Posted by ilancaron on 17th December 2007
A surfeit of cryptic definitions today which isn’t of course out of character for Rufus. It’s tempered by several well crafted clues though so a smile or two were produced.
Across
| 9 |
TALL ORDER - OK, it’s kind of a joke I see that — but I don’t really see the definition part unless Rufus wants us to think that commands that come down from on high tend to be TALL ORDERS? |
| 10 |
H,AND,Y - I liked this clue for the first and last letters of HungarY. |
| 11 |
MA,E WEST=sweet* - refreshingly, no direct or indirect allusion to her bust size. |
| 12 |
A,COL,YTE=yet* |
| 14 |
HOWITZERS - (a size worth)* |
| 16 |
BOLT FROM THE BLUE - but isn’t the saying derived from “thunder from a clear sky” anyway?? |
| 19 |
MAY,FLOWER - nice clue: it’s a kind of hawthorn and it’s what a nurseryman might say to protect himself from your wrath. |
| 21 |
MIGHT - two meanings |
| 22 |
TRADE-IN - (I daren’t)* |
| 24 |
ME,LEE |
| 25 |
ENTERTAIN - two meanings (as in: ENTERTAIN a notion) |
Down
| 1 |
STAMP ALBUM - neat cryptic definition with a sufficiently misleading surface meaning. |
| 2 |
BLUE,BELL |
| 3 |
H,ONEST=notes* - doctor and hospital cooperating for a smooth surface. |
| 5 |
TREAD WATER - another cryptic definition. |
| 6 |
THROTTLE - two meanings |
| 7 |
EN(Z[ulu])YME - |
| 14 |
HOOD,WINKED - not a bad clue: “showed complicity” is WINKED. |
| 15 |
SWELTERING - (grew silent)* with “becoming” the anagrind. |
| 17 |
F,ALTERED - F’s our key. |
| 18 |
LEG-BREAK - it’s an injury and I’m guessing the second part is a cricket ref having to do with changing the side to which you bat or bowl the ball or something… |
| 20 |
Y,EARLY - nice clue (Y is end of holidaY). |
| 21 |
MEMORY - “One won’t remember losing it”. I can’t remember if I liked this clue or not… is it trivial or clever? |
| 22 |
TO,ME |
| 23 |
AN,TI=rev(it) - actually succinct and clever clue which I’m not opposed to. |
Posted in Guardian | 13 Comments »
Posted by NealH on 17th December 2007
This was a satisfying mix of relatively easy and difficult clues. Of particular note were 5 down, 13 across and 25 across, all of which had clever cryptic definitions.
| Across |
| 1 |
Uzbekistan: (bet uk’s + nazi)* |
| 11 |
Obnoxious: Didn’t get this. There’s (bono)* following “Indian trading ends”, which appears to “xious”. |
| 13 |
Aladdin: (And laid)* + cryptic def (light rubber in jewellery store). |
| 18 |
Comrade: Cunning &literal. Com + (dear)* and comrade being used as a non-specific form of address in the same way as “dear”. |
| 22 |
Attorney General. (rotten)* in “ay” (a vote for) + general. The “for” initially looked redundant until I realized an “ay” is a vote for something. |
| 24 |
Opium: “Odium” with “d” (denarius) swapped with p (pence). Odium also fits, so it’s possible I’ve misinterpreted it. |
| 25 |
Ewes: Soundalike (”yous” being used dialetically in Liverpool instead of “you”) + cryptic def. |
| 26 |
Close Shave: Another one I didn’t quite get. Appears to be “plane” + “sh” + “ave”, but I’m not sure why plane would be close. |
| |
| Down |
| 2 |
Bristol: tol(l) on bri(dge) + “s”. |
| 5 |
Auntie: “A” + untie. Cryptic def “broadcaster” for Auntie (slang for BBC). |
| 8 |
Respect: “Re” + “p” in “sect”. Respect is a small political party. |
| 15 |
Congress: Cryptic def with a double meaning, “union” being used in both a trade union and marital sense. |
| 19 |
Derrida: (Red) reversed + id(e)a after “r”. |
| 20 |
Derail: “Er” inside “Dail” (name of the Irish parliament). |
| 21 |
Flambe: &lit + “lamb” replacing centre of “fire”. |
————————————————-
Posted in Independent | 5 Comments »
Posted by neildubya on 17th December 2007
There’s an article on cryptic crosswords and the competition they face from <affects disdainful look> Sudoku in the Independent today:
http://news.independent.co.uk/media/article3255986.ece
It’s a bit depressing really.
Posted in Admin, Independent | 18 Comments »
Posted by beermagnet on 17th December 2007
Because I have some trouble using the “less than” sign to indicate reversals in these blogs I noticed that unusually there were no reversals in this crossword. No totally straight Cryptic Defs either. What is here is a good mix, in particular the last four across lights were all nice solid concise clues.
PS. I expect the Eye’s Christmas Special issue will include a stonker of a crossword.
| Across |
| 8/21 |
GET YOUR LEG OVER Double def. |
| 9 |
ABRIDGE A B RIDGE |
| 10 |
SPECS S (Sulphur) Pecs |
| 11 |
SCROUNGER CR in (SURGEON)* |
| 12 |
SARCASM (CARS)* inside SAM |
| 13 |
REDWOOD Ref Sequoia trees and John Redwood - “unearthly” because of his similarity to Mr Spock from Star Trek he is often referred to as a Vulcan |
| 15 |
A WEEK IN POLITICS “… is a long time” WEEK ~ WEAK |
| 18 |
BLADDER L inside BADDER What’s Peer got to do with it? Full clue:
Peer takes the piss out of this immersion of Liberal’s leader in worse surroundings (7) |
| 23 |
SCREWBALL No. 10 refers to screw sizes - that’s the screws that hold shelves to walls etc.; party = Ball. As this took me ages to understand it gets my favourite clue award - full clue:
Maybe a no. 10 party nut (9) |
| 25 |
BOSOM S in BOOM |
| 26 |
EXCRETA X (times) in (CREATE)* |
| 27 |
CONSORT CON-SORT |
| |
| Down |
| 1 |
ST GEORGE ST g(e)orge |
| 2 |
GOBSMACKED Go=Try; SMACK=Hard Drug; inside BED=Sack |
| 3 |
PRESSMAN Press=crush; Male Member=Man - but why have “in sport”? Full clue:
Hack and crush male member in sport (8) |
| 4 |
FAIRER More of a blonde gives the definition, but how does mop mean fair? Full clue:
More of a blonde mop should crown Brenda (6) |
| 5 |
URDU Hidden in hURD Understood |
| 6 |
ADAGIO A DAG(I)O Far from PC indeed |
| 7 |
HEBRIDES He-Brides (ho ho) |
| 8 |
GASES [ma](SSAGE)* |
| 14 |
DOING A BUNK (A KING BOUND)* |
| 15 |
AMBUSHES BUSH in (SAME)* |
| 16 |
OIL SLICK Picture=Oil; S(L)ICK |
| 17 |
INVASION IN (so vain)* |
| 19 |
AFRICA C(ook) in (AF(F)AIR)* |
| 20 |
REAGAN (ANGER A)* |
| 22 |
REMIT R.E.M. IT=sex REM isn’t really blinking but we know what he means |
| 24 |
WOES Homophone “rows” in J.Rossese |
Posted in Private Eye/Cyclops | 3 Comments »