Posted by Ali on 7th November 2008
Well well, this was very nice! If Phi gets bumped from a Friday, there’s usually something afoot. For any newcomers (and, with any luck, there will be some), today is the 2nd anniversary of this site, and what better way to celebrate than by having a Nina in its honour. The perimeter message running clockwise from 14A reads FIFTEENSQUARED DOT NET, which is of course where we all are right now.
I spotted there was something going on fairly early, though the DOT NET part took a while longer to piece together. And, no, I had no idea that today was the day, but vaguely remembered a post about the one year anniversary, so decided to hunt it out (you can read it here). Let me be the first to congratulate Neil and everyone else on the site, which has definitely helped my solving abilities no end and has been fun to contribute to. Thanks also to Eimi and the setters who allow us a peek behind the magician’s cloth every now and then!
On to the puzzle itself, this was good stuff as ever from Math, with some nice anagrams, good surface readings and casual swearing. Here we go then…..
(abcd)* - Anagram
[-abcd] - Subtraction
rev. - Reversal
| Across |
| 6 |
SCARE - SCAR,E |
| 7 |
CHUNNEL - (LUNCHE[-o]N)* |
| 9 |
ENGLISHMAN - As in “An Englishman, Irishman and Scotsman….” |
| 10 |
AURA - Hidden in restAURAnt |
| 11 |
TEMPLE - TEMPL[-at]E |
| 13 |
FRONTIER - FR + NO rev. + TIER - Nice and misleading, as you don’t often see the word ‘bound’ used in favour of ‘boundary’ |
| 14 |
FETE - F,ETE |
| 16 |
FACE - (CAFE)* |
| 19 |
ITEMISES - (IT SEEMS I)* |
| 22 |
BALLAD - BALL,AD |
| 22 |
ILL-TREATED - ILL,TREAT,ED |
| 27 |
SINATRA - Very well hidden in singS IN A TRAvelling… |
| 28 |
CARES - CARES (i.e. the answer to 6A) with S moving down |
| Down |
| 1 |
EARL - EA,R,L (i.e. right, then left) |
| 2 |
NEWSREEL - (LENS WERE)* |
| 3 |
SCAM - MACS rev. |
| 4 |
QUANGO - QU(estion),AN(swer),GO |
| 5 |
UNFAITHFUL - (A HUFF UNTIL)* |
| 12 |
PRE-EMINENT - (Tracey) EMIN in PREEN + T(ango) |
| 13 |
FLATS - L in FATS |
| 16 |
SUBTRACT - T,CART,BUS all rev. |
| 18 |
CLARETS - L in CARES, all about T |
| 21 |
SHIITE - I in SHITE - Nothing wrong with a bit of a casual effing and blinding in your daily crossword. I’d like to see somebody clue this word with a reference to the way that Liam Gallagher would sing the word SHITE |
| 25 |
LEAN - Hidden in compiLE A New… |
| 26 |
AFRO - (FOR A)* |
Posted in Independent | 13 Comments »
Posted by nmsindy on 6th November 2008
There’s a Nina/theme in this puzzle, which I refer to after the clue explanations. Solving time, 16 mins
* = anagram < = reversed
ACROSS
1 SERF frees< less the central e
4 TOWE(r) L
7 BU (M) F (f)
9 C LEAVE
10 DISRAELI 19th century PM (airs)* in (I led)< an &lit touch also, I guess
11 (f)IN (TERN) AL
12 A TOM(e) I C
13 EVIL-MINDEDNESS (sinned devils me)*
16 GATWICK AIRPORT (I twig to car park)*
18 N EUR AL Danny (La Rue)<
20 PAST RAM I
22 CON SOM(M)E
23 MON (A C) O
24 ES PY first and last letters
25 NISAN Hidden
25 O (BA) N
DOWN
2 ELLE (French for ’she’) N
3 FLAGEOLET (Get all of e)*
4 THE INVISIBLE MAN (Seen him in vital b)* by HG Wells
5 W ADDLED
6 LA(ST AND) FIRST MEN stand in (terminal SF)* by Olaf Stapledon New to me and it was my last answer
8 MUL (TI-US) E R suit<
14 VIGNERONS (serving no)* whisky from whisk (vb), I guess, as anagram indicator so nothing to do with the drink
15 ESPERANTO (p notes are)*
17 (s)KIPPERS
19 (t)RUSTY
21 MO CHA
Theme/Nina left and right columns spell SCIENCE FICTION, two examples of which are symmetrically placed in columns six and ten. Very impressive that Phi achieved this without using obscure words in the rest of the puzzle.
Posted in Independent | 8 Comments »
Posted by nmsindy on 6th November 2008
Very easy, indeed, I thought - as fast as I’ve solved any Indy puzzle this year - but not solved correctly, thanks, Neal H.
