Guardian 24335/Brendan
Posted by linxit on March 13th, 2008
Solving time about 16 minutes either side of a phone call.
First thing I thought was “What’s going on there with 9 down?” I got 3 and 25 quite quickly, but wasn’t thinking clearly enough to figure it out from them. In the end the other clues mentioned were some of the last to go in, as was 9D itself.
| Across | |
| 1 | ECSTASY – (sect,say)* |
| 5 | OBESITY – SIT inside OBEY. The boxer is, as usual, a dog, not a pugilist. |
| 11 | MILLIMETRE – MM is the centre of common. |
| 12 | UPBEAT – “attend” = BE AT, “at university” = UP, “initially” indicates this should go first. |
| 13 | EUPHORIA – UP inside E HO, then AIR rev. |
| 14 | NOMINATES – IN inside NO MATES. Anagram of MINNESOTA (see 9D). |
| 16 | TAXES – T + AXES. Anag. of TEXAS |
| 17 | AMINE – A MINE. Anag. of MAINE |
| 23 | CRITERIA – C + RITE + AIR rev. That’s two clues ending in RIA, with it indicated the same way in each. I won’t criticise though, as “strain receding” and “publicise backing” are quite different and fit the surface readings of their respective clues. |
| 26 | HARBINGERS – HAR(d), BINGERS |
| 29 | CARACAS – A CA(r) inside CARS. Capital of Venezuela. |
| Down | |
| 2 | CALYPSO – (C play so)*. As usual in cryptics, number means song. |
| 3 | TASTE – treble definition, and anagram of STATE for 9D. |
| 4 | SUMATRA – MA in SUTRA. |
| 6 | BLIMPS – ref. the cartoon character Colonel Blimp. |
| 8 | TERMITE – M + IT in tree*, M being James Bond’s boss. Clever &lit clue, took me a long time to see how the M was indicated. |
| 9 | ALTERED STATES – the “theme” clue of this puzzle. 14, 16 & 17 are anagrams of US states, 3 & 25 are anagrams of the word STATE and 1, 13 & 22 are actual types of altered state. |
| 20 | TUNISIA – IS I inside TUNA |
| 21 | CORDOBA – CO + board*. City in southern Spain. |
| 22 | TRANCE – N in TRACE |
| 25 | TESTA – TEST + A(ce). A hard seed case, and anagram of STATE in 9D. |
March 13th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
I liked this puzzle – the ALTERED STATES theme was fun, and gave a real sense of achievement when I (finally!) figured it out.
One question – why does “suspicion” give “trace” in 22d?
March 13th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
One of the meanings of suspicion (in Chambers) is “a slight quantity, minute trace, eg of spirits”.
March 13th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Ah, that makes sense – thanks. (I always try not to use a dictionary when solving, but it does sometimes lead to bafflement!)
March 13th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Brendan brilliant as usual: the alternative meanings of 9dn (altered states) especially. Thanks linxit for the explanation of 8dn (termite): I didn’t get the M either.
March 13th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
What’s 27 across? Just can’t see what it is. I know it’s probably obvious to everyone else!
March 13th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
Kate – I think its STOW. (Means “Pack”, S & W are South and West – opponents in bridge – with “TO” in between)
Glad its not just me who gets mental blocks!
March 13th, 2008 at 11:24 pm
Going back to 8dn. A termite is a wood-worm, very damaging to houses in the tropics, but does it damage trees? This clue has no definition.
March 13th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
What is 24 across?
March 14th, 2008 at 12:30 am
Nature. Excellent puzzle.
March 14th, 2008 at 8:31 am
Muck: you’re right that termites don’t damage living trees, but they often make their nests in fallen trees, so they could well be spied in a damaged tree. Also, the clue has no separate definition but the whole thing is the definition – I believe this is called &lit and is considered very good form. It certainly made this clue more interesting for me.
March 14th, 2008 at 10:53 am
Very enjoyable puzzle-the 9d theme was a great kingpin, & it’s definitions were very cleverly used in the subsets of answers it defined, I struggled with the connection between 14,16,17 until Taxes became Texas before my eyes……………..
March 16th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
Loved this one too, very clever, and good thene.