Hob has provided the last Thursday puzzle of 2016 and thus occupies my last blogging slot of the year.
I think that this was a worthy puzzle to bring my blogging year to an end, being medium-to-hard in terms of difficulty, in my opinion. I would have struggled with this if I had had to solve it and blog it around work, and not while munching my way through the Christmas cake in front of the telly.
This puzzle was doubly themed in that the solution to the gateway clue at 24, which was neither too obvious nor too elusive, is to be read either as a single word (INSECT) or as two separate words (IN SECT) depending on the clue. This added another layer of ingenuity to the puzzle, which I didn’t spot until quite a way into the solve.
Although I think that I can be fairly confident of having completed the grid correctly, I have to confess that Hob has had the last laugh, in that I cannot parse 3. I suspect that it is some kind of composite or subtractive anagram, but I just cannot see how it works – please put me out of my misery, fellow solvers! Thanks, Gaufrid, for the explanation – the blog has been amended accordingly.
My favourite clues today are 10 and 24, both for misdirection; and 12 and 25, both for surface.
And finally, let me wish a happy and above all crossword-packed 2017 to setters, solvers and bloggers alike!
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01 | SHAKER | One 24 has upset king and queen
*(HAS) + K (=king, in cards) + ER (=queen, i.e. Elizabeth Regina); a shaker is a member of a US religious sect, so called because of their religious fervour that manifests itself in violent trembling, hence “one in sect” (=entry at 24); “upset” is anagram indicator |
| 05 | HIDEAWAY | Fancy women into country dance will find secluded spot
[IDEA (=fancy, as noun) + W (=women)] in HAY (=country dance) |
| 09 | ALL RIGHT | Agreed flipping hot female holds the key? On the contrary
[LRIGH (H=hot + GIRL=female; “flipping” indicates reversal)] in ALT (=key, on computer keyboard) |
| 10 | SHIITE | One 24 is the 1, perhaps
*(IS THE I); “perhaps” is anagram indicator; a Shiite is a member of any sect adhering to the Shia branch of Islam, hence “one in sect” (=entry at 24) |
| 11 | HOUSEMOTHERS | Boarding school staff employ 24 to stop horse getting out
[USE (=employ) + MOTH (=insect, entry at 24)] in *(HORSE); “getting out” is anagram indicator; housemothers are women in charge of children in an institution |
| 13/14 | HARE KRISHNA | One 24 wrongly putting a 1 in with 2 27s initially
*(A + SHAKER (=entry at 1) + H<oly> R<oller> (=entry at 2 27; “initially” means first letters only); the Hare Krishna movement is a Hindu sect founded in the US in 1965, hence “one in sect” (=entry at 24) |
| 17 | INSIDER | One 24, perhaps saying where Pink Lady might end up
Homophone (“saying”) of “in cider”, which is where a Pink Lady apple might end up; an insider is “one in sect” (=entry at 24) |
| 19 | ANTS | 24s getting county opener out
<h>ANTS (=county, i.e. Hampshire); “opener out” means the first letter is dropped |
| 21 | ENTOMOLOGIST | One that finds 24s interesting to ogle, in most sorts
*(TO OGLE IN MOST); “sorts” is anagram indicator; an entomologist specialises in insects (=entry at 24) |
| 24 | INSECT | Half-heartedly, tennis celeb’s opener when playing cricket?
*(TEN<n>IS + C<eleb>); “half-heartedly” means one of middle letters is dropped; “opener” means first letter only; “when playing” is anagram indicator |
| 25 | ARGUFIED | Noisily disputed wrong figure in bill
*(FIGURE) in AD (=bill, i.e. advertisement); “wrong” is anagram indicator |
| 26 | BETEL NUT | Zealot after 24, say, that’s found on palms
Homophone (“say”) of “beetle” (=insect, entry at 24) + NUT (=zealot, obsessive) |
| Down | ||
| 02/27 | HOLY ROLLER | One 24 fully delivered by upmarket car
Homophone (“delivered”) of “wholly” (=fully) + ROLLER (=upmarket car, i.e. Rolls Royce); a holy roller is a follower of an extravagantly emotional religious sect, so called from their tendency to roll around on the floor, hence “one in sect” (=entry at 24) |
| 03 | KERCHIEFS | Fresh knickers – pairs stripped off, re-used as Gumbys’ headgear?
*(FRESH + <kn>ICKE<RS>); “pairs” stripped off means (here) that first two and last two letters are dropped from the anagram, indicated by “re-used”; the Gumbys wore kerchiefs on their heads in Monty Python’s Flying Circus |
| 04 | RAGOUT | Stew a little rodent, one without tail
R<odent> (“a little” means first letter only) + AGOUT<i> (=rodent; “without tail” means last letter dropped) |
| 05 | HOT-DESK | Do sketch about missing chapter in work where space allows?
*(DO SKET<c>H); “missing chapter (=C)” means letter “c” is dropped from anagram, indicated by “about” |
| 06 | DESPOTIC | Tyrannical side Copt let loose
*(SIDE COPT); “let loose” is anagram indicator |
| 07 | AMISH | One 24 stuck in jam is helpless
Hidden (“stuck”) in “jAM IS Helpless”; the Amish are a US Mennonite sect, hence “one in sect” (=entry at 24) |
| 08 | AFTERTASTE | Lingering impression of when Rory Gallagher played solo
Cryptically, Irish musician Rory Gallagher played solo after his career with Taste, the band he formed in the late 1960s |
| 12 | MALIGNANCE | Mother cleaning potty finds something nasty
MA (=mother) + *(CLEANING); “potty” is anagram indicator |
| 15 | HEALTHFUL | Left hospital A & E, getting out before most of the flu spread? Good for you!
*(L (=left) + H (=hospital) + A + E) + TH<e> (“most of” means last letter dropped) + *(FLU); “getting out” and “spread” are both anagram indicators |
| 16 | EDMONTON | Journalist on day 100 in Canadian city
ED (=journalist, i.e. editor) + MON (=day, i.e. Monday) + TON (=100, informally) |
| 18 | RIOT ACT | Law court run by Greek character initially
R (=run, in cricket) + IOTA (=Greek character, i.e. letter of alphabet) + CT (=court) |
| 20 | JIGGER | Jack beheaded larger 24, one jumping up and down
J (=jack, in cards) + <b>IGGER (=larger; “beheaded” means first letter dropped); a jigger, or chigoe, is a tropical sand flea |
| 22 | OBESE | Unhealthily large hole on saint bitten by 24? …
O (=hole, i.e. pictorially) + [S (=saint) in BEE (=insect, i.e. entry at 24)] |
| 23 | BEDE | … Saint died when bitten like that!
D (=died) in BEE (see 22); the reference is to Saint Bede the Venerable, writer of The Ecclesiastical History of the English People |
Comments are closed.