Posted by smiffy on 19th December 2007
A far later posting than anticipated. Just realised that I should probably have followed blogging best practice and posted a placeholder here earlier in the day, especially as I actually solved the thing this morning [note to self....]. Anyhoo, yer ’tis.
Smiffy-ness update: Seem that I accidentally managed to save this as a draft, rather than publish it, last night - so now the posting is even later! Apols.
Across
1 DIS,TEMPER
6 A,ESOP - (pose)rev. Simple enough, but I enjoyed the definition “fabulous writer”.
11 NEHRU - Not sure how though. “Original chicken counter in popular Indian”. Chicken counter seems to indicate “hen” reversed…
15 DIET OF WORMS -A double def of truly groan-worthy punning.
17 ROUND NUMBER - Another double def (of sorts).
22 O,W,LET
24 DUN,KIRK - The “Desperate withdrawal” of 1940. At least it’s easier to clue than Dunkerque.
27 S(IS)AL
28 THE PRINCE (”phrenetic”)* - Niccolo = Machiavelli. (Readers who enjoyed this book, also enjoyed Sun Tzu’s Art of War..)
Down
1 D(R)OWN - Unless I’m mistake, “banks” is the content/container indicator.
2 SATCHMO (stomach)* - Satchel Mouth, alias Louis Armstrong, a.k.a. “Pops”.
4 PASS THE BUCK - one of those neat literal/figurative combos.
6 AS,SAM - As in “Play it again Sam…”, or whatever it was Bogart actually said.
8 POS(T(HAS)T)E - a silky smooth surface for this double container clue.
13 SLOW BUT SURE (L,W,turbo uses)* - ditto, albeit necessitating some indirect anagram fodder this time.
14 THRENODES (shortened)*
16 WA(RM,ON)GER
21 AR(I)EL - I in (Lear)*
Posted in FT | 2 Comments »
Posted by linxit on 19th December 2007
Solving time - 26:40
I struggled to get going on this, and after 10 minutes only had half a dozen answers in, but gradually managed to work up from the bottom right-hand corner and finish it.
Across
4 (h)ALL,BUT - ‘alibut, with the I replaced by L (plate). The clue is phrased the other way, so that you’d have to replace the L in the answer to get the fish.
9 CLAP,HAM,JUNCTION - the other 4 linked clues form a straight definition.
10 B(RUN)E,I
12 PAT,RON,AL - not 100% sure what this has to do with Georgia, but I Googled and found that Georgia (the ex-Soviet state) has a patronal presidency (whatever that means). Chambers was no help.
15,14 O,BITE,R DIC(CID rev),TUM - I knew this phrase as it came up in an Azed puzzle a while ago.
18 SIB,(d)ELIUS
22 S,ODIUM - presumably it’s an element of Nature because it’s symbol is Na.
24 MARR(O,WBONEJ=newjob*,ELL)Y
25 NEWLY,N - you can’t get much further south-west than Newlyn!
26 OT,ALGY - alternative form of otalgia which I wasn’t aware of.
Down
1 MA(LA)RIA
2 L,UP,IN
5 L,AN,YARD
7 THOR,EAU - Henry David Thoreau, author of Walden.
8 DJ,(r)EBEL - I didn’t know the word, but it was obvious from the wordplay once I had the checking letters. It’s an Arab word for a hill or mountain.
13 ROTTEN,ROW - a track running along the edge of Hyde Park for horse riders.
16 B(RITA)IN - “Educated girl” as in the play “Educating Rita”.
17,3 RAILWAY STATION (I saw to train lay)* - the second half of the word layout is the anagram indicator. Very Araucarian!
18 SI(TCO)M - OCT rev inside SIM - a SIM card is what goes inside a mobile phone.
19 B,U,SIEST(a) - I assume B = second as it’s the 2nd letter of the alphabet, or 2nd class, grade etc.
Posted in Guardian | 3 Comments »
Posted by neildubya on 19th December 2007
| Across |
| 1 |
PACK, L in CAB (all reversed) - the BLACKCAP is a small songbird. |
| 9 |
INDI[-a]‘S,POSITION - I found this very tough and only got the answer by finding a word that fit the letters I had and working back from there. |
| 10 |
W,AGE FREEZE - “frees”. This was deceptive too as, to me at least, “relieves” sounded like it was part of the definition. |
| 12 |
KENS,IT - Patsy. Is she in some soap or other these days? |
| 14 |
T,I,B in MALES |
| 24 |
ZA in TARN |
| 25 |
(THE RACES)* - CHEATERS. Wasn’t sure about this at the time of solving but dictionaries confirm that CHEATERS is a slang word for spectacles or glasses. |
| |
| Down |
| 2 |
AIR in LAGE[-r] - I think LAIRAGE is right although it’s not in any dictionary I currently have access to (which doesn’t include Collins or Chambers). |
| 3 |
R in CADE - was a bit unsure about this one too but a bit of searching finds that Jack CADE led a rebellion of men who tried to force reforms on the government of Henry VI. |
| 4 |
CAST,RATED - was definitely not expecting “having lost balls” to be the definition here! |
| 5 |
(STINT TOP TEACHER)* - PROTESTANT ETHIC. |
| 6 |
JU[-st]ICE |
| 8 |
(UNNAMED)* - I can’t believe how long it took me to spot “suspect” as the anagram indicator. But what a good clue though: “Unnamed suspect with no distinguishing features”. |
| 17 |
BANK,I’S<,A - I’m hopeless with plants, flowers and whatnot but this wasn’t too tricky. |
Posted in Independent | 5 Comments »
Posted by Pete Maclean on 19th December 2007
Last week we had an unusually difficult puzzle by Cincinnus. This week we have an unusually easy one by Mudd.
Across
7. OBITUARY - anagram of TO BURY I A
8. DECAMP - DAMP (less than dry) around EC
11. ORANG - O (premier in office) RANG (called)
12. HAPHAZARD - A + P (soft) + HAZE (mist) in HARD (difficult)
13. FIDDLES - double definition
14. NAIROBI - NB (note) around [c]AIRO + I
15. HERO WORSHIPPING - HE (man) + ROW (line) + OR (or) + SHIPPING (type of line)
18. PRUDENT - PRUDE (old maid) + N[o]T
20. BRAVADO - AD (bill) in BRAVO (word of appreciation)
22. EVENED OUT - EVEN (still) + homophone of DOUBT
23. THROB - TH (th’) + ROB (Sir Peel)
24. SETTEE - double/cryptic definition
25. ULTIMATA - [j]UL[y] + TIM (Henman) + ATA (initials)
Down
1. HOT OFF THE PRESS - cryptic definition
2. RIBALD - RI (Irish reversed) + BALD (smooth on top)
3. BUNGALOW - BUNG (plug) + A (a) + LOW (single-storey)
4. ORCHESTRATION - ORATION (speech) around CHEST (case)
5. NEPALI - anagram of PLANE + I (Italy)
6. MACARONI - anagram of ROMAN around A (a) + C (century) + I (one)
9. PADDINGTON BEAR - PADDING (superfluous material) + anagram of BARONET. The name’s Bond, Michael Bond.
10. SPIN THE BOTTLE - SHE (woman) around PINT (drink) + BOTTLE (courage)
16. ROULETTE - LET (obstruction) in ROUTE (way)
17. PLANTAIN - PLAN (plot) + anagram of AINT
19. ELEVEN - hidden word
21. AIRWAY - [f]AIRWAY (golfer’s aim)
Posted in FT | No Comments »