Well, almost halfway into ‘Dry January’ (not for us, fortunately) and Hoskins comes up with a booze-based puzzle!
We really enjoyed this one, and admired the way that Hoskins has managed to get drink-related references into all the clues. However, we’re still not sure about ‘l’ for ‘liquid’ in 15d – have we got the wrong end of the stick there? We did wonder about ‘on’ for tipsy but Chambers has it listed as an adverb – on the way to being drunk (slang). Just before the blog was published we had another look for l = liquid. A google search had it down as a medical abbreviation. Thanks to Gaufrid, Muffyword and baerchen for your contributions.
We hope it hasn’t tempted any noble souls participating in Dry January to give in to the demon booze.
Let’s all raise a glass to Hoskins!
| Across | ||
| 1 | It’s a job being sober daily, perhaps … (3,7) | |
| DRY CLEANER | DRY (being sober) CLEANER (daily) | |
| 6 | … because I must neck Tesco’s top wine (4) | |
| ASTI | AS (because) I round or ‘necking’ T (first or ‘top’ letter of ‘Tesco’) | |
| 10 | Vicar with a drink going about tedious business (7) | |
| PALAVER | REV (vicar) A LAP (drink) reversed or ‘going about’ | |
| 11 | Tipsy idiot Hoskins finally snogs head of fleet? (7) | |
| ONASSIS | ON (tipsy – we’re really not too sure about this!) ASS (idiot) I (Hoskins, the setter) S (last or ‘final’ letter of ‘snogs’) – a reference to Aristotle Onassis, the Greek shipping magnate | |
| 12 | Old relation drinking in a watering hole? (5) | |
| OASIS | O (old) SIS (relation) round or ‘drinking’ A | |
| 13 | Not on vacation, but at home having booze-up (2,7) | |
| IN SESSION | IN (at home) SESSION (booze-up) | |
| 15 | Something roaring inebriates have put away? (3) | |
| GIN | Cryptic definition – Hidden or ‘put away’ in roarinG INebriates | |
| 16 | What a beer thief might do to be brave in adversity (4,7) | |
| TAKE COURAGE | A beer thief might TAKE COURAGE (a brand of beer) | |
| 18 | Squiffy on mere pints, yet all over the place? (11) | |
| OMNIPRESENT | An anagram of ON MERE PINTS – anagrind is ‘squiffy’ | |
| 20 | US college girl not initially drunk as a Lord? (3) | |
| COE | CO-E |
|
| 21 | Drunken Ant a mess, having a drink down under (6,3) | |
| TASMAN SEA | An anagram of ANT A MESS (anagrind is ‘drunken’) round or ‘having’ A | |
| 23 | 2012 Olympian game to polish off last of Merlot (5) | |
| ENNIS | ||
| 25 | A drink of lager on the rocks? (3,4) | |
| ICE BEER | BEER (lager) ‘on’ ICE (‘the rocks’) | |
| 27 | Slippery nipple cocktail you bypass at last topless club that’s seedy (7) | |
| ELUSIVE | Last letters of nipplE cocktaiL yoU and bypasS + |
|
| 28 | Time to go back for brews and some food (4) | |
| EATS | TEAS (brews) with the ‘t’ (time) going back | |
| 29 | A boozer on a nautical-themed pub crawl? (4,2,4) | |
| PORT OF CALL | Cryptic definition | |
| Down | ||
| 1 | Flipping good day to get very drunk (5) | |
| DIPSO | PI (good) D (day) reversed or ‘flipped’ + SO (very) | |
| 2 | Old Russian boozer in style after refurbishment (7) | |
| YELTSIN | An anagram of IN STYLE – anagrind is ‘after refurbishment’ | |
| 3 | Stay relations cracking drink makes merry (5,2,2) | |
| LIVES IT UP | LIVE (stay) + IT (sex or ‘relations’) in or ‘cracking’ SUP (drink) | |
| 4 | What might cause one to throw up in Dakota? (11) | |
| AIRSICKNESS | Cryptic definition – the Dakota being a type of aeroplane | |
| 5 | I love getting to the end of the case of eggnog (3) | |
| EGO | O (love) at the end of EG (first and last letters or ‘case’ of ‘eggnog’) | |
| 7 | A poem Stein drunkenly set in South Africa (7) | |
| SESTINA | An anagram of STEIN (anagrind is ‘drunkenly’) ‘set’ in SA (South Africa) | |
| 8 | Hypocritical as half-cut Reed supporting early-closing pub? (9) | |
| INSINCERE | SINCE (as) RE |
|
| 9 | Britons on vacation drinking like fishes (4) | |
