I solved most of this online early this morning without knowing who the setter was. I thought it seemed a little easier than recent offerings from Dac – with quite a few double definitions – but none the worse for it. Sound clueing as always, and a couple of new words and people to add to the mental database, so all good.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | IKAT – I,TAK[-e] rev. – First clue, last entry. New Word No.1 for me |
| 4 | PLAYWRIGHT – “Play right” – Had never heard of Caryl Churchill before |
| 9 | SCARFE – “Scarf” – Nice misleading use of ‘drawer’ as the definition here. We’re looking for cartoonist Gerald, not bedroom furniture |
| 11 | TENEMENT – E,MEN in TENT |
| 12 | DARREN – (ERRAND)* |
| 13 | COVENTRY STREET – I can see COVEN (a group of hags or witches) and TRYST, but not sure how we get the REET |
| 16 | FAIRY GODMOTHER – (GOT READY FOR HIM)* |
| 21 | PROPOSER – PRO,POSER |
| 22 | AUTOHARP – (A-HA TOUR)*,P – A nice reference to the Norwegian pop legends, who’ve sold 83 million albums according to Wikipedia! |
| 23 | IBIZAN – I,B in NAZI rev. – New Word No.2 – which I note isn’t in Chambers – but I’m surpised I’ve never seen it before as it’s perfect for wordplay |
| 26 | TYKE – Initial letters of T(adcaster), Y(ork), K(eighley), (E)tc. – An easy one for somebody born in Leeds! |
| Down | |
| 2 | KICKED OFF – Straightforward double definition, but a nice surface reading |
| 3 | THREE MEN IN A BOAT – A slightly less straightforward double definition, but again a nice clue. Reduce the complement of a standard 8-man rowing crew and you’ll be left with Jerome K Jerome’s classic book |
| 4 | PRESENTLY – RESENT in PLY – I needed all the checking letters before I got this. Great clue, with ‘soon’ as the definition |
| 5 | ADEPTLY – (PET LADY)* |
| 7 | INSURRECTIONIST – (STIR IN COUNTRIES)* – Lovely anagram, which works as an &lit too |
| 8 | HERGE – Tintin creator, Hidden in anotHER GEneration |
| 14 | TEMPORISE – TEMPO,RISE |
| 15 | THEME PARK – (HAREM KEPT)* |
| 19 | CRUSH – Another double definition, but I like the ‘one fancied’ definition |
| 20 | SWASH – S,WASH |
13ac I don’t have the clue in front of me but it is TREE in TRYST rather than TRYST+REET
As well as being a hidden, I thought 8 down HERGE had a nice &lit touch. Good as always from Dac, IKAT and IBIZAN were new to me too.
After more than 3 hours could not get 18a, 24a and 19d. I gave up and went to this page.
Cheated by viewing 19d’s answer, then got the rest.
(I get the Indy in South Australia’s “The Advertiser”. Its cryptics are way behind yours.)
I have another question. How do you know the ‘name’ of the author of the Cryptic? It is not published in “The Advertiser”.
Have been searching for an answer to this question for some time.
It is published in the original Indpendent version.
Hi Testy.
Re “It is published in the original Indpendent version.”
Does that mean that my daughter in Oxford would have been able to give me the setter’s ‘name’ if she had purchased a copy of the newspaper containing the first-published Indy crossword??
I really am at a loss!