June 2008
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Archive for June, 2008

Guardian 24,421 (Sat 21 Jun)/Paul - Knap hand

Posted by rightback on 28th June 2008

Solving time: 15:55

Don’t take too much notice of my time - I was at least three-quarters asleep when solving this. Reasonably straightforward for Paul, I think.

I’m going to be unable to blog next week, so thanks in advance to whichever of the team steps in. I also won’t be able to respond to any comments on this puzzle, so I apologise in advance for any mistakes I’ve made.

* = anagram, “X” = sounds like ‘X’.

Across
1/26	ST(RING + THE)ORY - I spotted the possibility of THEORY early on but couldn’t think of a word meaning ‘article’ ending -ORY.
4	GYP + SUM
9	BLUB; rev. of BULB
10	PROPAGANDA; “PROPER GANDER” - ‘gander’ being slang for a look.
11	R.I. + MINI
12	PATHE + TIC[k] - the Pathé company used to produce news-reels.
13	FRANGLAIS; (A FAN + GIRLS)* - nice clue, with a well-connected anagram and definition (’tongues entwining?’).
15	BRIE; B (= ‘Second-rate’) + RIE[sling] - I needed a dictionary after solving to fathom this one.
16	POSH; (SHOP)* - I think ‘her’ must refer to Victoria “Posh” Beckham.
17	BANK + I + MOON - I knew the person I was looking for straight away from the enumeration, but needed most of the letters to come up with the exact name. Ban Ki-Moon succeeded Kofi Annan as Secretary-General of the UN. It seems to be pretty much compulsory to have a wacky name to hold that office; Mr Moon (yes, ok, Ban is the family name) comes only third in the ’silly names’ contest, just pipping Dag Hammarskjöld but behind U Thant and the clear winner Boutros Boutros-Ghali, whose real claim to fame was a leading role in The Fast Show in the 1990s - brilliant. Sorry, where were we? Oh yes, the crossword. ‘Show behind’ is very subtle for ‘moon’ here.
21	T + RAVERS + E
22	ACCORD; “A CHORD”
24	PILLOWSLIP; (LOW + S) in (rev. of LIP, + LIP) - difficult to unravel.

Down
1	SOLD(I)ER
2	RAB + BI - as in Rab Butler, former Deputy Prime Minister amongst other cabinet jobs.
3	NUPTIAL; (PAUL IN T[ROUBLE])* - ‘without money’ indicating ‘remove ROUBLE’.
5	YEASTY - not a meaning I knew.
6	SNARE DRUM; rev. of MURDER + ANS[wer] - I like ‘very difficult’ for MURDER.
7/27	MIDLIFE CR + IS + IS - the second word was clear but the first eluded me until I had the initial M; ‘if (might one say)’ for MIDLIFE is very good and perfectly fair, I think - I’d accept that even in The Times.
8	COMPLICATEDLY; (MY TOPIC CALLED)* - unusual to have an anagram indicator from the same root as the answer; this clue pretty much told you the solution so I should have been much faster with the anagram.
14	NASH + VIL(L)E
16	PER(SIS)T
18	K + NAPPER - my last entry, and a guess, as I didn’t know (or couldn’t remember) KNAPPER, meaning someone who breaks stones, or NAPPER, slang for the head.
20	DRAWER; rev. of REWARD
23	CROSS (double definition)

Posted in Guardian | No Comments »

Independent 6770 by Phi

Posted by nmsindy on 27th June 2008

Each of the Indy setters has their own distinctive talent - with Phi it’s immaculately constructed clues that I always find I can understand. This was a typical example, where I was able to work out from the wordplay two words that were completely new to me, verifying them after. These were both in the lower half of the grid which I found much trickier than the top half. Solving time, 19 mins.

* = anagram < = reversed

ACROSS

1 AN (AB APT IS) T Member of certain Protestant movements in the 1500s ant = soldier apt = appropriate AB = sailor

6 A BUT

10 T ROOP poor<

11 ARRIVISTE r (right) in (varies it)*

12 (p)LOT

13 FUG (obscure stuff) UsEd Odd letters. Not the first or last musical reference in a Phi clue.

14 SUPERNOVA (prove a sun)* &lit

15 OUT OF THE FRYING PAN INTO THE FIRE range = oven

22 ATROCIOUS O (nothing) in (a court is)*

24 D (I V) OT Driver = golf club V = see

25 HUB (bub)

26 VAPORETTI (top variety)* less y = unknown (algebra) New word number 1 (boats used in Venice)

27 OCTET Hidden < Appearing for second day in a row.

28 (c)RUSH

29 VESTRY-ROOM (over stormy)* A brilliantly concealed anagram in a great surface reading.

DOWN

1 ACT OF GOD Excluded from insurance policies usually.

2 A (MO) NGST

3 APPLE OF DISCORD (displaced proof)* From Greek mythology (prelude to Battle of Troy)

4 T (HAT’S) T HAT Middle of guTTer

5 STRAP parts<

7 B (ASS) OON

8 TO (ERA) G(s) Or it could be toga.

9 OVER MY DEAD BODY Double definition - split is at you/put

16 FETISHI ST (thief is)* Obsessive is a noun here.

17 TEE TOT (r)UM New word number 2 (old spinning top).

19 A PROP O S First letters Good flow in the surface reading

20 IN VIT(e) R O First letters again for the last two.

21 SA (L) VER

22 OUTRE r moving down in ROUTE

Posted in Independent | 2 Comments »

