Posted by Uncle Yap on 4th November 2008
dd = double definition
cd = cryptic definition
rev = reversed or reversal
ins = insertion
cha = charade
ha = hidden answer
*(fodder) = anagram
A challenging puzzle which nearly got me into trouble with 19A and 25D
Most enjoyable
Across
9 WHOLEMEAL self-explanatory
10 ALONE Cha of A L (a student) ONE (single)
11 TRAMP Tram (car) P (Parking) But all the tramps I see on TV shows usually go around with suopermarket trolleys with 4 wheels :-)
12 DISPLAYED Ins of S (second) PLAY (drama) in DIED (perished)
13 SCHOLAR *(Carol’s H)
14 OIL LAMP Cha of O (nothing) ILL (bad) AMP (ampere, current)
17 CLEFT Cha of C (Conservative or Tory) LEFT (Socialist)
19 BUT Rev of TUB (a small cask) whereas BUT(T) - see Chambers butt4, a large cask of varying capacity. This was my very last clue and took me more than 5 minutes to find the Chambers entry
20 TAPER dd a long thin waxed wick or spill;and of course, the person who tapes (or records)
21 STANNIC Very clever *(tin cans)
22 FINGERS Ins of NG (no good) in FIERS *(fries)
24 RETROUSSE *(E trousers) adj esp of the nose, turned up.
26 BELOW Cha of BE (live) LOW Sir David Alexander Cecil Low (1891– 1963) was a New Zealand political cartoonist who lived and worked in the UK for many years. His cartoons of Mussolini and Hilter infuriated the WWII enemies so much that he was said to have been put on the Gestapo death-list.
28 BANAL Cha of BAN (rusticate like sending people to the countryside to live th rural life) A L (a student) See 10A above. Am I the only one who frowns on using the same device more than once in the same puzzle? It is not wrong but rather inelegant
29 DEADLY SIN *(send daily)
Down
1 SWOT Rev of TOWS (pulls a broken-down car. perhaps)
2 POTASH Ins of TA (Territorial Army or Home Guards or Dad’s Army) in POSH (smart)
3 NEAPOLITAN *(Ann a polite)
4 LENDER Well, I have once before recounted the tragic story of Hero and Leander (see Brewers) Removal of A from Leander to give you a lender of money (aka ready)
5 GLASNOST *(last song) Glasnost is the policy of maximal publicity, openness, and transparency in the activities of all government institutions in the Soviet Union, together with freedom of information, introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev.
6 TAIL dd
7 POLYCARP Cha of POLY (polytechnic or college) Car (vehicle) P (parking) Saint Polycarp of Smyrna (ca. 69 – ca. 155) was a second century bishop of Smyrna. He died a martyr when he was stabbed after an attempt to burn him at the stake failed. Polycarp is recognized as a saint in the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran churches
8 BEND dd
13 SACKS dd
15 LUTINE BELL Ins of EL (Spanish definite article) in LUTINEB-L *(bulletine) a bell recovered from the frigate Lutine, and rung at Lloyd’s of London before certain important announcements.
16 PARIS Cha of PAR (average) IS
18 EXACTING Ex- acting
19 BACKSIDE I usually stay away from commenting on less-than-obvious pronunciations and homophone clues (for fear of the angry natives :-) Maybe Andrew or Eileen or Geoff can fill in
22 FOEMAN Rev of NAME OF
23 ENLIST Cha of EN (space in printing) LIST (roster)
24 RUBY Removal of middle letter G from RUGBY (game) The best Chambers could assist me is that to wax is to rub with wax
25 ONLY It took me a long time to rationalise this clue. But, nothing more is ONLY
27 WINE Ins of IN in WE (partners in bridge)
Posted in Guardian | 18 Comments »
Posted by Andrew on 3rd November 2008
After two very tough offerings from Paul and Brummie, this required very little genius in either solving the clues or fitting the answers into the grid. An enjoyable enough puzzle, and a clever feat of construction, but rather a disappointment from a solver’s point of view. I very quickly solved all but a few of the clues, and found there was only one possible way to fit the 11-letter answers into the grid. After that filling in the rest and solving the remaining clues was a formality. Hugh Stephenson’s newsletter bemoans the fact that there were very few entries for September’s Genius, despite it being the first under the free service: I suspect there may be quite a lot more for this one.
