Posted by rightback on 25th August 2008
Solving time: Forgot to write down, but about 8 minutes I think
This is my first blog for a few weeks, so thank you very much to bridgesong and Uncle Yap who have blogged Saturday prize puzzles in The Guardian in the intervening period.
The usual good stuff from Taupi this week, with a few quibbles here and there. I’m not sure about the answer to 4dn.
* = anagram.
| Across |
| 1 |
APPAREL; ARE in APPL[e] - I don’t think ‘…covered with no end of fruit’ is the same as ‘…covered with fruit having no end’, but I’ve seen this wording before in the Guardian. |
| 9 |
STRAP; rev. of PARTS - this is very sneaky: the clue is ‘16 sections’, and the answer to 16dn is BIND OVER, which then has to be split up in the wordplay into ‘bind’ (definition) and ‘over’, which is the reversal indicator for ’sections’ = PARTS. |
| 10 |
APPREHEND (double definition) |
| 11 |
ELDER BERRY - refers to Chuck_Berry. |
| 12 |
STE[a]M |
| 14 |
DOUBLE-DECKER; (BLOKE REDUCED)* |
| 18 |
IMPERTINENCE; I + M + ((TIN in RE) in PENCE) - difficult wordplay; ‘about chemical in’ has to be read as ‘about (RE) with chemical (TIN) inside’ which is stretching things a little. |
| 21 |
D(R)IP - but I can’t see how DRIP = ‘wet’ or ‘to get wet’. |
| 22 |
CLOSED SHOP - one of my favourites in this puzzle: ‘Taking on restrictions’, i.e. restrictions regarding who is taken on, is the cunning definition, and ‘6′ means ‘6 o’clock’ rather than clue number 6. |
| 25 |
V + INDICATE - as in the previous clue, ‘5′ doesn’t represent a clue number. |
| 26 |
LARGE (hidden backwards) |
| 27 |
RELIANT; N in (RETAIL)* - this wordplay (’Name involved in retail’) doesn’t seem to indicate the anagram properly. |
| 28 |
ANOMALY; ANIMAL with O for I, + Y (= ‘year’) |
| Down |
| 1 |
A(N,S,W,E)R - ‘Complete directions’ indicates all the points of the compass. |
| 2 |
PARODY; ROD (= ’staff’) in PAY (= ‘wages’) |
| 3 |
REPERTOIRE; R (= ‘runs’), + (PER TO) in EIRE |
| 4 |
LEAVE? - not sure about this one. It seems to work as a double definition for LEAVE (’Agreement’ and ‘to let live with freedom from disturbance’), but ‘Agreement to let’ looks as though it might define ‘lease’, although I can’t then make ‘live with freedom from disturbance’ fit the wordplay. |
| 5 |
SUPERSEDE; PE[a]RS in SUEDE - one of the most misspelt words in the English language, apparently, through incorrect assocations with ‘cede’, ‘precede’, ‘intercede’ etc. |
| 6 |
PEEP - two definitions (’Look’ and ‘to make a little noise’), plus a palindrome indicator (’anyway’). |
| 7 |
OVERT + [l]AKE |
| 8 |
TIDEMARK; rev. of IT, + DE[n]MARK - on an Olympic theme, a quiz question: in which event did Denmark win a gold medal at the 1994 Commonwealth Games? |
| 13 |
PECCADILLO; (E.C. + CAD) in PILL, + O - I like ‘E.C. CAD’ for ‘city slicker’, and will forgive the naughty hyphen in ‘pill-popping’. |
| 15 |
BRILL + I(AN)T - the desirable quality is ‘IT’, and the fish is the BRILL which is apparently related to the turbot. |
| 16 |
BIN + DOVER |
| 17 |
OPTIONAL; (OIL ON TAP) - very well-worded anagram. |
| 19 |
CHORE + A - a nervous condition. |
| 20 |
S(P)EEDY |
| 23 |
SHEBA; SHE + rev. of A.B. |
| 24 |
PITA; rev. of (A TIP) |
Posted in Guardian | 9 Comments »
Posted by NealH on 25th August 2008
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed
I found this very difficult, particularly the bottom right hand corner. There were two or three I didn’t understand and a few obscure words (tosh, lig) that I hadn’t come across before.
