Independent 7,006/Dac
Posted by Ali on March 31st, 2009
Was it just me being tired from having stayed up late watching The Wire last night, or was some of this quite hard for a Dac puzzle? The middle of the grid didn’t cause me too much bother, but I spent a fair while trying to fill out the bottom corners. Nevertheless, reliably excellent clueing from Dac.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | SUPERB – REP in BUS, all rev. |
| 4 | GRAINGER – GRAIN,GER |
| 9 | OLIVER – Double def. |
| 10 | BLACKOUT – Cryptic def. |
| 12 | BILL – Double def. |
| 13 | DESIGNATOR – (DOG’S TRAINE[-r])* |
| 15 | LOSE ONES GRIP – (REGIONS POLES)* |
| 18 | BREAKTHROUGH – BREAK,TH[-e],ROUGH |
| 21 | LEAF INSECT – LEAF + C in INSET |
| 22 | SKIP – Double def. |
| 24 | BUNGALOW – Un,GAL in BOW |
| 25 | CUP – C[-ity],UP,TIE |
| 26 | LAMPETER – LAM,PETER – A tough clue I thought |
| 27 | BARDOT – BAR,DOT |
| Down | |
| 1 | SHOP BELL – Cryptic def. |
| 2 | PAINLESS – (SPANIELS)* |
| 3 | REEL – LEER rev. |
| 5 | ROLLING STOCK – Double def. |
| 6 | INCENDIARY – [-v]INCEN[-t],DIARY – Fantastic. Clue of the day for me. |
| 7 | GHOSTS – G,HOSTS |
| 8 | RETORT – RE: TORT |
| 11 | GENERAL STORE – (LOR! TEENAGERS)* |
| 14 | COORDINATE – (DECORATION)* |
| 16 | JUNKETED – K in JUNE + TED – A great clue, but hard in Dac terms I’d say, with a crafty definition (‘organised jolly’) which wouldn’t be out of place in a Bannsider puzzle! |
| 17 | SHIPMENT – HIP,MEN in ST. |
| 19 | GLOBAL – LO[-w] in GB + AL[-l] |
| 20 | MAGNUM – GNU in MAM |
| 23 | AURA – Former First Lady [-l]AURA |
March 31st, 2009 at 12:11 pm
Dac on a Tuesday? I bet that means Eimi has a big one up his sleeve for tomorrow, it being All Fools’ Day.
March 31st, 2009 at 12:36 pm
A little tougher than usual for Dac for me today too. Excellent as ever and the clue to 1 ac was just as the answer suggested – my favourite today.
Incidentally, re 25 ac, not sure, if in these of the Prem League and all its riches, those cup ties are important matches any more.
March 31st, 2009 at 4:15 pm
I read 10ac. not just as a cryptic definition, but as LACK in BOUT.
March 31st, 2009 at 4:43 pm
Yes indeed. In fact I think it’s one of the best &lits I’ve seen.
March 31st, 2009 at 5:31 pm
I went wrong at 1 down, having filled in door bell, and consequently could not get 1 across. I have some problems with 3 down, as, although, I guessed correctly, I don’t think it’s sufficiently clear from the clue that the answer is “reel” rather than “leer”. Otherwise, I thought it was a very good tough puzzle.
March 31st, 2009 at 6:14 pm
I found this mostly fairly easy but had to resort to looking up a list of Welsh towns to find Lampeter. The “originally” threw me a bit as it more often seems to mean first letter rather than goes before and Peter for rock is a bit too biblical for me.
March 31st, 2009 at 7:13 pm
Yes, definitely harder than usual for Dac, but as good as ever, if not better.
April 1st, 2009 at 1:37 am
Yes, great puzzle.
It took me from the moment I bought the paper at West Dulwich station at 8.52am until one minute before I left work to finish it. No reference materials were needed, but plenty of brain-racking was. The perfect crossword for me
More of this sort of thing!