I’ve listed the clues in the order they appeared in the original list, with in their position in the completed grid in brackets, using the usual numbering scheme.
Key:
dd = double definition
* = anagram
< = reverse
ABOLITION [8dn] LIT I in A BOON
A CAPPELLA [9ac] A(ndy) CAPP + ELLA (Fitzgerald) - easy to spot from the definition and enumeration
ACORN [11dn] First letters
ADORINGLY [2ac] RING replaces L in A DOLLY
ADULATE [3dn] (LAUDATE)*. Laudate Dominum (Praise the Lord) are the opening words of the Latin version of Psalm 117, which is often set to music.
AESOP [3ac] (POSE A)<
ALARM [6dn] LAR(k) in AM &lit - I’m not sure this quite works: I guess the wordplay is supposed be be LAR(k) “in the morning”.
ALL SQUARE [4ac] ALL’S QUARE. A reference to Brendan Behan’s play The Quare Fellow (1954)
AMALGAM [10dn] A M AL GAM &lit
AMOUR [1ac] A(r)MOUR
AMPERSAND [1dn] (h)AMPERS AND. The first ampersand in the clue gives the AND; the second is the definition.
ANAESTHETIC [7dn] (STATE MACHINE)* less M
ANDOVER [6ac] (h)AND OVER
ANECDOTAL [9dn] (CANE TOAD)* in AL
ANGUS [5dn] Hidden rev, and must be a down answer because of the “up” - I thought this woud be crucial in fitting the answers into the grid, but as I mentioned above this is determined by the 11-letter words.
AO DAI [12ac] An obscure answer hidden in an obscure name - clever but not particularly satifying to solve.
APRON [12dn] A PROSCENIUM less (E-MUSIC)*
ARISTOCRACY [4dn] (ASCOT I CARRY)* Another very easy one that I spotted early on, which made it seem pretty likely that all the answers began with A.
ARMBAND [7ac] B in ARMAND. A & M Denis were early exponents of the TV wildlife genre, which they narrated a perhaps slighly exaggerated version of their Belgian (Frrench) accents.
ARMORICAN [11ac] MORI in ARCAN(e)
ASSIGNATION [5ac] dd
ATHOS [10ac] (p)ATHOS - on of the Three Musketeers
ATOMIC CLOCK [8ac] A TO M I C-CLOCK
AUTOPILOT [2dn] (LUTON AIRPORT less RNR)*
Posted in Guardian | 8 Comments »
Posted by mhl on 3rd November 2008
A very good start to the week, with lots of clues that made me smile. I think my particular favourites here were two of the three musical ones: 16 across and 25 down.
| Across |
| 1 |
ARMOURY |
OUR in ARMY |
| 5. |
ECLIPSE |
CLIPS in EE = “the middle of Greece” |
| 10. |
EVIL |
BE = “live” reversed |
| 11. |
UP A GUM TREE |
Double definition; “Where a koala may be” and “in trouble”. I hadn’t heard this expression before, but it’s quite guessable and Google confirms that it means “in difficulties” |
| 12. |
LOADED |
Double definition |
| 13. |
ENCROACH |
(CHANCE OR)* |
| 14. |
DISAPPEAR |
DI = “Female” + SAPPER around A - if something will “pass” it will “disappear” |
| 16. |
CELLO |
CELL + O = “circle”. I love “large scale fiddle” for ’cello |
| 17. |
BLOCK |
Double definition |
| 19. |
DRUMSTICK |
(TRIMS DUCK)* with “Butcher” as a nice anagram indicator |
| 23. |
GRIMACED |
MACE in GRID: the clue should be read “in GRID: MACE” |
| 24. |
NATURE |
An excellent cryptic definition, alluding to Mother Nature and someone’s type being their character or nature |
| 26. |
SCRATCHING |
Another nice cryptic definition |
| 27. |
MOVE |
Double definition |
| 28. |
PLAYPEN |
PLAY + PEN = “writer”; playpens have barred sides |
| 29. |
ASTOUND |
(TO US AND)* with “collapse” as the anagram indicator |
| Down |
| 2. |
RAVIOLI |
A hidden answer; ravioli might be a pasta course |
