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Archive for April 21st, 2008

Guardian 24368/Rufus

Posted by ilancaron on 21st April 2008

ilancaron.

Rufus at his finest: an excellent set of misleading and satisfying cryptic definitions and some devious wordplay as well. As per usual Rufus’s surfaces are coherent, sensible and, as a result, often hard to crack. Needed to look up a thing or two which is unusual for Rufus as well.

Across

1 G,AMBIT - someone might quibble and argue that a GAMBIT isn’t necessarily a clever move per se.
5 RECEIVER - two meanings. My last clue.
9 BLACKLEG - first cryptic def. I looked for anagrams first of (he won’t go) and (his mates) which is the sign of a good CD.
10 UP,SETS
11 BEDTIME STORY - another very misleading surface and excellent CD as a result (relation as in narration as opposed to a family member).
13 [o]F[f],LEA - The Society against the Defamation of Insects might quibble about defining FLEA as a “repulsive jumper”.
17 DEAD HEAT - a DEAD HEAT is certainly not decisive and I suppose if it’s not quick, it’s not very alive, thus DEAD?
18 SO-SO - an above average clue. SO is “as”, so “twice as” is SO-SO.
20 CONVENIENCES - I usually don’t like toilet humor but this is my fav clue: very misleading and quite amusing ultimately: “Ladies and gentlemen serving the public” (would have been much easier had it read: “Ladies and Gents…”).
24 EMOTIONS - (into some)* - nice anag &lit (I suppose &lits always tend to be pretty nice!).
26 S[ombre],UNLIT

Down

1 [t]ABLE
3 BUCK,BOARD - this needed some research: BUCKBOARD is a type of carriage, BUCK means to jump (e.g. a horse bucking) and “to go on” is to BOARD.
5 REGAINED THE LEAD - another fine CD: surface misdirects towards reversal when it’s really about overtaking.
6 CAUSE,WAY
7 INSET - is “not flush” and the IN SET are cool.
12 BLUE-COLLAR - another good clue: “appropriate” here is COLLAR (as in, take).
15 OB,SESSION - OB is our Old Boy (former pupil)
16 KEEN,NESS
19 SCOOPS - two quite different meanings.
21 VERDI=drive* - cricket surface and operatic definition.

Posted in Guardian | 30 Comments »

Independent No 6712 by Radian

Posted by NealH on 21st April 2008

NealH.

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed

The Independent continued its trend of trying out less well-known compilers for the Monday puzzle. Radian was another new compiler for me, although I don’t know if it’s actually a debut crossword or not. The theme was plants, so how well you fared with the puzzle depended to an extent on how green-fingered you are.

Across
1 Bramble: (Rabble)* around m.
5 Hyssop: (Posy)< + H around s.
9 Alerted: (lad)* around (tree)*.
10 Soda Pop: (Ados)* + pop.
11 Stonecrop: (once)* + r in pots<.
12 Minor: Soundalike, although as usual with these I was never completely sure whether the answer wasn’t “miner”.
13 Ahern: An around her. Bertie Ahern recently resigned as Irish PM.
14 Euphrasia: Soundalike of “you, Frazier” (Joe Frazier was Ali’s opponent in the “Rumble in the Jungle”).
16 Impatiens: (Emins)* around pati[o].
18 Flora: A + (Rolf)<.
21 Dates: Odd letters from “dead trees”.
23 Red Clover: Red Car with love (0) instead of a.
25 Ginseng: Gin’s eng(lish).
26 Cassava: Ass inside (a vac)<.
27 Walnut: Lawn* + alternate letters of just.
28 Siamese: I in sesame*.
 
 
Down
1 Brassia: Brassica minus c.
2 Anemone: Men< in A one.
3 Butternut: tern in B tutu*.
4 Elder: double def.
5 Hosepipes: (see hippos)*
6 Sedum: Hidden.
7 Orpines: Or + pines.
8 Spirea: Rips< + ea.
14 Eyebright: (They)* around (bri[d]ge]*.
15 Rafflesia: Raffles + i + a.
16 Indigo: Indi[a] + go.
17 Petunia: peanut* around i.
19 Obviate: e boat* around vi.
20 Aureate: [L]aureate.
22 Stein: [Hammer]stein.
24 Docks: homophone of “docs”.

Posted in Independent, Uncategorized | 8 Comments »