Independent 7,251/Virgilius
Posted by Ali on January 12th, 2010
Enjoyable stuff as ever from Virgilius. There are a lot of double defs and homophones here, but it never seems repetitive.
There seems to be a mini theme with a number of references to poker and poker hands, but I can’t see anything beyond that.
| Across | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | PHONOGRAM – (MONOGRAPH)* | |
| 6 | THREE – R in THEE | |
| 9 | KNAVE – Cryptic def. | |
| 10 | ANNOUNCER – N in AN OUNCE + R | |
| 11 | RAISE – “Raze” (or “rase” I guess) | |
| 13/24 | JACK HIGH – Ref. bowls rather than cricket | |
| 14 | FOUR – “Fore” | |
| 16 | FADDIEST – (FEAST DID)* | |
| 17 | SEANCE – Cryptic def. | |
| 19 | LADDER – L(arge) ADDER, ref. the board game | |
| 21 | OTTOMANS – Double def. | |
| 25 | MEGA – A GEM rev. | |
| 26 | FLUSH – Double def. | |
| 29 | UNLOADING – (UNION GLAD)* | |
| 30 | TRAIN – ART rev. + IN | |
| 31 | ELDER – Double def. | |
| 32 | AUTHORESS – (ART HOUSES)* | |
| Down | ||
| 1 | POKER – Double def. | |
| 2 | OF A KIND – A K in O(ld) FIND | |
| 3 | ONE – “Won” | |
| 4 | READJUST – READ + JUST | |
| 5 | MONACO – Not sure on this one, assuming it’s right – “Nothern artist taking one European city” | |
| 6 | TAUT – “Taught” | |
| 7 | RACCOON – RAC[-e] + O in CON | |
| 8 | ERRORLESS – [-t]ERROR + LESS | |
| 12 | EXILED – E + XI + LED | |
| 15 | LET OFF – Double def. | |
| 16 | FULL HOUSE – Double def. Comprised one pair and three of a kind | |
| 18 | STRAIGHT – Double def. | |
| 20 | DOGSLED – DOGS + L.E.D | |
| 22 | ADULATE – ADUL[-t] + ATE | |
| 23 | REGINA – Double def. | |
| 27 | HANDS – Double def. | |
| 28 | PAIR – “Pear” | |
| 30 | TWO – Hidden in neTWOrk | |
January 12th, 2010 at 2:25 pm
Thanks Ali,
I think 5d. is Munich: I (one) in Munch.
January 12th, 2010 at 2:25 pm
5dn is Munich: I (one) in Munch
January 12th, 2010 at 2:26 pm
Just beat me to it, Ian!
January 12th, 2010 at 2:29 pm
…and 28d. is also “pare” (peel).
January 12th, 2010 at 2:35 pm
Ali,
I would suggest it’s a little more than a “mini-theme”, with at least 14 answers contributing…
January 12th, 2010 at 2:49 pm
Another classic from Virgilius, some wonderful clues. A misspent youth meant the theme was clear enough from early on, but I still found it quite a difficult puzzle. Favourite, among many, FADDIEST.
January 12th, 2010 at 3:03 pm
The won/one homophone was a bit dubious for me as I certainly don’t pronounce them the same. I’d never heard of the top 5 cards in a suit being referred to as an honour, so 9 was a bit of a guess until I’d checked the dictionary. Other than that, it was pretty straightforward and enjoyable. It’s impressive the way Virgilius keeps coming up with different themes week after week.
January 12th, 2010 at 3:12 pm
Very enjoyable, as always from Virgilius – for his homophones, however, I find it helpful to remember that he hails from Northern Ireland!
January 12th, 2010 at 3:12 pm
Agreed – superb puzzle!
Ali’s assessment of “mini theme” is right to the extent of few thematic members being announced, but I counted to around 14/15 answers tying in with the poker (or cards generally) idea; a wonderful achievement in an odd/odd grid (answers in odd columns/rows).
Marry that with a corking set of clues and you have a puzzle from a setter at full throttle. Great work Virgilius!
January 12th, 2010 at 4:01 pm
Yes, apologies, I seem to have done the great man a disservice. I’m used to seeing all thematic across entries in V’s puzzles, but there are just as many here.
Thanks for the pointers on MUNICH too. Silly me!