| 3. |
OGLED |
(OLD E.G.)* |
| 4. |
ROUND UP |
Double definition, I think - “Accumulate” is clear, but I’m not sure why it’s “stock”? (Except in the same sense of “stock up”.) Thanks to Rich, who suggests out that that the cryptic reading is “stock” in the sense of “cattle” - I couldn’t see past the share-dealing surface :) |
| 6. |
CRUNCH |
Double definition |
| 7. |
INTROVERT |
ROVER in IN TT |
| 8. |
STENCIL |
(CLIENT’S)* |
| 9. |
TAKES A PRIDE IN |
Double definition, “Receives statisfaction from” and “providing a lion reserve?” |
| 15. |
ACCOMPANY |
AC + COMPANY |
| 18. |
LYRICAL |
Cryptic definition |
| 20. |
MANAGES |
MAN = “player” + AGES |
| 21. |
CARAVAN |
CAR and VAN joined by A |
| 22. |
ICICLE |
Cryptic definition |
| 25. |
TEMPO |
Excellent cryptic definition - the tempo is the time at which one should take a song (an “air”) |
Posted in Guardian | 8 Comments »
Posted by rightback on 1st November 2008
Solving time: 9:51
A rare Saturday outing for Brummie. Nothing too difficult, although NO STRINGS, DROSOPHILA and LUTYENS probably accounted for a third of my time. I enjoyed the puzzle but thought a lot of the surface readings were weak or meaningless.
A mini-theme is the presence of both LOCK, STOCK & BARREL and HOOK, LINE & SINKER in the grid, linked by the clue to 11ac.
* = anagram.
| Across |
| 1 |
BOG + LAND - not the best opener: ‘Gents’ = BOG needs an example indicator such as ‘perhaps’, and I’m not quite sure how this surface reading is supposed to be read; there’s no apostrophe in ‘Gents’, so ‘leading’ has to be a gerund (I think that’s the right term), which spoils the phrase ‘leading light’. Come to think of it, doesn’t ‘Gents’ as a lavatory require an apostophe? Curiously, Chambers says no, although the ladies’ equivalent does have one. Explain that! |
| 5 |
CALL OFF; (LOCAL)* + FF - not sure if ‘papers’ = FF is via ‘folios’ or ‘following pages’. |
| 9 |
S(T)OCK |
| 10 |
BAT + H,C + HAIR (= ’shock’) |
| 11 |
COM(P + LET)ELY - nicely joining the two theme phrases. |
| 12 |
[s]HOOK |
| 14 |
NON-INVASIVE - a medical term, with a pun on ‘operation’. |
| 18 |
RIGHT (= ‘just’) + AS RAIN (= ‘like a fall’) |
| 21 |
PUPA; rev. of UP (= ‘erected’) + PA (= Pennsylvania) - one of my favourite clues, ‘Monarch’ (as in the butterfly) is well worked in and fooled me. |
| 22 |
DROSOPHILA; (SHIP OR LOAD)* - trying an ‘O’ in second place cost me quite a bit of time here. A bit of Greek would have helped: ‘drosos’ means dew or moisture. Good clue though. |
| 25 |
STATION + E.R. |
| 26 |
[t]INKER |
| 27 |
LUTYENS; (N,U,STYLE) - the hyphen here is a bit naughty and means the cryptic reading doesn’t quite work. The composer is Elisabeth, although I only knew the name via her father Sir Edwin, most famous for designing New Delhi. |
| 28 |
AUG + URAL |
| Down |
| 1 |
B + I[n]SECT |
| 2 |
G + LOOMY |
| 3 |
ALKALINITY (hidden) - with so many curious and short words in the clue this stuck out as a hidden answer. |
| 4 |
DEB(I)T |
| 5 |
CAT + ALON[e] + IA |
| 6 |
[c]LOCK - a hank is a lock of hair, and ‘clock’ is apparently a slang (i.e. vulgar) word for the face. |
| 7 |
OR + A + T(O)RIO |
| 8 |
FOREKNEW; rev. of OF, + RE(K)NEW - this surface reading doesn’t make much grammatical sense. |
| 13 |
MAINS + P(R)ING |
| 15 |
NO ST RINGS - nice charade and a cunning one-word definition to kick off the clue (’Unrestricted’). |
