPL)US.  ‘Plan leaving one’ = PLN, as ‘leaving’ can work either way.

8. BUTTERFINGERS. A topical clue in the light of Scott Carson’s abysmal howler the other night. I don’t quite get the second half, unless it’s just a reference to the retribution one might expect for such errors.

14. OU TRIGGER. Good construction, with ‘device for setting off’ giving trigger.

18. GROSSER. Hom. GROCER. But is the definition right - surely this is a comparative, so ’with more excess fat’ rather than just ‘with excess fat’.

19. OLI VINE. My other guess, which seems to work.

20. SI(EVE)S. Riddles in crosswords more often refers to this than to jokes.

23. DIG IT. Nice clue.

  

Posted in Guardian | 5 Comments »

Independent 6585/Math

Posted by neildubya on 23rd November 2007

neildubya.

In his blog yesterday, nmsindy was wondering why Phi had been moved from his usual Friday slot; this puzzle might provide an explanation…

Across
8 A,(LIFE)* - I was all set to deride “promiscuous” as an anagram indicator only to find that it has another meaning: “haphazardly mixed”. ALFIE was a film starring 12/14A.
11 A,UGU in GIN
12/14A (A CHILE CINEMA)* - the star of the puzzle, MICHAEL CAINE starred in 8A, 16/17/19A, 9/26D and 23D (twice). I wasn’t keen on the clue for this though - seems a bit long-winded.
13 IM in (PALAVER)* - the last one I filled in and I didn’t really get it at the time but now I think that the definition is “first” as PRIMAEVAL can mean “belonging to the Earth’s beginnings” - I’m not completely convinced though.
16/17/19A THE ITALIAN [J for M]OB - the film which gave us the classic Caine line: “You were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off”.
20 UNPEG - a cryptic definition but not a very strong one I think. The clue - “Take off-line” - is supposed to make us think of disconnecting a computer from a network, or perhaps the modern business jargon sense of the phrase meaning, “let’s discuss this outside of this meeting”.
22 BISH,OP,RIC[-k] - I didn’t know that BISH meant a mistake or blunder so I filled this on the basis of the definition (”See” is always difficult to spot, especially at the beginning of a clue) and OP,RIC[-k]
25 LOP<,A RI,S
28 T,R,EAT ME,NT - quite a deceptive clue, especially the clever “direction to Alice” for EAT ME, a reference to the Alice in Wonderland books.
 
Down
2 E,FF,US,I’VE
4 GRIM,AL,DI - the House of Grimaldi is “associated with the history of the Republic of Genoa and of the Principality of Monaco”, according to Wikipedia.
5 EPIC[-ure] - “Midge” being a reference to the former Ultravox frontman.
9 (CADET GUN I)* - the film of EDUCATING 26D starred 12/14A and Julie Walters.
16 TA,U - not quite sure why but lots of fraternities seem to have TAU in their names: Phi Kappa Tau, Theta Tau etc.
19 JERRY CAN - “if Tom can’t then…”
21 PAL,MER - I think this might be another thematic reference as Harry PALMER is a character (created by Len Deighton) played by 12/14A in a number of films. Ironically, the most famous of these films is probably “The Ipcress File” but the narrator of the novel from which it was adapted is never named.
23 (HUSTLE)* - probably the reason why this puzzle was published today. SLEUTH was a film adapted from a stage play and made in 1972 starring Laurence Olivier and 12/14A. Today, a remake of the film is released, starring Jude Law (playing the role that Caine played in the original, and who also starred in a poor remake of 8A) and with Caine taking the part originally played by Olivier.
26 hidden in “hairdresseR I TAught” - a very apt surface reading as RITA (in the play and film EDUCATING RITA) is actually a hairdresser and is taught English Literature by 12/14A’s character.

Posted in Independent | 5 Comments »

Inquisitor 46, Royalty by Lato

Posted by Colin Blackburn on 23rd November 2007

Colin Blackburn.

By the time you read this I should be at the top of Manau Kea in Hawaii.
Unless I turn out to get altitude sickness in which case I’ll be in a bar in Hilo!

The grid is a 21? Royalty? Something to do with cards? Monarchs? No, it turns out it’s all about the King or Queen of the Jungle. I’m a crossword addict get me out of here. If you are still mystified it’s all about a “reality” TV programme, I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here.

