Posted by nmsindy on 24th April 2008
I found this exceptionally easy - Solving time, 10 mins
* = anagram
ACROSS
7 CHARGE Double definition
8 G U I DANCE
9 HOUSEMAID’S KNEE Good cryptic definition
10 M1 D O FF Fielding position (cricket)
11 GASOLINE L (litres) in (agonise)*
13 MAID OF ORLEANS (ladies room fan)* Joan of Arc
16 CONFETTI See 9 across
18 DEMAND Hidden
20 AGATHA CHRISTIE (a cattish hag ire)* You can’t libel the dead, I think.
22 (PR) OGRESSES
23 ASS I (G) N
DOWN
1 CHROMIUM
2 P (REST) 0
3 P (ERMAFR) OST (farmer)*
4 (p) AIRS
5 MAG NOLIA (a lion)*
6 S (ChoiR) EEN
8 GOING TO PIECES (no ciggies poet)*
12 S (A LAD) CREAM
14 IN FLAT ED At the top indicates position in this down clue
17 O RANGE
19 M (IS) USE
21 HOSE(a)
Posted in Independent | No Comments »
Posted by Ali on 24th April 2008
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Blog Number 1 from me, so first things first, hello!
A puzzle of two halves for me. The bottom half went in fairly easily, but I came a bit unstuck on the NW corner, so decided to start looking around for a theme to help out. At which point I spotted Tottenham’s very own (Jonathan) WOODGATE across the bottom and (Dimitar) BERBATOV across the top. Would Eimi by any chance be a Spurs fan?
All the missing answers fell into place after that and I was done and dusted before I got off the bus. Good stuff, I enjoyed this one.
Unsure on some wordplay though, so any pointers would be appreciated.
| Across |
| 9 |
REPROVE - REP,ROVE. I usually think of ‘reproof’, so didn’t get this straight away. A lovely surface reading though |
| 11 |
CENTESIMO - (SET INCOME)* - Old currency of Uruguay (and Italy) |
| 12 |
RALES - R,ALES - A new word for me. ‘A rattling sound from a diseased lung’, so says Chambers |
| 13 |
IAMBI - I,AM,BI(sexual)! My fave clue this one. Very cheeky |
| 14 |
ELONGATED - A good surface here with ‘as coverage for’ as the container indicator for O(pe)N in ELATED, but is ‘golf’ G? Have never come across that before if so |
| 16 |
HEALTH INSURANCE - (CHELSEA HURT IN AN)* Not sure about the ‘fringe players’ bit here as the rest of the clue seems to work OK without it |
| 20 |
FREEZABLE - ‘May get solid’ is the defintion here. F[-i]RE + [evidenc]E +(BLAZE)* is how we get there. |
| 22 |
ORANG - ORANG[-e]. As in Orang-outang |
| 24 |
RURAL - RU(RA)L[-e] ‘The Gunners’ here being the Royal Artillery, rather than Tottenham’s bitter North London rivals, who surely never break the rules! |
| 27 |
ANGULAR - Can’t quite work this one out, other than the definition being ‘bony’ |
| 28 |
NULLIFY - (FILLY[-R]UN)* |
| |
| Down |
| 1 |
BRACKISH - RACK (e.g. of lamb) in BISH (a mistake or blunder) |
| 2 |
EPONYM - E(PONY)M Until Berbatov revealed himself, I spent far too long assuming ’space’ must be SP, rather than the old printer’s favourite EM |
| 3 |
ROSE TINTED - There were a few options with this one I thought, so it took a while to spot SET in ROTE + D(ead) |
| 4 |
BERIBERI - The last answer I got, and I think it’s right, though I must admit I can’t work out the wordplay! |
| 5 |
ARROYO - Hidden in GuitAR ROY Orbison. Again, a new word for me. It’s ‘a dry watercourse’ apparently |
| 6 |
TSAR - Subtract AM(erican) R(eligous) I(nstruction) from Amritsar (where you’d go to see the Golden Temple), and there you have it. |
| 8 |
VERSED - VERSE,D. Comes right after Verse C! |
| 15 |
GORGONZOLA - NO GROG rev. on top of (Emile) ZOLA, our writer |
| 18 |
SINGEING - A nice surface, and I’ve done enough of these things now to know what I’m looking for when I see ‘Mahler’s fifth’, ‘Beethoven’s Second’, etc. |
| 19 |
EAGLE EYE - I liked the definition here (’One’s very keen’) but am not sure where the A comes from. I make this to be GLEE in E YE |
| 20 |
