Posted by Ali on 19th June 2008
I found this tough going for a mid-week puzzle. I’ve never come across a few of the answers before and some clues are still a bit baffling.
| Across |
| 8 |
ZULU - As in the phonetic alaphabet X-Ray, Yankee, Zulu |
| 9 |
INTERFERON - INTER,FE,RON - A nice clue, though ‘footballers’ for INTER is fairly vague, especially when the word itself isn’t exactly commonplace |
| 10 |
?P?O?E - Not sure on this one. Clue is “End of allegiance after mates do this?”. Am guessing it’s &lit, but that’s about as far as I’ve got! |
| 11 |
ACCURSED - R in ACCUSED - Again, not a hugely common word |
| 12 |
NEPALESE - PALES in NEE |
| 14 |
LENGTH - L is the third letter of ZULU in 8A (and short for LENGTH) |
| 16 |
ISLE - [-a]ISLE |
| 17 |
SHEAR - A in (Sir Antony) SHER. Had never heard of him! |
| 19 |
DRIVEL - Driver, with R swapped for L |
| 21 |
TEA TOWEL - Nice defnition here (’Drink dry’) |
| 22 |
ECLECTIC - C in ELECT,IC - Not very often you see this word used as a noun |
| 26 |
CRESOL - (CLOSER)* - Another fairly obscure word |
| 28 |
TINY - TI[-n]NY |
| |
| Down |
| 1 |
SUPPRESSOR - SUP,PRESS,OR |
| 2 |
AUTOMATE - AUTO,MATE |
| 3 |
MISERE - MISER,E - An easy word no doubt if you play cards, but it took me a while to spot it |
| 4 |
STOA - Not sure on this one. STOA is a covered collonade, but can’t work out the wordplay |
| 5 |
ORACULAR - RA in OCULAR - Again, hardly a word I use every day |
| 6 |
NEURON - (O’ER NUN)* |
| 15 |
TORPEDOING - (POINTER DOG)* - Good clue, though quite tricky to work out the anagram |
| 17 |
SPLIT PEA - SP (starting price),LIT,PE,A |
| 18 |
AMORETTO - MORE in [-t]ATTO[-o] |
| 19 |
VIEWER - VIEW,RE rev. |
| 22 |
ALCOTT - C in (TOTAL)* - Louisa May |
| 24 |
CARR - CARR[-ot] - A new word for me |
| 25 |
CRAM - Double definition of “The Jarrow Arrow” |
Posted in Independent | 14 Comments »
Posted by nmsindy on 19th June 2008
Fairly straightforward, solving time 17 mins.
* = anagram < = reversed
ACROSS
1 T (RUM PETER) S st<
9 PRO (S) PER
10 CO (M PAN) y nap<
11 KAPPA hidden
12 SOLITAIRE Double definition
13 SENE CA (seen)*
14 MASS AGE R Mass is another Indy setter
17 OUT BREAK
18 W ALLOW
21 ELECTORAL e (energy) in (real clot)*
23 POS (I) T
24 E (PIG) RAM Mare< Saw = a saying
25 T (OR) PEDO OR = Other Ranks (depot)*
26/8/19 ELEMENTARY MY DEAR WATSON (Eternal words any may meet)* From Sherlock Holmes
DOWN
1 TAP DANCER (a CD parent)*
2 UNREST (tuners)*
3 P E CU LIAR
4 TEMP T (top of table)
5 READING G LASSES
6 SPOKE S
7 TOPPING \ THE BILL
15 ST A G P ARTY
16 DAIRYMAN (I am randy)*
17 O (PEN) ED
20 ELY TRA (rat)*
22 TH(is) RUM
Posted in Independent | No Comments »
Posted by ilancaron on 19th June 2008
This was a mix of accessible and impossible without wikipedia: unless you’re a Blake scholar, I had to reread “Jerusalem” to make head or tail. I’m also stymied by 13A which is unrelated to William Blake to my chagrin. Forgot to blog 3D… which Alan points out below.