| Across |
| 7 |
Lagoon: loon around a g. |
| 8 |
Campaign: Camp + gain*. |
| 9 |
Lounge suit: l + out around genius*. |
| 10 |
Blog: bog around l. |
| 11 |
Aeneas: Sene[c]a< around a. |
| 12 |
Snatches: I didn’t follow this one - “Special dancing performances and lyrical excerpts”. I assume the definition is excerpts, but I’m not sure of the rest. |
| 14 |
Ealing: [d]ealing. |
| 16 |
Distil: hidden. |
| 19 |
Open door: op + Roone[y]< around d. |
| 21 |
Belief: BEF around ELI. BEF was the British Expeditionary Force, the name for the army sent to France and Belgium in World War I. |
| 23 |
Tosh: Double def. Tosh is another of those Scottish dialect words that I sadly miss out on as a result of living in England. |
| 24 |
Gunslinger: Sling in gun[n]er and ref Jesse James. With so many Jameses around, I found this very tough. Having got the g and n, I was convinced for a while that the answer might be Gandolfini (of the TV series, The Sopranos). |
| 25 |
Steinway: Another one whose wordplay I don’t understand - “Maybe, a grand style introduced by chef”. I assume “a grand [piano]” = Steinway, but don’t follow the rest. |
| 26 |
Tattoo: double def which was cunningly made to look like an anagram. |
| Down |
| 1 |
Gasolene: (A l[incol]n goes)* around e. |
| 2 |
Ronnie: Hidden, reversed. Ref to the Two Ronnies. |
| 3 |
Enters into: (stern tone I)*. |
| 4 |
Emit: Time<. |
| 5 |
Tabby Cat: Tat around cabby*. |
| 6 |
Ignore: I + Gore around n. |
| 8 |
Cruise: soundalike of crews + Tom. |
| 13 |
Amiability: A liability with m replacing l. |
| 15 |
Linchpin: Homophone of Lynch (David) + PIN. |
| 17 |
Liegedom: Lig E around e + dom. I’d never come across lig but apparently it’s a slang word for to laze around. |
| 18 |
Brandy: B + randy. |
| 20 |
Pronto: PR + on to[ry]. |
| 22 |
Length: Another one that’s lost on me - “Part of swim twice in Hellespont ?”. Part of swim = length, but I don’t follow the rest. Is it just l = length and there are two of them in Hellespont ? |
| 24 |
Gawp: (p + wag)<. |
Posted in Independent | 7 Comments »
Posted by Andrew on 25th August 2008
A straightforward Rufus for Bank Holiday Monday. A couple of nice cryptic definitions, and a couple more I’m not so keen on.
Key:
dd = double definition
cd = cryptic definition
* = anagram
< = reverse
| Across |
| 1 |
ROLLMOPS |
MOP in ROLLS |
|
| 5 |
LASSES |
(c)LASSES |
|
| 9 |
POIGNANT |
PAIGNTON* |
|
| 12 |
IMBUE |
First letters |
|
| 13 |
TRACK DOWN |
dd |
|
| 14 |
SOMNAMBULIST |
cd |
“Out” = asleep |
| 18 |
CONTAMINATED |
(NO ADMITTANCE)* |
A marvellous anagram |
| 21 |
DECK CARGO |
Pack=DECK, freight=CARGO |
It wouldn’t be Rufus without a nautical reference. As the name implies, Deck Cargo is cargo stored on the deck of a ship. |
| 23 |
RALPH |
hidden |
|
| 24 |
MAIDEN |
AID in MEN |
|
| 25 |
ARCHIVES |
IV in SEARCH* |
|
| 27 |
PRUDENCE |
cd |
|
| Down |
| 1 |
REPAID |
DIAPER< |
|
| 2 |
LAID BY |
BID* in LAY |
|
| 3 |
MINNESOTA |
NOMINATES* |
|
| 4 |
PENITENTIARY |
cd |
I quite liked this because of the misleading surface. |
| 7 |
STEP ON IT |
(SET POINT)* |
|
| 8 |
STRENGTH |
dd |
Interesting idea, STRENGTHS is a longer one-syllable word. |
| 11 |
FARM LABOURER |
cd |
Rather a weak one, I thought |
| 15 |
UNEARTHED |
dd |
|
| 16 |
ACADEMIC |
dd |
|
| 19 |
ELEVEN |
EL EVEN |
|
| 20 |
CHASTE |
H in CASTE |
|
| 22 |
CREED |
C REED |
|
Posted in Guardian | 5 Comments »
Posted by tilsit on 25th August 2008
I’ll be back a bit later today with the blog on this puzzle.
Posted in Azed | No Comments »
