Independent 6902/Phi

by

A nice 4-based crossword from Phi today.

Across
1 THE MOONSTONE — them (not so)* one — OK once one has 4
8 FLORIDA — (fair old)* — excellent &lit.
9 V AUNTED — ref. Bertie Wooster‘s aunts Agatha and Dahlia
11 I M(PR)OVE
12 LE(I)T RIM
13 EERIE — {w}e((ire)rev.)e{k}
14 CAFETIERE — (fact eerie)* — ‘brewing centre’ misleads nicely
16 NARCISSUS — (Sus(si(c)r)an)rev.
19 CIRCA — (a cric{k})rev.
21 MINEOLA — (a lemon I)* — had never heard of it
23 EN(L ACE)D
24 NAVVIES — the v of navies is doubled
25 SUPREMO — R.E.M. in (opus)rev.
26 B(RIGHT ON)ROCK
 
Down
1 TROOPER — 0 in (report)rev.
2 EPITOME — (pie)* to me
3 OPALESCES — (poses lace)*
4 NO(V)EL
5 TO(UR IS)T
6 NUT T(R)EE — the definition is Hazel, which seemed a bit inadequate until I saw that a hazel is a tree, rather than, as I had thought, a nut
7 OF MICE AND MEN — (commend a fine)*
10 DOMBEY AND SON — do (man’s beyond)*
15 FOSTERS ON
17 R(UN)OVER
18 {A}IR(ON)ING
19 CALYPSO — (plays)* in co
20 REC{IPE} HECK
22 ASSET — SS in (tea)rev.

8 comments on “Independent 6902/Phi”

  3. I missed the fact that ‘opalesce’ isn’t universally supported, Michael. Neither Chambers nor Collins give it, but the COD does. So I suppose it’s OK.

    (Actually, if anyone is reading this and knows the answer, please could you tell me what dictionaries the Indy uses? I know about The Times but not The Indy.)

  4. Generally Collins and COED are the preferred references for daily puzzles, but words that are only in Chambers are considered acceptable for prize puzzles. Opalesce as a verb is in my Collins

  5. Opalesce

    Eimi I don’t know what’s happening. My version of Collins is dated 2008, is Collins English Dictionary, and under opalescent it says ‘adj having shimmering changing reflections’ like opal’ and then ‘opalescence n’. Nowhere either here or under the heading for opal is the word opalesce. Perhaps there was something dodgy about the fact that I paid £6.25 for it, with a sticker saying 75% off, in WH Smith recently.

  7. The plot thickens. There it is, but at the bottom of the page it says that it’s the 2000 edition, so perhaps opalesce has been dropped from the most recent one.

  8. How strange – my 2007 Ninth Edition Collins English Dictionary has opalesce, as does my 2004 CD-ROM. I don’t have a 2008 Collins, but I thought I’d check out the Collins website and finally get around to registering using the code on my dictionary’s dust jacket. After being informed that I was subscribed until 2050, I searched for opalesce and there it was (still). It seems a very nice site, by the way.

Comments are closed.