* = anagram
1 C (HEAP)O
5 TEST CASE (a sect set)*
9 LITTLE HAMPTON (phantom)* In Sussex
10 ME (A) N
11 SCRAP E H O ME
12 D(E)AD PA N
14 OO LONG
16 CASTRO (actors)* Fidel or, indeed, Raul
18 SH ELVES
20 VIC (ER) E GENT (No, it is not! Thanks, Neal H, for pointing out that this should be VICEGERENT)
23 A RUM
24 SOME LIKE IT HOT 1950s film
25 RE STORE R
26 TUN (DR) A
DOWN
2 HA (L BE) RD
3 AT TEN DANT(e)
4 (b)OGLES
5 T (EHER) AN (here)* &lit also, I guess
6 SEMAPHORE (share poem)*
7 CAT CH
8 SANDMAN hidden
13 PROP (ELL) ER
15 LEVI (N)ATHAN
17 A T IS SUE
18 SNEAKER Double definition
19 S (AUNT) E R
21 E (MME) T
22 TA (IN) T
Posted in Independent | 1 Comment »
Posted by John on 5th November 2008
How is it possible, week after week, to say anything new about Dac? As always, the surfaces are elegant and smooth and there are no real points of contention, so far as I can see. This one took slightly less time than usual (21 minutes, which is reasonably fast for me. No doubt the speed merchants would take a quarter of that).
| Across |
| 1 |
B(LAZE)R |
| 4 |
PROMPTER — 2 defs |
| 9 |
chURCH INquisitively |
| 10 |
CAPULETS — (up)rev. in (castle)* |
| 12 |
JUTE — 2 defs |
| 13 |
CONT((newspape)R)ACT ED |
| 15 |
HEAVENLY HOST — 2 defs |
| 18 |
GOING CONCERN — the old ones are the best |
| 21 |
ASTERISKED — (it’s as Derek)* |
| 22 |
MEGA — hidden rev. in ’stage musical’ — I can remember as a boy fifty years ago using the word ‘wizard’ (to describe a very exciting Portsmouth football match, actually, a 3-3 draw) and having the impression as I did so that I was even then using a rather dated word |
| 24 |
IN ACTION |
| 25 |
PIQUE (tigh)T |
| 26 |
MO NICKER |
| 27 |
FLESHY — (elf)rev. shy |
| |
| Down |
| 1 |
BLUE JOHN |
| 2 |
AL C(A T)RAZ(e) |
| 3 |
(th)E(XI)(restauran)T |
| 5 |
ROAST CHICKEN — (steak’n'chicor(y))* |
| 6 |
MA (U PASS) ANT |
| 7 |
TWENTY — presumably this is simply that in a soccer game 20 is an unlikely score |
| 8 |
RE SIDE |
| 11 |
ROLLING STONE — ‘rock’ is part of the wordplay, not the definition, although Rolling Stone is indeed a rock magazine |
| 14 |
DEMO C RAT IC — Dac is a day late with his Nina |
| 16 |
REVENUES — (never use)* |
| 17 |
INFANT RY — what is the question mark doing? Is it there because of Dac’s unusual departure from Ximenean-ness (ChildLine with no space)? Or is it not in fact such a departure — I’m not sure? |
| 19 |
B A R(1)UM, I think, rather than BA R(1)UM |
| 20 |
S TRAIN |
| 23 |
P ILL |
Posted in Independent | 3 Comments »
Posted by neildubya on 4th November 2008
Anyone would think there was some sort of election happening today…
| Across |
| 6 |
U in (WHINED BLATHERED)* - RED WHITE AND BLUE. |
| 9 |
PALIN[-g] - got this from “candidate” (and the appearance of all the others in the grid) as I couldn’t see what “stakes nearly all” was. Paling is an upright stake or board in a fence. |
| 10 |
IS,IX in (LOUV[-re])* - LOUIS XIV. Tricky one to work out; once I had L???S filled in I guessed LOUIS and worked back from there. |
| 11 |
hidden in “beatEN FOR CERtain” - Harry Callahan meant nothing to me but I spotted the hidden word once I had some letters filled in. At which point I guessed it might be “Dirty Harry” (the Clint Eastwood character), which Googling later confirmed. |
| 15 |
PA,(VOX MUSIC B)* - PAX VOBISCUM, or peace be with you. |
| 19 |
M[-c]CCA,IN - somebody else you might have heard about recently. |
| 20 |
SOR(CE,R)ER |
| 22 |
D,M in (NOT ONE)* - EDMONTON. |
| 24 |
BI(D)EN - 12’s running mate. |
| 26 |
ER in (MAINTAIN CAVES)* - NATIVE AMERICANS. |
| |
| Down |
| 1 |
DESPOND - the Slough of Despond is a deep bog in the Pilgrim’s Progress. |
| 2 |
O in (LAW)* - AWOL. |
| 3 |
PICNIC - sounds like “pick nick” (a ref to Nick Clegg, the Lib Dem leader) |
| 4 |
(QUESTI[-o]NS)* - INQUESTS. |
| 5 |
I(B,I)S |
| 7 |
I in (RUMPUS BLUE UN)* - E PLURIBUS UNUM (”Out of many, one”), a motto found on the Seal of the 8/13. |
| 8/13 |
UNI,(TEST DATES)* - UNITED STATES. |
| 12 |
OB,AM,A |
| 14 |
A,M(US)E |
| 17 |
A[-r]CADIA - I’d never heard of this before but it was easy enough to solve from the wordplay with a couple of letters in place. |
| 18 |
LEONINE - which can mean “lionlike”, and the British rugby team are known as the Lions. Not sure why it’s “using words” though… |
| 21 |
R,R in (TO BE)* - ROBERT. |
| 23 |
OHIO - take out RAT from HORATIO and move the O to the front. |
| 25 |
DICK - guessed this but I don’t know why it’s right. DICK Cheney is the current VP of the 8/13 but I’m not sure if that’s what the clue is referring to. Don’t understand the FBI reference also. |
Posted in Independent | 12 Comments »