Posted by John on 4th April 2008
This took a little longer than usual because so far as I could see there were some rather unusual words and meanings, and I also got one answer wrong, which threw me for a while.
| Across |
| 1 |
HEPATIC - H pa in cite rev. |
| 5 |
SICKBED - CD I think, “off” meaning “not well”. Or is it “off” as in “nodding off”? |
| 9 |
TO A DEGREE - 2 mngs |
| 10 |
STUN G(ingivitis) |
| 11 |
F LAWS |
| 12 |
OR CHEST RA. To avoid the carthorse chestnut is the task for the setter here. |
| 14 |
CHARACTERISTIC - char(=do) act (it cries)*, def. “Just like you”, which seems a bit odd: surely the definition is really meant to be “Just like”. I can’t quite place the “you”. |
| 17 |
SUPER SCRIPT 1 ON. A word that not only is not common, but is used in a rare sense, so far as I can see. |
| 21 |
AND ROME D A, the Greek heroine. “…one with a shred of doubt” is I think just A and D next to each other, in the order DA. |
| 23 |
RING O (Starr) |
| 24 |
BIG O(ne) T(hat) |
| 25 |
GO IT ALONE - (too genial)* |
| 26 |
LEA(R.(R.R.))NED |
| 27 |
NODULAR - l in (around)*. This took me ages because of my getting 15dn wrong. |
| |
| Down |
| 1 |
HI TOFF |
| 2 |
P HAR(d) A OH |
| 3 |
T REA(SURE)R |
| 4 |
CARBON CYCLE |
| 5 |
SEE(m) |
| 6 |
CAST(l)E |
| 7 |
BLU(E)T IT. The question arises how common a foreign word needs to be before it can be used in a crossword. I’d have thought “blut” was at the edge of acceptability, either just out or just in according to your point of view. |
| 8 |
DOGWATCH - g in (what cod)* |
| 13 |
C(REP)ITATION - a word that was new to me and which, according to Chambers anyway, means “crackling”, so the definition is difficult |
| 15 |
INTERLARD - (later rind)*. I confidently wrote in “interlade”, which of course is impossible. Does the word even exist? |
| 16 |
I STAN(d) BUL(k) |
| 18 |
POD AGRA. Had to look this up, but now I realise that I’ve come across it before. |
| 19 |
OWN G(O)AL |
| 20 |
V O(YE)UR |
| 22 |
ORT ON. “Ort” for “small piece” seems a rather unusual word for a broadsheet cryptic. Will Joe Orton eventually be remembered more for his extraordinary lifestyle or for his frequency in crosswords than for his plays? |
| 25 |
GO(O)D I think, where “promoting health” = “good”. |
Posted in Independent | 8 Comments »
Posted by neildubya on 4th April 2008
This seemed quite a bit easier than previous Scorpion puzzles but still provided lots to chew over. I liked 23a and the definition in 17d is excellent.
| Across |
| 5 |
MIR[-ror],AGE |
| 10 |
UNION CARD - can’t work this one out: “ID, carried on van, perhaps by revolutionary character”. |
| 14 |
(HANGS)*,E,AD - I got suckered into thinking that “boozer” meant someone who drinks, rather than a place to drink, so this took a while to get. |
| 16 |
TO in RAG< - GATOR. Cleverly worded clue, although it does result in a slightly surreal surface. |
| 20 |
IS<,I in (BLUES)* - should have been quicker with this as SIBELIUS is a favourite of mine. Excellent surface reading. |
| 23 |
SHAM,POOING - “conditioning locks” is the deceptive definition and “doing his business” provides a welcome opportunity for a childish laugh. |
| 27 |
TOR in NO IO,US |
| |
| Down |
| 2 |
IN in CH,WAG - nice &lit clue. WAG is “Wives and Girlfriends” (ie, of a footballer) |
| 5 |
MEDUSA - didn’t understand when I filled it in but looking at it now I think that “Kansas area” might be MID USA, with E (drug) replacing I (”first”). Or is there more to it than that? |
| 6 |
RECTANGLE - “wrecked angle”, although I don’t understand the rest: “when addressing crossword form”. |
| 9 |
GERRARD’S CROSS - the footballer in question being Steven, the Liverpool midfielder and England underachiever. |
| 15 |
H,EEL PIE,CE - I think I’ve parsed this right as I’ve assumed that “meal perhaps in London” is EEL PIE. |
| 17 |
INN in TITUS - excellent and very misleading definition: “It’s a problem to lug”. |
| 19 |
ON,(OPERA)* - (soap) ON A ROPE. |
| 21 |
(MA[-r]CIANO)* - “Rocky” is practically compulsory as the anagram indicator here. |
Posted in Independent | 2 Comments »
Posted by Colin Blackburn on 4th April 2008
A straightforward puzzle with, and I apoligise for becoming boring on this, too many cryptic definitions. Most of the omitted answers were, for me, common words with good word play but please do comment if you are stuck or baffled.