Guardian 24426/Arachne - TGIF

Posted by ilancaron on 27th June 2008

Some tough stuff here that had me using Chambers (not something I like to do on a Friday morning getting ready for work but I tend to have a bit more time). Bit of a disheartening experience discovering I didn’t know what SPINNERET (Arachne spinning her web?), BREADHEADS and CAVATINA meant — nor a couple of unusual meanings for ALSO and GRAM. Good clues though with surfaces that held together nicely. And I feel a barrage of explanations about to descend for all the things I didn’t understand.

Across

1	C(HA,’S,T)ITY - Can’t explain the HA though.
5	SCARAB - hidden in “genuS CARABus” and might be an &lit (is the SCARAB in the CARABUS genus?)
9	MASTODONS - (and so most)*
11	VAL(U)E
12	DISHEARTENED - I think this is a double definition with the first one being cryptic and the other def “down”. However, there might be some wordplay going on that escapes me: e.g. SHEAR,TEN in DIED??
15	LEA[r]N - good misleading surface: def is just “lean”.
16	F,ONT=not*,AN,ELLE - needed Chambers to check that FONTANTELLE is the soft spot on the skull of an infant.
18	THREEPENNY - tough clue: needed all the crossing letters to work this out: vulgar as in “The Threepenny Opera” and it’s an old coin (octagonal I think?).
19	[g]US,ED - not sure about the wordplay: should the clue have been “Employed boys who’re no good?”
21	CAVEAT=vacate,EMPTOR=(pro tem)
24	AB,ASH=has*
25	SPINNERET - it’s the part of a spider that knows how to spin (a web). But the rest? “Fly, oddly, only eats part of spider”.
26	STA(I)RS - Pegasus is a constellation, and flight as in flight of STAIRS.
27	STOCKMAN - two meanings.

Down

1	COMB - two meanings
2	ALSO - hidden in “hospitAL SOmetimes” — turns out that Chambers always says ALSO is archaic “item”.
3	T(R)OPIC - ref. TROPIC of Cancer e.g.
4	TOOTHSOMENESS - (one’s smoothest)*
6	CAVA,TINA - had to look this up… yes, it’s a kind of melody.
7	RELENT,LESS - nice charade with a convincing surface.
8	BREAD=(are, bd)*,HEADS - Brit slang for the money obsessed.
10	STARTING, POINT - ref. to start from “scratch” — and I imagine one of the 9000 meanings of POINT is “sting”.
13	PLUTO,C,RATS
14	LA, TR(A,VI)AT,A - might be an &lit if I knew the plot of LA TRAVIATA but it sounds plausible as is! I think the wordplay is: A,VI (few?) in rev(tart). But I could be wrong.
17	METAPHOR - (map, other)*
20	CO,G,NAC=rev(can=tin) - G for general but… how does pot give us OC or CO?
22	GRAM=rev(marg=margarine) - chickpea (didn’t know this… checked Chambers).

Posted in Guardian | 14 Comments »

Inquisitor 77 ONE TOO MANY by Raich

Posted by Hihoba on 27th June 2008

Easy to solve the grid (with some rather underwhelming clues), much harder to find the phrase made up of the extra letters.

The phrase was almost irrelevant in terms of completing and sending in the solution. I find this is often the case in these crosswords and It might be a good idea if we were always required to write the missing/extra letter phrases below the grid to prove a complete solution before being eligible for champagne!

The appearance of BERLINER on the third line from the bottom led to a search for ICH BIN EIN which appeared on the two lines above it, and KENNEDY on the second line from the top. Kennedy’s “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech was made nearly 25 years ago.

A bit of Wikipedia searching led to the (incorrect) urban myth that “ein Berliner” is a doughnut, while “Berliner” without the “ein” is an inhabitant of Berlin. Hence Kennedy had said ONE EIN TOO MANY and was LITERALLY saying “I AM A DOUGHNUT” instead of “I am a citizen of Berlin”.

Solving time : 1.5 hours to complete the crossword and another hour to find all the extra letters and to remove some that I had, but were incorrect!

Below the bracketed italic letters are the extra ones.

