Independent on Sunday 1,108 by Crosophile
Posted by Simon Harris on May 15th, 2011
My first ever attempt at blogging a Crosophile, as far as I can see, though I’ve definitely tackled a few puzzles by this setter recently. This was fair and entertaining, without being too challenging, which is very much the style we’re used to on Sundays.
One slight question at 14dn, where I can’t see exactly how the wordplay comes together, though I’m certain that it does.
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | MASSIF – [cli]M[ber] + ASS + IF. |
| 5 | WET ROT – WET + ROT. |
| 10 | UNAWARE – A WAR in [f]U[n]N[i]E[r]. |
| 11 | TRAFFIC – (A + FF) in CART<. |
| 12 | DARKLY – ARK in D[aring]LY. |
| 13 | ARSONIST – SON IS in ART. |
| 15 | ARMED TO THE TEETH – cd. |
| 18 | MY LIPS ARE SEALED – (I’M SPARELY)* + SEA + LED. |
| 24 | HYACINTH – (ANY HITCH)*. |
| 25 | AGARIC – A GAR[l]IC. |
| 27 | WISHFUL – Spoonerism of “fish wool”. |
| 28 | CORACLE – C + ORACLE. |
| 29 | UNGLUE – U[rari] in [j]UNGLE. |
| 30 | TREBLE – TRE[m]BLE. |
| Down | |
| 2 | ANAGRAM – I had to think about this one but (A HORSE + TUP) is of course (PUT ASHORE)*. |
| 3 | SMALL AD – MAL in SAD. |
| 4 | FLEE – hom. of “flea”. |
| 5 | WATER WHEEL – (WHEAT + A + REEL)*. |
| 6 | THAW OUT – HAW in TOUT. |
| 7 | OFF SIDE – (FED IF SO)*. Cricketing reference. |
| 8 | TUNDRA – TUN + ‘ARD<. |
| 9 | SCOTCH – dd. |
| 14 | COBALT BLUE – I’m uncertain how the elements of the wordplay together here, though I can see we’ve C for “Carbon”, and also B, followed by (L in TUBE*). The clue is Carbon-based rock crushed black’s left in original tube as artist’s pigment. |
| 16 | RAY – [c]RAY[fish]. |
| 17 | TOE – [po]T [no]O[dl]E[s]. |
| 18 | MOHAWK – MO + HAWK. |
| 19 | LIAISON – AIL< + I + SON. |
| 20 | PAINFUL – I in PAINFUL &lit. |
| 21 | EN GARDE – [oft]EN GARDE[n]. |
| 22 | LYRICAL – (I CRY ALL)*. |
| 23 | DICIER – D + ICIER. |
| 26 | ECHT – [br]ECHT. |
May 15th, 2011 at 1:20 pm
Thanks for the blog, Simon.
Re 14d… I see the word play as
carbon-based rock = coal + B (black’s left in) + (L in TUBE*)
May 15th, 2011 at 1:22 pm
sorry, i meant
Re 14d… I see the word play as
carbon-based rock = coal + B (black) + (L in TUBE*)
May 15th, 2011 at 7:29 pm
Thanks, Simon, for the blog. As with the others, I parsed 14d as
carbon based rock = COAL
crushed black = encompassed B
left in original tube = L in TUBE*
As you say, a gentle puzzle for a Sunday.
May 16th, 2011 at 9:01 am
Thanks, Simon.
By the way, 2d (A horse and tup – put ashore for example) also works as A+NAG+RAM