So, after filling in a few crossing answers 21ac turns out to be JUNGLE wherein the action takes place. The other unclue lights are CAMP FIRE (around which most of the inaction takes place and WITCHETTY GRUBS, something the contestants are occasional asked to eat in the Bushtucker Trials.

The additions to short word are the first names of the six winners of the six British series so far. The seventh series has just started, hence this puzzle I guess. You can see the full names of the “celebrities” at the Wikipedia link above if you are really that interested! The reduced entries had synonyms of celebrity removed before entry.

And, finally, the show is presented by Ant & Dec and so 7dn, DECANT, should be highlighted.

The answers below are the answers to the clues, additions, subtractions and extra definitions are given in the explanations.

Across
1 BARE — BAR+E — +CAROL
8 STARCHY — ARCH in STY — -STAR
10 BLUE — “blew” — +KERRY
13 NIDE — “nighed”
14 ICON — I+C+ON
15 CULLIONS — CULL+I(r)ONS — -LION
16 JUST — double def. — JUST is an old word for joust.
17 ESTATES — E(ast) STATES
19 UNITED — UNIT+ED(ucation)
22 VIPERISH — VI+PERISH — -VIP
24 TRES — TR(i)ES — +PHIL The incorrect enumeration got me here for a while.
26 SHAM — (HAS)* + M — (spells = PHILTRES)
28 FUSC — FUS(s)+C(abinet)
32 PABLO — OL(d)+BAP <
33 ASHETS — (HEATS+S)*
34 VIETNAMESE — I in VET + (SEAMEN)* — -NAME
36 ERS — ERS(e) — +MATT ERS is a plant, a vetch.
40 FLIT — F+LIT
42 EUOI — U in EO + I — classic Scrabble word! I = setter.
44 THAI — “tie”
45 REDO — ODER<
46 TIGER TEAM — (TIME GREAT)*
Down
1 BANS — BAN+S — +JOE
2 REDS — double def. — ref the film, Reds and Manchester UNITED.
3 CRETISM — (C+MISTER)*
4 ARIOT — A + RIO + ‘T
5 OBOE — O+BO+E(xcited)
6 EUK — (d)UKE*
7 DECANT — DECA(da)NT — Da = Delaware.
8 CNUT — N in CUT — phew!
9 HOLE — “whole” — (instruments = BANJOES)
11 YCLEPT — (c)YCLE+PT —
12 ASSES — ASSES(s)
18 TULIP — L in TUI+P — TUI is a NZ bird.
20 NIAMH — H+MAIN < — (affairs = MATTERS)
23 HEFTE — H + (FEET)* — H = 200 in medieval Roman numerals.
25,47 HERPES — HER+PES — PES = foot.
27 WEIMAR — I(n)+M in WEAR
28 FATFREE — — T(o)F(u) in FARE+E
29 COT — C+OT — +TONY
30 CAMEL — CAME+L — (dog = KERRY BLUE)
31 PETITE — TI in PETE
35 EDITH — H+TIDE < — (soft = COTTONY)
37 AUNE — “own”
38 TOPS — SPOT< — (song = BARCAROLE)
39 SHET — SETH*
41 LEAT — L+EAT
43 TIW — thaT I Want

Posted in Inquisitor | 1 Comment »

Independent 6580/Monk

Posted by neildubya on 23rd November 2007

neildubya.
Across
3 A,MB,U,LANCES - I hesitated a bit over this as I didn’t know that LANCE=move quickly but with A,MB,U and a definition of “hospital transport” there’s not much else it can be.
11 [-s]CARED
12 E in WILDE,D - I liked “an Oscar” to indicate WILDE because it’s a bit different to what we would usually see: “Oscar, say” or “Oscar, perhaps”.
13 REWARD< - one of four answers in the puzzle that uses the same letters.
15 INFERNAL,A CHIN in ME - INFERNAL MACHINE. I’d heard of the phrase but wasn’t really sure what it meant - apparently it’s a concealed explosive device intended to destroy life or property.
18 (L ENGLAND ASH TREE)* - HANSEL AND GRETEL.
21 WARRED - “ward”. The second thematic clue.
23 W in TOE,RED - I’ve been caught out by “legend” (end of leg) before, and by the same setter I think.
26 ED in CAR - is there a technical term for clues like this: “Editor’s vehicle wrapped round tree”, where we have to read it as “Vehicle’s wrapped round editor tree”. Reverse container-and-contents, perhaps?
27 SATYRICON - which was a satirical novel written in the 1st century AD by Petronius. SATYR is a word for a lascivious man (”Chap desiring sex”).
28 S in PALM,ODIST
 