Across
1	GAUSS - unit, GAS round US
5	SARAJEVO - capital, RAJ is sovereignty + E(nglish) in SA(L)VO (proviso or reservation)
11	AWAKEN - rouse, AWN (shelter) round (I)KE
13	YLEM - original material, MY (writer’s) round LE
14	EDIT - censor, IDE(a) reversed + (T)T for dry - it took 2 days to work this out!
15	INTROMIT - insert, INT(E)R Milan + OMIT
16	PED - a basket, anagram of P(R)ED which is provided minus Ovid
17	WALL - it divided city, W(ith) + A + (so)L(id) + L(ine)
18	POLLEN - found in flowers, POLL (head) + EN (nurse)
19	EMIR - ruler, [(A)IRME]*
22	CHEER - entertainment, [(L)ECHER]*
24	PIRANESI - architect, [INSPIRE A]*
26	HOSTELRY - inn, HO(use) +(L)RY (lorry’s odd letters)
28	LITHO - print, sunLIT HOllow
29	OCTA - eighth, OC +TA
31	BIOPIC - film, B(ritish) = I(ndependent) + OP + (n)IC(e)
34	YEAH - I agree, even letters in cheatery, reversed
38	ING - meadow, IN(diana) + G(rand)
39	ABSORBER - it takes in, [ROBBER SA(Y)]*
40	LINE - double meaning
41	ARTY - interested in painting, PARTY (do) less P(riest)
42	MASKER - one partly hidden, REAM reversed round SK(I)
43	ZOOPHYTA - sponges, [PATH OOZY]*
44	WHIRL - turn rapidly, W(est) + H(A)IR (shock) + L(earner)
Down
1	GAZPACHO - spicy soup, [OZ CHAP (M)AG
2	A-WEEK - set of seven, AWE + EK
3	SKIPPET - flat box, SKIP + PET
4	SET-TO - bout, SE(A)T + T(ense) + O(rganised)
5	SNIP - small piece, S + N + (D)IP (pawn)
6	ANNULI - rings, ANNUL + I
7	RETTERY - where flax is wet, RETRY round T(O)E
8	ADRENAL - beside the organs, [ALDER(m)AN]*
9	ELMA - girl, EA round L(U)M
10	VEIL - V + E(G) + IL
12	ADDREST - once set up, REST below A + D.D.
13	YOWE - dialect for ewe, [(H)OW YE]*
20	METHINK - it seems to me, MINK round [THE(N)]*
21	RIOT GRRL - aggressive young lady, RI + OT + GR(eek) + R + L - beware of GIRL
23	REBIRTH - revived interest, [TH(U)RBERI]*
24	PLIABLY - in a flexible manner, PLY (good) round BAIL
25	NICEISH - somewhat agreeable, ICE (reserve) + IS in NH
27	ROBERT - him, ROBE + RT
30	AHOY - call at sea, A HOY
32	IN-LAW - relative, (T)IN (can) + LAW (act)
33	SNEER - show contempt, REENS reversed
35	EBRO - river, hidden pathetically!
36	AS TO - in the matter of, A + STO(ry)
37	IRMA - girl, IR(ish) + MA

Posted in Inquisitor | 6 Comments »

FT 12,804/Orense - Twin Shocks

Posted by smiffy on 26th June 2008

In the interests of timely publication, I’ve kept annotations to a minimum today. Nothing too untoward here, although the repeated use of “shock”=hair seems a touch gratuitous, and a couple of the single letter/abbreviation indicators are in questionable territory.

Across
1 BO(TT)LE
5 SCHOONER - double def’n, although I tend to think of a schooner glass rather than bottle.
9 OPERETTA - (a tree top)*
10 BEAK,ER
12 PHYSIC[-s],A,L
14 HAIR OF THE DOG - “setter” and “shock” are both stalwart cryptic indicators, and probably instantly familiar to seasoned solvers.
18 C,LOSING TIMES - “Copyright”=c is my bone of contention here. Isn’t that the slippery slope towards “Dollar”=$=s or “At”=@=a…?
22 WASHED UP - literally and figuratively.
25 BRA,N(D)Y
26 GO,B,LET
27 TUMB(L)ERS - (best rum)*. Again “port”=left=L strikes me as tenuous. Although, maybe no more so than the more readily accepted “student”=L in 12Ac?
28 EGG TIMER - (get grime)* and an &lit, thanks to the phrasing as a question.

Down
2 OP,POSE
3 TAR, NISHES - (shines)*
5 SHAM,POO - cryptic def’n, albeit telegraphed by “shock”.
6 HOB,B[-adl]Y
7 OK,A,PI
8 ELEVATOR - (leaver to)*. A seamless join between anagrind and anagram fodder.
15 TIME BOMBS
16 EN,SNARLED
19 I(C)E - a nice idea, but probably not quite an &lit this time.
21A,D,ORES
23 HE,LOT
24 DA(T.U.)M

Posted in FT | No Comments »

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