Independent 6,944 by Phi (Saturday Prize Puzzle, 17/01/09)
Posted by Simon Harris on January 23rd, 2009
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition.
Apologies if this is a bit later than is customary – I’m just here as emergency cover today.
There was a certain amount of brain-racking involved in remembering how I got to some of these answers, several days on, but I think I managed it, although there’s one query at 4dn. This was a good, solid, enjoyable puzzle, with a miniature “obscure poets” theme (obscure to me, at least) in the across clues, which thankfully was mostly a case of solving anagrams.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 9 | THEODORE ROETHKE – THE ODOR + (O THE REEK)*. Theodore Roethke, 1908-1963, is the first in our triumvirate of dead poets. |
| 10 | BERLIOZ – BERLI[-n] + OZ. |
| 11 | EXPANSE – PANS “in” EXE. |
| 12 | GREEN – GEN “about” RE. |
| 13 | FORSYTHIA – (FAIRY + HOST)*. |
| 15 | OLIVER GOLDSMITH – (VIGIL HOLDER MOST)*. Oliver Goldsmith, 1728 or 1730-1774. |
| 18 | PHOTOSTAT – (POST “including” HOT) + A + T. I haven’t heard this term in some time, it sounds rather dated now! |
| 20 | POETS – POTS with E “penned”, and the theme for today. |
| 22 | OSSETER – STORES* “stocking” E, and a species of sturgeon, I learn. |
| 24 | OMICRON – MO< + I + CRON[-y]. |
| 26 | LUDOVICO ARIOSTO – (RIOTOUS VIOL CODA)* or (ODIOUS VOCAL TRIO)*, we’re spoilt for choice. Ludovico Ariosto, 1474-1533. |
| Down | |
| 1 | STAB – BATS<. |
| 2 | DEAR ME – ARM “dropped in” DEE. |
| 3 | ADRIENNE – ENDEARIN[-g]*. |
| 4 | PRIZE FIGHT – (I + FEZ)< “during” P + RIGHT. I can’t recall how I got RIGHT from “punch”, can anyone enlighten me? |
| 5 | TRUE – TRU[-c]E. |
| 6 | DEEPLY – DEE[-d] + PLY. |
| 7 | SHANGHAI – S + HANG + HAI[-l]. Shanghai is a darts game and a “Shanghai” – the “feat” in question – is the act of hitting a single, a double and a treble in the same turn, thus winning the game. |
| 8 | TELEMACHUS – (TEACH US) “around” LE + M[-aquis]. |
| 12 | GOOD PEOPLE – (POPE + L)* in ODE after GO. I believe the “Good People” are a particular variety of Irish fairy. |
| 14 | RELATIONAL – RATIONAL “to include” EL. |
| 16 | IRONSIDE – IR (Inland Revenue) + ONSIDE. |
| 17 | SYPHILIS – S[-tanle]Y + (HIS LIP)*. |
| 19 | OCTAVE – O “before” CAVE “about” T. |
| 21 | EGRESS – EG + [-d]RESS. |
| 23 | RICH – RIC[-e] + H. |
| 25 | NOOK – NO OK. |
January 23rd, 2009 at 9:15 pm
Great blog, Simon, in the breach. I think the punch might be a right i.e. a boxer’s with the right hand.
January 23rd, 2009 at 9:34 pm
Yes, of course, thanks for clearing that up. “Right” as in “a surprise right to the chest”, or that kind of thing.
January 24th, 2009 at 7:36 am
‘Osseter’ was new to me till I got enough checking letters to see it couldn’t be anything else and I then found it in Chambers.
I think ‘good people’ is an Irish way of referring to the fairies so as not to offend them if they happen to be listening.