Across
| 1 |
LOG,JAM |
| 5 |
ACER,B(IT)Y - ACER is a type of maple. |
| 9 |
D,EG,RADED=dread* - I think “reduced from A to D, say” is the definition by example of DEGRADED (and EG for “say”). |
| 11 |
SIMULTANEOUS - (A, one*) in stimulus* — I challenge someone to describe what the surface is indicating in plain English: “Coincidental stimulus externally applied to a funny one”. |
| 13 |
?H?L - I give up: “Sound of stream at seaside resort”. |
| 17 |
B,ROME,L(I)A - it’s pineapple and our cities are ROME and LA (the American one). |
|
| 18 |
ROUT[e] |
| 20 |
LONG-DISTANCE RUNNER=(loner, raced, results)* - ref. Alan Sillitoe’s “The Loneliness of the …”. Not sure how to classify this: anag &lit? |
| 23 |
GENE,V,A - ref. GENE “pool”: I found this v. hard — took some while until I could disassociate “pool” from “lake”. |
| 24 |
AGE L,IM,IT - not sure how to parse the wordplay? “Colourless Arthurian site setter’s object too old, I might say”. Self-referential since Araucaria is even older than John McCain perhaps? is IT our “object”? I can only think of Camelot. Help! |
| 25 |
W,RINK,LED - ref. ICE rink and LED Zeppelin. Obviously, Araucaria totally rocks. |
Down
| 2 |
OPEN FIRE - clever double definition (one cryptic). |
| 3 |
JE,RU(SALE)M - our theme by Blake. |
| 4 |
MAD,AME - nice clue: ame (with a circonflexe on the a) is soul or spirit in French. |
|
| 6 |
ENGLAND’S GREEN AND PLEASANT LAND - from the end of Blake’s “Jerusalem” (3D) and no doubt an anagram of (gannet’s prangs, laden x 2)* but I haven’t fully worked it out. Another challenge: what does the surface mean? |
| 7 |
B,LAKE - nice clue: he wrote “Jerusalem” and ref. LAKE Geneva. |
| 8 |
TRIQUET=quitter*,RUM - Looked this up — it’s a wrist bone. |
| 12 |
CH(A,RIOT)EER - ref. “Bring me my chariot of fire!” in Blake’s “Jerusalem”. |
| 15 |
C,ARTESIAN - nice clue that even has a sensibly nonsensical surface: ref. CARTESIAN thinking (Descartes’ “I think therefore…”) and ARTESIAN wells and C is about or more or less. |
| 16 |
ALL IN ALL - clever double definition (one cryptic): reminds me of Russell’s catalog of catalogs paradox. |
Posted in Guardian | 19 Comments »
Posted by Uncle Yap on 19th June 2008
Common abbreviations used
dd = double definition
cd = cryptic definition
rev = reversed or reversal
ins = insertion
cha = charade
* = anagram
Quite a challenging puzzle with many varied devices. Very enjoyable
1 HARROW Cha of har(d) row
4 STOPPARD Stop par (normal) d (director)
10 MILKSOP Ins of ILK (sort) in MO (instant) P (piano / quiet)
11 TURMOIL Cha of TUR (n) crisis largely MO (b) IL (heartless petrol producer)
12 HOOK dd
13 SACRAMENTO Ins of A CR (a councillor) AMEN (final word) in ST (street or road) O (round)
16 LOTION Cha of LOT (French for area) ION (rev of NO I, number one or top)
17 WANTAGE Ins of ANT in WAGE. Wantage is a town and civil parish in the Vale of the White Horse, near the Thames Valley, in the English county of Oxfordshire (historically in Berkshire)