Down
1 C,ART,W,RIGHT
5 hidden in “fUND IDeally”
6 RA (going up),A in CHIC - with A?C???? filled in I had to resist the urge to fill in “ancient”.
7 C,RIS[-e] in (ARETE)* - CAREERIST. “Professional climber” is a great definition.
8 SIDE - was a bit puzzled about this one when I filled it in but I think I get it now. Full clue is “Left Channel 4?” and it was the “Channel 4″ bit I didn’t get. I think it’s a reference to a TV station being a SIDE, as in “Switch to the other side”, meaning to change channels. Unless anyone else has a better explanation.
9 WARDER - the third thematic clue. The “lift and separate” definition is “screw”.
14 BELLY-DANCE - marvellous cryptic def. “Corporation shake-up in the East”.
16 IN LAND in F,AI (going up) - FINLANDIA is a symphonic poem by Jean Sibelius.
17 TIDE (going up) in MATES
19 EAR[-ly],DRU[-id],M[-en] - an excellent clue with an original treatment. “Both feet having been severed” is the indicator for lopping off the last two letters in “early Druid men”.
20 REWARD - the fourth thematic clue, and identical to 13A! “Artist’s back pay for good work”.
22 DES (going up),OD - I originally filled in DOPED thinking “I’ll figure out the wordplay later”, but that’s never a good idea.
25 S,CUP - a “porgy” is a type of sparid food fish, or SCUP. This was all news to me but the wordplay could only take you in one direction.

Posted in Independent | 3 Comments »

Beelzebub 926/Phi (11-11-07)

Posted by neildubya on 23rd November 2007

neildubya.
Across
1 L in BASH - I hesitated over this at first because I couldn’t see why “go” = BASH. Then I remembered “have a bash at [something]“.
11 (SIGN BLOOMERS)* - REBLOSSOMING. Pleasing &lit clue.
12 ENZOOTIC - this must be right as the definition fits but I can’t untangle the wordplay: “Quickly one should return around zone suffering localised disease”.
16 BEE,SWING - a BEE is a social gathering (e.g. spelling bee) and BEESWING is a flaky deposit found in port and other wines.
19 P in A DRESS
21 DA in DUET,E
24 E in SLP,TOFF - I initially filled in SWEPT OFF even though it didn’t really fit with the definition because I convinced myself that Arthur Scargill was in the Socialist Worker’s Party (SWP). Turns out he founded the Socialist Labour Party.
29 IT’S A< - IT is vermouth, as in “gin and it” (which sounds like a classic martini to me…)
31 ON in (BEST NEARLY)* - BLARNEY-STONE.
32 (B[-a]BY)*,LOW - BYBLOW. Excellent &lit clue. A BYBLOW is an illegitimate child.
 
Down
1 BREEZE - I liked this clue a lot: “Refuse to go cheerfully”. As a noun, BREEZE refers to cinders, ash or dust (which is what breeze blocks are made out of) and as a verb it can mean a few things but probably the most relevant is “to move in a self-confident or jaunty manner”.
2 (CLEARLY UNLIT)* - LENTICULARLY. I struggled to get, partly because I thought I was looking for a word ending -ICAL.
4 BE,A in H (FOOT)* - HOOFBEAT. Another excellent &lit: “Horse with foot moving? Happen one will be involved”. I’ve only now spotted that “happen one” is BE,A though.
5 (REST)*,EAST - ESTREAT.
8 P,P,IE in LIST
15 QUEE[-r],(MAN)*,B - QUEEN MAB is a tantalizing fairy who “governs and produces peoples’ dreams”.
17 SPOFFISH - not sure if this is right as I can’t work out the wordplay. Full clue is “Officious affected types upset a person”. This answers crosses with 33A - which I’ve got as HASTE (the H is where they cross) but I can’t explain that either so it’s possible that might be wrong too.
20 DEFRA,Y[e]S
25 odd letters of SiLk, initial letters of “Used By Braiders”.
27 IT<,R,L - TIRL.

Posted in Beelzebub | 2 Comments »

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