Guardian 24340/Araucaria
Posted by Colin Blackburn on March 19th, 2008
As ever a few liberties taken here and there by Araucaria but on the whole a fair puzzle.
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PSALMS | S in PALM+S | the Sunday before Easter is Palm Sunday. The implied Sunday has to be abbreviated for this to work. |
| 4 | APERIENT | APE + INTER* | took me a while to see this one as you need to read it as inter changed. 26! |
| 10 | PRINTING | ? | not sure about this one. PG = lodger (paying guest) though I had to look that up. How is RINTIN “Alsatian largely”? Full clue is, “Lodger keeps Alsatian largely to make an impression (8)” |
| 11 | FISH OUT OF WATER | dd | to fish out of water! |
| 13 | GOOSE LIVER | GOO + REVILES< | 1 is PATE but in true crossword sense can be read as PATE. |
| 14 | PERILUNE | PERIL+UNE | cf perigee. As is normal with Araucaria when a word is split over two lights each light is a distinct word. |
| 18 | SHEEPISHLY | SHE+EPIS+H(o)LY | “begins episcopate” leads to EPIS, a bit of a liberty… |
| 25 | LANDLADY | N in LAD + LAD + Y | …and another. Can Y = York without being part of NY? |
| Down | |||
| 2 | AMERIGO | ER in AMIGO | the explorer who gave his name to America. |
| 3 | MISCHIEF | M IS CHIEF | 21 is MON(K)EY BUSINESS. “M” is James Bond’s boss. |
| 5 | PURPOSELESS | O.S.E in PURPLE+SS | the E here is the start of eleven = XI. |
| 8 | TIGER LILY | (GRILL YET I)* | nice surface with (flower) bed well hidden. |
| 12 | UNINHABITED | UNI(o)N+HABITED | not sure about the surface here, at least the “…is desert” bit, but I like HABITED for “being dressed like a nun”. |
| 13 | GOLD MEDAL | OLD+ME+D in GAL | ME = the setter. |
| 15 | LIONS DEN | ON in D(a)NIELS* &lit | very nice. |
| 17 | NONAGON | NAG in NOON | 12 = NOON (not UNINHABITED!) |
March 19th, 2008 at 10:12 am
10A Rin-tin-tin was an Alsation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rin_tin_tin
March 19th, 2008 at 10:21 am
Thanks. I think that makes 10 a very difficult clue to cold solve. I know about Tintin but Rin-tin-tin was a bit before my time!
March 19th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Whippersnapper….
March 19th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
12dn: The original meaning of ‘desert’ (as an adjective) is ‘uninhabited” - a desert island is one without people, not one without water!
10ac was my last entry to complete the puzzle, but once I had come up with PRINTING I spotted the “paying guest” and Rin-Tin-Tin rang a bell (onomatopoeic pun?) even though it is a bit before even my time…
March 19th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
I get the use of desert to define UNINHABITED, I just don’t get what it is meant to suggest in the surface reading.
March 19th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
Sorry, Colin! My interpretation was that ‘desert’ in the surface reading should be pronounced deSERT (with the stress on the second syllable), as in ‘(getting ones) just desert’, ie being dressed as a nun is the reward for a loveless marriage. If this explanation is correct, the clue might have read better with a dash instead of ‘and’.
March 19th, 2008 at 8:10 pm
12d “loveless marriage” = union without O plus “dressed as nun” habited
March 20th, 2008 at 12:21 am
Aferick: Colin clearly understood the mechanics of the wordplay, it’s the SURFACE he’s questioning.