20 SUBLIME Sub (substitute on the bench) LIME (green colour)
21 WRITHE Writ (legal document) HE (His Excellency, honorific for an ambassador)
24 HOBBYHORSE dd
25 SNOB s - nob (wealthy fellow)
27 WARRANT war rant or sabre-rattling
29 ENCLAVE ENCL (osed) AVE (nue)
30 RED ALERT Ins of EDALER *(dealer) in RT (rev of TR, transactions)
31 BEDECK Ins of ED (boy) in Beck (remember at his beck and call?)
Down
1 HOME HELP H (hard) ins of HEL (l) lot of suffering in OMEP *(poem)
2 RULE OF THUMB punny clue, quite witty
3 OUSE (m) OUSE, a river in Yorkshire
5 TUTORIAL *(lout Rita)
6 PEREMPTORY Cha of PER (rev of rep, salesman) E MP (English politician) TORY (rightwinger)
7 ADO bAnD nOt
8 DOLLOP DO (party) LLOP (rev of POLL, head, see Chambers)
9 SPEAR S (special) PEAR (conference pear, a bell-shaped green pear)
14 NIGHTINGALE *(healing Tring minus R)
15 VOLLEYBALL Volley (outburst of cannon fire?) BALL (sounds like bawl, cry)
18 IMPOSTER IM (road) POSTER (notice) The main road in the north of England is the A1M
19 TEA BREAK Te (note) A + ins of R in BEAK (magistrate)
22 SHOWER dd, take your pick from Chambers
23 ASHEN Ashe (court hero, a marvellous misleading definition) N (close to exhaustioN)
I am sure we have not forgotten Arthur Ashe who beat Connors at the 1975 Wimbledon finals. He contacted AIDS from a blood transfusion during a heart surgery and died in 1993 at 49.
26 ACHE ha
28 ROD dd
Posted in FT | 1 Comment »
Posted by Pete Maclean on 19th June 2008
An easy Mudd this time around. 19D was the only clue that stumped me for a while.
Across
1. HOPPER - [c]HOPPER
4. SCHOONER - CH (companion) in SOONER (rather)
9. READER - DE (two low grades) in REAR (behind)
10. INDICTED - INDIC[a]TED (shown with A[ccusations] removed)
12. BIKE - hidden word
13. SANTA MARIA - TAMAR (river) + I (one) in SA (South Africa)
15. CONVERSATION -AT (a time) in CONVERSION (change)
18. ONOMATOPOEIA - ON (on) + OM (order) + AT (at) + OP (work) + {A (article) + IE (that is) + O (old)} backwards
21. THOMAS COOK - M (capital of Malawi) in anagram of CHAOS in TOOK (guided)
22. ERNE - reverse hidden word
24. BOOB TUBE - BOOB (mistake) + TUBE (public transport network)
25. JORDAN - double definition
26. ENGINEER - E (close to accomplice) + anagram of IN GREEN
27. MORSEL - S (last of fungus) in MOREL (mushroom)
Down
1. HARDBACK - HARD (alchoholic) + BACK (sponsor)
2. PLANKING - PLAN (design) + KING (piece on [chess] board)
3. EWER - [s]EWER
5. CONSTITUTION - anagram of IS NOT CUT INTO
6. OPIUM POPPY - cryptic definition
7. NATURE - TAN (shade) backwards + URE (river)
8. REDIAL - anagram of DERAIL
11. DANSE MACABRE - DAN (boy) + CAME (reached) backwards in SABRE (sword)
14. DEAN MARTIN - DEAN (clergyman) + MARTIN (bird)
16. HEBRIDES - cryptic definition (”he brides”)
17. PATERNAL - A (a) + TERN (bird) in PAL (friend)
19. STABLE - double definition with “string” meaning a collection of animals. This usage of “string” is a little obscure - which is fine - but the wording seems a little awkward.
20. SO LONG - SOLO (individual) + N[ottinghamshire] + G[lamorgan]
23. BOZO - BOZ (Dickens) + O (nothing). “Boz” was an early pen-name of Charles Dickens.
Posted in FT | No Comments »