Posted by rightback on 15th March 2008
Solving time: 18:05
Lots of difficult words in this puzzle, though that’s understandable as alphabetical jigsaws must be tough to construct. I struggled on the right-hand side and was surprised to discover that all my guesses were correct, for once.
Addendum - Berny has just pointed out below that the clues are presented in rhyming couplets. I’m sorry to say I didn’t notice this, but it certainly enhances the puzzle considerably, as the rhymings and clues are not overly contrived despite this restriction.
Music: Grieg’s “Morning Mood” from his setting of Peer Gynt by 22dn.
* = anagram, “X” = sounds like ‘X’.
| Across |
| 1 (Q) |
QUIGHT; (THUG IQ)* - the English poet Spenser used this to mean ‘quite’, in the sense of ‘just so’, and ‘quit’, meaning ‘to leave’, but not, according to Chambers, as the past tense of ‘quit’ meaning ‘left’, so I’m not sure this clue is correct. |
| 5 (W) |
WONDER WOMAN; rev. of (RED + NOW) + W[ith] + OMAN - apparently Diana Prince was Wonder Woman’s alter ego - see here. |
| 8 (C) |
CHAP + AT + I - I know it literally means ‘eastern’ or ‘from the east’, but is India really ‘oriental’? |
| 9 (M) |
MINT + OFF - Dom Mintoff turns out to have been the former Prime Minister of Malta. The wordplay was pretty unambiguous or I would have had grave doubts about this answer. |
| 11 (O) |
OLD AGE PENSIONERS; (GLADE)* in OPEN, + (SENIOR)* - I think ‘himself’, referring back to ’senior’, is supposed to be the definition here. |
| 12 (H) |
HIVE[s] - hives being a slang term for nettle-rash and laryngitis. |
| 13 (J) |
JACK RABBIT; RABBI in JACK[e]T |
| 17 (S) |
SERVICEMEN; (EVEN CRIMES)* - a good place to start: a fairly obvious anagram, easy to solve, and immediately placeable in the grid (it couldn’t go at 13ac because then the answer to clue V would have to be 9 letters). |
| 20 (R) |
REVOLVING CREDIT; (DIRECT)* - wordplay in the answer. Not a term I knew but it looked more likely than ‘revolting credit’. |
| 23 (P) |
PARLOU[r] + S - probably the worst of the surface readings. |
| 24 (A) |
AN + T(BE)AR - very easy if you know the word ‘edentate’, which seems to crop up regularly in Guardian crosswords. |
| 26 (D) |
DEDANS; (SAD END)* - another guess for me. This is a French word meaning ‘an open gallery at the end a court in real tennis’. |
| Down |
| 2 (U) |
U + P + ANDOVER |
| 3 (G) |
G + RANGE |
| 4 (T) |
TAILPLANE; “TALE” + PLANE - ‘kite’ being obsolete slang for ‘aeroplane’. |
| 6 (N) |
NUN + DI(N)AL - ‘relating to a fair or market’. |
| 7 (E) |
E + LOIN - I knew this word from barred puzzles, but it’s very difficult for a blocked puzzle, even a prize one. |
| 8 (C) |
CLOTHES PROP; (LO + THESP[ians]) + CROP - ‘See actors mostly’ for THESP[ians] is something only Araucaria would get away with. |
| 10 (F) |
FIRST (= ‘premier’) + FOOTER (= ‘league game’) - this was the one I spent longest on at the end, but eventually decided I couldn’t come up with anything better. It turns out to be a Scottish word meaning the first person to set foot in a house in a new year. |
| 14 (K) |
KEEP GUARD; (DARK GEE UP)* |
| 15 (B) |
BROAD + BEAN - another one I couldn’t really explain, especially since I was doubtful of DEDANS at 26ac. I think it’s BROAD for ‘lake’ (which is questionable) and BEAN for ‘fellow’, as in ‘old bean’. |
| 16 (Z) |
ZILLIONS; rev. of LIZ, + LIONS |
| 19 (X) |
X-RATED; (TAXED + R)* |
| 21 (V) |
VERGE (double definition) |
| 22 (I) |
IBSEN; (BINES)* - the wordplay here is ‘woodbines’, with ‘wood’ in the Shakesperean sense of ‘mad’ or ‘furious’. Hmm. |
Posted in Guardian | 6 Comments »
Posted by Colin Blackburn on 15th March 2008
An enjoyable crossword romp taking in a nice mix of the obscure, the ordinary and the Latin. There are a couple of answers I’m not certain about and one clue, 35, that seems to have an error in it, though it might be my parsing. Oh, and there were a lot of Us in the grid!
|
| Across |
| 1 |
ADDER’S-TONGUE |
ADDER + (ONE GUST)* |
summer = ADDER is a bit of a crossword cliche but here it’s used to very good effect in the surface.
|
| 10 |
SURCULUS |
CRU< in SULUS |
I’d not come across the suckers or the sarongs before. Not sure about the surface of ths one.
