Independent on Sunday 1059 by Quixote 30th May 2010
Posted by Handel on June 3rd, 2010
Blimmin’ ‘eck this were tough. We limped to just short of the finishing line, failing to get 12 across and 11 down – comments welcome as ever. Didn’t enjoy this as much as usual, as there were a number of unfamiliar words that required a dictionary to confirm. Probably just gaps in our knowledge, but we look forward to finding out whether anyone else struggled this week.
ACROSS
1. PROD(ucts)
4. (a)ITCH
10. OPENCAST MINING (no menacing pits)*
12. Not sure on this one: ‘Holy person, male cut out to be cathedral artist’, perhaps ‘piper’? All is now clear. It’s PI PERson
13. CHE LATE< Not a word we knew, but easy enough to parse
15. CR(hEEP)Y
17. A T(H)OLL Didn’t know this word
19. PLEA TED
20. MO T E.T. Didn’t know this word either
21. CON FORM E.R.
23. LIVES IN THE PAST (invites the pals)*
24. DREW dd
25. NOSE (ones)* Correction – see Neil’s comment below: oNE’S Tired
DOWN
2. REPRESENTATIVE dd
3. DEN I’M
5. TOTEM IC anagram of ‘motet’, then I C ‘in charge’
6. HAIRPIECE sounds like ‘hare peace’
7. VA(RE)SE Didn’t know this either…
8. HIPPOPOTAMUSES (hit pompus apes)*
9. AGAR<
11. Not sure on this one either: ‘Twelfth in series then king? Four such series in this’. It looks like ‘Duck’ or ‘Dick’? DEC K – Thanks Gaufrid
14. AMORTISED (mediators)*
16. ODER<
18. LICE N(i)CE
19. PUN(CH)Y
20. MULL dd
22. OR PIN(e)
June 3rd, 2010 at 10:19 am
Hi Handel
I didn’t do this one but I think I can help.
12ac is probably [John] PIPER the artist who helped to design the stained glass windows for Coventry Cathedral, see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Piper_(artist)
I think 11dn is DECK – DEC[ember] (Twelfth in series) K (king)
June 3rd, 2010 at 10:44 am
Thanks Gaufrid, that’ll be it. 11dn’s definition is very subtle – clever stuff.
June 3rd, 2010 at 1:26 pm
Definitely struggled with this. In fact I’m trying to avoid reading the answers as I post this, as I’ve yet to complete it, pending a second attempt!
June 3rd, 2010 at 1:53 pm
I too found this tougher than usual from Quixote and wondered for quite a while if the unusual pattern of two four letter answers in each of the four sides of the perimeter meant is was thematic is some way, tho apparently not as the answers emerged. Just to elaborate on Gaufrid’s explanation of PIPER, I think it’s PI (holy) and PERSON less SON = ‘male cut out’
I thought that 23 across was excellent, such a natural reading for what was quite a long anagram – this kept it hidden from me for quite a while.
Great blog, Handel.
June 3rd, 2010 at 9:48 pm
Glad it wasn’t just me to ztruggle with this then. Much harder than anything Quixote has produced for a while (well to me anyway)
June 3rd, 2010 at 9:49 pm
Err struggle even
June 6th, 2010 at 6:06 am
Late entry from the online community…
Thanks Handel.
I had an issue with 13ac – “ET AL” means “and others” not just “others”.
I’m not sure how you arrived at NOSE for 25ac – the definition is “somewhere comfy” and the answer surely is NEST, hidden in “One’s tired” with the indicator “Look for”.
June 6th, 2010 at 6:07 am
Oops – changed my mind about 13ac – ET AL can of course mean “with others”!