January 2008
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21	22	23	24	25	26	27
28	29	30	31

Archive for January, 2008

Across
1	DOMINICANS. The islanders and the monks.
9	AMOROSO, which is both a lover and a dark sweet sherry
10	TOSTADO? I put this in as a result of the wordplay, which is possibly s (= small??) in tot ado, and although Chambers only gives “tostada” as a fried tortilla there is possibly a variant spelling (which there evidently is).
13/14	CATHERINE OF ARAGON - (to go in a French area)*
16	SPLI(N)T
18	RO(TUN)D
19/22	CABERNET SAUVIGNON - cab (enters)* A(u)vignon. Very neat and elegant.
23	H AVER. I had wanted to put in “waver”.
25	B RING UP
26	RESERVE - 2 mngs.
27	(DO)YENS. This use of “avoid” always seems a bit odd, but I suppose it is roughly equivalent to “shun”.
28	ARCHPRIEST - (parish rect(or))*

Down
1	DIABOLO - i in (a bold)* o. Not a game I’ve ever come across except in crosswords.
2	MO(O)TS - good clue if you can accept shape of wheel = round = o
4	CHOW-CHOW
5	NOTATE - (at Eton)*, although it isn’t just maths in which you notate. Dac seems to go along with the trend for omitting “perhaps” or some such.
7	I NA(NI)TION.
8	SLOWEST - low in (sets)*
11	STEEPLECHASER - pl in (see the races)*. Excellent &lit.
15	AR(THUR)IA N. When this puzzle appears in book form “Thur” will be a problem.
17	F(A RN)ORTH
20	TOR RENT
21	SNI(P)PER
22	V ERNE(ST)

Guardian 24297/Brendan

Posted by Colin Blackburn on 29th January 2008

An absolutely superb Brendan. Many of the clues were outstanding, in fact the weaker ones were the thematic clues. The theme was a rambling one connecting John DONNE (10) and Ernest HEMINGWAY (14) starting from the ISLE OF MAN (9).


Across
9	ISLE OF MAN — F in (IS NO MALE)* — this clue could best be described as an &lit
11,22,24	FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS — straight definition — a disappointing clue given the quality of the other clues.
13	DRIFT — D+RIFT — “powerless” misled me here as I tried to find a “movement” to remove a P from.
16	NO MAN IS AN ISLAND — double def, one cryptic
19	ENDPAPERS — END+PAPERS — the definition here, “they are bound to take extreme positions,” is excellent.
21	VERDI — VERDI(ct)
25	RANCOROUS — “ranker us”

Down
1	DIFFIDENCE — D+IF + (I’D in FENCE)
2	ALARMISM — ALAR + (IS in MM) — superb definition of “tendency to flap” works well with “like wings” = ALAR
3	TOP HAT — OP in THAT — THAT is in the clue itself.
5	INCREMENTS — R in IN+CEMENTS
8	RELY — R+ELY — everyone must know ELY by now.
14	HOSTELLERS — L in (SHELTER SO)* — hostellers may hike from one hostel to another.
15	YIDDISHISM — pantrY ‘ID DISH I SMashed — this is an excellent hidden clue, the surface is then enhanced by the Yiddish word chosen to define by example.
20	DEEPLY — DEE+PLY — there are at least two River Dees in the UK.
22	TATE — TATE(r) — tater = potato = King Edward (a variety).
23	AUNT — double def. — Uncle Sam’s wife would be an AUNT. AUNT Sally is an outdoor pub game played in Oxfordshire and some of the surrounding counties. It’s great fun to have a go at but very difficult to get it right.

Posted in Guardian | 7 Comments »

Independent 6641/Virgilius

Posted by neildubya on 29th January 2008

Another thematic tour-de-force from Virgilius; this time almost every clue or answer has a royal flavour to it.

Across
8	BALMORALS - which is a type of brimless cap. I think I half-remembered that from somewhere so I waited until I had a few more checking letters before filling it in.
10	(THE BLAZE I)* - ELIZABETH. Got this pretty quickly but it didn’t help much with the long clue.
11	REX,AL< - once I had the X filled in the answer suggested itself fairly quickly but it took me a while before I worked out the wordplay.
12/14/15/18	UNEASY LIES THE HEAD THAT WEARS THE CROWN - which is a quote from Henry IV Part 2. I didn’t know this and the clue didn’t really offer too much help in terms of wordplay so I didn’t get this. I guessed it might something to do with wearing (or bearing) crowns, which was enough - eventually - for Google. I liked the surface reading of the clue though with its misleading reference to “retirement”.
23	A,B,DIC[-t]ATOR - for some reason, I always assume that British will be BR rather than just B.
25	RERUN - don’t understand the wordplay here: “Again show one Tudor or another, as placed in succession”.

