Guardian 24,242, Quantum: Better latte than never
Posted by michod on 23rd November 2007
ACROSS:
4. JAM PAN. A guess now confirmed – it’s a kind of sedan chair.
Posted in Guardian | 5 Comments »
Archive for November 23rd, 2007
Independent 6585/Math
Posted by neildubya on 23rd November 2007
In his blog yesterday, nmsindy was wondering why Phi had been moved from his usual Friday slot; this puzzle might provide an explanation… Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Independent | 5 Comments »
Inquisitor 46, Royalty by Lato
Posted by Colin Blackburn on 23rd November 2007
By the time you read this I should be at the top of Manau Kea in Hawaii.
Unless I turn out to get altitude sickness in which case I’ll be in a bar in Hilo!
Posted in Inquisitor | 1 Comment »
Independent 6580/Monk
Posted by neildubya on 23rd November 2007
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 3 | A,MB,U,LANCES – I hesitated a bit over this as I didn’t know that LANCE=move quickly but with A,MB,U and a definition of “hospital transport” there’s not much else it can be. |
| 11 | [-s]CARED |
| 12 | E in WILDE,D – I liked “an Oscar” to indicate WILDE because it’s a bit different to what we would usually see: “Oscar, say” or “Oscar, perhaps”. |
| 13 | REWARD< – one of four answers in the puzzle that uses the same letters. |
| 15 | INFERNAL,A CHIN in ME – INFERNAL MACHINE. I’d heard of the phrase but wasn’t really sure what it meant – apparently it’s a concealed explosive device intended to destroy life or property. |
| 18 | (L ENGLAND ASH TREE)* – HANSEL AND GRETEL. |
| 21 | WARRED – “ward”. The second thematic clue. |
| 23 | W in TOE,RED – I’ve been caught out by “legend” (end of leg) before, and by the same setter I think. |
| 26 | ED in CAR – is there a technical term for clues like this: “Editor’s vehicle wrapped round tree”, where we have to read it as “Vehicle’s wrapped round editor tree”. Reverse container-and-contents, perhaps? |
| 27 | SATYRICON – which was a satirical novel written in the 1st century AD by Petronius. SATYR is a word for a lascivious man (“Chap desiring sex”). |
| 28 | S in PALM,ODIST |
| Down | |
| 1 | C,ART,W,RIGHT |
| 5 | hidden in “fUND IDeally” |
| 6 | RA (going up),A in CHIC – with A?C???? filled in I had to resist the urge to fill in “ancient”. |
| 7 | C,RIS[-e] in (ARETE)* – CAREERIST. “Professional climber” is a great definition. |
| 8 | SIDE – was a bit puzzled about this one when I filled it in but I think I get it now. Full clue is “Left Channel 4?” and it was the “Channel 4″ bit I didn’t get. I think it’s a reference to a TV station being a SIDE, as in “Switch to the other side”, meaning to change channels. Unless anyone else has a better explanation. |
| 9 | WARDER – the third thematic clue. The “lift and separate” definition is “screw”. |
| 14 | BELLY-DANCE – marvellous cryptic def. “Corporation shake-up in the East”. |
| 16 | IN LAND in F,AI (going up) – FINLANDIA is a symphonic poem by Jean Sibelius. |
| 17 | TIDE (going up) in MATES |
| 19 | EAR[-ly],DRU[-id],M[-en] – an excellent clue with an original treatment. “Both feet having been severed” is the indicator for lopping off the last two letters in “early Druid men”. |
| 20 | REWARD – the fourth thematic clue, and identical to 13A! “Artist’s back pay for good work”. |
| 22 | DES (going up),OD – I originally filled in DOPED thinking “I’ll figure out the wordplay later”, but that’s never a good idea. |
| 25 | S,CUP – a “porgy” is a type of sparid food fish, or SCUP. This was all news to me but the wordplay could only take you in one direction. |
Posted in Independent | 3 Comments »
Beelzebub 926/Phi (11-11-07)
Posted by neildubya on 23rd November 2007
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | L in BASH – I hesitated over this at first because I couldn’t see why “go” = BASH. Then I remembered “have a bash at [something]“. |
| 11 | (SIGN BLOOMERS)* – REBLOSSOMING. Pleasing &lit clue. |
| 12 | ENZOOTIC – this must be right as the definition fits but I can’t untangle the wordplay: “Quickly one should return around zone suffering localised disease”. |
| 16 | BEE,SWING – a BEE is a social gathering (e.g. spelling bee) and BEESWING is a flaky deposit found in port and other wines. |
| 19 | P in A DRESS |
| 21 | DA in DUET,E |
| 24 | E in SLP,TOFF – I initially filled in SWEPT OFF even though it didn’t really fit with the definition because I convinced myself that Arthur Scargill was in the Socialist Worker’s Party (SWP). Turns out he founded the Socialist Labour Party. |
| 29 | IT’S A< – IT is vermouth, as in “gin and it” (which sounds like a classic martini to me…) |
| 31 | ON in (BEST NEARLY)* – BLARNEY-STONE. |
| 32 | (B[-a]BY)*,LOW – BYBLOW. Excellent &lit clue. A BYBLOW is an illegitimate child. |
| Down | |
| 1 | BREEZE – I liked this clue a lot: “Refuse to go cheerfully”. As a noun, BREEZE refers to cinders, ash or dust (which is what breeze blocks are made out of) and as a verb it can mean a few things but probably the most relevant is “to move in a self-confident or jaunty manner”. |
| 2 | (CLEARLY UNLIT)* – LENTICULARLY. I struggled to get, partly because I thought I was looking for a word ending -ICAL. |
| 4 | BE,A in H (FOOT)* – HOOFBEAT. Another excellent &lit: “Horse with foot moving? Happen one will be involved”. I’ve only now spotted that “happen one” is BE,A though. |
| 5 | (REST)*,EAST – ESTREAT. |
| 8 | P,P,IE in LIST |
| 15 | QUEE[-r],(MAN)*,B – QUEEN MAB is a tantalizing fairy who “governs and produces peoples’ dreams”. |
| 17 | SPOFFISH – not sure if this is right as I can’t work out the wordplay. Full clue is “Officious affected types upset a person”. This answers crosses with 33A – which I’ve got as HASTE (the H is where they cross) but I can’t explain that either so it’s possible that might be wrong too. |
| 20 | DEFRA,Y[e]S |
| 25 | odd letters of SiLk, initial letters of “Used By Braiders”. |
| 27 | IT<,R,L – TIRL. |
Posted in Beelzebub | 2 Comments »
Our first appearance in the national press
Posted by neildubya on 23rd November 2007
Posted in Independent | No Comments »