Independent 7262 by Tees
Posted by NealH on January 25th, 2010
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 10/23 | High heaven: Ea in (hhh given)*. Ref to the phrase “stink to high heaven”. |
| 11 | Ear Trumpet: I think this [h]eart + [c]rumpet. |
| 12 | Simmer: S[l]immer. |
| 13 | Sheraton: As< around her + ton. |
| 14 | Slouch hat: (Col[in] has hut)*. The dictionary definition doesn’t mention any Australian military connection, but the wiki article has more detail. |
| 16 | Stink: [tha]t in sink. |
| 18/26/1/5 | Up the creek without a paddle: (Duke that Poe captured while)*. |
| 20 | Badminton: B + dominant*. |
| 24 | Pasadena: (An ed ASAP)<. |
| 25 | Nectar: Near around ct. |
| 27 | Zend Avesta: Hidden in Citizen Dave’s Talmud. Sacred texts in the Zoroastrian religion. |
| 28 | Evil: I’ve< + l. |
| 29 | Confine: Con + fine. |
| 30 | Weekend: Wee ken + first letter of dangerous. |
| Down | |
| 2 | Initial: CD (i.e leading letter of words). |
| 3 | Ho hum: Ho (offensive word for woman) + hum (stink). |
| 4 | Unearth: Une + Arth[Ur]. |
| 6 | Porker: R in poke + another R beyond (i.e. at the end of the word). |
| 7 | Dumbarton: Dumb + art + on. |
| 8 | Lie Down: (Wine old)*. |
| 9 | Fresh as a Daisy: (Say Hades is far)*. |
| 14 | Sou: S[i]ou[x]. |
| 15 | Unheard of: (Freud Noah)*. |
| 17 | Kin: Ink with k moved to the front. Or, as other commenters pointed out, could also be skin starting with a later letter. |
| 19 | Placebo: Place + BO (body odour = personal stink). |
| 21 | Montage: Montag[u]e (one of the families from Romeo and Juliet). |
| 22 | Oration: On about ratio. |
January 25th, 2010 at 11:40 am
Thank you, Neal, for the prompt and helpful blog. Don’t think we’ve had Tees for a while, but I remember enjoying his last one and this was no different. Took ages to get going but once I got the ‘p’ in PLACEBO then the long anagram went in and after that, it was an entertaining and interesting solve.
I took 2dn to mean the first, or initial letter of a word, but I’m stumped for how ‘ink’ works in 17dn.
Thought the surfaces in 12ac and 8dn were very cleverly done.
January 25th, 2010 at 12:34 pm
Isn’t it just ‘skin’ without the first letter?!
Very good today, some lovely definitions such as for SIMMER, enjoyed the mini-theme.
January 25th, 2010 at 1:20 pm
Yes, this was very good, quite tricky, finally got the long phrase when I’d a few crossing letters. HIGH HEAVEN very amusing, also esp liked SIMMER, LIE-DOWN, PLACEBO, and ORATION and the ‘stink’ theme. I read KIN as in comment 2 above.
January 25th, 2010 at 1:35 pm
Thanks, walruss and nms, for the explanation for 17dn.
January 25th, 2010 at 11:50 pm
Many thanks for the blog and generous comments.
KIN was indeed SKIN ‘with (a) later start’ (as a variation on the first letter subtraction theme), and ‘Letter from the front’ was a CD, based on the idea that initals are taken from the front end of the words they represent. Collins gives the Aussie Army a mention in its def for slouch hat, fyi, and a digger is an Aussie (or Kiwi) soldier.
Murky buckets
Tees
January 26th, 2010 at 10:41 am
#29. Say Cameron close to limit (7)
Ans: confine
Please explain the wordplay
January 26th, 2010 at 10:53 am
Barbara
CON (say Cameron {leader of the Conservative party}) FINE (close) def. ‘to limit’
January 27th, 2010 at 12:58 am
Tees. Sorry – I did solve this and loved it to bits, and only just realised I never left a comment.
I thought the (s)KIN device was a top notch bit of indicatoriness and, as mentioned above, the SIMMER def was super. Keep it up old chap, you’re doing a belting job.