* = anagram
< = reversal
dd = double definition
cd = cryptic definition
|
| Across |
| 1 |
ENGAGEMENT RING |
cd |
the best cryptic definition here and an excellent example of one. An old university mate was in what would be called a ’show band’, he played the working men’s clubs of the north east playing covers and earning a decent second income.
|
| 10 |
MONKISH |
MON+SIKH* |
|
| 12 |
THROW-DOWN |
THROW+DOWN |
apparently this is a home-made firework. The clue needs to be read as whole for the definition to work which I don’t find very satisfying.
|
| 13 |
ISOMETRIC |
EROTICISM* |
ISOMETRIC exercises are where muscles are held in fixed positions for periods of time.
|
| 15 |
PUTTS |
cd |
‘course’ = golf course.
|
| 17 |
ANCESTRAL |
(CLEAR ANTS)* |
house as in the House of Windsor for example.
|
| 20 |
ACROPOLIS |
cd |
this is simply a definition to me, ‘made up’ is meant to mislead but it doesn’t.
|
| 22 |
ERVEN |
NEVER* |
ERVEN is the plural or erf, a SA garden or plot of ground, a word I have only come across before in Listener-style puzzles. However, the anagram was straightforward and with the checking letters in there could be only one sensible answer.
|
| 25 |
JOB DESCRIPTION |
cd |
this, is also a decent cryptic definition…
|
|
| Down |
| 1 |
ELECTRIC PIANOS |
cd |
…this one though isn’t, I wrote in ELECTRIC ORGANS an equally justifiable answer until you get to the bottom left corner.
|
| 2 |
GESTAPO |
POSTAGE* |
a couple of…
|
| 5 |
NUMERIC |
(MICE RUN)* |
…nice anagrams.
|
| 7 |
NOISOME |
OM in NOISE |
NOISE = rumour, O.M.= Order of Merit, a rare honour since it there can only be 25 holders of the Order at any one time, and the current monarch is one of those. It is also the highest civilian honour, Sir Tim Berners-Lee became a member of the order in 2007.
|
| 8 |
CHINESE LANTERN |
cd |
they are made out of paper.
|
| 16 |
TORNADO |
TO+RN+ADO |
|
| 18 |
CASHIER |
(HIS CARE)* |
CASHIER means to sack from a military post, I’d not come across this definition before.
|
| 19 |
RAVIOLI |
cd |
this is pretty much a straight definition.
|
| 21 |
PAGED |
dd |
this nicely counterpoints 1a and is quite a neat double definition. Some brides have pages (or page boys) on their wedding day. Pagers are now less common due to mobile phones.
|
Posted in Guardian | 11 Comments »
Posted by diagacht on 4th April 2008
| Across |
| 1 |
NEEDLEWORK: NEEDLE (niggle) + WORK (operation) |
| 7 |
COVE: most of a COVE(N) |
| 9 |
CHIC: H (hotel) in CI (channel islands) + C (west of Cuba, i.e. first letter) |
| 10 |
CASHIERING: anagram of CHARGE IS IN |
| 12 |
REHEARSE: REHEARS (tries again, in court) + E (energy) |
| 13 |
PLETHORA: THOR in PLEA |
| 17 |
IBEX: BE (live) in XI (reversed, being a team) |
| 19 |
INUNDATE: anagram of UNITED AN |
| 22 |
WIND-DOWN: WIN (gain) + D (David began) + DOWN (as in down tools) |
| 23 |
DEFINE: FINE (penalty) after DE (outside letters, case, of delicate) |
| 25 |
MICROPHONE: PHONE after MICRO |
| 26 |
NIGH: inside of KNIGHT (answer to 6dn) |
| 27 |
AHOY: every second letter (i.e. regularly) of (e)A(c)H(b)O(d)Y |
| 28 |
AUTOPILOTS: anagram of UP TO IT ALSO |
|
| Down |
| 2 |
ETHICAL: anagram of THE CIA L (left) |
| 3 |
DACHA: hidden in switzerlanD A CHAlet |
| 4 |
ESCARGOT: anagram of STORAGE C (Cold without ‘old’; thanks to Rishi for pointing this out). |
| 5 |
OBSERVATION POST:&Lit |
| 7 |
CURTAILED: TAILED (followed) after CUR |
| 8 |
VENISON: VE (victory in Europe) + IS in NON (French refusal) |
| 14 |
TAXIDERMY: TAXI + DER (German ‘the’) + MY (motorway borders) |
| 18 |
BRITISH: anagram of BIRTH IS |
| 20 |
TONIGHT: ON (working) in TIGHT |
| 21 |
HOOP-LA: POOH (reversed) + LA (West coast city) |
| 24 |
FINAL: FAL(l) (fall finishing early) around I N (1 November) |
Posted in FT | 3 Comments »