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Archive for May 1st, 2008

Guardian 24377/Chifonie

Posted by Colin Blackburn on 1st May 2008

Colin Blackburn.

 

 

 

 

* = anagram
< = reversal
dd = double definition

Across
9 RODIN (e)RODIN(g) good to see ‘endlessly’ refer to both ends creating a nice surface.
10 WARMONGER RM+ON in WAGER another very good surface.
11 SANDERLING SANDER+LING rubber = SANDER, LING is a crossword cliché but here ‘plant’ rather than Heather, say, nicely fits with the deceptive ‘rubber’. A SANDERLING is a small wading bird often found on beaches.
22 CHAMBERTIN CHAMBER+T+IN my first thought was yet another anagram of ‘orchestra’ with T added. Instead it is a straightforward charade leading to a wine from Burgundy.
25 EPISCOPAL (SPOIL CAPE)*
26 AWING A+WING this one threw me as I tried to find a fly fitting -I-G. It didn’t help that the verb ‘awe’ didn’t spring to mind.
27 LATENCY TEN+C in LAY
28 ABETTER A+BETTER
Down
3 WINDERMERE WINDER+M+ERE nice allusion but is ‘in Lakeland’ a reasonable definition for WINDERMERE?
4 NEWEL fiNE WELl-designed the online version doesn’t have a hyphen in ‘well-designed’.
5 SERENGETI (GREEN SITE)* nice surface that following 3 suggests a park in the UK rather than Tanzania.
6 MOOR dd ‘fell’ is a northern English word for a hill or upland tract of land, including moorland.
7 TOGETHER TO+GET+HER I’m sure the device has been used before but ‘in concert’ helps create a nice surface.
13 OPEN SESAME O+PENS+E+SAME excellent word play.
15 SLAP HAPPY PALS< + HAPPY HAPPY is one of the Seven Dwarfs, now name the other 6 without using wikipedia.
16 CROMWELL ROM+WELL after C C= contralto, ROM = Romans (bible).
17 PSALMIST S in PALMIST I guess David wrote some Psalms.
19 STRICT (di)STRICT DI = detective inspector, a UK police rank.

Posted in Guardian | 10 Comments »

Independent 6721/Nimrod

Posted by neildubya on 1st May 2008

neildubya.

I found this reasonably easy (for a Nimrod) although I couldn’t get 26 and didn’t fancy guessing it either. I spotted the Nina with the grid half full though so filling in the missing letters made the rest of the puzzle that little bit easier.

Across
4 (BE STUCK)* in RUT - RUSTBUCKET.
9 N,(AGE)* in NONE (reversed) - an ENNEAGON is a nine-sided polygon (or nonagon).
12 TE,R in A,LEGO - “Lawrence” is often TE or DH in crosswords.
17 APEMEN in (SECT)* - the ESCAPEMENT is the mechanism in a clock or warch which connects the moving parts to the balance, it says here.
21 (P READ AND)* - RED PANDA.
23 (LIME US)* - MUESLI. “-style” seems superfluous here.
26 LANDRAIL - had to Reveal this one and I still don’t understand it. A LANDRAIL is a bird and “both sides” could be L AND R but that leaves AIL.
28 [-s]HOES
 
Down
2 (GET ANY Z)* - YANGTZE. If sleep is ZZZ then “a little” must be Z, right?
4 GI,RAM (going up) in ROLE
5 SINBAD THE SAILOR - “specific rating ” is THE SAILOR and SIN,BAD are two types of evil but I don’t really see why the (a) and (b) stuff was necessary. Am I missing something super-subtle?
7 E in (LAWS RACY)* - CLEARWAYS.
8 NAVE (going up), GEL
14 EH (going up),PH on A DONE - HEADPHONE. “Cans” is a slang word for “headphones” although it’s not in Chambers Online and I don’t think I’ve ever seen in used in the singular form. No reason why it shouldn’t be though I guess.
16 (IN MEETS AT)* - ESTAMINET.
18 SLEEPER - the very long definition (the whole clue minus the last word) caught me out here.
20 hidden reversed in “thEM IT’LL Arouse”
22 NOT UP - a TON is a 100 but I can’t see how that works in the answer.
24 hidden in “wEAR THe” - with “trousers” as the indicator, which I rather like.

