I have blogged a number of Klingsor puzzles now and they have all been good challenges. The pattern continued today.
I preferred the Across clues to the Down clues mainly because I always like intricate wordplay where the entry is built up from many component parts. However I can well understand that other solvers will have different preferences to me.
There were no entries that were completely new to me today. I don’t have a literary bent so TRINCULO at 1 across had to be dredged up from fitting the remaining letters of the anagram fodder into the crossing letters. That was my Last One In.
I made early progress in the bottom half of the grid today with BLOW HOT AND COLD, ALL THUMBS, MONTEVERDI and DODO going in quickly. This gave me a good basis to build up the other entries.
My favourite clues today were those for ADAMANTINE for its construction, POLIO for the smoothness of the IT references, LATENCY for its word picture and PHAETON for the use of different carriages in the clue and he entry.
|
Across |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Clue | Wordplay |
Entry |
|
1
|
Initiator of laughs in court in Tempest?
|
L (first letter of [initiator of] LAUGHS) contained in (in) (an anagram of (tempest) COURT IN) TRINCU (L) O* |
TRINCULO (jester [initiator of laughs] in Shakespeare’s The Tempest) &Lit clue
|
|
5
|
Contrarily, it’s an offence to trap game (6)
|
(SIN [offence] + NET [trap]) reversed (contrarily) (TEN NIS)< |
TENNIS (game)
|
|
8
|
Impregnable barrier against invading organism’s core defence, ultimately (10)
|
([DAM {barrier} + ANTI {against}] contained in [invading] AN [central letters of {core} ORGANISM]) + E (last letter of [ultimately] DEFENCE A (DAM ANTI) N E |
ADAMANTINE (impregnable)
|
|
9
|
Infection from virus? Disallow opening of Internet Explorer (4)
|
POLIO (viral infection) excluding (disallow) I (first letter of [opening of] INTERNET)
|
POLO (reference Marco POLO [1254 – 1324], Italian explorer)
|
|
10
|
Ned got Huw’s daughter up the spout in Gabon – resulting in this? (7,7)
|
Anagram of (up the spout) (NED GOT HUW’S and D [daughter]) + IN + G (International Vehicle Registration for Gabon) SHOTGUN WEDD* IN G |
SHOTGUN WEDDING (A marriage forced upon the couple, usually by the bride’s parents, when the bride is pregnant – something that Huw may insist on, though perhaps less likely these days)
|
|
11
|
Time to have a snack? Some light refreshments may be offered on one (3,4) |
T (time) + EAT (have a snack) + RAY (some light)
|
TEA TRAY ([light] refreshments may be served on a TEA TRAY)
|
|
13
|
Setter’s tucked into meat, back in good form (7)
|
I’M [setter’s] contained in (tucked into) (FLESH [meat] reversed [back]) H (IM) SELF< |
HIMSELF (in good form)
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15
|
Writing that’s raised a couple of pounds for son in stew (7)
|
BRAISE (stew) with S (son) replaced by (for) (L [pound sterling] + L [pound sterling] to give pounds) BRAI LL E |
BRAILLE (raised type in relief for the blind,)
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18
|
Maybe Jack will follow schedule, given short notice (7)
|
PLAN (schedule) excluding the last letter (given short) N + CARD (a Jack is an example of a playing CARD)
|
PLACARD (written or printed notice)
|
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21
|
Hold no bold view, in conclusion – act waveringly? (4,3,3,4)
|
Anagram of (waveringly) (HOLD NO BOLD and W [last letter of {in conclusion} VIEW] and ACT)
|
BLOW HOT AND COLD (to be favourable and unfavourable by turns, to be irresolute) &Lit clue
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22
|
Double act is an old-fashioned sort (4)
|
DO (act) + DO (act) to give double act
|
DODO (old-fashioned person)
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23
|
Composer’s game to meet another (10)
|
MONTE (a Spanish-American gambling card game) + VERDI (composer)
|
MONTEVERDI (reference Claudio MONTEVERDI [1567 – 1643], Italian composer)
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24
|
Lays claim to Regina’s lost property (6)
|
ASSERTS (lays claim to) excluding (lost) R (Regina)
|
ASSETS (property)
|
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25
|
‘Elpful suggestion given to less polite unwelcome guest (8)
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‘INT (hint [‘elpful]) + RUDER (less polite)
|
INTRUDER (unwelcome guest)
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| Down | |||
|
1
|
Passage from Tristan that’s stirring (7)
|
Anagram of (stirring) TRISTAN
|
TRANSIT (passage)
|
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2
|
What, a Roman imperial guard upset his lover? (9)
|