|
| 12 |
CRUX |
CR+UX |
UX is an abbreviation of uxor, Latin for wife.
|
| 13 |
DINGLE |
wooD IN GLEbeland |
very nice surface, but glebe land, the land attached to a parish church, is definitely two words in Chambers. I assume the one word form can be justified elsewhere as it is needed for the clue to be sound.
|
| 15 |
PROTEGEE |
P+ROTE+GEE |
GEE is to ‘move on’, as in a horse.
|
| 16 |
LIE-IN |
LIE IN |
ref LIE IN STATE, ie ths does duty for the answer.
|
| 17 |
WHEAR |
HE in WAR |
WHEAR is an old form of ‘where’, is that a “‘Dead’ relative”? Is this a grammatical reference? I note that ‘relative’ has a grammatical meaning but my knowledge of grammar is too limited to pick out the thread from Chambers.
|
| 18 |
DEUS DET |
D + ETUDES* |
D = Deutsch, the catalogue numbers of Franz Schubert’s works. Lovely clue.
|
| 20 |
CORD |
“cored” |
|
| 21 |
TAPU |
lenT A PUkeko |
TAPU is maori for taboo. The surface here is excellent, a pukeko is a New Zealand wading bird.
|
| 23 |
DISLIKE |
(KIDS LE)* |
|
| 25 |
DOLLY |
dd |
One definition is a tray of complimentary sweets. I think the other definition is to the tool for holding a rivet for hammering.
|
| 27 |
BEANS |
dd |
There green and black BEANS. Also, both PEANUTS and BEANS are slang for very little money. At least I tink that’s it.
|
| 29 |
DREAMERY |
ME in DREARY |
|
| 31 |
RANTER |
ANTE in RR |
a RANTER is a “blood and thunder” primitive methodist preacher.
|
| 32 |
ROUL |
O in RUL(e) |
|
| 33 |
PLENARTY |
LE+N in PARTY |
new word for me but related to ‘plenary’, It’s definied as, ‘a state of benefice when occupied’
|
| 35 |
PAINTED GRASS |
I in (GARDEN STRAPS)* |
Unless I’m reading this clue incorrectly I think there is an extra R in the anagram fodder. The clue is, “Gardeners’ garters, form of garden straps I’ll be in (12, 2 words)”
|
|
| Down |
| 2 |
DURRIE |
(c)RI(b) in DURE |
DURE = to last, cf ‘duration’.
|
| 3 |
DRUSE |
DR(ill) + USE |
ill = badly.
|
| 4 |
RUMP |
RUMP(us) |
|
| 5 |
SLURRED |
(RULER’S)* + D |
|
| 6 |
TUDOR |
UDO in TR(ansept) |
UDO is an ivy, while TUDOR as an architectural syle is Late Perpendicular.
|
| 7 |
NINEHOLES |
L in (HE’S IN ONE)* |
|
| 8 |
GAGGER |
G+AGGER |
|
| 9 |
UPLEAD |
(A DUPLE)r |
an UPLEAD is a cable going upwards. The rotation h
|
| 10 |
SCULDUDDRY |
SCUL+DUD+DRY |
SCUL is an old word for school, the answer is Scottish, hence Burnsian.
|
| 11 |
PEERLESSLY |
SLEEPER* + SLY |
|
| 14 |
CISPLATIN |
(IN PLASTIC)* |
a drug used to treat cancers.
|
| 19 |
TIERCED |
C in TIE + RED |
|
| 21 |
TORANA |
TO RANA |
RANA is an Indian prince so ‘local’ here refers us back to the first use of Indian in the clue.
|
| 22 |
A L’ENVI |
VENIAL* |
straightforward anagram but excellent three-letter word. The type of enumeration offered by Azed made it seem impossible on first reading.
|
| 24 |
KNOUTS |
O in K+NUTS |
|
| 26 |
MERLE |
L in MERE |
I haven’t yet equated MERE to ‘antiquated outfit?’
|
| 28 |
AGORA |
comp. anag. &lit |
the long dash represents the word in the answer. So, (GRECIAN LOCALE)* = AGORA L-LICENCE. The whole clue serves as a definition.
|
| 30 |
YANG |
NAY< + G |
|
Posted in Azed | 5 Comments »
Posted by Colin Blackburn on 15th March 2008
I had so solve this puzzle immediately after solving another Nutmeg puzzle so I was hoping for a very different theme. The preamble suggested choices in solving clues and in entering answers. At first I stared bemusedly at the clues wondering how to best start this one. Then I noticed something. A lot of clues had short words of the form xORy. Mmm, a quick count of the clues with the letters OR embedded within words revealed just half. The penny drop for this one is right at the start.
So, each time an OR appears I have to choose one half part of the word or the other. This works fine for the first few I try with just four letter words but then it breaks down when the words are longer. So, it the letter one side of OR or the other. This works and fits in better with the triple choice in one word. A couple of the normal clues solved reveal words with OR in them and so a similar choice has to be made before entering. From this point in it’s just a slog, and very enjoyable slog though.
