Independent 7199/Dac
Posted by John on November 11th, 2009
I’d expected something to do with Remembrance Day, but no, Dac as usual and up to his usual standard; however, when is he ever not up to his usual standard? This seemed to be on the easy side but there were some magnificent clues.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | LO CAL |
| 4 | {Shira}z in fan del{i} |
| 9 | CHIEFTAIN — (hit in face)* — ‘during’ seems a bit odd, but it does make for a good surface |
| 10 | T({Queensberr}Y {Rule}S)ON |
| 11 | REPORT — 2 defs |
| 12 | S(TART)ER{b}S |
| 14 | TWO OF A KIND — w in (foot)rev. akin d |
| 16 | MARC — (cram)rev. |
| 19 | DUCK — 2 defs |
| 20 | STAND-ALONE — “stand a loan”, which is what a money-lender can |
| 22 | STEW(A RD)S |
| 23 | B(A R)ACK — a quite brilliant &lit. (Actually it’s not an &lit, at least not a full one. But it’s still brilliant.) |
| 26 | {C}HI(TO)N{a} |
| 27 | VALENTINO — (antinovel)* |
| 28 | B(RAKED)RUM |
| 29 | tHE LOTtery — a helot was a Spartan serf, or thereabouts |
| Down | |
| 1 | LA(CE RATE)D — wonderful surface |
| 2 | CHIMP — him in (PC)rev. |
| 3 | LIFE RAFT — (fire)* in (flat)* |
| 4 | ZEAL — (laze)* |
| 5 | NINETY-NINE — the initials of ‘ice cream’ are ic, or IC, which in Roman numerals is 99 |
| 6 | A(TT)IRE |
| 7 | DESPERADO — (e (reps)rev.) in dado |
| 8 | LINKS — 2 defs |
| 13 | SKATE DOVER |
| 15 | ORCHESTRA — (actor Sher)* — at least we didn’t have the carthorse |
| 17 | CHECKS OUT — “cheque’s out” |
| 18 | SAVANNAH — sa{t} (nav)rev. NA h — presumably somewhere we will be told that h is an acceptable abbreviation for harbour, but I can’t find it in Chambers or the COD. I suppose I should invest in a proper Collins, but since they (Collins) ripped me off with a Collins lookalike for £6.25 in WH Smith I’m not keen to support them |
| 21 | S ARNIE (Schwarzenegger) |
| 22 | SAHIB — (b 1 has)rev. |
| 24 | A R (I.E.) L — this gazelle |
| 25 | PLUM{p} |
November 11th, 2009 at 11:14 am
Yes, excellent as always – re 5 down, NINETY NINE is a type of ice cream. H = harbour is in Collins (2009) which I got at very reasonable price from Amazon compared to what they were asking in bookshops. I too liked BARACK and also esp DUCK and LINKS.
November 11th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
Ninety-nine is indeed an ice cream, with the obligatory Cadbury’s Flake stuck in it when I was little (or two, if you were lucky enough to be treated to a double 99). Managed this today, unlike yesterday which was beyond me. Some excellent surfaces; my favourite was 23a.
Got my brain in gear nicely on a damp November morning.
November 11th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
The master at his best. Among many others, 10A, 23A, and 26A are particularly brilliant examples of how to write elegant clues.
Re 5D: did someone not object recently to the use of IC as 99?
November 11th, 2009 at 7:17 pm
Jeeez, this was outstanding stuff, even by Dac’s ridiculously high standards. The BARACK clue’s gone straight into my Top 5 of 2009 and the puzzle as a whole is up there with the best I’ve ever done. Yeah, I think it’s fair to say I liked this one!
November 11th, 2009 at 8:30 pm
Ali, I thought I was starting to get excited about solving crosswords. Clearly I have some way to go! Glad we both enjoyed it.
November 11th, 2009 at 10:48 pm
They did, Duggie, and I for one think they should pipe up and admit it.
November 11th, 2009 at 10:50 pm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_numerals#Subtractive_principle
November 12th, 2009 at 11:32 pm
I was about to hail genius, so a shame IC doesn’t work (but it would, if it said “might have been in Rome”?) .
Glad we weren’t still using roman numerals when I did physica A level