WARSAW - WAS,RAW rev. |
| 23 |
ALBEIT - A,LB + TIE rev. |
| 25 |
LALO - French music type person Édouard-Victoire-Antoine, hidden in VilLA-LObos. Thanks Wikipedia! |
Posted in Independent | 10 Comments »
Posted by diagacht on 24th April 2008
| Across |
| 1 |
COPPER: double definition |
| 4 |
CLEMATIS: M in CLEAT IS. Clematis Vitalba is a wild flower, also known as Old Man’s Beard |
| 9 |
NORMA: hidden in londoN OR MAnchester. It’s a 19th Century opera by Bellini |
| 10 |
WOMANKIND: WOMAN + KIND As Eileen points out this is an anagram of MAID KNOWN (kicking myself!) |
| 11,15 |
TENNESSEE WILLIAMS: US State + Archbishop of Canterbury (Rowan Williams) |
| 12,6 |
GLASS MENAGERIE: G LASS (good girl) + MEN + AG + ERIE. A play by Tennessee Williams |
| 13 |
PEARL FISHERS: PERISHERS (the lost) containing A (adult) and LF (low frequency). An opera by Bizet. |
| 17 |
GOOD BREEDING: &Lit |
| 18 |
ADULT: AD (poster) + ULT (last month) |
| 21 |
ANDROCLES: AND + anagram of CLOSER. This was the chap who fixed up a wounded lion and domesticated the wild beast |
| 23 |
STORM CONE: (MC (compere) + ON (performing)) in STORE |
| 25 |
MANDRAKE: MAN + DRAKE |
|
| Down |
| 1 |
CENOTAPH: anagram of NOT CHEAP |
| 2 |
PARENTAL: AREN’T (don’t exist) in PAL |
| 3 |
ERASE: ERAS + E (entirely to start with) |
| 5 |
LAMBETH BRIDGE: an actual bridge but also a reference to the Archbishop of Canterbury who living in Lambeth Palace is seen as a bridge to the various member churches of the Anglican Communion |
| 7 |
TAIWAN: anagram of AIT + WAN |
| 8 |
SADIST: hidden in iS A DISTinguishing |
| 10 |
WEST INDIA DOCK: WE + STINK around (AID (reversed) + DOC) |
| 14 |
LION TAMER: &Lit, although I may have missed something here. |
| 16 |
EGGSHELL:an EGG’S HELL but also a very thin form of pottery china |
| 18 |
RANSOM: ROM (read only memory) around ANS |
| 19 |
SUBORN: attributes, according to the nursery rhyme, of the child born on a Sunday |
| 22 |
OCHRE: CHORE rewritten so that it is led by the heart! An interesting break with the rules, but I like it. |
Posted in Guardian | 17 Comments »
Posted by Pete Maclean on 24th April 2008
This puzzle has no fewer than three clues that I lack a complete understanding of: 26A, 5D and 21D. My copy of the paper did not include the clue for 23D and I retrieved it from the FT web site.
Across
1. EGGHEAD - double definition. Eggcellent!
5. POMPOUS - POM (Englishman abroad) + anagram of OPUS
9. CEDAR - hidden word
10. SEVENTEEN - EVENT (occasion) in SEEN (observed)
11. SCAPEGOAT - S (seconds) + A PEG (a pin) in COAT (jacket)
12. FUNGI - homophone. I have a friend who has used this pun about himself before!
13. WHOOPEE CUSHION - cryptic definition. Not terribly cryptic though.
19. CURRENT ACCOUNT - double definition
20. DEMON - MO (doctor) in DEN (study)
22. TWITTERED - T (model) + WITTERED (waffled on)
24. MENAGERIE - anagram of EMERGE IN A
25. LIMBO - LIMB (arm) + O (love)
26. CROUTON - ???
27. LIAISON - anagram of SAILO[r] IN
Down
1. EXCESS - homophones
2. GODFATHER - D (daughter) in OF (of) all in GATHER (marshal)
3. EYRIE - [af]RI[ca] in EYE (one looks)
4. DISHONEST - DISH (serve) + ONES (one’s) + T (time)
5. PIVOT - PI (good??) + VOT[e] (choice of candidates, short)
6. MANIFESTO - MANIFEST (clear) + O (zero)
7. OCEAN - reverse hidden word
8. SENTIENT - anagram of INTENSE + T (temperature)
14. OVERNIGHT - OVER (finished) + NIGH (near) + [stree]T
15. COCHINEAL - COCHIN (Indian port) + anagram of ALE
16. IGNORAMUS - anagram of ORGANISM around U (pipe bend)
17. ACADEMIC - double definition
19. ADJOIN - A (a) + DJ (record player) + O (nothing) + IN (popular)
21. MANGO - ???
22. TURIN - [Alan] TURIN[g]
23. TULSA - A (a) + SLUT (prostitute) reversed
Posted in FT | 4 Comments »