| 16 |
PROPOSAL - a very obvious cryptic definition. |
| 17 |
EG + G + PLANT - another name for the aubergine. |
| 19 |
S[t]INKER - a sinker is a weight for sinking a fishing line. |
| 20 |
BARREL; rev. of (ERR in LAB) |
| 23 |
STRIA; [six]T[ies] in rev. of AIRS - a narrow groove. |
| 24 |
LI + NE - a li is about a third of a mile, as you probably know if you solve barred cryptic puzzles. |
Posted in Guardian | 7 Comments »
Posted by mhl on 31st October 2008
A remarkable grid with four 15 letter clues going down and lots of inventive and entertaining cluing…
| Across |
| 8. |
RIBOSOME |
RIE (essentially bRIEf) covering BOSOM (”doing what bra does”). Ribosomes are organelles found in cells that translate mRNA into proteins |
| 9. |
INROAD |
An &lit: (RAID ON)* with “antagonist” as the anagram indicator |
| 10. |
BRUTAL |
BUT A L (”one’s left” or “A has L”) restricts R |
| 11. |
TV DINNER |
VD = “nasty disease” in TINNER = “preserver” |
| 12. |
UP TO |
Double definition, I think - “Capable of” (being up to a task) and “doing no more?” (up to your limit?) Thanks to Andrew, who suggests that instead this should be divided up as “Capable of doing” and “no more?” |
| 13. |
CREDIT NOTE |
A fun clue: b-li-v- is BELIEVE not E |
| 15. |
DO-OR-DIE |
Nothing to do with mines - you have to split “opencast” here: a door may be open and the die may be cast to give DOOR DIE |
| 16. |
ASSIZES |
SIZE = “magnitude” in ASS = “bottom”. I think the definition is “court (Law and History)!”, but the exclamation mark suggests that I might be missing a joke - or does it just mean that assizes were law courts historically? |
| 18. |
LOVE LETTER |
“O” is a LETTER representing LOVE in crosswords |
| 19. |
MAIN |
An interesting clue: the definition is “Chief” and the subsidiary is MA (”generator” as in begetter or mother) + IN (”at the house”). I think this also works as an &lit in that a generator at your home might constitute your electricity main |
| 20. |
DRIFT NET |
The definition is “One’s out to take the catch”. DRIFT is “meaning” and “the rest of the team’s standing back” is TEN reversed, the team being a cricket eleven, but without the “one” mentioned in the definition part |
| 22. |
MONDAY |
(MANY DO)* |
| 23. |
APERÇU |
PAPER CUT without PT = “point” |
| 24. |
OWN GOALS |
OWN = “Have” + GOALS = “aspirations” |
| Down |
| 1. |
MICROPHOTOGRAPH |
I think this is a cryptic definition, alluding to the two meanings described in Chambers: “strictly, a photograph reduced to microscopic size; loosely a photomicrograph, or photograph of an object as magnified by the microsocope” |
| 2. |
DO-IT-YOURSELFERS |
An excellent anagram: (SERIOUSLY DEFT OR)* |
| 3,21. |
COLLECTIVE NOUN |
Another remarkable clue: (CLUE LOT IN COVEN)* and a “coven” is the collective noun for witches |
| 4,17. |
WEATHER STATION |
(WHAT ORIENTATES)* - “conditional changes” meaning “changes in (weather) conditions” |
| 5,14. |
WIND INSTRUMENT |
Another nice clue to go with the previous one, an anemometer being a device to measure wind speed |
| 6. |
PRONUNCIAMENTOS |
.. meaning “manifestos” in Spanish. It took a while to figure this out, but I think the subsidiary breaks down as: PRO = “for” + NUN = “sister” + CIA MEN = “undercover investigators” + TO S = “southwards” |
| 7. |
PARENTHETICALLY |
A RENT + (ETHIC)* in PALLY |
Posted in Guardian | 21 Comments »