Posted by Ali on 17th July 2008
After the recent US Open puzzle, here we have another crossword themed around one of golf’s 4 majors. For the non sporty amongst you, The British 3/4 starts today at 16/8, with the notable absence of the injured 22/2!
Am unsure on a few bits of wordplay, and one or two names used were a little obscure (at least for someone of my age), but there was some excellent material with many thematic references throughout, so overall a thoroughly enjoyable way to start the day.
| Across |
| 1 |
LOW VOICE - (COOL VIEW)* |
| 5 |
APLOMB - (Herbert) LOM in A,PB - I’d never heard of Herbert Lom, but he was in some classic films (The Ladykillers, Spartacus), so maybe he’s a bit before my time |
| 9 |
ABOVE PAR - Golf reference No.1 here. Also refers to the lyrics to Grace Kelly and Bing Crosby’s song ‘True Love’ from High Society (which again I’m far too young to have known without Google!) |
| 10 |
PUTTER - Not quite sure on this one. How does ‘putter’ relate to ‘press’? |
| 12 |
ELSE - (SA golfer Ernie) ELS,E |
| 13 |
APPARELLED - RE (first and last letters of 16/8) in APPALLED |
| 16/8 |
ROYAL BIRKDALE - (KOALA,LYREBIRD)* - Venue for The Open |
| 18 |
EAGLE - I’m sure we all knew that Australian KEN NAGLE won The Open in 1960, but not quite sure how he drops a K, L and N to make up the answer here |
| 21 |
CONSTRICTS - I for U in CONSTRUCTS |
| 23 |
BALL - BALL[(-STEREOS)*] - Fairly poor I think, as the answer is basically given at the start of the clue. The use of ‘Seve’ would have been better, though we have him again at 29A |
| 26 |
TROUGH - T[-he],ROUGH - Great clue |
|
| 27 |
CO-WORKER - O,W in COOKER - Not sure how cooker refers to 11D |
| 29 |
SEVEREST - SEVE,REST - A much better Ballesteros clue |
| |
| Down |
| 1 |
LEADER - “Lieder” - Bernhard Langer is of course German |
| 3/4 |
OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP - (NO MAN COPES,HIP,HIP)* |
| 7 |
OUTPLAYED - (POULTE[-r]DAY)* - A lovely clue. Ian Poulter is the golfer who (incorrectly and foolishly) thinks he’s as good as Tiger Woods |
| 11 |
MASTERSTROKE - MASTERS + OK in odd letters of sTaRtEd. The Masters is one of the other 3 major golf tournaments |
| 14 |
HOLE - “Whole” - ‘One of 18′ is a nice definition |
| 17 |
MERCATOR - R.E.M rev. on (ACTOR)* |
| 20 |
CLARET - (REAL)* in CT - Another Open reference here, this time to the trophy |
| 22/2 |
TIGER WOODS - G in TIER,WOODS - In light of his recent withdrawal, I wonder if this clue was edited from just ‘Favourite to win….’ after submission! |
| 26 |
ROSE - ref. Brit golfer Justin Rose |
Posted in Independent | 13 Comments »
Posted by nmsindy on 17th July 2008
Mixture of some very easy clues and some much trickier ones, I thought - solving time, 20 mins.
* = anagram < = reversed
ACROSS
1 JACK AND JILL The well being where they went to get the water in the Nursery Rhyme.
8 TUBA abut< neighbour (vb)
9 REVOLUTION (to ruin love)*
10 STAR (DU S) T du = of the (in French i.e. Parisian) S = society
11 Y (A) RROW worry< = stew
12 L IN NET
14 DEBUNKED Definition and pun on bed = bunk
16 STAIR ROD Cryptic definition If you see ‘flight’ in a clue, think of a flight of stairs.
19 TAP (P) ER Tricky taper = to become less significant i.e. to narrow
21 EMETIC Hidden
23 FRONT MAN In dances, Dan (a man’s name) is in the front.
25 PTARMIGANS (ragman’s tip)*
26 BRAN(d)
27 Hilary MANTEL PIECE
DOWN
1 J (O) UST
2 CH A GRIN
3 AIR GUITAR A guitar with no strings - play it for fun.
4 DE VOTED
5 IN LAY Fancy bit e.g. ornament = inlay
6 LATER AN 1929 Treaty between Mussolini’s Italy and the Vatican.
7 HOL (OCEN) E (once)* My last entry.
13 IN TIM ATE
15 BOTTOM S UP
17 IN TER (I) M caretaker (adj)
18 DEFLATE (et al fed)<
20 POTABLE (pal to be)*
22 CAI(R)N R = river Cain = Old Testament murderer (of his brother Abel). man is a word for a cairn
21 AG AVE
Posted in Independent | 4 Comments »
Posted by Uncle Yap on 17th July 2008
Common abbreviations used
dd = double definition
cd = cryptic definition
rev = reversed or reversal
ins = insertion
cha = charade
ha = hidden answer
*(fodder) = anagram
A most intriguing set of clues which I enjoyed tremendously for their challenge and their deviousness. Brummie never fails to entertain.
