Independent 6,780/Dac
Posted by Ali on July 9th, 2008
Fairly easy today, I thought. No major stumbling blocks, but some very nice clues as always from Dac.
| Across | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | SOAP DISH - ‘One with role of bar keeper’ is a nice definition | |
| 5 | TEASER - EASTER with ‘time give priority’ | |
| 10 | OLD - OLD[-ham] | |
| 11 | WEIGHTINESS - EIGHT in WINE,SS | |
| 12 | PEDAGOGUE - PE,D,”AGOG” | |
| 14 | GAGARIN - GAGA,R[-ussian],IN - Yuri was of course the first human in space | |
| 18 | WALLAH - WALL,A,H - Needed to check this one in the dictionary. The ’someone’ defnition seems a little vague, but so is the meaning of the word, so fair enough! | |
| 20 | RONDEAU - (OUR DEAN)* | |
| 23 | ODEON - O + E in DON | |
| 24 | TRAINABLE - (LEARN A BIT)* | |
| 26 | UNEMOTIONAL - (MEAN LION OUT)* | |
| 28 | SEDANS - s[-ecur]E,DANS - ‘People carriers of old’ is another nice definition | |
| Down | ||
| 1 | STOPPAGE - Double definition | |
| 2 | AIDED - HIdden rev. in cruDE DIAgram | |
| 3 | DOWAGER - DO,WAGER! | |
| 4 | STING IN THE TAIL - That’s the second time Mr. Sumner has appeared in a recent puzzle | |
| 6 | EMITTER - MITT in EER | |
| 7 | STEP ASIDE - (AS IT’S DEEP)* | |
| 9 | THE ENTERTAINER - John Osborne’s play and the tune which most people know from The Sting | |
| 15 | GRAVESEND - GRAVE’S END - I guess the strict Ximeneans would argue with the capital letter on ‘Town’, but I’ve got no complaints | |
| 19 | LINCOLN - Abraham, who’s not quite ABED at 27A | |
| 21 | NONPLUS - NO + PL in SUN rev. | |
| 22 | ROGUES - (GROUSE)* | |
| 25 | BRASH - BRAS,[-pus]H | |
July 9th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Yes, good puzzle. Two very minor points - I thought in 4 down that IN THE TAIL was a homophone ‘in the tale (romance)’ (with role in).
In GRAVESEND thought it was the dregs of the wine Graves so Graves’ end.
July 9th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Yep, I’d say you’re correct on both points, Niall. I did actually wonder about how 15D worked as GRAVE’S END, but clearly got too caught up with the capital letter! GRAVES’ END is much better.
July 9th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
I forgot my pen this morning, so had the interesting intellectual challenge of doing this in my head on the tube. Fellow passengers might think I was stumped, staring blankly at the grid, but I got there in the end! Liked SOAP DISH and GRAVESEND.
July 9th, 2008 at 6:47 pm
I think the next challenge for Mick is to solve the puzzle in his head without a pen and without the paper
July 10th, 2008 at 12:49 am
GRAVESEND
Ali I don’t think the strict Ximeneans would actually complain about ‘Town’ rather than ‘town, in the clue for 15dn, assuming that Azed has taken on the Ximenean mantle and that his pronouncements tell us what is allowed and what isn’t. He says (I think) that he can accept (just) a capital that has been inserted to help the surface, but can’t accept the lack of a capital when grammar dictates that there should be one. Thus you can’t refer to that place north of Camden Town as kentish town.
July 13th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
Any idea about 29ac? It’s omitted from the original post.
“Maybe a general term for money that’s not initially supplied”.
We have:
_R_S_ H_T
I’m thinking ‘brass’ for money, but stumped beyond that.
July 13th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
Not got the puzzle now, Simon - but I think it’s BRASS HAT - definition “maybe a general” BRASS (as you suggest) (t)HAT.
July 13th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
Ah, so it is. I wasn’t familiar with the term itself, but it makes complete sense. Thanks!