Posted in Independent | 8 Comments »

Independent on Sunday 950 by Quixote (27 Apr 2008)

Posted by nmsindy on 1st May 2008

nmsindy.

I found this very easy, solving time 12 mins

* = anagram < = reversed

ACROSS

1 POLISH Double definition

4 ACC R EDIT

9 ERR AND S

11 (C) UMBRIAN

12 GO (U) D A dog<

13 ANTENATAL Cryptic definition, if not the most cryptic ever. ‘like’ indicating the adjective

14 BE A T A RE TREAT

18 HOUSEBREAKER (hero rebukes)*

21 S (HATTER) ED

23 RALPH Hidden

24 MAESTRI (Smartie)*

25 DRAWERS Double definition

26 N A T(o) URIST

27 A STE (R) N

DOWN

1 P LEDGE &lit.

2 L A RRUP (purr a L)<

3 SINHALESE (He’s an isle)*

5 COUNTER MAN DE(e)D

6 RO BIN (OR)< Other Ranks

7 D (RIFT) NET nurse = tend<

8 TONALITY (not laity)*

10 SCATTER BRAINS (in bars)* as ’scatter’ could serve as an anagram indicator

15 THE BROADS Chris Broad and his son Stuart

16 CHESSMEN Well crafted hidden Definition is ‘king and queen - maybe’

17 BUD APE ST

19 FLEECE Double definition

20 CH OSEN (nose)*

21 TU TOR rot<

Posted in Independent | No Comments »

Financial Times 12,746 by Cincinnus

Posted by Pete Maclean on 1st May 2008

Pete Maclean.

An easy puzzle from Cincinnus with a few typically brilliant clues (1A, 13A, 18A, 5D).

Across
1. BEANS ON TOAST - anagram of NOT A SNOBS TEA. And a wonderfully English &lit to boot.
10. REEL OFF - double definition
11. EMIRATE - EMI (record company) + RATE (esteem)
12. CATCH - double definition
13. FLAGSHIP - FLAGS (ensigns) + HIP (with it)
15. PLAYTHINGS - double/cryptic definition
16. FAIR - F (fluorine) + AIR (mixture of gases)
18. TOPS - anagram of POST
20. SALAD CREAM - A (a) + LAD (young man) in SCREAM (something very funny)
22. TRUMPETS - E[legan]T in TRUMPS (best suit)
24. TRAIN - double definition
26. ORIOLES - RI (Rhode Island) in anagram of LOOSE. The Baltimore Orioles are a major-league baseball team. I am no sports fan but I know of the Orioles thanks to a friend who lives near Baltimore.
27. SATSUMA - A (a) + MUST (necessity) + AS (when) all backwards
28. GREENFINCHES - GREEN (inexperienced) + F (fellow) + INCHES (measures)

Down
2. ELECTRA - ELECT (chosen) + RA (artist). I did not know that Electra was Agamemnon’s daughter!
3. NEOPHYTE - anagram of THEY OPEN
4. ORFE - hidden word. The orfe is a freshwater fish found across northern Europe and Asia. It occurs in larger rivers, ponds, and lakes, typically in schools. (As I determined from Wikipedia.)
5. THEOLOGIAN - anagram of HOTEL IN GOA
6. AGING - A (a) + GIN (trap) + G (good)
7. TRACHEA - RAC (motoring organisation) in THE + A (articles)
8. PRECIPITATION - double definition
9. TEMPERAMENTAL - TEMPERA (paint) + MENTAL (up the wall!)
14. BIPARTISAN - I (one) in BP (oil company) + ARTISAN (skilled worker)
17. ECSTATIC - E[ton] C[ollege] + STATIC (still)
19. POURING - POUR (for French) + IN (in) + [avi]G[non]
21. ERASURE - ER (queen) + A (a) + SURE (certain)
23. PULSE - double definition
25. ASTI - hidden word

Posted in FT | 2 Comments »