Across
1 UNFOCUSED Ins of CUSE *(clues minus L) in *(found)
10 TONER Ins of One (somebody) in TR (transitive)
11 NEOPHOBIA cd for someone with a dread or hatred of novelty
12 RESOUND RE (note) sound (heard)
13 TRELLIS TR (odd letters of ToRn) ELLIS - Henry Havelock (1859 -1939) British sexologist
14 SAFETY BICYCLE Cha of SAFETY (protecxted status) Bi (sexually ambivalent) CYCLE (turn)
17 STRETCHER BOND Cha of stretcher (to carry an injured) Bond (007)
stretching-bond is a method of building with stretchers only, the joints of one course falling between those above and below (Chambers)
21 THIN AIR alopecia is hair loss or baldness. Thus a prelude is thin hair, which without the h, becomes thin air, which is not good for breathing
22 LACK ALL To ostracise is to “black ball”
24 IN KEEPING A licensee’s work is keeping an inn. Take away one n (lacks new) and ….
25,6 BELLYACHE Belly (pot) A (top grade) Che (f) cook minus F (forte)
26 RORT This was such an obvious ha but I had to consult Chambers and learned a new word which means a fraud or to defraud
27 NON-MEMBER I well remember the vetos by France’s Charles De Gaulle’s on Britain’s entry into the EU. Non (French for no) member (limb)
Down
1 UPTHRUST Cha of UP (excited) ins of H (hearts) in TRUST (faith)
I wonder how Brummie would have clued this as Cyclops :-)
2 FUNDS Fun (leisure) DS (the old LDS system of pound shilling pence minus L (large)
3 CIRCUIT BREAKER *(criketer bra u i) Did you notice the other alter ego (the one with the eye in the forehead) trying to get into the act here? cricketer playing with bra !
4 SAND DAB Ins of N (new) DD (dates) in Saab, the Swedish maker of cars
5 DEONTIC Ins of *(no tie) in DC (District Commissioner, a colonial-day designation which has since been changed to District Officer) BTW deontology is the study of duty, ethics.
7 CABALLERO Cha of CABAL (plotters) *(role) a Spanish gentleman; esp in south-west US, a horseman.
8 ELAPSE Ins of LAPS (stages) in EE (points)
9 THREE-CORE CABLE *(echo cerebral et)
15 FOSSICKER FOE (enemies or foes minus E ) sicker (not so good). Another new word - fossick vi to search for gold, on the surface or in abandoned workings; to rummage.
16 C D PLAYER Corps Diplomatique (Diplomatic Corps) + Gary Player (classic South African golfer) I like the way Brummie disguised the definition “it makes tracks available to us” so this is my clue of the day
18 TORSION Ins of I in TORSO (trunk) + N (third letter of hand)
19 HALOGEN Halo (aura) Gen (general, officer)
20 ETRIER a small rope ladder of 1-4 rungs used as a climbing aid by mountaineers. Another new word for me
23 AD LIB A D (one day) LIB (rev of BIL (l))
Posted in Guardian | 12 Comments »
Posted by Pete Maclean on 17th July 2008
A sound puzzle by Falcon this week. I particularly like 8D.
I am going on holiday and so will not be blogging this puzzle for the next three weeks. Maybe someone else on the team will step in. I will be back with the puzzle of August 2nd.
Across
1. WASTE PAPER - STEP (walk) + APE (primate) in WAR (conflict)
7. SOWN - W (wicket) in SON (boy)
9. FREE - double definition
10. PALINDROME - PALIN (presenter) + D (departs) + ROME (European capital)
11. VANDAL - VANDA (museum, “Victoria AND Albert”) + L[ondon]
12. CUL-DE-SAC - anagram of ACCUSED + L (learner)
13. TEASPOON - anagram of ONE SO APT
15. ELSA - hidden word
17. ASHE - A (A) + SHE (female). What a nicely contorted clue!
19. RINGSIDE - RING (circle) + SIDE (area). When I first solved this, I thought it poor because the clue could be read as non-cryptic. Then I realized that that means one can read it as a semi &lit. Now I cannot decide if it’s a really good clue or not. Any comments?
22. SOURPUSS - anagram of POURS US + S (seconds)
23. ENDEAR - END (intent) + EAR (listener)
25. BRAINCHILD - BRAIN (hit) + CHILD (youngster)
26. NEON - anagram of N (name) + ONE
27. BEST - double definition
28. ENGAGEMENT - double definition
Down
2. ACREAGE - RE (about) in A CAGE (an enclosure)
3. TWEED - T[oil] + WEED (feeble person)
4. PAPILLON - PA (father) + PILL (tablet) + ON (on)
5. PELICAN CROSSING - PELICAN (bird) + CROSSING (interbreeding)
6. RANKLE - [strippe]R + ANKLE (joint)
7. SORCERESS - anagram of recrosses
8. WOMBATS - MOW (cut) backwards + BATS (bananas)
14. SPEARMINT - anagram of MAN PRIEST
16. UNDERDOG - anagram of GROUNDED
18. SCOURGE - SCOUR (search) + EG (say) backwards
20. DRAGOON - double definition
21. QUICHE - QUIC[k] (short short) + HE (male)
24. DENIM - MINE (belonging to me) + D (daughter) all backwards
Posted in FT | 2 Comments »