Posted by NealH on 7th July 2008
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed
Very tough puzzle today from Hypnos.
| Across |
| 5 |
Leaflet: I think it’s a soundalike of Leif + Lett. |
| 7 |
Stir Fry: Stir + fry. |
| 9 |
Leonardo da Vinci: (on DVD a clear No I I)*. Nice implied reference to the Da Vinci Code. |
| 11 |
Annex: An ex around n. |
| 12 |
Dreamboat: (board met a)*. |
| 14 |
Mazarin: Marin[e] around A-Z. |
| 16 |
Network: (Ken around row + t)<. |
| 18 |
Blasphemy: (help by a s)* around m. |
| 19 |
Phase: hidden. |
| 21 |
Clean as a whistle: Clean + (saw + this*) in ale. |
| 23 |
Javelin: I thought this was very tough. I think it’s Jain around ve[i]l, but the cryptic definition also adds to the difficulty. |
| 24 |
Quarter: Qu + ER around art. |
| Down |
| 1 |
Demean: [James] Dean around ME. |
| 2 |
Sear: hidden in fabulous early. |
| 3 |
Stratagem: terms* around a tag. |
| 4 |
Armchair: March with m moved down 2 places + air. |
| 6 |
Finnegan’s wake: Finn + eg + (new [t]ask)*. |
| 8 |
Rainbow chaser: RA + in + soundalike of beau + chaser. I didn’t really like the “favoured”, since it’s quite misleading and doesn’t seem to add anything to the clue. |
| 10 |
Ogre: OG (own goal) + RE. |
| 13 |
Lithuania: Lit hu[m]an + AI<. |
| 15 |
All clear: cryptic def. |
| 17 |
Emma: I think this is [h]amme[r]<. |
| 20 |
Seller: Peter Seller[s]. |
| 22 |
Haul: Soundalike of hall. Unfortunately, I dug a deep hole for myself here by putting “dore” to start with. |
Posted in Independent | 3 Comments »
Posted by diagacht on 7th July 2008
| Across |
| 7 |
FLAWLESS: F + LAWLESS |
| 9 |
E-BOATS: anagram of TO BASE |
| 10 |
STYE: STYLE less L (Roman numeral) |
| 11 |
KICKED BACK: The back who was kicked, retaliated |
| 12 |
CARAFE: A RAF in CE |
| 14 |
ABRASION: A BRA + IS (reversed) + ON |
| 17 |
EDUCATE: DUCAT in EE |
| 20 |
ALACRITY: A LA + R in CITY |
| 22 |
BUST-UP: double definition |
| 23 |
WELLINGTON: Duke of Wellington, Wellington point (Brisbane or Smyrna) |
| 24 |
LIFT: double definition |
| 25 |
HOSTEL: anagram of THOSE + L |
| 26 |
MALINGER: &Lit |
|
| Down |
| 1 |
FLAT RACE: anagram of FERAL CAT; classic flat races include the 1,000 Guineas and the Derby |
| 2 |
TWEE: in beTWEEn |
| 3 |
HECKLE: &Lit |
| 4 |
DEFERRED: FED (reversed) + ERRED |
| 5 |
BOBBY SOCKS: BOBBY (copper) + SOCKS (hose) |
| 6 |
STUCCO: CUTS (reversed) + CO |
| 8 |
SOCIAL: double definition |
| 13 |
ARTICULATE: double definition |
| 16 |
FRIENDLY: &Lit |
| 18 |
TRUFFLES: T + RUFFLES |
| 19 |
SYSTEM: as in betting system |
| 21 |
LIE LOW: double definition |
| 22 |
BUNGLE: BUNG + LE |
Posted in Guardian | 6 Comments »
Posted by beermagnet on 7th July 2008
There seemed to me to be a lot of question mark ended clues this time, at least they were the ones I had most trouble with, probably just me then. In truth this was solid stuff from the one-eyed one.
| Across |
| 8 |
LABOURING - LABOUR,I,N,G |
| 9 |
FA CUP - [wi]F[e],A,CUP(=single supporter) Shouldn’t this be (1,1,3) rather than (2,3) ? |
| 11 |
GREEK - R inside GEEK as in “Phil the Greek” |
| 12 |
DOORSTEPS - (STOP SOD ER)* Anagrind: “moving” First to go in |
| 13 |
FERRARI - (RARE)* inside FRI Anagrind: “get screwed” I had the wordplay but had to try each “weekday” twice before stumbling on the correct “goer” |
| 15 |
ETHICAL - T from [pinoche]T inside (A CHILE)* Anagrind: “buggered” |
| 17 |
DOING A U-TURN - (RUN INTO A DUG)* Unfortunately, the phrase has a rather obvious letter count for the definition. Anagrind: “out” |
| 21 |
TEAR GAS - DD |
| 23 |
THE POPE - POP inside THEE (”you once”) Can someone explain how we get POP from CRACK. The only relationship I can think of is the onomatopoeic “Snap, Crackle and Pop” |
| 24 |
HAPPY HOUR - HAPPY (dwarf) H OUR |
| 26 |
ADOLF - A[way],Do,LeFt Last one to go in - How embarrassing. Mr Hilter did not spring to mind until the checking F appeared. Somehow he goes beyond being defined as a mere “Dictator” |
| 28 |
NUTTY - DD Nice one. Full clue:
Bananas like testicles? (5) |
| 29 |
PISS-TAKER - K[ay] inside (PASTRIES)* Anagrind: “fancy” |
| |
| Down |
| 1 |
SLAG OFF - S,LAG OFF |
| 2 |
OBOE - O inside O,BE Nice to see something other than Gong=OBE. Scope for working a reference to “Pink” in there |
| 3 |
MUCKRAKING - (UK CR[edit])* in MAKING. Anagrind: “collapse” |
| 4 |
PIDDLING - Double Def PEER (def.) as a verb |
| 5 |
IGNORE - I[ndependent] then N inside GORE Blank (def.) as a verb. Needed all the crossing letters for this |
| 6 |
UFOS - (OF)< inside US (as in the “country”) Initially wondered how the Foreign Office (FO) were defined by “violators”. Full clue:
Country split by backing of violators of its air space? (4) |
| 7 |
APOSTLE - POST inside ALE |
| 10 |
CRESCENDO - (R[ight] SCENE)* DO Anagrind: “ugly” |
| 14 |
RED CARPET - DC (the Det. Con. kind of copper) inside REAR PET. Favourite Clue (smutty surface wins again):
Copper shoved in butt by Darling - all part of the VIP treatment (3,6) |
| 16 |
HOUSE PARTY - Charade of Commons and Faction. I’m sure a house party can be held in urban areas too - Oh there’s a question mark at the end - so the def. is only an example, probably - so that’s all right then (?):
Commons faction gathering in the country (5,5) |
| 18 |
UPTHRUST - DD - I think. As a scientist I understand the seismic reference, but what about the first half of the clue? - Oh there’s a question mark at the end - so the def. is only an example, probably - so that’s all right then (?):
Part of the sex act that causes the earth to move? (8) |
| 19 |
ETCHING - [r]ETCHING |
| 20 |
PERFORM - PER[v] FORM Trickiest clue in my estimation. With only -E—R- I spent time trying to force FEATURE (from “appearance”) to fit:
Be a luvvie: dirty old man, very off appearance (7) |
| 22 |
SLOPPY - LOP inside SPY For a while I was trying to force SYRUPY to fit |
| 25 |
YO-YO - ho ho |
| 27 |
OIKS - (SI[c]KO)* Anagrind: “snapped” |
Posted in Private Eye/Cyclops | 3 Comments »