| BASS | BS (first and last letters of ‘Britons’ – ‘on vacation’) round or ‘drinking’ AS (like) | |
| 14 | Private chap after a Martini drinker’s job? (6,5) | |
| SECRET AGENT | SECRET (private) GENT (chap) after A – a reference James Bond’s favourite tipple being a Martini | |
| 15 | Hoist keg up over liquid resembling spirits (9) | |
| GHOSTLIKE | We think this is an anagram of HOIST KEG (anagrind is ‘up’) round or ‘over’ L (liquid), |
|
| 17 | He put in a new order ahead of bum due a tot? (2,3,4) | |
| UP THE DUFF | An anagram of HE PUT (anagrind is ‘in a new order’) DUFF (bum) | |
| 19 | Developing centre for wines with one bouquet? (7) | |
| NASCENT | N (middle letter or ‘centre’ of ‘wines’) A SCENT (bouquet) | |
| 20 | Two containers of beer on a bar in Mexico? (7) | |
| CANTINA | CAN TIN (two containers) A | |
| 22 | A smart sort of chap putting beer on tap (4) | |
| ALEC | ALE (beer) C (cold – ‘tap’) | |
| 24 | An explosive market a drunkard mentions (5) | |
| SHELL | A drunkard might pronounce ‘sell’ (‘market’) as SHELL | |
| 26 | Half-cut England captain and Aussie skipper (3) | |
| ROO | ROO |
|
Thanks B&J
Regarding 15dn, under ‘l’ the online Oxford has:
4 Chemistry
Liquid.
Yes, (s), (l) and (g) are frequently used in chemical equations to indicate states of matter of the components
Oh, and I forgot the commonest of all – (aq) for “dissolved in water”
Most enjoyable, thanks to H&B&J.
Dry January going well so far, but tonight will be time out as Dutch is visiting Freiburg and it would de rude not to drag him around a few bars in the city
Thanks to you all – blog corrected. Good luck with the Dry January baerchen – hope it’s worth it!
For 17d I parsed
ahead+up
bum=tramp
with he it made “UP THE RAMP”
No wonder I was struggling on 29
But I was feeling a bit woozy trying to keep up with Hoskins.
I am used to the fact that there is only ND and SD and no Dakota except the plane.
Thanks all.
Clever to have included a reference to drink in all the clues and many answers, including a few ‘indirect’ ones such as BASS, OASIS (I think) and ALEC. I loved the ‘Martini drinker’s job’ and ‘due a tot’ defs.
Thanks to Hoskins and B&J.
I know “nice” beer but hadn’t come across “ice” beer before. Good fun. Thanks Hoskins & B&J (I too was unfamiliar with “on” = “tipsy”, you live and learn)
Defeated by 27ac/17dn. Thought 27 might be ELUSIVE or possibly EELLIKE but couldn’t parse either. On balance it had to be ELUSIVE to make a sensible third word in 17 but I’d not come across UP THE DUFF before (although familiar with several similar expressions) and didn’t think far enough outside the box to equate ‘tot’ with a youngster. And I thought 1dn had to be DIPSO but didn’t put it in because I couldn’t parse it.
Lots to like, though, especially DRY CLEANER, EGO, SECRET AGENT and GHOSTLIKE.
Thanks, Hoskins and B&J
Lovely puzzle. Great clueing and a very clever exploitation of a theme.
Hoskins bested me in his recent IoS puzzle, so I wasn’t having that twice in a fortnight. He seems 18ac these days. I did finish this time, but it took a bit of putting to bed. I was forced to use the ‘leave it for a bit and come back to it’ technique, which just about got me over the finishing line.
Enjoyed UP THE DUFF. And of course DUFF is Homer Simpson’s favourite beer, although that’s got nothing to do with the theme. Or has it?
Thanks all three.
Many thanks to B&J for the fab blog, all who solved and those who commented.
Dunno how anyone can manage a dry evening (let alone a whole January), so best of British to baerchen and those brave souls giving it a go.
Glad to hear KD broke the puzzle – fanks for persevering, and I’d like to tell Copmus the answer one 225 blogger offered for 17d, but shan’t on grounds of decency.
Anyhoo, ’nuff chat from me, I’m off to find the inspiration for this puzzle: the fabled FifteenSquared drinks trolley.
Hic-hic and chin-chin to all 🙂