Down
1	GREE[-t],K
2	AM in (SEA LAND)*,R - SALAMANDER. Reasonably easy anagram to spot.
5	(A HAAR SMEW TERN X)* - MANX SHEARWATER. Somehow managed to get this, despite first assuming that “unknown” would be Y.
7	(NICE CHEESE CART)* - I wouldn’t have known that “Stinks” was a generic nickname for a SCIENCE TEACHER if it hadn’t cropped up in another puzzle somewhere. We were far less polite with teacher nicknames at my school.
16	U in STARTS
19	WASP - I think is right. “Member of exclusive group initially formed” is White Anglo-Saxon Protestant.
20	GR,ANT

Posted in Independent | 9 Comments »

Guardia 24,296, Rufus: I hope you like jam in too

Posted by michod on 28th January 2008

As Bob Marley used to sing, though I don’t think that’s what he put in his cylinders. That one at 8down’s my favourite cryptic definition in a mixed bag. Overall, though I think the best clues are the very economic charades/containers like 2dn, 17ac and 24ac, rather than the CDs and anagrams.

ACROSS:

1. RIB AND. The last one I got, and I wanted it to be RIBALD from the surface, but I think this is right - ‘blue, perhaps’ being the definition.

5. IN CREASE. Nice wordplay, though I’m less sure about the definition - my pay demand as forwarded by my union is usual several time greater than any eventual increase!

9. CONVERTS. Double def. ‘Make believe’ I like a lot, but the secodn def is really just the nounal form of the same.

11. NEVERTHELESS (L in THREE SEVENS*).

17. FI (IF<) RESIDE. Good clue, with ‘live’ giving something longer than the customary ‘be’.

18. NILE. Simple anagram, (LINE*), less obvious definition - the White Nile starts in Lake Victoria.

20. NUDIST COLONY (DISCOUNT ONLY*).

23. C(AN A)AN.

24. IN FAN TRY. Good simple construction.

25. TEA CADDY. Tea is a drink, and a caddy (in golf) is a porter of the clubs, but why would he resort to the tea caddy after a drink?

DOWN:

2. I(CO)N. A beautifully simple clue.

5. INSURANCE POLICY. I NURSE CAN*.

6. CUT SHORT - a power cut and a short are both causes of power failure.

7. E(XC)EL (LEE<).

8. SWISS ROLLS. CD - and a good one.

19. C OFFER.

21. IS A AC.

22. BeRlInEr.

Posted in Guardian | 5 Comments »

Independent 6640 (Mass)

Posted by NealH on 28th January 2008

Initially I thought this was going to be very easy. I got through most of the clues fairly quickly but then got hopelessly stuck on 8 across, 25 across and 24 down, some of which was self-inflicted because I’d incorrectly written “plot” for 2 down.

* = anag, < = reversed

Across
8	First-rate: Clue is “A sack stuffed with well-turned pastries”. Looks like “tarts”< inside “fire”. Must be an &lit, but I can’t see it.
11	Dominion: Do + minion
13	Tester: T + trees*. It’s a canopy over a bed.
14	Factotum: Cryptic def referring to the fact that a factotum does lots of jobs.
19	Treble: Seems to be “t” + soundalike of “rebel”. I have never heard of tenor being abbreviated by t, but I daresay it happens in musical circles.
25	Vice ?: Clue is “tool box”. A vice is a tool and it does sort of box things in, but I’m not convinced that’s correct.
27	Betterment: Better (one who bets) + met around n.

Down
2	Plan: L in pan (depression in the sense of salt-pan. Don’t ask me why I thought it was “pot”.)
3	Teetotal: Another one I wasn’t totally sure of. Clue is “More than just draught-resistant ?”, so I assume it means draughts of beer.
4	Ennui: Hidden word - excellent surface meaning.
6	Aftertaste: (Treat + feast)* + rather strained &lit.
7	Tripos: O in Trips
15	Termagant: “Virago caught up in troublesome matter”. Seems to be nag< in matter*. I don’t know in what context nag means caught.
16	Reminder: Re(d) + minder. A red would be a ball in snooker.
24	Anne ?: Didn’t get this at all. The clue is “Just fail to grab queen”. There was a Queen Anne, so that may be the answer, but I don’t get the rest of it.