Fifteensquared

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Archive for February 7th, 2008

Independent 6649/Nimrod

Posted by neildubya on 7th February 2008

neildubya.
Across
1 A BIT OF ALL RIGHT - OK being another word for ALL RIGHT.
8 LET THEM EAT CAKE
9 (SO ONE ENCHAINED)* - CHEESE AND ONION. The capital R in “Rolls” is not needed in the cryptic reading but adds a bit of deception at the surface level.
10 B,READ AND B,UTTER - I thought this was very cleverly done: “Ordinary con, say, registering at B&B”.
14 ENTERTAIN,MEN,ST (reversed)
15 (EYED MATERIALLY)* - TIME DELAY RELAY.
19 (BRIDAL COAT)*,LOTH - BROADTAIL CLOTH was new to me.
21 LEFT SPEECHLESS
 
Down
1 APE[-x]
2 (HE LOST RESTRAINT)* - IN THE LAST RESORT
4 A,LEX,AND,RAP,A,LACE
5 LUTED - guessed this from the minstrel reference as I didn’t understand what “clay overcoat” was about. Turns out that lute is “a substance, such as dried clay or cement, used to pack and seal pipe joints and other connections or coat a porous surface in order to make it tight”.
6 (AT ALL IN ELECTION)* - I CANNOT TELL A LIE. The definition - “Does one fib? No” - was a bit tricky to spot
7 H?E ?O - couldn’t get this one; might be HIE TO but I don’t know why. Full clue: “Quickly head for digitally-reduced celebration, so to speak?”
13 R,IT,Z,Y
16 I’M B[-l]UE
18 hidden in “geneRAL PHilosophy” - this seems like a bizarre way of doing a hidden word clue: I can’t decide if the definition here is meant to be “His” or “I’m”.
20 T?S - couldn’t get this one either. Full clue: “Terriers paid renewed attention”.

Posted in Independent | 8 Comments »

Independent on Sunday 938 by Quixote (03/02/2008)

Posted by nmsindy on 7th February 2008

nmsindy.

I found this one fairly straightforward, solving time 15 mins.

Notes on some clues below, happy to explain others if asked.

* = anagram

ACROSS

4 SCR AMBLE Senior Common Room

11 LI (MOG) ES French city

14 SCATTER BRAINED Which cryptically could mean (a binder)*

26 TUES DAYS “choose” “daze” with two separate homophone indicators “being heard” and “for the audience”.

DOWN

7 BEGUINE (I bungee)* Sister in a order.

18 I (e)MPRESS

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Financial Times 12,685 (Jason)

Posted by diagacht on 7th February 2008

diagacht.
Across
10 REFRAIN: double definition
11 X RAYING:X + RAY + IN + G
12 SCENE:sounds like ’seen’
13 USUALNESS: anagram of UNLESS USA
14 BOTTLE OPENER: &Lit
18 ELECTRIFYING: ELECT + anagram of (FRYING + I)
21 ULAN BATOR: anagram of A BURNT LAO
23 AISLE: IS in ALE. An aisle is where a marriage (union) takes place.
24 LIGHTER: &Lit. A lighter is a barge.
25 NEPTUNE: PEN (reversed) + TUNE
26 CUDGEL: CLUED + G (good). To cudgel as in to brain.
27 SHOEHORN: HOE in SHORN
Down
1 PARISH: PA + (i)RISH
2 RAFTER: RAFT + ER
3 SCAPEGOAT: SCAPE + GO AT
4 TONGUE TWISTERS: &Lit
6 EMAIL: I AM (reversed) in EL
8 REGISTRY: anagram of ITS GERRY
9 EXCUSE MY FRENCH: another &Lit
15 PINEAPPLE: PINE + APPLE
16 REPUBLIC: PUB in RELIC
17 DERANGED: anagram of GREEN DAD
19 PSEUDO: DUES (reversed) in PO
20 SEVERN: SEVER + (autum)N
22 BATHE: BA + THE

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Financial Times 12,675 by Cincinnus

Posted by Pete Maclean on 7th February 2008

Pete Maclean.

A fine, fairly easy (for me) puzzle. I especially liked 1D, 8D and 16D.

Across
1. BRASSICAS - BRASS (money) + I (I) + CAS[t] (almost throw away)
6. PESOS - PE (exercises) + S (spent) + OS (overseas)
9. SCOTTIE - SCOT (payment) + TIE (attach)
10. LONG LEG - N (number) in LOG (register) + L (half-century) + EG (say)
11. EAGER - REG[g]AE reversed
12 SUSTAINED - SU (U.S. reversed) + STAINED (dirty)
14. HIT - double/cryptic definition
15. CHANTICLEER - anagram of EACH CLIENT + R (Robin’s beginning)
17. APPELLATION - A (a) + PP (parish priest) + L (left) in ELATION (high spirits). I had not come across this abbreviation for parish priest before but have determined that it is commonly used.
19. LAY - double definition
22. ERNST - ERN (Wise) + ST (saint). This one had me stumped for a while until I tumbled to the notion that Wise must clue Ernie (Ern’) Wise of Morecombe and Wise.
24. ATTENDS - A (a) + TT (race) + ENDS (finishes)
26. UPSTART - UP (on a horse) + START (set the ball rolling)
27. TORSO - T (elephant’s tail) + OR SO (approximately)
28. WAKE ROBIN - anagram of BROKE WIND. “Wake-robin” and “lords and ladies” are alternative names for a certain plant. I was even dimly aware of that fact.

Down
1. BASIE - BASE (not noble) with I (one) inserted. A lovely semi-&lit.
2. AMONGST - MO (medical officer) in ANGST (worry)
3. SATIRICAL - anagram of RACIALIST
4. CHELSEA WARE - anagram of CASE LAW HERE. A fairly easy anagram to work out after I guessed that the second word had to be “ware” but I had not heard of Chelsea ware before.
5. SOL - S[ign] O[f] L[ife]
6. PANDA - AND (as well as) in PA (Pennsylvania)
7. SILENCE - LE (leaders of law enforcement) in SINCE (as)
8. SAGE DERBY - anagram of BREAD YES G[ood]. I do like Sage Derby!
13. SITTING DUCK - SITTING (session) + DUCK (Bob)
14. HEAD START - HEADS (call as in “heads or tails”) + TART (loose woman)
16. CONFESSOR - anagram of SCONES FOR. Refers to the English king known as Edward The Confessor. (And my history is so poor that I have no memory of why he was given that sobriquet.)
18. PAINTER - double definition
19. LINEAR B - NEAR (almost) in LIB (section of library). This one I had to look up.
21. LENTO - LENT (fast) + O (orchestral overture). Lent is a period of fasting but is it, I wonder, quite correct to define Lent as a fast?
23. TITAN - TA (borders of Transylvania) in TIN (can)
25. SAW - double definition

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