It was once again a great crossword meeting, last Saturday in York.
See the comments from #45 onward in the most recent York S & B blog – to be found in the ‘Announcements’ section.
Many thanks to the Great Man himself (and to Jane) for organising a party with lovely food and company alike.
This time there were only three crosswords available especially written for the event, if I am right.
John’s Elgar puzzle has already been impressively blogged by crypticsue on Big Dave’s website: NTSPP 298.
Dalibor‘s crossword can be found in the post directly below this one.
First, however, Brigster’s contribution which can be found here: Brigster @ York 2015.
So, do not read any further yet if you still want to do or finish this crossword.
Brigster’s crossword was full of rivers, indicated by 10ac which had no definition (as he told us in the preamble).
These rivers can be found in every single Across clue but I found an additional one in the Down clues too.
Definitions are underlined wherever possible and/or appropriate.
| Across | ||
| 1 | STAMEN |
Strangely mates with new sex part (6)
(MATES)* + N (new) [* = strangely] |
| 5 | CAMBERED |
Sloping off, embarrassed about royal recognition taking precedence (8)
RED (embarrassed) with {CA (about) + MBE (royal recognition)} coming first |
| 9 | EXECUTOR |
Will manager & small businessman tour about together? (8)
EXEC (businessman, small i.e. abbreviated) + (TOUR)* [* = about] |
| 10 | TIGRIS |
Form of address bastard used in return (6)
Reversal, indicated by ‘in return’, of: SIR (form of address) + GIT (bastard) The gateway clue, having no definition. |
| 11 | ORINOCO DELTA |
Cordelia on to new South American distributor (7,5)
(CORDELIA ON TO)* [* = new] |
| 13 | JURA |
Court judges curtailed by a range of European points (4)
JUR[y] (court judges, curtailed) + A |
| 14 | FALLIBLE |
Imperfect in naff all, I blethered heartily (8)
Hidden solution, indicated by ‘heartily’: [naf]F ALL I BLE[thered] |
| 17 | MODERATO |
Sixties youth with muse on speed (8)
MOD (Sixties youth) + ERATO (muse) |
| 18 | CURE |
Treat copper – getting on (4)
CU (copper) + RE (on) |
| 20 | APOSTROPHISE |
Give comma (the flying variety) a job when male’s tied up (12)
A + POST (job) + {HIS (male’s) in ROPE (meaning: he is tied up)} |
| 23 | BASALT |
Airline condiment – it’s volcanic (6)
BA (airline, British Airways) + SALT (condiment) |
| 24 | INCREASE |
Where batter is set to rise (8)
A batter is set ‘in crease |
| 25 | TESTIEST |
Most irritated kippers in a kind of bed? (8)
TIES (kippers, kipper ties) inside TEST (a kind of bed, test bed) |
| 26 | SETTEE |
What I did with support for part of suite (6)
SET (what I did – I, the setter) + TEE (support) |
| Down | ||
| 2 | TEXT |
Race includes old characters (4)
TT (race, Tourist Trophy) around EX (old) |
| 3 | MICROWAVE |
Device for cooking bird in two ways (9)
CROW (bird) inside {M1 (the motorway) + AVE (avenue, another way)} |
| 4 | NITWIT |
Idiot normally in trouble with Information Technology initially (6)
All starting letters, indicated by ‘initially’: N[ormally] I[n] T[rouble] W[ith] I[nformation] T[echnology] |
| 5 | CARBON FOOTPRINT |
Green measurement of coal essentially on track (6,9)
CARBON (being C[oal], essentially) + FOOTPRINT (track) |
| 6 | MATRONLY |
Spoil over time, just like an old woman (8)
{MAR (spoil) around T (time)} + ONLY (just) |
| 7 | EAGLE |
Links achievement with endless dogs (5)
[b]EAGLE[s] (dogs, endless) |
| 8 | EPISTOLARY |
I post early version of letters (10)
(I POST EARLY)* [* = version] |
| 12 | OUT OF PLACE |
Fishmonger’s inadequacy in hearing a fish on dry land? (3,2,5)
Homophone, indicated by ‘in hearing’, of: OUT OF PLAICE (which may be a fishmonger’s inadequacy) – the definition is cryptic |
| 15 | INCREMENT |
Small step, right into favoured building material (9)
R (right) inside {IN (favoured) + CEMENT (building material)} |
| 16 | GARROTTE |
Killer pike, mostly decomposed (8)
GAR (pike, a fish) + ROTTE[n] (decomposed, mostly) It wasn’t the setter’s intention but this is another river: the one Rotterdam is named after. |
| 19 | PISCES |
A sign science is found in holy tablets (6)
SC (science) inside {PI (holy) + Es (tablets, i.e. drugs)} |
| 21 | SCANT |
Thin container found in street (5)
CAN (container) inside ST (street) |
| 22 | ISLE |
Holy Man setting examples (4)
Holy (Isle) and (the Isle of) Man are examples of the solution
|
Thank you Sil.
I hope people did/do give it a whirl and enjoy/ed it. Good to meet many of you again, or indeed for the first time, in York.
A very entertaining crossword with inventive clues. I confess that a number of the rivers were unknown to me, but the clues were all perfectly solvable without reference to the theme. Congratulations to Brigstet for fitting them all in though.
I also enjoyed the York S & B gathering, and I think it’s a shame that those attending did not have name badges identifying themselves (if they so wished) by their blogging names, as they did at Sheffield in 2013. I could then, perhaps, have had the pleasure of congratulating Brigster personally, rather than by email as I have been haapy to do.
Thanks again George, we did speak in York but not about Brigster 30. I brought a name badge of my own but then quailed when seeing no one else so adorned.
Will the real Isis please Cam forward?