INAMORATA (hidden word (guard) reversed (upset) in WHAT A ROMAN IMPERIAL)
|
INAMORATA (a woman beloved or a female lover)
|
|
3
|
Ask for recipe for dish (7)
|
CHARGE (ask for, as in CHARGE for or ask for a price) + R (recipe)
|
CHARGER (a flat dish capable of holding a large joint of meat)
|
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4
|
Being out of sight, ornately decorated clothes tend to be forgotten finally (7)
|
LACY (ornately decorated) containing (clothes) (TEND excluding the last letter [be forgotten finally] D) LA (TEN) CY |
LATENCY (referring to the characteristics of something that is out of sight)
|
|
5
|
Work involving study that takes months is boring work (9)
|
TILL (work) containing (takes) (READ [study] + M [months]) T (READ M) ILL |
TREADMILL (routine drudgery; boring work)
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6
|
Steal the family’s linen items (7)
|
NAP (steal) + KIN’S (family’s)
|
NAPKINS (small squares of linen, paper, etc, used at table for wiping the mouth and hands)
|
|
7
|
Wicked young woman smuggling drug – what she’s doing is this (7)
|
(ILL [wicked] + GAL (girl; young woman]) containing (smuggling) E (ecstasy; drug]) ILL (E) GAL |
ILLEGAL (smuggling drugs is an ILLEGAL activity)
|
|
12
|
Admitting Henry’s small but awfully clumsy (3,6)
|
Anagram of (awfully) SMALL BUT containing (admitting) H (henry; unit of inductance) ALL T (H) UMBS* |
ALL THUMBS (clumsy)
|
|
14
|
Shock over this paper’s boss being in love (9)
|
(MANE [shock of hair] reversed [over]) + OUR ED (editor) (this paper’s boss) ENAM< OUR ED |
ENAMOURED (charmed; in love)
|
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16
|
Maybe clodhopper breaking into residence gives PC a fresh start (7)
|
BOOT (a clodhopper is an example of a heavy shoe or BOOT) contained in (breaking into) RES (residence) RE (BOOT) S |
REBOOTS (restarts a computer)
|
|
17
|
I likewise knocked poet’s elementary form? (7)
|
I + SO (likewise) + an anagram of (knocked) POET
|
ISOTOPE (one of a set of chemically identical species of atom which have the same atomic number but different mass numbers; elementary form)
|
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18
|
Carriage could be stanhope having no top (7)
|
Anagram of (could be) STANHOPE excluding (having no) the first letter (top) S
|
PHAETON (an open four-wheeled carriage for one or two horses.)
|
|
19
|
A port south of New Hampshire town (7)
|
A + N (new) + DOVER (port town on the South coast of England) In the clue South is used as this is a down entry and DOVER is South of the AN
|
ANDOVER (town in Hampshire)
|
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20
|
Relatively dishonest trickster takes one in (7)
|
DODGER (trickster) containing (takes … in) I (one) DODG (I) ER |
DODGIER (relatively dishonest)
|
Yes, lots of fun! PHAETON is even better than you give it credit for since, I think, a phaeton really could be a stanhope with no top. On the other hand with ADAMANTINE, I feel that the surface reading falls at the last hurdle. You need barriers against invaders’ attacks, not their defences. Klingsor could have said ‘core feature’ (or perhaps something like ‘core malignance’).
@1
The surface of 8a reads as a sentence: “Impregnable barrier against invading organism’s [=is] core defence, ultimately.” It makes better sense of “ultimately” than your version, I think.
A good and enjoyable challenge from Klingsor today. Count me as another who thinks that the clue construction for ADAMANTINE was excellent. After I got the POLO/ILLEGAL crossers I was left with 1ac. My mind went blank, I decided to make myself a cup of coffee, and when I came back to my PC I finally saw the anagram fodder and entered TRINCULO as the most likely answer.
Curiously, 1ac was my first one in, saw it immediately I started reading the clues.
In the end, I couldn’t get 13ac, not helped by having 2dn in my mind when I entered 14dn, and spelt it with an ‘i’.
I found this a good challenge and only got Trinculo after looking up a list of characters in the Tempest. The phaeton/stanhope clue was quite neat.
I went along nicely in the bottom half but then struggled to get going in the top half and it was only after guessing that the “In Gabon” of 10 must be “in G” that I managed to get much of a foothold there.
Herb @2: Ah, that’s much better. Thank you!
We’re a bit late to the party but thought this was quite a challenge! The bottom half was filled in first and as we had no internet access after having downloaded the puzzle, we were stumped by 1ac. Even asking for the odd hint didn’t help either but once we had the answer everything seemed very fair!
Anyway, a good challenge for a Thursday and thanks to both Duncan and Klingsor.