Crossword No 6700 by Al
Posted by NealH on April 7th, 2008
*=anag, <=reversed, [] =dropped
I’ve not come across this compiler before, so wasn’t sure what to expect. It was a good, although not horrendously difficult puzzle with some excellent attempts at deception. The only clue I didn’t really follow was 16 across.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Hors Doeuvres: Horse + s around (devour)*. This spelling of Hors D’oeuvres always throws me, although it’s come up a few times before, so it must be allowed. Horse clued as “unusual meat” might be a bit debatable, since it depends what country you’re in. Clearly, in the UK it would be unusual, but less so in countries like France. |
| 10 | Idiot: Id + o in it. |
| 11 | Transport: (torn past)* around r |
| 12 | Hairnet: Hair (Darryl, controversial test umpire) + net. |
| 13 | Lorelei: lore + lei. |
| 14 | Nontoxic: (On tonic)* around x. |
| 16 | Ferret: (Ref)< + re + t. I don’t know what ferret has to do with tape, unless there is such a thing as “ferret tape”. |
| 18 | Copper: Co + pp + er. |
| 20 | Portions: port + ions. |
| 24 | Sporran: SP + narro[w]<. |
| 25 | Pastime: PE around “as Tim”. |
| 27 | Lookalike: Kali + k in Looe. |
| 28 | Aware: A + ware. |
| 29 | Ethnocentric: (content reich)*. |
| Down | |
| 2 | Ovidian: (in a void)*. |
| 3 | Sit in: Nit is<. |
| 4 | Outstrip: Cryptic def (Gypsy Rose Lee was an old burlesque dance act). |
| 5 | Unable: U + (el ban)<. |
| 6 | Resurgent: Res + urgent. I’m not personally a big fan of having latin in puzzles (mainly because I didn’t do it at school, so usually end up having to guess what the latin word is). |
| 7 | Spoiler: (prose + i l)* |
| 8 | Lichen: chil[dr]en*. Not heard of lichen as a skin disease before. |
| 9 | Strict: Stir with i moved down 1 place + ct. |
| 15 | Overreach: over + reach. |
| 17 | Complete: (c + omelet + p)*. |
| 18 | Castle: Cast + l + e (chess piece aka rook). |
| 19 | Promote: Prom + (ot)< + e. |
| 21 | Origami: (I’m + a giro)<. |
| 22 | See red: Seer + ed. |
| 23 | Indigo: In + dig + o. Good deception to make it look like a word inside dig. |
| 26 | Shaft: double def with a clever surface that pointed towards prisons. |
April 7th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
I wouldn’t mind some enlightenment on TAPE = FERRET myself.
Very Ximenean debut from AL, although I think there could be some cake-throwing at the next bash involving those who would rather sleep with Ann Widdecombe than risk the ignominy of clueing Lorelei LORE/ LEI.
I’m sort of kidding of course - welcome AL, a fine start.
April 7th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Chambers has “Ferret” as a narrow silk or cotton ribbon.
April 7th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
Not a début, I think - I seem to remember a previous Indy (just one) by Al three or four years ago. Enjoyable puzzle.
April 7th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
I’ve just clicked who ’tis. Thanks to Ray and NMS.
April 8th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
I was not impressed by 12 across. How can we be expected to know that Hair is a cricket umpire? A very 29 across clue.
April 8th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
As I alluded in the blog, he has been in the news a lot because of the controversy over his decision to accuse Pakistan of ball-tampering. You could equally well argue that it’s unfair to expect us to know latin or to have heard of Ovid or Gypsy Rose Lee.
Unless you’re going to make a rule that all crosswords should stick only to well known English words, there is always likely to be some bit of general knowledge you’re lacking.
April 9th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Thanks to all for the kind words/feedback. I am slightly baffled by Paul B’s “Ann Widdecombe” comment…
Al