Independent 7056 by Nestor
Posted by nmsindy on May 28th, 2009
An excellent puzzle from Nestor who I had the pleasure of meeting at Sloggers and Betters 5 in London last week. A bit easier than I expected – in particular I got some of the longer answers from the definitions. Solving time, 23 mins.
* = anagram < = reversed
ACROSS
1 CAVE AT (t) EMPT OR (other ranks i.e. not on commission). Got this straightaway from definition, literally ‘let the purchaser beware’ from Latin
9 TOOK SICK ‘not quite right in the mouth’ i.e. a near homophone of 10 which is TOXIC
10 T (OX)IC
12 OR IN O CO
13 A SHAN’T I
14 CHIL (D) L IKE IKE = President Eisenhower (1953-1961)
16 P (RAN) G
18 King MIDAS Greek mythology – everything he touched turned to gold, including his own daughter.
20 EDI (N BURG) H all reversed grub = tuck hide = leather Robin’s back = n (last letter)
22 ARMBAND (Bradman)* e.g. black armbands worn in mourning
25 TRIP OL(d) I
26 ALOUD “allowed”
27 MO (NOT) ONY logic circuit giving the opposite i.e. inverted
28 T (RIG ON) OME TRY
DOWN
2 Dan AYKROYD Unknown to this blogger, weak on films, so thanks Nestor for the straightforward clue (Hidden reversal)
3 EPITOMISE (emo pities)*
4 TIKKA Initial letters & lit
5 MAT C (H) UP mat = location for wrestling cup = trophy
6 T (EXA) N N (axe) T all < later books = New Testament. Definiition: from oil-producing state (adj)
7 ROCK IN (G) CH AIR
8 MODIFIED Mods from the 1960s, smart on scooters , in contrast to the Rockers
11 NONCOM BAT ANT
15 EXISTEN CE Definition = being (sixteen)* CE In the hexadecimal system (base 16), the letters A to F are used for the numbers 10 to 15.
So CE as a hexadecimal number = 16X12 + 14 = 206 as an ordinary decimal number. nmsindy’s familarity with figures, maths etc came in very useful here. Might mention in passing that in Listener series in the Times newspaper, 4 numerical puzzles appear each year, with the next being due this Saturday, 30 May.
17 AIRBORN E (iron bar)* e = third (letter) of steps
19 S (T AND T) O
21 B LISTER Three definitions
23 MAOR I (I roam)< Pa = Maori fort – I was familiar with that from ‘advanced’ puzzles
24 DU (MB) O Think ‘one with remedial education’ = doctor i.e. one who will cure i.e. remedy
May 28th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
Very good puzzle. Thanks for explaining Maori – I guesed it must be some other meaning of Pa, but didn’t know what.
Dan Ackroyd is actually Dan Aykroyd. I know him from films like the Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters, but hadn’t realized he was Canadian.
May 28th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
Thanks, NealH, spelling corrected, transcription error.
May 28th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
Cheers for the blog Niall. I’m glad somebody found this easy! I made a good start, but then ground to a halt and spent 15 mins chewing my pen. Eventually knocked off all bar about 5 clues, though annoyingly missed the AYKROYD hidden reversal and am still not sure I understand the hexadecimal thing now.
Excellent puzzle though, just what I’ve come to expect (and enjoy) of a Thursday.
May 28th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
I said it was ‘a bit easier than I expected (from Nestor)’ which is not quite the same as saying I found it easy…
May 28th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
Base 16? 16X12 + 14 = 206? Good job (for me anyway) the answer could be reasonably deduced from the definition! Cheers Nestor.
May 29th, 2009 at 8:37 am
A good tough challenge – as you expect when you see this pseudonym. Led astray by “try less time” = RY as a possible ending for 1A, so had to get it from slowly arriving checkers – never easy for something in Latin! Helped at 3D by not knowing about “emo” as a type of music – on looking back post-solve, I briefly thought “Nestor using made-up words for anag fodder? Tut tut!”, and then decided to look it up. Like Mick, I didn’t bother with the hex sums. Nor understanding “inverting circuit” in 27, which is good just for using “invert” with no reversal involved.
May 31st, 2009 at 11:09 pm
Well said Peter – another worthy challenge from the tougher end of the Indy’s celeb panel. Quite a lot more to think about with these guys, and well worth the extra effort.