EV 879 Homograms III by Kruger

by

The preamble to this puzzle confused me at first: the anagram or homonym of the required word. The answer? Indicated? Unindicated? Either way what was the rest of the clue doing? After over-analysing I decided to scan the clues for a way in. A few seconds later I had a disease-like word begining with MYI- (MXI- and MZI- seemed even less likely.) Knowing lots of diseases end in -SIS MYIASIS was a reasonable guess. It was a disease! And, AS IS was defined as “unaltered”, an anagram of “unrelated”. So, I needed to resolve the anagrams and homonyms to make straightforward cryptic clues.

Half of each of half the clues meant 8 homonyms and 8 anagrams. I found 7 of each. So, either the quotation around the perimeter, THERE IS NO TRUSTING APPEARANCES, RICHARD B SHERIDAN, meant more than I read, or, more likely, I failed to see one subtle example of each thematic clue. A quick check on Dave Henning’s excellent database revealed that there has been a Homograms II (and presumably a Homograms that predates the current dataset) with a similar but slightly different theme.

An enjoyable puzzle, I’ll be interested to know whether I have missed two clues or missed the point!

dd double definition
(XY Z)* anagram
X[Y]Z insertion
X[y]Z deletion
ZYX< reversal
uvwXY Zabc hidden answer
X. initial letter(s)
X-Y-Z- alternate letters
h = homonym, a = anagram

Across
10 h NACELLE NA+CELL+E “plain” = plane.
12 ERNES anothER NESt
13 a MYIASIS I[Y]M< AS IS unrelated* = unaltered.
14 a DEARIE D[EAR]IE file* = life.
15 h IMPI I+MP+I “eye” = I.
16 INRO stuOR NInja< a container for pills.
18 a HAND ON HAN DON saps* = pass.
20 RAILROAD RAIL RO[A]D
23 GOLCONDA (LA[n]D CONGO)*
24 a HARMED [s]H[ARM]ED Ruth* = hurt.
26 h KILP KIL[l] P “rack” = wrack. Wrack = seaweed, kelp or kilp.
28 SERE dd
30 JAZZ UP JA[ZZ]UP
32 METIERS TIRES[o]ME*
33 h DIG IN D.I.G.I.N. “graphed” = graft.
34 ACTINIA A C TIN[I]A
Down
2 HAVEN H[AVE]N HN = Honduras (IVR).
3 h REAR dd “raze” = raise. A rear is a public loo (new on on me) which is interesting given that head also means toilet.
4 ELMIER (EIRE M L)* lovely word that set me wondering how many other trees could be used this way.
5 SEI WHALE WISE* HALE
6 h NEAT dd “Cowes” = cows.
7 ORSINO OR SIN O OR = Other Ranks, men.
8 a RESPOND PONDERS* carte* = react.
11 a CHARIER CHARI[ote]ER Rome* = more.
17 a GOODYEAR GOOD YEAR lived* = devil.
19 DENIZEN DINE[d]* ZEN[o] savoir faire is an example of a denizen.
21 ANAEMIA MANE* in A-I-A
22 EMETIC EME T. I’ C. Tom and cabin both lending their initials and a surface.
24 h CHASTE H+A+ST in C[u]E “queue” = cue.
27 LUCIA [st] LUCIA ST is the IVR for San Tome and Principe.
29 MINI M[IN]I in = inn.
31 ZOIC ZO[e] IC

2 comments on “EV 879 Homograms III by Kruger”

  1. Gaufrid
    #1 - Sat 19th Sep 09, 10:30

    Hi Colin
    The 8th anagram is 16a *(narcotine) = container.
    I had 29d as the 8th homonym, in = “inn”, even though ‘in’ is a variant spelling of ‘inn’.

  2. Colin Blackburn
    #2 - Mon 21st Sep 09, 10:04

    Thanks for the comment, Gaufrid.

    I had ‘holds’ doing double duty and thought narcotine was an odd choice over, say, pills. Now all is clear.
    I’m less happy with ‘inn’ as a homonym for ‘in’ given they are variant spellings but it is probably correct.

Comments are closed.