Posted by Ali on 22nd January 2009
This seemed to be one of those days where I filled in a lot of answers without fully understanding them. Some will hopefully become clear as I blog, but there’ll no doubt be a few question marks. That aside, I enjoyed this one.
Posted in Independent | 10 Comments »
Posted by Gaufrid on 22nd January 2009
Not a lot to say about this one. One minor quibble (16a), a few neat clues but nothing that really stands out.
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Across
1 INCOME IN (popular) CO (firm) M[assiv]E
4 TRAGIC *(TRACI[n]G)
8 DEANERY *(YEARNED)
9 ACQUIRE homophone of ‘a choir’
11 BLOODY MARY *(BY OLD MAYOR)
12 MINT hidden in ‘calM INTellectual’
13 BREED RE (about) in BED – ‘about to enjoy retirement’ = ‘in bed’
14 LIPSTICK LIP (backchat) STICK (criticism)
16 DIPLOMAT DIP (creamy mixture) MA (master) in LOT (crowd) – MA is the abbreviation for ‘Master of Arts’ not simply ‘master’
18 ARGUE R[egatta] in AGUE (fit)
20 VAIN homophone of ‘vein’ (humour)
21 GROGGINESS GROG GIN (drinks) [m]ESS (dining area)
23 CROESUS *(COURSES) – the king of Lydia renowned for his wealth
24 SOJOURN JOUR (day, in French) in SON (child)
25 CUTLET CUT (economy) LET (allowed)
26 SPRAIN [tou]R in SPAIN (country)
Posted in FT | 1 Comment »
Posted by Andrew on 22nd January 2009
A themed puzzle from Araucaria, with 13 wordplay-only clues for capital cities (highlighted in blue below). I caught on to the theme early on by a lucky guess at PRAGUE, but still found the puzzle reasonably hard going. There are a couple of clues I don’t understand, so I await enlightenment from my learned friends in the comments
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Guardian | 82 Comments »
Posted by nmsindy on 22nd January 2009
I found this quite easy. Some answers that were new to me I worked out from the friendly wordplay. Solving time, 13 mins.
Posted in Independent | No Comments »
Posted by Uncle Yap on 22nd January 2009
Monday Prize Crossword on 12 January 2009
dd = double definition
cd = cryptic definition
rev = reversed or reversal
ins = insertion
cha = charade
ha = hidden answer
*(fodder) = anagram
Posted in FT | 2 Comments »
Posted by Pete Maclean on 22nd January 2009
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of January 10
A few minor challenges here made a typically enjoyable puzzle. Cincinnus came up with some great anagrams for the long downers. (Yeah, I know “downers” are something else and acrossers don’t even exist.)
Posted in FT | 4 Comments »
Posted by John on 21st January 2009
An unusually tricky Dac today. I don’t remember ever, in one of his crosswords, making so many marks by clues reminding me to look things up afterwards. This does not itself reflect on the crossword, but In some cases things haven’t become clear even after trawling three dictionaries. Help needed in places. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Independent | 8 Comments »
Posted by Gaufrid on 21st January 2009
This was similar in a way to the Aardvark I blogged two weeks ago including some ‘different’ indicators, a couple of which I would question, as indicated below, though these didn’t impede the solving process. 11d is something of an enigma as I have been unable to parse it to my satisfaction. The blog would have been posted an hour earlier had it not been for this one clue!
Posted in FT | 3 Comments »
Posted by Ciaran McNulty on 21st January 2009
Another toughie from Paul. The theme was enjoyable for a film buff, but a few clues didn’t quite sound right for me.
Posted in Guardian | 43 Comments »
Posted by Simon Harris on 20th January 2009
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition.
Posted in Independent | 8 Comments »
Posted by C G Rishikesh on 20th January 2009
A minor theme relating to bugs runs through this crossword.
These clues are
Posted in FT | 4 Comments »
Posted by Uncle Yap on 20th January 2009
dd = double definition
cd = cryptic definition
rev = reversed or reversal
ins = insertion
cha = charade
ha = hidden answer
*(fodder) = anagram
Posted in Guardian | 33 Comments »
Posted by mhl on 19th January 2009
Apologies for this being a bit late today; I’d forgotten that I was supposed to be doing the post today. There are a couple of questions below that people can easily clear up, I’m sure…
Posted in Guardian | 24 Comments »
Posted by NealH on 19th January 2009
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Refinery: Re + finery. |
| 5 | Eggcup: Cryptic def. |
| 9 | Verandah: ER in V and A + h. |
| 10 | Sloane: Loan in SE. Clever, if questionable &Lit (do sloane rangers borrow money – aren’t they all rich ?) |
| 12 | Roulette Wheel: CD referring to the colours of a roulette wheel. This was my least favourite clue, since I don’t gamble and therefore haven’t the foggiest what colours on a roulette wheel are. |
| 15 | Agent: [M]agent[a]. Definition is “cause” in the sense of “agent of change”, I suppose. |
| 16 | Balthasar: ALT + has in bar. |
| 17 | Outraging: Outing around rag. |
| 19 | Lit up: Lip around tu[be]. |
| 21 | Thought Police: CD. I guessed immediately that Blair was referring to George Orwell (aka Eric Arthur Blair) but, not having read 1984 for about 20 years, I couldn’t remember what his secret police were called. A bit of research on Wikipedia helped me out. |
| 23 | Manual: Man + odd letters of unable. |
| 24 | Honolulu: honou[r] around lul[l]. |
| 26 | Shaver: Sh + aver. |
| 27 | Self-help: shelf* + “elp” hidden in panel pins. |
| Down | |
| 1,2 | Reversal of Fortune: Tune and for placed in the opposite order. |
| 3 | Nun: last letters of turn you on + another humourous but questionable &lit. |
| 4 | Rialto bridge: (irritable dog)*. The Rialto market is next to the bridge, so I suppose “merchant near here” just about works as a definition. |
| 6 | Golden hello: Go around olden hell. |
| 7 | Chablis: Cha[p] + blis[s]. |
| 8 | Phew: H in pew. |
| 11 | Twilight Zone: (one with glitz)*. |
| 13 | Extrapolate: Exe around trap 0 + l + even letters of cast. |
| 14 | Triple Jump: Tripe around l + jump. Def = “something from field” i.e. a field event. |
| 18 | Titania: Titan (a moon of Saturn) + I + a. Titania is a moon of Uranus. |
| 20 | Tribute: Trite around bu[s]. |
| 22 | Xmas: X + ma[n] + s. |
| 25 | Off: [b]off[in]. |
Posted in Independent | 9 Comments »
Posted by beermagnet on 19th January 2009
A gentle start to 2009.
Nothing here held me up – which is just as well as my accountant tells me I’m supposed to be preparing my tax return right now. I don’t note times but without the usual last few I have to mull over I finished this before the pint. Awarded self another pint of Wychwood Circlemaster as a prize anyway.
Now where did I put those receipts … Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Private Eye/Cyclops | 1 Comment »