To the setter’s credit all of the choices in the grid check with other choices. This is an excellent construction and makes it just a little trickier.
|
| Across |
| 2 |
CHLPRELUDES |
CHORAL PRELUDES |
(SAD HERO PURCELL)* |
|
| 10 |
FREAK |
PASTor’s |
F+REAK |
REAK is an old word, hence ‘past’.
|
| 11 |
EDIIAL |
EDITORIAL |
EDIT+”Oriel” |
ref Oriel College, Oxford.
|
| 12 |
CUSCLE |
CORPUSCLE |
PUS+CL in CORE |
CL = extremely crucial.
|
| 13 |
EVAPTE |
EVAPORATE |
PAVE< + ORATE |
flag is to pave, as in lay paving stones or flagstones.
|
| 15 |
ESCED |
ESCORTED |
ESCORT+ED |
ref Ford Escort, ED = limits of England
|
| 16 |
HELMED |
MorsE |
ME in HELD |
|
| 19 |
MEMLANE |
MEMORY LANE |
MEMO + NEARLY* |
|
| 21 |
EDUCIBLE |
CREDITors |
ED for CR in CRUCIBLE |
the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield is home to the snooker world championships.
|
| 24 |
MARSH TIT |
HISTory |
HIST* in TRAM< |
|
| 26 |
ESSENCE |
Corn |
C in ESSENE |
I think there is an error in this clue. An Essene is an ascetic rather than an aesthete.
|
| 28 |
REENCE |
REENFORCE |
REEN+FORCE |
|
| 31 |
MEANB |
MEANBorn |
BARON* in MEN |
|
| 33 |
PISTOL |
forGET |
dd? |
I’ve not checked this one, is Pistol one of Falstaff’s servants? See comment 1.
|
| 35 |
IMPUNE |
IMPORTUNE |
IMP+(f)ORTUNE |
|
| 36 |
DEOANT |
DEODORANT |
(DO NOT READ)* |
|
| 37 |
ENDER |
ENDORSER |
DORS in RENE< |
ref Diana Dors, British actress.
|
| 38 |
NEWSTHINESS |
NEWSWORTHINESS |
(NEW SHIRT SEWN SO)* |
rags = newspapers.
|
|
| Down |
| 1 |
AFCE |
AFFORCE |
A F-FORCE |
the stutter from s-squad gives the stutter in f-force.
|
| 2 |
CRUSADE |
corA’S |
(A’S)< in CRUDE |
|
| 3 |
HESCOURSES |
HORSES FOR COURSES |
HORSES+FOR+COURSES |
|
| 4 |
LACED |
SorbET |
(p)LACED |
|
| 5 |
REEL |
dorIAN’S forTUNE |
dd |
a reel is a Scottish (hence Ian’s) tune.
|
| 6 |
LIVE |
EXorcIST |
EVIL< |
|
| 7 |
UIALLY |
UXORIALLY |
(b)UXO(m)+I in RALLY |
|
| 8 |
ELT |
SorrOW |
(f)ELT |
|
| 9 |
SUEDETTE |
Worn |
SUE+(w)ETTED< |
|
| 14 |
PMANTEAUDS |
PORTMANTEAU WORDS |
cd |
a portmanteau is a case that gives its name to a word construction like ’slithy’ for ’slimy’ and ‘lithe’ where two words and their meanings are packed together.
|
| 16 |
HEL |
norMAN & forLorn |
HE+L |
tricky triple choice in ‘forlorn’!
|
| 17 |
PETER PAN |
corPoreAL |
PETER+PAN |
…and another. Peter Pan was Wendy Darling’s pal. Incidentally, Barrie created the name Wendy.
|
| 18 |
LIMN |
WordING |
“limb” |
|
| 20 |
MESS |
MORE OR LESS |
MORE + LOSERS* |
ref Thomas More and another great compression into four letters.
|
| 22 |
FIENNES |
ThorOUGH |
“fines” |
Ranulph Fiennes is an explorer who has led many tough expeditions. I have, though, beaten him in the Lowe Alpine Mountain Marathon!
|
| 23 |
CENTOS |
horOSCOPE |
reCENT OScope |
|
| 25 |
ACE |
HorsE |
A+CE |
I’m not sure about this one. either HE or SE should lead to A. See comment 4, HE = A.
|
| 27 |
LEPNE |
LEPORINE |
(PERIL ONE)* |
|
| 29 |
COAT |
CORROBORATORS |
COR+ROB+ORATORS |
Fantastic construction here getting 3 ORs in there.
|
| 30 |
TITI |
AcorN |
TITI(an) |
Titian is a colour (used by the painter).
|
| 32 |
BERS |
BORDERS |
BO(a)RDERS |
|
| 34 |
IDE |
Work-OUT |
(w)IDE |
|
Posted in Inquisitor | 5 Comments »