I’d expected something to do with Remembrance Day, but no, Dac as usual and up to his usual standard; however, when is he ever not up to his usual standard? This seemed to be on the easy side but there were some magnificent clues.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | LO CAL |
| 4 | {Shira}z in fan del{i} |
| 9 | CHIEFTAIN — (hit in face)* — ‘during’ seems a bit odd, but it does make for a good surface |
| 10 | T({Queensberr}Y {Rule}S)ON |
| 11 | REPORT — 2 defs |
| 12 | S(TART)ER{b}S |
| 14 | TWO OF A KIND — w in (foot)rev. akin d |
| 16 | MARC — (cram)rev. |
| 19 | DUCK — 2 defs |
| 20 | STAND-ALONE — “stand a loan”, which is what a money-lender can |
| 22 | STEW(A RD)S |
| 23 | B(A R)ACK — a quite brilliant &lit. (Actually it’s not an &lit, at least not a full one. But it’s still brilliant.) |
| 26 | {C}HI(TO)N{a} |
| 27 | VALENTINO — (antinovel)* |
| 28 | B(RAKED)RUM |
| 29 | tHE LOTtery — a helot was a Spartan serf, or thereabouts |
| Down | |
| 1 | LA(CE RATE)D — wonderful surface |
| 2 | CHIMP — him in (PC)rev. |
| 3 | LIFE RAFT — (fire)* in (flat)* |
| 4 | ZEAL — (laze)* |
| 5 | NINETY-NINE — the initials of ‘ice cream’ are ic, or IC, which in Roman numerals is 99 |
| 6 | A(TT)IRE |
| 7 | DESPERADO — (e (reps)rev.) in dado |
| 8 | LINKS — 2 defs |
| 13 | SKATE DOVER |
| 15 | ORCHESTRA — (actor Sher)* — at least we didn’t have the carthorse |
| 17 | CHECKS OUT — “cheque’s out” |
| 18 | SAVANNAH — sa{t} (nav)rev. NA h — presumably somewhere we will be told that h is an acceptable abbreviation for harbour, but I can’t find it in Chambers or the COD. I suppose I should invest in a proper Collins, but since they (Collins) ripped me off with a Collins lookalike for £6.25 in WH Smith I’m not keen to support them |
| 21 | S ARNIE (Schwarzenegger) |
| 22 | SAHIB — (b 1 has)rev. |
| 24 | A R (I.E.) L — this gazelle |
| 25 | PLUM{p} |
Yes, excellent as always – re 5 down, NINETY NINE is a type of ice cream. H = harbour is in Collins (2009) which I got at very reasonable price from Amazon compared to what they were asking in bookshops. I too liked BARACK and also esp DUCK and LINKS.
Ninety-nine is indeed an ice cream, with the obligatory Cadbury’s Flake stuck in it when I was little (or two, if you were lucky enough to be treated to a double 99). Managed this today, unlike yesterday which was beyond me. Some excellent surfaces; my favourite was 23a.
Got my brain in gear nicely on a damp November morning.
The master at his best. Among many others, 10A, 23A, and 26A are particularly brilliant examples of how to write elegant clues.
Re 5D: did someone not object recently to the use of IC as 99?
Jeeez, this was outstanding stuff, even by Dac’s ridiculously high standards. The BARACK clue’s gone straight into my Top 5 of 2009 and the puzzle as a whole is up there with the best I’ve ever done. Yeah, I think it’s fair to say I liked this one!
Ali, I thought I was starting to get excited about solving crosswords. Clearly I have some way to go! Glad we both enjoyed it.
They did, Duggie, and I for one think they should pipe up and admit it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_numerals#Subtractive_principle
I was about to hail genius, so a shame IC doesn’t work (but it would, if it said “might have been in Rome”?) .
Glad we weren’t still using roman numerals when I did physica A level